Zack VII: The Turks are not your friends

Zack was roused from his sleep by a soft knock on the door. He blinked the sleep away as he sat up. Who could it be at this hour? Then he remembered that he had invited Cissnei over earlier. He seemed to have fallen asleep after all, despite not being able to sleep earlier.

He slid off the bed and walked over to the door on bare feet. He looked down his front to make certain he was presentable. He was still wearing the same clothes as before when he went up to the roof. He decided that was good enough and opened the door.

In the hallway, Cissnei was standing at a respectful distance from the door, her arms folded in front of her petite body and her weight shifted onto one leg. "Hey Zack. Sorry, were you sleeping?", she started the conversation. Zack scratched his head. "Yeah, I kinda fell asleep. Sorry to make you wait." She waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm still on the clock." He wanted to believe that getting the company to pay her for attending private business made her a true Turk, but in reality, even paying him a visit was probably just part of her job in her eyes.

"So, was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?", she inquired. He folded his arms. "Not really. I couldn't sleep and I thought you might still be awake." Cissnei looked at the floor. After a short pause, she said: "Aerith seemed really upset. Wanna talk about it?"

Zack looked away and said nothing. "I know you had a rough day, but taking it out on your girlfriend isn't going to bring Angeal back", she continued. Zack frowned. "It wasn't about Angeal." Cissnei raised her eyebrows questioningly. "She couldn't possibly have done anything to deserve being picked on."

He shook his head. "I just want to know why she knows Tseng so well." Cissnei stared at him for a few seconds and then giggled. "I'm sure she's met everyone from the Turks at this point. It's hardly avoidable. She may not know everyone by name, but I guess Tseng has been on the job the longest."

Now it was Zack's turn to raise his eyebrows and she continued: "Can you imagine her having been under almost constant observation for ten years and never noticing anything?" She giggled again. "We're good, but not that good." She leaned forward. "Tseng was the first one of us that she met. It's been considerably more difficult to keep up the surveillance since he blew his cover. It was easier when she didn't know she was being watched."

"She said she hates him", Zack threw in. "He didn't… do anything to her, did he?" Cissnei scratched her head. "Did she say anything more?" Zack shook his head. "Then maybe she doesn't want you to know", she suggested. Zack turned sideways and leaned against the doorframe. 'Did she say anything?', was exactly the same thing Tseng had asked him when Zack wanted to know why she was being watched for the very first time.

"Why does it bother you so much?", Cissnei pried on. Zack scratched his head again. "Isn't Tseng, like, really popular?" Cissnei shook her head. "Looks aren't everything." Zack looked away and said sourly: "I didn't say he's good-looking." She waved his remark away and said with a wink: "It's OK. I know you prefer girls." More seriously, she continued: "If you can't trust him, you should trust her at least." Zack sighed. "Being left in the dark about something important puts a real damper on trust." After all, it was apparently Aerith who chose to keep the truth from him. Cissnei leaned against the wall behind her. "I understand how you feel, but believe me that you knowing or not knowing won't change anything about her as a person. Or about the way she feels about you."

As she finished her sentence, Sephiroth came around the corner in the hallway. He paused for a second as he spotted Zack and then proceeded toward them. Even within the SOLDIER quarters, Zack did not run into Sephiroth often because he barely left his room even on normal days, except if he had work to do. To have met him twice in a single day was not just unusual, but also very fortunate. But then Zack remembered the awkward encounter with him earlier and was hesitant to greet him too exaltedly. So he merely raised a hand and waved at him. "Hey Sephiroth! Still awake?"

Sephiroth looked very messed up. He had quickly thrown his black leather coat over a bathrobe worn over pajama pants with his long silver hair streaming behind him. He looked like a strange sort of onion. His voice sounded raspy when he replied: "I would be sleeping if you two weren't having a party in the hallway in the middle of the night." Zack pushed himself off the doorframe and straightened himself out. "S-Sorry! We didn't realize we were being noisy." They had not even talked very loudly, but Sephiroth could be a very light sleeper at times, and who could fault him for not being able to sleep after what had happened today?

With a side glance at Cissnei, Sephiroth continued: "I won't rat you out, but you'd better go to your room or call it a night." He glanced over at Zack with his arms folded. "Or both." Before Zack could say anything, Cissnei pushed herself off the wall and waved at the both of them as she turned away. "No worries. I was about to leave anyway."

After she turned around the corner, Sephiroth's shining green eyes turned straight to Zack. "You can't be serious", he exclaimed. "Excuse me?", Zack asked in confusion, scratching his head. "I thought your girlfriend was a girl from the slums", Sephiroth surmised. Zack raised his hands in front of his body in a defensive gesture. "What? No! Cissnei is just a friend", he was quick to assert. Sephiroth sighed. His voice was softer when he said: "Zack… the Turks aren't your friends."

"What do you mean by that?", Zack asked. Sephiroth turned away. "The Turks only protect each other and the higher-ups in the company. If this woman is giving you any attention, that probably means someone told her to do so."

Zack watched him walk a few steps, his silver hair shining under the electric light and obscuring his figure. "Se-Sephiroth!", Zack called after him. Sephiroth stopped, tilting his head slightly backwards. and asked: "What is it?" Zack ran a few steps after him and stopped at a respectful distance. "How are you?", he blurted out.

The corners of his mouth twitched a little as he contemplated. "I'm… coping?", he said hesitantly. Zack continued: "I meant it when I said that I'm your friend." Sephiroth's shoulders twitched. But this time, he wasn't crying. He was silently laughing to himself as did sometimes. Sephiroth turned away without saying another word. In his confusion, Zack mustered a final "Uhmm… good night?" Sephiroth responded by raising one hand over his shoulder and lightly waving at Zack.