#hey protip don't listen to songs u associate with zack's death while writing this @ me

[mezzomorendo]

Zack picked up on the long pause, but since Cloud was back to talking again, he didn't think much of it. To be honest, he chalked it up to the shock of realizing they were back, or perhaps something else. There were too many factors, really.

He leaned back on his hands as he thought. Sure, he could try and fight again, but what could would that even do? He didn't want to fight anymore. Not when he finally got his life back.

Would Cloud be disappointed in him....?

His chest collapsed in on itself, that now-familiar tiredness seeping into his bones. Yeah. He didn't want to fight.

He didn't want to hurt others anymore.

"Nah, I'll pass." Zack admitted quietly, a gentle smile on his face. "I can't fight this fight with you. Not because I don't think Seph needs to be knocked down a peg the size of a sector plate, but 'cause I just... can't." His leg started bouncing. "I'm not the same guy anymore. Don't have the heart."

He almost made a joke about how he passed that onto Cloud along with his sword, but the weight of his words caught his tongue. Though it felt like no time at all to him, he knew that it was years for everyone else. Who knew if Cloud had healed or not - Zack certainly hadn't. Not mentally, anyway.

So, he did the next best thing.

"I can't fight alongside you, but I'll be here when you come home." His leg bounced faster, eyes fixated on Cloud's. "And I'll come get you when you're late. No matter how hurt you are, how far away you are, no matter what kinda trouble you get yourself into, I'll bring you home. Every. Time." His gaze, heavy with the bags under his eyes and the tiredness in his bones, still burned with the strength of those long-dead days.

Whatever happened, Zack would come for him. He promised.

@hiislegacy

Like a refreshing shadow in a heatwave, Cloud's words blocked the moping from beating down his neck. Though his heart still hurt, oh it would always hurt he was sure, Zack's chest wasn't wilting in the sun.

He cleaned up his face the best he could, head shaking out the doubts. Right. He was forgiven. No need to dwell on things. Cloud wasn't going to kill him, and Zack wasn't going to abandon him. They could begin to heal - begin to move on.

Perhaps startling Cloud, Zack smacked his cheeks and righted his mind once more. "What am I even doing?!" He shuffled closer to Cloud, face beaming with that brilliant grin once more. Red rimmed eyes and once-quivering lips dulled it slightly but who even cared anymore. He was here. He was alive.

And Cloud didn't hate him.

"Don't worry, Spike." Zack reached and ruffled Cloud's hair, doing his best to stay tender. "I'm not going anywhere. Literally. I have nowhere else to go," he bitterly laughed (though quickly shifted away from that before it became a habit.)

His hand settled between fluffy strands as if marveling at how soft they truly were. "I'm here. You're here. We did it, Cloud.

"We made it home."

@hiislegacy