Chapter 21 and possibly the most enjoyable one to write so far. Please if you guys love it, drop a review and let me know and there will be many more chapters like this to come. Which I would love to write.
I would also like to thank SkyNinjaPirate, her fic really helped me build inspiration for Zaerith.
I'm so broke, just to rub two nickels together, I'd have to borrow one and therefore do not own any FF7 material belonging to Square Enix.
Away we go!
Chapter 21 Part 1- Total surrender
"So what do you make of the whole Cloud finishing off Sephiroth part of the story?" Cissnei asked keeping her focus on the drink in her hand as her thumb traced around the brim anxiously. She was quickly finding that Kunsel's insight on things was becoming rather invaluable to her, as between them they seemed to connect any of the remaining dots that the other didn't. At least that was the reason she was going with for their little get together at a local bar in the town.
Kunsel sighed, while the entire group had discussed and come to an agreement on many points, the biggest mystery of them all remained how an unenhanced Cloud Strife could possibly have defeated Sephiroth.
"So he see's Zack and Tifa both with the ten bells kicked out of them, close to deaths door, goes in after Sephiroth and somehow comes back out saying he's finished it. It just doesn't make any sense. And why didn't Sephiroth just kill Cloud back at the town, he killed the rest of his squad... well apart from Zack. But Sephiroth wasn't close with Cloud like he was Zack, so why let him live?"
"Sephiroth must have seen something in him, or some reason to keep him alive" Cissnei frowned, it even sounded stupid.
"A kid who could hardly lift a basic sword?"
"Yeah yeah... I know. I think we're gonna have to let that particular mystery slide for now until we get something else to go on"
"Agreed" Kunsel nodded, eyes scanning over the crowded noisy bar as he took a swig of his drink. It was close to midnight and surprisingly not as empty as one would imagine for a town like Kalm. Looking around was not a good idea for someone like Kunsel as before long Cissnei was wincing to the sound of a female shouting his name in delight.
"KUNSEL!"
"No way is that little Natasha!" Kunsel roared over eagerly, standing up with a smile that didn't seem entirely genuine. A tall pretty blonde girl squealed in delight that he remembered her name.
Cissnei watched in irritation as they engaged in conversation, irritation which gradually turned to annoyance and then to feeling awfully tempted just to stand up and storm out of the building.
"What are you doing in Kalm? you're a Junon girl Tash"
Tash now is it Cissnei scolded in her head, eyeing the woman distastefully.
"I was moving to Midgar, I stopped off here on the way over and I just fell in love with this place" Natasha giggled a stupidly ridiculous giggle.
Cissnei's pace of drinking had almost doubled and when she wasn't either mocking the annoyingly beautiful girl or scorching the back of Kunsel's head with her stare, she was gulping down spirit.
Their conversation continued on for many minutes and Cissnei kept drinking, beginning to regret that she hadn't brought Rekka with her and battling with the decision on whether or not to leave.
"I bet you still have all the girls chasing you?"
Cissnei's grip tightened around the shot glass in her hand, flicking her gaze at the happy couple in what was close to fury. Cissnei fumed when she saw that precious little Natasha had "absently" laid a hand on Kunsel's arm. It was amazing that the glass in her hand hadn't shattered yet as her hand clamped to it like a vice.
Kunsel didn't answer right away and for a second his eyes drifted to Cissnei as if to check her reaction. It knocked Cissnei off-balance that he would look at her and her head whirred, trying to analyze the action and probably reading too much into it.
"Oh I'm sorry" Natasha grinned with sickly sweetness, noticing Kunsel's eye contact "is this your girlfriend?"
Cissnei was thankful the current drink in her hand had only made it up half way to her lips or else she might have choked on the liquid.
"This is Cissnei, I'd best describe her as my fellow accomplice in all things sneaky and mysterious"
Kunsel tried to light-heartedly grin at her but Cissnei's expression quickly wiped it from his face.
"Errr, we're kind of in the middle of something here Tash, can we catch up some other time perhaps?"
"Haven't you caught up enough?" Cissnei growled under breath so no one else could hear.
"I'd love to, nice to meet you Cissnei" the girl chirped with a wave before sauntering away in her pretty little dress which Cissnei was struggling to find anything wrong with. She wanted to think slut but the blasted thing went all the way down to the girls knees.
"Sorry about that" Kunsel smiled sheepishly sitting back down.
Cissnei heaved a sigh, allowing her pent-up anger to escape, she was acting like a silly jealous teenage girl.
"So, getting back to point, what else did you pick up on from Zack's story?" Cissnei asked, easing of the drink as she was beginning to feel slightly light-headed.
"Did you clock the part about the noise in the Shinra basement?" he replied.
It was starting to get very noisy in the bar and they were having to lean into one another to hear themselves above the crowd. The close proximity to Kunsel was beginning to make Cissnei feel disoriented and instead of formulating a response to his question her brain was now focused on how good he smelled and how nice his breath was feeling against her cheek and ear.
"Cissnei?"
"... yeah! sorry, I was just thinking. The sound in the basement, I picked up on that as well. Do you think it could be?"
"Another victim of Hojo's experiments?"
"That's what I thought. Zack doesn't know there were others besides him and Cloud who were experimented on in that mansion, we know Felicia was one of them, who knows how many others there were"
"You think it's worth a trip over there?" Kunsel questioned.
The feeling of his warm breath tainted with alcohol on her skin was becoming intoxicating, making her stumble over her words.
"...I think... I think the Shinra mansion holds... it holds answers to a lot of our questions..." her breathing hitched as Kunsel shifted in his seat, leaning in closer to try and hear her voice as it was slowly losing strength. Though surely his mako enhanced hearing could hear a pin drop in snow storm? As he moved the sensation of his leg coming into contact with hers beneath the table made her jump and then her head spin, did he know he was touching her? was he doing it on purpose?
Swallowing hard she tried to continue but she was all but lost by this point. "...what was I saying?"
"Going to check out the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim" he chuckled.
"Right... once we... get rid of Rufus, I mean... once we decide what to do with him... it could be worth a..."
Her voice gave up on her entirely as she squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly trembling with nerves and trying desperately to compose herself.
"Cissnei... you alright?"
Just the way her name fell of his lips in his precisely articulate, yet slightly rugged voice was making her feel weak at the knees. Whether it was a combination of the alcohol, the close proximity between them, the contact of his leg or his voice, he was making her lose control even more than he usually did. Cissnei had never been so strongly effected like this by anyone before, she was a Turk, an assassin, a cold-blooded killer, she didn't get petty crushes like this. Getting into relationships had never been an interest of hers, she was damaged goods that no one would accept if they knew the truth about her.
"...Cissnei?" he breathed once again resting a concerned hand against her arm making her shake even more. It was no use trying to hide anymore, not that she was capable of it even if she wanted to. Opening her eyes she stared helplessly into his, begging for him to both understand and never know at the same time.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?", he seemed slightly shocked as he confidently but tenderly wiped a tear from her cheek.
"...Kunsel... please" Cissnei whimpered feeling so helplessly exposed but incapable of hiding herself back up. He just stared at her in gentle confusion with those gorgeous eyes that always felt as if they could see into her soul. He waited patiently, the hand still holding her cheek shifted to tuck a strand of fallen flaming orange hair behind her ear, an action so simple and yet incredibly affectionate that it pushed her deeper into the quicksand. Cissnei tried to turn her face away feeling overwhelmed but his hand softly prevented her from doing so, forcing her eyes to stay locked to his that were now a scarce few centimeters away from hers.
"Talk to me, let me in" he urged barely above a whisper sending a shiver tingling down her spine. Trapped in the moment, his hair, his eyes, his hands, his leg, his voice, everything about him destroyed whatever barriers she had left. Completing the distance between them the last of her power to resist him crumbled and she pressed her lips unsurely against his. There was a too and fro exchange of passion as she kissed him and he recoiled slightly in surprise triggering Cissnei's brain to go into panic that he was pulling away and she had completely misread the signals. She pulled away also but just as his senses caught up with him and he began to return the kiss but it was too late, she had withdrawn frightened and everything now screamed for her to run. Standing up sharply she sent her chair toppling backwards with a crash making her even more flushed and shaken. She ran from the table to leave as Kunsel tried to pull her back.
Dashing out of the building and into the dark empty streets of Kalm she continued to run unthinkingly, just wanting to escape this feeling of embarrassment and vulnerability. Cissnei made it two streets before a hand pulled her back to a stop.
"... Kunsel... just let me go... that was a mistake" she sniffed tearfully, her breath fogging in the air as the temperature had dropped rapidly at night.
"No it wasn't" he urged, gently tugging her hand to try to make her turn and face him. "you just took me by surprise is all"
"... surprise?... surprise?... surely you can tell what you do to me" Cissnei choked keeping her head to the ground, there was no point in trying to hide it anymore.
Recognizing that she wasn't going to turn he circled around to stand directly in front of her, trying to meet her eye.
"Yeah I do, I make you feel the same way as you make me"
Her breathing caught in the air and she looked up to gaze at him in surprise, the instant she raised her face Cissnei was greeted with the firm contact of his mouth upon hers. Her heart skipped a dangerous number of beats as he caught her lower lip between both of his while the tips of his fingers traced along either side of her neck. Cissnei's hands of their own accord traveled around his waist as for a delightful moment the alarms in her head kept quiet for once and allowed her to arch up to him in surrender as he was much taller than she was. The alarms silence however did not last indefinitely and before long she was pulling away again in fearful retreat, the cold air chilling the delicious moisture on her lips that screamed for his warmth again.
"... I can't... Kunsel I can't" she insisted despairingly, pressing a hand to her mouth to deny them any further contact.
"Why not?" he urged, grasping lightly at the material of the shirt around her toned abdomen, trying to deny her withdrawal.
"Because... I'm a bad person, if you knew the things I've done... if you could see the real me... the lives I've ruined... the people I've hurt...", Cissnei's voice trailed of at the end in a high-pitched sob.
"There's nothing you've done that I haven't done also or worse"
There was a part of her that wanted to believe that so badly and another part that didn't.
"... I doubt it" she forced through clenched teeth, trying to bite down the tears. Taking his hands which were against her hips and abdomen, trying to keep her close, she pushed them away.
"No.. trust me Cissnei, I have" he insisted so surely.
"I know I've done something far worse than anything you might have done" Cissnei sobbed as she walked away with her arms hugged across herself.
"You mean like being responsible for the death of your family?" he called after her making her freeze with a sharp intake of breath. Time stood still for many minutes as her breathing hyperventilated, billowing fog into the air and freezing her chest.
"...how?" she eventually squeaked turning around wide-eyed and stunned. How could he possibly know?
He approached her slowly, watching her reaction and looking so intense and serious, a look that she would never have guessed his care free nature capable of.
"I know Rekka... I know everything"
She made a sound that was somewhere between a gasp of shock and a howl of pain that he had called her by her real name. She stood speechless, moving her mouth but failing to form words, this couldn't be happening, he couldn't possibly know her real name, a name she had kept so close and yet so hidden at the same time. It felt like someone was holding her head under water and she couldn't breath as a surge of emotion crushed her lungs.
He just watched intently, eyes burning brightly in the darkness of the empty narrow street that was one size away from be an alleyway. Caught on his bad side, Cissnei could imagine those eyes were terrifying, but now they were warm and enticing beacons of light that she wanted to drown herself in. Kunsel took a delicate step forward but stopped when she responded with a quick recoiling step in the opposite direction.
"It wasn't your fault Rekka"
His words were so painful to listen to, on some level it felt like he was trying to force entry into a side of her that she didn't know if she was ready to accept another person into. A side that ran deeper than what any physical contact or relationship could reach, it was a part of her past that was still too raw and sensitive. He knew, some how he knew and a part of her wanted to accept that, to let him in, to talk about it. But there was always that other side, the side that usually won and today was no exception... the side that wanted to escape.
She wanted to stay, he had opened up to her, revealed a dark painful secret of his own and for a moment he looked just as vulnerable as she did as his eyes pleaded for her acceptance.
Instead Cissnei did something she already knew she was going to regret for the rest of her life. Turning her back on him wracked with tears she ran from Kunsel sobbing openly and this time he didn't chase after her.
Chapter 21 Part 2- Total surrender
Zack gazed lazily out of the inn window, bathing in the soft blue glow of a near to full moon. He was now stuck in a room on his own while most of the others were out in the town, sleep being the last thing on everyones mind after earliers events. Zack was confined to a third room they had hired after the town had taken a considerable spike in security in the last few hours. With Zack's face being known practically nationwide it was now too risky for him to venture out. They had hired the extra room more as a look out post than anything, it was a better positioned room on the first floor that looked out over the front of the building. Perfect for seeing or in Zack's case hearing if any SOLDIER or Shinra troopers began conducting any house searches.
It was actually incredible that the inn had not been raided already, after the president went missing, the most logical place for Shinra to search would be a public rest house in the nearest town to Midgar. It was almost as if Shinra were not actually trying to look for Rufus but were simply trying to make it look as if they were. Regardless Zack wasn't willing to take any chances and so here he was, trapped alone in the small room, bored out of his skull.
After two hours of solitude there was a soft tapping on the door making Zack smile in relief, he knew who he was expecting and hoping for it to be. Opening the door he frowned as he was greeted by an empty corridor.
"Ahem... down here" a deep yet distinctly young sounding voice spoke from nowhere.
Slightly startled Zack looked down and was surprised to see Red perched outside his door.
"Oh hey Red... sorry bout that buddy, come in"
"Expecting someone else?" Red quizzed as Zack turned casually back into the room.
Red observed the action of Zack turning his back on him with curiosity. This group was strange to say the least, most humans including his own tribe took months, close to years to get used to him. Yet Zack and the others seemed completely unfazed and comfortable in his presence after just a few days. It actually felt quite nice.
"No no, to be honest I'm just grateful for any kind of company... no offense" Zack added quickly glancing back at Red from the window. "How you have managed to be cooped up with Rufus Shinra all day without going insane is beyond me"
"It's not been that bad really, despite being many things Rufus Shinra is intriguing to talk to, to say the least"
"So you've got to know Rufus pretty well?" Zack asked, dropping into a chair he had moved next to the window and kicking his feet up onto a second one positioned opposite.
"Well I wouldn't go that far but I think I have a pretty good idea of his motives"
"And what are his motives?", Zack signalled his hand into the room to tell Red to make himself comfortable as he was still stood near the door.
"It's fine, I can't stay long, I left Jessie with Rufus and I don't want to leave her with him for long"
"You reckon hell try something?" Zack asked in concern.
"Well that's just it, I don't think he will, Rufus hasn't even shown an inkling of trying to escape. Now one thing I do know is he is not some helpless child, I reckon he could have escaped ten times over by now if he really wanted to"
"So you think he's hanging around on purpose?", Zack sat up in concentration.
"To be blunt about it, yes"
"Why?"
"I think he needs answers on Sephiroth just as badly as we do and it isn't like his job is at jeopardy, he can step back into Shinra any time he likes. So why wouldn't he stick around?"
"I don't know if I should be concerned or relieved about this" Zack responded truthfully. "Thank you Red, that helps... though I'm guessing you didn't come over here to discuss Rufus Shinra"
"No... no I didn't"
While Zack couldn't claim himself to be an expert in reading the facial expressions of whatever Red's species was, his best guess for Red's current appearance would be despondent sadness. Red took a deep breath.
"I'm grateful for the way you guys helped me escape Shinra and I will continue to assist you, but only until we reach Cosmo Canyon"
"That your home?"
Red nodded almost mournfully, "I have a duty to protect the village... I wanted you to know... I"
"I understand pal" Zack assured cutting Red off, "you don't need to explain anything"
A comfortable silence fell between them, both deep in thought. If Zack was honest he was going to miss Red being around, he provided the entire group with a sense of security, he was the quiet, vigilant sentinel. Ever observing and ever insightful. Not to mention a damn good fighter. Red made to leave and Zack called over to him, one thing playing on his mind.
"Red... why are you telling this to me?"
Red turned his head to look back at him.
"Zack, you might have other ideas, but everyone in this group see's you as their leader, even Barret, despite the fact he might occasionally like to boast otherwise"
Zack sighed, he already knew deep down this was the case.
"It just makes the responsibility all the more..."
"Real?" Red finished for him, Zack nodded. "Yeah I get that... but Zack, everyone knows the risks their taking, they all know what's at stake. No one is going to blame you if something bad happens"
"It's not them blaming me I worry about" Zack heaved gazing out of the window into the wondrously clear night sky.
"You blame yourself for Sephiroth and Cloud don't you?"
Zack didn't reply, he just stared up and out. There was further silence.
"Well I've said what I wanted to say" Red sighed before trying to make the situation light-hearted. "Besides, I couldn't have told Barret even I wanted to, he's out getting wasted, I can hear him having a shouting match ten streets from here"
Red's chuckle was a strange sound, it almost sounded like a pur and wheeze rolled into one which made Zack grin.
"Barret Wallace is on the town, lock up your sons Kalm! one of them is likely to get punched in the face" Zack laughed.
"Something like that" Red agreed in what sounded like a humorous growl. "Well I better get back to Jessie before Rufus winds her up or Yuffie tries to make another assassination attempt"
"Night Red" Zack grinned, looking back out of the window.
"Ummmm Zack... do you mind?"
Zack looked across the room to see Red incline his head at the door.
"... twisty handle" he explained sheepishly.
"Oh!" Zack exclaimed cottoning on. Jumping up he went and opened the door for Red who nodded in gratitude and then padded away down the corridor.
Zack had only returned to his seat for couple of minutes before the door knocked again. Zack opened up with his eyes angled at the floor, half expecting it to be Red coming back again for some reason.
"Expecting a dwarf are we?" Aerith giggled bending down into his field of vision.
"Well you are rather short" Zack teased, instantly lighting up at her presence.
"You know you're a real big meanie" Aerith pouted.
"Well that's a first for the books" Zack chuckled, walking back into the room.
"I guess people just don't know you as well as I do" she teased.
Seeing Aerith still standing awkwardly in the doorway he went back and took her hand.
"Don't be a stranger" he smiled, guiding her into the room and closing the door behind her. "Unless you're in a rush that is" he quickly added.
"No, no rush" she insisted, happily taking his hand in return and keeping hold of it.
"So what's up?" Zack asked before mentally kicking himself for implying that something needed to be 'up' for her to pay him a visit. "... sorry, it's just I thought you were staying at your mothers tonight"
"I was" she remarked turning her back to wander over and run her finger along the mantle piece "but then it was bugging me that I was still in debt and so I decided to come and repay it"
"Debt?"
She twirled around energetically linking her hands behind her back and leaning her face on a tilt towards him "I owe you a date remember silly, for being my bodyguard"
"Oh... trust me I don't expect to get paid, I messed that job up big time..."
"Why do you do that Zack?", Aerith demanded, almost sounding angry, if such an emotion was even possible for his flower girl.
"Huh?"
"Put yourself down all the time and blame yourself for everything"
She was the second person to point that out now, was he really becoming that syniccal?
"Ok fine, you owe me a date" he conceded.
"That's better" she grinned eagerly stepping up behind him and pushing him towards one of the two seats near the window by the lower back.
"What right now!?" he spluttered being forced into the seat.
"Sure, why not?" she remarked, sweetly linking her arms around his neck from behind and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "We're leaving again first thing in the morning right? who knows when we'll get another chance"
Aerith was becoming so bold and confident with their relationship and Zack would be lying if he said he didn't love it. Thought it remained a relationship that had still not been verbally defined after Yuffie's gracious interruption earlier. Perhaps he should try to restart that conversation.
"Won't it be a bit boring having it in here?" he asked as she took the seat in front of him.
"Are you bored at the moment then?" Aerith replied, tilting her head with a questioning smile.
"NO! no! no not at all" he stammered, wondering when exactly he had started to become the nervous shy one out of the two of them.
"So Zack, besides being very good with sharp toys, a flower cart craftsmen and defending helpless flower girls, what else are you good at?"
"Expert! flower cart craftsmen I'll have you know" he proclaimed in mock anger, leaning forward in his seat to link his fingers through Aerith's. "I'm also a professional star-gazer" he lied.
"Really?" Aerith wrinkled her nose.
"After tonight I will be" he responded dryly making her laugh.
"Well you have me for company now" she beamed.
"What, all night long?"
"If you like" she replied casually before realizing with a flutter the accidental insinuation but decided against correcting it, wanting the comment to stand.
"So Mr. star-gazer" Aerith continued, diverting the subject "what wonders are on show for us tonight?"
"Hmmmmmm let me see" he trawled out in a fake wise-man act gazing sagely out of the window. "If you look over there you can see Aniek..." his voice trailed off as Aerith moved across and curled herself onto his lap, linking her hands around his neck and pressing her cheek to his to better see the point in the sky he was referring to. Clutching one hand around her waist and the other around her ankle they nestled in closer to one another, though when she had slipped off her boots Zack had no idea.
He continued with his hazy recollection of about the only constellation he knew.
"Can yo see Aniektos the giant crab?" he drew out the shape of the creature in the sky.
"I see it, though one of his legs looks a bit wonky" Aerith giggled, making Zack all to aware of her modest chest being pressed against his arm. "And he looks a bit grumpy" she frowned.
"Perhaps it's not Aniektos then, perhaps that's Barret the crab"
Aerith laughed tunefully which in turn made Zack crack up.
"So what happened to Aniektos?" she asked, just so perfectly content to continue hearing his voice.
"Aniektos was charged by the god of the sea with protecting his daughters, the sea nymphs. Aniektos took his role of protector real serious and when the god of monsters Typhon attacked, he enlisted the help of Vimari who he believed to be his friend to defeat Typhos. Little did he know Vimari had ill intentions and when he got close enough to Aniektos and the sea nymphs he seized his opportunity to betray Aniektos and devour the sea nymphs"
"That's so sad" Aerith mumbled, lost in the sound of his voice and the wondrous display of the cosmos above.
"Well don't feel too bad for him, he should have known better, especially considering Vimari translates as 'vampire squid'"
"Do another one" she urged giggling, brushing a hand from his neck to his chest, unthinkingly becoming curious to see if his heart was pounding as fiercely as hers. Her heartbeat was quickening as she was gradually becoming more aware of his body against hers, the contact between them and the desire that was building inside of her.
"Ok, over there" Zack pointed to another point in the sky and traced out a lopsided stick man, running out of stories.
"Who's he?"
"He's a strong, funny, handsome warrior who hurts himself falling from the heavens and was in need of rescuing"
"What happened to him?"
"A pretty flower girl he falls in love with saves him and they..."
"Zack! you're making it up!" she attacked his ribs with a giggle, "but I like that story". Shifting in his lap Aerith sat up to gaze into his eyes, "though that strong, handsome and on the odd occasion, funny warrior.."
"Hey!" Zack interjected in offense.
".. he needs to realize it was him who saved the flower girl and she wants to show him just how much she truly loves him"
Her words had the desired effect and Zack flipped her entire body around to face him as he planted his lips to her mouth which welcomed him eagerly. The contact began as a gentle grabbing of lips in which Aerith explored and switched between his upper and lower lip, unable to decide which she preferred more and finally concluding she loved them both equally. Anticipation, lust and desire building between them their kiss transitioned into a passionate open-mouthed exchange as hands started to explore one another's body. His hands were down her back, her hips, over her legs and then even on her rear, making her tremble with excitement as he squeezed and her dress started to ride up her thighs.
BANG BANG BANG
"YOOOOOO! Porcupine, open the fuck up man!"
"You have got to be kidding me!" Zack groaned at the interruption just as Aerith had begun clawing at his shirt.
"Ignore him" he whispered into her lips.
"YOOOOO Porcstar, hurry the hell up! I'm on the run"
Barret sounded absolutely trashed.
Aerith climbed off him with a laugh and Zack stood up to angrily march towards the door but not before giving Aerith a 'don't go anywhere' kind of look.
"What do you want!?" Zack barked, throwing the door open a little too hard and nearly snapping it off its hinges.
"Don't ya' takes that tone wiv me mr hot-shot SOLDIER" Barret slurred, attempting to point at Zack while swaying on the spot.
"This ain't a great time B, go back to your own room"
"I can't, I gotta hide in 'ere, I's gotsa nutter after me"
The sound of Yuffie yelling equally as drunkenly two corridors away made Barret jump in alarm and try to gain sanctuary in Zack's room but Zack stopped him with an arm.
"Did you get Yuffie drunk!" Zack hissed quietly, not wanting to attract the ninja himself.
"... maybe" Barret staggered on the spot with a guilty look on his face.
"B! she's underage man"
"Oh cry me a river gel-boy, she promised if I gave her a drink she would be quiet... she lied"
"You really thought alcohol would be the thing that hushed Yuffie up? and I don't even wear gel!"
"And my shits smell like cinnamon buns! let me touch it"
Barret assaulted Zack's head as he leaned it out into the corridor to check up and down that no hyperactive ninja's were approaching.
"I will literally pay you a thousand gil to go away" Zack implored letting go of the door to swat away Barret's arm.
"Look if this is 'cause ya' bein' a little bitch bout ma' snoring again then..." the room door swung open revealing Aerith in Zack's room.
"Hi Barret!" she called cheerily while Zack gave him 'the eye'.
"Oh hey Aeri... Oooohhhh" Barret twigged on.
At that moment Yuffie came caterwauling around the corner, screaming incomprehensible slur as she spotted Barret.
"You owe me!" Barret yelled taking off in the opposite direction down the corridor. Zack quickly closed the door just in time to not be spotted by a screaming Yuffie crashing passed his bedroom door. The girl seemed more on drugs than alcohol.
Zack sighed, pressing his hand against the closed door and thumped his head against it. He just could not catch a break.
"Sorry about that" he called, thinking Aerith was on the other side of the room but as he turned it was now she who thumped him up against the door as she pressed heatedly up against his body and drove her mouth onto his again. This could be the last night that she and Zack could have together in a long time and she had no intention of it being wasted. Whether it was her or him who started it first Aerith had no idea, but their tongues began to switch between swirling and flicking against one another as the heat between them escalated. Soon they were battling for control of one another's body as she pressed him to the door, then he took over and planted her up against the nearby wall, kissing at her neck and neckline. Aerith gasped then took back control and grabbed Zack by his shirt, never breaking contact of their fervent mouths as she pulled him to the base of the single double bed in the room.
"Are you sure about this?" Zack panted breathlessly into her mouth.
"More than anything, I love you" she heaved in reply, shuddering with arousal as she guided his hands over her body and to the zipper of her dress down one side. Peeling it down slowly Zack savored in the slow unveiling of her body as she chewed her slightly reddened lips nervously. Then he froze.
"Zack? what is it?" Aerith objected, not wanting him to stop. There was an extreme amount of pain in his eyes as he reached out to stroke an area of skin just below her violet colored bra. He had seen the boldly printed black 'XIV' tattoo that Hojo had given her and he stared at in bottomless horror and rage and then he recoiled from her. Struck with a wave of fear that this would be the thing to ruin their night, Aerith grabbed his hand to bring him back, refusing to have their night together destroyed.
"No Zack, I'm not gonna let this effect us" she stated adamantly.
Dropping his hand she turned to her dress and finished off the remaining distance that the zipper had to travel. Shifting slightly she let it slip off her body to the floor leaving her in nothing but her violet bra and matching panties. Aerith stood there on display, feeling slightly self-conscious as he took her in but more than anything praying that he would join her in not allowing the tattoo to win.
She released a squeal of relief and delight as he fulfilled her wish and swept her off her feet to hook her bare legs around his waist. She clawed the shirt off his back while he held her up with his hands by her backside, his fingers linking into her knickers while he kissed in between and around the top of her breasts. Dropping Aerith on to her back they fell on to the bed and into a whole new episode of passionate kissing and touching that made all of their previous physical intimacy seem like kindergarten innocence. Before long the only scrap of clothing that remained between them were the purple underwear Aerith was wearing. Zack hooked his fingers slowly into the band of her knickers and combined with the incredible foreplay between them, Aerith was one step away from begging for him to remove them.
"Is this your first time?" he purred into her ear, still holding her by the bottoms.
She nodded apprehensively, her shy side showing up for a cameo appearance.
Knowing and secretly feeling pleased that he needed to be extra gentle with her Zack completed the final undressing. Then began the sleepless night of ecstasy that would forever be etched fondly in both of their memories and leaving no further doubt as to the status of their relationship.