"Hey there. How are you feeling?" Tifa asked as I sat up in bed, my eyes were blurry for a few minutes but quickly cleared up.
"I…I'm okay." I replied running my fingers through my hair, Tifa smiled as she sat down at the edge of the bed. Taking a deep breath I fell straight back onto my pillow, but as I fell back I remembered falling into the pool. Then Zack, Aerith…Sephiroth. Who was he?
"Hey, Tifa? I have a question for you…" I said sitting up again this time crossing my legs Indian style, my fingers twisted around my other hands. Tifa looked at me with concern.
"What is it, Alyssa?" She asked while I took a breath, looked her in the eye and asked. Her face paled at the question but she quickly shook it away.
"Why? Did you hear something about him?" She asked as I nodded and gave her a light shrug.
"Its…something like that. Well you see when I-" I began to explain but she held up her hand at me.
"Hold on a sec. Cloud's going to want to hear this." She said getting up and walking out of the room towards the telephone in the hall. Cloud was out on a delivery like usual so it would be at most half an hour till he got here, with that in mind I went ahead and changed into some clean clothes and brushed out my hair. As I looked into the mirror I saw the color of my eyes. Grey. Which meant I was worried and scared. Which of course was true. From the way Tifa reacted…she didn't want anything to do with Sephiroth, meaning that he was bad news. And for her to jump to get Cloud well…that meant things were much more serious than I could have imagined. Soon enough though I heard the sound of Cloud's bike pulling in along with the sound of Marlene and Denzel running out to meet him. I leaned out the bathroom window, only to glimpse at his form entering the building. Running the brush through my hair one last time I ran out of the bathroom and into the hall, coincidentally running into Cloud as he came up the stairwell.
"S-Sorry about that." I said as my hand subconsciously made its way to the back of my head as I scratched nervously. Cloud and I stood there for a minute neither of us sure what to say, he turned his head almost like he was going to say something but stopped short, it was then that I could see the confusion in his Mako blue eyes.
"Denzel, Marlene. Could you go to the store for me and get a few things." I heard Tifa say from the first floor, at first I could hear the kids sound of protest but then instantly changed when they were allowed to get a few pieces of candy.
"Don't leave until we come back, Cloud!" Marlene called up as a soft smile appeared on Cloud's face.
"I won't leave, Marlene." He said as I heard her happily skip out of the bar with Denzel in tow. It was then I realize why Tifa had sent them out…she didn't want them over hearing what we were going to say. With that in mind I walked over to Marlene and Denzel's room, it was more spacious than mine or Cloud's plus there was more sitting room. I sat in the middle of Marlene's bed, pulling my knees under my chin. It felt like I was going to be interrogated. I don't know why though. Cloud followed me in but didn't sit down and it wasn't until Tifa walked in that he finally spoke up.
"What did you hear about Sephiroth, Alyssa?" He asked his gaze watching my every move and reaction. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes trying to remember everything.
"Well…when I fell into the pool. I heard people. One of them I knew. Everything turned white around me and I was sitting in field of flowers." I said as I then looked at the two of them, Tifa nodded motioning me to continue but Cloud's expression never changed in the slightest. " Then two people came up to me. One was my old friend Zack Fair and the other-"
"What? You know Zack?" Cloud asked pushing away from the wall and coming towards me, I felt my face warm at the thought of the SOLDIER.
"Yeah…it was a long time ago… when I was fifteen…"
It was only a few months after my parents died. Around sunset, I remember going out into the front yard to grab some vegetables from the garden when I saw Zack coming down the road…or rather he was stumbling.
"Hey there!" Zack said waving at me, I nodded at him and was about to head back inside when I hear a soft thump. When I looked back, I didn't see him. So when I walked out the gate I saw him collapsed on the ground, unconscious. I took him inside and that's when I saw the full damage. He looked like something chewed him up and spat him back out. I tried to take care of most of the wounds without waking him up, I had him laying on my bed while I went to fix something to eat. After a while though he was up.
"Are you okay?" I asked him as he smiled at me and nodded.
"Yeah I'm great. So where's my sword?" He asked leaning against the kitchen door frame.
"In my room, why?" I asked nervously while I put down the spoon I was using to stir the boiling stew with. He watched me for a minute as I slowly reached for the kitchen knife that was only inches away.
"Heh, I'm not going to hurt you. I was just wondering where it was…its kinda important to me and I need to leave." He tilting his head to the side while one hand rested on his hip.
"I think you need to stay the night…you're in pretty bad shape." I said as he rolled his eyes with a light chuckle on his lips.
" I'm fine, trust me." He said as I winced at the words
'trust me' as I brushed back a piece of hair that was near the edge of my lips.
"What's the matter?" He asked while I shook my head, he didn't need to hear my troubles. No one needed nor wanted to hear what I went through…I know I didn't.
"Nothing. Just go." I said coldly then turned back to the stove, the sound of footsteps behind me made me stiffen as I saw him stand beside me.
"Hmm doesn't look like it." He said while I shrugged and tried to ignore him, but only it got harder as he leaned against the counter and stared at me. With a sigh I turned to look at him, bright sky blue eyes stared back at me.
"…gorgeous." I muttered to myself while he stared at me puzzled, I felt my face flush.
"My eyes?" He asked now it was my turn to roll my eyes at him.
"No, your face." I replied back sarcastically as he frowned then began to laugh.
"Nice." He said while I, for the first time since the death of my parents, smiled. He stayed for supper but then left after that. I never saw him again.
I stared at Cloud and Tifa waiting for their response, Tifa nodded her head a small smile tugging at her lips…but Cloud…he looked…extremely sad. There was one small thing I didn't mention in the story of how I met Zack….
We both laughed as we walked to the door, Zack's eyes were glittering with laughter. And me…well I felt…lighter. The entire evening and during supper Zack kept me laughing and telling me corny jokes that often times didn't make sense.
"I guess I'll have to be going now. Its getting really late." He said with a sigh as he ran his hand through his dark spiked hair, I couldn't stop the grimace that appeared on my face at the though of him leaving. He made me feel alive again and now he was leaving.
"I guess so.." I said as we stood by the door neither of us wanting to leave so soon, not wanting the evening to end. Zack finally began to push open the door and step out of the house when he stopped and turned to me. There was a full moon outside, bright, clear and almost …haunting. A cold breeze blew through the door and into the house, making my loose hair whip my face.
"Promise that you won't forget me, Zack." I said softly as he stared at me, closed his eyes as his head bent down. Then he took a few steps towards me, his broad arms wrapping around me, pulling me closer to him. I looked up into the bright blue eyes and he looked into mine then…our lips met. We stood there for a few moments as the wind whipped around us, Zack smiled at me as he pulled away then began to head out of the house, down the path and out of my life softly saying….
"I won't forget, Alyssa. I promise."
I had blanked out only for a moment and it seemed like nothing had changed, Cloud still had that cold sadness written across his face and Tifa looked unsure of what to say.
"Have you seen Zack around? Do you know where he is?" I asked as Tifa turned her head grimacing, her hand grabbed her shoulder. Cloud stared at the ground in silence then looked at me. Already I could tell it was bad news…I was right…
"Zack died nine years ago, Alyssa." Cloud said bluntly with absolute no feeling or emotion. I suddenly couldn't breathe or even think clearly.
"N-No! T-That…can't be true…It can't!" I gasped jumping to my feet as I tried to catch my breath, tears were already stinging my eyes. Then my hands flew to my face as sobbs racked my body. Zack was dead. How could he be…I just saw…no…no…no! I knew that crying wasn't going to help anything and that Zack wouldn't want me to be upset but…I couldn't stop crying. It was like there was a crack inside of me…and it just changed into a canyon. I hadn't even noticed that I had ran into Cloud's arms till I realized I clutching someone. His hand rested on my back as I cried into his shoulder and chest while pain hit me from all sides. He was gone. Zack Fair wasn't on Gaia….My first love…gone…
I am soo sorry about the long wait for updates! I will most definitely try to update stories as fast as I possibly can! Thanks for the wonderful reviews! Please keep it up! ~God Bless!~