It was tempting to break in for old time's sake, but the Turks had learned quickly to resist all forms of temptation. Perhaps that was what had turned him off to the whole mako-reactor idea in the first place.
Instead, Tseng entered the city by the sector five gate, and allowed himself to be pleasantly surprised by the obvious improvements and impressive reconstruction that Midgar had undergone in the six years that he had been away. Mayor Lockheart seemed to have warmed readily to the task of rebuilding a city that so badly needed her. She'd seemed to him that kind of a girl.
Every sector that he crossed through had wry memories, of people he'd caught or drinks he'd shared, ruthless smiles with a raucous Reno or a triumphantly taciturn Rude.
There was a bar in Sector four called the Cetra, and for that reason he'd spent many a mission in that bar attempting to determine the reason for the incriminating name. It had ended up a coincidence – the owner's daughter's name was Cetra, and he was no professor in the history of the ancients. But it was here that Tseng now stopped, for a much needed drink, and on a hunch that he'd find a worthy drinking partner amongst the patrons.
It was a busy Friday night when he entered, with woozy Midgar locals attempting to explain the secrest of life to equally drunk and useless companions, from crooked, paintless barstools. Typical of the Midgar bar scene, thought Tseng. Not pretty, but gets the job done.
The bartender had his back to the door as Tseng seated himself at the bar and rested his elbows on the counter.
"What can I get for ya?" the bartender asked, apparently hearing the "plunk" of Tseng's feet against the stool as he sat.
"I think I'll have a Meteor Margarita," Tseng replied, with a small smile. "If that's all right."
"Meteor Margarita?" There was a frown in the bartender's voice. "We haven't made those since…" He paused. The back of his red-haired head stiffened, and he turned, eyebrows raised over eyes hidden by sunglasses even in the dark of the bar. Tseng knew they were mako eyes, like his own, one of those hunted pairs, half-lidded and arrogantly expressive beneath the lenses.
"Ah…hey." Reno said. "Meteor Margarita, right?"
"Yeah," Tseng nodded. "That's the one."
"Sure." Reno turned away with a quick shake of his head. "Sure."
Tseng waited until Reno had mixed the dirnk, watching the drunken revelry around him, carefully not looking at Reno, keeping his eyes away, casually, giving Reno his time. After a few moments, the glass slid across the counter towards him.
"Best I could do with what we've got," Reno muttered apologetically. "'S been a while, you know…since I've made one of these."
"Of course," agreed Tseng, taking a drink and watching as Reno glanced nervously around the bar. "They're not watching us," he said quietly. Then, "Here. How about I buy you one, too."
"Yeah," said Reno. "Sure. Yeah. I could use a drink."
He turned away again, to make himself another, and Tseng marveled briefly at how young Reno had managed to stay. He looked as fit and lively as ever, with that vibrant fight still lurking in his features, the way it had in the days when he'd been the quickest and most naturally talented cadet Turk. There had been a lot of welcome insubordination from Reno, a lot of jokes and near screw-ups that he'd skillfully avoid just to scare the pants off the superiors. Then there was Sephiroth, and Meteor, and during Tseng's rehabilitation from his temple wounds, Reno had taken over. Tseng had thought that it changed him, as a man and a fighter, in many ways, but he thought he saw more than traces of the old Reno now, the one that they had loved to hate, and whom Tseng had hated to respect, and yet had, and trusted, too, despite what should have been his better judgment.
"Hey," said Reno, leaning over the counter, "look, I can't…I can't really leave right now. Why don't we meet up later?"
Tseng nodded. "You choose, I've got all the time in the world."
"Load of bullshit," Reno muttered. "You wouldn't be here if you had all the time in the world." He paused. "Wall market, one o'clock, okay?"
Tseng raised his eyebrows. "I'm not quite in the mood for…" he began, but Reno cut him off.
"Look, it'll be easy to blend in there. Trust me," he said quietly. "Now get out of here before you get yourself in trouble. And put some damn glasses on, unless you like running."
Reno turned away, but as he did, Tseng caught a glimpse of a smile on his former partner's face. He wasn't entirely unwelcome.
Standing, he left the bar and walked out in the endlessly starless night of Midgar.