Wings [Six] - Video

[standing_alone]

It was interesting to see my...heart? Was that what that was? I spent yesterday chasing the thing through the streets. [He smiles, not at all perturbed by having to do so.] At least a part of me can take flight.

[Zack pours water over himself, drenching his hair. He then shakes off in an all too dog-like fashion. Today, he lacks his usual armor. All he seems to be wearing are his pants and boots.]

It's nice to have a mission again, though I guess I didn't have to chase after it. But it's my heart. I'd hate for it to get stolen!

[He touches his chest and sighs.]

I'm glad it's back. [Closing his sky blue eyes, Zack reaches down - off camera - and lifts up his buster-sword. Swinging it with ease, he goes back to his training. Not many people get to see a SOLDIER like this - though usually he would have the assistance of technology. But he's okay without it. Besides, he has found he likes to get worked up whenever he can.

It makes him feel alive.]

Comments

[mortemscintilla]

...Your heart was a balloon too?

[standing_alone]

Actually it had wings. [But that's not the important part!] Yours was a balloon?

[mortemscintilla]

Wings, huh? That doesn't sound bad. It's like the City's saying nothing can keep you down.

[ ghjkllfdh! ] Not a balloon, thankfully. [ A frigid block of ice, more like. ]

[standing_alone]

I'd like to believe that. [Even if he knows it's untrue.]

That's good. I dunno what a balloon heart would say about you. That you are full of helium and you're easy to pop?

1/2

[mortemscintilla]

It could also be the City's way of getting poetic. Like you're prone to 'flights of fancy'?

[mortemscintilla]

[ easy ... to ... pop ]

That sounds really awkward, yes.

[ Not to mention dirty. ]

1/2

[standing_alone]

Huh never thought about it that way.

I wonder if you're right about the wings?

[standing_alone]

[A low chuckle.] I didn't mean it that way. [OR DID HE?]

[mortemscintilla]

I figure you can interpret the curse whichever way you want. That's what people do for most things in life, anyway.

[ ~*blushu*~ ] I-It's no problem. [ LET US NEVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN!!! ]

[standing_alone]

It'd be nice to have some real answers for a change. I don't like guessing blindly. [Though he will and you can bet he'll do his best in whatever situation he lands in.]

Sorry about that.

[mortemscintilla]

[ A practical quality, as long as he's not a rosy-eyed Pollyanna. ]

[ 'Li' accepts the apology with a polite smile, ] I know the feeling. The City makes me feel like a bug in a jar sometimes. But it's not such a bad place, either.

[standing_alone]

[He has definitely learned from some hard lessons, so nope, no Pollyanas here.]

How long have you been here? [Zack manages the perfect mix of curiosity and concern.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Experience is the best teacher. ]

It's been about seven months now. [ Hei would offer more specific statistics -- days, hours, minutes -- but Li isn't as detail-obsessed. ] One minute I was [ on an assignment ] grocery shopping. The next -- phwoom. I was here.

I did get to visit home for a bit, though.

[standing_alone]

Must've been confusing. [He offers Li a comforting smile.] I don't know if I'll every be able to do that.

[mortemscintilla]

It was. [ Or relieving, actually. The environment of his homeworld makes the City look like a walk in the park. At the next words, his look softens, bemused, ] Do what? Go home? Even for a visit?

[standing_alone]

Yeah. [He gives his head a sharp shake.] I think I'd go back to some place else.

[mortemscintilla]

Someplace else? [ His brow knits, a perfect moue of worry, ] Has ... something happened to your homeworld?

[standing_alone]

I think I... I know I...

Died.

[mortemscintilla]

Oh.

[ Oh. ]

I-I'm sorry. [ A tactful pause, ] So you're, um, City Dead?

[standing_alone]

No. I'm all alive here. It happened before I arrived.

[mortemscintilla]

[ He considers (pretends to consider) this briefly, ]

Well... I guess you're lucky, in a strange way. Most people wonder what sort of afterlife they'll end up in -- if they believe in one at all. I sort of picture it as a horrible limbo, myself [ Or rather, he pictures nothing at all, ] The City is an improvement.

[standing_alone]

I wish that was the case for me. When I imagined the afterlife, I imagined...

Something better. [But beggars can't be choosers.] I regret not being able to say good-bye. [Though he's sure Cloud will get the message out.]

I suppose a lot of people feel that way.

[mortemscintilla]

It's true. Everyone wants that type of closure. [ Except Hei is in a trade where goodbye is a luxury. (But he's lucky, in a way. He got to say his goodbyes to those who actually held any value in his life.) ] But you never know. Your friends back home might still show up here.

[standing_alone]

I know my parents would've taken it hard. [Zack doesn't like imagining them upset.] I also had a girl I was seeing in the city. She didn't hear from me in such a long time. I was on a mission and I couldn't communicate with her.

I almost wish she found someone else. She deserves to be happy.

[His features soften.] If they do, I'll welcome them.

[Video]

[brothertragedy]

I can't say I appreciated having to seek out my own wayward heart, but your optimism is refreshing.

[Video]

[standing_alone]

Think of it as an adventure. [Unless...] Did you lose sight of it?

[Video]

[brothertragedy]

I did, but my partner found it in the end.

I think that it has returned to its proper place, now.

... that aside, I do not believe we've met before. I am Nobori.

[Video]

[standing_alone]

It should have. Otherwise we wouldn't still be standing.

Nice to meet you, Nobori. I'm Zack.

[pinokosthewife]

Pinoko's never sheen hearts look like hers yeshterday! It was sho acchonburike!

[She folds her arms, frowning.]

It jusht doesn't make shense! Pinoko's helped Doc with lotsh and lotsh of operations and hearts don't do that. They're made of muschle, not rubbery latekshy balloon-shtuff! What kind of crazy, mikshed-up disease makes your heart shwell up like a balloon and take off like that...?!

[standing_alone]

[Well hello there! Zack finds himself smiling while she talks.]

I don't know if we were supposed to take their appearance literally. [Metaphors, what.] I know for sure I don't have wings in my chest. ShinRa did more than a few full body scans on me.

[pinokosthewife]

Right! A metafort, that's gotta be it! [Still folding her arms, she nods her head. Pinoko, do you even know what that word means?]

ShinWa? Is that your Doctor?

[standing_alone]

Exactly! [She has it. He's not going to correct her.]

They were...a lot of things to me. But mostly, they were a company.

[pinokosthewife]

A company?

You worked for them, Mishter? Ah... [She looks like she's just realized something.] Pinoko didn't learn your name!

I'm Pinoko, Dr. Black Jack's wife and ashishtant nurshe. It's niche to meet you! [Using one hand to hold the phone, she lifts the hem of her skirt with the other and curtsies.]