You could say our lives changed when our parents died, most people would think that. But I know when it changed; it was the day the Wutai war began. Rye had just picked us up from school and we were on our way home. A little fight was taking place in the back seat over one of Tobi's books, a glorified SOLDIER story. Akio was trying to take it from him, saying it would corrupt his mind with inaccuracies. He was probably right.
"Suna, tell Tobar this story is nothing like the career of a SOLDIER. I mean do you think that Sephiroth has…" He paused to skim the book, which was hard since Tobi still had a hold of it. "…saved an entire forest of animals just to do it? Do you, Rye?" He was searching for back up, which neither of us would offer. Though we agreed with him, we didn't want to shatter our youngest brother's spirits.
"You know, the SOLDIERs are heading out today," Rye commented nonchalantly. He had looked over his shoulder for a moment to look at Tobi, to see his eyes light up. As he spoke, he was speeding up, but, surprisingly, we didn't notice this at the time. Mission accomplished for Rye, I suppose.
"Really? Where are they going?" His question was full of eagerness. I'm sure he wanted to be in SOLDIER at one point in time; all young boys did back then. Well…Akio was an exception.
"Wutai." It was eerie how calmly he had said that. In spite of the fact that he was speeding down the road. Even though that was our homeland he was talking about, he said it like it was nothing. I had turned back to Akio, who shared the same look of shock.
"Why!" we demanded together. Like I said, we were loyal to our heritage.
"It's a power thing. If Shinra wins this, they will be the biggest power in the world." Rye was still calm, and still speeding down the road.
"But doesn't it bother you? That's our home, Rye. We were born there." I was staring at him, and according to Akio, I looked upset. I believe it too. Wutai is a beautiful place. War, especially one with Shinra, would destroy that.
He turned to me with a smile that caused my anger to ebb away. "Of course it does. But this is my chance to get into SOLDIER. They'll be recruiting, and if I volunteer, I think I might be able to get in." I guess I felt sort of guilty after that. He was just looking out for his future and the future of our family. It may be a silly thing, but I still feel bad that I never apologized for it. I never thought to. And I never had the chance.
"From the looks of it, we're about to catch up with them."
Tobar and Rye had still been talking while I zoned out. His comment baffled me for a moment, until I saw what was in front of us. A convoy of Shinra trucks that was heading toward the edge of Midgar. It was then that it became obvious Rye had been speeding and his reason was to catch up with them. He had the eyes of a hawk and had probably seen them back when the conversation started. Now we were tailing the last truck in the line, which was driving in the right lane on the four lane road. Our car was the closest to them; Rye was probably the only one insane enough to dare. Maybe he was trying to make an early name for himself with the SOLDIERs or he maybe he was just doing it for fun. It was most likely a combination of the two.
Rye pulled into the left lane, still drifting behind the convoy. He was silent now as he judged the distance between the trucks. He pressed the gas a little harder and moved up beside the last truck. The driver shot us a glare. All he did was punch the gas again and pass the truck. Rye was driving the car in the same manner that he drove his motorcycle, ducking in and out between trucks and driving up the middle. If it had been anyone but Rye driving, we probably would have been scared to death. We trusted him with our lives, in spite of his bouts of insanity.
Our car was close to the head of the convoy now, where the higher ranked SOLDIERs would be. They had to lead the rest of the army into battle after all. This is the part where Rye using this stunt to impress them comes into play. Go to the front where Sephiroth would most likely be and show off. It was a good plan, in a way, but I don't think it was his teenage tendencies that got him into SOLDIER. We finally stopped passing the trucks when we were in the second row from the front, the truck we were beside was on my right. The trucks behind us were honking quite consistently, Rye had definitely made an impression, no one could deny that.
We took comfort in our position for some time. Tobi had a toothy grin spread across his face; he loved Rye's stunts, especially when they dealt with Shinra, which wasn't that often. Akio was sitting back in his seat, not saying anything, but he didn't seem bored either. As for me, I had just looked out of the window to see if the driver was as angry with us as the others. The dark haired driver, who had to be at least Rye's age, was purely concentrating on the road. A few seconds passed and he turned to face our car, he flashed us a smile and gave a 'thumbs up' sign. It was intended for Rye, but I was the only one who saw it. Just before I could respond, Rye pulled off onto the side of the road. We were almost out of Midgar and he figured it was time for us to turn back.
It was probably a good idea, since I was about to roll down the window and accidentally cause the man driving beside us to wreck.
Rye glanced up to look in the rearview mirror. "Somebody's got that look in their eye."
"W-what are you talking about?" Sure I was caught off guard, I didn't think he had noticed.
A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I've seen that look hundreds of times on hundreds of girls who've had crushes on me. So, which one of them was it"
My cheeks started to warm so I bowed my head and turned to the window. I knew it wouldn't stop the question, but maybe no one had seen me blush. I just never get that lucky though.
"Suna's blushing!" Akio exclaimed from the backseat. He grabbed onto the back of my chair and leaned forward. "So…how about you answer Rye's question"
The question was answered, eventually. There was a bit more nagging and mockery, and I punched both Akio and Rye in the arm a couple of times each. Tobar just watched us. This was how we were. There was sibling rivalry, but there was always love. All we had was each other, and it had been like that for so long, we thought it would never change. Too bad life doesn't always go how you planned it.