Please come tell me
You've got something good in mind

There was nothing especially amazing about lounging around on the couch in the common area of the training barracks. In fact, it was one of Cloud's least favourite places to be. It was dingy and yellow-lit, boring and average. He could take his books there, and study, but otherwise the area was generally useless. The TV was always too quiet to actually watch. And so, training for the next barrage of exams that could be coming up at any time, although not so dilligently, Cloud Strife was reclining lazily in one of the faux leather chairs. He was slouched far enough down that his rear was hanging in the air and his head was resting in the comfortable nest where most butts were supposed to go. A champion sloucher, Cloud nearly jumped when a set of hands clamped on his shoulders from above and behind.

Drop everything,
Glad to be persuaded this time

"Kid, wanna ditch?" Cloud looked up into the recently made SOLDIER, Zack's eyes sparkling with a deviancy that Mako could never have given to anyone. Dropping his book onto his stomach, Cloud raised his eyebrows curiously. Zack bapped the side of Cloud's head playfully with his hand. "C'mon, it beats studying for an exam they'll prolly cancel because of the weather."

Cloud shook his head and grinned, raising his hands and slapping Zack away with the text. "I have no clue how you passed your exams."

"Pure charm, charisma. SOLDIERs are required to be irresistable." Folding his arms up, the dark haired man looked like a cheshire perched over the top of the chair. "So, what about it?"

Shuffling upwards in the chair, the blonde turned to face Zack, shutting his book abruptly between his hands. Zack remained as he was, eyes upturned hopefully. "Well, you said it was irresitable. What choice do I have?" He shook his head and laughed. "Puppy faces don't count."

Into the car
Baby, bleed the gas
Fast is fast, never turning back

The noonday light was sweet, but the air was still the same. The stink that Junon loved to carry around with itself of sea and pollution. But Zack didn't care. He and Cloud crept along the walkways and levels of the city, dodging into doorways and alleyways and sniggering to eachother, knowing that nobody really cared if they were leaving or not. Sure, they would both be in serious trouble if caught, but right now there was no suspicion. A few off duty workers, some shopkeepers lazing outside in the sun for a smoke, people opening their windows all could do nothing better than to roll their eyes.

Oh yeah,
Not scared of that

It was at the airport where their cover was almost blown. Cloud did his best to remain serious and to attention standing behind the dark haired SOLDIER when one of the personal started questioning them. Zack didn't help. He was making up some sort of outragous story about checking the level of radio waves on the lower level of the beach front area for monsters...Cloud was choking on a snickerfit behind him while the somewhat irate looking guard scowled at them. Zack's stoic face cracked and the tech scowled further while the SOLDIER attempted to regain his story.

"And it's to keep the kids from getting..." He was starting to laugh too, now, and elbowed Cloud in the stomach lightly, but it didn't help. The blonde just laughed harder now. "You'll have to excuse us," Zack said between trying to not crack up completely. Pulling himself to full height, he said, "You have been of great assistance!"

Grabbing onto Zack's wrist, Cloud dragged him for the elevator before they called any more attention to themselves, a hand clapped over his mouth to keep his laughter from breaking loose in the hallway.

Past is past,
and we cannot take it back.

Through the elevator doors on the ground level they burst, Cloud still hanging tight onto Zack's wrist. The stink of the beach didn't bother them, their boots making scrunching sounds on the sandy ground. A few meters away from the door, they paused and Cloud let go, both of them panting from laughing.

Cloud smiled and dusted his hands on his jeans, looking around them. "It sure stinks down here. Was this your brilliant get away?"

They wanna know
if we can get away.

Zack only grinned, and pointed to the far end of town, where skulking in the shadow of the city above, an old blue truck was waiting. "Ta da, Chocobo-head."

We've backed it up,
and made our great escape.

"Where'd you get ahold of a-" Hand to his forehead in disbelief, Cloud couldn't help but believe that sometimes Zack had passed via sheer magic, because he often pulled off things not humanly possiable.

The dark-haired SOLDIER caught hold of Cloud's upper arm and motioned for the truck. "It's a friend's, but we gotta bring it back before midnight."

"Or it turns into a pumpkin?"

Zack responded with a roll of his eyes and began to drag Cloud along, hauling him towards the truck. The doors creaked when they opened, the seats were squeaky with old springs and the interior smelled like sawdust and orange juice. Cloud pressed his hands on the seat a moment, feeling the car squeal in response. His door slammed shut, Zack's whined open and the SOLDIER hopped into the seat with the hyperactive agility of a anyone else their age. Keys fell oblodgingly from the sunvisor when Zack flipped it down, the engine kicking itself to life with a good-natured growl.

When the dust will settle and they discover
the furthest exodus getting somewhere.
While the messengers get the message in
try to capture us, we’ve done nothing wrong.

The sun hit the windshield of the truck refreshingly, the sky opening up as they drove closer to the checkpoint. Cloud rolled down the window, leaning out and feeling the wind ruffle his hair. The air was getting cleaner, lively and more like the sea should smell. He pulled back inside the cab when Zack pulled at the hem of his shirt, eyes crinkled.

"Zack, you've got to open your window, it's like nothing else in Junon. It's alive out there, I swear, not like it is in the barracks."

"You've been inside way too long," Zack stuck his tongue out at Cloud, his wrists resting on the wheel as the car crawled up to the gate. "Good thing I dragged you out here, huh?"

Kicking Zack's shin, Cloud clicked disapprovingly at him as the gate guard leaned out of his window and looked into the cabin. Zack looked at Cloud a moment. Did they have a reason? The guard was waiting, his mustache bristling at them.

Please come tempt me
Steal me from this pristine life

Cloud shrugged back at Zack, the SOLDIER lifting his hands off the wheel in a slight shrug. There was a moment where the guard stared at them, and they thought they wouldn't get out. But Zack's hand left the wheel and caught Cloud's shoulder and Cloud waved to the guard as Zack pulled him into a kiss.

Oh so gently,
everyone feels pain this time.

Zack's mouth was soft, Cloud was used to it by now, the sometimes gentle and sometimes fierce exchange between the two of them. Zack smelled like soap rubbed off over the day, harsh but clean and it burned Cloud's nostrils. He could feel the scar on Zack's chin against his own skin, irregular and strangely smooth. Absently, Cloud waved to the guard again, watching from the corner of his eye. The obviously frustrated man went back into the roadblock house, the gates wheeling themselves apart to make way for the old truck.

Into the car, baby bleed the gas.
Fast is fast, never turning back.

Cloud had to tap on Zack's chest before they could resume driving, the slightly older SOLDIER pulling away and raising his fingers to his nose and wiggling them. Cloud responded the same way, their fingers dancing against one another.

"Cthulu kisses!"

Oh yeah, I'm not scared of that
Past is passed,
and we cannot take it back.

The truck rolled out of Junon and into the world, tires bumping over little rocks and through ruts, the two passengers playing back and forth. Zack kept control with one hand, tickling at Cloud's stomach with the other. Cloud beat on the SOLDIER's arms harmlessly, pummeling in response while trying to choke down laughter and convince himself the tickling didn't exist. Zack pummeled back after a bit, Cloud retreating across the cabin and leaning out the window again as the truck rattled along, Zack taking the gradual incline up to the top of the plataue that Junon was built into.

"Hey Cloud."

Cloud looked over his shoulder at Zack, who was hunched over the wheel like a demented frog. He couldn't help but snicker at that. "What?"

"Wanna hear my horn?"

"WHAT?"

The truck's horn sounded through the clean quiet air, sound rediculous and out of place, too small compared to the sounds of ships and class bells that they were used to. It sounded pitiful, pretending to be big, and it made them both crack up.

They want to know if we could get away
Yeah, we backed it up and made our great escape

Halfway up the incline, Zack abruptly rolled down and leaned out his own window, one hand still slightly on the wheel but more or less leaving the truck completely out of control. Cloud made a dive for the wheel, winding up half on his stomach and half on his knees trying to drive the car while Zack alternately lost his balance and regained it on the gas and clutch, making the machine lurch violently. Cloud's head slammed backwards into Zack's side, causing the dark haired man to wave a hand inside the cabin.

"Cloud, if you can't drive, hand it over to someone else."

"There's nobody else here, you psycho!"

"We're almost there, move over!" Zack pushed him aside, sliding back into the cabin, the truck regaining some sort of semblance of sane driving as it climbed the hill. Mid spring, the grass was just starting to cover everything, barely a fuzz, and the truck flattened them down into obvious tracks.

Leaning against Zack, his head lolled back against the cabin feeling the rattle of the climb, Cloud could see the tint of the dusky blue sky above. There were streaks of clouds, the sun starting to crawl further downwards as the truck bumped along. He wondered how far they were going, if anyone was after them. How much trouble they would be in.

When the dust will settle and they discover
The furthest exodus getting somewhere
While the messengers get the message in

Shifting his weight, Zack moved one arm around and hugged Cloud tightly against him, and Cloud realized he didn't really give a damn what they were going to get in terms of punishment.

Try to capture us, we’ve done nothing wrong.

At the top of the outcropping, the truck gradually slowed itself, Zack's eyes flashing around the skyline around them. With a scraping sound, he put on the break and opened the driverside door, looking at the blonde beside him.

"C'mon, I know it ain't too far away or too fantastic...But it's something." He uncoiled his arm from around Cloud and climbed out of the cab, feeling his boots sink slightly in the damp new grass. Cloud followed after, elbowing Zack in the ribs as he did so.

The sky stretched across the sea until the two seemed to melt together, a dark smudge so far away it wasn't fathomable. Slight and dark greens that shook themselves off, the sea was a live being covered in scales and the sky was the feathers off a bird's back, the streaking clouds crests along its backside. Junon was below them, Cosmo Canyon reflecting the reds and oranges of the sun into the sky behind them. The world, with her slowly growing grass sprouts and faded sky, was waking up and coming to life.

Cloud leaned against Zack, the dark haired man closing his hand around Cloud's, their fingers interlacing. Inclining his head close to the blonde's ear, Zack whispered to him. "D'you see that spot out there over the sea?"

He nodded, his voice seeming to echo in his own head. The air smelt like sea and mud, dirty and clean at the same time. "It's the Gold Saucer, isn't it? It's so small from here."

Zack nodded, his hair brushing Cloud's neck. With one hand, he reached out and held it against the smudge on the skyline, cupping it underneith. "I've got it in my hand, cause you're here with me. And if you want, I'll let it go, or break it," Cloud raised a hand and pressed Zack's arm down at that, "I can, because of you. I can do anything for you, if you want me to, because you matter." Zack lifted his head, reaching and pulling Cloud against him in a tight hug, his head resting on the blonde's shoulder and feeling the weight of Cloud's leaning against his body. "Happy Valentine's day, Cloud."

They want to know if we could get away
Yeah we backed it up and made our great escape
When the dust will settle and they discover
The furthest exodus getting somewhere
While the messengers get the message in

They were fifteen and seventeen, the world was going through its rebirth, and time didn't seem to have any agenda for stopping the two of them.

Try to capture us we’ve done nothing wrong