Drill practice seemed to be even longer than it usually was for the blonde. His whole body felt completely drained and he saw himself as nothing but useless. He hadn’t had time to rest to try to regain his energy because there was always something else to do. If he wasn’t in basic training or something of the sort then he was in his regular education classes, studying till no end about different types of materia. When he did finally finish with studying and his homework he would go to sleep only to wake up at four thirty in the morning, get ready and go down to the cafeteria at promptly five fifteen a.m. if he wanted to have breakfast, then from there to basic training…then do the whole thing over again the next day. He had gotten used to the routine, but still there were those days when it seemed like it was all too much.

There was a blow of a whistle followed by the instructor’s loud voice letting them know that practice was done for the day.

‘Thank Levithan,’ Cloud thought to himself before lazily making his way towards the locker room. He was thankful that there weren’t many guys inside, he just wanted to take a nice relaxing shower without having to hear or deal with any bullshit.

Grabbing a towel from his locker he walked towards the shower stalls, hearing the soft sound of water falling from the few showers that were already going, encasing the room in a light fog of steam.

A few blonde spikes stuck to his face from the dampness in the air as he made his way over to an available shower, stripping his clothes and stepping inside once he got it to the right temperature. He had it hotter than usual, he really needed the hot water to penetrate to his muscles, and he was so sore it was becoming impossible to just move.

Closing his eyes he reveled in the feeling of the water on his skin, hissing from the contact of the heat but still nonetheless enjoying it. Stepping into the direct spray of the water he let it run through his blonde spikes, lazily running a hand through it.

Soldier examinations were coming up soon, but he wouldn’t be able to try for them just yet. He had to finish his basic training first and that would be about another month or so. But he wished he could take the exam now, god how he wished he could. He saw all of the other cadets and recruits who were getting ready for the SOLDIER exam and wished that he was apart of that. He was sure that he would pass it without a problem, even if he wasn’t finished with basic training. Or at least he knew he would pass the written exam, maybe not the physical part…maybe he did need to finish basic training.

Letting out a sigh he stepped further into the water. He wasn’t even sure if it was possible to train him to the appropriate status of SOLDIER. No matter what they taught him he would still be short and scrawny, none of their drills could change that. They would probably laugh in his face when he did go take the SOLDIER examination.

A sudden anger washed through him at that thought and he clenched his fist tightly. He had been a failure all of his life and he would be damned if he would continue to be one. He came to Midgar for a change, to finally change his status from little boy to a man, he wouldn’t give up so easily.

Wincing a bit from the change in temperature of the water from hot to cold he opened his eyes in a fluttering motion. He was so relaxed under the water that he had lost track of the time, but he realized that the other showers weren’t going anymore and he didn’t hear any talking. He turned off the water and stepped out wrapping a towel around his waist while walking over to the bench that he had set his clothes down on, only to see that they were gone.

Raising an eyebrow he made his way to his locker to see if maybe he had put them in there, or if he had some back up clothes, but to his dismay there was nothing. His locker was cleaned out completely as a matter of fact.

“Fuck!” He shouted in frustration while slamming his locker door. Of all the things his fellow cadets could do, stealing his clothes while in the shower? How childish it was in his eyes. Running a hand through his hair he walked through the locker room trying to see if he could find something else to wear back to the barracks besides the white towel around his waist. But of course there was nothing.

There was a sound of a door slamming followed by a series of laughter. Turning narrowed eyes in the direction of the sound Cloud began to fume. There standing outside the locker room window was three of the biggest assholes ever in the whole trainee program. The one who really irritated him was Jin. He was about a foot taller than the blonde and had muscles all over his body, and for that reason and that reason only he thought he could completely intimidate the other.

“Looking for something?” Jin asked while raising his arms in the air, a shirt and pants clutched in his hands as the other two with him continued to laugh. They walked away with the articles of clothing still laughing along the way.

He wanted nothing more than to break through the window and tackle that bastard to the ground and beat the crap out of him, but he figured that wouldn’t be too smart to do in just a towel.

Mumbling a few curses he opened the locker room door hesitantly while peeking around the corner to see if anyone was around.

Hell, who was he kidding. Even if there weren’t anybody around at that moment the barracks were a pretty good ways away, he would eventually bump into someone. But he couldn’t stay in the locker room all night…could he?

Taking in a breath he stepped out of the locker room, shivering as the cold mid afternoon air hit him. He was turning about ten shades of red in embarrassment as he quickly and quietly made his way back to the barracks. He saw a few SOLDIERS walking around the corridor and giving him a strange look, some laughing while others simply did a double take and then continued on about their business. It was a long, long way back to the barracks and he was surprised he didn’t faint in humiliation on the way back. Finally making his way to his dorm room, he muttered a few more curses as he realized his key was in his pants pocket that was now in Jin’s possession.

“Please be here Kyo,” he said to himself while banging on the door. Silence. No way, this couldn’t be happening. “Kyo!” He shouted desperately while banging on the door some more, “Open up!”

More silence. Kyo must’ve still been gone. Banging his head against the door a few times he let out an annoyed sigh. What the hell was going on, why did he have such bad luck? He had made it back to the barracks but now he was stuck out in the hall until Kyo returned, or he could go try to find Kyo to get the key…but that would mean wandering around the facility in just his towel.

Sighing he kept his head rested against the door. He heard a few footsteps pass by as cadets made their way to their rooms, he didn’t even bother to glance at them knowing that they were already grinning and he could hear the soft snickers that they tried to suppress.

He was always the butt of the jokes, never on the other end, you would’ve thought he would’ve been so used to it that it didn’t bother him but it still did…even if he did try to hide that fact.

“Hmm,” a voice began as steps neared.

‘Just go away, I don’t feel like dealing with this,'

“Well I was hoping to see you again, didn’t expect to see so much of you though,” the voice continued with a chuckle.

‘That voice…sounds familiar…like,’ whipping around the blonde nearly lost his balance, as his eyes grew wide. “Sir!” He exclaimed, trying his best to look slightly dignified at attention in only his little towel, within a moment he found it to be useless and just slumped against the door, cheeks bright red.

“Zack remember,” the taller man said waving off his formal address, “why are you out in the hall…in just a towel?”

Did he really have to explain this to a first class SOLDIER? He would not only feel completely humiliated but he would lose any ounce of dignity that he had, well whatever was left of it.

“I, I got locked out of my room,” he said turning back to look at the door as if it would somehow magically open.

“That sucks, your roommates gone?” The SOLDIER asked, eyes focused intently on the other.

Cloud nodded, still keeping his back towards the other and his gaze on the door. ‘Zack please go away, this is so embarrassing already as it is, you’re making it worse!’

Zack raised an eyebrow as he watched the young cadet’s shoulders rise and fall…almost as if he were trying desperately not to cry.

“Hey,” Zack began while grasping his shoulder gently to turn him back around.

Clouds flinched from the touch and looked from Zack to the floor and then back again…and to the floor. He didn’t want to seem like a crybaby but with the humiliation he felt it was taking all of his effort not to shed a tear. He felt like the cards were always stacked against him.

“Why don’t you come to my place until your roommate gets back? That way you won’t be stuck here in the hall and I can get some clothes for you,” he explained trying to meet the others gaze. Zack could see that Cloud was painfully shy, although this situation probably made it a lot worse for him.

The blonde really didn’t want to burden Zack but…Shiva he couldn’t just stand out in the hall and wait for Kyo to come back…that could be forever, knowing Kyo he probably went out for drinks with some friends or something.

“Are you sure?” He asked with uncertainty in his eyes as he let his eyes travel to Zack’s concerned ones.

“Of course!” Zack beamed with a grin, “I wouldn’t ask you otherwise. Come on!” He gently pulled the boy by the wrist coaxing him away from the door he was leaning on. Cloud moved away and followed Zack but quickly and abruptly tore his wrist away from him.

Zack frowned, Cloud was definitely shy, and he didn’t like to be touched. Mostly everyone who knew Zack knew he was always friendly that way and didn’t seem harmed by it, but Cloud on the other hand he was different. He tore his gaze away from the blonde as he continued down the hall, he was glad he had decided to come down that way. He was actually looking for Cloud. That day he escorted him to class he had left but came back in for a minute to give the instructor a message when his attention was directed to Cloud. He watched him and his partner Sasuke as they sparred and he was completely blown away by Cloud’s skills. For a beginning cadet he was showing talents in areas that even some SOLDIERS didn’t have. He was determined to help the blonde excel in SOLDIER, he saw something in him, there was just something about him. Initially he had come down that way to ask the boy if he would be interested in training one on one with him, but that could wait, right now the cadet was obviously frustrated.

Flipping on the light switch Zack stepped inside holding the door open for the boy. He entered slowly as he looked around at his surroundings. This definitely wasn’t like the barracks at all, it was a nice sized apartment.

“I’ll get you some clothes,” Zack said while tossing his keys on the table with a loud clatter that made Cloud jump a little. Nodding he made his way further into the apartment looking at it in awe. He definitely wanted to be a SOLDIER now, this is how he wanted to live, not in the cramped room he and Kyo shared.

“Uh,” the SOLDIER began while walking out from the hallway, “I got you sweat pants since there’s a drawstring, I’m sure they’ll be a little big but just tighten them. The shirt may be big too but I guess it’ll do,” he explained while handing the clothing to the boy.

“Thank you,” Cloud replied gratefully but softly.

“No problem,” Zack began with a smile while wandering off to the kitchen, “you hungry kid?”

Kid? Cloud frowned for a moment and then tilted his head, “a little…I guess.”

“Good!” Zack exclaimed while pulling out a sheet of paper from a drawer, “ I’ll order out!”

The blonde blinked shaking his head, “Oh no, don’t go out of your way.”

“It’s fine,” Zack, insisted while picking up the phone to dial, glancing at Cloud he raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead, change. There’s a bathroom right down the hall to your right.”

Looking down to the clothes in his hand Cloud nodded before turning and heading down the hall.

Zack couldn’t help but chuckle at the cadet, he seemed way to innocent and cute for his own good. Yeah, cute. Zack wouldn’t deny the fact that he thought the blonde was cute. His piercing blue eyes that held that aura of innocence and his golden spiky blonde hair to the sheepish smiles he would present. He wouldn’t try anything though…not yet. He had to get to know him better, had to get Cloud to feel comfortable around him and get him to understand that they could be friends. The boy seemed so confined and on defense mode at times that he had to wonder why he was that way.

A minute later Cloud appeared in baggy black sweats and large navy tee.

Zack laughed as a smile wildly spread across his face, “Damn they’re practically swallowing you up!”

The cadet frowned as he looked down at the clothes. They were really big on him. He blushed a little as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Have a seat,” Zack said after getting his laughing under control, pointing towards the couch, “the food will be here in a bit.”

Nodding Cloud took a seat, though he hardly looked comfortable as he sat on the edge of the couch, glancing around as if he were making sure that nothing would jump out and attack him.

“Relax kid!” Zack began while walking over and patting the blonde on the shoulder, forgetting that the blonde would flinch or jerk away…he did both, and Zack stared at him for a moment. “Where did you live before here Cloud?” He asked, desperate to know more about the cadet.

“Wha?” Cloud asked turning to face the older boy.

“Where did you live?” Zack asked again, eyes looking into the other boys.

“Oh,” Cloud started while dropping his eyes from Zack’s to the couch cushions, “In this small town named Nibelheim…it’s back in the mountains, past Cosmo Canyon, not a lot of people know about it.”

“Small town huh?” Zack started while leaning back on the arm of the couch, “Yeah I lived in Gongaga, that was a small town too. It was nice there I guess, but I think the city is more my kind of thing.”

Cloud glanced to Zack and then away at nothing in particular.

“You like the city more?” Zack continued, trying to get the boy to talk.

The blonde shrugged, “I don’t really know. I haven’t been out in it too much.”

Zack raised an eyebrow. Cloud, a young teenager had been in Midgar for this amount of time and hadn’t yet ventured into the city?

“So then I guess you miss your home then right?” He asked figuring that maybe that was the reason why Cloud hadn’t gone off into the city.

“No,” came the boy’s strong and cold reply as he dropped his gaze to the floor. The way he said it held a tone that meant he didn’t want to speak of it so Zack didn’t press.

He watched as the boy scanned the apartment, eyes twinkling in awe before they finally rested at a spot near the door. Zack turned to see what he was staring at and a grin spread across his face.

“You like swords?” He asked shifting a little.

Cloud looked towards him, finally meeting his gaze again, “Yeah, but I haven’t actually used one though.”

Zack nodded, “they’ll start training you guys with swords a little further down the line,” his gaze drifted back to the wall where his buster sword was leaning.

“When?” Cloud asked. The tone in his voice changing to a more interested one.

Zack grinned, “Should be soon. It’s during basic training. Actually I would say any day now, although don’t expect to use something like a buster sword.”

Blinking the blonde looked back to the buster sword, “how long until you got to use it?” He asked turning back to Zack.

“Hmm,” the SOLDIER began narrowing his eyes in thought, “I think right after I got out of basic training. I was the only one who really wanted to use that sword.”

“Really?” Cloud asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I guess the others were scared of it or something,” Zack explained with a laugh.

“I wouldn’t be,” Cloud replied with what looked like a bit of a smile as he finally relaxed back into the couch.

“That’s good to know, maybe one day you’ll be expert at it,” Zack said with a smile before getting up when a knock sounded at the door. He retrieved the take out before heading back over to the couch and handing Cloud a small box of chow mein.

“Dig in!” Zack said as he opened up another small box and began picking at it with his chopsticks.

“Thanks,” Cloud said genuinely before starting in on the food.

Zack nodded before placing a piece of sweet and sour chicken in his mouth. “So tell me, how’s training?”

Cloud finished swallowing before speaking up with a small sigh, “tiring, but it’s good.”

“Yeah, it can get a little brutal but you got to hang in there,” he said tapping his chopsticks on the container.

“I wouldn’t give up,” Cloud replied quickly before dropping his eyes to his food.

Zack smiled, Cloud was definitely not a quitter and he admired that. As shy as the boy may be he obviously had a goal and that was getting into SOLDIER and by all means Zack was going to make sure that was going to happen.

The phone began to ring and Zack excused himself to go answer it, in a second he was off the phone and walking back over to grab his keys off the table.

“Hey Spike I got to go down to the office for a minute, I got to find some kid’s file,” he explained with a roll of his eyes, “anyways, I’ll be right back!”

Cloud stood up, “Should I go too? I mean see if Kyo is back?” He asked unsurely, he didn’t want to outstay his welcome.

“You kidding? Cloud eat, don’t worry about that right now,” opening the door Zack grinned, “I’ll be right back!”

The door shut and Cloud sat back down on the couch picking up the container of Chow mein once again. He glanced to the side and picked up the remote on the small table and clicked on the T.V. It was so nice from the small tiny box back in his room that they had the nerve to call a television. He clicked it on to some action movie and finished up the rest of his food, stretching with a groan. His muscles were still sore but had greatly improved, he guessed the shower had worked. But now that he was in warm clothes, had eaten and was freshly showered he began to feel a little tired. He actually didn’t have any homework or studying that night so he wouldn’t have to worry about staying up late. He stretched out on the couch, grabbing one of the small pillows at the end and rested his head on it. He just wanted to stretch out for a minute before Zack got back, it was so comfortable there.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to watch the movie finding his thoughts drifting to Zack. Why was the SOLDIER being so nice to him? He was such a burden, why did Zack feel the need to help him, talk to him and just…try to be friends with him? He was a first class SOLDIER, why on earth would he talk to a lowly cadet?

Inhaling he closed his eyes briefly as the smell of cologne filled his nostrils. The t-shirt smelled of it and he was sure it was forever in there, a scent that was on Zack, that was Zack. He exhaled gently as he relaxed letting the smell surround him, it was a fresh and yet sweet smell, it seemed to suit Zack well. Letting his eyes close again he felt completely content breathing in the scent, the sound of the television off in the background was oddly comforting. Within a minute he was out, sleeping the best that he’d slept since he arrived in Midgar.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zack muttered under his breath as he walked up the front door. That had taken a little longer than he intended, an hour when he thought it would’ve taken like five minutes. Shrugging he opened the door and stepped inside.

“Sorry Spike I…” he trailed off as he saw the blonde’s sleeping form on the couch.

He couldn’t help but smile as he crossed over and turned the television off.

In an instant Cloud’s eyes shot open and he was staring straight at Zack.

“I’m sorry,” he began while sitting up slightly.

“Shh,” Zack began while turning to him, “It’s okay, go to sleep.”

The cadet blinked, “I can go back to the barracks I don’t want to bother you.”

“You’re sleeping, how could you bother me?” Zack asked with a laugh, “It’s fine Cloud really. You’re already comfortable, relax it’s fine,” he insisted while pulling the blanket from off the back of the couch and draping it over the blonde.

Cloud froze for a minute as he felt the blanket drop over him. He didn’t want Zack to feel the need to care for him, but he had to admit that at this moment he was grateful that he was. He just needed one night of this, and then he could face his terrible daily routine afterwards.

“Thank you,” Cloud mumbled before settling back down against the couch, pulling the small pillow closer to him.

“Stop thanking me, just sleep,” Zack replied with a chuckle, “good night, I’ll be down the hall in my room if you need me okay?”

“Kay,” he whispered softly.

The SOLDIER gave one last smile as he walked down the hall into his room. There was definitely something special about Cloud when it came to his fighting skills, but there was something special about Cloud regardless, and he was for certain now that he wanted to keep that.