Chapter 3: For the Reunion

That night, in the Highwind's spacious cockpit, seven friends were gathered for a rescue mission. Cloud looked around, trying to decide how to start—taking charge like this still didn't come naturally, despite how often he'd done it.

Barret was standing in his usual spot, where he could see the sky. After they'd eaten all of the pancakes the girls had made, he had driven the kids to Elmyra's house in Kalm while they waited for Cid to arrive with the airship. Barret always looked imposing, but he cut a sterner figure than usual, looking at Cloud expectantly.

Cid was at the controls, his copy of LOVELESS sitting on one side of the console. He'd decided to go see it with Shera after the mess with Meteor had ended, and…was asleep for most of it again. The grizzled pilot really wasn't one to pay attention to theater. But she had bought him a copy of the script sometime afterwards, and though he never read it, he kept it in the cockpit out of respect for his assistant-turned-partner.

Yuffie was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the cockpit, with her head between her knees. Her motion sickness was just as bad as Cloud's had been as a teenager, and she normally wouldn't even be in the cockpit, but she had been very vocal about wanting to hear the plan. Despite her materia-stealing antics during Meteor, the ninja had grown to be an incredibly dedicated and reliable ally.

Reeve hadn't joined them, his position with the WRO being too consistently demanding for him to leave their headquarters. But Cait Sith was there in his stead, megaphone and all. Cloud remembered fondly how confused he, Tifa, and Barret had been their first time in ShinRa HQ, finding one of those megaphones in a locker room. For the whimsical design, the cat made an effective robot.

Nanaki was standing near Vincent's usual spot, looking as serious as Cloud had ever seen him. He had never fully come clean about his grandfather's death years ago, but he'd grown up soon afterwards and taken on his role as protector of Cosmo Canyon with grace and dignity. Nanaki had grown closer to their missing friend than any of them had really expected, and seemed subdued without the ex-Turk present.

Tifa was standing on Cloud's left side, in the same spot as when they were fighting Meteor. After the conversation with Tseng, she'd been the one to call everyone else and fill them in on the situation, while Cloud tried to strategize. Thankfully, the problem wasn't a giant apocalyptic space rock this time around.

"Yo Spiky, are we gonna get this show on the road or what?" Barret asked, startling Cloud from his thoughts.

"Sorry," he answered, "…I was just reminiscing."

"Urk—Cloud, I think we all were," Yuffie said, looking up momentarily, "but can you—hurk—give us the plan before I get sick?"

"Yeah, I don't want any fuckin' vomit on this nice flooring," Cid added. "Tell us what's up so we can get on with it."

"Well," he started, feeling very self-conscious of the way he was standing, "I think going to investigate the lab again should be our first move. That's the only location we know the winter SOLDIER goes consistently, and even if he's not holding Vincent and Rufus there, we might find some clues."

"I agree that it's a good place to begin, Cloud," Nanaki said in his usual philosophical way, "but what will we do afterwards, assuming we can locate them? This man has you as a target, too."

"We'll camp out somewhere and wait for him to find us," the blond answered with a shrug. "I don't know what else we could do. Hopefully, when he shows up, we can…it would be nice if we could resolve this without fighting him, but it seems like that won't be an option."

"Why wait?" Cait Sith asked. "We lose the element of surprise that way."

"We have no idea how to track him," Tifa answered, "but he seems pretty capable of finding us. So we'll just have to be ready when he gets there."

"That simple, huh?" Barret said with a chuckle. "Well, I'm not complainin'. I never liked overly-complicated plans."

Everyone else nodded in assent. It's not like I've ever been able to come up with a more solid plan, Cloud thought. Check out someplace obvious. Find clues. Fight. Repeat. That's how it's always been.

"I can land the airship on the Wutai mainland," Cid told them after a moment, "but we'll have to take the chocobos to the cave. We'll be there in a few hours. Y'all should get some shuteye."

Without much further conversation, the six other AVALANCHE members went to find places to sleep or otherwise rest up.

Cloud's nap started out restless. His motion sickness only went away while he actively thought about other things, and sleep wasn't very conducive to good focus. His stomach tied itself into knots and waves of nausea swept over Cloud's whole body as he fell into an uneasy sleep.

He saw Aerith in his mind's eye, casting Planet Protector on the party as they battled Touch Me frogs outside Gongaga. He saw her face upon seeing the ruined town, full of compassion for its suffering people. He saw her own expression turn to one of suffering when an elderly couple inquired about their son. He saw Tifa's expression become something similar, saw her denial at knowing anything about the missing SOLDIER. He saw himself, oblivious to his own role in it—wearing the dead man's clothes, carrying his sword.

Cloud saw Aerith in the sleeping forest, telling him to take care of himself, and that she would come back when it was all over. He saw her praying for Holy in the forgotten city, saw Sephiroth drop from the skies and drive his sword through her back. He saw the life leave her kind green eyes and felt some of the light leave his own heart.

He saw himself losing his humanity, apologizing to Tifa for never living up to being 'Cloud.' He saw himself hand the apocalypse to Sephiroth without hesitation, saw himself curl up on the ceiling in a haze of panic, saw himself fall into the planet's lifeblood as the cave collapsed around them.

Then he saw…white feathers. They fell from the top of a shapeless space, caressing his face and falling at his feet. He looked at them with reverence and wonderment, knowing they were important somehow. The feathers disappeared, and the shapeless space gave way to a reactor he had seen far too many times.

He saw a fallen hero do battle with his best friend, saw him cast Zack aside like a broken rag doll. He saw a blond trooper, empowered with love and rage, pick up a sword that was too big for him and cut into the general's side. He saw the shocked look on Sephiroth's face, annoyed that someone as insignificant as Cloud could do damage to him. He saw the trooper walk out, looking at his injured friends helplessly. He could hurt, but he could not heal.

He watched as Sephiroth thrust the Masamune through his chest, lifting the blond off the ground in a demonstration of power. He watched himself defy the expectations of everyone and everything, and use the leverage he still had to drive the sword further into his chest and throw the silver-haired madman into the Lifestream itself. He watched three teenagers bleed out on the reactor floor.

The reactor disappeared, and Cloud saw himself struggle to find clarity in a sea of mako. He saw himself sitting on a wooden chair under an apple tree. He saw himself slung helplessly over Zack's shoulder, as his friend walked away from a man in a worn-looking red coat. He saw a yellow truck, and read promises on Zack's lips.

He watched himself raise an arm in protest, as Zack left to pay the price for their freedom.

Cloud watched as the former SOLDIER fought off what looked like an entire army, all so he would have a chance to keep living. He watched as six bullets went straight through his friend's back, watched as he fell to the ground in a pool of blood. Watched as the remaining soldiers left them both on the cliff to die.

He watched the rain fall, watched himself crawl over to where Zack lay. He saw the dying man lift one arm up to grip the back of Cloud's head, and pull him down to where his heart lay open and bleeding. He watched as Zack simultaneously comforted him and placed what felt like the weight of the whole world on Cloud's shoulders. He watched himself scream in anguish, promise to remember, and leave his friend behind forever.

The white feathers returned, a new addition to an old memory. Cloud watched himself drag his friend's legacy across the wasteland as the white feathers reached down to lift Zack off of the ground. But when the feathers retreated, his body still lay there. A sudden wave of dread and nausea washed over Cloud, sending both the feathers and the visions away in an instant.

He opened his eyes and sat straight up, banging his head on the underside of the conference table.

Breathe in, breathe out. Just nightmares.

After rubbing the spot where he hurt his head, Cloud crawled out and looked at the clock. He'd been asleep for all of two hours. So much for resting up, he thought as he walked back towards the cockpit.

He found Cid lazily working the controls, looking out at the starry sky. "What're you doing up so soon, kid?" Cid asked, with his usual touch of irritation.

"Nightmares," Cloud said succinctly. "I can take over, if you want to get some sleep."

Cid just grunted. "I wouldn't be able to fall asleep," he admitted. "Too much shit on my mind." The pilot lit a cigar and took a long drag from it before speaking again. "Can I ask you a question, kid?"

Cloud nodded and leaned onto the railing.

"You built that motorbike of yours, right?" Cid asked in a decidedly non-questioning manner. "If you've got such a knack for machines, how come you're not doing that for a living instead of deliverin' people's clean laundry?"

"It's…hard to explain," he admitted, looking out at the ocean below them. "I usually have this…tension inside. It's like I can't loosen up unless I'm on the run, or fighting something, or solving problems." Cloud turned to Cid, who nodded in sympathy. "Making deliveries…is not very satisfying. But riding Fenrir through the open air and the exhilaration of fighting monsters helps to clear my head. I think it has to do with living through too much war, or something like that."

"I think that makes sense, kid," the pilot responded thoughtfully after a moment. "I don't really feel like myself unless I'm either flyin' something or working on it. But I still think you'd make a real solid mechanic, if that's ever something you want to do."

"…Thanks, Cid," Cloud responded, a bit flustered at the unexpected compliment. "I'll, uh, think about it."

They stood in companionable silence for the next few hours, until the coast of Wutai became visible on the horizon, and the rest of their friends began trickling back in.

The trek over the mountains did not take very long, as the mountain chocobos were well-trained in traveling quickly, even under cover of nightfall. The sun was just starting to rise as the group approached the cave.

Cait Sith had gone in first, in case the winter SOLDIER was waiting in ambush. Once the robotic cat came back out and gave them a cheerful thumbs-up, Yuffie went in, with Cloud close behind her.

"Thank Gaia, you two are all right," the she said once they were inside.

Vincent and Rufus had both been tied down on one side of the cave, away from the computers. Cloud and Yuffie got to work undoing their restraints, while Rufus provided his usual commentary and the rest of AVALANCHE filed in behind them.

"Whoever that man is, he is at least as strong as you, Cloud," Rufus said appraisingly. "I was very impressed by his fighting abilities, especially for someone who should probably be dead."

"What do you mean, 'should probably be dead?'" Yuffie asked indignantly. The former executive's habit of withholding information had caused the group major problems on multiple occasions. "Did you recognize him? Do you know who he is?"

Vincent broke his silence, standing up and stretching his arms. "Our attacker not once removed his mask or goggles. He did put down his hood once, though. Dark hair. Long in the back, untamed."

"That matches my impression of him from a few weeks ago," Yuffie confirmed. "Wild black hair, mako eyes, and the posture of a SOLDIER."

She's known what he looks like the whole time? "Wait," Cloud said, "why didn't you give us that detail when we talked about this a few weeks ago?"

Yuffie gave him a sheepish look as their other friends helped Rufus outside. "Well, you'd looked a bit shaken from whatever it was you'd remembered," she admitted. "I thought giving you the detailed version might make it worse."

"I'm a little stronger than that now, Yuffie," he replied. "…but thanks." Gaia, she's really grown up.

Yuffie sighed, looking down at her shoes. "There's something else, too. He seemed…familiar somehow. As if I'd met him before, a long time ago. It's really bothering me that I can't place the connection."

The blond put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "You were a kid when ShinRa was invading Wutai. SOLDIERs were in high demand back then…believe me, I wouldn't have tried so hard to get in if they weren't. He could have been someone you've seen before…but after we find him, we'll know for sure, okay?"

I want to know who he is too, Yuffie. And why he's doing…whatever he's doing.

Cait Sith motioned for him to come closer to the computers. "I'm going to download these files, to see if we can analyze them later," the cat said. "Hopefully we can set up an emulator of this console, and figure out how to decrypt all of this data. I'll be ready to leave in a few minutes."

Cloud nodded and moved outside with the rest of the group. "So, Vincent," he said, "why'd you let yourself get captured?"

Vincent's stoic expression did not change. "I thought that if I went along, perhaps I would get some valuable information." Classic Vincent.

"And?" Barret asked, waving his prosthetic arm back towards the cave's entrance. "You see anything good?"

"The man in black snuck up on me while I was travelling some days ago, and struck me in a way that would have concussed anyone else. I chose to feign unconsciousness, to see what would happen. When we arrived here, he tied me down the way you found me, and approached the computer. I couldn't see what was on the screen, but I heard a recorded version of…Hojo's voice. 'You do not know her,' he said. 'You do not know anyone. You are merely a tool, a means to an end.'"

If Hojo was involved…we're gonna have a bad time trying to reason with this guy, if any of his original self is still there. Hopefully I won't have to kill him…

"You're telling me that sick Jenova-loving bastard is somehow responsible for this?!" Cid interrupted.

"This must have been an old project of his," Cloud speculated. "Something he set up so that it would keep going even after he died. He held his…experiments in higher regard than everything else in life."

"That does sound like Hojo," Rufus agreed. "Always trying to cause chaos, with or without reason."

"That's not the most interesting part," Vincent continued, pointedly ignoring Rufus's choice of words. "The man grabbed his head as if something was attacking him from the inside, and started to shake until the computer told him rather angrily to go to sleep. Then he opened the strange mako tank, climbed inside, and locked the door. This process repeated itself after he returned with Rufus. He's been gone since then."

"Did he ever actually say anything?" Tifa asked. "Or was he silently following orders?"

"The computer seemed to have more control over him than he did over himself," Vincent answered. "In any case, I would say the program was communicating directly with something in the man's brain."

Hojo's projects…only one way to find out. "I'm gonna check it out," Cloud decided, against all better judgment. "If that's really the case, it'll probably affect me, too. Maybe I can help figure out what exactly is going on here."

His idea was met immediately with a chorus of no's, Tifa's the firmest. "Cloud…are you sure you want to do that? What if it's Jenova?"

"…It's just a computer," he said nonchalantly, although his nervous hands and rising heartbeat betrayed him. "I'll be fine, and as long as you guys are guarding the entrance and the tank I shouldn't be able to do anything stupid."

After an uneasy silence, the group seemed to realize they wouldn't be able to sway him on this. Cloud reentered the cave and approached the computer console, not sure what to expect.

He knew something was seriously wrong as soon as he turned it on.

His head felt like it was in a blender, and he reflexively brought his hands to his ears as if to block out the sound. What the hell…? This definitely wasn't Jenova's influence, or anything else he'd experienced before—it felt much deeper, and very wrong in a way he couldn't place. Cloud couldn't move, couldn't think. Images started flashing in his mind—images of himself, during the most shameful and lost part of his life.

Struggling for control, Cloud commanded the voices to change, to do something else. That wasn't who he was anymore. The images morphed together, creating an identity without a name, without a face, without any clear purpose but to obey…obey who, exactly? He didn't want to be a puppet, never again. …Who was he? Why was he here?

After what seemed like an eternity, he started to win out over the shell of his former self. I'm not a puppet, he shouted into the void. I choose my own path! My purpose…is to live my life out in peace. And it's my life, it doesn't belong to anyone but me. I'm a warrior, a friend, a human being…my name is Cloud Strife, damn it!

At the recollection of his own name, the pain and the confusion all went away in an instant. Cloud opened his eyes and saw, to his great relief, the morning sunlight streaming in from the roof of the cave—he had returned to reality, seemingly with no lasting damage. He lifted his hand in a shaky thumbs-up, indicating he was alright.

Tifa immediately walked over, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up into a tight hug. "…I'm glad you're okay," she said, rubbing circles into his back in the way she knew would ground him. "But I think you screwed up the computer."

Sure enough, it only took once glance to see that the console was displaying a long string of error messages. "…How did that happen?" he asked. "Did I attack it somehow?"

"If you did, it was with your mind," Nanaki answered from the other side of the cave.

"From where I was standin'," Barret added with some hesitation, "it looked an awful lot like the fits you used to have back when you were workin' for me. You grabbed your head and fell down. Then the computer busted and you woke up."

"Did it feel like Jenova at all?" Tifa asked softly.

Cloud shook his head, broke free of her embrace, and went back to the console. The screen was displaying a few messages repeatedly, and the blond took a few moments to catch all of them. "Source code overwritten. Starting backup operating system," he said, more to himself than to the group. What is going on here? What's the source code, if I could change it with my mind?

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Cid asked around his cigar. "You can't reprogram something without actually interactin' with the computer…"

"…We should go." Cloud said after a moment, feeling more violated than he had in a long while. He really didn't want to think about the implications of Hojo's final experiment until they were safely out of here. "I have a theory, and I'll explain it on the way back to Edge, but we should leave before the winter SOLDIER comes back and finds we trashed the place."

A consensus was made to talk about it later, and AVALANCHE returned to the mainland with Rufus in tow.

It was mid-afternoon by the time the Highwind landed on the wastelands outside Midgar. They had no trouble choosing the location—the barren fields had no natural life that could be destroyed in a battle, and the winter SOLDIER would probably come looking near here anyway. There also weren't any skyscrapers out here to bound off of, meaning if it came to a fight, it would largely be ground-based.

Cloud's theory was incomplete and troubling, to say the least, so he was reluctant to share it while Rufus was still with them. He'd held off on the explanation until after Reno's favorite helicopter had flown away in a storm of sunset-colored dust. If the winter SOLDIER showed up anytime soon, the battle would be under cover of darkness.

After having several hours to reflect on the morning's events, Cloud had arrived at something like a conclusion. The invasion to his mind was all-encompassing in a way that he had never experienced before. Jenova's and Sephiroth's influence usually aimed straight for the fear and motor areas of his mind, causing him to act in ways he didn't want, but leaving him unable to resist due to being, well, absolutely terrified.

In contrast, the episode in the cave was a direct attack on Cloud's perceptions of himself, and felt like a much more acute version of a mako-poisoning coma. Except…it wasn't the same. Both of his battles with mako poisoning had involved his identity being overshadowed by someone else's. Zack's the first time, Sephiroth's (perhaps, he still wasn't sure) the second. And while he had felt distinctly off both times, it wasn't as fundamentally wrong as what he'd felt from the computer.

No, it had been worse. His own past identity—the one who nearly killed Aerith and who handed Sephiroth the keys to destruction—had tried to take over. And in refusing to submit to…himself, Cloud had managed to override the operating system.

He explained this theory as best as he could, and thankfully, he hadn't needed to say anything more for his friends to understand what he was trying to get at.

"You think Hojo had programmed the computer to communicate with your cells?" Cait Sith summarized. "But why would he do that, if he was intending on acting through the winter SOLDIER?"

"I think it's pretty damn likely that he injected some of my cells into the guy," Cloud answered with a grim expression. "After all, I proved to be a much better puppet than any of the others, didn't I? And Hojo was always going on about how I was 'such an interesting experiment,' or something like that. I think…whoever this winter SOLDIER was before, his mind was more resistant and more resilient than Hojo liked."

"How would that even work, though?" Tifa asked, giving Cloud a searching look. "Injecting some other person with your genetic material makes sense—he was trying to turn people into Sephiroth clones the same way. But…that doesn't explain what the computer was trying to do."

Vincent was the first person to come up with an answer. "I imagine that, since this man must have had a very strong perception of himself before falling into Hojo's hands, there would have needed to be constant reinforcement of his non-identity. Based on what I saw…it must have been forcing the puppet mindset onto him whenever he felt like he might remember something of his past life."

"You're probably right," Cloud agreed. "All things considered…I don't want to have to kill anyone else, but if his actions at Healin are any indication, we might not have a choice."

"And we don' have any time to discuss it, either," Barret said gravely, pointing his gun arm towards the setting sun. "Here he comes."

The winter SOLDIER, clad in the same mask and hood the Turks had described him wearing, seemed to understand that he would not have the element of surprise here. He practically sauntered onto the battlefield, standing directly across from Cloud, as if daring him to make the first move.

Cloud couldn't help but smirk, ready for a good fight. "All right, everyone," he said. "Let's mosey."

Cid howled with laughter at that, despite the seriousness of their situation, and the blond definitely heard his other friends snicker. They all took up their fighting stances, ready to face the threat at hand.

The man in black made a dramatic picture, setting sun to his back, as he took out his blades and moved towards Cloud.

Deciding not to pull his punches, the blond split First Tsurugi into two blades as he lunged at the other man. Surprisingly, the hooded warrior had no trouble whatsoever dodging to the side, and Cloud's sword met air.

The battle started in high gear. The eight friends had not battled anyone so strong or fast together since Sephiroth in the Northern Crater three years ago. Cloud unleashed strike after strike, never once touching the man. Tifa's punches and kicks met thin air. Yuffie's shuriken nearly cut into Vincent at one point, whose gunshots bounced off the ex-SOLDIER's armor like pebbles. Cid's aerial attacks ate dust, and Nanaki was faring no better. Cait's megaphone was virtually useless in the fray. Their attacker was everywhere and nowhere all at once, slipping through their fingers like ink.

Potions were tossed around the battlefield. The sunset was exceptionally beautiful tonight, but no one was watching. The battle was like a violent dance, exceptionally similar to their past battles in that their attacker was more interested in wearing them down than in ending it quickly.

Night fell, and at some point it had started to rain.

Most of AVALANCHE was losing momentum, only staying on their feet thanks to the adrenaline in their systems. In contrast, the winter SOLDIER never seemed to tire, and eventually started to gain the upper hand.

Cait Sith was the first one down. The hooded swordsman had somehow managed to block Cloud's overhead strike with one blade, while slicing clean through Cait's body with the other. It's still seven-to-one.

It became clear after a few more minutes that the winter SOLDIER was aiming to knock down all of Cloud's allies first before going for his target, the same way he did at Healin a week ago. Cloud possessed superhuman speed, but their attacker was faster still,, and hell-bent on avoiding him directly. Yuffie was knocked unconscious mid-throw by what seemed to be his favorite concussion-inducing strike. Nanaki rather unfortunately found himself head-butting the flat of that same blade a few moments later. Five of us left standing.

In an acrobatic move that left Cloud more impressed than anything else, the hooded warrior rolled away from Cid just as the pilot was bearing down from above, got to his feet in a fraction of a second, and delivered a powerful backfist to the head. Cloud was becoming more worried by the second, but he couldn't give up. He wouldn't let himself be captured, not when he had absolutely no idea what was at stake.

The fighters who were still standing moved into support roles. Vincent, with his gunning skills not very effective in this fight (and probably not willing to summon Chaos for fear of killing their attacker), moved their unconscious friends back towards the airship. Barret launched explosive after explosive in the winter SOLDIER's direction, but he could only do so much with Cloud also in the line of fire. Tifa alternated between tossing potions to Cloud and aiming kicks at the man in black.

The storm continued to grow, the ground becoming treacherously slippery. Tifa and Cloud had the man surrounded on two sides, but he leapt high into the air, landing several feet away and right on top of Barret. Two-on-one.

Tifa had run out of potions, but she and Cloud redoubled their attacks, using every combo they had ever come up with during their usual sparring matches. Punches, kicks, and sword swings filled the air with the sounds of battle. They had both taken damage—Cloud to his left arm and Tifa to her right ankle, but they had been able to keep fighting in much worse shape than this.

The fight seemed to rage on for hours, and Cloud could tell that their winter SOLDIER was starting to tire. His attacks became just a little slower, his jumps just a little lower. Tifa surprised their attacker by ducking under the swing of his sword and grabbing his legs, going for a suplex. Unfortunately, the man in black got an elbow to her temple midair, and he landed gracefully while she fell with a sickening thud.

It was ex-SOLDIER against ex-SOLDIER now.

Cloud didn't usually think during battles. They were usually too fast for it, especially against enemies as challenging as this one. A particularly strong gust of wind caused them both to hunch over for a moment, however, and it gave Cloud a second to strategize. He'd been fighting with two blades this whole time. Time to change it up.

When the strongest gusts had subsided, Cloud fused the two halves of First Tsurugi, taking up the stance he had used while wielding the Buster Sword.

To his complete surprise, the other man did the same, his two blades fusing together into one broadsword that rivaled Cloud's in size and weight.

They stood there for a split second, sizing each other up. The winter SOLDIER's hood had finally fallen down while the wind was strongest, revealing black hair that, like his, somehow managed to stick out in all directions even with them both being soaked to the bone. Cloud schooled his expression into one of grim determination, refusing to give the other man any indication that he was ready to throw in the towel, and charged.

The blond put all of his considerable strength into the battle, refusing to give in. He met the other swordsman strike for strike, the clash of swords creating a dissonant rhythm with the rain and thunder. It was nearly too dark to see now, but Cloud's mako eyes adjusted well to the dark, and he knew the same would be true of the other man.

Cloud put the full force of his determination behind every attack, and he slowly but surely gained the upper hand. The battle moved surprisingly far from the Highwind, approaching a rocky cliff that Cloud knew well. The winter SOLDIER seemed to be bleeding from several cuts on his arms and torso, and the blond put him on the defensive, driving him towards the cliff with overpowered overhead strikes and wide sweeps of his sword.

Just as the black-haired swordsman reached the edge of the cliff, another strong gust of wind rendered them both immobile. Cloud couldn't make anything out clearly through the rain and the darkness, but he saw the outline of the man's mask and goggles blow away, over the cliff's edge. The wind subsided, and several bolts of lightning hit the ground at once, illuminating the other man's face.

Time froze, and Cloud's heart suddenly weighed more than all of the souls in the Lifestream. He would never be able to finish this battle, even if the whole world depended on it.

There was an x-shaped scar on his jaw, one Cloud knew he had gotten from being forced to fight an old mentor on the day they met. He had lips that were usually smiling in amusement or pouting in contemplation, but were now twisted into a grimace. Despite everything, he still had that one strand of hair that defiantly bent over to hang in front of his face. And his eyes…they would haunt him forever. They had been so full of kindness and courage, and he had watched the light leave them on the worst day of his life.

First Tsurugi fell to the ground. "...Zack?"

He gave the blond a look of complete incomprehension. "I'm not—I'm—who's Zack?"

Cloud was frozen in shock and anguish, unable to do anything but watch helplessly as the other man started to shake, before going unnaturally still.