If I can't see the sun, maybe I should go

[1st_zack]

Zack had tried to forget things. He'd been so emotional when he hadn't been himself that he was over compensating and keeping it all inside. He didn't want to put the burden of his guilt on his friends, his family, anymore than he had already. Ironically, making him even more like Cloud. Or was it that Cloud was more like him in that way

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[followmycords]

Kristine was feeling despondent. So far, while the island was a pleasant enough place to live, the people left something to be desired, especially when they went around switching personalities every five minutes. Yes, she was still a little bitter about that. All right, more than a little. It hadn't been fair to her, and she hadn't even been able to drown her sorrows - or at least thoroughly smother them - in any cottage cheese.

The scenery was still pretty, she reflected as she walked barefoot along the beach, shoes in hand and red jacket in the other. Shimmering seas, sand stretching away to the edge of nowhere, warm sun, guy waving around a giant sword, it was all very picturesque.

It took Kristine approximately thirty seconds to realize there was something wrong with that picture, and she went over it again in her head as she stopped. Sun. Sea. Sand. Guy with giant sword - a-ha.

"Good grief," she muttered as she turned and caught sight of him again. How could he lift that thing? It wasn't polite to stare, Kristine knew, but in

[1st_zack]

Though he'd been paying attention to his form and sorting through his thoughts, he wasn't being completely unobservant. That would have been just plain reckless. He finished the last combination of moves he'd been working on before dropping into a casual ready stance.

"Hey," he said with a wave and a friendly smile.

[followmycords]

Giant Sword Man was speaking to her without chopping her head off. That was a good sign. Wasn't it?

"Er, hello," said Kristine. "That's...quite a large sword you've got, there." All other opening lines seemed far less obvious than that one.

[1st_zack]

"Is it?" he asked with sincerity. It was a normal sized sword as far as he was concerned. Larger than his training sword, but smaller than Sephiroth's Masamune and about the same size as Genesis' sword. It was certainly wider than the other two. He shrugged.

"I guess it is wider that most. I knew a guy who had one that was six feet long. That's a big sword."

[queensparkle]

It wasn't that they spoke often anymore. Summer spend many of her hours holed away with Seth or working on classes and Zack...well, she didn't know what he did. But the young brunette could still tell when her first island friend was upset and in those moments her softer side came out.

"Mister...Zack?" Her voice faltered at calling him her dream man, for reasons she couldn't quite understand.

[1st_zack]

"Hey, Summer," he said, a cheerful tone in his voice. Another woman with whom things had been complicated. Luckily, they'd uncomplicated themselves pretty quickly by avoiding each other. Perhaps avoiding was too harsh of a word to describe it, but their new lives had gotten in the way.

He swung his sword around in his hand and then spun around with it to jab at the air, letting an exhaled grunt out with the effort. It wasn't yoga, but he was finding his inner peace.

"What brings you out this way?" he asked, looking at her sideways as he stayed in the final stance.

[queensparkle]

Summer shrugged, a smirk appearing on her face. Banter was an easy mode for her to fall back into when all else failed.

"My inner eye told me that you'd be here and I want to learn to use it." She gestured to the sword. "Can't you just see me with one of those things?"

[1st_zack]

"Your inner eye?" he said with a laugh. At her next comment, he was laughing loudly.

"Yeah," he closed the distance between them. "Want to try it?" he offered her the grip of the sword, the top of the hilt balancing in his palm.

[spirited_hero]

[1st_zack]

Zack looked up from his training. He'd broken into a sweat a long time ago and a few beads ran down his face. He grinned at his friend.

"Hey, Zell! Thanks! Makes me wish I was back home. This is nothing compared to that. I'm too slow. Or in the training simulator. Never thought I'd miss that thing." He smiled as he spoke conversationally.

[spirited_hero]

[1st_zack]

Zack moved from a ready stance to a more casual stance, swinging the Buster sword into his sword holster.

"It was a virtual training simulator. You wore this helmet." He illustrated with his hands how to put on the helmet as he spoke. "And you looked through it to see the training program. It was great! Pretty slick helmet too, more like goggles, I guess. The program tied into your phone..." Talking about the training simulator had him reaching for his phone out of old habit. It, of course, wasn't in his pocket, but safely stored in the hut as a completely useless device. He looked lost for just a moment that it wasn't in his pocket then he shook his head at his mistake.

"The best, or maybe the worst part, was that they could record your simulation and you can fight it. Angeal always had me face myself from the month before." He smiled, laughing internally about the times he'd been been at a checkmate with the previous month's performance or when it beat him. Angeal had given him a pretty hard time about that.

[1st_zack]

Zack noticed Roxas swimming around in the ocean. He remembered Cloud preferring long stays in the jungle alone over the ocean. Random encounters he'd said stoically. Sometimes it was hard to tell when he was joking. Especially when he had his back to you.

Zack continued with the pattern he was working on. A spin-slash, spin-thrust, a dodge roll to the right, followed by a forward flip sword slash. The landing left a little to be desired as he slipped and had to put a hand down to prevent himself from falling down entirely. Straightening up, he noticed Roxas' swim lap had brought him closer down the beach.

"Hey, Roxas," he shouted in a friendly tone. He put his hands on his hips and watched the waves for a moment, allowing his body the chance to recuperate.

[1st_zack]

Zack watched Roxas sat down on the sand. He looked like he'd been getting a good work out too. Zack's gaze returned to the horizon. He inhaled the salt air and closed his eyes for a moment. It was easier to take retirement when he'd worn himself to near exhaustion. Comfortable exhaustion.

"Things getting back to normal for you?" he asked. He doubted the Roxas had any reason to apologize for any of his actions, but perhaps he had other friendships that had been damaged. Talking about Roxas was much better than talking about anything Zack had been contemplating.