READ FIRST!! The first part is a PREFACE!! That means, it's something that will happen in the far, far future of the story. So if you feel lost, don't worry. You will understand what happened as the story goes on !! And, if it seems sad... well... I don't want to spoil but.. this story has a HAPPY ending.. so yeah.. don't feel depressed xD Anyway, enjoy...and please review in the site if you can:
First Love
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Preface
She shrieks, and buries her head in Zack's chest.
And, then, to her horror, she discovers that she's completely drenched in blood.
Zack's blood.
He collapses on the ground, wheezing. Aerith props him up from front with her arms; his head hang low on her shoulder. He is heavy but she holds him with determination and power she never knew she had.
"I... I..." She struggles to find her words, breaking into sobs. "I, I love you, Zack! I miss you, I forgive you, I'm so glad you're alive..."
She hurries with everything she has to say, as if she's dying and won't be able to live another day to tell him all that.
He coughs out blood, wanting to say something back.
"L...L...Lo-ve..."
He can't even say the "you" part. But Aerith knows what he wanted to say anyway. She struggles to smile at him.
He coughs up more blood; so Aerith hurries and tries to drag him to the car.
"Ss...Ss...S--" He stutters, wincing from the pain.
She puts a finger on his bloody mouth to shut him up.
"Don’t say a word! It'll be OK!!"
She snatches his cell phone and tries to call for the ambulance.
The service is dead.
She growls with frustration and throws the cell phone away.
Stubbornly, she continues to try and drag Zack to the car.
Zack starts to protest weakly.
"S...s...s...t-o...p... L...l...lea...ve"
She shakes her head at him, desperate but determined.
"Don’t be silly, Zack! I won’t leave without you. Besides, you're not that heavy, you know..." She forces a small smile.
He tries to laugh, but only manages to cough up more blood.
She gazes at him with horror. His face is as white as sheets. He is losing so much blood...
Looking down, he slowly shakes his head.
Aerith's expression twists in pain.
"NO! It's not over. You're not over. I'll get you to the nearest hospital! I promise!" She continues to drag him.
He pushes her off gently, and lies back on the ground; Aerith is frustrated and wants to drag him against his own will. He’s so weak he won’t be able to struggle against her.
But she stops when he leans away and throws up more blood. Aerith cringes, panic slowly overcoming her.
The wolves howl in the distance. Zack turns to her, his face paler than before, if possible.
"A-Aerith..." he's able to speak clearer now, as if the pain's all over, as if he's recovering by himself...
Aerith stares back at him, wary but intently.
"I-its getting late... Th-the ... wolves... will smell... the blood... and... come to... eat," he says darkly, his eyes completely serious. "S-so... you... Must... Go..."
She pales with horror, shaking her head quickly at him.
"NO! I... I WON’T LEAVE YOU! I WON’T LET THEM EAT YOU, NEVER!!" She desperately tries to drag him again, but failing.
He laughs weakly.
"I'm... tasty... ya... know... can’t... help it..."
Aerith scowls.
“It’s not the time to be mad, Zack. Help me here!” She cries desperately.
He grabs her arm and stops her, staring at her seriously now.
"A-Aerith…"
"Zack..." She coos, looking at him adoringly.
"Aerith... s-so... many things... to say... I... love... you."
Tears fill her eyes in an instant; she bites her lower lip to keep herself in control.
"No, Zack, no... Don't say stuff like that! Please... You... you'll be OK... I'll take you back... and..." She smiles to herself. "We'll get married..."
Zack bows his head down, fighting a tear of regret.
"And we'll have ten kids... just like you wanted. But no, we can't have triple twins, Zack. 'Cause three Zacks will make ME crazy!" She says, trying to distract him.
"Too... bad...” He says weakly, chuckling. No blood comes out this time. "I...wanted... triples."
Aerith laughs and cries at the same time.
He caresses her cheek softly, an almost teasing but adoring look in his eyes.
"S-since when... you... agreed to... marry... m-me...?"
She looks down shyly, smiling.
"S-since... I figured, you're the most important person in my life, Zack. I can't live without you... And, I want to spend the rest of my life by your side."
He winces at the last part, in pain.
"You can...live... without... me..."
Her tears come down freely now.
"Don’t say that, Zack. Just don’t. I can’t. It’s a fact. I'll die here with you if I have to."
He scowls, then winces some more at the pain.
"Yes… you can... then... you can... m-m-marry… That wimp... What’s...His-name... working... in... the diner... and... Have triples... name them... Zack... One… of them..." He struggles to grin.
Aerith is shaking her head all the while, though.
"Stupid. I'd never do that."
"Not… even... C-Cloud?"
She shakes her head, sighing.
"Especially not Cloud! Tifa loves him, remember?"
"Not even... R-Rufus… man of… B-billions?"
"NO!"
"Not even--"
"DON'T BE ABSURD, ZACK! No one! No one but YOU!"
He chuckles with relief, her favorite crooked grin appearing on his face.
"G-good... I ... just wanted.. t-to ... check..."
She smiles in spite of herself, and readies to drag him again.
He groans, she stops at once, afraid she hurt him.
"G-give up... already..." He says almost playfully, if not for the tiredness and hollowness in his voice now.
Aerith stops then collapses on the ground beside him, sobbing with grief, feeling useless and hopeless.
Someone... please... save him!
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Chapter 1
Aerith Gainsborough works as a flower girl in a small town. She doesn't get much money but she gets enough for living.
She lives in a small apartment that she decorates herself with flowers, so the interior is pretty- even for a crappy looking apartment; she manages to make it beautiful.
Aerith doesn’t have friends. Or family…
But, almost everyone here loves her. She’s nice, pure-hearted and compassionate. And she easily touches lots of people's hearts.
Some though, the perverted men of the street, see her as prey, A feisty prey. Part of the town girls hate her. Jealous of the heavy attention she gets. But she never sees through their malice. She’s nice and sees the good part of people.
During the day, she wanders around the streets, selling flowers...
And during her food breaks, she'd go to her favorite restaurant, owned by old friends. An old couple. She's a usual customer there, it’s where she always eats.
She sits alone, at her usual table, near the window, and the view outside, which is the old couple's garden, full of Aerith's carefully cared for flowers.
You can say Aerith is a bit of an eccentric.
See, she has a weird habit.
She talks to plants.
They don’t talk back, of course, but she just tells them stuff that are on her mind.
Guys used to try at her all the time, too.
For example, the owners of this diner, their son, Eric, has a crush on her.
He’s timid and weak, though, with no self confidence. He is barely able to talk back with her, stammering and all. Aerith is friendly but careful when interacting with him. She doesn't want to give him false hope. She loves solitude. She doesn’t want to be committed to anyone, or to belong to anyone.
Just her and the plants.
X-X-X
Zack Fair is a retired soldier.
He just retired, actually.
After his heroic act - he saved a comrade by almost sacrificing himself - he got an honorific medal for his bravery and loads of cash.
Now, he plans to live off that money, and just moved in to the same neighborhood as Aerith's. He lives in a crappy apartment, by himself.
Oh, how he longed for this freedom.
Out of the action, to be able to relax. Live his life. Enjoy himself. Settle in...
X-X-X
It's only Day 2 in here, and he already got bored.
He’s sitting yoga style on the bed, a bored expression on his face because all the channels on TV suck.
NEWS, NEWS, NEWS, COOKING, NEWS, SOAP OPERA, NEWS, ANIMAL CHANNEL...
He settles for the soap opera, and watches as two people start making out as soon as he flicked on the channel. He grimaces and walks toward the window, leaning on the window frame and staring out at the people outside.
Boring, boring people. Doing the same thing everyday.
He needs action. He needs adventure! He needs motivation!!
He stares back at the TV blankly.
Apparently, the guy in the soap opera is cheating on the other girl, who busts into the room, then glares at the girl he's shamelessly making out with, and slaps her hard... And then, they get into a bitch fight.
He watches with interest as they pull out each other's hair and scratch each other.
Where is the guy from all this?!
He snorts and changes the channel.
News.
He sees himself on TV as soon as he changes to the channel. His eyes go wide and he inches forward instinctively.
They're putting the part when he's being handed over the medal. He’s grinning brilliantly, of course.
He grins back at his figure on the TV, thinking that he looks pretty good looking there.
He wants to call his friends and tell them to check the news on TV, but as he is going for the phone, they end the news, and the weather girl pops up instead.
He curses at the fact they cut his pretty face so quickly. Too quickly! WHERE the HELL is his brilliant speech?!
The sky thunders outside.
He sniggers, because, at the same time, the weather girl says it’s a sunny and lovely morning. He chuckles to himself as he is gazing outside the window, and it starts raining.
He turns his head to the weather girl and rolls his eyes at her scornfully.
“Yeah, yeah... Shut up!”
Now he's talking to the TV! God, it's so boring!
He gazes outside the window again when something catches his eyes.
A female brunette, in a blue dress, and a basket full of flowers on hand, running down the street, trying to cover her head from the rain. She points for the taxi. But the jerk passes by her as if he didn’t see her.
He opens the window instantly.
Zack Fair, to the rescue!
“Hey, mam! I can give you a ride if you want!” He shouts down at her.
She looks up, all of her body - from head to toe - is already drenched in water.
He barks a laugh at how pathetic she looks.
She pouts, and just when she's about to shout “It's fine!”, the rain gets heavier, and rougher.
So she settles with, “If it's no trouble!” instead.
“It’s no trouble at all!” He tells her, “I'll be there in a few!”
He closes the window, picks up the keys to his truck on the way, and walks toward his apartment's door. He tries to open it, but it refuses to open.
“Crap!” He struggles with it more aggressively. "CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!"
He took so long with his struggle with the door, so he decides to check on the woman.
He hurries back to the window, and opens it.
"Hey mam, you still down there?" He yells at the rain. The heavy rain makes it impossible to see.
“You're still up there?!” He hears her cry back.
He laughs in return.
“And it's not funny!” She shouts at him, pouting to herself.
He stops laughing and gets serious again.
“Sorry, but I'm kind of locked in! The door refuses to cooperate!” He shouts down at her, a playful chuckle evident in his voice.
She sighs dejectedly, then looks around the empty street.
The rain is so heavy and there are barely any cars on the road to pick her up.
“But don’t worry!” She hears Zack shout at her. “I'll crush it down if I have to!”
He goes back inside hurriedly; she sighs and shakes her head at her unfortunate situation, thinking she's becoming troublesome to the man. She wanted to say “nevermind!” but he’s already gone.
X-X-X
“It's you or me now!” He hisses at the door, then attacks it, and discovers the hard way that it’s made of thick material. Not wood. It hits an old war wound, he shrieks and crawls down on the ground in agony, cursing.
Aerith, outside, hears something and begins to worry.
He crawls back to the window.
"IT'S NO USE! I'M TRAPPED!!" He declares, grinning. Apparently, enjoying their misfortunate situation.
“Nevermind then...” She replies, concerned.
He, stubbornly, refuses to give up. Action is staring at him in the face. He can't quit. Impossible. He loves a challenge.
"I'll jump out the window!!" He declares heroically.
Her eyes go wide in disbelief.
"WHAT?! ARE YOU INSANE?!”
He laughs.
"Maybe..."
"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO IT, ARE YOU?!"
"Oh, I will do it!"
"It’s not necessary!"
"It is. I am here to help you, mam!"
"It's OK, you don’t have to. Please. I troubled you enough!"
"No, I insist!"
"IT'S TWO STORIES HIGH!"
"No problem!"
She sighs, exasperated.
"You're not going to give up, are you? Not even if I left now?"
"Nope!” He replies cheerfully. “Besides, I have to get out sooner or later, right?"
She sighs again.
"You're impossible!"
"Thanks!"
"Not a compliment!"
He laughs a bit.
"Here I go!"
He braces himself to jump.
"No, no, NO! DON'T DO IT! I BEG YOU! YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF! PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME!"
She notices his figure standing on the edge of the window, and pales.
"NO!! YOU MAD MAN!"
He grins innocently.
"If I die, tell my wife I'll always love her... and my kids--"
"NO!" She sobs, "Please! For your family!! PLEASE!"
He laughs out loud at her reaction.
"Kidding, I'm single."
She growls quietly.
"How rude!”
He continues laughing, then prepares to jump. She covers her mouth, then turns around frantically.
"HELP! SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF!! HELPPP!!"
Zack only laughs harder, distracted for a bit.
"You're funny. I like you."
Aerith is stunned.
"Now you're CONFESSING?? You must be mad..." She says quietly.
He grins, then, all of a sudden, jumps!!
Aerith screams, covering her eyes.
She opens them again to find him standing in front of her, grinning, unharmed.
She blinks and blinks again, touching him and poking him to see if he is alive.
He laughs even more.
Then his eyes twitch and he falls down and cries in pure agony.
She screams again, terrified.
But then his cry of pain turns to laughter.
"Kidding!" He stands up upright, grinning innocently again.
She slaps him. Hard.
"I hate you... wh-whoever you are!"
He chuckles, not one bit hurt from the slap, then he stretches out his hand to shake hers.
"Zack Fair, at your service, mam!"
She looks suspiciously at Zack's hand. Then, half-smiling, half-pouting, she takes his hand to shake it, and he tricks her by pulling her forward to his hard chest and hugging her tightly like an old friend.
She yelps, and tries to push him away, smacking his broad chest repeatedly with her fists, but then she feels his chest going up and down.
He's laughing out loud. Again.
"I'm glad I got to you... Uhm..." He says softly.
"A-Aerith." She whispers shyly.
"Aerith." He repeats with a smile.
He shields her head from the rain under his huge arms. She figures it’s not a perverted attack, in the end, and so she stays quiet.
"Come on, there's my truck!" He points at a parked truck in front of his apartment building.
She, silent all the while, walks beside him toward the truck. He continues shielding her from the rain on the way.
He pulls away from her to get the keys. After he open the truck's door, she slips into the passenger seat, and he into the driver's seat.
He puts in the keys to start the engine while she fixes her wet hair.
"Don’t worry, you look beautiful even when wet. In fact, you look sexy..." He tells her, grinning flirtatiously.
She pouts at him.
"I don't like your bold and shamelessly flirting attitude. I think you should quit it." She says firmly.
He laughs.
"You're so funny!”
Then he frowns comically when he realizes the car doesn’t work.
He turns to look at her, forcing out an awkward smile.
"Dear, I have some very bad news..."
She freezes, paling more by the second.
"Oh, don't tell me..."
He nods with a grin.
She slumps back on her seat, closes her eyes and breathes out a tired sigh.
"I'm jinxed..." Both of them say at the exact same time, then glance at each other, and laugh out loud.
X-X-X
They sit there.
For a long time.
Trapped in the car.
No life outside.
Just heavy rain.
Then he turns to her, bored already.
"Want me to turn on the radio?" He offers.
She shrugs a bit.
So he does, and the first thing on is the news. He curses, news are everywhere. The second almost makes Aerith jump out of her own skin and hit the roof of the truck. It's a loud, VERY loud, metal song. Even Zack is momentarily cringing with pain, fixing his ears. The song is all screaming.
"I-is something DYING?!" Aerith shouts at the noise.
Zack laughs in spite of himself.
"P-probably!"
He changes the channel, and they sigh together in relief at the peace and quiet. The next one is a calm and soothing song. They relax.
"So, Aerith, dear... tell me about yourself." Zack asks after a moment of silence.
Aerith looks at him warily.
"I'm... a flower girl in this neighborhood."
Zack nods, trying to be impressed.
"Interesting," he mutters.
"By the way," Aerith starts. "I never saw you here before; you must be new, right?"
"Yep! I'm a retired soldier. They put me on TV! Did you see me!?" He asks expectantly, eyes sparkling.
She shakes her head slowly.
"No..."
He frowns a bit but then shrugs.
"Of course. They only put my face for like, five Goddamn seconds!" He complains angrily.
She stifles a giggle.
"You're famous then."
He grins from ear to ear, smacking his chest proudly.
"Yep. I got quite some medals, too."
She smiles a little, nodding.
"That's wonderful. You must be strong!"
His grins stretches.
"Of course. No ordinary man would survive that jump y'know!"
She grimaces at the mention of it.
"It was crazy of you. Don't do it again, alright?"
"Yes, mom." He mumbles sarcastically, chuckling.
She hides another laugh, and looks down. Then frowns when she notices how wet her clothes are.
"As soon as the rain clears, I have to go home and change... before I get a cold! And I hope the flowers are okay..." She mutters to herself worriedly.
He shakes his head carelessly, grinning with confidence.
"No problem! It will clear any time now!"
Thunder outside.
More rain.
"Maybe any time LATER..." he adds, struggling with his confident smile.
She laughs out loud this time.
"We're truly jinxed, I'm afraid..."
He watches her laugh quietly, a soft smile on his face.
"I don’t think I'm jinxed anymore."
She stops and looks at him confusedly.
"Hm?”
He grins wider.
"I think I'm lucky..."
"Seriously?" She asks with disbelief. He nods.
She wants to say he's weird, but he speaks up before her she can.
"I got to meet you."
She gapes at him. He looks back at the window, smiling still.
"So I'm lucky."
She slowly begins to smile, looking outside the window, a light blush creeping onto her face.
"Then I guess... I'm lucky too."
He grins with ultimate pleasure, turning back to her.
"Of course. It's not everyday a handsome man like me would jump out a two stories high window to--"
"Okay, I changed my mind!" She says hurriedly, and he laughs.
She watches him laugh curiously, fighting the urge to smile, and to pout instead. He only laughs harder at her face.
"You laugh a lot." She notes.
"Laughing is healthy.”
"Too much will hurt you..."
"Too little will make you wrinkle early."
She frowns, worried.
He laughs again.
"Kidding!"
She pouts angrily.
"I think..." He adds innocently.
She turns her head away from him in a huff.
"So, Aerith, my love." Her eyes twitch at the words 'my love'. "Changing subject." She looks at him warily. "Are you single?"
She is taken aback by his question for a while.
"No." She replies hastily, obviously lying.
His grin is brimming with joy. He, evidently, saw through her lie somehow.
"Awesome!" He exclaims boldly.
"I don’t think I will change that status anytime soon."
He shrugs carelessly, grinning.
"Of course. A challenge. I love challenges."
She sighs, exasperated, smacking her forehead.
"You don’t have a chance."
He looks at her carefully.
"You have your eyes on someone?"
She shakes her head.
"You’re a lesbian?"
She shakes it harder.
Then he gasps dramatically.
"Are... are we related?!" He says, obviously joking.
She tries to stifle her laughter so hard – but failing - and smacks his shoulder instead.
"Kidding!" He tells her, laughing warmly.
X-X-X
Aaand that's how they met xDD
So. Did you like it? Please tell me what you think! I want to hear your opinions! XD
See ya in my Namine x Sora fic xD
X-X-X
First Love
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Preface
She shrieks, and buries her head in Zack's chest.
And, then, to her horror, she discovers that she's completely drenched in blood.
Zack's blood.
He collapses on the ground, wheezing. Aerith props him up from front with her arms; his head hang low on her shoulder. He is heavy but she holds him with determination and power she never knew she had.
"I... I..." She struggles to find her words, breaking into sobs. "I, I love you, Zack! I miss you, I forgive you, I'm so glad you're alive..."
She hurries with everything she has to say, as if she's dying and won't be able to live another day to tell him all that.
He coughs out blood, wanting to say something back.
"L...L...Lo-ve..."
He can't even say the "you" part. But Aerith knows what he wanted to say anyway. She struggles to smile at him.
He coughs up more blood; so Aerith hurries and tries to drag him to the car.
"Ss...Ss...S--" He stutters, wincing from the pain.
She puts a finger on his bloody mouth to shut him up.
"Don’t say a word! It'll be OK!!"
She snatches his cell phone and tries to call for the ambulance.
The service is dead.
She growls with frustration and throws the cell phone away.
Stubbornly, she continues to try and drag Zack to the car.
Zack starts to protest weakly.
"S...s...s...t-o...p... L...l...lea...ve"
She shakes her head at him, desperate but determined.
"Don’t be silly, Zack! I won’t leave without you. Besides, you're not that heavy, you know..." She forces a small smile.
He tries to laugh, but only manages to cough up more blood.
She gazes at him with horror. His face is as white as sheets. He is losing so much blood...
Looking down, he slowly shakes his head.
Aerith's expression twists in pain.
"NO! It's not over. You're not over. I'll get you to the nearest hospital! I promise!" She continues to drag him.
He pushes her off gently, and lies back on the ground; Aerith is frustrated and wants to drag him against his own will. He’s so weak he won’t be able to struggle against her.
But she stops when he leans away and throws up more blood. Aerith cringes, panic slowly overcoming her.
The wolves howl in the distance. Zack turns to her, his face paler than before, if possible.
"A-Aerith..." he's able to speak clearer now, as if the pain's all over, as if he's recovering by himself...
Aerith stares back at him, wary but intently.
"I-its getting late... Th-the ... wolves... will smell... the blood... and... come to... eat," he says darkly, his eyes completely serious. "S-so... you... Must... Go..."
She pales with horror, shaking her head quickly at him.
"NO! I... I WON’T LEAVE YOU! I WON’T LET THEM EAT YOU, NEVER!!" She desperately tries to drag him again, but failing.
He laughs weakly.
"I'm... tasty... ya... know... can’t... help it..."
Aerith scowls.
“It’s not the time to be mad, Zack. Help me here!” She cries desperately.
He grabs her arm and stops her, staring at her seriously now.
"A-Aerith…"
"Zack..." She coos, looking at him adoringly.
"Aerith... s-so... many things... to say... I... love... you."
Tears fill her eyes in an instant; she bites her lower lip to keep herself in control.
"No, Zack, no... Don't say stuff like that! Please... You... you'll be OK... I'll take you back... and..." She smiles to herself. "We'll get married..."
Zack bows his head down, fighting a tear of regret.
"And we'll have ten kids... just like you wanted. But no, we can't have triple twins, Zack. 'Cause three Zacks will make ME crazy!" She says, trying to distract him.
"Too... bad...” He says weakly, chuckling. No blood comes out this time. "I...wanted... triples."
Aerith laughs and cries at the same time.
He caresses her cheek softly, an almost teasing but adoring look in his eyes.
"S-since when... you... agreed to... marry... m-me...?"
She looks down shyly, smiling.
"S-since... I figured, you're the most important person in my life, Zack. I can't live without you... And, I want to spend the rest of my life by your side."
He winces at the last part, in pain.
"You can...live... without... me..."
Her tears come down freely now.
"Don’t say that, Zack. Just don’t. I can’t. It’s a fact. I'll die here with you if I have to."
He scowls, then winces some more at the pain.
"Yes… you can... then... you can... m-m-marry… That wimp... What’s...His-name... working... in... the diner... and... Have triples... name them... Zack... One… of them..." He struggles to grin.
Aerith is shaking her head all the while, though.
"Stupid. I'd never do that."
"Not… even... C-Cloud?"
She shakes her head, sighing.
"Especially not Cloud! Tifa loves him, remember?"
"Not even... R-Rufus… man of… B-billions?"
"NO!"
"Not even--"
"DON'T BE ABSURD, ZACK! No one! No one but YOU!"
He chuckles with relief, her favorite crooked grin appearing on his face.
"G-good... I ... just wanted.. t-to ... check..."
She smiles in spite of herself, and readies to drag him again.
He groans, she stops at once, afraid she hurt him.
"G-give up... already..." He says almost playfully, if not for the tiredness and hollowness in his voice now.
Aerith stops then collapses on the ground beside him, sobbing with grief, feeling useless and hopeless.
Someone... please... save him!
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Chapter 1
Aerith Gainsborough works as a flower girl in a small town. She doesn't get much money but she gets enough for living.
She lives in a small apartment that she decorates herself with flowers, so the interior is pretty- even for a crappy looking apartment; she manages to make it beautiful.
Aerith doesn’t have friends. Or family…
But, almost everyone here loves her. She’s nice, pure-hearted and compassionate. And she easily touches lots of people's hearts.
Some though, the perverted men of the street, see her as prey, A feisty prey. Part of the town girls hate her. Jealous of the heavy attention she gets. But she never sees through their malice. She’s nice and sees the good part of people.
During the day, she wanders around the streets, selling flowers...
And during her food breaks, she'd go to her favorite restaurant, owned by old friends. An old couple. She's a usual customer there, it’s where she always eats.
She sits alone, at her usual table, near the window, and the view outside, which is the old couple's garden, full of Aerith's carefully cared for flowers.
You can say Aerith is a bit of an eccentric.
See, she has a weird habit.
She talks to plants.
They don’t talk back, of course, but she just tells them stuff that are on her mind.
Guys used to try at her all the time, too.
For example, the owners of this diner, their son, Eric, has a crush on her.
He’s timid and weak, though, with no self confidence. He is barely able to talk back with her, stammering and all. Aerith is friendly but careful when interacting with him. She doesn't want to give him false hope. She loves solitude. She doesn’t want to be committed to anyone, or to belong to anyone.
Just her and the plants.
X-X-X
Zack Fair is a retired soldier.
He just retired, actually.
After his heroic act - he saved a comrade by almost sacrificing himself - he got an honorific medal for his bravery and loads of cash.
Now, he plans to live off that money, and just moved in to the same neighborhood as Aerith's. He lives in a crappy apartment, by himself.
Oh, how he longed for this freedom.
Out of the action, to be able to relax. Live his life. Enjoy himself. Settle in...
X-X-X
It's only Day 2 in here, and he already got bored.
He’s sitting yoga style on the bed, a bored expression on his face because all the channels on TV suck.
NEWS, NEWS, NEWS, COOKING, NEWS, SOAP OPERA, NEWS, ANIMAL CHANNEL...
He settles for the soap opera, and watches as two people start making out as soon as he flicked on the channel. He grimaces and walks toward the window, leaning on the window frame and staring out at the people outside.
Boring, boring people. Doing the same thing everyday.
He needs action. He needs adventure! He needs motivation!!
He stares back at the TV blankly.
Apparently, the guy in the soap opera is cheating on the other girl, who busts into the room, then glares at the girl he's shamelessly making out with, and slaps her hard... And then, they get into a bitch fight.
He watches with interest as they pull out each other's hair and scratch each other.
Where is the guy from all this?!
He snorts and changes the channel.
News.
He sees himself on TV as soon as he changes to the channel. His eyes go wide and he inches forward instinctively.
They're putting the part when he's being handed over the medal. He’s grinning brilliantly, of course.
He grins back at his figure on the TV, thinking that he looks pretty good looking there.
He wants to call his friends and tell them to check the news on TV, but as he is going for the phone, they end the news, and the weather girl pops up instead.
He curses at the fact they cut his pretty face so quickly. Too quickly! WHERE the HELL is his brilliant speech?!
The sky thunders outside.
He sniggers, because, at the same time, the weather girl says it’s a sunny and lovely morning. He chuckles to himself as he is gazing outside the window, and it starts raining.
He turns his head to the weather girl and rolls his eyes at her scornfully.
“Yeah, yeah... Shut up!”
Now he's talking to the TV! God, it's so boring!
He gazes outside the window again when something catches his eyes.
A female brunette, in a blue dress, and a basket full of flowers on hand, running down the street, trying to cover her head from the rain. She points for the taxi. But the jerk passes by her as if he didn’t see her.
He opens the window instantly.
Zack Fair, to the rescue!
“Hey, mam! I can give you a ride if you want!” He shouts down at her.
She looks up, all of her body - from head to toe - is already drenched in water.
He barks a laugh at how pathetic she looks.
She pouts, and just when she's about to shout “It's fine!”, the rain gets heavier, and rougher.
So she settles with, “If it's no trouble!” instead.
“It’s no trouble at all!” He tells her, “I'll be there in a few!”
He closes the window, picks up the keys to his truck on the way, and walks toward his apartment's door. He tries to open it, but it refuses to open.
“Crap!” He struggles with it more aggressively. "CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!"
He took so long with his struggle with the door, so he decides to check on the woman.
He hurries back to the window, and opens it.
"Hey mam, you still down there?" He yells at the rain. The heavy rain makes it impossible to see.
“You're still up there?!” He hears her cry back.
He laughs in return.
“And it's not funny!” She shouts at him, pouting to herself.
He stops laughing and gets serious again.
“Sorry, but I'm kind of locked in! The door refuses to cooperate!” He shouts down at her, a playful chuckle evident in his voice.
She sighs dejectedly, then looks around the empty street.
The rain is so heavy and there are barely any cars on the road to pick her up.
“But don’t worry!” She hears Zack shout at her. “I'll crush it down if I have to!”
He goes back inside hurriedly; she sighs and shakes her head at her unfortunate situation, thinking she's becoming troublesome to the man. She wanted to say “nevermind!” but he’s already gone.
X-X-X
“It's you or me now!” He hisses at the door, then attacks it, and discovers the hard way that it’s made of thick material. Not wood. It hits an old war wound, he shrieks and crawls down on the ground in agony, cursing.
Aerith, outside, hears something and begins to worry.
He crawls back to the window.
"IT'S NO USE! I'M TRAPPED!!" He declares, grinning. Apparently, enjoying their misfortunate situation.
“Nevermind then...” She replies, concerned.
He, stubbornly, refuses to give up. Action is staring at him in the face. He can't quit. Impossible. He loves a challenge.
"I'll jump out the window!!" He declares heroically.
Her eyes go wide in disbelief.
"WHAT?! ARE YOU INSANE?!”
He laughs.
"Maybe..."
"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO IT, ARE YOU?!"
"Oh, I will do it!"
"It’s not necessary!"
"It is. I am here to help you, mam!"
"It's OK, you don’t have to. Please. I troubled you enough!"
"No, I insist!"
"IT'S TWO STORIES HIGH!"
"No problem!"
She sighs, exasperated.
"You're not going to give up, are you? Not even if I left now?"
"Nope!” He replies cheerfully. “Besides, I have to get out sooner or later, right?"
She sighs again.
"You're impossible!"
"Thanks!"
"Not a compliment!"
He laughs a bit.
"Here I go!"
He braces himself to jump.
"No, no, NO! DON'T DO IT! I BEG YOU! YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF! PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME!"
She notices his figure standing on the edge of the window, and pales.
"NO!! YOU MAD MAN!"
He grins innocently.
"If I die, tell my wife I'll always love her... and my kids--"
"NO!" She sobs, "Please! For your family!! PLEASE!"
He laughs out loud at her reaction.
"Kidding, I'm single."
She growls quietly.
"How rude!”
He continues laughing, then prepares to jump. She covers her mouth, then turns around frantically.
"HELP! SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF!! HELPPP!!"
Zack only laughs harder, distracted for a bit.
"You're funny. I like you."
Aerith is stunned.
"Now you're CONFESSING?? You must be mad..." She says quietly.
He grins, then, all of a sudden, jumps!!
Aerith screams, covering her eyes.
She opens them again to find him standing in front of her, grinning, unharmed.
She blinks and blinks again, touching him and poking him to see if he is alive.
He laughs even more.
Then his eyes twitch and he falls down and cries in pure agony.
She screams again, terrified.
But then his cry of pain turns to laughter.
"Kidding!" He stands up upright, grinning innocently again.
She slaps him. Hard.
"I hate you... wh-whoever you are!"
He chuckles, not one bit hurt from the slap, then he stretches out his hand to shake hers.
"Zack Fair, at your service, mam!"
She looks suspiciously at Zack's hand. Then, half-smiling, half-pouting, she takes his hand to shake it, and he tricks her by pulling her forward to his hard chest and hugging her tightly like an old friend.
She yelps, and tries to push him away, smacking his broad chest repeatedly with her fists, but then she feels his chest going up and down.
He's laughing out loud. Again.
"I'm glad I got to you... Uhm..." He says softly.
"A-Aerith." She whispers shyly.
"Aerith." He repeats with a smile.
He shields her head from the rain under his huge arms. She figures it’s not a perverted attack, in the end, and so she stays quiet.
"Come on, there's my truck!" He points at a parked truck in front of his apartment building.
She, silent all the while, walks beside him toward the truck. He continues shielding her from the rain on the way.
He pulls away from her to get the keys. After he open the truck's door, she slips into the passenger seat, and he into the driver's seat.
He puts in the keys to start the engine while she fixes her wet hair.
"Don’t worry, you look beautiful even when wet. In fact, you look sexy..." He tells her, grinning flirtatiously.
She pouts at him.
"I don't like your bold and shamelessly flirting attitude. I think you should quit it." She says firmly.
He laughs.
"You're so funny!”
Then he frowns comically when he realizes the car doesn’t work.
He turns to look at her, forcing out an awkward smile.
"Dear, I have some very bad news..."
She freezes, paling more by the second.
"Oh, don't tell me..."
He nods with a grin.
She slumps back on her seat, closes her eyes and breathes out a tired sigh.
"I'm jinxed..." Both of them say at the exact same time, then glance at each other, and laugh out loud.
X-X-X
They sit there.
For a long time.
Trapped in the car.
No life outside.
Just heavy rain.
Then he turns to her, bored already.
"Want me to turn on the radio?" He offers.
She shrugs a bit.
So he does, and the first thing on is the news. He curses, news are everywhere. The second almost makes Aerith jump out of her own skin and hit the roof of the truck. It's a loud, VERY loud, metal song. Even Zack is momentarily cringing with pain, fixing his ears. The song is all screaming.
"I-is something DYING?!" Aerith shouts at the noise.
Zack laughs in spite of himself.
"P-probably!"
He changes the channel, and they sigh together in relief at the peace and quiet. The next one is a calm and soothing song. They relax.
"So, Aerith, dear... tell me about yourself." Zack asks after a moment of silence.
Aerith looks at him warily.
"I'm... a flower girl in this neighborhood."
Zack nods, trying to be impressed.
"Interesting," he mutters.
"By the way," Aerith starts. "I never saw you here before; you must be new, right?"
"Yep! I'm a retired soldier. They put me on TV! Did you see me!?" He asks expectantly, eyes sparkling.
She shakes her head slowly.
"No..."
He frowns a bit but then shrugs.
"Of course. They only put my face for like, five Goddamn seconds!" He complains angrily.
She stifles a giggle.
"You're famous then."
He grins from ear to ear, smacking his chest proudly.
"Yep. I got quite some medals, too."
She smiles a little, nodding.
"That's wonderful. You must be strong!"
His grins stretches.
"Of course. No ordinary man would survive that jump y'know!"
She grimaces at the mention of it.
"It was crazy of you. Don't do it again, alright?"
"Yes, mom." He mumbles sarcastically, chuckling.
She hides another laugh, and looks down. Then frowns when she notices how wet her clothes are.
"As soon as the rain clears, I have to go home and change... before I get a cold! And I hope the flowers are okay..." She mutters to herself worriedly.
He shakes his head carelessly, grinning with confidence.
"No problem! It will clear any time now!"
Thunder outside.
More rain.
"Maybe any time LATER..." he adds, struggling with his confident smile.
She laughs out loud this time.
"We're truly jinxed, I'm afraid..."
He watches her laugh quietly, a soft smile on his face.
"I don’t think I'm jinxed anymore."
She stops and looks at him confusedly.
"Hm?”
He grins wider.
"I think I'm lucky..."
"Seriously?" She asks with disbelief. He nods.
She wants to say he's weird, but he speaks up before her she can.
"I got to meet you."
She gapes at him. He looks back at the window, smiling still.
"So I'm lucky."
She slowly begins to smile, looking outside the window, a light blush creeping onto her face.
"Then I guess... I'm lucky too."
He grins with ultimate pleasure, turning back to her.
"Of course. It's not everyday a handsome man like me would jump out a two stories high window to--"
"Okay, I changed my mind!" She says hurriedly, and he laughs.
She watches him laugh curiously, fighting the urge to smile, and to pout instead. He only laughs harder at her face.
"You laugh a lot." She notes.
"Laughing is healthy.”
"Too much will hurt you..."
"Too little will make you wrinkle early."
She frowns, worried.
He laughs again.
"Kidding!"
She pouts angrily.
"I think..." He adds innocently.
She turns her head away from him in a huff.
"So, Aerith, my love." Her eyes twitch at the words 'my love'. "Changing subject." She looks at him warily. "Are you single?"
She is taken aback by his question for a while.
"No." She replies hastily, obviously lying.
His grin is brimming with joy. He, evidently, saw through her lie somehow.
"Awesome!" He exclaims boldly.
"I don’t think I will change that status anytime soon."
He shrugs carelessly, grinning.
"Of course. A challenge. I love challenges."
She sighs, exasperated, smacking her forehead.
"You don’t have a chance."
He looks at her carefully.
"You have your eyes on someone?"
She shakes her head.
"You’re a lesbian?"
She shakes it harder.
Then he gasps dramatically.
"Are... are we related?!" He says, obviously joking.
She tries to stifle her laughter so hard – but failing - and smacks his shoulder instead.
"Kidding!" He tells her, laughing warmly.
X-X-X
Aaand that's how they met xDD
So. Did you like it? Please tell me what you think! I want to hear your opinions! XD
See ya in my Namine x Sora fic xD
X-X-X