Zack had been locked up for a week. He sat on the pathetic cot in his small cell, wondering what was going on outside. It pained him to be cooped up for so long. Zack was a constant ball of energy and the lack of activity was driving him insane. There were only so many squats he could do. At least he had the guards to mess with. He had worked with most of them in the past so they didn't mind him goofing around with them. They were a pretty good source of gossip as well. He'd heard them talking about the loss of Reactor 1. Someone had blown it up.

Zack leaned back and rested his head against the cool metal wall. Who would blow up a Reactor? They were the main source of power for the city. Each sector had its own and depended greatly upon them. Zack could only imagine what was going on in Sector 1 right now. The citizens who lived underneath the plate got no sunlight and needed electricity 24/7. The people of the slums didn't have much, but now they didn't even have light either.

But, who would do that? They had to have known the consequences of such a massive attack. Were they trying to topple Shinra? One blown reactor wouldn't do that. You'd have to take out at least four or five to start making the suits sweat. Or maybe the culprits were taking action for another reason. Zack had heard about extremists who acted on behalf of the "Planet." Zack had never been up on the latest fads but he had heard about these people. They claimed that the Shinra's mako reactors were sucking the life right out of the earth and destroying it little by little. And Zack could see how claims like these could be true. The land surrounding Midgar had been in decay for some time. No plant or animal life could be seen for miles. So maybe the terrorists had been trying to save the earth?

Zack sighed heavily. It was no use thinking about it. There wasn't anything he could do anyway, locked up in this cell like a puppy. He'd just have to wait and see what happened. A loud clanging noise reverberated through the room. Zack sat up straight and craned his neck over to the door. Someone was knocking.

"Up and at'em, Zack. You got a visitor," said one of the guards through the bars.

"Oh, let me just freshen up!" said Zack, oozing sarcasm.

"No need. It's only me," said the form that slipped through the door. It wore a dark blue suit, a jet black tie and its hair in a ponytail. It was Tseng.

Zack was up and moving before he knew what he was doing. The cast that he'd been wearing was gone now, his arm finally healed, so he had a full range of motion. He grabbed Tseng by the front of his jacket and lifted him almost a foot off of the ground.

"Tell me why I shouldn't rip you apart right now!" shouted Zack. He shoved Tseng harder into the wall, making the metal creak and groan.

"Go ahead. I probably deserve it."

Zack lowered Tseng to the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"I came here to talk to you, Zack. But if you want to hit me, I won't stop you." Zack stepped back from Tseng, confused. What was he trying to pull? He returned to the cot and sat down upon it, staring at Tseng no longer with rage but curiosity.

"What do you want?" he asked. Tseng dusted off his jacket and straightened his tie before he spoke. "I've had time to think over the past couple of days. I…I haven't quite been myself. It seems I have been acting selfishly as of late. I came here to apologize."

And Zack was up again, this time ready to strike. He cocked his arm back and swung straight into Tseng's nose. Tseng rocketed back into the wall and slid down it, blood dripping down onto his chin. The guards from outside busted through the door but Tseng raised his hand to stop them.

"It's alright. I'm alright," he said, waving them away with one hand and staunching his bloody nose with the other. The guards backed out of the room and closed the door again.

"How dare you?" Zack seethed. "You were supposed to be my friend, Tseng! I was supposed to be able to trust you! All those battles we went through together! I thought you had my back! How dare you come and apologize to me now!"

Tseng slowly rose to his feet. "I know. I don't deserve your forgiveness. I've not acted as a friend should for the past few years. I can only blame my selfishness and greed. She…she will always be yours. I see that now."

Zack's eyes grew round. "She? Are you talking about Aerith? You threw me to the wolf because you wanted Aerith?!"

Tseng hung his head. "Yes. Even though I'm ashamed to admit it."

Zack backed away and sunk back down into the bed. Now it all made sense. Tseng had never wanted Zack to return because he'd wanted Aerith for himself. But Aerith had always been waiting for Zack. It must have killed Tseng to see Zack again.

"Did you always…" croaked Zack.

Tseng crossed the room and sat next to Zack on the cot. The blood from his nose had stopped flowing, but was now crusted all over his hands and jacket.

"Yeah, Zack. From when I was first assigned to her. But she never saw me as anything but a sneaky Shinra employee. And when you came along, I'd lost all hope. I was okay with it though. Because you were you. And I knew she'd be happy. But when you left and we all thought you were dead, I began to hope again. I waited and waited for her to forget you but…she never did. So when you showed up again, I resented you Zack. And I acted fool heartedly."

"Tseng, I…"

"I should have been there for you, Zack. But I wasn't. Please forgive me." Zack looked over at Tseng. He could tell by his eyes, which were warm and deep, that'd he'd meant it. But Zack still felt the bitter cold of betrayal coursing through his veins.

"I can't. I don't know how to trust you anymore," said Zack shaking his head.

"I understand," said Tseng, standing to leave. He turned to face Zack right before exiting the cell. "You have never lost your honor, Zack. I hope one day I can be worthy of honor such as yours. And I hope that when this whole situation is old news, things will be different. But for now, let me do you at least one kindness before we part ways. A gift, as it were. I've informed the guards to give you all the time you need alone when it arrives. Goodbye, Zack Fair." And Tseng exited the cell and closed the gate behind him. Zack pushed himself up from the cot and grasped the iron bars that separated the two of them.

"What gift?!" he blurted.

Tseng wiped the flaking blood from his chin. "You'll see." He turned and walked the rest of the way down the corridor and disappeared around the corner.

Zack released the bars. His feelings about Tseng were muddled and confused. He wanted things to go back to the way they used to be so badly. Back to when he would have trusted Tseng with is life. But he couldn't blame Tseng for feeling the way he did. Aerith was indeed an amazing woman.

Zack turned back towards the cot. Something was laying on top of it that hadn't been there before. Zack stepped closer and saw that a thick stack of envelopes now sat on top of the sheets, tied together with a dark red ribbon. The papers were aged and yellow. Did Tseng leave this here? He picked up the stack and pulled the top most envelope from the bundle. Zack's eyes began to burn with tears as he read the ink writing scribbled beautifully across the front. He pushed the ribbon off of the rest of the stack and looked at all of the others. Tears broke free and rolled down his face as he saw that every single envelope had the same thing written on it:

To Zack

From Aerith