Ch.9

When the two of them reached the bar, it was already late into the evening. Patrons were filing out of the building, some of them more drunk than others. But none of them seemed to pay attention to Cloud and Zack as they made their way up the stairs and into the bar.

Inside the boys saw that Tifa was clearing up tables as well as kicking out the most drunk people that were still lingering. But there were four people over by the dart board that Tifa had not interacted with yet. Zack could only guess that those were her friends that she talked about before.

One of them was a large rather tall man who wore shades and had a gun attachment over his arm. The other three looked to be younger with all of them sporting some form of red bandana. All of them seemed to be engaged in their own talk, not even noticing that Cloud and Zack were staring at them.

Eventually Tifa had cleared out everyone else and closed the doors to the bar. She smiled at the boys afterwards and cleared her throat as she approached the other group. "Okay, now Barret, remember what I said, please."

"I remember Tifa, doesn't mean I don't think these guys are sketchy as hell." the man with the arm gun shouted. "Even if they claim to have left Shinra they still could be loyal dogs!"

"Hey," one of the others said. It was the youngest looking of the other three, a young looking guy with a round but kind face. "Tifa said they were friends of theirs so I doubt they would still be loyal and stuff."

"We're not," Zack interrupted. "I'm done with Shinra."

"And like I'll believe that just cause you're saying it," Barret scoffed after a moment. "You could just be lyin' to nose your way into our group."

"I said I am not! Shinra not only turned their backs on us, but they left us in the hands of a scientific nutcase for four years!"

Zack had not meant to raise his voice and shout. He hadn't even expected to snap so suddenly. But there was just something turning inside of him. Something that he felt needed to be said. But now all eyes were on him, all wide and shocked at Zack's words.

While he had not expected himself to shout out his frustrations, he felt like they were far from over. The feeling pushed against his chest, burning his lungs. "I worked for Shinra. I worked for them and was loyal as you could have expected. But they didn't care. They didn't care about any of that. They had me do things I never wanted to… I was forced so many times to do things I never ever wanted. And at the end of it?" Zack laughed weakly. "They claimed I was dead for all these years while that sicko Hojo messed with me and Cloud. I can't even remember most of it… I just know I lost four years of my damn life in that basement! And then after all that escaping to here, Shinra had the nerve to try and send an entire army to gun me down! So if you think I would still be loyal to Shinra after all that, you're really off the mark."

The silence still followed once Zack had finished. He could feel his hands were trembling. He was shaking after that, and he couldn't even control it. Looking down though he saw that it wasn't just his hands that were shaking, but also Cloud's. Cloud had one hand, gripped tightly to Zack's as he looked to him with his eyes wide and tearful.

Right away Zack felt less frustrated and more worried. He remembered more from those events than Cloud did, and he already knew Cloud was struggling to remember. Now he had spewed out an entire thing about what they had gone through and no down that was bringing up though buried away memories. The memories that Zack wanted Cloud to avoid from remembering.

"Oh… Oh I'm sorry…" Zack muttered as he wrapped his arms around Cloud. He pressed him against his chest as he ran his hands up and down his back. "I'm so sorry Cloud. I didn't mean to yell like that or make you remember anything."

He could hear Cloud's shaky breath breathing in and out, no doubt trying to hold back the pain he was feeling. It only made Zack feel worse. He had let his own anger and frustration get in the way of things. "Just take it easy. Remember the flowers. They're your focus right?" Zack whispered softly to Cloud as he continued to stroke Cloud's back. "I'm sorry…"

Even though he wanted to just for Cloud to calm down, he could still feel his own heart racing. The heat from his words still within him and showing no signs of a quick and easy cool down. With his legs starting to feel weak he started to move towards the opposite end of the room. "Uh… w-we're just going to sit down for a bit okay? Don't mind us or anything… just need a moment…"

"Uh yeah," Barret said, his tough and rough voice noticeably softer now. "Take your time."

Sitting down, Zack pulled Cloud practically into his lap. He still had not said anything else, and Zack wasn't sure what to make of it. Cloud wasn't frantically mumbling like the times before, which Zack thought would be a good sign, but the silence was actually worse.

"Cloud? You okay buddy? I'm really sorry if I scared you," Zack said as he held Cloud tightly against his chest.

"Y-Yeah…" Cloud's voice finally came. "But… you?"

"What do you mean?"

"What about…" Cloud breathed in deeply before looking up at Zack. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, totally," Zack lied. Despite Cloud not having a panic attack, that didn't ease all the pain that was bothering Zack. But he still had no reason to let Cloud worry about him like that. It was his job to look after Cloud, not the other way around. "I just needed to vent a little I guess. Maybe I overdid it. I'm just really sick of Shinra, you know?"

"Yeah, me too."

While Cloud and Zack sat together, whispering quietly, the others in the room had a hard time looking away. It wasn't that any of them wanted to pry and see what they boys were thinking, but after such a random snap from Zack it was hard not to stare. Tifa was the most shocked out of all of them. She had just seen Zack hours ago, seemingly fine. He was watching over Cloud and had seemed sound and sturdy.

But that outlash was just so sudden and out of nowhere. It was so unexpected and she wasn't expecting it. Was Zack really hiding that much resentment? How much was buried underneath that kind and warm exterior? She could only wonder how much pain he was carrying without letting anyone know. She knew all about that too well and she had a feeling that Zack was doing the same.

But she saw the way he held Cloud, the way he whispered to him. Just like earlier when Cloud was having a panic attack, Zack focused on nothing else but him. She had noticed it earlier too when Zack was telling her his story. The way he looked at Cloud, holding his hand to give him reassurance.

She had chosen not to say anything as she didn't want to pry. With all those years that she hadn't seen them, she had no idea what it must have been like. But she could get a pretty good idea from the way Zack spoke. There was just a small guess that they were all each other had during those years, especially with a year of travel all the way to Midgar.

There was a closeness between them. A closeness she had never expected to see from Cloud, a boy she always knew as quiet and distant from others. While he still was quiet, he was close with Zack and Tifa didn't want to come between them, even if it did leave a little pain in her heart.

But she couldn't let that get the best of her. She was still Cloud's friend after all, or at least she believed herself to be, and that meant being there to support him. With Zack being Cloud's friend, Tifa sought to also try and make friends with Zack. At least that part seemed the easier out of everything else.

Eventually she cleared her voice, stepping closer to the boys. "Hey um, if you wanna leave, you could come back tomorrow. We don't need to do this if you aren't feeling up to it."

Zack shook his head. "No no. It's okay. I just lost my cool for a bit there. I said more than what I should have."

Zack breathed in as he moved to stand up. Cloud practically clung to Zack's side in the process, but he didn't seem as stressed before. He remained calm and at Zack's side all without a word.

Letting in one last deep breath, Zack faced the group. "I hope my outburst didn't leave a bad impression of me. I'd hate to start off on the wrong foot. So… could we start this again?"

"Yeah," Barret said with a nod. His expression was still far from his typical harsh and hardened. He looked at these two, studying them, trying to understand just how much Shinra must have hurt them.

"All right! Let's start with introductions then!" Zack exclaimed as he pointed to himself. "Zack, Ex-SOLDIER, and my best buddy here is Cloud, Ex-Infantryman but still just as durable as me."

The rest of the group finally introduced themselves, with the remaining three being Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie. After the formalities were taking care of, Barret finally went into his plans and Zack learned quickly that Barret really enjoyed ranting.

The man talked for nearly the entire time, and Zack was sure his ears were going to fall off by the end of it. Thankfully that didn't end up happening, but he did know to not try and hold up a conversation with Barret on Shinra. It wouldn't even be a conversation if that happened. But overall Zack could see the man was passionate and Zack had to commend him for that.

But by the end of it, Zack had learned what exactly AVALANCHE's plans were. The reactors… they wanted to take them down, hoping it would stop Shinra if they couldn't continuously pump out mako. It was really risky, since they were going to have to sneak into Shinra Headquarters itself. But that would be where Zack and Cloud came in. They knew the building for all the in and outs. At least Zack hoped, there was the chance every changed in five years, but he highly doubted that.

Then Zack remembered there was also Kunsel. He truly was his insider man who would definitely be a good card to have up his sleeve. Though Zack had yet to bring that card up to Barret. Figuring out how he didn't trust Zack and Cloud at the start, he for sure wouldn't trust a current working Shinra employee. But maybe for another time, maybe once Zack talked to Kunsel and also Barret some more. It was all something that was going to take time. The team didn't even have all the supplies yet that they needed so the attack on the first reactor would still take time.

By the end of the meeting, there was still plenty more that Barret wanted to talk about, but then others decided to call it a night. Zack looked to his side and saw that Cloud had fallen asleep. Breathing in and out slowly, his head leaned against Zack's arm.

A smile stretched Zack's lips as he ran a hand through Cloud locks. "I guess all that talking wore you out, eh?"

Cloud kept ok breathing peacefully, nothing seemed to be keeping him from his sleep. Chuckling Zack moved carefully to pull Cloud into his arms. If Cloud wanted to sleep, he would let him. No reason to wake up the guy at this point.

He was ready to head out but first he walked over to Tifa. The other members had already left to head to their own homes, but Tifa still had to clean up and close up the bar for the night. "I wish I could help you close up, but this little chocobo here decided it was time to sleep. So I might as well get him back home."

"You guys got a place to stay?"

Zack nodded. "Yup, don't worry we aren't living off the streets. We'll see you tomorrow then? I'd still like to help you out to pay you back for your kindness and everything."

"Show up tomorrow as soon as you can and I'll see what work I can give you. I'm sure you'll just take on about anything," Tifa replied, letting a light chuckle escape her lips.

"You know it. And I'm sure if Cloud hadn't passed out on us, he'd be wanting to help to."

Tifa let her eyes drift down to Cloud. His head snuggled up against Zack's chest, trying to stay warm from the looks of it. Zack didn't even seem phased by the action all while he continued to hold Cloud in a bridal style fashion.

Slowly she focused back on Zack. "You care a lot about him, don't you?"

"Huh?" Zack asked, caught off guard by the question. When he looked down to see Cloud's sleeping face, he smiled right away. "Of course. After all we've gone through, I can't imagine being without him."

There was a pause before a light sigh came from Tifa. "That sounds nice."

Zack took note of her tone, his memories pulling on what he heard earlier. A little bit of uneasy twisted in his stomach. He couldn't bring himself to ask about it though. The feeling in the stomach proving to be too much for the time being. But perhaps for another time.

"Yeah… well um… We'll be heading back, okay? See you tomorrow?"

"Hm, yeah. See you then. Goodnight Zack," Tifa said. "And if Cloud wakes up on your way back, let him know I said goodnight."

"Can do. Night to you Tifa."

Heading out of the bar, Zack adjusted how he was holding Cloud, bringing him a little closer to his chest. It was cooler out at night, he could feel it nipping at his neck. Picking up his pace, Zack sped towards the apartment, thinking of how a nice warm bed would be after the long day. By the time he got back there, Cloud still had not woken.

Zack set him down on the bed and went to go change into his pajamas. He thought to do the same for Cloud but he was just so peaceful. The last thing Zack wanted to do was to wake Cloud up, especially if he was half way through changing him. It was one thing for Cloud to be completely out of it, but now he was just sleeping.

Zack already knew he would feel awkward if it happened, but he wasn't even sure how Cloud would feel. Either way, Cloud would be just fine, it wasn't like they had worked up a huge sweat during the day. Maybe he was just overthinking everything. There was always that.

Yawning Zack went back to the bedroom once he was ready. As expected Cloud had not moved an inch. Snickered, Zack laid down beside him and pulled the covered up over the two of them. "Man I wish I could fall asleep as fast as you, and stay asleep too. Maybe one day… once we can finally get some real peace…"

I had a bit of a stump with this chapter, but I finally pulled through it at least! Thank you all for your support!