Oh boy! It's chapter 20! I can't believe we got to this so fast. But thank you all so much for the support on this story! tmart.x13 and I are glad you guys are enjoying it! And we enjoy writing it! Also gotta give a big thanks to tmart.x13 for helping me write this, probably would not be where it is now if it wasn't for his help on this.
Ch. 20
Zack and Cloud were on their way to the Shinra headquarters and walking side by side. There were some jokes made, but then the former started to grab at his ear again as he had been recently. "Normally things like this don't bother me, but this just feels… different."
"Well I think it looks nice on you. Besides, you're the one who wanted one too," Cloud reminded his older brother as he looked at the silver, square-like adornment on Zack's ear.
"Yeah, I know I know. I just didn't think there would be this much irritation. It's been weeks now. I thought it would have stopped," Zack replied.
"Well, just give it a bit longer. Mine took over a week before I was finally used to it, remember?"
Zack tilted his head up in the air while making a slight humming sound as the two continued to walk. "I suppose that is true. It just seems like it's been longer than that. Still though, I appreciate the gift. It means a lot to me."
"Of course! You're welcome Zack. It was about time I was able to do something nice for you. And now we match," Cloud heartily said as he pointed to his ear, which sported the same piece as Zack now had.
After a little bit more walking and talking, the two of them reached the Shinra headquarters and entered. Upon entering, Zack and Cloud surveyed everything as they proceeded to the elevator. In a few seconds, they had reached the SOLDIER floor and exited from the elevator.
After exiting the elevator and turning down the hallway, Zack and Cloud were heading over to the training room. There seemed to still be some time before work would start since they had arrived early. But, on their way over there, a voice called out to them, stopping them from continuing.
"Hey Zack!"
Both Cloud and Zack turned around to see another 2nd Class SOLDIER walking towards them, giving a wave. Zack smiled as he waved back.
"Kunsel!" Zack replied back, obviously recognizing the man by his voice, as he wore the SOLDIER helmet.
Cloud looked back and forth between the two. He wasn't sure what to make of the other SOLDIER. He had never seen him before, nor had he heard of Zack talk about someone by that name, so he kept quiet and watched as a conversation started up.
"It's good I ran into you Zack!" Kunsel exclaimed. "The Director has been waiting for you."
"Oh really? What does the Director want with me?" Zack inquired.
"No idea, all I know is that it is probably something good," Kunsel replied. "So come on, let's head over there. I need to check in with the Director anyways."
Zack stared for a second at the man. "Well, all right. I guess I need to go and do that then." He then turned to Cloud directly after. "Looks like I've got some business to attend to. We'll have to do training another time. You can find something to do for a bit right?"
"But…" Cloud started, not liking the idea of having to go all by himself. So far ever since he joined SOLDIER, he would always train in the morning with Zack on this day. "Can't I go with you?"
"Sorry Cloud," Zack replied. "This is just some business for me. I'll catch you later though, all right?"
Cloud wanted to protest more, but saw the serious look on Zack's face. He didn't want to argue with Zack, not one bit. So he sighed quietly and nodded. "Okay…"
"Hey don't look so down, you know you'll see me later," Zack said as he ruffled Cloud's hair.
Cloud smiled back, but he didn't feel the energy in his smile at the moment. "I know."
"Come on then Zack," Kunsel said before he started to walk.
"Yeah, let's go." Zack followed in suit though he turned around and waved back to Cloud.
Cloud watched as his brother walked off with some other person, who it seemed was a friend of Zack's. Cloud let out another sigh as he watched them until they turned down the hallway, where he could no longer see them. They were going back towards the elevator area, so Cloud figured that he should stay where he was.
"What should I do now," Cloud thought aloud to himself.
He knew that he couldn't go to the training room right now without Zack, unless he wanted to chance getting caught. Access to the SOLDIER floor was for any of their members, but the training room was reserved for 2nd Class and higher. He and Zack had done that several times before when they were both only 3rds, but after thinking it over for a moment, he decided that he didn't want to take the risk.
Having no idea what to do at the moment, Cloud walked back from the training room area and took a seat in the sitting area. He thought that he would just wait on his brother to get back from where he was though was unsure how long that Zack would be gone. For the time, Cloud closed his eyes and tried to relax and just wait, either for work to begin or for Zack to return.
Cloud did not have to wait long though as he heard footsteps nearing the room. He looked up and saw that another 2nd Class SOLDIER had rushed in to where he was. "Cloud Fair?" the SOLDIER asked.
Cloud looked up and nodded. "Yeah?"
"You are needed for a mission today. Report to the front hall to go and receive it," the SOLDIER replied before running off elsewhere, most likely to find other SOLDIERS that needed to hear the message.
Cloud sighed a little as he stood up and started to walk. He really would have rather waited for Zack to come back, but he saw that it was not going to be the case. It was still hard adjusting to not going on as many missions with Zack, but he knew he had to push through it. Even if it did leave him feeling a bit lonely, he had to keep going.
The mission had not been terribly hard, but it did drag on throughout the day. Cloud just wanted it to be over after a while. Eventually it did get to be the point where the mission was over and he could finally head back to Shinra and check in. Once he was back he took off to the elevator and pulled something out of his pocket. Though most floors after the 59th were off limits to most employees, all SOLDIERS had a keycard to take them to the 64th floor. While the SOLDIER training room was on the 49th floor, a work out gym was on the other.
Some of the days after his missions with Zack, they would go to that floor instead of sneaking into the training room. They had to stay in shape somehow and not get caught and this was the way they were supposed to do it.
As the elevator rode up the floors, Cloud started to wonder if Zack would be up there. Or if he was actually on the 49th floor, training in the training rooms. Zack could use them whenever he wanted now and not have to fear about getting caught. It almost made Cloud feel a little jealous, but he resolved quickly and reminded himself that he was going to get to 2nd Class. He knew though for the time being that Zack could very well just bring him to the training room now, because he had the access, but that meant he had to find him. Cloud wasn't sure if he wanted to go looking all over to Zack at the moment. If Zack was still doing that important business, then he didn't want to bother him.
With a small sigh he exited out from the elevator and headed to the gym section of the floor. There was already some other SOLDIERS training there, but he didn't really pay any attention to them. He walked over to the bench press and set the weights that he needed for his work out. Just as he was about to start his workout he heard a voice come from nearby.
"Hey, you are the younger Fair brother right?"
Cloud looked up to see a 2nd Class SOLDIER over at the next bench press. Their helmet was off, so Cloud could see that it was a guy only a couple of years older than him, He had medium colored skin and short messy brown hair with as dark brown eyes.
Cloud sat up and nodded. "Yeah, what about it?"
"Just was wondering, I've gone on a few missions with your brother before. Zack's a cool guy," the SOLDIER replied. "He always seems to be full of energy."
Cloud couldn't help but laugh as he thought about it. "That's Zack for you." Though he did smile at thinking about how positive Zack always was on missions, he still hadn't seen him all day.
"It must be nice, having a older brother at the same job as you," the SOLDIER continued.
"Yeah, it is nice.," Cloud replied back with a sigh in his voice. He only really talked to others when they were working on missions and needed to communicate with one another. Seldom did he ever just strike up a conversation with someone else.
"Man, I wish that my older brother could work with me here, that would probably be so cool. But nah, he didn't wanna be in SOLDIER. Still is proud of me though," the SOLDIER continued as he flashed a friendly smile.. "I'm Marcus by the way."
Cloud looked at Marcus for a brief second. He wasn't sure about other people usually, but this guy seemed to be okay. "Nice to meet you then."
"Same to you. Cloud, right?" Marcus asked.
"Yeah, that's right. Sorry, I'm… not used to, uh, being around others," he admitted shyly.
"That's okay. I understand, you're still young. I was pretty quiet and on my own for my first few years here, but you'll adjust."
"Yeah, maybe so. Uh, thanks for the encouragement there," Cloud said as he looked away.
"Well it's nice to meet you Cloud, I just finished up my workout a little bit ago though. So I'll catch you later," Marcus said as he took up and picked up his helmet which was to the side of the machine. He waved before he headed off towards the showers area.
Cloud waved in return as a sign of being polite as the man vanished after walking a short way away. He was finally to himself again. Nervousness had crept through him during that situation, and even though he knew he was supposed to try to make friends, he still was not sure about it. He never wanted to truly be alone, but he felt more at ease when he was by himself usually.
Finally, he could do what he had been planning since coming there. He laid back on the bench and stretched out his arms a few times. Then he reached up and gripped the handle of the weights firmly before lifting them up with his arms as he began his workout to clear his mind.
After working up quite a sweat, Cloud finished up with his workout. Two hours had passed once he was able to look at the time, though he was only planning to be there for one. However, time had escaped him as he was able to focus on doing just those exercises and nothing else. Now that he was finished, he then stood up, collected his belongings, and headed towards the shower area to freshen up.
After taking a long shower, he cleaned up and then headed towards the elevator and got in. He decided to make a brief stop at floor 49 just to see if Zack might be there. When the elevator dinged, he departed from it and started to look around, but he did not see anything at first.
He decided to walk a bit around to floor, closer to the training rooms to see if maybe Zack was there. As he got closer, he did see that the training room was active. Out of curiosity, and hoping it was Zack, he moved closer to try to get a better look. He could tell that there was at least two people in the room, fighting against one another.
Cloud waited around the corner and then saw that the training room lights suddenly went down. Whoever it was must have finally finished. He didn't know if it was someone he knew or not, so he stayed back to survey for the moment. After a little while, the door opened to the room and he saw Zack walk out of it, and he looked exhausted. He went to step out from behind his cover to go forward, but then he saw someone else come out from the room.
It was another man, but it was not the same one that he had met earlier in the day. This man was quite tall as he stood a good few inches above Zack, who was already a taller person himself. He had the same raven-like black hair that extended down to just above his broad shoulders. His outfit was similar to how all SOLDIER uniforms were, but the only difference was that his was solid black. He realized that it was a 1st class, as only they were allowed to wear those colors. Cloud started to wonder why Zack was with a 1st Class SOLDIER, but it quickly passed as his eyes landed on something more impressive.
The massive sword on the tall man's back looked intimidating… and for some reason, familiar.
He stared at it for a long time in awe, admiring the craftsmanship from a distance. Though as he did that, he felt something running down his cheek. He reached his hand up and felt wetness. Was he crying? Suddenly, there was pain. Cloud's head started to hurt slightly, just as had happened a few times before.
"Ahhh," he groaned in response, then tried to quiet down since he did not want to be found.
He eased his way backwards back down the hallway so that he would not be seen, and he hoped that he was not heard. He clung to the wall with one hand to push himself along as the other hand was gripped against the side of his head. Why was his head throbbing again?
Eventually he was able to make his way to the elevator and pressed to go to the ground floor. He thought he might could just rest there for the time being as he was not risking walking home in his current condition.
After getting to the main floor, he glanced around quickly through his blurry eyes to see if anyone was around. There were no signs of a presence in the area, so he hobbled over towards the nearest wall and slumped down against it. He crossed his legs and buried his head in his hands and pressed hard, hoping that an opposite pressure would relieve his pain.
"Why did this happen after I looked at the sword? It's a really nice weapon, but there was something about it...almost like I've seen it before. But that doesn't make sense, I know I haven't. Just the look of it, the shine of it… felt so close. Yet it was so far away too…"
Another searing pulse of pain pierced through his thoughts. The only thing on his mind then was relieving his stress. He closed his eyes and started to breath in slowly, doing whatever he could to calm himself down. Though the lingering image of the massive sword would not leave his head. The more he thought on it thought, the more the pain increased in his head. And soon he could feel the slightly aching in his heart.
"I don't understand… Why am I like this? Why do I have these pains when I heard or see certain things…" Cloud thought to himself as he thought back to all the other times something like this had happened.
He continued to breath though. He tried to bring forth calm and relaxing thought to better help himself. Whatever was happening would pass. Just like all the other times he knew he would be over it eventually… or he at least hoped so.
Soon enough the feeling passed, just as he figured it would. It was exactly like all the other times… which still only confused him. He started to wonder if he would ever understand why he had moments like that. It was something so strange, but he never knew how to explain it. Did it really mean anything, or was it just something weird about him? Cloud let out a sigh as he tried to keep calm about the situation. There was no need to try to over worry himself anymore.
With the pain gone, he stood back up to see how he felt. He waited a moment and sighed with relief that he was all right now. Though he still had to wait for Zack… Zack… training with that 1st Class SOLDIER. Cloud frowned slightly as he tried to make sense of it.
"Why would he be training with a 1st Class? I don't know… and now I don't know how long it will be until he is back. Might as well just go home for now…" Cloud thought to himself as he exited the building.
He walked quietly all the way back to the apartment, all while trying not to let downer thoughts cloud his mind. He knew Zack probably had some reason to be in the training rooms with a 1st Class. There always had to be some logical reason… but it still left Cloud feeling a bit sad. With another sigh Cloud finally made it back into the apartment and immediately went straight to his room, took off his SOLDIER armor and flopped onto the bed.
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