Chapter 1
By Crystal Snowflakes
Author's Notes: Yay! First chapter! Anyways, hope you enjoy!
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy 7 does not belong to me... Unfortunately.
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She shut her eyes tightly, knowing it caused Elena just as much pain as her. She had heard her whispers and sobs and she knows that she too, was very much affected by Reno's death. Opening her eyes, she gazed intently at the picture. Reno's arms around her, his smirk clear, but his eyes somewhat playful... His hair was a mess and so was his suit. She, on the other hand, her tongue was sticking out lightheartedly. She remembered how she wasn't even aware that his arm was around her until she saw the picture.
Looking at the doorway and not seeing anyone, she knew that Elena had left. Then looking back at the picture, she let her mind wander...
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"LET ME GO!" Yuffie screeched as she saw Cloud and the others approached.
Beside her, Elena gulped, "H...Hey! I'm one of the 'Turks'!"
Yuffie muttered to herself, "Oh gawd. If I knew this was gonna happen, I would've taken rope lessons more seriously!"
Corneo put his hand to his fat chin, then he exclaimed, "Hmm, I've made my choice! My companion for the night will be... The cheerful one!"
"Grossness! Don't mess with me old man! You don't even have any Materia!" Yuffie, being the brat that she was, continued whining while Cloud and Corneo were arguing... Until she got turned upside down as Corneo flipped a switch, "Grr... He makes me so mad." She muttered to herself. She then decided to think of a way to get out of this... situation.
"Ha ha ha! I guess I'm the one laughing last!" Yuffie gave Corneo a glare.
"No, that would be us." Yuffie glanced at the one who talked and felt her eyes widen. Then she brushed the thought away. He was a Turk, Shinra. Shinra scum. "You knew this was going to happen ever since you leaked that secret. We're going to take care of you... Personally." Then his companion, the bald one, tossed a rock at Corneo and made him lose balance. "Good timing Rude." The redhead said, then stepped on Corneo's hands calmly, making a few cracks and causing Corneo to scream girlishly. "All right Corneo. This will be over quick, so listen up. Why do you think we went to all the trouble of teaming up with those guys," He looked over his shoulder to AVALANCHE, "to get you? One, because we were ready to die. Two, because we were sure of victory. Or three, because we were clueless."
Yuffie could see Corneo's forehead sweat as he gulped, "Two... Number two?"
The redhead smirked evilly, "All wrong." He stepped on Corneo's hands again. Then, he stepped on it once, crushing it until Corneo let go. Yuffie could hear his death screams until a crunch sounded. He looked coolly at her, "The correct answer was..."
"...because it's our job." Rude finished.
Yuffie watched as Elena thank her comrades until the redhead told her to act less weak. Then his PHS rang. "Yes... This is Reno. Yes, yes, I'll get on it right away?" Then he hung up.
"Was that the company?" Elena asked.
"Yeah." Reno replied. "They want us to find Cloud..."
Rude looked over at him, "Are we on?"
Reno shook his head, "No. Today, we're off duty."
Yuffie decided to ignore it, "Hey! Who cares about that?! Get! Me! Down!"
Reno approached as he cut the ropes and freed her, "You are quite a brat." He said as he caught her in his arms.
Yuffie's face turned crimson. "S-Shut up." She muttered.
Reno gave her a wink, and with the Turks, they left.
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"Reno..." Yuffie whispered. "Reno, Reno, Reno... I can't get you out of my head. I can't sleep without thinking how your hands felt on my body. I can't eat without thinking how I enjoyed your eyes on me so much. I can't live without you." She sighed, "How could you just come in my life and make such a big impression on me so quickly...? It's been a year... And I still miss you so much. Will I ever heal?"
She put the picture back on the table, "Reno... Do you remember the time we saw each other at the Golden Saucer?"
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Yuffie snorted to herself as she saw Aeris and Cloud walking down the stairs of the Ghost Hotel. "Stupid Cloud." Of course, she was slightly jealous, there was no doubt about that. But then, it was all right. As long as there was Materia, it was good.
Quietly, she sneaked out of the hotel so nobody else saw her. Then she began going to the Wonder Square, seeing if there's anyone she can steal Materia off from. Seeing nobody, she decided to spend a little money playing the games.
And she then decided to go around the Golden Saucer instead of stealing Materia. She really didn't feel like it today. Some of her thoughts have been quite... strange. She, for some reason, was still thinking of the redhead from Da-chao today. What was his name? Reno? Yeah, that was it.
For some reason, she was at the Round Square. And then she looked up. Thinking that being on the Gondola really wasn't her idea of fun, she turned around. "Speak of the devil." She muttered.
There, just a meter away, was Reno of the Turks. "Hey babe."
"What the hell are you doing here?" Yuffie asked warily.
He shrugged, "Does it matter? All that matter is that I'm right here for you sugar."
Yuffie stuck out her tongue in a gagging manner, "Puh-leeze. You're so conceited it's sick--""Tonight's Enchantment Night! All attractions are free! How 'bout it you two? Just a ride on the Gongola?"
"No I--"
Reno looked at the Gongola, then winked at Yuffie, "How 'bout it babe? Just you and me. Come on."
"Give me a break..." Yuffie muttered, "I'm not going on a ride with the likes of you."
"Two tickets please." Reno said to the staff. Then he looked back, "come on babe. We don't want to miss the ride."
Grumbling, she followed him and got on the ride.
"Enjoy the nights, of Gold Saucer inside the Gondola!" The staff said cheerfully.
Yuffie was definitely annoyed. When she saw Reno sitting on one side of the Gondola, she sulked as she flopped down on the opposite of him. She watched him as he stared outside, and studied him. A scar was under each one of his eyes, his hair was tied up in a messily fashion that looked surprisingly good on him, his eyes were a glowing shade of light blue, almost green. His blue suit was an absolute disarray and she wondered where his tie went.
He turned and looked at her, gave her a charming grin, "Am I too good looking babe?"
She turned crimson again, and then scowled, "No. You're too smug. And please, stop calling me babe or sugar or your nicknames for me. I have a name, it's Yuffie Kisaragi."
He seemed thoughtful for a second, then looked back at her, "Babe." A smirk appeared on his face.
"Turkey..." She warned, "I'm going to kick you if you--"
Loud explosions echoed as the two of them turned their heads in the same direction.
Yuffie blinked, "It's... it's so pretty."
"Yeah it is." Reno agreed.
At that moment, they stopped arguing and concentrated on watching the fireworks. Yuffie flushed softly as she thought about the man beside her. She wondered how old he was, how he thought of her... When she noted what she was thinking, she shook her head furiously once again.
Reno chuckled, "That won't help getting me out of your head. Anyways, I'm gone now. Nice to have met you babe." He gave one last wink and walked off.
Yuffie blinked at the fact that he could walk on air, then noticed that they arrived at the station already. Scolding herself for her obliviousness, she stood up abruptly and walked off, but before the sight of the Gondola disappeared completely, she turned around. And she surprised herself with her active imagination.
She was sitting on the same side as Reno... And he had his arm around her. She shook her head again, thinking she had officially gone insane. "Bye Reno." She said to herself, and walked back to the Ghost Hotel.
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"Yuffie?" Rude was knocking on the doorframe. "Are you feeling all right?"
She nodded, "Yep." She then turned around, "How is Tommy?"
Rude ignored her question, "You've been thinking about Reno again, haven't you?" He looked at her red puffy eyes and knew at once. And he felt just as guilty as Elena. The second he had gotten home, he knew something was wrong. Elena wasn't in front of the television with Tommy on her lap or crawling on the floor. He had then immediately walked into the room, where his eyes saw his wife sprawled on the bed sobbing in her pillow as quiet as she could and Tommy was in his baby crib.
He had then embraced her, knowing that Reno had once again showed up in their minds. How unfair it was, to support a child at such a young age... And they were clearly in love too.
Yuffie looked at him sadly. "When do I not think about Reno, Rude?"
"..." He had no answer to that, of course. He himself did not really understand the depth of their relationship until after Reno's death and after Yuffie had announced that she was pregnant. The AVALANCHE were shocked, Yuffie's father had threatened to disown her if she did not abort the child. The AVALANCHE, at first, was just sure that Yuffie and Reno's relationship had just been a fling, but so had Elena and him. Everyone had expected Yuffie to abort the child, to move on with her life, to forget someone so insignificant... But they had all misjudged her.
She had refused to abort the child, even after her father had continuously threatened her about disowning and prohibition her from returning Wutai. Even if she was so young with nothing to support her or her child, she had wanted it so bad...
Why the fuck do you still keep the child? He's dead Yuffie. That fucking Turk is dead.
Cid, please... Watch your language. But Yuffie, he's right. There's nothing for you anymore. He's not here anymore. You can't support the baby yourself. Maybe you could've when you were younger, alone and you could steal from people... But you can't now. In a few months, you will barely be able to stand up, how will you be able to take care of yourself? And plus... Is it really worth it to get disowned because of Reno? Yuffie, please... Listen to us. We just want the best for you.
Tifa... I... Whatever happens, I refuse to get the baby abort. I can't. I won't be able to live with myself. I loved Reno... I really did. I can't just abort him. I don't know how I'm going to support me and the child, but whatever happens, even if I die, I won't allow my child to die.
Yuffie...
I can't Tifa. Please understand... If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I really do truly love Reno.
He doesn't love you.
...Whatever you say, I know deep inside me that he loves me, and we shared something beautiful between us. I will not throw it away...
How do you know that he loves you Yuffie? Grow up. You know how he is... For all you know, he could've used you. You know what sort of man Reno is. And how old do you think he is? How will you survive like that? How can you support yourselves?
Reno would never do that to me... I know we have an age gap... A-And I don't know... But... But I'll find a way... Somehow, I'll—
We'll take care of her.
Turks? We don't fucking trust you! Look what one of you did to the brat! Look at--
CID! Stop it. Elena, would you and Rude actually take care of her?
Yes.
I'm worried...But if Yuffie trusts you, then... Thank you. Take care of her.
"Dinner will be ready in a little. Elena just started cooking a little while ago." Rude brushed his thoughts away.
Yuffie nodded, "Thank you. How is Elena?"
"She's all right." A silence followed, it was then he decided to leave, "I'm going to take a shower." He turned around to walk out of the room just as his wife did just a little less than an hour ago.
"Rude?" A voice in the silence, "Thank you for taking me in and helping me support the child."
A twitch at the corners of Rude, although he didn't turn around to let her see it, "Reno would have wanted it this way... And plus, you're one of us now."
Yuffie smiled, "Thank you." As Rude disappeared through the hallway, Yuffie talked to herself, "I really wished I had more time with you Reno." She sat there for a few more moments, then stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
When she arrived and saw Elena already cooking, she moved towards the platter of vegetables and began chopping it.
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It came as a surprise to Yuffie when she saw the Turks at the Shinra tunnels.
"Oh no! They're here! What are we going to do?! I think it's okay for you to ignore your orders now." Elena said as she watched AVALANCHE suspiciously.
Yuffie's eyes moved towards the redhead unwillingly, "...Elena, don't act so weak."
"We're Turks, Elena." Rude said.
Reno glanced behind him, "Shinra's finished." And he looked at AVALANCHE, "It's come down to this." And he looked at Elena, "Elena, you were a great Turk! If we both survive... If we can save our lives..." He muttered, then walked towards the exit.
AVALANCHE's eyes remained on the two remaining Turks. As that happened, Reno passed by Yuffie and pressed something into her palm, then winked at her, "Later sugar."
Yuffie blinked in confusion. And she was more confused after the two lingering Turks left. Then, she looked down in her palm. There, on her hand, was a slip of paper with barely legible writing...
A phone number.
Yuffie's lips twitched upwards.
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That had been the last time she had seen them before the Meteor's fall and before Midgar was in ruins... And because of him, everyday, she would wonder whether or not he had survived and everyday, she would hold onto the paper wondering if she should call him.
"Hey Yuffie?"
She blinked.
"You've been zoning out all over the place..." Elena stated peacefully, "And I really would let you go on zoning out, but firstly, you might chop your finger off... Secondly, you have a visitor."
"A visitor?" She asked curiously.
There really wasn't anyone in the world that would even visit her... Her father had denied the very existence of his daughter, AVALANCHE had decided to leave her, the 'traitor', when she had decided to keep the child, now who in the world would visit...?
She rinsed her hands quickly, then wiped it on the towel before leaving the kitchen. On the couch was a dark-haired beauty, with dark eyes and a full lips staring back at her.
Yuffie swallowed once, her throat dry, "Tifa...?"
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Author's Notes: Hope you liked it.
-Crystal Snowflakes
Sunday, November 07, 2004
