A/N: I've always wondered what would've happened if Hojo included female SOLDIER subjects in his Jenova experiments. From what we could see from the games, all the main SOLDIER guys affected by the experiments ended up with only one wing. Perhaps only those in SOLDIER that can bear offspring are given full pairs of wings? (That's my theory and I'm sticking with it!)

Chapter 23

Zack wanted so much to jump up and hug Zen like no tomorrow, but unfortunately his injuries were more painful than he could tolerate. He simply lies where he was, continuing to stare at his friend with a huge grin on his face.

"Have you been gaining weight or something?" begins Zen with a chuckle, still wearing her dark red Second Class SOLDIER uniform. "Took me everything I had to carry you back up here."

"You… caught me?" wonders Zack with eyes wide in surprise.

"Of course I did," responds Zen, flexing both wings on her back with her tied-back long hair running down the middle. "You'd rather I let you fall to your doom?"

"No, but," stutters Zack. He quickly changes the subject. "What's with the…" He nods toward Zen's newfound ability to fly.

"I'm not so sure myself," says Zen, folding her wings back. "But they sure help in a pinch like just now."

"I'm so glad you're okay," Zack tells her happily, managing himself to sit up.

"Well…" begins Zen, her tone suddenly changing from happy to gloomy. "Define 'okay'."

The happy expression on Zack's face gradually morphs into a look of horrification when Zen turns to face him fully, revealing her entire body under the light of the sun overhead.

A horrendous blackish bruise ran from the left side of her chin down to a good portion of her left arm. Her eyes cast downward upon seeing the shocked expression on Zack's face. She knew very well that she looks utterly terrible despite the contrasting purity of her wings.

"Zen…" exclaims Zack, finding the strength to get up on his feet while still staring at the bruise on her exposed skin. "W-what is that?"

He reaches out to touch the bruise, but Zen quickly shuffles back away from him.

"Don't go near it!" she cries out. She places her right hand over the bruise on her left arm. "I… I don't know what's wrong with me. And I'll be damned if I let you and Kunsel get infected by this."

"Is that why you didn't return to Midgar?" asks Zack, pulling his hand back. "Zen, this looks really serious. We need to get back to HQ so you can get fixed up."

"But what if what I have is contagious?" counters Zen worriedly. "And there's no way of knowing if Shin-Ra has the capacity to fix this. At least the humidity here will wall me off from getting others sick."

"What are you saying then?" says Zack, peering at his friend strikingly.

Zen averts her gaze from him. "I'm not going back to Shin-Ra… At least, not until I can figure out how I can cure myself of this."

Zack could feel his heart drop to the deepest pit of his stomach. To continue his journey to First Class without Zen was the farthest thing from his mind. In fact, he never wants it to ever pass. They've been through so much together that to not have her in his life was just unthinkable.

Just then, Zen doubles over in pain as blackish blood began to seep out of her bruise. Groaning, she clutches her left arm as she goes down on one knee. Zack rushes to her side, but is careful to respect her wishes and keep his distance from her bruise. He could only watch as the infected blood ooze out of her skin grotesquely.

"Zen…" he exclaims quietly after the bleeding had passed. Zen was panting heavily from the intensity of the pain running through the left side of her body.

"It happens every once in a while," Zen manages between breaths. "I think it's my body trying to purge whatever's infected me."

"Zen, c'mon," pleads Zack. "Come back with us to Midgar. We'll find a way to get you fixed up."

"Zack," says Zen, laying her right hand on his shoulder and looking at him straight in the eye. "You can't depend on me forever. You have to learn to stand on your own two feet."

Those words sunk in deeply as Zack watches Zen slowly get to her feet. True, he has been very emotionally reliant on Zen ever since they met. Although he can handle going solo on missions, he considers Zen to be a security blanket of sorts. Her presence gave him a sense of peace he could never get with anyone else. He supposes he looks up to Zen as a social mentor similarly to how he views Angeal as his SOLDIER mentor.

"I… I just…" utters Zack, feeling very downtrodden.

"I know you care about us, Zack," begins Zen. "But you're only holding yourself back waiting for Kunsel and me. Don't let us get in the way of your dream. I know you can do a lot better than that."

She holds out her right forearm and smiles that warm, friendly smile of hers. "Show me you have that SOLDIER pride Angeal's always going on about."

Smiling back, Zack walks over to bump her forearm with hers when Zen's expression suddenly changes to shock.

"Look out!"

She pushes him to the ground in time for the reptilian monster Zack encountered earlier to charge through the clearing and snatch up Zen in its jaws.

"ZEN!" Zack cries out and draws his sword.

Zen manages to punch the creature in a tender spot near its eyes, causing it to drop her onto the ground. But before she could roll away, the monster quickly brings its claw down on her and traps her on the ground facedown. Zack could only watch in horror as the monster clamps its mouth down on Zen's wings and tears them right out of her back with a sickening rip.

Hearing Zen yell out in pain, Zack lets out an angry cry and slashes at the claw holding his friend down. The monster roars loudly as it releases the SOLDIER operative under its claws, who quickly dashes away.

Appearing next to Zack, Zen struggles to stand through the searing pain rippling through her back. Zack could see a lot of blood seeping out from where her wings once sprout.

"Whoever summoned Basilisk really wanted to get rid of us," Zen laughs painfully. She manages to draw out Promise and stands ready to strike with her horse-cutter in hand.

"You allright?" Zack responds back with overwhelming concern.

"It's just a flesh wound," she retorts humorously.

Zack could tell Zen was trying really hard to block out the pain. The severity of her wounds demanded immediate medical attention, but they weren't going anywhere with the reptilian summon standing before them. Zack had to do something fast as time was running out even quicker for his friend.

"Hey Zen," he begins, gripping the handle of his sword tightly as a swirl of red energy began to engulf his body. "Remember our strategy for fighting insanely huge monsters?"

Zen grins in return as red energy was surrounding her own body as well.

"Attack the crap out of it until it dies," she answers, adjusting her grip on Promise.

Together, the two of them look up at their monstrous adversary and prepare to go beyond their limits. In the blink of an eye, they rush towards the monster at full speed and start hacking and slashing away at the creature. Not a single movement was wasted as Zack and Zen fought, seemingly moving as one. As a final strike, Zen leaps up above the monster and throws her sword down at it while Zack dashes through from below and delivers a mighty slash across the monster. The reptilian roars loudly, struggling to remain on its four legs as it staggers back and forth. Finally, it falls to the ground with a giant thud and begins fading away in wisps of green.

"Yeah!" Zack hoots vigorously, punching the air with a fist as the creature fades. "We did it, Zen!"

He looks around to find that his friend had fallen where she had landed, her weakened body not moving at all. Worry quickly washes over him as he runs to her.

"Zen!" he calls to her, kneeling down to gently turn her over.

Zen manages a grin with a chuckle. "That was one heck of an attack, huh Porcupine?"

"It sure was," breathes Zack, grateful that she was still alive. He pulls her closer, careful to avoid adding pressure to her still wounded back. "I think that's a new Limit Break. What should we call it?"

Zen looks at him with her Mako eyes as she thought.

"Omnislash," she says after a few moments.

"Yeah, Omnislash," agrees Zack happily. "It'll be our ultimate attack. Not even Sephiroth could stand a chance against it."

He suddenly notices Zen's eyes falling listless.

"Zen!" he exclaims. "Hold on. I'll get you to the helicopter."

He wraps her right arm over his neck and supports her waist with his left arm. As he tries to walk his friend to the nearest pathway, he feels some resistance from her body.

"My… sword…" Zen manages to say, trying to point a hand towards the blade.

Looking towards the midst of the clearing, Zack could see Zen's horse-cutter, it's blade embedded halfway into the ground where she had thrown it through Basilisk. He nods and proceeds to carefully help Zen go towards the sword to retrieve it.

"I'm… sorry…" Zen utters quietly.

"It's okay," assures Zack. He thought he heard something more and looks down at his friend. "Did you say something else?"

He didn't hear an answer and figures it was just his imagination.

"I can't wait until we get back to Midgar," Zack began to talk as he went. "A lot of people thought you went and joined up with Wutai, but Kunsel and I knew better. You seem to have a fanclub of your own as well. I'm sure all of those people are going to be pretty ecstatic to see you again. Then maybe we could go eat sushi or some—"

Zack pauses in his steps just a short distance away from Zen's sword. He just felt Zen's body become heavier than it should. He slowly looks down at his friend, her bangs hanging over her face more so than before.

"Zen…?" he quietly calls out. He adjusts his hold on her, thinking maybe she was getting heavier because his hold on her was slipping. "Zen?"

He didn't hear an answer. He assumes she had probably fallen asleep, but deep down in the pit of his stomach, he knew. Zen wasn't the type to fall asleep so quickly, especially right after a fight they just had.

"Zen?" he calls again, a hint of whimper in his voice. "Zen…? Please… answer me…"

She still didn't answer, and never will ever again. He looks over to where Promise stood, just close enough for him to reach over and pull out of the ground. Slowly, Zack kneels down to turn her over on the ground. Seeing her eyes closed as if in slumber was what finally causes him to break down. As the realization painfully sinks in, Zack pulls her lifeless body closer to him and quietly begins to sob. Overhead, the sun continues to shine its light down through the canopy, its beams bathing Promise in warmth.

We're friends now, aren't we?

And what do you mean by 'unsightly'? I think it suits you just fine.

Well then, we'll just have to be exceptionally awesome!

Well, whatever happens… happens. We're only human, after all.

I've always wanted to know what it's like to have a brother. Thanks. For making my dream come true.

I'm sorry… I won't be there to watch you grow up anymore…

A/N: I am a horrible, horrible person for killing off my own OC. Bad, AznTigress, BAD! Oh well, it's not like any of you guys actually like her, right?

…Right?

Yes, Zen is the very first case of Geostigma. If you haven't figured out why or how, I suggest reading through the story again to catch the clues. :) If you're too lazy, well, I guess you'll just have to wait a while for a full explanation. (Which may or may not be in this story.)

And yay for breaking clichés and having Zen die without rain falling like every other story out there. With her personality, she'd rather die while the day is bright instead of downcast anyhow.