Ack! I'm sorry this was delayed, and here is my excuse: Had this chapter halfway done and it was the day before I was going up to Dublin (which is halfway up the friggin' country...) and I had this and an Advent Children fic on a floppy. The Floppy drive on my Uncle's modem didn't work – so I had to call home and ask for the story to be emailed to me. (grins and runs to hide under a desk)

Ardwynna Morrigu: Whoa OO. I never actually realized that. True, I found it surprising that when Zack/Cloud in the Nibelheim flashback reached upstairs that Sephiroth was gone and that when they got outside that the whole place was burning. (laughs at self) Heheh, I honestly never realized that, and you made perfect sense of it. You're very sharp to spot that! (I guess because in the game it didn't show Sephiroth locking the door that it never occurred to me...)

Salem Saori: Don't worry, you don't have to review every chapter! I'm glad you like it!

Serena McKeenzo: I'm thinking of another twist in the end, but I'm not sure yet.

Konie Hime: I'm sorry you had to wait for this, Hime (that means Princess in Japanese right?)

Chapter edited for mistakes - 16 April, 2006


Zack's Diary


Sephiroth's eyes were a golden colour, and Cloud realized he had been played for a fool all along. The world around him seemed to have a will of its own as Sephiroth hauled him through the dream, the air as thick as toffee as Cloud felt himself wading through it. His eyes slid closed unbeknownst to him and he wrenched his hand from Sephiroth's grip in a burst of strength. A faint cry, a sound that did not belong to Sephiroth, reached his ears. It was more of a woman's cry. More of – a demon's cry.

Then he was gone, leaving Cloud in this swirling dream where he was left to drift inbetween the waking and dreaming worlds. Slowly, he felt the ground begin to dissipate from beneath his boots and he floated upwards, suddenly torn from worry and thought of his situation. Memories began to fade as oblivion set in his mind, until something slid around his chest, breaking the spell over him. A faint hiss of anger seethed in his ears although he was barely aware of where it came from as he felt himself being lowered further and further down, until his body touched solid ground gently.

A hand patted his face gently, stirring Cloud from his deep unconscious state. He was met with a pair of deep-set dark blue eyes, glowing and pupiless. Raven hair fell around a heart-shaped shadowed face similar to a lion's mane.

" 'Bout damn time you got the message Choco-Brain." A taunting, playful voice muttered, Cloud earning another slap to the face when all he did was blink in confusion.

"Zack?" Cloud's throat was dry and sore, like something was almost sucked out of it.

"The one and only." Was the reply, and strong hands hefted Cloud to his jellied legs.

Nearly staggering for balance, Cloud shook his head, his memory slowly coming back to him.

"I... I'm Cloud. I'm twenty-two, from Nibelheim..." He said to himself, Zack holding his arm to steady him.

"She nearly had you in her grasp, Featherhead." Zack tutted, "Contact with another spirit breaks the hold of a spirit trying to possess a body in their dreams. Jenova's pretty good at that."

"Is that... what was happening to me?" Cloud rubbed his throat, feeling cold and afraid.

"She tried to suck your soul out, basically." Zack shrugged, "But I need to ask you for a favour, one you won't like, but hear me out first..."

He laid an arm over Cloud's shoulders and the blonde noticed that Zack's skin was colder then ice, yet Cloud didn't shiver or flinch. Almost like he knew it was cold, but he couldn't feel it. Zack led him away from the mirrors and the darkness, and colour bled through Cloud's eyes as they found themselves in a green field, overlooking the world as it was. It still rained, but neither Cloud nor Zack were getting wet or cold from the droplets that fell.

"What's going on? Zack – I can't trust you either after what's happened. You nearly killed me!"

"Jenova nearly killed you, Cloud" Zack waved a finger at him, "She can pose as anyone she wants, remember? And if you want to know, yes, Sephiroth and I were in love, and Sephiroth did die in the Reactor in Mt.Nibel. What Jenova showed you was the truth, but that was to get your pity so you would follow her more in hopes to 'help' her find me." Zack said with clenched fists, and Cloud saw his body shake with pent-up anger.

"Why you?" he asked, feeling the wind whip through his body, but not one strand of blonde fell on his face.

"Because I'm the only one who knows where Sephiroth's body is, as well as her." Zack plopped down on his backside on the grass, suddenly weary and defeated. "I'm the only one," he continued, "So I'm a threat to her existence. No body means no empty shells for her to control. Sephiroth is almost like a large piece of her existence, but that's what his body's made up of - living Jenova cells while her own was just stone cold and preserved in the reactor. Her head was the only thing that was alive, since she's an alien or whatever..."

"But, you can't get to Sephiroth, can you?" Cloud folded his arms.

Zack raised a finger, "Exactly. And that, is because I don't have a body of my own."

"So you want to possess mine?" Cloud's eyebrows came together in a glare at Zack.

The raven-haired spirit scratched the back of his head, grinning stupidly up at Cloud

"Yep, that was the idea alright..."

"I still don't trust you." Cloud said coldly.

"I know you don't, but your trust isn't what I need Cloud."

"What - ?"

Zack stood up without answering and stretched. Bones cricked loudly and he let out a sigh of relief, "Okie-dokie then, you can just wander around this place for the rest of eternity while your body stays asleep in the real world."

He began to walk away until Cloud called him, his blue eyes ablaze in fury as he ran up to him and spun him around. "So YOUR using me as well!" he yelled into Zack's face, hands gripping the older man's arms.

"Not in a bad way, Cloud." Zack said coldly, "But that's just it. I have to do this, not just for my sake, but for Sephiroth's. And Jenova's nothing without Sephiroth."

"But you possessing me? I don't like it..."

"You don't have to, but what I'm asking is to let me stay in your body, and take me to where Sephiroth's is, and free him!" Zack waved his arms frantically, "That's all I want!"

"But - !" Cloud argued, only for Zack to interrupt. "If you stay like this, in this dream, Jenova can possess you in the real world. I hate to break it to you Cloud, but if you don't help me, Jenova's going to come back., and she'll be using you to continue where she left off."

Cloud stood in silence, gaping at Zack. A million things ran through his mind, Tifa and the orphans and what was left of the planet -

"Where is he?" Cloud asked finally. Zack's eyes brightened a little, even if his face remained grim.

"Deep in the Northern Crater where you haven't been to. I've seen him asleep there."

"I thought he was dead."

"He is, except Jenova won't let him die and go to the Promised Land. He's trapped in his own body that's completely useless to him, so he's always asleep in there. Lucrecia's a prisoner in that cave behind the waterfall so she can't get to Sephiroth either."

"You know about Lucrecia?" Cloud asked with raised eyebrows. Zack nodded and slowly Cloud's arms dropped to his side.

"Its easy for spirits to find each other, Cloud. So I found Lucrecia in that cave, and for a moment she thought I was Sephiroth. But, seeing as I wasn't, she cried and cried. She knows he's dead, but what she doesn't know is why he won't come to her. I didn't tell her why – because what good would that do? It would only hurt her more. I stayed with her for days, telling her about Sephiroth as much as I knew since she never saw him herself and afterward I told her I would find him. But, there lies the problem. Even if she wasn't a prisoner in that cave, she couldn't do anymore then I can."

Silence fell between the two. Cloud looked back over the field, watching the green stretch far and wide. He knelt, brushing his fingers over the grass. He couldn't feel the softness of the green blades or the damp of the raindrops pooled in their palms. He couldn't feel anything.

"Has been like this since you...died?" Cloud glanced up at Zack. Zack's shoulder's slumped, "Yes. Being a spirit isn't exactly what you'd call fun."

"And all this time you refused to go to the Promised Land."

Zack smiled, his eyes glowing, "Sephiroth's worth it. Love makes you do funny things, even if you're dead."

Cloud chuckled, straightening himself. "Its hard to imagine Sephiroth – like that, but..." Cloud trailed off, "I didn't see it between you going to Nibelheim."

"We we're hardy going to announce it to the world, Cloud! Of course, seeing the looks on people's faces would've been interesting..." Zack rolled his eyes, his arms folded.

His gaze dropped to the floor. "You've no idea Cloud – How much I really miss him..." He hugged himself, his white lips stretched into a grim line.

"I'm glad Aeris found you, Cloud, before she died as well."

"What... do you mean?" Cloud blinked. Zack gave him a half-smile. "She saw me in you. She was like Sephiroth in some ways, she once told me. They both knew they were something different, something not quite human. It hurt her a lot on the inside because she was alone. As nice as she was, it takes a long time for her to trust others. She trusted me, and especially Sephiroth because both were in the same boat."

"I wish she said something." Cloud sighed sadly.

"And what difference would it make?" Zack waved a finger.

Cloud shrugged after a moment, "Maybe I wouldn't have been so confused then about my past."

"She leaves people to discover themselves, by themselves." Zack said.

"I need time to think about this – my head's going to explode..." Cloud sighed, and then sat down on the grass, folding his legs.

"I can show you proof if you want, Cloud." Zack sat down next to him.

"Proof of what?"

"Of what I'm saying is the truth. And where Sephiroth is."

Cloud was silent for the moment.

"... Alright."

After being led through his own memories, Cloud couldn't help but feel like he was being hauled everywhere like a three year old. Zack was holding his hand as they waded through the world as Cloud never saw it before. Other spirits floated through them, some looking, some smiling, some waving, and some just ignoring them. They were all going in the same direction like a white sea of ghosts.

"They're going to the Promised Land." Zack said, "In the core of the planet. Some have tried to take me with them, but I keep refusing."

As they walked, Cloud watched the blurry world, watching travellers walking unbeknownst to themselves of the spirits who watched them with a little jealousy. There was no wind, no cold or warmth; just hundreds of Spirits flowing in the one direction and the ground beneath Cloud's feet didn't seem to exist. Around him, everything was zooming past him, like they were flying. They passed through Icicle Town in seconds, drifting through the snow mountains and the white crusts of ice on the ground and finally arrived at the Northern Crater. Without a word, Zack led Cloud down into the darkness of the Crater, and the place seemed deader then Cloud ever saw it. There were no monsters, yet things lurked in the shadows like rats, almost like they knew the two were there, even though Zack was a spirit, and Cloud, was technically one too.

"Is my body still alive, even though I'm supposedly not in it anymore?" Cloud asked after a while.

"Its still alive, but the reason why Jenova can't take it is because you haven't let it go. If you lose who you are, you'll lose your body."

"I'm not really dreaming anymore, am I?"

Zack shrugged, "If you help me, Cloud, you'll never have another dream like this again."

They drifted deeper and deeper into the crater, and Cloud could hear someone's voice. It was faint, but grew, as they got closer. The voice was male, and it was crying - a sound of sobs and high-pitched wails. There were more voices as well, all male. Cloud's breath was stuck in his throat as he looked around. Dead tree roots sprouted in and out in the earth like veins, and they glowed eerily. He found himself moving closer to Zack's side as the wails grew louder and louder, and he looked up again at the roots. Long faces stretched over the black bark, faces of men and boys – like the tree bark itself was moving.

"Z – Zack... What the hell is this...?" Cloud whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder, those pitless black eyes would be upon them.

"Trapped souls for Jenova." Was all Zack said and he took Cloud's arm. The blonde was shivering slightly.

"You get used to the cries after a while..." Zack murmured after a long trek down the tunnel.

More roots sprouted here, but there was less of the wailing. The place glowed with what Cloud guessed was the Lifestream. The roots grew bigger as they passed, until at last they came into an open clearing.

In the middle was a tree, and lying on the tree's head, was Sephiroth.

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The next chapter could be the last. I'll update ASAP, and thanks to everyone who reviewed.

Daenis.