NIGHT 54: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[sanguinario]

[From here.]It was probably a good time to declare everyone legally dead, because this was the fourth hallway in a row. This was what being proactive felt like. Yes. He was going to roll with that. Proactive and paranoid as hell, that was him

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[zack_fair]

It seemed that luck was not on his side tonight, since what should have been a normal stroll down the hall was interrupted when someone decided to shine a flashlight right in his face. Even his enhanced vision wasn't able to just brush that off, and Zack groaned, wincing against the light for a moment.

He wasn't the sort to anger easily, though, and so he'd been prepared to just give a friendly warning to the offending patient that that wasn't the... best idea.

But before he could get a word of that out, the other patient spoke first. Spoke his name. In a voice Zack most definitely knew. The other's disbelief and concern made him sound even more like the Cloud that Zack remembered from years ago, rather than the more confident and settled one he'd spoken to in this place.

However, it was clear that something was wrong. Even as Zack pulled forward and took in the blond's features, determining that it was in fact him, it was clear that Cloud was far too shocked to see him. Memory loss? He'd heard about it being performed here, but the fact that it'd touched someone so close to him made Zack's gut twist in anger.

He could focus on that later, though. Cloud was looking for confirmation, for acknowledgment, and that was something that Zack could give without a problem. Finally, he smiled and set his hand on the other's shoulder.

"You better believe it," he said with a smile. Even if Cloud was back at square one when it came to all of this, Zack was naturally thrilled to see him again. He'd catch his friend up in no time. And boy, was Tifa going to be happy or what?

[bigdamnzero]

And that would've been the perfect time for Cloud to wake up back in his bed at Seventh or even by the side of the road, to rub his eyes, confirm none of this was real, and brush off the whole day as a particularly odd dream. But dreams... dreams weren't that opaque. Dreams didn't wince when he shone light at them, didn't clasp a too-real hand to his shoulder; dreams didn't smile like that, didn't say you better believe it in a voice as easy and friendly and familiar as that smile.

Dreams didn't make his chest tighten like it was doing now.

Except for that recurring Wall Market one, a voice inside reminded him, but Cloud silenced it with a swallow, waited for the white noise in his head to begin, for the nightmare to start. Nothing happened. He blinked, then, and the hand that wasn't holding the flashlight twitched before reaching up to slowly clasp the one on his shoulder, more to confirm its existence than anything else. Solid. Warm. Real.

"I can't, though," he admitted finally, quiet and uncertain compared to his normally confident tone. "I can't believe it. You..." Cloud shook his head, recalled what that woman had said right before the soldiers had burst into the Sun Room: that maybe he wasn't remembering things right. And that just opened up a whole new vista of possibilities. Maybe Zack hadn't died that day on the cliffside. Maybe, just maybe, he'd survived. And maybe that meant that Cloud had--

Left his friend there to die?

... But no, Zack wouldn't have entrusted his sword to him if that'd been the case. It didn't add up. He wouldn't have called him his living legacy. And that left only one other option, an unbelievable one. He opened his mouth to ask as much, intent on clearing things up completely, but--

"Zack, you're alive?" --was what came out instead. Great.

[zack_fair]

In the end, the reaction that Cloud gave was pretty similar to what it had been the first time, which made sense. This was still the same guy, even if his memories had been conveniently scooped out. Just how much of it had been removed? Granted, Zack had never gotten a great idea of the timeline after his death, even when he'd been deposited in a Gaia that was a few years past his time.

He glanced down at the hand that was placed over his, smiling briefly -- and yet there was a hint of sadness to it. Even if they'd been reunited twice now, he had come to realize how much of an effect his death had had on his friend. It had driven Cloud to a point where he'd completely blocked it out, putting himself in the shoes that he hadn't wanted to admit had left him, even if it had been unwillingly.

Granted, Cloud didn't know that he knew that, seeing how he'd told him all about it before this disappearing act. Zack let out a small sigh, knowing that there was far too much to cover and not enough time for them to do it. Tifa was waiting.

He wasn't sure how to make Cloud believe something that should have been impossible, and so he just decided to be honest, giving a shake of his head and shrugging his shoulders. "I really don't know either. I died, I did, but...

"Somehow, I ended up here. It's probably the fault of more experimentation that shouldn't be going on, but Shin-Ra isn't behind it this time." It was best if he made that clear first and foremost. "Cloud, we aren't even on Gaia anymore," he continued, finally removing his hand from the other's shoulder.

[bigdamnzero]

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Each bit of information that his currently befuddled mind received was like a small explosion, and the most unbelievable one of all was-- well. On a regular day, if anyone else had stood in front of him and calmly declared that they were no longer on Gaia, he'd ask if they were one brick short of a wall. Or maybe ten bricks. And if they added that Shinra wasn't behind this situation, that would only be a cause for more disbelief on his part. Human experimentation and Shinra were so inextricably linked in Cloud's mind that the possibility that the Company wasn't behind this was extremely dubious, to say the least.

But the bottom line was, this wasn't just anyone telling him all this, this was Zack. Who'd died, according to not only what Cloud remembered but also what he himself was saying. Definitely not a regular day; for one crazy moment, he had to wonder if he wasn't dead himself. As that hand slid away from his shoulder, he wet his suddenly dry lips, swallowed. If anyone but Zack had been saying this, it wouldn't have had the same weight... well, maybe if it was someone else who shouldn't be alive, like Aerith--

Yeah, that was just what he needed. Aerith rounding the corner at any moment. The funny part was, he didn't think that would be all that shocking anymore.

"Zack, hold on. Let me get this straight," he started slowly, gesturing with his hand. "You... you died, but somehow managed to end up in a place disguising itself as a mental hospital." A bewildered pause. "On another planet." Another pause, his eyes locked on the impossibly blue ones of his friend, silently asking him to see reason, to speak it. "With me. "

[zack_fair]

While Zack was well aware of how bizarre their current situation was, hearing Cloud describe it all like that really put it into perspective. It just went to show how easily someone could adapt to even the oddest circumstances. He'd already gotten used to being alive again, which was weird enough in itself. Then again, he was pretty sure that it beat being dead by a long shot.

He ended up laughing and running his hand through his hair awkwardly, knowing just how ridiculous it all sounded. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But... that's pretty much it. This isn't home. That guy named Landel was basically running the show until the military rolled in, and... there's still no clear sign of how we get out of this."

Though there was one part of what Cloud had said that wasn't entirely accurate. He wasn't just stuck here with him, but with a number of other people. Well, the numbers had decreased by now, but he needed to let his friend know of who else was here sooner rather than later, especially considering he'd been on his way to meet one of them.

"I'm not the only other person from Gaia who's here, though," he added. He sent a glance down the hall, as if wondering if Tifa would show up at that moment, but that obviously didn't happen. "Tifa's also here. Yuffie too." Both of who he'd met when he was still alive the first time, though Cloud might not have known about the latter. "There were... others, but I'm pretty sure they're all gone now."

He realized after the fact that that wasn't the best phrasing. "Err, well, not dead. I guess the people who get released from this place are brainwashed to believe that they were crazy after all." He pulled a face, not much liking the sound of it either.

[bigdamnzero]

"Tifa?"

The name tumbled past his lips before he could help it, acute with disbelief. Cloud opened his mouth, thought hard for a second, and then closed it, quite literally knocked speechless. Just when he thought things couldn't get any more shocking here. That Zack knew Tifa was itself something surprising, but Yuffie, as well? By the sound of it, either he'd met them before, or... they'd mentioned him. Mentioned Cloud. Possibly discussed. Huh.

Without much thought into what he was doing, Cloud's hand went to the back of his head in that long-time standby of his whenever he didn't know exactly what to say, and he blinked, looking away for a moment. It occurred to him that all this would explain the strange can't-put-my-finger-on-it quirks he'd noticed earlier, with that injured woman. She probably wasn't from Gaia. Well, at least something made sense, and everything else mentioned to him within that context lined up, too.

"I picked a heck of a time to show up, huh?" he muttered finally, looking back at Zack with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. There might not be a way out of here (yet), but... this was Zack. Alive. Breathing. Despite the toss and turn of emotions inside him at the moment-- a curious, bittersweet mixture pain and joy-- Cloud knew that this was in no way anything except A Very Good Thing.

Then he realized he was still pointing the flashlight straight at his friend's face and quickly tilted the beam off to the side with a soft curse, looking back at Zack apologetically. "Sorry about that. I just had to... make sure I was really seeing... well, you." A pause that may or may not have been awkward before Cloud cleared his throat and went on, "So, Tifa. D'you know where she is? Yuffie? And where were you headed?"

[zack_fair]

That reaction was more or less what Zack had expected. While Tifa being here probably wasn't as shocking as his own presence, the number of unbelievable things was just piling up for Cloud. Zack felt bad for overloading him with information, but keeping it from his friend was no way to go about it either. The fact was that Cloud had grown stronger after he'd left, which made Zack confident that he could handle whatever was thrown at him. If he'd been able to take Sephiroth down all over again, then he could deal with this situation no problem.

It wasn't as if any of them had a choice, either. At Cloud's somewhat rhetorical question, Zack managed a smirk. "Yeah, things are sort of getting turned upside-down right now, but that's normal for this place on its own. There's always something." Whether it was the doors acting weird or shadows coming to life and mocking them, things never got old in this place.

Having already gotten used to the light, Zack was quick to wave the other man off when he apologized, not wanting him to beat himself up over something so small. That was more or less Cloud's M.O., but he tried to discourage it when he could. Too much negative energy wasn't going to get them anywhere.

It was only logical that Cloud would want to know where the others were, and it gave Zack a convenient opening to get them moving. The rest would have to be explained on the go. "Well, I know where Tifa is because I'm supposed to be meeting her right now. She's probably wondering what the hold up is. It's not too much further, though." Zack cast a glance down the hall, and then turned back to his friend with a smile. "Ready?"

The SOLDIER didn't need to wait for a response before heading down the hall.

[To here.]