I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.

Too Late

Cody swallowed hard, glancing at Cissnei. She was a wreck. Not outwardly. Outwardly she was calm and professional. But he could see it in her eyes. They'd received their orders. Zack and the other fugitive were on their way to Midgar. No one knew why, and no one cared. The army had been deployed to kill the both of them. The Turks, under Tseng's orders, were deployed to capture them before the army could kill them. But that meant they had to find him in the massive desert around Midgar, while the army simply had to wait and ambush them. Cissnei wasn't taking it as well as she seemed.

"Reno, Rude, status?" Cissnei asked.

"We got nothing," Reno, a cocky, red-haired Turk who fought using an electrified baton, replied.

"You?" Rude, a Turk who fought with basic martial arts, asked.

"Likewise," Cissnei said. "I'm heading to point two-three-five. You two take point one-two-zero."

"Roger," Rude said.

Cody steered toward the point Cissnei had said, turning off the helicopter's radio. "When we find him, what are you going to do?"

Cissnei remained silent. After a few moments of silence, Cody turned the radio back on just as an explosion went off to their right. He swore, steering toward it and going as fast as he could. However, it wasn't good. It was miles away, and there was an entire battalion engaging, over a thousand troops, plus helicopters. Cody glanced at Cissnei, seeing her hands gripping her pant legs so hard her knuckles were white, even though her face was calm.

"We'll make it," Cody said. "I'm not going to let the man you love die."

Cissnei nodded stiffly and Cody pushed the helicopter faster. Past what was safe. However, before they could reach the battle, the gunfire stopped. Cissnei's jaw clenched and the silence quickly became oppressive. It began to rain, hard. Cody pretended not to see Cissnei wipe her eyes, instead focusing on getting them there as fast as he could without the helicopter crashing. They left the rain, and after a few more minutes, they finally found him. He was lying at the edge of a cliff in a puddle, which had turned crimson. Cissnei broke instantly, crying out in fear and pain. She all but dove to the side door in back and threw it open, jumping out onto a massive rock formation off to one side, then beginning to scramble down it to get to Zack. Cody grit his teeth, flying to a spot where there weren't hundreds of Shinra troops' corpses lying everywhere. He landed the helicopter as close as he could before getting out and running toward them. Cissnei's head was pressed to Zack's shredded chest. He'd been shot countless times, but judging by the corpses behind Cody, he'd made them work for it. Cody slowed as he neared them and saw Cissnei wasn't crying. She was barely moving. His eyes widened as he spotted something small and shiny on the ground beside her, breaking out into a sprint to reach her.

He dropped to his knees beside her, staring at the poison capsule on the ground, its tiny needle exposed. He lifted Cissnei gently into his arms, seeing Zack's blood coating the right side of her face, and a tired smile on her lips as she looked up at Cody. Tears flooded down his face instantly as his heart drove white-hot daggers into his chest with every beat.

"Why?" Cody asked, voice broken and frail.

"I...caused this," Cissnei said. "If I had...captured him before...he wouldn't...be dead. I...killed him. I couldn't...live with that."

"Dammit, Cissnei!" Cody choked out. "Damn you!"

Cissnei smiled up at him sadly, her own eyes watering. She raised her right hand, cupping his face and lifting his head. "You've...always loved me...haven't you?"

He nodded, unable to force out an answer. She smiled, her hand sliding back to the clasp that held the straps of his mask together. He raised his left hand to the front of the mask, and once she'd unclipped the straps, he set it down. She smiled, her thumb brushing his tears away before she pulled his head lightly.

"Then...at least...let me give you...this," she said, Cody allowing her to pull him into a kiss.

His heart shattered all over again the moment her lips met his, but he returned the kiss regardless. After a couple seconds, however, he pulled away, gritting his teeth as tears flooded down his cheeks. He looked down at her and she smiled sadly.

"I'm...so sorry," Cissnei said, beginning to fade. "Please don't...look at me...like that. Even...wearing a mask...your eyes speak...loud enough...for you entire expression. Please...let me see...that you'll be...okay without me. I want you to...live a life...without any regrets."

"How can I do that when I couldn't even save someone you love or keep you safe from harm?" Cody asks.

Cissnei smiles, wiping his tears again. "You've...always hated...Shinra. You only...stayed for me. You've lived...for me," the light in her eyes began to fade. "I want you to...live for...you now. Don't...stay with Shinra. Find...a better...path...to..." a tear slid down her left cheek as her head began to tilt forward slowly, "walk."

Her head fell to the side, landing against his chest, and Cody broke, clutching her tightly as he sobbed. He tucked his face into her hair, ignoring the burning in his lungs. as time ticked by, his body shook from sobs, as much from emotional agony as physical. He could feel the moment two minutes passed. He could feel the third moment approaching. He was already in for a week of being sick and in danger of getting worse. If he passed three minutes, he'd run the risk of following Cissnei. He finally lifted his head, putting his mask to his face and resting it on Cissnei's head, reaching his hand back and clasping it, then continued to sob. Hours passed. By the time his tears finally stopped falling, it was late, and the skies had begun to weep in his stead again. He finally stood, lifting Cissnei and carried her back to the helicopter, then returned for Zack. He took off and turned away from Midgar, flying in silence, feeling drained and empty. He had failed. Completely. The only person in his life that mattered was dead because he had failed to save the person that mattered most to her. He wanted to take his mask off. To throw it away and join her. But she'd never forgive him, and if he did, there'd be no one to bury her where she would want. He was the only person who knew. And even though he knew he should return Zack's body to his family, he couldn't bring himself to separate Cissnei from him. So he'd bury them together. He landed the helicopter outside a cave on the edge of the wasteland Midgar resided in, carrying first Cissnei, then Zack, setting them beside each other in the field of flowers inside the cave, one that only Cissnei and Zack new how to find.

"We're here, Cissnei," Cody said as he carefully used an emergency shovel from the helicopter to move all of the flowers and grass out of the way of where he'd be digging. "You always loved this place. I hope this is an okay spot for me to bury you."

Tears rolled down his cheeks again and he let out a shaky laugh. So there were still more tears left. As he dug, they continued to fall. He dug a single hole, six feet deep and two bodies wide. He stabbed the shovel into the side to step up on and gently lifted Cissnei down into the hole, setting her at the bottom and wiping the blood from her face. Then, he carefully brought Zack down, laying him beside her. He folded both of their hands on their abdomens and climbed out of the hole, staring down at Cissnei, tears still falling, even after hours of digging. He turned away, beginning to fill in the hole before putting all of the grass and flowers back. Then, he walked back to the helicopter, grabbing a metal panel off the side and walking back, driving it into the ground at the head of the grave and used his gunblade to carve their names into it, using Cissnei's real name, a name only he knew. Then, he broke again.

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