Out of idle and senseless curiosity, I returned to the bar to see what sort of trouble Reno had gotten himself into. The bouncer cowered slightly when he saw me come in again, and I dared not spare him a glance. I scanned the crowded room to find that shock of ridiculous red hair. Imagine my surprise when I found his lips firmly attached to those of a familiar and violent blonde in a red dress. Scarlet must've had a lot more to drink since I'd left; I thought she was one of the saner few who would never consider Reno as a romantic prospect.

Trouble indeed. I took an open seat at the bar and resigned to watch the fireworks.

"Mr. Sephiroth-" the barkeep stammered.

"Just Sephiroth is fine," I drawled coldly.

"Can I get you anything, uh, sir?"

"Perhaps." I snatched a menu from the person sitting next to me and briefly looked it over. "Is there anything that qualifies as edible on this menu?"

"I feel like I could take on the world now! Give me your best shot, Zack!"

"My best?"

She cringed and giggled. "Okay Mr. Soldier, maybe your second... Or third... Best."

I took a light swing at her shoulder and she redirected it away from herself quickly.

"Aww, you're going easy on me!"

Aeris was doing a lot better now. No thanks to me.

Why did it have to be Mr. Attitude Problem that could give her all this confidence? He was here for not even a full two minutes, and in that time managed to encourage her to try harder.

"I'll have to get some of my Second Class friends to face you at this rate, you're doing really well!"

Why am I so pathetic?

"Mmmm, but why have them when I can have you teach me? They're not the ones that are going to show me how to ride a chocobo!"

I need a drink.

"Hey, Aeris? Can we sit for a second? I need a breather."

She seemed a little dissapointed that our playful sparring match was over, but a moment later she was back to normal and ran up the stairs to the children's slide nearby, climbing onto the roof and sitting down. After a moment she grinned at me, and patted the empty space beside her for me to fill. I did as I was told and sat down next to her. She seemed displeased at just sitting next to her, so I put my arm around her shoulders. That seemed to make her happy, and she leaned into my shoulder.

"Hey, Zack? I feel like talking. There's so much I want to know about you."

"What would you like to know?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me a secret?"

I had a good sense of what she was going to ask me, but it wouldn't come easily. "Only if you tell me one in return," I said.

She giggled. "You're tricky!" She sighed and continued. "Okay, but I guess it will depend on how good yours is. Deal?"

I smiled. "Deal." Mine is pretty good, I think. She'd never guess that I hid Sephiroth's sweat socks in-

"Why are you so sad?"

I had to stop myself from breaking down. I knew what was bothering me... But I wasn't sure I could put it to words. She sensed my tension as the memories swelled to the surface, as they did every time I had a chance to think about it. I felt her fingers tangle in my hair in an effort to console me, while I was still trying to get my thoughts and emotions straight.

"It's... Not an easy story to tell," I tried to start.

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have..." she backpedaled. Aeris looked like she felt really guilty for asking me. I can only imagine what expression I had on my face.

"No, I'll tell you," I said, collecting myself. "It's the real reason why I joined Soldier." Her emerald eyes were piercing through me in rapt attention. "Okay, have I ever told you about my hometown, Gongaga?"

"No." She thought about it. "Actually, all your stories are from Soldier."

"There's a reason for that. Anyways, Gongaga; Really tiny village on the western continent, as rural as you could possibly get, save for maybe Nibelheim in the mountains. I worked as a farmhand for my uncle since I was a kid, hauling anything around that was just as big or little bigger than me. My uncle, he was closer to me than my father ever was. I could tell him anything, and he would listen, and give me advice without criticizing me. I really miss him."

Her eyes widened in shock. "What happened?"

"Gongaga has a Mako reactor, or... Had, I suppose is the right word. My uncle would check on it every night before he'd call it a day. It was pretty self-sufficient, but somebody had to just make sure it was working normally. Well, one night we were getting really late with all the other work. I told him to forget about it and do it in the morning, it seemed like such a pointless thing to do. It would be okay. It was always okay. But he gave me a brief lecture about responsibility and headed down the path to the reactor anyway.

"My town... It didn't have much to defend itself from monsters. All of the adults knew how to fight a bit, it was necessary, and we were too dirt poor to hire some real mercenaries for guard duty. So I was left alone on his property when some monsters started upsetting the chocobos.

"I had no idea what to do, really. I couldn't fight, and if I tried to I knew I'd be killed, but I couldn't let them eat all of my uncle's chocobos, either. I spent a minute too long frozen in shock. So I managed to grab a hammer and the lid off of a garbage can, and I smashed them together and started yelling and screaming to drive them off. Maybe making enough noise would scare them off, maybe someone would hear me and come with help."

"That was really brave of you to do," she remarked.

"Not brave enough," I countered immediately. "The problem was, the monsters did take off, but they went running down the path my uncle had taken to the Mako reactor. He'd hurt his leg the week before and he couldn't move very fast. By the time help arrived, it was too late. He'd managed to put up a good fight apparently.... But one of the monsters damaged the reactor, and it blew. I ran home when I heard the news and packed a bag. I didn't sleep, and I left early the next morning.

"It bothered me intensely that I didn't fight them. I didn't know how, so I got a neighbour to drive me to Costa Del Sol. I managed to stow away in the cargo hold of a ship and headed across the ocean to Junon, where I managed to join the millitary. And well, you know the rest, I guess."

"Have you talked to your parents since?" she asked thoughtfully, digesting all the new information.

"... No, I haven't. I just know my dad would go off on me for being reckless and irresponsible again." I could almost hear his condescending voice that I'd get every time he would lecture me. "Ditching my home, running across the world, joining Soldier... Yeah, he wouldn't be too far off, either."

"Maybe you could write your mom a letter then?" Aeris suggested. "Just to let her know what you're doing, and that you're okay. She probably misses you a lot."

I thought about it. "Maybe." I must have really upset her to run away like that. "I've talked enough though. Time for your secret," I grinned at her.

"Aww, I was hoping you'd forget that part of the deal," she smiled. She put a finger to her lips in thought. "That was a pretty big secret you told me, I guess I have no choice but to tell a big one in return."

She looked lost in thought for a moment, the smile slowly fading from her lips. "Aeris?" I asked, concerned.

"Zack. Here's why I'm sad..."

Author's Note: Still not dead!! Also, new story in the works: Week-In Review, taking place after the events of Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus. It's interesting to write, involves a spy infiltrating Avalanche's ranks. For what reason? Who knows! I'll let that cat out of the box when I feel like it :D But yeah, it's fun stuff. Check it out!