To The Morrow, For the Past

Chapter 21 – A New Home

Days turned in to weeks, and they were no closer to an answer. Luckily, Hojo seemed to have decided to leave Cloud alone for the time being, for which they were all glad. The official report actually said that they'd rescued the scientist. They didn't let their guard down, however, even when they joined together in Zack's room for another movie night.

To Cloud, it seemed a frivolous waste of time, but Zack had insisted that it would be good for him, and that he needed some downtime. There was merit in that idea, Cloud had to admit, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

Zack had chosen some sappy love story that really didn't seem like the sort of thing that Zack would watch, but they watched it anyway and Cloud couldn't help but wonder if this was Zack's way of trying to manipulate him into a relationship with Sephiroth. The man really seemed to want that to happen, and Cloud couldn't figure out why.

Still, it wasn't a bad evening. Cloud had finally relaxed and let his troubles fall to the back of his mind for a while. He found himself drifting off to sleep about half way through the movie, and for once, he let himself trust in his friends back up to let himself go, falling into a dreamless slumber.

– – – – – –

It wasn't often that Cloud was actually called up to Sephiroth's office. Usually he just barged his way in whenever he needed to talk to Sephiroth. For some reason, the man was always there and Cloud had to wonder why he had so much paperwork when he wasn't even the official director of SOLDIER. Surely he shouldn't have that much? Cloud didn't have any outside of mission reports, and he was only one rank behind Sephiroth. He also knew for a fact that Zack never had any paperwork.

He was brought out of his musings by his arrival at Sephiroth's door. He let himself in – he'd never bothered knocking before, why start now – and was surprised to find that Sephiroth wasn't alone.

Sitting in one of the chairs was a familiar small form. Zeke peered up from his hat with a grin and a wave. "Hello." He greeted and Cloud scowled at him. Why was the boy here! He knew the risks and for him to enter the building...

"What's going on?" Suddenly, Cloud was in a very serious mood. Something must have happened for Zeke to be here.

"Don't be upset with him." Sephiroth said quietly, fishing around his desk for something. "I asked him here."

Cloud rounded on his friend, shocked and angry. Why would Sephiroth put his son at risk like that! He was shaking, fists balled at his side but before he could let his anger out at Sephiroth, a piece of paper was handed to him.

"Read."

For once, Cloud did as he was ordered without argument. The paper was a protection order. Zeke was officially under Sephiroth's protection, and... he had the backing of President Shinra?

"What does this mean?" Cloud had never really been good with legal documents. They were confusing and didn't say what they actually said. He'd never been great at reading between the lines.

"It means," Sephiroth took the page back and placed it securely in his desk, "That if any harm comes to Zeke, the entire Shinra military will back me up to apprehend whoever is responsible. And should he go missing, they will assist in his return."

Cloud blinked at Sephiroth, still not quite understanding. "What about-"

"Hojo is on the top of the list of suspects should something happen." Sephiroth assured Cloud, "And he knows it. He may be somewhat insane, but Hojo is not stupid. He won't strike against Zeke so long as the protection order is in place."

That... That meant that Zack could come and go from the plate as he pleased. That he would be protected from the science department, from Shinra. That meant that he could spend time with his son, without having to worry for his safety, or constantly keep an eye out for people that may have followed him. But why would Sephiroth do this? How?

"How did..." He was having difficulty putting his thoughts in to words. "How did you get the president to sign off on this?" He asked quietly. As far as the rest of the world knew, Zeke was a slum rat. He shouldn't have even registered on Sephiroth's radar, let alone get a protection order from the man.

"I told him to sign it." Sephiroth said with a shrug, "Or I would leave."

"That's.. just going to bring up questions..." Cloud pointed out, still in shock.

"He may have them. But he knows better than to ask them."

There would still be questions, and people upset with a lack of answers, but Cloud was somewhat used to that by now. He was still nervous, anxious, about having Zeke above the plate, but he realised that now, now he could watch over the boy properly. He could have his son with him. Where, Cloud wasn't entirely sure. His room wasn't exactly big enough for himself, Zack and Zeke.

But that was a small problem on the whole of things.

– – – – – – – – –

Thanks to Sephiroth, Cloud now had Zeke with him. It was how it was supposed to be. Cloud still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about what Sephiroth had done for him. He decided that grateful would be enough – his emotions were buggy at the best of times, best not complicate things any further.

The first thing he did upon leaving Sephiroth's office was find Zack. The man, predictably, was in the cafeteria. It was lunch time, and Cloud turned to Zeke. "Hungry?" He asked, leading the boy in to the room.

Technically, Zeke shouldn't be here. It was employees only, but as far as Cloud knew, he was actually the only one in SOLDIER with a child. Most people joined SOLDIER at fourteen or fifteen, and weren't usually parents.

So when Zeke followed Cloud in to the cafeteria, heads did turn, but they both ignored them in favour of getting food. It was only later that Cloud realised that the confused looks had been more about Zeke's lack of uniform than his age. The boy looked old enough to join the military after all. Once their trays were loaded (and Cloud had added a few extra spoonfuls of vegetables to Zeke's), they joined Zack at his usual table in the back.

"Zeke!" Zack's eyes widened and he looked at Cloud who gave a small nod and smile. The shock looked morphed in to a happy one and Zack quickly moved his seat around to make enough room for the boy to join them. "What brings you above the plate?"

"Sephiroth." Zeke muttered, shovelling food in to his mouth. "He ca-"

"Zack, don't eat with your mouth full." Again, the words were on autopilot. He wasn't surprised he'd said them this time, but he was surprised when he received twin apologies from both men at the table.

Zeke swallowed his mouth full and grinned at Zack, as if laughing at him being scolded. "Sephiroth called me up. Said he wanted to see me and picked me up from the train station. He took me to a fat man on the top of the tower,"

"That was President Shinra." Cloud told him, smirking a little at Zeke's description.

The boy paused and frowned, "That's Rufus's dad?" He asked, "He's not very pretty."

This time Cloud couldn't help the chuckle, "No. Rufus obviously got his looks from his mother." Cloud agreed, "So, Sephiroth took you to see the president..." He prompted.

"Oh, yeah. He made the president sign some papers and then brought me to his office and called you." He ate a few more mouth fulls, making sure to swallow before speaking again. "How old does Sephiroth think I am?" He asked curiously.

"Probably fourteen or fifteen. Why?" Zack answered, "How old are you?"

"Nine." Zack answered, swiping Zack's desert while the man was distracted by his surprise.

"Nine? No way. You're too..."

"Genetically enhanced?" Zeke offered, opening and consuming Zack's chocolate yoghurt. Cloud probably should have stopped him from stealing from their friend, but this was too amusing. He just sat back and watched the Zacks interact while slowly eating his own food.

"Right..." Zack eyed Zeke critically for a moment, before dismissing his thought. "I did want to ask you," He gestured to the boys face, "What's with the eyes? Weren't they green?"

"Contact lenses. Duh."

"Be nice Zeke." Cloud warned, "Contact lenses haven't been invented yet." They weren't around until quite recently in Cloud's time. People had apparently never thought of them, instead relying on glasses or even mako treatments.

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

Zack just shrugged at Zeke's apology, "So what's a contact lens?"

"It's a bit of plastic that I put in my eyes." Zeke told him, "It sits on top of the colour and changes it. I can wear them for up to a year before I have to take them out." He swiped some more of Zack's food and Zack retaliated by stealing Zeke's desert to replace his own. Zeke gave a squawk of protest but Zack simply leaned back on his chair and ate the yoghurt with a grin.

It was amazing to be able to see those two together so casually. Cloud had always known that if they'd had a chance to meet, they would get along, but seeing it in reality was... Cloud suddenly felt very happy. He almost missed Zeke's question.

"So what's it like be a hero?"

Shit. Cloud hadn't told Zeke not to tell Zack about his role in their future. It hadn't crossed his mind to, and Cloud hadn't told Zack any of it. Quite on purpose, but now, Zeke was going to open a whole new can of worms and Cloud couldn't stop it without raising even more questions.

"What do you mean? I'm not a hero..."

"Dad said that I was named after a hero." Zeke said, "And he called me Zack. You're the only Zack he knows, other than me. So you must be the hero."

Zack was bewildered and confused and he turned to look at Cloud for an explanation. This wasn't where or when he'd wanted to tell Zack but... "Zack Fair was my mentor." he said quietly, "He died, so that I could live." Suddenly, the packaging on his own desert was looking very interesting and he trained his eyes on it.

There was quiet for a moment, and Cloud knew that Zack would have questions – and would probably need some time to let his thoughts settle.

"See. Not me." Zack said, "Maybe the Zack Fair in your world, but I'm still alive!" Cloud looked up to his grinning friend with a soft smile of his own. "If you and Sephiroth are different people," Zack's voice had dropped in volume in case of eavesdroppers "Then that Zack and me must be different people too.."

Zeke nodded, understanding, "But you're still a hero." He told him definitively.

"How so?"

"You still saved dad. You listened to me when I said he was in Nibelheim, and you went." Zack took a moment to think about that, then turned to Cloud.

"What do you think Cloud, am I a hero?" He asked, a proud look on his face and Cloud couldn't help but laugh.

"Sure Zack." He said, "You can be my hero."

"Alright! Two people down, the rest of the world to go!" He put his fist in to the air and brought it down quickly, "You gotta embrace your dreams kid," He told Zeke, "Mine's to be a hero. What's yours?"

Zeke's brow furrowed as he took a moment to think about it. "Well... I used to want to learn how to use a sword..." He said, "But I learned that... And a gun... maybe I can learn how to use a staff next? Or a shuriken! Or maybe healing magic!"

Cloud chuckled again, his hand moving to ruffle Zeke's hair. "Maybe pick one thing at a time," He told him, amused at the thought that he'd been raised by warriors, of course he wanted to learn more fighting styles.

– – – – – – – – – –

The issue of sleeping arrangements had come up, and Zack had finally suggested that they all move in to his room. Cloud had protested at first, pointing out that if Zack would just go home and stop sleeping on his floor, there would be room in his room for both himself and Zeke.

But Zack had actually given Cloud a glare and a shake of the head. "No." He said, "I promised to protect you from Hojo. Can't do that if I'm on the other side of the building. And now, there's two of you to protect."

"I can look after myself," Zeke huffed, arms folding in front of his chest.

"Sorry kid, 'til you're at least fourteen, I'm gonna do my best to make sure you don't have to." Zack said to the boy, ruffling his hair.

So, they'd ended up packing Cloud's small number of possessions and moving to Zack's apartment. Zack had actually insisted that Cloud and Zeke take his room, and that he would have the couch. Again, Cloud tried to protest, and again, Zack had won the argument.

But their living arrangements didn't last long. A few days after Zeke and Cloud had moved in with Zack, Cloud got yet another summons to Sephiroth's office, this time, he was told to bring Zeke.

For the first time since Cloud had been in the past, he actually knocked on Sephiroth's door and waited patiently for the reply. He wasn't kept waiting long, the door soon opened to reveal Sephiroth's confused face. "Cloud," He stepped aside, "Zeke," He greeted them in turn, closing the door behind him. He was still wearing that puzzled look when he sat back behind his desk and Cloud smirked at him.

It was always fun to keep his friends on their toes.

"There is some paperwork that the President is insisting I fill out for Zeke." Sephiroth explained, pulling a few sheets of papers from the large pile on his desk. "I needed a few details..." He looked at Zeke, "How old are you?" He asked.

"Nine."

Cloud was half expecting Sephiroth to be surprised, but was also half suspecting he wouldn't be. If Zeke was so grown at nine, then surely Sephiroth had been too? Sephiroth just nodded and wrote down a note.

"Birth date?"

"21st January 09." Cloud answered out of habit. It was only when Sephiroth gave him an expectant look that he realised his mistake. "Right." He said, "That's not for another eight years..."

Sephiroth nodded slowly, writing on the pages again. "January 21st 1993." Cloud nodded, that sounded about right.

"He needs a birth certificate." Sephiroth explained, "The President is demanding one for the records. I need to know who to name as his parents." He looked at Cloud for a moment, "I can put down unknown. That would prevent a few questions, however you would lose any legal claim to him..."

Cloud thought about it for a moment, looking at Zeke. "What if you put unknown, and I officially adopt him later?" He asked, "I mean, I didn't bother last time, it didn't seem to matter..." The world had changed drastically and Zeke had simply been added to the records as Cloud's child. There were so many orphaned children, that official adoptions took a very long time.

"Technically you did kidnap me." Zeke pointed out.

Cloud stared at him for a moment before realising that the boy was correct. He laughed and nodded, "I suppose I did."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps we should leave that out of the paperwork..." He suggested, "I will put unknown on his certificate for now. I'm sure there are ways to amend it later." He wrote a few things before handing the pen and a piece of paper to Cloud. "When I signed that protection order, I became responsible for Zeke's financial and physical welfare." He told Cloud, "If you sign here, you are agreeing to me assigning you as official care taker."

"You're going to make me sign a paper so you can give me my son back...?" Cloud asked, finding the whole situation amusing. "And if I don't sign it, you'll be his official guardian?" He was smirking. He fully intended on signing the paper, but the look on Sephiroth's face was too amusing to pass up.

He signed the paper and handed it back. "It says his name is Zeke." Cloud said, examining the birth certificate.

"Is it not?" Sephiroth asked? "That's what he's known by here. Everybody who knows him, knows him as Zeke."

Cloud turned to Zeke. The boy was old enough now to make up his own mind. "What do you think?" He asked, "Want to be officially named Zeke?"

After a moments thought, Zeke shook his head, "No. I was named after someone important. And my family all called me Zack." He said quietly, "I wanna keep that."

Sephiroth nodded and after a moment, made a small change. "And your family name?" He asked.

Zeke frowned for a moment. "I can't use Strife, can I? There's already a Strife here, right?" He looked at Cloud, who nodded. "And I can't use Storm, can I?" That would bring up far too many questions.

"Valentine." Cloud said quietly and Zeke smiled with a nod. There would probably still be questions, but only certain people had heard of Vincent, and as far as they were concerned, the man had died over twenty years ago.

"Yeah." He agreed.

"Very well. Zack Zeke Valentine." Sephiroth said, with a bit of a smirk. "It seems ridiculous names run in the family."

Cloud snorted with amusement and shook his head.

"But you could be a Valentine too..." Zeke pointed out, "I mean, technically Vincent's your dad... So..." He shrugged, "Or you could be a Crescent, since that was Lucrecia's name."

Sephiroth seemed to hesitate before shaking his head, "Perhaps after all of this is over," He said, "I may adopt one of those names. But until then, using them will only alert Hojo to the fact that I know of my true parentage." He passed over the birth certificate to Cloud, "Sign." He ordered, pointing to one of the boxes labelled 'witness'. Cloud obliged.

"Congratulations," Sephiroth said to Zeke, "You legally exist. One more thing." He reached into one of the draws of his desk, "While you are officially Zeke's caretaker, I am still legally overall responsible for him." He pulled a key from the draw. "As such, I have been assigned a larger set of quarters." He handed the key to Cloud, "While there are currently no members of SOLDIER with children, there are apparently regulations for it... They were required to make sure that Zeke had a place to live. You are required to have another person live with you, for the times that you will be away on missions and Zeke is required to have his own room." He added.

Cloud took the key and looked at Sephiroth dumbly. Was he giving them an apartment? And if Cloud had to have someone live with him, did that mean Sephiroth would have to live with him? It was his apartment, and legally he was Zeke's guardian...

"Are you going to live with us?" Thankfully, Zeke was a lot more comfortable asking that kind of question.

Sephiroth shook his head, giving Cloud a strange look. "I had assumed that you would like to continue living with Zack." He told them, "I'm afraid that I'm not very good at living with others."

"You can learn." Zeke told him, "If I can live with others, then so can you."

Sephiroth chuckled, "Perhaps one day." He told him. "Until then, I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for me living down the hall."

– – – – – – – –

"So..." Zack looked around their new apartment with wide eyes. "This is nice..."

It wasn't simply a bigger set of rooms, it was a complete apartment. There were three rooms, a living room, a full bathroom and even a full kitchen. The furniture was all tidy and clean, and looked brand new. There was even a fruit bowl on the coffee table.

"You could fit three of my place in here." Zack whistled as he looked around. He disappeared into the bathroom and came out a moment later, "Shower and a bath! And it's so big I bet even Sephiroth would fit in it!"

Zack's excitement was a little more than Cloud thought the place warranted, but it was nice. And for Sector 0 it was actually quite big. He moved further into the lounge and dropped his bag on the couch. He stepped towards the window and tested it. Good. It opened.

The view was nothing spectacular. Only the President really had a good view in Midgar, but it also wasn't the worst. Zack joined him at the window and looked out. "Not bad. You know, for Midgar." He added.

"Yeah." Cloud took a moment longer to look outside before turning around. "Zeke! The window opens." He called, and there was a shout back from the bathroom.

"This one too!"

Zack frowned, "You guys seriously check that the windows can open? That's the first thing you do?"

Cloud shrugged, "It's an escape rout." He told Zack. "It's always good to never need one, but it's better to know where one is. Just in case." It was an old habit, a very old one, and Tifa had not been pleased when he'd taught Zeke to do the same, but to Cloud it made sense.

He picked up his back and went to explore the rest of the apartment.

"Can I have this room? Zeke asked. It was actually the smaller of the rooms, but it had a window. The other two were on the inside of the building and a window would have been useless. Cloud frowned for a moment.

Part of him wanted to let the boy have the room with the window, but a part of him was also worried. If Zeke didn't have the window, it would take someone longer to take him if they broke in. If he had a window, however, they could use that to...

But who would take him? Zeke was under Sephiroth's protection, and they were almost fifty stories above the plate. Anyone taking Zeke would have to either scale down from the side of the building or have a helicopter.

Even so. It was a risk. Cloud shook his head, "Sorry buddy." He said, "Windows are too dangerous."

"Are you for real?" Zack asked, looking at Cloud like he'd grown a second head.

"Yes." Cloud turned to face Zack and crossed his arms over his chest, his bag still hanging off one of them. "Do you remember why you sealed mine? Climbing this building isn't hard. I can think of a dozen people off the top of my head that could do it."

"I can do it." Zeke pointed out helpfully.

"I guess I hadn't thought about that..." Zack said, rubbing the back of his head. "Well... What if I take this room, and if he wants to look out the window, Zeke can crash in here with me?" He suggested, "And if someone does use the window to try to get to him, "I'll be right there."

After a moments hesitation, Cloud nodded. "I guess that works." It was still risky, but he could trust Zack. Even before Zack had known that Zeke was his son, the man was willing to protect him simply because he knew Cloud.

Cloud let Zeke pick his room, and took the one that was left and unpacked his belongings.

"So," Zack was leaning against Cloud's door frame, Zeke standing slightly behind him. "Now that we're all moved in, why don't we go shopping?" He jerked his head towards Zeke. "He needs some new clothes." He pointed out.

Cloud looked at the boy and had to agree with Zack. While the long coat and scarf weren't the most well worn clothes Cloud had seen, they were quite ratty. They fit in in the slums, but up here they would stick out like a sore thumb.

– – – – – – –