CONCLUSION
DAY 455
There was absolutely nothing I could do. Nothing I could fight. I would have done anything, and yet there was nothing to be done. I stayed by her bedside the whole time. I remember looking up to my reflection on the wall across from the bed with a grimace. Reno the Turk? Reno the warrior? Reno the hero? Or was it Reno the Lover? None of those things seemed to apply to me. Not now, anyway. All I was—all I seemed to be—was Reno the Frightened. Reno the Cowardly. Then I thought of the real reason I got the marks; the part I had never told anyone, and rarely even admitted to myself. I didn't get them to be cool, not to make a statement, not even for an agreement to a bloodthirsty boss. It had been a punishment for myself. I would look at them every day, knowing I was the cowardly murderer I had always claimed to be. All I ever really wanted to do—the whole reason I got them—was to slowly murder myself. I would have done it, too, if it hadn't been for Avera. And I swore to myself that if she pulled through, I would make it up to her. I wouldn't hate myself anymore. But I would stare at myself every day, challenging myself to do one more thing to make her happy; to defy the marked man in the mirror. It was the least I could do for the woman that gave me sanity.
Cloud and Tifa were one of the last few couples to arrive at the party. Tifa had taken a little longer getting ready than normal. It felt strange to walk right through the front doors of a building Rufus Shinra had once owned. Perhaps even a bit sad, in a way. Everyone knew Rufus wasn't truly evil—just clinically insane. But along with the insane died true evil…Hojo.
It was no special occasion, just something the president of the NEC decided to do at the last minute. Cloud's eyes shifted to the plaque just above his head with an uneasy sigh: "NEW ERA COMING—Second Chances for Today and Tomorrow."
"Come on, Cloud," She said, pulling him along. "We're missing our own party."
They entered the main hall while the president of the NEC was making his grand speech on how they were making progress in processing solar energy—that it would save the planet's Mako reserve and keep the lifestream supplied while at the same time providing clean, efficient energy for the world's masses. They were surprised to see the president's new appearance: tailored black suit and blue, clean oxford; his fire-red hair was now considerably shorter—while it retained the same pizzazz about his face and the crown of his head, the pony-tail was gone; his goggles were still there. "Ah! Way to show up an hour and a half late, Cloud!" He shouted to them in the middle of a sentence. The whole crowd turned to look at them. Tifa's face went beet red. "Ladies and gentleman—I give you the planet's Mister Hero."
Everyone applauded. Tifa tried to make herself invisible beneath her husband's arm.
Reno smirked at them. "Yeah, yeah, that's enough. Try the snacks. It's amazing the kind of food you're able to afford when you're the president of the NEC." Everyone laughed, and Reno didn't wait to be adjourned before he jumped off the platform and swaggered up to Cloud. "So, hero, what's up?"
"What do you mean?" Tifa asked, taking a defensive expression to his tone.
"Come on! I spent hundreds of dollars for you to come visit your sister and your niece, and you don't even have the decency to show up on time. I'm hurt, yo!"
He sighed in return. "What is the world coming to when they let someone like Reno be president of a major cooperation?" "Tifa's not feeling well," Cloud stated, flatly. "And I didn't choose to rush her."
"Is it going to be a girl or boy, do you think?" Reno asked.
Tifa shot Cloud an alarmed look. This was apparently news to them.
"Aw, come on. Trust me; I'm Cetra, remember? I got the mad radar skills. I can sense a woman with a Cetra kid two weeks in." He popped an hors d'oeuvre in his mouth, munching around the lump.
They gave him hard stares.
"Okay, don't believe me. You'll see." He swallowed hard and grabbed another handful of the appetizers. "Don' see the press. Must be after my wife. You wanna see her, hero?"
Cloud shot him a look at the nickname, but Tifa nodded.
They cut their way all the way through the former Shinra building. It felt strange to them to be able to go anywhere without any security keys or alarms or soldiers around every corner. The elevator dropped to basement level. Tifa looked a little wan at the whole ride. Reno made this deliberately worse by offering her the hors d'oeuvres in his hands. "Told you," he said as she refused them almost vehemently.
Stepping off the elevator, Reno shoved the rest of the food in his mouth and nodded at Tseng and Rude, who were standing at the doorway. "They in there?"
Rude nodded. "I think she's annoying them."
"Oh, good."
He swung open the lab doors with both hands, waltzing in at camera flashes and microphones. The press had indeed found their way to Avera. But when the president walked through the door, they abandoned the first lady and child to focus on him. They looked frustrated—apparently Avera had paid absolutely no attention to their questions….as usual. "Mr. President…." They called. He held out his hands in true, practiced presidential decorum. "You are free to wander anywhere in the facility of course…" He smirked, tossing a look at Cloud before continuing. "Except for here. The president needs some romantic time with the First Lady. My men will show you to the snack bar." He stepped aside as Tseng and Rude took over, showing the way out. "Try the little pizza crackers," he called.
Cloud shook his head hopelessly. Reno was definitely not the typical president.
They filtered out, one by one, some feebly making an attempt to speak again before getting a gentle push from Rude and Tseng. "Avera?" Reno called.
She didn't look up. She was one of many lab coats in the room, but she was hovering over a microscope. Her baby was strapped to her by a green sheet fashioned into a sling. Her hair was considerably shorter, and she was wearing diagnostic glasses, again. Her right arm held the red-headed baby while her left adjusted a slide. "I need a deeper cut," she shouted to the closest technician. "Make it point two-five mm." She felt Reno's hand on her back and turned to him quickly. "Hey, babe."
They smacked each other on the mouth before baby realized daddy had entered, and began kicking and wriggling.
"You're making her baby-sit and work at the same time?" Tifa asked, in disbelief.
"You kiddin' me?" He replied, taking his child from her. "She never stops. That's why our second isn't on the way, yet."
She shot him a sarcastic look. "You know that isn't the truth, Turkey."
He gave her a mirrored mischevious look before turning to Cloud. "What do you think, eh? I think she sort of looks like me." When Cloud didn't comment, he gave the fat little arm a shake at him. "Huh? Doesn't she?"
Cloud took a good look at the baby girl. A tuft of red hair stuck almost straight up on her head. As she stared at Cloud, her blue eyes crossed and she smiled, sticking her fingers in her mouth and drooling. She wavered unsteadily back and forth. "Yep," he answered. "It's uncanny how much you actually do."
The president didn't catch this and took to making excited faces at her. She cooed loudly, and retaliated by grabbing a fistful of her father's long bangs and pulling sharply. "Ow…Jeez….ouch!"
Avera turned to her microscope again. She simply reached behind her and dislodged the infant's hand from her father's hair.
Right about that time, Rude walked in again. "The situation's taken care of," he announced.
Reno was rubbing his forehead, and managed to hold the child away before she could try for it again. "Here, hold this for me," he told Rude, handing him his kid.
Rude looked pained. "I hate this job," he muttered, walking off.
"Yo, Cloud. Come here; I want to talk to you about a job I have for you."
"Not interested."
"Oh, come on. Don't be like that. I'm not Shinra, for crying out loud!"
"Mr. Shinra would have never made me babysit," Rude chimed in.
Reno gave him a passing glance before ignoring him and looking back at Cloud. "Okay, look. It's like this. Things are better and all with the Cetra rebuilding program and the WRO now working for New Era Coming, right?" He got no comment from Cloud. "Anyway, the whole thing is, despite our best efforts, there are still pockets of crime and violence around. Especially in Midgar; it seems to be a haven for all the ugly bruisers in this world."
Tifa took Cloud's arm. "And?" She was still slightly green from the elevator ride. Reno took this in with a double-take before he continued.
"You're Mister Hero; ex-Soldier! So you're good, right? We're appointing a Leader of Justice in each major city. We were hoping you'd take the job for Midgar."
Cloud shot Tifa a somewhat startled look. "What?"
Avera turned about this time. Over the past year, she and Cloud had made it a point to get closer. Surprisingly, Cloud—who had never agreed with the whole siblings from Jenova concept—had gotten attached to her relatively quickly. They had shared stories of the glory days and all the many battles they had gotten into. Apparently, for instance, she had never told Reno about the time she "kicked Don Corneo's ass" after he had made a pass at her at the bar in Wutai. Two days later, Reno killed him—with no knowledge that the bruises the Don was sporting on his face came from his girlfriend's boot. Cloud had told her about Zack and Soldier, about Aeris—how he thought he couldn't let anyone else close to him after that—and then Tifa. He spoke about the oath he had made when he planted his Buster Sword in the earth. Needless to say, they were now close. They trusted each other. Now was no exception. "Cloud," she said softly, "You're perfect. We know we can rely on you to do the right thing, whether it be in NEC's best interests or not. We know you'll take the battle the planet is fighting seriously and be an advocate for it's defense. And if we're talking about skill—there's no match."
He seemed to consider this for a moment, looking at Tifa. It may be dangerous, that was for certain. Then again, there was nothing they could throw at him that would have equaled dying—twice. It seemed obvious Aeris and Zack weren't going to let him invade the lifestream just yet. "Well?" He asked Tifa.
She looked at Reno.
Reno realized after a few moments it was his cue to do more convincing. "You'd have full support of the former Turks."
"Rude, Tseng and Elena?"
"And Reeve, yes."
"Aren't they your personal bodyguards now?"
"Naw. Security, maybe. Babysitters sometimes…." He ignored another piercing gaze from Rude who was over in the corner. "….but if you need them, they're yours."
"Is that it?"
"No! Like Avera mentioned, big business can go astray. Whether it's beneficial to our company or not, you have permission to do anything you can to ensure the future of this planet and the Cetra." He scratched his head. "Oh, yeah!" He snapped his fingers in revelation. "And you'll be cooperating with the other Leaders of Justice from the different cities."
Cloud shifted his weight to the other foot. "Who are they?"
"Well, we don't have all of them lined up, but the ones we do have, you already like. Yuffie's the leader of Wutai. That red mutt is the leader of Cosmo Canyon." (Avera elbowed him in the stomach for this disrespectful mention of Nanaki). "Vincent is in your old hometown. Barrett went to Corel. There's others to cover for, naturally, but you can help with that, too. Anyone you suggest, ya know…."
"And you can have complete access to all our files. Anything you want, you can get to. If you can't, ask us and we'll get them for you. If we hesitate too much, you can quit."
Tifa's eyebrows shot up on her forehead at that bold proposal.
Cloud hesitated. "But I…."
Avera's voice was soft. "You can do it."
Her husband paused for a minute before he took a step towards Cloud cockily. He tilted his head back with a smirk on his face and stuck a hand in his pocket. His eyes glimmered. "Yeah, think about it, Cloud. Together, we can rebuild the Cetra."
Cloud and Reno met eyes. A mutual memory passed between them. And suddenly, Cloud did something very rare. He broke into a full grin. "I'm in."
Tifa and Avera clapped and Reno slapped him on the shoulder. "So I guess I'm stuck with you as long as I'm president, huh? Damn. Anyway, I guess I'll act cheerful since you're my brother-in-law and all."
His face fell again and Reno laughed.
"Come on, let's go celebrate, partner. We'll get seafood….well, unless Tifa's too pregnant for seafood….the iodine can be pretty bad….we'll get Elena to watch Sharla for us."
Tifa covered her mouth with a smile. "I thought that was Rude's job."
"Can't." Avera added merrily. "He has a big date tonight, don't you, Rude?"
Rude didn't say anything. He was trying desperately to find Elena to pass Sharla off. The baby kept making passes at his sunglasses, and he was beginning to get annoyed.
"Who?" Cloud asked in surprise.
Her eyes shone. "A little ninja from Wutai."
"Yuffie!" Cloud and Tifa asked together.
Rude's head twisted at the sound of her name and looked fairly disappointed that she wasn't anywhere around. Reno laughed his head off. "He cracks me up," he nearly shouted, bowling over. "He does that every damn time."
"What about your guests?" Tifa asked.
"Them?" He was still chuckling. "Don't worry, we'll sneak out the back door. They won't notice us." He stuck a thumb behind him, and then turned to follow the direction he indicated.
Avera smiled at Tifa, pulling off her lab coat to reveal a beautiful black party dress. "Reno never changes."
"You know it, babe," he said loudly. "Let's go."
Obediently, they followed. Rude pulled his PHS while they left, desperately trying to get hold of Elena.
It was a fairly short walk down the wide, dimly-lit hallway to the world outside. They paused on the sidewalk, looking up at the sky. "Looks like rain," Tifa commented.
There was a long pause. Reno didn't budge from looking straight up into the clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance, low and pleasant. His hand snaked over and held Avera's. She smiled, looking up with him. "It doesn't matter," he finally said. "I sort of like the rain."
----- ------ ------
Well, that's the end! Thanks for reading! (The next statements are my own viewpoints only.) There's been a lot of debate on whether Reno is a good guy or a bad guy. I can defiantly see potential for him being a bad guy (with the whole Sector 7 incident and all), but I think he's got more good in him than bad. At first in the game, he was just an enemy I had to beat. Then he kept showing up and began to get a little annoying, but provided interesting entertainment, too. I thought, "They never give up, do they?" When he killed Don Corneo in Wutai with the famous line, "…because it's our job…" I began to think he was rather cool. A glimmer came to my eye and I thought, "I sort of like the Turks." And when he gave Cloud the choice to fight or walk when he invaded Shinra headquarters in the end, I couldn't help but think, "This is one really AWESOME dude!" And he stands now as my favorite Final Fantasy character. I wanted to present him as someone trying to discover who he really was. Confused, but just as sarcastic as ever. And while he's arrogant, clumsy, and a bit clueless at times, I always thought he needed a good taming agent—like Avera. This is my rendition of Reno. Hope you all enjoyed it!
;-)