"So where's my chocolate?" Zack Fair singsongs as he plops down on the other side of the flowerbed Aerith is watering.

She scowls underneath her mask. Ever since Fair found out that she, the Cetra Gang leader, had been the one secretly taking care of the school's flower garden, he takes every opportunity to come here and just… be here. He doesn't even do anything. Just sits there talking at her until she's done, then walks her to the Sector 5 Station. He keeps doing it even if they've gotten into a fight that same day.

"Didn't you already get some?" Aerith retorts, remembering the small pile she'd seen him stuff unceremoniously in his school bag.

Zack Fair is quite popular with the ladies. She had seen the girls just stare at him sometimes back when they were in the same class. She'd watched his desk pile up with chocolates last Valentine's Day, with a group of blushing, giggling girls surrounding him. He's definitely not hurting for any chocolate.

"Well, yeah, but I want some from you."

Aerith jolts, but doesn't say anything. She keeps watering, but underneath her face mask she starts to feel a little warm. Does he have no shame? Why is it so easy for him to say things like that?

"I didn't get any from you last year too," Fair continues, his voice taking on a whiny tone. "I'm starting to think you don't like me."

"I don't," she replies quickly. Did he really forget all the times she's tried to take him down? What part of that suggests a modicum of 'like'?

Fair simply chuckles, unfazed. "That's not true."

She pulls at a stray weed a little too forcefully, incensed at his quick denial. It's hotter beneath her mask now. She hates how he can make her feel so many things without even trying. Absolutely infuriating.

"Will you give me some next year?"

"…No."

"Okay, I'll be waiting for it."

Aerith's head snaps up in annoyance. Fair is grinning at her, just watching her with his head propped on his hand. His eyes twinkle in that way it always does when he talks to her, and she can't help the shiver that runs down her spine. Her face feels really hot underneath her mask.

She opens her mouth to retort, to deny giving him chocolates once more, but he speaks again with a lighter tone.

"You were pretty happy, right?" he says, but it wasn't a question, "when Tifa gave you the chocolate."

Returning her focus to the flowers, she pulls at another weed, but a lot more gently this time. "She's just a busybody," she murmurs, though there's no vitriol in her voice.

Fair chuckles again. "Cloud says the same thing."

"Well, she is."

"I know, I know." Aerith hears a shuffling sound and footsteps, and without looking up, she feels the heat of his presence get closer beside her. He softly bumps his arm into hers. "Aren't you glad you finally made a female friend?"

She doesn't say anything for a while, picking up the watering can again. She pauses, contemplating, before finally answering.

"…No."

"Alright," he replies with that tone suggesting he doesn't believe her. It's like he knows exactly what she means even if she says otherwise. Most of the time it annoys her, but the rest of the time it just makes her feel heard. Less embarrassed. Less inclined to have to explain herself. Less… Judged.

They stay like that for a while, Zack quietly kneeling next to her as she continues to care for the flower bed. It's serene, and it's moments like these that make it hard to turn him away.

Her time with the flowers used to just be for her, a special time where she can unwind and touch on the part of herself she keeps hidden.

The flowers aren't afraid of her, they don't judge her, and they listen to her even when she has nothing to say. They see her for who she is and they don't mind what they see.

Zack is like a flower too, in that sense. That's one reason why she likes him being here in her private time, in her special place. His presence is kind of like a flower. Though she'd never say any of that out loud.

"Hey, Aerith."

"Mm."

"Can we spend more time together?"

Aerith's hand pauses for a moment. She doesn't look up, but she can feel Zack is closer now, his side pressing against hers. Her face feels hot again and she finally pulls her mask down to cool her cheeks off.

"Aren't we already?" she eventually says, pulling another weed.

"I mean more time," came Zack's immediate response.

He's always so straightforward like that. Always catching her off-guard with his bluntness. She knows exactly what he means - there is always no question with Zack Fair. If he says he wants more time together, he truly means it.

She wants to say yes. And also no. All she knows is she's never felt anything quite like what he makes her feel. It makes her anxious but in a good way. And it's very annoying.

"…I'll think about it."

She expects the usual quick and easy "alright" or "okay" from him, but he doesn't say anything. Curious at the delay, she turns towards him, and what she sees makes her heart skip a beat, the watering can nearly slipping from her hand.

Zack is just staring at her with the gentlest expression she's ever seen. His head is propped on his arms, tilted towards her, his eyes crinkled in a way that matches the soft smile curving on his lips.

No one has ever looked at her like that before. Like she was the whole world. Like she was something never seen before. An expression she can't even describe, because it's her first time seeing something like it directed at her.

Aerith doesn't know what her own face looks like right now. But she knows Zack can see it and understand. At this point, he probably knows her own expressions better than she does.

"…Okay," he simply says after a while. Aerith feels some disappointment as his gaze falls away from her. His hand reaches out to take the watering can from her, fingers brushing against hers. "Let's finish up here so we can get something to eat."

Aerith doesn't protest, letting him take it. His warm presence leaves her side as he stands up to put the can away in the school shed. She gets up too, brushing her skirt off with a sigh. She leisurely follows him, picking her staff up on the way.

"You're paying," she calls out to him, and she hears his good-natured chuckle echo from the shed.

This one is for my Zerith friends. The Price of Freedom is Steep.

And that's all. I hope you all enjoyed~