Summary: Ariana forms a crush at first sight and also expands on her hatred towards the idea of heroes.
Shinra Tower, SOLDIER Director's Office
"Oh my gods, you're all back on your bullshit."
Ariana looked up at her Father, head cocked to the side with questioning eyes.
One of the first things the SOLDIER Firsts had done when they arrived at Shinra Tower was to bring them to the SOLDIER Director's office.
"Father, define 'bullshit' please?" Aridai also had a confused expression on his face, tugging on Sephiroth's hand. He seemed to gravitate towards the silver haired teenager, much like Ariana had to Angeal.
"It means 'nonsense', albeit in a rude manner," Sephiroth told him, "Director Deusericus, these two are the perpetrators in the destruction of the manor and reactor in the outskirts of Nibelheim."
"Children?" Lazard's eyebrows rose on his face, "How the fu-hell did this happen?" he hastened to censor himself.
"The 'Good Doctor' had a few extra experiments on the side," Genesis said dryly, "Infinite in mystery how he thought it would be a good idea. Though, these two had retrieved the documentation involved, before they burned down the place."
"It was my idea to keep the files," Aridai added to the conversation, "Hello, my name is Aridai. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Director Deusericus."
The twelve year old nudged his sister lightly with his elbow, spurring her to introduce herself to Lazard. He noticed Ariana seemed to be blatantly staring at the director, considering she barely blinked when she first laid eyes on the blonde man. At the jab, the twelve year old girl snapped out of her stupor.
"Hi! I'm Ariana," she chirped with a cheery inflection, a small, shy smile appearing on her face, "Nice to meet you, Father mentioned you once or twice. I'm really interested in the SOLDIER program."
"Ariana wishes to become a SOLDIER," Angeal said, "And Aridai has all the markings of a budding Turk." The black haired man reached a hand down to pat Aridai on the head, ruffling his hair slightly.
In sync, both twins shot angelic, innocent smiles at Lazard, who seemed to form the immediate impression that these two would be as big, if not bigger troublemakers as the SOLDIER Firsts.
Ariana could feel her heartbeat speeding up in her chest, looking the blonde over with a discerning eye. The girl had never seen such bright yellow hair before, and thought that this man was probably the most interesting person she'd seen in her life. It was also the first time she'd seen someone with glasses who looked absolutely adorable in them, and she couldn't help but notice that Lazard had a pretty cute face too.
...
Was this what adults call a 'crush'? She didn't really know. Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess!
Aridai noticed his sister start playing with her fingertips, nudging her over their mental link.
Ana? What's gotten into you?
Ari! I think I have a crush! Eeeeeeee! How exciting!
At this point, Aridai tuned out what the adults were talking about after hearing that confession.
This guy? Of all the people we've seen before, you have a crush on him?
He's so cute, Ari! Awwww, he has the prettiest blonde hair I've ever seen!
Aridai's eyebrows knitted together with a tiny bit of confusion. Prettiest blonde hair? This guy? The guy had straw for hair, with weird curtain bangs that weren't as long as their Father's. His eyes flickered towards Lazard for a quick second glance before meeting Ariana's eyes again.
I don't see the appeal. You need your priorities straight, sister.
I've never had a crush before, brother! Infinite in mystery is the Gift of the Goddess!
"Ariana, Aridai, what are your dreams?"
Lazard's question broke the twins out of their mental conversation, both of the children looking up towards the man.
"My…dream?" the older twin repeated the question, as if it was a trick, "I don't think I've ever been asked that. Who'd ask an experiment?"
"My dream is to protect the Planet we live on," Aridai answered quickly, "And to carry out justice."
Ariana moved into a thinking pose, mulling her answer over, before opening her mouth.
"Oh, I know. My dream is to have a world that will never have another child raised in a laboratory as an experiment ever again," the girl said with an earnest, no nonsense tone, "A place where no child will be raised like me or Aridai. I'm going to be a warrior that fights for that future."
No one was expecting that sort of answer, all of them taking aback by how sincere it was.
"Huh. So you can be thoughtful once in a while, sister," Aridai said after a moment, meeting her scowl at him head on as she demanded, "What's that supposed to mean?"
The blonde Director had a considering expression on his face, scrutinizing the girl that looked up defiantly at him.
"Is that so? Most children your age would dream to be a hero," he said offhandedly, and when Ariana's whole face contorted into a glower, Lazard's eyebrows raised.
"Uh oh," Aridai mumbled, feeling his sister prepare to give her usual spiel about her feelings of heroes, "You're gonna wish you never said the h word."
If Ariana could shoot lasers with her eyes, a hole would be making a home on Lazard's forehead.
"Heroes? Children want to be heroes?! I might be young, but I'm not stupid," the girl's green irises widened before they narrowed into slits a few times, the harsh downturn of her lips reminiscent of Angeal in his rare moments of anger, "Heroes don't exist. I thought adults were smart."
Over at the SOLDIER side of the room, Genesis' jaw clenched, but he didn't say anything, aware of his children's circumstances. He couldn't help but remember Aridai's night terror that occurred only a few nights ago, the troubling sight of a usually lively boy's blank, detached expression, and Ariana's tearful explanation. He didn't blame them for being jaded. He couldn't reduce the fears that they had, nor could he change the past.
"If heroes were real, then there wouldn't be children raised in a laboratory, would there? Where was a hero when me and my brother were decommissioning failed experiments? Or when my brother had to save my life with a barely used Cura materia and our handlers only watched when I was dying?" Ariana spat with vitriol, "In order to have a hero, there has to be a villain, and people get hurt. I don't think it's worth a villain to have heroes anyway. It's better to be a Healer of Worlds than a Hero of the Dawn."
Even angry, she couldn't resist quoting Loveless. The girl looked away, lips pressed into a hard line, crossing her arms tightly and almost hugging herself, glaring at the floor.
"I want a dream that I can actually achieve. I'm too old to believe in fairy tales," she said tersely, "At least healers and warriors exist. They're real."
Then she went towards Angeal, hiding behind the bulk of the dark haired SOLDIER, peeking from the side of his bicep and holding onto his forearm lightly with her right hand.
"Ana? Why're you hiding, huh?" Aridai letting go of Sephiroth's hand so he could flock to his sister's side.
Ariana bit her lip, visibly forming 'no speaking—now—angry' (I'm not talking right now because I'm angry) with her fingers, Aridai sighing when he recognized it.
"You have the weirdest hang-ups, sister," the boy muttered before glancing back to their parents, and then to Lazard, who looked like he wanted to broach the topic further.
"Erm, sorry about that," the dark haired boy apologized, gesturing to his sister's moody state, "I try not to mention the h-word around her, because it usually makes her mad. She doesn't like talking when she's angry because she might say something she doesn't mean."
"I see," said Lazard, "If that's the case, I'll have one of the Turks escort you both to the SOLDIER First apartments and supervise."
"The twins will be staying with me," Angeal said, "Genesis and Sephiroth both agreed to this arrangement."
The other SOLDIERs in the room spoke their agreement, and Lazard called General Affairs to request an escort.
In the meantime, Ariana remained hidden behind Angeal's body, seemingly calming down a little. She didn't say another word until long after they left Lazard's office.
Note: Turk sign language will be discussed a little more in depth in the next chapter.