Junon
Now?
Now AVALANCHE was in Junon, tucked away in the labyrinthine guts of Larboard’s lower sector, trying to dig up any scrap they could on Rufus Shinra’s latest moves. The city pulsed with military presence, tight patrols and that ever present hum of reactors somewhere too close. In spite of staying undercover and out of sight, they parted into two groups: Barret and Red scouting the upper levels, leaving the rest of them to weave their way through the underbelly of the city toward the airship hangars.
The locker room they’d found themselves in was stale with metal and machine oil, rows of cold benches and bins of unused Shinra infantry uniforms. It was quiet, save for the rustle of fabric, and the occasional clank of something out of place. Cloud was instantly hit with memories from his past life as an infantryman, breath hitching when his eyes landed on one of the bins with the uniform inside. It looked like his. The one from all those years ago- standard issue blue, grey, and a green scarf, and helmet. Crisp, suffocating, just like the life he had tried to make for himself under Shinra’s thumb. He was stagnant, hands clenched in loose fists at his sides.
Tifa noticed first. She turned toward him, brown eyes softening. “You okay?” she asked gently, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. Zack’s frown was instant. He knew the trouble Cloud had to get to. He knew the barracks were not fun nor was it easy. He knew. He shifted a half step closer, nudging his shoulder against Cloud’s like a reflex. That protective, unspoken link between them was always present- just under the surface.
Cloud didn’t look at either of them, eyes locked on the uniform like it might reach out and drag him back into the memory of the past. “Fine… It’s just been a while,” he muttered, the words a little hollow.
Aerith tilted her head, watching with her hands tucked behind her back, her gaze flickering between the two men. “You sure?” she asked gently, though she didn’t press.
Cloud gave a small nod, but it was Zack who finally stepped forward and offered a silent piece of comfort, his hand rested on the other’s shoulder, squeezing softly. He also kicked the bin aside with his boot- not aggressively, just enough to shift the weight. His voice light, teasing even though the tension in his shoulders betrayed him. “Always hated the green on me. Geal always said these were bad luck. How anyone survives in those things is beyond me.”
Cloud looked up at Zack, squeezing his hand back slightly at the mention of Zack’s old mentor- Angeal. He knew it was still hard at times to bring him up, even if it was something as simple as quoting the man. Tifa looked at the two, raising a brow.
“That your way of saying you tore it to shreds?”
“I wanted to. Hey! I look way better in leather anyways!” Zack playfully said, earning a snort out of Cloud, a tiny break in his mask, and Zack caught it, eyes lighting up. “Don’t deny it, chocobo. You thought so too.” He winked before grabbing one of the bins and walked towards the empty changing room. Cloud turned on his heel the second he got the chance too, the tips of his ears going pink as he too grabbed the bin, following what Zack did.
The girls exchanged a knowing look, smiling then as if they were watching a slow-burning rom com unfold right in front of them. Again.
“He definitely thought so,” Aerith whispered to Tifa as the two grabbed their own bin and went to change.
“I know! They’re so painfully in love,” Tifa whispered back before she ducked into the changing room to change into the infantry uniform.
Cloud despised what he was wearing. He stood off to the side, helmet tucked stiffly under one arm, back pressed against the cool metal wall of the locker room. The green scarf that came standard issue was wrapped around his neck, hiding his chin and lower face, including his pissed off expression. It didn’t dull the discomfort under his skin though. Everything about it felt wrong- stiff, suffocating. Like he was stepping into the past, dragging the weight of everything he had barely survived right back onto his shoulders.
The others were still in the changing stalls behind him, the shuffle of clothes and occasional quiet voices echoing off the metal walls. He didn’t speak, just stood still, unmoving, jaw tight beneath the scarf. He didn’t hear Zack opening the door of the changing stall with one hand tugging absently at the collar of his uniform. It felt weird slipping back into old skin, something that was supposed to stay behind, especially after everything that had happened in the time span of five years. Losing Angeal, befriending Cloud, almost dying from fucking mako poisoning, being on the run from Shinra, you name it. This was the last thing Zack expected to do. Out of anything. His mako tinted eyes fell on his friend across the room and the past didn’t just creep in- it hit him like a freight train.
Cloud hadn’t moved from his post against the wall, helmet tucked under one arm with that stiff, too straight posture. His lower face tucked into the safe haven of the green scarf wrapped around his neck, acting as a shield. Zack could practically see the tension in the man’s body- same as back then. Just a kid, barely seventeen, standing awkward and quiet in the cold snow of Modeoheim. Back then, during that particular mission, Cloud was an infantryman, and hadn’t known how to look anyone in the eyes, let alone stand tall beside a SOLDIER.
….but now?
Zack’s heart clenched. Because now, Cloud wasn’t that nervous, scared, uncertain kid anymore. He was a fighter, a survivor, someone who carried the weight of his past and still chose to keep going. The uniform didn’t fit him anymore- not just physically, but spiritually. It was a relic of a life he had outgrown, moved on from, left the pain that he didn’t owe anyone an explanation for. Still, seeing the younger blonde haired male like this- just as he had first met him- stirred something fierce and tender in Zack’s chest.
Gods, Cloud looked adorable.
Zack snapped himself out of his thoughts. ‘No. I can’t say that… Not out loud at least,’ he thought to himself as he slowly approached, like he just might scare the man if he got too close too fast. He came to stand beside him, head tilted slightly and arms crossed over his chest. “You know…” he casually said, “you looked like that when we first met. Well, the first time I saw you.”
Cloud didn’t look up, voice muffled slightly though from where he had the lower part of his face tucked into his scarf, but Zack caught the subtle shift of his jaw tightening. “Like what?”
Zack smiled softly, leaning forward slightly and pressed a light kiss to the blonde’s forehead, then acted like he was studying the boy. “Like the uniform hated you as much as you hated it. How nervous you were, cold, anxious. I mean, you were just an infantryman, can’t blame you there.”
Cloud rolled his eyes as his ears turned a bright pink, looking away from Zack when he felt the taller’s lips on the crown of his head. His mako tinted blue eyes flickered over to Zack after a moment, sharp under the edge of the scarf, as though he couldn’t decide to scowl or tell him off. Maybe both. He looked away again. “I wasn’t that bad,” he muttered, voice quiet and less bristly.
Zack chuckled as he leaned against the wall, kicking the scuff of his shoe on the floor under them, humming softly as he looked back over to Cloud. “Sure you weren’t. You were literally the only one keeping up with me! You were so shy too!! It was cute.” He nudged his arm against Cloud’s.
Cloud groaned under his breath, loud enough for Zack to hear but still muffled by the scarf. “Stop saying shit like that…”
Zack just grinned wider. “Can’t help it, Spike. You were adorable then- all cute and innocent. You’re still adorable, just more badass.”
Cloud rolled his eyes, shooting him a sharp look- an unimpressed glare that should have landed with more force if the tips of his ears weren’t bright red, and his posture hadn’t relaxed ever so slightly. He muttered something inaudible that Zack swore sounded like “idiot”.
Unbothered, Zack bumped their shoulder again, this time a little gentler. “I mean it. You’ve always had this way of… sticking with me. Even back then. I noticed you. Maybe more than I should’ve and definitely more than the officers at the time.”
Cloud’s lips twitched into a small smile under the scarf, barely there but it lingered in the corners of his mouth like a secret. He didn’t need to meet Zack’s eyes (if he did, he would turn bright red), but he didn’t move away either. His grip tightened on the helmet as if he was grounding him. “You’re still annoying…”
“Yeah… But you love me,” Zack half teased, bumping their shoulders again, resulting in Cloud’s face turning a darker shade of red.
Cloud did not respond at all, turning bright red and hiding his face further in his scarf, though the way he leaned into Zack ever so slightly, said enough. The black haired man said nothing, not pushing it. He just stayed there, beside him, content to stand in the quiet hum of closeness as the other continued changing in the background.
He would wait as long as Cloud needed.
After all, he’d already fallen- years ago.
And right there, a locker room, filled with ghosts and bad memories, he was falling all over again.