bakerstreet | Like ships in the night

Cloud held his hands up, palms toward Zack, and shook his head vigorously. "No no, nothing like that. Kinda the opposite, actually."

The idea of Aerith infected with Jenova would mean she was destined for an even more terrible fate than she had met in Cloud's past. It was the fate that Cloud himself had been pursuing. Two thousand years ago, a Cetra had absorbed all of Jenova's power, so the Planet could wall a single person off in a thick crystal, never to be part of the Lifestream again. Cloud would never be able to pull that trick off by himself, it would require a Cetra's consciousness to ask the Lifestream to create the crystal.

"She's an 'Ancient.' Aerith has Cetra blood. She can talk to the Planet. It listens to her. It protects her, and does what she asks." Cloud lowered his hands, not even sure why he put them up in the first place.

"We've already seen what happens when Jenova takes on Gaia. Jenova gets its ass kicked. It looks like a long struggle to us, but from a planetary perspective? It's probably more like stomping on a bug. One that keeps twitching because its legs are too stupid to know that the rest of it's already dead."

Zack frowned. Cetra? That didn't mean anything to him.

"I knew she was special but she never said anything..." So he never asked. It was fine for him just to be with her, for the both of them to get the normal life they yearned. He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to fuss over what was or wasn't. "Let me go in first." Maybe Cloud knew a different Aerith but the one Zack knew, he felt obligated to protect. Or at least place a buffer between the responsibilities they were about to lay on her.

Cloud slumped his shoulders and shook his head, only realizing belatedly that he was copying Zack by doing so. "We should probably spend a little more time together first. If you're going to help keep me from losing it, you should probably learn what sets it off and what works to stop it."

He shrugged. "All I know how to do is tough it out by myself. That might not be enough anymore."

"Right." Zack agreed, rubbing his neck absently. "At least I know not to say the f-word around you anytime soon." It sucked but he wasn't strong enough to fight Cloud. It made him feel both proud and useless. A pause. Then a more concerned glance. "Is Aerith going to-" Set him off. That would be the worst outcome. If he failed to protect his girl... no, he was missing for five years. Couple statuses didn't last that long.

Cloud shook his head, wearily. "I don't know. What I do know is that she was attacked by someone else infected with Jenova. Someone who had a worse infection than me." He shook his head again, even more wearily. "Well, worse than mine was back then. I'm probably the most infected person on Gaia right now." And about to get a lot worse, if he did what he thought he had to do. Sephiroth couldn't be allowed to reach Jenova's body.

On a slightly more positive note, Cloud reached up for Zack's shoulder again. "There's nothing wrong with 'the f-word.' I was showing off for you, just then. You wanted to find out how dangerous I could be, right?"

"Yeah, I know." He couldn't help sounding a little sour about it. Not because he lost, but because, after everything he'd, no, they'd been through, he still wasn't strong enough to help a friend when they needed him most. It made something twist in his gut, remembering Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth.

He clapped a hand over Cloud's, gripping tight. "We'll find a way. You know the future, ah, the past?" Time travel was confusing. "Is there something else we should be doing first?"

"There's so much I would do different, I'm not even sure where to start." Cloud pulled Zack into another tight hug. Yeah, he was acting like a clingy little kid. So what?

"You should be the one wearing my bracer. You might not be able to cast half the stuff in it, but you'll get a lot better at it with practice. Everyone does. Then let's go kill a few monsters. We could both use a little exercise. The gil wouldn't hurt, either."

Zack warmed up to the hug almost immediately, returning it with a hug of his own. He hoped he didn't have to fight Cloud for real. Angeal was enough. Sephiroth's betrayal was enough. He shut his eyes tight, treasuring the moment. No matter what. They'll find a way. Together.

He opened his eyes when Cloud spoke again and suddenly he looked like a kid who'd just been given candy. He grinned brightly. "Now you're talking." And how hard could learning some new magic be? He was SOLDIER first class. He could handle it (probably).

Cloud smiled back, the delight in his own expression containing just a little bit of mischief. If getting to equip himself with materia was candy, Cloud was about to unlock the door to a candy store.

"Better sit down. This will take awhile." He sank to the ground in a cross-legged position and started fiddling at his forearm to unslot the first materia. The bigger the bracer, the harder it was to pack in all those orbs. Eight materia at once was pushing the physical limitations of what a person's body could handle.

It got a little easier after the first two. Cloud handed them over one at a time, wondering if Zack had ever seen a Summon before. The first time Cloud had one in his hands he'd stared at it for several minutes, fascinated by the red glow.

Hey. Could you blame him? They've been on the run for a year with only raw strength to defend himself with. He sat so quickly it looked like he had fallen. He rubbed his hands together eagerly then spread them open.

Zack had only ever handled six at maximum and his relationship with summons were a little different that most. Half were from summon materia (nothing as fancy as what Cloud would have apart from Bahamut Fury and Odin) whom he quite literally fought to obtain while the other half seemed hinged on his possession of summon items.

He slotted the materia on him as Cloud handed them over. The magic contained within seemingly speaking to him to inform him of what they were.

"You mastered all of them?"

"Well, I had a little help." Honestly, it was a bit of a relief to take all that crystalized Lifestream out of his body. Wearing it for too long at a stretch made the bones in his lower arm ache and sting.

"But yeah, all of them are mastered. I only go out with unmastered materia when I'm trying to train it up. There's always enough monsters to go around, in the future anyway, and not all of them are worth going all out for... You can slot two of them in your sword if you're having trouble making them fit. I would, but my sword wasn't designed to hold materia."

Well, considering he only had six slots, two of them were going on the buster sword for sure. He held the last one up in his hand, marveling at it for a moment before fitting it in. There was something to be said about the surge of magic.

"Aw yeah! Zack Fair is back in business!" he whooped, pumping his fists.

Cloud couldn't help laughing in delight. C'mon, Zack, you're sabotaging his signature emo vibe! Cramping his style!

He stood up and stepped over the sliced body of a fallen Turk. "Well then, what are you waiting for?" Cloud pulled his sword out of his harness and pulled it smoothly into two pieces. "Let's clean up some wilderness!"

Though the blond was all set to charge into battle, he showed no signs of the pathological bloodlust that Zack had witnessed before.

Hey, this was the guy who could make Sephiroth smile. He was just that good. He got to his feet, swinging the Buster Sword around over his head before gripping it in both hands.

"Sorry, Angeal," he murmured under his breath as he flipped the sword around so the edge would strike first. "There might be some wear, tear, and rust."

And now, it was time to let loose on hapless monsters who were here to feast on the remains of fallen Shinra troopers and Turks.

See, Zack? They had other options besides becoming mercenaries. Maybe some kind of freedom fighters instead, supporting themselves rather comfortably with some monster slaying on the side.

Though Zack showed no signs of tiring, when Cloud noticed that he had exhausted every last scrap of spellcasting energy he figured it might be time to call it a day. "Ready to go get some dinner? I know a place in Sector 7 you might like." Tifa would probably offer them free drinks too, but this time Cloud didn't have to rely on the charity of someone who needed the money even more than he did.

Zack was having way too much fun, between figuring out some new magic (which he got the hang off pretty quickly) and letting loose all the pent up frustration and negative energy built up over the course of a year.

He was barely out of breath when Cloud called it. "Already?" He sounded like a kid being told by his mom to come inside. But dinner sounded awesome. As did being indoors in general. He swung his sword around in his victory pose and snapped it to the back of his torn up uniform.

"Maybe some place that sells clothes too." It was high time they said goodbye to SOLDIER. Just like Sephiroth originally planned.

Yeah, Zack pulled that off WAY better than Cloud ever did. It was fun to watch. Pretty soon Cloud's face was going to ache from smiling so much.

"You'll be glad to know there are monsters in Midgar, too. They're kinda weak and usually hide, but they're good for target practice." Cloud clicked his sword back together and slipped it into its harness. "The locals appreciate the free exterminator visit, too."

From a completely nonchalant standstill, Cloud blurted out "Race ya," and sprinted for the nearest city gate. With Cloud relying entirely on his mako enhanced strength, Zack might just make it there first even though Cloud had cheated to get a head start. It wasn't fair that his legs were that much longer.

Zack was about to say something about how there were anti-SOLDIER weapons hanging around the slums but Cloud had already run off. He opened his mouth to protest, then chuckled, and gave chase.

It felt good to just run and he pushed forward with full force, closing in on Cloud until he was running alongside. He gave Cloud a playful shove.

"Cheater!" he laughed.

It threw Cloud off his stride, but not enough to make him stumble. "You're damn right I'm a cheater!"

Laughing at Zack wasn't helping his pace, though, and he slowed a little despite himself. Watching Zack pull in front, Cloud held his hands up at the sides of his mouth to yell. "Hey Zack, your shoelace is untied!"

Zack turned, slowing down as he ran backwards just long enough to point at Cloud and yell, "I don't have shoelaces!"

Still grinning like a loon, he spun back around and dashed for the closed gate.

It was enough of a delay for Cloud to get closer, but not nearly enough time for him to close the gap. Especially because he was laughing harder now.

"You sure? Better check, just in case!" And Zack had just witnessed the full extent of Cloud's spectacular talent for cheating. He hadn't gotten any better at it since he was a cadet. Good thing he'd never picked up a poker habit?

Zack let out a laugh so loud it could probably be heard by anyone beyond the gate. With a final burst of speed he launched himself forward and clapped his hand to the gate, panting. Out of breath if only from how much he had laughed.

He waited for Cloud to get close so he could clap him on the shoulders. "You're a lousy liar." As if he was any better.

Cloud didn't bother slowing to a stop, he just barrelled into Zack instead. The collision would be enough to knock the SOLDIER back a step but that's about it. "Well, you're... " He panted in a few breaths while trying to think of how to end that sentence. "...a monkey's uncle!"

He laughed again, looking up at Zack. "Yeah, I got nothin'."

"Oof!" He grunted playfully. And he couldn't help it, he reached out and ruffled Cloud's hair again. "Frog breath." So maybe it was a throwback to his Gongaga childhood but those Touch Me Frogs were something for an inquisitive kid like Zack.

Those things had driven Cloud nuts the first time he'd visited the region. Zack's hair was a bit far away to ruffle, so Cloud contented himself with poking at Zack's stomach and hoping for a ticklish reaction. "Moose butt!"

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