Chapter Text
The days at Costa Del Sol were always warm, even hot. The sun high up in the sky, radiating warmth and shining brightly - pushing away all darkness. The clear blue sky mixed with white, puffy clouds that have scattered all across. The weak gush of wind that would pass every so often would help keep you a bit cool.
One step into Costa Del Sol and music, parties and excitement fill in the atmosphere.
Suddenly, all worries would be forgotten and would be drowned by the sea’s crashing waves against the shore.
The ship to Costa Del Sol would come and go every week. New people would arrive while some would have to leave the amazing place.
The ship to the place was a lot of fun too. The workers would make sure that you’re all set and enjoying your trip, offering lots of different activities, games and more. Swimming pools, various restaurants and festivals late in the evening would be available every day. You could look down and see the water shimmering under the sun, millions of tiny diamonds would flicker brightly. The place was always crowded, but not too crowded. Everyone would gush in excitement, impatience reaching its peak point.
Everyone would run to the front as the ship would start nearing Costa Del Sol, trying to catch a glimpse of the place or make sure that they’re first in line to truly see and experience the place.
The sun graced the new passengers as they took their first steps in Costa Del Sol.
Already Zack Fair could hear the shouts of excitement and wonder, but he couldn’t blame them. He was also very excited to experience the activities of Costa Del Sol and relax for the one week of vacation which he got. He realized he barely had time off with all the SOLDIER duties and missions jumping out from every corner.
As much as he loved going on missions, helping people and trying to do what’s best, sometimes a vacation is still needed.
Especially after the recent events that had happened. All that left him broken and sad. Starting with Genesis' sudden disappearance during one of the missions. When he, Angeal and Lazard went to investigate, the results were disappointing. They had to face some sort of copies of Genesis and afterwards while Zack was forced to escort Lazard to safety, by the moment he came back to help Angeal, his mentor, — he was gone.
After that he had tried to find Angeal and Genesis, to try to put a stop to all of this, but it didn’t matter in the end. Both referred to themselves as monsters. As much as Zack tried to help out both of them, especially Angeal to try to get him back, yet it didn’t work out. Angeal was lost, and as much as Zack tried to deny it, even when he fought hi—
Zack’s thoughts and painful memories came to a halt as he felt someone’s hand slip into his own.
“Zack.” Aerith’s voice called out from beside him, a warm smile on her face.
Zack was surprised when Shinra let him go on this vacation with someone, even Aerith. No one else had come, which surprised him too, since he thought they would send someone to keep watch on the two of them, but when no one came, he felt a rush of happiness wash over him. He tried to visit Aerith every week, somehow, and give her phone calls often, but still their time was limited and this sort of opportunity doesn’t come too often.
The most difficult part was trying to convince Elmyra to let Aerith go. Especially with Zack.
See, she wasn’t the biggest fan of Zack. He thought that she disliked him a lot and that was probably it, but she never showed it. She accepted the relationship between Aerith and Zack, yet she would still sometimes pass some cold lines to him or slight glares. So to change that Zack tried to be on especially good behavior, kind and always offering to help with anything!
The sudden change in him was odd to Elmyra, but she let it pass. However it didn’t take long for her to understand his secret tactic and when she confronted him about it, Zack pretended to be lost and clueless. And he felt disappointment arise inside of him because he believed that it was all over.
Though that didn’t happen and Zack was so happy when he found out that both him and Aerith can still go which led him to almost hugging Elmyra (stopped himself after the glare she gave him).
“Yeah?” Zack asked, looking down at her.
Aerith stayed quiet for a bit as if debating her words.
“Nothing.” She smiled at the end but gave his hand a light squeeze like she knew what thoughts were haunting his mind.
“I can’t believe we’re at Costa Del Sol! We have to try everything and see the beach and try the foods and play mini gam—!” Aerith began listing off as her eyes ran over the place, she began moving forward with Zack slightly behind.
“We’ll do all that. We have a whole week here, there is no time to rush.”
“Well, true.” Aerith nodded. “But that also doesn’t mean that you can stand around.”
Zack immediately went to defend himself. “I wasn’t standing around! I was going!”
“Slowly.” Aerith tried to suppress her smile, but was failing badly and Zack was in the same situation.
Suddenly a huge group of people made their way towards them and the man at the front began greeting them, “Greetings and welcome to Costa Del Sol! I’m Kapono, the mayor here.” He looked back at his group of people and nodded at them, signalizing to put colorful flower leis on them.
The couple thanked them and looked at them with surprise, not used to this type of greeting. Well, mostly Aerith since she spent almost her entire life in Midgar, living in the slums. Never to have seen the clear blue sky or to be able to walk through long, everlasting fields of flowers, to feel the sun’s warmth and not the bare, weak light that would fight themselves through small open spaces of the plate.
But now all of that has changed.
“A gift to get you in the mood. A shimmering seaside paradise getaway awaits you - with the bluest skies and earthly delights on all sides. Activities for cute couples like you and don’t forget our amazing beach festival! Don’t worry about anything and let yourselves have fun until the sunrise, ‘cause the fun here never ends!” Kapono enthusiastically explained before his eyes spotted more people and he quickly made their way towards them.
“Quite the welcoming.” Aerith stated, glancing at the mayor once more before averting her gaze to the beautiful lei draped around her neck.
Zack followed her gaze before saying, “The flowers bring out your eyes.” He never failed to compliment Aerith and if needed he could compliment her and admire her for the rest of his life.
“Oh you.” She sighed and slightly pushed his shoulder, even though a warm pink color washed over her cheeks which Zack noticed and couldn’t help but feel proud of.
The two locked hands together and made their way out of the dock.
Both of them couldn’t suppress their shocked expressions when they saw Costa Del Sol. The place was magnificent. On every corner there were small shops with lots of different summer items, flowers or accessories. Nature all around, blooming anywhere it can. Signs pointing to the mini games and the grand hotels. The soft, light colors of the place made it seem all cozy.
“This is…” Aerith began saying, yet she couldn't find the one word she could describe the whole place with.
“Awesome!” Zack finished saying very energetically.
The two made their way through the streets, admiring the shops and the decorations of the place. They needed to get to their hotel rooms first, just to put their bags in and go back out immediately.
The room which they will be staying at was actually a really nice one at one of the grand hotels whose name Zack completely failed to remember — resulting in them walking around a bit longer than needed. When they found the hotel, the room was ready as mentioned before, it looked really nice.
The room was wide with lots of free space, decorations and pictures hanging on the walls. Flowers placed near the wooden table that stood by the open windows. The view from the windows led you straight to the seaside and there was even a small balcony connected to the room.
The other furniture was the same as in every hotel room, but it looked clean and beautiful. The coloring of the room wasn’t too much, but also not too simple and the amount of decorations weren’t too overwhelming.
There wasn’t too much time to stay in the rooms since they basically dropped their bags, stayed in the room for a second before leaving. The room can wait.
They went back outside under the sun’s blazing hotness and Zack turned to Aerith. “So, what do you wanna do first?”
Aerith pondered for a bit, looking around the place before her eyes landed on a specific small shop that seemed to be selling ice cream.
“What’s that?” She asked when they walked near the shop, her whole face scrunched up in confusion. Her eyes followed the ice cream that was being handed out to people and she can’t say that she has never seen this food before, but she knows nothing of it.
“Oh, that’s ice cream.” Zack responded.
“Oh.” Aerith nodded, pretending to understand. It lasted two seconds before she looked at him again and asked, rather sheepishly, “And that is…?”
“How about I just buy it for you and you can see for yourself what it is?” Zack suggested, already standing in line.
“Okay.” Aerith smiled at him, looking at the flavors that were on display. There were lots of different flavors, but she decided to settle for a simple one — one that she knew she would like.
“Which flavor would you like?” Zack asked her.
“I’ll take strawberry.”
Zack nodded and looked back at the worker. “One chocolate and one strawberry.”
“Of course, coming right up!”
When Zack said his order and paid for the food, Aerith asked him, “So have you ever tried ice cream?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“You have?” That came as a surprise to Aerith. “What'd it taste like? Is it good?”
“That you will have to decide for yourself.” Zack answered with a small grin.
“Can’t you just tell me?”
“Hm, no. You will have to see for yourself.”
“Fine, but it better be good.” Aerith stated and took the ice cream from the worker. She said a small thank you and when the two walked away from the shop, she tried the ice cream.
It was good. Really good. It was cold, but it melted quite quickly in her mouth and the strawberry flavor was amazing. She felt a bit sad that she could never try this food before, since it wasn’t sold anywhere in the slums, but now all that was forgotten. She wouldn’t mind eating ice cream for the rest of her life from now on.
“So, what’d you think?” Zack asked when they finished their pieces.
“It’s so good! I can’t even describe it.”
“Knew that you’d like it. No one can dislike ice cream.”
“Right.” Aerith nodded, before she spotted a small stand with cactuars drawn all over it and there were some even placed around the stand. She walked near the stand, Zack immediately following behind, curious to see what it was about.
“Hello there!” The woman near the stand greeted them. “Welcome to Cactuar Caper, I’m Lofi. Nice to meet you. Would you like to try out this mini game?”
“What is it?” Zack asked the worker, who smiled even more brightly at them.
“Well, you’d have to locate different Cactuars all around Costa Del Sol and take pictures of them. Don’t worry, you won’t be completely lost since I’ll give you notes on where to look for them. Although you should know that it can be quite difficult. Are you ready to take on this challenge?” Lofi asked them.
“Ready.” Aerith responded, very interested in the mini game.
“Great!” Lofi nodded. She spun around and took some items, before turning back around with a small camera and what seemed like a map of some sort in her hands.
“Here you go.” She handed the items to the two of them. “And when you finish, come back right here and you will be rewarded!”
The two nodded and said their goodbyes for now and opened the map that was given to them. There was a red dot on the map with the words ‘you are here’ and four different locations marked all across the map.
They pinpointed the nearest one and went there.
The couple came face to face with a huge entrance to what seemed like the beach. The title hung above the entrance ‘SURF & SUNTAN’ with two drawings on it. One which was a pink cactuar, just the thing they needed.
“Zack, look!” Aerith pointed out the pink cactuar near the title.
Zack nodded and took out the camera, pointing it at the cactuar and making sure that it’s all clear before snapping a picture of it.
“That was easy.” Zack told Aerith, who nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. Although, I’m not sure about the others.”
“It will be easy too.” Zack responded, all too casually.
Aerith narrowed her eyes at him and moved her head to the side. “Really? Strange, you find one cactuar and now you’re confident about finding all the others as easily as this one.”
“It’s better to stay optimistic rather than pessimistic.” Zack said, looking at the map for the next location.
“Hm, okay. I trust you.”
“Before we start searching for the others, maybe I could have a kiss for goodluck?” Zack inquired, showing his ‘puppy’ eyes which he keeps saying he doesn’t have or that he never uses them, but no one ever believes him.
Not even Aerith.
“Nope.” Aerith smiled at him, already turning around.
Zack’s face immediately fell and he sighed.
Aerith fought back a laugh before calling out, “Let’s go.”
The second location was back at the dock, supposedly on one of the rocks. When they arrived there, they went near the closer rocks first, but even though there was a cactuar on it, it wasn’t the one.
However, Zack still tried to take a picture of it, but it was too far away. “Is it really the right one?” He frowned in confusion. He looked at Aerith, hoping that she’d help somehow.
“Dunno.” She simply responded. She knew that it wasn’t the right one, but she wasn’t gonna say anything. Even Zack suspected that she knew, but he knew that she won’t say anything.
“But this has to be the one, there isn’t anoth— oh.” Zack cut himself off when he looked at the second rocks and saw another pink cactuar there that was closer to the dock.
Zack took the picture that cleared perfectly before both of them looked at the map for the next one.
The third location was somewhere not far away from where the ship arrived. The two made their way there and saw some seats, lots of different drawings and a small restaurant.
“The cactuar is right…here!” Zack said when he saw a pink cactuar behind the restaurant in the left corner. As he pointed the camera at it, the camera was blurry and couldn’t focus no matter what. This camera seemed to be only working when pointed at the right cactuars, meaning that this one was wrong.
And Zack failed.
Again.
“Was it the right one?” Aerith inquired.
“...No.” Zack said. He looked around and spotted another cactuar on one of the short pillars. Maybe this was the right one. And it wasn’t, Zack realized when he pointed the camera at it and it stopped focusing again.
Him and Aerith found two more cactuars but none of them were right.
For the last ten minutes Zack has been trying to find the right cactuar, but he couldn’t find it. Anywhere. He began thinking that maybe this is a trick, but the worker looked trustworthy enough, so that thought quickly died down.
“This is impossible to find.”
“Weren’t you the one who was all optimistic and sure about this?”
“That was the past Zack. I didn’t know that this was gonna be that difficult back then.” Zack sighed, a bit dramatically, yet also in a joking way.
“The past Zack?” Aerith repeated his words, amused by them. “You’ve changed, then?”
“Yes.” He sighed, pretending to be sort of mysterious too. “My hunt for the cactuars was and still is too difficult for me not to change.” Zack shook his head, keeping his ‘sad’ act.
He heard Aerith laugh beside him and he couldn’t help but smile too. This whole hunt for cactuars was still only for fun and it’s gonna stay that way, however making Aerith laugh and have fun was something that never failed to bring a smile to his face.
When Aerith’s laughter died down, she suggested they try searching again together and they did. At the very end, they saw a fire hydrant and right there, a small pink cactuar was drawn on it.
The couple high fived each other, proud of finding this simple cactuar after hunting it down for over ten minutes.
The last location seemed to be on the opposite side of the wooden docks where the second cactuar was at. Behind the buildings, there were rocks surrounding the place and there was a singular pink cactuar in between two green ones.
Zack took the final picture and Aerith said happily, “We did it!”
“Now, we can go back and give the pictures.” Zack stated and the two made their way back to the stand where people were admiring the cactuar decorations or also starting the hunt.
“You’re back!” Lofi shouted joyfully. “Did you find all the pictures?”
“Yes, we did.” Aerith responded.
“Great. It wasn’t difficult, right?” Lofi asked them when Zack handed her the camera and the map.
Both Zack and Aerith shared a quick glance and shook their heads.
“I’m glad.” Lofi told them and looked through the taken pictures. “The pictures are all here. Congratulations you guys! Before you go, I did say there was a reward. So…” She trailed off, turning away from them for a few seconds before spinning back around with the same camera in her hold.
“This camera! Don’t worry, it works perfectly fine now and you can take as many pictures as you want.”
“But how did you manage to change the camera?” Zack frowned and took the camera, which was decorate in cactuar stickers, from Lofi.
“Just one of Costa Del Sol’s magics.” Lofi winked at them before giving one last smile and turning towards the other people.
“Awesome! We got a camera!” Zack smiled happily, already turning on the camera. Before Aerith could say anything, something flashed right into her eyes. She froze for a few seconds before blinking repeatedly and looked at Zack with a confused look.
“What did you do?” Aerith asked her boyfriend, who was looking at the camera with a grin. He looked back at her and shrugged his shoulders.
“Nothing.” Zack lied and moved the camera away from sight.
Aerith squinted her eyes at him. “You took my picture.”
“No—”
“And don’t even think about lying.”
“Okay, maybe I took your picture.”
“I wasn’t even ready!” Aerith exclaimed loudly, however she had a grin on her face. “How did I look like? Show me, please?”
“You looked beautiful. There is no need for me to show you the picture.” Zack said, but Aerith could read him quite well. And she knew that he was hiding something.
“Zack. Show me the picture.”
Zack wanted to fight against her, but she had her arms crossed over her chest and it seemed like she was determined to see the picture, no matter what.
“Fine, but I’m telling you, you looked great.” Zack reminded her before taking the camera out of his pocket and giving it to Aerith.
Aerith’s jaw dropped when she saw the picture. It was clear that she wasn’t even ready for the picture and her eyes were blown wide, her mouth slightly agape. She looked utterly lost.
“This is horrible!” Aerith said, yet she found herself laughing at the picture.
“It’s not! I love it.” Zack argued with her.
When Aerith looked back up, she met his bright blue eyes with some green in it and noticed how he was looking at her with pure adoration. She hated it when he looked at her like that (no, she didn’t) because it would always get her flustered.
“It’s only fair if I take a picture of you now.” Aerith stated and when she pointed the camera at him, it was clear that he was posing and trying to look his best.
“You’re posing! That’s cheating.” Aerith told him with a frown.
“I’m not posing!” Zack told her and Aerith moved her head to the side, not hiding the fact that she didn’t believe him at all.
From far away, Aerith noticed another shop that seemed to be quite popular. Her curiosity peaked and she began walking towards the shop with Zack by her side. When the two got closer, they noticed that it was a swimwear shop. It did include a few items for swimming, but mostly it was swimwear.
“You sure you want to go here?” Zack asked her, a bit nervous for some reason.
“Well, yeah. You do want to go to the beach right?” Aerith asked back.
Their conversation was cut short when a group of girls, owners of the shop probably, greeted them, “Hello, you guys! You must be new, so I’m gonna introduce myself and my girls here — I’m Shayla…” A girl with vibrant, short blue hair introduced herself first. She had dark eyes and was wearing low rise shorts and a simple top with lots of necklaces.
“I’m Rye.” Another girl introduced herself with dark, curly hair and wore a sage green swimsuit with a short white swimming skirt. She wore accessories in her hair and had tons of bracelets on her arms.
“And I’m Kiira.” The last girl smiled warmly at the two of them.
“So, you need any help?” Shayla asked them. “It’s clear that you’re new here and we’re more than happy to help.”
“Uh—” Zack began saying, but was cut off by Aerith’s voice.
“No, but thank you.” Aerith smiled warmly at them, ready to go look for swimwear on her own without their help.
“You sure?” Rye asked with a slight smile.
Aerith’s smile became a bit more forced but she nodded anyways.
“Shame. I must say you’ve got a really nice body.” Shayla said, but more specifically to Zack. He was wearing his SOLDIER uniform, however no one would know it since all the armour was taken off and the sword, so without a close glance, it would seem like a normal outfit. He would have changed into other clothes, but the two didn’t even open their bags before leaving the hotel to explore the place.
He, of course, was clueless to her flirting and he thought that it was just a simple compliment which did make him happy. “Hell yeah I do. Thanks, though.”
“Of course! So as we were saying…” Kiira trailed off, but before she could finish her sentence Zack was suddenly gone, being dragged away by Aerith who wasted no time in getting out of that conversation.
“Why did we leave so suddenly?” Zack asked after Aerith dragged him away to the other side of the shop, away from the group of girls.
“We don’t really need their help, do we?” Aerith asked, although there was a tiny bit of annoyance in her voice that made Zack confused.
“But they were offering to help?” Zack frowned and he seriously looked like a confused puppy.
“You really didn’t notice anything?” Aerith asked him and by his facial expression and utter confusion, he had no idea what she was talking about. Aerith shouldn’t have been surprised that women flirted with Zack, I mean look at him. She always thought that she was really lucky to be with him, yet she still would get a tiny bit jealous when someone would flirt with him — especially women. She knew that he would never engage in their flirting, and probably wouldn’t even notice it, so she never gets mad at him for that. However she does get a bit mad at those who do flirt with him.
“Uh… no?” Zack hesitantly answered. Did he miss something? Did something happen?
Aerith debated on whether to tell him or not, but suddenly she felt a bit embarrassed, so she decided not to. It was stupid of her to get jealous over this. She smiled instead of talking over what happened and said, “How about we choose our outfits and meet at the beach?”
Zack nodded at the suggestion, but before leaving he asked, “Are you sure nothing bad happened? I didn’t do anything, right?”
“No. Don’t worry. Everything is okay. Now go, we’ll talk later.” Aerith smiled warmly at him and it seemed like she forgot all about what was annoying her a few moments ago.
Zack looked at her for a few seconds longer before nodding and going his way.
The two parted their ways shortly, looking around the shop, trying to find the right swimwear. Or the one that seemed the best.
The sun shone even brighter at the beach, carrying its sunlight all around the place. Waves crashing calmly against the soft sand, pushing out small rocks and then taking them back in. Music played somewhere further away, different bars open and serving drinks.
A lot of people were in the sea, swimming around and enjoying their time. Some however were lying down in front of the sun or chatting up with their friends.
Zack however wasn’t doing any of those things. Instead he had been waiting for Aerith for the last ten minutes or so, glancing every so often around to maybe catch sight of her, although he still hasn’t seen her. She did say that they’ll meet here, so she should show but when?
Zack found himself bored out of his mind. He thought about doing squats but with so many people around, it didn’t seem like the right time. Instead, he had been sitting around under the sun, looking out into the sea. He mostly tried to think something positive to ignore any unwanted thoughts from entering his mind.
He wondered why Aerith was annoyed back at the swimwear shop. He didn’t do anything wrong and nothing seemed to go wrong. This whole day has been amazing in fact, so what could’ve happened at that store? They were greeted by a group of girls, who offered to help them find clothes and then one of them complimented his body and—
Oh.
That’s what it was.
How could he not have noticed it? It was so obvious! He really thought that they were only complimenting him, yet he now realized he was wrong. That’s what Aerith must’ve been annoyed about. He should talk to her. When he sees her, he’s gonna talk to her about it and say that that meant nothing to him and is nothing and that he’s sorry for not noticing the obvious flirting before.
He’s going to talk to her.
He’s going to talk—
“Zack.” Aerith’s soft voice called from behind him
“Aerith, I—” Zack began saying and turned around to look at her but suddenly all words left his mouth. He forgot everything that was going on or what he wanted to talk about. His mind was blank. Aerith looked… He couldn’t even find the words to describe her since every word just wasn’t enough. She looked more than beautiful, more than perfect if that was even possible.
Aerith wore a pink swimsuit, including a soft pink top with small flowers on each side holding the clothing secure, a short skirt, with the same color as the top, that clung onto her hips perfectly — leaving her stomach bare, and had a small light chain going over it and a small red bow on the left side. She decided to wear light pink flowers in her hair that matched her outfit perfectly.
Zack was quite literally at loss for words. He didn’t even notice that he was deeply staring at her until she slightly crouched down and met his eyes. “Hello?” She asked, waving a hand in his face and dragging the ‘o’ out.
That seemed to send Zack back to reality as he blinked and felt his cheeks turn very warm, coloring themselves in a crimson color. He jumped back and turned away, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. “Uh…” Still he was at a loss of words.
Aerith held her hands behind her back with a somewhat smug smile on her lips. “You okay?”
Zack jumped slightly at her voice. “M-Me?! Yeah, I’m fine. Fine. As I can be… You…You look, er, nice.” Zack said, nervously. Nice!?
It was amusing for Aerith to see Zack, a SOLDIER 1st class who has fought terrifying and horrible creatures, has been on the most difficult missions, get nervous over her wearing a swimsuit.
“Thanks.” Aerith smiled at him. To be honest, she has been stealing a few glances at him herself, though she was a bit better at hiding it. And she hoped that the warmness of her cheeks could be explained by the sun’s hotness.
“So… ready to go for a swim?” Aerith asked him.
“Always.” Zack responded.
The waves crashed against the shore and even though the weather was warm, the water was cold. Not too cold, but still cold. Zack had no problems with the water since he didn’t find it cold at all, perhaps a bit more cool than cold.
He looked back and saw Aerith hesitantly walk into the water and become still every few seconds. She felt goosebumps over her skin and with every step she thought she was getting colder and colder (that wasn’t the case).
“It’s not that cold.” Zack said when he appeared from beside her. Aerith narrowed her eyes at him before focusing on the clear water.
“Speak for yourself. It’s freezing.” Aerith told him. It wasn’t freezing, but it did feel like the water was freezing during the first few steps in.
“You just need to dive in.” Zack replied. Aerith nodded and she was gonna do that soon. Soon.
“Right… I know.” Aerith breathed out.
“I could always help.”
“Maybe not.” Aerith answered. She had an idea of what his ‘help’ would be, which would be pushing her into the water, and that was something she really didn’t want to do.”
“But you’d get warmer faster!”
Aerith sighed and turned to face him, but the look on his face wasn't trusting at all. Before Aerith could protest again she felt herself getting pushed into the water. Without even thinking she clung onto Zack and they both fell into the water together. Their shouts were cut short as the water consumed them both.
The first person out was Zack and Aerith followed quickly after. She moved away her now wet hair from her face, blinked and looked at Zack, ready to be mad at him, though she wasn’t even mad. Maybe a bit annoyed, but never mad. However her annoyance washed away in seconds when she looked at him. His hair fell a bit more flatly on his head and on his face. His eyes were covered and he had water dripping down his face.
Aerith laughed at the sight.
“Not funny.” Zack told her, trying to fix his hair by pushing it back to its original place.
“A bit funny.” Aerith corrected him. “Here, let me help.” She offered when her laughter mostly died down. She went closer to him and ran her hands through his wet hair. Zack’s hands fell to the side and he looked at her to see her concentrated into fixing his hair.
“All better.” Aerith smiled and backed away, Zack felt himself missing her presence being so close, but ignored it and instead asked, “Really?”
“Yes, really.” Aerith nodded. “If only I had taken a picture of you with that hair.”
“Not happening.” Zack immediately dismissed the idea and Aerith chuckled at that.
“I’ve never been in water such as this.” Aerith stated. “Back in Midgar there were a few places that had swimming pools but they didn’t last long.”
“Why?”
Aerith shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know. Either the water would become too difficult to clean or there wouldn’t be enough water to keep the swimming pools running.”
Zack frowned sadly. “But you’re here now, enjoying a never ending sea.” He remembered back in his hometown, Gongaga, there were clean rivers running through the forest and they had a sea right on the outskirts of the place where most of the ships would often leave. The seaside was used often in summer, usually by kids, Zack being one of them, running through the forests and fields, trying to reach the water first.
He hasn’t been there in a long time now.
Aerith smiled at that. “Yeah, we’re here now.”
“Oh, I forgot to ask, how’s the flower business going on?” Zack inquired.
One of the first things they did when they met each other was sell flowers. Aerith had a lot of flowers growing, which was quite a surprise in Midgar, and they thought that they could expand the flowers all across the place. Zack had built a flower wagon for Aerith and the pair set off to sell flowers in hopes of making Midgar bloom with them.
The last time he got any news about the flowers was a few weeks ago and due to different missions he hasn’t been able to visit Aerith a lot.
“Really well. Lots of people are buying them and the place is beginning to have a lot of flowers all around.”
“And my cool flower wagon? Is it attracting a lot of people?” Zack asked, remembering his third constructed wagon. It was mostly made of metal and didn’t have much color, but it was cool as fuck. To Zack at least.
“Uh… It’s nice. It’s doing well.” Aerith smiled, a tad nervously.
“That’s great. I knew that it was gonna attract a lot of people! You remember how cool it looked?” Zack smiled, mostly to himself and his handy skills.
“Right…” Aerith smiled.
The water wasn’t even cold anymore and instead refreshing from the sun’s heat. Aerith looked at Zack and saw him looking off somewhere else and enthusiastically explaining his plans for a fourth or even a fifth flower wagon and what theme could he make it this time.
Aerith tried to listen but for a quick second she let her eyes fall down a bit lower. When they weren’t fully in the water yet, she did manage to steal a few glances at his bare upper half and would quickly turn away before he could even notice her staring but with the sun’s warmth and the droplets of water falling down his body, it was becoming more difficult to not glance at his toned chest.
She knew that Zack was clearly attractive and wellbuilt, but she had never seen him like this before. He looked gorgeous. She loved everything about him, mostly his personality if she had to choose one, but she could never stop herself from admiring his beauty. For example now.
“Aerith.” Zack’s voice called out, making her snap her eyes back at him. She pretended like nothing happened, but the pink tint on her cheeks said otherwise.
“Hm?” She hoped he hadn’t caught her staring.
“You know, my eyes are up here.” Zack said and pointed at his eyes with a stupid smile on his face. He most definitely caught her staring.
“Oh, I know. I just wanted to admire your beauty, that’s all.” Aerith stated bluntly. Now she saw Zack beginning to blush and awkwardly scratch the back of his neck, again at loss of words.
“Come on.” Aerith grinned and splashed his face with water which seemed to snap him out of his flustered state.
“Hey!”
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It was late in the evening when Zack and Aerith decided to take one last walk beside the sea. The beach was almost empty with a few people hanging around then and there, drinks in their holds and chatter arising from their direction.
Small, warm colored lamps were hung all around, giving the night sky some light but if there were no lights, the silver moon with the help of the diamond stars would be enough. The sea reflected the glowing moon, its light shone brightly in the dark, velvet waters.
The atmosphere around here was now quieter than before, a lot quieter. Well at least where Zack and Aerith were walking, but they did manage to pass some groups of people that were still partying and having the time of their lives.
“I don’t think I could ever get tired of the sky.” Aerith spoke, her eyes wandering across all the stars, a small smile playing on her lips.
“Yeah?” Zack’s voice was low and comforting.
Aerith nodded. “I was afraid of it before but now I realize that it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Zack smiled. “There’s still so many places I want to show you. You still haven’t visited my hometown or met my parents and they’ve been asking about you a lot.”
Aerith grinned at that. “They have? What did you tell them about me? I hope it’s all good.”
“It is, don’t worry. They just really want to meet you.”
“One day, Zack. One day, I’ll meet your parents and you can show me all the places you want.”
“It will be a long trip then because there are a lot of places I also haven’t seen.”
“So, we’ll see them together.” Aerith gave his hand a light squeeze.
“Yeah. With my senses of direction we’ll see all the places in no time.” Zack stated proudly.
“For pure safety, we should take a map just in case.” Aerith suggested, knowing that they would both get lost. Aerith wouldn’t be much of help with directions too since she wouldn’t know the places at all. And with Zack, there would be high chances for them both to get lost in some sort of cave.
Comfortable quietness settled between the two. The sound of weak waves crashing and the slight flow of wind would pass by. The two held their hands together through the entire walk, enjoying each other’s presence and none of them wanted this moment to end.
“About before…” Zack began saying when the two got back on the streets and were making their way towards the hotel.
“What about before?”
“The whole accident at the swimwear shop where you dragged me away from a group of girls that were trying to help us. You got annoyed afterwards?”
“I didn’t get annoyed and it was nothing, okay?”
“Hm, are you sure you didn’t get jealous?” Zack asked.
Aerith was about to respond until it hit her that Zack had realized the entire situation. “You finally realized that they were flirting with you?”
“Yeah, I did… I’m sorry that I didn’t notice before, I really thought they were just complimenting me out of kindness.” Zack apologized, feeling a bit guilty.
“It’s okay, but I didn’t like the way they were complimenting you.” Aerith blurted out, a frown coming back to her face.
“So you were jealous!”
“I— well! A bit. How could I not be? They were flirting with you in front of me. They were flirting with you.” Aerith explained to him.
Zack had a ridiculous smile on his face and when Aerith noticed his smile, she narrowed her eyes at him and pushed him away. She did make sure that it was a strong push though.
“What was that for?” Zack asked in shock.
“Just because.” Aerith responded simply.
Zack laughed slightly before saying, “You don’t have to be jealous. I have no interest in them, you’re the only person that I’ll ever be interested in.”
Aerith felt herself go warm for what seemed like the hundredth time of the day and she pointed her finger at him in accusation, “You’re too nice.”
“Thanks…?” Zack thanked her, confused if she was complimenting him or being mad at him for being ‘too nice’.
The two got back to their room, the place which they entered for a few seconds and left as if they were never there. With the lights lit on, the room seemed even more cozy. The ground was soft, covered by a rug, the walls were painted a darker pastel yellow color. A few paintings were hung on the walls, some other needed stuff such as a closet, two bedside tables and two cabinets for items to put. There was even a tv and a king sized bed for the two of them. Zack felt as if he could fall on the bed right then and there and fall asleep.
Their bags were left right at the front door which they carried deeper into the room, so they wouldn’t fall over. When the bags were put away, Zack thought about laying down, not falling asleep, since he still felt like he had a lot of energy, but was stopped by Aerith who stepped right in front of him.
“You’re not going to bed like this.”
“But I’m clean.”
“Don’t think so, unless all the sand has come off after today’s sandcastle building.” Aerith pointed out. After swimming the two did decide to join a group of people in building a sandcastle. Some time later the group of ten managed to build a goodlooking and huge sandcastle.
Zack wanted to argue with her but he never did. Why? Because it was pointless. Aerith was usually right. Not even usually, always.
The dark haired guy went to the bathroom, not before taking some clean, comfortable clothes, to shower and wash away all the ‘dirt’ off his body. The bathroom was really spacious and looked expensive in some sort of way. What was really good about this trip was that both the hotel and trip to this place were all paid for by Shinra.
He shed off all his clothes and when the warm water hit his body, he felt himself relax. The water ran down his face and with soap he managed to scrub off all the sand off his body. He washed his hair with shampoo and did feel that it was a bit tangled but not much. He decided not to stay here for long, so when he finished what he needed to do, he turned off the shower and walked out.
Zack dried himself off and put on the clean clothes. He put away the swimwear to dry and walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. He noticed Aerith standing in the balcony, her long, white beach cardigan covering her body and keeping her warm.
Zack made his way towards Aerith and saw her looking at the sea. Her hair was let loose, something that Zack didn’t see much since she always had her hair done in the pink bow which he bought her on their first date. The silver moonlight shone down and made Aerith shine under its light.
Even in darkness she still glowed.
Zack didn’t need to announce his presence, Aerith knew that he was here, standing beside her.
“I hope you didn’t use all the hot water.” Aerith told him, turning to face him. Her face shone brightly with the bright light and everything else seemed to go quiet around him.
“Of course not.”
Aerith smiled. “Great. I won’t take long, so don’t fall asleep.”
“I won’t.” Zack promised. He knew that he wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep from all the energy he still had.
Aerith looked at him for a few seconds before turning around and walking to the bathroom.
Zack looked at the sight in front of him, the way the ocean was still noticeable under the dark skies. The fresh air of wind. No worries. This entire day was the most he felt at ease in a long time. He mostly felt at ease because Aerith was here beside him.
He wished that it stays like this for a long time.
Zack went back inside, still feeling energetic, he decided to do his squats. He hadn’t done them in a while and he did this to either kill boredom or simply as a hobby. Oddly.
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The bathroom doors clicked open and Aerith walked out, feeling refreshed. Her wet hair fell down her shoulders, covering them. Her clothes were now fresh new, a simple pink pyjama which included shorts and a tank.
Zack stopped doing his squats and looked at Aerith, his eyes lingering a bit longer on her bare legs, with his lovesick eyes. Something he didn’t notice himself doing, thinking he looked at her normally, however Aerith would point out otherwise. And so would anyone else if they saw how Zack looked at her.
“You’re staring.” Aerith sang, looking at him with a small smile and her hands placed on her hips. “Again.”
“I don’t see what’s wrong with that. Is it bothering you?”
“N-No!” Aerith answered, a bit too quickly. Zack raised his eyebrows at her before smirking slightly. “Just… You do it often…And I—” She tried to explain, the blush on her face sinking deeply red.
“...You?” Zack asked, trying to suppress his smile.
Aerith took notice of his look and shook her head, denying further explanation. She sat down on the comfortable, new bed and let herself lie down. Her whole body relaxed and she sighed softly.
She felt Zack sit down beside her, done with his squats for the day, and she glanced at him. Even though her eyes were becoming tired, she still wanted to enjoy some time with him (even if they spent the entire day together). It’s not often they get this much free time together and she wanted to fill all the free time they have together.
Aerith’s eyes drowned in his features. His mako colored eyes that she would often lose herself in. His straight nose, even if it was a simple feature, suited him perfectly. His lips that she would glance at once a while and the way they could curve into a smile that would make her feel better within seconds. He had tiny, barely noticeable moles then and there, and Aerith felt the need to count each one of them.
She saw him looking at nowhere really, just in his thoughts. Something that he had been doing more often than usually. It worried her, she wanted to hear his thoughts, listen to him and comfort him. Every time she would try to bring it up, ask him if he was okay, he would brush it off and tell her everything was okay.
She understood if he didn’t want to talk about it, so that’s why she simply tried to stay by his side.
Aerith looked at his spiky hair and without a word ran her hands through it. It was a slow, soft motion, but it made him look at her and she saw how he eased up after this simple touch.
“How does your hair stay like this?” Aerith wondered out loud.
Zack shrugged his shoulders and sank down lower to the bed. All words seemed to die down.
“How much gel do you use?” Aerith joked, her lips cracking into a small smile.
Zack shook his head against the pillow and he had a tired grin on his face. Just a few minutes ago, he felt energetic and ready to do anything, but now all he wanted to do is lay here with Aerith by his side. And the feeling of her running her soft, delicate hands through his hair made him even more relaxed.
Aerith came closer to him, still resuming her recent action. Zack wanted to be closer to her, but he was hesitant about it. Really hesitant. It wasn’t as if he and Aerith hadn’t been close, this was just new. For both of them, Zack didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
Hesitantly, he leaned in closer, laying his head down on her stomach. He felt his heart speed increase and for a second, he thought he might have to move away, but Aerith didn’t mind it at all. She still kept running her hands through his dark, spiky hair. Zack held her close, keeping his hands on her waist.
Aerith noticed how he melted under her touch. It made her heart swell. “Zack.”
“Hm?” He murmured, his head lying comfortably on her stomach.
“You’re not falling asleep, are you? Seeing how energetic you were not long ago.”
“‘Course not.” Zack denied her accusation with his eyes shut close, his voice becoming sleepy.
Zack’s words were a total lie. Zack was the first to fall asleep, completely drifting off, his hands still holding her close to him, but it didn’t seem like Aerith was gonna let him go herself. Aerith fell asleep not too long ago after Zack, even if she tried to fight away her sleepiness and get a few more moments, to look at him at such peace, but sleep won her over.
The two fell asleep in each other's holds, not wanting to let go of one another ever.