Fanfiction by T. Avery

By T. Avery, Xiangchua@aol.com

"The Silent Observer"

Comments: This is my attempt to get into Midori Uzuki's head. She's definitely one of the more interesting characters in the game to me. These are just her thoughts on her family and the people around her. It seems that she wasn't very close to her father and maybe even looked down on him since she seemed to know about his shady past. She also knew about Fei. Anyway, this is full of spoilers so if you haven't beat the game then avoid this...unless you want to know what to expect. ^^; All characters are © by Squaresoft.

The moment I heard the name Fei Fong Wong, I knew that things would get strange. My parents had been talking about leaving Shevat upon hearing news of this mysterious young man's deeds from Emperor Cain, the puppet ruler of Solaris. As I saw the normally cheerful expression on Father's face change to one of trepidation and regret, I realized that he bore a heavier burden than I had ever imagined. I climbed onto Mother's lap and listened to their conversation.

"I was chosen for this long ago Yui. You know that," Father said taking his glasses off and putting a hand over his face.

Mother heaved a small sigh and put her hand over Father's free one. He looked as though he might cry at any moment, which made me wonder about him. Only a few hours ago, I saw him assisting the people in the building that held Shevat's food supply. His vast knowledge in machinery was always in high demand even if no one really trusted him because of his Solarian background; but now he was nothing like the man I knew him to be. I find it very odd how adults can seem so mature one minute then reduced to an almost child-like state as soon as they lose control over their lives.

"Hyuga," Mother said. "Do what you have to do."

I looked up at her in concern when I heard her voice crack. She was crying. I suddenly wanted to kick Father. Why did he have to go and make things complicated for us? What was wrong with him telling Emperor Cain that he didn't want the job? I glared at him as he clasped Mother's hand. He had lost his entire family to a plague that ravished the lower levels of Solaris when he was twelve years old and he know how it felt to be left behind. Why was he leaving us?

"Thank you...Yui," he said putting his glasses back on. He got up to leave and Mother tried to follow.

"Midori darling," she said ruffling my blond curls. "Mother has things to do. You'll have to get up."

I folded my arms across my chest and pouted. I knew what she wanted to do. She was going to go after Father and ask if we could accompany him. I did not think I would like that very much. We should come first, not his stupid promise to that wrinkled old thing. I was momentarily distracted by a flock of colorful birds flying by the window and thought about this morning when Mother and I fed them. I did not want to leave Shevat and I did not want Father to leave either. Who would feed the birds? I did not move, and began to cry when Mother picked me up and carried me to my room.

"Someone needs a nap," she said with a sad smile. She put the blanket over me and planted a kiss on my forehead. I screamed again when she left and returned with a bottle in her hand. She handed it to me in hopes to pacify my screaming, but I cast it aside and continued. I loathe not being able to speak well enough to express myself. At this rate, neither one of them will understand what I want. "Oh Midori please stop it," she said picking me up once again. I put my thumb in my mouth and glared at Father who had decided to invade.

"What is it?" he asked reaching out to hold me. I shrank away then felt guilty when I saw the hurt look in his eyes. "Midori, what's the matter?"

I turned my face away from him and rested my head on my mother's shoulder. I felt her sigh again and began to feel worse. My crying did not seem to make things any better for her so I kissed her cheek and hugged her to let her know that it was not her fault. I heard my father walk away and looked back to see him sitting at the kitchen table again. Mother put me down and I looked at Father long and hard. His mind was in chaos. He did not want to leave us, but his duty as the Guardian Angel of Solaris forced him to leave us behind. He had considered asking us to come, but thought that we would refuse to go to the surface. He also felt that we would be in danger if Fei ever lost control of himself. I realized that he did care about us. I began to feel a wary forgiveness toward him, pulled on Mother's skirt, and pointed at Father. She smiled down at me as if she knew what I was thinking and sat across from him. I tried to climb onto Father's lap, but he was too tall. He looked down at me in mild amazement and helped me up. I let out a joyful gurgle and banged a spoon on the table.

"May we accompany you to the surface Hyuga?" Mother asked.

Father's face lit up then darkened. "It is dangerous love," he said sadly. "I would not want anything to happen to you."

A tiny smile played on Mother's lips. "Hyu darling. You know that I'm more than capable of defending myself."

"Yes I know," Father said clasping her hand. "Just give me some time. I have to procure proper housing and make sure that Fei is warmly accepted into Lahan."

"The Emperor has told you everything I see," Mother said. "When will you allow us to come?"

Father cleared his throat a bit nervously and I immediately knew that he was keeping something from us. He had no idea if we would be able to come much less when. "There are many things I have to do before I go and even more when I get there. It could take months...even years before I get everything going smoothly."

"I suppose we'll have to wait for you then," Mother said trying to appear nonchalant. Her eyes betrayed her and I wondered how I felt about having to wait a long time to see Father again. I decided that I was fine with it as long as it was not too long. Mother looked at me and knew what I was thinking. She seemed to agree. "But what will you do? You cannot go to the surface calling yourself Hyuga and telling everyone your true identity."

Father, glad that the conversation had shifted to a lighter subject, smiled a little. "True. I have most of it figured out though. I will call myself Shitan Uzuki and I will act as the local doctor for Lahan."

"Shitan Uzuki?" Mother said. "How did you come up with that name?"

Father shrugged. "Well, I think it was a student at Jugend or maybe just a name I heard some time ago."

I was beginning to find the conversation a little boring and snuggled closer to Father and stuck my thumb in my mouth. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was the two of them laughing together.

Our trip to the surface was rather uneventful. Father was waiting for us where we landed, and I was glad that nothing had changed about him in the year that we were separated. He told us everything about Lahan on the way to our new home and talked about Fei and how good an artist he was and that we would love the house and the people in the village. I looked up at him and felt his excitement. It was an interesting change to Shevat. The surface, or Ignas as Father called it, was much bigger than I had thought and I wanted to see everything. Unfortunately, I knew that I would not be able to do that. Father had his patients to take care of, and mother had cook and clean. A few hours later, we were close enough to where we could see Lahan.

"There it is," Father said pointing at a house in the mountains.

Mother's eyes widened slightly. "Are you serious Hyu?"

"It is Shitan darling," Father said as we started walking along the mountain path. "Please try to remember."

"All right...Shitan," Mother said with a smile. "Is that Fei walking toward us?"

I looked from our house to the young man running toward us and pulled on Mother's skirt. She picked me up and I buried my face in her shoulder suddenly shy and very tired.

"Hello Fei," Father said kindly.

"Doc! I was just coming to visit you," he said loudly. "This is your family?"

"Yes it is Fei," Father answered. "This is Yui my wife, and you will see Midori when she is not being so shy."

I turned my head to look at Father and he patted my back with a smile. He seemed very calm despite the fact that Fei was nothing short of a bit...odd. He was so bouncy and loud. I closed my eyes and felt mother shift as she shook Fei's hand, which he did so vigorously that I thought she might drop me. I could tell that she liked him, although he made her slightly wary. She put me down and I clung to Father's leg and put my thumb in my mouth. I wanted to go to bed. I did not want to be near anyone except my family. Why was Father just standing around talking about a man named Chief Lee and two other people named Timothy and Alice? After listening a while longer, I concluded that they were Fei's friends and guardian. I was starting to fall asleep against Father's leg when I heard Mother interrupt the conversation. I looked up at her.

"Shitan darling?" she said placing a hand on Father's arm. "Midori and I are going home. She needs her nap."

Father looked down at me. "Indeed," he said and turned to Fei. "We will continue this conversation another time. Maybe you could come for dinner later on."

"Dinner?" Fei said. I smiled slightly at the startled expression on his face. Cooking was not Father's strong point. Mother snickered and took my hand. "A-are you sure Doc? Sh-shouldn't your wife...erm....Yui do the cooking?"

"But you have never tasted my cooking Fei," Father said. "Chief Lee's cook said that it was very interesting."

I looked up at Fei who had a totally priceless expression on his face. His thoughts were more jumbled than normal and I was having a hard time trying to penetrate his mind. Then his mind opened so suddenly that I got dizzy and had to cling to Mother for support. After I recovered a little, I risked taking another mental examination of his mind. I was shocked to realize that his mind was similar to those of people with amnesia. He seemed to have no childhood memories, and what memories he did have were only of Lahan and Father. I began to feel a little guilty for intruding when all I wanted to know was what he thought of Father's cooking and that was easy to find once I concentrated on looking for it. He thought it tasted like the stuff Father used to keep his machines oiled. I shook my head remembering the time he tried to give me his own version of baby food when Mother was sick. Oil was an apt comparison.

"Someone is not feeling shy anymore," Father said looking down at me. "Will you say 'hello' to Fei now Midori?"

I looked up at him then at Fei and waved at him. "Hello," I said softly.

"Midori will be four soon," Father added.

"Four huh?" Fei said with a grin. He kneeled in front of me. "What do you want for your birthday?"

Without meaning to, I yawned and rubbed my eyes. As for the question, I did not know. My silence did not seem to bother Fei at all. His grin widened and he stood up again.

"Well Doc. I gotta go tell Chief Lee that I'll be having dinner with you and your family," Fei said wiping sweat from his brow. "Hey. Do you think he'll want to meet them right now?"

Father seemed to consider the question, then noticed the tired look on Mother's face. I sighed and sat on the ground brushing bits of grass from my dress. He shook his head. "Not today. They have come quite a distance. Perhaps later on or tomorrow."

"Oh okay," Fei said running in the opposite direction. He leapt across a gap with ease. "Thanks!"

"Hmmm," Mother said as Father put his arm around her. "He's not such a bad person."

"I thought you would like him."

I got up and followed them toward the huge house. My parents stopped to marvel at the view of a desert, a forest, and Lahan. I listened eagerly as Father said the names of the places. The Blackmoon Forest led to Aveh's desert, and of course, Lahan was the place where Fei lived. We walked toward the house and Mother started to laugh. I looked at her as she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. Father smiled.

"Ah I see you have noticed the sign," he said.

Mother shook her head. "'No deceased' Shitan? What exactly do you have to put up with here?"

Father laughed and spread his hands. "It is true. Someone actually brought a dead body up to me last month. There was nothing I could do about it. The family understood though and disposed of it properly. Oh I sound so cold," he added as they walked into the house.

I lingered near the sign trying to decipher the words on the sign. Father was teaching me how to read. I knew Mother thought that I did not understand him, but I was...in a way. I knew a few small words, but the message on the back of the sign had me totally confused.

"The shiny farhead is the pruf of justis! Stop the njections yew quack!"

I put a hand to my chin and unconsciously began to tap my foot. What could that mean? I knew it was not Father's handwriting and I wondered who would dare to deface our property. I was still thinking about it when Mother called me from the doorway. I ran toward the house and found myself wishing that Mother would hurry and cook so Fei could come back. Aside from his bounciness, I liked him, but I was so sleepy. I tried to cover my yawn, but mother picked me up and carried me up to my room. I was amazed that it was almost identical to my room in Shevat and instantly felt better about being away from there. Mother sat in a rocking chair and read a story to me. As she put me to bed, I looked up at her.

"Fei?"

Mother smiled. "I'll let you know when he comes all right."

I nodded and closed my eyes.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the dinner Fei," Mother said as Fei stuffed his mouth with the last of his bread.

He nodded vigorously and gulped down some milk. "I don't get food like this often," he said chewing contentedly. "Chief Lee's cook has been slacking lately. Doc says she has arthritis or something and that's why."

"Well," Mother said gathering everyone's dirty dishes. "Midori likes to feed the birds, but I have to do these dishes and Shitan has a patient coming soon. Fei would you please take her?"

"Eh? Sure," Fei said. "Where's the birdseed?"

"Right on the shelf there," Father said turning a page in the book he was reading.

"Here?" Fei said reaching up to get the birdseed. He took my hand and led me outside in the backyard. I looked back and saw Mother wave from the kitchen. I waved back and joined Fei on the large rock where a number of chickens came up to us and several birds landed nearby for the food. They were not as beautiful as the birds in Shevat, but their friendliness made up for it.

"So you like birds huh?" Fei said tossing some seeds to the birds.

I looked over at him and nodded. I was not really paying much attention to him as I was watching the sky for any signs of Shevat. I heaved a sigh when I realized that it was so high that I probably would never see it again, but what caught my attention was the sky. It reminded me of a painting I saw in Shevat of a sunset. The artist painted the background of his canvas blue and orange and then made black clouds streak across the sky. It was not unlike what I was seeing right now. The real thing was much more beautiful than the painting could ever be.

"That's cool huh?" Fei said.

I nodded again and noticed that he had produced a sketchbook and sat sketching the sunset. I was amazed at his talent and wondered if he would teach me how to draw as well as he did. I watched as he shaded the dark clouds in and inadvertently saw into his mind again. It was completely different from the last time, and I wondered if I had done something wrong since my talent was not perfectly honed yet.

"Hey little girl!" a voice hissed.

I gasped and felt my skin go cold and prickly. How could Fei know how to look into someone's mind?

"What are you doing here you brat!"

"Who are you?" I asked.

"None of your damn business!"

I tried not to let the voice know that I was afraid. "Who are you?"

"Not Fei," it said with a slight sneer. "Just wait. They can't keep me hidden forever!"

This is so strange. How can another person be in Fei's head? I thought in alarm. That is not possible.

"Hey Midori. Ya want me to paint this and give it to you for your birthday?"

I jumped at his voice and looked over at him. He was showing me his drawing. "Okay," I whispered.

"You look tired. Wanna go back in the house?"

I shrugged and followed him to the house. If in fact the voice I heard was another entity within Fei's mind, then Father was right about the possible danger he posed to everyone. The conversation I had with the...It, for lack of a better word, seemed to open another path in Fei's mind, but I was not willing to explore it any further. I had enough. Now all I wanted to do was sit on Father's lap and have him read me a story. I did not stay in the kitchen as Mother and Fei talked. I just wanted to find my Father. The house was so huge and I was lost in a matter of moments. I saw a woman coming toward me and backed away. She kneeled in front of me and smiled.

"You must be Dr. Uzuki's daughter," she said. "I've been wanting to meet you and so has my son Dan," she turned to a sniffling boy behind her. "Say hello Dan."

Dan gave his mother a murderous expression and began to cry. "Oh Dan," she said picking him up.

"Midori?"

I nearly giggled in happiness as Father came into view. I ran to him and clung to his leg.

"Ah. There you are darling," he said to me. "I see you've met Dan and his mother."

"Lovely child. So quiet and well-behaved," she said over Dan's screaming.

I stuck my thumb in my mouth still clinging to Father's leg. He had been with them long enough. Ever since dinner was over, all he had done was ignore Mother and I. I wanted him to myself for once.

"Thank you. Did the medicine I gave you not work?"

Dan's mother held up a broken bottle with a sheepish smile on her face. "He threw it."

I looked up at Father who gave a tiny sigh and started to walk down the hall. I was not going to let go of him until he paid more attention to me. I was a bit angry to see that he seemed find it amusing that I was clinging to him and he practically had to drag his leg all over the house. Dan's hollering was getting on my nerves and I scowled up at him. Father closed his eyes a moment, took a deep breath, and kneeled in front of me.

"I will read to you later all right," he said. "You can wait for me if you want."

I climbed onto a chair as far from Dan as possible. His crying had quieted a little, and I wondered what, other than being a brat, was wrong with him.

"Daniel," his mother said through clenched teeth. "Please be quiet."

"NO!"

Father turned around with a disarming smile at Dan. As he walked toward him, I noticed the syringe in his hand and felt sorry for Dan. The boy began to cry even louder than before after Father gave him the shot and I put my hands to my ears. Father rolled his eyes and pulled something from his pocket. I looked closer and realized that it was my favorite candy from Shevat. Why was Father giving my candy to Dan? I glared over at the boy who was now quiet as a mouse save for his slurping and smacking. I walked out the room in a huff and sat at the kitchen table with Mother and Fei.

"What happened up there?" Fei asked. "Did Dan have to get another shot? I dunno why he won't take that medicine. How bad can it taste?"

"Well didn't you hate taking medicine when you were a child?" Mother asked.

Fei shrugged. "I dunno. Whenever I think about being a kid, my head gets all funky and I can't think straight. I don't even know who my parents are. Makes me wonder if I was born sixteen or something. "

"Oh I doubt that Fei," Mother said. "You'll remember your childhood when the time is right."

"Huh?" Fei said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that everything will be revealed to you eventually. I've never known my parents either."

"Oh," Fei said. "Sorry."

"It's all right. It doesn't bother me as much as it did when I was your age," Mother said as she swept the dust out the back door.

"Well Midori's lucky to have cool parents."

I looked over at him and he smiled.

"You're back? I thought I told you to stay away!"

I started and wondered if Fei knew what was going on. He was still talking to Mother and not paying much attention to me. I swallowed hard and tried to focus my mind on something else. Whomever was in Fei's head was very talented and he had a stronger mental hold on me than I thought. I shut my eyes tightly which was a mistake. I saw a small boy walking toward me. His eyes were covered with long, reddish-brown hair and he smiled slightly.

"You can't hide from me little girl. Just wait. I'll get them for doing this to me!"

I backed away from him. "Leave me alone."

"What can you do to me?"

"Who are you?"

"Id. Don't forget it!"

More Comments: Bwah. That wasn't too bad was it? Wow. This is short. Usually I get all long-winded and rambly.¬_¬;;;; Okay, okay. I know Midori is EXTREMELY articulate for a three year old...well she was two in the very beginning, but hey, look who her parents are. Intelligence is inherited and my cousin just turned...four I think and he was saying big words and stuff so I tried to use some of that. I read somewhere that she was a telepath so that's where I got her ability to read minds from. Gaaah! I had something else to say. Bear with me; it's 4:37am. Well, tell me what you think. ^_^