onepassingnight | 001 || dream a dream of me.

Entry tags:

001 || dream a dream of me.

[Some dreams have some fluidity. They remain constant, with an overlaying theme - much like a storybook of the consciousness. Others can be sporadic, having no meaning, and easily shifting from one thing to the next. They can be serious, or strange. They can be hopeful, or heartbreaking.

Or... they could be Zack's dreams.

As it is, a deep, dark violet night sky floods the area. You might see quite a bit of snow, as if walking up a steep mountain, with the ice wind blowing through your hair. And right at the cliff's edge stands a man wielding a long, sturdy sword, resting safely upon his back. The weight doesn't seem to bother him in the least - if anything, he's accustomed to it by now, both hands on his hips as glowing, bright blue eyes stare off to the distance.

What could be he thinking about?]

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[somehow Zack being unsure helps. It doesn't make sense but knowing he's not the only one that thinks this is - not normal helps.

He's spent far too long being the only one sharing his own reality. He doesn't trust it anymore when he's the only one that sees something differently.

So his brows come down and he takes those last few steps, wind tugging at the straps on his clothing.]

I said 'walk me back where?'.

Not that - I heard that.

[He's stern, and a little concerned right now, though the latter bleeds more in his tone than the former.]

You said you were twenty-three years old, Cloud.

[that's right. Zack's been gone... years. Sometimes it feels like just days and he's not sure that the passage of time is making it easier. Not when he has so little to show for being a sad excuse for a legacy.]

Hm. I am twenty three. Just this month.

[Cloud, you're really good at causing these shocked silences, you know that, right?

You actually got Zack to shut up.

Damn.]

[that's - wow. Even as confused and awkward and what the hell is going on as the entire situation is - Cloud's fully aware of how amazing it is when Zack actually goes silent. It takes a lot of his own lost feeling out of him and his hand shifts. Like he's going to shake Zack's shoulder or pat him there or maybe do something else denoting friendship and support.

Instead it ends up being a poke to the shoulder and he's a little surprised when his finger doesn't go through. It's a strong enough poke though to really be real. It still seems utterly incongruous when Cloud's the one asking:]

Zack? You okay?

[He jumps a little at the contact, quickly shaking his head with a nervous laugh. It betrays everything he's feeling and he barely even notices.

Cloud is suddenly an adult. He was... dreaming. He had to be.]

Y-yeah, okay, you're... comin' back to camp.

[Because... Cloud's delirious. That's it. He wasn't feeling well and Zack had to take care of him until he was.

He walks forward, one hand on his friend's shoulder and trying to guide them both back down the mountain.]

[Cloud stays put and it's a testament to the mako he's lived with so long that Zack's hand on his shoulder doesn't even shift him on his feet when his friend tries to herd him back down the path. Something's going on here that's stranger than a dead best friend coming back into his life and Cloud's staying put until he figures it out. Why would his age surprise Zack so much? Unless - he thought he'd only just died. Or -

the realization hits him like a dolphin blow to the stomach and all the color slips out of his face. Dumb founded he stares at his friend, horrified by the thought that - ]

Zack - how old do you think I am?

[He stops, turns again, and places both hands on his friend's shoulders gently. Glowing blue eyes lock onto the other man's, and when he speaks... his voice is calm, but much too serious for someone like him.]

Cloud, you're fifteen. You're part of ShinRa's militia, in the infantry, but you're trainin' to be a SOLDIER.

You don't remember any of this?

[he remembers it - finally. But he also remembers that it was years ago and a different lifetime. Or two or three. Steady he looks back at his friend's eyes.

And he has to fight the urge to smile. Zack's so serious about this. And he really is worried. And it's not funny. It's just - something in him, for no logical reason, finally relaxes. ]

Zack -

[before it occurs to him that it might be kinder to just play along with this, he's pointing. To his own mako infused blue eyes.]

Do I look fifteen?

[Normally, he could tell if someone like Cloud was joking around. The tone of voice was obvious, his demeanor was relaxed... but no, something was different this time around. Those clothes were unfamiliar, his voice held a deeper edge to it, and the fact that he was almost as tall as Zack now...

This wasn't a joke.]

Cloud... I...

What happened to you?

[it's easier this way. They're dealing with a weird situation not...

not Zack being dead.

Cloud can handle dealing with weird situations. And if Zack remembers him as a fifteen year old... then the answer was:

A shrug.]

I grew up, Zack.

[but kind of more importantly than that - his head ducks, just a little and he peers into Zack's eyes.]

And you don't remember that. What's the last thing you do remember?

[He can't believe this. Cloud's standing right in front of him and he can't believe what he's seeing. How... was this possible? How? If he went back to camp, would his Cloud still be there, or would he just... vanish? And what did this new Cloud know?

So many questions. So many questions and none of them were getting answers.]

You... were right at camp. I talked to you a few hours, about SOLDIER. About your hometown and what we were going to do when we got back to HQ.

Are you...

Really from the future?

[It seemed like a lifetime ago. Or two or three lifetimes. Sitting while Zack listened to his childish dreams of becoming a SOLDIER. He'd been convinced it was the only thing that would make his strong enough, important enough, to notice.

Maybe he still felt that way sometimes. Looking for that impossible to find dream that would finally make him enough.

At the moment though, Zack's question made him feel a little awkward. One of them was obviously out of their set time and since in his time, Zack was...

yeah. Cloud was the one that was unstuck in time. He just couldn't remember how. Had he gotten hit with an effect or a materia that he'd never heard of before? This time he didn't realize it in time to stop himself as he rubbed the back of his neck. With a shrug, he said:]

I - guess so? I'm sure not fifteen anymore at least. Zack - where are we?

[It was a bizarre situation all around, and even though Zack's dealt with pretty much everything at this point, a *time-gap* between the two of them was about one of the most unexpected and strange things he'd ever encounter. So forgive him, Cloud, if he can't quite find the words to say, at first.]

...Modeoheim - where we met before, remember? [Or he hopes Cloud still remembers. It's been so many years...

He gestures a finger out, to a pathway not too far out. One that led to Genesis' old base.]

Right over there.

Yeah...

[he remembers. He'd had no idea at the time just how much that single meeting would change his life. Meeting Zack though - it was still one of the best things that has ever happened to him. Even before the mako and the madness, Zack had opened his eyes to what a real SOLDIER was like. He'd cared about a nobody like Cloud, called him a friend, made him feel important and remembered and - and like, somehow, he mattered.

And he was still humbled and honored that a man like that called him 'friend'.]

I remember.

[hoping, trying to make things easier, trying to remember to joke the way Zack so often did to ease the tension, he dryly added:]

And Gongaga really is a backwater place.

[That? Does help quite a bit. And a genuine, good-ol' Zack-grin breaks out, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulders and pulling him close.]

Yeah right! Still better than Nibelheim, kid. Way better.

[Of course, he hasn't actually been to Nibelheim yet but it had to be lamer than Gongaga. It had to!

He won't say that, obviously. Home is home is home, and everyone's home was special in some way.]

[the familiar side hug has Cloud's lips actually curling at the edges. Gaia... it had been forever since he'd gotten one of those and the memory of them doesn't do the warm feeling the move gives him justice. He still grunts and rolls his eyes though - some things are just expected. He doesn't struggle to get out of the hold though, which is telling in and of itself.

A fake town or an utterly ruined one? It would be hard to say which one was better. No. That wasn't true. At least Gongaga had still been real. Though Cloud thought it would have broken Zack's heart to see what had become of it - and his parents. Secrets from the future he'd never share.]

At least in Nibelheim you don't get attacked by frogs.

Hey, you. [Said as he pokes his friend's nose.] I wouldn't count my Chocobos before they hatch. Who's to say you don't have worse over there? And what aren't you tellin' me, buddy-boy?

[Because if anybody was good at getting into embarrassing situations, it was Cloud. Just another thing they shared in canon?]

C'mooooon, spill the beans! What'd you do?

[he bats at Zack's offending finger but even then there's still no move to shake the other man off his shoulders. It's - Zack. And it doesn't matter how much he seems to be back in the past, he can't help but think that this opportunity is ever going to come again. He wants to apologize, he wants to come up with excuses for why he's blown the life Zack gave him so badly... and yet - this Zack wouldn't understand any of that and Cloud - Cloud doesn't want to waste even a second on anything that would upset his friend. Not when he can just soak in the fact that Zack's happy and alive and that makes the entire world right.]

Wolves, Zack. Nibelheim has wolves. Not frogs. Our monsters bite you, not slap you. I think I like getting savaged over getting turned into something small and green that has to resort to slapping back as my only means of attack.

[he had to pause. Had to smirk. Had to dryly add:]

Though I guess that explains a lot about you.

What, that I'm small, green, an' have to sissyfight people? Cloud, Cloud, Cloud. I thought you'd have a little more faith in me than that! [He ruffles the other's hair, grinning widely.] You know I'd protect you if it came to it, right?

[he's just making a disgruntled noise and finally trying to slip out of the shoulder hold at the hair ruffle when Zack's words catch him. It's like a steel toed boot to his gut and he goes still.

Yeah. Yeah, Zack would protect him. WILL protect him. To the death. And if he hadn't been there to protect - then Zack wouldn't have died... So his voice comes out subdued as he answers:]

Yeah. I know that, Zack.

[The movement and the subdued tone sober the SOLDIER a little, and his cheerful expression suddenly droops. He knew Cloud was a quiet person, but this sudden change in demeanor was... concerning.]

Cloud...? Hey, c'mon, I didn't mean it. If you don't like noogies anymore, just lemme know.

Zack, nobody like noogies.

[he finishes pulling away though. He doesn't deserve Zack's easy acceptance. Not if his friend knew how badly Cloud would fail him in the end when he needed him most. Straightening up, his eyes stay on the snow that's coating the toes of their boots. So much he wants to say. So much he can't. Because Zack wouldn't listen. He can't tell Zack that when the time comes, he needs to leave a comatose Cloud behind and strike out on his own. Can't tell him to make a break for it and not fight the army when it comes. Can't tell him to shirk his duty and not go when he's sent to Nibelheim. Zack wouldn't be Zack if he took that advice. All he can do is look up at his friend and say:]

Thank you. For everything. I never deserved it but you never cared. Just - thanks, Zack. For all of it.

I, ah... you're welcome? [See that? That's confusion right there.] All I did was talk to you - it's not that big a deal, right?

[But then he stops, remembering. his Cloud is from the future. Which means something should have happened in the future to make him this way. It obviously wasn't something the other was too thrilled about talking through, so he just smiles and tries to pull the other against his side again.]

No matter what happens, always got your back. Remember that, Cloud.

[he lets himself get pulled back because - well, he's missed this. And it's probably his last chance. So he'll take what he can get. Zack's words just drive the guilt deeper though. He knows it.

And he knows he wasn't worth it in the end.]

I know, Zack. That's why you're a hero.

...and talking to me - it was a big deal. To me.

BWAHH@!! surprise Seph icon!

ZACK IS GIVING A SUSPICIOUS LOOK AT HIM I SWEAR ;;

don't trust him Zack! he's just waiting to snap and go octaslash on you!

b-but he's my biffle. ;;

no! he's a BAD biffle! he sets things on fire. At least when Cloud snaps he just - drools on you

Or steals my life. B[[[[

soooo - he took the whole 'living legacy' thing a bit too literally... maybe. Just a little.

>8[[[[[ YOU STOLE MY WOMAN.

... ... ... uh... she's really cute?

AND THEN SHE DIED WHILE YOU JUST WENT HURRDURRR WHAT. >8''''(

... :'{ excuse us... Cloud's going to go emo in a corner now...

... >: okay maybe that was harsh. *SNUGS*

O,O *wibble*?

C'MERE YOU I'M SORRY. ;A;

bwwwwwwaaaaaah \o/ biffle!

YES LET ME HOLD YOU IN MY ARMS.

cries on shoulder - gets snot on you

A small price to pay, hun. ; )3( ; a

;)

/keeps you in a little home forever

/throws party in little home and invites all his friends!

am I invited? >:

of course! who else could we count on to bring the party hats?!

And the drinks!

that... sounds dangerous

... >: okay maybe that was harsh. SNUGS

O,O wibble?