--

Zack looks up, a lot of different emotions running behind his eyes. I see him blink, and swallow; I've never seen him look like this before. It must be her; the girl Zack's in love with.

I turn slowly, knowing who it is but still not believing it until I see her.

"Hey, Tifa…Zack…"

He swallows, "Shera…?"

--

Saturday 10:37 PM

I stand there, caught in turmoil of emotions, looking from Zack to Shera, then back again. I am so damn confused.

"Shera," I almost have a disbelieving laugh to my voice, "You know Zack?"

Shera gives her sweet smile, "Yeah…we grew up together. Been awhile, hasn't it, Zack?"

Zack isn't saying anything. For once, he's speechless which is quite the shocker. He numbly nods his head to answer Shera's question, but I still have so many for both of them. One being why Shera didn't tell me she knew Zack; she knew I'd been hanging out with him a lot lately.

"So…" Shera says slowly.

Yeah, that was definitely an awkward silence.

There's a lot of feeling coming from both of them. Zack, I can tell he's at a loss of what to do because he obviously wasn't expecting to see Shera, and if he was, he probably didn't figure for her searching him out. Shera, while I can tell Shera cares about him (she is one of my best friends) I know she loves Cid with all her heart…but it's obvious she holds a special place for Zack.

"Where are you heading for college, Zack? I never heard…"

He never told her. She never asked him because I can already tell these two don't talk as much as they'd like. I wander if it has something to do with Cid?

"Uh…Gongaga U. Have…"

"No, I haven't made a decision yet."

I want to ask her where Cid is, because I have this feeling that he's a big reason for the gap in their relationship. I feel out of place, awkward, and almost trespassing on this sacred moment. I should walk away.

But I can't, because I can't abandon Zack here.

I sigh inwardly.

"Shera, what're you doing over here?" It's Cid's gruff voice.

I see Shera twitch, and Zack stiffens considerably. God, I hope he doesn't lash out at Cid and try and beat him up. Cid's my friend too, for all the rough edges he has.

"Sorry, Cid. I saw Tifa…and Zack; you were in the bathroom so I stepped over here to talk to them for a bit," Shera smiles.

The tension is suffocating to the point of insanity, and Zack still hasn't taken his eyes off of Cid. We need to leave.

"Cid…"

"Zack…"

I grasp on to Zack's arm, and he flinches, caught off guard. Cid's eyebrow rises.

"Come on Zack, let's go dance. It was good seeing you two again," I say, pulling Zack away from the two.

I don't think it was the confrontation either Zack or Cid wanted. I think they were going for more of words and fists than walking away, but I'm not about to see a fight break out between these two.

I slowly tug Zack away; he's reluctant to leave, but I somehow get him out to the dance floor. I put his hands on my waist, and put my hands on his shoulders. This seems to wake him up a bit.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, thanks," his voice is still distant, though.

Zack lips press together, glancing over his shoulder towards where we were. Cid and Shera are already gone, and he sighs, frustrated.

"That's okay—

"She knows how I feel about him…"

I blink, "Sorry, what?"

Zack sighs again, meeting my eyes, "She knows I don't like him…it doesn't matter how I feel about her, the fact of the matter is that he doesn't deserve her."

"Zack…"

"He says he loves her but I sure as hell don't believe that. I don't know what to believe."

"He's my friend, too, Zack. I know it's hard to believe but he isn't that bad."

"Yes, yes he is. He's terrible. He doesn't know how to be in a relationship, and he keeps me and Shera apart even as friends."

"He can probably see—

"Yeah, he knows…" Zack mutters to the side, "Distract me."

"What?"

"Distract me…I don't want to think about them anymore at all. I never want to think about that again."

I swallow, "Um, okay."

I need a topic…oh, here we go.

"I'm going to Midgar," I say.

"When?" Zack asks, his eyes darting around.

He's still distracted.

"Um…for college."

Zack freezes, our already slow dancing halting. He looks down at me with wide eyes actually there for the first time in the past five minutes.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah," I breathe, "I'm going to Midgar University…for biology. You're the first person I've told, so don't tell anyone—

"You haven't told Cloud?"

I shake my head guiltily.

"So he still thinks you're going to Corel with him and Aerith?" Zack asks, Shera out of mind for the moment.

"I never agreed to that," I say, shaking my head, "I never said I wanted to go to Corel with them."

Zack's looking around wildly, "But Midgar…is like a whole other continent. I mean…the tuition—

"I got a really good scholarship there—

"And just the traveling between…" he stops, "Are you coming back to Nibelheim? Not even for holidays or stuff like that?" he asks, his voice soft.

I feel my throat tighten, "No…probably not," I say quickly, "My dad went to Midgar in January. He's already got an apartment and a job lined up for me in July."

Zack's hands fall from my waist, "So…"

"I can't afford to travel between continents that much, Zack. You know that…and D-dad's company is moving to Midgar in two years anyways…so he'll be down there and—

"You haven't told Cloud?"

I close my eyes in pain, "No, Zack…I haven't told Cloud—

"Cause you have to tell him eventually. You can't just leave," he puts his face in his hands, "God thanks for distracting me."

"Zack, I'm sorry," I put a hand on his back, "I know it seems sudden, but I've been planning this for a long time."

"No one goes to Midgar! It's too far, and too expensive. How are you going to manage there without your friends?"

"I'll be fine, Zack. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, but…"

"Zack," I cut him off.

He looks up at me, forcing a sad smile, "Yeah…alright," he throws his arm around my shoulders, "So, biology huh?" he says, trying to lighten the moment.

"Yeah," I smile, "biology."

Saturday 11:45 PM

"Zack, this is Aerith…Aerith, Zack," I've pulled Zack over for introductions.

Aerith hasn't had the pleasure of meeting him yet. They both smile at each other as I introduce them. They both respond easily; Zack and Aerith have both got the personalities where it's easy to make friends with anyone. I leave them to their own devices when I spot Cloud sitting at the table.

"Hey," I sit down beside of him.

He offers a weak smile, "Zack's flirting with Aerith."

I glance over before laughing, "And Aerith's flirting with Zack. They should be good friends."

"I swear it's amazing how they don't realize what they do to other people," Cloud's voice is light.

I laugh again, "Yeah…they're a pair, that's for sure," I turn my attention to him, "So, how are you?"

"Pretty good…entertained."

I grin, but a bit of guilt is weighing on my words from my conversation with Zack earlier, "Have you seen Cid or Shera?"

"Not for a while. Why?"

"No reason, just curious."

He smiles, "Yuffie got Vincent to dance…that was entertaining."

I laugh, "I bet so…wish I could've seen it."

"Well, if you hadn't disappeared…where'd you go off to, anyways?"

"Ah, just went and found Zack," I gesture towards him.

He's still talking with Aerith easily.

"I wonder who'll stop talking first…Zack or Aerith?"

"It'll be a tie," I say, grinning at him again, "We need to go soon…prom's almost over."

"Yeah…you get to see everyone you wanted to?"

"Let's see…Aerith, Zack, Shera, Cid, Yuffie, Vincent, Reno, Rude, Tseng, Elena, Barret, Jessie, Biggs, Wedge…I think that covers everyone important…"

"What, you didn't want to see me?"

"I thought you were just my driver."

"Ouch, thanks."

I laugh, and Cloud grins.

"Hey, you didn't deny it. So, what're we going to do after this? I know Aerith and Tseng and that group is going to movies at Tseng's house…but I don't really feel like movies…what about you?" I ask.

"I have an idea."

Saturday 12:32 AM

"Cloud," I grin as we get out of the car.

"What?" he asks, still sitting in the driver's seat.

I just grin at him over my shoulder before walking barefoot out into the center of the football field. Stargazing, it's been awhile.

"Hey, wait up a second…" Cloud calls.

I glance over my shoulder. Both of the doors to his car is open, and the lights are on. He's leaning across the driver's seat and I can hear him surfing through radio stations.

"What're you doing?" I ask, walking back towards the car.

"…dance…"

"What?" I ask.

His head pops out of the car, "I said, we didn't get to dance at the prom. Every time there was a song, you weren't there."

"Aw, Cloud…you want to dance with me."

He flushes, "Well, you are my prom date. I don't think it'd seem right," he goes back to radio surfing.

"What kind of song are you looking for?"

"I'll know it—Ah…here we go," he turns the volume up, "Ultimate cheese."

"Oh, you got our prom dance song as cheesy? Thanks Cloud," spinning around in a circle, bored, starring up at the sky.

I hear soft guitar music, and I pause from my little dance.

"Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick, and think of you. Caught up in circles of confusion is nothing new."

My jaw drops and I look towards Cloud, "This is not a cheesy song! It's sweet! And beautiful! You're such a guy!"

"Flashback – warm nights almost left behind. Suitcase of memories, time after sometime—

Cloud smirks from his position at his car, staring at me.

"Well come on if you want to dance, the song will be over before you get out here!"

He laughs.

"Sometimes you picture me—I'm walking too far ahead. You're calling to me, I can't hear what you've said. Then you say, go slow—I fall behind. The second hand unwinds."

He takes up my hands, and I grin up at him, "Thanks for this."

He smiles again.

"If you're lost you can look and you will find me, Time after time. If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting Time after Time."

A while back I would've thought this song fits us perfectly, because I always said I'd be there for Cloud. We made a promise, or Cloud promised me he'd never leave me.

Now, I should be so happy right now that he cared enough to want to dance with me…but, I can't because I know I'm going to leave him.

"After my picture fades and darkness has turned to gray…watching through windows – you're wondering if I'm ok. Secrets stolen from deep inside, the drum beats out of time—

I'm going to Midgar, and Cloud isn't. I don't know when I'll see him again after this summer.

It hurts, but I think I'll be okay. I've been looking for a way to escape for a long time, and Cloud should be fine, he'll have Aerith.

"If you're lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time."

Cloud smiles down at me; I can't tell him now, though, I don't want to ruin this moment.

"If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting, time after time."

We made a promise, and I can't keep it. I won't be here, I won't be with him.

"If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time.

Time After Time."

A/N: TRAGIC Time after Time, Eva Cassidy. Most beautiful song evah...or at least one of them..