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Tell me what happened.
Mom? Zack felt like he was floating through a cloud, without nothing to hold him down. I…I want to help out a friend. But I don’t know how I can do it…
“Hell-llooo!”
Who was that? “Mom?”
“Hell-llooo!”
Zack stirred, his eyes fluttering open.
“Hooray!” the voice exclaimed.
“…Heaven?” Zack murmured. Was he dead?
“Not quite,” the voice said. “Church in the slums.
Church in the slums?
Zack pushed himself up into a sitting position, groaning at the soreness in his back. He was definitely going to feel that in the morning.
He saw a woman standing to his right out of the corner of his eye and looked up at her.
A gorgeous brunette with bright green eyes was smiling down at him.
He blinked. “An angel…?” This really wasn’t heaven?
She shook her head. “No, I’m Aerith!”
She turned and pointed a finger upwards. Zack glanced up and noticed a gaping hole in the roof. “You fell from the sky. Scared me.”
“So you saved me, huh?”
“Not really.” Aerith turned around and bent over, cupping her hands around her mouth. “‘Hell-lloo!’ That’s all I did.”
Zack couldn’t help but laugh. He liked this girl.
He leaned back and flipped himself onto his feet in a perfect kip-up. He faced Aerith, who was gaping in awe at him. Pride swelled up in his chest. Yep, he totally nailed that.
He smiled. “Thank you so much, Aerith. I’m Zack. I have to repay you somehow.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Aerith said.
“No, no…” Let’s see…A beautiful woman saved my life. How should I pay her back…“Hmm…A-ha! Hey, how about one date?” he asked, holding up a finger.
Aerith giggled. “What is that? Don’t be silly!”
Zack dropped his arm and lowered his head with a defeated sigh. Maybe he wasn’t charming as he thought he was.
Guess I should head back now.
He scanned the church until he saw a pair of double doors on the other side. He started walking towards them.
“Stop!” Aerith called out, freezing him in place. “Don’t step on the flowers!”
Zack looked down. His right foot was about to step into a bed of yellow flowers.
He pulled his leg back in. “Excuse me?”
Aerith planted her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed. “Normally, people are more careful with flowers.”
“Well…I guess I’m not normal.” He leaned over the flowerbed, placing his hands on his knees. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw a flower, let alone so many of them in one place. “You don’t see a lot of flowers in Midgar. They’re like luxury items around here.”
“They only grow here,” Aerith said. “Although I planted some outside my house, too,” she added with a giggle.
A garden, huh? “If I were you, I’d sell them.”
“Hmm?”
“Midgar’s full of flowers, your wallet’s full of money!”
A far-away look entered Aerith’s eyes. “Midgar, full of flowers…wallet, full of money…” She repeated the words like she was hearing them for the first time, tapping a finger against her chin. “Never thought of it that way.”
“Well you should! Trust me, you’ll be raking in tons of cash in no time!”
“Hmm…I don’t know…”
“Well, just think about it, okay?”
“Okay,” Aerith said, smiling at him.
Zack stared at her. She looked so pretty when she smiled.
Aerith tilted her head. “What is it?”
Shoot, he was staring. “Uh, nothing. I’d better go.”
Zack stepped around the flower bed and hurried off towards the exit
Right before he reached the double doors, he stopped and turned around. Aerith was kneeling over the flowers, tending to them.
“Are you always here?” Zack called out.
“Yeah.” Aerith stood up. “So, where are you going?”
“Hmm…Dunno.”
Aerith walked up to him. “I’ll take you.”
“Where?”
“Hmm…Dunno.”
Zack grinned. “You just wanna spend more time with me!” Not that he could blame her. If he was her, he would want to spend more time with him too.
Aerith seemed to think about it for a few seconds. “Yeah,” she said.
Zack did a double take, nearly falling over in surprise. Where did that come from?! “Huh!? Wha…!?
Aerith giggled, then stepped around him and headed outside.
Zack stared after for a moment before following after her, chuckling to himself.
He was really starting to like this girl.
***
Aerith’s day had started out like just any other day, and now she was leading a man who fell through the church roof through the slums.
Not that she was complaining of course.
He was funny. And he seemed sweet.
“We’re under the plate right?” Zack asked. “Sector 5…the slums.”
“Yeah. Main street’s over that way,” Aerith said, pointing it out to him. “There’s lots of people, and you can go above.”
“Ahh. Well, I should be good once I make it there. Alright, lead the way!”
“Okay, let’s go.”
While they walked, Aerith pointed out local spots to Zack, who reacted with eagerness at each one, like a dog getting a new toy. It was endearing, the way he openly expressed himself.
“And over there is—”
Before Aerith could finish her sentence, two short, red and round monsters with green lolling tongues popped up out of nowhere and blocked their path, bouncing from side to side.
Aerith gasped. “Monsters!”
“Oh, there we go,” Zack said, sounding annoyed.
Aerith took a step backwards. “Zack, let’s run!”
“Don’t worry about it; I’ll protect you. I’ve got this.”
Aerith turned to Zack. His hands were on his hips and his chest was puffed out. “You’ve got this?” He looked confident, but monsters were nothing to play around with.
“Oh yeah.” Zack took a step forward, taking out the sword strapped to his back and brandishing it in front of himself. “Stay back, okay?”
Aerith bit her lip as she took several steps backwards and stood off to the side.
I hope nothing bad happens to—
Zack lunged forward with blistering speed at the monsters and took them down easily with a few slashes of his sword. The monsters didn’t even get a chance to attack.
Aerith’s jaw dropped as the corpses faded away in a green mist.
Zack put away his sword and turned towards Aerith. She ran up to Zack, beaming. “You’re amazing! You’re so strong!”
Zack’s face clouded over and his head dropped. “Hehe, strong like a monster, right…?” he asked darkly.
Aerith frowned. Did she say something wrong? “Zack? What’s wrong?”
Almost immediately, Zack lifted his head, grinning. “Nothing.” He spun around. “Now, let’s move.”
Aerith watched as Zack walked forward a few steps, stopped, turned to face her again, placed his hands on his hips, and puffed his chest out. That wide grin from earlier was still plastered all over his face. “Hey, I looked good, right?”
Something tells me he likes being praised. “Hmm…”
Zack almost seemed to deflate a bit. “Hmm, what?”
It’d be fun to tease him a bit. Aerith sauntered over. “Dunno.”
“Come on, flatter me…!” Zack begged.
Aerith giggled. “Alright, Zack, let’s go.” She tried not to laugh at his slack-jawed expression as she walked past him.
“Er…hellooo…?” Zack called out. Aerith kept walking like he hadn’t said a word. “You still aren’t going to say anything?” Aerith still kept walking. “Hey, wait up, don’t leave me behind!”
Aerith giggled as Zack caught up to her and fell into place beside her. She glanced at him, giggling inwardly at the slight pout on his lips.
She was really starting to like this guy.