40 –Just a Feeling

Aerith sat beside Zack, holding a cold glass of water between her hands. "Do you feel better now, Aerith?" he asked a moment later. They were in their room, with the air conditioner turned up to its max. He was still wearing his board shorts and a t-shirt. "Yeah… I'm sorry to have worried you, Zack…" she whispered, looking down at her lap. He took a deep breath. "Nah, it's okay. Don't worry." His hand snaked around her waist and he whispered in her ear, "Just don't scare me like that ever again, Aerith!"

"I'm sorry. It was just too hot outside," she told him, clutching his arm. He was very heavy against her frail frame. Zack smelled of saltwater and pure masculinity—if that actually had a smell. Aerith rested her head on the crook of his neck, nuzzling.

They remained like that for a while until Aerith untangled herself from him and looked at him straight in the eye. "Zack," she said, voice faltering slightly. Zack raised an eye and asked, "What is it?" Her auburn eyes wandered downwards while her cheeks reddened. "What do you want, Aerith?" he asked quietly. She shook her head. "No, nothing… forget it, Zack. I want to sleep…"

"Oh… alright," Zack said, getting to his feet and led her to the bed. "Are you sure that you're feeling okay?" he asked as he tucked her in. His blue eyes were smoldering, clouded with something she couldn't tell. Aerith nodded and smiled at him. "Bring me back something pretty, okay?"

"Sure will!" Zack called after her as he walked away from the bedroom. "Sleep well, baby!"

Click.

The hallway was deserted and bright with mid-afternoon sunshine, the cool breeze blew in gently, kissing his heated skin. Zack sighed and slid against the door. He just didn't understand what was happening, it was all too weird. Damn it, damn it! What is up with you, Aerith?

What if she was falling out of love with him?

Is there somebody else? Sephiroth?

Zack stared at the wooden floor, hearing his heartbeat beating loudly in his ears, feeling the fear creep up on him. No, no, please don't let it be like that. He didn't know how he would react if that was it. He just loved her too goddam much. Aerith was his life, his everything… He'd do anything for her. Her smiles and laughs were the source of his strength. Zack clenched his teeth and balled up his fists. He just couldn't imagine losing her.

He closed his eyes.

"Come to bed, Zack baby…" she whispered, taking his hand in hers, tugging gently. Aerith's hair was a mess and her silk nightdress clung to every curve of her body. Her eyes were shining and her cheeks were rosy. "I've missed you…" Zack stared at the woman standing before him. "I missed you too, baby." She smiled and tugged at his hand again. He gave in and followed her upstairs, to the bedroom.

Aerith almost tore apart his shirt once they'd crossed the bedroom door. He met her violence with his own, relishing on stripping her of her skimpy nightdress. She wasn't wearing anything else underneath. A low moan escaped his lips. "Come," she whispered leading him to the bed.

Zack opened his eyes with a jolt. It had been a little over two months since they'd last made love. Could it be that she was pregnant? "Oh shit," Zack spat. If Aerith is pregnant, is he ready? Did she know already? His heart skipped a beat and continued beating louder in his ears. His Mother would go ballistic over this, and say that he was too young for this. Zack shook his head. No, no… he's responsible enough; he can be a Father, right?

"Zack!" Tifa exclaimed, standing up from the lounging chair at the sight of her friend. "How's Aerith?" He looked tired and lost in thought. Tifa looked at Cloud who had taken his place beside her. Zack looked at them and attempted to smile. He's worried with Aerith, Tifa thought as she walked over to their friend and gave him a hug. "She'll be okay, Zack. Maybe she just got too tired from all the activities yesterday and today." Cloud placed his hand on Zack's shoulder and murmured, "How is she?"

Zack smiled impishly and said, "She went to sleep some more, so I went out for a bit."

"You look like you're about to faint yourself," Cloud commented. "Want a beer?"

"That would be great bro. Thanks."

Cloud steered Zack away from the party to a quiet place. Cloud sighed and sat on the sand with a half-full beer in his hand. "Hey Zack, tell me something." The raven sat beside his friend and took a swig from his own bottle. "Yeah? What is it?" Blue eyes met blue eyes. "What's going on between you and Aerith? Everybody's noticing it. You guys are acting weird."

"I wish I knew myself." Zack murmured, taking another swig of his beer. "She's been acting like this for a while now. Hey… she's not thinking about breaking up with me, is she? What do you think?"

Cloud shook his head and downed some more of his drink. "I don't know, man. Women are so difficult to figure out. Why? Did you do something wrong?"

"I don't know either! Women always find fault in everything, so how the hell am I supposed to know?" Zack chuckled nervously. In his mind, he was recalling and analyzing everything he'd said and done. "But Aerith tells me when she doesn't like something…" he said quietly.

"Ah… maybe it's just the time of the month, bro."

"Che, I hope!" Zack laughed. "I mean… seriously. I can put up with her rage period, sure." A quiet minute passed. "So how were the coral reefs, Cloudy boy?" Zack broke the silence. Their beer bottles were empty and discarded now. "Were they really as pretty as they were in the brochure?"

"Yeah," Cloud replied lazily.

Zack looked up at the orange tinted sky. "Say Cloud, what would you do if Tifa gets pregnant?"

"Dude we're getting married," Cloud said, staring at the pristine ocean. "I mean, this is why we came here, to break the news to everybody formally. Oh right, you missed it last night. Where were you last night anyway?"

"Oh! So that was what the yacht party was all about! Sorry. Aerith wasn't feeling well last night so we stayed in the villa." Zack explained. "She was so scary last night, it was like she was going to eat me alive for not getting her strawberry ice cream!"

"Huh," Cloud mumbled. "She's been eating an awful lot of ice cream lately, hasn't she? Is she preparing for a role?"

"I don't know, she hasn't mentioned anything to me."

"What if she's pregnant?"

"Then shit… I don't know… we'll have a shotgun wedding, maybe." Zack ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "But I don't want her wedding to plain, I'm sure she doesn't want that either. I don't even have a ring to put on her finger right now."

"But you love her," Cloud said. "That's enough. I'm pretty sure you'll make things work out."

"I hope." Zack said, staring out into red-orange tinted horizon. "Say, Cloud, what did you mean by letting everybody know about your engagement formally? How long have you been engaged?" There was a momentary pause. "A month," his friend answered, grinning. "I asked her to marry me on our anniversary." Cloud stood up. "We'd better go back." The friends sanded off their shorts and walked back to the luau.

Tifa was talking to her staff when they reappeared, and for the first time, Zack noticed how her eyes twinkled at the sight of his friend. Aerith had that thing for him too, but it went on vacation for a bit. "I'll go and see if she's awake now," he told Cloud. "Sure, you go ahead."

He placed his hands on his pockets as he walked back to the villa. What if she is pregnant, you dickhead? Are you ready? Don't even think about running away. You love her, don't you? , he thought, pursing his lips. Did he have enough money to provide for her and their child? Well, look at it this way, dunderhead, you're pretty well off now compared to your pizza delivering days. Don't stress, you've got cash… What if her pregnancy ruins her career? Zack couldn't bear the thought of Aerith losing her supermodel and all-around icon status because of it. Damn it, I'm being irrational. Kids… can I deal with them? He thought about the children he had to deal with while he delivered pizzas. Some were cute and nice, some were hell raising devil spawns.

Aerith was sitting at the bayside window when he came in. She looked at him and smiled. "Hi," she said quietly as he walked towards her. "Hi," Zack said, smiling. "How do you feel?" Her smile returned and her cheeks were stained with pink. "Much better, baby… You don't look like you went scuba diving." Zack grimaced. "I wanted to scuba dive with you so I just had a manly chat with Cloud."

"A manly chat?" Aerith repeated incredulously the giggled. "I wonder what you guys talked about!" Zack sighed and reached for her hand. "Baby, what if we get married too?" He asked solemnly, eyes hooded from hers.

Silence. Aerith stared at him. "Marriage? You want to get married?" she said. There was doubt in her voice. Her big brown eyes were shiny, wide. "I'd marry you, of course."

Zack nodded. "Alright then. Let's have a shotgun wedding when we get back!" He produced a ring he'd bought from the souvenir shop. It was a simple pink pearl ring. "Aerith Gainsborough," he whispered, "I love you very very much." Aerith laughed at him and caught his lips with a kiss.

"You're acting very weird, baby," she whispered. "I like it."

"I'm always weird, and you aren't so normal yourself, baby. You did fall in love with me, after all." Zack winked.

Author's Note:

This is like, the longest appearance of Zearith in this fic so far. Ha! I apologize once again for the long wait, guys!

Oh... and if you recognize the chapter title from Maroon 5, it's because I'm going through some IDK emotional phase while I was writing this... Haha! Pfft. Right. Bye again~ don't forget to leave me a review! Thank you! :*

Victoria Chrystallis