Hey I'm HighSummonerGarnet and this is my first fan-fiction Lovers and Lilies. I really hope you guys enjoy my story, review, and give positive feedback. Thank you! With love – HighSummonerGarnet
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or the characters. They belong solely to Square Enix.
Lovers and Lilies – Chapter One: They Better Not Be Fake
"I can't believe you talked me into this!" Sephiroth groaned. He just couldn't believe this! He could not believe where he was standing and he could not believe the situation at hand.
Zack playfully rolled his eyes, "Seriously it's not a big deal. I come here all the time! See there's this really cute girl named-"
"I. Don't. Care. Zack. We are here for one ," Sephiroth held up a pale, slender finger for extra emphasis, "reason only; that is Angeal." He said hastily , wanting to leave the horrendous sight before him. "These better not be fake either." Sephiroth mumbled.
"Fake!" Zack practically shouted, "I'm actually a little offended by that Seph. Do I look like I would go so low and buy my mentor and best friend something fake."
Sephiroth felt a small twinge of guilt after Zack's small rant. He sighed as he looked up at the sign above them. 'Full Bloom.' He read to himself. "Alright. Let's hurry up and do this."
"Yeah! That's the spirit Seph!" Zack cheered as he ran into the small store. Sephiroth followed the overhyped SOLDIER into his impending doom, however he froze at the sight before him. They were everywhere. They all varied in color, from crimson to gold. Lavender to turquoise. Even coral to lemon. Some stuck out in odd directions, while others shot up to the ceiling. There were short ones, tall ones, and others in between. Some twisted together whereas the one next to it laid down in a massive lump. He lightly touched the dirt that laid inside of a flowerpot on display. Expecting Styrofoam, he was pleasantly surprised to feel the moist dirt in hands and he watched the small specks float back into the pot as he dusted his hands off.
'Amazing…." He glanced around at all the plant life around him. 'Someone actually grew all this.' Unfortunately, he was kicked out of his thoughts as a rambunctious voice rung through his ears.
"Hurry up Seph. We've need to find Aerith." Zack said hurriedly, grabbing Sephiroth's arm and leading him away from the entrance.
"Aerith?" Sephiroth muttered in confusion, deliberately ignoring the fact that Zack was dragging him.
"We found you Aerith!" the two children cried out as they pounced on Aerith.
"Oh," she pouted, "I don't know how you two keep finding me." Aerith complained as she got up from her hiding place. She really didn't know how those two kept finding her, especially Marlene. 'Maybe the older you get, the more you start to lose the knack of the game.' Mentally shaking herself, Aerith focused on the little ones next to her. "Well we played hide-and-go-seek which was Marlene's choice, so it's now your turn to pick a game Denzel."
"But he's gonna make us play SOLDIER and that game is boring!" Marlene whined.
"Look who's talking Miss Ring-Around-the-Rosie!" Denzel taunted as he playfully danced around her.
"Stop that Denzel!" Marlene sniffed as she ran and hugged Aerith's legs.
Aerith sighed at the children and softly grabbed Denzel's shoulder, giving him a stern look, "What did your mom say about making-"
"Helloo! Is anybody home! Aerith!" a loud voice cut her off.
Denzel's eyes lit up as her ran downstairs completely ignoring her lecture. Marlene excited too, skipped behind her brother down to the store below. Aerith silently laughed as she put on her apron and followed the rowdy kids.
"Zack!" an energetic voiced shouted from the stairs. Sephiroth turned from inspecting a foreign plant to see a small boy engaged in a strange handshake with Zack.
"Denzel! What's up little man?"" Zack grinned as he sat on the counter.
"Nothing much. We were just playing games." Denzel responded as he struggled to get on the counter like Zack. Zack smiled and lifted the child onto the counter.
"I wanna get on the counter too!" a small girl came running down the stairs in a similar fashion as the boy.
"No one is getting on anything. Zack?" a small woman, who Sephiroth figured was the "cute" girl Zack had spoken about earlier, stood at the base of the stairs.
Zack gave a nervous chuckle as he slid off the counter with Denzel following suit. "Sorry." He smiled giving a nervous chuckle.
The girl sighed, "It's not a big deal, and I just don't want Marlene or Denzel getting on it. They could get hurt." She frowned as if imagining the sight.
"I promise I shall never put another innocent child on a dangerous counter again!" Zack shouted as he stood on top of the counter in a overdramatic pose.
"Sit down." She giggled putting her hands on her hips. "You're here for your order right? Didn't you say you were bringing a friend along?"
"Yeah he's here somewhere in this jungle you call a shop." Zack joked as he scanned the room.
"I'm right here." Sephiroth called out as stepped out from his hiding spot which was behind a canopy of Cannabis. As he got closer, Denzel's jaw nearly dropped in amazement and Marlene hid behind Aerith, peeking out from behind her back.
Zack pointed to Aerith, "Sephiroth meet Aerith. This is all hers." He swayed his arms around to emphasize his point.
Aerith blushed, "Zack you don't have to that." She turned to Sephiroth and smiled, "It's nice to meet you."
He nodded towards her, "Nice to meet you."
Aerith clapped her hands excitedly, "Well on to the main event, shall we?" She reached into her apron, pulled out a small key and bent down to unlock something. Sephiroth heard a faint 'click', shuffling and another 'click'. Aerith popped back up producing a orange, rectangle box with her. She carefully placed the box on the counter and looked at Sephiroth expectantly.
He walked up to the counter and waited as she opened the box and for the second time that day, he was speechless. Inside the box, standing about three feet was an oddly shaped plant. The petals were a midnight blue, the color Midgar's sky always was. But it wasn't the petal's colors that baffled him; it was how they were shaped.
"What are these?" he whispered quietly.
Aerith couldn't tell whether Sephiroth was disgusted or delighted by the flowers. He just stood there staring blankly at them. She looked at Zack for help but he was clearly not worried by Sephiroth's weird behavior. Seeming more interested in the Cannabis she was growing, sniffing them constantly. She was about to say something when Marlene interjected her, "They're Snapdragons." She said looking up at him.
Aerith looked at Marlene to Sephiroth, who was staring at Marlene.
'Did that little girl hear me?' Sephiroth asked himself, as he looked at the small child who daringly looked back.
Marlene stepped from behind Aerith's back and walked up to the counter, "You wanted to know what the flowers were?"
"Yes I did." He responded back.
She blushed, looked at her hands, and then continued, "The petals look like a dragon's mouth when it's squeezed, so that's why they are called Snapdragons." The girl finished and stood beside Aerith.
"Very good Marlene." Aerith praised the her and looked up at Sephiroth.
He smiled slightly at her, "Thank you, little one."
Marlene blushed again and mumbled a 'Your Welcome' from behind Aerith's back He looked back up at the owner of the shop, "How much do we owe you?" he asked reaching into his coat pocket.
Aerith shook her head, her thick auburn moving with her. "It's on the house. Zack and I go way back, plus he told me about your friend. He will get better." Her voice was filled with so much confidence at the last sentence, that it made Sephiroth have a little more faith.
"Thank you." He replied and turned towards Zack, "Zack we are done here."
"Justa… Justa few more minutes…Seph." He answered back hazily all while sniffing the piece of Cannabis in his hand.
Sephiroth crossed his arms, "Zack." His voice held a threating undertone to it.
Zack sighed, "Fine. Fine. Fine." He dropped the stem he was holding and walked over with a dazed expression on his face. "See ya later Aerith. Denzel. Marlene." Nodding to each one respectively. He grabbed the box and marched towards the door.
"Bye Zack." Aerith called out to his retreating figure. She turned towards him and smiled, "It was nice meeting you."
"The same to you." He nodded towards the two children and followed Zack. Before he left he could hear the two children shouting about how they were going to tell their friends that they met the great, mighty Sephiroth.
Outside, Zack was standing outside doing squats in the middle of the sidewalk receiving several odd glances from pedestrians. When he noticed Sephiroth, he stopped and grinned from ear to ear, "Well?"
"Well what?" Sephiroth retorted as he narrowed his eyes.
"Well that Aerith's cute!" Zack laughed, as if that was the obvious answer.
Sephiroth just stared at the man he for some reason actually considered a friend, laugh like an idiot in the middle of the sidewalk. He took one more look, smirked and walked away.
"Hey Seph! Wait a minute! Where are you going?" Zack shouted as he ran to keep up with the olderman's strides but also trying not to drop Angeal's gift.
Well that's Chapter Uno! If you do not know what Cannabis is, I strongly suggest you look it up because you won't understand why Zack started acting weird at the end.
Just to clarify something's: This story takes place in the Final Fantasy 7 time line. Not Crisis Core. So Aerith is 22 and Sephiroth is 30. However, no one from Crisis Core has died or is missing. Angeal is in this story, so is Genesis and Cissnei. You might even see some people who aren't even in the FF7 universe. If you have anymore questions just leave it in our review.