Zack XX: Free time
"Hey, this is Zack. Um, how are you?", Zack greeted Sephiroth on the phone, who sounded tired, but lively, when he responded: "Hello Zack. What is it?"
"There's nothing really. I just got to Rocket Town and I was just wondering how you were doing", he explained. That was not entirely false. Although Tseng had asked him to check up on Sephiroth, the fact of the matter was that Zack wanted to talk to him more to get to know him better, so any excuse to strike up a conversation was welcome to him. "Oh, you're already in Rocket Town", Sephiroth reiterated. "Tseng told me this morning that you're already on the way to Wutai."
So Sephiroth was dodging the question how he was doing, as usual. "You're coming, too, right?", Zack wanted to know, which Sephiroth affirmed: "Apparently." The prospect of going to battle with the hero Sephiroth was too exciting for Zack, despite the circumstances. "Do you think we're going to fight Wutai soldiers together?", a notion that Sephiroth shot down immediately: "I heard this is supposed to be a parlay." Zack nodded. Of course he knew better. There would be no fighting, unless the mission was going south, and he should not hope for that, no matter how much he wanted to go to battle with his idol.
"Are you fit enough to go out on the field?" After a short pause, Sephiroth returned: "Are you?" Again, no answer. Zack felt a little beat, but he still double-checked: "What do you mean?" Sephiroth paused at the end of the line. "I know you weren't sleeping." Finally, he acknowledged that last night had happened. "The truth is, we were really worried about you yesterday." Sephiroth hesitated as he described his view: "I don't really remember what happened after we had lunch yesterday, but I found the mess in the bathroom. I have a general idea what happened." Zack nodded in silence. "We… Tseng and I, were really worried about you." After a short pause, he added: "I'm glad that you're better." Getting no response from Sephiroth, Zack followed up insecurely: "Are you better?" – "I have to be", Sephiroth responded evasively.
"Can you promise me something, Sephiroth?", Zack requested. "That depends", Sephiroth said. "Don't go to Hojo's lab by yourself. I'll go with you if you ever have to go again. Hojo, he's –" His voice broke off before he could put his thoughts into words. "I'll let you know, then", Sephiroth interrupted him with a cold tone, as if to deter him from saying anything more
"So how's Rocket Town?", Sephiroth changed the topic without awaiting Zack's response. "Seen the rocket yet?" Zack was just as uncomfortable as Sephiroth sounded, so he gladly went along with the change of topic. "Only from afar. I only just arrived in town. What do you think about this space stuff?" Sephiroth thought for a moment before he answered: "I don't know. I don't think there's any actual use in it. They're just trying to prove to the world, that they can do it. It's not like there's anything out there. It's all just for show." This was one of the rare times Zack had actually coaxed something out of Sephiroth that was not strictly related to a mission. "You mean like space aliens?" Sephiroth laughed. "Space aliens? What's that supposed to be?" Zack chuckled. "I dunno. Maybe there's something out there after all. Something that's, like, a threat for us." He heard Sephiroth scoff over the phone. Perhaps he was offended by the notion that anything could be a threat to him. Or perhaps he thought the idea of extraterrestrial life entirely too ridiculous to even consider it.
Wondering why Sephiroth was so talkative, Zack finally asked: "So what have you been up to?" - "Nothing much." Incredulously, Zack interrogated further: "Wait, are you bored?" But Sephiroth responded: "Not really." That did not really make sense to Zack. "Well, what do you usually do when you're not on a mission?" Sephiroth contemplated for a moment. "We used to train a lot. The three of us. Most of the time, really. Or watch TV, or go out. But not since Genesis left. Come to think of it, he used to recite that book all the time and tell us all of his theories about it." Zack did not know what to say. Genesis was officially dead, and while he had his doubts about that, he did not want to get Sephiroth's hopes up too much in fear they would be thwarted again. "I've been doing some research in the archives lately, until, well, you know. I still have some open questions. Maybe I should pick that up again once we get back from Wutai."
Zack nodded. He was a little embarrassed to ask, but he really wanted to spend more time with him, and Sephiroth not really doing anything seemed like the perfect opportunity. "You know, I'm having so trouble with getting the hang of Angeal's sword. Do you think you could help me train?"