It was bright. Very bright.

Opening my eyes hurt, the light beating into my skull from above me. I willed my hand to move at my side, but it felt too heavy to lift. My fingers twitched, letting me know I wasn't completely paralyzed. Why did my whole body hurt…Oh. That's right, I had been dead.

"You are the proof that I lived."

My words echoed in my head as I said them, blood surrounded me leaving my body feeling cold and empty. Things seemed fuzzy, and it was hard to focus my vision on Cloud. Oh god, Cloud…

There was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to apologize for. It pained me to know he'd be alone to process all that had happened. I'm sorry.

Then everything burst into white.

Slowly, I felt my arms lift my upper half off the ground beneath me. My head felt woozy, but my eyes were slowly beginning to focus. The cliff was barren, no grass anywhere near my death site. Something caught my eye causing my head to turn and gaze in horror and wonder. Stabbed into the ground at the tip of the cliff was my buster sword; the sword I had hoped Cloud would take and use. For some reason this didn't surprise me, as if somewhere deep within my mind I knew he had done this. Some memories were foggy, so I was fine with acknowledging that I just knew he did it.

It took a few tries, but I was finally able to stand up. Walking wasn't as easy though, I was more like stumbling about like a drunk. The uncontrollable laughter at myself wasn't helping the "drunk" outlook I was portraying. I couldn't help it though. I, the great Zack Fair SOLDIER First Class, the man who single handedly took down Genesis and my own mentor, Angeal, could barely walk.

Funny, isn't it?

Leaning against a rock I tilted my head towards the clouded sky and smiled. You didn't say it'd be this difficult coming back Aerith.

A glimmer of sunlight peaked through the clouds, almost as if she was laughing at me. I knew, just like she did, that this would all be worth it though. We both loved Cloud in different ways, and at different points of his life. He needed some form of happiness in his life, I remember deep in my mind some talk or agreement her and I shared. Thus why I was here.

Finally! A road, just what I needed. Surely it would lead me into a town. Or at least maybe a vehicle would come by that I could hitchhike with. It was still amazing to me how dead everything was. Small patches of weeds collected in places among the rock and the dirt, but that was it. I felt a pang of sadness, knowing that once, long ago, grass had been everywhere.

The planet's still healing Zack, but you'll see it's better.

Aerith's voice stopped me in my tracks, just as I dropped to my knees. Exhaustion suddenly seized my whole body. Using my last once of energy I used my hand to catch myself as I fell, knowing it'd be disastrous on this terrain to hit my head. And that was my last thought, before darkness consumed me once again.

CxZCxZCxZ

The sensation of a cool cloth woke me up, my eyes barely opening before I heard a familiar female's voice.

"She brought you back."

Cloud's friend. I couldn't remember her name but I knew who she was. Concern laced her face She sat in a wooden chair close to the bed I lay on. Sitting up felt much easier this time, and I gave her my award winning smile.

"Yup! How's it been?"

"Cloud won't accept it." She stood up, crossing her arms thoughtfully. "He's downstairs with the children." Another sort pause. "He didn't see you being brought up here."

Did she seem…upset I was here? Gazing down at the blanket covering my legs, I felt a bit sorry for her. It was obvious she cared about him, as a friend and in the same way I did. What I couldn't tell if her reasons for seeming upset were from a fear of Cloud losing his mind over seeing me alive or…No she wasn't that selfish to be angry about Cloud and I.

Besides it had been years, I wasn't ignorant. Sure, I was hot stuff! But if he had moved on he had moved on.

"He's stronger than you think." Her head snapped up at my words, anger apparent in the dark brown orbs.

"You think you can just come back whenever you want? When he's finally healing, happy? Where were you when he was breaking? Dying? We were all left to care for him, and you just waltz back into his life like a god damn hero?"

I was standing up now. I wasn't angry at her words, she didn't know the situation. Didn't know how this all worked. But she was raising her voice, and if no one knew I was here the children and Cloud downstairs would have no clue who she was yelling at like this. Plus, my heightened sense of hearing was still intact, and everything had gone quiet downstairs. Someone had also been sneaking their way up the stairs.

And that's when we both heard the door open.

"Cloud." He was breath taking. He looked nothing like the young boy that was trying to make his way into SOLDIER. But he didn't look as deathly as he had when he had faced Sephiroth and Kadaj's gang.

I wanted to touch him. Hold him, never let go. Apologize for leaving him to fight all by himself. Tell him I still loved him, how I watched him everyday. Tell him how proud of him I was, how strong he was. And also, just fuck the shit out of him. Hey, I'm sentimental but it's been years since I got any; and he looks fine!

Instead, we both stood their staring at each other. I couldn't read him anymore, and it sent a sharp pain through my chest.

"Cloud, I was going to tell you," Tifa's voice cut into our, moment I guess you could call it, and we both turned to look at her. Cloud nodded, before backing out of the door frame and down the stairs. Then he was gone.