I know I ship it. I donāt care if anyone tells me not to. I have my reasons and now I would like to state them. Just to clarify some things. Oh, and if you havenāt seen Angels of Death and would like to, this goes into spoiler territory, so fair warning.
Chemistry: These two bounce off each other extremely well. Mostly because one has the strength that the other lacks. Rachel has book smarts while Zack has street smarts. Where Rachel stops and analyzes, Zack rushes in head first. Rachel thinks with her head while Zack thinks while his heart.Their personalities balance each other out. And those opposite personalities can make for some pretty fun scenarios.
Oath:Ā Rachel couldāve taken the opportunity to be killed by Eddie. But she chose Zack. Itās arguable that she only did so because heĀ āswore to God,ā but thatās not completely true. Rachel thought of Zack first when answering Eddie, concerned that if she died, that Zack wouldnāt be able to leave. She took their deal, and by extension Zack, seriously from the very beginning.
Treatment:Ā This shows deals heavily with humanity and morality. Zack was always seen as a monster, called so by everyone in his life; the caretakers, his victims, Cathy, Eddie, Danny. He honestly believed it. Gray called him an angel, something that wasnāt human. But Rachel was the only person to tell him that he was. She said that he was a human being, seeing him on the same level as her, not above or below. She accepted who he was as a person. She didnāt see him as a tool, monster, angel, or even god. She just saw Zack.
Healing: Rachel tried to kill Zack on B1 after he learned the truth. Someone of his nature would instantly kill her before she could kill him. But he didnāt. He chased after her and avoided her traps. Even when he had his scythe to her neck, he didnāt swing. He couldāve killed her when he knocked her to the floor, but didnāt. He stopped and talked to her. He tried to reason with her. He didnāt let this fight be the end. He didnāt let her past mistakes define her. He said that she was her own person and if she wanted to die, then she should die for herself and no one else. Zack brought her back to her senses, breaking her out of her twisted mindset.
Choices: Zack was the only person who ever gave Rachel what she really needed; a choice. No one gave her that. Eddie exclusively told her,Ā āitās not your choiceā when she chose Zack over her, calling her selfish when her choice didnāt align with his desires. Danny did everything to force Rachel to revert back to her previous state for his own gain, not letting her decide for herself whether to remember or remain ignorant. Cathy explicitly says,Ā āA sinner has no right of choice.ā But Zack always told her to think for herself. He was the person to offer her control of the situation, to have a say in what happened to her next. And he accepted the answer she gave. And just as Zack did for Rachel, she also gave him a choice. She asked him if he was really okay with killing her while he was on the drugs. She let him decide what he wanted to do, instead of letting him be manipulated by Cathy.
Care: Rachel and Zack cared about each other in a way that they didnāt treat anyone else. Zack didnāt hesitate to kill Cathy on her floor when the urge struck him. But with Ray, he fought his urges to kill that were heightened by the drugs, begging her not to let him kill her. He genuinely cared about how he killed Ray. He didnāt want to do it while he was on the drugs and far from his usual self. Despite accusations of being selfish, Rachel did care about Zack. It was subtly hinted at in her tone and wording. She didnāt want Zack to die. She just chalked it up to their oath, since she didnāt truly understand that genuinely caring for someone elseās well-being was something she was capable of. In the game, Zack noticed the wounds she sustained from going up against Gray and told her to patch them up once she was done with him. He cared about her well-being as well.
Change: Zack is afraid of fire. Thatās obvious. So when the building is caught on fire, Zack can only shrivel up. But when he sees Ray fighting to get them out, he steels his nerves to help get them through. This man overcame his greatest fear for her. Thatās not something a person would do for anyone; conquer their greatest fear head-on. When Rachel was shot, Zack said he didnāt want to go outside if she was dead. He would rather die with her in a burning building that go out and survive without her. When he thought she had died, he was close to breaking down, to crying. Zack was never one to cry over his losses. But he was ready to shed tears for Rachel. He even turned himself in to get her the care she needed. Everything he had done for her went completely against his nature when the series began. It shows how much Zack had grown because of Rachel.
Potential: Yes, Rachel is a 13-year-old who is really smart and Zack is a 20-year-old with the mental capacity of a tween jacked up on pixie sticks. When I say potential, I mean future development. Time does exist, and an aging up story isnāt an invalid genre. Zack and Ray showed the capability of being best friends, but their future holds a lot of possibilities in more ways. Yes, with their age gap, anything before 18 is purely platonic. But I think itās nice to explore the possible romance between these two as they grow and learn to understand their feelings as they develop.
Meaning: Overall, the ZackRay ship speaks to me on a level below the surface. To me, itās something beyond the whole age-gap thing or the life and death thing. To me, the ship represents something we all admittedly seek. A genuine relationship with someone special, who sees all our faults and flaws, and accepts us for who we truly are. Someone who acknowledges that we make mistakes, and will stand by us through the toughest times when we question everything about ourselves. Having someone who truly loves you when you think youāve done nothing to deserve it.
Look at those soft looks! Those looks are sure as hell not the way you look at a sibling!
