Life as a SOLDIER

Disclaimer: I don't mind shonen-ai. Not that I'm gay myself.

A/N: Whee, I LOVE shonen-ai! I see nothing wrong with it! My eyes have been opened, and I LOVE it! Really! It's so cute and soo hot at the same time! -sighs dreamily- I'll show you the picture I found if you're interested. Anyway, let's continue.

Chapter Eleven: Keep 'Em Rockin' In Midgar! Part One
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The first thing Cloud did Friday morning was check his e-mail. Yep, there was one unread e-mail from Tifa.

To: cs (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com
From: fists (underscore) of (underscore) fury (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com

Yes, actually! I moved to Midgar yesterday! My uncle passed away and in his will he left me his old bar. Remember, the one he told me about? The 7th Heaven Bar. It's in Midgar, I'll meet you there! I can't wait to see you too:3 We'll have a great time!

Remember, Midgar is a dog-eat-dog world out there; you have to get them before they get you!

Tifa Lockhart

Cloud smiled to himself. "Tifa was always like that," he said. He typed a reply.

To: fists (underscore) of (underscore) fury (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com
From: cs (at-symbol) yahoo (dot) com

I'll make sure to watch out for myself in Midgar. I can't wait to see you either! Cloud Strife

Cloud turned his laptop off and walked out of his room. He paced around his room, thinking to himself. We're leaving soon… Zack said he'd meet me here at 7:00 AM… I got up at 6:00 AM…

Someone knocked on the door. "Hey, Cloud, it's me!"

"Hah!" said Cloud happily. "I'm coming!" he opened the door to let Zack in. "Eh? What are you holding?"

Zack was carrying two boxes, one wide and anther small. "I decided to get you something to match your outfit! Here, look at these!" Zack set the boxes down on Cloud's table. "Here, open this box."

"You… got me a gift?" asked Cloud, blushing slightly as he sat down next to Zack. "Why?"

"Because you were complaining yesterday about your arms being overexposed to the sun, so I decided to get you something to accessorize your outfit to make it more… you!"

"That's thoughtful of you," said Cloud, taking the first smaller box. "What's in this box?"

"Open it," said Zack cheerfully.

"Okay…" said Cloud, opening the small box. Inside was an earring and a manly brooch. Each looked the same: a wolf-head with a ring through it. "Oh! What are these for?" asked Cloud.

"The earring matches mine," said Zack cheerfully. "I decided to give my other earring to you, so we wear matching earrings! It's a sign of best friendship!"

"Which ear do I wear it on?" asked Cloud.

"Wear it on your left, cause my earring is on the right ear. Here, I'll help you put it on!" offered Zack cheerfully, taking the earring, and pushing some of Cloud's side bangs aside to see the ear. "This'll sting a bit, but it won't hurt."

"Why, what are you gonna do?" asked Cloud, blushing slightly still.

"Oh, I'm gonna pierce it so you can fit the earring through… You're not allergic to silver, are you?" asked Zack.

"No, I'm not…"

"Good," said Zack, and pierced Cloud's ear with a heated needle.

"Kya!" yelled Cloud. "That-- What did you do?"

"I pierced your ear," explained Zack, now putting the earring into Cloud's pierced left ear. He pushed Cloud's side bangs back in front of Cloud's ear. "There, that earring fits you perfectly!"

Cloud raised a hand tentatively, feeling the earring. "This--this is yours?" he asked.

"Yep! And this little manly brooch, you stick it on your shoulder pad to decorate it more!" Zack picked it up and held it to Cloud's shoulder pad. "Yep, it'll suit you nicely!" Humming cheerfully, Zack applied the manly silver wolf head brooch to Cloud's shoulder pad. "It looks great on you!"

"A wolf head?" asked Cloud curiously, poking at the little ring.

"Yeah! I love wolves you know," said Zack. "I think they're the smartest, best animals in the world! Next to Chocobo and Moogle, of course."

"Of course," agreed Cloud with a smile. "So what's in the other box?"

"Something to make your outfit look better! As a first class SOLDIER, you can accessorize your outfit in anyway you like! And you were saying yesterday about how you wanted your outfit in a 'Goth' style, so I researched 'Goth' and decided the best outfit for you!"

Cloud stared curiously at Zack, and opened the second bigger box. It contained two black sheets of cloth. One was sewn like a sleeve, and the other was longer and folded. "What are these for, Zack?" asked Cloud.

"This is for your shoulder pad!" said Zack excitedly.

"Huh?"

"Here, I'll sew this on for ya," said Zack, pulling out a needle. "You'll look much better with a one-sleeved look to you!"

Cloud held out his arm as Zack sew the sleeve on to cloud's shoulder pad. "Is that it?" asked Cloud, looking at the sleeve fondly. "This looks great for me!"

"I know, doesn't it?" asked Zack. "Here, there's a whole outfit in here, change into it. It'll go with the one sleeve thing!"

"Ok-Okay," stammered cloud, taking the new outfit. "Thanks."

"I'll be waiting downstairs in the cafeteria," said Zack. "We have to grab our own lunch baggies!" Zack stood up and headed for the door. "You can show off your new outfit to Tifa too! Okay?" Zack waved and left the room.

Cloud stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then quickly changed into the new outfit. He looked himself from every angle in the mirror. "Hey, this is pretty good looking," he said. "Zack has good taste…" He fiddled with the sleeve for a few seconds and hurried out the room to the cafeteria. "Zack!" he called. "How does it look?"

Zack looked back. "Hey, that looks good on you! The Goth one-sleeve style really suits you!"

"It sure does," agreed one SOLDIER.

"Zack, you came up with the outfit yourself?" asked the other SOLDIER.

"Yep! I thought Cloud would be happier with a Goth style, so I took the liberty of making an outfit for Cloud!"

Cloud smiled shyly. "You didn't have to…"

"Ah, but I did!" said Zack. "Here you go, your lunch baggie! Let's go together!" Zack took Cloud's hand and called to his friends, "Come on!"

Cloud stared at Zack in amazement in an anime-daydream style, all dreamy-eyed and blushing. "Zack?" he asked as Zack led him to the vans.

Zack looked back with a smile. "Yep, we're going to Midgar together!" They arrived at the vans and got into the back of a van. "You can introduce me to Tifa, and I'll introduce you to Aeris," said Zack.

"Su-sure," stammered Cloud, looking down at the floor.

"Midgar, Midgar, Midgar," chanted Zack's SOLDIER friends.

"Luckily, we have a good radio to listen to, to make the trip seem shorter. Let's see…"

(a really disturbing song starts blaring in the radio)

"I love this song!" cheered the other SOLDIER.

Cloud stiffened slightly. What..! No, not this again..! he thought. I'll just fall asleep until we get there… Cloud felt himself go red. Maybe, I could lean on… No, I can't do that! thought Cloud, putting a hand on his cheek in embarrassed glee.

"Cloud, you okay?" asked one SOLDIER. "You're face is beet red."

"Wha…? No, it's not… I'm sorry," stammered Cloud.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Zack. "If you want, you can go ahead and just sleep the whole way. We're gonna keep the radio on low volume and no bass and treble yo you'll be fine."

Cloud stared at Zack. "Va?" he asked in a Transylvanian accent. "You do dat, for me?" he asked, blushing.

'Yes…" said Zack. "You can even lean on my shoulder if you want!"

"Really…?" asked Cloud, looking down bashfully.

"Yeah, it's sore anyway. I need to apply pressure to it, so you'll do."

"Oh…" said Cloud in disappointment, then smile to himself. Well, at least I get to lean on him! He thought with glee, and scooted closer to Zack to lean on his shoulder, falling into an easy sleep.

"Hey, that's looking kinda gay," remarked a SOLDIER from a front seat.

"At least I'm not ACUTALLY gay!" retorted Zack.

"Oh, shut it," said the SOLIDER.

Zack smiled fondly at Cloud. "Besides, the way he acts sometimes, Cloud reminds me of a little kid. I want him to feel comforted and loved and cared for, like a kid should feel."

"Wow, that's deep, Zack," said one SOLDIER.

"You're good at poetry," admired the other SOLIDER.

"You fond of Cloud?" asked the SOLIDER from the front seat.

"Yeah," said Zack. He fluffed Cloud's hair. "Like a kid."

Cloud, his sleep, smiled in a way that suggested he didn't think "like a kid"…

About 8 hours later…

"Cloud! Wake up, we're here," said Zack.

"Huh?" asked Cloud.

"We're here, come on."

"Oh, okay…" Cloud hopped out of the van and looked around Midgar. "Huh… this is a nice city…" he remarked to himself.

"Cloud!" yelled a female voice.

Cloud looked around, and saw Tifa running towards him. "Ah! Tifa!" he called back, running towards her.

Tifa ran into Cloud and hugged him tightly. "Cloud, I missed you so much!" Tifa snuggled Cloud's face. "I've been wanting to see you for the longest time!"

Cloud smiled and hugged Tifa back. "I missed you too, Tifa!" he said. "It's excellent to see you again!"

Zack looked between them/ "Ah, is this Tifa?" he asked.

Tifa released Cloud and looked at Zack. "Whoa!" she said. "Is this Zack?" she asked Cloud.

"Yep!" Cloud pulled Zack closer. "Tifa, meet Zack! Zack, this us my best friend Tifa Lockhart!"

"Hey, Tifa, I heard a lot about you," said Zack, shaking Tifa's hand.

"I know, Cloud's told me a lot about you too!" said Tifa returning the handshake.

"Hey, while we have Tifa here, let's go see your bar!" said Zack. "Cloud told me that you have a bar!"

"Eh?" asked Cloud. "When did I tell you that?"

"You told me when you were in the Chocobo Garden, remember? When you were really happy."

"Oh, yeah," said Cloud. "Can we go see the 7th Heaven Bar, Tifa?" asked Cloud.

"Sure, although it won't be all party and happy. Today we're mourning the passing of my uncle."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Zack.

"It's okay," shrugged Tifa as she led Cloud and Zack to the 7th Heaven Bar. "My uncle was a good happy guy, he'll be happier to see us more… well, happy."

"…wait," said Cloud suddenly, "I thought your dad gave you the bar."

"Shh, shh!" shushed Tifa.

"It's your dad's bar, not your uncles?" asked Zack curiously.

"Of course it's my uncles!" said Tifa with a warning scowl at Cloud.

"Oh, right, sorry."

"Hey, can we see the bar too?" asked Zack's friends as the SOLDIER who drove the van shook his head and walked of in the direction of a luxury hotel.

"Go away, you two, this is between me and Cloud," said Zack.

The two SOLDIERs sighed dejectedly. "But…" they started.

"Don't you two have somewhere you need to be?" asked Zack, putting his hands on his hips. "Like a field or something?"

"Okay, Zack…" they chorused sadly, walking away.

Tifa watched them walk away. "Them two are leeches, huh?" she asked, pointing at them with her thumb.

"No, they're my best friends," said Zack. "But they have no sense of time. Anyway, let's go see your uncles bar!"

"Okay!" said Tifa cheerfully, running towards the city. "Follow me!"

Cloud and Zack followed Tifa towards the city. "Wow, there's so many people here!" yelled Cloud as they followed Tifa.

"What'd you expect, they call this Midgar a 'city'!" said Zack matter-of-factly.

"Ah! Here it is!" said Tifa. "Welcome to the 7th Heaven Bar!" she announced, opening the door.

Even though it was decorated black for mourning, none could deny that the 7th Heaven Bar was a good pace for a drink or two. There were many seats and tables strewn across the room in an organized manner, and a long bar at the end of the room. There was even a stage with a microphone on it with a sign that read "Karaoke Night-- Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!".

"This place isn't bad," commented Zack.

"That's my uncle's bar," said Tifa.

"He certainly had good taste," said Cloud. "And you're uncle left this all to you?"

"Yep! So from now on, I'm gonna take care of it! Even though I'm only 17 years old, I'm confident that I can run it good! I'll even hire a staff!"

"So she's younger then you," said Zack, giving Cloud a nudge. "You neglected to mention that."

"What are you talking about, I'm a year younger then she is," said Cloud. Forgetting that he lied about his age.

"No, she's be two years younger then you if you're nineteen… Unless…"

Cloud covered his mouth in shock. Oh, no, the secrets out!

"I knew it was no mistake on your profile!" said Zack, pointing at Cloud. "You are sixteen!"

"You lied about your age?" asked Tifa. "Why would you do that?"

"Uh… it's a long story," muttered Cloud. "I… didn't want to seem to young or immature to join Shinra…"

"Dude, you could have told me about it," said Zack. "I don't mind if you're sixteen instead of nineteen."

"Well, enough about that," said Tifa. "Let's pay our respects to my uncle and then I'll give you a tour of the rest of the bar."

The three of them kneeled in front of a small altar upstairs in Tifa's room, and bowed their heads in respect.

"Uncle, I'll miss you," sighed Tifa sadly. "You were always a good friend, and great man to talk to. You were always a second father to me…"

"You must have been devastated to learn that he died," said Cloud.

"You bet," said Tifa. "I mean, he was one-of-a-kind. My soul mate practically. There's no one like him."

"Did you know him long?' asked Zack.

"Know who?" asked Tifa as she stood up.

Zack looked at Cloud curiously, who shrugged.

Suddenly, the door burst open. "God!" yelled Cloud in surprise.

Sephiroth stood there, giving Cloud a curious look. "No, just Sephiroth," he told Cloud reassuringly.

"You scared me!" exclaimed Cloud.

"Oh, Sephiroth, that's right!" said Zack. "Tifa, this is our other friend Sephiroth! He's the best-of-the-best SOLDIER in Shinra," he announce proudly.

"Whoo boy," said Tifa, looking up at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth decided to make a good entrance in front of Tifa. "Enchanté, mademoiselle," he said in perfect French, taking Tifa's hand and giving it a kiss like a gentlemen would.

Tifa laughed shyly. "Well, th-thank you," she said.

Cloud looked between Tifa and Sephiroth. Is he trying to show off, or is he trying to do something? thought cloud with a slight jealous stab. Because…Sephy is…

Tifa cleared her throat noisily, and removed her hand from Sephiroth's hand. "Any--anyway," she stammered, "let me show you the rest of the bar! And then, we drink! To my uncle's memory!"
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Well, that's a good cliffhanger for me. I think. But… DAMN! I want Sephy to kiss my hand too!
Mario: -under breath- and that's not all…
SHUT UP, MARIO! YOU WANNA DIE! HUH! HUH!
Mario: No.
THEN SHUT UP!
Mario: -leaves-
-cough cough- Anyway, let's proceed to chapter twelve all quick like, okay? See you in a bit!