A/N: Welcome to chapter 37 of Fractured Love!

I know some of you have been waiting in suspense over what's going to happen during the rest of Zack's exam. I'm not going to let you wait any longer.

Without any further ado, I'll let you get to reading. Remember, I do not own FF7 or any of its characters, Zack and Cloud rock, and Sephiroth is the best antagonist ever created.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 37

Zack's mind was completely void of ideas, and he hated it.

It had been a while since the cadets had been kidnapped. Though he couldn't be sure Zack guessed it had been somewhere near two days since they'd been locked up. During those two days they had been treated badly. The food they had been given so far had been minimal – just enough to keep them going. Eating it was a big challenge since their hands had remained cuffed ever since.

But that wasn't the worst of it. By now Luxiere wasn't the only one who was injured. Though neither Zack nor Kunsel had been shot, all three of them sported bruises, cuts and even a bruised rib or two from the beatings they had been given. Kunsel even suffered from a slight muscle spasm due to the bolt spell that had been cast on him several times.

They were all in the interest of interrogation, or so they had been told. The only word the cadets could provide for it was torture. The three had since then found out that their kidnappers posed as AVALANCHE terrorists. They wanted to get all the information they could get on Shinra. Reactor security protocols, passwords, patrol schedules and whatever more they thought would be useful for their own operations. The most ironic part of the situation was, was that they didn't even have that kind of information, so this whole thing was useless.

But that didn't stop Zack's plan to try and escape. The only problem was that he couldn't come up with one. Every plan he came up with, or was even suggested by Kunsel, he quickly disregarded. He always saw flaws and uncertainties, and because of what happened the first time it made him hesitant. The fact that Luxiere had been eerily subdued and quiet ever since he had been shot wasn't very motivating either. The terrorists had treated his wound just enough to stave off infection, so it wasn't because he was ill. The only reason Zack could come up with was that his will to fight had been broken, and that made everything even more difficult for the raven-haired young man.

"Zack, I've got another idea." Kunsel said.

"What is it?" Zack replied, though it wasn't with much enthusiasm.

Kunsel caught up on the tone and frowned, though continued as if he hadn't, "I saw some pins lying on a table in that room they take us to 'interrogate' us. If we're smart we might be able to take one and use it as a lock pick."

"And then what? Make the same mistake twice in a row? Don't be stupid Kunsel."

Kunsel's frown deepened, "At least we'll have a way to get our hands free again. Then we will be in a much better position to get out."

"It's too risky Kunsel. Getting that pin in the first place will be a difficult in and of its own. Then we'll need to get it back unseen, and then we'll need to still find a way to get out of our cell and out of here without being shot."

"If you keep thinking about it like that we'll never get out of here." Kunsel objected, "Come on Zack. Where's that hard-headed determination of yours?"

Zack didn't respond to that. To be fair he wondered about the same thing himself. Whatever plan they came up with required them to do exactly the same. Getting out of their cuffs and getting out of here. There was going to be no way they would just find a set of keys and waltz out without a care in the world.

Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall in their direction. It was time for another one of their 'interrogation' sessions.

Kunsel quickly stepped over to Zack to whisper in his ear, "Either you come up with something quickly or I will follow up on my idea."

Zack wanted to respond to that, but couldn't get the words out before the door was being opened and the opportunity was lost. He tried to shoot his friend a look that told him to get it out of his head instead, but Kunsel shot him a determined one back that told him he wasn't going to listen.

"It's your turn again boys." The guard said with a smirk, "Now come along quietly and things might not be so bad for you this time."

As if, Zack thought internally. They were defenceless and unable to stop whatever was done to them. Being asked questions they had no answer to didn't help their situation either. Not that he would have given the answers if he did know. He was sure Kunsel would try to hold out for as long as he could as well. Luxiere on the other hand, with how quiet he'd gotten after failing and being shot once, he wasn't so sure about.

In any case the three were led through the hallway like meek cattle on their way to slaughter. The route was familiar by now since they were always being brought to the same room. Once again Zack tried to think of something, anything that might get them out of this, or at least stop these people from beating them senseless. But he couldn't come up with anything.

"Hello there again boys." A man, whom they had come to know as the one leading these 'interrogations' greeted them with a grin, "Let's see it you'll be more talkative today."

"Which one do you want first Barry?" One of the guards asked.

Barry hummed and looked at the three in turn, letting his eyes rest on Luxiere, "This one seems like he's about to crack."

"No, please no. I don't know anything." Luxiere begged with fear in his eyes.

"Sure you do you Shinra scum. There must be something of value you can tell me." Barry disagreed while he determinedly grabbed Luxiere's injured leg and squeezed, making the cadet cry out in pain, "How about the access codes to the reactors in Midgar? Or perhaps even a weakness of SOLDIER?"

"Ah! I-I don't know any o-of that!" Luxiere groaned.

"Pah! I'm no fool. You're training to be SOLDIERs, right? So you're bound to know something of use."

Barry squeezed even harder, making Luxiere cry out even louder, "Please! I don't know!"

With a final squeeze and a scowl Barry let go of Luxiere's leg, leaving the cadet to groan and pant in relief, "You SOLDIERs are the worst scum out there. Everything Shinra does is against nature. By pumping up Mako energy they are killing the Planet. And they even dare use it on goddamn people." Barry then grabbed the back of Luxiere's head and pulled it close to his, "You can help us stop this. Don't allow Shinra to turn everybody into freaks and kill the Planet. Tell me what you know."

Luxiere started to talk at that point. In his desperation for it to be over and in the hopes of preventing anymore pain, he started to say whatever came to mind. They were all nonsensical things that were either common knowledge or useless to know.

Zack pitied the young man. He had truly reached his breaking point and would have probably spilled each and every one of Shinra's secrets if he had anything worthwhile to say. It made him very angry that Barry would continue to hurt and persuade him to give up information that he simply didn't have.

As the scene dragged out and Luxiere got beaten even more, that anger only rose. Eventually Zack was aware of a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't like he felt sick, but it was the closest description he could provide. The feeling had been there for a while now, slowly simmering but always present. It had gotten stronger before, but this time it was stronger than ever before.

Suddenly the feeling shot straight to his head and Zack felt light-headed. Memories of past situation in which he was powerless to do anything flashed before his eyes. Some memories were about these interrogations, but a lot were about Cloud. In any case, as the memories flashed in front of him, his emotions felt like they were on overdrive. There was only one way to stop it, and Zack instinctively felt how he should do that. He gritted his teeth and started pulling his hands apart. The power he felt was incredible, and after only a few seconds the links of his cuffs broke and he was free to use his hands again.

But he didn't stop there. With the power still surging through him he rushed at Barry and punched him in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious. He then turned around and took care of the two guards still in the room. It all happened so quickly that neither of them had a chance to respond. Within ten seconds they also were lying on the floor unconscious.

With the guards down Zack finally stopped to breathe. Now that the threat had been taken care of he felt the feeling slowly die out again to come to a rest at the pit of his stomach again.

"Oh Gaia, Zack!" Kunsel said in disbelief.

Zack panted as the light-headed feeling slowly returned to normal as well. He then looked around confused, "What happened?"

"I think you got you limit break."

Limit break. The state of being in which a person has reached the limit of what he or she can take either emotionally or physically. It manifests itself as a short burst of energy that can have multiple different forms. Sometimes it allows the one limit breaking to use magic without materia, but more often would it take shape as a burst of physical strength. It was obvious that the latter was the case for Zack.

"We've got no time to waste. Now is our chance to get out of here." Kunsel snapped his friend out of his thoughts.

"Right." He agreed, still a bit dumbfounded by what had happened.

Kunsel was quick to get their escape going. He directed Zack to take the keys from one of the guards and free both his hands and Luxiere's. Now all they had to do was get out of here.

"But what about the others?" Luxiere asked as they had just started down the hallway, "We've got to save them."

"There's no time." Zack disagreed, the answer coming quickly because he'd been thinking about this a lot before, "Besides, we don't even know where they're being kept and what keys to use. It'll take a lot of time we don't have."

"Agreed." Kunsel supplied, "We'd better get out ourselves and contact Shinra ASAP."

Though it was with reluctance, Luxiere followed the two anyway. As much as he wanted to try and find his own friends, he didn't want to risk getting shot again. He was being slowed down by his wound anyway, so he couldn't afford to take any longer routes.

Kunsel was in the lead as he led them through the dimly lit corridors of the caves. He needed to stop and decide what turn to make every so often. It had been a few days since they'd been brought here after all, so his memory wasn't as clear as it used to be. Along the way they had to often duck out of the way of patrolling guards. Kunsel's skill in sneaking and infiltration came in very handy as they navigated through without alerting anyone of their presence. After about half an hour the three finally started smelling fresh air, and knew they were near the exit. Without hesitation they made the last stretch without any more trouble.

"Gaia! The fresh air feels so good right now." Luxiere sighed as he took a moment to savour the breeze that greeted them.

"We shouldn't stay here for too long. They might still come after us." Zack interrupted the moment, though he had to admit the fresh air greatly helped clear up the remaining light-headedness he still felt.

"You're right. Anyone any clue where we are?" Kunsel said while looking around for any landmark that could give them a hint to their location.

Zack had previously concluded that they were somewhere near the Mythril Mines due to the caverns in the mountain that were certainly handmade. That mountain range was long though, crossing across pretty much half the continent. It was currently dark outside with the moon being their only source of light. So it was hard to look around and get a feeling for their location.

"Do you smell that too?" Luxiere said instead.

Both Kunsel and Zack started sniffing the air as well, and now that he did the latter could also smell something funny, "Yeah, what is it?" He wondered out loud.

"It smells like…rotten eggs or something." Luxiere added.

"Probably the swamp." Kunsel guessed.

"We're all the way over there?" The wounded cadet said in bewilderment.

"Fits with my idea that we're near Mythril Mines." Zack said, "But even then I don't know what way to go. My topographical skills aren't the greatest."

"We should go north and try to reach the Chocobo Farm. Hopefully we'll be able to get some chocobos there and get back to Midgar sooner."

"Sounds like a plan." Zack agreed with a nod.

After that the trio quickly set out to try and find their destination. They figured out what way was north by going in the opposite direction of where the breeze was coming from. Since the swamp was in the south it wasn't hard to tell what way was north.

Right at that moment Zack was glad that it was night time. The darkness covered their movements from any kidnappers who might be pursuing them. He wondered whether they were already. After all, they managed to get out without alerting other guards, but he guessed that the unconscious bodies should have been found by now. They would probably search the caves first, but would eventually conclude that they already got out completely. After that they would probably get into the trucks they brought the cadets here with and try to find them. This would be bad, but the lack of light could work in their favour.

He did realise they had to be careful though. The lead they had meant nothing while they were on foot. They needed to get to the farm as fast as they could and get the chocobos. Only then would they stand a chance of outrunning their kidnappers.

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Night dragged on for about two more hours before it gave way to twilight. The trio was getting hungry and exhausted. Now that the adrenaline rush was over fatigue hit them like a ton of bricks.

Luxiere was the worst off of the three. Though he had been able to keep up fairly well at first his leg was getting weaker with every step he took. Walking this much strained the wound and it had started bleeding again. Since the other two were unwilling to leave him behind they took turns in supporting him and helping him cross the landscape. At least they were in a grassland area, so it was fairly easy to traverse.

The flat land also brought a problem with it however, and that was the lack of cover. Especially now that it was becoming light again they would soon be able to see for miles ahead. Though it would help them in locating the farm with more ease, it also meant they would be spotted more easily too.

His fears were answered when he suddenly heard the sound of a running motor behind him. He wagered a look across his shoulder and saw what he had been worried about all along. There was a truck heading straight in their direction. No doubt it held the kidnappers and they would be captured again if they didn't do something. He had no idea how many of them there would be and Luxiere wasn't able to defend himself in the first place. Their best option was to try and take cover and hope they hadn't been spotted yet.

"Kunsel!" He called out ahead of him to where his friend was scouting the road ahead."

"I know Zack. Come on, I think I found some cover here."

Without any hesitation Zack nodded and dragged Luxiere to the area Kunsel had indicated. They had been keeping close to the mountain range, though they were well past the part where the mines were. Still there were some natural nooks and crannies here and there, and Kunsel seemed to have found one of them that was big enough to fit the three of them. It was only barely though and it actually wasn't a very good hiding place. They were out of sight if the kidnappers would only look in front of them, but only one glance to the side in their direction would easily reveal the three of them.

And so they pressed themselves as close to the walls as they could and held their breaths. Zack could feel his heart hammer in his chest. He sincerely hoped they weren't going to be spotted and could continue to be on their way and escape soon. Exam or not, he really didn't want to get back to those caves.

They listened and the sound of the truck came closer and closer. Zack didn't even notice that he was holding his breath. Though he wasn't a religious man, he found himself praying not to be discovered. The truck was now close enough that they could see the headlights shine across the open grasslands. Zack saw how it even illuminated Kunsel standing next to him. He knew for sure then that they were going to be spotted and readied himself to defend as best as he could.

But the truck didn't stop. As quickly as the light had shone on them, as quickly did it disappear. The sound of its motor sounded steadily as it drove past their hideout and onwards across the plains. They hadn't been spotted.

For a few tense moments the three didn't say anything or move a muscle, afraid that the truck might still turn around and come back. But as the sound died out, so did they all release their pent up breaths. Zack hadn't been the only one holding it it seemed. They waited for a few more minutes before deciding to head out again. It was no use staying in that place and there wasn't really any other option. They were even more cautious than before though. There was a good chance that the truck was going to turn around eventually, or that another would cross their paths.

However, being on the watch out for their kidnappers wasn't the only thing that slowed them down. Exhaustion and hunger was catching up on them. They felt like they could barely set another step, Luxiere in particular. Since they had no idea how much farther the farm was, they needed to find a place to rest and they needed to find it soon. The problem was that the field still didn't provide any shelter and the mountains on their left also weren't helpful. There was no source of water in sight and they didn't have the means to catch some wild rabbits. And so they simply trudged on. Even though they felt they couldn't.

Dawn had fully broken through by now and the sun was steadily rising in the east. Zack judged it to be near midmorning by now. It was then that Kunsel came running back to where Zack was helping Luxiere to tell them that he had finally spotted the Chocobo Farm. With renewed energy they made it there.

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Everything happened so fast as soon as the trio had reached the farm. The elderly man in charge of the place quickly took them inside, where they quickly wolfed down the bit of food and water the man could spare. They were tempted to rest there too before moving on, but when Billy, the owner's grandson came in to say that he had seen several trucks riding around in the area, they knew they couldn't afford to stay there for long.

Even though they were only cadets still, the were still considered employees of Shinra. Kunsel was apt to remind them that Shinra and the farm had an agreement that allowed them to hire chocobos free of charge. They took the yellow birds gratefully and set out to continue westwards towards Midgar.

The start of their journey from the farm was not without trouble. Billy hadn't been kidding when he said trucks were patrolling the area. It was an amazing feat that they managed to slip past without any hitch. After that they travelled hard to get as far away as soon as possible.

It wasn't until several hours later when the large city doomed up in front of them again. From that point onwards Zack hardly remembered what happened. He hadn't blacked out, but he had been so tired that nothing really registered in his mind. He remembered Shinra infantrymen standing guard at the entrance to the city taking them to the Shinra Building without question. He remembered standing in front of no one other than director Lazard himself as they filed their report. After that there was nothing more other than waking up in his own bunk back in the barracks.

He found himself to be completely alone safe for Kunsel who was still sleeping next to him. Luxiere was in the infirmary because of his leg. The quiet was an odd sensation to him after having shared this room with several others during the past twelve weeks. He almost missed the sound of snoring young men filling the room.

Feeling very hungry, but still too tired to get up, Zack sagged back into his pillow with a heavy sigh. He had slept so deep that he hadn't dreamt, but the he was sure he would in the future. The exam had proven to be of an entirely different level than expected and he knew he had to get through it and give it a place. Memories of those few days locked up flashed in front of him, with Luxiere getting shot being most clear in his mind.

He felt doubt creep up on him again. Though very realistic the exam had been nothing more than that, an exam. If he got rattled during a relatively controlled situation, then how would he deal with it if he ever got into one for real? With AVALANCHE continuing to terrorize the city the possibility of a kidnap was quite real.

For a moment he felt foolish. On one end for having these glorious dreams of being a SOLDIER and becoming a hero. There was no glory in this. At least not really. Perhaps he should have stayed back in Nibelheim and worked on getting Cloud better there. On the other end he felt foolish for thinking like this. He had known that joining SOLDIER meant battles, hardships and hard work. It was okay to feel disheartened, but better to find out during an exam rather than out there on the field for real. That was probably part of the exam's goal.

"Still thinking about the exam?" Kunsel's voice sounded from next to him.

Zack turned his head with a frown, "I thought you were sleeping."

"I wasn't." Kunsel revealed, "At least not for the past half hour. I was awake before you were actually."

Zack hummed but offered no other reply. Kunsel leaned up on his elbows, "You haven't answered my question though."

"It's nothing."

"Don't lie to me Zack. I've seen you being troubled often enough now. I know when something's on your mind."

Zack didn't reply immediately, instead letting the words sink in. It was true the Kunsel had seen him in both his best and worst moments. The fact that his friend had learned to read him so well and tried to get him to talk made him appreciate him all the more. It made it easier to speak his mind when prodded.

"We barely made it out alive."

"True." Kunsel confessed, agreeing to the statement much to Zack's surprise rather than challenge it, "It certainly wasn't the most glamorous of escapes." He then shifted so he was sitting on the edge of his bunk, "But the point is that we did get out. We escaped and got back to base. Thanks to us they were able to organise a 'rescue party'. The others will be home too before the day's out."

"It's only because you remembered how to get out of the caves. You were also the one knowing what way to go and where to find a hiding place when we needed it."

"Give yourself some credit too. You were the one who cared so much about our welfare that you reached your limit break and gave us a way to escape in the first place. You were the one keeping us together as we were on the run. You were the one refusing to leave Luxiere behind even though he was slowing us down."

"But that limit break was a total coincidence! I couldn't even come up with a decent foolproof plan!" Zack disagreed vehemently.

"Like the plans Luxiere or I came up with were great." Kunsel rolled his eyes, getting annoyed with Zack's self-destructive thoughts, "Face it Zack, we were in a very tough spot with only very few options. Yeah you could have been more assertive in trying some of those ideas out. But we'll never know whether they would have worked and gotten us out sooner. For all we know sitting back and abide out time was the best thing we could have done.

"The most important thing is that we got out in the first place, and that you had a big part in that success. Now stop wallowing in self pity and accept the facts."

Zack fell silent. Kunsel's words got him thinking again. It was difficult for him to accept it, but deep down inside he knew Kunsel was right. The events were simply weighing heavily on his emotions. Whether he was truly SOLDIER material would show in how well he could put this behind himself. He needed to try and accept it and learn from the experience.

He could only hope the exam committee would agree with Kunsel's assessment. He simply couldn't deny he still wanted to be in SOLDIER despite this experience and his subsequent doubts.

0o0o0

A/N: Whee! They got out! I personally feel that this chapter is a bit of a mess. To me it feels like I describe a character a certain way, but let him respond in dialogue completely differently.

But in any case the SOLDIER programme will be finally over now. We're moving on to the final arc of this story. There's still quite a bit that's left and certain things from before are going to come back for the final stretch. Let's get this show on the road.

Until next time! Leave a review on your way out please!