Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.
A/N: I am absolutely overwhelmed by the positive reaction that this story has gotten. I never would have guessed that you would enjoy it this much. I love to hear your thoughts, opinions, likes, dislikes and over all constructive criticism from you. To all the reviewers, thank you for staying with the story and showing your interest, this means so much to me to know that you are enjoying it.
Now, here is a dreaded transition chapter, although they are hated by most, they are necessary to the progression of the story.
I have a poll on my profile and I would like to hear from you, if you haven't already seen it. (Update: I took the poll down, I got enough responses and it answered my question, thanks for participating.)
I also put up the first chapter of my old story UB that got taken down by choice, but I re-named it "Nexus" (shameless plug) Check it out and let me know what you think.
Thank you to my fantastic beta SubZeroChimera!
"The imagination exercises a powerful influence over every act of sense, thought, reason – over every idea." –Latin Proverb
To You I Give My Heart
Chapter 17
~Just a Day in the Life of Zack Fair~
"Good morning Zack," Solack waved to him as he walked by.
Waving back, Zack smiled, "Morning!" Making his way down to the caves like every morning for the last couple of months, the larger man greeted everyone just as they did daily. Digging underground was tiring, but it paid for his new home, food, clothes and Cloud's medical care. Sharna had to start charging him, but only because the medicine that she began to give to Cloud was not cheap. It didn't help that the traveling merchants were charging extra since they were keeping quiet about why they needed the medicine. Bugenhagen knew them, and trusted them, but everyone wanted something in return.
Zack still held on to as much of the gil that Harding had given them and only used as little as possible. As long as he had a job, there was no reason to use it and he didn't know when he would need it later.
According to Sharna and Bugenhagen, the medicine was a combination of prenatal vitamins and something that kind of neutralized the more harmful effects of the mako.
Reaching his destination in the caves, Tokala grinned, "Good morning Zack, right on time."
Zack waited as Tokala gave everyone their morning talk and prayer. While he waited, he approached the white chocobo that he'd been working with, Marshmallow, as she stood in her stable. When the young chocobo saw him, she bounced up and down while flapping her wings and let out a loud, 'Wwaark!'
Patting her neck and petting her, he scratched in that spot just under her wing that made her cuddle her head to his neck, "How are you today beautiful?"
Marshmallow cooed 'wark' and allowed him to place her reins around her beak and head.
"Zack," Tokala called to him. The shorter man looked younger than he was. Although he was in his mid-twenties, he didn't look a day over eighteen. Being the oldest of three boys, he was the youngest of the village council. Tokala's long dark hair was usually kept back neatly with a band around his head, but today he looked completely different. Normally, his serious nature and quiet attitude oozed and filled his personal space, but now, his hair hung loose around his shoulders, he was light on his feet and his face beamed with a not-often-seen smile like a giddy teenager.
"Yeah, what's up? You look a little more… umm," Zack studied the shorter man. When the other man blushed, Zack displayed a toothy grin, "Let me guess, you finally kissed her?" Tokala didn't say a word, he just turned his attention to his leather gloves. Slapping his friend on the shoulder, Zack finished, "I've been wondering when you were going to finally kiss the girl."
"Shut up Zack," Handing the brunette a pickaxe and shovel, Tokala turned and quickly made an exit.
Hanging his tools on the harness that lay over the chocobo's back, he fixed the back of the harness to the small trailer, "What do you think Marshy? It's about damn time that man let her know how he feels about her." Flapping her wings, the chocobo let out another 'wark'. Pulling on the reins, Zack smiled a half smile, "I know how he feels though."
Distracted by his thoughts of the blond asleep in their house, Marshmallow nudged and rubbed her forehead on the back of his head, tangling up his hair and pulling it out of the band that he had it restrained with, and with a grin, he called, "Hey, don't mess with the hair!" After fixing the headband back on his head, he gently urged her on, "Come on, let's get to work."
The caves were getting bigger and every time he walked past the older entrance to the oldest part of the cave, he got a feeling of dread. Bugenhagen once told him that it led to a place where a mighty battle occurred. Of course he wanted to explore, but he didn't dare. After everything that these people were doing for him and Cloud, he didn't want to take a chance on offending any of them. The digging that they were doing now was strictly for expansion of the village. Zack had a feeling that Bugenhagen was preparing for something big, but he wasn't saying what it was.
Making it to his designated digging spot, he pulled out his pickaxe and began digging at the wall. Once he got the trailer filled, he led Marshmallow to the dump site, a large room that was dug out for this specific purpose, storage. It was closer to the dig site and it allowed the guy who hauled it out to the dump site to separate the rocks from the soil that could be used for planting. Right now though, it just stored dirt and rock that was eventually hauled topside.
At lunch time, Zack left Marshmallow to graze in her stall while he went home to get a bite to eat and see his beautiful angel.
Pushing through the door, Sharna was there and washing Cloud's face, "I went ahead and fed her for you because she still needs to eat smaller meals more often during the day."
Crossing the large room, Zack gave the two women a smiling glance, "Have I ever told you how much I appreciate your help?"
A warm smile lit up the young medicine woman's face, "You're welcome. All of her measurements and everything are really good. The baby seems healthy and active too. Now I must go, Namika's baby needs my attention. I will check back in on her when I'm finished with my other duties."
"Okay thanks Sharna," Zack rustled through the kitchen area of the main room and found stuff to make a large sandwich. The newer cooler that he bought from the traveling merchants really became a really great buy on his part. The one that was originally in the house when he and Cloud were given the place, only worked once a very long time ago. Mistakenly, he had opened to find that kids who had once played in the house had used it to store various items, a wide assortment of paraphernalia that he was sure that the adults of the village knew nothing about. Now that he was able to keep food cold, they both had a wider variety of things that they could eat. Which thrilled Zack to no end, he never wanted to look at another protein bar or toaster pastry again.
Only having enough time to eat, he quickly sat next to the sleeping blond. Sharna had put her on her side, facing him so her cheek was accessible to his lips. While sitting in the lab cells, the thought of having a family with her was once a far off dream, but know it was a reality that wasn't working out exactly how he had envisioned it. For now though, he didn't dwell on the negative, they were safe, and that was all he could reasonably ask for now, "See ya in a bit. I still have at least four more trailers that I need to haul before I can call it a day."
Getting back to the enthusiastic chocobo, Marshmallow was just as excited to see him as she was earlier that day. Leading her back to their assigned area, Zack attached the trailer to the harness again and began working.
Lost in thought, the picture of his parents crossed his mind. He wondered if maybe taking a trip down to Gongaga to see what kind of presence Shinra had there was might be worth it. The one and only thing stopping him was Cloud. She couldn't travel the way he would have to travel in her condition, and he couldn't care for her the way she needed if they were traveling and trying to keep a low profile.
Leaving her here was one way, but being away from her for so long, he didn't think he could do it. Not just for her, but he physically didn't think he could stay away from her for that long. Besides, what if she woke up and he wasn't there, would she think that he abandoned her? He made her a promise a long time ago that he wouldn't leave and he would die before he would leave her side.
'Waark!'
"What?" Looking at the chocobo, she pulled at the trailer that was now overflowing, "Oh, sorry Marshy." Setting his tools down, he led her to dump the contents and went back. At the end of the day, he scratched under her wing and hung up her harnesses, "See you in a couple of days, it is my days off, so you be good for Jalka okay. Just cut him some slack, he has a lot of stuff going on," With one last pat on her side, he left to go home.
With a silly smile on his face, he opened the door and announced, "Honey, I'm home!" Turning to the bedroom, he said in a quieter volume, "I kind of like the sound of that. How about you, do you like that?" Seeing her eyes open, they looked around emptily, but that was nothing new. Shifting her to a different position, he pulled his boots off, "Gimme a minute, I'm gonna clean up a bit and then we can go for our walk."
Getting a quick shower in, he changed clothes and put on some comfortable sandals, "Are you ready to go get some exercise?"
Pulling her up, her larger belly added a bit more weight to her. It was weird seeing her like this, she had always been slim and her slight build didn't hide the pregnancy anymore. For so long, she didn't show much, but just a few weeks after they got here to the Canyon, the baby seemed to grow and so did her beautiful bump. To him, there was nothing more beautiful about her, her natural glow came back, but everything that he heard about pregnant women having a glow was true. Her glow increased and the addition to the growing life inside her, the fact that this woman carried part of him with her made him love her that much more.
When he got her to standing, he asked, "Alright, this time you need to do a little walking. I'll hold you upright, but you have to move your feet. Exercise and walking is important for you and the baby."
Zack's usual path through the village did not include Bugenhagen's house. Getting Cloud up there in her present shape would be a feat of almost epic proportions. He was afraid he would end up hurting her, so he just kept the destinations as flat and non-climbing as possible.
Walking through the market, Cloud was walking and even holding some of her own weight. When something caught Zack's attention, he pulled her along, "Come on Cloud, I want to see something."
The spread of different ribbons of all shapes, sizes and colors got Zack to thinking again. Sharna taught him how to braid, he was actually really good at it now, and he was able to do all kinds of things with her hair. However, here were some ribbons that would look beautiful in her hair.
"What do you think Cloud? Which color do you like?"
Even with her eyes open, she saw nothing. She of course gave no answer, so Zack improvised, "How about purple?" Holding it up to her hair he scrunched his nose, "Nah, how about green?"
A feminine voice behind the displays of accessories remarked, "I don't think that green is her color. What is her favorite color?"
Jumping back to when they were in garrison, he remembered a few times and what her civilian clothes looked like and what she preferred to wear. Zack smiled at the merchant's oldest daughter and picked up the color that he always liked to see her in, "How about pink?" Holding up the dark pink ribbon to the side of her head, he smiled and finished, "I'll buy this one."
With his purchase complete, he walked around some more and still she walked with him. With her eyes still open, he made the walk a little longer this time. As soon as she began to drag her feet, Zack asked, "Well it's starting to get dark out anyway, so why don't we just get something and take home to eat?"
Once they got home, Zack propped her up on the couch that he procured from a neighbor. Not remembering ever seeing anything like it, it was interesting looking to say the least. In fact it was a bit of an eyesore. The bright orange material reminded him of the vests construction crews or hunters would wear. When the neighbor let him have the couch, they kept the covering, so as soon as he was able, he went and bought something to cover the terrible visually assaulting hue in the earthy tone of light brown. It also wasn't very comfortable, but it served its purpose.
"So Cloud, what do you want to eat first, the roast beef or the steamed veggies?" Holding the two items in front of her, the deep blue of her eyes glowed softly as her gaze saw right through them. As if she answered, he filled the silence, "Veggies it is then." Feeding her seemed to be more difficult, the reason being that if she choked, it was harder to flip her over. Zack was weary of bumping or accidently hitting her stomach. The old man tried to reassure him several times, telling him that she was more resilient than that, and so was his child, but even with that information, he still took extra care around her now.
One thing that he found a relief was that something in the mixture of medicine that Sharna and Bugenhagen were giving her helped with the morning vomiting routine. Now instead of every morning, it was maybe once a week.
Finishing up with dinner, Zack sat next to her on the couch, put his arm around her and told her about his day, "I'm pretty sure that Tokala finally kissed Amarinis. You know as well as I do, how he has liked her forever now. I wonder if her father is going to consent to their relationship," Leaning in closer to her ear, he whispered, "Just between you and me, I think he is going to ask her to marry him."
For just a few minutes more, Zack sat there with her at his side before he asked, "Well it's pretty late now, let's go ahead and get to bed. Tomorrow we've got places to go, remember, I'm helping Solack with his roof and you know how early he gets started. But hey, in the afternoon, Pipki is getting ready for his test so he can start training as a warrior. I know he would like to see you, it has been quite a while since he's been able to come over."
Sharna had helped him with simplifying changing her clothes by getting her dresses. Cloud now had an assortment of sun dresses, strapless band dresses and loose-fitting matron dresses. Zack's favorite to see her in was the sun dresses, with her growing belly he liked the way it accentuated her pregnancy. Some of them were loose just below her bust line, so those were the ones he always picked.
Now in her nightclothes, she lay still on her side of the bed. Having closed her eyes after Zack laid her down, and after getting himself undressed, he climbed into bed to curl up to her back. He loved the way her hair felt on his chin and throat. Stroking the side of her head he brushed some loose strands of blond silk-like hair from her face.
With a small kiss to the side of her forehead, he spoke in a hushed whisper, "Good night Chocobo." Moving his hand down to her stomach, he sighed and fell asleep to the feel of his child moving inside the woman he loved.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."
Please send me your reviews if you want. It is really easy. Just click your arrow in the little box, write what you thought or felt about the chapter and then click right down there, just below the box. A little lower… a little to the right… yeah, right there! Click it! *grinning
