Disclaimer- same ole stuff. Don't own Tseng, Elena, Reno, Rude, Vincent, Yuffie, Turtle's Paradise, anything else from FF7. I don't own anything, 'cept the underwear I'm wearing. You can't have it, it's mine.
I want to thank Nyviay and Cyraxia and glamrockbloodbath for their reviews on this story, and the11 nameless people that have also read this story. It is for you that I have been able to write the third chapter, even though it has taken so long. I thank you for your patience with my slow ass writing, and well, this is for y'all. Chapter 3, Lightning Bugs and Broken Dreams
Three days. The last seventy-two hours Tseng never bothered to get out of his bed, other than to use the bathroom, eat, or to go drink booze. Otherwise, he felt there was no reason for it. He felt like shit... He probably looked and smelled like it too for the time being, but he didn't care. He was on vacation. He'd just lay there for the next week and a half if he wanted to, there were no rules against it.
He looked over to the clock sitting on the dresser and yawned. It was a quarter past four in the morning, and the early sun was funneling in through an unclosed curtain. He stared at the intruding light for a moment, then burrowed deep into the blankets. It was much too early to be up, but instead of sleep, he found himself thinking about the fireflies.
Turtles Paradise, roughly three months prior
"Come on man, one more round," Reno exclaimed enthusiastically, slapping Rude's arm. He and Rude were the only ones drinking shots, and Tseng was starting to wonder what he was doing here in first place. The whole night so far had been boring. Tseng sat between Reno and Elena, with Rude across the way. Reno and Rude had been drinking like mad sailors since they arrived, and Elena hadn't said a word to anybody. Reno had been scooting his chair closer and closer to Rude's, and Rude was doing the same. This wouldn't bother Tseng that much, if they were playing their "drink until I die" game somewhere else. He just knew them both too much, and didn't want to imagine what that was going to lead to. Otherwise... On that level of thinking, he decide he needed another drink, and ordered two. The other one was for Elena.
There was no master minded plan behind ordering a drink for Elena, he just thought she looked like she needed some cheering up. When she dumped it over his head and stormed off, he took off after her, leaving the redheaded and the bald to kill themselves with alcohol poisoning.
It didn't take long to find Elena. The blonde was leaning over the side railing on the bridge connecting Turtles Paradise with the rest of town. "What are you doing," he asked her. "Aren't you worried of falling over?" "I don't care, I hate it here" she said. "You know I live here," he reminded her. "I know, and I still don't care," she said. Tseng thought for a moment. "Come with me then," he asked, placing his hand next to hers. "Where are you going," she asked him, and he had to think again, something that was not coming too clearly for the time being. "I'm going... over there," he finally said, pointing to the other side of the river. "Why," she asked, and he knowingly grinned. "There's something over there I want to show you."
With that, Tseng rolled his pant-legs up and waded out into the river. "Come on Elena, there's nothing to it." The blonde shook her head. "I can't." "Well why not," he asked, bending over to splash a bit of water towards her. "Because I can't," she said, not knowing what else to say. Tseng sat down on the embankment on the other side and play-pouted at her. "But I thought you wuved me," he teased her. Obviously, he said the wrong thing. She looked more angry than embarrassed, and she threw a rock, splashing just in front of him. "I can't believe you," she said, throwing more rocks. Tseng didn't bother to move. Getting hit by a rock couldn't be any worse than getting shot with a bullet, and Elena had bad aim at both.
After Elena succeeded at hitting Tseng in the foot, he got up and walked off, leaving her to her own choice. "It really is too bad, Miss Johanson..." he called to her as he walked towards the wooded area. "You might have just missed your one and only chance with me. Oh well," he added, smiling to himself. He was starting to have fun, real fun, and was hoping he wasn't really bored to death and it was just the alcohol making him think he was having fun.
Hearing a very loud splash, Tseng turned around to see the very wet, flustered blonde sputtering and struggling up the embankment. "Let me help you," he said, offering her his hand. He pulled her up the steep hill and right back down as he fell back on his ass. He shyly grinned at her, as she sat staring at him, very confused. He met her gaze and held it for a few minutes, giving her a moment she wouldn't get again. Again, he knew he was letting his guard way down, and would probably pay for this later, but he also knew better than to mess with Elena's already unstable emotions. Yes, it was rather fun, and he and Reno had a secret running joke of messing with her... Even Rude got in on it sometimes... but now was not the time.
Tseng had no idea of when he put his arm around Elena, or when they had gotten up and started walking, but obviously they had. "Was I daydreaming about the cadet," he wondered to himself, and laughed at the ubserdness. He also became very aware that her hand was in his back pocket. "That's nice," he said outloud, mainly for her, but enough that she wouldn't know if it went above her, like everything else. "What," she asked, oblivious like he figured. "Look," he said, pulling her attention towards a small clearing. "What," she asked again, not understanding what he was looking at. He noticed small lights flickering off in the distance, and started pulling her towards them.
"Oh my Holy..." Elena whispered as they drew near. What looked like the moon sparkling off the water turned out to be thousands of fireflies, dancing over the grass. "It's so beautiful," she whispered to him, smiling up at him with those big brown eyes. For a moment, Tseng saw Elena much the same way Reno claims to- Just a beautiful, innocent, girl. "She is rather pretty," he thought to himself, but it was just like Yuffie. Age and beauty are both tough maidens to deal with.
"That's what my wife used to say," he told her, and she looked up at him. "I didn't know you're married," she said, and he shrugged. "I guess some things just never come up," he said, and gently smiled at her. "I bet you have kids and stuff too then," she added on, and he slipped his other arm around her. His silence gave her what she figured. "Figures," she said. "I'm going to be doomed to living with Reno my whole life, we're going to be old people in wheelchairs fighting over the remote control and the last bowl of mushed prunes." Tseng laughed, and Elena slipped her other arm around him.
"I'm serious," she told him, trying not to either laugh or cry herself. "I'm going to die alone, unhappy, without kids... with Reno." "Oh come on, you're being overdramatic," he told her. "You don't think Reno wouldn't have kids with you?" Elena stopped, and looked up at him. "Tseng... can you imagine me having two or three kids, with my brains and Reno's ADD? Think about it." Tseng did think about it, and wasn't quite sure why he added "And you think my intelligence and your good looks would get a child further in life?" Much to his relief, she shook her head no. "I guess not," she said.
"Listen," he said, "I like you, okay? But I've already made my choices, and I have to stick to them no matter what. You are... so young, still, that you shouldn't even worry about anything, other than spending your next paycheck." "What," she asked in return, "Like Scarlet did? Just waste my life playing and not worry about where I'm going to be in ten years, or days, or minutes?"
"Wow," Tseng though to himself. "Maybe she does know what she's talking about." "You know," he said, wanting to change the subject, I brought you all the way through the water and the sand and the mud and the mosquitoes, all the way to show you my secret, and what are we doing but bringing eachother down, hunh?" She pulled back and looked up at him. "You're right," she said. "Hey then, come here," he said, letting go of her and pulling his soaked shoes off. She watched and took her shoes off too. "Now," he told her, "I'm going to do something really cool, but you have to promise never to tell anyone, okay?" Elena's eyes lit up. "A secret, just between us?" "That's right," he said with a gentle smile.
Elena giggled as she watched Tseng comically tip-toe through the grass, making an effect not to step on the small, swarming bugs. Once he was in the middle of the area, he motioned for her to join him. Of course, this was no problem for the ex-ballerina, and she was quickly next to him. "Watch this," he told her, she watched as he scooped the air in front of them. "The first time never counts," he told her, and winked. She giggled. He did this a few more times, unsuccessfully on purpose. "Man," he said. "I think I suck at this. Maybe you should try." She giggled nervously. "I can't." "Oh, no. Now, there you go again with the I cant's. You never know what your potential is if you never try."
Elena thought about that for a minute, then asked, "Can you show me how?" Tseng smiled. "Of course," he told her. "The first thing you do is... have a Master Luck Plus Materia with you." She laughed at that. "It's not that hard, just put your hands out and act like Reno's throwing something to you..." Elena stared at him blankly."..I'm throwing something at you. Just act like you're catching something, you know how to do that, right?" Elena was still giving him the same look. "I guess," she said, "I'm gonna do it." Tseng smiled.
Tseng watched as Elena, with her eyes closed and looking like she expected to be it in the face with something, tried his technique a few times. This didn't work. "Okay, okay. That's good, but maybe you should watch where one goes, and wait for that one to come around." She nodded, and he put his hands over hers. "Just like this," he said, and he cupped her hands and guided them to one slow moving bug.
"I got it," she said, enthusiastically, and Tseng smiled. "Good," he said, and he lay down in the grass. Elena was more than busy watching the lightning bugs floating around, but Tseng was more interested in the sky. It was dark enough now that you could see the stars, all the constellations on that part of the sphere. Elena eventually grew tired or gave up on the bugs, and lay down next to him. He looked over to her. "You getting tired, or cold, or anything? We can go back whenever you're ready." "Yeah," she simply said, leaving Tseng to wonder which it was, or if it was something else. "Okay then," he said. "Let's not forget our shoes."
They walked the path they came, right back to town, neither saying anything. Tseng wanted so badly to say anything, he hadn't felt this close to anyone in a long time. But Elena's blondeness was the only thing that stopped any conversation he might try to start. She just never saw things the way he did, and that would probably never happen.
"Well, tonight was ... enlightening," Tseng said, as he held the hotel door for Elena. "Maybe we should do this again sometime," he added, but she shook her head, obviously thinking of the redhead laying passed out on the floor. "I don't think so. It wouldn't be very professional." To Tseng, Elena had never sounded so dumb in the time he'd known her. But, he let it go. "You know there's work in the morning cadet," he said, letting personality one take over. "You and Reno will both be early, we leave at dawn..." She closed the door in his face.
From that night on, when Tseng felt frustrated, or thought something was too hard, sometimes was able to think of Elena, scaring the shit out of those poor little bugs, and for some reason that made things alot easier for him to deal with.
He peeked out from under the blankets and looked at the clock again. Six thirty. A good time in the morning to get up, he reasoned with himself, and take a shower. But, within minutes of that decision, he had fallen back asleep.
He dreamt of the same dream, the one that he had dubbed "The Haunting", mainly for the fact that it was haunting him. Only, this time, he traveled just a bit further into that dream world, and was able to pick up what Vincent had left behind. A silver ball bearing chain, and at the end of the chain, a set of dogtags. Engraved upon the first one, was his name... This was the one he received a few weeks after being drafted. The second one was worn from time, and nearly unreadable. But... On closer examination...
Tseng woke up, feeling somewhat sick. He wasn't sure what kind of a sick joke his mind was playing on him, but it was starting to get ridiculous. He had thrown his dogtags into the polluted waters of Junon the day he was offered the job in Midgar. His name, Tseng Yao Mitzaka, had been on them. He laughed sharply and shook his head as he sat up. "I guess I'm going to need a little speaking to with a certain little brat," he said to himself, then yawned. It was early afternoon, and he was definitely in need of a good shower.
He did indeed shower, and fix himself up. He was in one of his moods though, and couldn't get dressed past his boxers. Nothing else felt right, and he knew from that, that today was not going to be a good day. Swearing his socks evil, he glared at them as he left them sitting on the counter and left to the living room.
He sighed as he flopped down into one of the kitchen's chairs and picked up his PHS from it's resting place on the table. Seven missed calls, and seven messages. One from Elena that he swore to himself he would return, one from Reno that he wouldn't, two from Rude that he would and three from Yuffie, who he was going to have to talk to anyway. He grabbed a granola bar out of the cupboard over the sink and walked over to the couch, where he proceeded to flop and lay down. This was going to be fun.
He munched on his bar while he listened, amused, to the many reasons Elena had for "It's not how it sounded" and then, in turn, Reno's many boasts of "It's exactly how it sounded, and then some." Rude had left a message saying Tifa had met up with him, along with the Barret and Cloud, and the two were leaving together for awhile. The second message was him saying they had just checked into Gold Saucer, and wouldn't be accepting any calls for awhile. Yuffie's messages were consistent with her mind. "Hey Sen, pick up! Oh, wait, voice mail. Dammit. Call me back." Click-beep "You're a looser, why haven't you called me back yet? I need to talk to you, like right now." Click-beep. "Alright Sen, since you never check your phone, I'll just tell you. I'm leaving, do you understand that? You can't call me back, so forget it. Cloud called me and told me he was coming to get me, so that leaves you out of the loop, Turkey. Talk to ya later, nyuk nyuk."
Tseng wadded up his cellophane wrapper and tossed it over the couch. Yuffie could be so annoying. But, that was that, and now at least she would be out of his business for awhile. The only problem with that was, now he didn't have anyone to talk to again, and being alone in his house, sober, wasn't looking like much of a choice. "Guess I should go do something today," he said, looking around, then smirked, "After I put some clothes on."
He went upstairs to his room and thanked himself for already opening every door in the place. He dug through the clothes already piled on the floor from a few days back and pulled out and put on a pair of black sweatpants and a black tee shirt. He was getting a bit annoyed at his hair being in his way and thought about pulling it back, something he hadn't done since he was younger, but that didn't feel right so he just gave up and put his shoes on. He went down the stairs, back downstairs and into the living room, where he had left his phone. He picked it up and put it in his pants pocket, then grabbed his keys and wallet from under his pillow on the couch, and left.
Tseng had no particular place in mind, so he just let his feet lead the way. He wandered around the woods for awhile, and eventually found the little river that separates the town into two, and started following it into town. The long path gave him time to think clearly, and let his mind wander back into his previous thoughts. Three, distinctive thoughts, anyway. One, his mother and how he was going to handle the situation, two, his father and if he was going to ever find him, and three, what the relation between his dream and that Valentine guy had to do with eachother. The latter would come sooner than he would have expected.
Tseng stopped walking as he noticed Vincent standing off to the side of the river, staring off into space. Tseng turned around and took a deep breath. "This is stupid," he thought to himself, but he found himself walking up to the man anyway. Tseng simply stood next to him, looking out over the river, thinking of what to say. It was akward, being that Tseng was the Turk to explain everything. Rude could physically force other people to talk, Reno could intimidate, and Elena could seduce, but it was Tseng with all the words. And yet, nothing was coming.
Tseng watched as Vincent pulled out a camera and took a few pictures of the area, then a quick one of himself. Tseng easily had forgotten that he was here as a tourist, along with the rest of the summer crowd. He stared at the dark haired man, clad in a bright yellow shirt, white shorts and yellow flip-flops, and an idea struck him.
"Beautiful out here, isn't it," Tseng asked, more out loud than aimed at Vincent, but the other mad did turn and answer. "Stunning," he said, as he looked Tseng over carefully. Tseng grinned. "I grew up here, but the view is still as breathtaking as ever." Vincent sighed, and Tseng looked up at the taller man, curiously. There were many things he would like to talk to him about. "I lived here for a time, back when I was younger," Vincent somberly said, " But I'm from Nibelheim, originally. Now I just sort of go from town to town, along with my work." Tseng sighed, "I know how that goes. Say," he added, " When about did you live here, mabey we went to school together or something?" Vincent mock-laughed. "I don't think so. It was a long time ago, but I think I would remember, which I don't."
Tseng was a bit puzzled by that. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked out again. "Were you ever in the army? Maybe we were in Soldier together," Tseng tried again, and again, Vincent laughed at him. "I don't believe so, but I was, for awhile. Again, I would remember you, but I don't." Vincent again looked scrutinizingly at Tseng, at which Tseng was unnerved. "Well," he started again, "Maybe you were in training with me, before I was taken as a Turk?" That obviously hit home with the taller man, and he turned away. "I was a part of the Turks, once. How you know that is beyond me. But, it was far before you would have been taken in, I can promise you that." Tseng grinned.
"Maybe I have you confused with someone who looks exactly like you," he said, almost sarcastically. "But I'm a Turk, and that is impossible with my training. I know you are a member of Avalanche, and my next mission is to hunt you down. But, for now I am on vacation, and I simply want to know now, if you are only 27, how could I not know you? If you, as you just said, have been everywhere I have been, how would I not have bumped into you along the way?" Vincent stared at him, coldly. "I am what I have said, and there is nothing more for me to say to you."
Vincent started to walk away, but Tseng stopped him dead in his tracks. "Then why are you in my dreams?" Vincent turned sharply and stared at Tseng with his sad ember eyes. "What do you mean by this," he asked, and Tseng looked away, nervously. "I mean, I... I don't know." Tseng turned away again, feeling something akin to a panic attack coming on. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. "No," Vincent said, "I think you do know, and I think maybe it is time we talked." Vincent placed his claw on Tseng's shoulder, and Tseng scooted away, nervously. If the other Turks ever saw him acting this way, so unprofessional, he would never live it down.
"You are not Wutaian, are you," Vincent asked, breaking through Tseng's thoughts. He looked up at the taller man, obviously hurt. "Yes, I am," Tseng said, confused as why he would say such a thing. Vincent mock laughed at him. "No, I don't believe you are." "And... Why would you think that," Tseng asked, careful not to sound annoyed. "Simple," Vincent said, "You have blue eyes." Tseng could feel his face turning red. "What does my eye color have anything to do with where I was born?" Vincent smiled, rather smugly. "Nothing," he replied. Tseng was starting to get more than frustrated. "Why is it anything to you all of a sudden anyway, I thought I was the one asking the questions here!"
"... All in due time," Vincent said, then turned to walk away. "I think not," Tseng said pointing a finger at Vincent. A finger is nowhere near as intimidating as a gun, but it was all he had. "I think you're going to answer my question." Vincent didn't look surprised as he pushed the shorter man's finger away. "Fine," he said, walking over to lean against a tree. "What exactly do you want to know," Vincent asked, "and how exactly do you want me to answer?" Tseng sat down in the grass, flustered and exasperated. "I just want to know, why are you following me, why is your aura imprinted in my mind, what do you have to do with me?"
Vincent pulled out his wallet and threw a small piece of paper to Tseng. "I think you might recognize these people," Vincent said, as Tseng picked up the folded paper and looked at it. It was a picture of a man, who looked quite a bit like himself, in a Turk suit, holding a small boy of about six years old. A wave of recognition hit Tseng, and he angrily snapped, "How did you get this? This is the last picture my mom took of me and my dad! The week before he ran away!" Vincent slowly walked over and sat down next to Tseng. "But how can that be," he asked back, "Because this is the last picture my girlfriend took of me and my son."
Tseng sat there, frustrated, until it hit him. "You girlfriend?" "That's right," Vincent replied. "I was seriously ...injured, in the line of duty a week later. I never had the chance to propose to her, and I had been ... away, such a long time that I never had the chance to find her again." Tseng was hit by another wave of chill. He slowly reached up and ran his index finger over his bindi, then plain put his hand over his face. "Okay, sure. I'll take that." Vincent put his good hand on Tseng's shoulder and brushed his hair back from his face. "You look like your grandmother, you know."
Tseng laughed, mostly in disbelief. "Okay. But one thing," Tseng asked, looking up again, "How the hell are you nine years younger than me then?" Vincent sighed, tired of talking. "I'm not, I'm twenty one years older than you." Tseng looked puzzled, he sure didn't look over thirty. "It's hard to explain," he said, and Tseng accepted that as enough. "Okay, you're fifty seven, whatever. Maybe you are a vampire then, and just don't age. How would I know, I don't care. But, my mother is in her seventies now, and if you are only fifty, then..."
Vincent cut in. "That's right, I was twenty one and angry that I couldn't have the woman I loved so dearly, and your mother was thirty eight and lonely, we met at a bar and we were together for one night. I never loved her, but I cared for my son. When I was... put out of commission, I swore that I would not only seek revenge against the one that hurt me, but that I would find my child, at all costs. I've dreamt about you many times, and I've hoped that you remember me. What you dream may or may not have anything to do with me, but of what you wish you could have done differently. I have many nightmares, I cannot escape them. I had witnessed so much being in the Turks, and I could not change any of it. That is what my nightmares are made of. Mine will never stop, but maybe one day, yours will. I just hope you can stay on the path you've chosen, and stay true to yourself, and not be swayed by another like I was. I hope that helps you."
Vincent ended his little story with that, and stood up. Tseng wasn't sure what to think just yet. That terrorist traitor was his father? No, he was a Turk.
Vincent had already started walking away when Tseng stood up. He watched him walk away, and he felt pride as he let him go. His father was a Turk, traitor or not, and that was good enough for him.
The sun was starting to set, and Tseng had plenty of thoughts to absorb. He walked over to the bridge and stood there, thinking and watching as the sun fully set over the ocean. He stayed there until the fireflies started their dance over the river. He watched them interested for a while. Their life was so simple, it must be so fun to just float around, being carried wherever the wind takes them, without a single care. A small smile crept across his lips, thinking again of Elena's dance with the fireflies, seemingly so long ago now.
His attention suddenly shifted to Turtle's Paradise, as the kareoke machine picked up and some lonely drunkard started warbling away to some annoying song. Tseng yawned. It was starting to get late, and a beer or mixer sounded pretty good to him right now.
He wandered towards the bar and went in, taking the usual table by the door, much to his surprise already seated there was Yuffie and Cloud. Yuffie blushed at her older cousin, and Tseng grinned. "On a date, eh?" "Mind your own beeswax, Turkey," Yuffie said enthusiastically waving a finger, nearly falling off her chair in the process. Cloud looked up at the much taller Tseng with drunken amazement. "How'd you do that? She hadn't said a word since I stared buying her drinks!" Tseng ignored the blonde and flagged down a waitress, ordering the first of many drinks of the night. It wasn't Reno and Elena, but they would do.