Life's Little Triumphs--Gau
---
	Setzer was late, Gau noted.  Quite unusual, 
considering that Setzer almost always arrived on time, 
and Gau would help Setzer deliver supplies to the other 
towns.

	As time passed, Gau became increasingly 
worried.  Did Setzer's airship crash, like the previous 
one had?

	Gau decided to ask Cyan if he had seen Sezter. 
Getting out his compass, Gau found which way was north 
and began walking.


	"Welcome, Gau!" Cyan shook Gau's hand warmly.  
"What brings thee to Doma?"

	"Setzer not come to get Gau," Gau explained.  
He frowned.  "Wait, that not sound right..."

	Cyan clapped a hand on Gau's shoulder.  "Thou 
art already improving greatly.  So thou sayest that 
thou has not seen Setzer?"

	Gau nodded.  "Have Cyan seen Setzer?"

	"I'm afraid not, Sir Gau."

	Gau's face fell.  "Oh.  Well, thank you, Cyan, 
Gau needs to get going so that Gau won't be too late to 
old man's house." He turned to leave.

	"Hold, Sir Gau." Cyan turned and spoke a few 
words to a soldier. "Take thee a chocobo; thou shalt 
get to thine destination much faster."

	Gau wanted to hug Cyan, but he restrained 
himself.  "Thank you very much, Cyan!"


	Gau slowed the chocobo to a stop as his 
father's house came into view.  He had been coming 
almost every day to make some kind of repair on it, and 
it almost looked brand new now.  Gau wondered what 
would happen when there was nothing left to repair.

	The aging gentleman walked out of the house and 
brightened.  "Ah, there you are! I was wondering when 
you'd get here."

	Gau grinned and walked forward, handing the 
reins to his father.  "Sorry Gau late."

	Gau sat down at the table, and noticed a vase 
of fresh flowers sitting on it, as well as a framed 
picture.  Turning the picture towards him, he saw that 
it was that of a well dressed young man standing next 
to a very beautiful young woman in all white, both 
smiling happily.

	'Mother...' Gau felt a lump rise in his throat.

	"That's my dear wife," the old man explained, 
pouring Gau a cup of tea.  "She passed away a long time 
ago..." The old man suddenly stared at Gau straight 
into his eyes.  "You! You have her eyes..." Shakingly, 
he reached out and touched a strand of Gau's bangs.  
"And her hair..."

	Gau almost didn't dare do breathe.  His heart 
beat rapidly in his chest, so much so that he thought 
it would burst.

	And then old man's eyes went wide with fear.  
"Have you come for me as well?"

	Gau's bubble burst painfully.  "Huh?"

	The old man backed away from Gau.  "Don't 
pretend! I saw you! You were the one that took my 
Annabel away from me!"

	Gau shook his head.  "No, no, Gau..."

	The old man began grabbing things and throwing 
it at Gau.  "Stay away from me! Go! Scram!"

	Gau could hold his tears no longer.  He turned 
and fled, not even caring that he had left the chocobo 
behind.

	"Go on! Git!" The old man screamed, 
continuously showing Gau with whatever he could get his 
hands on.  He untied the chocobo and gave it a hard 
shove.  "And take your devil bird with you, too!"

	But Gau was already running into the horizon.


	Gau crashed through the forest barely aware of 
the branches cutting into his skin and the sharp stones 
under his feet.  What he did feel, though, was his 
heart breaking.

	/Monster...monster...monster.../

	The word echoed again and again in his ears, 
and the image of his father staring at him with fear 
and hate etched itself firmly in his mind.

	Gau's foot caught onto something, and he 
tripped into the shallow stream before him.  The icy 
water stung his wounds and he could taste blood in his 
mouth from cutting his lip at the fall.  Instead of 
getting up, though, Gau started laughing.  Anybody who 
might have passed through the forest at that moment 
would have stopped to see this strange sight, a young 
man dressed in animal skins, laughing and crying and 
throwing up droplets of water.

	But there was no one else.
---
One of the lesser-known side quests of FF3 can be 
accomplished by heading to the crazy old man's house 
(north of the Veldt) with Gau in your active party.  
The second time you talk to him, the rest of your party 
members will realize that the old man is actually Gau's 
father.  When they try to reconcile father and son, 
however, the old man insists that the baby he had 
abandoned on the Veldt was actually a monster.  
Naturally, everybody's mad at the guy for being such a 
jerk, but Gau steps in, and haltingly declares that he 
is happy because his father is still alive.

While Gau's mother is never named in FF3, I thought it 
was appropriate to name her after Edgar Allen Poe's 
short-lived love _Annabel Lee_.
---
-"Dot"
Dot-Chan on #fanfic at bachman.newberry.edu (FFIRC Chatroom)
Proud member of CAPOW

http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/italian/70
http://members.xoom.com/dotchan (mirror)

--Writer of Unnecessarily Long Author's Notes and Bad Spamfics. ^^;
--Bane of the FFML since 1998. ^_^
--Coming soon to your local inbox: Dragon Ball stories 
with -gasp- plot! ^_^



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