A Letter to Home

[theheroics]

Sender: Zack Fair
To: All
Subject: No Subject (Backdated to the first week)

[ Words that begin to appear in the journals are written slowly, as if with intent. The handwriting is... coherent at best at this slower pace, but every word is coming in gradually and seemingly with more frustration.

Guess who thinks this is just a plain ol' journal to use? ]

Dear Aeir
What's up!?
Hello! Hey th———

Hey Aerith.
Hope things are going well?? good for you

[ UGH ]

Sorry it's taken so long for me to write back... I know youve been waiting a long time
I can't call right now but soon, okay?
how are the flowers? you swimming in gil yet?
Theirs theres lots of weird stuff going on that I'll explain when I get back.
So... yeah. See you soon
Regard [ No that was SO STUPID ]
bye

[ The words at the bottom of the page are suddenly cut out, as if completely disregarded or tossed away.

But seconds later another one appears: ]

Hello!

[ Nope that one is gone, too. ]

Comments

[starshower]

[The mention of the headache pulls that knot of worry in Tifa's stomach tighter. So, he's been suffering with those here too, has he?

She's quiet in the moments that follow, her mind doing another pass over her memories, still trying to piece it all together with everything that Zack has told her. What he says makes sense—if Zack really is telling the truth, then Cloud has no idea that any of that happened. Does he even remember Nibelheim? Does he know that there had been mako poisoning, or that he wasn't SOLDIER, according to Zack?

Tifa doesn't know what to believe, or who, but as she takes another sip of her tea, hardly registering how lukewarm it is now, she finally sighs and breaks her long silence.]

What did he say when you tried to tell him who you were?

[... From the sounds of it, Cloud doesn't remember him?]

[theheroics]

[ Zack's shoulders only slump forward more, and in a fit of slight irritation will lean himself back in his chair, uprooting the first two legs off of the ground. ]

"How do you know my name?" [ The words were hard to forget. They had stung, far worse than anything he had experienced in the past five years of hell. Even while comatose, Zack will believed that Cloud recognized him- knew who was taking care of him and protecting him from Shinra. And yet... ]

When I tried to explain, that's when the headache started up. [ A pause. ] So I decided that if didn't know who I was, then I'd keep it that way until he can sort out his own memories. I just... didn't want to push it, y'know?

[starshower]

Yeah... I know...

[She knows that very, very well.]

I've wanted to ask him about the headaches, too... but I was afraid that if I did, they'd just start acting up again. So, I just left it... I would be there when they happened, but questioning them...

[Does this make her a bad person for not asking? For not pushing Cloud to talk? She knows how he is—if he doesn't want to talk about something, then he won't, and Tifa, in all her patience, never wants to force him past his boundaries.

So, she understands well where Zack is coming from. Even more now that she's heard all of this.

She picks up her tea again and drinks it, sipping slowly before she lowers it far enough that her eyes can watch the liquid swish and ripple.]

Zack... [Her voice is firm, not quite so gentle as it usually is when she says his name. She wants to convey the weight of her next request to him.] Would you be able to keep an eye on Cloud?

[theheroics]

[ So he and Tifa were in the same boat. She had experienced them just as he did and reacted in almost the same way. To not press them, to try and not let them come back, to not say anything... it was a weight both of them were carrying on their shoulders, and the pressure felt astronomical. But what were the both of them to do? That was an answer he didn't have right away, and as he took another sip from his coffee in an attempt to calm his nerves, he simply frowned into his cup.

It was Tifa saying his name that grounded him back to reality as his body nearly flinched with the tone. ]

... Me? [ It was a question that almost felt obvious coming from any other person, but said by Tifa it caused a moment of hesitation. The two of them had known each other far longer than Zack did, yet as their eyes met once again he could feel the weight of her words colliding into him.

...

Eventually Zack would, slowly, begin to crack a small smile. ]

Of course. You can count on me.

[starshower]

Thanks.

[She nods, and there's a grateful smile that ghosts over her expression before it fades away.]

I would do it myself, but... I'm not so sure.

[She downs a larger gulp of her tea, hoping that—just like him—it will help calm her nerves. It doesn't.]

I don't know if Cloud and I got off on the right foot after the masquerade. Haven't seen him since.

[And she feels like he has been actively avoiding her, just like she has him. Maybe it's better that they do... Maybe she gives him that time and space, because lord knows she needs it, too... Even more now than before.]

A-anyway. [No sense in dragging Zack into that.] Just let me know if anything strange comes up, okay?

[theheroics]

Y'know... [ Zack pauses to cross his arms over his chest, leaning forward to try and meet Tifa's gaze. ] My might wanna hear from you, too.

[ While he was certainly okay playing the middle man for both of their sakes, there was something else that was egging him to push a little deeper. ]

We didn't exactly get off on the right foot either, but it worked out, didn't it? Sure it'll be the same for you and Cloud, too.

[starshower]

I know...

[She's well aware that there's plenty that they'll need to talk about, and even not—that they should just meet and try to get back on the right foot again, just like she was able to with Zack. Though... perhaps it was just easier with him because the stakes are lower. It's not like she knew him all that well, and he didn't seem to be at risk of breaking down lest she say the wrong thing...

But he's right.]

I'm sure we will... when we're both ready. I just don't think I am yet. And he doesn't seem to be either.

[theheroics]

Sounds complicated. [ He'll admit, finally loosen his posture to that of something a bit more relaxed. ]

Anything I could help with? [ Other than keeping an eye on him, of course. ]

[starshower]

Huh? Oh... no... You're already doing so much as it is.

[She wouldn't dare ask Zack to do any more than that. Well, okay... besides the obvious—]

Just make sure he eats proper food. I... don't even know if Cloud can cook... [She'd ask if SOLDIER taught that sort of thing but then she suddenly remembers again.] And that he... you know, doesn't stay inside all the time. Get him out there. Help him find some work?

[Ah, crap.... here she goes, worrying about him, and Tifa shrinks back in her chair.]

Sorry. I guess that is a lot to ask.

[theheroics]

[ Despite how difficult the conversation was at the beginning, Zack could feel himself become more physically relaxed as they two of them talked. ... But that's just how last time went, right? With tension, but eventually devolving into chuckles- something that Zack eagerly let's slip past his throat with the barrage of requests. ]

Don't sweat it, Tifa! He's going to be just fine. [ ... Eventually. He still had no idea what the root cause of the headaches were, or why, but now that they were on the same playing field, maybe they could figure out together. ]

You both will. [ He assures with a small smile. ]

we can prob wrap this here! (so I can hit up your other post hehe)

[starshower]

Yeah... We will.

[Her smile is still lopsided, but genuine.

Cloud is nothing if not resilient, and a touch stubborn about it. She trusts that he can take care of himself, and that when the time comes, they'll both come around and things will go right back to the way they were. Right now, however, she can't help but feel that tension squeezing at her heart, even without him here with her. With time, that will eventually fade, she knows... but it's hard while it hasn't.

She's at least grateful for Zack... which is a thing she never thought she'd think to herself. Strange how things turn themselves on their heads sometimes.]

Thanks, Zack. I'll owe you.

consumes all of the sheila threads

[theheroics]

I'll find something for you to repay me with in the future. [ He'll chuckle, finally finishing up the last bit of his coffee before stretching his arms out to relieve himself of any lingering stress that had built up in his muscles. ]

In the meantime... you just keep being you. I'll handle things on my side, and who knows— maybe we'll all have lunch like this sometime soon.

[ He knows it's not going to be easy for the two of them, but they'll manage. Both of them are a lot stronger than they look, and even more than that. Plus if everyone was going to get through this on the other side... it was going to be them.

So, while he didn't feel he entirely had a grasp on what was going on or certainly what was to come, he would be a pillar for the two of them to lean on if necessary.

The conversations following were becoming smaller and less urgent, and the estranged feeling he had felt at the beginning was soon dwindling away, replaced with a more casual and talkative air. Perhaps in a different timeline they could have actually been friends... but perhaps this world was a good way to start anew.

Just one coffee sip at a time. ]