Chapter 5
By Crystal Snowflakes
Author's Notes: Well, here's another chapter for you guys! Thanks for the support and enjoy!
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy 7 does not belong to me. cries
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Tifa glanced around the room, a knot of fear in her stomach, "Barret..." Then she grabbed her PHS quickly and dialed his number.
Everyone watched her movements quietly. They were all anxious and hoping that it had just been a fluke. When Tifa sighed in relief, their worries decreased. "Barret! Where are you?" A pause. "I see, so you're still near the rooftop... Look Barret. We discovered something here, and we're really concerned about you, so please, come back and if you see anyone else, tell them to come too. I'll explain when you get—" She frowned slightly, "Barret? Barret? Are you here?"
Her face paled as she removed the PHS from her ear, "They've got him."
Yuffie, without another thought, grabbed her own PHS and began dialing Cloud's phone, "Have you seen him?" She cussed silently, "Please, look around for him, we'll be down as soon as we can." She checked to see that she had everything, then turned to Red, Reno and Tifa, "I'm going to look for him."
She dashed out the door and thumped the elevator button, followed closely by Reno, Red and Tifa. "I'll come with you." Reno told Yuffie, "We don't want anything happening to anyone. Red and Tifa," He turned around, "Look around and we'll meet back in a couple. If you find anything, phone Yuffie." They nodded in acknowledgment. "You might want to call the others as well."
When the elevator door opened and reached the lobby, Yuffie was about to run out of the building, until someone grabbed her by the wrist. "Come on Yuffie. It's not safe running around like that, and plus, I know Midgar better than you."
Yuffie glared at him, then shook her head, "You're right, but let's hurry up."
Reno jogged around Midgar with Yuffie's arm in his hand. Everything seemed normal... Nobody was yelling bloody murder, nobody was laying on the floor with blood all over his body... Until they saw a crowd gathered around at the opening of an alley.
She yanked her arm away from Reno and ran into the crowd and Reno followed. His eyes widened slightly at the sight. It's been a while since he himself has seen such a gruesome scene... A few bodies were in the alley... One on the wall with a sword through his neck, the other sitting against a wall with one through his heart... Blood splattered everywhere. His eyes glanced at Yuffie to see how she was doing and was surprised to see her eyes slightly glazed over.
He flipped open his cell phone and dialed a number, "'Lena." He greeted, "Look, I don't have time to explain this, find Rude and the both of you come down--" Reno growled "I don't give a flying fuck what you're doing at the moment. Just listen. The alley next to Cheers Bar. Check the bodies, see if you find anything. While you're at that, find AVALANCHE's number and tell them to phone the others and get here as well. They need to know. I'm going to bring Yuffie to my house, she seems to be in shock." He glanced around, "Yeah, Bye 'Lena."
He looked at Yuffie and held her, "Come on, we're going back to my house."
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Yuffie opened her eyes and to her surprise, she was in Reno's bedroom once again. She closed her eyes and as her mind wandered around, her face paled. She remembered the blood and brutality... And she pulled the covers over herself, hoping that no harm had come to Barret...
"You all right babe?"
She opened her eyes to see Reno leaning on the doorframe casually. "I need to get out of here."
He raised his eyebrow. "You're staying right where you are. You're in no shape to go anywhere."
"Don't order me around, damn it!"
Reno had completely ignored what she had said, "Elena and Rude are already at the scene. AVALANCHE should be there as well. It's taken care of. Just rest and we'll meet up with them later."
She looked down, I'm so weak... I can't even save my friend... "What happened?"
"You were partially in shock. I brought you back so you could get some rest."
"...Thank you."
Reno cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I'll get you some tea." A few moments later, he returned with a cup of tea in his hands to see Yuffie struggling with the pillows. He put the tea down on the bedside table and helped her.
She cracked a smile, "You know, I could've done it myself." She took the cup from the table, "Thank you again."
Several minutes passed until Yuffie couldn't stand it anymore, "You know Turkey... I won't bite you. You can sit down without worrying."
Reno chuckled and sat down while he leaned his back against the wall, "So how are you doing?"
Yuffie didn't answer for a while. "Horrible." She finally said, bitterly. "I couldn't even stand that... Partially in shock... And here I was, always thinking how strong I was..."
He shook his head, "That was pretty brutal... And plus, it's been a long while since you've seen something like that..."
"I guess so..." She looked down again, 'Do you think he's okay? Barret, I mean... And Reeve..." She paused, "Why us though...? We didn't do anything wrong..."
He shrugged, "You'd be surprised at how many people hate you, even if you have never done anything wrong." Then he looked at her, "But I think they'll be okay. We have to do something soon though..."
She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Reno's body stiffened.
She didn't seem to have noticed. "If something had happened... I don't know... I've never told them how much they had meant to me... All I ever did was be a complete pest..."
"I'm sure they know."
She continued, "They are the only friends I have ever had... Those in Wutai were there for me because of who I am... A Princess. They didn't care about me." She sighed, "AVALANCHE..." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, then looked up.
Reno looked down at her again, wondering why she was looking at him. And for a moment, he was filled with the urge to just kiss her. And he was incredibly surprised when he felt her lips on his cheek the next second. And the next moment, it was gone. He didn't know if he was hallucinating it or not, but when he looked at the blushing ninja, he knew he wasn't.
"...I... I'm sorry." Yuffie whispered.
He shrugged, "No worries..."
"Reno...I--"
He shook his head, "Don't say anything. You don't want to, believe me. I'm nothing but a womanizer, murderer, bastard... A Turk, remember? I'm the one who dropped the fucking plate on Sector 7 and killed hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians... Remember?"
She closed her eyes, "Yes I do. Believe me, I think about it all the time, but hear me out." She sighed quietly, "We had our own thing we had to do back then... Ours was to save the planet, yours was to do whatever Shinra, Inc. asked. I don't blame you... I know you did a lot of horrible things... But... Every time I think about it... you know what I think?"
He raised his eyebrow in question.
"I don't care. I really don't fucking care." She gritted her teeth, "All those months at Wutai working, I thought about you all the time and I always thought about the evil deeds you have done, but I really don't care about them... Even during the quest to save the Planet, I thought about you..." She paused, closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
Reno said quietly, looking at the young woman beside him.
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"Seems like nobody's here yet." She looked around the conference room. She then sat on top of table and looked out the window. She tapped the table to get Reno sit as well and when he did, she leaned her head on his shoulder again. "...So much has changed in the past year..."
"Yeah." Reno agreed. He didn't seem to be bothered by her leaning on him.
"It had seemed so long ago." She sighed, "I miss the days when I could travel around the world and kick the shit out of you."
Reno raised his eyebrow, "You mean the other way around."
She frowned, "No, I always kicked the shit out of you. Always, always, always." She chanted.
He chuckled, "I'm sure."
For moments, they sat there in complete relaxed silence, but a second later, the peacefulness was shattered. Reno jumped off the table gracefully then turned around to face the entrance of the room.
It slammed open.
From the door emerged Elena and Tifa who were carrying stacks of paper, Cloud seemed to be holding onto a bag of heavy material, Cid was smoking, Rude was in the rear and Red had strolled in. Both Elena and Tifa dropped the stack of paper simultaneously.
"It's all the information we could find on the Saw." Elena told Reno.
He raised his eyebrow, "How do you know they did it?"
Rude walked forward and gave Reno a sheet of paper. Out of curiosity, Yuffie leaned over Reno's shoulder while she was still sitting on the desk to read it.
Those who get in our way suffer.
-The Saw
He looked up, "Steve Johnny, Harold Berry, Gabriella Ross?"
Elena nodded. "Yeah, them. I managed to find quite a bit of information on them, most of which were crimes they committed during the past decades..." She paused, "To my surprise, I you and Rude's name in their records..."
AVALANCHE looked at the male Turks, a look of distrust on their faces. Yuffie on the other hand, had a confused frown on her face.
He shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm not surprised." The corner of his lip quirked up slightly. "After all, we were all from the slums... We stole shit together, worked together... That is, until we heard about the Turks. We had planned to join it together, but only Rude and I were hired. Long story short, we made a shit load of money and became famous, or infamous, whichever way you want to put it, while they were stuck in a fucking hellhole. We met once in a while by chance. They'd tell us about their miserable lives, we'd tell them nothing. Slowly, we drifted apart, and that was the end of it."
"Are they dangerous?" Tifa asked.
He shrugged, "Last I heard, they weren't as dangerous as they are perceived, but as far as I know, they were intelligent... More intelligent than the common slum kids anyways. I heard they made a little group called 'The Saw'." He chuckled, "Horrible name in my opinion. We call ourselves Turks, what do they call themselves? Saws?" Closing his eyes, he started talking again. "I never thought I'd have to face them in battle though..." When his eyes snapped open, they were glowing. "But now, I really don't have a fucking choice. Don't get me wrong now. I'm not being sentimental. I really don't give a shit. It's just another enemy... with a little connection in the past." A wolfish grin appeared on his face, but then he shook his head mockingly, "Although they were intelligent, they still are dumbasses..."
Cid lit his cigarette, "Not very fucking smart to mess with AVALANCHE."
"Or the Turks for that matter." Elena smiled.
Red stretched his back, "Now that we have discerned who is behind this... predicament, where do you suggest we find them?"
"That," Reno replied. "You leave up to the Turks." When no one opposed, he began walking out.
"Wait Reno!" Yuffie said, "I'm coming along."
He shrugged, but stayed where he was, waiting for her to join him.
Yuffie smiled as she reached him and when they were about to walk out of the conference room, she felt a firm grip on her arm. She turned around to see Tifa's concerned face.
"I think it's better if you stay Yuffie. I want to talk to you."
Yuffie frowned, "I'm sure it can wait. We can do that later tonight."
Tifa shook her head, "Now Yuffie."
"Fine." She muttered, clearly annoyed.
Reno, knowing that she wasn't going to join him anymore, nodded a farewell and left. The two remaining Turks followed behind.
"What?" Yuffie snapped as she slumped down into a chair. She was very irritated, to say the least. Instead of finding information on Reeve and Barret's kidnappers, she was stuck here, talking. Not that she was any help, she knew, but still... She had wanted to learn. And plus, she admitted to herself, I wanted to spend the time with Reno...
"Please..." Tifa started, "I really mean no harm, but don't you think you're spending just a little too much time with Reno?"
Yuffie shrugged.
"Have you forgotten why they've done to us Yuffie?" Cloud asked.
She rolled her eyes, "Not you too, Cloud!" She sighed and shook her head, "No, I haven't forgotten. But they were doing their orders while we were doing what we thought was right. And plus, Reeve trusts them, why can't we? And do you remember? He helped me at Da-chao." She looked around to see disapproving glances sent her way, "Either way... It's his past. We all have our pasts... I don't care about what he's done. That is all I have to say." Slowly, she stood up from her chair and followed the path that Reno had taken less than five minutes ago.
Somewhat in a bad mood, Yuffie stormed into the elevator and rode it to the cafeteria. There, she grabbed a smoked salmon sandwich, which came with a salad. She sat down on a chair glumly and had a big bite of her sandwich. When she was done the sandwich, she played around with her salad. When she looked up, she almost slipped off her chair in shock. "R...Red! What are you doing here? And for that matter, how long have you been here?"
"Tifa was worried about you, but so are we all..." He looked at her, "I've been here long enough to see that you didn't appreciate our concerns."
Yuffie shook her head, "No! It's not that... It's not that I don't appreciate it, just... There are times where I think I can make my own decisions... I know I'm the youngest and I know what everyone does is for my own good, but..." She paused and looked him in the eye, "Is it really the best for me? Is it really what I want in life?"
He smiled kindly, "It is their opinion. And while we're at that Yuffie, what is it that you want in life?"
She shrugged, "I don't really know."
"Do you like him?"
She looked up at him, confused. It took her a few moments to understand what he had meant, "Ew... No. Grossness."
If Red could raise an eyebrow, he would've very well done that.
She gulped, "Okay. Fine. Just a little."
He closed his eyes, "I am not against it Yuffie, please believe this... And neither will Tifa be. But consider what Cid, Barret and Cloud's reaction would be. I do not think Vincent is going to think much about it, and neither will Reeve." He sighed, and then looked at Yuffie, "Your life, from this moment onwards, will be a very difficult road Yuffie. Whatever you do, I shall be proud of your accomplishments. You have done us all proud with the maturity you have showed already."
"Thank you..." She said quietly.
"And don't forget, if this works out for you, there might be a chance that there will be a lot of people opposed to it... Pick what you want the most. Do not waver from your goal, no matter the cost." He gave another kind smile, "I'll see you later tonight."
"Bye." She said again, quietly. "And thank you, again..."
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Author's Notes: Hoped you guys enjoyed that. If you don't mind, leave a little review! Oh, and if you want to be on the mailing list, just give me your email and I'll be glad to add you on it. Not that it really does anything... I mean, I update every Sunday. So yup. See you guys!
-Crystal Snowflakes
Sunday, December 05, 2004
