Dreamer

. . .

A/N: Wow, I can't believe I actually managed to churn out a chapter of this. It actually started out as a Zack/Tifa fic, believe it or not, which I forgot about, remembered, and then I decided to turn it into some squishy Zack/Cloud shounen-ai. Of course, that is still to come. ; This thing is old, old old, so some of the beginning stuff might be pretty bad. Oh, and I could not think of a name, so I just picked some word to stay with my trend of single-word fic titles. XD Anyways, enjoy.

. . .

1: Awaken

. . .

The rumbling of the truck on bumpy roads tossed him back and forth quite a bit, but the young soldier cared not. It was far more important to make sure that his companion was all right. As if him breaking the unnecessary silence would make everything better, he began to ramble as he always did. After all, one was sort of forced to speak to themselves when in the presence of Cloud Strife. "You know what I'm gonna do after this is all over?" he started, peering cautiously over at the pokey-headed one, disregarding the fact that there was pretty much no way Cloud was hearing a word of what he said. "I'll be a mercenary." He did his best to sound defiant, deep down feeling a bit embarrassed to have such an immature sounding goal. Then again, wouldn't you be a little self-conscious when you spoke and no one answered? As if an answer could be given...

. . .

Dragging his limp, almost lifeless body with him across the dirt path, only a few solitary strands of grass as consolation here and there, the gurgling sounds from his friend seemed to be enough to keep him going. As long as he knew there was a chance that they could both survive this, well… he had to keep moving. "Ugh," the porcupine groaned slightly, rubbing the sweat off of his forehead with the back of one gloved hand. "C'mon, Cloud… almost there."

And then came the sight to behold. Upon the cliff, with a perfect view of their salvation. They would get themselves cleaned up, back on their feet, and then they'd be off… severed from the chains of ShinRa forever, if all went well. And who knows? They could even travel together. Zack smiled softly at the thought, but it didn't last for long when he heard approaching footsteps nearing ever closer.

Jumping to attention, he grabbed his dear Buster Sword from the sheath at his back and raced back towards the soldiers, tearing through them like a knife through butter as he felt his blade sear through their flesh, felt the blood splatter upon his face, heard their death-choked cries. He fought with the expertise that only a First Class SOLDIER could, second only to Sephiroth, and recently infused with Mako...

Once that was taken care of he raced back to check on his disabled comrade. "You hangin' in there, buddy? I wouldn't have wanted this to be all for nothing. Look, it's Midgar…"

And then… nothing. Darkness.

. . .

And then it was as if he had woken from a dream, one viewed over and over again for eternity until just then. Was it a dream? With that last memory, the most recent thing he could recall, fresh in his mind, he went about trying to figure out just where he was. A headache was present, but a trivial one; the type that is probably only there to nitpick in the back of your mind. He was a bit groggy as well, but that didn't matter at the moment. It was more important for him to figure out what was going on.

First observation to be made was that he was in a bed; a rather nice one as well, with clean, fresh white sheets that were a bit cold at the moment. He assumed it was morning, even if there were no windows in the room that could tell him so. He was in a house that was particularly small; the walls were beginning to decay slightly and the roof seemed too low, almost enough to be uncomfortable, especially for someone that was of his stature. Looking as if it was built of wood, that seemed strange to the black-haired one; they tended to not make houses out of wood anymore… it was speculated to not be strong enough. So it must be old…

Shivering slightly, he gripped the sheets that covered him with both hands and drew them up, wrapping them around his shoulders in the hope of generating some warmth. Mako eyes blinked as he realized that all he wore were a pair of boxers. Great, just one more thing to wonder about. Maybe all this wondering would help pass the time.

Looking around for any clothing that might belong to him, his brow furrowed when he discovered that there were none. Well, he wasn't leaving in just boxers… it was most likely freezing outside. And so he'd have to wait for someone to come and find him; and he sure hoped it was someone with answers because he was in some serious need of them. But who knew how long that might take? He could very well be in for a long day.

Seeing that the bed was pushed up against the wall, he fell back to lean against it, sighing softly. His muscles ached, as if they hadn't been used in a while, and he was almost compelled to get up and walk around to loosen them up. But the prospect of welcoming himself to the cold was what kept him as snug as he could be in bed. Scratching at his head a bit, he yawned slightly and then lifted dual hands to attempt to get some of the grogginess out of his system by rubbing enthusiastically at his eyes.

It didn't help too much.

And then the hunger kicked in; he felt as if he hadn't eaten in months. "Urgh… food..." came a plea from the deprived porcupine. Trying to depose of any thoughts having to do with consumption, he hastily shoved them away by filling his mind with others.

Where was Cloud now? That was one of his biggest concerns. He had done all he could to save him, and just hoped his efforts had not been for nothing. He longed to see ol' spikey-head again; after all, the two of them had been the best of buddies, despite the drastic difference in rank. Zack had been First Class, Cloud just a mere soldier. He had always hoped that such a relationship could have blossomed into something more, for his feelings for the younger boy had warped into something beyond friendship soon after he had met him. Unfortunately, Cloud himself hadn't responded to any hints at all...

But thoughts of ShinRa brought back other not-so-fond memories---like the experiments.

Locked in the basement of that mansion for months, in a tube, no less, and the torture… Zack shivered slightly as the thought came that they would probably still be there, had he not managed to escape. Bad times, those were, even if most of it was spent unconscious. However, Mako did have its advantages. A big plus was that it served as a sort of 'natural' painkiller. If injured, it filled its host with a mock adrenaline that blocked out the pain - one of the reasons that it was hard to kill those that had Mako in their veins.

One of the reasons he was still alive.

He was considering going back to sleep once again when the door opening brought him to attention. In walked two people, one talking to the other as they stepped in. "It's best to check on him every day, you know. Never know when he might wake---"

The person stopped once he saw that Zack was indeed very much awake. His eyes widened slightly. "Y-you're awake," he declared the obvious.

Zack grumbled slightly. "What's so amazing about that?" he asked. The one man looked to the other with an expression that made Zack get the irking feeling that they knew something he didn't. Maybe it wasn't just one thing---maybe they knew a lot he didn't. Just what was going on here? And so what else could he do but ask? "… what's going on?" he asked slowly, mouth aching a bit as he spoke, for once again the feeling came that he hadn't spoken in a while, and his muscles were no longer used to actions that were usually commonplace.

One man, the younger looking of the two, gave a sigh, exchanging glances with the other stranger before walking towards Zack. "Do you remember anything?"

Zack tilted his head to the side, biting down subconsciously on his lip as he racked his brain, tried to recall. "I remember up to when I was trying to save Cloud…"

The man's face showed some confusion, but it was wiped away by wonderful realization. "Ah… you must have been attacked or something."

Zack nodded, as more bits and pieces of those last memories were fed back to him. "Yeah, we were… and then everything went black. They must've got me." He gritted his teeth in frustration, balling cold, stiff fingers into a fist that he slammed into the wall behind him. He winced at how much they ached, as if he was no longer used to pain. As if… he hadn't felt pain in quite a while. "So…" he continued, looking up at the man that was now standing next to the bed. "…you found me?"

A nod was given. "Yes… you were extremely injured… a normal man would have died."

Zack couldn't help but laugh. "Normal? Well, I'm far from normal…"

The man narrowed his eyes slightly, but asked no questions and made no comments, simply continuing. "You were covered with bullets wounds… there was blood everywhere; you were practically soaked in it."

"Geez…" Zack rubbed at the back of his head, and then made a closer examination of himself. There were no signs of any recent wounds, and this was beginning to worry him. His tone was a bit more urgent as he asked, "And then…?"

"We brought you back here, removed all the bullets and bandaged all the wounds. It was the least we could do… not like we could leave you for dead. And…" His eyes were cast downward, as if he was pondering the best way to phrase his next words. But Zack wouldn't have any of that. Patience was short, especially when he was so hungry for answers.

"And…?" he asked with a grumble, possibly a bit too mean… but hey, if it made the guy pick up the pace a little…

"You've been in a coma since then."

"……." The silence seemed to ring in the air, so resonating that it was like it burned the ears, louder than any true noise could have been. "…what…?" he eventually asked, as if it took all that time to soak in. "A… coma…?" Well, it explained many things, but… a coma? It was hardly tangible. "So I've been here since then. How… long… has it been?" That last question took a lot of guts to ask, considering that was the answer that would count the most.

"Hmm…" The man frowned slightly as he tried to work it all out. "I would have to say… it's been about… three years now."

"Three?!" Zack yelped, hoping dearly that he hadn't heard the man right. But no correction was given; nothing was given. Just these facts. These… unbelievable facts. But why would he lie? And it wasn't as if Zack had anything else to go off of. "Three...."

"Um…" came the voice of the other stranger, who had remained quiet up until then. He might have looked older than the other, but it could not have been by too much.

Zack looked over with hungry eyes, hoping to hear something that would make this all… better. Though that wasn't going to happen…. Things weren't neat and perfect. Not like that. He had learned that a long time ago.

"Did you mention a Cloud?" the stranger asked.

"Mm? Yeah, I was trying to help him when we got attacked." He didn't understand. what the guy was getting to, but he tried to keep his patience for a little longer.

"Was his name Cloud Strife, by any chance?" At that question, the younger man, still standing right by the bed, blinked and looked over his shoulder at his friend as if to accuse him of being clinically insane. "Are you kiddin' me?" he asked with a scoff. "It could never…" He turned back to look at Zack, then asking, a bit uneasily… "Could it?"

"Yeah, that was his name. So…?"

Both seemed perplexed, but neither said anything for quite a while… or maybe it just seemed like a long time to Zack, for he was clawing at the sheets out of frustration. "So…?" he asked between clenched teeth, still trying to maintain that patience that was slipping through his fingers like sand.

"Cloud Strife… he saved the world," said the younger man.

Zack, who had been sitting up in the bed, literally fell over, but was lucky enough not to fall off of the bed entirely, instead just collapsing into a few pillows. He shot up into a sitting position quick enough to yelp, "Saved the world?!"

"Yes," the younger man answered. He sighed softly to himself and simply said, "I think we're gonna have a lot of explaining to do."

"Y... yeah," Zack replied weakly, still in shock. "That sounds good. But... um..."

"What is it?" asked the younger man innocently.

"Could I get some clothes? Err, and something to eat would be nice, too." He looked rather sheepish, something that was even worsened as his stomach let out a low growl.

"Oh, right. That would help, wouldn't it?" the younger man said with a hearty laugh. "You can call me Fitch, by the way," he added.

"All right. I'm Zack," he responded, somewhat awkwardly.

"Okay then, Zack. Let's take care of some things. Carter, could you get him some clothing?" he asked, looking over his shoulder again at the other man.

Carter gave a strict nod and left the room. Fitch looked over at Zack again, reassuring his stomach by saying, "You'll get some food once you've got some clothes on ya'."

. . .

It seemed there was still some ounce of kindness in some people, even those that lived in the Slums. The two had been overly nice, giving him a rather big meal and some clean clothes, and even supplying some items for his travels and a pack to put them in. But more importantly than that, they had the patience to sit him down and tell them as much as they knew about the fight to save the world.

More surprising than the fact that Cloud, little old spike-head, had been the leader of the group that was trying to prevent Meteor, was the fact that the one that had summoned it, that had brought about this entire mess, was his other best friend.

Sephiroth.

Yes, yes, Zack remembered, almost too clearly, how the Great Sephiroth had declined into insanity, how he had killed and killed and killed, how the fires wouldn't stop, the heat didn't fade, the cries of the wounded didn't cease. And he certainly remembered what followed that, Hojo's experimentation – correction, torture – and then how he had escaped with Cloud. It was all fresh in his mind, but that didn't mean that he had thought that Sephiroth was capable of raining destruction on the entire Planet.

Geez, Seph… It was all he could think to himself as he wandered through the Slums, just trying to take a moment to get his thoughts together before he actually set about doing something with his life, something he had believed had ended long ago. How did this all happen? Why? With a soft sigh, he set down his pack, which even in its rather light weight, was quite the burden on his muscles that hadn't been exercised in far too long. He then crumbled to the floor, taking a short moment to rest. It was pathetic how weak he was, but he hadn't been expecting much more, even with his Mako.

Even with all they had managed to tell him, he didn't feel like there was enough. He needed to know more of the intricate details, and the only way he'd be obtaining those was if he spoke one-on-one with one of the people that had been there, part of the group that had numbered nine, then… eight…

Aerith…

He felt a burning sensation in his chest even at the thought of her. She had been so good to him, so kind, so sweet… and he had almost blown her off, too busy with everything else that was going on, training as a SOLDIER, going on missions, hanging out with Sephiroth, and with Cloud. Just being his normal hyper, over-enthusiastic self, and hardly a good boyfriend, or even a good friend. She had been to good for him, he hadn't deserved her… not someone as sweet as she was. Maybe that was why he had almost avoided her, because she was fit for someone better, not someone like him…

And now she was dead, never to truly have someone that loved her. Of course, he had been there while the two telling him this entire story had speculated if she and Cloud had some sort of intimate relationship, but Zack doubted that. Cloud wouldn't have been in the right mental state then to get into a romantic situation, would he? Not Cloud… Cloud, who always thought that he was nothing, that no one wanted him, needed him.

And then he ends up saving the world. Go figure. I bet he still thinks he's nothing. He scoffed in annoyance at the thought, just because it was so true. For all the time he had known Cloud, all years they had spent together, Cloud had never thought he was ever worth anything. The result of a childhood where he had always been ignored, hated, even… and his own self-esteem level being pretty much down the drain.

Zack had done his upmost best to try and beat this sort of thinking out of him, to make him see how great of a person he was, how good of a friend, how wonderful, how…

Now he was just get downright sappy. This was ridiculous. He bowed his head towards his chest and let out a soft, bitter chuckle. I do believe I am smitten with you, Cloud Strife. And I don't even know if you remember me.

Well, it did settle certain things. He definitely needed to find one of the group, and see if they knew where Cloud was. Zack wasn't sure if his feelings that had somehow escalated into almost uncontrollable would ever be satiated, but he at least needed to get some questions answered, mostly about how Cloud had taken all that had happened, and also to know what Sephiroth had been up to, the truth, not just the rumors of two people that lived in the Slums.

All he had were names, really.

Tifa Lockheart. Well, he knew her… sort of. They hadn't had much time to talk when they were on that mission, that one, fated mission, but he at least knew who she was, what she looked like, and he was quite sure that she probably remembered him as well.

But the others pulled up blanks, just names, no face to go with them.

Barret Wallace, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind, Vincent Valentine.

It was enough to work with, though. And so with a deep intake of breath, he pushed himself up to his feet yet again, wincing slightly as his muscles ached in response to being pulled on, and then he bent down to grab his pack and sling it slowly over his right shoulder, wandering through the Slums yet again.

If these people had in fact saved the world, it would make sense that even the common folk would know where they lived, what they were doing, right? Though when he had asked the two that had helped him of Cloud's whereabouts, they had let him know that he hadn't really been seen in quite a while, that most people weren't even sure if he was still… alive…

No, there's no way… I'm not even gonna think that…

Cloud was just good at hiding himself away, making himself insignificant, unimportant. Not that Zack had ever liked that attribute of his, but it was true. He knew where people wouldn't find him, where people wouldn't look. All he wanted was for people not to bother him, to be left alone… Zack wasn't even sure if he could help him now, how badly he still thought of himself, if he had let it turn into something… a bit more extreme.

NonononoNO.

He needed to see him, to help him if he needed it, and to just be there if he didn't. Dammit, he just wanted to see him again, at least one more time. We did it together, escaped Shin-Ra together, the only reason I was able to do it all… was to make sure he was okay… I thought I had died just to see him live on. How could he not want to make sure that Cloud had at least turned out somewhat all right? And how could he not want to make it all right if it wasn't?

It was a justifiable excuse to see that face again, those soft, angelic features… that rebellious, Chocobo hair. This is getting sad.

Shin-Ra. He hadn't thought to ask of them. What had become of them? It was rather obvious now that sucking Mako out of the Planet, the Lifestream itself, was not a good thing, so had the company fallen once and for all, or were these oppressed people, the ones that were walking amongst him then and there, were they still ruled over by Shin-Ra?

It's worth being here again, just to hear that that damned corporation has finally gotten the kick in the ass that it needed…

But most important was to find someone that could give him the location of one of those eight people, and so he started to pay more attention to those that were milling around through the dirty streets, some in rags, others a bit better off, but still just barely scraping by, just trying to find someone that seemed to have some bit of knowledge, when his answer came to him.

In other words, he ran straight into Tifa Lockheart.