A/N: I meant to get this up yesterday, but life happened...


There's a yellowing piece of paper tacked to our ice box with a Razor Weed magnet. It's heavily crossed out and annotated with dates. The left column is a list of things I can do and the other side is for things I can't do. Both sides are almost full, but the right is mostly things that have been struck through. The left side has all my accomplishments, remembering each milestone. The list was Nanaki's idea to get rid of the crippling depression that began not soon after Vincent relocated us to Cosmo Canyon.

Our new home is beautiful. It is carved out of the very rock of the Canyon and it has a spectacular view, but there are way too many stairs. They are gentle, wide, and shallow, but for the first three days Vincent had to carry me up to our bedroom at night and down to the living room during the day.

So, the list starts off easy and celebrates the first time I was able to walk to the bathroom unassisted, or make toast, but then I got serious with my successes. It's not a great list, but it's mine. No one wants to focus on the things I can't ever do again, but I keep a mental list of those going so that no one else will know about it. It's much longer than five items. And in the few minutes I have by myself each day, I go over them again and cry. This morning as I search the list for flying, there is no trace of tears, and I'm able to recall all the other wonderful things that have balanced the ledger.

Vincent sits with his hip on the kitchen table and watches me. "It's about a third of the way down."

"I know, I'm just reminiscing. Like this one." I point to the one that says Walked to CC Market and back alone! The emphasis is in bright red ink, like I'd won a prize instead of accomplishing the grocery shopping.

"That was a good day," he agrees, "but not as good as the one below that."

Of course he's talking about the day sex returned to our lives, about seven weeks after my surgery – which was far too long to wait and took too many frustrating, aborted tries to get right without me getting light-headed and nauseous with the pains of sped up breathing – but eventually we figured out the positions to avoid and got our act together.

"Everything else I could have lived without, but not that, yo," I say, smirking. "But today was good, too. I didn't think I'd ever fly again."

"And you didn't need the oxygen tank."

"Which was even better. I hate that damn thing."

"Your blood pressure and pulse rate seem to drop when the stick is in your hand."

"I've logged so many hours in the cockpit of a helicopter – it's easier than breathing, hell, everything's easier than breathing, really, but flying is all muscle memory and instinct. I just wish…"

"What?"

"That I'd been brave enough to give it a little more altitude."

"Next time – save it for next weekend, and our trip to the Gold Saucer."

"Now that'll be fun. How many RSVPs do we have now?"

"Everyone's in, they never thought you'd get to forty-five, in fact Rude said that you've ruined the odds-making, but there still coming."

"I didn't think I'd get to forty-five, either," I say ,chuckling. "This is gonna be the best damn party ever."

Vincent hears something; I can only tell because his eyes track to the door. He's not tense though, so it's most likely friendly. Yes, there it is, the telltale gallop of Nanaki's paws running down the path. There are only two kinds of housing in Cosmo Canyon: the older individual tent/huts along the main ridge and the honeycomb complex that was built in recent years in the valley where we live. Nanaki lives in the older section, and despite the hut next to him being for sale when we moved, this place seemed a better fit in my infirmity. Nanaki overshoots our door and slides heavily into the end of the hall; he back tracks.

"Reno," he calls. "Are you home?"

"Come on in," I respond. I still don't have much volume, but he can hear me just the same. There are no door locks in Cosmo Canyon, something that freaks me out a little, so he pushes the door open with his muzzle and lets himself in.

"I have a favor to ask."

I nod.

"I need someone to watch my class today. I've been summoned to this conference call between universities, and they scheduled it right smack in the middle of my afternoon class."

I go back to the list on the ice box and annotate today's accomplishment with the date.

"Reno, are you listening to me?"

"Course I am, but I'll be fine alone while Vincent teaches your class, don't worry about me."

"I don't want Vincent; I want you."

"Me?" I say, dropping my pencil. I don't even bother looking for it, because I must surely be asleep. What had I been thinking? Flying without an oxygen tank? That couldn't have happened.

"Normally, you're right, I would have picked Vincent, but you're better suited to this group."

"Are they thugs?" Vincent asks, chuckling.

"I think I'm being insulted here," I tut.

"No, they are learning their second lesson on electronics."

"Yeah, no, you don't want me. I never even got passed first grade."

"He certainly doesn't want me," Vincent says. "I know how to set the time on my watch and make a call on this travesty of a phone. I still haven't figured out how to block Yuffie yet. Other than that you know –"

"Yeah, you're a real disaster," I sigh.

"Reno, it's only a couple of hours, and I'd consider it a big favor." I owe Nanaki more than a few hours, he has been at our side from the very beginning of our relationship and all the way through my recovery.

"It's gonna be hard for me to get there. I just don't have the vitality and stamina I used to. When do you need me there?"

"Two hours from now, that's why I rushed. I want you, but I don't want to make you sick. If you leave now-ish, you'll have plenty of time."

"I was planning on giving this to you at your birthday party, but now seems like a better opportunity." Vincent tosses a package at me. I open the sack; it's a small yellow gourd with a tail.

"What is it?"

"A Guard Source. It will permanently improve your Vitality by one full point."

"Holy Jenova! This is rare shit, where did you find it?"

"When I went up to the Northern Crater with Cid and Nanaki last month on the Materia hunt, we finally beat the maze and it was on one of the paths."

"That was a good damn trip," I say, and I'm so nervous I'll drop it that I hand it back. "Will you open it for me?"

It tastes like sunshine; it's warm and lemony with a crisp aftertaste. I don't notice an immediate change, but I haven't done anything either.

"I'll thank you properly later, Vincent, but I think I'd better get goin' if I wanna make it there on time."

"Would you like me to walk with you?"

"Nah, you've gotta finish leveling up those new Materia. I want to play with that W-Magic."

"Alright, call if you need me."


There are one hundred stairs between me and Nanaki's classroom. Vincent and I have walked every step of Cosmo Canyon – all 1,043 – during my recovery. It's another one of those milestone things, but without my afternoon nap, I'm dreading the trip.

I stop at Starlet's Pub, and buy a bottle of water. It gives me an excuse to rest before taking the next set of stairs. I look at my watch; I've made it halfway in less than a half an hour. That's about ten minutes quicker than any previous time, so yeah, the Guard Source is actually doing something. Now, if I could just drink another dozen…

I arrive at the Observatory – all the way at the top of the freakin' Canyon – with fifteen minutes to spare. Nanaki is there and he's got a kid with him setting up the classroom.

Nanaki smiles at me as I collapse into the desk nearest the door. "You got here early! That Guard Source really did the trick."


"This is Reno Valentine and he's going to be your teacher today while I go to a meeting." I wave a little from the stool next to the podium.

"Aww," the room choruses; I grimace. It's not like I want to be here either; hell, I'm not even qualified.

"Mr. Valentine is an electronics expert and he's going to help you with your unit today. Which you should be grateful for, since I have no opposable thumbs," Nanaki chuffs.

"Thank you, Mr. Valentine," they say in unison.

"Um, yeah, you're welcome."

"Ok, everyone, please be attentive and well-behaved and if I get a good report tomorrow, I'll take you into the observatory for a special showing."

"Awesome!" squeaks the girl with the pink hair. I knew, on some level, that Nanaki only taught geniuses, but somehow I thought they'd be older-ish. Nanaki walks beneath the curtain that separates the classroom from the next room. Seven sets of eyes swivel to me.

"Um, so, uh, does anyone have a question for me before we, um," I shuffle the papers looking for the lesson plan Nanaki left me, but I can't find it. I forget to breathe for a second, but all of the children have their hands up.

"Ok, how about you," I say, pointing at the boy in the first row. He's wearing a green shirt.

"Is your hair naturally that color?" he asks.

"Yes," I answer truthfully. Vincent had hated the idea of ruining my hair, so I'd let the white come in naturally. I am, however, completely confused by the question. "Next?"

The teenage girl in pigtails strains her hand up as tall as possible. She looks like she has to go to the bathroom. "Are you married?"

"Yes, but –"

"What's your wife's name?" someone asks without raising their hand.

"Um, my husband's name is Vincent."

"Do you have any kids?" I've completely lost control of the situation.

"Um, no. Does anyone have a question about, like electronics?"

"How do you make sure to prevent short circuits?"

"Um, I…"

"That's easy, Professor Nanaki went over that yesterday, you have to make sure that the positive voltage is never wired directly to ground, duh!" says the girl with the pigtails.

"I guess, maybe we should get started on your lab," I say as I finally find the lesson plan under my bottle of water. It's soggy, but I can still read the information.

"Ok, so everyone grab a potato, two nails, and…"