Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters or locations. It all belongs to Square-Enix.

Theme(s): #28 - Cause of Nature

Title: The Path We Walk

Rating: K+

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It's okay to be human.

No, it wasn't. Not for them.

As the leader of the Turks walked across the parking lot's slick pavement through the rainy night, he mentally replayed the scene that had just taken place in the office. Anyone could have seen that Elena was visibly upset, and he hated seeing her like that, but they had both chosen their paths. The paths were rocky and cavernous, and death lurked around every bend. If they walked down it together, both would be headed toward disaster.

He made it to his car and, after fumbling around in his pocket for the keys, unlocked the door on the driver's side and got in. Sticking the key in the ignition, Tseng let out a small sigh. As much as he tried to stifle them, he couldn't deny his feelings for Elena. The blonde rookie definitely had a warm place in his heart, his heart that he kept under lock and key.

She was new and didn't quite seem to understand all of the horrors of her profession, whereas he'd been there for years and had seen the worst of it. Attachments, he knew, only led to pain. He'd had to learn that the hard way.

When Tseng first been assigned to capture the last remaining Ancient and bring her to Hojo, it hadn't quite clicked just who he would be hunting. When following the instructions he'd been given led him to the home of Aeris Gainsborough, a girl he had known and cared for, the reality of the mission, and the rest of his life, had hit him like a bullet to the heart. It was then that he decided to sever his emotional ties, and avoid making new ones.

Even though he knew he wouldn't have to kill Elena, both of them were still walking down that dangerous path. They could trip and shatter at any time.

-Fin-