Cloud and the others walked out of the bar to get to the van, and soon Mai and Denzel were the only ones there.

Mai threw her arms around Denzel. "Bye," She said, still clinging to him. He laughed. "Again." She let go, and started to step back, but something made Denzel cling to her shoulders. He stared down at her curious brown eyes, and started to feel funny inside.

"What is it Denzel?" She asked, her lips precariously arranged into a small smile. He shook his head, trying to sort out what was happening inside of it. "Denzel?" She asked again, looking concerned. She hesitantly placed a hand on one of his cheeks.

Denzel reached up and held it there. Slowly, cautiously, he leaned his head closer to hers. Something inside of him was telling him he needed to say a proper goodbye this time, as though he wouldn't be able to see her again after this.

She stared up at him, her cheeks almost crimson red. He smiled, the red complimented her face perfectly. Then he closed the rest of the distance between them, and gently pressed his lips against hers.

He felt her slowly wrap her arms around his neck as the kiss lasted much longer than he had intended it to. Finally she started to pull away, but she still held him close. "Thank you," She murmured into his chest.

He pulled her closer for a second, then stepped back. "I'll see you later." He kissed her forehead, and they walked out of the bar.

Denzel jumped into the back of the van, and waved goodbye once more to Mai.

"So where are we going this time?" He asked, looking at the map Barrett had pulled out to help Cloud with. "Our first stop tonight is the Village of Gongaga." Vincent answered. "We'll be resting there."

"Gongaga?" Denzel asked. "But isn't that where . . . ?" A silent nod from Vincent answered his question. "I see," He said, more to himself than to anyone else. Barrett punched the radio, and the four sat in silence.

When Marlene woke up, Zack was nowhere to be found. She sat down after searching, wondering whether or not that had just been a very strange, albeit realistic feeling dream. After a while, she heard something shriek. Shivers went down her spine and she jumped up, looking around.

Another shriek came, and, against her better judgement, she followed the sound. She precariously walked down the section of tunnel that it had originated from. A loud smack, as though something had snapped in two, rang through the tunnel, and she froze.

"Oh yeah!" Came Zack's voice, and she almost fell to the ground in relief. It hadn't been a dream, and there wasn't a monster coming after her. She quickly ran the rest of the distance between herself and Zack.

When she got to where he was, she couldn't believe her eyes. He stood with his hands on his hips proudly, surveying the huge behemoth he had just defeated. He turned when he heard the sound of her footsteps. "Oh, hey Marlene." He smiled and turned back to the monster. She came and stood next to him, noting that he had somehow obtained a rusty sword.

He said nothing else, simply staring down at the monster. "Um," Marlene started to ask. "What are you doing?" He glanced up at her and smiled, then turned back to watching it.

"I figured I'd learn from my original's mistakes. In my memories he was always turning his back on a foe that he assumed he'd beaten, but it would still be alive, and it would come back to kick his butt. So, I'm making sure this guy's dead, I guess." He replied with a small chuckle.

Marlene laughed. "That makes sense, I suppose." The giant form in front of her twitched, and she let out a small scream, moving to hide behind Zack. He took his sword and poked its stomach, but nothing happened. "No worries, it's normal for bodies to twitch you know," He laughed and stepped out from in front of her.

She nodded, amazed at how comfortable he seemed to be with the sword. "Sorry," She mumbled. He shrugged, still smiling. "It's ok. You aren't that used to this sort of stuff, I can tell." She rolled her eyes. "I'm more used to it than you probably expect, you know." He turned back to her, a black brow raised. "Is that so?"

She nodded again, unable to think of something that would even begin to explain. He shrugged again. "If you say so." He grabbed his sword and stepped closer to the beast, preparing to cut it into pieces. With a swift stroke, he lopped off its head. Marlene nearly doubled over in sickness at the sight.

He turned around. "What is it?" His voice sounded concerned. She simply took deep breaths, trying to ignore the smell of the blood, and pointed in the direction of the now dismembered corpse without looking up. "Oh," He said, understanding. "But I thought you just said you were used to that sort of stuff."

She slowly stood straight again, managing a upset smile. "'More used to it than you expect,' is what I believe I said." He shook his head. "Oh, sorry." He set the rusty, and now completely bloody, sword down, and held out his arm for her to take, as if he knew that it still hurt her to walk.

Marlene smiled and gratefully took it. He escorted her back up to the opening of the tunnel. "Would you mind making a fire or something?" He asked, tossing a box of matches her way. "I'm going to come back with some steak for us to cook." Zack grinned, and jogged back to the corpse.

She slightly twitched at the thought of him slicing into the behemoth's body, but quickly shoved the thoughts out of her mind and went about finding some wood to burn. Soon after she had gotten a decent fire going, Zack returned with two pieces of meat, one smaller than the other.

He took the sword, which he had apparently cleaned off, and stuck the two pieces onto it, holding them over the fire to cook. "Where did you find that sword?" She asked, curious.

"This?" He asked, looking at the metal object. "It was just sitting around in one of the caves." "Oh," She replied, supporting her face in her hands as she stared into the fire.

Marlene heard a quiet wing flapping, and looked up in time to see Genesis land close to them. The look on his face was urgent, and angry. He swiftly walked to where Marlene was sitting, and picked her up. Without saying a word, he flew her out of the cave and gently set her down. He went back, she assumed to get Zack.

After a few moments he returned, a struggling Zack in his grasp. "Let me go!" Zack complained. Genesis smirked. "Alright, I will." He dropped Zack, and the teenage boy landed with a very loud thump. Marlene helped him up, then turned to Genesis, who was fast walking out of the ruined village. "What's going on?" Genesis didn't stop walking, and said nothing.

"Hey!" Zack yelled, chasing after him. Marlene followed as quickly as she could. Zack caught up to him sooner than she did. "What's going on?" He repeated for her. Genesis pushed him back. "I'm making sure you stay alive. That's what's going on. Now keep quiet and follow me."

Zack turned to Marlene, and gave an exasperated shrug. Then he picked her up, causing a slightly surprised gasp to escape her lips, and he followed after Genesis.