Find My Way Home, Crossover: KHII, FFVII (Zack) Title: Find My Way Home Author/Artist:raisedbymoogles Rating: G Warnings: Another tearjerker, but at least this one has fighting in it. Prompt: Crossover: Final Fantasy VII/Kingdom Hearts - Zack - Familiar faces - Really, couldn’t he go anywhere without seeing them? Word count: 842 Summary: Sora gives his new summon, Zack Fair, a workout at Radiant Garden - and in the process returns a piece of Gaia's heart to her refugees. Author's Notes: Follows this fic on areyougame, but reading it isn't necessary to follow this fic.
"Give me strength!"
The burst of pyreflies warned the Heartless back, giving Zack enough room to pull himself out of the air. He attacked at once, the familiar weight of his sword pulling at his shoulders as it sought the life of his enemies. Just like it always was - the fire of magic and adrenaline trailing up his spine, his body and his sword perfect dance partners as long hours of practice translate to beauty on the battlefield. There were times when Zack was aware he was not quite alive, but when he was fighting wasn't one of them.
"Radiant Garden's security system on the blink again?" he asked sidelong, pulling even with Sora.
"If Cid would quit fiddling with it," Sora answered with a roll of his eyes. They clasped hands and pulled each other across, so that each was standing where the other had been; Sora's attacker died on Zack's sword, while Zack's attacker was vanquished by Sora's Keyblade.
The remainder of the Heartless had either fled or been destroyed: this crooked clearing on the outskirts of the Garden was quiet as it could be under the circumstances. Zack leaned on his sword casually, though he was aware of the ticking seconds that marked his limited time in the living world.
A flicker of movement from above caught his attention at the same time as it caught Sora's. The Keybearer lifted his weapon on reflex, eyes glittering like a Soldier's, but when Zack moved to follow he nearly dropped his sword. "Is that-!"
"Sephiroth," Sora shrugged, as the dark-winged shape moved on without attacking. "He's not on our side, but he's not really on theirs either, so who knows what he's doing here. ...You know him?" he added, turning back to his ally.
But just then the magic ran out, and Zack disappeared before he could answer.
*
Sora summoned Zack again as soon as he could. "You're all I've got right now," he explained with an apologetic smile. "I kinda wandered off on my own and all the others are in the city."
"Hey, do you see me complaining?" Zack grinned and swung his sword from his shoulder, and though he knew Sora wanted an answer to his earlier question, it would have to wait. He focused himself on the fight completely, pushing everything else - Sephiroth-! - aside.
They were near the battlement now, everything mortared stone and gold-painted pipes, and the quarters were tighter. Zack resorted to a series of lunges, driving the smaller Heartless back from Sora so that he could focus on a round monster with armor like a tank. They gave way, but not easily, and the effort drained the magic giving him form and weapon to fight. Gritting his teeth, Zack leaped forward into a downward swing that caught the remainder of the Neoshadows in a strong shockwave. They frayed apart and released their stolen hearts skyward.
"How are we doing?" he called over his shoulder as he scanned the pass for any more Heartless.
"Great!" Sora still sounded way too cheerful, despite the strain he had to be feeling - one of the reasons Zack liked him. "We've got reinforcements coming!"
"Really?" Zack risked a look back. He'd just about stopped being startled by the appearance of bipedal animals, but the duck with the wizard's staff was still a bit bracing, even if his constant canine companion was too friendly to startle anybody. They were accompanied by two women, one in front and one behind, and Zack blinked as they came close enough to address. "Hey - I know you! Tifa, right?"
The dark-haired woman halted midstep, staring at him like she'd seen a - right, she had. Zack ran a hand through his spikes, grinning sheepishly. "Er. Almost didn't recognize you, what with the -" He quickly averted his eyes. "Anyway, good to see you again. Aheh."
"Zack!?" Tifa stepped aside to reveal the speaker, whose voice wrenched in Zack's heart. He looked, fighting tears, as she smiled at him.
"Hey, Aeris," he said. "...Oh, hells, not now."
Aeris darted forward, but by the time she reached him Zack had already disappeared.
*
"So... that's what happened to Sephiroth."
"Yeah."
"...I dunno. I think I'd still be mad at him, if it were me."
"You don't know him like I do. Besides - are you still mad at Riku?"
"Of course not! ...Okay, okay, I get your point. So what do you want to do?"
"Well... just because I'm dead, doesn't mean I have to give up on my friends, right?"
"Zack, nobody as lively as you is really dead."
*
"I think these are yours," Sora said after it was all over, pressing the dog tags into Cloud's hand.
Cloud blinked down at them. "Why-"
"Just trust me," Sora assured him, and turned and ran headlong down the hill to where his friends were waiting. Cloud opened his hand and read the stamped name and serial number on the tags, watching them shine in familiar reaction to his magic.