Reunion - Chapter 1

Rated: T

Waiting

Summary: AU Where Zack and Aerith get the reunion that they both desperately deserved.

Wow. These two are really giving me some crazy inspiration lately. XD

That FF7 Remake, y'all, I'm still shook over the possibilities that entails and while I'm still not crazy hopeful something like this story will happen but one can dream right? I'm mainly writing this to give these beautiful babies the reunion they never got to have. In regard to FF7R, as long as Zack is alive and gets to be with Aerith in just one timeline, I'll be happy. I'm still holding out hope that Zack has a bigger part in the next chapter of the remake - PLEASE at the very least make him a playable character. T_T My life will be complete!

Also, this is Zack lives timeline events - so the Aerith he passed on his way to Midgar in the final cutscene was a different one - this is his Aerith. Hope that makes sense because it still doesn't to me. XD Hope you enjoy regardless.

Zachary Fair had been gone for five years.

Five years.

Technically five years, two months and eleven days since she last saw him and the one phone call that got through hardly counted; it was a barely ten seconds filled with harsh static and Zack (sounding even more distracted than usual) telling her that it wasn't a good time to talk but he promised he'd visit her soon.

That was five years ago and Aerith was still waiting for him to fulfill that promise.

Without Zack, life felt gray, bleak; a lonely, stilted existence without his boisterous presence and exuberant smile… But it wasn't always like that.

The first few days, weeks, and even months after he departed, she was her normal cheerful self. Going about her day with a spring in her step, pushing her flower wagon to sell her wares, and giving everyone she passed a sweet smile that faded as the days went on. Yet for the longest time, she kept her demeanor hopeful even with the anxious fluttering in her chest while she waited for Zack's return.

That happiness and hope only lasted a year but even then, Zack's static silence was not horribly alarming yet because he said he'd be in an area with less than stellar reception and the year-long deployment wasn't guaranteed and could take longer.

So, she waited…

Time passed and her hope was slowly dwindling day by day than year by year but she still refused to lose it. Zack had promised after all and he'd never broken one yet!

So, Aerith did her best to stay positive (Zack was a complete optimist after all so why couldn't she be?). She'd valiantly keep her mind occupied by tending to her flowers, selling them, helping the people of the slums with the extra income that wasn't going toward her mother's bills or more stationary for the letters she wrote. Yet her fragile deck of cards was about to fall. It came in the form of the splintering sound of wood as the last of the three flower wagons Zack had made her shattered; broken into tiny pieces. Much like his promise to come back to her, it seemed.

All of her 23 tiny wishes ('I just want to spend more time with you') and all 89 letters she sent to him…but nothing came back…

Five long years and no call, no letters and no Zack (not the 19 year old one she remembered - he'd now be 24 - imagine that!) coming through her church doors, sweeping her into his muscular arms with a heartfelt apology from his lips and a promise that he'd never, ever leave her again. Aerith knew she'd cry upon seeing him even if she wasn't one to easily show tears, but she would for him. Then he would wipe them off her face with those oh so warm calloused hands, comfort her, hold her and tell her all kinds of believable excuses of why he was gone so long. Afterwards, things would happily go back to where they'd left off five years prior.

Aerith would demand penance for his absence, telling him to repair the flower carts that broke during his time away and he'd rub the back of his head and look admonished but smile crookedly and do it anyway. Zack would start working and while she'd fight a smile, one would pull at the corners of her lips at the absolute joy of simply seeing the familiar movement of his hands and merely bask in his magnetic presence - she'd missed him so damn much.

Later, while Zack is distracted by helping her transplant flowers, elbow deep in rich soil, she'd steal the opportunity to kiss the corner of his plush mouth (for what girl could help herself?). Zack would glance back at her with those glorious bright eyes, his tanned cheeks dusted with a coral tinge and she'd feel so wonderful that she was finally the one to make him blush this time. Then he'd smile so beautifully before leaning in to kiss her with such passion that never failed to take her breath away…

It seemed that all she had were daydreams anymore…

It got to the point that she would stare listlessly at the worn church doors in an almost daze for hours on end, emerald eyes blurring and head spinning in grief, that she would swear she'd watched Zack open and walk through those doors with his casual swagger and glittering smile.

Aerith would run to him, only for the Zack that looked so beautiful and and wonderful and solid and warm and right there, abruptly dissipate into dust before she could even reach him.

She'd collapse to her knees and sob until her stomach ached.

Hurt with the gnawing fear that she'd never again see the way the light caught his eyes and they sparkled like the most beautiful blue gems. How his lips would pull back and he'd showcase all of those pearly white teeth. How no matter what she was dealing with, Zack could always make her laugh even if was mostly at his expense. When in the circle of his arms, she felt as if nothing at all could go wrong simply because he was there…

And after all these years, she was starting to forget all of it.

Aerith didn't even remember the exact lilt of his voice - these memories she'd tried to hold on to just slowly and subconsciously dissipated from her mind like soil through the gaps in her fingers and it hurt. For if he never came back, she didn't even have anything to remember him by other than the broken flower carts, that silk dress he'd bought for her that didn't fit anymore (her mother called her a late bloomer), and the faded pink ribbon she religiously tied in her hair.

If it wasn't for these physical items, Aerith could almost believe he never even existed.

Zack always seemed a little too perfect; too handsome, too strong, too charismatic and too kind to be anything but a wishful figment of her imagination to push down the unbearable loneliness of her teenage years. How it seemed silly that a man so beautiful, magnetic and worldly could want anything to do with a lonely, quiet flower girl from the slums - much less be her boyfriend! Heck, he even fell through her ceiling and lived when that shouldn't be possible!

But after so many conversations with her mother, the people of the slums that Zack protected from monsters, and the orphaned children he'd enjoy helping whenever he could, still asked about him from time to time even after his five year absence. Their grief wasn't as deep as her own but Aerith took comfort in the fact that she wasn't alone in missing the SOLDIER who managed to positively affect so many lives without even knowing it.

Zack was real; he existed…but then where was he?

Aerith hated to think this way, but she wondered if perhaps he fell in love with someone else.

If Zack had gone and met some beautiful, wonderful woman (that was everything Aerith would never be) during his travels - she could live with that. As much as her heart cracked open at the thought of Zack completely forgetting about her and their two years together, that would be okay. If he just tossed her aside to instead marry someone that wasn't her and having kids that wouldn't have some of her features, Aerith accepted that.

Regardless of how his feelings for her changed, Aerith still loved him unconditionally and wanted the best for him…

It was far better than the alternative.

…because if Zack was dead…

Aerith forcefully shook her head of those horrid thoughts.

NO!

She refused to think about it - wouldn't go there today - her sleepless nights were already plagued with visions of him laying on a muddy cliff saturated with crimson, rain cascading over his bloodied face and broken, bullet-riddled chest. This once vibrant and energetic man lying so still on the ground and staring at the rainy clouds above him with eyes that held no life left. Even in nightmares; having to see those beautiful eyes that she loved so much, could gaze into happily for the rest of eternity, being completely devoid of life completely shattered her.

The mere suggestion that Aerith would ever have to live in a world where Zack simply didn't exist anymore - how this wonderful man who was so kind, filled with so much love and life, just snuffed out completely - it was too much for her heart to handle. So many of those nights, she'd woken up crying and screaming and have to wake up to the reality that Zack was still gone only made it that much worse.

Forcefully pushing those horrible thoughts aside, Aerith brushed her fingers off from the new batch of soil she tilled onto her soiled apron.

The flowers were expanding, her business of selling them growing day by day - all thanks to Zack - was steadily increasing. Instead of mere white and yellow, she had an abundance of vibrant colors and breeds filling the floor of the church. She was still amazed how it went from selling a single flower for a gil in her carts to doing business with local establishments regularly and she was happy to report that her mother didn't have to worry about having enough to pay the bills anymore.

Life was…comfortable and Midgar was slowly but surely filling out with flowers.

Aerith just desperately wished Zack was here to see it - selling them was his idea after all. She'd told him as much in her last letter…the one she claimed it would be the final one she'd ever send to him…

Clenching her fists against her lap, Aerith's mouth twisted and her vision blurred with tears.

Five years.

Five years in this never-ending limbo and it felt as if she was merely going through the motions of life anymore. Aerith knew realistically she couldn't wait forever for Zack… Aerith knew deep down to the marrow of her bones - her very soul - that she would never completely let go of him, never forget him or even get over him as her first (and so desperately wanted him to be her only) love. She wanted to know why he wasn't here, where he could be - just to know where and how he was - as much as it pained her, even to know for certain if he was de…

A single tear slipped down her cheek.

Perhaps it was time to close the chapter in this part of her life. To let Zack go like her mother told her for years now but Aerith continually refused even as hopeless as the situation became. Maybe she only wanted to know what happened to him to appease her mental sanity; finally grieve for the life she desperately wanted to share with him. And a deep sense of despair for the family that she'd never get to make with him…

To ultimately and finally grieve him…

In a perfect world, Zack would appear as if nothing happened, but as the planet continued to turn, it was becoming less of an option and she had at the very least, accept that.

For now, Aerith just wanted closure…whatever that meant.

Sighing, Aerith quickly wiped her forearm across her face, ignoring the trails of wet tears that greeted her. Instead, she turned back to her flowers, the only bright spot in her life anymore and continued mindlessly tilling the soil.

It was the sudden sound of heavy boots and the creaking wood outside of her church door that had Aerith tense up.

Immediately, she reached for the staff she had lying near her watering can before quickly standing up as silently as possible. While Aerith was more innocent than most slum girls, she was no stranger to drunkards and monsters finding their way inside her safe haven. Aerith had learned to fight out of necessity and the fact her SOLDIER hadn't been here for years and she couldn't rely on him to protect her anymore…maybe never again. If something attacked, she was on her own and she'd learned to handle herself well enough.

Pushing any distracting thoughts aside, Aerith waited and readied her Materia. She urgently watched the doors with a determined tilt to her brows and fists tightening over the metal in her palms. Heart hammering in question of who would bother her at this late hour or if it was just some drunk individual wanting refuge for the night.

Either way, she was about to find out.

The door loudly creaked open and the streetlight outside showcased two hunched figures at the doorway. Aerith readied her staff and prepared for them to make a move to attack, but before her Materia could be summoned, one of the figures (who seemed to be holding up the other) lifted their head.

The sudden flash of bright Mako blue eyes under stark black hair and a face she could never forget had absolutely everything in her world (probably her heart as well) completely stop.

Metal staff fell from shaking hands to the floor with a noisy clang as her legs buckled underneath her.