Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of them. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
SHARDS COLLIDE
CHAPTER 9
"What the hell happened out there!" Barret yelled.
Zack plugged one of his ears in response then waited for the big man to calm down. However Barret wasn't going to be so easily deterred.
"Look I want to know what's going on right now! First I send my second in command out to watch your back while you go to help your partner, then the next thing I know, she comes back waking up from unconsciousness and doesn't say anything at all. I mean $hit man! All she does now is stay in the medical room staring at the spiky haired guy!"
Zack sighed then leaned against the wall. Currently the two men were in the hallway a few feet away from the medical room in the Avalanche hideout. While Tifa stayed with Cloud, everyone else had wandered off their own route to take care of any necessary business.
"I'm not really too sure I know what's going on either." Zack replied sagely. "All I know is that when I got there my partner was in danger. I took care of the danger and now my only focus is helping him until he gets better. There's plenty of time to worry about everything else later."
Zack pushed himself off the wall and began walking down the hallway. Barret suddenly grabbed his arm. "Wait! We're not finished yet! We don't have time to wait till he recovers! Don't forget we still have a mission to accomplish. That's the reason why I hired you in the first place!"
Zack turned slightly and looked Barret straight in the eye. "Since when did you stop caring Barret?…" He asked gently.
Barret's hand suddenly went slack. "What are you talking about?" He asked hesitantly.
"Don't play dumb Barret. You know what I mean. You claim you're fighting for everyone but since when did you get to the point where you don't give a damn about the people around you? When did it get so bad that you constantly put the mission before everything else?"
Barret was shocked beyond words. He tried to refute Zack's claims but found that there was nothing he could say. Zack had hammered the nail right into the coffin. Barret felt a lump of regret seeping into his heart.
"B- but what's wrong?" He asked desperately towards the retreating, dark haired mercenary. "Why is Tifa acting this way now? Does she have some connection with him or something."
Zack didn't turn but continued walking down the hall. "That may very well be the case. But for right now, the best thing we can do is give them time. Everyone here is only human, don't forget that…"
Barret said no more as he watched the mercenary vanished out of sight.
Meanwhile, Zack walked back into the main room and took the lift back up to the Seventh Heaven bar. On stepping out, he found the object of his search. Aeris was sitting down in a secluded area of the establishment. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were slightly red from stress and crying. Zack slowly walked up to her table.
"Hey there." He said lightly in a jovial manner.
Aeris was quiet for a moment, staring at her trembling hands. "How's Cloud?" She finally asked in a weak voice.
Zack's smile brightened. "He should be ok in no time. Luckily, Jessie had some poison curing materia and she's pretty good with first aid so she should be able to patch Cloud up in no time. Besides, he's a pretty tough guy. I doubt a little fight like that would seriously mess him up."
Aeris nodded slightly but didn't say anything else. Zack raised his head in thought. Then suddenly, he snapped it back down. "Hey I know exactly what you need. I'll be right back."
Before Aeris could give any kind of response, the dark haired mercenary was already up on his feet and walking over to the bar. There was a barmaid there serving drinks to the other customers.
"Hey there miss." Zack said in a friendly voice. "Can I get two cups of peppermint tea please?"
After a few moments the barmaid prepared the tea and set the two cups on the counter. Zack fished around in his pocket for his gil but the barmaid put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it." She said in a kind voice. "It's already taken care of. I know about you and what you're doing here. Everything's on the house."
Zack's eyes flashed with approval. "Got it! Thanks a lot."
He promptly took the two cups and walked back over to where Aeris was sitting. He noticed that she had barely moved at all in his absence. She seemed to be completely absorbed in staring down at the polished wooden material of the table she was sitting at.
"A gil for your thoughts." Zack said as he walked up along side her. He bent down and handed her a cup. "Here, try this out. It's peppermint tea. It's good stuff if you drink it slow. And you'll find it helps you to relax more too."
Aeris looked up at him as if waking from a daze and slowly accepted the cup in both hands. "Thank you." She murmured silently.
Zack smiled. "No problem." He pulled up a chair and took a seat next to her at the table.
Aeris sat there not saying anything for a moment. She silently sipped her tea. Zack merely looked at her the whole time feeling sympathy for the poor girl. Just looking at the woman's sad face made his heart ache. He desperately wished he could tell her something that would put her at ease.
Finally she broke her silence."…I wanted to tell you…" She said in a quiet, almost whispering, voice. She kept her eyes trained on her tea as she continued. "I wanted to thank you for what you did today. You saved our lives… and… and I was so terrified that that man… Reno…I thought he would…"
Aeris couldn't continue as she was overcome with a fit of emotion. Once again, Zack felt the heavy weight of sympathy for the poor girl. He lightly patted her back but she quickly pushed away.
"It was all my fault! Can't you see? I was the one Reno was after… I knew they were after me from the start but I didn't say anything! I wanted to pretend that it was all a lie. I wanted to pretend my life began that day the two of you found me in that bar. I wanted to forget it all." Tears were now streaming down her face and Zack gently embraced her in his arms.
"Shhh…" He said gently. "There, there now Aeris. Don't blame yourself. To be quite honest with you, Cloud and I wouldn't have cared either way. We all have Ghosts in our past that we'd rather keep locked away. As a matter of fact, Cloud would have only been more protective at best. Some things were just meant to happen the way they do. Everything happens for a reason Aeris. There's no escaping it. Never forget that; just as all things begin, All things must come to an end. That's why its important to be as honest and as happy with your life as possible while you still have it. Because you never know when you may lose that opportunity. I'm glad you ran off. It let you validate your feelings and think things through on a whole new level. Aeris, what happened today happened only to strengthen your relationship with Cloud. The both of you are alive. You should be happy with that solace and use the situation to your advantage."
Aeris didn't know what to say. She still held a heavy burden in her heart over what had happened. "But In a way, I lied to you both."
"No… You didn't lie Aeris. You were just too afraid to say anything. That's understandable. Cloud will understand."
Aeris didn't reply. She was still feeling glum. Zack scratched his head in thought for a moment. Then he briskly stood up and grabbed Aeris hand.
"Hey! W- what are you doing?" She said in alarm.
"Come with me." Zack had a bright smile on his face, signaling he had another one of his crazy ideas.
"Zack! Let go!"
Zack ignored her pleas and continued up towards the back door exit of the bar and pulled her outside with him. Aeris looked all around and all she saw laying everywhere was junk and discarded equipment.
Zack stepped a few feet away from Aeris, scanning the area then nodding his head in approval. He then turned towards her and pulled out Cloud's buster sword. He had strapped it over his own sword after they brought Cloud to the Seventh Heaven so that he could keep it for safe keeping until Cloud recovered.
"Here, try this." He said, tossing Cloud's sword towards her. It landed with a heavy thud a few feet in front of her. Aeris looked at Zack with growing apprehension then down at the sword and then back towards him again.
"I can't pick that up!" She said in indignation. "It's too heavy for me!"
Zack rubbed the back of his neck in irritation. "Just try it. It can't be all that bad!… Or are you just a weakling?" Zack was now smiling mockingly to bait Aeris on.
She apparently fell for it because suddenly her expression became grim. She bent down and grasped the hilt of the massive sword but cringed as she tried to lift it. Aeris struggled a bit but only managed to get it a few inches from the ground before dropping it completely.
Zack sighed. "Hmm well maybe it was too heavy." He said it more to himself then to her but she took it directly.
"Hell yeah it's heavy! You try being me and lifting this heavy thing up! I don't know how you and Cloud do it!"
Zack chuckled a bit then looked around. Finally his eyes caught sight of something and he smiled graciously.
"Now what are you looking at?"
Zack walked over to a nearby pile of junk to his left and sifted through the contents.
"What are you looking for?" Aeris asked in curiosity.
"This!" Zack stated, proudly holding the object in his hands.
Aeris looked disgusted. "A steel pipe? What do you need that for?"
"YOU!" He said happily. "This is your new weapon!"
"Oh please Zack! Come on, you expect me to fight with a disgusting thing like that?"
"Well the buster sword is too heavy right? And learning any basic forms of martial arts that will keep you alive against hard enemy's in such short time is out of the question… so… this is the only option left." The smile never left his face as he promptly handed her the pipe.
Aeris reluctantly grasped the pipe in both hands.
Zack saw her obvious distaste and tried to urge her on even more. "Ah come on Aeris, think about it. Just a minute ago you were complaining about how you couldn't do anything. Well now if you learn how to fight back, you might be able to use your skills to save us all one day. At least it's a start."
Aeris was quiet for a moment then nodded her head. "You're right. I'm being foolish. If I try hard enough, I won't need to be constantly protected by the two of you. I can fight my own battles and hold my own. That's part of what being a mercenary is all about right?"
"Now you're talking!" Zack said proudly. His expression quickly turned serious as he lay Cloud's sword to the side then unsheathed his own.
"Ok, first rule of combat. You gotta have the correct stance. Now place your right foot in front of your left foot. That way you can keep your balance while holding your weapon properly."
Aeris assumed the stance position almost flawlessly. Zack nodded approvingly. "Now place your right hand on the staff over your left hand. You don't want them too close or you'll lose balance of the staff. But at the same time, you don't want them spread too far apart or you will lose flexibility with your attacks."
"Ok." Aeris said, trying to follow his instructions as closely as possible. Once she had that in place Zack took a few steps back.
"Ok now slowly bring the staff up. And then slowly take it down. Let gravity work its coarse but add your own control to it. The trick to mastering weapons is mastering the flow of gravity around you. Once you've got that down pat, the rest comes easily."
Aeris diligently listened to every word he had to say. From a nearby window, Barret watched on with approving eyes. 'That man… he has a knack for winning people over… but he fights too damn good to be a minor mercenary. I wonder… where did he learn how to fight…'
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Authors note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 10.