Zack's Final Mission
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Zack yelled furiously approaching the smoking red plane partly crashed on the tree by the side. Zack started climbing up the plane by the wing which its end was touching the ground making a sort of ramp towards the top of the plane. He wanted to see who the pilot was and eventually get him out to hurt him if he was alright.
"Hey!! Stop!!" The blond pilot removed his goggles from his eyes and placed them on his forehead to wave his arms up and down widening his eyes and shouting at Zack. There were two white circles around his eyes the shape of the round goggles he had on while the rest of the face was covered in dark smoke from the air. "Get down from there! You'll ruin the paint job!"
Zack stood still and looked around at the old plane under his feet. He blinked watching as the paint was a fading red colour full of rust and holes that allowed seeing the silver metal underneath the paint job.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Zack exclaimed incredulously. "Do you call this a paint job?"
"If you keep stepping on it, it won't be for much longer!" The pilot replied rolling his eyes.
"Would you get down from there so I can beat you up or not?" The SOLDIER yelled back impatiently. He could not believe that man. "You almost killed me and my gilf—Aerith, and my Aerith!"
"I almost died and you want to beat me up kid?"
"You're fine aren't you?"
"Yes… I'm a little shocked and my leg hurts a little bit thank you for asking."
"Oh don't worry about it… HEY! Will you come down or do I have to go get you there and damage the already ruined paint some more!" Zack tapped his foot on the wing provoking the man inside the airplane.
"OK! OK!" The man started to get up from his seat. "I'll go down… geez…"
Aerith, who was watching from a safe distance, could only sigh watching the two arguing. Zack had always amused her with his personality, one of the reasons she liked him so much. She felt like she was no longer able to live without him but him on the other hand… No she wasn't going to start thinking about sad things… things she wasn't sure would happen. She shook her head
"The name is Cid. Cid Highwind." He stretched his hand for Zack to shake. Zack squeezed it hard enough to feel the pilot's bones cracking under his strong grip. Cid didn't want to show any signs of weakness but there was a tiny tear forming at the corner of his eye. "Strong hands shake." He managed to squeak.
"So… Don't you have anything you want to tell us?" Zack asked noticing that Aerith was walking towards them.
"Humm… Oh yeah… Sorry about that." He looked back at the wrecked airplane. "I went through some bad storm and I think some lightning hit the airplane and damaged something in the engine. It over-heated and then there was an explosion and I didn't have much choice but to urgently land here, it was the safest place to do it. And I wasn't expecting any people to be here! Are you ok Miss?" He turned to Aerith.
"Yes I'm alright." Aerith nodded grabbing Zack's arm.
"Well no harm done then!" He laughed resting his hands on his waist.
"Yeah… You were lucky." Zack narrowed his eyes at him keeping his voice neutral.
"Oh I know! Why don't I make it up to you?" Cid proposed. "I should be able to fix it and when I'm finished I'll give you guys a lift anywhere you want to!"
"HA!" The dark haired man laughed unbelievingly. "Do you think we would be stupid enough to get on that plane with you?"
"I don't see what the problem is." Cid replied blinking.
"You just crashed!" Zack pointed one arm up showing him the bad shape the plane was in.
"That was nothing!" Cid shook his head. "Look… I can assure you there is no pilot in this world who is better than me! In case you haven't noticed, I'm here after I crashed am I not? How many pilots do you know that have crashed and lived to tell the story?"
"You were lucky!" Zack yelled.
"I'm good!" Cid yelled back at him.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but can I talk to you for a minute Zack?" Aerith pulled his arm to distance themselves from the pilot for a while. "Do you mind giving us some time to talk?"
"Go ahead!" Cid was actually thankful of Aerith. "I'll go check on my baby and see what I can do." He pointed with his thumb behind his back at the airplane. Aerith smiled and pulled Zack away.
"Zack this could be our chance." Aerith made sure they were far enough that Cid couldn't hear them. "He will be able to get us ahead on Cloud."
"What are you talking about Aerith? This guy is more dangerous than Sephiroth himself!"
"He has one point though… he WAS able to land with the plane on fire and was alright afterwards!"
"Aerith you don't understand… I can't let anything happen to you… How will I live with myself if something happens to you?" Zack shook his head. "I promised myself I would protect you no matter what."
"But you will be there with me. If the plane goes down again I'm sure you'll do the impossible and save me!" She giggled and although Zack was sure about what she had just said he still felt worried. "Come on Zack, do you really want to ride a chocobo all the way across the world in search for Cloud?"
"It might hurt my back a little bit." Zack looked down at the ground thinking.
"See?" Aerith laughed taking his hand. "He fell from the sky to help us. It's our destiny."
"Aerith… Do you believe in destiny?" Zack stared into her emerald green eyes seriously.
"Of course!" Aerith nodded reassuringly and played with his hand on hers. "You fell from that hole in the church's roof didn't you? Maybe that hole was there for a reason and I think that reason was for you to find me. Destiny."
"I- I guess so…" Zack smiled slightly.
"We have to use these opportunities destiny grants us with. That plane almost fell on top of our heads. I think it's pretty obvious what the message is."
"Hey… Did you have anything to do with it?" Zack raised one eyebrow remembering how special Aerith really was.
"I didn't… But the Planet might have had." Aerith smiled shrugging.
"You really are something." Zack smiled back. "Fine… We'll go with that Cid." He sighed looking back at the man toggling with some wires of the exposed huge engine of the airplane. "I hope our number isn't up the minute we take that plane." He started walking away towards the airplane.
"Don't worry… it won't be." Aerith mumbled looking down sadly. She couldn't tell him about that dream, not after what she heard him say and it was just a dream after all, there was probably no reason for her to be worried. You're being silly… My dreams aren't always right. She smiled and hurried to follow Zack.
"Oi!" Zack called at Cid who turned his head startled. Apparently he was in full concentration and determination to fix his 'baby' he didn't notice the SOLDIER approaching. "It seems like we're going to take that lift you suggested." Zack sniffed folding his arms to his chest and closing his eyes.
"Oh! Good, good." Cid nodded grinning. "But just so you know, I'm just doing it because I feel bad for the girl. You should have been nicer to me."
"Don't worry; I'm not happy at all to be accepting your help too. But Aerith insisted we take it."
"Smart girl."
"When do you think we'll be ready to go?" Zack asked. "Does it look bad?"
"No not at all, I just have to replace a few things here but I think I brought a few spares with me. We'll be up in no time."
"Fine, then we'll rest for the night and leave tomorrow morning. Do you think you can handle it or do you need any help?"
"I'm the only one who touches my baby. Tomorrow morning it will be ready then."
"WOOW!" Yuffie stared bewildered at the yellow Titan materia in her hands. "It's so shiny and perfect!"
"But it's not for you." Barrett quickly took the yellow round globe out of her hands and shoved it down his pocket.
"HEY!" Yuffie cried as she only had time to blink before the globe was no longer between her hands.
Suddenly the buggy they were riding in made a loud bang and came to a full abrupt stop. Silence took over the group. They looked at each others with worried expressions.
"What now?" Tifa asked to no one in particularly.
"Is it dead?" Yuffie asked looking around through the windows.
"I think so." Cloud opened the door and stepped out into the fields. Taking a look around he noticed they were in a rocky path full of huge mountains and near an old village with houses neatly constructed in harmonization with the landscape. On the very top of the orange-coloured mountain and above all the houses built amongst that mountain stood a gigantic telescope pointed towards the sky.
"Yuffie, I will let you use the Titan materia if you find me someone on that village that can help us fix the buggy." Cloud didn't need to repeat what he had said for Yuffie had already started running full speed towards the village ahead.
"See… She is helpful after all Barrett." Tifa laughed staring at the straight cloud of dust Yuffie had lifted while running down the sandy ground.
"This town is called Cosmo Canyon." Barrett folded the map he was carrying with him.
"How far is Nibelheim from here?" Cloud asked turning at him.
"It's not far but it would take us one full day to reach by foot."
"Then Cosmo Canyon it is first." Cloud started walking followed by the other two.
Nibelheim? Tifa thought while glancing at Cloud's back as he walked. I wonder if he remembers.
"Hey Aerith…" Zack sat down on the grass next to the young woman who was resting on the ground leaning against a tree. They were back at the chocobo ranch for the night and from there they could see the orange light of the burning bonfire Cid had made on top of the hill where he was working on replacing the damaged pieces of his airplane. Aerith smiled at Zack and looked back at the top of the dark hill faintly illuminated by the fire. "Is there something you want to tell me?" He asked following her gaze.
"Why do you ask?"
"You woke up different today." He answered. "I don't know… you look sad."
"No…" It amazed her how he had always been good at guessing how she was feeling. She had forgotten for a while he had that power over her. How could he possibly know she was worried about something if she had tried her very best during the day to hide it from him? "I'm just a little tired. We had a hectic day today."
"Humm…" That didn't convince Zack. He knew something was troubling her but he didn't want to force her into telling him what it was. When she was ready he was sure she would let him know. No matter how bad it was. "That's not it." He smiled. "But I'll understand if you don't feel like telling me what's wrong. I just want you to know though, that I'm here for you."
"Thank you Zack." He loved the way she pronounced his name. "Oh right! YOU had something to tell me!"
"Err…" That caught him off-guard. "It can wait. Cid totally ruined the moment." He scratched the back of his head uneasily.
"Are you nervous Zack?" Aerith softly giggled noticing the light pink on his cheeks. "Do I make you nervous? After all this time and after what we have been through?"
"First class SOLDIERS don't ever get nervous! We face our fears and we embrace our dreams with head held up high! Ahh… I'm loosing touch of it." He shook his head down giving up.
"What?" Aerith laughed.
"I used to be the best and I used to believe in myself." Zack replied. "Now I don't even know what I'm saying." He thought about Shinra's betrayal.
"You're still the best." Aerith lifted his chin up with her hand. "Most of the SOLDIERS like you that I have encountered back in Midgar looked like mere robots following the orders they were given. You are different and better than the others because after what they have done to you, you're still you. You're stronger than the mako inside you. It may have changed your strength a bit and turned you into a better fighter but it hasn't reached your heart. I don't know much about it but I can guess not many SOLDIERS can be proud to remain the same people they were after they get infused. You somehow are stronger than the mako."
"Aerith…"
"I'm glad I was able to meet you. And I'm really happy I get to spend a lot of time with you."
Zack didn't know what to say to that. She had an effect in him that caused him to paralyze, his brain couldn't think right when she talked like that. Every word she had said was right and it made him more confident. He just stared at her open-mouthed.
"Now, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"
"I can't tell you now… I just want to find the right time."
"Aww! It will kill me! Now you've made me really curious! Please tell me."
"I think you already know what it is I want to tell you." He placed his arm around her shoulders noticing she had shivered and pulled her closer to him so she could rest her head on his strong shoulder and get warmer. He smiled up to the dark sky. He was right, she knew because she felt the same way.
"What are you going to tell Cid tomorrow?" Aerith finally asked. "Where are we headed?"
"Nibelheim." Zack answered.
Note: Of course the pilot had to be Cid! Oh no! They're both headed to Nibelheim! Will they finally meet there? Just wait and see! :D There is a reason I have been delaying Zack and Aerith's love declaration but you'll find it out soon enough! Thank you so much for reading! Thank you so much for the people reviewing! Until the next chapter!
