Kunsel wasn't wrong often. Not when he'd taken the time to dig up information and observe a situation the way he had with Cloud. When he'd first met the blond, he'd known something was up. Kunsel knew every member of SOLDIER who'd joined after him, and Cloud didn't look remotely like any of them, and he was too young to have joined SOLDIER long enough before that Kunsel would never have met or even heard of him. But there was no mistaking his eyes, or the fact that he had SOLDIER strength. The few times they'd sparred, it was like fighting a First. Kunsel had had trouble just trying to keep up.
Those spars had been his first big clue. The Buster Sword, the cocky, casual stance, the way he twirled the weapon in his hand - familiarity screamed at Kunsel with his every movement. The blond even favored the blunt edge of his blade in a way that no other swordsman Kunsel had met ever did.
But there were obvious problems with the comparison that Kunsel's mind kept trying to draw. Cloud was too short, his face the wrong shape, his accent from entirely the wrong region of the Western Continent. And yet, every time Kunsel tried to discount his own crazy idea, other things kept cropping up. Cloud would say something, do something - rub his neck, crack a joke about a reactor, sometimes even just the way he grinned - that summoned the memory of Zack so effectively that Kunsel couldn't pass it off as coincidence. Not after so many times.
He'd asked around. It hadn't taken long to find a few things out, like Cloud's involvement with AVALANCHE or the fact that he'd clearly had a hand in saving the world from Sephiroth and Meteor, but what Kunsel had found really interesting was how little people actually knew about the man before he'd come to Midgar. More specifically, it was the timing of his arrival that threw up a huge red flag. It coincided almost perfectly (give or take a couple of weeks depending on who he asked) with the day there had last been confirmed contact with Zack.
Little things, big things - it all added up, and strengthening it all was the feeling he always felt around Cloud, the comfortable companionship that should have only come with being around an old friend. Kunsel didn't know how he'd done it - maybe lessons in disguise from that Wutai girl? - but somehow, some way, Zack was there and alive. The realization, once it sunk in, made something in his chest want to soar. Zack had survived! Despite all the odds, his best friend had returned!
He was already reaching out to give Zack the biggest bear hug in the world when a hitch in Cloud's breath stopped him cold. The blond stared at him, stricken. His words came out as a croak. "No. Kunsel, stop."
Kunsel faltered, caught off guard. What? His hand hovered, still outstretched.
Cloud shuddered and closed his eyes, all semblance of Zack crumbling away. "I'm not. Kunsel, I'm not." When he opened his eyes again, there was too much pain for him to hide. His expression was too broken, too lost to be a lie. The next words he spoke crushed all the hope in Kunsel's heart.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-05-27 01:48 am (UTC)Those spars had been his first big clue. The Buster Sword, the cocky, casual stance, the way he twirled the weapon in his hand - familiarity screamed at Kunsel with his every movement. The blond even favored the blunt edge of his blade in a way that no other swordsman Kunsel had met ever did.
But there were obvious problems with the comparison that Kunsel's mind kept trying to draw. Cloud was too short, his face the wrong shape, his accent from entirely the wrong region of the Western Continent. And yet, every time Kunsel tried to discount his own crazy idea, other things kept cropping up. Cloud would say something, do something - rub his neck, crack a joke about a reactor, sometimes even just the way he grinned - that summoned the memory of Zack so effectively that Kunsel couldn't pass it off as coincidence. Not after so many times.
He'd asked around. It hadn't taken long to find a few things out, like Cloud's involvement with AVALANCHE or the fact that he'd clearly had a hand in saving the world from Sephiroth and Meteor, but what Kunsel had found really interesting was how little people actually knew about the man before he'd come to Midgar. More specifically, it was the timing of his arrival that threw up a huge red flag. It coincided almost perfectly (give or take a couple of weeks depending on who he asked) with the day there had last been confirmed contact with Zack.
Little things, big things - it all added up, and strengthening it all was the feeling he always felt around Cloud, the comfortable companionship that should have only come with being around an old friend. Kunsel didn't know how he'd done it - maybe lessons in disguise from that Wutai girl? - but somehow, some way, Zack was there and alive. The realization, once it sunk in, made something in his chest want to soar. Zack had survived! Despite all the odds, his best friend had returned!
He was already reaching out to give Zack the biggest bear hug in the world when a hitch in Cloud's breath stopped him cold. The blond stared at him, stricken. His words came out as a croak. "No. Kunsel, stop."
Kunsel faltered, caught off guard. What? His hand hovered, still outstretched.
Cloud shuddered and closed his eyes, all semblance of Zack crumbling away. "I'm not. Kunsel, I'm not." When he opened his eyes again, there was too much pain for him to hide. His expression was too broken, too lost to be a lie. The next words he spoke crushed all the hope in Kunsel's heart.
"Zack died. I'm only what he left behind."