Seaside Getaway?

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

Characters: Cissnei, Zack
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: Cissnei drops by and visits Zack because she's a little worried about him
Location: Luca
Date: January 10, 1805
Warnings: Fluff, more than likely.

This place was so strange to Cissnei. She liked the beach, no doubt, but this... even in civilian clothing (a chunky knit black sweater over a white tank top, skinny jeans and combat boots) she stuck out from the crowd, something she wasn't exactly used to.She noticed the women were rather gratuitous in showing skin and had more than enough laces and ribbons criss-crossing their chests and the sides of their legs. In her messenger back was trusty Rekka, leftovers from the food she bought from Wutai and something that maybe Zack would be vaguely interested in.

She flipped open her Sky Phone and dialed Zack. He shouldn't be very hard to spot, but she'd like to know where exactly he was.

Comments

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

"I think you already know," she answered, hands in her pockets. "So, you know this place better than I do. Mind leading the way?"

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

...Right, Sephiroth. "Mm, I do." His pleasant smile faded as he thought about the other SOLDIER again.

"Yeah, just this way." He took a few steps and made sure she was keeping up. Being so tall meant his stride was ridiculously long and Cissnei was...well, shorter.

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

She purposely lagged a little behind him and tried to sort out mentally what was going on. The smell hadn't left or lessened, but at the very least she didn't have to act so strangely, or well, more strangely. Years it had been since she last thought of that, so why now? Why here? Too many questions, not enough answers and she was pretty used to it by now.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

Zack could tell she didn't want to match his pace, but he still walked slowly, not wanting to leave her behind at all. But as they walked, he couldn't help but think back on what she had told him. She was really human underneath, which he knew, but hadn't ever really felt.

He shook his head, trying to forget what she had told him. He wouldn't dwell on it, as a sort of condolence for her since she didn't want to let that much slip in the first place. This was a day between two friends who were just trying to get over the crap going on recently.

And soon enough, Zack stopped in front of a small vendor and waved Cissnei over. "Get whatever you want."

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

"Big spender now?" she teased him as she passed by. "Don't worry about it though."

Cissnei scanned what was available for purchase. She picked up a bar of dark chocolate hesitantly. "You want anything?" she asked then fished out a small bag of gil. She didn't want him to pay for her, especially after that lapse of sanity. No way.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

"Nah, I'm good." But once he saw that bag of gil come out, Zack frowned and pulled it out of her hand, quickly dropping the coins on the counter. He turned to the cashier and grinned. "I tip, she doesn't."

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

"Zack!" she shouted shrilly at him. "That is not true, give me back my money and let me pay!" She punched his stomach lightly, seeing as that she really couldn't reach any higher. He was so stupidly tall it almost annoyed her. "You are not paying for me, I already told you!"

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

But at that moment the person at the counter took his money and just shook his head at them, probably assuming things they really shouldn't.

Zack watched this happen, all while keeping a short woman out of reach of her money and taking abuse at the same time. It was okay. He could take it. "Well, too bad, looks like you lost." He gave her a smug look before dropping her money bag next to her chocolate.

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

"Wipe that smirk on your face." She thanked the vendor and collected her things then threw her money bag into her messenger. Cissnei shook her head at him. She could never really stay mad at him because it was impossible. Annoyed? Sure. But not mad.

As they walked away, she broke off a piece of the chocolate and offered it to him. "Least I could do."

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

His mother wouldn't have let him let a girl pay while he was there, but Cissnei didn't have to know that. It was more fun this way. And his smile stayed on his face, much against her wishes.

He took the proffered chocolate and ate it, probably too quickly, but he had always been like that, even as a kid. "Thanks."

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

"No problem," she said with a laugh. Cissnei broke off a piece and nibbled on it. It wasn't exactly the same but it was good enough for her. She hadn't eaten chocolate in ages and didn't want to inhale it like Zack just did. She looked around and absorbed the sights of Luca. "No one ever looks worried here," she commented.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

"You noticed that, too, huh." He put his hands on his hips and tipped his head back, letting the sunlight wash over his already tanned face. "Sometimes I think they just don't have the same issues we do."

There were times Zack wished he could forget. Sometimes he still woke up in the middle of the night, checking to make sure Cloud was still less than two feet away, still alive, before he realized where he really was and that Cloud wasn't with him. He wished he could relax like everyone else and pretend that life was okay.

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

"We're all human, we all have the same issues," she began. "It's how they deal with it." Everyone looked so happy, whether alone or with each other. Life was idyllic and perfect.

She too had nightmares, but not of the past, but of the future. Things she couldn't control but that she might have to see. Time and reality suspended wasn't Cissnei's idea of a good time. Life wasn't okay, she knew it first hand. She was trained to distrust everyone.

For a moment, a brief moment, she wish she lived here, not as a Turk, but as a person. But it was only fleeting. Cissnei's life was her job, and her job was her life. She had nothing else, for better or for worse.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

He looked down at her. "Yeah, human issues." And then looked away, kicking some of the dirt on the ground with his shoe. "Not everyone has our problems, though." Which he was glad for. Not everyone could take it, or take it well. Sure, it sucked that he had to step up and lose his freedom in more ways than one, but if it meant keeping others safe and happy, then he'd do it all over again. He was capable of that strength.

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

She looked down at the chocolate, realizing why it was so important to her; it was one of the few comforts she had gotten before she was recruited. "We're too screwed up to have normal problems," Cissnei said quietly. She wrapped it up and put it away to save it for later, a rainy day.

When she looked over at him, Cissnei noticed that he was very interested in the dirt. "As long as we're here, we're all we have." She put her hands in her pocket and looked straight out without any focus on anything. It was true. They'd make friends and allies, even enemies, on this world that weren't from their Gaia, but they'd never understand what they lived through.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

We're all we have.

That was the truth. Zack learned that brutally when he took care of Cloud that year. With Cissnei's help. He turned back to her, voice quieter than usual. "I can't thank you enough. Seriously."

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

She shook her head. "It was the right thing to do." Cissnei put her hand on his arm and gave him an encouraging smile. "You don't have to thank me, really. It was the least I could do." And she meant it.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

"You didn't have to do anything, though." He looked at the hand on his arm and gently covered it with his own. "So I'll thank you all I want." Because he wouldn't get a change to do it back home.

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

"You never were one to listen." Cissnei shook her head and took a good look at him. He had changed so much from when she first met him and it only hit her just now. Sure, he was still the same excessively flirtatious and confident Zack (I can't believe I just thought of those as good things...) but he'd grown up. "Just don't waste your breath on half-ass thanks," she said with a grin.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

"Half-ass," he snorted to himself, shaking his head with a smile. "I'm an all or nothin' guy, give me some credit." And this was true. If he didn't feel so grateful to Cissnei, he would've thanked her once and moved on, but...now he was even starting to see her as a friend and Zack really cared for his friends.

[shurikenfemale.livejournal.com]

She slipped her hand from his grip slowly. "Just some then. So, what else is there to see here? What's that building over there?" Cissnei pointed to the transparent sphere that rested on what looked like a pedestal. If she didn't know any better, she would've been hard pressed to not call it a giant snow globe.

[fairesthero.livejournal.com]

Zack's eyes followed her hand, resting immediately on what she was looking at. "That's the Blitz stadium. I don't know if you know Tidus, but he's apparently a really good professional Blitzball player and so, obviously, plays there."

Zack shrugged and looked to the redhead beside him. "No, I have no idea what Blitzball actually is."