Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Demons & Angels ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 2 )

Prologue

 

“What could it hurt?”
That was the phrase that ended up with him here.
“You haven't spoken to her in years.”
Reno's voice still rang in his ears as he stood in front of A Taste of Banora Bakery in Sector 3 of Midgar.
“It's been eight years.”
Stupid Reno.

“Are you looking for Miss Vast?”
He turned to his left to see a woman holding a box of fruits.
“Yes,” he responded, “I'm Tseng, an old colleague of Miss Vast's.”
Adjusting the box in her arms, the woman straightened her posture. “I'm afraid she's gone,” she said heavily, “did you say your name was Tseng?”
Tseng only nodded.
The woman placed her box down and approached him, opened the door to the bakery, and disappeared inside.
A moment later she reemerged with another box in her arms. She held it out to him, earning a curious look from the Turk.
“…She wanted me to pass this on to you,” was all she said.

As if that was all the encouragement he needed, Tseng relieved the woman of the small burden.
“I'll be next door if you wish to talk,” the woman said, walking back to the front of her store and picking up her box, “my name is Yuki, by the way.”
With that, she vanished into the store.

Tseng stared at the contents of the box in his hands. Small mementos took up most of the space, with some letter buried about. Taking a seat on the porch of the bakery, he began to search through the 4-by-4 box. Old post cards, pictures, and letters were sorted out first.
A smile twitched at his lips as he adventured through the pictures. Several of them were memories of nine years prior within the Turks.
Reno…Rude…Cissnei…and Angel.
His chest clenched in remorse as he remembered one of the oldest members in his profession.
Angel Vast had been a cheerful and motherly woman. She contrasted against the rest of their well-organized group.
Tseng was stern and by-the-book.
Reno was rankly and spontaneous.
Cissnei was young and sarcastic.
Rude was quiet but to the point.
And Angel was…childish. At least, for most of the time he'd known her. She was childish, but not naïve. Immature but responsible. Bubbly but perceptive. An anomaly.
Considering the company she kept, Tseng wasn't the least bit surprised.

Picking up another picture, his smile died a bit.
It was a picture of Angel, Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth. Her best friends. All SOLDIER. All 1st Class. All anomalies.
His heart ached as he recalled the events that led to her resigning from Shinra.
All revolving around those three SOLDIER 1st Class.

Continuing through the box, Tseng paused as he spotted a small book.
A diary?
Why would Angel put her diary in a box for him?
Curiosity poked at him like no other. The knowledge of Angel's most inner thoughts lay at his fingertips.
It had to be a mistake.
Angel couldn't have meant to put this in the box…could she?
That's when two words in her sloppy, but legible, handwriting caught his eye: “Please Read.”
Surely, it wasn't an invasion of privacy if the writer wished for it to be read, right?
Flipping the well-worn book to the first page, he read.

Can you believe my life has been so crazy?
What happened to the carefree years that seem so long ago?
Angeal…Genesis…I didn't believe a word Sephiroth said about your treachery…and I still don't, almost nine years later…

Nine years? Tseng wondered.
That meant this entry had to have been written fairly recently.

And Sephiroth…I could never stay mad at you. *chuckle* And you knew it, too.

Tseng's heart clenched again. Of course, he should've known. If it truly was her diary, then she would eventually mention the psychotic ex-SOLDIER.
So why did his heart cry out for her that much more?

Anyway, enough reminiscing. To whoever's reading this, I want to save whatever bit of humanity my friends have left.

Well, at least she wasn't naïve, Tseng thought. He had always wondered what Angel thought of her friends' fall from sanity. Would she be realistic about it or deny it all? Apparently it was the former.
Smart girl.

Within this diary are telling that one of my dearest friends and I have compiled about my friends Angeal, Genesis…and Sephiroth. I just wish for someone to remember them like I did: wonderful friends, warriors, and human beings.

Tseng smiled at the entry. They would have loved her for this. But he feared Angel may be the only being left on Gaia that still saw them as “human.”
Realizing her purpose for revealing her inner most thoughts to the world, his respect for her rose as he turned the page that told of her past.