Disclaimer: I do not claim to own anything in this fan fiction. They belong to their respected owners. If you think I do own this, then I will hire Tseng to come and shoot you in the eye. (:

Pairing: Cissnei x Tseng / Slight Cissnei x Genesis

Warning: Slightly AU. Mild Language. A mixture of fluff & angst at times.

Summary: Cissnei decides to pay more attention to nature, and at her side stands a faithful and loyal friend, Tseng.

Two.

Summer.

The warm air of spring had long since abandoned the turk, the puffy white clouds were still visible but the heat was almost unbearable. Under the sun's hateful rays, the young turk felt exhausted and wore to the bone within the heavy fabric of her uniform. She was surprised that she was keeping up the pace of the other turk, who seemed unfazed by the heat and going at a normal speed. Though she was less then surprised by the light whines coming from the turk behind her, who was more or less farther away then one would believe. The youngest of the group knew it wouldn't be long until she heard it, and it wasn't. "Why can't SOLDIER do this?"

The youngest turk was a bit annoyed by her teammate's nature. She was tempted to send him a glare but chose not to, it would only farther the slightly older turk's whining. Or worse, he would speed up to annoy just her then. She did not have the patience for him at the moment, with all the walking in the dreaded heat. Though she quickly noticed Tseng glancing over his shoulder, barely, to look at the two turks behind him. She could barely see the frown forming on his lips, before he turned his attention ahead once more.

"Reno," the oldest turk warned the turk behind Cissnei. "Be silent. It's just a bit farther."

Reno whined a bit more, eying the older Turk of the group. "You said that half an hour ago!"

Cissnei rolled her eyes as Tseng barely glanced over his shoulder at the two that trailed behind him, mostly at the red head. Though both — Tseng and Cissnei — found the red head rather annoying at the moment, they knew that they couldn't really do anything about it. Still they could hear Reno continuing to whine about the heat and about how he believed that the president was just trying to make him have a heat stroke. Cissnei almost smiled at this; only Reno could act like a child and make her smile, even laugh. She couldn't help but wonder if that was his plan all along, since everyone in the turks knew that Reno was quite the flirt with the female turks — or any other female in his sights.

Still Cissnei's thoughts were broken when she noticed Tseng slowing down, his body stiffening quite a bit. Cissnei tensed as she went on high alert to her surroundings, listening for anything out of the ordinary. She could faintly hear the pitter patter of light footsteps, her heart began to race — only beating even faster when she noticed Tseng going for his weapons. The heavy, warm air now lacked Reno's whining, and when Cissnei looked over her shoulder she noticed that Reno had pulled out his rod.

Reno grinned, "Looks like what we were hunting decided to hunt us."

"Reno." Tseng's tone was warning, his body lacked the movement it had moments before and his weapon held tightly in his hand. "Cissnei. Keep close."

Reno snorted while rolling his eyes. "Why? We've done this how many times?"

"This is no normal seek and destroy," Tseng commented quietly. "This is an escaped creature from Hojo's laboratory. Keep on your toes; attack from behind or long distances."

Reno opened his mouth to shoot out a retort, probably about how he and Tseng were close range combat warriors, but never got the chance. A faint growl noise echoed, Reno turned to attack but was only flung to the side by a rather large claw. Cissnei's eyes widened as she spun around, weapon ready to be thrown, though at the sight of Reno being flung and soon meeting the ground, she could find herself doing nothing. She froze as she heard the sound of cracking bones once he had hit, her eyes widening in horror as he laid limply on the ground.

Reno!"

Cissnei," Tseng's voice echoed as she felt herself being pulled back. A giant claw smacking into the ground where she had stood merely seconds before. "Focus!"

Right."

Her tone was weak as she swallowed, yet she stood like the turk she was. She lifted her weapon once more and threw the object at the creature's face. It's giant paw merely swatted Rekka, the shuriken flying back and barely missing the turk who threw it. Quickly moving to the weapon, grabbing it, she ripped it out of the ground and took off — barely missing another attack from the giant paw. She swiftly moved around the creature, heading for a back attack, when she noticed that Tseng was already lashing out at the creature from the side.

His movements were not rushed but they were swift and seemingly planned out. Even with his movements being swift, they were nothing close to jerky and lacking control. The man's form moved like a river, dodging gracefully and throwing attacks with the same grace. His attacks might not have always hit, but his perfect uniform showed that the creature did not land a hit. Tseng looked more like a dancer in this fight then a warrior — perfect, beautiful, and graceful. If this was a different situation, Cissnei would just watch with a smile, but at the moment she could not.

Cissnei quickly decided to stop watching and step into the action; swiftly moving behind the creature. That is when she noticed what Tseng probably had not, the long tail that seemed to be raising as the creature began annoyed with his attacker. Cissnei narrowed her eyes and gripped her weapon, moving it for the tail — not getting the chance to actually strike it. The tail flew up and flung in the direction of the older turk, much to Cissnei's dismay. "Tseng! Look out!"

Tseng didn't speak. He merely leaped upward, landing on the tail that was heading for his chest. The creature howled and forcefully swung his tail once more, Tseng stumbling but landing gracefully to the ground. His eyes narrowed, as he lifted his blade again — Cissnei now at his side with her weapon ready as well. The creature stomped back a few feet, growling and snarling at the two of them. It obviously knew it's strength, but was unsure of what the two humans were capable of doing. Though soon the uncertainty in the creature would disappear, a howl of anger would escape it.

Tseng and Cissnei did not have time to react as the creature sway its paw and tail at the two of them. The tail hit Cissnei in the middle, flinging her small form backwards through the air. She could hear the sound of a grunt, whether it was hers or Tseng's she couldn't tell. She felt herself falling, falling downward and heading for the cold ground. Pain filled her middle, though the pain of the fall didn't happen — she felt someone snatch her out of the air, then heat blast past her pale cheek and auburn hair.

"Tseng!" Her eyes, which had closed on impact, snapped open and frantically moved to her savior. Much to her surprise, possibly even dismay, the ebony haired turk was not the one who caught her. Light brown/red locks flowed effortlessly, as her savior's blue eyes seemed focused on the creature that now howled in pain. "SOLDIER… Genesis Rhapsodos…"

Genesis Rhapsodos did not say a word to the young turk as he placed her down on the ground, her form forcing itself to a sitting position. A smile was sent in the direction of the turk, Genesis then lifted his blade and activated the materia in his free hand. As the SOLDIER advanced forward, the young turk doubled for from her spot on the ground and grunted in pain. She was sure that she had either bruised or broken a rib, hoped that she didn't have internal bleeding. Even through the pain, she couldn't take her eyes off the crimson SOLDIER, who seemed to move like a large cat after its prey.

Much to Cissnei's dismay, it took little time for the creature to fall against the SOLDIER. A single cast of fire based attack, two swift slashes of his sword, and the creature fell. Cissnei was impressed to say the least, though wondered why he either hadn't come earlier or was sent in the first place. Though her thoughts were soon broken once the creature hit the ground and the dust had settled; her mind instantly rushing to where Tseng had been flung to. She quickly tried to stand, but only stumbled.

"Whoa," a silky voice echoed as a hand wrapped around her arm to steady her. "Calm yourself, Cissnei."

"Tseng.." Cissnei's voice was softer then she intended, she grimaced at the thought of seeming weak in front of the SOLDIER. "He—"

"Is fine." At the SOLDIER's words, Cissnei looked up at him and stared long and hard. A smile touched the man's pale lips, his blue eyes sparkled with something. "He's checking on Reno."

Sure enough, when Cissnei looked over in the direction of her fallen friend, she saw the older Turk hunched over him. A relaxed sigh escaped her lips as she moved forward, stumbling a bit. Genesis caught her once more, offering a hand over to Tseng — she accepted the help. At the moment she didn't care if it made her seem weak, all she wanted was to ensure that her friend was alright. Genesis didn't seem to mind helping the young turk over to the two males, though when they arrived he got one hell of a surprise.

Charcoal eyes snapped over to the two of them, Tseng's alert gaze narrowed at the blue eyed man. His face was icy and emotionless, as were those dark colored eyes. Slowly, his gaze moved from the stunned SOLDIER to the young turk, who's face showed a great concern for her teammates. Tseng was not one for kind words when on duty, though he almost made the expectation for the young turk. His lips parted as he spoke in a ruff tone. "How far is the helicopter?"

Cissnei was a bit shocked. "Tseng—"

"Not far," Genesis broke it as he unconsciously pulled Cissnei closer to his form. Cissnei felt this and turned her gaze to Genesis, but said nothing. "Grab up Reno, I'll show you the way, Turk."

"I can't."

Genesis said nothing as he ran his eyes over the turk, Cissnei soon joined in on the action. Everything seemed fine until her eyes reached his middle; the dark navy coat seemed darker then the rest. Then a familiar scent hit her; metallic and bitter. Her light colored eyes widened as they swiftly met his dark ones, her lips forming a frightened frown. "Tseng…"

"I'll be fine, Cissnei. If you can walk, help Genesis with Reno." Tseng commanded his young underling, his expression never flattering into a grimace as he spoke. His leadership role was not in any danger, as his voice remained demanding and strong — like it always had been. "We have a report to file."

"Tch," Genesis rolled his eyes at the ebony haired turk. His blue eyes then moved to Cissnei, meeting her gaze with a charming smile. "I've got Reno. Be sure that Tseng reaches the chopper. We'll be waiting."

Cissnei was torn between listening to her commander or listening to the SOLDIER. If she listened to Tseng, there was a chance that something could happen along the way — Cissnei didn't like the scent of blood in the air like it was. If she listened to Genesis, Tseng could become angry or she would just cause more problems. It didn't seem right, this wasn't supposed to happen. She shouldn't have to choose, yet she remembered that day during Spring. She remembered to have his back during the next mission; she failed in a sense, but she wouldn't stop from trying again.

Was that why she now stood at Tseng's side, sucking back grimaces of fleeting pain from her middle. Her arm wrapped around his upper body, his arm over her shoulder. She could swear she felt her cheeks heating up, but ignored it as the two began their journey behind Genesis and Reno. Her gaze moved over the turk at her side, who's charcoal colored eyes seemed to be lingering on her. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'll be fine." Tseng's gaze soon moved ahead, seemingly focusing on the two in front of them. "Why are you doing this, Cissnei? Why did you try to help me back there? Why—"

Cissnei paused in her step, causing Tseng do stop talking and walking, a grunt escaping him. "Tseng… we're friends. I'd do anything for you, no matter what the cost for me."

"Cissnei…"

"You've been there for me since the start, and I'll be there for you until the end."

Tseng's gaze moved back to Cissnei, she noticed this as well and felt her cheeks heating up. Shock covered the older turks' expression, before a slow and comforting smile soon began to take over. Cissnei felt herself relaxing at the sight, which seemed to cause the other turk to relax as well. She could have swore she saw something flash within those dark eyes the other had, but didn't speak of such a thing. Without another word the two continued their walk to the chopper, where Cissnei wouldn't leave Tseng's side — even after they returned to the building.

A/N: This chapter isn't my favorite, but it's beginning to take the turn I wanted it to. The next chapter is going to be so sweet, I assure everyone. I'm going to miss this fiction once it finishes, I might make another Tseng x Cissnei series. Just a thought. Also! Remember, reviews make kittens purr and you guys know you love purring kittens (: