Epilogue: A Knight of the Word.



Pain. That was what awakened him. He jerked his eyes open and bolted upright, expecting to be surrounded by a legion of the enemy soldiers. Surprisingly, the only soldier he could see was one of their own- a Midgar infantryman. Scanning his surroundings, he immediately realised where he was- one of the medical tents back at the Shinra encampment. His was only one in a vast row of beds, each filled with a wounded occupant. He turned to the soldier standing at the foot of his bed, trying to piece together just how he had made it all the way back to camp. The soldier took the initiative, however, and gestured towards the direction of the battlefield with a wave of his hand. "Glad to see you're feeling better. It took me a while to carry you back here, but then I wasn't gonna just leave you there after it caused me so much trouble to save your ass in the first place".

Zack looked at him quizzically, until finally a look of realisation crossed his face. "You're the one who helped me fight the samurai, right?". The soldier nodded an answer, his face still covered with the heavy helmet of the Shinra uniform. "Yeah, that's me", he confirmed, "But let's just call it even for now. After all, you pretty much saved me after I lost my weapon. Consider the debt repaid in full". Zack acknowledged this with a nod of his own, before posing the all-important question. "So, did we win?".

The soldier couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, we won. After you flash-fried most of their army, the odds were pretty much in our favour. Sephiroth took care of the rest, then we marched on to the main city of Wutai. They were basically defenceless, since the entire army had been dispatched to take care of us, so we captured it with a minimum of bloodshed. Oh, and get this, as soon as they heard that Wutai had been annexed, the Shinra execs sent as many troops as possible to help establish dominance in the area. What a time to send reinforcements, eh? The moment the battle ends..."

"Yeah, that sounds just like them, all right", Zack muttered, " I'll bet that Sephiroth was pleased that his first command mission was a success though".

"I think so. Although last I heard, he was pretty damn annoyed that after all the trouble we went to capture this place, all the President is gonna do is set up some kind of trade and development restrictions. You'd almost think that..."

At that moment, Kazuyuki, the encampment doctor, entered the tent holding a clipboard, and immediately made his way to Zack's bed. He looked less that pleased that he was halfway out of bed, and quickly ushered the soldier aside, as he barked away in his clipped Mideel accent. "This young man has suffered serious lacerations to his calf and thigh muscles. It's a miracle he didn't bleed to death out there in that hellhole, but right now he needs to rest. I'll have to ask you to come back later". The soldier conceded and backed away, but Zack quickly called after him. "Wait a minute. I want to know the name of the man who saved my life".

The soldier stopped and turned, before removing the metallic helmet he had worn up to this point. A shock of unruly blond hair fell out, and as soon as Zack saw his face, he could barely contain his surprise. The soldier couldn't have been more than 16 years old. Nonetheless, he extended his hand to the young man. "My name is Zack, of Gongaga. If you're ever in trouble, I'll be more than willing to fight in your corner".

The soldier smiled, and shook hands. "Thanks friend. It's nice to know I can count on your help if I'm ever in a tough situation. My name is Cloud. Cloud Strife, of Nibelheim. Nice to meet you..."



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Author's Notes:

Well, sin é.

Now, just to clarify a few things. It has been pointed out quite a few times how unlikely it is that Cloud and Zack would have been on the Shinra Army at this particular point in time, but in my opinion, it could have happened.

The way I see it, the Shinra/ Wutai battle would have marked the very end of the war, which would have meant that Cloud and Zack could conceivably have taken part. They would have been extremely new recruits, and even though Cloud himself said that the war was over by the time he made it into SOLDIER, keep in mind that he actually never was in SOLDIER, so a lot of the remarks he made about his past could be seen as unreliable.

In this fic, they are both new, very young recruits, and this probably would have been their first battle...