Title: An Unlikely Tree
Summary: Tseng's mother has died, and when he returns home for her funeral, he discovers a box of her old letters and diaries. He is at once astounded and made somewhat queasy as, at last, he discovers whom his father is.
Rating: T for profanity & adult themes
Disclaimer 1: If I owned the Final Fantasy compilation and all characters therein, Cait Sith's giant stuffed moogle would appear in Advent Children. That moogle pwns!
Disclaimer 2: Credit goes to leafonthebreeze of Genesis Award for the idea that spawned this fic. I shan't say what that idea is for risk of spoiling this story. Just know that without her, this story would not exist in the slightest.
A/N: This is for all y'all at Genesis Awards! While technically this is AU, I tried to keep it as close to canon as possible – though, as usual, I liberally ignored most of the compilation beyond the original game…
My apologies if the Turks seem out of character. I tried my best, but this is the first time I've ever written any of the Turks. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Note on the Timeline: Because the FF7 timeline is rather confusing, and there are many dates that are left relatively open (as in, there's a range of years various events /could/ have taken place, but not a specific date), I've gone ahead and employed the timeline found at ff7citadel dot com, for the most part. While it may not seem immediately relevant, trust me when I say that it is. If you have any questions and don't feel like looking up the timeline yourself, feel free to ask in a review or something.
Prologue
Twitchy as always when he was bored, Reno shifted in his seat and rested his elbow on the table, cheek braced against knuckles. His eyes traveled from the clock on the wall to the back of the glowing "Open" sign in the window to Yuffie pouring drinks at the bar to the open doorway to the kitchen, in which Tifa was busy cooking to the other scattered patrons, and then his eyes repeated the cycle, while his body shifted from one sprawling position to another every minute or so.
Rude, meanwhile, remained relatively still and impassive, sighing occasionally at his partner's inability to sit still. Perhaps the man even rolled his eyes; if this was so, however, it was impossible to tell behind the sunglasses.
At last, overcome by his frustrations, Reno threw his head back and lifted his hands into the air, letting out a prolonged and overdramatic cry. "What the hell is taking them so long?" he demanded, glaring at Rude and letting his hands thud to the table, causing his beer to slosh in his glass.
Rude responded neither vocally nor physically; he was well aware that Reno was simply letting off steam and didn't feel the need to encourage him.
Reno curled his fingers into fists and banged the table, again. "Honestly! For a guy who's so fucking anal about getting reports in on time and never being late to briefings, you'd think he'd make more of an effort to be on time to his own birthday… thing!"
After pausing to quaff more of his alcohol, Reno opened his mouth to continue but cut himself off as the door opened and lent forward, eager to pounce on his superior officer. However, it was not to be, for Elena, instead, entered. She glanced over to them, nodded in greeting and proceeded to hold open the door for… not Tseng (to Reno's disappointment), but Rufus. The man limped a little – he'd never fully recovered from injuries sustained during Meteor-fall or from the deterioration of his health due to Geostimga – but he looked hale enough to endure a few drinks. A smirk lingered briefly on his lips as he joined the Turks at their table; Elena followed close behind.
"Tseng won't be coming," Rufus informed them.
Reno's jaw dropped open, but his surprise was quickly replaced with outrage. "Wh-what! Why? That bastard…!"
Rufus sighed and, resting his arms on the table, steepled his fingers. "His mother died –"
"He has a mother?!" Reno's eyes widened, and his eyebrows shot up.
"Of course he has a mother, asshole," said Elena, rolling her eyes. "What, did you think he just spawned out of a rock or something?"
"No! I ah… well… yes," answered Reno, his cheeks coloring faintly as he scowled at the younger woman, who snorted with laughter; even Rude chuckled.
Rufus simply rolled his eyes as his lips twisted up at the corners. "If I could continue…?" Upon receiving no protests, he did so. "As I was saying, Tseng's mother died yesterday afternoon, and he's returned home for a few days for her funeral."
"Unfortunate timing," said Rude.
Reno couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Shit…" For a moment, he was at a loss for words. Then, shaking his head, he looked up at Rufus, again. "When will he be back?"
Rufus could only shrug. "Whenever his affairs are in order." Signally this to be the end of this line of conversation, he turned his attention to Yuffie, who'd wandered over at this time and now crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.
&&&&&&&&&
It was with great reluctance that Tseng returned home. He'd been quite happy to leave it years ago, and he'd never looked back. Now, though, staring at the wooden door before him, the door to his mother's home, he was forced to do so, to look back and relive scattered memories of his childhood and adolescence. Neither of them had been particularly unhappy, but they had been dull and lonely. Tseng had always been a somewhat aloof child, a trifle shy, but mostly just preferring to keep his own company or the company of his best friend. Perhaps he would have been fonder of boyish pursuits and less reserved if he'd had a father figure to look up to and emulate, but no such man had existed. True, his mother had seen other men at times, gone out on a few dates and maybe flirted a bit, but nothing ever came of these overtures, and Tseng had more or less ignored them.
He and his mother had been relatively close, but the subject of fathers had ever driven a wedge between them. Tseng had ever pleaded (often demanded) to know whom his father had been – and more than merely the man's name: Everything from hair color to personality, shoe size to place of origin. However, the most he'd ever gotten from his mother had been a brief, unhelpful description of looks (tall, pale with black hair and intense eyes; she remembered them as being brown, but in the light they had a reddish tinge) and, once, the man's profession: Turk. Whenever Tseng had pressed for more, she had simply ignored his inquiries and moved on to other things.
Tseng wasn't even sure if they'd been married or if it was just a fling that had produced him. He knew his mother went by her maiden name, as did he, but that proved nothing. If his father had died or abandoned her or something of that nature, it stood to reason that she might have been too pained to live on with his surname as a reminder. Or, perhaps Tseng was simply coming up with excuses, reasons why to stall for time before actually entering the house.
Steeling himself, the Turk shook his head and reached forward, knocking. A minute later, his mother's next-door neighbor answered the door, and Tseng entered. He held his breath.
A/N: Chapter 1 picks up a few days later, when Tseng returns. Parts of his experiences before, during and after his mother's wake, funeral and burial will be told, but not the entirety and not right away – just so you know.
Regarding Yuffie's job: She lost a bet with Tifa and has to work at Tifa's bar until Tifa finds some better help. Needless to say, Tifa isn't trying very hard to acquire another worker. The only reason I am explaining it now is I may or may not forget to explain it later on in the story. ;)
Chapter 1 should be up tomorrow, if I have time to upload it.
By the way, you should all check out Genesis Awards, as it is a wonderful, amazing Final Fantasy 7 forum. See Pied Flycatcher's profile for more details.
Thank you!
-Snarky
