Reignite

Chapter 1

Simple Beginnings

Rated: M

Story Summary: It's been over a month since Zack returned back to Midgar after being MIA for five years. Even after a tearful reunion, him and Aerith haven't had a chance to re-spark the more 'intimate' part of their relationship. …Once safely in Kalm, it's time to change that.

Welp. About time I posted some nsfw smut for these two. XD

I have SO many rather smutty stories started for the Zerith pairing but I never could get them finished enough for submission. This one being the first but I'm not gonna force myself to finish it all in one go so I'm breaking this up into a few (probably 4) chapters. Later chapters will contain more explicit content but this first one is merely laying out the groundwork and filling in a bit of Zack and Aerith's backstory and relationship history before we get to the good stuff. X3

Also I did NOT expect for this story to get so serious. T_T Why can't I write smut just for smut's sake!?I swear, it's a curse...

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

It's been over a month since Zack returned back to Midgar after being MIA for five years. Even after a joyous, tearful reunion, him and Aerith haven't had a chance to re-spark the more 'intimate' part of their relationship.

Between Aerith's adopted mother's constant hovering presence and Zack preoccupied with his new occupation as a mercenary along with the still-recovering Cloud (who's Mako Poisoning was lessened but the effects lingered heavily) - Zack and Aerith simply hadn't got around to it.

Far too few hours in the day and so much to get done, it was downright impossible to find time to be alone. Zack scarcely left Cloud's side, hovering over him as he healed those first few weeks since their return. The blonde ex-Infantryman was rarely conscious at first and even once he awoke fully from the Mako-induced coma, he had difficulty doing even the smallest of tasks alone. It was challenging to deal with and Zack was an anxious Mother Chocobo at the best of times so the majority of those days were spent taking care of his friend's needs - much to Cloud's growing chagrin.

Aerith (being the angel Zack swore she was) completely understood and helped him as much as possible.

Yet between even the busiest of times, Zack and Aerith were able to spend time together at the church like they had at the beginning of their relationship. Finding out simply being there helped Cloud heal from the Mako withdrawals faster for some reason. Aerith playfully suggested the flowers were responsible but Zack flashed her a knowing smile and left it at that. As long as Cloud continued to improve, that's all that mattered anyway. And while the blonde was napping peacefully on the worn pew throughout the afternoons, the couple occupied themselves by doing what else?

Gardening of course! The two spending hours in the soil, weeding, watering, planting flowers, and tending the flourishing garden.

Zack even got around to fixing and reinforcing the wagon he built for her so long ago. As he hammered away at the wood, Aerith wiped her teary eyes on the backs of her hands with a wobbly smile plastered on her face. With the wagon back in working order, Zack playfully requested one date as payment - Aerith played coy, called him silly, but of course ended up accepting anyway. But since watching Cloud left them stuck in the church, Aerith offered a kiss as payment instead. Zack readily agreed, closing his eyes and leaning in for a kiss but instead of his waiting pursed lips, she ended up kissing him on the nose.

Zack pouted while Aerith giggled.

For weeks, it went like that.

Cloud became their adorable (involuntary) mascot for their flower business. His newly aware eyes giving the couple icy death glares as they placed flowers in his Chocobo-esque hair to encourage passerby's to take a closer look at their colorful wares. The couple spent so many pleasant evenings this way - selling flowers like nothing (and yet everything) had changed these past five years. The familiarity of Zack chasing after and trying to overcharge every customer in sight while Aerith still let far too many go for free.

It was innocent and simple.

Sweet like a newly blossoming relationship; reminiscent of when they first met seven years ago when they were teenagers, her fifteen and him sixteen…

The Flower Girl and her First-Class SOLDIER…

And truthfully, it was driving them both crazy.

Even if it had been five years (more acutely felt by Aerith since Zack spent a lot of that time unaware pickling in Mako and whatever the hell else Hojo threw into that tank), it didn't change the fact they'd been together for two entire years before Zack's mission to Nibelheim…

Six years prior...

Zack and Aerith's relationship by that point was anything but young puppy love and butterflies with what they'd been through together.

A relationship forged stronger with tragedy and grief especially after Angeal's death. Having to be the one to kill his mentor tore so inexplicably deeply at the heart of the once bubbly vivacious SOLDIER. It was after that Midoheim mission that Zack regarded life, as well as his relationship with Aerith, far more seriously.

No longer was he content with merely coasting through their innocent dates, light flirting with the two barely toeing the cusp of something greater. As nice as it was to simply talk and tend the church's garden with Aerith's bell-like laughter echoing in his ears, he wanted more…

Zack didn't want any regrets should anything happen to him out on the field as the climate of SOLDIER cooled and the walls continued closing in around him…

So after falling apart in Aerith's arms after Angeal's death, Zack returned to Shinra. He spent the next week stewing in intolerable grief. Reliving those moments where with his last breaths, Angeal handed him the Buster Sword. Pushing upon him a legacy he never asked for (nor even wanted) before passing away. Angeal, his dear friend and mentor leaving him empty and alone with the thick sense of betrayal wedged in his gut. It was unlike any pain Zack had ever experienced before…and it was a bitter pill to swallow that he could do absolutely nothing to change it.

Zack had no choice than to move forward.

To be there for those he could still help… to uphold those left behind much like Aerith did for him. In his deepest despair, she held him together, gave him a reason to move forward - so he would do the same for others. It all started with his hair. Hands firm as Zack smoothed back his floppy puppy-like bangs to join his longer hair except for the few strands that refused to cooperate. No longer was he Zack the Puppy, instead he began fully shouldering the intense emotional weight - the legacy of the Buster Sword upon his back and wore the new scar etched on his jaw as a reminder to embrace his dreams, protect his honor and more importantly, to live…

To live in a way where there would be no regrets…

So Zack did just that. He would continue to live - to move forward - and that began with showing the most important person in his life how much she meant to him.

The following evening, Zack entered the church.

With not much beyond their usual greetings exchanged, Zack gently pulled Aerith into an embrace. Heart to heart, Zack pressed his temple to hers, ringlets of auburn silken hair so soft and warm brushing against his cheek and new permanent scar, he held her tighter. The sensation of her thin arms wrapping around his waist had Zack letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

It was like a piece fell perfectly into place.

This was where he was meant to be.

Who he was meant to be with for whenever Aerith was nearby, he felt calm, like all the burdens of hectic life faded away to meaningless whispers…

Aerith was his sanctuary, his home and it's about time he told her.

So gently he whispered that to her - thanking her for being there when his entire world fell apart. Aerith's only response was tightening her arms around him, warm breath tickling his throat as she hid her blushing face against his skin. For so long, he held her, never wanting to ever let go. Emotions still scrubbed raw, Zack only hugged her tighter, not caring when a few tears slipped down his face and the sudden wetness on his throat told him she was crying too.

Needing to see her, Zack reluctantly pulled away.

So tenderly did his thickly muscled arms encompass her. So soft compared to his rock-hard frame. How perfect she felt in his arms like she was made for him…he only prayed to Gaia that she felt the same. Zack silently peered at her beautiful face and seeing her tear-stained cheeks flushed and eyes so open and loving, he couldn't hold back anymore.

No more regrets…

"I love you," he whispered seconds before tenderly cupping her flushed cheeks, closing his eyes and kissing Aerith on the mouth for the first time.

Aerith stiffened for only a split second before utterly melting into him.

A sweet moan left her lips as he pulled back again to glance at her. Eyes heavily-lidded and cheeks a beautiful rosy flush, Aerith smiled at him with tears glittering on her bottom lashes.

"Oh Zack, I love you too…so, so much" she whimpered as a tear slipped down her face but her smile was so wide. Those perfect emerald eyes filled with nothing but the purest love he'd ever known.

Zack sobbed yet smiled through it. Tears blurring his vision yet so relieved and so ridiculously happy. It all felt so real, so perfect and never had he loved someone the way he loved her. Now he could stop treating his girlfriend like glass and rather like the woman she was quickly becoming.

Aerith was done being treated as such - so she threw her thin arms around his neck and pulled him down enough so she could eagerly kiss him again, and again, and again... the salty taste of their mingled tears lingered on their lips but that didn't matter.

"Finally…" The only thought on both their minds as everything in the world but each other faded around them.

After that day, there was a undeniable shift in their relationship.

Zack and Aerith had celebrated the one year anniversary of their first date and the very day they met. And while it had been a year filled with horrendous heartbreak, it had also contained moments of bliss - like whenever they were together. It was an unspoken agreement that they were both ready to take their relationship to the next level.

It started small.

Instead of spending all their time innocently weeding her garden at the church or planting new flowers at her house, Zack took her out on more proper dates.

Mostly eating establishments under the plate (the sky scared her and even with his saddest puppy-eyes and biggest pout, Aerith still refused to conquer that demon anytime soon) or walks throughout the "nicer" areas in the slums where he'd buy her a trinket or two and she'd treat him to ice cream. They'd enjoy their treats in the Sector 6 Park, freely clean of monsters he'd exterminated, and sit atop the cat slide as the lamps under the plate dimmed signifying the late hour. There was no one around so they'd lean on each other while talking and laughing openly. Spent time stargazing at the barest hints of unpolluted sky through the broken plate above as Zack shared stories about the few he knew… but mostly, they'd find any excuse to touch and kiss.

No more chaste closed mouth pecks either.

While Zack had been Aerith's first kiss, she was a notoriously quick learner. Whether it was teenage hormones and being in close contact with Zack and his gorgeous face, body, eyes and charisma or a combination of both, the once innocent and shy flower girl became more emboldened by the day. The first time Aerith experimentally swiped at his plush bottom lip with her tongue and Zack let out a moan that went straight to her core, it was over. Mouths opened and hands began wandering to less than platonic places as they lost themselves to this new physical aspect of their relationship.

Yet Zack held back.

As much as he wanted to lay her down and ravage her, to bring his angel to toe-curling orgasm over and over until she couldn't even remember her own name, he knew it would be her first time and it needed to be special! Even with the temptation of her heavy breathing, small heaving breasts with hardened nipples poking at her white dress, swollen pink lips and lustful eyes looking so debauched while peering up at him with nothing but trust and obvious want - Zack pulled back.

Fighting his primal urges and reluctantly pulling away from all those soft curves and silken skin. Even if Aerith never verbally accosted him for stopping, he knew she was disappointed. Nevertheless, Zack continued to escort her safely home every night, a chaste goodnight kiss before leaving her completely unsatisfied and aching for him as he suffered the worse case of blue balls he'd ever experienced while heading back to Shinra.

For weeks, it continued this way. Zack refused to take that final step until Aerith realized it was up to her.

Once Zack returned from his latest mission, Aerith pulled Zack into her church after their latest date.

The date itself wasn't anything too significant. Zack came to meet her dressed in his civvies and still a bit tired from his mission so the couple had a light dinner at their favorite food truck before taking a short stroll through the more tamer parts of Wall Market. And while it wasn't anything too romantic, Aerith still got tingles from the warmth of his bare hand clasping her own. The weight of his muscular protective arm around her, the heat of his body and how he still smelt so good even surrounded by the overwhelming scent of the crowd, alcohol and food carts.

The two left Wall Market as it got later in the evening and the more unsavory crowd began to appear. Making their way back to Sector 5, laughing at a story about the friendly Cactuar stealing sensitive Shinra documents that Zack encountered on his latest mission, they got to the more familiar part of the slums.

Zack was about to take a turn that would escort her back home but instead Aerith coerced Zack to take her to the church to "check on the flowers".

A bit of an odd request to be sure but with Aerith's beseeching expression and clasped hands, Zack couldn't refuse. He grasped her hand before turning back to the main road to head further into the Sector 5 slums towards the church. Aerith hid a smile upon his agreement for she had no intent to go back to her house that night nor Zack to return back to Shinra…

Because if Zack wasn't going to take this final step, she was going to, dammit!

Zack grew quiet when she closed the heavy church doors behind them. Aerith strangely silent while coercing the rather confused Zack by his hand toward the flowerbed illuminated by the light of the moon from the cracked plate above. The SOLDIER visibly flinched when after she removed her wedges, she gingerly stepped barefoot into the flowers.

Aerith turned back to look at him, reaching out a dainty hand, silently asking him to join her.

Zack was understandably perturbed at her silent request because the last time he'd stepped on her flowers, she yelled at him...a lot. Yet this time, she merely smiled encouragingly so he slowly began pulling off his boots and socks. Still visibly reluctant, he did as she asked. The SOLDIER stepping as cautiously as possible into the flowerbed. The lilies tickling his ankles and the grass and dirt so soft and cool beneath his feet felt amazing...

But it still felt weird.

Aerith could do nothing but smile as Zack timidly stood in front of her as if waiting for her next instructions. She noticed without her heels, he was even taller and his greater height just had a pleasant tingle go down her spine as she looked up at him. Taking in those ethereal magnificent blue eyes and dark hair with brilliant navy highlights by the light of the moon filtering through the broken roof. The same roof he'd fell through. Merely gazing at him, the tender way he looked back at her had her heart ache with want and love that was nearly overwhelming.

In this moment, there was absolutely no more doubt in her mind.

She wanted this.

She wanted him…

…And nothing else mattered.

So without further hesitation, Aerith began kneeling without relinquishing her firm hold on his hand. While Zack seemed confounded at first, he followed her lead until both were sitting amongst the bed of lilies.

"Uh...Isn't this going to hurt the flowers, Aer?" Zack asked.

Aerith shook her head, pink ribbon and braid bouncing at the motion, "Nope! They're stronger than they look, ya know," she replied, hoping he understood she was referring to herself as well.

The SOLDIER's dark eyebrows furrowed a bit but he remained silent until Aerith began moving again. Zack opened his mouth to ask her what she was doing but Aerith didn't give him the opportunity as she lay down amongst the white and yellow flowers. Cinnamon streaked hair like a halo around her as she splayed herself out, arms casually resting around her head and lays splayed casually. She didn't bother pulling down her dress where it bunched up halfway up her thighs. Aerith felt her entire body tingle as Zack's eyes flicked over her body before coming to rest on her face.

Adam's apple bobbing, Zack swallowed, staring at the angel splayed before him, her eyes open, trusting and warm. Aerith reached out one hand and he took it. Slowly, Aerith tugged at his hand and with her boyfriend being a First Class SOLDIER, she could never hope to even make him budge, yet he willingly followed her lead as she pulled him to lay beside her.

They lay right underneath the broken roof where he fell into her life, the sky above Midgar uncharacteristically clear and sprinkled with stars. Yet his eyes remained on the angel lying beside him, her cheeks flushed and emerald eyes dark with obvious want.

Zack's throat was dry, "...Aerith, I…" the Flower Girl quieted him with a sudden kiss.

Barely pulling away, her nose brushing against his, she whispered, "Make love to me, Zack…please…"

Zack's brain must have short-circuited because he was quiet for nearly a minute before he uttered, "Are you sure?"

"I've never been more certain of anything in my life. I want this… I want you." she firmly stated, brushing her palm against the scar on his jaw.

"I - I… B-But, I…" Zack never stuttered. Aerith saw the hesitation but merely grasped his hands, resting both of them by her heaving breasts where he could feel her heart hammering against his palms.

Foreheads pressed together, Aerith's eyes were beseeching as she asked, "...Don't you want me too?"

"More than anything," was his immediate answer.

The smile she gave him was so tender, "...then what are you waiting for, silly?"

Heart about to burst out of his chest, Zack flashed her a devilishly handsome grin, the confidence she fell in love with echoed in his soft gaze.

"…nothing now…" Zack whispered against her lips before kissing her with an unbridled passion. His arms wrapping around her tiny waist, his leg slipping in between her own as his tongue slipped between her plush lips and delving into the hot cavern of her sweet mouth. A moment later, he broke the kiss with a soft pop of wet lips only to trail kisses across her cheek, her jaw before latching his mouth firmly at her throat as Aerith's breathless moans echoed throughout the church.

…It was that night that she gave her virginity to him right in her flower bed.

Zack taking her for the first time on the exact spot this black-haired angel had fallen through her roof and into her life. Although she was rather afraid of the pain she heard losing her virginity would cause, Zack was so unbelievably gentle. Taking his time with her, arousing her to the point she nearly lost her mind and making sure she climaxed at least twice before he even pushed inside - and while there was a slight discomfort as she adjusted around his molten thick girth, the pleasure quickly overrode any pain.

It was perfect. Wonderful. Felt better than anything she could have imagined.

Yet the most surprising thing Aerith took away from that night was that sex was…fun!

Addicting and freeing in a way Aerith didn't expect whatsoever. Her entire life, she had been placed under scrutiny like an frenzied ant under the glare of a psycho's magnifying glass. Those years growing up in the lab at Shinra, forced to watch her mom deteriorate than shot before her eyes as they escaped from those hellish labs. Losing her mom in such a brutal way and while Elmyra was so wonderful for taking her in her home and life - Aerith was still under surveillance, only this time, her prison was just a little bigger. The Turks continued to watch her every move and represented the fact she would never be truly free and all she could do was wait for the inevitable. Worry every single day that today would be the day she would be captured and right back at the labs where it all began...

Yet when she met Zack and those perfect sky blue eyes, it all changed…

Zack showcased freedom like nothing ever did before and being so free with him both romantically and now sexually was liberating. Allowing and giving Zack control over her heart and body while she did the same to him was downright addicting. And it was her choice - hers! Not Shinra, not Elmyra, not the Turks, her own! And damn, it was incredible.

Aerith had been terrified sex might complicate their relationship, but it only made them fall more in love - if that was possible.

After that night, the two would make love whenever they had a chance. Not as often as they wanted given Zack's continually hectic schedule and annoying lack of true privacy from all outside parties.

Zack's apartment at Shinra was never an option and Aerith's house was off limits except for the very few times Elmyra would be gone all night (or those few times Aerith snuck him in after her mom fell asleep) so the church was the only place left. Mainly, the flowerbed and small bedroom hidden in the rear of the church had become their only private sanctuary from all the eyes and expectations of the outside world.

It didn't happen often, but as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder…

…Right?

Yet, Aerith and Zack never would have guessed it would be a five year absence when he kissed her for the last time before leaving to Nibelheim…

Now it was five years later...

After the awkward newness of being back together when he returned, it was obvious what they both wanted to happen. Both so desperate to pick-up where they left off but kept those desires mostly to themselves in the fear they were pushing it too fast. So, they continued to spend time at her church. Weed, water, sell flowers with Cloud as their mascot while sharing a few kisses here. Yet after a month since he returned and even with the newness faded, the two still danced around each other. Never breaching back to the intimacy they so easily shared all those years ago.

It was sort of an unspoken agreement to take it slow - it had been five years after all…

Both longed for it, but held back.

Zack was always pleasantly surprised from his perch on the floor (Cloud snoring quietly in the only guest bed) when Aerith would sneak into their room and merely sleep in his arms. Sleep was much easier to find with the mere sensation of holding her close throughout the night. Feeling Aerith there and know his time at Hojo's lab and on the run was over whenever he'd wake from any nightmare to Aerith's beautiful sleeping face.

For Aerith, it was calming, to realize that Zack was truly here - that he wasn't a figment of her imagination she'd sometimes cook up in the loneliest of times throughout his five year absence. To touch him and know he was here - that he'd truly come home to her and he wasn't ever leaving her again.

So those nights, it was comforting just having the other close by.

Intimate and wonderful without having any sexual connotations of the sort other than Zack's few instances of morning wood he had no control over. And a few nights they would be tempted, hands wandering as a chaste goodnight kiss lead to something more but they immediately stopped when they heard Cloud shifting in the bed nearby. Smiling awkwardly as they lost that bit of control, they relaxed, falling asleep while wanting more but knowing it wasn't in the cards for now. While both craved that intimate closeness they once shared, to re-experience the pleasure only sexual release could bring, it was perfect merely falling asleep and waking up next to each other.

Easy. Simple. Much like their relationship was at the beginning.

It was enough…for awhile anyway.

Then came the day Cloud recovered enough to join Zack's slowly growing mercenary business.

Cloud being awake helped relieve the burden on Zack's anxiety over his friend but it didn't necessarily help Zack and Aerith's relationship.

Zack went off with Cloud to the other sectors, killing monsters and earning gil while Aerith stayed back in Sector 5 alone. While wanting to help, Aerith had to continue going to the church, tend her flowers and visit the Leaf House. Had to keep selling flowers to keep up appearances because regardless of how much she never wanted to leave Zack's side - the Turks were still watching. And while Tseng was turning a blind eye more than not, there was still a tension in the air Aerith couldn't shake; as if the planet was warning her about something that hadn't yet occurred...

It only got more apparent when Zack took Cloud with him on mercenary work; the two gone for most of the day and even after sundown. There was no more long afternoons at the church while Cloud slept and Zack and Aerith could just be. The work was necessary though for Zack wanted to contribute financially and Cloud wanted his independence back so Aerith remained quiet. Still happy that on the weekends Zack would help her sell flowers as Cloud sat on a bench nearby (a yellow lily placed in the hole in his suspenders rather than his hair this time).

Now that Cloud was more aware, it felt a bit awkward yet Aerith continued to enter their room after Elmyra fell asleep. Slipping in Zack's bed on the floor to sleep beside Zack every night since the ex-SOLDIER still had a hard time leaving Cloud completely alone after looking after him for so long.

This relative peace they found couldn't last forever though...

Never could any of them realize that the catalyst for it all would come in the form of Zack and Cloud literally running into Tifa Lockhart...