A/N: Hi friends! *wave* Well, my second story so far! I changed a few things a bit (from the original in Crisis Core), or a lot. Zack is alive! Now I know a lot of passionate gamers out there (like myself) loved the "living legacy" and the promise he and Cloud had shared right before he (sniff) died. BUT I read a few stories where Zack had come back to life and I tried my own. I won't be spoiling you the content of the story though!

INFO ON CHAPTER: The beginning is written in italics since it's a dream sequence of what Zack dreamed happened when the Turks found him just outside of Midgar.

Update 25.11.2017: It may take a while, considering my other prompts and requests, but I plan on rewriting this story (plot stays the same) with only improvements in sentence structures and the like. :)

Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy Advent Children (as well as every other Final Fantasy game). I just own the plot thank you very much!

Zack's Fair Chance

Reno was manoeuvring the helicopter expertly and pushing it to its limits.

They had to get there before those Shinra lap dogs did! They were close but not quite.

Reno sped up, Cissnei sitting behind him and readying her shuriken for use.

Rude was looking outside. Rocky terrain, they were very close.

"Reno!" Rude suddenly shouted and the redhead tensed at the alarm in his partner's voice.

Reno's head snapped to the side, in the direction where Rude was pointing at on the ground.

His eyes widened, what the-!

Reno quickly lowered the bird, the two figures finally came into clear view.

The once rocky terrain was a blood bath, corpses of the Shinra army division covered the terrain for presumably miles, two helicopters were destroyed, and one man remained standing.

He was tall, black spiky hair was wild and covered in blood here and there, his 1st Class SOLDIER garb was bloody, covered with bullet holes and torn beyond repair, his black baggy pants were torn.

His eyes, the colour of the sky, were tired and angry, he still had some fight left in him. Reno and the rest quickly jumped out of the helicopter, the 1st Class SOLDIER, immediately, moved protectively in front of his mako poisoned comrade, who was lying motionlessly against a boulder.

The SOLDIER bared his teeth like an angry wolf, tightening his grip on the bloodied, intimidating sword.

The sword was almost the same size as it's wielder and as broad as him.

Cissnei moved forward, which caused the SOLDIER to growl deeply in his throat like a wild animal, the sound nearly inhuman in it's guttural texture. She held up her hands in a placating motion, her movements slow and carefully approaching the panting SOLDIER, "Calm down. We aren't your enemies, we abandoned the Turks and came here as quickly as possible before Shinra but…" she looked at the terrifying blood bath before her.

Reno cleared his throat loudly,"Hey, yo. Don't worry, we will get your friend fixed up. You look like you need some fixing up too."

Rude nodded, eyeing the various wounds littered across the panting SOLDIER.

However, his comatose blond friend didn't have a single scratch on him. He must have been protecting him with everything he had.

Finally, the SOLDIER spoke in a deep, strained voice, "How do I know…I can trust you?" his eyes glowed a vibrant blue, full of mistrust and bloodlust and rage.

Cissnei straightened and ripped off her badge classifying her as a Turk as well as her ID and stomped it repeatedly with her foot.

She held her head high when she looked directly at him, "You helped us. You saved me once too. We are friends, whether you like it or not and we won't allow you to die!"

The man looked at her, long and hard.

Before slamming his sword into the ground and leaning heavily on it, blood was covering his right eye as he painted out in a hoarse voice, "Alright. I'll trust you. Take care of Cloud…he has a severe case of mako addiction…"

Cissnei nodded and went to the comatose Cloud while Rude and Reno approached the SOLDIER.

He was barely conscious when they moved on either side of him to support him, "Thanks... a lot for the help, I'm... Zack Fair. First Class SOLDIER at your…-"

He suddenly started falling forward, finally losing his footing on shaky legs as he breathed out, "-….s-service…"

Rude caught him by the shoulders guards, careful of his gaping wounds at...well everywhere.

Reno quickly started the helicopter again while the two former Turks carried the two inside along with the sword.

Cissnei immediately used Restore on Zack and cure materia as well as two powerful healing materia.

She used another healing materia on Cloud to slow and drastically reduce the effects of his mako poisoning. She wasn't a healer but she brought a whole arsenal of healing materias and whatnot just in case, it was a good thing too.

Reno briefly glanced behind him, "So, this Zack guy…he defeated the whole army division?" his question seemed pointless, since they themselves have seen the numerous corpses littering the ground like leaves under a tree in autumn.

Cissnei was quiet for a moment, eyes scanning the dead-looking dark haired man, watching how his shredded chest lifted and lowered with shallow breaths, "By the looks of it, yeah."

"By the looks of it, there were at least 900 of the bastards, if not a lot more. There were at least 20 in each helicopter and there were ground troops for miles on end. Easily a thousand or two," Rude adjusted his shades, locking gazes with Reno.

Cissnei looked sadly at the wounded man, her voice a mere whisper, "A thousand SOLDIERs against one. Not very fair..."

Reno nodded clicking his tongue, "Yeah, but this dude killed them all. Though they roughed him up good. I'm surprised though blondie didn't have a single scratch on him."

Cissnei looked at the unconscious Cloud, "That's Cloud Strife, he is just a normal Shinra infantryman. I saw the two before, in the forest, they were running away from Professor Hojo. Zack said they were captured by him and used as experiments for over 3 years. Zack managed to resist the effects because of his SOLDIER training but Cloud wasn't accepted into SOLDIER so he didn't have the same program."

Rude crossed his arms,"That's easy to explain. But how do you explain one SOLDIER First defeating an entire Shinra division? One would think even Sephiroth would have had difficulties. And I heard Zack was promoted First Class not too long ago."

Cissnei was quiet, not knowing how to explain this absurd situation.

Reno sighed, looking at the wasteland, "Easy. He's a freakin' monster! How else would you explain? And the blonde kid doesn't have a scratch on him! What's up with them anyway? Brothers?" he rose an eyebrow curiously.

Cissnei shook her head, "No, they met on a mission to Modeoheim with Tseng. Their helicopter crashed and they had to hike up the mountains. He said they were country boys, Zack from Gongaga and Cloud from Nibelheim and I guess they bonded well over time, despite the gap between ranks."

Reno's voice was thoughtful, detached even, "Country boys huh?" glancing at them briefly.

"How long until he recovers fully?" Cissnei asked standing with her companions, this time Tseng was with them.

The tall military doctor clad in white looked over the patient's chart again, "The man whom you said used to be a SOLDIER, a First Class no less, sustained various bullet wounds, slashes from swords and burns from what looked like missiles. His wounds were deep and severe, he lost a lot of blood, but he is recovering surprisingly nicely. A piece of warning however, under no circumstances is he allowed on the battlefield or any sort of training program until his injuries fully heal and until he feels no pain while walking or breathing. I know SOLDIER's training program, especially for a First Class. As long as you make sure there is no strain on him he should be fine."

The former group of Turks nodded and thanked the doctor before leaving the room Zack was in. After making sure they were gone, Zack slowly opened his eyes and let them adjust to the light.

Damn it…for how long was he out of commission anyway?

He slowly turned his head to the side, seeing a new set of SOLDIER uniform laid out for him. The uniform was new, but when he looked at the neatly folded clothes on the pristine white stool the image was replaced with a bloodied, torn and bullet-ridden set. He shook his head, grabbing at it with his hand until he noticed it was wrapped in bandages, a few stray spikes protruding from it. He rubbed over the soft material of the bandage, hitting a sore spot when he pressed near the front above his forehead.

…So that was where he got shot…he was surprised he hadn't kicked the bucket a lot sooner.

Zack looked at the closed door, breathing deeply as he stared at his hands, he heard what the doctor said, loud and clear. His right arm was in a thick gauze, his chest bandaged and he felt numerous stitches stretching over his skin as he moved slightly.

He hissed in pain and slowly settled back down, his eyes were closed as he asked the seemingly empty room, "For how long will you be eavesdropping, Tseng?" the door opened slowly and Tseng, still in his uniform sans the black tie, came inside. Zack hadn't known him particularly long but he knew he could trust him, even if he was tight and upright.

Tseng observed him for a minute before offering a small smile, "Glad to see you progressing well Zack." he looked on the ground and Zack could tell how his shoulders stiffened, "I…I'm sorry we couldn't arrive sooner…if we did you wouldn't-"

Zack's cheery reply caught Tseng off guard, "It's alright!" The former Turk's head shot up in surprise, Zack's smile brightened, "Just a few scratches, right? I'll be up in no time at all!" his smile turned serious but still retained the warm, cheery tone, "If you hadn't arrived at the time you did, I would have died and Cloud would have been captured sooner or later by Shinra. So, I own you our lives."

Tseng tensed, confusion all over his face, "Cloud? Cloud Strife the infantryman? The country boy?"

Zack nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! You know, when we went to Modeoheim and our plane crashed? But you must have seen him with me! We were heading to Midgar when Shinra caught up with us, so I hid him behind a boulder to fight against the bastards."

Tseng crossed his arms, a troubled look contorting his Wutaian features, "Zack…what is the last thing you remember?"

The former First Class SOLDIER scratched his head thoughtfully before slowly replying, " Cloud's face…one side of his face was bloody and he had tears in his eyes and he was holding Buster. I didn't know why, we won right?" Zack turned serious, a sense of dread filling him the minute he asked the question and Tseng took far too long to answer, "Tseng, where is Cloud?"

The former Turk straightened, looking guilty and slightly confused, "To tell you the truth…I…don't know where he is."

Before the words could impact him, Zack straightened a little in his sitting position on the bed, "What do you mean? Cloud was right beside me before I blacked out."

Tseng sighed heavily, "You were alone, barely alive at all. We thought you were dead until we felt you had a shallow pulse. We searched everywhere but we didn't find Cloud, we thought Shinra may have got him. Then we saw a trail of footsteps leading away from you, it looked like Cloud took the Buster Sword."

Zack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "But why would he-?" and suddenly images flashed in his mind's eye.

Shinra…

Him hiding Cloud, talking to him one last time before going to his death…

him standing with Buster before the whole division, his last thoughts on his dear mentor and father-figure, his best friend and his girlfriend.

…the bullets, the pain, the missiles, his flesh tearing apart, the blood surging up his throat and his insides burning and falling apart…

Wait…it all made sense now. He killed everyone but three remaining infantrymen, who gunned him down lastly. Then he blacked out, he saw Cloud next to him, he was still fuzzy from the mako but he had heard Zack when he said he should live for the both of them, to live out his dreams and honour…to become his living legacy.

It was him that gave Cloud the sword, the same one that Angeal had given him.

He was sure he had died. He had blacked out after that, didn't feel or see or hear anything. He was sure it would be his last battle to fight, his last view of the world he was born and raised in and the sad truth it reflected at him as the rain poured over him and washed the earth from all the blood that's been spilled that day.

Tseng cut through his thoughts like a knife, "Zack?" he waited for the injured man to respond, seeming to be focused on a spot in the room.

Finally, after several agonizing minutes, Zack slowly shook his head, his voice nothing but a whisper," I… remember…"

Tseng frowned, "What do you remember exactly?" at this, Zack closed his eyes in thought.

His eyes opened soon after, focusing finally on the former Turk as he said, "Everything, Tseng. Me fighting a larger division of SOLDIER, when I was finally gunned down, I lost consciousness until Cloud came to my side to watch me die. I gave him the Buster Sword from Angeal, telling him to live his dreams and retain his honour, to become… my living legacy."

Tseng's eyes widened for a fraction in surprise, "Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

Zack remembered the truck ride, where a nice middle aged man took them towards-

…Midgar…

Midgar!

Zack jumped, leaning forward towards Tseng, "He went to Midgar!" he punched his open palm, wincing in pain as it pulled at his wounds and stitches and hurt.

Tseng looked at his old friend in surprise, "Why do you think that? He may have headed for Nibelheim."

But Zack shook his head firmly his tone dripping with conviction, "No, no, no. We talked – or I did anyway – about opening our own business that does everything in Midgar! Before Shinra ambushed us we were heading there!"

We were headed home!

"What do you propose we do?" Tseng's gaze narrowed when a smirk curled at Zack's lips, the familiar grin stretching his features that indicated Zack had a bad idea.

Excitement and hope pulsed in his chest and Zack's blue eyes glowed brighter than ever, "Well, I haven't seen Midgar in a while…"

Tell me what you think! Reviews are very much appreciated, gotta work on my (non) existent/very limited story writing skills! Oh also, English isn't exactly my first language (more like second) so don't hesitate to pinpoint one or the other stray mistake! I hope you enjoyed it!