Chapter 11 - Cleansing
Tifa looked up from wiping mucous and dirt off Dale's face when she heard several unfamiliar voices arguing with one all-too-familiar voice.
Nearby, Barret groaned. "Not again."
"What?" Tifa handed Dale off to his older sister Amy and watched them run off playing with Dale's stuffed moogle.
"Yuffie brought a bunch o' brats 'round a couple days ago. Dunno where they came from and they won't stay here, but they keep comin' back for food."
"I better head over to Elmyra's, then."
Barret stood. "I'll come wi' ya. They eat a lot."
Tifa didn't doubt that one bit, especially as the voices drew close enough for her to identify some of them as belonging to boys. "Sounds like things have been lively around here."
"Huh. Tha's one way of puttin' it. M'be now that ye're back Cloud'll help out 'round here more often."
"I don't know. Since he's found something he enjoys shouldn't we encourage him?"
Barret shrugged. "If he likes it. Kinda hard to tell wi' him."
Unfortunately, Tifa had to agree.
*7*7*
Blood spread everywhere. It stained the white marble floor, soaked through his pants, and covered his hands.
Their blood. His friends. Those he failed to protect.
His blood. He couldn't even protect himself.
He felt himself scream but all he could hear was manic cackling.
Something cool slid past his cheek, calming him.
He blinked.
Something wet, not blood, pooled around him. It stung and oozed between his fingers.
Mako.
Fighting down panic, he first tried to move one arm then the other. Both responded to his directions.
"You're awake."
With a grunt, Cloud managed to push himself up enough to see who had spoken. Reeve sat on a short stack of tires a few feet away.
"How long?"
Reeve checked his watch. "About twenty minutes. Reno's looking for something we can use to safely move you. Which may not be necessary now."
Cloud grunted again as he sat up. He noticed that the fuel cell he'd extracted earlier lay about where his chest had been, looking like a crumpled up paper bag.
"I believe the floor below connects to the infantry barracks." Reeve followed the dripping mako with his eyes. "There might be a functioning shower there."
"Depends on what you consider functioning." Cloud shook some of the mako from his hair before trying to stand. "A janitor's closet with a hose will be fine."
Reeve chuckled and pointed down the hall with a comment about possibly scaring Reno on the way. The thought almost brought a smirk to Cloud's face.
Halfway to the door, Cloud stopped. "Almost forgot. There's gasoline in one of the warehouses in Sector 5. Figured you'd want to know."
"Yes. Thank you. Does anyone else know?"
Cloud shook his head. "At least... I don't think so."
"Hmm. Kylegate's people might mistake it for paraffin. I'll have to talk to the Turks about having it moved." Reeve sighed, obviously not relishing the idea.
Cloud wasn't exactly thrilled, either, but if anyone knew how to hide several fifty gallon drums effectively it would be the Turks. And it was, technically, ShinRa property. So Cloud left to find a hose and hoped this little trip would be over soon.
*7*7*
About that same time, in Gongaga, Zack stood back from the finished pulley rig. "That should do it. Everyone ready?"
A cheer rose from the other Gongagan men as they took up their ropes. There were three, two for teams of men and one for Zack. On his count, they pulled until the massive section of sheet metal and I-beams that had once been part of the reactor broke free of the side of Old Max's house.
They eased up on the ropes slowly, letting the chunk of metal settle onto the ground and against the structure of the rig.
"It worked! Yes!" Zack pumped his fists.
One of the men nodded. "But now what do we do with it?"
Zack looked around. "We could just push it over the cliff. The jungle will deal with it from there."
"Or you could push it." The other men agreed with various phrasings of "I'd like to see that."
Grinning and rolling his shoulders, Zack positioned himself behind the piece of ruined reactor. At first, he only managed to dig a pair of short trenches the width of his feet into the ground, then, with a long metallic groan, the immovable object yielded to the unstoppable force.
For a second he felt himself fall along with the metal. He caught a glimpse of white and gold armor and heard a single word.
Champion.
He blinked and found himself back at the edge of the cliff behind Old Max's house.
"Zack?" One of the men stepped toward him. "You okay, boy?"
He spun around. "Yeah. Gotta find Aerith!"
Under almost any other circumstances he would have responded to, or at least acknowledged, the laughter and barely-veiled comments shouted after him.
Once back in the village proper he followed the sound of laughing women to the Buros house. He knocked on the door and bounced until Phyllis's daughter, Alice, answered the door.
"Zack! What are you doing here?"
"Gotta talk to Aerith. She's here, right?" He started to step through the door when he felt a small hand press against his chest.
"Wai-!" Alice sucked in a sharp breath as if just realizing not only that he wasn't wearing a shirt but that his muscles were hard as rock. Her hand fluttered a bit, uncertain whether to pull away or stay put. "You can't come in, she's being fitted."
Zack started bouncing again. "Seriously? This is urgent."
"Can't you hold it in until the wedding?"
"No- What?! That's not... This is something totally different!"
"You're half-dressed and vibrating like a ram in rut. What did you expect me to think?"
Zack froze, trying very hard not to look down. Any further down than necessary to look at Alice, anyway. He remembered her being taller than him. "Look, could you just let her know I need to talk to her? Soon? I'll be right outside."
"Sure." She stuck her head out the door after he left. "We've got a hose out back! Stick your head under it!"
When Aerith finally did appear in the play-scarred yard she was a vision of floating skirts and flowing floral sleeves. Gold bracelets glittered around her wrists while net shawls clung to her tiny waist. Zack seriously considered turning that hose on again.
She must have noticed, because her eyes twinkled with mischief. "You wanted to talk to me?"
"Huh? Oh, right. When you talk to the planet, do you ever see anything? Or anyone?"
Aerith frowned. Not at all what she'd been expecting. "Not really. Why?"
Zack rubbed the back of his head. "I was hoping you'd recognize someone. A woman, or goddess, I guess. Lots of gold and white armor, blonde... Kinda looks like she could be related to Cloud, except taller." He frowned. "Called me 'Champion.'"
A small giggle escaped from Aerith's lips over the knuckles of her right hand. "You would be visited by a beautiful woman." A little more seriously, she gave his words some thought. "Sounds like the planet is interested in you."
"I'm not sure what to think about that."
"Hmm. It's probably a good thing." She tilted her head to one side. "Is that all? She just appeared and said one word?"
Zack nodded. "I'm pretty sure I've met her, too. Well, fought her."
"Fought her?"
"Yeah. In a cave up north. She was causing some sort of anomaly that made machines act like monsters and the dead keep moving. I thought she might've been a rogue summon, but now I'm not so sure."
Aerith frowned and rested her chin on the knuckles of her right hand. "I could try asking the planet. It usually doesn't give specific answers, but it might point us in the right direction."
"Works for me." He paused for a moment and scratched the back of his head. "I guess you'll want to do that somewhere private."
"Why, Zack!" Aerith pressed a hand to her chest in mock horror. "What will the neighbors think?"
He scratched the back of his head again. "Probably what they're already thinking. Sorry about that."
Aerith smiled. "It's fine. And we can do the reading at your parents'. They'll have to know about this eventually, anyway."
Zack grinned, reaching out to hug her until he remembered how damp he was. To his surprise, Aerith closed the short distance and hugged him.
She smiled up at him. "The dress needs to washed, anyway. So, to your parents'?"
Grinning back, he scooped her up into his arms. "Gotta practice for our wedding day."
Okay, I admit that a lot of this is pure fluff, but it also has some plot significance. Really! Besides, Zack and Aerith are so adorable and they're easy to write together.