Reunion

[Cloud]

***From In Need of Assistance***

Radiant Garden was always sorta... chaotic. Ever since Xehanort came into the equation and started up experiments with the darkness, this place has never been the same. First him, with little dabblings here and there, then Maleficent taking over Villain's Vale, then the Organization making a mess of everything, it was like this place was cursed with misfortune. So, when suddenly a dark corridor opened up and from it a black-haired man in SOLDIER fatiques was spewed, really no one even turned their heads.

Zack stood up, couging loudly as though he just emerged from a pool about ten minutes after his lungs had given out. He coughed, bent over and holding at his chest. He couldn't open his eyes, the light being too harsh right now. His head was spinning...

We're going to the Reactor in Nibelheim.

Shinra... Reactors... Soldiers... I hate them all!

You're a little more important than my sword... but just a little...

WHAT DO YOU MEAN FINAL???

The voices spun around in his mind, accompanied by flashes of his past. The Reactor... a pretty girl's face... dumbapples... And a man that looked a bit like him, with the buster sword strapped to his back, with a single white wing spread from his shoulder.

"ANGEAL!!!" Zack roared, coming out of his momentary halucination, shaking his head and sweating. He breathed heavily, looking around at confused faces before standing up and clearing his throat. He ruffled his hair a bit, trying to make sense of what just happened. He felt heavier now... he didn't know why. He glanced around to see if either Zolapaz or Firion had caught up...

[kefka]

[glow=gray,2,300]It just so happened that the Nobody stopped somewhere within the Corridor of Darkness and opted to follow Zack when he'd seen the SOLDIER running; he looked back at the fallen Firion and stared as the man collapsed.

what need did Zolapaz have for an unconscious fellow, anyway? He turned and exited the Corridor behind his comrade and looked around the dysfunctional Radiant Garden. Tapping Zack's shoulder lightly, he spoke quickly:

"I believe this Corridor led us to the dump of your world..."[/glow]

[Cloud]

Zack stood up a bit, frowning at Zolapaz. "Hey, show a little respect, man. This place isn't a dump!" he gestured grandly at the area before really taking it in. When he did, the smile he had prepared for the intro faded. "Whoah... what happened??" he asked, his arm dropping as he looked around. The Gizmo Castle was a wreck, the streets were trashed, and the town's defenses were on high alert. He reached up to scratch the back of his head a bit.

"Man... ya disappear for a few years to work in Gaia, and look what happens!" He looked around now, blinking. "Hey, where's Firion? Wasn't he right behind me?" He sighed a bit. "Man, he can't be THAT slow..."

[kefka]

[glow=Gray,2,300]Zolapaz followed where Zack's eyes went, and took in the very same scene with a look of apathy. When Firion's name was mentioned he put a finger up and, matter-of-factly, stated:

"I left him in the Corridor of Darkness, as he deemed it an appropriate place to stop and take an afternoon nap; perhaps he truly did have an affliction he would not tell us about? No matter, he'll reappear again when he learns to use the powers of darkness, I'm sure."

He shrugged and moved forward, only to be stopped by flying, spinning machines, with lazer scanners that surrounded him; alarms sounded very quickly.

"What..."[/glow]

[Cloud]

When Zola mentioned the powers of darkness, Zack was apprehensive, but who was he to judge? How many times had he dark-thundaga'd the hell outta some machine or another because it pretty much takes them out in one hit? He looked out over the town again, shaking his head.

"I don't know, Zola... something just seems... off, yanno?" he said with his hands on his hips. Just then, he heard the sounds of the Radiant Garden protection program going wonky. He turned to see it was attacking Zola!

"What the hell?" he asked, then ran forward, pulling out his buster sword and jumping into the fray so that he landed back-to-back with his companion. He gripped his sword and swung at one of the semi-solid projections to temporarily break it. "What did you DO man??" he asked, confused over this turn of events.

[Secondary Characters]

"Oh-oh-oh, no, no!" cried a soft, familiar voice in the distance; a woman clad in a pink and white sun dress came running towards the town's entrance, her long braided hair swinging behind her, the signature red bow signaling she was no enemy of Zack's.

She halted before the two men, winded completely, and batted away at some of the sensors, before looking up, one eye squeezed shut, while the other stared the two down.

When she saw Zolapaz and all of his apathetic statue-like visage, she just cringed; when she saw Zack, she fell backwards with a scream, almost as if she'd seen a ghost. "Wo-aahhh!!!"

[Cloud]

Zack was in the middle of battling the sensors when he heard that voice. A smile swept across his face as he turned toward it, seeing the woman approaching. That ribbon. Heh, he couldn't believe she still had it. In fact... he couldn't believe she still wore pink, just like their promise. "Aerith!" he called out, happy to see her, but when she finished dismissing the sensors away from them and let out that scream, Zack was a bit confused.

He would, however, still react quickly. He threw the Buster Sword onto his back and ran forward, catching Aerith before she could fall on her backside or something. He smiled at her a little, holding her in his arms. "Careful!" he said, those bright, blue eyes looking to her, just like they did so long ago. With all the grace and cleverness of a Shakespearian writer, Zack asked Aerith merely two words...

"Miss me?"

[Secondary Characters]

"Wha-no! No, no!" she wriggled from his grasp and scurried over to Zolapaz' feet, clamboring up slightly, pointing a long, manicured finger at the black-haired SOLDIER.

When she looked him over again, in her panic, she attempted to calm down; she looked into his eyes, her heartbeat slowing down, and her arm lowering. "Z-zack?" she said simply, and tilted her head.

"What are you...doing here? I thought you had...died..."

[kefka]

[glow=Gray,2,300]Zolapaz knelt down and did the only thing he could do, and rested his hands on the two shoulders of the beautiful woman before him. He whispered in her ear, though he didn't know why he even bothered.

"Are you all right?" he asked, no emotion in this cold, mocking voice of his. He believed that people needed to hear these things, no matter how unsincere the person was; a white lie was better than having people get angry or upset with you for no reason.[/glow]

[Cloud]

Zack blinked a bit at the woman's over-the-top reaction. He felt a little hurt when she screamed "no" when he asked if she had missed him, and even more so when she ran to the arms of Zola. He stood up a bit straighter, his hands on his hips as he shook his head. He reached a hand up to scritch at his cheek a little, feeling really awkward right now.

And then she dropped the bomb. "What are you...doing here? I thought you had...died..."

Zack jumped a little, shocked by this before crossing his arms in front of him with a confused look on his face. "Died?? Is that what Shinra told you? How can I have died? I'm right here! Sure, I don't remember a whole bunch, but I promised I'd come back, didn't I? Here I am..." he tried to walk up to her, but stopped when he realized that he might be scaring the girl even more.

"How can I prove that I'm here, that I'm me, and that I'm okay? Uhm... Oh! I know!" he looked happy, then slammed a fist into his open palm before holding up a finger.

"How about one date?"

[Secondary Characters]

Aerith stared at her long-lost love for some time before responding, and rising to her feet; she shook her head, her hands twisted together in an obvious sign of discomfort. She tapped Zolapaz' shoulder and gave him a kind, thankful nod before looking back to Zack.

"I really don't know what to think anymore, Zack...everyone is gone one moment, back the next...I mean, look at me!"

Others walked around the town, giving these people odd looks, but only because Aerith, a local, looked so uncomfortable in her situation.

"Oh, Zack, you dog...you always were so...silly." She thought of his offer and shook her head. "I don't know...you were dead, last time I heard, and that's by the word of Cloud."

[Cloud]

Zack tried to smile, but there was a lot to process... What did she mean "look at me"?

Reaching up to rub the back of his head, he chuckled a little. "Heh... at least I'm not a 'puppy' anymore, huh?" he said, trying to stay light for her. After all, he had always been cheerful in her presence, why should that change? He looked to her when she told him that it was Cloud that told her he had passed.

"Cloud??" he asked, his eyes suddenly widening. "So, he's okay?? He got away? Wait..." he paused, then crossed his arms, seeming all the more confused. "If... that really happened... why am I...?" he looked at his hands a bit, shaking his head. "I don't know... what's going on any more..." he admitted, his act dropping to reveal his hurt and confusion to the girl of his dreams.

He looked at her, blue eyes so soulful as he searched for an answer to give her to his own inquiry. "I guess..." he struggled, then looked off. "I guess I just had a promise I needed to fulfill... I said I'd see you again..." he looked up, giving a weak smile before pointing to her ribbon. "Just like you promised to wear that always... yeah?" he shook his head a bit, chuckling.

"Aerith... what the hell's happened since I disappeared?"

[Secondary Characters]

The Cetra folded her arms and gave Zack an uncomfortable look. Frowning at him she turned to Zolapaz and shrugged her shoulders.

"Is he for real?" Back to Zack she stepped forward and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Zack...I think that you should really talk to Cloud about that. I've been...well, there's not much I remember about my transition from Gaia to here still, and, well...let's just forget about it, okay? You're here now, right? Let's go see Squall and the others; your other friend can come to."

[Cloud]

"Look, Zack...I think that you should really talk to Cloud about that. I've been...well, there's not much I remember about my transition from Gaia to here still, and, well...let's just forget about it, okay? You're here now, right? Let's go see Squall and the others; your other friend can come to."

The man nodded, listening to the woman as she spoke. He closed his eyes, trying to think of what was going on... and then something he didn't expect happened.

When Aerith's hand touched his shoulder, suddenly his eyes snapped open, but what he saw was not where he should be, nor the events that were transpiring this very second. Instead, he received waves of images in rapid succession, each a painful memory.

He remembered the last time he saw Aerith, smiling with a large dog monster-slash-Angeal clone watching over her. Right after that, the attack on Nibelheim crashed into his vision, the fires tearing apart buildings and a silver-haired man standing among them with a smirk on his face. He remembered the fight, the injuries, then floating in a tank of goo only to escape and fight Shinra for his very freedom and die trying.

But that wasn't where it ended. He saw Cloud... crashing through the very roof he had before. He saw Aerith greeting him with the "how about one date?" thing he did. He saw a date at Gold Saucer, and many battles while chasing Sephiroth revived. He heard Cloud calling himself a Soldier First Class, and then... the most painful memory of all.

Aerith was praying at an alter in a place he had never seen before... and Sephiroth came crashing downward to stab her through. She died... and Zack witnessed Cloud dropping her into the waters... a burial befitting the last Cetra.

It was too much for Zack to bear all at once. His pupils shrunk to pinpricks... and he fell to his knees. His mind had collapsed in on itself and he toppled unconscious to the ground fully...

His vitals were fine, but when he'd wake up... was anyone's guess.

[kefka]

[glow=gray,2,300]"Well that was terribly unexpected," said the general Nobody, who stared at his fallen comrade with indifference. He turned to face Aerith and tilted his head.

"Well I don't think he'd enjoy laying here when you've given him a direct order; shall I collect him and take him with us?" The Last Cetra nodded, another frown on her face as she led the clown's Nobody and the Soldier he dragged along--literally--behind.

Soon they reached a headquarters of some sort where only one blond man sat at a terminal; the others were probably out and about. Zolapaz simply shrugged Zack's body to a corner and sat at a table when given permission and awaited further instruction as the girl left to find their allies.[/glow]