Chapter Four

Reno stepped into the chapel, his footsteps echoing off the stone walls. Light from the setting sun shimmered and reflected off the pool of water in water in the middle of the room, and it was so quiet that it was eerie. It certainly felt like a sacred place.

"Alright, it's your game now," he said to the empty air, tapping his rod on his shoulder. Only the dripping of water answered him. He walked further in, up to the edge of the pool.

"You wanted to kill me? Go ahead. I'm here."

Nothing. He began to wonder if this was really going to work; maybe they couldn't dupe her into showing up after all.

"You're an idiot," a familiar voice said, and Reno spun around.

It was Rude.

"Rude! You're alive?"

"Working with these people…you're a sorry excuse for a Turk. Always have been," Rude continued, ignoring his question. Reno froze, his grip loosening on his rod.

"What?"

"You heard me," Rude growled, beginning to circle Reno. "Without me and the other Turks, you're just a bumbling, clumsy idiot. Look at you, living with Strife and his whore, even working with them."

It's not real, Reno thought. The Life Stream, it's controlling him, he'd never say this shit to me…

"What's the matter? Can't handle hearing the truth?" Rude asked. "Rufus put you where you are because you're easy to manipulate. Not because you're smart, or strong. You're not."

Reno's fists clenched and his throat tightened. "I won't attack you. You can stop trying to bait me."

"You're a coward."

"No," Reno said, shaking his head. "None of it's true."

Rude smirked. "You'd like to believe that."

Reno turned away from Rude, though ignoring his partner was bringing him close to losing it. "Aeris! I'm not gonna fall for this! Get out here!"

"Aeris is dead, Reno."

"Not dead enough."

"You're crazy," Rude said with a snort. "Working with Cloud, yelling at dead people…you've really lost it."

"Yeah, well, you always said it would happen eventually."

"And all it took was being alone. You really are pitiful."

Cloud watched on in horror as Reno tried to fend off Rude's verbal attacks. This hadn't been a part of their plan at all, but no one had moved yet. There was still a chance it could work. Cloud wanted to help, wanted to go out there and get Reno focused again, but if Rude saw him it might well be game over. He was surprised Reno had handled it this well so far; he must have realized that the Life Stream was controlling his former partner.

Cloud could tell Reno was fast losing patience. He was uncertain whether or not to step in, still weighing the options.

"Cloud?"

Cloud heard the familiar voice, and slowly, he turned around. Standing behind him was Aeris.

"Cloud, I need your help," she said, and Cloud glanced between her and Rude.

"But…you…"

"It's Rufus. He's controlling the Life Stream. He had himself killed so he could get into a stronger position, operate from within the Life Stream," Aeris said. "I managed to free myself of his control."

"Why does Rufus want to control the Life Stream?"

"Why else? Power. Power that he's already exhibiting," Aeris said, and then her expression turned pleading. "If you give me the summon materia, I can destroy him."

Cloud paused. "I don't know…"

A scream stopped Cloud mid-sentence. A fight had begun between Rude and Reno, though on Reno's part it was mostly blocking. Rude definitely had the upper hand, because Reno wasn't exactly putting his all into fighting back.

"Rude will kill Reno if we don't shake Rufus's control soon," Aeris pleaded. "Please, Cloud…trust me."

If she's telling the truth…no one has to die.

A sudden cry of pain cut through the air as Rude landed a kick on Reno.

There was still a part of him that was uncertain, but all it took was that pained cry from Reno and he knew he had to. It all made sense, anyway, and Aeris wasn't trying to kill him. She was sincere. Had to be. He extended his hand to her, and she took the materia.

"Fool," she snarled, and Cloud's eyes widened before he was launched backwards, through the pillar he'd been hiding behind. He heard Reno yell his name, and then he saw a flash of light as Aeris activated the summon materia- summoning the creature to attack them.

She'd played him. Taken advantage of his trust in her.

The doors opened and Vincent swept inside the chapel, followed soon after by the rest of the backup, all of whom had been watching from the windows, ready to step in. Cloud scrambled to his feet, though the ground beneath him had begun to tremble.

What have I done?

Hooves. He heard hooves pounding the ground, and barely leapt out of the way in time as a massive white horse came galloping through. It reared up, kicking its hooves at Vincent, who narrowly avoided having his skull crushed by the flailing hooves.

Cloud looked around for Reno only to see the redhead run right past him, take a running leap off what used to be a pillar, and land on the horse's back.

"Reno!"

Reno grabbed a handful of mane in one hand, causing the horse to stumble backward just before it reached Yuffie. It tossed its head, trying to dislodge Reno, but he had a firm grip. With his free hand, he jammed his rod right up against the back of the horse's head and released a bolt of electricity through the creature.

The horse screamed. A burst of magic sent Reno flying across the room into a wall, and he dropped. He looked dazed, but he didn't look harmed.

"Cloud! Snap out of it!" Barrett yelled, and Cloud turned, lifting his sword- the horse was headed right for him. He swung at the horse, only to be knocked away before his sword even made contact. He felt hands pulling him to his feet, and he looked up to see Reno standing over him.

"Packs a punch, don't he?" Reno said with a smirk.

"New plan," Vincent said to Cloud and Reno. "We take down the summon, and get back that materia."

"I can take care of the materia if you distract that thing," Reno said, and before Cloud could object, Vincent nodded.

"Do it. Cloud, you're with me."

Cloud shot one more worried look at Reno before joining Vincent and the others in fighting off the white horse that had been summoned.

Reno was ready to confront Aeris. More than ready.

He spotted her by the pool of water, the materia in her hand, watching the horse as it fought. He walked up to her, weapon in hand, and she smiled at him.

She fucking smiled.

Reno let out a growl of rage and leapt forward, swinging his rod to hit her in the head- and it froze about a foot from her head. Reno tried to move it or let go of it, but his hand was frozen in place.

The rod suddenly lifted, and Reno's feet came up off the floor. He kicked and fought, struggling to break loose, but it was no use.

"Poor little Reno. Last of his kind," Aeris said softly. "I wonder how it feels…"

"Put me down!"

"I must confess, I didn't expect you to live," she continued, ignoring him as he cursed and kicked at her. She lowered him a bit, smiling sweetly. "But your president and your partner were easy enough to dispose of."

Reno saw red. He lashed out with his right hand and punched her in the face; she had made the mistake of lowering him to within reach. She stumbled and he fell to the ground, her grip on him broken. He was surprised that he could punch her, given that she was dead.

With that knowledge, he felt a surge of courage rush through him. He swung his rod, hitting her in the ankles and knocking her to the ground.

"Bitch," he spat, getting to his feet.

The materia had been knocked from her hand and rolled to the edge of the water, where Reno picked it up and put it in his jacket pocket.

Aeris stumbled to her feet, and when Reno prepared to swing at her, he heard the horse scream. The creature fell and then faded, and Aeris was momentarily distracted as her summon disappeared.

Reno took the materia from his pocket, looked at it, and knew at once what he had to do.

It took all of Cloud's strength and endurance to bring down the horse, and that was with the extra help; Vincent was right when he said it was a strong holy creature.

When it went down, he immediately looked around for Reno- but then a blast of magic knocked him, Tifa, and Vincent off their feet. It was Aeris- with her summon gone, she was on the attack.

"Cloud!"

Cloud heard Reno's voice. He knew the others could handle Aeris for now; he headed in the direction of Reno's voice. He found him standing by the water, materia in hand.

"You can't beat her. You saw what she did at headquarters," Reno said, putting the materia in his pocket. "Plan B, Cloud. You need to kill me."

Cloud's heart dropped into his feet. "No."

"We planned this all along, Cloud! First plan failed, time to try somethin' else. Kill me."

"I…I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't? You have to!"

Cloud fell silent. He knew it was the plan, but he couldn't do it. The idea of killing Reno made him nauseated, even though he knew it was completely justified, if not necessary.

"Fine. If you won't do it the easy way, I'll force you," Reno said, and then he lunged forward, swinging his rod at Cloud's head. Cloud barely managed to block it, backing away from the Turk.

"You never had trouble tryin' to kill me before," Reno pointed out, swinging his rod at Cloud again. "What's different, huh?"

"You're my friend now, you idiot!" Cloud said, blocking the next hit, determined not to attack. Anyone else could do this, die for the cause. Not Reno.

"It doesn't matter! All your other friends are going to get slaughtered if you don't kill me!"

"I won't do it, Reno!"

Reno knocked Cloud over backward when their weapons clashed again, and the blonde stumbled and landed on his back in the shallow end of the pool of water. Reno lifted his rod, the firing end pointed directly at Cloud's face.

"Kill me or I'll blind you, Strife."

"No."

"Why the hell not? For Ifrit's sake, Cloud, it's the only way!"

"Because…I think I'm in love with you, Reno."

Two things happened in the moments that followed. Reno lowered his weapon, a look of utter disbelief on his face- and then Tifa was thrown into him from behind. Reno stumbled forward and fell, and Cloud's sword ran right through his chest as he fell onto the blonde.

Cloud's mind blanked and time seemed to stop as Reno's eyes met his, the redhead wide-eyed, struggling for air.

"Reno…no…"

Reno tried to say something, but couldn't quite manage it. His eyes fell shut, and he went limp on top of Cloud.

"No!"

Cloud sat up, pulling his sword out of the Turk. The water around them was bright red with blood as Cloud gathered Reno in his arms, both of them soaked with holy water and blood. Reno's skin was even more pale than usual, making the tattoos on his face stand out with startling contrast.

"Reno…Reno, please, don't do this…you can't…"

No response. Cloud's grip tightened on Reno's body, rage and overwhelming anguish taking him over. A choked sob escaped his throat, his body shaking, no longer aware of the battle going on just across the room. It didn't matter now. Reno was dead.

Plan B wasn't worth the cost. It never could be.

Vincent glanced over, and saw Cloud holding Reno's dead body in the water. Cloud's sword was coated with blood. He didn't know how it happened, but he could only hope that when it did, Reno had the materia in his possession.

It's all up to you now, kid. You better not have died in vain. We're counting on you, he thought. They couldn't hold up to Aeris's onslaught for much longer.

Never in his life would he have thought his survival would depend on that loud-mouthed Turk.