Spoilers, this fanfic will have spoilers, I tell you now. This is, my attempt at a Zack/Cissnei fanfic, because, in short, there are none out there and it makes me sad and I've noticed a lot of other people sad about it as well. I haven't beaten the game yet, so forgive me for any false things, but it won't follow the game exactly anyway, in fact, everything will be changed from where I start off

Summary- Zack is on the run to escape Shin-Ra; dragging along Cloud behind him, he makes his entry to Gongaga to visit his parents where he runs into Cissnei. Although she states he's careless for attempting to visit his parents, she states that he should go into hiding rather than reaching Midgar.

Kindred Spirits

It had been years since he had been home to Gongaga, and Zack SOLDIER First Class, had wished it would have been a more happier occasion. With Cloud back at the motorcycle, hidden away from common view, he thought he would at least see his parents briefly since he's passing through. The town hadn't changed at all, it's still the backwater town that he had left behind; it still rested in the center of a lush forest where fiends and monsters lurked about.

Each stepped he takes, he dragged out slowly, his mind racing on what he would say to his parents, what to inform them as to what is going on. Yet despite the inner anguish that he's feeling, the fear of Shin-Ra popping out of the air; somewhere, he managed to sneak in a bit of happiness to be home. Home to the place he had been raised and lived for his childhood. As he stepped into the entrance of town, he paused for a moment to look around lightly as he thought about the memories that he had left behind to visit SOLDIER.

"Honestly." Startled, he spun around to come face to face with a Turk, the shadows of Shin-Ra. Cissnei, his friend once upon a time ago before he was tested on in a laboratory and escaped. She stood before him with her long red hair, and her Turk suite tightly fitted to her form. Her arms crossed over her chest firmly, a sign that she meant no hostility.

"You are careless of your actions. I'm sure you realized that they would be waiting at your house to ambush you right?" She looked a bit uncertain as she looked to the ground slightly to the side, hoping that he had at least, known that fact.

"Hm…" A short sad amused grunt was his answer to that.

She looked up to meet his eyes, hazel on blue. "Were you planning to visit your parents?"

Annoyance. That's what Zack felt from the question as he placed his hands on his hips and showed her his annoyance. "Is that so wrong? It's normal isn't it?" He frowned slightly.

"Oh." She paced towards him slowly, stopping after a few feet as she weighed him down with her gaze.

"Although." He started once more before he admitted his mistake, "I wasn't really thinking, it's just as you say." She always did seem to get him pinned down for his faults and mistakes when he had them. He let out a breath, feeling suddenly upset. He wouldn't be able to speak to his parents after all, he had a feeling he wouldn't, but Cissnei being here just proved that fact completely. "We'll leave." He started to walk away, each step making him feel worse.

"…Be careful okay?" She didn't sound worried when she said it. Zack learned long ago that as a Turk, she had the ability to cover her emotions. He also knew that she could also be a bit, for lack of better words… motherly in rare occasions. "You'll have to be more cautious than usual."

He stopped before looking over his shoulder to nod his head once, taking her words to heart. Despite the fact that she's suppose to be bringing him back to Shin-Ra, somewhere along the lines, she's still his friend and still tries to help him. She had been the one to get him a motorcycle after all.

"I'll give you ten minutes." He hunched over a bit comically. She's also loyal to the Turks and plays both sides, albeit, very well. "Once time is up, I'll be returning to the Turks."

"Returning?" He questioned.

She moved away slightly, looking dejected about something. Something was getting to her, hurting her. Perhaps playing for both teams is harder than he realizes. She's risking everything by letting him get away, after all, for all they both know, there could be other Turks somewhere, watching them. If news got to Shin-Ra about her acts of betrayal… she would be executed.

She turned away from him completely, "Right now, I just can't do it." He wanted to touch her, give a comforting hand on the shoulder. At the same time however, he knew he couldn't trust her enough to get too close to her. She's a Turk, part of Shin-Ra, and she's loyal to the Turks, dedicated, eventually his luck would run out on him with her. "I just can't bring myself to tell your parents the bad news."

What is he suppose to say to that? In all honesty, the clock is ticking, and he should be running. Something needed to be said though, he had to at least tell her that he's grateful for everything she's doing for him. Of course, he never was one for sentimental moments, and stumbled with words all the time. "How's… my mother doing?"

"She's worried about you."

'Typical.' Zack thought to himself, 'She had been worried when I left to join SOLDIER, she hasn't stopped worrying since.' The thought brought the smallest of smiles to his lips. That memory of his departure many years ago had involved him running from a possible deranged woman with a frying pan.

"Now that you've gotten yourself into such a mess she's worried you won't find a wife." He could hear it. It amused her; it amused her because she knew that it gets to him.

"That's so ridiculous." Of course it embarrasses him that all his mother is worried about is him finding a wife. Of everything else going on, she still wants grandchildren. He had talked about his mother with Cissnei back when they were on the same side, and she had teased him once or twice about it and told him to ask Aerith to marry him so his mother would stop pestering him.

"Nice parents huh?" She joked, "They're doing quite well."

Although it was simple conversation, it was fond. A symbol of their friendship that was now hanging on weak strands. It felt… familiar, like old times. Definitely something that Zack would remember later on in his journey. "I see. If they're doing well, that's good." It was the first time in a long time he's been able to speak to her with such ease, and it brought a grin to his face as he lifted his head up. Feeling the embarrassment from his mother die down.

"Honestly." She barely spoke it, but he heard it. That aged-old friendly companionship had died down once more and she was slowly going back to being a Turk.

He wanted that feeling back, just a little bit longer, but he struggled to figure out how to get it back. "What about your parents?" He finally asked since, now that he thought about it, she never spoke about them, and he never bothered to ask. Since they were on the topic of his and it lightened the mood, why not use hers as well?

"I was raised by Shin-Ra."

'Strike out.' Zack thought as he watched her turn away slightly. He looked desperately for a way to cut down her Turk side down. She's one of the very slim amount of people that he can talk to nowadays. One of the few people he can consider a friend, even if for instances. "Anyway Cissnei." He started before thinking on what he would say next. "Do you think.." He paused for a moment as he thought about where he was headed, "…you could talk to my mother for me?"

"Alright." She smiled, and he did as well. She seemed happy to do him such a small favor, and it made him happy to see her smile again. "It'd be my pleasure."

'She has no idea what she's walking into.' Zack thought to himself in amusement as she walked around him. "Just don't say something that would make them think you're my bride to be." He joked lightly before laughing slightly.

"I already told them." She informed him.

His heart jumped a beat. He isn't sure whether she's being serious or messing with him. He doubts she would do something like that, since she isn't, and she would have no reason for it, and the fact well. He doesn't know what is going on in her head. "How could you tell them something like that!?" He's panicked, and now that he knows what she's done, he's grateful not to see his mother. She would surely attack him with her famous frying pan. He can feel it, hitting alongside his head for not telling her that he had proposed. The last letter he wrote to his mother, he told her that he has a girlfriend, but that's Aerith, not Cissnei.

'What if Aerith gets wind of this? What will she think? Hell, what will she say?' He didn't know what he felt at the moment, angry, confused. At the moment, he's just on the verge of a large freak out. The Turk isn't answering him however, and just continues to walk away from him, heading towards his mother's house. 'I take back anything nice I've said about her. She's evil!' He thought to himself as he chased after her, "Cissnei!"

"That's not my real name." She commented back which made him stop in his tracks.

"Huh?"

"Of course." She stopped and looked over her shoulder towards him. Her lips curling up ever so slightly in a smirk, "I am the one that's suppose to ambush you."

Confusion washed over him as he stood there trying to catch what she's trying to tell him. "Since you know I'm here, I can't ambush you." Still he stood there. She raised a brow at him, "You could… visit your parents on your own."

"Really?" He questioned in surprise. Upon her nod he raised his fist in the air in a sign of victory, even if it's just a simple victory. "Alright!" He leapt forward, heading towards his house; however, as he passed Cissnei, he grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him.

"Eh? What are you doing?" She questioned as she fought to be let got only to have Zack tighten his grip and pull her along further.

"If you did tell them that you are my bride to be, then I'm not going in there on my own to face death. In fact, I think I may just play along with that idea, so it would look wrong for me to walk in without you."

"What?" She seemed surprised at that.

Zack looked over his shoulder and flashed her a grin, "It would make my mother happy to know if I do have a fiance."

"…You have five minutes left." She didn't seem happy with the idea, but in Zack's mind, it's her own doing, so she has to pay the consequences along with him.

'These will be the weirdest five minutes of my life.' Zack thought to himself as he reached the door. Of course, he never had a trace of a thought about his parent's reactions or the fact that he still has Cloud stashed away in the forest somewhere like a bag of luggage.

Okay! This is where the chapter ends. I would continue it, but I have work in the morning, and I just want to get this out there. My goal for this fanfic? To get people started on writing Zack/Cissnei fanfics. I'm surprised that I can't find any. Anyways! As you can tell, for the better half of this chapter it drags, but that's because I was going by script, but I took out the fact that Angeal has been sighted in the area. From the next chapter on, the story is drastically changes and will be much more eventful D