Title: Girl In the Mirror

Character: Shelke Rui

World Count: 930

"I'm twenty years old today," Shelke said out loud.

The small, lithe girl in the mirror mimicked her. The face did not look a day over ten years.

That has to go, she decided. Stepping back, she assessed how she could get the offending piece of glass off the wall.

Shelke moved to the small kitchenette of her apartment, intend on getting a chair. When she passed the window, her reflection watched her solemnly.

She said a few choice words that would have made that young face cringe, if it had not been her own.

Changing direction, Shelke went back to the bedroom and pulled a peach colored sheet from the dresser. After she draped it over the mirror, it did not quite have the effect she had been seeking. It was too bright, she thought. The cloth needed to be black or something…

There was no logical reason to purchase black sheets. But, she thought as she eyed the window, she could afford drapes.

*.*

Her new apartment was part of a complex owned by the WRO, who she was currently working for. The building was for employees who were travelling, or who worked odd hours, or for the strange case of the child that preferred to live where she worked.

Reeve had offered her the job, but had tried to get her to take a vacation before starting it. That had not lasted long. She could not fathom the concept of leisure.

*.*

Tifa had done a good job pretending that she was sorry that Shelke was leaving 7th Heaven, but Shelke knew that she had fallen out of favor. It might have been after Shelke rearranged all of the bar's liquors alphabetically, chronologically, and by how full the bottle was. Since Tifa had long before memorized where all the bottles should have been, she was giving the wrong drinks for days.

Or it might have been after Shelke taught Denzel some swear words he had not heard before. She did not understand what the excitement was about, had the boy never heard Barret or Cid speak?

Maybe it was when she had told Yuffie how could she think that someone so withdrawn…like Vincent…could be interested in someone so emotionally noisy, like Yuffie?

*.*

There was a stir in the pit of Shelke's stomach. This was an emotion, she was sure of it. She just could not reason out which one it was.

She chose to ignore the feeling, as she had done for any emotion the last ten years. Eventually, it would just go away.

*.*

She entered the main building of WRO through a side door. Walking through the front tended to be a waste of time. The receptionist always made Shelke pause so she could pinch her cheeks or pat her on the head.

But someone made her stop anyway. A janitor caught her shoulder and asked, "Are you lost, little girl? Which floor does your father or mother work on?"

Shelke felt her mouth fall open. She did not recognize him, so he must have been new. As she started to reply, she saw behind him some employees she had seen before. They all had children in tow.

*.*

Her schedule already askew, she stopped by her boss' office. She waited until the people Reeve was speaking to left. As they passed her, she felt their eyes. They probably thought she was Reeve's daughter.

"What can I help you with, Shelke?" Reeve asked.

"I would have appreciated being forewarned that today is Bring Your Child to Work day."

"Oh."

"It has been a very trying morning. I must say I have not gotten my work done as normal," she said. "The new janitor asked me if I was lost, and which floor was my mother or father on. I told him my parents were dead, I was a child prodigy, and if he did not leave me be at that moment, his job was on the line." She tilted her head. "Do you think that was too emotional for the topic at hand?"

"No, I would say that was in line." He turned from her to hide his smile. Shelke's attempts at emotion, something she had suppressed while she was a member of the Tsviets, was often traumatizing to the other employees. Reeve doubted the janitor would be back again.

"I had six children try to set up play dates," Shelke continued. "And ten children shied away from me as if I had the stigma."

"You could take the rest of the day off, if you'd like," Reeve said.

"Why would I do that?" She asked.

"Some people need to take a break if they have been stressed."

Shelke thought of her apartment with the reflections. "No, I'll stay and work."

*.*

At the end of the day, she went back to the apartment. She was not bothered by it, she told herself.

The cloaked mirror stood out worse than before. She pulled off the sheet and stared at herself. Suddenly the feeling she had been suppressing came back ten fold.

Yuffie, who was almost the same age as Shelke, did not have to worry about being mistaken for a child. Her body was that of a graceful young woman. Yuffie could pursue any man she chooses, including Vincent.

Shelke was jealous.

*.*

She had cleansed herself of Lucrecia's memories, so she could not use that excuse anymore. Shelke sunk down to the floor.

"I hate you," she told the girl in the mirror. She directed it to the floor, so she did not have to see the girl repeat it.