My first proper fic in... Well, ever, really. I'm getting back into the FFVII mood, and I've had this nagging urge to write some Zack fix-it for weeks. Not too proud of this, but hey, I finished it.

Word Count: 1382

Listening To: RJD2 – Smoke and Mirrors

During her daily routine of walking towards the church in the Sector Five slums, something different happened. Not good different, either, like on that day five years ago when she met that man. It was a harsh and intruding different. The voices Aeris heard in her head went from a whisper to a cacophonous yell, making her head throb painfully as if something had split it open a second before. The world reeled around her, and all she saw was blinding white.

PAIN.
FEARDEATH.
CALAMITYDANGERWEAPON.

"Be..." Another breath, heavy and slow, the air escaping her mouth sharply, "Quiet." The Planet didn't stop rambling, and Aeris repeated in her compelling, stern voice, "I said: be quiet." Then it had hushed somewhat, but still stubbornly lingered in the young woman's mind, it's worry still apparent. Dangercalamity.

Aeris regained her senses with her cheek on the ground. She had dropped her rod, which had rolled away from her. Quickly she grabbed her weapon which in actually was little more than something to give her mental support, and stood up, wiping the dirt off of her pink dress. She paused. It was a joke at first, and he had recommended that she wore pink. He left, and she had bought this to surprise him for when he came back, but... She cast the thought away and continued on her walk, if not somewhat hesitantly. What's worrying the Planet so much...?

CALAMITYFEARPAINDEATH.

She clasped her head, trying to balance herself before she fell again, and told the voices to calm down again, giving up on finding an answer because that was possibly all the Planet could say. That didn't abate the strange heaviness in her heart, that sense of foreboding that told her to just stop, turn around, and go back home before anything could happen.

Except, she didn't, because hidden beneath the confusion was.. Something else. It was because maybe there really wasn't good or bad different. That man half a decade ago had taught her that. Different wasn't something to fear, it was something that you should embrace and explore. Curiosity. That sense of wonder was what led Aeris towards the entrance of her church, and not to turn around and flee because of calamityfearpaindeath.

It was there she noticed the bootprints left on the floor, and it was there that she had wondered how anyone could be so inconsiderate to leave a one-way trail of mud into the church. They were thick and somehow wet even though there was never enough rain in the slums to make mud. They were uneven and dragged in some places, as if the person had an awkward time getting into the building. Probably some drunk... Nonetheless, she tightened her grip around the rod she had carried around, and proceeded to follow the prints. Well, they didn't get all over the flowers... Aeris swerved her vision to the right, where two figures slumped against each other on one of the benches. One snored lightly, and then muttered, "... Gotta get there... Say hi... Want you to meet her..." Quietly but quickly, she sneaked closer to the people. Her heart stopped.

"Zack?"

The man- Zack- It had to be him... He awoke with a start, his eyes glowing harshly with the painfully bright green of mako, too bright against the bleak air of the slums. He felt around to grab the hilt of his buster sword that had laid on the bench beside him. DeathcalamityWEAPONdanger, the Planet had whispered at the corner of Aeris' mind. As if by primal instinct, the man stood and poised into a fighting stance, aiming the blade towards the young woman. He drawled, angry and strained and somewhat confused, "Damn you! I told you bastards to leave us the hell-" And then it was his turn to stop.

The ringing of metal hitting concrete echoed through the church as Zack dropped the sword. His eyes widened, and the harsh light dissipated from his gaze. It was only when the moment had calmed that Aeris could really see Zack's ragged demeanor. His clothes were cut up and bloodied, and he was covered in mud nearly from head to toe. Even the buster sword that he cherished so much was covered in grime and gore that looked like it had collected over ages of use. DangerdeathcalamityWEAPON, the Planet rumbled. Sheepishly, the man grinned and placed a hand at the back of his head. "Ah... Oh, gods. No, I.. Um. I didn't mean it. That.."

A groan came from the blond still sitting on the bench. The young man's eyes, also cursed with the bright glow of mako fluttered from under long bangs, catching the attention of both the people around him. "Zack..." He mumbled, his voice cracking and weak. Almost no movement. The man tried to shift his position but nothing came.

"Hey, Spike, you can calm down now," and even Zack's voice seemed tired out as he relaxed his expression towards the younger man. There was something deep in his words, hidden beyond Aeris' comprehension, a meaning that made the man glow with relief somewhere inside. "We made it." 'Spike' nodded absently, closed his eyes and softly rambled some more words that Aeris couldn't catch. His head lolled off to the right, and Zack had reached out to stop a fall, and he had gently placed his friend onto a laying position on the bench.

Those two seemed so close. So friendly that Aeris didn't want to interfere with their exchange. There was the younger man that she didn't know; the one that seemed so tired and fragile. His face was creased with pain and fatigue and his head was a mess of blond hair and dirt, though somewhat cleaner than his partner's. Then there was also Zack who was always so energetic and carefree, Zack who would never, but somehow did turn serious and quiet and became truly excited or concerned whenever the other would make a sign of life, or none. The woman took another step closer to the two, careful not to completely shatter the tension, and quietly tried to start something. Anything. "Is he okay?"

Zack crossed his arms, keeping his stare fixed on the young man. "I think so. I hope so..." He sighed, then turned towards Aeris, "Cloud's got mako poisoning, but he's made it this far. He should be fine. Right? Yeah. Fine." There was real weariness in Zack's eyes. They told a tale of running and fleeing and there being no peace, because behind the exhaustion the man was a hardened soldier, and he was also a tense soldier who was ready to cut anything down that would get in his way. But then he had blinked, and his vision became clear and blue, the colour of the sky, and he met Aeris' eyes with such kind familiarity. "You really do look good in pink."

Another grin, one of his nothing-to-worry-about grins. Aeris loved those, because at that instant her mind just clicked and she realised it really was Zack right in front of her. The blood and the grease that then smeared onto her face didn't matter. The voices in her head that whispered calamitycalamitycalamity didn't matter. She let out a tiny laugh, ignoring the tears streaming down from her eyes, and then she lunged forward, burying her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around him to make sure this wasn't another cruel dream the Planet had brought her. She felt his embrace, slow and somewhat hesitant, but firm and caring, and nothing else in the world mattered anymore because that person was finally here, because it was Zack. She could feel his warm smile as he murmured into her ear. "I'm back."

Only a few feet away, even though his gaze was still empty and his voice still broken, Cloud had opened his hollow eyes and looked down towards the floor, and no one knew if he saw anything or not, but he didn't care because he knew there was some thing good happening, something warm and happy that made the voices hush for the occasion, and even he gave a small smile. "I'm... Glad, Zack."

He faded again.