Omg sorry guys for the long wait! I've been putting this chapter off because I had to make a decision; write it like the actual scene in crisis core, or make up something. Making it like the scene in crisis core would mean I would have to do a lot of boring writing explaining a scene that you've all probably seen and making it up would be lame. So I guess I'm gonna write it like it actually happened.

Side note: I haven't played crisis core for almost a year now, so my grasping of the story is a little shaky. I barely remember whats going on at this point in the game, and I'm too lazy/busy to replay it, so there's going to be some plot holes and loose ends. Just bear with me

Zack was falling.

Months had gone by since he quit working at the Honeybee, but his life, instead of returning to normal, had collapsed in upon itself. The existence that he once knew was ripped from under him. Angeal had defected from SOLDIER, leaving Zack feeling more isolated than he ever had before in his life. Hollander was trying to create a superhuman life form made from something called 'Jenova', and Genesis and Angeal seemed to be at the center of his plans. A war was raging on what seemed like all fronts.

Angeal was gone, he could deal with that. But to have Angeal gone and working against Shinra...Zack didn't know what to make of that. He didn't understand why. If only someone would explain to him what was going on, maybe he could help. If only they would let him in . . .

He heard a voice – his mother's – scolding him as if he were a boy, "Tell me what happened."

"Mom?" He asked, confused, "I – I wanna help out a friend . . . But I don't know how I can do it . . ."

His mother's voice evaporated and was replaced with that of a young woman, "Hellllo . . . ?"

Zack tried to think past the throbbing in his head, "Mom?"

"Hello?" She repeated.

He groaned, soft enough to be a breath, "Heaven?" Zack cracked his eyes, painfully aware of the teen girl who was definitely not his mother.

He heard her laugh, a small lyrical sound that rang with irony. "Not quite." Zack sat up with a grunt as she motioned to their surroundings. "Church in the slums."

Zack lifted his eyes to meet hers. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the young girl in front of him. She was stunning in an almost unattractive way, with huge emerald eyes that glistened in the artificial light that drenched Midgar. She was plain, with plain looks and plain clothes, but there was something about her that made Zack never want to pull his eyes away. There was something in the way that she looked at him that made his heart flutter for the first time in his life. That was it, he was dead. He must be dead.

"An Angel?"

She laughed, "No, I'm Aerith!"

Aerith turned to the sunlight streaming in and pointed, "You fell from the sky."

"Huh?"

"Scared me." She said, turning back towards him.

"So you saved me, huh?" Zack said, smiling his charming smile.

"Not really." She replied, undeterred. "'Hellllllo' was all I did."

Zack laughed, a forced gestured to hide his feelings about Angeal and the events that has just transpired. He got up but curling his legs in, and them kicking them out, the force landing him on his feet. Aerith looked impressed, but he hadn't really been thinking of her when he did it.

"Thank you so much, Aerith." He smiled, fully knowing how attractive he looked. By simply saying her name he was sending her heart into a flurry, let alone his penetrating eyes and genuine smile. He crossed his arms, showing his biceps. "I'm Zack" He stepped forward, "I have to repay you somehow . . ." He continued innocently.

She shook her head, looking down at her feet. "Don't worry about it."

"No, no . . ." Zack said as he pretended to think intently. He went on with this game for a seconds before thrusting a figure in the air, "aha" He turned sharply on his toes, feigning an idea. "Hey, how about one date?" He lifted his eyebrows slightly.

She stepped away shyly, still looking down, "What is that? Don't be silly . . ."

Zack slumped, defeated for one of the few times in his life. He couldn't believe that that didn't work. This girl was either really sharp, or really, really innocent. But he didn't think either of those types of girls existed in the slums. So who was she? He scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed, and started to walk towards the pews.

"Stop! Don't step on the flowers!" Zack stopped, mid stride and looked back, surprised.

"Excuse me?"

"Normally people are more careful with flowers." She scolded, sounding more like his mother with each syllable.

"Well, I guess I'm not normal then." Zack muttered, more to himself than to Aerith. "Oh," He started, just realizing what lay thriving in front of him. He crouched down on his hunched to see them better, "You don't see a lot of flowers growing in Midgar. They're like luxury items around her."

He continued to admire the yellow flowers as Aerith gestured to the patch. "They only grow here." She spun around as Zack straightened, "Although, I planted some by my house too!"

"If I were you, I'd sell them," Zack proposed, his inner desire for money speaking, "Midgar's full of flowers, your wallets full of money!"

She seemed to study his smiling face for a moment before replying. "I've never thought of it that way before."

Somehow, he had managed to coaxed her out of the church. He was charming, Aerith would admit, but there seemed to be something off about him, as if he wasn't all there. He seemed to be in a thinly veiled turmoil within himself, and that left Aerith on edge. She would admit, he was impossibly handsome. He was tall, and tan, and had the sweetest smile she had ever seen, but she couldn't help but feel wary. His eyes told her, almost pleaded with her not to trust him.

Zack had dragged her to one of the nicer sections of the slum market. The were perusing a small accessory shop when Zack touched her shoulder, a small gesture that left her body numb, and asked her to pick out a ribbon. She told him that she didn't have any money, but he laughed and told her that he was paying. A hair ribbon seemed out of the blue, but she was so infatuated at the moment that she didn't care. She looked around for a second before quickly making a decision.

"Okay . . . this one." She pointed to a lovely pink ribbon.

"Okay, I'll go buy it. I'll be right back." He said with a smile. She was so incredibly enamored by this man who actually seemed to have a brain and a heart.

She watched as he reached into his back pocket to retrieve his cash. Her eyes linger for too long on the overflowing amount of Gil that Zack held in his wallet. She thought of all of the things that she would rather be buying with that money other than a hair ribbon. She knew a boy that was dying, and a young girl that had been raped and needed money for an abortion. So many grisly things were happening around them at this very moment that almost made her sick to think she was buying a ribbon for her hair.

He trotted back to her with an identical ribbon to the one in the display case. He motioned for her to turn around and she complied. She felt his thick hands in her hair, and quivered when his wrist touched the back of her neck. He stopped for a split second, but it was too long of a pause to just brush off. He had felt her tremble at his touch. "Sorry, my hands must be cold." She laughed in agreement, but they both knew that it was summer, even in the climate controlled Midgar.

He finished tying the ribbon with a tug as Aerith swallowed her embarrassment.

"Hows that?" He asked, obviously proud of his work.

"Did you put it on right? Will it stay on?" She asked quietly.

"It should be fine." Zack replied, his hands resting at his hips. He cocked his head to the side, a small smile spreading on his lips. "Yeah, It looks great."

Aerith's face reddened as his eyes looked her innocently up and down, truly admiring her.

"Thank you Zack," She turned to him, and raised her eyes to meet his. She didn't know if this meant anything to him, but she wanted to convey how much his act of kindness meant to her. "I'll always wear it from now on" She said, and she meant it.