Hero

A mass of blue identified the Shinra army, each one with his weapon out, loaded, and ready to fire. Each one had a gun. Not a soul was fighting with a sword. Except for me. I faced them all, and smiled. In the face of disaster and impending doom, what else could I do? Everything would turn out alright. I had to believe that. I shook my head, carefree grin still in place.

“Boy oh boy,” I muttered, staring at the immense numbers. “The price of freedom is steep.” I slowly reached behind my back, taking a deep breath, and held the huge broadsword before me, straight up. Angeal’s sword…my sword…the symbol of hopes and dreams and honor and everything SOLDIER was once about…the Buster Sword. I pressed my forehead desperately against it, like it was the only thing keeping my resolve.

“Embrace your dreams,” I repeated words I felt like I’d said a lifetime ago. This was it. I was either going to walk away heavily wounded, but alive, with my reputation shattered once and for all, or I would go out in a blazing glory. “And, whatever happens, protect your honor…” I took a breath, then snapped the sword into an offensive position.

“As SOLDIER!” I charged, running headlong into the fray, smile gone, my thoughts filled with the drive to fight and win, the instinct instilled in me since becoming SOLDIER. “Come and get it!”

Everything around me was clear, crystal clear. I dodged shots expertly, slicing down everyone in my path. I hoped this wouldn’t go on my ‘permanent record’. Mass slaughtering, yeah, that’d pass real well. But fighting for your life had to count for something. Fighting for your friend’s life had to count double.

As I continued to fight, as the sky started to gather clouds and my strength started to ebb as exhaustion started to set in, I felt the first bullets hit their mark. But their ranks were depleted. Surely I could take these guys out. But then I was hit by a barrage of bullets, zapping what was left of my strength. But I kept going. The thoughts of all my friends, Aerith, Cloud, Angeal, everyone I had ever befriended in SOLDIER, kept me fighting. I had to keep fighting. I had to.

Now, there were only three men left. They approached slowly and kept their distance, even if I was covered in dirt and blood and couldn’t even pick the Buster Sword all the way up off the ground. A chopper flew off towards Midgar. They knew this fight was won. No. I wasn’t going to let it end like this. I swung my sword desperately at them. A pain ripped through my chest, and I fell backwards, onto the ground, with a cry of pain. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move at all. Then I was staring down the length of the barrel of a gun, into the soulless eyes of the soldier that wore it. To think these used to be my allies made me sick. Then the sound of bullets sounded, and I screamed in pain. I’d never felt so much pain before in my life.

While every memory in my head started to fade, the faces of everyone I had known and befriended started to disappear, one single face still stood out. A brunette flower girl in a white dress, wearing a pink hairbow I bought for her. I clung to the memory, unwilling to let it go. I didn’t want to let her go.

'I have twenty three tiny wishes.' 'Want to hear?' 'He-llooo!' 'I’m Aerith.' 'I’d like to spend more time with you.' 'Do you have to go?' 'Well, I was thinking it would be a normal day, but then suddenly…some guy fell out of the sky!' 'Work stuff?' 'So pretty...' 'They fight, and they love it.' 'Besides, I’m the only one the flowers want to be tended by.' 'Hmmm…I want a nicer one.' 'This is my eighty ninth and final letter…' 'I’ll be here.'

I was staring up at the ever-darkening sky. I remembered how Aerith had said she’d been afraid of the sky sucking her in. Staring at this ominous, stormy sky, I had to say I felt that too. Then I noticed Cloud, looking worried.

“Z-zack?” he asked. I smiled slightly. He was safe. He was okay.

“F-for the…both of us…” I managed to force out. The words sounded strange. I tried again to rearrange the words in my head to make sense.

“For the…both of us?” I heard Cloud repeat, confused. I didn’t blame him. I was having trouble making sense.

“You’re gonna…” I had to stop again. A soft, inviting darkness was trying to pull me under, and I had to struggle to stay conscious long enough to tell Cloud what I wanted to say…what I had to say. I heard him repeat me in confusion again. I reached up and pulled Cloud into the best hug I could muster.

“Live,” I told him, hoping I was getting the point across. “F-for the both of us. Y-you’re my…living legacy.” My arm dropped to my side. I was very nearly out of strength. I hauled the Buster Sword closer and held it out to Cloud.

“My dreams…my honor…” I fixed him with the most intense stare I could manage, trying to force him to understand. “They’re yours now.” He took the sword, if somewhat reluctantly, and stared at me like he didn’t understand. Like something wasn’t quite clicking. Maybe his mind was trying to protect itself by denying my unavoidable death.

“I’m…your living…legacy…” he muttered, his face still strangely blank. I smiled at him one more time. He would live. He would go back to Midgar, he would rise against Shinra. He would carry on my legacy. Confident that Cloud could take care of things for me, I let my eyes close, letting the darkness close over my head. I heard a wordless, agonized scream. I knew it was Cloud. Who else would it be?

Slowly, I opened my eyes again, and the rain had subsided, and the softest looking white clouds floated over me. I smiled slightly, then remembered. That girl. She said that…the sky frightened her. I couldn’t remember her name, just that she was very nice, had brown hair, green eyes, I bought her a pink bow, she wore a white dress, and she loved flowers. I smiled at the half blue, half white sky above me. That looks so…liberating. I noticed a shape flying in the clouds, descending. I smiled again. I never thought I’d see him again. But, friends to the end isn’t always just a saying, is it? He held his hand out to me, and I reached towards it, taking it in my own. Those wings…I want them too. He lifted me into the clouds, and everything felt so…calm. It feels…good. No more fighting or chaos or anything. Just calm.

Cloud, if you see Aerith, say ‘hi’ for me. I did feel a little regretful that I hadn’t gotten to tell her what happened, why I’d never came back, the truth about what happened at Nibelhiem, everything. I only had one thing left to say.

Hey, would you say…I became a hero?