Author's notes: Flashback, but I really like this one. And it's posted as a separate story as well, since I think it stands alone as a vignette well enough. Timing? Indeterminate, sometime after Shinra decided they wanted a base in Junon, but after they'd established a presence there and had begun building.

Blue eyes sparkled up at Reno, dark curls bouncing as the girl at his side tried to see everything around them at once. "It has to be fate," she decided with a grin. "Just think—if my bus hadn't been running early, I wouldn't have missed it, so I would have been gone by the time you got to the bus stop. If you hadn't been running late, you would have left with the rest of the Shinra group, and if you hadn't known my brother you wouldn't have cared even if you did see me there. All of those things had to work out right for us to wind up together like this today!"

Reno accepted her logic with a careless shrug. "Fates must like one of us, babe." He tugged lightly on one of her curls. "Pretty sure I'm the lucky one here, so it must be me."

"Silly." She leaned against him, smiling softly. "I've never had a day like this." She looked up at him again, a little shy, but clearly enamored "Dinner was wonderful. And…and it was nice to meet one of my brother's friends. I'm still getting used to him being gone." For a moment a cloud shadowed her face, then she smiled again. "Thanks for picking me up."

Reno steered her down a side street and across a construction site, approaching his destination from an oblique angle, hoping to get her there before she realized where they were going. To this purpose, he had parked his motorcycle a ways back and suggested they walk for a while. She slipped her hand into his and looked around curiously, staring up at the skeletal framework that would soon be part of the air base Shinra was building here.

Reno's PHS rang; the girl beside him fell silent immediately and tried to move away to give him some privacy. He tightened his grip on her hand and smiled down at her as he tugged the PHS out of his pocket and flipped it open. He knew who was calling—there was no need for words, he simply held it to his ear and listened to the brief message.

"Wrong number?" she guessed as he tucked it back into his pocket.

"Nope." They came around the corner of the half-finished building and he directed her attention to the destination he had chosen.

"This is my father's park!" She drew him through the open gateway that separated it from the construction site, and looked around at the oasis of greenery and life. A wistful look crossed her face. "Shinra wants him to sell them the land, but he won't. He always says the park reminds him of our mother…" Her teeth caught lightly at her lower lip as she glanced up at Reno uncertainly. "Oh. I suppose you can't care very much for my father, since he's fighting your company, but it means so much to him. He's meeting with them today to talk about it…" She trailed off, letting go of his hand and wrapping her arms around herself.

"My feelings don't figure into it," Reno assured her. "You live near here, don't you? I thought it would be a good place to end our evening."

"Yes, just on the edge of the park." She didn't question how he knew. Disappointment creased her forehead into a tiny frown as she reached out to touch his sleeve. "Does it have to be over already?"

"Soon." Reno brushed an errant curl back from her face, and grinned at her. "Shall we?" With a grand gesture, he indicated that she should lead the way.

The sparkle returned to her eyes as she headed down the single stone path, turning to face him as she walked. "My father says that where Shinra builds, everything else dies. I've never been to Midgar, but he says there's no green left there." Pride lit her face as she waved at the park around them. "Here, there are flowers, grass, and trees; and wildlife to go with them. My father planted it all. He started when my mother got sick, and he always told her how it was going, and promised to bring her here once she was better."

Reno let the sound of her voice wash over him, nodding when it seemed appropriate, watching for a good place to stop. "Did he?" he asked absently.

"Yes." She stopped, and looked around. "It didn't look like this when he brought her here-that was ten years ago. It's grown a lot since. But I think she liked it." Like a butterfly, she was off again, dancing on down the path, pointing out flowers and trees. "Oh, come see!" Her hand slipped into his, and she drew him from the path, urging him toward a small bush with purple and blue flowers. "I forget what they're called, but aren't they pretty?"

"Beautiful," he agreed, glancing down at the tiny blossoms. "What's that over there?"

She followed his gaze, and tripped off in the direction he indicated. "It's a sundial," she explained, stopping by the low stone pedestal that had caught his attention. Up close, he could see the brass disc set into it, marked with the hours of the day. "Someone broke the style off, so it doesn't tell the time any more, but dad keeps saying he'll fix it one day, so here it stays."

Reno curled his fingers around hers, and handed her up onto the platform. She laughed, grabbing his shoulder for balance, then letting go and twirling around once, skirt swirling out around her like flower petals. "It looks different from up here," she claimed delightedly, looking down at the Turk with a superior grin. "I can almost see the sun over the trees."

"Spin like that again, babe." Reno gestured vaguely with his hand, bereft now of her touch.

"Twirl," she corrected, feigning a superior air.

"Twirl." Reno accepted the correction with an easy grin as his left hand slipped beneath his jacket.

She complied without hesitation, throwing her head back, closing her eyes, and spreading her arms, twirling gracefully on the pedestal, the dying light casting a golden shroud over her slender form.

A single shot rang out, shattering the serenity of the evening and startling a dozen or so birds into flight. Reno slipped the gun back under his jacket and turned to leave as the girl's body fell, his day's work now done. He hoped that this time her father would understand the futility of saying no to Shinra—the man only had one kid left, a daughter not yet out of school.

Sounds of panic reached him now from the direction of her house—a man's voice shouting a name, a child's voice echoing it fearfully—