A/N: Thanks for reviewing Moon, and that was an awesome story to boot. Please, continue. That and I forgot Vincent. He completely slipped my mind, though I am a big Vincent fan.
Also, I don't own "Gundam SEED," or the song, "In the Quiet Night."
I wanted to say that the team Zack, Sephy, and Cloud were on did NOT start the fire in Corel, as far as they know it was a rebel or terrorist group that set fire to the place. Anyway on to the fic and a rating change to PG.
Chapter Two: A Home In Gongaga.
(Zack's Journal)
Last night was so much fun! I got a new materia from Sephiroth, it's called Pre-emptive materia. I vaguely have an idea of what it does, but it's still kinda of sketchy. And anyway, I heard what Sephiorth got was pretty damn incredible. Now what was it he won... Oh! I remember now, it was the Championship Belt.
Some flakey guy by the name of Dio wanted to put the thing in the Battle Square museum thing... I don't know if he agreed to put the thing in the museum or not. I wouldn't have, but what's one more accomplishment to the Perfect Soldier? He probably doesn't even realize how cool it would be for some schmoe like me to have something like that happen... Jealous, maybe. Envious, definitely.
Anyway, after that little encounter, I went to the Station. The Station is the area you first see when you enter the damn place, it takes you to everything. I had had my eye on the Chocobo Square, however, it was closed due to an accident with some chocobos the other day. Well, they were missing two jockeys and it's not like just anyone can ride the things, you know...
Back on track, at the Station, some woman pushed me down the tube to the Event Square. The wretch... Also, I ran into Sephiroth, and we watched the show together...not like that! Not gay, I am with Aerith, remember her? (That's kinda sad if I have to defend my sexuality from myself, I wonder what other people think of me.)
The show was pretty damn cool. It featured the idol singer Aidoru Kisaragi, whom I heard was married to the leader of Wutai, Godo. They didn't say how the marriage ended, but I don't want to know. When I asked Sephiroth, he seemed slightly... I can't think of a word for it, but it wasn't a good reaction. Old lovers, maybe?
When I asked Sephiroth that, I got cuffed in the back of the head. And...I think I just got a papercut... No! That's not what I meant to write! What I was going to say was, that she gave a beautiful performance. She sang a song in Wutainese called "In the Quiet Night." It was pretty, but ahead of it's time, I think. When the concert was over, she got a standing ovation.
The only problem is I like the song so much, I keep hummin' it. I can't do that in front of the guys... They'll lose what little respect they have for me! Oh, oh... Gotta go! We're leaving behind the Golden Saucer and I'll get to visit home. Can't wait. Bye!
(Zack's POV)
'We're going to Gongaga, we're going to Gongaga...' I repeated over and over to myself. Not even riding in the stupid buggy on a rainy day, completely miserable, could stop this onslaught of...happy feelings. I can't wait to see my parents! I'll tell them about Aerith and all the things I've seen since I was in SOLDIER...again.
Well, I was only half-right about the happy feelings being able to override the miserable traveling conditions. Before, I was riding in the front... But the driver forced me into the back because I was annoying. Right... Apparently he'd rather have that blond haired boy blow chunks on him than drive next to me. Jerk.
Two hours later, we arrived in Gongaga. Though getting there was a...well not fun, to say the least. We had to get out of the buggy and hike through the woods to get there. I forgot how annoying the mini/frog status effects were! I felt sorry for the blonde guy, he HATED the frog status effect. And then those strong monsters near the reactor...
We. Got. Messed. Up. Except for Sephy.
Yes, I am calling him Sephy now. At least in my journal. Shut up!
That's all I have to say about that (Run Forest, run!). But finally, we reached Gongaga. I think everyone, even Sephiroth, was thankful to get there. Admittedly we were all poorly equipped, luckily Gongaga sells a lot of good equipment. It's just so expensive.
That was the first place Sephiroth and the other went. The blond boy, I think his name is Cloud, I asked him to buy my equipment for me. I gave him a huge amount of Gil, along with a clear threat of what would happen to him if he ran off with it.
I went to my parents home. They lived on the other side of town, the furthest away from the reactor. When I was small, I hated that fact, I always had to walk the furthest to get to the damn town! Oh well, guess I shouldn't be complaining, it kept me in shape. I enter the house with a spare key we kept above the door in case we got locked out.
It was late in the afternoon and they were probably in town. And after the Hell I'd been through, I just wanted to rest for a while. I entered the house... It was just the way I remembered it! I visited Aerith's house on a occasion and was amazed at the similar design of both houses. The only big difference was my parent's house was larger, and had more rooms, but it wasn't pink and white. It was black and white, very simple.
If I was younger, the next moment of my life would have scarred me for life. The last thing you want to see at anytime in your life is your parents kissing, but making out? That's basically the second level of Hell in my book. They were on the couch too... SPEW...
I cleared my throat to grab their attention and, thankfully, it worked. Within a minute, they were vultures on a fresh kill of a lion... "Hi..." I said shyly.
"ZACK!" They screeched. I was covered in kisses from my mom and my dad nearly ripped off my arm shaking my hand. I love them...
For the next hour, I was virtually grilled. "Who are you with?" Asked Mother.
"Have you met Sephiroth?" Asked Father.
"He's so cute!" She commented.
"How are things in SOLDIER going?" Asked Father quickly, giving my mother a look. She all but ignored it.
"Are you on a mission?"
"A chance to answer, PLEASE!" I yelled, trying to stay calm, they were silenced immediately. "Aerith. Yes. No comment. Good. Yes."
"Great!" They said in unison. "Can we talk?"
"Stay for dinner." Father said in an gruff voice. He never asked me to do anything, it always seemed like an order.
"Stay forever." My mother said cheerfully. I knew she wanted to me to stay and I would like to stay. But...well you know.
(Zack's Journal)
I was glad I finally got to come home, it's been more than two years since I left! It's changed so much. It was worth being turned into a frog and being battered by the monsters near the reactor. I guess...I think so anyway. I don't think 'Cloud' thinks so...I think he's nervous. I heard from one of the other soldiers that his hometown is Nibelheim.
Hope he enjoys going home as much as I did. It was great to see my parents and old friends. Boy have I ever missed home! My parents and I talked for an hour or so. About how things in town were going and how they missed me. I talked about Aerith and of taking them to Midgar and then meeting her. They loved the idea so much! I think they really liked her too.
Sephiroth let me spend the night at my parents' house. He also gave me the equipment 'Cloud' bought for me, but not without giving a sppech about buying my own equipment. I was happy about that (staying at home), of course.
You know a lot of people in SOLDIER think that Sephiroth's is very icy, but I don't think of him like that at all. Sure, he's not the most social guy around. But he's not as icy as people think. He's just out doin' the best job he can.
Tomorrow, we'll be traveling all day. We're to go all the way to Nibelheim, but we can't visit Cosmo Canyon... The tribes there hate the Shin-Ra. To bad, it looks like it would have been fun. Also, I am not looking forward to the buggy ride. AT ALL. It's been fun.
A/N: I don't have anything to say really. Just that Zack isn't for sure what Cloud's name is, so he writes it like that.
