this story was such a huge letdown. i have to recommend people find other stories with better characteristic and plot than this one.

Fuck, I don't even speak English, but this fanfic is too good

Late to the party but doesn't make it less enjoyable

To the audience:
Looking for a what-if Zack lived story with action, drama and intimate moments between characters you love? This story might interest you! This story takes place before and during the Midgar section of the FF7 story.

The story follows where Zack survives the Shinra ambush at the end of Crisis Core, and now he finds himself under the care of the Turks whereas Cloud has been separated from him, finding himself within' the care of Tifa. The story itself has a lot of drama as we follow not just Cloud's mental instability from the experiments, but also Zack as he doubt himself as the hero he always wanted to be, and whether he truly does have the capabilities to protect his friends. Cloud finds Tifa at the Midgar Train station, and remembers the promise he made to his childhood friend, which has become his sole duty to protect her, no matter what. Of all the characters, Cloud's might be the most different given the different circumstances of the situation, but it isn't anything very drastic, making it still feel like Cloud in a way. Once all the drama and action is done, there are a lot of intimate moments between the pairings listed (Zerith & Cloti), not a whole lot of romance for anyone looking, but certainly very lovely intimate moments.

This is a story I can most definitely recommend you should read, it's got a nice balance of everything, even with a bit of comedy from time to time! Overall, an amazing story.

TL;DR
[] Great characterization, characters feel on point for majority of parts.
[] Simple premise with great execution.
[] A nice balance of drama, intimacy, action and jokes between moments.
[-] Has some pretty major deviations from the original storyline (If you prefer to keep things as canon as possible).

To the author (CONTAINS SPOILERS):
I absolutely love this story, it's certainly a favourite of mine. Weirdly enough, one of the things I actually liked was Cloud's choice of weapon, the gunblade. It's not that I'm a fan of them, I'm indifferent to them as a lover of weapons, but I feel it's a pretty decent choice. Cloud's iconic weaponry has always been a giant sword bigger than anyone of us can ever wield, but given how technically, he never probably had a lot of practice with one, it's certainly more so very fitting to give him a weapon that he is used to, while still giving him something he is most iconic for.

Cloud's character definitely feels great, and at first, I wondered why Cloud's mental state is actually a lot worse than in the original, but I thought about it, and the difference in circumstance that he no longer has much of a story to really keep him from breaking down (I think) seems to actually make sense too. I'm honestly excited to see what the sequel has in mind, especially considering what happens midway into the game, and ending of Rebirth (not spoiling since Idk how much you know about the Original and Rebirth).

Not sure if you'll ever read this but: This story was great, and I hope you definitely continue on with the sequel. Even if you don't, I hope you're doing well with all the original works you seem to have in mind. With that, have a good one.

now i've played rebirth. This story could be cannon

Man I don’t give a shit what the haters say the gunblade is awesome anyone who says otherwise is just lying to themselves

amazing story. can't wait to see what you do next

Please make a sequel.

-'Cloud's fingers trembled in the mud. "Za… Zack..."

The man, Zack, went still for a moment. So still that he could have passed for a statue, and though he quickly smiled, it was a brittle and broken – almost as if he was about to cry. "Yeah buddy. That's right, that's me." He thickly swallowed. "Let's… let's get out of the rain, okay?"-
MY HEART!? TTTT omg I felt that

_'Whatever Hojo, that son-of-a-bitch, did to him, did to his body, it made him stronger. Nearly bulletproof. And it terrified him.'-
I kinda realized, reading that, how little we talk about what Hojo did to Zack specifically. We know he attempted to turn Cloud into a Sephiroth copy, but whatever he tried to do with Zack, I'm not sure it was that. Genesis had a really interesting reaction to Zack's hair, is all I'm saying.

- '"Sorry, buddy," he murmured. His throat closed, his eyes burned; the helicopter's thundering engine drew closer'-
I can't imagine how Zack would feel in that situation, my stomach kinda dropped

Zack's desperation came through really clearly here, this is a hreat opening chapter

Good read , I can totally image this stuff happening in the remake storyline. It just feels to me that what has happened was the planet's memory that was changed by jenova. and zack's fate being changed due to the defeat of the whispers.

Had to thank you for the story. I’ve been lurking and reading for a while and loved how you wrapped it all up. I was especially happy to get a chapter that felt like being wrapped up in a blanket after getting through all the craziness with our heroes. Great fic, great writing (and it kept getting better!) and great use of these wonderful characters!

Sweet ending, I enjoyed the story.

As a grown man its hard to admit that i was crying like a little bitch reading this chapter. Thank you for this awesome story.

Bro, when you got a Final Fantasy fan wanting more with the final chapter, you did pretty damn good indeed!

Had me crying at the end but it was so good! This whole story has been amazing and I'm so glad I got to read it while you were writing it! (Normally I get to fanfics after they're completed.) Thanks for sticking with the story to its completion and I will eagerly await the sequel! Until next time! o7

Loving this story but I hope we get our badass butt kicking cloud soon like in remake and advent children or even the cloud in cloud vs link death battle the second one no the first cause that was inaccurate and had heavy favoritetisim towards link the prick I mean the feels are Awsome but I really would like our bamf Cloud soon also man up zack for us he really needs to get over his potty part and get in gear honestly I don’t think he ever really to his soldier training seriously compared to how they fight in their respective games cloud fights and hits harder while zack has to play Russian rulet to see if he can pull of a limit and their damage depends on what numbers you land on he’ll I don’t even know how to summon in that game of crisis core anyway try to give us the badass soldiers we know and love soon can’t wait until cloud kicks sephiroths ass. Can’t wait for the lash chapter and the next story hope you update soon.