A/N: This story is self-contained, but follows the continuity of "Between the Lines," more or less. Chronologically, this comes first, in fact. Enjoy!

Prologue

The smoldering wood and charring flesh of a village ablaze smelled like barbecued pork. After two days of consciousness, Zack could push aside the eerie red glow and the sounds of chaos and death. The smell was unforgettable, stinging at his nose, seared forever into the most primal nooks of his brain. He did not think he would be attending the Turks' annual cookout this year.

The hospital ward was painfully bright. He lay bandaged and too full of narcotic painkillers to feel what by all rights his body should have felt. His senses were numb and he was better off for it. The only positive was the nurse was cute. That was all well and good, but he really wanted to see her. Cloud, his friend—his savior—still lay unconscious in the adjacent bed. Tseng stood by the window and if he intended to invite Zack to the Turk cookout, it probably would not happen today.

One of his long-time buddies grimaced from shots of pain that evaded the narcotics. An entire village had been massacred. Zack discovered it would take more than that for Tseng not to come off as fashionably uncompassionate. "You're lucky to even be alive, you know. You just about died and on top of that, you've been soaking in a tube of concentrated mako for a whole week. Have I told you lately how much you owe Cissnei?"

"I know," Zack said. "You keep telling me. Look, it's just that there's someone I want to call."

Tseng smirked. Smug son of a bitch. "Don't worry about any of that. I'm trying to take care of things. Your many needs. The media. I told you, you're being taken care of."

Zack rested his head against the pillow. Ow. The twinge of pain almost felt good—a reminder he was alive. "You never told me… how did the Board vote go?"

Tseng looked Zack in the eye for the first time since his arrival. "The vote was unanimous to remove President Shinra. His son, Rufus will replace him. The board wants the transition to occur as quickly as possible."

"Damn… Didn't think it would actually happen."

"When word got out of Nibelheim's destruction, it was bad. When the president's elaborate cover-up plans were leaked, it was worse. When the reporters found out Professor Hojo was ready to perform strange human experiments on the men who stopped General Sephiroth … well… Some things are unforgivable. Even given the sanitized version of events the public heard."

"I owe you one, Tseng."

Tseng smirked. "For what?"

Zack chuckled until it hurt too much.

Tseng stared out the window again. What was he looking for anyway? "You thank me, but if only…"

"What?"

"I'm glad you're safe. Who knows what that sick fuck Hojo would have done to you? The truth of the matter, Zack, is you and I were just players in a much bigger game. Bigger than you and bigger than me. Just be glad that today, the chips fell in your favor and we didn't end up sacrificial pawns."

"Yeah. Yeah. I could never be a Turk. Too many damn politics."

Tseng's eyes caught something through the window and then he turned to Zack. "Want to know what comes next?" Tseng nodded to Cloud in the adjacent bed. "For his next trick, our new president is going to make your friend's dreams come true."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"He's always wanted to be a SOLDIER, hasn't he? It seems like that infantry grunt just killed the biggest, toughest SOLDIER of them all in a one-on-one fight."

"Yeah, but Cloud didn't pass the test…"

"He'll retake it. The President will do whatever he needs to to make it happen."

"That mako poisoning can be some serious stuff, Tseng. What if he can't deal with it?"

"He's been soaking in the stuff with you for a week and he could be worse off. This is bigger than us, Zack. It's a great feel-good story. Infantryman who's always wanted to be a SOLDIER gets a second chance."

"I'm not letting anyone use him like that."

Tseng scowled. "Here I thought you'd be happy for him."

"Well, he's not some puppet." Zack remembered the experiment subjects of Nibelheim. "He doesn't need to be in that den of monsters."

"How about we let him decide when he wakes up," Tseng said.

"He's going to say yes without knowing any better."

"Well, tough shit. You're acting like a child, Zack."

Zack frowned.

"And stop sulking."

"He's still so innocent, you know. I… I love the guy, but I'm not sure he can handle all this pressure."

"That's where you come in. You're going to help him deal with it. Consider it an official responsibility."

Zack watched Cloud twitch in bed, as though he knew they were talking about him. "He lost everything you know. I've never been closer to dying. So many people did die."

"I'm surprised you've never had to deal with survivor's guilt like this before. You don't know how lucky you are."

"Lucky? I got the snot beat out of me by a SOLDIER. I'm trippin' out on whatever chemicals the doctors give me and all I really want is alcohol."

Tseng idled across the room to the door. "I'll bet it seems like things can't get any worse. And who knows? Maybe they couldn't get much worse. But you're alive. Never forget that. Both of you are."

Tseng opened the door and she was there.

She stared at Tseng, startled.

Tseng offered a genteel smile. "Good evening, Miss Gainsborough. I was just leaving."

"Tseng…?" Aerith said.

Tseng looked over his shoulder to Zack. "Maybe your life from this point on is a gift. Think about how you want to use it."

The most beautiful green eyes Zack had ever seen followed Tseng out and then searched the room until she found him. She clenched her hands, trembling. It had only been a few weeks, but it seemed like years since he had seen those perfect auburn ringlets, that porcelain skin, and those vermillion lips.

"Zack…" she whispered.

Cloud stirred.