After the Storm
Chapter 3
The next morning, Yuffie and Reno got ready to work. By early evening their clothes had been dry enough to wear once again, to Yuffie's great relief. Unfortunately, a thorough search of the cabin had revealed only one blanket and one bed.
Yuffie had claimed the bed instantly and dared Reno to challenge her for it. He had been happy enough to take the couch, but a bloody battle for the blanket had ensued. It had started out as thrown insults after Reno stole the blanket, but Yuffie had thrown a pillow instead at him when he wasn't looking. It had quickly disintegrated into an out and out pillow war complete with fortresses and the blanket for a flag.
In the end, Reno had been victorious, but they'd both been laughing so hard it hadn't really mattered. Yuffie had gone to bed in the small bedroom while Reno remained in the main room. She had started to drift off to sleep, shivering, when she'd been hit with something soft.
Groaning, and too tired to fight back, Yuffie had sat up to find the blanket draped over her head. With a perfectly straight face and a look of righteous outrage, Reno had declared the blanket 'moth-eaten' and then stormed back off to the couch. Yuffie had been too tired to decide what to make of it, but she was privately grateful.
This morning was much the same as the previous one, although slightly grayer. Yuffie got up and stretched, feeling better than before. She checked hurriedly outside her door before shutting it again and dressing. She'd worn the bathrobe to bed in the vague hope that putting on clean clothes in the morning would make everything all right. It wasn't much, but it gave her something to hope for. Equally, she was worried about hair to stop herself from worrying about everything else.
She felt refreshed and after making the best of her hair, she went out to go find Reno. Only now was she finally realizing that maybe she should be worried about sharing a cabin with a known killer, but... But he was Reno. He may have been a Turk, and a damned good one, but he hadn't shown the least inclination to hurt Yuffie in any way. She decided not to worry about it until she had too.
The Turk himself was not about when she came into the main room. Curious, Yuffie decided to have a look around for him.
She didn't have to look far. As she stepped outside she could hear the sound of someone working not too far away. Taking her time, she breathed the fresh air and stretched. It was a little overcast, but a nice day nonetheless.
Yuffie stepped down off the cabin's little front porch and went off into the small forest. The Wutaian continent didn't have many trees. The only forests you got were what anywhere else could be called a stand of trees. Following the sounds, Yuffie trudged through the underbrush towards the only other person around.
Reno was working hard already. He had two holes dug, but there were six more to go and the day was rapidly warming up. He had tossed off his jacket after the first one and now only wore his white shirt that never seemed to stay neat or straight. Neither did it know the meaning of the word tie.
Yuffie walked into the little clearing and stopped to admire how pretty it was before she realized what Reno was doing. Almost instantly her mood turned somber. This wasn't going to be a day she was going to associate in her memories with balloons and cake. Reno looked up when he saw her approach, his face flushed.
"Ah. . . morning."
"Morning."
"Look, I'll be direct here. This is unpleasant business, and you don't want to be involved. Really."
At his words, Yuffie felt her face go red with anger. What did he think she was, a child?
"No, you look! I'm not going to sit around and watch you do all the work! Besides, if there's anyone I know then I owe them enough to bring the news back to their families."
Reno stopped and stared at her outburst. He hadn't expected her to object. He'd been prepared to think of her as stuck up and probably lazy. She was quickly rearranging his thinking, and he found it disconcerting. He opened his mouth to object again, but stopped himself in time. Shaking his head, he just pointed back towards the cabin.
"There's another shovel around back of the cabin, in the shed."
Nodding stiffly, Yuffie turned her back and walked away to get the shovel without speaking again. How dared that idiot treat her like she was a helpless, ignorant little girl!? It infuriated her.
As she strode back the way she'd came, Yuffie cooled down enough to wonder what had happened to Reno since Meteor. That had been three years ago and she hadn't heard a thing about any of the Turks since. She realized she'd never even wondered.
Yuffie herself had spent the years working in Wutai to rebuild it up to the lofty capital it once had been. Having to spend day in and out with all those people she'd never known existed had changed Yuffie's whole perspective. While she was still the same brat she'd always been, she was more careful with what she said and more considerate of others. Still, that didn't mean she was going to take anything from anyone.
She returned to the cabin and went around back. She'd barely been outside the day before, so she had to explore as she went. Sure enough, a small shed loomed out from the shadows, and Yuffie wondered what was in it. The ground was too rocky for serious gardening so it was a little out of place.
To her surprise, she found the garden inside the shed. She opened the doors to find dozens of flats of flowers blooming in the poor light that came in through the two dirty windows. It was like a miniature green house but without the heat, insulation and smell. Smiling to herself, Yuffie bent down and smelled a particularly beautiful rose.
The flowers were all of the small variety, and grew contained in large pots separated from one another to prevent the seeds from spreading. After enjoying the view for another few moments, Yuffie took the rusty shovel and closed the door behind her.
Back in the clearing, Reno was hard at work. All right, so the babe wanted to help. It was a sort of cute gesture but it didn't really mean all that much. She'd probably be so busy complaining about the dirt under her fingernails that she'd only get a few shovel-fulls done before the end of the day. Maybe she wouldn't come back at all. Still, better to humor her.
And so, it was to his great surprise that Yuffie came back with the shovel and a grim, determined expression on her face. Without saying anything to him, Yuffie easily dug the shovel in and started to dig at a furious pace. Momentarily stunned, Reno stared at her, his mouth hanging open.
It was a minute before Yuffie realized that she was the only one digging. Looking up from the pit that was rapidly expanding, she shot Reno a baffled glance.
". . .What?"
Reno just shook his before laughing ruefully. Taking up his shovel again, he joined Yuffie in digging. They didn't talk much; it was hard work after all. Mentally, Reno had allocated two holes to Yuffie and four to himself, but she proved to be his equal. No sooner had he climbed out of his hole that he found himself facing Yuffie's feet. While pulling himself up, she had grinned at him. Her face was dirty and her hair a mess, but there was something very appealing about it.
"What kept you?"
Swearing under his breath, Reno had gone off to start the next grave. It was an unpleasant business all right, but with Yuffie around to banter with, the job seemed to go by much faster.
"So, Turkey, I was wondering. What have you been up to these three years?"
"Turkey!?"
"It's as good a name as any."
"I'm not making any bad puns on the word ninja."
"You mean not yet." Laughing, they had continued to joke back and forth. Yuffie never really realized that every time she brought up the subject of the years since Meteor, Reno skillfully avoided the question.
Yuffie had been wearing a pair of long pants, the type that unzip to become shorts at need. At one point, Yuffie had eagerly taken them down to shorts because of the heat, and while she was working, Reno had looked her over. And then, not to be outdone, he'd stripped off his sweat soaked shirt. The humid climate was making things interesting.
After the previous day, Yuffie took this in stride, and had admired Reno's physique when she thought his back was turned. He'd seen her, of course, but concealed the fact with a grin. She wasn't a bad kid after all.
Sometime - and hour or two - after noon, the two had finally finished the long job. It left them tired and sore, but Yuffie felt proud to have done her part. You don't spend two years building buildings and digging ditches without also building stamina. She may not be as strong as Reno but she had more practice.
Next came the most unpleasant part.
Reno decided to stop putting it off for the girl's sake, and headed purposefully for the beach. Yuffie jogged up to join him. Reno decided not to say anything until they got there.
Reno didn't want to patronize the girl, but he didn't exactly want to see her have a breakdown, or whatever. He had to grudgingly admit that she was a decent enough person, and he didn't want to see her embarrass herself.
Then they were there. Reno stopped just before they cleared the bracken to the beach. He turned to Yuffie, the concern on his face evident.
"I know you wanna do this, but you gotta know. Drowned people aren't never very pretty. Just this once, listen. . ."
Yuffie's look silenced him instantly.
"I'm an sure as hell not going to be stopped by you. Now c'mon. We've got to finish this before midnight."
Once again left in Yuffie's wake, Reno could only follow.
When they came out on to the beach, the bodies were washed up here and there. It was an open beach and left nothing to hide the corpses from sight. The stench nearly overpowered Yuffie, and, despite herself, she retched. Reno shot her a glance, but she stood shakily back up.
She stumbled over to the nearest person. The face was blue, bloated and indiscernible. There was no way she'd be able to tell any of them as the people she'd known back in Wutai. Even as her stomach churned, the thought saddened her.
Reno was thinking more practical thoughts. He'd found some tarp behind the cabin and it would make a good shroud. He'd thought ahead enough to bring it down to the beach earlier and it lay nearby. Kneeling next to another body, Reno laid out the tough material before carefully rolling the body in it. His face was unreadable.
When he stood up again, he found Yuffie watching him. She had adopted his cold, aloof expression. Taking her cue from him, she took some of the tarp and copied Reno's actions. Reno didn't move to help her; he was finally catching on to Yuffie's way of thinking. Instead he waited until she was finished and then went over and showed Yuffie how they could carry it between them.
Picking the body up carefully, one at each end, they quietly maneuvered their way back to the clearing and laid the body in the grave. It was a bit shallow, but it would have to do. Without a word they went back to get the next one.
And so, in silence, they moved all the bodies to the makeshift cemetery. There was no somber funeral procession to mourn the deceased, but there was an unspoken respect for them.
It took a while to finish this part of the task, back and forth again and again, but eventually they put the last one in place. The last part was to bury them, and again, this was done in silence.
When they finally finished the job, the sun had just finished sinking below the horizon. Too tired almost to walk, they stumbled back over towards the cabin. There would be no question of sleeping well tonight.
Yuffie stumbled as they climbed the little hill before the cabin. Without thinking, Reno grabbed her arm and put his own around her to steady her. Yuffie was too tired to think or reject the unasked-for help. So, instead, they climbed unsteadily up the steps and inside. Reno nearly dropped Yuffie into her room before returning to his couch and collapsing onto it. He had left the shovels outside and would deal with them in the morning.
He heard a sound and managed to turn to see what it was. A beyond tired Yuffie was holding a blanket out at arm's length. When Reno didn't move to take it, she shoved it at him before walking back to her room and shutting the door behind her.
Reno couldn't think. Instead, he pulled the blanket over himself and fell immediately into dreamless slumber. He didn't even stay awake long enough to hear Yuffie cry herself to sleep.
* * * *
The next morning, Reno awoke late. He still felt totally drained, but there were only a few things to take care today. Feeling physically totally spent, Reno dragged himself outside to get the shovels. First order of the morning was to put them back in the shed. After that he'd see. And then. . . Well, more sleep was an attractive proposition.
But as Reno opened the shed door, he was surprised to find. . . nothing. All the brightly colored flowers were gone. The pots were still there, mostly, but the flowers seemed to have gotten up and walked away. Totally confused, Reno just stood their wondering until a suspicion hit him.
Laying down the shovels, Reno left the shed. Heading down the path past the cabin, he turned off into the forest. It wasn't a long walk to the clearing, but it was still almost too much for Reno after the day before. It had been too long since he'd had to go all out like that. As he came up to the clearing, Reno thought to himself that he was definitely going to take himself up on that sleep.
Entering the clearing, Reno was greeted with quite a sight. Every one of the eight graves was now covered with the beautiful blooms. They seemed almost to be smiling at the sky, maybe still unmarked but not forgotten.
Unable to stop himself, Reno smiled a true smile.
~*
Chapter 3
The next morning, Yuffie and Reno got ready to work. By early evening their clothes had been dry enough to wear once again, to Yuffie's great relief. Unfortunately, a thorough search of the cabin had revealed only one blanket and one bed.
Yuffie had claimed the bed instantly and dared Reno to challenge her for it. He had been happy enough to take the couch, but a bloody battle for the blanket had ensued. It had started out as thrown insults after Reno stole the blanket, but Yuffie had thrown a pillow instead at him when he wasn't looking. It had quickly disintegrated into an out and out pillow war complete with fortresses and the blanket for a flag.
In the end, Reno had been victorious, but they'd both been laughing so hard it hadn't really mattered. Yuffie had gone to bed in the small bedroom while Reno remained in the main room. She had started to drift off to sleep, shivering, when she'd been hit with something soft.
Groaning, and too tired to fight back, Yuffie had sat up to find the blanket draped over her head. With a perfectly straight face and a look of righteous outrage, Reno had declared the blanket 'moth-eaten' and then stormed back off to the couch. Yuffie had been too tired to decide what to make of it, but she was privately grateful.
This morning was much the same as the previous one, although slightly grayer. Yuffie got up and stretched, feeling better than before. She checked hurriedly outside her door before shutting it again and dressing. She'd worn the bathrobe to bed in the vague hope that putting on clean clothes in the morning would make everything all right. It wasn't much, but it gave her something to hope for. Equally, she was worried about hair to stop herself from worrying about everything else.
She felt refreshed and after making the best of her hair, she went out to go find Reno. Only now was she finally realizing that maybe she should be worried about sharing a cabin with a known killer, but... But he was Reno. He may have been a Turk, and a damned good one, but he hadn't shown the least inclination to hurt Yuffie in any way. She decided not to worry about it until she had too.
The Turk himself was not about when she came into the main room. Curious, Yuffie decided to have a look around for him.
She didn't have to look far. As she stepped outside she could hear the sound of someone working not too far away. Taking her time, she breathed the fresh air and stretched. It was a little overcast, but a nice day nonetheless.
Yuffie stepped down off the cabin's little front porch and went off into the small forest. The Wutaian continent didn't have many trees. The only forests you got were what anywhere else could be called a stand of trees. Following the sounds, Yuffie trudged through the underbrush towards the only other person around.
Reno was working hard already. He had two holes dug, but there were six more to go and the day was rapidly warming up. He had tossed off his jacket after the first one and now only wore his white shirt that never seemed to stay neat or straight. Neither did it know the meaning of the word tie.
Yuffie walked into the little clearing and stopped to admire how pretty it was before she realized what Reno was doing. Almost instantly her mood turned somber. This wasn't going to be a day she was going to associate in her memories with balloons and cake. Reno looked up when he saw her approach, his face flushed.
"Ah. . . morning."
"Morning."
"Look, I'll be direct here. This is unpleasant business, and you don't want to be involved. Really."
At his words, Yuffie felt her face go red with anger. What did he think she was, a child?
"No, you look! I'm not going to sit around and watch you do all the work! Besides, if there's anyone I know then I owe them enough to bring the news back to their families."
Reno stopped and stared at her outburst. He hadn't expected her to object. He'd been prepared to think of her as stuck up and probably lazy. She was quickly rearranging his thinking, and he found it disconcerting. He opened his mouth to object again, but stopped himself in time. Shaking his head, he just pointed back towards the cabin.
"There's another shovel around back of the cabin, in the shed."
Nodding stiffly, Yuffie turned her back and walked away to get the shovel without speaking again. How dared that idiot treat her like she was a helpless, ignorant little girl!? It infuriated her.
As she strode back the way she'd came, Yuffie cooled down enough to wonder what had happened to Reno since Meteor. That had been three years ago and she hadn't heard a thing about any of the Turks since. She realized she'd never even wondered.
Yuffie herself had spent the years working in Wutai to rebuild it up to the lofty capital it once had been. Having to spend day in and out with all those people she'd never known existed had changed Yuffie's whole perspective. While she was still the same brat she'd always been, she was more careful with what she said and more considerate of others. Still, that didn't mean she was going to take anything from anyone.
She returned to the cabin and went around back. She'd barely been outside the day before, so she had to explore as she went. Sure enough, a small shed loomed out from the shadows, and Yuffie wondered what was in it. The ground was too rocky for serious gardening so it was a little out of place.
To her surprise, she found the garden inside the shed. She opened the doors to find dozens of flats of flowers blooming in the poor light that came in through the two dirty windows. It was like a miniature green house but without the heat, insulation and smell. Smiling to herself, Yuffie bent down and smelled a particularly beautiful rose.
The flowers were all of the small variety, and grew contained in large pots separated from one another to prevent the seeds from spreading. After enjoying the view for another few moments, Yuffie took the rusty shovel and closed the door behind her.
Back in the clearing, Reno was hard at work. All right, so the babe wanted to help. It was a sort of cute gesture but it didn't really mean all that much. She'd probably be so busy complaining about the dirt under her fingernails that she'd only get a few shovel-fulls done before the end of the day. Maybe she wouldn't come back at all. Still, better to humor her.
And so, it was to his great surprise that Yuffie came back with the shovel and a grim, determined expression on her face. Without saying anything to him, Yuffie easily dug the shovel in and started to dig at a furious pace. Momentarily stunned, Reno stared at her, his mouth hanging open.
It was a minute before Yuffie realized that she was the only one digging. Looking up from the pit that was rapidly expanding, she shot Reno a baffled glance.
". . .What?"
Reno just shook his before laughing ruefully. Taking up his shovel again, he joined Yuffie in digging. They didn't talk much; it was hard work after all. Mentally, Reno had allocated two holes to Yuffie and four to himself, but she proved to be his equal. No sooner had he climbed out of his hole that he found himself facing Yuffie's feet. While pulling himself up, she had grinned at him. Her face was dirty and her hair a mess, but there was something very appealing about it.
"What kept you?"
Swearing under his breath, Reno had gone off to start the next grave. It was an unpleasant business all right, but with Yuffie around to banter with, the job seemed to go by much faster.
"So, Turkey, I was wondering. What have you been up to these three years?"
"Turkey!?"
"It's as good a name as any."
"I'm not making any bad puns on the word ninja."
"You mean not yet." Laughing, they had continued to joke back and forth. Yuffie never really realized that every time she brought up the subject of the years since Meteor, Reno skillfully avoided the question.
Yuffie had been wearing a pair of long pants, the type that unzip to become shorts at need. At one point, Yuffie had eagerly taken them down to shorts because of the heat, and while she was working, Reno had looked her over. And then, not to be outdone, he'd stripped off his sweat soaked shirt. The humid climate was making things interesting.
After the previous day, Yuffie took this in stride, and had admired Reno's physique when she thought his back was turned. He'd seen her, of course, but concealed the fact with a grin. She wasn't a bad kid after all.
Sometime - and hour or two - after noon, the two had finally finished the long job. It left them tired and sore, but Yuffie felt proud to have done her part. You don't spend two years building buildings and digging ditches without also building stamina. She may not be as strong as Reno but she had more practice.
Next came the most unpleasant part.
Reno decided to stop putting it off for the girl's sake, and headed purposefully for the beach. Yuffie jogged up to join him. Reno decided not to say anything until they got there.
Reno didn't want to patronize the girl, but he didn't exactly want to see her have a breakdown, or whatever. He had to grudgingly admit that she was a decent enough person, and he didn't want to see her embarrass herself.
Then they were there. Reno stopped just before they cleared the bracken to the beach. He turned to Yuffie, the concern on his face evident.
"I know you wanna do this, but you gotta know. Drowned people aren't never very pretty. Just this once, listen. . ."
Yuffie's look silenced him instantly.
"I'm an sure as hell not going to be stopped by you. Now c'mon. We've got to finish this before midnight."
Once again left in Yuffie's wake, Reno could only follow.
When they came out on to the beach, the bodies were washed up here and there. It was an open beach and left nothing to hide the corpses from sight. The stench nearly overpowered Yuffie, and, despite herself, she retched. Reno shot her a glance, but she stood shakily back up.
She stumbled over to the nearest person. The face was blue, bloated and indiscernible. There was no way she'd be able to tell any of them as the people she'd known back in Wutai. Even as her stomach churned, the thought saddened her.
Reno was thinking more practical thoughts. He'd found some tarp behind the cabin and it would make a good shroud. He'd thought ahead enough to bring it down to the beach earlier and it lay nearby. Kneeling next to another body, Reno laid out the tough material before carefully rolling the body in it. His face was unreadable.
When he stood up again, he found Yuffie watching him. She had adopted his cold, aloof expression. Taking her cue from him, she took some of the tarp and copied Reno's actions. Reno didn't move to help her; he was finally catching on to Yuffie's way of thinking. Instead he waited until she was finished and then went over and showed Yuffie how they could carry it between them.
Picking the body up carefully, one at each end, they quietly maneuvered their way back to the clearing and laid the body in the grave. It was a bit shallow, but it would have to do. Without a word they went back to get the next one.
And so, in silence, they moved all the bodies to the makeshift cemetery. There was no somber funeral procession to mourn the deceased, but there was an unspoken respect for them.
It took a while to finish this part of the task, back and forth again and again, but eventually they put the last one in place. The last part was to bury them, and again, this was done in silence.
When they finally finished the job, the sun had just finished sinking below the horizon. Too tired almost to walk, they stumbled back over towards the cabin. There would be no question of sleeping well tonight.
Yuffie stumbled as they climbed the little hill before the cabin. Without thinking, Reno grabbed her arm and put his own around her to steady her. Yuffie was too tired to think or reject the unasked-for help. So, instead, they climbed unsteadily up the steps and inside. Reno nearly dropped Yuffie into her room before returning to his couch and collapsing onto it. He had left the shovels outside and would deal with them in the morning.
He heard a sound and managed to turn to see what it was. A beyond tired Yuffie was holding a blanket out at arm's length. When Reno didn't move to take it, she shoved it at him before walking back to her room and shutting the door behind her.
Reno couldn't think. Instead, he pulled the blanket over himself and fell immediately into dreamless slumber. He didn't even stay awake long enough to hear Yuffie cry herself to sleep.
* * * *
The next morning, Reno awoke late. He still felt totally drained, but there were only a few things to take care today. Feeling physically totally spent, Reno dragged himself outside to get the shovels. First order of the morning was to put them back in the shed. After that he'd see. And then. . . Well, more sleep was an attractive proposition.
But as Reno opened the shed door, he was surprised to find. . . nothing. All the brightly colored flowers were gone. The pots were still there, mostly, but the flowers seemed to have gotten up and walked away. Totally confused, Reno just stood their wondering until a suspicion hit him.
Laying down the shovels, Reno left the shed. Heading down the path past the cabin, he turned off into the forest. It wasn't a long walk to the clearing, but it was still almost too much for Reno after the day before. It had been too long since he'd had to go all out like that. As he came up to the clearing, Reno thought to himself that he was definitely going to take himself up on that sleep.
Entering the clearing, Reno was greeted with quite a sight. Every one of the eight graves was now covered with the beautiful blooms. They seemed almost to be smiling at the sky, maybe still unmarked but not forgotten.
Unable to stop himself, Reno smiled a true smile.
~*