"Hey."

A single word spoken so softly not even the natural echo had caught it. Hanging in the air by invisible threads. At least until they had managed to break through the defense of an idle mind. Sliding into one ear, curling around the brain stem before slipping along the crevices of the mind and then sinking in.

"Pay attention, please."

Eyes flickered up from that place; the one they had been staring at for the past… hour? Orbs that once held a bright gleam of energy, artificial. Once overwhelmed by the glowing substance that not an ounce of violet was to be found. Once bright blue, brighter than the sky on a clear Summer day. Now dulled down. Mako gone. That's what this place would do to you after so long. It cleansed you of everything foreign. But it made up for it in more ways than one.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

A pause. He didn't answer her, even when her hand rested on his shoulder. Warmth bleeding through the dark cloth and dancing over his skin like a small fire.

"You'll forget… you'll forget everything."

He wanted to cringe at the way her voice dropped like that. Going from sing-songy, light, loving. Dieing into a sad, breathy whisper. He could hear everything she had wanted to say in that single change of her tone. After all, they had spent years up here. Together. With the others.

"Maybe that's for the best."

"But they're not going to forget, Zack." she shook her head, obviously holding back on a sigh. "He's still going to remember you."

He went silent again.

"They want you back. They need you back."

"They want you too, you know." he responded, quiet, almost failing to form the words all together.

"I know." this time there was a smile in her voice.

"Do you want to go through with this…?" he asked carefully after a moment, shifting then, and placing a hand over hers on his shoulder. It was warm, soft. Delicate. Yet he knew all too well what power hands like hers held. Seen it first hand, he had. More than once.

"I do." Slowly, she removed her hand from under his, just so her fingers could slide through dark strands. "They want to see us. Can't you hear his heart?"

"I can."

"It hurts doesn't it?" Comforting. Always comforting. Warm hands in his hair, on his scalp. Rubbing. Soothing. Calming.

He felt his eyes drift shut, leaning back into her hands; then into her.

"I know you miss them. They miss you too."

"It's been too long."

"But they need you."

"I know." he sighed, pulling away from her and forcing himself into a standing position.

"So what now?"

"Things are ready on their end. Now it's time for me to lend a hand." she stayed kneeling, arms around her knees, a sweet smile on her lips. "I'll miss you Zack. Make sure we meet again, alright? Can you do that for me?"

He turned to face her, matching her smile, "Of course!"

She stood and placed her hands to his cheeks, her touch warmer than normal. Soon enough her hands were glowing just slightly, a pale white glow. Soon that glow enveloped him, swallowing his body and drowning him in such a sweet way. It was so soft. So warm.

Everything went white. Silent. Almost static. His mind went blank. Asleep.

A sharp stab in his arm was what brought him back. Eyes flickering open.

The cold, hard, metal surface of a medical table was the last thing he would of wanted to wake up on. The scent of cool, canned air hit his senses like a ton of bricks and he realized, there was an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.

The dull gray walls of an infirmary room surrounded him.

He felt sick. And he didn't know why. But he got sick, all over the floor. And that alone grabbed the attention of the two nurses that had been in the room. One had curled a hand over her mouth, cringing at the smell; after all… he had vomited up stale mako mixed with body fluids. The other had moved to pull a phone off the hook near the door, talking in hushed tones that made his head swim.

Where the hell was he? It wasn't long before everything suddenly went dark again, just around the time some guy in a white coat had appeared.