Title: Three SOLDIERs and a Lady
Author: CrisisChild
Summary: AU Angeal always considered himself to be quite responsible and honourable and his mettle is put to the test when an unexpected turn of events leaves him a father. And Genesis and Sephiroth as the unwitting uncles.
Rated: T for temporary character death. Yeah, you heard me.
Prompt: Parents
Disclaimer: I do not own Crisis Core. Enough said.
011. Parents
"A parent is God, in a child's eyes."
The summer was winding down and soon, autumn was coming. It was a week before September 1st was coming, as well as the beginning of the school year. Persephone would be attending Shinra Elementary in the first grade and the girl was quite anxious to enter an actual school filled with children her age to interact with. Persephone was so thrilled at the idea of school that Angeal went out and bought her a new dress to wear for school, since it had a lax dress code.
Genesis was in Wutai at the moment, but had managed to call home to wish her well on her first day, promising the child to come back as soon as possible. He reminded her about how busy heroes were and she understood perfectly; she also told him to go find a princess to rescue and to tell the princess 'hi', when he saw her. The commander laughed on the other end and still had a few good chuckles long after he had hung up.
Sephiroth, being with her almost every single day now (the good general was being kept on standby and that meant no missions at all, not even local ones), was able to give his well wishes face-to-face when the news had been announced that she would be accepted into the school. His niece was soon becoming a permanent fixture in his cool office, to the point where he had bought pillows and blankets for her to use when she became tired.
At one point, the man had found her coughing, but she assured him she only needed some water. She coughed, still, when Angeal took her home, but he just gave her some cold syrup for children from the pharmacy, sure that she was just having a cold or a simple chest cough. Persephone was young and her body still developing, but it would bounce back soon enough.
Oh, how wrong he was.
Angeal took out the little device and stared at the readings, a frown marring his face. At the rate he had been going all Saturday, he was going to have a lot of pre-mature worry lines at the age of twenty-three. Softening his expression as he turned to gaze down at Persephone, he pushed sweaty dark hair away from her face.
"How is it?" she wheezed, making her father's heart twist inside of his chest.
He almost didn't have the heart to tell her that she had hit 41 degrees Celsius and that a trip to the emergency room was in order. How could this have happened? Angeal had to reason with himself that Persephone was just a little girl and children had a tendency of getting sick and that he shouldn't worry at all. However, Angeal had been a father for barely over a few months and having his daughter sick now, he wasn't sure he could cope with the idea that she could get so easily ill. Especially not after the Incident with Genesis. One scare like that had been enough.
As he dressed her up warmly, noting how she shivered though it was practically steaming in her room, Angeal pondered over what his own parents had felt whenever he became sick with the flu or a cold. But then, Angeal had never contracted any disease in his entire life, being one of the few lucky people on Gaia who never got sick. Then again, he couldn't afford being sick, not with the cost of simply living, never mind medical bills!
Well, costly or no, had Angeal ever gotten sick he was sure that his mother and father would have rushed him to the nearest doctor as quickly as possible.
The closest hospital with a paediatric ward was the one in Sector Eight; twenty minutes away by car, which was twenty minutes too long. Angeal must have gone through a few red lights on the way, because the man distinctly heard a few angry horns as well as shouts aimed in his direction. But they had been ignored in favour of the laboured breathing in the back of his car.
Arriving at the emergency room, Angeal's heart fell when he saw so many sick people waiting inside to have their turn. Some might be there to visit someone and were probably just taking a break, but still…so many people. The sight of the crowded waiting room made him appreciate never having to be sick as well as lament not hunkering down and heading for the medical ward at Shinra Headquarters where the line-up would have been several dozens of people less.
"Papa, my tummy hurts…" Persephone mumbled in his arms, snuggling closer to him to get more comfortable. Angeal's face contorted into an anguished expression, knowing that all he could do was to try and soothe his daughter until it was their turn in the queue. It was no easy task, though. Angeal was perfectly clueless as to what he should do in this situation. Try as he might, the only occasion he had to deal with the ill were his own SOLDIERs and Zack and that care was minimal at best and did not have any of them curled up against his chest, seeking comfort.
'Her tummy hurt' and that could be a number of things, he had been told. Children weren't terribly specific when they were in pain, although getting a stomach ache from time to time was normal enough for them to be able to link pain to it and, therefore, speak out about it. But it was just too vague a complaint. It could be her throat was bothering her, chest pain, her head – even her stomach – anything. Angeal was dizzy with worry and there was nothing he could do about it.
He kissed her forehead – noting once again how absolutely hot her skin was – and whispered to her that everything was going to be alright. He did well not to let any emotion show in his voice, but despite the years of living on the battlefield, Angeal could not help, but let his voice crack just a little.
"It'll be okay, Seffie."
It was odd, how one little girl could make him become undone. But the SOLDIER reasoned that it wasn't just any little girl, it was his little girl, lying there in his arms and struggling for breath. She trusted him wholeheartedly to guard her and keep her safe, a man who had once been a complete stranger and who had failed to save her real parents' lives. A SOLDIER – killer – a monster wrapped in pride and honour.
"Papa."
Her tiny hand reached up and touched his unshaven cheek; caressed it with the pads of her fingers. Blue eyes hazily looked up at him and a little smile appeared on her lips.
"I'll get better soon," she promised, raspy. Angeal smiled down at her little face and kissed her cheeks tenderly, bringing the girl up to hold her close. She was going to be alright, he told himself. It was just the flu. Nothing more. She'll go in, see the doctor, get some medication prescribed – if at all – and then they'd go back home and his daughter was going to get better. Nothing serious at all.
Persephone was truly exhausted from this, the dark-haired man thought, feeling her go limp in his arms. He stroked her hair and placed another kiss on the top of her head, feeling a little calmer now that his initial panic was beginning to subside. Everything was going to be alright. Wanting the girl-child to be comfortable as she slept, she was shifted in his arms and he expected her to mumble in her sleep like she always did when he moved her, but nothing came. Poor thing was really tired, after all. He touched rubbed her chest, hoping it would soothe the pain that came with breathing and froze.
It was then and there that Angeal realized that Persephone had stopped breathing.
Cold dread filled his being.
No…
"NURSE!"
P-A-P-A-P-A
"…You're lucky Mister Hewley. Something in that little heart refused to give up…."
If only I had been there more…
"…There might be some complications in the future, so we'll have to do some tests later on…"
If only I could have found someone to take care of her…
"…Tell me, has Persephone gone anywhere where she might have picked up this bacteria…"
If only I had gotten here sooner…
"…Two weeks at the worst, but we're predicting a stay here at least a week…"
If only I had known…
"Angeal..."
If only her parents hadn't died…
"Angeal!"
The young father look up to see Hollander staring down at him, concern on his grizzled face. The older man placed a hand on his shoulder and fixed Angeal with an inquisitive stare, which caused the SOLDIER to sigh softly.
"Is something the matter?" Hollander asked quietly. It was Angeal's monthly check-up with the good doctor and they were currently in his office, finalizing things, but since Angeal had seemed so distracted with something else, he decided to set them aside just this once. Sometimes, pursuits against Hojo just weren't worth it some days. Ten minutes won't end up killing him. "You seem distracted today."
"It's…my daughter," Angeal stated, looking at the scientist. He was surprised to see Hollander looking back at him, twice as surprised as he was and the SOLDIER only realized too late that he had not yet informed the scientist of the newest addition to his family. Knowing this now, the man would be rather disapproving and would probably ask if he had told his mother yet…which, Angeal thought, he hadn't. The days with Persephone following certain tragedies had been almost idyllic, like living through a dream and being put through the ringer a second time had really made Angeal wake-up this time.
Just what had he been thinking? Taking in a small child like that? What business was it of his to suddenly become another man's father? Angeal was not at his best at the moment – emotionally and physically; he was fatigued from spending sleepless nights at his daughter's bedside at the hospital and mentally strained because of the constant heartache he felt, watching her breathe through the help of a machine. During the time of the incident, Angeal had not been there for the initial round of emergency measures taken for his daughter. This time…this time he saw exactly what had been done to her and not just the aftermath.
By Minerva, what had he done?
"I…you…Since when?"
"A few months ago."
Hollander's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Just a baby then?"
Angeal shook his head. "No, she's six already."
If the scientist's eyebrows could go any higher, they would have disappeared right off of his face when he heard this piece of information, already misinterpreting it like many others who had been introduced to little Persephone.
"Did you—"
"She's not mine…not really."
Hollander became silent than, standing in front of Angeal almost imposingly. The SOLDIER himself was sitting on the examination table, which had himself almost eye to eye with the man who had been friends with his parents since a time immemorial. To him, who had lost his father, Hollander had become a secondary figure in his life; the only other male he could look up to and confide to. He was the man who helped him finish attaining his first dream of becoming a strong warrior the way Angeal's own father could never have done, due to his death.
Hollander was the only one he could talk to, even if he never had children of his own.
"Tell me what happened."
Angeal sighed and looked at his hands.
Quietly, he began, "Her name is Persephone and she's the sweetest little thing you've ever seen."
Like for when Sephiroth and Genesis had demanded an explanation from him after they had first met the half-Wutai girl, Angeal had started from the beginning. He told Hollander of the mission he had taken on months ago to save a pair of scientists –
"Naomi and William Redfield. I remember them. They were so young. Very ambitious, too. Naomi requested to go with her husband to work on sample collection in Wutai with her husband six years ago. There weren't enough resources to bring them back. I'm surprised. Naomi would have been at least a month pregnant with Persephone when they left."
– and the subsequent failure Angeal had tasted when the two scientists had given their lives to save their only child. He spoke of the girl's time at the local orphanage and the hard process of adoption; he had been called unfit at the time, but a lot of work had gone into proving that Angeal was capable of raising a child on his own. It was very hard at first, for the both of them –
"Child rearing is never an easy task, especially for a single parent. You were lucky they even let you take Persephone when you weren't even married, Angeal."
– and adjusting to the new arrangement in their lives had been no breeze, but he had enjoyed the days with her, before the Incident that happened and the days following it. Genesis' day out with the girl to reconcile with her, the Wutai shinobi, her getting hurt, staying with Sephiroth when he had to work. And everything else in between.
By the end of his long winded tale, Angeal felt exhausted, but clearer of mind. Who knew how much time the SOLDIER had taken up, telling Hollander his exact doings for the past few months. However, Angeal felt strangely better for it all. And the scientist, well, he just had this odd look in his eye as he smiled. It looked oddly familiar to Angeal, though it wasn't apparent why at first, but it became clear soon enough.
"You know, as a parent, you will experience a lot of times where you'll second guess all the decisions you've made. 'Should I have done this?' Or 'should I have said that?' There will be many what ifs you'll face in the future that will have you wondering if you had done the right thing in raising your child. But let me ask you this…do you regret any of it?"
That look was something Angeal was seeing in the mirror now, almost every day since Persephone became sick with pneumonia. Regret. Did Angeal regret any of it? Any of the things he had done in the last few months? Did he really feel so awful about Persephone's sudden illness that he would want to erase it all?
What had I done?
He took a child in and raised her as his own. It had only been a short time, but he had really bonded with the child and wouldn't let her go for the world. Though they were not related by blood, Persephone was his little girl now, for better or worse and the responsibilities of raising a child wasn't get giving her a roof over her head and meeting her basic needs as a child.
What had I done?
To regret anything that he had done would not only be dishonourable to himself, but to his own parents who had done an impeccable job taking care of him and being there for him; his models of parenthood. To regret would be besmirching the sacrifice Persephone's parents had made for their child's future.
What had I done?
To ever regret taking in Persephone would be an insult to her.
"No," Angeal said, at length. A small, fond smile came to his lips. "I don't regret a single thing."
Hollander's hand clapped his shoulder once, chuckling in amusement.
"Well, then there's not much left for you to do right now, is there? There is no regret in action, but rather, inaction."
G-A-G-A-G-A
Persephone was allowed out of the hospital after a week in the paediatric ward, but on the condition that she remained in the infirmary at Shinra Headquarters for the next week until she was fully recovered and under the supervision of Doctor Hollander. The man did not mind, as he had been the one to make the suggestion in the first place. With the transfer, Angeal could be close to his daughter in case of an emergency and could better concentrate on work when he knew she was close by and safe.
It was surprising, but under Hollander's care, Persephone was recovering by leaps and bounds and it took a lot of convincing (read: bribery) in order to keep the girl in bed and not running around when she felt so much better. However, in bed she stayed with a large supply of children's books to keep her company as well as the occasional injured SOLDIER who needed one night's observation.
Another surprise for Angeal was how well Persephone and Hollander seemed to be hitting it off. At first, the girl had shied away from him and stayed quiet whenever he examined her, but after one of her deserts landed on his head by accident the two had become fast friends. If Angeal hadn't known better, he felt that Hollander was trying to spoil her rotten. Making up for a past of regrets? Perhaps. The SOLDIER allowed it, only because Persephone had grown to adore the scientist and Hollander with her.
"…he's even smuggling her some Banora apple juice, which she really doesn't like, but she tells me she drinks it anyways, because it makes Hollander happy," Angeal spoke into his phone, while working on some equipment forms.
"Hm. I've noticed that she doesn't like sweets much. Try mixing the juice with some water or another kind of juice like grapefruit. The bitterness there will cancel out the sweetness of the Banora White."
"Are you suggesting that I mess with the perfection that is Dumbapple Juice?"
"For Persephone, it's better not to torture her with something she doesn't like," Genesis spoke on the other end of the phone, sounding tired. Considering the time zones, he assumed that it was evening now in Wutai. "So I suppose she's missed her first day of school."
"More like her two weeks."
"It'll be hard for her to make friends then, Angeal, coming in so late." There was a hint of concern in Genesis' bored tone, shining through the mask of indifference he liked to wear. The two of them could think of one other person who had started off late and how awful things had been for them, until two people decided to step up and be their friends.
Angeal smiled, signing a document. "She'll be alright. Hollander's got her right now and Persephone's very brave. I know she'll be just fine at school."
"I hope this isn't going to be anything you'll regret later on, Angeal."
In all honesty, Angeal was second guessing himself, but he put a lot of conviction into his answer, because it was what he firmly believed in.
"No, I don't think so."
Angeal was not going to have any more regrets for what could have been or should have been. He had vowed to become the best father he could be for Persephone and that meant no more regrets. And with a promise of no regrets meant that he would have to insure his daughter's health and happiness and the only way to do that was to inform himself. Too long Angeal had been stumbling blindly on the road of parenthood. It was time to take matters into his own hands.
He would have no regrets, not so long as he kept on trying.
"I won't have any regrets."