Zack was roused from his uneasy sleep by his phone's persistent ring. His eyes were still burning from crying until he could cry anymore. Just as he reached for the phone, it stopped ringing. That suited him just right. He turned on his back and closed his eyes.
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he remembered Angeal's last moments. He just could not understand why Angeal would want Zack to kill him and attack him to get him to do so. Even if his situation had been hopeless, which Zack simply refused to believe, he could not believe that Angeal, his greatest idol, would make Zack kill his best friend.
Angeal was his hero. Zack had grown up obsessing over Sephiroth, the strongest and coolest of Shinra's SOLDIER division. But as he joined SOLDIER and was promoted to Class 2, he had met Angeal and ended up under his wings and started to appreciate his slightly more subdued, but warm-hearted courage over Sephiroth's flashy, but cold heroism. Getting to know and understand Angeal made him see that what Angeal represented was far beyond anything Sephiroth could possibly offer. His strength, dedication, loyalty, wisdom, and insight were far beyond anything Zack had ever experienced at any part of his life. Had Angeal ever known in life how much Zack admired him, he would have perhaps blushed a little and spun it into a dorky story full of incomprehensible metaphors after which Zack would have had forgotten what he had even said leading up to it. But after what happened in Modeoheim, he realized that he had never known Angeal's true self. The mentor-student relationship had stood in between them and had kept him from seeing and understanding Angeal's true emotions.
His phone rang again, and despite reaching for it again hesitantly, it stopped ringing as he pulled it out of his pocket. He flicked open the phone to check what was going on. He had two missed calls from Aerith, two messages from her and one message from Kunsel. He closed his phone without reading any of the messages and dropped his hand back on the bed while still holding the phone in his hand. He had no mind to respond to any of their texts. But why would Aerith call him twice in a row? He had texted her in the morning to let her know that he would not be available today because he would be deployed to Modeoheim.
He really liked Aerith. She could a bit needy at times, but why would she try to call him twice in a row, kowing perfectly well that he could not always get back to her immediately. Did anything happen? With this sudden realization, his eyes flew open. Sitting up with a start, he flicked his phone open and called back Aerith with shaking hands. Waiting anxiously for her to pick up, he ran his free hand through his hair repeatedly. He could not bear the thought of something having happened to her on the same day he lost his best friend.
Finally, her clear voice greeted him with a cheerful "Hi Zack!" at the end of the line. "Uh, Aerith?", he responded. "What's up?" Aerith went quiet for a split second and then replied: "Mom made a really nice apple pie. It's still warm. I wanted to ask you if you'd like to come over and have a slice." Zack did not know what to say. Here he was, worried that Aerith was in danger and needed his help, but in actuality, she just wanted to offer him apple pie, apparently having forgotten that he had been deployed and could not join her even if he wanted to.
He let out an awkward laugh. "Uuuuh, apple pie sounds… nice? But I can't really leave here right now. I'll come see you as soon as possible." Aerith continued to chatter on about how much longer the pie could possibly survive in her house with the Sector 5 children coming over and each of them getting a slice. But Zack could not care less about pie. The phone call ended awkwardly as she tried to keep telling him about things that he did not care about at all right now. It was not that he did not appreciate her, but at times she could be really self-absorbed. It was as if she simply forgot that he had told her just this morning that he would be away and did not even bother to ask how the mission had gone or if he was hurt. And all that over some apple pie?
He closed his eyes and sank back on his bed, stuffing his pillow behind his head. Staring at the ceiling, his mind wandered back to Angeal. He sat back up and finally realized that he was still wearing his soiled uniform, including his shoes. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and looked down at his feet. The black SOLDIER 1st class uniforms hid bloodstains pretty well, but the smell and feel of it were unmistakable. He was drenched in Angeal's blood, which had mixed with snow and mud during their battle.
Though he had not sustained any major injuries, his uniform was damaged in several places. Cloud and Tseng had dragged him back to the helicopter and probably had not been very gentle about it. He was certain that Angeal had not seriously tried to harm him, or Zack would not be alive now. As tears rose back into his eyes, he stood up and started taking off his filthy uniform.