Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ First Class ❯ 3 AM ( Chapter 2 )

3 AM

 

Zack turned over in bed for what seemed like the fiftieth time and looked at his alarm clock. It was 3 AM.

 

“Damn it…”

 

He had to be awake in a couple hours anyway, and since it looked like he wouldn't be getting any sleep, he figured he should just get up and find something to do to occupy himself.

 

He got out of bed, biting back a curse as his feet hit the cold cement floor. Shinra really didn't even bother with making troop quarters at Junon habitable; he hated when they had to come there, because he hardly got any sleep. The beds were the hardest thing he had ever slept on, and he had slept in some pretty strange places.

 

He threw on some civilian clothes and his boots, deciding that he was going for a walk.

 

It turned out to be a beautiful night for a walk. It wasn't too cold and the stars and moon were shining brightly in the cloudless sky. Zack stopped for a moment just outside the door of the barracks and looked up. He hardly ever got to see the stars anymore, living in Midgar.

 

He smiled and started on his way. Perhaps his unwanted insomnia would prove not to be so bad after all.

 

His walk took him to the docks and as he rounded a corner, he stopped short, surprised to see none other than Sephiroth sitting on one of the docks, looking out over the ocean.

 

Zack had once wondered how anyone could possibly be that beautiful, and sometimes he still did, especially at times like this. Sitting there, the moonlight shining on him, he appeared to be glowing with an ethereal light.

 

He stood there for awhile, reluctant to approach his friend, before the rational part of his mind kicked in and told him he was being an idiot, and, smiling at his silliness, he walked down the dock.

 

Sephiroth turned at the sound of his boots on the metal. His expression was impassive, as usual, though Zack could tell he was surprised to see him at this hour.

 

“What in the world are you doing all the way out here?” Zack asked him, coming to stand beside him.

 

“I could ask you the same,” Sephiroth replied.

 

Zack sighed. Sephiroth was being his usual self and not telling him a thing.

 

“I couldn't sleep,” Zack said, sitting down beside him.

 

Sephiroth turned his gaze back to the horizon. “Ah,” he said.

 

“You didn't answer my question.”

 

“I couldn't sleep either,” Sephiroth said, “and I'm here because I enjoy looking at the stars.”

 

“So you actually do sleep,” Zack said, only partly teasing. He had seriously wondered whether Sephiroth slept, because he always worked so late and was up so early.

 

“Of course I do,” Sephiroth said.

 

Zack lay back on the dock, putting his arms behind his head and looked at the night sky.

 

“You know, when I was little my mom used to tell me that when people died they became stars and they would stay up there forever watching over us,” he said, smiling at the memory.

 

Sephiroth snorted, which was as close as he ever came to laughing. “You don't honestly believe that…”

 

“I don't know,” Zack said, “Not really, I guess. It's interesting to think about it, though.”

 

“It's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard.”

 

Zack laughed. For being a phenomenal negotiator, his general wasn't very tactful. But then again, most of his “negotiations” ended with the other party with the tip of his very long and very sharp sword at their throat.

 

“Honestly! My mother would cry if she heard you say that,” Zack said, trying his best to look offended without laughing.

 

Sephiroth actually cracked a smile as he looked up at the stars and Zack heard him whisper something that sounded very much like “mother”.