The Road Back
By: Zeng Li

Morning never came in the slums of Midgar. Neither did afternoon, nor evening. If it weren't for Midgar Standard Time and a few people owning watches, no one would ever know what the true time was. It hardly mattered because hardly any one in the slums ever journeyed to the plate level, where time actually did matter.

Elmyra had a clock in her house, and by it, Aeris was able to tell when it was good time to ride the train to plate level to sell flowers and, occasionally, pieces of materia she'd found.

She would start harvesting the flowers in the late morning hours, at least 5 times a week. On days there weren't enough prime blooms to sell, she would tend to pressed, preserved, or dried flowers she kept in the house to sell in special type arrangements and crafts.

Occasionally, in addition to flowers, she'd find materia condensing slowly on the holy ground of her garden sanctuary or even in the old church. Though this one particular morning, she found something else in her garden that was about as rare a find as materia.

She didn't see him at first. He was crouched down admiring the flowers, but she was glad it was him and not one of the others of his kind.

Tseng stood up as his acute hearing registered her soft footsteps walking from her house to the adjacent garden. His navy blue blazer was off and slung over one shoulder, his hand holding it by the collar. His under-arm holster and gun were clearly visible against his white dress shirt.

She didn't run from him, but she stopped walking at the base of the steps leading into the garden.

"Good morning, Aeris," Tseng said pleasantly.

Too pleasantly, Aeris would think. Though he was never aggressive in his attempts to get her to come to ShinRa, she didn't trust that he wasn't attempting to lull her into a false sense of security. If he was, he was a patient man, willing to wait an entire decade in his persuasion.

"It's the same every time," Aeris said, walking up the pair of steps to the flower garden. She knelt down and tended to the morning blooms. "I'm not coming with you." She was one of the few people who, when approached by a Turk and Tseng in particular, did not run in terror.

"Hmm. Well, perhaps I'm not here to drag you back to ShinRa's research labs today."

Aeris stopped before clipping off the first bloom. She looked at him with a confident expression telling that she wasn't intimidated by the man in blue. "I'm still not going."

"I'm not asking you to."

Aeris put the clippers beside her wicker basket and stood up. "Well, then…"

"Perhaps I was just here to admire the flowers in this…" he looked around and up at the steel plate looming above, "…garden of eden among the hell that is all around."

Aeris' patience wore thin, and she didn't trust him any more than she would any other day. "You're with ShinRa. You can go all over the world and find gardens bigger than this one to admire. I'd rather you not come to mine."

"Very well," Tseng walked around the circular path in the opposite arch that Aeris was in, as though ready to leave without a fuss, or any additional words.

Content that he'd leave, but not trusting him until he did, Aeris just watched the Turk stroll slowly through the floral sanctuary. Tseng stopped, his ears perking up. Aeris detected something as well. They both turned at the same time and saw a winged Deenglow swoop down to strafe them with its talons.

Tseng turned, dropping his blazer off his shoulder but unable to draw his weapon yet. The beast's talon ripped through the back of his white shirt, which immediately became stained with his blood.

"I'll get my weapon and materia!" Aeris said, sprinting for the house.

"No!" Tseng shouted, lying on his side on the ground, pistol drawn and aimed as the sky above where the sharp-winged bird turned for another pass. "I've got him…" He fired, but the creature was too agile, and the shot missed.

"You need materia against them!" Aeris shouted as she returned to the garden to help out with what she could.

Aeris' low-level Fire spell slowed the creature down enough that Tseng could line up a second shot. His shot connected, but the flying beast wasn't through yet. It's 12-inch clawed feet thundered into the ground, anchored by 4-inch long talons. Tseng rolled to sit up and aim a shot at its head, but the magic-based creature beat its wings, a sharp point from its edge swiping the Turk in the head. When he opened his eyes again, the right one was immediately blinded by a torrent of crimson blood running from his brow into it.

The blood burned in his eye, and he fought the discomfort in order to save his shot. The third bullet struck its neck, sending the magic animal into a near panic. It's wings beat strongly, blowing up dust and flower petals as it took off and escaped the counter-assault upon itself. Tseng shielded his eyes from the wind and debris.

"They come here every so often, drawn by the materia that sometimes grows here," said Aeris, checking the spot where she'd last seen a green orb growing. She looked across the dirt path at Tseng, seeing the red that streaked down his face. "Tseng…?"

She caught him as his body started to lean to one side. His breathing was short and ragged, both eyes watering so bad he was blinded. He was losing blood. There was only one thing Aeris thought to do.

Tseng had no memory of how he got where he was, but he was lying on a comfortable bed. Comfortable, that is, until someone pressed something cold against his eyebrow. He flinched, but a gentle hand touched his chest.

"It's almost stopped. Hold still," said the voice of Aeris.

Last thing he remembered was fighting a magic creature that was more commonly seen two sectors away in the Train Graveyard. The pain in his back…the pain over his eye… He remembered.

"ShinRa wants you alive…" Tseng muttered. "I had to…"

"I could have handled it. Though I would have had to come into the house for my staff and Typhoon materia," the Cetra replied.

"And how many of your flowers would have been destroyed in the time that took?" Tseng asked, opening his left eye while the wound above the other one got tended to.

"A lot…" Aeris' voice trailed. "They come and dig up materia orbs that haven't risen to the surface yet."

"It might come back."

Aeris pulled the cold cloth away from Tseng's eyebrow to check the remaining blood flow. "I don't know about that one. You hit it twice…" She cupped her hand and held it a few inches away from Tseng's right eye. He closed the other one and relaxed as he felt warmth caress the area that was burning with a sting a moment ago. She sat back a moment later. "There. I think it's sealed."

Tseng opened his good eye and saw Aeris' adoptive mom behind her. "I appreciate this," he said as Aeris took thin bandage strips and taped them perpendicular over the wound to hold it so it wouldn't split back open. "I suppose the least I can do is leave here today without the usual round of persuasion to come back to ShinRa with me."

"I thought you weren't here for that today in the first place." Not that the Ancient believed him when he'd first stated that a while back.

"Same as usual. What can I really do? You're more valuable to ShinRa if you're alive."

Aeris knotted her brow and set the last strip in place anyway.

As she backed off, Tseng tried to sit up, but a sting in the flesh over his right shoulder blade halted his movements. "It's okay," she told him. "I sealed that one up as well. It shouldn't reopen unless you move too much or too quickly."

"Thanks…" Tseng muttered dryly, pushing himself up more carefully this time. Due to her generosity, he spared her his usual rant about how using materia is actually bad for someone and that too much of it diminishes the body's ability to heal itself. Then again, he didn't see any materia being used by her healing hands. It was more like she was using energies from within. This girl never ceased to amaze him.

Elmyra stepped more into view. "Thank you for assisting Aeris, Mr. Tseng," said the mother. "But if it's all right, I would rather that you don't linger around this place for too long."

She always was pleasant, even when telling off the Turks.

Tseng caught sight of himself in the dresser mirror, and his starch exterior cracked. He leaned forward, covering both eyes with his hands. "Damn…" he started. "…I can't be seen around Midgar looking like this. Not someone of my status…"

Aeris and her mom looked odd at his reaction. Tseng was never one to be sarcastic or playful. "It'll clear up in a week or so…" the Cetra told the Turk in an attempt to dispel his vanity.

"No…I can't be seen like this." Tseng's voice was tense.

Aeris had to admit, Tseng was always the best dressed and most meticulously groomed of the Turks, but was he always so vain?

"As you can imagine, being a Turk means having many enemies. The image we maintain is to show them and the rest of the world that we are invulnerable. Many who have seen us wounded or otherwise broken down have not lived long enough to enjoy the memory."

"You can't be asking to stay here until you're better?" Elmyra assumed, voice filled with concern for her and her adopted daughter. "I also don't think you have it in you to kill either of us."

"Absolutely not," Tseng replied, smiling faintly. "Though if I were ordered to do so…well, I don't know what I would do. Best not to think about it, right? For now though, all I need is to return to plate level without anyone recognizing me."

His vanity was his vice, and if he weren't so vain, he would have been spared that which Aeris had in mind to smuggle him back to plate level unnoticed.

ShinRa, meanwhile, had another round of incidents involving spies breaking through security protocol and attempting to access lock codes to gates that sealed off access to the Mako reactors that surrounded the bi-level city. Many had lost their lives attempting to steal the codes, and each time a breech occurred, ShinRa changed the codes. A swift end usually came to those trying to access the computer systems, often at the hands of Soldiers 3rd Class stationed in the tower, or even mechanical, robotic security devices that roamed the halls and potential escape routes.

Which is why when they had to send in the Turks, ShinRa realized that who ever was trying to get these codes really meant business. Sometimes even these new rounds of expert spies escaped the Tower unharmed. Though, since they were noticed, even if they got away with the codes, they were promptly changed so that they were useless in the hands of whoever wanted them.

Reno and Rude followed the wake of destroyed machinery and robot guards to the place the intruder was last seen. Elevators were locked down so that one could only navigate them if they had high-level clearance swipe cards. The stairwell swarmed with human guards.

Who ever wanted these codes was succeeding only in allowing ShinRa to increase the effectiveness of their security.

"An Avalanche operative, I'm guessing. Such a thorn lately…" Reno said, already a few paces ahead of Rude as they hurried down the hallway after the intruder. The brash intruder had on light body armor and a cloth mask, unable to be rapidly identified by name based on the security database.

Rude silently followed, his heavy footfalls thundering down the corridor even as he lost ground to the faster and more agile Turk.

Reno leapt high in the air, swiping his electro-mag rod down as his feet collided sharply into the solid floor. A ball of fire launched from the materia-enhanced weapon, overtaking the intruder within one second. The elemental blast dispersed off a magic barrier generated around the individual by what could only be assumed to be an enchanted accessory of some sort.

A wall of soldiers intercepted the intruder, who came to such a sudden halt it seemed almost unhuman-like. The intruder turned back to the path of least resistance. By-passing 2 Turks would be simple, especially if the opposing soldiers would not fire their weapons at a target that was too close to ShinRa's most special elite.

Reno would try… He had to, clinging on to hopes that he'd get lucky this time and intercept the ninja enough that capture or elimination would carried out by his partner if only he could trip the intruder up for even as much as a split second. Rude wouldn't be afraid to discharge a weapon even if Reno were in his line of fire. Reno wasn't afraid of getting hurt because he trusted his partner. His intercept with the intruder might hurt him, but it was a pain he was made to accept as part of the job in his service and ultimately last line of defense for ShinRa.

What made Reno such a great Turk was his agility and speed, and he was one of very few in ShinRa's ranks who could go up against the speed and maneuverability of a Wutanese ninja with a realistic chance of success. Firm grip on his electro-mag rod extended to its full length gave him extra berth in blockading as much of the corridor as he could.

No matter how much of the hall's width Reno could cover between his body and his outstretched weapon, the intruder simply vaulted high in the air over the Turk's head. The Turks always had contingency plans though, and that came in the form of Reno's partner.

Rude's slower running pace was not entirely a handicap as being further back in the hallway actually proved a benefit on this occasion. Gravity, no matter how good a warrior's skills were, was still a law of physics that no one could deny without the use of high level materia, for which there'd be no time to unleash before the intruder's feet touched the ground.

Rude thundered a column of Grand Spark elemental energy across the floor, right into the path of where gravity would cause the intruder's feet to land. Even Reno had to think fast and jump out of the way to avoid the shockwave of energy blazing further down the hall and under where he'd been standing.

The Soldiers finished the job, shooting the individual dead before there was a chance for him to get back up and cause more headaches for ShinRa.

"So much for the interrogation," said Reno, compacting his weapon and sliding it into its belt holster as he joined the scene around the body.

Rude pulled off the man's hood. The young face underneath belonged to a boy, 14…maybe 15 at the most. "A shame…" Rude said dryly.

"Part of the job…" Reno added as he, like Rude, barricaded his thoughts and feelings about the death of someone so skilled, and so young.

"Security alert can stand down," Rude told a Soldier 2nd Class standing nearby.

He and Reno melted away from the scene, leaving the clean up and remaining incident report to the soldiers on hand. They stepped into an express elevator to return to ground floor.

"I wonder where Tseng was through all this," Reno commented. "I haven't heard from him, and during an incident like this, it's odd for him to be out of contact." He checked his PHS's locator, tuned to track Tseng's transponder frequency. "Hmm…that's odd. His transponder is not activated. Don't tell me this was some stupid drill or something."

Aeris giggled and looked at the Turk leader as he stood in the dining room. "You look so cute!" she squeaked. "Even though you have that black eye…"

Tseng scowled, brow knotted as he turned his head so the right side of his face was out of view. "Remind me again why I'm putting up with this…" He kneaded his grip on the brim of a traveler's hat.

"So no one recognizes you," Aeris replied, handing him a pair of large framed sunglasses. "And because your Turk uniform was half reduced to bloody rags and this is the only thing we could find to fit you."

Tseng growled softly.

"Come on, you'll be fine! I would think the Turks should be used to dressing incognito now and again."

"This isn't incognito. Clothes like this are…" Tseng looked in the mirror at the fringed jacket and suede pants that he now wore. "…not from around here. I look like some sheriff from North Corel in this get-up."

"How's about this…if any one asks," Aeris added, " you can say you're my boyfriend."

"What!" Tseng's cheeks turned red. Aeris just smiled. "Never mind… Can we just get going now?"

"Hey, Rude, you wanna go up to the café and get something to eat?" Reno asked. "Tseng's not around to care that we slack off on company time."

"You slack off too much. Don't drag me into it."

"Pfft! Who cares?" Reno gazed around for the nearest elevator.

"What the bloody hell…?" Rude said, his head shifting suddenly the other way.

Reno saw it, too. "Oh, man…these guys are getting more and more desperate. Not even trying cover up that he's sneaking around." His hand was already reaching for his weapon and pulling it out of its holster.

"Definitely not from around here, but what makes you think he's working for Avalanche?" Rude asked, reaching for his weapon.

"Nobody dresses like that any more…well, unless you're a sheriff in North Corel or something. Geesh, I don't know whether to go over and stick my electromag rod up his ass or laugh in his face and ask him if his mother dresses him like that."

Without trying to cause too much of a scene, the pair of Turks closed in on the fool in the cowboy get-up. The stranger inclined his head, seeing the approaching Turks in the reflection on the clear elevator tube.

Reno's EMR was already crackling with lightning energy. He was not in the mood to take chances and ignored the hushed advice from Rude behind him to tail the suspicious person instead of attack head on.

The suited stranger turned to the approaching man in blue and waved his gloved hands. "Wait…no…!"

Reno took a swipe at the man with his rod and discharged the electric shock. The costumed man faltered, and Rude barreled in behind Reno and crashed into the suited figure, pinning him against the wall. The dusty cowboy hat fell off, and underneath it was…

"Tseng!" Reno said over the commotion of the loudspeaker and evacuation taking place in the room.

Tseng's tinted aviator glasses were crooked in favor of his unblemished eye. "Hide me…" he said in a loud whisper, reaching for his fallen hat and placing it back on his head.

"Huh?" Reno asked, leaning sideways to try to make eye-contact with his superior. He could see Tseng's discolored eye and the wound above it, stifling a laugh at seeing his boss in a doubly rare form.

"Just do it and 'escort' me to the Turks' offices, okay? And don't let anyone see me looking like this."

"Uh, okay…" Reno went along. "Although you're absolutely sure you'd rather be seen in that ridiculous western wear than let a few people here and there see you got a shiner? I swear I'll never quite figure you out, Tseng. Although now I kind of regret not actually sticking the electromag rod up your ass. Boy would that have been a funny sight."

"Smile for the cameras in the elevator, boss," Rude added as they escorted the 'stranger' away. "Reno hasn't added to his supply of blackmail photos in a while."

THE END

© 2005 Zeng Li, using characters from "Final Fantasy 7" - acknowledgement of character copyrights belonging to Squaresoft. This story is intended only for the free, non-profit entertainment of audiences over the age of 13. Edited and revised in 2007.