So, it looks like I am starting another story. I was going to try to write one story at a time, but apparently that won't happen. Hopefully, I will not get writer's block for this one or anything. In some ways, this will be hard, because I don't really know how to write children, but I hope I am up to the challenge. :D Anyway, enjoy.

I do not own Final Fantasy 7, or its characters. Square-Enix does. I do own the plot to this story and the characters that I have made up.

"Speaking."

"[Speaking in Wutian]."

Thoughts.

To Redeem a Legacy

Chapter One

February, 1992, Kalm; several months before the Nibelheim incident

Tseng hesitated before climbing out of the black nondescript Shinra-issue car to review his information: information that that only Veld, the leader of the Turks, and his second-in-command knew of. Tseng, who just happened to be that second-in-command, was thinking that if he did not hold that rank in the Turks, he would not be in this position.

Even though he had already memorized it, he went over the information in his head. The Turk was not nervous; he just wanted to make sure he would not do something he might regret. After all, one does not blindly walk into the house belonging to a woman that might be the wife of Sephiroth without reconsidering.

Taking a calming breath, Tseng ducked out of the car into the weather of a dying winter. With the fading sun warming the dark material of his suit, the Wutian stepped away from his car and in even, sure strides walked another block of Kalm's streets before coming to his destination. Out of habit, he carefully eyed the house, even though he already knew what it looked like. A simple baby-blue single story house with peeling paint, it did not have much of a front yard, although some well-cared-for flowers grew under the windows. The house had a small backyard, basically just a lawn and a cherry tree, but both got as much attention as the flowers in the front. With the owner's salary, she should be barely getting by, but she was doing fine. It made Tseng wonder if she was getting more money from somewhere.

Tseng stepped up to the door and knocked. He knew she was home, it being six in the evening, and the owner rarely went out to dinner.

The door opened to reveal a short, pretty Wutian woman in her early twenties. Her brown eyes widened with surprise and a hint of fear when she saw Tseng.

The Turk gave her a short bow from the waist, straitened, and asked in Wutian, "[Do I have the pleasure of speaking to Arina Uematsu]?" He knew that this woman spoke both Common and Wutian, but also knew that people often relax a little when you speak to them in their native language.

In answer to his question, she nodded. "[May I come in]?" He continued. The woman nodded, her face hiding her nervousness, and for a second Tseng found himself admiring her for her resolve. Few people can remain calm when a Turk comes to their door.

"[Yes]," she said, stepping aside and opening the door wider. Tseng stepped inside and she closed the door after him. Looking to the side, he saw several pairs of shoes sitting on the side of the entryway. Without asking, he removed his combat boots and set them next to a pair of small tennis shoes. Arina looked startled, and then gave him a small smile and a "[Thank you]."

The Turk glanced around, noticing the decor that reflected both Midgarian and Wutian culture. The living room had a couch, a rocking chair, a TV, a coffee table, and a fireplace on the left side of the room. To the right, the room opened into the kitchen, and the hallway to the bedrooms was near the fireplace. He could smell the aroma of what must be dinner on the stove. Tseng turned to Arina, but she spoke first.

"[Why are you here]?" Her voice was surprisingly calm.

"[I am here to ask you some questions]," Tseng said simply. Sometimes, if you were non-direct in what you wanted, the target might give you a clue as to the exact situation.

Arina sighed. "[You're not going to make this easy, are you? Let's sit down]."

They both sat down on the couch, Tseng noting with some amusement that that particular piece of furniture was almost the same color as his suit. He also noticed that Arina sat as far away from him on the couch as politeness allowed.

Tseng nodded. "[First, let me say that this is not an investigation being conducted by the Science Department. Also, until six years ago, you were of no interest to the Turks. And so, unfortunately, we cannot get enough information on you as we would like without drawing attention to our investigation. I want you to give me an accurate report on how Professor Hojo got his hands on you, and on what happened afterward]."

Arina blinked, then nodded slowly. "[My father's name is Yorihiko Uematsu. Before the war, he was an ambassador in Midgar, and lived there, along with the rest of my family. When he had heard that Wutai and the Shin-Ra Company were at war, he decided that we would have to leave. Everyone but my uncle and I escaped. Uncle Araki tried to get away, and he died. I was only thirteen]."

As she said this, her expression did not change. It was the face of someone who had long ago come to terms with what had happened.

"[Hojo decided that since my parents were enemies of the company, I was fair game]." Arina looked at her hands. "[For five years, he did experiments on me. Nothing he did had any effect. The professor decided to kill me, but instead I was let go. I heard later that General Sephiroth thought it would be of better interest to the company to let me live, because they might need my father's cooperation after the war]."

She looked up, and gave a little shake of her head, as if chasing away bad memories. "[And here I am]."

Her story matches the information Veld gave me, Tseng thought. But Arina is not telling me everything. He was about to ask her another question when he felt the magical pull of a materia being activated. It felt different though - like it was coming from two different directions simultaneously.

Tensing, Tseng looked at Arina as his hand rested near his gun. She looked scared. "[What was that]?" He asked curtly. Whatever had just happened, one of the 'pulls' had come from her.

She shook her head. "[I - I don't know]," she stammered.

Tseng stood up and headed for the hallway, where the other pull had come from. Arina was protecting someone or something, and it had to do with the materia spell that had just been cast.

"[No, wait! Stop]!" Arina reached for the Turk's arm, but he jerked away. "[Please]," she begged.

Tseng glared at her. Switching to Common, he said, "I dislike secrets being kept from me. If you know what is good for you, you will tell me what just happened, and show me whatever it is that you are hiding."

For a second, the two Wutians stared at each other. Then, Arina looked away, almost wilting. Carefully, she looked over his shoulder. Tseng remembered that there was a clock behind him, and wondered why she was looking at it.

Arina nodded. "This way," she said softly, and headed down the darkened hallway.

As they walked toward the back of the house, Tseng felt the pull of the materia twice more. The Turk prepared himself, not knowing what he might be getting himself into. According to the reports, Arina had a five-year-old son, but no five-year-old could use materia.

At the end of the hall, Arina opened a door, revealing a young boy's bedroom. The shades were drawn over the window, concealing the growing night. The lights cast a warm glow about the room, as well as reflecting off some of the toys on the floor. Sitting on the bed against the right wall of the room was a young black-haired boy, holding two materia in his hands; a blue support materia attached to a green magic.

When his mother and Tseng entered the room, he looked up. The Turk almost jerked in surprise. The boy was a half-Wutian; the hair and facial features spoke of the island heritage, but it was the eyes that gave it away. Bright, almost glowing green eyes met gray, and Tseng grimly thought that maybe Sephiroth being the boy's father wasn't so ridiculous after all.

Seeing Tseng, the boy jumped off the bed and put the materia in a pocket, making the universal little kid uh-oh-I'm in trouble face. Arina aproched the child, her bare feet making little noise of the white carpet. The boy looked at her, his face surprisingly serious. "Mom?" he asked.

Arina gave a reassuring smile as she took her son's hand. She looked back at the Turk. "You did not tell me your name."

"It's Tseng," he answered, keeping his eyes on the boy.

She nodded, then looked at her son. "Seij, this is Tseng."

Seij bowed, his hands clasped before him. "[Hello]."

Tseng felt his lips twitch into an almost-smile as he politely returned the kid's bow. This boy was definitely not a regular five-year-old.

A board creaked in the hallway. His hand grabbing his gun, but not drawing it yet, Tseng spun around to face the doorway. Sephiroth stood there, long silver hair gleaming in the light, barefoot, his boots held in his left hand. At the sight of the Turk, he tensed. For a moment, both warriors stood there, tense, no weapon drawn, but ready to be drawn. Then, Sephiroth relaxed.

"Tseng, who sent you here?" He asked, keeping his green eyes fixed on the Wutian Turk.

"Veld." Tseng answered, relaxing a little. "And before you ask, neither Hojo or the President will hear of your family from the Turks."

The SOLDIER First Class's eyes narrowed. "Can you promise that?"

For a second, Tseng hesitated, thinking. Can I? Slowly, he said, "I can promise that I will not tell them. But Veld has suspected, so I will have to tell him. I do not think he will tell Hojo, and if it were up to me, the Professor will never find out."

Slowly, Sephiroth nodded. "That will have to do for now."

Until now, Arina and Seij had stood in the middle of the room, watching this exchange tensely. As Sephiroth finished speaking, the boy went up to the general and hugged him. "Welcome home, Daddy," Seij said.

Tseng raised an eyebrow. He had never thought to hear the hero of the Wutian war called "Daddy." Sephiroth frowned at the Turk as he patted Seij's head. "It's good to see you too." The General sighed, still watching Tseng. "If you are going to know our secret, you might as well know all of it," he finally said.

The Turk went still, then eyed Sephiroth. What does he mean by that? Tseng asked, "What part of your secret, exactly, do I not know about?" He looked back at Arina, who had walked over to stand next to her husband.

"We will show you," she said. Then she looked at Sephiroth. "But first... our son has figured out how to use materia."

As Tseng watched, Sephiroth tensed for a second, then, relaxing, looked down at Seij and smiled. "Oh, really? Well, it was only a matter of time."

Tseng tilted his head to one side, scrutinizing the young boy. "He must be smart if he can use materia already," he said.

Arina smiled. "Yes, Seij is smart. He is a good reader already."

Sephiroth knelt down, looking Seij in the eye. "Seij," he said softly. "Let me see what you can do with that Illusion materia."

Tseng gave a start of surprise. Illusion materia? He had never heard of that kind before. The Turk was still forming a question when Sephiroth turned his head and looked at him.

"I have only came across one Illusion materia," the General said with a smirk. "One of the ninjas I fought during the war had this one."

Tseng nodded. That made sense. If any place had a type of materia that Shin-Ra did not know of, it would be Wutai. The ninja culture has used materia longer then any other group of people on any continent. "Is this Illusion materia attached to a Distance materia? When it was activated, it felt like it was coming from two places at once." (1)

"Yes, it is attached to a Distance materia," Arina said, nodding. "Seph got it from Wutai, too."

Tseng felt his eyebrow give a small twitch at the General's nickname, but pushed that curiosity aside. "Why would Seij need an Illusion materia?"

Arina looked at Sephiroth. "You'll see." The SOLDIER said. He looked at his son. "Come on. Show me what you can do."

Seij looked up at his father, then at Tseng. "But is he... okay?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, you can show him."

Seij took a deep breath, then nodded. Looking at his father, then at the Turk, he took the materia out of his pocket. As Tseng watched, Seij disconnected the Illusion materia from the support, then put the blue materia back. The boy glanced at his mother and smiled. "It's easier this way." She nodded.

As the spell was cast, Tseng noticed that Seij was looking right into his eyes. The boy was enveloped in a green glow, the materia held against his chest shining ever brighter. Then, the black hair, green eyes, and the rest of the child was bleached white. The color returned as the light faded, revealing the same clothes, and similar Wutian facial features, but that is where the similarities ended. Seij was now a little taller, paler, and his eyes glowed mako green. But the biggest change was that the raven-colored hair that framed Seij's face was now silver.

For a moment, the Turk stared at the General's son in surprise. Then he turned to Sephiroth, asking, "This is what he really looks like?" The SOLDIER nodded.

Tseng looked back at Seij, who had a worried expression on his face. The Wutian gave him a small nod, hoping to put the boy more at ease. Sephiroth put a hand on his son's shoulder, and Seij relaxed, offering Tseng a small smile.

Glancing at Sephiroth, Tseng said, "It must have surprised you when you learned that Seij's hair is silver."

Sephiroth smirked. "It did."

The uncomfortable silence that followed was broken by Arina, who wrapped an arm around her husband, then looked over at Tseng. "Do you want to have dinner with us? I had just finished cooking some beef ramen before you came in. I always make a little extra for leftovers, so there will be enough."

Tseng nodded. "I see no reason why not," he said. After all, the Turk thought, it has been awhile since I have had homemade Wutian food.

~#~

This is Tseng:

A Wutian who dresses as a white man. A member of Shin-Ra. A warrior whose favorite weapon is his pistol. But most of all, he is a Turk.

The common citizen will say that the Turks are loyal only to the President, but that is not true. They are loyal first to the Turks, second to the President.

Tseng understands this, perhaps more then his peers do. And as he sits at Sephiroth's table, listening to the family talk, this, more than anything, is on his mind. The Turks come first. Veld had already said that if Sephiroth has a child, Hojo must not learn about it. For the sake of the child, and the world. Veld knows that Hojo is up to something, and it is not good.

The Turk was enjoying the food, and the attempts at small talk. Veld will want to keep this family safe.Tseng understands. Seij is already showing how he is different from other children. His ability to cast materia spells at his age is unexpected.

Some people say that Turks are monsters, trained only to be the weapons, the guard dogs of Shin-Ra. But Turks are human; they have hearts. And as Seij looks at him, Tseng feels his heart, the heart of a Turk, an assassin, and a bodyguard, soften.

A/N.

So, did you enjoy it? Just so you know, I made up the Illusion and Distance materia.

(1) The Turk is referring to a rare support materia that comes as a pair (because they would be useless if you just had one). Often used for sabotage missions among the Turks, you can keep one of the Distance materia, and set the other one up with a fire or some other destructive materia near a building, or whatever else you want destroyed. No matter how far away you are, when you activate the support materia you have, it's connection with the other Distance materia will activate the materia it is connected to. Needless to say, Reno loves Distance materia.

Please review! You can review even if you don't fav the story, I just want some feedback.