Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.

A/N: As usual, I'm sorry for the delay in updating. I know that this has been slow in developing and getting on with the story, but certain things have to happen before the story can move along. I am currently working on the next chapter and if everything works out, and the characters behave themselves, hopefully it will give you a little nugget of information that will be vital to the climax of the story.

Reviews, critiques and flames are welcome. I absolutely love all reviews about the story as it gives me motivation, I use good constructive criticism to help my writing improve and I feed the flames to the fires of my imagination.

Thanks to my extraordinarily epic beta SubZeroChimera!


"Reputation is for time, character is for eternity." – J.B. Gough

To You I Give My Heart

Chapter 41

~Misinterpretations Gone Wrong~

Smelling her hair, smiling down into the top pf her head, Zack tightened his embrace, consciously trying not to squeeze her too tightly. He let the pain of his past melt away as if she herself took it away from him. The touch of her tiny body against his made his heart beat wildly and swell in pride at his own creation, his baby who was now a girl, bright and happy.

As the day quickly grew old, his overwhelming feelings washed him in uncertainty. Although he knew that his daughter didn't think of him as a pet, he still felt as though he wasn't what she needed in a father or who Cloud needed in a man. At least not what he was now.

The little girl didn't let him out of her sight during the entirety of the after-dinner conversations. Aerith was quick to point out their similarities, and Zack couldn't argue, he saw himself in her, but he also saw Cloud's deep determination and passion in belief. Her eyes were the most remarkable, the light blue glow flashed from time to time, bringing the attentions of the others in the room. Just like him and Cloud, distant feelings often found clarity in the brightness of their eyes.

After what only seemed like minutes lost in her familiar talkative nature, her mother cut into the story she was presently telling him, "It's time for bed Charlotte," The blond took in her look as she urged, "I'll tuck you in."

Springing those haunting eyes back to him, the girl asked with a wide grin that lit up her entire face with not just a mako shine, but one from inside her soul, "Can daddy do it tonight?!"

Putting her hands on her knees, Cloud bent over and spoke to her as she smiled at the thought, "It's okay with me, but I get a goodnight kiss first."

Squealing delight bound the girl up to place a sloppy kiss on her mother's cheek before she grabbed Zack's hands and tried pulling him up to standing, "Come on!"

With a slight cringe, Zack stood. Again, he knew that this was needed, but to what extent could he make himself deal with his demons? The demons that kept him awake, the same ones that made him kill or harm those who were placed in front of him by Hojo, or even Shinra before he was made an animal. The inner animal that the scientist wanted him to become resisted the touch from not only his little girl, but the woman who he loved with everything that made him a man. However, Charlotte didn't take his reticence as a no, she pulled until he reconciled his fate – to tuck in a daughter that he didn't know anymore… if he'd ever really known her at all.

Entering a small and sparsely decorated bedroom, she pulled and pushed on him until he was sitting on the edge of the small bed, his knees awkwardly high. Raking his fingers through his hair, he cleared his throat and focused on the little girl as she stood expectantly in front of him with her arms up in the air.

"Well?"

The question was simple, but he failed to understand what she wanted so she handed him her nightgown and then held her arms up again. It struck him that she expected an awful lot from him so close to their recent reunion. Hesitantly, he reached for the hem of the little dress and pulled it from her and quickly placed the nightgown over her head, her eyes where glowing brightly.

Jumping into the bed, she grabbed a well-worn book and tossed it in his lap as she wiggled underneath the covers, the puppy settling in a ball next to her legs. After the first reading of the book, she smiled at him as she squirmed until she was half in his lap. Her head rested softly on his chest as she stared at the open book, following along with the words as he read them again. With one of her hands, her fingers played with a hole in the shirt he wore. The feel of her tiny fingers on his belly was warm and ticklish, but it seemed to weave a spell of tranquility in him.

Finally as she began to get sleepy, Zack slipped out from under her head and his fingers gingerly ran through her long, soft black hair. He reminisced about her mother and how soft her hair was and how much he once loved feeling of it.

With a tiny yawn, she rubbed one of her eyes as she instructed, "Now you're supposed to give me a goodnight kiss."

Laying the book on the small bookshelf that was crammed with books of all different shapes and sizes, he rubbed his palms on his pants and laid a simple kiss on her forehead as she snuggled under the covers.

Stepping back, he tried leaving before she opened her eyes, but she asked sleepily, "Am I still your Charlotte-bug?"

The vision of a tiny infant in his arms haunted him and he suddenly remembered the nick name he'd given her and he asked, "Does your mother call you that?"

Closing her eyes, she smiled as she said quietly, "No silly, you're the only one who called me that when I was a baby, before I could talk."

Did she have memories from that or did Cloud tell her that? Furrowing his eyebrows, he cleared his throat and tried to hide the skepticism from his voice, "Uh, yeah. Of course."

Without opening her eyes, she turned over to her side and said, "It's okay if you don't believe me, I understand. Grandma didn't believe me at first either, but now she does."

"Grandma?"

Cracking her eyes open the soft glow showed in the dim room, "You're so silly. Your mommy is my grandma. That's where I learned to ride a chocobo."

Lowering his eyes, he whispered to himself, "My mother and father?"

"Yeah, we're going back now that we found you." A sleepy yawn squeezed her eyes shut where they stayed gently lit underneath her eyelids, "Marshy can take us back."

Closing the door silently, he briefly glanced at the bed, and the small child that seemed like she was being swallowed up by the size of blanket cocooning her and an over-stuffed pillow - she just looked so small. Was it possible that she was aware of her surroundings at such a young age? She was bred from Hojo's experiments, whether he was willing to admit it or not. Hojo tinkered with not only his DNA, but Cloud's and ultimately Charlotte's as well.

Hushed voices broke through his thoughts as he stepped closer to the master bedroom's closed door but even with his enhanced hearing, he couldn't make out what they were saying. However, he could make out Cloud's voice and the other was masculine… Zack growled lowly, "Genesis."

Careful not to bring attention to his proximity to them, Zack slowly backed down the hallway and into an unlit corner in the darkened living area of the tiny house. Hidden within the shelter of the shadows, he waited and watched, ready to strike and kill the one man he wanted to blame for his re-capture. When the door opened, faint light streamed into the hallway.

Sinking farther into the corner, Zack's heart wasn't prepared for when Genesis strolled from the room as he buttoned up his shirt and absentmindedly zipped his pants up. It occurred to him that the Genesis who'd shown up to the cabin in Frog Forest, the same one who was on death's doorstep, was different from this one. He was no longer grey, but his auburn hair shined, skin a healthy tone of alabaster, a smile of contentment - his face no longer held the grimace of pain.

Zack remembered what the Soldier deserter said then, "…that abomination that was placed in your womb could save me." Had Cloud allowed their child to be used by the red-head to save his life, just like Sephiroth's parents had done to him?

Breaking his thoughts, he watched Cloud exit the room, wearing a nightgown and stepping into the man's arms.

"It's better this way Gen."

Rubbing her lower back with little swirls of his fingers, his head bent forward so he could speak closer to her ear, "Just remember what I said Cloud."

Pushing away from him, the blond said with closed eyes, "I will."

Not wanting to look, but not able to look away, he felt his new world crumble. In his absence, Genesis had taken his place at Cloud's side. Cloud wasn't his anymore. Rage built up, but was quickly squashed when the two parted with a small smile and a… (No, not a kiss! Please not a kiss!) small kiss.

With his heart pounding the mako flushed through his system and the animal was triggered, but not to attack… to flee. He wanted to run from the pain that this new information lead to. He was emotionally exhausted and the revelations and discovery of this heartbreak was an overload to his sensitive thread-bare soul.

After watching the red-head leave and the blond re-enter the bedroom, Zack released the breath he'd not known he'd held onto. As he stood there, in a dark corner of the room, he was so caught up in his thoughts that he'd failed to see Cloud approach him, a look of concern covered her face, "Zack? Are you alright? Did everything go okay with Charlotte?"

Clenching his jaw, he spat out, "Yes."

He really didn't want to get into the talk that this line of his thoughts would inevitably turn to. Why had she kissed him yesterday after he'd regained his memories? That kiss had lead him to believe that she was still his; that the sacrifice of his love and memories hadn't been in vain. Looking to the floor, he couldn't look at her, couldn't put himself in that emotional corner; backed up in the box that he'd lived in for so long.

Before his emotional state exploded, he left the corner, pushing past her to go into the kitchen, looking for something, but she was quickly on his heels. Trying to get over these feelings of betrayal and jealousy, he filled in his thoughts with meaningless and empty words to interrupt her questioning, "She likes books, chocobos and talking. I read her the book two or three times-"

Crossing her arms, she loudly asked, "What are you looking for?"

Stopping his movements, he looked up from the open drawer of large carving knives and answered with a short temper, "Nothing." Spinning around, he tried not looking at her. Her beauty was overwhelming to him. Her long hair laid in a controlled mess around her shoulders, framing her cream-colored face and rosy cheeks.

Her eyes burned with frustration, but she didn't let on to her anger when she asked, "Are you ready for bed?"

He would get to the bottom of this, there had to be a logical explanation. Who was he to dictate who she could be with, he'd been gone for so long, four long years in Hojo's clutches. Without a word, he followed like the good dog that Hojo had trained, back to the bedroom, where she'd already made a makeshift bed for him on the floor, his doggy bed.

"I made you a pallet this time. Maybe this will be more comfortable than before."

Laying down and getting as comfortable as he could, he waited as she climbed in the bed and flipped the light off. As her breathing steadied into a rhythm, and he was sure she was asleep, he rose and began going through the few things in the room. Finding nothing but his own clothes and clothes that belonged to her, he moved to the bathroom attached to the bedroom to continue with his search.

Only finding a bottle of pain reliever, tooth paste, bandages, antiseptic ointment and a cure materia, he exited the bathroom to the blond standing with her hands clasped as she stood in the middle of the room, "Are you okay?"

Without the ability to stop himself, he asked quickly, "How is Genesis healed?!" Furrowing her eyebrows, she didn't register his first question before he grabbed her and angrily spat with clenched teeth, "Tell me that you didn't use her to cure him!"

Shaking her head, she started, "What are yo-"

"Did he use her to heal himself?! Did you use her?"

"Zack I-" Pulling her arms from his grasp, she cleared her throat. "I didn't use her. He didn't use her. I would never use her, she's all I had of you for so long."

"Then answer my question. How is Genesis healed?"

"Zack, sit down please."

"No, I want answers."

With a sigh, she answered solemnly, "As much as I wish she was normal, she isn't. She has a power that not even Bugenhagen or Aerith fully understands." Crossing the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed, she finished, "She healed him after he saved our lives, right after you were recaptured."

Did an infant hold the power to heal? What was the little girl who lay in her bed sleeping peacefully?

Cloud broke his thoughts, "That day in the forest, when I realized that she was your daughter, she did something to me too. She healed my mind, made me remember you and how much I love you."

His thoughts jumped back to her face that day in the forest and the recognition she displayed in her eyes. It was as if an instantaneous bomb of knowledge went off, leaving her bewildered with memories, both old and new. At this point in his own mind, he thought of a question that was like acid in his mouth, but he wasn't able to keep a hold of it, "If you remembered me…" After an angry sigh, he spit out, "If you love me, then why are you fucking that bastard Genesis?!"

Widened deep blue eyes found his angry ones just before she stood and slapped him across the face.

The harsh contact left him reeling, making him shudder when he found himself back in the lab, his newly found memories faded and he cowered back, ready for the beating from one of the guards for talking out of turn. Unwilling to relinquish Cloud's whereabouts, he bequeathed her memory back to oblivion.

The scientist stood in front of him, his voice oddly feminine as he asked, "What are you doing?"

Finding the nearest corner, he wrapped his arms around his drawn up legs as he faced the wall to keep his face from getting hit. A lowly and mournful cry left his lips as he quickly covered the back of his head as he pleaded, "S'rry Professor. Won't do it again. I Promise!"

Feeling the presence of the scientist behind him, he tensed. The voice was different from all the other times, he sounded like he cared, "Zack? What's the matter?!"

Flinching his face, he twitched, "Spec'mn Z is s'rry!"

Hearing the heavy door open, he didn't look, he didn't dare to look. His nightmares were plagued with the sights of others who were once just like him before the professor got his hands on them – it was a constant reminder of what he was becoming.

A light enveloped him, it made his chilled bones resonate with warmth that only came with familiar emotional feelings that he fought so hard to hide around the scientist and his assistants. With emotional displays, it gave them another way to manipulate him so he fought the feeling, fought the light that branded him, it made him feel his way to those deeply buried feelings, it bared him naked as it stripped him of the pain.

The light spoke to him, gently moving beside him, making him look, "Zack, everything is okay. Just surrender those painful memories to me."

Shaking his head, he bit his lip as he insisted, "Uh ugh, no! Spec'mn Z."

Feeling warm hands cover the sides of his face, they lifted his face until his eyes landed on a tranquil face of a beautiful dark-haired girl. Her eyes, deep pools of transparent light blue, the color taken directly from a clear morning sky, "You're not specimen Z any longer. Let the person that Hojo made you… let that part of you sleep now. You are safe here with me."


A/N 2: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."

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