In Memory of Zack Fair

All I heard were gunshots, lots of them. There were loud, muffled bangs and clicking coming from all around me and my head started spinning. I heard the cries of men falling one by one as I was slowly becoming aware of my surroundings, aware of what was happening in front of my very eyes. The last thing I could clearly remember is lying limp on the stairs next to Zack in the Nibleheim Mako Reactor. And pain. I remembered a lot of pain and the feeling of desperation as we waited for someone to realize we were gone and to find us. Flashes of brief memories popped in and out of my mind as time went on. I had been tested on, with Jenova Cells and Mako Energy. I remember that Zack had been there with me, that he had been a guinea pig of Professor Hojo, too, though I had been effected much more heavily by the substance than Zack had been. The new substance that had entered my body had poisoned me and had given a sick and weakened effect. In an effort to bring us to safety, Zack and carried me out with him, but the Shinra Infantry had hunted us down and had finally found us, with only Zack to fight for the both of us. All I could think was that I needed to help him, to fight with him. But in my condition, that was never going to happen. I would just slow Zack down.

It seemed like forever until the gunfire slowly died down, the last few gunshots echoing in the valley below us. Everything was still and silent, that was, until a few men began talking to each other. My breath caught in my throat as I recognized their voices and I could hardly believe that those men had tracked us down to kill us. The very men I had fought beside for as long as I could remember had come to bring death down upon us. Why was Shinra even after us? Were Zack and I really that important to them that they couldn't lose us? Hardly. Well, maybe Zack, but a simple infantryman wasn't nearly important enough.

As I heard footsteps approaching I went motionless and completely silent, and since I was safely concealed in the shadows, I wasn't seen, all thanks to Zack. Once I could no longer hear the footsteps of the SOLDIERS, I slowly crawled out from my hiding place. Where was Zack? Shouldn't he have come back to get me by now? What if something had happened and-- No. Zack was better than any of those stupid infantrymen could ever dream of being. He was a 1st class SOLDIER, there was no way something could have happened to him.

I let out a strange sound that was a mixture of horror, shock, and terror. Now I had seen a lot of things, but it was as if I was looking upon the scene with the innocent eyes I once had. There was blood everywhere. All over the grass, rocks, dirt, and the corpses of dead infantrymen that littered the open field, their flesh shredded from the blade of the Buster Sword and their bodies mangled into forms that didn't even seem human. My eyes continued to wander around the depressing scene. All I could see where the bodies all of men I had once known, some of which were the only friends I've ever had. I might not have been friends with all of them, but my heart grew heavy as I recognized the familiar faces of the men I knew. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard a wet cough echo through the empty air and I spun towards the source of the sound, no believing that anyone could have survived this onslaught.

I stopped breathing as soon as I saw him lying there. I felt as if someone had twisted my heart, like someone had tied it up in a knot so that it would never be able to work properly again. I think something inside of me died as I saw his dying body lying there at the edge of the cliff and I scrambled to his side.

"Zack..." I breathed in disbelief as I stared at his torn body. His shirt had been ripped into bloody shreds from all the bullets that had been drove through him and had torn him apart. Here and there, his skin was a charred mess from the missiles that had hit him from above. There was a big gash on the side of his face that was continuously dripping blood and a pool of blood had formed around him from all the blood that had seeped from his chest wounds. The sight made me want to vomit all of my insides out and just break down.

"For the both of us." Zack muttered as his vision had finally settled down on me.

His voice had caught me by surprise, snapping me out of my train of thought. "The both of us?" I asked hesitantly, not truly understanding what he was trying to tell me. Was he really using his last words to talk about me? I shouldn't be that important to him.

"That's right. You're gonna--" Zack was cut off as he gave a silent cry of pain. His eyes were squeezed shut as he tried to get a hold of himself again.

"You're gonna..." I trailed off, trying to get him to finish what he had been about to tell me.

Zack swung his arm up around my neck in a jerky motion with much effort and yanked me down so that I was closer to him. "Live." he finished as my head rested against his chest. "You'll be," he continued, pausing to take a ragged breath, "my living legacy." His arm went limp and dropped to the ground, sending the blood beneath him up into the air.

I hesitated before pulling my head up from his chest, blood smeared up the right side of my face. Here was my best friend dying in front of me, and it was all because of me. If I hadn't been so stupid to go against Sephiroth like I had, then this wouldn't have happened! No. Much more people would be dead. Sephiroth would have killed us all. He would have killed Tifa, and she was alive because of me. I should be lying there dying, not Zack.

To my surprise, Zack lifted up his sword and thrust it out in my direction. "My honor. My dreams. They're yours now." he said and I slowly reached out to take it. Once the sword has passed into my hands, he pushed it towards me and let his arm fall once again.

I just sat there and stared at the sword in my hands in uncertainty. Why would he give this to me? I looked back at Zack and it all clicked into place. "I'm.... your living legacy...." I repeated slowly and the corners of his lips curved up in a small smile and then disappeared as the light from his eyes faded away. Zack was dead. I could hardly register the fact that he was now gone. But he had trusted me with his sword, with all his honor and dreams. With his legacy. And I was going to honor that. I would make him proud, that he hadn't died for nothing.

I tore my gaze away from him to look up at the sky, the rain beating down on my face and it gradually washed Zack's blood off of my skin. Sharp pain suddenly stabbed at my heart as I was finally able to take in that Zack had been murdered by the very people we had trusted. We had been betrayed by the people we called friends and Zack was now gone because of them. I screamed. My voice carried on for miles, carrying my pain, my agony, my despair, and my loss.

How did this happen? Why did this happen? What did Zack ever do to deserve this? Sephiroth was the one that needed to die, not Zack! Why!? What was I going to do? I just watched my best friend die right in front of me, that wasn't something I could heal from in a matter of days.

I felt something wet drip down my cheek and I realized I was crying, my sobs echoing through the empty air. I just sat there, staring down at Zack's limp body for what seemed to be hours, just staring and coming up with different was that I could have changed this from ending this way. I knew there was nothing I could have done to save him, but the fact that I didn't want to accept that kept me thinking. I slowly staggered to my feet, the world spinning a bit. I clutched Zack's Buster Sword tightly in my grip as I let it drag behind me while I walked. There was no way I was going to let it out of my sight. If I lost it, I would lose the only thing I had that tied me to Zack.