Disclaimer: Final Fantasy Seven and its characters are property of Square-Soft.

Code Z and Code C: Side Story

By

Avalon-chan

Code C: 1

Everything hurt.

I am I alive.

The burning green was gone.

Why did everything hurt?

Cold. Icy air was biting into my skin.

I have skin.

Fire was burning under ice over. Their tearing me appeared.

Am I awake now?

A faint hazy was in front of me. I was more aware now. Aware what was that?

The air was so cold. I had wrapped my arms around my body but I was still cold.

My eyes felt like they were on fire. The same fire was coursing through my body.

Nothing was keeping me warm.

Fire did not belong inside of me. Did it?

Pain. There was a sound of gasp...from me. Little needles were jabbing into my insides twisting them around making them different.

No don't change me. I want to be me.

The fire didn't listen to me. No one listens to me.

More noises were coming from me now. Broken sobs.

Liquid was dripping from my eyes. Tears. They were called tears.

Shame. It hurt more than the fire or the cold. A foul substance started coming up my throat.

The hazy was going away. Things became clearer. Nothing made sense.

A large blob was across from me. What was that?

Safe. It would be safe over there. I had to go.

My body didn't want to move. I had to go to the blob.

I could feel myself moving. It hurt.

The pain increase the closer I got. My body screamed. I was screaming too.

I want to be safe.

Cold. A barrier blocked me. It did matter I could almost touch the blob. I leaned against the barrier my body gave out.

The pain was going away. The fire was dying. Were they leaving me alone now?

Noise a buzzing. It was worse than the fire and cold fighting. It was eating me.

I pulled my knees against my body.

Make it go away. Please go away.

Things were dancing across my vision. Green, fire, red, leave me alone. I want to be alone. I didn't mean too.

Please. Shame. Fire.

The buzzing was increase drowning me. Don't eat me.

"Cloud." A new noise it was louder than the buzzing. It wasn't familiar.

"Cloud." There it was again. What did it mean? The buzzing was starting to increase.

"Cloud." It made the buzzing worse.

Go away. I pulled tighter on my knees. Leave me alone.

Another noise came from out side the buzzing. I didn't recognize it anymore than the first. The buzzing was so angry.

Mine. No, no, no. It was closing in on me. Please don't, I want to be me. Mine. I won't be yours.

Thud.

Get out! It was gone. I was alone. That noise had saved me.

I turned around curious to see what saved me. I could see the barrier now. It was transparent stained with green.

The blob was looking at me. It wasn't a blob. What was it?

The thing was looking at me too. Did it know what I was?

Slowly it began to move towards me. I wasn't afraid. It had saved me from the buzzing. I know it was safe.

It stopped before it got to my barrier. There seemed to be a barrier in front of it too. Had it heard the buzzing?

"Hey Cloud." Sound was coming out of its mouth like the sound that had come out of my mouth.

"Remember me Cloud. I am Zack." Was it like me? It had arms I had arms. Noises came out of its mouth. Barriers surround it too. We were the same thing. What was that?

"Come on Cloud its me, Zack." I was trying to communicate me. How did I do that back? If I didn't make sounds back would it leave me alone?

I want it to stay.

"Please Cloud." This thing knows me. I think I know it too. We meet at Shinra. Friends. My only friend.

"I am Zack." It seemed like a blanket was being lifted from by mind. Things were coming together.

"Zack." That was his name. He was a SOLDIER. I wanted to be a SOLDIER but I failed. That hurt.

"Your Zack." He kept telling me not to worry I could try again after I screwed up. I had to make it. Tifa thought I was in SOLDIER I had to get in.

Zack seemed happy a big grin was stretching over his face. I was confused how could Zack be so happy.

Wasn't he confused like I was? I wished I could be like Zack. Being confused was scary. I wanted to be strong like Zack.

Why couldn't I be strong?

"Yes I am Zack. Your Cloud." Cloud that was me. I knew who I was. I know everything. My brain didn't seem right.

We were in a very strange place. It looked like a crazy library. There weren't any windows. We were in strange tubes like animals.

Why were we in tubes?

I wasn't going to be afraid. I was going to be strong. "Where are we?" My voice trembled but Zack didn't notice.

I didn't want him to think I was weak.

"We're in the lab." The lab, that didn't sound good. My body was still trembling. It wouldn't stop no matter how hard I tried to make it. I had to think about something else.

"Where are we?" My voice sound wrong like my mind was wrong. I wanted to be stronger not wrong. How could I be in SOLDIER if my mind was messed up?

Zack couldn't know how messed up I was. He would leave me alone like everyone else.

Something was wrong with Zack?

Instead of answering my question he just stared into space. Was he messed up to? I couldn't handle that.

This was my fault.

Everything was my fault.

"In the lab under the mansion. Hojo decided to keep us as pets." I hadn't imagined the lab looking like this. People used to make dares to come down here.

Had I been dared?

The buzzing was coming back quieter now. It was waiting.

Leave me alone.

I couldn't tell Zack.

Zack. He made it go away the last time.

Think of something to say.

It hurt to uses Zack like this. I wasn't strong.

He said something about Hojo. I didn't know that name.

"Whose Hojo?" Zack sounded bitter when he answered. "The freak that turned Sephiroth into a raving psycho."

Sephiroth. Endless green that was were I throw him. My idol.

"Sephiroth I..." I covered my mouth to keep it from saying what I did. I couldn't tell Zack.

They were friends.

I promised not to get into fights.

"What did you do?" I couldn't look at Zack anymore. The buzzing. It was coming back.

Images danced across my eyes.

Mom. He killed mom. Burn our house to the ground. I wasn't strong enough.

There was Tifa lying on the ground. Tifa. I broke my promise. She was across Mount Nibel. Did she find her mom?

It was all my fault. If I was a SOLDIER I could have stopped him.

I was so anger. I shouldn't have killed him. Then Zack wouldn't be here.

It was my fault.

"Cloud," Zack was angry. I looked at him even though I didn't want to. "You did nothing wrong. This isn't your fault." He was wrong. It was all my fault. I nodded though so he wouldn't worry.

Zack couldn't worry about me.

I wasn't important.

"Is he going to let us go?" Hojo wouldn't keep Zack. I killed Sephiroth not Zack. He'd let Zack go.

"No but I am going to get us out of here I promised." The hazy started coming back. Zack was becoming the blob again.

He was talking. I couldn't hear he. The buzz was too loud.

Leave me alone.