Disclaimer: If I owned FF7, I will make Zack loved Cloud!

Summary: Zack was dead, but Cloud did something to revive Zack. Story set after Crisis Core.

WARNING!! THIS STORY CONTAINS YAOI, SHOUNEN-AI, BXB RELATIONSHIP, WHATEVER YOU CALL IT! IF YOU FEEL OFFENDED, PLEASE PUSH THE BACK BUTTON OF YOUR INTERNET BROWSER. IF YOU DO NOT MIND (hopefully) PLEASE CONTINUE TO READ!

Pairing: CloudxZack (at first, Cloud one-sided, depends on how I wanted the story to go, they might become lover ;3), ZackxAerith, TifaxCloud (Tifa one-seided. Oh yeah, Tifa always had crush on Cloud)

A/N: I do not own a PSP so I do not play Crisis Core (I plan on buying it though), but from a lot of fictions I have read, I assume I have sufficient knowledge of the story. If you happen to find anything wrong, please be kind and inform me.

This is an edited version. Many thanks to my wonderful betas for correcting the mistakes and improving it.

As usual, thank you so much for everybody who reviewed. I loved your encouraging reviews and of course, I'm happy when people actually loved my story. I will try my best. Oh and, please forgive the constant angst and Cloud's fans, please don't hate me for torturing the poor boy ;D (Although actually I'm Cloudy's fans too haha)

To show how high my happiness level right now, I present you....TA-DAH!!! Another fast update, and a long chapter!!!

My beta said poor Cloudy will have a mental breakdown soon because I tortured him too much...so spoiler, That is EXACTLY my intention - evil smirk -

Story 12: The Second Fullmoon

Zack's PoV

I saw his face. I saw his eyes. I couldn't help but shiver in fear. He ran from me, from everything, but I did nothing. I froze in place. I did not know what had just happened. He licked the blood. He looked ecstatic. Nothing came to my mind. I watched him in disbelief. Everything blurred. I did not know what to do. I did not know what to think. I just couldn't understand. What had just happened? Someone tell me.

"Zack…? Is something wrong?" I snapped back to reality. I looked at the brunette. She looked concerned. Cloud's childhood friend; did she know why Cloud became like that? Did she know that Cloud did something like that? There was so much I wanted to ask, but the words seemed to be stuck in my throat. I opened my lips, but only a strangled whisper came out.

"What happened to Cloud? Why did he run off like that?" she asked again. None of them seemed to have seen what he'd done. I shook my head. I knew what I had to do. Find him now.

"I'll go on ahead and find him. I'll wait for you guys when I find him. Later!" I ran as fast as I could. I had to find him fast. I traced the smell of blood that still lingered in the air. It was easy because I had a keen nose. I ignored the branches of dried trees that scratched my face and hands. I let my nose lead me and my feet brought me to wherever he was. Then I saw him, standing motionless like a broken doll. He stared into the blank space. Eyes looked lifeless. I didn't know what was going on in his head. I walked to him slowly. He seemed to notice me. He turned to me, looked at me. There was no emotion showing in his beautiful blue orbs. Then he smiled.

"Cloud…" I reached my hand to him. Still smiling, he walked past me. For a while he stopped, but he was not looking at me.

"I'm sorry for running off. I'll go and find the others." Then he walked off, leaving me alone and dumbfounded.

----

Cloud's PoV

I was drowning in my own thoughts, wondering how much more I would fall into the path of darkness. I am sinful. I heard footsteps. I knew they were Zack's. I turned to him. He looked at me and frowned and I got the feeling that he wanted to ask a lot of things, but I didn't want to talk about anything. I didn't wish for him to hate me. The only one I would sacrifice anything for. Yes, I am sinful. I smiled.

"Cloud…"

I am dirty. Rather than be beautiful and lose him, I'd rather be the demon. I smiled. Yeah, I would be as sinful as I could be, as long as you were happy. I walked past him; a twisted smile adorned my face. I stopped when he couldn't see my face anymore. I didn't know what kind of face I made when I said the words, but my heart was pierced with thousands of needles. "I'm sorry for running off. I'll go and find the others." Yes, this is the best. I must avoid being alone with him. I wouldn't let him do anything to Zack. Not while I'm conscious. This time, I will protect Zack.

I traced the road back. I couldn't remember which way I took. I was too busy with my shock and fear at the time. I closed my eyes, concentrating. I was in an area with a lot of dried trees. I inhaled the air and I smelt blood. It was not the sickening smell of the reptile's blood. It was Zack's and almost dried. I walked to the fallen branches on my side. Although there was only a little, I saw traces of dried blood on some of them. I felt warmth. Even just a little, I was happy that Zack came for me. He was running. He was worried. I laughed softly.

"Silly, you're too kind…" The words came out in a whisper. I didn't say it for others to hear, so I didn't care if no one heard it. I reached for one of the branches, the smallest, and held it close. It was a proof that, at the very least, he had shown concern for me. I put it in my pocket. I raised my hand and pressed my palm close to my heart and prayed, "May you be happy, always and forever."

I had my resolve. I wouldn't falter anymore. I promised to myself that I wouldn't give in to him, until I fulfilled the contract. I rose to my feet and walked away. My path, let it be hell if that would mean heaven to the one I loved. Carve the pain to my soul if that was what I needed to be alive. I would move on. 'Til the day my soul leaves this body.

---

I heard footsteps come near. It should be Tifa and the others. I slapped my own face softly. I had to appear normal to them. I tried to smile my usual weak smile. I hoped it was not weird because right now I couldn't see my own face. I ran slightly and greeted them with a smile.

"The 'ell are ya runnin' off to?" irritated, Barret greeted my smile. He looked as scary as usual. I was wondering if he was ever happy except with Marlene before. I laughed sheepishly. It was foolish of me not to think of an excuse before running off to them.

"Stop it, we're all tired. Let's just move on and find a place to rest." Again, the always-kind Aerith saved me. So much for putting up a fake smile, she looked unconvinced. Hell, I had a lot of explaining to do later. I promised her that I would tell her everything. I felt uncomfortable, but also relieved to be able to talk to someone. Having a secret and be unable to talk to anybody was just suffocating. I could always have help, especially when I had him inside of me. I made a self-note to tell Aerith that if someday, if ever, he came out and did something to harm any of them, I would like her to do something. Well, considering her personality, she wouldn't kill me. However, if she could do anything to stop him, I didn't have any complaints.

After I joined them, we walked a bit and met up with Zack. He was his usual self, laughing and bright. Occasionally I noticed he would secretly follow my movements as if afraid that I would turn mad like Sephiroth did. Well, not that I wouldn't. Eventually, he, the other me, would take over this body. I might have sounded pessimistic, but I felt his presence with every step I made. As the seconds passed, his presence grew stronger, little by little. Why was it now? Was it because of the poison? I was so confused and it made me forget that tonight was another full moon.

We finally made it to the barren hill and out to the plains. We found a camping site nearby and decided to stay. I noticed that my body felt weakened. My breaths were harsh. I was born and raised in Nibelheim, a mountain area. Hiking was not much of a problem to me, then why would crossing a hill take so much out of me? The only explanation I could come up with was that my body, together with Jenova cells, was weakened. The source of a SOLDIER's super power was Mako and Jenova cells. When the cells are weakened, so is the body. Sometimes, my body ached, not to the extent that I couldn't handle it, but it took a lot of my stamina to suppress the pain and act normally.

"Cloud, are you okay? You're sweating a lot," I looked at Tifa, my childhood friend, my first love. She was the most popular girl back then and I was so in love with her, but, of course, I was rejected.

"Yeah, just a bit tired. I will be fine after a good sleep."

She nodded and passed me a glass of lukewarm chocolate. "It'll help. Make sure to sleep earlier okay!" Then she waved and ran off. She'd been nice to me since we were small. It always made me wonder why she bothered to be kind to someone as gloomy as I was. I ended the thought with the conclusion; 'she is nice to everybody because she is kind' and I think it was correct. I took a sip at the drink and felt warmth run down my throat and to my stomach. It was soothing. I entered the tent they had set up and found my usual sleeping spot. I lied on the leather cushion. Not so comfortable, but enough for a temporary rest. I closed my eyes and tried to rest my mind. I think I was too tired. I slept almost immediately.

I had a dream. I was standing. The scenery was familiar. I saw everybody. They were shouting something I couldn't hear. I saw Tifa crying, Barret angry, Aerith looked at me sharply, and Zack, well I didn't know how to describe, might be confusion or might also be anger. I couldn't understand. I saw blood from my sword and my hand. I felt ecstatic. I laughed and dashed toward the nearest person. It was Aerith. I looked at Zack who stood behind her. He looked hurt. I saw sadness in him. I raised my sword and he raised his to protect the brunette. Then the sword clashed. I saw red. I saw blood. Then everything went dark.

My eyes shot opened. I was sweating a lot. I breathed heavily. My heart was beating so loud that I could hear nothing except the sound of it. I felt so scared all of the sudden. I tried to kill Zack in my dream. I hurt everybody. I didn't know why I did that, but I felt joy. I was enjoying their pained expressions.

"It was just a dream…" I tried to reassure myself. I wouldn't do something like that. I wouldn't try to hurt Zack of all people. His life is worth more than my own and, above everything, I loved him more than anyone I'd ever loved. He was everything to me. I was even willing to sacrifice myself for him. Trying to kill him meant to kill myself. However, if it was him, then it was possible.

I wiped my forehead and noticed how wet it was. I winced when I stood up. I had already gotten used to the random pain. Since I obtained and drank the poison, I always experienced pain sometimes. At first, it was so painful that I felt like dying, but later I got accustomed to it.

"Getting used to pain…I am so…twisted," I laughed at myself inwardly. Who the hell would want to get used to pain, I am no masochist.

---

"Aerith, can I talk to you?" I couldn't sleep after the dream, so I decided to tell Aerith. Maybe she could help and I still had to remind her about my sudden personality change.

"Yeah, but I'm kind of busy right now. Can we talk later?" I noticed that she was busy preparing our dinner. We had the night shift and were to cook. Tonight it was Aerith's turn to cook. I nodded and walked to the biggest tree in the empty plains, resting my back on its huge trunk. My body was really tired; my eyes were heavy, but I could not rest them. I was too afraid to sleep and to dream. I brushed my eyes in an effort to drive away the sleep spell that seemed to attach itself to my eyes. I looked up, noticing that the sky had turned dark blue. I didn't manage to sleep too long. I hoped I wouldn't be a burden tomorrow. I was tired, too tired. My eyes fluttered weakly. I tried to keep them open, but they were too heavy. The scenery began to blur as I almost drifted back to sleep. Then, I saw light. Although a blur, I could still identify the light. Golden light warped by the curtain of dark. It was the moon. Tonight was the full moon.

"Full moon…" I recited it. There was something, a very important thing, forgotten in my tiredness. I fell asleep with the blurry sight of the moon printed in my head.

I was wrapped in warm light. I was dreaming again.

"Cloud…"

Familiar voice…I knew that voice…

"Cloud…"

Something important…forgotten…

"Cloud…the…second…"

Zack…the other me…I kill….Minerva…Jenova….

"Minerva…" I remember. Full moon, Minerva, the contract. Everything spun around in front of my eyes. I remembered. Full moon, I was to receive the second bottle. I opened my eyes and the scenery came back. I was alone, sitting under the tree. There was silence. From afar, there was light from the fire at the camp. I looked around, but there was no sight of Minerva's owl. I pushed myself up to stand and something fell from my lap. It was the second bottle and a few bird feathers. I took the bottle and examined the liquid inside the transparent glass. The second bottle, I didn't know what would happen to me later. I had another thing to tell Aerith later.

I took off the lid and drank the silvery liquid. It was tasteless, but grainy. I felt something cold run down my throat. The second after the last drop was drunk, the once cold liquid burnt. My throat was burning. It was painful. I felt like throwing up. I was coughing. My stomach hurt. I cringed and covered my mouth, afraid that I would throw up all of my stomach contents. Nothing came. My coughs became harder and more painful. My breath was irregular. I inhaled as much as I could, as if the oxygen would be gone, but the pain stayed. I grabbed a handful of overgrown grasses that grew under the tree beside me, pulling them out as if by doing so would reduce the pain. My head throbbed loudly in my ears. I couldn't hold it anymore. I was so sure that I would pass out, but I didn't. The pain receded and I was shaking uncontrollably. I moved the hand that I used to cover my mouth. My palm was wet with a black and slightly silvery tinted liquid. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. I coughed up blood and the silvery tint must have been the liquid. I looked around, but found no water source to wash my hand, so I took the grasses I had pulled up and wiped the blood. I couldn't cleanly wipe all the blood, but it was enough. I could always lie and say that I scratched it on a stone if someone found out. I threw the grasses away and walked toward the camp. I didn't know that the grasses that I used to wipe the blood had rotted. The once green leaves turned to a yellowish brown and finally dispersed into dust.

---

"Oh hi Cloud, I'm done cooking. You wanna eat now?" Aerith was the first to see me. I nodded and she passed me a plate. I scanned the area around the fire and found Tifa waving at me. I waved back and she made a sign for me to sit beside her. I walked and sat beside her. Across from her was Barret. As usual, not that I ever mentioned it, he had an extreme appetite, and beside Barret was Zack.

"Where'd ya go, Chocobo head?" asked the raven-haired man. He looked like he was having an eating contest with Barret, seeing the amount of food they had consumed. Zack was an unexpectedly big eater.

"Nearby, a night stroll," I replied and began to eat the food. It was nice. I always loved Aerith's cooking. Her cooking, well, was the best while Tifa's was the second best. My cooking could be considered normal. The worst cooks would be Zack and Barret. They always wasted the food, burned them to charcoal, but they were very good in combat.

I was enjoying the food when I stopped suddenly. In a split second, I tasted nothing. Everything in my mouth, the spicy and sweet taste of the food, turned tasteless. I could feel the food, but I couldn't taste it. My mind raced. Was it another side effect of the poison or was it just my imagination? I hoped it was the second, but fate seemed to hate me. I ate another spoonful, but again, I tasted nothing. All of the sudden, I lost my appetite. Despite the hunger I felt, I was in no mood to continue eating. I put aside the plate and rose to my feet. I passed the plate to Aerith after throwing away the unfinished food. All of their eyes were fixed on me. They had stopped eating. They were waiting for anything, someone, to break the silence I had made suddenly.

"Was my cooking…bad?" I felt bad for throwing away her cooking, but just seeing the food made me want to vomit. It was not intentional. I never purposely threw the food away; it was my subconscious at work.

I became restless. I was speechless. "It…it's not that…it's just…I…I'm so sorry Aerith…" I tried to explain, but I couldn't make up a logical excuse. Uneasiness crept up to my heart and it must have shown on my face because, after seeing my expression, Aerith's gesture became serious. It was a good thing I showed my back to the others. Aerith nodded to me and made a sign for me to follow her. I did as she told and left the others still full of questions.

---

Zack's PoV

I was surprised when Cloud suddenly stopped eating. I had been focusing my senses on him. He had been very weird lately. When he stopped, I took a quick glance at him. His facial expression showed that he was panicking. I didn't know what made him like that. I was about to ask when he suddenly stood and threw away the food. All of us were flabbergasted. Cloud never ate as much as Barret or I, but he was not one to throw away food. We knew this much and were thus shocked by the action. Then he and Aerith went away together, leaving us puzzled by everything.

For a minute, there was silence. Then Barret finally spoke, "If he doesn't want the food, he could give it to me!"

"Cloud…he has been so weird lately. He spaces out a lot and sometimes looks very sad…" Tifa was right. I noticed that, but that didn't explain why he became like that. Cloud was not a very sociable person, but he often smiled when he was with me. Lately, he always tried to avoid me. I tried to make him speak, but his pained look made me unable to ask more. When our eyes finally met, which was RARE, he did smile, but that smile was so fake, so cold. He put on the mask like he used to, but somehow his eyes betrayed him. I knew he wanted to scream. He wanted to tell someone about his pain, but was unable to.

That night, the three of us spent dinner silently while waiting for the two who never came back. None of us dared to talk anymore after Tifa. We all knew Cloud was hiding something, but were unable to ask why. Barret could care less about whatever he was hiding, Tifa was afraid to ask and me, I promised myself to believe in him. Believe that he would tell me someday. Then, when the moon shone high, we went to our own tents, Tifa with Aerith, Barret had the night shift, and Cloud was with me. When I entered the leather hut, Cloud was lying on his own cushion. His breathing was even, eyes closed in sleep. His back faced me. I couldn't tell whether he was really asleep or not.

"Cloud, are you asleep?" No answer. I sighed. He was definitely pretending. I knew Cloud was a light sleeper. He was always the first to wake up and the last to sleep ever since we had lived together in Midgar. He even had super sensitive hearing. He had definitely heard my call. Ignoring the fact that he pretended to sleep, I continued, "You are so…different lately. I don't know what has happened to you, but just to remind you, I will be more than willing to hear and help you. You know that, don't you Cloud?" More silence. "I won't force you to tell me, but it really bothers me, so I hope you will tell me soon. Good night, Cloud."

I rolled to my side. I closed my eyes, emptied my mind, forced my restless brain to stop thinking, and entered the dream world. On the other side, the sleeping boy was still motionless and silent. Unnoticed by me, a transparent, crystal-like water drop rolled from his closed eyes and made a path from his pale cheek down to the cushion, ending the long night.

Next chapter will be a sad one, at least I tried to make it sad...haha. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people out there who loved angsty stories. I'm surprised, but happy. Anyway, please review! Author needs fertilizer called REVIEW to survive ;D