Chapter: 7, Ephemeral Memories
Summary: Rayne's come across a book of LOVELESS and has become quite fond of it. Too bad a mission to meet two former allies interrupts her reading.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the main character, Rayne. Final Fantasy is a product of Square Enix, while Kingdom Hearts is a joint production of Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios (Buena Vista Games.)
There is no hate, only joy
For you are beloved by the goddess
Hero of the dawn, healer of worlds
Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul
Pride is lost
Wings stripped away, the end is nigh
Rayne had never read words that seemed to have the power to bring her to her knees, that is, were she not already setting down. She'd only read into the second act, and yet she felt as if she were already connected to it on levels she couldn't yet fully imagine. "LOVELESS, eh? I heard Genesis liked that stuff."
Her green eyes shot up to meet Reno's who came to sit down on the edge of the couch that she sat on, looking over her shoulder at the text. "And you?"
"I think its a load of garbage. Not my thing."
She scoffed, shaking her head and dog-eared the page she was on before closing the book altogether. "I don't think you would know a good bit of literature if it bit you in the ass, Reno." With a fluid motion, she pulled her legs onto the couch and turned so that she was facing him, her head lying on the other arm rest.
"Probably not, but that's why I don't read the junk. You're not going to go all crazy and lose your mind on me are you? Because the last three experiments I knew that came into contact with that dribble ended up a little..." he paused and made a little motion signifying "crazy" with his finger near his temple.
"I'm not going to go mental," she began, narrowing her eyes at him. "They grew up with no idea what they were, I however think I've found a little more insight than you all did about where I came from." There was a tone about her that he'd not heard from her before, and it caused a bit of concern to raise in her.
"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it," he said as he stood, holding his hands up in a 'nothing up my sleeves' manner. Rayne waved him off.
"I wasn't just some test tube baby... Not like everything has said that you've found. I had a host mother, a real one like Sephiroth had, and Genesis and Angeal too. We were bore from mothers... just had Jenova injected in us. I know that much, I just didn't know I had been born the same way," there was a small smile on her lips as she looked up to him. "I think the fact that I was human once helps keep me sane. No matter what... I was human first, a monster later."
Reno bent down so that he could look her in the eyes. "But you're not a monster." Off the clearly surprised look on Rayne's face, he tried to recover his normal behavior. "I mean, if you want to think yourself some kind of creepy fiend, fine by me. But you're still kickin' and that has to count for somethin'."
She smiled... a true one. A smile that actually reached those alluring eyes of hers and for some reason, Reno was glad that his words had reached her. "Right. So... was there some reason for you to come in here outside of wanting to interrupt my poetry reading?"
He thought about if for a moment, having completely forgotten about why he'd come in there. After a couple moment's silence his grey-blue eyes brightened and he nodded. "Right, we've got a mission. Reeve asked specifically for you and I to go."
"Not you and Rude?"
"Nope... besides, Rude gets all shy around Tifa. Best to take you and get you out of here once in awhile." She lofted a sculpted brow at that, pondering how someone like Rude would get shy around some "Tifa" person, but didn't question it. After all, orders were orders, right?
- - - - -
"Yo! Over here!" Reno yelled just as he and Rayne finally reached the outskirts of town. The WRO vehicle dropped them off there, leaving them to meet two people who'd Rayne never seen before; a blonde headed fellow with a rather angry looking sword and a long dark haired female.
"Can we just get this over with?" The blonde began, sounding none-too-thrilled to see the two Turks. His eyes were hidden behind dark glasses, the lenses reflective. The woman though held a smile on her lips that put Rayne at ease some.
"Don't mind Cloud, we couldn't do this without you Reno." She looked past Reno to where Rayne awkwardly stood, suddenly pondering if these people would freak out like many did when they caught sight of her ears.
That's it, from this day forward, I'm wearing my hair down.
"This is Rayne, she's new to the Turks. Not bad for new blood." Reno introduced. She gave her a sort of numb nod, though her attention, inwardly, felt drawn toward Cloud. For some reason, there felt like there was something familiar about him. Perhaps she'd seen him when she'd crossed over between worlds? No... she would have clearly remembered that...
"So what kind of nasties do you have for us, Tifa?"
Reno's words took her out from her thoughts and back into the present. Oh, the girl is Tifa... Wait, Rude has a crush?
"You took too long. We took care of them." Cloud began, walking forward some and producing a necklace from his pocket. It was tarnished a little, nothing some polish couldn't fix. "Whatever it was that they were after, this is all that's left. Tifa thought we should send it back with you guys." He handed it to Rayne.
Little did he expect the Geostigmatic pain that hit his skull when their hands touched. Little did she expect that she'd be feeling it too, nor the pictures that played before her very eyes. Fire, destruction, being trapped within a mako-filled tube. Then a truck ride, a friend's death... a girl's smile as she floated to the bottom of a lake. They didn't make sense, and yet it made her sick to her stomach both with just seeing it and with an overwhelming guilt and grief.
It wasn't until both of them dropped the pendant that she snapped to only to have Cloud's sword pointed at her throat. "Sephiroth."
For some reason, the name sparked a fire in her. "I am nothing like him."
"You're exactly like him. I felt you... inside my head. What were you going to do? Take over, try to make me work for ShinRa again?" Cloud pressed the blade harder into her throat, but she didn't move. Tifa grabbed his arm, pulling him away as Reno tried to move himself between them.
"C'mon you two!" Tifa begged.
"What's going on?!" Reno prodded, but got no response.
"I wasn't trying to do anything to you! I don't know what happened... I touched your hand and then all those... memories, just came flooding in," she brought a shaking hand to her head and Cloud looked her over. She was pale, perhaps she hadn't meant to have that happen? Maybe she was telling the truth.
"Stay away from us. I catch you around again, and I'll kill you." Perhaps she'd unlocked a part of his memory that he'd wanted to stay buried. Old feelings and things best left in the past... whatever it was, it had him mounting his bike and impatiently waiting Tifa to join him.
Tifa looked between them, her female intuition picking up on the nerves, and though not understanding it, she mounted Cloud's bike behind him. "We brought that bike for you guys to ride out there, but since we're already good, then just use it to get back home. We can get it another time." Reno nodded and picked up the locked from the ground, pocketing it.
"Yeah sure. Just make sure Cloud's not such a pissy body next time, yo!" He called after them as they sped off back into the city. He turned to Rayne, and for the first time realized the scared look she had in her eyes. She didn't even look at him, yet continued looking down into her palm as if it held all the answers to life's questions. "Hey... don't let him get to you. He's always like that. Real downer."
Still no response from her, and instead he reached out and took her hand, feeling the overwhelming need to protect her right now. He'd protected her this far, why stop now, right? She looked at him, though her gaze seemed muted, distant, as if she were detached from the very world itself at the moment. Allowing numbly for him to lead her to the bike, she climbed on behind him and wrapped on tight.
She wanted to go home... wherever home was. She wanted to get away from all this pain and shame... to find out who she really was, and where she came from. Where she belonged...
Reno glanced over his shoulder, wondering if it was just the bikes vibrations or if she was truly trembling. Rayne buried her face in the back of his suit and began to do the only thing she could do... cry.
My friend, the fates are cruel
There are no dreams, no honour remains
The arrow has left the bow of the goddess
(( A/N: Woo, hooray for random cameos by Tifa and Cloud! Anyways, Rayne's getting a little flaky on us, but Reno's been there to pick up the pieces. Will he remain enough to keep her from falling apart? Only time will tell! ))
