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

A/N: Sorry it took so long for the update, I had finals to study for and I am ecstatic that the analytical paper, that I had to write for my final in English, I got a 100 on it, Hooray!

It is still not too late to get me your selections of baby names! The winner gets a special dedication at the beginning of the chapter of the birth and a lifetime supply of imaginary cookies! So get me your name choices soon, the more choices you send me, the better your chances of winning!

Thank you to chocobohugger (guest) for your wonderfully kind review! I put your name suggestion on the list of baby names for the contest.

Thanks to my wonderful, yet stressed-out beta SubZeroChimera!

"Failures do what is tension relieving, while winners do what is goal achieving." –Dennis Waitley

To You I Give My Heart

Chapter 21

~Traveling the Hard Way~

Muttering under his breath, Zack expressed his alarm, "Holy shit…"

"Let's go, we must at least get to some trees that are at the base of the plateau," Nanaki started a brisk pace urging Zack along.

As they walked along the edge of the precipice, Zack asked, "Where can we cross this?"

"There used to be a bridge, but it seems that it either collapsed from age or it had help from the military," Looking over his shoulder, Nanaki said, "There should be a way across closer to a large grouping of trees that is at the foot of the plateau."

Keeping up their pace, they began to unconsciously increase their speed. Zack looked over his shoulder at the back of the village, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. They were far enough away that he was unable to see anyone, but he could make out smoke rising from the chimneys far off in the distance and with his enhanced hearing, he heard nothing unusual.

When Nanaki stopped, Zack questioned, "What's up Red?"

Lowly, almost in a growl, he said, "Shinra."

"Already? I don't hear them," Looking around nervously, Zack strained to hear, see or smell anything, but he felt blind.

"I can feel the vibration that large numbers of them gathered together cause the planet, they are closer than I am comfortable to admit," Turning to face Zack, he said, "We must run, the entrance to a tree line is a few miles from here."

Petting the towering white chocobo, Zack asked her, "Well Marshy, can you carry me and pull the trailer?"

Bouncing and flapping her wings, she let out a quiet, "Wark."

"I suspect, since she is still quite young, that she will be able to carry you for a short while. At least until we can put some distance between us and the village," Nanaki walked around the back of the trailer, "Your woman should be covered, her yellow dress stands out and she needs to be secured better back here, but do it quickly."

Without a second thought, Zack covered her with the blanket that she once was laying on and placed one of the softer bags under her knees, "There, that should be a little more comfortable."

"Zackary, we must go!"

Glancing around, he now heard heavy military transports off in the distance, "Gaia-damn it!" Mounting the chocobo, he took the reins, "Come on Marshy, go!" The pounding in his heart was hard enough that he thought for sure that it would not only leap from his chest, but that it could be heard by anyone in the vicinity. The chocobo took off and Zack guided her to follow his red traveling companion, the wind rushed through his hair and threatened to deafen him along with the blood rushing through his veins.

Nanaki gained speed and Zack tried to keep up, but although his mount was at a disadvantage with the extra weight, the snow-white chocobo kept up a steady pace. A tree line to a smaller area came into view as they turned slightly away from their final destination, trying to make it to the small area, hoping for some cover. Driving the over-sized bird for over two miles non-stop proved to be too much for her and about half a mile from the trees, she slowed.

"Come on Marshy, just a little further!" Zack pleaded with his mount, patting her along the base of her neck, "You can do it!" Ducking her head slightly, she surged forward, but was still slowing as she fought to maintain her pace.

Slowing down to run alongside Zack, Nanaki, asked, "Is she slowing?"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to get off, maybe she can make it without my extra weight."

"Will you be able to run it?"

"I'm a little out of shape, so I guess we will find out," Bringing Marshmallow to a stop, he slid off and patted her as she panted and dipped her head, "You did good Marshy. I'll run beside you, can you keep up with me?"

Raising her head a little, she cuddled her forehead in his neck and let out a breathless, "Wark."

"Good girl," Taking the reins, he pulled, "Come on, just a little bit more and we can stop for a while." Nanaki took off in a run with Zack starting out slowly, while urging the large bird to follow him.

Thinking back to his training, he remembered all the times that he ran. He ran more than he ever thought possible, mainly because he was in trouble for one thing or another. Angeal made sure that he ran all the laps that was doled out to him, and it was usually a hundred at a time. At least once a week he had to run those extra laps because of his stupidity and ease of getting himself into trouble for one thing or another. That was one thing that he could always count on in himself, his ability to get himself into trouble.

It was never anything bad, just him trying to have fun and without thinking too far into the future. His mother always said he had a knack for attracting that kind of attention. Inevitably, though, he would get his assigned number of laps to run and he would find his mind wandering, making time pass by. His inability to stay focused on one thing for very long was really rather convenient, because before he knew what happened, he was finished with his laps and he was able to move on with the rest of his day or night or whatever it happened to be.

This time was no different, because the tree-line was about half a mile away and that is when he stupidly took his focus away from his musings and brought it to his actual running, causing him to trip on a large rock that stuck out of the ground at an odd angle, "Son of a-!"

Instinctively, he tucked his arms into his chest and twisted so that he rolled, however, when he released the reins, the chocobo jerked to keep from running him over. Seeing one of the wheels of the trailer heading for his neck, he pulled himself into a ball and covered his head with his hands and arms. Veering to the right, the chocobo again ran off, parallel with the outer tree line, away from their destination.

A blur of red fur shot in front of his eyes, heading straight for the runaway chocobo. Jumping to his feet, Zack's heart began to sink as he started running after the chocobo while he mumbled angrily, "Not again!" If things weren't so serious, he would have thought this a comedy of errors. Perhaps in Gaia's boredom, she was just trying to have a little fun with them, but then the chocobo slowed when she caught sight of some greens growing along one side of her wild path.

Out of breath, Zack reached the feeding chocobo, checking on Cloud as he passed the trailer. The blond appeared to just be sleeping and in a way he was strangely thankful that she was not conscious right then.

Nanaki snorted in irritation as he turned to head back toward their previous direction, "Come on, we are almost there, if you can make it there before the entire Shinra army is upon us."

Taking the reins, Zack pulled on the chocobo in a bit of frustration, "Come on, you can eat when we get to the trees, I'm sure that there are more greens there." Reluctantly, the bird followed as Zack again began to run back toward to the trees.

Once they were under the canopy of leaves, they relaxed, but just a little. Taking out the canteens, Zack took a drink and offered some to Nanaki as he asked, "Do you think we will make it to the Frog Forest tonight, or will we have to camp?"

"I believe we can make it tonight or by morning at the latest," Sparing an incredulous eye to the brunette, Nanaki's tone was slightly mocking, "That is if you are quite finished playing around with our lives."

"Hey, that rock came out of nowhere!" Slipping his hand under Cloud's head, he lifted her gently and placed the opening of the canteen to her lips as he spoke to their nervous four-legged companion, Zack's tone turned sour, "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I would like to get there tonight if possible, that is all I'm trying to say," Nanaki sat as he tilted his head, listening, "I do not hear anything right now, so it should be safe to at least check out the area for any foot patrols and head to the trail."

Slowly, they made their way through the thick trees, almost to the place where they would have to start their climb. Feeling a strange sensation, Zack straightened, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end like they were being pulled. It was a somewhat familiar feeling, but he couldn't place it. Feeling a bit of déjà vu wrapped his brain, wanting to figure out what it was that was so intense about it.

Gently quickening his steps, he caught up to Nanaki and quietly conveyed his thoughts, "I think we are being watched."

Without breaking his stride Nanaki answered back, "I know."

Speaking lowly, Zack said, "It feels like I know who it is, but I'm not sure."

"Shinra?"

"Yes," Furrowing his eyebrows, he searched his feelings, used his enhancements to try to decipher the odd perception, "No."

"Which is it?"

"I don't know, I can't tell," He didn't feel like he was in immediately in danger, "I don't think it is anything to worry about… necessarily." The closer they got to their destination, the more the feeling faded, but it still stayed at the back of his mind.

It didn't take as long to climb to the top of the plateau as Zack thought that it would because Nanaki found a small covered natural path that shortened the trip. Stopping every few hundred feet, Zack made sure to cover their tracks as best as he could and before he knew it, they were standing on the edge of the Frog Forest.

The new morning light faded a little as they stepped foot in the dangerous territory and the thick trees that populated the dense forest. The monstrous trees held larger leaves that shaded the area under them, making it darker.

Luckily they didn't get too many monster attacks, so Zack allowed his gaze to study the odd forest. Large mushrooms grew near larger pink flowers that lay flat on the ground, "I may be mistaken, but do those flowers have spikes?"

"Yes, stay clear, they are traps."

As they passed one of the flowers, a large frog jumped out in front of them and startled and skittered away, right onto one of the flowers. With a quick snap, the flower shut itself up, trapping the frog in its petals. Zack could see the movement of the frog as it struggled to free itself, but the petals held strong. Large pods hung from some tree limbs, lids open, waiting for an unsuspecting bug or animal to come near it.

"Hey Red, this may be a stupid question, but do you know where this house is?"

"I should be able to find it."

"Can you smell it?"

"Yes, even though it has been here for many years, it still has a human smell to it. The problem that I am having is that the smell is blending with the smell of the forest, so it is making it difficult to tell which direction to go."

"Well as much as I like to just 'wander,' I am going to have to stop for a second," Patting the white feathers just above her wing, Zack dropped the reins.

Looking around to the former Soldier, Nanaki asked, "What for?"

Zack dead-panned, "My bladder doesn't have infinite capacity." After relieving himself and getting back to where Nanaki and Marshmallow waited, Zack noticed the far off look in Nanaki's eye, "You want to tell me what upset you back in the caves?"

Beginning to walk again, Nanaki spoke quietly with a sorrowful tone, "I said it was nothing."

"I saw when you froze up while I was fighting one of those huge freakishly large spiders. When you saw that statue that looked kind of like you; you looked… scared."

Picking up his pace, Nanaki's voice cracked, "Grandfather has many things to tell me." Following the glowing tail in front of him, Zack wanted to ask for more details, and he probably would have, but Nanaki spoke first, "There is the house up ahead."

The house was bigger than he thought that it would be, and it wasn't as run down as he thought either. In fact, it was well built with large grey stones and camouflaged by native green vines that grew freely across the outer walls. Zack approached and tapped the door open with the tip of his boot and the door swung open with a dull, rusty squeak. The smell, a mix of mildew and dead animals, flowed around him and he pictured what he could make of this new sanctuary, he flatly said, "Home sweet home."

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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