ACACIA
Acacia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: a-KAY-sha
From the name of a type of tree, ultimately deriving from Greek ακη ake "thorn, point".
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Acacia was always there. Even in the end, she was there, asking me why I did it. I still don't know. I had a good life, a good job, and I had her. She was always there; always willing. But I…
She was intelligent, and wise, and even if not physically, she was strong. She fought, no matter what the odds were screaming at her. She was a fighter. I took that for granted. I didn't think she could break, so I tested her. I pushed her. I didn't think I was going too far.
How long would she stay with me? I thought she was just a gold-digger, and that as soon as I died, she would somehow get my money. I don't think I've ever been so wrong in my life.
I would come home, drunk, with another blonde slut on my shoulder. And she wouldn't say anything. Acacia never said anything. She understood.
But I know now she was breaking.
She was bleeding inside. She had reached a point in our relationship that told her this wasn't healthy. She wasn't healthy anymore. She needed out.
And she told me that. And I left my house where she had been residing with me for the past few months, our house, and I went straight to the bottle. I think she knew that.
When I came home, drunk, with another blonde slut on my shoulder, she started to do something I never thought I'd ever see her do, because she was a fighter. She would never…
She cried. She told me that I was a player, that I was cruel, and un-human, and how the hell could I keep doing this to myself? That's when I got confused. What was I doing to myself? If anything, even though I didn't want to admit it, I was doing the most to her. She wasn't a fighter anymore.
That's when… that's when she walked towards me. I thought she wanted one last hug, or one last goodbye, but she walked right up to me, and slapped me. She screamed at me, and slapped me. The blonde on my shoulder had already left, I realized. Acacia was at her limit.
She punched me again, and again, and in my drunken stupor I felt none of it. I was angry. That's all I remember. I know I took out my gun, and bashed her over the head with it. I know she fell to the floor, and I know blood was flowing from… somewhere.
Acacia, in the end, had shown me that she was still a fighter. I should never have taken that for granted. I should never have…
It's my fault, I guess. No, I know it is. ShinRa covered it up for me. I was too valuable to be thrown in jail.
Sometimes, when I complete my missions, assassinating people just as innocent as Acacia was, I wonder why she stayed with me for so long. If she was so unhappy, why did she… just to end up…
Reno wiped his brow of blood, standing over Tseng's desk. "Mission complete." He muttered, standing straight. Tseng nodded, and gestured for him to leave.
Reno exited the building, and before going back home, to their home, he stopped by her resting place. He always did after missions like these.
He bent down, and placed a rose, lined with thorns, gently on her grave.
Acacia was still a fighter.
My fighter.