I had never intended to leave her side without notice in such a way, but perhaps it was lucky that I did. By doing so, I was able to begin to aid her in solving her problem. It had been unintentional, of course. I had never set out to try and help her uncover what had happened before I had found her. To be truthful, I had no real interest in her problem…my interest just remained with her health and safety while she was nearby.

You may be wondering how it came to be that I came across such information…so I suppose that I ought to explain. The explanation however, may not be of the most interesting of stories that you have heard…but things were about to get more interesting over time. So much so that I couldn't even have previously imagined.

What happened was this: a period of time that was dominated by solitude, during which I found myself softly stroking her hair as she slept. Aside from the rather peaceful sound of rain tapping against the window, everything remained silent. (Of course…the rain always sounds peaceful to someone who is safely inside. It gives a certain feeling of security…) It was then that voices cut through the silence like a sharp knife. Normally, I wouldn't have taken any notice, and just assumed that the voices were those of locals. However, something didn't sound right. These voices were unfamiliar, and were full of anger and hatred. My curiosity…the cursed thing…got the best of me, causing me to gently lay Elena down on the bed and pull the sheet up over her. With a silent promise that I'd be back soon, I left the room and locked the door behind me. Although, once outside, my mind only informed me of how my hand missed the soft feel of her hair. I soon shook this thought from my head, and took this as my mind's way of telling me that it was the solitude that I missed, not the girl herself.

I traced the voices outside the building, and it was around the back in a dark, dull alley that I finally discovered whom the conversation was between. However, all I had to go on were the voices. The alley was dark, and the two men were quite far down in it, meaning that I could only see the vague outline of two figures.

"I'm tellin' ya…the four of 'em got away! It weren't my fault, like! Ya know 'ow it 'appens!" protested a voice that had a strong Midgar accent. From his way of speaking, I could immediately tell that he was from the slums.

"Is that so? Strange, but I fail to see how four unconscious Turks could somehow slip away from you." This voice was much harder to determine than the first, and had a rather nasal, stereotypical upper-class quality that becomes very irritating after some time. However, by now I was beyond worrying about where the speaker was from. My concerns had changed to where the speaker was going, or rather: what the speaker was planning…and surprisingly: what had happened to the other Turks. After hearing this man finish his sentence, I felt a jolt of fear run through me…I had left Elena alone! She was still sleeping, unarmed and vulnerable…another statement from the second speaker pulled me from my thoughts, and added to my feelings of worry for her:

"…Fool. I'll find them, and take care of them myself. I already have men out tracking each of them, and when they find them…well, I'm sure you can figure out that much…if I have no difficulty getting rid of them, then you will soon follow them. Do you understa- …what was that?" I assumed he was referring to the gunshots that had sounded from not too far away. I just hoped that whatever it was, Elena wasn't involved. Although tempted to find out where and why the shots had sounded, I had a strong feeling that I should remain where I was and continue to listen.

"Ah, whatever…Anyway: do you understand?" demanded the cold voice again.

"But..."

"I said: 'do you understand?'" he persisted, in a voice that was sounded more fierce than before.

"Bu-…Yes, Sir."

It continued on like this for a while…the man from Midgar sniveled and cowered before the other, long after the distant gunfire had ceased.

"You may still have a chance to get back into my good books, you know…"

"Sir…"

"Well? Why are you still standing there like a fool?"

"Sir, I-…"

It was here that I stopped listening. I had heard soft footsteps approaching from behind me, and assumed it was one of the men that had been sent out to track the Turks. But why was one coming after me…? They must have known that I knew Elena's whereabouts…I only pretended that I hadn't heard them, sensing them come closer. After a moment or two, I heard them again… directly behind me…3…2…1. Drawing the gun from the holster strapped to my leg, I immediately turned, and held the gun to the stranger's forehead, my finger resting on the trigger. Looking down at the figure, my eyes widened a fraction. It wasn't an enemy that I was holding at gunpoint…my gaze hadn't found an assassin of any description... Well, that was actually a lie. My gaze had fallen upon a slender female figure in Turk uniform. She had short blonde hair that seemed longer on one side, but due to being drenched from the rain, was sticking to her cheeks in wet clumps. Light honey colored eyes stared back at me in worry. Slowly reaching up to take hold of my arm, she lowered it, and I put my gun back in its holster. Before I had the chance to apologize, she had all but lunged at me, her arms tight around me…strangely; she felt heavy…she was leaning on me completely. Then it hit me. She couldn't support herself properly…something was wrong, here. She hadn't lunged at me for an embrace like I had misinterpreted. She had fallen on me.

She then looked up at me, and I felt my eyes widen. She was hurt…from the looks of things, a bullet had pierced her cheek, and a small stream of blood trickled down from the wound.

"Elena…?"

"S-s…sorry! A guy just…c-came…"

She didn't have to say any more than that, as all I needed to know was in that broken fragment of a sentence. Well, that certainly explained the bullets that had sounded earlier.

"…Alright."

That was all I could think to say. Well, what else could I have said? A lot, I suppose…in any case, I tried again:

"…It's alright, Elena…"

The look that she had given me after I had said that…it was as though I had been speaking to her in some sort of foreign language. I suppose she expected me to be an empty shell that is incapable of emotion…and she wouldn't have been far wrong, in some ways. She had looked rather shaken…I had previously assumed that underneath the tough exterior that she had created for herself, she was just like any other girl. She could cry, be scared, and have a weakness. She wasn't the killing machine that people generalize Turks to be, but she was an ordinary girl that had emotions…She acted tough, but…she was sensitive. It only took that one look to give me all of that information about her. Once again, I had found myself staring. I shook my head, and wrapped my left arm around her shoulders in order to not only comfort her, but also defend her from any possible attacks.

It was then that the same cold voice that I had heard in the alleyway a few moments before spoke from behind us. How could I possibly have forgotten about him? Had Elena really been such a distraction to me…? No…I had just spent too long silently analyzing her…that was all, surely.

"What did I tell you? It seems I can demonstrate how I will destroy the Turks…by using this one that seems to have wandered across our path."