They made their way up to the Plate in relative silence, though Reno and Rod promptly flanked Aerith as they got out of the train station into Sector 1's plaza. Reno placed a hand on her back when she sucked in a breath, staring up into Midgar's dim sky. "I know. But starin' makes it worse."

"Oh my god," she whispered, clutching at her staff.

"Yeah, it's freakin' huge," Reno agreed. "C'mon, 's not a long walk but it's long enough."

"Okay," she said softly. "I'm… okay. It's just…"

"We get it," Rod said. "Grew up down there too, y'know? Spent my first week plateside hidin' in the tower."

Aerith managed a strained giggle at that, but let them lead her, hands clutching her staff until her knuckles went white and followed them quickly across the plaza. She didn't relax until they hit the lobby, making a little sound of relief and stopping to catch her breath.

"You good?" Reno asked softly, watching her.

"I'm good," she breathed. "It's just… a lot."

"Understatement," Rod said. "But we get it."

"We do," Reno agreed, patting her shoulder. "Well c'mon, you can talk t' Tseng while we report in to the chief."

Aerith nodded, following him towards the elevator, her gaze distant as she tried to make sense of all the energy in the building. More than anything, the bright spots of so many enhanced had her reeling, like staring into streetlights and seeing nothing but afterimages when you looked away. It was impossible to focus on anything else, so she started going through them, looking for someone - anyone - familiar enough to anchor herself.

And gasped.

Reno jerked to a halt, looking at her. "What?"

Aerith reached with her energy, testing what she was feeling, making sure of what she was feeling, then glowered up at Reno, getting a fistful of his shirt and tugging him to her level. "I was told Zack Fair was dead."

"Oh." Reno gently laid a hand over her fist, offering a lopsided smirk. "Have I got a story for you."

"I want to see him," she said.

"Thought you wanted to see Tseng?" He asked.

"Tseng would not like me right now," she said flatly. "He was the one who lied to me."

"Fair 'nuff," he said. "So, uh. Hm."

"I'll take her. Chief never took me off guard duty," Rod pointed out.

"Do that. Just no discussin' what we just did, alright?" Reno gave Aerith a look. "'S classified."

"Fine, I just want to see Zack," Aerith said.

"Alright. Go on, then. We'll catch up later." Reno waved them on. "Call Balto if you need directions."

Rod nodded. "Should be fine, unless they moved him."

"Nah, he's still in the same spot." Reno waved them off with a sigh. "C'mon Rude. You comin' with to report, Valentine?"

Vincent nodded. "I intend to."

"Great."

Aerith didn't pay attention to their fading conversation, following Rod to the elevator that would take them to medical and counting the floors as they headed there. She was surprised to be met by Cissnei as they entered, and scowled at her. "Did you know?"

"Most of us didn't," Cissnei said, not needing any elaboration on just what had Aerith up in arms. "This was news to me."

She was mildly placated, but only just. "Take me to him. Is he awake? How is he?"

"He's awake, and healing up well. Come on." She turned back, heading through for Zack's room. "He's in here, give me a minute so we don't give him a heart attack."

Aerith nodded, waiting anxiously until Cissnei poked her head back out and waved her in.

Zack was sitting up in bed, Kunsel at his side, and greeted her with a wide, warm smile. "Hey, Aerith."

Aerith made an inarticulate sound of relief, and the moment he held open an arm hurried in for a hug. She was careful, she could feel the pain in him, knew he had to have been through something horrible, but it was Zack and he was there and real and not dead and she could feel the tears start up. "Gods, Zack…"

"I'm here," he said quietly. "Doing better by the hour."

"He really is," Kunsel said. He smiled understandingly, because if anyone would get it he would.

She nodded, wiping at her eyes with a sniffle. "They said…"

"I know. And most of them believed it, too," Zack said. "But I'm not, I'm right here. And I'm gonna be okay. Got a good medical team saying so and everything."

"Okay," she whispered. "Can I come visit?"

"I'd like that," Zack said. "I assume the Turks must think it's safe now?"

"With Hojo and the President dead… I mean, unless there's new people who want me for something, I should be," she said.

"Our new president really doesn't strike me as the sort," Kunsel said. "He's more…"

"Domestic," Zack said. "He's not the war type, I don't think. Or the dubious science type. I mean, I don't know him well, but sometimes you can just… tell."

"You've always been good at reading people," Aerith said.

"He has," Kunsel agreed. "And I agree with him. Plus, I don't think Faraman would have nominated him for the presidency if he thought we were just getting an old man Shinra 2.0, you know?"

"No, probably not." She sighed, running a hand over her braid as she looked around, then frowned, settling on Cloud. "Oh… what happened to your friend? That's Cloud, isn't it?"

"Yeah, he was with me when… things went down in Nibelheim," Zack said. "He's got mako poisoning. Rayleigh's pretty sure he'll come out of it, but she can't tell me when, or… y'know, how he'll be when he does. Physically he's adjusting pretty quickly, but…"

"He's lost," Aerith said quietly.

"What?"

Aerith bit her lip, debating how to word it. "Mako comes from the Lifestream, and sometimes the Lifestream can be… a lot, even here in Midgar with the reactors strangling it down to a trickle."

"We were in mako tanks," Zack said. "Would that do it?"

"It might," she said. "If you're sensitive to it, you can hear things. And it can get confusing to try to focus on your own thoughts."

"Given he was already traumatized…" Kunsel trailed off.

Aerith nodded. "It could be too much to deal with right away."

"So what do we do?" Zack asked. "If he's lost, how do we find him again?"

Aerith debated it, looking at him. "Talk to him. Even if you think he can't hear you, there's a good chance familiar voices will drag him back to awareness. It may take time, and it may look like it's not working, but eventually it should anchor him back to reality. Especially if you can explain what's happened to him. To tell him he's safe now, that the pain is over, that no one's going to hurt him anymore. That there's nothing to hide from now. Because he might be hiding, too. Trying to block it all out."

"I wouldn't blame him if he was," Zack said quietly. "I mean, mostly he worked on me, but he spent a while just… testing him, before he shot him up with who knows what and stuck him in the tank. I haven't seen his files, Rayleigh's not going to clear that without his permission, I guess?"

"Doctor-patient confidentiality," Kunsel said. "Standard for, you know, actual moral physicians."

"So they tell me." Zack sighed. "Something to adjust to. I mean, I'm grateful, but it's new."

"Yeah." Kunsel squeezed his hand. "We'll work with her, he'll be alright."

"…maybe I can help," Aerith said thoughtfully. "I can feel him, a little. I might be able to help you guide him back."

Zack perked up at once. "I mean, I'd try anything if it'll help his recovery."

"As long as you don't set yours back," Kunsel said.

"No, nothing like that," Aerith promised. "Just… basically, talk to him."

Zack blinked. "That's it?"

"That's mostly it," she agreed. "Physical contact would be good, too, but talking to him would help. He's stuck in his own mind, but that doesn't mean he's entirely unaware of the outside world."

"Yeah, okay…" He nodded, shifting a little to look over. "Uhm… how do I start?"

"Explain what's happened, I think," Aerith said. "As simply as possible."

"Right, okay." He cleared his throat, debating a moment. "Okay. So uhm. You remember waking up to Hojo. I'm pretty sure that's… real clear. And he had us for something like, three weeks, but the sedatives wore off me once when he'd been working and my soulmate - you remember Kunsel, right? - he felt it. And he came with a bunch of SOLDIERs and Turks and they rescued us, and brought us back to Midgar."

"Hojo's dead," Kunsel added.

"Oh, yeah uh, Hojo is very dead so we are never, ever going back there," Zack agreed. "We're being taken care of by someone else, Professor Rayleigh? She's real nice and - hey wait, wait did your eyes move? Did his eyes move?"

"They flicked a little," Kunsel said.

"He's listening," Aerith said.

"We've been in here talking ever since we got here," Kunsel said. "That might have helped perk him up."

"It could have," she agreed. "Familiar voices probably helped."

"Epic," Zack said, grinning. "Alright, spike, let's see about waking you up proper."