Hey! So, thank you for checking this out. It probably goes without saying that this is a soul mate AU ^.^

Just a quick warning - this fic will feature a quite bit of miscommunication, which ends up being super problematic under the circumstances (there are some control and boundary issues, for sure). The goal of the story is for the characters to work through it and ultimately resolve that issue, but it takes some time for them to get there.

Chapter One

He never wanted a soul mate. Frankly, the idea of it was more terrifying than romantic.

"There must be a mistake."

Cloud wordlessly agreed with that assessment before losing his train of thought entirely, filled with nothing but the strangest sensation. It was like his entire existence had been meaningless until now, a renewed purpose surging through his body and mind.

Sephiroth stepped in closer, staring down into his eyes—wordlessly searching, but for what, Cloud wasn't sure. All he could do was stare back, ready to help Sephiroth find the answer in any way that was asked of him.

"Holy shit, Spike…"

A distant voice, familiar—but there was no pull to it. He wasn't done until Sephiroth shook his head, walking out the door without further delay.

"Spike!"

He snapped out of his daze, inhaling a sharp breath as his friend came into focus. "Zack?"

"Holy shit," Zack muttered again, hands on Cloud's shoulders. He was studying Cloud in a way that would have been uncomfortably close had it been anyone else, his breath even grazing the blond's face. "You feelin' okay?"

"Mostly confused," Cloud replied, shrugging Zack's hands off. "What was that?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"You just met your soul mate," Zack told him, a single disbelieving chuckle escaping his throat. He clapped Cloud on the back. "Congrats, man!"

"…Sephiroth?"

"Yep! Wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself. Your eyes went all green and crazy, just like his but weirder—slit right down the middle."

Cloud shook his head uneasily. "Sephiroth isn't my soul mate. This isn't the first time I've met him, remember?"

"Yeah but that was back when you were in the infantry. You didn't look him in the eyes, did you?" his friend accused, hands on his hips.

Probably not, Cloud realized slowly—and that was when it resonated, supposedly. First eye contact.

"Um…I don't really know? I don't keep track of things like that. I must've by now," Cloud reasoned, sure that Sephiroth was right—there really was some kind of mistake...there was just no way.

"Eh, you've always been kinda shy with him, especially back then," Zack offered, not sounding so sure himself. "Either way it's good news!"

"He said it was a mistake."

"Uh, there's no mistake. He's prob'ly just surprised, that's all. You can't really blame the guy, you still look kinda shocked too."

"But…where'd he go? I thought you lost that bet and owed him dinner. Wasn't he supposed to come with us?" Cloud remembered—the reason he had shown up at Zack's apartment in the first place.

He'd offered to visit Zack later instead, but his friend had all but begged him to come along too, complaining they didn't see each other enough. A couple weeks on opposite schedules tended to do that though, and it was a fairly common occurrence since Cloud had made it into SOLDIER himself.

"Pffft. I may have lost, but walkin' off like that's just as good as forfeiting his prize. Don't worry, I'll still treat you."

"I'm not worried about that."

"Don't worry about him either. If I had to guess, I'd bet he's already called Gen up for a VR session. Seph's not great at stuff like this, and this is big. Give him a day or two, yeah? He'll come around."

"I don't want him to," Cloud decided, letting out a sigh. "I have a date tomorrow night!"

"Hate to say it, but you may as well cancel that. There's no take backs with this stuff, that's not how it works."

"I don't care how it works, I don't want a soul mate."

Zack laughed softly, only stopping when Cloud scowled. "What? It's funny—he's probably saying the same thing right now."

There was too much on his mind, eyes closed as he tried to force himself to sleep.

Soul mates. Why would anyone want a soul mate? Sure, it sounded nice…finding your other half or whatever. Everything that came with it was the real issue. It wasn't worth it.

The legends varied from town to town, but the general gist of it was always the same. Everyone on Gaia was born with a soul mate—a person who they were 'meant to be' with. A person they could connect with on a different level than anyone else, quite literally.

Not everyone met their soul mate though—in fact, it was growing less and less common by the year.

That was where most the lore varied from location to location. Some believed this was a punishment by the gods', furious over who knows what (the list was both ridiculous and endless, and again varied from town to town). Others believed it was due to the fact that people were leaving their hometowns at an alarming rate—often drawn to the city these days—which meant they weren't as likely to stumble upon their soul mate. Others believed it had nothing to do with anything—that it was just proof soul mates didn't exist at all. That the entire concept was a myth, and those who called themselves 'soul mates' were either delusional or frauds.

In Nibelheim, it was believed to be a cycle of reincarnation—that soul mates weren't bound by the chains of time, and thus didn't meet every lifetime. If they didn't meet in one cycle, they would meet in the next and it would be all the sweeter for it.

Cloud wasn't entirely sure what he believed, aside from the simple fact that soul mates obviously existed. Even if he hadn't actually met his own, he'd met enough people who had. They all seemed so happy, but still…

"Nah, it's not like that," Zack had tried to convince him, having found his own soul mate two years prior. A nice girl from the slums. Soul mates or not, Cloud would've thought Aerith was perfect for Zack after seeing the two together. "You don't have to get in each other's heads, ya know?"

Cloud believed that part—Zack would never lie to him. But he also knew not every two soul mates were the same. No two bonds were identical. Just because it wasn't required didn't mean it didn't happen. And just because Zack and Aerith had found a balance that worked for their relationship didn't mean he could do the same.

Cloud.

The voice in his head was startling, almost a purr as it called out to him. He sat up on Zack's couch, the place he had crashed out after their long chat, worries forgotten as a more pressing concern filled his being.

He needed to go…he needed to find Sephiroth.

The path was familiar, much like the voice in his head, guiding him every step of the way. First Classes lived on the same floor, so it wasn't a long walk to Sephiroth's apartment. Knocking was unnecessary, but he did so once, certain it was enough.

It didn't take long before the door was opened, inexplicable levels of affection and fondness rising inside him at the sight of his soul mate.

"Cloud." Sephiroth's stare bore down on him. "What are you doing here?"

He blinked at the question, his awareness growing rapidly as he stared up into bright green eyes. The excess waves of emotions were gone, and all he was left with was a peculiar reality. It was the middle of the night and he was standing at Sephiroth's doors in his pajamas.

"Your eyes," Sephiroth noted, a deep frown forming on his face. "They've returned to normal."

"Did you…assert yourself over me?"

"I did nothing. I was asleep prior to your arrival."

"No, you called me here—I remember! I was lying down, and…" He shook his head, rubbing both hands over his face. The feeling that compelled him to come had subsided, but the memory of it was still fresh. "You couldn't have just waited until tomorrow and called like a normal person?"

"I had no intention of contacting you, tonight or any night. As I stated earlier, there has been a mistake. I am not intended to have a soul mate."

Cloud scoffed. He wasn't exactly thrilled about this either, but he was officially past the denial stage—it was strange to think Sephiroth wasn't. "Do you think I asked for this? I didn't want a soul mate either."

"Then I suggest you leave."

"Fine. Do me a favor and use a damn phone next time you change your mind on a whim," Cloud muttered, turning on his heel to walk away. The door didn't close for a long moment, but he was already halfway down the hall.

What an asshole.

It was one thing to reject Cloud, another to get into his head just to do it all over again. That was the exact reason he had no interest in having a soul mate. People shouldn't be able to manipulate each other like that, soul mate or not.

Fuck. Of course he hadn't stopped to grab his wallet or keycard in his mindless daze…There was no way to sneak back into Zack's place undetected. He wouldn't even be able to go back to his own apartment without his keycard. As if this weren't embarrassing enough already…

Cloud knocked on the door begrudgingly, seeing no alternative.

"…Aren't you s'posed to be sleeping on my couch right now?" Zack asked groggily, though he opened the door to let his younger friend back inside without hesitation.

"I would've been if my soul mate hadn't decided to mess with my head," he complained, promptly flopping back on the couch.

"What happened?"

"I don't even know. One minute I'm laying here thinking, the next everything is off my mind and all I know is I need to go to him," Cloud explained with a disgruntled sigh.

"Huh. What'd it feel like?" Zack pressed, leaning over the ridge of the couch.

"Like…he was everything. And he was calling to me. I heard my own name in my head, but it was his voice, and I…I just up and went to his apartment. I didn't even know where he lived, but suddenly I knew."

"What'd he say when you got there?"

"That he was asleep and had nothing to do with it. He sent me away."

"Huh," his friend murmured again, thinking it over. "Weird. Sounds like some kind of assertion, but he would've known if he did it. I'll talk to Ang tomorrow—or Gen, actually. He reads up on stuff like this all the time. Fate and all that. I bet he'll know, or at least he can tell me which book to check."

"Please don't," Cloud implored, "I don't want people knowing."

"I won't mention any names or anything," Zack promised, a reassuring smile on his face. "But y'know, having a soul mate's nothing to be embarrassed about. Most people would call you lucky, especially for snagging Seph. I mean, c'mon! You hit the jackpot, Spike."

"Zack," he groaned. His friend was completely missing the point. "It's not that. I mean, yeah—he's Sephiroth. I'm not stupid. I'd just like it a lot better if liked me just because, nothing to do with soul mates."

Particularly if Sephiroth was already misusing their new connection to play games with him in the middle of the night.

"I knew you had a crush on him! No wonder you didn't look him in the eyes back then, you—"

"It doesn't matter, I don't have a crush on him anymore."

"Yeah, 'cause you love the dude now, like it or not."

He narrowed his eyes. "It takes more than ten seconds to fall in love with someone."

"Not with a soul mate. You know it in your soul, even if the rest of you hasn't caught up to it yet."

"That's not true."

The two friends eyed one another, Cloud's stare hard and Zack's amused. Neither broke eye contact as they silently continued their debate, a stalemate of sorts until Zack relented with a yawn, "Get some sleep, Spike. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Okay," he agreed, snatching his phone from the coffee table to check the time. Only a few hours left till he had to wake up for a long training day.

Soul mate…didn't his soul know he had other shit going on in his life already?