A few hours later, Zack woke up with a start. Realising that he wasn't dead and that he wasn't in the plains surrounding Midgar, he tried to siy up, but found he couldn't. Looking down, Zack saw that his torso was wrapped in bandages, which were stained red in places.
"Well, I guess I really did fight the army. But where am I now?" he wondered. Looking around, he recognised his surroundings. "Wait a sec, this is my room! Then that means I'm back on Gongaga!" Just then, the door opened, and in came a woman with long black hair and blue eyes, concerned look on her face. "Mom?" Zack asked, in disbelief.
"Zack!" cried Marie Fair, as she ran over and embraced her battle-scarred son in a loving hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Mom, don't worry, I'm fine." Zack replied, hugging her back. His mother released him, sitting down in a chair next to the bed.
"When that very polite man and woman brought you here and told us what had happened, I couldn't believe it. Is it true that you've been on the run all this time?" she asked.
"Yeah, it is." he replied, his voice growing solemn, as he realised Aerith still had no idea he was alive. "You said a man and woman brought me here. Who were they?" Zack asked.
"Why don't you ask them. They're just downstairs. Can you walk?" his mother asked.,
"Hopefully." he replied, swinging his legs off the bed, then standing slowly. Apart from a slight ache in his chest, he felt fine. Satisfied, Zack's mother led they way down the stairs and into the living room, where Zack could see a SOLDIER 1st Class and a blond female Turk sitting on the couch. As he noticed Zack's entrance, the 1st spoke up.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty! I thought you'd never wake up!" he exclaimed. The blonde Turk giggled, whilst Zack, his mother, and his father, who had just entered, laughed.
"Hey, you try going without proper sleep for a few days! I was worn out." Zack protested, sitting down in on of the armchairs, his parents doing the same. "So, how long have I been asleep?" he asked.
"About a week, give or take a few hours." replied the Turk, her voice like music.
"So," Zack asked. "Mind telling me why a Turk and SOLDIER 1st came to my rescue? And who exactly are you?"
"I knew you'd ask." replied the 1st. "Name's Strato Christon, and this lovely lady here is Elena. You probably don't remember, but I was one of the rookies that you gave that little speech to after you changed your hair." Zack thought back to that day, remembering his "order".
"I vaguely remember a rookie called Strato. Wow, so you managed to make 1st! When was that?" Zack asked.
"About a year ago, however, when Elena and I learned about what really happened in Nibelheim, I decided to leave Shin-Ra to try and find you and Cloud. Elena stayed, so she was able to leak information to me, that's how I managed to find you." Strato replied. Zack suddenly remembered about Cloud.
"Oh no! I left Cloud behind!" he exclaimed, but Strato spoke up.
"Don't worry about Cloud. Elena hasn't heard anything about him, so it's safe to say that he's fine in Midgar somewhere."he told Zack. "However, there's something much worse that we need to focus on."
"What?" asked Zack. Strato looked grim.
"You remember Sephiroth?" he asked. Zack nodded.
"Yeah, but Cloud and I bastard what he deserved." he replied.
"Well, sadly it looks like you didn't finish him off for good." Strato told him."We've heard that AVALANCHE broke into the Shin-Ra building. Apparently they stole a research sample, but from what I've managed to find out, it was actually your girlfriend."
"Aerith?! Hojo's gone too far." Zack exclaimed, cursing himself.
"Luckily, it seems that a certain blond friend of yours was involved with AVALANCHE, so Aerith should be fine." Strato replied, at which Zack breathed a sigh of relief. "However, after this happened, President Shinra was found dead in his office. Want to guess whose sword it was they found?"
"Sephiroth's" Zack answered.
"Exactly. Sephiroth is alive, and he's after something. But we've got no idea what." Strato told him, obviously worried. Zack wondered.
"Could it have something to do with Jenova? Sephiroth's so-called mother?" He spoke up. "Maybe it's got something to do with Jenova. You know, the thing that they used to create Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal?" he asked. Elena let out a gasp.
"That must be it! Since Jenova is an Ancient, Shin-Ra must have thought they could learn something from Aerith. So maybe that group Cloud's with that rescued knows something about Sephiroth." she suggested. Zack and Strato both nodded.
"Sounds like you might be on to something, Elena. Zack, when you're ready we should probably follow AVALANCHE and see what happens. At least you'll be able to see Aerith again." Strato announced. Zack immediately brightened up.
"Ok! Then we'll leave tomorrow." he announced, standing up.
"Zack, please be careful." his mother begged.
"Don't worry mom." Zack replied. "Nothing's gonna stop two SOLDIER 1st's, right Strato?"
"Right." agreed Strato, as they shook hands.
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