Thank you guys who reviewed, I really appreciate it!

This chapter was fun to write, because my favorite character in FFVII is introduced.

Lemme know what you think (in reviews :D). Did I capture his essence correctly? Does he act natural? He (the new character) is going to be a huge part of the story, so I wanna make sure he's acting like he should.

Disclaimer: I do not own Finaly Fantasy VII

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I was going to rob a bank.

I know I'm skipping about a two week period, but nothing significant happened in those weeks, which flew by despite me stopping time anytime Aerith and I were traveling. Aerith and I spent that time staying in some mediocre hotel up above the plate, sight-seeing, and bonding, if you can call it that.

Neither of us had shared much about our personal lives, but there was sort of this mutual understanding that we were just "Cloud" and "Aerith" and that was how it was going to be. I had a lot of fun with her and I liked her just fine, but I still didn't trust her. I wasn't sure why, there was just some nagging thought in the back of my head.

She was an intellectual; I had to admit, I was surprised. I had expected her to be some ditzy girl who was really nice and pretty but didn't have too much going on between the ears. Boy was I wrong.

Anyway, after those two weeks, I began to run low on cash. Despite Aerith's protests, I had refused to allow her to pay for anything. It was my fault she was in Midgar, and I was going to make sure she didn't suffer at all because of my acting-without-thinking.

I tried getting a job, I really did, but everywhere I went they requested a driver's license. Oh, you don't have a driver's license? We can get you one, what's your social security number? Oh, you don't have a social security number? We can get you one, bring us your birth certificate. It was a never-ending cycle, and if I was going to fly under the radar of any sort of authority (no way in hell was I going back to my father), I couldn't ruffle any feathers.

Which led to me coming up with the genius idea of robbing a bank. It's ironic, really – I needed to stay hidden from the authorities , and I was about to commit a horrible crime.

I tried to justified it, thought it wasn't doing much good to help my conscience. I told myself I wasn't going to do any harm, I wasn't even bringing any sort of weapon, wasn't going to incite panic at all. Besides, I was stealing from the Shinra National Bank; the bank of the biggest corporation in the world. They wouldn't miss a few bucks, would they? And I've read the news. They deserved it.

So there I was, dressed in the same outfit I came in plus a black hoodie that I had bought two days after arriving in the big city, standing around at the bank trying to look inconspicuous. I'm pretty sure I was failing miserably, but I wasn't the most suspicious guy there.

No, there was a guy standing in the corner with a black sweatshirt, like mine but bigger, hood pulled over his head, and his hands were jammed into his pockets, slouching like there was a huge weight on his shoulders. I eyed him carefully as I watched the giant vault door – Shinra was always big on style, liking to flaunt their money – waiting for it to open.

The plan was simple: the vault door would open at some point when someone would make a withdrawal, and I would stop time and waltz in, take some cash, and leave, only resuming time once I was safe in my apartment.

The hooded guy added a variable into the equation; I was watching him also to make sure he didn't pull out a gun and try to rob the place. If he did, I was confident in my abilities enough by then (remember, I shifted whenever Aerith and I were traveling – the slums could get pretty dangerous at night), that I could shift and take the gun away from him before he could do any real harm. I just hoped he wasn't twitchy and pulled the trigger when my focus was on the vault door him.

After what seemed like forever, though I'm sure it was really only a couple minutes, a worker stepped over to the vault door and began to turn the handle, slowly cranking the giant metal door open. I stole one last glance at the hooded guy before I started my plan, but I froze in place when I saw him staring right at me. He had piercing violet eyes, and in those eyes I could see a suspicion. It looked like . . . he thought I was going to rob the place. I almost laughed out loud, but stopped myself. Instead, I quickly looked away, and shifted.

The door was barely ajar, but it was open enough that I could slip through it. I walked carefully through the line of people, making sure I didn't bump into any of them, when I felt a strong hand grab my wrist. I screamed. I'll admit it, I screamed like a little girl. I was scared shitless. I was sure time was stopped, and I was positive no one was touching me when I shifted.

"Ho-lee . . . shit," the owner of the hand spoke. His voice was surprisingly . . . boyish. Not boyish as in immature or high-pitched, but boyish as in the speaker wasn't quite old enough to be jaded with the world like everyone else in the bank seemed to be. Yea, I didn't much care for adults.

"You can stop time too?" We both asked at the same time. There was a pregnant pause following the question; neither of us knew how to answer. I turned around, slowly pulling my hand away, and the grasp loosened.

I came face-to-face with the hooded guy, his violet eyes staring right my blue ones. His hood was down now, and soft midnight spikes cascaded down his neck, apparently slicked back, though without gel. A lone spike fell forward, creating an arch over his left eye.

That was the first time I got a good look at Zack Fair, the man who would become the greatest friend in my life.

It's hard to describe Zack. He was intelligent, one of the smartest people I've ever met, humorous, he could make anyone crack a smile, and nice – one time he stopped time just to help an old lady across the street. Luckily she was too senile to realize no one around her was moving.

The easiest way to describe Zack is to tell you to imagine charisma: that intangible quality about someone that just makes them likable, makes you want to follow him. Now take charisma, and build a human out of it. You've got Zack in a nutshell.

Zack broke the silence first, essentially repeating the question he just asked. "You're a shifter?"

"A what?" I asked. Yep, Zack was the one who introduced me to the term "shifting."

"You can stop time," he explained. I looked around to make sure time was indeed stopped. It was. Zack and I were the only ones who were moving at all. I nodded. He ran a hand through his raven hair – that was one of his trademark habits. "And you're going to rob this bank for money?"

I nodded again, dumbstruck. Zack turned away from me and walked over to an empty bench in the corner of the lobby and sat down. I was shocked. He didn't know me at all, and he was willing to turn his back to me. Dumbfounded, I followed and sat down next to him. "Explain to me," he said, "how you were going to steal the money."

He didn't sound like he was accusing me of a crime or like he was going to turn me in, so I went ahead and explained my whole plan. It was weird . . . I told him this whole plan after speaking to him for thirty seconds, and Aerith was still completely unaware of what I was doing.

"Idiot," Zack muttered after I finished.

"Excuse me?" I turned to him, a frown appearing on my face. I was pretty proud of my idea, it wasn't at all idiotic, if I did say so myself.

Zack quickly proved me wrong. "Listen, I first robbed this bank two years ago. Now I had the perfect plan. Yours was flawed in way too many ways. First of all, It's way easier to wait outside of the bank and do a little window-shopping. I was in here because I heard of a bank robbery going to happen, that's why I was watching you, you looked suspicious.

"Second, you can't just resume time after getting to your apartment, hotel, house, wherever you're staying. You hafta be paranoid; there are people watching you. If you shifted back at your place, someone would be bound to notice your sudden disappearance," he gestured at my hair, "especially with that chocobo ass you call a hairdo.

"What ya need to do is shift once the vault opens, then slip inside and take the money, then go back your place to hide it, and go back to the bank, in the exact position you were at before you stopped. That way, no one has any idea whatsover who took the money, and no one would give two shits about you. Capiche?"

He stared at me for a moment, waiting for a response. I looked at him, eyes wide, still trying to take everything in. I guess I didn't reply fast enough, because he continued. "Come on, I'll show you my place."

Without another word he grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the bank – I still didn't have any money – and out into the street. "I didn't get any money," I tried to say, but Zack brushed me off.

"I've got plenty in my apartment," he assured me. Was this guy just going to give me the money he stole? I swear . . . between him and Aerith I had met a couple weird people on my short trip.

"How old are you?" I asked. It was a question that itched at me since hearing him talk.

"Nineteen," he replied without missing a beat. Huh. I guess I couldn't say I was surprised, because I wasn't. But I was at the same time. The way he carried himself, and the way he was built, he looked at least mid-twenties. But his eyes did make him look a lot younger, and his personality was that of still a teen.

Zack was weird. He could be incredibly immature at times, but at others he acted wise beyond his years.

We stopped in front of a fancy building that I could only guess was an apartment complex. Zack dug into his back pocket and pulled a wallet out. From where I was standing, it looked fat. Like, fatter than the richie-riches you see when you're in a fancy restaurant. When he opened it, I noticed he didn't have a credit card, and it was full of cash. Makes sense. I wonder if he had the same issue I did, not being able to give up his identity. He pulled out a keycard and waved it in front of a small black box next to the door. There was a beep and a green light flashed.

I followed him through the lobby and into the elevator and watched him press a button – we were going to the top floor. This is what I mean when I say Zack is immature. He has to go out and buy the swankiest penthouse on the top floor. Subtlety wasn't really his strong suit. At least, subtlety didn't come naturally to him.

The ride up was silent; Zack didn't say a word. To be honest, it was kinda freaking me out. He was so talkative and animated before, but now he looked as stiff as a business man.

Eventually the elevator stopped and the doors opened to a long hallway with a single doorway that obviously led to his apartment.

He walked briskly, and I had to almost jog to catch up. He was a good head taller than me, and his strides were much longer.

When we got to the end he turned around towards me and extended his hands upward, as if greeting an audience.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he said, spinning around and flashing a grin before kicking open the door.

–

Yep, it's Zack.

I was originally going to make this chapter 5, and add a filler chapter where Aerith and Cloud explored, but it was going to be fluff and I didn't think people would like to much.

Hopefully this was more exciting!

Review?

-Extra Lives