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Sephiroth walked out of a portal, and found himself holding hands with a stranger.
The man with wild, black spikes of hair, who most definitely hadn’t accompanied him inside, made Sephiroth do an immediate double-take. He jerked his hand away, on reflex, and the other man—a fellow SOLDIER First, by the look of his uniform—yelped as he was tugged nearly off his feet. Their fingers, Sephiroth discovered, were intertwined, and just as Sephiroth tried to pull free, the man’s grip held firm. It remained so, even as the portal vanished into the ether, behind them.
Righting himself, the other SOLDIER appeared just as shocked by their predicament. His bright eyes widened, even as a chunk of his bangs fell into his face. Spluttering, he batted the offending hair away with his free hand, before uttering, in askance, “Sephiroth?”
“Who are you?” Sephiroth questioned, in turn. While Sephiroth might not have socialized with most of SOLDIER’s operatives, he did train with their virtual copies. He didn’t recall this First among the VR data.
“Uh, I’m Zack,” his sudden companion answered, brow furrowing with suspicious confusion, as though Sephiroth was the strange one for not knowing. Zack’s eyes moved from Sephiroth to their still linked hands—Zack’s fault, apparently not having the good sense to let go. He did, however, raise their hands to inspect them, before his gaze flicked back to Sephiroth’s face. “…what’s going on?”
“I should be asking you,” Sephiroth retorted, irritatedly yanking his hand free. “Where did you come from? The portal?”
Zack was nonplussed at Sephiroth’s glower, much to Sephiroth’s confusion. The usual methods of intimidation were lost on this man, who merely glanced around the shallow, icy cave in which they stood. “Probably,” Zack said idly. “Wasn’t expecting to end up…wherever this is,” he continued, frowning as he noticed the area beyond the cave—a few meters of snow-covered ground, and then a sheer drop off the mountain.
Probably, he says, Sephiroth internally grumbled, certain Zack was being deliberately obtuse. “Do you recall what happened inside the spell?”
“…should I?” Zack asked, tilting his head as he regarded Sephiroth with a quizzical expression. “Wait, was it like, a portal materia, or…whatever weird timeline portal shit you’ve been doing?”
It was Sephiroth’s turn to meet the man’s gaze with sheer befuddlement. “Timeline…what?” he repeated, unable to comprehend half the statement. “I can’t do anything like that.”
“You sure could when you made one to push me into!” Zack griped, petulantly crossing his arms over his chest. “I see you’re finally not ignoring me, at least.”
“None of what you’re saying makes any sense.”
“Yeah, well, nothing really has since Nibelheim,” Zack groused.
Waiting for the man to elaborate, Sephiroth resisted the urge to sigh when Zack didn’t. He did pinch the bridge of his nose, though, wondering how in the world this insolent man showed up here. Let alone with Sephiroth’s hand in his. “Am I meant to know what Nibelheim is?” Sephiroth inquired, the name slow and awkward on his tongue.
The bitter expression on Zack’s face dropped in an instant, shifting to a much more serious, searching look. “Wait. You haven’t—?” he began, only to take a step back, as though to take in the full sight of Sephiroth better. “What are you…doing here?”
Finally, a reasonable question. “I’m on a mission from HQ,” Sephiroth supplied, gesturing vaguely to the empty air the portal had previously occupied. “A materia-made portal was discovered during a mako excavation site search. I was sent to investigate.” The details of what happened inside said spells were a mystery, of course, even to Sephiroth. He ordinarily came back injured, after having fought whatever creatures lived inside them—the soreness of his muscles, and the bruises he could feel with every shift of his stance, told him this should have been a typical excursion. “…you are very much the anomaly, here,” Sephiroth added, frowning pointedly at Zack.
“You’re still with…?” Zack muttered, only to trail off in disbelief. Again, his gaze roamed over Sephiroth, lingering for a moment on his face, before Zack turned his sights to the rest of the cave. He stepped away from Sephiroth, then, exiting the cave to look out over the expansive, snowy landscape that lay far, far below them. Wind whipped at his long spikes, as he quietly studied the icy terrain.
Sephiroth watched him, waiting for Zack to eventually finish the question. When the silence began to sound like he wouldn’t be getting any answers himself, however, Sephiroth scoffed and walked to Zack’s side. “And you?” Sephiroth prompted. “You said I pushed you into a portal?”
Zack turned to face him, but stiltedly, this time. His lips were parted as he stared, openly, at Sephiroth, until suddenly he straightened, and set his jaw. “No,” he said, ultimately, his voice taking on a decisive firmness. “Not you. Something else.”
“Being pushed into a portal doesn’t explain how you ended up holding my hand,” Sephiroth commented expectantly, crossing his arms to banish the brief memory of how warm Zack’s hand had been in his.
“So, for that…I have no idea,” Zack admitted, sighing into a heavy slump. When he lifted his head, he wore a strangely upset expression—one that Sephiroth couldn’t quite parse, before he smiled. It was a smile full of fondness that Sephiroth didn’t understand, and all too soon, it changed again. Smile spreading into a teasing, cheeky grin, Zack shrugged casually. “I don’t usually hold hands like that unless I’m dating the person, so…maybe we decided to, in the portal?”
“I can’t imagine why I would agree to that,” Sephiroth countered flatly, unamused. “Why would I date someone I knew I was about to forget?”
“Forget?” Zack echoed. “Portal like that should’ve only made us forget what happened inside it, not anything before or after. You didn’t know me before you went in?” At the shake of Sephiroth’s head, Zack grimaced exaggeratedly, hands on his hips as he brainstormed. “Huh…maybe with all these time jumps…” Perking up, he addressed Sephiroth again with curiosity. “Hey, what year is it?”
Supposing it was a valid question for someone making ‘time jumps’—whatever that meant—Sephiroth answered, “1997.”
“Wha—‘97?!” Zack repeated with a laugh. “Damn, no wonder you don’t know me. I hadn’t even joined SOLDIER yet.”
So, someone Sephiroth would eventually meet. In theory. Assuming, of course, that Zack was telling the truth. There wasn’t enough information about portal materia, or the spells themselves, to corroborate whether jumping from the future to the past was even possible. To take Zack at his word would mean Zack was from a separate, future timeline, had somehow found his way into the same portal realm as Sephiroth, and decided to leave with him. Whether Zack was a friend, or foe, remained to be seen, regardless.
And, as Sephiroth mused, it still didn’t account for why Zack decided to hold his hand, either.
Once again taking Sephiroth’s distrustful glaring in stride, Zack peered around the outside of the cave, eyeing the frost-covered rocks and spindly path back down with unease. “You said you were on a mission, right?” he asked, approaching the path and stretching his neck out, to look a little farther. “They coming to pick us up, or what?”
Bristling at the assumption that there even was an ‘us,’ Sephiroth begrudgingly trailed after Zack, needing to head in the same direction. “The mountain is too steep,” Sephiroth explained, “There’s nowhere for the trucks to ascend, and the winds have been too strong to risk the helicopters.”
As if spoken into existence, the winds chose that moment to pick up, gusts shoving both men dangerously close to a very slippery slope.
They both braced themselves against the mountain, but Zack reached behind to anchor Sephiroth to him—so quickly, it had to be instinctual. “Anywhere we can get outta this further down?!” Zack shouted over the howling winds.
With his hair flicking wildly around him, it was difficult for Sephiroth to even see the path he took up. “Some crevasses,” he recalled, raising his own voice. He wasn’t looking forward to clambering back down those, especially with the wind at his back, pushing him uncomfortably close to Zack. As a more spacious, hopeful option, Sephiroth added, “There are caverns where I made camp.”
“Okay, shout if I’m going the wrong way,” Zack told him, “and don’t let me get blown off the mountain!” His laughter as he made the demand was nearly drowned out by the roar of air rushing through them, but his bizarrely good spirits remained as he began to descend.
And, despite his words, Zack was the one holding tight to Sephiroth’s arm, as if his real worry was that Sephiroth would be the one to fly off without him.
After a precarious, cautious mix of hiking and climbing, they made it to the crevasses, shimmying down onto more solid ground. The wind was atrociously cold, and, with the sunlight fading fast, bordering on unbearable—even for SOLDIER operatives. Zack left the route-finding to Sephiroth, and in the meantime, did squats to keep his temperature up.
Sephiroth attempted to pay the exercise no mind, but it was distracting. Especially when Zack wasn’t even using proper form. If Zack really was from a future timeline, Sephiroth wanted to chastise his own future self for not pointing out the errors. For now, though, he ignored it, retracing his steps down the treacherous slopes.
When they finally reached a ledge with an entrance to the caverns, Sephiroth was relieved to find it was one he recognized.
They entered immediately, and Zack marveled at the glittering sheets of ice covering every inch of the area, each lit from within by criss-crossing veins of mako. The luminous green peeked through the rock layer just enough to cast the caverns in a pale, ethereal glow. “Woah…” Zack uttered, his breath a fine mist as he walked further inside. He turned in place, drinking in the sights of icicles lining the ceiling, whole bridges comprised of nothing but ice, and the varyingly sized tunnels that led deeper into the mountain. “This is awesome!” Zack exclaimed, beaming at Sephiroth.
“And dangerous,” Sephiroth stressed, indicating one of the many dark tunnels with a nod of his head. “There are numerous fiends calling these caverns their home. Stilva, among them.”
“Those are the big red crabby things, right?” Zack asked, his hands raised to mimic a set of pincers. “Six legs, big claws, and a face kinda like a behemoth?”
“…not remotely how I would describe them,” Sephiroth sighed with a shake of his head, “but I suppose you have an idea, at least.”
“An idea is all that’ll be left, once I get through with them,” Zack boasted, retrieving the massive Buster Sword from his back to twirl it in a ludicrous display of overconfidence.
Sephiroth didn’t deign to give the brag a response, merely inspecting the sword itself. The weapon appeared to only have minor wear and tear—either it was well maintained, or was rarely used. With Zack’s goofy mannerisms and bravado, Sephiroth assumed the latter. Zack might be a First, but for all Sephiroth knew, he was on the recent side of promotion, without the experience to back up his claims.
“What’s on your mind?” Zack inquired, spotting Sephiroth frowning at him.
“You said we knew each other in your…timeline,” Sephiroth recalled. “How so?”
“We’re friends!”
Sephiroth hummed a doubtful note.
After another beat of silent staring, Zack’s gaze fell to the side, and his excitability deflated, somewhat. “Well…at least, I thought we were. It’s, uh…complicated.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, before he shot another smile at Sephiroth. “We were war buddies. You used to train me sometimes. We’d joke around a lot, too—lots of teasing, on your end,” he laughed.
Narrowing his eyes at the shifts in Zack’s demeanor, Sephiroth decided they would be better off discussing it all while they walked. “What sort of teasing?” he asked, even as he bypassed Zack to head down toward the nearest tunnel. There wasn’t any sense in hanging around for fiends to show up, and like it or not, he did seem to be stuck with Zack for the time being. He might as well make some progress in getting back to base camp before Zack vanished through another portal.
Zack, predictably, followed him, catching up and walking next to Sephiroth with a pout on his face. “About anything and everything,” he grumbled, albeit good-naturedly, as he ultimately laughed again. “You’d tease me about all kinds of stuff. Never anything mean, though. You were never a jerk about it—just having fun.”
Catching his own surprised expression in a reflection on the ice, Sephiroth quickly neutralized it. Still, it was rare someone took his comments as anything but criticism, even if he only meant them in jest. It led to so many instances of miscommunication, he hardly bothered with that sort of bid for connection anymore.
So, why was Zack the exception?
“I think you just liked poking fun at your poor, suffering junior,” Zack elaborated, and Sephiroth could hear the smarmy smile in his voice, even without looking at him.
“When said junior can’t squat with proper form, I am inclined to believe that,” Sephiroth remarked, and he did have to admit that it was amusing to see the wildly exaggerated offense so plain on Zack’s face.
“You—! Just because I’m younger doesn’t mean you can—wait.” Zack’s rambles fell short as he thought, staring ahead of them with dumbfounded realization. “…am I older than you, here?” he questioned, moving to count rapidly on his fingers. “After everything, I’m twenty…three? How old are you now? Like, twenty-ish?”
“Thereabouts,” Sephiroth answered vaguely, ducking his head as the tunnel ceiling sloped lower.
“Can’t believe this,” Zack grumbled, but again, there was no real bite to it. “All that time and training, and even when I’m older than you, you still end up sassing me.”
“You don’t sound that upset about it,” Sephiroth observed, walking a bit faster to reach the other end more quickly. Once he did, stepping out and straightening in a significantly larger room, he glanced beside him to see Zack grinning at him.
Once more, there was a fondness there that Sephiroth couldn’t miss, and Zack shrugged. “You’re tough to stay mad at.”
Sephiroth broke eye contact first, unsure why that warm grin was making his own face feel warm, in turn. “…there are plenty of people who would disagree with you on that,” he muttered, making his way across the room to a small alcove, where he’d camped the night before.
“Well, those people are dumb,” Zack declared nonchalantly, attention caught suddenly by some large bats stirring to wakefulness, far above them. Satisfied they weren’t going to be attacking, he jogged to catch up, resuming his place by Sephiroth’s side. “You were always nice to me. And the times you did piss me off, you…had your reasons.” His voice got softer—nostalgic, as he added, “We used to just…work things out, together.”
The vote of confidence in Sephiroth’s overall niceness had Sephiroth even more confused than before. It certainly wasn’t how anyone else he knew would describe him. He tried to stamp down the conflicting tangle of feelings the words brought on, focusing instead on their current situation. On the exit, just a few yards from the alcove, and how dark it was outside. They would have to camp here, and climb the rest of the way once the sun returned.
He relayed these plans to Zack, leading to where he’d left a few of the supplies he knew would be impractical to climb with. Thankfully, they were still intact, though Sephiroth figured it had probably only been about half a day since he first reached the portal. His exit was only a few minutes after entry, even if he was certain he and Zack spent far more time inside it. Time had a chance of working differently, in portals. As Zack located a spot on the ground that was somewhat less iced over, and summarily plopped himself down, Sephiroth wondered how that particular adventure had gone.
Of course, that was the real question—along with how that adventure led to Zack being here.
Sephiroth was no closer to the answers he wanted, and he inwardly sighed at how complex the mission had gotten. He walked past Zack, to the pack he’d left tucked in a corner, to start pulling out his bed roll. Zack didn’t appear to be a threat, Sephiroth thought, though he had yet to witness the other First in an actual battle. If the good humor and friendliness Zack displayed was merely an act, it was a convincing one. As he laid out the roll, Sephiroth couldn’t figure out what the man would hope to gain, either, with his descriptions of Sephiroth so at odds with how he was usually portrayed. It didn’t come off as a form of fawning and flattery—
It was closer, Sephiroth realized, his hand stopping short halfway down the zipper, to how Sephiroth wanted his friendships to be.
Casual teasing. An understanding of good intent. A lack of judgment. Warmth, laughter, and the compassion that would indicate some semblance of a…normal relationship.
“Sephiroth? You good?”
Sephiroth startled, lightly shaking his head before getting back to his task. “Fine,” he lied, unsure what to make of his new insight. Unsure what to make of Zack, and the genuine concern in his question.
Surely the rapport in their relationship couldn’t have been that easily managed—nothing ever was.
“Guessing you wanna take second watch?” Zack inquired, leaning back on his hands as he watched Sephiroth finally fully unzip the bed roll.
Weighing his options, Sephiroth didn’t feel tired enough yet to sleep. He still didn’t trust Zack, either. The man might not be a physical threat while Sephiroth was awake, but there was no telling what he would do once he thought Sephiroth was unconscious. It would be prudent to observe him, under the pretense of sleeping. So, Sephiroth got into the bed roll, commanding, “Wake me in a few hours.”
“Okay. Sleep tight.”
Sephiroth angled himself away from Zack, with his pack beside his head, getting as comfortable as he would allow himself. He wasn’t entirely covered by the blanket, as he was, but having the cold air at the back of his neck and shoulders would keep him up longer. After a few minutes of waiting, he focused on his breathing, keeping it steady, and regular. He didn’t know how long it would take for Zack to do anything—if he did anything at all—but Sephiroth had enough anxious energy buzzing in his brain to stay up for a couple of hours. If he couldn’t catch Zack doing something nefarious, he could at least use the time to process what little he did know.
Into a portal one minute, out of it the next, with a…friend, of a sort. Holding his hand. Something Sephiroth wouldn’t have allowed from even his closest allies—not with their fingers intertwined, like that, at any rate. There was the possibility that Zack had made a grab for him right before they exited.
But, if that were the case, surely Sephiroth would have reacted, wouldn’t he?
He heard Zack fidget behind him—repositioning, letting out a soft sigh through his nose as he settled again.
Sephiroth clutched a bit of the fabric of the bed roll, his mind stuck on the feeling of Zack’s fingers interlocked with his own. They walked out calmly. Sephiroth would have shaken him off if it had been a last-minute grab, which indicated that it wasn’t.
It wasn’t my idea…was it?
“…Sephiroth?” Zack suddenly whispered, so soft Sephiroth wasn’t sure he would have heard it without his enhancements. “You still awake?”
Remaining silent, Sephiroth figured this was it—this was the moment when the veneer of kindness and casual friendship would finally slip. He kept his muscles slack, giving every illusion that he was dead asleep. Zack would be none the wiser.
Zack let out a heavier sigh this time, but stayed quiet for several, long moments.
Cracking an eye open, Sephiroth searched along the icy walls, soon spotting Zack’s reflection. Yet, rather than looking Sephiroth’s way, Zack was curled up, his head braced against his arms. Sephiroth puzzled over the reflection, wondering what in the world had Zack looking so strangely…upset.
And then, Sephiroth heard Zack softly sniffle.
It took a few moments for Sephiroth to determine it wasn’t just the frigid temperatures affecting the other man. Zack’s breath was hitching oddly, every so often. Erratically. As if he was trying not to, but couldn’t stop it, his arms wrapping tighter around himself like he was cold. Or, as Sephiroth watched the wobbly image shake, like he was trying to hold himself together.
Is he…crying?
Eventually, Zack huffed a doleful sort of laugh. “Man,” he muttered to himself, raising his head back until he could lean it against the wall. He stayed like that for several seconds, his eyes closed, merely getting his breathing back under control. Once he did, he rolled his head to the side, looking right at Sephiroth.
Sephiroth tried not to stiffen, under the scrutiny. After all, Zack wouldn’t be able to see Sephiroth’s eyes from there, with his pack blocking his reflection. Yet, even with the warping of Zack’s image in the ice, his expression was clear—not negativity or disdain, or some other damning, true face Sephiroth expected, but a heartfelt sadness.
Zack continued watching him, his intensely bright eyes lingering for long, untold minutes. And then, eventually, Zack moved, gingerly getting up into a crouch before he crawled toward Sephiroth. As Sephiroth quickly shut his eyes, laying frozen, but alert, Zack grabbed the edge of the blanket.
While Sephiroth braced himself, Zack tucked the blanket carefully closer against him, sealing off the cold.
It was a gentle gesture, with Zack moving slowly in an effort not to wake his companion. Once the last of the blanket was in place, Zack’s hand didn’t leave, as though reluctant to let go of even this flimsy connection. “…I’m so glad I found you,” Zack uttered, the words thick with emotion.
With unmistakable relief.
Sephiroth found himself at a loss as Zack left his side. A quick peek at Zack’s reflection told him that Zack had resumed his watch, dutiful and protective. Zack didn’t engage him again, leaving Sephiroth to ponder over his actions in silence, save for the occasional howling of wind outside.
Relief was the last feeling Sephiroth expected Zack to be hiding. It hinted at something darker—something must have happened between them, but it hadn’t ripped their friendship apart, as Sephiroth would normally expect. Instead, Zack seemed to truly, honestly want to be here, with Sephiroth. It was a confirmation that Zack did have secrets, but also that everything he had told Sephiroth thus far was likely genuine.
His brain awhirl at the baffling complexity of the emotions involved, Sephiroth resolved to grill Zack in the morning about whatever it was he was hiding. Zack was glad to be with him, that much was clear. Wanted to be with him.
But why?
Sephiroth fell asleep soon after, unsure if the warmth in his chest was due to the blanket tucked around him, or the sliver of hope that he might have walked out of that portal with a true friend, after all.
The next day, Sephiroth discovered that Zack’s boasts regarding his fighting prowess were, in fact, not remotely exaggerated.
In the first battle, Zack carved through enemies with eager ease, rushing into battle like it was a race. Sephiroth found that Zack adapted easily to Sephiroth’s own fighting style, demonstrating a strength and proficiency Sephiroth hadn’t remotely expected. The next time, Sephiroth elected to observe, watching as Zack took the absurd tactic of grabbing the massive stinger of a Frozen Nail, hurling the man-sized insect into another.
He did use his Buster Sword, but it became quickly apparent that he didn’t necessarily need it.
By the time Zack sliced cleanly through the carapace of a Stilva, Sephiroth wasn’t surprised anymore. He was amused, rather, seeing Zack trot triumphantly back to him having suffered only superficial injuries for his recklessness. “Don’t wear yourself out,” Sephiroth scolded, even as smirked. “There’s still a long way to camp.”
“This is nothing,” Zack laughed, waving off the minor concern, and then swinging his sword onto his back. “Or are you just upset that I’m having all the fun?”
Sephiroth let out a huff, striding past the dissipating body of the Stilva. “By all means, enjoy yourself,” he said, gesturing for Zack to continue down the snowy path. “I don’t think I’ve ever had so little to do, on a mission.”
“And here I thought they spoiled you,” Zack remarked nostalgically, only to soon flinch, and frown. “I, uh…don’t think that, anymore. Just so you know. Realized I didn’t understand what you were dealing with, like…at all.”
The sentiment was nice to hear, even if Sephiroth wasn’t entirely sure what Zack was talking about.
“Didn’t think much of them sending us out alone, either,” Zack recalled, their boots crunching the dusting of snow as they walked. “Now, seeing you get shipped all the way out here just to—Oh! Hey, did you ever figure out what made the portal? Or were you just supposed to clear it?”
“The latter, primarily. As for what made it, whoever, or whatever made use of a Portal materia is long gone,” Sephiroth explained, his eyes on the barren trees around them, for more monsters.
“So, whatever caused it could still pop up outta nowhere,” Zack determined, similarly scanning the slopes. “…or, might never show up again.”
Sephiroth hadn’t been overly concerned, in either case—while the readings had been strong, the actual location of the portal proved so far from the potential mako excavation areas, it wasn’t likely to interfere. If it did, Shinra would simply send him through it again.
Zack, though—Surely Zack needed one, to go home.
The thought had Sephiroth slowing his steps, suddenly confronted with an odd, twisting feeling in his gut. Zack’s whispers from the previous night crept back to the forefront of his mind, and Sephiroth stared at the other First’s back, conflicted. All of this was temporary, he had to remind himself, regardless of whatever relief Zack found in his presence. Everything was temporary, and he would be better off not getting too attached.
…even if a small part of him wanted Zack to stick around a little longer, if only to understand their relationship better.
“You’re going to have to find a portal back on your own,” Sephiroth stated decisively, resuming his regular pace just as Zack noticed Sephiroth had lagged behind.
“…huh?” Zack uttered, stopping in his tracks, even as Sephiroth passed him. “What do you mean?”
“I won’t be assisting you,” Sephiroth informed him, halting just a few paces ahead to turn and meet Zack’s gaze. “Shinra might be willing to allocate resources to get you back, if it’s in their best interest, but I won’t be among them.”
The flummoxed frown on Zack’s face only deepened. “Okay, but…why would I be going back, exactly?”
It was Sephiroth’s turn to frown. “Do you not want to?”
Zack snorted into a laugh. “You serious? C’mon, man. I was doing timeline jumps to find the people I care about. Like you,” he emphasized, gesturing at Sephiroth with both hands. “Why would I leave, when the whole reason I jumped in the first place is right here in front of me?”
So, he wasn’t leaving. And Sephiroth was even more important to Zack than Sephiroth initially assumed. The new information sat heavily in Sephiroth’s chest, somehow both easing and intensifying a sudden bout of pain, there. “…why would you need to find me?” Sephiroth questioned. “What happened in your timeline?”
A flash of worry crossed Zack’s features before he looked away. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glowered at his own footprints, lost in a memory for the moment. Eventually, he hung his head heavily before muttering, “A lot of things.” With effort, he raised his head again, though still not meeting Sephiroth’s eyes. “On our last mission together, you were already at your limit, with Shinra. I knew you might leave, but…” Frustration laced his words, as he continued, “There was this…thing, in the mako reactor we were checking. I think it might’ve messed with your head, or something? I dunno. You just started…unraveling.”
“…unraveling?”
“Locked yourself up in a basement,” Zack elaborated, huffing a weak, humorless laugh. “I don’t think you slept at all—the light never went out. Kept rambling about the Ancients, and your mom, and…I didn’t understand most of it.” The high energy Sephiroth had witnessed over the past day faded away to nothing, pain and heartbreak etched into Zack’s face as he stared sightlessly into the snow. “Then it was like…you were gone. Like all that was left was a monster wearing my friend’s face.”
Sephiroth shifted uncomfortably where he stood, crossing his own arms as he processed. It sounded like a descent into pure madness. He always expected he would die fighting, as a SOLDIER. Fighting some monster, or another.
Not…becoming one, himself.
“So, uh…” Zack cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck before sheepishly looking up at Sephiroth again. “It’s been a while, since I’ve talked to…y’know, you. No real point in me leaving when I finally get to talk to you again.”
The weight of Zack’s words was crushing—to be jumping through portal, after portal, trying to find people he lost. Trying to find Sephiroth, after losing him. Was it any wonder, then, why Zack chose to follow Sephiroth here?
“We were close, then,” Sephiroth determined, stiltedly, and suddenly, coming up with the idea to hold hands through the portal back—to leave some sort of clue that Zack was supposed to be here—didn’t feel as far-fetched as before.
“Yeah,” Zack agreed, only to hesitate, and then kick at the snow as he glumly added, “Just not as close as I hoped, I guess.”
Sephiroth, intrigued by this man that apparently missed him so much, would jump through worlds for the chance at finding him again, stepped a few paces closer, regarding Zack with a soft smile. “And, how close would that have been?”
The gentle tease in his tone brought Zack back to the present moment, and he blinked in surprise several times before self-consciously ducking his head. “Well—If I’m honest…” he chuckled, his grin coming back, to Sephiroth’s relief. “…I did always have a huge crush on you. I knew I had no chance, but the more I got to know you—the real you…the more I wanted to.”
This time, Sephiroth knew exactly why his cheeks were burning. He turned his face away, in a vain attempt to conceal his flustered blush. “You certainly are…direct,” he commented, with a chuckle of his own.
“We don’t have to if you’re not into that!” Zack added hastily, waving his hands in front of him in a panic. “I just—I want you in my life, y’know? You’re important to me.”
The continued assault of heartfelt affection was overwhelming, leading Sephiroth to draw his hand over his face. He understood why he’d been willing to hold Zack’s hand, now, at the very least. And, being as direct as Zack was, it left Sephiroth with little doubt that there could be any hidden agenda to worry about.
Still, Sephiroth’s own circumstances weren’t so easy.
“If only it were that simple a decision,” he muttered.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“There would be PR to contend with,” Sephiroth told him, collecting himself just enough to meet Zack’s gaze again. “Having a partner isn’t exactly in line with the image they intend for me to portray.”
“PR can get fucked,” Zack replied in an instant, no hesitation, with a mischievous smile that told Sephiroth he would gladly fuck PR over if he actually got the chance. “They’re smart—they can just learn to adapt to whatever we decide to do.”
“There’s…also the matter of Hojo,” Sephiroth continued, unsure how to even begin to explain what sort of horrors Hojo would subject Zack to, simply as a way to get at Sephiroth.
“If he tries anything, I’ll kick him in the dick.” Zack stated very seriously. At Sephiroth’s startled laugh, Zack only doubled-down. “Actually, I should kick him in the dick, anyway. Preemptive payback.” He made a show of thinking on it more, drawing a hand to his chin as he pondered. “I could probably do worse…He would deserve it...”
Sephiroth covered his mouth again, trying and failing to regain control over his own mirth. He had to admit, at least internally, that Zack’s joke that they decided to date might be more plausible than either of them initially believed. Especially if their conversations were anything like their current back-and-forth.
They might have had this exact conversation, for all he knew. He might have been the one to suggest holding hands, intent on cluing himself in that Zack was trustworthy. That he was someone Sephiroth was genuinely beginning to want by his side, with his skill, and humor, and care.
It might have been a clue that Zack was someone who would stay.
“Any other assholes I should worry about?” Zack chirped, leaning cheekily to the side like he was trying to see past Sephiroth’s hand. “Or, am I allowed to hope you might actually be into me, after all?”
Sephiroth studied Zack’s handsome grin for a moment, briefly concerned he was getting too carried away with Zack’s antics to think straight. Yet, the more he deliberated, the weaker any argument against at least attempting the relationship became. It was difficult to say no, too, when Zack was looking at him with such an endearing, excited expression.
“…one date,” Sephiroth stipulated quietly, feeling the heat of his cheeks through his glove.
“For real?!” Zack exclaimed, elated.
“One,” Sephiroth said again, more firmly, “as a test.”
“That’s fine! I’ll ace it!” Zack countered, too buoyed by his own glee to be concerned, apparently. He couldn’t contain it, hopping happily closer to Sephiroth and taking Sephiroth’s hands in his. Sephiroth was drawn right into Zack’s bouncing, twirled around in a circle as Zack chanted, “Yes, yes, yes!” Before Sephiroth could even correct his quickly sliding footing, Zack embraced him, snuggling up under his chin with a happy hum. “I’m so fucking happy right now.”
“I noticed,” Sephiroth couldn’t help but laugh, noting that the spiky hair on Zack’s head was far softer than it appeared. He leaned on it, his own arms wrapping a little more awkwardly around Zack, but no less warmly.
As Zack made himself comfortable in Sephiroth’s space, Sephiroth held him all the closer, finding himself reluctant to ever let go.
They made it to the base camp by early evening, just as it was being attacked by a group of Lessaloploths.
Sephiroth bypassed the scurrying excavation team, targeting the nearest of the poisonous wyverns with a precise, magnified Thundaga. While he blasted those off the team’s supply crates, Zack darted past to handle the rest, quickly chasing them toward the outskirts of camp.
The Security Officers, suddenly relieved from duty by this strange, new SOLDIER, all watched in stupor as Zack single-handedly fended off the fiends.
Their captain turned, baffled, to Sephiroth, asking, “Who is that?”
“Zack,” Sephiroth supplied smoothly, smirking as Zack leapt over a swipe from one fiend’s scorpion-like tail, proceeding to deftly stab it into the ground. “You needn’t be concerned,” Sephiroth informed the captain, certain the man was already panicking over the logistics of going back to headquarters with a heretofore unknown SOLDIER in tow. “He’s harmless.”
The captain wore a dubious frown as Zack finished off the last Lessaloploth with a flourish, and started jogging back with energy to spare. “…Right,” the man muttered, only to shake himself back into professionalism. “The fiends tore up several units of our supplies while trying to get at the food rations,” he explained to Sephiroth. “With the weather still delaying transport, we’ll have to make do until tomorrow, at the earliest.”
“Those things really tore shit up,” Zack observed as he approached, eyeing the demolished crates scattered about the tree line.
“Yes,” the captain agreed, awkwardly looking between Zack and Sephiroth. “…which means we’re low on tents, as well.”
“Oh no,” Zack bemoaned, thoroughly exaggerating his distress at the prospect. The act was obvious, with how brightly he beamed at Sephiroth all the while. “Guess this means you and I gotta share one, huh?” Zack suggested, nudging Sephiroth with his elbow.
Sephiroth scoffed, even if it was difficult to keep a smile off his own face. “I’m never going to know a moment’s peace again,” he sighed snarkily, “am I?”
Zack snickered, playing off him with joyful ease. “Nope. I’m your problem, now.”
And yet, despite the claim, it wasn’t a problem at all when the two of them eventually clambered into one, tiny tent together, falling asleep with their fingers comfortably intertwined.