Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 7 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 12
Cloud walked wearily down the hall of the Avalanche base. Every sight was a wonder to him in its own way. The simplistic sophistication of everything around him was astounding to his eyes. Yet Cloud's aim was not sight seeing. He had another more pressing objective in mind. After Tifa had told him everything about what had happened while he was out, he immediately decided to see Aeris. He wanted to make sure, with his own eyes, that the brunette, green eyed, girl was ok. As he walked down further, he thought about the offer Tifa made to him. The very same one She offered to Zack which the black haired mercenary agreed to on the event that he and Aeris also agreed. He accepted readily after hearing that their job was to attack Shinra. He wanted nothing more then to put as many dents in Shinra's plans as he could. Barret had stopped him in the hallway afterwards, informing his that he should be ready. They would be leaving out for their first mission pretty soon. He slowly pushed all of this to the back of his mind.
Finally, he stopped in front of a room at the far left-hand side of the corridor. There was a small window where he could see inside. His heart began to race when he saw Aeris sitting peacefully on her bed. He mind began to reel through all kinds of different emotions. When he had realized Tifa was alive, he had felt exhilaration and joy, as if he were complete. Yet now, seeing Aeris again, he felt similar emotions for her. He couldn't figure out what was going on inside him. All he knew was that he needed to talk with Aeris. He needed to be with her now.
Cloud reached out his hand to knock when suddenly a hand clapped his shoulder.
"That… may not be such a good idea at this time old buddy."
Cloud zipped his head around with a large smile on his face. "ZACK!"
Zack grinned back and clapped Cloud's shoulder once more to show his affection at seeing his partner up and about.
"Zack thanks for the save! Tifa told me about everything. You really came through for me that time. I guess I owe you another one huh?"
Zack smiled and suddenly began to walk down the opposite direction of the hallway, yanking cloud with him. "Never mind that, pal. Come with me."
Cloud was flustered. "Huh? Hey wait! Zack where are we going? I need to talk to Aeris, can't this wait?"
Zack turned to face him. "No. Now come on and stop stalling!" With that, he turned back around and continued his trek through the Avalanche base. Finally Zack came up to the back door and walked through.
Cloud looked around as he was led to the back area of the base. "Wow!" He said in awe. "This place is a mess! Hey why are we out here anyway? What's going on?"
Zack let go of Cloud's shoulder then walked a few feet away and turned to face him. Zack unstrapped his buster sword and pulled it out of its sheath. He then pulled another sword from the same sheath. Cloud's sword.
Cloud looked at the whole scene curiously. He was confused and more then a little agitated at his friend's odd behavior. "Zack, enough games! What are you doing?"
Zack smiled then tossed Cloud's sword over. Cloud caught it deftly. "We're going to start training of course!"
"What?"
Cloud never had time to say anything else because suddenly, Zack rushed towards the unprepared mercenary. He swung an overhead blow, which Cloud barely ducked in time.
"Hey are you crazy?" Cloud asked in alarm. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"
Zack responded by striking again. Cloud quickly hopped back and parried the blow. "Damnit Zack! Answer me!"
Zack struck again and again Cloud found himself on the defensive. Zack repeated the attacks at all different angles, forcing Cloud to constantly back up from the barrage.
"Come on Cloud! You're better then this!" Zack raved as he continued his relentless assault. "Fight back!"
Cloud was too busy Blocking and parrying Zack's blows to make any sense of what he was saying. "Zack is something wrong with you? Stop this right now!"
Zack let out an enraged roar then swung with lightning fast speed. His sword clashed loudly with Cloud's. Cloud lost his grip and suddenly his sword was careening into the air landing a few feet away from him. Before he could react, he found the tip of Zack's blade just inches away from his throat.
Cloud looked up in anger. "Damnit Zack! What the hell?"
Zack glared at his best friend. "Yes… What the hell 'Cloud'! Why aren't you fighting back?"
"Maybe because I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?!?" Cloud's anger was now extremely livid.
Zack took his sword away from Cloud's neck and waved over to the discarded weapon signaling for Cloud to pick it up. "We're going to keep doing this until you get it right." He said calmly.
"Get what right? Zack what are you talking about?"
"Pick up your sword Cloud."
Cloud lifted the buster sword and stared at Zack with confused eyes.
"Now attack me! Get it right this time!"
"Wha? Zack what are you-"
"Shut up! Shut up and just attack me! Do it now!"
Cloud shook his head then assumed his fighting stance. "I don't know what this is all about Zack but here goes."
Cloud quickly dashed towards his friend with amazing speed and preformed a vertical attack. Unfortunately for Cloud, Zack easily dodged it and then struck with an attack of his own. Cloud barely blocked it in time. Zack wasn't finished. He broke into a whirlwind of swings and thrusts. Cloud did his best to dodge and parry them all but he found that he was quickly losing ground. He had never seen Zack move like his before. It was utterly astonishing. "H- hey! Slow down!" He called out nervously. Zack ignored the plea and continued to attack. Cloud tried to retaliate and swung horizontally, hoping to force Zack back. However, the black haired mercenary simply jumped over the swing and then came down with a diagonal attack. His sword broke under Cloud's guard and suddenly Cloud was clutching his abdomen in pain.
Zack took a few steps back and wiped the blood from his sword. He then tossed Cloud a cure materia.
Cloud caught the materia with ease and immediately used it to heal himself. "Real nice treatment for someone who just woke up from a coma! JUST WHAT IN THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM ZACK?" He seethed in anger.
Zack matched his tone. "RIGHT NOW YOU'RE MY PROBLEM! STAND UP CLOUD!"
Cloud glared at his friend but slowly stood up. Zack's voice softened.
"Look, I know you just woke up from a coma and all but you need to be focused. Mentally and physically."
"What do you mean by mentally?"
"Listen Cloud, I'm not blind and neither is anyone else in this base. I understand what you're going through right now. I found out Tifa was your old childhood friend and I can guess what's going on through your mind about her and Aeris both."
"Zack I see your concern in all of this but I'd like to think I'm mature enough to handle my own love life."
"You aren't listening to what I'm saying! How you deal with your relationship issues is your business. I won't intrude. What does concern me is your conduct!"
"My conduct? What are you talking about?"
In answer to his question, Zack charged at Cloud, swinging his sword in a vertical attack. The blond haired mercenary quickly ducked out of the way then lifted his own sword up in defense.
"Look at yourself! You're better then this! I know you are!"
Zack swung again and this time Cloud parried the blow. "What does my conduct have to do with my love life? You're not making any sense Zack!"
Zack broke off the attack then lunged in again with a barrage of swift attacks. Cloud did his best to block but found that he was overwhelmed. Every time Cloud missed a block Zack would quickly turn his blade so that the flat end hit Cloud in his unguarded areas.
In no time at all, Cloud fell to his knee, leaning on his buster sword for support. Zack stood in front of him, looking down on his friend with disgust.
"That's what I'm talking about Cloud. No pun intended but you're on cloud 9 buddy. You want to get your love life in order and all that stuff, that's fine with me but the moment it gets in the way of your fighting ability that's when it becomes a problem. I noticed it the day I saved you from that turk."
Cloud narrowed his eyes. "What? He poisoned me! How was I supposed to fight when I couldn't even see a damn thing?"
Zack chuckled softly. "And how was he able to poison you? You lowered your defenses. You blocked out everything that makes a mercenary worth his pay! Look Cloud, when I saw you lying there that day it was a real wake up call for me. It made me see that I may not always be there to watch your back. You've got to fend for yourself! If not just for yourself then for the others whom you have sworn you would protect!"
Cloud didn't say anything. Zack's words were ringing painfully true. He knew that he had promised to keep Aeris safe yet he failed to protect her. He failed and had Zack not come, Aeris would have been Shinra's prisoner once more.
Finally Cloud lowered his head in defeat. "I… I guess you're right… So what do you suppose I should do?"
Zack lowered his sword and sighed. "Do whatever you can to live the life you want to live. Whatever choices you make with Aeris and Tifa, you're going to have to live with for the rest of you life. However, when you're in combat its important that you put that to the back of your head. Otherwise you'll lose. You'll lose and I may not be there to cover up your mistake. On our whole trip to Midgar, you were wondering around like some lovesick idiot. Now that's all good and fine but when you're in hostile areas, that can prove to be a fatal mistake. Look, Cloud all I'm saying is that you need to be aware of your own thoughts. Control them so that you don't lose sight of the moment. Do you understand?"
Cloud nodded sagely. "Yeah… Yeah I see what you're getting at Zack… I just… I don't know what to do. Tifa's alive. I mean that's great but I feel something really deep for her. I've always felt a special emotion for her but now, after all these years, it's like it just resurfaced or something. And then I have these feelings for Aeris as well. I can't explain either one of these emotions. They're just there you know?"
"Just take your time… Don't rush things. Everything will fall into place with time. However, for right now you've got more pressing matters. Just take my advice and think about that stuff when there's time to think about it. The mission's tomorrow and we're going up against Shinra! The king of all opponents! You've absolutely got to be at your best or you won't make it."
Cloud nodded then slowly a smile came to his face. "Thanks pal, although you've got an odd way of telling me all of this. I know I'm not so dense that you've gotta beat the sense into me."
Zack laughed merrily at the comment. "Well I don't know! Some times you can be pretty hardheaded."
Cloud smirked. "Look who's talking!"
Cloud rose to his feet then hefted his sword once more. "Well then if the mission's tomorrow I guess I need all the training I can get right? So lets try this one more time. Get ready, this time I don't think I'll be such an easy target to hit."
Zack smiled and once more the two men engaged in the battle of swords.
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 13.