vii. she who forgot
Yazoo was much faster than he was, as he was weighed down by Cissnei's crumpling form. He was sure now that it was this remnant who had attacked Cissnei and left her out here to die.
A bullet grazed by his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and heard nothing but ringing and gunshots as he did his best to weave around the flurry of bullets. He was still quite a sharp shooter, he realised when he got Yazoo in the hand. The man hissed and halted for a moment.
Reno let Cissnei fall from him. He glanced at her, watching her scuttle away and hide again, but she left his electro-mag rod by his feet. Kicking it up and into his hands, he adjusted the weapon's settings and dodged another bullet. There was no time for relief when another clipped him in the leg, and another just before his foot.
He dashed forward and in an upward motion, struck Yazoo on the chin with the electro-mag rod. Yazoo jolted at the shock, staggering backwards. A few more swipes with it caused Yazoo to shout out, but before Reno could aim his gun squarely at the guy's head, he recovered. The Turk found that the gun was pointing right at his chest.
Yazoo smiled, "You can come with me quietly, or I can take you in a body bag."
Reno gritted his teeth, thereafter knocking the weapon downward before Yazoo could fire. He pulled the trigger, instead getting his own foot. Reno did not hear a shout of pain. He heard nothing but the ringing in his ears, which had gone to new heights in terms of volume. He slammed the butt of the handgun into the top of Yazoo's head, forcing him to crumple.
But he was not out of the fight.
Yazoo recovered quicker than expected, and in an endless assault, sent shot after shot after shot at the Turk. It was almost like he was dancing as he did his best to avoid most of the shots. He snuck in a few more strikes with the electro-mag rod, but it did not affect him as much as it had before.
"You certainly have not lost your touch," Yazoo praised lightly, "It is a shame. If you had only said yes to Sephiroth from the beginning, then we wouldn't be in this situation. You would've been an amazing asset."
"I am no one's asset," he growled, shooting Yazoo squarely in the shoulder.
He wasn't Shinra's asset, he wasn't Sephiroth's asset, and he wasn't AVALANCHE's asset. He was tired of being called such a thing, as though he was currency. He chose his battles and fought for what he believed in, and that was that.
Yazoo stood and lowered his weapon. His long hair fell forward as he drawled, "Of course you are an asset. You are a puppet, much like me, and much like that fool Strife was before his demise. You were a slave to Shinra, forced into an unnatural shell. You currently are a servant to AVALANCHE, an extra pair of bloodstained hands in a war that will end so poorly for you."
Reno spat at his feet. Yazoo raised his gun again, realising that he would have to take him by force. Before he had the opportunity, a shoulder met his face, forcing him several feet backwards. He grumbled something through the blood filling his mouth.
Reno glanced at Cissnei, finding that she was watching the battle, as though she was remembering something. The distraction cost him, though, and he was knocked flat on his back. Looking up at Yazoo, he narrowed his eyes and, before he could have his head blown off, he swept the remnant off his feet and sent the bullet to the sky.
And as Reno watched its trajectory, he saw the Highwind approaching. Relief swallowed him.
Ignoring Yazoo, he rushed back over to Cissnei, who seemed to be watching the Highwind as well. He grabbed her arm again and threw it back over his shoulders, hoisting her to her feet. He spoke to her, though he barely heard what he said, "Get up."
The Highwind's shadow cast itself over the desert, approaching downward. Yazoo chuckled slightly before aiming back at Reno, who was too busy lifting the Turk woman to her feet. If he could get a clear shot of her head, then surely he would drop her and come with him willingly to divulge the information needed.
Before he had the opportunity, though, a large shot of lighting came from the airship. He glanced up, finding that a woman with long, dark hair – Tifa was her name, if he recalled rightly – shooting bolts down at him. She must've had materia – maybe what remained of AVALANCHE was a little better equipped than they anticipated.
No matter.
He looked to Reno and smiled, bowing slightly before vanishing into nothingness, "I'll see you at Gongaga, Turk."
Alarm bells went off in his head. They knew.
Cissnei began to slide away from him. She was weary. He righted her a little and told her to stay with him again, and that soon enough she'd be all better. He considered giving her the potion he had found to help her out, but that small an amount wouldn't really help her in this situation.
The wind from the Highwind was strong as it landed not too far away from him. Tifa was the one who rushed out first as he limped and supported Cissnei. She eyed her, "What happened? Who is she?"
"Just fucking help me for fuck's sake," and he was desperate as hell, "Ask questions later."
Tifa surveyed Reno's face. There was some blood and dirt, but more importantly, she could see him for the first time. Behind the freckles and the pale skin, behind the cerulean blue, she saw panic, fear, and worry for someone other than himself. The woman must've been of value, maybe.
What struck her the most is he looked like he was about to fall apart.
"Alright," she said, taking him off of her, "Let's get her on the ship."
"Gongaga," he then remarked, "Sephiroth knows. Don't go back."
Her eyes widened, "But the townspeople..."
"Don't go back," he pressed again, waiting behind her, "People die in a war. Don't let it be those who are best to fight it, yo."
As they boarded, a tear slipped from Tifa's eye. They had all been so nice to them... they looked after them and took them in when no one else would, and now they were going to simply abandon them? How could she let that happen, and how could he think that way? "You're going to let them die without trying to help?"
"We have to survive," he hissed, "And if you go back, you're just making us easy pickings for Sephiroth. Make Cid hide the airship somewhere far away, farther than Gongaga."
She was still not convinced.
So instead, he shoved her up the Highwind, roaring, "Would you put Marlene in the thick of the action just to try and save people who have already lived a long life?! Get on the fucking airship!"
Even as she climbed up the latter, holding the now unconscious girl over her shoulder, she felt something in her change. He had never referred to Marlene by name, and she'd never heard him sound so angry and annoyed before. A part of her wondered, and then another part of her remembered that he was goddamn crazy and probably looking out for himself instead.
"I hate who you are," she called, ascending faster.
No she didn't. She just hated that he was right.
Reno still felt the blow.
They made it undetected to Cosmo Canyon. They didn't know about what happened to Gongaga, and Reno made sure that nobody looked back.
This time, he didn't mind holding onto Marlene's hand, because it gave him a sort of comfort. She smiled at the notion and squeezed his hand a bit tighter as they watched Cissnei, as he called her, be carried into the Shildra Inn by Elder Bughe and Elder Hargo. She had not met them before, but she remembered Tifa speaking of them.
"She'll live," Bughe said, analysing her wounds, "But you have to keep her here until she's healed."
Hargo smiled at Tifa, Cid and Yuffie, "You got to her just in time. For now, stay here, recover, rest and rethink your plans for the future. This is where AVALANCHE was born, and this is where AVALANCHE will be tested."
Funny, neither looked at him as they left the room, and nobody corrected them. He found Cissnei, not them. Unsure of what else to do, the members of AVALANCHE left too, and Reno found himself alone with his comrade, and surprised that he missed Marlene's gentle touch.
He sat in the chair, which he deliberately placed backwards, beside her and watched her sleeping face. His hands trembled and the ringing still had not softened.
What struck him the most is she did not remember who she was, let alone him. How can someone forget? It didn't make sense. Then again, he hadn't seen her in years – maybe this was something that happened when she left, or during Meteorfall, or since.
At any rate, he was going to look after her, because she was all he had left. He fell asleep.
The first time Cissnei woke, she was startled by the fact that he was there, "Reno?"
Hope, like the sun, burst through his iron-clad heart, "You remember?"
"No, that's the name you told me... And I was... Cissnei?"
"Yeah," and he couldn't bring himself to say anything more.
The soft pitter-patter of feet soon distracted the pair of them. Reno turned his head and found Marlene a few feet away, unsure of whether she should approach and holding a glass of water. She smiled at the stranger and extended the drink to her, "This is for you. Drink up!"
Cissnei took the water tiredly and sculled it. Exhaling afterward, she placed it on the table, and Marlene turned to Reno and grabbed one of his hands again, before exclaiming, "You're very cold."
Reno said nothing, instead looking at Cissnei, "I can't believe you don't remember, yo."
"Sometimes I feel like something is there," she replied, tucking some of her hair behind her ear and redirecting her gaze to the ceiling, "But I can never remember what. I'm not sure I would believe you if you told me, either. I'll have to remember myself."
"Well, do you remember someone called Tseng?" the slight twitch in her face indicated that somewhere beneath whatever blocked her memory, she did. He then looked to Marlene, who was nothing but smiles, "What're you so happy about?"
"I'm just happy you're back," Marlene replied, "That's all."
That hit him too. When did he become susceptible to emotions, he wondered. When did he lose the iron mask and the ways of the Turk – or did Cissnei's appearance shake him up so much that she was the only thing he could focus on? To make sure he protected her and that she got better?
Something else he noticed – although the ringing in his ears was still present, he felt... stable. Like the scales were trying to balance themselves and no longer wildly swaying from left to right for the first time in a very long time. The temporary relief was good, but it worried him. This was unlike him. He'd been like this since he was small.
He shrugged at her, "Thanks I guess."
Marlene patted his white hand before releasing it. She then grabbed the glass and headed back downstairs.
Reno spent the remainder of the day feeding Cissnei bits of information of their shared past in the hopes of awakening them. In the end, she asked him to stop, and she turned away, wincing at the wounds, and tried to get more sleep. Soon enough, he drifted off too.
When more days had passed, the Turk couldn't stand being in there all the time, but he was glad to see that Cissnei was able to get up and around now. He instead chose to sit outside in front of the Cosmo Candle, which was too bright for him and made him squint just to watch the damn thing.
Soon enough, Tifa joined him. She sat beside him and relished the warmth, "It's a charming little place, isn't it?" He said nothing, but she prattled on anyhow, "I liked coming here during our travels. I always felt welcomed."
Reno still said nothing. Instead, he watched his hands shake, and after a while, he laughed. When she looked at him quizzically, he lifted his hands up and showed her, "The shaking's back. I'm gonna be that unpredictable crazy shit again, yo. I'm glad. It was boring being sorta sane."
He placed his hands back on his knees and fondly ran his fingers over his electro-mag rod. He then noticed that another button on his sleeve was gone, and, agitated, he tore the other off so that they were even. He then rubbed his face with the back of his sleeve as Tifa spoke, "What turned you into this?"
"I told you – I was always like this. Your little hippie group wasn't around long enough to really see it," he replied, now moving to relace the shoelaces on both boots, because they were uneven as well.
She derailed the topic, instead talking about some good times she had with AVALANCHE when they weren't being chased by Shinra. As expected, Reno did not say a word and was not remorseful at all, much too enthralled by his shoelaces, "It always hurt a little when he would look at her instead of me, but I can understand. Aerith was interesting, and I'm boring."
"You're not boring," Reno countered immediately, working on the other boot.
Tifa smiled a little, "Compared to her I was. I mean, she was an Ancient – what wasn't interesting about that?" the smile vanished straight away, "I just wish that I was a little less jealous, but admittedly, I was young. I've learnt from my mistakes."
"She's also dead."
"She might be dead, but I believe she's still around when we need her," she watched as Reno leant back and inspected his work. When he was satisfied, she noticed that his shirt was too far to the right, and that he would've picked up on it next in his random self-checking. She reached across and adjusted it for him, to his slight confusion, "Before you get pedantic about that, too."
He looked at her blankly before looking back at the Cosmo Candle.
"How's your friend?"
"Doesn't remember a thing."
"Tell me about her."
So he told Tifa about when they first met, and how she was damn good at her job as a Turk and that it was she who was assigned to monitor Zack and Cloud in their journey to Midgar. He told her everything that he could remember himself, "The good thing is, she doesn't know what I know in regards to Shinra, so she's not of much interest to Sephiroth."
"You seem to care a lot about her."
"We were friends. She's like a little sister. If Yuffie suddenly forgot who the hell you were, I'm sure it'd hurt a bit, yo."
She smiled, "And you're capable of feeling, too."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The iron mask, remember?" she stood and brushed the dirt from her rear and stretched thereafter, "The one you told me about earlier on. The one you have to wear close to your face as a Turk and not let anything sway you. You've done a good job of convincing me that you were heartless, Reno, up until now. You do feel."
"I'm not a monster," he murmured, staring into the flames.
"After all that time that we fought, it was hard to see you any other way. For that, I'm sorry."
He said nothing.
"Marlene really likes you," Tifa remarked, putting her arms behind her back and looking at him, leaning forward a little. Gravity tugged her hair downward, "And she worries about you, saying that you're sick. She keeps asking if there is a potion or a materia that will cure your sickness."
Reno laughed, standing as well, "Yeah, sick in the head."
Her smile grew. She reached for his hand, "Let's go back to the inn and see your friend."
Tifa's grip was warm, comforting, tight. Reno did not return the gesture.
