A/N: Hey guys C: Some of you might recognize me from the Gears of War section; if you do, hey there C: I've been playing Crisis Core lately (that game is such a bitch :C I hate you Genesis Clones!) and it's been making me itch to write something for the Final Fantasy characters (I've always loved these guys.)
I know this is, like, a really odd pairing, and everyone is screaming "NO. NO, IT'S ZACK AND AERITH (or Aeris, however you choose to say it) 4EVA!1!" But I really think that if Aerith had never existed, then Zack and Cissnei would have been the cutest thing ever. (And then, Cloud could be with Tifa, and the world would be a happy place :D) Anyways, I'm rambling C: I hope you guys like this story, and expect to see me over here more inbetween updates for RE:Revelations!
As a note, I seriously hate how I ended this. Anyone want to give me some pointers? There was a whole scene planned out at the Plateau where Zack died, but I just couldn't write it right :C

EDIT: So, I went back and made this a little longer, following the suggestions of a couple of reviewers C: I also added a legit ending that I could somewhat live with (even though it wasn't the one I had planned originally.) It still feels a bit short, but I really don't know how to string this out more without making it seem too long for the point I'm trying to convey ^^; anyways, I hope you guys enjoy C:

If Only For You

A Zack and Cissnei story

There'd been a time for them, once.

Sitting at the beach, enjoying the sunshine, there'd been a time for them. It was a crazy thought, she knew it- but lacing her fingers with his had never felt more right. She'd known- oh, she'd known- that there was someone else, someone better then her (Reno would have laughed at that, told her that no one was better then her, and then would have bought her another drink) out there, waiting for him. But as she tilted her face up to his, searching those sky blue eyes for anything, she'd seen how perfectly they could have been.

And then he'd done the unthinkable- he'd squeezed her fingers, and his lips had touched hers, and she'd been so happy. So happy, she felt drunk. She'd smiled, and found him smiling back, his eyes closed dreamily. A small voice whispered in her mind- is he thinking about her? But then he'd looked at her, and she knew she was the only person on his mind right now, and for that one instance the universe revolved around them.

That made her so happy.

His arms were a circle of warmth and protection, and Cissnei didn't want to let go. She knew she'd have to, when Tseng came back. Because girls like her didn't fall for guys like him. So she'd enjoyed the warmth, the warmth from the sun and the sand and his skin on hers (she'd get heatstroke out here, she knew it, but she didn't care) and save it for a rainy day, when she really needed to be reminded of what it was like to be loved. Even if it had only been a shadow of a possibility.

She lightly trailed her fingers over his forearm, tracing paths across the sun-kissed skin, and recalled something that Rude had once said to her. "Some things hit you when you least expect it. Like a bolt out of the blue." She'd only ever applied it to battle, but here, lying on the beach, she realized it applied to everything. Including love.

She nestled into his arms, wishing that he'd never let her go.

*V*

The rain washing over her skin was chilly, but if she closed her eyes, she could remember sun kissed skin, gossamer kisses exchanged on a private beach. She'd known it would eventually come to this, no matter how much she tried to help him; girls like her just didn't fall for guys like him, and this was why. She took a deep breath and turned away from the gravestone, leaving him behind and tearing her heart out all in one movement.

There'd been a time for them, once. And even if he wasn't around anymore, she'd always love him like she had one day on the beach, a lifetime ago.