Chapter 11: Broken Pieces

Brae wiped the wet tears from the back of her hands down the sides of her black, knee length skirt before tugging at the white lace of her sleeveless top.

"Alright, enough mushy stuff" She sniffled as she smiled around the group and turned towards the dining room "I need a cocktail"

She walked forward as her friends parted but began moving forward, hugging Zack and nodding their congratulations as they patted him on the back.

As Brae neared the kitchen, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and knew from the light squeeze that it was Reno. She tipped her head down and watched her bare feet as she moved over to the bar a grabbed as glass from the shelf on the wall. Reno had moved to stand behind her and rubbed her back in gentle circles. Brae pulled a few ice cubes with a pair of tongs from the small cooler that had been set out for the drink station, and dropped them into her glass. She reached for the bottle of vodka and poured a little more then she intended to into her glass. After the day she'd had, she felt she deserved it. As she twisted the top back on to the bottle, she sniffed to make sure her nose wasn't running after her small outburst.

"Are you alright?" She felt the warmth of Reno's breath in her ear as he leaned forward and slid his hands around her waist to lock his fingers in front of her stomach.

"Yeah. I'm fine" She grabbed one of the bottles of fruit juice set out along the opposite side of the cooler, and poured slowly as the clear liquid turned crimson and the ice clinked around the side of the glass before floating to the top.

~XO~

She felt slightly embarrassed at her reaction to the news of her hometown being under attack and the way her emotions had rose. In truth, Brae had nothing left in that village, aside from a childhood of bad memories of neglect, loneliness & a past she felt was constantly following her around.

Curith Mund was a remote village, hidden in the cliff sides of one of the largest mountain ranges of the lands. It was rich in a variety of rare plants and vegetation that grew all year round, even when the mountain became covered in snow in the winter months. Waterfalls ran in crystal blue streams through the ridges, while wildlife ran free off the banks of the forest. It was, to any other person, a hidden paradise! But for Brae, it never felt like home. Just more like a prison she would spend a lifetime trying to run from.

Her parent's owned the largest share of the farmlands, most of the shops in town & had seen to the building of most of the homes that surrounded the only part of the mountain that was able to hold such structures. In fact, the Rowen family was almost considered royalty in such a remote area. They lived in a large home that sat at the edge on the back of town, the base of the grounds covered in fruit trees and exotic flowers. Being outdoors was her favorite place in the world. She'd spend most of her days climbing the trees or chasing the local wildlife. Even as a young child, most of her time was spent outdoors. It's just what her parents had always instructed her nannies to do with her. Brae saw the her parents looked at her as if she a disgusting animal whenever her nanny brought her back indoors and her dress would be torn, covered in stains and her pale skin pigmented with the tints of mud and grass.

"She's not my daughter" A remark Brae heard leave her mother's lips with a sneer throughout most of her life. Her mother had said once, as she walked through the house with a group of her friends in toe, "My children have class. Unlike like this thing!"

Her mother had let her dark eyes not even glance at Brae as she stood in the foyer, her bare feet still covered in the wet mud she had been running through. Only to point one of her perfectly manicured fingers in the direction she had stood. She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes as watched her mother and all her guests turn their noses upward and whisper hurtful things as they passed. She closed her eyes tight, she would never let them see her hurt, not any more. Brae waited until everyone had walked to the back of the house before she turned and ran through the front doors.

She could hear the shouts from her brother as he sat in a circle of friends on the front lawn, but she didn't stop. She'd run until her lungs were about to collapse and the feeling of sickness sat in the pit of her stomach. She felt her legs give out from underneath her as she sunk to the ground, pulled her knees to her chest and let herself sob loudly. She suddenly felt the cold of heavy metal as the charm from her necklace around the silver chain on her neck slid down and hit her chin. Her breath was shaky when she reached a hand forward and touched at the emblem of a blue apple in the claws of a white hawk, the crest of her family. Held as two of the rarest items on the mountain, yet they surrounded her family's home.

Her hand gripped tight around the expensive charm that her sister had given her as a present for her 12th birthday. She wore one the matched Brae's only slightly larger. Her parents gave her nothing for any of her celebrations. They told the staff to take her to the market and let her have whatever it was she wanted. As a small child, she thought it was a great gift. But now that she was 15, she longed for much more then trinkets and clothing. She wanted to be looked at the same way her parents looked at her siblings, with love and adoration. Lyla and Myst, her older brother and sister were perfect in their eyes. They shared all of the same looks as her parents. Dark emerald eyes, straight auburn hair that ran with streaks of blood red and honey colored skin. Brae on the other hand had blue eyes tinted with orange, light colored hair that fell in ringlets around her shoulders and skin so pale, her sister used to laugh and joke that the goddess of the moon must've held her as a baby. When Brae noticed the differences in her appearance, she had asked her mother if she was adopted. Her mother told her that she had given birth to her, and since day one Brae had been her curse.

It was while she was in her bedroom crying that she felt the warmth and comfort of her brothers arms wrap her in a hug. He told her she was special because she looked like their great-great grandmother and she had been a powerful gypsy witch, regarded throughout the family as a wonderful healer and one of the first people to begin to cultivate the village they lived in. Brae smiled as Myst told her family stories and shared his plans for when he grew up. But best of all, Myst and Lyla told Brae they loved her which was something she had never heard from her parents. Instead she had received an endless line of icy glares and disapproving comments. "She can never amount to anything more then a gangly little twit!" Her mother had said as her father entered the room with a cigar in his hand sipping from a glass containing only ice and expensive whiskey. He looked at her, and nodded as he moved to sit in one of the large chairs near the window. Brae could remember how it hurt her to be near them. Her mother, heartless and cruel. Her father, to consumed with work and politics to pay any attention to his children.

Brae let her fingers slip from the charm as she looked up and realized she had stopped near one of the borders of the mountain. She rose slowly from the dirt and gravel beneath her and began to walk towards the bit of fence that separated the town from the cliff. She nodded as her mind began to reel. Brae placed her hands on the topmost bar and pulled up as her feet skimmed the cool touch of the heavy iron. She hooked her knee over the top bar, not caring that she was wearing a dress. As she moved her other leg over to rest on the top bar, she felt a breeze whip around her and she breathed deep the sweet smells of nature. The feel of her wet tears were cold on her face, as her hair whipped wildly around her face and her dress billowed around her ankles. She closed her eyes and steadied herself as she stood slowly on the bar, holding her arms in front of herself for balance, before she opened them slowly and looked at the drop in front of her. It had to be at least 500 feet before she would hit something, she thought as she took a slow breath and felt her eyes begin to well with tears again.

"They never wanted me to be here" She whispered as her throat started to close and she choked on the tightness of muscles contorting as she gasped for air.

She knew that more then anything, the tears falling from her eyes were not for her, but for Myst and Lyla. The only people that had ever given a damn about her. She looked up at the sky as she felt her feet began to cramp in the arches from where the cold metal pressed into them.

"I'm sorry" She took a quick breath and looked down. As she closed her eyes and started to bend her knees.

She was shaken by the feel of hard metal smacking her back and the feel of hands under her shoulders ripping her backwards over the fence. Brae landed hard on top of someone and she heard a grunt as the wind was knocked from his body.

"What the hell?" Her body had stiffened when she didn't recognize the voice in her right ear. Brae had assumed the grip behind her was Myst following her, but then again, the body she rested on did feel larger and had more muscle. She quickly pulled her elbows to her sides and rolled to the ground before leaping to her feet and positioning herself in a defensive stance.

"Whoa, whoa ,whoa!" The man in front of her raised his hands as he sat on the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" She stared at the curious look from the baby blue eyes in front of her as the older man ran one of his hands through his short, sandy brown hair.

"Looks to me, like I'm the man who just stopped you from falling off the cliff" He placed one hand on the ground and pushed off hard so he was standing in front of her.

He brushed his hands together a few times before wiping down the back of his white pants as Brae watched him, but never moved her hands from in front of her body.

"Trust me miss, I'm not going to hurt you" He held his hands above his head as if surrendering. The man cleared his throat with a quick cough

"Well, hello then" He lowered his arms and extended a hand forward. Brae relaxed her shoulders as she stood up straight and put her hands down but just continued to stare at him.

"Um…okay. Guess not" He pulled his hand back and placed it into one of the pockets of his white blazer.

"What're you doing out here?" Brae tipped her head to the side as she watched him use his free hand to wipe away any dirt from his ensemble.

"Well, my car broke down over there," He pointed down one of the dirt roads "and my cell can't get any service this deep in the woods. So I was walking to town to call a tow service"

Brae nodded once as she began to pick at the bits of grass stuck in the hem of her dress. "I saw you standing on the top of the railing, and ran before you could fall"

Again Brae just nodded as she stared into the caring eyes of the stranger in front of her.

"Might I ask, what exactly were you doing out there miss?" Brae felt heat rise in her cheeks as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I like the view, but I slipped" she lied as her eyes looked to the ground.

"Well if you really want to see a spectacular view," He stepped forward and she saw that even his shoes were white, and looked expensive 'What is it with this guy and white?' Her mind wondered as he moved closer to her.

When she finally raised her head, he was standing directly in front of her. She gasped and stepped back as he smiled and reached for her hand.

"It's alright. As I was saying" She left her hand to rest in his, something about the look in his eyes as they met hers was very trusting and comforting. "You should see the view from my helicopter"

At those words, her face lit into a large smile. Which for Brae felt wonderful since she couldn't even remember the last time she had even been remotely happy.

"You have a helicopter?" The one place in the world Brae loved most here was the highest point at the top of the mountain. It's where she could escape everything and feel free.

"Of course I have a helicopter. How do you think I got here?" His hand tightened around hers as he shook firmly

"My name is Rufus Shinra" Brae recognized the last name as a big firm her dad had talked about on several occasions.

"I just, kind of, inherited the family business from my father, and his associates want me to familiar myself with the companies bigger assets."

Brae knew that he was talking about the massive explosion that had killed his father, making Rufus one of the youngest owners of one of the worlds biggest industries.

"Brae Rowen" She shook his hand firmly and he nodded.

"Well, miss Rowen," He let go of her hand and hook bent his elbow at an angle towards her as he turned his head towards the road. "Would you be so kind as to escort me into town?"

Brae nodded once as she slipped her arm into his and let him walk her forward, a warm smile never leaving his face.

~XO~

Over the years Rufus Shinra had become like a much older brother to Brae. It was because of his suggesting that she use her hand-to-hand combat skills and love for the skies, that she had come with him to Midgar and was now one of the youngest pilots the Turks had. As Brae stirred her drink and looked into the dining room, her thoughts a flurry of memories, her hand moved in a slow motion towards the charm hanging from a silver chain around her neck. Her thumb traced in a small circle over the blue apple, while her thoughts swirled of her sister, now married and expecting her first child.

Also of her brother, who was somewhere in the world. It had always been a dream of Myst's to get out of that small town and travel. Her heart panged as she realized how much she truly missed him, but she had never been more happy in life then she was right now.

"It's a girl" Brae snapped from her daydream and looked up to see Khaos walking towards her.

"What?" She looked confused at him as he stopped in front of the bar and smiled at her.

"Zack said your sister is having a girl, but you walked away too soon" Brae felt Reno's hands move up to her shoulder's and rest there.

"You're gonna be an aunt soon" He smiled into her ear.

"Yeah, I guess" Her relationship with her sister had dwindled the night she ran away and refused to come back even as her sister cried and begged over the phone, and over the years they had become more distant, but she was still family.

That was 6 years ago, and she had never been back since. She shook her head a few times and let go of her necklace, before raising the straw to her lips a taking a long drink. She let the straw fall and sighed loudly.

"Come here" Her hand flew to her shoulder and gripped Reno's fingers as she tugged for him to stand in front of her. His green eyes were full of concern as a smile began to form on his face.

"Thank you" She leaned forward and closed her eyes as she let the warm familiarity of one of his soft kisses sweep over her and clear her mind of any worry.