The next morning Reno woke up insanely early, and he didn't do it on purpose, either. A bad dream had woken him up too soon when he'd already been having trouble sleeping in the first place, and no matter how long he laid there, it wasn't going to help him doze off again. So he just decided to get up altogether, and get some caffeine in his system to wake up all the way. Groggily, he dragged his feet downstairs to the breakfast area.
Reno, half-awake and feeling particularly crummy, nearly had an anger management moment when he saw that this inn didn't have the coffee he liked. Actually, he hated coffee; he always thought it smelled good enough but tasted horrible. He wouldn't drink the stuff unless the flavor was overpowered by something sweet, preferably a huge amount of chocolate syrup. And all they had here was sugar and cream, which just wouldn't cut it.
Nowadays he could be so particular about little things... eh, blame it on him being a member of an elite for the past seven years, when only the best of the best was handed to him on a silver platter. And now because of it, Reno wouldn't settle for anything less, no matter how insignificant it might be.
There was a cafe nearby that he could go to, but that would mean having to face some moron (Reno felt they NEVER used enough chocolate), and he would have to stand there and say "more" about eighty times. At the moment he had about zero patience, and he had the feeling that if he did go he'd end up jumping across the counter and strangling the person. And he certainly wasn't in the mood to deal with a restraining order.
Reno decided he'd stumble to the supermarket across the street, where he knew he could prepare his own coffee there.
*~*~*~*~*Reeve stopped dead in his tracks.
Perhaps he was just mistaken. It had, after all, been nearly a year since he'd last seen him. It could very well have been a different person.
He glanced back again. A different unkempt person... with sunglasses holding his red hair back from his face? And indolent posture, and identical scars across the cheekbones?
No, he thought. It can't be.
But it was.
It was Reno, in the cafe section of the supermarket, and he appeared to be getting himself some coffee. Still feeling the situation as somewhat surreal, Reeve approached him without another thought.
"Hey. Remember me?"
Holding a large styrofoam cup in his hand, Reno turned around and looked at him. His hair was messier than usual, his lips were puffy from sleep, his eyes were half closed, and he needed to shave. It was obvious that he'd just woke up. Staring blankly at Reeve, there wasn't the slightest shadow of recognition dawning on his face.
"...from that glazed look in your eye, I'll take that as a no."
Reno squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head as if to clear it. "No, I remember you." His words were slow and his voice had a rough edge.
He went to fill his cup, but much to his dismay, the coffee machine wouldn't work. Reno punched the machine a couple times, then resorted to shaking it violently, muttering the most colorful of profanities. Reeve didn't want to intrude on his battle with an inanimate object, but for the sake of small children nearby(and the disturbance it was creating), he just had to interrupt.
"...um. It says, 'Push.'" He reached over and pressed a button, and a spout of steaming hot coffee poured out perfectly and stopped when the cup was almost full.
Slightly swaying on his feet, Reno stared at it with eyes so narrow they almost looked closed. "I knew that..." he muttered resentfully.
Reeve decided he shouldn't try to make conversation just yet -- Reno didn't seem to be capable of doing so in his condition -- so he waited for him to finish preparing his coffee.
He watched as he pumped about 8 squirts of chocolate syrup into his drink, getting the feeling that the combination of coffee and chocolate was going to make Reno terribly wired. Back in the Shinra days he remembered the Turk had taken a liking to the espresso brownies there, and a hyperactive Reno within the walls of the HQ was an absolute nightmare.
Reno blindly slapped a few gil on the counter, and the two of them stepped outside. They walked along the street as Reno held his steaming cup with both hands, blowing into at and sipping every now and then.
He wasn't completely sure if Reno was still out of it or not, but Reeve spoke anyway. "Wow, it's been so long. I think the last time I talked to you guys, you and Rude were planning on putting Nair in Rufus' shampoo."
Reno was looking down at his coffee, but he seemed to be more alert now. The corner of his mouth curled up in amusement as he recalled. "Yeh. Bastard died before we could try it, though."
Reeve and Reno had never been enemies, but that didn't mean Reeve was safe from his pranks. No one was. Reno had put jelly on his chair in the conference room and he didn't find out until it was too late... but that particular memory he wasn't eager to reminisce about.
They went on to have a rather pointless yet amusing conversation about the one on the receiving end of most of Reno's pranks: Palmer. It was his cheery and gullible nature that made him such an easy target, and a great source of entertainment on boring days at the HQ. What's more, Palmer had so many aspects of him that were fun to pick on, such as the way he always walked in through doors sideways, and how he could never stand still... he bounced left and right as if at the mercy of some perpetual wedgie.
Reno knocked back the last of his coffee and dropped the cup on the sidewalk. It rolled in a semicircle and stopped, just inches away from a trash can. Reeve stopped walking and looked at it, then at Reno, who looked like he could really care less. Then he walked back and picked up the cup to throw it away, pretending not to notice the Turk roll his eyes. People were really conscientious about preserving the environment these days.
"That reminds me..." Reno said as they presumed walking, "how's your job goin' for ya?" He carelessly gestured in the general direction of the energy corporation, not bothering to elaborate.
"The company is doing well," Reeve said with a shrug. "I mean, there's not anyone we don't have support from. But..." He reluctantly trailed off, seeming unsure of what he was about to say.
They abruptly stopped walking. "...but what?" He'd better not be going where I think he's going, Reno thought. He didn't like the way he was hesitating.
"I don't know..." Reeve glanced at the other man who was watching him intently, and he fumbled for the right words. "Maybe I'm mistaken, but I just... I get the impression that they're not telling me everything. Sometimes..." he lowered his voice subconsciously, "I think they're hiding some things. Like they don"t want me to know..."
Reno groaned, an all too-familiar foreboding feeling caught in his chest. He locked his eyes with Reeve's, desperation and exhaustion melded in his voice. 'Tell me it's not happening again."
He couldn't say a word of condolence, now matter how much he wanted to. He could only stare back at him, his facial expression a grim mixture of uncertainty and worry.
A pedestrian brushed past Reno, bumping him, but his gaze didn't avert from Reeve's. It slowly set in as he read it all on his face. He narrowed his eyes slightly as a dull flatness came over them; he suddenly thought of the view at sunset from atop the balcony of the Shinra HQ: everything so tainted by gray haze the horizon wasn't even discernible, the sun a bleak faint orange-red that felt so far away. Not even it could break through and christen the city with its light; the metropolis was left to drown in the shadows of its own black iniquities and hopelessness, twisted in its unsound and noxious slant.
He found himself hoping Reeve was just overreacting, making the wrong assumption. But now the doubt was instilled in him, that the golden ray of hope could really just be the phoenix rising from Shinra's ashes.
*~*~*~*~*"There you are."
The floorboards thudded hollowly with Reno's slow and heavy gait. He looked up at Cloud, who was glaring at him disapprovingly for being late. Reno resisted the urge to tell him to go dice some tomatoes with that pathetic kitchen utensil he called a sword. The caffeine had worn off much too quickly, and at his state of mental unrest, he didn't want to deal with anything else today.
Exhaustedly, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes while Cloud checked them out of the inn. There were a million thoughts going through his head, and he didn't know where to start to make sense of anything. Suddenly feeling the presence of someone beside him he opened them again, looked over and saw Tifa. From the expression on her face, Reno thought he must have looked pretty bad.
"Are you okay?"
Leisurely blinking his eyes, Reno stared back at her for a moment, remembering last night. He briefly wondered why she was asking him about his well-being instead of punching him in the neck. Nonetheless answering her question, he bowed his head. "Tired."
That was at least half true.
Much to Reno's surprise, she went on to apologize about last night, and that she had been on edge and in a bad mood, etc. Thinking that she could sometimes be too nice for her own good, Reno waved her to be quiet and told her he was the one who should be sorry since he was being the idiot, and their little argument had made him think... kinda. Maybe.
"Let's go." Cloud threw him a look, and he and Tifa made their way to the door. Reno crossed his eyes and obnoxiously mimicked him, then followed.
Out on the streets of Junon, Reno subconsciously fell into step alongside Tifa, who was walking next to Cloud. This city was full of trashy characters, most of which were in dire need of deodorant and/or a shower. And normally they liked to holler at women, but they wouldn't dare to this time. If they so much as looked in Tifa's direction, their gaze would be met squarely by either of the intimidating men at her side.
*~*~*~*~*Several hours later, they were only about halfway to Costa Del Sol. It was a longer boat ride than Tifa remembered. And this was the first time they didn't have to dress like soldiers or pose as stowaways on the cargo ship. Since they had boarded the boat, she and Cloud were caught up with people who recognized them as AVALANCHE members. They did attain celebrity status for a short while, but then it seemed most everyone stopped caring. It wasn't as if they could expect much more from them... it's just how people were.
Everywhere she looked she saw a couple holding hands, romantically taking in the beautiful view, and she had to admit she was slightly annoyed by it. She'd been hoping to be alone with Cloud, but that didn't appear to be a likely prospect.
Tifa found herself wondering what Reno was up to. He'd pretty much gone his own separate way since they'd gotten on the ship. She craned her neck to see over people's heads, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. She politely excused herself (Cloud didn't seem to mind... unsurprisingly) and went to look for Reno.
At the other side of the boat he was easy to spot; the only lone figure among pairs of people. He was leaning over the safety rail, looking down at the water. Tifa leaned her elbows on the railing next to him. "Hi."
Reno looked more or less happy to see her, some degree of clarity in his eyes. Or maybe that was just how they reflected the backdrop of the water and the sky. "Hey." He cocked his head and studied her for a moment, then added, "Somethin' wrong?"
Tifa managed a smile. "Nothing. I'm fine."
Reno did not look convinced.
Frustrated with how he could read her like a book and she could hardly tell what he was thinking half the time, she sighed. "It's just... I don't know, I'm tired." She looked around herself, adding somewhat mutinously, "And it's weird that practically everyone else on this boat is a couple."
He studied her face again and blinked, understanding in his eyes passing quickly as the shadows. It made her think of how he was during their very first encounter with him, at the Sector 7 plate; narrow-eyed, grinning sadistically. She remembered when he spoke his voice was so smooth, and his words flowed so evenly. But now the spite was completely gone from his eyes, and his words lazily draped across his sentences. Reno didn't seem to be wearing that facade anymore. "You think that's weird?" He tried to keep a straight face, "Well, you have yet to see Rude sing karaoke."
She burst out laughing, and Reno found himself doing the same as he recalled his fellow Turk's rendition of "Pretty Fly(For a White Guy)". He was an enchanting singer(at least as enchanting as one can sing that kind of song), but Reno personally felt his friend should stick to the break dancing. Rude doesn't look like it, but the man can really bust a move.
The laughter passed, leaving her smiling contently... this time it reached her eyes. That was more like the Tifa he knew.
But then he became slightly confused. "Where's your boyfriend at?"
Tifa shifted her weight, slightly chagrined, hating how she couldn't help it. "Um, Cloud's not..."
She trailed off, but Reno got the idea. "Oh," was all he could manage, raising an eyebrow in surprise. He wondered why this hadn't occurred to him before. He had a sneaking suspicion that she wanted it to be more than... whatever was going on between them, but he didn't try to delve into it.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
He was slightly caught off-guard with that question, but answered anyway. "Nah," he replied, shaking his head. He looked back out over the water. "Never been serious."
And what was the need to be? Back in the Shinra days, women simply threw themselves at you..... not literally, of course. Well, the only man he'd seen a woman really launch herself at was Rufus. But Reno didn't like to think about that.
"Really? You've never been in love?"
This time he just stared at her as if she'd been dancing the funky chicken. He'd always regarded love as fairy tale BS -- he'd certainly never found it. Reno would have dismissed her as naive and delusional, but he could tell she really truly believed it was real... and for some obscure reason he found that intriguing."I think there's such thing as a soul mate." she said, leaning completely on the railing and crossing her arms so she could rest her head. Staring out at the horizon, a hint of a smile graced her features as she thought about it. "There's one person out there that's meant to be, and you have this connection you don't have with anyone else. And it's not like anything else because it's real, and it's built on a real foundation... It's enduring and it lasts forever," She smiled shyly and composed herself. "Sorry, I was rambling."
Reno shook his head, all but speechless. Here he was, standing before someone who believed they could find Forever, and all along he'd only been looking for Now. How could he ever expect to find fulfillment in empty pleasures? It suddenly struck him that all this time he'd only been grasping for wind. It made him realize how lonely he was, and he felt he had been missing out on something big. Something real.
She bowed her head, and he watched with admiration as her eyes shone with such serene clarity, loving the way the sun touched her features and her hair was shaped by the wind. For a moment Reno was able to see what Rude could have seen in her, and a curious, almost epiphanic feeling swelled in his chest.
Tifa noticed he was staring at her. She blinked, a curious smile on her face. "What?"
He couldn't help but grin stupidly, and it widened even more, almost to the point that it wasn't so lopsided. After a moment of sharing her gaze he was finally able to turn away.
"Nothing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note: !!!!!!! Mmmmmmmhmmmmmmm....Cheesy ending, eh? But...... ahh, I'm not sayin' a thing! It's gonna get messy from this point, though.
Anyway, special thanks to kimetara for her beta reading/nitpicking of this chapter! ^_^ ( hey-hey, this author's note didn't turn out be a fic in itself...) And thanks to the readers who reviewed! I'll try hard to get the next installment up quicker... in the meantime, make me happy(you know the drill)!