Cosmo Canyon Highway, Gaia, Wednesday Night Fandom Time

[puppy_fair]

Zack was tired. Bone tired. Bone tired and heartsick, following the road toward Gongaga with a sort of exhausted stubbornness that would have seemed at least slightly more reasonable if he wasn't hauling a comatose kid around with him all the way from Nibelheim. Cloud was slowing him down. There was no question about that. He'd been able to stop for fuel a few times since his encounter with Genesis farther back along the highway, but doing so without raising suspicions, given that they were both dressed in the garb of SOLDIER, was a tricky endeavor. They had to travel only at night, and Cloud wasn't much help with anything. Zack had to stop on more than one occasion to fight off monsters that jumped out onto the highway, slowing him down even more. His stockpile of potions was running low. And food? Food was even harder.

He wished he had an easy way out of this. Wished it didn't hurt so damn much to think about who was and wasn't safe to trust. He'd never had difficulty trusting before, but...

The only one who had made any effort to check up on him in what was at least months was Kunsel. Genesis apparently wanted to eat him or something, the Turks had been there when Hojo had taken him in, and Ino...

Well, she'd been paying the phone bill. But she hadn't reached out to him. So... which was it? Did she know he was alive but was unable to make a call? Was she with out the Turks trying to find him? Maybe she just hadn't gotten around to cancelling the phone bill. He had no idea how long he'd been gone, though it felt like almost forever.

He glanced at Cloud, set in the sidecar in a way that hopefully would keep him from lolling over too much while he rode. And then he pulled over, dug out his phone, and tapped out just one word.

Ino?

It took him another several minutes of just sitting there on the shoulder of the highway to nerve himself up to it, but eventually, heart pounding in his ears, he hit send.

[OOC: For she who knows who she is!]

Comments

[intraspective]

Ino had… well, she’d slept like the dead for… she actually wasn’t sure how many hours, eaten, had another shower (that might have been an hour or longer, but she wasn’t telling anyone that) and now that she felt vaguely human, though not at all what she’d consider to be stable, she was… well. She hadn’t killed Tseng yet.

She probably wasn’t going to kill him. Probably. Her feelings were still undecided.

But she was busy acquainting herself with the routes that Rosalind and Cissnei were pursuing to chase Zack, under Tseng’s watchful eye as he handled other matters. (It was like he didn’t trust her or something. On reflection, this was smart of him.)

She was… supposed to be thinking of contacting Zack but that was a big, ugly no-go zone in her brain that she was tiptoeing around. She’d get to it. Just… well, hey, these maps were interesting, right? Except as time wore on, she started checking her phone more and more often. Twice, she got halfway through his number before she stalled out—Ino had him on speed dial but as if she could bear to touch that—and she was contemplating a text now, since calling wasn’t working out for her.

It wasn’t her fault. She was terrified and exhilarated and horrified and joyful all at once and working through those emotions was definitely a work in progress. She’d just decided that, okay, okay she was going to go find a hot chocolate (which was a bad idea, adding sugar to her nerves) when her phone went off with a ringtone that was very specifically, you know, his.

She nearly leapt out of her skin. She definitely yelped.

Then she was peering at her phone with big eyes.

Oh. Oh—he… did he want to talk to her? Shit. Shit. What was she supposed to say?!

[puppy_fair]

Zack waited for a reply. Waited, and waited, and waited, ducking down a few times so that he wasn't within sight of the road when the very occasional vehicle drove by.

And then he sighed and stood. Paced around a bit. Counted to one hundred, doing a squat for each number along the way. Did the same again, this time to a thousand.

He put his phone back into his pocket.

Pulled it out again.

Stared at it for another few minutes.

And then sent another message.

You there?

As if it wasn't obvious that she wasn't. Wishful thinking, maybe.

[intraspective]

Ino had used the… rather lengthy space of time, admittedly… to relocate to somewhere that Tseng wasn’t going to be able to creep up on her and read over her shoulder. Or… exist in the same room as her.

Tseng was probably going to look for her, if she didn’t surface eventually.

She’d had the foresight to turn her phone to silent, but, like, yeah. She was watching it like a hawk. She got his second text as soon as it came in.

Ino bit her lip. Okay. Okay, so she had to answer that. But all her panicking had given her the space to realize that it could be anyone texting her, with Zack’s phone.

Who wants to know?

She stared at that text for a while. It wasn’t what she wanted to say. It was the smart thing. She hit send, feeling nauseous.

[puppy_fair]

Zack read that reply. He read it what had to be a hundred times. And he found himself at a loss. Who wanted to know? Somebody who shouldn't be reaching out to anybody, especially someone who didn't necessarily know who he was. Maybe it was the wrong number. Maybe? Maybe in the time since he'd been gone, Ino had gotten a new phone.

He pulled in a deep breath.

He couldn't say Zack, then.

He couldn't afford to.

Regal.

But only Ino would understand that one.

[intraspective]

Ino laughed. Ino laughed until she cried at his response because it had to be him. No one else would get that.

Still, just in case…

Her hands shook as she replied.

How many kids were you supposed to have with your pretty girlfriend, again, Regal?

[puppy_fair]

Zack swallowed, closing his eyes. There was a lump in his throat and he was struggling to fight back tears. Okay. Okay, then it was her. Had to be.

At least a dozen. My parents wanted to spoil them all and send them back as toads.

Turnabout was fair play, after all, though he'd been an only child.

[intraspective]

He’d been a handful, after all! And his parents were crazy. Nice, but crazy.

She loved them a lot.

Pretty sure I told them I was down with a few, but that was a bit too many.

[puppy_fair]

Yeah, but try to talk them down, and they'll keep going until you agree to pluralize that 'dozen.'

Just what nobody needed, right? Dozens of kids?

Zack was smiling. Actually smiling. Which was an interesting counterpoint to the tears that were streaming down his cheeks.

Hey.

[intraspective]

She was no better. She wouldn’t tell if he didn’t. None of this felt quite real.

Hey.

Gods, what to say? She couldn't think of anything but--oh, there was one thing she needed to say.

I… they told me you were dead.

[puppy_fair]

That... that would explain why she hadn't tried to contact him.

It didn't explain everything, though. And Zack wasn't sure he wanted to know why that was. Calling her on paying his phone bills right now seemed... something. Counter to the whole point of texting her. Which had been to find out why she'd been paying his phone bills?

"My head hurts," he muttered to himself, reaching a hand up to wipe at his eyes.

They must have been confused.

It seemed gentler, somehow, than telling her that they'd lied.

He'd seen them there.

They'd known.

[intraspective]

Ino hesitated, torn between telling him that she knew they’d lied and… not… because she wasn’t ready to deal with it.

Maybe.

After a moment, she added, How are you doing? I know you’re on the run.

It was an inane question from someone who hated inane questions, but she was scared to ask the more important ones.

[puppy_fair]

"I'm hungry and everything hurts and I haven't had a proper sleep in days and people I thought were my friends are trying to kill me," Zack murmured aloud, low enough that Cloud couldn't hear. Not that Cloud was paying much attention. He just...

... Just in case.

Just like a road trip. Been a while since we went on one of those. Wish you were here.

That didn't say nearly the same thing.

He figured she'd know better, anyway. Their last road trip had been heart-rending, too.

[intraspective]

Yeah, yeah she did. What he sent her hurt, but it had to hurt him more.

She hesitated. Tseng would want her to bring up the offer sooner rather than later. Ino couldn’t help but feel that that was the wrong way to do it.

Are there any good parts? I’ve still got one of the best parts of our last trip.

It didn’t take much to coax Silly out of her hair long enough for her to snap a picture of her ridiculous little chicobo.

She sent him the picture.

See?

[puppy_fair]

Oh hey! He hasn't grown a bit, has he?

And was that her shoulder? It had to be. He'd almost forgotten that she'd be wearing that uniform.

He looks happy. I'm glad.

He didn't think for a second that she'd miss that he was avoiding her question. He was thinking. There... really weren't any good bits. Not yet. Not for lack of him trying to come up with something.

There just weren't.

[intraspective]

Of course not.

Ino rubbed at her eyes, feeling sad all over again. Silly cheeped at her for waking him up and she kissed him absently.

Can I help?

Would he let her? Would he trust her?

[puppy_fair]

That was a good question. He hesitated for a few minutes just taking it in, just staring at his phone and wondering how the hell to answer that.

A really, really good question. And his heart hurt all the more for it.

Can you?

[intraspective]

Ino didn’t say ‘I’ve been authorized to’ or ‘I’ve been ordered to’ though that was the case.

But she didn't say either of those things because she didn't want him to think, didn't want him to even entertain the idea that the only reason she'd help him was because of her job.

She'd help him at the cost of everything. No matter who told her no.

Yes.

[puppy_fair]

Zack was pretty sure this was a dream. He was asleep, maybe he was still in the mansion, in Hojo's lab, and all of this, the bike, the getaway, the messages from Ino, were just wishful thinking.

Dreams.

Unattainable dreams were the best kind, right?

Both of us?

Cloud complicated things. Was this the moment he woke up?

[intraspective]

Ino wrestled with herself and the idea she'd had when she'd woken up with the realization that yeah, whether she wanted to or not, she was going to have to think about Cloud too.

Cloud too.

Because she knew better than to say anything else.

I was thinking Fandom, and well... Tseng suggested that too. For you. He said that they could hide Cloud. A safe house.

But, that hadn't seemed good enough for her. Not for Zack. Tseng had seen Zack. That meant Zack had seen Tseng.

But I... I was thinking that my Dad could take Cloud. I think he would. If I asked.

[puppy_fair]

Zack's thoughts were bouncing around wildly, a muddle of activity that shifted from 'this can't possibly be real' to 'remember our last visit to Konoha,' to 'is that how you spell Tseng?'

He was exhausted. And he still didn't completely believe this was happening. And this... all of this... seemed too easy.

Are you sure?

Ino had walked away from there. From all of it. It had been ages. And even now, in spite of everything, Zack balked at the idea of making her reconnect. Making her look back again.

I trust Inoichi.

Which left out just how much he didn't trust Tseng, anymore.

[intraspective]

I haven't tried yet.

Full disclosure.

But yeah. I'm sure. If that's what you need. I'm sure.

[puppy_fair]

Zack chewed on his lip, and turned his gaze toward Cloud.

That's what I need. I can't go anywhere until I know he's safe.

[intraspective]

It'll take time for me to see what I can do.

She couldn't promise anything. Not right now. Nothing but--that she'd try.

I don't even know if Dad still has a phone. He only got it because of me in the first place.

[puppy_fair]

If it doesn't work out, that's fine. We'll figure something out.

Worst case scenario, he just kept running forever. And ever. And ever.

He couldn't keep this up.

He was so tired.

It will take me some time to get to somewhere we can meet up anyway. Going is slow.

Because he was dragging a guy in a coma around.

So?

[intraspective]

I... I'm supposed to be looking for you.

Ino was doing a great job, wasn't she? All she'd had to do was pull out her phone.

I don't need to find you until... you're ready.

[puppy_fair]

You don't have to look for me. I know exactly where I am.

See, he wasn't lost at all, by that logic.

I don't want anything pulling attention to me until I know Cloud is going to be safe. I can't keep going like this. Not if anyone figures out where to look, too. But if you do need to find me...

It was a minute before he managed to send another message to give her some idea of what he was doing.

I've been re-tracing our old steps. But backwards. It's getting green again.

[intraspective]

That was enough. She knew what he meant.

If need be, I'll find you. I promise.

She was quiet for a bit. She wanted to hear his voice and yet she didn't want to at the same time.

Is there anything I can do for you now, other than contacting my dad? I can't stop people from looking for you.

[puppy_fair]

I understand.

He was on his feet again and pacing, now, mind working a million miles an hour.

Get someone to check on my parents?

He couldn't ask for supplies, and he wasn't going to tell her to rush out to meet him. But that... that seemed fair, didn't it?

[intraspective]

She smiled slightly.

I think you'll be happy. Things are better there than they were last time you and I saw it.

Ino hadn't known Zack was alive but she'd managed to keep the reactor from going in Gongaga.

There'll be someone to check on them though. Now that you're out.

[puppy_fair]

Thank you.

There Zack went, trying not to cry all over again. Doing better? He'd been scared out of his mind, the last time he'd been to Gongaga, been to his hometown. The reactor had gone. Everything had been flattened. Which meant...

Thank you, Ino. For everything.

[intraspective]

I love them too.

And she did. It had been right to save their home. Not just for Zack but for themselves.

Is your situation workable enough for a set contact time?

[puppy_fair]

For now. So long as somebody doesn't find me, we should be okay for a little longer. ShinRa aren't the only ones after me.

Though he shuddered to think the name, he couldn't forget about Genesis. He couldn't afford to.

[intraspective]

She frowned.

That, that she hadn't heard about. And hadn't known from another timeline.

Who is?

[puppy_fair]

Zack frowned at the phone, almost in answer to a frown he couldn't see, but could almost, almost picture in his mind's eye.

"Oh boy," he sighed, and then glanced over at Cloud. "How do you think she'll handle this news, buddy?"

Cloud, predictably, said nothing at all.

Genesis.

Who wasn't as dead as everyone thought he was. Funny, that.

Why couldn't it have been Angeal who made it through, instead?