Hold on Chapter 9

Revelations and Realisations

Angel015



Sunlight streamed through broken blinds, casting a warm light onto the pair curled up on the sofa. The orange light of the sunrise made the old fashioned room almost eerie. Small holes in the wall were pitch black with shadow, and the angle of the light made it almost impossible to see inside of the fireplace.

The warmth of the light made one of the room's occupants stir slightly, not used to the warmth after spending the night under a thin blanket in a falling down old cottage. But she felt a strange warmth around her back and from somewhere in front of her. The raven haired girl slowly opened her wine eyes, surprisingly, to darkness. Blinking slightly she tried to work out where she was. How come she could feel the warmth of the sun on her back, but could only see darkness? Blinking, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she could see her hand in front of her eyes, griping onto material.

Eyes widening, last night's events came rushing back to her. Not only had she found what she had come for, Reno, she also found her long lost sister. She blushed furiously as she remembered pulling the redhead down into a searing kiss, right in front of Emily, who had promptly left, deciding to spend the night in the dorms for once. They had talked long into the evening, talking about what had happened, Tifa fussed over Reno's broken leg, even after he insisted it was almost healed completely. When he mentioned the party, Tifa remembered blushing slightly. They would have to try again with that when they got home, even if it would be a month or two late. Late into the night, or more early into the morning, they finally curled up on the small sofa and fell asleep.

Squirming slightly, she loosened her hold on the front of Reno's shirt, and tried to loosen his hold to give her more room to move around. Moving up slightly, she stared at the redhead's peaceful face. Reaching forward slightly with one hand, she lightly traced the scars under his eyes with one slender finger, silently wondering how he got them in the first place.

She chuckled quietly when he murmured something inaudible in sleep, eyelids tightening slightly, before once again relaxing. Giggling with happiness, she traced his features lightly with her forefinger.

Only a few moments later, eyelids fluttered opened, revealing mako blue eye, bleary with the remnants of sleep.

He blinked a few times, getting rid of the sleep in his face and mind. Once his eyes had focused a bit more, he smiled sleepily at the woman lying in front of him.

"Hey." Tifa murmured, tapping the redhead on the nose. "Good morning."

"'Morning." Reno muttered back, before yawning widely, burying his face in the pillow to hide it. It must be true that yawns are catching, because only a second later, Tifa mirrored his action.

An hour later, the pair were in the kitchen, attempting to cook breakfast without burning the house down. Which was proving to be more difficult than they has expected. The crumbling chimney above the oven was not helping things and pretty soon, they were trying to put out the fire and not breathe in the smoke pouring out.

Giggling hysterically, the two settled with a bowl of the cereal Emily had brought over, while sitting on the sofa. All the windows in the house were wide open, trying to get the burning smell out of the house and some fresh air in.

They lazed around the house for the day, Tifa exploring upstairs, where Reno was not able to go, nearly falling through the rotting wood and into the kitchen below, and finally dozing on the sofa as the sun began to set.

Which was when Emily walked in, looking slightly ruffled and out of breath. She was holding another bag of food in one hand, and two sets of bedding under each arm. A panicked expression was set on her face as she dropped the blankets on the floor and set the bag on the table. Ignoring the confused and shocked stares she was getting, she began quickly pacing the length of the room, muttering and thinking hard.

"But if I...No she wouldn't.........Didn't she say...?Didn't they all say...?" She murmured, eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought

"Emily?" Reno said, stopping her pacing as she looked up at them, her expression puzzled. "Are...are you okay? What happened?"

Emily sighed, dropping down to sit on the coffee table. "Falsely accused of something I didn't do, and nearly got killed. You know, the usual." She scowled. First she was falsely accused, then she had been attacked by a man she had never net before in her life. Something about being the one who had shot down the helicopter. 'Yeah, right.' She scoffed weakly. She had tried the simulation for the cannons before. Failed every time. It would have been impossible, and besides, she wasn't even on duty that day, how could she have done anything. And yet the blonde was there accusing her of murder. Her day was not going well.

"What?" Tifa exclaimed, sitting up. "On purpose? Who was it?"

Now Emily thought about it, she hadn't seen the guy before, he could either be new here, or, he could be...

"Do you know a guy, blonde, blue eyes, hair like a Chocobo?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair, whose eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

"Cloud!" They exclaimed at the same time. Tifa fell back against the sofa, hand over her eyes in exasperation and annoyance. "So that's where he's been these past few weeks."

"And I suppose you beat the heck out of him?" Reno almost grinned, but managed to repress it. Sure the two were getting on a lot more than they used to, but the redhead still found the blonde rather annoying at times.

"Ah... No, I left that to Mizaki and Katashi." Emily said, shrugging. "I was with them when it happened, they told me to get out of there." She noticed the horrified expression on Tifa's face. "I told them to disarm him and take him to the prison cells, not to kill him. I need to go down later and find out who in hell told him it was me who killed you."

"That's what this is about?" Reno seemed shocked. Chocobo head did actually like him. Shocking, Reno had always though the blonde hated him, but bore with it for the others sake. The day was full of surprises. "I would have expected Elena, of even Rude. But certainly not Cloud." He said. "Didn't think he liked me very much."

"You'd be surprised." Tifa said quietly. "When everyone thought you had died. He was as upset as the rest of us. More so than some." Reno stared in shock at her. "You have that effect on people." She chuckled, when he raised his eyebrows. "What can I say? You're charming, great sense of humour, and you know when to be serious about things. That and I think you're really cute. Why else would I fall for you?" She grinned, Reno's face softening as he smiled back.

Emily coughed, getting the pair's attention. " Life-threatening situation here. Now what?" She said, reminding them of their current predicament. " Sure we could just tell him you're alive, I was falsely accused and have this whole thing over with, but the problem is, whoever is accusing me, obviously wants me gone, meaning they have some sort of a grudge against me, and-"

"Will try and kill you anyway." Reno finished, his eyes becoming distant with thought.

"Exactly."

"Well, is there anyone who particularly doesn't like you, or maybe wants you gone for some reason? Also, who holds all the power around here? It maybe him." Tifa suggested.

"It's a Her. Fumiko. She's the Ruler here. Wants to take over the world and whatnot. I thought she was starting to like me though. But maybe...maybe not."

"She may not be the one behind this though." Tifa said.

"Fumiko..." Reno murmured. "I've heard that name before. A long time ago. Can't remember exactly where or when, but I know the name. What does she look like?"

"Not many have seen her face, she is always hiding in the shadows. But I hear she is very beautiful. Long raven hair which she ties up in showy hairstyles, a different style every day. Very dark fashion sense. Always wears long extravagant gothic gowns. Very cold scientific mind, a genius. And apparently, she has blood red eyes. But some say they are as black as night. The rumours are always changing." Emily sighed. "Now I think about it, considering we are forced to work for her, not many know that much about her." She frowned, before a yawn erased the frown, a look of tiredness passed over her face.

"I suppose we better get some sleep. We can figure this out in the morning, when it's daylight." Tifa suggested.

"And have coffee." Reno yawned.

"Yes, and coffee." Tifa placed a hand on Reno's knee. They had only noticed just now how dark it had gotten. The sun had already sunken into the horizon, but there was still a dim light from the spot, and, even though they were in the middle of a forest, it hadn't gotten too dark, so as they couldn't see.

Emily rolled out her usual mat on the floor, spare blankets covering her. Reno and Tifa curled up on the sofa in each other's arms, blankets keeping out the cold of the night.


Darkness.

That was all he could see. It was as if he had his eyes closed. Where was this? What was happening?

Suddenly, a bright light lit up the room from a swinging light in the middle of, what looked like, a large storeroom. The young boy looked around him. Bars. He was in a cage. And not a very big one at that. He stretched out a hand to touch the thick bars, whimpering softly. Where was he?

Footsteps echoed in the room. The boy spin round, seeing a flight of stairs leading up to a silver metal door. Walking down the stairs was a woman. Raven-black hair, cut into a neat short bob framed he face. She was wearing a pair of tight trousers, and a simple black tank top. A sinister mask covered the top half of her face, only her eyes could be seen. As her heels clicked down the stairs, the boy found himself growing more and more nervous.

Behind her were two guards, both with large guns in their hands, neither showing their faces.

The woman stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking around the room. The youngster in the cage drew back, pressing himself against the bars of the cage. He tried to stop himself shaking as he watched three pairs of feet walk closer and closer to his small prison.

"Hello." A high, silky, feminine voice rang out, as the woman kneeled in front of him. "You must be the kid everyone's talking about. One of the most successful experiments of all time."

Experiment? What was she talking about?

"And so young. You must only be about three years old. But that's still a long time to stay alive for." She chuckled. "Most human experiments die before they reach one month. Although, I would be surprised if you last longer than two more years." She grinned spitefully at the whimpering child. "Never mind. That's still enough time to get information on you. And possibly make a better version of what you are. Better than that stupid ShinRa could ever do."

ShinRa? He had heard that name before. Or seen it. He couldn't quite remember now.

"But on the chances you do make it older than five, I think you could make a brilliant fighter in my little plans. If ShinRa," She spat out the name. "Couldn't even keep hold of you, then they don't deserve such a brilliant fighter or spy on their side." Her hand reached in-between the bars, the boy pushed back against the bars as far as he could. Slender fingers with long sharp nails stroked the side of his face, a cruel grin spread on her face. Whimpering softly, the boy closed his eyes tight, only opening them when he felt the sharp nails leave his face.

The sight made him shut his eyes tight once more. In the pointed eyeholes of her mask, two eyes glowed red in the shadow of the mask.

"Fumiko-sama?" a voice came from the door at the top of the stairs. "It's time for your meeting, and it wouldn't pay to be late."

"Of course, I'm on my way." She smirked. "As for you. I'll be back later." She hissed through the bars, eyes glowing.


Blue eyes shot open, seeing darkness surrounding him, just like the dream he had. Or more nightmare.

But then his eyes focused to the darkness, shapes forming. He sighed, he was still here, in the living room of the old falling down cottage in the middle of the woods. Tifa was fast asleep on his chest, and he could hear Emily's quiet breathing from the floor.

He had been having that dream for years, not often, but each time it always faded before her name was mentioned. This time however...

Fumiko... She was the one Emily was worried about. The leader of this rebellion. The one who had caused him so much pain as a child. The one he had tried so hard to forget, finally succeeding and now getting thrown back in his face.

He closed his eyes, listening to the birds outside. It must have been pretty late. Perhaps four or five o'clock in the morning. Still far too early to be up and about. Unless of course, it was snowing. Reno grinned at the memory of the snowball fight, only a few weeks ago now.

Hang on. If the crash was on the 1st December, add on the two weeks he was unconscious, the six days he was awake, that made it the 23rd. Or 24th now.

Christmas Eve. Great. Fun, fighting a evil scientist trying to take over the world, get blondie out of the prison cells, and getting the heck out of here. On Christmas. With a still healing leg. This is not going to be easy.

He sighed, shifting slightly. He closed his eyes. For now though. He was going to take what he had. A few more hours of peace with Tifa, and get some sleep.

He relaxed, pushing all thoughts from his head, letting only good memories take over. Finally he allowed sleep to take him once more.


A/N Sorry about the wait. I've been on holiday for two weeks, and have only just been able to finish this chapter. I was kind of dissapointed as I only got one review I got on the last chapter, but I'm not giving up on this story dispite this. I just read through the entire thing, and I think the witing style has gotten a little better since I started. At least I hope so. Feedback on anything would be nice, I'm trying to improve, especially now I'm starting college.

I also want to thank all my reviewers. Sorry I haven't been able to reply personally to those with accounts, especially as you took the time to actually review. I promise I will try and reply from now on. Also a Special thanks to stars amongst dust, who has been there since the begining. Virtual cookies to all.

Now, there's a little green button there that desperately wants to be pressed. Please help it, it brings light and inspiration into a writers dark life ^^