Blue Destiny

He stood there shaking with nervousness keenly aware of the beads of sweat dotting his forehead. All around he could tell that the other SOLDIERS were just as nervous. On the stage before them, Tseng stood in front of them looking over the SOLDIERS First Class. His arms were crossed and face blank of all emotions. The harsh stage lighting made his appearance more serious and it brought out the navy in his uniform, the suit they all wanted to wear. He knew how anxious they were to find out if they would receive the promotion, but Tseng had no problem drawing out the process.

"I wish they would just get it over with!" Shingo whispered furiously to his friend beside him.

From all around him the other nervous SOLDIERS issued a collective shush. Embarrassed Shingo said nothing more. Drawn back into his thoughts, he thought of the five years it took to move to such an elite status of First Class. He wondered if he could make his family proud. With a smile to himself, he could see how happy his brother would be. Shaking himself a bit, he realized that he did not get a promotion nor would his brother be here to see him as a Turk.

"I understand this was a long and difficult process," Tseng began. All of the SOLDIERS became attentive, and Shingo's thoughts scattered as he hung on Tseng's every word. "It wasn't easy, but there were two clear stand outs." Everyone's spirit lifted as they realized that their chances of becoming a Turk were higher. A wave of excitement passed through the neat rows. Tseng paused once again and began pacing the stage before halting again in the same place. "When we began the interview process for promotion to Turk, we were looking only for one replacement."

His eyes scanned the neat rows of SOLDIERS dressed in formal uniform. The selection process had taken 5 days of rigorous tests both mental and physical. He had seen the exhaustion in their eyes although their bodies were as attentive as possible. "SOLDIER First Class…." There was a collective intake of air by all of the SOLDIERS as the nervous energy reached a peak. "Number 2542, Elena Oriel."

The SOLDIER standing beside Shingo tensed up and was still for a moment. A wave of shock ran through Elena and she was frozen with emotion. "Please come to the front Elena," Tseng called.

Elena did not move, still recovering from the shock of the most prestigious promotion possible in the ranks of SOLDIER. "Elena, go!" He whispered as he nudged her arm with his elbow. She shook herself from a daze and stepped out of the neat rows of SOLDIERS. Looking back at Shingo, she managed a nervous smile at him.

Satisfied that he saw someone moving in the ranks of SOLDIER, Tseng continued. "Continuing, SOLDIER 7685, Shingo Tsukino."

Startled, Shingo was frozen before he realized everyone around him turned to face him. He began to shake, realizing that he actually was the one Tseng called. His eyes still fixed on the stage, he saw Elena turn with shock to look straight at him. Her shocked face eventually melted into one of happiness. Seeing her excited face melted away the shock. On his own accord, Shingo left the neat rows of SOLDIERS. Behind him a large hole gaped where two SOLDIERS First Class once stood.

As he walked to the stage, applause followed. The SOLDIERS, although disappointed in not being promoted, held respect for Elena and Shingo. As Shingo approached the steps to the stage, Tseng called out "Dismissed," and turned to face Elena and Shingo with Rude stepping out from the back of the stage to stand next to Tseng.

"Congratulations," he said as Shingo stepped to Elena's side. "This is a very prestigious honor, and I hope you will treat your new duties with the passion and respect that it deserves."

They both nodded still speechless from the promotion. "Remove your helmets," Rude stated holding out his hands. With shaking hands, they both did as they were told. As Elena removed her helmet, she shook loose her short blonde hair neatly cut to her chin. Although being stuffed under her helmet, her hair always remained perfectly neat. Shingo, on the other hand, had his short hair pointing in all directions. Unconsciously, he ran his hand through his blonde hair.

Tseng carefully looked over the two new Turks, scrutinizing their faces for a moment. "From now on you won't need the uniform of SOLDIER. Two Turk uniforms have been dispatched to your quarters."

"We have arranged a meeting for you in two hours at the president's office," Tseng looked at the two closely for a moment before stepping back and putting his hands behind his back. "Dismissed."

The two turned to walk down the stage through the empty room both silent and speechless from the promotion. As soon as they walked through the double doors to the hallway, Elena let out of squeal of excitement. "Shingo! We'reTurks. Both of us! Together!"

She grabbed Shingo's shoulders and shook them furiously. Surprised, Shingo allowed his head to bobble back and forth before pulling himself away. "Come on, Elena. We need to get ready," he said softly and calmly. The excitement of the promotion faded quickly.

"Come on, Shingo," Elena took his shoulder, knowing instantly what had changed his mood. "Your brother would have been proud." Shingo's head dipped a little as she hit right on what he had been thinking. "Your whole family would have been proud." She looked at the newly promoted Turk with concern.

He stared at the ground before nodding and lifting his head. "You're right. I just wish they could see me now." He forced a smile on his face. Today was a day to celebrate, not worry about the past. Looking at Elena he said, "Let's put on those new uniforms."

Elena squealed with excitement and threw her arms around Shingo in a hug. There was an extra bounce in her step as they wound through the halls of Shinra Tower still recovering from the abuse of Sephiroth and AVALANCHE. Low level workers scrubbed the blood off the walls and metal workers melted the smoothed the deep gouges in the walls. When they arrived to the elevators, they headed to floor 23 where they were greeted with rousing applause from their fellow SOLDIERS awaiting their arrival.

The two new Turks could not stop smiling as the SOLDIERS congratulated them shaking their hands and yelling furiously. By the time they reached their rooms, the crowd had dispersed, and Shingo waved to Elena as he stepped into his room and closing the door. His roommates had been waiting there with opened bottles of beer and a bottle of champagne sitting in a broken helmet filled with ice. Shingo couldn't help laughing as they passed him a bottle a beer. Although he did not favor his passed experiences with alcohol, he opened the bottle on a nearby desk and took a few sips out of politeness. His roommates roared with approval as he smiled sheepishly.

"I can't drink too much," he declared as they excitedly opened the bottle of champagne with a loud pop. He frowned a little as they poured him a glass brimming with bubbles. "I have a meeting with the president!" he protested as they cup floated to his direction and they excitedly encouraged him to drink. Shingo smiled guiltily knowing that he should not be drinking, but he took a sip of the bubbling champagne.

"Put on your uniform!" her bunkmate, Adam, shouted excitedly, and finished off his beer. He waved Zack to pour him some champagne into a mug.

Shingo baulked at the idea. Adam, Zack, and his third roommate Nick cheered him on enthusiastically. "No no!" Shingo exclaimed slightly panicked. "I don't want to get any beer on it," he explained calming himself. "I'd hate to smell like beer when meeting the president," and with a nervous smile, he took another sip of beer disguising the awful taste with a big grin. Forgetting about his uniform, his roommates clinked together their bottles in a toast to his promotion.

Putting down his glass of champagne, Shingo climbed up to his bed and saw his new Turk uniform waiting for him neatly folded on his unmade bed. He smiled and waved off the glass of champagne when Adam tried to hand it to him. Nick climbed up and sat next to him reeking of alcohol. Didn't they have duty later?

"I guess this means you're moving out," Nick huffed a sigh. "Little Shingo is a great big Turk now."

Shingo frowned a little as his roommate shed fake tears and jokingly cried into his shoulder. The youngest of his roommates and of most of the SOLDIERS, he had been picked on during most of his time in the SOLDIER service. Most didn't become First Class until they were at least 20. Shingo had worked his way in at the age of 16. Although he suffered through a lot of hazing in his earlier years, he eventually earned the respect of his fellow SOLDIERS through hard work and dedication. It was probably that same dedication that earned him the promotion to Turk.

"You won't miss me," Shingo replied, heaving the larger man off his shoulder. "You'll get over it."

"He'll probably take up all your space as soon as you move out until we get a new guy in here," Zack yelled from the other bunk as he dropped his empty bottle of beer on the floor and reached for another.

Shingo shook his head. He was never fond of the taste of alcohol, but always had one to make his roommates feel better as they almost always indulged a little too much. "Don't you guys have duty or something soon?"

Adam checked his watch. "In a few minutes actually." With that, he straightened his wrinkled uniform and let out a large belch. Shingo frowned a little. The had been caught recently slightly intoxicated during duty not too long ago.

"I hope you don't get caught," he said absentmindedly touching the navy of his new uniform. Frowning he fingered the tie for a moment. He wasn't sure if he remembered how to tie it.

"Eh the commander will forgive us. He'll be understanding," Nick jumped down from Shingo's bed and riffled through the messy closet for his helmet. "I'll spritz on some cologne to cover the beer smell." Shingo didn't respond and simply shrugged. He didn't think that would mask the smell enough.

As soon as his roommates left, Shingo unfolded his uniform and looked at it. As he slid off the SOLDIER uniform Elena came bursting into his room carrying a bottle of champagne in one hand and her tie in the other. "Shingo!" she cried frantically, "I don't know how to tie this!"

"Goodness Elena! Couldn't you at least have knocked?" Shingo nearly yelled, but calmed himself. "Close the door," he replied sternly.

Embarrassed Elena did as she was told and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Sorry, I was just so worried and panicked. Today's been a doozy." Her simle transformed into a grin a she took another sip from the large green bottle.

"If the emptiness of that bottle is any indication of your state of mind…" Shingo slid on his shirt and buttoned it neatly while standing in front of a mirror. "Can you pass me that jacket? I'll help you with your tie in a bit." He frowned a little, "Once I figure out my own."

Elena sobered up a little as she put down the bottle in the broken helmet with the other bottle of champagne. She watched as Shingo began to tie the tie with a face of intense concentration. "You know," she began a little tentatively. "Your brother would be so proud."

Shingo froze for a moment, staring at his expression in the mirror. He shook himself free of his memories of his brother. "I hope so." Finishing off his tie, he turned to help Elena with hers. "I wonder if he knows."

"I'm sure he does," Elena said with a smile and then ruffled his hair.

"Hey! Stop that!" Shingo stepped away and frowned at her. Looking in the mirror he tried to smooth his unruly hair. Glaring at Elena's reflection he said, "I'd love to see you figure this tie out for yourself."

"Aww geez, come on! I was just teasing," Elena pouted and threw her hands on her hips.

Shingo frowned and huffed a sigh. He could never stay angry at Elena for long. Pressing his lips in concentration, he took up her tie and started over again. "Now when you take it off, just loosen it so I don't have to do it again."

After dressing, the two Turks went to the 69th floor. Shingo convinced Elena to go up to the president's office early reasoning that their career would not be off to a good start if they were late meeting the president. Slightly panicked at being early for the first time in her life, she paced frantically up and down the secretary's office while Shingo stared at a painting of Midgar trying to ignore her rapid stomping and focus his rapid heart rate. He had never met the president before and was unsure of what to expect. He looked nervously at his watch.

"Do you want to sit or something to drink?" the secretary asked. Shingo turned around realizing that Elena had not registered that someone was talking to him. The woman perched on the edge of her chair behind a large desk smiled at Shingo and smoothed her green dress a little.

"No, no we're fine," he said frowning.

Undeterred, the woman batted her eyelashes at him and played with her pearl necklace. Shingo looked at Elena for help. The blonde had her back to him, and flustered, she was flailing her arms as she walked. Shingo looked at his watch again feeling even more nervous under the woman's gaze. It was almost five. Could they just go up without Tseng and Rude?

"Calm down, Elena," he looked up as Tseng's voice came from the doorway. The blonde woman stopped her pacing and huffed a sigh although she was out of breath. The secretary immediately spoke quietly on the intercom informing the president that they had arrived. "Elena, Shingo." Tseng nodded at both of them. They both saluted out of instinct. He frowned a little, "You don't need to salute anymore to anyone. You're both Turks now."

"President Shinra will see you now," the secretary said politely with a smile brushing her hair out of her eyes. She winked at Shingo and he was taken aback.

Tseng ignored the secretary as he led Rude, Elena, and Shingo up the stairs to the 70th floor. Looking back at the woman behind the desk, he saw her frowning as she crossed her arms and swiveled in her chair.

Rufus was already impatiently standing in front of his desk waiting for them and tapping his polished black shoes on the floor. He looked as if he were about to snap at Tseng, but didn't say anything as they stood in front of him. "President Shinra, I would like to introduce to you Elena Oriel and Shingo Tsukino."

Rufus approached the two and looked them over critically. Circling around Elena first, he inspected her face and her uniform carefully. Shingo could tell she was nervous because he had been her friend for a long time, but she doing her best to disguise it with a look of intense concentration and seriousness. "I'd like to welcome you into the service of the Turks," he said. He began pacing as he spoke, and it was obviously forced since he didn't like to make speeches except to instill fear. A welcome speech was not easy for him.

The nervousness transferred to Shingo as the president began walking around him. He tried to focus his eyes straight ahead instead of looking directly at Rufus. Even then he could not ignore the strong smell of cologne as the president stood in front of him. Rufus looked into Shingo's face scowling as he began pacing again. "I have a plan for this company that will make it stronger and more powerful than it ever was before. I expect full dedication and service to help me accomplish my goals." He emphasized his words by pounding his fist into his hand. Stopping in front of Shingo once more, he stared at him intently. "This business with AVALANCHE is not making me happy, and I expect you to spend all of your efforts into stopping them. I hope the two of you don't disappoint me."

Rufus's eyes drifted to Tseng and Rude. "Dismissed," he said and went to sit behind the desk. Tseng led Shingo and Elena out of the room.

"The first order of business is to make sure you are both properly outfitted," Tseng explained once they were out of hearing range. The secretary perked up once more when she saw the Turks coming down the stairs, but they walked past her. When they arrived at the elevators, Tseng pushed the button for the 30th floor. Elena and Shingo knew of it as the weapon's storage floor. When they arrived they entered the vault for SOLDIER issued weapons, but Tseng led them to the back corner where there was another door. He opened the door with a fingerprint and retinal scan. The door slid open to a much smaller room that was overflowing with a mess of weapons.

"This is the higher level vault with limited access to generals and, of course, the Turks. You won't be allowed access until we've had you trained for security clearances. If you ever need anything, let me or Rude know. We'll spend some time here now."

They watched as Elena and Shingo walked down the aisles of weapons haphazardly placed on racks and littering the floors. Occasionally they had to step over fallen spears and swords. Shingo's first stop was the material barrels sorted by color but occasionally a stray materia was found in the wrong barrel. Digging through the magic materia, he found a level 2 fire, a level 1 ice nearly at level 2, a level lighting 1, an unused gravity, 2nd level restore, and a deathblow. In the support materia, he found a level 2 all and an elemental materia.

Leaving the overflowing barrels, Shingo walked around looking at the racks of weapons. In SOLDIER he had spent a lot of time working with rifles and swords. He figured he would not stray too far from those two and went to look at the pistols. He found Elena standing there debating between two guns. "These were the best that I could find," she said and handed them to Shingo. One was obviously stronger and could allocated more materia. The other was for more basic use, but it was a decent gun. "Do you want one?" Elena asked. Her face was showing some strain of the long day.

Shingo reached for the one that could not carry as much materia. He knew that Elena preferred guns as weapons. Nodding, Elena began looking for armor as Shingo began looking for a reliable sword. A heap of swords greeted him when he rounded the corner. Some dangled precariously on the shelves, some were heaped on top of each other at all angles, and some were simply scattered all over the floor. He figured that no one came by often to clean. After picking up a sword, he would dump it on the floor if he did not like it. Fifteen minutes later, he unearthed a Heaven's Cloud. Surprised at the find, he could not put it down. What was such a fine sword doing at the bottom of the pile?

"Shingo!" Elena called from the a few rows away. Shingo went looking for her passing Rude and Tseng standing at the materia barrels. "I found two Shinra Alphas." She handed one to the blonde haired boy.

"Look at what I found!" he whispered excitedly, but the metal room carried his voice through an echo. He proudly held out the Heaven's Cloud. Although Elena was not fond of using swords, she knew a good one when she saw it.

She let out a low whistle. "That is a find."

Excited at the treasures they were finding, Shingo was determined to find more weapons. "I think I'm going to go find a knife," he said taking the Shinra Alpha Elena offered.

The knives were housed near the materia barrels. Most of them were on the floors rather than neatly placed on the racks designed to house the knives on the wall. Shingo picked two small knives to carry in case of emergencies. He looked up as Tseng approached. "I found a poison materia that you might find useful," he said.

Elena approached carrying her finds while trying to put on her armor to free up a hand. "Thank you," Shingo said taking the offered materia. He picked up another knife and handed to Elena as she was inserting materia into her new armor. "Just in case."

As Elena approached Tseng tossed her a Mystify materia. She looked at it excitedly and immediately allocated it to her armor. "Are you done now?" he asked, looking at his watch.

Shingo looked around him and spotted a small basket gleaming with summon materia. "Can I look at that quickly?" he asked while walking towards them. Tseng nodded and turned to look at Rude who was looking at gloves nearby. "Elena," Shingo waved her over. She huffed a sigh and began digging through the basket with her free hand. When she brushed by a materia, it lit up at her touch. The new recruits looked at each other, and Elena picked up the materia.

"It's an Odin," she said. Why did it light at her touch?

Shingo thought nothing of it and continued to dig until one lit at his touch too. Maybe it was the Mako. He held it up to the light. "Bahamnut?" he thought aloud.

"Time to go, kids." Tseng said. "One last stop before we take you to your new quarters."

Rude, Elena, and Shingo followed Tseng back to the elevators and he pushed for the 50th floor. "This floor is where my office and Heidegger's office is." He led them down the hallway with harsh lighting. They stopped at a door that read 'Turks' where a finger print scan allowed them to enter. Tseng turned on the light to reveal a selection of sunglasses sitting on his desk.

"Image is important to the Turks," Tseng explained, taking a seat behind his desk. "To maintain that image, I expect your suits to always be impeccable. Part of uniform, of course, is your sunglasses."

Elena, although tired, was wide eyed and excited at the thought of the final part of her uniform. She put on the closest pair of sunglasses and looked at Shingo. "How does this one look?" she asked.

"Um great," he replied absentmindedly, a little bewildered that something so small was so important…supposedly. He picked the simplest one he could find and tried it on to make sure it fit. Otherwise, he did not concern himself with it.

Rude had taken a seat on one of the two couches that were in the room. Shingo sat on the other side as Elena continued to try on the different sunglasses. He looked around at the sparse decorations and his eyes fell on a clock. It was already 10 o'clock? The meeting with Rufus was at 5. How did the time pass so quickly? Following those thought, Shingo tried to stifle a yawn. It had been a long day.

When Elena finally picked a pair of sunglasses, Tseng looked up from the files he was reading. "Rude will show you to your apartments," he looked at the other Turk. "I want you guys up and early to begin training. We'll meet at the elevators to floor 24. Dismissed."

Rude led them to the stairs that took them down one floor to the 49th floor. Plush carpeting and wood covering the walls were a stark contrast to the cold metal from the floor above. He stopped in front of a door that read 4922. "Shingo this is your room, Elena you're across the hall," Rude pointed at 4923. "Reno is in 4921, I'm in 4924. Tseng is further up the hall at 4950, though you'll have no business there." Rude handed them their new security cards. "Tomorrow we'll start basic combat and security training at six."

Shingo and Elena nodded as Rude left them and vanished into his room. "Goodnight, Elena," the younger Turk said as he opened the door to his room. She nodded in response, obviously tired from all the excitement and vanished into her own.

Inside his apartment there was a small kitchen, a two person dining table, and a couch. A short hallway led to a close door, which he assumed was the bedroom. On the table was a pile of his possessions. Too tired to care, Shingo did not even bother with the lights and simply dumping his new finds on the floor next to the table. He walked to the bedroom where a bed sat beside a nightstand adorned with an alarm clock and lamp.

Carelessly dumping his clothes on the floor, Shingo forgot how proud he was earlier to put it on and sat down on his bed. Shingo fiddled with the alarm clock until he set it for 5:30. Laying down he dimly thought of his whirlwind day before sleep overcame him.

-end chp. 1

So I'm rewriting this because of glaring errors and mistakes.

As a clarification, this has nothing to do with Advent Children or any Final Fantasy 7 spin offs nor will it include said releases in the future. It is based solely on the original game, and it will remain that way.