Hehe…wow…college is busy. You know…Greek is a tough language. Sorry, just thought I'd let you know the reasons for the prolonged delay. I am going to finish all the fics I'm working on. I haven't given up on any of them. Its just taking a little while.
Okay, so I've watched Advent Children like 9 times. And it will influence the story a little…but not much. In fact I think Last Order will have more of an influence than anything else. Enjoy.
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Zack woke up to someone tugging the sheets away from his body. It was still warm out, despite getting close to the end of fall, so he wasn't too disturbed by it. The bundle in his bed next to him kept curling up.
With a soft punch on where he assumed the shoulder may have ended up he woke up the spiky haired burrito.
"Mrrph…"
Zack contemplated this for a moment before forcibly pulling the covers back to his side of the bed. Not so much for the covers as for exposing the one who was until now wrapped in them.
"Ah!" Cloud rolled to the edge of the bed and had to cling fiercely to it to keep from falling off. His head was hanging upside down as he felt the tingly sensation of vertigo rush up his palms. He could hear Zack snickering behind him and flipped himself back onto the bed.
For a second he sat with his jaw hanging open, prepared to yell at Zack for the harsh awakening. Then his eyes went to Zack, with only a thin sheet draped over his stomach and ending around the top of his thighs. Naturally one thought led to another and he realized he was just as naked. And Zack had his sheet.
The Soldier burst out laughing as Cloud turned completely red and grabbed his pillow to cover his shame.
"Oh come on Cloud. Its nothing I haven't seen by now."
More blushing and laughing followed as the blond cadet debated whether or not he could take Zack down considering the older boy was wrapped in a sheet. No. He'd probably still win.
"I guess you just need time to adjust," Zack smiled softly and reached over to fluff up Cloud's already messed up hair. That weird fluttery feeling in his chest started again. He had hoped that after having gotten so intimate with Zack that it would stop. Or at least not do it every time the dark haired boy touched him.
"I'm sure I will. It's still weird dating a Soldier. Do you think people would freak out if they found out about us?"
As Zack sat thinking about this Cloud discarded the pillow and curled up on his side, sneaking under the covers. From below him he could see the soft blue glow in the cobalt eyes as the sun illuminated them.
"They'd probably be upset if I gave you grades for sleeping with me. But I think that would be the only reason," he said.
Cloud rolled over onto his back and Zack settled back down next to him. He was still getting used to the embarrassing moments that came along with sleeping with someone, but had to admit that the pros well out weighed the cons.
"You don't think you being older than me would make a difference?"
"I'm only two years older than you."
Cloud ruined the moment that Zack was initiating with his hand along Cloud's side by sitting straight up in bed. His eyes were huge and he looked like someone had just told him that the Easter bunny wasn't real.
"What? How can you be a first class Soldier if you're only 18?"
Zack just laughed and pulled the smaller boy into a hug. He struggled, not wanting to fall for the trap his boyfriend was using to change the subject.
"I joined when I was 15. I was a Soldier by around your age, and went through the ranks pretty fast. Probably because I had Sephiroth as my…personal…tutor…"
Cloud was worried as he saw Zack grow pale.
"Oh shit. Sephiroth's coming to pick us up," Zack paused to let go of Cloud and grab for the alarm clock. It had ended up on the floor after the activities of the night before. "In about ten minutes. Well shit."
The imminent danger they were in caused both to be out of bed and fully clothed in record times. Cloud was having issues finding something that would be suitable for combing his hair and stayed in the bedroom while Zack ran from room to room and pulled his clothes on. Added on to that he attempted to make his small apartment seem less thrashed.
So sue me if I like to move around. Sephiroth of all people should know that.
There was a knock at the door and Cloud finished brushing his hair and darted into the kitchenette.
He stopped dead in the middle of opening a bottle of water when he saw Zack walk by on his way to answer the door. He was wearing a button up white shirt with a blue tanktop on under it that brought out the color of his eyes. He had on baggy green cargo pants. Cloud then realized that it was very sad to have only seen one's boyfriend in his uniform and naked.
Chugging the water he wasn't paying attention to the chit chat of the Soldiers exchanging pleasantries at the door. With a gasp he finished and threw the bottle into the trash can under the sink. When he looked up he was surprised again.
Walking in next to Zack was a man in light blue jeans, a faded green long sleeve button up, and a silver braid trailing down his back. He could feel his jaw dropping and didn't care. He could barely tell that it was the General. Without the leather and silver, and without his hair down, he looked…he looked. Well. Shorter.
"I see Strife beat me here."
Zack sighed and looked away from his young lover as he once again turned beet red. Sephiroth on the other hand just quirked an eyebrow. Of course he knew what was going on. But if he couldn't make his cadets uncomfortable then what was the point of being their general.
"Yes, well, Cloud is really very fast. You sparred with him though. You know that. Okay, time to go."
Before opening his mouth to agree Cloud found himself being dragged down the stairs by his hand. He nearly fell down every few steps, but managed to keep up with Zack. As they exited the apartment he stopped abruptly and Cloud ended up with a face full of the commander's back.
"Hey Sephiroth, why don't we take the chocobos?"
"There are only two of them."
Zack rolled his eyes.
"I know. Cloud has ridden on Genie with me before. Its fine," he said and stressed the last part. Sephiroth just nodded and let him lead the way, Cloud trotting in between the two and feeling completely out of place in his rumpled ShinRa uniform.
After reaching the chocobo stables Cloud found himself sitting in front of Zack on the pleasant bird named Genie. Next to them trotted up a much larger chocobo that was pitch black, with eerily light blue eyes. The blond gulped as he saw the creature meet his gaze. It clicked its beak at him before Sephiroth eased a hand over his neck feathers to sooth him.
"Be good Flare."
"Wark!"
As one Zack, Cloud, and Genie edged away from the bird and its master. The general just snorted and nudged his mount forward, taking a quick lead. After a short ride through Midgar and into the world outside of the tall walls, Cloud caught site of a temporary festival set up in the barren wasteland.
"We're going to a carnival?" Cloud tossed over his shoulder, his hair blowing into his mouth and making him spit it out. Zack just laughed and eased Genie back a bit, till she was behind Flare. Then he leaned forward and kissed Cloud's ear, feeling the boy shiver in front of him.
The traveling carnival was huge, and Cloud could barely take everything in. There were tents filled with acrobats and animals, and booths with games and foods of every kind. ShinRa troopers milled about and the boy found himself hanging a few feet away from his accompanying Soldiers.
Zack didn't notice that the blond had fallen behind as he was, at the moment, completely fixated on the smell of funnel cake that had made its way to him. He took off like a shot, and out of habit Sephiroth followed just as quickly. When Cloud looked up he was completely alone, surrounded by sticky fingered children and fellow cadets who hated him.
Man. I have sucky karma.
"Hey look. It's chocobo-head!"
Cloud tried to ignore the familiar bullies who were know surrounding him as best they could. Using the crowd situation to his advantage he tried to sneak through an opening in their gang. Unfortunately for him these morons were both large and fast. One grabbed him by his shirt and threw him into a small space between booths. The others followed, like pack animals when they smell a kill.
"Man, there is nothing sadder than someone our age walking around by himself. What's wrong Misty, don't have any friends?"
The blond tried to get free but was severely outnumbered and outmuscled. He showed his teeth as he pulled against the hands digging into his forearms. He wouldn't admit to them how much their stupid jokes hurt him. Especially when some of them were true. Speaking of his only friends, Cloud looked around but couldn't find hide nor hair of his two Soldier friends.
Well…isn't that just perfect.
"Hey, I'm talking to you you little shit."
Cloud's attention was brought back very quickly by a hard punch to his gut. He wished he had the buster sword with him. These guys would be bloody pulps if he had his way. Instead he leaned away from the sharp knuckles that dug into his stomach over and over again, somehow hoping that the wall would give him some kind of relief.
Suddenly, one punch too late, the bully stopped his attacks and stepped back to admire the defeated look in Cloud's bright eyes. But instead, he found himself staring down icy blue eyes that promised no mercy for anyone who trifled with them. Pulling himself up from where he was doubled over against the wall, Cloud threw off his captors as if it was nothing. There was nothing on his mind except revenge. How could he think of anything else?
Before he could move towards the group who were at that very moment regrouping, a hand rested on his lower back. His whole body jerked and he turned to look at who was daring to touch him, only to meet Mako blue eyes. Zack smiled and looked up to see who was attempting to beat his lover up.
Cloud noticed rather quickly that Sephiroth was still nowhere to be seen.
"Come on Cloud. Lots of the fair left to see," Zack said with a friendly pat onto his young charge's shoulder.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing pal? I suggest you just leave well enough alone."
Zack just leaned heavily onto Cloud and inspected his fingernails on one hand. He could swear he heard some of the bullies growling from a few feet away. Ah well. They'd never know that he probably just saved their lives.
"Pal? Is that any way to treat a superior officer?"
Cloud felt a shadow fall over him and Zack and had to keep from shrinking away from the cold voice directly behind him. It didn't matter if Sephiroth lived next door to Zack, or trained with him. When that guy went into 'general' mode, it was best to stay away. Obviously the group of bullies felt the same way judging by the pure horror written across their faces.
Cloud had to wonder if any of them thought the silver haired commander looked shorter when he wasn't in uniform.
"You are all to report to my office at 1100 tomorrow. I'll have your punishments ready for you when you arrive," Sephiroth paused here to appreciate the fear and anxiety strewn across the cadet's faces, "Dismissed."
The bullies didn't need to be told twice and took off like bats out of hell.
"You really didn't need to do that," Cloud muttered. Zack just fluffed his hair up more and pushed him back into the masses of humanity that were traversing the fair.
Cloud discovered that Zack had lost him on account of funnel cake and Sephiroth had followed his first in command to keep an eye on him. They returned to the small picnic area that was set up amidst a sea of white tents. Their table was in a corner with two tents surrounding them. On the table was a plate with enough funnel cake on it to choke a horse.
"I'm hoping that's for us all to share…"
"No. Just pray Zack won't feel the need for seconds," Sephiroth said, punctuating it with a snort.
Meanwhile the black haired Soldier had begun shoving pieces of the greasy powdered dough into his mouth. Cloud was pretty sure he would vomit soon if he watched Zack eat any more. He let his eyes wander away from his rather distracted boyfriend and watched the children running around with their newly won plastic toys, and their parents trying to force them to eat something healthy. Sephiroth had just bought himself a drink and sat down next to Cloud, leaning with his back against the table and apparently enjoying some quality people watching as well.
Out of the crowd came a girl, about Cloud's height, with long brown hair. She wore a pale pink dress that had obviously been loved and worn over and over again to get it to the shade it was. In her hands she carried a small basket filled with yellow and white tulips. Sephiroth was the first to notice the girl and watched her as she sold a few flowers to people passing by, laughing and talking with all the children as they were pulled away by impatient parents. Cloud saw the General's eyes fixed on something and started watching the girl too.
"Zack."
Hearing his best friend's commanding tone, Zack parted from his funnel cake for a moment. Sephiroth flicked his head in the direction of the flower girl and when Zack saw her he let out a soft choking sound. Cloud began looking from one to the next but still didn't grasp the situation.
"What? Who is she?"
"Aeris."
Zack and Sephiroth shared a knowing look before Zack realized that she had walked on, out of their site. Cloud noticed that his lover was infinitely more relaxed now that the girl named Aeris had left. He'd have to ask him about that story some other time. Although he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
Sephiroth was looking away and being in the corner Cloud realized that no one could see them. He leaned over to whisper in Zack's ear.
"You have powdered sugar on your lips."
Then he flicked his tongue out, tasting the soft sugar that was left on Zack's lips. For a second the Soldier blushed and leaned forward, entirely intent on continuing that brief excuse for a kiss. But Cloud was too fast for him and was already standing and suggesting that they go look into some of the shops for some souvenirs.
Zack just growled something that sounded suspiciously like 'tease' and grabbed Sephiroth, who was blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding behind him.
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Gah…midterms suck. Anyway. Hope you enjoyed it. There is only one more chapter of this fic, but since it will deal with the directly pre-Nibelheim incidents it will be a long one. At least as long as this chapter.
And yes, I put Aeris in there. Zack was her first boyfriend. It's a cannon fact. Way I figure it, Sephiroth and Zack had their crazy mentor/student relationship then when they broke it off Zack dated someone younger than him for a while, namely Aeris. I like Aeris….even if a lot of people don't.
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