I just realized this is the girlist story I've ever written. I guess that explains why sometimes I absolutely cannot write it. I have to be in a certain mood in order to work on it. Oh well, I can promise that Dear Zack stays true to my roots and will have some action, drama, friendship and family themes.

Also I don't plan on over describing the OC's cloths or appearance. You'll only hear about their general appearances one time. Also, please be patient with the characters in this story. Even if they are not normally the kind of characters you like, each serves a very important purpose in the long run. I don't want to give too much away, but Brigid, Lester, and the final main oc of this story will be integral to what happens later on.

Last time: Aerith learned about Nibelhiem and pressed Tseng for information.

This time: Aerith makes a new friend and receives an unexpected visit that brings some bad news.

5~~~5

Dear Zack,

The heat has faded from the air and the flowers are seeding. There isn't any left to sell, so I spend most of my days with Lester and Brigid.

The wagon broke yesterday. I couldn't help but feel sad. Where am I going to put the flowers?

For now I went with Brigid's suggestion and bought a basket. But I want you back here so we can fix it together.

Mom's watching me like a hawk still. She's still not happy, but she's letting me out much more often now.

The papers wrote that there was an accident…in Nibelhiem. With you and Sephiroth...They are saying you're dead Zack. That or missing in action… But I don't believe it. I KNOW it's not true. Please, just send me a letter or something. Short, long, it doesn't matter. I just want to know you are okay. I'm getting more certain every day, even as this child grows inside me, that I love you, Zack.

~Aerith

5~~~5

Dear Zack,

Things are getting a bit colder here. The days are still warm, but I can't be out at night without freezing. Still no word from you. How have you been? I miss you so much and I'm terrified for you. Yet I still feel you. So you can't be dead. Right?

I'm starting to show. Just a tiny bump. Still fit in all of my clothes, but Mom is making me some larger ones. She says that I'll get big quicker…I wish you were here to see this with me.

Brigid's been going nuts with making sure I don't strain myself. She's a really good friend to have and I'm so glad I met her. She's also been bringing me these pills… Her mother is a nurse she told me and she told Brigid to give them to me.

I need you so bad. Please come back to me…

~Aerith.

5~~~5

Aerith sighed and put down her pen, tapping her slightly-swollen belly. How would she keep this a secret from Shinra for long? Could she? She doubted it. She always had a tail and while it was small, she was certain…or maybe paranoid… that the Turks had already noticed. Tseng might be able to help, but just how far would he stick out his neck for her? They would find out about her child and they would take them away. She couldn't stand the thought of that. She'd already grown fond of the little nudger….

The doorbell rung and she sighed, her back aching slightly. Elmyra was away, visiting at a friend's house. She eased off the bed. "Coming."

Aerith was less than surprised when she opened the door to find Brigid standing there. "Hey, wasn't expecting you."

But by now she should have. Brigid was infamous for dropping by whenever things got the slightest big dull. And then she would come around with that big old smile on her face. The moment Aerith saw it, she knew she was about to land in a whole lot of trouble.

And Brigid was wearing that damnable smile right now.

"You up to going out?" She asked, looking pointedly at Aerith's belly. As if she were asking the baby and not Aerith. She probably was. Occasionally Aerith still got sick or fatigued, but it had lessened. At least Aerith had been able to work around the occasional bout of illness. She wouldn't be on bed rest because she might vomit.

"Depends…we better not sneak into Don Corneo's again. I never want to see that ever again."

"I don't think that girl was too keen on it either. But when you got money…well, just look at President Shinra. He managed to knock up that model a few decades back and out pops Rufus, the dream boat he is." Brigid snickered. Aerith rolled her eyes.

"We're not…"

"No, but that would be a good idea for next time." There was that smile again. "There's someone I want you to meet…"

"Yeah? Who?" Aerith asked.

"A friend…"

Aerith looked at her skeptically. "Last time you introduced me to 'A friend' it turned out that this 'friend' happened to have…questionable morals."

"And I don't?"

"Good point. Still, at least give me a name."

"Devon."

"A guy? Like a boyfriend?"

Brigid's eyes widened. "No, no. Not a guy. Cripes you're lucky she isn't here right now. She hates her name…people always assume she's a guy. You're lucky she had some stuff to do first and told me to go get you."

Aerith hesitated.

"Come on! She's awesome." Brigid insisted. Aerith realized then that she probably wasn't going to get away with saying 'no.' This was Brigid she was talking to.

"If you say so…" Aerith sighed dramatically then smiled broadly. "Lead the way."

5~~~5

Devon was a tall girl with steely eyes and a crooked smile.

She was waiting for them at the park just outside Sector Seven, sitting on one of the swings. Her feet kicked at the ground. The instant she saw Brigid her face lit up like a candle and she sprinted towards them wrapping her friend up in a massive hug. Brigid almost disappeared. Devon dwarfed both Aerith and her, but then that wasn't that much of a feat for either. Aerith was taller than Brigid, but still she was only 5'3".

Then Devon spied Aerith and she got similar treatment, which somewhat stunned Aerith for a moment. She wasn't quite use to complete strangers giving her hugs.

"Mmm. So you're Aerith. I've heard a lot about you." She said after releasing the smaller girl. Devon wore an embellished purple dress that cut off at the knees in the front and came down in a cascade of layers in the back. Her golden-brown hair was layered and choppy, with a single jeweled barrette holding the hair out of her face on one side.

"Wish I could say the same." Aerith said. It was true. This was the first time she had even heard of the girl.

Devon looked at her friend crossly. "Well, I suppose we can change that. Devon DeLaunge." She extended her hand and Aerith shook it awkwardly. After hugging the other woman, it felt a bit weird to be all formal with her.

But then, that seemed to be a pattern with Devon. She seemed somewhat erratic and scatterbrained. The next few hours that Aerith spent with her and Brigid she found that nothing could hold Devon's attention for long. She was spontaneous and a bit too friendly. Everyone seemed to know her, no matter what part of the slums they were in. Not to mention she blew away money like it was no one's business. In three hours of shopping and browsing Brigid had amounted one measly little bag and Aerith bought nothing, but Devon's arms were laden with an ever-growing collection of bags.

"Ooohh! This place has the best ice cream! Let's go!" Devon said out of the blue. She'd just been showing Aerith and Brigid a new batch of materia that supposedly could change your eye and hair color when she suddenly grabbed both of their hands and dragged them toward another shop. Brigid was caught unaware and had to stop mid-examining one of the small, silvery balls. She was almost stole it by accident, but managed to toss it back toward the merchant.

"Sorry!" She shouted over her shoulder then rushed forward so Devon would stop dislocating her arm. There was no stopping the other girl. She was much stronger and it didn't hurt that she had quite a few pounds on both of them. Aerith stifled a laugh that was met with Brigid giving her a reproving glare.

They got to the door and Aerith hoped this would make Devon let her go; she was losing circulation in her arm. But no. Devon pushed it open with her knees and dragged the two girls in.

"Save us a table. I'll get you both something." She finally let them go, setting them both over toward the wall. She wasted no time in getting in line, not even to find out what they wanted.

"What cha think?" Brigid asked, her lips curled into a knowing smile. She rubbed her sore arm slightly.

"Well, she's…interesting." Aerith didn't know how to quite phrase it. She liked Devon, but she came off a little…

"She comes off strong, isn't she?" Brigid asked, taking a seat at an empty table.

"Just a little." Aerith admitted.

"It's okay. She can be a little nuts sometimes but hey, at least she isn't boring. And she's a good friend." Brigid said.

"I bet. But…" Aerith paused

"But what?" Brigid asked.

"Well, is she always like this?" She didn't know how else to phrase it without coming off completely tactless. Fortunately Brigid seemed to understand what she meant.

"You mean does she always go through cash like it's water? Pretty much. Of course, she ends up changing her mind and returning over half the things she gets." Brigid said. "She thinks she has to buy her friends… and unfortunately a lot of people take advantage of her for that." She added behind the cover of her hand. That Aerith had noticed as well. Devon had only just met Aerith today, yet she'd already offered to buy her hundreds of things and now she was determined to get her ice cream? One of the guys in the slum today Devon had been talking to asked for money, which Devon had given him with a coy smile. And not just spare pocket change either. Aerith wasn't use to accepting gifts. She always felt so…wrong whenever she did.

"How does she…" Aerith stopped herself before she could finish. It really wasn't any of her business how Devon afforded her less-than-frugal lifestyle. She normally had more digression than this but she still had to wonder…She had never met anyone like Devon.

"It's her parent's money. They're whole family's loaded. Her dad's some big shot in Shinra." Brigid supplied. "She's use to being spoiled rotten."

Aerith "huh"d noncommittally as she watched Devon pay off the people in front of her so she could be at the front of the line...Needless to say, it wasn't long before Devon bounded back to where they sat, a trio of rich-looking sundaes in hand. She passed them out, looking exasperated. "Man, I hate lines."

"Imagine if you actually had to stand in them." Brigid's voice was practically dripping in sarcasm.

But Devon paid it no mind. Instead she shrugged, taking a big bite of her treat. "Well, its win-win really. Those people got a few more gil lining their pocket and I got to skip waiting."

"Mhm. Hey I'm not complaining, just pointing that out." Brigid replied.

"You've got a point though." Aerith said teasingly.

"Hey, I bought. You two can't go ganging up on me. That's the rules." Devon feigned a hurt look, earning a chuckle from Brigid.

"When did we ever agree to such terms?" Brigid asked.

Devon made a big show of ignoring Brigid and immediately turned her attention to Aerith instead. "So I hear you're the lucky girl who hooked Fair."

Aerith wished she would leave that topic alone for today but no such luck. "You knew him?"

"Know him," Devon corrected making Aerith wince slightly, "I met him once. I went to visit Daddy at work and ran into him. Real charmer that one."

Aerith shifted, still uncomfortable. "Yeah, he is."

Devon seemed to notice her solemnity and frowned. "What? Did something happen? You two break up or what?"

Brigid gave her friend a scathing look and shoved her roughly. "Don't you read the paper?" She added in an undertone. "He went MIA a while back."

Devon's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry. Gods I must sound like some cold hearted bitch now."

Aerith shook her head. "No, no. You didn't know and it's not your fault."

"Hey. No frowns while we're eating ice cream. Either of you." Brigid said, taking a big bite as if it illustrated her point. "I'm sure he's fine. Just like you said Aerith. He's a big boy and he can handle himself."

"Yeah, you're right." Aerith said. But that didn't lessen the crushing feeling in her chest. Still, she knew brooding about it wouldn't change anything. She would just have to remain faithful and wait, just like she promised.

It took a little while for the tension to completely leave the table after that, but eventually they were back to laughing and joking around once again. Aerith really did enjoy being around Devon. She was a little absent minded and eccentric but she was, as Brigid said, generally a fun person. By some unspoken agreement, neither Devon nor Brigid brought up Zack after the ice cream pallor. Aerith got the sense that Brigid was being careful to steer the conversations away from him.

And truth be told? Aerith appreciated it. It was nice for a little while to just pretend things were normal. That she wasn't looking at becoming a single teenage mother. That she didn't pine for him in the papers and waste hours every day waiting for a letter or a phone call that would never come. Other than occasional little kick in her stomach, she pushed every thought from her mind about the uncertain future and just enjoyed herself for today.

It was getting dark by the time she split from Brigid and Devon. She took a detour through the slums and managed to get back home before the sun had completely set. She called out to announce her return and scuffed her boots off her feet.

"Mom?" She called after not receiving any response. How curious. Elmyra always came to greet—and fuss over her—at the door. She mother-henned Aerith, always lecturing her about being careful "in her condition." As if Aerith were made of glass. She was barely showing at this point…not enough for someone who didn't know to comment. Devon had proved that.

"We're in here, Aerith." Her mother answered after a moment. We? Aerith's heart fluttered a little. It couldn't be…could it? She tried to keep herself composed…to quell the feeling stirring in her chest. She shouldn't be getting her hopes up but she couldn't help herself.

Nor could she keep herself from feeling a little disappointed when she rounded the corner and there he wasn't. But she still put on a front and smiled. "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while."

"Aerith…" Lester answered solemnly. He didn't immediately look up at her, his long fingers steepled. Elmyra had a hand tentatively on his shoulder, her expression grim. He met her eye and Aerith wavered. Both her mother and her friend looked abysmal, but especially Lester. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and his expression was fractured. She hadn't seen him in a while but hadn't been worried up until now. He had responsibilities.

"What's wrong?"

5~~~5

Minor cliffie. I know it's been a while since I've added here and I apologize. Also, those of you reading my other story, A New Leaf, know that the next chapter is coming. I've rewritten it over and over and finally am perfecting the last piece.

Again, this is one of the last set up chapters.

5~~~5

After looking this over, I have a little proposition for you guys. I would love to complete this story and unlike ANL I have the entire thing fairly well mapped out. So if any of you are interested, I'd like to try to get a little collaboration on this piece. It would help me get out updates on a timelier manner. It wouldn't be anything massive, as I do have a direction for Dear Zack. Just a little idea bouncing really. Let me know if you're interested. Otherwise the updates are likely to remain ununiform.

5~~~5

Next time: Something's amiss with Aerith's friend. Also couple familiar faces pay a visit.