[4/50 of the 50Shuffle Challenge! Title from "The End" by Roadrunner United [also could have been Bullet For My Valentine, but I think it was RR :3]
Set at Zack's death in CC, ZackxCloud, enjoy!]
The rain.
It falls so smoothly, so constant and yet barely solid. It cascades down in silvery sheets, washing the dirt into thick puddles of mud, forming wide flat lakes of pockmarked water in the pitted expanses of the wasteland.
And there he lies in the grey, dull light, broken and bleeding. The ever-falling rain dilutes his scarlet blood, so bright – yet no matter how much is washed away, more replaces it. His illumination, so vibrant, so beautiful, is fading.
The pain – such blinding, agonising pain – radiates from his wounds, threatening to pull him away from the last shreds of life clinging to his torn body. He refuses to leave though, gripping so hard to stay away from death that one last time that he trembles with the effort. Each raindrop falling into his dull eyes is felt less than the last; all he can do to relieve the irritation is to blink slowly, forcing his eyes to reopen each time.
Where is…
A sound reaches his ears, the low scrape of leather dragging over stone barely audible over the rain, yet it is what he has been waiting for. He strains to lift his head even a fraction, to see the one he has suffered so much for, and is greeted by the most heartbreaking sight he had ever set eyes on.
Struggling towards him, inch by torturous inch, comes his love; the other half of his soul, the one who had helped him through so much… and the one he is dying for.
He forces a smile as Cloud reaches him, drinking in the sight of him through the rain, dying inside at the anguish in his eyes and the agony in his voice as he whispers his name.
"Z… Zack…"
Zack tries to reply but his voice sticks in his throat. Summoning as much strength as he can, he commands his left arm to reach up to touch Cloud' face.
"For the… both of us…" he forces himself to say, never breaking eye contact with Cloud. The younger repeats his statement hazily, confusion and still that agony roiling in those beautiful eyes. Zack tries to nod, endeavouring to speak.
"You're gonna…" The words fail again and he grits his teeth in frustration, feeling his life trickle away like the rain from Cloud's face.
"You're gonna…?" Cloud reiterates, eyes searching Zack's face, panic creeping in.
"Live."
Zack lets his arm bring Cloud's face down to his chest, wishing so desperately he had enough to strength to embrace him properly, to taste those lips one last time…
When Cloud lifts his head again, it is smeared with blood – his blood, Zack knows. His vision begins to dim, but he resists the lure of eternal sleep. I have something I have to do…
Letting his head fall to one side, he exerts the last of his energy to lift the huge sword lying where he had dropped it in the mud. Memories of his beloved mentor and first love flashed through his mind, accompanied by a warm rush of gratitude.
Lifting the sword off the ground, he grits his teeth against the torture and pushes it towards Cloud.
"My honour, my dreams… they're yours now," he says, repeating Angeal's words. Still dazed, unable to see past the debilitating grief swirling in his eyes, Cloud takes the weapon as Zack pushes it at him. He seems to try to shake his head, but Zack cuts him off, feeling his grip on life falter.
"You'll be my… living legacy."
The darkness rushes in to claim him finally.
The last thing he sees is the tears fall from Cloud's eyes like the rain, and he falls away with no regrets.
Better me than you.