Well, I decided since I've was updating so quickly, it was time for a change of pace! *sigh* Kidding. Seriously, I apologize sincerely and I feel really bad for leaving you hanging for over a month when I said I would update the next day.

I've been really busy with a multitude of stuff, mainly school assigning a ton of work to me. I've also had a horrible case of writer's block, and the only story idea I could think of for a while was a Pendragon / FF7 crossover, which never came to life, and probably never will until after this. However, in your review, if you know what Pendragon is and have an opinion on that, I'd love to hear it!

This chapter is short, but I've re-written it literally five times, and I really hope the quality makes up for the quantity.

I know I'm lame for taking so long, but I hope you guys don't hate me!

Inspired my Illusor Meneald's Once More, With Feeling

I don't own FF7.

On with the show!

--

The usual luxurious sheets of a SOLDIER First Class' apartment were like burlap sacks to Zack that evening. His mako blue eyes glowed with a bright light, but it went unnoticed in his empty room.

I should just leave SOLDIER. Leave it and go live with Aerith. Just leave all this behind, and let it take it's natural course, see what happens without me.

Zack rolled over, buried his head into his pillow and groaned.

No! I can't leave Cloud, or Angeal, or Sephiroth. They were my friends, and I have to keep Angeal alive and make sure Sephiroth doesn't go crazy. I have to help Genesis, but there seems to be no way to get close to him . . .

Zack yanked his sheets off of him and threw his legs over his bed, his bare feet thumping on the carpeted ground. He was wearing nothing but boxers and pajama pants. It got too hot to wear a shirt, and no matter his efforts to change the temperature, the thermostat seemed broken.

He went into the bathroom and cranked the faucet in the shower, turning it on to full blast. Waiting for the water to warm up, Zack sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his eyes, even though he was wide awake.

Moments later, he heard a soft knocking on the door. "Zack?" a quiet voice called out.

"Heya Cloud. Come in," Zack replied, and then proceeded to lie down on the bed, bending his knees to fit his whole frame within the full length of the mattress.

Cloud tentatively opened the door, and Zack saw his unruly hair even more tangled than usual, and his eyes, shadowed by dark bags, carried a hint of sadness Zack knew only too well. He, contrasting Zack, was fully clothed with a pair of grey sweatpants and an overly baggy shirt.

"What's up?" Zack asked, tucking his hands behind his head, ready to listen.

"Just wondering what you were doing up at this hour," Cloud said, awkwardly scratching his arm.

Zack grinned back at him. "I could ask you the same thing. What's buggin' ya?"

"Nothing," Cloud said, but his eyes darting downward out of eye contact range told Zack otherwise.

"Come on," Zack said, urging Cloud to speak.

"Just thinking," Cloud said quietly.

"Me too. What're ya thinkin' about?" Zack now threw his arms forward, propelling him into a sitting up position. His arms rested on his knees, and his fingers intertwined as he began to twiddle his thumbs.

"Just about back home. I miss it." Cloud took a seat next to Zack, who nodded at the blond's statement.

"Yea, you get used to it. Don't worry, you'll make friends here." I'll make sure that your stay at SOLDIER will be better than last time's.

"Hopefully. Hey, how'd you meet Aerith?" Cloud asked suddenly.

Zack laughed. "Well see, I fell into her chur --" Zack began, but he cut himself off suddenly. Cloud gave him a curious stare, but Zack started again before any questions could be asked. "Mission. I got shot and she found me. Took me back to her church and healed me."

"She seems nice."

"She is. Say Cloudy, do ya got a girl at home?" Tifa.

"Not really," Cloud said, shaking his head. Zack shoved him a little, almost pushing him off the bed, but Cloud caught himself. "Okay, well there's a girl named Tifa, but it was unrequited."

"I doubt that," Zack said. She seemed awfully concerned at Nibelheim.

"She made fun of me," Cloud said seriously, "Except for this one time."

"Ah," Zack nodded. "I think ya should give her a call, tell her your feelings."

"Hell no," Cloud said. "And get shot down?"

"Come on, you gotta take a chance!" Zack was doing his best to egg Cloud on, but the blond didn't seem like he was going to budge.

"Look Zack, I'm not social like you. I don't get the girl, or make tons of friends. I'm the outcast. You're probably the only friend I'll have at this whole place."

"That's not true! Why wouldn't anyone want to be friends with you? Okay, you're shy, but you're nice, hella smart, and I ain't gay, but you ain't ugly. So I'm sure Tifa would give you a shot."

"Whatever," Cloud waved a hand dismissively towards Zack. He received a short, but rough noogie in response.

"Go get some sleep Spike. I'll see ya in the morning." Cloud quickly stood up and exited the room, turning around to give Zack a short smile that said 'thanks'.

Zack rolled off the bed and entered the bathroom to be encountered a blast of steam. The bathroom mirror was completely misted over, due the shower being left on for a good half an hour while Zack and Cloud had their discussion.

He got in anyway, and tensed himself for the extremely hot water that would soon be blasting his back. He was used to it, but the first shot still burned.

Zack rolled his head, getting his whole head soaked, and reveling in the warmth that the water offered him. I have a week, then back to being a monster. At least, that's what Angeal calls them. I need to change that.

--

A pair of reading glasses hung from the bridge of Angeal's nose as he reviewed his e-mail on his computer. His eyesight was usually spot-on, but for some reason he always had trouble with reading the small print the computer printed on its monitor. He scrolled down quickly, deleting the majority of them, which consisted of mainly Shinra news announcements. He stopped as 'Sephiroth' came up under the 'From' column. He quickly clicked on the e-mail, curious to see what it was about. Sephiroth usually never sent e-mail's unless it was something important.

He never got the chance.

The screen suddenly went black, and Zack came rushing through the door to his office, shutting it loudly behind him.

"Please knock," Angeal said for the hundredth time.

"Right, sorry. I apparently tripped over the main computer power cable. Scarlet ain't too happy about it."

"That explains me being unable to turn it on," Angeal said, giving up on trying to reboot his computer.

"Yeaaaaa, sorry. Anyway, how about lunch?"

"I guess there's nothing else I can do, can I?"

"Nope," Zack said, grinning.

--

The two ended up at a Wutain Restaurant in Wall Market. Zack was eating a sort of spicy chicken while Angeal settled on egg rolls.

"Ya know, it's kind of weird that although we're taking these guys over, we still rely on them for delicious food," Zack said, his mouth full of chicken and rice.

"Very weird," Angeal said, rolling his eyes at his protégé's lack of manners. "That reminds me. Once your vacation is up, we are being deployed to Wutai to view how the war is going."

Chicken spewed from Zack's mouth as he blurted. "What, already?! We're not supposed to go for another two months!"

"What?" Zack just stared at him, so he ignored it. "Anyway, you were supposed to be deployed at a later time, but due to your promotion to First Class you and I have been chosen to go and "rally" the troops.

Zack grinned. "I give great speeches!" Sticking another mouthful of food in his mouth, he continued, "Is Genesis or Seph going?"

Angeal shook his head. "Genesis was shipped over today, and Sephiroth is busy here. So it's just you and me going then."

"Brotherly bonding!"

Angeal chuckled as Zack choked on his food.

--

Yes, this was ZackxCloud friendship fluff, but it's not yaoi, but if you really want to, interpret it as so, I don't care. Just don't expect them to confess love to each other. However, CloudxTifa is a pairing in this, so hopefully I pleased you guys!

Next chapter will be the rest of Zack's vacation, mainly ZackxAerith fluff, with a bit of other minor characters (Zack's SOLDIER Friends).

Hopefully the next chapter will be up relatively soon, or at least within the month :) (I won't set a specific date because I will never make it then).