Momentum

Cloud, 22

Cloud woke up suddenly. The shock of his unexpected discovery had ruined any chance of him falling back to sleep.

'How could this be true?' Cloud thought. 'I couldn't have just forgotten something like that…It's just not possible."

It had felt real in the dream. It was only when he woke up, that he wondered whether it was true. It just seemed too unlikely.

In some ways, however, it did make sense. It explained why Zack wanted him to remember so badly. He wondered how he felt, watching Cloud live his life while being utterly oblivious to their history.

'Add Aeris and Tifa to the mix and everything just becomes confusing.' Cloud sighed. 'No matter which way you look at it, this situation is just screwed up.'

He had no one who he comfortable talking to. He didn't generally like to share intimate details of his life with anyone, not even Tifa. The idea of doing so now with the people he knew made him cringe. No, he would have to figure this out on his own.

'Why did you leave me?' Cloud wanted to scream. 'Why couldn't you have lived? Is that really too much to ask from life? After all the horrible stuff that happened to both of us, why couldn't we have been happy in the end?'

But the words would have changed nothing. Zack had died and he had lived and there was nothing either of them could do about it.

A knocking on the door interrupted his angry thoughts. Cloud took a deep breath, waiting a few minutes to compose himself before opening the door. One of Godo's guards was waiting for him, looking anxious.

"Lady Kisigari summoned my unit for an exposition into the farm lands," he said. "She wanted me to inform you that it's time to go."

"I'll be out soon," said Cloud coolly. Never mind the fact that he was still in his pyjamas.

He didn't keep her waiting too long. He was almost as eager to be out as she was. Introspection was getting him nowhere. He wanted to be out on the field, living one moment at a time.

When he arrived out there, Yuffie guided the group to the car she had somehow managed to acquire (she had said it was a present from Reeve, but he wasn't so sure. He wouldn't put it past her to somehow sneak a car into Wutai). Apparently everyone sensed his black mood, because no one tried to talk to him during the trip.

'Those guards Yuffie picked…there's something wrong about them,' Cloud thought as they drove along. They were too anxious, considering this was just a relatively simple task. There was something about their manner which reminded Cloud of the moments before a battle.

Either they were really worried about the upcoming monster fights, or they were planning something. Judging by the way their eyes refused to meet his, he was guessing it was the latter.

He tried to relax during the car ride, knowing that they wouldn't dare try anything in such a confined space but he couldn't, not with stench of fear thick in the air.

He tried to catch Yuffie's eye when they got out of the car but she was oblivious, focused on the bare land in front of them. His troops were chatting amongst themselves, also unaware of any danger. Cloud wished he'd thought to come up with a secret hand signal for danger, but it hadn't seemed important. They had never been up against other men before.

"I knew things were bad," Yuffie said. "But I never thought things were this desperate. How could this be?"

"Where is everyone?" Cloud asked. He could see some houses in the distance, but he couldn't see anyone moving around them. Had they been killed?

"We should go check," she said flatly. Cloud waited for her to walk up the path, checking that all the guards followed her before moving himself. He couldn't afford to make even one false move here.

'This is the last thing I need,' Cloud thought. 'Why couldn't people accept I'm here to help and move on?' He didn't understand what anyone would have to gain from discouraging him, but he intended to find out.

Whoever was behind this was out of their mind if they thought five guards could take out him, Yuffie and six WRO operatives. Now that Cloud was aware of them, he would easily be able to anticipate their attack and kill them before they could do any serious damage.
'Then again, if they did die, I could arguably be seen as attacking another nation's army. Even though Yuffie would know the truth, if she's not popular in Wutai at the moment, someone could easily subvert the will of the people. Maybe they're not here to succeed, but to die?'

That meant the person who had payed them off must have been more ruthless then he thought. They could have volunteered themselves, but Cloud thought that was unlikely, given how frightened they obviously were. If he had to guess, he would say they were somehow forced into this. But by who?

They were preparing to act, Cloud realised. They probably didn't want them talking to the villagers. There were a couple of hundred metres away from the house, just far enough away that they might go unnoticed. Cloud readied himself to strike.

He didn't have to wait long. The guy right behind him attempted to jump on him first, theoretically leaving him open to the attacks of his four comrades. This would have worked, if Cloud hadn't been expecting exactly that opening move.

He threw the first guard to the floor, casting 'slow' on the other four. This gave his troops enough time to realise what was going on. The guards weren't able to protect themselves from the furious charge. The troops mightn't have been the most technically proficient force, but what they lacked in skill they made up for with enthusiasm.

Yuffie glared furiously at the downed guards. She went to speak but Cloud interrupted her.

"I want to know who made you do this and how," Cloud said. "If you give me that information, I may spare your lives."

The guard Cloud had knocked to the floor was the first to crack.

"I never wanted to defect, but they have our families!" he cried desperately. "They said if we attacked you, even if we were killed, our families would be spared and they would be looked after. The man who talked to me was Syratov, but I think he had other allies, too. "

Cloud let him get up, keeping a wary eye on him. One of the guards hissed something in Wutai.

"Care to repeat that so I can understand," Cloud requested, flicking his sword to the guard's throat.

"Kill me, then," the guard mocked. "It doesn't matter. My life means nothing to me anymore."

"You're all fools," said Cloud coolly. "You have no assurances that whoever's got your family will keep them alive. I suggest you put down your weapons and help me, instead."

The guard closest to Cloud dropped his weapon. Slowly, three of the others followed suit, until there was just one, looking at Cloud disgustedly. He twisted until Orwell could no longer hold him. Cloud braced himself for an attack.

The guard rushed forward. Cloud let him get close, hoping to catch him at the last minute, when he was most vulnerable to attack. Before he could, he heard a hissing noise.

His head began to spin as the guard slumped forward, his face triumphant.

The next few moments were a confusion of noise as everyone began talking at once. Cloud fought against the induced fatigue, trying to use his 'heal' materia without success.

He felt the familiar soothing sensation of a 'heal' spell. Yuffie was standing in front of him, looking a little smug.

"I don't believe you fell for that," she said. "Honestly, that's a newbie trick."

"Not the time, Yuffie" Cloud managed say.

"He won't be up to much for a while," Yuffie said, pointing at Cloud. "So if we want to get Syratov, we should probably leave him behind."

"No. You should keep on talking to the villagers," Cloud said slowly, fighting off a tired stupor. "I'll take you. These four, plus everyone from WRO should bury the corpse and then wait at the truck. For now, we don't want anyone knowing that the guards survived."

"Shouldn't we do it the other way round?" asked Alexis. "And pretend that you died? It would give us an advantage."

"But that's not what they expect. We need to keep them thinking that everything is going to plan for as long as possible. If anyone in the village is expecting us, they will report that to Syratov." Cloud explained.

"Right," said Yuffie. "You four, behave. Remember, you were lucky this time. Try anything again and I won't be as merciful." Cloud followed, wishing that he could just stay in the truck.

The first places they visited were the outlying houses, which were empty. Those farms look as if they would barely make enough to support their own families, let alone send out produce to Wutai city.

They discovered the reason for the deserted houses when they entered the village centre. They had found the villagers, all gathered in a hall. Cloud had wanted to wait until they were done talking but Yuffie insisted on barging in.

The villagers did seem to be delighted to see her. They began talking all at once, the Wutai conversations flying right over Cloud's head. Yuffie tried to answer them all, but it was clear from her expression that she was troubled.

'Is anyone here reporting to Syratov?' Cloud wondered. No one seemed to stand out, but that didn't mean much. He imagined Syratov would pay or threaten ordinary villagers to report. Cloud wouldn't be able to identify them from visuals alone and as he couldn't understand what they were saying, he had no idea who was working for his enemies.

The meeting wound up after about an hour. After that, Yuffie had asked to meet individual families. Everywhere they went, the families seemed to be struggling. Everyone in the village looked hungry and the conditions which they lived in were appalling.

Wherever they went, Yuffie insisted on trying to help. She had brought some supplies for families. There was not enough to meet there needs, but the families obviously appreciated the efforts all the same.

Cloud kept his eye out for enemies, but saw nothing. By the end of the day he was thoroughly exhausted and still suffering the after-effects of the poison. Finally he forced Yuffie to leave the village and go back to the car.

"But I wanted to help," she moaned. "Honestly, you boys are all the same! War, war, war, that's all that matters to you!"

"I can't help them right now and neither can you," Cloud pointed out. "But we can find out who's trying to sabotage us and then we can report whatever you found out to your father and the WRO."

"But what do I say about the villager's situation?" Yuffie said. "Apparently, anything that they try to grow doesn't grow properly and they have no idea why. How can we fix that?"

"I don't know. I do know that we have another job to do, first. Until we've dealt with the opposition, there isn't anything we can do."

"Fine." They walked back to the truck, with Yuffie sulking the whole way back. What did she expect him to say? That it would all be fine? That was obviously not true and she knew it. She was just taking her frustration out on him.

When they arrived the guards and WRO troops alike crowded around him, all asking the same question.

"What do we do next?"

"I'm going to sleep," said Cloud irritably. "Drive the truck close to Wutai city, park it just outside, near Syratov's house. Wake me before dawn."

The objections started immediately. Everyone wanted to charge straight in. Cloud knew there were perfectly good reasons for following his plan, but he couldn't think of them right now. All he knew was that he needed rest and if he didn't sleep now, he would soon collapse.

"Trust me," he said, before leaning against the truck walls and falling into a deep sleep.

He stood on a pillar, surrounded by water. The beauty of this place was breathtaking, a testament to the glory of the ancients, but for Cloud this place evoked a sense of dread and failure. This is where he had committed one of his greatest sins. He had let an angel die, had nearly been the instrument of her destruction herself.

He had hurt her in so many ways, he found himself thinking.

"Are you there, Zack?" he asked.

"I'm here." Of course.

"Do you ever regret…what happened between us?" Cloud asked.

"Never."

"Not even for a moment?" Cloud pressed. "Not even after everything that's happened?"

"Never," Zack repeated. "What about you?"

"I don't know." Cloud answered honestly. "I'm trying to make everything connect, but the pieces won't fit properly. It's almost like I'm two completely different people." There was a long silence before Zack started speaking.

"I just wanted you to be happy," Zack said. "More then anything, I wished you would smile." He sounded unusually serious.

"Back in the past or now?" Cloud asked.

"Both."
"I don't understand that, either. I forgot you. No, worse then that, I tried to wipe you off the face of history! How did you manage to forgive me? Why do you still care?"

Zack pulled him close for a moment and all his worries seemed to melt away.
"I'd like to explain, but I think we're out of time."

The pillar beneath their feet shook and then crumbled away into nothingness. He was plunged straight into the water, falling into the black depths.

Cloud, 16

Cloud woke up slowly. He realised he was in a bed, which was a little strange, because he was sure he'd fallen asleep on a couch. The next thing he realised was there was bright light stea.

He opened his eyes and sat upright. He had never seen this room before, but he found the clock sitting on the bedside.

'10:23! It can't be 10:23,' he thought. 'Zack promised he'd wake me up.'

He thought for a second. There were only three logical explanations. Firstly, that he had somehow suffered amnesia and it was a completely different day to the one he thought it was. Secondly, that Zack had been called to a very important mission and hadn't even had time to wake Cloud up before he left.

'Or he just forgot,' thought Cloud glumly. It didn't seem like the SOLDIER would forget after he promised Cloud, but it could have happened. Cloud supposed it was his fault. He should have just set an alarm.

'I still don't understand how I got here,' he thought. 'This looks like it's Zack's room. But why he put me here?' As Cloud considered the possibilities, the door began to open. Cloud slowly got off the bed.

"Oh, you're already awake," said Zack, looking disappointed. He was in full uniform and holding a small white bag. "I brought you breakfast."

"Thank you," said Cloud confusedly. "I don't really have time to eat it, though. I have to get down to my shift." 'Or rather, I need to explain why I'm so late.'

"Your shift ended twenty-four minutes ago," Zack pointed out. "It's alright, I already spoke with your sergeant. You're relieved of the extra shifts."

"You didn't have to do that," said Cloud. "This made Zack laugh for some reason.

"You wouldn't wake up, so I had to take desperate measures," he explained. "I tried, I really did, but you were pretty out of it. I figured you'd be more comfortable here, while I went and explained your absence."

Cloud blushed.

"I guess I was more tired then I thought," he said lamely.

"You haven't been taking good enough care of yourself," Zack lectured. "But I guess that's where I come in."

Zack moved closer. Cloud was suddenly aware that they were alone, in his bedroom.

"I've been talking to Seph. He's been pretty helpful, actually. Found a room you can stay in and also suggested that I take some time to train you, personally. Or, as he said, 'If you're going to hang around Strife so much, you might as well make yourself useful in the process.' So asked if we could have some mornings together and he said he'd excuse you from morning practice whenever we happen to be off missions."

Cloud was having difficulty processing everything that Zack was saying.

"You call the General 'Seph'?" he asked slowly.

"Yup. And before you ask, no, he doesn't approve." Cloud smiled.

"I didn't think so."

"Anyway, back to business. This is what you wanted, isn't it? I know that you'll probably enjoy having a place away from everyone else, but do you still want to be in SOLDIER? I'll understand if you want something else. I'd even help you get back home, if that's what you really wanted." The older boy was practically babbling by the end of it, looking entreatingly at the blonde.

Cloud shook his head violently.

"I'm not leaving," he said. "Besides, I left to get stronger. I want to prove that I can be something and I want…to be able to fight by your side. To be worthy."

"It's just as well you're so determined," Zack said, running a finger down his cheek bone. "I think you'll make a good protégé. Though I might be a little bit biased."

Cloud hummed, trying to think of a reply. He gave up, deciding instead to act on his desire. He reached up, so he could kiss the older boy. Zack responded by pulling him in tighter, deepening the kiss.

It was Zack who finally broke it off.

"As much as I'd like to continue, you need to get ready. I want to assess your abilities before you have to leave for afternoon practice and we need to move your stuff into your new room." Cloud nodded and they walked out into the living room.

Zack handed him the bag. It turned out that it contained a ham and cheese baguette. It was divine, far better then anything the cafeteria served. Cloud sighed contentedly.

Zack sat besides him, occasionally trying to flatten his hair. Being with him was so nice; Cloud wished he could live with hm. He understood that just wasn't possible, for a variety of reasons, but he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like.

"I'd better have a shower," said Cloud. "I'll go get my stuff…" Zack interrupted him. "You don't have to. I brought it all over." Zack pointed to the clothes pile, where Cloud's neatly folded clothes were resting in their suitcase underneath the mess.

"You went through my stuff?" asked Cloud.

"It's not like you're hiding any thing incriminating, right?" asked Zack. "Just a couple of letters. Unless there's something you don't want me to see…" he trailed off suggestively.

"No," said Cloud defensively. "But you're not supposed to read other people's letters, you know."

Actually, Cloud wasn't too keen on Zack reading them. His mother made several references to finding a girlfriend as well as Tifa 'waiting for him to return'. He didn't want Zack thinking his mother was intolerant, though truthfully he didn't know how she would react if she heard about Zack.

"Anyway, I've got some clothes for you, so you can have a shower here before you move. You probably want to get your uniform off. It has to be uncomfortable."

"A little bit," Cloud admitted. Zack tossed him some exercise clothes and Cloud used his shower.

Cloud made sure not to take too long, aware that Zack tended to be impatient. He didn't want to delay too much either. If Zack had somehow managed to get time to train him, then he wanted to make the most of it.

When he was done, Zack showed him to his new room. It was technically for advanced cadets, those who were in the advanced stages of training for SOLDIER. Cloud had objected to this – it was beyond his rank, after all, but Zack had waved his objections aside.

"From now on, you're training for SOLDIER anyway. Besides, this room was already free."

Cloud had to admit, he appreciated the extra space. The room was tiny and he still had to use to communal bathrooms, but he had his own desk and he was no longer as restricted by curfew hours.

The unpacking was fairly quick - Cloud didn't have many personal items – so Zack decided to take him down to the training room. He had clearance to go into the SOLDIER sections, obviously, so he'd taken Cloud there.

Looking around, Cloud noticed it was far larger and nicer then his own training room. There was a large VR centre in one corner, a rather scorched looking target in the other. Machinery covered the other edges and the middle had clearly been left free for sparing.

The gym was fairly crowded when they first arrived, but the centre was free, more or less.

"We'll try hand to hand first," Zack instructed. "Because that's what you were practicing in your squad anyway. After we've got the basics down pat, you can move onto sword work. Then, if we have time, we'll do materia. Though, from memory, you scored really well on that part of the test. That and theory were definitely your best subjects."

Cloud nodded, not even bothering to ask how Zack had known. He'd probably looked up his test results. He supposed that the Lieutenant of the army would have access to that kind of information.

The other SOLDIERs looked at them interest. Having that many eyes on him was overwhelming. He wanted to impress them, but he was sure he'd fail.

"Okay, I want you to come at me with everything you've got. Show me what you can do and we'll go from there."

Cloud nodded and readied himself.

"Bend your knees more," Zack instructed. "And relax. You're too tense."

'That's not really surprising,' Cloud thought. 'Given the circumstances.' Still, he did his best to comply with Zack's instructions.

Cloud threw the first punch. Zack intercepted almost lazily, pulling him forwards until he was bent over, his hand a couple of inches away from the ground. He had to scramble to avoid falling over all together.

"Not like that," Zack instructed. "Don't put all your weight behind it. Focus on hitting fast and dead on target."

Cloud took a deep breath and tried again. Still, he was too slow. Zack was able to block him with ease, forcing him to take a step back. Cloud responded by attempting to hit him again, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hit the SOLDIER.

Eventually, Zack managed to twist one of his arms over the other, effectively pinning him.

"Not bad," he said. "But you're still off balance a lot of the time. That kind of thing can decide who wins a fight, all other things being equal. That goes for sword fighting, too."

Cloud nodded and they began again.

Soon, Cloud lost count of the times that Zack had brought the fight to a standstill, disabling him with a simple move. Cloud realised he could probably do that at any time, but he only did so when he had particular instructions. Cloud soon learnt what tactics were likely to end things and tried to modify his own style accordingly.

It was a very difficult exercise. The level of refinement Zack was expecting from him was entirely different to anything he had ever faced before. He was beginning to become distressingly familiar with the ground. He wondered what the SOLDIERS were thinking.

'Probably wondering why their Lieutenant picked such a bad person to train."

As the endless fighting continued on he soon lost track of the time. Breathing became difficult and his arms were burning. Even maintaining his stance was draining his energy.

His head was spinning. Following Zack's instructions was becoming more difficult. The result was that he being thrown around more then ever.

He should have given up, but Zack didn't seem to notice his exhaustion and Cloud wasn't going to ask him to stop now. He was determined to see this training all the way through.

"That's enough," a fierce voice cut through their training. The General was staring at them, his eyes focused on Zack.

"I told you that it was fine for you to train with Private Strife, so long as you were responsible. That includes understanding his limits, Zackary."

"I'm….fine," Cloud protested. "Just…need to…catch my breath." He gagged as he felt the familiar acid burn in the back of his throat.

"I expect you to take more care in the future," Sephiroth continued. "And Strife, if you feel exhausted you should just say so. Zackary can be a little…overenthusiastic."

"I'll be more careful in future," Zack promised.

"It'll be fine. I just…can't seem to keep up."

"It's to be expected. Considering your irregular sleeping and eating patterns, I would expect your abilities to be temporarily affected."

Cloud looked up at the General in confusion.

"How did you know that, sir?" Cloud asked. "Did Zack tell you?"

"I've been monitoring you, at Lieutenant Fair's request. Apparently he was concerned about your health."

Cloud felt momentarily embarrassed. Zack had asked the General to 'monitor' him?

"Alright, nice to see you, but we'd better be going now," Zack said hurriedly.

"I expect to see you at your office nice and early. You still have lots of work to do."

"Yeah, yeah."

Zack practically pulled Cloud out the training room.

"Sorry about that. You okay?"

"I'm fine. I guess I just went a little too hard."

Zack stared at him, trying to judge whether he was lying.

"The General can be a little up himself sometimes, but I owe him a lot. I admit, I asked him to watch you."

"Why? I mean…the General? That's going a little overboard," Cloud interrupted.

"After you ran off, I had no idea what was wrong. I had a feeling you wanted to avoid me. So I asked Seph to keep an eye on you. If not for him, I would have never got to you on time…"

"I understand," said Cloud, looking away. He didn't want to think about what would have happened.

"You going to be okay? I can get you out of evening practice, if you like."

"No," said Cloud. "I have to work, too. Besides, I'm almost feeling better now." He wasn't really feeling much better, but he didn't want Zack using his privileges to help him all the time. People would start becoming suspicious if Zack was seen to be interfering too much.

"Sure you are," said Zack dubiously. "Well, at least promise me you'll grab a bite to eat before you go. Seeing as Sephiroth has apparently taken a liking to you, he'd probably have my head if you passed out during practice."

"I think you're exaggerating," said Cloud.

"No way. Sephiroth's crazy loyal to his friends. I think he likes you more then me, too, but that could be because I enjoy winding him up so much."

"At this rate, he'll try and steal you away from me," Zack continued. Cloud rolled his eyes. He knew most people would assume that Zack was talking about their training arrangement, but Cloud understood what he was insinuating. The look in his eyes was positively devious.

"I wouldn't want that,' Cloud assured him. "But I do have to go."

"Have fun," said Zack. "I should have tomorrow off. I'll be busy in the morning, but I can meet you around ten or so?"

"Sounds good," said Cloud, while mentally praying that Zack went a little easier on him. If he had to go through this again, he'd probably die. Well, he supposed no one had said making it into SOLDIER would be easy.

When he returned to his room that night, he couldn't help but wonder if everything that happened was just a wonderful dream. He couldn't wrap his head around the complete change in fortune he had experienced.

He promised himself that he would do all he could to take advantage of the amazing opportunity he had been given.

'If you're willing to help me, I'll do my best to succeed,' Cloud thought as he was lying in bed. 'I won't waste a single moment.'

Author's Note : Okay, just to quickly clarify, this fiction centres around the zack/cloud pairing. Yes, cloud/tifa is mentioned and yes, I will discuss their relationship in more detail in later chapters, however it is not the key issue I want to explore during the course of the story. As for why I included it at all….If you want to know, you're just going to have read it to find out. I hope people are enjoying the story so far. Thank you everyone who has reviewed, I appreciate any feedback very much :)