Unpolluted
If he looked out far enough, the water matched the sky in color, the setting sun reflecting oranges and reds and yellows off of the serene water. Reeve, however, as he stood on the Junon Bluffs, looked at only the water directly below. He watched the dark, foamy water sneak up onto the shore and then retreat, as if it was unsure if the coast was safe or not. He watched each wave come in and break after tripping over itself like a clumsy child. He watched intently when a dolphin swam into the bay, and he watched sadly when it swam away almost immediately after, put off by the sludge and mako run-off that came with Junon's military base and underwater reactor.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly to the ocean, stuffing his hands into his pockets to protect them from the cold evening air. "I wasn't thinking when I encouraged the reactor here."
"Hmm?" Elena made an inquisitive noise, glancing over at Reeve, her brow furrowed. She was behind him, further away from the cliff and crouched down, doodling in the dirt with a stick. When he looked over at her, he felt a pang of guilt for dragging her up here; Elena must have been bored out of her mind with no one to talk to, and no work that needed to be done. She probably would have been bored even if he hadn't been neglecting her. Prompted by his glance, she stood and stretched, discarding the stick on the ground as she did.
"I was talking to myself," he said, somewhat apologetically, turning away from her again to look out into the distance.
Elena, as he spoke, walked toward him, each footstep crunching on sandy rock. She moved next to him, gently clasped his hand in her own and looked out over the ocean as well.
Reeve, feeling suddenly exposed by Elena's closeness, continued, "I grew up here. Back when the ocean was blue. Before Shinra moved in." His words were met with a squeeze to his hand.
He looked to Elena, a small smile on his lips. She didn't notice, still looking to the place where the ocean met the sky. She spoke then, slowly. "I never saw Junon before Shinra came." She looked at him, her eyes still narrowed slightly in consideration. After a brief pause, she turned her attention to the ocean again. "I wish I had. It's so dreary now." She stopped then, eyes widening. She spun to face Reeve, frantically apologizing. "I didn't mean it like that; just that the town is small and I know it used to be a bit bigger before Shinra came in and the way you were looking out over the sea made me think that you really must miss how it used to be, so I just meant--"
Reeve interrupted her with a kiss, stopping her mid-sentence. When he pulled away, Elena opened her mouth to continue apologizing but he held a finger to her lips with a raised brow. "Hush. It's fine. It is dreary here."
Visibly relieved, the blonde giggled a bit, perhaps now realizing her silliness. "Okay, sorry." She only paused a moment, though. "It would be nice to swim in a clean sea, though."
Reeve chuckled, and his gaze swung out over the edge again and at the water, now dark as the sun slunk almost completely out of sight. "One day I'll take you to a perfect sea and we'll go swimming until we turn into fish," he promised. And then after a moment's reflection, he corrected himself, "Well, I'll take you to Costa del Sol at least."
Elena laughed and kissed him, wrapped her arms around him, and in that moment as the waves crashed into the shore down below, Reeve felt he was in the Junon that used to be, on a warm sandy shore looking out at the water and squinting because of how the sun reflected on the blue mirror-surface. People still fished. The ocean still promised fun on a boring day, still promised a cool and refreshing dip on a hot one. It promised food to the hungry and a livelihood to the poor. But most of all, that perfect sea from his childhood promised a summer love.