Forgiveness

Chapter 1 - Elena

By Crystal Snowflakes

Author's Notes: Sequel to "Infidelity"

Elena couldn't help the spring in her step as they walked through this small homey neighbourhood of Edge that she had never visited before. Rufus' secretary had insisted that there was a really good sushi restaurant right in this newly growing part of the city and she had been unable to resist dragging Tseng along. This was their first lunch scheduled together in over a week and it was the perfect weather to walk in.

A gentle breeze blew through her hair and past her neck and the sun shone brightly, reflecting off the diamond ring that she couldn't stop staring at every few steps. She could hear Tseng snort in mild amusement, glad that such a little thing was able to give her such happiness. Looking at him from the corner of her eyes, she couldn't help but smile and admire the way his broad shoulders fit his suit, or the way his hair flowed down his shoulders or even the way he looked at her. Even after almost a decade of staring at him, she didn't think she'd ever get enough.

The sudden joyful screaming of children interrupted her thoughts and she looked towards the playground, a gentle smile on her face. The summer days would be ending soon and while the weather in Edge didn't change much throughout the seasons, the children would be returning back to their daily school routines shortly. She looked up at the azure sky and wispy clouds and she didn't think that she would ever get used to the boundlessness of it all. There were days she still looked up and expected to see the steel sky and it took her awhile to realize that it had been fourteen years since Meteor had struck.

"This is such a nice neighbour. We should consider getting a place here, Tseng," she said, shooting the dark-haired man a smile.

Tseng had stopped in his tracks with an indecipherable look on his face before his lips curved up ever so slightly. "You're not the only one that thinks so."

With a confused 'huh', she spun around to take a look at what he was staring at. Her eyes wandered through the playground before settling itself on a bench and she couldn't really tell why it caught his gaze because it was just a parent supervising their child. But then she recognized the familiar languid posture, the amused smirk and the vivid red hair tied in that familiar way.

With her breath caught in her throat, she turned around towards Tseng with wide eyes. "Is that…?"

Tsend nodded imperceptibly, his eyes narrowed as he scanned the rest of the playground.

"Why…" she trailed off, her brain trying to catch up to the image in front of her. "Has he been in Edge all along?"

Two years ago, Reno had come back from a mission up in Icicle Inn and asked for a week of R&R. Rufus had approved the leave even though it had been strange because Reno never asked for time off, preferring to throw himself into his work. But when his leave ended, he had just ceased to return to work. His accounts had been emptied and he had practically left everything of his at his apartment with the exception of a few Turk-issued handguns and his nightstick. A resignation letter had been mailed to Rufus later in the week and since then, he had basically fallen off the face of Gaia. They had tried to look for him, but Reno had gotten a headstart and had been meticulous about covering his tracks and had just...disappeared.

It was clear he hadn't wanted to be found, and as his friends, they had reluctantly followed his wishes. Over the weeks and months, she had wondered whether Reno had finally messed up so bad that he had to pack his bags and run, but looking at him now, she had to consider whether he had been running from them instead.

Reno was cupping his hands around his mouth to shout something, but they were far away that his voice was indiscernible and Elena's eyes roamed through the playground again, still unable to pick out the individual who he was communicating with.

Part of her debated on just walking away with Tseng, but the more inquisitive part of her wanted to walk up to him to ask him what the hell he had been thinking, leaving them without any answers, and didn't they deserve it, having put up with his shit for years? It seemed like Tseng was also curious, because his gaze hadn't left the ex-Turk.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Elena spoke, determined. "He owes us some answers."

Tseng's head tilted just slightly. "I'm not sure we'll get any. I wasn't sure he was ever able to stop being a Turk to start with and he left without a word."

"It was kinda strange… Do you think he was coerced?" she asked, even though she wasn't sure she believed it even for a moment. The redhead in front of her looked relaxed. Happy. Although maybe a little bored.

Tseng shook his head slowly. "We combed through all the files he had worked on the past year and there was nothing that he couldn't have handled by himself. Whatever the reason, it was personal."

They strode around the park and approached him from the side, but even before they reached him, she knew he was aware of their presence because he had slid over on the bench, leaving enough room for the two of them to settle down.

"Chief. 'Lena," he greeted with a small smirk, his eyes never leaving the playground. "What brings you 'round this neighbourhood?"

Elena studied his outfit, never having seen him out of his navy suit in all the years she had known him, secretly pleased to see his concealed weapon hidden under his blazer. He was wearing a pair of casual beige slacks and a light blue semi-buttoned and untucked dress shirt along with a navy blazer and she couldn't help the small smile from forming on her lips. Reno was always going to be Reno. He looked overdressed for the playground, but even so, he seemed to fit right in.

"Heard there was a good sushi restaurant nearby," Elena explained, sitting down beside him.

Reno glanced at her fingers briefly before he sat up, his smirk widening as he glanced between the two of them, "Congrats, man!" Then he snickered as he added, "You too, 'Lena."

"Thank you, Reno," Tseng uttered, sitting down next to Elena who had shot Reno a glare.

There was an awkward silence and it was clear to Elena that Reno wasn't about to share anything unless they asked, and even then, he might not answer. "How are you? And what are you doing here, Reno?"

He took his hands out of his pockets and leaned forward in his seat, his eyes back on the playground, before he answered, "I'm good. Life's a little dull." His right hand fidgeted with the ring in his left hand and Elena had a feeling that he had deliberately directed their attention onto that. "We live here. We've been here the past two years."

"We?" Elena probed, her nosiness piqued, "Who's we?" It was a wedding ring, surely, but she definitely felt a little irritated that she hadn't been invited to the wedding.

"My family," Reno responded with a grin and she knew he was being deliberately difficult on purpose. And then as if he could really read her mind even after all these years, he added with a roguish raise of his eyebrow, "Relax, 'Lena. There wasn't a wedding. Don't be so pouty."

He did really seem happy, which was a far cry from his first marriage to Tifa. She loved them each individually and they had gotten along well and she had been happy for them, but something wasn't quite...right. So when they had announced their divorce a year down the road, nobody had been completely shocked.

"Who's the poor gal?" she asked, because if Tifa, who Elena really thought was the perfect woman, hadn't been able to make Reno happy, who was this saint of a woman?

Reno shrugged and it made Elena wonder if this woman had been the reason why Reno had upped and left.

Before the conversation could continue, a child had ricocheted across the playground and into Reno's arms. Reno, seemingly having to expect such an attack, flexed his core to absorb the blow and wasn't the least bit winded. He merely ruffled the child's hair as he continued to listen to the constant string of words that escaped his mouth, giving the occasional grunt or nod to respond.

Elena could only gape, her eyes studying the child who was no doubt Reno's because those hazel-green eyes gave it away. It didn't help that his dark brown hair was cut exactly the same way, right down to the messy ponytail in the back. She heard Tseng's sharp intake of breath and it was obvious that he was just as every bit as shocked as her.

When the child finally stopped rambling, he raised an eyebrow towards the two suited companions. "You know them, dad?"

Reno chuckled, "Sure, kid. This is 'Lena and Tseng. They're friends."

"You have friends?" he looked up at his dad skeptically. "Thought the only one who could stand you was mom."

"Well, he sure has your attitude," Elena muttered under her breath, earning a deep laugh from Reno. "We used to work with your dad. What's your name?"

"Axel," the child responded with an impish grin and Elena could swear she had seen that grin before somewhere. "You work for Shinra then? Dad used to work for Shinra."

Tseng seemed to have the same idea as Elena because he peered towards the child. "You're a smart kid. Your parents taught you well. Do you know your mom's name?"

Reno's lips twitched upwards as Axel looked almost offended at Tseng's question. He half-sneered at Tseng as he replied, "Do you think I'm an idiot? I'm seven. Of course I know my mom's name. Her name's Kimiko."

Elena saw the first-in-command's lips twitch either in pain or amusement and she suspected it was because Reno was the only person in the world to ever talk to Tseng with such disrespect. It stood to reason that the second one would be his son.

"Manners," Reno reminded his son, although he was clearly amused and didn't care much, only reminding the child out of obligation.

"Definitely your son," Elena grumbled, earning a small shoulder shove from Reno.

Tseng looked thoughtful as he murmured to himself, studying the young Reno lookalike. "Kimiko. It means 'Empress'."

A loud bark of laughter escaped Reno, surprising Elena for just a moment. "Is that what it actually means? She told me, but I didn't quite believe her." He shook his head, a wide grin on his face.

Elena felt like she was clearly missing something, because Tseng was staring at Reno meaningfully and the ex-Turk was ignoring it on purpose. Regardless, Elena looked at Reno with a genuine smile, "I'm glad you're happy. For a while, we thought you were...asked to leave."

The redhead scoffed, "Nobody could've gotten me to leave my job if I didn't wanna."

"It was voluntary, then?" Tseng asked and before Reno could even answer, he continued to talk, "You mentioned life being dull… Mr. President has been looking for help in our department and as you know, good help is hard to find. So if you're ever interested, let me know."

"He has to go home and ask mom first," Axel spoke up with a grin before trying to whisper discreetly and failing, "She's kinda scary."

Reno ruffled his hair again. "Don't give away my secrets, you twerp." He looked up with a small shrug. "I'll think about it. Gotta ask the missus." Before Elena or Tseng could say anything else, Reno stood up and motioned for Axel to follow along. "Gotta go home for lunch. Was nice seeing you, 'Lena. Chief."

"Likewise," Tseng said, standing up as well.

The two of them watched as Reno crouched down and Axel scrambled up his back to sit atop his shoulders. Before they started walking away, Reno turned around, an uncertain look on his face. "Uh… Don't tell Rude about the kiddo, yea? Wouldn't really want it to get back to Teef." Turning around without waiting for an answer, the child above his shoulders began prattling away, Reno responding with the occasional snarky response and it wasn't long before they walked far enough that Elena could no longer hear their conversation anymore.

"That was…" Elena trailed off for a few moments before she could complete the sentence, "Unexpected. Why do you think he didn't want Rude to know about the kid?"

"You remember how old the kid was?" Tseng asked as he began to walk back to where they had been before being distracted by the ex-Turk.

"He said he was seven, right?" Elena made some quick calculations in her head, stopping in her tracks in shock. "That's how long they've been divorced, right?"

Tseng nodded, his lips thin, "I'm guessing Mr. Casanova wasn't exactly faithful to Ms. Lockhart during their...courtship." Then he added, "Which is extremely surprising, given who his wife is."

Elena whipped her head around to face him. "You know who Reno's wife is?"

"An educated guess," he spoke, motioning with his head for her to continue walking.

It irked her how Tseng seemed to know who the wife was when Elena had no clue at all who it could've been. Clearly, Tseng knew her and it seemed like he was alluding to the fact that Tifa knew her too. The amount of women Tifa hung out with… Elena thought back to Tifa's maid of honour and bridesmaids and knew that it couldn't have been any of them because she was one of them, the other was happily married to Cid Highwind and the last one died much too young.

She gave him a glare. "I'm guessing you don't plan to share your educated guess?" She huffed a bit before continuing their walk. "You think he's gonna call about the job?"

"Reno is destructive when idle," Tseng said with knowing glint in his eyes, "With a little persuading, I think his wife will agree that the best thing for him is to do what he loves best."

Elena tittered slightly. "And you believe that you're the one who should persuade her. You sound like you know her well." She tried to bait him into talking, although she knew that Tseng was tight-lipped when it mattered and she didn't think she'd have much success, but it never hurt to try.

He didn't take her bait. "The office has been…" he trailed off slightly, his lips quirking up as he completed his sentence, "Quiet."

"You miss him," Elena chortled, her hand slapping his shoulders lightly. "I miss him too. Office life just isn't the same without Reno."

"Although it has been much more productive," he added with a wry smile.

Relieved that she could finally see the outside of the restaurant because her stomach was growling, she grabbed his hand and tugged him faster towards their destination. "Well, things seem to have stopped magically setting themselves on fire," Elena finally said as they grew nearer, "Especially paperwork."

"I was just thinking about how much faster debriefs and meetings go by now," he responded, opening the door to the restaurant.

Just before stepping in, she turned to him and sighed, "Please persuade the wife. Work is a lot duller without him and I'm tired of Rufus rambling on without Reno's snarky comments to keep me entertained. Who would've known that I would miss that asshole so much."

Author's Notes: As usual, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated!

Completed: July 20, 2020