timeandtides_backup | (no subject)

Characters:

not2ndclass
Progress: Incomplete.
Summary: Set a few hours after Aerith arrived in his world. Zack takes a detour from his travels to Luca to go and pick her up.
Location: The streets of Alexandria.
Date: Dated the day of Aerith's arrival.
Warnings: None~

She had started off all fine and good after her call with Zack. Everything felt so surreal, that the flower girl hadn't given herself the opportunity to entirely realise that he was here and so very much alive. Each time such thoughts circled within her mind, the flower girl would do something to keep her busy and distract her. At first, she investigated the church within. It was quaint, but nothing like the small little church she had back in Midgar.

The church had only kept her distracted for so long before the flower girl had been unable to resist the lure of exploring such an unknown city. Her attempt worked like a charm, and she so easily found herself distracted by everything she saw around her. It was so unlike anything she'd ever encountered before that she couldn't help but dart from shop to shop in excitement. Everything was just so different, and the whole city just felt so alive!

Stepping out into the main shopping area, her gaze fell on the hat stall just off to her right. The owner was busy talking to another customer, but that didn't stop the flower girl from moving over to stare at the odd assortment. She couldn't help but giggle lightly in amusement as she saw the corn-shaped hat, and unable to resist, Aerith plucked it off of the stand before testing it out on her head.

"Not many can pull it off, but you're one of the lucky few," the cart owner said moments before Aerith spun around to face him.

"You think so~?" She asked before laughing lightly, "I'm not sure how well I can pull yellow off though teehee~"

The man seemed to ponder for a moment before reaching up and taking a large pale sun-hat from the display. "Try this one on. A pretty girl like you should't be hiding behind that anyway."

"Well, if you put it that way," Aerith teasingly said with a bright smile. Pulling the corn hat off of her head, she happily exchanged the hats before trying on the new one. "How do I look?" She asked while giving a demonstration of the hat by twirling for her audience.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Zack let the bird go, only giving it a small glance as it ran off towards safety. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to get anywhere fast on foot after this, but that didn't matter at the moment.

"Told by...?"

No, that didn't matter. He could ask her when they were safe. Luckily, none of the monsters were too big a deal. He got away from it without any serious injuries. Couple bruises, sure, but it was nothing a SOLDIER couldn't handle! And he was pretty sure the monsters learned not to mess with him, too. That was just a bonus.

Zack lowered his buster sword and looked around for Aerith. Oh, right, the tree! He made his way towards it, still keeping an eye out to see if any monsters had managed to sneak past him.

"The Planet," Aerith answered before she disappeared ahead of him. There was so much that she had to explain to him, but now wasn't the time for such things. She wondered if it was just an excuse she was using to protect him from what she knew, but Aerith felt as though it was more the other way around, and that she was selfishly trying to protect herself.

She shook the thoughts from her mind before focusing on the task at hand. The chocobo safely took her up to where the tree was, and she dismounted before instantly moving closer to the trunk so that she could knee at the base.

Reaching forward to touch against the ground, the flower girl tried to ignore the sound of Zack battling in the background while she focused on the voice of the Planet. It was loud, much like it had been at the Temple of the Ancients, but Aerith found that she could understand the words here much more than the version they'd been pulled from.

"I don't understand," she murmured, and soon enough, the Planet answered her call as it informed her of the pain it was enduring. It was something that caused her heart to clench, and she pulled her hand away from the dirt when the Planet's voice drew quieter along with the battlefield around her.

Aerith ignored the heavy feeling in her chest, and moved to push herself back up to stand. Despite what she'd just discovered, the flower girl pushed it aside for now as she turned around to make certain that Zack was alright.

Relief washed through her when she caught sight of the lightly bruised SOLDIER, and she smiled at the sight before heading off to approach him. "You didn't get too hurt, did you?"

Huh, so she really COULD talk to the Planet! He'd heard that, sure, but he hadn't really known what to make of it. She seemed like it was pretty normal, though, so it made sense to go with it.

As she walked toward him, Zack just smiled and readjusted his sword.

"Me? Nah, 'course not! Nothing's gonna bring ME down, are you kidding? So...did you find out what you wanted to know?"

(no subject)

HANDWAVING FIGHTS IS MY SPECIALTY

WHOO~~~<3

no subject