Snapshots

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction by ntc

Part 4

The air was heavy with the stench of blood and burning flesh. The glass cage at the center of the laboratory lay shattered, its previous occupant freed from its confines.

In between bloody coughs, the professor laughed, a gleeful sound that was not entirely sane. "My hypothesis… is correct. Injected…. with enough Jenova… cells… the transformation… can overcome… the… Geo—"

There was a wet sound of a blade sliding into flesh, followed by a choked gurgle. Then silence. The wielder of the blade, trailing glowing Mako behind him, moved on to his next target who was cowering on the floor.

"Kad… aj," gasped Hayakawa, stretching her hand out imploringly towards her executioner. Tears streamed out of her horror-stricken eyes. "Please… stop…"

The green Mako eyes that studied her held no emotion. Not even contempt. "I'm not Kadaj." His voice had also changed; deeper than what she was used to. It finally sank in that the defiant teenager she had become fond of was gone. The Jenova cells that had been forcibly injected into him had shaped him into someone else. Someone more powerful. Someone crueler. "Who… am I?" There was a faint plaintive note in that whisper.

And that was the last thing she heard before a sharp burst of pain blossomed in her chest and her world faded to black.

xXxXxXx

'The 10.57 Midgar train would depart from Platform Two in fifteen minutes. All passengers…'

Marlene tried her best to plaster a cheerful smile on her face, giving no indication of the heavy feeling that was crushing her inside. "Thanks, Cloud… for everything. I've had a wonderful time here."

"What about me, you ingrate?" demanded the surly man hovering behind Cloud.

"Reno." Cloud's exasperated tone held more than a hint of warning. Miraculously, Reno shut his mouth while Cloud reached out to pat the top of her head in an affectionate manner. Marlene longed for the day when she would no longer be a child in Cloud's eyes. "It was a pleasure to have you around. Say hello to your father for me when you see him."

"I will," said Marlene, her voice thick. She then bowed her head and started digging around in her backpack. After a few moments of apparent futile searching, she exclaimed in distress. "Oh no!"

"What's wrong, Marlene?"

"I must've dropped my ticket somewhere! I can't believe I'm so careless…"

Cloud glanced at the large overhanging clock in the station and then back at the ticketing booth located a fair distance away. "Wait here. I'll quickly go buy another one for you."

As planned, she was left standing alone with Reno. When she was sure that Cloud was out of earshot, she whispered, "I won't lose."

It took a moment for Reno to realize that he was being spoken to. He frowned down at her in incomprehension. "Eh?"

"To Zack. To Aeris. To Tifa… Even to you." Marlene locked gazes with the redhead, unwavering determination in her eyes. "Right now, I'm too young to know how to love him. But one day, I'll grow up. I'll grow up… So until then, will you look after Cloud for me?"

Momentarily taken aback by her audacious challenge, Reno spluttered. "You— you little runt! If I do look after him, it wouldn't be because I'm doing you a favour!"

"I know." Marlene smiled brightly at him. "Regardless of your reasons, I still want to thank you. I know you'll never leave him."

After a pregnant pause, Reno asked gruffly, "How did you find out?"

"Tifa told me that Cloud keeps a distance between himself and the people around him, even more so recently. He pushes them away; shuts them out. And if that doesn't work, he withdraws. He runs away." Marlene's smile grew sad. "You're the only person who managed to stay close to him these past few years."

"Heh, maybe it's because I don't give a damn about what he wants. I'm not as considerate of his feelings as his old comrades."

"I guess I should strive to become more like you then."

Reno barked out an amused guffaw at that, which Cloud heard as he approached them. "I'm glad to see that you two are finally learning to get along," commented Cloud, looking quite pleased. He handed the newly bought train ticket to her. "Here you go, Marlene. Try not to lose it this time."

As she pocketed the ticket, her fingers brushed against another rectangular piece of paper of a different texture. A thought occurred to Marlene. "Cloud, do you have your camera with you right now?"

"Sure I do."

"Can I trouble you to take a picture of me with Reno?"

Her request seemed to astound both men. It was granted in the end, though Reno had to be bullied into it. A photograph of her eleven-year-old self grasping the hand of an aggravated and embarrassed-looking redhead in his twenties would sit on Marlene's desk for many years to come.

xXxXxXx

As Cloud watched the train pull out of the station, Reno took the opportunity to observe Cloud without the other man noticing. Cloud had a wistful expression on his face that, for some vague reason, troubled the Turk deeply. It was as if he was getting the premonition that the strong yet fragile blond was about to go somewhere far away. Somewhere he could not follow. Without even realizing it, he had moved to stand closer to Cloud, who cast a questioning look at him.

"You don't have to love me," Reno blurted before he could stop himself. The conversation with Barret's daughter earlier must have affected him more that he thought, for he had never been so open about his feelings before this. When Cloud merely waited for him to continue in the awkward silence that followed, Reno rushed on, "All I ask is that you let me stay with you. Live with you. Cry with you. Laugh with you…" Still failing to elicit a response from the dumbstruck blond, Reno added, "Sleep with—"

Cloud elbowed him so hard that he thought at least two of his right ribs might have cracked.

"H-Hey…!" Reno wheezed, his bruised ribcage making it painful to breathe. "What the hell was that for!"

"Sometimes, Reno, I wonder whether your brain is located below your waist or above it," muttered Cloud, clearly disgusted by his lewd talk. Reno thought Cloud sounded disappointed as well, but he might have imagined it.

"Well," said Reno, shooting his mouth off again. "There are two heads…"

This time, Reno was positive that his ribs had cracked.

xXxXxXx

"Don't be such a crybaby. The pain should have eased off by now," said Cloud unapologetically as he used a Cure Materia to repair the damage he had inflicted on Reno earlier. They had arrived back at his apartment and he had to put up with Reno's exaggerated moans and groans during the whole trip back from the station.

"Crybaby!" Reno yelled, furiously wiping away the tears that had collected in the corners of his eyes. "You sure didn't pull your punches just now! Can't you take a joke like a normal human being?"

"It was all a joke to you?" Cloud tried not to think about why that should bother him so much. He should be feeling relieved, shouldn't he? Cloud finished his casting and hurriedly got up on the pretense of having to put away the Materia. Reno grabbed hold of his wrist before he could move away.

"Not all of it was a joke…" said Reno quietly. "To be honest, none of it was a joke, really."

Cloud said nothing. Suddenly, he lacked the courage to meet Reno's eyes. He attempted to shake Reno's hand off but the stubborn man refused to let go. Cloud briefly considered using more drastic measures to get the Turk to release him, but that would mean having to repeat the whole process of using the Cure Materia again. "Let go of my hand, Reno."

"Damn it, Cloud! Stop pretending that you don't know how I feel!"

"I know how you feel," replied Cloud coolly. Reno's pain was inevitable, because he had stupidly allowed himself to care too much about a dying man. The most merciful thing that Cloud could do for him was to make it as brief as possible. "I just choose not to care." If Reno stopped caring, he would stop hurting as well.

Reno scoffed. "It's not going to work, Cloud. You should have acted like a bastard right from the start if you want to be convincing. You're not getting rid of me so easily."

Frustration twisted Cloud's features. "What are you, a glutton for punishment?"

"I'm a glutton for whatever you'd give me."

"You say the weirdest things." Cloud shook his head, almost pityingly. "I have nothing to give. To you or anyone else."

"You have time," said Reno, his tone deadly serious. "And I want every frigging second of it."

So, Reno already knew about his condition. Somehow, it didn't surprise Cloud as much as it should be. He had always suspected that the redhead was not as dense as he pretended to be most of the time. "You know that I don't have much of it left to give, and you're still asking for it?"

"I don't care how much is left. I just want it all." Cloud was slightly disconcerted by the intensity he saw in Reno's eyes. "Just so you know, I'm not asking either. I'm done being a nice guy."

"Nice?" Cloud let out a nervous chuckle. "Knowing you, Reno, 'nice' is the last word I would…"

Not waiting for him to finish, Reno leaned forward. Whatever words he had in mind melted away in the heat that arose where Reno's soft lips had made contact.

A considerable period of time passed before Cloud could form a coherent thought— a thought that was irrelevant to their current situation but one that, thankfully, didn't require him to acknowledge what had just happened. "I'm thinking of going to the City of the Ancients tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" Reno lazily drew back a little so that they could see eye to eye. "It's not even the anniversary of her death yet."

"I only got to know her during the chaotic times of battling Shinra. One of my greatest regrets is that I never got the chance to take a proper photo of her when she was still alive."

"I still don't see the point of you going," Reno grumbled as he combed Cloud's long tresses with his fingers. "She's definitely not in any shape to pose for photographs at the moment."

Cloud took Reno's dark humour in his stride. Getting annoyed or angry just seemed like too much effort. "People deserve to know who the planet's saviour is. I can't show them what she looked like, but I can show them where she had performed her final act of sacrifice."

"If you insist on going, I'm coming with you."

Cloud carefully kept his expression blank. He could not afford to give away any signs of the dismay he felt. "You've never offered to come with me before."

"Didn't you hear me just now? I won't give up any of the time I have with you. You can go anywhere you like, but I won't let you go alone."

"You make it sound like a threat," Cloud noted wryly.

"It's not a threat," said Reno, pulling him into another one of his tight, desperate embraces; one that made him feel suffocated but also invariably warm at the same time. "It's a promise."

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A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are welcomed.