Here is chapter 2! hehehe. I'm glad people really liked this one and I didn't think I would get lots of people wanting me to continue this so here it is. It will still remain a tragedy story a bit and maybe even a bit angsty, still keeping the romance though! and also there will be another pairing in her as well. Don't kill me for the pairing please ! I thought it would be another good twist to the story since I have never seen these two together before so anyways... please enjoy the story!

Warnings: A bit of yaoiness.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except for the plot.

Chapter 2 - Aftermath

Zack opened his eyes but only found them shutting again feeling the bright light above him burning his eyes ever so slightly. He went to make an effort to sit up but found his body was unyielding to answer his will for movement. Slowly opening is eyes more carefully this time to allow them to readjust to the light so he may see so he maybe could find out what happened and where he was at the time. After a little while his eyes began to wonder around the walls of the room only to realize that he was in the medical facility of the Shinra building.

He went to speak but was unable to when he noticed the fairly large plastic tube shoved down his air way causing him an odd uneasy feeling with a bit of fear slapping him over his head with only one thought racing to his mind. 'Cloud!' That was all he was thinking for the moment as his eyes franticly looked trying not to move his head to much which would cause more discomfort of the tube in his throat. 'What the hell happened... why am I here... and where the hell is Spike...!' His mind was racing full throttle now hastily trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Then everything hit him like a brick, thick and hard, the disturbing image of his blonde lover. The face he loved so much, covered in its own blood, its eyes looking so lost and so... dim... His eyes widen greatly as he began to recall some more of the images from before. 'There was no way Cloud could be dead!' His mind was stammering. He could feel his eyes beginning to burn slightly feeling the tears begging to release themselves down his cheeks.

Suddenly he could hear voices now around him and wondered when they had came into the room. His vision blurred a bit from the water gathering in his eyes that stung like little needles. The next thing he heard was a woman's voice sounding so timid and fragile in tone.

"This may hurt Mr. Donovan... We are about to remove the tube from your throat"

'We...?' He thought to himself, then realized she meant the other person in the room as well which made his way to the side of the young woman who had now busied herself in looking over some machines around him. Somehow he managed to twist his fingers into the standard white sheets of the hospital like bed with pain overwhelming his body feeling like his throat was being ripped from the inside out. His stomach contracted feeling like it was going to lose its contents soon as he began to cough harshly, it sounded so dry and hoarse and it hurt like hell but was grateful for the tube no longer in his mouth.

He could finally now breathe, taking in a deep gasp of fresh air before coughing and hearing a man's voice telling him to take it easy and rest, but now in hell is he going to rest when the blonde was gone or so he came to realize. His body was still resisting his will to move so he just settled for staring up at the ceiling of the small room after the Doctor and the nurse had left him satisfied that he was good for the moment. Now having a moment's peace, his mind began to once again bring forth painful pictures and the few last words from his memory before he found himself here.

There was then a small noise, he couldn't figure it out for a moment then realized it was the heart monitor next to him. The beeping noise was starting to bother him now, it to was bringing back thoughts of the blonde. But then he heard another beeping noise similar to his own... but slower. Finally finding some strength to himself, he turned his head over to the left and saw a figure not to far off from where he was. It took a few moments before his vision cleared itself, since his eyes still burned from the silent crying.

Before he could make out the figure across from him a ways, he turned his head towards the sound of the door to the room opening only to find a fiery red head slipping into the room having a pained and worried look etched into his face.

"Good to see ya 'wake yo..." Reno smiled a bit and stepped inside and took a place in a chair near the right side of the bed Zack rested in.

Zack looked at him for a moment before he smiled a bit himself despite the tears that stained his pale cheeks. It took him a few moments before he could bring himself to speak though it was painful. "Is... Cloud...?" It was hard to finish his statement when it hurt so much to even mention the name as he watched the look on Reno's face change, now seeing sadness written on it. His eyes widen greatly as he stared at the red head as he spoke again. "Oh god... please don't tell me... he..."

Zack was soon answered by another figure entering the room. This person had freakish long silver hair. It only took an instance to know it was the general.

"He isn't dead yet Zack. He is just in a coma, they say there is a large chance he may not wake..." Sephiroth spoke as he approached Zack's bed side and pointed off to the left of the bed to were Zack was once looking.

Zack mumbled a bit to himself before he looked, of coarse, it was always the way Sephiroth to give the bad news so bluntly he hated, most of the time he wouldn't of cared but he also knew that Seph had a hard time trying to deal with emotions of others. When he did look over to his left across the room, he couldn't believe what he saw. There laid the unconscious blonde, unmoving, eyes closed looking so innocent. He felt a sigh of relief wash over him knowing that Cloud wasn't dead at least but wished from the deepest parts of his heart that the blonde would be normal and spunky again.

Watching him unmoving hurt so much, he missed how he always tried to prove himself to him but he never had to ever do it once. Zack loved him just the way he was and would never change anything about the boy. God he hated how all this wasn't fair but at least his pained was shared with the red head and Sephiroth. They do believed that this wasn't fair, even for the poor blonde.

After a while Zack finally pulled his eyes away from the figure to look to Reno and to Sephiroth, who now was standing next to Reno with a gloved hand resting on the red head's shoulder. It again pained to speak when he tired but like he cared at this point, his voice cracking just slightly. "What happened... I can hardly remember anything..."

Reno relaxed into the chair a bit with a sigh and let Sephiroth do the explaining this time since he wasn't up for it right now.

"Some how a few monsters had ambushed the training grounds near the far end where you two happen to be training. They went after you and before you had a change they jumped you but Cloud saw them just in time and had took most of the force then you did to save your life. Somehow he managed to kill them." Sephiroth spoke with a hint of sadness flowing in the words he spoke. He himself cared about the blonde as well, then again, the four of them were inseparable for almost a year now.

Zack gathered all the possible strength in his oh so unwilling body to move and forced himself to sit up feeling the searing pain ripping through his upper torso as he gasped for breath. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to his right seeing Reno's hand holding him steady.

"Hey man take it easy yo, you been out for a week an half, so don't push yourself to much."

"Reno is right, you should rest"

Zack smirked slightly ignoring them for now, all he wanted was to be at the blonde's side and if it pained him so. He took in a deep breath and turned his back to the pair and could hear them protest again him, moving and shuffling in front of him to stop him.

"And where do you think your going Zack?" Sephiroth question and lifted a brow at him now standing in front of the brunette.

"I want to see Cloud..." He whispered softly as he glanced at the two in front of him.

Reno and Sephiroth looked at each other then over their shoulders over at the blonde form behind them then back to Zack with a sigh. They both knew how stubborn Zack was, so instead of fighting with him they decided to help him up for now. Sephiroth looped Zack's left arm over his shoulder and wrapped his own right hand around Zack's waist to hold him up while Reno helped to move the iv so it didn't rip out of Zack or cause one of them to trip. They took it easy and slowly feeling the pain Zack was in every time he flinched when he walked, but they knew it wasn't going to stop him.

It took about a good five minutes for the trio to each the blonde, but it was worth it in Zack's mind. He looked down at Cloud his heart sinking deeply in his chest and reached his trembling hand out to the still hand in front of him. He gently took the hand into his own, his thumb softly caressing the skin on the top of the hand. Just seeing Cloud up close like this caused his eyes to burn with tears again and found himself unable to stop them.

Reno watched Zack for a moment before pulling one of the bigger softer chairs to where Zack stood and placed it as close to the bed side as possible. Zack looked up at the red head for a moment before he smiled slightly and nodded a thanks before Sephiroth helped him sit down into the chair, the whole time he never let go of the slightly smaller hand he held in his own. Once Zack use of his left hand, he brought it to where his other hand was and cradled the blonde's hand with both of his own.

Sephiroth placed his hand on Zack's shoulder, feeling his friend tremble beneath his hand causing him to sigh heavily. Reno came up beside the general and wrapped his arms gently around his waist as he watched the blonde with the other two with a sigh slipping from his lips as well and could feel the mighty arm of Sephiroth slip around his slim form. It hurt the three of them to watch Cloud unmoving, barely breathing, he would no longer talk or try and beat you at something. All they wished for was for him to wake.

After a few moments of silence Zack finally broke down unable to take it anymore as he began to sob uncontrollably. Tears stained his pale cheeks, the droplets continued to come forth unyielding for anything.

"Cloud... oh god please... wake up..." He could barely speak between each sob as he leaned forward a bit his forehead resting on the blonde's hand in his own. Each sob and tear burned him so much, he could almost feeling the pain ripping at his very own soul. He trembled greatly with each sob and slowly lifted his right hand from the blondes' and placed itself on Cloud's head letting his finger stroke each spike softly.

"Funny how your hair still is untameable when your half dead..." Zack choked a bit trying to find a way to soften the sobs that were becoming painful with each passing moment.

Reno turned his head unable to watch Zack anymore and buried his face into the little area by Sephiroth's neck and sighed heavily feeling Seph's grip tighten a little more around him. Sephiroth placed his chin softly on Reno's head closing his eyes for a moment, he wondered how he would react if he lost Reno in a way like this.

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. It now had been about three hours since Zack took his place at Cloud's bed side not willing to move from the chair unless nature called. Reno and Sephiroth had gone now since they had to get back to work even though they were very unwilling to go back to right now. Zack sighed heavily, his head now rested beside Clouds with his arm acting as a pillow under his head. He let his mind drift softly through the memories in his head that danced around inside.

He remembered the first time me met the blonde and smiled to himself. It was a happy memory, he remembered how softly the wind was blowing that day and how the sun was shining that day as well. Little did they both know that after that one faithful day, their lives would change.

After a few more hours of dreaming of happy memories, he finally let himself slip into a deep sleep, his hand keeping a firm hold of Cloud's never wanting to ever let it go. The doctor came in from time to time checking on the couple, though after lots of begging from Zack they had let him stay in the chair next to the blonde, thinking it might be for the best for now while Zack recovered.

Reno peeked in from the door to do a quick check on Zack on his way to Sephiroth office and smiled seeing Zack had finally fell a sleep, since he really looked it he needed it. "You better pull through chocobo head..." Speaking almost in a whisper as he slowly closed the door softly and turned heading out of there and back into the main hallway whistling a soft tune to himself trying to lighten his sprits for now and stepped into the elevator and swiped his key card and pressed the right floor that Sephiroth's office. He sighed and leaned against the glass as he waited for the elevator reach the right floor.

After a few minutes he stepped out of the doors of the elevator and continued walking until he found himself standing in front of the general's office door and looked around to see if anyone had been following him this late at night. Satisfied that everything was clear he placed his hand on the door gently pushing it open, poking his head around the corner to see Sephiroth still working but saw a grin spread across his face without even looking up to see who it was.

"Come in my little red head..."

Sorry I am ending it here, though the next chapter will be a mostly Reno and Sephiroth moment for those yaoi lovers out there lol. Anyways I hope this chapter was as good as the first and I hope people will like this story as well. Anyways please review I would love to know what you think!