Disclaimer: I do not own, but I sure as hell wish I did.

Author's note: Not much happens in the way of plot but a lot of necessary information about Zack is shared. I hope you enjoy. Sorry about the cliffy.

Chapter Two

Never Stopped

There were hundreds of screaming fans in front of him. Some were girls, others guys, their individual genders didn't really matter. Old, young, girl, boy, they were all there screaming for the band. Screaming for their hard work, sweat and tears. It was hard to feel unappreciated when there were people screaming your name on top of their lungs.

The concert hall was packed, their show been sold out, and the audience was dancing around like headless monkeys. Zack was very happy right then. He was sure a large portion of the crowd had found a way to sneak in and were very, very high. Not that the great Zack Fair was gonna call them on it, hell no, he did that stuff all the time(minus the high part). It was always better to be in the audience when you had to worry about getting caught. He personally loved the adrenaline rush you got from the danger of doing something you shouldn't.

Then again most of the concerts Zack went to were more like illegal underground parties complete with built in mosh pits and drug dealers supplying enough shit to keep most of the crowd flying as high as a kite. Zack didn't worry about the drugs nor did he worry about appearances, the whole world knew he was the party animal of the band. So, being completely free of any expectations whatsoever, he normally just jumped into the crowds and screamed his ass off along with the stoners and dealers alike. Therefore because of Zack's own concert habits he didn't doubt that a large portion of their audience were seeing flying elephants above their heads. He was fine with that as long as they didn't give him any trouble. It was just that if he found one of his friends using he'd kick their ass to hell and back.

But that didn't matter, by the third song people had begun to sing along to the melodic voice singing into the microphone. By the fourth many of the people in the front row were swooning as the voice sung of love. Meanwhile, Zack was, yet again, marveling at the way people went gaga for his best friend's voice. Not that he didn't think Cloud could sing, because boy, could that guy sing. It was more that he found it hilarious when Seph and Cloud had to put on disguises to leave their apartment buildings and then still got caught by the paparazzi. Zack had it just the same but it was understandable that everyone would go crazy over the Great Zack Fair. Right? Totally.

Anyways while Zack loved the attention, Cloud and Sephiroth hated it, and the expressions they gifted Zack when they found their faces in a magazine were priceless. Zack found not long after he met them that Cloud and Sephiroth were really secretive. He would always remember their reaction to him when they first met. Cloud was sitting in the corner of Aerith's apartment with a violin, playing the saddest song he'd ever heard and Sephiroth was laying on the couch with a kid blue-eyed kid on his lap. The two of them shared a look of surprise when they saw Zack. Then Cloud abruptly grabbed the kid and made a break for it.

Aerith forcibly dragged him and the kid back into the room and they started arguing by the door. The whispered argument ended with Aerith getting frustrated and yelling at Cloud to stop being an anti-social bastard. Zack hadn't understood most of their conversation but a few moments later, Cloud had given Sephiroth a shrug and introduced himself to Zack. Seph had relaxed immediately afterwords and introduced himself as well. Shockingly enough Zack found himself warming up to the two of them within an hour or so. They saw each other at Aerith's everyday for the rest of the week and by the end of the week Zack and Cloud were already the best of friends. Zack found that he made friends quickly, but he'd never made such a good friend as fast as he did Cloud. It was as if they already knew everything about each other.

Cloud was eighteen when they met, complete with a wife and kid. He was crazy mature, but looked no older than sixteen. Sephiroth and Cloud had a weird relationship that they had never explained to Zack, saying that it was far too complicated a story to tell. After a while Zack had just outright asked them if they were gay for each other. The expressions on their faces were priceless, and Zack had started laughing harder than he had ever laughed at the varying expressions of disgust they gave him. He took the glares, utter shock, and complete revulsion as a no and moved on.

Still Zack had never gotten over the suspicion that there was something more than just friendship between his new friends. The three of them had gotten along quickly and after a while there was nothing Zack wouldn't do for them. A few months later Zack had shared with them a shortened version of his life story, but hadn't received theirs. It made him glad that he had kept the more painful parts of his life, like his crack-whore of a mother, his drunkard father, and his mixed up memory to himself. Although on a particularly drunken night he shared that information with Cloud, too.

By the end of that night Cloud knew everything about Zack, and Zack still knew nothing about the blond's past. Cloud had sat next to him and listened quietly, a sad smile of understanding on his face, as Zack related to him the limited amount of information he knew about himself. He told him that he remembered leaving his home to join SOLDIER, making it to first class, and then being sent on a vacation after a particularly bad mission. He also told him that everything from the vacation on was pretty much a blank. He explained waking up in the hospital, with absolutely no memories, and an honourable discharge from SOLDIER. Cloud looked at him with sad blue eyes when Zack told him of the confusion of having mako enhancements, military training and advanced sword abilities with no memory of how to implement them.

At first he was vaguely angry at being stranded in a strange city with no memory. The apartment and the money he was given didn't change the fact that he was all alone. Then he met Aerith and with her help, and a years worth of therapy, Zack remembered his childhood and enough about his time in SOLDIER to keep a lid on his strength and understand what he saw in the mirror. He still looked like he had at eighteen despite the fact that he was apparently twenty-six. Zack had no memory of what had happened to him to make him forget everything and had forgotten a lot of his work with SOLDIER. His doctors said that he had received severe injuries to his brain on a mission and that they locked a large part of his memory from his access. Permanently. He would forever have a five to eight year gap in his memory.

The long discussion he had with Cloud about his lack of memory put Zack in a solemn mood. He ended the conversation by asking Cloud a question.

"Should I be happy that I have no memories to burden me, but also no memories of friends, family, and good times to cheer me up?"

Cloud hadn't said a word throughout the whole story and when he heard the question he just shook his had sadly. He spoke two sentences in answer and somehow those two sentences were the answer Zack was looking for.

"I have a lot of horrible memories, and I really wish they would stop haunting me. However I can't give you an honest answer because I don't very much know if I'd be able to live without my good memories......I'd probably just wither away."

Those sentences, despite the fact that they left him without an answer put Zack at ease. The fact that he remembered nothing about a large portion of his life faded into the background of his mind. The black-haired man never harped over it again, because in his eyes the past he didn't remember and even the sad stuff he did remember, didn't matter all that much. Only the present that surrounded him mattered. He had great friends and they were all happily onstage. Aerith, up in heaven, was probably smiling down on them. Watching her sister, lover and two best friends live it up, accomplishing the dream the five of them had once shared.

Today was an important day in their already fantastic musical career, and it was also the anniversary of Aerith's death so why they were going to play "Bye Bye Little Baby" as their sixth song. The record company threw a bit of a fit about it, but because the song had been one of the ones that got them noticed by the scouts in the first place they won that argument hands down. They hadn't played it since Aerith died three years ago. It was her favorite song. Cloud wrote the lyrics after his previous band broke up, and Aerith had smiled every time she heard them. To her it signified the first song that the band SOLDIER wrote. Sephiroth and Zack wrote the music that backed it up when Sephiroth and Cloud were officially members of their band. Randomly Cloud had asked if he could join Aerith, Zack, and Yuffie in their sad little three person band. Aerith who had decided for them, had screamed "hell yes!" in a high pitched squeal. Sephiroth joined soon after Cloud, because where Cloud went Sephiroth always followed.

Aerith, Yuffie, and Zack had been so lucky to find those two. What? You're looking for a singer? Here! Have him, he'll make the girls weep at your feet. Wait! You'd like a guitarist, too? Here's this one, he's moody, but he'll rock your socks off! Not to mention have women throwing their underwear onstage!

Aerith had been so happy when Cloud had asked to join them. It was almost as if she knew that he'd be the one to bring them to fame. And he had. The new sound he brought to the band, and the set-list they wrote together got the attention of the biggest record company in Midgar. They had abandoned a few of their songs after Aerith died, but surprisingly they somehow maintained the same vibe as before. Their sound changed from album to album, but always held the same indescribable vibe to it that made the world turn around and listen. Their music had a bit of a dark edge to it, and for some reason, Midgar loved it.

They also had a fight with the record company about whether or not they were gonna play one of their new songs as in the concert as well. The record company had refused because the concert was going to be broadcast live and they wanted to stick to the songs everybody already loved. They also mentioned that there were people who would claim the songs as their own, and that they would need a copyright in order for them to perform the songs. They stuck firmly by that until Cloud had convinced them to listen to it. Immediately after they heard it they were all rushing around trying to get a copyright.

It was the most hilarious thing Zack had ever seen. One minute they were sitting there with stern looks, then they were staring in shock, and then they were scrambling around the office calling up lawyers and other officials. All because Cloud had started singing right there and somehow managed to make words that were a product of a lazy Saturday come to life in a stuffy office in front of even stuffier company officials. After his gutsy performance the officials insisted they sing not one but two of their new songs so that the copyright would give them more bang for their buck. The greedy little suckers knew the magic that was in those songs was going to get them a boat load of cash and were going to use the broad cast as a means of publicity.

Their current audience of crying fans and video cameras were going to get a taste of that magic and aid in the company's all important publicity. Zack just couldn't wait to see their expressions.

They started the sixth song with Yuffie's drum solo, followed by Sephiroth playing the melody to perfection, and then Zack bringing up the rear with a surprisingly noticeable bass part. If Zack messed up just a little bit this particular song would be a disaster. However because the song was one of his personal favorites, Zack had played it enough times to do it with his eyes closed. This song was one of those songs where if anyone on stage messed up it would all crash and burn. Earlier that day Sephiroth said that a performance was always better with a song like that and for the first time since the man's fall into alcoholism Zack actually admitted to agreeing with him.

The beautiful music filled the concert hall for a few moments and then came the voice.

"Good bye my heart,

There goes my new start.

Say hello to what wasn't,

What wasn't, what couldn't, couldn't become ours.

Bye Bye, my darling little baby.

I know I couldn't save every little thing,

Maybe, I just wish I could have saved you"

The song that Aerith loved filled the concert hall. The voice Cloud used was deeper, sadder, more beautiful than ever. Cloud's voice had always been beyond gorgeous, but today it almost brought the audience to its knees. Today's concert, the way they played, their audience, everything was perfection in Zack's eyes. Zack couldn't remember them sounding better, and he couldn't remember ever having more fun.

A flash of memory lingered at the edge of his mind, but he pushed it aside, flashbacks were pointless at the moment. Cloud's voice, the harmony between the bass and the guitar, Yuffie's background beat, all of it, was more important than an inaccessible memory.

They were giving their best concert yet, in their two year reign over the music industry this was going to start the third. Cloud was dancing along to the beat of the music. The audience was clapping along with the drums, twirling around in crazy patterns of dancing. There was a smile on Sephiroth's face. There was ten times the usual energy in Yuffie's bounce. Zack was unbelievably happy despite the slightly melancholy song they were playing and the many issues the people on stage with him had. Today all the shit that constantly brought them down was being left behind and they were all having the time of their lives.

And Zack couldn't get over the smile. Sephiroth! An actual smile! From SEPHIROTH! It was practically unheard of! Almost everything was perfect. They were excelling beyond their usual standards, not a single note was misplaced, not a single stray sound was heard. It was one of their most important concerts ever. The record company had wanted an outstanding performance. And they were delivering.

However, there was an underlying feeling of wrongness that Zack stubbornly tried to ignore. No matter how well they were playing, Zack couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. There was no way the audience would realize it, the only people who had a flying chance at understanding it were onstage. There was a weird energy underlying all that was going on and it centered around the blonde at the front of the stage. He was moving a lot more than usual. Sure, Zack knew that his friend was usually more lively onstage than off, but this was different. He was shifting from foot to foot, moving from one side of the stage to the other, just a little more often than usual. The life that Cloud always gave to the show seemed vaguely convoluted today. It seemed almost....unnatural. When the sixth song was over, Zack watched his friend out of the corner of his eye. When Cloud was giving the transition speech to explain the slight wait for their last song, Zack caught just the smallest tremble in Cloud's shoulders.

"Thank you, you've all been really great. We couldn't have done this without you. The song you just heard was in honor of another person we couldn't have done this without. We played "Bye, Bye, Little Baby" in the loving memory of Aerith Gainsborough who was once our pianist and overall band mother," Cloud gave an unhappy smile and shook his head sadly, "We wrote that song back when we were a crappy band in the slums. It was Aer's favorite song. And so because today's not only the start of our third year at the top of the charts but also the anniversary of Aerith's death we're going to play two of our new songs in her honor. I think y'all will like them." He said to a round of very loud high pitched screams. The only people who heard his voice crack when he spoke of Aerith's death were Cloud, Zack, and Yuffie.

"Anyway for these songs Seph's gonna be playing the piano, I get to play the bass, and Zack has dibs on the guitar. We're gonna get a new band member soon to play the piano for us so don't worry you won't be denied the musical expertise of those two on their preferred instruments." Cloud said. That statement was met with a round of squeals, and would most certainly be celebrity gossip fodder. They were going to go through hell trying to find a new pianist. Zack wondered why Cloud even included that information in his speech, maybe he'd gone insane. Cid, their manager, said it was a good idea so Zack didn't stop Cloud from mentioning it.

As Zack was shifting places and trading instruments he caught a suspicious look between Sephiroth and Cloud. It was followed by a grave nod from Sephiroth which meant bad news. The nod meant the two of them were communicating silently and the last time Zack had seen that nod he was jumped by a Kalm Fang and chased off a cliff. He was lucky that he survived that incident without any injuries.

What's going on?? He tried to send telepathically to Cloud when their eyes met. He didn't think he'd be the one with the injuries this time Lady Luck decided to curse them. From the looks of things it was Cloud who was gonna be tossed in the bucket. He'd been irritable before they got onstage and now he was looking really pale. Why hadn't Cloud mentioned something if he were sick? Probably because there was nothing they could do about it. This concert was too important to postpone or cancel. It was a one-time thing.

"Yuffie's rather put out that she didn't get an instrument change like the rest of us. Let's hope she'll live." Cloud said as he turned back to the audience. There was a round of laughter when Yuffie squawked and stuck her tongue at him. Zack didn't get a response to his questioning gaze so he made it his task in life to burn a hole in Cloud's back.

Cloud continued to ignore Zack and when they began to play again he let it go. However when he glanced at Cloud again he found that Sephiroth was watching him quietly, his rare smile from before long gone. Zack knew there was something going on and he knew that Sephiroth knew what it was. He was going to find out if it killed him. He was going to raise hell if they didn't tell him. It hurt that Sephiroth knew while he was kept in the dark.

The reaction the audience had to the new song was promising. They played five encores. Two of "Bye, Bye Little Baby", one of their latest hit, and one of each of their new songs. The audience never stopped screaming. Cloud's voice never cracked and he never took a breath at the wrong time. He never stopped moving, and never showed anything other than his usual stage presence. But Zack still couldn't get over the fact that Cloud's shoulders never stopped shaking, too.

At the end of the concert Zack came offstage last. When he walked into the backstage area he found complete and utter chaos. Everyone was running around hectically and there was a crowd of people in the hallway leading to the dressing rooms. He ran and fought his way to the center of the crowd only to find Sephiroth giving his best friend CPR. A moment later Sephiroth stopped giving Cloud CPR and Zack watched as Cloud violently threw up the contents of his stomach. Zack was enraged when he figured out what was happening. He was scared shitless when the paramedics came.

He was chilled to the bone when he realized that through out the whole thing, even when he was unconscious, Cloud never stopped shaking.

He never stopped anything.