Chapter 18

This may never start.
I'll tear us apart.
Can I be your enemy?
Losing half a year.
Waiting for you here
I'd be your anything.

"Reno! Oh my God!" Aeris smiled and ran over to him, hugging him as he entered through the large wooden church doors. An echo erupted around the church as the doors slammed shut, and Reno hugged Aeris back.

"Hey… hope you don't mind I stopped in." He smirked. "I was just in the neighbourhood…"

"I haven't heard from you in so long!" She said, excitement and a little nervousness in her voice, she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the seats, sitting him down. "Do you want something to eat? Are you hungry? What are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission?"

"Whoa…" Reno interrupted, waving his hand. "Calm down. One question at a time, Aeris, please. I'm not hungry, thank you. I'm on a mission that's located in this sector for once. I thought it'd be nice to stop by and say hello."

She nodded and looked at him, he had changed. His face was far more mature, a little stubble on him. His eyes seemed a little darker, but she tried to ignore that. She hadn't seen him in a while, not since the Turks had been sent on a mission outside of Midgcar a few months previous. He had sent letters, but they had been brief and vague. She often wondered what he was up to, what he could be doing that was so important he couldn't tell her.

"I'm glad you did… how long will this mission last?" She asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe a couple of weeks. It's nothing major, like the last one was."

Aeris looked disappointed, turning away from him. "Oh…"

He laughed a little, holding her hand. "Hey, it's alright. I'll be able to come see you a lot more now, our operations are being moved to inside Midgcar. The Government plans to create a new sub-organisation to deal with outside events."

Her face brightened up. "That's great! I missed you so much…" She smiled at him, and he returned it, leaning in to kiss her. They embraced for half a minute before footsteps came from behind them. They broke their kiss to see Jerad behind them, clearly surprised to see Reno. Jerad had become suspicious of Reno ever since he'd joined the Turks, as they were a sub-organisation of ALIEN. It wasn't the Government Jerad particularly hated, it was ALIEN, the group he had been taught by his friends, family and even enemies to despise.

"Reno, what are you doing here?" He asked, his voice toneless.

"Hey, Jerad… I'm here to visit. My activities have been moved to within this sector." Reno gave a slight smile at Jerad, but watched the young man wearily, he knew the temper contained within the scrawny looking child. He was thankful the power Jerad held was yet to be used on him.

"You'd better not bring any trouble into this place… we're happy and peaceful here!" He turned and exited just as quickly as he had entered. Aeris sighed and patted Reno's knee.

"He's always like that…"

"He's hated me ever since I became a Turk." Reno shrugged, standing up.

"That's not true! He just finds it hard…" Aeris said, standing up with him. "Where are you going?"

Reno turned to where Jerad had gone, not speaking for a few moments. Aeris was getting ready to ask him again when he replied. "I have to find somewhere to stay."

"You haven't got anywhere booked?" She said in a slightly amused tone. Reno was never one to be particularly organised, and it seemed his buddies were the same.

"Not yet. I'm sure we can find somewhere." He said, shrugging slightly.

"Well… your buddies can find somewhere. You're staying here." She told him, folding her arms. He cocked his eyebrow at her, shaking his head.

"No, I don't think…"

"It's not open to debate." She smiled sweetly at him.

"What do you--"

"I said, not open to debate. You're staying here with us." She nodded, folding her arms. Her tone suggested she was not to be argued with, and Reno shrugged, not seeing any point in trying.

"I didn't know you had a spare room." He said with a smile, knowing that's not what Aeris had in mind. She laughed and poked his shoulder.

"You won't be sleeping in a spare room. You can come and protect me, hm?"

"You've got Jerad." His voice contained a little amusement, but the mention of the Jerad gave his voice a slightly suspicious tone. It wasn't that he didn't like Jerad, he thought Jerad was a fine young man, very conservative and strict, a seriousness that you didn't find in many boys his age… but he had an aura of danger about him that always put Reno on edge. Something there in the back of his mind that always said there was something about the young man that wasn't right. Reno was sure Jerad was somehow different to everybody else, something big, but he couldn't see quite what.

"Oh yeah, Jerad's great… but I'll prefer having someone close." Aeris hugged him, kissing his cheek. "I really missed you… I'm glad you won't be going away again."

"You bet." Reno winked at her, stretching. It seemed the days ahead would be pretty easy for him. The mission he was sent here for was purely observational, he had to track a few men for a few hours each day for around two weeks, report back to the president and then take a deserved break. Sure, his holiday would only been a couple of weeks, but after the past year or so that seemed like heaven. He could be free, and with the person he most loved in the world. He could go and see his family too. His mother lived in a small house just west of the sector. His father had died when he was a young boy, of a strange disease that had seen his strength disappear and his will to live with it. Reno preferred thinking of his father as the easy-going, laughing man of his youth… not the tired, old and wilted man who could often be heard crying from the pain in his bones at night.

"I'm going to go and see mom. She'll be dying to see me after so long. I've sent her letters and stuff, but it's been a long time since I've been able to see her face-to-face."

"Did you include more in your letters to her than me? I barely know what you're doing nowadays." Aeris said, pouting a little but with a slight smile, to show she wasn't completely serious about it. She understood about his job and the secrecy behind it, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"I'm sorry Aeris, you know how it is." He smiled back at her as if acknowledging the understanding she had. No more was said on the subject. Reno went upstairs and laid his briefcase and small rucksack down onto the floor. The contents were of no real importance, a few documents from ALIEN, payslips, and descriptions of the men he was following, but he'd already memorised them. There was also some spare clothes, food, and drink. He didn't live a particularly glamorous lifestyle, but he got paid plenty. He knew when he retired he was going to be a very rich man. The day passed without much activity, he spent many hours talked with Aeris, and even a little time with Jerad. At first Jerad had little to say to Reno, but eventually he began talking more, a look of distain on his face the whole time, but talking was a start for Reno at least. Jerad loved talking about the times he'd protected Aeris and the church from bandits and thieves that would sneak in at night and try to rob what they could. By now the church had a reputation of being somewhere you did not steal from. Jerad had made sure of that.

"Dinner's ready!" Aeris called. Reno had been sitting on her bed, gazing at the ALIEN documents a little blankly. He was pretty hungry, but found when he got downstairs Jerad had beat him to the punch by quite a way. Another thing about Jerad was that he had a huge appetite, Reno had never seen anything like it. He sat down and accepted the food from Aeris, a large plate of meat, potatoes and peas. Aeris and Jerad didn't have a whole lot of money, but this meal looked delicious. Aeris had learned how to cook well from the nun who had raised them. He ate the whole thing in record time, though not beating Jerad. Aeris stood up and collected both their plates, laughing and feeling extremely happy for the first time in a long time.