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Aerith tapped her fingers idly against the front face of her handset. Light streamed in from the underside of the plate through the church windows, settling amongst the fragile yellow petals of the flowers. She tried to steady her breathing, to little avail.

It wasn't like Zack would hate talking to her, she told herself. He'd bought her that pink ribbon, which was still tied up carefully in her hair. He'd taken her number - or, insisted on her giving it to him, more like.

But it'd been a while since he'd crash landed in her church, accompanying her to the market and the park - and by now, he must have been pretty preoccupied, especially with all the drama topside she'd heard. Sometimes, noise from materia spells and airstrikes ricocheted down from above, and hearsay was soon to follow after.

He was probably busy, right? There was no point in calling.

A small smile had played on Zack's lips when he'd asked, though. And he'd looked at her so kindly, as if he'd truly meant it... Blue mako eyes glittering, glowing, but still so very human...

Aerith really wanted to talk to him.

She groaned to herself as she pressed her forehead against the cool material of her handset, where it lay on her pale knees. They'd spoken on it the day they'd met, because he'd instructed her to call him that evening, and who was she to refuse him? - but their conversation wound up rather short. She hadn't been able to work up the nerve since.

Aerith really only had to do three tiny things, right? Open the handset. Look through her contacts. Select Zack's name. There were only so many addresses saved to it, anyway, and most of them belonged to Tseng and his colleagues...

Before she knew it, she was pressing her sandals into the old, splintered wood floor, inhaling sharply, and pressing the call button. Nerves jittered frantically in her chest and throat, and her hand felt just as heavy as Zack's weapons and armor had looked as she lifted the device to her ear.

It rang once, twice, before Aerith heard the telltale click of Zack's answer.

"Aerith!" He greeted warmly. "I missed you - it's been a while. You haven't called."

He felt genuine, and although it was just through the handset, his presence was tangible surrounding her, dark-colored and dutiful.

Considering her words carefully, and plucking at the ribbon on the front of her dress, she decided her reply after a long silence. "I'm sorry. I was scared you'd be busy."

"I have been pretty busy," Zack told her honestly, and she could hear joy in his voice. "But I'd have picked up for you."

"Noted," Aerith said softly, tentatively.

She knew she should fill the space, with talk about the flowers, or life beneath the plate, because it seemed the case that Zack wouldn't be able to say much about his own life, being who he was. Embarrassment clogged her throat, though, and she found it hard to speak.

Perhaps she had overstepped by calling him. Maybe she'd waited too long, and he felt strange, talking to her now. It was her fault, of course, but...

"You know, Aerith, I'm wondering," Zack began, breaking bravely through the quiet, and she sensed a bit of a scolding incoming, though his tone remained lighthearted. "How often do you want to talk to me?"

"Hm," she considered, staring at her shoes, where dirt stained her skin and the light pink fabric of her sandals. "I think... Twice a day, some days, but others, every five minutes."

She heard Zack snort at her earnestness, and heat bloomed in her cheeks.

"Well, then, you should be calling me twice a day," he explained, as if this were one of life's eternal truths, as if it were obvious."Or every five minutes. That'd be just fine, too."

She pictured him on the battlefield, although she had no real point of reference - she could only gather an image of Zack facing twice the monsters he'd protected her from on the way to the market, or three times as many. The real horrors he faced were outside her scope of knowing.

"You're busy, though," she stated, pouting, because although he'd just explained moments before that he'd answer her anyway, it didn't feel any less true. Zack was busy. He was SOLDIER.

Aerith could feel him roll his eyes at that, but there was a smile, too, so she supposed she could live with her embarrassment. 

"Yes, I am busy. That's why I want you to call me whenever you feel like it. No need to feel embarrassed, or like you're bothering me. Even if sometimes I don't pick up, it doesn't mean that I don't want to talk to you - you're usually on my mind, and since being with SOLDIER means I don't usually get a spare moment to call you myself, it's up to you to pick up my slack. Don't let yourself get discouraged." He paused. "Okay?"

Aerith took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Even if I did call you every five minutes, you wouldn't mind?"

"Not a bit," he replied steadily, and she could tell that he meant it. "Not even a little."

"I don't like being pushy," she explained, biting her lip. "You're asking me to do something that isn't normal, you know."

"Not being normal can be fun sometimes," Zack replied, laughing, "Remember? And, anyway, I want you to be pushy. Just be whatever you want. If you want to talk, talk. If you're mad at me for some reason, then don't talk. I'll get a chance to call you when I can and make up for it."

"Okay," Aerith said quietly.

"You got it?"

"Yeah."

Zack paused, and she could tell his grin was even bigger when he spoke again. "You promise?"

"Hm," she hummed, stalling both to tease and to consider carefully, before agreeing. "I promise."

"Good." Zack sounded happy. Aerith pictured his bright eyes crinkling against his grin, and it overwhelmed her. "So, tell me about your flowers. Have you tried selling any yet?"

With one last deep breath, she relaxed. "Well, I'm still just as hesitant to pick them. But I got closer than I did before, which is probably a start..."

The light was much dimmer through the windows by the time Aerith ran out of steam for talking. Zack had wished her well, and told her he hoped to meet her again soon. She told him she'd be waiting.

Then, she held her handset against her heart, stood up carefully, and began her stroll home.

It didn't take long for an itch to grow between her fingers. She flipped it open, and followed the steps she'd laid out before, waiting for the line to catch.

Her breath caught after the first ring, fearing she shouldn't have called, but she was quickly learning that Zack shouldn't be underestimated when it came to these things.

"Aerith?" His voice was light with renewed warmth. "What's happening now?"

"I'm walking home," she told him, as she picked her way through the debris leftover from ruined buildings and monster attacks. The sounds of the city surrounded her, though they faded to nothing more than background noise as she pressed the handset against her ear. "I felt like talking. Even though it hasn't even been five minutes."

"Walking home, huh?" Zack ignored the jab she made at herself pointedly, voice like the prettiest music she'd ever heard as it crackled through the handset line. "So, tell me. Anything new on your mind since we last spoke?"

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