Sinner


Chapter One: Perception

What was insanity, really?

Was it the absence of good judgement?

Was it merely a monkey bar called 'psychosis' halting the everyday processes of a healthy mind?

Was it an extreme dementia and foolishness that held the conscious in a vice-like grip?

Cloud didn't want to know.

After all, there would likely be a definition of insanity that would fit his own state perfectly – and Cloud wasn't about to acknowledge his own impairment.

No, the only thing he would acknowledge in its fullness was to reunite with his loved ones.

And, really, the only way to do that was to die.

Yet how exactly would he do this?


Aeris loved to spend her time in the church.

It had a soothing atmosphere, and the delicate beauty of the flowers always took her breath away. Even the half collapsed roof didn't mar the magnificence of the place – the sunlight was more than enough to make up for it.

It shone now on the freshly watered flora, giving it a glimmering sheen. Kneeling amongst them, she dropped her chin to her chest, listening to the murmurings of the Planet. It was a relaxing past time for her, especially when she was waiting for her boyfriend.

She smiled softly, eyes falling shut. Zack was so good to her, and she was glad he had not been injured fatally on the more dangerous missions he had been sent on. She was falling more in love with him with every second she spent in his company. She only hoped he thought the same of her.

Clasping her hands together, she began to listen to the Lifestream, searching for a voice she hadn;t heard in a long time.

"Mother!" She chanted under her breath, and beamed when she heard an answering hum. "I hope you are well."

There was a pause in the air as she listened to her mother's gentle answer, nodding slightly and saying lightly, "No, mother, Zack's been kind to-"

WEAPON.

Aeris' eyes flew open, gasping as a sharp pain pierced her back and right through her. She buckled, her forehead touching the soft soil, hands clutching at the fabric covering her abdomen.

It felt like, oddly enough, that a sword had run her through from behind.

She straightened slowly, sighing in relief as she noticed the pain was slowly ebbing away. Glancing down at her stomach, she frowned at the absence of any kind of wound.

What...? She began to wonder, before stifling yet another gasp as she caught sight of something – or rather, someone.

In front of her lay a man with spiky blonde hair – hair that reminded her of someone she knew though she couldn't exactly remember under the fast beating of her heart – and a large sword strapped to his back. The man's features were worn and haggard, yet still had a youthful sheen to them. He wore clothes similar to that of a SOLDIER First Class, though she hadn't heard of anyone being inducted into it. The only four and the four who stayed were Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal and Zack.

Edging back slightly, she couldn't understand why she felt a sudden fear overtaking her heart, along with a certain sorrow she hadn't felt in a long time.

Aeris breathed slowly, trying to get her heart to calm down. She hadn't been injured yet, and the man was unconscious either way. Cautiously, she stood, shuffling over to the man with apprehension.

He lay comatose in the flowers, making his normally pallid skin almost glow. The Ancient frowned – the blonde looked familiar, almost like...

Her hand reached out, trembling slightly as they got closer inch by inch to his right cheek.

And, as soon as the tip of her index finger made contact with his surprisingly delicate skin, her mind was flooded.


Cloud was awoken with a sharp, mental lash. He recoiled, rolling to his feet and backed away instantly, eyes still slightly blurry as he wielded his sword in a flash.

Breathing fast, he attempted to identify the place, and inhaled sharply upon recognising it – and the now unconscious person in front of him.

He took a step back, struggling to comprehend the situation.

"You're supposed to be dead." He murmured, his knuckles turning deadly white as they tightened on the hilt of First Tsurugi. This wasn't right at all.

He cast wild eyes over the place yet again, noting how it wasn't as ruined as it was supposed to be, yet the main feature was what threw him. The small lake – created by the very person now lying healthybreathingALIVE amongst the flowers – was gone. It didn't seem possible that anyone had drained it, or even started to repair the church – especially if there were no one around to begin with.

So why...?

His eyes shot up as the doors of the church swung open. What happened next seemed like déjà vu.

Firstly, the familiar black hair and SOLDIER First Class uniform shocked the blonde, to say to say the least. He recovered quickly; still certain there was something suspicious going on because there was no way those two could be alive. That didn't stop his chest aching at the sight of these two, even if they were apparitions of merely his imagination because this situation was entirely impossible.

Secondly, he was vaguely reminiscent of this scene. He remembered walking into the church, with his heart skipping a beat at seeing an unconscious Tifa lying in the grass. Granted, Loz had not been there, yet Cloud did not doubt the narrowing of Zack's eyes and the reaching for his sword meant he considered Cloud the one to fell Aeris.

And perhaps I did, he mused, thinking back on the mental backlash he'd felt as he had woken up. He recalled an indistinct thump, presumably Aeris falling to the ground.

Nonetheless, maybe this whole situation was real. That maybe he wasn't dreaming after all.

The split second that Zack began to kick up dirt and start to dash at Cloud with a furious battle cry, the world started to trickle.

Cloud felt the air around him cease to move, the lungs in the two people with him stop moving, and the hearts in them halted in their beating. Perhaps unconsciously, he had cast an almost godly Haste on himself, something that would have disturbed him in the past, but was now unperturbed by.

But, nevertheless, it gave him time to think.


All Zack wanted was a nice, uninterrupted day to spend with his girlfriend – especially after such a boring and long mission.

He'd planned it all out very meticulously as well – first, spend a romantic dinner together in a fancy restaurant above plate; second, get some ice cream; three, spend a few hours searching for lost puppies (because Planet knows how much Aeris loved to take them home, even if they did run away the day after); four, try some of Costa Del Sol's cocktails from a shop that had opened up nearby; and five, maybe bother his favourite colleagues with a few loud jaunty tunes which were bound to be unbearable after a few drinks.

The fact that this plan got trashed by some blonde had Zack fired up in a hurry – especially with the sight of his girlfriend lying unconscious at his feet.

Justified in his outrage, he charged immediately, noting in the back of his mind what the other guy wore, but dismissed that immediately as he brought in his sword of a high blow. Alarm grew as the blonde's own sword rapidly came up to parry effortlessly – yet the real alarm came from the realisation that his opponent's breathing was fast.

Too fast.

When Zack considered it, he was, at first, baffled. Surely the guy wasn't tired already? No, those weren't fast pants of fatigue – Zack recognised the signs of Haste when he saw it. It was decidedly unbelievable, considering how damn fast the guy was at clashing with him; wasn't a normally cast Haste usually half that speed? Not even a mastered Time Materia produced such an advanced Haste!

Zack gritted his teeth as his attack was blocked again, and aimed a sharp kick at the blonde's shins. His adversary twisted out of the way, manoeuvring his sword out of the lock. It was daunting to see that he didn't seem to be out of breath at all, and Zack was frustrated that he himself was tiring so quickly and only seemed to just be able to keep up!

Yet something kept on bothering the dark-haired SOLDIER at the back of his mind. The hair, the eyes, even the slender build...

But, no, it couldn't be. It was ridiculous, even impossible, and Zack wasn't about to lose just because this guy looked like him.

Their swords clashed, and as sparks flashed in between them, Zack jumped back, allowing space between them once again.

Running a mental scan over himself, Zack was relieved that he hadn't received any injuries. He was not planning to die anytime soon, though perhaps the upward quirk of his opponent's lips meant that he wanted otherwise.

"Going to kill me, are you?" The words slid out of the other guy's mouth smoothly, a dark edge to his tone as he shifted his stance slightly. "Better do it before I harm your girlfriend here."

Zack's eyes widened as the blonde's sword started to swing towards Aeris' prone form before he could even begin to process the movement. He cursed inwardly, realising he should have gotten her out of harm's way first.

He dove forward, desperate for her not to get hurt. He didn't want to lose anyone else, especially her! He quickly went through the moves he could do to disarm the falling blade. He couldn't risk blocking with his sword – no, considering how much power was normally behind his attacks, then Zack couldn't even begin to knock away the sword at all with his own, and he would be damned if his own sword ever pierced Aeris. Neither could he try and kick the offending blade away – it would take up too much time to get enough strength into his kick to become effective and the sword was already so damn close-!

He opted for a possibly dangerous choice – but only to himself. He put in an extra burst of speed, bodily tackling the guy, and sliding a hand under the blade to throw it off course. He felt it slicing his flesh deeply, but he didn't care as long as it wasn't threatening Aeris' life.

He felt a tremor of surprise go through the other man, but pushed on, eager to put distance between him and the brunette.

"I won't let you hurt her!" He hissed through his teeth.

Suddenly, they were falling, and Zack caught the blonde's feet stumbling over a piece of wood protruding from the soil. He fell heavily on top of him, and immediately grabbed the scruff of the guy's collar as he straddled him.

He raised his fist, very badly wanting to punch the blonde but held back. "What do you want?! Why did you hurt her?!" He asked sharply, and his lip curled angrily upon seeing the smirking face gazing undaunted up at him.

This time, he did act on his desire; his fist flew down, creating a satisfying thump as it connected with the blonde's cheek.

"Who are you?" He demanded. Zack hadn't been threatened on a personal level in a long time, and the fact that this guy looked so much like him made the black-haired swordsman made his insecurities and feelings even worse. Distantly, he was mentally frowning on the fact that the blonde didn't even look bruised by his punch – and didn't even give any indication that Zack had punched him at all.

The next second made Zack feel taken aback; a glaze overtook those vivid blue eyes, and an unsettling smile dancing across the lips made him all the more uncomfortable.

"Haha! Oh, Zack. Don't you remember me at all?" The tone was a disgusting croon, and the black-haired man's eyes widened in pure shock.

"You aren't him," he croaked, his hand lowering slowly, "you can't be! You died, for Planet's sake! You fucking... you died and I couldn't..." Zack choked, tears brimming his eyelids. A weary ache pulsed in his chest, a wound throbbing afresh as a reminder of what had occurred five years ago.

But, behind those sickly insane eyes and twisted smile, Zack could recognise the fellow country boy he had considered his best friend.

"I couldn't save you... Cloud..."


A/N: Leave a review if you please.