Broken Hearted

Sephiroth prodded Zack's motionless body with his boot. He had been extremely surprised when he returned from the office later than usual and found his second-in-command passed out on the floor of his apartment.

Zack continued to snore, oblivious. Sephiroth shook his head and kicked him again.

This time Zack groaned and his eyes opened a crack and he rolled off his stomach, looking up at Sephiroth with bleary eyes. "Whadyawant…?"

Sephiroth sighed. Zack was completely drunk.

"Would you care to tell me why you were passed out on my floor?"

Zack blinked, looking confused. "Huh?" He pushed himself up and looked around. "Shit…Don' remember coming here…"

"How much did you drink?" Sephiroth said.

"Hell…I dunno…" Zack replied. He picked himself up and staggered the few feet to the couch, slumping down on it.

Sephiroth looked at him with concern he would have hidden had Zack been sober. Zack rarely drank himself into a state like this and when he did, it meant he was very upset about something or something had happened.

He sat down next to Zack. "What happened?"

"My girl said she didn' wanna see me anymore…" He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and dug his hands into his hair.

Sephiroth had no idea what to say to that. He couldn't understand the feeling, having never been through it himself, so he said nothing.

"Shit…I love her…" Zack continued. His voice wavered and in the next instant he was crying. "But her mom says I'm 'bad news'…I'll only break 'er heart, she says…So, she goes an' breaks mine…What kinda messed up shit is that…?"

"Fuck…" Zack wiped his eyes. "Been cryin' the whole damn night."

He leaned his head back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling silently for a moment and Sephiroth watched him. Zack was always so cheery that seeing him like this was a shock and he didn't know how to react to his friend when he was like this.

"I remember why I came here now," Zack said, still looking at the ceiling, "Didn' wanna be alone…I woulda went ta Spike's, but it's late and I figured he'd be sleepin'…Didn' want 'im to see me like this, either…"

"But you…I knew you wouldn' be asleep. Ya never sleep...An' I knew you'd listen ta me, no matter what I was sayin', 'cause you always do. Then you'd tell me ta stop bein' stupid, like you always do…"

He started crying again. "Damn it…"

Sephiroth sighed. "Zack."

Zack looked at him.

"Go to sleep," he said.

"Good idea…" Zack said, "You always have good ideas…"

"Zack…"

"Fine, fine…" Zack laid down and was asleep instantly.

Sephiroth stood and covered him with the blanket he now kept draped over the back of the couch for just such an occasion.

Sephiroth made his way into the barely lit living room at 8 AM to find Zack curled up under the blanket, still asleep, and stood there, looking down at him. He couldn't remember a time when he had seen his friend in such bad shape.

Shaking his head, he reached out and shook Zack. No matter what condition he was in, they still had to be in the office in an hour.

Zack awoke with a groan and blinked up at him for a moment, looking confused, before a look of recognition crossed his face. "Oh…" he said. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, then looked back at Sephiroth as he sat up.

"Sorry 'bout last night," he said, "Made a complete fool outta myself…"

"Forget it," Sephiroth said, the words coming out rougher than he meant them to.

Zack fell back onto the couch. "Damn, I feel like shit...You got any pain medicine?"

"In the bathroom," Sephiroth said.

Zack got up and headed toward the bathroom.

Sephiroth went into the kitchen to pour the coffee that would be ready by now. He was grateful that Zack had convinced him to buy an automatic coffee maker with a timer. No more trudging down to the staff lounge at dawn only to find that someone had finished all the coffee and it hadn't been replaced.

As he added the sugar and creamer that Zack liked in his, he wondered about this girl Zack spoke about. She was young, that much was certain, for she had listened to her mother. Either that or she was an idiot, but that didn't seem likely; as flirtatious as Zack was, he was careful about who he had an actual relationship with.

He picked up the mugs and took them into the living room, setting them down on the coffee table. Zack hadn't emerged from the bathroom yet, which was odd because it had been at least 5 minutes. Perhaps he couldn't find the medicine. He flipped the light on and then went to go see what was keeping him.

The bathroom door was closed and there were muffled sobs coming from inside.

He knocked softly on the door. "Zack?"

There was no answer, not even a 'go away'. Sephiroth assumed that meant that Zack wouldn't mind him entering, so he turned the knob and pushed the door open slowly to reveal Zack sitting against the wall with his legs pulled up to his chest and his face buried in his knees.

Sephiroth stood there in the doorway. Never had he imagined that such a strong person could look as defeated as Zack did at that moment.

"Zack," he said, to get his attention.

Zack didn't even move. It was as if he wasn't even aware that Sephiroth was there at all.

Sephiroth sighed. There was only one way he could think of to get Zack to snap out of it. He hated to do it, but he had to; he couldn't just leave Zack there.

"Lieutenant General Fair," he said, in the tone he used when giving orders to the troops.

Zack started and looked at him, surprise on his tear-streaked face. Sephiroth had never referred to him that way, something they both were well aware of, it seemed.

"Remove yourself from my bathroom," Sephiroth ordered, stepping out of the doorway and to the side.

"Yessir…" Zack said, his voice flat. He got up and shuffled out of the bathroom.

"Wait," Sephiroth said, just as Zack passed him.

Zack turned and Sephiroth wondered, as he thought of what he was about to do, if it would have been better to just let Zack go. But, he told himself, no matter how uncomfortable it was for him, it was his duty; Zack had done so much for him, it was the least he could do.

He took a deep breath and put his arms around Zack, who stiffened in surprise.

"Seph…?" Zack said, the same surprise in his voice.

Sephiroth said nothing and remained where he was, and it wasn't long before Zack relaxed and buried his head against his shoulder, breaking down again.

Sephiroth stood in silence as his only friend cried his heart out and thought about how strange it felt to have someone else this close to him. He couldn't remember ever hugging anyone and he'd never really been hugged; Zack would put an arm around his shoulders occasionally, but that was as close as he had ever gotten.

It was strange, but it wasn't bad, he realized. As Zack moved away, he actually found himself wanting it to last longer.

"Are you finished?" he said, ignoring the wet spot on his shirt.

Zack sniffed. "Yeah."

"Come on. The coffee's getting cold," Sephiroth said, and headed for the living room.

He sat down on the couch and grabbed his mug as Zack did the same.

Sephiroth took a sip of his coffee and said, "When you're finished you are to take the day off, go find that girl, and tell her what you told me last night."

Zack stared at him. "But…"

"That's an order, soldier."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, I would like to meet this girl," Sephiroth said. He had to see the cause of such turmoil for himself.

Zack smiled. "I think that can be arranged. She hangs around this old church a lot; I bet you'd love it."