Pairing: Zack x Cloud

Setting: After Advent Children

Rating: M Status: Incomplete

ATTENTION: THIS IS A MULTI-CHAPTER STORY!

WARNING: THIS STORY IS RATED MATURE FOR A REASON AND MAY NOT BE FOR EVERYONE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

All related Final Fantasy names and characters are copyrighted © by the almighty Square Enix. This story and the OCs are all me, however. Enjoy.*****~~~~*****~~~~*****~~~~*****~~~~*****~~~~*****~~~~*****

Chapter VIII

Zack walked down loveless avenue listening to his dog tags bounce against his chest, thinking of Cloud like always. What Zack was oblivious to was that everyone who looked at him and seen his eyes ran in a different direction, some called him a freak, and others complimented him on his "contacts."

Zack walked up to the fountain and looked down into the water only to see that his eyes had turned solid black. He backed away quickly tripping over his own feet ad fell on his ass.

"What happened to my eyes?!" Zack jumped up and ran to the church in the slums. "Aerith! We have to talk NOW!"

When Zack arrived to the church and pushed the doors open, he found Aerith tending to her flowers like nothing in the world had happened.

"Zack you shouldn't do that, the doors can only hold up to so much." She smiled and turned to him and took a step back when she looked at his eyes.

"Aerith I am getting married in 3 days, make this go away! Please!" Zack was pleading but you couldn't tell by his eyes like you normally could.

"Chill puppy, I will find out what happened just stay here" and with that she vanished. Zack did stay in the church but paced, he never took a seat for more than a few seconds. He would look in a puddle of water every once in a while but couldn't stand to look at himself.

Aerith came back, after what seemed like decades to Zack, with a book in her hand and she quickly went to a page.

"You're eyes have turned black because there is a Nephilim that is present in Midgar."

Zack stood dumb founded, "a what?"

"The Nephil are created when a Fallen and human reproduce. Half-human, half-angel. Immortal, and powerful. They are stronger, faster, smarter than humans and they sometimes might even inherit some of their angel parent's gifts of the Fallen. Like putting thoughts and images into your mind. Yes they can to that. Though two weeks of every Jewish month of Cheshvan the Nephil must give their body to their angel for two weeks. During this time, the Fallen are able to possess the Nephil's body. It let's then feel, for angels cannot feel anything. Emotions, yes, touch, no. This is their time to feel, though the Nephil have no control over themselves and they hate it. They cannot think, move, speak for themselves in those two weeks. Most Nephil are creating a secret society to revolt and stop the Fallen from controlling them. But if the Nephil are not there for Cheshvan, the Fallen will use human bodies. Human bodies are not strong enough to last two weeks. This means that hundreds of thousands of humans will die." Aerith looks up at Zack hoping that he understood all that she just said and from the look on his face, he did.

"Okay so let me get this straight, I am a monster that cannot feel a damn thing and I have to take someone's body for 2 weeks or I will kill thousands of innocent people? What the Fuck" Zack shook his head with an irritated sigh. "How am I supposed to go home to Cloud looking like this?"

"I don't know what to tell you Zack, but if Cloud really loved you like I do he will understand what you are going threw and won't freak out. Zack this is your new life you are going to have to deal with the consequences that come with being a Fallen Angel. Gaia only knows why she ripped your wings out and threw you back here" Aerith stand up and hugs Zack, causing him to hug back in a normal response.

"Go see Cloud and Denzel" and with that she vanished.

Zack didn't want to believe that Aerith was right but she always was, now the real trick was going to be to find a Nephil to give their body to Zack for a couple weeks. Zack walked out of the Church and headed home. Thoughts of how Cloud was going to take this were running threw his head.

Zack get into the elevator and heads up to his apartment, before he can turn the knob he is greeted by a oblivious Kunsel.

"whoa! Sorry" Kunsel looks up "Zack! Hey I haven't seen your ass in forever, how have you been man?" Kunsel slaps Zack's shoulder and pushes Zack into his house and letting himself back in. Talk about a pest you will never get rid of huh? Zack chuckled at his thought.

"I have been pretty good Kunsel, considering all that has been happening since I came back." Zack gave a half ass chuckle and scratched the back of his head realizing that no one has seen his eyes yet. Kunsel laughed at Zack's comment ignoring his friends uneasy state.

"You want to know some dirt on Genesis? Or Sephiroth? I found out a lot more." Kunsel bounced into a seat by Zack waiting for his friend to say anything about the topic brought up.

"Genesis? What could be possibly new on him?" Zack showed little interest but enough for Kunsel to continue without question, Zack tuned Kunsel out nodding and showing some interest every once in a while, like he would whenever a girl would give a lecture about how she didn't like his job at SOLDIER.

Soon Cloud came up behind the totally zoned out Zack and hugged him causing him to jump, but none of that stopped Kunsel from talking his tongue out of his mouth. Cloud handed Zack a strip of duct tape, Zack took the tape and slapped it across Kunsel's mouth. Zack looked into Kunsel's eyes and nodded, all Kunsel did was get up and leave with out a word.

"He took that well" Cloud broke the silence that was surrounding them, Zack shook his head and turned to Cloud to pull him into a hug. Cloud runs his fingers threw the raven's thick black spikes and holds him close unsure what is bugging him but doesn't want to ask.

"Yeah, I guess he decided that he has better things to do than sit here and blab all day." Zack kisses Cloud before getting up and heading to the bedroom and falling on the bed and snuggling down in the comfort of smell the sheets had.

XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx XXxxXXxxXXxxXX

Cloud watched as Zack got up and went into the bedroom, completely confused and definitely unsure on why Zack would do that and not socialize. Did Cloud do something wrong? Did he smell funny? What did Zack do to cause him to be so tired? The questions kept running threw his head but decided that it was best not to ask them and went back to cleaning the house before Kunsel and his story parade decided to show up. Cloud hummed while he worked and cleaned every surface that was reachable and what wasn't, his OCD would find something to use to reach the dirty area.

Soon Cloud found himself running around the house picking up the dirty clothes that were lying around, as well as stripping his deeply passed out lover of his dirty clothes. After enjoying the sight that was laying in front of him, he smiled and went to put the clothes in the wash but made a mental note that he was going to have to go back and enjoy the present in the bedroom.

Soon Denzel came home from visiting Marlene at Tifa's place and Cloud had to start dinner. Denzel plopped down on a bar stool at the bar.

"Can I have a glass of water? Please." Denzel smiled at Cloud as his request was being put into action.

"You could have gotten this yourself you know. I am not a bar keep like Tifa." Cloud smiled at Denzel who knew Cloud was giving him a hard time.

"I could of but man I am just beat." Denzel rested his head in his propped up hand on the bar.

"Well I think that Zack is more tired than you are" Cloud gave a smart ass look at Denzel before turning back to the dinner he is making. Denzel left the bar and went to watch some TV while he waited for dinner and his other father to get his lazy butt up. Cloud found Zack's behavior a little strange and proceeded to call Tifa to see what she knew about this little event.

"Yes?" Tifa's voice rang threw the phone.

"Hey Tifa, Zack has been acting strange since he got home. I don't know if maybe he has done this before." Cloud's voice was full of worry

"Look I am sure that it is nothing, yeah Zack has acted strange before but that was when he was 13 and just hit puberty." A giggle escaped her as she remembered the little event.

"I don't think that he is going threw puberty again Tifa, but I will have to hear that story another time. Zack came home and he hasn't even looked me in the eyes, plus he managed to make Kunsel shut up and just randomly leave with out a goodbye."

"Whoa… Zack wouldn't ever just make Kunsel leave, or shut up for that matter."

"And Zack didn't have to say anything, I am really worried about him"

"I will be over soon, just act normal and I will figure out my brother. Hopefully" and with that she hung up and Cloud continued to cook.

Cloud set dinner on the table and was expecting Zack to come out for his favorite dinner, but he was a no show. Cloud told Denzel to go ahead and eat while he got Zack for dinner. Tifa came threw the door before Cloud could even leave the dinner table and went straight to the bedroom.

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Tifa walked into Zack's bedroom and shut the door behind her to find her brother sprawled out across the bed, completely naked. This wasn't the first time she had seen her brothers naked ass, but it had been a while since she had to do anything evolving her brother naked. The new thing that she seen was his scars, a upside down V, most of it was covered by the mane that Zack calls his hair.

Tifa walks over to look at the scars closer, she touches them and finds herself falling into a memory.

XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx Zack's Memory xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXX

Tifa falls onto Loveless Ave.

The world is black and white, she turns and sees Zack walking down the street happy and completely oblivious to everyone around him. Tifa follows Zack to the fountain and looks in the water the same time he does, both having the same reaction and fall back on their ass.

"Zack! What the fuck happened to your eyes?!" She looks at him, he seems to not of heard a single word that she has said.

"What happened to my eyes?!" Zack jumped up and ran to the church in the slums. "Aerith! We have to talk NOW!"

Tifa closely follows Zack and sits back and watches as the memory plays out.

When Zack arrived to the church and pushed the doors open, he found Aerith tending to her flowers like nothing in the world had happened.

"Nice to see Aerith again, and happy. Damn she looks good when she is dead too." Tifa shakes her head and listens.

"Zack you shouldn't do that, the doors can only hold up to so much." Aerith smiled and turned to him and took a step back when she looked at his eyes.

"Aerith I am getting married in 3 days, make this go away! Please!" Zack was pleading but Aerith couldn't tell by his eyes like she normally could.

"Chill puppy, I will find out what happened just stay here" and with that she vanished. Zack did stay in the church but paced, he never took a seat for more than a few seconds. He would look in a puddle of water every once in a while but couldn't stand to look at himself.

"Puppy? Uncle Angeal use to call Zack that all the time." She smiled and took a seat as she watched Zack pace, he sure didn't look like his normal self. Not one bit.

Aerith came back, after what seemed like decades to Zack, with a book in her hand and she quickly went to a page.

"You're eyes have turned black because there is a Nephilim that is present in Midgar."

Zack stood dumb founded, "a what?"

Tifa gave the same expression as Zack at the same time he did.

"The Nephil are created when a Fallen and human reproduce. Half-human, half-angel. Immortal, and powerful. They are stronger, faster, smarter than humans and they sometimes might even inherite some of their angel parent's gifts of the Fallen. Like putting thoughts and images into your mind. Yes they can to that. Though two weeks of every jewish month of Cheshvan the Nephil must give their body to their angel for two weeks. During this time, the Fallen are able to possess the Nephil's body. It let's then feel, for angels cannot feel anything. Emotions, yes, touch, no. This is their time to feel, though the Nephil have no control over themselves and they hate it. They cannot think, move, speak for themselves in those two weeks. Most Nephil are creating a secret society to revolt and stop the Fallen from controlling them. But if the Nephil are not there for Cheshvan, the Fallen will use human bodies. Human bodies are not strong enough to last two weeks. This means that hundreds of thousands of humans will die." Aerith looks up at Zack hoping that he understood all that she just said and from the look on his face, he did.

"What the fuck does that mean? I don't understand what is happening to my brother" Tifa was beyond bewildered.

"Okay so let me get this straight, I am a monster that cannot feel a damn thing and I have to take someone's body for 2 weeks or I will kill thousands of innocent people? What the Fuck" Zack shook his head with an irritated sigh. "How am I supposed to go home to Cloud looking like this?"

"That's why you wouldn't look at Cloud… Damn…" Tifa looked down

"I don't know what to tell you Zack, but if Cloud really loved you like I do he will understand what you are going threw and won't freak out. Zack this is your new life you are going to have to deal with the consequences that come with being a Fallen Angel. Gaia only knows why she ripped your wings out and threw you back here" Aerith stand up and hugs Zack, causing him to hug back in a normal response.

"Go see Cloud and Denzel" and with that Aerith vanished.

XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx Zack's Memory End xxXXxxXXxxXXxxXX

Tifa wakes up to see Zack, fully dressed, looking down at her. He was definitely not pleased with the act that she had just committed.

"Enjoy what you seen?" Zack's voice had gone cold, a lot like Angeal's when he was pissed.

"Zack, I was just looking. I didn't know that I was going to see a memory… Really I didn't." Tifa dropped her head knowing that she may have just lost all trust her brother had for her.

"You should have asked" Zack's expression was hard and his eyes were like staring into space or a black abyss. He looked down after a while, and sat next to Tifa with a heavy sigh.

"Zack-" Zack lifted his hand and stopped her from what she was about to say.

"This is hard for me, I don't really know what is going on and I am not sure how to handle any of this." He looked at Tifa, by his eyebrows she could tell that he was having a hard time with the change, but you could never tell it looking into his eyes.

"Tifa, I need help. I don't want to leave Cloud again. Not this time. I am going to have to go away for a while… I need to go and talk to Uncle Angeal and Aerith… Maybe Gaia… I don't know…" Tifa gave Zack a hug making sure that she didn't touch his scar again, she preferred to be in the present not her brothers past cause she didn't need to see other things.

"Zack go, I will tell Cloud what happened. Okay?"

"No, I need to tell him he is my fiancée after all. You just reschedule the wedding please." Zack hugged his sister one last time before getting up and heading for the bedroom door.

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Zack walks out of the bedroom and walks up and hugs Cloud tightly, Cloud hugs back his tears soak into Zack's shirt.

"Zacky are you okay? I've been worried about you." Cloud looks up at Zack.

"Angel, I am sorry that I worried you. I wish I knew what is going on right now, which is why I have to leave for a while. I asked Tifa to postpone the wedding for us till I get things done and figured out." The raven half smiles but looks down.

"Zack look at me, please look at me" Zack looks at Cloud

"Zack, I love you with all my heart and no matter what you are going threw we are going to go threw it together you understand?" Tears started to swell up in Clouds eyes, Zack gently wipes the tears away with his thumb.

"Cloud, I love you too. I understand" Zack kisses the top of Clouds head. Cloud reaches up and kisses Zack.

"One last time before you leave us?"

"Of course, my angel" Zack picks Cloud up and carries him to the bedroom and lays him on the bed.

Zack places kisses along Cloud's collarbone, Cloud unbuttons Zack shirt and helps him out of the shirt.

I know that this chapter was a long one and to be honest I am pulling this one out of my butt just to finish the story off. I know that it kind of went down hill but I have been trying to make it worth reading but I think that I have failed at that.

I got the inspiration to write this from the Hush, Hush Saga by Becca Fitzpatrick, I am not using her story but I am using the concept of what happened.

Please leave a comment/review so I know if I should actually finish the story of if I am just going to leave it hang.