Crisis Core: The Novel

Chapter 37 - Loveless

New Year's Eve was billeted as a religious holiday for SOLDIER. They weren't quite sure what religion, but they were cool with it. Paid-time-off, aw yeah!

Zack strutted out of HQ decked out in Armani Exchange. When he wanted to clean up, he was a showstopper. He didn't need much, a black V-neck and resin-coated jeans screaming that he was wearing money. Eat your heart out rich snob trust-fund interns, try bumping into him tonight, just try!

He caught his reflection in the train window, pinching his shirt and fixing his hair. His Skull Candy headphones belted his theme song for the night.

I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT...

He got up to Aerith's door like he was picking up his prom date. She hurried out to meet him in...a pink dress?!

"My mother made it for me," she said. She would. Oh that woman, bless her heart.

She was stunning though, the slightest hint of makeup that Zack saw on her for the first time. She glowed! He wasn't the biggest fan of how she'd pulled her hair back in a tight twist with a flower pin holding her bangs back.

But that dress, it looked like a pink nightmare!

"You don't like it..." she guessed from his expression, and Zack just tried to object but words wouldn't form. "Oh shoot, I knew it, I don't have anything else to wear, let me hurry and see if I can find something—"

"Aerith, you look beautiful, but it just so happens I got paid tonight."

A deep breath at the train platform to keep the jitters down. Zack and Aerith held hands and boarded the Express Shuttle for the Plate. She fidgeted around in her seat, squeaking as the train took off like they'd just gotten on a rollercoaster. Zack didn't make it any easier by joking about all the times the train had supposedly derailed. He played with the end of her hair when the band came off.

"Oh no, your hair tie came out."

"Here give it to me, I can put it back in."

"Oh no, it broke!"

"It's okay, I can tie it back together."

"Oh no, it broke again...and again...and again!"

He threw the tiny pieces over his shoulder. She threw him a flat stare.

"You know, if you want me to let my hair down, you can just say so."

"I would never do that to you."

She slumped her shoulders, shot him a peering smile, and began taking her hair down. She fanned it out in this really cool wave, her flower beret accentuating the angle over her porcelain face. Zack stared starstruck for a long time before running his fingers across her rosy cheek.

"There's the Aerith I love."

Their eyes lit up, they couldn't stop staring at each other. Until...

The train went through a tunnel, and Zack pointed for her to look out the window. They came through the other end to behold the breathtaking majesty of the sparkling Midgar City skyline. She gasped, almost sliding out of her seat, Zack had to catch her. With two hands pressed up against the window like a kid, she gazed with an open mouth at the glittering pyramidal cityscape spanning like a chromium castle out of some fantastic dream. The sky was a whirling canvas of stars blending into the flickering lights of glass high-rises, reflecting in the awe of her eyes. The first time she saw the sky was the last time she'd ever be afraid.

He took her to the posh fashion districts of Sector 3, an art and cultural hub known to locals as SoHo. They went shopping at Uniqlo where a nice gay gentleman gave Aerith a hug and sent her with an armload of clothes into the dressing room. She went in wearing a handmade cotton what, she came out in a cropped-cardigan with the sleeves pushed up over a skin-tight blouse and cashmere scarf, black leggings with a belt that screamed watch out and those sheepskin boots with the faux-fur lining. Zack made her turn around a couple times, but on the third time she shot him a suspicious look, and he grinned.