Never Tear Us Apart

by tir-synni

 

Warning!  Sheer mush ahead!

 

Interlude V: Zack

           

            The hot shower beat down on Zack's weary shoulders.  The SOLDIER raised his face to the steaming rush.  He closed his silver eyes and tilted his head back a little more.  His ebony mane, soaked and limp, fell heavily down his back.  The familiar sensation soothed his body but did nothing to calm his mind.

            What does Reno want with Cloud? Zack wondered, massaging the shampoo into his hair.    Cloud's talented.  Everyone's beginning to realize just how much.  Have the Turks noticed then?  Could that be why Reno left his name with Cloud?  Is he interested in recruiting him for the Turks?

            Zack snorted at his whirling thoughts, then sneezed as a big drop of shampoo ran into his nose.  Sneezing and gagging, Zack hurriedly rinsed his hair.

            Well, anyway, Seph is checking it out, Zack reassured himself.  He knows Tseng.  He'll ask him.  And if they are interested in Cloud, Seph will inform them that Cloud in interested in only SOLDIER.  There is no way in hell that Cloud will join the Turks.

            Shaking himself from his reverie and almost knocking himself out with his heavy hair, Zack hurried through the rest of his shower.  Tomorrow would be a long day, and he wanted to spend some time with Cloud before they had to go to their separate beds.

            Will he stay with us after he makes SOLDIER? Zack wondered.  He reached for a long town and began absentmindedly drying his thick mane.  With his potential, Cloud'll go far.  Will he take the opportunity to run, or will he stay?  I think he's truly happy here with us, though.  I know I can make him happy if given the chance.

            Wrapping his robe tightly around his muscular frame, Zack left the steaming bathroom.  Almost immediately, a cool breeze fluttered over him.  Goosebumps rose on his limbs.  Mako-silver eyes sharply swept over the room, searching for the source.  Through the darkened bedroom, a tremor of motion caught his eye.  The balcony curtains were swishing lightly in the wind.

            "Cloud," Zack said aloud.

            Zack relaxed, lowering the guard he had unconsciously raised.  Tightening his robe around him, he walked through the dark room to the balcony.

            Bathed in the electric lights of Midgar, Cloud shone like an angel in the night.  Zack froze, enraptured.  Vivid blue light shining off golden spikes formed a shimmering halo.  Bright streaks of color rebounded off Cloud's ivory robe, revealing a nymph's seductive form.  Zack would have loved to ask Cloud why he was standing outside with his hair still damp from his shower, but he couldn't catch his breath.

            Beautiful, Zack thought longingly.  Just beautiful.

            After shaking his head to recover his wits, Zack spoke, "I thought you might be in bed by now.  It's been a long day."

            Cloud didn't turn around, but Zack could see his slight smile reflected in the glass balcony doors.  "I got a little homesick," Cloud admitted quietly.  "Heh.  Silly, huh?  Training to be an elite SOLDIER, and I get homesick."  The blond spikes swayed as Cloud nodded towards the outside.  "The height...it reminds me of Nibelhelm's mountains.  When I got tired of everyone picking on me and was too ashamed to go home, I would climb up the mountains.  It would always make me feel better."

            Quietly, Zack sidled beside Cloud.  Still, the youth didn't face him.  Studying Cloud, Zack noticed his soft eyes, gone vague with memory.  Without a word, Zack unclenched one hand from his robe and quietly folded it over where Cloud's clenched the balcony railing.  Cloud didn't push him away.

            "No one else would dare go as high as I did," Cloud continued softly.  "I was all alone up there.  It was my sanctuary.  Because of that, heights have always afforded me some feeling of security."  Finally, Cloud turned his head enough to face Zack.  The youth graced him with a shy smile.  "I'm happy your apartment's so high."

            Zack grinned back.  Perfect opportunity to bring up his question.  "Does that mean you'll stay here after you make SOLDIER?"

            Cloud blinked at him.  "Unless you don't want me to."

            Zack's grin grew.  "You're always welcome here.  You never have to worry about that."

            Cloud returned the grin before turning back out the window.  Zack joined him, and in silence they stared out at Midgar.

            I brought up my first concern, Zack thought, glancing at Cloud out of the corner of his eye.  Time to bring up the next topic...and pray he doesn't wipe the floor with me.  Mentally, Zack cringed.  He had yet to see Cloud truly lose his temper.  He didn't want to start now.

            "Cloud," Zack spoke up hesitantly, "about Reno...you've got to watch out for him.  He's dangerous, Cloud.  He's a member of an elite section within ShinRa, and he's done a lot of really bad things--What?"

            Confusion and wonder darkened Cloud's brilliant blue eyes as he looked at Zack.  "Are you worried about me?" the youth asked, surprised.

            Zack blinked.  Now he was confused.  "Of course I am.  Both Seph and I are.  We don't want anything to happen to you."

            Shyly, Cloud cocked his head to one side and stared at Zack.  "You...you really mean that?  You're really that concerned about me?"

            Another startled blink before Zack's ready reply.  "I don't know what I would do without you anymore, Cloud," he admitted truthfully.  "You are very important to me."

            Cloud's vivid blue eyes diverted from Zack's intense gaze.  Zack frowned at the motion and reassuringly squeezed the hand beneath his own.  Have I rushed it? Zack thought, unnerved.  Did I scare him away?

            Cloud seemed to sense Zack's concern, because he turned back to Zack.  "No one...no one's ever said anything like that before," Cloud confessed quietly.  "Only my mother has ever cared about me."

            For a long moment, silence fell between the two again.  Without a word, Zack twined his fingers around Cloud's leaner ones.  A small smile formed on Cloud's soft lips.

            "Well, I can honestly say you mean everything to me," Zack responded gently.  "I don't know when that happened, but it did, so for my own piece of mind, I'll have to keep you safe."  Zack smiled tenderly as Cloud.  "I'll protect you with my life."

            Cloud returned his smile and laid his free hand over their intertwining fingers.  "But then what would I do without you," he replied quietly.

            With a thick swallow, Zack laid his other hand on Cloud's, completing the circle.  "Don't worry.  I'll never leave you alone."

            Cloud stared at their tangled fingers.  "Even if ShinRa interferes?" he questioned.

            Zack's smile softened, his eyes drifting from Cloud's glistening eyes to his parted lips.  "Even them.  They'll never tear us apart."

            "Never...." Cloud breathed, leaning forward.

            "I love you," Zack whispered, the merest wisp of sound.

            "I love you, too," Cloud returned softly, before Zack claimed his lips in a kiss...

 

            ...as some time later, for the first time in five years, their counterparts kiss.

 

 

"Don't lay our love to rest

'Cause we could stand up to the test.

We got everything and more than we had planned,

More than the rivers that run the land.

We've got it all in our hands."

            "All For Love"

            -Bryan Adams, Sting, and Rod Stewert

 

 

End Part I