[Fic] Permission to Touch - FFVII, Zack/Cloud, 1/3
Yeah, yeah, I know. If I'm not going to work on the novel, couldn't I at least do something already on the to-do list?

I need a banner for the eventual Final Fantasy section of my website that says 'It's all laylah's fault!" Because it is, damn it. All she had to do was mention 'oh, I owe someone Zack/Cloud skirtporn' and WHAM, instant bunny. And Zack-muse being, you know, ZACK, he wouldn't leave me be until I wrote it.

There is something seriously wrong when my one-shot PWPs need to be broken into THREE PARTS because it's too long to post in two, let alone in one. >.< At least I intended 'Things You Shouldn't See' to be 3 parts right from the start!

Title: Permission to Touch
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Zack/Cloud
Rating: NC-17
Part length: 7669
Total Length: 23,094

Summary: Thanks to Zack, Cloud has a chance to actually meet his childhood hero, Sephiroth. There's just one small hitch...



"Damn it!"

Hearing that in Zack's familiar voice made Cloud blink twice, then back up a few steps to peer down the side corridor he'd just passed. That was the direction the SOLDIER barracks were in, but Cloud still wondered if maybe he was mistaken. Zack was supposed to be on his way to pick up his girlfriend for a fancy dinner that all the 1st Class were attending with the Shinra brass.

He didn't see anything, but Zack's voice came again from further down the hall that was connected by the side corridor. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He sounded genuinely irritated, which was odd. Zack got mad, and he could be upset, but he was rarely irritated. He was too easy-going for that.

Trotting down the corridor, Cloud turned the corner into the hall and sure enough, there was Zack stalking away from him. The SOLDIER was running a hand through his hair and tugging at it absently, like it was a nervous gesture or something. Cloud blinked again. Did Zack get nervous?

"Zack?" he called, and the older boy actually jumped slightly. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Cloud!" Zack sighed, and offered him a weary grin. "Yeah, just talking to myself. What are you doing here, looking for me?"

"No, I'm just coming off duty and this was a shortcut," Cloud explained. "I thought you were supposed to be at that dinner thing?"

"Yeah, well," Zack made a face and walked back towards him. "Aerith is sick. Like, really sick, throwing up all over the place. She said she thinks it might be food poisoning; it must be pretty bad if she's suffering from it, she never gets sick."

"Oh. Geez, that sucks," Cloud said sympathetically. "So you have to go to the dinner thing alone?"

"See, that's the thing." With a gesture, Zack indicated he should follow and turned to keep walking towards his room. "We're expected to bring a date. They won't let me in without one. I've just been wracking my brains for any other female of an appropriate age that I know who might be willing to drop everything and go with me. At this point, though, I'm not sure there's enough time even if I do manage to think of someone."

"Oh no!" Cloud's eyes widened. Zack had been looking forward to this function for months, ever since he'd found out he was going to be getting his promotion to 1st Class in time to attend. All the top Shinra brass were going to be there, and more importantly so was Sephiroth. There weren't a lot of SOLDIERs 1st Class, and they got to work with the general more often than anyone else did, but it would have been Zack's first chance to really catch the man's eye.

Truth to tell, Cloud had been horribly jealous ever since he'd heard that Zack was going to get to go. So far he hadn't been any closer to the Silver General than having the man pass by several rows in front of him on an inspection of his company. The chance to actually meet him was something Cloud would have given just about anything for.

Still, he felt bad that his friend was missing the chance. Cloud wasn't the sort to wish others couldn't enjoy things just because he couldn't have them. "So you're not going to be able to go?" he asked.

"At this point? Not unless you climb into a dress and pretend to be my date," Zack joked. His expression was amused, but there was disappointment deep in his eyes that made Cloud's heart ache.

"The sad thing is that I could probably pass," Cloud sighed. He certainly got teased often enough by the men in his unit about his 'delicate features'. He'd gotten into more than one fight over it, too. "Too bad. That'd get us both in to meet..."

What he was saying actually registered with his brain a moment later, and he stumbled to a halt both verbally and physically. Staring at Zack, he ran that back through his head a second time. If he went with Zack as the older boy's 'date', then not only would Zack still be able to meet Sephiroth, but so would Cloud.

Not in such a way that it would help his career at all, of course, but still. How many people got the chance to meet their childhood hero up close and personal?

"What?" Zack looked back at him, bemused. "You look like someone just cast Confuse on you, kid."

"No, I..." Cloud shook his head. He couldn't say it, couldn't actually suggest it. Zack would never take him seriously again. He'd probably lose the older boy's respect entirely. Hell, he'd never respect himself again.

But... Sephiroth. And Zack had been looking forward to this thing for so long.

Swallowing hard, Cloud looked away and made himself say the words. "I could. Do it. If you wanted. I mean. Yeah. Please don't laugh at me." By the time he was finished his disjointed offer, his face was a brighter red than it had ever been before.

"Do what? Why would I laugh at..." Realization of what Cloud was talking about dawned on Zack, and now he was the one gaping at Cloud. "What, seriously? You really would?"

The older boy's tone didn't sound like he was going to follow up with a 'you sick bastard, how could you even think something like that?', so Cloud peered at him cautiously. Zack looked hopeful, but like he was sure he'd heard Cloud wrong.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed hesitantly. "Hell, Zack, you know I'd do just about anything for the chance to meet Sephiroth. Do you think it would work?"

"Only one way to find out," Zack said, and grinned at him. It was the grin that usually told Cloud to brace himself because his friend was about to suggest something outrageous. Clearly he'd been spending way too much time around the SOLDIER, if he was the one making the outrageous suggestions.

"C'mon!" Zack grabbed Cloud's hand and tugged him towards his room, still grinning like a maniac the whole way. "We'll have to hurry, if we have any chance. Everyone else is probably out picking up their dates, like I was."

"But... where will we even get a dress?" Cloud asked, trotting along behind and trying to convince himself he wasn't having second thoughts.

"I've still got the one I bought for Aerith," Zack explained, lifting the garment bag he'd been carrying slung over one shoulder. Cloud had assumed it just held his dress uniform, back from the cleaners or something. "You're about the same size she is. If you can fit in it, then this might actually work."

"We're both going to be facing a court martial and dishonourable discharge when they catch me," Cloud muttered, wiping his free hand across his face to get rid of the sweat that had already started to form from sheer nerves.

"No we're not, because if it's likely that they'll catch us then we just won't go," Zack asserted. "And we won't have lost anything for trying. I can't believe you're willing to do this! I'm going to owe you so big time!"

A little startled, Cloud realized Zack thought he was offering to humiliate himself just for Zack's sake. Well, it wouldn't hurt him if Cloud didn't disabuse him of the notion. Having Zack owe him one could come in handy later.

For now, though, he needed to worry about the idea that he was about to try to pass himself off as a girl to the people who signed the paycheques of the guy who signed the paycheques of the guy who signed Cloud's paycheques. Not to mention General Sephiroth. Dear gods, what was he getting himself into?

"Strip," Zack ordered him the moment the door to his room had closed behind him. He was already following his own advice, dropping the garment bag on his neatly made bed and shucking off his uniform as fast as he could. "I showered before I went to go to Aerith' place, but you just came off duty. Good thing 1st Class get their own bathroom." He grinned and jerked a thumb at a small door Cloud hadn't noticed. This was the first time he'd been in his friend's new room.

"Lucky bastard," Cloud said enviously. When you had to share a communal washroom and shower with a platoon of thirty other guys, having access to a private bathroom was beyond mere luxury.

"Be jealous later, for now just get clean," Zack ordered him. "Hurry, we've only got about half an hour before we have to be there. They won't let us in late."

Cloud hurried. Being in the army had taught him how to get clean fast, and as much as he would have loved to take his time enjoying having a shower to himself for a change, he wanted to meet Sephiroth more. "I know one thing you can do to start paying me back," he said as he emerged five minutes later with a towel around his waist and rubbing another over his hair. "Half an hour uninterrupted time in your shower. Does the hot water last that long?"

"You better believe it," Zack said, grinning at him in the mirror he was using to tie his dress tie. "It'll last as long as you can humanly stay in there. They don't stint on the 1st Class, man. We're too damn valuable. You can have a go at it when the party's over, you'll want to get cleaned up before you go back anyway. What?"

That last had been added because Cloud had stopped short in the bathroom doorway, towel still covering half his face as he stared dry-mouthed at Zack. The older boy's dress blues fit him perfectly; the SOLDIERs got tailored uniforms, not just the haphazard size-matching the troops had to deal with. The dress uniform made Zack look a little older, a bit less like a hellion, and far too much like the epitome of the reason so many women swooned over a man in uniform.

Cloud was used to dealing with the occasional inappropriate flash of heat that he experienced deep in his body when he was around Zack. His friend was just so vibrant and entrancing, how could anybody not be attracted to him? But the military was pretty strict about that kind of stuff, and Cloud had no desire to get the shit beaten out of him if he was caught looking at a guy the wrong way. He had enough trouble just because he was 'pretty'.

Not that Zack would ever do something like that, but it would make things uncomfortable between them and that was the last thing Cloud wanted. Zack was his first and only real friend, and there was no way in hell he was going to endanger that for the sake of wayward teenaged hormones.

That was under normal circumstances, though. Zack in his dress blues, grinning at Cloud in that way he had that made you feel like you were the centre of his universe at that moment... that was more than Cloud had the willpower to resist, at least for those first few seconds of impact.

Finally the blonde managed to tear his eyes away from his friend and cough, trying to clear his throat before speaking. "You clean up pretty well," he said, grateful that his voice was only a little husky. "You'd better be careful, somebody might mistake you for a respectable SOLDIER."

Laughing, Zack reached out and ruffled the towel, since he couldn't get at Cloud's hair. Cloud swatted at his hand out of habit and went back to drying himself off, turning his back on Zack in an attempt to calm himself a little. The last thing he needed was for Zack to start wondering if dressing like a girl was some kind of turn-on for Cloud.

"Now what?" Cloud asked when he was done, letting the towel drape over his neck as he risked a glance at Zack. The older boy was leaning over his bed, digging in the garment bag, and Cloud had to bite his lip to keep a quiet whimper from escaping him at the sight of the way Zack's pants stretched to show off his ass. He averted his eyes quickly, hoping the blush on his face would at least be attributed to the embarrassment of what they were doing.

"Now we try to figure out how half of this stuff goes on," Zack said a bit sheepishly, glancing at Cloud over his shoulder. "I mean, I know how to get most of it off, but that's different."

"Stuff?" Cloud repeated, blinking and leaning over to see into the bag. The dress itself was yards of soft, silky-looking fabric in a shade of blue that would compliment the colour of Zack's uniform. On top of it, however, was a tangle of black silk and lace that Cloud vaguely recognized as being some sort of women's lingerie. He didn't exactly have a lot of experience with that sort of thing.

"Aerith lent it to me, she said if I did manage to find someone to go with me, they probably wouldn't have all the right stuff to wear with the dress on such short notice," Zack shrugged. "Let's see if we can figure it out."

It took several minutes and a bit of trial and error, but they finally figured out how to get the panties, garter and stockings on. At least the embarrassment of it all helped Cloud to keep his body under control - as long as he didn't let himself look at Zack for too long. Months of living with the utter lack of privacy in the barracks had cured him of any kind of body modesty, but it was a little different to have Zack looking at him and touching him to try to help him figure out how to wear everything.

The bra was easy enough, though it took Cloud a few tries to get the front clasp to work. They stuffed it with a pair of Zack's extra socks, and it was just as well that Aerith apparently wasn't overly well endowed. Standing there dressed in nothing but what would probably be very sexy black lingerie if it had been on a girl, Cloud felt ridiculous.

"We are totally certifiable for doing this, you know that?" he muttered, trying to fight his blush and not having much success. The fact that Zack couldn't seem to look straight at him without snickering quietly under his breath wasn't doing anything for Cloud's confidence that this was going to work, either.

"Yeah, probably," Zack agreed cheerfully, carefully removing the dress itself from the bag. "But it's not like it's the first thing we've ever done that would get us certified. And this one was your idea."

"It was not!" Cloud protested. "You started it, I just said I would go along with it!"

"Sure, but I was only joking," Zack countered, grinning. "Lift your arms. You were the first to be serious about it, so that makes it your idea." He slipped the dress over Cloud's head, the silky fabric sliding against soft skin like a whisper across his nerves. Cloud shivered at the sensation, startled. No wonder girls were always pining over silk, if it felt this good.

Zack had to tug to get the dress down over Cloud's shoulders, but thankfully he hadn't filled out much in the torso yet. It had short sleeves and a high collar, vaguely Wutaian in style and with a diamond cut-out just below the collar that was probably supposed to show off the swell of the girl's breasts. Thankfully it didn't come down far enough to reveal that Cloud's bra was stuffed rather than being the real thing. The collar would hide his Adam's apple, which was also a bonus. The skirt was long and full, swishing around his legs in a way that left him feeling rather... draughty.

Unfortunately, the short sleeves revealed the muscles that were finally starting to build up in Cloud's arms. The elbow-length white gloves that went with the dress didn't come high enough to hide them either. Glancing in the mirror, Cloud scowled at his reflection and sighed. "This isn't going to work," he said ruefully. "I look like a guy in a dress, not a girl."

"That's because we're not done," Zack said. "Don't give up yet. Here, sit on the bed," he shoved on Cloud's shoulder to get him to perch on the edge of the bed, and started rummaging in his bedside table. "Does your hair stand up like that naturally, or do you have to use gel?"

"It's natural," Cloud replied, watching him curiously. "If you're going to try to make it lie flat, forget it. My mom used to spend hours fighting with it, and it never worked."

"We'll see," Zack said, emerging with a comb and a bottle of gel. "I've spent sixteen years dealing with my hair, don't forget. At least yours is fine and not wiry. Now hold still. Permission to touch?"

Startled at the unexpected formality, Cloud blinked at him. "Sure. Since when do you bother asking permission before touching?" he asked. Military protocol said you had to ask before touching a subordinate, though nobody in their right mind ever said 'no'. But Zack was the kind of person who just impulsively touched people, hugging them or ruffling their hair or slugging them on the shoulder or whatever.

"It's a little different in this situation," Zack said, shrugging. "More deliberate, you know?" Kneeling behind Cloud on the bed, Zack started tugging the comb through the younger boy's still-wet hair. He was brushing fast enough to pull at the knots, but they were in a hurry so Cloud said nothing. He still didn't think this was going to work, but having come this far they might as well go the distance.

"Geez, I didn't realize your hair was this long," Zack said in surprise once he had it all brushed out and was working the gel into it. The longest pieces framed Cloud's face and nearly brushed his shoulders, and the rest of it fell in layers of varying lengths.

"That's because you've never seen it wet before," Cloud shrugged, and Zack rapped him on the shoulder to remind him not to move. "If it was shorter, the spikes would just look weird. It's a pain when I have to wear my helmet. I keep thinking about chopping it all off, except I know it would still go in cowlicks in all directions unless I practically buzz it."

"Don't," Zack said absently, pulling at a lock here and there with his fingers to try to get it where he wanted it. "I like your hair. It suits you, when you get into your sulky moods and start bristling at everything. The rest of the time it's just cute."

"I do not sulk!" Cloud retorted, stung mostly because he knew it was true. He'd never been the most cheerful of people to start with, and failing the SOLDIER exams had hit him hard. Somehow it was hard to remain surly when Zack was around, though. It was one of the reasons he spent as much time in the older boy's company as he could. "And I am not cute."

"Right now you are," Zack informed him, and Cloud didn't need to see the grin to know it was there. "Especially when you pout like that. There, I think that'll work. Now you just need makeup. Lucky Aerith gave me that too."

"If I didn't know better, I'd start to think you'd planned this as some kind of prank to get me into a dress," Cloud said suspiciously, watching with narrowed eyes as Zack moved around to sit on his heels in front of Cloud.

"Believe me, if I'd planned this I'd have left myself more time!" Zack replied. "Now hold still again, and don't flinch."

The first time Zack went for his eye with the little pencil Cloud couldn't help wincing away. Closing his eyes, Cloud told himself to act like he was on guard duty and just trying to ignore a tourist or a bored off-duty trooper who was trying to get him to move. That worked well enough, letting him face straight ahead without moving, though it took a real effort.

After a few minutes Zack drew back, as if studying his work. When he didn't say anything after a long minute, Cloud opened his eyes and looked at him curiously. Zack had the oddest look on his face, bemused and a little startled, with something else beneath that Cloud couldn't read.

"What?" Cloud demanded, made nervous by the look Zack was giving him. "I look like an idiot, don't I? Damn it, I knew this wasn't going to work. I'm sorry."

Blinking at him, Zack opened his mouth a couple times like he was trying to find something to say and couldn't. Finally he just shook his head and pulled Cloud up by the hand, getting him on his feet and turning him to look at the full-length mirror.

The little gasp that escaped Cloud was entirely involuntary. The image looking back at him with shocked eyes wasn't that of a boy in a dress, it was a girl. A really pretty girl at that, with wispy blonde hair framing her face in that artfully tousled way and big eyes made even bluer than usual by the fabric of the dress. The makeup was just a bit awkward looking, but the obvious inexperience with which it had been applied somehow looked endearing rather than silly. Even the muscles in his arms just made him look athletic.

"That's... I look... holy Shiva!" Cloud blurted out, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands because it would wreck the makeup. He did turn away, collapsing down onto the bed before his legs could finish going wobbly on him. "Fuck, Zack! I look like a girl!"

"Yeah," Zack said, and rather than laughing at the younger boy his voice held overtones of the same odd look that had been in his eyes. Clearing his throat, Zack continued in a more normal voice, "Wasn't that kind of the point?"

Glaring at him, Cloud scowled. "Tell me you'd be happy to realize you could pass this well, and I'll stop being upset."

"I probably wouldn't be," Zack admitted with a grimace. "Still. It's gonna get you in to meet Sephiroth, so it's not all bad, right? And you'll grow out of it. Another six months and your shoulders probably would've been too broad to fit in the dress."

He was being placated and he knew it, but Cloud sighed and smoothed his face out. "All right, so we'll be able to get in," he said reluctantly. "What do we do if someone talks to me? My voice is pretty deep, and I don't think I could do a convincing falsetto."

"Pretend you're really shy, I guess," Zack said after a moment of thought. He seemed to have regained his equilibrium, and Cloud wished the same could be said of him. "If you do have to talk, be quiet and try for that low, seductive voice some women have, you know?"

"Kind of," Cloud said, struggling to imagine himself with the kind of voice Zack was talking about. "Let's just pray nobody talks to me. What about shoes?"

"Let's hope they fit," Zack said, pulling a pair of strappy silver heels out of the bag, "because I have no idea what to do if they don't. Unless you've got something other than combat and parade boots tucked away somewhere."

"Yeah, right," Cloud snorted. "Even if I wanted to, where would I keep them? I'd be laughed out of the regiment. And I don't want to," he added hastily, just in case there was any question.

Gesturing for Cloud to sit on the bed again, Zack knelt and tried to wedge Cloud's feet into the shoes. It was a tight fit, definitely at least one size smaller than was comfortable, but they went on. "Heh. Gold would suit you more, but Aerith looks better in silver. Still looks okay, though. Good thing you've got such delicate little feet," Zack teased him, looking up with a grin as he tickled Cloud's ankle.

"If I were you, I wouldn't tease when I've got two inches of spike so close to your crotch," Cloud retorted, wiggling his other foot in warning. "Bet these would hurt like a bitch if I kicked with them."

"The real question is, can you walk in them?" Zack asked, standing and offering his hand again. "I know I sure as hell wouldn't be able to. Doesn't it take a lot of practice or something?"

"You're asking me like I would know?" Cloud said, taking the hand and standing cautiously. "I don't have any sisters, and my mom never wore heels." He took a few careful steps and nearly wrenched his ankle a couple of times before he got the trick of how to place the heel when he stepped. "Good thing I'm a mountain boy," he muttered as he took a few slightly more successful steps.

"What does growing up in the mountains have to do with it?" Zack wanted to know, looking at him curiously.

"You don't climb up and down all those goat tracks without learning good balance," Cloud explained, releasing Zack's hand and trying to walk on his own. When he made it to the far wall without falling or wobbling too obviously, he turned and grinned in triumph. "I wouldn't want to stand very long, these shoes are too small, but I think I can do it."

Zack was looking at him in that odd way again, his eyes trailing slowly down over the younger boy's body. Cloud supposed he couldn't really blame his friend for being bemused. If he saw Zack dressed as a girl, he'd probably be staring too. "How much time do we have?" he asked to distract Zack.

Glancing at the clock, Zack swore. "Not nearly enough! We're going to have to run, come on!"

"Wait!" Snatching his hand away from Zack's attempt to grab it, Cloud took a moment to pull the shoes off again. "There's no way I can run in these without breaking something. Now let's go."

They bolted through the halls like a pair of pranksters running from the aftermath of a practical joke; not an unusual description for Zack, actually. Cloud was just grateful that the quarters for the SOLDIERs 1st Class were in the main Shinra tower, so they didn't need to go outside in their mad dash.

Running in a dress was every bit as awkward as Cloud had expected it to be and then some, even without the heels. He finally gathered most of the material of the skirt up and held it out of the way with one hand. That left him flashing the tops of his stockings, but there wasn't anybody to see it. Who wore stockings these days, anyway?

By the time they finally pulled up just around the corner from the reception hall the banquet was being held in, Cloud was panting and flushed with the effort of running. Zack, damn his eyes, looked like he'd just gone for a light walk. "Bloody SOLDIER stamina," Cloud muttered, leaning over with one hand braced on the wall to try to get the shoes back on. They didn't want to fit, the half dozen straps falling out of place every time he moved his hand to actually put his foot in it. "Damn it. Zack, help me."

Chuckling, Zack went down on one knee and helped Cloud get the shoes on. "We made it with a few minutes to spare, so take a moment and get your breath," the older boy said. "Don't want people getting the wrong idea about what made us late."

That, of course, only flustered Cloud even more. How was he supposed to catch his breath when he had images flying through his head of what else the two of them might have been doing to get him so flushed? Of course people would get the wrong idea. Zack in his dress blues really ought to come with some kind of warning label.

It didn't take him as long to catch his breath as it would have a year ago when he'd first joined the army, at least. All his extra training with Zack was finally starting to pay off. Thinking about training let him not think about what he was going to walk into in just a minute, which was a good thing. He was way past second thoughts and on to fourth or fifth by now, and he didn't need to be any more nervous than he already was.

Perhaps sensing his nerves, or maybe just hearing the way Cloud's heartbeat had sped up erratically, Zack stood and looked down into the younger boy's eyes. In the heels it wasn't quite as much of a height difference as Cloud was used to, which felt almost as odd as the uncharacteristically uncertain look on Zack's face. "You sure you want to do this, kid?" Zack asked softly. "We can still back out now."

Oddly, Zack's words served to firm Cloud's resolve rather than weaken it. "We've come this far," Cloud said. "It'd be stupid to go back now. I want to see Sephiroth. Let's go, before being late makes the decision for us."

"As my lady wishes," Zack somehow managed to say with a straight face, and Cloud hit him. Laughing, Zack offered Cloud his arm. "No punching me, that's not a very ladylike thing to do," the older boy reminded him as Cloud tucked his gloved hand into the crook of the elbow Zack offered him. "Think 'dainty and feminine', remember?"

"Dainty and feminine, right, I can do this, dainty and feminine," Cloud chanted under his breath. He closed his eyes briefly to try to steady himself, then took a deep breath and did his best to settle himself into the role.

Then they were at the door, and there was no more time for thinking about it. The guard at the door saluted and checked Zack's invitation, then waved them through.

Stepping through the door was like walking into a different world. It was a noisy, chaotic, glittering fairy world with people everywhere and horribly overdone decorations that were probably supposed to look expensive and impressive. Everyone not in dress blues was dressed in the same ostentatious style as the decorations; jewels flashed everywhere, custom suits and designer gowns abounded, and most of the people present had that indefinable air of authority that comes from being in control over a great many peoples' lives.

"Who are all these people?" Cloud whispered to Zack as he looked around wide-eyed, his hand tightening on the older boy's arm. Surely not all of these civilians could be Shinra brass. It was a big corporation, but there were hundreds of people in here.

"The rich and elite from around the world," Zack murmured back, smiling and nodding in reply to a greeting from another SOLDIER. "That's the whole purpose of this thing, to trot out Shinra's elite and prove that their tax dollars are being well spent. They're showing off the SOLDIERs."

"Oh," Cloud said, a little overwhelmed. He'd thought this was a strictly internal affair of some kind. He wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that most of the people present were not directly in control of his military career, or more nervous because if they were caught he was going to be shamed in front of everyone in the world who mattered.

"How are we ever going to see Sephiroth in all of this?" he asked, dismayed. Had all this been for nothing? And they were trapped now, they wouldn't be able to leave for hours without a very good excuse.

"No worries, he always goes around to talk to the newest 1st Class members," Zack assured him. "Which, obviously, includes me. So stick close and don't wander off and you're golden."

"If you think I'm taking one step away from you, you're out of your mind!" Cloud exclaimed as quietly as he could. The last thing he needed was to be hit on by a drunken partygoer, or asked to dance. "You didn't tell me there'd be dancing," he added as he watched the couples whirling around in the cleared area. There was a five piece string quartet providing the music, mostly older ballroom dances.

"I didn't know there would be, but I guess it makes sense," Zack shrugged. "One more way to show us off, and something to do other than standing around talking. Why, you want to dance?" he grinned down at Cloud, who only just remembered in time not to scowl or punch his friend.

"Absolutely not!" he hissed back. "You take one step in that direction and I'll drive one of these heels right through your foot. I'm not making that much of an idiot out of myself."

"I was just kidding," Zack laughed, holding up his free hand in a gesture of surrender. "Let's grab some drinks and find somewhere for you to sit down."

Since Cloud had been about to ask for a chair, he nodded gratefully and followed after Zack as the older boy wound his way through the crowd to the refreshment table laid out to one side.

"Hey, Zack!" someone called from one side, and Zack turned and waved.

"Malcolm," Zack replied. "Good to see you, buddy. I didn't think you were going to be back in Midgar in time for this party."

"Neither did I," said the large black man who came up to them. His SOLDIER blues looked barely big enough to contain him, even though Cloud knew they must have been tailored for him the same way Zack's had been. With that much muscle he would have been scarily strong even without the mako enhancements; Cloud couldn't even imagine how powerful he must be now.

"We got reassigned to Junon, and since we had to pass so close to Midgar to get there the major said there was no reason we couldn't stop long enough to be at the party. Who's this?" Malcolm asked, looking down at Cloud in surprise. "Don't tell me you broke up with Aerith?"

"Nah, she's sick as a dog, so she convinced her friend to come with me so I wouldn't have to miss it," Zack lied easily as Cloud tried not to tense up beside him. It hadn't even occurred to him that the other SOLDIERs would know that Zack had a girlfriend or what she looked like.

"You lucky bastard, you get all the pretty ones," the big man said. "But hey, if you're not attached to this lout here," he jerked his thumb at Zack and raised an eyebrow at Cloud, who was blushing furiously at being called 'pretty', "maybe I should sweep you off your feet and rescue you?"

"Oh yeah? What would Tamieka have to say about that, I wonder?" Zack countered, raising an eyebrow at the other SOLDIER in turn. "I've met your girl, remember? You're braver than I am if you're willing to cross her. And I know she's gotta be here, you wouldn't have gotten in without her."

Laughing, Malcolm gave Zack a slap on the shoulder that would have sent Cloud flying. "I'm allowed to flirt, just not to touch. Though I gotta say, Aerith must trust you a hell of a lot to let you go out with such a pretty thing on your arm. At least tell me your name, sweetheart."

Cloud wasn't sure whether to flush more at being called 'sweetheart', or blanch because they hadn't even thought about someone asking for his name. Cloud wasn't exactly a common name, nor was it terribly feminine.

Once again Zack proved that he'd had far too much practice at talking his way out of trouble he'd gotten himself into, because he didn't even hesitate. "This is Skye, and she's pretty shy. Aerith and I had to beg and plead to get her to agree to come with me, she hates crowds. So ease up, before you scare her off!" Zack laughed. "I don't want to get chewed out by Aerith for not taking care of her friend."

Doing his best to look shy, Cloud edged a little closer to Zack and ducked his head. Malcolm chuckled. "I still say you've got all the luck. Have a good time, kid. I better get back to Tamieka before she starts wondering what else I'm getting besides drinks."

"Skye?" Cloud whispered the moment the man was out of earshot, glaring at Zack.

"It was the best I could think of on short notice!" Zack murmured back, but his poor attempt at an apology was further ruined by the laughter in his eyes. "Your name doesn't exactly have a feminine form."

Grumbling, Cloud decided it would be better to change the subject rather than risk someone overhearing. "They call you kid? I thought he was talking to me for a second."

"I'm eighteen," Zack said wryly. "Look around. If you spot another 1st Class under twenty, I'll buy your whole platoon drinks next time we're at the pub. I am a kid, to them." He made a move like he was going to ruffle Cloud's hair like he usually did, but thought better of it. "If you think the troops treat you like a kid, be glad you're not a SOLDIER. It's ten times as bad."

"Easy for you to say, you are one. I'd still rather be a kid SOLDIER than a kid trooper," Cloud said, biting back the bitterness that still rose every time he remembered the moment he'd seen his exam results. He shook it off quickly this time, not wanting to be distracted enough to slip up and reveal himself as a boy.

"So, what do you want to drink?" Zack asked as he surveyed the table. "Looks like most of it is alcoholic."

"No alcohol," Cloud said firmly. He couldn't even begin to contemplate how much of a bad idea that would be. "For either of us. We don't want you forgetting my name any more than we want me blurting something out."

"Probably a good idea," Zack agreed with a grimace. "Now let's just hope nobody spiked the cider."

They each took a glass of the cider and retreated from the crowd around the table, searching for somewhere Cloud would be able to sit down. The shoes were really starting to kill him, which Zack could probably tell by the way Cloud kept leaning more and more of his weight on the older boy's arm. There didn't seem to be anywhere to sit except at the tables, however.

"Maybe we should just find our table," Zack finally suggested, pulling his invitation out of his belt pouch to check it. "There are other people sitting already, though it's probably still half an hour until they bring the food out."

"I don't care about food, just about being able to walk tomorrow," Cloud said, struggling to keep his face blank so people wouldn't ask why he looked pained. "I have to stand guard duty tomorrow evening. That means I need to be able to stand."

"Shh, don't talk about things like that, someone might overhear," Zack hushed him, steering him towards the table they'd been assigned to. "Fourteen, fifteen... here we go. Looks like we've got it to ourselves for now." Zack found the little cards at the place settings that said 'Captain Zack & Guest', and pulled out Cloud's chair for him in a gallant gesture that earned him a snort of amusement from Cloud.

On the other hand, as Cloud quickly realized, he wouldn't have been able to sit properly and pull the chair in without that help. There was more to moving in a skirt than just walking, apparently. Who knew?

"Look, there's President Shinra," Zack said as he dropped into the chair next to Cloud, nodding at a table that had been raised above the others on a dais. "And the rest of the brass, looks like."

The president was easy enough to spot, he was a distinctive man and his picture was everywhere. Cloud ticked off the others in his head as he recognized them. Scarlet, Hojo, Heidigger of course, Palmer, a young-looking executive type Cloud didn't recognize, and a couple of empty chairs. Presumably one of those was for Sephiroth, though Cloud hadn't seen any sign of the general yet.

"Who's the dark-haired one on the end?" Cloud asked curiously. "That's not the president's son is it?"

"Dunno, haven't seen him before," Zack shrugged. "The president's son is blonde, I know that. Must be another department head that doesn't have much to do with the military."

"There are parts of Shinra that don't have much to do with the military?" Cloud asked, only partly joking. It might have started out as a simple electric company, but everyone knew that Shinra was the major world power now.

"A few, tucked away here and there," Zack said wryly. "Mostly to do with the reactors, I'd imagine. I don't think..." He glanced over Cloud's shoulder and his eyes widened. He nearly spilled his cider as he jumped to attention and saluted. "General Sephiroth, sir!"

A year's worth of training almost blew Cloud's cover right there as he moved to do the same. Only Zack's discreet kick in the ankle kept him in his chair, and his heart raced with how close he'd just come to revealing himself. He turned without standing and looked up, and suddenly his heart had a whole new reason to pound.

There he was, larger than life, the Silver General himself. He was a lot younger than Cloud had expected he would look, despite the shining silver fall of his hair. If he was out of his twenties Cloud would eat his boot polish. Considering how long ago the Wutai war had been, that was a little disturbing.

"As you were, captain. Congratulations on your promotion," Sephiroth said, and his voice was a deep rumble that seemed to sweep over Cloud like a Bolt spell. The air of quiet authority that he carried with him was almost overwhelming, and it wasn't hard to see why this man had been able to lead the Shinra forces to victory even at such a young age. He could have done it on sheer charisma alone.

"Thank you, sir," Zack replied. Was it Cloud's imagination, or did his friend sound a little breathless too? He'd have glanced over to check, but he couldn't tear his eyes off Sephiroth. Sephiroth. Standing right in front of him. It was like something out of his childhood fantasies... with the addition of the dress, of course. The only thing missing that would have made it perfect was if it had been Cloud who was being congratulated for making 1st Class.

For the moment, though, even that thought couldn't upset him. He was too caught up in the awe of meeting Sephiroth to care about the actual circumstances.

"Are you all right, miss?" Sephiroth was looking straight at him, but it still took Cloud a second to realize that the general was speaking to him.

"Ah... y-" A second, harder kick from Zack jolted him, and he coughed and tried to modulate his voice. "Yes, sir." The 'sir' was automatic, and Cloud didn't think he'd be able to not call the general that no matter how hard he tried. Well, hopefully Sephiroth would take it as a polite form of address by a young girl to her senior, rather than a trooper to his superior officer.

"She's kind of shy, and not all that happy that I managed to convince her to come with me, sir," Zack interjected smoothly. "And she's been listening to me go on at length about how much I admire you. You're a bit awe-inspiring sir, if it's not too forward of me to say so."

Cloud had lowered his eyes to his lap, where his hands were trembling even though he'd clenched them together. Awe-inspiring was a good word for it. Hero 'worship' took on a whole new level of meaning when Sephiroth was involved. He practically was a god; they certainly treated him like one, after he won the Wutai war for Shinra.

Praying his voice wouldn't betray him, but unwilling to let the opportunity go by without saying something to his hero, Cloud swallowed and lifted his eyes again. "It's an honour to meet you, sir," he said, and hopefully the breathiness in his voice would be enough to make it sound feminine.

For a heartbeat Sephiroth looked down at him, and Cloud could have sworn the man was seeing all the way down into his soul. Then the general nodded in acknowledgement and glanced away, and Cloud was released from the hypnotic effect of his glowing eyes. He remembered to breathe again, trying to do it quietly so he wouldn't look like quite as much of an idiot.

"I've been hearing good things from your commanding officers," Sephiroth was saying to Zack. "And of course it's impressive that you've made it to 1st Class so quickly."

"I'll do my best to make sure you keep getting good reports, sir," Zack replied, and he sounded like he was walking on air. Cloud couldn't blame him; getting compliments like that from General Sephiroth wasn't an everyday occurrence.

"I'll look forward to it, captain. I hope you enjoy the dinner. Miss." With another nod he turned to leave, and Zack saluted him briefly again.