Tifa had just put a blanket over Aerith's shoulders when she heard a loud thud coming from the hall.

Who's still up? Tifa thought while she made sure the loud noise didn't wake up the brunette. Tifa knew that she should convince Aerith to lay down but if she woke up who knows when she'll fall asleep again.

She wants to be here in case something happens… She wants to be here when he finally wakes up, Tifa thought as she left the room, feeling guilt squeezing at her heart as she walked down the hall looking for the source of the disturbance.

Did another one of her friends get hurt? Will it be as bad as Cloud's current condition?

Cloud was basically a death's door! Tifa didn't want to see anyone else she cared about like that. It hurt to see the look on Aerith's face as she tended him, Tifa hated to look on Aerith's face when her friend realized that Cloud took a blow meant for her. Tifa could still hear Aerith's scream as Sephiroth pulled his blade out of Cloud's chest.

He did it to protect the girl he fell in love with…

"Shit!" Tifa heard someone hiss breaking her out of her thoughts. Who was still up? Was it a traveler that was attacked by monsters?

"Are you… Okay," Tifa said as she entered a dimly lit room- her room- where the voice came from and saw him. A dark-haired man passed out on the floor no doubt trying to reach the bed. He was all scratched up, bleeding, and covered in dirt.

"Zack!" She called as she quickly kneed by his side. His mako blue eyes opened as he moaned out in pain, "What happened to you?"

"Got caught in some fights…" he hissed out as she touched him, inspecting his wounds, "Didn't realize how tired I was until it was too late… the monsters just kept coming."

"At least you managed to get back into town," Tifa replied as she moved that one strand of hair in from of his face so she could get a better look at the small cut on his forehead, "You're freezing."

"I'm in too much pain to feel cold right now…" He muttered as his eyes started to close, he was going to pass out and who knows if he'll wake up.

"Hey," Tifa said gently shaking him, trying not to hurt him ever again, "Please stay awake for me. Damn it! I don't have healing materia!"

"It won't work on me…" Zack muttered, "Hojo's experiments… materia makes me sick."

"What?" Tifa asked, surprised by his words. What did he mean by that and how can someone have a negative reaction.

"It's funny," he chuckled before he hissed out in pain again, "Cloud had the worse case of mako poisoning but I have the worst side effects from being poisoned. I had some bandages in here…"

"You're actually in the wrong room… but maybe…" Tifa had to force Zack to stand just to get him onto the bed, though instead of laying him down she leaned his back against the wall. Believe if she could keep him in a sitting position he won't pass out until she can patch him up.

It would be a lot easier for her to patch him up if he can stay conscious. It would be easier if he could help her by maneuvering his body.

Once she was sure he wasn't going to fall over she reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a first aid kit, Aerith and Tifa got it to help patch up Cloud. Luckily they still had some of it left, she didn't want to leave Zack alone when he was in pain.

"Sorry if this stings," Tifa said as she poured some peroxide on a cloth to dap onto his cuts.

He let out a low hiss as she cleaned up his wounds.

He's more bruised than anything, Tifa thought as she banged him up.

"And there," Tifa said once the last cut was covered, "does that feel better? Do you want me to…"

Tifa's words trailed off as a pair of arms wrapped around her, pulling her down until she was still on Zack's lap.

"Tifa…" he muttered, "Thank you."

She felt his head drop down onto her shoulder.

"Hey!" Tifa said trying to push him away but he refused to budge, "You still need to get the dirt off your face and arms."

"I will," he muttered sleepily, "just…"

Let's me stay like this for a while, He may have trailed off by Tifa knew what he wanted to say.

Tifa sighed and put a hand in his hair and curled closer to him, her head now touching his head. And like him, she must have drifted off to sleep too.