Chapter 10 – Midgar Zolom /Kiss and tell

"Wark Wark!"

Three golden birds stood before the red wooden barn, they bounces with excitement as Chocobo Bill equips the bridle on the animals.

"You guys are all set". Bill pats one of the birds as he said to the party of six.

It is early in the morning at the chocobo farm, located in the countryside east of Midgar, Cloud and the rest of the party are once again ready to continue their adventure towards the Mythril Mine.

Cloud barely had a wink of sleep since his return from his tiny venture to the barn last night, where he secretly 'rescued' Zack and Aerith from the Chocobo farmer. Just what were they doing in that barn? All night in bed, he has been asking himself the same question over and over. The question repeated in his mind more than the number of sheep it takes Marlene to count before she can drift to sleep. The man wish he could shrug off the event and pretend he doesn't care, but that is only lying to himself. The truth is, he cares so much that his mind feels like it has been cursed with poison, the venom being the curiosity that is slowly killing him inside. The blonde man in Soldier uniform pressed his lips into a horizontal line, and brought his tired blue eyes to the flower girl's direction. When did I started feeling this strongly about her?

After the incident in the Chocobo barn, Aerith and Zack has returned to the farm house and slept through the remaining hours they had. Last night in the barn with the baby chocobos as their witness, she had a taste of Zack's physical affection, he kissed her hand and even though hours has passed, her skin still cannot forget the gentle feel of his lips.

"Thank you Mr. Bill", Aerith said as she wraps her hand over the other, running her fingers across the skin on the back of her hand.

"Remember guys, two person per chocobo… Anything over will drain their stamina", Billy instructed the team. "Oh, you have a pet too", he said as he finally noticed the red four legged creature. "…I guess one of the chocobo will have to carry one person and… er… your pet lion too…".

Red XIII growled in annoyance. He HATES being the 'black sheep'. Yes, he is not human, but a 'pet'? He could speak up and demand an apology for belittling his race, but this happens so often, he finds the best way to not cause a scene is to keep quiet and let the arrogant humans be.

"Well, good luck guys. And don't worry about the chocobos, as soon as you dismounts them, they will make it back safely on their own", Billy takes off his sunhat before bowing at the party, revealing his auburn curly hair and freckles normally hidden beneath the protective shade of his hat. "Thank you for your business, and hope to see you again", he waved goodbye and headed back into his barn.

Zack proceeds to one of the birds, "Aerith, Let's share a chocobo together. You can hold on to me from behind", he suggested to the young woman in pink.

This dark haired former soldier is in a superb mood today, wherever he is he felt as if the sun's rays are following closely behind. He scored an upcoming date with Aerith last night, and not only that, he also learned his chances are just as good as Cloud's, if not better.

Everything was a blur since awakening in Hojo's laboratory, but after spending some time with Aerith he is beginning to notice tiny hints of his strong and lasting impact on her. He watch the wind blew at her pink ribbon, causing the silk material to ripple like tender waves from the ocean. Simultaneously, the gentle rustling of her pink dress blowing in the soft gust sounded like music to his ears… What a fool I am for not seeing that earlier, he thought to himself. Even so, Zack Fair is a happy fool.

The corners of Aerith's mouth curved up as she rolled her eyes, "No, thank you", she said, kindly declining the offer. She went to the other chocobo,"I want to try steering", she said eagerly.

Like deer caught in headlights, the two spikey headed men spun at the flower girl's words, both opens their mouths slightly ready to offer to sit behind her… but a female voice has beaten them to it.

"I'll ride with you Aerith", Tifa immediately offers.

"I'd love that!" Aerith flashes her brightest smile to her female friend, looking forward to riding the chocobo with Tifa.

Cloud and Zack shrugs at each other. Both are disappointed to have lost, but content Tifa is the one taking the seat.

Aerith clumsily climbs onto the yellow bird, positioning herself on the animal's back. Her dress wrinkles around her hip as the long pink fabric separates to the side, revealing the fair skin of her upper thighs.

Zack gulped and stares at her creamy toned legs, for a moment, he could've swore he was hypnotized. He is no 'leg man', but to see the skin of the ever so modest Aerith, the feeling is intriguing… such a tease.

Normally, a girl's upper thighs are no big deal to any modern man. In fact, any men familiar with Midgar has seen HoneyBee Inn's escort or as they call themselves, 'lady bee workers', handing out flyers at the corners of Wall Market. Thighs, cleavage, even breast that is only covered by a tiny piece of black and yellow fabric, just enough to hide the nipples, they've seen it all. However, there is something very alluring about Aerith exposing her skin. She is one of a kind after all… young, pure in body and soul, a modest dresser, a true natural beauty… and to be able to see the parts of her skin that even daylight has never seen… how could the 'ex-soldier' resist?

Zack's simulating view was quickly obstructed by a blond man in Soldier uniform. Cloud walked up to Aerith covering Zack's line of vision with his back. The nervous blond man turned his head to the side, as with his blue eyes, a result of his mind fighting against his urges to stare at the exposed smooth skin.

"Cover them", Cloud ordered, sounding like a jealous boyfriend. Deep shade of red covers his skin.

Aerith's cheek heats up in embarrassment as she finally realize the distractions her legs are causing. "What else can I do? This dress is not made for riding… and it's too late to go shopping for pants now…".

Zack shook his head at Cloud's straight forwardness and insensitivity, behaviors that only an inexperienced young boy exhibits, he thought. Seeing the self-conscious flower girl, Zack decides to aid the helpless young woman, he steps in and placed a hand on the blond man's shoulder, "Cloud, there's no helping it. Stop making Aerith feel uncomfortable". He turns to the girl, "Right Aerith?", the instant her name left his mouth, his blue eyes disobediently traveled down to her legs. Up close, he could see her translucent smooth skin and a glimpse of her white cotton panty, which is peaking at him from behind the yellow feathers of the chocobo's neck, practically begging him to look.

Zack took a step back in surprise as hot blood rushed to his cheek. "Never mind! Cloud's right. Cover them!" He blurted nervously.

"Just stop looking!" Aerith shrieked at the two men, kicking her boots in the air in embarrassment while covering the opening of her dress with her hands.

Tifa chuckles at the comical scene. Gently pushing the men out of her way, she climbs onto the chocobo taking the seat behind Aerith and tugs down her heightened mini skirt as much as she could. The female fighter's gloved arms wrapped around Aerith's tiny waist, pressing her large soft breast against her friend's red denim jacket.

Aerith heart jumped as she felt Tifa's breast pressed onto her. She had always wondered if it was possible to have breast this large naturally, and today, she learned the answer is yes. These breast are too soft to be artificial. She turned to face Tifa, and gave her friend a timid smile.

Tifa grinned at the sight of her friend's nervous features, she pats Aerith on the head and nods, as if she understood exactly what her friend was thinking.

Cloud's mouth opened slightly as his eyes fixed upon the two girls. There is nothing more alluring than to see his special childhood friend pressed up against his flower girl. To him, the image is almost too good to be true. He debated in his head whether or not to pinch his cheek to confirm if this is all a dream, but it did not take long for the man to decide against the idea. Why risk waking up? At that moment, he took a mental picture in his head, forever embedding the image into his memory… a part of his private collection… Wait, private? He blinked at the voice in his head.

Cloud shook his head wildly to clear his thoughts, while realizing the scene before him is being publicly displayed. 'No!', a voice in his head shouted. Not able to keep his cool he slaps their chocobo at the rear impulsively, ordering the bird to commence. "Go!", he commanded the bird out of desperation.

"Whoa!", the ladies screamed as the giant bird suddenly starts moving its long orange legs. Aerith quickly scrambles for the rein of the bridle with cluelessness written all over her face. Her dark haired friend wrapped her arms tightly around Aerith's waist, hanging on to her dear life. With that, the two female first time chocobo riders began their journey, while the male members of their party watch them clumsily disappear into the plains of Midgar.

Cloud let out sigh of relief with the distraction taken care of. He pulls a straight face, "Alright, let's get going". The man scratches the back of his blond head, pretending what he just did was no indicator of his insecurity.

"Damn you need to grow your ass up", Barret said before he narrowed his eyes at Cloud.

"Aerith... do you know what you are doing?" The female fighter asks the flower girl, while pulling her messy dark hair away from her face. The wind mercilessly blew at the two young women's hair, causing them to soar in all directions.

"I think so...", The young woman in pink answered holding on tightly to the rein. She recalls the chocobo's reactions and then corresponding them to the way she has been handling the leather rope in her hands, "I think… I figured out how to make turns and speed-up… that's all we need to know right?" she chuckles.

Aerith's innocent remark brought a smile on Tifa's face. "Well, no turning back now!" the female fighter giggles.

To the right of the girls, a chocobo carrying two spikey headed young men catches up. The two golden birds ran side by side towards the direction of the swamp, kicking up two parallel trail of dirt into the air behind.

"Aerith you're really getting the hang of this" The dark haired man said to the woman in pink on the next chocobo. Zack has one hand firmly gripping the rein, and salutes the ladies with his other, showing off his chocobo maneuvering skills.

Aerith greeted her male comrade with a huge grin.

"We are getting close to the swamp, watch out for that snake!" Cloud warns the girls.

"Are Barret and Red catching up?" Zack asks the man behind him.

Cloud looks behind his shoulder and finds Barret's chocobo over fifty meters away. "Yeah, but… their chocobo looks like it's slowing down from his weight".

Zack clenches his teeth, "That's not good, they even had a head start. If they continue to go at this rate, they'll become easy target for the snake".

The blond man nods in agreement, "We are faster, if we do run into the snake, we should lure it to chase after us while the others heads for the Mythril Mine", he advised.

"Now your talking".

The two leading chocobos enters the swamp, water flew into the air as the giant birds stomps into the wet lands.

"Aerith! Tifa! Watch out for that snake! If you see it, run towards our direction! We will lure it away!" Cloud orders the girls.

Tifa and Aerith nodded at the same time.

An hour has passed, and still no signs of the Midgar Zolom. Barret and Red's chocobo has lost much stamina since leaving the farm, and the fatigue bird is preserving its remaining energy by slowing down.

"The guys behind are slowing down, I'll keep looking out for them. You watch Aerith and Tifa", the blonde leader instructed Zack from behind.

"Got it", the dark haired man answers while pulling on the rein to slow their chocobo down, following the ladies closely behind. And just enough speed for the team members falling behind to see them.

Zack watch the girls on the chocobo before him, he could see her ponytail blew weightlessly in the breeze, freeing several strands from her pink ribbon. How he wish he could be sitting with her right now, then he could see the excitement on her face. She is on an adventure and riding the very animal she was terrified of last night. He bets, the Aerith back then would have never thought this day will come, where she gets to ride a chocobo and leave the dark region of Midgar. A broad smile formed on his tanned cheek as he pictures the cheerful expression she must be wearing right now. Unaware, he let a soft chuckle escaped his smile.

Curious at the sound the man before him made, Cloud peeks at Zack's face to find him foolishly laughing to himself. What's with the huge grin? "Something good happened?" Cloud asked, snapping Zack out of his day dreaming state.

"Huh? Why do you say that?" Zack turns his head at Cloud.

"Your smiling like a creep".

"You're the creep", the dark haired man snapped back. "Can't even handle seeing a little skin on a girl". He made fun of Cloud's embarrassing event from earlier.

Offended, the blonde man strikes back, "Bringing her to the barn in the middle of the night, and you call me a creep? Just what happened?", Cloud regretted his latter question as soon as it left his mouth. "Never mind, I don't want to know". He turns his gaze to the side and frowns.

Jealousy was written all over Cloud's remark, and this puts Zack in a playful mood. "A true man does not kiss and tell", he answered casually and turned to face the front again.

Great, way to tell him what went on, without telling him anything at all. The statement only triggered a disturbing image of Zack and Aerith in his blonde head. Not wanting to interpret the other man's words, Cloud scowled and he clenches his teeth as hard as he could deferring his attention to the numbness in his jaw.

The silence sounded like victory to Zack's ears. Even though it was a lie, having Cloud feel the heartbreak he was put through made the corners of his lips curve up. Not that he wants to hurt his best friend intentionally, but hey… "What can't kill you will only make you stronger my friend".

"Just shut the hell up", the blond man answered in an angry voice.

Though Zack's smile did not leave his face, he does feel a little bad for making Cloud upset. "I'm joking. Nothing happened last night", he finally admitted.

"Huh?"

"I said nothing happened", Zack repeated while watching the girl's chocobo before him, "I kissed her hand, that's it. Can you believe that's the furthest we have ever gone?", he chuckles.

That's it? A kiss on the hand? Zack's words unknowingly cured the discomfort Cloud was carrying the whole day. Learning the truth behind what happened, Cloud felt his expression relaxed, "Your pathetic", the blond man said almost sarcastically.

"I'm pathetic? Like your any better?" Zack laughs, taking Cloud's comment lightly.

Recalling the time he kissed Aerith in Kalm, a chuckle escaped Cloud's lips. Though the kiss was short and somewhat one-sided… but maybe, just maybe he is not that far behind after all. A grin formed on Cloud as he remained humbly silent.

This time the dark haired man did not detect jealousy from Cloud's silence. Instead, the man's muteness plus the fact that he did not answer his previous question sounded suspicious. As though Cloud knew something, and he doesn't. The curiosity wiped off the grin he wore a moment ago.

"Hey... Did something happened between you and Aerith?"

"A true man does not kiss and tell", Cloud responded coolly.

"H-Hey!? What is that supposed to mean?!" Zack exclaims. "Di-Did you? Did you and Aerith?!" he stutters nervously.

"…"

"Your lying!"

"I didn't say anything", the blonde man muttered.

"Did something happened between you two?" Zack asked.

"…" realizing he may have said too much, Cloud continued to seal his lips.

"Your lying… right?", the dark haired man asked again. Cloud could almost hear the hurt from his voice.

Knowing he may have gone a little too far, Cloud sighed quietly behind his male comrade, 'I was too impulsive... it was one-sided... she was thinking of you.' Cloud wanted to confess, but his pride and eagerness to win held him back, urging him not to respond. The man's way of showing Zack he is still a rival to fear.

Defeated, Zack furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head in disappointment. He could tell from the other man's silent treatment that something definitely happened between Cloud and Aerith. "Forget I had even asked Strife… Whatever." he muttered.

Like the wounds in his chest has re-opened, Zack grind his teeth at the unsettling ache. Together, the two men shared the back of the chocobo in silence as never ending wind flew past, sending their spikey hair fluttering.

The chocobos continues to invade the stilled murky water, sending liquid to soar in all directions. As the team got deeper into the swamp, the moisture in the atmosphere increased, creating a thick fog. Zack watched as the rear of the chocobo carrying the two young woman disappeared into the white mist before his eyes.

"Damn it! This is bad, the fog is too thick", The dark hair man growled, he could feel the rhythm in his heart speed up. Worried, he called out to the blinding fog ahead. "Aerith! Tifa! You girls still there?!"

There was no answer… They have officially lost the girls in the midst of the swamp.

"Cloud, not good. I can't see Aerith and Tifa in this fog"

Concerned, the party leader clicks his tongue and quickly turns his head to check on Barret and Red. "Barret! Are you guys still there?!" Cloud calls out loudly.

"Wait up! We are right behind ya!" The call of the dark man echoed.

"Huh?", the young woman in pink pulls onto the leather rien attached to the bridle, ordering the giant golden bird to a halt. "Was that Zack? Was he calling us?"

The women's hair are now damp from the splashing water and mist, their clothing felt heavier having absorbed the liquid.

Tifa brush away the dark bangs clinging to her forehead. She turns to find the two men behind them before are no longer there, "Looks like we lost them, maybe the fog is too thick".

"Should we go find them?"

"Let's stay put for a while and see if they catches up".

The flower girl nodded.

Minutes flew by like the cool wind piercing through. The air is cold and blurry, and the sound of frogs croaking is all they could hear. The blinding atmosphere paired with the eerie chill is giving the ladies a very uncomfortable feeling. Tifa tightens her burgundy gloves as Aerith focused on her ice materia, together, they waited patiently on their chocobo.

Tifa's head spun to the direction behind her shoulder where the sound of multiple water droplets hitting the swamp surface echoed. Bringing her gaze to the direction of the noise she found a shadow gradually closing in.

"Cloud?", Tifa asked doubtfully, unable to make out the owner of the shadow.

Aerith turns toward the direction Tifa is facing, "Are they here?" she asked and bit her lips.

There was no answer, but the dark shadow continues to motion towards the two young women. With every seconds that passes, the shadow got bigger. Water in the swamp vibrates, creating ripples on the surface, tiny waves gently makes contact to their chocobo's orange legs.

"Wa-warkk!" Their chocobo lets out a nervous alarm.

"It's not them…", Aerith said to her friend in a shaky voice. A green aura surrounds the ancient as she prepares to draw forth the power of ice.

Tifa's ruby eyes widen at the dark blur, witnessing the shadow before her grew bigger, larger, taller. "No…" she whispered to Aerith, interrupting her low level ice spell, "our magic is not powerful enough...we run".

Aerith's body shivered in respond to the interruption, she quickly recollects herself and reach for their chocobo's rein.

The two young women has an idea what is approaching them, but their suspicion was quickly confirmed by the hissing sound from the white fog above their heads. The Midgar Zolom is here.

"Now!" Tifa screamed.

"Hold on tight!"

Xoxoxo

Author's notes:

Gonna stop here. As mentioned earlier, I wrote the Midgar Swamp chapter a while back, but somehow I kept adding to it, which made it ridiculously long. In the end, I ended up deleting many parts as well. :(

I decided to upload the first part before I do any more unnecessary damage to it. After I upload the 2nd part of the swamp scene, I'm going to try to keep the chapters shorter. (i'm worried this will become a bigger project that I anticipated...)

Anyways, no romance here! but I thought the part where Cloud and Zack asked Aerith to cover her legs was very cute. I do find the tension between Cloud and Zack very difficult to write, I want them to be friends, but fierce competitions/rivals at the same time. How am I doing?

Duper heated romance for Aerith and a particular ex soldier in the next chapter!

As always, thank you for reading. Please make my day by reviewing :)