Fairy Tale, a final fantasy vii fanfic

Fairytale

Part I: It begins

Once upon a time, on the Eastern Continent, there was a city floating above

the ground. All of the buildings stretched towards the azure sky, glimmering in

the sunlight. And at night the city would glow, as if it was filled with

thousands of fire-flies.

In the heart of the city lay the highest and proudest buildings of them all,

the Shinra Building. They said there were no windows you could open on the top

floors, the air was so thin, it would leave you breathless. They said that on

cloudy days, it's residents would look down on the city from above the clouds.

They said the most powerful men on the Planet ruled the world from that

building.

This astonishing metropolis lay safely in a cradle between the mountains and

the ocean, over the years becoming one with the rest of the scenery.

The city was protected by it's guardian, The Zolmon, a gigantic snake, living

in the water. It dwelled in a lake at the foot of the mountains, but the rumours

that it had been spotted just outside the coast kept unwanted visitors away. It

was believed the lake was connected to the sea by an underwater tunnel.

This city was Midgar, the city through which the blood of the Planet

pulsated.

*****

But the lake slowly but surely faded throughout the years, until one day,

there was nothing left but a vast swamp.

The sun never touched the smooth surface of the buildings anymore, and the

city seemed to lay in constant darkness, hidden beneath a dark cloud that would

not let in any light. The fire-flies always seemed to fill the city, along with

the buzzing sound that could have been the flapping of their wings.

But of course, no one any longer believed it was the fire-flies that glowed.

They all knew there were no fire-flies in the city, and there never had been.

The glow came from the green substance the Company was drawing out of the

ground. That was what gave the city it's lambency. And the buzzing sound of thousand of flapping silken thin wings were the sound the Reactors made. Day as night.

Beneath the enormous plate that carried this once so magnificent city, something else emerged. It was not only colossal pillars that carried up the plate and made the city float. It was a whole town, built among the sewers and old abandoned underground train tracks.

The home of the outcast and misfits. Home for the ones who simply hadn't been lucky enough to be born above.

This was a city always in darkness, relying on the light the Company provided it with. It was a stinking, filthy place. A place where no one walked the streets safely, a place where life was an eternal strife. If you were born down there you'd never see the upper side of the Plate, gates guarded by armed SOLDIERs made sure of that.

And that was the price they paid for rising the other part, the glorious part, of Midgar to the skies.

But one young man refused to live by these rules, and one day he found a way up on the Plate.

*****

It was high, but he had to make the jump, he had no choice. There was no way he was going to give up now, not when he'd come so far.

Hitting the ground did hurt, a lot. But not as much as he had imagine it would.

For a moment he just lay there, on the hard concrete ground, taking the time to breathe.

When he finally did move again every muscle in his body ached, screaming at him to stay, to lay still. But he had to go on, before he was spotted by Shinra SOLDIERs. There was no telling what they'd do if they found him. Probably throw him back into the slums. Or maybe even worse.

For such a long time, the climb up to the Plate had been the only thing on his mind. But now, for the first time, he realised that he had nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

*****

Rufus Shinra, vice-president of the Company despite being only twenty years old, glared at the fax machine as it spat out a paper with his father's monogram in the corner.

Rufus, I need you in my office at 22:00, there are some matters regarding the ball we need to discuss.

President Shinra

He brushed a weary hand over his face and sighed. Great, this is just what I need right now.

He had no doubt the things his father wished to discuss would be his date for the ball. How he should choose someone who were fit to carry on the precious Shinra blood to a new generation. Someone from a nice family. The President had business associates who would do anything to have their daughters married off to the heir of the Shinra empire.

But Rufus had no interest in any of that. Marriage was not something that had a place in his plans for the nearest future. Especially not a marriage to one of the dull young women his father constantly introduced him to.

*****

When he'd lived down in the slums he used to go place. Only in his mind though. He'd never share those places with anyone. It would have taken the magic away if he'd told someone about them. They existed only for him, a sanctum he could slip into whenever reality got too real.

He used to stare out into nothing and see those places. His friends would ask him where he went when he did that, but he always refused to tell them, simply answering; "nowhere."

It was his way of escapism, the only way he could deal with the harsh life down in Sector 5.

But now he found himself doing it again. He looked up at the midnight sky. He'd never seen the stars before. Come to think of it, he'd never seen the sky before in his life either.

It didn't matter that it was full of grey clouds from the pollution Midgar spat out, it was still beautiful to him.

But all of that beauty made him miss everything he'd left behind, made him realise how lonely he really was up there on the Plate.

"Hey, kid."

He jumped up on his feet and spun around to meet the voice, after a brief debate with himself whether to run or face the danger. He wasn't really sure of when exactly the part of him saying fight had won.

Now he found himself face to face with a man with a gun in his hand.

"Pardon me for saying so," the politeness in the man's voice seemed highly out of place for a time like this, "but you don't quite seem to belong up here."

"Oh yeah?" he tried to seem indifferent, tried to act offended for being questioned like this. "Well... I thank you for your concern, and you're right, I don't belong here, I'm a bit outta my usual eh, block. This isn't were I live, so I guess I should be heading back home then." Definitely not his most convincing performance.

The man flicked his long dark hair gracefully out of his face as the wind caught some strands of it and playfully tickled over his foreign features.

"Do you have a pass?" he asked, holding the gun casually but steady.

Pass?

"I think I must have forgotten it at home."

Apparently the man was not very impressed with this lie as he quirked a thin brow and asked; "You forgot your pass at home? And still, you are outside after curfew."

"Um, yeah, sorry."

"You do know what the penalty for being outside after curfew is, don't you?"

Probably nothing good.

"What's your name and your id number?" the man continued and picked up a small piece of some technical equipment.

He wasn't sure whether a lie would do more damage than the truth in a situation such as this. His instincts told him to never give out such information to a stranger, but he had to wonder if his instincts knew that the this stranger was pointing a gun at him.

"Reno Papen," he mumbled, "id number 8004 capital S capital L 16."

The man frowned as he looked down on the display, a smirk slowly twisting his mouth as he took in the new information about his captive.

"So," he said, "Reno Papen, born in Sector 5, resident of Sector 5. Never applied for, and have never under any circumstances been given, permission to reside outside of Sector 4 to 6. A year ago you had a pass valid during curfew, 20:00 to 23:30, only in Sector 5 and 6 though. It was, however, withdrawn as you were caught trying to sell stolen weapons, which you had remodelled yourself, to a fraction of a then new and upcoming group of rebels. Never had a pass to Upper Midgar since you are considered a liability to the Company."

Scary, that little machine knew more about his life than his mother.

The man let it slip back into his pocket. "Did I miss something, mr Papen?"

Reno shrugged. "Nah, you seem to have it all covered."

"Glad to hear it," the man smirked. He nodded at something, or rather someone as it turned out to be, in the shadows behind Reno. "Rude, let's take him away."

Reno choked back a scream as his arms were twisted up on his back and held in a steady grip. He felt iron bracelets circle his wrists and being locked, holding his arms close together by a thin chain.

"Hey, are the cuffs really necessary?"

The man called Rude gave a rumbling laugh and pushed him forward, towards a car parked just around the corner.

"Aren't you supposed to read me my rights or something."

The first man chuckled as he held the car door open. "That is not quite how we do things, mr Papen."

*****

Rufus sighed as he closed the door behind him. The meeting with his father had been just what he'd expected it to be. Another lecture about choosing a proper lady to escort to the ball. The old man had surprised him though, he had to give him that. He'd not expected him to launch into that same old responsibility talk he'd heard so many times before, but that was exactly what his father had done. He'd started with the responsibilites Rufus had to the people, then his responsibilities to the Company, to himself, to his father, and finally, the responsibilites he had to his late mother, who'd died because of consequences of his birth.

He ran a weary hand through his hair. He was sick of being responsible, sick of being the good son, sick of following his father's lead.

In his hand he held a list with the names and phone numbers of the 'proper young ladies' his father had picked out for him to choose from.

What a joke.

He tossed the list into the nearest paperbin.

*****

Noise and voices reached Rufus as he stepped out of the elevator on the 64:th floor. He strode through the lounge which lay empty at this hour, and then headed down the corridore from where the sound seemed to be coming.

He thought he could distinguish Tseng's, the leader of the Turks, voice from a mixture of muffled sounds and something that sounded like some being thrown into the wall.

"Freaking hell, he bit me." That would have to be Rude, the other Turk.

The Turks was his father's pride, his personal lapdogs, the ones doing all of his dirty business.

Rufus peeked around the corner, seeing Tseng slap a redheaded young man across the face, then taking a firm grip of his chin and hissing something to him that Rufus could not hear.

The prisoner cursed at Tseng through gritted teeth, but the Turk merely smirked and turned to leave. But then something seemed to have caught his eye as he turned his head and looked directly at Rufus where he was standing, half-hiding, around the corner.

"Sir," Tseng said mildly with a slight bow, "with all due respect, you should not be running around the building at this hour."

"This building, Tseng, is my home. I believe that earns me the right to run around however I like."

"I'm only saying so out of concern for your safety, sir."

Rufus sighed, Tseng was not the kind of man who liked being told what to do, and bossing other people around seemed to give him a sense of power, no doubt.

"I was in a meeting with my father, and now I'm on my way back to my rooms," Rufus explained. He cast a glance at the stranger, held tightly in Rude's grip. He had not said a word since Rufus entered the scene but he looked up at him now, a silent plea in his deep blue eyes. "Who is this then?"

"Mr Shinra," Rufus could see the man's, or boy, really, beacuse he must have been atleast a couple of years younger than himself, surprise as Tseng uttered his name, "meet Reno Papen, a rat who has crawled out of the slums. But not to worry, sir, we'll take care of him."

Rufus' eyes widened a little. So this boy came from the slums. He'd never met anyone from down there before. All his life he'd heard stories about a city 50 meters underneath his feet, but it had never been anything more than a fairytale to him even though he knew very well it really did exist. He did recall hearing a story once about Tseng coming from the slums originally, but he doubted that there were any truth in it. The place the Turk now so much loathed could not possibly once had been his home.

"Well, have a good night then, sir, we will not keep you here any longer."

"Alright then, good night, Tseng," he nodded to the Turk, "Rude."

As the two Turks walked by him he met the boy's eye again as he cast a nervouse glance at him while he was being dragged away.

You're doing such a wonderful job standing up for yourself, Rufus thought bitterly as the three of them disappeared through a door.

As he lay in bed, thinking, later that night the strange man from the slums lingered in his thoughts.

*****

Part II: Four days later

He was free.

Well, not exactly free, but atleast he was out of the cell which he'd been kept in for more than three days, maybe longer, he wasn't really sure anymore.

The problem was that he was still in the Shinra Tower, and getting out seemed pretty impossible right then.

So many people running around everywhere. All busy with the preparations for their stupid ball.

These people were actually having a ball, while he was trying to figure out a way to stay a live for the next few hours. It couldn't take them very long to realize that he was crawling around in the air duct.

Tseng and Rude, as he'd come to know his two captors as, would been on his trail soon enough.

He'd seen them, they were looking for him. But no one else seemed to be doing so. Maybe the two Turks didn't take kindly to the idea of someone getting the better of them, of actually managing to escape from their custody. Still, they couldn't keep it a secret forever, and when word reached the President he was surely to have SOLDIERs roam around the building as well.

He kept to places from where he had the chance to keep an eye on what was going on on the other side of the walls, or beneath him. Seeing them, without them seeing him, gave him atleast some advantage.

He'd seen that man they'd met the night they brought him into the building. The young man Tseng had addressed as 'sir' and then as 'mr Shinra.' It must have been Rufus Shinra, Reno thought. He had heard about him, the President's son, heir to the Company. His picture was often in the newspaper, or on TV. Not that Reno had had a TV, and he'd never bothered to read the newspapers. He could read, though, and was quite proud of it, since a lot of people in the slums didn't. But the papers never had anything to tell than more sad stories, more unfortune and misery, nothing he needed more of in his life.

But there was no way to miss the face of Rufus Shinra. He had a certain kind of glow around him. Charismatic, was the best word Reno could think of.

What little food he had was quickly becoming even less. Desperate to find more to eat he moved on, unless he wanted his rumbling stomach to give his whereabouts away.

*****

Rufus stared at the setting sun, discoloring the sky of Midgar. Shades of gold and red melted together with the clouds and pollutions into a sparkling conglomeration. It was not really beauty, nor ugliness, it was just one of those rare, ingenious creations that fascinated by it's mere originallity. He stood as spellbound for a long time, looking at the sky out of the panorama window of his living room.

After the day he had this was just what he needed, a moment of staring blankly infront of him, emptying his mind of the tristess that incessantly seemed to frame his life.

Something, a sound, snapped him out of his reveries.

He did not move, didn't let it show that he'd heard it, whatever it was. He just stood there and listened, until he could distinguish the sound better. Breathing, echoing his own, somewhere out there in the darkness of the room.

Slowly, casually, he turned, facing whatever it was that was out there, or rather in there, with him.

But there was nothing there to see, nothing to face. Only a thunderous silence that seemed to drown out the sound he was trying so hard to find again, to locate.

"I know you are there." The decieving serenity that filled the air shattered like hundreds of crystal glasses hitting the hard ground.

He debated whether to turn the lights on or not. Making the intruder visible, making himself visible. Or maybe just putting an end to his overly creative imagination.

Turn the lights on and nothing will be there, no monsters in the closets or under the bed. Pulling the blanket over your head never made any of those things go away, it only intensified the crazy fantasies of every child's mind.

He blinked at the sudden brightness of the room at the same time as the switched clicked. And he was not alone.

"You?" Rufus took a step back, both of shock and to protect himself.

He looked for weapons, but saw none on the other man. For a moment his gaze locked with the other's, and he saw fear in those deep pools of blue he'd been staring into only a few days ago.

"You are supposed to be locked up in a cell." Rufus felt no fear anymore, something else though, something he could not quite name. Pity, perhaps.

"I ran away."

His voice was different from what he'd imagined it to be, softer but still a bit hoarse. The way his gaze never wavered despite the fact that he must have been scared out of his wits. How he held his head high even though he knew very well armed guards might burst in trough the door and dragged him out of the vice-president's resident any moment now. It was not at all the way Rufus had imagined him to be. For he had thought a lot about him these last couple of days, this mysterious boy from the slums.

He couldn't possibly be a treath to him. Although everything in his being indicated that he would not go down without a fight, Rufus still thought that was just a shell, a shield put up to protect him from any harm.

"You gonna call the guards now?" Reno, Rufus remembered his name to be, asked.

Rufus shrugged, his shoulders still tense, refusing to relax along with the rest of his body until he knew for sure if there was any danger in his current situation. "That depends. Why did the Turks take you in to begin with."

"For leaving my sector, and coming up on the Plate, I guess."

"People from the slums must stay in the slums or they will bring their chaos up to us," Rufus said, quoting what he'd been told himself since he was a child.

"You think this place is so much better than down there?" Reno's voice took on a defensive tone. "It's the same shit going on up here as in the slums, difference is here you all hide it behind expensive decorations."

Rufus just watched his intruder silently. "You think it's easy up here?" he finally asked. "You wouldn't survive one day on your own out there."

"Yes I would," Reno mumbled, "I'd do anything it takes to stay alive. I wouldn't give up that easily."

And as he said it, Rufus had no doubt that he would. He had heard all of the horror stories what faithes young homeless boys like Reno usually met down in the slums. The Plate was no different when it came to surviving out on the streets, but as Reno had said himself; the harsh reality was hidden behind expensive decorations, such as fancy names, fat paychecks, and a bed with satin sheets. A blade of ice seemed to rip through his stomach as he looked at Reno and imagined him facing such a destiny, and he realized that he didn't want that to happen.

But Reno wouldn't end up on the streets, not as long as he was in the iron grasp of Shinra Inc. The Turks would take care of him, but Rufus had his doubts that was a good thing. The gods only knew what the Company had in store for Reno Papen.

"You can stay here," Rufus said with a shrug, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Reno quirked a brow. "Here?" he asked.

"Yes here," Rufus made some wild gestures with his arms, indicating that 'here' meant his apartment.

"Why?"

"Let's leave that question until another time, alright."

"Alright," Reno agreed, not sure if he was comfortable with this situation or not. As far as he could tell Rufus had just offered a temporary solution to his problems, for surely no one would look for him in the vice-president's own home, and for the moment he was happy with that.

"Last door on the right," Rufus pointed him in the direction, "is the bathroom, take a shower, you look like it's been a while since the last time."

Reno hesitated, looking down the hall and then at Rufus, debating whether to trust him or not.

"Don't worry, I won't have the Turks come and drag you out of the shower or anything if that's what you're thinking."

*****

He turned the shower on, but didn't take his clothes off. He just stood there, expecting to hear guard coming in any second.

After a long silence there was suddenly a knock on the door, making him jump out of his skin.

"Reno," he heard Rufus voice on the other side of the door, "I'll put some clean clothes here for your to put on when you're done in there."

He took a moment to make his voice steady. "Ok... thanks."

The footsteps slowly faded a way and when he could no longer hear them he opened the door. A white shirt and a pair of jeans lay there on a chair. Quickly he snatched them, got out of his own clothes and jumped into the shower.

Rufus was right, it had been a long time since his last shower since he'd been kept in a cell for the last days. The water coming down over him felt so good, and he stood there for a long time before he started roaming through Rufus' collection of different, and expensive, shampoos and shower gels. He finally settled for something that smelled a little like Rufus.

When had he had the time to notice that, he wondered.

*****

Rufus smiled, watching the redhead sleep on his sofa. It had taken him hours to persuade Reno that he really wasn't going to call in the guards the minute he fell asleep. In the end he suspected that he'd fallen asleep out of sheer tiredness.

He looked peaceful though, not the whirlwind that had been going through his apartment since sometime after sunset. Slowly his chest heaved as he breathed, relaxed and at ease. The long hair had been let loose and flowed down his back. He lay on his side, back pressed up against the back of the couch. A thin sheet covered his body from the waist and down. The skin that was left exposed to Rufus eye was given a blueish glow by the moonlight, and once again Rufus found himself captivated by a rare beauty.

Reno stirred, and his eyes were open and widely staring up at Rufus who stood over by the window.

"Did I fall asleep?" he asked.

Rufus laughed, trying not to show his embarrassment. "Yeah, you did."

He could see Reno's eyes scanning the room, searching for danger.

"No guards," he assured him.

Reno glanced over at him. "No," he said, and Rufus hoped that this time he would belive him. Reno yawned, then pulled the sheet up over his shoulders. "Good night then."

"Yeah, good night." Rufus started to walk off to his own room but stopped himself after just a few steps. "Are you cold? Do you want a blanket?"

He saw Reno's red head shaking.

"No, I'm fine... thanks."

"Alright, good night." He stole one last glance of the boy before he left.

*****

"Reno," Rufus began when the sat at the table the next morning, Reno having a hard time choseing what to eat first. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen," Reno replied through a mouth full of bread.

"Really," Rufus said in a tone revealing that he did not believe his new breakfast companion.

Reno looked up at him and shrugged. "Ok then, eighteen and a half."

"Reno," Rufus put down the paper he'd been reading, "how old are you, really."

Reno considered him for a moment, then shrugged again and said, a bit shyly, almost as if he was embarrassed about it. "Sixteen."

A smile played over Rufus' lips as he returned to his newspaper.

A beeping sound suddenly filled the room and Rufus jumped up from his chair and crossed the floor in a few quick strides over to where his jacket rested at the very spot he'd discarded it to yesterday. He pulled something out of the pocket and muttered as he studied the thing.

"Damn, they're calling to a meeting." He looked over at Reno who still sat by the table, munching away on his third sandwich. "I have to go. You stay here, ok?"

"Sure," Reno shrugged, "where would I go anyways?"

*****

"So, as you can understand, we have a serious problem here," the President studied the five other people in the conferance room.

Except for Rufus, Heidegger, Reeve, Scarlett and Tseng had been called in to the meeting as well.

Tseng had briefly explained the situation; a young man who had been captured by the Turks a few days earlier and been imprisoned in the Tower had managed to escape, he was suspected to be somewhere in the building.

In my apartment, to be a bit more precise, Rufus thought as he listened to what his father had to say before ending the meeting.

But he couldn't let them know just yet, not until he'd figured out all of the mysteries of Reno Papen. There was something about the redhead that fascinated him, and he wasn't about to let that slip away from him.

Besides, this was his chance to defy his father, the Company, and the system he'd been brought up within.

Even though none of them were likely ever to find out.

*****

He was bored.

Approximately fourtyfive minutes after Rufus had left the apartment he'd realized that he had got nothing to do. The daytime shows on TV up on the Plate proved to be every bit as tedious as the ones down in the slums. Thankfully, though, having no TV had spared him from them. And he felt no need watching them now either, so he set out to find something more interesting to do.

He looked around the large living room, letting his finger slide the stuff Rufus kept in a bookcase with shelves of glass. Some books, nothing that caught his eye for more than a second, a vase that looked liked it could be antique. But there was nothing there that could tell him more about Rufus.

He moved on. Stopping every now and then to look at something, but there was no doubt where he was heading to. Rufus' bedroom. It was as if he was drawn into it. It was the only room which he had not been in yet, and he suspected that if he where to find out anyting personal about Rufus Shinra then that was the place to start.

A large four poster bed stood at one corner of the room. It looked pretty much like any bedroom. Well, any bedroom rich people would have, Reno guessed.

There was a door out to a balcony on the further wall. Reno pulled the drapes away and Midgar expanded beneath him. He took a step back, the view overwhelming him, and walked right into something, or rather, someone.

"Having fun?"

"Oh, hello, didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Rufus raised a brow, thinking it was obvious Reno hadn't expected him home so early.

"So I see," he said.

"Um, yeah, sorry. I guess I got a bit nosy."

"That's alright," Rufus shrugged.

He walked over to his big walk-in closet, for a moment disappering into it. A new shirt hung losely on his frame as he came back out.

Reno tried not to stare as Rufus started buttoning the shirt, but his eyes seemed unwilling to let the sight go. Inch by inch the pale skin streched over Rufus' torso was covered up with the expensive fabric. And it was not until Rufus buttoned the last button that Reno teared his gaze away and forced himself to look out of the window again.

"Do you want dinner."

"Sure," Reno cleared his voice, "what have you got."

"I thought we could order in something."

*****

Reno sipped his wine, not gracefully, but cautiously. He'd never drunk wine before. Only beer, and vodka. He couldn't imagine sitting with his friends down at the local bar down in the slums, sipping wine and drinking cocktails with fancy names.

He took an other sip, the bitter taste filling his mouth. A pleasant warmth filled his stomach as he swallowed. He wondered if he was ever to see his friends again. Not that he'd ever considered them to be 'friends' before, just people he would hang with, get drunk with. But the thought of not seeing them again filled him with a strange feeling.

"First time you drink?" Rufus suddenly asked.

Reno looked up and saw the other man studying him over the rim of his own glass of red wine. An odd smile played over his lips, twinkling in his eyes.

"Wine, yes. Booze, no."

Rufus cocked his head to the side. "Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?"

"I'm sixteen, in the slums that's not considered young. It's practically having one foot in the grave already."

The smile slowly disappeared from Rufus' face as he thought that must be close to the truth more often than not.

Reno continued sipping his wine, not noticing Rufus' sudden change of mood.

The glass clicked against the table as Rufus put it down. He stood up, looking down on Reno.

"You don't have to worry, Reno," he said. "You won't have to go back down there, I won't let anything happen to you."

Reno got up from the couch as well. "Thanks," he said, not really looking at Rufus, but rather for a place to put down his own glass among the cartons from the wutan take-away that filled the table.

Rufus took the glass from him and put it down next to his own.

"Well, then..." he said.

"Yeah," Reno shrugged and then silence filled the room.

It wasn't just Rufus Shinra's charisma Reno was attracted to, he realized right in that moment when they stood there, face to face, it was the man himself as well.

Rufus slowly raised his hand, Reno followed it with his eyes. He knew what was coming, he could see it. As in slow motion the hand moved towards his face, and for those few long seconds there was nothing else. No sound from Midgar that lay outside, no humming air conditioning, not even their own breaths.

He could see it, feel it. Rufus hand reaching out to brush away those unruly strands of fierce red that always fell into his eyes.

And then, right there in that moment, in that silence, he gasped for air. He'd seen it coming, still he hadn't expected such a sensation caused by light fingertips sliding over his cheek.

Rufus let his hand fall again. He was just about to say something when Reno reached up and pressed his lips against his.

It was quick, and awkward. Over almost before it had started. But Rufus could still taste Reno on his lips, as he broke the kiss.

Reno looked almost scared as their eyes met again, briefly, before Rufus finally broke the silence.

"Good night," he said, and turned.

"Good night," Reno mumbled when Rufus was long gone and he was standing alone in the middle of the room that suddenly seemed even larger than before.

*****

Part III: The Ball

Rufus was gone when he woke up the next morning.

Reno went through the kitchen, trying to find something for breakfast. He didn't feel really hungry, though. But he knew better than to pass up on a free meal.

Besides, he wasn't sure if Rufus was so keen on letting him stay any longer, not after the events of last night.

Damnit, Reno thought. It wasn't like he wanted to feel that way about Rufus. He just did. But he really wished that he didn't. It hurt too much.

The sweet bliss of Rufus' touch had all too soon been replaced by the hurting of his rejection.

Getting a glimpse of heaven before you're cast down to hell, Reno made a mental note not to read anymore of those poetry books Rufus had.

Not that I'll have the chance to do that again either.

He would be gone when Rufus came back, there was no other way.

It was the day of the Shinra's precious ball, and Rufus was probably out making the final arrangements. For him and his date.

He went over to the couch he'd been sleeping on and picked up his jacket.

"Leaving so soon?"

Reno spun around, startled. It was not Rufus' voice this time.

The two Turks stood by the door, blocking it. Rude with his usual blank expression, and Tseng with a smirk on his face.

He looked around for some kind of a weapon but found nothing that could possibly match the Turks' guns that he knew where hidden somewhere behind those suits.

They started moving towards him and he ran for it. He tried to trick them, since they were blocking his only escape route but it didn't take long before he was back in Rude's iron clutches.

"Tss-tss," Tseng shock his head. "Take it easy, kid."

"Let him go."

Rufus.

All three of them turned their heads to see the vice-president coming towards them.

"I said; let him go," he repeated.

"I must admit," Tseng said, ignoring Rufus' command, "this is quite the hideout. Took us a while to figure it out. The vice-president's own home, who would ever suspect that?"

Rufus said nothing, but Reno could see his fist clench.

Tseng turned to Reno again. "You'll be moving out, kid, you've got your own place now."

"I won't let you take him back to the slums, Tseng," Rufus said through gritted teeth.

"That's not what I'm talking about. Reno here is our new Turk."

"What?" Rufus and Reno exclaimed almost as one.

"It turns out mr Papen is quite a genious when it comes to weapons, and we believe he would be an asset to the Company."

Rufus and Reno looked at each other, then at Tseng, as if still trying to grasp what it was he was saying.

"Oh for gods' sake, kid," the lead Turk said to Rufus, "he's with us now, we'll take care of him." He turned to face Reno. "Pack your belongings, if you have any, that is. Your moving into your own apartment."

Reno wasn't sure if he should do what the Turk, his new boss, was telling him to do. He wished he could stop the time and ask Rufus about it. But there were no time outs, the two Turks were present, and he wasn't even sure if Rufus wanted to speak to him.

"No," he finally said. "No, I haven't got anything to pack, so let's go."

Tseng gave him a friendly slap on the back. "Welcome on board, then. Just follow us and we will lead you to your new life."

Reno cast one last glance over his shoulder as the Turks swept him away. Rufus stood as frozen in stone, only his eyes moving away as they met Reno's.

*****

It was big and it was bright and even though he really wanted to despise all things considered to be 'cute' or 'pretty' he had to admit that there was a certain feeling in floating around in the ballroom, drinking champange and chatting with the rich and beautiful.

The light in the room was dimmed, but thousands of glittering decorations made it seem bright.

Fire-flies, Reno thought, remembering the old fairytales.

And suddenly he was there, standing before him, holding out his hands towards him.

Reno just stared at it, the hand that had sent pleasant shiver down his spine the night before.

Fingers motioned for him to come.

Rufus smirked as their eyes met. He took Reno's hand in his, leading him out on the dancefloor, walking backwards, never letting their eyes unlock.

Reno couldn't dance, but he didn't care. All that mattered was Rufus' arms holding him close.

They danced in silence. People must have been watching, but neither of them cared.

"How are you finding everything so far," Rufus asked.

"Fine," Reno nodded, clearing his voice a little, "just fine."

"Maybe you could stay another night."

"I think I'll be around a little longer than that," Reno laughed, being a Turk wasn't exactly a job one could just quit.

Rufus smirked, looking deeply into those twin pools of storm and ice, as if staring into a crystal ball, searching his destiny in there.

"No," he said, sincerely, "I meant stay another night with me."

Reno could feel his cheeks heating.

Rufus' mouth was close to his, lingering just a hairbreadht away before meeting in a kiss.

The End

Author's Notes: This was a kirban for the 3333 hit. As always this took me way too long to get done.