Ch.7

The slums thankfully showed no signs of danger as far as Zack could see. Everyone seemed to be just enjoying their lives as best as they could considering it was the slums. The Sector 7 slums were not the worst thing at least, but it was still the slums either way. But there were always people about enjoying their day, doing what they could to pass the time.

While they walked Zack looked up above. Where he normally expected to see the sky he saw the plates. Sure far off in the distances outside of the city he could see the actual sky past the plates and everything, but the plates were still above, blocking most of the skylight. "Never thought I'd really be staring up at these again… it's been so long…"

"Is it… bad?" Cloud asked.

"I don't know… I think it is a mix. Like it brings back memories of exploring around before, but also just reminds me how hard it must be to live under the plates," Zack answered. "I just never got a good chance to look up until now."

As they walked, Zack noticed the occasional glances from various civilians. Humming softly he began to think over the situation. "Maybe it would be best to find a smaller weapon to walk around with when just in these areas. Don't wanna draw too much attention or suspicion. But still leaving it back at the apartment is risky too… I guess keeping it with me is better than leaving it to be possibly stolen."

"Where are we going?" Cloud asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry." Zack shook out the thoughts from his head and got back on track. "I was thinking about walking around and seeing what the stores had to offer. I know I probably don't have enough gil for anything after buying what I did yesterday, but maybe this is where I can start finding some odd jobs. You know, to earn a little more gil so we can buy some stuff we really need."

"Like a weapon for me?"

"Yeah… that's one of them. That's going to be one of the more expensive things. but I was thinking about some other stuff. You know books or games. Things to make it more fun at home so we aren't just sitting around twiddling our thumbs."

"Oh, okay."

"So let's see what to do at least for today! There's bound to be something fun we could end up doing," Zack said, trying to sound as cheerful as he could.

They walked by several small little vendors, all of which tried to gain their attention to no doubt sell them something. But the two of them kept on walking through the area. Eventually Cloud brushed up a little against Zack's arm. Glancing over, he could see how thoughtful Cloud looked. Everytime Zack saw him starting to think more, he couldn't help but smile. It was all good signs that Cloud was improving.

"Hey, anything on your mind?"

"No… not really…"

"There's gotta be something. You actually are the serious one right now. You know you can tell me if you got anything on your mind."

There was a short hum from Cloud. "What if… Could we hold hands?"

Zack found himself nearly stopped in his tracks. Why was it that he always ended up being caught off guard by the random comments Cloud had to say? It wasn't extremely frequent, but there were just those few things Cloud did say that just seemed completely out of nowhere. Not only were they somehow surprising, but they still kept making his face feel warm.

"Why would you wanna do that?" Zack asked as he rubbed the back of his neck, as if rubbing it would make the feeling go away. "Isn't that kind of like… you know, cheesy stuff?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know… just thought about it. Don't have to though…"

The thoughtfulness from Cloud's face started to fade away, going back to his neutral near expressionless look. Without even missing a beat, Zack reached over and grabbed Cloud's hand and laced his fingers between his. He gave a gentle squeeze after that and waited to see how Cloud would react to it.

Cloud flinched at the sudden movement but then his eyes began to widen. He stared at Zack as if he was confused by the gesture that had just happened. But after a moment that confusion changed into a small smile that lit up his entire face. "Thanks."

Zack could see the lightest dusting of red on Cloud's cheeks as he continued to smile, and it honestly made Zack smile back in return. There was just something about Cloud's calm and relaxed face that looked so nice when he actually was expressing an emotion. "Damn Cloud, why do you gotta have such an adorable soft smile?"

The redness increased slightly with Cloud now lowering his head, but he tried his best to keep his smile going. "Th-Thanks…"

With a laugh from Zack, the two started to resume their normal walking pace. "I think this has to be a pretty good sign. Cloud's still blushing and stuff, but it's a far more natural feeling than how he was just days ago. Crazy to think what just a good few days can do for him. Plus he is starting to show other emotions now aside from just embarrassment."

After a little bit longer they came to an area that led off to more alleyways, but there was one large building in the area that really drew Zack's attention. His eyes widened greatly and an excited smile crossed his face. "Cloud look!"

He pointed to a big building to which the sign read 'Seventh Heaven' in large letters. "You have no idea how happy I am to see this place! You know I actually helped name it?"

"Really?" Cloud said as he looked up at the bar.

"Yeah! I completely forgot that the guy said it was going to be in Sector 7!" Zack said before letting go of Cloud's hand so he could run up the stairs and look through the window. He pressed his face against it and started to look around.. "Dang it looks great. Though… says it is only open in the evening. We totally gotta come back here in the evening when it's open. Hopefully by then we will have at least enough gil for a drink cause that really sounds nice right about now."

"Yeah, sounds nice," Cloud agreed quietly.

"Then it's a plan!" Zack said before heading back down the stairs. "Let's start looking around for anyone who might need some help and see if we can do any gil earning. But hmm where to start…"

"You don't know?"

"Hey, give me a minute, it's been some time since last I did something like this. I just gotta think," Zack said as he hummed in thought. "I guess we just gotta start asking around if anyone needs some help. Let's get started okay?"

Right away Zack went to one of the nearest areas of small shops and began to ask if there was anything that could use some help. Most of them said that they didn't need anything in the moment but could keep the thought in mind if they ever did. Zack kept on trying though with Cloud trailing quietly behind him. He knew that there had to be something at least that he could do, he just had to find it.

After a bit of exploring and asking around, he did find some people that said if Zack really wanted to help, he could deliver some items for them since they were too busy at the time to do it themselves. Zack gladly accepted the tasks and got the items needed. It was only one deviliery for the time being, but as long as he could get paid for it Zack was going to do it.

"Looks like we're off to a good start, right Cloud?"

"Right."

The two of them made their way to the location that Zack had been given and quickly delivered what was needed. They made sure to get a signed note by the person as proof they did do their task before they started to make their way back to where they started.

Just as they were getting closer Zack caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. Though he assumed it was just another person walking by, he couldn't help but turn to look for some reason. Coming from the other pathway was a young woman with long black hair. Though that wasn't what drew in his attention, even though she was a little ways away from here he could tell with his enhanced vision that her reddish brown eyes were very familiar.

"No way…" Zack mumbled as he stared, and it seems she must have noticed him too for she was staring with eyes just as wide. "Tifa?!"

Tifa came closer, his eyes continuing to widen. Though once she was close enough he could see her eyes were not fixated on him, but instead on Cloud, who also looked to be just as confused. But eventually Tifa's eyes drifted back to Zack and it seemed she couldn't decide what she wanted her expression to be with it wavering between angry and relief.

"What are you doing… I mean how are you even… Where have you been? And Cloud, you're here too?" Tifa asked, nearly fumbling over her questions. Though she then breathed in and glared at him ferociously. Zack had a feeling he knew that he would have to choose his words carefully with her now.

"Ah… it's a bit of a long story…" Zack replied. "But please, if you let me explain I could try."

Tifa crossed her arms and exhaled. "You can explain… but first…" she looked over at Cloud and her anger faded away. "Cloud… Are you all right?"

Looking back at Cloud, Zack saw how pale Cloud had become. He had barely moved an inch from where he stood with his eyes still fixed on Tifa. "Cloud? Hey buddy, you with us?"

"Tifa…You're..." Cloud muttered. Suddenly Cloud cried out and gripped the side of his head. "Ah!"

Right away, Zack grabbed onto Cloud's shoulder. "Cloud hey, it's okay… It's okay."

Cloud gritted his teeth together, nearly dropping down to his knees, but Zack kept him supported. Still gripping his head, he started muttering something. It was a bit jumbled and slurred, but Zack could make out a few key words which were; "Tifa… Fire… Injured…."

The words kept cycling around and around, and the more he kept talking the faster his breathing got. It was clearly another attack just like the time before. Zack still wasn't entirely sure how well he was handling Cloud's PTSD. He knew he could only try what he could, but if he got worse… no… Zack didn't even want to consider that. All he knew was that he would be here for Cloud to calm him down… or at least hope that he could.

He heard Tifa ask him something and probably a few other things on what was happening, but he was in no mindset to properly answer. All his attention was on Cloud and figuring out what he could do to get through to him. Trying to keep a clear head, Zack embraced Cloud like he had before, keeping his head near his chest. "Shh… Cloud it's all right. I'm here for you."

"But the… the fire…"

Zack placed his hand on Cloud's head, weaving his fingers through the light blond hair. Hoping if it worked before, it would work this time as well. "There's no fire, not anymore. We're in Midgar now. Remember what I told you?"

Cloud groaned again, letting out the softest whimper. He went back to grabbing his head, tring to grasp whatever pain was striking him. Zack continued his gentle strokes over Cloud's head though, not letting up even for a single second.

Before Zack could say the words, Cloud started to shake more violently. His breathing adding to the jerky movements he was now presenting. He even tried to push away from Zack and he almost did if Zack didn't keep one firm arm around him.

"Hey come on Cloud. You're listening, right?"

"Cloud," Tifa interjected. She placed a hand onto Cloud's shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. "I don't know what you've gone through, but there's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, listen to Tifa," Zack whispered. "We are both here to help you. Just keep remembering we're safe."

"S-Safe…" Cloud repeated. "But… T-Tifa… she… she."

"Tifa's right here. She's safe too, you see?"

Cloud finally lifted his head from Zack's chest and looked over to Tifa, "Yeah, I'm here Cloud. You see?"

"You don't gotta stress yourself. How about we think of something else. You know that isn't… um the stuff you got going on in head. Like ah… oh! The flowers! Think of Aerith's flowers."

"Flowers… they were nice…" Cloud muttered. "Pretty…"

The rapid breathing slowed and Zack could feel Cloud's body finally relax. He started to nod slightly. "Can we… see the flowers again?"

Zack laughed with relief. "Sure we can go and do that later. Maybe I'll even buy some for the apartment. But, feeling better now?"

"Better," Cloud said as he gave a quick nod.

"Thank goodness," Zack sighed deeply before giving Cloud a large hug. "Don't scare me like that buddy.

"Sorry…"

"No, you don't gotta be sorry. Scratch that. I'm just glad you're all right."

Tifa cleared her throat after a few seconds. "If everything is okay, maybe we can get to explaining things?"

"Oh huh?" Zack asked as he turned towards her. It only took him a moment to snap out of his confusion, finally remembering what started all this. "Gotcha. Uh… maybe we should head inside though first?"

"You can follow me and we can head to Seventh Heaven where I work."

"Wait you own the bar now?!"

Tifa tilted her head to the side. "Yeah? What about it?"

"I named the bar!" Zack exclaimed cheerfully.

Cloud snorted slightly. "You make it sound like you should get a medal."

"Well I uh!" Zack fumbled slightly. "I mean… you know, I gave it the name and it's still called that after all these years. It just feels nice to know."

Tifa smiled and actually laughed a little. "Well I guess I would have never expected that. Come on then, let's head over there."

"Sure, but I just gotta go do one quick check in with someone first who I helped out. Just give me a minute to take care of that."

Tifa nodded and waited for Zack to quickly finish the task. With Cloud by his side as usually, he ran down as fast as he could to the person and gave them the letter. Afterwards he was given 150 gil from what he could tell. It wouldn't get him a whole lot but he knew it was best to save it. But it was still a start for him and soon enough he hoped he would be racking up enough money to really get some good essential things.

Once it was taken care of, the boys headed over to the bar where Tifa was waiting for them. As soon as they were close she opened the doors and let them inside. Zack made sure to take a long look around the bar now that he was actually inside, seeing every detail and thing that it had to offer. It was just as cool as he imagined it would be. Totally fit the name that he had decided to give all those years ago.

"All right, before we start, how about a drink for you guys?" Tifa said as she walked behind the bar and got out some glasses.

"Sounds good," Zack said before taking a seat.

"I don't about a drink," Cloud said. "Head is still a bit sore… from before. Maybe just water…"

"Sure thing, I understand," TIfa said kindly. "So Zack, what about you?"

"Ah… I don't really know, just give me whatever you think would be best."

"Sure thing." Tifa went right away to make a drink, mixing a few things together and putting on quite a little show all for mixing a drink. When she had finished she poured it into two glasses and then slid one of the glasses down to Zack. A moment after she filled a glass of water and did the same to get it down to Cloud.

Now that she had her own drink before her, she walked over to them and leaned forward on the bar. "So… about where you have been?"

Zack took a sip of the dink. Whatever it was that she had created, it was strong but tasted great. "Yeah… I guess the best place would be…"

Zack paused as he took a quick glance to Cloud. He seems to be listening in to the story, but that left Zack to be a bit worried. If he started talking about everything, would it just set Cloud off again? If he mentioned things like Nibilheim being on fire… that would totally set him off considering he had been muttering it back there. Then there was Hojo… Zack knew Cloud probably didn't remember much from then, but still to take the chance and mentioned the man that caused them so much pain… that was something Zack felt was far too risky.

While Zack didn't want to take those chances, he knew he had to talk… Tifa deserved to know the truth after all. But he figured he was just going to have to give a rather light censored version as best as he could. Then maybe later if he got a chance to talk to Tifa along he would tell her everything in full.

"Okay… so let's begin with something easy I guess," Zack said as he exhaled slowly. "I guess the best spot to start is just from when you last saw me… or us really."

I decided that the explanation should be left for next time. But either way I hope you all enjoyed so far!