Note on Zairoth: this is literally my favorite ship name ever. It's super amaze. Look at my extreme geek out on my profile if you don't believe me.

A/N: This is my version of the 30 Day OTP challenge. I thought a collection of non-ordered one shots was, well, both extremely challenging for me to do and a little boring (I mean, everyone does it like that). So I'm taking creative liberties! I decided that I should follow the course of a month for the two of them and show you just how exciting their daily lives can be. I might re-appropriate and modify the prompts and give proper forwarning in the author note. (prompt 1: holding hands)

There are enough elements I've put in here that don't abide by the canon timeline, so don't go in expecting everything to fit in just perfectly.

Also, before you rage at me, Schizo is actually a thing from the original game. It's a really random boss that literally comes out of nowhere and is a pain in the butt. I never really understood *why* they translated it like that, but, whatever.

June 01: Hand Holding

20:30; Great Glacier, Northern Continent

"Fuck!" Zack dove behind a rock as another fireball hurdled toward him. The frozen ground burned against his bare arms as he rolled, but Zack grit his teeth. If only it wasn't a fireball of death, they could all just sit up, roast the rations, and have a jolly good campfire up in the freezing death that was the Great Glacier. But, no, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon; fireballs still wanted to burn him alive, no change there.

A pained cry told him the last SOLDIER Second hadn't gotten to cover fast enough. He tried not to think too hard about it.

Suddenly there was heat, roaring and cackling above him, trying to reach around the sub-zero surface of the rock. Those ridiculously hot flames lapped at the his standard-issue boots and sizzled along his arms, and Zack merely pushed himself further against the rock. Zack's meager cover moaned as ice and fire clashed, melting and refreezing; he desperately prayed it held long enough for the onslaught to pass.

It did. When the flames finally died, Zack popped his head out to size up the situation. The dragon – which was what intel had promised, but it totally wasn't and was more like a two-headed zolom with legs – had lost interest in Zack and was facing Sephiroth. That glance confirmed that no one else was moving.

The cavern was still a picture of icy beauty, despite the bodies littering the ground. Carcasses of the other experiments were strewn around here and there and they were releasing some noxious looking fumes. Save Zack and Sephiroth, the rest of the platoon had been felled. The soldier tried not to look at his comrades and tried to think of a strategy instead.

The creature roared, a hail of ice coming from one of it's heads as Sephiroth dove under cover.

The experiment's focus on Sephiroth might be the only chance they had of getting out of this. If Zack ran up to the thing and managed to conk one of the heads, it would probably be out of it long enough for Seph to land the killing blow. There weren't many options left: it was impossible to fight these mako-charged things one-on-one, even for a First. Their losses proved it. Not even the silver general could handle it on his own; if Zack let this opportunity slip by then Seph might just very well...

Thinking done, The SOLDIER Third ran forward, stepping through the bodies, setting his jaw, and jumped. Sword raised, about to strike, he grit his teeth – the angle was perfect, it would have gone straight through the jaw that was busy blasting out ice and Seph could have ran out of cover. Only, the attack didn't work out so well. The free head had noticed him, when Zack was just inches away from dishing out some viable damage, and lashed out. Mid-air Zack didn't even have a chance to dodge as that maw bit down on him, gnarled teeth sinking into his torso like a one might a sandwich. He struggled to breath – it was practically a blessing that he even could. The Third knew he was lucky to have survived that, but if he didn't get out of this soon he was going to be roasted, or frozen, alive – those things never went long without blasting out one of their elemental attacks. Luckily his arms were free from the maw and he did the only thing he could do: hack at the engorged neck with his blade like a machete.

It didn't take long for the monster to get pissy at him. A few good hacks, exposing some muscle-looking bits, and the creature was snarling before it tossed its head madly. The action mad Zack dizzy and he clung to his blade – if he lost that he was a dead man, without any escape. But, apparently, making him drop his weapon and then proceeding to eat him alive wasn't the thing's aim – instead it jerked roughly and loosed him. Zack was too surprised to do anything more than yelp, spinning awkwardly, and hoping he would manage to land on the ground and roll off most of the damage.

The wall decided it would rather cushion his fall; walls of ice didn't make good cushions. When the soldier smashed into it, air wheezed out from his lungs. The ice burned along the exposed wounds on his back as he struggled to breath. Distantly, he was aware that he was falling again, face planting into the frozen floor as he coughed and spluttered. The ice was freezing, burning his face, his arms, his wounds. He couldn't focus his eyes on the battle anymore, the world was a blur of colors. And every part of him hurt.

"Zack!" Seph's voice was frantic. Was it a warning? Was that thing about to roast him alive? Or maybe he was about to be frozen like a great timepiece of SOLDIER glory? Well, damn. Neither sounded all that pleasant.

But he didn't end up on fire or on ice, instead Zack felt himself jerked up and the world spinning around him. He was being carried, he realized; in a fireman's carry, if he could trust his senses enough. The jostling seemed to be enough to clear his vision, and he saw that the monster was, indeed, about to open it's maw and unleash death on them.

By the time Zack even realized his life had been saved, he was already back on the ground, leaning against cover, with Sephiroth giving him an assessing glance. The monster continued to rage, slamming a torrent of flame onto the rock. Zack hoped they had made it to a rock and not just a large chunk of ice – that's how that one Second had gone down.

As he struggled to catch his breath, another slew of fire smashed against the rock. The cavern walls around them and above them seemed to wobble dangerously; a cave-in would be just what they needed right now, a nice buried alive sensation to keep them trudging on. Zack shuddered.

Seph had split his attention to the monster now, apparently having sufficiently determined that Zack was still alive. The tactics they had been using against these buggers wouldn't work now that they were down to two men – even if one of them happened to be Sephiroth. The thought was as chilling as it was heart-wrenching, but Zack couldn't let himself dwell on the deaths of five SOLDIER, five comrades. He knew the mission was a botch-up, stupidity that crawled out of the labs and shit in their laps, but he couldn't afford to dwell on the situation like that either. It was his duty to make it out alive now.

But it didn't seem like he was going anywhere. Could barely breath, bleeding out, and dizzy – not going anywhere anytime soon.

"... can't believe... Hojo wasn't... the one they sent... to deal with this shit..." Zack wheezed. Talking wasn't helping his wounds any, if anything it seemed to make them gush more blood. He placed a hand on one of the bleeding wounds on his stomach, absently searching his pack for a potion, an ether, or anything. They were dangerously low on magic power, not nearly enough for a cure, and Zack remembered he had used up the last of his supplies not too long ago, and he hadn't dared risk the wrath of the creature to pat down some of his comrades corpses.

By the look in Sephiroth's eye as he watched the monster, he didn't have any restorative items left either. "While the problem may have started in the lab, there's no way Hojo has the capabilities to deal with this..." Seph made a gesture, uncertain what to call it before settling on a word, "experiment."

"Schizo." Zack supplied. Talking would keep him awake, it would keep him from giving into fear, it would keep him going. The general quirked a brow, glancing at his comrade. The creature let off an ear-splitting roar, as if pleased with the name. "I just named it that... Just the right combination of psycho... and shitty to make any day... go bad."

"I'm glad you haven't lost you're humor." the general responded dryly, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. "We need to finish quickly."

"Yeah." Zack nodded, breath ragged. It was getting harder to breathe. He hadn't realized he was weaponless, but seemed like he was now – must have dropped that standard issue sword when he hit the wall. There was no way he could do anything against Schizo in this state; he probably couldn't even stand. All he could do was sit there and look tasty...

"I got an idea, Seph." Zack managed. "Lemme be... be the bait."

The silver general narrowed his eyes. Zack could see the flickers of hesitation inside of them, the doubt, the worry, the care. If even anything went wrong, Zack knew he was going to die. But, Seph would realize this was the best way to handle it. Even if only one of them, the general, made it out...

"I'm not leaving you behind." Seph finally said. Emotion was thick in his voice and lines of anger had hardened his face. It kind of looked like desperation. Were they going to just up and die like this? Both of them? No... they were going to survive by the skin of their teeth.

Zack reached over a hand, the one that had given up searching for supplies, and laid it over Sephiroth's own. Despite the freezing cold, and the slick blood that threatened his grip, he could feel the warmth emanating from his lover. It was reassuring. "Then let's... make it out of this..." he squeezed that hand. "... together..."

There was a flicker on Seph's face, a jumble of relief and worry, that faded into that familiar warmth of love. He gently lifted Zack's hand and squeezed it in his own, closing his eyes. Zack knew he was savoring this moment just as Zack was. Their hands were warmth, beating with the warmth of life.

This might be the end of them, dying in this glacier just like everyone else had... or it might just be the end of Zack, and Seph would have to go on alone...

When the silver general opened his eyes again, they were razor sharp, hardened in determination. "You're not allowed to die." Zack smiled. One more hand squeeze and Seph disappeared around cover.

With that, operation distract Schizo was in motion. Zack decided it was prime time to he the baddie's attention, before he noticed the tasty snack that was the general; he was lucky Schizo ended up being pretty interested in his rendition of the ShinRa Anthem.