Zack/Cloud. Parts of it are narrated by Cloud, then it will switch into third-person mode. I hope this isn't confusing to anyone. Reviews and thoughts are much appreciated.

As always, I do not own the characters. I only write for fun, not profit.

I'll try to take you back to the beginning. Everything I know and remember that is true… maybe even some things that might seem a little off the wall. My story.

My childhood? It wasn't too grand. There was nothing special about my life in Nibelheim. Sure, I had a couple of friends, but not very many. Me and my mom lived together in a small house near the town's water well. I liked to climb up there every once in a while and act like I was spying on the townspeople.

But you don't want to hear about that, do you? You know most of those things. What you don't know about is the time I spent with him: days wrapped in sunshine and nights blanketed with stars. His head on my chest. The way he folded his body around me while we slept.

I can't say what it was that first attracted me to him. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed upbeat and cheerful - such a direct opposite to my usual demeanor. Perhaps it was the way his eyes shone… and when he smiled, those blue orbs sparkled with a mixture of mischievousness and love - particularly when he looked at me.

You know how the story ends. But how we got there? It's a whole other story.

It was cold, but Cloud was used to it, since he had grown up in Nibelheim. They were in Modeo, a town way out in the mountains and snow as far as the eye could see. He was just an infantryman, pretty much along for the ride as backup while more important people did what they had to do. Their helicopter had gone down, but they were all okay. Cloud watched as Tseng, the leader of the Turks, brushed the falling snow from his suit while a first-class SOLDIER, who seemed to have everything under control, stood with his hands on his hips and looked around at their surroundings. With swift movements, he began walking up the snowy hill.

Cloud made his way over to him and was able to keep up the pace beside him. Zack noticed and laughed, stopping for a moment.

"You don't seem to be as cold as everyone else," Zack said, laughing. He nudged Cloud a little with his elbow, and he smiled beneath my helmet. "I'm used to it," Cloud told him.

"Where are you from?"

"Nibelheim."

"I'm from Gongaga," Zack said, and Cloud took off his helmet. He held out his hand and Zack grasped it firmly. "I'm Zack. It's nice to meet a fellow backwater expert," he said, laughing. "I'm Cloud," Cloud told him, and smiled. Zack smiled back, his eyes sparkling.

"You have a firm grip," he said. "Why aren't you in SOLDIER yet, Cloud?"

Cloud looked down, embarrassed to let him know that he was a failure. According to the Shinra company, he apparently didn't meet the high standards of SOLDIER to impress anyone, and he didn't want Zack to know. But he told him. Cloud didn't look him directly in the eye, but told him why. And he didn't laugh at him like some of the other guys did. No. He placed a hand on Cloud's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"You'll get there one day, kid."

He had known who Zack was. He'd seen him work his way up through the ranks. Everyone knew who Zack Fair was. Now, here he was with him, bonding over mountains and trees that had been present in both of their childhoods.

From that day on, they were inseparable.

It started out innocently enough. They began to eat lunch together a few times a week, and then one night, Cloud got a knock on his door. He was lucky that he was one of the only infantrymen to have a room all to himself; it was a most coveted thing in the group. A lot of the guys were jealous over it.

He stumbled out of bed with only a pair of sleeping pants on. It was a little after midnight and he had been asleep for only an hour or so. He had stayed up late to study a few things that had been assigned to him. He opened the door a crack and blinked as light from the hallway spread in through the opening and flooded his darkened room.

"Hi."

"Hey, Zack."

He opened the door completely and moved aside to let Zack in. The strong odor of alcohol, maybe vodka, followed him as he shuffled past Cloud and made himself comfortable on the couch. Cloud shut the door and locked it out of habit, then joined Zack. He sat with both feet propped up on Cloud's small coffee table and he settled back into the couch, sighing heavily.

"You mind if I crash here tonight?"

"Of course. Why not just go back to your apartment, though?"

"….Locked myself out."

Cloud started laughing. He couldn't help it. The fact that his superior was drunk on his couch and had locked himself out of his apartment was too much. He pictured Zack in his head, coming home from the bar and kicking the bottom of the door in frustration when finding out he'd left his key on the table inside. Zack gave Cloud a weird look, one eyebrow raised and the other furrowed in disbelief.

"You're laughing? And this is funny why?" he said, laughing himself. "Sorry," Cloud said between hiccups of laughter.

Then Zack kissed him.

It took Cloud by surprise when Zack had abruptly stopped laughing and seized both sides of the blond's head with his hands and pressed his lips against his. His lips were warm against Cloud's, and Cloud found himself relaxing into the kiss, however suddenly it had happened. The grip around his head loosened and Zack's fingers began to move down the sides of his face, ending at his jaws. One hand softly played with the lobe of his ear while the other hand stroked his jaw line. Their lips parted and Cloud sighed softly as their tongues touched and moved smoothly against each other.

The kiss ended no sooner than it had began, and Zack pulled away, breathing heavily and rubbing his palms on his knees. "Wow," he said breathlessly. Cloud sat silently and wasn't sure how to react. His hands lay calmly in his lap until Zack reached over and grabbed one hand, intertwining their fingers together like a fleshy jigsaw puzzle. "Sorry," Zack said, then added, "I'm a little drunk."

Cloud laughed nervously. "Yeah, but… that's not the entire truth of why you did it," he said. Zack shook his head. "No. I have feelings for you. We've been friends for a few months now, but I have to admit that I've liked you from the start. I can't hide it anymore," he said.

"Me, too," Cloud admitted.

"So… you and me, maybe we could give it a shot? You know?" Zack said nervously. Cloud smiled on the inside, somewhat amused by seeing Zack so nervous; it was a bit out of character for him.

"Alright."

Cloud had no idea that he had just signed up for eternity by uttering one word.

And that was how it began, really. No big parade and no flying banners. Just two friends on a couch in the middle of the night. So began our life together. Would you like to hear more? I'll gladly tell you. The details are still so fresh in my mind like it all happened yesterday, but it doesn't take away the fact that he is gone now, and I'm alone.

I still hear his laughter and I still see his smile. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night crying and I don't know why, only to later remember that I was having a dream about him.

As I write this, I'm chewing my fingernails down to the flesh. Some of my fingers are bleeding. I don't sleep very well anymore. I fear I'll join him soon if I'm not careful.