Listen to your heart when he's calling for you
Listen to your heart there's nothing else you can do
I don't know where you're going and I don't know why
But listen to your heart
Before you tell him goodbye.
— Roxette, Listen To Your Heart.

Chapter 1

Zack Fair thought his life was perfect. Or at least there wasn't much he would ask for anyway. His job as a soldier was rather flexible in dynamic, which was good for him considering he got bored quite easily. Recently he had been promoted to a commander, which means he had more administrative job than going on adventures. Occasionally he would need to head out on field though, especially on difficult missions his underlings definitely wouldn't be able to settle by themselves. And that was perfect for Zack.

All in all, he loved his life.

His late instructor had once warned him not to lose his focus. There are things called 'calm before storm'. But Zack told Angeal that storms don't last forever either. And even though Zack knew Angeal had always been uncomfortable with his overt optimism, Zack was positive that whatever might come to his life, he would definitely overcome it.

Or so he thought.

He didn't know his wheel of fate had turned—on a very fine normal morning. He woke up and took a bath, went to the dining area to find Aerith preparing their breakfast. It was just like any other day. Aerith was working on the evening shift that day as a nurse. So since she'd head out later on the afternoon, he left to the military after finishing his meal, planting a quick peck on her lips before leaving. She bid him farewell from the balcony of their apartment while watering her flowers, teasing him not to let the cadets get him—same old routines.

The day was rather peaceful too. They were sending their troops to a training regime. So he hadn't needed to go anywhere. He conducted the training alongside Cloud, laughing to some jokes his colleagues made, which was enjoyable to him—spending time with Cloud was always enjoyable. They were both from countryside and they got along very well. Cloud might be younger—around the same age as Aerith—but they had mutual respect. And he sparred with Kunsel before getting lunch with his comrades.

Things were going well, until he saw Cissnei walking up to him with a deep frown. "You never answered your phone," she complained, clearly displeased.

Zack raised his brows, patting his pants side pockets to find his phone. "Oh damn, it's not here," he chuckled. "Sorry, Cissnei, I must have left it in my office. What's wrong? Anything I can help you with?"

He heard Cissnei's soft huff before she gestured towards his office. "Vincent had been trying to reach you since lunch hours. You better go and answer him. He's on your line."

Zack's lips curved into a grin, eyes watching her amusingly. "I'll go get it right away. You shouldn't frown too much. Your wrinkles are starting to go visible."

"What?" Cissnei's voice raised, eyes glaring into his menacingly.

"I was joking!" Zack laughed, hands raised apprehensively as he quickly jogged towards his office. "You need to let loose. Let's go for a movie later tonight. Cloud and Tifa are joining too!" he added before disappearing behind his door.

Cissnei had to roll her eyes at that.

His grin never left his face, not even when he picked his office phone and greeted the man who was Cloud's acquaintance. Nothing exactly crossed his mind about why Vincent would even want to talk to him of all people. Not until his first sentence knocked his eardrum.

"Zack? I tried to reach you since a few hours ago. I'm sorry about this, but you are listed as first of kin."

And that was when his whole world crumble.

"It happens to be that Aerith was involved in an accident on her way here to the hospital," Vincent's voice sounded so distant to his ears. "And she lost her consciousness."

The air around her felt rather familiar but oddly stuffy. Her throat felt sore as if she might have swallowed grains of sands all along. Her head was throbbing, and the moment her eyes cracked open, her vision was rather blurry. But she could easily make the image of her friend donned in black and red outfit.

"Vincent?" her voice croaked.

Vincent's impassive glance was trained on her, with a lady in a nurse uniform was standing next to him. Aerith recognized her as one of the newly transferred one. They were supposed to be on the same duty that day. Until... Images of a car running through her and how she was blown to the side of the road flashed through her mind.

"I had an accident?" her eyes were wide, looking up questioningly.

"You lost consciousness for a few hours after being hit by a car. But your airway was sustained so there was no intubation needed," Vincent said monotonously. "Other than that, you only had a few superficial wounds and your CT Brain is normal. I think you only had some concussion in your head."

Aerith giggled playfully, closing her eyes a bit to ease her headache. "That explains why I feel like being run down by a truck. It feels like starring in a movie."

Vincent scrunched his face. "Not funny. You could have died," the seriousness of his tone had chased away all her intentions of making light of the situation. "That aside, there is something else I'm worried about," Vincent added. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Huh?" she looked perplexed.

"I need to confirm something. Please answer," his tone hadn't changed. "What's your full name?"

She still didn't get it. But she answered anyway. Vincent wasn't the type of person to joke around. It was simply not engrained in his DNA to. "Aerith Gainsborough."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty five."

"And do you remember me?"

She nodded. "Vincent Valentine."

"Do you remember your family and your job?"

"I do. Perfectly."

She noticed how Vincent's shoulders seemed to slacken a bit, probably satisfied with her answer. "Seems like nothing goes wrong with your head and memory. That's good," he nodded, pivoting his heels to leave her ward. "You can continue resting. You don't seem to be suffering from a brain injury or cognitive setbacks. So you'll be fine and good to leave in a day or two."

She chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Thank you, Vincent. Sorry for worrying you."

He seemed to dismiss her kind remarks as he walked out of her room with a simple, "I already contacted your family about your condition. They're probably on their way."

Aerith gave Vincent and the nurse a soft smile, watching them exited her ward leaving her by her own. Considering the impact of the hit, she was thankful enough she was rather lightly injured. She was just a bit guilty that she might have worried Elmyra too much with this—when really, there's nothing to be worried about. Though why Vincent had addressed her adopted mother as 'they' was beyond her. She only had one adopted mother. That surely didn't quantify as 'they'. Then again, Vincent had always been the quirky one. So she supposed she could let this one slide. After all, he was the doctor who had saved her life that day.

He knew he shouldn't ditch his job in the middle of it especially when the training regime wasn't entirely done. But Zack couldn't care less. He already asked Cloud to take over anyway. Right then, his mind was filled with only one.

His steps halted when he reached Aerith's ward, boots screeching a bit on the floor as he rushed to the side of her bed. "Aerith!" his eyes scanned her being once he reached her bed. He immediately felt a surge of relief when he saw that she wasn't as badly injured as he imagined. Sure, she had a few bandages here and there, but none seemed too serious.

"Oh god, Aerith, you're okay," he heaved a relieved sigh, sitting opposite to her on her bed. His hands swiftly pulled her into his arms, hugging tighter than he ever had. He was fairly larger built than her, and he was stronger so he was usually extra careful at holding her. But his heart and mind was a mess. He just needed to feel her, to know that she was there, that she was real. "I was damn worried when they said you got into an accident. I thought I was going to lose you. It scared the shit out of me. I don't know what would become of me if something had happen to you."

"I'm sorry for worrying you," her voice muffled against his chest.

"No, what's important is that you're well and alive," he shook his head, holding her in what seemed to feel like eternity until he finally able to calm down his nerves from the shocking news, as he slowly pulled back a bit to stare at her. "Are you okay?"

"It hurts pretty badly earlier. But I'm fine now," she answered, brows frowning slightly.

Zack's thumb grazed gently across the bruise on her cheek, tainting her soft angelic face. But he couldn't care less about that. She was still there by his side, and that was all that was important. But now that she was in his arms again, sanity restored, he couldn't help but to feel very well aware of how unusually detached she was to him. It might be just him, but he swore he could feel her leaning away from his touch.

"How are you feeling?" he decided to ask because who knows she might be disinclined to him due to the pain from all the wounds.

"Um—" she pried herself away from him slightly backwards until her back was securely resting against the pillow. "I feel better than the first time I woke up. Vincent said I just need a bit more rest and I'll be discharged in a day or two."

He smiled at her. She was okay, and even Vincent had told her that everything would be all right. But somehow, he couldn't deny the anxiety woven in his smile. And just why was she looking at him like that? Her gaze shifted her and there, looking uncomfortable under his scrutiny, fidgeting. And Zack furrowed his brows.

"Are you alright? Should I go get you anything?" he tried, shifting a bit closer towards her.

She quickly shook her head as she looked up to him with a smile—an unusual smile. The formality of her expression threw him off.

"What's wrong, Aerith? Why are you acting so weird?" Zack's voice was soft, one hand tried to hold her slender one.

Aerith turned her gaze towards him, blinking profusely under her lashes. And Zack stared back at her, wondering what had gotten into the brown haired beauty.

"I've been... wondering since you came in here, but... who are you?"

He was staring at her vacantly, part of him still trying to comprehend what actually she meant by that. And another part of him was hoping she would have burst in laughter any moment from now saying how funny he looked like when she said that. He wished she would laugh like she always did whenever they had an idle talk and tease.

"Is this some kind of a joke? Because I honestly don't think it is funny," Zack laid back, hand scratching the back of his head.

"Why would I be joking?" she frowned in demand.

"Listen, Aerith. I know we tease each other a lot and we both enjoyed it. But I almost lost you and I seriously do not appreciate this kind of teasing at a moment like this," Zack groaned slightly at the idea.

"What teasing?" Aerith sounded protesting. "It was a simple question and I just wanna know who you are as you seemingly came into my ward acting like you know me. I initially thought you are the police officer in charge of my accident case coz you seem to dress like one. But you're being too familiar and it bothered me."

Zack had to stare at her for another good minute to wrap his mind around the issue. She didn't have the usual grin she had whenever she teased him. And he knew how she was when she was lying, but she seemed genuinely confused. He swallowed the thick lump in his throat when reality hits. He finally made sense of the distant look on her face, the inching away from his touch, the awkwardness in his presence—she had no idea who he was.

"You really don't remember me?" there was a hint of hopefulness in his voice.

She stared at him for a while more before her protesting frown wavered away, tentatively biting her lips. "I'm sorry. Were we close?"

Zack felt his heart beat louder than ever. He could practically feel the world swallowing him whole and for once, he felt none of his years of soldier practice could ever work on this situation.

"Zack Fair. We met each other when you were 15 and we started dating then. I went on a mission and was missing for four years before I could come back. Does that ring a bell?" Zack relented.

He noticed how she shifted away from him slightly, and he noticed perhaps in his anxiety trying to make her remember, he had invaded her personal space—which had never suppose to exist before.

Her frown deepened as she tried to remember. "I'm sorry."

There was really less than five times Zack had ever been pessimistic in his life. Losing Angeal was one. He wasn't going to make this the next. "Come on, there's no way you can really not remember anything—" he tried to ignore how desperate he sounded. "We've known each other since we were teenagers. We got married two years ago. You were so excited preparing the wedding you dreamt of. There should be something you remember at least."

He was almost towering her in his eagerness, but immediately pulled back the moment she showed apparent discomfort upon his move. Aerith shifted her gaze down to his ring finger where his band rested firmly. But her clueless expression remained.

"I know this must be really horrible for you, Fair-san—"

Fair-san? Zack felt like screaming in disgust. Since when did Aerith ever address him with his last name—the last name she shared nonetheless—let alone, with a '-san' suffix!

"—But I really can't remember you. I'm very sorry."

Zack couldn't think about anything he could say anymore. He felt himself sat back on the bed, eyes fixed on the overly familiar face in front of him. How was it possible that she could remember Vincent but not him? She knew him before she even met Vincent!

He finally tore his gaze away from her, looking lost. His hands wiped his face in agony and exhaustion—feeling the most exhausted than he had ever been, which was unusual because he was never tired.

"Fair-san, are you okay?" she sounded concern for once, peering curiously without closing any distance.

Zack knew he had been lying. His life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. He had lost a number of people in his past—Angeal, Sephiroth, Genesis, and even his future—, falling and tripping in life numerous times but he kept trying to get up again. He kept trying to find that small ray of hope to brighten what was dimmed.

This time though, he wasn't sure where he could grab the light.

"No," he whispered almost to himself than her. "No, I am not alright."

Vincent sighed, pushing his pen torch back into his coat's breast pocket, eyes darting back into Aerith's. "Are you sure you cannot remember anything about Zack? Can you try remember how you met Cloud?" the question was rather rhetoric, since Vincent knew Aerith only started to meet Cloud and the others when Zack went missing for four years after a war.

Aerith frowned. She was starting to feel ridiculous over the situation. She knew pretty well how the accident happened, but truth to be told, she was pretty much very fine. She felt fine. She pretty much had everything put together except one single small detail—the raven-haired man who had been staring at her the entire time since he came in. So why did Vincent have to surround her with two other nurses, looking and examining her as if she was in a situation of life and death?

And seriously, how was it possible for her to single out and forget that one supposedly very important person in her life? As if the only one? Frankly, she was starting to feel like this was a wacky version of candid camera. She was starting to really look forward to the moment the camera would whip out of the closet and tell her they got her. The only thing that she wasn't able to wrap her mind around was how they could convince such serious-looking doctor like Vincent to participate in this whole insanity.

"Come on, Aerith. Try to remember how you met Cloud?" Vincent repeated.

"I don't know. It happened by chance. He came back from a war and needed a treatment at this hospital," Aerith answered with disinterest.

"What kind of treatment?" Vincent pried slowly. If she pushed further, she could have remembered that Cloud wasn't the one who needed treatment at that time—it was Zack.

"He was—" Aerith's brows furrowed, trying hard to remember. The harder she tried, the more ill at ease she felt. Her mind was throbbing, her heart was pounding and she felt her pulse roared through her neck. And sooner what had started a slight discomfort started to be an annoying buzz, and sooner turned into a full-fledged migraine.

Aerith couldn't hear anything. And the lights were too bright, she couldn't see anything. The pain was swallowing her whole being and she clutched her head tightly at the ear-piercing sound echoing so loudly in the room. Her eyes scrunched shut, tears prickling down like rainfall and she started to thrash around in panic.

"Aerith!" Zack rushed to her side, trying to calm her down.

She screamed, shaking as she curled herself on the bed. She couldn't hear herself over the loudness of the shrill sound she heard in her head.

"Get the sedation! We need to put her to sleep!" Vincent ordered as the nurses scrambled to their tasks.

Zack tried to hold her—tried to pry her hands away from her head because she was starting to injure herself. He tried to ignore how his heart shredded at how she screamed and cried telling she was so much in pain and she didn't want to be assaulted by any questions anymore. He couldn't watch her like that. He felt his eyes burned with tears. She was breaking down and all Zack wanted was to scoop her in his arms and rock her in his embrace until she settled down.

But even in her fit, she was recoiling violently from his touch and shoved him away before he could do anything. If anything, his attempt to calm her down would just make her even worse.

He couldn't bear to see her in pain. He couldn't bear to watch her like this. And even more so, he couldn't bear the fact that he was the one she ended up like this over. And so he obeyed what she commanded him to.

He got out of her ward, closing the door as he listened to how her cries died down after given the drugs.

He tried to find some pieces of his heart that could make him smile. At least he needed it within the next few hours when Cloud and Kunsel come to visit. He needed to smile.

TBC