"I want you to throw your best punch. Hit me right in the palm of my hand, okay?" I took a stance to balance my weight and held my hands open infront of me, ready for the incoming blows.

"I don't know, I don't want to hurt you," she waffled, her cheeks turning pink.

"Oh come on, I can take it. Give me your best shot!"

Aeris shyly held her hands over her face, then finally, resolved to try it. She took a clumsier stance, putting her entire weight behind her punch and throwing herself off balance. She hit the middle of my hand, not very hard. She staggered a bit, then took a couple steps back. "Uhm, how was that?"

Don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh "It was a good start, but you need to learn where to shift your weight when you throw a punch like that. If I were a monster I would've eaten you when you nearly fell over like that."

"Well, that's an encouraging thought."

"Sorry, but... Well, you've got to think about these things when you fight monsters. You can't let your guard down, even for a minute."

"Right. Okay," she nodded enthusiasticly.

"Oh, and don't close your fingers over your thumb like that next time. You'll only hurt yourself doing that," I instructed.

"Sorry, wasn't thinking. I guess I should've known that."

"Ready for another try?"

"Uhhhh, I don't know...." she crossed her arms over her stomach. "I don't like the idea of hitting you, Zack."

"Hmmmm... Wait, what if you closed your eyes?"

She wrinkled her nose. "That doesn't sound like a very smart idea."

"Don't worry about it, just pretend I'm some monster. I can handle it, trust me," I smiled. With the way she throws punches I doubt I have to worry about anything. I should be ready to catch her if she falls over, though.

"Mmm, only if you're sure."

"I'm sure! Let's do this!"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She took her stance a little better this time, and she seemed a little more centered, focused. I was marvelling at her sudden grasp when something made an unhealthy snapping sound in the middle of my face.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Zack!" Aeris hid her face with her hands in shock.

I put my hand to my face and, sure enough, there was blood dribbling down from my nose. The pain that had started as a distant stinging sensation now came on with greater force. "It's not as bad as it looks, I'm sure." I sniffed, which caused something to shift and made me to wince. "I think."

"Do you have any Cure Materia? Maybe I could fix it," she offered.

"Naw. Soldiers have to keep their materia in lockup if they're not on missions. It's all back at headquarters." Wow, she really did a number on my face.

Aeris looked around guiltily. "Wait, I have an idea," she said, then turned towards our picnic basket, discarded at the base of the playground slide. She dug through it a moment and found some napkins we hadn't used, then came over and tried to press them against my nose. The thought was nice, but touching it just made it hurt more. I leaned my head backwards so she couldn't reach and held my hands up in surrender.

"Aeris, please stop!" I begged. "I don't think this is a simple nosebleed..."

"Oh no..." she whimpered sadly.

"Hey now, think of it this way: You, Aeris Gainsborough, made a First Class Soldier bleed," I said, trying to sound confident and encouraging. "Not very many people get to say that, now do they?"

"Suddenly I'm reminded of the time you broke my nose. I never did get you back for that, but I think this is much more entertaining."

Aeris and I both looked up. Sephiroth was passing through the park on his way to... Somewhere. Why was he out here at this time of night?

"Oh, you hush!" Aeris said, then giggled. At least she was in slightly better spirits, though she still seemed to be looking to savage my face with that napkin.

"How long have you been there?" I asked out of curiosity. First he says Aeris is one of Hojo's experiments, now he's stalking her? This is way messed up.

"Long enough to realize that you're going about this the wrong way."

"And what way would you go about it, Mr Egoist?" I said, feeling a tad insulted. She broke my nose, that earns her points, right?

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out. She's had previous training with Tseng. How does Tseng fight, Zack?" Sephiroth asked.

"Hey, guys? I'm right here. Don't talk about me like I'm not!"

I thought about it for a moment. "I don't think I've ever seen him fight, actually."

Then he attacked Aeris.

My heart jumped into my throat. He let loose a flurry of jabs with the focused determination of a cold-blooded killer. I was about ready to leap in there and get him to back off, then I realized that he didn't seem to be hitting her. She was in a lucid panic, cutting off his momentum with frenzied jabs at his shoulders, and redirecting some of the more aggresive blows away from her face and body. As she did so she staggered backwards in retreat. Sephiroth managed to get a couple quicker jabs in on her shoulder and her side, and the brief fight ended with her landing bottom first into the sand and letting out a short scream as she crossed her arms over her head.

"Sephiroth! What are you thinking, man?" I demanded, charging over to them.

He said nothing as he held out a hand to help Aeris back onto her feet. She looked up after a moment once she'd realized the fight had stopped, then slowly took it and stood. Sephiroth was smiling.

Sephiroth never smiles.

"Next time, instead of just keeping yourself from getting hit, think about what you could do to redirect your opponent's attacks back at them, aswell."

She nodded quickly, out of breath. "Uhh- Okay,"

Sephiroth looked at me next. "Block and redirect. Tseng's technique relies on using the enemy's force against them. He spars against his Turks every Sunday morning if you ever want to see for yourself."

"You could have hurt her."

"Honestly," Aeris huffed. "Standing right here."

"She doesn't have a mark on her. My attacks were extremely light. I just wanted to see how well she would do." He raised his eyebrows and turned slightly to Aeris. "Not bad, by the way."

"Thanks, I guess?"

"Just work on what I mentionned and you're halfway there."

"Mm-hmm," she nodded, smiling brighter now.

"I should get going," Sephiroth remarked, then started stalking off in a random direction. "Zack, we're training early tomorrow?"

"Fine, whatever," I drawled. Can we get back to the part where you attacked Aeris?

Sephiroth stopped in his tracks and reached into a pocket of his trenchcoat. "Almost forgot," he said as he withdrew a green Materia. "Cure II."

My nose knitted itself back together so suddenly I at first thought I was hit in the face again. One green glow and a warm stinging sensation later, my face was as good as new.

NOT DEAD! Just crazy busy with many lifestyle changes over the last year almost. Had this bit of inspiration when I was doing some craft stuffs earlier, then when I read the last few chapters of my story to refresh my memory, I LOVED IT! And so you'll notice this part is a bit longer that I've been doing them XD And if you're wondering why Seph has Materia on him and Zack doesn't, it's 'cause Seph doesn't care about the stupid rules.

Next part will be fun and interesting, but for now, I must obey the siren call of sleep.