I've had this written for a day or two now, but I was holding it back until I at least had another chapter for it. Thanks so much for the kind reviews.

Again, this is for Sheno.

The rip of fabric, a grunt of pain, then another slash brought the wet tearing of flesh, a scream, a thud. One more down. How many to go? Don't think of that. Just bring up the sword. Swing. One, two. One more down. The air was bereft of the sound of choppers, those had been taken down by a tricky deflection of a grenade or a missile. How long ago? Hours, it felt like. All that remained was the panting, the sounds of a sword cutting through, and the thud of the bodies. His life had been brought down to this endless moment of hack, slash, repeat. One. Two. Th-

The SOLDIER took the third hit and crumpled. Cloud brought his sword up again, arms trembling. Three swings. He was getting tired. The mako had all but burned out of his system, and Zack...Ifrit, Zack must be suffering worse than him, he'd spent months lugging Cloud's dead weight around, fighting off monsters and SOLDIERs, forcing his younger friend to keep going, and now this.

One. Two. BANG

"Cloud!"

Zack shouted almost at the same time as the gun went off, and the blonde's sword flicked out to deflect the bullet, leaving his left side unguarded. A punch landed and he swerved away, winded and panting heavily. Stumbling and trying desperately not to fall. Then black filled his vision, and he heard metal hitting flesh, biting deep, and another agonised scream. He wasn't sure whether to smile or cry. Zack was there, again, protecting him, even though the man's body was beaten something awful. He bled from dozens of small scrapes, and his arms shook more than Cloud's as he swung his sword. He turned to give his friend a little half-smile, but another SOLDIER was waiting for him to drop his guard, bringing his gun butt down hard on the back of the man's head. It made a sickening crunch as it connected, and Zack crumpled instantly.

"You BASTARD!" Cloud was about one step from charging him, when the man turned the muzzle of the gun to point directly between the unconscious man's eyes. The threat was clear. 'Move and he dies.'

Taking a shallow breath, trying to get air past the sick knot building in his throat, the blonde finally took in his surroundings. Three men remained. Just three. The one who had his gun trained on Zack, one to Cloud's right, and one behind him. Both of these had their guns aimed at him. The one behind had even gone so far as to poke the muzzle into the hair at the back of his neck. Just so he understood that there was no way out.

BANG. BANG.

Cloud's eyes were open. He refused to close them. He wanted the last thing he saw to be the face of he man who had given so much to keep him safe. And so it was with utter bewilderment that he watched the body standing over Zack fall to the ground, blood blossoming over the green-blue uniform. He knew the man behind him had fallen in a similar way. Which left...HHe turned his head. Slowly, very slowly. The SOLDIER that remained emptied the bullets from his gun and threw them, then tossed the gun carelessly at Cloud's feet, reaching up to pull off his helmet next.

Cloud blinked a few times. Funny, even though he had been one for so long, he had almost expected SOLDIERs to have no faces under those helmets, no defining features above halfway up their noses. This man had plenty of character. Dark freckles dusted his upper cheeks, and messy auburn hair fell into his grey eyes. Cloud had to think about it for a while, but gradually, a name came to him.

"You're Kunsel."

"You've never seen me." The man gave him a hard look. "And I've never seen you. Or him."

Cloud nodded slowly, to show he'd understood. Kunsel turned to leave, then, half-turning back, called "have a good life. Both of you."

Then he was gone, striding away from the carnage.

"Yo-" Cloud cupped his hands around his mouth. "YOU WERE A GOOD FRIEND!"

A raised hand met his shout, and Cloud felt a small smile tug at his lips.

He heard a soft groan from behind him and whirled, running the few steps to his fallen friend.

"Shit, Zack. I'm so sorry."

Fingers fumbling on his pocket button, he finally tore it off and yanked out a potion, pulling the cap off with his teeth. His free hand tore at the rags of Zack's shirt, baring the wounds on his torso. Botlecap finally off, Cloud poured the glowing green liquid directly onto the other man's skin. There was no reaction. The potion was absorbed almost instantly, but it showed no signs of healing him, no soft glow around the wound edges.

"Shit." Cloud didn't think he'd ever sworn this much. Yanking a glove off with his teeth, he splayed his fingers over Zack's chest, feeling for a heartbeat. Nothing. He bit back a sob.

"Don't be dead. Don't you dare be dead, you asshole! I nee-" He froze. Something had interrupted him, a brief push against his fingers. His breath hitched. Nothing disturbed the silence. How many seconds had passed? Too many. Too long for that to have been anything mo-

There! The soft, unsteady thump against his hand that signalled a heartbeat.

It was then and only then that Cloud started to cry. Shaking, he gulped down sobs and blinked back tears, hand rummaging through supplies for anything other than a potion. Slightly more hesitantly, he slipped a hand into Zack's pocket. Grabbing a bottle, he yanked it out. An X-potion. He could have shouted in triumph, but instead, he yanked the top off, teeth biting so hard in his haste that he heard glass crack. His arm moved to slide under Zack's back, lifting the larger man slightly to angle him better, the other hand sloshing the precious liquid carelessly over his friend's marred skin. This time, it definitely worked. Collapsing, laughing and crying with relief, Cloud laid himself next to his friend and allowed his eyes to close.

"I told you we'd beat 'em," he murmured breathlessly.

Though the morrow may be barren of promises, nothing shall forestall...my return.

(In other words, I'll see ya around. XD)