This is just a little ficlet that I wrote in about thirty minutes after being attacked by a plotbunny. Enjoy this short, summery, sweet little Zerith fic!
"I can't believe you've never been to an ice-cream shop before, Aerith!" Zack said incredulously, his big blue eyes even bigger than usual as he looked over at her. She smiled and shrugged, staring at the front of the colorfully-painted shop in wonder.
"There isn't one in the part of the slums I live in," she said quietly. "And it's too dangerous to travel between sectors alone." Zack frowned slightly, crossing his arms and cocking his head to one side.
"So why didn't you just ask your big tough SOLDIER boyfriend to escort you from one sector to another?" Aerith looked down at her feet, blushing slightly.
"I… didn't want to impose…" Zack chuckled and shook his head, taking her arm and leading her toward the door of the shop.
"Well from now on, impose whenever you want, okay? I like it when you ask me to do things. Makes me feel useful." Aerith smiled, but it quickly faded to a slack-jawed stare when she saw all the different flavors lined up side by side in the case near the counter. How in the world did people choose just one? Zack laughed aloud at her expression, the smile reaching all the way to his eyes.
"Well, Mr. SOLDIER, do you think I could ask you to help me pick out some ice cream…?" she asked tentatively, her eyes still quite a bit bigger than usual.
"A little overwhelmed?" he teased, laughing again when she glared at him in mock anger.
"Of course I am! I thought ice cream just came in vanilla and chocolate!"
"Not here, it doesn't," the owner of the shop chimed in, pointing at the many tubs of ice cream in the freezer with a bright smile that deepened the wrinkles on his face. "We have thirty-one flavors of ice cream here at any given time, and a few get rotated every month. Is there anything in particular you'd like to sample?"
"I… I don't know…" Aerith said, her eyes wide as she surveyed the seemingly endless variety of frozen delights laid out before her. "Zack, what do you think is the best?"
"Hmm…" he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I usually get the Peppermint Fudge, but I guess they rotated it out this month."
"Yeah," said the shopkeeper, pointing to a tub near the end of the row. "It's Lemon Custard instead right now." Zack and Aerith both wrinkled their noses a little.
"Well, I guess that one's out," Zack said with a tiny sigh. "Why don't you just pick whatever looks the best and sample it, and if you like it then I'll buy you some?" Aerith smiled at him and nodded, pointing to a tub of dazzlingly pink ice cream.
"I'll try whatever flavor that is," she said quietly. The old man smiled again, handing her a tiny spoon filled with ice cream.
"It's Raspberry Sorbet," he said before she could ask. "And it's one of my favorites." She tentatively licked it, and her eyes brightened immediately as she stuck the rest of it into her mouth and licked the spoon clean.
"So I take it that's a winner?" Zack asked in amusement.
"Yes!" she answered happily, making her long braid bounce up and down against her back when she nodded. "I love raspberries! This is delicious!"
"Alrighty then. Two Raspberry Sorbets, please." The man dipped their ice cream into two cones while Zack reached into his wallet and pulled out the right number of gil. Once he had paid, they sat down at a table outside, content to enjoy each other's company while they ate and watched people pass by on the streets.
It wasn't long before both of them had finished their sweet treats, leaving nothing but cold hands and sticky mouths behind to remember it by. Zack yawned and stretched, feeling relaxed in the warm summer air. Aerith stood from the table, smoothing her skirt and smiling brightly at Zack in a way that always made his heart beat a little faster.
"So, did you enjoy your first trip to an ice cream parlor?"
"Yes. Thank you, Zack. It was a lot of fun."
"I'll bring you back here again soon then, okay? Maybe we can even come back here once a week until we've tried all the flavors." He did not, of course, mention that there were always new flavors being added and tweaked, to the tune of around a hundred being created since the shop started.
"Oh, thank you Zack!" Aerith said happily. "But I'd really hate to impose –"
"Ah-ah-ah," Zack scolded, wagging a finger at her. "What did I say about that word?" Aerith smiled at him again, shaking her head and leaning a little closer to him.
"That reminds me, Zack. I just thought of something even sweeter than ice cream."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
In a flash, she had leaned forward and licked a little bit of ice cream off the tip of his nose, giggling when he turned a lovely shade of crimson.
"You."