The Shadows Three
Zack is an agent of the Tsviets, codename Zero. When he comes up from Deep Ground he meets someone from his past.
Rated M for violence, Zack/Cloud shounen-ai, spoilers for Dirge of Cerberus
File 1: Zero
He had nothing but a mission.
It had been a few days since the end of Omega, and the remains of the WEAPON littered what was left of Midgar. The sky was painted gold and red: it was dawn. The light hit the shards of metal and mythril, creating a landscape of poison stars. He stood amongst the debris and saw that even parts of Midgar's unliveable structure had remained, but nothing much else.
It was cold, it had snowed, and the bitter wind ruffled his dark hair. But the air was fresh like nothing he had tasted for a long time. He had been released from his Deep Ground prison and grave by climbing the levels of the Deep Ground facilities. At some point he had hit his head and fallen unconscious, only to wake to an even larger cave in – but he made it out eventually. Only to find that they had failed...
His name was Zero, and he had a mission. Nero had given him this mission before going after Vincent Valentine. His task was to –
Zero winced.
A face flashed across his memory. Young, blonde, blue-eyed; he smiled nervously and his voice echoed I come from the country. Where? Nibelheim.
It had been several days since the order had been given, so Zero needed to check the Deep Ground data network for any new information that may have been posted. But, observing the quiet war-strewn land, it looked like nothing much, let along a computer system, survived. Except for...
There was a sound, and a figure in the distance. They were small, no taller than a child, climbing over the dead parts of the city, coming towards him. As it got closer, Zero made out their words.
"Hello, hello?" said the child. "Can you please help me? I'm lost!"
Zero watched it run up to him and knew his own eyes were glowing bright orange. He hesitated – it was a human child, but a human none-the-less. Should he kill it? He reached behind him and touched the handle of his large sword as the child stopped in front of him, breathing heavily from the long run.
The human child had its hands on its knees while it caught its breath. Then it looked up at Zero with bright, hazel eyes. "Hello, can you help me, please? I'm lost."
Zero glanced to the side then down. He squatted so he could be eye-level with the child. "I broke my phone; do you have one I could borrow?"
The child pouted and shook his head.
"What about a computer? Do you know where I can find one that is hooked up to the DG network?"
The child, still pouting, screwed his face up in confusion and shook his head again.
Zero snorted and rubbed his chin. "Well then, little human child, I suppose we are both lost."
The child grinned suddenly and grabbed Zero's arm. "That's okay! We can be friends, and we'll get home, you'll see. My name's Denzel, what's yours?"
An hour later they were still walking the jagged landscape – against the horizon their silhouettes were of a tall, well built man, and a short child hopping from uneven ground to uneven ground. The peace of this metropolis was broken by two fighter planes whose hard metal wings reflected the sharp white light of the morning sun. Their beacons lit upon the two figures, turning their worlds to fearful sepia. It was the human they were after – whether it be a young boy or a full grown adult the point was that the Deep Soldiers were desperate to finish their war with the human occupants slaughtered to bloody dust.
It seemed in slow motion at first. Zero threw Denzel into his arms and with the reflexes of a Project S CLONE. Zero had no idea that he could hold such a human emotion as blood-chilling fear for another life, and a life that seemed so insignificant at that. He ran away from the missile and jumped from a short cliff just as it hit, the area thrown into fire like a golden cloud. The sound was immense, so loud Zero barely heard Denzel scream. Zero threw the child under a broken cement shaft, then threw himself bodily upon him like a shield.
The second plane dropped another bomb just near them. Zero closed his eyes and curled himself further around the shaking child. The fragments and heat of the bomb ripped through his armour and skin, so he was torn upon his arms and back.
The planes continued on their course away from them, but Zero did not move for several minutes. The child was shaking violently and whimpering as if it was having a fit. Zero pressed a hand to Denzel's small chest to still his quick breaths. There flashed a memory in Zero's mind, seemingly so misplaced that Zero was unsure if it was just his imagination. He had held someone like this before, his hair blonde and his face desperate. The blonde's lips moved – what had he been saying? Zack, Zack what's happening? You're awake?
The blonde turned in his arms and kissed him quickly. How long have we got?
Zero had held him tighter. Last time it had been no longer than five minutes. Zero's breath had caught on the last word, just as the blonde's blue eyes faded to Mako green and his body went slack.
It seemed less a memory and more a whisper, Zero thought as he pulled Denzel to sit upright. The boy turned sharply in Zero's arms and looked at him with large, tear-filled eyes. "You... you saved me."
Zero shrugged. "C'mon, kiddo, get up, we have to keep walking."
They had been walking no longer than a quarter of an hour before another airship approached from the skies. Zero once again took Denzel to crouch in the shadows, though Denzel was less scared this time. The child and the soldier watched the ship fly in their direction. It was larger and more complex than a fighter plane – it was more like a stray monster someone had summoned. Zero did not recognise it, but Denzel did.
Denzel ran from their hiding spot and towards the aircraft, waving his arms above his head and shouting, "Hey! Wait, hey!"
Zero saw the name of this ship as it landed: the Shera. A man slid down the ladder and started running towards Denzel. Zero couldn't see his face due to the heat distortion in the air from the gas of the airship, but he could see that the man was blonde and his clothes were dark. Zero got up and walked towards them. He saw the man kneel on one knee to catch the running child in a fierce embrace.
Cloud held Denzel tight and breathed a sigh of relief, burying his nose in the boy's dirty hair. Though he cursed himself for relaxing so quickly, as he had not realised there was a man in full Deep Ground uniform walking steadily towards them until the man had stopped about a metre away.
Morning had come and the sun was bright behind the obviously strong male figure; Cloud could not see his face. Cloud unsheathed his sword in a flash, the tip of blade staring the man in the chin – well, that was what Cloud had been aiming for, except the man was just as fast as Cloud, and had withdrawn his own sword in a defensive stance. Cloud's blade slid against the flat surface. He glared.
"Cloud, please don't hurt him!" Denzel shouted with a gasp. The DG soldier shuffled his feet a little. Cloud narrowed his eyes as now the DG soldier's face was hidden behind his sword.
"Denzel," said Cloud sharply.
"He saved my life, Cloud! Only a moment ago." Denzel hummed in frustration. "He's my friend, Cloud. Can he come with us?"
Cloud blinked and made a surprised noise in the back of his throat. He held his sword steady as he glanced down at Denzel's anxious face. He grabbed the boy's shoulder and pushed him behind. He watched the still figure steadily as he took a step back, sword lowered to his side. The other soldier sheathed his sword as Cloud squinted a little in the sun. "Let me see your face," he requested softly.
Cloud swallowed thickly as the DG soldier turned to the side. Cloud walked round to see him.
He bit his lip. The sword dropped to the uneven ground. The other looked upon Cloud's face, his violet eyes moving across his features, taking in every detail.
Three WRO men had come down. One held Denzel by the hand, and the other two had their guns aimed at the stranger. "Mr Strife, sir," said one.
Cloud did not hear. He whispered, "Zack."
"Mr Strife, sir!" the WRO officer repeated.
Cloud exhaled shakily and tore his gaze away towards the officer speaking. "Yes?"
The officer eyed the DG soldier warily and said, "Mr Tuesti asks if you are okay, sir."
"Yes, I..." He looked back at Zack, and tried to face this beauty without shielding his eyes. Zack's face was a little older, his expression a little more hard. His hair was short (but longer than Cloud's) and spiked. He was healthy and muscular, his complexion smooth and slightly tanned.
"Yes, I'm fine," Cloud told the WRO officer. "Please let Reeve know that we're taking a Deep Soldier into custody."
"So what's so special about this fucker, anyway?" Cid asked, arms crossed. He, Cloud and Yuffie were in the meeting room on the Shera. "The last thing I need is another one of them Deep Ground assholes on my ship."
"Don't be so crude, Cid," Yuffie admonished, hands on her hips. "He could be friendly, like Shelke."
Cid grunted and lit a cigarette. "Fuckin' don't trust her, neither."
Cloud was leaning against the wall. He shuffled, torn, and glanced at the large monitor. It showed the live surveillance of Zack's cell. Zack was sitting on the cell bed. He looked up, into the camera, and seemed to stare right into Cloud's eyes.
He gasped.
"What do you think, Cloud?" asked Yuffie.
"I think we should wait for Reeve and Shelke to get here," he answered.
It was Zack, Cloud thought, it had to be. He looked just like him, only less lively than he was so many years ago. But then there was Denzel's behaviour...
Only moments before, Cloud had been holding Denzel by the shoulders. "Why are you locking him up?" Denzel had whined. "He's my friend! He saved my life!"
"It's just a precaution," Cloud had told him softly. "We need to... keep him safe until we have more information." This statement meant nothing to Denzel, who just squirmed angrily. "Don't complain," Cloud reprimanded. "You should go have a bath and brush your teeth, and then go straight to bed, okay? You haven't slept at all, have you? And you're filthy."
"But Cloud! He saved me, we were bombed twice! And I wouldn't be alive at all if it wasn't for him!"
Cloud pushed Denzel's dirty hair away from his face. "Why did you run away from Tifa, Denzel?"
Denzel pouted. "No body could find you."
"Who told you that?"
Denzel kept his lips shut, his eyes focused on someone over Cloud's shoulder. Cloud stood and turned. Yuffie pressed her fingers to her lips, looking guilty.
"I hadn't meant to say anything!" she had burst out then. Cloud frowned at her. "We couldn't find you, Tifa was anxious, Shelke was anxious about Vincent, we had no idea what was going on!" She whimpered under Cloud's stare. "I hadn't meant to say anything..."
Now Cloud shifted again. Yuffie looked like she had gotten over their conversation from ten minutes ago, and was now arguing with Cid while WRO Captains of the Guards filtered into the meeting room. It was another few moments before Reeve and Shelke finally came into the room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Reeve said blithely, "had some other business to attend to. Please, everyone, have a seat. Shelke, if you wouldn't mind explaining to the room what you wanted to explain to me."
Shelke walked towards the monitor and stared at the screen for a moment, before turning towards the room at large.
"His name is Zero," she began in her small, light voice. "He is one of three members of a secret sect called the Shadows."
"So, he is one of these Deep Soldier fuckers?"
Shelke glared at Cid for a moment, having taken offence, most likely. "Yes, he possesses a great amount of strength and skill and is highly dangerous."
There was a murmur around the room. "So you know him personally, Shelke?" Reeve asked politely.
"I have worked with him on a number of missions, yes, Reeve Tuesti. However, the triage he belongs to were not created by the Deep Ground project directly – Nero the Sable modified and named them, and they are only answerable to him."
"Wait, I don't get it!" said Yuffie. "So that scary, mummy robot guy created these soldier people...?"
"That is not quite correct, Yuffie Kisaragi. Firstly, Nero is not a robot and secondly, Nero did not create them; rather, he found and shaped them. The Shadows work under Nero. They are multi-task soldiers who act as spies, assassins, body guards and even operate as Nero's personal harem"
There was a small commotion around the room at the word 'harem' – mostly surprised grunts and chuckling – but the biggest reaction was from Cloud, who stood up from his chair so fast it toppled to the ground. "I don't believe you," Cloud told Shelke.
Shelke cocked her head a little. "Do you think I'm lying, Cloud Strife?"
"I used to know him, he was my friend," Cloud admitted, almost breathlessly. "His name isn't Zero; it's Zack Fair."
"Huh?!" Yuffie exclaimed just as Cid barked "What?" and Reeve asked softly, "Cloud, is he the same Zack you used to talk about?"
Cloud nodded. "Zack saved my life once. I... thought he was dead."
Shelke watched him coolly. "I assure you, Cloud Strife, that there is nothing left of your old friend in this soldier. He is a Shadow now, in more ways than one." She glanced around the room, then said, "My estimation is that the cell he is being held in will not hold him should he decide to escape. As I mentioned before, he is very strong and so could break out easily. Your lives are at risk."
"But Shelke," Reeve said calmly, "why isn't he breaking out? He didn't struggle at all when he came aboard and we took away his weapons."
"I am unsure why he is acting so stoic. Perhaps he is biding his time. I will interrogate him before I leave, if you like."
Cloud, who hadn't sat back down, crossed his arms. "Where are you going?" he accused.
"Cloud, please," Reeve said softly. "Shelke, perhaps you could check the DG network again also."
"Yes, Reeve Tuesti. However, I checked it last night, and it was still down. It..." she faltered a little. "I thought the server had been damaged, but the database feels empty, as if it's been deleted altogether. I don't think we can have the network as an option at this point."
"I see. Thank you Shelke, you may go."
When she left, Cloud followed.
"What's so urgent that you have to leave so soon?" Cloud demanded of her.
Shelke stopped on the bridge and turned to him. "You don't need me to handle this matter – you are perfectly capable on doing it on your own. Or so I dearly hope, Cloud Strife."
Cloud didn't like her. She was cold and small and now that the system she was always hooked up to was down she was also useless. Except now Cloud needed her to be around, because she had information about Zack that Cloud wanted. And Cloud wanted to know about Zack, badly. "You didn't answer my question," he said.
She clenched her jaw angrily. "I am going to look for Vincent Valentine," she said sharply. "For some reason, you are his friend, but you aren't worried in the slightest about him!"
Cloud leant against the railing. "That's because I know Vincent well enough to know he's fine, and he works best on his own. When he's ready to see you, he'll come for you himself."
Shelke blinked rapidly in anger, her gaze sharp. "What are you trying to say? That he doesn't care for me?"
"No, I'm saying that there is a matter more pressing here, and that you running after Vincent like a love-stuck school girl is impractical." Okay, so that was harsh, Cloud told himself, but so what! She was supposed to be helping, and instead she was running away.
She gasped, and looked away as tears welled up in her eyes. "The last time I saw Vincent, he was Chaos and he had attacked Omega. Then both Omega and Chaos... burst into nothing."
There was a pause before she turned on him, angry. "You're lucky to have your friend back, Cloud Strife, because I feel like I've just lost mine!"
Cloud Strife was a bastard. Why everyone looked to him, Shelke didn't understand.
She stomped her way to Zero's cell and slammed the key card through the slide. Then she went through the heavy door and slammed it behind her. Zero looked up from where he was sitting on the bed.
"What is your mission, Agent Zero?" she demanded in her soft, quiet voice.
Zero stared at her for a moment, before he closed his eyes and laughed loudly and gruffly. He scratched his head. "I'm not going to tell you that, Traitor Shelke, even if you tortured me to near death."
Shelke withdrew her weapon from her belt and lit up the EM sabers. "I am your superior, and you will obey me. Abort your mission, Agent Zero."
Zero's eyes flashed green, then orange. He said, "I only listen to you if Master Nero wants me to."
"I have news for you, Agent Zero: your master Nero is dead."
It took a fraction of a second for Zero to be sitting on his bed casually to be holding Shelke up against the wall by her throat. "You're a liar," he growled, snarling like a dog.
She looked down at him in boredom. "I wish people would stop calling me that; you two really are alike."
He lowered her small body to the floor and crossed his arms. "What are you talking about."
"Cloud Strife – you know him, don't you?" She saw him clench his jaw as he glanced away. "He remembers you very well. He even still cares about you a lot." She turned to go. Over her shoulder, she said, "Good luck on your mission. If I'm guessing correctly, you're going to need all the luck you can get."
The story of Zack Fair's 'after death' is best told by Nero the Sable, as Zack was unconscious for a long time after he and Cloud had parted ways on the blood-stained cliff facing Midgar. It was Nero who saved Zack in the end, by penetrating his mind during the memory erasing process, and it was Nero who gave Zack guidance after Zack couldn't even remember his own name.
What Zack did remember of his old life was only a face, and a scream, and a few bits of dialogue. He knew that the last time he had seen the boy he loved was when Zack was lying in the dirt, and the boy clawed at Zack's shirt and screamed, and screamed and screamed and it rained.
The rain had seemed peaceful to Zack, as if the world had ended, as if life would start again, as if his life was gone. Little did he know that below the ground a war was beginning.
Shinra still had control over Deep Ground, but it was waning. Scientists in the labs and the military who protected them were either found dead or had disappeared altogether. A faction had emerged called the Restrictors, who were turning their prison into a war ground.
But there was another small group called the Tsviets that was lead by Weiss the Immaculate. His brother, Nero and Tsviet members resisted against the Restrictors' increasing hold on Deep Ground. They established a following large enough to combat their enemies. It was a long and arduous battle that shook the walls of Deep Ground.
Nero took Shelke through Sector Six's Neurology Laboratories believing there to be a back corridor that would lead them back to base. Nero sped through the rooms fast, his power of Shadow allowing him to pass through doors and walls. Shelke was fast even on foot. She was arguing with Rosso over the PHS and so her concentration faltered. She almost ran into Nero when he abruptly stopped.
He was staring at an unconscious man. The soldier was attached with hooks to the wall, wires bit into his flesh all over his naked body. He wore a sort of helmet – it obscured his whole head and was beeping.
"Check the progress," Nero commanded.
Shelke looked at him. "It is too late."
But when Nero turned and glared at her she sighed and went over to the large computer the helmet and all the other wires were connected to. She typed fast as she tried to hack into the programme. Nero stood behind her and watched.
"Zack Fair," said Shelke tonelessly, "SOLDIER, First Class. Admitted six days ago. Process of Memory Erase: Ninety-nine point seven five percent complete."
"First Class SOLDIER," Nero whispered as he walked over to the prone body, "how perfectly quaint." He placed a hand on the man's chest and the Shadows spiralled around him.
Shelke looked on disapprovingly. "If you fail you risk his life."
"I won't fail," Nero whispered. "Zack, hold on to your most precious..."
In Nero's vision, he was walking upon the edge of a dead cliff. Just a few feet away, a dark haired SOLDIER held a large sword in one hand and with the other he touched the cheek of his fallen companion. A Shinra commander approached from behind and shot him in the back with a shot gun, its power throwing him to the ground. Two troops came upon him and shot him several times over with their machine guns. The vision faded in and out: black, grey, full colour.
Nero went to Zack's side and spoke to his bloody body. "Show me your most precious memory."
The Shinra soldiers faded into nothing. Zack sat up and looked upon Nero with wide eyes. "Who are you?"
"I am your friend," Nero told him. "What you see happening here is not real, you are just reliving a memory. Look behind you."
Zack did. Behind him was a rolling, consuming darkness so black it could scare even Nero, if it was Nero it was after. They looked around – the darkness was gaining on them from all sides.
"Do you see?" said Nero. "Someone is taking your memories away, and has mostly succeeded. You need to..." Nero trailed off when he realised he wasn't being heard. Zack was walking over to a body lying nearby.
Zack ran his eyes over the blonde boy's body. He touched his bloody hands to his face, neck, shoulders and chest. He began to weep a name: "Cloud, Cloud..." Zack looked at the approaching dark and shouted at it: "You can't take him, you can't!"
"Yes, that's it!" Nero said to him. He walked over and tried to catch Zack's eye. "Any memories you have left, you have to suppress them. Push them right down into your mind, let your body eat them. The machine you're hooked up to can't take your memories if you hide them."
Zack shut his eyes tight and pushed Cloud's shoulders. The hard ground around Cloud was melting, and Cloud was sinking into it as if it were quick sand. Zack cried a little as Cloud sank completely into the ground.
Nero grabbed his shoulder. "Good, now wake up."
He opened his eyes. Before him a small, red-haired child was struggling to pull a black shirt on him. Behind her stood a man wrapped almost completely in cloth. Only his piercing eyes and parts of his black hair were visible. He looked like a mental patient from a psych ward...
What was going on? He moaned – his head hurt. Where was he? Who were these people? Who –
"Who am I?" he whispered.
The man leaned forward, his eyes gleeful and mad. "You are my most prized warrior," he said. Though his mouth was hidden, his eyes seemed to smile. "I shall call you Zero."
When Zero awoke it was to find that his cell door was open, and his weapons and armour had been laid out on the floor.
He swallowed thickly and looked upon the man standing in the doorway. Cloud sighed and looked away. He seemed sad.
As Zero fastened his gauntlet Cloud said, "I know you're here for me. If you were here for anyone else you would have killed them by now." Zero looked at him – he seemed to be gathering his resolve. They looked each other in the eye, Zack calculating and Cloud disheartened. "I... We..." Cloud faltered.
"We should fight outside, off the ship. I don't want anyone to be h-hurt." The last word was barely whispered as he turned and walked away. Zero finished putting on his gear and picked up his large sword. The hard weight of it brought him comfort and courage, though Zero felt a sudden burst of hate for himself. He felt prickling behind his eyes and he closed them.
"This is my mission," he whispered to himself. "My mission, my..." He opened his eyes once more and knew right then that he wanted to die.
It was night.
They faced each other – it was the final showdown. As Zero took his favourite fighting stance, Cloud swung his sword around in a defensive position: sword horizontal guarding his chest.
Zero frowned and blinked several times in surprise. "I'm giving you the chance to fight me!" Zero shouted at him. "I'm supposed to be assassinating you, yet I wanted to fight you fairly."
"Don't do me any favours, Zack!" Cloud shouted back angrily.
"Get into battle position and FIGHT ME!" Zero screamed at him in sudden fury. He raised his sword threateningly and took a few steps towards him. Behind Cloud the lights of Shera shined upon him, turning his hair to gold.
Cloud took a few steps back as Zero approached him, as if he were frightened. Though Cloud couldn't have been frightened of Zero, if what the DG file said about Cloud Strife was true: strength and power surpassing even Sephiroth. So why was Cloud retreating as Zero approached?
"Fight me!" Zero repeated. "Fight me, fight me, fight me!"
"NO!" Cloud burst out. "I don't want to hurt you, Zack!"
Zero stopped, his grip on his sword faltering. "Fight me, please," Zero begged. "I want you to kill me."
Cloud shook his head in despair. Then the rain started to fall, softly at first, then a little heavier. Zero gasped as the cold drops touched his neck, reminding him of his own mortality.
"My mission..." Zero said softly, "my mission as a Shadow is to assassinate the leader of AVALANCHE, one of three factions responsible for impeding Weiss's great plan of exterminating the human race – "
"Stop it," said Cloud.
"AVALANCHE is allied strongly with a human defence group known as the World Regenesis Organisation. The leader of AVALANCHE is Cloud Strife, who possess great power and will, and who was able to kill Sephiroth three times –"
"I said stop it – "
"- Consequently destroying Project S – "
Cloud punched him in the face. Zero stumbled, shocked. Then he repeated it again: "Fight me."
Cloud threw his sword to the ground, rain running down his face. He pushed Zero, once, then again, his mouth curved downward in anger. Cloud slapped his face then punched him in the stomach, which was when Zero fought back, smacking him in the head then pushing Cloud to the ground.
They fought like a couple of farm boys rolling around in the hay: neither really hurting the other, yet they fought with anger and shame. Cloud rolled on top of Zero then Zero pushed Cloud off and sat on top of him, aiming to punch his face. They were soaking wet and slipping against each other, losing grip.
Finally Zero jumped off and dived for his abandoned sword. Cloud saw what he was doing and so too did the same.
Zero was super-human fast just like Cloud was, so half a second was all it took for Zero to be far away then right in front of Cloud, sword raised.
Cloud defended, blocking Zero's every swing, every attack. Fury, desperation and rain obscured Zero's vision and Cloud was fast, dodging. Cloud never attacked Zero, only defended, and it made Zero even angrier. He was getting sloppier and sloppier so all Cloud had to do was side step away from Zero's attacks.
But it wasn't all in Cloud's favour: Cloud was being pushed back further and further until he was at the shore of the sea. Zero clenched his fist and cast Bolt 3. Cloud shouted when it hit and fell back into the water. He struggled to get back on his feet, but as he did, he summoned.
Levianthan rose from the sea depths tall, long and magnificent. It hissed indignantly, as behind them Tsunami grew taller and taller.
It was all in slow motion for Zero. He stood on the shore and stared as Cloud, clothes and hair matted to his body and face, watched Zero in anguish, water rising higher and higher behind him. Then Cloud disappeared into the water and Zero was looking at the great aqua wall, the way it curved in the air, before it crashed into him.
Afterwards, Zero lay on the grass near the sand, breathing hard. He stood slowly and walked over to where his sword had been tossed by the wave. There was silence.
Cloud stood knee deep in the water, lips parted and staring intensely at Zero. He looked back as he raised his sword, once again in an attack stance.
Cloud looked resigned. He too unsheathed his sword and stood in the attack position.
Zero yelled and ran at Cloud, sword high and ready to come down on him –
It wasn't Cloud's blood that sprayed the air and stained the water. Cloud grimaced, his weapon cut right through Zero's stomach and out the other side. Zero still had his sword raised, but his arms gave out as he coughed up blood, some of it was spat on Cloud's cheek. Cloud pulled the sword out of Zero's body and he fell to his knees in the ocean. Even with the rain, even though his vision was fading at the edges... he knew that Cloud was crying.
Zero felt himself fall sideways, but Cloud caught him before he did fall, holding Zero close to his chest. "Zack," he cried, "I'm sorry!"
"Thank you," Zero said, blood running down his chin. "Now I can die happy... in your arms."
"You're not going to die," Cloud said with forcefulness. Zero felt him summon green magic, and then Zero cried out in excruciating pain as his large wound started to heal, flesh, veins and bone knitting itself back together.
Zero blinked several times, feeling neither exhausted nor like he was about to die. "You fucking..." he muttered, "FullLife Materia. Is there anything you don't own?"
Cloud looked down at him, wiping blood from Zero's chin. "No," he said honestly.
The sea lapped softly at them. There was a moment, and then Cloud and Zero looked away from each other in sudden embarrassment. It had just occurred to them at the same time that Cloud had just lovingly touched Zero's chin, and there was the thing Zero had said about dying happy in Cloud's arms. And then there was the fact that Zero was in Cloud's arms -
They broke away from each other abruptly, standing up.
"Well," said Zero, fiddling with his belts, "I'm glad we had that very manly sparing session and I feel very grown up now."
Cloud turned to him and stared.
"It was a joke," said Zero, a bit nervously.
"Yeah, I know, that's what... surprised me... um," Cloud dithered. "Er, I'm cold, let's go back to the Shera."
Zero nodded, grinning. He hadn't grinned in a long time, so it felt a little funny to do so. "Sounds good," he said. "Besides, I'm starving."
He turned to go, but stopped when Cloud said, "Zack..."
Zero looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
Cloud bit his lip a little, hesitant. "What about your mission?"
"I..." He glanced down. "I failed my mission." He looked up at Cloud and smiled sadly. "It was the last mission Master Nero gave me before he died, so, now that I've failed it, I have nothing left to... pursue."
Cloud sloshed through the water towards Zero. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find something." Cloud gave him a small smile. "Let's go."
Zero watched Cloud walk away a little before following him towards the airship. Yeah, he thought, there is something I could pursue. He stared at Cloud's back as the blonde walked, several paces ahead. Look back, thought Zero, look back at me.
Cloud looked over his shoulder. "So, what do you feel like eating?"
To be continued...
Author's Notes: I get really frustrated with in that I had to re-upload this fic again due to formatting problems. It was fine on preview but viewing the final product I found that had deleted all my paragraph breaks so this chapter probably made no sense!
If you find problems in ppl's fics please review and let them know cause sometimes it's not their fault directly. huff
Anyway I really enjoyed writing this after not writing anything fiction in a long time. I really love the concept of Zack coming back to life after all Cloud's been through, and what's more I can now add more canon to the mix thanks to Dirge of Cerberus.
Please review! I really like reviews, they're great! Makes me happy, they do.