Fugacious Fortune [FFVII ZackAerith drabble]
For making me such an awesome Sephiroth layout which unexpectedly died and has to be re-coded again, I decided that mitsukishiroi had very much earned a little gift from me. Thus, she requested a ZackAerith drabble which I happily wrote.
Surprisingly enough, it actually flowed really well and was easy to write. Something I never expected when it came to Aerith. O__o I'm not complaining though. xD
A warning... this is really sweet and short. So beware the cavities.
Mitsuki dear, hope you enjoy it!
Fugacious Fortune
Sometimes, it was easy to forget who she was.
Lost here among the scent of the flowers, watching them grow day to day and taking care of them as if they were her own children. It was the task of her race, to cultivate life wherever she found the opportunity but even so, she could effortlessly let go of her identity and the responsibility that came with her heritage, concentrating only on the blooms that rose from the tattered remains of the church in defiance to what was being done to the planet…
…Concentrating only on the man lying among them by her side.
It was sometimes overwhelming how his mere presence could make her forget everything else when he was with her. To think that she, a Cetra, could so easily cast aside the mantle that was her role in this life for a few moments just to enjoy the deep rooted feelings that this raven haired man provoked in her.
She propped up on her elbow where she was lying on the grass amongst the flowers and looked down at his sleeping form. Missions would usually tire him out, more than he would admit. A member of Soldier, he would travel all over Gaia on all kinds of assignments that Shinra needed done. Aerith would sometimes speculate about the nature of these missions, knowing very well that most of them weren’t helping the planet but always decided to remain silent. Being part of Soldier was the essence of Zack’s life; it defined him and made him the person he was. The day would come when he would realize the error of Shinra’s ways, she knew, but she was also aware that it wasn’t her task to provide such illumination.
Others would be involved and would shape grand events that were simply out of her hands. The Lifestream had told her as much.
Thus, she was content to provide a small niche of comfort in his life… a place where he could relax after his missions and the responsibility of his post, giving him the one thing that blossomed in her heart since the day she saw him fall from the ceiling of her church.
Love.
Zack had called her an angel on that fateful day…had looked up at her with bewildered eyes, still disoriented from the fall. She’d told him he was wrong and laughed at this antics but in honest truth, from the moment she’d seen him lying on the floor, eyes closed to the world, she had known that the angel was actually him.
He was her own personal tenshi, fallen from the roof instead of the sky. Zack had come into her life in the whirlwind of excitement and laughter that was his charming personality, mesmerizing her with his quick smile and dazzling eyes. She’d told him his eyes were beautiful, since the very beginning, and to this day she easily found herself getting lost in their dark sapphire depths.
Aerith turned to look at his face when he mumbled something incoherent in his sleep, unable to stifle a giggle at his sleepy countenance. He’d come into the church with a tired face and drowsy look in his eyes. After many similar instances, the brown haired girl knew that when he walked in like that, it meant that he’d had a particularly tough mission. She wouldn’t say much, keeping quiet for his sake, and allowed him to lie down among the flowers for a quick nap, something he loved to do. Zack said that he managed to rest a whole lot better among her blooms than in his own bed and that the scent of the blossoms helped him sleep peacefully. Aerith would smile and let him sleep off the exhaustion, relishing at the opportunity of watching him sleep next to her.
Today, he’d had a particularly trying mission. Zack had mentioned something of the sort as he walked in, looking worn and haggard.
He’d said that he’d been on a mission with the General... this was a certified way of stating that the assignment he’d been working on had involved a great level of difficulty. If the General had taken part in the operation, then it meant that only the highest ranking members of Soldiers would be able to complete the task that they’d sent out to do.
The General.
Sephiroth.
Aerith didn’t know why but every time his name was mentioned she felt a chill crawl up her spine. It was as if the Lifestream was trying to tell her something, warn her of something that was coming her way and for which she had to be prepared. Nonetheless, she it wasn’t a chill of fear… it was more like anticipation. As if her destiny was inexplicably tied to this powerful man and that somehow, she would be able to fulfill it through the events that he would one day spur into action. There was no trepidation in her heart, only surety; the Lifestream would never lead her astray despite the difficulties she would certainly encounter along the way.
Thus, she listened to Zack’s rants about the General and of how extremely skillful he was. The admiration he felt for the silver haired man was evident and Aerith simply grinned to herself whenever she heard him talk passionately about what he wanted to achieve in his life. Zack’s enthusiasm and optimistic attitude was one of the things she loved most about him. If Aerith was meant to be a small candle lit in the gloom of Midgar with her flowers and her smiles for the children, then Zack was the bonfire that fueled her when the wind threatened to put out her small flame.
He stirred then, lifting a hand to rub his drowsy eyes in an effort to drive sleep away. Aerith simply looked at him, knowing very well that the only opportunities in which he was allowed to linger after waking up were right here, among her small patch of flowers.
Stretching his arms above his head, Zack let out a wide yawn. He forced his body into wakefulness, knowing very well that he’d most likely over slept… again.
It was her giggle that had his eyes darting to his left and he smiled groggily at her when he found her close beside him. Even with the webs of slumber still clouding his mind slightly, he was once again overcome by the amazement of how truly beautiful she was. As was usually the case, he realized that there was nowhere else he’d rather be than among these flowers with this gorgeous woman who was the source of true happiness in his life.
No matter what happened out there… no matter what traitorous schemes he’s been forced to investigate or what enemies he’d been assigned to bring down, he knew he could count on Aerith to provide a solid base of comfort and affection that would make everything all right.
Without a word, he lifted his hand to her cheek and caressed her smooth skin. It was astonishing sometimes how they could communicate with a mere look, with a single word. On some occasions, he would get so worked up in his excitement about some thing or the other only to find Aerith looking at him with a soft grin. It was then that he realized that she knew exactly what he was thinking, despite his inability to translate it successfully into coherent a explanation. Some things simply couldn’t be expressed with words and they both knew this… both of them understood it.
Between them, some things simply didn’t need to be said.
Lifting his hand higher to cradle her head, he brought her face down to him for a kiss. She complied eagerly and brought her free hand to run it through his dark hair as she leaned over him. The meeting of their lips was soft, with no urgency. It was as if both of them wanted to cherish this moment in its sweet intensity, lingering as much as they could in this unexpected surge of bliss that they had found in each other.
Zack kissed her long and slowly, conveying how much he’d truly missed her when he had been away on his mission. He was forced to leave her more often than he would’ve liked but there was nothing he could truly do about it. It was part of his occupation and Aerith understood it. That was why these quiet moments they were able to snatch away from the usual hustle of Midgarian life meant so much to both of them.
He bit down on her lower lip playfully as they started to pull apart, earning him a soft chuckle. The afternoon was starting to wane and he realized that he had slept more than he’d meant to. Pulling Aerith down towards him, Zack gave a content sigh as she rested her head on his chest while he moved to embrace her. The contrast of these quiet moments with her in comparison to the active and usually dangerous scenarios he was forced to face in his tasks in Soldier was never lost upon him. Even so, he guessed that it was that particular difference that made him enjoy his time with Aerith even more.
“I’m sorry I overslept,” he said sheepishly. He always seemed to be apologizing for that but never truly doing anything about it. But it was he who insisted on coming to see her directly after his missions and thus, there simply wasn’t anything he could do about the exhaustion that would almost always overcame him.
“No need to worry, I knew you were tired,” she replied.
“Yes but I’d promised we’d go out for some ice cream.”
“There’s still time. The vendor won’t close shop for another hour or so.”
Zack nodded but made no move to get up. Sometimes, he felt as though he should lengthen his moments with her as much as possible, as if something inside him was telling him to take pleasure in them while they lasted. It was as if the thought of things between them coming to an end would linger in his mind more often than not as the days passed. Even so, he managed to trample that way of thinking whenever he found himself entertaining such negative ideas.
It did no good to fall into such pessimist thought patterns. Whatever came to be would come their way and when it did, Zack knew that he would have no regrets whatsoever and neither would Aerith.
Still, he found himself holding her as long as he possibly could, watching the shadows lengthen along the walls as the sun’s light started to wane.
Luckily for him, she embraced him back with equal fervor among the blooming flowers.