AN: Sorta AU, obviously. This took me two hours, and I know it's clichéd, but meh, I had the writing-twitch, so I obeyed. First fanfiction I've written in 2 years, and first time I've written having played the game. At least, I've got past disc one... this was inspired by/elaborated extensively from the little scene at the temple of ancients
"How do you do it"
The ground was warm and the surrounding air smelled of loamy soil and growing things. Although the only light in sector 6, or any of the other sectors, was artificial, something about this little terraced patch of earth seemed to glow. Light sparkled and reflected off flowers and leaves. The garden was sunny and very much alive.
With her fingernails caked in soil, a little girl in a green dress wiped her hands on her shirt and looked up. Within the curls of auburn hair, her face was a pale moon of a thing, set apart from all the other pale faces of the sunless Midgar slums by two big, beautiful green eyes. As she looked up, those same sparkling eyes met another pair, dark and almond shaped.
The boy perched on the fence, boots kicked off and feet brushing the tops of the grasses and flowers. He was ten years old, and just beginning a growth spurt. His pants were too short and his limbs seemed awkward, his head too big for his skinny body. Shoulder length black hair framed a face that was heart shaped, with high flat cheekbones.
"Tseng"
She smiled and her eyes glittered. He always came to visit her in the gardens, if he could get away from chores. She looked at a flower before her, and cupped it in her small childish hands as she thought about his question. And then she looked up, and her small face glowed with youthful joy, and hope, and trust in the power of life.
"If you love the flowers, they want to grow."
She said it like it was the most sensible and concrete fact in the world.
-
Aeris was taken in by Elmyra when she was four years old. When she was six, she met Tseng, the only child in sector six who was anywhere near her age. He came to visit her in Elmyra's garden every wednesday evening, saturday morning, and whenever else he could. Nothing ever changed. Her tenth birthday was on a tuesday. She wasn't expecting to see him. She didn't think anything of her birthday. She didn't even know if it was the real date, but he'd asked once, and she'd told him anyway. As she was most days, Aeris was in the terraced garden tending to the plants. There had been a few patches of grass there when she had first come to live here, so the soil must be good, but it took a lot of work to get flowers to grow. Over the years, under the careful hand of the calm, wise child who loved to see living things, the flowers were getting hardier and more beautiful.
Elmyra had suggested she sell them, and Aeris was more than willing to help her surrogate mother with money, but, she said, the flowers weren't ready. She couldn't understand where the things she knew came from, other than that it had something to do with her mother being an Ancient. She didn't really know what being an Ancient meant, only that she was the last one. Sometimes she felt sad for her mothers death, and for the fact that she was the only Ancient, but the flowers sang to her and told her it was alright, that was the way things were meant to be. When the flowers were ready, they would tell her, and then she could pick them and sell them to strangers in need of living colour.
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow"
She was surprised to hear his voice, but happy. She turned around and he was there on the other side of the fence, arms crossed loosely and resting on the top of it, leaning over. He was no great singer, but his recently lowered voice lent a husky tone to the simple melody that was quite pleasant. It had a dusty, grainy sound. He continued, picking the words out slowly like a person stepping around puddles.
"With silver bells, and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row."
She laughed and scrunched her nose slightly.
"What is that"
He shrugged, nonchalant, and threw a leg over the fence, crossing the barrier easily.
"A nursery song. Some nonsense. I think my mother used to sing it."
She nodded, and didn't ask any more questions. His expression was fairly blank, but his tone of voice suggested he would rather not continue on the subject. He almost never spoke of his parents, and never asked her to do so, though she was sure he knew that Elmyra wasn't her biological mother. Considering the percentage of each short life that they had known each other, they didn't really know much about each other.
"Do you have the day off"
He'd never come on a tuesday before, not that she could remember. He shook his head, his expression changing slightly from ambivalent to perhaps tinged with sadness. He looked at her. She was still a child, and for the last few years had felt like a sister, but recently he'd been wishing she was closer to his age.
"No.. I don't have the day off. Not exactly.."
He paused, and she was silent, just watching him with those incredible eyes. They'd enchanted him the moment he met her. There weren't many girls like her in the slums. There weren't any that he knew of. Her silence wasn't uncomfortable, it was welcoming. He felt that she understood that he had to take a moment to form his thoughts and words.
"I'm leaving, Aeris. I'm going up to the plate."
Her eyes widened slightly, but that was all.
"I'm going to get a job. I'm going to work for ShinRa. I'm old enough to be trained to fight now. I can be a soldier."
Was he imagining it, or did he see a flicker somewhere deep in her eyes? Was one of the sparkles in that emerald now a glimmer of fear? The moment passed. She looked at him, as if deciding whether or not she could forgive him, and he strained, tried as hard as he could, to convey with a look that he had no choice. He had never been good at speaking his feelings, better with her than most but still not great. His family needed the money, and that was that. And he? He wanted to get out of here. She seemed to understand. She always did. There was no hardening of her expression. Kneeling in the dirt before her, he reached into his pocket.
"I.."
A pause, to clear his throat.
"I brought you a birthday present..."
He drew out a small pink circle, maybe a finger-width thick and three of four times that in diameter. She looked at it, not understanding, but then he let it go and it unfurled into a beautiful shiny ribbon, the end pinched between his thumb and forefinger. Partway down the ribbon was a small silver cup with a ring sitting on the top. He flicked it open.
"I've seen that little ball that you cling on to. It's always in your pocket. I know what it is, I've been learning. For when I go up to the plate. It's a materia, isn't it"
She nodded slowly.
"You should be careful with something like that. You don't want it to fall out of your pocket. Get it out."
She paused. His request was simple enough, but something about his tone was different. He seemed more grown up. Not the boy she knew, but someone who had made a decision.
"Come on Aeris. Take it out of your pocket."
He held out his hand. Reluctantly, she drew the white orb from her pocket and gave it to him. Why was she nervous, this was Tseng! She trusted him, and he wasn't a ShinRa employee yet. He wasn't going to steal her things. And of course he didn't. Deftly, he pressed the materia into the silver cup and flicked the ring back down over it. It settled in with a click, holding the orb in tightly. Sitting up tall on his knees, he reached easily over the younger girl and looped it into her ponytail, before sitting back again. He stopped a moment, and smiled, then stood and dusted his knees off.
"It suits you."
His smile seemed sadder then, and he crossed the garden back to the fence, before turning around and raising his hand slightly.
"I'm on the next train out of sector 7, so I gotta go... I guess.. bye then."
Putting one hand on the rail, he hopped over the fence, but her voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Tseng, wait"
He turned to look back at her. She'd stood up, clothing and hands dirty with soil but with the ribbon gleaming in her thick wavy hair.
"I need to give you something too! You can't just leave like that.. I don't even know when your birthday is."
She looked around, trying to think, and then for the first time ever, Aeris Gainsborough picked a flower from the glowing garden bed.
-
"Tseng, how old are you"
He stood smartly to attention, hands at his sides, head up and back straight.
"I'm 18 years old last month, sir."
"Well, Tseng. Do you know what the Turks are"
"Yes sir. Of course, sir. An elite squad within the ShinRa. Both able to fight and utilise tact and politic in negotiations with allies and opposition. And to scout out the best candidates for SOLDIER."
"Very good, Tseng. I'm glad you know your job description."
"My..? Yes Sir"
Had he just got a promotion? Yes, he had. He'd been with ShinRa just four years, and he was being made a Turk? If his mother were alive, she'd be proud. He knew she would.
"We have a new project, Tseng."
"Yes sir"
"And since there have been a few... accidents, lately, you're in charge. Despite your age. Can you handle the responsibility"
In charge? Of the project, or of the Turks? His head spun. This was the best day of his life!
"Yes, sir. Of course, sir. I have ShinRa training, sir."
"That's very good, Tseng. I'm glad our money is being put to good use."
Tseng's limbs were getting sore. Normally, they were allowed to sit for conversations of this length. But he had just been given a promotion. A big promotion. So he wasn't about to complain.
"Would you like to know your new project, Tseng"
"Yes sir."
"You are to find and capture an Ancient for us. There is only one left alive, our research team knows that much. A young girl. You are to locate her for us, and bring her here. You have a search team at your disposal, should you require it. And enough funding to offer a reward."
In that instant, Tseng's perfect day was shattered. Suddenly, things he'd known for years fell into place, and a puzzle he'd pushed to the back of his mind was completed. Everything made sense now. His mouth dried out, and his ears filled with a heavy cotton soundlessness. When he tried to speak, his tongue seemed stiff, as if he hadn't used it in years.
"That.."
He had to clear his throat.
"That won't be necessary sir. I know where she is."
There was a heavy pause.
"Oh? Is that so? Well then... it seems we've made the right decision, giving you all this new responsibility so quickly. You can go tomorrow, then."
"..yes sir."
-
There was a knock on the door. Elmyra opened it, a little hesitant, ready to slam it hard in the knockers face if it was necessary. She wasn't expecting anyone, and unannounced visitors were rare and sometimes dangerous. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the young man in the blue suit. He was older now, and his hair was longer, but she recognised him.
"Please.. come in. She's just upstairs, having a shower. She's been out all day selling flowers.."
He sat down at the table, and twined his fingers together nervously on the top. Elmyra disappeared into the kitchen, and waited until she was sure the girl who was like her daughter would be finished, then called up the stairs.
"Aeris.. we have a visitor"
It didn't take long for the girl to bound down the stairs, long auburn tresses flowing behind her. She stopped short at the bottom, and stared.
"Tseng"
He'd jumped to his feet as soon as her footsteps started down the staircase. Now he stood tall, his hands in fists at his side. He'd grown a lot since their last meeting- or parting. He was taller, his shoulders broader, a young man now, not a boy. And she.. she was still a girl, but so close to being a young woman. She certainly looked older, to him, than her 14 years. From her perspective, he seemed older than the gap between them. It was only 4 years, but in his suit, with his professional, well paid, corporate job, he was an adult, and she a child still playing in the garden. There was a long and heavy pause.
"Aeris, I.."
He cleared his throat. This wouldn't do. She was looking at him like she knew something was wrong. No. Forget the past. Be thoroughly.. professional.
"You know I work for ShinRa."
It was a statement, not a question. The friendly recognition was gone from his voice, it was all cold now, and businesslike.
"And I know that once you were a part of the organisation, in a way."
He forced a wry, somewhat bitter smile.
"ShinRa would be most obliged if you would return. To.. aid them. You are the only one who can. The development, betterment... improvement of society.. rests on your co-operation."
He didn't say that ShinRa would take it from her whether she co-operated or not.
"It would be most helpful if you would return to ShinRa headquarters now. With me."
He wished that 'with me' meant she would be. But he knew, and she knew, that once they got there, they would be parted again. This time the silence was tinged with her hurt, that he could come here and do this to her. He couldn't look at her face, only stare through her. She shook her head.
"No."
He'd known she'd say that.
"I won't do that. I won't go back."
She moved closer to Elmyra, and the older woman slipped an arm around her 'daughter'. Both women's eyes were wide, pupils dilated, on edge. Tseng felt like a traitor. He felt dirty, and wished it were his house, so that he could have a shower and clean himself of this business before coming back down and having dinner, and talking to Aeris of hope and living things. Instead he licked his lips and spoke again.
"I would urge you to reconsider that choice."
Another silence, and she shook her head again. He stepped forward, and she stepped back. Something stabbed him from the inside. He couldn't do it. It was his job to bring her, willing or by force, and he couldn't do it. He stepped back again, and wordlessly, turned to leave.
Once he'd shut the door he pulled a phone from his pocket.
"Yes sir, this is Tseng. No, she isn't where I thought she was. She must have moved on. Yes, I thought so. No. Yes. No. Yes, of course. I'll send Reno after her."
The phone clicked and beeped as he put it away. He'd put Reno on the wrong track first, give Aeris a few years at least of freedom. Maybe by then, ShinRa wouldn't want her anymore. Then he could come back and apologise. He started to walk away.
"Tseng"
He couldn't believe she could talk to him, after that. He turned in disbelief. She stood outside the house, a basket of flowers on her arm. Every year he'd known her, the flowers had got more beautiful. Now he'd been away for four years, and they were at their most stunning. Large, colourful, and probably smelling like heaven.
".."
He looked back at her, confused. Why had she come out to him? She looked sad. With just cause. He was sure she felt betrayed.
"Are there flowers up there? On the plate"
He shook his head slowly, not sure where this was headed.
"No.. no flowers. There's no soil up there, really. But you.. you can see the sky."
She regarded him steadily with the vivid green eyes he remembered so well.
"I still have your ribbon."
"I can see that."
She looked away from him. He stared at her face, the way her bangs framed it and the shapely curve of her cheekbone and jaw. It was a much more adult face than last time he'd seen it. She was doing something with the basket. Then she straightened and threw something towards him, before turning and going back inside the house. The door closed, and then the shutters over the windows. Tseng knew he could not come back here again, to this place that had been his childhood haven. The terraced garden still shone with light, but it was not for him.
He looked at the parcel in his hands, he'd caught it quite by reflex. A white square of cloth, tied with a blue ribbon. He pulled at the knot and undid it, and the cloth unfolded to reveal three incredibly beautiful flowers. He'd asked her how she made them grow, and she'd said she only loved them. Somewhere in the back of his head, he thought he heard her voice. It had happened before, and he hadn't understood it, but now he knew. She was an Ancient, the last one, and this garden was a special place.
"You're a Turk now, aren't you? You don't have a normal ShinRa uniform."
"That's right, I'm a Turk."
He felt it pointless to boast that he was head Turk.
"All ShinRa are trained to kill."
"..thats only part of it."
"And Turks, they tell others who to kill."
"..thats only part of it"
He didn't know, this time, if it was her voice in his mind, or if it was a conversation he imagined himself having with her. He picked up one of the flowers, and raised it to his face. The sweet perfume filled his nose and filled his mind, and as he watched the flower withered right before his eyes, until a brittle brown stalk was all he held.
-
Aeris knew that the Turks were on their trail the whole time. Reno, and Rude, and Elena. Reno had been bothering her for well over a year now. Every time he caught up to her, she'd run, or hid. He'd caught her once, but she had a bodyguard. He'd have caught her much earlier if it wasn't for Cloud. This time, the Turks were ahead of them, because they'd been betrayed. Aeris knew what it felt like to be betrayed, but experience didn't make it hurt less. Although, not every hurt was quite as painful as another. Still, she was older now, and more logical about it. They had a purpose, a goal, and that was what mattered. She looked at Cloud beside her, and felt a warmth rise in her chest. He'd been the enemy, once, before she'd known him. But his heart was too good for that. She was sure that was the reason, even though he acted cold.
The problem was, she reasoned as she pushed past a vine, that Tifa knew that as well. And she'd known him much longer. Aeris could understand what Tifa felt. It was easy, with Cloud. There was just something about him. He was strong, brave, good looking, kind hearted (though he wouldn't admit it). But at the same time, there was something unsatisfying about his being so perfect. She didn't really understand it, but it didn't really matter. She'd just talk to him, spend time with him, and see what happened.
Her musing was interrupted as they finally broke through the thick foliage into a clearing.
"Oh..."
Her jaw dropped and she gasped as she stared up at the enormous temple. The whole party had much the same reaction.
"I want to go in."
She didn't wait. She knew she had to go inside. The voices told her. This temple.. she belonged here. She raced up the steps, with Cloud and Cid right behind her. The others were waiting outside. She got to the top of the steps just a few moments before the others, and froze. Her eyes widened in surprise, fear, horror, dismay. The violent mix of emotions churned within her.
"Tseng.."
He didn't hear her, hadn't seen her yet. It was only when Cloud and Cid caught up, a few short heartbeats later, and Cid swore loudly, that the leader of the Turks looked up at them, his eyes squinting against the light from the doorway. He raised one hand to shield his eyes, and it was covered in blood. Like his other hand, cradling his stomach. His blue suit jacket was open wide and his white shirt blossomed red like the most beautiful of any of her flowers.
"Sephiroth.. we were wrong.."
He was gasping. It was obvious that the words were hard for him. Somehow, he pulled himself to his feet. Aeris felt prickling in her eyes. It seemed like such a long way for him, she could see the sweat on his forehead. A red handprint was left behind on the alter where he'd leant his weight to pull himself up.
"Tseng.. what has happened to you.."
Her words were barely audible. Nobody heard her, all were focused on Tseng's lips as they moved to form a few pained sentences.
"Wrong about what Sephiroth was up to... everything has gone downhill."
He gasped, and his breath rattled wetly in his throat. His pupils were fully dilated, a liquid black within the thin dark brown ring of his iris. He hadn't recognised her yet. He'd only known that someone had come in. He was wounded badly, and they stood against the light source.
"My biggest mistake was letting Aeris go..."
This last sentence was to himself, but he had moved a little way out of the light now, and he could see Cloud. His adversary regarded him with hateful confusion. Letting Aeris go? A mistake? The blonde man scowled.
"Let her go? We rescued her? You weren't even there"
He laughed, and clutched his stomach, doubled over and fell to his knees. Stupid boy, how he misunderstood. He hadn't meant at ShinRa.. he'd meant letting her go, letting her get away from him. Leaving her. The pain was incredible, like fire and ice and stinging nettles, all at once. Like he was being torn apart, chewed on and spat out by some horrible beast. Aeris ran forward as he turned around, slumped against a pillar. Finally he looked up, and saw her.
"My biggest mistake.. was letting.. Aeris go.."
She knew what he meant. Here, more than anywhere else, she would know what was really being said when people spoke. He could hardly get the words out, his throat was tight, full of a burning ball he couldn't swallow. She was the woman he'd always known she'd grow to be. She probably had been for years, and he hadn't known. Tears pricked his eyes. What god had chosen to answer his prayer, here when he lay dying, to see her again? She knelt beside him, green eyes sparkling more than ever, maybe from tears in her eyes, or maybe because the tears in his were making everything shine more brightly than the light in her garden.
"I'm.. still alive."
She nodded.
"I know. You'll be fine. You'll live. You will. I know it."
He chuckled again, voice too husky. His throat was raw. He could taste blood. His stomach didn't hurt any more though. It was numbed by an ache somewhere higher in his chest, by the unbearable tightness in his throat that he struggled to speak through. It was harder to sing. He'd never been great at it.
"Mary.. quite.. trary... how does your garden.."
"With silver bells and cockleshells.. the garden is beautiful Tseng."
A tear rolled from her eye and down her cheek. He raised a finger from his wound and turned it skywards. The single saline drop landed on its tip, washing a small area clean of blood. He shook his head slightly, and moved the bloodied hand to his pocket. The keystone rolled out with a light push. Aeris took it, and handed it to Cloud. Tseng watched Aeris, she was easy to watch in pink. She was always full of colour. His eyes pleaded for forgiveness, and hers promised not just that, but revenge.
-
"Tseng? Tseng"
Elena's heart was beating a faster pitter-pat than she'd thought it could. Her throat was tight with panic. He couldn't die. Not now, not here, not like this. Not before she'd had a chance to make him love her. His eyes stared up at her, glassily, seeming not to recognise her.
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary... finish it."
He'd sung the first four words, and spoken the last two. She stared at him, blue eyes wide and confused. Mary? Who was Mary? Since when was Tseng a singer?
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary..."
"Tseng, it's me! Elena! Elena.."
He focused on her then, somewhat sadly. She couldn't finish the line for him. No one ever would, there was no time left. He was alone, so he had to finish it himself.
"Yes. Elena."
He managed a weak smile, because her teary eyes told him that was what she needed. But he was going, and he needed something too.
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary.. how does.. your garden.. grow? With silver ... silver bells.."
He coughed, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He couldn't see Elena well now, everything was foggy with tears. He felt their wetness on his cheeks. The song had lied. A garden didn't grow with silver and seashells, it grew with love. Gathering the last of his strength, he wiped his fingers on his shirt, desperate to get them clean. His hands had seen too much blood in his 26 years. Too much blood. Other peoples blood, and now his own. His shirt was too stained to help. He remembered a single glittering droplet, and raised his hand to his face. Salt moisture mingled with the drying blood and he wiped it off on his blue suit jacket. Clean enough. They wouldn't get cleaner.
Putting his hand to the breast of his jacket, he drew out a blue ribbon from an inside pocket, and held it to his face. It still smelt of flowers.
In the game, I wondered why Tseng accepted Aeris' refusal to come back to ShinRa, when he went to Elmyra's house to get her. Why was Aeris so upset when he died, and what did he mean by "My biggest mistake was letting Aeris go". I know generally people view the age difference as being larger (and Reno as being substantially younger than Tseng) but this was just my take on it, and messing with the ages was the only way to make it work. Hope you enjoyed it anyway!