AN: I’m really sorry about the roughly half a year lack of updates. Writing just hasn’t been a priority lately. Also, I’m going to give up on making promises about chapter updates. I never keep to them anyway. Basically, I am not satisfied with the quality of the writing, and some bits of the plot. So until I’ve revised earlier chapters, there may not be many updates. (People are very welcome to provide constructive criticism/beta services btw, it would speed up the process. :D)

…That said, I will now be a hypocrite and say that this chapter was long overdue.

…

Waking up was something of a chore for Cloud. He despised mornings with a passion, and the idea of opening his eyes to light and day made his head hurt. So, it was understandable that when Zack burst into the room slamming open the door, full of cheer and energy, Cloud threw something at him. Zack avoided the shoe easily, and pulled the covers off the blonde, watching with amusement as Cloud grimaced and opened his eyes, looking haggard.

“It’s Sunday.” He croaked.

“And so it is,” Zack chirped. “Have a great day off.”

Mark sat up, rubbing his eyes. He watched Zack leave the room with a spring in his step, he looked at the glare that was positively radiating off Cloud’s face, and he wondered if he should mention that this was precisely why Zack had wanted to move them closer.

“I…” Mark trailed off as the glare was turned onto him. “I think that this is a form of training.”

Cloud stood up stiffly, grabbing a shirt and some trousers. They looked crinkled and slightly nasty, but that was fine because he thought they mirrored his mood perfectly. Grabbing a towel, he stalked into the bathroom, and Mark winced as he heard the door slam shut.

…

Stalking Cloud was not as hard as it should have been. Zack frowned and added it to the list of things he had to teach, and he quickly followed the blonde head that was bobbing in and out of the crowd of shoppers. The market was always the busiest in the mornings, but even so, Cloud stood out too much.

He followed him for the length of the street, watching Cloud pause at a flower stall, and then he moved on quickly, almost as if he was embarrassed. Damn. That most certainly meant that Cloud had a girl somewhere – or at the very least, had a girl that he liked. Oh well, it would just give Zack something to tease him about in their next training session. By now, Cloud had walked along the length of the entire market, and just when Zack had decided that Cloud-stalking had become rather pointless, Cloud turned left into a bar.

Dimly, Zack remembered the place. ‘Seventh Heaven’ was a name that was familiar to him, and his eyes widened as he became aware that this was the place where Sephiroth had nearly trashed after a drink too many. Stifling a snicker, he realised sombrely that there was no chance he’d ever be allowed back in again. Peering in through a window, he saw Cloud sit at the bar, conversing with a pretty bar maid and a well built man that had half an arm and a gun barrel attached to the end of it.

Well. At least now he knew why Cloud was so good at firearms.

…

“How’s the SOLDIER training going?” Tifa asked, wiping the table surface. She looked at Cloud’s wrinkled appearance; his rather irritated expression, and turned to dust a shelf of wine bottles to hide her smile.

“Fine.” Cloud growled.

“Uh huh.” She replied.

Barret also snorted, leaning against the wall with his arms folded brusquely.

“Just fine.” Cloud repeated, knowing that if he started to rant, he wouldn’t be able to stop. There was Zack, there was his peers, there was his lack of strength – his whole situation that made his head hurt. Though quite frankly, most of it was Zack. Sometimes, he just needed a rest, a break from the training and away from Zack.

Tifa paused in her cleaning, taking a good look at her friend. She exchanged glances with Barret, and he frowned as he nodded towards the dark bags under Cloud’s eyes, the arms that were still painfully thin. Since Cloud had transferred into the SOLDIER program, he looked like he had lost weight.

“You know Cloud, if you’re still in Shinra because of your dad-“

“No.” He interrupted, rather firmly. “I mean, it’s part of it, but…it’s not the main reason anymore.”

Tifa sighed, and she looked around the bar for something to change the conversation. By chance, her eyes glanced past the window, and she saw a man’s head peering into the room. He seemed to be staring in their general direction, and she bristled, wondering why he looked so familiar.

“Hey Cloud, do you know who that is?” She jerked a thumb in the window’s direction, and Cloud looked up, knowing instinctively.

“Sorry about this,” he ground out. “I’ll go deal with it.”

…

Oh shit.

As soon as Zack saw the barmaid point to him, he backed away from the window, knowing that it wouldn’t be pretty. He was almost away on the street again when the door opened and Cloud walked out, furious and shaking.

“Stop stalking me.”

Zack grinned nervously, noticing for the first time that Cloud’s eyes were rather pretty when cold and ice-like.

“My, what a coincidence to see you here!”

Cloud just looked at him, giving him a withering glare. It took Zack a few seconds to realise he was in severe trouble.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He said, eyes flashing. “Isn’t it enough that you annoy me the whole week? But no, you have to stalk me as well.”

With every step he took, Zack could see how angry Cloud was, but he was inching closer and closer, and he physically restrained himself in an attempt to avoid touching the pale face. He was aware of the barmaid and the other man coming out of the door, but he was focused on Cloud’s eyes, trapped, wondering what looked so wrong about them.

Suddenly, he knew.

“Cloud, why do your eyes look like they have Mako in them?”

But he received no reply as Cloud’s shaking increased, almost as if he were having a seizure, and his eyes closed as he collapsed into Zack’s arms.

tbc