=Scavenger=

=ANGEL=

=T12=

I was walking down the street today and- well, that's a really boring way to start anything. And anyway, it's not even true, because technically I was walking up the street. But anyway, I was walking up the street today, and I fell in love.

There was this man who was also walking up the street, and I just happened to look at him and meet his eyes, and all of a sudden the thought fell into my head of, I cannot live without you.

But before I could really do anything, some other guys who I guess were his friends dragged him into a café, and he didn't really look very happy to go but he'd disappeared. And there was nothing I could do but keep on walking to where I was going, which was work.

And hours later, on my way back, I knew he wasn't going to be there, but I looked in that café anyway.

I know that I've been in love before, but I also know that I've never felt anything like this.

It was a chance meeting, and I'll probably never see him again, but somehow that doesn't matter too much right now. I can't live without him, and if I never know him, I'll at least have that one memory. I love him. I know I do.

=*= : =*= : =*=

"What's wrong, man?" Zack asks, punching me in the arm and grinning, but there is a shadow of worry in his eyes.

"Nothing," I tell him for the third time, looking back at my coffee.

"No, seriously, what's wrong," Seph pretty much orders from my other side. I stand no chance against his fierce tone and fiercer aqua eyes.

I sigh and say, "There's this girl." I don't need to say anymore, because Zack's already relieved of his concern and laughing at my predicament, and Seph has his version of an answer to it.

"Well stop moping around and go pick her up," he responds, as thought the solution was instinctive.

I continue staring into the cup in my hands. "Seph, there's one major flaw in that idea."

"And what is that?" he inquires professionally, tapping his hands against the counter absently.

"I have no idea who she is."

"Then why does it matter?" Zack asks in confusion, joining in Seph's drumming with his own beat.

I look up at them, adding a finale to the pattern before the waitress glaring from afar can come over to yell at us, and tell them, "Because I love her."

=*= : =*= : =*=

My sister is worried about me. She thinks I'm sick, or maybe depressed. But I'm not. I'm just lost, because I know I have to find him but I don't know where to look. Nothing else matters quite as much to me anymore. I don't know how to explain that in a sane manner to anyone else, so I just let her think what she wants. Other than her, I don't know that anyone else has even noticed, ever cared. If finding him weren't so important, I think I'd be appalled at my gigantic lack of a social life.

I've been going to that café all the time, hoping to see him there since it's the only clue I've got, but after a month, there's no sign that he's ever returned. But they serve very good coffee, and it's quiet and light inside, so I keep coming back. And maybe I just don't want to give up hope. I love him, still.

I walk out of that café into the sharp wind that is an eternal presence in the city during winter, winding a scarf around my face half to keep it off and half to hide my expression of utter sorrow. He wasn't there, just like every time before.

As I begin my walk home to the apartment, a particularly fierce blast of air snags the new hat my sister bought me for Christmas, sending it sailing to the curb. I make a snatch for it, but it goes flying out into the street. Without thinking, I lunge out after it.

Traffic in New York City does not care about pedestrians in New York City, especially when they're stupid enough to jaywalk or go chasing after their hats.

A bus barrels toward me as I manage to grab hold of the hat, and I'm frozen, incapable of moving or thinking.

Eyes riveted on the bus, I can only watch in shock as a man runs up the packed aisle and forces the driver to brake. I gape at the sight, but have enough sense to race out of the way and back onto the sidewalk.

The brief interruption passes and life continues on as hectic and unaware as ever, and I know that by the end of the day no one around me will remember this incident. But I know I will never forget. Because that man was him. His face was as fierce and sharp and wild as an avenging angel's, and he saved my life, like a guardian angel.

It doesn't matter what kind of angel, I think. And then I laugh. I can only love him more.

=*= : =*= : =*=

"Stop!" I shout, flying up the aisle, and the unexpected action causes the elderly driver to stomp on the brake instinctively. He glares at me, and only then notices the girl standing paralyzed in front of his headlights. She quickly darts out of the street, and I make my way back to my seat, countering weird stares with dark eyes.

"Dude, what the hell?" Zack asks. "What just happened?" One of his earbuds has fallen out from the sudden stop and is blasting rock music from armpit level.

"There was a girl in front of the bus," I tell him. "We were going to hit her."

"Was it like a hot girl?" he asks, still slightly bewildered.

"Zack, I say slowly, "she was the girl. And I just saved her life."

"Well, you're just going to have to find her now," Seph informs me back our the apartment we all share.

"Yeah, I'd pretty much figured that out for myself," I remark halfway sarcastically.

He doesn't rise to it, but continues on with, "So you first saw her outside that café, the one with the cheese bagels?"

I nod.

"And you saw her again near there?"

Another nod.

"So she lives in the area, obviously. What did she look like?"

"Black hair, hazel eyes, glasses. Maybe five foot nine or ten."

And who did she look like?"

"What?"

"You know, did she look like a Rachel, or an Elizabeth, or what?"

"How the hell should I know, Seph?"

Seph rolls his crazy eyes. "You know you're good at this. You called Zack, Zack before you even knew it was his name. And you spelled it right, too. And you guessed my mom's and both my brothers' names, too. C'mon, give me your best guess."

I remembered looking into her eyes, both times wide with shock and amazement behind their lenses, and the feeling I'd had that she couldn't possibly be real. But now I know she is, and I also feel that somehow, she's changed me. "She's an angel," I say quietly.

Seph regards me. "You sure?" he asks, but it feels like he's only going through a formality.

"Completely," I reply.

He slams a phone book down into my hands, and turns to go get himself a beer.

=*= : =*= : =*=

When I get home, I discover that my sister has decided I am lonely and has taken it upon herself to set me up on a blind date with her friend's brother's best friend. Tonight.

"But I don't want to go on a date!" I protest, wondering if it's worth telling her about the bus to see if she'll let me off for having a traumatic experience.

"Too bad, you're going. You need to get out more. And besides, he's really nice."

"How would you know?" I laugh.

"Um, I've met him a couple of times."

I get the feeling she's gone out with said friend's brother. "Fine, whatever. Since you're so worried about me, I'll go," I concede, and go to get ready.

This really nice blind date turns out to be a crazy redheaded guy named Reno. He takes me out to dinner at a local Chinese place I like, then proceeds to be obnoxiously funny. Like, I know he's funny, but the way he's being funny gets old quickly. I know this was a mistake, but I can't do anything about it except laugh and pretend to be interested until it's over.

Halfway through dessert, while Reno's telling me some story about how his friend threw his cell phone out a window, my own phone quietly goes off, on vibrate. I welcome the intrusion.

"Hey, Reno, I'm going to the bathroom, be right back." I dart away into an out-of-the-way corner, and Reno turns toward a couple at a nearby table who are much more interested in what he's saying.

I press the answer key on my phone and say, "Hello?"

"Is this Vulture Angelos?" an unfamiliar male voice asks back.

"Yes. Um, who is this?" His number isn't in my phone, so I'm sure I don't know him, but I'm also sure he doesn't mean me any harm.

"I believe I might be your guardian angel. But if that doesn't work, well then, my name is Cloud Strife."

I think my heart stops for a few seconds. "Is this for real?" I ask in soft astonishment when it restarts.

"I'm fairly sure, yes," he replies helpfully.

"Oh my God, I- I- thank you," I stutter out. "I mean, you saved my life."

"Even birds need angels," he quips, and we both laugh.

"How did you ever get my number?"

"Weird story that," he says. "Turns out my friend once dated your sister."

Is the world really this small? I ask myself. "You wouldn't happen to know a guy named Reno Maddison, would you?"

"Yeah, how come?"

"Uh, have you ever dropped your phone out of a sixth story window?"

=*= : =*= : =*=

Yes, I conclude, the world is actually that small. Or maybe it has something to do with fate. Either way, all I know is that I've got my scavenger angel at last, and life could not be more perfect.

We both know this is serious, that what we have is true love, but there's need to rush things. So for now, we're still just boyfriend and girlfriend- until tonight that is, unless something absurd happens and the ring falls out of my pocket. Some pretty strange things do turn out to happen around the both of us, after all. Such as:

The Chinese restaurant, her favorite one, is right across the street from my apartment.

I never actually went back to that café.

Seph did though, because he liked their cheese bagels, and he saw Vulture almost every day.

Actually, I'm about 99% certain he knew who she was the entire time.

He also knew where she lived, due to the fact that he was and still is dating her half-sister, Yuffie.

And that phone book? Dog-eared on the pages with the numbers of every girlfriend he's ever had. Total: somewhere around 25.

Fifteen of those have at one point or another been pawned off on either me or Zack. I wondered how he knew so many girls.

Zack likes pie and AC/DC, and ended up marrying that waitress who never yelled at us for drumming- her name's Tifa and I don't think they were ever even engaged, it was that fast.

And in case you were interested, Seph's mom's name is Jennie, his brothers are named Leon and Rude, and his real name is Sephiroth McArthur.

So yeah, I can only hope everything goes down as planned. And if it doesn't, well, that's not really a problem. Everything will work out for us one way or another. Who knows, if I do lose the ring, maybe the old bus driver will be the one who finds it. As for me and Vulture, well, we'll live it how it comes to us.

=*= : =*= : =*=

The moral of this story? You better watch where you're going when you're walking up the street, or you never know what happen to you.

FIN