Its kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around a time line, but I'm trying to fit all the canon scenes of Zack and Aerith into this, although I doubt many people notice haha

I'm not trying to make Aerith sound like a drooling girl,I'm just trying to make her seem normal. I think every girl feels like that about certain guys in their lives, even if they don't really show it on the outside. I know when I like a guy I'm like JKFLDSJGFDHOLYSHITFUUUUCK when they talk to me, but its not like I act like that in person. I think its partly due to my over-descriptions of every single fucking thing that happens when I write haha

Aerith awoke, to her disappointment.

She had been dreaming of wondrous things. Zack and her mother and the outside world and plants and life. She dreamed of things beyond the walls of Midgar. She dreamed of the sky and the sunrise and running water and the beach. Its was perfect.

Zack had kissed her.

Her heart rate accelerated again. Zack had kissed her.

Aerith had lived through more things than she wished to admit. When she was only 29 days old her father had been murdered. She was captured and tortured by Shinra. Her mother died protecting her. She could hear the earth speaking to her. And yet, at the age of fifteen, she felt like she had lived a full life not because of those things, but because she had kissed Zack. The simple act of him taking the time to notice her had had such a profound effect on her, that everything else in her life seemed irrelevant.

A knock at the window.

Zack? Aerith smiled, wondering silently is this was their new way of communication. She slid from her bed and made her way quickly to the window. She could see Zack, his back to her. Excitement rushed through her veins as she wretched the window open, too caught up in her own fantasies to wonder why he was back so soon.

The smile slid from her face when she noticed that this man was thinner than Zack, with a short ponytail at the back of his head instead of a mess of spikes. She back away, stunned to find Tseng. But she was too slow. His hand shot into her room, locking onto her wrist, pulling her towards him.

"We know the SOLDIER was in your room last night."

Aerith's mouth fell open. She was still in shock, "W-what?"

Tseng leaned in closer to her, as if mocking her embrace with Zack the night before. His expression was its usual stoic, but Aerith thought she saw a flicker of hurt in the way his eyes burned into her. "We know."

Aerith ripped her arm away in defiance. "What I do is none of your business."

This seemed to be funny to Tseng, because his mouth curved up in the tiniest of smiles. "I would think you would know by now cetra," He said in his deep, monotone voice, "Everything you do is out business."

Stagnant air hung around them, devoid of any kind of breeze. It was early morning and Aerith could see the vague outline of sunlight from beyond the walls. It shone in the murky air like muted blood in a pool of water. Tseng pushed passed her and entered her room. She didn't bother fighting him. She could never stand against Shinra.

"Especially since your new distraction is owned by Shinra." He added thoughtfully. Aerith watched as Tseng walked purposefully through her room. No action was wasted. She could see his mind calculating behind those emotionless eyes as he scanned everything in her small bedroom, his eyes flicking from one object to the next. What the fuck are you looking for? Aerith thought with all the spite in her heart.

She wanted more than anything to throw him out of her window. She wanted to watch him writhe in pain, to suffer. But she knew that she couldn't that. She had learned that the easiest way to deal with Tseng, or just Shinra in general, was to let them be. Most of the time, if you just let them get what they want, they'll leave without causing too much trouble.

She stood, unmoving, as he looked around. He had on white gloves; a new look for him. She watched as he lifted up her mattress, sifted through her laundry and pulled back her sheets, each action causing more rage to build inside of her. She bit her lip so hard that it bled. She didn't even notice.

"What do you expect to find in there?" She snapped suddenly after watching him poke around in her trashcan for over a minute.

"A condom." He replied, not even bothering to look up at her.

Aerith's face burned red. She was shocked.

"And why would you assume . . ."

"Because it's expected of Zack Fair." He said as if not even paying attention.

Aerith's heart sunk.

"Expected? What do you mean?" She asked, trying to hide the disgust that wavered her voice.

He looked up with a barely-there smirk, as if relishing Aerith's pained expression. "It seems as though Fair hasn't told you some things. Maybe you should ask around Wall Market? Or maybe Fair himself?"

Aerith wanted to cover her ears like a child. She would do anything to take back the words that Tseng had spoken. She watched, in horror, as Tseng pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. He straightened and walked towards her, his shoes clicking against her woods floor with every step. Aerith's heart pounded in her chest. What was he going to show her?

She froze when he placed the paper in her her hand. She didn't even notice when he stepped out onto her windowsill. Her eyes were too focused on the folded paper. It was thick, like a photograph. She looked to him.

"I don't think you understand how important you and whatever offspring you may have are to the future of this world." Tseng said. The edge was gone from his voice, replaced with something like compassion, but Aerith didn't care. "We have to keep track of everything and everyone that you do."

If she had looked up she would have seen the pain in his eyes. If she had listened she would have heard the hatred he spat when he said Zack Fair's name. If she had just thought of something other than Zack, she would have noticed his jealousy. But Aerith was infatuated, and didn't care about anything.

Aerith, heart throbbing out of her chest, flipped the paper over and examined the other half. It was a blank white. She had to open it, she had to look at the other side.

She swallowed and unfolded it.

It was a photo.

Aerith gasped as she stared at the face of her mother. She was standing next to a tall man in something of a laboratory. A small baby was cradled in her mother's arms. It was her, the baby was her. Aerith's attention was quickly drawn to the grey haired man next to her mother. She brushed her fingers against the crinkled gloss. Father?

A small note fell from between the two sides of the pictures. Carefully, Aerith picked it up off the ground.

This belongs to you.

She raised her head to look at Tseng, but he was gone. She was touched by his humane action, but she couldn't help but feel enmity towards him from the things that he had told her about Zack.

Aerith looked at the picture one last time before placing on the table behind her.

Was Zack really what Tseng claimed he was? What would she find at Wall Market that was so bad? She had so many questions tumbling around in he head, none of which she particularly wanted answered.

She sat on her bed, her stomach sick. Apparently Zack was hiding something from her. But part of her never wanted to to know what, wanted to just ignore it and pretend it didn't happen. Aerith couldn't do that, because she owed it to herself to learn the truth, even if it did hurt.

She sat on her bed for the remainder of the day, not even bothering to go tend the flowers until late into the night.

I'm actually starting to get into this story. I have so many things planned mwahahaha

Hey, I SEE YOU GUYS WHO DON'T REVIEW! Please, you don't understand how much reviews mean to me. I get so excited when I check my email, and I'm overjoyed when I see a new review. They make me want to write!

Reviews only take like a minute to write. You can say anything. Tell me what you didn't like about the chapter I don't care. Just write something because I know a lot of people read this and it's disappointing when they don't even take the time to give feedback.

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