So I walk up on high
And I step to the edge
To see my world below.
And I laugh at myself
As the tears roll down.
'Cause it's the world I know.
It's the world I know.
~Collective Soul, The World I Know.
"R-reno?" Yuffie stuttered, recoiling at the face she had thought long gone.
"What's the matter, Yuff," the Turk said, leaning casually against the doorframe, despite the circumstances looking quite relaxed, "not happy to see me?" He didn't even have to ask about Carlos; from the look in her eyes he could see that she'd sought out her revenge. He hid his satisfaction at that, and instead leveled with a wry gaze, amused with her surprise. So this hadn't been in vain.
"B-but you're - Carlos said you were dead!"
The Turk raised a mild eyebrow at the conviction in her voice. "I'm not that easy to kill, you know."
"But how can you even be here? If Carlos said you were dead, then…"
"It had nothing to do with Carlos, it were the others."
"But why are you even here-"
Reno offered a tired sigh and gestured at the surroundings, unwilling to explain the answer to the question he knew was coming. "You're sure you don't want to discuss this somewhere else? Some place that isn't about ready to become a giant fireball?"
At that, Yuffie accepted the reality of the situation. She nodded, about to snap something smart at the sarcastic comment, but just as she opened her mouth a loud explosion of heat and sound rocked the building. As the boisterous crackling filled the air, she stumbled at the force, pinwheeling her arms well enough to stay standing. Reno, who was previously the very incarnation of calm, slipped off from against the doorframe and tripped over a fallen body, and wasn't quite so lucky.
When the low rumbling had subsided, Yuffie pried open eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed. She was meet with an eerie glow, completely different to that of before, where the room was quite dark except for the ghostly glow of the fire. She turned to Reno, who was now the one on his knees.
"What the hell was that?"
Reno looked up, rubbing at his lower back as he stood, his eyes looking a strange violet in the light. "The electricity, I think. I'm pretty sure the mains just went up."
"We should really get out of here."
"Like I said." Reno smirked. They turned to the door, more than ready to leave, but stopped dead when they saw the state it was in.
"Well I guess I'm lucky I moved, huh?" the Turk snorted. Beyond that, though, Yuffie could see his calm exterior cracking. She eyed the door with barely concealed panic. Their only exit was now blocked, a flaming pile of charred debris. Their situation had quickly gone from bad to worse, and they'd just leapt from the frying pan into the fire. Literally. The rugs that had lined the floor and the wall had caught fire quickly off one another, and had reached the door, engulfing it and its surrounds in a wall of flame. They now had no way out.
"Just how the hell are we going to get out of here now?" Yuffie groaned.
She got not reply, and turned to Reno, only to see him rummaging hastily through his pack, cursing every now and then as he pulled out the occasional object that was obviously not what he was looking for. She could only stare as he tossed away one useless item after the other.
"Got anything else handy in there?" she asked, inching steadily closer to Reno to avoid the growing flames. Sweat trickled down her forehead in a steady stream, and she was sure in that last explosion she had been singed in at least a dozen places.
"I'm working on it."
Yuffie winced as another small explosion rocked the building. She staggered backward, clenching her teeth as her injured arm jarred from the sudden movement. "Well work harder! We need water or something, we're surrounded in flames!"
"I said I'm on it!"
Yuffie ran a shaking hand through her hair, only now seeming to register once again the pain in her arm. She gripped it tightly, holding it against her side in order to staunch the steady flow of blood. From her left came a relieved sigh, and almost instantaneously she felt a gentle tingling spread across her body that always accompanied the feel of materia, followed by a pale yellow light that quickly settled into her skin.
"There!"
Yuffie blinked. The flames still remained, and the room had only gotten hotter. Nothing had changed. "What do you mean 'there'! Nothing's happened."
"You know, for a self-proclaimed expert on materia, you sure know nothing. Watch." And before she could utter so must as a half-hearted protest of shock and fear, she watched as Reno walked up to the flames… and then straight through them. Expecting the Turk to be engulfed in a ring of fire, she could only gape lamely as he shrugged, and then stepped calmly out.
"What the hell was that!"
"It's a Protect Materia, Mastered care of fighting you guys."
Yuffie eyed the wall of flames, only now noticing that the room no longer seemed to be so hot. How was it true that she could breathe easier, as well? Was it part of the spell's function? Skeptically, she looked Reno hard in the eye. "How long does it last?"
"A good while. Long enough for us to get out of here, which I'd suggest we do right now."
She finally gained enough gall to react. "So that's why Cloud couldn't hack you up so easily in the end."
Reno ignored her, instead he grabbed onto her arm and without warning pulled her into the direct path of the flame. She unconsciously closed her eyes as they stepped into the fire. Expecting to burn up into a thousand small pieces, Yuffie was surprised to find herself only enclosed in what was but a lukewarm blanket of tingling comfort, and after a while, even that was gone. All that remained was the faint sound of the flames licking at the walls and the furnishings. Her arm seemed to sting a little more, but other than the initial pain of the injury, there was nothing.
When she opened her eyes everything was tinged a faint orange, and Reno was looking at her with an expression she couldn't name. She looked at him through the haze, and tipped her head questioningly to the side. "What?"
"What's wrong with your arm?"
She shrugged. "Carlos got lucky. It just needs to stop bleeding. I'll be fine."
"Sure." At this Reno seemed to pause and assess the injury for a moment. He then shrugged off his jacket and chucked it carelessly to the ground. She could only stare as, once the item was out of Reno's hand, it began to catch fire, curling in on itself until it burned into nothing. She paled at the sight, and looked back up, seeing Reno beginning to tear at his sleeve.
Yuffie took a step back. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" the Turk said as he finally succeeded in removing the sleeve. He took her arm and wrapped the long stretch of material around the wound, tying it off when it got too short. When he'd finished, he appraised his work and took a step back.
"Much better."
Yuffie couldn't help but become puzzled at this. "Why did you do that?" she asked softly, realizing Reno held no obligation to her. This was a man who had killed thousands – he held no reputation for saving lives, and yet here he was, in here because of her.
After a moment, Reno shrugged. He grinned. "We couldn't have the ruler of Wutai dying from blood loss now, could we?"
"I – thanks." She ducked her head and began to walk away, embarrassed at the very word, glad that the heat of the fire hid her blush.
There was a sudden laugh. "Hey, Yuff?"
She turned to face the suddenly amused Turk, not sure what was so funny. "Yeah?"
"The exit's this way."
She headed in the right direction, her cheeks burning fiercer than any flame in the room. She ignored the quirk to the corners of Reno's mouth, and instead concentrated fiercely on her wounded arm. "I knew that."
* * * * *
"Fuck!" Reno tried the handle again, though to no avail. It didn't move, and he let go before it got too hot in his grip – in no time the fire had reached the exit. "Fuck!" he repeated. This wasn't in the master plan. He'd left the door unlocked… hadn't he? He turned to Yuffie, who had by the looks of things already gathered just what was going on.
There was defeat in her voice. "We're locked in, aren't we."
Reno nodded, not sure of what to say. He cursed again, his temper rising as he remembered that weasel he'd locked up outside, earlier. Could he have gotten away? Surely not. "I'm sure I left it unlocked! There's no fucking way it could be locked at all!"
"You're sure?"
"Positive."
"Absolutely, one hundred percent positive?"
The Turk leveled her with a blunt stare.
Yuffie flinched, biting her lip. The room was slowly getting hotter, and she didn't want to ask Reno what that could possibly mean. She thought hard. "Are there any other exits? Windows?"
"I'm not sure."
"So we're stuck here?"
"Yep."
How could he sound so calm about it? Just a minute ago he'd been cursing his lungs out. Yuffie eyed him through the haze of steaming orange, occasionally blowing the hot air out of her lungs, only to have it replaced seconds later. She looked up worriedly to where the smoke still hung a fair distance above their heads due to the height of the ceiling. But with no outside ventilation, that would soon change; it was steadily progressing toward them. She savoured what little air she could, feeling it burn its way down her throat, but at least it was reasonably pure.
After a moment of silence where Reno did nothing but wipe the sweat off his forehead, Yuffie decided to ask the undermining question.
"The spell is wearing off, isn't it?"
Reno found no sense in denying it. He ran his hand over his forehead again, and shunted a couple of steps toward the door again, before eyeing the smoke pooling around the wooden rafters above. "Yes. The materia still has some energy left. Don't worry, I'll cast another one before it fails."
Yuffie ignored the strangely positive way in which Reno was talking. She focussed her eyes on the ground, mesmerized by the odd way the flames danced around her feet and legs. "And there's no other exits."
Reno hated the tone Yuffie was taking. She was giving up, and he didn't like it. He'd cheated death in worse circumstances than this, and survived to tell the tale. He was sure as hell going to do so again… He just had to find out how. He just had to accommodate for the fact that the devil was going to be a bitch…
"Come on, Yuff, we're getting the hell out of here."
She looked up at him, her face pinched with doubt. "How-"
"We're going to find another way." But could they really risk going back into the fire? With a final kick at the door, Reno turned to leave, but a sudden shuddering gave him cause to pause. As the rumbling increased, Reno knew he'd started something he couldn't possibly control. He looked around frantically, out of the corner of his eye seeing Yuffie do the same, and over the roar of the flames tried to see what was going on.
He didn't spot it until whatever it was descended from the smoke, and even then it was too late. With not a single spare moment to cast another spell on them both, he could do nothing but push Yuffie and himself out of the direct path of the falling, flaming beams before they tumbled to the floor with a frightfully solid impact, and mercilessly, everything went black.
* * * * *
Shake was the first one to notice it, but that no longer mattered. It wasn't as if spotting the brilliant orange toiling and coiling in the night air with great boons of festering smoke was hard to spot. How had he not noticed it earlier? His face paled and he stopped in his tracks, grabbing onto Staniv's sleeve before he could reach the Pagoda's entranceway and disappear inside.
"Staniv… I think we just found… what we were looking… for…" Shake's voice trailed off. It couldn't have been more than four blocks away, but the amount of smoke curdling upwards was alarming.
The older aide spun to face where Shake was pointing, and he stopped dead as soon as he saw what his peer was insinuating.
"If that's Reno's idea of improvising, then I'm going to have words with him about all this afterward."
He chose not to express the fact that him ever meeting Reno again was but a mere possibility as he began running toward the Police Station, Shake in tow. His worry prevented his anger, and held back his pain.
* * * * *
Reno groaned as everything went silent, feeling the rumble of the impact gradually subside. For a moment he could hear nothing but his own incessant gasping as his lungs struggled to filter the air from the now swirling smoke. He opened his eyes, only to find that there was nothing to see, and so he squeezed them closed again, feeling the acrid smoke bite fiercely at his eyes. Without thinking he pressed his arms under him, ready to push off from the ground, but got only halfway there before a solid weight registered across his back, and he fell back to the ground as the density of it became too much. When he had mustered as much energy as he could, he tried again and locked his arms under him, feeling splinters of broken wood and god only knew what else dig painfully into his hands. Eventually he felt the item roll off and onto the ground with a solid thunk, and he could breathe easier again..
Free from whatever it was that had landed on him, Reno took a moment to clear his throbbing head. Unconsciously he opened his eyes again, dimly aware of the fact that only about three feet from the ground was yet uncovered by smoke. His eyes, exposed only moments before to the bright hue of the flame struggled to adjust to the immense darkness. After a couple of seconds things began to clear, and he didn't know if it was because he found himself able to focus more as time grew on, or whether the smoke was slowly dissipating somehow.
He took a long look around, seeing the scattered remains of the beam that had fallen, smouldering on the ground. The fire in their immediate area had been extinguished by the falling beams, and, he noted gratefully that his bag was still hanging in one piece from his shoulder.
He had no idea why it took him so long to register the searing heat as he looked at the dying flames in the small entrance. Perhaps it were because he was so disoriented, but either way he realized that the spell had worn off. Dizzily, he got to his feet, feeling himself sway as he struggled to regain his balance. As he rose the density of the smoke thickened, and he pulled his shirt collar over his mouth to try and get some air into his lungs.
After standing stock still for a moment to try to stop his shaking, he took a slow step forward, only to have his foot impact on something soft, not at all like the beams he had seen moments before. It took him only another couple of seconds to realize that he hadn't been in this building alone.
"Shit… Yuff!"
Reno dropped to his knees and ignored the stinging of the smoke in his eyes as he frantically tried to find what he'd run into but a second ago.
It didn't take him long to find her.
Reno turned the limp figure over on the ground, and felt frantically for a pulse, feeling a strange sense of relief wash over him as he found one soon enough. He let out a soft sigh that quickly melted into that of a hacking cough, and continued checking the ninja over. Even in the dim lighting, he could see the blood already soaking through the makeshift bandage, and the small bump beginning to form on her temple, but he could find nothing else wrong.
"… Brat?" Reno said, checking her pulse again, feeling it strong against his fingertips. He ran a hand over his face, feeling chalky, thick layers of soot smear over his face. He no longer cared. He turned back to Yuffie, sure that he had felt something move under his hand.
"Yuff?" This time he was rewarded with a soft moan. "Brat?" he tried again, tapping her face gently.
"Th-that was a h-hell'va kick, T-turkey."
Reno couldn't hold back a grin as her eyes opened. Glazed, but definitely with him, he could see her figuring out the situation even as he watched. He offered her a hand, and she sat up slowly, gingerly pressing her free hand to her head. "What the hell hit me?"
He chuckled. "The roof?" He pointed up, but immediately realized even through the vapour that her eyes weren't on him. He was about to ask her if she was all right, when her lifted her arm and pointed shakily.
"Reno… look."
He turned slowly, his Mako eyes following her gestures, and was met with the sight of something for which he was eternally grateful: the alley up close and personal. That would explain why he could see more.
"Well I'll be damned," he muttered softly as his eyes moved over the scene. He stared at the cold, dirty pavement, the rubbish, and the ash-strewn surroundings from under the burdenous smoke. He had never been so happy to see slums in his life. Not that he'd admit that. He turned back to Yuffie, who was looking more aware by the second.
"Help me up so we can get the hell out of here."
It took little argument on his part for that to happen, and leaning heavily on each other they made their way outside, feeling the cold air whip at them, the occasional whiff of smoke wafting in their direction. For once, Reno didn't mind the temperature, and gradually the image of a soft bed floated into his mind, and he nodded his head slowly, a small smirk settling across his face as he imagined Rude's face when he saw the mess he'd made.
As a sudden though occurred to him, Reno looked through the darkness to the spot he'd handcuffed the man, but found nothing. "Shit," he cursed, realizing that his earlier suspicions were correct. It didn't matter, though, the main target was down for the count - he knew that without asking.
"I'm going to sleep for a month," Yuffie muttered from beside him, her voice slurred and muffled.
He had no arguments against that at all…
That was, until he heard the voice from behind him. Reno stopped dead, and Yuffie nearly tripped over his feet as he spun back to face the building. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Yuffie said, pushing off Reno and stumbling wearily over to a wall. Her adrenaline gone, her face was drawn and her eyes dull under the smoky residue.
"I – nothing." Reno shook his head, unsure until he heard it again. "You honestly can't hear it?"
"… Hear… what?"
It was obvious the ninja was nearly asleep. Reno watched her slide down the wall and lean tiredly against the ancient, grimy bricking. He turned back to the flaming building, watching as great pillars of smoke and fire spun tendrils of heat and pollution into the air. He followed it up, but his eyes were dragged down again by the voice.
"… Nothing." But Reno wasn't so sure. The sound was distinct – like a human voice yelling from over the roar of the flames beyond. How could someone still be alive in there?
As Reno continued to press on with his internal struggle, Yuffie looked up from under half-lidded eyes, puzzled. From under all the soot and through the strange darkness she could see his narrowed, glowing azure eyes looking curiously in the direction of the fire. There was something off in his expression that she couldn't place. She frowned, shaking herself into full wakefulness as she felt her eyelids slipping closed again. "Turkey? You all right?"
He turned to face her more directly, his gaze flickering almost imperceptibly back to the flames. "I'm fine."
"Then what's the matter?"
He looked to the ground, a deep frown creasing his brow. Could he leave someone to die in there - even an enemy? Would it help to have an enemy in custody in the case of a trial? Even without thinking Reno knew the answer. He turned to Yuffie while searching through his bag, seeing her glazed hazel eyes looking up at him with more than a little curiosity. After retrieving the small orb he needed, he crouched in front of Yuffie and placed his bag down beside her.
"I'll be right back." He watched as she blinked in confusion, then looked to the glowing orb in his hand. Comprehension was quick to dawn on her face, and she looked from one item to the other simultaneously before shaking her head slowly.
"No way."
"Yes way."
He could only stare as she got to her feet, swaying ever so gently, her eyes wide and a deep ebony in the darkness. "Are you crazy! What the hell do you need to go back in there for!"
"… I forgot something I needed to get."
"In a burning building." Yuffie paused, shaking her head. "Nuh-uh. You're crazy. No way."
Reno scowled, and preceded to cast the spell over himself. He began to walk away. "I didn't ask for your permission or your opinions. Just look after my stuff."
She was silent for a second. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you going back in there?"
He turned to face her. "It'll make things a lot easier in the long run, I just told you. Look, I'll be out in no time. Sit down, someone's bound to come along soon after they see all the smoke pouring out the roof, and they're more likely to let you away with it, rather than me."
"But… "
"Just stay there."
She opened her mouth to protest, but was faced instead with empty air. She sank down the wall to the alleyway, her face blank. Why could he possibly want to go back in there for? She shrugged without really knowing why, in the distance hearing the faint whir of sirens as she realized that a Turk was a Turk. No one could figure them out. Especially Reno.
Dully, she was aware of her arm throbbing in time with her temples as the last of the adrenaline in her system faded. She hugged her injured arm to her chest and rested her chin on it, shivering. And then it began to hit her. She'd defeated Carlos, but did that make things any better? It hadn't changed the eventual outcome of her father's death, and although she felt better knowing that there was now closure, she knew things could have been done differently.
Yuffie closed her eyes, not sure whether it was her bone-weariness or her grief for her father allowing her the reprieve of having a lone tear trail its way down her cheek.
She only wished she could have at least said goodbye…
* * * * *
Reno couldn't say what made him go back into the building, just that something had. Something in that voice had nagged at him and latched onto something inside him so fiercely that it wouldn't let go until he threw away his meagre safety and pursued it. Call it curiosity, call it blind faith - it didn't matter. It was what it was.
'… Whatever the hell that is.'
Reno bit back a cough and followed blindly along the walls. Somehow he'd managed to find his way through the main parts of the building, stumbling occasionally on unseen objects, but maintaining his direction throughout it all. He'd learnt long before that he couldn't rely on his sight. Ocassionally, when he moved far enough away from the flame there would be a patch of visibility, then seconds later all would be gone, and that was as far as that sense went. Either way though, progress was painfully slow – slow enough that he'd been in there for what seemed like too long.
For a moment Reno stopped and listened, and heard nothing. The voice, since he'd been in here, had made very little of its presence known, and it was beginning to annoy him. He was in the main room now – the centre of the inferno – and he seriously doubted that someone could still be alive in here anyway, but yet, there was a feeling in his gut that told him otherwise.
Either way he decided that whoever it was he was after had better be someone damned worthwhile, otherwise he was turning right around and leaving…
Which sounded damned good…
Just as soon as he figured out where the exit was again.
A sudden wave of heat assaulted him, and then something light landed on his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of a red-hot ember falling from the flaming roof, and flicked it off his shoulder before it could do any damage. He swore as he realized just how hot the room was becoming, and that there could only be one thing that that meant. The flow of sweat trickling down his forehead that had stopped only minutes before began again.
The spell was weakening under the pressure.
Reno spun, trying to remember where the entrance was now that he'd been distracted. Sucking in mouthfuls of the potent fumes unintentionally as his lungs struggled for air, he could only gasp futily as the torrential heat forced its way down his throat and into his lungs. He had no time, and he doubted the person was still in one piece anyway. He hadn't heard anything in quite a while; it had been nothing but a waste of his time. At least he could leave with the satisfaction that he'd tried.
He had to move, and move fast.
And then, as if in answer to his thoughts, the voice which he hadn't heard in a long time let go another yell. A very distinctive, imperative yell. But this time, it came from behind him. Reno frowned, then scowled as he wondered just how the hell that was so. He knew exactly where he was… didn't he? Taking a step forward in the direction of the noise, Reno forgot to account for whatever it was on the floor in front of him. As he lifted his booted foot it connected very solidly and unexpectedly with something, and he stumbled, his arms flying forward to catch himself as he tumbled to the floor.
Because the spell was still reasonably in place, his hands didn't burn, but the heat became uncomfortable against his palms even as he sucked in a large mouthful of what he hoped to be air. It was a mistake. With the spell nearly out, heavy, hacking coughs caused him to shudder and collapse back down to the ground for a second, and as he continued to gag on the polluted gas, his breath grew even shorter. Even though he was effectively blind, he was fast becoming dizzy, and he hadn't accounted for all of the smoke weakening the spell so soon.
Yet somehow he managed to push himself to his feet. And somehow he managed to gain enough breath to continue on. Barely.
"Shi-it," he gasped as he put his collar over his mouth again, and stepped over the figure of what he now knew to be the charred remain of a body. For a second Reno imagined it was the voice that had been nagging at him all along, but then he heard it again, and all doubts as to the man's status were vanquished. He headed in the direction of the sound, saving his voice as well as his lungs. He stopped at the spot where he'd last heard the voice, and when it sounded again he did a double take. That couldn't be right.
When he heard it a second time he knew that whatever sanity he had previously had, had just flown out the window.
'There's no fucking way it can be coming from the floor.'
But nothing could make him deny the fact that it was. Reno crouched to the ground, hammering on the floor so he didn't have to open his mouth to the growing heat. At his prompting the voice yelled back loud and clear, with a barrage of words that he didn't bother to even try to understand. As far as he was concerned, this was fast becoming ridiculous. He knew that voice, there was no doubt about it, but if so then...
"Who-" Reno's voice broke off as he failed to compensate again for the smoke in the room. The sweat streamed down his forehead and tears of pain and discomfort beaded in the corners of his eyes as he struggled to gain his breath. He finally managed to yell the question, and not wanting to have to speak any more, he placed his ear close to the floor. He paled at the answer.
But it couldn't be… could it?
There was no doubt that the identity of this man changed a lot.
Reno began moving his hands around the floor as he realized he had very little time in here to get this man out, not to mention himself. If he heard correct, then there was a lot depending on his ability to feel his way around in the dark. There had to be a latch somewhere! They couldn't seal this room without one, right?
As he was searching a sound above him made him stop. He dared not look up, but when the familiar groaning only grew louder Reno turned his head to the sky in dread even as his hands continued their frantic search. This time, he knew, the situation was a whole lot worse.
"Come on, come on… Shit, shit, shit!" Reno ground out as he felt his blood rush through his veins as he kept his eyes above him, even though he could see very little through the obtuse smoke. But even blind to his surroundings as he currently was he knew exactly what was going to happen next.
"Not again," he groaned as his heart pounded frenetically and he spared himself but a split second to look down. For a moment the haze cleared and he spotted an object just before the vapor closed in again. With no time to spare and little time to think about a solution Reno dived for the latch even as the remains of the smoldering roof began to collapse inward. His sweaty, shaking hands grasped at the protruding metal clip and fumbled with the item desperately before he suddenly felt himself plunging downward into the inky blackness below, only to wonder if and when he was going to hit the ground.
* * * * *
She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there, but she heard them now: the voices that Reno had been talking about, distorted horribly by the roaring fire, though still there. There was very little she could do about it. It had been gone quite for a while now, but that didn't matter. She hoped whatever thug it was died a slow, painful death. Her father had paid the ultimate price to sate their greed, so why should they survive?
So now she sat, hopeless and cold, slumped against the chilly brick wall in the moonlight, lacking the energy and motivation to even move if she wanted to. Her mind felt numb, though it pounded with a bitter intensity. It had begun to drizzle a while ago, though it was hopeless against the raging fire, which had now overtaken most of the building not fifteen metres away from her at the other end of the alley. She was soaked through and through, and clothes she hadn't even realized were slightly burnt steamed as they began to cool off. Her hair was plastered to her forehead from both sweat and rain, her eyelashes dripping with the cool liquid.
She scowled. An insignificant drowned rat lost in an alleyway how had failed her own father. How appropriate.
Yuffie let out a sigh and tried futily to hold back a shiver. Vapor wafted from between her lips as she gazed with dull eyes toward the inferno. It was mesmerizing, really, the beauty of the flames as they danced their way into the night sky. After a while she looked away, her eyes eventually unable to take the intensity of the blaze.
She tried to focus as she shifted her eyes to the passageway to her left, but white and orange dots danced in front of her eyes even as the dim lighting of the alley came back to her. She turned her gaze skyward. The moon was opaque and filmy compared to the buoyancy of the beacon of impromptu light. After a moment, when her sight still hadn't recovered fully, she closed her eyes and rested her mind for what seemed only a second.
Perhaps that was why she didn't notice the two men who stood in front of her.
"Miss Yuffie?"
She jumped, wincing as her injured arm shot to the ground to project her to her feet. The appendage in question gave out before she got the chance. Yuffie looked up, her hazel eyes wide. Unable to read Staniv's expression in the darkness, she simply stared. She found no words, and could only berate herself silently as the expression on her aide's face became one of concern.
She was wrong.
"First of all, don't you ever do anything like that to scare us like that again! You could have told us what you'd planned so we could at least have planned something! Or stopped you!" Staniv placed a hand on his hip, trying to keep his frown of discontent on his face. He wasn't sure if he pulled it off; the relief of seeing his charge alive was just too strong.
Yuffie winced belatedly. About to protest, she was again cut off, and she could do nothing but blink. She wasn't four years old anymore.
"Second. How could you have known that this would turn out all right in the end? Don't even think of facing someone like Carlos by yourself…"
"-Staniv-" She somehow managed to push herself up against the wall, her head bowed to hide the effort. She'd had about enough.
"… Not without us, anyway."
Yuffie looked up in stunned silence as Staniv's expression gave out. She saw the relief in his eyes, and felt her eyes begin to fill with fresh tears as the weight of the past few days finally closed in on her. Suddenly she felt herself swept into a hug by two of her most trusted aides, and though she felt at last that she was safe, it was all she could do not to gasp in pain as her injured arm was jostled. Her head chose that exact moment to continue throbbing.
Staniv stepped immediately away, his grey eyes scanning her for injuries even as she struggled to stay standing, her energy gone.
"You're hurt."
Yuffie winced. "It's just a scratch."
"I'll be the judge of that." She didn't even bother to protest as Staniv gently took hold of her arm, unwrapping the makeshift bandage and examining the wound as best he could in the dim light. After he was done he re-wrapped the cloth around the wound, hiding his puzzlement at the foreign material around Yuffie's arm. He pushed away the thought, his eyes still relieved, but his expression serious. He offered a wry smile. "Just a scratch indeed. Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"Just took a hit to the head. I'm fine, Staniv. Just really tired."
"You are not, and don't even try to pretend. You've been through a lot tonight. How do you feel? Is your vision blurry? Are you dizzy?"
She sighed, not seeing the point in lying. "Yes and not right now, no."
"But you have been. All right. How many fingers am I holding up?"
She met his eyes again, then looked to his hand. She scowled and struggled to concentrate, only now noticing how badly her vision was fading. "It would help if you would hold your hand still, Staniv. You're cheating."
At this her aide's forehead creased a little into a minute frown, but he said nothing. It was then that Shake spoke up, voicing the one question Staniv had neglected to ask.
"Carlos?"
"Dead."
Staniv frowned. "Yuffie, how did you get out of there?"
She looked up, then back to the building, her faze oddly blank. "Reno."
"The Turk got you out?"
"Uh-huh."
At this Shake scowled as another thought occurred to him. "Where is he now? He didn't just leave you here, did he! If he did I'll-"
Yuffie flinched, and Staniv, seeing the look on her face put a hand on Shake's shoulder to halt his words.
"What is it?" At her silence, Staniv's perpetual frown deepened. He turned to the building, puzzlement on his face. Eventually her turned his gaze to her, watching the way her eyes stayed fixed on the one spot. "He's still in there, isn't he?"
All she could manage was a nod. She shivered, not even trying to hold it back this time. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She blinked slowly and shook her head to clear the built up haze, but it only made her head pound worse. She reached out to place her hand on Staniv's shoulder, but missed by what looked like miles. As her knees buckled, her eyes closed. Through a tunnel of fog someone called her name. She tried to answer, but eventually even her hearing failed too. Everything seemed to be fading into oblivion so fast it was scary…
Staniv caught Yuffie as she began to pitch forward. With a quick glance to Shake he held her up just long enough to allow the shorter aide to place his thick, woolen cloak on the grimy ground. As he placed her down on the draped item he crouched next to her, placing a hand on her forehead. It was cold, but not frighteningly so. Then again it was hard to tell with her face thick with sweat.
Shake spoke up beside him, his face worried. "Is she concussed?"
"That may be the case."
"Then we need to wake her up."
As Shake began to tap her lightly on the cheek, Staniv took surveyed his surroundings, noting the one object that seemed to be out of place.
The older aide got lightly to his feet and retrieved the tan leather bag that was slumped against the wall. He held it up to the light, only vaguely seeing the outline of the letter 'R' before he lowered it down. "Reno," he whispered, shaking his head. Without further thought, he pried open the pack, searching through it for anything that could usefully awaken his charge. As his hands closed around a lucid, glowing green orb, a soft smile curved the corners of his mouth.
He carried the bag back to Shake and kneeled next to the pale figure on the ground. Placing the emerald sphere in both hands he summoned the spell and cast it down on Yuffie, opening his eyes just as the pale lime light filtered around her before soaking into her skin.
Shake looked up. "A Cure Materia can't heal a concussion."
Staniv shook his head. "No, but it can heal physical wounds. Her arm will be fine now, if not a little tender when she wakes up."
As if in lieu with his thoughts, a low moan filtrated through the air. Breaking his contact with the younger man, Staniv again placed his hand on Yuffie's forehead. He smiled as her eyes opened, and she tried to sit up. He place a restraining hand on her shoulder.
"Enough. Stay down, don't sit up if you don't have to."
The young ninja bit her lip, and nodded. As her eyes again began to drift close Shake frowned. "You can't go to sleep yet, Yuffie. I'm sorry. But if you've got a concussion then you're going to have to stay awake."
Yuffie was about to open her mouth to say something, when a bustle of activity at the exit of the alley caught her attention. From the ground, she could see little, but she watched as Staniv got slowly to his feet.
"It's about time you all got here," Shake called from the ground. "Half the town could be burnt down and you'd still be trying to figure out how to fasten your overalls!"
"Shake," Staniv warned as he stepped aside to allow the various teams of emergency services to begin their work. As he watched, long hoses filtered in through the alleys even as the men in red and orange began their work in the depth of the alley where a large fire truck could not reach. With them came the paramedics, carrying cases and stretchers between them, and soon the small alleyway was packed with people. Staniv found himself hovering as Yuffie was helped to her feet.
"Watch her head," he heard Shake snap as two paramedics began to lower her onto a stretcher.
At this Yuffie allowed herself a small smile, but it faded fast. Her father…
Time passed, and though she was no longer sure how long, she knew that the firefighters were making progress. The drizzle was now a fine rain, and it no longer evaporated before it reached the flame. It was slowly helping. She sat with her back against a board laden with pillows, finding it much easier to remain awake in an upright position rather than a laid-back one. She plumped up a pillow, watching the entrance intensely. Beside her was Shake, and not far away was Staniv, talking to the various authorities in the area.
As she felt her eyes start to close in exhaustion, Yuffie pinched her arm, feeling herself jolt awake instantly, her eyes widening even as she held back a wince. Turning to the flames she'd been watching for god only knew how long, she turned her thoughts to Reno.
There was no way in hell he could still be alive in there. No way. The spell he had cast on the both of them had not lasted this long last time, and though she knew there were various levels to a Protect spell, she also knew that none of them were strong enough to withstand such heat and smoke forever. So where did she stand in this? Why had she just stood there when he'd said he was going back in?
How did she feel?
To be perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't sure. When Reno had turned up in there she'd felt her heart almost stop. Never had she expected to be saved by anyone, least of all a Turk with whom she'd been enemies with not three years before. She was no longer sure how much had changed, but the unspoken truce that had evolved between them was nagging at the back of her mind.
That didn't matter now, though. It all came down to one thing. If she hadn't gone in there, then he wouldn't have gone to save her. And then he wouldn't be in there now. And then she wouldn't be sitting here, numb, reflecting over the fate of someone she should never had had to meet again in her life.
'Why did he follow?'
At that moment something interrupted her thoughts, and Yuffie could only watch as the various firefighters leapt back just in time to avoid a large segment of the main entrance as it collapsed in a heap of charred wood and metal. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open in horror as, seconds later, without the support of an entire wall to go by, the entire roof caved in on itself. All was eerily silent. With the roof down and the building open, a great portion of the fire had been extinguished simply because of the pressure of the roof. After a second the firemen pooled back to the area, sure that nothing else could possibly fall - at least for the moment.
As she watched the last of it collapse, a feeling of dread grasped her so strongly that for a moment what had happened seemed as it would in a dream. Her breath caught in her throat, and just as time had stopped only seconds before, it resumed as if nothing had happened.
Except to her.
"Oh no," she whispered, her bottom lip trembling as she realized no one could have survived that, even had they been alive in the first place. There had always been that infinitesimal amount of hope that he'd come out, and she'd be able to blame him for taking so long, and for wasting her time - and his - on a wild goose chase.
But now that was never going to happen, and she had caused another death. Because of her own stupidity and ignorance she'd lost her father, and now Reno someone who shouldn't have been involved in this in the first place.
"Oh gods, Reno. I… "
tbc
* * * * *
Author's Notes: Okay, don't shoot me, strangle me, or otherwise. There's not long to go now. I'm serious. Everything is *nearly* over. Please don't shoot me for the cliffhanger, because otherwise there was no other place to end the chapter… and this one was long enough. I hope you all enjoyed it, though you'll have to wait until my next post to see what happens next, I guess.
Cheers,
~Ealinesse.