I Tried - Chapter 3

Angel Eyes

It had been almost a year since Mariah brought home Reno. The boy was driving Padre absolutely nuts. Of course, Padre tried to think that Reno didn't mean any harm. However, the child was quite possibly the most curious creature on the planet. He simply got into everything he could get a hold of. He was especially interested if he was told that an item was "very old" or "breakable". It amazed Padre how Reno could seem to remember everything that he was told and then turn around and totally ignore 99.9% of it.

Reno picked up reading just a week after he could move around and subsequently brought havoc into the church's small library. Padre liked to encourage Reno's reading habits, the boy was already boasting a vocabulary that many adults in their area couldn't. He could never say that he regretted taking Reno in, no matter how aggravated the boy made him.

The particular annoyance wasn't that Reno wanted to push the envelope of what he could and couldn't do. Padre knew all boys did this. It was Reno's need to know absolutely everything that went on around him. The constant barrage of "what is this?" "how do you do this or that?" "why" was one thing that Padre could handle. What he found unsettling was when the child stared at him. Reno had a way of watching someone and standing absolutely still. The only thing that would move were his eerily blue eyes.

This particular day, Padre felt Reno's eyes on his back while he was playing the church's slightly out of tune piano. He stopped playing to look over his shoulder at the boy.

Reno's voice would be deep one of these days, one could tell. But at the moment, the child had that youthful squeak to him. "What'cha doin'?"

The priest knew that he wouldn't get much time to relax. Mariah was running an errand, the latest book that Reno found was only one hundred pages long and he had started it a day or so ago. When the boy wasn't occupied, he absolutely wouldn't be alone. Padre sighed, feeling badly for Reno. No one could blame the child for not wanting to be alone.

Reno cocked his head from one side to the other. "Can I watch?"

"Hasn't anyone told you that curiosity killed the little capellirossi?" Padre turned around on the bench to face the boy.

Confusion spread on Reno's face. "What's a capelli- capelliro-" he attempted the word.

Padre smiled at the boy. Even if Reno could be an annoying child, he was a very clever one. He offered the word again. "Capellirossi."

"Capellirossi." Reno grinned in accomplishment.

Padre nodded. "It's another language, Italian, it means red head."

"So, it means me?" The boy asked, climbing on the bench and looking at the piano keys.

Padre nodded and sat his hands back on the piano keys. "Yes, that would be you." He closed his eyes and played until Reno's impending second interruption.

Reno put his hand on Padre's shoulder. "Could ya play dat again, slower?"

Padre sighed again and complied with Reno's request.

Mariah walked down the isle, past the altar, and to the piano. "What are you guys doing?"

"Bugg'n Padre," Reno smirked. The boy rarely ever truly smiled. You were something special if you earned a smile from the kid.

"As if that is anything new." Padre slid out from behind the piano. "By the way Reno, your diction is atrocious." He waited for Reno's response.

The boy snorted as though his dignity had been insulted and crossed his arms over his thin chest. "Only when I want it ta be."

"Prove it." Padre adjusted his glasses with a smile. He didn't know any other six year olds who knew the meaning of the word "diction", let alone "atrocious".

"Fine. You need to shower more regularly." Reno said with a haughty air.

"Enough you two." Mariah could never tell how well Padre liked Reno. He treated the boy as someone potentially dangerous, yet when Reno wasn't around he praised the boy without reservation. She suspected that was proof Padre did care for Reno. The boy probably learned more from Padre then he would from anyone else despite being liked or not. "Did Master Zangan write me back?"

"Yes." He began to walk back into the living quarters. "Could you give us a moment Reno?" Padre asked the boy.

Reno looked hurt. "You want me to stay in here?" He looked about the small church and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Alone?"

Padre could feel Mariah wanting to just tell him to come along. The priest knew that they had to break Reno of his fears somehow. He would be perfectly safe in the church. "Yes. Don't touch." They left Reno alone at the piano.

Reno sulked a moment, inspecting the church with his eyes again. Then he looked at the piano. A mischievous smirk spread across Reno's face. After all, Padre had never said what exactly he wasn't to touch......

"One day you're going to find that little whelp locked in the closet with duct tape over his mouth." Padre muttered as he sat at the kitchen table. "It's all I can do not to trip over him. I swear he'll be the death of one of us."

Mariah was intent on reading for the moment. "Well, you're going to get a break from us both next week. I'm taking him to the tournament."

"What?" Padre started, then he laughed. "As often as he gets into things? That's simply asking for trouble. He'll steal something or..." Then music started coming out of the church. "Who is playing the piano?"

They pushed into the church and stopped with mouths hanging open. Reno was sitting at the old grand piano, playing the song that he had watched Padre play. "When did you teach him that?" Mariah asked, stunned.

"I didn't. He was just watching me for about half an hour." They walked up to the piano. "I seem to recall saying not to touch."

Reno stopped playing and smirked up at Padre. "I didn't touch the ceiling."

"Why you-"

"Reno remember that game that we played? When you were mocking what I was doing?" Mariah was fast to intervene and save both Reno and Padre the upcoming chase sequence. "Could you do it by yourself?"

Reno blinked a few times and answered "I think". He skipped off the piano bench and walked over to a more open space. Then he began to run though a simple training exercise. It wasn't flawless, but the mere fact that it was recognizable was astounding. "That good Mar?"

"Almost perfect, Reno." She turned to Padre. "Master says that he thinks Reno has what is called a photo-relay memory. It's like a photo graphic memory, but he can access it to mimic what he's seen. Master has seen them before. Reno will love the tournament."

"Where are we going?" Reno tugged at Mariah's shorts.

"Crazy, " answered Padre "you are driving." He turned to leave though the front of the church. "I will see you two later. If you can find it within yourself to do the dishes before the next coming of Holy I would appreciate it Reno."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Okay." Reno looked over to Mariah "Where are we going Mar?"

"A tournament, and to meet my master." She bent over to be eye level with Reno. "Unless you don't want to see."

"I wanna see, but......." He bit his lower lip and looked at the floor.

"But what Reno?" Mariah didn't like it when he got so sullen, little boys were not supposed to get that way. It simply didn't sit right with her.

"Promise me you won't leave me." Mariah put her hand on Reno's shoulder. This past year, over and over again, she had to remind herself that finding those two men that did this to him and breaking their necks wouldn't help anything. Over and over again she got angry with things. He put his hand over hers. "Promise?" Reno asked again, urgently.

"I will never leave you, Reno. Promise" she smiled, trying to bring the little boy in Reno back again. "But you may want to stay when you meet his newest pupil. She's very talented."

Reno began to act like a normal six year old again. "What's her name? Is she my age? When are we going? Whe-"

"Whoa! Slow down. We are going next week. She is a year younger then you are and her name is Tifa, now go do the dishes alright?"