Salvation (5)
When Elena woke up the next morning, her eyes felt puffy and her mouth tasted like cotton batting. Her head was pounding too. She had cried herself to sleep last night and she felt it in every inch of her cramped body.
Elena rolled over when she felt two familiar paws push against her thigh. When she looked over at her cat, he meowed inquisitively.
"Good morning to you too."
She ran an absent hand across Tom's back and he automatically showed his appreciation by starting a loud purr.
Elena sat up in bed and looked around her. Now, with the sunlight shining through her window and Tom purring against her hand, it was easy to forget the stark depression she had felt the night before. When she thought about going into work though, her stomach sank. Elena picked up her cat and he immediately rubbed his head against her chin, purring.
"Oh, Tom, what am I going to do?"
He meowed again before continuing to purr. Elena looked over at the phone on her nightstand.
"I can't hide forever Tom," she said to her cat. He just purred on. Elena chuckled a little.
"You know you have no morals, right?" Tom rubbed his head against her chin again.
"All right, you big suck." She dropped Tom down on the bed and reached over to the phone. She shot him another glance.
"You are such a bad influence."
When Elena reached the phone though, she paused. Normally she would call Tseng but. . . Suddenly finding a solution, she dialed Reno's office number. There was no way he was going to be in this early.
---
Reno played back the message on his answering machine again.
"Hi Reno, it's Elena. Look, I'm not going to be coming in today. I tried calling Tseng but his line was busy. Could you tell him for me please? Thanks. Bye."
Reno leaned back in his chair and frowned.
---
Elena lay in bed for a while, just luxuriating in the feel of the sheets and the warmth of her bed. Eventually, she did manage to get up, shower, and make herself some toast for breakfast. After she ate, she sort of felt at a loss for what to do until she noticed her black shoulder bag that she had hung over the back of a chair the night before. Well, why not?
---
"Elena's not coming in today."
Tseng looked up from the file he was working on.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. She called me earlier. 'Said your line was busy."
"All right."
Reno waited a fraction of a second longer before leaving, another frown darkening his features.
---
Elena sat at her kitchen table wearing a pair of comfy sweat pants and a loose cotton shirt. She squinted at the open book in front of her. Her table had become a terrible mess of scarp papers, additional volumes, and writing utensils. She had decided that Tseng's book was some sort of collection of Wutaian sayings and prayers. So far, she had managed to translate about five pages of the book. Not for the first time, Elena wondered why this Maiya woman had given it to him and why he had kept it all of these years. Mostly though, she just tried to focus on the task at hand. The line that she was working on was particularly troublesome. She hadn't been able to identify the character that she was looking up in the main index she used. When she finally found the word in a list of more obscure terms, she smiled in satisfaction before committing it onto paper.
"Gods above, sanctify this earth. . . land? Home? No, wait. . ."
At her feet, Tom wiggled to and fro demanding attention but was sadly ignored.
---
Reno looked up at the clock on his wall. 4:30. God it had been a slow day. Rude was out on assignment and Tseng had left around midday because he had had a meeting with the President. With Elena gone, this had unfortunately left Reno alone with a huge pile of paperwork and there was nothing Reno hated more than paperwork. His lasting vendetta against Cloud and his cronies after Sector Seven had less to do with the injuries he had received so much as the twelve-page report he had had to fill out afterwards.
Reno had acquired somewhat of a talent for avoiding paperwork and so the piles on his desk were ever growing. Elena liked to call his office 'the land where reports go to die' but Reno didn't really find it that funny. Eventually, Tseng would get on his case about the last two or three or twelve reports that he had neglected to fill out and then in one brief and dazzling moment of productivity the mountainous stacks of paper would disappear. Until the next time.
Now, Reno sat at his desk looking at the gargantuan stacks of paper with some dismay. Perhaps some up-and-coming Shin-ra manager would have looked upon the situation with a certain amount of joy because being alone at the office was the very best time to catch up on old work. Reno however was under the impression that anyone who ever wanted to 'manage' anything was obviously deranged and so he had spent the better part of his day avoiding his work. He had taken an extended extended lunch, had spent a good hour chatting with Sally from Accounting, and, when all else had failed, had spent two hours testing out the new assortment of fire base materia that the Turks had received. Of course, the tricky thing with fire spells is that you need something to burn. Reno had never heard a paper's scream but he imagined that it was a very satisfying sound.
Of course, Reno hadn't wanted to exhaust himself too much by casting fire after fire spell and so, though the papers had suffered many casualties, they had essentially won the war.
Reno looked at the clock again. 4:32. He looked at the papers littering his desk, shuddered, and then look back at the clock again. Still 4:32.
Ah, what the Hell. Close enough. Besides, he knew a sick girl who was in desperate need of cheering up. As a general rule, Reno wasn't really big on charity but as a Turk he had learnt that rules were something that applied to other people.
Reno cast the papers a triumphant look and then headed out of his door.
---
Elena squinted at her reference books trying to locate another elusive character. When she found it, she paused.
"It means. . . family?"
---
Reno stood in line at the grocery store counter, his dark sunglasses covering his eyes. The elderly cashier looked at him with some apprehension but Reno shrugged it off. He placed his gil on the counter and the man looked at him sideways. Here came the big question.
"Will you need a bag for that, sir?"
Reno laughed low in his throat.
"For one lousy can?"
The older man looked a little embarrassed and Reno laughed harder.
"'Course pops. The biggest one you have."
---
Elena sat at her table not moving. She was staring blankly at Tseng's book open in front of her. Tom was concerned at the strange behaviour of his mistress and so was meowing inquisitively but she ignored him completely. Slowly, she read the words that she had just translated over again.
Gods grant me the strength to watch over my family. Let me be the sword that protects them, the shield that defends them. May they never know fear, nor doubt, nor pain.
Father's prayer
Elena ran her fingers over those soft, caring words and felt her eyes water.
No, Daddy! Daddy don't!
She snapped the book shut with a sudden force and turned her face away from it, blinking rapidly.
Tom, sensing her distress, was immediately at her side, meowing softly. Elena laughed weakly at the animal and rubbed a hand across his back.
"I'm okay Tom, I'm okay." She paused and swallowed. "It was. . . it was a long time ago."
---
Reno stood outside Elena's apartment, a huge oversized brown paper bag in hand. He knocked on her door self-importantly.
---
Elena was suddenly startled out of her reverie by the knock at her door. Eyes still burning, she considered ignoring the intruder until she heard a familiar, if somewhat muffled voice call her name. Elena looked around in distress at the papers that littered her table and ran a hand through her hair. She got up, wiped once at her eyes, and checked her face in a mirror in her living room. Satisfied that her eyes weren't red and that she looked at least moderately presentable, she answered the door.
"Reno! My God, what are you doing here?"
Reno smirked and flipped his sunglasses onto his wild red hair.
"Thought you could use some company babe. 'Sides, I brought you a present."
He pulled out a can of chicken soup from his grocery bag and presented it with an elaborate bow. Elena laughed out loud.
"Soup! That's great. Nobody's ever bought me soup before."
Reno grinned widely.
"That's what I'm here for sweetheart."
Elena stepped away from the door and let the other Turk in. Tom automatically rushed up to meet the new visitor. Reno eyed the cat askance.
"Didn't know you had a cat," he said as the animal entwined itself around his legs, purring.
"Yeah, his name is Tom. Why? You're not allergic, are you?"
"Nah, just never really liked cats much."
Elena laughed again.
"Funny."
"What?"
"Oh, it's just that I always kinda pictured you sort of, you know, cat-like."
Reno gave her a surprised look.
"Cat-like?"
"Yeah, you know, all slinky and stuff. I could almost picture you with the ears."
Reno's eyes widened in shock and Elena laughed even harder.
"Don't take it so personal Reno! Come in. Do you want something to drink?"
Elena led the redhead into her kitchen and busied herself looking around in the fridge for something for Reno.
"You know," she said over her shoulder. "Traditionally, when people bring sick people soup, they do the cooking." Elena trailed off hopefully but Reno didn't answer. Surprised, she looked over at her guest and her eyes widened when she saw him looking down at the assorted books on her kitchen table. She had completely forgotten!
Reno picked up one of her pages of notes and looked over at Elena questioningly.
"Wutaian translations?"
Elena stood slowly and swallowed, her face automatically going neutral. Reno's eyes flattened at her reaction. For a moment, they were both quiet until Elena exhaled slowly.
"Are you asking?"
Reno looked down at the page in his hand and was thoughtful for a moment.
"No, I suppose I'm not. . ." Reno's expression suddenly went from thoughtful to mischievous in an instant.
"Why would I wanna know about some books 'nyways? Now a beer, that'd be interesting."
Elena nodded slowly and then smiled weakly.
"Sure."
She cleared off the table with Reno pointedly observing a wall in the opposite direction. Then, she handed him a beer and smiled as a little as he automatically pulled out a chair, tossed off his jacket, and popped the tab. Elena stood beside him, cradling the can of chicken soup in her hands expectantly. Reno looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow.
"Don't push your luck rookie."
Elena laughed dryly.
"Wouldn't dream of it Reno."
---
Elena passed Reno a bowl of hot soup before sitting down at the table herself. Tom decided to amuse himself with the giant paper bag that Reno had so thoughtfully provided him. Reno watched the cat stalk, pounce, and then kill the paper bag and rolled his eyes.
"Cats," he said derisively.
Elena looked at Reno through her eyelashes, trying to hide a smile and failing miserably. When Reno caught her look, he glared at her.
"I am not a cat 'Lena."
Elena smothered her laugh and took up a spoonful of soup. Still grinning, under her breath she said,
"Meow."
---
They chatted together for an hour or two before Reno decided he had been sociable enough for the day. He gathered up his jacket and cast a semi-amused look back at Tom before heading to the door. There, Elena thanked him for the soup, wished him a good night, and then gave him a friendly peck on the cheek. Reno laughed at that.
"Careful rookie. You don't want to be giving me any ideas."
"God forbid Reno. Thanks again."
"No problem babe."
He headed out into the hall and Elena closed her door after him. Reno took a few steps away from her door before turning slightly to look back, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then, he shook it off, and walked away, placing his sunglasses back over his eyes.
---
Elena picked up Tseng's book from the living room where she had placed it. She walked back towards her kitchen but stopped at the entrance, weighting the book in her hand. Her eyes turned back to the door where Reno had left and her face developed a quiet, thoughtful expression. Then, she looked back down at the book in her hands and her expression hardened. She walked back into the kitchen purposefully; she had work to do.
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Responses: Yes, it's time I finally got around to doing these. A great big thank you to you guys who reviewed. At least somebody is reading this.
Heather Cat: Thanks so much for your review! This chapter is definitely dedicated to you. Heh. Heather Cat, numerous cat references. It's funny. Thanks for the pre-reading and editing. I'm glad that you like Elena's characterization. I'll try to keep on posting and keep on updating, if only in fear of your pokage. smiles.
Dazma: You have no idea how happy I was when I got your review. I was so afraid that nobody was reading this. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying this.
Hoheehum: I suppose that this must have been a teeny bit of a shock after Lifelines. Sorry about that. Thanks for the review though!
Re-o-ko: Thanks for the review Re-o-ko. Heh, yes, the fic definitely deserves its rating. Don't ask me why the bloody thing had to open with such as scene; it just did. Heh heh. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.