AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey yall! Wow thank you guys for reviewing. Yeah I am a guy and what's more is I'm straight lol. Ok just a quick warning here, this chapter and the ones that are to follow are going to be a lot more hectic and the content will be much more heavy, so if you cringe at swear words and drug abuse, back out NOW! Anyway this chapter is a lot longer than the last one, in retrospect I should have made it a prologue. But anyway here it is, the rest of the chapters are going to be around about this length so happy reading! And watch out for a few cameos from other FF titles. Please don't be shy to review, thanks.

DISCLAIMER: Square-Enix is the owner of Final Fantasy and all related material, I'm just using it because I'm lazy to design my own characters for this story!

EDITTED MARCH 2013

XXX

"Yo, Spike!"

Cloud whirled around when he heard the voice. Across the street from him was a tall man with dark hair. Look who's talking, Cloud thought, looking at the man's spikey hair. The guy looked across before hurrying across the busy street.

"Hey, how you doin'?" He asked, slightly out of breath. Without waiting for an answer he rushed on, "on your way to Shinra?"

Cloud gave the man a look, before nodding slowly.

"Great!" The other man replied, clearly not taking the hint that Cloud would much rather walk alone. "I'm on my way there too."

"I'm Zack, by the way. Zack Fair," he said holding out his hand.

Cloud hesitated a moment before taking it, "Cloud Strife," he replied evenly.

"So what you studying?"

"Engineering, first year," Cloud answered.

"Co-incidence!" Zack exclaimed in delight. "Me too, only I'm repeating the year."

"Why?" Cloud had to ask.

"Ah, I kinda fucked around a lot last year and ended up failing most of my subjects," Zack said, sounding a little sheepish. "So I was allowed to come back and repeat the year, provided I don't fail anything again."

"Oh," Cloud replied, slightly nervous now.

"So, you from Midgar or did you just move here recently?"

"Uhm, I'm from Nibelheim originally, but I moved here after I was accepted at Shinra."

Zack nodded. "Yeah, adjusting to city life can be a bitch. I would know, I'm from Gongaga."

Cloud smirked. "Gongaga? That's even worse than Nibelheim!"

Zack staggered as if he had been dealt a physical blow. "Ouch, that cut me deep Spike. So we're both small town boys huh?" He said nudging the smaller boy. "And at least Gongona is better than Mideel!"

Cloud laughed at that. "Yeah, Mideel gets the Backward Town Award, for being unable to change in the last two centuries."

As they continued the walk to campus, they joked and made small talk. By the time they had reached Shinra, Cloud knew immediately he had made a friend for life. Zack and him had a lot in common and seemed to have similar interests, apart from sharing similar backgrounds.

"So what's first on the agenda?" Zack asked as soon as they arrived.

"Looks like its Math with Professor Highwind," Cloud replied.

Zack sniggered. "Oh boy, trust them to start with a circus act."

Unsure what to make of his friend's statement, Cloud shrugged and ran a hand through his spikey blond hair. They made there way to a scary looking stone building.

"You sure this is the right place?" Cloud asked uncertainly.

"Yep," Zack replied, sounding so confident Cloud decided not to question any further.

As soon as he walked through the door, the blonde stopped dead in shock. The entire hall was immense and cathedral shaped. It could have easily sat five hundred people. And each and every seat was full.

"Don't worry," Zack assured him. "By mid-year half these people will have either failed or dropped out and we'll be able to find seats."

"Hey! Cloud!" Came a cheery voice behind them. Cloud turned and saw Aerith coming towards them, looking flustered at the crowded hall. "Looks like your late too, we'll just have to find a seat on the stair-"

She broke off as soon as she noticed Clouds raven haired companion.

"Zack," she acknowledged.

"Aerith," he replied tersely.

Cloud looked, confused, back and forth between them. The suddenly tense atmosphere suddenly puplable. "You guys...know each other?"

"We've met," Zack said shortly.

"We went out you bastard!," Aerith snapped shrilly.

"Yeah, until you became a needy, clinging bundle of nerves. 'Oh, Zack! I want you commit, tell me you love me!'" Zack finished in a high-pitched squeaky voice that set Cloud's teeth on edge. "If only you loved me as much as you love swords! What the fuck?"

Aerith looked mortally offended. "Asshole!" She almost shouted.

"OK, OK! Break it up kids!" Cloud quickly placed himself between the two bickering students. "This isn't the time or place to do this, so can you save the emotional offloading until after Math."

They stopped bickering, but continued to glower at each other dangerously, as they sat on either side of Cloud on the stairs and pulled out their notebooks.

"Settle down, settle down!" Came a grouchy voice from the entrance. Professor Highwind had finally made his appearence. A stockily built man, with a shock of hair that seemed to have been blonde at some point in his life, but was now a dirty looking gray, Professor Highwind took one look around the hall before sighing loudly into his microphone.

"Is this really the best they could do?" He snarled. "So you are the engineers of the future huh? Well I fear for the planet if this bunch of genetic garbage is going to be building it! You are the sorriest lot of first years I've seen in the twelve miserable fucking years I've taught!"

His crass manner of speaking, and particularly vulgar speech must have shocked the first years, for all of them, with the exception of Zack stared, wide-eyed at the professor. But he was not finished with them as yet.

"You are not engineers, you are blobs of flesh, with no purpose. It is my job to turn you from the useless dungbeetles you are into tough, no nonsense engineers like myself," he continued, puffing his chest out. "I take no fucking bullshit what so ever! Lemme just warn you unwashed fuckers in advance."

At this point he paused to pull out a cigarette which he promptly lit.

"I will be in charge of Math class, and I don't stand for bullshit, so you better kick your dirty arses into gear, or mark my words they will be hell to pay!"

With that he took a long drag of his cigarette, possibly to calm his fragile nerves, before barking at the student to begin taking notes and spent the next hour talking about vector operations (all the while verbally abusing the students with a barrage of swear words and clever insults).

"Well that wasn't so bad was it?" Zack said cheerfully as they exited the class.

"Are you kidding?" Aerith said, the pretty brunette looked mortified, her face was still pale and her green eyes wide. "That guy's insane, he shouldn't be allowed to teach anything!"

"Say what you like, but trust me Highwind's a genius, sure he's a bit on the raw side, and he's pretty fucked up, but believe me when it comes down to it, the old bastard knows his shit!" Zack answered.

"Well that's your opinion!" Aerith snarled. "Cloud agrees with me, don't you Cloud?"

Feeling both sets of eyes on him, Clous just laughed. "I think he's a cool guy, fucked up yeah, but cool, I'm quite impressed, I actually understood all that vector shit!"

"Boys!" Aerith sighed, shaking her head.

XXX

The rest of the day proved to be quite entertaining. After Math, they reported to Physics which was taught by a rather rolly polly little man, called Heidegger who seemed to be pretty confused about the work himself, but managed to entertain the students with his mad bumbling. Followed by Chemistry with a woman named Scarlet. Both Cloud and Zack agreed she scored a brilliant nine out of ten on the hotness rating. Most probably due to her red dress with a dangerously low neckline and high slit on her thigh. The boys in class spent the entire session on the edge of their seats, drool practically pouring from their mouths. All this time Aerith shook her head in disgust muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "horny fuckheads" under her breath repeatedly.

With Chemistry out of the way, the three found themselves free for the rest of the day.

"Well, that was an eventful day," Zack said, stretching his arms.

"Yeah, it was," Cloud agreed. "So what you guys wanna do now?"

"Well we can go for lunch or something," Zack suggested.

Cloud was all for it, but Aerith interupted. "Sorry, but I have to take a train all the way to Sector 5 so I need to be going right about now, see you guys later."

Cloud watched as the cheery girl turned and walked away, her long braid swinging side to side in time with her movements.

"Well, guess its just you and me buddy," Zack said, draping an arm around the blonde man's shoulder.

"So what you wanna do?" Cloud answered lazily.

"Well," Zack said thoughtfully. He seemed to debate with himself for a moment. "Cloud, we're cool right, we buddies, we don't...judge do we?"

Not sure where this was going, Cloud looked at Zack in bewilderment. "Uhm, yeah, I hope you don't plan on hitting on me dude!"

Caugh slightly off guard, Zack threw his head back and laughed. "No, no, no Cloud seriously!" Calming down, he added a little more seriously. "I wasn't gonna say anything while Aerith was here, but...I know a great place we can hang out for a while before we head home."

Cloud considered Zack's words. "Okay," he said finally.

Zack's face lit up like a kid in a sweet shop. "Great! Let's move!"

Cloud sniggered a little at his friends exuberance as they made their way across the campus. Eventually they came to a grassy, park-like area. Picnic benches littered the area, while came to a sort of cliff, which overlooked a massive football field.

"Wow, Zack this place rocks!" Cloud said in awe, it was so peacefull and calming, an oasis in the middle of the polluted mass that was the norm in Midgar.

"Yeah, well interesting way of putting, I'm assuming your pun was unintentional," Zack laughed.

Frowning a little, wondering what on earth Zack was on about, Cloud continued to follow the older boy across the field. He soon saw a multitude of people gathered around a bench, sitting on the edge of the cliff. He noticed a large black man in the centre of the group.

"Zack! Where you at home boy?" The big guy yelled on spotting the dark haired man.

"Barret, ol' buddy! Your cheap shit damn scared me away from this fucking hellhole!" Zack said cheerfully.

Barret's face darkened in anger. "If yer don't enjoy my shit, take yer gil and fuck off, find another bitch to sell yer dope!"

"Aww aww, Barret, you know I'm only kidding with ya, you know how much I love your goods."

Cloud was now thoroughly confused. Zack and this Barret guy were obviously well aquainted. And what "shit" were they on about.

"So what you have for me today?" Zack asked conversationally.

The other three people at the table smiled. One red-haired guy smirked, while the blonde and brown haired men sniggered.

"Whaddya think I am, Zack? I only sell the best, have I ever given anythin' less?"

"I can remember a few times, yeah, you have been known to give some bad kush now and then."

It finally clicked exactly what Zack's intentions were. Cloud was shocked, he would have never taken Zack for a stoner.

The large man guffawed as he thumped Zack on the back, nearly knocking him over.

"Nuthin's changed has it Puppy? Who's yer friend?"

Gathering up his composure, Zack stood up straight. "This is Cloud."

"Awww, new blood, huh?" Barret growled good naturedly, "nice to meet ya Spike!"

Barret seemed to speak above the normal volume of a shout, and his roughly affectionate pat on Clouds back, nearly sent him flying.

"Hey, uhm likewise," he replied nervously.

"Name's Barret!" The large man boomed. "These faggots here are Reno, Zell and Irvine."

The three other guys at the table, waved. Now that Cloud had figured out what was going on here, he now knew why the had such glazed looks in their eyes. It also explained the thick smoke that was furling up around them.

"What's the matter Cloud? Never been around people smoking weed before?" Zack teased. "Come on, just relax your spikey head down a little."

A little bit uncomfortable, Cloud set himself down on the grass, as Zack began dealing with Barret.

"Come on 20 gil? You crazy Barret, I wouldn't pay you that much for acid!"

"You don't wanna pay, then you don't fucking smoke Puppy! Simple as that!" Barret snarled in reply.

The haggling went on for a while until eventually Zack plopped down next to Cloud, two long joints in his hand.

"So, Spikey...ever smoked one of these before?" Zack asked, as if he had been doing this for years.

Unsure how to answer, Cloud tried keep his voice still as a truckload of memories flooded his mind. "A few times, but always far between."

"Well, I doubt you've had anything like this before," Zack said, adjusting the joint in his fingers almost reverently. "Yo, Barret hit me with a light, would ya?"

"Damn right I'm gonna hit you with a light!" Barret snapped, throwing a lighter at Zack, which hit him painfully behind his ear. "Whaddya think I am? Your fucking slave?" he demanded as Zack rubbed the spot tenderly.

"I was gonna go with 'very good friend'," Zack said, in mock outrage. Nonetheless, he picked up the lighter and placed the joint between his lips.

Cloud watched with a mixture of awe and dread as Zack lit it, taking a long drag, then inhaling deeply before exhaling as a long column of smoke escaped his lips. He took a few more puffs before handing the joint to Cloud, who hesitantly took it.

"Don't worry ,Spike. It's just weed, nothing extra's in there. Trust me," Zack said. Cloud would have dearly liked to tell him how difficult it was to trust him while his eyes were already turning red, and his expression was drooping.

Looking down at the smoking roll of stuffed paper in his hand he hesitantly raised it to his lips.

No stranger to the crushed leaf in his hand, Cloud couldn't help but tremble in trepidation at the thought. He knew exactly what weed could do to a person. On top of that, everyone around was watching him intently, as if he were a rat and they were birds of prey, waiting to snare him.

Refusing to back down from Zack's thinly veiled challenge he placed the joint between his lips and began to inhale. He pulled on it, then inhaled the smoke further into his lungs. He could almost feel the smoke tainting everything it touched. Turning it black and evil. He exhaled, tasting the foul taste as the smoke left his lips. It was disgusting! It was like a vile stench, polluting his very being, yet he still took another drag, and another and another. Until the entire joint was finished.

He turned to see Zack smiling at him, though his eyes were unfocused.

"Well, let's hear for the new boy!" Barret yelled.

There was a bit of cheering from the assembled group. Cloud felt himself smiling sheepishly, not sure whether to feel proud or ashamed. He noticed Zack lighting the other joint.

"What're doing, Zack? Isn't one enough?" He blurted.

Zack gave him a condescending look, with one raised eyebrow. "You're already buzzing? From half a joint? Dammit, Cloud you're weaker than I thought!", he said with a snigger.

The rest of them started cackling as well.

"I am NOT weak!" Cloud shouted. "I bet I can smoke just as much as any of you!"

Zack calmly took another pull, before holding the joint out to Cloud. "Care to back that claim up?", he asked.

Scowling, Cloud took it from him and took another deep drag. They did not wait this time, instead passing the joint between them until it was nothing but a smoldering butt on the grassy floor.

By that time, Cloud himself completely happy and content. A lazy smile crept its way across his features. His head felt light, as if something had filled it with some happy gas. He felt himself floating, feeling invincible, no sad thought could enter his mind. His mother's disappointed face faded from his mind's eye, as if some unseen forced appeared and pushed it away. A pleasant buzzing filled his head, slowing down space and time, nothing mattered anymore. It was so easy to just ...forget.

He leaned back in happiness on the grass, noting Zack and the others were quiet too, enjoying their high.

Then she came.

Cloud's hazy mind sharpened at the arrival of two girls. The first was short and wore her dark hair short, reaching slightly lower than her ears. She had short green shorts with a yellow tank top that flattered her slim figure, but it was her companion that capture Cloud's attention the most.

Tall and long legged, the girl stood in a red miniskirt, that covered practically nothing, coupled with a white, sleeveless top that revealed her midriff, where a silver ring glittered in her navel. Her long, black hair reached her waist, and framed a face more lovely than any other Cloud had seen.

The two girls strode past them and the shorter one ran to Barret.

"Barret!", she yelled hugging the large man, her small size even more prominent next to Barret's sheer bulk.

"Yuffie!" Barret returned her hug warmly.

The other girl strode past them, and settled herself on the bench. She took out a cigarette and lit it, before reclining slightly and turning to the rest.

"Barret! Good to see you," she said calmly with a smile. "Zell, Irvine, Reno!" She said crossing her legs, making them even more appealing to Cloud.

"Tifa!" They all chorused back to her.

"What're doing here girl," Barret asked.

"Same thing you are, dumbass," she replied with another award winning smile. "To get fucked up stoned!"

They cheered, including Yuffie, who had just slyly taken a joint from Barret's pocket.

"And? What about me? You forget me already, Teef?", Zack asked from the grass.

Looking down at him, she smiled warmly. "Zack, how long has it been? Last I heard, you were kicked out of Shinra for your terrible results."

"Yeah well, they decided to let me back in," Zack returned. "So what are you doing here?"

"I'm doing Psychology here, I graduated last year," she answered.

"With distinction," Yuffie added as she lit her cigarette.

"Wait, you got a distinction?" Zack asked incredulously.

Tifa ignored his patronising tone as she took another puff of her cigarette. "Yes, Zack. I am capable of more than just getting stoned. Which reminds me, Barret I'm not paying today."

Barret glowered at her. "Tifa, you never pay me, s'not fair to my other customers."

"Are your other customers as close to your heart as I am?" Tifa said smoothly.

Grumbling a little, Barret conceded defeat. "Ayt, but from next time you paying, ya hear?" He said handing her a joint.

"Of course, Barret," she replied, tossing her cigarette aside, to light the joint.

"Well, we better get going," Zack said, pulling himself to his feet. "Hope to see you guys later!"

"See ya, Zack!" Yuffie called.

Cloud stood up and followed suit as Zack greeted everyone, although he was too shy to approach the sexy brunette on the bench, before they turned and left.

Once they were out of earshot, Zack gave his friend a megawatt smile. "So? What do you think? They're a cool bunch right?"

"Well yeah, I guess. I'll have to get to know them a little better," Cloud replied uncertainly.

"Aww maaaan," Zack whined. "Dude you need to stop being so uptight. Next time try to speak more, I know they seem intimidating, but they aren't!"

"Next time?" Cloud couldn't help but ask.

"Well, duh next time! You don't honestly plan on not going down there again, do you?"

Cloud turned away and was disturbed to find himself thinking the same thing. Did he want to go back? What would happen if he got caught? This time he was sober enough that the thoughts did not float out of his mind.

XXX

"Cloud, honey I'm home!" Came Mrs Strife's voice as she walked through the door.

"Hey, mum," Cloud answered.

"How was college?" She asked as she hung up her coat.

"It was okay, I guess, most of the teachers are a bit on the loopy side," Cloud said from the couch.

Mrs Strife giggled a little at that. "Well as long as they can get the message across to you kids, I don't care if they do it in a strait jacket."

"Cloud are you okay?" She asked as she entered the living room, to find her only son collapsed on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm fine mum," he answered.

"Oh, Cloud, you're a mess! Rough day?"

"I guess you could say that, it's just taking a little longer to adjust than I thought."

"Oh," Mrs Strife said as she walked towards him. "Don't worry you'll get there eventually, just persevere."

Cloud grunted in response. His mother had a knack of trying to chat while he wasn't in a mood.

"Cloud, what's that smell?" Mrs Strife said, sounding alarmed.

Cloud stiffened, she could smell it! She knew what he had been up to, he was caught.

"Oh my god, CLOUD! You made dinner!"

He felt himself go limp with relief. Cloud had been desperately hungry as soon as he reached home and had whipped up something in the kitchen, deciding to make extra in case his mother came home and wondered suspiciously why her son was so hungry.

"Oh Cloud, you're the best son ever, you knew knew I was gonna be late, so you cooked dinner! I'm so proud," she said embracing a clearly bemused Cloud.

"Well, you know me, mum," he said. "Always trying to be helpfull."

"I was a bit worried that you would lose yourself, but I see that I was wrong and should've trusted you more!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, well. All is well now, mum."

Cloud couldn't help but feel guilty as she tucked into her food.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please review, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Note that a lot more is going to happen soon, sorry for giving the three stoners no dialogue and contribution at all, but they served their function bby just being there, I promise to give them some story later as well. I might have been a little stereoptypical with using Barret as the merchant, but hey if the shoe fits... Anyway please review if you have the time, and thank you once again to those that have Till next time!

CHANGES MADE:

This was an easier chapter to write, was almost me at my best, so most changes were negligible