It's okay I'm sill alive. I just sort've forgot to update. I updated collision and put up a sketch for it.. So forgive me if this seems short.

Chapter 9

Our reunion

Zack stirred in his sleep. The discomfort that had plagued him for the entire night had subsided at last. He reached over to the bedside table, and flicked on the lamp. The room was instantly filled with a weak yellowish glow of light. Even though it was dim, he had to squint until his tired eyes could adjust.

When he was able to see without constantly blinking he surveyed his surroundings and found that he was alone. He patted the cover at the foot of the bed .The sport where the lump had been collapsed, telling him that the child was gone too. Fearing that his injury would act up, he slid slowly from beneath the quilted blankets to place his feet on the cold floor. He sat there a moment, feeling the soft rug brush against his bare feet. The fact that he felt barely any pain when he moved was rather surprising.

He stood up cautiously as his expression changed to that of confusion. Sure he was a fast healer, thanks to mako, but this fast? He gripped the edge of his shirt and pulled it up just above his abdomen. He gazed down to where the wound was meant to be and found only unmarked skin. He traced a finger over the area and felt a small prickle of pain, but that was all. He let his shirt drop back down around him. He decided that Reno must've found the healer he was searching for. Glancing to the clock he saw how late it was. Past five in the morning already.

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Tifa dragged her feet over the streets of Traverse town. Kairi was lagging just at arms reach behind her. It had been a long time since they had been in contact with Leon and Yuffie. As for Aerith it had been even longer.

Tifa looked over her shoulder and sighed. There was a hotel that was open 24-7.She knew that her fatigue was starting to show. Her arms hung limply and her eyelids sagged sleepily. The hotel looked so inviting.

"We should rest." Vincent commented seeing how tired they had become. She stopped to face them, trying hard not to fall asleep right then and there. She was torn between two: rest and obey her aching feet, or continue on and find her friend. She shook her head and they followed her without protest into the first district.

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Zack sat on the edge of the bed rapidly tapping his bare foot on the hardwood floor. He was slowly working up the nerve to just get up and leave. He had to finish his battle with Sephiroth as soon as possible. Sitting around doing nothing but waiting was inexplicably aggravating. He would've left if not for two reasons: one- he hadn't properly thanked Reno. Two-he had no idea what the Turk had done with his buster sword.

His eyes raked across the room. It has to be here somewhere doesn't it? He wondered. Unless, of course, it was still underneath that bench he collapsed on. His eyes caught sight of one of the rooms many doors. One went to the hallway. (he had found that out earlier when a moogle came skipping on by asking if anyone wanted to synthesize items.) The second went to the balcony, the way Reno had left earlier. He had chosen to stare at the one door that had creaked open earlier when he had been trying to sleep. He just assumed it had to be a closet. What kind of room would have this many exits but be without a simple closet. He moved towards it, being sure to keep his feet on the small rug so that they wouldn't freeze. He reached out and turned the well polished handle. He nearly jumped, when he looked inside something leaped out and latched onto his waist.

His heartbeat slowly returned to normal and he starred down in disbelief at the sapphire mako eyes that seemed to sparkle back up at him. "Of course this would be the room without a closet," he mumbled. He took a quick glance inside the room the boy had been in. Everything was red, red, and red. He winced at the bright color. His eyes weren't completely ready to take on anything this bright, not after coming from his dim room.

He looked back down at the boy hanging from him and decided that this child truly resembled Cloud in everyway. "You're up!" He giggled and hugged tighter.

"Uhhuh..." The kid was hanging tightly to his waist while his feet dangled at level with Zack's shins. He tried to pry those small arms free but couldn't. The kid had him trapped.

After a good minute of trying to shake him off his arms became tired and he slid down to the floor. Zack stepped out from between the "lasso" of arms. He placed him back on his feet and sighed. "What's your name?"

"Cloud." The boy remarked proudly and pointed at his chest with his thumb to make his point all the more clear.

Zack couldn't really leave a kid all on their own so he led the kid back into Reno's room. Sephiroth would have to wait a little longer.

Axel stood in the darkest corner of the red room just beside the open balcony doors. He smiled to himself as they stepped back into the adjacent room. Guess my job here is done.

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Kairi tripped over the final stair as they chased a small black shadow, and slammed into the hard ground. "Darn it!" She whined, her frustration and weariness finally catching up with her. A heartless emerged from the shadow and ran towards the gate that led back into the space between worlds.

Tifa sprang upon it, but before she could connect it shrank back into the brick laid street. "Cid, it's coming to you!" she called breathlessly. They had been chasing this thing all over the district for a solid hour, in and out of buildings, over and on top of rooftops. And all just to get back Merlin's old spell book.

"I hear ya!" He responded, and jabbed at the black figure with his spear, but it managed to slither away.

"Oh jeeze…" Kari had gotten back to her feet and was now favoring a scraped knee, along with a bruised shin, and a matching pair of raw forearms. Two gunshots sounded causing her to shriek as two bullets ricocheted off the stone walls and past her face. She covered her mouth with her hands to hold in her remaining surprise. She shot a quick glare at Vincent who didn't even notice where his stray bullets had flown off to.

"It's up again!" Tifa shouted and dove after it. This time she managed to land a firm kick to its back. It flew forward with a clatter as its helmet dragged over the ground. Kairi redeemed herself for her earlier clumsiness by charging up and snatching the book free from its grasp. She jumped back just as Cid swatted it with his spear.

The heartless sailed over their heads. Tifa met it in mid-air and propelled it upward with a powerful roundhouse kick. Vincent took advantage of the open target and fired. The bullet whizzed through the air and penetrated through the thick outer shell of the heartless. There was a blinding flash of color as a heart was released and allowed to float into the night sky.

"Good job." Tifa congratulated. Kairi smiled at the complement and looked down at the item she now held. Its appearance was a bit discouraging. The cover was old and warn. Bits and pieces of it had shredded onto her hands. The pages themselves were dry, crisp, and yellowing. In the corners and margins of every page were small notes scrawled in a loopy handwriting. (No doubt it was Merlin's.) But it wasn't the books weathered appearance that was the most disappointing. Kairi thumbed through the pages and they all shared a sigh. "Is this written in Latin?" Kairi asked fearing the inevitable answer.

"Looks like it," Tifa said quietly, "We will have to wait until we get back to Radiant Garden in order to get Cloud back to normal.

"We hafta find the kid first Y'know." Cid mumbled

"Guys, over here!" They looked over their shoulders to see an overly hyper ninja bounding towards them. They couldn't help but wonder how she wasn't the least bit tired after the long day and night of searching. The way she was screaming she was certain to wake all of the towns remaining occupants, except for those that had already been awoken by their little skirmish with that pesky heartless. "You will never guess who we found!"

That took so long to write! I was debating on how Axel and Cloud should officially separate and well I'm still not entirely pleased but oh well. If there was a misunderstanding the room that cloud was in and the one Zack was in were side by side. Just like in kh. That part may have been confusing I wrote it sorta fast. Yes you owe all your thanks to valentinemenitis. They asked me to update and I had most of it in my journal so I figured what the hey? I'm thinking of writing a semi-sequel to this. There will not be any little mini Clouds running around or anything. It will be serious but its picking up where this story will sadly and eventually end. sigh

Oh yeah ff7 and kh are not mine.