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

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 before posting beta Queen of Jokers and my after posting beta SubZeroChimera!

"We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls." –Winston Churchill

Chapter 58

Sephiroth and Cloud were feeling stressed to their limits, but oddly calm about it, and with Zack in the care of Aerith and Tifa, they decided do some sparing to blow off some steam, "Let me see some of what Zackary taught you." Sephiroth readied his stance.

Cloud pulled the buster sword off the harness on his back and held it out in front of him, "Since Zack isn't using it, I thought it looked a little sad and lonely." A thin smile crossed his lips and he attacked, going in with an overhead strike, Sephiroth blocked easily and smirked. Cloud defended himself, "Hey, don't laugh at me, I didn't have Soldier training. I was in the infantry, we used rifles."

"Well then, since you obviously have the strength to wield that sword, you might as well get some Soldier training," Sephiroth began to give him lessons in sword technique. Side by side, they worked together as Cloud learned from the master himself. He couldn't believe it, if someone would've told him when he was a kid that General Sephiroth would be giving him one on one sword fighting lessons, he would have laughed it off. But here he was, Sephiroth showing him the proper way to handle a sword, standing across from the legend, watching and copying every move, stance, swing, turn and twist he made, hoping that one day he could be as good as him.

Several hours later, Cloud continued to soak up the information, "You are a natural. Just like Zackary." That compliment made Cloud's chest heave in pride. Not to be taken for granted, Sephiroth then attacked and knocked Cloud on his ass, "You are too easy to distract though." A laugh left the silver-haired man. He offered a hand to Cloud and helped him up, "Overconfidence can get you killed. Remember that."

Cloud's heart beat hard and he liked the way the sword felt in his hands. It felt as though the sword were made just for him. He went and traded swords though. He knew deep down that Zack would need his sword back soon, "Hey, can we go hunt a few monsters, so I can put all this new knowledge to practical use?"

Sephiroth slapped a hand on his shoulder with a smile, "I thought you would never ask."

Aerith looked his feet over as Zack seemed to sleep through it or he was really good at ignoring it. With the help of the IV and mako boost that Harding gave him and the healing by her, they were healing well except for the ones that he burst open when he ran around down in the basement of the mansion. She needed to put some medicine on the sores so with ointment and bandages in hand, she sat on the foot of the bed.

She took one of his feet and put it her lap. As she put the ointment on him, she spoke softly, "Zack, I'm so sorry that you are going through this. I wish I could do something to help you." Zack squirmed a little and his foot fell from her lap and smeared ointment on her and the bed, but her voice remained soft and comforting, "Zack, please be still." Patiently, she put his foot back in her lap and started over.

In a serious, but quiet tone he said, "I need to go."

Not surprised that he was awake, Aerith looked up from his foot and asked, "Go where?"

Zack opened his eyes and rolled to his back. As he gazed up to the ceiling and whispered, "Bathroom, bathroom, bathroom…" He began to sit up.

"Wait just a second Zack," She quickly finished bandaging his feet and helped him up.

She put his arm around her neck and shoulders to help steady him as he walked. Ointment squeezed out a little with each step. He turned to her and asked, "Am I walking in mashed potatoes?" He had a questioning and unsure look on his face.

She giggled a little at the question then finally answered, "No, you eat mashed potatoes not walk in them."

He looked down at his feet, "Okay… I like mashed potatoes."

"Do you want mashed potatoes with your dinner?" They reached the bathroom and she stopped. She softly nudged him forward.

He walked forward slowly as he said, "Mashed potatoes, yeah… I like mashed potatoes, okay." She shut the door as he went on in.

She pulled a chair over and sat next to the door. After he had been in there a while she knocked on the door, "Zack… Are you okay?" She got silence back. She opened the door and put her hand to her mouth. A quiet giggle escaped her lips. Zack had completely disrobed and got in the dry bathtub and fell asleep. She knew she probably shouldn't laugh, but she couldn't help it, it was either laugh or cry and she'd cried too many times in the last couple weeks. She sighed and went over to him and shook his arm, "Zack, let's get you back in the bed."

He opened his eyes, "I'm tired…"

Thinking that he meant more than just physically tired, she pushed the thought away as she took him by the hands and pulled him to standing, "Come on, out of the bathtub Zack."

He looked down and asked, "Is my bath over?"

Still holding his hands she gently pulled him to urge him to step out of the tub, "Yes. You're done with your bath," Despite her answer, he stayed where he was and wouldn't move.

Sephiroth stepped into the room from hunting and called out, "Hello?"

Aerith yelled from the bathroom, "In here! Seph can you help me please?"

Sephiroth walked in the bathroom, "You gave him a bath by yourself?" Zack stood looking up at the ceiling panels where he started counting them quietly to himself.

She shook her head, "No, he said he had to go to the bathroom and then he got himself in here after he took all his clothes off. Can you help me get him out? He won't move."

Sephiroth took Zack's hands from Aerith and pulled Zack's face down to look at him, "Zack, look at me." Zack's eyes stayed on the ceiling.

In Zack's calm tone he recited, "225 tiles, 225 tiles, it's always 225 tiles," He looked at Sephiroth, "Jenova is going to take me, take Cloud and take Sephiroth again."

Sephiroth pulled on him, "Not if we can help it."

Zack stepped out of the tub, but his eyes went back to the ceiling and counting. Aerith and Sephiroth got him redressed and back in bed. Aerith put more ointment on his feet as she tried to remember the man he once was.

That evening, Harding sat at the table in one of the rooms. He'd been there since the day before pouring over the pages. The rest of the group went to the other room with Zack and turned the television on. Sephiroth propped Zack up to sitting and they all gathered around the TV. The movie for the night was about some guy that gets possessed and tries to kill everyone in the town. Many people looked over at Sephiroth. He looked away from the TV with a surprised, "What?" A few giggles and coughs that tried covering up other laughs filled the otherwise quiet room.

After the movie, dinner was ready and everyone went down, except for Cloud and Sephiroth. Tifa and Aerith brought three plates of food and turned to leave, "Wait, Aerith, you can stay, please." She sat at the table between him and Cloud. Cloud smiled at Tifa that gave her an invitation to stay.

Tifa smiled, "I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get me and Aerith's food." Aerith smiled and nodded at her.

Cloud got up and pulled Zack up and walked him over to the last chair, right next to him. When he sat him down, the tops of Zack's thighs brushed the bottom of the table top. It was rather short for a table he thought. He placed the plate in front of him and Zack's head hung for a minute. When his head did rise, his eyes grew big at the sight of all the food. He smiled a 'Zack' smile that lit his face up. His eyes had a sparkle to them that had not been there along with the toothy grin that Zack was so famous for. They hadn't realized how much that they missed it. For a split second Cloud got his hopes up that he was back. Then he opened his mouth.

"The table hurts, all four legs, always four. The table hurts… it hurts," His eyes fell from the plate in front of him to his lap, "Owww!" He began fumbling with his napkin. Tifa came back and handed Aerith a plate and sat down around the corner of the table from Zack.

Sephiroth leaned on one elbow, "Cloud, see what is wrong so he will be quiet about it."

Cloud leaned forward a little and saw that evidently the food turned him on in more ways than one. His face got bright red and he sat back up. He cleared his throat and he put his elbow on the table with his forehead in his palm. He shook his head as he laughed.

"Well, what is it?" Tifa asked just before taking a bite of her food.

He looked at her and he was laughing lightly, "Nothing…" He stood up and pulled Zack back from the table a little, fixed his napkin in his lap and pushed his chair back in.

When he sat back down, Sephiroth asked, "Well what was it?"

He looked at him and his eyes got very wide, "Nothing."

A moment passed, "Oh… Oh! Okay." Sephiroth smiled and looked down at his food as a chuckle found its way out.

Aerith spoke up, "Are you going to tell us?"

In unison, Cloud and Sephiroth said, "No." Then they couldn't help but laugh.

Zack reached out with his hand and with his index finger. He poked at the plate and then stuck his finger in the mashed potatoes. He looked up and asked no one in particular, "Is it real?"

Cloud took Zack's hand and put a fork in his hand and folded his fingers around it, "Eat Zack. You need to eat something." Zack looked around nervously and then stabbed his fork into the table top. In his weakened state, they had forgotten that he was still mako enhanced and so still had much of his strength.

When tears welled up, he grabbed his plate and quickly left the table, walking as well as he could with his feet wrapped up, ducking down into the corner behind a night table, hiding from their eyes. With his hands, he dug into the food and shoved it into his mouth. All four of them sat stunned, "What the hell?" Cloud got up and went over to him, "Hey Zack? You want to come over and sit at the table with us?"

Zack's eyes remained pointed to the floor, "Snap, crack, snap… It gets so loud…crack." He looked up at Cloud, "I did it for you… the last snap…" Then he looked back at the floor and his words came out slowly and sadly, "I did it for you. I did it for you…I did it for Cloud, he won't hurt you anymore." Cloud dropped his head, but then he sat on the floor next to Zack and finished his dinner with him.

Sitting Zack up on the side of the bed, he had gotten food on his face and the front of his shirt when some food slid off the plate. Over the last week since they found him, thankfully, Zack's eyes had more color and a glow began to simmer underneath. The dark circles were beginning to lessen. He'd begun putting weight on and his ribs, collarbone and spine were starting to recede back underneath the muscles that he was known for. His facial features still looked skeletal but looked a bit healthier than when they first found him. Cloud pulled the shirt off and handed it Sephiroth and Aerith brought another shirt and a wash cloth.

Aerith wiped Zack's face, hands and chest and Cloud pulled his shirt on him. Still sitting on the side of the bed, Zack scooted back to the bed and sat with his back leaned on the headboard. His shorts came down exposing his rear end. Trying to support as much of Zack's dignity as he could, he quickly pulled his shorts back up before anyone else could come in there. Zack giggled as Cloud's hand brushed his ribs and it tickled him. He patted Zack's hand as he sat beside him.

The group from the dining room began coming upstairs, Vincent and Yuffie were in heavy flirty conversation. Barret and Red were talking about philosophy. That conversation topic surprised Cloud and then Harding came back in, "I think I may have it figured out." Cloud jumped up and when he did, Zack jerked back and covered his head. Cloud asked loudly, "Can Zack be fixed?!"

Harding gave him a hard look, "I'm getting to that." He pulled up his papers and looked at them as he continued, "Now I'm not a doctor, but I am trained as a Physician's Assistant." He smiled at himself, "That's why Hojo picked me out of all the other candidates-"

"Well you sound like a moron to me! Get on with it already!" Barret crossed his arms and adjusted his stance against the wall.

"Oh yeah, uh, anyway, according to the new papers that arrived late yesterday, Hojo has continued his project. He started with you three. Cloud and Sephiroth had the Jenova injections and implants. During the period that Hojo had Zack again, he used him to further it." Harding switched some papers.

"What does that mean?" Tifa sighed out.

Harding gave her an impatient look, "It means that it was an unfortunate side effect of Zack's new treatments. When the three of you went all green-eyed monster, it triggered the Jenova effect. That's what Hojo called it." He pointed to one paragraph, "This right here says the treatments included a Jenova implant and an infusion of an aerosol mixture. The mixture was supposed to increase the integration of the Jenova implants. Plural, he had several implants. Because of that, it weakened his ability to organize everything in his head."

"Seph has, or had, a lot of implants too. What's the deal?" Cloud asked while rubbing the back of his neck.

Harding pointed to him, "Precisely! He was trying to recreate Sephiroth's and Cloud's results with Zack. The problem was that Sephiroth had his since birth. Cloud integrated his naturally over time. Because of Zack's Soldier treatments, the integration was a much slower process. Hojo, not being a patient man, made his a forced integration. The forced integration and the Jenova effect is what triggered Zack getting all crazy like. Integration over time enabled you two to have the ability to assimilate all the information better. It's like you're all possessed by the very same entity." Harding raised his hand up and smiled, "Each incarnation of Jenova is a separate entity, but they still can communicate with each other, essentially creating one entity. That is why you have all the shared memories and feelings."

Vincent stood up from his leaning position from the wall, "Basically, Hojo is a mad scientist with the world's money at his disposal and no accountability."

Red stuck his head out from between Barret and Vincent, "How does Jade fit in and how do we stop her?"

"Let me guess, we have to do it?" Sephiroth didn't even look up from his crossed arms.

"Not just you, we can help to. I just got to have more information about her. I know that I was one that helped create her, but that doesn't mean I know how to destroy her."

"I have a question. How do we stop them from getting all mean again? Will the injections work now?" Aerith grabbed a handful of Sephiroth's shirt in anticipation of bad news.

Harding had an encouraging smile, "I have the injections, but I believe that Cloud and Sephiroth can help Zack and get him back on his feet first."

Keeping his place at Zack's side Cloud exclaimed angrily, "You haven't said how we do that. Why is Zack able to send us all kinds of shitty memories and feelings?" He stood and clenched his fists, "We can't get to him, but he can get to us. Why?"

Harding said calmly, "According to Hojo, once the first 'Jenova effect' episode, you should be able to communicate freely." Then Harding added under his breath, "I wonder why, except that Zack isn't completely sane." Harding looked back up and finished, "Oh, there was a note from the person who sent the packet of papers that said we're supposed to go to a town named Rocket Town. Some guy there is supposed to be able to help us."

Zack rolled to his side and took Cloud's hand and stroked his fist until his fingers relaxed. Cloud looked at him and sat back down as the brunette continued to stroke his hand, then to Cloud's disheartenment he began talking, "Your skin is so soft, you sunburn easy." Zack smiled and a quiet giggle caused his other hand to go to his mouth. With his other hand, he got a handful of Cloud's neck and pulled Cloud's face down to his chest. Cloud was afraid to let his weight down on Zack, but Zack's arm wrapped around his shoulder and neck and the other hand petted the blond spikes, "Chocobo tails are spiky and pointy. Spiky… Cloud…" Cloud had his hands on either side of him and he held himself up. Cloud was in an incredibly uncomfortable and awkward position, "I love my little spiky. The blue dress makes his eyes sparkle… sparkles…" A few giggles and snickers were heard from the group. Sephiroth looked up at the ceiling to hide his smile.

From under Zack's arm he turned bright red, and in his horror he yelled, "I think it would be a good idea to get him better soon. Harding, figure it out!" For a weakened man, his arm held him strong. The more he struggled the tighter Zack seemed to hold him, "Zack, let… go." He pulled away again but Zack held on. He stroked his hair and kissed the top of his head.

The group trickled out to their respective rooms for the night, however, giggles could still be heard. Tifa sat in a chair across from the bed holding Zack and Cloud. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow and smiled, "So, what is this about a dress?"

Still from under Zack's tight grip, "Tifa! Just get me out of here."

A chuckle left her, "Story first…"

Cloud sighed and pulled back again and Zack held fast, "Zack let go, please." Cloud stayed quiet about the dress story.

Tifa stood and sauntered over and leaned between Zack's arm and Cloud's hair and gave him a kiss just above his eyebrow and left off with a pat on his butt, "Good night Cloud." Her smile was as wide as he'd ever seen on her as she took tentative steps backward.

Grabbing at air, he growled, "Hey! Don't leave me here. Tifa!" His yelled requests were ignored with her mischievous smile, "Tifa!" She left the room while closing the door, her smile still intact, "Damn it! Tifa!" He looked around the room as best as he could and it appeared to be just him and Zack. He yelled louder, "HEY! Somebody… Ah shit."

When Cloud yelled, Zack began to stroke his hair again, "Shhh, it's okay little chocobo. My little spiky… I love my spiky, pointy chocobo…" Zack closed his eyes and appeared to fall asleep. Cloud rolled his eyes and waited for Sephiroth to come back in, but no one showed up.

The next morning, Cloud opened the eye that wasn't pressed into Zack's chest and saw Sephiroth asleep. He'd obviously snuck back in the room when Cloud had eventually fallen asleep. His anger grew when he realized he was still stuck and no one helped him. While in Zack's tight grip, all night, Cloud was in an extremely foul mood, "Seph!" Sephiroth woke up and rolled to his side and watched with great interest.

Hearing a commotion, part of the group peeked through the now open door. Cloud pulled his rear end up and off the bed but his head was still firmly in Zack's grip and he struggled to keep his feet flat on the floor. He battled and pulled and as he did, his butt, that faced the door and Sephiroth, bounced around in a humorous and rhythm-less dance. It brought a round of laughter from the small group that gathered at the door, "If someone doesn't do something- Zack let go of me!"

Tifa and Aerith pushed through the group and Aerith held a plate of food. Walking over to Zack, she rubbed the arm that held Cloud the tightest.

In a soft mothering voice, she maintained a soft smile, "Zack… Are you hungry?" She passed the plate under his nose and he opened his eyes and promptly released Cloud from his grip. Cloud fell on his ass with a thud. The laughs from the door caught a death glare from him. They all scattered and disappeared. Cloud ungracefully got to his feet and groaned at the pain in his entire body from his odd sleeping position. Sephiroth got up and helped Zack to the table and he received a glare as well. Sephiroth did not try to hide his amusement. Making it to the bathroom, the blond bundle of anger slammed the door. Aerith, Tifa and Sephiroth all laughed quietly among themselves.

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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