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 14

Stepping down off the airship's ramp, Cloud paused as the warmth of the sun hit him with the force of a Fire3 spell. The difference between the cold, perpetually grey weather around Edge and the humid, tropical warmth of Costa del Sol was so marked that it was hard to believe they were at almost exactly the same latitude.

The little resort town had been mostly spared by the ravages of the battle between Holy and Meteor, and was easily the nicest remaining city on the planet. Cloud had been here a few times delivering mail and packages, but he'd never allowed himself to stay and enjoy it.

"Kweh!" Karasu protested the halt, flapping his wings and shifting from foot to foot. Like most chocobo he didn't really like travelling by airship, hating the close confines of the stall and the inability to go running whenever he felt like it.

"Yeah, sorry," Cloud murmured, stroking his neck soothingly before gathering up the reins and moving forward again.

"I guess some things do change," Zack said in bemusement, following behind his friend with Kinya at his side. The gold was still visibly weary from their trip to the crater, but the warm sun made her perk up and fluff her feathers eagerly.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked, confused. He surveyed what was visible of the town, but it looked exactly as he remembered it always looking. When he'd first run away to Midgar to try to join SOLDIER, he'd made the crossing from Costa del Sol to Junon and the town had looked just the same then as it did now.

"You," Zack told him, smiling in amusement at Cloud's obvious confusion. "Time was, you'd have been staggering off that ship, swearing you were never letting me drag you onto a ship again. You didn't so much as turn green."

"Oh, that." Cloud flushed. "Thinking I was essentially you for so long had a few nice side effects. You never got motion sick, after all. I still get a little nauseous if the weather is really turbulent or the waves are bad, but I just ignore it."

"I always told you it was mostly in your head," Zack said, reaching to ruffle his hair. Cloud ducked out from under the touch, threatening to retaliate, but pulled up short when Karasu warked irritably.

"I guess we'd better get them to the stables," he said with an apologetic pat to the big black's shoulder. "If he's going to race tonight, he needs a chance to rest and recover from the flight first."

Unfortunately Dio hadn't been able to send a ship until that morning, so they'd just taken the bike out to the chocobo farm and let Kinya run along unburdened behind them. Zack had been delighted by all the different chocobo that Cloud had stabled there, almost none of them the regular yellow colour.

"Then what, hit the beach?" Zack asked. He could smell the ocean, the unique mix of salt and fish that made brine. The sun was warm, and even here on the landing pad there was golden sand scattered over the pavement in little drifts at the edges. Gulls cried from the air above, and there were palm trees everywhere.

"You can if you want," Cloud shrugged. "I'm going to look over the track, try to get a sense of what we'll be running over. Joe's probably been here for days, and Teioh is fast enough that misjudging the terrain even a little could mean the difference between winning and losing."

It had just occurred to him that if Zack stayed true to form, going to the beach with him would mean watching him flirt with every girl in a half-mile radius, and Cloud wasn't really sure how well he would take that. Just the thought made him horribly jealous, no matter how much he told himself he had no claim on his friend. Worse, since Zack didn't have a girlfriend waiting back home there was nothing to keep the former SOLDIER from following through on his flirting with a willing girl, and Cloud knew he didn't want to see that.

Even if it might be the best thing that could happen, for both of them. Zack focusing his attention elsewhere would effectively solve Cloud's quandary for him.

"Workaholic," Zack teased him lightly. "You just don't know how to relax and have fun, do you? I swear, you're worse now than you used to be, and that's saying something. I'll let you get away with it for now since I want to see you win this race, but once it's done I'm dragging you out with me and making you relax by force if necessary."

"We'll see," Cloud replied, smiling slightly at the threat. "Look, why don't you go on ahead? I can take the birds from here. I can tell you're itching to get to the water."

"You sure?" Zack raised an eyebrow at him, and Cloud nodded. "All right, then. I'll meet you by the track before the race starts, if I don't see you before then." Handing over Kinya's reins, Zack stood and watched as his friend led the birds towards the gaudy, glittering sign that marked the entrance to the new Silver Oasis entertainment park.

Once Cloud was out of sight, Zack sighed and turned to head for the beach. The first thing he did once he hit the beach was to stop and pull off his long-sleeved shirt and pants, revealing the shorts he'd worn beneath. He didn't know where this villa of Cloud's was, so he couldn't actually go swimming, but he wanted to at least wade through the water. Stuffing the clothes into the duffle bag he'd brought and slinging it and his boots over his shoulder, Zack sauntered out onto the hot sand.

The second thing he did was pause to buy a cheap pair of sunglasses, to hide the telltale glow of his eyes. In the bright sunlight it was probably barely noticeable even if you knew what you were looking for, but Cloud had warned him and Zack had seen for himself that SOLDIERs weren't always welcome everywhere anymore. Besides, even at the height of Shinra's popularity, normal people had often been nervous around SOLDIERs. Zack wanted to get his mind off the mess with Cloud, and the best way to do that would be to flirt with some pretty girls. That would be a hell of a lot easier to do if they weren't shying away from him because of his eyes.

The pretty girls were certainly easy enough to find; they were everywhere on the beach, swimming or playing beach ball or stretched out to tan. Many of them had equally handsome guys with them, and Zack didn't even bother to try his luck with those ones, but there were plenty who were unaccompanied or with a group of other girls.

With the wind mussing his hair and the sea spray scattering droplets of water over his bare chest, Zack knew he looked damned good. Weeks of work with Cloud had put muscle back on his frame, and if he wasn't as golden tanned as he'd once been he wasn't a sickly white anymore either. Apparently the girls agreed, because within minutes of him starting to walk along the water's edge he had no less than three companions, and others were already looking him over with interest.

To his surprise, though, he found he couldn't get his heart into the flirting. It was fun, flirting always was, but he couldn't make himself take it seriously. The girls were gorgeous, the atmosphere was perfect for picking up a companion - and all Zack could think was that it was a shame that Cloud wasn't there so they could surf or play beach ball together.

Though he kept laughing and chatting with the girls, inwardly Zack was groaning and mentally smacking himself. He was in so much trouble, if he was surrounded by pretty, willing girls and all he could think about was his best friend. The kiss in the crater and the awkwardness that had ensued had been about lust, and lust he could deal with. But this was something skirting perilously close to love, and he hadn't even realized it had been building inside him until he was slapped in the face with it. That was the problem with falling for a friend. You didn't see it coming, it just sort of crept up on you when you weren't looking.

And he had no idea what he was going to do about it. He could probably make a move on Cloud and have it be reciprocated; the younger man's crush on him had faded with time and proximity as Zack had hoped, but that kiss in the crater showed that Cloud wasn't any more oblivious to Zack than Zack was to him. On the other hand, Cloud had been consistently skittish with Tifa any time emotions or commitment got involved, and Zack had no real reason to think the blond would behave any differently with him. The last thing he wanted was to drive Cloud off, especially right now when they had this mess with Sephiroth to deal with.

If he was being honest with himself, though, Zack had to admit his real reason for holding back was fear. With Aerith, things had sort of just naturally fallen into place for them, and it had never gotten too serious even at the height of their relationship. But Cloud was his best friend, and that was the sort of thing that could be seriously fucked up by a failed attempt at a relationship. And other than Aerith, Zack had never been in a situation where any significant part of his heart was on the line. He suddenly had a great deal more sympathy for the guys in his unit who had been nerve-wracked over the idea of approaching the girls they fancied. It was a lot easier to be brave and casually charming when you weren't courting any real rejection.

One way or another, he had to sort this out soon. There was Tifa to consider too; Zack had no desire to hurt her, and sending Cloud mixed signals could easily do that. For the moment, though, he resolved to do his best to put it out of his mind and just enjoy the warm sun and pleasant company. Maybe he would even succeed in finding someone interesting enough to distract him from the feelings he hadn't realized he had for Cloud.

After a couple of hours without things going beyond light flirting - much to the obvious disappointment of some of the more aggressive girls - Zack finally excused himself by saying that he was supposed to meet a friend before the race. It was even true, though he was sure the girls thought he was feeding them a line. They pouted coquettishly at him and promised to be on the beach tomorrow if he was looking for company again, and at last he managed to extract himself from their midst.

He found Cloud sitting at the crest of a hill overlooking part of the track, one leg pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on his knee. The blond had been there for some time, thinking hard and trying to put himself into the right frame of mind for the race.

It hadn't been easy. He had a lot on his mind, to say the least. Any time he managed to put Sephiroth out of his thoughts, he went straight back to contemplating the mess that was his current relationship with Zack. And thoughts of Zack eventually led him back to his fear of what would happen if he didn't find a way to force Sephiroth out of his friend's mind, so that brought him right back to square one.

By the time Zack found him, though, he'd managed to put most of it out of his active thoughts, at least. He'd been just listening to the sound of the early evening breeze whispering over the scrub grass and sand of the dunes, and to the distant roar and crash of the surf on the beach. It helped; he felt more peaceful than he had since they'd first realized that Sephiroth was rearing his head again.

"Hey," he said as Zack approached, the word both an acknowledgement and an invitation. He didn't take his eyes off the track just yet, not wanting to give up the sense of peace he'd found.

"Hey," Zack replied. "The races start soon, you know. Yours is last, but you should probably be going to change and get ready." Despite his words, however, he accepted the tacit invitation and flung himself down to sprawl over the sand next to Cloud.

Glancing at his friend from the corner of his eyes, Cloud attempted to tell himself that he wasn't relieved. If Zack had gotten laid, he wasn't showing any signs of it; he was missing that sense of relaxation, the loss of tension that was visible in small ways if you knew what you were looking for. He smelled like sun and seawater, sand and salt, nothing more.

"No luck with the ladies?" he asked, making a joke out of it but hoping he was right.

Rubbing a hand through his hair, Zack gave his friend a sheepish grin. "Nah. Wasn't really trying. Flirted plenty, but... they all seem kind of shallow, you know?" He shrugged. "I guess, after everything we've been through, most peoples' lives and concerns seem sort of empty to me. Doesn't help that I was spoiled by Aerith. I'm not really interested in flings and one night stands, and I don't really have the time, energy or inclination to pursue anything deeper than that right now. Maybe after we get this whole mess with Sephiroth sorted out." And after he'd dealt with his growing feelings for Cloud, he added privately.

Trying not to be visibly pleased to hear that he wasn't going to have to deal with the idea of Zack taking a girl home with him for the night or something, Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I understand," he agreed. "I'm lucky to have Tifa." Even if he wasn't sure just where he stood with her - or where he wanted to stand with her.

Doing his best to put those thoughts out of his mind, he stood and dusted the sand off his pants. "I should get ready. I talked to Dio, there's a spot for you in the VIP section of the stands. He's got cameras and video screens set up, so you should be able to see the whole race, and you'll be sitting right at the start and finish line."

"Sounds awesome," Zack said with genuine enthusiasm as he stood as well. He really was looking forward to seeing this race, even if he still couldn't quite picture Cloud as a world-famous chocobo jockey. "I'll cheer so loud you'll hear me from all the way on the other side of the track."

"I don't doubt it," Cloud agreed with a small smile. "Zack..." Hesitating, he searched his friend's face, not even sure what he was looking for.

"What?" Zack tilted his head curiously, looking back at him. He was suddenly a little too aware of how close they were standing, and the way the blowing wind made strands of Cloud's bright hair drift over his face, catching on his lips. Swallowing, Zack broke eye contact and crossed his arms over his chest, putting a bit of mental distance between them. He was in so much trouble.

Seeing that, Cloud's smile grew. Looked like his suspicions had been right after all. Now he just needed to decided what he was going to do about it.

But first, he had a race to win. "Nothing," he replied, shaking his head and offering his hand. "Wish me luck?"

That much, at least, Zack could do. Gripping Cloud's wrist firmly, he grinned as the younger man closed his fingers over Zack's wrist as well. "You don't need it, but good luck," he encouraged the blond. "Go show them why SOLDIERs kick ass, kid."

Nodding, Cloud squeezed Zack's arm one more time before breaking the grip. "I'll watch for you at the finish line," he promised. And once the race was over... well, then he would see. Breaking into a jog, Cloud headed for the stables and left the hill - and Zack - behind.

One thing Cloud hadn't liked about Gold Saucer and still didn't like now was that he wasn't the one getting Karasu ready to race. The track attendants handled the birds, and the jockeys didn't see them until they mounted up at the starting line. Supposedly it kept the jockeys honest, not allowing them a chance to slip their bird any drugs or alter the weights on their saddles, but Cloud had long suspected that the track attendants were probably susceptible to bribes. Not tonight, though. Dio had gone all out on security measures, not wanting anyone to be able to claim the match had involved cheating.

So instead of saddling Karasu and warming him up, Cloud exchanged innocuous greetings with Joe as they both dressed in their racing silks. At least they didn't have to make small talk with any of the other jockeys who were riding in the earlier races; as the premier event, they got their own tiny room.

The nervous energy of the race was starting to rise in Cloud's system, making his nerves sing the same way they did when he went into battle. Already his enhanced reflexes were kicking in, and everything seemed to be moving just a little bit slower than usual as his body shifted to what he thought of as battle mode.

The change in perspective made the time drag on unbearably. Now Cloud knew why Zack had forever been pacing or doing exercises before missions or on long trips; it was an attempt to keep the battle tension from building up to the point where it would do more harm than good while the minutes ticked by at an excruciatingly slow pace.

At last a race official poked her head into the room to tell them it was time. Cloud and Joe shook themselves out of their respective pre-race meditations, nodded once at each other, and headed out to the track.

Karasu and Teioh were saddled and waiting off to one side, and Cloud moved to take his bird's reins from the attendant. The two blacks were warking at each other and ruffling their feathers in threat display; they knew they were going to be competing against each other, and they had their own sort of pride. Thankfully the attendants had known enough to keep them well separated, so there hadn't been any fights before the race even started.

Swinging himself up into the saddle, Cloud settled himself into place before the bird's big wings and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. His racing silks, blue trimmed with gold, shone under the bright lights that had been set up over the track. Glancing up into the stands, he searched for Zack's familiar face. It didn't take him long to spot the older man, standing at a nearby rail instead of sitting in the seat that had been reserved for him.

Seeing Cloud looking at him, Zack grinned and waved a blue and gold pennant he'd bought for five gil from one of the concession stands, shouting his encouragement. He knew Cloud probably wouldn't be able to hear him over the general roar of the crowd, which had increased drastically the moment the two jockeys appeared, but the sentiment would be appreciated nonetheless.

Waving to show that he'd seen Zack, Cloud gave his friend a thumbs-up and turned his attention back to the track. Karasu was shifting impatiently from foot to foot, straining his head against the reins in the direction of the starting line. He was eager to be off, bored after such a long stretch of inactivity at the farm.

Teioh was prancing in place, his head held high and playing up to the crowd. The older black had always been a crowd pleaser, and Cloud had to smile at the sight of him. Joe was letting him have his head for the most part, though he kept the bird from wearing himself out.

There was a warning buzz, and the light in front of the starting line turned on, shining bright red. That was the signal for the racers to move their birds into position, and Cloud eased up on the reins as he nudged Karasu in the direction of their appointed spot. Once inside the familiar archway the bird settled down and dug his feet into the dirt to give himself a good start, head down and bright eyes fixed on the light that would turn to green to start the race.

As the nominal favourite Joe had the inside lane to start, but for such a long race it didn't really matter. The course meandered in both directions; the only time the inside track would matter would be at the end in a close finish. Teioh's head was up, but Cloud knew better than to think the seemingly casual pose meant the bird wasn't ready to run. Joe liked to hold back at the beginning, letting his opponents wear their birds out before putting on a burst of speed and passing them at the end. Teioh actually didn't run as well if he was out in front and the finish line wasn't in sight, Cloud knew from experience.

The warning flag went up, and Cloud rose in the saddle so he was balanced in the stirrups with his weight centred over the base of Karasu's neck. That allowed the bird to use his wings for steering and balance, and cut down on the drag of the wind resistance over Cloud as he hunched in on himself.

The big black tensed beneath Cloud as the light changed to yellow, and the moment it turned green Karasu burst out of the starting gate in a sprint. Cloud let him have his head, knowing that fighting the black to try to hold him back at the beginning would only wear them both out. Dimly he was aware of the excited roar of the crowd, and the droning of the announcer over the loudspeaker, but he tuned all the external noise out. The only thing he cared about was the feel of Karasu running strong and fast beneath him, and the sound of Teioh following behind and to one side of them.

Karasu warked happily and stretched his legs, lengthening his gait further yet. The distance between the two birds inched wider as they swept around the first turn and moved out of direct line of sight of the stands, but Cloud knew better than to think it was any kind of true advantage. As they hit the second turn and he saw the first terrain change coming up, he finally reined Karasu in.

Warking a protest at the demand, Karasu reluctantly shortened his stride again. Now he was running instead of sprinting, the steady ground-eating lope that could let him cover long distances in amazingly short periods of time, but which didn't put too much strain on his endurance.

Dio no longer had access to the high-powered holographic projectors that had allowed him to create literally any environment for the track in Gold Saucer, but he'd risen admirably to the challenge. They left the hard-packed dirt of the track and entered what to all appearances seemed to be a natural trail in dense forest, left behind by some local grazer herds. The ground rose and fell unevenly, sodden and half-rotted leaves squelched under the bird's big feet, and bushes and trees provided unexpected obstacles in the path around every turn. In several places they had to scrape through close stands of saplings, the thin branches catching and tearing at feathers and clothing alike. In others, whole trees had fallen across the path, forcing them to jump or even climb over them.

On anything less than a green mountain chocobo, it would have been an impossible trail to follow. For a black, it was only mildly challenging. Karasu took the obstacles as if they had been designed to entertain him, not as if they were difficult in any way. Cloud clung to his back and let him pick his own way over the biggest trees, knowing the bird's instincts were far better for path-finding than Cloud's eyes would be.

Behind him he could hear Teioh crashing through the brush as well, closer than he would have liked. The other black wouldn't have any more trouble with the forest terrain than Karasu did, of course. In fact, in some ways he had it easier, because Karasu was breaking the trail for him. Grimacing, Cloud realized that taking the lead in this race hadn't necessarily been the best decision.

Still, they were a long way from the finish line yet. They broke out of the heavy forest and found themselves facing a steep incline, with rocks in sizes varying from gravel to boulders strewn over the path. Karasu spread his wings a bit for balance and charged up the hill, heading into the artificial mountain terrain without a pause. Now being in the lead was an advantage again, as bits of shale and other rocks spun out from under Karasu's feet and pelted down the trail towards Teioh.

Here they managed to put a bit more distance into their lead. The other black could handle the steep inclines and uncertain footing, of course, but Teioh was a racing bird and had never been anything else. Karasu, on the other hand, had travelled over real mountains on numerous occasions, and been forced to dodge fiends and monsters while doing it. The difference was telling, and Cloud whooped breathlessly when they crested a ridge and he glanced back to see that Joe was falling behind.

Unfortunately the mountain terrain ended sooner than Cloud would have liked, turning into gentle foothills and then flattening out onto the sandy beach that was the natural terrain for this area. They were running alongside the ocean now, and the deep, dry sand made for even tougher footing than the shale had. Cloud was just grateful they weren't running over the larger sand dunes. Getting up the side of one of those constantly shifting hills would have been difficult even for a black, and the last thing he wanted was to lose the race because Karasu had injured himself in a fall.

Here the track was defined by low sandbanks lined with small lights, and Cloud stuck to the centre as it twisted and turned along the shore. Behind him he heard a sharp 'kweh!', and when he glanced back over his shoulder he spotted Teioh sprinting over the sand towards them. Joe was shortening the gap again, wanting to be closer before they hit the final stretch so it wouldn't be so difficult for Teioh to catch up and surpass them. Cloud tucked himself a little lower over Karasu's back, but didn't dare push the bird any faster. They would need every bit of speed and stamina that Karasu had left to deal with Teioh's final push.

When the path defined by the lights veered out into the water, Cloud at first thought the track officials had made a mistake and put the course too close to the water before the tide had come in. After a moment he realized it had been deliberate; the lights were now dangling from little buoys anchored at intervals in the water. Grimacing, he drew a deep breath as Karasu plunged into the surf and the water splashed up around them.

The water itself wasn't much of a barrier; like his blue lake chocobo mother, Karasu's feathers were streamlined and covered with a thin coat of oil that let the water slide over them as easily as air, and his strong legs hardly seemed to notice the increased resistance. The spray that came up as he ran through the surf soaked Cloud thoroughly, however, and made it a little hard to breathe. Worse, there was just enough wind that the waves were fairly high, a factor they'd never had to deal with in the artificial water environment of the Gold Saucer.

Each time a wave crashed over them it pushed Karasu a little off track, and made him stumble. Then, as the water drew back again, the undertow tugged at the bird's legs and drew him back to the other side of the lit area. Water clung to the lenses of Cloud's goggles, obscuring his view until he cursed and reached up to rip them off, letting them drop behind them. His wet hair was plastered to his face, but he tossed it out of his eyes and squinted through the spray.

Cloud did his best to zigzag across the path in time with the rhythm of the waves, knowing that if they were pushed off the track it would mean an automatic disqualification. He could only hope that Joe was having just as much trouble; he didn't dare look back to see how the other jockey and bird were faring.

When the path finally veered back away from the water, Cloud breathed a sigh of relief that was matched almost comically by Karasu. Even the uncertain footing of the sand was a welcome change, and the hard packed dirt of the track that ran in front of the stands to the finish line was just ahead.

The crash and roar of the waves was so loud that Cloud almost didn't hear Teioh coming in time. The older bird had lowered his head and was sprinting all out again, wings tilted up and out for balance and catching just enough air to lift him slightly off the ground; not flying, but gliding in a way that let him put less of his weight down with each step. He came barreling up beside them, with Joe crouched low over his neck and shouting encouragement as they inched into the lead.

Loosing his hold on the reins, Cloud let Karasu have his head. They hit the hard dirt of the last part of the track, and Cloud could see the finish line ahead around one last gentle curve. Teioh had managed to manoeuvre himself into the inside track, which meant Karasu would have to run that little bit faster just to keep up with him.

Ducking his head and spreading his wings, Karasu gave it his all. Slowly Teioh stopped gaining ground, and for a few moments they ran side by side at exactly the same pace. Then Karasu started to pull ahead again, one fraction of an inch at a time.

Now it all came down to endurance; which bird had more of it, and which jockey had judged their bird best and paced him accordingly. Cloud didn't even try to direct Karasu, trusting his mount to know his limits in these final few moments. The black hated to lose even more than Cloud did, and not even Teioh could match him for sheer determination.

Seeing the two birds come into sight at the far side of the track, Zack tensed and tightened his grip on the railing. He'd been following the whole race on the screens, of course, but seeing it projected by a camera just wasn't the same as seeing it for yourself. They were still far enough away that all he could make out was two black blurs with smaller blobs of blue or green clinging to their backs, but that was enough. A few moments later others in the crowd, lacking a SOLDIER's enhanced senses, spotted the incoming birds and a roar went up.

Shouting and cheering with the rest of them even though he knew there was no way Cloud could hear him, Zack let himself get caught up in the atmosphere of enthusiasm. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun, and he could see why Cloud had said he missed racing. It must be a hundred times more thrilling to be down there on the track riding one of the birds.

Glancing up at the monitor that showed a close-up of the riders, he grinned to see the look of fierce focus and determination on Cloud's face. For a moment he was reminded of watching the younger man when they'd both been in Shinra and he'd been helping Cloud with his drills; the blond had looked just the same then, grimly determined to get it right no matter what it took, but secretly enjoying himself to the hilt under it all.

The birds were close enough now for him to make out details, and he could see they were running neck and neck. In the stark illumination of the track lights, it was hard to tell where one bird stopped and the other started in the tangle of wet black feathers. Cloud and Joe were both crouched low over the blacks' necks, and Zack could see his friend shouting encouragement to Karasu.

They swept over the finish line, running faster than Zack had ever seen any bird but Kinya go, and the crowd went wild. It was a photo finish, and it was a good thing Dio had found a way to get those cameras and screens because otherwise there might have been a riot. As it was, the picture taken at the moment the finish line was crossed flashed up on the screen before things got too crazy, and Zack strained to make out the details.

Karasu was ahead by half a beak, there was no mistaking it. Seconds later the scoreboard lit up, announcing that the judges agreed with what Zack was seeing. The two racers had overshot the finish line and let their birds run themselves out, and were now trotting back down the straightaway to see the results for themselves.

The moment Cloud saw Karasu's name listed at the top with a little crown beside it, he whooped with joy and pumped one fist in the air. Taking his cue from his rider, knowing he'd done well, Karasu hopped from foot to foot and flapped his wings happily despite his weariness, stretching his head up and warking loudly in triumph. Cloud bounced in the saddle, cheering himself hoarse with excitement.

Seeing the blond acting like a little kid who'd just been given the best birthday present in the whole world, Zack laughed out loud. That sort of unalloyed joy was rare to see on Cloud's face at the best of times, and it was priceless at the moment. Their eyes met, and Cloud grinned triumphantly at his friend.

Unable to contain himself, Zack vaulted easily over the railing and hit the ground running, reaching Karasu's side before the track security even realized what was happening. Cloud was already halfway out of the saddle; Zack pulled him the rest of the way down and tugged him into a victory embrace. They pounded on each other's shoulders and shouted into each other's ears, the words incoherent in the general roar of the crowd.

Pulling back far enough to wave off the concerned race officials who were heading towards them, Cloud felt like he was practically glowing. That was the best race he'd ever had, hands down. Spotting Joe walking Teioh out on the other side of the track, he raised his fist to acknowledge the other jockey. Joe nodded in return, offering a quick smile and a wave. It had been a good, close run, and they both knew it could have gone either way.

Laughing again, Cloud slung an arm over Zack's shoulder and let the older man do the same to him, so they were standing side by side with Karasu's reins in Cloud's hands. At that moment, worries like Sephiroth and even Tifa were the farthest thing from Cloud's mind.

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