A/N

I finished my final, so I should be able to update more regularly. Maybe, I do work 30+ hours a week now. My boss is trying to kill me. Hope this chapter works for you all! Zack is awake and alive yet there's a problem! Dun, dun, dun. What now? This chapter was incredibly frustrating to write. I apologize for such the long wait as well; again I work 30+ hours a week.

Yukio: Oh if only it were really that simple, Yukio. Haha, I don't like making things sweet and simple, plus it would end the fic sooner. Read on and you'll soon understand what I mean. He is alive though; if there's a will there is a way! I'm glad you liked the chapter!

Guest: Sorry I made you wait! Hope your still reading! Enjoy this chapter it took me forever to get it right and honestly I still don't like it, but it's been too long!

Say You Know Me

Getting used to his apartment was lonely and quiet. Cloud threw out the things Zack had once begged him to buy and eat it. He lounged around for weeks, for two whole weeks, before he finally got himself up and out the door. Of course he hadn't seen Reno or Rude in a few days, and for some reason he knew today wouldn't be any different. He stared at their front door for a moment, bored and tired. He wished the red head was home so he had someone to talk too.

"Why are you staring at your neighbor's door so longingly?" A soft voice asked making him jump. Cloud looked up into excited, amused eyes. Angeal smirked at the small reaction; his eyes never missed any movement. He was so good at reading people and his surroundings. "You know it won't bite if you knock."

"They aren't home." Cloud responded almost immediately. "They haven't been home much these past few weeks."

"Well that does make sense considering the circumstances." Cloud didn't have it in him to ask; he really didn't care about much these past weeks. "I was dropping by to see if you wanted to come and…"

He trailed off when Aerith appeared around the corner. It was almost spring, so today, while it was bright; she wore a simple pink dress with flowers on it. It was really cute and brought out her subtle curves.

"Cloud! You haven't answered your phone in weeks; do you have any idea how worried I've been?" Her voice was high, firm. She was not pleased with his attitude.

The blonde looked at Angeal apologetically before walking over to the woman. "I'm sorry, I haven't been feeling well."

The brunette smiled warmly already knowing the situation. She couldn't feel Zack either, and she knew Cloud had been getting close to him. The way he spoke about his ghost had been very fondly and warmly. Aerith did not consider herself on of the smartest people on Earth, but she knew she was smarter than that.

"Cloud; are you still worried about your friend?"

When he nodded slightly she wrapped him in a warm hug. Angeal watched from afar, curious about the simple encounter. He'd never seen Cloud be so open or warm to anyone before. Then again he'd only seen him on certain occasions, so it wasn't like there was much he could say on it.

"You shouldn't be this is what we wanted." Aerith didn't like seeing Cloud so down. "Who is that by the way?"

He had been rather rude hadn't he? "Oh, this is Angeal. I met him through a situation a few weeks ago."

"Not a bad situation right?" Aerith questioned as if she already knew.

Like Cloud would give her the satisfaction of knowing something like that though. "Not at all. We met in the hall at the apartment here."

Angeal nodded at the woman in front of him. She was unbelievably sweet and he honestly didn't know Cloud had any other friends outside this place. "Nice to meet you. I should probably go, I was just checking on Cloud."

Aerith smiled warmly, "Thank you. He tends to be anti social, but he means well most of the time."

"Guys, I'm still here!" Cloud demanded with a scowl. "Don't talk about me like I don't exist!"

Aerith beamed, "Of course you exist, how else could we talk about you?"

That wasn't the point but instead of pointing this out Cloud sighed and shook his head. Angeal offered a warm smile and walked off forgetting why he had come to see Cloud in the first place. The blonde looked back at Aerith and offered her shelter in his home. A long way of saying he introduced her inside.

"Cloud, you know Zack is better off where he is. Don't be so sad, okay? I'll help you move on and everything can go back to normal." Could it though? Could he forget his black haired haunter and move on? Had he really fallen for the dead?

"I know and thanks for offering your support. I really will try to be happier. I mean, this is stupid of me. I think I'm over reacting." He tried to blow it off but something nagged at his chest. This feeling was driving him nuts.

Aerith waved a hand in front of his face. Cloud looked up at her from his spot on the couch. She was smiling, jumping like an excited school girl. "I know! Let's go play in the snow! It won't last much longer you know. It's going to be spring soon."

He had what, a week maybe. It was supposed to be spring yet they were stuck in an endless snow storm. He hadn't been able to go into work much because of the black outs and power outages. "The snow isn't going to go away anytime soon, Aerith. We probably have a good few weeks."

"No we don't! Trust me Cloud, I know these things."

And for some reason he believed her. There was something in her tone that told him she was right, yet he couldn't figure out what it was. "Okay then, let's go."

The storm couldn't last forever, right?

Zack had spent three weeks in the hospital recovering and then another week in physical training. After that long, hellish month the snow was gone, the sun was shining, and he was almost back to normal. He still had nightmares of things he didn't remember, still saw people he didn't know, and still reacted strongly to certain situations and he had no idea why.

"Zack, are you crying again?" Yuffie was in the doorway as he sat up in bed panting. "Are you okay, you look like hell?"

He felt like hell. There was something wrong, something he was forgetting. Forcing a smile he shook his head, "I'm fine just a little pain in my side. Stab wounds do that to a person though."

Yuffie eyed him warily before a small smile graced his lips, "Alright, alright just don't scare me anymore alright? Sephiroth said if you woke him again while he slept you'd end up in a coma again."

"Yea and Reno said I'm a lot quieter in a coma, so he wouldn't mind it either." Zack snickered rolling his eyes. "I have fantastic friends, right?"

Yuffie's smile faded and she crossed her arms sighing, "Reno stayed by your side for weeks straight. Don't let what he says get to you because he blamed himself."

What a mood killer. Zack nodded and suddenly his throat felt really dry. "Well, as long as I don't have to save anyone anymore I'll be fine."

The city was full of problems and the last thing he remembered was a screaming woman and a knife. A very, very sharp knife going into his side. "For my sake, Zack, don't try to save anyone."
Yuffie turned and walked out of the room yawning. It was three in the morning and he'd woken them again. He heard Genesis in the kitchen rambling to himself. The black haired man sighed and stood before throwing a t shirt on and a pair of black, baggy pants. If he couldn't sleep he wasn't going to keep people up who could.

Slipping out the front door silently Zack walked down the street and headed for his sunrise spot. At least there he could think and maybe clear his mind. Maybe it would rock some of his memories and he could at least remember who he had saved.

He didn't get far before a faint voice made him stop, "Zack?" Had Yuffie followed him out here? He turned and instead of seeing his sister he saw a small, blonde. "Zack, where've you been?"

The boy ran forward making Zack take a hesitant step back. The doctors said he may never remember some instances of his life, was this kid one of them? The other stopped in front of the man smiling brightly. He looked happier then Zack had ever seen anyone.

"Oh uh…hi?" He was trying to be nice, really he was but how did one be nice to strangers?

The blonde furrowed his brow before stepping forward, "Zack, it's me! It's Cloud. You lived with me for weeks; don't say you don't remember me."

He'd had a roommate besides Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth? That didn't sound right, not at all. "I don't know, man. I don't think we've met before."

"What do you mean you don't think we've met? Zack, what's wrong with you? You leave me hanging for a month and then you suddenly reappear. Did you get kicked out of hell or something?"

He could tell the blonde was getting irritated with him and his confusion. It wasn't like it was his fault though. Rubbing the back of his head he forced a smile, "I don't know you, blondie. I'm not who you think I am, sorry. I think its best you probably go home though."

Cloud clenched his fists and scowled, "Fine play it that way then. Don't come crying to me when you get bored though!"

There was no way in hell he would ever seek out the infuriating blonde. He was obviously sick in the head or something. "When did you say we lived together again?" Zack asked before he could get too far.

Cloud ignored his question and flipped him off storming down the street. He looked pretty ticked and Zack really didn't get why. It wasn't like they were friends or anything. Shrugging he decided on going home after that little ordeal. He didn't feel like watching the sun rise anymore.

"It's almost noon; do you plan on waking up anytime soon?" Someone was poking his forehead. He was going to bite that person's finger off. "We have house work to do today and Sephiroth won't let you cut corners this time. Come on, if you don't wake up he'll kill me."

Genesis it had to be. Then again he wasn't spouting literature nonsense either. "Go away." Zack growled rolling over and taking his blankets with him.

"Zack Fair, I will throw your ass into the hallway if you don't wake up." Yeah it was Genesis alright. Angeal would have thrown something at him and Sephiroth would have definitely kicked his ass by now.

Cracking a bright, blue eye open the other groaned and looked back at his tormenter. No, Reno. "What the hell do you want?"

"Spring cleaning!"

"Go fuck yourself." Zack was normally not so cold to people, but he hadn't been sleeping very well either. His room was a pit, his life was in shambles, and he felt like sleeping. Was there something wrong with that.

Reno tsked, "You sound like Cloud now. Come on so you can meet him later."

That got him going. Cloud was the blonde from last night wasn't he? "Cloud huh? So I've never known a Cloud?"

The red head was staring at him like he had lost it. "Uh no….why?"

Zack shrugged and pushed the covers off of him before walking down the hall. So if he hadn't known Cloud then how did the brat know him? Walking into the living room he found Sephiroth cleaning the kitchen, Angeal in the living room, and Genesis dusting or something like that. It was odd seeing the three of them in the same room without conversing. Who had messed up this time?

"Good afternoon, I was beginning to worry." Angeal shot a smile at the younger male.

"Sorry if I woke anyone last night. Where's Yuffie?"

Sephiroth glanced his way, "You're not leaving until that sty you call a room is clean. She did her chores and went to bother the neighbor in the apartment. Rude is with her, but you and Reno are on hallway duty."

Great, treated like a child. Zack sighed and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, "Oh come on, don't make me clean today."

One glance sent him back to his room. Right, don't piss that one off. Reno cackled behind him, this was going to take all day.

"Ow, hey what was that for?" Aerith had thrown something small and hard at him. He didn't bother figuring out what it was either.

"You aren't paying attention to me, are you?" No he wasn't. "If you saw Zack the other night why didn't he remember you?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Cloud growled. The other had seemed so sincere though it was hard determining if he was lying or not. "All I know is he was really insistent on never meeting me."

Aerith frowned and shook her head, "Maybe he lost his memories in the cross over or something?"

"No, you have to meet him Zack! Yuffie is in love with this kid I swear! He is so awesome, don't be shy! Since when are you shy? Oh come on just for a moment!" That was Reno's voice.

Seconds later there was a knock on the door and Cloud dove forward to answer it. Had he said Zack? How was that even a thing? Reno stared at him for a moment as Cloud nearly fell forward in opening the door.

"Someone is either eager to see me or they want to get out. What scared the hell out of you?" Reno leaned on the doorframe with a wicked smile.

Cloud shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He looked like a damn idiot. "I uh…saw a spider."

The red head burst into laughter and beckoned to the man behind him. Zack. Cloud almost ran and hugged him seeing as he could do that now. He wasn't a ghost anymore but why didn't he remember then?

"Cloud this is Zack. He's the fourth to the group, Yuffie's older brother, the one we've all been talking about."

Cloud swallowed thickly and pried his eyes off of the other reluctantly. "I thought you said he had died."

"Well, kind of. He was in a coma."

"That is nothing like death, Reno. It was mean to make Cloud think someone had died. He was worried about bringing him up." Aerith lectured lightly. She always knew how to break into a conversation. "It is nice to meet you Zack, I am afraid I have to go though. Marlene is at the shop by herself."
Tifa was most likely waitressing then. Cloud nodded numbly, "Thanks for stopping by."

Reno waggled his eyebrows as Aerith passed and Cloud punched him in the arm. The other winced but didn't say much else on the matter. "So what do you think? As cool as we said right?"

Cloud looked back to Zack and Reno. This was going to be hard, really hard. Zack didn't say anything about the previous night so neither did he. "Nice to meet you, Zack."

"You too."

He was in deep shit here, real, deep, shit.

A/N

Alright here ya are! I'm working on the next chapter now! Sorry about the wait, really I am.