Stretching in the bed Zack frowned as he noticed a blinding light filtering through his closed eyes. Slowly blinking them open he squinted at the harsh rays of the sun that were spilling in from the open curtains. He let out a whine of disapproval before tightly shutting his eyes again and flipping over in the bed, letting the sun rays hit his back instead. He had just felt himself begin to drift back off to sleep before he felt a soft nudge on his face. He was almost tempted to just ignore it but then it happened again followed with a soft cry.

Blinking his eyes open once more it took him a moment to realize that he was staring into the small face of an animal. But not just any animal, a cat. More specifically Angeal's cat.

"Aki?" Zack mumbled to himself as realization started to hit him. The tuxedo cat meowed softly again before taking up residence beside the SOLDIER, purring in content.

Reaching out to pet the black and white fluffy cat, Zack glanced around the area and took in his surroundings. He was at Angeal's? He remembered bits and pieces of the night before, and he had remembered being back at the bar with everybody previously, but…

Sitting up in bed he ran a hand through his disheveled dark hair. 'That's right. After the bar we left and then…came back here?'His hazy memories started to come back to him little by little and he let out a sigh before reaching over to the nightstand and picking up his cell phone to check the time. It was just a little after ten in the morning. Usually this would cause him to worry about noticing how late in the day it was, but after getting back from the last mission from Wutai he had a few days off.

Sliding out of the bed he picked up the cat and made his way out of the guest room, venturing down the hall and peeking into his mentor's bedroom. Empty.

"Angeal?" Zack called into the apartment as he stepped into the living room. But he was met with silence and so he made his way further into the place, setting Aki down before entering the kitchen and noticing a note on the counter. He made his way over to it and picked it up, skimming it quickly.

'Breakfast is in the fridge.'

Pulling open the fridge door he saw a dish that was set aside for him, complete with bacon, eggs and fruit. And some green health smoothie that Angeal seemed to be addicted to drinking lately.

A wide grin spread across Zack's face when he saw the meal for him. It was no secret that Zack wasn't the best cook, and honestly didn't even really like to cook. And more often than not he ended up eating out or just getting delivery, and this annoyed Angeal to his core. He was always telling the younger one how it was so important for a SOLDIER to eat properly balanced meals, and home cooked things. So needless to say, when he was around, he would cook for the other. Zack always said that he didn't have to, but who was he kidding? He loved Angeal's cooking! And besides, Angeal was hearing none of it.

Where was Angeal anyways? He must've had to of gone into the office or something. Zack felt slightly guilty about that. They had just gotten back from a lengthy assignment, so shouldn't Angeal have a few days off also? But, of course, that was the difference between a top General and a SOLDIER.

While Zack heated up his food, he went back into the guest room to retrieve his phone. He quickly composed a text to his mentor before heading back into the kitchen to retrieve his meal.

'Good morning, Angeal! Thanks for breakfast! Where are you?'

Sending the short message, he took a seat at the table before he began to eat. It wasn't much longer before his phone was chiming back with a reply.

'Finally awake I see. At the office, some things to wrap up after the mission.'

'Oh, of course', Zack thought to himself. He probably had meetings and debriefings to do.

He really hoped he hadn't been too much of a pain the night before, especially now that he knew Angeal had an early day to start. He paused in his message back as memories from the night before seemed to come flooding back all at once. The night…had been a bit of a mess, hadn't it? Or well, hopefully it didn't come across that way to everyone else. But for Zack? It had been. At least the latter part of it.

Aerith and he had officially ended things. Actually, that wasn't true, she had ended things. Zack didn't know what exactly he was feeling at the moment. A part of him was angry. He had just gotten back to Midgar. And instead of being happy and celebrating that moment with his comrades, for a job well done, he was blindsided by a call from his girlfriend to end things. But was it fair to say that he was blindsided? Surely, he knew that they were having problems in their relationship long before that. But still…breaking up over a phone call seemed unfair!

Then there was a part of him that was disappointed, hurt and just…sad. After all they had history and what he thought was a genuine connection. So, for it to just be over, especially for the reasons she said…he just wasn't too sure how to process it yet.

His phone chiming and vibrating in his hand seemed to snap him out of the small zone out he was just in. Glancing to the screen he saw that Angeal had text him again.

'How are you feeling?'

Zack stared blankly at the text. What did that mean? Was Angeal asking him how he felt, as in did he feel hung over? Or was he talking about-? For a moment Zack couldn't quite remember if he had told Angeal about the breakup. But then he vaguely remembered complaining to Angeal about something at the end of the night. Not wanting to think about it too much he quickly sent back a text.

'I'm fine! Thanks for taking care of me last night, I hope I wasn't too much of a pain though lol!'

A moment later he received a reply.

'You're welcome. You weren't a pain at all, you just went to sleep.'

Zack felt himself let out a sigh of relief at that. At least that was one good thing. With that out of the way he figured he should stop bothering Angeal while he was at work. So, he sent him another message letting him know that he would be heading home in a bit, but that he would be sure to lock up before going and that he would talk with him later.

He assumed that that was the end of the conversation and finished eating his breakfast before taking his empty dishes and rinsing them off in the sink. But his phone chimed once again, and he went back to the table to check the message.

'How will you get home? It'll be a shorter day for me here, I can give you a ride once I get back.'

No way! Zack thought while typing back his message. He had already inconvenienced the man enough! He deserved to just come back and rest.

'No don't worry! I'll take the train. See you later!'

Setting down the phone he gave a stretch. He did feel much better after he had eaten something, and whatever it was that Angeal put in those green smoothies seemed to do the trick. But he figured he would at least grab a quick shower before heading out.

The following week seemed to pass by in a blur for the SOLDIER. The first few days when he was off, he pretty much just hid out in his apartment to wallow. That was until Kunsel had enough of that and came to find him and dragged him out to the gym with him. And it was probably the best thing he could've done. Going to the gym was something Zack did pretty much daily, so to get back into his normal routine did wonders for him. And if not anything else it was good to have something physical to do to keep his mind from racing and wandering. Then it was back to business as usual, and so he was forced to push any troublesome thoughts to the back of his mind. But he preferred it that way really, he needed to keep himself busy and occupied.

"Good morning, Zack!" One of the receptionists beamed at him as he made his way through the Shinra building.

"Good morning!" He replied politely. He felt bad because he didn't remember her name, but she was always friendly to him. Making his way to the floor he needed to reach he continued down the long hallway before stopping at a certain door, not bothering to knock, he pushed it open.

"Good morning!"

Sitting across the large room behind his desk, Angeal's blue eyes peered over the top of his computer screen in surprise. Not because the other had just burst into his office, but because he was surprised to see him at this time.

"What are you doing here right now?" Angeal asked while rolling the desk chair to the side slightly to look at the other.

Closing the door Zack made his way towards the desk with a wide smile.

"Why can't I be here now?" He asked while setting down two drinks on the desk.

Angeal frowned, shifting his gaze from the drinks back to his pupil. "I didn't say you couldn't be here, I just thought you were supposed to be at a post now."

Zack shook his head. "No, some last-minute changes."

Angeal gave a sound of acknowledgement before Zack continued.

"Did you have coffee yet?" He asked while picking up one of the drinks and holding it out to Angeal. "I got it just how you like."

Angeal accepted the drink with a gentle thank you before Zack took his own drink and crossed the room to flop down on the comfy couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table in the process. Angeal simply shook his head before taking a sip of his coffee. It was a bad habit of Zack's with putting his feet up there, but Angeal hadn't been able to break him out of the habit after all this time and so at this point, he just let it go. Or at least he did while at the office, if he was at his apartment, he wouldn't let it slide.

"So, how does the day look?" Zack asked while taking a drink of his coffee.

"Busy," Angeal replied calmly while Zack let out a laugh and gave a brief nod. He pulled out his phone and started to scroll through it while Angeal turned his focus back to the computer screen. He meant to focus back on work, but after a moment he found his gaze shifting to the SOLDIER on the couch before quickly snapping back to the computer monitor. It wasn't like it was unusual for Zack to just hang out in Angeal's office if his schedule was free for a part of the day, or during a break. But this past week things had been so busy once they got back that they hadn't really gotten to see each other at all since the night that they went out to the bar.

Angeal's schedule had been packed with meetings nonstop, and while he had gotten to see Zack shortly in between that time it was mostly just in passing.

He wondered how Zack was doing all things considered. That night a week ago he had seemed so upset. However now as Angeal saw him lounging on the couch he seemed to be back to his regular self. Which was good. But still, Angeal couldn't help but want to know. To be sure that the other was alright. He wanted to ask, but then again, if Zack wasn't bringing it up then maybe he shouldn't either. And besides, Zack may not even really remember what happened, or what he shared with him at all.

There was an inner conflict happening in Angeal's mind. It was always easy to talk to Zack…about anything. But because the topic was a personal matter, he just didn't want to overstep a boundary. Shaking his head a bit he dismissed those thoughts. He wouldn't overstep, he would simply ask. If Zack didn't want to speak about it, or was uncomfortable, then that would be that. He wouldn't push it. Simple.

"So," Angeal started calmly while taking another sip of his drink. "How have you been this past week?"

Shrugging Zack kept his gaze on his phone. "Fine, I guess."

Angeal raised an eyebrow slightly while keeping his eyes on the younger one. He didn't like that response and knew that Zack was only partly paying attention to him as he seemed to be distracted by whatever he was doing on his phone. So, deciding to just be direct Angeal let out a quiet sigh before continuing.

"So, you've been handling the breakup alright?"

Pausing, Zack's eyes widened, and he looked up from his phone towards his mentor who kept a firm gaze on him. He was taken by surprise at that question, but…he also kind of remembered mentioning it to Angeal. He guessed he just didn't know if he had maybe imagined it or not.

Letting out a brief laugh Zack scratched at the back of his head in the nervous way he usually tended to do, while glancing down at the coffee table. "Oh, so I did tell you about that after all? I didn't exactly remember…everything I said that night."

Angeal nodded as he let the words sink in. He wondered just exactly how much Zack remembered from that night. He had been pretty drunk, so maybe he didn't remember too much of anything. And honestly, maybe that was for the better. For a few reasons.

"But uh," Zack continued while trailing off in thought for a moment before nodding. "I mean I guess I haven't been one hundred percent the best but…I will be!" He gave one of his famous smiles after finishing that sentence, and it made it impossible for Angeal to doubt him at all. No matter what was ever going on, Zack was always able to manage a smile. It was one of the things that Angeal admired about him, his unwavering positive attitude and outlook on things. And like always, Zack's smile was contagious, and so Angeal couldn't help but to return it.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," Angeal explained. "And you know I'm here if you need to talk about anything."

"I know. Thanks Angeal," Zack replied somewhat shyly.

Angeal nodded once more, and with that he closed off the topic. He wouldn't bring it up again. If Zack wanted to talk to him about it himself, then of course he would. But he wouldn't bring it up himself at all. He just wanted to make sure that Zack was alright, and while he knew that it was something that would probably take some time, he at least knew that the other was on the right track. And so long as he knew that he wouldn't mention his ex or that situation to him again.

Zack wouldn't admit it out loud, but it meant a lot to him that Angeal had even asked him about how he was doing. It wasn't that he didn't expect him to, it was just the opposite. If anybody was going to check on him of course it would be Angeal. It was always Angeal.

The sound of the door opening broke them each out of their own thoughts as the other General strolled into the room.

"Good morning!" Zack beamed, shaking off all thoughts of the previous conversation that he had just had with Angeal.

"Good morning lovely," Genesis replied with a smile, "your mentor is letting you play hooky today I see."

Angeal rolled his eyes before picking up his coffee. "I'm not letting him do anything, his schedule just happens to be free right now."

"Oh?" Genesis asked while looking back at the SOLDIER.

"As if Angeal would even let that happen," Zack replied with a laugh. It was true however, if there was one thing that Angeal wouldn't let slide it was letting Zack slack off in any capacity when it came to work. If anything, he expected more from him than any other SOLDIER, and that was simply because he held him to higher standards.

"True," Genesis began while looking up in mock thought before pulling up a seat on the opposite side of Angeal's desk. "Looks like you're coming to the meeting with me today, Sephiroth bailed."

"What meeting?" Angeal asked with a frown.

"Didn't you see the email?" Genesis asked pointedly.

Angeal supposed he had gotten slightly distracted for a moment once Zack entered the office, so it was possible that he had missed any new notifications to his email.

"And where is Sephiroth?"

"Got pulled in to assist with the third-class training," Genesis explained while crossing his arms across his chest.

Great. Sephiroth had a valid excuse for getting out of the meeting, so it looks like Angeal had no choice but to go.

"Ah!" Zack started while hopping off the couch once he heard the General mention training, "I completely forgot I'm supposed to meet Kunsel for training today. I'll see you two later!"

The Generals said goodbye to the SOLDIER as he quickly exited out of the office. Glancing from the door that had just closed, Genesis looked back to his friend while tilting his head slightly. "How's he been?"

"Good," Angeal simply replied. He knew the other was asking about how Zack had been doing since the breakup. He had told Genesis about it the day after they had gone to the bar. Angeal was never the type to "gossip," but he didn't look at it that way at all. It was just that Angeal told Genesis everything. Well, mostly everything. Genesis was his best friend, they considered each other family really. After all they had grown up since they were kids together back in their hometown of Banora. If there was anyone on the planet that he felt he could tell mostly anything to, it was Genesis.

"I see," Genesis spoke softly. Angeal kept his response short and sweet. And it made Genesis wonder just what was running through his friend's mind. Did Angeal simply not want to talk about Zack and his ex-girlfriend? Maybe the thought of speaking about Zack's past relationship in any capacity was difficult for Angeal, which Genesis could understand. When you had feelings for a person of course thinking about them being with someone else was hard. Then again, was Angeal maybe conflicted now with knowing that Zack was single? Genesis narrowed his eyes in thought, surely that wasn't it. Genesis didn't think that Angeal would admit his feelings for the younger one no matter what. But that still didn't mean that Angeal's mind wasn't conflicted.

Genesis wished that he could just ask him. But when it came to relationships Angeal had always been a very private person, and he would hate it if Genesis tried to get involved in any way. Not that he would…but he thought that it could be beneficial if he could at least lend him some advice. And if not anything else to just be a person that Angeal could talk to about it. He had to imagine that holding it all into himself was difficult. But then again, Angeal was just that type of person. To suffer in silence wasn't too far off the mark with him.

A/N: Setting things up here, the breakup between Zack & Aerith is kind of pivotal because it is really the jump off point for everything. I am also trying to figure out what are good chapter lengths, on my previous fics my chapters were usually pretty long, but since it's been a long while since I've written I thought maybe I'd try shorter chapters this time with more frequent uploads. But I'm still not too sure yet if I like that pacing, so the chapters might be longer as it goes as that's what I'm kind of used to. We'll see!