Zack's Final Mission

Chapter 17: The Goodbye Dream

He watched her sleep on her side; her back was turned to him. He smirked thinking they shouldn't be sleeping in single separated beds but close together in one cosy bed for two. He felt her breathing uneven but guessed she was probably dreaming. About him, he hoped. Zack stared at the ceiling and sighed.

The room was quiet and dark, only the small light coming from outside illuminated her body. There was a gentle breeze coming through a breach of the slightly opened window.

They were staying at the Inn from Gongaga but he wouldn't dare visit his parents. He didn't have the courage. Not after what had happened to his sister. He didn't know what he could possibly tell them. After all, he had failed to keep her safe. He should have never left her alone and unprotected. It had been clear to him he couldn't trust anyone but himself to protect the ones he loved. There was this feeling of guilt inside his chest that he should have been more present in Cissnei's life. Maybe he would have been able to protect her if she had just followed him in the first place. She would definetly be there with them... Even if she had told him her place was with the Turks, he should have insisted. Oh but he would get his vengeance in time. As her brother i will... I will avenge her death.

He had only agreed to spend the night there if it was just to rest a couple of hours and leave before the sun could come up fully in the sky. That way he wouldn't risk being seen by anyone who knew him from around. But before he could become aware of it and completely lost in his thoughts, his eyes felt heavy and he fell asleep quietly in the night.

With the back of her hand Aerith cleaned the trace of tears from her eyes and turned around on her bed to see if he was asleep. She carefully got up trying not to make any sound that could wake him up and rose to her feet. She watched him soundlessly asleep on his back. His face was so peaceful turned to the sky, so beautiful she almost gave up on everything and returned to her bed to wake up by his side in the early morning. Motivation for that didn't lack. But she couldn't.

She stopped next to his bed and leaned down to softly kiss his forehead. She caressed his black hair and kneeled on the floor beside him for a moment, her eyes wide open and absorbing every trace of him. She didn't want to miss a single detail of his perfect figure.

"Yes my muscles are real Aerith." He mumbled in his sleep and she had to cover her mouth to hold her giggle in. She shook her head. Oh Zack, you will never change will you? Not even when you sleep. She thought and smiled while running her fingers warily through his hair.

"I'm sorry… But I have to do this." She whispered and stood up. Not bearing to look at him one more time, she rushed smoothly out of the bedroom, closing the door slowly behind her. If I stay here with you one more minute, I won't be strong enough to leave.

She climbed down the stairs hurriedly and when she reached the outside it was still night time. The air of the small village was cold but pleasant and the streets were dead silent. She gave one step forward and realized how her heart was aching in pain. Her feet felt heavy as she moved, dragging her.

"Hey." She heard a voice and jumped around startled. Blue eyes and spiky blond hair appeared in front of her. "Cloud…"

"What are you doing here? You should be sleeping." He said raising one eyebrow, suspiciously.

"Yeah about that…" She started saying and her foot scratched nervously on the ground. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to come take a walk. Won't you go to bed too?"

"Same thing happened to me, but I was just going in." He said not trusting her words at all. She already seemed uneasy when he saw her outside but she turned more uncomfortable when he spoke to her. That was the first sign of someone not wanting to be caught. "I can wait for you here. You shouldn't be out alone."

"No, it's ok!" She bit her lower lip. "I won't go far and I won't be long. Trust me!" Aerith smiled reassuringly. She hated lying and was no good at it but it was for a good cause. She had a mission to fulfill although she knew Cloud had already figured out she wasn't coming back.

"Aerith if there's something wrong… I can help you." Cloud looked at her and he didn't rest. She looked like she was up to something and she didn't want anyone to know. He knew Zack wouldn't forgive him if he let anything happen to Aerith. He owed Zack too much.

"I… It's nothing…" Aerith stared into his eyes pleadingly and he knew what she meant. He could read it in her eyes. If there was something she had to do, she had to do it alone and she couldn't be stopped. "The planet… needs me."

"I understand." He nodded, not wanting to.

"Thank you." She exhaled and realized she had been holding her breath nervously.

"Zack will go berserk." Cloud informed shaking his head.

"I know…" She looked down thoughtfully. "I have arranged one way to tell him." He would never let me go if I told him in person.

"Wherever you're going… Just be careful." And he really was praying for her safety.

"Cloud… Goodbye." She smiled thankful to him and her eyes watered again when she turned around on her feet to leave. Cloud watched her run away from there and already he regretted letting her go. Yes, that night he wouldn't sleep at all.

"Hey Zack?"

There was a glittering white all around him when he opened his eyes at her calling, her silhouette contrasted with the bright color. Next to him she stood, her face turned ahead. Light-brown braided hair waved gently down her back while her emerald green eyes stared blankly at the distance.

"Humm?" He kept looking at her.

"Do you remember those afternoons we spent selling flowers in the slums?" Her pink soft lips smiled and she locked her hands behind her back.

"How could I forget?" He grinned. He remembered the little crooked wooden wagon he had built for her and couldn't help but laugh about it. Although it was poorly shaped at first it served them well in the end.

"I look back at those times and think about how perfect everything was. I think… those were the happiest days I ever had." Her voice was shaky. And there was this… sad look in her eyes although it was happy memories she was talking about. Was she meaning to tell him something, he wondered.

"What about travelling with me?" He asked raising one eyebrow and pointing with his thumb at his face. "I think that was pretty fun too!"

"Yes." She giggled turning to look at him. But the smile faded gradually. "What I mean is… Back then, I had no worries."

"And now you do?" He asked confused.

"There's something I have to do… Zack." Her green eyes glittered with tears as she looked down and slowly the bright white color around them started shaping something. It looked like trees were faintly appearing in the background. The floor under their feet turned a dirty brown and it seemed they were standing in the middle of some straight path shaped between the trees.

"What do you mean?" He looked around, his eyes focusing on the tree shapes and then back at her. Her voice was distant. Their eyes met and their gazes locked in one another.

"I want you to know that I'll wait for you no matter what happens and wherever I go." There was hesitation in her eyes like she was hiding the whole truth from him but wanted to tell him everything at the same time. "I'll be waiting for you."

"Where are you going? I'll go with you. We're a team remember? Back when we were selling flowers we were already a team!" His heart started racing.

She smiled at him and her eyes were watery. She started walking away step by step, going ahead into the path. He followed her and grabbed her wrist but it slipped right between his hands. He pushed forward again, his arm stretched in her direction but no matter how hard he tried to walk, to run, he wasn't moving, he couldn't move from where he was. Some kind of sick strength was keeping him from going after her. He called her, yelled her name out loud but he only saw her silhouette now disappearing in the distance where the path turned thick between the trees and she could no longer be seen. She didn't look back, she didn't come back.

And suddenly he was left alone.

"I love you." He heard her whisper very distantly. "Goodbye."

"AERITH!" He shouted desperately when he opened his eyes and realized he was sitting up on his bed still in the Inn. Panting, he looked outside and there was already the early morning light coming from the window. He raised his hand to his forehead and noticed he was sweating.

Aerith… Was his first thought.

He slowly turned his head to look at the bed next to his and his eyes widened in shock as the bed was empty. She wasn't there.

No…

He quickly jumped out of the bed and reached for the door. Coming down the stairs in a blink of an eye he met with the others already gathered in the lobby.

"Hey you sleepy head!" Yuffie cheerfully greeted. "We tried to wake you up before but no one could!"

"Where is she?" He ran his eyes through every single face in the room and couldn't find her glowing green ones anywhere.

"No one has seen Aerith." Tifa bit her lip as she spoke when no one dared to.

"Zack…" Cloud walked into the room and toward his black-haired friend. "I think I know where she went."

Note: Thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter! Also, I wanted to say that oodball167 is translating my Zack's Final Mission into Spanish and I couldn't be happier! I'm very thankful to him to have chosen my story for that! It's really good to know our work is appreciated! So if you're interested go check it out! Thank you so much!