Second Chance

Expectations

Everyone had expected a scream of pain from Cloud or, at the very least, a menacing laugh from Sephiroth. But none of that happened; instead, the copy of Cloud had burst out laughing like a lunatic. That didn't fit the image of Cloud they were used to.

Cloud, on the other hand, was more focused on the giant sword that had stopped just inches away from smashing his skull in two. He finally relaxed when he saw the blade move away from him. But then the copy extended his hand to him, and Cloud looked at it confused 'is it... offering to help me? After almost trying to kill me, honestly?' his expression changed to that of anger, slapping the offered hand away and getting himself on his feet. The last thing he wanted now was help from a copy of himself.

"Oh, come on Cloud, don't be like that I was just kidding," the copy laughed, his voice sounding nothing like Cloud's. Cloud stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look back at him. His face filled with shock and confusion as he seemed to realize who he was but didn't believe it.

'Man, he is going to freak when I let this cat out of the bag,' He snickered, reaching up to his own blond hair and pulling it entirely off, revealing his raven black hair. His cocky smile never left his face, especially after seeing Cloud's face twitching with his eyes wide open.

"Z-Zack? B-but you were gunned down by Shinra's army three years ago," Cloud stuttered as he spoke; he still couldn't believe that his best friend was standing right before him. "H-How did you-"

"Honestly, Cloud, I have no clue how myself. I do remember dying and handing you my sword," Zack quickly replied, scratching the back of his head before adding, "I woke up in a mako tank in one of the labs at Shinra a few days ago. And I don't know how I got there to begin with". He then turned his attention to the group behind the barrier. "Oh damn, Sorry, I forgot all about you guys!" he yelled in a panic as he detached the barrier materia from his bangle, which finally caused the barrier to disappear.

The group came running towards the two men and gathered around Cloud mostly. Tifa went straight into Cloud's arms. "You ok?" she asked but realized how stupid it sounded after it came out of her mouth.

Cloud hugged her, patting her head. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch," he replied to lessen her worry over him.

Zack offered a cure materia with a natural smile on his face. "Here, You can use this to heal faster."

"Forget it! We don't need any help from SOLIDER!" Tifa snapped at Zack, still connecting him to the Nibelhiem incident.

"B-But I'm no-" Zack stuttered, trying to explain. Seeing the hate in her eyes made him not bother to continue his sentence. Instead, he sighed, clearly seeing that he wasn't wanted. "Alright, I understand. I know when I'm not wanted" he lifted his arms to the level of his head in defeat. He slowly backed away from the group of friends who crowded Cloud.

He looked up at 'Sephiroth' and gestured for them to come down, to which they responded with a nod. The long silver-haired figure flew down to Zack slowly and carefully. As soon as the figure landed in his arms, they detached the fake black wing and wrapped their arms around his neck, trying to comfort Zack from the rejection he had just faced.

"You worry too much. I'm all right." Zack smiled in response to their support. Besides, rejection was much better than a beat-up from the angry prank victims, in his opinion. "We should get going. I can feel the daggers already," He jokingly said as he turned his back to the group and slowly made his way towards the construction yard's exit.

The fake wing had caught the group by surprise and had their full attention; they stared intensively at the two as they made their quiet exchange with one another. Cloud walked closer to Zack to get a closer look at what was happening. "That's... not Sephiroth?" he asked out of curiosity.