Zack's Final Mission

Chapter 15: The Key and The Date

The image was foggy and the visions came in flashes.

Sephiroth stopped walking as they approached the town's entrance to turn his head and look at him.

"It must be good returning to your hometown is it not?"

"What about your parents?" He asked.

"My mother's name is Jenova. She died shortly after I was born and my father…" Sephiroth laughed alone. "Why am I talking about this?"

**

"They only sent two of you?" Her ruby eyes were eager to see him.

**

He saw Sephiroth in front of Jenova, he saw him place his hand on the glass separating him from his mother. And then he saw that glass breaking with the force of his blade, its edge cracking the glass after it had impaled Sephiroth from behind.

**

He watched her unconscious on the floor and held her head carefully up hoping she could open her eyes.

**

"Cloud! Finish Sephiroth!" He looked up to see Zack yelling at him while he laid down on the stairs, hurt. Cloud put Tifa back down and got up holding his huge sword tightly between his hands before running toward Sephiroth who had appeared stumbling on top of the stairs. He jumped and their blades met heavily.

"Don't get too confident!" Sephiroth glared at him as his sword went through his body. His feet were off the ground and pending as the sword lifted his whole body up. The pain had been excruciating and he felt his blood pouring out from his stomach area. He watched Sephiroth's disgusted eyes looking at him for being hurt by only… an infantryman. Him, Cloud Strife. Something on those eyes made his blood boil within him. He felt the cold blade of Sephiroth's long thin sword on his hands when he pulled it deeper into him.

"That's impossible…" He heard Sephiroth growl. It made him stronger. Who did he think he was, doubting his strength? He threw him against the wall where he hit a couple of wires which sparkled at his touch and finally he disappeared down the reactor.

**

"Well done, Cloud." He heard him say. Looking at him, he saw his lips slightly smiling but there was a string of blood running down his face.

His face… It was real…My mentor…

"You're gonna live for the both of us. My dreams… they're yours now."

Cloud opened his eyes widely.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

"Yeah, welcome back to the world of the living!" Zack grinned at his friend knowing that he was going to be alright. "Tifa said you were calling my name."

Cloud lowered his head and his hands tightly gripped the edge of the sheets covering his legs. Zack noticed how they were shaking.

"I feel so stupid." Cloud looked away hiding the tears threatening to appear in his eyes. Not tears of sadness or weakness but in fact, those were tears of rage he was holding back. He felt like exploding. Like if he got up from that bed that instant there would be no more Inn in Nibelheim because he wanted to let that anger come out of his system and that wouldn't be nice to watch. He wanted to let the rage inside him go free. He was tired of being manipulated, of being lied to.

"Everything I believed in… all lies. I see it now." Cloud said in between gritted teeth. "Sephiroth was right in one thing… This uniform I'm wearing, I don't deserve it."

"What are you talking about man?" Zack asked in disbelief. "The clothes don't make the SOLDIER! Sephiroth was wrong! It's what's inside your heart that counts. You can never forget your honor and pride, that's what makes you who you are as SOLDIER."

"That's easier said than done." Cloud looked up at his black-haired friend, his voice breaking.

"You think… I would have given you Angeal's sword if I didn't think you could do it? If I didn't know for sure you were worth having it?" Zack stared at the blond and it made him remember Angeal's devotion to that sword.

If I use it it'll just get warn, dirty and rusty.Angeal's voice rang in his head.

Angeal had taught him to try to kill the enemy in one single slash of the sword if possible, and if it wasn't, he had to make it possible.

"You probably thought, back then, you weren't the greatest swordsman or the top of the class. But your heart believed in you. Look at what you've done to Sephiroth! Look at what those monsters made to you when we were in that god-forsaken laboratory! And you're here. I believe… no matter what happens, one has to be born a SOLDIER to actually become one. It comes from within you, not because of the circumstances."

Cloud remained silent, just listening to what he was saying and knowing that from all the people, Zack was the one he should trust. He does have a point. Cloud thought, but all he wanted was to shut his eyes and cover his ears to escape from the world.

"SOLDIERS are not only muscles and strength. They're mind and heart as well. At least… I was." And Angeal as well. Zack thought as he remembered Angeal's face that night during the Wutai mission when they crouched behind some bushes waiting to hear the signal to attack. Angeal was proud of what he did, every SOLDIER was, but he hadn't been trained to it. He still had control of his heart and could distinguish right from wrong. Of course they couldn't have imagined that night Shinra was going to be the biggest disappointment of their lives. "I almost didn't make it… But you did. You were my living legacy remember?"

"Yes…" Cloud whispered.

"Then act like it." Zack smiled and extended his hand for Cloud to take. The blond mercenary looked at it for one second before finally taking it with a strong grip and Zack pulled him out of the bed and up to his feet.

"Thank you. Again." Cloud slightly smiled thankful to that man.

"Don't mention it." Zack grinned patting him heavily on the shoulder. "It's nice to be back together again isn't it?" He smiled. "Oh right! I have a hunch on where we should head next I wanted to talk to you about."

"Where to then?" Yes, Cloud would trust his friend.

"South, to a place called the Temple of the Ancients. If it's black materia Sephiroth is after, that's the next place I'd look if I were him." Zack said seriously now, not liking one bit that Aerith had to go there with them too.

Zack couldn't help but smile when the two men reached outside where their friends had been waiting scattered around Nibelheim's round square. They could all be minding their own business or talking to each others while they waited but once they noticed the Inn's door opening their eyes faithfully turned to look at them.

It was funny how life turned around. Zack used to work solo most of his missions and he enjoyed working alone. No one to take care of, no one to interfere or distract him from doing what he had to do. It used to be just him, his mind only. Now, he stood in front of a group of trained people that were going to help him and Cloud in their last mission. At least so it was for Zack.

He realized that after this was all over he would finally stop being what he had lived to be until then. He had come to a conclusion that there was no point on continuing being something that was long gone for him. It had been good while it lasted.

After this entire Sephiroth problem would finally come to an end, so would be his career as SOLDIER. Well, not unless something would come up that could interest him. But he knew exactly what he was going to do afterwards though he kept it secret within his heart. First things first. He grinned watching the group of people now gathering to come meet them. Red, Barrett, Yuffie, Vincent, Cid, Tifa and Aerith…

He was so grateful to them all.

They crossed Mt. Nibel first so they could reach Cid's hometown, Rocket Town, and get his airship. It was impossible not to stare in awe at the huge creamy airship hovering in the air but tethered to the ground once they crossed the mountains and got a clear view to his hometown. It resembled a dirigible only with propellers and engines powered by mako energy.

"Damn!" Zack exclaimed excitedly as he looked up at the enormous airship.

"Say something?" Cid patted him on the shoulder while he chewed on a toothpick and grinned at the younger man.

"You're the man Cid." Zack exchanged the grin. Cid was ok after all Zack had to admit.

"Told ya so." Cid nodded and motioned for them to follow him through the town and to his home where his wife was waiting for him.

Who would have thought the guy would be married. Zack wondered in surprise.

When they were finally ready to leave Rocket Town they realized that to get into the Temple of the Ancients they needed to get the keystone to open the gate in. Last they heard about that keystone was that it was one of the prizes someone won when participating in the battle arena contest in the Gold Saucer entertainment park. That was their next destination.

Cloud looked at the Highwind, as Cid called the airship and swallowed hard. He could feel his stomach already complaining about having to fly but he wasn't going to show weakness. He glanced at Zack. He was happily grinning and jumping in one foot to another excitedly waiting to be able to get into the airship. Cloud wished he could take things that easily. He sighed nervously.

Aerith shared a room with Tifa while they stayed at the Gold Saucer hotel. It was already night when she looked at the clock on the wall since she couldn't rely on the window because on that hotel it was always night or it wouldn't be the haunted hotel they were staying at. They had spent two hours on the battle arena to get the keystone and now that they finally got it they decided they would spend the night there and leave in the morning.

She looked at her made bed, she wasn't sleepy or tired so she just sat down on a chair by the window thinking. Tifa had gone downstairs and the environment of that bedroom made her shudder.

She wondered if that hotel was supposed to make people feel comfortable, it wasn't working for her. The walls had wrecks on them and fake spider webs on the corners or at least she would like to think they were faked. The wooden floor shrieked when they walked on it and there were pumpkins with faces on the chest of drawers while the mirror had fends.

She could swear she sometimes heard people screaming in the distance. Sure it was the haunted hotel but they could have smoothed things out for the bedrooms. She sighed while standing up. I wonder what Zack is doing. She thought and quickly walked out of the room when she heard another one of those distant desperate girly screams.

On the red-carpeted corridor she took each step carefully and slowly as if hesitating walking in the direction of his room. Finally she stopped outside of his bedroom door and lifted her hand closing it to softly knock on the door. She heard a muffled "Come in." from the inside and so she did pushing the door open slowly.

"Hi…" She almost whispered as a tall black-haired man stood in front of her smiling.

"I was hoping it would be you." His glowing blue eyes blinked slowly as he smiled down to her. Immediately she felt her cheeks turning hot. She cursed herself for blushing easily and looked down as if to try to hide her embarrassment with no use since he noticed her blush and smiled even wider. I still got it. He thought as he looked at her amused at how he made her blush.

"Good." She looked up at him regaining her strength. Her gaze was determined. "I was thinking that we never got to go on that date you promised me a long time ago."

"Oh yeah…" Zack answered thoughtfully and at the same time feeling sorry for her. He did promise her that and it saddened him how long it had been since then.

"I think that since we're here, this would be the perfect opportunity. Plenty of places to have fun here." She smiled semi closing her eyes as she did.

"You're asking me out on a date?" He asked grinning confidently.

"I guess I am." Aerith replied shrugging. "Come on!" She walked behind him and placed her hands on his back pushing him out of the bedroom.

"Where should we go first?" They came to a halt at the room that led to all the attractions of the Gold Saucer.

"The gondola ride sounds nice." Zack read the flashing letters on top of one tube they had to slide down to get there. Aerith nodded and went first down the tube followed seconds later by Zack once he made sure it was safe for him to go down without falling on top of her once he reached the ground.

"Two tickets please." He heard Aerith ask the young lady on the ticket cabin.

"Today is your lucky day!" The young lady greeted cheerfully. "You're our 100th customers of the day so the tickets are free!"

"Oh… Thank you!" Aerith smiled and looked back at Zack making sure he had listened.

They both sat across from each other once inside the wooden gondola shaped like a little house. They felt it start moving under their feet and soon enough they watched from the window the colourful lights of the park shining under them as the gondola lifted up in the air with its top being held by the rails above them. Zack watched the flower girl's eyes wide open in wonder looking around at the thousands of colourful balloons that lifted up into the air as the gondola went even higher.

"It's so beautiful!" Aerith exclaimed amazed. Everything was so colourful she thought she was dreaming. He watched her giggle when they saw the chocobos running fast right next to them when they passed near the race track.

"Aerith…" He called her at some point and she turned her attention to him. "I'm glad that you had the idea to go out tonight."

"Well actually, I wanted to tell you that… that I've really missed you the time you were gone." She smiled nervously. "I want to be with you, Zack."

Suddenly the dark sky of the night filled with colourful bursts of glittering lights exploding into thousands of little sparkles. The red and yellow colours of the fireworks reflected on her skin and hair and Zack looked at her bewildered.

"I'm not going anywhere now." Zack grabbed her hand. "I will never leave you again, I promise. Now you'll get the chance to be with me forever and spend all the time you want with me."

"Zack I-"

"Aerith…" He interrupted her trying to find the exact words he wanted to say. "What I mean is... I want to be yours. Forever."

That took her by surprise. She widened her eyes as her heart started hammering against her chest and her throat felt like she was suffocating. She was grateful the flashing lights of the fireworks dissembled her flushed cheeks. He leaned forward and she followed until their noses brushed slightly against each others. He tilted his head to the side and moved his head slowly forward. They were so close he noticed how her lips softly parted waiting for his. Taking it as a sort of approval from her, he leaned in and their lips finally met.

Somehow he always knew what it would feel like kissing her but now that he was finally tasting her lips he felt like he should have done it the very first time she opened her eyes when he came back after so long. His blood boiled rapidly and hot inside of his veins and his skin felt tingling like he was being given soft electrical shocks. His hand held the back of her head carefully holding her to him and tangling his fingers in her light brown hair while the other one was holding her arm.

Unexpectedly they felt the gondola come to a halt causing them to jump and part from the kiss and grab on to their seats so they didn't fall to the gondola's floor. Startled by the abrupt stop they looked at each other smiling as they put themselves together before they got up to leave.

They both wished that gondola ride could have lasted forever because the moment they stepped out of it they were back to reality and reality didn't look so pretty right now. That gondola ride seemed like a world apart, a dreamy world where everything was perfect and no worries were allowed in. Now that that kiss had happened Aerith wanted that feeling to last. Her lips still had his warmth and her hair smelled like him.

"I guess this means… that you're my girlfriend." Zack smiled scratching the back of his head nervously.

"You think?" Aerith giggled. Zack placed his arm around her shoulders to leave.

As they walked back to the hotel they were startled by Cloud's voice shouting something they couldn't understand right and there was a lot of movement outside the haunted hotel's doors. Tifa and Yuffie stood next to Cloud as they all confronted some cat-like creature riding on the back of a huge moogle.

"You will pay for this!" They heard Tifa growling and saw her coming to attack position with her hands turning into tight fists in front of her face. Cloud lifted one arm up in front of her to hold her back.

"Let's not rush." Cloud spoke smoothly.

"What's going on here?" Zack held Aerith's hand tightly and ran to join the group.

"He stole us the keystone we had to enter the Temple when we weren't looking! He tricked us into telling us the future the sneaky devil to steal it from us!" Yuffie pointed at the cat whose name they had heard was Cait Sith. "And threw it to the Turks who just flew by us in a helicopter!"

"He's a filthy spy that's what he is." Tifa glared at the cat.

"Please don't hurt me, I'm just a robot programmed to obey orders. I do what they make me do." Cait Sith begged lowering down his head ashamed. "They tell me I don't have a mind of my own."

"Following orders or not, you're going to help us get that keystone back." Zack said.

"They are going to the temple right now." Cait Sith kept his head down.

"Then we'll follow." Cloud turned to Yuffie. "Go call the others please; we'll wait here for them." The ninja nodded and disappeared into the haunted hotel.

"You're Zack aren't you?" Cait Sith asked peeking up at Zack behind the moogle's ears.

"How do you know that?" The black-haired man frowned.

"I was meant to deliver you some information if I found you." The cat replied.

"About what?"

"A girl named Cissnei." The cat answered looking away. The news couldn't be good.

"What about her?" Zack took one step forward to the cat figure. "Tell me."

"She..." Cait Sith shook his head looking down. "I'm sorry. She didn't make it."

"What…? What are you saying?" Zack's eyes widened and his body stiffened. Cloud looked from Zack to Cait Sith confused. "That can't be true! You're lying!" Zack gritted his teeth as he held Cait Sith in the air by the neck and backed him against the wall. His hands were shaking when he tightened the cat's neck and his eyes felt teary.

"There was an attack in the Shinra building… some time ago." The cat gasped trying to speak. "Sephiroth killed the president… Cissnei tried her best to protect him."

"Zack…" He heard Aerith worriedly call him. By the corner of his eyes he saw her lift her hands to cover her mouth as she watched him hurt the cat.

"My sister…" Zack sobbed letting go of Cait Sith who coughed once on the ground, his hands dropped along side of his body but his hands closed into two tight fists. "He'll pay me…" Zack mumbled furiously.

"Sephiroth will pay me!" He shouted while he punched the brick wall of the hotel making a hole in its surface with his strength.

Note: Oh no! I killed Cissnei… Well we never hear from her in FF7 and I thought there had to be a reason… This one was a longer chapter because I originally programmed this story to last about 20 chapters. Well, we will see how it goes. Oh! And there's the reason I've been delaying Aerith and Zack's kiss! I wanted it to be during the Gold Saucer date! I thought it made more sense… Thank you so much to everyone reading and thank you for the reviews you sent me!!