To the Morrow, For the Past

Chapter 9 – A New Friend –

It took Cloud a few days to get used to seeing Zack around every day. The man was following his orders to the letter and Cloud barely had any time to himself. Zack would shadow him almost everywhere and had even made a few attempts to clumsily teach Cloud sword work.

Cloud had been a swordsman for almost two decades now. Zack wasn't even two decades old. But still, Cloud indulged him, listening to him at the very least. The only things that Zack were actually teaching Cloud were the internal politics and policies of Shinra. Those were a few of the memories that Cloud had never got back, and they were definitely something he needed to know. He barely remembered anything that had happened pre-Nibelheim.

"Hey Zack," Cloud said quietly, interrupting another one of Zack's babbles. Honestly, he thought his kid was bad for that. Now he remembered just how much Zack would talk. But Cloud wasn't annoyed, not even slightly irritated. He was too busy being happily overwhelmed by Zack's living presence in his life.

"Yeah?" To his credit, Zack was very rarely offended when he was interrupted, it just meant that somebody else had something to say.

"Why don't we spar?" Cloud suggested. He hadn't had a friendly sword fight in over a decade, but it seemed like the best way for Zack to actually see what Cloud was capable of. Maybe then the boy would stop trying to teach him long learned skills.

"Yeah!" Zack bounced on his heals a bit, a massive grin on his face as he dropped into a squat. "That'd be fun! Alright! Let's go!" He threw an arm around Cloud's shoulders and pulled him along the corridor towards the training room.

Cloud had been allowed to keep his sword. Or rather, he had refused to give it up in exchange for the standard issue toothpicks. Apparently he was rather intimidating at times. The fact that they still didn't know the extent of his abilities or enhancements probably helped his intimidation factor. Then again, the would probably be more scared of him if they knew what he was truly capable of.

His body and skills had decayed a little during the last few years. There had been little fighting and although he'd had the odd spar with Tifa, he hadn't really kept up with his sword work. The monsters he'd occasionally faced in the wild weren't much of a challenge. Now he was having to work hard to get himself back into peak physical form.

Though it was possible he'd never again be as good as he was in his early twenties. He was getting older after all. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to have to try. He needed to be able to stand up to and defeat Sephiroth if it came down to it. While he couldn't spar with Sephiroth at this time, Zack had at one point been almost as good. He would have to do for now.

It was also something that Cloud had wanted to do a long time ago. He'd always looked up to Zack, and now... now he had the chance to really get to know him. This time, Cloud wouldn't squander that chance.

The training room was in use when they got there, making Zack groan in frustration. He dropped into another squat and Cloud watched him, wondering if every person named Zack had seemingly boundless energy.

It didn't take long for the training room to become free and Cloud felt himself tense tightly when the doors opened.

Striding through the doors, Sephiroth barely acknowledged the two SOLDIERs waiting. The only sign that he had even noticed them was a small nod towards Zack.

Cloud didn't relax until Sephiroth had disappeared into the elevator and the doors had closed. He let out a slow breath. It was one thing to know that Sephiroth was alive and well in this timeline, and another thing entirely to actually see him. Cloud had barely managed to keep his hands off his sword and the panic at bay.

With shaking hands, Cloud followed Zack into the training room, no longer sure if he wanted to fight Zack, but he definitely could do with the practice.

Cloud would later admit to holding himself back. Zack was no where near as talented as Cloud had remembered. Maybe he'd remembered Zack too fondly, or his memories were tainted by the mild hero worship Cloud had held for him. Or, it could simply be that Zack still had a lot to learn. Zack was... seventeen. Gaia he was young. And once again, Cloud felt himself feeling very old.

The fight wasn't very long, Cloud parrying and returning blows fairly easily, and Zack flailing often. He needed to work on his footwork, his balance and his patience. Cloud found himself giving advice during the fight and correcting Zack's form.

Physical strength didn't really come into the equation. They were more or less matched for that. Where the difference lay was experience. While Zack had probably been using his sword since he was around fourteen – the youngest age that people would be accepted into the Shinra military – Cloud had also been officially training since he was that old. But he'd started back in Nibelheim as soon as he could get out of the house without his mother noticing. He'd probably been around nine or ten at the time.

Which mean that Zack had had three or four years of experience. Where as Cloud had had a little under eighteen. The level of the enemies they had faced was also vastly different. At the height of their power, Shinra used SOLDIER to occasionally fight the AVALANCHE that came along before Barret's incarnation, but they had been mostly sent after monsters.

Cloud had fought the planet's WEAPONS and defeated Sephiroth on no less than three occasions. Along with his team, he'd taken down summons and Jenova. He'd fought monsters of all kinds and destroyed dragons with barely a backwards glance.

Zack, as a Second, probably hadn't fought anything more exciting than a Zu and it showed.

By the end of the fight, Zack was flushed and sweating, his grin growing bigger by the second. Cloud was also sweaty, this having been the most exercise that he'd done in a long time. He put First Tsurugi back in its harness and bent over to catch his breath. "Damn I'm getting old." He muttered in amusement.

"You. Are. Awesome." Zack was staring at Cloud, his glee almost making him vibrate. "How are you so good!?" The bundle of energy all but threw himself at Cloud, pulling back at the last moment and not actually touching him.

"Heh." Cloud found himself laughing lightly, feeling good. "Practice." He answered. "I've been battling for a long time. Just.. not in a while." Feeling better, Cloud straightened up. "Lunch?" He suggested. Technically Zack didn't have to go with Cloud when Cloud was off duty but the boy had been trying very hard to be Cloud's friend and for once, Cloud wasn't shying away from the idea of a new friend.

Cloud had been a little hesitant, deep down still unsure of his worth. It was hard to be around Zack sometimes, it brought up long dulled pain and made it fresh again. But had thought about it. Not only was this a second chance to know his own personal hero – maybe even a chance to save him. But it was also a step towards getting close to Sephiroth.

So Cloud had decided that being Zack's friend wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to happen. Who knows, it could be nice. Cloud hadn't exactly expected that adopting a baby Sephiroth would work well, but it had.

"Yeah!" Still slightly out of breath, Zack threw his arms over Cloud's shoulders again and they walked out. As a youth, Cloud had assumed that Zack throwing his arms around his shoulders like that had been because he was younger and much smaller than Zack. Now he was starting to think that it was juts Zack's way, given the eleven year age gap.

Though Cloud was still shorter than Zack.

"A long time huh? How long?" Zack was full of questions. He was reminding Cloud of his son and Cloud couldn't help but smile.

"Eighteen years total. Though not much in the last five."

They arrived at the cafeteria and joined the ever present food line, the general chatter of the men gathered for lunch washed over Cloud and made him oddly nostalgic for the evening rush of Seventh Heaven. He pushed that down, deciding to concentrate on the here and now instead.

Zack let out a small whistle and rocked on his feet. "Wow." He said, "You've been fighting for longer than Sephiroth!"

Had he? Sephiroth had been involved in the Wutai war when he was a young teenager. Cloud fully believed that he'd been taught how to fight from a very young age. He just shrugged.

"Probably not." He muttered, "A kid can hold a knife at three months, throw them at six and aim at nine. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Sephiroth's been training since he was a baby."

Again, Zack's eyes widened and he grinned. "You know a lot about swords! How old do kids need to be to properly fight?"

Cloud thought about it for a moment. While he wouldn't have put a sword in his son's hand as early as the boy had found one, his Zack had started training early. "Uh. Three, four maybe?" Or it might have just been his Zack who was different. "I mean, they have to be proficient at walking first so they can learn footwork, and they need to have at least basic co-ordination." He was thinking out loud at this point.

"Well. That wouldn't be very responsible would it?" Zack commented, unintentionally making Cloud feel a little ashamed. He still blamed Yuffie, even if she hadn't supplied the weapon.

"It depends." Cloud muttered, "If you live in a dangerous place, isn't it better that your kid learns how to look after himself?" That had been the line he'd used on himself. Sure, Edge wasn't all that dangerous, but Cloud had been paranoid for long enough to be worried about all possibilities. Then again, it wasn't like he'd had much of a choice.

They got to the front of the queue and Zack thought about it. He was distracted for a few minute while they piled food on their plates and found a place to sit.

"How old are you, anyway?" Zack asked between rapid mouthfuls.

Cloud gave a start at that. He was somewhat used to being slightly famous. Most people either knew how old he was, or were too afraid to ask. It had been a long time since he'd been asked that. "Twenty-Eight."

He expected Zack's wide eyes again, he seemed to be surprised at everything Cloud had said lately, but instead Zack gave him a considering look.

"I guess something must've happened to you." He said quietly, "Most people don't just up and join the military at twenty-eight without something happening first." He sounded sad and his eyes were filled with something Cloud couldn't identify. Was it pity? He couldn't help but turn away from that look. He didn't respond to Zack's words and they ate in silence for a while.

"Well!" Zack's loud word made Cloud jump a little and turn his attention back to his new (old) friend with a puzzled look. "We'll just have to make sure that nothing else bad happens to you again!" he proclaimed. A soft smile formed on Cloud's face at Zack's enthusiastic optimism.

"Okay." He would indulge Zack for a while. It was a nice thought, one that Cloud desperately wished he could believe.

– – – – –

Zack's words had stayed with Cloud, even after he returned to his room. As a Third Class, he had his own room, for which he was grateful. He didn't think he could handle the close quarters that he'd been forced into as an infantryman. At least this way, he still had some privacy.

Peeling off his blue uniform, he threw it in a corner. For so long he had wanted to be in SOLDIER, dreamed of wearing that uniform, but now.. Now he'd grown up. The uniform that once symbolised the power to protect his friends, now symbolised all that was wrong in the world. The greed that had almost destroyed the planet, the corruption and pure evil that had endorsed experimentation on humans, on children.

With a sigh, Cloud threw himself on his bed, an arm thrown over his eyes as he tried to force himself to relax. He'd been at Shinra for around a week, and now knew exactly when he was.

Today was the 21st of January.

Two tears rolled down his cheeks as he felt a strong longing to hold his son. To celebrate his birthday, watch the boy open the mountain of gifts that AVALANCHE had always rained down on him, to see the joy on his face when surrounded by their friends. To take their traditional trip to the church where Zack would insist on 'showing' Aerith his favourite gifts of the day, his cat like eyes brightening with what was most likely an actual response.

Zack's final words to him rang in his ears. How could Cloud have missed it? Zack had been listening since he was a baby, but Cloud had never even considered that he could actually hear her. That she would sing to him, and comfort him. Zack's first words should have told him.

He remembered that day. It had been an ordinary day, and Zack had just suddenly answered one of his questions with a single word. 'Song'.

Had his son really been communicating with his dead friend? The adult Sephiroth had never shown any inclination towards hearing anyone from the lifestream – at least not as far as Cloud had known – so why would his genetic identical be able to do so?

Not that it mattered. There wasn't much Cloud could do with that information anyway. Until he finished his mission and got sent back, he wouldn't be able to see his son anyway.

And Gaia did he miss him. He'd never been away from him for longer than a few hours at a time before and now his heart was aching and his arms wanted nothing more than to hold his boy. Those arms curled around his pillow as Cloud lay on his side, allowing himself to just wallow in his misery.

Zack had been right. Something bad had happened. To Cloud, it was worse than the four years of torture he'd been subjected to. Worse than Meteorfall. He felt a little guilty to realise that he missed Zack more than he'd missed the older Zack or even Aerith. Zack wasn't dead. He was still alive, and Cloud knew for sure that his friends would keep him safe, that his boy would be looked after. There was no doubt in Cloud's mind that his team would be able to protect him until their dying breaths.

So then why did this hurt so much? There was a very good chance that Cloud would be reunited with Zack at some point. All he had to do was complete his mission, and the planet would send him back. Right? It had to.

He held on to that hope. It would keep him going. Now he wasn't doing this mission for himself, but for his son. To be with his son. Somehow, that made things easier.

Now all he had to do was figure out what his mission was.

Taking a deep breath, Cloud wiped away his tears and closed his eyes. "Happy birthday buddy." He said quietly, knowing that his son wouldn't be able to hear him, but hoping that the planet would pass along the message. Even if she didn't, Cloud knew that the boy knew just how much he was loved.

– – – – –

"Hey Cloud!" Cloud didn't jump as Zack's arm was flung over his shoulder, he was somewhat used to it now, having been Zack's 'student' for the last two weeks. He simply let out a sigh and turned his head to his friend.

"Good morning Zack." He said with strained patience. At least having raised a toddler, Cloud was used to exuberance and extra energy. He remembered with a shudder the time that Yuffie had given his son a ridiculous amount of sugar. Even then, his two year old hadn't had as much energy as Zack.

"So..." Zack's voice was proud and teasing, "I did something awesome."

Why did Cloud have the feeling that whatever Zack did wasn't actually all that awesome? "What did you do?" He asked slowly, a little nervous.

A mischievous smile spread across Zack's face and Cloud regarded him carefully. "I set up a spar for you." Okay... Cloud wasn't sure why Zack would do that, or why he would feel that it was awesome, but then Zack continued. "With Sephiroth!"

Cloud froze, causing Zack to stumble since his arm was still around Cloud's shoulder. He let go and turned to look at Cloud with confusion.

Cloud didn't notice. He was concentrating too much on not panicking. He focused on his breathing and reminded himself that this was a good thing. He wanted to get close to Sephiroth. He wanted to be able to complete his mission, whichever way it was supposed to go. He needed to have access to the man. And there was no way that he could escape Sephiroth's attention if he beat him in a duel.

But it was still a surprise. "You did what?" He asked Zack, blinking his eyes to help him focus on his friend, who's face as slowly falling from ecstatic to confused and a little down.

"I thought you'd like to." He said, "You seemed to really like sparing with me, but I'm nowhere near as good as you. I thought you might want to fight someone that'd be a challenge..."

Closing his eyes, Cloud let out a slow breath, his hand reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Alright." He could see how Zack would have legitimately thought this was a good idea. And it really was kind of sweet.

And not an entirely bad idea.

"Okay. When and where?" He asked, lifting his face from his hand. This would be interesting.

– – – – – –

The duel had been set up on the external training grounds above the plate, a wide area with fake grass surrounded by concrete. Apparently Shinra had decided that it needed something green and Cloud had no doubt that they'd been unable to grow real grass. Aerith was the only one who'd ever managed to successfully grow anything in Midgar.

Word had quickly got around that Sephiroth had agreed to spar with a new Third and they had quite an audience. Cloud hadn't been expecting that and didn't like it one bit. He needed to use this fight to prove himself worth Sephiroth's time, but he didn't particularly like the idea of being famous again.

The crowds faded from his mind and attention when Sephiroth stepped on to the artificial field. He walked calmly towards Cloud and regarded him for a moment and Cloud briefly wondered what Zack had said to him to get him to agree with this.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed as Cloud took took a ready stance, First Tsurugi in his hands. For the first time, Cloud wasn't afraid of fighting Sephiroth. The man before him wasn't the same man that had called down a meteor to destroy his world. He wasn't the madman that had thrown the buildings of a ruined city at him.

This was a sane man, a man who regarded him with curiosity not with hate or malice. And Gaia he was so young. Cloud hadn't even thought about the fact that he would be older than Sephiroth now. The man had only been twenty-five during the Nibelheim incident. And that wasn't going to happen for a little under two more years. Which made Sephiroth only twenty-three. And he actually looked like it.

Still. Cloud wasn't about to underestimate the man. He knew just how powerful he was even now.

Sephiroth took his place, and Cloud gave in to an old habit, holding his sword against his forehead in a salute before retaking his ready position. He saw Sephiroth's eye widen briefly at that move but decided to question it later.

They stood there for a short while, both seemingly waiting for the other to move, and neither of them said anything. That was another new one for Cloud. Every other time he'd fought Sephiroth, he'd had to endure the man's monologue first. But this time, Sephiroth was silent, his eyes trained on Cloud.

After a few more minutes, Cloud feigned a step forward, prompting Sephiroth to change his stance slightly, expecting a rushed attack. Cloud held back for a moment longer before giving a burst of speed.

He didn't move towards Sephiroth, deciding instead to move vertically – straight up. He looked down to see a puzzled look on the man's face, just as he jumped to join him. Perfect. Cloud waited until the right moment, drawing on his knowledge of Sephiroth's fighting style before striking. Instead of the downward blow that the Silver General was expecting, he shifted his weight to the side and controlled his fall, his blade aiming at the man's exposed left side.

The block he was expecting came, Masamune moving swiftly through the air and Sephiroth twisting to face him. "I see now." The younger man said, bringing his legs up to kick Cloud away.

The move was unexpected. In all of their previous fights, Sephiroth had never used any form of hand to hand, deciding instead to rely on the reach and speed of his sword. Cloud came tumbling down and hit the ground hard, barely managing to get his feet under him. It took him too long to regain his balance, and Sephiroth had pushed that advantage, landing gently before Cloud. When Cloud raised his weapon it was to block a strike aimed at his left shoulder.

Why did Sephiroth always go for that shoulder? Maybe he could ask him one day. Now was not the time to get distracted. Pushing blade against blade, Cloud stepped in, closing the distance between them. He had a much shorter reach and wanted to use every advantage he could get. With a final push, he disengaged and swung.

Metal clashed against metal as they exchanged blows in a dance of movement. Cloud would close, Sephiroth would move back. They would swing and block, neither managing to land a blow for most of the fight. Cloud was quickly wearing out, his lack of activity over the last five years catching up with him and he made a mistake.

It was a small mistake, a fraction of an inch too far left, but it gave Sephiroth the opening that he needed and finally, blood was spilt. A small cut on Cloud's left shoulder bled lightly and Cloud had to begrudgingly marvel at Sephiroth's ability to pull such an impressive blow. "Yield." He called.

That had gone one long enough to prove himself. He was sure of it. While he hadn't managed to defeat Sephiroth, that had never really been his intention. But he was quite disappointed in himself. Had he really fallen so out of shape that he hadn't been able to defeat him?

They both sheathed their weapons and Sephiroth took a step forward, offering his hand to Cloud. "Impressive." He said, not in the least sarcastic or belittling. In fact, he seemed somewhat surprised. Cloud took the hand and looked up at the man he had fought with.

And saw the eyes of his son looking back at him.

Oh. That was why.