They hadn't been close friends, never formally been introduced, nor had they grown up together. They had simply...been around one another, crossed paths so often that it was difficult not to be aware of each other. Grimoire Valentine had always been friendly with his students and assistants, dragging them into his small family by congenial force of good will and perhaps no small measure of loneliness. His wife gone more than a decade, and his sons off living their own lives, if Dr. Valentine chose to take his students and colleagues to his heart, who could blame him? Vincent certainly didn't. There were always people around, that was the sort of man his father was. Vincent took after his mother, who has been quiet and reserved. Lucrecia, like his own father, had been more outgoing, and had drawn him into her sphere whether he liked it or not. Though if he were honest, Vincent had had no objections.
She had been so brilliant, so beautiful, and in his eyes, she was still. Like himself, time had not touched her, and she still looked as young and pristine as she had the last time he'd seen her so many years ago. Vincent gazed through the thick glass of the mako pod. It was a less elegant version of the materia spear she'd slept inside for the last twenty-five years. She'd been dressed in a plain hospital smock, and someone had plaited her hair prior to submerging her. Her pearls and crystal earrings, however, had been removed; put aside until she would need them again.
A light knock on the door made him start and turn. Shalua stood in the doorway.
"Sorry," she said, "the receptionist said you'd come to visit."
"How is she?" Vincent asked.
"Fine," Shalua replied, coming into the room. "She's in perfect mako stasis. Her body's slowed to a virtual stand-still. Virtual. Her heart's still beating, but only a handful of times a day. She is breathing, but you can only see bubbles every few hours. I've never seen anything like it."
"She will be alright, then?" he asked for what was surely the hundredth time. "Once she has a summon materia, she'll wake up."
"I don't know," Shalua answered patiently. "We need a summon materia first. Do you have one?"
Vincent shook his head. "No, not yet. I was hoping to have made more progress before Sephiroth returned from Wutai."
Shalua's lips twisted and she let out a sigh. "Vincent, I understand what you want to do for Sephiroth, but without a materia, we can't move forward."
"I'm looking, I am, I just…"
"I know," Shalua told him, patting his arm in commiseration. "They don't exactly grown on trees."
"I'll keep searching," Vincent promised.
Shalua smiled for him. "I know you will."
"What's all this?"
Shalua turned to find Genesis standing in the doorway. A hasty glance at her watch told her she'd stayed late again.
"Oh, sorry, personal project," she responded, hastily scribbling out the last of her notes on the clipboard.
"You don't see many people in mako suspension," Genesis observed, peering at the woman inside the glass tube, a look of perplexity on his face. "SOLDIERs maybe, but never women. May I ask who she is?"
Shalua fidgeted and set the clipboard down. "Can you keep a secret?"
He nodded. Shalua took a deep breath.
"This is General Sephiroth's mother."
Genesis blinked.
"It's a long story," Shalua said by way of an explanation. "Please, don't tell anyone?"
"I won't," he assured her, taking her hand. "I promise. And...I've got time to listen."
Had it been anyone else, Genesis might not have believed them- even considering what they'd all been through in the last few months. After battling an alien parasite, joining forces with Avalanche, and with a guardian summon sharing space in his own head, having the preserved and apparently still viable body of his best friend's mother floating in a mako pod was a bit unusual, but no longer something he'd dismiss out of hand. What made it hard to believe- although Shalua argued that this was the very thing that should make the circumstances more believable due to the restorative powers of mako- was that Lucrecia Crescent looked no older than her son. Then again, Vincent didn't look long out of his twenties either, for all he was actually in his early sixties. Funny to think he and Commander Verdot's father were the same age. But that was neither here nor there.
Against all odds, his battered copy of "Loveless" had survived the chaos of the last few months. This was primarily because it had been inside a pocket of his red leather jacket. Both were slightly the worse for wear, but nothing a bit of care wouldn't cure. Thumbing through the worn volume, Genesis flipped to the last few pages. The printing had resulted in three blank leaves at the back of the book, and these he had filled with his own hand-written notes. Good thing he'd made the majority of them in ink. Being soaked through in mako and healing rain had not done the book any favors. Happily, the ink had not run too badly and the notations were more or less intact. Yes, there it was.
This might turn out to be a wild chocobo chase, but then again, it might not. Either way, it would be a way to honor Angeal, and both their departed families. Maybe someday he'd take Shalua to his old home, perhaps rebuild the remains of his family's manor. That would have to come later. For now, he and Agent Valentine had a quest to plot.
It could be tricky to track down a Turk, especially one unused to a PHS. Texting Vincent's number yielded no results, nor did calling, and he hadn't set up his voice mail. Calling what served as the Turk offices pointed him in the direction of Sephiroth's apartment. He really should have tried there first. It still felt strange to think of Sephiroth as a family man. For all he wasn't married yet- and Genesis was aware of the betting pool as to how long that would last- Sephiroth might as well have a wife and three children. That's what Elfe and his brothers amounted to- or soon would.
It wasn't Valentine, however, but Verdot at home minding Sephiroth's brothers. Veld seemed surprised to see him.
"Vincent? Hell if I know," Veld said with a roll of his eyes at Genesis' inquiry. "He doesn't seem to understand the point of a mobile phone. Left it behind again this morning."
"Please tell him to contact me," Genesis asked. "Tell him I'd like to speak to him regarding a summon materia."
Veld seemed a bit perplexed by this, but nodded. "I'll do that."
