Chapter 8 Pt1: Ode to Maybe

Chapter 8 Pt1: Ode to Maybe

Lead in night at a Laundromat

And I'm staring at you pulling clothes from a dryer

And I'm wondering how I got here

But it seems some how I keep getting stuck in the mire

I needed this more than I knew

And I let you down and I said I'm sorry

But the light falls on my castle walls

And my basketballs pelt me with bricks in my dreams

Chorus: What you need I hope it finds you

Maybe some day you'll get it right

If I could bottle my hopes in a store bought scent

They'd be nutmeg peach and they'd pay the rent

And I'd ride a horse, and I'd teach a course

On how I got to be a star crossed pimp

Chorus -Third Eye Blind (An Ode To Maybe)

Black. Xander sat in his own subconscious unknowingly, watching, waiting, and drifting. Images started forming in his mindset, and all he could do was watch. Almost like a movie, the picture came into focus. There was a man, running in darkness much like his own, until the rest of the image came into view. It was a hallway, and the man looked frantic. Xander couldn't tell what the hurry was. Something must be wrong, of course, but that was just pure speculation. Soon, his theory was proved, as the man started speaking. "Zero! Zero where are you?" If he could have, Xander would have furrowed his brows. That name… sounded familiar. This image was definitely confusing.

Interest taking hold of him, Xander paid closer attention to who was on the "big screen". The man was somewhat tall, and wearing… ridiculous armor of some kind. Everything on him was blue, from his ludicrously large boots to his crested helmet. Everything that is, except for his white gloves and ruby stone on the helm. He continued his mad dash through the hallways of some kind of fortress, still screaming like a banshee. "Zero, how could you die on me again? I need your help!" After some more twists and turns in his search for his comrade, a huge explosion rocked the building, sending the man to his knees. Clouds of dust seeped through the windows, preventing any sort of vision. In a desperate attempt to see, the man blew away the debris, only to find a hole in the wall. From the gaping abyss, sounds of war came flooding into the passageway. Immediately, Xander recognized what was going on. This was the same dream he had every night in his life, only this time, it revealed more of the story.

Back at happenings of the dream, the man had escaped from the hole, concluding that his friend wasn't inside the fortress. Darting his eyes here and there, the man took in all the scenes of the war. The blood and anguished screams of warriors from opposing sides seemed to take flight. The stench of rotting corpses filled the air, and if he could, the man would have thrown up. Balls of yellow fire sped off to different destinations. The utter carnage filled the land, and bodies piled up. Even though it was hard to tell who was winning, it was harder to tell who was on your side.

And through all this, the man seemed hardened to. His only worry was in the search of his lost friend, who had died in the previous war. Anyone watching and listening to him would be sure that he was crazy. This Zero he was seeking would not be found anywhere, let alone on the battlefield, so what was he doing? And as if an answer to his prayers, the man found whom he was searching for. Alone on top of a hill was a figure's silhouette. I wild smile became plastered to the blue armored man, as he rushed to greet this "Zero".

Upon the man reaching him, Zero put on a smile, greeting his friend with a warm embrace. "X," He said, "It's good to see you again."

Cheerfully, X gripped Zero in a bear hug around the waist. "Big brother, I thought that I would never see you again!"

Zero chuckled slightly. "If that's how you feel now, you won't like what's going to happen next."

Confused, X turned his big green eyes to face Zero's. "What do you mean?" He whispered, feeling Zero's hand reach toward his back. Concern that seeped into his body quickly changed to surprise as a beam of energy poked through his chest and out his back. Blinking once, then twice, X looked down at the blade of Zero's energy sword. "W-w-what's-"

He was cut off by Zero's index finger pressed upright against his lips, whispering, "Hush, little Rockman, and embrace your death silently, like all good little boys." In ending, Zero winked at X, as he saw his face contort in rage and pain.

In his final throws, X clutched Zero's hand, still holding the hilt of the saber. "Komm susser tot…"

Before Xander could finish watching, the point of view changed to look at another figure, standing a few feet below the two. The "camera" focused in and showed a lady in armor closely resembling a shape that of X's. Her waist-length, crystal clear hair reflected in the moonlight, and framed her thin face perfectly. Her mouth gaped in horror as she watched the scene of X before her and couldn't scream. In slow motion, she threw her arms out to catch her beloved as he fell, ever closer to the ground.

Watching closer than ever, Xander awaited the outcome. This time, his dream was as clear as day, unlike the other times, that only gave vague outlines without sound of any kind. The images moved slowly, inch by inch, until the man finally rested in the woman's arms. She brushed off his helmet, and Xander saw his face, unhindered. And to his surprise, it wasn't any man, but a teenager. In fact, it looked pretty similar to- "Wake up you lunk-head!"

Immediately Xander was jolted out his dream sequence. Taking in a gulp of fresh air, he looked at his surroundings. No more battlefields, no more blood, but just the quaint décor of his house. Trying to brush a hand through his hair, he found that his hand was bandaged. Glancing at his appendage triggered the memories of what happened not too long ago. His friends, a party, his house, Aerith… and a bucket of water. Ah, yes, the water, the scalding hot water that was dumped on him, by Aerith. He must have blanked out afterwards, and then bandaged in his sleep. Sleep… the dream. So, that was the X that his voices kept talking about. But if he were dead, then that would mean that- "Hello?" Once again, the imaginary train that was his thoughts was halted once more. A hand was being waved in front of his face so closely that it was hard to believe that he had not noticed it. "Would you get a grip already? We don't want you zonking out like that again, you hear?"

Xander nodded in concurrence with the voice, which unmistakably belonged to Zack. "Alright, I'm up, I'm up." He spat out groggily.

Immediately, Zack was shoved out of the way, replaced by Aerith. "Xander, are you alright? I'm really sorry that I poured that water on you!" She said, cupping his face with her hands.

Xander winced, as he found out that he was in dire need of bandages on his face as well. Choking back the pain, he replied. "I already said that I was fine, just get me some more bandages, would ya'?" Smiling sweetly, she drew a hand up, off his face and slammed it back down with incredible force. Immediately, Xander reacted, his eyes wide and mouth agape. "OW" He screamed. Trying not to hold his burnt jaw too hard, he stared at Aerith accusingly.

When she moved away, arms akimbo, Mrs. Gainsborough rushed to Xander's aid. Trying not to release her temper on her daughter, she plastered a fake smile on herself. "I'm sorry, honey, but she's still a little upset."

Still rearing in pain, Xander tried to form words. "About w-w-what?"

Resting an arm around the boy to stop his wild flaying, she responded. "Well, you have to take some things into consideration, sweetie. For one, you haven't tried to contact either of us since you left all those years back. We sent you letters, and cookies of all kinds, but not one reply. Second of all, you drop by with all of your friends out of the blue. No warnings, or anything else for that matter. Thirdly, you pass out on the front door, having us worried sick!"

Looking his foster parent in the eyes, he tried to come up with good excuses. "Third thing wasn't my fault." He stated, quickly glancing in Aerith's general direction. "Two, I never got a letter or cookies, because I'm not the one that handles the mail." Taking another glance back to his team, he saw that they all had their backs to him, even Sephiroth, of all people. Finally, Xander turned back to Mrs. Gainsborough. "And it is my fault that I didn't keep in contact with any of you. Sorry…"

So glad that her second child was back home, she didn't care about his reasons for fault. "Taking him in for a quick hug, she let go once he let out another cry of pain. Trying to put on a cheerful face and not cry, she helped the boy up. "Don't worry, my child, let's just have that party you came here for."

All through the night, the party raged on, with cake, chicken wings, and of course, soda. Even Aerith was enjoying herself, what with the company of Zack constantly around her. Xander, of course tried not to aggravate his burns, and was unable to… partake of the snackies. Cloud, Ressin, and Mrs. Gainsborough were really the only ones celebrating Sephiroth's birthday, as the others were off in there own little party worlds, excluding Xander, who was in his room, away from the festivities.

At somewhere around six in the morning, all the men left, besides poor Xander, who was given special leave, due to… health reasons.

Almost Two Years Later: Chapter8 Pt2

"What do you mean we can't come with you on this mission?" Zet screamed.

"Look, guys," Sephiroth started. "The President doesn't want too many of us to go, so I chose Zack, some Mp's and myself to go."

Xander chose this time to cut in. "But why'd you choose Zack AND Cloud to go with you, and not just two of us?"

Sephiroth began rubbing the bridge of his nose trying not to blow a fuse. "If I bring two of my elite squad, then that means that if something bad were to happen, then we would lose three of our best."

Puzzled, Ressin voiced his opinion. " In that case, why do you have to go?"

Letting out a long sigh, Sephiroth began to rub his temples. "I was ordered to see to this mission personally, okay?"

Slowly but surely, everyone took his latest statement for his last, and left his small office in the Junon Base.

The small crew, although milling about together on the streets of Junon, didn't speak a word to each other, as they were too preoccupied in thought. As time bore on, the members detached from the group, until it was just Xander. As he wandered, he found himself back at Sephiroth's office. Sephiroth. Turns out that President Shinra wants him and a few others to check out a mako reactor that went haywire in some mountain-isolated town in the middle of nowhere. So now, Zack, Cloud and a few of the military police are accompanying him on the mission, while Xander and the rest of the elite squad were stuck at home. Sighing, Xander reviewed the happenings of the last year. While he had been re-cooperating at home, the rest of the time had been off duty. The President of Shinra had made another taskforce called the Turks, much like the special #0's. The only difference is that the Turks worked only for The President, and his small Cabinet. So basically, the Special Unit #0 became benchwarmers for something that "should prove more un-useful." Even so, it gave them a whole lot of free time to do whatever they pleased. And now, Xander could visit and write his "family" whenever he pleased. In all, it wasn't really a bad deal, since they got full pay for doing a bunch of jack squat day in and day out.

Continuing his blind walk, he came upon Zack's quarter, who was undoubtedly writing another love letter to Aerith. So far, they had been going steady, much to his displeasure, and the two were falling for the other pretty hard. Going inside the small, furnished house, Xander found his presumptions correct as Zack was writing another letter… only with Cloud hanging over his shoulder, giving in suggestions. Mentally sighing, Xander remembered that the two were hanging out nonstop since they met. Cloud had basically taken Xander's spot as great friend, while he hung in the backgrounds. Oh well, at least they were having a good time. Making sure that he wasn't heard, Xander snuck back out, as to not disturb the fun.

Returning to his walk, Xander found himself back at his military provided house at the base. Walking in, he removed his coat and boots, tossing them carelessly to the floor. Now in his bedroom, he flopped on the bed, thinking deeper than before. But before he could go much farther, he fell asleep, with the war dream plaguing his mind.

"Hey, wake up little buddy."

Slowly, Xander lifted his head from a pillow in affect to hearing Ressin's gruff voice. Immediately, Xander noticed how he couldn't feel his right arm from the elbow down, and began flailing it about in his face. "AH! My arm, I can't feel my ARM!" He yelled, despite the fact that it was still attached, and waving around in his face.

Rolling his eyes, Ressin slapped the boy on the back of his head to wake him up a bit. "Shut up, you just cut off the blood supply while you were sleeping, dummy."

Groggily, Xander looked at his forearm and realized that he was already getting the blood flowing again. Looking up to the old man, the thought of why he was here popped in his head. "So… why are you here?" He asked.

Locking his eyes with Xander's, he let out a short breath. "Just wanted to tell you that the Commander and Zack left for their mission at Niblehiem today."

Bolting upright, Xander let out a cry of surprise. "I thought they were leaving next week!" He yelled, guilt in his eyes for not seeing them off.

Ressin shook his head and put a hand on the lad's shoulder. "Sorry, kiddo. They got an emergency call from the Big Cheese saying that the problem was getting worse real fast."

"What's the problem?"

Shaking his head again, Ressin responded. "That's classified info for only Zack and the Commander to know."

At this, Xander lowered his head, but quickly lifted it again. "When are they coming back?"

Smiling, Ressin answered. "They'll be back in time for your next birthday, bucko."

Smiling as well, Xander laid his head back on the pillow, beginning the weeklong wait, mouthing out a single word, 'cool'.