This story still lives! Haha! Sorry for the wait on this one, the usual ya know. There was school and work and other stories and a lot of things. But we got it done, chapter 11. ALSO if you wanna, check out tmart.x13's page for a very nice Advent Children oneshot we did recently!

Thank you to favorites, follows, and guest reviewer since we last updated. We are happy there are still many of you enjoying this story.

Chapter 11

Now that Zack had his next location identified, the only hard part was getting there. From Gongaga they would have to cross the open waters to get all the way to the other continent. Zack could only hope that there were ships down at the port of Gongaga. He hoped there would be something there at least. Anything to help them get across.

With Lazard close behind him, Zack drove the motorbike down south, towards the edge of Gongnga. That was where the port was. As he drove he took a two second glance over to Cloud. He was still unconscious, but his chest rose up and down at a normal rate.

Zack shook his head as he went back to focusing on the road. "What am I going to do? If Cloud keeps having these blackouts… No… I won't let that happen. I gotta find a way to help him not fall into those fits or breakdowns."

Zack breathed in slowly as he tried to think of answers, but he only kept having more questions. Cloud's state was hard to read. Sometimes he was fine, but then if he was alone for too long he would enter that freaking out stage. Zack hoped that Cloud would eventually manage on his own, but he wasn't sure how he could get through to Cloud to get that to happen. With this last time, it seemed Cloud knew that something was going on in his mind. So there was that at least that Zack could investigate on.

"Maybe I could try to talk it out with Cloud. Maybe now that he is more aware… maybe he can tell me what is going on in his head." Zack continued his thoughts as he stared on at the road head. He let out a slow sigh though. "Hmm I wonder… once this is all over and Cloud and I head to Midgar, maybe Aerith might have some idea on what I could do to help Cloud."

Aerith… Zack thought of her again. Besides Cloud, it was the singular purpose that drove him to trying to find his way back. He wanted to see her again, almost more than anything. He sighed as he continued to think. There were so many differing thoughts dancing in his mind that he almost didn't know what to do about it. Not only was there the prospect of him getting back to where he belonged, but he had to worry about Genesis now.

"I'll be so glad when all of this is over. One way or another, we will get through this, right Cloud?" he asked, knowing that there would be no response from the sleeping boy, but he thought to ask anyways.

The two of them were on their way as Lazard followed in the air closely behind. They trekked for just a little bit until their destination was within sight as Zack stopped the motorcycle and climbed off to look at what was in front of him. Lazard landed right behind him as Zack heard the flap of the wing slightly before it stopped as he looked out at what was in front of him.

The docks of Gongaga were quite small and there were usually never many ships that were in port. The area consisted of 3 large wooden decks that extend out into the water for about 30 feet or so, and usually there would only be three ships there, one at each dock area. Off to the left side of that was another area that had a larger bay, which was about twice as wide as the other wooden platforms with a similar wooden bridge used for access to the ship. That was the cargo bay for the cargo ship, which was used to transport and receive goods from other places across the ocean.

Directly beside the cargo dock was an area that was mainly used for fishing by any fishermen that wanted to come by down there. Anyone could come and go as they pleased at the area of course, so many different people would always come to see what they could find. The area was comprised of a smaller wooden structure that stretched out, with a few notches on either side for opportune casting spots.

To the left of the docks from where Zack was standing were two small buildings that were made of the same brick material as the houses in the village, thought they were styled a bit differently with a square shape instead, which allowed them to be larger in volume. One of the buildings would be where most of the work that was done inside took place. The other building was mainly a shed-like area where the products that were being shipped and received would be stored. This same building was also used to house the fishing materials and the catches that the men would bring in each day.

As of currently, the cargo ship was the only one that was docked. Zack saw this and knew that it would just have to work so that they could hitch a ride to where Banora was, and then on to Midgar. He assumed there would be some sort of cargo deck in the ship as well, so they could stowaway there. Cloud would be the hardest part though, to lug him onto the ship so that they would not be seen. After all, he did not want to endanger or alert anyone else of their presence.

"Well Cloud, hope you don't get seasick. Cause we are gonna be traveling on the water for a while it seems."

"How do you propose we get there without getting caught?" Lazard asked curiously from behind.

"Well, I'm not quite sure yet. Let me see…"

Zack just had to make sure to stay out of site of any SOLDIERS that would be patrolling the area, though it looked like there were none at the time. He knew they would be taking the motorbike with them though as it would be necessary for the shape Cloud was in for later. He already had his hands full trying to take care of Cloud, who was usually mostly inoperable. The only issue now was when he and Cloud could try to sneak on with the bike. It would be so much easier if Cloud was awake, but Zack just had to deal with the hand he was dealt.

After thinking for a moment, Zack recalled that there might be someone that he knows that he could talk to at the docks. "Cloud, stay here for a moment. There doesn't seem to be anyone around here at the time, so you should be fine. The Director can watch over you, right?" he asked the latter as he turned his eyes to him briefly.

Lazard nodded his head, and with that, Zack took off walking towards the dock area, making sure to stay mostly out of sight.

Zack made his way forward and ducked behind the nearest building, which was the smaller workers' building, to just make sure that he did not encounter anybody. He waited for a few moments before moving around the back of it slowly towards the shed. Once he reached it, he peered around the side of it to see what was there. There appeared to be only one man out at the moment, and nothing appeared to be going on at the time either.

Zack took in a deep breath before he stepped out from where he was hiding and approached the crewman. "Hey," he started as he waved casually. "Pleasant evening, right?"

The man, who was facing straight forward, turned about to face Zack. He was an older person that seemed like he might have lived there for quite some time. His face was relaxed, which made Zack feel good about his chances at being able to get onto the boat. Then, the man began to speak in return.

"Ah, yes it is. What are you doing out here this evening… oh! You're a SOLDIER. I didn't realize," he caught himself as he became a slight bit flustered.

"Yeah, that's right… SOLDIER," Zack said, trying not to sound to upset with the fact. After what had gone down long before with Angeal and then Nibelheim, he had sworn off caring about being in SOLDIER. But for this case, he felt like it would help in his advantage to get what we needed. "I've been out on a special mission, but… due to some technicalities I gotta switch my mission over to being in Banora. And on such quick notice I thought to see if there was any boats down here I could catch a ride on."

"Oh really? Well, that sounds rather unfortunate then. Well I'm sure we can be of some help to you then. The only boat we have is the cargo boat. Depends what all you got with you? "

"There's me and the the motorbike I've been traveling in, it has all my supplies. As well as my teammate in the mission, though he is asleep in the sidecar right now. He's a bit out of it right now though. Even though our mission here ended sooner than expected, he did get slightly injured, nothing major though."

The older gentleman seemed to be pondering what Zack had just said for a moment as he scratched his head. "I see, I see. Hmm… Well, the ship is quite large after all. I'm sure there would be enough room on there anyways for you so sure, I'll let you go on there then. Though, I want to know one thing before all this," he paused briefly. "The way you talk. You from around here?"

"Thank you so much!" Zack said as he smiled cheerfully. "And yeah, I'm actually from Gongaga, just haven't been home in a while."

"I knew you were probably from the area. The accent is a bit easy to pick up on. It's nice seeing one of our own make it so well. Now, go on you two and get loaded on. I'll make sure you're good," the man responded as he gave a wink.

Zack thanked the man once again before turning to run back to where he had left Cloud and Lazard. When he got back up there he saw that Cloud was sitting up straight in his sit and looking to Lazard, who seemed to be talking. Zack picked up speed, wondering when Cloud had woken up, as he had not been gone all to long.

Cloud turned his head and looked towards Zack, his eyes lighting up slightly as he smiled. "Zack!"

"Hey buddy, you're awake now at least. You doing okay?" Zack said as he got closer to the two.

"Yeah… fine now. Was a bit shaken though… when I woke. But Lazard… he talked. So I'm good," Cloud said, his sentences nearly all completely proper now.

"He almost freaked out for a moment, so I did my best to calm him down. Not sure what that was about. Does it happen often?" Lazard asked of him.

"Well, it is not very frequent. Only every now and then does something like that happen, but it's the mako poisoning I'm sure that is doing it."

"It seems to be rather severe. As if I recall he did have a small outburst only a short while ago," Lazard commented before turning to the blond. "You wouldn't happen to know the reason why it happens, would you?"

Cloud frowned as he shook his head. "N-No… my head just starts hurting sometimes… I don't… know. Just hurts… usually I blackout."

"Well, that is something to keep an eye on at least. I would guess it probably has something to do with the Jenova cells inside of him too, but I'm not sure," Lazard commented back.

Zack looked back over to him. "I guess so. I'm hoping to figure it out soon though. But we have a ride at least. Though the crewman only knows it's going to be me and Cloud. So you may have to sneak aboard when the crewman isn't looking, but I think it may just be him."

"That's fine. I can manage that. I assume you would want to do that now then."

Zack nodded as he got back on the motorbike and started it up. "Yeah, don't wanna keep the guy waiting too long. Just keep an eye out for when we leave."

With that, Zack started the vehicle at a slow speed down towards the ship to where he could drive up and load it on to it. Cloud watched quietly from the sidecar, but didn't seem to be in a talkative mood anymore. But he did seem far more aware then he ever was before, which gave Zack a little confidence that things were getting better.

Luckily, nobody seemed to be around still, except for that man from earlier, as Zack approached the ship and drove the motorbike onto the small ramp that was on the ground. Things went smoothly from thereon as the bike was now on the boat; though, Zack knew he would probably have to stow it out of the way, so he found a small area between some containers and led it in there after having gotten Cloud from the side car. He helped sit Cloud down beside the nearest crate so he would have some back support to be upright as Zack remained standing for a bit.

"Well I guess we can just be here for now and take a break until things start moving then, huh Cloud?"

"Yeah… That sounds good. Just, don't go… too far, Zack," Cloud muttered through paused breaths.

Zack tried to remain serious but chuckled mildly. "Well I kinda have to. Unless you want me to jump overboard on a ship later on." He laughed slightly at his joke, and hoped that he could alleviate some of the stress from Cloud as well.

The blond-haired youth had no comment as he just sat there, which is something that would happen often before when he felt like not saying much. The two remained there for a few minutes in silence, Cloud just sitting calmly while Zack took in the smell of the ocean and the small breeze that seemed to be blowing from the direction of the setting sun.

Several minutes must have passed by as the sun continued to dip lower on the horizon as the sky grew darker. Once it had disappeared behind the far-reaching ocean, Zack then decided to take a seat beside Cloud finally. As he began to sit down, he heard something in the air above him, like a flap of a wing.

Zack peered up to see Lazard beginning to land right in front of them. "Ah, there you are."

"Had to make sure that it was dark, when nobody would seemingly notice some guy flying through the air. There were a few infantrymen heading down this way so now was the best time."

"All right well that's fair. It's going to be a long ride though that's for sure," Zack breathed a heavy sigh as he thought about the arduous journey.

"Well you could always give up," the Director chuckled.

"Ha! Give up? As if. I've got to see this through no matter what now."

Lazard huffed as he gave a small smirk. "Of course. I would expect nothing less from the hero."

The two laughed for a moment, then heard some bells ringing in the distance.

"Ah good, that means they're ready then. Finally we can be on our way," Zack stated softly as he looked towards Cloud.

He had to continue what he was doing. He needed to find answers about why all of this was happening to them. But he also knew he had to help Cloud. He was not just going to abandon him. What kind of hero would he be then? He knew the trip to Banora was going to take quite a long time though considering how far away it was. He hoped that time would pass by rather quickly though on the way. In a few short minutes, the ship was readied and the engine had begun to hum loudly as the horn blowed. They were finally on their way.

"So," Zack said as he leaned a little a little closer to Cloud. "How you holding up?"

"I'm okay… I guess…" Cloud replied as he hunched over slightly. "Just a little… mmm…" he trailed off as he placed a arm around his stomach.

Zack 's eyebrows furrowed with worry. Was something wrong again with Cloud? Was he going to have another blackout? Having something like that on a small enclosed area would not be good, plus he didn't want to cause any trouble for the crewman.

Quickly Zack placed an arm around Cloud's back. "You okay there buddy? You're looking a little pale…"

"Not that good… with traveling on water…" Cloud muttered as he took in slow breaths.

Zack's eyes grew a bit wide as he then scratched the back of his head. "Okay, wow. I was only kidding before about you getting motion sickness, but I didn't think that you actually had it." He tried to think of what to say or do next to help but nothing really came to mind.

Cloud didn't replied back, only swayed slightly as he closed his eyes. He kept trying to keep his breath steady, but Zack could see that he was having a little trouble. Finally he leaned against Zack as he continued to let out long, slow breaths. "How long… is the trip…?"

Zack hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. But I know that Banora is quite a long ways from here. Based on what I could guess, I would say a few months maybe? But don't worry… this ship is moving slowly because it's a cargo ship. So that's the only reason it is taking as long, and hopefully the sickness won't be as bad for you." He had to reassure Cloud of that last part after seeing his friend's eyes had opened widen at him mentioning a few months.

Cloud ground slightly as he hunkered down more onto the floor. "Wasn't this bad before. Not as bad when I… first went to Midgar. Maybe that was cause… journey was shorter though…"

"It could have something to do with the S-cells," Lazard interjected. "I'm still not sure how they work, but I know for me, many of my senses and feelings have been heightened, but not always in a good way. It could be the same for Cloud with his… and with the mako poisoning, it's even worse. Just a thought though."

Cloud shuddered as he started to look more pale. Zack looked at him with a worried glance as he took in what Lazard said. "I guess that makes sense. Hey Cloud… if you need to ya know, throw up or anything, let me know and I'll lead you over to the railing. Okay?"

"Okay…" Cloud muttered quietly. "I'll just try… and rest for now though. Maybe that will help…"

Zack chuckled softly as he started to rub Cloud's back. "Still always so sleepy at least. I still don't know how you can manage it… though it's probably still all because of the cells and stuff… But whatever, let's not worry about that now. You just try to get some rest, all right?"

Cloud slowly nodded as he bowed his head and quickly drifted off into sleep without much issue. Soon he was snoring as Zack just chuckled.

"Well, I guess that's that. Though, it's been a long day so I think I need some too though." He then turned his head towards the Director. "Well, what about you?"

"To be honest, I have not slept much since becoming… this. So it's irrelevant for me. No need to worry about it."

Zack felt slightly bummed that he was not able to do anything to help the Director, especially after he was helping them out so much now. He tried to shake the thoughts of doubt from his head and just rest. "All right then." Zack then laid his head back and tried to doze off, and he did not have to wait long. His curiosity about how Cloud was able to rest so suddenly would soon be satisfied as he couldn't help but drift off in the same manner. The last thing on his mind is knowing that this trip would be quite long.

it is a bit shorter than the other chapters, but it is what we got to work best. But finally finally we are closing in on the end of Crisis Core. But... what will happen then? Only one way to find out!