Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters.

A/N: This chapter is rated M and so is this chapter for medical exams and sexual innuendo.

This chapter is a little more lengthy than the first two, sorry about that.

I am taking the geography of the FF VII world into account, same as with the monster population. However, I am taking liberties with some of it, just for the sake of the story.I do not have a beta, so forgive any mistakes and just enjoy them, I do! *grinning*


"I want to go back to the time when my biggest fears were under my bed and scraping my knees hurt the most…" –Unknown

To You I Give My Heart

Chapter 3

~Just Like Old Times, Sort Of~

"Zack"

After falling asleep, pleasant dreams evaporated his harsh memories. He loved the way she said his name, her soft voice, her lips curling into a smile and the light in her eyes setting his soul on fire.

"Zack"

Not ready to leave this dream yet, he always dreamt about her. The feel of her hair against his skin when he used to hug her, it sent warmth throughout his body. Not minding the thought that he was going to have to take care of a little problem in the bathroom later, he let his dream Cloud touch him. Her soft delicate fingers gently wrapping themselves around the back of his neck, her soft lips crushing against his as a passionate-

"Zack!"

Turning over, his eyes adjusted to the light, he could swear that he saw Cloud standing there. She was right there next to him, this dream was getting better and better. He turned his charm on and gave it his best effort until he noticed that he was still in the new cell he had fallen asleep in.

"Cloud!" Jumping out of the bed, he grabbed her into a hug, squeezing her, probably too hard. The sting in his eyes signaled his tears of happiness, "Oh my Gaia, I have missed you so much!" Much to his relief, she returned the hug and sobs shook her shoulders underneath his arms. Burying her face into his shoulder, she squeezed just as hard, taking in the feel of another's touch. His cheek fit perfectly against the side of her head and he let his eyes close. Blond hair tickled his nose and he allowed one of his hands to gently stroke the back of her head.

For several minutes, they stayed that way, holding each other, taking in as much of the other as they could, never breaking the hug.

"Zack?"

"Yeah Chocobo?"

"Why are you naked?"

Snapping his eyes open and holding her tighter, he remembered his shower and not wanting to put his clothes back on, 'Oh, shit…' The feel of her hands on the bare skin of his back sent him an alarm at his reactions.

"I uh," Moving his hips back a little, he relieved the pressure between her stomach and his hips, "I took a shower but didn't have any clean clothes. Sorry." Feeling his face redden, he buried his nose in her hair, but did not release her from his arms.

"Well, I understand that. I'm going to close my eyes, you can get back under- Wait! Did you say shower?!" Pulling back gently, her effort thwarted by his embarrassment as he pulled her back to his chest.

"Yeah, shower with hot water!"

When she tried to move back again, he held on to her, tighter, "Zack, I know what you said about not wanting to let me go, but this is getting ridiculous."

"I know, but like you said, I'm naked," Zack's face blushed brighter.

"Okay then, well I would love a shower and you want to not be naked. On three, I'll go to the bathroom; you get back under the covers."

"Okay, One…two…three…" In a flash, Zack bounced back under the covers as Cloud ran for the door with her eyes closed.

"Oww!" Zack burst out laughing when she rebounded from the wall, "Stop laughing at me!"

Through throes of laughter, he asked, "Why are you running with your eyes closed?" Perhaps she was as embarrassed as he was about his lack of clothing, "I'm under the covers. You can open your eyes now," She turned toward him and that twinkle in her eyes yet again melted his heart.

Pointing her finger at him, she scolded, "Shut up! Now, while I'm in there, no peeking."

Zack put on his best sexy face and winked, "I'm not promising anything."

Rolling her eyes, she closed the door and he listened as she felt the hot water and her moan of relaxation didn't help his problem one bit. Smiling, he pictured her beautiful face. Kunsel was right; he did have it bad for her, "Why can't she feel the same for me?" The water turned off and he rearranged himself under the covers.

Glancing at the door as she opened it, her snow-white skin glistened with water droplets. The towel wrapped her body, tucked in at the top in the front of her chest. Her long hair dripped slowly as she made her way to the other bed making a trail of her small footprints.

Unable to help himself, he followed the drips up the backs of her legs, over the towel that hid the rest of her. Her petite shoulders tensed with the movement of her head when she pulled her hair to one side. Muscles on her small arms and thighs sculpted from the workouts during her training and he wished that those arms and legs were around him.

The sound of her snapping her fingers got his attention, "Zack… you're zoning out again," She giggled as she got under the covers of her bed.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

Adjusting the covers over herself, she quipped, "You know, you should stick to your strengths and thinking isn't one of them," The cutest smirk covered her face that he almost lost himself again.

"Ha Ha, you think you're so damn funny don't ya?"

With a smile that could light up a darkened room, her tone was just like when they were still in garrison, "I don't think. I know."

After a few moments of looking each other over from across the room, Zack was happy that she appeared unhurt, physically. It appeared that she was making sure that he was unharmed as well, which warmed his heart. He knew that she cared for him, but just not in the way he did. Finally deciding that enough was enough for a while, he simply stated, "I got to go to the bathroom," Zack stared intently at her.

Raising her eyebrows, she smirked, "So… What do you want me to do about it?"

"Well, either turn around and/or give me the towel to cover up with," She reached down under the covers and wiggled a little, a small grunt and then produced the towel and threw it at him.

Without a word, the blond turned to face the wall while he got up and closed the bathroom door behind him. He thought about another shower, a cold one. He had a lot of showers to catch up on anyway.

After showering again, he wrapped up in the damp towel and immediately upon opening the door, she questioned him, "Another shower?"

Rubbing the back of his head, he momentarily looked in the eyes of the one across from him, "I miss showers. It has been three years you know," A smile at the thought of an actual shower, it was something that he took for granted. Never again, he would enjoy his showers as much as possible from now on.

Lying on her side, she looked up at him and her face changed, darker and scared, she hadn't had a fair shot in life. All the things she told him about, her mother being a single mother, her father not being around and the other kids hating her. Then on top of all that, Sephiroth killing everyone and burning the town to the ground. Now, imprisoned against her will and the subject of a mad man's little science experiments. A total of all the hurt played across her features, scaring him, "Cloud? Are you alright?"

Sitting on the side of her bed, she sat up, holding the blanket up to cover her chest, "Zack… I'm so scared…" A torrent of tears streamed forward. Grabbing the back of her neck, he pulled her to his chest, holding her, just as he had wanted. He couldn't help it, the thoughts of everything that she had gone through. It was a living nightmare, and that was just what he had witnessed. The things that Hojo did to her while he was in the cell, he could only imagine the terror she felt.

The only thing he could do to help now was to be her unchanging friend, her anchor to reality. The one she knew and trusted. Now that they were able to touch more than just their fingertips, he was actually getting to hold her. It was everything that they had talked about on those lonely days and nights stuck in their cells. Thinking about everything that had happened, he hugged her tighter wanting to wash it all away.

Adding even more to her already full plate, it was just two weeks before they had found themselves in the larger cell together that there was the issue of her former boyfriend…

One morning after they had eaten their breakfast, a heavy darkness fell over him and he slightly slurred, "Dammit, Cloud. I think they drugged me…" It was either luck or a form of unluckiness that it didn't knock him completely out, just weakened him severely. Right in the middle of his cell floor was where he became the pile of fleshy jelly.

First they came and got Cloud and paraded her in front of him as he was behind his cell bars. Even if there were no bars, there was nothing he could do except hold the floor down with his lax body weight.

Once they had her in the lab, they came to get him. The times so far that they were taken to the labs, the pain for him had been bad. For her, however, starting out as non-mako enhanced, it was an excruciating and terrifying ordeal as Hojo's dosages of mako were double and sometimes triple the SOLDIER dose.

This time, it all changed. Different tables were in the place of the old ones and were not like anything that they were restrained to before. As he was brought in, Cloud's arms were already being strapped to one of the two identical looking exam tables. The empty table that was about two feet away from her was where they were dragging him to. Hearing grunts from the guys picking him up made him laugh and slur out, "Am I too much fer 'ya?" He tried to laugh out his anxiety as they strapped down his arms, legs and hips.

As usual, no one said anything to them, but he heard Hojo's shrill and unnerving voice, "Are you sure?"

"Yes sir, she has ended her cycle."

Zack immediately attempted to turn his head to look at Cloud and her teary eyes met his, "Zack…"

"Well then let's get started. She's more than healthy, but I want to make sure she is right for my newest project," Hojo stepped to a sink and while he was busy washing his hands, a lab assistant readied a side table.

"Clouu, jesss look at me, 'kay," Even though his speech was badly slurred now and his eye lids a little heavy, Zack hoped that he sounded more convincing than he felt. It was difficult to keep his eyes open and he had to fight it, he wanted to be there for her.

Another assistant walked up and proceeded to try to remove her shorts even through her screams and kicks of protest, until something caught her eye, "Jacob?!"

He must have closed his eyes, because when he moved his eyes to where she was looking, sure enough, there stood her boyfriend, "Jay'cob, git us ouut of 'ere!" Suddenly it got a little easier for him to fight the sleepiness, but his muscles still thought differently.

Harding completely ignored both of them and released the restraints on her legs to continue undressing her. Another assistant was breaking the table down and bringing up some stirrups from under the table. Cloud's blaring and panicked screams didn't seem to affect him.

Still slurring his words, but not as bad as before, Zack verbally attacked the man next to Cloud, "Jay'cob, yoo son of a bii'tch!" The former SOLDIER yanked at his restraints as much as his weakened muscles could.

A panicked, flailing kick of her legs and feet caught the assistant on his chin. Another assistant snuck up on her other side and injected her upper arm with something. Within just a few minutes, it had her weak and vulnerable. Her body lay quietly, no more kicking or screaming, her head lolled to the side and she was barely able to focus on Zack.

Keeping his eyes on her face so that he wouldn't agitate her already fragile state, he tried to remove himself from the room and what they were doing to her. The movement of her upper body back and forth on the table signaled that they were finishing undressing her and positioning her within the stirrups. When her eyes closed and tears squeezed out, a fragile whimper of distress lifted her chest in a sob that shook her ribcage.

"Ho'jo! Jay'cob! Yoo're sum really sick bass'ards, yoo can rot in hell fer-" When the gag slipped over his mouth, it didn't stop him from screaming his hatred of them.

As soon as he heard Hojo scooting forward on the little stool with wheels, he shut his eyes and silently wept for her.

When they finished with her exam and taking samples, they made their way over to him. Curiosity at the newer clamor of activity, he glimpsed Harding as he slowly, almost lovingly put her shorts back on her, Zack yelled at him through his gag and if he wasn't mistaken, it looked as though Jacob had regret shifting behind those dark brown eyes.

Both of them had ceased being human to the Professor, "Well, let's see how healthy and virile you are, if you are worthy of my newest project as well," Hojo didn't say it to him, more like at him as another assistant removed the leg restraints and his clothing and placed his weakened legs in a similar position that Cloud's had been during her exam. Thankfully Cloud had turned her head away just before his clothes were fully removed.

Turning to one of the three assistants, Hojo asked impatiently, "Where's the rest of the instruments for the male specimen's exam?" Two of the assistants jumped to action and gathered the materials that were missing.

When Hojo started his examination, it started as the standard prostate exam. Then it turned into the humiliation of making sure that he was fully functional and exactly to what extent. Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, Hojo forcefully stimulated him into full arousal. The gag helped muffle the moans of disgust and maddened screams of fury. They loosened the straps from his hips a little to allow some of the involuntary movements and then they pulled out some strange apparatus.

When they fit the device over him, Hojo began to time him and his reactions. From behind his gag, he screamed his rage and embarrassment and fought it as long as he could, "Now, the more you fight it, the longer it will take to get your sample," Hojo's words had him fuming.

Finally making himself relax so he could just get it over with, he closed his eyes and sobbed silently with tears of shame and anger, as they pooled into the curvature of his ears.

"Get his slides ready for evaluation," Hearing Hojo's screechy voice, he couldn't help but want to vomit.

Hesitantly looking at Cloud, she still faced away from him and he could see her chest move with the tremors of her weeping.


A/N: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."

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