A/N: hey guys! I know it's been a long time since I've updated. Real life has finally caught up to me, and my exams are coming up. So don't expect any updates before the summer holidays, okay? But once it does come, I'll have my plot bunnies dancing and have this fic raring and ready to go. so, that's it, and enjoy the chapter.

"Okay then," Zack sighed. "Here goes."

The silence that followed was tense – at least, it was for Aerith – as Zack gathered his wits to tell his side of the story. Of course, not forgetting the warning he gave her that his viewpoint was probably not the whole truth, she was still frightened. Frightened to know the whole truth, yet she knew that if she doesn't try to find out what in the world is going on, the curiosity will eat her inside.

Maybe it's better to not know the whole truth and stop here, she thought, deep in her mind. However, her mind seems to be at war with this issue. She decided to just sit and listen.

Zack started. "Last year, both of us were just freshmen in this school. It might be surprising, considering the size of the school, but Finale doesn't have a junior high. So we had to transfer from our old school to here. Frankly speaking, I'm the only SOLDIER that didn't come from a junior high around here," he pointed out.

Aerith slowly nodded. "So you and Cissnei were from the same junior high?" she asked.

"Sort of," Zack shrugged. "I didn't know her much. She transferred in third year of junior high and we never got to talk much. I didn't even notice her before we both arrived in this school as freshmen. Of course, there were others from our old school that came here, but there weren't much since our junior high was far away. So we stuck out like a sore thumb, the freshmen that came here from my school."

Aerith put the pieces together. "So you two basically became friends after moving here."

Zack laughed. "Wait, I'm getting there," he said while adjusting his seating position to properly face Aerith. "You're impatient, aren't you?"

She could feel her cheeks burning. "Go on!" she urged him.

"Okay, okay," Zack grinned. "I knew Finale from Angeal. We were neighbors, before he moved out just recently. He basically helped me with all the admission business to this school. As you can see, this school's pretty luxurious. I'm surprised that my parents had the money to allow me to come here. Anyway, Cissnei and I were kinda dumped together in the same class. Mr. Valentine's class," he said.

Aerith raised an eyebrow. "But I thought Cissnei's homeroom teacher was Mr. Barrett?"

Zack nodded. "Yes, but at first, she was with me. With us, if she stayed in his class for another year. Each year we change classes, so yeah," he said matter-of-factly.

"Anyway," he continued, "she was the only one I knew in the class. I really thought the other students were trying to shut us out because our junior high wasn't the most prestigious of places. Later on I found out that wasn't the case, but until then, I got to know her. We were a bit awkward at first, but a month passed by, then two… and we became really good friends."

"We basically hung out together a lot. Despite the fact that we also had other friends, we were close, Cissnei and I. Lots of people teased that we were dating," Zack laughed. Aerith blinked.

Zack took notice of her look. "B-but, we weren't, of course," he elaborated.

Aerith rubbed her chin. "Good, because then if you want to get near Cissnei, you'll have to go over my dead body first," she deadpanned.

Zack stared. "So that's what you were thinking? I'm a bit disappointed…" he trailed off.

Aerith was taken aback. "Why?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "Never mind," he said while raising his palm to her. "Anyway, gradually I started introducing her to Angeal. They instantly became friends. Kinda made me wonder about it. Angeal was already a member of SOLDIER, so introducing Cissnei to him at the time was kinda dangerous. But since everyone thought we were dating, his fans apparently didn't mind," Zack shrugged.

Aerith stopped him. "Wait. 'Dangerous'? Why?"

Zack stared briefly at her before continuing. "Fans of SOLDIER are… a bit fanatic," he answered. "One girl gets treated special, it'll unleash a hell of fury."

Aerith thought about it for a second. "Oookay… er, go on."

He continued. "So Cissnei, Angeal and I became good friends. We were kind of the popular trio, always hanging out together. The school knew me and Cissnei that way, basically. Doesn't help that she's beautiful and also pretty much a brainiac. The guys in the school fall head over heels for her after three months of freshman year."

Zack's voice changed slightly. "That's also how she got Genesis' attention."

Aerith gulped. Here it comes, she screamed in her head.

"The dude's a Casanova," Zack said. "He can't help hitting on pretty girls. His fans have apparently gotten used to this, so they didn't mind. The surprising part is, he never asked Cissnei out. Not even once." Aerith's jaw dropped. "Sure, Angeal hangs out with both of us a lot, and sometimes Genesis tags along just for fun, but I was beginning to suspect something. Since I'm good friends with Angeal, he sometimes talks about his childhood friend Genesis. It's kind of impossible for someone like him to just pass off Cissnei, according to Angeal's stories about him."

"Later on, Genesis came more frequently to our outings. Eventually, Cissnei and I got used to his company. Of course, those two never stop bickering, it's mind-boggling," Zack rolled his eyes. "They never agree on one thing. Angeal and I are always caught in the crossfire. I accepted it as good, clean fun, but Angeal was suspecting something more."

Aerith voiced her thoughts aloud. "It isn't like the usual Genesis?" she asked, taking a wild guess.

"Bingo," Zack said. "According to Angeal, Genesis never tries to infuriate a girl before. He always treats them like a princess, but apparently he treats Cissnei way, way differently." Zack took a deep breath.

"I got closer to both Angeal and Genesis due to our hang-outs, and so did Cissnei. Eventually, their nonstop bickering reached school grounds. They were famous for it; Cissnei, the hot-blooded beauty, the only one capable of making Genesis furious. Even his fans were surprised," Zack crossed his hands while remembering, "because they have never seen their beloved Genesis that way. He changes 180 degrees when he talks to Cissnei than any other girl."

"As the second half of the year passed by, I was eventually 'recruited' into SOLDIER," Zack grinned. "Sephiroth took notice of my skills and decided to let me in."

Aerith raised an eyebrow. "There are requirements? I thought SOLDIER was kinda like a fan-chosen thing," she asked.

Zack smirked. "You thought Cissnei was the only one garnering attention from the past half-year? I've got my share of admirers." He gave her a killer smile. Almost instantly, Aerith went red like a lobster.

Zack continued on as if nothing had happened. "Cissnei congratulated me, of course. We planned to have cake at her house and just watch movies for celebration. She invited Angeal, and well… Genesis decided to tag along again. She knew this would happen, so she brought another girl in, because having a celebration with three guys and one girl in her house would make things a bit awkward. Cissnei's parents also would've been furious, so she invited another girl, in the same year as Genesis and Angeal; Ada."

Aerith's eyes widened. She had a bad feeling to where this is going.

"I don't know how she knew about Ada. I didn't even know they were friends. Ada was known in school as the ice queen, while Cissnei was the hot-blooded freshman. They're total opposites, yet they know each other fairly well. I then found out Cissnei volunteered a lot in student council work over the past weeks, and that's how they knew each other. I was mad at her for inviting a complete stranger to a celebration party meant for me, but she practically begged me to forgive her."

Aerith stopped him again. "And did you forgive her?"

Zack nodded. "Naturally. She begged! I would've been punched by her if it was otherwise."

Aerith laughed. "So a SOLDIER like you can't handle a punch from a girl?"

Zack smiled. "Well, I can't use my full power on her, can I?"

The statement made Aerith frozen for a split second. She always forgot that there should be more than one reason why SOLDIER is named SOLDIER. Sephiroth acknowledged Zack's 'skills'… which probably meant more than just athletic capabilities. She became genuinely frightened, but quickly erased any of that indication on her face.

He continued, not noticing Aerith's inner turmoil. "So we started the party at Cissnei's house. Ada did turn up, but she didn't seem to like it as much as I did. We kept as much distance we could between us; I don't think I even remember talking to her.

"Of course, Cissnei tried hard to become the bridge between us. Whenever there was a conversation, she tried to include Ada. Now that I think about it, it must've been hard. I was pretty hostile." Zack scratched his head, looking guilty.

Aerith chimed in. "Well, you couldn't help it," she said in a small voice. "You didn't know her."

"True," he agreed. "But I could have been a little more supportive. If I was, maybe Genesis and she wouldn't have had to get to know each other."

Aerith clamped her mouth. She took a sharp intake of breath.

"Since I wasn't being very friendly to Ada, and I could tell Cissnei was about to blow up – Genesis saved the day by being quite nice to Ada. They looked like they've been friends for years. And true to Angeal's words, he treated Ada like a princess. I was relieved, to be honest. I couldn't stand the pressure.

"After that, we had a great time. Although I didn't communicate at all with Ada, with Genesis being the bridge it became much better. We ate popcorn, watched movies, and er, I think we were supposed to have cake."

The brunette held up her hand. "Wait, 'supposed to'?"

Zack's face grew solemn. "Yeah." He started shifting uncomfortably. "In the middle of this one movie – I forgot what it was, really – Cissnei suddenly jumped up from the couch and said that she forgot to get the cake she ordered. Must've been the movie; I think the main characters were eating this cake?"

A laugh escaped from Aerith. "Typical Cissnei," she giggled. But when Zack had no reaction, her smile faltered.

"Since she insisted on going on alone to the cake shop to get her order, we all decided to tag along since it was already dark. It's pretty dangerous here at night, and besides, Genesis was hell-bent on going," Zack said. His face grew sullen after each sentence.

A pause. Then Zack continued, "We walked. The store wasn't that far, and besides, we walk all the time. It was already dark, but since the Sector never sleeps, it was crowded. The cake shop was right around the corner. Genesis knew where it was and knew a shortcut on the way there, so Cissnei decided not to take the usual route. We were short on time, and I think Ada had something to do. She looked like she was in a hurry."

Aerith put her hand on her chin. "Must've been some cake shop," she wondered aloud.

Zack smiled, but it was clearly forced. "Anyway, we went through the large alleyway behind the main road. There were hardly any lights, but we didn't care. We had to do it quietly though, because alleyways aren't the exact places where you would want to draw attention upon yourself, if you know what I mean."

She nodded in understanding. The slums where she came from were full of them. They're the ones who taught her how to run, taught her not to feel trapped. "And?" she asked.

Zack didn't respond. He put a hand on his forehead, obscuring his eyes, and Aerith could see a faint smile appear on his mouth. It wasn't those subdued, happy smiles; his was painful to see. Aerith didn't say a word. Rather, she was too scared to say anything. These next lines of the story will surely eat at her for the rest of her life.

She broke the silence first. "Zack, if you don't want to continue-"

The bell for homeroom cut her off mid-sentence. She sat upright in a jolt, and slid down quickly from the bed where she sat. Before she could instinctively reach for her bag, Zack grabbed her hand from behind and forcefully turned her whole body around, facing him. Their eyes met again.

"No. I need you to hear this," he said. His grip on her hand tightened.

She instantly became flustered. "I-If you say so," she managed to say.

He let go, but Aerith opted to stay standing; she doesn't think her heart can handle it if she sat beside him again.

"… We SOLDIERs aren't without enemies. We may be on bad terms with the student council, but they're not wholly detestable. We don't go picking fights with them whenever we can. Since this school is well-known around the area, it's natural SOLDIER is too.

"We have enemies, outside of school. But the biggest gang that ever challenged us would be AVALANCHE. They may lay low, but their numbers are great. The underground areas of Sector 8 are under their wing. We're mortal enemies." Zack crossed his hands.

Aerith squeaked. "A-AVALANCHE?" she couldn't believe her ears.

"Yeah," Zack said. "You've heard of them?"

Yes, Aerith wanted to scream at him, but decided against it. "No," she lied. "Never heard of them."

"Good," Zack said. "I don't want you going anywhere near them."

Aerith nodded involuntarily. She knew that already.

Zack continued. "They were there. That night, in the alleyway, when we were conveniently crossing it."

Aerith swore she could feel her heart stop beating. Her hands were shaking, but she clenched them without Zack noticing.

"Their numbers were greater than us. Although Genesis, Angeal and I were more than a match for them, their numbers were greater. And… they had potential hostages." Zack clenched his hands together, his face anguished.

"Potential hostages?" Aerith asked. "Who-" she stopped when she realized.

Zack looked up. "I guess now you can fit the pieces in together." He gave her a small smile, but his eyes were so full of pain that even Aerith felt it.

Aerith said it in a whisper. "Cissnei… she- was she-?"

Zack cut her off. "Angeal and Genesis fought as hard as ever. They knew the situation was bad. I tried protecting Cissnei and Ada. Ada, turns out, could do well with a metal pipe. Cissnei defended herself with the little martial arts training she picked up from me. They were doing so well, I let my guard down and charged at their leader, leaving them alone. Before I could even reach him, Cissnei was screaming behind me, and- and-"

Aerith didn't want to hear the rest, and she knew Zack didn't want to either. Nonetheless, he did.

"Angeal and Genesis couldn't make it in time. Cissnei angered the worst and the biggest guy of the bunch. The type that's not afraid to harm women. He- he grabbed her by the collar and threw her across the alleyway. She hit the garbage cans – hard." Zack's hands were as white as sheet.

"Genesis went berserk. He charged at anyone – anything – and basically pummeled the group that went for Cissnei and Ada. He made sure he broke every bone in the big guy's body. Ada was so scared that she ran out the alleyway. I – I was so mad, I nearly killed the leader. By the time we took out the last of them, Ada ran away, and Cissnei was unconscious."

"Angeal went and got her out. She- her head was bleeding like mad, we knew it was a severe concussion. Genesis basically carried her on his back and ran like mad towards the nearest hospital. She was- she was losing a lot of blood…" He trailed off.

Aerith let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Zack unclenched his hands, but they were still white. "When we reached the hospital, she was immediately put into the ICU. We didn't leave unscathed either – bruises and all – but we didn't care. Cissnei – she was dying. Because of us."

Silence followed his sentence. The air went tense. Aerith felt her knees buckle; she fell onto the ground, not even bothering to stop herself from falling.

Zack reacted almost immediately. "Aerith! Are you okay?" He knelt beside her and grabbed her shoulders. She could hear his voice shake slightly, although she wasn't sure because her whole body was shaking.

"I-I'm fine," she lied.

Zack swore under his breath. "Don't give me that crap. Here, stand up." He basically hoisted her up with relatively little strength and sat her on the bed. He gave her a long, hard look. "I'll get you water," he concluded. Aerith only nodded.

While Zack left to get water from the dispenser, Aerith took long, slow breaths. She could feel herself shaking uncontrollably. She hadn't felt this broken ever since her mother died. To think that Cissnei almost went through the same ordeal her mother did… it was too much for her.

AVALANCHE. Aerith despised them.

"Here," Zack said, handing her a glass of water. She took it and gave it a short sip. Zack frowned. "Drink more, Aerith. You're shaking." She was too shell-shocked to disobey, so she complied. She drank the whole glass in one shot. She let out a deep breath soon afterwards.

"I'm sorry," Zack said.

Aerith looked at him. "Why are you apologizing?"

Zack sat on the bed beside her. "I think this was too much for you."

She shook her head. "No. Just continue. It's okay. Really," Aerith said, trying to convince him. Or was she really trying to convince herself? She didn't know.

Zack looked uneasy. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. Her body gave her a brief shudder, but it quickly passed. Zack still looked unsure, but he continued on anyway.

"We called in her parents. They looked really stressed out from work, and hearing that their daughter was admitted to the hospital… I think it was too much for her mom. She fainted. Her dad basically gave us a verbal beatdown, despite our continuous apologies. Angeal, being the calmest out of all of us, properly explained to them. Her dad calmed down a lot more after that, but he requested one thing from us."

Aerith said, "Uncle Ralph? What did he say?"

"That we would promise to never hang out with Cissnei again," Zack said.

"What?" she gasped out.

Zack looked at her. "Didn't you find it weird that at the beginning of this story, Cissnei was really close with us and now it looks like we want to rip each other's throats out?"

Aerith put a hand to her chin. "I hadn't thought of that."

Zack sighed. "She was in that hospital for two months. Her dad did let us visit her though. Genesis told me that it would probably have been better if he never let us. Seeing her comatose of the hospital bed… every time we see it, it's like a punch in the gut. When you think that we were the one responsible for what happened, it's just too much. I think her dad did that on purpose. He let us visit her, but only during the time she was admitted. I found it harsh, but I knew I deserved it."

Aerith looked down. She didn't know what to say.

"Genesis visited her whenever he could. Almost every day after school, he would just come to the hospital and sit beside her bed. I honestly think he was hoping that she would wake up whenever he came, but to find it come crashing down when he finds her still in a coma. I came in frequently too, but not as much as he did. I think Angeal visited too, and even Sephiroth came once in a while. It was like that for two months. Every day, even weekends, Genesis would just come and watch her sleep."

Zack closed his eyes and clenched his hands. "I think he felt the most guilt. He was the one who suggested going through that alleyway. Angeal and I insisted that we should share the blame together, but he wouldn't listen. He kept beating himself over it for two months. It was really bad. It's like his mentality just… snapped," he explained. "He kept picking fights here and there. It's like he was punishing himself."

Aerith thought about how she felt when her mother died. She felt anguished, heartbroken, and useless; because she was unable to protect her. Absolutely nothing she did eased the pain. "I can sympathize with him," she said.

Zack looked at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "But that's… another story."

There must have been something on Aerith's face, because Zack frowned after he gave her a hard look. "Sorry this story got so depressing. I just thought… since you wanted to know so badly…"

She shook her head. "No. It's okay. I think I can fit in the pieces now."

"So you don't want to know what happens next?" he asked.

"Of course I do," she answered. "Go on."

Zack took a deep breath and continued, "Two months. Almost every day, he visited her. And one day… she woke up."

Aerith became wide-eyed. "Just like that?"

Zack held up a hand. "There's more. When she woke up… she forgot everything."

The message took a while to sink in. When it did, Aerith took a sharp intake of breath. "No way," she managed to choke out.

"I know," he gave her a forced laugh. "Hard to believe, isn't it? After all we've been through. She did recognize us, though she didn't know why. It took all she had to just remember everyone's names."

Aerith looked down. "Cissnei…"

"Genesis was devastated though. He stopped seeing her for about a week. Her amnesia just added up to the list of guilt he made for himself. He picked a fight on a bad day, and basically got admitted into the same hospital Cissnei did. Just a few broken bones, but enough to send him there."

"Although… I think that became a stroke of luck for him, in my opinion. His room was right beside Cissnei's. She recognized him from the first day she woke up, so apparently she was the first to 'visit'. They became good friends after that, but somehow the student council was really tight on her watch during this time, so I don't know details."

Aerith held up a hand to stop him. "Wait. How did the student council get into this?"

Zack shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I told you, my side of the story is not the whole story. But I do remember one thing; Ada came and visited Genesis while Cissnei was there, and… well, he wouldn't tell me what happened. Next thing I knew, a week later, they were dating. It was a sensation at school; Genesis, the SOLDIER, dating a student council member, the ice queen Ada."

"What? Just like that?"

"Yeah," Zack said. "I'm pretty sure it's more complicated than that. But ever since then, Cissnei wouldn't greet me at school like she normally did. After she got discharged from the hospital, nothing was ever the same."

"O-oh," was all Aerith could say.

As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the start of the first lesson. Aerith looked at the watch. She could hear student raring a ready to go and move classes. She grabbed her bag on the floor after sliding off the bed where she previously sat, and grabbed her timetable. She went through it quickly with her finger.

"I guess that's it," Zack said from behind her.

"Huh? Oh, right." Aerith stood up to face him. "Thank you."

He shook his head. "It's okay. I needed that off my back for six months now." He jumped off the bed. "Just… don't tell Cissnei. She's better off not knowing anything."

Aerith nodded. "Okay. But Zack?"

"Yeah?" he answered her while slinging his bag onto his shoulder.

"Are you sure that Cissnei still forgot everything?"

He stared at her, and she could tell there was a flicker of fear in his eyes. "I hope not," he finally said, then exited the infirmary, leaving Aerith alone.