So I've still been having trouble posting the chapters online so bear with me. Fair Warning: I might try to draw this story out as long as possible. 3

Ch. 4 Flowers and Wagons

Aerith rushed into the elevator and pressed herself against the wall nearest the buttons, tense, breathe caught in her throat. When the doors whirred shut, without anyone joining her in the claustrophobic space, she relaxed, a sigh escaping from her. She pushed the seventh button and rested her head against the cool steel wall, trying to calm her galloping heart.

She couldn't stop thinking about last night. After she had realized that she could hear Zack's thoughts, she had run from the room, ignoring Tseng's surprised look and shouts. Somehow, she'd made it home last night, even though she couldn't remember how. But it didn't really matter.

Because last night, the dream came.

Similar to how she couldn't remember getting home, Aerith couldn't remember that much of the dream. The fog had saturated everything; hiding and condensing every small and large detail that helped give dreams its charms. But she did remember one thing about it:

Zack's eyes.

That was all that mattered to her. She didn't care if she would ever recall the dream fully. As long as she was able to recall at least that much of it, she was happy.

The elevator dinged and the doors whisked open, startling her from her reprieve. She pushed herself out into the hallway, staying to one side of the corridor and hoping that her white dress would help her blend in with the whiteness of the walls around her.

778, 779, 780. Finally, she arrived at 781. She walked inside and almost jumped at seeing one member of the group she met yesterday there already. She glanced at the clock above the headboard, noting that it was only 6:34 AM. Glancing back at the bed, Tifa hadn't yet noticed her presence as she sat with her back to her, sitting in the same chair Aerith had been sitting in the night before. Cloud and Cissnei were mysteriously absent, and Aerith remembered that they probably had work today, since it was Monday.

Tifa turned to her startled, and smiled. She evacuated her chair. "Well, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only early bird around here," Tifa joked, trying in vain to lighten the mood.

Aerith managed a grin and Tifa returned it in kind. The sister gestured to the chair, saying, "Here, take mine. I'm gonna go see if I can get another one."

Once she was gone, Aerith made her way to the bed but didn't sit down. Instead, she laid her hand on Zack's arm, surprised at its warmth.

You're back.

She smiled, almost envisioning the smile that was prominent in his voice. "Yeah, sorry about last night. I didn't mean to run away like that," she whispered back.

It's alright. I'm sure if I had just learned that I could hear someone's thoughts, especially someone who's in a coma, I would have bolted too.

Aerith chuckled softly, running her hand slowly along his muscular arm, feeling his finite and practically invisible hairs that covered his muscular arm. "You probably would've played along with it."

Tifa returned, pushing a rolling chair in front of her, and when she saw Aerith's hand on her brother's arm, she cocked an eyebrow at her. Blushing profusely, Aerith quickly removed her hand and sank into the chair behind her, not meeting Tifa's gaze. A chuckle from her made Aerith glance at her in shock and found a smile on Tifa's face. "You like him, don't you?" Tifa questioned, nodding at Zack.

She felt her blush deepen and she dropped her gaze, answering Tifa's question. The sister just laughed, finding something about the situation funny. "It's okay. Everyone does, especially the girls."

Aerith's mouth spoke before she could stop it. "Doesn't that bug Cissnei?"

She looked up to see Tifa nod solemnly. "Yes. She gets really jealous every time he speaks to another woman. And that was a lot. But don't get me wrong," she said hurriedly, forcing her eyes from her brother, "he didn't do it on purpose. They just seemed to flock to him and he found it rude to not acknowledge them or anybody who came to see him."

Tifa kept talking, but Aerith barely heard her. She focused instead on Zack, trying to imagine that sharp, stabbing, painful feeling of jealousy that could turn any love sour. But she couldn't. Almost all of her life, she had only felt pity, not only for the people who lived on the street in the slums, but for herself too. She had no idea why. But for most of her life, she had covered that feeling up with her love for her flowers and she had thrived without that pity.

Aerith?

She jerked awake from her daydream and noticed that her fingers were touching Zack's on the bed. Her eyes flicked to Tifa, wondering if she had noticed her jump. The sister had and was giving her a worried look. "I asked you were you plant your flowers."
Aerith frowned, confused. Had she mentioned anything about her flowers? She opened her mouth to ask her, but Tifa beat her to it, a sly smile playing on her face. "I noticed the dirt under your nails and yesterday you mentioned that Zack had landed in your bed of flowers."

Is that what I landed in?

Her eyes flicked to Zack before answering, "I have a bed of flowers in the church in the slums. It's the only place where they will grow in Midgar."

Tifa nodded, wonder written on her face. She was about to comment but then glanced at the clock and jumped out of the chair. "Shit! Sorry, I've got to go. I'm gonna be late to work. Hope to see you later."

Aerith watched her run out of the room and down the hall to the elevator before returning her attention to the comatose man on the bed. Her fingers barely rested against his still, and she thought about intertwining their fingers together. Warmth spread up her neck and set her cheeks aglow at the thought.

So you like flowers, huh?

She startled. She had forgotten that she could hear him. Could he hear her thoughts as well? The warmth on her cheeks deepened at the thought, and at the thought that she just had. "Yes. I like to talk to them about what happens and I tell them what I do during the day. They're really good listeners."

Did you tell them about me?

Unable to look at him, she glanced away as she answered, "I did, yes. And like usual, they didn't say anything. Didn't even bother to give me any advice about-." She quickly shut herself up, unable to comprehend that she almost told him about her crush on him.

Advice? Advice about what?

Aerith bit her lip, keeping her eyes on their hands as she finally gave into her desire. Their fingers intertwined, his limp in hers. "That's for me to know, and for you to never find out," she teased. "Anyways, how did you fall out of the sky?"

Wow, that was subtle. But I'll play along.

She smiled in triumph and sat back in her chair. The only way for her to be comfortable was for her to pull his hand into her lap as she listened to him explain. Zack talked about his friend and mentor, Angeal, and how he had disappeared. How he and Sephiroth went and found Angeal with Genesis, who was another 1st class that had deserted. She listened as he talked about Angeal and how he had attacked him. That was why he fell from the sky. His voice had gotten quieter the more he talked and now his voice faded out. She sat up, squeezing his hand, worried. "Zack?"

Yeah….

His voice portrayed that he was sleepy, making her smile. He got to sleep all day here and he was still tired at the end of the day. Before she answered, she glanced up at the clock. 5:15 PM. "Never mind. I'll let you sleep," she whispered, evacuating her seat and making her way towards the door.

Aerith?

His voice made her pause, startled that she could still hear him without contact. Glancing back at him, she was slightly surprised to still see his eyes closed, no change in his heart pattern, no twitching or muscle spasms to hint that he was awake. Hesitantly, she asked, "Yeah?"

You should sell your flowers….in a flower wagon. You could fill Midgar with flowers.

She stood frozen in the doorway of room 781, unable to respond. It was there, in the doorway of room 781, talking and listening to a man who was in coma, wondering why she was there, that she realized the most essential and equally horrifying revelation:

She was in love with a SOLDIER.

Aerith?

Her gaze snapped back to his face. "Yeah," she asked, her voice breaking.

Will you come back?

"As long as you want me to," she answered, and walked out.