Aerith & Tifa

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack winced in his sleep as the light breeze whipped around them, but he did not stir. His chest rose and fell jaggedly but it showed that he was still breathing, even if the action did cause great strain on his bullet peppered lungs.

Cloud stared at Zack in silence, his heart aching with some implacable guilt, his pain running deep in his soul, as if for some unknown reason Zack's injuries were his fault.
What had happened to them? Why couldn't he remember anything?
Then another hazy memory broke through his thoughts, just remembered words.

Just kidding, i'd never abandon you... hey, Cloud? We're friends... right? Cloud's mako tainted eyes widened with surprise as these remembered words broke through some of the haze. He remembered being in the back of a moving car... he remembered Zack speaking to him, just idly chatting about anything that caught his fancy. He remembered a strange purple apple... and a man dressed it red.
You better make sure you stay alive too.

Then there was a pair of slitted blue eyes, a massive sword and a girl with black hair curling unconscious in his arms. Seething rage, burning hatred, stabbing agony and crushing sadness.
He choked back the urge to give a cry as these revelations crashed over him like an icy wave. All he wanted to do was cry, but he could not even feel any moisture in his eyes.
"Nibelhiem... Sephiroth... Zack a-and... me..." He breathed eyes wide before he fell into an impenetrable silence, eyes staring at the floor where he sat.

[The Painted Lady]

The hours had passed in silence, apart from the odd struggling breath from Zack. Aerith had tried to urge Cloud to speak again, but after his mention of Nibelhiem again, he had remained silent, staring.

She took to watching Zack sleep, heart stopping every time he took too long to take a breath or whenever he winced in his slumber. His wounds needed cleaning, and she decided she'd do that the moment he woke; the blood on his face and on her hands had already dried.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack wasn't really sure how long he'd been sleeping when he finally managed to urge his eyes open, wincing as he felt his wounds throb and the dry blood on his face cracked with a strange dry feeling.
It was quite a bit darker now, as if evening were approaching... though he truly couldn't tell, for it was always darker beneath the plate. Aerith still sat beside him, supporting his head and watching him with sleepy green eyes. He couldn't see Cloud anywhere, but he assumed the blond was around, as he doubted that he would wander particularly far.
"Aerith?" He asked, his voice faint and husky, his lungs ailing far worse than before. His limbs felt strangly heavy, and his mind was filled with a debilitating haze.

[The Painted Lady]

A spark lit up in Aerith's eyes again as Zack's sky-blue ones opened to her. She leant in a little closer to him, fringe falling forward.
"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, fingertips running tenderly across his cheek.

[Tifa Lockhart]

"Did you get the number of that Chocobo that hit me?" He asked hoarsely, chuckling only a little before he winced in pain, "OK... maybe it was a flock of chocobos..." He tried to give Aerith one of his smiles, but the pain was a little too nauseating.
"You shouldn't have hung around all this time--" He began, but another surge of pain drove him into silence.

Damn, he hurt more NOW than he had BEFORE...

[The Painted Lady]

A smile graced Aerith's lips for a moment at Zack's joke, but her expression quickly returned to display her concern again.
"It's alright Zack, just try to relax, okay?" she said quietly.
"I'm not going anywhere."

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack managed a smile now and reached out to take gentle hold of one of Aerith's delicate hands.
"Thankyou... for everything." He said his voice still exhausted.
"Where's Cloud?"

His question was answered by the slow rustle of cloth and then the rasping sound of something being dragged across the Church's floorboards. There was a metallic clang as something was put down beside Zack, and then Cloud emerged into his field of vision. He did not meet Zack's eyes, instead he stood in a shadow cast by a pillar, his expression sombre as he clutched one arm with a very tense hand.
There were a few shallow bloodied gouges along his arm that looked as though they'd been done by fingernails. Zack frowned with light concern, but did not say anything. Instead he turned his gaze onto Aerith.
"I think... i'm able to be questioned now." he smiled weakly again. He needed something to focus on, lest he drift asleep again.

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith returned Zack's smile, squeezing his hand very lightly. She seemed hesitant at his offer for her questions, glancing up to Cloud before bringing her green eyes back to the dark-haired SOLDIER again.
"Why didn't you call me back?" she asked, voice very quiet now.
Her eyes conveyed the reason why; while she did her best to keep her expression neutral, pain stirred in their emerald depths.
"But don't tell me if you need to rest," she added quickly.
"I don't want you to strain yourself..."

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack winced again, but it was not physical pain this time, it was remorse.
"I... never got the chance. Lots of crap happened all at once... then when i finally woke up i had to keep on the move, and using my shinra phone to contact you would have been risky." He sighed, his eyes sad, "I'm sorry... so very sorry..."

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith held Zack closer again.
"It's okay," she soothed quickly.
She wanted to kiss his forehead, but hesitated. This was awkward enough for her already. All of her old feelings for him were still there, but her heartache of the last four years couldn't be erased so easily.
"Some things you can't control..."

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack felt his heart ache as if it were going to bleed, and he shut his eyes, a tear squeezing out from beneath the closed lids without so much as a thought of his permission.
"Shortly after you rang... Sephiroth burnt Nibelhiem to the ground... he killed everyone." Zack screwed his face up a level and it seemed he was biting his cheek to try and stop himself from crying, "I couldn't stop him..."

[The Painted Lady]

Zack's mere expression was all it took to make Aerith's heart thud heavily, body naturally sympathising with the SOLDIER's pain.
"Burnt to the ground?"
Her eyes were wide.
"But... why weren't we told anything then? Nibelhiem is still there as far as I know..."

[Tifa Lockhart]

"I guess Shinra... covered it up." Zack replied, opening his eyes again to look at Aerith, "They must have hid everything... first they removed me and Cloud from the picture, cleaned up the mess. Then they rebuilt Nibelhiem and repopulated it... just so that no one would learn that one of their SOLDIERs, the most famous none-the-less, killed an entire village..." He sighed, the sound turning into a harsh cough as his ailing lungs complained from the lack of air.

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith ran her thumb across the back of Zack's hand, trying to comfort him. The news was rather alarming, but she was certain there was still more to it. She wasn't sure she was ready to hear it yet though... or if Zack was ready to tell her.
"Careful..." she warned quietly as he coughed.
"Are you comfortable?"

[Tifa Lockhart]

"As comfortable as is possible." He admitted with a sheepish smile.
"I really am sorry Aerith... i tried so hard.... i didn't realize how long it had been..." He coughed again, his body twitching as the pain spasmed through his body. His eye lids fluttered briefly before remaining shut for a moment.
"I'm sorry if i hurt you..." He said with a sigh, not opening his eyes to look at her, too afraid of what he'd see.