Hello! I'm so sorry about the wait! I hope you haven't moved on!

Shout out to DarkBombayAngel! Thanks for reading!

Thanks to everyone else too :D

Zack rolled his neck slipping out of his low bed. The icy feeling of the floor beneath his bare feet made him shiver. He stood up, glaring at the bright light of morning seeping in through the hotel room window.

The balcony door was open and the busy sounds of Tokyo's city streets rushed to meet him. He knew there was only one reason for his waking.

"Are you really training this early?" his voice was rough from not being used for a prolonged time. The sun's blinding light assaulted his dilated pupils as he stepped outside.

His roommate and best friend was standing stationary in the middle of the balcony. Zack leaned against the wall and watched as the man swayed through the motions of his workout. Years spent training in their hometown dojo had built up the svelte and able body. A beautiful mane of sweeping silver hair flowed over his shoulders and was tied back. The color seemed strange since his face was young, strong, smooth and flawless. It reached the bottom of his shoulder blades.

"You should be training yourself, Baka" the voice was melodious as it patronized Zack.

"What for?" the brunette scoffed and stared out into the city.

"Your survival."

"Do you honestly think martial arts is such a huge requirement for the competition?"

The silver-haired man took in a deep breath and struck at the air in front of him before launching into a series of intricate twists and turns, ending with an effortless back flip. Zack tired to hide his amazement, unsuccessfully. The man before him sighed and turned back to the problem at hand.

"Once the filming commences we will be required to perform a number of battle scenes and stunts. It will be necessary for us to do this ourselves. There will be no stunt doubles, you know this," he explained.

"We haven't even won yet, why train?" Zack reasoned.

The comment caused a wicked grin to spread across his roomate's exotic face, "This does not matter. Final Fantasy or not… bujutsu is necessary."

Zack laughed shaking his head of spiky, dark hair. He was positive that had his friend been born in the rightful era he would have been a ruthless Samurai warrior.

"And besides," the man continued , "there is life beyond this. It is time you realized it."

"Me? What have I done?!," Zack was shocked.

"It's what you haven't done."

"What are you going to do when you see him?" Yuffie asked Cloud in a low whisper as she combed her fingers through his cocky bangs.

The blonde bit his lip and considered playing stupid. He was not sure if he wanted to acknowledge what had transpired the past night. He did not want to admit it himself, much less her.

"I don't know," he said quietly in spite of himself.

"Did you…do you…," Yuffie chewed her lip trying to find the correct way to phrase her question. "Cloud, do you like hi-"

"No," he said flatly pulling away from the girl's incessant grooming. The expression on her face was one of bemusement. She let him walk a little way ahead of her before they entered the Enix Arena.

The place was jammed with a huge mass of bodies. All cosplayers, but the difference in this time was that the group was actually recognizable. These were no longer tweens in their bright, plastic suits. Around them, the cosplayers appeared as their characters in Final Fantasy : realistic and infinity flawless. Cloud suddenly felt very insufficient in his homemade get up.

"Competition's getting stiff," Cid said from behind them.

"Yeah," Yuffie sighed, "I actually have to compete today." She nervously watched as another girl with jet black hair and an outfit quite similar to hers strolled past.

Cloud squeezed her hand in comfort.

Zack could not focus on the words his best friend was mumbling; he was too preoccupied with scanning the crowd for the one person he had been dying to explain himself to. His entire conversation with Cloud had been planned out since about two 'o clock this morning.

'I'm sorry about last night,' he would say. 'I didn't mean anything by it. Rufus wanted me to, so I had too. You know? I hope I didn't creep ya out or anything. I'm not a fag.'

Cloud would grin in agreement and slap Zack's shoulder. He would also be about two feet talker and much more bulky, his voice deep.' No problem bro, ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do, it's a lot of money.'

Zack stood by the hope that this was exactly the way that confrontation would go. It was not his fault if he got a little caught up in the rush of things last night… surely Cloud would not hold it against him.

"Hey awesome!" Reno's unmistakable voice rang out, drawing Zack's attention back to his immediate surroundings. Next to the lanky turk stood a solid man, his arms crossed over his chest. His inky black hair was smoothed back into a tight ponytail. He looked extremely disinterested.

"Nice to see you out again Sephiroth."

Zack smirked mischievously, "Yeah, that doesn't seem to happen much huh?

"He just likes to horde all that sexiness up with himself," Reno picked up.

"I come when they call for me," said man stated walking through the throng closer towards the stage. Zack shrugged waving Reno and Tseng off before he chased Sephiroth down.

"Could ya' hold up a fuckin' second," the brunette growled at his commrade still searching the sea of faces for Cloud's.

"Who are you looking for?" A curious eyebrow raised at Zack as Sephiroth watched his friend struggle.

"No one," Zack said distractedly. He did not want the General, yes he called him that, to be involved. Not because he thought the man could honestly care…it was just…he wanted to keep this to himself.

When he spotted the blonde next to Yuffie and Cid, his resolve to be cool and collected dissipated. His breath caught in his chest. He forgot to breathe and became disoriented. Cloud was definitely not the burly, unattractive man he had been pretending him to be. His body was slim and masculine, but his face was for lack of better word: beautiful. His eyes were bright reflections of the bluest sky and his ass…was perfect. Zack shook his head. Stop it!

Sephiroth's neon eyes bore into the sides of the soldier's smooth face until they followed his gaze. The catlike irises narrowed in on the target in sight.

"Do you want him Zack?" he said quite blatantly.

That broke Zack's concentration. "Wh-what?" he stuttered.

"The blonde," a wicked laugh caught in Sephiroth's throat, "I cannot decide if you want to kill or devour him."

The brunette threw an angry punch at the taunting man's rock-hard bicep , "Fuck no! I'm not like that! He's just some bullshit kid I know. I don't fucking play for that team Sephiroth."

The predator in Sephiroth stirred as he observed the teen he assumed to be Cloud Strife, "Ok, Fair…you do not have to defend you manhood to me. If you don't want him, I do."

Zack felt his stomach drop to the floor.

I can't believe I held out so long on you guys! I'm soo sorry it won't happen again!

Owari then~