[FF7][SC] Star Flower

#BGM: blowin' in the wind - Bob Dylan

"I think Sephiroth is a bit weird recently." Zack squatted and chatted with Claude, "Oh, it's not about the wings, but the wings are also weird. Two pieces are okay, and three pieces are too much." It’s ugly! Forget it, don’t mention it.” He jumped up and tapped on the tempered glass curtain wall, “Take you out to play, do you want to go?”

Claude looked up at him slowly, but remained silent again.

Compared with the beginning, he has made great progress, and can even make simple responses to external stimuli, but that's all.Zack breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, then I'll slip away first. Don't tell Sephiroth that I've been here, he's a mad dog now, and he will bite anyone who comes close to you."

The Destruction Sword swung a few times in the air and hung it back on its back.Waving to Claude who was curled up in the cushion, Zack swiped the door of the laboratory with the card Rufas gave him.

At that time, they only had to look at each other through the glass, and they had the strength to live.

There was a slight bang.Zack stopped.

With his back to the glass wall, his expression twisted for a moment, and uncontrollable sadness emerged.He wanted to pretend he didn't hear anything and leave, but then there was another thud.Zack turned his head, and Claude hit the curtain wall, clinging to the glass like a gecko, his eyes widened.

Zach took a tentative step out, and his small face immediately piled up on the glass; he retracted his foot, and Claude relaxed a little, looking at him blankly; Zack took another step, and Claude De squeezed his face out of shape again... poof.Zack couldn't hold back, and laughed out loud.He strode back, looked at his little chocobo with his back, and showed a smug smile, "Ha! I knew it! Then I will steal you away without hesitation!"

If that can be counted as stealing instead of robbing... Zacks asked Claude to back up a little, but found that speaking was useless, he shook his head for a while, and then backed to the gate.Pulling the big sword back, it drew a powerful arc—slammed through the tempered glass and embedded it into the wall!As if he didn't react, the glass was still in good condition, and the fine patterns slowly cracked.Zacks reached in and stirred, and the debris fell down. He went in and pulled out the destruction sword, carried it back, looked at the debris on the ground and Claude's bare feet, and suddenly smiled badly and hugged the boy. up.

"What's this smell..." Zack was so smoked that his nose was almost crooked, and he sneezed several times in succession.He weighed the weight in his arms, looked at the light green hospital gown, and raised his eyebrows, "You can't wear it like this, your big butt is exposed, I'll find you a change."

They delayed for a while in a nearby room to find the change of clothes that Angel had prepared earlier, but no one came to the door during the period.Rummaging around, Zack knew it was the slightly larger black sweater vest when he saw it.Although there are some differences in details, it does look like a corporal uniform.As he took off Claude's hospital gown and put it on for him, he complained angrily, "Be happy, I haven't even put on the uniform of a private first class yet, and you have preempted me like this."

Claude hung his head and didn't respond.

Zacks pursed his lips tightly, and suddenly reached out, plucking the chocobo's feathers with great interest.

The uninvited guest stood guard at the end of the corridor, with a focused expression, and calmly opened the next page of the poetry collection.The red sword was leaning against the wall, but it was also in a position where he could reach and attack at any time. That was not a friendly sign.Zack had to put Cloud down and put his hand back on the hilt of the saboteur.

"Send him back." His eyes jumped between the lines, and the silver earrings flickered.

"No." Zack choked, choking.

"Sephiroth will go mad." Genesis sighed. "He'll kill you, and you."

"I don't care if he's crazy or not, Claude wants to go out."

Closing the book of poetry, putting it in the pocket of his coat, and bouncing it off the wall, Genesis picked up the sword. "It seems that the battle between us is inevitable?"

"Ah," Zack lowered his sword, "just wanted to ask for advice."

Enemies came one after another, but Zack never thought of leaving him.

Genesis didn't expect such a day to come.

He felt that this scene was very familiar, yet extraordinarily absurd.Zack stood in front of Claude, raised his sword towards himself, like a wild dog with fried hair, bared its teeth and tried to protect its companion, just like it was many years ago.A battle that was unexpectedly interrupted, spanning the struggle and despair they had experienced together, was about to start here as if it was destined.The stark difference is their flipped positions, one wants Cloud to live, the other doesn't.

They tacitly did not use magic, and tried to limit the damage to a narrow range. This was a small disadvantage for Genesis. In terms of brute force alone, he was a bit weak against this stupid young man.Then he wondered in surprise, when did Zacks grow so much that he actually gave him the illusion of facing Angel?

Straight swords are overwhelmingly disadvantageous to greatswords, but Genesis more than makes up for this with skill, and it's not his first time fighting heavy weapons.Every time the straight sword collided, it was bounced away, and the momentum was relieved by a circle of circle, and the next reckless impact was met more quickly.Zack chased after him one after another, forcing Genesis to retreat, and the sword and sword formed an airtight cage, until a certain moment of delay——

The red sword touched Zack's chest at an extremely tricky angle, preventing him from moving any further.

"There are more gaps." Genesis commented, "You don't have the stamina like Angel, and the Destruction Sword is a burden for you."

"You'll know if it's a burden." Zack flicked his sword away and went on the offensive again.

Strong muscles rolled under the skin, and the trajectory of the destructive sword gradually became out of control. Every strenuous slash was bounced back and drew a larger arc, and messy scratches began to be left on the walls and floors.Genesis was still backing away, and he had to back away to avoid the ferocious bludgeoning blow; when he noticed the distance between himself and the window, he immediately understood Zack's careful thinking, and brushed the destroying sword slightly sideways. , The straight sword rested firmly on the opponent's Adam's apple.

Then the blade turned and slapped the young man's knee fiercely.

"Ow!" Zack jumped up, "What are you doing... oh!"

"Footsteps. The footsteps are chaotic. Didn't Angel teach you that a stable foot is the basis for exerting force?"

"You don't need to say it!" Zack jumped away angrily, while sizing up the poet who hadn't taken advantage of the situation to attack, he quietly calmed down his disordered breathing.

"That's enough, it's too late to end this farce." Genesis turned his head to look at Claude, the boy sat quietly, indifferent to the battle that determined his fate, ignorant Sleep.He felt the bitterness melt on the back of his tongue, "Or do you just want to see him die that much?"

Zack tightened his grip on the sword, "There is always something more important than life."

"How do you know that life is not important to him?"

"Then what are you hesitating for?" Zack asked back, "Stop me, beat me, everything is fine, why don't you fight seriously?" The destruction sword drew dazzling sparks on the ground, and the brave man rushed towards the devil without hesitation, "If you can't It's up to me to make the decision - there is no hesitation in my heart!"

"Fuck me?"

"Fuck me!"

Zack kicked... the boot flew straight out and hit Genesis hard in the face!The moment's pause was fatal as Zack seized the opportunity and smashed the sabot hard into Genesis's chest, sending him into the wall!

Genesis spat out a mouthful of old blood and fell to the ground, unable to move for a long time.

"Is this fucking... okay...?"

You can still complain, it's okay.Zack jumped to pick up the shoes with confidence, and then walked back calmly, squatting down in front of him, "Want to help?"

"Go away."

Genesis laughed awkwardly again, his teeth were horribly stained with blood.He watched as Zack picked up Cloud and walked into the elevator without any hesitation, the shadow of light closed behind them, and the numbers began to jump.He lowered his head and gently stroked his broken ribs, so that he could confess to Sephiroth.

"Bon voyage," Genesis said softly.

Zack felt a sense of foreboding when he met Cissner... Maybe it was her amazing memory that struck him as dangerous, or maybe it was just some wild instinct, he could sense that this The first meeting meant some kind of result that he didn't want to see.

"Are you planning to just hold him like this and run around in the whole Midgar?" Sisne chewed his gum and spat, "I thought special forces were stupid enough, but I didn't expect you to always refresh the lower limit. "

Zack hugged Cloud tightly, froze defensively, not sure what she meant.

Cisner sighed faintly, "First of all, this is just a personal behavior. I really can't bear to see you stupid, and I plan to borrow a car from you. Get out of my sight."

The whole world has become an enemy overnight, but someone is still willing to lend a helping hand to them.

"...Is this also called borrowing?"

"Why isn't this a loan?"

Cisner punched the front window of the pickup truck, reached in and unlocked the inner side, and sat down on the driver's seat.The keyhole under the steering wheel was opened by a switchblade. After carefully comparing the wiring corresponding to the starting gear, she pulled out a red wire and a black wire, cut off the rubber skin, and began to try to short it.

"What do you Turks don't know?" Zacks just put Claude on the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt, and couldn't help but be speechless at the scene in front of him.

"Having a baby?"

"..."

"Oh, I forgot I could actually give birth. Well, now I can do anything." With another short-circuiting spark, the engine roared pleasantly, "Enjoy your getaway , Mr. Special Forces."

Zack took her place, cleaned up the glass shards on his buttocks, and fiddled with the armrest, only to find that it was a manual transmission.He looked up, "Manual transmission...?"

"Why, no?"

How can a man be said no?Even though Zack had never used a manual transmission at all, he stomped on the gas pedal while Cisner gaped, and the engine roared wildly.He forced the transmission gear to fifth gear with brute force, and waited for the car to soar, "Nonsense, manual is a man's romance!"

Then, the little broken car turned off.

"What garbage truck?" Zack patted the steering wheel and complained.

The shadow shrouded him, and Cisner grabbed the special soldier's collar, dragged him out of the car, and smashed his hedgehog head with a smile. "You don't know how to drive and you pretend to be so cool! Let you step on the accelerator! Let you step on the accelerator! Step on and turn off the engine! Get out of the way, get out of the way..." She returned to the driver's seat and ignited the engine again, "Listen up , the starting sequence is the first gear of the clutch brake, release the brake, the clutch controls the speed, step on the clutch to change to the second gear when the speed reaches 15-20 kilometers per hour, and then step on the accelerator when the speed is increased. The key point is to step on the clutch when changing the speed. Let the engine idle, remember?"

"..."

Sisner rolled his eyes, took out his notebook, tore off a page, quickly wrote down the precautions, and stuck it in the gap of the rearview mirror.

The process of re-igniting was dull and boring, Cissner repeatedly shorted the connection, and the hot sweat hung on the eyelashes.She let go of the wire, wiped off her sweat, and asked while starting it, "Have you figured it out?"

Zacks scratched his head, and tidied up the deformed sweater again, "No, not only didn't understand, but now it's still a bit square..."

"It's too late to regret it now."

"I'm not worried about this, am I still afraid of Sephiroth...at most I will be killed by him." Although this is also very frustrating, "I don't know if this is the right thing to do, although this is already what I can think of The best way. But what if Sephiroth didn't stop the mutation? What if losing Cloud just made him crazier...?"

"Would you stop what you're doing because of the possibility?"

"Of course not." Zacks shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I can't watch the dream that Claude sacrificed for be destroyed, this is much crueler than death, I would rather he would never see this scene .All men have to dream. When a man stops dreaming, he is dead."

She really can't stand Romantics, Cissne thought, full of impractical guys.But she was uncontrollably attracted to their ideas, which were diametrically opposed to the education of the Tuckers, a deadly idea, but also a beacon in the storm on which human beings went on and on and survived until now.

"Human beings have it from the moment they are born, and they keep losing it from that moment on." What is she talking about?When had she ever had such an inexplicable idea? "It is precisely because of the loss that human beings will cherish what they have and begin to understand what others cherish. If nothing is lost, it would be too perfect; and perfect is not a word suitable for human beings." Sparks flickered, and the engine roared again Get up, "It's going to be okay, Zack. Everything's going to be okay."

Zack seemed a little surprised and a little relieved.This time, he honestly started from the clutch, and the pickup truck drove slowly.Like a child learning to walk, walking towards an unknown life.

"By the way... um..." Sisne's cheeks were flushed in the rearview mirror. She chased the car and walked quickly, then trotted, and gradually fell behind. "That... I told your parents before that you went to whoring... You can find a way to explain it yourself!"

... How can this get better!

The petals were blown up by the wind and flew all the way to the distant sky.Zack reached out and grabbed one of the petals, thought for a while, pinned it to the little chocobo's hair, and couldn't help laughing.In the rearview mirror, the gigantic steel behemoth was gradually receding, and the girls who delivered the flowers could no longer see clearly.

The small broken truck was happily galloping on the vast desert outside Midgar. The sun was scorching, but the dry wind poured into the car, so the heat was not so hot.The car stereo squeaked "Blowin' in the Wind," and the song squeaked around as the war continued to throw young people into the meat grinder.

Zack tapped the steering wheel to the sound of the guitar, humming a light melody.

"How long does it take for a mountain to stand before it turns into a sea of ​​water?

How long will people have to wait before they are allowed to be free?

How many times have you turned around before you no longer turn a blind eye?

The answer goes with the wind, my friend, the answer goes with the wind..."

Although the road ahead is at a loss, they are full of hope for the future.

"Is there any place you want to go?" Zack asked, "Besides Nibelheim?" As if afraid of Claude's misunderstanding, he added, "It's not that I won't take you there. But since we have to go so far, Why don't you take a detour and go somewhere else?"

no answer.Of course.

"If you don't object, you agree. Brother, I am very good at playing. You must follow me. I have long wanted to take you out to play, without Angel's nagging, without Genesis' disgust, and there will be no Sarah Phylos' stalking. Just the two of us, going on two country boys' adventures, it's awesome!"

He felt that he was just a nervous talker...but he was a talker, and Angel always said that he was too active, and if he wanted to become a special soldier, he had to become stable one day.But for now, at least, there's nothing wrong with being active.He had to think that Claude could hear him, and that what he said would make him happy, so that he wouldn't be overtaken by suffocating loneliness.

Claude is not a burden, on the contrary, because he is here, I have the courage to persevere.The fact that Cloud needs him underpins everything Zack has done so far; he's protecting Cloud, and everything he believes in, that's what being a hero is all about.

The car jerked violently, and the two of them jumped, nearly hitting their heads on the roof of the car.This cushion is too bad, Zack complained in his heart, freeing one hand to straighten Cloud up a bit.

"Speaking of which, I don't know what your plans are in the future. Stopping Sephiroth is considered a success, after that? Is there anything you want to do?" The low hills kept rolling, and a large cloud of sand and dust rose behind. "For me, I probably won't be able to stay in Shinra any longer. I just don't know if I will be caught by other people in the future... Well, I'm a little scared when I think about it." Although he is also very excited, he is a solid person.

"I don't mean to complain, it's not your fault, it's just whining. You don't even want to be angry about this, do you? Hey, don't mention this. I found that in the past few years, apart from fighting, I didn't seem to learn much. It seems that you can only be a mercenary or something in the future. If you haven't made up your mind, why don't you follow me?"

"We will take a lot of jobs, make a very bright and famous name, and earn a lot of money; but the money is fine, I don't think we are the ones who can make a lot of money, at least the work should be interesting. It's decided, we Let's open a do-it-all house together, so that we won't be bored..."

Having said so much, chattering, dry mouth.Zack licked his lips, biting off a bit of the dry skin, "You'll be with me, we're friends, right?"

After another jolt, Claude nodded.

Zack pulled himself together and hummed happily again.

The car ran out of gas in the middle of the desert.

Patting the iron sheet scorched by the sun, and looking around at the endless plain, Zack raised an eyebrow, feeling that the whole world was against him.He opened the crumpled map, looked at the odometer, realized that the rest of the road was walking for days, and finally fell into a deep self-doubt.

Ah, the sun.Ah, the desert.Ah, the temperature.

There aren't even chocobos in this shitty place.

He got back into the car, lowered the seat, put his feet on the steering wheel, and lay down in self-restraint for a few minutes.Then he turned his head, "What should I do? Or just wait here, maybe we can be found before we become human."

Claude squinted his eyes, and gradually couldn't open them wide, as if he was almost too sleepy to hold on.

"I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding." Zacks sat up abruptly, got out of the car, and unfastened his seat belt for Claude from the other side. I got you out, of course I have to be responsible to the end, if you agree to play, just play enough!"

He hung the kettle on his waist, hesitated when he took the Destruction Sword, thought for a while, and finally inserted it deeply into the ground. It doesn't matter if he comes back to take it later, or Shinra will take it back before him.He carried Claude on his back and walked slowly along the abandoned road.The asphalt was sticky in the sun, and the heels of my boots bumped against my feet.Farther away, the gray road stretched faintly to the horizon, like a shining silver river in the sunlight.

The two of them trekked on the endless wasteland, as if as long as they never stopped, they could leave their fate behind and welcome a free tomorrow.

The roar of the propellers shook the air, and Zack took Cloud to hide in the shadow of the rock, looking up at the Shinra-painted helicopter passing over their heads.This world is so big that the two human beings are just black spots that cannot be smaller, insignificant on the vast land.

Zack rested for a while, the sweat was still flowing, soaking the sweater like running water.He untied the straps, took off the sweater, and twisted it hard, the sour smell was surprisingly lethal.Sweat dripped on the sand, oozing a dark shoal, which evaporated in a short while.Zacks shook his clothes and waited for them to dry, and inadvertently noticed that his arms were several shades darker, and there was a clear difference at the shoulders, and he couldn't help laughing.

Zack touched the back of Cloud's neck with his sweaty hand again, no sweat at all.

Soon they set off again, the shadow shrunk into a small ball, dancing after the heels, step by step.Feeling the body on his back slipped a bit, Zack lifted him up and walked forward slowly.The hot and dry wind whispered in the ear sockets, and the blond hair softly swept over the side of Zack's face, his whole body was relaxed and full of trust.

"Isn't it a bit too much to block the sun with you?" Zack asked jokingly, "How about we go on the road at night?"

"No..." Claude said softly.

Zack stopped, stiffening.

"Don't... stop..."

Cloud shook his head lightly, then rested his chin lazily on Zack's shoulder.The sun was shining, and my whole body was warmed by the sun, and I felt drowsy.He hugged Zack's neck tightly, feeling the firm back with nostalgia, and let out a contented sigh.

His life began here and will end here.

Zack hummed again.

The hoarse singing voice vibrated in the chest, and then fluttered in the sky.He hummed a song, and with his joyful song rose a new star, until it rose among the eternal stars, and happiness and peace were there ever since.

"How many roads does a person have to walk in his life to grow?

How many seas must a white dove sailBefore it sleeps in the sand?

How long will it take for the gunfire to usher in eternal peace?

The answer goes with the wind, my friend, the answer goes with the wind..."

A person's life is a meaningless journey, walking a lot, seeing a lot of scenery, meeting a lot of people, trying a lot of things... just like a fleeting dream, everything will disappear without a trace when you wake up .But as long as you keep going, keep going, it doesn't matter.

He saw someone waiting for him at the end of the road, it was his humble self, it was the regret he was unwilling to do, and it was the romantic and grand dream he spent his whole life chasing.

He stretched out his hand to him, and ran forward without hesitation, until the world fell into a dazzling and soft pure white.

"Sapphi—Ross—"