In which Reno tells all to a camera and finally releases the burdens from inside his heart.
"Elena was with me when it happened.. she stood loyal to my side right until the end. And I'm glad she did. I don't know how far I would've gotten if it wasn't for her help."
The old man sighed and allowed his eyes to slip closed as he recounted the memory of the little blonde Rookie fighting beside him. He could still see the surpressed fear in her eyes, smell the blood of the enemies they had slain. They were used to death; it was around them every day. But to see so much bloodshed, to smell and taste the coppery tang and know that it was by their hand, it was almost to much to bare.
"By Goddess she was loyal. She knew what I had done, she wouldn't leave me alone. She fought with me, even though she lost a little piece of herself. I think maybe that was the day I realised her love for me. I had only thought of it as a fleeting crush before that. My arrogance assumed she fancied me and I played on it. Looking back now, there were always signs that her heart belonged to me. I was a notorious lothario. Yet her heart stood true to me."
A smile lit up the wrinkled face and fond eyes gazed over the picture that was clutched tightly in his fingers. He stood behind Elena, his arms wrapped protectively around her and held her tight to his chest. Her hands rested upon his and a blissful smile lit up her beautiful face.
"She always was such a happy one. Always waiting with a smile or a little joke to keep the office spirits up. An asset to the Turks. But, it was the Turks that broke her."
Sadness crept in. That day, that one fateful day, changed and ruined everything. Heartache gripped him tightly, almost bringing tears to his piercing blue eyes.
"ShinRa was a black spot on humanity but it was a job, a way to pay the bills. After the Geostigma was cured and life started to return to normal, we tried to rebuild. We rebuilt ShinRa and we started to try and help rebuild the world we had destroyed. It was hard; our reputation preceeded us. But, slowly but surely, we started to make a positive change. Everything was going so well, and it looked like life was finally letting us have an easy ride for a change."
His finger brushed over Elena's face and he could almost feel her soft skin brush against his for the millionth time, smell her perfume wrap around him and lift him soaring into bliss. Even the thought of her was enough to calm him, send him spiralling into unrequited happiness.
"Then she was attacked. It was supposed to be a standard mission. Something, somewhere, went wrong. Lines of comminication were crossed, information reported wrong or someone set her up. But Elena was sent alone on the grounds that she was only to gather intel. The warehouse she was sent to was supposed to be empty. But when she got there, she was massively outnumbered. They hurt her. Goddess, when we found her, she was a mess."
He closed his eyes again and leant back in his chair, fighting back waves of pent up emotions. It was hard; the thought of her in that state was enough to make him want to cry for a week and scream at the Heavens.
"I remember being terrified. Oh I was so scared. We all thought we lost her; she'd lost so much blood by the time we arrived and her injuries were so severe that we thought we could never get her back in time. But by some miracle, we managed to keep her alive until we got her back to headquarters. In time, she healed. But she was never the same. And that was it.
"You see, we hold all sorts of confidental information. Everyone in that building was a security risk. We could never be allowed to leave. Not voluntarily. That was how poor Zack Fair met his end; of course, we could never talk about that. But when Elena started to crack under pressure, we new we had to do something. We all knew the price she would have to pay if those above us found out. We simply couldn't let that happen.
"But they started asking questions. They were asking the questions no Turk wanted to hear and Elena was buckling under the strain. Plus, the workload was increasing and the physical demands went up. She couldn't take it anymore.
"I was with her. We'd been drinking and I'd taken her home. Of course we slept together. We had the confidence of alcohol in our veins and we were keen to vent the frustrations of our job somehow; and that manifested itself in beautiful and passionate sex. I can remember our first time, even now. We lay together and we spilled our souls for the other to see. We were physically and emotionally naked and she had never looked so beautiful to me.
"She told me everything. How she still hadn't recovered from her ordeal, how it still plagued her on each mission. It would give her panic attacks and would leave her incapacitated while out on assignment. She told me that she felt like she was drowning. How she would go into work every day, sit at her desk and try to work her way through the endless amount of paperwork. How she would regard the rest of the office and see smiles and laughter and only feel like her very heart had been torn from inside her.
"I quickly realised she was depressed. Depressed, stressed and desperate for help. And in mortal danger of being found unfit for service and exteriminated. So I hid her."
He laughed and tucked the photo back into his shirt pocket. He took a moment to pause in his story while he sipped his glass of water and ate half a biscuit. The memories of his youth flooded his mind and overwhelmed him in a flurry of mixed emotions. No matter what, he always looked fondly on his past. Well, most of it.
"I worked for weeks. I found the perfect little home for her where she could happily live without threat of discovery. She would be safe and I would always know where she was; I wouldn't need to fret or worry if she was okay.
"She didn't even protest. I appeared at her doorstep one night and announced my plan to her. She had expected it. We didn't take anything. All her things were left at hers and I drove her for hours. We drove and drove until we reached her new house.
"She loved it. She adored the place and it was then that I pictured myself living with her in that house. I could picture it all. A ring on her finger, two little children running around and maybe a pet or two. It truly was perfect. But I had to leave her there. I had to turn around and drive away, knowing I may never see or speak to her again. But to know she was safe was just enough to keep me going.
"We were tasked with finding her. Rufus was enraged that an employee of his had "deserted" the Company. He had made a silent promise that it would never happen while he was in control.
"We all knew. I informed the other two that I knew where she was, and that was all they needed to know. They didn't pester me for her location. They would simply hand letters for me to sent to her, which I did. None of us really tried that hard to found her. I think it was this attitude that alerted Rufus. Or maybe he overheard us talking one day?
"He was furious. He was threatening to exterminate us all if we didn't hand her over. He gave us a deadline of two days to extract her from where she was hiding and deliver her to him. He would shoot her himself.
"We visited. It had been.. six.. seven months? At least two seasons had passed since I had last seen her, and she looked a lot healthier and happier than when we had parted. She cooked a beautiful meal for all of us and it was a lot like old times. But we knew we had to do something. And that was the night it was decided."
He paused again, pulling the picture from his pocket to clutch it tight. If he held Elena to him, it would give him the strength he needed to carry on. It would serve him one last time.
"We killed the President. We informed him where Elena was hiding and told him we would have no part in the slaughtering of our friend. Predictably he arrived alone with nothing but arrogance to protect him. We killed him when he stepped over the threshold and buried him just outside the land of the house.
"We made up a lie; Rufus had gone on a trip to Costa Del Sol and never returned. And the public lapped it up. Who would blame his precious Turks? His lapdogs? ShinRa was ruined. And so it collapsed. People moved on.
"I married Elena and we had a beautiful little girl. When she was six, Elena became sick. She was unable to have anymore children but we were blissfully happy. Honestly? The murder of The President didn't plague us. We were surprised that there weren't any serious consequences but we had everything we wanted and more.
"I tell you this now because my life is nearly over. I'm an old man now. I don't want this to follow me to the grave. I don't regret it; not one bit. Rufus' murder allowed me to marry a beautiful woman and have my own family. The loss of one granted hundreds more their own. I do not condone our actions at all. I know what we did was sickening.
"But when I die, this secret dies with me. Before I go, I want to give Rufus some justice. His remains should be excavated and given a proper burial, something we denied him. This is my confession. This is Rufus' justice."
Blue eyes lifted to stare into the camera that was aimed at his face. The crew behind it just stared at him, lost for words. With the confession out and the interview finished, they packed their things and left. The confession would send shockwaves through the public and they could almost hear the money rolling in.
With the TV crew gone, Reno slowly eased himself from the seat and shuffled to the kitchen. He filled two glasses with water and placed them on a tray. He watched the water move as he carried it up the stairs. The waves started off small but got bigger and bigger until they nearly spilt over the edge of the glass.
"Are you ready, my love?" His voice shattered the silence of the bedroom he had walked into. Elena lifted her gaze from her book to the man in the doorway and her face broke into a brilliant smile at the sight of her dear husband. Love swelled in Reno's heart. Every time he saw her it felt like the first time, and his love still burned as brightly.
"I'm ready. Are you all finished?"
"I told it as it was."
"Good." She took one of the glasses of water and Reno climbed into bed beside her. Together, they took a pill each and snuggled down into the bed together, entwined in each others arms, "We've had a good life. Rufus never had that chance."
"Maybe not. But if we hadn't killed him then, we'd all be dead long before now."
"How long until it works?"
"We should be gone within the hours." He kissed her forehead and held her a little tighter. He didn't fear death. He never had. Fearing death as a Turk was just silly. He would embrace his death and was glad that he was able to control his demise. He was equally glad that his wife would join him. They would step into the Lifestream together.
"I love you, Reno."
"I love you to.
They fell asleep long before the Lifestream claimed them. Elena and Reno died together, wrapped in each others arms and cucooned in blissful happiness and undying love.
Elsewhere, two other ex-Turks took their own lives. Tseng, Reno, Rude and Elena all took fatal pills to end their lives. All four died at the same time. They were physically apart but they had always been together.
Until The End.