Devil-Angel - I liked the breakfast scene too. I thought it was homey and cute. :D thanks! I watched the interview of the dudes who made FFVII:AC and they were saying that the SHM were kids in adults' body, and since Rufus acts like an responsible adult, I thought, "hmm, I bet Rufus think they're brats." Is Arien pregnant? I don't have a clue. Maybe? Don't worry, we won't have little Reno's running around.

ODST Girl058 - Vincent and Arien aren't really done yet. No, not romance, but there's gonna be more between them. Arien is seeing Vincent like an older brother, because he was a Turk. She also sees herself as a kind of a mutant, so I guess she's feeling closer to Vincent in some ways. (remember the hook that went through her hand? That's gonna play a big role too.) Reeve is going to make an entrance as well, along with Cloud.

NeSa - Arien is a wuss. (laughs) She's scared of lots of things. Geostigma, dying, pregnancy, Reno, Rufus, Tseng, her job, future... And she's also scared of Wutai crypts, but we'll get to see that in the next chapter. This chappie is a semi-filler, but the next chapter is going to be packed with action and fun stuff. And Reno freaking out for the first time in his life (probably). He gets to freak out twice! And we get to see people pass out.

RaspberryPolarBear - hahaha, Vincent's my boyfriend's favourite character of all Final Fantasies. It's not Sephiroth, and we got in a fight over who's better. Vincent is awesome, because he's quiet, a listener, superb gunman, wise, and stoic. And he still loves Lucrecia, and he looks awesome as a chibi too. Chibi Vincents are adorable! Ahem... anyways, as I said before in someone else's thanks, Arien and Vincent aren't quite done yet...

NarcissisticRiceBall - They're all connected to the ultimate climax, which is AMAZING! for me, because I tend to forget things and can't remember to wrap everything up. I'm glad you're enjoying this story, because I'm starting to feel that Reno is becoming un-Reno-ish, and that is a problem for me. Sephiroth is going to play a big role in this story personally, because Sephiroth came into my dream and told me if I did that he'd kiss me... no, kidding.

Leah - you'll hear from SHM and Sephiroth quite soon, don't worry :-P. I intend to get everyone into this story, including Reeve's mummy at one point. But it's still going to be Reno/Arien centric, with a little off-focus on Rufus, Tseng and Elena. As we'll see in this chapter! I know that the readers will be dying with a question after this chapter, and my answer is, "It's revealed in the next chapter." heh heh heh (evil laughter)


Chapter 13: Golden Fun

"Gold Saucer!" Reno yelled furiously through the speaker. Elena looked at him in an exasperated expression.

"Wutai," Tseng said firmly.

"Gold Saucer!"

"Wutai."

"Gold…" Reno shut up after Tseng gave him "the look". Tseng's "look" was only used on a certain individual, namely Reno, and only when he was driving the Turk leader crazy. Like now.

"Tell me, Reno, one good reason why we should go to Gold Saucer first," Tseng said, quietly but in a tone that informed the redhead that if he said one wrong word, Tseng would pull out his pistol and shoot him – really.

"Because I'm the one who's piloting this thing," Reno said vehemently. "And I can land this anywhere I want."

"No you can't, at this altitude you can't lan…" Reno's hand flew and hit Arien in the shoulder. Arien shut up.

"Gold Saucer," Reno said again.

"Wutai."

"Sir, I think we should go to Gold Saucer first," Elena piped up. Reno flashed a suspicious glance at his fellow blonde. Then grinned a knowing grin, and focused to the front again. Elena blushed and looked away.

"DeVir?"

"Yes, sir?" She replied, not turning back to look at her boss. "Reno, altitude at twenty thousand metres. Approaching limit in seven thousand."

"Velocity?"

"Mach 1.4. Direction northwest."

"Should wego to Gold Saucer or Wutai first?" Tseng persisted.

"Approaching Mach 1.5," she reported to the redheaded pilot, then said, "Gold Saucer, I think, sir."

"Why?"

The honest reason was because Reno and Elena were looking at her with the look that said, "don't say Wutai, or otherwise you'll be miserable for the rest of the trip". Reno alone she could handle, but Reno with a partner was beyond her abilities. They were also both Turks. But unfortunately, their "misery promised" looks didn't provide reasons for her, and Tseng was waiting for an answer, with also an identical look with Reno on his face.

"Because Gold Saucer would be a shorter search, sir." Arien really had no idea if this was true. "Wutai is a town with a considerably population even now; it will take days to search thoroughly."

Tseng seemed to be persuaded with this argument. "Gold Saucer, then."

Gold Saucer, despite its apparent decline of visitors since the Meteor incident, still seemed to be teeming with families, groups, and solitary visitors wandering around. The Turks felt that Shinra wasn't completely gone every time they came here; Gold Saucer was a Shinra owned facility, and it was still alive. Half the income they lived on came from here, according to Tseng. Tseng ordered Reno to land the VTOL somewhere inconspicuous and within a walking distance of the Gold Saucer.

"Roger," Reno said cheerfully, and maneuvered the stick. "Arien, height read-out by thousand meters."

"Roger." She switched couple of the flick switches to off, then focused on the altimeter as Reno started to descend. "Approaching nineteen thousand… eighteen thousand… seventeen thousand…"

"Too low terrain, too low terrain," said the mechanic voice of the VTOL.

"Yeah, I know, I'm going lower faster than I should, now shut the fuck up," Reno muttered.

"ten thousand, nine thousand, eight thousand, seven thousand, six…"

"Approaching ground at two meters per second," said the mechanic voice.

"five, four…"

"Okay, seatbelts on, yo," Reno chirped.

"three, two, one…"

"Ground," said the mechanic voice.

Elena had her eyes shut tightly and was trembling. She really did not trust Reno's piloting abilities of a fighterjet; in fact, there were very few things Elena trusted the redhead about. Tseng and Arien had gone through Reno's sudden urge to display acrobatic abilities before, and were able to maintain calm throughout the descent. Reno seemed disappointed that he couldn't really cartwheel the VTOL through the air, and sighed with absolute boredom as the engine died.

"Elena, come on, open your eyes," Tseng said. "We're going to go in two's-"

"-But Rufus said no separation-"

"I'll take Elena," Tseng continued ignoring Elena's interruption. His comment shut the blonde woman up. Reno snickered, and earned a kick in the leg from his partner. "Get changed, meet outside in five minutes."

Five minutes later the four were outside in the bleak terrain outside the Mining Town in autumn attire, shivering slightly. The early winter sunlight beat on the four harshly, reflected on the sand and hitting the four Turks once more. Elena was in a blue floral knee-length skirt and a white turtleneck, with white shoes on her small feet. Reno was in a white shirt with open collar and jeans; Arien, looking extremely dubious and uncomfortable, was in a long pink knit-cardigan and white slacks. And Tseng…

"Yo Tseng," Reno said finally after a long silence, "you look like you're ready to go into some tough action, yo. Should we come back after meditatin' 'bout death for a while?"

"I've never seen Tseng out of his uniform," Arien whispered to no one in particular. But it was true. Tseng, in his long double-buttoned black coat and black slacks, looked like he was a weapon more than a tourist at Gold Saucer. But then, word was that Cloud Strife casually pranced in there while carrying an enormous sword on his back, so maybe Tseng will blend in a little better.

"Reno, I'd greatly appreciate if you can dress properly for once," Tseng retorted. Reno was in an "arranged mess", as he called it, or "total lack of concern" according to Rufus. His white shirt had a large collar; he left it unbuttoned and so the collar was quite rebelliously pointing outwards. His cuffs, originally a double, were now unbuttoned and were flapping around his wrists. His shirt was untucked.

"It's my style, Tsengie-poo," Reno laughed. "I'm dressed proper."

After the short discourse on proper methods of wearing apparel, the four headed to the Gold Saucer.

"We should pose as tourists," Arien said belatedly as they walked. The sand crunched under their shoes. "Maybe couples? Two girls would be normal, but two males would look…"

"gay," Reno interjected determinedly. "And I ain't lookin' gay. I've had enough experiences with gay dudes doing muscle flexes at me in Honeybee Manor."

"So Reno and I'll take the left," Arien said, ignoring the gnawing curiosity about what Reno was doing in the men's pool at Honeybee.

"Meet in the hotel when you're finished," Tseng instructed.

"Mkay, yo," Reno replied without really listening.

"Reno," Tseng said sternly as he flashed the Shinra ID to the mog standing in front of the entrance, "although we're posing, this isn't a date, so do your job and keep your eyes and ears open…" then he shut up. "He's not listening, is he?"

"No, sir," Elena replied, eyeing Reno who was skipping off and Arien who was breaking out into a short jog to keep up with him. "Sometimes I'm glad DeVir's with him. He'd have ended up in pieces if she wasn't around to calm him down."

"Yes, sir…" Elena's phone rang and she flipped it open. It was Reno, and that made the call something not good. "What?"

"Having fun with Tsengie-kins?" His voice was dripping with dry humor.

"Reno!"

"Hey, you might actually get laid tonight. As far as I know, you haven't scored… yet." Elena blushed slightly at this comment. Why did Reno make it his business to know who was in whose bed every night? "Hey, at least I scored every time I tried. Do you need private lessons? Cause I can teach ya some tech…" the word was never finished, and Reno's pained scream filled the speaker along with Arien yelling furiously.

"Who was that?" Tseng asked as she slid her small phone in her skirt pocket. His voice wasn't the usual business-tone, but something more casual, more congenial.

"Reno, sir."

"Elena, stop calling me sir for now. We're here as tourists," Tseng reminded mildly. "And you have to speak colloquially to me."

"Yes, s… uh, Tseng," Elena mumbled. His name wasn't easy in her mouth; for her, Tseng was a hero, but not someone who was on first-name basis like Rude or Arien. Tseng smiled slightly at her clumsiness.

"Alright, Elena," he said, casually placing his hand on her shoulder, "where do you want to go?"


"Arie! Speed Square! Come on!"

Arien shot a dirty look at him. "Reno, we aren't exactly here on a date… Yaah!" She lost her balance as he pulled her hand like an overgrown child, and stumbled a few steps. Reno caught her in time.

"That…" she said after she regained her composure, "was not nice of you."

"Yeah, well, I'm not nice. Come on, let's go."

They ran toward the Speed Square, and were waiting in line when Arien asked, "Reno, what are you going to say when Tseng asks for a report?"

"That they ain't here, duh." He leaned on the railing.

"Are you just making that up?"

"Nope." The line moved along, snaking through the gazebo.

"Then how do you know?"

"Just a hunch, yo."

Arien sighed. She knew well enough not to argue with Reno's hunches. But she also knew him well enough to think that maybe he was saying to evade the imminent task. Reno had a tendency to just feel things and then get those guesses right, which drove her crazy. She had to walk around, collect information, and think through it logically for hours in end, and Reno just sat there drinking "lemonade" which usually contained hard sugar, and then he would randomly guess something and get it right. It was not fair.

"Come on, Arie. It's a paid date. Let's have fun, yo."

She sighed again. Reno paid the GP at the booth, then climbed into the seat. He asked, "Hey Arie, what do you want?"

"Huh?"

"Your firearm."

"Erm… er, pistol." The clerk handed her a large pistol, and she looked at it with a frown. Reno was receiving a pistol, but it was definitely larger.

"Gimme that!" she said, making a grab. Reno switched the hand and raised his hand out of her reach.

"Nah uh."

"Reno! I'm a better shooter than you!"

"That's why you get a crappy one, yo."

"Look, if I get that one, we might be able to…" the sentence was never completed, as the car began to move its slow ascent. She smashed her head against the headboard.

"Ha, that's what you get…" a full blast of wind hit his face as they slid down the railing, and he nearly swallowed his tongue.

"Come on! Shoot!" Arien yelled next to him, laughing, as she repeatedly pulled the trigger.

"Come on, sniper! You missed!" Reno countered, pulling his own trigger as well. Targets exploded around them as the car whizzed on the tracks. Wind jostled their hair, and Reno spat out a strand of raven lock.

"Arie! Keep your hair to yourself!"

The response was a terrified scream and he wondered why, then realized that they were about to go downhill again. And they weren't the mild angle ones, either. This one was almost a ninety-degree drop. Without giving a moment he felt a pair of arms clutch onto his left arm. Another shriek.

After the big fall it was Reno going solo, as Arien was no longer shrieking but was quite determinedly clutching onto his arm. When the ride stopped, Reno gingerly unwound the arms from him, then said, "Hey, Arie, it's over."

"Congratulations!" The clerk cried. "Your shot was worth 5017 points, were you in SOLDIER?... so you get an umbrella for the young lady here… hey, gorgeous, what's your number?"

He shut up and quietly handed the pink frilly umbrella over as Reno aimed the pistol at his forehead. Reno laughed as the man paled, then tossed the pistol onto the ground. The two were already a few feet away when Reno finally asked, "So, what does the umbrella look like?"

"It's pink. And frilly. And probably not waterproof." Arien opened the umbrella, then raised it above her head as if it was raining. She skipped a couple of steps then asked, "How do I look?"

"Erm, smallish, yo." He hugged her shoulder as she came back, umbrella now closed. "Do you wanna go on the gondola, like the last time?"


Elena was having much happiness. Although it wasn't really a date, she was still with Tseng, and they were "supposed" to act like a couple. Which wasn't very hard for her. How long had she dreamed of this?

They walked through the Event Square, which was quite empty, and then to the Battle Arena, which was not quite empty. Tseng did most of the talking to the men, while Elena occasionally started a conversation with the women. The only information they were able to get was that the silver-haired trio had beaten every challenge in the Battle Arena and took with them all the prizes they could get. That led to particularly nowhere. While Tseng leaned on the counter nearby and started a new conversation with a man in a clean suit, Elena trotted over to the girl behind the register. "Hey."

"Hey! I saw you walking with that guy over there. Looks kinda severe, but still a stud, isn't he?" The girl had a nice big smile; her nametag said "Trina". "He your boyfriend?"

"Um, kind of." Elena wondered when to bring up the silver-haired trio. "Hey, how long have you been working here?"

"Couple of months now. It's a loud place, don't you say?" Then she said, "oh, why don't you sit down? The guys can stand up for long, but we girls deserve seats."

"Right," Elena said, laughing. "Say, have you seen any good people?"

"In the Arena? I've never actually watched, but people keep talking about the silver-haired boys," Trina said, as she nodded goodbye to a customer. "Real handsomes, three of them. They were good too, or so I hear."

"What did they look like?" Elena asked.

"Well, the tallest has long silver-hair. I think he's the prettiest of the lot." She smiled again, then giggled. "He used some gun, I think. Not too talkative… guessing he's a quiet type. Then there's this brawny guy, who has this crazy hair!" Trina did some rapid motion with her hands around her head. "Anyway, he had this thing on his right arm… then there's this boy in teens. Fresh out of school, I'm guessing."

Wrong, Elena thought, but continued the conversation. "What was the boy like?"

"Oh come now, you have a pretty boyfriend like that, be happy!" Trina giggled again, then continued, "well, he has silver hair as well, and really silky voice… kinda short, I guess, but I bet he's going to grow as tall as his brothers! Chin-length hair, I guess, and really pretty eyes."

"They're not here anymore?"

"Nope. They said something about going towards Wutai, or something… I can't remember too well." She smiled again. "Say, don't cheat on your boyfriend!"

"I won't," Elena said, then glanced at Tseng, who was waving her over. "Hey, I have to go. Bye, Trina!"

"Bye! Come again!" Trina yelled, then turned to greet another customer.

As they walked down the stairs together, Elena could not believe this was happening to her. Five years under Tseng's command. Rigorous training, all for him. Was she allowed to hope? Was she allowed to dream for this Turk Leader? Tseng was nicer than what was necessary. But then, Tseng was always nice to her. Maybe it was because she was single and she was a female; she had never seen Tseng ask Reno out for a dinner, for instance. But Elena was often asked and often went out for lunches, dinners.

"Are you tired, Elena?" Tseng was asking. She shook her head slightly then said, "No, Tseng. I'm fine."

His hand was warm on her shoulder, large and comforting. She felt close to him, close enough to feel the warmth from his body. She felt shy and yet bold at once.

"Tseng?"

"Hmm?" he looked down at her – for a Wutaian he was pretty tall, and she only reached his neck – and at that moment she loved him, from the tip of his head to the toe, from his compulsive cleaning habits that had earned the name "Miss. Foo Foo" from Reno to his workaholic schedule.

"I'm tired… a little," she added, her voice small. Tseng looked at his watch.

"It's late. Let's get to the hotel."

The walk to the hotel was short for Elena, despite the heel causing a large blister on her foot. They casually strode in the front door, where Tseng and the hotel clerk had a stare-down match; the clerk had a definitely amused face that said, "oo, another couple. Wonder what they're gonna do…"

"We need two rooms," Tseng said firmly.

"Two?"

"Two," he repeated. The clerk flipped through the book then said, "I'm sorry sir, there's only one room left. Would you mind if you share with your girlfriend? We'll give you discount."

"Uh…" Tseng looked panicked, but Elena said, "We'll take it."

"It's room 238. Second floor, to your left," the clerk said, handing Tseng a key.


Reno and Arien checked in before Tseng and Elena did. Still, they came in late; it was already ten thirty when Reno demanded a room.

"Double, for a night," he said waspishly. The young man flipped through the book, then retrieved a key from the hook.

"Room 236, second floor to your left," he replied just as waspishly as Reno. As they stepped into the elevator, Arien could hear the clerk muttering.

The room was clean but was ominously dark without any lights. Arien flopped onto the bed tiredly and stretched; Reno kicked off his shoes and wiggled out of his shirt, throwing the shirt onto a nearby chair.

"We didn't bring any luggage, did we?" Arien asked.

"Nope."

"I'm not sleeping in slacks," Arien groaned. "It's going to get wrinkled, and I can't iron this material."

"Nobody said you have to sleep in clothes, yo," Reno grinned as he opened the curtains, watching the nightscape of Gold Saucer. "You can sleep naked, if you want."

"If I sleep naked that means I'm not going to get any sleep at all," she retorted.

"Yeah, there's also a certain chick who's not gonna get any sleep tonight…"

"What?" She sat up straight. "No, nonono, I am so sleeping tonight. We might have a long day tomorrow, and I'm not going to walk around half in stupor."

"Not talking about you, Arie," he pranced over and threw himself onto the made bed next to her. "Talkin' bout Elena. Bet she's gonna score tonight."

"Reno…" she turned an exasperated glance at him. "Keep your nose to yourself, will you?"

"Mm, sure thing," he replied, as he caressed her back. She shrieked – quiet, but a shriek nonetheless – and flopped onto the bed next to him.

"Having fun, yo?" He grinned at her.

"Not at all."

As per usual, the Turks crawled around, checking if there were any spy devices set. They both had experiences with spy cameras and recorders under the sink, under the cabinet, behind the TV, under the bed. The search yielded one recorder, with a tape in it, wound half-way. The record button was on. As Arien produced it from under the bed, Reno's eyes lit up.

"Hey, let's listen to it, yo."

"Reno, I don't think that's a good idea…"

"It's our job to know, damn it. Yo, gimme that." He made a grab, and successfully wrestled away the recorder.

"Hey!"

Click. He pressed the rewind button. The tape rewound with a hiss. After a few seconds, it clicked to a stop.

"Reno, don't…!"

Reno pressed play.

There was silence for a few moments, then talking. It seemed to be a male and a female, talking about some ride they went on that day. There was shuffling, some creaking of the bed.

Then even more creaking. And voices.

"Reno, this is either a couple having sex or agreeing to each other a lot while sleeping. I don't think it's the latter," Arien said sarcastically as she flipped on the TV.

"Shut the fuck up."

Sighs, moans and occasional gasps streamed out of the recorder. After a few minutes of the vocal symphony, Arien stood up from the chair, walked to Reno, grabbed the recorder and pressed stop.

"You wanna do it? Thinking it's our turn?"

"Reno, I said no." She lay down on the bed and threw her arms over her head.

"Mmm, no is yes," Reno teased, kissing her exposed collarbone. "Come on. Let's get to bed."