This is the result of a piece of art on YGallery with the same title dun by Lucrecia. If you go to my account there, I have it faved and linked in the the comments of this story over there. I really love this idea and hope it comes across well. Please let me know what you think.

End of Heartache

"Cloud?" Zack somehow managed to break through the muddled mess his mind had become in response to the sheer agony that consumed not only his body but his heart and soul as well. He focused all of his remaining energy on giving Cloud what would very likely be his last command. Unconsciousness was trying to pull him away and he sincerely doubted that once he allowed it to take him he would never return. "Give…Sephiroth…a killing blow."

Cloud spared a mere second to glance at him. There was sheer terror in his eyes but a fierce determination lay beneath it. He did not nod or make any sort of indication of acknowledgement outside of that brief moment of eye contact. He simply hefted the Buster Sword and with a primal scream, charged the man slowly advancing upon him.

Zack could not see what happened next. He heard the blond infantryman's heavy steps as he ran, could tell when he had leapt up. After that, there was a horrible moment of silence. The SOLDIER operative waited endlessly for something to change.

The loud clang of metal meeting metal echoed through the immense chamber. A faint, almost crackling sound slowly built. There was a grunt, followed by the noise of someone's breath being knocked out of them and the crackling disappeared.

The heavy thud of a body slamming down upon the metal floor rang in Zack's ears. It was further away, likely resonating out from the other room and he prayed it was not Cloud. He really did not want it to be Sephiroth either but given the terrible circumstances they were in…

Somehow he mustered the strength to lift his head. Through the opening to the other chamber, he was barely able to focus on the tall, still standing black and silver form of Sephiroth. That meant that Cloud was the one who had made that impact.

His heart clenched further, terrified that the cadet was already dead. The sheer volume of the noise from the impact indicated at least broken ribs. Regardless, it was unlikely Cloud would be in any condition to continue to fight.

With Sephiroth as he was, Cloud was as good as dead.

Out of nowhere, Zack felt a surge of energy. It was not much and he knew it would not last but he was going to take it and do as much as he could with it. He had to make this final effort to stop Sephiroth.

Groaning, he managed to raise himself up. With shaking hands, he clawed his way up the few steps leading to where the two combatants were. Every movement was agonizing but he ignored the pain, shut out the anguish and continued.

Upon reaching the landing of the higher chamber, he focused all of his attention before him. He continued to push his over-taxed body forward, never letting his focus shift away from his goal. He could barely keep his head up but he refused to look away.

His field of vision was consumed by Sephiroth's boots and the last foot of his black leather coat. Lying just beyond the separation of his feet, filling the space completely, was a head of messy, bright blond hair. The only movement within Zack's vision was the slight flutter of Sephiroth's coat ends.

At the moment, Zack was thankful for that. It seemed that for now Sephiroth was content to leave the young man alone. Zack barely hoped that Cloud was not already dead and simply unconscious. Perhaps one of them could come out of this nightmare alive.

Cloud's head minutely shifted and Zack's heart plummeted further than he thought possible. If he had seen it, he knew Sephiroth had and that meant it was over for the cadet. Zack turned his eyes up along blood-stained leather, watching it pull as Sephiroth lifted Masamune. The action was horribly drawn out, as if Sephiroth was reluctant to actually take the easy kill.

This was his only chance, his last chance. Masamune's hilt was up high enough that all Sephiroth would have to do was turn the blade and thrust. The man's wrist twisted.

Taking as deep a breath as he could muster, Zack forced his voice to work. "Sephiroth, stop!"

Despite his words coming out choked and scratchy, he hoped they sounded firm. Sephiroth had enhanced hearing so it was not the volume itself he was concerned with; he just needed to be certain that Sephiroth listened. If he did not break through now, they were all dead.

"Please… Seph…" He pleaded, pouring as much emotion into it as he could. "I don't… don't know… what's going through… your head right now but… you don't have to… to do this. You aren't… a…"

"This is what Mother wants."

What? Zack was taken aback more by the words than the distant tone to which Sephiroth said them. He had pieced together that the alien-looking body that had been contained in this chamber was Jenova and this Jenova was somehow connected to Sephiroth but he refused to believe that she could in any way be construed to be the man's mother despite the lies that Sephiroth had been told all his life.

"Seph… what… kind of mother… wants her kid… to hurt the people… who care for him?"

Sephiroth did not respond verbally. Masamune did not change position but Sephiroth angled his head down. Something about his stance relaxed and there was an almost childish quality to it.

"Seph…" A bit of Zack's energy was returning but it was not nearly enough to let him make any significant movement. He was able to bring his head up to get a better view of Sephiroth. The older First Class appeared to be studying the severed head that was clutched tightly in his right hand.

"Mother…" The title was whispered, similar to the questioning tone of an uncertain toddler, looking for an answer they figure only a parent knows.

Zack knew he was about to take a huge risk, one that could never be undone, but he had to get Sephiroth away from that head. Somehow in his slide away from sanity, Sephiroth had placed all his faith, all his attention, all of himself on whatever it was his twisted mind was telling him his 'mother' wanted. That head he had removed from Jenova's body was a focal point to all of this.

"Sephiroth…" Zack inched closer. "Jenova… isn't your…"

The tall man whirled around, incredibly long hair flying out behind him. He pointed Masamune at Zack, feline eyes blazing with anger. "You are just another traitor, Zackary. For a moment, I thought that perhaps… but no. You are the same as every other human plaguing this world."

"No, Seph." The black-haired man fought back a sudden wave of nausea. "I'm… your friend."

Uncertainty flicked through the haze of insanity.

"You know… you can… trust me."

"I can't…" Sephiroth was clearly struggling with something within him. "I can trust no one but…"

"You know that… isn't true." Zack caught movement behind Sephiroth's booted foot. Cloud was slowly stirring.

Again, Sephiroth looked to Jenova's head and this time, Zack would swear that the general was silently conversing with it. Not for the first time, the young man wished he really understood this twisted situation. Whoever this Jenova was, it was obvious that her cells somehow messed up all of those who had been given them.

While the general was fixed on the head, Cloud weakly lifted his own. There was blood in his hair and his expression deeply pained. With unfocused eyes, he looked for something to settle them upon. After a few seconds, those blue depths found Zack and cleared up a bit.

Relief swept through Zack. Even if Cloud's body was broken inside, it was likely he would survive. Though Zack did not think he was going to be as fortunate, he was happy. Now if he could figure out how to save Sephiroth…

Cloud's eyes darkened, anger pushing away the pain. His jaw tightened and he placed his attention upon Sephiroth. The way his shoulders moved clearly gave away his intentions. He was still determined to take his former idol down, even if it cost his own life.

Before Zack could even begin forming the words to stop him, Cloud was on his feet and rushing Sephiroth. The young male screamed in agony and fury as he managed to catch the general off-guard. His smaller body slammed into the silver-haired man's with bone-crunching force.

Sephiroth fell backwards, hair fanning out gracefully in contrast to the awkwardness of his body's descent. He hit the metal flooring at an angle, left shoulder armor clanging loudly against it. His body rolled onto its back as Cloud's exhausted its forward momentum. Sephiroth grunted as the blond's weight pressed down on him, the energy of the impact causing his head to smack back and down upon the floor and his right arm to flail out.

…And when it did, his grip loosened and he released Jenova's head.

Zack watched it awkwardly roll about a foot away from Sephiroth's outstretched hand. It came to a stop, blank face turned toward the young First Class almost as if daring him to do something. Zack knew exactly what he had to do.

While Zack knew that normally a fall like that would barely affect Sephiroth, the large wound he had sustained earlier when Cloud had impaled him with the Buster had caused a great deal of blood loss. He had already seen that it had slowed the older man down considerably. Hopefully, it would decrease his recovery time even more.

Pulling in a deep breath, he gathered every ounce of remaining energy and strength he had. Letting his determination fuel him, Zack raised himself up and stumbled forward. He had to reach that damn head before Sephiroth recovered.

He only made three steps before his legs gave out and he collapsed onto his knees, pitching forward. As he fell, he stretched his body out as far as he could. Even with that, his fingers came up short.

"Damnit," he murmured, trying to will himself to move just a little further. It was no use, his body had nothing left.

Sephiroth was twisting around and he made a pained noise. Cloud's body was a dead weight on his chest, keeping him effectively pinned down. However, the moment he noticed where Jenova's head was, he was heaving the cadet off of him. "Mo...Mother!"

Cloud screamed as his broken body was thrown to the side in Sephiroth's desperate scramble to reclaim the only piece of his perceived mother he had. Despite the enormous amount of pain he had to be in, Cloud was not going to let Sephiroth go. As he was cast away, he threw out a hand and in a savage, gruesome action, dug his fingers into Sephiroth's large abdominal wound.

When Sephiroth cried out, he immediately kicked at the blond's hip. In reaction, Cloud released him. He could not even scream anymore, making horrible choked noises.

This was more than Zack could stand. Body be damned, he was going to stop Sephiroth. It did not matter anymore if he could save the man from himself. This could not continue.

The tip of Masamune had ended up lying near Zack's foot and he was just able to hook it with his boot. He dragged it closer and grabbed the blade with his hand. The incredibly sharp edge lightly cut through his gloves to just price the skin but Zack did not feel the pain. He really was dying.

Zack awkwardly brought Masamune around. Using the length of it as an extension of his arm, he wildly swung it, aiming not for Sephiroth but the man's goal. The flat of the blade slapped against Jenova's head, slicing off a few hairs, and Zack simply pushed. The head skidded before it, moving closer to the edge of the platform.

As Sephiroth lunged for the head, Zack heaved Masamune with all the strength he had left. He tapped the severed body part forcefully, just as Sephiroth's fingers where going to enclose it. He got nothing but air as the head gracefully slipped over the edge and fell into the awaiting pool of Mako far beneath them.

"Mother!" Sephiroth bellowed out, collapsing at the edge, arms still outstretched. His expression was that of a child forced to watch a parent leave, knowing they would never see them again.

For a moment, Zack believed that Sephiroth was going to leap after her. The older man just laid there in shock and disbelief. Zack was not sure if he should attempt to say anything at all… that was if he could even form words at all. He truly had no idea how he was still conscious… if he was.

"You…" The silver-haired First Class breathed out. He did not move. "You said you were my friend."

Zack had to respond. In a mere whisper he said, "I am."

"Then how could you…?"

"No… Seph…iroth," Cloud's weak voice countered. "How could… you?"

"I'm…" Sephiroth very slowly lifted his body. Though his form trembled, his words were confident. "I'm the Chosen One."

"No," Cloud spat out the word. "You're… a fraud."

"Sephiroth," Zack murmured. His vision was clouding over. "None… of this… is you. Forget what… Genesis said… forget what… you read…"

"No!" Sephiroth abruptly rose to his feet. Anger filled his voice. "I'm not like you!"

"You aren't this either!" Zack managed to yell. His sight had all but left him and he knew this was it. "Don't… lose yourself, Seph."

Sephiroth's words were angrier than before. "I wasn't anything worth losing."

Zack's heart broke. "You… can't… believe…"

"I was nothing until Mother and you… you took her away! All I ever wanted… and you who call yourself my friend took her away!"

"Seph…" Zack did not get to finish the name. There was a heavy step toward him, a blur of black. This was the end; this psychological mess that had been his friend was going to kill him. As he waited for the final blow that would release him to the Lifestream, he found his only regret was that he had been unable to make his friend see reason.

A gunshot echoed off the walls, ringing hollowly in Zack's ears. It was immediately followed by a solid thud and a gasp of pain. The gasp came from a different direction.

Forcing his eyes to work, Zack turned his head. Sephiroth lay on his side, blood tinting his hair and a stunned look to his face. As Zack watched, those feline eyes fell shut and it took Zack a second to understand what he was seeing. Even then, he did not really process it.

He heard another whimper and fixed his wary eyes toward it. Cloud was struggling to breathe, gasping staring at the ceiling with teary, unfocused eyes. In his hands he held his riffle against his chest.

"Cloud," The raven-haired man whispered. He did not know what he wanted to say but it did not matter. Those naturally intense blue eyes slipped shut and the gasping subsided.

Zack was certain those eyes were not going to open again.

Feeling something warm and moist trailing away from his eyes, Zack idly wondered if it was blood. He was numb physically, mentally and emotionally. He was getting sleepy and he simply let his eyes close.

It was over now.

--0—0—

He was warm and very comfortable. As his hearing improved he could hear sounds outside and occasionally the murmur of people talking as they passed by. Whatever he was laying upon was soft and mattress like. His body felt great and completely rejuvenated.

Zack slowly opened his eyes, wondering what the after-life looked like. Maybe Angeal would be here. Figuring Cloud had to be here, too, and likely nearby, Zack decided that he would first find Cloud and they would search for Angeal together.

As his violet eyes came into focus, he frowned for a moment. While he knew he should not have been surprised that the Lifestream had chosen this location for his eternal resting place, it was still a bit strange to wake up in Aerith's church and though he had only seen the back quarters of it a handful of times, he knew this was where he was.

"You're not dead."

That voice sounded just like Tseng. What the heck was that about? The Turk should not be here.

"Turn your head, Zack."

Making a confused face, Zack decided to do what he was told. When he did, he found Tseng standing near the doorway of the room. "What are you doing here? I should be dead."

"Should be and actuality are two different things," stated Tseng, a faint, relieved smile on his face. "I assure you, neither you nor Cloud are dead."

This caused Zack to abruptly sit up. His head swam but he forced back the dizziness. "Where is he?"

"Right next to you."

Zack faced his left and gasped loudly. Cloud's pale skin and delicate features were bruised and his closed eyes looked sunken in. There was a machine monitoring his vital signs and bandages on his visible arm. If not for the steady lines on the machine's screen, he would have thought the blond was dead.

"Is he…?" Zack was unsure how to finish the question.

Thankfully, the other black-haired man understood what he was asking. "He'll recover with time. He may need some rehabilitation but we won't know until after he wakes up. Given the condition he was in when we found the three of you, I'd say The Planet was looking out for him. Aerith seems to think so also."

"Is she here?" Zack rather hoped she was. He had realized very quickly after meeting the flower girl that she was an excellent listener and she had helped him a great deal after Angeal's death.

"Not at the moment. She said she would return this evening."

Zack nodded slowly his attention still fixed on Cloud. He did not have words for how relieved he was that Cloud was likely to recover from this ordeal. He did not think he could bear living if he had survived when the blond had not.

There was a single loud beep from across the room and when Zack looked in the direction it came from he gave a start. "He's alive!?"

Lying on the third bed in the room was Sephiroth. The only visible sign of earlier events on him was a large bandage on his exposed chest where Cloud had shot him. The rest of the silver-haired man's torso was covered by a sheet so Zack could not tell if his abdominal stab wound was likewise bandaged. An IV rack was set up beside him with a nearly empty bag of purple fluid.

"Did you really doubt he would pull through?" Tseng walked over to the man in question. There was a large cooler on the floor near the bed, which Tseng knelt before and began opening. "After all, you know what he is."

"Yeah, he's human," Zack replied automatically. "I don't care what was done to him or how he was created."

Tseng removed another bag of purple fluid and stood back up. "You maintain that belief despite all you have heard and what he has done."

"Well, yeah." Zack watched the Turk start changing the IV bag. "That wasn't him. I know he didn't want to do any of that himself; he was being influenced by that thing he convinced himself was his mother."

"That was my conclusion also." Tseng finished connecting the fresh bag. "After receiving the report, I made the decision to bring him here along with you and Cadet Strife. As far as Shinra is concerned, the three of you perished while on assignment and the events that occurred at Nibelheim never happened."

"What?" The raven-haired SOLDIER stared at Tseng as he calmly walked away from Sephiroth. "But… the whole town burned to the ground! Everyone was… there's no way that can be covered up."

"It can and it has been." Tseng countered easily. He returned to his original position. "Never doubt the company's abilities."

"Oh, believe me," muttered Zack bitterly. "As of now, I have no illusions about what that company is capable of."

Tseng studied Zack for a few minutes. The younger man had no idea what the other was thinking and was not sure he wanted to. However, he had several questions to ask of the shorter man.

"You said that Shinra believes we're dead," said Zack slowly. When Tseng nodded, he asked, "Why is that? Are you hiding us or something?"

The Turk leader did not speak immediately. He continued to study the other male a bit longer before glancing down at the stone floor. "Hojo insisted on accompanying me to Nibelheim. If he knew that any of you had survived, he would have taken you as new experiments. I called ahead and had all of you removed from the location. He was told upon arrival that all of you fell into the mako pool. He's still suspicious but has no solid reason to doubt the word of the Turks. The President accepted it without question."

Zack paled as Tseng spoke. The very notion of becoming one of that twisted scientist's experiments sickened him in a way he could not adequately describe. He glanced at Cloud and that feeling worsened. He could not even contemplate what the man might have done with the cadet. Cloud had no enhancements whatsoever and had been able to successfully hold his own against SOLDIER's best and Hojo's greatest experiment. Zack was not even going to try to think about what would have happened to Sephiroth.

Looking back at Tseng, Zack frowned. "Wait. What happens if they find out we didn't die like you said?"

"The Turks will see to it that they don't," Tseng replied confidently. There was a peculiar little smile on his face. "We are quite adept with secrets."

"But…" Zack trailed off. If Tseng was caught hiding them, the First Class knew the consequences would be dire not only to Tseng but all of the Turks involved in this. Everyone knew the Turks were notorious for their fanatical loyalty to the Shinra company and it spoke enormous volumes of how dedicated they must be to Tseng himself if they were willing to risk their careers and very likely lives to support a decision that clearly went against what the company would want.

Tseng's smile became more natural. "Sometimes, it's the loyalty to one's self and their sense of right and wrong that is most important; particularly when it comes to friends."

Zack did not know what to say. He was moved beyond words that Tseng was here, risking everything in the name of friendship. He showed his gratitude with a simple, "Thanks, Tseng."

The man nodded then immediately returned to business. "Obviously, we will not be able to keep the three of you here indefinitely. For now, the church serves as a passable location since it is quite literally right under their noses but eventually that same fact will work against us."

"How long have we been here?" Zack carefully swing his legs to the side of the small bed. He experimentally stretched them out, feeling the muscles pull with an ache. They were definitely tight from disuse.

"Two weeks," answered Tseng. "Reno, Rude and Cissnei traveled around with the three of you for a week prior to that."

"We've been down for three weeks?" Violet eyes blinked. While he supposed that really was not a very long time considering how seriously wounded they were, it still came as a shock to hear.

"Yes. Actually, Sephiroth began awakening the day after you were transported here." Tseng folded his arms. "We've been keeping him completely sedated until we can decide what to do about him."

Zack looked back over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"He is psychologically traumatized, Zack," explained the dark-haired Turk. "We have absolutely no idea what state he'll be in when he awakens."

"Oh." Zack took a breath. He understood the concern and reluctantly agreed that keeping Sephiroth unconscious for the time being was a good idea. Once he was a bit stronger and had a better idea of what was going to happen in the near future, he could focus on how to handle the general.

There was a faint groan from beside him and his heart flared to life. He tried to leap up but his legs were weak and he pitched forward. He managed to catch himself in the side of Cloud's bed and fell to his knees.

Holding himself up with his elbows on the mattress, he took hold of the younger man's hand. "Cloud? Cloud, can you hear me?"

The blond moaned a little, his expression slightly pained. He did not regain consciousness but Zack was convinced that Cloud could hear him and, more importantly, knew he was there. "Hey, Spike. Everything's going to be fine. You just keep resting and getting stronger."

Cloud settled down again, face relaxing. Zack bit his lip and with his free hand brushed a fallen spike from Cloud's forehead. "You need to hurry up and recover. I still owe you that dinner date."

Tseng had come over and was reading the statistics on the monitor. "His numbers are improving. He should truly awaken soon."

"Good." Zack kept his eyes on the blond lying before him. "You should have seen him, Tseng. He was incredible."

"I heard." Tseng moved to stand beside Zack. "I have concerns for his mental state when he awakens also. He has been through an impossible experience and will have to deal with what was done to his hometown and family."

"I know." Zack understood all of that. He knew that he also was going to have to have some kind of major therapy after everything but that would have to come later. Right now, his only concern was Cloud and then Sephiroth. "We'll handle it. We're all going to be fine."

He felt Tseng's eyes on him and waited for the man to contradict him. Tseng was nothing if not a practical man and he knew that his declaration was as naively optimistic as words could be. It did not matter though; he would find a way to make the words true.

He was surprised when he felt Tseng place his hands under his arms. The shorter dark-haired man carefully helped him to his feet and then nudged him forward. "What are you…?"

"Helping you lay down with him." Tseng continued assisting Zack to get into the bed beside Cloud. "I think it will help him to have you close."

Zack settled himself beside Cloud and carefully repositioned himself so that he could pillow the blond's head on his arm. Cloud murmured something and turned his head ever so slightly toward Zack's body. Zack simply petted at his spiky hair.

Tseng stepped away. "If you need anything, I'll be just outside the room; I have a few things I need to handle. I will send Aerith in when she returns."

"Thanks, Tseng." Zack looked back over his shoulder. "I really can't say that enough."

"You're welcome." The Turk nodded. He then turned and quietly left the room.

Zack exhaled slowly and glanced down at Cloud. After a minute, he turned his face toward Sephiroth. He had no way of knowing what the future was going to bring for any of them. One thing he did know was that none of them could ever go back to their lives before going to Nibelheim.

Each of their lives, their very selves, had been irrevocably changed by the events that had occurred there and there was simply no telling how those changes were going to ultimately affect them. On top of that, they were going to have to figure out what they were going to do about Shinra. They could not just simply let the company and Hojo continue to mess around with people's lives. And of course, Genesis was still out there somewhere…

Sighing, Zack dropped his head against his shoulder. "Well, guys, we've certainly gotten ourselves into a bad situation, haven't we?"

The room remained silent but he expected that. He was talking merely to give himself some sense of normalcy. "I don't know what we're gonna do but I do know one thing, I'm gonna do my damnest to make sure we all come out of this mess alive and with some semblance of sanity.

"I promise."