COLLISION

Chapter Six

The Story

It was a strange feeling, sliding into ones body at such a great speed and yet it felt like it was all so excruciatingly slow. The Traveller sighed as he slowly became corporal, after so long of being nothing, but spirit. A Memory.
For a brief moment the Travellers thoughts shifted back to the glowing light that had been following him, but it was gone now, and so was he…

Cloud grimaced as he stared down at the unconscious teen now drooling a little on his shoulder, Sephiroth was tall, that he knew, but the fact that he was taller than Cloud even as a teenager was now very literally weighing on him. The guy was heavier than he looked, maybe it was the armour and the coat? All Cloud knew was he had to so something about this, what that was, he wasn't clear on, but it would have to be soon. If only he knew where his...not friend, no, not companion either; ex-enemy perhaps? Maybe. Yes. He'd go with that. If only he knew where his ex-enemy lived, that would have been helpful.

Shifting the unconscious teenager into a slightly less awkward position, Cloud glanced around the secluded corner of the slums that they'd sequestered themselves in for the showdown that hadn't quite lived up to their usual standards. There was no-one in sight, which had been the initial point, but now, now it was just a pain in the ass and a relief all at the same time. At least he wouldn't have to deal with the embarrassment of someone seeing him with Sephiroth all over him. This thought naturally lead to the thought of his friends seeing him in such a precarious situation, which lead to an imagined Zack laughing his ass off at Cloud.

With an annoyed groan at his own mind Cloud awkwardly picked up his blade and slid it into it's holster behind him, then started lugging the dead weight of teenaged Sephiroth toward the train station, because what else could he do? If only he knew where the bastard lived, that would make things so much easier. Not that anything was ever easy for him, especially concerning Sephiroth.
It was like he'd been hit by something large, strong and distinctly Zack-esque, the pain that suddenly exploded behind his eyes left him staggering as a series of grainy images flickered before his eyes. Zack's memories, particularly those concerning Sephiroth himself, were often mismatched and confusing. This one left him reeling, the clearest 'flashback' he'd had for a while.

It was an odd feeling, watching things through Zack's eyes, even if they were memories. Though witnessing Zack waltz up to an apartment door, beers in hand, and then proceed to let himself in, was strange. Even stranger when a frowning, and very obviously adult, Sephiroth appeared in the hallway of the apartment. His apartment. Zack offered the beers and Sephiroth seemed to sigh in defeated before motioning for Zack to follow him into the living area.

Cloud blinked and he was back in the slums with the unconscious, teenage Sephiroth, though now he had a vague recollection of where Sephiroth lived, courtesy of Zack. Now Cloud's only dilemma was the issue of getting the young General back to said apartment without anyone important seeing them. That thought made him frown even more as he trudged back toward the train station, he had little doubt the Turks had had eyes on them earlier, now they could have been planning to murder him just for seeing Sephiroth pass out. Why did the universe have to made everything so damned hard?
He was almost at the station when someone, put a hand on his shoulder unexpectedly. Cloud hadn't even heard him approach, he should have, in hindsight, but then Cloud turned, and hindsight didn't matter so much anymore when he was awkwardly staring up at a ghost from Zack's past. Angeal.

"I'm sorry, it's just, my friend appears to have collapsed. On you. Is he alright?" the teenaged version of Angeal asked quietly. He was unaware of how seeing him again was making Cloud's mind spin with memories, nausea and grief that wasn't his to bare. Wasn't aware of how Cloud's throat contracted at the sight of him or how his eyes stung and how much Cloud wished Zack, his Zack, was there with him so he wouldn't have to feel that way on his friend's behalf. As it was, Zack wasn't there, and Cloud, instead of standing there like an idiot, pushed through the residue grief passed on by Zack and opened his stupid mouth.

"Oh, yeah, I dunno," he said intelligently. Angeal's frown grew deeper, so Cloud tried again; "We were sparring, back there, and after he got tired, passed out, on me," Cloud paused, and then continued awkwardly. "Wouldn't have been right to just leave the…..kid…..there, so figured I should at least try to get him home," he hoped that was enough. Angeal hummed as he eyed Cloud over for a moment before answering, thankfully he seemed to take Cloud at face value.

"I see, you seem a little weighed down, perhaps between the two of us we can spare my friend the embarrassment of being seen carried home like a sack of potato's while drooling on the poor souls shoulder," Angeal's mouth twitched a little as he spoke. He didn't laugh though, thankfully, and the pair of them slung Sephiroth's arms around their shoulders with the unconscious teen between them. It was awkward, Angeal was taller than Cloud, like his ex-enemy, so Sephiroth's head was practically propped against Cloud's blond spikes. He was also certain that he'd just heard a snore or something in his ear from the teen and he really hoped that wasn't drool he could feel sliding down the side of his neck, under his collar. Ew.

Sephiroth was so going to owe him for this shit.

"After that Angeal helped me get you back here, without any problems, he had to leave pretty quickly afterwards though, seemed like he had somewhere to be, but he asked me to stick around till you woke up, keep an eye on you," Cloud shrugged awkwardly as he wound down his uninteresting tale. Sephiroth stared at him for a moment and then frowned.

"He just left me alone with a complete stranger?" he asked suspiciously. Cloud felt the corner of his mouth twitch and motioned to Sephiroth's slightly worn appearance.

"Angeal said that anyone you would trust enough to spar with and could do that much damaged to you, and then turn around and try to get you home when you weren't feeling well, was good enough to watch over you till you were feeling better," he explained with a little bit of unstifled amusement. Sephiroth's only response was to sit back against the couch with his arms folded, with a faint non-committal grunt to make his displeasure known.

"I did not drool," was stated firmly after a few moments of silence between the pair. "And I do not snore," was added as an afterthought.

AN: I have no excuses for taking so long to update this chapter, it's been sitting half finished on my computer for months. I finally got my ass in gear and finished it. Hopefully you guys enjoy Cloud's awkward, and Sephiroth's...well...unconsciousness? IDK

Hopefully I can get off my ass more often, and update more frequently for you guys! I'm actually surprised at the outpouring of love for this silly little drabble-y thing I've cooked up, but it's all deeply appreciated. You guys are the reason I keep coming back! So thanks!

All those reviews, faves and alerts always make me smile and get the guilts for not writing more of these chapters!

See you next time guys!

RLK