Author's note:

Hi, all! I'm back after... eight years?! Damn... That's a long time. I've been writing some fan fiction in the meantime, but nothing that can be shared with the rest of the world as most of it includes my own characters and those stories have been written for my girlfriend and myself. So this makes Honour and Flowers the first piece of shareable fan fiction I've written in years.

I've been playing Crisis Core for the second time and it's just so emotional and emotive... And then I finished Chapter 6 and I couldn't help myself, I just had to write this. I whipped it up in less than an hour and had it beta'd by my girlfriend the following morning and this is the result. I'm a bit rusty and I feel like this isn't particularly good, but my girlfriend said I should share with the rest of the fans, so let's see what you think about it.

Like I said, this takes place near the end of Chapter 6 in Crisis Core. If you haven't reached that point, you will find spoilers in here.

I did my best to keep the characters... well, in character, so let's hope I did a good job of it. As usual, none of them belong to me and the first line, plus the dialogue in italics, all belong to Nojima-sama and Square-Enix. I make no profit from this, I swear.

Honour and Flowers

A Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII fan fic by Ale Sieben

"Hey, Zack? The sky is closer in the city above, right? Kinda scary but the flowers might like it… maybe."

That maybe came as a faltering whisper. Her green eyes turned sad and worried as she looked at the young man who may or may not have been her boyfriend but acted as though he were.

Everyone in the slums who saw them together automatically assumed they were a couple and neither felt the need to deny it, even though there had been no formal declaration of love on either part. Zack simply visited her as often as he could ever since crashing into her flowerbed, going out of his way to help her and protect her from the dangers of the slums. For her part, Aerith had come to rely on him for the simplest of things and found herself wanting to spend as much time with him as possible.

However, there were times when they didn't see each other for days at a time. This time he'd been gone for a couple of weeks, the only communication between them a lonely phone call while he was on duty, followed by a shorter call in which she asked if he would build her flower cart soon. He'd promised to see her as soon as possible, but a last minute mission kept them apart again.

This time, he didn't call to let her know he was back and on his way to the church. She was sitting down in front of her flowers when he came in and she didn't get up to greet him. She was looking through the hole in the roof through which he had fallen several weeks before, something she found herself doing very often as of late. The plate above didn't allow for the sunlight to filter properly into the abandoned church, but it suited her fine. As she'd told Zack before, the sky scared her. However, ever since he had promised to take her to see the actual sky and to show her its beauty, Aerith had found herself stealing glances at the dull light coming through the roof and wondering what the sky might look like from the city above.

"So pretty…"

"The face?"

"The eyes!"

"You like them? Then take a closer look. Eyes infused with mako energy. A SOLDIER trademark."

A playful shove, then: "Oh, you."

"Colour of the sky, right?"

"Mh-hmm… but not scary at all!"

No, not scary at all. Pretty, beautiful, in fact. But now…

Now those eyes were crying and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

She knew why he was so broken hearted, but she couldn't tell him how or why. She had thought about it since they met, about telling him of her heritage and her abilities, but she didn't want to scare him away. She didn't want him to start looking at her like Tseng and the other Turks did, or how she imagined the people at Shinra did when they thought of her. Like she was a thing to be protected and exploited at the same time. She wanted him to treat her the same as always, like a human, and she feared her secret would interfere with that.

He was sobbing openly, not even trying to stop himself or hold back. She knew this was the only place he could do that without being admonished for it, without being told to "move on" or "let go". She understood that he didn't want to talk about it, at least not right away; he just wanted a place to grieve in peace. Later, he'd go back to work and put on a brave face and fulfil his duties to the best of his abilities, showing no weaknesses that others could take advantage of.

Right then, however, he needed to mourn his friend and mentor, his role model.

But he also needed to know he wasn't alone, so she did the only thing she could do. Quietly, she walked to him and knelt behind him. Without uttering a single word, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. She held him tight, pulled him gently towards her, and remained still and silent. She let him cry for as long as he needed, not saying a word but sharing her warmth and being as comforting as she could.

After long minutes that felt like hours, he started talking. He was vague as far as his missions went; he had never told her much about those, not because he thought she would tell others about them and put the company at risk, but because he wanted to spare her the horrors of the outside world. However, when it came to Angeal, Zack poured his heart out. He told her how the older man had taken him under his wing almost as soon as he made it into SOLDIER, how he helped Zack train and climb through the ranks until he made it all the way to First Class. He told her how important dreams and honour had always been to Angeal and how the Buster Sword symbolised those ideals. He talked about how inheriting Angeal's sword was both a privilege and a burden and how he didn't think he'd measure up to it.

He said he wanted to quit, that he didn't know how to go on. But he couldn't quit, not if he wanted to keep his promise to Angeal. He cried again, harder than before, and couldn't speak for a while longer.

Through it all, Aerith said nothing. There was nothing she could say, and nothing Zack wanted to hear.

When he couldn't cry anymore, he sighed heavily and placed his gloved hands on top of Aerith's bare ones. He then kissed each one before twisting around and holding his maybe-girlfriend (no, not maybe: she was his girlfriend and he was her boyfriend; if there had ever been any doubts they were dispelled the second she embraced him) in a tight hug. He didn't comment on the tear stains on her face just as she didn't comment on his. They just held each other, words unnecessary as each understood the other perfectly, in ways no one else would ever be able to.

"They'll love it there."

His words came so suddenly she had no idea of what he meant at first.

"What?"

"The flowers. They'll love the sun up in the city. And so will you."

Aerith smiled and nodded, her soft hair brushing gently against his. "We will… if you're there with us."

"I'll always be there for you. I swear on my honour."

"And I'll always be there for you. I swear on my flowers."

Their vows were worth a declaration of love, an unbreakable promise, an eternal bond. No more needed to be said.