Disclaimer: I don't own any element of FFVII. This story is written for pleasure and not for profit.

The Why of Things

Chapter 31

"Meteor Crisis"

By Lady Yomi

Zack was plunged into the same darkness that haunted the years leading up to his awakening at the underwater base. Everything went wrong and now he was doomed to float at the bottom of that dreary, oppressive prison.

"Cloud?" he whispered as he struggled to keep from falling into the dream from which he escaped. "Cloud, are you here too?"

He got no answer from the darkness.

"Come on, talk to me! I need to know what happened!" He shook his head out of frustration. What happened to Jenova? Did it manage to take over his body in the end? The creature was insistent that he kill Cloud and take his soul under the guise of using him as it pleased, but none of that made any sense. Zack was certain of being a clone, for he proved it when he gazed at his wounded hand in Aerith's garden.

Why did Jenova insist on controlling Cloud instead of the copy it completely overpowered? Something smelled like an alien rat and he wasn't willing to deny Cloud's humanity so easily.

"Clone, my ass," he muttered, crossing his arms and legs in a whimsical manner. He nursed his mate for an entire year; feeding him, dressing him, and even healing a stray bullet wound that hit one of his legs during their escape. Zack saw the blood, red as Nibelheim's flames, spilling over his left calf.

That wasn't the blood of a copy, it was human blood.

"Why do you want me to believe he's a clone?" he said, hoping the Almighty would listen to his doubts. "You can't confuse him if he's sure of his identity. There's something else... some incident that eludes me and which you rely on enough to be sure he'll fall into the trap. But which is it?"

He had barely finished speaking when a spirit materialized in front of him. Zack jumped back upon realizing the newcomer was a perfect copy of himself. His other-self's presence made his hair stand on end, for he accurately recalled the nightmare that haunted him in Gongaga.

"Who the hell are you?!" he shouted at him. "What do you want with me?!"

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out," he told him half-heartedly, more annoyed than worried by the fear he caused to his companion. "I'm you; the you that preceded you before your creation."

"What?" He looked at him from head to toe, taking a couple of steps back as a precaution. "You've got to be kidding me. Are you... the real Zack?"

"The very same." He grimaced and scratched the back of his neck. "Although I'd prefer to say 'the first', rather than 'the real one'. It's fairer to you, after all."

"I don't understand what you're doing here." The clone clicked his tongue. "If Jenova's statement is true and you were the only thing keeping Cloud sane, shouldn't you be helping him instead of chatting with me in the middle of nowhere?"

"Not my fault the creature gave him back his past memories. His replaced mine and my soul was expelled from inside his mind."

"What does that mean?"

The original Zack furrowed his eyebrows and placed his hands on his hips. "It means I can't go back there anymore."

"But did Cloud remember what happened in Nibelheim? Does he know he was never part of Soldier?"

"He didn't remember everything, nor did he do it with the clarity he deserved." He shot him a look clouded by the anger he felt against the parasite that harmed his best friend. "The calamity muddled it all up, making him think he's a copy of the original."

The clone's expression couldn't have been more different from that of his other-self, as he grinned from ear to ear upon hearing the statement. "Ah! I knew he wasn't like me! He was always Cloud himself and no one else but him!"

"Of course he was, but at this point it might be too late to celebrate."

"What do you mean?"

"His mind... is too tangled; unable to function normally. I fear his body will be useless to him once he's taken off the island."

"Wait a moment." He glided quickly across the void. "Which island? You have to be more honest with me. I want to help Cloud as much as you do, so please tell me the whole truth."

"Right." The original Zack sighed and shook his head before mumbling: "It's okay, it's not like I didn't want to tell you. I was just looking for a way to get you to take it easy. Listen, Cloud took the Black Materia from you when you passed out, he found Sephiroth, and... gave it to him."

"Oh no! No, no, no!" He clutched his dark strands of hair in a frenzied way. "It's impossible! Did that piece of trash manage to possess him?!"

"No," he muttered. "He did it himself. Cloud did it because he was asked to, yes, but it was still his choice."

"What the hell?! I'm surprised you can mistrust him! Cloud would never-"

"I told you his memories are in disarray," he interrupted him. "He can't access any of his life's key moments; the ones that shaped him into the person we both treasure. Cloud believes he's an instrument of Hojo, a tool that has already served the purpose for which it was designed."

"Where is he now? How can we help him?! We know everything about Cloud, we'll get him back to his old self!"

"We don't know him as well as you think we do." The original Zack shrugged, meeting eyes that were an exact reflection of his own. "He always kept to himself. How old was he when we first met him? Fifteen? Sixteen? I've no doubt he went through many things he never shared with us."

"Yeah." He bit his lip as the truth dawned on him. "Cloud was more a listener than a talker. Come to think of it, I guess I did most of the talking for both of us."

"We did, yes." He quirked a brief smile as he reminisced about the times he shared with Cloud, but the gesture faded behind the bitterness that overcame him as he continued: "He needs a closer connection. His mother's would be perfect, but I'm afraid she's no longer available."

"What happened to Cloud after he handed the Black Materia to Sephiroth?"

"He jumped into the Mako crater and the lifestream carried him deep into the planet's core." He raised his palms to reassure his counterpart. "But he's not dead yet, and if you do things right you can get his body back. The rest... is slightly trickier."

"I'll take care of that later. Where is he?"

"Go to Mideel Archipelago's main island, you'll find him in one of the capital's clinics."

"Alright..." He put his hands in his pockets and gave him a sympathetic look. "Does that mean you'll stay in this place? Letting me go is a tremendous thing to do, I didn't expect you to sacrifice yourself over some random copy."

"I never said I'd stay here." He smiled with a sudden mischievousness that made his pupils sparkle. "Do you think an incomplete hero could solve a conflict of such importance? We'll both go together. After all, it takes the best version of Zack Fair to settle this mess!"

"That's stupid, we can't go together! You're dead and I... I still don't know if I'm not dead as well!"

"Of course you're not dead, you knucklehead! We're inside your mind, that's why I can talk to you!"

"In my mind?" He blinked dumbly until the revelation dawned on him. "W, wait! You mean I finally got my soul back?! It's me... again?! It's really me?!"

"Don't get so excited," the other smiled slyly. "A soul is but a pass to paradise in case you die and, as far as I can see, you managed to stay alive until now so don't get overconfident and spoil it for both of us. I waited a long time for a second chance."

"I won't." He flashed a bright smile back at him. "I needed it, too!"

The original offered his hand in greeting. "Let's solve this mess and enjoy a well-deserved vacation afterward."

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" The clone returned the handshake and the sudden contact of the two halves of Zack Fair lightened the whole space around them, banishing the darkness that enveloped them once and for all.

He opened his eyes to discover the longed-for light eluded him. The surprise of being surrounded by shadows caused him to stretch out his arms in an attempt to push them away, but the movement was halted by the icy steel walls that kept him from breaking out of the isolation.

What was going on? How did he end up inside that darned metal crate? He wriggled in place and found he could touch the ceiling with his forehead, thus confirming the narrowness of his imprisonment.

He was overcome with the fear of running out of air and instinctively took a breath, only to realize he was sealed inside a see-through nylon bag when the damp material clung to his trembling lips.

"Oh, crap. Crap!" he cursed, maddened by the horror that consumed him. What was he supposed to do? He'd just regained his identity and he still had to rescue Cloud! The clue to his whereabouts would be lost with him if he died in that place. "Hey! Help! Get me out of here!" he shouted as he kicked with his commando boots. Standing still would do him no good since at some point the available oxygen would run out.

If the fuss didn't attract the attention of his rescuers perhaps it'd attract that of his captors, who might give him a chance to escape if they tried to silence his cry for help. The worst that could happen was for no one to be around, but he wouldn't give in to pessimism. Someone would come just as Sadie did at the underwater base; freeing him from the preserving bag in which Hojo stored his fake body.

His heart stopped as he evoked his teammate's wounded face on the exterior of that impenetrable cell. He promised himself that even if she looked, talked, or even smelled like Ciretan Hojo; he still wouldn't punch her. Just in case.

"Take it easy, artificial comrade!" squeaked a voice with a thick Irish accent. "We're going to get you out of that fancy cupboard they put you in, yes, indeed!"

"What?" Zack blinked for a moment, too surprised to tell if the sound was coming from a real person or from his desire to get out of the mess alive. "Is anyone there?! Answer me, please!"

"Of course there is! Stop shouting or you'll make the air run out faster!" answered the high-pitched, childlike voice of a girl. "Come on, hurry up!" she said to the Irish-accented one. "Didn't you have the locker keys with you?!"

"I got them here, I got them here! Stop being so impatient!"

Zack wanted to ask them to hurry up, but he was interrupted by a hatch opening under his feet. He didn't have time to react before experiencing a sudden horizontal movement. The glow of the light tube hanging over his head blinded him and he shut his eyes to lessen the headache that struck him in response to the sudden change of environment.

"Tear down the bag or he'll suffocate!" shouted the girl. "Quickly!"

"I'm doing the best I can! My claws were designed to prevent small children from getting cut by them!"

"Who cares about that?! Huh... let me handle it!" The girl used the edge of her shuriken to pull him out of the bag.

"There!" exclaimed the Irish guy. "Our friend is safe!"

Zack smiled at his rescuer, but his thankful expression turned into a grimace of terror when he discovered he was facing a stout man dressed in a trench coat that was too small for him, crowned by an unexpected cat's head.

"OH, BY RAMUH'S HOLY BEARD!" he shouted, his face pale with shock. "A, are you... CAIT SITH?!"

"The very same! Ready for much more mischief!"

"I'M DEAD?! DID I END UP IN CLONE PURGATORY?!"

"Oh, please. It's nothing like that!" The girl tried to reassure him, but Zack became extra paranoid at the sight of the fake mustache stuck under her nose and ended up jumping off the platform he was sitting on.

"That freaking ghost lied to me!" He stumbled back to the opposite side of the room. "He stole my body and... left me trapped in this place to run away with-"

"CALM DOWN OR I'LL PUT YOU BACK IN THE BAG!" Yuffie's voice boomed like thunder and her rudeness caused him to recognize her instantly. Wutai's young princess could be many things, but never a clone. That was for sure.

Zack's anxious gaze fell fearfully on Cait Sith's plush face. "I thought... you died in the temple."

"That was just an older model! Remember, I'm a feline controlled by the head of Urban Development, Reeve Tuesti. That doesn't mean I don't have feelings and emotions of my own, though! No, no way!"

Zack was shocked to find Cait Sith was the same hyperactive cat as always. The emotion struck him as most curious, since it resembled what he felt after merging with his other-self. There was no difference, it was as if he'd never stopped being the same person.

"Yuffie." He sighed, relieved to see her face twisted in annoyance. "How...? How did you get here?"

"You ask as if you knew where you are."

"Oh, yes. That's right." He scratched the back of his neck as Cait Sith removed the jacket from the toy moogle he mounted. "Do you mind filling me in on the news?"

"We found you unconscious in the Northern Crater a week ago. Cloud was with you, but he acted in a very odd way when we asked him for explanations. That's when he decided to hand the Black Materia to some floating pieces of Sephiroth that dangled from the cave's ceiling. Everything went to hell after that... the place collapsed and giant monsters called "Weapons" emerged from within the ground to wreak havoc everywhere."

"Weapons have been studied by Shinra scientists for decades, but no one knew their exact resting place," explained Cait Sith. "It seems their sole purpose is to protect the planet and they blame humanity for Sephiroth's actions. They'll punish us all in retaliation if we don't stop them soon."

"And what kind of wrongs did Sephiroth commit to enrage them?"

"See for yourself." Yuffie walked over to the lab window and yanked open the shade, revealing the huge asteroid hovering in the afternoon sky. It appeared to be suspended in time due to the distance separating it from Earth, but the atmosphere's reddish color signaled its future arrival. "Sephiroth summoned Meteor and sealed the planet's fate."

"May the devil take me..." Zack walked to the window without breathing and held its frame with enough force to break it in two. His eyes stayed fixed on the celestial body as he asked: "Can't we do anything to stop it? What did Shinra's crew do to explain this whole mess to the citizens?"

"Wouldn't you know it yourself?" Yuffie muttered disdainfully. "You're a clone like that Cloud traitor, go exchange gossip at Sephiroth's puppet cafe to find out."

"Stop it. Don't take it out on me because of Cloud's actions."

"Why not? You're strangely calm after hearing about his betrayal."

"Huh! W, well..." He wished to kick himself for failing to disguise the fact his other-self revealed the truth to him beforehand. He had no desire to tell them yet that he'd agreed to share his body with a dead version of himself. "Oh. The surprise makes me freeze! I never thought Cloud would betray us... again!"

Yuffie frowned. "I think you're on his side, you clones can't be trusted."

Zack huffed and hissed through his teeth as he replied: "Says the materia thief."

"Stop arguing!" Cait Sith jumped between the two of them. "Listen, Zack. After Cloud betrayed Avalanche for the second time, Shinra's crew showed up on the scene and invited them to flee the crater in the "Highwind" ship. Rufus said they stood on the same side so there was no point in fighting after Meteor's invocation."

"I don't get it." The ex-Soldier shook his head, overcome with confusion. "They created Sephiroth. Shinra is to blame for everything and no impromptu rescue can change that truth."

"I know." Cait Sith shrugged. "But they won't accept it even if we're all victims of the vengeful urges of the monster they brought to life."

"It doesn't make sense for them to have known of their location either. How did they know the guys were in the crater?"

"Kunsel Reiss," Yuffie blurted out, her face twisted in spite. "Yet another crappy Soldier who couldn't be trusted!"

"What? What are you talking about? Kunsel would never-"

"Kunsel told them you had Holy with you," Cait Sith muttered, visibly pained. "Shinra promised to bring his teacher back to him provided he disclosed the rebels' location, and that's why they showed up at the crater to rescue them."

Zack clicked his tongue as he tried to stop himself from punching the wall. "Damn it, Kunsel! Why did you do that?!" He turned to stare at them. "That woman was... like me. And all of my kind jumped into the crater during the Copy Exodus. Shinra deceived him; Rita Cadence was long dead by the time they spotted the summit over the horizon."

"You're right," Cait Sith nodded, "but the boy didn't know that and sacrificed his loyalty for an answer he needed to hear. Shinra told him Mrs. Cadence was a clone, but he didn't get there in time to save her."

"Don't even think of defending him, he deserves every ounce of remorse he can get." Zack ran a hand across his forehead, not looking away from the meteorite hanging high in the sky. "I knew those greedy bastards didn't have a shred of humanity in them. I'd rather die a thousand deaths than see Aerith's materia in Ciretan Hojo's filthy hands."

"Such deaths are unnecessary. None of Avalanche's members had Holy with them and Shinra failed to get hold of it. They were angry to find they'd have to stand empty-handed and imprisoned the guys inside this fortress in retaliation."

"Fortress?" He reminisced. "Oh, so we're back in Junon."

"That's right."

Zack dug into his jacket to make sure the precious orb was still in his possession. A relieved smile danced on his weathered lips as he slid his fingertips over its crystalline surface, whoever had stuffed him into the cramped locker of that icy morgue wasn't smart enough to examine him thoroughly.

He never felt so happy to be left for dead.

His blue eyes moved from Yuffie to Cait Sith as he realized they were unaware of the whereabouts of the valuable artifact he carried with him. Cissnei and Sadie were the only ones who knew he took it away and he assumed their silence was due to the precariousness of the situation they were in. He decided to keep it a secret until he could speak privately with either of them.

"And what happened to Holy?" he asked, pretending not to know.

"No one knows." Yuffie leaned her back against the wall. "Cloud probably took it along with the Black Materia, dooming us all in the process."

"The world must be in chaos." He frowned after noticing how calm the town was. "Shinra won't admit this was their fault after what happened with Sector Seven's plate. How did they avoid having some mob outside trying to lynch the president?"

"W, well..." Cait Sith wrung his hands. "That's why we came looking for you, Zack! Something terrible happened and you're the only one who can help us!"

"Speak for yourself," Yuffie spat. "I told you I can beat all these Shinra minions with one hand tied behind my back! We don't need any Soldier clone to rescue the others!"

"Shut up for a moment, kid," Zack interrupted her, anxious to wrap things up. "What happened? What's the urgency? I thought they were only being held captive to keep up appearances."

"The Avalanche members became the scapegoat for this pitiful situation. Rufus blamed them for detonating the plate in Sector Seven, but also for summoning Meteor!" Cait Sith clutched his head in his hands, muttering a couple of incoherent wails before continuing: "I never thought things would come to this! Shinra... went too far!"

"What happened? Speak up!"

"They'll execute them in an hour! All of them! They'll broadcast it... on worldwide network to the entire population!" The cat dropped to the floor and hit his face with his gloved hands. "I had to try harder to convince them to stop, but I'm just a pathetic second-rate architect!"

"No way!" Zack turned pale. "Where are they?! Why didn't you say it before?!"

"We have no idea where they execute people!" Yuffie clicked her tongue. "It took us a long time to find out what those pigs had done to you, so don't look at us like we're wasting our time!"

"Well, you are! I could hear all the end-of-the-world stuff later!"

"You asked to be filled in on what happened, you good-for-nothing Soldier!"

"I told you to stop fighting!" Cait Sith stepped again between his teammates. "Please don't be mad at Yuffie, Zack. This is entirely my fault. I took too long to build a new Cait Sith after what happened to the last one. I, Reeve Tuesti, tried to forget the happy adventure that brought us together to go on with my usual life as a Shinra employee, but then Miss Aerith died and... I felt terribly guilty. Had I been there as Cait Sith she would still be alive! This model who speaks to you could've repeated its sacrifice at the Temple of the Ancients. A dramatic action, yes, but not irreversible."

"Tuesti..." Zack pursed his lips when he felt a sudden pang of pity for the one who used to be part of his enemies. "You wouldn't have changed a thing, Aerith stuck to her beliefs to the very end." What he said felt wrong and painful, but he was certain his ex-girlfriend would have been proud to know he trusted her decisions.

"Thank you for encouraging me." The robot cat sighed. "I wish I could be as brave as her, you know? There are new innocents in danger and I'm still hiding behind this peculiar animal plush. The only thing I helped with was turning a blind eye when I discovered Miss Yuffie sneaking out of her cell through the security room monitors."

"Yeah, yeah," Yuffie blurted out with a roll of her eyes. "No time for another of your autobiographical excerpts! We've got the tough guy, now we have to rescue the Avalanche people!"

"That's only if Zack has the strength to help us," Cait Sith replied, feeling a new level of respect for the only person (after sweet Aerith) who took pity on his miserable situation. "Don't forget he was in a coma for a week."

"Don't worry." The former Soldier smiled with the assurance of having his original soul back. "I'm ready for anything!"

"We have to get in touch with Elmyra as soon as possible," Sadie muttered from the corner of the dungeon where they were being held prisoner. Her eyes were fixed on the photograph of Aerith she held in her hands, the thin, cold-dampened sheet being the only thing she managed to pull out of Zack's jacket before the Turks took him away.

She cursed herself for not taking Holy too. What became of her old friend? Would he still be alive or would he have been thrown in the trash after the powerful life-saving materia was snatched from him? No. The thought of losing him only a few days after her best friend made her feel like screaming.

"Are you out of your mind?" Barret gave her a sidelong glance. "Do you want the poor woman to die of grief?"

"What if Elmyra sees the execution on television and notices that Aerith is not with us? That will give her false hope and make the news of her sacrifice harder to take."

Barret replied with a low chuckle tinged with pain. "And you think we're going to get away with this, Darcy? No... there's no way to save our skins now. Even if we survive this afternoon, the meteorite will wipe the entire species off the map. The final destination of this train is death and there ain't no gettin' offa till we get to the end of the line."

"We still have to find Zack! He won't let us die like this. He'll help us, you'll see!"

"Are you forgetting that fucking optimism of yours led you to believe that a stinking Shinra clone was the man you were looking for? I bet Shinra put him and Cloud in our way to ruin the mission."

"Zack is not a traitor and we both know Cloud would never side with those who caused Aerith to take her own life."

Barret shook his head and leaned a hand on the wall to support his body weight. "Shinra isn't to blame for what happened to Aerith, they're just as doomed as we are. Those executives weren't looking for short-term global destruction, but one they wouldn't have to worry about in their lifetimes."

"That's true..." Tifa said as she sat down on the floor next to Sadie. "Sephiroth was solely responsible for her death and that's why it's impossible for Cloud to have assisted him willingly. I know him, he's confused. Sephiroth took away his mother, his people, Aerith, and most of his memories. He may have accomplished some shady missions as a mercenary, but he was never a double agent."

Sadie sighed and turned her attention back to the photograph she was holding. "Maybe Cloud is already by her side to apologize for what happened."

"No," Tifa denied without a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Cloud isn't dead. He... has to be alive somewhere."

"How do you know that?"

"He said he wouldn't give up until he got revenge on Sephiroth and nothing will stop him from keeping that promise."

The dungeon door opened wide, interrupting the conversation. Rufus Shinra (closely followed by the director of the failed Space Program) entered the chamber with his hands clasped comfortably behind his waist. "Cuff them, Palmer. I don't want them to be late for the show."

"I want to see you try, you old bastard!" Barret roared as the old man pulled three pairs of electronic handcuffs from his pockets.

"Don't forget the rest of your comrades are still under our care," Rufus warned him with a hearty smile. "Highwind, Valentine, and that interesting feline I'll soon make my new personal pet. I trust you'll be cooperative in keeping me from executing them in your place?"

"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A FILTHY SPOILED LITTLE BRAT! YOU'LL REGRET UNDERESTIMATING THEM!" Barret huffed when the handcuffs closed around his wrists, immobilizing him moments before Tifa suffered the same fate.

"Underestimate them?" Rufus let out a laugh after making sure his enemy couldn't punish him for his deception. "Come on, Mr. Wallace, think! How could I fear two depressed old men and a one-eyed animal? If I don't execute them, it's because no one would believe them responsible for the destruction that looms over us."

"YOU LYING BASTARD!" Barret tried to tear the young president apart, but the advanced technology of the handcuffs prevented him from doing so. The Shinra Negation Electronic System (abbreviated as "SNES") subjected its prisoners to a loss of motor willpower capable of forcing them to walk comfortably into the execution room.

Its creator, the beautiful and equally odious Scarlet, kept receiving praise for the sinister contraption she invented during her innocent annual vacation in Costa del Sol. Rufus preferred not to question for what purpose she devised it in the first place.

"Sir." Palmer's voice interrupted his boss' musings. "H, how should I cuff her?" He pointed to the dirty old cloth sling from which Sadie's torn arm hung.

"Oh, please..." Rufus put a hand to his face, tremendously embarrassed by his subordinate's ineptitude. Why did all his employees insist on ruining the image he tried so hard to preserve? Only twenty minutes had passed since Hojo approached the reporters to ask if they saw the wild creature that escaped from his laboratory.

"Sir. What should I-"

"Just cuff her!" Rufus pulled Sadie's arm behind her back with more force than necessary. This caused the prisoner to utter a growl choked by the pride that prevented her from showing weakness in front of her attacker.

"There was no need to be so rude to the girl when something so sad as an execution awaits her," Palmer muttered as he closed the SNES handcuffs over the rebel's bruised wrists.

"What did you say, Palmer?"

"Nothing, sir. Nothing."

"I thought so."

"Don't think you're going to get off that easy, Rufus," Tifa sputtered as the negation system forced her out of the dungeon. "There'll be others like us coming, and you'll wish the meteorite hit the planet ten times before you run into one of them!"

"What a memorable line, Miss Lockhart," the president scoffed as he watched them disappear down the corridor, pleased at the prospect of accomplishing what his father had never achieved in life. "Be sure to repeat it in front of the cameras, it's sure to boost the execution's ratings!"

Author's note:

We meet again! I'm so glad to post this chapter because it kicks off one of my favorite stages of the fic. Zack, Yuffie, and Cait Sith are such a badass and hilarious team, lol!

Sorry for the delay but (as those who follow me on Deviantart already know) I caught Covid for the third time, which prevented me from working on my fics and illustrations. But I'm much better now and ready to get back to them! ;)

Thanks as always for your lovely support and friendliness, I hope you're so happy with the "Crisis Core Reunion" and "FF7 Rebirth" announcements as I am! Can't wait to see Zack and the gang again! :D