Gladys didn't make friends her first day.

She made Zack.

It started when she slumped on the locker bench post-training, drenched in sweat, legs shaking, half-dead.

"Rough day, huh?" came a chipper voice.

She glanced up—and there he was. Zack Fair, in the flesh, grinning like a sunrise that had too much Red Bull.

Gladys' brain screamed. Her heart screamed. Her ovaries—

"Be normal."
"Be normal."
"DO NOT CRY."

She blinked at him, smiled, and said with as much energy as she could muster,

"You run like you have anime protagonist privileges."

Zack barked out a laugh and plopped down beside her like they were old war buddies.

"Oh man, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," he grinned. "I'm Zack! Second Class. You?"

"Gladys," she replied, offering a sweaty fist bump. "Class: Chaos Goblin."

He laughed again. It was too easy. Too natural.

They clicked instantly.

Cue Training Scene Montage:
• They get paired for drills and cause absolute destruction.
• She calls out "Protagonist incoming!" every time he does a dramatic flip, and he starts posing on purpose.
• They do stupid victory dances together every time they win a sparring match.
(Angeal stares, mildly horrified. Genesis walks away. Sephiroth won't look at them.)

But Then. A Moment.

One night, she finds him alone, sitting by the window, city lights casting soft shadows on his face.

He's quiet. He's not smiling.

Gladys doesn't say anything at first. Just sits beside him, cross-legged.

After a moment, she says softly,

"You don't always have to play the sunshine, you know."

Zack looks at her, surprised.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugs, watching the lights flicker.

"I think people forget you're real. That you carry all of it, even when you're pretending to be okay."

There's a beat of silence.

Then Zack whispers,

"...You some kind of psychic or something?"

Gladys grins sideways.

"Nah. Just observant. And a little obsessed."

He huffs out a breath. "You're weird."

"I get that a lot."

"But, like... the good kind."

And that's it. Zack Fair is locked in. Trust bar: MAXED.

System Alert:

[You have successfully synced with Zack Fair's Frequency.
Relationship Level: Chaos Duo Unlocked.
New Ability: "Double Dumbass Combo" – causes mass distraction & property damage with 50% chance of positive PR.]

From this point on, Zack is her in. He drags her around like a stray cat he found in the slums.

And suddenly, she's everywhere:
• Sitting in on Angeal's lectures.
• Quoting Genesis back at Genesis.
• Accidentally giving Sephiroth emotional crises with kind words and grilled cheese.

Zack just stands there like

"This is Gladys. She's... fixing things. Don't worry about it."