The Game of Life (Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy)

Prologue

You threw away the bandage coverings and picked his helmet back up off the floor, then handed it back to him and sat back down. "Your point, Zack? When you've had to do this for almost three years, you tend to get used to seeing the worst possible conditions that a human's body can be in."

"The first year that you had to be a medic for us," he said, trailing off and twirling his helmet in his hands, "you had to treat a soldier that tried to commit suicide. Remember him?"

You stiffened. "Of course I do."

"He was brought in by a few of his fellow troop members- me, Cloud, Leon, and Noct, right?" He started humming while he stared at his reflection in his helmet. "...Yeah, it was us four. Anyway, we brought in-"

"Cloud!" You cut him off at the sight of a certain tall blonde with Mako blue eyes.

"What? No, it was R-"

"What are you going on about, Zack?" Cloud asked blandly, setting his helmet on your bookshelf and giving you a pointed look. "[Name], could you patch me up? My ear's ringing pretty badly."

He turned to the side to show you the ear that was bothering him, and you sighed. "What did you do, Cloud? It's bleeding!"

His eyes widened a little as he seated himself next to Zack. "Oh, so that's why they told us to keep our helmets on or at least plug our ears whenever we threw grenades..."

You facepalmed and opened up your kit again. "You're an idiot, Cloud."

"Hey!" He threw his hands up. "I lost my helmet sometime between getting into close combat with one of the enemies, and get- um..." He cut himself off, and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Nevermind."

You raised an eyebrow while soaking a cotton ball with alcohol. "And what, Cloud?"

"Yeah, Spikes," Zack teased. "How badly did you screw up this time?"

Cloud groaned and tried to facepalm, but you held his hand down and pulled his head back before he got the chance.

"You guys really need to learn to keep your heads still while I'm treating your injuries," you muttered while starting to rub off the blood that trailed from Cloud's down to the nape of his neck.

"Sorry," both the boys said while giving you sheepish looks.

"And um..." Cloud trailed off again. "Well, I kind of took my helmet off in the gummi ship on the way to Traverse Town because it was getting hot and... I may or may not have forgotten to put it back on before I got off."

"Ugh!" You cried and whacked him at the same time Zack did, making Cloud wince.

"You guys are cruel," Cloud whined.

"You're lucky you got away with a burst eardrum!" You yelled at him. "You could've walked in here with half your face blown off!"

"But I didn't." He grinned sheepishly while wagging his finger at you.

"You need a haircut and an attitude check, dude." Zack shook his head disapprovingly.

"You're one to talk!" Cloud snapped. "Remember that time you put on your suit in a rush and forgot to even activate the armor before you stepped onto the battlefield? You came to [Name] in way worse condition than I'm in now!"

You nodded while opening the cap of an antibiotic bottle. "He's right, you know," you told Zack. "It was during your first week of being on the job, and when you came in, you were in shock and I could see the bone of your right arm. Plus, you almost started sobbing when you realized that you would have to tell Lightning that you would need a new suit."