Summary: If he had told her, would she still be alive? But it was too late now. He'd never be able to look into her beautiful blue eye ever again. Giftfic for MysticSpiritus.

Disclaimer: Haven't we gone over this before? Broke college student! See? (turns pockets inside out and opens wallet; moths fly out)

Queen's Quornor: Mystic guessed correctly on the first-come, first-served challenge I put up in my last chapter of "Evidence of Sephiroth's Humanity", so I owe her a oneshot. She asked for something involving Reeve. I was going to be nice and write her a steamy little Reefie story, but there's a problem with that: I don't care for Reefie that much. Hell, I don't care for many of the Yuffie pairings, except Clouffie and the occasional Reffie. There is one Reeve pairing I enjoy, though I haven't seen more than one or two fics on here involving it. So I decided to write my own! I know it's not steamy, but I hope it satisfies, Mystic!

Regret

The door slid open with a quiet hiss, allowing him entrance into the Shera's sickbay. Shelke was talking to Vincent over a phone line, her vision of her surroundings impaired by the strange helmet she wore. As far as he could tell, she remained indifferent to his presence.

Grateful for the ex-Tsviet's distraction, Reeve approached the tank situated to her left. His brown eyes grew sad, wistful, as he gazed upon the comatose body of Shelke's older sister, Shalua.

He'd never told her how he felt. Shalua had been obsessed with finding her lost sister, fanatically driven to find her and rescue her from whatever hell Shinra had left her in. Reeve had admired her determination, so much so that he put aside his own feelings out of a desire to help her. He didn't want his affections to distract her from her goal, or be pushed aside because she thought he was being ridiculous. Men got just as self-conscious as women where their feelings were concerned. So he'd buried his affections, his interest, into a hidden corner of his heart and resolved to help her in her quest.

The fact that Shalua was still going strong had never ceased to amaze him. Half of her internal organs had been replaced with donated remains or plastic substitutes. Her left arm and eye were gone. Any of the wounds that resulted in those losses should have killed her, and the pain she suffered daily would leave most people crying in their beds. But she had always fought her way back from the brink of death. She struggled through her days without complaint. She refused to let herself die.

It was heart-breaking that she had forced herself to live until she found her missing sister. And then, just when she had found her, this had happened. And now he'd never look into her beautiful blue eye again.

Reeve pressed one hand to the cool glass encasing Shalua's body, closing his eyes to force back unbidden tears. Would she still be alive if he had told her? Was there some way to have saved her? Could she have slipped through the doors, beneath her prosthetic arm, as Shelke had?

Was she even capable of returning his love?

There was no way of knowing now. Azul had damaged too much of Shalua's brain for her to ever wake up again. Medical science could only replace and restore the other organs, the ones that kept a body functioning. Beyond a certain point, it could do nothing for the vessel that contained the person inside that body.

Shalua was gone. And nothing could change that.

He had to be a leader now, had to be the Commissioner of the WRO. His pain would have to wait until after Deepground was subdued and their victory was celebrated.

Shelke stirred in her chair, the slight movement breaking his trance. She would question him if she caught him here, and Reeve didn't want to tell Shalua's sister what her hesitation back at WRO Headquarters had cost him. He neither hated nor blamed Shelke, but he also didn't want her to think he did. She would have enough guilt to cope with, once she learned how to feel again.

Reeve swiftly kissed his fingertips and pressed them to the glass above Shalua's serene face, then hurried out of the computer room. Only when the threat of Deepground and Omega was ended would he allow himself to grieve.