Welcome everyone to chapter 3! I forgot to state it last time, but yes there will be a good bit of backstory created here between Cloud and Zack. We gotta show the brotherly relationship that forms between them. So there will be a lot of good fluff moments, but also a bit of angst here and there :P

Ch.3

Zack's parents watched him run out of the room with Cloud following right behind him. As soon as they left the room and the door closed, Zack's mother let out a long sigh. The boys had only finished half of their dinner, but she was not about to get them to come back and finish.

Leaning back in her chair she sighed as she stared up at the ceiling. She let out a small chuckle. "Well at least Zack seems happy."

Zack's father stood up and walked around to the kitchen area with the dishes from the table. "Yeah that's true. I'm still rather curious about that boy, but he seems mostly normal. Besides apparently having amnesia of some sort," he said calmly as he had set all the dishes down in the kitchen.

"That's what it looks like. But what could have happened to his parents? David… They couldn't… have just left him out there, could they?"

"I'm not sure Emily. I would hope they didn't do that. Even so, he's here now with us, so if he was abandoned, we can't let that happen to him here."

"I do agree on that. I guess I just have so many questions. But yeah… I would hate for him to have to go back out there all by himself. He is just a little boy. I do want to help him," Emily said as she placed her hand over her heart. "Seeing him get so upset over not remembering… I feel so bad for him."

David walked over to his wife and placed his hands on hers. "Yeah, he does seem like he needs some help. It's possible something tragic happened and he could just be blocking everything out. I don't think we should question him too much for now. Maybe let's just see how these next few days go huh?" he asked her with an endearing expression etched on his face.

Emily looked up at her husband and gave a nod. "All right, that sounds fine. I know Zack will be ecstatic to hear that of course." She laughed a little. "It is nice to see Zack so excited. He will make a good brother."

"Yeah he is always so joyous with most anything. But I am glad you agree then. This has been a bit unexpected. Maybe we should prepare for bed early so we can rest on all of this," David said as he started to walk towards the bigger door in the back of the house.

"Yeah, but first let us check on the two boys and make sure that they are actually sleeping," Emily said with a chuckle. Though Zack thought he was whispering quietly enough before leaving the table, his mother could easily hear what he had said to Cloud. Not only that, but they had caught him before, so she was prepared for it.

The two of them cleaned up the rest of the dishes before heading out of the room. They walked out of the room and down the small hallway before stopping at a door. Slowly Emily opened it and they peered inside.

The light in the room was off, only a slight bit of moonlight shined through the window opposite of the door. The entire room was not illuminated, but it was just enough light on the center of the room where the bed was. Zack's parents had expected to find the boys awake and playing a game of some kind. However, what they actually saw was a scene they did not anticipate.

Both of the boys were laying on Zack's bed, presumably fast asleep. Both of them were on their sides, but they were snuggled close to each other. Cloud was curled up next to Zack with his head resting against his chest and his knees brought in towards his own chest. Zack, on the other hand, had one arm around Cloud and the other stretched out above him in a relaxed manner. The way the two of them looked next to each other, one would think they had known each other for a long time, but they had only just met less than a few hours ago. But, it seemed as though they were quite comfortable around one another.

Both of Zack's parents smiled sweetly at the sight before them. "Just look at them. They both look so peaceful and at ease like that. Maybe we don't have anything to be worried about," Emily said with a quiet and sweet voice.

David nodded in agreement. "Maybe you're right. Let's leave them be. We'll see how things go over the next week." He then motioned towards the door as he and his wife exited the room and closed the door gently behind them.

Almost a week had passed since Cloud had showed up in Gongaga, but it felt like hardly any time at all. The young bright-eyed blond never caused any trouble for Zack's parents or anyone else in the village. The entire week that he had been there, he stuck close by Zack's side. Everywhere Zack went, Cloud would follow, and everything Zack did, Cloud would try to copy.

Emily and David watched the two playing around in front of the house. It looked like they were enjoying a game of tag with Cloud chasing cheerfully after Zack. Both of the boys were smiling and laughing as they ran around chasing one another.

Emily laughed as a thought came to her. "It's almost like Cloud is a baby chocobo who thinks Zack is his mother. It's rather adorable watching him follow Zack all the time."

A loud laughter rang out from David. "Oh you're kind of right about that. Maybe since he can't remember anything, he's mimicking Zack since he doesn't know what else to do. At least they are having a good time though. I don't remember seeing Zack this happy before," David trailed off before another thought entered into his mind. He placed a hand on his salt and pepper goatee. "It's almost like they've known each other for much longer," he finished with curious tone in his voice.

Zack and Cloud both heard the laugh and stopped for a moment to check it out. "Hey dad, what's so funny?" Zack inquired, wanting to know what his parents were talking about.

Both the parents laughed softly. Then it was his mother that spoke up. "Oh it's nothing sweetie. We're just talking about things. You two keep having fun."

Zack just nodded in agreement, even though he was rather curious, as he and Cloud proceeded to keep playing. "Come on Cloud, you gotta be faster than that if you wanna catch me," he said to the blonde-haired kid, who had a more determined look on his face now as he started to run hard after Zack.

"You know, maybe we should just let him stay dear. I mean, we've asked everyone in town and nobody has ever seen or heard of him before. So he's not from around here at least," David stated who took a more serious tone as he finished his statement.

"But where could he have come from then? If he did come from another village far away what should we do? We've shown him a list of all places in Gaia and he doesn't seem to know any of them. It would take far too long to take him to different places in hopes he would remember anything." Emily then let out a long sigh before running a hand slowly through her hair.

"You're right. We don't really have the time or resources to just go everywhere to check. It will probably take time for him to remember. Besides, I think we have both made up our mind anyways," he said as he looked over at his wife and smiled.

Emily smiled back for a moment. "Can we really manage raising two little boys though? Our home is small and we don't have all that much."

"You heard Zack before, he's the one who will take care of Cloud. We have nothing to worry about," David said with a laugh.

"Heh, well you are right about that," Emily replied before looking up at the clear blue sky. She placed her hands over her chest and smiled. "Maybe… Maybe this was fate."

David just nodded and then turned his attention to the two boys. "Zack! Cloud! You two come over here. We need you for a moment," he yelled out for them.

Zack and Cloud turned their attention towards the house and then looked at each other, silently wondering what Zack's parents wanted. Then, they began to run towards the house and after a few seconds, they had arrived.

"What is it dad? Is there something that you and mom need?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, is there something we need to do?" Cloud asked, almost copying what Zack had said.

"No, it's not something you need to do," Emily replied with a smile. "We just have some important news."

"What? What is it?" Zack asked, bouncing on his feet in excitement.

Zack's parents looked at one another before back at the young children. Then his mother continued. "We've decided to let Cloud stay with us."

Zack's eyes widened as a smile stretched across his small face. "Really?! Mom! Dad! That's great to hear!"

Cloud stood there with wide eyes as well, as tears started to form in his eyes. He wouldn't have to be alone anymore. He could actually stay with them. The thought of this made him happier than anything. "I-I… thank...you." His words came out muffled and spaced as he tried to fight back a range of emotions.

Suddenly, Zack embraced Cloud and squeezed him tightly. "Cloud! We can actually be brothers now. I'm so happy you can stay. We are gonna have the best time together," he said cheerfully.

Cloud returned the hug as he raised his hands threw them around Zack's neck, not wanting to let go of his friend, and now big brother, for a even a second at this very moment.

Cloud smiled happily as he continued to hug Zack. Something about all of this made him feel even happier. Since he had first met Zack a week ago, there was something about him that Cloud couldn't quite place his finger on. He knew Zack was nice and friendly, but Cloud had a feeling there was something else. He hadn't though on it much… but maybe Zack was a little familiar to him. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to Cloud, seeing as Zack never had met him until a week ago, but he didn't think too hard on that at the moment. Right now, all that mattered was that he now had a family and an older brother.

Their parents smiled sweetly at the sight, taking in the fact that they now had two sons. Then their father cleared his voice. "But it isn't just going to be that simple. If Cloud really is going to be apart of our family, we will have to fill out paperwork and other things like that."

"It's nothing you boys have to worry too much about. We just need to fill out papers saying Cloud is apart of out family now and get some other things set up," their mother added.

"This is great though!" Zack beamed. "I have a little brother!"

Zack then tried to lift Cloud off the ground a little and spin around. Both boys started to laugh and giggle at one another as the world spun around them. It only took a few seconds before Zack lost his balance and the two toppled down to the ground. But both of them just continued laughing at one another. Never before had either of them looked or felt so happy. It was a sight that truly warmed the hearts of their parents.

"Come on you two. Why don't we all go inside now and get ready to eat. We can spend this time together… as family."

Zack and Cloud beamed at hearing their father say those words. They dashed to the door quickly and followed their parents inside as the door closed on the house that was full of nothing but happiness for the remainder of that evening.

We also decided to give names to Zack's parents (I don't think we ever knew their names?), just so it was easier when writing and such.

But that ends another chapter. Thank you all for reading!