Hi readers! I'm glad people seem to be enjoying! Next chapter will be all about Vincent and Yuffie, so you can look forward to that! You won't wanna skip it, because there Will be some important info in there :). Again, I appreciate the reviews! You are all so awesome!

I DO NOT OWN FF VII

Chapter 10: This is not a date

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"Shall we walk there?" Asked Zack in his charming and nearly enchanting tone As he looked over at Tifa. Tifa looked at him, smiled and shook her head.

"No, we'll drive. You think Cloud's the only one with a bike?" Tifa said, walking behind the house. Zack followed her into what looked to be a secret garage door. It was covered in vines, all that was noticeable, and even that you had to look hard for, was a tiny door handle. Tifa swung the door open and walked inside the dark garage. Zack wasn't sure if he should follow her, or wait so he decided to wait. A few moments later he heard the ruffling of a sheet or tarp, and then the loud sound of an engine starting. It excited him, and startled him at the same time.

Tifa drove out of the garage on a black and red dual pipe bike with thick round tires, much like Cloud's. Zack put on a wide smile.

"Well, Damn! Look at you." He said, shaking his head a little.

Tifa shrugged her shoulders and gestured for him to close the door to the garage and hop on.

Zack closed the door and walked up to Tifa and the bike, examining both. "I can drive." He said, a little weary of Tifa and her driving skills.

"No I'm driving, I wanna show you something before the aquarium. After that, I'll think about letting you drive." She said almost threatening.

"Well, don't you dare crash and kill us." Zack said as he hopped onto the back

"I.. I won't." Tifa's heart skipped a beat when Zack put his arms around her waist and pressed his body against her back. She knew he had to, in order to hold on, but Zack always seemed to make things sexual, in some way or another. Be it a smirk, wink, playfully stealing her cleaning rag, offering to do all the cleaning at the bar. Soon, Tifa shrugged it off and began speeding toward the outskirts of Midgar.

"So where we goin?!" Zack yelled over the sound of wind and the engine of the bike.

Tifa heard him just fine, seeing as how he yelled directly into her ear. "You'll see!" she yelled back, as loud as she could. As they got out of Midgar, it looked to Zack as if they were driving in a desert. Everything was dry, brown and cracked. He shook his head and held onto Tifa. He was thankful she was allowing him to hold onto her and not beat the snot out of him like he had seen her do to the Turks, although part of him really wanted to see her fight again.

The two approached a large, steep hill and Tifa shifted and began to accelerate. Zack noted that she was a skilled driver, but slow wasn't in that note at all. As the hill grew closer, and as the sped up, Tifa's hair flew into Zack's face, and Zack's grip on Tifa tightened. He thrashed his head around, trying to get the thick blanket of chocolate hair out of his face and mouth, although it smelled very good.

Before he knew it, they had made it to the top of the hill and stopped. "Here we are." Tifa said as she killed the engine and popped out the kick stand and let the bike lean and rest. Zack hopped off and immediately his eyes were fixated on a large, tarnished piece of steel, protruding from the dry ground. His heart stopped, and memories came flooding into his mind.

Hang in there, Cloud... Don't move, okay? ...Boy oh boy, The price of freedom is steep.

"You okay, Zack?" Tifa asked, Breaking Zack from the flood of emotions an flashbacks. The look on his face was so blank, it scared Tifa. "I'm sorry. This was a bad idea." She said looking down.

Zack walked to the sword Angeal had handed down to him, and then Zack handed that sword down to Cloud. Here it stood, tarnished and burned by the wind and sun, Still stained with blood. Zack couldn't tell if it was his own blood, or all those he killed trying to escape with Cloud. Zack grabbed the handle of the sword and pulled it from the ground. Dirt few around him, illuminated by the setting sun. The weight felt so familiar in his hands. Despite the dirt, tarnish and bloodstains, Zack raised the sword and placed it to his forehead.

Tifa watched him carefully, it was almost like watching two friends reunite. After a few more moments of silence, Zack turned to her. "Thank you, Tifa." He said quietly.

"Are you alright?" Tifa asked, a bit concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. This is one of the best dates I've been on." Zack said, teasingly with a wide smile.

"Date?! No this isn't a date silly." Tifa said, crossing her arms. She looked upon the soldier as he stood there staring at her so confidently.

Zack wasn't shaken or surprised by her statement He knew he could win her over, it would just take some time. "Maybe not now, but by the time the night is through, you bet your a** it's a date!" He said with a wink.

Tifa shook her head stubbornly. His wink did woo her a little bit she wasn't about to let that show. She resolved earlier in the day that she would not fall for him or his charm. Zack was easy to fall for, and any girl who saw him always took a second third or even fourth look. She knew it, and Zack knew it, so Tifa wasn't gonna play his game.

"Are you taking that?" Tifa asked, ignoring his statement as she pointed out his sword.

"Couldn't possibly leave it behind." He chuckled. Tifa walked back to the bike and pressed a small button near the odometer, opening the hidden slots in the midsection of the bike where swords could be stored. "One hell of a bike you have here, Miss Lockhart." Zack said, impressed.

"It's designed for Cloud, but I wanted one for myself." Tifa said proudly as she watched Zack delicately place his sword in an open slot.

"I'm drivin." Zack said after finishing putting his sword away safely.

"Are you sure you're a safe driver?" Tifa asked, concerned.

"Good, yes. Safe, not so much. Just hold on tight and we'll be just fine." Zack said, closing the slots and hopping onto the bike. He turned to Tifa, who looked wary of the situation, and patted the portion of the seat behind him. "C'mon. It'll be fun." He tempted again.

"Okay, but this is not a date." She said firmly. She then made her way to the bike and hopped on. Zack revved the engine and Tifa latched onto him tightly.

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Zack sped through town quickly, somehow managing to avoid the local authorities. He liked the way Tifa's arms felt wrapped around his waist and her chin sometimes resting on his back. Tifa was impressed with his driving skills, she was slightly shaken, but not surprised. Seemed to her like he was good at just about everything he tried. Before Tifa knew it, they were stopped in the parking lot of Midgar's large museum, where the new aquarium was Located.

"Man! Sure is packed." Zack said as he examined the long and winding line of people.

"I wonder how Cloud even managed to get in." Tifa said to herself.

"Oh!" Zack exclaimed, he then began digging in the pockets of his jeans. "Hmm..." He mumbled as he continued to dig. "Aha!" Zack pulled out a small I.D. card. "This baby will get us to the front of the line."

Tifa snatched the card from his hands and examined it. "A soldier I.D. Card huh? Tell me, Zack... Do you still consider yourself one of them?" Tifa asked as she looked up at him.

"No. Cloud and I were imprisoned for four years, before all that happened, I thought being a SOLDIER was honorable." he looked down. "But just look at what it did to Cloud, Aerith, Midgar... You."

Tifa could tell it was probably a question she shouldn't have asked, so she quickly changed the subject. "Hey, let's go inside, alright?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, let's go." He said with a smile, shaking off his previous thoughts. Zack took Tifa by the wrist and led her all the way up to the front of the line, pushing past the other citizens who wanted to see the aquarium, and who had probably waited all day to get tickets.

Once at the ticket window, the ticket master glowered at Zack.

"Back o' the line, buddy." She said in an angry monotone.

"Please ma'am, ya don't understand. My girl and I here don't have a lot of time left in Midgar, you see I'm a first class Soldier and I get shipped out tomorrow on a mission In Gongaga." He said, frantically placing his I.D. card against the glass so the woman could see. He pulled on Tifa's wrist so she was beside him and then placed his arm around her and gave the woman a charming smile that only Zack Fair could give.

"Oh alright..." The woman said, having sympathy on the pair. Zack paid the fee, which was largely discounted, and the two were allowed entry.

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Tifa's wine eyes enlarged as she looked upon the magnificence of all the sea creatures she saw around her. They were in a glass tunnel and surrounded head to toe with water and all walks of sea life. Small string lights hung along the top of the tunnel, sparkling like stars.

Zack watched Tifa as she gazed upon the water and fish. He had never seen her like this before. It was refreshing to him, to see her relax. It almost seemed as though she were happy. It saddened his heart as he thought of it, if this was the first time he had seen her happy since he arrived back in the world of the living.

"Isn't this beautiful?" Tifa whispered as she delicately placed her hand on the glass and then turned to look at Zack. She was surprised when she didn't see him there. A moment ago he had been right behind her.

"Yeah, it is." Zack said from her right. Tifa jumped. She hasn't sensed him there. She turned to him and raised her eyebrows with a Closed mouth smile.

"Let's keep looking." Tifa said rolling her eyes at Zack who seemed to be staring at her.

Zack obliged and the two walked further until they were no longer in the tunnel. Tifa's eyes were immediately drawn to an open pool of starfish and seahorses. She made her way over and knelt down. "Ah, how cute." She said smiling.

"They look kinda slimy." Zack said, kneeling down and scrunching his nose.

Tifa was about to speak when she noticed an employee staring at her and glaring. She cocked an eyebrow at him and shook her head, turning to Zack she spoke. "What's his deal?" She asked.

The man soon walked up to the pair and Tifa got a good look at him. He was wearing a blue jumpsuit, which made Tifa assume he was a janitor of sorts, his hair was short, silver and spiky and he wasn't very tall. Aside from the hight and hair length, he reminded Zack a lot of Sephiroth.

"Don't waist your time with her buddy, you might contract something." The man said.

Tifa gasped loudly. "Excuse me?!" She boomed angrily as she stood. Zack stood also and glared at the man.

"You heard me, she's a slut." The silver haired man repeated.

Tifa reached to her back pocket and grabbed her gloves, but Zack already had the man pinned to the wall. "I don't know who the f*** you think you are, but Tifa is not a slut. I don't even think you know her! I don't take kindly to men who talk any kind of s*** about women, and I ain't gonna give you any second chances." With that statement, Zack punched the man square in the jaw, knocking him out.

Tifa put a hand over her mouth. She was in a state of shock and excitement at the same time. Cloud would probably have just told the man to shut it, or let Tifa kick his a**, but he would never defend her like that.

Soon after Zack rendered the custodian unconscious, the two were thrown out of the aquarium.

They walked back to Tifa's bike and Zack put his hands behind his head and looked at Tifa who looked a bit dejected. "Hey, sorry about that Tifa." He said feeling a little bad about his actions.

"It was good while it lasted." Tifa said, with a light smile. "Oh, Zack."

"What?" Zack said surprised by the concern in Tifa's voice.

Tifa reached up and pulled his right arm from behind his head and noticed bloody knuckles. "Looks like you need a good pair of gloves. Let me take you back to my house and we'll fix this up."

"Only if you admit that you had fun on this date." Zack said with a smirk, unaffected by the open flesh on his fist.

"Zack, this was not a date. I told you that." Tifa said as she shook her head.

"I think it was." Zack said, Hopping on the bike and grabbing hold of the handlebars.

"No, you can't drive with your hand like that!" Tifa scolded as she walked over to him.

"You can't stop me." Zack said with a smile as he leaned close to Tifa's face. His eyes sparkled as he admired and stared into hers.

"Yes. Yes I can." Tifa warned, trying to remain firm despite the fact that Zack was inching closer to her, looking as though he wanted to place his soft lips upon hers.

"If you wanna stop me, then just admit it was a date." Zack said teasingly.

"It wasn't a date, Zack." Tifa said, placing her hands on her hips.

"I warned you." Zack said before putting his unwounded hand behind her head pulling her face to his and placing his lips against hers. The kiss was gentle, but firm. Tifa was in shock and unsure how to react as Zack gently moved his hand around to touch her face and slowly intensify the kiss. She watched his Mako eyes close slowly. Tifa finally gave in and kissed him back. The butterflies in her stomach overruled the logic in her head. Her heart was pounding violently in her chest, she was unsure where to put her hands but she was enticed by him, like she was under a spell. Shortly after she kissed him back, Zack pulled away.

"That makes it a date." He said confidently.