Life goes on… or so they say.
That's why you keep on living.
This is exactly what Cloud's doing as he observes the chaos happening ahead of him.
A woman with a brown bob who's fixing her hair in front of a floor mirror. A pair of kids laughing and racing after each other before being screamed at by the bob-haired woman to behave. People already positioned by the white backdrop won't stop roasting one another's looks. A grumpy old man who has been sitting on a stool since a while ago is asking for probably the tenth time when's all this going to end because he wants to go home.
"Will you guys just settle down? Cloud doesn't have all day to deal with us," scolds Leslie, a man with grey hair who has brought his entire family here for a photo session.
The noises from the family slow down as they regroup and Cloud's assistants are helping them rearrange their positions.
"Leslie, you should be at grandpa's left and Merle, please move to grandma's right," he instructs.
Leslie and his bride-to-be quickly reposition themselves.
Cloud gives them a thumbs up. "Alright. Ready?"
He counts from 1 to 3, then goes on to take several shots of the family.
"Thanks, Cloud. Sorry they're so hard to manage," Leslie apologizes when he comes to Cloud by the end of the session.
Cloud smiles. "No, it's fine. I've handled worse. I'll make sure the photos are ready before the wedding."
"That would be awesome," Leslie beams.
The grey-haired man's brows shoot up like he's remembering something before he's fishing through one of his trouser pockets and pulling out what seems to be a 5 by 5 card.
"Here's the wedding invitation. If you have time, please come!"
"Will do."
It's past 6pm when the family's finally gone home, leaving Cloud and his team scrambling to pack and close the doors for the day.
Cloud still finds it hard to believe that he's running his own studio.
Wanting some distance from Zack, he left After Dark by Fair a year ago with a day's notice and not a word about where he's going.
His career break lasted only for 3 months.
He found a great space to rent in Sector 2 and opened Strifetographer – a photography service for family portraits and events.
Managing a studio's tough work and his list of clients isn't as wide-ranging as he wants it to be but he's content with where he is.
Adjusting to these new changes in his life remains an ongoing process.
He's locking the doors when his stomach starts rumbling like tyres moving across gravel. It just occurs to him that he hasn't eaten anything besides two bland crackers for breakfast.
There's only one place to go: Mireille's Stop. His favourite takeaway in Sector 2 and the best place to get mouth-watering made to order gyros.
Mireille's Stop is just 3 blocks away from the studio but it's almost 7pm and the queue to the counter is already so long that some people are waiting outside.
Just like every other day.
Cloud sighs and joins those who're lining up outdoors.
Hands in his pockets, he moves when the line advances forward. The smell of fried meat, onions, herbs and pita bread grows stronger as he draws nearer to the front of the takeaway.
He grows more aware of just how hungry he actually is.
The phone in his pocket vibrates, offering him something to be distracted with.
He checks and finds that there's a series of texts waiting for him to read.
Whore: Pls help
Whore: There's no one else who I can ask for help
Whore: Idk what to do with him
Whore: Your dad doesn't care
Not a distraction he wants.
He shoves the phone back to his pocket and moves 2 steps forward.
The woman behind him seems to have run out of patience and breaks away from the line, grumbling about slow service and shit. Taking her place is a man in a suit.
"Oh, it's you."
Nudged by the familiar voice, he turns around to find that the man in suit is Tseng.
He smiles stiffly. "Didn't think you would be around here."
As far as Cloud knows, Tseng works for the police department in Sector 0.
Tseng shrugs. "There's a week of training here I've to clear. No choice."
The line keeps going forward and Cloud finally has his feet in the takeaway.
"Aren't you going to ask about him?" Tseng asks, unprompted.
He makes a questioning look.
"You know. About Zack."
Cloud scratches the back of his neck. A nervous habit. "I don't know. Is there something I need to know?"
"If you're wondering… his studio hasn't been on business since 5 days after you left. The last time I saw him was 6 months ago and he didn't look good."
The news makes him feel unsettled but he doesn't like where this is going.
"Okay… so what do you want me to do about it?"
Tseng's face doesn't change. It stays as blank as it looks from the beginning of the conversation. But Cloud can hear the man taking a deep breath.
"I don't know… maybe check on him?" Tseng cursorily suggests as if he doesn't want to sound like he's pushing Cloud to do it.
When Cloud doesn't respond, the man huffs.
"Look. I'm just worried about him, okay? He doesn't let anyone in anymore. But maybe… it will be different if it's you."
"Aerith's there for him, isn't she?"
Tseng scoffs. "Don't mention her. She no longer knows what to do with him. None of us do."
His time with Tseng runs out.
The teenager in front of him is done making his order and happily walks away with a gyro wrapped in silver foil.
A female server with a 'Kyrie' nametag pinned at the top right of her apron greets Cloud as he stands by the counter. "Welcome! What can I get you, sir?"
His mouth lists the toppings he usually wants in his gyro.
But his mind's not really there at where he is.
Cloud breathes out a shaky breath, then waggles his hands.
He doesn't know why he's so nervous. He has been to this place far too many times.
His eyes stray to the doorbell switch on the wall.
Here goes nothing.
He presses the switch twice and waits for whoever's going to answer the door.
A few minutes have gone by before he hears movements heading his way.
The door opens and instead of a warm welcome, he's greeted with Zack shouting, "Can't you fucking see the sign? No. Salesman. Allowed. I don't want to see any fucking one of-"
The other man's outbursts stop and his grey blue eyes enlarge when he realizes who's at his doorway.
Cloud's lips arch into an awkward smile. "Hey…"
"Cloud…" Zack seems incredibly awed by his presence that the other man momentarily forgets what he needs to do.
"Are you… going to let me in?"
Zack panics a little as he steps away. "Sorry. Of course. Come in."
The inside of Zack's place looks spick-and-span, a huge contrast to the owner who's hovering close in a sleeveless black top and grey briefs, looking scraggly with his bed head and unshaved stubbles.
"You've kept this place… really clean," he remarks, actually impressed that he's seeing not even a single dust anywhere.
"It's the only thing for me to do now anyway."
Cloud enters the living room. The place where they used to spend most of their time together. The place where they first had sex.
He notices the stack of pizza boxes on the coffee table.
"Ah sorry. I forgot to bin those," Zack says, hurrying to remove them.
Cloud follows Zack to the kitchen where the other man tosses the boxes into a large waste can.
"I heard… about your studio," he remarks, leaning his back against the sink counters.
"Tseng told you?"
He nods.
Zack slumps onto a stool. An embarrassed smile lifts his mouth and he seems reluctant to look at Cloud. "Yeah. I just couldn't do it anymore."
"Why?"
The smile falls off from Zack's face. "Just because."
"Is it because I left?"
Silence.
Zack still doesn't want to look at him.
He sighs. "I'm sorry I just up and left. I… needed some space and time away from you. But I thought it would be fine because you have so many people helping you. And Aerith is-"
"It's just not the same without you," Zack cuts him short. "And please stop talking about Aerith. There's nothing between us now."
The irritation in Zack's voice tells Cloud that he has pushed the other man far enough.
Cloud feels the dryness in his throat and recalls that he hasn't had his breakfast.
"Are you hungry?" he asks and Zack finally looks up to him.
"Kind of…"
"I'll make us something," he says, then goes on to check the fridge.
From the fridge, he grabs what he needs – some eggs, milk and a packet of butter – and places them on the island near the stove.
He's closing the fridge door when he sees the frozen food packages piling up along the first 3 shelves.
"Do you still have the flour and baking powder we used to make those waffles some time ago?"
Zack rummages the low cabinets and takes out the said two ingredients.
"Great. I'm frying us some pancakes. We need to make full use of that honey," Cloud remarks, pointing at a jar that seems to be left alone near the microwave for quite some time.
Zack sits on one of the stools once more, just watching him as he's preparing their breakfast.
"Zack, you need to stop eating those frozen food and pizzas," he tells the other man while flipping around the first pancake.
Zack keeps quiet, probably ashamed that Cloud figured out that his eating habit's a bit messed up.
Minutes go by before Zack decides to speak again, "I'll… make us coffee."
Cloud listens as Zack pours dark roasts into the espresso machine and tinkers with the appliance until it's making a sizzling sound.
Zack returns to the stool as soon as he's finished making the pancakes.
He plates the pancakes – two for him, and two for Zack.
A thought crosses his mind as he's dripping strings of honey onto his pancakes.
"I'm thinking of… going back to Nibelheim this weekend. There are some things I need to do. Do you… want to come with me?" he asks, passing the jar of honey to Zack.
"Tifa's not coming with you?"
"No… we're not together anymore."
Zack glances at him and another brief moment of silence drifts by.
"Yeah, sure. I'll come with you."
A couple of bites into their pancakes and their eyes meet one more time.
It feels good to be staring at those grey blue eyes again that Cloud can't stop himself from smiling at the sight of them.
Zack's smiling too.
A/N: Next chp will be the final one! It's actually insane that I managed to write this far 😂