Chapter 28

Zack pulled his hood up over his head a little tighter. He could tell that there were some Shinra men in the area. He could sense it, but he had no idea where exactly they were snooping about. Either way he knew that he had to be quiet and careful with what he was trying to do.

Slowly and cautiously he walked up to the small shop and entered inside. The bell chimed as soon as he pushed the door open and the person at the front looked over to him. "Hiya, can I help ya?"

"Uh yeah, I saw the sign in the window that you are looking for some help. I'd like to apply."

"That's great to hear! What's ya name?"

"Zack…" Zack stopped himself before finishing.

Being undercover meant that he had to be careful of who he talked to and what he said. That included his own name since he was still being searched for by Shinra. Though initially since the event at Nibelheim, he had been reported dead by Shinra themselves to cover it up and that was five years ago.

"You got a last name there buddy?" The store owner asked, looking a little skeptical.

"Ah, yeah yeah! Zack. Zack Fair," Zack replied far too quickly and instinctively.

"All right," the owner said with a shrug. "Let me grab the paperwork from back and we can talk more about this."

After the man had gone to the back, Zack let out a long sigh. "All that hard work I did to become a hero… and it's all for nothing? Shinra just makes me nonexistent?"

Cloud, who had been following behind Zack quietly the entire time, looked at him, wondering what must be going on inside of his head. He seemed to be mulling over something but it wasn't clear if the look on his face was disappointment or confusion.

"There something wrong, Zack?" The blond asked promptly.

Zack turned to him. "Well… it's just… I guess we don't have to worry about being uncovered at least for now. Seems that nobody even knows who I am anymore…"

"Oh, so that's what it is. It's good that we are able to remain hidden though, right?"

"Well, I-" he stopped quickly and gathered his thoughts. With a deep breath, he continued. "I think it is a good thing, yeah. Just something I was thinking about."

Soon after, the man came back to them. He held out a small stack of papers towards Zack. "Okay, just read over this and answer how you can and we'll see if we can use you. And I assume it's just you looking for the spot, not your friend?"

"Just him," Cloud answered quietly.

"Yeah, let me just look through this then," Zack replied after.

"Just take your time and let me know if you have any questions," the man said. "By the way, you seem like quite a well-built young man. You do anything before?"

Zack tried to think of a response that would suffice. Even though he wanted to see if he would be recognized, he also knew not to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves for now. The knowledge that it would happen sooner or later lingered in his mind, but he would prefer it be for later at this point.

"Well, we were soldiers before," he spoke before thinking more about his answer, so he tried to bounce back. "Just some normal infantry though. But… we got hurt so we were put out," he followed up quickly. "But now we've recovered and are just trying to find our place again."

He was hoping that it was a believable enough excuse. It wasn't entirely a lie either, but it just wasn't the whole truth. Being a soldier. It was the only thing he had ever known for a job, and he almost didn't think he had a reason to lie either. At least, he hoped that was the case.

"Seems rough, I always knew Shinra was a harsh environment to work for," the man replied. "I am sorry to hear you went through that, but if you are a former Shinra worker that proves you have something good to put to use."

Zack stifled a small grin. "Oh yeah!"

He finished up the paperwork fairly quickly and handed it back to the man. "Here you go."

"Good good. Now, there's a good chance I'll hire you. You seem like a good guy. But still, gotta do the process. So come by here in a couple days and we'll see, okay?"

"Sounds good to me then. Thanks for the help," Zack replied shortly before heading off, bringing Cloud along with him.

Once they were outside, Cloud spoke up again. "That went easier than I thought. I guess they didn't care too much that we used to work for Shrina…"

"Yeah, I guess so. Almost seems strange but then again… they did announce I was KIA, or rather that a 1st class was. They didn't specify. And since Shinra chooses to keep so much stuff under wraps, I guess it's no surprise that people don't think twice."

"Does that bother you Zack? I… wasn't gonna say anything. But you seemed… off."

"I don't know. Not to say bothered, but it's just weird. It'll be fine. As long as this works out for us, right?" Zack replied quickly.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. I guess I need to find a job now somewhere. Wanna keep looking around?" Cloud asked.

"Sure, we can keep looking. Hopefully there's still plenty of places to keep looking. You want me to lead somewhere, or you want to take it?"

"I, uh, should be fine I think doing it."

"Okay, if you say so. Lead on, Cloud."

The time away from thinking about where to go allowed Zack to think. Being a soldier. It was the only thing he had ever known for a job. He could do other things of course, but he was best at fighting. But that wasn't what really bothered him. Now, he could drop the facade while inside his own head, as he only kept that up around others externally. The truth of the matter was, the idea of not being remembered did bother him.

"All that I ever did for Shinra. Everything is just… gone. I know we are supposed to keep a low profile now, but surely someone has to remember. I just… don't want to believe it was all for nothing. My honor, my dreams. Angeal's legacy… Do people even remember Angeal? Did I ever truly become a hero? Did I make a difference?"

So many questions that he could not answer. But what of his own legacy? He knew that Cloud knew, and that Aerith would believe him of course. He knew that he was never world renowned like Sephiroth either, and while he knew that it shouldn't matter now that he despised Shinra, there was still a part of him that couldn't let it go.

"Maybe someone would know," he muttered quietly.

"You say something?" Cloud asked as he looked back to his friend.

Zack had not expected to be heard. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking to myself. Continue on though." He nodded in Cloud's direction as they kept walking, trying to prevent any further thoughts from being too easily overheard.


"Man, I am starved!" Zack exclaimed. "Maybe we should try and find some food about now."

The two of them had been wandering around the slums, trying to find other places that were hiring. There were some, but they weren't really jobs that Cloud thought he would be able to manage or were really his forte. They kept them in mind though just as a backup plan at least if worse came to worst.

"Then let's find someplace to eat? Where could we even go down here?"

"There's gotta be some places, I mean we could go visit Aerith, but I'd hate to bother her for just some food," Zack replied softly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, let's see what we can find."

They strolled around the area, looking for any place that could be enticing. Eventually they came across a small soup restaurant that didn't look very crowded. They walked up and entered the place, the nice smells of different types of soup filled their noses.

"Wow, this place smells great! Let's see what kind of soup they got here!" Zack exclaimed as he ran up to the front counter. Zack stared up at the menu, quickly reading over everything.

"Yeah, really smells nice," Cloud added.

The older man at the front of the counter chuckled. "Nice to see some young strapping men excited about my little soup selection here."

The two of them turned their attention to the man standing there. He was a thin man, with tanner skin that looked to have seen a lot of sunlight at one time. It was odd to see though considering the fact he lived under plate where not much light could come through.

He had long, white hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with a matching white beard to go along with it. His green eyes were just about as clear and piercing as a certain girl they both knew, which distracted them both for a moment.

Then, Zack finally spoke up. "Ah, well we're just pretty hungry. I don't remember seeing this place before, so what do you have here that's good?"

The man gently closed his eyes and smiled. "Well, any of it is good if you ask me. But of course, I'm partial since I own it," he said as he reached below the counter and turned out a piece of paper. "But here's the menu you can look through. Take any seat you want and let me know when you're ready."

Zack and Cloud quickly went and took a seat at the nearest table they could find. The two shared the menu as they looked back and forth at the assortments of soup that could be chosen.

"Wow all of this sounds really good," Cloud started. "I haven't had any food like this in… a long time…"

"Yeah, same here. So many choices here. But I think I'm gonna go with a simple potato soup. Sounds great. You make your mind up yet, Cloud?"

"I don't know… maybe the tomato basil here. I've had that before?"

"Seriously?! You actually like that stuff?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with it? It's good for you at least."

"Uh, no thanks buddy. I'll stick with my starches. Besides, I get enough exercise to work it all off anyways," Zack commented as he chuckled.

After looking over the rest of the menu and not finding much else, Zack raised his hand and called for the man from earlier. Slowly but surely, the older man made his way over to their table from the back where he had been. Once he was there, Zack and Cloud gave him their orders to put in.

"Okay, so one potato soup and one tomato basil. And water with each. I'll get your food for you as quickly as we can," he spoke softly as he turned and marched back towards the back area.


They had to wait quite a while, seeing as the older man they met was the only person there at the shop. But during that time, Zack and Cloud relaxed and talked about a good bit of things. And the time had passed almost effortlessly, so much so that their food had finally been brought to them. The aroma of the food glided past their noses, making them feel even hungrier than before. It didn't take long for them to gobble the food up, without many words between the two of them.

"Ah, that hit the spot!" Zack exclaimed.

Cloud slurped the rest of his soup, life seeming to flow back into his face. "Oh yeah, it was very good. That was a lot more than I expected. I wonder how much that will be?"

"I don't know bu- Oh no…"

"What is it Zack?"

"Cloud, we don't have any money," Zack said in a hushed tone so they wouldn't be overheard. "What are we gonna do? Can't just run out, that would be wrong."

"Oh, I kinda forgot about that. I was just so hungry…"

"Yeah, I know, me too. Oh man, this is a dilemma," Zack said rubbing the back of his neck.

Their mini conversation was interrupted though as they heard footsteps inch towards them. "So how was everything boys?"

"Oh, uh, it was great. Yeah I was starved. It hit the spot," Zack replied with a slightly nervous expression.

The old man narrowed his eyes slightly, but then smiled once again. "I'm glad to hear it!"

He then pulled up a chair and sat down next to the two of them. "Now, I hope you don't mind if I join you for a bit."

"Not at all," Cloud simply spoke.

The man turned towards Zack and eyed him curiously. Zack returned the look as he started at the older man, not budging an inch. "You know, I had to think about it for a moment, but I knew that you seemed familiar."

Zack looked surprised. "You mean me?"

"Yeah, just look at you. The way you're built… you were in SOLDIER weren't you?"

An expressive sigh came across Zack's face. He knew that the man was right, and he seemed quite perceptive, so Zack did not want to lie to him. At this point, there wasn't a reason for it. He caught Cloud's eye, who gave him a worried look, but Zack only nodded his head towards his blond friend.

"Yeah, that's right. That couldn't have been what gave it away though."

"You're right. It was your eyes. I'd know those anywhere. After as many times as I saw those eyes, it's hard to forget."

"If that's the case, then do you know who we are?" Zack questioned him with narrow eyes.

"Hmm… I don't know your blond friend. But you. I had seen you around. Heard about you too. Zack the hero, supposedly."

Zack's expression changed from a look of worry to a look of shock. Surely he didn't hear the man correctly.

"What? Did I hear you right? People still know about me?"

"I didn't know you were that famous," Cloud chipped in.

The old man began to laugh. "Well, when you're my age you hear a lot of things."

"Can you tell us?"

"Sure, nothing else going on anyways," he said shortly.

He raised up and went to shut the door to his shop while putting up the closed sign. Once that was done, he returned to his seat, finding an attentive Zack and Cloud waiting.

"Well to answer your question, no. Nobody talks much about SOLDIER heroes anymore. There's none left. The last time I heard about you was almost 5 years ago. Some people around town and even other places would talk."

"I mean, it's true that I tried my best to help people. Heck, even had my own fan club," Zack chuckled lightly. "But I've been gone a while. Figured most had forgotten…"

"You apparently helped a lot of people. And people remembered. Some of them. Nobody talks about it openly though. But I have to ask you… what happened to you?"

"I…" Zack paused for a moment.

"Zack? You okay?"

Should he tell the man? That was a question he wasn't sure of. No he can't. It's too dangerous to tell someone else, just in case.

"I can't say. I'd like to, but I wouldn't want anything to happen if you knew. To keep it simple, I'm no longer with SOLDIER."

Zack expected some retort of some kind from the man but he received none. He only nodded. "I understand. I can tell it was hard on you both, whatever it was."

"Thanks," Zack uttered.

That was a relief. He also did not want to bring up the past, in an effort to hopefully not have Cloud remember any of that stuff if he could help it. As much as Cloud had improved, he didn't want his friend to relapse with issues again.

"But, how did you find out all that?"

"Well like I said, I've been around for many years. I see things, hear things, experience things. There's many stories I could tell you, but we're not going into that," he chuckled.

Silence fell among the three of them, but was soon broken.

"Despite what you may think, don't doubt that you've helped people. Even if some do forget, you've left your mark. And the fact that you're still here, means you have more left to give," he trailed off as the two boys looked at him. "At least, that's what an old man thinks."

"You do know quite a bit. I think that's more than even I've heard about him," Cloud added.

"Hey now that's not true. I think," Zack scratched his head, unsure of what he just said.

"Well, I usually close down shop about this time anyways. It may only just be mid evening, but it is just me here after all," the older man said as he stood up from his chair and stretched his back.

"Oh," Zack started, worrying how he was going to admit the next part to the man. "I really appreciate your time and food here. I… we were so hungry we didn't think about not having money though. I'm sorry. I'll do whatever I need to do to repay it," he said with a bowed head and hands clasped together.

There was a short, eerie silence, making Zack fear for the worst. Cloud was worried as well, but stayed seated for the time being as they waited for what was next.

"Don't worry about it."

Those were words neither of them expected to hear.

"Wait, what?" Zack stammered.

The man turned around. "I said don't worry about it. Your company was more than enough. And to meet a genuine SOLDIER, and a hero at that. It's an honor."

Cloud stood up swiftly. "But, are you sure it's okay though? I feel responsible in some way too."

"Nah, I said it's fine." He then turned to Cloud. "You may not be a SOLDIER, but it was nice meeting you too."

"Wait, how'd you know?" Zack and Cloud asked in unison.

"Oh I just have a certain… eye for things," he said as he winked at them.

"Thanks a lot mister! I owe you one. I'll repay you for this someday."

"So, are we going then?"

"Yeah Cloud, we are."

As they turned to leave, the man cleared his throat. "Hold on, there is one more thing I wish to ask you young men."

"Huh? What is it?" Zack asked as he turned around.

The man looked at Cloud. "Just where were you in Shinra?"

"Uh… Infantry…" Cloud answered not knowing where the man was going with this.

"Ah, I thought so. I had a son there. Didn't care so much for the SOLDIER part, just wanted to be a part of Shinra. But I haven't heard from him in a couple of years. Do you think you knew him? His name is Devon Sarlon."

"Devon…" Cloud pondered for a moment. "I think… I think that name sounds familiar. I think he was in the same division as me… Yeah, the more I think about it, he was."

"Oh, I didn't know that you had some others you were close to Cloud. That's good to hear!" Zack chimed in shortly.

"Well, not super close. I just forgot before I guess…" Cloud added.

"Is there anything else you could think of son?" the older man asked.

"Umm… I think I did talk with him a couple times. Nice guy. But I wouldn't know where he is now. It's been more years than that since I've been gone… I'm sorry."

The old man gave a small smile. "That is all right. It is an army after all. These things… they do happen. But thank you for telling me. You boys take care now."

"Hey…" Zack began to say. "if it's not too much trouble, can I ask one more thing of you?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you not tell anyone that we were here? If they ask. I'm not sure if anyone would. But just in case."

"Who was here? I'm just going to clean some bowls of the two soups I decided to eat myself," the old man said as he was walking back to the kitchen and waved his arm up at them.

Zack smiled gently at his back. "Thanks."

After that the boys said their goodbyes and the two of them walked out of the door of the shop and gently closed the door behind them. Once they were outside, Cloud spoke up again.

"Where are we going though?

"I'm not sure. We can wander around the city I guess. Go to the park if you want. I haven't been there in a while. You probably don't know where it's at though do you?"

"Not exactly, no."

"Okay then we'll follow me."

They started walking through the streets as Zack kept to himself most of the time, though he walked with a pep in his step, almost like a new life was radiating from him.

"I was really… a hero to some people. Huh. I never would have guessed. I suppose I did become a hero after all. In a way. I suppose I should be thankful then. Maybe the old man was right. Maybe my journey isn't over yet."

"Zack!"

"Oh uh, what is it?"

"You nearly walked into a wall. Are you daydreaming?"

"Sorry, just got lost in thought again. Just what the old guy said back there. It kinda hit me here," he spoke as he pounded his fist over his heart.

"Oh yeah, that. I never knew that you were known so much by others. That's amazing."

"Well it's not something I talk about too much. Or rather, I didn't have much of any reason to."

"I can listen. After all… aren't we two backwater boys?"

Zack and Cloud both burst into laughter. "You know, you are totally right about that. How could I forget!"

Suddenly a different voice spoke up. "What's with all the nois- Cloud?!"

They both quelled their laughter and turned in the direction of the voice. Cloud's eyes grew wide as he knew the familiar face of the person he saw all too well, but it's someone that he thought he might never see again. Zack almost didn't recognize who it was at first, but upon seeing Cloud's reaction, it all became clear to him.

"Well, this should be interesting," Zack said simply.


Whew, this chapter was a long one. But hey we hoped you enjoyed it! But hmmm who could be calling out to Cloud? I wonder... XD

See you all next time!