Chapter Text
By the age of ten, everybody had heard of the Pull. It was a feeling everyone had, very small and slight, that something was telling you to go somewhere. Zack had quite suddenly felt it at the age of two, and he had gotten separated from his parents and horribly lost, heading vaguely northward in the direction the Pull was tugging him.
His father found him late at night, and brought him home, and the next morning explained that what he was feeling was a good thing, and it would someday lead him to his soulmate, just the same way the Pull had lead him to Zack's mother.
"Somewhere out there is a girl who's feeling that same Pull, and it's leading her towards you. And someday you two will meet one another and it will be wonderful. But you have to wait until you're older to go after her."
So Zack waited until he was fourteen and the Pull was calling him inevitably towards Midgar, and decided to enlist in Shinra's army so that he would be able to go find the girl he was being guided towards sooner.
~~~
Cloud had felt the Pull all of his life, and didn't learn what it was until he was seven. He'd heard a few kids talking about pulling and soulmates and other mushy stuff and finally decided to ask his mother what it was.
"The Pull guides you towards happiness," she said, "It's a very slight feeling, but it never goes away. It's like someone tied a little thread around your finger and is tugging on it, only you feel it in your heart. Somewhere in the world, someone else is feeling that same pull guiding them towards you."
"Oh," Cloud said, "That's what it is."
Once he had a name for it, Cloud was able to recognize the feeling that had always been there. Whoever was at the other end of his thread must have travelled an awful lot, because his pull tugged him every which way - north, south, east and west, but most often it pulled him east, towards Midgar. So eventually, Cloud decided to enlist in Shinra. He left home, not quite sure what he was hoping for but excited nonetheless.
~~~
Midgar was awfully big and awfully busy. Zack hoped for free time to look for his soulmate, but Shinra duties kept him hopping so that he never really had a chance, and once he made SOLDIER 3rd he was deployed to Wutai, which quite soundly defeated his original purpose. He spent over a year there, never with enough time to come home and find the one who was calling to him. It wasn't until after the war that he returned to Midgar, and took a fateful tumble through the floor of the sector five reactor.
~~~
Cloud was kept busy for his first few weeks at Shinra, and basic training was so exhausting that he spent his free hours each evening just falling into bed. He knew his soulmate must be very close, because the Pull had never been so strong. Hopefully, his soulmate would find him. Although tomorrow there was going to be an assembly, so maybe afterwards he wouldn't be too exhausted to go look. He slept deeply, with few dreams. Tomorrow would be the day.
~~~
Zack felt fuzzy, not unlike when he'd been sparring with Angeal and the man had given him a solid rap on the head with the hilt of his sword. Something smelled nice, and whatever he was lying on was very comfortable... he could just nap here a while, but something wasn't letting him.
"Hellooo?"
Open your eyes! The Pull was almost like a voice. Open your eyes! NOW!
~~~
Cloud shuffled into the auditorium with hundreds of other cadets, keeping his head down and watching his feet so that he wouldn't step on anyone else's. He found his seat without incident and waited patiently for it to begin, idly picking at a fingernail.
And suddenly, the Pull was stronger than he'd ever felt it before.
Look up! It felt like a scream in his head. Look up! NOW!
~~~
Zack opened his eyes, and saw stunning green.
~~~
Cloud looked up, and saw only silver and black.
~~~
What did you say when you finally met the person you had been looking for all your life? Zack stared for a moment, then smiled.
"I always hoped you'd be cute."
~~~
Sephiroth. It was General Sephiroth that his heart had been pulling him to. They were in the middle of an assembly. Cloud couldn't run to Sephiroth like he wanted to, but he knew that both of them had felt it. Sephiroth looked stunned, and then quirked a small smile, so tiny and brief Cloud could have missed it. But he couldn't miss anything about Sephiroth.
The smile said: Found you.