(A/N) So! It's the first thing I've posted in probably months. Just some thing I typed out when I was bored. It's intended to be a ZackxCloud story and Sephiroth just had to be involved, so I threw him in their too. I finished this chapter really late at night so I haven't proofread it yet. Who knows if I will? I'm just lazy that way. This story is from multiple points of view though I'm not quite sure how many yet. Anyway, please read and review. But don't review if you're going to be negative. Much appreciated. Oh! And I don't own any characters or anything else that belongs to Nomura or Square Enix. Gotta throw that out there.

--

I stared down into the mirror running through old memories and trying to find where everything had gone wrong. Just where had everything fallen apart? I could never answer. Even though I had new devises to help me remember, I couldn't piece it all together. I had tricked myself into thinking that the problem lay where Sephiroth finally snapped, but that wasn't it. The problem went deeper than that. A little angry I slammed my first down on edge of the pedestal where the mirror stood. The crystal clear water inside sloshed a little bringing a soft gasp from my lips. I always forgot that the stupid mirror was just some obsidian bowl with water inside. And if even the tiniest amount spilled out, the consequences were high and whatever you were looking at may change. I didn't believe it, I was always tempted to dump the whole damn thing out just to prove them all wrong, but something held me back from doing so. As if a part of me really thought it was true. Tch! Ludicrous!

"Are you still looking in that mirror?" Came a soft familiar voice. I turned around, already knowing who it was.

"Aerith." I said just to show my realization of her presence. Sporting an unusual frown, I turned back to the ever vexing mirror.

"Why do you insist on looking into that thing all day? Are you checking on Cloud again?" She asked in that normal endearing but dippy voice. I just knew she had on that sweet smile that seems to brighten the skies of the planet with its glow. Though it did nothing for me, not today anyway. I wasn't in the best mood. In fact as I thought about it, I'd been out of sorts all week. Not even those funny remnants could cheer me up. It was bizarre. I felt as though… something was going to happen. Something bad. Something I couldn't stop. The knowledge of that only agitated me more. My anger was growing. I could feel it burning inside of me.

"Zack? Are you okay?" I stopped that endless gyre once she broke my focus. It was almost a relief. "Zack, you're shaking." Aerith murmured with concern heavy in her voice.

I took a step back from the mirror and brought my hands up in front of me. They were shaking, lightly but surely. Shrugging it off I put my hands flat on the pedestal in an attempt to steady them. I just saw small ripples in the water and the image of a certain beloved blonde appeared. Now that made me smile. He always did. But the smile became a grimace when I saw the loneliness reflected in his eyes. He'd always been like that. He was surrounded by friends but still looked so morose it saddened me as well. I wanted to reach out and embrace him as I had done. I never wanted to leave him with such sorrow. Even four years before today, in Aerith's church after the third? Yeah, third defeat of Sephiroth. I regretted leaving him without a word. All I did was wave and turn away. I hated myself for weeks. I couldn't help it. I froze up. There was just something so… I dunno, powerful about him. All those years of hell and he still had that beautiful body.

"Zack?" Aerith asked again.

I hardly heard her. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts of the tantalizing little blonde. His pale velvety skin, his petal soft lips, unruly blonde hair, those piercing cerulean-blue eyes. Oh, those eyes that were only amplified by the yellow tinge of mako. I wanted to experience it all again. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair. I wanted to press my lips against his while embracing that small, yet built frame. There was nothing anyone could do to disrupt his features. He was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

"Zack!" I instantly snapped out of my thoughts and looked up. That voice definitely was not Aerith. It was deeper, and a lot more masculine.

"Zack, what on earth are you dreaming about?"

"Angeal?" I said questioningly.

"Who else?" The older man replied.

"What do you want? I was busy." I closed my eyes after the sentence had been uttered. I wasn't able to keep my bitterness out of it.

"The Cetra want to speak with you. They're worried about you." He answered. I could hear he was worried just from them having mentioned it to him. "They say they sense a monstrous anger growing inside of you."

"So what if I am angry?" I said whipping around. "I just know something ba—" I stopped. There was a chilling sensation on my hand and the sound of a splash that gave me a heart attack. Both Aerith and Angeal had the same expression. One of shock and horror. Cautiously, very cautiously, I glanced down. The bowl was on its side and the water had spilled out all over. "Oh no. Oh no, this can't be happening!" I yelled kneeling down to see the last splashes of water drop down to the planet below. "No! Damn it!"

"Zack…" Aerith gasped.

"Angeal, Aerith, what's going to happen?" I asked. This was bad. This was very bad, but I still felt as though something worse was going to occur.

"Um…" Aerith trailed off.

"This has never happened before." Angeal said shakily but sternly.

"Well… it has once. And what the person was looking at just vanished." Aerith answered. "What were you seeing in the mirror?"

"It… it was Cloud as he was as a cadet. I think it was anyway." I was scared now. What if I had killed Cloud? What if I had done something worse than kill him? What if he no longer existed? "No! Why am I so worried? Nothing bad is going to happen. You guys are just joking around, right?" I asked. Neither of them smiled. "Right?" I repeated meekly.

"There is the off chance that nothing will happen." Aerith sighed. "But really, anything could happen. Anything from loss of existence to hardly any effect at all."

I knew what we had to do to make sure I hadn't done anything. "Okay." I was attempting to be calm. "We need to fill this back up with water and see if we can find him in the mirror. If not, I'm doomed."

"There won't be time for that Zack." Angeal said sadly. "It's too late."

"What?! But this is im—" I didn't get to finish my sentence before I found myself standing in a circle of emotionless Cetra.

"Zack." A male spoke in a loud voice. "You've caused an imbalance on the planet beneath us."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I said quickly.

"We're sorry Zackary…" This time it was a female who spoke. "…but we have no choice. We have to be fair to the others who have broken rules."

"But it was an accident." I practically cried. I'd broken rules before, but little ones. I'd never caused an imbalance. I had no idea what they were gonna do to me.

"We are aware that it was an accident." Another one spoke, this one sounded younger. "That is why we can be so lenient."

"But it doesn't change the severity of the situation." The louder one boomed. "We're expelling you."

My eyes went wide. Expulsion? What did that mean exactly? Was I going to be erased from existence? The thought terrified me. Was I going to purgatory, to live in emptiness? Isolated and forgotten. The thought of being alone was not a nice one, not forever. I'd go insane.

"It will merely become a suspension if you find a way to fix what you have done." The younger one said calmly.

Suspension? Does that mean I have to just think about what I've done in purgatory?

"We all hope you can return safely." The woman added. "Hopefully, you learn how to fix this."

"Wait!" I shouted. "What exactly is going to happen?"

"We're sending you to the planet below." They all said at once.

"You will be as you were." Said the female.

"It wouldn't be a proper punishment if you couldn't experience pain. All of your human senses shall return." Said the loud one.

"What about Cloud?! What happened to him? I didn't erase him, did I?" I asked shakily. "And what about Angeal and Aerith. Will they be informed of what's happened?"

"We will tell everyone of your punishment." The young one mused.

"And as for your little friend, Zackary, he's alive. But not as he should be. Because you were looking at him, you turned back time on him and him alone. He is probably lost and afraid. And there's no one for him to turn to as he will soon find out."

I couldn't say anything else. I was so relieved that Cloud was alive. But that didn't stop that nagging feeling at the back of my mind. But before I could tell them, I felt myself sinking. I felt heavier and had this falling sensation. The scene around me seemed to rip away, I could still hear their voices. Someone else had approached them. I could see their facial features and they looked winded.

"There's an emergency!" I heard them yell. "Sephiroth has escaped!"

That was all I picked up before everything was gone. I was just falling and falling. Faster and faster until… I blacked out.

--

I woke up in Aerith's church, but there were some subtle differences to it. Her garden had been drowned and she was nowhere to be found. I couldn't help but wonder how she would react when she found out what had happened to me. I wondered how angry Angeal was with me. That was one bright side to this. I wouldn't have to deal with one of those lectures about responsibility and honor.

"Cloud!" I gasped when I came out of my nostalgia and remembered what I was supposed to do. "Oh. Where could he be? How far could he have gone? Last time I saw him… he was… in the… wasteland?"

The wasteland. There were a lot of nasty monsters out there. For all I knew, there were a lot of weirdoes too. That scared me more than the monsters. Now don't get me wrong. Cloud is not and was not naïve. Well, he was a little. Since the image of him I was seeing was the one from his innocence. After that thought, I could only imagine the horrifying image of poor little Cloud. He was probably scared and ready to trust the first "friendly" person that came up to him.

"Oh no. I'm not gonna let some greasy, disgusting, pimply, big-nosed bastard touch my Cloudy boy!" I said dashing out of the water. I was infuriated by the image I had created of some nerd in stupid looking glasses and bad teeth. A nerd who wished he was even good enough to be a wangster but he couldn't even pull that off. Oh! That wasn't going to happen.

I ran through the city of Edge drawing much attention, but I hardly noticed or cared. I just wanted to get to that wasteland. I wanted the relief to come back. My pace was too slow; I had to be motivated by something. Something more agitating than the image of the nerd. That was gonna be hard to beat. I thought and thought but nothing was coming. That is, until I remembered that little piece of information I'd picked up. Sephiroth was loose. I did not want him within five miles of Cloud. A nerd I could beat up, but Sephiroth. The Sephiroth? The most powerful SOLDIER there ever was? I wouldn't stand a chance. Not after what happened last time. I rubbed my chin at the memory.

No. I had to find Cloud before he did. It was obvious that he'd come to exact his revenge after his failure four years ago. And Cloud wouldn't remember that he's not to be trusted. He'd go with the "General" anywhere. I just couldn't bear the thought of my failure. The thought of Sephiroth killing Cloud before he even knew what was happening. I'd never forgive myself.

Those thoughts certainly helped my speed. I was going as fast as I could. At least I thought it was as fast as I could. I still wasn't used to this solid body. It'd been years since I'd used it. It was heavy and I was beginning to succumb to fatigue fairly quickly. That was out of the ordinary. As I remember, I could run for miles without running out of breath. The fact that I was getting tired so quickly was not something I liked. How was I supposed to get anything done with this problem? The only thing I could do was hope that as I got used to the body, my strength would return. That hope didn't change how angry I was. I just had to focus on finding Cloud. Once I found him my rage would subside. And I would find him. Nothing was going to get in the way of that.

--

I passed many rock formations and searched behind each and every one. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the tracks of Guard Hounds. I was just barely able to keep myself calm. Everything about this place was making me paranoid. I looked toward the slightest sound. Inching my way to my final resting place. It was the last place I wanted to go and probably the first place I should have looked. Cloud went there often, and eventually I would need the Buster Sword.

"I can't go up there. I don't want to remember…" I whispered. Not that I was scarred by the experience. I merely didn't want to smell my own blood. With my enhanced sense of smell and the amount of blood I'd lost, I doubt it'd have a positive effect on me. There was a theory that if you ever encountered anything from your death, you'd go mad. Once I'd reached the foot of the cliff and already getting a whiff of the stench. I dared not go any closer.

Stepping back I heard the howl of a Crimson Hound. I looked around and tried to run in the direction I had heard the call, but it was moving constantly. I really hated my lack of control over my body. "I just have to find Cloud." I told myself. That was what it all came down to. Once I found him I could rest.

I had slowed down to a jog when I saw something up ahead. It looked like fire. Was it a signal of some sort? No. Cloud couldn't use materia. "Oh! When I find him he's gonna owe me big." I sighed. I paused for a moment and thought. What could I ask of, without being too harsh? I'd have to think about it later. Right now finding him was more important.

Approaching the fire cautiously. It seemed to be swishing back and forth as if it were attached to a branch or something. Closer investigation showed that the fire was attached to a tail which connected to a red thigh. I rounded the corner quickly and found a red lion with a crimson mane and many bizarre markings all over its body. There were rings around its ankles, beads in its mane, and piercings in its ears. One thing that stood out in particular was a mark on its left shoulder that read "XIII". Even after that, it took me a while to process who it was.

"Nanaki?" I asked. He stirred and opened his left eye.

"Who are you?" He groaned. He got up and sniffed the air.

"I'm Zack. Zack Fair." I answered. I was slightly disappointed when he didn't know me, but what did I expect?

"My apologies. You're the one Cloud talks about so rarely." Nanaki sighed. He stopped suddenly and sniffed the air once more. "Guard Hounds…"

"What?" I asked when another howl broke through the silence.

"A Crimson Hound as well." Nanaki growled. "He's calling for more hunters."

"Hunters? What are they after? Where are they?"

"They're off to the north." He answered. "About a mile out, but heading this way."

"Damn! How do I take care of them with no weapon?" I Cursed.

"Why would you need to do that? They need to eat just like everything else."

"Nanaki, what is there to eat out here?" I asked.

"Not very much and hounds eat flesh which is scarce out here." He said.

"You see, I was looking for someone out here and I think they may be hunting him down. So I'd be a little on edge."

I just barely finished my sentence before something came into view. Instantly my suspicions were confirmed. A herd of about ten Guard Hounds were chasing after a terrified, scratched and winded blonde. I could hardly control myself. I started toward them at how fast I thought I could go, but my speed increased when I saw Cloud suddenly collapse.

Dust flew up around him and he was then surrounded by those horrid beasts. My rage skyrocketed. I was able to keep up pace with Nanaki, who had bolted once he caught on to the scent. I didn't even think of how I didn't have a weapon on me. I just ran toward them and jumped into the circle recklessly. I landed right in front of Cloud. He was so scared and on the brink of tears. I had to embrace him right then, right there. There was no way to control it. The Guard Hounds around us disappeared and it was just the two of us.

I just let my arms encircle his small, shaking body. He didn't seem to be settling in at all. I found that odd. He should've been happy to see me. It was only when I heard him shout that I realized where we were.

The Crimson Hound had pounced. Its fangs bared in a snarl. I couldn't think of anything else to but press Cloud closer to me. His eyes were wide open, his mouth agape, and shaking even more rapidly. I felt like an idiot. We were both about to die all because I couldn't wait to show my affection until after I'd saved him. We could both just stare at the monster launching toward us. My periphery caught a flash of red and then the danger was averted. Nanaki had saved us…

Yes. He'd saved us. But now the Guard Hounds were swarming him. He could only take so many. I had to do something, anything. But all of my thoughts were trailing back to one thing. I couldn't stop thinking about him though I held him in my arms. That was rather pathetic of me. I couldn't help it. He was so… amazing. How could I not think of him while my arms were wrapped around his slender waist? I just wanted my hands to slip lower. But this wasn't the time for that. Nanaki was in trouble. The Guard Hounds were beginning to overpower him. I apparently had missed something because there were more than ten now. My eyes spotted, eighteen, nineteen, twenty… twenty one with about five dead on the ground. I thought Nanaki could take more than that? Was he coherent?

Before anyone even had time to think, I had put Cloud down and run off to help the lion with the hideous beasts. Starting with a rush assault, I released a series of rapid kicks and punches. Landing many hits, but hardly doing damage. I didn't care. The attacks were knocking them all away and I didn't have so much pride that I wouldn't run. It seemed the only option now. I wasn't as strong at the moment, Cloud wasn't himself and, for reasons unknown, Nanaki was incoherent.

I couldn't help but glance off to the side to see if Cloud was okay. He was the opposite of okay. A Crimson Hound had sunk its teeth into the fabric of his pant leg and was trying to drag him off. Cloud had drawn his nightstick with one hand and clawing at the dirt with the other. His eyes had done the impossible by getting bigger and rounder. I just had to charge. I had to help him. But that damn circle of Guard Hounds was preventing me from advancing in his direction. He whacked the Crimson Hound in the snout with his nightstick. That did next to nothing except piss it off. It released its teeth from his pant leg and proceeded to lunge and try to bite through his jugular vein. I kept my eyes on the poor little blonde as he shielded himself by bringing his arms up in front of him. This got him more scratches and a strong jaw clamped down on his unprotected forearm. He let out shriek only to be answered by a bullet.

--

I was shocked. Though I was thankful for the aid, the sound of a gunshot is the last thing I wanted to hear. And as though the planet were making fun of my reaction there was next a barrage of gunshots. It didn't seem to end. When I was finally able to open my eyes and look. All of the hounds were dead. Nanaki had fallen asleep again for some reason and Cloud's eyes were welling up. The Crimson Hound's jaw was still latched onto to his left forearm and blood was seeping out of the open wound.

"Cloud!" I shouted running over to him. He turned to look at me. Probably relieved that a distraction had come so not to look at the blood pouring out of his arm. "Let me help with that." I said putting both hands on the jaw of the Crimson Hound. I didn't even think of who saved us. It never occurred to me to thank him or anything. I couldn't focus on anything but treating Cloud's wound. I took a firm hold of the jawbones and pulled them apart with all my might. They hardly budged, but I kept at it.

"Allow me." Said a low voice. I looked up at the source. It was a tall, thin man with long, unruly black hair. His skin was pale and his eyes were a piercing red. A red mantle covered the lower half of his face and went halfway down his arms. The rest of his clothes were black, but that didn't stop me from staring at the golden claws extending from his left hand.

He stooped down on one knee and placed his hands on the beasts jaw bone. Cloud had shut his eyes tight and looked away as the man pried apart the jaws with ease. I envied his strength, but hopefully not for long. But who knew? Maybe even my SOLDIER strength couldn't compare. I wasn't completely sure on just what exactly was done to Vincent Valentine.

"Get his arm out." Vincent said almost with a sigh. I snapped out of my train of thought and gently raised Cloud's arm out of the now broken mouth. The gunman shredded a small piece off of the cape extending from the mantle and wrapped it around the bite. "It'll have to be cleaned."

"Thanks Vincent." I sighed. The relief had returned. I picked up the small blonde and held him close to my chest. He didn't seem to be recoiling. Of course, as I remembered, he was very needy and always had been apparently. I didn't care though. It didn't bother me at all. He craved affection and I craved to give it. That's why we worked so well together. I only hoped that we could get that again.

"Who…" Vincent started, but trailed off. "I remember you. I thought you were just a dream. But… you're the one that opened my coffin." He said. I would assume it was accusingly, but his tone was flat. I couldn't be sure.

"You were in that coffin?" I asked. Of course I recognized him, I just wanted to make some conversation to calm myself and Cloud down. His breathing was slightly irregular and I could feel his heart pounding. "I considered poking you. Thought you ought to know."

There was no response to that.

"Which now that I think about it, if I had, it probably would have changed a lot." I said realizing that I shouldn't probably talk about things like that in front of Cloud. I had to handle him delicately. Wouldn't want to give him future shock.

"Who is this feeble little boy? He almost looks like…"

"Cloud?" I asked smugly.

"How could he be…?"

"This is Cloud." I said. "I'm Zack, and you are…?" I had to try and make it seem like a simple introduction. Otherwise Cloud would get confused. It was then that I saw just how big a job this was.

"Vincent Valentine." The gunman answered. "Is there something I should know?"

"Shhh. I'll tell you later." I whispered. I put my hand on the back of Cloud's head, running my fingers through that soft blonde hair and cradled him. He was very quiet. Unusually quiet. Either I got my dates wrong and he already knew me intimately, or he hardly knew me and was just being meek and cooperative. It didn't matter to me at the moment. I knew how to get him to calm down. I guess that was one other bright side to my future knowledge. I knew exactly what would knock him out and it worked every time. All I had to do was cradle him comfortably and slowly rock him back and forth. It'd lull him to sleep and he'd be out in a matter of minutes.

It was silent for quite a while. Vincent was never much of a talker. Not even to those thugs in Deep Ground. Now they were the monsters. Killing and enjoying it? Why did the higher ups always think it was a good idea to have an army of monsters? People they put in such extreme situations that they became ill and their mind could be molded and manipulated. It was disgusting. Since Vincent wasn't talking, I let my mind wander.

For the first time, since I'd come back, I didn't think of Cloud… at first anyway. I thought about Sephiroth. Why had he escaped at that time? How did he know to escape? Did someone help him? He's found ways out before, but it always had to be with some loophole of the system. He'd never just escaped before. Was he so determined to get revenge? Was that even what this was all about? I had so many questions that couldn't be answered.

"We should get moving." Vincent said suddenly. I snapped out my thoughts again.

"Okay." I said looking down. Cloud was sound asleep. He was so cute. He looked so peaceful and innocent. That was befitting, since he was in fact innocent… not so peaceful all the time. But that would hopefully change. Unless, of course, Sephiroth really did mean to track him down and torture him. I had to somehow confirm if that was true. "Does that mean I have to find Sephiroth?" I said aloud.

"What?!" Vincent hissed. I had just noticed I'd said that aloud and turned to look at him. For once, he actually looked shocked.

"Well…" I said hesitantly. I guess I just ruined my secrecy. I was going to have to explain things now, or no one would trust me. "No matter how ludicrous it sounds, just hear me out." I sighed making sure there were no interruptions. "I've recently come back from the Life stream. And it's my fault that Cloud is like… this. So they expelled me as a punishment for causing an imbalance… annnnd on my way out I picked up some information. It seems that… Sephiroth has….. escaped." I said nodding. "Yup. That's the story so far."

"You expect me to believe that?" Vincent glared.

"Not exactly. But I was hoping since it's the true story." I answered.

Looking down at the small body in my arms, I felt a smile begin to sneak across my lips. His head was on my shoulder, which wasn't exactly the most comfortable place. I still had my armor on. He didn't look uncomfortable. He just brought one of his tiny hands to his face and rubbed his eye. I hope that didn't mean he was waking up. We were walking, completely forgot about Nanaki, and I wouldn't have time to lull him back to sleep. But I didn't wanna put him down. Much to my relief, he didn't stir again. His arm just fell back to rest with the other on his stomach. I was glad he didn't seem to mind the cold, hard armor on my shoulders. I was still wearing my SOLDIER uniform after all. But something about him wasn't as simple and relieving. His clothes had somehow changed back into his cadet uniform. I never understood how clothing magically changed size and color. I had only turned back time on him, not his clothing. It was as confusing as when Kadaj became Sephiroth and was no longer wearing his normal outfit, but Sephiroth's SOLDIER outfit. That baffled and agitated me, and so did this. It didn't bother me that much though. It was Cloud, and that uniform always looked so great on him.

"Zack?" Vincent asked. I knew why he spoke up. I could tell my face had contorted to reflect my disgust. We just passed close under the cliff where my final resting place lay. The smell of my blood was heavy and it invaded my nostril and buried deep into my sinuses. I started feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

"It's okay. We just need to keep moving." I said stiffly, trying to hold my breath as I spoke.

"Will you be alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." I sighed taking a deep breath as we passed the cliff. I could see Edge appearing in the distance. "So, getting back to you not believing me. What else can you believe? It all adds up. Cloud is… sixteen, I'm alive and there's a twister-like storm off to the west."

"What…?"

"Sephiroth likes to make a flashy entrance." I said causally. "The only conclusion I can come to, is that Sephiroth has returned to take his revenge on Cloud and I can hope that he hasn't come back at this time because of the mistake I made."

"So let's pretend I do believe you." Vincent sighed. "How did you make this 'mistake'?"

"That's something I can't tell you. I have to try and fix the imbalance, not cause an even bigger one." I said pulling the first thing I could think of out of my ass. I knew it didn't make any sense, but hopefully he understood that it meant I had to keep my mouth shut about the beyond.

--

It was a long and awkward walk back to Edge. But we made it there without saying another word. Cloud was asleep the whole way back and even now, he was sleeping on the couch in Tifa's Seventh Heaven. Not even Tifa's screaming whispers woke him up. She'd been screaming about something for the last half hour, but I was just looking at the little blonde.

He was all curled up on his side. It didn't help my focus at all knowing that he was facing me. I wished Tifa would just shut up and leave us alone for a few minutes. Then again Vincent was also in the room. Same old scowl, blank stare, arms folded across his chest. Wishing he would go too, I was only able to restrain my inner thoughts by scolding myself. To even think of doing things to people when they were asleep wasn't my style. I had to remember that. I didn't want to turn out like Sephiroth after all.

"ZACK!!!" Tifa shrieked when she noticed I wasn't paying attention.

I grinned stupidly but in an apologetic way. Something or someone hiding in the doorway caught my eye. Two little somethings actually. Both with brown hair, a boy and a little girl. The little girl had brown eyes while the boy had blue eyes. Denzel and Marlene. Maybe they would get Tifa to calm down. She seemed to be distracted when they both came slinking into the room.

"Tifa, where's Cloud?" Denzel asked.

She looked to me as if asking if they should know. I shrugged, they probably would see through any lie she told them, why not tell them the truth?

But before she had time to do anything, Marlene sat herself down on the couch without looking. She didn't even notice she'd sat on someone until Cloud yelped. I was devastated. I was happy. I didn't know how I felt. Cloud was awake. Part of me wanted to see him sleep again, but part of me just wanted to hold him again. I knew full well that I couldn't do that. He was probably scared from the last time I had done it. The best thing to do right now was leave him alone. That's exactly what I did. I walked past him, trying not to glance at him with all of my strength, and walked out the door. I was going to find out what Sephiroth was up to.

--

I walked the streets of Edge, seeing many people. I didn't know any of them. Nothing was coming back to me. I'm sure I'd seen many of these people before, but I couldn't pin them to anything in my memory. They were all otherwise faceless phantoms to me. That is until a young man approached me. He couldn't have been any older than twenty. His face showed no emotion, but his eyes showed fear.

"Zack?" He said trying to be brave.

"Yes." I answered. "I'm guessing you're a messenger of some sort."

He just nodded and turned to walk away. I followed behind as closely as I could. Edge may be small but you never knew when some nut was gonna show up. I just wanted to stay out of trouble.

To my "great surprise", we ended up at the old Shinra building. I looked up and imagined it how it was. When I didn't know any better. The huge building had seemed so magnificent. So many floors and only two elevators. Clearly a design flaw. I felt a smile creeping up, I could hardly stop it. Of course those thoughts vanished when I began to think of Kunsel. I never knew what had happened to him. I was kind of relieved to see Sephiroth. The sight of him brought me out of my thoughts of my old friend.

"Where is he Zack?" Sephiroth ordered.

"So I was right in the suspicion that you are completely predictable." I sighed. "When did it become so easy to read your moves?" I asked putting a hand to my forehead.

Sephiroth did nothing for a moment. Then, with a swish of his hand, he stabbed the young man that brought me there. My jaw dropped and not even thinking, I ran over to him. Blood was spewing out of his mouth and his eyes had glazed over. Even though the life was leaving them I could now see the boy he once was. The pickpocket from Wall Market. The boy who stole my wallet, but gave it back. The boy I helped retrieve his wallet from the worms. I couldn't believe it. And yet, here he was, dead because of me. It was not a good feeling to know that someone died and you knew it was because of you. I should've seen an outburst like that coming.

"Calm down Zack, I was going to kill him anyway." Sephiroth said taking a step forward. "Now, no one else will die if you simply tell me where to find Cloud."

"You think I'd sell out my friend?" I growled.

"Zack. Tell me where he is or I'll…"

"Or you'll what?!" I snapped. "Who else is that close to me, that you think I'd give up Cloud?!"

"No one in particular. I'll just go through with my plans to destroy this planet, killing everyone on it. Now what's one person to the lives of everyone?"

That was it; I'd had enough of his crap. Someone had to speak up and open his eyes to his own madness. "Why do you want revenge so badly?!" I yelled. "What could Cloud have possibly done?!"

"He's humiliated me."

"So now you're going to humiliate him?! Just because he kicked your sorry ass a few times?!"

"ZACK!!!" Sephiroth hollered. I stopped my rant and tried to calm down before I pissed him off even more. I feared for my life slightly, but something made me feel as though he wouldn't kill me. Even if given the opportunity. "Just tell me where he is. I'm not going to kill him."

"What's happened to you? The Sephiroth I knew never thought revenge was a good idea."

"He's dead along with the lie of the life he knew." He answered rather bluntly. "Now where's Cloud? I have to capture him now while it'll be less of a hassle."

"What?!" I gasped. "You know?"

"Know… about your little accident? Of course I do Zackary. Why do you think I picked now to execute my plan? Tricking Kadaj into aiding me in my escape wasn't hard."

"I don't care Sephiroth. I won't hand him over." I answered.

No way would I hand over Cloud to that monster. I wanted to spend more time with him. I had yet to hear that lyrical voice. I wanted to get close to him again. But now I had to get away from Sephiroth without him following me. Then I'd have to take Cloud somewhere else. Staying at Tifa's was way too obvious. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go at the moment, but that wasn't the current problem. The current problem was getting away from this psycho quickly and effectively. But that was easier said than done. I could see his eyes waiting to lock on to any move I made. He was watching me intently.

As I was thinking, I was bombarded by an awful smell. Taking the time to actually observe the floor. I saw the black fluid snaking through the tiles. Was it oil? Only one way to find out. I brought fire up into the palm of my hand. Seeing the possibility of attack, Sephiroth braced himself. But instead I threw the dancing flames at the floor. Whatever that fluid was, it ignited fast. Sephiroth barely moved before he was surrounded by fire. Most likely, by the time he could see through the smoke, I was gone.

I ran back towards the bar constantly looking over my shoulder. When I looked ahead of me, I saw the bar coming into view. By then I'd already made up my mind.

I was taking Cloud to Wutai.

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(A/N) Remember to review so I know if people like it. I'll try to get another chapter out by next week.