Zack tossed and turned, the sheets on his bed tying around his waist and legs, pulling tight no matter which way he turned. He hated not being able to sleep, and lately it had been happening more and more often. Finally he gave up on going back to sleep and sat up. The green letters on his clock were shining in his eyes and he blinked a few times before seeing that they were telling him it was five-thirty in the morning. On a day off. Zack had hoped to sleep in till at least eight or nine.
He groaned before untangling himself and walking out of his bedroom into the kitchen and living room of his apartment. If he wasn't going to sleep, he might as well make use of being up this early. Gathering a few quick ingredients, Zack set himself to the task of making an omelet for a very early breakfast.
I've never had this much trouble sleeping. What's wrong with me?
As he poured the eggs into a frying pan, Zack's eyes went to the chair in his living room where his Soldier armor was. He had a terrible habit of stripping down as soon as he got home, and throwing his uniform and armor onto that same chair. But this morning was different, because the comforting sight of his buster sword leaning against the chair was missing.
Zack he let Cloud borrow the sword, to get some training done on his day off. Now Zack was finding himself greatly regretting this choice. He missed his sword. It was like a part of him.
Maybe that's why I can't sleep. The whole apartment feels different without the buster here with me.
Zack tried to convince himself that it was indeed the absence of his sword that was keeping him awake, and not the thoughts of the one who had borrowed it. His eggs were almost burning and Zack added the ingredients quickly before flipping the omelet.
I guess I can go train for a bit before it gets too busy.
Looking at the pile of materia gems he had removed from the buster sword the day before, Zack sighed heavily. He missed his sword. As he ate his breakfast, he thought about the different places he could buy a good practice sword for Cloud to use during his training, instead of his prized buster.
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Sephiroth finished a set of attacks with his masamune before taking a break. The wooden dummy he had been attacking was now shaved a few inches smaller than it had been that morning. Sometimes the general felt bad for whoever had to keep replacing the practice dummies in the gym because of the damage he caused. He walked over to where his shoulder armor was piled and picked up a towel to wipe off the masamune with.
His massive sword glinted in the fluorescent lights of the large, deserted gymnasium. Sephiroth finished wiping off the flecks of wood that had been stuck to the blade and turned around, walking into the open area of the gym. He took a deep breath before raising the masamune to eye level and lunging forward. The instant his lunge was finished he spun around, slicing through the air fast enough that he could hear the masamune cutting through it.
He loved the feel of his sword in his hands. Like an extension of his body. As he continued his everyday set of moves, he would put in a few new ones, try out new techniques. As he turned on his heel, and did an uppercut, he barely missed slicing off the tip of his hair as it trailed behind him.
I really should cut it.
Sephiroth glared at his excessively long hair. It really didn't make sense to keep it long as a Soldier, but he couldn't bring himself to cut it.
Zack would never let me cut it anyway.
Taking another break after going through his usual set of attacks, Sephiroth sheathed the masamune and sat on a workout bench that was in the corner of the gym.
His peaceful break was interrupted as he heard the gym doors slam open. He saw a boy walk in, in sweatpants and a loose workout shirt, with a shock of blond hair that stood in spikes on his head. Sephiroth was prepared to yell at the cadet to leave, for the gym was closed to anyone except Soldiers before seven.
Sephiroth looked at the clock and realized it was 7:07. He had been there since four, but usually no one came in this early on a day off. Again his eyes found the boy who had walked across the gym to an empty area used for sparring, and stood with his back to the general.
Only then did Sephiroth see the huge broadsword that the boy had brought in with him. He placed the broadsword on the ground as he pulled off his shirt, laying it on the ground. A broadsword which was very familiar to Sephiroth. With his interest piqued, Sephiroth stood and quietly walked towards the boy who had just taken up a fighting stance with his best friend's weapon in hand.
Cloud meanwhile was completely absorbed in his training. It had taken a lot of begging and pleading with Zack to allow the buster out of his sight for even as long as a day. But Cloud had succeeded and was now prepared to practice as long as it took for him to be proficient with a broadsword. He was already progressing well with his materia, but after seeing what a true Soldier was capable of while Zack battled the dragon, Cloud realized just how much more powerful Zack was compared to him.
After taking a few breaths, Cloud raised the broadsword over his head and rushed forward, slashing down and to his side. Then he resumed his stance and did the same to his other side. Then he began to practice attacking from side to side. His focus was so complete that he had no idea that his idol Sephiroth was standing a few feet behind him, watching with suspicion.
Cloud paused after a few more swings, already winded.
How can he be so fast and so aggressive with this size of a weapon? And he was holding it with only one hand.
As he was about to raise the sword from where it rested against his side, a flicker of light caught Cloud's eyes. He turned to his left and found the sharp point of a katana leveled at him, right between his eyes. Slowly, afraid to breath even, Cloud raised his eyes and followed the insanely long blade to the man who held it.
Now Cloud really couldn't breath.
General Sephiroth...oh God. I'm going to die now.
Cloud's fear was obvious in his bright blue eyes as he stared at Sephiroth. The man's expression was fierce and calm all at once. His sharp green eyes were partially obscured by the length of his silver bangs. But the masamune spoke loudly enough for Sephiroth's intentions that Cloud would have had to be deaf and blind not to know he was in deep shit.
"Where did you get that sword?"
Cloud blinked a few times, unsure of why the most famous Soldier in history was talking to him. And why his head was still attached to his neck.
"Cadet!"
Cloud flinched as the soft coaxing voice became hard as ice. He gulped and let his eyes flick from the general's face back to the tip of his sword. Sephiroth understood immediately and let the masamune drop to the ground, but he didn't sheath it. An obvious sign that it still played a part in this interaction.
"U-uh...I borrowed it from a friend...sir!" Cloud added the sir in a yell and could have sworn he saw a flash of laughter in the general's eyes.
"Give me your friend's name cadet."
Cloud blanked. Should he tell Sephiroth that it was Zack? Would Zack get in trouble for giving his weapon away? Zack's words came back to Cloud that he shouldn't act like their training was some sort of secret.
"Commander Zack let me borrow it sir."
Sephiroth's eyes widened a fraction and he quickly sheathed the masamune. Cloud felt immensely relieved that the intimidating weapon was farther from him now. He could still feel the shaking in his hand from staring at death resting on the edge of that blade.
"And you expect me to believe that Zack would part with his favorite weapon for what reason?" Sephiroth crossed his arms over his bare chest and cocked his head to the side. The cadet in front of him looked like he was about to have an aneurysm from fear, as his mouth opened a few times, before closing without a sound.
"Well?" The general pressed.
"He's...he's helping me to train for the Soldier exams," Cloud swallowed before continuing, "sir. Is it against the rules for that?"
Sephiroth smiled. For a moment Cloud was afraid that was an evil smirk that would be the last thing he saw before he was decapitated. But instead Sephiroth just playfully shook his head.
"I see."
So Zack, decided to take on an apprentice of your own have we? No wonder you kept questioning over why I chose you...
"Well, ..." Cloud caught on that the silence was because he hadn't introduced himself to the general properly yet.
"I'm Cloud sir. Cloud Strife."
"Well Strife, I can see that you must be paying attention to Zack's lessons. You're not bad with that broadsword."
Cloud beamed. Reality suddenly had caught up with his jarred mind and he realized that he was having a conversation with the Sephiroth. His heart pounded so loudly in his ears he could barely hear the compliment.
"Thank you sir."
"I have to wonder, if Zack is a good teacher, or if you have natural talent? Because he is my second, I know very well how good a fighter he is. So how about we see what you've learned from his training so far?"
Cloud felt every bone in his body lock up. He wanted to nod his head, but he couldn't even do such a simple thing. He wasn't sure if he was frozen in fear, awe, apprehension, etc.
"Uh..."
Brilliant Cloud. That was absolutely brilliant.
Sephiroth let a small smirk form at the corners of his mouth at the boy's unintelligible answer. In response, he nodded his head and brought the masamune in front of him, in a loose fighting stance. After a minute of seemingly gathering his courage, Cloud too raised his sword and tried to remember all the things that Zack had taught him that had suddenly disappeared from his mind.
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Zack whistled lightly as he walked down the halls of the Shinra building. It was nice to be there so early in the morning on an off day, peaceful and relaxed. The only people who seemed to be there aside from him were the troopers on guard duty, who just yawned and waved at him as he passed.
As he entered the hall that led to the entrance of the gym, he heard sounds echoing to him. They seemed to be coming from the gym and sounded metallic.
Must be someone doing weight training.
But with every step forward, Zack began to change his mind. There was definitely more than one person in the gym, and along with the clanging of metal was the sound of running.
Almost at the entrance, and with his curiosity piqued, Zack heard a cry from inside.
Cloud?!?
Zack leapt full speed into the gym.
"Sephiroth don't!" He yelled as soon as he saw what was happening.
The general gave him a calculated, chilled stare. No one ordered him around, even if that someone was his best friend. Beneath him, lying on the ground was Cloud, panting, with quickly forming bruises along his arms and chest. There was even a rip in his pants next to his knee where a small cut was seeping blood into his uniform. But Cloud didn't seem to notice this, too focused on the tip of the masamune which was pressed sharply against his throat.
"Calm down," with that, Sephiroth removed his weapon and sheathed it. Cloud slowly sat up, before walking over to retrieve the fallen buster sword. "If you had taught him better, he wouldn't have lost as badly as he did."
Zack prayed that he wasn't turning red as a beet at that moment. He also found that he couldn't look Sephiroth directly in the eyes. Berating himself mentally, Zack walked over to Cloud, trying his best to ignore the glare his best friend had leveled at him.
"Are you okay Cloud?" The boy looked up into the dark eyes of his tutor and nodded with a smile.
"I'm fine. General Sephiroth offered to give me a lesson after he found out you were training me."
Zack swallowed before looking over to Sephiroth and giving him a weak smile. None was returned.
"Well, good to hear. That's not exactly the kind of practice I had intended for you to use my sword for, but why not." Zack gave a fake smile to Cloud, who politely excused himself because Sephiroth was still within earshot and left to practice on his own and clean himself up a bit.
Zack turned to start apologizing to Sephiroth, but saw that his silver haired friend had already left. And his armor and coat were missing from the gym floor. He ran at full speed out into the hallway, and caught a sight of his ex getting into the elevator.
"Hold it!" Zack cried out as he ran full tilt for the elevator and managed to squeeze in right before the doors closed. He bent over, trying to catch his breath before speaking.
"Listen Sephiroth, I'm really sorry. I..."
"It's no problem Zack."
Zack winced at how cold the voice was. He stood and looked him in the eye, before trying again.
"You know it is. I know you better than that, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
Sephiroth merely stared ahead at the distorted reflection of himself from the elevator doors. He wasn't usually an emotional person, and rarely let something bother him this much. But maybe because it was Zack who had done it, it did bother him a lot.
"Please Sephiroth, I really am sorry."
Sephiroth remained unfazed by the whining of his companion. The elevator beeped as they passed yet another floor.
"Is that how you really think of me Zack? Like the others...that I'm some maniac who kills at will."
That stung Zack. His smile fell and his shoulders slumped. When they had been together, Sephiroth had always said that's what made him love him. That he treated him like a human being. That he didn't see him as others do.
"You know I don't. God Sephiroth...you lose faith and trust in me just cause I said one stupid thing."
When he looked into Zack's dark sapphire eyes, Sephiroth saw more pain than anger. Now he'd gone and hurt both of them simply because he had felt slighted.
"Well then why did you yell at me to stop? If you have all this faith in me..." His sharp green eyes flickered to Zack's face, waiting to read it should he try to lie.
"All right, I'll admit, I was worried for Cloud. I thought that you had attacked him because you saw him with my buster...or because...." Zack quickly drifted off. The elevator announced that they had reached the ground level of the Shinra building, where they would normally exit. As the doors began to open, Sephiroth leaned over and hit the "door close" button, sealing them inside.
"Or why?" He pressed, cocking his head to the side as he continued to stare intently as Zack.
Zack bit his lip, trying to buy time and think of a good answer but when he looked intense the intense mako eyes facing him, he knew that his lie would be found.
"Because...maybe you were...um....jealous?"
Sephiroth leaned back against the wall calmly. Almost like he had suspected something of that nature. Zack nervously flicked his eyes around the small quiet elevator and wished that they had annoying music like all normal elevators.
"I'm not you know."
Zack smiled at the softened voice of his best friend. He finally managed to smile again and slid along the railing until he was leaning against Sephiroth, his chin resting on his shoulder-armor. Sephiroth just gave him a strange, unreadable look. But Zack had gotten used to those years ago and appreciated it just the same.
"So...do you think he's cute?"
The friendly security guards watched as Sephiroth exited the elevator, followed a few feet later by First Class Soldier Zack, who was rubbing a large bump on his forehead.
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Sorry for another delay, this schoolwork is driving me out of my mind. There's the more Sephiroth that someone requested. Oh, and I think I may actually have Zack and Cloud getting a little....closer..... in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!!
