Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Nightmare

I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters and contents, they belong to Square Enix. Because some parts of this story can get violent and sometimes gory, it will have an M rating. And no I'm not going to turn it into a porn story so don't ask me to.

It was a dark stormy night in the city of Midgar and heavy rain pelted from the sky and landed with loud plopping sounds on the ground. The low rumbling sound of thunder could be heard in the distance and lightning crackled in the polluted sky. The streets were deathly silent as no one in their right minds would want to stay out on a night like this. In fact the only sound that could be heard was the sound of footsteps going thud on the ground with each step and the sound of splashing as boot clad feet landed in puddles as someone walked through the Sector 5 slums.

The mysterious figure continued walking down one street of the slums and he looked all around him. The mysterious figure wore a black, lose fitting trench coat and he wore a hood over his face completely covering his eyes, but a strange yellow glow could be seen emitting from the hood, the stranger also wore black gloves and black boots. As he turned the corner to walk down another street he couldn't help but feel that the slums somehow looked familiar to him that maybe he had been here before.

"What a dump," he whispered to himself as he continued walking through the slums, still looking at the derelict houses that were all around him, "who in their right mind would want to live in a place like this?" It was at that moment that he remembered that someone he knew did live there, he realised where he was and he stopped suddenly as he stared at the house in front of him.

Unlike all the other houses in the slums that looked run down and dirty, this house looked almost brand new and was very neat and tidy. After looking at the house he remembered that she lived there, the most beautiful girl he had ever laid his eyes on lived in the very house he was standing in front of now. He continued to stare at the house and memories of happier times flooded into his mind.

"Hey! How about you just go out with me once, one date, what do ya say?"

"Ha, you're so lame!"

"Do you really have to leave?"

"I know it'll be tough, but it's my job."

"I know it's your job, but I can't help but worry about you."

"Hey, don't sweat it, I'll be back in one piece."

"Just promise me you'll come back."

"Oh come on babe."

"Just promise me!"

"Ok, ok, I promise."

"I promise," the man muttered as he repeated the last words he heard in his memories and tears welled in his eyes as he remembered a promise long broken. "I know I'm a little late, but I kept my promise." He slowly walked up the path to the door, "I hope she still remembers me," the man thought to himself as he reached his hand out to knock on the door but he hesitated. "Wait," a more realistic thought crept into his mind. "I can't…I can't let her see me like this. She'll die of fright if she sees me now."

He slowly drew his hand back and placed both his hands into his coat pockets before he walked away from the door, he walked further up the path and entered the garden. It was such a peaceful place even in horrible weather like this and the hooded stranger felt safe here from the dangerous world outside, because he knew that a special girl lived there and as long as she was around he always felt safe.

He could just about make out the outlines of flowers in the garden. Flowers never normally grew in Midgar and he had to admit that the first time he saw the flowers he was amazed at how something so beautiful and pure could grow in a polluted place like Midgar.

It was because of her, she had grown them, the man had always known that she had a magical touch and that night was no different as he reached for a rose and he gently stroked its petals with a gloved hand. The petals were soft, just like her skin.

He turned his head to the house and he looked up at the second floor window, that window was where her room was, he remembered the layout of the house like the back of his hand considering he had been in there…well he had lost count of the number of times he had entered the house and he soon found himself becoming lost in his thoughts and his memories again.

He was soon dragged out of his thoughts again when he heard the sound of light switches being flicked on and someone rushing down the stairs. Panicking the man started pacing round in circles trying to find somewhere to hide. He could hear the sound of the front door being opened and a young woman, with light brown hair, green eyes and wearing a pink nightgown was stood on the doorstep looking out but she didn't see anyone there.

"Strange," she said to herself, she had a puzzled expression on her face, "I'm sure I heard something, maybe it was coming from the garden."

"Shit!" The man panicked in his head, "I gotta hide." He heard the sound of footsteps as the young woman walked up the path coming ever so closer to the garden, he could hear the loud creak as the woman had opened the gate, she crept slowly into the garden hoping to catch the intruder, whoever they were off guard. She crept round the corner and looked into the garden but she didn't see anything there.

"Maybe it was just a cat or something," the woman said to herself, "maybe I was just imagining it, I better get back inside, mother would kill me if she found out I was out here in the rain." The woman turned round and walked out of the garden and she re-entered the house. The hooded man was now sat on the roof breathing heavily he listened to the sound of a door shutting and the clicking of a light switch being turned off and all was silent again except for the rain drops outside.

"Phew," the man sighed quietly in relief, "that was close, I guess there was a time where I would've just knocked on the door and she would've welcomed me with open arms, but circumstances have changed, I've changed and she probably has as well."

He leapt off the roof and he landed gracefully and soundlessly on his feet, he walked slowly back down the path and he was back in the main slums again. He walked down an alley to where an old pipe was, he heard soft moaning coming from it and his heart sank. He knew that a man who was extremely sick had made his home there, having heard his moaning when he arrived in Sector 5 earlier and he wished that he could remove the man's pain and suffering but he couldn't, he wasn't a doctor, besides he had his own problems to worry about like getting his life back on track.

He turned away from the pipe leaving the man with his pain and he walked down another street when he saw something that almost made him gasp.

"Shit!" He thought to himself as he saw a group of men in blue uniforms that looked all too familiar to him, "Shinra guards," he crept into the shadows and hid while he watched the men closely and listened in on their conversation.

"Do you think he's around here?" One of the Shinra guards asked his comrades.

"You heard Tseng," a second guard spoke up, "he can't have gone far."

"But Midgar's a huge place!" A third guard complained loudly, "he could be anywhere and I thought that this was the Turk's assignment."

"It is," another voice spoke up and a man with green eyes, long red hair that was tied back in a ponytail, his uniform was haphazard with his shirt hanging out, but nevertheless he meant business. "This individual is highly dangerous so you guys had better watch your backs."

"We know the drill Reno!" The guard who had first spoken yelled at the Turk.

"Hey!" Reno snapped back, "if you guys had have done your jobs he wouldn't have escaped and once again the Turks have to clean up your mess!"

"We didn't ask you to!" The guard retorted, he was about to say more but Reno held up his hand to silence him.

"Just shut your traps!" Reno ordered and the guards immediately snapped to attention. "The resources of the Turks is overstretched as it is! We're severely understaffed since Cissnei and the other Turks left!" Reno sighed sadly as he thought about his friend and what had happened to her. "Cissnei..." Reno thought to himself, "why did you leave..."

Reno snapped out of his thoughts as he realised the guards were still staring at him. "Get back to work!" He barked at them, "we have a fugitive to bring to justice!"

"Yes Reno!" The men yelled and they ran off in separate directions, Reno stood there for a moment or two shaking his head at the bumbling idiots he had to work with before he too left the alley. Sensing that it was safe the hooded man came out of the shadows.

"Typical," he muttered sarcastically to himself, "I've only been out for a week and they're already on my tail, I guess this isn't the first time SOLDIER and the Turks were on my case." He closed his eyes as memories flooded his mind again.

(Flashback)

It had been almost a whole year since the two fugitives had escaped from the lab in Nibelheim and since then they had many close encounters as far as SOLDIER were concerned. Nevertheless the two men had managed to make their way to the Eastern Continent and were currently hitching a ride on the back of a pickup truck across the plains.

The first of the two men was a tall, well built man in his early 20s. He had bright blue eyes that glowed vividly, especially in the afternoon sun, he had long, wild spiky hair that was as black as night and he was a wearing dark blue SOLDIER uniform, that and the large, oversized sword on his back was undeniable proof that he was once a member of SOLDIER First Class. Despite the current situation that he found himself in he still had the same inane grin on his face like he was just on a road trip, he went by the name of Zack.

The other man was something different altogether, he was slightly smaller than Zack but he was just as well built. He too was in his early 20s, he had short, spiky, unruly blond hair and light blue eyes that also had a strange glow to them. He was also wearing SOLDIER garments, this young man was called Cloud and unfortunately he didn't share the same enthusiasm as Zack did. In fact Cloud was barely responding at all, he was sat with his back leaning against the side of the truck, his face looked deathly pale and his head lolled heavily to the side completely oblivious to his surroundings.

"Hey Cloud?" Zack asked out of concern for his friend. "Are you doing ok?"

"…urrrrr…" Cloud mumbled under his breath as he slowly lifted his head up to look at Zack.

"Don't worry Cloud," Zack said encouragingly, "as soon as we get to Midgar, I'm gonna get you to a doctor and you'll be back to your old self again in no time. Speaking of which," Zack stood up, he walked over to the small window at the back of the driver's cab and tapped his knuckles on it. "Hey old guy, are we near Midgar yet?"

"Just sit down and shut up!" The driver yelled without turning round, "you're lucky I'm even giving you a ride!"

"Yeah, yeah," Zack muttered to himself as he walked back over to where Cloud was and sat down opposite him, but with Zack being in a hyper mood he couldn't stay still and it wasn't long before he started pacing round again.

"So what are you gonna do once we get to Midgar?" Zack asked Cloud, Cloud stared at Zack but he didn't say a word so Zack continued. "I know what I'm gonna do, I have a place I can crash for a while until I can get back on my feet." He thought about the idea for a while and then he tossed it to the side.

"No wait, the mother still lives there, I guess that's out, yep, I guess this means I've gotta change my plans. Either way I need money and I need a job to get money, hey Cloud what do you think I should do?" Cloud nodded his head up down but he still didn't say a word, Zack walked back over to the window again and tapped on it. "Hey old guy! Do you think there's anything I'm good at?"

"What the hell are you on about now?" The driver yelled again, becoming increasingly annoyed at Zack's constant chatter, "you're still young ain't ya? You should do everything while you're still young!"

"You should do everything while you're still young," Zack repeated in a mocking tone, "yeah, that's easy for him to say, what kind of jobs are there for someone like…" Zack's grin widened as he suddenly got an idea and dollar signs flashed in his eyes. "That's it!" He exclaimed hardly able to contain his excitement, "I have a brain and skills that others don't, I'm gonna become a mercenary! Yeah, thanks pops!"

"Wait!" The driver yelled, "you completely…"

"Hey!" Zack cut the driver off, "I'm gonna become a mercenary and that's that!" Zack paced up and down the back of the truck again. "Boring stuff, dangerous stuff, anything for money, I'm gonna be rich!" He then turned to face Cloud, "So what are you gonna do?"

"…urrrrr…aaaahhhh…" Cloud muttered weakly.

Zack laughed, "hey relax Cloud!" He replied reassuringly, "there's no way I'm gonna leave you hanging like that!" He walked back over to Cloud and sat down next to him. "Hey, we're friends, right?" Zack asked Cloud, again Cloud didn't respond, but Zack wasn't fazed, in fact he never really expected a response from Cloud these days. "Mercenaries Cloud, that's what we're gonna be."

About a quarter of an hour later and Zack and Cloud were on foot again, the driver had agreed to drop them off as far as Kalm and then he decided to turn back. Zack ran behind some rocks holding Cloud just as he heard a helicopter flying over head. "Looks like the Turks are on the lookout for us," Zack stated as he smiled at Cloud and ruffled the young man's hair. "You stay here Cloud, I'm gonna go a little further and find a way to Midgar." Zack smiled at Cloud as he turned round and walked off just as Cloud reached his hand out to Zack as if begging him to stay.

Zack walked up the hill over looking Midgar only to be greeted by the sound of guns cocking as several hundred infantry men wielding shotguns, machine guns, rapiers and missile launchers were pointed at him. Nevertheless Zack wasn't fazed, he shook his head. "Man oh man, the price of freedom is steep..." He stated as he shook his head, Zack sighed as he slowly removed the Buster Sword from his back and held it out in front of him before bowing his head, his forehead touched the blade of the sword.

"Embrace your dreams..." Zack recited the the chant that his mentor always used to say. "And no matter what happens never forget your honour...as SOLDIER!" Zack yelled this last part as he opened his eyes and swung his sword to the side as he charged at the infantry men. "WELCOME!" Several of the machine gun infantry men opened fire at Zack, but the ex-SOLDIER quickly darted left and right dodging the bullets and with several quick movements Zack slashed the infantry men causing them to slump to the ground lifeless.

He looked down at the bodies and shook his head at them, "humph, amateurs…" he muttered to himself as he quickly leapt to the side as several shotgun pelets were fired at him. Zack spun his sword round deflecting the bullets causing the men to be killed by their own pelets. "Man, these guys don't quit," Zack said to himself, "Maybe I should let them know what happens if they mess with me!" Zack darted forwards at another shotgun wielding infantryman and before the man could react Zack cut the gun cleanly in half with his sword before stabbing him in the stomach.

Zack removed his sword from the body and then ducked as he noticed a rapier being swung at him, a rapier which surely would've sliced his head off if he hadn't of ducked in time. He dropped his sword to the ground and he reached out, grabbed the man's hand round the wrist and squeezed it tightly causing the soldier to cry out in pain and drop his weapon.

Zack then stood back up again, twisted the man's arm round causing him even more pain, then with his other hand Zack grabbed the man's neck and snapped it, grinning Zack released the man and he slumped to the ground lifeless. Zack then grabbed his sword again spun round and held his sword out in front of him to deflect more incoming bullets. Zack held his sword in the air as it began to pulsate with energy, he then brought his sword down and the energy was released in the form of a beam which zoomed towards the incoming soldiers blowing them sky high.

Zack looked behind him and he saw that the soldiers he had knocked down before were getting to their feet. With a few swift movements Zack struck them down with his sword and he was soon surrounded by the bodies of all the soldiers he had slain.

Zack dropped his arms to his sides and panted heavily as exhaustion started to take over and for the first time the Buster Sword felt heavy as Zack was now holding it with both hands and it was closer to the ground. Zack heard footsteps as several more infantrymen arrived cocking their machine guns.

"I can't keep this up..." Zack muttered to himself as he breathed heavily. Nevertheless his survival instincts were still there and as the infantrymen opened fire Zack tried to dodge out of the way but due to his exhaustion his reactions had slowed down and one of the bullets hit him on his shoulder. Zack yelled in pain as he looked down at his shoulder to find that it was bleeding.

Zack looked back up at the infantrymen and tried to strike them down but he no longer had the strength. He cried out in pain again as more bullets pierced his body, he was knocked back upon impact and his sword was knocked out of his hand as he fell to the ground a few feet away from Cloud, his wounds were bleeding profusely.

Zack panicked as he saw the soldiers approach ever so closer to him, he looked to his left and he saw his sword lying on the ground a couple of feet away from him. He tried to reach out for his sword but he was too weak to even move, he slowly rolled his eyes upwards to see three soldiers standing over him holding submachine guns and riddling his body with bullets, Zack stared blankly into the distance and saw Cloud still lying there completely helpless.

"Cloud," Zack thought sadly in his head, "I'm sorry, I failed you," his thoughts then changed to someone else that was important to him. "Aerith, please forgive me, I broke my promise…" Zack's thoughts trailed off as he felt the barrel of a gun on his temple, his eyes rolled sideways to see a shotgun barrel pointed at his head. His eyes followed the gun upwards and he saw a soldier grinning at him.

"Say goodnight," the soldier whispered evilly.

"This is it," Zack thought to himself, "I'm gonna die, I wonder if it's true what they say, that you're whole life flashes before your eyes…I'm sorry Cloud…Aerith, I couldn't keep my promises…please forgive me…" Zack closed his eyes and he waited for the final gunshot that would end his life, realising that that gunshot would be the final thing he hears. "Is it over?" He found himself asking the same question over and over again. "Is this what dying feels like? I thought it would have been more painful than that…" For a while all was silent and Zack wasn't even sure if he was dead or alive, then he heard, or at least he thought he heard someone shout.

"Hey! Stop that at once!" Zack opened one eye to find that he was still lying on the hill overlooking Midgar, he could no longer feel the gun on his temple, but he was still wounded badly and his vision was slowly blurring but he could make out a man with long, black hair wearing a blue suit standing in between him and the soldiers. Zack recognised the man instantly as Tseng, the leader of the Turks and Zack wasn't sure whether this was a blessing or a curse but at that moment in time he didn't really care and he could barely make out what was being said.

"You were ordered to wait for the Turks!" Tseng yelled at the soldiers.

"And let the Turks take all the credit!" A soldier yelled back.

Tseng glared at the man and he shut up instantly, he knew what Tseng was capable of and that he wasn't a man to cross. "Our orders were to seek and capture the fugitives, not kill them!" Tseng ordered the soldiers. "Now hold up your weapons!" The three soldiers immediately obeyed Tseng, satisfied Tseng turned his attentions to Zack, he knelt down beside the dying SOLDIER and he held out a piece of green materia, Tseng closed his eyes and focused.

"Cure," he whispered softly as a bright green light criss-crossed in Zack's wounds and when the light disappeared the wounds stopped bleeding but they didn't completely heal. Satisfied that Zack was no longer in any danger of bleeding to death he took out a first aid kit and began to bandage up Zack's wounds, when he had finished Tseng stood up and turned to face one of the soldiers. "Pick him up," Tseng ordered, "and take him back to HQ, he may come in useful, I just hope that he'll co-operate for his own good."

"Yes sir," the soldier said as he walked over to Zack grabbed hold of his arms, dragged him up from the floor and slung him over his shoulder, Zack grunted in pain as he felt himself being half dragged and half carried as he began to lose consciousness. He slowly lifted his head up and looked behind him to see the other two soldiers approach Cloud and poke him with the barrel of their guns. Zack's heart sank when he saw this, they were going to kill Cloud and he was too weak to stop them.

"So what do you think we should do with him?" The soldier asked as he continued to prod Cloud with the end of his gun.

"…urrrrr…aaaahhhhh…" Cloud muttered under his breath as he gazed at the soldiers completely unaware of what was going on around him.

"Leave him!" Tseng yelled at the soldiers telling them to come away, the two soldiers obeyed and they took their weapons away from Cloud and they walked away from the sick man.

"Yeah," the second soldier agreed, "he's as good as dead anyway, besides we got the stronger one anyway."

Zack turned away from Cloud not wanting to see that blank stare anymore as guilt weighed down on his heart. He felt a single teardrop fall slowly out his eye and trail down his face and it landed with a soft plop on the ground as he finally lost consciousness.

(A day later)

Beep, beep, beep…

"Huh? Where am I?" Zack wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep, in fact he wasn't even sure if he had said those words out loud. He could hear the sound of beeping, at first it sounded faint but it gradually grew louder as his senses started to come back to him. He could hear his own raspy breathing against the beeping, he gradually opened his eyes and he had to squint as he was greeted by a bright, white glare.

"Am I really dead? Because if this is what death is like then I want out!" Zack tried to move and he winced in pain, that was immediately followed by a different kind of pain altogether, it wasn't a sharp pain he felt when he was shot repeatedly, but it was a numbing pain as he felt something being stuck into him. The white haze slowly cleared and he found himself in a clean and highly clinical environment, a hospital, or a lab maybe. He looked down and found countless wires sticking into him, Zack tugged at one of the wires but it wouldn't move so he followed the wires with his slowly returning vision and he found that the wires connected him to a strange looking machine that must've been monitoring his heartbeat.

"I guess that could explain the beeping sound," Zack thought to himself, he moved his hand up to his face and he could feel something over his nose and mouth, it only took him a few seconds to realise that it was an oxygen mask, he tried to remove it but he was just too weak at the moment, so he lowered his arms and he let himself succumb to the waves of unconsciousness that had once again caught him.

Two hours later and Zack started to come round again, he was vaguely aware of voices all around him, but he could barely make out what they were saying.

"Hmmm…this is interesting, it would seem that his body is coming back online again, even after being completely out of it the day before." A male voice said in a dim voice.

"Huh?" Zack thought to himself, were they talking about him?

"I heard that he was awake earlier," a female voice spoke up this time, "but by the time I got there to check up on him he was asleep again."

"Yeah," another male voice responded, "for what Hojo has in store for him, I almost feel sorry for the guy…almost." Zack could hear the sound of laughter all around him as his eyes began to flicker.

"Hojo…" Thoughts started to fill his head again, "where have I heard that name before?" Memories started to flood his brain and it was at that moment that he realised where he was, "no…it can't be…I can't be there…what's going on? NO!" Zack found himself saying the last word out loud, his eyes fluttered open as he saw half a dozen people wearing white coats staring at him. To Zack seeing those people in the white coats only meant more pain and torture. "No!" He found himself yelling again as he thrashed around frantically removing the wires from his body. The scientists saw this and they began to panic.

"Restrain him! Before he hurts himself and damages the equipment!" One of them yelled as two of the strongest lab technicians ran over to Zack and tried to pin him down. But Zack was too strong for them and with a sudden burst of strength he grabbed one of the technicians by the throat and threw him back causing him to land back first into the far wall, he slid down the wall dazed. He quickly grabbed the other one before they had a chance to back away and he flung him into the group of scientists knocking them all over at once.

Zack ripped the last of the wires from his body, leapt out of the bed, tore the O2 mask from his face and tried to make a run for it. He didn't get very far before he began to collapse in pain, his legs buckled underneath him and he sagged to his knees with his hand tightly clasped round his stomach, his breathing became laboured and his body shook violently, he realised that he was completely topless but at that moment he didn't really care, all he cared about was getting out of there but his body didn't want to obey him.

The technicians began to recover and they staggered to their feet, one of them noticed Zack kneeling on the floor looking pale, sick and scared. "Get backup!" The lead technician yelled as one of the female technicians ran to the emergency alarm button and pushed it. The shrill sound of the alarm could be heard and it made Zack panic even more as he knew what was coming next.

A dozen or so first class SOLDIERS ran into the room, Zack slowly staggered to his feet and got into a fighting stance, but the other SOLDIERS knew that he was too weak to fight them off. They grabbed hold of him and wrestled him to the ground, they dragged him up to his knees and his breathing became quicker as he panicked even more.

"Put the O2 mask back on him!" Another technician yelled, as one of the SOLDIERS grabbed the O2 mask lying on the floor and he forced it back on to Zack's face. Zack's breathing became less laboured but he was still breathing rapidly, he tried to struggle to get the SOLDIERS off him but he was still too weak.

"What's going on here?" An all too familiar voice rang in Zack's ears, a voice that sent a shiver down Zack's spine whenever he heard it. Zack felt himself mentally panicking as he knew who was coming.

"No…" Zack thought to himself, "no…anything but that…" Zack closed his eyes at a last ditch attempt of denial but he knew that denial wouldn't help in this situation. He opened his eyes and looked upwards as he saw his worst nightmare stood in front of him, the man that had caused him so much pain and anguish, the man that was responsible for Sephiroth going insane.

"Hmmm…" Hojo stated in his high pitched voice, "so you're awake, now the experiments can begin."

Zack's eyes grew wide with shock as Hojo produced a syringe with a strange green liquid that looked all too familiar to Zack. "Is that what I think it is?" Zack asked himself even though he half knew the answer and it filled him with dread knowing that Hojo was finishing off what he started.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt…much, ha, ha, ha!" Hojo cackled as he paced towards Zack grinning evilly and holding the syringe out in front of him. Before Zack knew what was happening Hojo stabbed the needle into his neck. Zack winced in pain but he didn't cry out, he didn't want to give Hojo the satisfaction.

After a minute Hojo removed the syringe from Zack's neck, he wiped it clean with a cloth and put it back into his pocket. He then withdrew another syringe from his other pocket with a colourless liquid in it and he jabbed it into the other side of Zack's neck. He let out a small yelp as the liquid entered his blood stream and travelled round his body, it didn't take long for waves of unconsciousness to claim him once again. He took one last look at Hojo's evil grinning face before he fell asleep.

(End Flashback)

Everything after that last part was a complete blur to Zack as he finally came to his senses again and decided that it was time to move on before Reno and his Shinra guard lackeys came back. All Zack knew was that Hojo injected him with a green substance that looked strangely like Mako but at the same time it wasn't pure Mako, but neither was it Jenova cells.

"It was something else," Zack muttered to himself as he walked down the street. "What it was I don't know, but it sure did make me feel strange afterwards." Zack instinctively reached his hand to his neck and he could feel a small puncture wound from the last injection he had endured, he then looked at his gloved hands but he didn't remove the gloves, in fact he hadn't removed his gloves since he had escaped from the lab in Shinra HQ.

"How I managed to escape was beyond me," Zack said quietly to himself relieved that he was able to get out of there, but the damage was already done and Zack was the one that had to live with it for the rest of his life. He sometimes wished that he had died that day if this was the fate he had to endure.

Zack turned the corner and walked down another street, he passed several more derelict houses before he came across another building that looked familiar to him. "Aerith's church," Zack spoke up his voice was filled with hope, he knew that anyplace that was associated with Aerith was safe.

He pushed the door and it opened with a loud creak, he walked slowly up the isle between the pews until he came upon the flower bed. Zack stood at the edge of the flower bed but he was careful not to tread on them, he knew that Aerith hated it when people stepped on her flowers. She yelled at him on more than one occasion for doing that, Zack soon snapped out of his memories when he felt a raindrop hit him on the hood. He looked up and he saw a large hole in the church roof.

"I knew I was meant to fix something," Zack stated with a sigh as another raindrop hit him on the head. "The hole looks a little bigger than I remember, did someone else fall through it not so long ago?" Zack sat down next to the flowers and he reflected on everything that had happened to him in the past five years and each memory made him feel more and more unnerved as he knew that Shinra were still after him and it was only a matter of time before they caught him and he knew that his nightmare was far from over, in fact it was just beginning. Zack found himself thinking about Cloud and he wondered if he actually survived.

"I hope he's ok," Zack whispered to himself as he found himself thinking about Cloud once more. "He was pretty sick...what if he died or...the Shinra changed their minds about him...no...Cloud's stronger than that...he's...free...I can feel it..." Zack nodded satisfied with his own reassurance.

"My sword...what happened to that..." Zack asked himself concerned about the mighty Buster Sword. "Angeal gave me that sword...it meant everything to him...a symbol of his honour and dreams...he gave it to me and I can't believe I lost it!" Zack yelled this last part as he punched the floor with his fist. Zack breathed in and out deeply as he tried to calm himself.

"You know...I've never actually seen you use that..."

"Use brings about wear, tear and rust...and that's a real waste."

"I thought use brought about wear, tear and rust..."

"You're more important than this sword, but just a little."

Laughter echoed in Zack's head and he smiled as he thought about his mentor before he yawned, it had been a trying week for him and he really needed to get some sleep. He slowly stood up and walked up to the pew that was nearest to the flower bed, he lay down on it, it wasn't very comfortable but at least it was better than sleeping on the streets.

He knew that he was only staying in the church for one night, as tomorrow he was going to try and get his life back on track, even if it killed him. He wasn't going to let his handicap take over his life, but at the same time he was afraid, what if Aerith saw him and she was horrified at what she saw? He wouldn't be surprised if she did, after all he was surprised himself when he first saw what Hojo did to him and he had hidden himself away ever since.

He only came out at night and took whatever he needed, if he did go out in the day he generally avoided busy areas and he never showed his face to anyone. Zack sighed sadly as he thought about how dramatically his life had changed, he placed his hands behind his head and he began to think about what might have been if he was able to return when he said that he would.

"Well I probably wouldn't be here in this church, hiding myself away and thinking about what might have been," Zack thought to himself. "But if I'm to stand any hope of getting my life back to as normal a state as possible then I can't keep hiding away, I have to see Aerith again, and I'm gonna see her first thing tomorrow morning, no matter what happens." Zack felt better now that he had a plan in mind, it gave him a sense of purpose, it made him feel like he was still human. But even as Zack closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep he knew that his nightmare had just begun.

The first chapter of my second story is complete, yes I know that this is a what if Zack survived story, but there's plenty of them around, but I don't really care. After watching Last Order, I saw that the reason why Zack was killed was because the soldiers pursuing him refused to wait for the Turks and wanted the glory for taking Zack out themselves. So I thought what if the Turks or more specifically Tseng intervened to save Zack's life. Please feel free to comment, as long as it's constructive. Chapter 2 will be coming up soon.