Darkness shrouded the city of Midgar as children ran through the streets – unaffected by the power outage as they ran from house to house. Orange and black bags hung from their costume clad arms, weighed down by candy they had collected. Adults walked behind them; monitoring the harmless fun. It was of course the eve of Halloween and the city of Midgar always had a full weekend event of it – the city was that big after all.

Like the children, two young men are perfectly fine by the sudden blackness. In fact they had just finished carving several pumpkins of varying sizes. Small white candles sat in the bottoms – making eyes and grins glow brightly. Amidst the jack-o-lanterns on the porch they stayed. The moon remained hidden behind thick layers of clouds, removing any chance of light. Laughter ensued as the older male retracted from one of the pumpkins, getting closer to the younger man.

Bright azure met clear blue – both with their gazes locked on one another. The elder smiled that goofy smile he was famous for. He reached for the other, tousling his blond spikes with a lightly tanned hand. "Come on Cloud, we should go!"

Cloud swatted his hand away, glaring at the dark haired man with fake hate. "No, we're too old."

"Never too old! We haven't even hit thirty!"

"Z- Zack stop!"

Cloud fell backwards, missing the pumpkins as he stared up at the overhang. Zack hovered over him with a grin wide across his countenance. "Trick or treat," he mumbled huskily. Red rose to Cloud's face almost immediately as lips descended and stopped just above his mouth. "So, what do I get?"

That playful attitude made Cloud glance away, dismissing the serious air as he had always liked his best friend. It made him think: Was it that obvious? J

"Cloud?"

Worry – pure, innocent worry was all that word held. Cloud returned his attention to Zack. "A... a treat."

He was scared as if he had just seen a ghost. In his mind he figured it appropriate. It was the eve of Halloween – of course this was happening, Zack was tricking him, playing around just like he did with Sephiroth and Angeal. That was all. At least that's what he thought.

Zack pushed his lips down against Cloud's without any further hesitation. He only pulled away once he was sure his feelings had gotten across; the passionate, needy love that he wanted Cloud to reciprocate. But as he gazed into Cloud's eyes he feared for the first time that he wouldn't get that luxury.

Slowly, Cloud smiled softly. "Can we... do this again next year?"

"Every year!"

And they kissed amongst the bright glow of the jack-o-lanterns.