Fate has found
for themselves a new objective
. . .
This time, they plan on
 corrupting the purest of hearts

-

. . s t a r r i n g . .
(listed in order of appearance)
Yuffie Kisaragi
Reno of the Turks

in

a u t u m n    l e a v e s

The chilly, autumn zephyr breathed against her flawless skin as she watched the heavenly sun stir from its nightly resting place.  Surrounding her, foliage of golden yellow and royal red danced and whirled around before making its descent down the majestic Da Chao.

There goes another red one.  She thought as her eyes traced the zigzagging route of a newly fallen leaf.

Wrapping arms around herself, she inhaled and let the frosty, crisp morning air of fall overwhelm her lungs.  He's late again.

Out of nowhere, a tiny, ridiculing voice from the back of her head commented on the previous thought.  No surprises there, little ninja.

But he promised me he'd be on time.  Mentally, she retorted the tiny voice with harshness, yet the world could not hear the heartache and disappointment hidden behind the silent remark.

He's lied to you many times before and you still believe him?  Yuffie Kisaragi, you are the most gullible person, declared the voice in a sing-song voice.

Thinking herself mad, she shook her head gently to rid herself of the inner tormentor.  To her surprise and relief, it did not return to finish its haunting.

Yuffie shifted her gaze onto the ascending emperor of the sky.  She was mesmerized by its celestial beauty yet envied passionately.  Yes, for the first time in her life, Yuffie Kisaragi bathed in envy . . . in jealousy.

She thought it unfair that the sun did not have to be concerned about anyone but itself, rising each morning regardless of how much misery the world felt.  Wishing to be just as unsympathetic and uncaring, a small sigh escaped her natural crimson lips.

Why can't I just forget about what happened during the past few months? Why can't I forget him?  Yuffie found herself asking this question once again.

She felt her mouth go dry as memories – ones she would rather leave behind – came flooding back to her . . .


-.-.-


"So how did your romp go with your slut, Reno?"  She asked the red-head the morning following his absence.  Yuffie gave him a smile lacking even a minuscule trace of emotion.

Reno walked into the room and heaved his navy blue suit into the corner.  He plopped down next to Yuffie on the bed and laid his arm across her shoulder.  "Pretty good. She was quite a decent fuck."

"Get your hands offa me."

Reno's hand stroked her inner thighs, ignoring her previous comment.  He whispered, "Perhaps, even a better fuck than you ever will be."

She shook off the touches without his help and situated herself off the bed.  "What part of 'get your hands offa me' did you not understand?"

He laid back on the bed in a relaxing way and lazily said, "What did you have stuck up your ass last night?  I was only stating the truth.  If you can't accept it, then that is your problem."

"Is that the Turks' specialty?  To love a person one minute and the next, to fucking blow their asses off?"  Yuffie had not intended on mentioning the word 'love' in front of Reno and regretted her foolish error right after.  She wasn't exactly looking forward to hearing his reply.

"Love?  Don't get me wrong, but I have never said the words 'I love you' to you.  If you think that I did for even a negligible second, I have one advice for you."

Curiosity caught the better side of Yuffie.  She gulped down all her pride and asked, "That would be?"

"Stop basking in your fantasy and smell the coffee, sugar."

-.-.-


Yuffie brought a hand up to her forehead.  What if I hadn't left?  Oh to hell with that idea.   Any girl in their right state-of-being would have left.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a minute glimpse of red, wind-blown hair.  She immediately sensed the absence of the wind as it was replaced by heat protruding from another person, a person standing so very close to her.  She shivered slightly.

When had he last stood this near?  She couldn't remember anymore but never mind that.  It didn't matter.

He arrived.  He was here.  Late, but he had made it.  That was all that mattered.  Nothing else.

Somehow, emptiness still lingered in her heart.  Emptiness she thought that he would most certainly have filled upon his arrival.  She pondered this over for a minute before reluctantly remembering that they weren't meeting on the best, or even good, terms.

Yuffie let out a hoarse laugh deprived of any sentiment.

He placed his callused hands on her shoulders and slid his way down her arm, pulling her closer to him.  The male then slowly trailed the tip of his nose up and down the girl's nape.

The ninja closed her eyes and leaned her head back faintly, presenting him with more access to her pristine skin.  She bit her lower lip to restrain a groan triggered by the gentle tickling on the side of her neck.  Instinctively, she reached back and caressed the back of Reno's neck in return.  Momentarily, she tossed out all her troubles and concentrated on the situation she was in.

Reno turned Yuffie around and gently pushed her onto a rock.  He encircled an arm around her slender waist and using his free hand, pushed the fabric away from her right shoulder.

The Turk extended his tongue out and tasted the exposed skin.

This time, Yuffie didn't restrain her moan.  Reno let a small, but infamous smirk adorn his features before continuing.  He snaked inward from the edge of her shoulder, enclosed his lips over her pulse and sucked on it competently.

Yuffie wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer in the process.  She freed the knot binding his hair together and ran her fingers through, causing it to become more tousled than before.

"Sugar."  Reno made a mistake in whispering his pet name for her.

Yuffie snapped out of her reverie.  She despised that word so much.  It was the last word he had said to her the previous time they met.  She pushed Reno off of her and took a few steps forward ending up with her back towards him.

Both of them stayed in ethereal silent.  She was perplexed by her true feelings toward Reno.  The Wutaiian had really wanted him to arrive even if he was a little bit late, but now, her hatred for him began to resume its place in her heart.  Did she love him?  Did she hate him?

"Aren't the leaves breathtaking around this time of year?" asked Yuffie quite randomly.

From behind, Reno quirked an eyebrow at her.  He leaned back against the boulder and tied his hair back into his normal pony tail once again. "Sorry, sugar, but I don't take notice of things like that."

"Beauty is transient, though.  Everything is.  Sooner or later, all the leaves are going to fade away; Death is going to come by in its carriage only to carry them off."  Yuffie's eyes landed on an adolescent tree with only a few leaves still hanging.  Every time the wind blew, more leaves fell and followed the path of the bypassing wind.

Reno took out a cigarette and dug for a lighter in the pocket of his bedraggled suit.  "Yuffie, don't tell me that you asked me to come all the way up here to look at scenery with you."  He took a long drag from his cigarette and billowed smoke back out in return.

She watched a handful of foliage fall off the juvenile tree and answered his question with one of her own.  "What do you think of us?"

"Us?  You tell me.  You were the one who walked out, not the other way around."  He took another drag from his cigarette.

Yuffie turned around to face him.  She narrowed her eyes into precarious slits.  "I did walk out.  But you know what?  You were the one who screwed around.  You were the one who criticized me for no reason. You were the one who fucked up, not me. And now you're acting all innocent?" asked Yuffie incredulously.

"Innocent?  Quite the contrary."  He threw the half burnt cigarette onto the ground and crushed it with the heel of his left foot.

She averted her eyes up to the cloud-scattered sky and let out a long sigh before staring into Reno's aquamarines.  "I'm not you.  So I can't speak for your half.  All I'm going to say is," she turned around and faced the young tree once again, "as that last leaf falls, the last drop of my love fades."  Yuffie pointed a slender finger at a solitary leaf clinging to the tree while wishing for its life to continue on.

Reno finally took apprehension of what Yuffie meant when she had asked him about the leaves during the beginning of their conversation.  He stared at the insecure leaf attentively.  "In other words, the mere sight of me sends you hurling into an endless pit of detestation, correct?"

All of a sudden, he wasn't sure if he wanted the leaf to fall or not.  Perhaps, he did love her after all.  But that could not possibly be factual.  He was Reno of the Turks, the insensitive womanizer who didn't fall prey to any woman.  The day I die is the day I love her.

Yuffie shook her head delicately.  "No, I won't hate you.  If I do, that means that some kind of emotion still bonds me to you.  My intention is to not feel anything for you at all.  So when Death comes by for that leaf down there, I'll let it capture my love and hate as well."

Unexpectedly, something dawned on the ex-Turk.  In front of him no longer stood the young, childish girl of sixteen but rather a mature, independent woman.  "Not that I am concerned or anything, but you're letting a fucking piece of leaf decide your future for you?" asked Reno.

Yuffie could have sworn she heard a touch of regret in his question.  She wasn't definite if she had.  Then again she wasn't definite about anything anymore.  Finally, she persuaded herself into believing that it had only been a mistake, nothing more.  "Whether or not I let the leaf decide, my future doesn't look like it includes you."

A gush of wind blew by and left the tree leafless and bare.  The tiny yet significant leaf swiveled upward.  Slowly, the effects of gravity played its role.

Say something.  Say anything.  Say you love me.  Yuffie pleaded silently as she eyed the falling leaflet.  She felt her eyes growing watery as her heart shattered.  No, I won't cry, at least not here. Not now. Reno is not worth my tears.

The leaf twirled one last time in the air before mellifluously blending in with the rest of its kind.

Yuffie turned around and took a concluding glance at Reno. "I guess it's goodbye," she whispered.

She started walking away from him.  At first, her steps were slow and small.  Deep down, Yuffie yearned for him to prevent her departure.  As she became conscious of the fact that he wasn't going to, her pace quickened.

Unable to confine the tears any longer, she granted them permission to flow without the accompaniment of sobbing.

The taunting voice from before came back one last time.  You still love him.


Author's Note–
This was written as a birthday present for Peizhen [better known as scarr around here].  Of course, compared to her works, this piece is nothing but ordinary and plain.  Sweet sixteen, dear friend!


produced by:
Jennifer, Nov. 9, 01