Everything was in flames, houses, crops, trees, and anything that the greedy flames could get its hold on. And Zack, with all his pride and courage, was shivering in fear at the sight he was exposed to. People were fleeing for their lives all around him while he stood there, motionless. When he finally got ack to his senses, the flames had died down, and everything around him was pitch black. His eyes traveled the scenery around him trying to find something, or anything for that matter, which could have survived the ashes. As he took a step forward, his leg got caught on a massive object that caused him to lose his balance and fall face first into an oddly colored puddle. When he tasted the slight, unmistakable taste of copper in his mouth, he pushed himself off the ground as fast as he could and rapidly wiped away the liquid that was now on covering his face. The smell had only reinforced his fears about what it was, but he still did not want to believe what his mind had already confirmed it the liquid to be. He reluctantly opened his eyes after most of the fluid's trace was off his face, his composure paled at the sight of the red colored puddle that he had fallen into moments ago verifying it to be warm blood. His eyes soon spotted a trail of blood leading behind him; he knew that he would regret it, but he couldn't help but let his eyes follow the trail to satisfy his curiosity. Carefully following the trail with his eyes, he soon found the source being a man laying face down in the muddy dirt. He did not need to see the man's face to know who he was, Zack's face drained of all color as the dead man's blonde Chocobo-like hair revealed his identity all too well in his mind, Could Strife. He quickly moved away from his dead friend in horror, but in his rush, he found himself tripping backwards on yet another familiar corpse, this one being Aerith.
The recent discovery filled him with even more fear as well as anger at what monster could have done such a thing to two of the people that he cherished most. The answer soon came to him in the form of that heavy chuckle that he knew all too well. It was the same chuckle that he heard on the night of the Nibelheim incident, that same night that his so called 'hero' turned into a mad man right before his very eyes. He slowly turned his head to the direction of the chuckling, and his suspicion was confirmed. It was the long silver haired ex-SOLIDER with his long blood covered Masamune to his side, his face had the evil and lifeless smile carved on, and his bright green eyes have been fully focused on him.
In that very second all Zack's fears drained away and were replaced with raging anger. The man in front of him had caused so much suffering for everyone he ever knew, he couldn't just sit back and let him cause more pain to others. With that resolve, he scrambled to his feet and picked up his Buster sword. He channeled his energy into it and steadily eyed his target, but the man just stood there with his smile growing wider.
"Still playing hero, aren't we? When are you going to give up and realize that you have already lost?" Sephiroth laughed, he made no indication that he was going to fight back, but Zack wasn't going to let him get to him that easily. He charged forward, quickly closing the gap between himself and his former idol. But just as he was about to attempt his Chain Slash on him, the madman disappeared right before his eyes and was replaced with a mako tank that sealed shut as soon as he was in it.
Try as he might but his glass prison wouldn't even retain a scratch. And soon he spotted figures forming from the darkness around him gathering, all of which were enemies that he fought in the past. They all had that same evil grin on their faces just as Sephiroth did a while ago. And in their hands, they revealed one by one to have a gun or rifle ready and aimed right at him. Zack didn't think much of himself being in harm's way because of the strong glass imprisoning him. But that soon changed, the tank broke apart exposing him completely to the enemies around him. His eyes widen at the sudden change, realizing that he had nowhere to either run to nor hide at that very moment. His instincts took over from that point, shielding his face and shutting his eyes, praying for a miracle to save him the second the sound of the triggers being pulled reached his ears.
BANG!
He sat up from the bench breathing heavily and sweating fast from the horrible nightmare that stirred him awake. His heartbeat was in a mile long race and would jump out of his chest at any moment from the force and pain that he currently felt. He placed his shivering hand on his chest just to make sure that he was still alive. After confirming that he was breathing and felt his own pulse, he rested his back on the bench and slowly breathed in the crisp morning air, hoping all the while that it would help calm down his adrenaline. His eyes focused on the morning sun shining down from the opening on the church roof. With a quick sigh escaping his lips he allowed his eyes to slowly come to a close, all in an attempt to try erasing the thoughts that were a result of his nightmare. But his heart soon raced again when a slightly cold hand rested on his forehead all a sudden.
His reflexes took over at that moment, quickly moving his body away from the source, but his effort was unsuccessful as both he and the cause of his sudden reaction fell to the floor, with the later being on top of him; lucky for them they didn't get any injuries from the fall. Zack groaned from the sudden weight that fell on him, but it wasn't causing him much pain so we won't complain about it. He then carefully sat up to avoid discomforting the other, he found himself staring at the face of his angle, Aerith, and her back at him. Neither of them spoke, and they just sat there silently for a while before he finally had the courage to speak.
"Did I die and go to heaven… again?" he gave a shaky smile at her, hoping that she won't reject him on the spot, his mind was at ease after seeing the corners of her mouth curve upwards, and he continued "Cause I see an angle right in front of me."
The girl shook her head still having the smile on her face with the addition of a soft giggle "You haven't changed one bit either… Zack."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Aerith's smiling face soon changed to that of worry as her hands cup his face, feeling the burning heat and sweat covering his tired looking face. His breathing was calming down as he felt her cool hands against his face, taking away some of the heat he had. But she still had to ask, just in case.
"Are you ok? Do you have a fever?"
She was lying; She knew exactly why he was like that. He had once told her during their time in the Lifestream about vividly seeing his death being repeated whenever he closed his eyes. Even in death, the vision hunted his existence. But because the dead don't really sleep, he wasn't actually seeing it constantly. So they didn't think much of it back then.
While she can clearly recall their time in the afterlife, Zack on the other hand could not; that's because he wasn't a Cetra like her, he didn't have the same privileges she had. But she didn't mind the setback, she'll enjoy having them again with him now that they are both alive after all. So it's best to just play along for now.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Her voice ever so sweet and caring, it was sweet music to his ear; he had almost forgotten how sweet she sounded because of his absence. His hands reached up to her small ones and took them down gently, keeping them in his. He was trying his hardest not to scare her off with how much he really missed her. He was holding himself back from embracing her in his arms.
"Aerith, I've missed you so much… I know that you wrote that you've lost hope in me, but I… you see… It's…" He sighed; his mind couldn't form a single sentence that could explain to her the hardship he faced trying to get back to her. It all sounded like excuses in his head, and he didn't want to blame anyone but himself for what had happened back then, even if it wasn't his fault.
"Please… forgive me… I'll-" his apology was cut short by Aerith who had placed her finger on his lips to stop him. She gives him a reassuring smile instead, which made his tense body relax. She didn't look mad, or even upset. She was more happy about seeing him than anything else, did she lie in that letter just to get his attention? Or was she still hoping that he would come back to her even after all the waiting he had put her through?
"Don't worry, I'll forgive you…" She moved away her finger just as Zack huffed a sigh of relief. "But on one condition" She continued, the smile never left her face once as she lifted up a finger, continuing "You owe me a date."
Her smile got brighter as she made her condition, then her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling herself up to his eye level. His hand went up to her face, moving the strands of her hair that blocked his view of her face "Deal." He smiled back at her and closed the distance between them, sealing the deal with a kiss.
After their little reunion, the two tried to stand up, but he saw that Aerith had a difficult time moving her legs. Maybe her body still didn't recover fully like his did, or maybe they were numb from being still for some time, either way, she was stuck and needed his help. "Something the matter Aerith?" he couldn't help but sound worried as he glanced at her puzzled expression.
She looked up to him and replaced her current expression with a normal one, it was clear that she wanted to ease his concern "Not a big deal really but I could use some help getting up" He nodded and held her carefully around her waist. He got them both up on their feet, but as soon as he released his grip, she fell back down as if she were a doll on whose strings were cut. Thankfully thou his reflexes were quicker, and he was able to catch her before she hit the wooden floor.
"Woah! Don't worry, I've got you" he yelled out as he then held her close out of worry. He felt her clinging tightly to his shirt out of shock, not that he could blame her. Her heart was beating fast because of that, which was normal after a surprise like that. Maybe her legs were too numb then it would be best to not force her to stand just yet. After all, they will be back to normal after she carefully moved him around for a bit. He was about to suggest just that, but the horrified look on her face stopped him.
That's when her eyes widen suddenly he could feel her nails digging deeper into the material of his shirt. Then tears began forming, her shoulders slightly shaking as she hid her face in his chest. He could hear her sobbing, he could feel the tears gathering in the fabric of his shirt. He wanted to ask, he wanted to understand why, but he simply couldn't bring himself to. Whatever upset her was clearly a big deal, for she rarely cried in front of him. He carefully kept an arm around her securely, while the other gently patted her head giving her some comfort. So for now, he could do nothing but offer her his silence, and gentle embrace.
