A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my good friend, Mai Hayakawa, who recently passed on from a car accident on August 22, 2010. She was full of life and had so much more to live for. Her death shocked the hearts of all who knew her. She was loved by many and will be missed dearly.
See you later, Mai.
Chapter 14
The Vajradhara Wu swung its massive axe again at Zen, who swiftly jumps back out of range of the single-edged weapon. With a hand on Promise's grip, the young woman flips the blade outward and grabs the empty part of the grip with her other hand. With both both hands frmly holding her horse cutter, Zen raises the sword vertically to her face and prepares to strike back. The Vajradhara Wu lets out another mighty bellow as it aims its blade at Zen and sends it falling down on her. In a split second, Zen blocks the blade with her own and yells out as she forces the beast's weapon back. The momentum sends the monster stumbling, giving her the opportunity to leap up and use her Whirlwind Limit Break as she fell back onto the creature.
Succumbing to its fatal injuries, the Vajradhara Wu lets out one last roar before it falls onto the ground and becomes absorbed into the Lifestream. Once the monster fades away, Zen lets out a sigh of relief and scratches her head.
"Man, that took longer than expected," she utters out loud, lowering her sword. "Those anti-SOLDIER monsters sure do pack a punch."
The next thing Zen knew, she was flying through the air and slamming right into a large chunk of rock headfirst. As spots began assaulting her line of vision, she turns her head to see another monster that looked similar to the one she had just defeated earlier. The humanoid creature roars at the sky as it waves its giant bladed mace around. The monster slowly began approaching Zen, growling the whole way. Meanwhile, the young woman struggles to get her bearings straight and get up, but the impact had left her head throbbing and her vision blurry.
"This will not end well…" she whines quietly, looking up to see the Vajradhara Tai raise its swordmace to deliver the final blow.
Suddenly, the creature pauses and becomes silent. Zen uses this chance to roll out of the way as the monster slowly and steadily falls to the ground with a loud thud. Seeing that the monster was somehow defeated in the blink of an eye, Zen tries to get up again, but the throbbing headache sends her sprawling back down on the ground. With an exasperated sigh, she pulls off her helmet and tosses it to the side. Her vision was starting to go back to normal just as she hears someone approach her. Turning her head, she could discern a pair of black boots coming towards her with what look to be a red blade on the left. The boots stop near her and Zen turns her head upwards to see a familiar face.
"Thanks for the help… First Class Genesis," she grins uneasily.
"Vajradhara Wu and Vajradhara Tai tend to be a packaged deal," explains the brunette matter-of-factly. "Find one and the other won't be far behind. I thought you were briefed on this."
"Uh, I forgot?" Zen groans, laying an arm over her eyes as the throbbing in her head subsides.
"Your forgetfulness almost got you killed," affirms Genesis, putting out his hand for Zen to grab.
Not noticing the gesture, Zen does a kip-up and hops back onto her feet with ease. Genesis lets out a sighing smirk and turns around to put away Rapier.
"I would've been fine," counters Zen as she walks over to where Promise had fallen. "I've been through worse."
"Worse than being at the business end of a giant swordmace?" Genesis speaks incredulously as he raises an eyebrow at the young woman. As he spoke, he walks over and scoops up her battered helmet with a hand.
"Okay, not so much," admits Zen, kneeling down to pick up Promise and attach it to her back. She stands back up and turns to grin at Genesis. "But just almost."
"Heh, you remind me of Angeal," scoffs Genesis, tossing Zen's helmet to her.
"Somehow, that imagery doesn't sit well with me," chuckles the young woman as she catches her helmet with both hands.
"Let's head back to meet up with the helicopter," exclaims Genesis, motioning his head towards the Wutai horizon. "Our work is done here."
Seeing that her helmet is a bit too broken into, so to speak, Zen opts to carry it under her arm until she can get back to the Shin-Ra headquarters where she could get it fixed.
"So you're pretty close to First Class Angeal, aren't ya?" wonders the Third Class SOLDIER as she walks alongside her superior.
"You could say that," replies Genesis.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you and First Class Angeal were brothers," notes Zen with a grin. "You sure you guys have different parents?"
"I could say the same thing about you and Third Class Zack," Genesis responds with a smirk.
"Just because we both have black hair and bangs," Zen rolls her eyes and blows her black bangs out of her face.
Seeing the young woman's response made Genesis chuckle a little. "Same with Angeal and my hairstyles. But regardless, you get along with Third Class Zack just as well, do you not?"
"I… suppose…" Zen scratches the side of her head uncertainly.
"Has there been dissention within the ranks?" wonders Genesis in a tone that sounded genuinely concerned.
"Well, a couple of weeks ago, we had a little… contention, you could say… about… something…" Zen struggles to find the right way to describe her current conflict with Zack. "So we're sort of not talking to each other at the moment."
"I see," affirms Genesis. "Do you still consider him a friend?"
"Well… yeah…" Zen answers hesitantly.
"The mark of a good friend is that he is always there for you, no matter what," Genesis articulates rather poetically. "A good friend is so close, you would consider him to be as good as family. At least, that is what I think."
"Do you think of First Class Angeal as family, First Class Genesis?" asks Zen curiously.
"Please, call me Genesis," insists the brunette. "And yes, in a way, I consider Angeal to be like a brother to me." He turns to smile at the young woman. "But we're still not related by blood."
"Ditto for me and Zack," affirms Zen.
Genesis chuckles. "How long have you known Third Class Zack?"
"Well…" began the young SOLDIER member as she tries to remember when she first met Zack. "I suppose… today's the third anniversary of our meeting."
"Ah, will you be celebrating later?" Genesis asks, but then metaphorically bites back his tongue. "Oh, right, the two of you are in a… contention, as you put it."
Zen falls silent as she walked along, feeling unsure of what to do. She had never counted on either Zack or Kunsel finding out the truth about her family. Now she would never consider lying to either of them, but back then she had lied to Zack about her family because she only just met him. Why tell a complete stranger the truth, you know? Especially when you're trying to forget about it. And the boys from her hometown sympathized with her enough to not even flinch at her lies.
But thinking back on it all, it was only a matter of time before Zack and Kunsel found out. It wasn't like the people of Hoku Village are the type to cover up something like that. A creed that the village has always abided by was that of always learning from one's past so as to better one's future. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
And it wasn't like Zen is entirely devoid of family, so to speak.
"Family…" Zen lowers her eyes as she recalls all the memories she has had since meeting Zack and Kunsel.
Yeah… family…
If there's anything Kunsel knew, it was when things have taken a turn for the worse. And usually those things involved a certain two Third Class SOLDIERs.
It wasn't like this was the first time something uncomfortable like this happened between Zack and Zen. There have been times in the past where Zen stepped a little to far out of line with Zack. Or when Zack did just enough to piss off Zen right back. And then there are those times when one of them grabbed the last cup of jello from the mess hall and the other challenged the snatcher to a duel to the death, or something to that effect. And then neither would talk to the other for weeks on end. This was one of those times.
Although, Kunsel can't be sure that this time was one of those times. At least in previous times, he at least knew of what transpired between his two best friends. This time, he didn't know WHAT happened and it was high time he did. So much time, but who to talk to first?
"Kunsel, it's your turn."
"What?"
"Your turn," repeated Zack.
"Oh."
Kunsel slaps down a pair of 8s on top of the pair of 5s that was lying on the pile of playing cards in the middle of his bed.
The two of them have been playing a game of Big Two for the past hour or so and Kunsel began staring off into space midway through the game. There were no missions scheduled for either of them today so he had decided to invite Zack over to his room to hang out.
Kunsel slaps down a royal flush, causing the other boy to sigh in defeat. As Kunsel gathers up the cards to reshuffle them, he saw that Zack seems to be off in his own little world, staring off into space just as Kunsel had earlier. Of course, Kunsel couldn't just outright ask what the heck was going on. That would just make things more awkward. Although, things were already awkward as is.
"So…" he began instead. "How are things going with Angeal, Zack?"
"Good," replies the teenage boy, breaking out of his trance. "We've been going to the training room a lot."
"Ah," responds Kunsel. "So, I heard you made a visit to Gongaga. How was that?"
Zack twitches at the sound of that, which arouses Kunsel's suspicions.
Finally! A lead! he thought. Now to follow up on it or not?
"Gave Angeal a headache like we thought, huh?" continues the brunette, trying to start things off more humorously.
"Not… really…" answers Zack uncertainly, crossing his arms. "It was… a good mission…"
"Sounds… interesting…" responds Kunsel nervously.
If there was anything he learned from being with the two of them, it's that it was better to divide and conquer rather than take them both on at once. Doing the latter never ended well.
"So what's going on between you and Zen?" he asks straight out. He figured there wasn't any point in bouncing around the question anymore.
"Nothing," Zack answers without looking at his friend.
"You guys have been avoiding each other, both mentally and physically-speaking, for at least two weeks now," Kunsel points out in a rather irate tone of voice. "Don't think I haven't noticed."
Zack simply shrugs in response.
"What happened during that mission you had to Gongaga?" Kunsel was starting to twist the deck of playing cards in his hand anxiously.
"I… sort of took a… side trip… to Zen's hometown," the raven-haired young man drawls out.
"Why?" wonders Kunsel curiously, raising an eyebrow in surprise. The cards in his hands were relieved of unnecessary contortions for the time being.
"It wasn't intentional!" Zack falls backward in frustration onto Kunsel's bed, his hands covering his face. "We were just there to get supplies for the rest of the trip to Gongaga. I figured I could stop by Zen's place to tell her folks how she was doing. How was I supposed to know they weren't… around?"
"Wait, seriously?" exclaims Kunsel, eyes wide at this new sliver of information. He brings a hand to his chin in thought. "That explains why she never talked about her family."
"Of course, helping my own folks out in Gongaga without letting them know who I was sort of exacerbated the problem even farther," Zack sighs as he drapes an arm over his eyes. "I couldn't get my mind off the whole thing for two days. I couldn't talk to anyone about it because it was so… sensitive… for me."
"So… you told Zen?" Kunsel could only grimace at what the girl's reaction would have been having her secret blown.
"Well, I just happened to run into her first," groans Zack. "And, as soon as I saw her, I… hugged her."
"You… what?" Shocked at this revelation, Kunsel drops the deck of cards onto his bed and some of them spill over the edge.
"It was reactive!" exclaims Zack, sitting straight up. "I was so sad about the whole thing, I needed a hug and I figured she could use a hug… too..."
"You figured?" coughs Kunsel in utter disbelief. "I would've thought you'd know better after the way Zen beat up that one guy back in Costa del Sol for falling on her. On accident!"
"Well, yeah, we both know Zen has a thing against displays of affection and anything like that," Zack scratches his head uncomfortably. "I didn't think… I mean, it's only us, her best friends in the whole wide world…"
"This certainly explains why, though," notes Kunsel. "No family, no love… It's only natural that she would reject displays of affection. Brings back too many painful memories of the happiness she once knew."
Just then, the door slides open and in walks a fully uniformed Zen with her well-maintained horse cutter firmly attached to her back. Zack's eyes widen and his mouth gaped open upon seeing the blade.
"Oh yeah, I never got to show you my sword, did I?" exclaims Zen, flipping her sword off her back. With a smug smile, she points the bladed point at him. "Porcupine, meet Promise. Promise, this is Porcupine."
"Hi?" the boy in question grins uncomfortably as he looks at the rather big weapon.
"Okay, now that we've got that settled," she lays the dull side of the sword upon her shoulder and drops her still-battered helmet onto the floor. "What were you guys talking about?"
"Talk—pfft, we weren't talking about anything," Kunsel chuckles nervously. "Just, you know, the weather and all."
"Kunsel, you suck at lying and you know it," affirms Zen rather curtly.
"Be that as it may—" began the brunette, raising a finger.
"Forget it, Kunsel," sighs Zack. "There's no point covering up." He looks at Zen, Mako eyes to Mako eyes. "We need to talk about it. You need to talk about it."
"Porcupine, I told you already—"
"I'm serious!" Zack nearly leaps off the bed, getting dangerously close to the girl. "You can't just pretend that didn't happen!"
"I can and I have," rebukes Zen, averting her eyes from the young man. Her grip on Promise became a little tighter as the atmosphere in the room intensified. "Can we stop talking about this?"
"No, Zen! Stop running away!" Zack grabs her shoulders and turns her to face him. "Look at me, Zen. Kunsel and I may not understand the pain you went through… but we're here for you." He could feel Zen's body tense up beneath his touch. "We've let you into our lives. Please, let us into yours. You're like a sister to us, you know? We can't help but worry."
Gritting her teeth as her chest became heavy with sorrow, Zen drops Promise onto the floor and falls to her knees as she could no longer hold back the tears she had been trying so hard to keep dammed up. She had always remained strong and confident when around Zack and Kunsel, never allowing them to witness her weak side. Not because she wanted to make herself look tough to them and everyone else, but because she was afraid of becoming too attached to them. Afraid that if they got too close, she would lose them. Just like she lost her family.
But she knew she could never lose them because she was here for them and they were here for her. In one fell swoop, Zack and Kunsel immediately went to her side to offer comfort and support.
"You guys are retardedly sweet," Zen covers her eyes with one arm as she choked back tears. "I hate you."
"We love you, too, Zen," Kunsel smiles, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"From now on, no more secrets, okay?" speaks up Zack. "All for one and one for all, remember?"
"Well, if we're going to be revealing secrets and all," began Kunsel with a meek smile. "I actually have ridden Chocobos before. I just really suck at it."
Zen laughs and sniffles through her tears. "I knew it. No way anyone could live in Mideel and not know about the Chocobos there."
"Also," continues Kunsel. "Zack forgot his belt to training one time and had to use shoelaces to keep his pants up."
"WHAT?" yelps Zack, his face blushing tomato red. "I thought no one saw!"
"And Zack," adds Zen, snickering uncontrollably as her tears stopped falling. "I make farting noises sometimes when you do your squats."
"What the hell!" exclaims Zack, aghast. "You guys are jerks!"
A/N: Poor Kunsel. Always having to be the mediator when it comes to Zack and Zen. Wonder how he manages to put up with them all these years. (By the way, I'm envisioning Kunsel as a brunette for story reasons. There's no official art of him without his helmet.)