Written for @zerith-week​ Day 2 — Dating/Kisses

Even enemies-to-lovers story, there needs to be an attraction, a spark. Zack and Aerith are not an exceptional to this rule during their meet cute. The meet cute is the term for the inciting incident in a romance that sets the tone for the entire story. It had been well-known that when Zack first saw Aerith, he was attracted to her to the point of calling her an angel. He proposed a date to her not because she reminded him of someone but because he was attracted—okay, that was half joking lol. But anyway, this is really self-explanatory. Zack is a ladies-man. He’s not some kinda aloof guy who would hold back his flirting when he saw a girl he was attracted to. And Aerith is not a shy girl. She was also shown to be attracted to the guy when the game showed how her eyes followed his every movements since he doubled back up. She even admitted that she wanted to spend more time with him. Zack also tried to look cool by showing his strength against some monsters, and Aerith wasn't buying it. They share the same sense of humour that magnetizes them towards one another. We got some nice teasing and flirting scene back and forth which became the dynamic of their relationship onwards. But there was still an emotional gap between them here. When Aerith mentioned he was strong, and Zack thought about what was happening with Angeal, he felt deflated. He didn't immediately share what he was thinking with Aerith despite her asking, and that was realistic considering they have just met. Both of them are vocal about their initial attraction, even if the emotional bond has not formed yet. Not to mention their aesthetic and height difference make them look good together, but let's not go there. lol.

Someone once commented that Zack and Aerith fell in love within ten minutes and then they only had cute moments with no development. This is false. The attraction and spark were there within the first ten minutes. The bond was built through time. Through each scene, their observations of one another get deeper and more intimate in a non-high-five way lol. But as I pointed out earlier, FINAL FANTASY VII is not a love story, thus the proportion of the romance being told becomes secondary or even tertiary to the plot. If you’re expecting a love story, FINAL FANTASY VII is not your game. However, we are still being fed with how Zack and Aerith gradually get to know each other. They went for a walk-turned-date, and Zack learned that Aerith loves pink ribbons and scolds people who stepped on flowers. She opened up about being scared of the sky. Zack also learned that Aerith is actually people-smart when she told him that the kid who pick-pocketed him didn't do it without reason. Aerith learned that Zack is actually troubled beneath all the jokes he cracked. And how he was willing to listen to her insecurities when she mentioned her fears. Subsequently they spent time together, getting to know each other better. They also called each other frequently to the point that she interrupted him pre-fight amidst missions. You see, Aerith didn't fall in love with Zack because he was cool, or because he was a perfect prince charming. She fell in love with him because he was a messed-up goof, non-judgemental, and way too caring for his own good. Zack fell in love with Aerith not because she was a Cetra or a Gainsborough or whatever privilege she possessed. He fell for her because she was a quirky girl who likes flowers and ribbons who empathised and helped around the kids in her sector. They chipped off the outer layer of each other and dug deep into their most vulnerable selves—Zack when he opened up to Aerith during his lowest point in his life never caring about being a cool guy, and her with her fear of sky and her insecurity of being different. That's when they finally fell in love. Aerith did not wait for 5 years and wrote 89 letters because of a guy she had a crush on. She did all that for a guy she had learn to love over the course of 18 months, whom she finally revealed the most vulnerable wish she could bravely entrusted to him; her 23 tiny wishes, all so that she gets to spend more time with him.

Conflicts are important in story building. This includes hinting at any emotional wounds or baggage, and showing how falling in love might heal them. In romance, there are two main conflicts that make up good stories. One of them is Internal Conflict in which would build the tension between the two partners. Aerith and Zack are not normal people. Aerith is a Cetra. Zack is a superhuman SOLDIER. They both had eccentricities, Aerith probably more than Zack. But it was her Cetra heritage that held Aerith back. Her traumatic experience of watching Ifalna getting suspicious drugs and doing shady things to get them out of Shinra had her built up a defence mechanism to avoid the glaring problems right in front of her eyes. It manifested in their relationship in a way. There was this awkward push and pull on Aerith's side the first time they met because she was hesitant if Zack would accept her for who she is. It was a highlight of Aerith's insecurities that made her long for Zack but wary of his attraction at the same time. But she grew out of it while being with him. Slowly but surely, she expressed herself more, she gets bolder; her fears, her kind of wagon she wanted while still being mindful of him. She attempted some carefree conversation for a bit when Zack cried—her usual defence mechanism—but they showed how she knew him enough to recognise that wasn't what he needed, and she proceeded to give him a hug. They supported each other through their fears and lows. Their love healed each other. She was the best version of herself when she was with Zack. Caring, outgoing, sassy, but still empathetic. Zack, on the other hand, found out about Aerith's internal conflict from Cissnei. Aerith never told anyone about it, because she had been lying to herself to seek comfort in normalcy. Interestingly enough, she didn't need to. The minute he found out, he was only like "okay, so, anyway—". For Zack, she was still one of a kind, Cetra or not. It is the kind of scene where, in the case if Aerith finds out about it, her love for him would only deepen. It is his understanding and acceptance that makes their love that much sweeter. If this reveal happened earlier in their relationship, it would probably create a wedge between them. But their bond had been cemented, no ancestry was relevant to how they view each other by this point. Behind those walls, they were just Zack and Aerith, two ‘normal’ people who love and support each other unconditionally, giving comfort and hope for freedom and future, with no ulterior motive. And that was how their relationship grew as the game progressed.

External conflicts work as the actual reason the lovers became separated. A realistic obstacle outside of the relationship that keeps them apart, driving the actions and plot of the two characters. The factors that keep the characters apart are important to make people root for them to get together. Most of this external conflicts for Zerith came from Zack's side, in contrast to their internal conflicts which mostly were Aerith's. Angeal's death, Zack reprimanding Tseng for tailing Aerith after knowing she was a Cetra, that foreboding when Zack had to be deployed to Nibelheim... Aerith asked when he'll be back and if she could call Zack during that mission even if it was constantly her routine in previous missions and it had never been a problem. The foreshadowing of their tragedy; building flower wagons and selling flowers, as if to savour every last seconds they had together. We have this bittersweet but equally heartbreaking scene when Aerith told Zack that she had fun even if they weren't selling well because he was there with her. Zack, too, entrusted Aerith to Tseng despite his vocal complaint about it before. The build-up of their separation was imminent. And then it happened. They were separated for good. What's unique and beautiful about Zerith's external conflict though, is the fact that neither of them were at fault for the separation or miscommunication. Aerith tried to reach out to him. Zack tried to get back to her. They both did their parts to their very best. It's just that their external conflict was too huge, it prevented their message from reaching each other.

This one is a bit tricky. Because we all know that Zerith is a tragic couple. However, here's the thing. Even a tragic romance has some sort of a happy ending—something to follow through the 'Downfall'. It is called the Perspective/Reflection. The story needs to put the tragedy into perspective, not let the Downfall go all the way down. The best example I could think of is Nicholas Sparks's romance novels, such as "Best of Me", when they had spent the time they lost and had their closure, the hero accepted the fatal fate he should've gotten earlier. And the heroine, despite heartbroken, becomes a better mother, better partner, and she moved on with a bittersweet memory. There is a hopeful glimpse of the character moving on or a montage of memories as they reflect on the loss. It should not end by making the living lover go around flower fields to take commemorative photos endlessly—okay, that referenced joke was uncalled for, sorry. But this is what Zerith had in spades. The Downfall of their romance was their separation, the failure to reunite, the grief that Aerith would never see her lover again. But what is the perspective after their tragedy? What is the resolution or reflection of their relationship? And this had been answered beautifully in Advent Children, bringing the romance story between Zack and Aerith into full circle, completing the criteria of writing a love story. The fact that they had reunite, walking out of the church together, with a full knowledge that they accepted their fate, and they stayed by each other's sides in the Lifestream, always. Later accentuated by Aerith’s yellow flowers blooming on Zack’s resting place, and Zack’s Buster Sword placed in the Sector 5 church where they spent the most time together, as if to tell us they have the eternity together.

• When you are used to people dying, you developed a certain immunity and you are able to have a sound mind and composure at the sudden change of event. As healthcare providers, we face stable situations turning into critical real fast. And we have a switch in our minds that turns us from standby mode to rescue mode. This is exactly what happened to Aerith when Don Corneo revealed Shinra's plan to blow up Sector 7's support pillar. Tifa is part of Sector 7. It is her home. Which is why her reaction showed how she was super devastated, she slowly stood up and muttered "They wouldn't..." because she couldn't believe it. Aerith? She had that switch in her mind, and she immediately turned and say "Come on, guys! We gotta go!". She switched into that critical mode in a second. It helps that she's also not personally connected to Sector 7, and thus her judgment was not as impaired. Of course, they both switched into the critical mode in the sewer, but it was at the moment of revelation that made it different. Just like how healthcare providers switched at the moment of revelation that their patients are at the brink of death—you immediately jumped into rescue mode.

• Remember after they defeated Abzu and Tifa started to question Corneo's information? She didn't want to believe it, because it didn't make sense to destroy your years of efforts building the plate just to get back to a small group like AVALANCHE. Think about the money they put in to build it, they're gonna have to put them all again. In fact, along their way out of the sewer, Tifa voiced out multiple times how this had been bothering her. But I'm intrigued with Aerith's reply "If he's telling the truth, then we should go. And if it turns out he was lying, then so what?". This here is exactly what doctors do. We plan and prepare for the worst. And if the worst didn't happen, then so what? If you ever had life-saving surgery, your doctors would tell you "You need this surgery coz you might die. But if you do the surgery, there's a high chance you'll survive, but there's a small chance you'll die too". And we prepare for that small chance that our patients die. No, we don't let our preparations lacking because we hope they'll survive. We prepare for the worst outcome possible and get all the equipment ready in case they'll die. If they didn't, then so what? It doesn't mean our preparations were futile efforts. It only means we were prepared. And that line of Aerith seriously hits home to me.

• Before they crossed the water sewer, Tifa once again voiced out how she couldn't stop thinking about what Corneo said, and she was still hoping that he was lying. And then Aerith said, "The future isn't set in stone". (Again, I'm gonna ignore the meta part of Aerith) And then she proceeded to set up that small date with Tifa. Believe it or not, this is actually what we do during bad calls. We'd talk about what we would do after all this ends; we'd go out dining, or playing games/darts, or go drinking, or whatever it is that makes us happy. Just to keep our minds calm and to allow us to hope for the future, even if it's just a few hours away. It gives us hope and courage to go on. We plan for the worst, but we hope for the best. The more critical the situation is, the more you need to be level-headed. And needless to say, after this point onwards, Tifa is much more calmed down from her struggle to keep herself focus.

• This might sound weird to some, but the ability to cast away your worry and focus on what you can do, instead of what you should do, is important in emergency situations. You need to know what you don't know. You don't get in the way of your comrades. If you're not good at intubating, you don't insist to intubate in emergency situations just because you wanna help. Seriously, you'll just make things worse. When Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith were attacked before climbing up and out of the sewer, Cloud asked both Tifa and Aerith to keep going. Aerith immediately answers "Okay" and left—without a single but. This is significant because it shows that Aerith knew she'd be better off leaving. She doesn't need to offer help, coz her help was not needed. This is not the place where she could help. The ability to recognize this is very important for healthcare professionals. Tifa was a bit more reluctant to leave, but that's probably because she is a martial artist in-game. Also, the fact that Aerith could still joke "We're not delicious" is just so real lol! Yup, we joke sometimes when we're facing deaths—doesn't mean we lose focus in saving the dying person in front of us, don't worry. And then it happens again when they reached Sector 7 when Cloud asked them to stay with Wedge as he goes up, Aerith immediately answered "sure"—because she can "patch" Wedge up, it's where her abilities lie. This is even more accentuated when an injured Wedge argued that he can still fight when he clearly can't—making this point even more obvious. Aerith is someone with a healthcare mind, Wedge was not.

• When they reached the surface, they spotted a Shinra helicopter. Cloud assured them they're only on patrol. Aerith turned to Tifa and said, "Don't worry, we'll make it in time". This moment is also very iconic to me. As I mentioned, I'm an anaesthesiologist. We are the support doctors to surgeons and physicians. Those moments when we're operating on AAA surgeries and the patient is losing liters of blood and literally dying, we're pumping bloods in with our hands and get those Level 1 machines operating, and the surgeons would be panicking because it keeps bleeding? Yep, I did say it before. "We'll make it. Just concentrate on the surgery and don't worry about the bleeding", even though I'm sweating and dying here trying to keep the patient alive. But I pretended to be calm in front of my team and cheered them on. Because the whole team needs to keep calm. If one of the team loses hope, then bid your chance farewell. As an anaesthesiologist, we're almost like the anchor in the room. People look at us to know if everything's alright. I need to tell them it's alright, so they need not worry. Aerith knew Tifa is worried. And she tried to keep Tifa calm with reassurance. Even if she probably freaked out herself.

• After they defeated the ghost at the haunted maintenance facility, Cloud tried to kill it, and Aerith didn't let him. When Cloud said that thing was dangerous, Aerith said she knows and added "but even so..." she didn't feel right about killing it. (Let's ignore the fact that the Ghoul was a lonely creature for now) It then goes to drop the train wreck which almost killed them had it not been for Cloud. Now this would have been avoided had Aerith let Cloud killed it—maybe. But here's the thing. When you're hyper-aware that people are dying left and right, you value life more. No one deserves to die, even the worst criminal in the world. You're a law-abiding citizen? You're a criminal? It doesn't make a difference to us. I know this is something super hard to comprehend. But technically only when the law subjects the criminal to the death sentence that a person should be left to die. I've been a doctor for eleven years, I was a prison doctor for two. I had the first-hand experience of dealing with criminals. It's not my job to determine whether they deserve to die or not. It's not my call whether they will turn a new leaf had they lived. I know this is something others find difficult to relate to and agree with—happens to my non-medical family and friends. The verdict to us is simple. It's a life. It's worth saving. Period. (Technically the ghosts are dead though but my point still stands)

• Tifa's emotions are tampered with again when they confirmed Shinra was going to drop the plate when they overheard the Turks conversation. Her voice shook, we can literally hear it. Aerith's response was "all we can do now is keep moving". And she's right. When they reached Sector 7 and the Whispers were preventing them, she said "we have to get past whatever it takes". And later on, Tifa left to help Cloud and Barret, and Aerith agreed to get to Seventh Heaven to ensure Marlene's safety. Wedge had a short mental breakdown when he realized he was no good to anyone up or down the crime scene. And Aerith told him "We can still save a lot of lives", "That's no excuse to give up", "I need to know I did everything I could". Her encouragement helped Wedge save more people. Some argued, did she not care about the lives that already died? Now here's my point; no, we don't. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but really. What can we do for people who are already dead? Nothing. What can we do for people who are still alive? Everything. And this is the core of being a healthcare provider—we prioritize. Yes, we're also humans. We can get emotional when our own friends and relatives die. (Aerith might not be as calm had it happened at Sector 5) But when we put the healthcare provider cap on, we mean business. That is why when disasters happened, and we triage people with a black tag? That's when we know we couldn't do anything for them. We don't mourn at the black tags. We move on to the other tags instead. So that we know we already did everything in our power to help. And yes, it doesn't matter even if we lost more lives than we saved. It's worth it, even if we only saved one person out of thousands of deaths. Just like how Aerith saved Betty in Sector 7. That one life is worth it.