(A/N) I had no idea which order to put them in so I went alphabetically.

Angeal~

There was definitely something strange going on. I'd ended up somewhere else when I'd brought Cloud through the veil. It was similar to where we'd just come from and yet one of the Ancients was waiting for us, so we couldn't have gotten lost. I had no idea if it was possible to get lost but there were some strange things going on lately. At the sight of the Ancient Cloud began to get restless again. I knew he was afraid of them, he never said so but he didn't have to, and there was no reason to be afraid. They were peaceful and wise. Granted, they could be strict and harsh but it was usually what had to be done.

"Glad to see you found him," They said. I was actually having difficulty deciding if they were a man or a woman and the voice didn't help. But whoever they were they didn't question why Cloud was bound to my back. In fact, they released him with a snap of their fingers.

"What was so important that you felt the need to abduct me?" The blonde asked indignantly.

"We did not want to resort to such an action but you were not giving us much choice."

I only watched while Cloud glared, "I'll stand by my previous question," He said.

"You are not permitted to enter people's dreams and cannot be allowed to continue."

"What? Why?" I'd suspected something like that.

"Your existence is not like ours. You are more than energy. It is believed that you could potentially do harm if you continue to jump in and out of dreams. The mind can only take so much and your current mortal form is fragile. You see, both of the two visits you made your mind experienced elevated levels of duress. With each appearance he began to wonder who you were and should he ever find out-"

"I've got it," Cloud sighed, "His- My mind would be shattered, right?"

"Yes."

"Does Sephiroth know that?" I asked, "Is that why he planted all of those traps?"

"What traps?" The Ancient frowned.

"The darkness, the box, that red stuff…" I listed the things I'd encountered.

"Ah yes," They nodded, "The encasement had originally been our doing. It was a precaution against this very occurrence and yet it was supposed to become dormant once the contained breaks free. The rest is due to Sephiroth's presence in Cloud's mind. It is the remnant of the connection that once gave him control over his actions."

"But he doesn't control me anymore!" Cloud blurted out.

The Ancient only gave him recognition with a slight smile. "Perhaps not. You, as you are now, are able to resist his power of suggestion. However, that does not mean you are no longer connected. A part of his very being is within you and always will be, no matter how weak it becomes. Your power is due to the presence of what they called S-cells that contained his genetic material. With that lingering link he was able to utilize our containment to try and trap you, either one of you. He would have benefitted regardless. We are not sure how he was able to set those red strands within. Though we do know that the wave of darkness was his way of keeping his target from knowing the truth."

"So why did you have Angeal bring me here? Is this another attempt at 'containing' me?"

"It is regrettable but we must."

"What?" I asked before Cloud could. They were going to lock him up somewhere? Geez, what had I said earlier about them being harsh? The Ancient looked at me before guiding me back from wherever we had been, leaving Cloud behind. "Are you seriously going to abandon him there?"

"Unfortunately." They nodded, "Depending on how the events unfold he may have to stay there."

"Meaning?"

"If Zack succeeds then he will return to be with the living. If Zack fails then the Cloud we just left will essentially cease to exist and have to remain in that pocket dimension."

"If he succeeds… What happens to the Cloud that's with him now?" This was something I hadn't thought of. Did Zack know he could potentially kill the mature Cloud? Would the other suffer the same fate if Zack brought this Cloud back?

"Interesting inquiry. We had not thought to look into that. One moment," They stopped and put a hand to their head, "Oh my…"

"What is it?" Usually the hand to the head meant they were receiving a message from the others and their reaction to whatever they'd just been told was cause for worry. As though I wasn't already at my limit on that.

"It seems that what we had feared has come to pass," They answered, "Sephiroth has bested Zack and made off with the Cloud in question."

I'd barely heard the end of their thought before I ran to the mirror. How could this have happened? I thought I'd been careful in preventing this! What was Genesis doing?

Quickly, I found that he'd been caught himself and groaned. This was becoming an even bigger mess than I'd thought. I had to do something, so I located Zack. My eyes were not prepared to see the bleeding mess that Vincent was carrying. But since he was still there and not back here had to mean he was alive, looking close showed that the cuts weren't too deep. He was only unconscious. And though it pained me the only thing I could do was contact Genesis. He needed to get the Turks and Shinra to let him go so he could be free to help the others.

Genesis~

I don't think Tseng took my warning very seriously. He'd left shortly after, not that I'd expected to hear anything about it if they'd discussed it. That'd be what they called a need to know basis and I wasn't someone who needed to know. At least not as far as they were concerned. And trying to convince them of my position in this was going just as well as it had been. Honestly, if they were going to kill me I wish they'd get it over with. Of course I knew that if I happened to be killed then my usefulness to Angeal would be spent. Something that would be less than pleasing for both of us.

Speaking of Angeal, I'd been expecting a contact from him that would probably be some sort of disappointed mother speech. I should've stuck with what he'd told me to do and if he was aware of my current inconvenience he would undoubtedly fail in resisting the urge to tell me he told me so or something. And yet it hadn't come. After he'd taken the time to talk to me almost every day, this absence was unsettling. Perhaps something had happened to him as well. But what could've happened to him in the Lifestream? What could happen to a dead guy period? Was there such a thing as death for the dead? Quite a mystery, with the answer being obvious. When you were dead you were dead, there was nothing more. The concept was probably something that Cloud would come up with, super death or some such nonsense. Just thinking about it allowed me to picture him saying it and it was… cute. I guess. Strange, I'd just about detested him when I first met him. Now I found him funny. He was at the very least more bearable to be around.

I looked up when I heard movement coming from the upper floors. What was going on? I pondered the possibilities until I felt a familiar presence, about time.

"What're you doing?" Angeal shouted. I jumped slightly, not expecting to be yelled at.

"I think it's obvious."

"Well then find some way to get out of there!"

"It's alright. I'm starting to doubt that they'll execute me." If they were going to wouldn't they have done it by now? Otherwise they were only giving me more time to find a weak point in their prison.

"No! It's Cloud! Sephiroth has Cloud!"

"What? When did that happen?" Kadaj had made it seem like Sephiroth was nowhere near accomplishing that!

"He made off with him a few hours ago," He must've been watching.

"Is Zack still alive?"

"Fortunately yes. He's been beaten pretty badly but he's alive. But he needs your help now more than ever! Why haven't you escaped yet?"

"I'm injured," I answered bluntly. That was the chief reason why. If it weren't for my broken ankle I would've tried just about everything by now.

"Can't you use magic without materia?"

"Healing an area like a joint is tricky," I frowned, "I'm better with destructive magicks anyway."

"Okay, but you need to get out of there. I don't care how you do it but get to Zack and the others. And no more of that anonymous, silent hero stuff. Just get there and help them. They could really use an ace right now."

He left before I could remark on the ace comment. Not to mention before giving me suggestions on how to get myself out of this. Oh well. I could do this, problem solving was a strength of mine. Of course I couldn't do anything if none of them came down here. It wouldn't be a problem for too much longer. The footsteps upstairs were more rushed now, frenzied really. Perhaps they'd heard the grim news.

All I had to do was wait a moment while they brought the paraplegic to the dungeon. Yes, the president and all four of the Turks. How depressing. There used to be how many of those guys? Tch, they must've gone soft at some point.

"Cloud's been kidnapped," Rufus said in the usual tone, "Where did Sephiroth take him?"

"Ah, I see. You still think I'm working with Sephiroth, so you think I know where his base of operations is." Pretty sound reasoning. If I had been in cohorts with the psycho how could I not know where he would take the poor kid? "Too bad for you I don't know."

"So you're going to stick with that story? Okay, but why should we trust you?"

"I'm not asking for your trust, I'm stating a simple fact, we're on the same side." I rolled my eyes and decided to try and think of how to answer his question. Why should they trust me? "Okay, allow me to answer your question with another question. Why would I let him go if I had him?"

"Pardon?" Tseng interjected.

"Back at the Gold Saucer, I was the one who liberated Cloud from your less than competent employee."

"You're the one who stole him?" Reno shouted, "I got reamed for that!"

"And you deserved it," I shot back, "You left him alone giving opportunity to a gang of thugs who were planning Minerva knows what, they could've taken him and been long gone. And then where would anyone be?" I asked; their faces were blank. "No, I did you all a favor. I took him away from that horrid place and brought him back to the others. Now tell me, why would I do that if I were one of Sephiroth's agents?"

"Hmm," Rufus appeared to be thinking it through, "Do you have any proof?"

"Other than being on tape shot by the security camera, no. But why would I know about it otherwise?"

"True," The blonde man sighed.

"I d'no," Reno spoke up again, "It could've been a ploy to gain everyone's trust."

I raised a brow, "Are you serious? You don't think that's a bit to cliché? You think I would go through a long, drawn out plot like that to ultimately accomplish something that was so simple as just taking him right then and there? Do you know how stupid you are?"

"Hey!" The redhead glared and stepped forward.

"That is enough out of you," Tseng put a hand out to stop him, "Leave this to the president."

Rufus nodded, "Thank you, Tseng." He turned and looked me directly in the eye, "Do you work for Sephiroth?"

I maintained eye contact for a moment before stating the obvious, "No."

He narrowed his eyes but moved on nonetheless. "The other day you warned Tseng about the possibility of this happening. We failed to act on it, now this has occurred. If we were to release you would you help in rectifying this mess?"

"Absolutely," I answered. This mission of sorts was the only thing I had left; I wouldn't allow myself to fail. I would give it my all. Angeal was counting on me. No, it was more than that. I was actually worried about Cloud's wellbeing. Sephiroth may be too far gone, he could really hurt him. Kill him even.

"No matter how dangerous it could be?" Rufus added.

I did my best to stand. I'd killed my parents, pushed one of my only friends toward what could be viewed as suicide, and I'd driven the other to madness; in my mind, this shouldn't have even been a question. So I replied with the utmost sincerity, "I have nothing to lose."

I couldn't read him from his expression but he ordered the one called Rude to bring something to heal my wound and had Tseng unlock the cell. Fantastic. I had to surmise that Sephiroth, or at least Kadaj, had counted on them killing me but it looked as though he'd actually saved me by jumping the gun. Finally, he was done playing that ridiculous role. I'd expected no less, he wouldn't have kept on sending that bunch of idiots to fail time and again. Not when he could accomplish it himself. This could turn into an all-out war if I couldn't talk some sense into him. When could I do it though? Surely, I'd be too busy getting pestered by the greenhorns to slip away.

Oh well. At this point, I'd make do with whatever opportunity that arose. For the time being there were other things for me to worry about. I'd gotten Rufus to give me a chance but what about the others? What about Zack? I'd put him through so much and lived while he himself was slain. How ironic that he, a simple run-away, was killed while I, a highly dangerous deserter, managed to elude the army as well as these gentlemen and woman in suits. Whatever the case, I hoped Angeal could and would vouch for me, if need be.

Sephiroth~

I did my best to keep my grip on the struggling blonde. We were at least a couple hundred feet in the air and he was still trying to get away. Was he aware that if he succeeded he'd fall to his death? I would've made somewhat of an effort to calm him down if his pleading wasn't so amusing. Besides, he didn't deserve any sympathy from me, he'd allowed that raven-haired imbecile to kiss him! I should've acted sooner, of course Fair would try something like that.

He'd always had the nasty habit of waltzing in and committing theft. It didn't matter what it was, food, friends, lithe blonde cadets, other various things, if I showed the slightest interest then he took it. Granted, I never talked to him about it. And for the longest time I didn't talk to or about Cloud. I merely noticed him shortly after his arrival and found myself unable to look away whenever he passed by. Soon I became enamored with him and began considering some sort of advancement, but he became more difficult to find. Or he would give me signs that he didn't want to talk to me. I saw him ducking me in the hallways upon occasion.

I let out a long sigh. As humorous as it was, his shouting was getting old. Perhaps I should do something to make him a little more agreeable. It'd be nice if I could get him to cling to me rather than continually pushing and hitting me. I hadn't expected this kind of persistence from him. Based on what I could remember, I'd thought he would be meek and easy to manipulate. So I let him loose for a moment and caught him under the arms.

"What're you doing?" He shouted while kicking his dangling legs.

I thought about answering him but decided against it. There was no need to talk to him for the time being. That would make him feel safer than he did now and the objective was to spark as much fear as possible. How would I even put that into words? I'm coaxing a more pleasing behavior out of you? That would be one way to put it I suppose, but making him aware of that would prove to be more detrimental than anything.

Much to my surprise, he was still trying to wriggle and free his arms. I noted that he was looking down; thought he could use the trees to break his fall, did he? One could be fairly certain that he'd still be injured quite severely even if he snapped a few branches to lower his momentum. Hmm, should I drop him? No. I went in the other direction and tossed him up in the air instead.

It left me feeling like some sort of energy had been released. Interesting, I felt as though a portion of my anger had been tossed with him. Oh! Whoops, he was coming back down; had to catch him.

"W-what's wrong with you?" His eyes were wide and watery, and here I'd thought he'd be unconscious.

I repeated the action wordlessly once more. This time I wasn't sure why I did it, he looked like he was going to be less trouble and yet something in me just… Oh no. I'd thrown him in a manner that caused him to travel a ways instead coming straight back down. He might end up breaking a branch anyway. No big deal, I guess. As long as he didn't die. I was prepared to heal him if I had to. He was not allowed to die on me. I knew part of the original plan was to kill him but that was feeling less and less necessary.

I swooped down and caught him by the ankle just before he hit the treetops. By this point he was screaming as though I were murdering him. The notion wasn't absurd; he could have easily died had I not acted. And though the sound was grating on my ears I let him continue, for now anyway. It was strange that he had refrained from passing out. He was so delicate I'd assumed he'd be gone after the first toss. Although, the fact that he hadn't made things more interesting. Had Fair done me a favor by making him more durable? It was nice to know he wouldn't be blacking out so easily. Not that I'd yet decided what I was going to do. Still too many options. And, somehow, nothing seemed befitting. Perhaps I was over thinking it. I'd never had the time to plot it out like this. Whenever I'd seen the blonde before I'd merely lashed out at him. But that was a different Cloud, that insolent traitor who showed no remorse for his heinous actions. Distressing Mother so terribly by acting out, and now he would pay accordingly. I simply wasn't certain on what would be the correct punishment. It would not be death, though that was what Mother had asked of me. That was what I had wanted. But now… I couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. Not after all I'd gone through to reclaim him.

"Stop!" He yelled, "You're pulling my foot off!"

Somehow that sounded a bit dramatic. A bone may be on the verge of breaking but I had to doubt his foot was going to separate from the rest of his body. It was entirely possible but with the grip I had now it would take a while. Oh well, the thought was enough to make me swing him back upright. And, much to my pleasure, he wrapped his arms around my neck and clung to me like a startled cat.

"That's better," I smirked. Now I could focus on reaching the rendezvous point. I could easily fly straight back to that abandoned manor but the others couldn't fly. Idiots, complicating things. I suppose I could easily keep moving without them. They knew how to get back. But that was the problem; I couldn't risk them screwing anything else up. Being the straw that broke the chocobo's leg and all. If any of them did anything to mess this up now, I didn't care what it meant, I would kill them!

"Um…"

"Hm?" Oh. He was speaking to me again, "What?"

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see soon enough," Even though he wouldn't in a way. So what was the purpose of the question? He must have an ulterior motive. His expression was strange, "What's wrong?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick…"

What? Oh right, he used to get motion sickness. Well I certainly didn't want him to get sick on me. Damn, I'd have to land. It might be a better idea to walk to rest of the way; he wouldn't be able to see as well on the ground. Then there was the matter of what to do when I found the others. Should I knock him out or blindfold him? Better just wait and see what seems more appropriate I guess. It wasn't a necessity, just a precaution, but I would prefer that he didn't know exactly where he was. On the off chance that someone messed something up. Whether it be he escaped or found some way of contacting his friends. Would that also entail that he wasn't permitted to be outside no matter what?

That sounded cruel but he did deserve it. I wouldn't go so far as to never let him out of that box of a room though. Mostly because I knew I would get sick of being in that cramped room myself. And I couldn't just leave him in there by himself all the time. I didn't want him to become crazed due to solitary confinement.

Continuing to think on it, I landed on the ground and kept an arm around him while he attempted to settle his urge to vomit.

"Let go," He groaned. I narrowed my eyes at his greening complexion and decided to comply.

"Very well," I sighed, "If you try to run I'll break your leg." He nodded before wandering off into the nearby foliage. Good, he appeared to understand that I wasn't one to be trifled with. Though, to be completely honest, I wasn't sure if I would actually go through with it. It didn't matter, as long as he didn't believe it was an empty threat. If I did I would certainly heal it as soon as I thought it was alright to do so. Broken limbs seemed less than ideal.

Observing our current surroundings, we weren't far from where the others should be. I say should because I'd instructed them to fall back after only ten minutes. Provided a distraction was even necessary. I didn't hear even the faintest sounds of gunfire. That had to mean there was no need for violence. I could only hope they were where they were supposed to be. It was risky to wait for them in one spot. Though I was certain it would take the idiots a day or so to regroup and give chase. At least Fair was out of the picture. It was surprising that the boy wasn't reacting a bit more strongly to the death of the raven-haired dimwit. Usually he'd be screaming and trying to kill me. Or maybe just trying to kill me. He didn't really bother to scream at me as of late. And yet… He seemed to lack the gall to do so, considering he wasn't proving to be too defiant. He returned, as I'd suggested.

"We're walking from here," I said while offering my hand, "Come here."

He looked at the extremity with what I could only call disgust, "I'll stay over here," He replied. Ah, there was the defiance.

"My, my, aren't we brave?" I felt a smirk spread. The moment I'd said something the blonde appeared to shrink back and avoid looking at me. Quite an impressive front, but it wasn't worth the effort if he couldn't keep it up. "Get over here," I said sternly.

"I'm not going anywhere," He frowned, "I just don't want to-"

I narrowed my eyes and grabbed his arm before he could continue to irritate me. I couldn't care less about what he wanted. He would have to learn to do what I say when I say it, otherwise...

"Ow!"

"Still talking back?" I asked, "You're bolder than I thought." Honestly, why wouldn't you do what your captor says? It was something all captives attempted. And this was a very typical case, he was weaker than me but he was still testing my patience. As if it would affect me in any way.

"Let go!"

"Never again." I'd had to relinquish him to too many people more times than I'd like. He was only alive now because of me. I'd made the decision to spare him! Him and Fair, the latter being a mistake, but that was beside the point. Cloud was still here because of me, and for more reasons than the afore mentioned. Why shouldn't he belong to me? It made sense for me to own him. And he would understand that; no matter how long it took. I would make sure of it. He would be subservient to me.

"Wait!" The small blonde shouted. He started digging his heels into the dirt again and tried to pull away from me.

"I don't have time to play games right now," I sighed. I could play with him all he wanted later but getting off of the continent was more important for the time being.

"Fine! Just let go!"

"I already told you I won't," I tightened my grip and listened to the shouts turn to whimpers. "I suggested that you try not to be difficult and you're off to a poor start."

"What're you-"

"Stop arguing with me!" I growled. I wasn't in the mood for a weak struggle. He appeared to try and keep quieter but the struggles didn't cease. There had to be something wrong, or was he really so dumb as to continue pestering me to the point of rage? "What's the problem?" I asked, agitation in my voice.

"You-you…" His voice was weak and choked, suppose that meant he was going to cry. At this point I didn't know what to do. He was irritating me, should I strike him? But, at the same time, I didn't want to make him cry. Not right now. That would mean more noise and I don't know. Better just continue to wait for him to force out whatever he was going to say. I continued moving but listened while he timidly tripped over his words. "You're breaking my arm," He finally said in a small voice.

I stopped and paid close attention to what I was doing. His humorous was indeed cracking. "So I am," I said before releasing him. Of course it was only temporary. I wrapped an arm around his waist and lifted his feet off the ground before I continued on toward the shore. He struggled, despite my instruction, but couldn't stop me from slinging him over my shoulder. He let out a sound of indignation and continued flailing his legs. I'd expected him to pound on my back with his fists, quite a shock when he didn't. He merely used his hands as leverage while he tried to get free. Perhaps he'd thought it through and decided against hitting me.

I was pleased to see the three standing there waiting for me. They looked as though they hadn't had to fight like I'd thought. Good, that meant we wouldn't have to waste time tending to any injuries. Not to mention Yazoo hadn't yet recovered from that last defeat at the hands of Genesis. He'd been well enough to walk but I'd noted that he probably wouldn't have lasted much longer should he endure another serious battle. They watched me stride up to the vessel I'd had them commandeer and toss the boy in. I turned to face them with a look of conquest, "Now did you all see how easy that was?"

Zack~

"Stop worrying about me and go after him!" I couldn't believe they were wasting time. I'd been unconscious for hours and now they were still running around trying to take care of me. I wasn't the one in trouble here! Every second they spent bandaging me Sephiroth was getting further away with Cloud! And no matter how many times I told them they wouldn't go. It was like they didn't hear me. "Cloud needs our help!"

"We know," Tifa said while trying her best to stay calm, "But none of us are up to the task of facing Sephiroth."

"There are four of you!" I yelled back.

"And three remnants," Cid cut in, "Even if the four of us went after them it wouldn't end the way you want it to. Either one or none of us would be left to deal with that monster."

"We've faced him before," Tifa sighed, "But I'll admit that we really relied on Cloud."

"All but used him as a crutch," The older man commented.

"Yes," Tifa furrowed her eyebrows, "Because Cloud could match his strength and speed. Now we need to wait for you to heal before we can go after them. One of us can hardly manage one of the remnants alone. It'd be a suicide mission."

Dammit! She was right. They wouldn't last without someone as powerful as a SOLDIER operative. And with Cloud being in his current predicament as well as being kidnapped… guess I was the new crutch. But I'd lost when I'd faced Sephiroth. And it wasn't like I hadn't gone out there prepared. I couldn't believe it. I'd had my doubts, that was true, and yet I'd never thought that he'd beat me so easily. I did notice that the battle wasn't like the last time I'd faced him. He appeared to have picked up some underhanded tactics. Using Cloud like that to make me hesitate. It was things like that that made me so nervous about leaving him with Sephiroth. He may have told me he wasn't going to kill him, but I had no doubt that he would hurt him.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, "I know, I just feel awful."

"We all do," Vincent spoke up as he entered the room. He was carrying several things that would help me heal faster, but none of it would get me on my feet in any less than a week. I was covered in cuts and lacerations, none of them were too deep, and I had no idea why. It wasn't as though I'd been able to shield myself. He'd taken me by surprise with an octaslash. Usually people wouldn't come back from that. Still, the fact remained that Sephiroth had succeeded in incapacitating me. It didn't matter if he was trying to kill me, he got what he really wanted. And…

"It's all my fault…" I rested my head on my hand.

"No Zack," Tifa answered, her voice almost scolding, "Stop blaming yourself. It's not like you." It was sweet of her to say so, but she wasn't there. She didn't know what I'd done.

"But it is," I argued, "It was me who took him out there! He had a bad feeling! He wanted to come back! And I- I wouldn't listen to him… Even when I started feeling it too."

"What?" Vincent asked, "What do you mean?"

"He'd been worried practically since we walked out the door," I started. I'd blamed it on the soreness, and he wasn't telling me anything. But that was only the beginning. What were they going to do when I told them all of the things I'd ignored? "He was really nervous, constantly looking around, over his shoulder. I'd told him it was fine, when something really strange happened; I thought I was only seeing things." They waited, I couldn't read their emotions from their expressions. None of them looked angry, it didn't make sense. Why wouldn't they be furious with me? "It was his eyes," I continued, "His pupils turned to slits."

"What?" Tifa blurted out.

"What does that mean?" The gunman appeared to stay rational.

"I don't know," I answered, "It was only for a second and then they went back to normal. I thought it was nothing, but Sephiroth showed up not soon after."

"Didn't his eyes used to go all wonky like that when Sephiroth was controlling him?" Cid asked the others.

"I'm not sure…" Tifa knelt down beside me, "And we can't ask him now. But that doesn't mean it was your fault," She told me.

"S'true," The older man said, "We all woulda ignored it."

"But he told me he wanted to come back," I persisted, "That combined with the weirdness… I should've listened."

"We told you to keep him away no matter what," Tifa sighed, "We're all to blame. You don't need to be so hard on yourself."

I'd like to believe that. And what she was saying was almost making sense. But my guilt wouldn't rest, I should've done something! Something more than what little I was able to do. Why didn't I contact anyone? It was stupid to try and fight him myself! They all thought I could do it, I'd thought I would stand a chance, but I- It was the same as always. There was only one man who could face Sephiroth and win, Cloud. Though as he was now he wouldn't be able to defeat that psycho, he couldn't even defend himself. We had to do something, but what? Anything I was coming up with felt like it'd end in death.

Looking out the window I tried my best to take a breath and stay calm. The sun was setting. It seemed like only minutes ago it was sunrise and we were back on the mountain. Cloud had been gone all day. Where was he now? Dammit! All any of us could do was sit here uselessly and hope he was okay. Since when did hoping do anything for anybody? This was awful! I needed help, we needed help, Cloud needed help! We needed Angeal!

"Zack, calm down," Vincent said as he handed the items to Tifa.

"I'm sorry," I couldn't help it.

"Stop apologizing," Both Tifa and Cid said at once.

I was going to apologize for apologizing so much when something outside caught my eye. It was so brief that I couldn't tell what it was, I could only see that it was a dark color. Wait, this had happened before. But when? Geez, my head wasn't working correctly. Did I have a concussion?

"Hey!" Cid snapped his fingers, "The last thing we need you doin' is spacing out."

"I wasn't," I answered only partially paying attention, "There was something outside."

(A/N) This one is another short filler like I'd said it would be, but I wanted to post this before I got too sidetracked with Skyward Sword.