[Cloud still doesn't know what happened to Angeal, what he did to Zack. Why Zack changed his hair that day, gave that speech that changed Cloud's life. Cloud never asked. He was too chickenshit.
There's a moment, a long moment, while Aerith bows her head, where Cloud wants to just stop here. He doesn't know if he's ready to tell her the rest. The worst part - worse even than Zack's death, which as she points out was Zack's own choice. At least Zack did it knowingly and willingly. The rest is something Cloud did to his memory. His legacy. But Aerith ought to hear what he did from him.]
I...
[His shoulders slump.]
I'm sorry. You're right, I know. I just...wish I could have helped him, at least. Supported him the way he always supported me. All I could do was sit there and listen.
[Zack's battle cries, fewer and weaker as the fight stretched on. Gunfire...so much gunfire. The sounds of Zack's pain, every bullet that pierced his armor or slipped past Buster's blade, his labored breathing by the end...that haunting cacophony, Cloud now remembers all too well.]
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onlyembers
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Date: 2024-08-14 05:21 am (UTC)There's a moment, a long moment, while Aerith bows her head, where Cloud wants to just stop here. He doesn't know if he's ready to tell her the rest. The worst part - worse even than Zack's death, which as she points out was Zack's own choice. At least Zack did it knowingly and willingly. The rest is something Cloud did to his memory. His legacy. But Aerith ought to hear what he did from him.]
I...
[His shoulders slump.]
I'm sorry. You're right, I know. I just...wish I could have helped him, at least. Supported him the way he always supported me. All I could do was sit there and listen.
[Zack's battle cries, fewer and weaker as the fight stretched on. Gunfire...so much gunfire. The sounds of Zack's pain, every bullet that pierced his armor or slipped past Buster's blade, his labored breathing by the end...that haunting cacophony, Cloud now remembers all too well.]