A/N: Yay, Volume 5! I'm so happy I could make it this far. I've already thought of a lot of it and the weird thing is that whenever I think of a scene that's going to be in this story, I think "Omg, I can't wait to write this!" and as thanks for all the help you have given me Chibipinkbunny, and for being my first friend I will make a special romantic Zerith scene just for you. I will tell you when it is coming up, ok. Also, this story is going way over 10 chapters. The same song from the last chapter is in this one as well. If you don't know it, just look it up on YouTube. This is an edited version of my chapter 5. Thanks to my wonderful new beta reader Chibipinkbunny alot of stuff in my story makes sense now. Anyway, don't forget that this story is in PoV (point of view) format and this means thought, this means writing, and this means singing.

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Chapter 5: Searching

Tifa PoV

I arrived at the house Aerith had described. She was right, it was hard to miss. There where yellow flowers everywhere I looked. I hadn't met a single person, in all my time living in the slums, who could grow flowers down here. I gazed in awe at the flowers until a voice interrupted me.

"Hello" It said. It sounded soft and motherly like my own mother was standing right behind me. "Are you looking for something?"

I turned around. The woman was young for her age. If she had raised Aerith she must be in her forty's by now. The young woman had the same sweet smile as Aerith too. She was holding a bundle of flowers in her arms and she had on a yellow skirt that matched them perfectly. Aerith's mother had black hair and brown eyes. I smiled up at her, but my smile quickly faded as I remembered Cloud. "No," I replied "I am not looking for anything." Then, as if she sensed the concern in my voice, her smile disappeared too. "Do you know the blond spiky-haired man Aerith calls Sky?" She pursed her lips.

"How do you know about Aerith and Sky?" She asked me quizzically. I took a deep breath in order to tell the story. "Sky's name is actually Cloud," I told her. "You see, I am his childhood friend, Tifa Lockheart. I had heard some rumors about him so I decided to visit your daughter's church. I haven't seen Cloud in seven years, so I hoped that the rumors were true but, at the same time I hoped it wasn't." I felt my eyes tear up a little. "You see the rumors say that he couldn't move at all."

"That sounds like him," she said. "Poor guy, Aerith's had to carry him from her church to our house everyday."

I nodded and continued my story. "Well, turns out that the rumors are true. Cloud cannot move at all and if that isn't bad enough. . ." I paused and looked at Aerith's mom. I had tears streaming down my face now ". . .he has a really bad fever. It's at one-hundred and six degrees now. Aerith said it was past the critical point. She sent me to get some ice from you, and if I don't he might die." She nodded and motioned for me to come inside. I took the flower cart and wheeled it inside. I put it right next to her refrigerator.

"We always keep lots of ice around, in case Sky gets a fever," she explained as she dumped little bags of ice into the wagon. I pulled out my blizzard materia. She nodded and took out the ice trays. She filled them up with water and held them out to me. I used the materia to cast Ice on them, and she got some bags to put them in. We talked while we were working. She told me about Aerith, and I told her about Cloud. Before I knew it we were done. The cart was filled with bags of ice. I thanked Elmyra and strode off in the direction of Aerith's church. She had offered to help me, but I denied it. I didn't want her to see Cloud in his state. She stood at the entrance of her house, waving goodbye to me with a sad look on her face. It hurt me, and I knew it hurt her that she couldn't help her daughter's friend.

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With a heavy heart I opened the solid oak doors of the church. Inside I found that Aerith had put Cloud on the big bags of ice that the Materia shop owner had given me. He was gasping for air now. I wheeled the cart as fast as it could move, until I was right next to Cloud. Then without a word I piled ice on top of him. Aerith immediately got up and helped. We went as fast as we could until we were all out of ice. There was nothing else we could do. Now it was all up to Cloud. We sat down and waited. My hands were trembling. There were tears in my eyes, and my heart was pounding so hard I thought it might rip out of my chest. I just watched as the person I have known all my life, my childhood friend, was fighting for his life. It felt wrong to me. I wished there was something… anything I could do to help. I stroked his sweat covered blond hair. Aerith performed that soothing motion where she rubs the back of his hand in tiny circles. We waited and waited, until the gasping finally stopped. If his chest wasn't still moving up and down, I would have thought he was dead.

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Cloud PoV

I stopped gasping for air and had gone back to normal. But, I knew that wasn't the end to my suffering, I knew that Jenova wouldn't give up that easily. I felt it. All of a sudden I had stopped breathing. I could see a blurry Tifa move towards me. She mumbled something I couldn't quite make out. Then, it happened. I couldn't control it. My limbs flailed everywhere. I heard Tifa scream and I saw Aerith pull her back away form me. I was having a seizure. Ice flew everywhere. I screamed from all of the pain that I was feeling. Tifa looked at me with sad, disbelieving eyes. The attack was over just as soon as it had started and, despite how brave I wanted to be, tears formed in my eyes as well. Tifa crawled over to me and gave me a hug. She kissed me on the cheek and whispered reassuring words into my ear. My muddled mind could barely make out what she was saying, but it probably wouldn't do any good. I was fading fast, despite the ice that helped cool me. I was just barely holding on to life. Aerith had begun stroking my hair in an effort to calm me, but that was useless too. Then I heard Tifa hum a familiar tune, one that took me way back to my childhood, seven years ago, when I had my first kiss. Then her humming began to turn into words:

This time, I wonder what it feels like
to find the one in this life, the one we all dream of
but dreams just aren't enough

Then Aerith joined in.

So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling
The moment when we're meeting, will play out like a scene
Straight off the silver screen
So I'll be holding my own breath, right up 'til the end
Until that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Then they sang that familiar chorus.

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
someone to love with my life in their hands
there's gotta be somebody for me like that

Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
and everyone wants to know they're not alone
there's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there.

I felt the song instilling hope in me and giving me the strength to fight back against the fever. As they continued on, I fought harder and harder.

Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight
And darn it this feels too right, it's just like déjà vu
to be standing here with you
So I'll be holding my own breath, could this be the end
Is it that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
someone to love with my life in their hands
there's gotta be somebody for me like that

Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
and everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

You can't give up, looking for a diamond in the rough
because you never know, when it shows up, make sure you're holding on
Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
and everyone wants to feel like someone cares
someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me, ohhh

Nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know their not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there
Nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

As Tifa hummed the last few lines of the song, I felt my temperature go down. My immune system was fighting back. It's amazing what music can do. It can cheer you up, it can bring you down, and it can even save your life, if sung by the right person. Tifa noticed too. With a little gasp she put the back of her hand against my forehead. Slowly, she removed it and as she did a smile formed on her lips. It was one of her sweet smiles that I used to like when I was a kid.

"Your fine now," she said softly. "The fever is gone."

I looked up at her. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Behind her I saw Aerith. She was approaching me with the thermometer that she had dug out of the backpack. She stuck it in my mouth and studied the red line of mercury carefully. A look of relief came over her face when she read the temperature aloud, "102.3 degrees."

I heard Tifa let out a sigh of relief, as she ruffled my hair playfully. Aerith got up, brushed off her pink dress, and went to put the thermometer away. Wait… Pinkdress!? I thought. Then, I noticed that I could see in colors again. It was beautiful. That was one thing I had missed, being able to see vibrant blues and stunning yellows. I wonder…

Carefully, I lifted my arm so that I could see my hand. I turned it left and then right. I moved it up and then down and finally side to side. I noticed that Tifa and Aerith where watching me incredulously. I made my hand come down to rest on Tifa's hand which she had placed on my chest. Tifa gasped in surprise, but her surprised expression turned to happiness. She lifted up my hand and held it up to her face. She was studying it as if she had never seen anything like it. She turned it over and began to trace the lines on my palms. It felt soothing. I lifted my head up to see her better. Aerith, who had seated herself next to Tifa, took my other hand. They glanced at each and nodded, as if exchanging a silent message.

Then, they both tugged on my arms. I felt myself rising upward. Aerith placed her other hand on my back to steady me. Before I knew it I was standing. Aerith and Tifa were both clinging on to me, afraid that if they let go I might fall face-first on the floor. Tentatively, Aerith let go of me. Tifa was a little more reluctant, but she eventually let go. I felt a little wobbly at first. Tifa had her arms out to catch me in case I fell. But, I never did. I looked down at my feet. It was strange to think that after a year of being dragged around by Zack I could stand by myself. I was still weak though. I tried moving my head and my legs. They still worked after five years of not being used. Experimenting, I lifted my foot and took one step forward. Then I lifted the other foot and stepped forward with that one. I repeated the process until I stood in front of Tifa. She had tears in her eyes again, but these were tears of joy. Shakily, I raised both of my arms and tried to hug her but, when I did I sort of fell onto her. Nevertheless I still wrapped my arms around her in a big hug.

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Tifa PoV

I was so surprised that Cloud had actually hugged me that I almost fell backwards. It was the sweet side of Cloud that I loved. He doesn't show that side of himself very often but it was great when he did. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him back. Then, I stood Cloud up again and he started to toddle over to the flower patch. It was funny when he walked. It was like a baby does when it takes its first steps. It made me giggle under my breath. Cloud knelt down beside the flower patch and picked a yellow flower. He sniffed it. I giggled louder. He probably hadn't been able to smell anything when he had a fever or maybe even before that. Aerith knelt down beside him. "You like my flowers, don't you?" She asked.

I could see his lips moving in an effort to form words. Finally he answered. "Y-yes they a-are very pretty," he said, his face becoming serious again. "Thank you," he said without stuttering, which surprised me. "I know you and your mom had to go through a lot to take care of me."

He looked down at the flower in his hand. Aerith reached up and took the flower from his hand. She brushed his hair away from his face and then took the flower and put it in his hair. He smiled and turned to face me. I giggled much louder than intended. The flower looked weird on him compared to his dirty SOLDIER uniform. Still, it looked nice on him too. It matched his hair perfectly and it made his mako-blue eyes stand out. His happy expression suddenly turned serious. He looked like he had remembered something. He uttered one single word "Zack."

At the mention of Zack's name I ran over and knelt over on the other side of Cloud. I heard Aerith asking him all sorts of questions about Zack, and I listened in as he explained. My happy mood instantly changed when I heard what had happened to Cloud and Zack throughout the last five years. The tears instantly came back. No wonder he was in the sorry state he was in. Cloud called it mako addiction. It happened when he had too much mako in his system. Apparently Zack wasn't affected because he was in SOLDIER.

I interrupted when it came to that part. "Wait a minute," I said. "Does that mean that you weren't in SOLDIER?"

He blushed bright pink, and Aerith felt his forehead, obviously worried that he might be getting another fever. Aerith lowered her hand and went back to listening.

"Well, no," he said. "I was not cut out to be in SOLDIER." He looked down at the ground again "In other words, I failed the SOLDIER exam and got stuck as a lowly Infantryman. I was afraid to return to Nibelhiem because I thought you and your threesome would laugh at me."

I lifted his chin up so that he could gaze into my eyes. "I don't care what rank you are, just as long as you're still my Cloud," I said staring into his mako blue eyes. They had a hypnotizing feeling, like I could drown in them. He pulled away from me, and I could see him blush again. Then he continued his story. He told me some of the things that had happened in the past year. At least I had a good idea of what had happened, although he refused to tell me what had happened to make them into Hojo's experiments. He concluded his story by telling us that we need to find Zack because he may be injured or dying. I couldn't imagine the man I had met five years ago injured and possibly dying.

"Then we have to go save him," Aerith said. With that, we planned our rescue mission.

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Aerith PoV

We had a plan in place. We would go to Kalm and see if they knew anything about Zack. The others were headed out the door and I was just about ready to go when I heard a voice calling my name, a sweet familiar voice that I remembered since childhood. The planet was talking to me. I walked back over to kneel beside the flowers. Then, I put my ear to the ground. Tifa ran over to me and put her hand on my back.

"What's wrong?" she asked. I was too busy listening to what the planet had to say to answer her. Then I heard a voice from behind me.

"The planet is speaking to her," Cloud said. Tifa was looking at him as if she thought he was crazy, so he explained "She does this all the time. You see, she cared for me for two weeks. And I've seen her do this several times and she says it's because she is the sole survivor of an ancient race called the cetra and they have the ability to talk to the planet."

I ignored him and pressed my ear closer to the ground. When I could not hear any more voices, I stood up and brushed myself off. "The plant thinks we should go toward Junon," I stated.

("She says that's where Zack is" Tifa looked skeptical.

But before she could say something, Cloud interrupted. "Ok, let's go to Junon," he said. He looked over at Tifa. "It's the only lead we've got."

Tifa nodded and stood up. "I guess so," she said, and she headed out the door followed by me and Cloud. We stopped by the marketplace first to get supplies. It would take us months to get to Junon. I took the backpack with me just in case. When we got out of Midgar, we headed south for several days until we came to a forested area. When we entered, the voices suddenly stopped. It was a mystery. I would think that the voices would be the strongest in a forest, surrounded by nature.

"This must be where Zack is," I told Tifa, although I was not too sure of that.

Then I heard Cloud say, "Then we should split up." Tifa and I nodded at the same time, and we took off in separate directions.

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Tifa PoV

I kept walking trough the woods silently hoping that Zack was okay. According to Cloud, he had been told by the driver of the truck that there were millions of ShinRa Infantrymen chasing after them and that Zack had jumped out of the truck to distract them so that Cloud could escape. I would forever be grateful that he was looking after Cloud while he was mako-poisoned. It had been two weeks since that had happened. I had no idea how long the SOLDIER 1st class could survive being chased in the desert without any food or water. With all these thought running through my mind my walk broke into a run, although I had no idea why I was hurrying. I guess it was because I was so worried about Zack that I just wanted to see him and confirm that he was alright.

Suddenly I tripped over a root and fell face-first onto something hard. My head throbbed when I picked myself up. I picked up the object that I had bumped my head on. It looked like a metal shoulder guard. It was silver and looked exactly like the ones that Cloud had on his SOLDIER uniform. That only meant one thing… that whoever owned this was in SOLDIER.

Upon further inspection, I noticed that I was in the middle of a campsite, complete with a tent and charred wood from a fire. Then my eye came across a big flat piece of metal on the ground. Carefully, I walked over to it. It was unmistakably familiar. I reached out to touch its handle and then pulled back as if it was going to bite me. I touched the handle again. This time I did not shrink back. Instead I gripped it firmly and tried to lift it. It was very heavy, as I suspected, but I got it off of the ground enough to see it better. Tears welled up in my eyes as I recognized the blade. It was the big heavy sword that Zack always had with him.

My head was spinning, so I dropped the huge sword and walked over to the tent. I had to confirm that Zack was here. I had to see him with my own eyes.

I drew back the opening flap and gasped. There he was, Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st Class. He was covered up in a blanket and laying on the ground, sleeping. He turned in his sleep and that's when I saw it. He had a white bandage on his shoulder that was stained with blood. My worst fears had been confirmed, he had been hurt. I gasped rather loudly when I saw the black-haired man open his eyes.

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Zack PoV

I rubbed my eyes to see who was in my tent. My left hand instinctively reached for the Buster Sword to get ready for an attack. Then I remembered that I had left it outside the tent near the campfire. Why did I have to forget it today of all days? I turned my head to face the person that was at the entrance of my tent. It was a girl with black hair and brown eyes. She seemed kind of familiar. She was looking at me with wide eyes and a look of horror on her face. Then I noticed that she was not looking at me but at the blood stained cloth that covered my right shoulder.

"Zack?" she asked. I stiffened when she said my name. How could this girl know my name? Regardless of that thought, I nodded. "It's me, Tifa Lockheart" she continued. Suddenly I knew why her name sounded so familiar. She was that girl from Nibelhiem that was Cloud's childhood friend. She was the one that helped me when Cloud was injured and she was also the girl in the mako reactor that said she hated me.

I looked down at the blanket for a while then I looked up into her eyes and mumbled, "Yea Tifa, I remember you." I stood up and motioned her to move out of the way. When she did so I went outside and she followed. I sat on a log not far from the campfire and she sat next to me. I picked up the Buster Blade and took the rag that was next to it. I spit on it and started polishing it. My honor and dreams… I thought. That's what this represents.

After a few minutes of watching me polish my sword, Tifa looked at my shoulder wound and asked, "Zack, are you ok?"

I looked at her and gave her one of my famous puppy-like smiles. "Yep, I'm fine" I said and I turned back to my sword. Then, I heard a rustling in the bushes. I got up and got in my battle position, ready to protect myself and Tifa. The rustling got louder and I could see that Tifa was scared too. Then someone popped out from the shrubs. A tear came to my eyes as I realized who it was. His hair was the first thing I recognized. It was blond and spiky, just like I remembered. Then I saw his eyes, they were exactly like mine.

"Spiky!" I exclaimed, walking over to my best friend. "You're alive!" Cloud's expression softened when he noticed who it was.

"Zack?" he asked softly.

"Yep it's me buddy," I said. I'm glad that he wasn't hurt and he wasn't mako poisoned anymore. It was better than I could have hoped for. He was back to himself. It seemed like he was cured.

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A/N: This chapter is really long, but it is also very detailed. In the next chapter, the long lost lover will be reunited so, until then, Bye!