#x. zack

[lunethria]

@brcidablik cont. (x)

Zack   barely   had   time   to   register   the   flicker   of   distortion   in   the   sky   before   a   figure   dropped   out   of   it,   clean,   fast,   and   completely   out   of   place.   “Whoa!”   he   shouted,   instinctively   stepping   back   as   Leon   landed   with   a   heavy   thud,   boots   skidding   across   the   concrete   like   he   wasn’t   entirely   convinced   gravity   was   real   today.

Zack   blinked,   then   cracked   a   grin.   “Okay.   Not   every   day   someone   falls   out   of   the   sky,   but   sure.   Let’s   roll   with   that,   name’s   Zack.   You   look   like   you   could   use   a   tour,   or   a   strong   drink.   I   can   probably   get   you   both.”

[lunethria]

@reunioned asked "I do as im told, I dont question it." From Reno to Zack.

Zack   crosses   his   arms,   brow   furrowing   as   he   looks   Reno   straight   in   the   eye.   “That’s   not   how   it’s   supposed   to   work,   man.   You’ve   got   a   brain   and   a   heart   for   a   reason.   Orders   or   not,   you   should   question   things   when   they   don’t   sit   right.”

He   exhales,   a   little   frustration   laced   in   his   voice   but   not   unkind.   “We’re   not   machines.   We’re   people.   And   if   we   stop   thinking   for   ourselves…   then   what’s   the   point   of   even   fighting?”

[lunethria]

@reunioned asked: "Now, I needn't remind you of the consequences of disloyalty, do I?" To Zack from Rufus

Zack   straightened   a   little,   arms   loosely   folded   as   his   easy-going   smile   thinned   into   something   cooler,   measured.   His   eyes,   however,   stayed   sharp.   “You   don’t,   sir.   I   know   exactly   what’s   at   stake.”

A   pause—then   a   flicker   of   steel   in   his   voice, “But   loyalty’s   a   two-way   street.   Just   making   sure   we’re   driving   the   same   direction.”

[lunethria]

@kuloba asked: sender kisses receiver to distract them. /from Aerith to Zack :3

Zack   blinked,   caught   mid-sentence,   mid-thought,   mid-everything   as   Aerith   leaned   in,   soft   and   sudden,   pressing   her   lips   to   his   in   that   way   only   she   could   manage:   warm,   mischievous,   full   of   intention   and   light.

"H-Hey—!   That’s   cheating,   Flower   Girl…"   he   mumbled   when   they   finally   parted,   a   hand   rubbing   the   back   of   his   neck   as   pink   dusted   his   cheeks,   grin   tugging   helplessly   at   his   lips.   He   hadn’t   even   remembered   what   he   was   talking   about   anymore.   Mission   details?   Cloud?   Gone.   All   he   could   think   about   now   was   her,   her   smile,   that   sparkle   in   her   eyes,   the   way   she   tilted   her   head   just   enough   to   let   her   braid   swing.

He   let   out   a   small   chuckle,   surrendering   completely.   "You   win.   Totally   distracted.   Mission   accomplished."

[lunethria]

@kuloba humming   a   lullaby   beside   them / from aerith for zack

It started so softly, he almost missed it—just the faintest hum, like the breeze brushing over the edge of a dream. At first, Zack didn’t react. His eyes were half-lidded, body still in that heavy quiet that follows a long fight, the kind that lingers more in the heart than the muscle. But the moment stretched, and the sound stayed. No words. Just that lullaby—tender and ancient in a way that made the silence feel holy.

He turned his head just slightly. Aerith sat beside him, her eyes half-closed, the soft rise and fall of her chest syncing with each note she hummed. It wasn’t anything he recognized. Not a tune from Gongaga, not something from the barracks or the training rooms, and definitely not from any radio station he could name. It wasn’t his song.

' But gods, it was something. Why does it feel like it belongs here? Like I’ve heard it somewhere I’ve never been? '

His heart stirred in his chest, not with adrenaline or excitement, but with something quieter. Gentler. He hadn’t realized how much noise he carried inside—grief he kept laughing through, fear tucked behind bravado, dreams he’d buried because they were easier to forget than to chase. And then this. This wordless little melody, threading between his ribs like light through shuttered windows.

He swallowed. “I don’t know that song,” he finally murmured, his voice barely above the hush of dusk. “But it’s like… I should. Like maybe, in another life, it was the last thing I heard before falling asleep.”

He tried to laugh, but it caught in his throat—too raw, too sincere. He didn’t want to ruin the moment. He didn’t want to make it smaller with jokes. Not this time. “It’s strange,” he went on, watching her like she was the only fixed point in a world that kept spinning. “It’s not familiar. But it feels familiar. Like it’s not a memory from my head—just one from somewhere deeper.”

Maybe the soul knows things the mind forgets. The thought made something ache. Not in a painful way, but in a longing, aching way, like reaching toward something beautiful just beyond reach. He looked down at their hands—close, not touching.

“You have no idea what that does to me, Aerith,” he whispered. “Or maybe you do. Maybe that’s why you’re humming it.” A pause. The hum continued, and he let himself fall into it. “…Don’t stop,” he breathed. “Please. Just keep humming. Even if I never learn the words, I think—”

He hesitated, eyes slipping shut. “I think I’ll still remember how it made me feel.”

[lunethria]

@kuloba asked — ❛  Come back to me. I’ll wait as long as it takes.  ❜ / from aerith to zack.

Those words hit him harder than any bullet ever could. They weren’t just words. They were a lifeline — fragile, golden, unwavering. In a world that kept crumbling beneath his feet, they held. They always held. Even now, drifting through time and fate like a man half-dead and half-dreaming, Zack hears her — soft and certain, like a prayer carried on the breeze.

His boots drag through the dust as he forces another step forward. The Buster Sword strapped to his back feels heavier than ever. Not because of the weight of metal, but the memories etched into it. Angeal’s legacy. His own scars. All the promises he made — some kept, most broken.

But hers? Hers was the only one he never meant to shatter.

Aerith.

That girl with starlight in her laugh and flowers blooming behind every step she took. The one who saw past the SOLDIER badge, the cocky grin, the reckless bravado. Who saw him. Who waited.

And now… she still is. God, that hurts more than he can put into words. His breath catches in his throat as the echo of her voice replays over and over. “I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

“Why?” he murmurs aloud, the sound hoarse, almost broken. “Why would you do that for me?” He looks up at the sky — slate grey, unmoving. Maybe it’s Midgar’s sky, or maybe it’s just some memory loop he’s been wandering through. He doesn’t know anymore. Time doesn’t work right in this place. Nothing does. But her voice cuts through it like sunlight through broken glass.

There’s a flicker in his chest. Small. Relentless. Hope. Or maybe guilt wrapped in the skin of hope. She believed in him. Even when he bled for people who would never know his name. Even when he stood alone on that cliff, sword in hand, death breathing down his neck and no cavalry coming. Even then, he’d fought to live — not for himself, but for her.

And now… Now, he fights to return.

“I’m still here,” he whispers to no one, to her, to himself. His voice trembles but doesn’t falter. “Somewhere. In between. I don’t know what this place is, Aerith. I don’t even know what I am anymore. But I haven’t given up. Not yet.”

He presses a hand to his chest, over his heart. It’s still beating. Somehow. And every beat carries her name. “I swear it,” he says, eyes burning, not from tears — he’s cried enough for ten lives — but from everything that still won’t die inside him. “I’ll find the way. I’ll break through whatever this is. I’ll walk back to you if I have to. Crawl. Bleed. I don’t care.”

He tightens the strap on his shoulder and straightens his spine. “You said you’d wait,” he breathes, voice steadier now. Fierce. “Then I’m going to make it worth every second. I’ll be there, Aerith. One day, you’ll turn around… and I’ll be standing right there.”

And with that, Zack moves forward again — one step closer to the promise he refuses to leave broken. No matter how long it takes.

[lunethria]

@kuloba asked — ❛  i don't have the strength to watch you walk away again.  ❜ / from aerith to zack.

Zack doesn’t flinch, but inside, it’s like everything shatters. Not like a clean break, not like steel on steel—no, this is slower. Splintering. A heart cracking under the pressure of every promise he ever made and never kept. He doesn’t speak. He can’t.

Because her voice—so full of hurt, threaded with that quiet, steadfast kind of love—feels like it’s closing a door he never stopped hoping might stay open.

The church smells like rain and lilies. It always did. Even now, after everything, the flowers still grow here. They bloom like nothing has changed. Like time hasn’t broken them both. Like ghosts don’t walk through the doorway. Like he didn’t die with her name in his mouth. His hands hang useless at his sides. Gloves worn thin. Fingertips trembling. Coward, he thinks. You were brave enough to face death. But not this. Never this.

The light filters in behind her, soft and gold and cruel in its beauty. It halos her the same way it always did. But there’s a weight in her eyes now—a heaviness she didn’t have when they were younger, when he used to flirt with her just to see her laugh, just to feel the world shift a little brighter in his orbit. That laugh is gone now.

It died in the silence between com transmissions. It vanished with the dust on the road to Midgar, when his body hit the dirt and her name was the only thing he had left. He came back. Somehow. Some way. He clawed his way through the aftermath, through blood and memory and the stain of everything Shinra turned him into. But what came back wasn’t a clean version of him. Not the boy she once held hope for.

Zack Fair is worn down. War-torn. A silhouette of what he used to be. And now, faced with the one person he swore he’d never hurt… He’s never felt more hollow. Why did you come here, really? To ask for forgiveness? To pretend like you can still be the man she loved? To stand in front of her and not fall to your knees?

He doesn’t know.

The truth is, the battlefield was easier. Orders made sense. You followed them, or you died. Simple. Clean. But this? Standing in front of Aerith, seeing the tears she won’t let fall, the love she’s still trying to hold back even after everything? This is the hardest thing he’s ever done.

And it’s not her job to be strong anymore. He sees it now. It never was. So he swallows the apology. Chokes it down. Because no words could ever carry the weight of what he owes her. No plea could ever rebuild what he’s broken. And if she tells him to leave—if this is the last time he’ll ever stand in this light—then he’ll do it. Not because he wants to. But because she deserves that choice. Finally. Still…

A part of him—small, broken, but still burning—wants to believe she kept the door open. That maybe the garden bloomed for a reason.

" I  love  you  .. "  he told himself.

[lunethria]