A/N: This chapter has been brought to you by my blood and sweat and tears. Unfortunately, there are still surface errors that've escaped my notice. Sorry for those. Hope you enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix does. I do not make money from the use of their property or the mention of Soul Calibur in this story.

(But can you imagine if we got paid to write fanfiction?! That'd be pretty rad. Square Enix hit me up plz.)

Midgar was so fucking loud.

Zack groaned as a wailing siren tore through the closed window. His head was pounding into his teeth like a gigantic drum solo. "Whaahapennn?" He murmured incoherently. A hard throw pillow collided into the back of his head, prompting Zack to pry dry eyes open and make out Kunsel's blurry figure.

"Please tell me you're done now. Literally not of drop of booze exists in either of our cabinets. I'm not going out to buy more again."

Booze? Zack struggled to recall the events of the night before, drawing up a memory of Kunsel doing a body shot off of some brunette and dancing on a table. The headache began to abate, mako working like magic on his fatigue and aching muscles. He heard Kunsel sigh, "Dude. You know how much work it is to keep you drunk now? It's bad enough as a second class but shit, you chugged like 5 bottles of tequila and were only drunk for half an hour, and that was after a whole night of you adding to your bar tab like it was a fucking grocery list."

Zack opened and closed his mouth in disgust. It sure tasted like he'd been drinking forever, "I must've had more than that. How the hell did I wake up with a mini-hangover?"

Kunsel looked like he was going to hit him again, "You went to sleep three hours ago, asshole. Some of us didn't even get those hours to sleep because of the behemoth-level snoring of their so-called friends." He crossed his arms and glared at a sheepish Zack.

"Sorry man. I guess I got a little carried away, huh?"

"A little? When you invited me out for drinks last night I didn't think you meant 'let's drink all the alcohol in Midgar until 5am'," Kunsel cracked a smile, "Though, it was pretty awesome. I got jelloshot-chick's number."

Zack chuckled as his friend joined him on the couch, "Yeah, I'm not remembering a whole lot about last night but I remember that." A beat of comfortable silence passed.

"What're you gonna do about Commander Hewley and Cloud?"

Zack blinked, opening his mouth to convey his confusion before he remembered kissing- no, being kissed- by both men the night before, "Uhhh…"

Kunsel made an affirmative sound, "Sounds like a good plan," then he pointed to his door, "Now get out. If I don't sleep I'll die."

He was pushed into the hallway before getting the chance to look into a mirror. Zack grimaced at his own semi-visible reflection in elevator light, lamenting the fact that he had work in 10 minutes. No time to book it over to his apartment and get cleaned up, but just enough to slap some water on his face, grab some coffee in the lobby and blame his appearance on training too much the day before(Angeal wouldn't buy it, but he also wouldn't lecture him during a briefing).

"Shit." Zack spat out, leaning on the silver walls behind him in sudden anxiety. He hadn't thought about having to report to Angeal at all. He distractedly wandered into the lobby as personnel shuffled into the elevator, bickering over malware and other words that Zack definitely didn't know the meaning of.

He was closing in on the small coffee booth that he liked to frequent (he'd been chatting up the barista for a few days) when a mess of gold hair caught his line of vision, "Cloud!"

He'd said it (more like freaking yelled it) before he'd thought about it, and the look Cloud turned to give him was unreadable.

"Hey Spike! How are ya? Could I just talk to you for a sec? I was wondering about last night-"

"What do you mean?" Cloud frowned as Zack came closer, taking stock of the first's haggard appearance, "What the hell happened to you?"

"No-this is-" Zack began, "Kuns and I went out drinking last night and it may have gotten a little out of hand," he shook his head to stay focused, "Before that though, you and I ran into each other and I wanted to talk-"

"No we didn't," Cloud interjected, tone slightly concerned.

Zack grimaced knowingly, "Yes we did, Spike. Now I know this can be a little awkward but-"

"No, Zack. I'm not trying to dodge the topic. The last time I saw you you'd stormed out of Gen's apartment. How much did you drink?"

Zack's thoughts chased each other in circles as doubt took the form of a rock in his stomach. Had he drank too much last night? Did he dream of those interactions? There was no way. It had felt so real.

But he had also been so drunk.

"Are you sure?" Zack asked, energy bereft and head down.

Cloud paused, "You can ask Gen and Seph when I left. I couldn't have run into you, not with the timing we had. Did you…did you hallucinate it or something?"

"Yeah," Zack smiled, "Probably. Funny stuff, huh? Uh, do you happen to remember if Angeal came after me last night?"

Cloud frowned, "Yeah, he did. Why?"

"Did he say anything when he got back to you guys?"

Cloud tapped his index finger on his chin and tilted his head, "Not really. Just that he decided you needed more space. Did you "run" into him to?"

Zack tore a hand through his hair, feeling 10x more shitty than when he'd gotten up, "Don't worry about it. I gotta get my next mission before 'Geal tries to hunt me down again. See you later, Cloud."

First name warning flag, Cloud thought while he nodded, uncomfortably mindful that neither of their smiles were genuine. Watching his friend trudge back to the elevators, Cloud wondered if Zack knowing him did more harm than good.

"Zack!" He called out, jogging slightly to catch up. Zack half-turned to him, looking way too downtrodden and tired. Cloud took a moment to get his words in order, which (bless his soul) Zack was both used to and okay with. Cloud wet his lips nervously, "Do you maybe wanna do something tonight? Just the two of us?"

"Really?" Zack asked, eyes wider and brighter than Cloud had seen them in a long time.

"Really," Cloud laughed, "I miss you."

There was a beat of silence wherein Zack's mouth opened and closed (a rare moment of speechlessness) until he gave a wide Cloud a grin, "Alright! I miss you too buddy."

In an effort to ensure Zack's mood would stay high, Cloud sighed and did something he'd normally never do. He was vividly aware of the people around them as he leapt onto Zack and did his best rendition of a Fair-Bear hug (a fantastic term he first heard at Kunsel's birthday party). Then, in his own characteristic move, Cloud booked it the hell out of there.

It had lasted two seconds at best, and though Zack's physical reflexes were great his emotional reflexes were not. He stood blinking before returning to his trademark smile, only a little affected by the blatant warmth and affection in his eyes.

Then it turned to horror.

"I'M LATE I'M LATE I'M LATE," He chanted as he flew up the stairwell, hoping running up a ton of floors would be faster than the elevators. He burst into the conference room, completely ignoring the sputtering secretary behind him, and immediately saluted.

Thankfully, the briefing only called for Angeal and two other staff members. Angeal sighed, "Sit down Zack."

Zack sat down.

One of the other men – some guy Zack had never seen before in his life – cleared his throat and continued the briefing, occasionally clicking a small pad in his hand to switch pictures on the screen. It was a cookie-cutter safety patrol in a forest far south. A couple of times he tried to catch Angeal's eye, hoping this ex-mentor might show some emotion.

Before he knew it they were all shaking hands, and he was trying like hell to figure out what Angeal was thinking. Then, they were suddenly alone.

"Is it too much for you?" Angeal's gruff voice reverberated in the small room.

Zack stared at him for a second, not quite sure what his ex-mentor was asking him. Last night maybe? Had he made up Cloud but actually kissed Angeal? Zack was about to reassure him that, no, it wasn't too much but, yes, he needed to talk this out before they decided anything but Angeal spoke first.

"I think you can do it. You're good with the cadets, and with one Second to help you along, it should be a great training exercise. If you wanted, you could teach after proving yourself with routine missions like this one."

Zack's thoughts halted in their tracks, "Oh…Yeah. Sounds good."

Angeal frowned, "Zack, are you alright? You've seemed distracted since you walked in late. Did you not sleep well?"

An unchecked chuckle escaped him, "Yeah. Must've had too much sugar or something. I gotta go. See you, 'Geal."

Maybe it was something in his tone, or in his body language, that pissed the older man off. For as long as he'd known Angeal, he'd never opted out of saying goodbye.

"Good cover," someone whispered into his ear. Flinching back, Cloud took in the visage of a guy he didn't know. But that voice, "Maya? I told you not to-"

She aggressively shushed him, index finger in front of her mouth and hand on a hip. The gesture on the poor soul she'd chosen to emulate, both large and masculine, looked comical.

"Are you ok?" She asked, eyes gleaming in sympathy, "I know you don't like lying to him." She followed Cloud up the stairs, unbothered by his lack of attention and response, "I mean, maybe you should be focusing on the esuna thing. The faster we change me back the faster you get rid of me."

Cloud sighed, grasping the esuna Maya had stolen for him weeks ago in my pocket, "Still don't know how. It's not like they teach cadets how to use materia, and there aren't any workshops or whatever-"

"You can't find someone else to do it?"

To his credit, Cloud did not show his flash of irritation, "You never told me it could be someone else."

Maya's eyes widened, "Oh. Well. Keep in mind that I'll probably go back to my original form immediately. That'll be tricky to work around. Does that info make it easier, though?"

"Not really," Cloud grunted. There were only a few people he knew that could cast, and all of them were pretty damn suspicious of him at the moment. What's more, they'd need a distraction right after casting to ensure anonymity. How the hell could they pull that off?

"For Gaia's sake," A new voice chimed in, laden with exasperation and disappointment, "You? You get picked to save us all. Fantastic."

Maya and Cloud both sprang apart, wildly looking in every direction for the speaker.

"Down here geniuses."

At Cloud's feet was a sleek, black cat with piercing yellow eyes.

"Uh…Kitty?" Maya asked uncertainly, "Did you just talk?"

"Children. Both of you. Perfect," the cat groaned, muttering more unpleasantries under its breath.

"Do you want something?" Cloud half-demanded, "Otherwise you can be on your way."

The cat's back raised and it hissed, "Is that anyway to treat a god, mountain boy? Or did all those years of snow permanently shut down your brain?"

"Usually Gods aren't this rude when they want things from me," Cloud retorted.

"Okay, okay," Maya interceded with arms raised between them, "Maybe it would be better to actually introduce ourselves, and ask her what she wants?"

"I already know who you two are," the cat said while licking a paw, "and more importantly, I can do something to help you with your…situation."

"Can I get a name, maybe?" Cloud dryly asked.

"Bast, idiot. Did you already forget what Minerva told you? I swear this world is going to end if we're putting our hopes on you."

"You barely know me!" Cloud yelled, temper rising swiftly.

"I know enough!" Bast bantered back.

"Guys!" Maya whisper-yelled, "You might wanna stop. We're getting some looks."

Cloud glanced up to catch a few cadets awkwardly glancing away and took a deep breath, "Yeah, sorry. Let's go talk about this somewhere else. I just need to know one thing before we move forward."

"What?" Bast sassed, "Do you want to make cookies and hug your friends and read books all day? Too bad. I'm not Glybie or Carpo. I have actual important things to do that may impact the future of this planet."

Cloud gritted his teeth, "And what would that be?"

Bast's eyes glinted mischievously, "A rescue mission."

"For who?" Cloud asked, crossing his arms.

"Not telling," She chuckled, "but I need you and you need me. Is this a deal or do you want no-face over here to spend the rest of eternity as ugly men?"

"Fine," Cloud relented, seeing Maya's offended expression from his peripheral vision, "it's a deal."

Genesis sneezed.

"Go home," Angeal implored from across the desk. He sighed as the stubborn man tilted up his chin in silent refusal.

"You're sick," Angeal tried again, setting down his pen with a small tap, "and you need to go to bed."

"Soldiers don't get sick," Genesis defended, hitting the back of his head against the high-backed chair.

"You know what Hollander recommends. Do you remember what happened last time you ignored the symptoms? Do you want to be on bed rest for a month?"

Genesis scoffed, "I was fine yesterday. I'll be fine tomorrow."

Angeal took in Genesis' reddened eyes, the ashy complexion that likened him to a much older man, and the dower mood that dampened his smirk into a frown. The red-haired commander had been playing chicken with his "inexplicable" on-and-off again disease for a long time, yet it had been recurring far more often as time passed. Dr. Hollander was still unable to determine the cause, and all they could do was treat symptoms until those inevitably became ineffective. It was no time for Genesis to be stubborn.

"Gen," Angeal pleaded, "For me."

Genesis made no move to respond.

"I'll tell you a secret if you go rest."

Genesis' head tilted forward, narrowed eyes meeting Angeal's in interest, "What kind of secret?"

"The kind that I would like to tell no one for as long as I live."

Genesis snapped his body forward, leaning into the desk eagerly, "What is it?"

"Promise first."

The red-haired man groaned, "Yes, Father. I will retire to my chamber for bedrest. Now tell me."

Angeal shifted in his chair before taking a deep breath, "When was the last time we broke up?"

Genesis took a moment to respond by counting time absentmindedly on his fingers, "One, one and a half? Yeah. A year and a half ago. Why?"

"I kissed someone last night."

"You…" Genesis began, likewise shifting in his seat, "You kissed someone? Who? When?"

"Last night."

"Well, yes. I know you said last night, but you spent most of it with us. The only time you were out of my sight was –"

Angeal pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yes. I know."

"The puppy. Really, Angeal?"

It was quiet between them. The length of the desk between them felt like the strain on their relationship, like their fickle-flame attempts to find solace in one another for the past few years. Like those summer nights in Banora, with the stars and the future ahead of them. All of it in the past.

"Are you two an item now?" Genesis broke the silence, casually crossing a leg and leaning back. The show of bravado made Angeal wonder if his friend had intended on trying their relationship once more, despite both admitting that it always lacked something.

"No. We had a briefing his morning and he was late, as usual, but extremely quiet. When I asked if what had happened last night was too much for him he looked confused and uncomfortable. He wanted nothing to do with me, Gen. He's pretending it never happened."

"Do you want that?" Genesis asked indifferently, brushing imaginary fluff off his pristine red coat.

Angeal pursed his lips, "I don't know. Does it matter? He obviously doesn't."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"So that you'll go to bed."

"No," Genesis rose to lean on the desk, arms crossed, "You didn't have to tell me this. I'm not an idiot, Angeal. You want my opinion or my permission, I'm sure."

The burly first scoffed, coming to his feet and rounding the barrier between them, "Of course I want your opinion. You're my most trusted friend. Permission is invalid. Zack doesn't want anything to do with me."

"He's in love with you and we both know it."

Angeal nursed his bottom lip in consideration. Was it possible for romantic affection to spring from a mentorship? More importantly, did he care for him in that way too?

"You're in love with him too."

Angeal opened his mouth to deny the claim, but Genesis help up a hand and continued, "But you're also probably still in love with me. And I've got a thing for you and Seph and maybe Cloud. And Seph wants me, as we both know, plus is near infatuated with Cloud. And Cloud seems to have a high-level bromance with Zack who chased the cat that killed the rat that lay in the house that Shinra built!"

Genesis rubbed his eyes, "In closing, the five of us are in one gigantic mess and while I'd love to sit down and write the next hit drama on it, I've got a cold that I need to recover from. Actually, here," Genesis pulled two tickets from his jacket pocket, "This is for tomorrow afternoon. I won't be able to go anymore, so invite your puppy and clear things up with him."

Angeal took them gingerly. The tickets were for a music and dining event hosted at a local café Genesis liked to haunt. A very upscale café.

"Gen, as nice as this is I'd rather not make a scene with Zack's eating habits. You know how he is. Thank you for the sentiment."

Genesis looked at him as if he'd gone insane, "Surely you're aware he only behaves like that for attention right? He knows how to eat normally. Before you disagree, answer me this: Have you ever actually taken him somewhere nice?"

"No, but-"

"Then how could you know?" Genesis coolly quipped, taking care to close Angeal's door slowly behind him as he did so. The speechless face on his childhood friend was more than enough to name his day successful.

"No! You can't come with me. That's final!"

"I don't understand what could be so important. The world is at stake! We need to go over the plan for tomorrow," Bast insisted, pacing alongside Cloud.

"I have things to do tonight and I want to go alone," He explained, resisting the rising urge to punt the ancient cat god across the library.

"Like what?!" Bast screeched, cutting off his pacing path again.

"He has to see his boooyyyyfrieeennd," Maya chimed from the blue couch, one of Genesis' magazines in hand. If Cloud wasn't so irritated he would've chuckled at the phrase coming out of a clean-cut, no nonsense yet handsome businessman she'd chosen to imitate after Bast's "ugly man" comment.

"Will you two quit it?!" Cloud demanded, picking up his backpack with overnight clothes and beer he'd purchased prior to this never-ending meeting, "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Not yeeettt," Maya chimed girlishly behind him. Cloud rolled his eyes and left the library, hoping that Bast wouldn't follow him to Zack's place. They'd (somewhat) planned out how and when the esuna would be casted, and now all they could do was wait. Bast had promised to create an ample distraction. How? She wouldn't tell him. Whatever.

He did his best to cool down as he made his way to Zack's, unwilling to compromise their fragile friendship with a bad mood.

"Spike!" Zack greeted half a second after he knocked, "How are ya'?! Already called the pizza. Should be here in 15-ish minutes."

Cloud sputtered to get a word edgewise, used to hyper Zack but trying like hell just to say a greeting in return, "Nice to see you too. Can I put this in your fridge? It's warm and I doubt you'll want to drink it that way."

The older man agreed, taking the pack of beer from Cloud's hands and walking off into the kitchen, "I set out three movies and two games. You pick!"

Cloud grinned as he glanced over the choices on the beat-up coffee table, "Soul Caliber V? Do you wanna get your ass beat again, Fair?"

Zack wandered in with a bag of chips, "Oi, listen here Strife. You're gonna put that disc in and lament your imminent death. It's on, Chocobo."

"Lament my imminent death?" the blond scoffed, "someone's been hanging around Gen a little too much."

"He's a drama queen, but he's got some good lines," Zack chuckled, waiting for the stage to load.

"Zack."

"Hm?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Cloud deadpanned as the announcer spoke "Battle One. Fight!"

Zack got in a few combos before he noticed Cloud's character wasn't moving, "Spike you gotta at least try."

A couch pillow hit him square in the face, "Then give me a controller you moron!"

The night passed by fast, and as usual, the living room was a mess by the end of the second movie. Cloud sighed happily on the floor, full of pizza and maybe a little too much beer. Zack, in a similar position, gave a responding hum beside him.

"Whoa," he said suddenly, "Do you think it's gonna rain?"

Cloud lazily opened his eyes to look upside-down at Zack's window. Light storm clouds were moving in fast and he could feel a chill wind though the open pane, "Maybe…Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"What was up with you yesterday?"

Zack loudly inhaled before letting out an extremely helpful, "Uhh….I don't know."

Cloud scooted closer to him, "Liar."

The first opened his eyes to Cloud propped up beside him, hovering for an answer. He thought of one. "I'm just frustrated. As much as I love all of ya', I don't know how I feel about Seph wanting to date you or Genesis dragging you to lunch or you and Angeal having a garden or whatever."

"Are you jealous?" Cloud gently inquired.

Surprisingly, Zack didn't immediately say no and crack a joke to change the topic, which was what he wanted to do. He sat with the notion for a moment instead, "Huh. Maybe, yeah."

"Of who?"

"All of you, maybe?"

The light of the TV flickered as it switched to the movie's (thankfully) silent main menu. Cloud continued, "Why?"

"It's hard to say," Zack confessed, bright eyes scanning over Cloud's features intently, "But last night made it even harder." He propped himself up on an elbow too, matching Cloud and meeting his gaze, "I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking about that dream. You kissed me in it. Dumb right? Probably cause you were fake hitting on me that same day."

"Was it…good?" Cloud asked the most nonchalantly he could, picking at the beige carpet to keep his hand busy.

Zack clicked his tongue, "It was too quick to really be anything. It was barely a kiss, actually, but for some reason it was a big deal because it was you, you know?"

Cloud stayed quiet, unsure what to say next.

"It's weird," Zack muttered, coming closer to Cloud, "I'm almost positive now that it couldn't have been you, but it still felt real. Uhg. Never drinking like that again. I can't believe I made up kissing you. You'd think I would've made it way better than a peck," he joked.

Maybe it was the beer, or maybe it was Maya's leering words, but something drove Cloud to take a leap for the second time that day. He shifted even closer to his friend, regretting his words before he even said them.

"Do you want to try it for comparison?"

Zack grinned at him until he realized it wasn't a joke, features slowly morphing into soft consideration, "Be careful there Spike. I might actually do it."

Cloud held his gaze, "Do it."

When their lips met, Zack knew without question that he had not kissed Cloud the night before. They parted, both tingling from the contact, before Zack guided Cloud into a laying position and cradled the back of his head, "Again?" He asked, slightly breathless.

"Again," Cloud affirmed, taking charge and dragging the first down to him. They kissed until Cloud decided to up the ante, pushing past the seam of Zack's lips and receiving a groan from the action.

"Wait," Zack breathed, pulling apart from Cloud a mere inch, "I need to know two things before we decide to keep going."

"What?," Cloud demanded impatiently, "And also, who says I was going to keep going?"

Zack chuckled at the mischievous tone, "Seriously, Spike."

"Okay, okay," Cloud relented, pulling back and sitting cross-legged on the floor, "What is it?"

"You told me to trust you a while back. You know, when you were lying about being places and going out at weird times?"

Cloud sighed a little, "Yeah. What about it?"

"I can't help but feel like something big is going on and you're right in the middle of it. I don't know what it is, and I understand you can't tell me, but can you at least promise me that 1. You aren't a terrorist and 2. You'll ask me for help if you need it?"

Cloud blinked at him, "You think I'm a terrorist?"

"No!" Zack made a odd noise that Cloud took as exasperation, "The others were worried you might be. They kept seeing a Cloud clone in town when you were actually here and some other weird stuff. I know you aren't, and I'm sure they know you aren't, but we're trained to be suspicious about everyfuckingthing, you know?"

"I'm not a terrorist, Zack," the cadet laughed, "I can barely shoot a gun. How the hell could I be a terrorist? You might want to tell the others that too. Not the gun part, please, but the not being a terrorist part would be cool."

Zack peered at him, "You're not mad?"

"I'm not mad," Cloud laughed. It was actually kind of a compliment. Even if he was a shitty cadet, he still managed to make the top of SOLDIER suspicious and cautious. Who else in his squad could boast that achievement?

"Okay, good. And you'll ask for my help if you need it?!"

Cloud rolled his eyes, "If I can."

"Okay," he smiled, leaning in for another kiss before halting, "wait, one more question!"

With a yell of frustration Cloud threw up his hands, "Literally so much time has passed since we stopped kissing that I don't know if I want to do it anymore!"

"Will you stop being dramatic? I was gonna ask if you wanna go out sometime this week? I have a mission at the end of it, so I might not see you for a while."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"….Maybe a little?"

Zack made a noise of surprise as Cloud pressed up against him again, lips connecting as if they never left. He went with it for a few seconds before pulling back, "Wait does that mean yes?"

Cloud reached for the couch pillow and proceeded to beat him with it, "What do you think it means?!"

"Ahg! Fuck- okay!"

Angeal fidgeted with his silverware as he tried to quell the anxiety welling in his stomach. He'd taken Genesis' advice and invited Zack to a late lunch at the upscale café, and surprisingly, Zack had been excited. To avoid choosing inappropriate clothing Angeal had asked Zack what he was going to wear, to which Zack had responded, "Fancy clothes, but not too fancy. Duh."

Duh indeed. Angeal had chosen one of his nicer black blazers over a deep green button down. He hoped his ex-student would show up with something similar.

"Hey 'Geal," A familiar voice rang. He glanced up to see that Zack had worn a more casual version of his own outfit: A dark purple button down with a more flexible blazer, sleeves casually scrunched up to his elbows.

"Hello," Angeal responded while gesturing Zack to sit, "You clean up quite well, Soldier."

"Yes Sir, thank you Sir," Zack laughed, then turned his attention to their surroundings, "Nice place, huh?."

Angeal hummed in agreement, "Well, Genesis comes here often. No doubt the quality of the food will match the décor."

"Fancy but tasty?" Zack ventured a guess.

"Absolutely."

They'd just started looking at their menu when the waiter, a pleasant older gentleman with twinkling eyes and a huge mustache came by to read them the specials.

"Could we do the escargot appetizer? I'll also have a Midgar up with bourbon please."

Angeal took a second to register that Zack Fair, his puppy, had ordered snails and a complex cocktail instead of the fried calamari and local beer that was on the menu.

The waiter cleared his throat, "And you, Sir?"

"An old fashioned for me, thanks."

Angeal waited until the waiter was out of earshot before turning to Zack, "Did you just order snails?"

Zack blinked, "Yeah. I heard they're good here. Honestly, I don't think they'll be better than Evangeline further downtown, but it's worth trying."

He must've made an odd face after that. Zack clasped a hand on his mouth and barely smothered a guffaw, "Oh man. I got you good! Nah, I've never tried them before."

Angeal smiled, he should've known his ex-student would tease him a little. He responded, "I like it, but not as much as Seph does. Fun fact: Gen actually hates them."

The next hour flew by, drinks were refilled and food was brought by ninja waiters while he and Zack chatted about their friends enthusiastically. He waited for the right time to segway into an apology and explanation over their intimate moment, but the moment never came. He noticed the way his ex-student's eyes lit up whenever he ate something particularly delicious, at times putting his fork down to stare at Angeal in awe. Despite that, Zack was, dare he say it, quite graceful and charming throughout the entire meal.

As dessert landed in front of Zack (something called and opera cake, which had careful layers of espresso, chocolate, and crème), Angeal couldn't stop the rush of affection that sprang from his student's reaction.

"Angeal," Zack stagewhispered, "My cake has gold on top of it."

The older man chuckled, shoving down a flirtatious remark he wanted to say, before diving his fork into the cake with gusto, "If you don't like it, I'll eat it."

"NO ANGEAL!" Zack near-screeched, catching the attention of a couple of tables surrounding them. He cringed before furiously whispering, "You get your own!"

By the time he and Zack parted ways, belies full of good food and mouths sore from smiling too much, Angeal's quiet suspicion had been undeniably proven. His ex-student gave him a trademark Zack hug, but it lasted much too long and became way too gentle. He hadn't the strength to push away, and sure enough, Zack had suddenly backpedaled out of the embrace and turned to leave with a two-finger salute.

Angeal would've returned the gesture if he hadn't suddenly realized the whole night had felt like a date. He would've started walking home too if he hadn't realized he wanted more than a hug goodnight from his ex-student. Angeal began to absentmindedly wander down the street, going absolutely nowhere. He would've cared if he hadn't realized he was in love.

"Are you fucking kidding me," Zack asked the sky as he trudged into HQ, phone in hand and an urgent message open. The mission he'd just been briefed on had changed. The "problem nest" of creatures in the forest had gotten to one of the local children earlier that day. The village, in near-hysterics apparently, demanded someone be sent out immediately.

"Of all the luck," Zack sighed, sending the update to Angeal alongside a thank you for the evening out. He blew air through his lips while he waited for Cloud to answer his phone. By the second attempt, Zack had booked it to the blond's bunk. He had exactly 30 minutes to get his shit and get on the helicopter, but there was no way he'd leave without saying goodbye to his….boyfriend?

Zack's cheeks heated a bit at the thought, waltzing into the bunk and searching for spiky hair. Nothing.

He went to the library.

Nothing.

He went to Angeal's garden.

Nothing.

Just as he was about to turn tail and book it to the meetup point, he noticed a flash of gold in his peripheral vision. Cloud was in one of the outdoor courtyards, and he was talking to Kunsel?

Zack pushed open the doors, ready to yell and get his chocobo's attention, when he noticed Cloud giving Kunsel materia (how did Cloud have materia?!) and keel on the grass to support the….unconcious body on the ground.

He was about to rush over and offer assistance when Kunsel cast the spell, white tendrils weaving around the unconscious cadet's body. Wait, was the body changing? Kunsel yelled in surprise, and Zack didn't know what to do as a black cat propelled itself into the second class' face. When it landed, he noticed it had an empty potion vial cradled in its mouth. Kunsel fell to the ground.

"What the hell did you do?!" Cloud screeched in alarm…at the cat? Zack stared blankly at the body of the once unconscious cadet, who had transformed into a small tan girl with black hair as long as she was tall. His eyes then shifted to his unconscious friend.

"Sleeping potion. He's fine. It'll wear off in a couple of hours," someone said. Zack frowned as he noticed the girl hadn't said a word, yet the voice had been feminine. There was no one else in the courtyard. Where had the voice come from?

"A couple of hours," a pissed off Cloud repeated, "great! How the hell am I going to explain this to him when he wakes up?"

"Think of something!" The voice sassed. Zack followed Cloud's line of sight to the angry-looking cat.

"No fucking way," the first muttered under his breath.

"I can't pull all the weight on this team!" THE CAT SAID.

Zack felt his heart racing and tried hard to calm his mind down. Had he drank too much again? Was the gold on that cake he ate actually a drug?

"Who cares!" the human girl chimed, "I'm finally me again! Thank you thank you thank you Cloud! You're the best human a goddess could ask for!"

Zack's head was a mess of question marks as he diverted his attention. How? Who? Fucking HOW? He closed his eyes to gather his thoughts for exactly 3 seconds before looking back up.

They were gone. The cat, Cloud, the girl, and the unconscious Kunsel. How the fuck had they done that?

He dug the palms of his hands into his eyes, hoping they'd reappear, before giving up looking at this phone.

He had two minutes to get to the meetup point.

Part of him wanted to not show up at all – to scour every knook and cranny of HQ until he found Cloud and the cat the made sure Kunsel wasn't fucking dead – but part of him also knew doing so would cause suspicion from all kinds of people. Especially Angeal, who'd want an explanation for blowing off an urgent call to the field. He couldn't risk putting Cloud in the spotlight.

He boarded the helicopter three minutes later.

"I'd fucking give anything not to be leaving right now," Zack complained to Reno, who'd been tasked with the helicopter for the first time ("I won't crash, yo!").

"I bet," Reno laughed, "Don't worry, I'll make the ride there…interesting."

"Oh god please don't," Zack pleaded, "I've had a hard night already."

Reno glanced back curiously, "What? Strife keeping shit from you again?"

Zack sighed, "I guess. There is one thing I found out today, though."

"What's that?"

"He's definitely not a terrorist."

A/N: This chapter almost made me discontinue the story, but I have perservered! I didn't intend to go this long without updating, so apologies for that. Life happens. Please let me know if any of you out there in the internet world still want to read more. I'll do my absolute best to get these updates out faster and in better quality!

Love you all,

RMB