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This is a first attempt for all you Tseng fans. We're just going to take a little trip into his world, with just a touch of my favorite redhead, because I can't write it if Reno's not in it. Deal with it ya'll.
--Chapter one-------Guilty Conscience------Tseng has issues---------
Reno rolled down the passenger side window of Tseng's Black Mercedes Benz as they drove past a minivan full of cheerleaders, howled, and flashed them, hoping they would follow his example. Tseng pulled him back in, hit the driver's auto panel rolling up and locking Reno's window, and turned up the radio to muffle Reno's insane laughter. Reno didn't care the least bit; he just turned the radio from Tseng's favorite rap station to a rock channel and started screaming along. Tseng just stared at the road, frowning at the redhead's behavior, and checked the directional sign as he noticed it fly by in a green blur. Junon airport, next exit.
It was Friday, and the first day of summer. At the beginning of the week Tseng had gotten Rufus's approval for all Turks to get their seasonal two-week vacation, and the today day they went their separate ways. Elena was going home to Costa Del Sol to go tanning. Rude was heading home to Icicle Town to go snowboarding. Reno, having no family to go home to, bummed Tseng into taking him along to wherever he was headed. Tseng was going home... Wutai... and wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with his rambunctious friend. Nor what he was going to do with his vacation time.
Knowing Reno, Tseng figured he would either one, just hang out at Turtle's Paradise the whole time, or two, con Yuffie into letting him stay with her, and either way that would be just fine with him. Tseng did not like the idea of bringing Reno home and meeting his family. In fact, it scared him. Nobody knew Tseng's secret, and being a highly respected man, he wished to keep it that way. Just thinking about Reno meeting his mother made Tseng break out in a slight sweat as he veered the car onto the off ramp. He glanced over at the redhead who was staring vacantly at the roof and wondered what was going through his mind, what trouble he was planning.
"Hey Sen," Reno unexpectantly said. "Yes Reno," Tseng answered, cautiously. "I was just wondering... do you have any sisters?" That caught him off guard. Turks were never supposed to discuss their personal life. "That is classified information. Why would you care," Tseng countered, a bit cautious. Reno just shrugged and pointed out a parking space like he hadn't said anything. Tseng sighed and pulled in.
After turning the car off Tseng noticed a very odd noise, a dull buzzing, almost sounding like... He looked over at Reno, who was fighting with the seat buckle, and it came together. "You put your PHS in the trunk Reno." Reno stopped pulling on the chrome bracket and smiled over at his boss. "Yup. You said I had to bring it, so I put it in my backpack." Reno smiled triumphantly, like a very dumb little kid. Tseng sighed loudly. "Reno, go answer your phone." Reno looked at him, a bit puzzled. "Dude, how... without summoning Bahamut... do I get out of this thing," he asked and Tseng quietly said, "Open the door Reno." Reno opened the door and stared at it in amazement as the buckle slid forward, releasing him from it's death grip.
By the time they had the seatbelt issue settled and the trunk open Reno's phone had stopped ringing. It had been Scarlet, they found out after he had retrieved it from the depths of his backpack. Reno listened to the message, then turned and gave Tseng a big hug. Tseng just stood still, wishing him away. "Guess what," Reno beamed, and Tseng reached for his suitcases, not really wanting to play guessing games. "What," he answered, turning to face the shorter man. Once again Reno was wearing his "I accomplished something difficult that didn't actually exist" face and Tseng groaned. Reno gave him a funny look and went on. "She wants me to go with her to Gold Saucer for the week!" Tseng looked him over carefully. "And... You want to accompany her?" Reno rolled his eyes. "Of course! I mean, dude, c'mon. You seriously don't want me hanging around you for two weeks, am I right?" Tseng nodded. "Right, well, we're already here, so, thanks for getting me here and stuff, but I got a plane to catch!" With that, Reno grabbed his luggage and took off running. Tseng watched him disappear into the building and sighed with relief. With his number one stress cause gone, now he could start relaxing.
As Tseng got settled into his seat after the plane had taken off he looked around at all the people. After deciding nobody looked like they would be any trouble, he let himself slouch down into the seat and grinned. He adjust the earpieces and volume of the small MP3 player he had stashed in his coat pocket before he left, knowing it would be a long trip, and gently tapped his fingers against the arm rest in time to the beat. His grin turned into a smile as the little girl in the seat next to him pulled on his sleeve. He took the earpieces out and looked down at her. She couldn't have been older than four, and could have been Reno's clone... despite the ringlets and freckles, which he did not have. "S'cuse me sir," she said, her words coming out like giggles. He smiled a little. "Yes ma'am, how may I help you," he answered her with a small hand gesture, and she laughed. "You smell good like a car." Tseng looked at the child, a bit confused, as her mother apologized and told her not to talk to strangers. He nodded and turned back to his music, hoping he would find sleep. After a few songs, he did, not before feeling a very small hand investigating his very long black hair.
"I'm standing in a field with gently rolling hills, the forest and the mountain range surrounds me. The small creek that runs from the ocean and through town is to one side of me. To the other side is a presence. I turn to see who is there, but there is nobody but the gentle wind. I hear footsteps and turn around to look, but no one is behind me. I look at my hands... These are not my hands. At least, not my hands of now, these hands are small, delicate piano hands, untouched by reality. I look down at my feet. Small red sandals adorn equally small feet, semi covered by black silk pants. I run my fingers up the collar on the red silk top and smooth the creases, in a way that is known but never learned. I reach up to smooth my hair, and again it is not my hair. There is no hair to feel. I run over to the creek and bend over, peer into it, hoping to find my reflection. I do not see me, I see him, a small boy, barely six years old. The destined Wutaian king. Grasping a large rock with both hands I throw it in the creek, shattering the image. Now I am in a small room, and look down as I notice there are shards of glass crunching under my sandals. I look up and see a lady standing tall in front of me. I cannot see her face but I know she is angry. I hear her say, "How could he" over and over, each time echoing farther away, fading into darkness. There is a small light to my left and I turn, and now I am sitting on a chair in a dark office room. I look down at my hands, and these hands look more like my hands. I throw something across the table, a folder. My arms are covered with dark green material and I stand as a whistle is blown and I start marching, joining countless others as we march towards the ocean. I see a man with long black hair wearing a blue suit standing next to the docks. I am being told to get onto the boat, but I want to talk to the man. I want to turn and run to him. I don't want to go with the other men in the green material clothes. I turn and run for him, but now I am running towards a tall building. There are people lying on the ground everywhere and I cannot stop running. I run until I can't breath and I sit down on a chair that is sitting in the middle of the road. The people disappear and now I am in a building, sitting in an office with three men and one woman in blue suits staring at me. They all have guns pointed at me. I turn around and now I am wearing a blue suit. I straighten my tie and smooth back my long hair, pausing to adjust my gun holster. Now I am staring at myself in the mirror, and it is truly my own reflection. I take notice of the small wrinkles that have appeared as of late, and the fading black of my bindi. As I examine my own reflection I sense a presence behind me but see no ones reflection. I turn around and I am staring Vincent Valentine in the eyes. This is not the Vincent of Avalanche. This is the Vincent of the Turks. I am not afraid or intimidated by him; this is the man I have been looking for my whole life. I try to talk to him but no words come out. I keep trying to talk and he is slowly disappearing. He disappears into nothingness and I look down. I feel strong regret and loss. I see something shining on the floor and I move towards it, I pick it up and..."
Tseng groaned and pulled out the earpieces as he was awoken from the airplane's loudspeakers telling them all to put their seatbelts back on for landing. He did just that, cursing under his breath. "I was close this time," he thought to himself as he watched out the window as the plane landed. He had been having the same dream for so many years now he could not remember when it had started. He knew it was progressing slowly, and it never came as frequent as he would like. What puzzled him the most was why he had such strong reoccurring feelings towards that Avalanche freak. As far as Tseng knew, the man had never been a Turk, and was much younger than him. Tseng had just turned 36, and if the criminal records were correct, that Valentine guy was only 27. Tseng yawned and tucked his player back into his pocket as the plane came to a full stop. He waited to unbuckle and exit until every other passenger had left. He had much to think about.
As he left the plane Tseng looked outside the covered walkway and smiled. He couldn't wait to get outside. The baggage claim went quickly and once he had his suitcases he walked out the revolving doors and took in a deep breath. He was home. The air here was so... free, unlike the suffocation he lived with in Midgar. The winds here blended from the mountains and the ocean and it felt so refreshing, so alive. Sometimes he wondered why he decided to leave it all behind. As Tseng slowly walked down the sidewalk he noticed an unusually familiar teen in a bright green tee shirt and brown shorts. "Oh dear Holy," he thought, stopping dead in his tracks, hoping she hadn't seen him. "Hey, Sen-sama!" Too late, he thought as the tiny ninja ran up and glomped him. "Ah, hello Yuffie," he greeted her, trying to push her off. "Reno-chan called and told me you were coming," she squealed. Tseng silently cursed them both and was relieved when she finally let go. "Well, I see you finally grew an inch," he teased the short girl, not knowing what else to say to her. She laughed. "So, you want me to carry one of those," she asked, thumbing at his luggage. "There's no Materia in there," he assured her, and she laughed again. "Can't I do something nice for someone once in a while, geez... oh my gawd..." Tseng looked at her, then in the direction she was looking. Vincent had just come out the doors, clad in board shorts and a Costa print tee shirt. She looked up at Tseng and grinned. "Always nice to see ya when you're not arresting me, but I got me a vampire to harass." Tseng watched as the princess ran over and glomped him, easily stealing a Support Materia in the process. "He's here," Tseng said under his breath, "This has to be a sign."
Tseng followed the cobblestone path up the river and into the woods, a quarter mile out the other side of town. He hadn't been home in over three years, and on the outside it hadn't changed a bit. It was a five-bedroom estate, handmade from stone and cement. It had been a castle in his eyes as he and his then newlywed wife had watched it be built over ten years ago, and looking at it now he still agreed, it was as cold and empty as he had left it. He tried the door and found it locked. He dug for his keys and as once he entered the gazebo style entryway he was hit by an overpowering sense of sadness.
He closed the door and sat his luggage down. He walked over to the fireplace mantle and took the last remaining dust covered picture down. As he gently wiping away the last three years accumulation of dust and silt, five faces emerged. On the right side was him, and in his lap was Joshua, then six years old. In the middle of the picture was Zachary, then three years old. On the left were Suki, his now estranged wife, and Matthew, then fourteen months old. They seemed to be a happy, picture perfect family, forever frozen in time.
Tseng clutched the picture against his chest and leaned back against the wall, slowly letting himself sink down to the hardwood floor. If he had been a lesser man he would have cried. Instead he just sat there, staring at the small faces, and said a silent prayer for each child, hoping they had a better life now. The life he could not provide for them, no matter how hard he had tried. "I'm not leaving you because I don't love you," she had told him firmly. "I'm leaving you because you don't make enough money." He knew that was a lie. She was leaving him for the father of her youngest two children, who was a lawyer in Cosmo Canyon. She was leaving him because she had never been in love from the beginning; she had been with him for his money. And he had chose to marry her, out of all the girls he knew, because he loved her.
After a countless amount of time of reminiscing, Tseng stood up and slowly walked back to the mantle and set the picture back down. It was getting dark and he hadn't set up his room yet. That didn't seem to matter much to him now. For the moment, he needed a drink. He couldn't help but feel sad for Reno's choice to fly solo... Reno was the only person who could cheer Tseng up. That, and he was an excellent drinking partner.
Tseng rummaged through the cabinets until he found his whiskey, still intact, and his stack of shot glasses. "Sorry boys," Tseng said loudly to the glasses, knowing there wasn't another person around to hear him, "I'm sucking the big one tonight." As he realized there was a double meaning to that, he laughed out loud. The sound of his laughter echoing through the empty house made him laugh even louder until he was doubled over crying on the floor. The hysterical laughter turned into sorrow filled tears and he finally succumbed to the depression. He missed his son. He rolled the bottle away from him and stood up, brushing off his dark blue jeans and gray sweatshirt. Feeling a bit jet lagged Tseng decided it was the best to just get some sleep for the night. He brought one suitcase over to the couch and opened it, bringing out his black fleece blanket, his gray pillow, and his purple stuffed animal dog. He placed his pistol under the pillow and lay down, pulling the blanket over him and pulling the toy dog tight. And for the first time in a while, he didn't have a single dream.