Hello, and welcome! I'm FINALLY writing again! Woo!

So, I had gotten the idea of basically making a collection of one (or two) shots for my favorite ships, but I needed help on what to write. So I turned to a ship prompt generator and got some ideas. Then I went to a wheel picker site to determine what order to post them in, and Zakkura ended up being first! So here is my first Zakkura fic, and my first ever Final Fantasy fic!

The prompt I got for them was: "Zack: I'll always believe in you, Cloud."

I had to think about how to apply this because I wanted the fic to be as close to canon as possible, and we all know that Zack would say something like this to Cloud. I asked some of my moots, many of whom happen to be Zakkuras, on Discord for advice, and one gave me the idea to set it around Advent Children. Another suggested setting it around Crisis Core during their time in SOLDIER together, so I tried to combine them.

If you know me from Twitter, Discord, etc., then you might know that when it comes to FF7 ships, Cloti is my number one (they'll get a fic too!). But I'm also a multishipper, and I love Zakkura, too. I just hope that I did well with this, and that other Zakkuras like it (plus anyone else that reads it). :)

One last thing: the title is from the song "Wolves" by Selena Gomez and Marshmello. I had thought that this song worked well as a Zakkura song for a while, so I figured that it would also be good for a fic title, especially since it fits with the Fenrir themes.

Bonus note for PC users: I currently don't have an appropriate icon for this story, so if it's blank or it's my author profile, that's why.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or the song "Wolves".

Enjoy!

Cloud was floating. Floating in nothing but blinding whiteness. He couldn't open his eyes, so he tried to sense what was around him, but all he could sense was emptiness. On top of all of that, he was tired. He had just defeated Sephiroth – for the second time; or was it the third? – along with his remnants. A part of him wanted to sleep, just for a while longer...

Then he felt a soft hand on his forehead.

"Mother...?" he whispered. If he had any energy left, he would have turned away in embarrassment. He knew who this was, and this was how he responded? Kadaj must have gotten to him.

"Again?" Aerith's amused voice asked, her hand leaving him. "Why is everyone calling me their mother lately?"

"I guess they must be fond of you," said another painfully familiar voice.

Cloud's heart leapt, just slightly. "Zack...?"

They weren't done, though.

"This one's a little too big to adopt," Aerith joked.

"Tough luck, friend. Sounds like...you don't have a place here."

Were they parting ways again? He wasn't ready yet.

"Zack..." he tried to call out.

"Don't worry, Cloud," Zack responded. Aerith seemed to have left them. "You'll see us again. But not now. You need to go back, be with your family."

"But..." Cloud didn't know what else to say, only that he still didn't want to say goodbye all over again. Several things came to mind – an apology, a beg for forgiveness, a wish for him to stay, a confession of his deeper feelings – but none of them left his lips.

Zack seemed to understand. "You didn't need forgiveness from me. There was nothing to forgive. There still isn't. You never let me down, Cloud. Never."

"Zack..." Cloud was embarrassed again, for now he felt a tear slipping out of his eye.

Then...he felt a pair of lips press against his own. His heart burst, feeling so much love in this one action. An action he regretted not making during their time together in SOLDIER. As he used what little energy he had to kiss him back, a memory resurfaced.

Zack had offered to take him to grab a bite to eat, but he had wanted to wait until his motion sickness went away. Once it did, off they went. However, even though he was no longer feeling nauseous, he still wasn't really feeling hungry.

"Hey, you okay?" Zack asked him. "You're not eating much. You still feeling sick?"

Cloud looked up. "Huh? Oh, no. I'm not sick anymore. It's just..." He could trust Zack, right? He wouldn't make fun of him for this... "I guess I'm just thinking about how...it's pathetic for a SOLDIER to get sick so easily. If I can't handle riding in a helicopter..."

"What?" Zack seemed flabbergasted. "No, don't go thinking things like that! You wanna be a SOLDIER? You will! Don't let stuff like that slow you down, and if anyone tries to stamp out your dreams, they'll answer to me!"

Cloud looked at him with wide eyes. He really thought that, even though they'd only known each other for a short while?

"Really? That's how you feel? But we just met..."

"Who cares? We're friends now, so I'm gonna look out for you," he promised, placing a hand on his back, which caused him to blush. Then he lowered his voice and added tenderly, "I'll always believe in you, Cloud."

Those last words brought him back to the present, though Zack had pulled away.

"I always will," he said.

And with that, Cloud felt himself floating away. When he stopped, he could tell he was lying on something, but he wasn't sure what. Then he felt the presence of the wolf again, the wolf that seemed to follow him whenever he was mourning. The wolf stood beside him for a moment before vanishing, and then he finally woke up in the church.

And after healing himself and the children from Geostigma, and after watching Zack and Aerith leave together to go back to the lifestream, he understood. The wolf had been trying to let him know that they were with him all this time, especially Zack. That though he distanced himself from everyone else, he was never alone.

It was rather fitting. He remembered how Zack had been nicknamed "the puppy" before. Seems like he had been following him around lately, but he had been the lost one, not Zack. He appreciated it all the same.

And though it made his heart heavy, he wasn't sad anymore. It would be a long time before he saw him again, but he was gonna keep living until then. As his living legacy.

And there we go! I know it was bit shorter and simpler than some of my previous works, but I hope it was still good!

According to the Final Fantasy wiki, many had speculated that the wolf in Advent Children was actually the spirit of Zack, so I tried to work that in here, especially to fit the title. Zack the puppy had grown into Zack the wolf.

In the flashback, I didn't really put any details into what food they had gotten 'cause I'm still not entirely sure what kind of food it would've been lol. Feel free to imagine what it was. Also, Cloud might have seemed a bit dramatic about thinking his motion sickness would prevent him from being a SOLDIER, but I was kinda projecting myself onto him in that moment. I'm autistic and I've had several self-deprecating moments like that where I worry that a specific thing about me is weighing me down, and since I headcanon Cloud as autistic, I just felt like he'd be the same, ya know?

I'm so glad to be writing again, y'all have no idea. And I'm excited to share the rest of the prompt fics I have in store! I'm not sure when the next one will be out, but there will be more ship fics to come! Will I write more Zakkura fics? Who knows? Maybe with the right prompt...?

Anyway, until next time!