[ cloud knows alright. he knows and he should have known the moment zack's eyes took on that shade of something more serious over the video. it all comes crashing down with the words zack offers him, a reminder of what they had left behind on gaia. what zack had to return to eventually, aerith too--

i'll save you, he'll find a way to make sure they return alive and well. somehow. there has to be an answer in this place.

for now though, he lets zack touch his hair, say what he has to, but the determination on his face is solid. ]

Zack, you saved my life. If it hadn't been for you-- [ cloud would have died in that tank, so many years ago. he would have never stood a chance, left to rot under hojo's scalpel until the mad professor either discarded him as the failure he'd been or let him loose as a mindless monster twisted from mako. ]

I wouldn't have been able to help anyone if it wasn't for what you did. [ cloud had helped avalanche save the world, sure, but only because of zack's sacrifice. ]

Everything I did was thanks to you.

[ no a hint of doubt laces his words, but something does cling to them. there is more to the story than cloud simply picking up zack's sword, after all. a lot more. ]