*****

CHAPTER NINETEEN - SCARS

'Forgotten thoughts of yesterdays … through my eyes I see the past … well I don't know I don't … know I don't know why … I believe I believe I believe in the truth, from inside … go away go away go away from me … leave me alone … ignorance spreads lies … how much will money buy … well I'll take my time as I drift and die … unwanted live my life a shame … who's to blame for my mistakes … (Puddle of Mudd: 'Drift and Die')'

Wilderness. West Continent. Afternoon.

Jessie and Tifa walked ahead of the others chattering between themselves of untold events and secrets, or so Reno presumed as he walked a short distance behind them. He couldn't hear what they were saying from there, but he was almost certain he didn't want to know what sorts of girl talk was occurring in front of him.

Admittedly, walking behind them gave him the perfect opportunity to watch her body move though the protective covering of his sunglasses. He didn't want to think what she would do to him if she knew he was "admiring the view" as she walked on ahead, navigating flawlessly through the rough terrain. Even if any sort of physical contact from her did have a strange way of turning him on.

Reeve and Cait Sith were somewhere behind him as the stuffed moogle was having some trouble navigating the rocky path leading to the North Corel Reactor.

"Need to make that moogle all-terrain!" Reno shouted to Reeve.

Reeve chuckled at Reno's remark, glad to be on the final stretch towards the coal town. He hoped that everything was going well back in Midgar. Elena had done well during his first trip to Kalm, but she had had Reno, Rude, and Tifa there to back her up. Now it was just Elena and Rude. Granted, they were both Turks, but there were a lot of things to manage.

'Stop obsessing.' He chided himself. 'Elena can handle anything that comes up.' He smiled to himself as he thought of Elena, and knew he was going to miss their nightly chats while he was in North Corel.

"It's in the next set of upgrades!" Reeve shouted back. He'd already upgraded Cait's processor to include a fairly advanced artificial intelligence routine, and the robotic moogle had performed well in tests of that system.

Reno nodded as he turned back to the women who had stopped abruptly at the top of the hill. He sprinted towards them to see what the problem was, ready to protect them in case they had encountered an angry bunch of Cokatolis.

"Wow." Jessie said as she looked down at the Corel Reactor spread out on the land below them, its design resembling a miniature Midgar. "So this is what one of those Mako stealing things looks like from above?"

Tifa nodded. "Different from Midgar's, but yeah."

"Hey, what's that smoke coming from it?" Jessie asked, noticing the smoke billowing from a smokestack on the far side of the reactor's structure.

"Coal." Reeve and Cait finally caught up with the others. "They've converted it to burn coal. It's what I plan to do with the Midgar reactors, at least temporarily."

Jessie smiled in relief. "I thought they were sucking the Planet dry again."

"Barrett would never let that happen." Tifa said, smiling as she took the lead and led the group down the walkway that led past the reactor and to the train tracks that ran into North Corel. She was trying hard to keep up the brave front, but she had no idea what to expect on this journey, either from herself with Reno along, or what they might find when they reached Barrett's hometown. Tifa was afraid of his reaction when he saw Jessie, and she had been mentally rehearsing a speech for when they saw Barrett again.

Reno grimaced as she spoke, disgusted at the whole journey and of Tifa's adoration of the man. This whole trip was a festering wound that he believed had healed, but as they headed back towards North Corel he realized that the hard scab that had held the feelings in place so long was being slowly, painfully ripped away. He was trying hard to hide his pain, but it was becoming harder and harder the closer they got to where the wound had been created.

Reno pushed the erupting feelings back as best he could and he walked past them. "Quit gawking. It's only a fucking reactor."

"Maybe for you, Nathan, but I've never seen one of the remote ones, and I've never seen any of them from this angle." Jessie stated, feeling the tension radiate from her brother, and biting back a sarcastic remark because of it.

Reno said nothing and continued on, fighting for control of his emotions.

Reeve rubbed his temples momentarily trying to massage away the sudden tension in his head as he sensed another argument brewing.. Perhaps Elena had been right and that bringing Reno along was a bad idea.

They continued on in silence down the bridge to the reactor itself and over the railroad tracks into the cavern where Barrett and Dyne had had their showdown with Scarlet years before. Tifa glanced at the retreating figure of Reno in front of them as she felt a pang of sorrow realizing how far reaching the events during the devastation of North Corel had truly been. Dyne was dead and Barrett was raising his friend's young daughter as his own. Reno too had had his soul devastated, only by her, and while part of her wanted to try to heal that wound, she had no idea where or how to begin.

The sharp smell of creosote filled the air as they emerged from the cavern and started on the trek across the railroad trestle that led to North Corel. Work crews were busy working repairing the rotted through sections of the trestle and they waved to the group as they passed by. Tifa smiled, momentarily able to put the thoughts of the past from her mind, feeling proud that Barrett had been able to accomplish something since the end of Meteor. They themselves had accomplished a lot considering the relative size of Midgar to North Corel. Reno still walked ahead of them, and she watched him, noting how his shoulders slumped in the jacket of his suit even while he tried to keep his cold Turk exterior in place.

Reno stopped at the end of the railroad tracks and looked around the town. His eyes fell on the Ropeway station in the distance and moved the short journey to the hill where Tseng and Rude had stood five years prior surveying the disaster they had been sent to "take care of". He took a deep breath and entered the town, fearful of the reaction of the townspeople at once again seeing a Turk in their midst.

Tifa and Jessie were right behind him, having caught up to him during his lapse into nostalgia, with Reeve and the moogle right behind them. Tifa was struck by the change in the town. The tents and ramshackle buildings were gone, replaced by homes reminiscent of the ones she remembered before the town had burnt. The smell of fresh timber permeated the air and a fine layer of black coal dust covered everything in sight. Tifa thought that she had never seen a finer sight. The townspeople bustled about their lives, smiling again as their town was becoming something to be proud of instead of the devastated remains of one of Shinra's disastrous power plays.

All work in the town came to a standstill as someone spotted Reno standing at the edge of the town. "Turks?!" Came the alarmed cry as someone rushed towards a house in the center of town. Reno just smirked, basking once again in the thrill of what it meant to be a Turk.

Barrett Wallace emerged from the house a moment later, a look of anger on his face and the Missing Score firmly attached to his arm.

"Barrett!" Tifa shouted, breaking away from the group and running towards her old friend in an attempt to stop the altercation that she was certain would happen if she didn't. She understood why Reeve had insisted that she come along. Of course, it didn't help that Reno was back in "Turk" mode and basking in the fear that he had instilled in these innocent townspeople.

Barrett stopped as Tifa rushed forward. He scooped her up in a bear hug, forgetting for the moment that there was a Turk in their midst or that the woman he now had smashed in a hug had come with said Turk. "Tifa!" He set her down firmly on the ground, a smile on his face. "What ya doin' all the way out here in North Corel?"

"Reeve has some business to discuss with you." Tifa smiled. "He wants to convert the Reactors to coal plants." Tifa didn't tell Barrett that Reeve's solution was only temporary. No sense in getting Barrett any more riled up than necessary. Reno's presence alone was enough.

"And the Turk?" Barrett shot a glance towards the rest of the group from Midgar who were still standing just inside the entrance to the town.

"Reeve's acting bodyguard." Tifa commented dryly, glancing back towards Reno and the rest of the group.

"We," Barrett hesitated slightly, remembering to think about what he was saying as Marlene and Elmyra had been coaching him to do since he became the Mayor of North Corel. "We are not going to need the likes of the Turks in North Corel! So he can just knock off his tough guy stuff." Barrett was sure to allow his voice to carry, both to send the message to Reno, and to alleviate the fears of Corel's residents, who still hovered fearfully nearby.

He winked at Tifa and whispered to her, "Marlene's, I mean, Marlene and Elmyra have been coaching me." The former leader of Avalanche nearly burst through his shirt with pride at both his own progress and that of his daughter as he told Tifa why his language was a lot smoother and cleaner.

Reno shrugged nonchalantly and said to Reeve. "You heard the mayor. If you need me, I'll be at the Gold Saucer. Forget this fucking dirtwater town." Reno too made sure his message carried both to the former rebel leader and to the coal miners as he sauntered off towards the Ropeway Station.

Barrett clenched his fists as he gave the back of the retreating Turk a quick glance. "That's what I'd expect from that one. But it ain… isn't enough to make me lose my cool now."

Reno turned around briefly and smirked as he spoke, "Hey, Tifa, if you change your mind about my offer, I'll be in the Ghost Hotel."

Tifa shot Reno a look of pure daggers as he turned and continued towards the Ropeway, noting how his posture had changed from the rounded shoulders of dejection to the square-shouldered, assuredness of Reno the Turk.

If she'd been able to see his eyes, she would've seen how much the strong front was costing him emotionally and how much he secretly hoped she did come to meet him at the Ghost Hotel. Despite her holier-than-thou attitude, being back here was dredging up too much of the past, and maybe because of that he might find forgiveness for her if he delved deep enough into the recesses of his shattered heart.

In his loudest booming voice, Barrett shouted to the townspeople as Reno disappeared onto the Ropeway platform. "All clear, folks! Nothing but an ex-Shinra employee!"

The townspeople looked relieved as Barrett spoke and continued their business as they had been doing before the unexpected arrival of the group from Midgar.

Barrett glanced over towards Reeve and Cait and he couldn't believe his eyes at the other person that he saw, or thought that he saw standing there. She looked a little different, but the sight of what looked like Jessie made him forget his newly learned grammar.

"Dat girl! I'd swear dat's Jessie." Barrett took another look at Jessie, who stood there nervously, resisting the urge to hide behind the moogle.

Tifa said quietly. "It is."

"Don't give me dat!" Barrett raised his gun arm in the air and waved it around. "Jessie's dead!"

"No, Barrett. It's a long story, but Jessie's alive." Tifa spoke softy, confirming her earlier words.

Barrett took another look at the auburn haired girl that had traveled with Tifa and the others. "Damn," was all he could say. For once Barrett Wallace had been left speechless.