Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to anything within the Final Fantasy VII Compilation and that will remain true for the entirety of this story, unfortunately.

A/N: I have two new stories that have been rattling around in my brain that are clamoring to be added to my (ever growing) list of fics that I want to work on. Until I finish one of my others though, I cannot promise regular updates. This one has a solid outline though, so it will eventually start having regular updates. Until then, please enjoy!

Chapter 1

Zack had managed to get out of classes early. Their village was so small that not only were there combined ages in each class, but there were many times when the students had to leave to help their families. He didn't really lie when he said his mother needed help, so he didn't feel too bad about telling his teacher he couldn't stay. It was just that his mother wasn't expecting him for another hour. When he looked up at the sunny sky and felt the breeze blow past him, he couldn't hold in a smile. He enjoyed being outdoors, and days like that one were too nice to be cooped up.

He was set on making the most of the little time he had and started to head into the woods outside of the village. He was stopped when he heard a strange sound. He was on high alert as he pulled out his little knife. Even though he was only twelve the threat of monsters had most of the people in the village carrying at least that much for self-defense. Not that there had been monsters this close to town in a long time, but it paid to be safe.

He didn't move for several moments and waited to see if he heard anything again. He was shocked when it happened again and he realized it didn't sound like a monster, it sounded like a person. He didn't put the knife away, but he quickly moved toward the sound. It was a short distance from the trail when he finally found the source of the noise. He was shocked to stillness at what he found. On the ground in front of him was a young woman that was in bad shape. She was covered in cuts and bruises and he could tell just by looking that one of her arms was badly broken. Her groans of pain were what had caught his attention.

When she groaned again, he finally jumped into action. He put his knife away and tried to see if he could get her to talk to him. He patted her face gently to try and get her to focus on him. Her eyes were opened but unfocused. After several moments she finally locked eyes with him. His voice was shaky, but he managed to speak. "I can get you to help, but I don't think I can carry you. Do you think you can walk at all?"

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She grimaced in pain and Zack nearly panicked. She must have noticed it as she managed to bring her unbroken hand up and clasped his arm. When he looked back at her she managed a nod. Relief flooded him as he leaned over to help her sit up. When she did, he nearly panicked again as she swayed dangerously before she managed to gather her wits. Once she was steadier, she gave him another nod and tried to use his help to leverage up to her feet. He could tell that she was in more than a little pain once she was standing, but he let her lean on him as they made their way back to the trail and into the village. It was slow going, especially as she was taller than him, but they managed it in less time than he expected, even if it had felt like it took forever.

When they reached the outskirts of the village, their appearance started an uproar. Several of the woman were either rushing the small children away or rushing to see what had happened. Zack was relieved when he saw his mother in the crowd. She made it to the two of them quickly and helped him steady the woman as they both led her to their house. It didn't take her long to get the girl lying down before she tasked Zack with gathering the things she would need. Once he was set to that, she walked back outside and asked a couple of the women that had followed them to gather what she didn't have and asked the rest to disperse.

Even though they all did as she asked, the whole village was still awash with conjecture. They didn't get visitors often, and they certainly didn't get visitors that were in the shape the young woman was in. Zack was stopped several times, but he didn't let them keep him. He had never seen anyone that was as badly hurt as the woman had been and he didn't want to not follow his mother's direction, not with something this important.

It was several hours later that Zack finally saw his mom leave the tiny house. She looked worried and that didn't sit well with him. He wondered if something had gone wrong. He had been watching from a tree nearby so people would quit bothering him, but as soon as he saw his mother, he jumped down and headed back to the house. Before he got there, he was stopped by his mother's voice. She was talking to one of the women that had helped earlier. "It definitely wasn't a monster attack. Once I got her cleaned a little it was easy to see the bruises, especially the ones around her neck, were made by a person. I doubt it happened anywhere nearby as some of her wounds were days old. There isn't anything within a day's walk of here though. I can't imagine how she managed to make it all the way out here."

The other woman started to voice her concerns, but Zack had tuned them out. He remembered how the girl had looked and he couldn't understand why anyone would do that to another person. Even as young as he was, he knew the difference between the results of a fight and what he had seen earlier. He had seen people attacked by monsters that didn't look as bad.

He was pulled from his thoughts by his mother's hand on his shoulder. He looked up to her with a frown, but she managed to smile. "I suppose you heard that, did you?"

He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he wasn't going to lie. He gave her a nod and she squeezed his shoulder. "Don't let it bother you. As soon as she is well enough to talk, we'll figure everything out. For now, it's just good that you found her. I've healed her as good as I was able to without any potions or materia."

At that Zack perked up a little. "Mom, you know I found those phoenix downs in the forest. I stashed them for when I'm old enough to go to Midgar, but we can use a couple of them if we need to. I'm always finding interesting stuff."

She gave him another smile. "I appreciate that you would be willing to share with a stranger, but you keep those. She's in no danger of needing one right now, so it would only be a waste. It'll be alright though, all we need is time."

They both turned back to the house at that, but his mother stopped him once more with a hand on his shoulder. "Also, I don't want you to play in the forest alone, at least not until we figure out what happened, alright?"

He grimaced at her request, but he knew she was only doing it out of worry. "Yes, ma'am." She gave him another smile and led him back inside.

It was three more days before the girl was able to sit up on her own and talk. They had moved her to a pallet in the front room near the fire, so when Mrs. Fair got up that morning to get everything ready, the girl sat up and tried to get her attention. It took her several tries before she could make her voice work and it was still a little gravelly, but it worked to get the woman's attention.

Mrs. Fair jumped at the sound, but it only took her a moment to realize what it was, and she turned with a smile. "Oh! You're up! How are you feeling dear?"

The girl started to try and stand but Mrs. Fair was by her side in an instant with a hand on her shoulder. "Don't try to get up yet. You had several broken bones, including a couple of ribs. You are far from healed, so you stay right there. Is there something you needed?"

The girl looked a little frightened when she was reminded of her physical state, but she managed to push it back and answer. "I wanted to thank you. I don't remember much, but I know I saw your face. Thank you for helping me."

The older woman smiled down at her, glad that she was finally well enough to speak. "There is no need to thank us. We only did what any good citizen would do." She paused for a moment and debated on whether she should ask her next question but decided it would come up soon anyway. "Do you remember what happened?"

At that, the girl looked down at her broken arm and the many bandages that covered her. She could feel them on her legs too, even if she couldn't see them. When she looked back though, her expression was nearly terrified. Her voice was choked when she was finally able to speak. "I don't… I don't remember anything!"

Mrs. Fair knelt down and tried to calm her. "Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure it'll come back to you."

The girl didn't seem to be appeased though. She reached out frantically and grabbed the older woman's outstretched hand. "You don't understand. I don't remember anything! I can't even remember my name!"

At that Mrs. Fair finally sat back with a gasp. Her shock didn't last long though. She quickly leaned forward and gave the girl a gentle hug. "It'll be okay. You're safe here and you can take all the time you need to get better and try to remember."

By this time the girl had finally given in and started crying. Mrs. Fair had sat down beside her with her arms holding her gently and tried to get her to calm. Neither woman had noticed that Zack had wakened. He had come in on the last part of the conversation and he watched the two women with worry. He had helped his mother as much as he could over the last few days, so he knew how worried she had been, and it looked like it had been for good reason. It didn't help that there were a handful of the villagers that kept pushing to have the girl sent away. Their argument was the fact that none of them knew anything, and they couldn't find anything in the woods either. There were wild conjectures that went from 'she's an escaped prisoner' to 'she's a spy that got caught'. The one thing they all had in common was the fact that they believed she would bring trouble. Luckily, they were the minority and most people were just glad that Zack had found her and brought her to help.

He didn't bother the two women, instead he moved to start the water for tea. He knew his mother would want it as soon as the girl calmed. He also started the porridge. It wasn't something he was good at yet, as he didn't do it often, but he figured he could try, since his mother was busy. At least she wouldn't have to worry about it.

Mrs. Fair looked up when she heard noises from the other side of the room and smiled at the sight of her son gathering the things up for tea and breakfast without having to be asked. She sent up a thankful prayer that she had been blessed with such a wonderful child. It wasn't long until the girl finally calmed. The older woman made sure she didn't try to move as she stood and helped Zack finish breakfast. Once it was done, she had Zack take the girl a plate and cup while she moved to go finish the rest of her morning chores.

Once Zack handed her the stuff, he brought his own down to sit beside her. She gave him a slight smile as he sat down. "From the bits and pieces I can remember, I owe you a lot of thanks. There is no telling what would have happened if you hadn't found me."

He ducked his head at her praise but remembered his manners. "You're welcome. I'm just glad I was able to help. I'm Zack, by the way." He only paused for a moment at that. "Can you really not even remember your name?"

At his innocent question, the girl's face fell but she managed to keep from crying again. She gave him a slight nod. "Once your mother asked me if I could remember what happened, I tried to and realized I have no memories from before you found me. Even since I was brought here, they're hazy and fragmented."

He felt bad that his question had made her sad again, but it seemed that talking about it was helping, so he kept going. "If that's the case, why don't I give you a name, at least one you can use until you get yours back."

The girl looked confused for a moment at his request, but he was wearing such a huge grin that she couldn't stay sad about her circumstances. "Sure, at least then everyone will have something to call me by instead of 'girl'."

Zack's grin widened before he settled in to try and think of something while they finished eating. It wasn't until they were done, and Zack cleared their dishes away that he came back to sit beside her and offer his suggestions. "Okay, so I have a few. What about Zoe?"

She couldn't stop the crinkling of her nose at that. "For some reason I don't feel like that fits me. What else?"

Zack went through several more and he was starting to feel a little frustrated, but he pulled out one more. "How about Kristobel? We can call you Kris for short."

Finally, she smiled at him. "Kristobel is a pretty name. I like it. So, I guess that makes me Kris for now?"

Zack stood with a whoop that caught his mother's attention. She was quick to reprimand him. "Zack, are you bothering that poor girl? She needs her rest. Why don't you go get some firewood brought in before you have to leave?"

He looked a little abashed at the reprimand, but it only lasted a moment before his grin was back full force. "I wasn't bothering her; Kris and I were just trying to figure out her name."

At that his mother turned wide eyes back to the girl. "You've remembered your name already?!"

The girl gave her a sad smile and shook her head. "No, but Zack was kind enough to offer me a name to use until I can remember my own. We decided on Kristobel."

His mother gave them both a warm smile at that. "That's a lovely name. Well, if you are alright with it, we will use that for now." She turned her look back to Zack. "As for you, I still need the firewood and you have class, so get on now."

He was still grinning as he waved goodbye to them both and walked out. By that time, Mr. Fair had already gotten up as well. He was surprised to see their guest up already, but he didn't have much time before he had to leave. He briefly wished Kris well, and headed out to work. Once things settled down, Mrs. Fair insisted that Kris lay back down and sleep while she could. It didn't take much convincing as she was still exhausted.

It was a couple of weeks before Kris was able to get up and move around on her own. She still had to take it easy due to her broken ribs and arm, but she insisted on helping as much as she was able. It was the least she could do to repay them for helping her and giving her a place to stay. During those weeks Zack was almost always there in his spare time, asking her questions or showing her around the village, once she was well enough to leave the house. He told her every story he could think of as well as his plans to leave for Midgar and join Soldier as soon as he was old enough. He was counting down the days.

Kris let him lead her where he wanted to since she still had not been able to remember anything about herself. She tried to remember and asked as many questions about the surrounding area as she could think of in an attempt to jog something out, but her memories remained locked up.

By her sixth week she was well enough that she didn't need their care anymore. It was one afternoon that week that she approached Zack's mother, whom she had finally found out was named Sarah. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have a moment?"

The older woman turned to her with a smile. "Of course, dear. What is it?"

"First off, I would like to thank you for everything you and your family have done to help me. The whole village in fact, but I can't keep being a burden. I really appreciate everything, but I think I should go now. I know there are some people that think that whatever happened to me might cause trouble for the village and I don't want that to happen. You have all been too kind."

At that point Sarah stopped her. "Hush, there is no need to worry about that. If trouble was going to follow you, it would have been here already. Plus, you are not being a burden. You have been helping out since you could move properly."

Kris looked like she wanted to interrupt but Sarah motioned her to stillness while she continued. "I will not force you to stay if you can answer one question for me." Kris gave her a nod that she would, and Sarah continued. "If you leave, where will you go? Did you remember something that could point you to your previous life, or are you planning on wandering aimlessly?"

Kris opened her mouth several times to try and answer before she could find the words. She looked down with a frown when she spoke. "I didn't really have a plan. I don't know where I could go, but I feel like I'm getting in the way here."

"Nonsense." Sarah pulled her chin up and gave her a stern look. "I've already said you aren't a burden. If you feel that you need to contribute more, then we will find something for you to help with. In the meantime, you just focus on trying to remember. If you do, then we will make sure you can reach wherever you need to go. There is no point in you running off just to get killed by a monster in the wilds." Again, Kris looked like she wanted to interrupt but Sarah hushed her. "No arguments. We will start looking tomorrow for something that you can do. For now, let's start dinner. The boys will be home soon enough."

Kris gave her a smile and shook her head before wrapping the woman up in a tight hug. "I'm really glad it was Zack that found me. You all have been a blessing and I'm glad I got the chance to know you." She let Sarah go and wiped at the dampness in the corner of her eyes before she turned to the cabinets to pull out what they would need for dinner as she called back over her shoulder. "I'm sure Zack and Zeke will be starving like normal. Let's make sure they have a good dinner." Sarah gave her a smile and squeezed her shoulder before she turned to start cutting up the vegetables that had been pulled out.