I just had to write something for these two, Zack and Aerith, as they are my new favourite couple. I could go on all day rambling about how much I love that couple, but my ramble isn't important. It's in Aerith's point if view, and it's Tetsuya Nomura and Squeenix who are the geniuses behind the beautiful game that is FFVII, not me. If I were, I would have re-made that game a long time ago. Sighs.

It Starts as a Flower

My days were always the same; never anything different happened. Not that I was unhappy about it. It's just… it would be nice if something out-of-the ordinary happened once in a while.

For every day it was the same routine: wake up, have breakfast, wash, dress, and then came my hobby, tending to my patch of flowers that had somehow managed to grow through the barren, infertile ground that the Midgar slums was built on. The flowers always seemed to know that they were being given the best of care; it was as if they knew me, understood me…

But one day, the daily life that I always seemed anchored in changed forever. Whether it was a good thing, I was not sure, but he always seemed to be a good person. I could tell.

It was a normal day, well, it started out that way. I woke up, washed, had breakfast, and then went to tending my flowers. They greeted me in their own way, like they were my owl little children.

And then, something unusual happened. I heard almighty crash. Curious, I glanced up, and then something fell through the roof, as if he fell from the sky. Luckily, he had a soft landing. Unfortunately the landing was right on top of my flowers.

I contemplated for a few moments as to whether I should drag him of my flower patch and leave him out on the streets, or drag him off and try to wake him. See where he came from and how he managed to fall form the sky. I glanced at him, he seemed like a nice person, defiantly handsome and well-built, but quite young; probably not much older then myself. I sighed to myself and took hold of one of his quite muscled arms, and dragged him off my flower patch to a space on the floor, not to far from the imprint his body had made on my flower patch.

As I looked at him, I immediately felt shy and self-conscious, as if I were concerned about what he thought of me when he awoke. It was very strange to me, as I had never thought about those kinds of things before. What was this man doing to me?

Suddenly, I saw one of his eyes twitch and the arm I had dragged him with move slightly.

"Hello?" I called curiously. "Are you alright? You must really hurt from that fall."

As if he had heard me, his eyes flew open, and I saw that electrifying azure blue. I felt my knees go weak slightly from those eyes.

"You're okay! Hurray!" I wasn't sure where that 'hurray' came from; then again, I wasn't sure where any of the news things I said and felt came from. All I knew was that I was not myself at that present time.

He stared at me for quite a while, but it wasn't a horrified stare, but it unnerved me. I was looking at me as if I were some Divine being from the Otherworld.

"An angel?" was his first words to me. An angel? Where did he get that from? Last time I checked, I did not have some glowy white aura around me or a golden halo above my head. Still though, it was a nice compliment.

But, despite what I was thinking at the time, I decided to play it polite. Elmyra, my foster mother, always taught me to be polite to strangers and guests. Since he was in my home, I supposed that he was practically a guest.

"Not quite," I replied, "church in the slums, to be exact."

His amazed smile transfigured into a boyish grin, something I'd never been given. "If you're not an angel, then who are you?"

He seemed… nice, I suppose. "I'm Aerith," I replied with a friendly grin. "What's your name?"

He grinned back. "The name's Fair. Zack Fair," he said with a grin, but then winced as if in slight pain.

I couldn't help but giggle at his attempt to be charming. I held out my hand to him. "Come on, I'll help you up. I'm sure a bite to eat will help you."

He took my hand and, with my help, he slowly eased himself to his feet. He was defiantly handsome, I felt slightly giddy and girly as he leaned against me for support. I hide my already burning face from his view.

He glanced over at my flower patch and took a deep breathe. "I'm sorry about your flowers," he said as I helped him sit down on a chair not to far away from my pantry in the kitchen area of the church.

"It's okay," I replied, rummaging through the pantry. I wondered if he's like Elmyra's cooking, because I never had. "They'll just grow back."

I heard him jump to his feet, and then double over in pain. "That's it!" he cried weakly.

I wheeled around with my hands on my hips. "Sit down, Zack. Don't put yourself in anymore pain," I ordered him seriously.

He eased himself back on the chair. "I know how to make it up to you," he continued. "I'll help you re-grown them."

I giggled again. "You know how to garden?" I asked sarcastically.

He shook his head. "But at least I can try, you can show me how."

I smiled back at him, a genuine smile, to be exact. "Yes, I guess I can show you how."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He proved to be quite the fast learner, and quite caring as well. I only had to show him once how to dig, plant, and water them, and he picked it all up quite quickly. Stepping back, I watched him fill the watering can and emptying the contents over the thirsty plants. He even spoke to them, but inaudibly enough that I couldn't hear him. I felt something flutter in my chest, was it my heart?

It wasn't that he was not handsome, in actual fact he was. I saw the way his bright blue eyes twinkled as he spoke to the flowers. I saw the way the light from the hole in the ceiling made his jet black locks shine and glimmer in the midday sun. I saw the way his black shirt clung tightly to his well-built form. I saw the way his lips moved as he spoke. I saw the way he smiled as he glanced up, noticing my staring…

"Enjoying the show?" he asked, smiling his charming smile.

"Oh," I suddenly said snapping out of my reverie. I then realised what I'd done. "Was I staring?" I asked sheepishly. Stupid Aerith, stupid, Aerith, stupid, stupid Aerith…

He chuckled. I thought for a moment he was laughing at me in a mocking tone, but I then realised that it wasn't. "It's okay," he told me, to my utter relief, "You can stare all you like."

It took me a few seconds to catch his joke; he was just so handsome to look at. "Thanks," I mumbled, turning my face away to attempt to hide my sudden red tint.

When a dared to glance back at him, I saw that he was staring at the very flowers that he had tended to so lovingly, and they seemed to have noticed his actions. They shone a glimmering white and looked so very healthy. Who was this man?

"You… did a good job," I said.

"Yeah, I guess so…" he replied without turning to me, placing his hands on his hips. "But… it doesn't seem to do much to repay you for me damaging your roof."

"It's fine," I replied. "You've done enough to repay me. You did a stellar job."

"Uh-uh," he replied, finally turning to me and waving his finger back and forth once. "I have to fully repay you. How about a date?"

I stared at him for a brief moment, his question finally sinking in. I'd never been on a date with a guy before, so I was not quite sure how to react. Me, go on a date with this young man; this kind, sweet, handsome young man who I had only known for going on an hour now. But isn't that how most girls meet guys who they form such an attachment to? I wouldn't know, as my dating history hasn't even begun yet.

After a quick moment of thought, I smiled. "Sure, I'd like that."

I could tell I really liked him. Like, really, really liked him. What was not to like? He was everything I'd ever imagined a guy to be. Kind, sweet, funny, handsome… He was everything. I felt as if I were in a fairy tale, like the ones Elmyra told me when I was younger. It was him who gave me the idea of selling my flowers, the very things I'd laboured over with love to grow. It was him who gave me my life-long possession, the pink ribbon I never took off. It was as if he were a knight in shinning armour, and I was not the damsel in distress, but an independent warrior princess who aids him on his mighty crusades.

It was just to bad that my fairy tale didn't have a happy ending.

So...? Waddya think? God, I spent ages on this thing! It was quite hard trying to get Aerith's personality right, but I ended up going to the normal "school-girl-like" attitude since it takes place during Crisis Core with a young Aerith. This isn't exactly how the scene played out, but it's what I might had done if I were in charge. Kinda like my Vincent one-shot. Canon mixed in with fanon.

Tsukikage1213