One For The Morning Glory
By Faronon Star Wolf
Disclaimer: In no way do I own Final Fantasy 7, or the characters therein.
Notes: Written for the LiveJournal community 31_days prompt for May 2.
Wordcount: 296
-one for the morning glory-
It was a small pot with some kind of plant in it--one
she wasn't sure she'd seen before.
Aeris looked up at the young man she had met the week before, and he rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, I did ruin the flowers you were trying to sell, so I thought I'd try to make up for it..." He grinned suddenly. "Just don't tell my dad, though. He told me to kill it--he's not too fond of morning glories."
She found herself smiling in return. "Well, I'll be sure not to. Thank you."
"And, now that I'm not trying to catch a thief, I can introduce myself properly. I'm Zack..."
-two for the early
dew-
As time passed, the morning glory grew rapidly--Zack had
taken days off to help her build a trellis, though he cautioned her against
planting it--"Give a morning glory an inch and it'll take a mile, I swear"--and it
had just begun to develop small white buds the day he first asked her out.
She, of course, accepted eagerly.
She felt as though she was deeply, desperately in love--perhaps with an ideal, the image she had of Zack, but what she felt from the planet was that it could eventually grow into a love of Zack as a person.
The only complaint she had about that blissful time was about his position as a SOLDIER. The missions he had to go on were rarely long and never dangerous, but they still took more time than she wanted to be without him.
-three for a man
who will stand his ground-
"It won't take long," he said with an easy grin,
shouldering his bag. "I'll be back in a week."
Aeris nodded, pouting slightly--it wasn't as if she could do anything to change his orders, but she didn't have to be happy about it. He leaned in to kiss her, but they could rarely restrain themselves for long--
The bag hit the floor again with a thump as he wrapped his arms around her.
"I don't want to leave you," he whispered into her ear before pushing her away--far enough that he wasn't pressed right up against her, but still close enough that she could feel his warmth.
"I don't want you to leave."
He sighed and pulled her in for one last kiss, then turned away resolutely. "I've got to head out now," he said regretfully.
"Go," she urged softly, smiling at him.
He waved as he went through the door, and she shivered. The weather hadn't been particularly warm to start with, but it had been getting colder all day.
"Hurry home," she whispered, staring out the window over the broken roofs of the Slums.
-and four for the
love of you-
None of the days of that week passed particularly quickly,
but on the seventh day it simply dragged on until the last train stopped at the
station. Aeris had been waiting there all day, hoping that he would come back to
her before he had to submit his report, but she had a feeling one of his
superiors had insisted he do that first.
That night she went to sleep expecting to wake in his arms--to find he'd come during the night and had just joined her in her bed, rather than waking her.
In the morning, she was disappointed to find herself alone, but she gathered flowers before she left, tucking one behind her ear, placing the rest in her basket, and then she made her way to the train station, waiting for the man she loved.
It was, she knew, what her mother had done, waiting day after day for her husband--but there was no war to worry about now. There was no tragedy that could have come to Zack, surely.
Days passed--she lived simply for the moment when he would step off the train, a sheepish smile on his face and an explanation ready--
It was a moment that would never come.