A/N: Haha! I made the chapters longer. That better TifaG?
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Cloud Strife yawned and stretched as he was awoken by his irritatingly loud alarm clock. It was seven a.m. and time to train. It was only a few weeks after the Meteor incident, but Cloud's new policy was to always be ready. He hadn't forgotten how he had felt when Aeris was killed. He remembered the anger, the pain. He remembered how helpless he had felt, he thought, no, he *knew* that it must have been his fault somehow.
As he dressed and picked up his old and faithful Buster Sword, he heard a knock at his door.
It was Tifa, always bringing him in a little breakfast.
"You need it! To go to bed so late and wake up so early, it's totally stupid to go without *any* food!" she would always say and always seem worried, but Cloud could see beyond the innocent look. Not only did she do it for his own good, she knew how much it annoyed him.
But, being who he was, he would just sigh and shake his head and accept the small meal. Though he trained because of Aeris, he trained for Tifa. He didn't want to lose her, not after Aeris. She was all he had left, all that he cared about.
Cloud took the food and nodded his head in thanks as he left. He greeted Barret and Marlene quietly, and walked out of the bar. Cloud jumped on his Daytona bike rode off to the training gym. He always thought as he rode. Was it really his fault that Aeris died? What if it wasn't? And what of Tifa? Why was he training anyway? Tifa could probably whip his ass at the martial arts. Is this all a waste of time?
But his thoughts were lost on the wind as he rode off. So caught up in his own troubles, he did not notice a small shape peeking out of an alley and watch him fly by.
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"Well, well. Look who decided to grace us with his presence." said Elena of the Turks sarcastically.
A very hungover Reno walked stiffly into the office. Despite his aching muscles, he managed a deep and exaggerated bow.
"Why Elena, you flatter me. We all know that it is you that we wait for. Your face alone is enough to push the most frightening dreams from our minds."
Elena was enraged. "WHAT?! Why you, you...damn you!" she shouted.
"What's that, Elena?" Reno cocked an ear towards her. "You're charmed by my wits, intelligence and beauty?"
"Yeah, I'll show you charmed..." she muttered under her breath. If she let him get to her so early in the morning, who knows how the rest of the day would go? No, wait. She knew how the rest of the day would go. Reno would continue to get on her nerves with his annoying mock innocence, and neither would get any work done. It's more of a routine than anything.
"That's enough, you two." rumbled a deep voice. Rude was probably the only thing that kept them from tearing each other apart.
Reno grinned cheekily and walked over to his desk. He would find another chance later. It's not that he wanted to hurt Elena's feelings, it was just so easy to bug her, and the result was always a treat. He cleared the keyboard of his computer off; it had a tenacity to collect junk after a few hours, and typed in his password. He predicted a long and boring day, as it always was, except, of course, his small spats with Elena.
After a few hours, his muscles stopped aching and he was already plotting how to get another hilarious reaction out of Elena. As he began to edit a few files on the computer (just minutes after a good bout with Elena), the loudspeaker boomed overhead.
"Would Reno of the Turks come to President Rufus's office, please. I repeat; would Reno of the Turks come to President Rufus's office, please."
'Great, now what?' he thought. 'It better not be something like that package thing. If it is, I refuse. I am not standing out on a hill in a thunder storm just to meet some freaky guy with a box. I'd rather glue my head to the wall.' But even as he thought that, he knew that if he wanted to keep his job, he would have to do it.
With a sigh, he got up and walked towards the door.
"Leaving us so soon?" asked a sarcastic Elena. "Too bad, I was looking forward to watching kill your keyboard, again. Or maybe that's what Rufus wants to talk about?"
"Shut up!" snapped an irritated Reno. He remembered very well yesterday's incident. In his anger for not being able to hit the right key, he smashed his keyboard. A few minutes later, he was called in by Rufus about the price of the new keyboard coming out of his paycheck. It was right after he had told him about the "mission". It was also the only way Elena could get on his nerves.
He slammed the door shut and began walking down the hall.
'What could Rufus want now?' he wondered. 'I did the stupid mission well enough yesterday, didn't I?'
As he thought of all the ways he could of messed up, he didn't realize that he was already in the elevator on his way to the president's office. He also didn't notice the leggy woman in the elevator with him, but of course it wasn't long before he did.
"he-ey." he said as he inched closer. But to his dismay, the elevator door opened for a level just below President Rufus's. The woman hurried out quickly, glad to be away from the well-known womanizer Reno. Oh, well. He would just hunt her down until he found someone else more, err, interesting.
On the level of Rufus's office, the secretary informed him that the president was busy for the moment. Of course, that didn't bother Reno.
"Hey, no problem, babe. I happen to have a lot of time..."
But just then, over the small desk speaker Rufus's voice was heard,"Shirley, you may let Reno enter."
'Damn. Today's just not my day.' thought Reno. 'And to top that off, I probably have to wait until it rains again and then catch pneumonia as I watch for a flying pig.'
He walked into Rufus's office.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked innocently.
"Reno, you know very well that you don't have to act so naive. You have a new mission."
'Great, it's probably about that stupid box.' he thought bitterly.
"You remember that parcel from yesterday?"
'How could I forget? I only had to wait an hour to get struck by lightning.'
"Yes sir."
"Well I want you to drop it off-"
Reno couldn't hold back a groan. Rufus chose to ignore that, but Reno did not escape a dirty look and Rufus rose his voice slightly, "-at an island just north of Wutai. It has a forest and a lake on it, along with a volcano, it should not be hard to miss. The person you will be meeting won't be as late as the old man was. I want you to stay on the island and guard it until the first of March; more will be revealed from the person you will be meeting with. He will be your partner for the next few weeks. You are to leave tomorrow at noon. Take chocobo number 5012361. That is all, you are dismissed."
'Dammit! Dammitdammitdammitdammitdammitdammit damn it!!!!!!' he thought. 'I hate jobs like these! I hate 'em I hate 'em I hate 'em I HATE THEM!' instead he said, "Yes sir." and walked calmly out of the room, ready to punch anyone that came near.
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A/N:
I'll try and get the next chapter out soon, kay?
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Cloud Strife yawned and stretched as he was awoken by his irritatingly loud alarm clock. It was seven a.m. and time to train. It was only a few weeks after the Meteor incident, but Cloud's new policy was to always be ready. He hadn't forgotten how he had felt when Aeris was killed. He remembered the anger, the pain. He remembered how helpless he had felt, he thought, no, he *knew* that it must have been his fault somehow.
As he dressed and picked up his old and faithful Buster Sword, he heard a knock at his door.
It was Tifa, always bringing him in a little breakfast.
"You need it! To go to bed so late and wake up so early, it's totally stupid to go without *any* food!" she would always say and always seem worried, but Cloud could see beyond the innocent look. Not only did she do it for his own good, she knew how much it annoyed him.
But, being who he was, he would just sigh and shake his head and accept the small meal. Though he trained because of Aeris, he trained for Tifa. He didn't want to lose her, not after Aeris. She was all he had left, all that he cared about.
Cloud took the food and nodded his head in thanks as he left. He greeted Barret and Marlene quietly, and walked out of the bar. Cloud jumped on his Daytona bike rode off to the training gym. He always thought as he rode. Was it really his fault that Aeris died? What if it wasn't? And what of Tifa? Why was he training anyway? Tifa could probably whip his ass at the martial arts. Is this all a waste of time?
But his thoughts were lost on the wind as he rode off. So caught up in his own troubles, he did not notice a small shape peeking out of an alley and watch him fly by.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well, well. Look who decided to grace us with his presence." said Elena of the Turks sarcastically.
A very hungover Reno walked stiffly into the office. Despite his aching muscles, he managed a deep and exaggerated bow.
"Why Elena, you flatter me. We all know that it is you that we wait for. Your face alone is enough to push the most frightening dreams from our minds."
Elena was enraged. "WHAT?! Why you, you...damn you!" she shouted.
"What's that, Elena?" Reno cocked an ear towards her. "You're charmed by my wits, intelligence and beauty?"
"Yeah, I'll show you charmed..." she muttered under her breath. If she let him get to her so early in the morning, who knows how the rest of the day would go? No, wait. She knew how the rest of the day would go. Reno would continue to get on her nerves with his annoying mock innocence, and neither would get any work done. It's more of a routine than anything.
"That's enough, you two." rumbled a deep voice. Rude was probably the only thing that kept them from tearing each other apart.
Reno grinned cheekily and walked over to his desk. He would find another chance later. It's not that he wanted to hurt Elena's feelings, it was just so easy to bug her, and the result was always a treat. He cleared the keyboard of his computer off; it had a tenacity to collect junk after a few hours, and typed in his password. He predicted a long and boring day, as it always was, except, of course, his small spats with Elena.
After a few hours, his muscles stopped aching and he was already plotting how to get another hilarious reaction out of Elena. As he began to edit a few files on the computer (just minutes after a good bout with Elena), the loudspeaker boomed overhead.
"Would Reno of the Turks come to President Rufus's office, please. I repeat; would Reno of the Turks come to President Rufus's office, please."
'Great, now what?' he thought. 'It better not be something like that package thing. If it is, I refuse. I am not standing out on a hill in a thunder storm just to meet some freaky guy with a box. I'd rather glue my head to the wall.' But even as he thought that, he knew that if he wanted to keep his job, he would have to do it.
With a sigh, he got up and walked towards the door.
"Leaving us so soon?" asked a sarcastic Elena. "Too bad, I was looking forward to watching kill your keyboard, again. Or maybe that's what Rufus wants to talk about?"
"Shut up!" snapped an irritated Reno. He remembered very well yesterday's incident. In his anger for not being able to hit the right key, he smashed his keyboard. A few minutes later, he was called in by Rufus about the price of the new keyboard coming out of his paycheck. It was right after he had told him about the "mission". It was also the only way Elena could get on his nerves.
He slammed the door shut and began walking down the hall.
'What could Rufus want now?' he wondered. 'I did the stupid mission well enough yesterday, didn't I?'
As he thought of all the ways he could of messed up, he didn't realize that he was already in the elevator on his way to the president's office. He also didn't notice the leggy woman in the elevator with him, but of course it wasn't long before he did.
"he-ey." he said as he inched closer. But to his dismay, the elevator door opened for a level just below President Rufus's. The woman hurried out quickly, glad to be away from the well-known womanizer Reno. Oh, well. He would just hunt her down until he found someone else more, err, interesting.
On the level of Rufus's office, the secretary informed him that the president was busy for the moment. Of course, that didn't bother Reno.
"Hey, no problem, babe. I happen to have a lot of time..."
But just then, over the small desk speaker Rufus's voice was heard,"Shirley, you may let Reno enter."
'Damn. Today's just not my day.' thought Reno. 'And to top that off, I probably have to wait until it rains again and then catch pneumonia as I watch for a flying pig.'
He walked into Rufus's office.
"You wanted to see me?" he asked innocently.
"Reno, you know very well that you don't have to act so naive. You have a new mission."
'Great, it's probably about that stupid box.' he thought bitterly.
"You remember that parcel from yesterday?"
'How could I forget? I only had to wait an hour to get struck by lightning.'
"Yes sir."
"Well I want you to drop it off-"
Reno couldn't hold back a groan. Rufus chose to ignore that, but Reno did not escape a dirty look and Rufus rose his voice slightly, "-at an island just north of Wutai. It has a forest and a lake on it, along with a volcano, it should not be hard to miss. The person you will be meeting won't be as late as the old man was. I want you to stay on the island and guard it until the first of March; more will be revealed from the person you will be meeting with. He will be your partner for the next few weeks. You are to leave tomorrow at noon. Take chocobo number 5012361. That is all, you are dismissed."
'Dammit! Dammitdammitdammitdammitdammitdammit damn it!!!!!!' he thought. 'I hate jobs like these! I hate 'em I hate 'em I hate 'em I HATE THEM!' instead he said, "Yes sir." and walked calmly out of the room, ready to punch anyone that came near.
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A/N:
I'll try and get the next chapter out soon, kay?