Well, I'm not super happy with this chapter, but it's better than what it was. I had to go back and fix a few things with this one because it was bugging the heck outta me. I originally wanted the make the kid a little bit younger, but eh. It's staying as it is.

Enjoy!

The waking world came back to Zack slowly. He felt cold, but no longer frozen. He could feel his fingers and toes again and he was sore all over. Good, at least he wasn't going to lose any digits to frostbite. He opened his eyes slowly at first and then opened them wide enough to take in his surroundings. He couldn't feel the wind against him, even though he could still hear it howling somewhere nearby. There was the flickering glow of a fire nearby as well.

Slowly sitting up, Zack turned to see that his back was to the fire. He smiled as he let the warmth embrace him, holding his hands up to the dancing flames. He rubbed them together before looking down and noticing the ragged blanket that had been draped over him, which now had slid down to his lap. He blinked before looking at his surroundings.

He was in a cave. It was small, but it was big enough for the tiny campsite. The entrance to the cave had been packed closed with snow with only a small opening near the top for oxygen to pass through. The height of the hole kept the cold air from seeping into the cave floor, keeping it comfortable and snug. Looking around more, Zack noticed a sled, a cooking pot and a few other things that apparently belonged to his rescuer. Zack sighed with relief when he saw his sword lying on top of the sled.

"You're awake huh? Don't you SOLDIERs know anything about blizzards?"

The voice made Zack turn and look to the back of the cave. A small figure had emerged from the darkness with a small pale full of snow. The stranger was wearing a thick Nibel-wolf pelt coat and its thick hood covered the person's face. He carried the pale over and dumped the frozen slush into the pot and placed the pot over the fire. He then sat down on the opposite side of Zack and removed his hood.

Zack blinked in surprise. His rescuer was just a kid! A kid with striking blue eyes and spiky blonde hair that kinda reminded him of chocobo feathers. The very idea of it made him grin.

"What're you smirking at?" The kid seemed to be in a bad mood, or was he just plain grumpy. Zack couldn't tell, but at the moment he didn't care. He was out of the storm and with the fire warming him his carefree nature was quickly returning to him.

"I'm just happy. I thought I was a goner back there. Thanks for the save, kid."

The 'kid' only shrugged his shoulders with a huff and went back to what he was doing. "I just got tired of seeing people dying for stupid reasons."

"Stupid reasons?" Zack repeated.

The kid turned to face him, blue eyes blazing with cold fire. "Yeah, like walking in a snow storm with nothing to keep him warm or even worse, not having enough sense to stay out of the weather in the first place!"

Zack blinked at the ferocity of the kid's harsh attitude. "Sheesh, sorry kid. I didn't mean to piss you off."

The young blonde grunted before kneeling back down. Zack couldn't help but peek over the kid's shoulder. His curiosity getting the better of him. "What'cha doin'?"

"Getting food ready, or did you want to starve?"

Zack sat back down and stared at the kid. It felt like he was sharing the cave with a Nibel wolf. The kid was just as ferocious as one and he kept his claws sharp and his fangs bared at Zack as if he were an enemy.

"Are you always this friendly?" Zack asked flatly.

The boy's eyes met his, but the fierce fire seemed to be replaced with a small bit of sadness. "Nothing's friendly about this place. Not the wild, not the people, nothing."

Zack wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he sensed nothing but pain in the kid's tone, so he decided to lighten the mood. "Hey, you wanna see something neat?"

He got up and headed for the entrance to the cave. Being careful not to weaken the snow wall that the kid had set up he carved out three snow balls and turned to the kid only to wink at him before juggling them. The boy watched him with annoyance at first, but as the SOLDIER kept going the kid soon became impressed. Zack did a few tricks with the technique, tossing one ball higher than the others, tossing one or two under hand then over hand before ending with the big finish. He tossed the snow balls into the air one by one. He punched the first two, scattering bits of pulverized snow across the cave floor before slicing the last snow ball in half with his hand in a chopping motion.

The two halves landed on the floor and Zack took a bow.

"That was pretty cool," the kid admitted.

"Thanks," Zack replied with a smile as he sat back down in front of the fire.

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

Zack couldn't help but chuckle. He had the kid's attention and it was nice that the kid wasn't growling with the harshness of a monster anymore. "Just something I've been doing since I was a kid, though I used fruit instead of snow. We don't get any snow around Gongaga."

"What's that?" asked the kid.

"My hometown. I'm Zack by the way, what's your name?"

The kid shook his head then, making Zack tilted his head. "What's wrong? You have a name, right?"

"Of course I have one," he replied.

"Okay, so what is it? I don't bite."

The kid glared at him, "It's pointless to tell you my name. Once this storm breaks we'll go our separate ways and probably never see each other again."

Zack only chuckled. "What makes you say that? I may get lost in these mountains again and need someone to rescue me. How will I ask for your help if I don't know you're name?"

The kid blinked at him, it looked like he was about to say something but then he thought better of it and turned his back on Zack.

"Then there must be something wrong with you to. Figures I'd get stuck with a reject SOLDIER."

Zack chuckled again which angered the kid further.

"What's so funny?"

Zack rubbed his nose before replying, "For a reject I'm not doin' too badly to be a First Class."

At this the kid smirked. "If you're a First Class then frogs must've grown wings."

"Gaia I hope not, those things are bad enough without the gift of flight," Zack replied.

The kid placed one hand on his hip, "Stop goofing off and be serious. If you were a First Class then you'd be on the same level as Sephiroth and I doubt an idiot like you could match his skills."

"Well," Zack scratched the back of his head, "Seph's in a class all of his own really. There are two other First Class SOLDERs and even they have a hard time taking him on during a sparring session."

The blonde rolled his eyes. It was obvious this guy wasn't going to be serious with him. "Just eat your soup when it's ready and then get some sleep. You're out of here tomorrow."

Zack tried a few more times to get the kid's attention but he was ignored every time. It seemed like it was going to be a long night. Finally with a heavy sigh Zack gave up, ate his soup and laid down to sleep. He was only giving up for the night though, the kid had rescued him, got him to a warm place and given him food. That told Zack all he needed to know about the boy and he was determined to make him smile by the time the storm ended.

The next morning Zack woke to the sound of the howling winds still blowing strong outside. He also heard the kid grumbling from somewhere in the back of the cave. Zack realized he wasn't going anywhere until the storm let up. So he decided to try and make friends with the kid, since he had nothing else better to do.

"So, where are your folks?"

The question made the boy's head snap up from what he was doing. He had expected the man to ask him that last night, but when he didn't he felt relieved. Now the question had been brought up and he let out an annoyed sigh, not wanting to answer him. That didn't stop Zack from asking questions though.

"Are you lost?"

Silence.

"Did you run away?"

Silence.

"Did something bad happen?"

More silence.

Zack sighed, "C'mon kid, throw me a bone here."

"No. No. ...Yes."

"Huh?" Zack blinked a few times in confusion.

"The answers to your questions," the kid replied.

"I'm not lost, I didn't run away,..."

"But something bad did happen?" asked Zack.

The boy nodded.

"Feel like talking about it?"

"What do you care?"

Zack was surprised by the kid's cold nature, but he figured anyone would be a bit frozen dealing with weather like this constantly.

"Because I want to help. I'm a SOLDIER. It's what I do."

The boy turned away from the SOLDIER. A small part of him wanted to believe the guy. He was certainly friendly enough and seem to be honest, but he had lost so much recently he wasn't sure who to trust anymore. He didn't even want to trust himself at this point.

Finally he gave in and relented. "There's a small village on the other side of these mountains," he began.

Zack nodded, "I know, I-"

"-do you want the story or not?" snapped the kid.

Zack shut up.

"I lived there with my mom. We weren't liked by the town very well. They especially didn't like me very much after what happened at the bridge. The monsters were getting out of control and I was convinced it had something to do with the reactor. Mom agreed, but everyone else wouldn't believe me. The man in the house next to ours said he sent out a message requesting Shinra to come and deal with the rising monster problem."

He nodded when he saw Zack's eye brow raise in confusion.

"I know, they said they didn't believe me, but they just didn't want to admit that I was right. A week went by and Shinra didn't come. I was getting ready to leave for Midgar. I had made a promise to a friend to join SOLDIER and she'd read about me in the papers. She...she made me promise to come back one day and save her if she was ever in trouble."

"And what happened?" asked Zack. He didn't like the pain he was feeling from the kid which was coming off in waves.

"I had left that morning. I had all my gear, everything ready to go. I said goodbye to my mom, promising I'd write when I got settled and said bye to my friend the previous night. I had just gotten over the first hill when I heard a loud, angry roar. It was a pair of Nibel Dragons. They had descended from the mountains and attacked the village. The man in charge of the village was an idiot! He got tired of waiting and took matters into his own hands and sent some people to fight the monsters, but they killed the dragon's eggs. The parents came seeking revenge and destroyed the entire place."

The kid slammed his fist into the side of the cave.

"I ran back as fast as I could, but I wasn't fast enough."

Zack saw the kid's shoulders shaking and could tell he was trying to hold back his tears. He couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible. That was his mission. He was suppose to go to that village and help, but he was too late?"

"H-how long ago did this happen?"

"Three days ago," the kid replied.

Zack's heart sank. The mission had failed before it had even started. But now Zack had a new mission. This kid was from that village and that meant that it was his job to help him. No matter if he liked it or not.

Getting up, Zack placed a gentle hand on the kid's shoulder. "How old are you?"

"Twelve," the kid's shaky voice proved he was barely holding it together.

That was the final straw for Zack. He pulled the kid into a comforting hug. The blonde tried to protest and push away, but Zack refused to let go.

"It's not your fault," he told him. "There was nothing you could have done against a dragon, let alone two of them. That's something even a Second Class SOLDIER would have trouble with."

"I should have done something a week ago, I could've gotten there faster than the message did. I... I c-could've..."

"It's okay," Zack told him as he felt a warm tear land on his shirt. "It wasn't your fault, kid. you couldn't have known what was gonna happen. It's Shinra's fault for not sending anyone sooner."

The kid didn't say anything, only shaking his head.

"You're not alone anymore," Zack told him. "I'm gonna look after you. It'll be okay, I promise and when Zack Fair makes a promise, he keeps it."

Zack kept him in a hug until he was sure the boy had calmed down. When he did the kid went to work making their breakfast. He didn't say much after that, but it wasn't hard to tell there was a lot going through the kid's mind. Another night passed and the storm still hadn't let up. The two stayed nice and warm inside of the snow cave and Zack only ventured out to find some more firewood when they were running low. He returned with enough to last them through the night.

Zack had managed to cheer the kid up a bit by telling him different things about his own life. He even got him to laugh a few times when he bragged about how he had managed to prank the other First Class SOLDIERs. The kid had opened up quite a bit. He still hadn't given Zack his name, but Zack was confident he'd get him to spill it by the time the storm was over.

Next Chapter: The Blizzard ends, final goodbyes and a name.