Sora watched from on top of a hill as the ring of metal against metal echoed around the grounds. Students cheered loudly at the sounds and sat around the grounds watching the sparring match happening below, the girls giggling to one another at the strength and drive shown by each individual. As Sora watched Leon and Cloud cross blades, the boys around them cheered the two fighters on, crying out in surprise as Leon threw a log towards Cloud, who flipped over the wood block as he charged towards his opponent.
"Are they always like this?" Rose asked in distaste, her nose wrinkling as Leon managed to catch Cloud on his shoulder hard enough to draw blood. Cloud barely even flinched.
"How did he not feel that?" Scorpius asked with a wince. "That looked like it hurt."
"When they spar? Yes. Otherwise they're pretty okay together. It's just training. There are no angry feelings. When there is, boy is there blood. And Cloud has some sort of chemical infused into his body. I don't know the details, sorry," Sora replied with a shrug.
"Cloud has mako infused into his body from his time in SOLDIER," Yuffie suddenly announced, and the three of them looked up at her in surprise as she and Riku approached. "The mako gives Cloud super strength and stamina, and helps him heal faster. It's kinda like having large levels of radiation infused into the body so it mutates."
"That sounds...really bad," Rose decided with a grimace.
Yuffie shrugged. "It was the fad back in our home world. Shinra liked contributing to environmental issues."
"Who was Shinra?" Rose asked curiously.
"A company Cloud used to work for. They were massive. They were a large corporate that had a lot of branches of merchandise," Yuffie reported.
There was a loud cry from the crowd that drew their attention back to the fight. Cloud was on his back on the ground, his sword lying a few feet away while Leon knelt on the blonde's chest and stomach, the gunblade point embedded in the soft grass beside the ex-SOLDIER's ear. The two warriors were breathing hard, their chests rising and falling rapidly as they stared into each other's eyes.
"Leon won," Sora reported needlessly.
Riku just rolled his eyes. "Come on, lunch is almost over. Lets get to our next lesson."
Most of the crowd seemed to have the same idea as they all stood and collected their books and started making their way towards the Castle as Leon stood and offered his hand to Cloud, who took it and went to collect his sword and place it in its sling, Leon doing the same for his gunblade.
"Must we?" Sora asked with a whine as he tilted his head back from his seat on the ground to look up at his best friend.
Riku just looked amused as he stepped forward to nudge the head of brunette spikes with his knees. "Yes, now come on."
Sora groaned and started moving to stand up. "Fiiine."
Laughing to himself under his breath, Riku waited for his best friend to get himself together and start the trek back up to the Castle.
Sora turned to wave at Leon and Cloud as he walked up the hill backwards.
Leon spotted him and gave a nod back in reply.
Sora, happy that he had been acknowledged, turned around to walk forward and began jogging up the hill to catch up with the others, Riku sighing and picking up his pace a bit to catch up.
At the main doors, they separated and both went their different directions.
LINEBREAK
A week or so later, Zack, Reno, Leon and Cloud were walking back up towards the castle after a training session, most of the students following them asking Zack and Reno questions.
"So how do you know Mr Strife?"
"Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Why are you so strong?"
Zack laughed and explained briefly about SOLDIER and the mako, Reno throwing in odd remarks every now and again.
Cloud was laughing as Zack began regaling some of the more amusing missions he'd been on when in SOLDIER still.
A male teenager tapped Leon on the arm, gazing at the sky, and pointed up. "Hey, Mr Leonhart, what do you think that is?"
Leon looked up, and Cloud, catching the motion, copied him, as did Zack.
"Is that an airship?" Zack asked, pausing where he was as he shaded his eyes to watch the ship that was rapidly plunging towards the school.
"It's a gummy ship," Cloud informed him, stomach sinking as they watched the ship slide through the air without slowing.
"What's a gummy ship?" Reno asked curiously.
Cloud's heart leapt into his throat as the ship hit the main doors with a loud crash, dust and debris exploding outwards and loud screeching sounded, as well as a few screams from people in the area.
Smoke poured out the doors and Cloud and Leon sprinted for the main doors, Reno and Zack not far behind them. As they bolted up the hill as fast as they could, a crowd of students gathered around the doors, blocking the way.
"Cloud, wait!" Zack yelled and grabbed his friend's arm as the blond went to plunge through the crowd of students.
"Let go," Cloud snarled and yanked his arm away, pushing through the crowd, Leon right behind him, and the two sprinted for the smoking and burning gummy ship.
The glass was cracked and broken, flames licking at the engines and one of the wings had separated from the metal body, currently lying halfway up the stairs. The paint was scratched, the metal bent and torn.
Cloud rammed into the door of the gummy ship at a sprint, fighting desperately to get it open. Leon joined him.
"Hold up," Cloud gasped and activated some materia, freezing the door and the joints as he stepped back and kicked at the door, hard.
It buckled, and Cloud kicked it again, aiming for the locking mechanism that was holding the door closed. One more kick, joined by Leon, had it flying inwards, and Cid appeared, staggering out and coughing from smoke inhalation.
Leon quickly grabbed his arm and led him clear of the wreckage. "Are you all right?"
Cloud followed.
Cid coughed and gasped, doubling over as Leon held him up. "Where's Aerith?" he gasped, looking back towards the ship desperately.
Cloud's eyes widened. "Aerith's in there?"
Cid nodded.
Cloud ran for the ship again, diving through the door of the wreckage.
"Cloud, wait!"
Not pausing to see who it was that called out, he plunged through the smoky inside, coughing and covering his mouth to try and limit the smoke inhalation, while squinting through stinging eyes. "Aerith!"
A coughing in the far corner caught his attention, and he headed towards it. A lump on the floor moved in the smoke, coughing again, and Cloud quickly knelt down to collect her in his arms, carrying her out of the ship as he stumbled over cushions, chairs, and bits of heated and burning debris before stumbling out of the ship and over to where Leon was standing anxiously with Cid, who was now sitting, blood running from a cut on his forehead and down his cheek.
Zack stared as Cloud plunged back into the burning ship. "Cloud!"
Reno grabbed his arm and dragged him forward, pushing a way through the staring students.
As Cloud emerged though carrying a coughing form dressed in pink, Zack felt his heart skip a beat and he stared, watching as Cloud put her down and knelt down beside her, his hand on her shoulder as she coughed and clutched at her chest, desperately trying to get clean air. There was soot all over her face and dress, but he'd recognize her anywhere.
Before he could register it, he was moving past Reno and flying towards his best friends.
Aerith looked up a brief second before she was suddenly tackled and hugged tightly, but also gently. Black hair fell into her field of vision, blocking half her view of the burning gummy ship, and Cloud. Blinking in surprise, she quickly began coughing again and was let go, a hand rubbing soothingly up and down her back as the smoke slowly cleared from her lungs.
"Are you alright Aerith?" Zack asked anxiously as he sat back just enough to check her over with his gaze. "No broken bones?"
"No," she gasped as she shook her head, more coughs tearing themselves from her chest as she clutched at it.
"Easy," Cloud urged, turning to look worriedly at Cid, who was beginning to breathe easier, his coughs dying down.
Leon nodded to Cloud to show the blond mechanic was steadily getting better. He hadn't known Cloud for this long not to be able to interpret the blonde's expressions.
"CID! AERITH!" Yuffie wailed as she suddenly appeared, sprinting towards them. She knelt down beside Aerith, peering up at them with wide and worried eyes. "Are you alright?"
"They'll be fine Yuffie. It's just a bit of smoke inhalation," Leon reported as he rubbed Cid's back soothingly.
"Oh thank Shiva," the ninja murmured and slumped a bit, the tension and worry visibly draining from her body.
Zack turned to scowl at Cid as his coughing died down. "What were you doing? You could have killed her! And yourself."
"Give it a rest," Cid growled. "The engines suddenly cut out and we had to make an emergency crash landing. It's not my fault." Another coughing fit cut him off, and Cloud placed a soothing hand on Zack's arm.
"It wasn't Cid's fault. If he had thought something was wrong on the way over he would have stopped to deal with it."
"Damn straight," the mechanic growled as he shrugged Leon's hand off, nodding to show he was all right and pushed himself up, stretching with a groan, his back cracking. "Ugh… I wonder what happened? I've never had anything like that happen before where the emergency back up power didn't even activate." He stooped a bit to rub a sore spot on his hip.
"It didn't?" Leon asked curiously, also turning to look at the nearly scrapped ship that was still burning.
"Dance, water dance!" Demyx suddenly yelled, a strum of chords from his sitar later and the gummy ship was covered in water clones extinguishing the flames and leaving the hot metal hissing as it cooled.
"Hey, are you two okay?" Sora asked as he ran over, Zexion, Riku, Demyx and Axel in tow, Demyx still manipulating his clones to douse the flames.
Aerith nodded and also stood up, taking Zack's offered hand with a blush as she turned to face Sora. "We're fine Sora."
Zack suddenly drew in a sharp breath and moved the blood soaked fringe from her eyes. "You're bleeding."
"It's just a cut," she said dismissively. "Nothing a simple Cure can't fix." She smiled at the dark haired ex-SOLDIER thought to show that she appreciated that he cared.
"We should get you up to the hospital wing, just to be sure there's nothing else wrong," Leon decided.
"I agree," Zack added.
Cloud sighed as he noticed McGonagall hurry down the stairs and part through the staff. He looked at Leon, who noticed and glanced at the headmistress, before looking back at Cloud. He flicked his eyes in the direction of the stairs before turning to deal with Minerva.
Hesitating, Cloud did as he was requested and helped Cid up, knowing Zack would get Aerith to the hospital wing, whether he had to carry her there or not himself."
"Whoa, talk about a noisy entrance," Reno suddenly joked as he entered the group.
Cid grinned widely and nodded to the red head. "Hey, wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Neither, although I should have guessed it since Spike showed up," the red head joked and clapped the mechanic on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get you some medical attention."
"Don't move," a voice suddenly barked and Madame Pomphry swept onto the scene, issuing instructions that they be sat back down again and the others clear out so she could run some tests.
Wands flashing as she muttered spells, she determined that Cid had a mild concussion with bruising while Aerith had the cut on her forehead, but nothing else except bruising.
Zack was so relieved he sat down on the spot, an irrepressible grin on his face.
Aerith blushed and looked at him with a fond smile, slipping her hand into his when she thought no one was looking.
Zack blushed but took it with a squeeze.
Cloud smiled to himself as he noticed the instant connection between his two friends. He'd known something like this might happen, and he'd hoped it would. Hopefully they'd be able to talk Zack, and even Reno, into coming back to Radiant Garden with them. He'd enjoy having his best friend around again.
"Oh, hey, this brings back memories," Zack replied with a grin, suddenly flopping down on his back and looking up at Aerith with a teasing grin.
Aerith looked at him in confusion, another coughing fit wracking her frame. "What does?" she croaked out.
Zack pretended to be dead, tongue stuck out to the side, slowly pretending to wake up and look up at her. "Are you an angel?" he asked, sounding dazed.
Aerith gave him an amused yet exasperated look. "Really?"
"Hey, no time like the present," Zack replied with a shrug as he sat up and brushed her hair back from her face, rubbing some of the black soot and smoke from her cheek. "Either way, you need a bath."
Aerith laughed and swatted him on the shoulder gently. "Shut it."
Zack grinned and grabbed her fingers, squeezing them gently.
Cid huffed and rolled his eyes. "Can we do the puppy love thing later? It's a bit smothering right now," the mechanic complained.
Aerith blushed and giggled while Zack grinned like the happiest person alive.
Reno sighed as a silver patronus shaped as a stag danced into the room and stopped in front of McGonagall, who blinked a couple of times as the message was delivered, and a few seconds later the fireplaces in the Great Hall flared to life and Auror's poured out of the fireplaces and quickly headed for the Entrance Hall. "Great."
Zack frowned as well as he stood up. "What are they doing here?"
"Fair! Tarshill!" Harry yelled as he jogged over to them once he'd spotted them, eyes wide as he looked around the chaos of the Entrance Hall and the now no longer burning gummy ship. "What happened? You two were here, right?" He suddenly blinked and focused on the two new other-worlders. "Who are you?"
Zack suddenly grinned and bowed, sweeping a hand out to gesture at Aerith. "Potter, may I introduce the one, the illustrious, angelic Aerith, who has forever been at the centre of my heart since I first laid eyes on her."
Aerith blushed but couldn't stop the grin that covered her face as she ducked her head bashfully.
Cid cleared his throat expectantly and Zack glanced at the mechanic with a dismissing eye.
"Oh, and that's Cid."
Reno barked a laugh at the disgruntled glare Cid gave the dark haired ex-SOLDIER. "That's Cid," he repeated under his breath. "For all the…" he trailed off unintelligently as he continued grumbling.
Cloud smirked a bit and patted his shoulder soothingly.
Harry merely raised an eyebrow as Zack turned to look at Aerith again, gesturing to Reno to come over and talk with them.
Sighing, the red head complied and moved off to the side to talk.
"You know these people?" Potter asked quietly.
Reno sighed and rubbed the back of his ponytail. "Yeah, we know them. They're old… well, I'd say acquaintances, of mine."
"And Fair?"
"I think it's best if Zack explains that one. Oi! Flower head!"
"What?" Zack yelled back.
"Get over here!"
Grumbling, Zack stood up and smiled at Aerith. "I'll be right back."
Nodding, she watched curiously as Zack made his way over to Reno and the man she hadn't met yet.
"What do you want?" Zack asked as he crossed his arms, glaring slightly at his boss.
Harry blinked a couple of times before frowning. "Think you could lose the attitude?"
Dropping his arms, Zack nodded. "Sorry."
"Better. How do you know those two?"
"Aerith saved my life once upon a time," Zack replied with a shrug. "I thought she was an angel when I woke up in her chapel, surrounded by flowers and her looking down at me." He grinned at the memory. "Cid I think I met once, but I don't know him very well. I…well…. I was killed before I really got to know him."
Harry nodded slowly. He'd heard the story about Zack being killed once before, but he had to say he still didn't believe it properly. He blinked suddenly as Zack whipped around and quickly ran back over to assist Aerith as she started to stand, fussing over her as she wobbled a bit.
Reno shook his head with a grin and looked at Harry. "Expect him to be useless for a few days, at least until Aerith tells him to get lost."
Harry watched in amusement as Ron walked over to introduce himself and ask a few questions. At a question where Aerith hesitated to answer, Zack growled at Ron, flinching as Aerith tapped him in the head with a "no," and Zack suddenly started whimpering, wide eyed and teary.
Reno snickered as Harry raised an eyebrow. "He is so whipped."
"Always has been, always will be," Reno replied with a laugh.
Harry sighed as he watched his Auror interact with his love interest. "How long do you think he's going to be useless for?"
Reno looked at the two lovebirds contemplatively. "At least a week."
"Screw that – he isn't missing out on work then."
Reno laughed and shot his boss an amused look.
Okay, don't hate me! I know it's been forever, and I sincerely apologise. Bad excuse, I know, but life has been crazy. I've had some crazy shit to deal with at work (like, a dentist getting deported for abducting his kids from a foreign country crazy, plus more), my mother has been in and out of hospital a lot recently, and my sister lost it the other night, and I finally finished my Cert III for Dental Assisting. *Does a little happy dance* That's one good thing out of the way.
I have a lot of time off until January too. Starting on Monday, due to circumstances of my mother going into surgery to have a hysterectomy and her 13 cm fibroid removed along with her uterus, I think i'm working all of 4 days until January, so lots of down time for writing.
I come bearing good news though: you will all be pleased to know that now that all the pieces are on the metaphorical Second Chance chess board the story has started to roll a lot faster (it helps that I have scenes pre-written too). I literally just finished writing chapter 22, and I thought I'd get this chapter up before I go to bed. I will post chapter 17 tomorrow, so hang tight everyone. :o)
-Vex
