Zack adjusted his hair one last time before knocking on Aerith's door, but just as he raised his hand, he was stopped by a light-hearted giggle from up above. Taking a step back, he glanced up along the wall. Aerith's face had appeared in the open upstairs window and was looking down at him. He raised his hand. "Hey!" She giggled again. "Wait a moment, I'll open the door!", she called down. "Thanks!", he replied as he scratched his head in embarrassment. Had she been watching him as he paced up and down in front of her house, looking for the right words?
Her quick steps approached the door, which flung open wide. She stood in the door, dressed in a knee-length white dress with short sleeves and the only pair of shoes she owned. And above all that, her flushed face with bright green eyes beaming at him, her hair done with the pink ribbon he'd given her on their first "date". She really was the prettiest girl in the whole city.
Zack scratched his head again, flustered, and could not think of anything else to say but "Hey, how's it going?" She clapped her hands in joy and said: "Great! Let's go!" She stepped out and pulled the door shut. "Whoa!", Zack exclaimed as she slid her arm under his. Not that he disliked it, but he really wanted to get his apology out of the way before the fun started.
Before Aerith could pull him on, he stopped her gently by taking he free hand with his hand and pulled her close. "Wait, before we go –" She pulled away. "Shh. Not here. They're watching", she whispered. Zack froze. Right. She was being watched. "Sorry", he muttered. "But I really want to tell you something before we go." She backed away, opened the door again and pulled him inside.
As the door fell shut, she slung both her arms around his waist and pressed her head against his chest. "I'm sorry", she muttered. Zack raised hands helplessly. Why was she apologizing? He lightly touched her shoulders and then wrapped his arms around her. "I am sorry. You don't need to pretend not to be bothered by them." He rested his cheek on the crown of her head. "At least not when you're with me." Aerith squeezed him tighter and sobbed. "It's OK to cry." She nodded, sobbing as he caressed her head gently. "You don't need to force yourself to smile."
Zack's mind wandered to Tseng. She could not fool them anyway. She was completely at their mercy. She could not continue playing this game. He moved toward the wall next to the door while continuing to hold her, and let himself sink down on the floor, slowly pulling her along. She knelt between his spread legs, her face still on his chest.
Finally, he was able to say: "I treated you really horribly yesterday. It must have been a shock for you when Tseng came to your house, and I-" He broke off as his throat choked and tears stung in his eyes. Nevertheless, he forced himself to speak on. "Yesterday, I was not in a good place and the first thing that came to my mind was that you were-" He swallowed hard as she buried her face in his chest and her hands grabbed his shirt on his back tightly. She did not deserve being suspected of anything, but she did deserve to know what he was thinking.
He squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to speak resolutely: "I thought you were cheating on me and I should never have suspected you of such a thing." He could feel his face burning in shame, but he kept his eyes squeezed shut as he awaited a reaction from her. He had half expected her to slap him around the face, but the smack did not come. Instead, she let go of his shirt and the next thing he could feel was both of her hands lightly on his cheeks. He opened one eye a slit, and he could see her face looking at him sadly.
"I- I understand you hate him", he began anew. "But to tell the truth, I feel really inadequate with all these amazing people around me. I feel like no matter how much I try, I just can't keep up." Her hands moved down to his shoulders and she finally spoke: "Have you ever thought about why all these amazing people want to be with you?" Zack opened his eyes. "What do you mean?" She turned away from him for a moment and looked straight at me. I froze, staring at the scene in front of me, realizing for the first time that Aerith could see me. She did not say anything, but her eyes seemed to ask me why I wanted to be with Zack so badly that I could not leave even in death. I looked away and said: "I did not choose to be here." To tell the truth, I had no idea what was going on. I had realized at that point who I was and that I was dead, but I had no control over where I was or what I saw. I would much rather be with Sephiroth, but seeing him in this state even just for a few short moments today and yesterday had been heartbreaking, and perhaps my subconsciousness was keeping me from seeking him out.
She turned back to Zack and to his great surprise, she pinched his nose out of the blue. "I thought you were going to apologize, but then you just start talking about yourself." He rubbed his nose. Now even his girlfriend was treating him like a puppy. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you for telling me", she said. "I had no idea you felt that way. You know, I think the most important thing is for two people to fit together. No matter what good traits someone has or how strong or smart they are, if their personalities clash, there's no hope for them." He could not deny that. I cannot deny that either. It takes a certain type of person to with another. And there is no point in forcing something that is simply not meant to be. I never met Aerith in life, but I could understand just from watching them what Zack saw in her. She did not look at me again, but having realized that she could see me, I wondered why that could be. Perhaps her mysterious powers were the reason Shinra was keeping an eye on her. Though that, too, did not answer the question why I was still there.
Before Zack could say anything in response, she kissed his lips softly and then got up and stretched out her hands. "I forgive you", she said cheerfully. He took her hands and looked at her from below. "The truth is that Tseng suggested I ask you out for dinner. It wasn't even my idea." Her expression of disappointment quickly made way for resolve. "That's too bad because I really wanted to go out for dinner and now we can't do that because it was his idea." Zack stared at her. But she laughed and added: "Did you really think I would say that?"