Scars of the Past

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I don't like to be alone at night - And I don't like to hear I'm wrong when I'm right - And I don't like to have the rain on my shoes - But I do love you - But I do love you - I don't like to see the sky painted grey - And I don't like when, nothin's goin my way - And I don't like to be the one with the blues - But I do love you - But I do love you (Leann Rimes - But I do Love you)

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Chapter 17 - An Happy Ending

The Turks, Reeve and Sarah, who they had picked up before leaving, walked out of the sector five exit of Midgar. Reno turned around to take, what he thought would probably be his last look at the city. The huge lump of metal that used to be the greatest conurbation in the world was fast turning into the worst. There was an explosion close to the Sister Ray tower, which could have been nothing else but the Proud Clod. The red head sighed. Scarlet knew what she was getting herself into by staying with the fat bastard, but she wouldn't listen. Elena came up from behind him, draping her arm around his shoulders.

"As much as I hate this place, I'm kinda gonna miss it." Reno whisper quietly. The blonde looked at him for a second then turned back to look at the city.

"Me too." She took another look at him. "Come on. We'd better get going." Reno nodded to her, turned around and started the others. Elena sighed and followed. She looked up at the huge meteor that was now really close to hitting Midgar. "Bye Midgar." She whispered, catching up with the rest.

"Well, I never thought I'd be one of the last people in Shinra." She heard Reno say as she managed to catch them. Rude gave him a pat on the back.

"I don't think anyone expected you to be either." The blonde Turk giggled.

"Hey, now come on!" The red head protested. "I'm not that bad."

"Reno, admit it, your an accident prone." Reeve told him. The red haired Turk sighed.

"I know." Elena giggled some more. Silence then followed. No one knew what to talk about. Callum was walking in between Reno and Elena, holding both their hands. Reeve, Rude and Sarah were walking a little in front. Elena broke the silence.

"Where's this house we're going to Reeve?" The black haired man turned round.

"It's my house." Everyone but Rude looked puzzled.

"You didn't live in Midgar?" Reno asked.

"Hell no." He laughed. "Kalm is much more nicer."

"Man, you're dissing the City you built. What's the world coming to?" The red head muttered.

"I didn't exactly have much of a choice in what to do. I was told, I just had to plan it all." Reeve sighed. "And because of that I always refused to live there."

"I would too." Sarah spoke up. Reeve smiled at her. He then frowned.

"What's up?" Rude asked the other man.

"Avalanche are fighting Sephiroth." No one said anything to that. They just all carried on walking.

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"I'm a little teapot, short and spout...." Sang Marlene as she was laid down on the floor of Reeve's house, colouring in a picture of a flower. Elmyra watched the girl, nursing a cup of tea in her hand. She smiled sadly. Marlene reminded her so much of Aries when she was Marlene's age. She heard the front door open and rose from her seat to go and have a look. She peeped around the kitchen doorway to see Reeve and the rest. Reno and Sarah were arguing about something, Rude was shaking his head at them, while Elena was giggling.

"Marlene!" The little red head boy shouted, running past Elmyra. Marlene looked up from her colouring and smiled.

"Callum!" She shouted, still lying down. The little red head found her, he stopped dead and smiled.

"See, I got to see you again." Marlene smiled back. She looked at the picture.

"I made this for you." She said holding the piece of paper out to the boy. He took it and looked at it for a while. He then smiled even more.

"Thank you." He said quietly. He ran up to the girl and hugged her, making her take a step back. She was stunned for a couple of seconds before she hugged back.

"You're welcome." He let go and smiled at her. He then frowned.

"I have to make you something." She giggled at him.

"It's ok you don't have to right now." Her glance turned to the window. "Want to come and watch the big thing in the sky?" Callum nodded. The both walked over to the window.

"I'm telling you Sarah, Rude's birthday is on the 10th!" Reno shouted.

"Reno, he's my husband and it's on the 7th!" Sarah shouted back.

"10th!"

"7th!"

"Rude?" The red head asked looking at the bald Turk. He shook his head.

"7th Reno." Reno smacked his thigh.

"Damn." Sarah giggled.

"Told you." She said, sticking her tongue out.

"So childish." Elena said, shaking her head. She then giggled again.

"Hey!" Reno shouted at her. she just carried on giggling. Reeve was still frowning at this point. The red head looked at him. "Still fighting?" Reeve nodded.

"Yeah. Meteor is getting too close for my liking."

"Mine too." Reno whispered. Reeve's eyes then lit up.

"They did it!" He shouted.

"Huh?" Elena said.

"Sephiroth's dead." Elena frowned.

"How come meteor is still there then?" She said, pointing to the window. Everyone ran over to the window, where the two children were still stood. The ground started to shake, as meteor reached the upper most building in Midgar, being the Shinra Tower. The group watched as the huge fiery ball demolished metal like it was pieces of thin wood.

"This is fucked up. The bastard is dead and we're still gonna die." Reno mumbled. Elena held onto his arm.

"Oh look, there goes our office." She chuckled a little bit. Reno just stared at her. "What? Just trying to bring a bit of humour to the situation." Reno spotted a small white lighting, which was gradually getting bigger. He pointed.

"Ok...... What's that?" Reeve looked at the light.

"It did work then........." Reno looked at the black haired man funny.

"What worked?"

"Holy." He said. Reno still looked at him funny. "It's going to stop the meteor........" He trailed off. The light started to attack the meteor. From what the people from Kalm can see, meteor was still going strong. Small amber spots start appearing as the meteor tried to break through the barrier that was Holy. Reeve sighed. "Midgar's doomed. So is everyone who's still there." He whispered. Sarah put her arm round him.

"It'll be ok." She told him. Reeve sighed again.

"Ok now what's that?" Reno asked, pointing again. There was a sparkle of green light coming from over a mountain range nearby. Everyone just stared at it. Holes opened up in the ground, as green tendrils made there way towards Midgar and the meteor.

"Lifestream......." Reeve whispered after a while. "The planet is trying to save itself."

"Well I'll be......" The red head trailed off. The ground crumbled more, letting more of the Lifestream pour out. Midgar was still disintegrating, as the meteor carried on, on it's path of destruction. The Lifestream closed in on the city, like a tidal wave. It started to make a net like structure that started to enclose the huge fiery rock. Then there was a huge flash of light. Everyone in Kalm shut their eyes. Reno opened his first. "I don't believe it." He said. Everyone else opened their eyes. The Lifestream was gone, all the holes that had opened up were gone, and best of all, the meteor had completely disappeared. The sky was glowing bright blue once again, with one or two fluffy clouds. The only thing that indicated that meteor had actually been there was that the top layer of Midgar was completely destroyed. The Shinra tower was completely gone, most of the reactors were half demolished. Elena smiled.

"It's gone." She grabbed Reno and started dancing about. She laughed. "It's gone it's gone it's gone." She started chanting. Reno started laughing as well. Sarah pecked Rude on the cheek, he smiled as she smiled back. The two children had now begun to dance around the room. Reeve smiled.

"And now we should drink to the world not ending!"

"Reno!" Everyone else shouted.

"What? I wanna drink!" He whined. Everyone else just laughed at him.

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Elena was sat on a grassy bank near Kalm, Reno sat behind her, his arms draped over her shoulders. She turned around to look at him.

"I have a question."

"Hmmm" Reno answered.

"What do we do now?" She turned back to look at the remains of Midgar. The red head sighed.

"I have no idea El." Elena turned back round and smiled.

"I don't care what we do, as long as I'm with you." Reno started laughing. The blonde frowned. "What?"

"Sorry, It just sounded a bit cheesy." She frowned some more. "Aww come on El, I'm sorry. It's sweet ok." She sighed. " I don't care as long as I'm with you too, either El." She smiled.

"Ah ha, made you say it." Reno groaned. Elena giggled.

"It's true though."

"Aw that's so sweet." She said grabbing Reno's cheek.

"Ouch." He said while rubbing the offending cheek. He grinned. "That's it now." He grabbed her shoulders, moved out the way and pinned her to the floor. He grinned some more as she tried to struggle. He bent down and kissed her on the lips, a sweet but short kiss.

"And that's punishment why?" She asked.

"Who said it was?" He kissed her again. She giggled.

"Never mind." She carried on giggling.

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Owari