Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of the Final Fantasy 7 characters. Final Fantasy 7 and all of the Final Fantasy 7 characters rightfully belongs to Square-Enix. I own nothing.

Alright, Chapter 2. I would like to thank Wolfawaken for the very good and helpful tip. Wolfawaken was very kind to give me some helpful advice as well as some encouragement to type up a second chapter for this story. Thank you so much Wolfawaken, your help is greatly appreciated. This chapter takes place close to the end of Final Fantasy 7:Advent Children Complete when our favorite blonde spiky haired hero Cloud is fighting against Sephiroth. I know that this event happens some time after the original FF7 game, but I think that it would be a good way to tie it all together. Anyways, please feel free to leave me a review to let me know what you all think about it. Please enjoy.

A Guardian SOLDIER

Chapter 2

The sounds of steel hitting against steel gets louder as a final battle between good and evil continues. Cloud cries out when he is suddenly knocked back and crashes into a nearby concrete wall on the roof of the ruins of the Shin-Ra building.

A cold smirk finds its way on Sephiroth's face as he gets in his fighting stance and advances. However, he stops running towards his opponent when he sees a glowing mist of dark blue energy emanating off of Cloud as the blonde begins to use his limit break.

Once his limit break is active, he immediately dashes up to Sephiroth and the two sworn enemies continue fighting with a flurry of several sword strikes. However, Sephiroth seems to easily block all of Cloud's attacks. Cloud lets out a loud grunt as he leaps into the air in an attempt to deliver a final blow. He suddenly lets out a sharp cry of pain when Sephiroth quickly holds up his sword and impales the blonde right in the chest and holds him up in the air and the blue misty energy from Cloud's limit break immediately fades away.

A cold smile finds its way on the former general's face as he looks up at Cloud because this is a very familiar scene. The madman enjoys the scene even more when Cloud kicks and grunts in agony. "Is this the pain you felt before, Cloud?"

The former mercenary clenches his teeth and glares at his sworn enemy in response.

In a calm and cold tone, Sephiroth continues, "Let me remind you. This time you won't forget."

A small gasp escapes from Cloud's lips and his eyes widen as Sephiroth suddenly sprouts a large black feathered wing from his right shoulder and flings him up high into the air. The former general flies directly up after him to finish him. Cloud manages to block Sephiroth's first two sword strikes, however, he manages to knock the blonde's sword out of the way. Cloud clenches his teeth and grunts in pain when Sephiroth cuts, stabs, and impales him several times throughout his body. He manages to grab his enemies blade when it cuts the left side of his face after impaling his foot. Cloud cries out when the madman roughly throws him back down, sending him plummeting towards the planet. The hero crashes on the ruins of the roof of the abandoned Shin-Ra building. Cloud weakly grunts as he manages to climb to his knees and he watches as several drops of his blood drips and falls to the ground while he struggles to pick up his sword.

Sephiroth glares down at Cloud with a satisfied grin. The time has finally come for him to end the great Cloud Strife...permanently. "Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away." Sephiroth then begins to swoop down at the former infantryman.

Cloud looks up at his sworn enemy just as several memories flash before his eyes. Memories that he will forever cherish of Aerith, Tifa, Marlene, Denzel, and Zack...He finds himself wishing that his best friend were here to help him. Out of the two of them, it seems that Zack has always been the stronger one.

Meanwhile, during this time in the Lifestream, a young man with black spiky hair suddenly jumps up. "Cloud's in danger! I have to go!"

"Go on, Zack. Your puppy needs your help."

Zack turns his head to see Angeal standing next to him. The ex-SOLDIER nods before he answers, "Yeah, I'm on it." After he takes a few steps forward, he turns his head towards his former mentor and manages a smile as he tells him, "Don't miss me too much."

Angeal gives Zack a stoic look in response as he sarcastically answers, "Yeah. How could I manage for a full thirty seconds without you?"

Zack softly chuckles. "Good question." Zack eagerly begins to run before he suddenly vanishes out of the Lifestream to desperately aid his younger best friend.

After watching his former apprentice and friend leave, Angeal can't help but softly chuckle before he says, "Forever the restless puppy."

The quick flashes of Cloud's memories come to an end as a bright white light suddenly surrounds him. He can't help but feel surprised when he doesn't see Sephiroth anymore, as if time itself has come to a complete stop.

"So what if it looks hopeless. If it were me, I still wouldn't give up." Cloud's eyes suddenly widen in disbelief as he hears that voice. He knows that voice... A soft gasp escapes from his lips before he hears his dearly departed best friend add, "Embrace your dreams and whatever happens protect your honor as SOLDIER." Zack lets out a barely audible chuckle before he continues, "Okay, so you never made SOLDIER" he lightly taps his thumb against his chest "but it's what's in here that counts."

Cloud takes a deep breath before he manages to softly say, "Zack?"

Zack remains standing tall and proud behind Cloud to watch his back just like he always has. The spirit of the older man rests the Buster Sword up against his right shoulder before he asks, "Well, you need a hand with him?"

Help sounds so good...No, he can do this on his own because Zack believes that he can. Cloud looks down and hesitantly shakes his head. He softly grunts in pain from his wounds as he finally manages to grip his sword and climb to his feet.

After Cloud gets back up, Zack turns his head and asks his younger best friend, "You already beat him once didn't you? This should be a cinch."

Cloud keeps his eyes locked in front of him because he knows that when Zack leaves, Sephiroth will be where he was at just before Zack came. "Yeah..."

Zack turns his head and looks in front of him again as he decides to remind his best friend, "Cloud..You know what I told you?"

Cloud knows what he's referring to. "That's right." He soon finds himself repeating his last words to his older best friend from that tragic night on the hill, "I am your living legacy."

A big smile instantly appears on Zack's face as he looks down and closes his eyes before he suddenly vanishes to return to the Lifestream. He knows that this night, victory belongs to a fellow hero.

Once Zack and the bright white light disappears, Cloud doesn't waste any time and leaps into the air. He blocks Sephiroth's attack and knocks him back. Sephiroth is quick to dodge Cloud's attack and the blonde goes after him. Cloud glares up at him as he decides to answer his question from a few minutes ago, "I pity you." His voice gets louder as he continues, "You just don't get it at all! There's not a thing that I don't cherish!"
Cloud continues glaring at Sephiroth as he twirls his sword above his head to prepare for his final attack. Cloud glares at the villian and Sephiroth looks at him with a smirk as they lock swords with each other. However, Sephiroth's eyes widen in surprise when several smaller swords unlatch from Cloud's main sword and he begins to glow blue as he activates his limit break again. The former mercenary quickly rises into the air and grabs a sword. The next thing that Sephiroth knew, Cloud becomes a blue blur and he grunts in pain when he feels several sword strikes slicing through his skin as the blonde uses incredible speed while performing his finishing move 'Omni-Slash'.

A blue energy shock wave goes out as Cloud delivers the final blow. He lands on his feet just before he easily catches his sword while the blades of his fusion swords land on the rooftop. Cloud glares up at Sephiroth and orders, "Stay where you belong..in my memories."

Sephiroth looks down at him and replies, "I will..never be a memory." With that being said, Sephiroth closes his eyes as he wraps his wing around himself and vanishes, leaving Kadaj in his place. Kadaj lets out a pained grunt as he suddenly falls to the ground.

Once he sees Kadaj, Cloud quickly tightens his grip on his sword and gets in his fighting stance in case the remnant tries to attack him again.

Kadaj tightens his grip on his sword and weakly charges at Cloud but only to fall over when he gets to him.

Cloud instinctively reaches out his left arm and catches him as he falls.

Kadaj gazes up at Cloud and weakly mutters, "Brother."

Cloud just looks down at him. He knows that Kadaj was a puppet for Sephiroth. The former mercenary knows what that's like from his past. He also knows that Kadaj is dying, so he decides to continue holding onto him until he passes on.

"Kadaj?"

Kadaj's eyes widen when he suddenly hears a woman's voice call out his name as it begins to rain. He gazes up at the sky as rain drops continue falling on his face and asks, "Mother?"

He lets out a soft gasp when he hears the woman's voice continue, "Everyone's waiting if you're ready."

When he sees a young woman in a long pink dress descending towards him he asks, "Mother? Is that...?" He reaches his hand towards her and gently grabs her hand. She pulls him up with her and his body immediately dissipates into bright green specks of energy as he joins the Lifestream.

Once Kadaj's body dissipates, Cloud climbs to his feet and watches as the green specks of energy flies towards the sky and disappears. His eyes soon wonder up towards Cid's airship where the rest of the group is and he can't help but close his eyes in relief because now the world is safe from its greatest enemy once again.

His victory is short lived when a loud thundering sound is heard and a sharp pain is suddenly felt in his left shoulder close to his chest. At that moment, it seems like everything slows down as he falls to his knees. He looks down and realizes that he's been shot as blood continues to stream out of his body and onto his left arm. He immediately discovers who shot him when he hears Yazoo's voice behind him weakly say, "We'll go..together." Cloud grunts and gasps in pain and he can't hear what Loz says afterwards. He continues grunting in pain as he tightens his grip on his sword and climbs to his feet. He almost falls but he quickly regains his balance when he stands up. He can't help but feel enraged that the last two remnants have shot him from behind when he was completely unaware of their presence. With a look of anger, Cloud turns around to face Yazoo and Loz. He cries out as he dashes up to them and drags the blade of his sword across the ground which causes several sparks to fly as he does so.

Yazoo and Loz are quick to act as they both raise their arm towards Cloud. The materia inside of their arms glow brightly with several colors as they charge up their materia for their final attack.

Once Cloud leaps into the air in preparation to strike them both down to ensure the safety of the planet, Yazoo and Loz shoot their charged up materia at him. The former mercenary doesn't even get a chance to cry out in agony when he feels his entire body burning which only lasts for a split second as the three of them are engulfed in the explosion.

"Cloud!" Tifa cries out after she witnesses with horror of what just happened from the safety of the Shera. Tifa turns to the wall and places her hands over her eyes as she begins to cry tears of sorrow. For her, it feels like a part of her has just died. At that moment when Cloud was killed, the sky darkens some as it begins to rain harder than before. It seems like the planet is weeping along with her because when a hero dies the planet cries just as it did with Angeal and Zack and now it's weeping for Cloud.

Meanwhile, a bright white light surrounds Cloud in the Lifestream. He keeps his eyes closed as if he's sleeping when he suddenly feels a warm and gentle hand on his forehead. "Mother?" He asks in a calm tone.

Cloud feels so warm and peaceful on the inside when he hears a familiar woman's voice reply as she removes her hand, "Again? Why has everyone been calling me their mother lately?" He knows that voice, it belongs to Aerith.

Cloud feels even more peaceful and warmer on the inside when he hears another familiar voice but this time it's a man's voice reply to Aerith with a soft chuckle, "I guess that they must be fond of you." Cloud smiles on the inside because he knows that Zack and Aerith are with him.

Aerith looks up at Zack and tells him with a kind smile, "This one's a little too big to adopt."

Zack smiles down at Cloud and says to him, "Tough luck, friend. Sounds like you don't have a place here."

The warm and peaceful feeling suddenly fades away when Cloud feels himself drifting away from them. The drifting feeling suddenly goes away when he feels a presence, but it doesn't feel like a human presence. It feels more like the presence of an observing and protective animal. The presence also fades away and it feels like everything's wet. To him, it feels like he's laying down on water. He slowly opens his eyes to see a very familiar looking ceiling above him. 'The church,' he thinks to himself. He also sees several young children staring down at him. They continue staring at him as he climbs to his feet to find himself standing in water and surrounded by several people including his friends in Aerith's church. A blank expression remains on Cloud's face as he looks around.

A little girl smiles up at him and says, "It's like she said 'Wait here and Cloud will come back.'"

"Welcome back!" Cloud hears another little girl tell him in a cheerful tone.

Cloud manages a small smile and nods his head before he says, "I'm back."

Nanaki takes a few steps forward and looks at Cloud as he informs him, "There are still children with the stigma."

"Yeah," the former mercenary answers before he walks towards Denzel, who's being shy and hiding behind Tifa.

Tifa kneels down beside Denzel and tells him, "Let's get you fixed up."

Cloud smiles up at Denzel and holds out his hand as he tells him in a soft tone, "Come on, I'm here."

Denzel looks down at Cloud before Tifa tells him, "It's okay."

Cloud gently picks up Denzel and carefully sits him down in the water which is from Aerith's healing rain and has been fused with the Lifestream. Denzel watches as Cloud scoops up some of the water and lightly pours it onto the young boy's head. Denzel quickly rubs some of the water onto his forehead, hoping that this will really work and cure the deadly disease. He eagerly yet nervously watches his reflection in the large pool of water that him and Cloud is standing in. He watches in amazement as the geostigma that's on his forehead completely disappears. A surprised gasp escapes from him as he looks up at Cloud. The former mercenary smiles down at him and nods to tell him that his geostigma is gone forever. A big smile finds itself on Denzel's face as he lets out a cheerful laugh and he turns to face the people. The townspeople along with Barrett, Cid, and Yuffie happily cheers as several people jumps into the water to celebrate. Cloud's face slightly turns red when he sees Tifa cross her arms and smile at him, which to him looks like a flirtatious smile.

The former mercenary can't help but smile with joy as he looks around and sees how happy everyone looks. His eyes immediately wonder towards a young woman in a long pink dress who's kneeling down next to some kids. Cloud instantly knows who she is. He watches as she gets up and begins to walk towards a young man who's standing in the doorway. Cloud instantly knows who he is as well.

Aerith turns around and smiles at him. "You see. Everything's alright." She slowly walks towards the doorway.

Zack continues leaning up against the doorway with his arms crossed and thinks, 'I told you that I'd be there to help you if you ever need me.'

Cloud can hear his best friend's thoughts and he continues gazing at him as he replies with a thought, 'Thank you..for everything. I just want to make you proud, Zack.'

Zack smiles at his younger best friend and tells him with his thought, 'I am always proud of you, Cloud..And you're never alone.' Zack continues smiling at him as he gives his friend a little wave with his hand before he turns to leave with Aerith.

Once he heard Zack's words in his mind, a smile appears on Cloud's face while he watches Zack and Aerith leave and thinks, 'I know. I'm not alone..not anymore.'

The next day, Cloud finds himself walking up to a very familiar place. A place that he feels has played a huge role in shaping the reason for his very existence..Zack's grave. He can't help but smile to himself when he sees that there's now a small group of flowers and grass growing in the very spot where his best friend drew his last breath at. The Buster Sword no longer rests here. Cloud restored that legendary and great blade to its former glory yesterday not long after Zack and Aerith's departure. The sword now rests in the stone alter at the church where it's surrounded by Aerith's flowers. It now serves as the perfect representation of the ultimate sacrifice that both Zack and Aerith has made. The former mercenary slightly bows his head in respect as he thinks, 'I'm here, Zack.'

Out of curiosity, Denzel asks in a soft tone, "Is this somebody's grave?"

Cloud remains quiet for a few seconds before he answers, "No. This is where a hero began his journey." Cloud looks down at his adopted son and notices that he's slightly tilting his head some in confusion at Cloud's statement. Little does the young boy know that when Cloud said 'hero' he was referring to Zack and when he said 'began his journey' he was referring to himself.

Denzel looks up at Cloud and asks, "Hero?"

The former mercenary continues gazing at Zack's grave as he replies with a small smile, "I'll tell you the story some time, kid."

Denzel's eyes immediately light up as he looks at Cloud and asks with a big smile on his face, "Really? Is it about you?"

Cloud looks at Denzel as he replies, "Yes, but it's also about a great hero who taught me everything that I know."

The young boy's eyes widen in excitement, "Wow! You know a really cool hero like you?"

"Of course I do. Come on. When we get to the church, I'll tell you the whole story, kid," Cloud tells him as they turn to leave. He has to tell him because he owes it to Zack. He will tell him the entire story about the brave Zack Fair..The young man who has been an older brother and a father figure to him and he will always be his best friend as well as his hero.

Okay and there's chapter 2. I would also like to thank Wolfawaken again for encouraging me to do a second chapter for this oneshot...which is now of course a twoshot. Thank you so much Wolfawaken. The very ending with Cloud and Denzel was Kikino's idea. I would like to thank Kikino for giving me the idea to put that scene in. Thank you Kikino, I really appreciate it. Oh, and please review to let me know what you all think. I never mind positive reviews, negative reviews, or writing tips. Thank you all for reading this and I hope that you all enjoyed it.