So sorry for the delay on this story! As per usual I had major writer's block on it and I just had to think for a while before I could do anything more with it. But here we are! Back with the story finally!

Ch.11

Having Cloud for a boyfriend, and actually being open about it was really nice. At first Zack didn't know what to expect. Before Cloud he had only felt feelings for Aerith, but then his feelings developed for Cloud. Or really he came to the realization that he had always liked the blond.

Looking back he could see it, or perhaps now that they were dating he thought back on everything in that romantic light. Either way he knew the past didn't matter, what did matter was the now.

Zack was also really thankful that Tifa and all of her AVALANCHE friends were really supportive. It still had taken a few weeks for Barret to fully trust them, but by this point he had come around. Everyone was so kind about it, with Jesse always commenting what a cute couple they were. Sure it made Zack and Cloud a little embarrassed, but it was better than the opposite. Even Aerith and Kunsel supported them actively. It was almost strange to think about it, with his past with Aerith, but she seemed to take pride in making sure that he and Cloud were happy.

In between the small missions that Barret was giving them, Zack made sure to visit with Aerith. He still had to repair her flower wagon after all and she wasn't going to let him live it down if he forgot. Cloud tried to help too, but Aerith mostly had dragged him into helping tend to the flowers. He just seemed to have found a nice bit of solace with working with them so Zack let him have his fun.

By this point he seemed to have fully recovered and no longer spaced out or slept for long periods of time. He seemed like his normal old self and Zack couldn't have been more thankful. Sure Cloud was still distant a lot of the time, but that's who he had always been. In time though, Zack saw how Cloud warmed up to others. Aside from himself and Tifa, he had been fairly quiet, but now he was having full engaging conversations with Aerith as well as the others at the 7th Heaven.

Overall things were starting to look pretty bright for them, but Zack knew he still had a long road ahead. Shinra was still to be dealt with, and AVALANCHE's places were coming to fruition. Soon enough the first mission to take out one of the mako reactors would take place. Zack still felt a little nervous, knowing he was going to destroy the company that he once desperately wanted to be a part of. He knew that it had to be done, and he wasn't going to stop until he knew he could rest safely.

He had made many plans and given plenty of information to Barret on Shinra, but he had yet to bring up Kunsel. He still trusted Kunsel dearly and relied on him for the secret information that he could get. But even then, Zack had to be careful bringing that up. Barret still didn't like Shinra, it was a lucky chance he listened to Tifa and decided to give Cloud and Zack a chance. So bringing up Kunsel would just be a huge mess and Zack knew he had to prepare himself to talk about that.

"Zack?"

Zack turned to see Cloud was sitting down next to him. He offered a smile. "Hey, taking a break from the garden tending?"

"For now. But I wanted to check in on how you were. Still struggling with the cart?"

"Hey I'm trying at least!" Zack pouted. "It's just… really really long and complicated."

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"I did not!"

Cloud snickered. "You totally did!"

Zack glared at Cloud, trying not to admit the truth. But then he finally gave in and sighed as he flopped backwards onto the floor. "Fiiine! I can't remember how I did it! You gotta cut me some slack though. It's been years since I've done this!"

Looking up at Cloud he noticed that there was something in Cloud's hair. Smiling he reached up to poke it. "So, is Aerith decorating your hair now with flowers?"

Cloud placed his hand over Zack's and smiled. "I guess? Is that okay?"

"You look great," Zack complimented. "The floral ascetic suits you."

Cloud pulled the flower out of his hair and placed it on Zack's. "I think it suits you too."

Zack reached up and pulled Cloud down on top of him, their faces only inches apart. "You think so? Think maybe Aerith could make us some flower crowns?"

"If you want flower crowns, you're going to have to pay for them!" Aerith shouted from across the church.

Zack tilted his head back slightly. "Aw, really Aerith? You'd make us pay?"

"Yes because I still need to earn money and you two can still be paying customers."

"Not even a discount?" Zack asked with pleading eyes.

"Nope!" Aerith laughed. "Full price no matter what."

"Not even if I finish the wagon for you?"

"You have to finish it first before I can consider that."

Cloud laughed. "She's got you there."

"Don't take her side!"

"I'm not," Cloud replied. "You're just being a child."

Zack puffed his, trying his best to look offended. He couldn't stay mad at Cloud though, that was never even a thought he could have. He hugged Cloud tightly after he dropped his annoyed expression. He took in the moment to relax and embrace the warmth of Cloud's body up against his. He was happy like this, and he didn't want it to change. It may not have been what he was expecting in his life, when he looked back to how he was years ago, but he was glad it turned out how it did.

"Oh well! I guess I better get back to work! This wagon isn't going to fix itself!" Zack said.

He sat back up, all while still holding on to Cloud. "So buddy! You wanna help me fix the wagon? I may need an extra hand after all."

"Alright, I can help with that since you clearly forgot."

"I didn't forget!"

A few days later, Zack was lying away in bed. Things had been going smoothly with everyone, but lately his thoughts seemed to be more active than normal. It was always when he tried to sleep too, which really irked him. But, instead of fussing about it and possibly waking Cloud, he sat there to let his thoughts grow and wander. He figured he might as well let everything get out as he may have ended up finding an answer to something he needed.

He knew for sure that a lot of his thoughts focused on the future. It was all about the "what ifs" that could happen along the way. The dream he had was that everything would be safe and he could just live the rest of his life peacefully with Cloud and his friends by his side. That was his hope, but there were so many obstacles that stood before him.

With his thoughts for the future rolling, he was brought back to thinking about the plans that Barret and the others had. Soon enough they would finally have all they needed to go take down the reactors. It was going to be messy, and Zack still had yet to warn Kunsel about it. Out of everyone left at Shinra, Kunsel was all he had left to worry about. He needed him to be safe and out of harm's way once the plans were to go into action.

Zack had been back to these thoughts about Kunsel over a million times and he still felt like he was at a loss for a good answer. Kunsel was a key player who provided the information that he needed to tell the AVALANCHE crew, yet he couldn't tell them who it was. He had managed to not have Barret question where he was getting all this fresh Shinra information, passing it off as just his former job knowhow.

But now as time drew closer to that first mission, Zack realized he was going to have to tell the truth. "I guess I gotta do it sooner than later. Maybe tomorrow I'll try and bring it up."

With that resolve in his mind, Zack was finally able to drift off, but come morning he was plagued again with new thoughts. If he was going to tell Barret and the others about Kunsel, he had to figure out how to do it. Sure, he could just say it directly, but what good would that do? It would only make him seem suspicious.

At breakfast, Zack found himself concentrating more on those thoughts than actually eating. Cloud seemed to take notice and poked his arm, warranting him to look up. "Huh? What's up, Cloud?"

"You were spacing out again. Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. Just a lot of thoughts on my mind right now."

"Like what?"

Zack shrugged. "You know, stuff about the missions and dealing with everything."

"And?" Cloud asked. "What about it?"

Zack let out a sigh. "Just thinking how to tell Barret and the others about Kunsel. He's been working hard to get me some insider info, and Barret never questioned how I got it. I want to tell the truth about it… I hate lying about it. Cause when it comes time to take down the reactors, I want to make sure Kunsel is safe."

Cloud nodded along. "Yeah, and telling Barret that we've been working with a current Shinra employee would probably not go well, right?"

"Exactly! But you know Kunsel, he would ditch Shinra already if he could, but he's staying back. Things are still tight and he wants to dig for more information on them."

"So… why not tell Barret that? Tell him that Kunsel trusts you more than he trusts the company," Cloud suggested.

"I guess… just gotta hope the guy doesn't rail on me for it. Barret can be pretty intimidating."

"Well I'll back you up, and I'm sure Tifa could too if we tell her first."

Zack's eyes lit up with excitement. "Hey! That's a great idea! Tell Tifa first and then Barret and everyone else. So you'll help me?"

Cloud nodded."I'll try to."

"Okay!" Zack shouted happily. "Let's finish up our food and then we can head out and do just that."

Once they finished up their food the two headed out. They made their way through Midgar until they arrived at the bar. Zack walked up first and gave a light knock on the door. He looked around, making sure no one was paying attention to them since the bar wouldn't open until the evening.

After a moment Tifa unlocked it and smiled, moving aside to let them inside. "Hey," she said as she closed the door. "What's up?"

"Well, there's something we wanted to talk about. About the… well you know what stuff," Zack replied.

"Barret isn't back yet. He was taking time to play with Marlene today."

"Well, that's okay, we wanted to talk to you first," Zack said.

Tifa looked a little surprised. "Oh? That so?"

Cloud nodded. "There's something we wanted to tell you about before Barret."

Tifa moved over to the bar and sat down on one of the seats. "Nothing bad I hope?"

Cloud shook his head. "No. But it's something you should hear."

"Alright. What do you guys have?"

Cloud looked to Zack and he took a step forward. He was the one that had the connection in the first place. He was the one that had to do this. Taking in a deep breath, he prepared to say what he had thought of on the way over.

"Okay, so you know that I was already a Shinra employee long before, yeah?"

Tifa smirked. "Yeah, I couldn't forget that."

"Well I obviously had friends at Shinra… other friends than Sephiroth before he went crazy. And uh, I've still kept in contact with one this entire time."

As soon as Tifa's expression started to change, Zack waved his hands. "Let me finish first! He isn't loyal anymore to Shinra! But he can't just leave right now. It's not safe to do so ever since Cloud and I avoided all the crap Shinra sent at us."

"So… he's just staying there… supply you info? Without being caught?"

"Don't misjudge Kunsel. He is by far one of the best sneaky guys I know. He actually emailed me to warn about that attack Shinra sent on us…" Zack said with an added sigh. "Really should have listened to him then."

"And you're telling me only now because…?"

"Because we know you and the rest of AVALANCHE are towards Shinra. Barret didn't trust us at first as ex-Shinra employees, so why would he trust a current one?"

Tifa leaned back against the bar, crossing her arms. "Okay you have a point. So you wanted to tell me first so I can help explain it to Barret? But how can I believe you that he is actually wanting to help us?'

Zack pulled out his phone and showed the picture that he had of him and Kunsel. "This is Kunsel. Trust me when I say he is willing to do what it takes to help us. He was the one who got an apartment for Cloud and me."

"Well… he doesn't look too bad," Tifa said as she stared at the image.

Feeling that it was good enough, Zack placed the phone back in his pocket. He then pressed his hands together, giving his pleading look. "So you'll help? Please? It would be really great to not have to keep Kunsel hidden cause once we go after Shinra I want to make sure he's safe."

Tifa sighed as she shook her head. "You really got a look there with those pleading eyes."

"Does that mean it's working?" Zack grinned.

Tifa let out a laugh. "Alright fine. You win. When Barret comes back later I'll help talk him through it."

Zack stood up straight, his grin growing wider. "Thanks Tifa! You're great!"

"You can thank me after we talk to Barret, because that's a whole other ordeal. Even with me on your side, it's still hard to convince the man."

"Aw well I believe that we can do it! Plus with it out and the open it's going to be so much easier to talk about the information sources from Kunsel," Zack explained.

"That's true…" Tifa glanced over to Cloud. "And you knew about this?"

Cloud gave a nod. "I've met Kunsel a few times, but he's more Zack's friend then mine."

Tifa hummed before she went to stand up. "Alright, we'll see what happens, okay? But first I need to finish preparing to open up. If you boys want to help around again, I'd like the tables cleaned down and the floor dusted."

Zack gave a small salute as he straightened up. "Can do ma'am!"

Right away he ran off to the supply closet to get the necessary items. Tifa and Cloud both laughed as they watched him, though Tifa stopped and started to look at Cloud instead. She let a soft chuckle to herself before walking closer.

"How do you manage with his energy?"

Cloud smiled a little. "I don't know… I just do."

"But you wouldn't have it any other way?"

"Yeah. Zack's one of a kind. You can't just replace him," Cloud replied. "I wouldn't have him any other way."