This is a re-post of some parts of Medicine of the Mind, a song-inspired collection of ficlets. I'm grouping all of the Zack/Cloud-related ones here for organizational reasons. Also, they're the ones I like best (those two are just too precious!). Some may be interpretable as slash, but anything including actual malexmale relationships will come with a warning in the chapter header so that those who disapprove may have the opportunity to move on quickly and quietly and not bother me with complaints or flames.

Got that? Excellent. Moving on, then.

Disclaimer: I claim no ownage.

-

Here Comes the Sun

The Beatles

Cloud hugged his knees to his chest as he gazed down at Nibelheim from his vantage point at the top of one of the grassy foothills overlooking the little mountain town. The air was so fresh up here, he'd nearly forgotten how it smelled—clean, crisp, and piney—after all of the stench and mako pollution in Midgar.

As he watched, a spiky black head of hair bobbed its way up the hill towards him. Cloud smiled slightly. He didn't really want to reveal himself to his villagers this time around, but he would at least visit his mother. And boy, would she be surprised at the esteemed friends he'd made in Midgar!

"Heya, Spike," Zack said cheerily as he reached the small blond, sitting down beside him on the grass. Cloud acknowledged the SOLDIER with a small smile and a tilt of his head. Zack then looked down at Cloud's hometown, and laughed softly.

"Pretty backwater, if you ask me," he said, violet eyes glinting mischievously. Cloud chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess so," Cloud said. He leaned back on his arms and closed his eyes, breathing in the fresh breeze, the sunlight-warmed air, and that musky and companionable scent—aftershave, woods, sweat, sun, grass—that was so undeniably Zack that he couldn't help but be soothed.

Zack grinned and reached out a hand to ruffle the blond spikes he so adored.