Chapter 21: Zack's Past
Aerith woke up early the next morning to the sound of birds singing outside, it was her first night sleeping in a real bed since she was revived along with Zack at Cosmo Canyon the day before. She looked over to her left and found that Zack wasn't there, she slowly sat up and yawned.
"Where could he be?" She thought to herself, "I hope he's not been flirting with anyone again." Aerith didn't have time to think about the whereabouts of her boyfriend as there was a knock at the door.
"Aerith!" Tifa called through the door, "are you decent?" She asked.
Aerith threw the covers off her and darted out of bed, she quickly got changed into her pink dress, red jacket and brown boots. She grabbed her hair brush and quickly brushed her hair before plating it. She then reached for her pink ribbon, the one Zack got her as a 17th birthday present the week before he went away on that fated mission. She tied her hair up with the ribbon. She then walked over to the door and Tifa walked in.
"Morning Tifa," Aerith said cheerfully.
"I didn't wake you up did I?" Tifa asked.
Aerith shook her head, "no of course not," Aerith replied still in her usual cheery manner, "you don't have to worry Tifa, I was already awake."
Tifa smiled, "that's ok then," she said sounding relieved.
"Did you want anything?" Aerith asked her best friend.
"Well, seen as there's not really much we can do at the moment about the reactors, Yuffie, Angel, Sunny and I were gonna go into Kalm to do a bit of shopping. We were wondering if you wanted to come."
Aerith smiled and nodded, it had been a while since she had gone shopping, "sure, I'd love to come," Aerith replied, "aren't Pandora and Isis coming?"
"Well I went to Pandora and Max's room to ask Pandora if she wanted to come with us but she was fast asleep and Isis doesn't like shopping."
"I see," Aerith responded, "well I'll come with you, I could do with a change of clothing, I feel like I've been wearing the same pink dress forever."
Tifa laughed at this, "come on," she took hold of Aerith's hand and dragged her out of the room, I know a place that sells great clothes." As the two women ran out of the room they bumped into Cloud who was walking down the corridor. "Oh sorry Cloud," Tifa apologised, "I didn't see you there."
"That's ok Tifa," Cloud pushed her apology to the side and he grinned at her, "and where are you two off to?"
"Well… until we figure out what to do about the reactor situation, me, Yuffie, Angel, Sunny and Aerith are gonna shopping."
"Good idea," Cloud replied, "I'm sure Aerith doesn't want to wear the same old pink dress all the time."
"No I don't," Aerith stated, "I could do with a change of clothing," she looked at Cloud and it made her think just how alike him and Zack were in appearance, with obvious differences of course. Then she remembered that Cloud and Zack were best friends, and as far as she knew they still were and if anyone had seen Zack then surely Cloud had. "Hey Cloud, have you seen Zack anywhere?"
Cloud shook his head, "sorry Aerith I haven't seen him all night."
"It's just that he wasn't in our room when I woke up, I was just wondering where he was," Aerith said, her voice was filled with concern.
"Zack's more than capable of taking care of himself," Cloud reassured her, he hadn't forgotten that when they were on the run, Zack had to look after Cloud as well as himself and that must've been a hard thing to do. "Don't forget, he had to look after me as well as himself at one point."
Aerith nodded, "I know," she replied, "it's just that I almost lost him once, I don't want to lose him again."
"I'm sure he'll turn up," Tifa told Aerith, she tried to sound encouraging. "Come on, Yuffie, Angel and Sunny will be waiting for us." Aerith and Tifa walked down the corridor to meet up with Yuffie, Angel and Sunny.
Max woke up to find Pandora resting her head on his chest still fast asleep. Max smiled when he saw her, still relieved that she was still alive and well. He reached his hand out and he gently stroked her long, black hair, he lay there patiently, waiting for Pandora to wake up, she eventually began to stir.
"…Max…" Pandora moaned softly as she slowly opened her eyes and found herself with her head on Max's chest.
"Morning," Max said as he smiled at her.
Pandora lifted her head up, "it's morning…" she asked.
Max nodded, "yeah, see for yourself." Pandora got out of bed, she put her dressing gown on over her nightie and she walked over to her window, sure enough the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing. Max stretched as he too got out of bed, he reached for his undershirt and tunic which were lying on a chair next to the bed and he put them on. He then grabbed his gloves and his boots and put them on as well, he walked over to Pandora and wrapped his arms round her waist. "You're so special to me, you know that," he whispered romantically in her ear.
Pandora smiled at him, "I know," she replied, "what's brought this on all of a sudden?"
"Can't I be romantic every once in a while?" Max asked, he grinned back at Pandora.
"Hmmm…" Pandora thought about this for a while, "yes," she replied as Max started kissing her neck. "Anyway," Pandora asked Max, "where were you last night?"
"I was around," Max replied vaguely, Pandora stared at him, "I was just thinking," he added quickly, "I guess I lost track of the time."
"Is it about that nightmare you had?" Pandora asked Max, he just stared blankly at her. "I saw you tossing and turning, remember?" Max nodded, "So what was it about?" She asked.
"Nothing," Max answered, he didn't want to have to relive his nightmare now that he was awake. Pandora gave Max an I know you're lying look. "I'll let you get changed," Max stated quickly and he walked out of the room before Pandora could say anything.
Meanwhile in Kalm Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Sunny and Angel were in a clothes shop in town looking at the different outfits. They tried on outfit after outfit after outfit, eventually they all found outfits that they liked. Aerith was still in the changing room.
"Aerith?" Tifa asked as she, Angel, Sunny and Yuffie were stood outside the waiting room. "Are you ok in there?"
"Yes!" Aerith called through the curtain, "I'm finished now," she opened the curtain and the other four women took a look at Aerith. She was wearing a long red and white tube top, a long pink and white skirt and her brown boots. (A/N for any of you who have played Kingdom Hearts 2, you'll recognise this outfit as the one Aerith wears) "Well, what do you think?" She asked as she twirled round so that they could all see.
"Wow!" Tifa exclaimed, obviously impressed, "that outfit looks good on you."
"Yeah," Sunny agreed, "you should definitely get it."
Aerith smiled and she looked at herself in the mirror, she had to admit the outfit looked good on her. "You think I should get it?"
Angel nodded, "Absolutely," she replied.
For a few moments Aerith couldn't decide, then she made her mind up, "alright," she finally said, "I will get it," she went back into the changing room again and she came out five minutes later in her usual pink dress. She then noticed all the clothing that the other four girls had. "How can we afford all of this?" She asked.
"Don't worry, this is all courtesy of Rufus Shinra," Yuffie reassured Aerith as she grinned slyly and held out a credit card.
"Where did you get that?" Tifa asked Yuffie.
"Oh I stole it from Rufus when he wasn't looking," Yuffie explained as the five women walked over to the counter with their clothes.
"Will that be all?" The store attendant asked.
"Yes thank you," Aerith replied politely as the attendant scanned all of their clothes into the till and packed them all into bags.
"Will you be paying by cash or credit card?" The attendant asked.
"Credit card," Yuffie answered quickly as she gave the store attendant Rufus' credit card, the attendant placed the card into a scanner, a few seconds later she handed it back to Yuffie.
"Thank you," the store attendant said as the women picked up their shopping and walked out of the shop.
"I can't believe you stole Rufus' credit card!" Angel exclaimed, however she couldn't help but be impressed by Yuffie.
"Hey, Rufus is like the richest guy in the world," Yuffie said, she was still grinning inanely. "He's not gonna miss a few hundred gil."
"Let's just hope he doesn't find out that you stole his credit card," Tifa replied as she stared intently at Yuffie.
"Don't worry," Yuffie said quickly, "I'll return it."
"Good," Aerith said to the ninja, "I don't want you getting into trouble off Rufus."
"I said I'd return it!" Yuffie snapped as she glared at Aerith.
"We believe you Yuffie," Tifa stated, she looked at her watch and she saw that it said 1pm. "Wow! Tifa exclaimed, "we've been shopping for three hours."
"Let's go back to WRO," Sunny suggested, "I want to show Drogo my new outfits."
"Alright," Tifa agreed, "we should get this stuff back anyway." The five women walked out of the shopping district and started making their way back to Kalm.
"Close but no cigar!" Lance joked as he avoided Cid's spear.
"Ha, ha," Cid laughed sarcastically as he brought his spear back round again to strike at Lance, Lance spun his spear round like a windmill easily parrying Cid's spear. "I'm trying to quit I swear," Cid stated as he quickly took another puff from his cigar.
"Yeah, I can see the commitment," Lance muttered sarcastically as he leapt into the air, pointed his spear down and launched himself at Cid. Cid swung his spear round and blocked Lance's attack, Lance landed gracefully next to Cid.
"Not bad for an old has been," Lance remarked as he grinned at Cid.
"Old has been, ha!" Cid laughed as the two men locked spears, "wielding a spear requires a lot of strength."
"I prefer speed," Lance said as he suddenly jerked his spear upwards knocking Cid's spear out of the way and pointing it at Cid's throat.
"Why speed?" Cid asked as he brought his spear up again and knocked Lance's spear away from his throat.
"Because," Lance began to explain as he spun round causing his spear to clash with Cid's, "what's the point in having all that strength?" He used his spear to knock Cid's spear out of Cid's hands, "if you can't even hit your target." He spun his spear round so that the blunt end was facing upwards he quickly spun causing the blunt end to knock Cid's feet out from underneath him, Cid fell to the ground and landed on his back, Lance then turned his spear round and pointed the sharp end at Cid's throat.
"Hmmm," Cid thought about what Lance was saying and he was impressed by the young Dragon Knight's skill. "I can see I have a lot to learn," Cid said as Lance removed the spear from Cid's throat and helped the pilot to his feet.
"Well I can teach you a few techniques if you want?" Lance offered.
Cid nodded, "sure, but is it ok if we take a breather first?" Cid asked as he breathed heavily, "I'm not as young as I used to be."
Lance nodded, "sure."
Max was stood there silently watching them both fight, he was obviously impressed by both of them. Lance's skills had greatly improved in the past few months and Cid, well Max was just amazed that he could lift the damn spear. A few moments later and Pandora had caught up to Max.
"There you are!" Pandora exclaimed as she ran into Max's arms, "I was looking everywhere for you."
Max was about to answer when he was interrupted by a high pitched voice. "Yeah, he seems to be getting into a habit of wandering off," Max and Pandora looked behind them to see a grey squirrel with black spiky hair leap off a tree and land on Max's shoulder.
"Hi Zack," Max replied.
"Zack…" Pandora asked as she looked from the squirrel to Max and back to the squirrel again.
Max sighed, "go ahead Zack," the squirrel leapt off Max's shoulder and landed on the ground, green light surrounded it and a few seconds later Zack was stood where the squirrel used to be.
Pandora jumped back as her eyes were wide with shock, "how did you do that?" Pandora asked as she stared at Zack.
"I can change my form," Zack answered, "another gift from the Life Stream."
"Oh," Pandora replied, "I'm guessing the other gift is your ability to create weapons out of nowhere," Zack nodded, Pandora then remembered the conversation her and Zack had on their way to Edge and she grinned at the ex SOLDIER. "Zack," she said choosing her words carefully. "Remember when we said…"
"I know what you're gonna say," Zack quickly cut in, the inane grin that was there before was gone and Zack's face became serious. "And the answer is still no." Zack turned round and started to walk off, Pandora followed him.
"But Zack, with you being alive now don't you think you should…" Pandora continued to ask, Zack turned round to face her.
"I already told you I'm not gonna see my parents so just drop it will ya!" Zack turned round and stormed off, he pushed passed Cloud as he entered the grounds. Cloud looked back at Zack and then he gave Max and Pandora a confused stare.
"What's up with him?" Cloud asked.
"His parents," Pandora answered she had a worried expression on her face.
"Well Zack hasn't seen them in 12 years," Cloud replied, "I guess he feels like he can't face them now."
"But why is he being so uptight about it?" Pandora asked staring hopefully at Cloud.
Cloud merely shrugged in response, "beats me," he said.
"But you're his best friend, right?"
"Yeah," Cloud answered "but I don't know about Zack's life in Gongaga, he never told me. In fact I don't think even Aerith knows."
"Knows what…" Max, Pandora and Cloud turned round to see Aerith stood behind them.
"Aerith," Cloud spoke up, "I thought you went shopping with Tifa, Angel, Sunny and Yuffie."
"I did," Aerith replied, "they went to their rooms to try on their new outfits, anyway, what don't I know?"
"I think it's best that you talk to Zack," Cloud told Aerith.
"Yeah, I think I will," Aerith said, and she walked off back to WRO, Cloud and Max followed, however Pandora stayed behind and she walked over to Cid.
"Hey Cid I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" Pandora asked the pilot.
"Sure," Cid replied, "what do you want?" Pandora whispered into Cid's ear.
Meanwhile Cloud, Max and Aerith were stood outside Aerith and Zack's room, Aerith knocked on the door. "Zack, it's me Aerith!" She called through the door, "please let me in!"
"Go away!" Zack's voice could be heard from inside the room.
Cloud stepped forwards, "let me try," he said to Aerith, Aerith moved out of the way and Cloud banged his fist on the door, "Zack!" He yelled, "you have till the count of three to open this door or I'll break it down! 1,2…" Cloud was about to say three when he heard the sound of a lock clicking and Zack opened the door.
"You don't have to shout!" He snapped as Cloud, Aerith and Max entered the room, "I'm not deaf!"
"What's going on Zack?" Cloud demanded.
"Nothing," Zack lied, Cloud glared at him.
"That's a lie Zack and you know it!" Cloud yelled, "I know you're hiding something!"
Aerith stepped forward and took hold of Zack's hand, "please Zack, I know it's about your parents and I think Pandora is right, you should go and see them."
"I can't go back there!" Zack yelled, "I promised myself that I wouldn't go back!"
"Why not?" A different voice demanded they all turned round to see Pandora standing in the doorway.
"That's none of your business!" Zack snapped at Pandora, Pandora marched into the room.
"Well maybe not!" She snapped back as she jabbed a finger into Zack's chest, "but you're lucky, at least you got to know your parents, I never even knew mine. They died when I was just a year old! I think you should go and see your parents, otherwise you'll just end up regretting it for the rest of your life!"
"I don't care!" Zack retorted, "I haven't seen my parents for over 12 years and I don't care if I don't see them again!" Pandora gave Zack a pleading look, he just turned away and folded his arms stubbornly, "I'm not seeing my parents! Na ah! No way! Finito, Fat chance! Not gonna happen!"
Ten minutes later on Sierra.
"I can't believe this is happening," Zack muttered under his breath, Aerith wrapped her arms round his neck and kissed him.
"It'll be ok," Aerith replied reassuringly.
Zack looked up at her, "what are you basing that on?" He asked.
"Me, Cloud and Tifa saw your parents a few years back," Aerith answered, "they were worried about you."
Zack gave Aerith a sceptical stare, "no, really…"
Aerith nodded, "really Zack, they were worried about you."
"Don't worry Zack," Tifa chipped in, "me, Aerith, Cloud, Max and Pandora will be there for you."
"I don't even know why I'm doing this," Zack said with a sigh.
"So that your parent's know that you're ok," Cloud replied, he patted his friend on the shoulder, "it'll be fine, trust me."
"I hope you guys are right," Zack muttered and he fell silent again, the group spent the rest of the journey in silence. After and hour of flying Cid spoke to them.
"We're approaching Gongaga now," he said, "Of course I can't land in the village itself I'll have to land outside the jungle and you guys will have to walk the rest of the way."
"Thanks Cid," Aerith thanked the pilot, Cid merely brushed her thanks to the side as he landed the airship. Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Zack, Max and Pandora got out of the airship and started walking through the jungle. They eventually reached Gongaga village.
Zack looked around him, "damn," he muttered, "this place looks even worse than when I left."
Max placed his hand on Zack's shoulder, "Are you ok?" He asked.
Zack nodded, "yeah, I'm fine, come on let's get this over with." Zack started to walk off and the others followed him, he was about to walk passed the graveyard when he stopped. Aerith and the others noticed this and they also stopped.
"Is this…" Aerith began to ask.
Zack nodded, "yeah," he answered a hint of sadness in his voice, "this is where all the victims of the reactor incident were buried."
Max and Pandora stared at Zack, "Reactor incident…" they both asked at the same time, but Zack wasn't listening. He entered the graveyard and he started walking passed the graves almost as if he was being drawn to something. Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, Max and Pandora followed him, Zack walked all the way to the back of the graveyard, he came to a stop at one grave and he fell to his knees. The others caught up with him and Max read the epitaph.
"Here lies Zoë, a loving sister and daughter, R.I.P…who's Zoë?"
Zack looked up at Max, "she was my little sister," he answered as he felt tears burning in his eyes.
Cloud stared at Zack, "Zoë…" He asked.
"My parents had a thing for Zs," Zack answered.
"What happened to her?" Aerith asked, Zack hung his head and he slowly began to explain what happened.
(Flashback)
It was ten o clock on a Saturday morning a 13 year old Zack was still in bed, he was always one to sleep in at weekends when he didn't have school. He was quickly woken up by someone throwing stones through his window and one of the hit him on the head. Zack woke up with a start.
"Ouch!" He cried out in pain as he rubbed his head where the stone had hit. He walked over to his window and he saw three other boys his age standing outside.
One boy was tall and slender, he had slicked back red hair, green eyes and he was wearing black knee length shorts a red shirt, red sneakers and a black bandana on his head he went by the name of Josh. The second boy was slightly shorter and had a much heavier build than the first boy, he had short, straight blond hair, brown eyes and he wore green baggy pants, and green jacket with no shirt, he was known as Darren. The last boy was a little on the chubby side, like Zack he had black spiky hair but his spikes were shorter and nowhere near as unruly as Zack's hair, like Josh, he wore red knee length shorts, a white, long sleeved t-shirt, white sneakers and black sunglasses, his name was Jake.
"Hey Zack!" Josh called up to Zack, "we're gonna go up to the old fishing hole to try and catch some big ones, you coming?!"
"Yeah!" Zack yelled out to his friends, "just give me a minute," Zack came away from his window and he got changed into his clothes, he ran down the stairs and grabbed his jacket from the coat rack. "Ok mum, dad, I'm going out I'll be back later!" Zack was about to open the door and walk out when a woman in her mid 30s with black hair tied back into a bun stopped him.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Just out to the old fishing hole," Zack answered, "I'm meeting Josh, Darren and Jake."
"Ok," Zack's mother said, "take Zoë with you." As she said this a very attractive looking 12 year old girl with long black hair that was tied back into a ponytail appeared behind her mother, she had blue eyes like Zack did and she wore a purple top, purple pants and white sneakers.
"Ok mum," Zack said, "come on Zoë," Zoë walked out of the door Zack was about to leave when his mum stopped him again.
"Zack, please look after her," his mum pleaded with him, "promise me you won't let anything bad happen to her."
"I promise mum," Zack said as he walked out of the door to meet up with his friends. Five minutes later and they were at the old fishing hole.
"This is gonna be great!" Darren exclaimed as they all sat down at the lake and threw their fishing rods into the water.
"Yeah," Josh added, "my dad said that he once caught a catfish this big!" He spread his arms out wide for emphasis.
"A giant catfish in the lake?" Zoë asked, "get out of here!"
"It's true," Josh said sounding a little offended.
Zack laughed, "come on, let's just fish," he said. The group of kids started fishing, but after half an hour of just sitting there and not catching anything they began to grow bored.
"This is so boring," Darren said with a yawn.
"Yeah," Jake agreed, "we've never gone this long without catching anything."
"Maybe the fish have moved," Zoë suggested.
"Let's do something else," Darren said.
Josh looked at the group with a wide grin on his face, "I heard they've just finished building the new reactor on the other side of the jungle," he explained, "let's go check it out."
"Good idea Josh," Darren remarked.
"Yeah, let's go," Jake agreed.
"You coming Zack?" Josh asked as he stared hopefully at Zack.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Zack spoke up as he shook his head.
"Come on Zack," Zoë pleaded with her older brother, "I wanna go and see the reactor."
Zack sighed, his sister was stubborn and he knew that once she had made her mind up there was nothing anyone could do to change it. "Alright," he said as he gave in, "I suppose just looking at it won't hurt." The group made their way through the village and through the jungle, eventually they arrived at the reactor.
"Wow!" Zoë squealed in excitement, "it's so big!"
"Finally some new technology," Jake added as they all stared in awe at the reactor. "I was worried that Gongaga would remain a backwater town forever."
"Ok," Zack said, "we've had a look at the reactor, can we please leave now, I've heard about these things, they can be really dangerous."
"Stop being such a wuss Zack!" Darren joked as Jake made chicken noises in the background.
"I'm not a wuss!" Zack snapped, "and stop that!" He glared at Darren and Darren fell silent.
"I wonder what it looks like inside," Zoë pondered.
"There's only one way to find out," Josh replied and everyone stared at him, he turned to face Darren, "I dare you to go in."
Darren shook his head, "no way man," he said quickly, "why don't you go in?"
"Ok," Josh said and he looked at Zack, "I double dare Zack to go in."
"No way!" Zack yelled, "I'm not going in there!"
"What are you afraid of going in their alone?" Josh asked in a mocking tone, Darren laughed and Jake made chicken noises again.
"I'm not afraid!" Zack yelled, I just don't feel like going in!"
"Hey it's a double dare!" Josh yelled back, "you can't back out of a double dare!"
"I'm aware of the rules of double dare!" Zack retorted, "I don't wanna go in!" Zoë then glared at Zack.
"You never do anything Zack!" She yelled at her older brother, "be reckless for once in your life! I'm gonna go into that reactor and see what it's like!"
"No you're not Zoë!" Zack yelled at his little sister and he grabbed hold of her arm.
"Why not?" Zoë demanded.
"Because you're my little sister," Zack answered, "and I promised mum that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, it was a mistake coming here."
"You can't tell me what to do!" Zoë yelled and she jerked her arm away from Zack and she ran towards the reactor.
"ZOE NO!" Zack yelled and he started to run after her when an explosion went off. The four boys could only watch in horror as the reactor exploded and collapsed on itself. "NO!" Zack yelled again and he ran towards the reactor and he started searching frantically through the rubble for any sign of his sister. "Please be ok," Zack pleaded, "please be alive." After five minutes of frantic searching he eventually found Zoë, "Zoë," Zack called out her name but she didn't respond. "Zoë!" Zack yelled a little louder but she still didn't respond. He took hold of her body in his arms and he gently shook her but she didn't move, it was at that moment that he knew she was dead. "No…" Zack mumbled softly as he felt the tears well in his eyes. "What have I done…WHAT HAVE I DONE!" Zack yelled at the top of his lungs as he the shock was yet to sink in and when it did Zack eventually broke down and cried into his sister's chest.
(End flashback)
"So that's what happened?" Aerith asked, Zack nodded and he hung his head, Aerith placed her hand on his shoulder, "I had no idea."
"I didn't want to tell anyone," Zack replied, "I thought that if I could keep it under wraps then everything would be ok."
"Keeping everything bottled up isn't good Zack," Cloud advised, "believe me I know."
Zack nodded, "I know, come on, let's go and see my parents." Zack stood up and the group walked out of the graveyard and through the village, five minutes later and they arrived at Zack's parents' house. They walked up to the door, Zack hesitated for a few seconds before he knocked on. The door opened and a middle aged woman answered the door.
"Yes?" she asked as she stared at the young man on the doorstep.
"Hi mum," Zack said nervously. The woman rubbed her eyes and she stared again at the young man.
"Zack…" she gasped hardly daring to believe it. "Is it really you?" Zack nodded and his mother hugged him. "Oh Zack I thought we'd never see you again!"
Zack was about to respond when a middle aged man with greying black hair and a bald spot in the middle of his head came out of the house. "What is all that…" he stopped when he saw Zack standing there.
"Hi dad," Zack greeted his father.
Zack's father also rubbed his eyes, "good lord, Zack!" He yelled as he grabbed Zack and pulled him into a quick bear hug before he let go of his son.
"These must be your friends," Zack's mum remarked as she noticed, Cloud, Aerith, Max and Pandora.
Zack nodded, "yeah, I'm guessing you've already met Cloud and Aerith," Zack pointed to Cloud and Aerith, his parents nodded, "and this is Max and Pandora," Zack pointed to Max and Pandora.
"I'm guessing this must've been a long trip for you," Zack's mum said politely, "why don't you all come in for a bit?"
"Thank you," Cloud replied and they all walked into the house, they entered the living and they all sat down, Zack's parent's stared intently at Zack.
"So where have you been all this time?" Zack's mum asked her son.
"Well…" With the help of Cloud and Aerith Zack explained everything that had gone on in the passed 12 years of his life.
"Humph," his father replied coldly, "so you joined soldier."
Zack hid his face in his hands, "please don't start this again," he said.
"You knew how we felt about this Zack!" His mother screamed at him. Zack lifted his head up and leapt to his feet.
"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" He snapped so suddenly that it caused everyone else in the room to jump back. Zack's eyes grew wide with shock as he remembered using those exact same words 12 years ago.
(Flashback)
It had been a whole year since Zoë's death and Zack was still wracked with guilt for failing to protect his sister, for breaking the promise he made to his mother. For a while he separated himself off from his family and friends, not wishing to speak to anyone since he felt that they all blamed him. That was when he heard about SOLDIER, about Sephiroth, the greatest SOLDIER in existence and it made Zack realise that he had no future in Gongaga, that his fortunes were else where. He wanted to be somebody and he knew that he wouldn't reach his full potential if he remained in Gongaga, he had made up his mind he was going to join SOLDIER, he was going to make something of himself. He knew that his parents wouldn't approve but he still had to tell them. He leapt off his bed and slowly walked down the stairs and he walked into the living room.
"Mum, dad," he said quietly.
"Yes Zack," his mother answered.
"There's something I have to tell you," Zack continued as he walked over to the sofa and sat down.
"What is it son?" Zack's father asked as his mother sat down next to Zack.
"I've decided," Zack said choosing his words carefully, he took a deep breath. "I want to join SOLDIER.
His parents stared at Zack in shock as they heard this, "you want to join SOLDIER…" His mother gasped, Zack nodded, Zack's father got up from his armchair he walked over to Zack grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook him.
"This is nonsense!" He yelled, "no son of mine is going to join SOLDIER!" He stopped shaking Zack and Zack stood up.
"And why not?!" He demanded as he glared at his parents, somehow he knew they'd react like that.
"Have you forgotten what that contraption of theirs did?" Zack's mother yelled at Zack, "it's because of Shinra that your sister is dead!"
"It was an accident!" Zack yelled.
"You never should've taken her there in the first place!" His father retorted.
"Zoë wanted to go!" Zack argued back, "she ran towards the reactor, I tried to stop her!"
"You obviously didn't try hard enough!" His mother screamed at him, "YOU'RE NOT JOINING SOLDIER AND THAT'S THAT!" She yelled finally.
YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Zack suddenly snapped and his parents fell silent, they had never heard him yell like that before. "I'M JOINING SOLDIER AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY!"
"FINE!" His father yelled back, "BUT IF YOU LEAVE NOW THEN DON'T BOTHER COMING BACK!"
DON'T WORRY!" Zack yelled harshly, "I WON'T! IN FACT I HOPE I NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN!" Before his parents could say anything else Zack stormed out of the room, slammed the door behind him, he ran up the stairs to his room, slammed his bedroom. He dived on to his bed and cried into his pillow. After two hours of crying Zack looked over at his window and he saw that it was going dark. He should've known that his parents wouldn't approve, not that it mattered, he said that he never wanted to see parents again and he stuck by that, he was going to join SOLDIER whether they liked it or not. He crawled off his bed, walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out a large bag, he then walked over to the drawers and pulled out every item of clothing he had and stuffed them into the bag, once he had got all his essentials together he tore the bed sheets off his bed and tied them together to form a rope and he threw it out of the widow. He used his makeshift rope to climb out of his bedroom window, when he was outside he took one last look at his parents' house and after vowing never to return he ran off into the night.
(End flashback)
"IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU ZOE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!" Zack's mother continued to rant and rave at Zack, eventually he had had enough.
"NOW I REMEMBER WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO COME BACK HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" He yelled and before anyone could say anything he stormed out of the room, slammed the door and walked out of the house.
Aerith and Cloud were about to go after Zack when Max stopped them, "no," he said, "I'll go, I think I know something that'll cheer him up."
"He will be ok won't he?" Aerith asked Max tearfully.
Max nodded, "he'll be fine, just give me a few minutes." Max walked out of the house, he found Zack on the roof of another building looking angry, upset and dejected. With a single leap Max leapt onto the building next to Zack.
"You want to talk?" Max asked the ex SOLDER.
Zack turned to face Max, "Oh, hey Max," Zack replied in a depressed tone.
"You really need someone to talk to," Max sat down next to Zack, even though he didn't know Zack as well as Aerith and Cloud did, he knew him for long enough to know that Zack wasn't being himself.
"They're right though aren't they?" Zack asked the Kitsune, "if it wasn't for me Zoë would still be alive."
Max shook his head, "you're not to blame, you weren't to know that the reactor was gonna blow up."
"I was her older brother, I should've looked after her better," Zack said sadly.
"You can't keep blaming yourself," Max told him, "look you died yourself remember? You probably saw Zoë in the Life Stream."
Zack nodded, "yeah but I never spoke to her though," Zack replied, Max stared at Zack but he didn't have to say anything as Zack already knew what Max was going to say. "I never plucked up the courage to talk to her," Zack continued to explain, "I thought she blamed me like my parents did."
"Well," Max said to Zack, "you know how I can speak to dead people." Zack nodded, "well while we were in the graveyard, I spoke to your sister."
Zack looked up at Max, "Really, what did she say?"
"She said that she doesn't blame you," Max answered truthfully, "and that she never did, she said that you could've spoken to her at anytime when you were in the Life Stream, and as for your parents, she said that they'll get over it and learn to forgive you in time, but for now you should just live your life the way you want to live it."
Zack smiled at Max, "was that you saying that last part or her?"
"Both," Max answered, "but my point is you've become such a well round individual, I mean you met Aerith, you saved Cloud at a great cost to your own life and if your parents can't see that then they're not worth bothering about."
"You're right," Zack said and he stood up, he suddenly felt lighter like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, "I should get back to what really matters, Aerith and saving the world." As Zack said this Aerith, Cloud, Tifa and Pandora were stood below them.
"Is everything ok?" Aerith called up to them, Zack and Max jumped down from the roof and Zack hugged Aerith, "Everything's fine," he told her as he kissed her, "let's get out of here, I'm not gonna stay where I'm not wanted." The group walked out of the village and as they made their way back to the Sierra Zack took one last look at the graveyard.
"Please forgive me Zoë," he said to himself as he, Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, Max and Pandora made their way back to the Sierra and WRO.
Phew this was quite a long chapter, I know it wasn't part of the main story but I thought it would be interesting to put in a bit of a background for Zack and formulate my own theory as to what motivated him to leave Gongaga to join SOLDIER. Well Square Enix didn't really give much detail about his past so it's really just speculation and theories. Like I said I know this chapter diverted away from the main plot, (it's like a side quest on an RPG game that deviates from the main plot but it adds new depth to the game) I was just adding depth to an otherwise mysterious and unknown character, like we all do. Anyway chapter 22 will be coming up soon, please feel free to comment CONSTRUCTIVELY! I can't stress that enough, enjoy.