“The sword you’d asked for, earlier,” Zechs guessed. He didn’t forget the demand made in the rain. The bruises were still there, even if he was ignoring them.

He tilted his head. “Once you’re armed again … we could train together to maintain your skills, if you’d like. Beyond the overly large sword you owned, and the mobile suit I mastered - it sounds as if our skills have a good deal of overlap.”

Zechs had no true idea what Cloud was capable of, of course.