Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Squaresoft and various other interested parties, not me. I'm not making any money from this, and no infringement of copyright is intended. This is a work of fandom, intended as appreciation of the original work.

Chapter 12

"Still you try to resist me," Sephiroth murmured. His amused smirk was audible, and sure enough when he came into sight a moment later it was visible as well. The former general moved like a giant cat, sleek and precise and unthinkingly seductive. He'd always been beautiful, though in the past he'd hardly seemed aware of the fact. Now he used his beauty like another sort of weapon, obviously aware of exactly how much he affected his prey.

They were back in the mako-shaded no-space, but the wavering green light somehow didn't overwhelm Sephiroth's pale colouring. His hair was a shimmering fall of silver, his eyes a bright green that pierced through even the equally green glow of the mako. "Don't you realize how futile your struggles are?" he asked as he approached. "Give in to me now, and I'll make it relatively painless for you. You have always been mine, one way or another. Why do you continue to deny it?"

He tried to step back as Sephiroth came within touching distance, and found himself pressed against a solid surface. He was in the mako tank again, he realized with a shudder of fear and the first hints of despair. Some part of him was aware that this had to be a dream, but the reassurance didn't help.

The glass wall of the tank didn't seem to hinder Sephiroth at all, as the man reached right through it. He shivered at the feel of cool leather against his skin as Sephiroth stroked his cheek with a mockingly light touch. It felt real, so real he could smell the scent of leather and flesh even over the sharp stench of the mako.

"Perhaps I've been attempting the wrong approach," Sephiroth purred, leaning closer. "I saw the way you looked at me, back then. I might not have realized what it meant at the time, but I do now. You wanted me, didn't you? You eventually learned to work around it, but you never really stopped wanting me." He was close enough now that their mouths brushed with every breath, sparking a reaction so strong it felt like there should have been visible jolts of electricity between them.

No, he protested, but the denial didn't even reach his lips. Oh yes, he'd wanted Sephiroth, and wanted him badly. The dreams he'd had, some nights when they were out in the field... who wouldn't have lusted after their beautiful, powerful, charismatic general? Everyone had suffered from at least some form of hero worship.

For a man who hadn't even recognized lustful adoration when it was directed at him, Sephiroth was surprisingly skilful at teasing him. Pressed back against the glass wall of the tank, he had nowhere to go as Sephiroth brushed their lips together again and again, taunting and promising without actually delivering. Sheer stubbornness held him in place and kept him from actively seeking more, but his resolve was thin and he knew it wouldn't be long before it snapped.

He whimpered as Sephiroth relented and kissed him at last, and long-denied hormones surged to the front of his awareness. Never in a million years had he ever imagined he would get Sephiroth's attention, not like this. The reality of it was so much better than he'd dreamed that it was overwhelming. The temptation to give in and just savour the contact, to stop fighting and let Sephiroth have what he wanted, was nearly irresistable.

But this wasn't about love, or lust, or even affection. This was about power, and manipulation, and domination. If he gave in now, the reward would be destruction for himself and everything he'd ever cared about. He knew that... and yet, there was a part of him that yearned for the peace of the oblivion that Sephiroth offered. Not to mention the drugging addiction of his poisonous touch.

"Yes, that's it," the former general encouraged him, now dragging his gloved fingertips down over flesh that had become inexplicably bare of clothing. "Give in to what you want, to what we both want." He stepped back out of reach again, provoking another helpless whimper, and smiled. "Come to me. Give yourself to me, and be free. Come." He beckoned enticingly.

The glass wall of the tank was between them again, but suddenly it felt less like a cage and more like a shield. If he took a step forward he was certain he would pass right through it, and then he would be completely within Sephiroth's grasp. All he had to do was take that step, and all the fighting and struggling would be over. One small step, and he could have the man he'd once dreamed of with a longing so sharp it still burned him all these years later.

One step...

An indignant wark and a sudden sharp pain in his ear jarred Zack abruptly out of sleep. He flailed and squawked in a way that sounded embarrassingly like a chocobo, and found himself falling painfully flat on his ass. Confused, he struggled to get his bearings and figure out what the hell was going on. Why had he fallen? Had he been standing in his sleep?

The slightly reflective bulk looming over him clacked softly, like the sound of two bones clattering together. Thinking it was a monster, Zack groped frantically for a sword that wasn't there. Cursing, he attempted to scramble back and put some distance between him and it before it could attack, trying to figure out where his sword and bracer had gotten to.

"Kweh?" it said plaintively, and he relaxed as he finally identified the 'monster' as Kinya. She'd been clicking her beak to make the bone-like sound. She'd also apparently bitten him at some point, he realized as he reached up to touch the burning spot of pain in the arch of his ear and discovered it was bleeding.

"What the hell?" he asked, his voice hoarse and confused. Looking around, he realized he'd come some distance away from the place where they'd made camp about halfway up the wall of the crater. The tent was just barely visible in the distance above him; he'd come most of the way back down to the crater floor, not far from the cave entrance.

He shivered, and it was only partly from nerves. He was dressed in only his pants and a thin undershirt, what he'd be wearing when they'd collapsed into the tent that night. Neither of them had been in any shape to attempt to leave the area even on chocobo-back, and they'd been hoping to make another go of investigating the caves once they'd recovered a bit, now that they knew enough to avoid the Lifestream pools. They'd agreed to make camp just far enough up the cliff that the mako in the caves wasn't making their bones vibrate.

Not quite far enough, it seemed. Zack swallowed hard as he realized he'd been walking in his sleep, going right back to the caves. Apparently Cloud wasn't the only one being drawn by the Lifestream, he'd just felt it more strongly at the time.

Speaking of whom... Cursing, Zack hauled himself to his feet and hissed in pain as he realized he'd sliced the soles open on the sharp rocks of the crater. Well, that was what he got for walking around without his boots on. He didn't have his sword either, or even his bracer. In short, he was basically helpless - but if he was out here on the slope, he was willing to bet Cloud was out here somewhere, too.

"Where's Cloud?" he asked Kinya urgently when a quick look around didn't show any sign of the blond. Was it possible he was still sleeping safely back in the tent?

Any hope of that was dashed when the gold shook her head and warked, ruffling her feathers and stretching her neck out in the direction of the cave entrance. She then looked pleadingly back at Zack and made mournful little crooning noises deep in her throat.

"Down there, huh?" Zack concluded grimly. The cave entrance was too small for Kinya to enter; she must not have been able to wake Cloud before he'd gone inside. "Don't worry, girl. I'll get him back. Can you get me down there?" He could ride bareback for such a short distance, and otherwise he was going to be slowed by the damage he'd done to his feet. With no items or materia he couldn't heal himself, and he didn't think taking the time to go back to camp for his equipment would be wise.

She half-crouched and he slung himself over her back. In a few quick, teeth-jarring bounds she reached the cave entrance and danced from foot to foot, obviously impatient for him to bring Cloud back to her.

"Just wait here," he instructed her as he slid off her back. Ignoring the pain in his feet, wondering how he'd managed to sleepwalk through it, he trotted off into the cave.

He didn't have a light this time, and once he'd gone around two or three curves the ambient light from the opening was gone. In the pitch darkness, however, his other senses seemed enhanced, and he could smell the strong copper tang of blood and the stench of mako in a trail leading from the entrance deeper into the caves. Cloud had walked his feet to ribbons the same way Zack had, and the trail of bloody footprints was fresh enough for him to follow if he was careful.

Of course, the scent trail might point him in the right direction, but it didn't stop him from running into walls or rock formations. In short order he was bruised and scraped on all sides, and if he hadn't been a SOLDIER he'd probably have been courting a concussion or broken bones.

Zack moved as fast as he dared, and was gratified to hear the faint sound of footsteps before too many minutes had passed. Cloud was just ahead of him somewhere, and they still had a long way to go before they reached the Lifestream pool again. Barring any further unforeseen disasters, he should be able to catch up with the blond well before Cloud got to the pool.

"Cloud!" he called, one hand out before him as he picked up his pace marginally. "Cloud! Wake up! Stop moving, damn it!"

The younger man didn't respond, but now Zack could hear him breathing over the shuffling noise of his footsteps. A moment later Zack literally ran into the blond, sending them both tumbling to the rocky ground together.

"Cloud!" Anticipating another attack attempt, like what had happened the last few times Cloud had been jarred unexpectedly out of sleep, Zack quickly found and pinned the younger man's arms to his side and shook him roughly. "Cloud, can you hear me?"

Jolted suddenly awake, Cloud gave a muffled shout and tried to flail, only to find himself pinned. For a panicked moment he thought he was under attack before Zack's voice finally penetrated. "Zack?" he gasped, confused by the feel of rock beneath him and utter lack of light. "What the hell is going on?" He'd been sleeping in the tent, wrapped up in his bedroll with Zack next to him. How had he gotten back into the caves? Was this another dream?

Relieved more than he could say to hear Cloud speak coherently, Zack sighed and relaxed his grip on the younger man. "You were sleepwalking," he explained, shifting so he was sitting beside Cloud rather than on him, careful not to lose contact with his friend entirely. "We both were, actually. Kinya managed to wake me up before I got to the caves, but you were already out of her reach."

Taking stock of himself, Cloud grimaced as he realized how hurt he was. His feet were throbbing with pain now that he was aware of them, and several bloody spots on his fingers and ears were probably from Kinya's attempts to wake him. Oddly, he wasn't even bruised on his front or his sides - he'd been navigating his way through the twisted tunnels as if he'd been wide awake and had plenty of light, not asleep and in the dark.

Shaken, he ran a hand over his face. "I can hear it," he realized, biting his lip. "The Lifestream, it was calling to me. It's still calling to me. I was... there was something..." He frowned, the details already fading from his mind. The siren song of the Lifestream was still there, though, tempting him to just give in and release himself to it once more.

"Yeah, me too," Zack agreed. He was more than a little unnerved. This was the second time they'd nearly been lost to the Lifestream, and this time he didn't think they'd have made it out again. Cloud seemed more strongly attracted than he was, but considering how much more exposure he'd had to it that was probably to be expected. The fact that Zack had been drawn as well meant that they couldn't count on him to get Cloud out of it if it happened again.

"You think Sephiroth is behind this?" Cloud asked warily. Zack had told him about what had happened while he'd been in that near-comatose state again; Cloud had been sickened by the thought of how close they'd both come to losing themselves forever. He was fairly sure now that Sephiroth had wanted them both to come up here together; he'd been able to use Cloud as bait to lure Zack into the Lifestream, where Sephiroth was more likely to be able to overpower him. And if he could call them in their sleep, they wouldn't be safe until they were out of easy walking range of the Lifestream pools.

"Maybe, maybe not," Zack said grimly. "Whether he is or not, we need to get out of here. All the way out of here, I mean. Someone else is going to have to search the crater, if anyone does. This place is too dangerous for us."

"Damn it!" Cloud swore, and pounded his fist on the rock. "This is ridiculous. I should be stronger than this! At this rate, Sephiroth is going to win!" After all his struggles, after everything he'd overcome, was he still this weak? Could Sephiroth still manipulate him so easily?

He had to find an answer, before the bastard took over Zack completely and he was forced to face the choice of letting Sephiroth win, or killing his best friend. It was a choice he couldn't live with, no matter what he decided. Frustrated, he punched the rock again, hard enough to make bits of it crack.

"Stop that," Zack ordered him, and caught his hand before he could do enough damage to make it start bleeding too. "There is no 'should be'. Everyone has limits, and this is one of ours. He's not going to win, because we're not going to let him win. We'll just have to find another way of stopping him."

Cloud nodded reluctantly, but inside he was desperately afraid they were running out of time. "We need to get back to the camp and get our equipment," he said.

"Yeah, and reassure Kinya before she plucks all her feathers out from worry or something," Zack said, forcing a note of levity into his voice. Shoving himself painfully to his feet, he caught Cloud's hand and tugged him up.

Accepting the help, Cloud staggered to his feet and nearly fell into Zack once he was up. The older man caught him, and impulsively Cloud wrapped his arms around his friend's waist and hid his face against Zack's shoulder. It was easier to block out the call of the Lifestream when he could focus on such a tangible reason for him to go on living. It was also easier to stop worrying about Sephiroth for a moment when he could focus on Zack instead. "It helps," was all he said in an awkward attempt at explanation.

Not begrudging Cloud the embrace in the least, Zack returned it and buried his nose in the blond's soft, spiky hair. "Yeah, it does," he agreed, and it was true. The subtle tug he hadn't even consciously realized was there was fading, making it easier for him to breathe.

Of course, Cloud realized, being this close to Zack presented its own problems. Especially considering neither of them was wearing very much. He winced as he realized his body was reacting, and they were pressed closely enough together that it would be only a matter of moments before the former SOLDIER realized Cloud was hard against him.

Then Zack shifted, and Cloud was astonished to discover that his friend was just as hard as he was. He knew why he was reacting, it was all but inevitable when he was so close to the object of his crush in such intimate darkness, but why was Zack aroused? "Zack?" he whispered, confused and struggling not to react to the feel of Zack against him.

"Gods, Cloud," Zack groaned, shivering as he felt Cloud rock up against him slightly. Before he quite knew what was happening they were kissing, a hard, passionate embrace that had more to do with a need for physical comfort and reassurance than affection. He had no idea which of them had started it, but it was obvious that neither of them was eager to finish it.

Since the morning at Tifa's when he'd first realized that half of his reasons for not acting on his attraction to Cloud were no longer valid, Zack had been struggling with himself over his growing lust for his friend. Reminders that Cloud was taken didn't carry much weight when Tifa herself had said she wouldn't be angry with them if they did end up together, and admonitions that he shouldn't take advantage of Cloud's crush on him grew thinner with each day that passed as they rebuilt their friendship into something better than it had ever been before.

And now, with both of them frightened more than either was willing to admit by what had happened that day, they were clinging to each other with the fierceness of a drowning victim clutching at a lifeline. This was real and tangible and had nothing to do with Sephiroth or the Lifestream, and so it was something safe to focus on. The pain of their injuries faded into insignificance as lust and pleasure swept over them.

Without thinking about it Zack pressed Cloud back into the nearest cave wall, hard enough to have left bruises if Cloud hadn't been SOLDIER-tough. Cloud didn't seem to mind, yielding to Zack and even encouraging him by rocking his hips up again. Some part of Zack was distantly aware that this was probably a really bad idea, but he couldn't quite remember why.

Then Cloud turned the tables on him, pushing away from the wall and shoving Zack back, instead. All the breath went out of Zack's lungs as he hit the other side of the tunnel, and Cloud didn't give him a chance to get it back again, leaving him dizzy and breathless as they kissed. Usually Zack had been the dominant partner in his previous sexual encounters, but he found he didn't mind in the least having Cloud take control from him.

Odin alone knew how far they might have gone, but a shrill and plaintive 'kweh!' interrupted them. Pulling away with a gasp, Cloud steadied himself with both hands on Zack's shoulders and tried to remember how to breathe normally. "Kinya," he said hoarsely.

"Yeah, she was pretty worried about you," Zack informed him, his own voice coming out more than a little husky. He cleared his throat and attempted to clear his mind as well, with limited success. "We should go, before we get sucked back in." And he wasn't certain he was even talking about the call of the Lifestream anymore.

They helped each other walk because otherwise neither of them could have stayed on their feet, but the closeness that had seemed natural and enticing a moment before suddenly felt awkward and uncertain. Neither of them quite knew what to say, and the longer the silence dragged on the more difficult it became to break it.

Finally they turned a corner and had to squint as the moonlight shone down through the cave entrance, unbearably bright to their dark-adapted eyes. Cloud blinked several times rapidly, forcing his eyes to adjust, and found Kinya standing just outside the entrance hopping from foot to foot anxiously.

Grateful for the distraction, he let go of Zack and limped over to lean on her instead, stroking her crest feathers as she butted her head into his chest and warked at him sadly. "It's okay, girl, I'm fine," he murmured, trying to reassure her. "Thanks to you." She nibbled gently at his fingertips in a clear apology for the bloody marks she'd left behind, and he gave her a small smile. "It's okay, Kinya. You did the right thing, trying to wake me up. Are you up for a hard ride? We need to get home as fast as we can. The sooner we're away from here, the better."

She warked in agreement and turned to present her side, fluffing one wing at both of them. Cloud scrambled up onto her back, and offered a hand up to Zack.

For a long moment Zack looked up at him, and something unspoken passed between them - an agreement, to set aside what had happened for now and concentrate on getting out of there. Zack wasn't sure whether to be grateful not to have to deal with consequences, or worried that it would come back to bite them in the ass. Because it was a sure bet that 'for now' would end up being 'for always', since when would either of them ever want to bring up the subject?

On the other hand, they did need to get the hell out of there. Zack nodded slightly and accepted the hand up, and let Cloud pull him onto Kinya's back.

If walking next to each other had felt uncomfortable after the kiss, then clutching at Cloud as they bounced along riding bareback was a hundred times worse. At least, Zack thought wryly, the worst of his arousal had been dampened both by the shock of Kinya's cry and the awkward atmosphere between them, or the ride would have left him in serious pain. Since he didn't hear any agonized noises from Cloud, he assumed the same was true of the younger man.

"We'll head back to Edge as fast as we can, and let Tifa know what happened," Cloud called back over his shoulder, trying his best to ignore the feel of Zack pressed up against his back. It was a lot more difficult than it had been before. The shock of that kiss was still working its way through his system, and he wasn't quite sure what the hell to make of it. Did that mean Zack wanted him back? Or had it just been a reaction to the scare they'd had?

Why couldn't anything ever be simple in his life? Cloud wondered ruefully. No matter what he did, it always seemed to end up in a complicated mess. Now he just had to pray that his friendship with Zack wouldn't end as badly as all the other messes he'd made in his life.

By the time they dragged themselves back into Edge midway through the next morning, they were completely exhausted. Kinya had run her heart out, but even her legendary stamina had limits and Cloud could feel her trembling beneath him with each step. She'd been reduced to a not very fast walk, her head and tail drooping so low they threatened to drag in the dust. He felt bad for pushing her so hard, but even with an ocean and a good chunk of two continents between him and the Lifestream he was still nervous.

Tugging on the reins, he directed Kinya back towards the 7th Heaven rather than her stables. It was closer, and he could trust one of the neighbours to walk her out and make sure she got taken care of before she was stabled again. He certainly wasn't in any shape to do it himself, and Zack was only marginally better off.

Besides, Tifa needed to know what had happened. She'd kill him if he tried to keep something like this from her.

Holed up in her own tiny office working on the inventory and records for the bar, Tifa paused midway through adding a column of numbers when she heard heavy footsteps in the back hall. The kids were still out at the school that had been organized by a former teacher, and anyway she'd heard Cloud come home exhausted often enough to recognize the sound of it. The fact that Zack didn't sound any better worried her even more.

Setting her pen down, she pushed away from the desk and hurried down the stairs to meet them. "What happened?" she blurted out when she got a look at them. Neither of them was visibly injured, but they looked like they ought to be. Both men were worn and had the pinched look that comes from a combination of fear, pain, and worry.

"Long story," Zack told her with a sigh, running one hand through his hair. The battle against Sephiroth in the Lifestream had drained him more than he'd first realized, and the lack of sleep hadn't helped. All he really wanted was to collapse and sleep for a week, but he'd fought battles in worse shape than this and he could keep going as long as he had to. He'd pay for it later, though.

"Sit, both of you," Tifa ordered sternly. "I'll get you something to eat, and you can tell me what's going on."

Already crumpled into one of the chairs with his head in his hands, Cloud looked up long enough to ask, "Can you find someone to take Kinya back to the stable? She's had it rougher than we have, and I hate to leave her out there in that state."

"Of course," Tifa agreed, surprised. Cloud didn't often take the chocobo out, and she couldn't imagine what would have driven him to push her so far he was worried about her. She ducked out the back door, and gasped when she saw the state the poor bird was in.

"Oh, sweet Shiva," she murmured, running one hand over the drooping hen's shoulder and neck. "You poor thing. What on earth have you three been up to?"

"Kweh," Kinya told her wearily. Sighing, Tifa patted her one last time before she straightened.

"I'll find someone to take you home and give you a good feed and a rubdown," she promised the gold. And then she was going back inside and getting some answers, because she really couldn't imagine what could possibly have been so important that Cloud would treat his beloved bird so badly.

Finding someone to take care of her was a matter of moments, and Tifa grabbed a couple of bowls of stew leftover from dinner the night before on her way through the kitchen. In the doorway she paused, looking at the two men in confusion.

In all the times they'd come by the bar to visit, unless it was completely packed they'd invariably sat in the same two seats, though they switched places according to whichever of them got there first. She'd never really put any thought to it, assuming it was just a matter of preference and habit. Now, although they'd taken their customary chairs, they were sitting noticeably further apart than usual. They were at opposite corners of the table, essentially, as far as they could get and still be at the same table.

Baffled, she studied their body language for some indication of why they'd changed suddenly. It was hard to be sure, because their weariness was so overwhelming it was difficult to see anything else, but it seemed like neither of them was willing to look at the other. Which was bizarre, because usually Cloud followed Zack like a beacon, and Zack was forever touching Cloud's shoulder or ruffling his hair or otherwise in contact with him.

"All right, start from the beginning," Tifa told them, moving towards them and setting the bowls in front of them. She was even more concerned when they both looked blankly at the stew for a moment before seeming to remember what they were supposed to do with it. "Where were the two of you?"

Without thinking Cloud and Zack traded a glance to see who should start. Almost instantly they looked back at their bowls again. The awkwardness between them hadn't passed with the journey; if anything it had gotten worse thanks to the enforced closeness. Cloud felt ready to crawl under the table and die whenever Zack looked at him; he couldn't believe he'd let his crush get the better of him like that.

At least Zack hadn't pushed him away in disgust or something. He was still trying to figure out just what it meant that the older man had in fact returned the kiss, and seemed just as into it as Cloud had been, but then hadn't said or done anything since to indicate further interest. Having Tifa there like a silent accusation that he'd been cheating didn't help any, either.

"We went up to the North Crater," he started the explanation, using the story to help get his mind off what had happened. Though that was one detail he definitely wasn't including in what he told Tifa!

Listening as the two men took turns relating what had happened, Tifa felt chills go down her back. The thought that she'd nearly lost Cloud to mako exposure again was bad enough, but the idea that Sephiroth had been lurking there just out of sight, waiting for the chance to make his move, was terrifying.

"What are you going to do now?" she wanted to know when they seemed to be finished. Once again she was getting the sense that they were keeping something from her, and she was starting to have suspicions about what kind of 'something' it might be, based on their behaviour. But dealing with Sephiroth's threat was much more important, at least for the moment.

"I don't know," Cloud admitted wearily. "We can't go back there, that much is certain. But we don't have any other leads."

"I can't help but wonder if he was trying to keep us from finding something," Zack put in. Leaning one elbow on the table, he rested his chin on his palm and toyed with his spoon with his free hand. The suspicious look Tifa was giving them said she was already onto the fact that something had happened, but unfortunately he didn't have any reassurances for her this time. He wasn't sure what was between him and Cloud at this point, and he was even less certain of where it was going.

"Either that, or he just wanted the chance to lure us into his territory," Cloud muttered sourly. "He's got a hell of a lot more control over himself and the world around him in the Lifestream than we ever could. He spent a long time in it, after all. And Jenova may not have been an Ancient, but his connection to her seems to have given him powers over it all the same."

"Still, he went to a lot of effort to chase us off," Zack argued. "For all we know, his big weak point was right around the corner. We'll never know if we can't find some way to go back there."

"Then I'll go," Tifa said, and they both looked at her in surprise. She raised an eyebrow at them and planted her hands on her hips when their expressions turned doubtful. "Don't you give me that look," she scolded both of them. "I may not be a SOLDIER, but I also don't have your weakness to mako exposure. I'll take Cid with me, and maybe see if we can find Yuffie or Vincent. We'll scour the whole place from top to bottom. If there's anything there to find, we'll find it."

"So we're just supposed to let you go off and maybe get yourself killed by Sephiroth while we laze around here?" Cloud asked in disgust. He didn't like the idea of sending Tifa into the caves, but he also didn't have an argument against it that wouldn't leave her mad at him for a month. She wasn't the sort of girl to appreciate being protected like a helpless innocent, that was for sure. And she was right that none of the others had nearly the same potential to be sucked in by the call of the Lifestream - or Sephiroth - as he and Zack did. It was the logical solution.

"You're damn right, that's what you'll do," Tifa agreed fiercely. "You both need a break. Look at you! You're ready to keel over into your stew. Sephiroth hasn't been seen the entire time you were gone - it's obvious he is following you two, so it's not as if we'll have to face him up there. And anything else, we can handle."

Raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, Zack couldn't help but smile at her. "All right, all right, no need to bite our heads off," he said, amused despite himself at her ferocity. "We'll stay put like good little boys. Right, Cloud?" Forgetting himself, he grinned at his friend, and sighed when Cloud glanced at him and away again quickly.

"I still don't like it," Cloud grumbled, but it was a half-hearted protest. The truth was that he was exhausted and not in any shape for a battle of any kind, certainly not another attempt to resist the call of the Lifestream. The fact that Sephiroth hadn't been seen while they were away only depressed him more; it was yet one more piece of evidence in the growing mountain that pointed to Zack as the carrier.

"Nobody is asking you to like it," Tifa replied tartly. "Just to do it. And you're not being given much choice about that." And hopefully Zack and Cloud would take the opportunity to sort out whatever it was that had made them so uncomfortable with each other; as much as she disliked the idea of possibly losing Cloud, watching him be so painfully awkward with his best friend was much worse.

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