Double upload! Just a reminder, each chapter is in relation to their ages. So chapter 6: Thorne and Zack are currently 6. Enjoy. Rated T for language, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

Another birthday came and gone and not much has changed at first. I barely saw much of Xander, as he was always busy. Most of my days were spent with Zack both in and out of school. His parents were like my second family. Zack and I are now six, and ever since he gave me one of those materia (which his dad wasn't too happy about at first), we've pretty much been attached to the hip. I couldn't help but notice the little twinkle in our parents eyes as Zack and I grew closer each day. They acted like he gave me a promise ring instead of a cool shiny rock. I was pretty sure everyone around the village thought so too. Especially over the last two or three months.

My parents started to pull me out of school, and cut into my precious baby Zack time. It started off being once every other week, then steadily increased to three days every week. The school didn't care much, as there really wasn't anything to teach me. I was just too young to be left alone at home. Zack wasn't too happy at the change at first, especially when school was over. He was surprisingly very clingily. It was cute at first, especially to our parents, but the more it went on, the more of a problem it became. I got good at eavesdropping on just about everyone around me. I heard everyone talking about how Zack acted when I wasn't around at school or home, which was a mix of temper tantrums and moping around. Some thought it was cute, others thought it was insane. After the first month our parents came to a compromise... with a six year old Zack. Who knew he could be such a sweet cinnamon roll, but at the same time become the spawn of Satan in a heartbeat?

As for what I was doing out of school, I was studying. True I could have done this at school, but my parents thought it would be better to be in a place with no distractions. The only times I was at school was when I couldn't stay with someone else while I poured over the books. Most of the time I would read while one of my parents were at home. Sometimes if Xander wasn't running all over town, I would go to work with him and read. At least on of those days I was at Zack's house reading. Occasionally helping his mom when she needed it but otherwise uninterrupted.

This was part of the compromise with Zack surprisingly. At the end of the week I would go to his house to study. Once he came home I would spend the rest of the day at his house, and most of the weekend. Our multiple sleepovers a week were cut down to just the weekend. It was enough to pacify him, since he got to make up time with me. Of course I was happy with this, though I did miss seeing him everyday. Having regular sleepovers at his place had cut down on my nightmares significantly. I never discussed the details of them with him or anyone else. I wouldn't even know where to begin, and the thought of them always made me feel depressed. It never lasted for long. It's hard to be sad or upset around baby Zack, his happiness was contagious. When I wasn't near him, the music box helped a lot. As much as I loved being around the happy and excitable bundle of energy that was Zack Fair, I did enjoy the quite time too.

I was currently at my brother's job, he was helping around the shop today. Turns out his two jobs involved wood working and hunting. While he and the others worked, I was focused solely on my current book. Our parents started to give me more advanced books to read about plant life and how they're used to heal. Apparently there were more books about healing and magic then there were letters in the alphabet. I was currently on book number 10, Utilizing Your Magic Reserves to the Fullest: Vol 1. Of course a lot of people questioned why my parents would give me such a book, but once they caught on that I knew more then I let on they let me be.

After I started studying outside of school, I learned that my father wasn't just a scientist. He was one of two in the entire village, and my mother was his head assistant. Not only that, but both of them actually moved here from Junon. I also discovered hat they were mostly here for research purposes and were being funded by a company other then ShinRa. Shocking right? I didn't know what the company was though. Didn't think ShinRa had any competitors.. For as much snooping and eavesdropping as I did I still couldn't find out the exact details. I did learn that the place they worked was the only science building with an attached greenhouse. I also learned that they were here to learn more about common plants in hopes of improving medicine. Considering what I knew about the world I wasn't sure if that could be a good or bad thing yet. Who knows maybe things will be different, maybe things won't turn out like the game at all. My thoughts are starting to ramble.

If there was one thing I wish I could have lost from my last life, I wish it could have been how easy it was for my mind to wander. It didn't help that being in another universe I previously thought was fictional had so many interesting things to catch my interests. For example the plants. A majority of them were the same plants from back in my world. If I had to guess I would say they did the same things, but crank up the strength by 50%. Take peppermint for example, it can be used to help someone relax or relive aches and pains. It was also a very-

"Thorne!" I paused and looked up to see my mother standing by the front door in the shop. Was it that time already?

"Were you that distracted by the book you forgot Ma' was coming to pick you up early?" Xander chuckled as he ruffled my hair playfully. I tried in vain to swat his hand away. Curse these short legs. "Go on ma's waiting for you."

"Nuh uh! I was just distracted." I pouted back.

"Sure you were squirt." He laughed as e helped me off the stool I was sitting on. Xander walked me to the front where he passed me off to our mother. She bid him a quick farewell and a kiss on the cheek, much to his embarrassment. The others in the store tried and failed to contain their snorts.

"I'll see you at home, sweetheart." she said as we left. As soon as the door closed behind us, we heard them all burst out laughing. Serves him right. It was only a minute or two before she started to talk.

"Did you get very far in your book today?"

"Uh huh!" I said nodding my head excitedly." I learned about mana and how to store build it up!" I exclaimed. Hey I may be an adult stuck in a child body, but that didn't mean I had to act like it all the time. I'm sure I would freak people out if I did.

"That's good sweetie, cause we're going to do something special today."

"Really? What is it Ma?"

"You'll see when we get home." she said with a smile.

As we walked she asked me more about what I learned both in the previous books I've read and the current one I was reading. The previous books focused purely on different plants found in and around certain cities and continents. Each talked about both the common and rare plants found in each area, along with the monsters in that area and what materials could be made by combining monster parts with them. Sounds weird right? Who knew there was actually monster parts in some of them? They also included what plants and materials could be used as substitutes if you couldn't find what you needed. Not to mention how a brief history on how these were discovered, with a fair bit of math and science. These books were surprisingly very through.

Before I knew it we made it back to our little house. Since I discovered my parents were from Junon, I always wondered why they choose to live in a small hut like everyone else instead of a large house. Maybe they liked the simple village lifestyle. Instead of going inside, we walked around the back to our small garden I never spent a lot of time back here, but it looks like I was going to start. In front of us were rows and rows of plants, none were labeled with names. They only had small flags to show the various stages of growth.

"Today we're going to go over a few plants we grow here, and what they are for." my mother said while grabbing a nearby basket from our small outdoor shed. It was only big enough to hold tools and a few baskets. She came and sat down at the edge of the plant bed. I sat down beside her when she patted the spot next to her. "And after that, I'm going to show you how to make a few things with them."

The batch we were in front of had five, neat rows of plants all with similar shapes. Very carefully she pulled up a few leaves from the row in the middle and handed me a few. They were rounded and felt like they had a small layer of fuzz on them. The leaves were layered on top of each other like petals on a flower. "Do you know what this is and what it's for?"

"Oregano," I said after a moment of studying it. "for infections."

"Very good," she said taking the leaves back. She added a few more to the basket before picking up another one. "How about this one?"

This one had the same general shape but frayed edges and thinner leaves. It also had a particular smell to it that made it obvious. "Peppermint, for aches and pains."

"Good." she said with a smile. She added the leaves to the basket with the oregano. "And this?"

The third had smooth edges like the first and the leaves were layered. It had fewer leaves however and had a smooth texture instead of a fuzzy one like the first. "Basil, for inflammation."

She did the same for the last two plants, sage and goldenroot, for energy and fatigue. Together we gathered a few more before heading inside to the kitchen. Pulling up a a chair she instructed me to gently wash them in the sink while she grabbed something from the top shelf of the cabinet. I cleaned while she began setting up on the table. Once she was finished she came to inspect the plants, after deeming them clean enough she set them in a strainer with a towel underneath. I followed her back to the kitchen table where she already began separating the plants by type. Various items littered the table, but I was focused on two specific things. Sitting next to them were two filled bottles containing a red liquid. Each bottle was only half full and had a dropper attached to the lid.

"Now Thorne, I want you to pick up those filled bottles. One in each hand, those are potions. Look at them closely. Do you notice anything about them?"

Picking up each bottle like she instructed, I studied them. While I did this, she started to strip the leaves from the stems. Both bottles seemed the same to me. If she wanted me to study them then there had to be a difference between them. I just wasn't sure what I was looking for. I rolled each one around in my palm and held them close to my face to spot the difference. It had to be- there! One of the bottles was slightly off color? Holding both bottles closer i could see it better. It was faint and would have been easy to miss, but one of them was off color. It looked as if it had a slight greenish tint to it and seemed lighter.

"One of them is a different color? It has green in it and looks brighter."

"Good! There's something else that makes hem different. Something you can't see but can feel." she said.

Something I can't see but feel? Would I have to open these and spill them to find out what that was? I didn't want to do that, these were in that cabinet with everything else for a reason. I don't want to waste it. After a minute or two of just staring at the bottles I was drawing blanks. My mother had set a pot on the stove to heat water while she patiently waited. While waiting for the water to boil, she began mashing together some of the leaves into a bowl.

"Ma' I don't know what I'm looking for." I said with a frustrated huff.

"Of course you don't you haven't gotten to that book yet." she said with a laugh. "Why don't you try tasting them?"

"Taste them?" I asked a bit confused. She had to be joking. The were potions so I doubt they'd do anything to me but still.

"Yes, the best way to find out what your missing is with taste. Just a drop in the middle of your tongue though."

She was serious. Granted the tasting was a sound idea, I had a feeling it wouldn't be pleasant. With a gulp I unscrewed the duller red one first. Making sure there was just enough for a single drop I brought it to my mouth. Well here goes nothing. She studied my closely as I prepared myself. Squeezing the dropper I let it drop onto my tongue mentally preparing for... something. It wasn't what I expected. I wish the games described the taste of these things.

I almost expected it to taste bad but it was actually pleasant. It felt warm on my tongue, and I could taste... peppermint? Yep that was a hint of peppermint with something else. Something I couldn't describe but it made me feel energized. It felt like a small, zing, in my mouth. Not quite a zap or shock but very very mild. It was actually pretty good and reminded me of tea. The one drop left a slightly warm trail down my throat. As the warm feeling started to fade, I unscrewed and prepared the second one. I wasn't sure how it could feel different since they looked practically the same. I was dead wrong.

While the first was warm and had a hint of peppermint, this one was cold and tasted metallic. I didn't feel that zip or zing like with the first bottle. It made my skin crawl and break out in goosebumps. The energized feeling was there but, dulled. That one drop had some type of texture in it, I could feel it. It made me want to wipe my tongue off, so I did. On my shirt, many times. Mother dearest broke down in laughter while I tried to rid the awful taste from my mouth.

"I didn't t-think, you'd have such a strong r-reaction!" she laughed while wiping invisible tears from her eyes.

"It's gross Ma'. What's wrong with it?" I asked after a moment of wiping my tongue. Once her laughter was mostly contained, she handed me a cup of water to wash away the taste.

"Now you know the difference," She laughed as the teakettle began to whistle. She quickly took it off the heat to silence it. "One of those is a natural potion, which is what I'm going to show you. The other is a artificial potion using all the same ingredients save for one."

"Which is it Ma'?" I asked. I was curious how there could be such a difference between the two, and all I had was a drop!

"The natural potion uses magic. The artificial one uses mako."

"Mako?" They used mako in their potions!? Wait, if they used mako then wouldn't that mean everyone is tainted? Did I become tainted from it? It was such a small amount, would it hurt me? As much as I wanted to ask hundreds of questions i knew I couldn't. Everyone would turn heads at a six year old asking serious questions about mako. The questions must have shown on my face though because my mother gently patted my head.

"Don't worry about mako for now, we'll go over that in time. For now let's make a few natural ones."

I hope you guys like my take on potions and what not. I always thought it was less of a science and chemical process and more of a natural herb process with a bit of magic added to the mix.

I don't know that much about herbs and plants so I'm not going that deep into it. We'll go more into the actual process in later chapters, several times, along with why some potions are cold and made with mako so don't worry.

11/18/2020