(A/N) Sorry this took so long. I'm not even completely satisfied with it. I'll give it a run through if you guys don't think it's good enough.
--
With each step, my patience was weathered down on the gravel. Each little crunch under my boots put me on the brink. If that Loz was in there, I was gonna tear him apart. Cracking my knuckles in anticipation, my strides quickened. I bypassed all of the junk strewn about. The pieces of the church all over the ground. Putting nostalgia at the back of my mind and forcing it to stay. I didn't want to see the ghostly images of people and children running about through the trash. My eyes stayed focused on the dark, hard wood doors… or what was left of them. I was straining to see what was inside. I could see where the wall had been crushed and the pool of water in the place of the flowers.
"I guess this is it." I said passing the fallen steeple. My steps were heavy as I walked up to the opening where doors once were. My heart sank when I didn't see Cloud anywhere. But I did see Loz! He looked surprised to see me. Did he honestly think I wouldn't find him?!
"Hello." He said with an irritatingly smug look on his face. Was he confident about something?
"You think you can take me?" I growled. But he didn't answer. He only laughed. "Where is he?!"
Losing control of my anger, I lunged at him. Passing the broken pews and running a few yards before he held up a hand in front of him. I skidded to a halt with his palm an inch away from my face. If he wasn't going to fight, I wouldn't attack. It pissed me off, but it just wasn't my style and I had to stay true to myself. But why did he stop me? Loz was the violent remnant, he loved to fight. It was just bizarre that he turned it down like that. There was an obvious question written all over my face by this point.
"It wouldn't be smart to fight here." He said slowly.
"And why would that be?" I asked. Cloud must be close by. That would be the only reason he wouldn't fight me and it would keep me from beating the hell out of him.
"…" He started to answer. But we were both interrupted from our banter by a pained groan.
He then looked torn. Looking back and forth from me and then to the pew next to him. He continued on like that for a few moments and then jumped out of the aisle. I watched him quietly as he knelt down in front of the pew, whispering something.
I stepped forward. This caused him to look up abruptly and glare. "What?" I shrugged. I was curious. And I knew it was Cloud he was hiding.
"Don't come over here. You can't have him back." He answered, but with uncertainty in his voice.
"You think you can keep me from taking him?" I laughed. I just strutted up to him and looked down at the pew he was kneeling next to. And, as I thought, Cloud was lying there in the pew. He looked completely dazed and sick. I didn't see any severe injuries. Say for a bullet wound on his upper arm. Loz wouldn't have done that to him. It must've been Yazoo. I only say that because when I walked over he was stroking the blonde's hair. I would've found it heart warming if I didn't know he was going to hand Cloud over to Sephiroth. But perhaps I could convince him to simply let him go. He seemed to care about him a lot. That was a complete change of pace than from a few years back.
"Loz. Why are you doing what the others say?" I asked. He didn't answer. He just looked back at Cloud and continued petting him. "Loz… let him go. You know he's going to hurt him."
"I can't. If I don't do what they say, I'll be in trouble."
"There's no way I can change your mind, huh?" I sighed. I was gonna have to hurt him. If I merely outsmarted him, he'd still get in trouble. I'd be kinda an asshole for it, but it was the only thing I could think of that would save him from Sephiroth's anger.
"What're you doing?" He asked a bit startled.
I jumped backwards to the entrance of the church and charged. He quickly evaded and I nearly lost my footing. But his next move would finish this. I had to assume he'd attack from behind. I looked at Cloud, just to make sure he was still there and okay. He was, but he was still looking completely out of it. When I saw his eyes widen, I thrust my elbow behind me and hit Loz directly in the diaphragm. I knew that wouldn't be enough, so I continued to flip him over my shoulder and into the pool. That ought to keep him at bay for a while. The water supposedly hurt them after all. Something about coming from the planet and anything coming from Gaia burned them. Paranoid nonsense if you ask me. But it worked. He started thrashing and floundering around as though he were being burned.
"Let's go." I said running over to the pew. I picked Cloud up and put him on his feet, grabbed hold of his arm, and pulled him along out the door.
It wasn't long before we were out the door and I was starting to feel relief. But it was torn away as usual. It suddenly felt like I was pulling more weight than before. When I looked back, I saw Cloud had fallen on the ground, and I had been dragging him for a couple of feet. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but he didn't look up to answering any questions or talking for that matter. He was worrying me quite a bit, but my questions were soon answered.
After groaning and clutching his stomach, the contents of it spilled onto the dust. I was ashamed of myself to be relieved that he vomited. But, like I said, it did answer my questions. Cloud at this age got motion sickness… and Loz had just had him on a bike. He must feel so sick. But we had no time to take a break. I scooped him up and continued running. Probably not the best thing for his aching stomach, but what choice did I have? I had to get him out of here before either Loz got out of the pool or Sephiroth showed up. That made me wonder where he was.
He could have split up and started searching as well as the remnants. But something told me that he wouldn't be that obsessive. There was a line that he just wouldn't cross. That line most likely had something to do with making the minions at least try first. Then if they failed he'd handle it himself. Typical villain. I rolled my eyes at the thought.
"Zack…"
I almost tripped at the unexpected noise. He said something? That was quite a change of pace from the previous groans and whining. I kinda missed it. He was just so cute in any way. Noooo. I scolded myself yet again! He was in pain. There was nothing good about that! I had to stop and let him settle a bit before we started again.
I stopped as smoothly as I could, but I could tell Cloud was really uncomfortable from it. Wait. Did he want to say something? I looked down at the blonde, but he showed no signs of speaking again. He did open his eyes from having them previously shut tight. I put the pieces together fairly quickly and set him down slowly and very, very gently. His face was flushed, probably from holding in his stomach's contents while I ran, but his face being even paler than usual made him look even more delicate than normal.
There had to be an easier, smoother way of travel than this. I was pretty much torturing him right now. At least that's the way my mind interpreted it. I didn't want to torture him, I wanted to hold him and make him feel safe when he was with me. I wanted to be there to take the pain away. I wanted to protect him with my life all over again. My thoughts were broken with yet more noise.
As I thought, he vomited after turning over onto his side. Some dust flew up as he did so. That showed me that we were in the very place this all started. The Wasteland.
--
I gave a long sigh while running a hand through my hair. This was irritating. Highly irritating. I had to go to Wutai, but I'd made no progress at all. The sun was going down already and it was going to be difficult to get anywhere after dark. There were no real modes of transportation anymore. There was no hope of even stealing a helicopter anymore. More like it wasn't an option. I could've taken one from Neo-Shinra, but going back to Midgar would be the stupidest idea of the day.
It wouldn't help much to ask Cloud if he knew how to get anywhere. As far as he knew, Wutai was enemy territory, and leaving to go there without authorization was desertion. I looked to my left to see Edge. The scattered and destroyed ruins of the old metropolis. That was another thing, Cloud remembered Midgar as it was all those years ago when it was still under construction. I couldn't let him see those ruins. He'd recognize something and then his mind would be shattered.
Sighing again, I looked to my right to see that dreaded cliff. The place of my death. It wasn't the haunting sounds of the gunshots that scared me. It was the maddening scent of my blood. I didn't want to know what would happen if I got near it. Not for sure.
I could see the sword from where I was standing. It was inevitable. I needed that sword! Maybe I could get Cloud to pull it out. No. It was in too deep for him to pull out. I had to try and get it without going insane. We had to leave now. There was no question left. There was no time to wait. Yazoo may have fled by now! Loz may have realized that the water wasn't hurting him!! And I had yet to see Kadaj!!!
"Zack?" I heard a small voice ask. "What are you staring at?"
I looked up quickly. Cloud had managed to get up on all fours, but he was still shaky and pale. It was an improvement I guess. And sadly, my concern for his well being blocked the sexual fantasy waiting to happen seeing the position he was in. "Um… you see that cliff?" I said pointing toward it. He glanced and nodded. "We have to go up there and get that sword."
"Okay… Doesn't that belong to another first?" He said with confusion. It did technically belong to Angeal. And the first time I met him I didn't have the Buster Sword. In fact, the first time I met him was the assignment in which I inherited the Buster Sword.
However, from what I saw in the mirror, it made me question whether or not that was the first time I met him. For some reason I saw his face in the mirror before that assignment. But that was just the time I caught some guys messing with a cadet in a foyer. Was that Cloud? It couldn't be. It was true that I wasn't really paying attention, I just busted the kids and they scattered. I never thought much about it after. Thinking about it now, I probably should've checked up on the poor cadet. Big mistake on my part. But I had a lot on my mind at the time. And! I was still a crazy second at that time. I thought they were all just having fun. My point is, I had to help with the plan on the invasion of Fort Tamblin the next morning, it was past curfew, and I made stupid decisions that I normally paid for later. I still do in fact.
If it was Cloud, he didn't show any resentment towards me the next time we met. In fact, he was quick and eager to become my friend. He must be thankful that I busted it up at least. If it were any other SOLDIER they would've laughed, asked in on the action, or just told them to continue. It disgusted me how immature some of those guys were.
I shook my head and saw right away that he noticed. I'd ask him about it later. Way later. If it was him, he probably didn't want to remember it any time soon.
I walked over to him and picked him up slowly. He made a sound of protest, but I didn't trust him to walk. I made sure to give him a stern look that got my point across. He made a face that made him look even more childish. But it did nothing on my conscience. It just made it harder to tear my eyes off him, but I did after struggling. I looked up towards the cliff and walked. I found myself thinking about that memory. I was, at this point, doing anything to keep myself from staring at the boy.
--
It was about thirteen years ago at 11:24 P.M., Tuesday, November the fifth…
I was walking down the main hall of the seventeenth floor. I was late for an insane meeting. For some reason Angeal set that debriefing really late in the evening. He also decided it after he dumped all of his paperwork on me, gave me a million things to copy and had me help lecture/train the cadets all day. I was exhausted and just wanted to get the damned meeting over with so I could go to sleep. But to do that, I had to go all the way to floor forty nine in the SOLDIER debriefing room!
Nothing much was on my mind at the time. Just getting there and getting out. I was focusing completely on the hallway in front of me. The only time I split my focus was when I heard a commotion going on up ahead. It was far enough away so I couldn't make out exactly what was going on. This was where I had to make a decision. The hallway I was supposed to take a left turn in was coming up, and the noises were coming from farther down in the foyer.
Still walking, I weighed the pros and cons. On the positive side, I get there now, Angeal chews me out for being late then I have to sit through a debriefing before finally going to bed. Or… I go see what the noise was and claim that was why I was late. Both could take the same amount of time, or Angeal's lecture could take longer. This could possibly take longer. What if it was a brawl? I had to find out what it was now. If it was a fight or something, I'd get credit for breaking it up.
I wanted to run, but I couldn't, knowing the sound of my heavy boots hitting the floor that hard would be a dead give away. No. Instead I took very light steps down the hall. They were so quiet I could barely hear them.
Passing my turnoff, I heard a loud shriek coming from down the hall .It made my heart lurch and I wanted to sprint down there and bust whoever was up past curfew!
Finally the foyer was right around the corner. I pressed my back against the wall and sidled the last couple of feet to the edge. This was so easy I rolled my eyes and almost laughed. It couldn't be thirds or seconds. They would've heard me. It definitely wasn't firsts. I would've been caught before now. I silenced myself and listened before I decided to jump out.
"Guys stop it! This isn't funny!" I heard a small, but angry, voice shout.
"Shut up!" Came the blunt reply. Whatever was going on, it wasn't a brawl and it wasn't good. I was starting to consider just jumping out now, but I didn't have enough information to bust them for anything but being up past curfew.
"Guys please! Stop!" That time the voice sounded more choked than angry. I strained my ears but didn't hear the mumbled response. A clanking sound caught my ears instead, after… Just the same voice again. "Help!"
The mere sound of the word caused my body to jolt back to life. I was planning on just lunging at the attackers, but I had to be more dignified than that. I took a deep breath, straightened up my posture and strode out from around the corner.
A quick glance gave me enough information on the situation to know what was going on here. There were about six of them. Four infantrymen and a third/new SOLDIER. They were all mobbing one cadet. He must've been from the new crop because I hadn't seen him before. Poor guy probably didn't have much luck getting anywhere on time yet. And these degenerates had scared him to tears. I could see why. They'd undone his jacket and taken off his shirt. His belt buckle had even been undone! I wrinkled my nose in disgust of their behavior.
They'd all frozen up as soon as I'd walked out. I narrowed my eyes and glared at them. And just like that, they all scattered like cockroaches. There was no point in going after them. I wouldn't be able to get all of their names without being incredibly late. I was already pushing it as it was. I realized this and began to walk back towards the hall leading to elevator, but not before giving the cadet a sympathetic look. I doubt he even saw it. When I glanced he was too busy gathering up his clothes.
--
I was pretty convinced that the cadet was Cloud, but I couldn't be too sure. It was dark and if it was him, his hair was wetted down. So there was no way out. I was going to have to ask him later. I was hoping I wouldn't have to. If it was him, he'd probably get all mopey about it.
"Ugh!" I groaned at the smell that hit me like a wave of fumes. The headache was already setting in and we were still a few yards away from it. As if that weren't enough, the ancients just had to pile up on it. Cloud started struggling for some reason. He must have to puke again. I set him back down on the ground and he did what he had to do. This wasn't looking good. The contents of his stomach, which were spilling out, consisted of yellow bile. And nothing else. If he didn't stop I'd have to get him to a hospital. I knew he had motion sickness, but I didn't think it was this bad. He got nauseous from a helicopter ride, so Loz must've ran with his "super speed" to do this! But if he did do that, what was that fresh gasoline that I had sensed?
Cloud finished hurling, turned over on his side, so his back was facing it, and laid there. It was pathetic really. But I couldn't just walk over there and pick him up. It wouldn't help. The cold ground probably felt better anyway. If I were in his position I'd feel that way.
I did, however, walk over to him. I needed something to block off the foul stench with. It was attacking me worse than a 1000 needles from a cactuar! I stepped over and kneeled down in front of him. "Can I borrow you kerchief?" I asked. He looked at me as though I were causing him this discomfort. But after he winced and cupped a hand to his mouth, he nodded. "Thanks." I said smiling. I just wanted to brighten his mood a bit. It made me very happy to see it in his eyes; he still held his hand over his mouth though. But seeing it in the eyes was good enough.
I walked over towards the edge of the cliff, the kerchief held tightly against my nose the whole time. It helped, but I was still getting a headache. The Buster Sword was about a yard away from me when my legs started shaking, it felt like they were going to give out.
"Just… I little… farther…" I told myself. I was inching along by now, the smell was just so overbearing. The lightheaded feeling had come back. But my determination was enough to keep me on my feet. I put my hand out in front of me and grabbed hold of the hilt. I was doubting I could pull it out in the sorry state I was in however. But no matter what, I was going to try. I strengthened my grip and pulled.
Nothing happened.
I tried again…
Still nothing.
This was bad. I needed a weapon! Without it, our defenses would be too weak. That and I'd be at a disadvantage against someone with a weapon. Our position needed to change from retreat to defense at least. We couldn't just keep running away. Though this was probably their aim. If we kept running we'd probably screw up eventually. One mistake. That was all they were waiting for. I had to try one last time! Just one more time…
Nothing. It didn't even budge.
My heart sank. The Buster Sword was the only weapon that could stand a chance against Masamune. Any other weapon would break on impact! Damn!
I glanced off Toward Edge. A storm cloud was gathering. It almost looked like a hurricane over the church. I bit my lower lip in guilt. Sephiroth must've found out what happened. That meant nothing good for Loz. And it was my fault but I couldn't let Sephiroth get Cloud. He was innocent of anything Sephiroth wanted revenge for. I just wished he could see that. Where had his common sense gone?
I let my hand slip off the hilt of the blade and I walked back over to the purging blonde. I really wished he'd stop. If he didn't stop soon it could become hazardous. I leaned back on something very cool and waited for him to regain control. Glancing off toward the ruins of Midgar again and saw two dust clouds rising up and coming out towards us. I instantly tensed when I saw six black forms rise up into shadow creepers. That only meant that Loz and Yazoo were headed our way.
"Damn!" I cursed. It got Cloud's attention. He must've known that me swearing wasn't anything good. I couldn't help it. There wasn't a fast way for us to get out of here in time. Not now. Growling slightly, I bashed my fist against whatever it was I was leaning on. "Bong!"
"What the hell?"
What was I leaning against? It couldn't be a boulder like I thought it was. Boulders didn't make that sound when you hit them. No. That sounded like metal. I whirled around and saw sleek, metallic black. Running my eyes further down, I saw a black leather seat leading back to over brushed golden mechanics. I glanced back up toward the front of the vehicle to see the two distinctive front wheels. Ah! Thank you Gaia! By some stroke of luck, it was Fenrir! I had been overlooking Fenrir the entire time!
"Cloud, I'm sorry, but we have to go." I said walking over and picking him up. He groaned loudly but didn't protest. He showed no signs of spilling more bile either, so taking that as a good sign, I placed him on the bike. It took me a while to position myself on the bike so that I was behind him. In the end he had to hunch over and I had to lean over him so I could reach the controls. It was probably uncomfortable for him, but I wanted to ensure he wouldn't fall off.
Fenrir lurched to life and I made sure to keep it at a low speed as to not alert Loz or Yazoo of our position. We had to make our way to Wutai somehow. But we couldn't get there with Fenrir.
Finding someway to got there from Kalm would be too obvious a move.
It was all becoming clear that I hadn't thought everything through. I didn't even think of how to get to Wutai. I only knew that was the safest place to go.
I was currently taking us to Junon, but we couldn't stay there for long. It'd be searched sooner or later. As would all the cities around Edge. This was so frustrating. If worse came to worse, I think we'd have to hide in the northern crater. That may not even be the last place they'd expect. Perhaps… no. That's obvious too. "What can I do?" I muttered. Sephiroth knew every last trick I had. The only thing I could think of to do was improvise. Come up with something new. But I'd need some time to come up with something… something unexpected… but not too flashy.
--
We'd been riding for about fifteen minutes and I'd already picked up on some shadow creepers coming towards us. They were moving fast and they were blood thirsty. I don't know what scent they could've caught onto but they were following it like the savage beast they were. I took the risk of glancing behind me to see if they were indeed behind us. Or rather, how close they were. They were obviously using the shadow creepers to track our position and lead them straight to us. What could I do? What could I do?! What could I do?!! I had no weapon. I couldn't destroy the shadow creepers when they got too close. They'd mob us and then we'd be trapped.
That is unless I did the obvious for this situation.
I looked at the gas gauge to make sure it wasn't too low. "I'm apologizing in advance for this." I said to the doubled over blonde in front of me. But I could just make seeing a doctor a main priority once in Wutai. Or possibly sooner.
And without any further delay. I floored it. (So to speak) I watched the speed climb and climb. Eighty seven, one hundred eighteen, one hundred thirty four, one hundred eighty, all the way to the max of two hundred fifty. I took another glance to see the shadow creepers slipping away.
"Look out!" I suddenly heard the small blonde say.
My vision shot back forward and focused on the small figure approaching. They were on a bike as well. Was it Kadaj? I hadn't seen him yet.
They were getting closer. I didn't break my focus. We were on a crash course, but I could avoid a crash on Fenrir easily. Sure I hadn't operated this bike before… but I've seen Cloud use it all the time.
The figure was now close enough to see… was it Kadaj? No. It was Yazoo! Of course. Sephiroth wouldn't unveil Kadaj unless he absolutely needed him. So if this was Yazoo, where was Loz? Let's see, Yazoo was approaching from the front on my left…
I turned my focus to the left, then the right.
There he was. On my right, as expected. They were trying to trap me. That wasn't going to work… "Huh?" I gasped. There was a sudden movement underneath me. It was so shocking that I took my eyes off the other two to investigate the source.
Cloud had started shivering. What was wrong with him?! Shaking wasn't a symptom of motion sickness and his eyes were shut so he couldn't be scared. But most of all, it was a huge distraction! I really wished he would stop. His position under me was only making it worse. I wanted to shout to him, to possibly shock him out of it. But I knew that wouldn't work. This wasn't the time or place for that. I'd have to ignore it as best I could.
I was only able to take my attention off of the quivering blonde when the two motors were roaring in my ears. That meant they got too close!!!
"Damn!" I cursed under my breath.
Both Yazoo and Loz crashed against the sides of Fenrir. My intention was on Yazoo if anything else. He had his gun aimed directly at me. I glared and practically dared him to fire. He laughed. I was confused after that. I was always confused when he did that. I changed my glare to a 'what's so funny' expression. He nodded in Loz's direction.
Immediately I turned to that side and saw that he'd been leaning in. Was he reaching for Cloud? Dammit! This was nothing but aggravating. I couldn't swerve away. So that was the plan? Of course I doubt it would've worked if Cloud hadn't distracted me like that. But I couldn't blame him. He didn't do it on purpose. Unfortunately I couldn't focus on him for long. I had to get these two away from us.
But how? What did Cloud usually do?
Well, for one he was never distracted by a potential boner. I was just glad that I wasn't in one of those moods right now.
"Ah!" I heard the same small voice.
From what I could tell, Yazoo had just grabbed him by the hair and pulled. That made him lurch forward. The next thing I knew, he had pressed something and two compartments flared out from the front tires. The force sent both bikes flying in either direction. Not only that, but every piece of First Tsrugi was inside. That made me feel like and idiot. I'd completely forgotten about that. But that was the biggest attachment that made Fenrir so unique. It was something no other bike had.
I wanted to reach in and pull out a piece, but before I even tried Cloud accidently pressed the same button again and it closed. It was probably for the best. I couldn't maneuver on this unfamiliar machine while handling an unfamiliar weapon as well. I couldn't yet anyway. It was something I was going to work on. Especially since First Tsrugi was probably the weapon I'd have to end up using.
--
We kept going for hours it seemed. Nothing more was heard from Yazoo or Loz. Seems that one little slip up caused them to fall behind. My guess, they fell too far behind and couldn't get their bearings straight and now they were probably squabbling over it. They'd always been that way. In fact, that was what caused the most entertainment. Mostly it was Loz's violence that caused the outbreak. Yazoo couldn't resist an urge to pick on him and one day Loz just lost it.
Obviously that wasn't the end of it.
I guess I couldn't stay mad at them. After all, no matter how you looked at it, they were both tools. Used by Kadaj and now that Kadaj was out of the picture, Sephiroth was probably pulling the strings now. "What's with him and puppets?" I thought out loud.
/VRRRR!!! /
"Phone?" I said in surprise. It wasn't mine. My phone sounded like someone stepped on it and then threw it in the pool. This one sounded normal. It had to be Cloud's.
I looked for a spot to pull over. The edge of the Wasteland was coming into view, but we were still no where near Junon. It may not be safe to stop. "Cloud…" I leaned down and whispered. He showed a faint response, but he didn't answer. "Cloud, could you get your phone please?"
He nodded and shuffled around on the seat trying to reach in his pocket without sitting up. It looked like it was an ordeal, but he got it nonetheless. I snatched it out of his hand without really meaning to. It was simply that his hand looked shaky and I didn't want him to drop it.
"Hmm…" I sighed staring at the tiny screen. It said \Cid/. Who was Cid again? Was he the guy with the gun fro an arm? No…. come to think of it… where had I heard the name Cid before?
/VRRRR!!!/
Taking that as a sign that it really wasn't a wrong number, I flipped the phone open and listened.
"Hello?" I said with a little pep in my voice. I wanted to sound optimistic even though that wasn't how I felt at the moment.
/"Who the hell are you?"/ The voice on the other end asked.
"I'm Zack." I answered. "Cloud can't talk right now, but I'm sure I can help."
/"Can't talk?! Oh well… he's not much of a talker anyhow."/ There was a pause for a moment. /"Vincent called me and told me to go to the plains. Now you're supposed to meet me there. And don't question it, just go!"/ He said angrily and then hung up.
Whoever this Cid was, he didn't sound very happy to be bothered. Still, it was nice of him to help out. I leaned forward to slide the phone back into Cloud's pocket and to the left to simultaneously turn toward the plains. This was going to be such a relief! The plains were much closer than Junon. If I had to guess, it was about a half an hour away. That was much better than the three hours to Junon. I made sure Cloud was safely secure on the seat and downed the speed to sixty five.
--
We reached the plains in a bout forty five minutes. It took a bit longer than expected, but that was only because Cloud had to stop and puke again. This was making me anxious. I was convinced that it wasn't his motion sickness anymore. He'd been displaying severe and strange symptoms that went beyond that. I could only hope that this Cid was going to have a smoother mode of transportation, or something that was fast so I could get to a doctor.
I could see something in the distance. It looked like… a giant bug or something. What the heck was that?
"Think we should get closer, Cloud?" I asked peering down at him.
"Eh!" Was the shocked response. He must've been asleep or something.
"Sorry…" I said apologetically. I felt kind of bad that I woke him up. If I did. He should be resting no matter what this was.
We'd gotten close enough to the object for me to see that it was an airship. So that means that Cid was… the pilot always flying them around. My guess was that this was the Shera. I brought Fenrir to a stop right in front of a blonde man wearing goggles. Contrary to his attitude on the phone, he looked… I don't want to say happy, but he wasn't scowling. He didn't look annoyed either. How much had Vincent told him?
"Hey." I smiled. He didn't show any response.
"Hey you two!" Came a feminine voice. That made me put a stupid look on my face. Where had that come from? "Zack, go ahead and put Fenrir up back."
"Tifa?" I asked. "When did you get here?"
"Vincent told me to pick them up too." Cid grumbled. "Vincent's inside." He said gesturing behind him.
"Okay." How fast could this thing go? "Uh… Tifa. Could you take Cloud while I move this thing?" I asked getting off the bike. He grumbled and looked like he wanted to stay where he was, but I couldn't just let him stay on the bike. He needed to lie down if anything. "C'mon Cloud. You need to get up." I said picking him up once again. I walked over taking as even steps as I could and handed him to her. "You got him?"
She nodded, but she didn't hold onto him. She put his arm around her neck so she could support him while he walked instead. I watched for a minute, making sure he could stay stable. When I saw that he could stay on his feet, I strode back to the bike and started it. I wasn't so sure about leaving him alone, not that I distrusted Tifa or anything, but I was afraid to leave him.
I went around and pulled Fenrir in once Tifa got Cloud inside. With that finished, I headed back as quickly as I could. I just had to get back to him. He couldn't have gotten an illness like that in the two hours or so in which he was alone with them. I couldn't help but think that they had done something, but what could they have possibly done? This certainly was a dilemma.
"What do the symptoms of nausea and shaking connect to?" I thought out loud.
"It could be reflux nephropathy."
"Huh?!"I looked up quickly. It was Vincent. "But how could he have contracted it so quickly?" I asked.
"I don't know, but most of the symptoms fit." He shook his head. "You're talking about Cloud, aren't you?"
"Yeah…" I answered trailing off. "Did he show any symptoms earlier that I was blind to?" I thought out loud again. There was a slight chance I may have missed something, even though I had been staring at him a lot today. Mostly I was think about something else while doing so. But that wasn't something I could help. I really wanted him to share my feelings. I wanted to be able to hold him without scaring him. I wanted him to permit me that kiss I'd been longing for. I wanted him to gaze up at me, longing for affection. I desperately wanted him. But! I'd only act on his permission.
"Zack?" Vincent said for what I assumed was the tenth time.
"Huh?!"
"I said he wasn't sick earlier."
Really? That made me feel better, but it didn't help with the mystery. It was really leaning towards the assumption that they had done something. But what could they have done in this one hectic day? I was looking so forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow meant new problems would arise and I could put today at the back of my mind.
--
I followed Vincent inside and down a hall. I couldn't believe it when we got there. He led me to the bridge! The bridge?! I wanted to see Cloud. I didn't see him anywhere and Tifa had just come in from a separate door. That made me anxious. I couldn't help it. She'd left him alone! "Stop being childish." I murmured to myself. Tifa wasn't an idiot. And she cared about Cloud. She wouldn't leave him alone without knowing he'd be okay. Not to mention Vincent probably had a reason to bring me here first. This was probably important. Of course this was probably the part where I'd fill Cid in on everything that had happened. This of course meant I was probably going to get yelled at or something.
"What's goin' on here?" Cid asked.
Of course!
I looked to Vincent. He looked the same as usual. "… Zack." He said casually.
I was hesitant to start. I knew this was going to give everyone a bad opinion of me. But I guess it was my own fault. If only I had been more careful with that damn mirror!
"Zack." It was Tifa this time. I looked over at her. My fear was obviously showing on my face because she looked at me with a warm smile. Which, I guess there was really nothing to be afraid of. It could've happened to anyone. Well… Anyone in the lifestream with a short attention span and a frustration problem. I guess I was an idiot after all.
I looked back at Cid, sighed, and scratched the back of my head. "I… uh… I… this is all my fault really. You see, I did something and now Cloud is… a little out of it. Technically I accidentally messed with him somehow and now he's sixteen."
"What?!" The blonde man asked. He looked more confused than anything. "How do you accidentally mess with something like that?!"
I stared at the floor and shrunk back a little. "I'm… not allowed to say."
"Where the hell did you come from anyhow?!" Cid growled. I knew he was wondering whether or not I could be trusted. I did come out of nowhere, so I couldn't really blame him.
"Do you want the truth or a lie?" I asked. That did nothing but make him scowl. "Okay. Truthfully. Very truthfully, I came from the lifestream." I stopped to see the look of confusion return. "I'm… supposed to be dead." I continued. He didn't really respond to that one. "And on top of that, Sephiroth has come back as well."
"WHAT?!"
"Andhe'safterCloud." I said really fast. "That's about all you need to know." I finished bolting through the door in which Tifa had come through. I didn't know what it was, but that man terrified me. He was so angry. Or at least easily prone to anger.
But I'd be fine. I just had to find where Cloud was and I'd be fine. The little blonde could always calm me down. But maybe this would be an exception. He was sick and it was worrying me. We'd see once I found him.
Now I was confronted with yet another long hallway and many, many doors. It might take me longer than expected.
--
(A/N) So there it is. Cloud will get better soon, don't worry. Oh! And please review!