Lost and Found

“Lost and Found”
Chapter three: Turning the tables
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(Warning: Possible spoilers for all FF7 game/movie titles)
*Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all related characters belong to Square-Enix. This fiction piece is strictly a non-profit exercise of creativity and entertainment for people (like me) who can’t get enough of this world and the characters.*
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When they returned to the fort, Scarlet was already up and aware of what had transpired. Zack clenched his jaw with frustration and vowed to pummel whoever decided to inform her. He’d wanted to handle this on his own and decide what to do with the prisoners before she woke up. A lot of unfortunates ended up dead at her hands and he was too intrigued by his captives to risk losing them to one of Scarlet’s moments of temper.

“I told them not to bother you over this,” Zack said as his men herded the prisoners in and he stopped before Scarlet.

She looked at the captives and scowled violently. He narrowed his eyes at her when he saw recognition on her face. He looked at the prisoners and noticed that they also seemed to recognize Scarlet.

“You know each other?” Zack questioned softly, keeping his gaze steady on her as Scarlet turned her attention back to him.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and shrugged. “They’re ShinRa dogs,” she sneered.

“Zack, she’s lying!” Aerith cried as she struggled against her captors’ hold on her. “I don’t know what Scarlet’s been telling you but—“

“Shut up, bitch!” Scarlet approached the girl and back-handed her so hard she fell to the floor. The presence of the Cetra girl shed a little light on how Zack Fair came back from the dead and Scarlet knew she would have to get rid of her soon, before her influence brought back his memories.

The large-busted brunette in the group shouted angrily and kicked out at Scarlet before her retainers could stop her. Scarlet shouted in pain as Tifa’s foot connected solidly with her hip. One of the men restraining Tifa clubbed her over the back of the head, knocking her out. Cloud snarled and broke free of his captors, rushing at the man responsible for knocking his wife out. Reno was swearing behind the gag they’d fit into his mouth and Rude and Barret strained against the hold of their captors.

Zack stood in a state of confusion. His heart had lurched painfully when Scarlet struck Aerith and he stared down at the girl as she struggled to get back to her feet. He knelt beside her and put an arm around her to help her up and he barked out a command to his men.

“That’s enough,” Zack demanded. He looked at Scarlet with a stern expression on his face. “Did I say you could smack my prisoners around?”

“She was spouting filthy lies—“

“Did I say you could smack my prisoners around?” Zack reiterated stonily, narrowing his eyes.

Not many people could make Scarlet back down but she buckled in the face of his cool anger. Zack generally didn’t get in the way when she got violent with prisoners but the expression on his face now left little doubt that he’d treat her to her own medicine if she kept it up.

“I apologize,” she said gracefully, coating her voice with sugar as she gazed up at his sculpted features. “I lost my temper, Zack. Of course, you can do whatever you like with the prisoners.” She scowled at both Tifa and Aerith, her competitive nature making her dislike them more simply because they were female and beautiful. “If you’d rather have a willing, experienced partner in your bed, you’ll know where to find me,” she finished before stalking away.

Zack supported Aerith and nodded to his men as he began to guide her further into the fort. They put the prisoners in the basement with the surviving residents of Fort Condor. Zack ordered their cuffs removed and he waved the medic over to have a look at Tifa’s head. While the medic complied, Zack cupped Aerith’s chin and examined her jaw. It might have only been a slap but he knew Scarlet’s backhands were brutal. She’d struck one of her own fighters so hard that way once that he spit out a tooth.

Aerith winced and looked at him with soft, aching eyes as he examined her. Zack nodded when he was sure she’d only suffer a bit of bruising from the strike and he met her gaze. “I want you to think about having a little chat with me later,” he told her softly. “Your friends seem pretty bullheaded but you might have enough common sense to come clean. I’ll be down later to get you.”

She nodded silently and lowered her gaze, sensing that he had more on his mind than “talking”. This wasn’t how she wanted her first real romantic interlude with Zack to go…not by a long shot.

They watched Zack stand up and the dark-haired fighter gave Cloud a warning look. “I don’t know what you did back there when we were fighting,” he said, “but if you try it again I’ll kick your ass.” With that said, he left the basement.

Barret scooted closer to Aerith, having overheard the brief conversation she’d had with Zack. “Don’t you worry, girl. We won’t let him take you nowhere.”

Aerith bit her lip and looked at him. “I don’t think we have a choice,” she whispered. “He might hurt one of you if I resist.”

Barret huffed and looked at Cloud, who was cradling Tifa in his arms. The medic had finished examining her and he’d said she only had a minor bump to show for her injury. “Hey Spiky, I thought this guy was your friend! What kind of mind control could they be using on him to make him act like this?”

“I don’t think Scarlet and her goons are doing it,” murmured Cloud. He raised his eyes and checked to be sure none of the enemy guards were within earshot before continuing. “I sensed Sephiroth when I got close to him.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Reno blurted, his auburn brows furrowing. “You saying your pal’s become another Kadaj or something?”

Cloud shook his head. “No, this isn’t like the remnants. Zack has Sephiroth cells inside of him, just like me. They never took…they stayed dormant until now. Something made them wake up and he’s being influenced by them.”

Aerith thought about the force that had blasted her and Zack away from each other while she was transporting them through the Lifestream. She considered the darkness she now sensed in him and a horrible realization came to her. “It’s not his mind,” she said aloud to her companions, “it’s his spirit that’s been corrupted! Sephiroth must have hit Zack with Black Lifestream as we were leaving, just to be spiteful.”

“So he started a reaction,” guessed Cloud. “His energy polluted Zack’s spirit and woke up the sleeping cells Hojo injected into him at the same time. Getting close to me must have triggered a reaction.”

“Don’t tell me he’s going to turn into Sephiroth,” Rude muttered.

“I don’t think the cells he’s got are strong enough to do that,” Cloud said thoughtfully. “Zack’s body rejects them. The surge he got in the Lifestream just gave them a temporary boost.”

“You sure about that, or are you just guessing?” Reno prompted.

“I’m pretty sure,” answered Cloud with a sigh. “The thing is, I don’t know what kind of permanent damage it’s going to do to him before it wears off.”

“I can heal him,” Aerith said with certainty. “It’s a sickness of the spirit and I can purge it if I can get some time to work on him.”

“How you gonna do that?” Barret asked, disliking where this was heading.

Aerith blushed. “Well, I have the perfect opportunity, don’t I?”

Reno’s eyebrows shot up. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying…uh…aren’t you a little green to be sexing him up as a distraction?”

Aerith blushed even deeper as the other prisoners overheard and looked her way. “I’ll do what I have to do,” she said softly.

“Say you succeed,” Reno went on, “you clear out the junk and Soldier Boy comes back to his senses. Then what? We’re still surrounded by these fuckers and getting out won’t be a piece of cake.”

“They don’t have to know I’ve healed him,” Aerith pointed out, allowing a little smile of triumph to curve her lips. Her pulse raced at the thought of what was likely to happen, when Zack decided to come back for her.

~Just remember, he’s still Zack,~ She reminded herself, ~He’s not himself right now but he’s in there.~

~********************************~

Zack went through his prisoner’s belongings, trying to figure out more about them. He’d already disposed of their cell phones to reduce the risk of tracking. He looked through Reno’s pile and found keys and all manner of junk, from a dirty deck of cards featuring naked men—which made his eyebrows shoot up—to a surprising number of condoms and lube packets. He went through the redhead’s wallet and examined his company ID before flipping through the pictures. His suspicions concerning Reno’s preferences were confirmed when he came across a photo of the redhead laying a wet one on his partner.

“Hmph…never would have pegged the bald guy as gay,” Zack muttered. He moved on and went through Rude’s smaller pile of belongings, next. His stuff was practically boring and Zack soon lost interest and sifted through Aerith’s little pile. She didn’t have much but he found himself clutching the ribbon that had come free of her hair and bringing it to his nose. He inhaled her lingering scent and wondered why the girl affected him so strongly. It wasn’t just her pretty face—otherwise he’d be obsessing over the voluptuous brunette that was obviously involved with the blonde guy.

“What the hell is it about you, sweetheart?” Zack murmured, shaking his head with frustration. He dropped the ribbon and went through Tifa’s belongings, next. He tilted his head as he looked through the photos in Tifa’s wallet. She and Cloud had two kids together. Interesting. Actually, it was annoying, because something inside of him nagged for mercy with the knowledge that they had two rugrats depending on them somewhere in the world.

He frowned fiercely with confusion as he went through Barret’s wallet and found a picture of the same little girl that was in Tifa’s wallet. He compared the photos and blinked. Maybe Barret had a thing with Tifa, too? Something was off about the whole thing and Zack looked through Cloud’s stuff next. Again, he found photos of that little girl and one of them seemed to be a family shot of Cloud, Tifa, Barret, the girl and the older boy.

“What kind of fucked up family do you guys have?” Zack grumbled, frustrated by his confusion. Who were the parents, here? Writing it off as a mystery to be solved later, he continued flipping through the photos in Cloud’s wallet and when he reached the final one he went utterly still.

Looking up at him from within the protective plastic sleeve was an image of his own face. It was an older photo and it looked like some kind of ID picture. Zack stared down at his picture blankly, turning things over in his head.

“Can’t be,” he muttered. It had to be a trick. After all, the blonde dude had made him hear voices while they were fighting. Zack shut his eyes tightly for a few seconds and opened them again. The photo remained unchanged. Now more confused than ever, he decided it was time to collect his little groupie from the basement and have a talk with her.

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“All right sugarlips, come with me,” Zack ordered.

Aerith stood up and approached him, despite her friends’ whispered protests. Zack glared at Cloud, convinced someone sent him specifically to fuck with his head. Aerith stopped before him and looked up at him, distracting him from his focus on Cloud as she laid a hand over his bicep silently.

Zack looked at her with faint surprise. She demonstrated an interesting combination of shy and bold sensibilities. It was a ridiculous turn-on and his body immediately reacted to her dainty touch.

“I’ll bring her back sometime in the morning,” Zack said smugly to her companions. “Uh, much later in the morning,” he corrected when he realized it was around two in the morning now. He put one arm possessively around the girl’s waist and guided her toward the exit. She didn’t resist him but she shot a fearful look over her shoulder at her friends as she complied with his demands.

~You’d think I was escorting her to her execution or something. Why is she so…so…~

It dawned on him then that her innocent “act” probably wasn’t an act at all. She was young and it didn’t seem so ridiculous that she might have never had a man before.

~Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe she’s just afraid I’m going to torture her for information.~

That seemed like a reasonable assumption to make. He’d held his sword to her throat to put an end to the fight, after all. Zack decided that a little fear would give her a healthy respect for his authority. He had no intention to hurt her but as long as she believed differently, he might get truthful answers out of her.

~**********************************~

“Have a seat,” Zack invited once he had the girl alone in the bedroom he’d chosen for himself. He took his shoes off and set them down next to the door as he waited for her to comply.

Aerith looked around and bit her lip. She started to sink down on the floor and he snorted and grabbed her by the shoulders to guide her to the bed. “There,” Zack said once she was sitting stiffly on the mattress. “So tell me something: why does your blond friend have a picture of me in his wallet?”

“Because you were his best friend, once,” answered the girl immediately.

“Is that so?” Zack queried suspiciously. “When? I sure don’t remember.”

“Back before you died,” Aerith said, raising her eyes to him.

Zack opened his mouth to say something, then promptly shut it. He shook his head and closed the distance between them, squatting down before her and putting his hands on her clasped knees. “That’s insane,” he murmured. “You realize that, don’t you?”

“You just don’t remember,” Aerith answered softly. She dared to reach out and stroke her fingers through his stiffened, raven hair. “Sephiroth doesn’t want you to remember. His will is choking off the memories so he can manipulate you.”

“Sephiroth?” Zack repeated, frowning. The name sounded familiar and he had to admit, most days he felt like he was living a waking dream. The few memories he could recall were filled with violence, pain and blood. The name “Sephiroth” conjured an image of flowing silver hair and cold, inhuman cat’s eyes.

“You heard his voice during the fight, didn’t you?” Aerith pressed.

The color drained from Zack’s face and he pressed his lips together grimly. “I heard what that blonde guy wanted me to hear,” he insisted.

“What did it say?” questioned Aerith.

Zack shrugged. “It told me to kill him.”

She gave him a hesitant, wary smile. “Why would Cloud put a voice in your head telling you to kill him? Wouldn’t it be more effective if it told you to surrender or turn on your own men?”

“It didn’t exactly give me a name,” Zack muttered irritably. “For all I know the voice meant one of my men.”

“I suppose,” Aerith agreed with a shrug. “I still say telling you to kill all of them would have made more sense.”

Zack stared at her with a frown. “You people are full of weird.”

Aerith cracked another smile. He might be emotionally choked off and blocked from most of his memories, but Zack’s words were still mostly his. “We came to rescue you,” she said to him. “I know you find that hard to believe, but its true.” Deciding it was better not to go into details concerning his death and her revival of them both, she opted for the partial truth. “You went missing and we learned that Scarlet and her army found you. We only found out for sure when your attack on the dam made it on the news last night and we were told to check here.”

“Why hasn’t ShinRa come yet?” demanded Zack. “I know you’re involved with them because you’ve got Turks with you.”

“They’re giving us the chance to get you out first, before they send strike forces in.” Aerith shivered as his hands slowly stroked up her thighs from her knees. He seemed to be losing interest in the conversation and the look in his eye said he wasn’t going to humor her for much longer.

~He doesn’t believe a word of it,~ She realized as he smirked at her.

“That’s a pretty elaborate story,” Zack mused. “I’m guessing your buddy Strife put that picture of me in his wallet before you guys came, so you could trick me into thinking any of this is true. I’ll bet someone in the organization knows enough about me to guess what my tastes are and they send a pretty little thing like you to sweeten the deal.”

He began to slide her skirt up, his eyes locking on hers as he slowly exposed her legs. “Sounds logical, doesn’t it? Screw with my head, make me have my doubts and start sabotaging us from within. When the chain of command is weakened, they send their people in and we’re too disorganized from in-fighting to put up a good struggle.”

“You’ve twisted everything I—“

Zack rose from his kneeling position and cupped the back of her head, covering her mouth with his. The kiss was insistent and firm, cutting short her argument abruptly. His tongue fenced with hers in a way that made tingling warmth shoot through her body clear to her toes and Aerith wondered how in Shiva’s name she could be reacting this way under these circumstances.

“No more stories,” Zack murmured as he broke the kiss. “I’ll make a deal with you, honey. I like you well enough to keep you around, so if you behave yourself I won’t hurt your friends. I might even let them go.” He shrugged. “I don’t think I’d want that blonde freak near me anyhow. Maybe the military did something to his brain to let him get to me like that, I don’t know. I don’t care, either.” He resumed sliding her skirt up, until it was bunched at the top of her thighs. His calloused palms slid over her inner thighs with slow sensuality, pushing them apart as he stared into her eyes.

“So what do you say?”

Aerith was torn with conflicting emotions of fear, desire and disbelief. Did he really see nothing wrong with his memory loss? “Are…are you offering me their safety in exchange for my…um…”

“Sex,” answered Zack with another smirk. “Wow, you’re really not pretending to be shy…or you should take up an acting career.” He coaxed her thighs further apart and reached down to remove her boots. “What’s your answer, sweetheart?”

“I…I…” She swallowed nervously and she jumped involuntarily when his lips pressed a kiss on her inner left knee. “Do you promise, you won’t hurt them?”

“I’ve got no reason to lie,” Zack said with a grin at her. “Unlike some pretty ladies I know.” He kissed her skin again, this time further up her thigh. His hands pushed her skirt even higher and a peculiar little knot of tension coiled inside of her pelvis as his lips traveled closer and closer to her panties.

“As long as you keep your promise,” Aerith said. Her voice sounded funny to her own ears…like she’d been running until she was out of breath. She felt a twinge of shame at her own desire for him but her heart told her it had nothing to do with the way he was acting and everything to do with who he really was beneath the odd behavior.

Zack responded by slipping his fingers under the waistline of her panties and tugging them down. He ignored her nervous protest and pulled them off, before rising up and easing her onto her back. She was trembling like a leaf and he slowed down a little, seeking out her parted lips and kissing them with slow, gentle patience. He worked her hair free of the braid next, admiring the silk of the thick mass as he spread it out beneath her on the bed. Next, he began unbuttoning her white peasant blouse and before long, he had the material parted and her peach colored bra exposed to the air.

Aerith gasped into his mouth as he fondled a breast through the material of her bra. His fingers located her nipple and gently squeezed it, making it harden and causing goose bumps to spring up on her skin. His tongue thrust insistently inside of her mouth and his hips settled between her parted thighs. He rubbed the straining bulge of his arousal against her naked genitals and the friction made her whimper. The suggestive way Zack’s tongue delved in and out of her mouth only increased her rising tension.

She wasn’t even aware that she’d begun to return his caresses with eager, timid hands until her palm cupped him between the legs and she felt the shape of his erection through his pants. He groaned softly into her mouth, his kisses becoming more demanding as he rubbed against her palm. When she stopped moving he broke the kiss and looked down at her, breathing heavily as he studied her face.

“It’s all right. It’s not going to bite you.” He reached down and covered her hand with his, gently guiding it back and forth over his swollen package. Zack briefly closed his eyes with pleasure as she complied with his guidance and resumed feeling him up. “It’s crazy, how bad I want you,” he murmured huskily. “I’ve never even seen you before.” He realized he was in danger of opening up too much to this girl and he snapped his mouth shut and concentrated on getting what he wanted. When he looked at her again he was almost shocked to stillness.

Those expressive eyes were gazing up at him with longing that was tinged with sadness. “You look like I just ran over your puppy,” he murmured.

She bit her lip and kept stroking between his legs. It wouldn’t do any good to try and reason with him and explain that tonight wasn’t the first time he’d ever seen her. Zack was determined to believe they were strangers, even though something in his spirit obviously knew otherwise.

“Have you ever been with a guy before?” Zack questioned when she said nothing in response.

Aerith shook her head silently and she reached up with her free hand to comb his bangs out of his eyes.

Something twisted inside of Zack and he thought he heard that voice urging him to take her hard and make it painful. He shoved it back angrily and nuzzled her palm. “It’s going to hurt a little at first,” he warned her, “but not for long.”

He lowered his mouth to hers again and kissed her as he fumbled with her bra. When he got the clasp unfastened, he eased her blouse and bra off, leaving her clothed only in her rumpled skirt. She was blushing as he studied her with lust and admired her firm breasts. He lowered his head to take one of the nipples between his lips, sucking gently on it while flicking his tongue over the tightened bud.

Aerith gasped his name and unconsciously squeezed his erection until he grunted with discomfort and reached down to ease her hand away. “A little to hard, there,” he warned her. She rested her hands on his hips, her fingers digging in as he pulled at her other nipple with his lips and teased it with his tongue.

She moved restlessly beneath him and felt herself getting slick between her legs. He was rubbing against her again and the material of his pants stimulated her clit and made her feel like she was throbbing somewhere inside. When his mouth returned to hers, Aerith kissed him back with passion that surprised her as much as it did him. He unbuttoned his shirt and yanked it off before reaching down and unzipping his pants. Aerith began to help him undress, her thoughts scrambled by the growing need she felt. She ran her hands over his naked hips once his pants were off and it hit her then that she had Zack Fair totally nude.

~Oh Gaia…should I look? I want to but I don’t know how to do it without being obvious!~

Aerith’s curiosity got the better of her and she opened her eyes and drank in his nudity. He was beautiful to her and she lay there with a stunned expression as she devoured him with her eyes. He noticed her stare and he chuckled softly.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never even seen a naked guy before.” He pressed soft, brief kisses on her lips and subtly trailed his fingers down over her belly, circling the navel before dropping lower.

“I’ve seen paintings and sculptures,” she admitted bashfully, tracing the lines of his body with curious, eager fingers. “This is different.” She saw his erection and she swallowed. None of the men in the art pieces she’d seen had been aroused and the size difference between their cocks and Zack’s was very obvious.

He eased his body off of hers and tugged her skirt down, depositing it on the bed where some of her other garments had landed. Aerith barely had time to register the demise of her final piece of clothing before she felt his fingers stroking the soft lips of flesh between her legs. She tensed involuntarily and Zack’s mouth met hers again, his tongue stroking and curling inside. She clutched at his shoulders and moaned as one of his fingers slid inside of her to explore.

“Damn, you’re tight,” Zack panted, breaking the kiss. She was clenching around him though, resisting the penetration either consciously or subconsciously. “Relax, honey. Just let it happen.” He slowly pushed the digit forward and back inside of her, watching her face as he worked to get her adjusted. When he pushed in deeper, he felt the barrier against his finger and she gasped sharply. She really was a virgin. He could only hope she didn’t have one of those stubborn hymens that didn’t want to break. Rutting over a crying woman wasn’t exactly what he had in mind.

Aerith tried to relax, soothing herself by exploring his hard-muscled body with her hands as his finger gently invaded her over and over again. A second one joined the first after a few minutes and she whimpered at the stretching sensation. He began to pleasure her nipples with his mouth again and the tingling thrill of it made her body instinctively become more receptive. When he inserted a third finger the discomfort wasn’t as bad as before and she began to move her hips without realizing it.

Zack withdrew after a while and he positioned the tip of his arousal against her moist slit. There were two ways to do this and both would result in some discomfort for Aerith. The question was whether he should go for a gradual breach or drive it in quick to get the pain over with. He stopped kissing her nipples and looked down at her thoughtfully.

“Do you want me to take it slow or do you want the worst to be over with fast?”

Aerith looked up at him with confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“If you’re peeling a piece of tape off your skin,” Zack elaborated, “do you do it slow or do you yank it off quick?”

“Yank it off,” Aerith answered. She finally realized what he was getting at when she felt the head of his sex pressing against her. “W-wait,” she pleaded, but it was too late. Her eyes went wide and stunned as he drove his sex into her body with one firm, deep thrust. She felt something give inside and she cried out raggedly in pain. His mouth covered hers again, kissing her with ironic tenderness as he filled her completely and held it there.

“Oh god,” Aerith tried to moan. His mouth muffled her exclamation and she shuddered beneath him, pushing against his chest with trembling hands.

“Shhh,” Zack murmured between kisses. “It’s over, Aerith. That’s the worst of it.”

She whimpered and stopped pushing at his chest to embrace him tightly, sucking in sharp breaths as she waited for the pain to fade. He nuzzled her cheek and kissed away the tear that spilled from the corner of one of her eyes, leaving his hardness firmly seated within her while she adjusted. Her tension began to fade and the soft sounds of distress softened after a few moments. Zack began to move, drawing back slowly until he almost slipped out of her before sliding back in. His eyes held hers as he did it again and his husky groan of pleasure tickled her cheek.

Aerith’s lips parted and she moistened them with the tip of her tongue and gasped with surprise as the fourth thrust made her body sing with more pleasure than discomfort. “Zack,” she said in a trembling voice. He kissed her again and began to pump a little faster. He thrust in at different angles and it began to feel like a massage of sorts to her. He propped himself up on one elbow and reached down to fondle the swollen little nub of her clit, changing his technique from circular rubbing to going up and down or side to side. Up and down felt best to her and she let him know with a soft moan.

Zack kept it up when he figured out what gave her the most pleasure and he kissed her arching throat as he flexed, rocked and pumped over her. He learned which angle worked best and he stuck with it, smiling as her face began to flush in a telling way. She began to tighten around him and he panted encouragement to her, urging her to relax and let it happen on its own. Aerith’s hands reached for his ass and squeezed convulsively as her climax approached. She groaned and bit her lip, pressing her forehead against his chest when the throbbing reached a peak.

“Zack,” Aerith whimpered. “Unh…Zack!” The fading ache inside of her was drowned out by the pleasure of her orgasm. She gripped the flexing muscles of his bottom and panted unevenly as she quivered around his rigid, thrusting sex.

He responded by crushing his mouth against hers and groaning with satisfaction. He continued to pump inside of her after she was spent and dazed from the pleasure. His kisses increased in urgency but his thrusts remained steady and even. He breathed a curse against her lips and bowed over her, his body tensing up. Aerith felt his length twitching inside of her and she stared up at his tense face as the warm spurt of his seed filled her.

Zack relaxed once his need was sated and he caressed her face, throat and lips with his mouth. Some part of him felt an odd sense of disappointment in himself and he pondered the feeling, wondering what he had to feel sorry for. The girl had been plenty willing—if nervous—and he’d given her an orgasm.

Aerith was gazing up at him with dazed, heavy lidded eyes and he stared down at her thoughtfully, shrugging aside his discomfort. Zack lowered his gaze as he rolled off of her and he checked between her thighs for blood. There was a little bit, but not much. He kissed her again and told her to lie still while he fetched a washcloth to clean her up. He got out of the bed and slipped a stolen robe over his nudity before leaving the room to seek out one of the nearest washrooms. When he came back with a warm, damp washcloth Aerith had the covers pulled up to her nose and she watched him approach warily.

Zack shook his head and smiled as he shut the door behind him. “It’s little late for you to be bashful now,” he observed as he closed the distance and disrobed again. He draped the robe over the bedpost, pulled the covers aside and climbed in beside her. She squeaked a little with alarm as he rolled her onto her back. Zack paused and looked into her eyes. “Relax. I’m just cleaning you off…unless you want to take a bath with me?” He winked at her.

“N-no, this is fine,” she answered him with a swallow.

He shook his head again. She must have been really innocent before he took her, to be this shy afterwards. He gently wiped between her thighs and when she winced with discomfort, an annoying ache throbbed in his chest. He held the warm cloth against her and kissed her softly, letting the heat sooth the ache for a while before finishing up and tossing the washcloth in the laundry basket.

Aerith didn’t resist as the dark-haired man stretched out beside her and pulled her close. She rested her cheek against his chest and waited silently, hoping that his satisfied sigh indicated a drop in his guard. His lips brushed against her forehead and she closed her eyes. For all his diminished warmth, he’d been gentle with her. After a while, his breathing became deep and even with the onslaught of sleep and she waited for a few moments before starting. Aerith called out to his spirit, commanding him to continue sleeping as she began the healing process.

It didn’t go as smoothly as she’d hoped it would. Zack struggled against her hold on his spirit and he groaned with pain as she focused her energy on flushing the black corruption out of him. She hadn’t expected the process to hurt him and she bit her lip and looked at him with shining, guilty eyes as she rubbed his back and stubbornly pressed on. His lips parted and he grunted, his brow furrowing as his discomfort grew.

Aerith kissed him on the mouth and whispered soothingly to him. It was ironic that he’d just finished causing her temporary pain in a natural act of life and now she was unwillingly paying him back for it to purge an un-natural force from within him. “I’m sorry, Zack,” she murmured. “I know it hurts. Shhh, just hold on a while longer.”

As she resumed, she broke into a sweat from the effort. Sephiroth must have put a lot more force behind his attack than she’d thought. Zack began to cry out raggedly and his body trembled as she worked her will and dissolved the dark tendrils within him. When she could no longer bear the strain or Zack’s agony, she stopped.

“That’s enough,” she panted, kissing his sweating chest. His muscles were involuntarily contracting and his skin was clammy. “No more for tonight, Zack. I’ll just have to finish the rest later.”

She hugged him close and rubbed his back soothingly, hating the pain she’d caused him. She hadn’t gotten very far but she was certain now that with a few more tries, she’d have him healed of Sephiroth’s corruption. She had no idea how much the work she’d done so far would effect his behavior or memories when he woke up. She could only hope that it would bring out more of her Zack and help him see a bit more reason.

~*************************************~

Zack heard someone knocking on his door and he grumbled crossly before opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was the fair, sleeping face of his conquest and he stared at her for a moment before his sleep-muddled mind kicked into gear. He checked his wristwatch and grimaced at the time. It was nearly noon. Aerith stirred against him and he ran his hand intimately down her naked back before pulling the covers aside and rolling out of bed. The knocking persisted and he grumbled and went to the door without bothering to put on a robe or a stitch of clothing.

Zack immediately regretted answering his door starkers when he found Scarlet standing at the threshold. It was too late to cover his nudity and slamming the door in her face would only alert her to his discomfort, so he stood as casually as he could manage and looked her in the eye—or tried to. Unfortunately, her one good eye was roving up and down his body with shameless scrutiny.

“Have you forgotten that we have plans to make for the attack on the next hydro plant?” Scarlet inquired after allowing herself a good eye-fuck. She heard the rustle of bedsheets behind Zack and her eye narrowed when she caught sight of his guest stirring in his bed. She pressed her lips together and kept her thoughts to herself, well aware that the Cetra girl already had a dangerous hold on him.

“I had a late night,” Zack informed her coolly. “I’ll be out after I get cleaned up and changed.”

“And your little…pet?” Scarlet prompted, failing to hide her little snarl.

Zack’s lips twitched with faint amusement. He wasn’t sure why it gave him such satisfaction to see Scarlet ruffled. “She’ll get cleaned up with me and I’ll put her back with her friends ‘till we’re finished. Is that a problem?”

“Not at all,” Scarlet answered with false sweetness. She let her gaze linger on his nudity for a moment longer before turning her back on him. As he shut the door in her wake, she began to formulate plans to keep Zack occupied while she got rid of Strife and his friends…or at least, the Cetra whore.

~*************************************~

Tifa was the first to notice when Aerith reached the bottom of the ladder and approached her fellow prisoners. The barmaid got to her feet and went to her friend, hugging her while staring at Zack with wary suspicion. Aerith’s hair was unbound and flowing around her shoulders and down her back. Tifa could detect the scent of shampoo and soap on her friend and she could easily imagine the conditions of her bathing privileges, after what Barret told her earlier this morning.

“Are you okay?” Tifa whispered, unconsciously putting herself between Aerith and Zack.

“I’m okay,” Aerith assured her softly. “And an adult, by the way.” She forced a smile.

Cloud and Barret picked themselves off the floor and flanked the two women. Rude stood up and came up behind them and Reno followed with a groan of protest. Cloud’s eyes met Zack’s and narrowed. He could guess what went on between Aerith and the other fighter but she looked strangely at peace. Given that she’d had that same look on her face just before Jenova skewered her in the guise of Sephiroth, Cloud wasn’t comforted. It didn’t help that the man he was glaring at used to be the one person he trusted most in the world.

Zack returned Cloud’s stare but this time, he didn’t feel the surge of aggression towards him that he’d felt the last time. In fact, there was a flutter of something like affection within him toward the blonde and he frowned in confusion and cocked his head to one side. He’d had some strange dreams while he slept and some of them included Cloud.

~The guy did some kind of mind trick on me last night,~ Zack reminded himself silently. ~The dreams are probably part of it.~

“I’ll have some food and drink sent down,” Zack informed the prisoners. He gave Aerith one last, lingering glance before climbing back out of the basement.

They watched him go and Aerith groaned inwardly as the questions began. She answered them as best she could without going into details she didn’t want the other prisoners to hear. No, she wasn’t hurt. Yes, she was sure Zack was soul sick. No, she hadn’t succeeded in healing him completely but she was sure that she could with a few more sessions.

Tifa’s dark eyes remained unconvinced that she was unharmed when Aerith winced as she took a seat against the wall next to Barret. The Cetra hid a grimace when she realized she’d given something away to her friend and she assured her again that she was going to be fine.

It wasn’t until an hour later when the guards handed out food and drink to them that Aerith began to doubt her own assurances to Tifa. Warnings immediately went off in her head as she took her bowl of stew and started to stir it. Aerith froze and stared into the bowl, blinking as she tried to make out what the Planet was trying to tell her. There was something wrong with her food. She frowned at it and shifted her vision, looking at it with her spiritual eyes as much as her physical ones. She detected a sickly, green-ish brown aura around her bowl and when she looked at Reno’s beside her, she found his to be free of it. The other prisoners’ food was likewise un-afflicted by the aura.

~Poison? Why would Zack try to poison my food but nobody else’s?~

The only reason Aerith could think of was the possibility that he knew she’d tried to heal him and Sephiroth’s influence was driving him to try and murder her. She sensed distress from the planet and she listened again, guessing that it had more to tell her.

“Scarlet,” Aerith whispered aloud without realizing it.

“Huh?” Reno mumbled around a mouthful of his meal.

Aerith shook her head dismissively and approached the guards across the room, handing her bowl back to them. “I’m not hungry, but thank you.”

~**************************************~

-To be continued