Alright! Here is the next chapter for Snowfall

The morning light was unusually bright throughout the mountain tops. The usual dark and gloomy grey clouds had holes of light striking through them. One would have expected an angel to have come down from the clouds. The light seemed to particularly shine on one area. A cave, with two SOLDIERS cuddled up together. The morning aura had awakened the younger one first, being as he was not used to waking up to a beautiful light. His eyes slowly opened, a smile blessing his innocent face, feeling rather giddy. He hadn't slept that well in ages, that in a cave.

Yawning a bit, he shut his eyes again and huddled closer to whatever his head was laying upon, noting that it was quite comfy and warm. He grumbled a bit when his comfort shifted a bit but relaxed as a pair of strong arms encircled his waist. Wait a minute…arms meant that either someone was in his bed or he was in someone else's bed. His eyes snapped open and looked at the arms, following its length to the shoulders, neck, and finally the face. His eyes widened. He was in Zack's embrace. Zack's! Quickly scrambling out of his arms, he looked at the man, who shifted uncomfortably due to the sudden movement. Cloud's eyes showed fear and shock but most of all, confusion. How did he end up like that? In Zack's arms?

He tried rubbing his arms, feeling cold now since he was no longer near his heat supply. As he felt his upper arms, he noticed something different. Looking down at his chest, his eyes widened. His shirt was off. He looked back at his companion and noticed that his own shirt was off as well. Both were tossed to the side. Cloud rubbed his forehead, trying to remember what had happened. He remembered playing that ridiculous game (What was it called? The Loud Game?), then there was an avalanche. Then sometime after that, he had ended up waking up in a cave and saying that he was cold. Then Zack…

His eyes widened. Then he and Zack had kissed! Kissed! His fingers gently touched his somewhat bruised lips. He wasn't sure what he was feeling. Frightened that he had kissed Zack or happy because damn it all, it was one of the best kisses he had ever gotten. One thing had left him clueless, though. How in the world did they both get shirtless? Fear had taken over all of the emotions that were showing in his eyes. Surely they didn't do that?! But then again, all that passion in just that one kiss, they just might have…

"Oh please, god no!" Cloud mumbled, trying to fight the tears away. He couldn't have lost his virginity to Zack! But then…why was his shirt off? "I couldn't have! I wouldn't have! I-I would have stopped…" Cloud choked out softly as the taste of salty water tingled on his tongue. Curling up, his head buried in his lap, he silently let the tears out, occasionally letting out a choked noise of some sort.

Zack truly had never been fond of waking up to an alarm clock but when waking up to hearing someone cry, he'd rather take the alarm clock. Groaning a bit, Zack cursed silently at the person who had awoken him from his blissful sleep. His arms reached down, as if trying to cover himself up as he usually do when he has to wake up, begging for a couple more minutes. Of course, there was nothing that was covering him up, which forced him to open his eyes in confusion. What left him more confused was that his shirt was off. Putting his confusion aside, he decided to be the nice guy and stared at the person who was crying. "Cloud?" He looked at him with confusion. Why was he crying? And why was his shirt off also…

Then it hit him. That night of passion. Oh god, how could anyone forget that? Strange though as he remembered from accepting the mission onwards but he couldn't recall as to how their shirts came off. He got up and walked over to Cloud, shaking him a bit. "Cloud, what's wrong?"

Cloud looked up, staring into the eyes which he wasn't sure if he was ready to face yet. "You-I-we-" he gasped for air and choked out a few more tears. After regaining his breath, he attempted to continue again. "W-what did we do last night?"

Zack scratched his head, still trying to figure out how their shirts came off. "Well let's see…you passed out from that avalanche, then I carried you for three hours up a mountain and found this cave, then I made you food but you were still unconscious so I ate it…"

"Zack! I mean after all that!"

He sighed. "I know…" Zack cupped Cloud's face and forced him to look into his eyes. "Cloud, we kissed. That's all. I don't know how our shirts got off but I assure you that we didn't do anything. It was just one, harmless, little kiss. Got that?" He released his face and averting his eyes to something else. He then let out a quiet chuckle. "If something happened, I think our pants would be off too."

Cloud stared at him for a while before letting out a chuckle of his own. "I guess you're right. Nothing happened. Just that one harmless kiss." Shifting his eyes to the long gone fire, he continued. "It's not like it meant anything, right?"

Zack winced slightly to the comment but showed no change in emotion. Shifting his gaze back to Cloud, he smiled. "Yeah…didn't mean a thing. We're just friends. Nothing else." Getting up, he extended his hand out. "Come on. Go grab your shirt. We still have to finish that mission."

Cloud averted his eyes back to him before smiling slightly and accepting his hand and getting up. "Yeah….let's go complete this mission, buddy!" Grabbing his shirt, Cloud walked over to the other side of the cave to put it on and fix himself up.

Zack stood at his place though, his eyes fixed on the hand that Cloud had grabbed. "Just friends…" was all he could manage to whisper.

He didn't mind how quiet it was (which surprised him since usually Zack hated things being quiet), he just hated how awkward it was. After they had gotten fixed up and ate something, Cloud and Zack had headed out of the cave and continued on their path. Since their talk in the cave, they haven't said a single word to each other. Sighing loudly, Zack turned his attention to his companion, noticing that he was just looking at the path ahead. One would think that the only thing running through Cloud's mind was the mission. That didn't really surprise Zack too much. The awkward silence was killing him, though. Sighing once more, he looked up at the sky and noted dark clouds coming in. "So…think it's gonna snow?" It may have not been the best thing to say after an awkward silence (and morning) but at least it could get a conversation started.

Cloud looked at the sky as well. "Probably. We are in the mountains; I would be surprised if it didn't."

Zack let out a small laugh. "I don't think it will. I bet you that those clouds will roll away soon and-" he didn't finish though as a heavy snowfall came.

Cloud chuckled. "You were saying?"

"Never mind." Zack grumbled. Again, silence. Not as awkward though. "Cloud…we're just friends. Got that? Nothing else. That kiss was probably the weather getting to us both. I mean seriously, I would never kiss you!"

Cloud raised his eyebrow. Where did this sudden need to explain his actions come from? "Uh, Zack?"

"And it's not like you'd kiss me, right? I mean come on! Who in their right mind would kiss you? Or me for that matter?"

"Uh, Zack…"

"And friends are just friends. I mean, I guess they could develop into something else but that's ONLY between a male and female. Male friends are just male friends. Nothing else."

"Zack…"

"Quiet, Cloud. I'm trying to explain something to you!"

"But Zack-"

"It's like…natural for a girl and a guy to be attracted! I mean, how else would you and I have come into this world? If a guy was supposed to be attracted to a guy or if a girl was supposed to be attracted to a girl, then where would babies come from?"

"Zack..."

"And that's why you and me, Cloud, we're just friends. Nothing else."

"Zack!"

"WHA-" Zack felt immense pain as he walked straight into a tree and fell backwards into the snow.

"…Tree." Cloud said quietly as his friend landed in the snow, trying to not laugh. Hearing Zack groan, he leaned down and extended a hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Zack mumbled out as he took his hand and got up. "Who put this stinkin' tree here?"

"Other SOLDIERS," Cloud replied as he pointed to a campsite. "It's a landmark to show that we've reached the supply base."

"Why a tree? Why not a sign? A short sign? With pillows on it?" Zack complained as he rubbed his head. Cloud rolled his eyes and walked forward.

"Hey, is anyone here?" Cloud yelled as he marched throughout the campsite. "Hello? We were sent here to pick up some supplies." He jumped a little as he heard a door opening and turned sharply to face an elder looking man. "Um…hi?"

"Name?" The elder man asked in a stern voice.

"Cloud Strife…"

"From?"

"SOLDIER?" Cloud rubbed his head, not sure whether he should be giving off this sort of information. "Uh sir…"

"Building Number 3, that's where your supplies will be as well as your transportation."

"Transpor-"

"Good day to you, young lassie." The elder man saluted and walked back into the building he came out of.

Cloud sighed for a bit and then sent a glare towards Zack who was laughing away. "What's so funny?"

"H-he…" Zack bit his lip for a bit then continued. "He called you lassie!"

Cloud, a tinge of red showing on his face, made a scowl. "Well, he was old! Maybe he needed to get his vision checked or something!"

"Yeah, sure." Zack chuckled a bit before calming down. "Let's go find building 3, lassie."

"Shut up!"

"That's our transportation?" Zack nearly screamed in excitement as he looked at the truck. He had never driven in one but had always wondered what it would be like. He bit his lip from screaming as his young companion nodded his head. He ran to it and took the driver's seat, observing all the equipment, gadgets, and whatever else was in it. "How cool!"

Cloud had taken the liberty to do an inspection around the truck, making sure that this was actually for them and if all the supplies they needed to retrieve was there. After knowing that everything was okay, he took his spot next to Zack in the passenger seat. "Alrighty, we're set to go." Zack just nodded and stared blankly at the wheel. "Uh, Zack? Can we go?" He nodded once more and shakily took the wheel in his hands. Cloud smirked a bit. "Do you know how to drive?"

"Of course I do!" Zack exclaimed but quickly looked away with shifty eyes. It wasn't a lie. He did know how to drive but he was a nervous wreck when it came to it. "L-let's go!" he stammered out and grab the gear pedal, shifting it to drive. He slowly headed out of the campsite. Slowly.

"Zack…a snail can go faster than us," Cloud said sarcastically as he had been in the truck for three hours and he could still see the campsite. He was tempted to just leave the truck, head back to the campsite, stay there for about an hour and come back. He was positive that the truck would still be in the same place.

"Well…driving conditions are bad…"Zack said as he stared at the road wide-eyed, fright clearly in his eyes.

"Do you want me to drive?"

"No!" Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Just give me some time! I'll get used to it!" Zack pouted a bit and pressed the accelerator a bit harder, forcing the truck to go much faster. "See?"

"Good job…." Cloud mumbled as he crossed his arms. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Midgar…?" Zack said with confusion.

Cloud closed his eyes in annoyance. "I mean do you know how to get there?"

Zack let out a nervous laugh. "Of course!" Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Hey Cloud! I think I'm getting the hand of this!" Zack said with excitement as he drove down the road. Cloud, on the other hand, was clinging on to the leather of his seat, wide-eyed. He was silently praying that he wouldn't die. After they had (finally) gotten out of the mountains, Zack had actually sped up. Now they were driving through dry roads at 200 mph.

"Zack…"

"This is cool!"

"Zack…."

"How awesome is this, Cloud?"

"ZACK!"

"What?"

"BRAKES!"

"Huh? Oh crap!" Zack jammed the brake as a pack of wild chocobos came across the truck. Cloud sunk deeper into his seat, thanking the heavens that he was still alive.

"Zack..."

"What?"

"We're lost."

"No we're not."

"We would have been in Midgar by now."

"We're not lost, Cloud."

"Yes we are."

"No we're not!"

"Then where are we?" Cloud asked with a smirk.

"Humph." Was all Zack could come up with. "…That tree looks familiar."

"Yeah right."

"Shut up." A light snowfall came in the dark night. "I didn't know it snowed out here."

"…I think I know where we are…"

"So do I," Zack said quietly.

Cloud ignored him and continued. "I think we're near Niblehiem. Yeah, we are!" An excitement showed in his eyes, happy to know that he was near his home. "Zack, let's stop there! It's getting late anyways. We can continue in the morning."

"But-"

"Please Zack?" Cloud asked, with a slight whimper, knowing that it would get to Zack.

"Oh alright." Zack said with defeat, turning towards the lights of Niblehiem.

As the truck pulled over, many of the people stared. It had been a while since any vehicle had appeared in Niblehiem. Many people gathered around the vehicle, staring at it wide-eyed. "Alright, what's going on?" A young brunette yelled as she pulled through the crowd, approaching the truck. "Whose truck is this?" she asked silently. Her eyes went into disbelief as the young SOLDIER emerged out of the truck. "C-Cloud?"

"Hey Tifa," Cloud said with a soft smile. "Missed me?"

She didn't need to answer. Her squealing did for him as she lunged towards him, causing him to fall on the ground. "Cloud! Cloud! You're back!"

Zack, who had came out the moment as Cloud fell to the ground, stared at the young SOLDIER wide-eyed. Who was this girl? He clenched his fists, feeling a burning rage going through his veins as the young SOLDIER hugged the brunette back, laughing somewhat. Why was he getting angry? Shouldn't he be happy that Cloud got to visit his hometown? He clenched his jaws, trying not to punch the truck as the two got up and the girl went back into his embrace. Was he feeling….jealous? "Hey Zack! Come over here!" the blonde motioned to Zack. Putting on the best smile he could, the elder SOLDIER walked over to the pair. "This is my friend, Tifa Lockheart. Teef, this is my friend from SOLDIER, Zack Fair."

Zack winced slightly once again as he was being referred to again as "the friend". Nevertheless, he kept his smile on and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Tifa."

Tifa smiled also and took his hand, giving it nice shake. "Nice to meet you too, Zack. It's good to know that someone's been taking care of my BEST friend at SOLDIER!" She giggled a bit as she let go of Zack's hand and took hold of Cloud's.

"Best…friend?" Zack said, his eye twitching somewhat. "She's your BEST friend?"

"Yeah," Cloud said with a somewhat sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head. "She's my best friend, like you Zack."

"Yeah…friend," Zack averted his eyes to the side, so long as he didn't have to stare into Cloud's.

Cloud stared at him with confusion. "Zack is everything okay?"

Zack felt a tinge of red coming to his cheeks and nodded furiously. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired…"

"You can stay at my place!" Tifa jumped up and down, still very excited that her childhood friend had come back. "I run the inn and the bar here! You can crash there for the night!" Both Zack and Cloud nodded and she squealed in delight. "Perfect! Follow me! Out of the way people!" She roared as she marched through the crowd. Zack looked at Cloud, questioning her actions. Cloud just put that sheepish smile once again and shrugged as he followed her. Zack's eyes followed his form. "We're just friends…" he mumbled out quietly as he followed Cloud.

The snowfall that night had gotten lighter.

Review and let me know what you guys think! And I promise I'll get On the Case, Without my Love, and Eterna as soon as I can! .