The Break Out/Past((Zack))

[{Cloud Strife}]

How long has it been since the two best friends have been trapped...? What was the world like now....? Were their friends still alive? Would any one remember them? Even though he was still unconscious in that human cubicle....Cloud's mind was racing with all kinds of questions. He wanted to wake up....But he could not. Cloud was worried about Zack. Not a lot of time happened once Cloud fell unconscious on those steps by Zack. Cloud did not know what happened to him between that time and now. He did not even know where he was....His eyes were completely closed...None of his arms and legs were moving as he was floating there in that green liquid....Who in their right mind would do this to him....? That answer was easier to say...Hojo....Thanks to man he had created a monster...Sephiroth....All that mattered right now was some one who would break these guys out....And set them free...So much has happened since Sephiroth killed...And these two would soon find out that they are targets....But right now even Cloud has no idea who it will be that will break him out....

[Zack Fair]

Zack Fair

Zack floated there, trying hard to come back to conciousness. He could feel, he knew he wasn’t supposed to be here, wherever here was. Had he died? Was he in the lifestream? He tried so hard to call out, to yell, hoping someone would hear him. “ANGEAL!!” He yelled out, trying to break out of the state he was in. And then suddenly it happened. Angeal, floated in front of him, through the glass he was entrapped in! He put his hands onto the glass, “Angeal!!!” he spoke, Angeal would save him…wouldn’t he? He looked into the eyes of his old mentor, but Angeal’s blue eyes were hard. “You call yourself SOLDIER? You tarnish the SOLDIER name!” (I have never understood why Angeal said that lolz! ) Zack couldn’t believe what he was hearing! As he watched, Angeal turned, and started to leave. “Angeal!! Wait!!” He struggled against the glass, pushing, but it didn’t help. He watched his friend and mentor turn and walk away.

Then suddenly, he was imagining, himself in a white area, with water beneath himself. The endless blue sky was above him, with white clouds. He watched as a feather from Angeal’s wings fell down, shimmering and floating down. It floated back and forth before finally resting on the water, making tiny ripples. Looking back up, he clenched his hands. “Those wings…I want them too!” He kept looking up at the ‘sky’ that seemed to surround him, his eyes thoughtful. Little did he know what was actually happening in ShinRa! A Jenova copy had escaped and was making chaos around the ShinRa building! As he faded out of the place he had been in, the glass suddenly shattered.

He woke up, finding himself lying on the floor of a dark, musty place. He heard footprints, and suddenly a white robbed scientist, one he had seen working with Hojo many times, appeared inside the room. The scientist came by him, not touching him, was he…afraid? Zack’s mind screamed at himself. Why was this happening? Getting up, he swayed on his feet, stumbling toward the Scientist, punching him hard. As unsteady as he was, the scientist fell back a long distance. Shaking his closed fist, he tried to become steadier as he walked toward Cloud, in another chamber. He put his hands on the glass, looking at his best friend, floating there in the liquid that was in his chamber. He looked around a little bit, before seeing the lever that would let him out. Pushing it, he watched the liquid drain from the chamber and the door slid open.

Cloud fell out at him, and he caught him. “Cloud…” He spoke quietly, holding onto his best friend. He half carried Cloud over to the table, and set him down with his back against the table. Looking around, he saw his Buster Sword, leaning against the wall. Retrieving it, he swung it around before settling on his back. Looking around, he found some files. Reading them, his eyes got big. “Jenova…cells. Mako. S-Cells? Mako…addction...” He shook his head. “We were…experiments?!” He just stared at the files for a little bit, before looking around the place some more. Going back to Cloud, he looked at him, so he had mako addiction…? He sighed heavily, what was he supposed to do now? “Angeal…” He spoke softly. Catching up Cloud in his arms, he walked toward the door. From what he could see, they were underneath the ShinRa mansion. He had been here once before, with Cloud, but…this was different. Walking out the door, he set Cloud down again. “Wait here, I’ll go check to see that the area is secure!” He shook his head, wishing Cloud wasn’t unconscious.

[{Cloud Strife}]

Cloud's eye finally opened as he was leaning against some thing. He didn't know where he was...There was some thing a bit different.....His eyes were not longer dark blue....But enhanced in Mako Blue.....As he looked around, his eye sight was a bit blurry....And he was extremely weak!! He couldn't even lift either of his arms....He hung his head down ward....It also took him a minute to realize he was out of that chamber! But who had rescued him....? “Wait here, I’ll go check to see that the area is secure!” That he heard....It was Zack's voice....

But Zack ran off before Cloud could get a word to him....He just had to wait til Zack came back. Zack said he was making sure the place was secure....That meant they were still in the Shin-Ra Mansion....Cloud couldn't do any thing but sit there and wait....Wait for Zack to come back...Or for guards to discover him....But some one did come to Cloud's mind then, Tifa. The last time he saw her, Sephiroth had hurt her bad. But she at least got to speak to him before his own demise....Why'd he have to be so brave any way?

But then he thought why he had attacked Sephiroth in the first place....Zack asked him to..."Cloud....Finish him....." Cloud then looked down at his stomach....He was cured...? He didn't die...He was alive....And then he remembered the real reason he killed Sephiroh! That mad man had hurt Tifa and killed so many people of his home town....Includding Tifa's father....Damn him! Cloud wanted so much to prove to Tifa's Dad that he was a good guy....And now...He wouldn't get that chance....And probably suffering from Mako Infusion....Right now Cloud did not even know he had within him, S Cells and J Cells....All that mattered was he was alive....And he wanted to let Tifa know....Why was he thinking about her so much....Could it be....? What he felt when he found her that his feelings for her were true....? Cloud then heard heavy steady foot steps approach him....

[Zack Fair]

Zack Fair

Zack walked around, looking all around the basement of this mansion they were in. It was so…like a dungeon, it made his skin crawl. “Man I can’t wait to get out of here!” He shook his head, and then suddenly, he felt the presence of…something else. He looked around, his blue eyes watchful. Being in SOLDIER for so long had got him keen to what was going on around him, even if he was so cocky he lost his focus as Angeal said he did. He narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t see anything until suddenly, out of nowhere, he saw a greenish creature falling from the sky with a spear, directly towards him. He dodged as the spear made contact with the ground where he had been moments before. His eyebrow raised, “You want some of this?!” taking his sword off his back, with a graceful swing, charged the beast.

Slashing it, he watched it fall down, and then leaned down to look at it. It had Angeal’s face….”an Angeal copy?” He shook his head, “An abomination…” Just like Sephiroth had said! Wait…Sephiroth…Zack’s mind flashed back to the last time he remembered anything, when Sephiroth had burned Neibellhiem, and hurt Tifa, Cloud and himself. He remembered vaguely Hojo, and then everything had gone black. “Hojo…damn him, I was right not to trust him!” he wished he could get his hands on the man, he would do some damage to him! He stood there, thinking, what had happened to them? And how long had they been experiments? He shook his head, trying to clear it, “I’ve just gotta focus on the present!” Focus…focus…what had Angeal been talking about when he had told him he tarnished the SOLDIER name? If anyone had, it had been Genesis, and Angeal….and now Sephiroth! He punched his left hand with his right, which was a fist. “Damnit!"

Shrugging, he continued on his way, defeating the Angeal copies as they kept appearing. Then, when he defeated one, a key fell out of its stomach. “ewww!” He said, it was all slimy. Taking it, he shrugged, might come in handy! Then, suddenly he saw three coffins in a small area. “Hmmm…” Taking the key, he opened one. I wonder what will be inside… he opened the first one, and his eyes got huge. A man lay sleeping in one coffin, dressed in red and black, Zack could see the man’s chest rise and fall. “Holy….I think I had just let him sleep!” Closing the coffin again, he stood there for a second, what the…?!

When he got to the stairs at the other end, he climbed it and opened the hatch on the top. Turning, he ran back to Cloud, still sitting there, his head down, eyes open, breathing very shallowly. "come on bud, lets get out of this dungeon eh?" He caught him up again, half carrying him once again, he drug him to the hatch, climbing up the stairs, he walked through the opening to find himself in a room. He wasn’t in the basement anymore! Sighing in relief, he looked around, not seeing anyone. Walking over to the bed, he put Cloud there, leaning him up against the headboard of the bed. He tried to smile, but it didn’t really change his expression. He felt…weird, and Cloud was unconscious, for who knew how long…being in SOLDIER, he knew a few things about Mako Addiction, and this, was the most severe case he had ever seen. “Aggghhh, what am I supposed to do now?” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He looked at his best friend, lying there, so unmoving, and yet, the rise and fall of his chest showed that he was still alive. He had heard cases of Mako addiction, that never got better…would that happen to Cloud? “Don’t worry buddy, I won’t let anything happen to you…your in good hands!”

[{Cloud Strife}]

“Don’t worry buddy, I won’t let anything happen to you…your in good hands!”

"Z---Zack?" Cloud managed to mumble as he was trying to lift his head up....But it was pointless...Cloud did hear Zack's friendly voice then. He knew it was Zack....He was safe again. Cloud knew what Zack said he always meant....Cloud's heart rate was at normal....At least he knew that part of him was okay...He had no idea that now he had within him....S Cells & J Cells as well....Or that his life would be forever changed....But Cloud never blamed Zack for this...He couldn't....Zack was treated the same.....

Cloud actually felt safer with Zack....He was a Soldier 1 St Class after all....What ever stood in Zack's way Zack would take care of...Cloud had to believe that...Or he'd never get back to Tifa....If Cloud had known that this was the start of the final hours with his best friend he would try and show more approval and Not be so hateful towards himself....Cloud did blame himself for all of this....If he was not here, Zack would have a better chance of getting away quicker...That worried Cloud to....He would have to carry him every where....That was when he tried to lift his head up to find his friend...

"Zack....G...Go on....I'm...slowing...you....down...." Now Cloud knew for certain that he was infused with Mako Energy...But the other he didn't know....Is the reason he never made it into Soldier...? Because his body was weak to the Infusion? Well what was done is done now.....And there is not a cure for a thing like this....For once you've been infused....Your whole being changes....

[Zack Fair]

Zack Fair

Zack stood there for a second, scratching his head, “what to do, what to do…?” He was talking to Cloud, while thinking aloud. It was somewhat lonely, not having anyone to actually talk to, but he had his best friend right here, alive, so he couldn’t ask for anymore…right? Well he could, he could ask for everything, but he had never really had everything growing up, so he was used to it. Even with his parents…he loved his parents, they were the greatest people, but they were poor, unable to give him that much. He had never complained though, they had given him everything he had, even the chance to get into SOLDIER…but then again, being in SOLDIER wasn’t so great sounding as it had been when he was 14.

He shook his head, why was he thinking about this now?! He knew the trouble they would be in. He wasn’t dumb, and he knew how ShinRa worked…cover up anything they thought wouldn’t give them a good name. Like when Genesis and Angeal had deserted and ShinRa said they had been K.I.A. Maybe it was just Zack’s extreme sense of honor that made that seem so wrong, but he also knew all his buddies in SOLDIER, the 2nds and 3rds, thought the same way. All the 2nds and 3rds looked up to the 1sts, which of course had been Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis…it was hard to believe they were gone now...

He shouldn’t even think of them anymore, he had his own problems now. ShinRa would be hunting them. That he knew right away, breaking out of Hojo’s lab…ShinRa was going to send at least their army after them. He could deal with that, although the entire ShinRa army? In training missions, he had taken on 1000 of them, but they had come 12 at a time, not all of them at once. The army was easy, except there were soo many of them…

He was worried about Cloud too…Mako Addiction…his body wasn’t handling being infused with mako energy well. He himself, well it didn’t effect him really, he was used to being infused with Mako, although the first time he had been, he had been told he had a strong body when it came to mako. But they both had been injected with the S-cells, or J-cells, which he didn’t like. What had Hojo all done to them that he hadn’t charted?! That was a scary thought, better left not thought. He crossed his arms, “We’ll rest here for a bit!”

He crouched down by the bed he had Cloud on, his eyes closed, resting them. When he heard Cloud’s voice, he thought he was dreaming. His eyes flashed open, mako blue eyes wide. “Cloud…? Cloud!” He smiled, but then the smile slipped off his face slowly. Cloud’s head was back down, he seemed unresponsive again, like he hadn’t ever moved, but he had heard his voice!! “Cloud, I won’t leave without you…never leave a friend behind!!” He nodded and stood back up, but he was worried. If only Cloud were able to move some, but….that didn’t’ seem to be happening. Wasn’t it a good sign that he had talked though? He glanced around him, “Hey, Cloud, stay here alright? I’m gonna look around this mansion for a bit, might find some clues!” What had happened to them while they were test subjects?! He had to find answers! Nodding, he walked out of the room Cloud was in, took a deep breath and started for another door to the right of where he was…

[{Cloud Strife}]

“Cloud, I won’t leave without you…never leave a friend behind!!” “Hey, Cloud, stay here alright? I’m gonna look around this mansion for a bit, might find some clues!” Cloud blacked back out after Zack said that...He was so out of it....He didn't feel Zack place him on the bed....

"Tifa....?.....Mom....?" Cloud's mind was dreaming. That was why he muttered out those names.....He was in a whole other world....He was home but not here....He was back in his village when he was younger....And was being a younger teenager before he left his home to try and join soldier....He never forgot that day he left...He spent most of the time with Tifa....Telling her what he wished to do.....He saw Tifa as clear as day on top of that cliff....She was so beautiful....Why didn't he tell her how he really felt then....? He many never get the chance again....

"Cloud...? Honey....?" That was his mothers voice....Tifa's image quickly disappeared from his eyes....."Mom....? Mom...I'm sorry...." His mother was dead since Sephiroth ran sacked the entire village.....But Cloud was trying to run to her and save her from that burning building....."MOM!!! Hold on!!!" But their home exploded right before his eyes....Cloud let out a horrific scream!!! And Zack would hear that! "NO!!! MOM!!!!!" Cloud couldn't save her then because he was no where near their house....He was seeing things in his mind that Sephiroth had done....Was it the S Cells....? What was happening....? But what Cloud didn't know what that it was just a dream...It was not even real....

[Zack Fair]

Zack Fair

After he left Cloud and walked out the door, he turned right, walking down the hallway a little bit. Coming by another door, he opened it without hesitation, although his hand was on the buster sword, just to be sure. He never knew what there would be in this place…suddenly a monster appeared, and taking out his sword, he slashed it through, affectively killing it. It looked to be a normal room except for that, but then something caught his eye…

A piece of paper, lay on the bookshelf to his left. Walking over, he picked it up and read it. He cocked his brow, “The log of a scientist part 1…?” It seemed to a piece of a journal, that of which a scientist had written. It talked about Cloud and himself, and Hojo as well, but something else was there. “Tseng came here to try and see us?!” He just stared at that part, apparently his Turk friend had come and tried to see them, but Hojo had sent him away. As he kept checking the rooms down the hallways, he continued to see these logs, which talked of their stay in Hojo’s lab, how the scientist hated working there, the fact that Nibelheim had been rebuilt and people had been shipped in to live there. what?! They simply rebuilt the town and sent people to live here? They would go that far to cover up the place?! Where couldn’t ShinRa reach?!

Putting his head in his hands for a moment, he felt his shoulders slumping. Was this ever going to end? What could he do? How was he going to stay alive and keep Cloud safe as well? “God damn it!” He yelled as he punched the wall of the ShinRa mansion. “Ow, jeez!” He shook his fist, before taking a deep breath and crossing his arms, his normal self back. “I’m gonna do this! I’ll do this, Cloud needs his life, and I need mine!” Turning back around, he looked down the staircase that led to the opening of the shinra mansion. He looked at the door, his sky blue eyes were intense, sad, why had this happened to them anyway?!

He shook his head before walking down the stairs. He had fought monsters on the way all through the mansion. Now as he reached the door and opened them, he looked outside. He remembered being there with Sephiroth on the Nibelheim mission, before he had gone insane! He looked up at the sky and smiled sadly, thinking of the situation t hey were in. If it were simply himself, he wouldn’t have to worry about outrunning them all, but with Cloud…things were different! But he would never leave his best friend! Cloud had to live! He had to tell Tifa he loved her! He had to live! He had to grow up! He smiled then, almost devilishly, “Watch out ShinRa, here comes Ex SOLDIER 1st class Zack! Your gonna be sorry you messed with me!” He laughed to himself before nodding and turning, he walked back to the room he had left Cloud in. “Alright Cloud, the way is clear! We’re gonna keep going!" He felt a little weak himself, at least, not like he usually felt, but he still was a SOLDIER 1st class, strong and ready to go!

Catching up Cloud, he picked him up off the bed and started walking with him towards the door. He set him down again when he got to the gate, and sighed again. “I’ll go make sure the way ahead is clear before I take you in there with me!” Nodding again, he rested his hand on Cloud’s shoulder for a second. “I…I’ll be back in a few minutes!”

[{Cloud Strife}]

Before he knew it he was hoisted up again off the bed...He didn't want to move from that spot....But he knew they were still in the ShinRa Mansion....Cloud sighed slightly....And groaned as Zack hoisted him up off the bed and led him some more out of the mansion.....Cloud did not know what Zack had found.....The journal papers.....But Cloud had a feeling he was tested on....He wasn't a stupid kid after all.....Even though he was still young....He was still 16....A lot younger than Zack apparently....And shorter than Zack too....Cloud tried to make Zack see that he was able to be a Soldier....But after this....He was not so sure....."Soldier is a den of lions....Don't go in...." That line came back to Cloud....Zack had been the one to tell him that....And now Cloud was wondering if it was true.....Since the fall of Genesis and Sephiroth....Cloud was scared.....He didn't know if he even wanted to be a Soldier now....

“I’ll go make sure the way ahead is clear before I take you in there with me!”

“I…I’ll be back in a few minutes!”

"O..kay...." Cloud replied weakly....He was alone yet again....He knew that Zack would not let no harm come to him...But he was still scared to be alone...."S Cells....S Cells.....S Cells...." Cloud heard that faintly and thought it was Zack.....He did not know it was monsters.....That were getting close.....If they found Cloud they would either kill him or re-capture him.....Cloud looked up....And was obviously too weak to fight....Plus he had no weapons...."Zack?...." He asked out loud then....Despite it all the skies in Nibelheim were clear skies....A pretty light blue....With white puffy clouds rolling around.....Cloud still did not know what ShinRa had done to his home land.....

[Zack Fair]

Zack Fair

Zack could somehow feel that Cloud didn’t want to leave the bed he was on, but they had to leave. What would they do if they didn’t go forward? They wouldn’t ever get away if they didn’t keep going! And it was up to him to make sure he got both their butts out of there safely. Why was this so hard?! Why was ShinRa hunting them so diligently?! They hadn’t done anything wrong! He was angry, and yet he didn’t really show it. He didn’t want to worry Cloud…

And then he looked down at Cloud. What was there to worry?! Could Cloud even hear him? Was he going to get better? Was the mako addiction ever going to get better? Was he ever going to be normal again? What if he was always like this? And yet, Zack would never abandon his best friend! How could he? Even if Cloud never snapped out of it, he wouldn’t leave him behind…Zack was loyal to his friends!

So he went ahead and once again cleared a path in front of him, clearing the area of the monsters that were there. All the while millions of thoughts floated around in his head. What was going to happen in the end? (*tear*) And yet, he didn’t want to think about it. To keep his brain free, he concentrated on fighting off the monsters. Though he wasn’t like Cloud with his mako addiction, he was defiantly not himself. He was exhausted, he didn’t know how he kept going, and yet to the unseen eye he still looked peppy and full of that puppy energy he always had.

So he got to the outskirts of Nibelheim and just stood there, resting while standing. He looked like he was just deep in thought, but he was giving his body a moment of rest. He coughed before turning and jogging back to Cloud. What was wrong with him anyway?! And he got back to Cloud just as he heard Cloud almost whisper his name. He bent down, resting on his knee. “Cloud?! Cloud? I’m here, everything is alright!” He rested his hand once again on his shoulder, before lifting him to his feet, and half carrying, half dragging Cloud toward the outskirts of Nibelheim…“Everything will be alright…you’ll see!” He wanted to get away, to be free…but freedom…would either of them get that again? “Hell yeah we will! Right Cloud?!” He was reassuring himself while talking to his best friend. Even if Cloud did understand him somehow, he probably wouldn’t know what he was talking about.

[{Cloud Strife}]

“Cloud?! Cloud? I’m here, everything is alright!” Every thing was not alright....But now that Zack was back, it was better than before. Cloud felt safe around Zack. He knew his friend would take care of him....Unlike ShinRa did....“Everything will be alright…you’ll see!” “Hell yeah we will! Right Cloud?!” Cloud wanted to smile....But he was so weak....He drifted his eyes towards his best friend then....
"I'm...alright..." It takes Cloud a while to register what Zack was saying to him...It was the mako poison...just making all his senses blurry....Even his hearing....Would he be like this fore ever? Would he ever get used to this stuff and just be a normal kid again...? Would he ever be normal again? A lot of questions ran through Cloud's mind then.....

He knew Zack would help him through this. Rather this was how it was gonna be for the rest of his life....He could count on his best friend to be there for him.....But Cloud was angry as well...He was just so weak he couldn't yell and scream his head off towards ShinRa!! He wanted to so badly! Why would they do him like this....? He was a loyal little 'foot soldier' wasn't he? It didn't take Cloud long to realize what was going on....That they were being hunted....By ShinRa Turks and Soldiers....Not to mention the Angeal and Genesis copies popping up every where....

Cloud realized where they were they were at the gate of his home town....Leaving town....Finally!! Cloud could really care less if he ever came back to this hell hole! After what ShinRa did to the place....It wasn't his home any more.....

"Zack....Let's get out of here...." Again low and weak like he spoke....He couldn't raise his voice right now....He was so thirsty.....But he knew Zack couldn't just run to a corner store right now....Cloud knew his friend was exhausted....But if he knew his friend to a T , Zack was not going to rest until they were safe....

[Zack Fair]

Zack Fair

Zack stood there, just gazing across what was Nibelheim, Cloud’s home town, which he had seen burnt and destroyed by the hands of Sephiroth. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes drooped a bit. So what he had read was correct…they had rebuilt the city, all of it, just to cover up some failure of…. “Why can’t this just…AHHH!!” Rubbing a hand wildly through his crazy black hair, he found himself yelling out of emotion because he couldn’t get out what he wanted to say. Turning around, he remembered Cloud was there with him, and laughed a little bit, shrugging off his frustration. “Meh, forget it! We’re together aren’t we?! We’ll make it through, and teach ShinRa a lesson.” Putting his hands on his waist and puffing out his chest a bit, he grinned, more to force those thoughts out of his head then anything else. “We should probably get our butt moving eh?”

He needed to stop talking to himself. He was going to go crazy, and Cloud wasn’t really saying that much….and if he was, it was to faint to really hear. But talking aloud, to Cloud, helped him to think and clear his own thoughts. He picked Cloud up, and walking down the stairs into the town of Nibelheim, he set Cloud down by the inn. He walked over toward the water tower, he wanted to get a drink for himself and Cloud. Standing there, he simply looked at the water tower, then at the town. It looked exactly as it had…ShinRa was crazy!

And then suddenly, he turned around quickly. His sword was immediately in his right hand, as a bunch of ShinRa infantrymen swarmed around, coming from all sides in the quiet town. “What?! I just can’t catch a break can I?!” He ran toward them to fight, when one of them suddenly grabbed Cloud and started dragging him off. “Hey!! Come back here with Cloud!!” Twirling the buster sword, he fought them, before running toward the guy that was dragging him. That man ran away, but as more swarmed around him, someone else grabbed his blonde friend and started dragging him. After a little while, he drove them all away. They had dragged Cloud quite a ways, but he watched as they all ran away. “Chickens!” he shouted after them. It just went to show that SOLDIER was superior to the Infantrymen. He grinned, but he was feeling a bit weak. Whats wrong with me that I feel tired after just that?! True he had fought about 50 infantrymen, but that was nothing compared to the training times they had been through, when he had fought 1000 of them with no problem.

Walking slowly back to Cloud, he knelt there for few seconds. “Alright new plan Cloud…we’re both feeling a bit….er…off, lets go back to the mansion and rest up until night time alright?” With all these problems, they were gonna have to travel at night and try to remain unseen. He could do the traveling, but it was hard to stay hidden when he wanted to walk up to ShinRa and tell them that they could go to the Devil. Catching up Cloud, he started back toward the mansion….but would this ever end?

[{Cloud Strife}]

“Why can’t this just…AHHH!!” Cloud could feel Zack's frustration....It was unbearable to see his friend do everything alone....“Meh, forget it! We’re together aren’t we?! We’ll make it through, and teach ShinRa a lesson.” Cloud smiled....But it was a weak smile. Yeah they would definitely be teaching them a lesson....Cloud was already mad....He just knew that Tifa thought he was dead by now....After two years with no sign of him....Who wouldn't? “We should probably get our butt moving eh?”

As Zack picked him again, Cloud let a groan escape his lips....His eyes were at the point of just closing from lack of sleep.....But he knew they had to get out of here.....“What?! I just can’t catch a break can I?!” Cloud knew what was going on the moment, Zack said that....They found them....again.

Before Cloud knew what had happened.....Some men yanked up his arms and were dragging him away from Zack! “Hey!! Come back here with Cloud!!” The pain shot through Cloud's body like a thousand knives! As he was being dragged down a rough dirt road! They had let go of him, but only grabbed him again and dragged him again! He was totally out of it by now...His eyes completely closed....Not another word would Cloud hear from his friend...Cloud was exhausted....

Inside the mansion once again....

Cloud laid there very still on a bed....But Zack would see that he was still alive from his breathing.....But only in Cloud's mind was he in a totally different place.....It was dark and cold where he was.....And then without warning he saw those eyes.....Of the man that he hated the most! Sephiroth! Glaring right at him.....It made the place colder and darker! A loud shriek came from inside his mind just then....He had no idea who it was....Another one of Sephiroth's victims....for all Cloud knew......Then Cloud saw who Sephiroth had just attacked! His own mother! "MOM!!!!! NO!!!!" Cloud screamed that loudly that Zack would most definitely hear! Cloud's eyes were wider than earlier as he screamed out in horror! That was what drove Cloud over the edge! He was literally shaking in fear! He was terrified to think that Sephiroth had killed his own mother!

[Zack Fair]

Zack Fair

Zack could almost feel that Cloud knew what was going on, and could feel his emotions, which was why he was trying to be so positive. Although he was normally positive in life anyway, so it came naturally. His smile was full of sad realization mixed with hope and happiness. As he picked Cloud up, he could swear he had heard him groan. He didn’t know if it was from him not being gentle enough, or something else. Was he just groaning because of the Mako addiction? He ruffled Cloud’s hair, although his unmoving head and eyes made Zack want to sigh. “I know bud, but don’t worry, pretty soon we won’t have to worry about Hojo, ShinRa or anything else!”

Once they were back in the mansion and he had laid Cloud once more on the bed, he crossed his arms and looked around. He had noticed Cloud’s wet clothes before, full of mako still. “Hmm, Those clothes aren’t gonna help you get over your mako addiction! I’ll go see what else I can find you to wear alright?” Turning, he walked around the mansion, checking in all the rooms until he came across a clothes dresser. Opening it up with a key he had found, he pulled out a SOLDIER 1st class outfit. He smiled, “This will do!” Jogging back to Cloud, he wrinkled his nose, “It may not smell very good. But we can’t be too picky right now!” So he changed Cloud into the outfit, at least it was dry…

Walking back, he looked at him. “Hey, it looks pretty good on you!” So he stepped back and paced the room a few times, before reaching a hand in his pocket and pulling out a letter. He glanced at it, a puzzled look on his face. Now what is this…? (Gonna have to use Aerith for this part because then he was in love with her lol oh and the voices are in his head, blue is of course him, and pink is Aerith ) “They’re tiny, but you have lots right?” he heard voices in his head, both himself and Aerith, and then he saw them, standing in Aerith’s church. “that’s right, wanna hear?” He smiled to himself as a vision of her face popped into his memory. “How many you got” he remembered asking, and she turned around and counted before smiling at him and answering “Hmm…twenty…three?” “write them down…so I don’t forget!” so now he started reading the letter. “I have twenty three tiny wishes. But…you probably won’t remember them all, so I put them together into one: I’d like to spend more time with you.”

Folding the paper up and putting it back in his pocket, a sad look crossed his face. Without turning around, he glanced to the side. “Hey, Cloud, I…I have to go to Midgar.” He turned and leaned down a bit, smiling at Cloud. “You wanna come with me?” He cocked his head and nodded, “after we rest up we’ll go then alright?” He needed to talk to Aerth…it had been a long time, with him gone, and now, with the situation they were in. He would be lucky to get back there alive. He was smart enough to know that, but he had to take the chance! Suddenly through, Cloud screamed. His eyes were open, but they weren’t focused, they seemed to be filled with horror and blank at the same time. Yet Zack was at his side in a second. “Cloud! Cloud?! Are you alright?! Whats the matter bud?!” and yet he couldn’t reply back. He put a hand on Cloud’s shoulder, wishing he could do something for his best friend. Cloud was shaking under him, and yet, he wasn’t looking up at him…

[{Cloud Strife}]

“I know bud, but don’t worry, pretty soon we won’t have to worry about Hojo, ShinRa or anything else!”

“Hmm, Those clothes aren’t gonna help you get over your mako addiction! I’ll go see what else I can find you to wear alright?” “This will do!” Cloud was completely out at this point....He had no idea that he was even wearing a 1ST Class Uniform.....“Hey, it looks pretty good on you!” But, if Cloud was awake and healthy he would be like saying....."Oh yeah!" Cloud managed to register some things that Zack was doing but he still had his eyes closed through all this....He had faith in Zack and knew that he was in good hands....

“Hey, Cloud, I…I have to go to Midgar.” “You wanna come with me?” Again, Cloud would say yes if he could.....“after we rest up we’ll go then alright?”

“Cloud! Cloud?! Are you alright?! Whats the matter bud?!” Cloud was not looking at Zack. He was looking right up to the cieling....He was breathing heavily as well....All he saw was those devlish eyes that Sephiroth had....Cloud was terrified that he was now coming to get him....He had not remembered that he was the one that killed Sephiroth....Cloud soon felt another hand on his shoulder.....It was Zack...."Za....Zack....?" Cloud the feeling too that they were not out of his home village yet....What was Zack waiting on....? He had no idea that Zack was waiting for night time....Where it would be safer for the both of them....

Cloud remained with his eyes opened for the rest of the night.....He wanted to see Tifa again....He just wish he could talk to Zack clearer so he could hear him......Deep down Cloud wanted to just hold Tifa's hand in his....And know his best friend was there for him....why did he even leave her in the first place.....? He knew there was some thing forming between them...But he had not known it was love....yet....He was still young....If he had any sense he would've listened to Zack when Zack told him not to go in to Soldier it was nothing but a den of monster.....And now Cloud knew that Zack was right....Cloud didn't want to be a Soldier....He wanted to see Tifa again more than any thing right now....But would he ever again....? She might believe by now that he was dead....No....She wouldn't never ever give up on him...He had to believe that in his heart he knew it was true....