--An Alliance—

I wasn't about the let Reno go alone on this one, even though he begged me to stay behind. I wanted to join the army too, I wanted to fight alongside him and be victorious over Yazoo Jenova. But I stayed quiet…and in the background just like I was expected to.

Paige went back home to Junon as Darius, Reno and I went off to Esthar. They were going to join the army as soon as possible. I was frightened yet excited the entire time. It was great to have all the nations coming together as one to defeat this evil, and with Rufus Shinra's sudden change of heart, things may be much different.

Once we arrived in Esthar, Reno took me to a sweet little hotel. "I want you to stay here until I come back, don't go running off after Yazoo on your own Elena. I don't…want you dead." He said as he walked me to the room.

I stood in the door way and watched him leave, headed toward the Esthar Army Base to take his place along side Cloud Strife and his new friend Darius Noire. They would all be living at the base until their training was finished. I hated sitting in a hotel room all alone for days and days, so I did a little exploring of Esthar.

I had never had any girl friends, so it came as quite a shock to me when I met a young woman named Ellone Loire.

I was standing in a small record store looking at the new FF X-2 album when I heard a soft voice from behind me. "Hmm, I love that Real Emotion song…Yuna sure has a great voice!"

I quickly spun around to see a young woman standing behind me smiling. "Uh…yeah she's cool." I said quickly smiling back.

"So you like them?" The young lady continued obviously trying to make conversation with me.

"Yeah" I nodded. "I saw their concert in the Gold Saucer, it was great."

She smiled largely. "I love X-2!" She stuck her hand out to me. "I am Ellone Loire, number 1 fan of X-2!" She said quickly with a little giggle to follow.

I smiled a little more and shook her hand. "Well, I am Rini VanBraff, new X-2 fan!"

Ellone smiled and giggled. "Oooh I love the color of your hair, when the sun hits it just right it shines a little!"

I was caught completely off guard by this woman. She had only met me and was already acting as if I had known her for years. I ran my hand through my hair, it was still blonde. I had officially decided not to dye it back and I wasn't wearing my contacts either, hopefully I wouldn't run into anyone I knew here. "Thanks…your hair is really pretty too." I said politly.

"Thank you very much! So, uhh, you live around here?" Ellone said glancing around as we walked out of the record store, both of us purchasing the new X-2 album.

"Uhh, yeah. I am staying in a hotel right now." I said slowly looking up as we walked past the hotel.

Ellone nodded. "Hmm...wow, I am sorry. I didn't realize you were homeless."

My eyes widened. "Homeless? No! I mean…my brother…he's joining the army…but he wanted me to come here to Esthar with him.." I said quickly.

She laughed a little. "Oh…I am really sorry. I didn't mean to offend." She shook her head. "I can be so cruel sometimes I guess."

I shook my head. "No no, you are very nice. I've never met someone who would just walk up to a total stranger and start talking."

"Well, truthfully…I've been quite lonely lately…I was just looking for someone to talk with." Ellone said looking off into the distance.

"Oh…well…I don't really have any friends. Only my brother really." I said looking over to her.

She nodded. "Yes, well I used to have tons of friends, but they are all very busy with this war between us and Jenova."

"Oh, yeah…my brother will be fighting." I said looking off towards the direction of the army base. I smiled picturing Reno in my head. I really missed him. I hated it, I wanted so badly to just hug him and tell him that I loved him, that I've always loved him. But I couldn't do that, not now…not ever. He was my "brother" and my friend…that was all he wanted from me.

"Yes…mine as well." She said shaking her head. "My brother and uncle are both leaders…it has been very tough on them."

"Oh? Leaders?" I said confused.

"Yes, my brother is leader of the SeeD Military group and my uncle is President of this city. They are always very busy people." She said smiling a little.

I nodded. "Well, they are very important people then aren't they?" I said smiling back at her.

Ellone and I began to hang out every day. She was so much fun to talk to, it was the first time in my entire life that I actaully had a girl to hang out with and do girlie things with. I had my cousins when I was little, but they all ignored me and said I was a 'tomboy' and needed to hang out with the guys…so that's what I did. I spent my entire life hanging out with guys…I never really had a friend I could trust until Reno and I ran away together.

The closer Ellone and I became the more I wanted to tell her the truth about me and Reno. I hated hiding things from her, she was just so sweet and innocent. One morning Ellone came over particularly early. I was shocked seeing her at the door so early in the morning.

"Is everything alright!" I said as she quickly came into my hotel room.

Ellone looked into my eyes. "They are shipping off today…Yazoo has been cornered between Midgar and Kalm. My uncle is shipping the men out this afternoon! Your brother will be headed into war…"

"Reno…." I said hugging myself a little.

"Reno? What's that?" Ellone said looking at me strangely.

"I'll explain later, I need to see…him before he ships out…" I said grabbing my jacket.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Ellone opened it revealing Reno standing behind it in his new army uniform. A stern look across his face he walked into the room and quickly grabed my arm.

"I'm leaving…"