So hey, I got another new story again. This time it's not a Kingdom Hearts story (though yes that is the majority of my stories).

This time it is a Final Fantasy 7 story co-written with my friend tmart.x13 (I have a co write with him on his page).

Anyways this story is all based off a small premise/scene I had in a dream. It's near the end of Crisis Core obviously when Zack wakes up from the 4 years after the mako experiments. That's pretty much it, but we have a lot of ideas for it so we hope yo enjoy.

Ch.1

Zack opened his eyes to see that he was in the Shinra mansion and apparently alone. It looked as though he was in some sort of lab, but he seemed to be confined in a tight space. He remembered having been there before, but there was something that just seemed off. He closed his eyes to try and think about things. Then, he heard a familiar voice talking to him.

"You call yourself SOLDIER?"

Zack blinked again, and his eyes settled on a familiar person standing in front of him. Angeal.

"You tarnish the SOLDIER name," Angeal spoke harshly as he finished what he was saying.

Zack was shocked at the words that he had heard. He could not believe that Angeal would mutter words like that. He tried to speak but the only thing that happened was he heard a muffled sound coming from him. Then, he saw Angeal turn around and fly off.

Zack reached out his hand. "Angeal, wait!"

Everything went black suddenly. Zack then found himself standing in what appeared to be some kind of outside area. He was standing on top of water so clear that you could see straight through it. There were solid white clouds of various sizes all around him. Suddenly, a white feather floated down in front of him. He watched it closely as it gently swayed back and forth before finally landing softly on the water, creating ripples from where it had landed. He then looked toward the sky from whence the feather came. "Those wings...I want them too."

He wanted to to be free. He felt like he was boxed in and it felt as though things were ready to break. Finally, he heard glass shatter as he fell forward with water rushing out all around him.

It appeared that he had been in some sort of tank with machines hooked up to him. It reminded him of the experiments he had underwent when he first became SOLDIER. He wasn't sure what was going on now but he knew that he had to get out of there. After he was able to gain some composure, he realized that Angeal was gone. He began to think that maybe it had all been an illusion, which was probably true.

Then, he finally stammered to his feet, and there was some scientist standing in front of him. Zack moved as quickly as he could, and drew back his hand and knocked the man to the ground. Afterwords, he then tried to start looking around and finally fixated on another familiar sight. He saw Cloud in one of the same tanks. He knew that he had to get him out of there as he made his way over to his friend.

Zack started to beat on the glass at first, until he finally found a switch. He pressed the switch and it started to release all of the water that was in the tube. Once the water was all gone, the container opened and Cloud spilled out from the chamber. Zack was ready though as he caught Cloud in his arms. With Cloud now laying against his rest, he tried to see if he could get Cloud to wake.

"Cloud…" Zack said sullenly, as he looked upon the limp body of his best friend.

Cloud didn't move or response, he just rested limp in Zack's arms. There was a brief moment of panic ready to rise of in Zack, but he saw Cloud's chest slowly rise and fall. Zack waited a moment more before Cloud moaned and stirred slightly. After a moment he opened his eyes and slowly looked up at Zack. His mouth opened and seemed to move a little, but no words came out.

"It's all right Cloud, you don't have to say anything right now. At least I know you're awake. Don't worry, I'll get us out of here," Zack reassured him as he shined with confidence.

Zack then put his arm around Cloud's neck, and threw Cloud's arm around his. He wanted to slowly lift Cloud up but he was still a bit dazed from getting out of the tank himself. He knew that he needed to try and get Cloud to be somewhat conscious so they could make there way out. But first, he had to find something that he needed. It had to be around here somewhere. He sat Cloud down for a moment while he walked off to search around the lab.

After a few minutes of looking, Zack found this large, long container on the floor. He kicked it open, and a smile crossed his face as he gazed upon what was inside. It was the buster sword, and he was glad that it was not lost. It was the only memento he had of Angeal, and a symbol of his honor. At least it looked to be mostly clean. He then thought internally about the sword maintenance that Angeal always talked about as he chuckled about it for a moment. He then grabbed the sword from the box along with his holster, then he attached the holster to him and placed the sword inside of it.

Zack then walked back over to Cloud to see if he could get him to wake up. "Hey Cloud. I know you're feeling weak right now, but can you stand?" Zack questioned him carefully as he waited and hoped for a response.

Cloud stared at Zack with wide eyes for a moment. Seeming almost unresponsive at first as he just blinked a few times. But he soon slowly nodded his head. He seemed to mouth something, but there was still no words that came out. Slowly Cloud pushed himself up to his knees and then proceeded to stand all the way back up. Zack then also stood up after Cloud, feeling a little stronger in his legs than before.

The two of them started to walk when Cloud staggered to the side slightly. A second later he staggered back and nearly fell forward. Before he did though, he managed to grab on to Zack for support.

Zack felt the motion of Cloud grabbing onto him as he planted his feet firmly to brace for his body weight bearing down on him. Zack then reached his arm around Cloud once again.

"Okay, maybe you're not able to walk on your own just yet, but you're getting there. Just use me as support. We will manage," Zack lightheartedly replied, showing no signs of frustration or worry.

As they began walking, Zack paused for a brief moment at the table in the center of the room. He glanced at some papers laying there to see if he could find any information about what was going on there. Upon looking, he saw two reports. One of them appeared to be for him, as it was labeled SOLDIER 1st class, and the other appeared to be for Cloud as it stated a Shinra infantryman. It seemed that both were deemed failures in some experiment, but for different reasons. It appeared they were part of some new experiments with mako energy.

"Oh so that's what happened apparently. We were...test subjects? Well this is great… Not to mention, if it was mako tests then it looks like it has affected you Cloud. But you should recover soon. We need to get going quickly then," Zack finished speaking out loud to himself, since Cloud most likely would not know what he was saying.

Zack then started to move again, helping Cloud along with him as they moved toward the exit.

After they were out of the lab, they found themselves in a network of caves, apparently below Shinra Manor. Zack stopped for a moment to see if he could figure which way they needed to go to get back to the actual house so they could find a room to rest. Zack figured that he would just have to try every way until he found the right one, though he knew that would also take a long time.

As Zack made his way down the first passageway, he encountered some small monsters there. They didn't appear to be any major threat, which was a good thing with the state the two of them were in. After letting go of Cloud and telling him to go and rest, Zack proceeded to then dispatch of the monsters very quickly. This same process went on for a while until finally, they were able to make it back up into a main area of the house and to a room to rest.

Zack walked Cloud over to the bed and sat him down on it as he sat down beside Cloud so the two of them would be able to rest slightly. Cloud just sat there, staring down at the floor as Zack laid back on the bed, relieved to finally have a tiny bit of comfort after everything that had occured. Though, his mind weighed heavy with some more somber thoughts as well.

"Hey Cloud. Sorry, about getting you involved in all of this. This wasn't your battle. But I'll make sure nothing happens to you again," Zack said blankly to Cloud, who was still just staring at the ground without having moved at all. Though Zack thought he noticed that Cloud was nodding his head again in response.

Zack sat back upright on the bed and put his arm around Cloud to try to make him feel a bit more at ease about the situation. His clothes were still damp from being inside the mako containment tube. He took his hand out from around Cloud and then stood up firmly.

"All right. We need to get out of here, so I'm going to go clear the way. You can come along if you felt like it, but it might be best if you stay here for now. Don't go anywhere Cloud," Zack finished saying as he turned around and headed out the door into the rest of the manor.

Zack then left out of the room, but made sure to firmly shut the door behind him. He knew that there seemed to be many creatures in the mansion, though he wasn't quite sure why. Something awful must have been happening all of this time. Either way, he had to make sure things were clear so that it would be easy to get Cloud out safely. Zack ventured all through the manor now, taking out every creature that he had run across. After quite some time, he finally seemed to have dispatched of the last of the monsters there. Though, he was a bit tired now.

"Wow that actually took longer than I expected. But creatures like that are no problem for me. Better get back to Cloud now so that we can get out of here," Zack said aloud to himself as he made his way back to the room that he had left Cloud in.

Zack made his way back to the room fairly quickly as he checked around the door to make sure there was nothing going on, and then he entered into the room. He saw Cloud was still sitting on the bed, exactly in the same position as he had left him. At least now they could finally get out of that mansion. Zack then walked over to Cloud and stood in front of him as he placed a hand on his head.

"I'm back now and everything is clear. Ready to go now?" he questioned Cloud, hoping for a response.

Cloud lifted up his head to look at Zack. It took about a minute, but Cloud nodded again. Once again his mouth moved slightly, but just as before he never ended up saying anything.

Zack just nodded slightly back at Cloud as he went around to his side and helped to lift him up. After they were on their feet, they proceeded to walk out of the room and traverse the large manor to get to the front gate to finally be out of there. The two of them walked in silence for a quite some time, as it took longer to help Cloud down stairs and even just walk normally to places. After many minutes had passed, they finally exited the manor and made their way to the front gate, where Zack rested Cloud against the gated area.

"So Cloud, I'm not sure if there are any enemies up ahead or not, but I need to check. Are you just going to stay here for now? I wanna make sure."

Cloud tilted his head to the side for a moment, as if he was wanting to question Zack. He tried to stand up, but it was obvious he was still weak. He dropped back to the ground after the failed attempt. He let out a exhale before he lowered his head a bit and nodded.

Zack sighed as he had seen Cloud trying to stand, and hoped that he would be able to, but he would still need some time. Zack turned around and walked away from the mansion down the mountain path towards the town to clear the way.

"I'll be back. Don't run off now," he yelled as he walked away, chuckling to himself slightly.

He encountered several of the same monsters like he had faced in the manor, but none of them were a threat to him as he took them all out pretty swiftly. There didn't seem to be too many of them though, as he then began to head back after what seemed like only a few minutes. He arrived back to Cloud, who was actually trying to stand again. Zack rushed over to him and put his shoulder under him for support so that Cloud would not slump back down.

"Woah woah, easy now Cloud. You've gotta just give this some time. I've got you. I'm glad that you're making some progress though. Let's go now," Zack said to him as he began to walk with Cloud towards the town.

Along the way, Cloud started to walk a bit more and didn't drag his feet as much or stumble. After a little bit, he stopped walking and held up his hand, trying to get Zack's attention. He still wasn't saying anything, but Zack clearly could understand what Cloud wanted to say by the expression in his face.

Zack stopped walking with Cloud now and kept his eyes focused on him as he saw Cloud take his arm away and try to stand on his own. It seemed that Cloud had some strength regained to be able to do that, and Zack was happy with him now. Not only was Cloud seeming to get better, but this would also relieve some pressure from him having to tote him around. He did not mind helping his friend, but now the journey would hopefully be faster. The two of them then continued to walk toward the town slowly, with Zack keeping a close eye on Cloud.

Cloud was walking much better now than he had before, and he was able to keep on walking by himself. Though while he was walking fine, Zack noticed something else that he didn't really realize. Cloud was looking rather pale and even a little exhausted.

Zack didn't stop him as they continued to walk, but he did look mildly concerned that he had never noticed Cloud being so pale before. He was sure that he was not like that before. Maybe he was actually getting sicker, though that would be odd, considering that he seems to be able to walk now. Zack needed to try to figure out what was going on though.

"Hey, you look a bit more pale than usual. And your breathing has gotten heavy. If you're having trouble keeping up walking, I can help. Are you sure you're all right Cloud?" Zack asked with a concerned tone towards his friend.

Cloud stopped in his tracks as he stared down at the ground. His hands fidgeted slightly as he started to shake his head. But then he stopped and paused again, and then nodded his head instead. Though once more he stopped and seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Eventually he lifted his head and looked over at Zack. He raised his shoulders up in a slight shrugging position as he continued to look at Zack. There was clearly a bit of worry in his face, but also confusion as if he wasn't sure himself about how he felt.

Zack was not really sure what to do, as he wanted to let Cloud continue on his own, but he also was worried that Cloud was pushing himself too much. Zack took a few steps toward Cloud and extended his hand out as he spoke.

"We're almost to the town at least. But, I'm worried about you. You can walk on your own if you want, but just let me support you at least," Zack said in a manner that almost constituted as begging.

Cloud looked at Zack for a bit longer before his eyes shifted to Zack's hand. He looked like he was thinking it over for a moment before he nodded in agreement and reached out for Zack's hand.

Zack smiled slightly at Cloud as he grabbed onto his outreached hand and put his arm around Cloud's as they walked together in silence for the rest of the way to town. Upon reaching the town, Zack noticed something a bit strange. This town was a bit familiar to himself, but the fact that it was there was what didn't seem right.

Zack let go of Cloud as he walked a few steps further into the town. "What's going on…? I saw the town reduced to ashes, but it's back to the way it was before…"

As Zack examined his surrounding he noticed people running in the distance. There was a small group of infantrymen running towards the entrance of the town. As they approached Zack heard one of them shouting to the others.

"It's a breakout!"

All four infantrymen approached Zack before pointed their guns at him. Instinctively Zack pulled out his buster sword and held it in a offensive position.

"The professor's test samples are escaping!" another one shouted.

Zack looked at them and chuckled with condenfince. "It'll take more than your average grunt to take me down!"

But before he could start an attack or even before the infantrymen fired, he heard more footsteps running and getting closer. Zack looked to his side and saw that there was another infantryman coming in from a side entrance of the town.

"Just how many of them are there?" Zack wondered. Suddenly though the sound of grunting and distress drew Zack's attention behind him.

There he saw even more infantrymen. There was only three of them, but two of them were holding Cloud back by the arms and trying to pull him away. Cloud though was flailing his legs and arms and struggling to get free from their grasp, though it was no use as he still was clearly exhausted. He kept on trying though, but the infantrymen were far stronger than he was.

"Cloud!" Zack cried out as he was tempted to run and save Cloud, but he was concerned that the infantryman could fire at any second, and he didn't want to risk Cloud getting shot.

As the infantrymen continue to try to pull Cloud away, he stopped strugglingly only for a moment and locked eyes with Zack. It was there Zack could see the pleading look in the young blond's eyes. Zack then knew what he had to do. He turned back to the main four men in front of him and readily his sword again.

"This is bad…" he muttered under his breath. "I better take care of them quickly! I am not going to get caught again!"

Zack looked and saw the many soldiers surrounding him. However, he knew that he could easily defeat these guys. Zack rushes forward with the buster sword raised to attack. He avoided a few bullets as he sliced down the first one with ease, and then moved onto the other ones there quickly. In just a few minutes, they were all defeated.

Just as Zack was about to breathe a sigh of relief and focus on Cloud, more soldiers marched forward and blocked his path. Still, he had much confidence in his ability to defeat them. Just as before, he sprinted towards them, this time with a little bit more annoyance on his face. He then took all of them out one by one, without sustaining any damage to himself. Though, he was starting to feel more tired than usual, which he found slightly odd.

Finally, however, he could turn his attention to Cloud. As he started to make his way to the two soldiers that were dragging Cloud, a couple more soldiers rushed in from the side to block him. Then, several more came from behind him to box him in. Zack was now getting quite frustrated with them, as he just wanted to get Cloud back and get out of there.

This time the soldiers started firing at him before he moved to attack. Zack evaded the shots and moved forward to slice through the first soldier that had fired upon him. Zack stopped very briefly to catch his breath, as he then proceeded to rush to the other men to fight them. His swings started to get slower as he actually missed the next swing, but then he connected with the next one. After taking out those two, there were only about four of them left to fight off. Zack knew that he would have to go to them since they had guns, so he moved forward once more to attack.

The next two that he cut down were simple enough as they were right next to each other, but he was now getting more winded. But he had to do this, no matter what. Zack stumbled forward a bit before finding his balance as he threw his weight behind his sword and sliced through another one. As he moved to the last one, he swung, but he missed as his sword clanged against the ground. The soldier then raised his gun and hit Zack with the butt of it in his gut, causing Zack to gasp slightly. However, this only annoyed Zack further as he then reached out his foot and kicked the infantryman back. As the man stumbled, Zack picked up his sword and swung it hard one last time as the last soldier there was defeated.

His breathing was heavy as he finally was able to stop to catch his breath.

"I shouldn't be having this much trouble with these guys. I guess...I'm more weak than I felt I was. But I still need to get Cloud," he said to himself as he turned toward where the soldiers were dragging Cloud.

Upon seeing Zack looking toward them and that all of his other soldiers were defeated, the two that had hold of Cloud suddenly let go of him. They then ran off in the other direction and faded into the distance. Cloud stood for only a moment before he collapsed to the ground.

To be honest, Zack was relieved that he did not have to fight another one right now. He slowly made his way over to where Cloud had fallen onto the ground. Once he was standing over Cloud, he saw that Cloud's entire body was shaking. His legs were tucked up against his chest as he had his arms wrapped around his them. His eyes were closed as his breathing was shaky and fast paced as well, only adding to the concern.

Zack breathed heavily as he noticed that this was quite unnatural. Cloud looked even more pale now, in addition to the constant shaking. Zack had no idea what was wrong, or even what to do. He knelt down to Cloud to try and see if he could calm him down again.

"Cloud...you have to calm down. You're overexerting yourself. I'm here to help of course. Just listen to me,"he finished as he was hoping to let him know he was there and could be okay.

Cloud's body continued to shake as some kind of sound came from him. It sounded like he was trying to speak, but it just came out as incoherent sounds.

Zack then moved his arms around Cloud's back and sat him upright and held him there as he hoped that would help Cloud to become more relaxed. He placed one hand on Cloud's shoulder as he kept the other one on his back as he tried to speak to him again.

"Hey, if you're still worried about the soldiers, they're gone so you don't need to fret. But, maybe we should head back to the mansion for now. I just want to make sure you're okay first," Zack commented worryingly.

The shaking in Cloud's body slowly started to die down, and soon enough it came to a stop. Cloud let out a long exhale, as his whole body relax. Zack then saw Cloud looked up at him, his eyes no longer showing signs of worry or distress. He only looked at Zack for a little before he examined the area around him and saw the dead infantrymen laying around the area. His attention was then brought back to Zack as nodded.

Zack was a bit relieved to see that Cloud had finally seemed to snap out of his trance. After making sure that Cloud was fine, Zack then put his arm around Cloud and helped to stand him back up as they started to make their way back up the path to the mansion. Zack then spoke up towards him once more, as he had decided what they needed to do.

"It's daytime, and we're still a little weak, Maybe we should rest until dark?" Zack asked as they were getting closer to the mansion.

Cloud nodded in agreement as he held onto Zack.

"Okay…" a quiet voice said a second later.

The voice almost went unheard, but Zack did hear it, and he immediately knew who the voice belonged to. He looked over at Cloud and saw him staring him right back.

Zack was quite surprised at first, as he did not expect Cloud to be able to be competent with the way that he had been acting. His surprise soon turned to joy as he was happy to see his friend partially awake now.

"Oh, so you do have some words left in you. I was beginning to worry there for a moment," Zack joked as he was happy that it seemed Cloud was going to be all right. But he had to make sure.

"So Cloud, are you going to be all right? We probably need to get you out of those wet clothes. All of that mako doesn't need to stay on you like that either. Maybe then you will feel a bit better. That sound good?" Zack probed Cloud in an effort to try and elicit a response from the chocobo-headed boy.

Cloud stared at Zack a little bit longer before he slowly nodded his head in agreement. He furrowed his brows as he seemed to be thinking about something. A moment later he spoke up again. "Yeah… okay…" His voice was still quiet and soft, as if he were half asleep.

Zack had hoped that he would get something more of a reaction from Cloud, but he figured that two words now were better than one. He looked forward toward the mansion, and although he felt exhausted, he was relieved that Cloud seemed like he was going to be okay.

And that ends a nice longer chapter 1.

I hope you guys like the idea we are going with. It gets interesting much later on. Let us know what you thought and we will see you next time.