AN: Thanks to the folks who sent me feedback via PM and the review I got, I have a good idea where I falted in that first chapter, and hope to have a much more entertaining and gripping chapter for you this time :) And no, this is not Yaoi before I continue. I do have respect for it, it's just not my style to write it.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 2

As Zack followed Sephiroth out of the reactor, he couldn't help but feel more than a bit anxious from the reaction he had seen from the taller man earlier. Genesis' words clearly had made a serious impact on the General, but Zack couldn't tell for sure what exactly that was. All he knew for certain was that he had a bad feeling, and based on his history with bad feelings, he couldn't afford to ignore it.

As they swiftly exited the reactor, Sephiroth nearly passed the fallen MP outside with Tifa kneeling next to him. Only Zack's worried shout made the General stop short and turn back towards them.

"Hey Cl- hey, man, you okay?" Zack shouted and bolted towards his injured friend. He had almost slipped up and said the younger man's name out loud, but he remembered the blond's odd behavior since he had arrived in Nibelheim, and knew that Cloud probably didn't want anyone to know exactly who he was.

"Whoa man... you don't look too good... hold on a sec, okay?" Zack tried to comfort his friend, who appeared to had taken a blast from a fairly powerful spell (Thundara at least, Zack had guessed with a wince) and was sporting several burns and gashes in his blue uniform, with burns on the exposed skin as well. The SOLDIER pulled out the spare Cure materia he had stowed for emergencies and cast a few basic spells on the boy. It wasn't much, but with Zack having being clipped by a immensely powerful Firaga earlier, he wasn't in much condition to do much spellcasting himself.

Sephiroth, meanwhile, seemed to be staring at them with a look of barely masked impatience, but the swordmaster's thoughts were elsewhere. The words of his friend... no, could Genesis truly be called his friend now? His former colleague's words had taken a serious impact on his mental state of mind.

'He said "Jenova Project" didn't he...' Sephiroth thought with a mental frown. 'Mother... is there any connection between them? Am I... like him? Am I... a monster?' The thought sent a shiver down the normally stoic man's spine. The thought that he, the prodigy, the hero of ShinRa was nothing more than an experiment cooked up in some lab was more than a bit disturbing to the man. Still, his childhood was anything but 'ordinary'. The fact he had spent much of his younger years cooped up in a lab, tested and prodded by that bastard Hojo... perhaps... perhaps there was merit to what Genesis had said... Sephiroth shook his head lightly and tried to focus on the matter at hand for now. He would need to think more on this later.

"We must move on. You can continue treating him once we reach town," Sephiroth announced, focusing on Zack's strained face, green materia in hand glowing feebly. Zack looked up, clearly not ready to quit yet, but obeyed anyway and put away the materia. He hadn't been able to accomplish much, but it was enough until they could get Cloud back to the inn and treat him properly. He wasn't exactly a pro with restorative materia as it was, and the stock mass-produced Cure he had wasn't very powerful to say the least. It would barely be sufficient to perform rudimentary first aid until they were able to get to the inn and seen by a doctor.

Sephiroth turned to Tifa. "You, help support the infantryman. We will cover you as we go down the mountain and defeat any monsters we come across," he added, nodding towards Zack. With that, he turned without any further words and began walking down the mountainside path, leaving the unfortunate trio to keep up with the General's brisk pace.

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The party arrived in Nibelheim a few hours after beginning their trek down the mountainside. It would have been easier if not for the fact Tifa was slowly helping the injured Cloud (still with helmet on) down the treacherous paths. Sephiroth had seemed to completely ignore the his three companions, blazing a trail of monster corpses in his wake with far more force than was necessary.

Zack had not been oblivious to the General's significant change in demeanor, and it scared the younger man a bit. He had never seen Sephiroth so... emotional before. To an outside observer like Tifa it would just seem like he was taking extra care to make sure the monsters were truly dead, but Zack knew better. The silver-haired man was ruthless, yes, but not to the extent of overkill he had displayed. It gave further evidence to Zack's theory that the red-headed Ex-SOLDIER's words had made a major, negative impact on the taller man's state of mind.

Upon entering the village, Sephiroth made a brisk line for the nearby inn, and entered several paces of the rest of the group. Zack decided to take over the care of Cloud from the now exhausted Tifa. "Hey Tifa, can you do me a favor real quick?" Zack asked her. "Can you ask around the village and see if anyone has spotted the man that attacked the infantryman? You know, with his red coat and hair he should be easy to spot..." Tifa looked back and nodded tiredly.

"Alright... I'll see if anyone's seen him," she agreed with a sigh. Tifa wanted nothing better than to go home and get cleaned up and sleep, but she knew the strange looking man with a bizarre wing sticking out of his back needed to be found for all their sakes. A man like that had to be dangerous.

Zack nodded his thanks to Tifa, and turned and took Cloud into the inn. He had noticed right away that the General's door was closed as he came upstairs, and he didn't notice him in the shared room Zack had with himself and, now just Cloud. He sat and treated Cloud's wounds as best he could with a combination of the Cure materia and various first-aid supplies. Deciding his friend would be fine for the moment until he could summon the doctor at the clinic to perform a more thorough job, he walked into the hall and knocked on the General's closed door.

"Hey, Seph? You in there?" Zack asked with a tinge of worry in his voice. When he heard no response, he tried the knob, but found it firmly locked. He knew it would be easy for him to break down the door, but he didn't want to have to face the brass back at ShinRa headquarters, asking him why he decided to break down the General's inn room door.

"Sephiroth? You in there?" Zack asked again, a little louder. He strained his ear against the door, and could hear what he thought was faint movement.

"Please, leave me alone."

The statement was said with finality, and was that a hint of defeat in the General's voice? Zack couldn't be sure. He knew better than to test the man's patience though.

"Alright, if you need us you know where we are." With that said, Zack returned to the room. He noticed Cloud was awake upon entering. He sat back down next to the boy and gave him a small smile. The blond, exhausted from the combination of infusion of mako energy from the healing properties of the Cure materia, the trip, and his injuries, appeared to try to speak. Zack gave him an encouraging smile, knowing what he was worried about.

"Tifa's okay, so ya don't have to worry, okay?" Zack told him.

Cloud looked relieved at that, but then after a moment looked up at him sadly. "If only I was a SOLDIER... like you..." he finally managed. The blond felt horrible that he couldn't stop the strange winged man. If only he were stronger, like Sephiroth... "Hey, Zack?" Cloud asked his friend, whose smile had vanished, and he looked at Cloud with dull eyes.

"SOLDIERs are like monsters, you know..." Zack said quietly, facing away from his friend as he said it. "Forget about it, okay?"

This got Cloud's attention. He had never heard his friend say such things before. Zack had never said anything but good things about SOLDIER. "What happened in there, Zack?"

Zack turned back to the blond again as he thought for a moment. "You know... I'm not really sure myself... but I plan to find out, and make it right." The dark haired man shook his head. He decided to change the subject to something lighter; brooding over it would get him nowhere.

"So... is Tifa an acquaintance of yours, Cloud?" Zack asked him.

Cloud's face immediately went blank. "Sort of, I guess," he replied.

"So... did you guys talk at all? You know... catch up and stuff?" the SOLDIER prodded. If Cloud did know the girl, they must have grown up together. They must have had lots to talk about outside that reactor. Besides, they seemed to be the same age, and he could tell she'd grow up to be quite the looker. Zack secretly envied his younger friend.

Silence greeted Zack for a moment before Cloud finally answered. "No."

Zack's frustration with the entire situation came back to the forefront upon hearing that simple word. He couldn't understand how Cloud wouldn't want to catch up with what he assumed could be a childhood friend. It... just didn't make sense. They could have died up there today, and for what?

"Look man, I don't know what's going on between you two but are you okay with just leaving it at that? I mean... in SOLDIER we do what we were trained to do. We fight! We leave the politics to the politicians, ya know? What should I be mad about? Who is really the enemy here? Who says who lives or dies? None of that should matter!" At the end Zack was nearly shouting, and breathing heavily with pent-up emotion. The frustration the man was feeling was undeniable.

Zack's tirade had seemed to change quickly from Cloud's odd behavior towards Tifa to his own misgivings. Through it all Cloud had a somber, thoughtful expression on his face, not focusing on Zack especially, but the massive weapon lying against the wall behind where Zack sat.

"Hey... Zack?" Cloud asked quietly. "I've never really seen you use that sword before... why don't you?"

The blond's quiet inquiry snapped Zack out of his emotional inner turmoil. Instead, he found himself thinking of his mentor's words to him several months earlier. Zack had asked Angeal the same question back then, after the older man had shielded him from a potentially deadly attack.

"Yeah, if I use it, it'll get all worn, dirty and rusted. Now that would be a waste. But, you know what? Your life is more important than any sword. Well..." Angeal had given Zack a grin at this point, teasing the younger man. "Maybe just a little."

"Never lose your dreams. Never lose your honor as a SOLDIER. This sword..." Zack looked fondly at the Buster Sword standing against the wall. "It's a symbol of my dreams and my honor. You know... I think I almost lost sight of both."

Zack turned and gave his friend a genuine smile. "Thanks, Cloud."

Cloud was quite confused by the older man's sudden change in mood. "Uhh.. you're welcome?" Still, he was happy that, whatever he had done, it had gotten Zack out of his weird mood.

Zack felt a new sense of mental clarity thanks to Cloud's seemingly innocent question, and he stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm gonna go get the doctor now, so you sit there and behave! I'll be right back in a jiffy!" With that, the SOLDIER 1st left for the local clinic.

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The next morning found Zack in much better spirits than the night before, although the General's door was still shut tight. He knew the older man would come out when he was good and ready to, so he decided not to disturb him. He had left Cloud behind in the room, who was still sleeping soundly. The village doctor had told him that thanks to his prompt first aid, Cloud would only need a few days of bed rest.

Once he reached the lobby, he noticed Tifa coming in the door with an urgent expression on her face. Once she spotted Zack, she came over to him quickly.

"I've heard news of the man you're looking for!" she told him hurriedly. This got Zack's attention immediately.

"What? Where!" Zack demanded.

"Several people said they spotted a man in red go into the old mansion at the edge of town," she explained in a rush.

"You mean the one ShinRa owns?" Zack asked her.

"Yeah, that's the place. We don't go near it because of all the weird rumors about it being haunted, but everyone was certain that's where he went!" she told him.

Zack's surprise turned into determination. "Alright, thanks a bunch Tifa, I owe ya one! We'll take over from here!" he said to her while bolting back up the stairs of the inn.

He ran to the General's door, but found said man standing in it, a fierce look in his eyes. "The mansion right? Let's go."

Zack didn't need any more encouragement, he followed Sephiroth's quick pace with equal fervor. Soon, they could find out exactly what the Ex-SOLDIER was planning...

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Revision Notes (03/07/2012): Some changes here. The opening scene was expanded upon and clarified, and the scene in the inn with Zack and Cloud was tweaked. In the original there was also no mention of the village doctor. It makes more sense for a unenhanced, stock produced Cure to not magically cure all of Cloud's injuries. After all, he was blasted by an Ex-SOLDIER General and survived. He's not just going to get a cure spell and sleep it off.