Cloud's hair was seriously nothing short of amazing. Despite the superficial resemblances between them, Zack's own spikes did not hold anything close to the fascination he found with Cloud's. The blonde spikes were far more pronounced and stood higher from his head than Zack's. They were amazingly soft and sprang back into position the moment he let go of them. Even better was when Cloud removed his goggles and swept them all back after they finished deliveries for the day. Even spikier hair and absolutely irresistible. So addictive - and all after a spur of the moment friendly gesture to a Shinra grunt - the one with the aspirations of becoming a SOLDIER. He achieved that goal and so much more; he was now one of the Gaia's chosen guardians. He'd even successfully defeated Sephiroth twice in hand-to-hand combat. As much as Zack had defeated Genesis, to defeat Sephiroth was something else - and far more impressive.
Difficult to say where his relationship with Cloud truly began. In his more romantic moments he might claim it was after that helicopter crash; the first time they spoke to each other. Privately he admitted to Aerith this was not completely true - his courtship of her had been a big factor in his life at that time, and that had seemed right and fine for the most part. Then again; maybe there was some truth in that faintly hapless romantic insistence since the pair kept running into each other after that meeting. Also difficult to simply dismiss the comfort and ease with which they spent their time together. And it was not as if Cloud had been simply a passive participant; the younger Shinra grunt had invited him to have dinner with him and his mother during their trip to Nibelheim. It would be nice to see more of that kind of brazen confidence from him still - though maybe it was truly naiveity - though chances are Hojo had killed such impulses during those long five years of torture. Other days it seemed like Cloud had never really changed. Zack shivered. Anything to not think about Hojo. A few uncomfortable moments that occasionally forced him awake at night, racked with shivers and fading nightmare images. His four companions were always there for him though - all willing to comfort and console him until he slipped into blissful unconsciousness.
Sephiroth was not so much a crush, but neither had Zack been exactly blind to his appeal. Maybe he had been crushing on the older man for as long as Cloud had. He had signed up for Sephiroth's fan-club; and indeed Angeal and Genesis's. He smirked at the justification he made to himself; just to keep tabs on his fellow SOLDIERs. The truth was clearer now; an unconscious urge to savour over the details of the First Class SOLDIERs just like the other members of the club - none of them doing much to hide the lust for the subject of their devotions. What would those people say now if they could see them? Were they still around and making tributes to the grand old days, or had Sephrioth's attempt on the world made people give him a wider berth than they had in the past?
Zack shook his head. He would have followed Sephiroth almost anywhere at the merest suggestion of a mission. Time had changed much, but he would still not pass up an invitation from the silver-haired man. Even after the taint of Jenova and the Lifestream changed them. Genesis was perhaps the odd one out; he had never been in the confusing mass of voice and sensation as the others had - some of them more than once. But Genesis did not seem to need that depth, as much as it helped him understand and ultimately forgive Sephiroth. The conflicts, doubts and regrets written clearly for him to see and experience as Aerith worked her magics to purge the Jenova cells from the Planet and return Cloud to the living.
Hard to meet Angeal's gaze at first. More difficult than Genesis and far more difficult than Sephiroth. Angeal had been so intimately a part of his life and his loss had affected him more deeply than he expected - even though the request for his execution came from Angeal's own wonderful lips. He had not wanted to kill after that; a notion that allowed Genesis to survive their confrontation. Even after everything he did, for all the death and destruction that he plagued Midgar with. Guilt though; how much of what happened after he fell near the city was due to his duping by Jenova?
Maybe if he knew his feelings earlier, had not tried to return to Aerith as he thought was best... No. Jenova cell called out to Jenova cell; his mind frantically filling in justification even as he made questionable decisions. He had at least enough control to seek out Genesis beneath Banora. While Angeal had died at his own request, he struck Genesis down while he tried to live free from the yoke of Shinra.
Fear had guided his hand then, a fear that still clung to him even as the group sat together. Difficult not to worry about Genesis being cold or a little dismissive at first - even as Zack meandered through an apology and explanation. Genesis seemed to take it badly; he demanded answers to Zack's decision for an impromptu picnic after his defeat - answers Zack did not really have answers for. But just as the relationship seemed threatened before it even began, Genesis smirked and recited a passage from Loveless. Zack it seemed was already forgiven. That or Gen was just rehearsing.
