(Untitled)

[ebbingvigilence]

Characters: Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair
Status: Complete
Location: Costa del Sol
Date/Time: 29th July 2498, early'ish morning, probably around 8am.
Summary: After a good workout in the morning, Zack heads back to the inn to meet up with Aerith.
Warnings: N/A

Comments

[ebbingvigilence]

To say that he was proud of her was an understatement, and as Aerith closed her eyes to take in everything, Zack's expression softened. He remained silently at her side as she took in her surrounding. This was something Aerith had to discover without his interference, but he did remain watching over her as the sounds of the beach surrounded them both. He knew she just needed to realise that the water wasn't something to be afraid of. It was dangerous, yes, but if it was respected it could be one of the most relaxing places on Gaea.

When Aerith finally spoke again, Zack waited until her eyes were back on his before he broke his silence, "It's only scary if you let it be," He softly said with an expression mirroring Aerith's own. She was almost ready for him to remove his supportive hand holding hers, but there was still one thing that he needed to do first.

"Now when you're ready, start kicking your legs beneath the water in a scissor motion," While she couldn't go anywhere while he was still holding her, Zack could at least move them around and control where they went as she did it, "I'll keep you up, so just focus on getting your legs into a steady rhythm."

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Aerith's smile faded as she returned to concentration. "Right," she murmured, furrowing her brow as her feet moved back and forth. Scissoring was harder than it sounded, but she found that her legs refrained from kicking out and splashing water everywhere. Once she found a slight rhythm, she smiled happily and looked up to Zack.

"I think I get it!" she exclaimed, laughing. Aerith gently nudged him with her hand, then lifted them both above the water's surface. "What about my arms?" She still didn't trust herself to not flop and flail around like a fish out of water.

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It was hard not to smile fondly at the sight of the concentration on Aerith's face, but Zack managed to hold it a bay for now. When she started kicking her legs, he began moving around slowly to let her get used to the feel. It didn't take long, and before he knew it, she was kicking those legs of hers like a pro.

Zack shook his head at her antics as she released his hand, and without so much of a second thought, the now-free hand came up to support her upper body. There was a debate as to which method of swimming would be the best to teach, but he found himself leaning more towards breaststroke. It would be stable and comfortable enough for Aerith to learn. At least that way Aerith wouldn't have to put her head underwater until she was comfortable doing it.

"We'll worry about your arms in a minute," He started with a laugh before gesturing for Aerith to put her feet back onto the ground. "I was going to teach you freestyle, but I figure that breaststroke would be the best one for you to learn." Shifting himself back around, he offered Aerith his hands to take again as he asked, "Have you ever seen a Touch Me Frog swimming? You'll want to mirror the same movements with its hind legs with yours. Start doing that and I'll support you."

Zack figured that it would be easier to show her the arm movement while he guided her around.

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Aerith obediently moved so her feet rested on the sea floor, and inhaled a long sigh of relief. She reached out to grasp his hands gently, but kept her gaze on him as he spoke. Indeed they had encountered a few of those frogs on their travels, she could distinctly recall Cloud complaining that they got his sword dirty with slime and were more of a nuisance than they were worth.

After exhaling the deep breath she had taken in, Aerith gave his hands a small squeeze. "I'm ready," she murmured, but didn't fall back into her determination mode. Her expression softened instead, and with a few light tugs of Zack's hands to lower his body to her level, Aerith pressed a small, affectionate kiss of thanks to his cheek. Whether or not it was inappropriate didn't phase her; the moment simply felt right. She only hoped he wouldn't mind. "You're a good teacher, you know~."

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It made things easier now that he knew she was aware of them. While he was all about flailing himself around to show her, Zack wanted Aerith to do this herself so that her confidence would grow.

He waited patiently until she was ready, but when he found his hands tugged down, Zack found himself automatically following the gesture. Zack's surprise was gone as quickly as it came when he felt the press of her lips on his cheek, and he felt his own expression soften at the gesture.

Zack didn't pull away at first, but instead shifted so that his forehead could press up against hers. His softly glowing gaze locked with Aerith's as he quietly admitted, "If I hadn't made First Class... I would have requested training the cadets and new SOLDIER recruits instead."

He'd never told that to anyone before, but it had been on the back of his mind if he hadn't been able to obtain his dream. With a lingering smile, Zack gently squeezed Aerith's hands affectionately before he pulled himself back. The last thing he wanted was for Aerith to become upset - not when she was making such great progress with her swimming lesson.

"Were the apples any good? Hopefully none of them had any worms in them," Zack asked as he began to slowly move back. He didn't release his hold on Aerith's hands, but gave her an encouraging smile to attempt the beginnings of the strokes while he moved.

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The idea in itself of Zack having a back up plan instantly took Aerith off guard, and had her simply staring after him even as he pulled away. She knew there were aspects of him quite well hidden by his dazzling and outgoing SOLDIER mask, but self-doubt had never been one she could fathom. Her lips slowly moved into a smile as she regarded him warmly. "There should never be any 'if's in your plans," she murmured finally. "They're not necessary, you know~."

At the sudden change of topic to apples, Aerith found herself switching gears just as quickly to evade tender subjects. If she wasn't careful, their conversation would go somewhere she wasn't quite prepared to venture back into. She was enjoying herself far too much, seeing him happy and smiling like this to ruin it.

"They were delicious!" she replied cheerfully, moving to follow him. Her legs made the motions to kick as she had practiced before, but she found that most of her weight was still reliant on his hands supporting her. For the time being she wanted it to stay that way just so she wouldn't go under like a drown victim. "Yuna and I are looking somewhere to start cooking. I wanna teach her how to bake a pie," Aerith grinned proudly as a mother perhaps would while talking about her daughter. "...But that all depends if we can get our hands on an oven, eheh."

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He wasn't all that surprised that Aerith was just as happy to switch topics. It was a coward thing for him to do, but he simply wanted to enjoy these moments with her despite the dark cloud hanging over them. Zack knew it was his fault... they both were just so far beyond his reach that he simply had trouble keeping up, and he felt terrible that he'd put his two closest friends through so much emotional strain.

"Well that's lucky," Zack said in good humour. She was using his hands heavily to balance herself, but that was more than fine. It would take her a little while to get used to this, and when she did, he'd begin moving her arms beneath the water as a guide.

He kept himself down almost on face-level with Aerith as he continued to move backwards in time with her speed. There was no doubt that she was looking forward to teaching Yuna the ropes. They both needed the company. Even he knew that men weren't the best company when it came to certain situations.

Peering curiously at Aerith, he asked, "Did you ask at the inn? They should have something there for you to use."

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"Very lucky," Aerith murmured in reply with amusement in her tone. Their conversation wasn't transitioning smoothly, but it wasn't like she could hide from him very well. At least the silent agreement had been to let it go for the time being, which Aerith was ardently appreciative for.

Swimming took quite a bit of physical work, but Zack hadn't pushed her pace any faster. She liked the sensation of water gently rushing past her body, but still didn't feel comfortable enough to let go of his hands. In a very selfish light, she simply didn't want to.

"We should," she replied, blinking brightly. Yuna had suggested something similar, but they had been busy all night exploring Costa to get around to it. She smiled again at him, giving his hands a light squeeze underwater. "What else do you have planned for today, Zack?"

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"Well, I can't see them denying the requestion from such lovely ladies," Zack murmured affectionately. If the inn did, then he'd have to have a few choice words to them. He doubted it would come to that thought. Who could ever deny Aerith? Or Yuna for that matter.

Slowly Zack began to move their arms beneath the water in a subtly imitation of how they should be moved. "I haven't got anything else planned for today," He said with a cheerful smile on his face. He continued to steadily move her arms subtly faster while they continued their practice, and with a teasing wink, Zack added, "So I'm all yours until you decide to give me the boot."

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"Of course not!" Aerith laughed. She wouldn't take it personally if they were; letting strangers operate possibly dangerous machinery such as an oven could make anyone skeptical. They'd figure out a way to use those recipes, one way or the other though.

Her gaze lowered from Zack's eyes to the way their arms were moving beneath the crystal clear water. It wasn't what she initially had imagined one would do when trying to get from one point to the other, but then again he was the swimmer and she definitely wasn't. She glanced up at him as he spoke, and caught his wink. It was especially good to know she could horde him all to herself for today, as she had a sinking feeling he wouldn't be around Costa for too much longer. It was selfish indeed, but she hoped he wouldn't mind.

"Who could ever give you the boot, hmm~?" Aerith gave him an affectionate smile. "Unless that's your way of trying to get rid of me?"

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Zack merely chuckled in amusement at Aerith's reply, but said nothing else. He could see her trying to figure out what their arms were doing, but the SOLDIER said nothing in regards to it for the time being.

"Spike tried to give me the boot a few times back in the day, but it never worked," The SOLDIER said with a cheeky grin on his face. He kept up with the arm movements, and after seeing her affectionate smile, his expression softened. The expression didn't last long before his usual one returned, "Oh yes, that's my vile and evil plan all along. I can't pull the chocobo feathers over your eyes, hmm?"

Gesturing down with his chin to their arm movements, Zack happily murmured, "Know what we're doing with your arms?"

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Aerith had a feeling, earlier on in their friendship, that Cloud's irritation towards Zack was probably genuine. It was probably more of a recent development that it was secretly his way of expressing affection, although that didn't seem to differ much to Zack. She simply smiled, but didn't voice her thoughts. The look her gave her churned everything inside her around once, and Aerith found herself struggling to say anything at all.

"I'm in tune with these things," she laughed, but wound up nodding to his question. "I think I get it," she glanced up at him and smiled nervously. "Are... you gonna let go?"

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He glanced at her curiously when she simply smiled, and wondered if he'd once again said something stupid. Zack covered it well enough, and as he saw the nervous smile, the SOLDIER gave her an encouraging one in return.

"Only for a split second. I'll start supporting your midsection instead," His voice was soft. Zack wouldn't release his hold on her until he was certain she was ready, and if not, then that was fine as well. "But I want you to keep going with the arm and leg movements while I'm doing that, 'kay?"

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Aerith gave Zack a look of relief as he explained what he'd go after letting go of his hands. So she wouldn't be released into the wild just yet, thank Gaea! "Okay," she murmured with a smile, and gave him an assuring nod.

She glanced down at her arms and mimicked what they had been doing moments before just to make sure she knew to do, then looked back up to regard Zack confidently. "Let's do this!"

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There was only so far that he could go teaching her while holding her hands, and he wanted nothing more than to see her swimming confidently by the end of the day. It wasn't much that he could give her, but it was something he'd been wanting to do since Junon.

When Aerith gave indication that she was ready, Zack gave a small acknowledging nod of his own. "Sounds good to me," He tightened his grip momentarily to give her further indication before releasing his hold and moving to her side instead. Aerith was only swimming by herself for a mere moment before Zack reached one hand beneath to hold her up by her stomach. His other hand remained drifting out in front on the odd chance she might need it. The SOLDIER doubted it, "Just keep yourself relaxed and following the rhythm. It isn't any different from when we were holding hands."

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Aerith glanced up at Zack as he nodded, internally wondering if he doubted her ability at all. He was babying her up to this point, but perhaps it had been needed. Once the grip on their joined hands tightened, her gaze moved forward to regard the water before her again.

The moment his hands released her, she felt her body's weight shift forward as if a supporting wall had just been removed. Aerith squeaked just quietly before regaining her posture and her body could relax again. She passed him a small smile before returning to the task at hand. Her legs kicked, her arms moved. For a moment Aerith furrowed her brow as she struggled to keep both in slow rhythm together; it was easier said than done.

Once her arms fell into balance with her legs, it was simply a matter of keeping her head above water and not worrying about anything else. In an effort to distract herself, she glanced over to Zack, "...How did you learn to swim, Zack?"