A blur of dark purple clothing dashed through the bushes and bramble of the Wutai fields. A wild grin crossed his lips as he landed an attack while giving out a loud battle cry furthering the panic of the enemy. The dark haired teen swung his arm down and across, up and to the side as he finished off the enemy in his assigned vicinity of the territory. The sound of battle echoed all around him mixed with the class of swords and cries. He didn't particularly like killing people, but if it protected the rest of the world from Wutai's harsh regime and helped spread Mako energy to better the people's lives then he could learn to ignore it.

Sighing in relief that his job was done…for the moment, he languidly walked around wondering how everyone else was doing on their sectors of Wutai squadrons. He winced inwardly at the sight of the dead, both enemy and former comrades. His nerves were tense as he listened for the slightest rustle of sound that could lead to an ambush or surprise attack. Then came the clumping of boots, followed by heavy breathing. The young man frowned at the sound wondering what exactly was happening. His mako enhanced hearing could easily pick up on two pairs of boots and a soft thudding.

They came up fast barely giving him enough time to spin around and feel something stumble against his legs as the men came upon him. The violet eyed teen looked at the two infantrymen who saluted the higher ranking SOLDIER before turning their attention to what had run into him. A little girl. Deep pools of hazel looked up at him timidly then stumbled back in an attempt to run away again. Instantly the two men were about to take off after the child when they met the blade of a SOLDIER issued sword.

"SOLDIER Second Class, Zack. What's going on here?" Zack asked curious as to why the infantry was chasing down a kid. The two men looked to each other then glanced at the general direction of where the girl had ran with a silent curse.

"We were simply following orders, sir. Eliminate all Wutai threats." One replied curtly, obviously not liking that they were once again undermined by SOLDIER. Meanwhile the SOLDIER Second Class frowned at them then glanced to where the girl had ran and back to the men.

"Well yeah, "Zack said lightly scratching his head puzzled. ", but she's just a kid."

"Kids grow up to be Wutai insurgents." One snapped out glaring at the SOLDIER before biting out the mandatory 'Sir.' The spiky haired teen frowned at the answer. He couldn't imagine killing a kid. Sure, he could handle grown ups. Men. Women trained to kill. But kids? They shouldn't even be part of the war. But they were. Zack wasn't sure what to do at that moment. Let the men go after her and complete their assignment or let the kid live even if its to become his enemy. Neither option made him feel any better. He didn't want to save her then wind up having to kill her when she grew up. However he knew that it wasn't honorable to kill a kid- a little girl in cold blood. Even if he'd fight her in the future, he'd be prepared then and he probably won't even recognize her. Or at least that's what he told himself.

"Just let her go. What's one kid anyways?" Zack said with a shrug of his shoulders while both men's eyes narrowed.

"Sir we were ordered-"

"Well this is a new order from a Second Class SOLDIER." Zack huffed not liking to pull rank on people, but deemed it necessary for this small task. He just hoped Angeal wouldn't get his pants in a twist for ordering people around that he had no right to command. Both men nodded and turned away from him as they returned to where they came from leaving the SOLDIER behind. Zack sighed then glanced around himself once more. She's probably long gone now. Zack told himself as he began to walk his own way when the tiny snap of a branch rang in his ears. Normally an un-enhanced man wouldn't have heard it and if he did he wouldn't pay mind to it. But this SOLDIER did. He paused and turned around towards the bush where the sound began. Brow furrowing he looked closer and noticed tiny mud encrusted feet, crouched on the ground. A grin began to spread across his face as he stomped his feet-

"I guess I better be heading back to camp!" He shouted out continuously stomping his feet then stopped all together and waited a few minutes to see if the little girl had fallen for it. It wasn't until two minutes later did the girl finally crawl out from the bush and out into the open area. She glanced around and froze when she saw the SOLDIER just two feet away. She ran. Heart racing and mind spinning in fear she tried to dash away from him but four of her short dashes were a mere two for the long legged teen as he caught up to her and swept her into his embrace. She struggled for a minute then fell completely still knowing that it was useless to fight him. She wasn't nearly strong enough to get away or even scratch him.

Surprisingly to the girl the dark haired teen set her on the ground and knelt on one knee, all the while keeping one hand on her shoulder. He smiled brightly at the Wutainese girl and reached up lightly smooth out her hair as he glanced over her to make sure she was alright.

"Hey, its okay." He soothed gently. "I'm not gonna hurt you. My name's Zack. What's yours?"

She stared up at him mystified of the SOLDIER before her speaking softly with her. His hand on her shoulder firm but wasn't hurting and she could wiggle away if she really wanted to. I like his smile. She sheepishly thought to herself as she looked up at the teen then lightly shrugged.

"Aww, come on." He teased playfully wanting to know more about the strange girl. "You've gotta have a name. A pretty girl like you always has a name. I know!" He yelped out snapping his fingers then winked at the brown eyed girl earning a giggle from the usually timid child.

"I'll guess your name! Is it Kira?" He asked as she shook her head at him, not even realizing that he had released his hold on her shoulder.

"Okay, is it…Mia?"

"Ah-uh!"

"Well lets see. Is it Kay?"

Another head shake earning a puzzled frown from Zack and a giggle from the girl. She rocked back and forth on her heels delighted that a grown up didn't know something that she did. They went back and forth for a little while till eventually Zack was sitting cross-legged on the ground beside the child who was continuously giggling at his mistakes.

"Alrighty, I give up!" Zack sighed in exasperation falling back in a heap as peals of laughed echoed in his ear. She crawled over to where he was and lightly poked at his chest before finally speaking.

"My name's Shina." She giggled as Zack beamed up at her then sat straight up before lightly ruffling her dark strands. He knew he'd get her to answer him sooner or later; it was just a matter of getting her to trust him. And eventually everyone would wind up trusting Zack Fair. It simply was inevitable.

Thanks for reviews! I'm so glad to hear that people have taken interest in it! Once I've gotten all the encounters done, I will do a poll for everyone to vote on to have one chapter sequal to their favorite encounter!

FireWolfHeart-And as for SOAD I have no idea when I'd be updating that...if ever.

So thank you everyone for the reviews! Please keep it up if you want faster updates! ~God Bless!~