Morning over the Ancient Forest sparkled like the sea, white and blue. Cristobel stepped onto her balcony, sliding the door behind her closed as quietly as she could, feeling the biting winter chill on her skin and the sun-warmed boards beneath her bare feet. Her coffee sent a curl of steam into the crisp air.
The unobstructed view from the balcony was one of the reasons she'd taken this apartment. It was so beautiful, all year. Not a trace of humankind to be seen.
"Yo." Reno joined her not long after, squinting in the sunlight. He held up a steaming mug. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you found it."
He hadn't left in the night. She'd expected him to. But here he was, brushing curls to the side so he could kiss her neck, tucking a finger under the shoulder strap of her camisole. She smiled, leaning into his touch. "I never expected a Turk to live a normal life," she teased. "I thought you all slept in coffins."
His laughter tickled. "I like to have fun outside of work. It just doesn't happen –"
A loud ring cut him off.
Cristobel grabbed her phone off the balcony railing and flipped it open. She made a face.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"It's Yuffie. The most annoying best friend in the world." Cristobel grinned. "I forgot. She wants to know how it went."
"How what went?"
In reply, Cristobel raised the phone and snapped a picture of him. A sleepy, shirtless, uncombed picture of him.
"That should answer her question," she said.
"Yo, wait a second!" Reno snatched for the phone. "Don't send that!"
She held the phone behind her, but his arms were longer, and he almost had it. Pushed against the railing, she squirmed, laughing. Then – instead of fighting for the phone, they were kissing, their coffee spilled across the planks, dripping to the balcony below. He yanked her closer, raking one hand down her back to settle it in the curve of her spine. His other hand closed over hers, subsequently closing the phone.
"I still don't have your number," he said against her lips, sending a thrill of a different kind through her system.
"Name's Coleridge. Look it up," she said and was rewarded with a growl.
Shin-Ra Inc. did eventually intrude, and the rest of the weekend passed in a lonely, anticlimactic sort of way. She went for her runs. She put Samuel and Shera in contact with each other. On Monday, she returned to work and explained to the school's principal that she'd attended her father's funeral and it had all been very sudden – the geostigma, of course.
Her life belonged to her, and no one else. Just the way she wanted it.
But she thought of Reno so much, wondering what he was doing, if he thought of her. She sat down for lunch that day, lost in a reverie.
Her phone rang.
A/N:
It was not the intention of this work to retell the entire FF 7 game storyline, but rather to supplement it. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to dabble in the world of Gaea.
Aside from the epilogue, "Sounding the Crystal Bell" consists of seven chapters, in honor of the day Cloud left Nibelheim seven years before the start of FF 7, and each chapter consists of five scenes, in honor of the day Sephiroth destroyed the town of Nibelheim five years before the start of FF 7.
Now it's time for a few acknowledgments.
First and foremost, to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with apologies.
Thanks go to Little Chiba and Yinza for providing the game script online.
Thanks also go to my fantastic reviewers for the compliments, encouragement, and all-around smiles their comments have granted me: Darwin, Queen Baka, Sololight, Piper-Knight, Blue Fire Lily, ChocolateyGenesis, Buddy Kenneth, Fille des Fleurs, QualityRachni, azaleacroncs, katie, FinalFanCrazy12p3, and heavenslilagl420.
Special thanks go to Darwin, because she is my real-life friend and had a lot to listen to from one insecure author writing her very first fanfic.
1/23/2010 – 2/23/2010