Catching A Dream

His dreams were always the same: the click-clack of the tracks, the bumping and jostling of the car, the uninspired scenery rolling past. Cloud didn't think much of these dreams. He just figured it was a manifestation of his need for a break from the mundane existence that was his life. His daily commute to work was a train he caught at six every morning which took him away from his little village and into the big metropolis. So he wasn't at all surprised to be woken up from blandness to be thrust right back into blandness.

The train ride was never anything unusual or exciting. It was a way to get from point A to point B without having to move to a busy, loud concrete jungle environment. Mostly the ride so early in the morning was peaceful - until more people got on. He tried to ignore the almost daily excited chatter of the school girls that got on and off the train. Mornings were the worst because all the dreams they had were still fresh.

"Becky! What did you dream about?"

It was the standard greeting of the group of girls who sat closest to where Cloud always sat. He had learned the names of all five of the girls and not because he was creepy, but because they were very loud.

"I was at a beach. It was sunny and the wind was blowing but it was so cold!"

"Ooo! A beach holiday! Bet your soulmate is rich and knows how to surf!" Toni said.

The girls giggled and then Sen said, "I think mine is into tennis. I keep seeing the tennis players when I go to sleep."

"Like in person or on TV?" Abby asked.

"Ah, in person."

"Wow, does it look like a big event or is it more like a local sort of thing?" Beck inquired.

Sen thought about it for a bit. "I think - it might be a big one?"

"Oh! If it's anyone famous you could figure out where they are playing and where your soulmate lives!" Toni said, bouncing with excitement.

Cloud tried to tune out as much as possible. There was always something different happening in the dreams. Cloud had pieced as much together from listening to people talk about and try to clue together where their soulmates lived. Cloud's dreams never changed. He was 24 and had the same train journey dreams for the last eight years. It was incongruent with what Cloud knew of the soulmate dream phenomena.

Little glimpses could be had and gained of your soulmates life while you slept. Soulmate visions were supposedly easy enough to tell apart from your everyday dreams because of how vivid they were - almost like a waking dream. But Cloud's dreams were always of the same quality and content, so he didn't put too much hope into even having a soulmate. Some people just didn't. But those who did… well some of them spent their lives looking, chasing, hunting. Dream Catchers, they were called and self-identified as. It was apparently fun, even if you never ended up finding your soulmate.

Statistically speaking it was a rather low chance of finding your soulmate in the world considering how big it was and how many people existed. Cloud was kind of relieved in not having the stress of being attached to someone. If he had a soulmate he thought he would feel bad for the other person. For one because they would have Cloud as a soulmate, and secondly because he didn't want to be responsible for someone else not being whole, because of Cloud being too lazy to bother with making any effort to find his soulmate. He definitely, probably didn't have one and he didn't care. Not entirely. Not all the time.

Instead he kept his head down, sometimes listened to podcasts and spent his commute to work drawing in the sketchbook he always carried around with himself. He mostly drew from life; people and items he came across his day to day life. It passed the time nicely. Sometimes if the sun or fog or snow or rain created a particularly wonderful picturesque scene he would sketch that as best he could in the short time allotted to him before the inspiration faded from view as hi train rolled past. Sometimes he drew from memory if he saw a striking pose of a bored rail passenger. And because Cloud was doing this so much he became quite good at not having to spend too much time looking at his sketchbook, having developed his hand-eye coordination to just follow along with what he was staring at. Sometimes he got bored though and just drummed his mechanical pencil against his book, not feeling particularly motivated with anything he saw.

It was some time in spring though that Cloud found new inspiration for his sketchbook. The train timetables had changed which meant his train pulled into stop 58 just as another train going on the opposite direction pulled into the same stop, meaning Cloud had many interesting people to observe and sketch.

Cloud's eye was particularly drawn to one passenger who was usually asleep, which was great because Cloud didn't have to feel self-conscious whilst drawing him. He had the most interesting hair. An artistic challenge to be exact. Cloud found it difficult to get the spikes just right and sometimes wished the guy would wake up and move so Cloud could get a better handle on how the hair fell without being smooshed up unnaturally against the window.

One early morning Cloud got his wish. He was furiously erasing a long spike he had drawn when his still life object became a life drawing. Face came off the window, leaving a smudge behind on the glass. The two different trains were close enough on the tracks that there was about five feet between the cars. Cloud got a pretty spectacular view of face turning and revealing handsome features and olive skin. He could see long lashes fluttering open to display gorgeous blue eyes. Big yawn was barely stifled by a hand and Cloud nearly melted from embarrassment as that face turned and looked directly at him.

They held each other's gaze. Sleepy face grew alert and then the most beautiful smile Cloud had ever witnessed came to life, lighting up that man's face and emblazoning itself into Cloud's very soul. His train jolted to life and Cloud looked down at his sketchbook, flicking to a new page and scratching his mechanical pencil against the fibers of his page, desperate to capture the vision that had been gifted upon him. He even worked on the sketch on the way home in the evening and then looked at it for a considerable amount of time when he got home.

Cloud never cared too much about his drawings. He didn't have the highest opinion of his skills. But he found this drawing beautiful and mesmerizing.

Zack worked all night driving trains - mostly freights. He did it so much that it even started creeping into his dreams. But then one day Zack's dreams were filled with drawings, and some really damn good ones too. There were sceneries of incredible detail and almost lifelike if the world were reduced to monochromes. Those dreams made Zack realize that, holy cow, he did have a soulmate and his soulmate was an amazingly talented artist. The day he realized that he had told all his friends and work colleagues, feeling as proud as if he had a small child to be very proud of.

Despite how exciting the knowledge was of him being blessed enough to have a soulmate it was also frustrating, because Zack didn't want to be one of the many people in this world who never got to meet their soulmate. He also however couldn't afford to become a Dream Catcher who spent their life following the clues left in their dreams to home in onto their soulmate. He had money to make because he had mouths to feed and get through school, because being the eldest of four, with no parental figures in sight, put a lot of responsibility on him. But he dreamed daydreams and lived out wild fantasies in his head whilst at work thinking about his soulmate.

The changes in timetables around Spring saw him miss his normal train back home after work so he had to catch the one after. It didn't make much difference to him. He mostly slept through it, which was a joy because he liked seeing what his soulmate was getting up to and drawing. He also really liked the cute blond guy he started seeing on the other train as his one pulled into the same station as the train the bond cutie was on. He didn't see him all the time though, because a lot of the time Zack slept through, waking just in time to get off at his stop and head home to sleep some more - or look after his siblings and their needs.

Zack really liked the dreams. He liked the sceneries the most, not paying too close attention to all the figure drawings. That was until he saw a very familiar looking face staring back at him through his dream. It had been eery enough to spook him awake. Blinking didn't help. Staring around himself on the train didn't stop the disquiet either. The image of his own face pencilled and shaded - of all his small imperfections: freckles, wonky eyebrows, scar - all so perfectly represented, was truly disorienting and then exciting the more he thought of it.

His soulmate had seen him. Seen him well enough to draw him. They were so close to each other. Zack could hardly sleep, but he willed himself down into the unconscious so he could continue to figure out the pieces to this glorious puzzle.

Cloud's clickety-clack dreams never changed, and why would they? He continued to do the same thing each working day and never gave his mind any rest. Except when he would stare for whole minutes at a time at the drawings he had been working and reworking to perfections end. The face he was obsessed with was wonderful to behold so he couldn't stop himself from the millions of little touch ups, wanting to get it as close to photorealistic as possible since he would never know this person but wanted to know him.

Cloud wondered if that smile was what the world always saw, but hoped it was something only Cloud ever bore witness too. He wondered about the man's voice, his scent, his laugh. It was so dumb. Cloud had never had a crush on anyone in his entire life - not even movie stars, and here he suddenly was completely enamoured with a stranger on the opposite side of the tracks behind glass.

Cloud tried to convince himself that the man was just aesthetically pleasing to look at - that there would be no substance there. Just a pretty face with zero commonalities. He probably liked sports, thought highly of craft beers and had an annoying laugh. But man was he beautiful. Cloud fell asleep each night stroking that face he had drawn with the tip of his pencil, gently working in more details as they came back on reflection.

At some point in mid-to-late spring Cloud had a completely bewildering dream. It held the same sharpness as his train track dreams but this time he was looking at a piece of paper with a weird circle and some triangular lines cupping one side of it. For all intents and purposes it was like looking at ancient hieroglyphics and completely baffled Cloud. He thought about it over the weekend, tried to even replicate it but couldn't make sense of it. He tried to recollect where he must have seen it because there was no other explanation of where this imagine had come from.

He got an answer to his puzzle on Monday morning on the way to work as his Adonis and picture of perfection pulled up alongside his train on the other platform.

The fact that a massive grin was plastered on olive-skinned sensation caused Cloud to look away in embarrassment. Had he been too obvious in his staring over the past few weeks? That reaction surely was a dead giveaway. Cloud was instantly embarrassed and deeply ashamed of having been caught out with his voyeuristic behavior. He wished his train would pull away already. He wished his seat would recline so he could vanish from view. He wished - something flickering in his periphery caught his eye. Cloud looked over as his train jolted into motion. He only just managed to focus on the bit of paper that the man had pressed up to the window and barely caught the scribble on it - a circle with some scraggy lines following the contour of one of the sides.

Cloud craned his neck trying to see more of it - see it clearer - but it was too late and his day and night was spent in wonder, uncertainty, and mild - very mild and tentative excitement.

Cloud's dream that night didn't help to further the mystery. It was just more of the same click-clack but even this had a whole new context now.

While Cloud's face bathed in the delighting steam of a hot mug of morning coffee at his lips, he for once in his life considered that maybe - just maybe - these railway dreams he had been having for an exceptionally long time could maybe perhaps be his soulmates perceptions. Maybe it wasn't that Cloud's life was so boring that the mundane droll had deeply rooted itself into his psyche, but perhaps there was someone out there living an equally mediocre life.

Somehow that thought warmed Cloud even more so than his drink and he waited for the other train to pull in at the train station with baited breath, being fully prepared to look at the other man, even if his own face was going to turn bright red.

Yesterday hadn't gone as planned but Zack had found it adorable how abashed cute blond guy had been. He was going to give it another shot today though, because he really wanted his soulmate to be that guy. He had often heard people who had found their soulmates say that things just felt right when they met. Yes, technically they hadn't met yet but if the feeling of 'rightness' that he felt when he looked upon that blond stranger could permeate through distance and several layers of tempered glass there had to be something there, right?

Zack was putting all his hopes into that longshot.

His train pulled in to the station. His smile that couldn't be corralled when Zack looked at that pristine porcelain face with dusted cheeks, sky blue eyes, and straw-blond hair. Happiness just sprang to life on his lips and cheeks.

Their eyes locked on. Zack got out his drawing and pressed it to the glass, grinning like a madman and hoping he didn't give off any crazy vibes. He pointed at the man on the other train and mimed, 'you', and then tapped against his drawing.

There was clear confusion and bewilderment on the other man's face and Zack's heart sank, particularly as the other train started moving again. But before it had gotten a proper momentum up Zack caught sight of the smile and how big it grew until it exploded into soundless laughter.

What he wouldn't give to hear what it sounded like. In that moment Zack knew that whatever this was - even if it wasn't soulmates - his purpose in life was now to bring smiles to that man's face.

Cloud had understood. That circle and squiggly lines had meant to represent him. That had tickled Cloud's funny bone - a truly rare thing to ever be tickled let alone to elicit a belly laugh from - but it had apparently happened, and Cloud had found it so endearing and amusing that he hadn't even been self-conscious enough to care about being embarrassed at his loud laughter around the other commuters.

But mirth gave way to shock, awe, and then terror as it dawned on him that the drawing which had been held up to him to see was uncannily like the drawing he had seen in his dream which could only mean one thing.

Cloud had never thought it would happen to him. He had never expected to meet his soulmate, thinking himself amongst the lost souls of the world. So this was a deep shock and one he wasn't completely sure how to respond to.

He spent his day wondering what his soulmate had been seeing of Cloud's life in his dreams. Was it the mundane travel like Cloud had been witness to in his own dreams? Had his soulmate seen other things? His office job? His few and far between friends he met up with once a week for after work drinks?

Cloud found himself flicking through his sketchbook until he had flipped to the page with the now very detailed drawing he had made of the first time he had seen his now-to-be-revealed soulmate and that smile that had started everything off. Scratching his fingernail gently against the grain of the paper an utterly embarrassing thought hit him and he slammed his book shut and refused to look at it for the remainder of the day.

Zack was practically dying from impatience as he willed the rotation of the Earth to hurry up so he could finish his shift and get on that train he desired so much to be on.

It happened eventually - and sadly still at the normal interval of time as was to be expected. He sat in his usual spot, eyes peeled, counting down the stops until he would get to the fated meeting place. He found himself egging the train on in his head, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!' as it pulled up alongside the other train.

A huge wave of relief and joy washed over him when he saw the light of his life - yes, Zack decided that he was going to call that guy this until he had a proper name to address him by - on the other side of the track. He had thought of a million messages to write but had decided on none. He was going to dig deep, be patient and see what today brought.

Zack was not disappointed. They both smiled at each other. That shy smile drove him absolutely wild, and to top it all off he watched as the light of his life produced a dark book, flipped it open and held up an uncanny likeness of Zack's face to the glass.

Finally he knew for certain. Finally after so many years of wondering. Suddenly this opportunity couldn't go to waste. If he had to wait one more day he would go mad. He sprung up from his seat.

Cloud was alarmed by the sudden surge of movement that came out of the man on the other train. It brought Cloud to his own feet, a sudden compulsion to run resonating in his body and soul.

The warning beeps and announcement of his trains imminent departure sounded and panic flooded Cloud. He needed to get off. He needed to be with his soulmate. Clutching his bag and book he made a mad dash for the nearest door, which was half the car length away from where he was sitting, and littered with human-shaped obstacles.

Zack raced like a madman towards the train doors, throwing panicked glanced over to the other train which had the warning lights on the doors flashing, indicating that they were about to close and pull away. He could see the light of his life squeezing past people and hopping over unseen obstacles as he made for the doors.

Zack made it out of his car, turned to peer through the carriage he had just departed and through the windows of the other train to be met with…

Cloud stood, head leaning against the door that had closed just before he had reached it. The warning beeps of the door shutting died away like a sad melody. His heart was racing from the exertion the sprint and obstacle course dash had put him through. He whirled around, looking out the window to the other train and quickly headed over so he could catch a hopeful glimpse of his souls other half.

They looked at each other, eyes connecting over the ever-increasing distance.

There would always be tomorrow.

Tomorrow came and it dragged on. The ride home for Zack dragged as well. Each station was stopped at for a millisecond too long. Each standard mile grew a fraction longer. It was one of those days.

Zack couldn't sleep nor keep still. Fingers twitched, legs shook nervously. As soon as he saw the platform approaching and the other train at the stop he stood up, hands and nose pressed to window. The smile had erupted and then - fell. Zack quickly did a count of the carriages. He was facing the right one but the light of his life wasn't there.

The same happened the next day, and the day after. Zack didn't know what had happened. His dreams weren't providing any answered either. Instead of seeing himself he saw more amazing scenery being produced. The only unusual thing he could make out was that instead of natural scenery his dreams were now filled with drawings of a structure which seemed to be a bridge. He wondered what the light of his life was doing.

Friday came and Zack couldn't take it anymore. Train pulled into station and Zack got off so he could scream in frustration. He watched his train chug off into the misty morning. The fresh air was biting but also wonderful, especially when coming out of a stuffy train.

Zack stretched and swung his arms as he looked around himself. Both platforms of this smaller rural station were deserted but looking out towards the car park he could see more people parking and getting ready to catch the next scheduled train. Zack looked around to try and locate the notice board to see how long he would have to wait.

He didn't find it though because eyes got stuck looking at something uncannily familiar as he took in his surroundings. There, before him, was the overpass connecting the two sides of the station. It was essentially a bridge - a bridge he had seen in great pencilled detail. Was this a clue? Was this a message?

Zack continued to stare up at it until the next train pulled in, taking him home.

It was Saturday morning and Cloud stood up on the overpass of the train station he and his apparent soulmate had kept meeting at for almost the better part of a month. He thought 'apparent' because he still wasn't one hundred percent sure if olive skin, dark-haired spikes was his soulmate.

Cloud's work schedule had suddenly changed which meant he no longer would be able to passively gaze in wonder at the man he felt transfixed with, so Cloud had decided to test his soulmate to see if he really was who Cloud thought he was.

It was kind of dumb. His friend, Tifa, had said as much when Cloud had voiced his doubts to her. Cloud had seen that cute drawing in his dreams and pressed up to the window of the other train car. What else could that be? But he didn't want to get his hopes up, especially if he was never going to see him again due to this schedule change.

But he had decided to try and send a message and hoped it would be received and understood. Dreams were amazingly fickle and not to be relied on to show one's soulmate anything useful. It was almost a well-documented fact that dreams never showed anything useful of a soulmates life. People had tried countless times to stare at letters they had written, detailing their location or contact details, never to be contacted by their soulmates. So Cloud had tried to keep his message as cryptic as possible and hoped that fate and destiny would do their job.

He looked on as trains pulled in and out of the station underneath him. He watched commuters alighting and boarding the trains, but in smaller numbers as it was the weekend. He didn't know how long he would wait at the station. His stomach grumbled and warned him it wouldn't be long. His heart sighed and promised that it would be all day and then some.

The sun started creeping up higher into the sky. The light and warmth grew stronger. Cloud kept a vigilant eye over the side of the station he had always seen his drawing perfection on. He became absorbed with thinking about the man; his features and what he must be like. And then mind wandered towards what he would be making for dinner or if he should just invite himself over to Tifa's because she always made amazing meals and enough to feed an army, despite her living alone. She was just always prepared for company, and company was usually always over.

Cloud yelped and whirled around as something warm touched his arm. He stared in wide-eyed amazement as there, before him, in flesh and blood and amazing height stood -

"Hi, I'm Zack."

Cloud knew that face. He knew that smile. And now he would know that voice. His heart raced and chest constricted around his lungs with - with - Cloud wasn't sure. Joy? Excitement? Shock? Terror? Nerves? All of that.

"C-cloud," he barely got out, stuttering like a fool. Suddenly all his forgotten inadequacies came to the fore. He wasn't good at speaking to people. He was small and scrawny, his pale complexion was very prone to breakouts and showing even the slightest hint of embarrassment. And boy, was he embarrassed right now.

"Cloud? That's an amazing name!"

"Th-thanks." Cloud let his gaze drop. The brightness of the man's smile was too dazzling. "I - like your name too," and he really did.

Zack stepped closer. Cloud could feel the warmth radiating off him and felt drawn to it, shuffling in a little bit too.

"I like those drawings of me you've done. And I'm not just saying that 'cause they're of me. You have like amazing talent. I like all your drawings. I kept seeing them in my dreams. All your sceneries and, well especially this bridge are just amazing." Zack couldn't stop himself from talking. It's what he did when he felt nervous. And boy, was he nervous. Someone who had such amazing talent was probably all kinds of upper class and well rounded and cultured. All things Zack wasn't.

"Thanks, I liked your drawing too," Cloud moused, small smile tugging at corners of mouth and hand nervously rubbing at his arm, which he was holding on to for some self-support.

Zack laughed and ran hand through his dark hair. "Now I know you're just being nice. If this had been the other way around and we had to rely on my drawing talents we definitely wouldn't be here right now."

Cloud chortled and Zack thought he was hearing the sound of an angel.

"I - I'm glad you figured it out. I was worried you wouldn't. My schedules all changed so I won't be catching that morning train for a while and I didn't know what else to do."

Zack nodded and sighed with relief. "I'm glad I figured it out too. I -," he laughed. "Man, I'm so happy to finally meet you. We're really soulmates huh?"

"I - guess?" He gave a stronger smile to Zack and watched the smile that had first caught his attention come to life.

They stared at each other for a while smiling and then eventually laughing.

The sound of Cloud's mirth lit Zack's soul alight and made him laugh even more with glee. Big smiles were on both their faces.

"Can I take you out for brunch? Get to know you?" Zack held out his hand, itching and yearning for a touch.

Cloud stared at the outstretched hand for blinking moments and then gave a smiling nod and reached out, clasping their hands together.

The touch felt so perfect. So perfect that Cloud, normally not a very tactile person, had no issue with being pulled in and against Zack's body into a tight embrace.

His senses were bombarded. Touch, smell, sound. Cloud wanted to meld and merge. He never wanted to be separated again because he felt… he felt like something that was missing was finally back in its right place. He squeezed back.

Zack buried his nose atop of blond mop. Had he ever been this happy? Had he ever felt so calm and at peace? He didn't think so.

"C'mon, let's go eat something and talk. I'm dying to know everything about you." Zack pulled back a little, looking down at smiling eyes and gorgeous dusted cheeks.

"Shouldn't you already know everything about me?" Cloud tittered a little.

Zack's smile stretched bigger somehow. "You're right. But it doesn't hurt to just double check, right?"

"Yeah, it doesn't." He gave a smiling sigh and was happily lead off, still holding hands. They found a cozy little cafe near the station, where they spent the rest of the day getting to know one another and beginning their journey into love.

The End

Author Notes: Thanks for reading!