Chapter One
Jenova
Reno and I were sparring in the garden at Healin when Rufus was visited by the silver haired men. I think I was winning, but I also think Reno was letting me. It was bare bones fighting, no weapons, no gloves, no nothing. We fought a lot, I think to compensate for the tension that was in the air whenever we were together. My feelings for Reno had only grown in their intensity over the last couple of years, but circumstances meant that we hadn't been able to act upon what we felt. I grew more and more frustrated by the day, wondering when we would finally get our time. And it never came, and so we had to resort to fighting to work it all out, our screams and groans as our flesh clashed the closest we got to pleasure.
I had just hit Reno hard on the side of the head, and he had fallen to the ground. He was lying there, grousing and muttering. I dropped to the floor beside him, sitting down. I grinned broadly.
'Who wins?'
He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, and then in a split second he was on top of me, pinning me down. Inwardly, I cursed myself. Reno is not only the quickest Turk, he fights the dirtiest too. He matched my grin, counting silently under his breath. One, two, three.
I thrashed and twisted under him, to no avail. 'Winner,' he pronounced, letting go of my wrists. He didn't move from me. We were both breathing hard.
'You cheated,' I stated, shaking my head.
He had the nerve to look affronted. 'Nuh uh! It's a fair move!' His face twisted into a smile. 'It's just your own problem that you can never tell when I'm gonna do it.'
Screaming I threw him over, rolling over so I was the one in control. I put my hand over his mouth to stop him from complaining, then pressed his hands beneath one of mine. I knew I could never hold him down like that, but he humored me.
'You win,' he said, words muffled by my hand. When I didn't instantly move it away, he licked me.
'Reno! Argh,' I shrieked rolling off him. 'That's so gross.' We lay on our backs in the grass, panting a little. I couldn't believe that a grown man of 23 would lick my hand. What a baby.
We were recovering when the yell came from within the lodge. For a second we both lay in silence, wondering what the hell had happened. Then it came again. Reno scrambled to his feet, then reached down and pulled me up. We ran inside, each unarmed. I was aware of Reno moving in front of me, for protection. I was both touched and offended at the same time.
Rufus was in the receiving room of the lodge. Surprisingly, he was by himself. Usually we tried to leave someone with him at all times. Tseng was the one who minded doing this the least and Rude was usually okay with it too. Me and Reno, being the younger two, generally got away with not doing it, which suited both of us fine, and I think it suited Rufus too. He's never liked Reno, and I think I annoyed him too. So Reno and I would spar and patrol, and Rude and Tseng would guard Rufus and rest, and that was how we lived. Until that scream pierced the air.
'Rufus, what's happened?' Reno ran to his side, looking both concerned and baffled. Rufus was sitting in his wheelchair just screaming intermittently.
'It's happening again,' he sobbed. Involuntarily I took a step back, frightened. Rufus was crying? What the fuck had just happened to him?
'Rufus... What's happening?' Reno asked, his voice unusually soft.
'Jenova,' said Rufus. 'We need... to get... Jenova.' He moaned, tipping forwards.
I frowned. 'Reno,' I said softly, tipping my head slightly towards where we kept our materia. I mouthed sleep, and he nodded. I quickly equipped the glowing orb, and cast the spell on our former leader before he had chance to upset himself further.
'What the fuck was that?' It was not really a question, but I felt as though I should answer it.
'I think he's hallucinating. Jenova's gone, Reno. What could he mean?'
Reno shrugged, looking unsettled. He then frowned. 'Where are Tseng and Rude?'
I was about to answer when I heard a dull thudding noise. I looked at Reno sharply. He nodded towards the small closet off the reception room. He approached it, slowly and cautiously, then yanked the door open.
I gasped. Tseng was within, bound and gagged. Rude was there too, only he had been knocked unconscious. I quickly pulled the gag from Tseng's mouth.
'Rufus!' He cried.
'He's in there,' Reno told him, grimly. 'What the fuck happened to you guys?'
'Three men,' said Tseng, looking a little stunned. 'Sephiroth clones.'
My blood chilled. 'Sephiroth?'
'They're planning another Reunion, supposedly.' He shook his head. 'I could barely hear them from in here.' He frowned. 'Is Rude okay?'
Reno nodded. 'He's got a thick head. He'll be fine in a minute.' Rather hesitantly, he asked 'How can there be another Reunion? Jenova's gone... isn't she?'
Tseng shrugged, somewhat helplessly. 'It would appear not. Or at least, they don't think so. They believe enough of her is still in existence...' He trailed off. 'I really don't know. When Rufus comes around, we can ask him, but...' Reluctantly, he added 'Maybe Strife would know something.'
I heard Reno sigh, loudly. He hated the fact that he knew in order to rebuild Shinra in any way we had to have the former members of AVALANCHE on side. I don't think he actually held any resentment towards them for what had happened previously, but he hated anyone who was anti-Turk. Of all of us it was Reno who'd leaned most on what we were, forming his only identity, his only family, out of it.
'I, I know Reeve's still in touch with him,' I piped up. I ignored whatever Reno was muttering under his breath. 'If you want, I could go see him.'
Tseng nodded distractedly. 'That may actually be a good idea. Go with her Reno, and don't even utter one word of complaint, okay?'
Reno is kind of a jerk sometimes, but even he knows when to stop. 'We'll go now,' he told Tseng.
'Thank you Reno, Elena. Make sure you're fully armed. They were strong, and we don't know, maybe they're still hanging around.'
'Will you be okay Tseng?' I asked him, concerned.
He nodded. 'I'll be fine. Be careful, you two.'
We nodded, and collected our weapons. Reno wisely held his tongue til we were far away from the lodge before launching into his tirade.
'Why AVALANCHE, yo?'
He spoke so suddenly, that I nearly crashed the car. When I'd punched him in the head and righted the vehicle again, I let him rant.
'They'll never help rebuild Shinra, and we all know it. Never mind that Strife is apparently AWOL these days. But come on. You really think Barrett and Tifa and those other idiots are gonna be on board, ever? We may as well just cut our losses and start from scratch. Fuck those guys.'
'Reno, you know how the world feels about Shinra. We need Cloud.'
'We don't,' he muttered sullenly. I felt bad for him. Shinra had saved him from a lonely life, and I knew he was desperate to honour that by spearheading this thing himself. But even though Reno was probably the most charming guy I knew, I also recognised that he wasn't the most trustworthy. Still, it was a hard position for him, I knew that.
We reached the headquarters of Reeve's company, the WRO, in only about 10 minutes, but a further 45 minutes of our lives were wasted by the guards who didn't wanna let us in. Reeve had to come down himself to convince them to let us in.
'Reno, Elena.' He smiled at us warmly. Despite what Reno did to Sector 7, I think he always liked the two of us best out of the Turks. Better than Tseng, who was too cold, and Rude who was too quiet. I think, in all honesty, a lot of people liked me and Reno best.
'This is a business call, Reeve.' Reno had never liked the fact that Reeve had gotten so attached to AVALANCHE during the Sephiroth crisis. He wasn't good at hiding what he felt for people, either.
Reeve looked a little hurt, but he nodded. 'Of course. What can I do for you?'
I decided to step in here, knowing Reno as well as I did. 'Rufus was attacked today, by a group searching for Jenova.'
Reeve raised his eyebrows. 'Jenova?'
I nodded. 'They seem to think another Reunion is going to happen.'
He frowned. 'It could only happen if part of Jenova still existed. Surely though, she must have been destroyed in the cave...'
'If he doesn't know, can we go?' whined Reno.
I shot him a death glare. 'Do you think maybe there's something left in the cave?' I asked Reeve.
'I don't know. Pure common sense tells me there can't be, but this is Jenova we're talking about.' He sighed. 'I suppose this will have to be investigated.'
'We'll handle it,' cut in Reno.
I rolled my eyes. 'Reno-'
'No, Elena. This is our problem, not his. He defected.' He shook his head. 'Fuck this,' he muttered, then stormed out.
I stood for a second. 'Reeve, I'm sorry.'
He smiled tiredly. 'It's okay. Reno is Reno. I understand how he feels. Would it be alright with you if I got in touch with Cloud? I think he should know about this.'
I nodded. 'Of course. I agree.' I hesitated. 'Um, I should catch up to Reno. You know what he's like when he's upset.'
Reeve smile. 'Of course. Thank you for coming here, Elena.'
'It's really no problem,' I told him. We nodded our goodbyes. I left the building to catch up to Reno.
He was standing by the car, fuming. I remembered I had the keys on me. As I got closer to him, I saw his cheeks were red, and his fists were clenched.
'Reno,' I reached out, gently uncurling his hands. I could feel his pulse in his fingertips, hammering.
'It makes me so angry,' he said, his voice shaking. 'Everyone's forgotten about Shinra.' He bit his lip. 'Everything we did, all our achievements...' He was breathing hard, face flushing.
'Oh, Reno.' I held onto his hand. 'I know it's been hard. We're getting there, slowly.'
He nodded. 'Yeah, but... Everything's different now.' He looked so sad, I couldn't help but wrap my arms around him. He hugged me back, and then tentatively kissed me. For a moment I kissed him back, and it felt awesome. But then it bought back all the emotions of the last two years. We pulled away at the same time, the awkwardness so heavy it was like a person stepping between us. I unlocked the car, and we both climbed in. The drive back to Healin was silent.
