With the crowd milling around between them, Cloud completely missed any concern or worry that might have been on Zack's face. All he caught was the grin, and he returned it in kind. His best friend was here! Things had to be on the upswing now!

For the first time since he arrived, Cloud let his guard down. He had been talking to other people and telling them about Gaia, but as soon as Zack would give him a moment he'd run down the list of things that had been going on since his arrival. A two month adventure involving a Chocobo Eater, plant monsters and even a battle in a Magitek factory.

"What about everyone back home? Are they okay? I'm sorry about causing trouble when I vanished." As far as Cloud knew, it was only a few weeks after Modeoheim.