More fic. I'm actually going to be plodding along with the fanfic100 this time, OMG. Done as requested by artimusdin, since FF7 fandom is vastly unrepresented in my circles. Sigh.


Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters: Zack, Sephiroth, Cloud
Prompt: 076: Who?
Word Count: 420
Rating: PG-13


Whenever Zack was assigned to Icicle, he started to miss Gongaga. Hell, he started to miss Midgar, and that was saying something.

Whatever brain back in Midgar said that Soldiers could take these temperatures could sit on something hard and sharp and rotate. His nose was going to run, he could barely feel his fingers, and fuck if his sword wasn't a chunk of frosted metal by now. Hat, goggles, down-lined everything, and still it was annoyingly cold.

Oh, well, routine extermination case, and he'd be back in Midgar in about a week. Even better, after today's work was done, food that set up housekeeping in your gut, enough alcohol to kill the non-infused, and a warm bed. Those thoughts alone were what kept him going.

Then the girl showed up, and things took a turn.

She was, of course, cute. Pretty much like any other snow-bunny. If he hadn't had such a long day, he wouldn't have noticed, really. Of course, they were out in the middle of no where. It was a little strange, but still nothing out the ordinary. Besides, a chat for a minute or two wouldn't hurt. Zack prepared to turn on the charm. She was already giggling. Good sign.

The last thing the remembered was wondering why her skin seemed so blue.

---

"I thought, Zackary, that you'd be beyond thinking in the name of your baser functions." It would have been a sorrier sight if it didn't mean that the usual backwash of paperwork was now even worse.

Zackary, sprawled on his bed, gurgled, then shifted over to face him. "Ack-ack liked the pretty snow-lady," he whimpered. He was delerious. Wonderful. "But Ack-ack likes Sephy more. Sephy's pretty." He smiled, gurgled again, and turned on his side.

Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose, sighed, and left the Soldier to recouperate.

---

"It's just a little cold! I'll be fine," Cloud insisted. "I can't miss this class!"

Zack, however, was in full mother-hen mode. "Oh, no. You're going to stay here, rest, and drink plenty of fluids." He never knew what it was about Cloud that brought out mother-hen mode. It was probably that he was small, frail-looking, and young. No, that was definately it.

"Don't worry, Strife," Sephiroth broke in. "Ack-ack will help you feel better." Zack could almost feel the smugness dripping from the remark.

Zack didn't know how Sephiroth learned the ancient nickname, and probably didn't want to know. He did know, however, that there would be hell to pay.