Disclaimer: I do not make any legal claim to any character or setting described within this or any fanwork I create. These are the property of SquareEnix.

Age 15: Icicle Inn

Though she has her father's eyes, nearly everything else about Elena belongs to her mother. Her long blond hair... Her smile... Her kind heart coupled with a stubborn, tough-as-nails spirit.

Maybe that's why Veld, commander of the TURKS, finds it so difficult to visit her nowadays. Though he treasures every careful spare moment he steals away from work in order to visit her, hidden away in the remote town of Icicle Inn, the length of time between visits grows increasingly longer.

It used to be only a week, maybe two, between visits when she was a child of five. Now a decade later, it's become six months since she last saw her father's face.

Though she wishes she could see him more, Elena doesn't complain. She's old enough now to know what her father does for a living, as well as what being a Turk has cost him in the distant past.

She knows the reason she can't remember her mother's loving embrace, or the twin older brothers who used to love making her giggle and laugh when she was a baby. Though she never tells her father about it when he comes for his rare visits, she often has nightmares about what happened that awful day. She doesn't understand how, seeing as how she was only a year old when it had happened, but she reasons that there are some things even a baby would be hard pressed to truly forget.

"Here's your tea, Daddy," she says as she sets down the cup on the desk next to a large stack of Veld's paperwork. Even when spending time with his daughter, the old man always brought his work home with him. "Lemme guess, it's evaluation time again, isn't it? Or maybe new recruits?" Sweeping her hair out of her face, she idly opens up the top folder, and her eyes light up.

"Oh wow, this one's cute," she exclaims softly as she deftly plucks the staff photo from its page she can hold it closer to the light. "Wutaian, right? I wonder if he ever smiles." The teenage girl giggles. "He looks so serious." Elena had a teasing, flirty lilt to her voice.

"Elena, please," Veld sighed as he reached over and took the photo back from his daughter, who made a short sound of protest. "Just put those thoughts out of your head right this instant. Have you already forgotten what I've told you?"

"Oh Daddy, not this lecture again," the girl groans with a roll of her eyes. "It's not like I'm planning on marching straight into Midgar and falling in madly love with the first guy in a black suit and a ShinRa ID card I come across. I was just saying that this--" Elena glanced at the name on the still open folder. "--Tseng is good looking, is all."

"I'm serious, Elena," the old man said sternly, turning in his desk chair so he could look his daughter in the eye as he waved the photo at her. "Don't you ever get involved with a Turk. All it'll take is one mission for them to break your heart or worse."

"Daddy..."

Veld held up his hand to stop Elena's protest before it could begin. He glanced at Tseng's photo, then set it face down upon the desk before rising up from his seat. The old man's hand found his daughter's cheek and for once the harsh look in his eyes softened. "Elena... You've got so much potential. The entire world is yours for the taking, and I don't want to see your spirit and dreams shattered anymore by tragedy. A Turk's life is darker and more dangerous than you could ever imagine, and it destroys lives and happiness as easily as crushing an insect or a blade of grass."

Elena met his gaze and she felt her heart ache for her father. "I understand, Daddy," she murmured softly.

"All I want is for you to be happy."

"I am happy, Daddy, especially when I get to spend time with you. I miss you."

Veld's normally iced over heart melted at his little girl's words and he drew her into a warm embrace. "I miss you too."