Categories > Games > Final Fantasy 7 > Homecoming
Being around Cloud, over that next little while, was a bewildering mix of familiar and foreign. Sometimes, he would look at the other man and be able to see the young recruit he had been, and could know what to expect. Could walk up to him and sling an arm around his neck and grin, and not think twice about it.
But the rest of the time-- most of the time, if he were to be honest-- there was this new Cloud standing where the old one had once been. And he found himself strangely awkward around this new Cloud, not sure how to act or what to say and frustrated because it felt like he /should/. At times like those, he felt the years of separation sharply.
As the days passed, he began to learn what had happened since that ill-fated escape from Nibelheim, piecing things together from the bits of stories he was told. And in the light of those discoveries, he recognized the reasons for the changes he saw. Not that it made them any easier to get used to, knowing, but it did make some difference.
So they were left at something of a stalemate, Zack still not knowing sometimes who it was he was talking to, and Cloud-- well, Cloud perhaps suffering from the same problem.
Because Zack was discovering, as the parts of him that had been focused on the search for what seemed like forever began to unwind, that he had his own problems. Getting regular sleep left more time for dreams, and his dreams all to often seemed to turn into nightmares-- images washed in mako green, the pricks and prods and pains that he knew too well from his imprisonment-- some of the memories seeming far too fresh to have been from four years before.
Cloud had ventured a guess that the soldiers on that cliff had taken his body back to the lab. That something had been done to bring him back-- that after everything, he'd ended up right back where he started. Zack was finding the theory more and more likely as time went on, no matter how little he wanted to accept the possibility.
Still, that didn't explain how he'd ended up outside again, unless he'd somehow managed to escape a second time. The details still eluded him, except for vague glimpes and half-remembered feelings from his dreams-- and those always left him cold and shaking and wide awake in the darkness, with nothing to do but sit up and wait until morning.
Cloud usually found him on those occasions-- not entirely surprising, since he was sleeping on the man's couch, and he was fairly sure he wasn't always silent when awakening. But the blonde never said anything, simply sat near him, offering a silent support that went a long way towards banishing the bits of memory back where they belonged.
It was odd-- it had always been him looking after Cloud. Now it seemed like, half of the time, Cloud was looking after /him/.
Slowly, though, so slowly-- Zack, got his voice used to talking again, found his smile and used it to good effect whenever he could. He walked the streets of the city and became accustomed to the sound and presence of other human beings again. He flirted shamelessly with Tifa, only spurred on when she rolled her eyes and shook her head. He teased Cloud, and was delightfully surprised when Cloud tentatively started to tease back.
On one gloriously sunny afternoon, he went outside to find Cloud crouched down beside the gleaming bulk of a motorcycle. Not his own machine-- that was safely tucked in its garage, around the side of the house-- but another one, sleekly black and looking entirely too tempting. Zack whistled softly as he approached, and Cloud glanced up at him with a tiny, pleased grin.
"You like?"
"Stupid question." He walked around the machine once, taking in the details, then looked over at Cloud with a query written clearly on his face.
"I've been working on it for a while," Cloud explained. "Bought it on a whim a few months back. Seemed like a good time to finish it up."
Zack blinked. "Wait. You mean--" His eyes widened as Cloud's smile grew. "No, I can't--"
"Shut up," Cloud said mildly. Standing, he brushed his hands off on his pants and turned away. "Meet me out front in five minutes."
Zack stared after him, mouth hanging open, then looked back to the bike. A wide smile spread slowly across his face.
Five minutes later they were racing across the dusty earth, through the patches of barrenness still left over from the ShinRa days and across the places where carpets of grass had started to take hold again. They wove back and forth across each others' paths, skidding around in wild circles, jumping obstacles where they could, spinning and sliding and wordessly daring each other to wilder and stupider things.
Zack felt the wind in his face, sharp with the sun and the dust they were kicking up-- felt the thrum of the engine under him and the subtle plays of muscle necessary to keep it under control-- and wondered when he'd last felt so alive.
He never did see what it was that sent him spinning that last time, what it was that wrenched the front wheel and made him lose control. The moment passed too quickly to tell, and was lost in a spray of dirt and stones. Zack was tossed from his bike, sent tumbling through the air to land breathless and stunned on the ground with the sounds of the dying engine ringing in his ears.
He'd nearly got his breath back when Cloud reached him, running up while calling his name, face gone pale with panic. He fell to his knees at Zack's shoulder, reaching out a hand.
Zack managed to take in a full breath-- and laughed.
Lying there in the dust, he laughed like he hadn't in what felt like forever, laughed like all the tension in him was leaking out into the dirt, laughed like he never wanted to stop. He ended up with his eyes watering helplessly and his stomach aching, while Cloud stared at him like he'd just turned into a chocobo.
Cloud scowled and turned the outreached hand into a swat, cuffing Zack on the arm hard before thumping down to sit next to him. "You bastard-- I thought you were hurt."
Rolling his head until he could look up into those blue, blue eyes, Zack only grinned, still struggling to get his breath back. "Aw," he managed, "It's sweet of you to worry."
Cloud, he was pleased to note, still blushed just /wonderfully/.
But the rest of the time-- most of the time, if he were to be honest-- there was this new Cloud standing where the old one had once been. And he found himself strangely awkward around this new Cloud, not sure how to act or what to say and frustrated because it felt like he /should/. At times like those, he felt the years of separation sharply.
As the days passed, he began to learn what had happened since that ill-fated escape from Nibelheim, piecing things together from the bits of stories he was told. And in the light of those discoveries, he recognized the reasons for the changes he saw. Not that it made them any easier to get used to, knowing, but it did make some difference.
So they were left at something of a stalemate, Zack still not knowing sometimes who it was he was talking to, and Cloud-- well, Cloud perhaps suffering from the same problem.
Because Zack was discovering, as the parts of him that had been focused on the search for what seemed like forever began to unwind, that he had his own problems. Getting regular sleep left more time for dreams, and his dreams all to often seemed to turn into nightmares-- images washed in mako green, the pricks and prods and pains that he knew too well from his imprisonment-- some of the memories seeming far too fresh to have been from four years before.
Cloud had ventured a guess that the soldiers on that cliff had taken his body back to the lab. That something had been done to bring him back-- that after everything, he'd ended up right back where he started. Zack was finding the theory more and more likely as time went on, no matter how little he wanted to accept the possibility.
Still, that didn't explain how he'd ended up outside again, unless he'd somehow managed to escape a second time. The details still eluded him, except for vague glimpes and half-remembered feelings from his dreams-- and those always left him cold and shaking and wide awake in the darkness, with nothing to do but sit up and wait until morning.
Cloud usually found him on those occasions-- not entirely surprising, since he was sleeping on the man's couch, and he was fairly sure he wasn't always silent when awakening. But the blonde never said anything, simply sat near him, offering a silent support that went a long way towards banishing the bits of memory back where they belonged.
It was odd-- it had always been him looking after Cloud. Now it seemed like, half of the time, Cloud was looking after /him/.
Slowly, though, so slowly-- Zack, got his voice used to talking again, found his smile and used it to good effect whenever he could. He walked the streets of the city and became accustomed to the sound and presence of other human beings again. He flirted shamelessly with Tifa, only spurred on when she rolled her eyes and shook her head. He teased Cloud, and was delightfully surprised when Cloud tentatively started to tease back.
On one gloriously sunny afternoon, he went outside to find Cloud crouched down beside the gleaming bulk of a motorcycle. Not his own machine-- that was safely tucked in its garage, around the side of the house-- but another one, sleekly black and looking entirely too tempting. Zack whistled softly as he approached, and Cloud glanced up at him with a tiny, pleased grin.
"You like?"
"Stupid question." He walked around the machine once, taking in the details, then looked over at Cloud with a query written clearly on his face.
"I've been working on it for a while," Cloud explained. "Bought it on a whim a few months back. Seemed like a good time to finish it up."
Zack blinked. "Wait. You mean--" His eyes widened as Cloud's smile grew. "No, I can't--"
"Shut up," Cloud said mildly. Standing, he brushed his hands off on his pants and turned away. "Meet me out front in five minutes."
Zack stared after him, mouth hanging open, then looked back to the bike. A wide smile spread slowly across his face.
Five minutes later they were racing across the dusty earth, through the patches of barrenness still left over from the ShinRa days and across the places where carpets of grass had started to take hold again. They wove back and forth across each others' paths, skidding around in wild circles, jumping obstacles where they could, spinning and sliding and wordessly daring each other to wilder and stupider things.
Zack felt the wind in his face, sharp with the sun and the dust they were kicking up-- felt the thrum of the engine under him and the subtle plays of muscle necessary to keep it under control-- and wondered when he'd last felt so alive.
He never did see what it was that sent him spinning that last time, what it was that wrenched the front wheel and made him lose control. The moment passed too quickly to tell, and was lost in a spray of dirt and stones. Zack was tossed from his bike, sent tumbling through the air to land breathless and stunned on the ground with the sounds of the dying engine ringing in his ears.
He'd nearly got his breath back when Cloud reached him, running up while calling his name, face gone pale with panic. He fell to his knees at Zack's shoulder, reaching out a hand.
Zack managed to take in a full breath-- and laughed.
Lying there in the dust, he laughed like he hadn't in what felt like forever, laughed like all the tension in him was leaking out into the dirt, laughed like he never wanted to stop. He ended up with his eyes watering helplessly and his stomach aching, while Cloud stared at him like he'd just turned into a chocobo.
Cloud scowled and turned the outreached hand into a swat, cuffing Zack on the arm hard before thumping down to sit next to him. "You bastard-- I thought you were hurt."
Rolling his head until he could look up into those blue, blue eyes, Zack only grinned, still struggling to get his breath back. "Aw," he managed, "It's sweet of you to worry."
Cloud, he was pleased to note, still blushed just /wonderfully/.
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