So much love between the two ShinRa gingers. I hope that explains a little bit about Cissnei's past for you. Enjoy! Characters at Square Enix, story is my own!


It was eating him up. Slowly. Cissnei, the Turks, her 'death', Griever. Mostly though, he only really wanted to know why she'd hated them so much that she had gone and pretended to be dead so...so what? What would he have done if he'd known she was alive this entire time? Found her? Dragged her back here sooner? Oh bloody hell, he didn't know. Leaning forward until his elbows rested on his knees, Reno harshly rubbed his face while he thought about it. He wouldn't have drank his life away for the months following at least - or maybe he still would have. Back then it seemed like he had constantly drunk just enough for the pain to be dulled, at least for a time. That was before Rude had hidden the alcohol stash and took to sending Elena the attack dog after him whenever he took a drink. The pain he'd felt was easier to endure than Elena's constant mewling, so that had ended fairly quickly.

He wished he could just ask Cissnei about it, but every time he did, she closed up as tight as a clam. He would never learn anything that way, that was for sure. So how was he going to figure this out so it didn't eat away at him? Drumming his fingers on the desk he was 'working' at, Reno tried to do something foreign to him - think. Something came back to his memory when he did too. 'We all, took it hard when Rod told us you were dead.' 'Rod told yo-...I see.' What did that mean? Mentally cursing, Reno shook his head. "Hell no." Adamant that he would not be doing any such thing, he settled back down into his chair and set his jaw stubbornly. But deep down he knew what he had to do.

He had to talk to Rod.


Of all people, why did it have to be Rod that he needed information from? And speak of the devil, there he was. Muttering under his breath, Reno trudged over to the desk that Rod was stationed at - thankfully one that was privately placed - and plopped himself down, scooting back until his heels drummed against the wood. "Reno.", was accompanied by a long suffering sigh. "Oh hey, I didn't see you there." The snort that followed made Reno's glare intensify. "Yeah...sure ya' didn't." God...again, why Rod? "Sooo, what can thy humble servant do the great and mighty Reno?" "Why did you tell me Ciss was dead?" That sobered him up and took that damned arrogant look off his face. Idly Rod grabbed a stack of papers and began to shuffle them together, as if weighing his words carefully. " 'Cause she is...or was." "The hell does that mean? Cut the crap, Rod. Dead people don't feel as real as she does." "Look, Reno, I don't know if I should tell ya' any a' this." "Come on, Rod. What's it going to hurt? I want to help her."

The look Rod gave him was measuring. "Or I could pull my second in command card. You pick." "Fine, jackass. I dunno, you might have noticed, but Cissy changed after what happened with that SOLDIER. Ya' know, the big dumb one." "Pot callin' the kettle black.", he muttered with a sly look. "Oh cute." Reno crossed his arms and thought for a minute. "Did she love him?" A shrug was what he got as an answer. "I dunno, maybe. It hit her hard, especially after he'd been killed." Rod's tone gave him away. "And what about you? Did you love her?" Reno's hand grasped tightly into a fist while he asked Rod the question. Did he not only have to compete with a dead guy, but Rod of all people? Wait, it didn't matter anyway! "Not tha' it's any business a' yours, but maybe. Hard not to love Cissy, ya' know? She's the good one of the bunch." "I know.", he agreed. "I guess she never really recovered from that. I'm sure ya' noticed how withdrawn she was those last couple a' months." So he had indeed. He'd known something was wrong, but at the time he didn't want to have to hear her mourn for a dead guy, so he hadn't asked when he should have.

"When the structure collapsed, we were all disorganized, the shock waves really got to us, not only physically, but mentally. Cissy, she kinda snapped I guess. I think it was a combination a' guilt from the 'lives we've ruined', that SOLDIER's death, and the shock of what happened that day. It was jus' too much for her." Reno wished things had been different. That he'd sucked up his pride and gone to talk to her about what she'd been going through. "We were all scrapped up pretty badly, but I think Ciss was injured the worst. Probably added to her mental state. I've never seen her like that, not before and not since. It was like she was lookin' without seein'. Her eyes were all...sunken, listless. She told us she'd never go back, and that if ever there was any questions of her fate, we were supposed ta' say that we never saw her in the whole mess." Reno looked up sharply then. "But you told me she was dead." "Yeah, well...I didn't suppose you'd leave her alone if ya' thought there was a chance." Reno felt anger swell up in himself. Twisting, he reached for Rod's collar, dragging him half out of his chair. "Damn it, Rod! Do you know how many times I got drunk just to cut the pain what happened that damned day? All because you didn't want me to have a chance?" The look on Rod's face said he didn't. Releasing him just as quickly, Reno set his teeth and glared at the opposite wall, taking a breath to get himself in check.

"None of us wanted to leave her, but we couldn't stay together. She stayed with Sam an' Kylie though, neither one could be convinced ta' leave her while we were in exile." Reno stubbornly kept silent. Worthless bastard. "She...she acted like she was dead. Went through the motions, but her spirit was gone. Hell, we would have done anythin' for a minute of Cissy back." "At least you knew she was alive.", he growled. "She didn't smile for years I don't think. In all honesty, she was freaking dead, so lay off will you." Glaring at each other for a few minutes, Reno finally broke the stare. "Fine." The silence was thick between them. "The only reason we're here is 'cause we didn't know how she'd do - bein' held here against her will." "We didn't put her in a dungeon.", he argued. Seeing the look Rod gave him, Reno raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay...so I might have told her not to jump out a window." Reno was just glad that Rod hadn't gotten it in his head to tease him about this. Hell, he'd break his shiny white teeth if he tried - something Rod probably knew. "So if she was so dead inside, why did she get all of you tangled up in this 'mission'? Seemed awfully Turk like to me."

"That, is something you'll have to ask her yourself. Oh...and Reno? If she asks, ya' heard it from Sam, not me, alright?"