Disclaimer: Same as before.

Author note: Sorry this took so long, but I had a little trouble organizing and thinking of what to put in. Anyway, I'm done now, so read away.

Chap. 8

"And that's pretty much it."

Zack sat down as Cloud told him the entire story. From the fire of Nibelhium years ago to his finding him in the reactor pod. (Basically, the whole FFVII story.) Needless to say, Zack was completely dumbfounded.

"I need to sit down."

"You are sitting."

Zack looked around and saw that he was indeed sitting down. "Oh." Looking on the ground, Zack muttered, "So you fought Sephiroth and defeated him. But I still have a few questions."

"Go on."

"Well for one, I understand about Sephiroth summoning Meteor to injure planet. But you didn't tell me how you were able to stop it?"

"We had to summon Holy, the ultimate white magic. Holy was able to stop it for awhile and the Lifestream came and did the rest."

"Interesting. How did you summon Holy?"

Cloud's face turned sad briefly, and then suddenly turned to shock. Zack looked at him questionability. "Cloud, what is it?"

Cloud looked back at Zack, "A…special friend gave up her life to summon it."

"Ohh. I'm sorry."

"Anyway, by doing so, she was able to stop Meteor and save the Planet."

"Okay. So Meteor was stopped, Sephiroth was destroyed and the Planet was saved. But you just found out that Jenova may still be alive and Hojo as well. So what now?"

Red XIII spoke, "Now we have to stop them again. No telling what those two are planning on doing."

"Yes. We have to move quickly." Tifa agreed

Yuffie sighed, "Move where? Where should we start?"

Cloud answered, "I know where. The Northern Crater."

Barret grumbled, "Not again. I hate that place."

"It's our best bet. That was the last place where she was solid."

Cid shook his head, "That would be a good idea, but there's one problem. The Highwind is in still in need of repairs. We can't fly there."

"Then we'll have to go on foot."

"No. We barely made it last time. As I'm not freezing my @$$ off again!" Barret yelled.

Tifa nodded in agreement, "He's right. We only made it because that guy found us and even then, we still had to climb up. That wasn't easy either."

"Okay, so how are we going to get there?"

"Aren't there any other airships?" Zack asked

Cid shrugged, "None strong enough to weather the winds around the crater. Unless..."

Cloud looked at him and instantly jumped up, "Oh no. Not the Tiny Bronco."

"Why not? And stop calling it tiny! It's not the Tiny Bronco anymore!" Cid countered.

Cid had remodeled the Tiny Bronco. Originally, he repaired it so that it could fly again, but while he did, he also changed it. The plane was now twice the size it was before and equipped with high-level boosters similar to the Highwind's. Also, due to its size, it is capable of going high speeds, but the problem is that if the boosters are left on too long, they would overheat and without a coolant system, they would explode. Cloud and Cid found that out on their test run...the hard way.

"We are not using that flying deathtrap!"

"Come on. I told you I fixed the problem, so don't worry."

Vincent looked up from his cup of tea, "We don't have a choice."

Cloud turned to him abruptly and then back to Cid, "Fine. But don't blame me if we explode."

Barret stood up, "Now that that's settled, we should get some sleep."

Later that night...

Cloud awoke to a small sound in the living room area. Looking down, he saw Zack standing outside, staring in the sky.

"Zack?"

"I don't think the stars shine like this back home."

Cloud stood next to him, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For not finding you sooner."

"Don't sweat it. You found me, right? It doesn't matter how, just that you did."

"There's something else. The woman who gave up her life to save Planet...it was..."

"I know. It was Aeris."

"How did you know?"

"I'm not sure. While I was in that pod, I saw flashes, images. I saw her stabbed by a sword. But it's strange. I don't feel like she's gone. It's like she's still alive, but...not. Does that sound strange?"

"Not at all. I've felt the same way."

They stayed quiet for awhile, just looking up at the stars.

"So how about you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Anyone special in your life?"

"Umm. Well..."

"Now if memory serves me right, you had the hots for that girl Tifa."

Cloud started blushing and Zack laughed, "Correction. Still have the hots for her."

Cloud scratched his head, "I don't know."

Zack looked sadly at his friend, "Well, that's your choice. But she won't be around for you forever." Changing the subject, "Well, we better get some rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Cloud nodded and began to walk back in, but stopped and turned back.

"I guess I should give this back to you." He pulled out the Buster sword and held it to him. Zack held it briefly and gave it back to him.

"Nah. It looks better on you."

Cloud gave a questioning look, but put the sword away and walked inside. Zack stood out for a little longer and then began to go inside. Suddenly, he gripped his arm in pain.

Guuuuhhhh. What was that?

Shaking it off, he went inside, unaware that behind him, a ghastly figure stood watching him before disappearing, whispering only one name.

"Zack."

For those expecting an Aeris/Sephiroth or a Cloud/Aeris fic, sorry, but there's a good reason for it. Put simply, Zack was there first! But don't worry. I have something special planned for the one winged angel. Sort of.