Welcome to a new collection of stories of mine!
A series of One Shots about Zack and Aerith from Final Fantasy VII, none of them
linked together unless noted otherwise. Actually, this One Shot was supposed to
begin with the chapter called "Let Me Comfort You" but due to it's M Rating and
a few things still needing to be changed, we begin with this one!
Finally some free time again, Zack heads out on a date with Aerith. And he has
a goal to fulfill before he goes home that day.
With a grin stretching from one ear to another, Zack left the president's office with a new spring
in his step. After pressing the elevator button, he casually flicked open his cellphone and dialed
a number well-known to him. The elevator arrived with a bing and the young SOLDIER member entered,
waiting for the phone to be picked up at the other end of the line.
"Zack?" answered a soothing voice, a little note swinging in it.
"Guess who got the rest of the day absolutely off?" Zack replied, grinning even more.
"Hmmm" the voice went in a mocking fashion. "Kunsel?"
He chuckled slightly, thinking about his comrade. "Nah. Not him. Me, of course."
"Of course."
"So, if you're free, we can do something." a bit nervous about the possibility of being rejected,
Zack felt his breath stop as he waited for her to answer.
"I still have to finish something with my mother .. but I don't expect it to take long."
"Take your time. Meet you at the church?" Zack asked and, when he got the confirmation to
meet there, he hung up with a quick 'see you soon'.
With the phone conversation over, he finally turned his attention back to the elevator which
had been sitting stationarily on the floor and pressed the down button. Zack's mind drifted
to the date. Meeting at the church was a standard for them - Aerith spent most of her time
there, anyway, and it was pretty easy to find and get to from the train station. Frowning,
he wondered what they could do. Granted, there wasn't much to do in the Slums - unless
time was spent either taking a walk, looking at the merchandise at the big market or just to
talk at the little run-down playground.
But with Aerith's fear, they didn't have all that much choice ... a sudden idea sprung into
Zack's head and he stopped the elevator, getting off at the research facility floor and headed
towards the experimental area.
It was about twenty minutes later that he, after much persuasive talk and begging and hearing
instructions, left the ShinRa building, tucking something into his pocket. Excited, and even proud,
about his clever little idea, he almost dashed to the train station and hitched a ride to Sector 5.
"Hey there", "Hi, Zack!" and similar greetings were directed towards him as he tore through the
Slums' streets and market. He waved or nodded towards the greeters - what with having gone
down so often to see Aerith, and Aerith being pretty well-known and liked, the people living in
the Slums had grown accostumed to seeing him and slowly began to think that not all the
people working for ShinRa were bad.
Seeing the small, run-down church a few meters ahead, the ravenhaired young man thought that
it was lucky that Aerith was still busy helping her mother. This way, he had some time to prepare
things and give Aerith a pleasant surprise.
Time passed, almost an hour gone, and Zack stood in front of the church, leaning against one of
the pillars for support and waited. Pleased that he had finished his preparations, he was also a
bit worried. Not very, though, as Aerith hadn't said that she would hurry to meet him.
He didn't know what she was doing for her mother, so he remained patient and not give in to the
slight urge to call her on his phone again. But he needn't wait any longer.
"I've kept you waiting." her soft voice said apologetically.
Happy that she had arrived, Zack kicked off from the pillar and turned towards her, about to say
that he hadn't waited so long and didn't mind, but his voice failed him. His eyes were busy studying
her apperance.
Aerith was wearing a strapless dress that had a mother-of-pearl sheen to it, with an intricate silver
border and an identically colored bolero jacket with low hanging puffed sleeves. She still had her
hair held back by the pink ribbon but had undone her braid and her long hair fell in one luscious
wave after another. One of her hands was busy carrying a small wicker basket.
His mouth hanging slightly open, Zack just stared at her, the elegant figure the dress gave her,
how she almost looked like a fragile doll with her fair shoulders peeking out. The girl blushed
slightly at his silence and tugged at her jacket.
"I look weird, huh ..?"
"What? No, no. Not .. not at all." Zack gasped, snapping out of his stupor and scratched the back
of his head embarrassed. "It .. it looks really good on you." He wanted to say beautiful or stunning.
Tell her how the dress gave her a sophisticated nature, the aura of a young lady but he couldn't.
None of those words were even remotely close to describing the effect she really had on him.
Aerith giggled, still blushing. "Thank you." She cocked her head slightly to the side when he still
didn't seem to stir anymore. "Did you have anything special planned?"
Trying to collect himself, Zack shook his head slightly and then nodded. "Yup. I think I've got a
really good idea. Come on." he beckoned her to follow him. Curious, Aerith did, walking up the
broken steps to her church and entered when the soldier held the door open for her.
Wondering what they were supposed to do in the church, she glanced around but saw nothing out
of the ordinary. She saw the old pews, the large hole in the ceiling that shone brightly onto the
small patch of flowers that had grown in the dirt and the slight pattern that the stained glass
was throwing feebly onto the walls with the little light it got.
Zack led the way, down the aisle and around the patch, careful not to step on the flowers and
then stopped, turning towards her. Grinning slightly, he took her free hand into his.
"For this part, I want you to close your eyes." he said, his voice swinging with carefree excitement
like a young boy. Aerith smiled at his expression and nodded, obediently closing her green eyes
and was surrounded by darkness. She felt helpless, the only contact she had was her hand in
Zack's and she was relying on him completely.
"Let me be your eyes." Zack's voice whispered gently, like he had read her thoughts. Aerith felt
a slight tug at her hand and took that as a sign to walk. Taking timid steps, she heard their
footsteps echoing on the creaky wooden floorboards of the empty church, the groan of a door
as it was pushed open.
Trying to orient herself by where he was leading her, Aerith wondered why he was bringing her
into the backroom which, years ago, had been used for private ceremonies. However, she wasn't
sure if he really was bringing her there or just led her through, but their steps made no sound
anymore and the usual draft from the church had turned warmer.
"Okay .. you can open 'em again." Zack's voice told her as he held her hand loosely in his and
stepped aside. Following his order, Aerith opened her eyes.
They were in the backroom of the church.
But instead of the grey, broken floorboards with the empty barrels and crashed down ceiling,
they were surrounded by a large open field that kept going on and on. A warm breeze was
fluttering gently around them and Aerith was staring at the one thing that really got her
attention. The flowers.
Dozens and thousands of flowers, dancing in that breeze, making a play of golden and white
petals. Different types of flowers, either clustered together in a corner or mixed up with others
to make bouquets peeking out from the grass growing among them.
Amazed, Aerith let go of the man's hand and took a careful step forward, her head turning this and
that way to see everything. There were no trees or bushes or anything, just miles of flowers
and grass and, watching her, Zack standing close to her. His eyes were on her, watching how
she studied her surroundings, a natural smile tugging at his lips.
"It's .." Aerith began, finding her voice again but couldn't go on. Her voice failed her again.
She walked amongst the flowers, trying to step on them as little as possible and just stared
and stared. "Zack, .. how?" Still smiling, Zack caught up to her and kneeled down, slowly
pushing back a cluster of flowers and pointed. Bending down to see better, Aerith saw what
looked like a metal disc, about the size of her palm, on the ground. There were several little
lights alit on it, a display kept flashing some indistinguishable letters off and on.
"It's a virtual display." Zack explained and saw her still looking unknowing. "ShinRa has been
using virtual reality to train SOLDIER members through different scenarios - the researchers
have been working on a portable version for a while now, so that rookies could train even
during mission breaks or when they were out. It's a prototype, that's why they allowed me
to use it - like a testrun. But I don't know how long it'll hold this up."
Aerith knelt down to be on the same height as him, her eyes searched his and he could
read what her next question was going to be.
"Well .. I did promise you I'd show you a sky you're not afraid of. Even if it's not a real one."
Slowly, carefully as if she was afraid of falling, she lifted her head and turned to look up at
the pale blue mantle above them. There were only a few slivers of clouds on it, but the
rest was nought but a pale blue color, although it had the same intense radiance like
the soldier's eyes.
Aerith was lying on her back, the skirt of her dress flareing out around her legs and her
eyes set on Zack's above her, although her gaze kept straying past him back to that
bright blue.
It wasn't a real sky, but she wasn't afraid of looking at it. For once, she could look up
and not hear the whispering of countless souls, that opressing feeling in her chest.
Finally, she understood what people meant when they looked up into the sky and
said they felt free. Staring at it made her feel like she could sprout wings and take off.
Feeling Zack shift under her, Aerith wanted to ask if he was getting restless with her
head on his lap, but he slowly moved sideways and leaned down until his head was
in her lap and they lay like two halves of a whole.
"Thank you, Zack." Aerith said, turning her head to look at him better.
"I knew you'd like it." he answered, grinning again.
She smiled at him again, then closed her eyes, to just lie there and feel the warm breeze
tickling her skin and be surrounded by flowers. But a few seconds later a sound startled
her and she sat up a bit.
"Sorry." Zack said and Aerith saw his cellphone in his hand. He noticed her confused
look. "I had to take a picture .. you just looked too cute."
Blushing slightly, Aerith sat up and fixated her eyes onto Zack's and cocked her head
to the side. "Why did you want my picture?"
Avoiding her gaze, Zack looked almost embarrassed and then sighed. "Well, back at
the company, the guys always brag about their girlfriends and showin' their pictures
and stuff like that. So, I wanted to have a picture of my girlfriend to shove into their
face - give 'em a little payback."
Aerith's cheeks flushed at the way he called her his girlfriend, but then collected herself.
".. is it okay if I take some pictures of you?" he asked, looking insecure. "Cause, if you
don't wan' me to, I'll delete this one."
"Isn't your question a bit late?" she answered back, but smiled to show that she wasn't
angry at him. "Sure. Take as many as you like."
Zack grinned happily and sat up with a jolt, ready to take pictures of Aerith at a moment's
notice. He wanted a lot of them, to really show her off and make his comrades jealous for
him having such a beautiful girl. Finally, he'd be able to pay them back for those hours he
was forced to look at their girls.
The two of them didn't spend much of the next time talking, mostly just enjoying the
other's company while looking at the flowers or lying among them, smelling the sweet
and slightly tangy scent.
Aerith kneeling amongst the flowers, carefully running a fingertip over a few petals.
Aerith making a wreath, pretending playfully to set it on top of Zack's head before
decorating her own with it.
Aerith turning towards the soldier and smiling.
Those and others were all moments that Zack caught with his phone. Although she had
given him permission to take as many as he wanted, he made sure not to take too many,
because he thought that it might make Aerith feel uncomfortable.
Both left the church's backroom several hours later, when the display of the field began
to slowly flicker with increasing intensity until all the flowers, the blue sky and warm
breeze disappeared and left behind the normal, cold room.
Trying to remember how long it had managed to withstand use, Zack put it back into
his pocket before beginning to head out.
"I want to thank you again, Zack." Aerith said as they approached the church doors.
"It was nothing." he waved off with a lazy grin. "Glad to see that you enjoyed it. And I
want to thank you for letting me take pictures."
The Slums looked as dark as night, as they usually did, although the time was clearly
around late evening. The top layer of Midgar was most likely caressed by a gold and
pink layer of light, but that was something that wasn't seen below. Descending the
steps, Zack hesitated, the way he usually did when the time for going separate ways
came, and turned towards Aerith who was just stepping off the last step. She caught
his eyes and looked at him with a polite interest.
"Ah, I forgot .. can I take one last picture?" Zack asked, slapping his hands together
in a begging fashion. "Of us together? I promise, it's the last one!"
"Fine by me." Aerith stood next to him as the soldier held out his cellphone in front of
him. With a slight hesitation, he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her a bit
closer to him, feeling her warm body next to his.
"Say, Aerith .."
"Mh?" Aerith turned and lifted her head slightly so she could look him in the face when
she felt his warm lips kissing her forehead softly, aware how both of their hearts began
to beat faster and the next second the cellphone made a clacking sound, the final
picture having been taken.
When they both backed off a little, Aerith saw that Zack's cheeks had flushed as much
as her must have, again with a grin tugging at his lips. He looked embarrassed and
apologetic, like he was waiting to be told off for suddenly surprising like that.
"Geez .." Aerith muttered and gave the soldier a playful little shove, but laughed when
they got to the trainstation and had to go separate ways, waving until both couldn't
see each other anymore as the train left the station, bringing Zack back to ShinRa.
The idea with Zack showing Aerith that field sprang into my head as I was writing this,
looking for something to have them do for the chapter. I chose to have Aerith wear
her Amano designed dress, because I think it looks really beautiful. And I fell in love with
it when I first saw it as a render in Dissidia.