11. An Old Friend
The first half of the drive took them through the flat nothing of the badlands; Nanaki spent most of it stretched out on the backseat, dozing as best he could. He perked up once the elevation changed, signaling their entry into the cliffs south of Edge. The dirt road snaked and twisted its way up the mountainside, often along the brink of a yawning drop at one side or the other, where the mountain had given way and left a broken tumble of boulders in its wake. Occasionally the trees would part and Nanaki would catch the silver flash of a stream, weaving down the jagged rock.
About halfway up the cliffs, they came to a cluster of buildings that made Nanaki think of weathered bones, worn white and smooth by sun and wind. Reno parked the car in the lee of the largest of these and opened the door for Nanaki, who leapt out with restless impatience. The shadows had grown long and cast a chill upon everything in their path, but Nanaki suspected that even in full daylight the cliffs would never come close to the parched and dusty heat of Edge. Every breath of air here tasted like an invitation, a lush potpourri of scents that called him to explore the untamed hills beyond the human settlement.
Much to Nanaki's delight, Reno led him away from the buildings and through a thicket of trees, along a path softened by a thick blanket of pine needles. The path brought them to another building in the same style, though this one was smaller than the others Nanaki had seen. Near the corner of this house, a woman kneeled over a bed of flowers, yanking up weeds with gusto. Reno slowed to a halt and whistled.
"Now that's a real nice view, yo."
She sat back on her heels and looked over her shoulder, an eyebrow arched.
"I assume you're referring to my fine garden."
"Uh, sure." Grinning, Reno lifted his gaze from her behind to her face. "Brought someone over for dinner, by the way."
She brightened with a smile as he spoke; she had already caught sight of her visitor.
"Nanaki!"
"Hello, Tess." Nanaki inclined his head in greeting.
He observed her movements as she scrambled onto her feet and brushed the dirt off her knees. She had dressed to leave her slender limbs bare, except for the black sleeve that protected one arm all the way down to her hand. Only the tips of her fingers were exposed. He kept a careful eye on that arm and inhaled her scent as she approached. To his relief, he sensed no pain.
She dropped to one knee and flung her good arm around his neck. Nanaki obliged, waving his tail back and forth in a lazy arc. This close, her scent was strong beneath the sun and soil on her skin. It had always held a peculiar trace that set her apart from other humans, but the differences were so minute that it was like spotting a raven among the crows. He had paid it no mind at first; not until he had learned of her origins.
"It's so good to see you!" She laughed as she let him go. "I heard you were in town, but didn't think you'd come all the way up here."
"This one is persuasive," he said with a glance at the man beside them.
"Impossible to shake, more like," she quipped, smiling at Reno.
"C'mon, Fitz, be nice in front of our guest. Speaking of nice, tho', you got one of those for me too?"
With an even wider smile, she straightened up and wound her arms around the man's neck, and he pressed his lips to hers. Another oddity of human interaction, Nanaki mused, waiting patiently for them to finish their greeting ritual. Mercifully, no one had tried to inflict that one on him.
The pair led the way into their lodge, walking side by side. His mane long and red, Nanaki noted idly, and hers short and brown. In this one thing, they resembled his people. Funny how much comfort could be found in a detail that adhered to the natural order of things.
The front door led into an airy room, twice as long as it was wide, with pale walls and a wooden floor that felt smooth under Nanaki's paws. To the left was an open kitchen, to the right a living area; but it was a square table pushed up against the opposite wall that drew his attention. A heady aroma, of red meat complicated with spices, wafted up from the porcelain dish on top of it.
"It's meatloaf tonight," Tess said. "Sorry, I know it's not exactly your favorite. If I'd known you were coming over..."
Humans were so obsessed with ruining their meat with fire. Nanaki suspected it had something to do with teeth. The tiny blunt things they had in their mouths could not be much use for, well, anything.
"It is fine. I am grateful to you." He could always have a look around later. Might be mountain goats in these hills.
"Smells way better than fine to me," Reno called, lifting the lid of the dish. "Hey, you ain't gonna dish it up by size, are ya?"
"What would you suggest?" Tess asked. "Appetite?"
"Only fair, ain't it?"
"Well, it does make the two of you more evenly matched," she said, chuckling.
Reno pulled up a third chair and placed it by the unoccupied side of the table. He had lost one layer of clothing somewhere along the way, leaving just the white shirt to flutter about his slim frame.
"Here ya go, Furball," he said, patting the table in front of the chair. "Have a seat."
As Nanaki tested the chair's stability with his front paws, Reno flitted over to the kitchen cupboards and collected a stack of plates and glasses.
"How was work, babe?"
"Frustrating," Tess sighed as she brought out a bowl from the fridge. "I swear, it's like the cells know what we're trying to accomplish and do everything they can to screw it up."
"Heh, sounds like my day. Only, y'know… with bad guys instead of Stigma cells."
"The case is still giving you trouble?"
"Nah, I think we're getting somewhere now." He winked at Nanaki as he placed a plate in front of him. "Ain't we, Furball?"
"Perhaps."
Reno laughed. "Keep those happy thoughts coming, kitty cat."
Nanaki tipped his ears forward, content to leave the verbalizing to his hosts and just observe them as they prepared the meal. He had not seen Tess for months. They had kept in touch over PHS, but this was their first meeting in person since she had moved to this remote place. The idea of venturing so deep into Shinra territory had been too unnerving.
This house wasn't Shinra territory, though. It was hers – and Reno's. The man seemed to have shed his Shinra demeanor along with the jacket. He hovered near her like one of the planets around the sun in Nanaki's grandfather's observatory, ready to unscrew lids and untie knots before she could think to ask. Nanaki recognized the courtesy of the Cosmo Canyon villagers, always prepared to help his kind with things that required hands and fingers. Funny how he could be reminded of home in a place that was so far from it.
Once the table was set, the pair sat down on either side of him. Reno held up their plates one at a time while Tess dished up meatloaf for all of them. He refused to withdraw his own plate until his portion was nearly equal to Nanaki's.
"So," Tess said once she had moved on to spooning mashed potatoes onto her plate. "How much can you tell me about the case you're working on?"
"Well… We got one bit of news that might interest ya." Reno slid the salad bowl across the table to her. "Remember that 'miracle Stigma cure' I told you about? Glimmer?"
She nodded.
"Figured out what it is. Well, the glimmery part of it anyway." He paused and gave her a thoughtful look. "Y'know, there's something you could do for me, actually."
Reno got up and walked over to the coats that hung by the front door. From an inside pocket of his Turk jacket, he fished out the small, translucent bag of Glimmer they had recovered and dropped it into Tess's hand on the way back to his seat.
"Whoa," she said, holding it up under the ceiling lamp. "This is Glimmer? It looks like diamond dust."
"Not quite, babe. I'm guessing it's materia dust."
"Really?" She leaned in for a closer look. "You can do that with materia?"
"That's what I'm hoping you can tell us. Check it out in the lab, yeah? See if I'm right about this, and try to figure out what else they've put into it."
"I'd be happy to help out," she mumbled, angling the bag under the light, "but our biology lab isn't exactly ideal for this kind of chemical analysis. Don't you Turks have specialists for this sort of thing?"
"Not since HQ blew up," he sighed. "Now we're asking favors wherever we can get 'em."
"What about the 'RO? Their science department isn't what it used to be, but they might be able to help out."
"Good idea, babe. Could you drop by tomorrow?"
Tess finally tore her attention off the bag and looked at Reno instead.
"Me?" she asked, somewhat wide-eyed.
"Pretty please?" he cooed, grinning. "A day in Edge might be fun for a change. I bet that Costan kid would love to see ya."
"Jon?" She laughed, but it rang false and her gaze fell to the table. "I... can't really leave my lab here. We have our hands full."
"C'mon, the others can hold down the fort for one day. I'll give you a ride into town in the morning. Better yet, you drive so I can take a nap in the car."
Tess stared at the baggie of Glimmer in her hand, gnawing gently on her bottom lip.
"Sorry. Right now I just… can't."
She tried to give the bag back, but Reno shook his head.
"Keep it. Just... see what you can do, all right?"
His smile seemed off, somehow. She kept her eyes downcast. Nanaki shifted in his seat, unsure of where he was supposed to look. Discreetly, he drew a breath. The hint of fear in the air only confused him more.
"It looks so... pretty," she murmured, studying the bag. "You said you know what the glittery part is?"
"Yeah. These scumbags are grinding up materia for people to snort." Reno scoffed and shook his head. "Waste of whatever they got left of their lives. Waste of materia, too."
"I guess it doesn't work, huh?"
"Far as I know, it gives you a nosebleed and slowly makes your face melt off. The best you can hope for is a bit of a buzz, but if that's what you're looking for, there's half a dozen things you could be snorting instead that do a better job of it."
She shuddered. "Well, whatever it is, I don't want it on our dinner table." She twisted around in her seat and set it down on a chest of drawers behind her. "Now, tell me," she said once she had turned back to them. "How in the world did the two of you end up working together on this?"
A grin returned to Reno's face.
"Heh, we almost didn't. This guy," he nodded at Nanaki, "can be hella stubborn, yo."
He regaled her with a tale of their prickly first encounters, embellishing in some places and redacting in others, teasing Nanaki at every turn. It was amicable, though, intended to draw out Nanaki's version of events. The last remnants of that strange tension had soon vanished, and time passed quickly as they recounted their adventures and exchanged playful barbs. Before Nanaki knew it, their plates were empty – even Reno's, he noted with grudging respect.
Nanaki sat and waited as the couple cleared the table. There was little he could do with paws, and the two of them seemed to manage just fine without him – until he heard a dull thud and a curse.
"Reno," Tess snapped, rubbing her temple. "Close the cupboard doors when you're done, will you?"
"Huh? What's the big deal? They're just gonna get opened again, anyway."
"The big deal is that I don't want to bang my head every time I take a step sideways. So please, close the damn doors!"
"Oh. Whoops."
Nanaki ears fell forward as he watched the man make a tour of the kitchen, meekly following her orders. Tess glanced his way and raised an eyebrow.
"And what do you find so funny, mister guardian?"
"If you must know," he replied, "you two remind me of my parents."
"Oh shut up, Furball," the Turk grumbled.
"It is true. You have her fiery temperament," he told Tess, then turned to Reno, his ears flicking forward again, "and you... have his mane."
Reno tilted his head, squinting at Nanaki's own mane.
"Y'know, I can't tell if that's meant to be a compliment or just one of your sneaky burns."
"Sneaky? Perhaps I will take that as a compliment myself."
"If it's a burn, you should pay him back in kind," Tess goaded Reno with a grin. "I want to see where this goes."
She folded her arms over her chest, waiting. Reno looked at her, then at Nanaki.
"Oh, c'mon, guys. I can't do it while you're all watching!"
"Aw, it's okay, honey nuts." She leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I hear it happens to every guy at some time or another."
He gave her a sore look. "Goddammit, I should've known you two would gang up on me."
"You're a big bad Turk, you can take it," she teased. "Now if you boys can behave a minute, I'll get us some dessert."
Nanaki's ears perked up as she fetched a round tub from the freezer. Ice cream was a bowl of milk in another form – a very welcome one in the Canyon's sweltering heat. His mouth watered as he watched Tess carve several scoopfuls from the tub and divide them evenly into three bowls.
"Here you go," she said, setting a bowl down in front of Nanaki. "I hope vanilla's still your favorite."
"It is. Thank you."
"Heh, should've guessed you're a vanilla guy." Reno snickered to himself as he dropped back down in his chair, clutching a jam jar and a tube of chocolate sauce.
"Excuse me?"
"Ignore him," Tess groaned. "Reno is still trying to figure out appropriate small talk." She placed his bowl in front of him with a pointed look.
"Shit, that's right. Teen in the house." He grinned at Nanaki as he squeezed chocolate sauce into his bowl. "Never mind, kid. I'll explain when you're older."
"Please don't."
Nanaki and Tess looked at each other in surprise, both having uttered it at the same time. He flashed her his toothy smile. She burst into giggles, while a bemused Reno just stared at them, tube in hand.
Their dessert did not survive long. Tess gathered up their bowls and carried them to the kitchen; on her way back she paused by the chest of drawers. The small baggie still glimmered on top of it.
"People actually destroy materia to make this?" she asked thoughtfully, picking it up for another look. "I thought they were valuable, especially now that Shinra isn't making any new ones."
"Sure, but that don't always mean much around here," Reno said, folding an arm over the back of his chair. "Ain't many millionaires in Edge, y'know. Most of 'em have other priorities anyhow, what with all the rebuilding and all. Easier to find buyers who can scrounge up a few hundred gil a pop for this stuff, than someone who'll pay in the tens of thousands."
"Easier to scam people, you mean," she scoffed, dropping the bag back down. "This whole thing is vile."
"That's why we're trying to stop 'em, babe."
A frown slowly formed on her face as she studied the shimmering bag, until she sighed and picked it up again.
"Look, I'll take this to my lab tomorrow. Maybe we can figure out what this is here at the Cliff after all."
She carried it over to the front door and slipped it into a purse that hung from the coat rack, which was why she didn't see the shadow that passed over Reno's face. As soon as it had arrived, it was gone again.
"Appreciate it, babe." He got up and met her halfway to the door, where he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I gotta go pick up a spare phone from the office. Might head over to Rude's for a bit, too. You kids behave, now."
"I'd say you and Rude are the kids in need of behaving."
"Ehh, maybe."
The pair exchanged a private smile before Reno traipsed to the front door, throwing Nanaki a grin on the way. Nanaki tilted his head and stared at the man, befuddled by the last few minutes of conversation. The Turk's words had spoken differently than his body, and his body had spoken differently than his face.
"So," Tess said once the bewildering man had left, "how about we sit outside on the deck? The night sky is incredible out here."
Nanaki's ears perked up. "Just like old times?"
"Yeah." She smiled. "Just like old times."
She brought him to the wall of glass that separated the living room from the garden, and slid one of the panels aside. A chorus of invisible insects greeted them as they stepped onto the wooden deck; not like the deafening crickets of Costa del Sol, but a susurration of gentler voices. Above them, Nanaki could already make out the faint twinkling of stars.
"We'll see more in a few minutes," Tess said, taking a seat in one of the two chairs on the deck. On the round table between them stood a familiar plant in a hand-painted pot: the silver-leafed shrub she had taken with her from Cosmo Canyon. If it still followed the seasons of its native soil, it would soon sprout a cluster of frail flower buds.
Beyond the deck, parts of her garden were already in bloom; Nanaki could just make out spots of contrasting color in the dwindling light, scattered among the bushes and flower beds that girdled a central patch of mown grass. A huddle of white and yellow star-shaped flowers, small enough that Nanaki could have covered it all with his body, grew just outside the edge of the deck. Their fragrance hung in the air like the vibrant gossamer of a dragonfly's wings; it reminded Nanaki of the Midgar flower girl he once knew. He sat down next to them.
"So. You and Reno, working together." Tess laughed softly. "Who would have guessed, huh?"
"Not I, that much is certain."
"He and I had a rocky start, too, but…" She smiled. "He grows on you, doesn't he?"
"Like mold on cheese."
This time, her laughter was more like a giggle. "Now, now, he isn't that bad."
"He is not that good, either." He shifted his weight from one side to the other. "But… he does have redeeming qualities."
"Oh my. Was that a compliment I just heard?"
The crinkle of cellophane drew his eye back to her. She was opening the box of chocolates Reno had brought her.
"I am merely acknowledging that he is not all I thought him to be," Nanaki said, raising his tail to give her more light, "and that in some ways, he is more. I did not expect a Turk to ever fight at my side. I did not expect him to know my name, and I certainly did not expect him to love you."
Her fingers went still.
"...What?"
When he glanced up, she was staring at him with wide eyes.
"Did I say something wrong?" he asking, tilting his head in sudden concern. "My apologies. I speak of your pair bond."
"No, hang on a bit. He said that?"
"Not in words, no. He does not need to."
With a small huff, she sank back in her chair. "I guess you're right about that."
Nanaki studied her hunched shoulders and the crease between her eyebrows, trying to gauge the shift in her mood.
"Did I use the wrong word?"
"No, don't worry," she said quickly, and offered a faint smile. "It's just that if he starts using that one around others before he ever says it to me, I'm going to have choice words of my own to yell at him."
"You are... waiting for confirmation?"
"No, not like that." She gazed down at the heart-shaped box in her hands, absently stroking a thumb along the edge of it. "I mean, it would be nice to hear it, even once, but it's not like it would come as a surprise."
"Why not tell him this?"
"I can't tell him to say it! Christ, the levels of awkward would be astronomical."
Nanaki gave it some thought. His grandfather had been fond of that word, in the context of unfathomable time and distance. It was unlikely that this was what she had in mind, though. Instead he searched his memory for what he had witnessed of human relationships back in the Canyon.
"Why do you not say it first?" he suggested. "Is it not customary to respond in kind?"
Tess stared at him. Then she chuckled, shaking her head.
"You know, Nanaki, you have a knack for finding the right questions."
"If one wishes to learn, one must begin with a question."
"That sounds like one of your grandfather's sayings."
"It is. He much enjoyed questions, especially when one gave rise to many others."
"Blessed with the mind of a scientist." She snorted. "Or cursed. Take your pick."
"I choose the former." Nanaki looked up at the stars. "So would he."
They sat in silence a while, each reflecting upon their own thoughts. The darkness had deepened, yet at the same time, the pinpricks above had multiplied into a mosaic of light. A curious contradiction, Nanaki mused as he gazed upon them.
"How does the sky look to you here?" Tess eventually asked.
"It is different. Some constellations are missing, others have shifted to new positions."
"It looks different to me, too… But it always looks different to me, no matter where I go." She sighed. "I wonder if I'll ever get used to it."
"Grandfather showed me charts of constellations we could not see from the Canyon. I wonder if we are far enough north to see them now."
"Do you remember them?"
"I can try." He tucked his tail in under his body and peered at the sky, searching for any patterns he knew from Cosmo Canyon. "Observe," he said, raising his paw to point at a trio of stars near the horizon, much brighter than their neighbors. "I believe that is the tail of the Leviathan. The rest of it must be hidden from our view."
"Oh, you might be right. Then those four to the left, they could be Ifrit's body."
"Indeed, and the two above them are his feet."
It was a comforting routine they slipped into, as they pointed out the brightest stars to each other and guessed at their invisible connections. Tess had once told him that she had traveled so far from her original home that none of the stars were familiar to her, which was why she was so curious about these ones. Nanaki could not imagine it. Wherever he had wandered – and he had wandered far, indeed – he had always been able to find some familiar corner of the sky to guide him.
His grandfather had told him that every star was distant sun, each with its own loyal pack of planets. At first it had made Nanaki feel incredibly small – and, at times, incredibly lonely. As he grew older, though, it had begun to fill him with a fierce pride. Out of all the planets of the cosmos, this one alone was his to protect and cherish. This was the Planet; literally one in a million. A million millions.
As Nanaki sat beside Tess and gazed up at all those unseen worlds orbiting the stars above, he recovered a sense of that pride and purpose. His guardianship should not be confined to his village, or to his friends; his duty was to the Planet itself, and to the life that had sprung from its Lifestream. That included the people of Edge.
He would bring this Glimmer business to an end. It was not just a matter of granting the favor that Reno had asked of him. It was his duty.
It was almost midnight when Nanaki heard the quiet scrape of a key in the front door. He caught a ripe gust of alcohol as soon as Reno came inside, but the man closed the door without a sound and his steps were sure and silent.
"Hey there, Furball," he whispered. "Fitz still awake?"
"I believe so."
With a smile and nod, Reno slunk into the bedroom. Moments later, Nanaki picked up the murmurs of hushed conversation, but angled his ears away before he made out any words. He returned his attention to the yard on the other side of the glass door before him, staring into the trees beyond the fence. The outdoors had been calling to him ever since Tess had excused herself and headed to bed, but his guardian instincts had kept him at his self-assigned post, waiting for Reno's return.
His last visit months ago had been brief, but from what he could remember of it, human abodes were few and far between in these cliffs. He trawled his memory for the buildings he had seen, trying to place them in relation to Tess and Reno's lodge. With a bit of caution, he should be able to wander all night without coming across a single one of them.
Surprised to hear the bedroom door open again, Nanaki looked over his shoulder. Reno had returned in nothing but underwear, with a pillow under one arm and what appeared to be a blanket bundled up in the other. He raised a finger to his lips and closed the door with care, then tiptoed to the couch.
"Do you not sleep with her?" Nanaki wondered, keeping his voice low.
Reno snickered as he spread the blanket with a flick of his wrists.
"Oh, I sleep with her plenty. When I've had a few drinks, though, I sleep it off on the couch."
Nanaki tilted his head, trying to puzzle out what was meant by the words. The humans on this continent assigned far too many meanings to the word "sleep".
Reno glanced his way and caught him staring. He sighed.
"Sometimes booze messes with my sleep. I might wake up yelling or something, and I don't wanna freak her out in the middle of the night. Simple as that."
Nanaki considered this as Reno plumped up his pillow and set it down at one end of the couch.
"Why do you drink it, then?"
A crooked smile appeared on the man's face.
"Y'know what? Sometimes you think too much, kitty cat."
"I suspect you think too little."
With a chuckle, Reno flopped down on the couch and let his head sink into the pillow.
"Can't argue with that, yo."
His eyes were cracked open just enough for Nanaki to see that he had looked away, and the smile on his face didn't quite reach them. Why did the man always have to say so many different things at once?
"Hey, uh... Thanks for coming over. I haven't seen her smile like that for weeks."
Nanaki looked around the room, hoping it might offer more clues than this puzzle of a man. Their home seemed just as inviting by the golden light of his tail, and Tess had had plenty of smiles for both him and Reno.
Shinra, he concluded with a twitch of unease. They were, after all, deep in Shinra territory.
"If this place does not make her smile, then perhaps she should be elsewhere."
Reno stared up at the ceiling as he tucked one arm under his head.
"Yeah. Maybe she should." He sighed, then turned to Nanaki with half a smile. "Well, I'm all set here. How about you, where do you wanna spend the night? Inside, outside...?"
Nanaki pricked his senses, but gleaned nothing that might clue him in to Reno's state of mind. Perhaps it was owing to the beer he could smell on the man's breath. Alcohol made some humans moody, after all.
No matter. Whatever thoughts Reno wallowed in, they were not for Nanaki.
"I will spend this one outside. I wish to explore."
The man nodded, yawning.
"Cool," he mumbled, pulling the blanket over himself. "Just knock if you change your mind. I'm a pretty light sleeper."
Nanaki let himself out and let the door fall shut behind him. In the pale shimmer of a concave moon, he could trace the outlines of knotty pines, growing along the slopes among man-sized boulders. Somewhere beyond them, streams murmured softly as they wound their way down the cliffs. After days trapped in a teeming human city, Nanaki welcomed the hush of Healen's night. He filled his lungs with crisp mountain air, then loped off into the dark.