Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of the other things that may result in me being sued.
Note: My first attempt at a multi-chaptered story.
The Price Of Freedom
The memories were still fresh in his tortured mind, strong and painful. It didn't matter that it had been years upon years since he had lived them, nor the fact that he couldn't change it, no it was the knowledge that he could have done something to prevent the needless deaths, that was what was eating away at him. Some of the things that he had lived through had been something he could never wish on even his worst enemy anymore. There were some things that he remembered with such clarity that it almost seemed too real. Every thought, every breath, every moment he was assulted by memories.
Today seemed to be extra special however, they were brighter and stronger somehow, like watching a movie. The only reassurance that he was within the realm of the present anymore was that familiar head of spiky blonde hair. That thought brought a sad, almost mourning smile to his face. Cloud, the boy he had sworn to protect with his life, was his only link to the world. It wasn't enough, he thought personally. No-one should be forced to live a life like this. A lie, his brain provided and it was right, he lived each day in relentless pain. His body was still unbearably weak from the years passed inside the tank of Mako he had been forced into. It rested bitterly on his tongue.
Zack shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts for the time being and focused on the distance, the destruction that was inevitably approaching. His sky blue eyes watched as the entirety of the Shinra Army, in all it's glory, emerged from behind the hills that plagued the desolate land. The closer he got the more he felt that sense of impending doom. He knew it, they knew it, it was time. This would be Zack's last battle.
With the utmost care he placed his young charge against the rocky ground, propping him up between a pair of said rocks. He ruffled that soft blonde hair and whispered a small prayer for Cloud's safe return to Midgar. It was time. Standing, Zack went off to face his death in the eye. He wouldn't flinch, he wouldn't blink. He would fight, until the very end.
It was time.