The group walked back to Balamb Garden. It was a quiet walk back to the school, even Zell didn't want to open his mouth because of the silence that the two were making. Zack walked beside Aerith, who also had a serious face,
"The woman at Balamb... She's not normal. Something is not right about that woman." he whispered. Aerith didn't answer, she just looked at him with a blank face. As they walked farther away from the town, the aura that they felt was slowly disappearing. When they arrive at the Garden, Aerith and Zack went back to his dormitory while Zell went to the other direction where his room was located.
"I'll see you guys later!" Zell waved at them. Zack and Aerith waved back at him, as he disappeared in their sight.
They walked to the dormitory. Aerith chose to sit at the bench in front of the entrance. Zack took out his phone so he can contact Cloud about what they just experienced. Before he can dial up, his phone rang. He push the call button.
"Hi. This is Zack. Who is this?"
"Zack, it's Laguna..." the voice on the phone said. Zack was surprised because his dad rarely calls him on his phone and when he does, its usually an emergency.
"What's up, dad? It's very unusual for you to call me." he asked.
"Well, come here at Esthar. I've got something to tell you. I already called your brother and he'll come here as well." Now that bothered him. First, his dad called to tell him that there's something important that he wanted to say. Something tells him that the call was really important if he made the effort to call him and Cloud.
"Why can't you just tell me through the phone?"
"Because, what if someone is listening into our conversation?" Laguna reasoned.
"Fine." Zack rolled his eyes, "Just tell Kiros to meet me up at the Fisherman's Horizon."
"I already told Kiros and he said that he'll be waiting for you at the inn."
'That was fast...' he thought, "I'll be there."
"Thanks. Bye, Son!" Laguna frantically said, then hanged up the phone. He sighed. He sometimes wished that his dad would stop acting crude. It embarrassed Zack. He put his phone back in his pocket then looked at Aerith.
"Hey, umm... I'll be back. I'll just have to get some stuff in my room. Will it be okay if you wait here for me?" Zack asked Aerith politely.
"Sure. I'll wait for you." she replied.
"I'll be quick." he said. Aerith nodded as she watched Zack ran inside the dormitory hall.
Zack arrived in front of his dorm room. He unlocked it using his keycard. The door's light turned green and it opened automatically. He went to his cabinet, grabbed his sword holder strap. Zack put it on his back. He also grabbed his sword. His sword was a long, medium-sized black sword with white blade. He packed some of his things because he knew that he'll be staying there for quite a while.
Aerith sighed, and looked down at her dangling feet, "I'm bored." she whispered, "Why is he taking so long?" she added. Suddenly, something vibrated inside her pocket. She heard her cellphone rang. She took it out and pressed the call button, "Hello?" she said.
"Aerith!" the girl from the other line shouted. The voice was familiar to her. The phone number of the caller was not saved in her phone so she was not sure who it was.
"Uuumm.. Who is this?" she asked slowly.
"Oh, sorry." the perky girl apologized and laughed, "It's Yuffie" she said. Aerith smiled,
"Yuffie! how are you?" she said in a cheerful tone.
"I'm good, I'm good!" she replied. Aerith heard a sound of engine roaring in the background, and sound of cars.
"Where are you right now?"
"I'm at Esthar right now. I'm waiting for Rikku to pick me up with her brother's airship. We're going to Deling City. I heard that they're celebrating the anniversary of the City, they'll be doing parades and stuff so we wanted to see them." she said to Aerith loudly, because it was very loud where she was right now.
"Oh I see." she simply said, 'At least you're having fun' she thought to herself, "I wish I can go there too" she said to Yuffie.
"Why don't you? Is Zack there?" Yuffie asked curiously.
"Yes, but I don't know if he wants too. I hope he's not busy"
"He'll take you there, he knows you like those stuff, and he lov-" Yuffie quickly stopped her mouth from completing her sentence.
"He.. what?" Aerith asked. Yuffie didn't continue because if she did, Zack will kill her for sure.
"Uhh.. Nothing! Nothing!" she said laughing nervously, "I uuhh.. said He LOVES those things too!" she said, trying to cover up what she messed up.
"Oh ok.." Aerith said. Yuffie silently sighed in relief. She can't tell Aerith what Zack told her. Zack said it was a secret, if she tells Aerith she'll be dead.
'I need to shut my big mouth.' Yuffie thought, "Well Aerith, I hope you and Zack can go to Deling City!." she said to her, "Kay, I gotta go. See you! Say hi to Zack for me." she added.
"Ok, take care Yuffie. I will tell him, Bye" she replied and pressed the end call button. She put away her phone, and sighed, 'Why is he taking so long in there.' she thought as she waited Zack to come out of his dorm.
Before Zack can leave his room, his phone rang again. He pushed the call button and said, "Hello?"
"Hey." A guy with a low voice said in the other line.
"Who's this?" Zack replied.
"Its Cloud. Listen, meet me up at Deling City. We'll be going to Esthar after the celebration there."
"Let me guess. Tifa force you to go there, right." he heard a grunt as a reply, "What about Kiros?"
"I've already called them and they're ok with it." Zack sighed at this. This is going to be a long day. "Ok. I'll head there. Tell Tifa that I'll bring Aerith with me." he hang up. Zack put back his phone inside his pocket and left his room. When he exited the dormitory, he saw Aerith and noticed that she looked bored.
"Hey." he greeted her, "My dad just called and he said that I should come to Esthar." he looked away. Zack wanted to ask her if she wants to come with him but he's kind of nervous. Aerith noticed this. She looked at him with a curious face, "Zack? You okay?" she asked. Zack looked at her, his face blushing.
"Um... Do you want to come with me to Esthar? I have to stop at Deling City because Cloud said that we'll meet up there. Tifa forced him to go there." Aerith giggled. She thought that Zack looked cute whenever he looked shy and nervous in front of her. She nodded and gave him a smile.
"I would love to go with you Zack!" she happily said then she stood up, "Wait here. I'll go get my stuff." she added. Aerith moved closer in front of Zack and unexpectedly gave him a quick hug, "Thank you." she smiled at him, "I'll be right back!" she ran and left Zack to get her things that she needed.
"Don't leave your weapon." he said to her, hoping that she heard him. He leaned on the wall as he wait for her. He's still thinking about the woman earlier when they were at Balamb, 'Judging by her appearance, she seems normal but if you come closer. She's somewhat releasing a strong aura. I can't tell if she's an enemy or not. I need to observe that woman more if I see her again' he thought.
Aerith heard what Zack said when she left to get her stuff. She packed the materias that she had, her weapon if something might happen when they get to their destination, clothes because they might stay there for a long time and other necessary things. She put her stuff inside a travelling bag. After that she locked her room, and rushed to where Zack was.
When she arrived, she approached Zack. Aerith looked excited. She was happy that Zack invited her to come with him to Deling City and Esthar. She will get to see Yuffie again, watch the parades and fireworks. She will also get to meet Zack's father for the first time. Aerith looked at him, "I'm ready!" she said happily, "So when are we leaving?" she asked in a cheerful voice.
"Immediately." he said to her. "I just want to see my brother within your cousin's clutches." he chuckled at that thought.
"You're so mean." she laughed at what he said.
Zack smiled, "Let's go." He took her stuff and left the main hall.
They went to the parking. Zack went to his car, followed by Aerith behind him. He put their stuff at the back. He opened the door for Aerith. She said thank you to him and went inside the car. He closed her door and went to the other side of the car. He opened his door and went inside. They left the parking area of Balamb Garden. Zack drove faster because he knew his brother would drive faster too.
They arrived at Deling City, A long haired woman stretched her body and ready to have some fun, she looked back to see her friend who was carrying all their stuff, "Faster Cloud! So we can reserve a room for us. Many people will be here later" she said to her spiky, blonde haired friend.
Cloud looked at Tifa, he muttered something under his breath. "Whatever." he hate her when she's bossing him around. Tifa gave him a big smile, turned around, and walked straight, leaving Cloud with all their things.
While they were inside the car, going to the train station, Aerith looked at Zack, "Hey Zack. Why didn't you invite Zell?" she asked, "He was on vacation. Rikku and Yuffie will be there too. You should've invited him. It'll be fun." she added.
"Oh boy." Zack sighed. It'll be chaos if he invited Zell, now that he knew the two girls would be there also, "If Cloud didn't tell me to go to Deling City, I'm going straight to Fisherman's Horizon to meet up with Kiros. Dad told me that he's going to tell me something really important." he said. "Its the first time that he called me after a long time so I suspect that it was really important, that's why I didn't invite Zell. I'm going to ask Dad something about that woman that we saw earlier." he told her every detail that she needed to know. "Something tells me that woman is not what we see." he said in a serious tone.
"What do you mean, 'she's not what we see'?" she asked.
He sighed at her. "I already saw her face to face but only a few second. Remember when I told Zell that I'm going to re-stock some potion. I ran towards the direction of the item store and saw her. I, somehow, felt scared when I got close to her. She's not an ordinary woman Aerith." He said seriously to her "She's something else but I can't be sure if she's an enemy or not. I got the feeling that she's up to something not good in the future. Its just a feeling though." Zack explained to her. He stopped the car but didn't move. He wanted to add something to what he said about the woman, just to make things clear to Aerith, "And also she's not my type... Just want to make it clear to you." he slightly blushed. They arrive at Balamb. He parked at the pier. "We're here."
She just looked at him. So it was not only her who had those feelings when she encountered the mysterious woman. They just had to be careful next time they see the woman again. Before she leaves the car, she looked at Zack.
"And what type of girl do you like?" she asked.
He smirk at her as he grab his bag. "Its a S-E-C-R-E-T." he said to her before he dash away from her, escaping her clutches and pain from hell. He just laugh as he ran. 'My type is... you.' he thought.
She frowned and look at him, "Not fair!." then when Zack ran away from her, she grab her bag, "Hey! wait for me!" she shouted, running to catch to him.
They were at the station now, Aerith saw the small shop on her right side. She approached the store and bought the items that they needed for their trip. After she purchasing the items, She suddenly heard the conductor, "TIMBER! DEPARTING!, PLEASE GO INSIDE NOW!" the conductor shouted. Aerith put the items inside her bag and quickly went next to Zack.
"Ready?" he asked. Aerith nodded as her reply to him. They went inside the train. Zack activated something in the passenger's control panel. The door opened and they enter the cabin. Zack went and sat on the sofa. "By the way, did you hear the rumor that just came out in the news this morning? I'm planning to ask Cloud about it." he asked her. If Jenova was really alive, then this is one hell of an adventure again. Cloud is the only person that he knew who can know if Jenova's alive or not.
"Yeah, Xu told me about it." she replied while she closed the door of their cabin. Aerith put down her stuff beside the other big sofa on the right side of the room. She sat there, and looked down, "There's a lot of rumors going on right now, what if those rumors are true? Do we need to stop them again from destroying the Planet?"
"If the rumors are true, then I'll do everything I can to stop them. Humans maybe selfish and arrogant but they still have a reason to live." he said with a slight sadness in his voice. "I envy those people who knew their reason to live." Aerith didn't say anything. She also didn't know the reason of her existence, maybe she still yet to find out what it is. She sighed and looked at Zack.
"And this sickness that spreads all over the Planet, I feel sad for the people that has it. I would want to find the cure for that sickness if ever there is one." her face looked sad.
He looked at her, "Geostigma is an incurable disease. There's no cure to it even you tried to find it." he sighed heavily.
"What if there is?" she replied back. She laid down on the sofa that she was sitting on.
He looked away. "If there is, I'll find it so I can cure Cloud. He has that disease" he said to her.
Aerith was surprised. She didn't know his brother had that disease. Zack never mentioned it to her, it was her first time hearing this from him, "I'm sorry.." she said to him. Zack shook his head and gave her a slight smile.
"Its okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it. I didn't want the whole school to know about my brother's condition..." he quietly said.
"I see..." Aerith simply said, looking at Zack with a sad expression on her face. She looked up at the ceiling, "Why are you so nice to people Zack.." she said in a soft tone. She moved to her right side so she won't see Zack. He heard what she said.
"Because I want to. I fail to save other people many times before but I still try my hardest to save everyone because I want to save them. Their lives is as important as mine." he smiled as he look at the ceiling.
She chuckled softly, 'He's still the same.' she thought. Whenever Aerith asked Zack a serious question, he gets serious too. There was a long silence after he replied to her question. Zack noticed that Aerith got too silent all of the sudden. When he looked at her, he saw that she was sleeping. He smiled at her before he lie on the sofa.
"I know you're sleeping and can't hear me." he said softly, "I don't have the courage to tell you how I feel but I promise that I'll protect you as long as I'm alive." he smiled as he stood and walked towards outside the cabin. He looked at the scenery as the train went by. He watched the scenery as he waited for the train to arrive at Timber.
