(A/N) Well, here the last installment to Zack the Puppy it's been fun. And if you like this read my other story This Changes Everything , its not really a comedy like this but I would love for all you to go onto another story of mine and give me your pleasant input like you did for this story. And maybe if I have other funny story line ideas then I'll make another story about the silly puppy. So keep checking in to see if I made you a treat :D but this chapter isn't as funny as the rest of them but what do you expect from the last chapter?
I want to thank ZakuReno, LadyTeefStrife, Writer Chica, celticskyedancer, lady-yuna7, Amanda Black Potter, thesakuraclow, andvLunafor reviewing! I always love getting your input on the story :) I'm so happy that there were no flames for this.
Zack the Puppy – 7) Lost and Found.
Cloud and Tifa thought that they would be spending their Christmas Eve in the bar with the members of AVALANCHE, along with a few others. Like their uninvited guests, the Turks. And their really unexpected guest, the president himself, Rufus Shinra. He had said that he wanted to spend a nice and quiet Christmas Eve with his friends. Yeah right.
But instead, they spent it running through the streets in the rain, flashlights in hands.
Zack had run away.
It was cold, but not cold enough for the rain to freeze. They had to split up into twos, or in Barret's case, three, to find him. Even Rufus and the Turks helped them, in a helicopter. But they wouldn't be able to find him; Zack was too small to be noticed from the air.
Earlier, their party was abruptly ruined when the puppy ran away. Yuffie wanted to play with the odd dog and Cloud went to go look for him. He looked everywhere and he wasn't anywhere to be found. And that was not usual to begin with since he liked to destroy everything that was in his sight. But then Cloud noticed that the back door's screen was torn open on the bottom and regular door was blown open from the wind.
So they split up into groups, Yuffie and Vincent, Cid and Shera, the Turks and Rufus, Red and Reeve, and Barret with the kids. Originally they wanted the kids to stay home, but the kids refused until there were tears in their eyes. So Barret took the kids. They also weren't going to have Rufus look for the dog, but he kept offering, and ignored them when the told him not to.
That's how Cloud and Tifa ended up dashing through all of the places they took Zack. Like the park, the vet, and a few side streets. But they couldn't find anything. They were so frantic that they ignored it when their hoods feel off and they were starting to become soaked. The rain was pounding on their faces and it was impossible to look up to see where they were going. Cloud regretted not taking his riding goggles, but they were too frantic to remember anything.
Cloud suddenly stopped when he heard a big 'plop' noise behind him and saw that Tifa had fallen and wasn't getting up.
"Tifa!" Cloud called and ran to her as fast as he could. He kneeled down just as she was starting to lift herself up on shaking arms, her head bowed down so her hair was covering her face.
"I'm OK," she said shakily. Cloud grabbed her arms and helped her sit up. She lifted her head up and saw the she was crying. It was mixed with rain and if anybody else saw her, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But Cloud knew.
"Tifa," He murmured and cupped her cheek with a wet hand. He didn't even bother to put on his gloves. He tried to wipe away her flowing tear away with this thumb, but that proved to be difficult in the rain.
"What if he's hurt?" Tifa sobbed out as she buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and places his cheek on hers. Their flashlights were completely forgotten on the ground. "What if he's de-"
"He's not," Cloud said firmly. "If he is the same Zack, I know that he won't go down without a fight."
Tifa nods in his shirt and wrapped her arms tighter around him. He helped her stand up and he picked up both of their flashlights. But they froze when they could hear faint noises of a dog crying. They stopped their movements so they could hear when it would cry again. When it did, they ran to where they heard the noise come from. They shined their lights in a soggy box that was tilted over to its side. They nearly started to cry again in relief when they saw the black puppy in it. He was shaking and his fur was all wet. The saw his tongue lap out and they didn't realize until that second that there was another puppy in there with him.
It had brown fur with a pink ribbon. Zack was trying to dry off the other puppy's fur before it got sick. His body was also covering it to keep them warm. When Zack saw them, he started to yip happily and that's when the other puppy looked up. Cloud and Tifa's eyes became wide when their eyes connected with the puppy. It had emerald green eyes and long light brown hair. Cloud kneeled down and searched the pink ribbon for any source of identification. There was a note attached to the ribbon. Cloud opened it and tried to read the already soggy hand writing.
'This is Aerith. Please take care of her'
Cloud's eyes became extremely large and Tifa looked over his shoulder to read the note. Her eyes became large too and they looked back down at the two puppies.
Quite frankly, it looked like they were cuddling. Zack's head was brushing up against Aerith's and his body was still on top of hers.
"Get a room, you stupid dog," Cloud said, his throat closing up from the emotion and Zack yipped at him.
The party was back in full swing a half an hour later. Yuffie was chasing Zack around and he was crashing into everything in his path. Everybody else was around Aerith, saying how weird it was to have the dogs that completely resemble the fallen SOLDIER and Cetra.
But Aerith was trying to cuddle up with Cloud, and when Zack noticed this, he was not happy. He went charging towards Cloud at full speed and bit his wrist that was around her. Cloud jumped out of his seat and Zack took position next to Aerith. But she didn't seem too disappointed; she just cuddled up with Zack instead. Zack gave him an annoyed look before cleaning Aerith's fur.
Cloud turned around to see Tifa with an amused look on her face.
"It looks like I have some competition again, "Tifa said and Cloud rubbed the back of his head.
That's when a very drunk Reno came bursting in on their conversation.
"Don't worry baby. " He slurred and draped an arm around her shoulders. "I'll settle the competition by takin;' you myself."
"No thank you," Tifa said and took his arm off her shoulders. She looked towards Cloud and saw that his had was itching towards his sword that was leaning against the wall.
"Alrighty then, tell me if you're ever free," he said with one last slur and stumbled off. That was not normal, usually he was more persistent. Maybe the alcohol makes him smarter than when he is sober. Interesting…
When there heard a crash, they instantly turned to see Aerith on the couch, Zack was not. They heard another crash from behind the bar and they dashed towards it. They saw two bottles of whiskey that were broken on the ground, and Zack licking it up as fast as he could. Tifa could only look in surprise and with her mouth agape and her eyes completely large. Cloud could only cover his mouth with his hand to stop his chuckling.
"That's definitely Zack; his favorite alcohol beverage is whiskey." Cloud muffled out from behind his hand and Zack looked up at them, and yipped at them happily.
The End
Ah, I think I may cry. The ending of a story is always sad. So what do you think of the ending? Is it too cheesy?
Once again, I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing. It makes me happy to know that people like my ideas.
Well, until next time.
-ohsnapples