Love, Aerith
Chapter 12
The Last Kiss
When Zack and Cloud reached the lab it seemed eerily quiet, so quiet the only thing they could hear was the beating of their own hearts. The corridors were deserted and there weren't even guards securing the doors as they had expected. Everything on that floor seemed to allude to the fact that they were walking into a trap, even finding Aerith proved to be easy, too easy. She was sitting on the floor hugging her legs with her head resting on her knees. Her whole body was shaking, and she already had signs of dehydration, sunken eyes and skin that was far too pale.
When she heard Cloud's voice calling her she no longer thought it was real, but a voice in her head, a cruel hallucination. Probably from lack of water, she thought. But the voice seemed too real to be a dream or a voice in her head. When she looked up, she expected to see no one there, but instead she found a dark silhouette standing outside the glass walls, blue eyes wide open, staring at her. His hand was open against the glass, trying to reach her.
"Please talk to me…" he spoke, his voice clear now in her ears. She looked at Red just to be sure she wasn't imagining Cloud again. Red's eyes darted from the blond man to the brunette girl as if waiting for some kind of reaction from Aerith.
"Is this the help you were waiting for?" Red finally asked.
"He's real…?" The girl whispered. "You're really here!" Aerith gathered all her strength to get up and run towards Cloud, but the glass wall stood as a barrier between them. "Cloud…" She called and the man smiled, a smile of relief, knowing that wouldn't be long before he could have her in his arms again. Knowing she was alive made his heart race, and he could feel the adrenaline coursing thick through his veins. When the two men outside the cell could finally break the window using some strong materia, both Cloud and Aerith reached for one another, pushing dust and pieces of glass away to clear the path. They held each other at last, for what seemed like hours, but neither of them wanted to let go. His warmth was too inviting and the touch of his skin was heaven, but their happiness wasn't meant to last as they were interrupted by the voice they all knew and hated.
"Wasn't that sweet?" Hojo's sadistic voice echoed from the speakers situated on the corners of the roof. "But don't think this is over. You didn't actually think I would let you all leave this building as easily as you got inside. You see, I've been aware that you were inside ever since you came through that back door. But I will be willing to let the girl and the cat-like specimen free if my two long-lost SOLDIERS first come to the last floor of the building where I have a surprise waiting. If you don't come, the guards will make sure you will all be killed and no one will ever know you were ever here. The choice is yours." With that, the speakers went silent.
Cloud and Aerith exchanged worried looks. The time had been too short for them.
"Let me go with you." Aerith pleaded, reaching out for Cloud, desperate.
"There's no way I'd let you come." Cloud shook his head.
"I agree with Cloud, Aerith." Zack interrupted. "We don't know what Hojo has in store, but we know for certain that we can't trust him. Whatever he's talking about is bound to be dangerous."
"But… please!" Aerith pleaded, her eyes starting to water. "You just found me, I don't want to lose you again." She looked from one man to the other.
"I want to go too." Red's voice was firm. "We can all deal with Hojo!"
"No… I'm not taking that risk." Cloud shook his head again. "Please, can you stay with her until we get back? Please?" Cloud asked the orange tiger.
"If that's what you want, I'll make sure nothing happens to her until you come back." Red reassured the blond SOLDIER who nodded in appreciation.
"That's not fair! I don't want to let you go! Not without me!" Aerith almost shouted stubbornly.
"Aerith…" Cloud locked his eyes onto hers, trying to reach through to her soul to make her understand him. He didn't want to be separated from her again but it was the only choice they had. "We can wait a few more minutes can't we?" His hands cupped her chin carefully. "We'll have all the time in the world later… I promise."
"I was going to the train station Cloud…" Her voice cracked and tears fell down her cheeks softly. "I was going to stop you from going away when I was caught. I'm sorry I wasn't there on time."
"It's ok, I know." Cloud gave her a smile and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the palm of his hand. "I think I wouldn't have had the courage to leave anyway. Zack went there too you know?" Aerith's eyes flickered as she stared into the deep blue of the blond man's eyes. "He wasn't going to let me go either."
"I loved your gift." Aerith smiled back at him and her hand grabbed the small silver heart in her necklace. "It's beautiful. Thank you."
"It looks good on you." Cloud smiled, this time he gave her a wider smile, one of the rare ones Aerith has only seen a couple of times before. "Now, please wait here for us, we'll all leave together, but you need to let us go first."
"I won't leave this place without you Cloud. You better come back." Aerith said, trying her best to sound threatening to the man who almost snickered at the tone of her voice. He leaned forward to kiss her and when their lips met, a couple of feet away from them Zack looked down at the floor. It was still hard to look at them like that.
Cloud's heart tightened inside his chest each time he took one step towards the elevator that would take them exactly to where Hojo wanted them. It wasn't that he was scared about the horrors Hojo had in store, it was the thought of being unable to keep the promise he had made to Aerith that was destroying him.
"Zack?" Cloud called as they came to a stop. Zack turned his head to look at him as they both stood there figuring out what to do while they waited for the elevator to arrive.
"Yeah?" Zack asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched the blond man look down at the ground thoughtfully, lost in his own thoughts.
"Whatever happens, promise me you'll take care of Aerith." Cloud said, his hands closed tightly into fists, as if he was struggling to control his emotions.
"What are you talking about?" Zack asked, confused, he didn't understand where Cloud was going with that, they were both making it out of there, so Cloud would have all the time he wanted to be with Aerith, why would he be asking him that?
"She's the most important thing I ever had in the world. And I know I can trust you, my friend, best friend. I know that with you, she'll be alright." Cloud slightly turned to Zack, but he avoided looking directly into the eyes of his friend. There was a faint smile on his lips, a sad distant smile like he was confident that his friend would not let him down, and he would be forever thankful to him, but nevertheless, a sad smile. As they stood there the elevator finally came to a stop in front of them and before Zack had time to realize what was happening, Cloud was already closing the elevator's gate door and pressing the button up.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Zack yelled, trying to open the firmly locked elevator's door, its cabin already starting to ascend. "Cloud! Come back! We're in this together! Cloud! What are you doing?" Zack was now shouting desperately, at the top of his lungs as he watched Cloud disappearing. The blond man stared at Zack serenely from inside the elevator, his whole life placed in the hands of his friend. He knew he could count on his friend.
Zack banged on the door with all his strength until the door bulged and Zack's closed hands began to bleed. As his vision became blurry with tears, Zack looked around franticly, trying to find a door that could lead him up through the stairs, but he knew there was no way up except for that elevator, another one of those Shinra security rules. He could wait for the elevator to come down again but he was sure Cloud would not allow it to work again. "Why did you do this you idiot?" Zack shouted, his voice cracking. He punched the elevator's door once again and rested his forehead on its cold surface, letting the tears fall heavily down his face until he heard the sound of an explosion from deep within the upper levels of the building.
When the elevator stopped and Cloud walked out of it, he cast an explosive fire spell to destroy it, ending all possibilities of accessing that floor. Whatever happened inside that floor, no one was coming up and no one was leaving. When he reached the room where Hojo awaited him, the scientist looked surprised to only see Cloud.
"What happened to Zack?" Hojo asked, raising an eyebrow behind the thick glasses.
"Your business is with me only." Cloud said firmly. "Let them all go free. I'm here to do everything you want, and let's leave it at that."
"Very well, it's a deal." Hojo nodded once, his eyes locked on the SOLDIER in front of him. "But all I wanted you to do is simply meet someone you should be eager to talk to once again. My newest creation." He let out a high-pitched laugh that pierced through Cloud's ears. It was then that Cloud noticed Hojo had a kind of trigger in his hand, a simple red button that he pressed, almost too pleased. At the back of the room, an iron capsule responded to that button, and its door started to open, letting out a cloud of green smoke. When the cloud of smoke started to fade, pale white skin was revealed, the figure of someone Cloud had known from a long time before, back in his days as a rookie in Shinra. The legendary SOLDIER that had long-past walked the corridors of Shinra, inspiring young men around the world to join the ranks of Shinra's military, in hopes of being like him one day. Sephiroth. It was the man that had taken everything away from him once, and threatened to do it again.
"It looks like the real one right? I've used Sephiroth cells to create his clone. And I want to see if I was successful. I want you to fight him, and if all goes well, as I expect it will, Sephiroth's clone will kill you and I will be able to create more of him under my power." Hojo smirked devilishly as Sephiroth's clone stood up out of the capsule, bare-chested and only wearing a pair of black pants. His body dripped of green liquid, which Cloud assumed was the same green liquid he and Zack had once be kept in, Mako.
Sephiroth's clone immediately picked up a Masamune sword purposely placed in his reach and turned to face Cloud. The look on his face was blank, expressionless, staring at the blond man with no sign of recognition whatsoever. His only goal was to destroy him, another one of those fighting machines created by Hojo. Sephiroth's clone raised the Masamune and dashed towards Cloud who strongly placed the Buster sword between them, blocking the attack. The sound of metal clinking together echoed throughout the room and as he struggled to block the attack, he thought about Aerith and how he wanted her to leave that place safe and sound. He would die there but he was going to make sure Hojo wouldn't touch her again.
When Zack came back to where Aerith and Red awaited, Aerith's face brightened up, hoping it was all over and they could all go home. But as she saw Zack walking towards them, there was no sign of Cloud.
"Zack…" Her voice was nothing but a mere whisper, she didn't want to believe what her heart was telling her. "He's coming… right?" She asked, although Zack's face was clear enough. He had exactly no reaction to her question, he just walked with a devastated expression, his fists sore and slightly bleeding.
"Let's get out of here Aerith." Zack's voice was rough.
"No!" Aerith shouted desperately. "I'm not leaving without him!" She tried to run past Zack but he was able to grab her by the waist and lift her off the ground and up onto his shoulders. It was the only way he could take her out of there without her doing something crazy. She started punching him on his back with her hands and crying for him to let her go, but a weakened Cetra was no match for a mako-enhanced ex-SOLDIER.
When they were finally outside and many feet away from the dark building, there had only been a couple of minutes before they heard a deafening explosion from the top floors of the building. Fire came bursting through the upper floors while glass and concrete came crashing down onto the ground. A cloud of yellow and orange intermingled with the dark night sky. Aerith shouted Cloud's name, repeatedly, her eyes not believing what she was seeing while Zack held her by the waist. He himself was on the brink of a panic attack. He had known almost certainly that Cloud wasn't coming back the minute he went into that elevator, but he could have only hoped he would be wrong. Aerith had never felt so lost that night, wishing that what she was seeing was only a nightmare and she would wake up soon. They kept waiting there for him to walk out of the shadows, defy death again, but there was nothing, only the sound of their screams.
It had been two months since that night, and it was the first time Aerith finally had the strength to get up from her bed and walk outside. It was a cold winter night, but she didn't feel like wearing a jacket for protection. The silver necklace shined in the moonlight as she walked along by the road towards Midgar park. When she reached it, Zack was already there, back turned to her, looking at the starless night sky.
"Thought you wouldn't come again." He said as he felt her come to a stop next to him. "I've been coming here every night hoping you would finally come meet me."
"I'm sorry…" She said, feeling bad she had kept him waiting that long. Zack smiled and took off the dark-blue coat he was wearing to place it on her bare shoulders.
"You must be cold." He said as he rubbed her arms to keep her warm.
"I can't really feel… anything." She said blankly. Every time she remembered Cloud, her eyes filled with tears and her body started shaking, but those last few days her body only felt numb, lifeless, almost as if she had lost the will to live.
"Aerith…" Zack started. "I just want you to know that I'm here, for you. He asked me… to take care of you and I will never leave your side. You can push me away and tell me to leave, you can yell at me to leave you alone the way you did back then but I never will. I'll always be near you. I want to say that I'm sorry and I should have gone instead of him, if only I had been quicker than him." Zack shut his eyes while his hands started shaking with fury. He only wished he would have been able to guess his friend's thoughts.
" He said the same thing when it was you." Aerith looked down. "I want to tell you that I don't blame you Zack, for what happened. And no matter what the ending turned out to be, I would have always loved you the same. I wanted to thank you actually… No matter how much it hurt you when me and Cloud were together, you were there to stop him from going away. You were willing to keep him here with me if it was for my own happiness. You would sacrifice yourself for me to be happy with him. That's what Cloud did that night, two months ago. You sacrificed yourself to save him once and you did that again when you went there to that train station. He probably thought it was time he did the same for you." Aerith's eyes poured with tears as she remembered the blond SOLDIER, her voice trembled. "I still love him Zack, and I miss him so much."
"I know… Me too…" Zack turned to face Aerith, and he slowly reached for her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he carefully pulled her against him and held her slim figure in his strong arms while her warm tears soaked the front of his shirt.
"I'm sorry for what I said to you before, I don't want you to go." Aerith said in between sobs.
"I'm not going anywhere." Zack reassured her. "I'm staying with you forever, even if you don't need me anymore, you're stuck with me."
And for the first time in too long, Aerith smiled. She had Zack there with her and she knew Cloud would be watching over her as well. She was bonded with the two SOLDIERS forever.
I'll never forget you.
Until next time, my love.
The end.
Note: Thank you very much for reading! This was the Zack ending! Funny thing though, I seem to have made Cloud's ending more Zack and the Zack ending more Cloud! Thank you everyone for the reviews! You've been so great and kept me going! I really appreciate it! Thank you! Special thanks to my lovely chibipinkbunny, my beta reader! She was awesome and corrected my chapter very fast and she was amazing! *hugs* Once again, thank you everyone! I'll see you around!
