Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.

I do not have a beta, so forgive any mistakes and just enjoy them, I do!

"The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it." -Plutarch

To You I Give My Heart

Chapter 10

~Soldier Training~

A few days after they left the stream, Zack was making good progress through the fields. Seeing a grouping of trees about a mile ahead, he braced Cloud to get there faster before the sun set. The sooner he got there, the better and safer spot he could find.

The day before, he was able to get the blond to walk as long as he held her weight. Shuffling her feet, her gait was slow, but otherwise steady. The episode in the water didn't happen again. No matter how much he wanted it, the overdose of mako won out and kept her in a semi-conscious state. Every so often, she would open her eyes, and look around, but just looked right through everything, including him.

Every day he cursed Hojo and his complete and utter disregard for other human life. However, usually with mako poisoning, all the cases he had seen or heard of, Cloud seemed like she was doing better in some respects and worse in others. Although her appetite was good and she regained the weight she had lost, she still woke up in the mornings, sick and throwing up thick green goo and sometimes her dinner from the night before. Not to mention her nightmares and inability to move or communicate were detrimental.

While he was still in the academy, he had heard rumors about one guy that had accidentally gotten an overdose. They ended up having to tie him to the hospital bed, because of the waking nightmares that would cause him to hurt himself. The screaming, vomiting, weight loss and overall suffering of that guy almost made him change his mind about going forward with his training. But it was just rumors, so it couldn't have happened, or so he had thought back then.

Right now though, as he picked up speed, she also matched his speed for a while. Sloppy movements and tripping over her feet, she began to stop moving her feet and opted for him dragging her, "Cloud, are you done walking for the day?"

When they had stopped for just a short moment so he could adjust the bags, he heard something in the distance. Straining his ears, he made out what sounded like rotor blades on a helicopter and it was getting closer by the second. He still had quite a distance to cover before they made it to the trees, so a quick decision, he scooped the tired woman up and began running as fast as his mako would let him.

The thought of going back to the labs and Hojo, made him increase his run. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the small speck of a black helicopter as it did a circular search pattern. He still had time before it got to close, but if the Turks on board were looking in his direction, he would be seen.

Just when he thought they saw him, he was able to duck behind a large tree. Waiting for when the helicopter finished its circle and it headed in the other direction and just before it was in the circle over their heads, he ran for more trees further in. Dropping the bags close to some young trees and bushes, he quickly pulled Cloud over close to another bush that was larger. Getting out the brown blanket, he covered them up and listened. Through the tree tops, he could catch a glimpse of the helicopter just before it continued on.

When it leaned over to the side slightly to execute a turn, in the setting sun light, Zack clearly saw a tuft of spiky red hair, "Reno." Internally cringing he muttered, "Had to be fucking Reno didn't it?" Of all the Turks that he ever met, the red-head was the one who Zack considered the real threat.

Reno was way smarter than he let on, in fact Zack wouldn't be surprised if he was on genius level. Not to say that the Turks recruited idiots, but the red-head put several of the other Turks to shame. Persistent, obstinate, and a complete and total jack-ass, but that was what made him a fantastic Turk.

After landing, and taking off again, Zack could only surmise that they had dropped off a few men. Just when the sounds of the rotors were leaving to the south-east, he heard the footsteps crinkle in the dry leaves. With very slow movement, Zack pulled the blanket over his head, leaving a small opening to see anyone approaching.

"I'm telling ya dude, she's really into me."

Scoffing, the second soldier said, "I hate to tell you this, but she is so way out of your league. You would have a better shot of getting an audience with the little princess of Wutai."

A deep voice interrupted, "Both of you two panty wastes need to get quiet. In case you've forgotten, we are hunting down some lab specimens. We don't know what they are capable of."

The first soldier asked, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. We gotta take 'em alive too."

"Yeah, so if you two don't shut your fuckin mouths, when we come across 'em, I'm gonna feed you to them as bait."

The second soldier groaned, "Geez Carpenter, chill out."

Booted feet were getting closer and sweat beaded on Zack's temples. Gripping his sword, he readied for attack when a fourth voice yelled, "Guys! We got something over here."

The ex-Soldier wanted to jump up and lay waste to them, but not knowing exactly how many there were and when they were to get to their rendezvous point. If they missed that, most likely they would send more in and then they could be taken in again. Keeping his cool, he loosened his grip as the sounds got further away. Knowing that they hadn't found the bags, as they fit perfectly under some vines that wrapped around the saplings.

Taking a chance, he stuck his head out to do a quick look and he froze at the sight. Through the thick brush, just on the other side of the tree line, a battalion of men, and several army vehicles came to a stop.

With his mouth agape, Zack muttered quietly, "…Oh, fuck me…" Beside him, Cloud began to stir and moaned out loud. Covering his head up again, he hoped that the brown blanket was cover enough under the dying bush and brown leaves. Laying his cheek on the blonde's cheek and in a soft cooing whisper, he tried to soothe her nightmare, "Shh, we need to be quiet. It's okay."

As if hearing him, she calmed and once again lay still. Murmurs from the many soldiers revealed nothing. He just wasn't able to discern any words or information over the noise of a crowd. They just happened to get here after dark, so the camouflage would hold out and hopefully the soldiers would be leaving in the morning. However, it wasn't a matter of if they began a search, it was when. Knowing military procedure, they would conduct an extensive search in the morning and if they were still under this blanket, they would most definitely be found in the light of day.

For several hours, they lay there as Zack waited and listened, not allowing himself to sleep. That was about the time that it got worse. They hadn't stopped but once around lunch time and he really had to pee. Rolling his eyes, he remembered a lesson that Angeal had taught him about when they got pinned down by the enemy and not giving away your position. Cloud had already gone, so he really didn't have much choice.

Now, as humiliating as it was, he still had to go. As gross as it felt against his skin, his bladder said different. Now all he had to worry about was the smell. With these guys just regular army, they were not trained as extensively as Soldiers were, so the likelihood of them finding them on smell alone was minimal. However, there was always one guy who was better than the rest. Even so, not finding them on smell, if they came close enough, they would most definitely be found. Thinking of smell, that could possibly work in their favor. He was counting on this working and that the good, loyal and respected soldiers weren't going to be searching in this area.

Zack began his preparations. He didn't have to wait long when the first small animals were attracted to them. Uncovering his head, he glimpsed a capparwire sniffing them out. Its greenish brown short leafy looking appendages moved slowly and its larger body swayed as it stepped ever closer. Had he been standing, the creature would easily come to his waist.

Slowly moving his hand up his side, when it came within his reach, he grabbed it. As quickly and quietly as he could, he snapped its neck. Pulling it soundlessly closer, he looked around to make sure no one saw or heard him.

The creature's body was as big around as his thigh and he turned it to its back and took a deep breath. Digging his nails into its soft belly, he tore the skin open revealing its organs and a reeking smell. Reaching his hand in to get a hand full of what its body had to offer. The warm blood covering the slimy and slightly warmer entrails combined with the smell was almost too much. Having to stop for a moment, he gagged and buried his face in his forearm. Trying to take shallow breaths, he mentally calmed his stomach.

Tossing what he had in his hand toward a tree several yards away, he did it again, only aiming for another tree. Doing that two more times, he finally tossed the rest of the body as far as he could and then wiped what he could off his hands on the ground below him.

A few hours later, the sun shined brightly in the clear sky. When the soldiers resumed their search, Zack was awake and watched as a small patrol of two soldiers got closer.

"Ah, geez, what the hell is that smell?"

Footsteps got closer until the owner of another set of feet said, "Ewe gross! Something got a hold of a capparwire. I'm not going over there."

The owner of the first set wisely said, "Me neither. Let's just tell 'em that we searched over there."

"Yeah, okay."

Watching as the boots walked away, Zack waited until there was nothing but silence before he raised his head. It took several hours, but he and Cloud were alone once again. Sitting up, he silently thanked Angeal for being so patient with him. However, he knew a large part of it was luck. Thanking Gaia, he began to move out from under the blanket.

Stretching, his aching muscles, they were stiff from being in pretty much the same position for almost twelve hours. Looking over at Cloud, she began to gag as she began her morning routine of gag, vomit, gag some more and then eat everything he put in her mouth.

Looking around, the trees got thicker the further in so there had to be a water source nearby. However, he had a vomiting blond he had to deal with first. With hands covered in dried blood and entrails, he hesitantly put his fingers in her mouth to sweep the green goo out of her mouth. After he got her settled, he grabbed the bag.

After getting her fed, they started walking again, "I know you might think that I'm crazy, but I think that I can smell some water. If we can find it, we can get cleaned up. I don't know if you can smell very well, but we smell like the number 14 train to the slums on a Saturday night."

Slinging the bags over his shoulder, they walked in silence. Starting to lose hope, they finally came across a small trickle of water that couldn't ever be confused for a stream. One good thing about it, it wasn't muddy, most of it had a bed of rock that the water had carved.

"Okay, well here we are. I'll get ya cleaned up and get our clothes washed. How does that sound?" Taking the rest of the morning, they bathed and got their clothes cleaned. Getting back to walking, Zack watched her from the corner of his eyes. Her head hung down and her feet shuffled lazily as she draped from his side.

Every since that day that she opened her eyes and actually saw him, she hadn't done anything. He was beginning to worry that in the only way she could, she was telling him goodbye days ago at the river. Shaking his head, he had to stop thinking that way, she was going to wake up and when she did, he would be right there next to her.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."

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