Rainy Days
A not-so-one-shot Refa psychotic and emotional story by me, Shattered
Crystal Shards.
Haha, well I hope that last chapter didn't managed to scare away too many readers, or the fact Cloud plummeted to his death because Aeris was "talking to him".
Just to clear that up, no she never did, the poor guy was just losing his mind, that's all. And I think most of us can relate in some way, well...not the "flying" off of the edge of the cliff.
Oh, please don't try that at home.
Now, I'm not a review beggar or anything, but its always nice to get some input, flames as well, even if its just to tell me how messed up this story is, how crappy of a 'writer' I am, suggest more lemonade, whatever. And special thanks goes out to Rikku, I commend you as well for giving me such a nice review, it made my day and this chapter.
So, review? Or not? At least keep reading, for it gets more *Cough* interesting from here.....
Ha, its just occurred to me now I've never done a disclaimer, well I own everything short of nothing, sue if you want, but don't expect to get much.
Now, onto the catastrophe formerly known as a story.
It was hours before the clouds lifted and the rain stopped, the full moon's guiding light seeped through the light blanket covering the gray sky. The wind died down, and the frost rolled in, yet there they sat on the edge of the cliff on the soaking wet grass.
Unaware of the time, or let alone the world around them.
Reno was the first to stand up, he grasped her hands and noticed they were ice cold, dripping wet and slaking slightly. He pulled her up onto her feet, he felt a growing pain in his stomach to see the once optimistic, strong and graceful Tifa Lockheart this way, as a limp, lifeless, rag doll. "Lets go inside..." He said calmly, her head bobbed down slightly, as her dripping wet hair sling to her body through the thin fabric of the dress, as her eyes were transfixed at nothing, glossed over and missing their usual chocolate-covered-cherry spark of life. He pulled her along back to the house, opening the door to be greeted by a friendly wave of warmth, pulling her inside and wrapped a towel around her frozen body as he set her down on a chair in the kitchen.
Walking up the stairs and past Cloud's old room, the door was almost always closed now, just like her heart. And after this it was surely to be bolted shut. He shrugged and walked on to the bathroom to change his clothes, that oblivious expression plastered all over his face.
It was no big deal, just another death, no big deal at all for him.
It was the first time when he had started out as a Turk that deaths effected him. Crouching behind a garbage disposal to evade the line of fire, it was his first mission and first day on the job. He heard somebody yell in pain to his right, Tseng had taken a bullet to the arm, he never stopped to think, running rapidly as his feet grazed across the pavement he jumped in front of the leader, took out his shotgun and....
The sound was like thunder rattling his ears, the speeding metal blur punctured the attacker right between the eyes, then he fell over forwards onto Reno as his blood spilled all down the brand new blue suit, staining not only the cloth but his shaking hands.
After that mission they headed back to ShinRa, Reno uttered not one word as the elevator ascended to the floor that was their own, occupied with their offices, a training area with showers.
He quickly shed the blood stained clothes and locked himself inside the shower, the hot water rapidly poured down onto him as the stream broke on the top of his head, soaking his hair and running down his body to run down the drain and the pale white ceramic tiles in a thick, crimson river.
Red, all red, he was covered with it.
Reno grabbed a sponge and began to lather the soap all over himself, scrubbing his flesh raw in an attempt to remove the mans blood from his pale body.
It just wouldn't come off, never, this blood would never wash off of him completely, it seeped deep into his pores and melded with his own blood, like a poison ever pumping through his veins as a lasting reminder of the monster he was.
Hours later he was still rubbing the sponge across his chest as he lay on the cool tiles at the bottom of the shower, his body was convulsing and his limbs were numb as he realized at last that the hot stream of water was now icy cold.
He slowly got up and turned the water off, walking out and wrapping a towel around himself as he caught his reflection in a mirror. His skin was wrinkled and pale, his lips were purple and he still couldn't let go of the blood he saw on himself.
And that man's ghastly reflection beside him in the mirror, gun raised, Reno made a fist and shattered the glass.
He fell to the ground as his knees gave way, along with the silver rain of the mirrors shattered crystal shards that glowed brightly before falling to the tiled floor along with raindrops of blood. Tseng walked in and held out a hand to Reno, who intertwined his bloody fingers in with his pale ones as he was pulled off the floor and onto his feet.
"I....s-sorry sir...." He whispered, looking down at the broken mirror.
"Its alright, you should get dressed less you become ill." Tseng replied calmly.
"I-It...never gets any easier.... does it....?" He asked, a shimmer of hope reflected into his eyes from the broken shards.
"No, you just get used to it. One after the other until you start to feel nothing, just numbness."
"...dead inside just the guy you shot...." He mumbled more to himself then Tseng.
"But it is better then this, come on." He said, gesturing to the door.
"How is it better dammit?!" Reno screamed, "How?!!"
"It just is...." Tseng said softly, walking swiftly out of the door and into his office.
But in the end it never got easier, you just got less humane. You get up out of bed and put on the blue suit, another day and another death. It became a routine for him, one that he could never break out of. Each day was another shovel of dirt scraped out of the hole he was digging himself, soon to be filled with his own coffin and covered with dirt.
Out of sight, out of mind. Just like all those other million, and maybe more, people he killed and completely forgot about the next day.
Supposing he even knew their names in the first place.
Just aim, squeeze the trigger, and then it was all over, another day another death another paycheck.
Just more bloody money being shoved into his crimsoned stained hands that dealt out so many deaths and losses over the years, all that he never felt any remorse or sympathy for.
His heart simply could not take it, so in the back of his mind it remained, hovering over him everyday like a shadow that was ignored because he was numb to it.
He was completely oblivious, to the pain, the loss, the suffering and his own human heart.
And she was the same now, just another doll tired of this dance.
No, not Tifa, he couldn't let that happen to her, never. What was this? For the first time in his life he placed somebody else before himself, cared about them, and maybe something else....
....maybe even love.....
Just maybe, if it was even possible for him to feel anything, let alone love. But he was certain of one thing, everything in his life was fucked up and he didn't so much as give it a second though, but this, whatever it was, was something he wasn't going to fuck up, no, not this time. Something inside him was thawed out again, this determination was burning inside him, he was going to help her, to save her from herself before she became what he once was.
She had helped him claw his way out of his coffin and craw out of the damp earth until he saw daylight once again, and now she was falling, and he would be there to catch her.
Then maybe these crimson rain clouds will lift, and they will be able to see the sunshine again, together.
'Yeah, that's right,' He thought as his the ice in his heart thawed and melted at that last word he couldn't help but say aloud, "...together."
Haha, well I hope that last chapter didn't managed to scare away too many readers, or the fact Cloud plummeted to his death because Aeris was "talking to him".
Just to clear that up, no she never did, the poor guy was just losing his mind, that's all. And I think most of us can relate in some way, well...not the "flying" off of the edge of the cliff.
Oh, please don't try that at home.
Now, I'm not a review beggar or anything, but its always nice to get some input, flames as well, even if its just to tell me how messed up this story is, how crappy of a 'writer' I am, suggest more lemonade, whatever. And special thanks goes out to Rikku, I commend you as well for giving me such a nice review, it made my day and this chapter.
So, review? Or not? At least keep reading, for it gets more *Cough* interesting from here.....
Ha, its just occurred to me now I've never done a disclaimer, well I own everything short of nothing, sue if you want, but don't expect to get much.
Now, onto the catastrophe formerly known as a story.
It was hours before the clouds lifted and the rain stopped, the full moon's guiding light seeped through the light blanket covering the gray sky. The wind died down, and the frost rolled in, yet there they sat on the edge of the cliff on the soaking wet grass.
Unaware of the time, or let alone the world around them.
Reno was the first to stand up, he grasped her hands and noticed they were ice cold, dripping wet and slaking slightly. He pulled her up onto her feet, he felt a growing pain in his stomach to see the once optimistic, strong and graceful Tifa Lockheart this way, as a limp, lifeless, rag doll. "Lets go inside..." He said calmly, her head bobbed down slightly, as her dripping wet hair sling to her body through the thin fabric of the dress, as her eyes were transfixed at nothing, glossed over and missing their usual chocolate-covered-cherry spark of life. He pulled her along back to the house, opening the door to be greeted by a friendly wave of warmth, pulling her inside and wrapped a towel around her frozen body as he set her down on a chair in the kitchen.
Walking up the stairs and past Cloud's old room, the door was almost always closed now, just like her heart. And after this it was surely to be bolted shut. He shrugged and walked on to the bathroom to change his clothes, that oblivious expression plastered all over his face.
It was no big deal, just another death, no big deal at all for him.
It was the first time when he had started out as a Turk that deaths effected him. Crouching behind a garbage disposal to evade the line of fire, it was his first mission and first day on the job. He heard somebody yell in pain to his right, Tseng had taken a bullet to the arm, he never stopped to think, running rapidly as his feet grazed across the pavement he jumped in front of the leader, took out his shotgun and....
The sound was like thunder rattling his ears, the speeding metal blur punctured the attacker right between the eyes, then he fell over forwards onto Reno as his blood spilled all down the brand new blue suit, staining not only the cloth but his shaking hands.
After that mission they headed back to ShinRa, Reno uttered not one word as the elevator ascended to the floor that was their own, occupied with their offices, a training area with showers.
He quickly shed the blood stained clothes and locked himself inside the shower, the hot water rapidly poured down onto him as the stream broke on the top of his head, soaking his hair and running down his body to run down the drain and the pale white ceramic tiles in a thick, crimson river.
Red, all red, he was covered with it.
Reno grabbed a sponge and began to lather the soap all over himself, scrubbing his flesh raw in an attempt to remove the mans blood from his pale body.
It just wouldn't come off, never, this blood would never wash off of him completely, it seeped deep into his pores and melded with his own blood, like a poison ever pumping through his veins as a lasting reminder of the monster he was.
Hours later he was still rubbing the sponge across his chest as he lay on the cool tiles at the bottom of the shower, his body was convulsing and his limbs were numb as he realized at last that the hot stream of water was now icy cold.
He slowly got up and turned the water off, walking out and wrapping a towel around himself as he caught his reflection in a mirror. His skin was wrinkled and pale, his lips were purple and he still couldn't let go of the blood he saw on himself.
And that man's ghastly reflection beside him in the mirror, gun raised, Reno made a fist and shattered the glass.
He fell to the ground as his knees gave way, along with the silver rain of the mirrors shattered crystal shards that glowed brightly before falling to the tiled floor along with raindrops of blood. Tseng walked in and held out a hand to Reno, who intertwined his bloody fingers in with his pale ones as he was pulled off the floor and onto his feet.
"I....s-sorry sir...." He whispered, looking down at the broken mirror.
"Its alright, you should get dressed less you become ill." Tseng replied calmly.
"I-It...never gets any easier.... does it....?" He asked, a shimmer of hope reflected into his eyes from the broken shards.
"No, you just get used to it. One after the other until you start to feel nothing, just numbness."
"...dead inside just the guy you shot...." He mumbled more to himself then Tseng.
"But it is better then this, come on." He said, gesturing to the door.
"How is it better dammit?!" Reno screamed, "How?!!"
"It just is...." Tseng said softly, walking swiftly out of the door and into his office.
But in the end it never got easier, you just got less humane. You get up out of bed and put on the blue suit, another day and another death. It became a routine for him, one that he could never break out of. Each day was another shovel of dirt scraped out of the hole he was digging himself, soon to be filled with his own coffin and covered with dirt.
Out of sight, out of mind. Just like all those other million, and maybe more, people he killed and completely forgot about the next day.
Supposing he even knew their names in the first place.
Just aim, squeeze the trigger, and then it was all over, another day another death another paycheck.
Just more bloody money being shoved into his crimsoned stained hands that dealt out so many deaths and losses over the years, all that he never felt any remorse or sympathy for.
His heart simply could not take it, so in the back of his mind it remained, hovering over him everyday like a shadow that was ignored because he was numb to it.
He was completely oblivious, to the pain, the loss, the suffering and his own human heart.
And she was the same now, just another doll tired of this dance.
No, not Tifa, he couldn't let that happen to her, never. What was this? For the first time in his life he placed somebody else before himself, cared about them, and maybe something else....
....maybe even love.....
Just maybe, if it was even possible for him to feel anything, let alone love. But he was certain of one thing, everything in his life was fucked up and he didn't so much as give it a second though, but this, whatever it was, was something he wasn't going to fuck up, no, not this time. Something inside him was thawed out again, this determination was burning inside him, he was going to help her, to save her from herself before she became what he once was.
She had helped him claw his way out of his coffin and craw out of the damp earth until he saw daylight once again, and now she was falling, and he would be there to catch her.
Then maybe these crimson rain clouds will lift, and they will be able to see the sunshine again, together.
'Yeah, that's right,' He thought as his the ice in his heart thawed and melted at that last word he couldn't help but say aloud, "...together."