It was a beautiful morning at Balamb Garden. The brown haired girl left her room wearing a pink, floral sundress. Her hair was tied up in a red ribbon. She locked her dorm room and was ready to go to her best friend's room to wake him up. Last night, Balamb Garden held the SeeD inauguration party and her best friend was one of the organizers of it together with his partner. Lots of things happened at party such as watching the fireworks, congratulating the new students who passed the SeeD examination, and specially from dancing because she forced him to dance with her that night. Walking at the hallway going to the Dormitory, Aerith smiled at the beautiful atmosphere around her. Her hands were at her back, humming her favorite song. When she arrived at her best friend's dormitory, she quietly opened the door so he won't wake up. Aerith slowly walked near the sleeping prince. She leaned to look closely at his face, 'He looked really tired' she chuckled softly. She crouched and waited for him to wake up. Aerith stared at his sleeping form a little longer. She realizedthat her best friend will not wake up anytime soon.

She stood up and leaned her face near his ear, "Zaacckk..." she slowly said in a soft tone. Zack was laying on his bed, face first on his pillow. He was only wearing his boxers because it was the only thing that made him comfortable sleeping when he was alone and expecting no one to enter his room. His face was so calm and no one would think that he was a dangerous man when he was was planning not to wake up until noon but when he heard a creepy voice, his eyes shot wide open and woke up. When he looked beside him, expecting that it was an intruder but he calmed down when he saw that it was just Aerith.

"Don't do that! Do you want me to get a heart attack or something?" he said slightly surprised. He always get scared whenever Aerith did that to him. Aerith laughed at her best friend. It was always hilarious for her when she scares Zack like that.

She stood up, "I'm sorry, I couldn't stop myself from doing that... again." She said still laughing.

"Go on, keep laughing." Zack said, giving her a slight frown.

"I wanted to say some more but you're already awake." She stopped from laughing, and wiped her tears on her eyes.

"Come on. Do you really want me to die early?" Zack said as he sat down. "You need to stop doing that EVERY morning before I get a heart attack."

"I'll try." Aerith giggled.

He frowned, "Uh-huh, yeah right." then he smiled at her, "You're early. What's the catch?" he lay down again on his bed. Aerith didn't say anything. She only gave him a smile as her reply. "Why are you smiling like that?" Zack asked, raising his brow.

"Oh nothing. Its just that..." She sat beside him on the bed and looked outside his window.

Zack looked at her with a curious face, "What?" She look at him and grinned.

"I was thinking..." Aerith moved closer to him, still grinning. She knew Zack won't like what she had planned. He never liked it, but he still grants Aerith what she wanted. When he heard her sweet little voice as she moved closer to him, he started to panic.

He slowly moved backward, "W-w-what?" he stuttered, 'W-what is s-she doing?! Move, you damn body of mine. Just stand up!'he thought but unfortunately, his body didn't respond to him. Aerith sure was enjoying this. She smirked but inside she was laughing so hard. Aerith was getting really close to her scared friend. She stopped when her face was inches away from Zack's face. She smiled at him, look down at his hand, and grabbed it.

"Let's go walk outside. Show me around again!" she said jumping out of the bed while she held Zack's hand. She pulled and dragged him out of his room.

"Hey!" he said as he had been dragged by his friend. He didn't bother that she's actually holding his hand. "You should, at least, let me change. I just woke up, you know." He added as he tried to reason out to his best friend. "And besides, you already knew this place. Why bother showing you around?" Aerith stopped running, still holding his hand. They were at the entrance of the dormitory when Aerith noticed that the students were looking at Zack who was just wearing his sleeping wear. A group of girls walked beside them, who were going to their rooms at the dormitory. The girls were whispering and looking at Zack. They giggled and their cheeks were turning red because of what they were seeing.

'Great. This is not my day'he thought followed by a heavy sigh. Xu was going to the Infirmary to deliver a letter to Dr. Kadowaki. When she was walking, she saw Aeris and Zack. She stopped in front of them, and raised her eyebrow to Zack.

"What are you doing here wearing your… err... underwear?" she said slowly looking up and down at him. Xu had been like a second leader to the SeeD trainees, and she's really close to Zack since they were always together in SeeD missions. She crossed her arms and still raising her eyebrow at him. Aerith already felt guilty and just didn't talk for now. Holding her laugh, she didn't look at Xu or Zack. She was planning to go back to Zack's dorm, but Xu saw them.

"Because she dragged me out of my bed." he pointed at Aerith. "And don't get the wrong idea, Xu." she looked at Aerith, who smiled sheepishly. She sighed and moved closer to her.

"You should have at least made him change his clothes you know." Xu whispered to her. Aerith nodded, laughing softly.

"I was but you suddenly approached us." she whispered back.

"Well, you two go back to his dorm and let him change his..." she glanced at Zack and back to Aerith. "His clothes..." she said quietly. They nodded both. "I have to go. I still need to delivery this letter to Dr. Kadowaki. See you later you two." Xu said, waving her hand at them while heading to the Infirmary. Aerith waved back at her. She looked back at Zack.

"Ok, let's go back to your room, you really need to change." she said as she laughed at him, which made Zack's eye twitch in annoyance.

"Ha ha. Very funny, Aerith." Zack said in annoyance. They walked back inside the Dormitory. When they reached Zack's room, he looked at her.

"Wait here. I'll try to change to my clothes real quick." He said to her as he let go of her hand and entered his room. He never wears his SeeD uniform, unless it's important. He wore his white T-shirt with a black lining at the end of the sleeve, black vest that fitted his body, black cargo shorts where he could carry more item than usual and a pair of white rubber shoes. He exited his room and looked at her

"Did you wait long?" he asked her politely. Aerith shook her head.

"Not at all." she smiled at him and looked away. "I'm sorry" she said with a chuckle. He looked at her and sighed.

"It's nothing" he said and then smiled.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, her hands behind her.

"Well, maybe. How about we go to the cafeteria?"

"Okay!" she said and grabbed his hand again. Aerith dragged him again. It had been a habit of hers to just dragged Zack along with her. They hurried to the Cafeteria. When they arrived, she saw a long line of students at the counter.

"Is the hot dogs here really that good?" she frowned. Aerith had been here lots of times, but never ate at the Cafeteria so she never tasted Balamb Garden's famous hotdog. He chuckled slightly at her question.

"Well, yeah. If you don't believe me, ask Zell. He's a hot dog lover." he chuckled. He knew how much Zell loved those hot dogs. She nodded at him.

"Ahh… I see." She chuckled. He took a glance at the entrance and saw a guy with blonde spiky hair.

"Speaking of the devil, he's here." Zack said amusingly. Zell was walking towards the cafeteria to eat hot dogs. When he arrived, he saw the long line.

"Man! This is going to take forever!" he said loudly, earning a look from everyone. Zell noticed Zack and Aerith standing near the line. He grinned and run towards them. "Yo! What's up?" Zell greeted the two casually even if Zack was a rank higher than him. Aerith smiled back at Zell.

"Good Morning Zell, looks like you got late. There's a lot of people getting their hot dogs already" she said, pointing at the long line in front of them. Zack looked at him.

"Nothing special." he said normally. He put his free hand in his pocket and he relaxed a bit. Zell looked at them and he noticed that they're holding their hands which are unusual for them

"So... You two are dating now?" Zell asked as he pointed his finger on their hands. Zack and Aerith's eyes wide open. They quickly released their hands. Aerith looked away, a shade of pink coming out of her cheeks.

She shook her head, "No, no... I dragged him here so we can eat" she said laughing nervously.

"You got it all wrong, Zell. It's not what you think." he said as he looked away, hiding his blush from them.

"Hehehe, just asking. You guys don't have to be defensive about it." Zell smirked. The two remained quiet, both of their faces turned red. Aerith rubbed her stomach and look at Zell.

"I was really hungry so we rushed here at the cafeteria" Aerith said, smiling nervously. After he regained his composure, Zack look at her.

"Well, do you want to wait here or we'll just have to go to Balamb?" he asked her. He was very impatient when it came to waiting. Even though he was just looking for an excuse to change the topic that Zell created earlier.

"Hey! How about we eat at my place? I was planning to go there anyway." Zell asked them. Aerith looked at Zack timidly.

"Oh, um… Y-yeah, sure. We can eat at Zell's house. I think her mother won't mind us eating there." she said not looking at them.

(At Balamb)

A woman wearing red glasses, a white long sleeves shirt with medium length collar. She was also wearing a short gray pencil skirt that ended to her thigh, and a black stiletto heels. She was sitting at the bench near the weapon synthesis at Balamb, holding an Atlas magazine.

"Hmmm, where should I go next..." she muttered, looking at the magazine. The male residents of the town was dumbfounded at how beautiful this mysterious woman was. This was the first time they saw someone who was this hot in their town. The men was curious what the woman was reading at the magazine that she was holding. The silver haired woman flipped the page of the magazine, "What to do..." she sighed.

(Back at the Garden)

"You guys are going to LOVE my mom's fried chicken. Its like the BEST! in Balamb." Zell said happily at Zack but he's been bothered by something. He's getting a bad feeling that something bad might happen but he erased those thoughts and tried to hide his serious face but failed.
"What's the matter, man? Is there something wrong?" Zell asked his friend. He never saw Zack being serious like this. Zack shook his head.

"Its nothing. Just thinking about some SeeD stuff" he replied.

"Oh okay, whatever you say man. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Zell practically shouted, that earned him another glare from everyone in the cafeteria. They started to walk towards Balamb. Aerith followed them. They chose to walk rather than using a car since Balamb isn't that far from the Garden. They followed the path that lead to Balamb. Aerith got quiet, even when they arrived at Balamb she didn't talk. She was just looking down and following them. They arrived inside Balamb. The town was still peaceful as ever. Aerith could smell the fresh breeze coming straight from the sea near the town. Balamb always made Aerith happy because the town is rich from fresh flowers in different variety and colors. Some students loved to hang out here after a stressing day of school and just relax their minds. The two men walked straight to Zell's house. Before Aerith can go down the stairs, her eyes caught the beautiful woman reading a magazine, sitting near the weapon synthesis.

'Wow, she looks beautiful'she thought to herself but there was something more about this woman. Aerith felt a weird aura coming from the woman, something dark... She shook her head, "Maybe I'm just hungry." she muttered and continued inside Zell's home. The said lady was still looking at the Atlas magazine, adjusting her glasses so she can see the letters well, she saw an interesting place on the magazine.

"Hmm, should I go back to Esthar? Or go to Midgar?" she said slowly. She scratched her head and looked at the next page. Suddenly, she noticed that someone was coming on her left side. She glanced to the three people going inside a small house to her left side. She looked at the guy who had black hair next to the brunette girl wearing a red ribbon on her hair. She just looked at them covering half of her face with the magazine that she was holding which only her eyes was showing. Her eyes followed the black haired guy, "He's cute.." she whispered, then she went back to what she was doing. Another last quick glance to the black haired guy again, then back to her magazine.

"Yo ma! I'm back. I've brought some friends. They're going to eat here." Zell yell at his mom.

"It's good for you to visit, Zell. Don't worry, I'll make something for you guys." His mom said.

Inside Zell's house, Zack was really getting strange feelings. He just sat on the floor and began to think about something.

'This feeling! It's like I've felt it before but where?' Zack turned to Zell, "Hey, I'll just visit the item store real quick. I'll be back." he walked outside Zell's house and saw a beautiful woman but he felt something's not right. Zell saw Zack walk outside his house.

"Sure. Make it fast or we'll eat all the food." Zell replied back to him. "He looks troubled." he turned to Aerith. "Do you know what happen?" Aerith just looked at Zack when he left the room. She shook her head when Zell asked her.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. Maybe he's just thinking about something." she answered. "Don't worry, he'll be fine" she added and smiled at Zell. She just sat there quietly waiting for the food to be served. Aerith didn't know where and why she was also getting this weird feeling, she felt it since they arrived the town.

The mysterious woman continued to look for a good place in the map. She was thinking to go back to Esthar but planning to go to this new place that she saw in the magazine. She sighed softly and turned the next page. She crossed her legs and adjusted her glasses again. She saw that the guy that she was staring at earlier came out of the house. She glanced at him.

"Why hello cutie." she made a sly grin. She just watched him for a second then back to her magazine, "Maybe he also wants to check me out." she smirked.

"I should restock." Zack muttered as he left the house. Zack passed by the beautiful woman. While he ran in front of her, he felt his time stop, 'Why do I feel this feeling. It's... It's getting strong whenever I'm go near her.' he thought as he quickly glanced at her. 'W-why do I felt scared?' he arrived at the item shop. Zack stopped and held his chest. 'Who the hell is she?'He bought his things and went back to Zell's house. Zell noticed Aerith and Zack looking troubled, as if something suddenly bothered their minds. He was getting worried. Zell sat beside Aerith.

"Not you too. What's the problem?" he asked his friend. She's been quiet since they arrived. "Look, I'm concerned about you two. Please tell me what's wrong." Aerith looked quickly at Zell and shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just hungry." She said smiling wearily. Zack arrived as Zell's mom served their food.

"Just in time, Zack." Zell said to his friend. Aerith grabbed a bread and took a little bite on it.

"Let's eat." she said smiling at them, she ignored the weird atmosphere that she was feeling. 'Maybe it's just me...'she thought to herself as she ate her bread.

"Hhmm… This is troublesome." the mysterious woman whispered and sighed heavily. She put down the magazine and looked inside her bag. "Where's my mirror.." she muttered, looking for her mirror inside her small black bag. She felt a square shaped object under her bag, "Here it is" she grabbed the mirror and checked her face. "Good. Still working." she said to herself. The silver haired woman fixed her hair and her glasses. After that she put back her mirror inside her small bag. She leaned back on the bench and sighed, "I'm getting bored" she crossed her legs and just stared at the view in front of her. "I'll just stay here a little bit" she yawned and sighed heavily.

"You ok?" Zack asked his best friend. When she was going to take another bite, she looked at Zack.

"Yes, I'm fine." she said normally with a calm expression He sat across her and he began to eat.

"Hey. Did you hear about Geostigma?" he asked them. He knew about it because his brother still had it on his left arm. He's just curious if they knew about the new illness that was spreading across Midgar. Aerith didn't say anything. She only read it somewhere in one of Balamb Garden's newspaper.

"Yeah. It's been on the news, you know. People didn't want to come near to those who had it." Zell said. He looked at Zack before he started to eat. Aerith took a sip from the water that Zell's mother put on the table.

"It's sad because they just come out of your body. Not knowing the reason how you get it and where you get the disease." Aerith said after she drank her water.

"It's kind of unfair for those who have it." Zack muttered, "Being isolated by others because of a disease. They can't enjoy life because others despite their existence." Zack stopped eating and looked at the window.

"Maybe there's a cure for it. Maybe they're still looking for a cure." she added in a curious tone. Zack didn't look at her.

"There's no cure." he muttered silently. He knew everything about the disease. He finished eating his food and he waited for them to finish.

"After this, we should head back. I left my phone at the dormitory." he said to them. He's still haven't overcome the strange feeling that he felt earlier.

"Sure." Zell nodded.

"How did you know about the Geostigma? You didn't happen to have one." Zell suddenly asked Zack. He narrowed his eyes.

"Why would I have one, idiot?" he said to him, "If I had one, everyone in Balamb already got the disease. Will you use your brain instead of always using your mouth?" Zack said in an annoyed voice.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Zell shouted at Zack.

"Calm down guys!" Aerith stopped the two men, "Will you stop it Zack?" she reprimanded him. Zack didn't say anything anymore.

"I'm done eating." She stood up, she took her plate and put it in the sink. Zell's mom came out of the room on their left side. Aerith look at her and bowed.

"Thank you for the meal." she said, smiling at her. She look back at her two friends, "Please don't fight." she said in a serious voice. She opened Zell's entrance door and went outside.

The silver haired woman heavily sighed as she sat properly on the bench. "I'll just go to Deling City to hang out for now." she said boredly, "At least I can eat and drink good stuff there." she added together with a yawn, "Man, this is boring, I need excitement.." she said with an annoyed voice, she stood up and walk to her left side where the Train Station was.

Zack and Zell almost fought if Aerith didn't stop them. They followed her outside the house.

"I'm going back now!" Zell shouted back at her mom.

"Okay, Take care honey!" his mom replied back.

When he look at the synthesis shop, Zell saw a beautiful woman walking towards the train station. "Dang, she's hot. I rarely see those kinds of chicks here in Balamb."

"Really? But you just told me last night that Quistis was hot." Zack countered him. Zell quickly looked at him.

"What? I did?" Zell asked. He nodded as a reply to his blonde friend, "I don't remember saying that last night! Why would I say that about Quistis?!" Zack wanted to smirk. He liked teasing his friend. Zack knew that Zell wouldn't remember anything that he said last night to him because of the all the alcohol he consumed during the party.

Aerith sighed, 'Boys...'she thought. She did a one last look at the mysterious woman that was heading to the Train Station. The woman was not that mysterious to other people but for Aerith she was.

"She's really hot. Don't ya think Zack?" Zell smirked.

"Shut up, chicken wuss." Zack said to him as his right hand shook in fear, 'She's not ordinary. I better ask Cloud or Vincent about this when we get back'he thought as the woman was out of their sight. He started to walk away, heading to Balamb Garden. "Let's go Aerith." Zack said to her. Aerith nodded and walked next to him, "Hurry up Zell or we'll leave you behind." he said to his dumbfounded friend.

"H-hey! Wait up guys!" Zell shouted at Zack as he catched up with him.