001 || dream a dream of me.

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

[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?]

Comments

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

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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?

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

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

[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?

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

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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?

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

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

[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?

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

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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?

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

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

[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?

O,O *wibble*?

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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?

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

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

[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.

bwwwwwwaaaaaah \o/ biffle!

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

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.

YES LET ME HOLD YOU IN MY ARMS.

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

[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.]

cries on shoulder - gets snot on you

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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.

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

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

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?

;)

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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.

/keeps you in a little home forever

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

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?

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

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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.

am I invited? >:

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

[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.

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

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

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.

And the drinks!

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

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.

that... sounds dangerous

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[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.

i plead the fifth on anything that may happen.

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

Ahh, come on. I'm not a hero yet. Maybe not even in your time! But...

[He bites his lower lip, looking down at the crunching snow beneath their feet.]

Someday. Someday I'll make it. An' me an' you? We'll both be heroes. Understand?

sounds fair

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[his breath leaves him in an exhale. 'Heroes'. It makes the edge of his lips twist upward wryly.]

Nah. That's your place, Zack. Not mine. But - you earn that hero title. Better than anyone I've ever known. Trust me.

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

Nope! Team effort. Both of us're gonna make it in this world, Cloud. It won't... feel right, bein' at the top without a buddy to share it with.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[he's not going to argue with his friend but - Zack's the real hero. He did things because that was just the way he was. Because he really was a hero, right to the core and that was reason enough for him to take on the world. When Cloud did something... well, he did it because he was mind-fucked... and because someone had to. He filled a spot because there was no one else to, but he didn't belong there.

Trying to explain that to Zack though would be like trying to shout down a breeze. Besides... when Zack was around he could almost actually believe.]

How about I let you be at the top and I just stay on the side and enjoy the benefits of it without having to put in the work?

[hisdreamsmyfate.livejournal.com]

Jeez, Cloud. A little lazy there, aren't you?

[He gives his friend a light shake. Good ol' awkward Cloud. Always dreaming of being a hero, and yet too awkward to go through with it. It was something he'd have to help the guy through - past, future, whatever the timeline.]

Makin' me do all the work while you get the girls. What kinda deal is this?

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

[Cloud snorted and took the light shake, remembering... remembering when feeling that easy affection directed at him was more common. He gave another shake of his head and elbowed his friend in warning, even if he kept the jab light.]

Girls aren't my thing either, Zack. In fact, maybe I'd better save the world and you can take on the girls.