Scars of the Past

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No one else can touch me - Like the way you do - Nothing seems to hurt me - When I am close to you - And I hope that we - Can spend our lives together - I truly wish - That this could last forever - For you and me - And when you cry tears keep on falling - I still feel you love for me is true - And when you cry tears keep on falling - I can see that you are feeling blue (Lasgo - Blue)

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Chapter 13 - Lovely Lovely Rocket Town

Reno ran down the runway of the airport in Junon, with a great big smirk on his face. He came to the huge Gelnika and jumped in, shutting the door behind him. Everyone already on board looked his way. Scarlet sighed.

"Great, now we have to drag you with us as well." She folded one leg over the other. The red head looked at her, making out he was hurt.

"Aw, come on. You know you love me really." The Turk slumped down on one of the benches that was at one side of the plane, where Scarlet was already sitting. Rude was sat on the other side near Heidegger, who was now mumbling under his breath. Reno looked his way and grinned.

"What's up fat ass? Thought you'd got away from me? Well think again." He started to chuckle as Heidegger started mumbling some more.

"Did you get the Materia?" Scarlet asked, as the plane took off, destined for Rocket Town.

"Yep. All nicely tucked up in a sub. Won't get me in one of them things." The blonde looked at him, strangely.

"Why not?"

"Hell, the tin cans are like older than I am." Scarlet smiled.

"Trust you to think of an excuse like that. You just don't like submarines do you?" Reno looked at his feet.

"So what if I don't? I just don't like the idea of all them gallons of water on top of you." He muttered. The rest of the trip was pretty much spend in silence.

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As the Gelnika landed on the airstrip just outside Rocket Town, about twenty or so blue Shinra guards marched onto the runway and waited for the door to open. Scarlet stepped out first.

"What are you orders, Ma'am?" One guard asked as he stepped out of line. The blonde thought for a minute.

"Rude!" She shouted. The bald Turk popped his head round the corner of the door. "You go and guard the entrance to the spaceship. Don't let them past till I say. Take a couple of guards with you." Rude nodded, jumping out the plane. He walked up to two guards, grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and dragged them off. "The rest of you just guard wherever." They all nodded and ran off their separate ways. Scarlet walked back over to the plane's doorway and looked in. "Reno, you can come with me and sort out the Auto Pilot."

"Oh, joy for me, this should be so much fun." He said sarcastically. She turned to walk off, so the red head jumped off the plane and jogged after her. "Why can't you let the technicians fix the Auto Pilot?" He asked, once he had caught up with her.

"Because they'll fuck up, like they always do." She said, still walking. "I know what's wrong with it. Shouldn't take anymore than half an hour." The Turk nodded. He then started laughing for no apparent reason. Scarlet just gave him a weird look. He looked at her.

"Just thinking about what I did to Chocobo head before I ran into you." The blonde woman grinned.

"Are you going to keep me in suspense or are you going to tell me?" Reno looked as though he thought about it for a second or two.

"Ah, what the hell. They showed up, I made Spike have a fight, I made him fall in the water. That's about what happened." The Shinra Executive started laughing.

"Now that would have been something to see." Scarlet came to a stand still, right beside the huge green Shinra No. 26. Reno stood beside her and looked up. He let out a long whistler.

"Now that's what I call big." He looked back at Scarlet. "What happened to the other twenty five rockets?" The blonde grinned.

"They were never even built. Palmer could never get it right till this one, but it's still never been in space yet." She opened a hatch in the side of the rocket, flipped a switch then closed it. "All done." The Turk looked at her, puzzled.

"That's it?" She started laughing.

"Ok, so I lied about the half an hour." He glared at her.

"And you needed me why?"

"Just for company. Plus you and I, are going to have a nice little chat to Avalanche, when they get in the rocket." Reno smirked. His PHS went off.

"Hello, you have reached Reno, the best looking Turk there ever was. How can I help you?"

"Very funny Reno."

"What's up, Rude?"

"Avalanche are in the rocket." The bald Turk then hung up.

"Showtime ladies and gentlemen." Reno said as he put the PHS back in his pocket. Scarlet smiled and pulled out a transmitter. Her and the Turk then walked back towards the plane.

"What the hell......? What the hell happened?" Came Cid's voice through the device.

"Heh, Hello there, our friendly neighbourhood terrorists." The red head said.

"Turk, What the hell did'ya do!?"

"We turned the Auto Pilot on, Cid old boy." The blonde added.

"Should have known you'd be in on it too, Scarlet."

"Well you know me." She laughed.

"DAMN! Won't even budge! It's completely locked up!"

"Let take this moment to reflect on something." Reno spoke up.

"And what would that be." Cloud's voice came over the receiver this time.

"The fact that all your troubles started when you blew up one lousy reactor."

"Not this again....."

"Yes this again! It'll haunt you for the rest of your life, I'll make sure of it." Reno sneered. "No one kills my wife, and leaves a kid without a mum and gets away with it." None of them replied to that. Scarlet looked at the Turk, seeing that he wasn't going to say anything else, she spoke.

"Almost time for lift off."

"What the!? No countdown!? It just don't seem the same without it!" Cid shouted.

"You don't deserve a countdown. You see, when the rocket goes into space, it's going to head towards the meteor, with you all onboard. So say bye bye to your worthless lives." With that she shut off the receiver and watched as the rocket blasted off into space.

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Back in Midgar, as the meteor was knitted itself back together after the materia filled rocket had blasted into it. Rufus Shinra found out something.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN AVALANCHE ARE STILL ALIVE????" He was stood up, hands leaning on his desk. Reeve just stared at the blonde President, not moving once.

"They're alive. We forgot that the rocket had a escape pod and they used it." Rufus slumped into his chair.

"Damn it all to hell." He muttered. "First the plan to blow up the meteor fails, then Avalanche live anyway. I at least hoped that plan would have worked." He stood up again. "I suppose we'd better go on with the Sephiroth plan then. How's the moving of the cannon going?" He asked, directing the question at Heidegger who was stood a little behind Reeve.

"It should be here tomorrow. It'll take a couple of days to set it up." With that the green suited man left the room.

"Are you sure about using the reactors to power it instead of the huge materia?" The black haired man asked. Rufus nodded.

"We can't power it any other way now, there's no huge materia left." Reno bound into the room at that moment.

"Hello there boys and fat ass." The President grinned.

"Hello there birthday boy." The Turk glared.

"I don't know what you're on about." He hissed. Rufus smirked.

"I suppose those birthday drinks I had planned you don't want then."

"Can I have the drinks but still be twenty four?" The red head whined. The President and Reeve laughed. The blonde put his arm round the Turk, leading him out the room.

"If it helps you that much, I can try and arrange it for you."

"Really? You're not going to stick me in a contraption Hojo's made, are you?" He whined, in a voice a scared child would use. This just prompted Rufus to laugh even more.

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Callum was sat in the Turks Office, pouting. To be more exact he was sat on Elena's knee. Marlene was to be sent to be with Elmyra in Kalm, but Callum didn't want her to go. The brown haired girl was stood near the door way, looking at the little red haired boy. Callum jumped off Elena's knee and walked up to the girl.

"I don't want you to go." He whispered

"Me neither." Marlene whispered back.

"I'll see you again, won't I?"

"Of course you will. At least one day anyway." She stopped for a minute. "We'll always be friends, right?" The red head smiled.

"Yay!" He hugged the little girl.

"Happy birthday." She whispered for one last time, before the guards lead her away. She smiled at him as she walked off. Callum smiled back.

"Thank you." He said into thin air when the girl disappeared round a corner. He was still staring when his dad came round the corner. "Daddy!!" He shouted and ran up to him. Reno picked him up.

"Hey. How's the birthday boy?" The Turk ruffled his son's hair. The boy sniffed.

"Marlene's gone." He rubbed his eye.

"You'll see her again kiddo." Callum brighten up.

"Really?"

"Of course you will." Reno put the boy back down. He walked over to the Turks' Office and poked his head round the door. "El, come on, drinky time." Elena smiled.

"Rufus has promised you some alcohol then?" Reno smiled back.

"Hell yeah. You think I'd buy my own?" The blonde started laughing.

"Of course not, that's just not you." The red head rested his hand on his hip so Elena could hook her arm through it.

"May I escort this fine lady to the bar?" She giggled.

"Of course you can." She took up his offer and they both walked out the room, Callum trailing behind, giggling.

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