He wakes before her, only slightly disappointed about it.
He had hoped he might wake this morning to her lips leaving soft kisses against the side of his neck, along his cheekbone, finding his mouth only after the rest of his face had been subject to her lips.
Nestled in the crook of his arm, Charlie sleeps silently. Her hair is tangled and knotted at the ends, splayed across his bicep. One of her hands is resting on his chest, covering some of the love-bites that she had left scattered there, in addition to the ones on his shoulders and neck.
There's a scar on her shoulder from where a bullet had grazed her once during her travels, another on her elbow after having taken a nasty fall down a particularly steep slope a few days after Cait Sith had joined their merry little band, and a horizontal one just above her right breast that came from a brush with some flying monsters. None of them are as bad as the scar on her neck, but he kisses them all the same.
And, of course, he lifts her injured hand from his chest to press soft kisses to the tips of her long fingers and the inside of her wrist.
"Just a few more minutes," she murmurs, finally stirring when his lips find the hollow of her throat. "A few more minutes and I'll never ask for anything ever again."
"A few more minutes to do what?" Reeve asks, resuming his ministrations and able to feel the goosebumps that spring to life upon her skin, pressed against his own.
"To just . . ." Charlie sighs contently, her eyes still closed. "Be here, with you."
He can't argue with that. He tries to glance out the window, to see how close Meteor is this morning, but he closed the blinds last night to keep himself from looking and worrying too much about it while in bed with her.
"You can still kiss me," she whispers, giggling against his chest. "You don't have to stop doing that."
Before he can respond, the doorknob to the bedroom shakes as someone tries to enter. Charlie had, thankfully, had the foresight to lock the door before they had been caught doing anything filthy, not wanting to traumatize Marlene. The surprise nearly sends Reeve's heart leaping from his chest.
"What do you need, Marlene?" he calls out to her, still holding Charlie very firmly to his chest. She's opened her eyes now, smiling up at him like nearly being caught in bed together by a five-year-old is something to laugh about. "Where's your father?"
"He told me to come wake you guys up." Marlene tries the doorknob again, to no avail. "Is Charlie in there with you? Can I talk to her?"
"She's sleeping. Leave her alone, please. We'll be down in a minute."
"I just have a question to ask her."
"I said we'll be down in a minute. You can ask her then."
Reeve waits until he can hear Marlene jumping down the stairs before looking back down at Charlie, who has a small smile on her face. Her eyes seem very heavy, and he regrets keeping her up so late last night, even if it had seemed worth it at the time.
"A few days here and you've already stolen Marlene's heart," he chuckles, kissing her temple. "Do you have any idea how long it took her to warm up to me? I spent a lot of money bribing her in the hopes she might come around, you know."
"Well, I think it worked. She adores you now. It's very sweet," she teases, pushing some of his hair out of his face. "Maybe you just don't want to admit that I'm so much more charming than you are."
"No, I'll admit it. It's true. You're also much nicer to look at."
Charlie smiles wider, her cheeks coloring slightly. "You're a real flatterer, aren't you?" she chides him lightly, clicking her tongue. "You're very handsome and you know it."
It's his turn to blush, but Charlie only kisses his flaming cheek, settling back upon his chest and closing her eyes again, one of her arms wrapped tight around his middle.
"A few more minutes," she whispers again, "that's all I'm asking."
"As long as you want, my love."
He falls back asleep, too, and is thankful that no one comes knocking on their door again to interrupt their sleep. He's sure that Barret and Elmyra are more than aware that they may not get many chances to be alone again, allowing them to appreciate these stolen moments whenever possible.
And when he wakes again no more than forty-five minutes later, it's to Charlie kissing his neck, his nose, his cheeks, all the love-bites she had left on him, her lips finally finding his mouth just as she decides to crawl atop him.
All of the curtains are drawn when he goes downstairs. That's a very ominous sign.
What's perhaps more ominous is the fact that Barret stops him before he can reach the kitchen, gesturing towards the front door. The moment Reeve steps outside to talk to him, he understands.
If Meteor is going to make contact with the planet, they aren't going to survive the night.
While it seems like its primary target is Midgar, nearly sixty miles wide, Reeve knows the ripple effects will be catastrophic. While they may escape being crushed by Meteor directly, the quake that follows will surely wipe out Kalm entirely, as well as most of the rest of the planet. Few might survive, but if their food sources are lost with the collision, there isn't much they're going to be able to do.
"Can't fuck around anymore. It's gonna hit tonight if we don't do somethin' about it now," Barret says, staring up at the red rock in the sky, stoic and solemn. "Cloud's on his way with the ship. Get your boy ready, get Charlie's ass in gear, and then we gotta go."
"Charlie isn't going with you," Reeve replies firmly, unsure if he could bear to stand her leave again, especially not knowing if she was ever going to return to him, no matter how badly she wanted to. "She's staying here, with me."
Barret laughs, turning away from Meteor to face him. "I know that. She ain't a fighter, and that's okay. We ain't stupid enough to bring her along, but she wants to see everyone, doesn't she?"
"Oh." He can't help but feel a little foolish. This is the first time he's spoken privately with Barret, and he won't deny it's intimidating to know that he might use that gun-arm of his if Reeve accidentally offends him. "She'll only be a moment. I'll go let her know."
As he turns back towards the house, a large hand comes down hard on his shoulder, turning Reeve back around forcefully.
Barret releases him, looking very serious. "If you hurt that girl," he growls, holding his gun-arm up a little so as to make sure it's fully visible, "then I'll fill you full of holes."
"I would never hurt Marlene, Barret."
"I ain't talkin' about Marlene."
He gives Barret a small smile, wondering what Charlie might think if she overheard this exchange. "I would never hurt Charlie, either. I would never dream of it."
"Full of holes, got it?"
"Loud and clear. You may not believe it, but that isn't the first time I've heard this speech. She was raised by Turks."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't remind me."
"It's part of who she is," Reeve protests, feeling very much as if all of Barret's friends have turned a blind eye to Charlie's history, preferring to see her only as someone entirely different. "Ignoring her involvement with the Turks and Shinra is erasing a part of her that she's privately very proud of."
"Ain't nothin' about the Shinra company to be proud of," Barret argues, although his words sound weak and half-hearted, like he doesn't want to be seen as someone who doesn't hate Shinra with their entire being.
"The company wasn't entirely evil. Charlie did a lot of good while working for her father. She isn't a bad person, she just sees the world a little differently than you do." Reeve cranes his head back, not to look at Meteor, but to look up at the window that belongs to his bedroom. "And now, she's seen parts of it the way you do, too. I've known her for a long time, and seeing it all first-hand has changed her, I think."
"She's tough, I'll give her that. I didn't think she'd last a day on the road."
"She's survived worse. She's far tougher than people give her credit for."
Not looking entirely convinced, Barret at least looks appeased by the answer. "Thanks for takin' care of Marlene while I've been away. You should quit spoiling her."
Reeve nods politely, his cheeks coloring. "She's a sweet girl. We'll be waiting here for you to come back when it's all over."
"Yeah," Barret grunts, taking one last look at Meteor before pushing back into the house.
"Go get your girl, man. C'mon, we can't wait around all day for her."
"She'll be done in a minute," Reeve tells Barret quickly, watching him pace the length of the kitchen over his newspaper. It's an old one, but it keeps his mind off Meteor—a little. "Marlene, please eat your food. It's not to play with."
"I'm not playing with it," she pouts, putting down the fork she had been using to push it all around her plate. There's a defiance in her eyes today, and her left arm is curled around a still-deactivated Cait Sith, holding him around the neck like one of her own stuffed animals. "I don't like eggs."
"Yes, you do," he reminds her, slightly irritably. "You've eaten them before."
"I don't like this." She picks up her fork again, poking with the prongs at some dark speckles on top of her eggs.
"It's pepper. Just eat them, please. I know you like them."
"Well, I don't like them anymore."
He grits his teeth, not wanting to make things harder than they need to be, but very frustrated with their current situation. "Then you should have told me that when I told you I was going to make you eggs."
"Don't talk to her like that," Barret snaps, puffing his chest out as he pauses his pacing to shoot Reeve a mean glare. Softening the moment he looks at Marlene, he scoops up her plate and adds, "I'll make you something else, angel. Reeve, go get your damn princess, would you?"
"Just let her have this, all right?" Reeve sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose and lowering the newspaper. "Let her have a few more minutes—"
"A few more minutes could mean a lot in the grand—"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take so long."
Barret clears his throat and Reeve turns around in his chair to find Charlie, slightly pink-cheeked, standing in the kitchen entrance, looking absolutely stunning.
She's in clothes that he bought for her just downtown, and part of him is amazed at how good such cheap clothing can look on her, while the other part of him isn't surprised at all that they look good on her. Her jeans are a little loose-fitting around her legs, but the white blouse is perfect, showing off lightly freckled shoulders and the hint of a bruise just peeking out from the modest neckline that may or may not have been his own doing.
There are clips in her hair to keep most of it out of her face, clips Reeve had bought her for their first real date following their first time together. Even after Charlie had dragged him into her apartment by the hand following their date and he had made awkward love to the president's daughter in a bedroom that was most certainly bugged, those clips had still been in her hair.
She's wearing the same earrings and necklace as yesterday, diamonds shimmering against milky skin, and she's done her makeup, lips painted bright red and pale eyes bright against the dark makeup. It makes her look presidential again for the first time in forever, and he can't help but think the only thing that's missing is a ring on her finger—more specifically, the diamond ring that's sitting in the nightstand upstairs.
"It's not nice to stare, Reeve," Marlene teases him, clearly still bitter about the eggs.
But he can't quite bring himself to look away.
She's dressed for her own funeral. The thought is tragic, despite how beautiful she looks.
Charlie seems to falter under his scrutiny, looking down at her clothes and smiling nervously. "Is it too much?" she asks.
"No," he breathes, almost oblivious to the reality of the world outside these walls. "No—sorry, I—"
"You look really pretty, Charlie," Marlene says sweetly, not angry with her, it seems.
"Yeah, yeah, she looks like the damn sun," Barret mumbles, and Reeve tears his eyes forcibly away from Charlie to turn back around in his seat just to scowl at him. "C'mon, we gotta get going. Come here, Marlene."
Reeve urges Charlie out of the kitchen while Barret says good-bye to his daughter, bringing along the limp Cait Sith with them. They meet Elmyra as she exits the laundry room, a hamper of folded clothing in her arms, wondering after Marlene and pursing her lips when Reeve informs her that Barret plans on leaving again very shortly.
"If you have family, or anyone you'd like to see," he tells her, feeling sorry for Elmyra and the awkward situation she probably feels she's stuck in, "we'll stay here with Marlene for you."
Charlie looks up at him, but doesn't protest. Instead, the fingers on both of her hands curl loosely around his arm.
"That's very generous of you," Elmyra says with a strained smile, "but I couldn't possibly leave Marlene now."
She leaves them with a wary look at Cait Sith before starting up the stairs.
Keys in hand, Reeve starts the car so as not to keep Barret waiting any longer than he deems necessary, and shows Charlie how he reactivates Cait Sith—or tries to, anyway. With nothing to physically show her, he's left trying to explain to her that it's something so natural to him now that he hardly even thinks about it or registers what part of his brain he needs to use to establish a connection with the cat anymore.
One second, Cait lies dormant in Charlie's arms like a baby, and the next second, he's springing to life and leaping out of her hold, moving his body as if he's woken from a long sleep.
"That's a bit closer than I remember it being!" he notes, hands on his hips as he looks up at Meteor, too chipper. Reeve doesn't recall programming him to be so chipper. "You look real lovely today, Charlie."
She smiles, blushing and giggling behind her fingers. "Thank you," she says, adjusting his crown and giving his chin an affectionate scratch.
"Easy," Reeve says flatly, frowning down at Cait Sith.
"Are you sure about this?"
When he looks back up at Charlie, it's to find her looking at him, not the cat. "Sure about what?"
"Sending Cait with Barret and the others."
"You don't have to worry 'bout me," Cait Sith reassures her, fists resting on narrow hips as his tail waves back and forth. "Besides, if I don't go, how'll you two know what's goin' on?"
He can tell that Charlie doesn't like the idea of sending Cait off to potentially die needlessly for the planet, but the cat makes a point. Reeve needs him at the Northern Crater with the others in order to keep track of what's going on, if he isn't going to go himself. He's never been a fighter, and he would only slow them down and cause them strife.
When Barret joins them in the middle of the garden walkway, his sunglasses are on, hiding his eyes. He's quiet, squeezing into the back of the car and shouting at them to get a move on when they take a little too long.
It's a silent ride, far less comfortable than the drive had been with Cloud and Tifa. Even if Cloud didn't have much to say, Tifa always tried to keep up a conversation, as if afraid lapsing back into silence even for a second would be painful.
Even Cait Sith is quieter than usual, though Reeve is sure he's very much enjoying being sprawled across Charlie's lap, letting her scratch his little white chest with his arms and legs dangling on either side of her, though she's hardly paying attention. Her gaze is fixed out her window, towards Midgar and the rock in the sky that threatens them all.
Reeve's hands feel sweaty and clammy against the leather steering wheel. If what Barret had said was true, he's about to meet all the others, and that's one thing he thinks he could go without. It may sound cruel and cold, but the thought of standing face-to-face with Cid Highwind makes his blood boil, and that isn't something he wants to have weighing on him before he dies.
"You okay?"
"Hm?" He looks sideways at Charlie, who's finally turned away from Meteor. "I'm fine."
She smiles knowingly at him, reaching for one of his hands and lacing their fingers together. Looking up into the rearview mirror at Barret, she says, "Barret, Marlene is such a sweetheart. Everything you said about her is absolutely true."
"'Course it is," he says, sounding proud. "She's the perfect little angel. Hope she hasn't given y'all too much trouble."
"No, of course not," Reeve answers, deciding that it's better to tell a little white lie in order to make Barret happy. "She's been very brave throughout this whole thing. I fear she might even be braver than me."
"She's braver than me, that's for damn sure," Barret sighs, and they settle back into an awkward silence again as he continues driving towards the Highwind, where they had dropped Cloud and Tifa off.
The Highwind is already there when he parks the car, and everyone is waiting at the base of the ship—Cid Highwind included.
Nearly the moment Charlie gets out of the car, she's on the ground in a flash of red and green, a loud grunt escaping her as both Nanaki and Yuffie knock the wind out of her.
"Ouch! Watch my hand, would you?" Charlie groans, allowing herself to be manhandled by a teenage girl and her animal companion. "It's good to see you, too."
"Yuffie . . . !" Reeve starts, before turning away and blushing, sending Cait Sith over for some damage control before he draws too much attention to himself.
The sound of his voice makes Yuffie lift her head, however, one arm wrapped around Charlie's neck in a playful headlock, and Nanaki's lying over Charlie's legs, pinning her to the ground. Jumping off her immediately, Yuffie springs to her feet and looks him up and down very critically, a wide green creeping onto her youthful face.
While Charlie is still brushing herself off and regaining her breath, Yuffie elbows her in the arm and asks, "Gonna introduce us to your hunky new friend, Charlie?"
Reeve blushes harder, holding his hands behind his back as everyone looks at him all at once. The only people he hasn't met in person yet are Yuffie and Nanaki, but it still doesn't make him any less nervous. The two of them obviously care very much for Charlie, and he doesn't want to make a bad impression.
"If you're going to give me a moment to breathe." Charlie smiles, giving him a small shrug and cocking an eyebrow. Stepping towards him, she puts a hand on his back and urges him forward. "You already know him a little, of course. This is Reeve."
"Kind of a pretty boy, aren't you?" Yuffie asks again, putting her hands on his hips and resuming her very pointed inspection of him.
Reeve frowns, scrunching his nose and fidgeting with his tie. He shouldn't have worn one today. He should have remembered he isn't meeting with the board of directors (or getting married, as Charlie had put it so lovingly before), but with a ragtag band of heroes that don't care about the way he dresses.
"Charlie led us to believe you were going to be taller," Nanaki adds and, overhearing this, Barret nods in agreement.
Charlie blinks down at him. "How exactly did I do that? He's plenty tall. Taller than me, anyway."
"I was only trying to make a joke," Nanaki pouts, as if sorry that she's misunderstood his intentions, but Charlie giggles, and that alone seems to reassure them all. "It's good to meet you. Charlie has told us much about you."
The breath leaves Reeve all at once, as if he was the one who had been pounced on and thrown to the ground. They don't hate him, and they're all glad to be here with him—no, with Charlie—no, with them both. The thought makes his heart race, and when Cid Highwind—standing with Vincent a bit further away than everyone else—gives both he and Charlie a slight nod, it's almost cathartic.
He doesn't have the energy to hold a grudge. It's useless to be angry about it now, and after all, Barret had told him that Cid had returned to Rocket Town to make things right with Shera. Perhaps the pilot has finally gotten it through his thick head that Charlie would never—
No, he can't think like that anymore. These people are his friends, his partners—and that includes Cid, like it or not.
Just like last time, the good-byes they exchange are short, empty promises to return after Sephiroth is defeated and Meteor is destroyed. Tifa hugs him, and Yuffie's sole goal seems to make him as uncomfortable as possible, tugging at his tie and laughing at his solid gold cufflinks and circling him like a vulture until Charlie snaps at her to stop and apologize.
Yuffie obeys almost immediately, standing in front of him and looking sincerely apologetic. "I'm only teasing, old man. Relax!"
"So, after this is all over, we'll come back and have a beer, right?" Barret says as Cloud orders them back on the ship. "To celebrate, of course."
"Right," Charlie answers, smiling and nodding. "Good luck. We're counting on you."
He and Charlie say a more private good-bye to Cait Sith, and Reeve laments over the potential outcomes, but the cat is optimistic and eager to help their friends save the world, so they choose to let Cait go without any further protests.
They wait by the car, waving to their friends until the Highwind is off the ground and flying off towards the north. The evidence of their landing is still clear in the grassy field, and Reeve looks off into the sky for a moment.
He doesn't feel good about their chances, but doesn't want to voice it to Charlie.
"That wasn't so horrible, was it?" Charlie wraps her arms around his middle, kissing the underside of his jaw. "Let me drive back. You don't look so well."
"I feel fine. I don't mind."
"Are you ever going to let me do anything for you?"
"Oh, Charlie." Reeve lowers his eyes from the sky to her pretty face. "You do things for me every day."
"Like what?"
He smiles weakly down at her, the back of his legs pressed up against the front bumper of the car, hands squeezing her shoulders. "Loving me, for one."
"That doesn't count."
"Why not?" he asks.
Charlie giggles. He can't begin to fathom how she could possibly find humor in their current situation, but then it occurs to him that she might be putting on this brave act for him. Is he such a coward?
"Because it's so easy to love you," she tells him, untangling herself from his hold and laughing again, holding up the car keys she seems to have stolen out of his back pocket.
Elmyra is desperate and exasperated when Charlie and Reeve return home, clearly very troubled. No doubt she's struggling to accept her fate, and she's been doing such an excellent job putting on a brave face for Marlene with the rest of them.
"Where is Marlene?" Reeve asks, looking around the living room as if expecting her to be hiding.
"She's locked herself in her bedroom," Elmyra explains, sighing heavily and leaning back against the sofa. It looks as if she's been crying, but Charlie chooses not to mention it. "She hasn't stopped crying since her father left, and she refuses to unlock the door for me."
"Charlie, you should try to go talk to her," Reeve suggests casually. "Go up there and see if she'll let you in."
"Me?" Charlie gasps, laughing nervously as she looks up at him to find his expression very serious. "But why? I hardly know her. You should go talk to her."
He puts a hand on the small of her back, giving her a pleading look. "Because she likes you, and you know how she feels more than either of us."
Even Elmyra seems to agree with him, arms folded across her chest and her eyebrows raised. Charlie almost feels as if she's being silently scolded by her own mother. Not wanting to disappoint either of them, she agrees reluctantly, and Reeve gives her a kiss on the forehead in both thanks and good-luck.
Once she's outside Marlene's bedroom, she can still hear the sniffles and muffled sobs coming from within. It's an all-too-familiar situation, though Barret's cause for leaving is far better than any reason Charlie's own father ever gave her. Lifting a hand to the door, she knocks quietly.
"Marlene, it's Charlie. Can I come in, sweetheart?"
There's a long pause, but after a few long seconds, the lock clicks open. Charlie waits until Marlene is done shuffling around inside, only opening the door after she whines, "Come in!"
Charlie hasn't yet been inside Marlene's room, but it's exactly what she expected of a little girl's room. There are some pictures hanging on the walls that look to have been torn out of magazines, the floor is scattered with toys, her small desk is covered with paper and crayons, and she's surrounded by stuffed animals—and Cat—on her narrow bed. She closes the door behind her, taking it all in for a moment.
There's a drawing on her nightstand, and it's so familiar to her that she picks it up without thinking. It's the cityscape of Midgar, and her heart flutters when she realizes it's the cityscape from their bedroom window, from their apartment back in Midgar.
"Did Reeve draw this for you?" she asks Marlene with a small smile.
She nods, brushing the backs of her fingers from Cat's head to his tail. Her eyes are red and puffy, and she hiccoughs every few seconds, sniffling and coughing.
Charlie sets the drawing back down, moving some stuffed animals around to give her room to sit upon the bed. "Isn't he wonderful?"
"Yes, but he's . . ."
"Not your daddy?"
Marlene looks down at Cat sheepishly, nodding again.
"You know . . ." Charlie inhales deeply, looking at the top of Marlene's head. "My mother left when I was very little, and my father wasn't around very much." And then, she adds, "Do you know who my father was, Marlene?"
She lifts her head slowly. Another nod.
"Just like you, I had other people take care of me a lot. There was one man, Veld. He was just as much my family as my father was."
"What was he like?"
Charlie thinks for a moment. She doesn't think it's a good idea to tell her the truth right now. Telling Marlene that she was raised by the leader of the Turks—the fiercest and toughest man she's ever known—doesn't seem like a good way to connect with her.
"I guess . . . well, Reeve reminds me of him." Charlie blushes the moment the words leave her mouth, glad that the implications of such a statement have likely gone right over Marlene's head. "I know how you feel, Marlene. I know that it's hard, but you have to remember that your father is doing this for you, so you can have a long and happy life together. And while he's gone, you are surrounded by people who love you so much."
Marlene looks up at her, wide and dark eyes filled with tears. Cat remains curled up at the side of her thigh, purring quietly as if to comfort the poor girl.
"We're here to help you, all right?" Charlie strokes Marlene's hair, tucking it behind a small ear. "And we can't do that if you lock yourself in your room and don't tell us what's going on. You don't have to be brave for us."
She nods once again, but bursts into tears shortly after, holding her arms out towards Charlie. Charlie obliges her, pulling Marlene closer and allowing her to curl up at her side, her face pressed into her side as she cries warm tears. Cat kneads against her thighs before settling in her lap, and Charlie tenses.
But the anxiety is gone after a moment. Marlene isn't afraid of her—Marlene doesn't realize the power she holds (she used to hold), isn't afraid of nuzzling against the vice president's side and sobbing over her eco-terrorist father, isn't nervous about breaking down in front of her. Marlene had allowed her in, not Reeve or Elmyra.
Emboldened by this small fact, Charlie tries to picture the kind of person her own little-girl-self would need in this situation. How had Veld comforted her when she missed her father?
She decides to say nothing, letting Marlene cry all she wants, letting her know it's okay to cry, to be sad about it. She holds the girl to her, wondering what it might feel like to hold a little girl of her own, to comfort her own daughter.
A dream out of reach now, she thinks.
Eventually, Marlene cries herself to sleep with an arm curled around Cat and nuzzled against Charlie's side. Charlie almost falls asleep, too, just on the verge when she hears a soft knocking on the door. She opens her eyes to find Reeve peeking inside.
"Everything all—?"
He stops abruptly, taking in the scene, but when Charlie flashes him a small smile, he doesn't smile back. There's something sad about him, and after realizing all seems well, mutters a hasty "Excuse me" before retreating too quickly to be completely normal.
It's easy enough to move Cat, and Charlie slips away from Marlene without waking her, chasing after Reeve, but not before covering her with a blanket.
"Is she all right?" Elmyra asks her, scrubbing the dishes in the kitchen. She's taking her sweet time, too, probably to keep herself distracted.
"She's asleep now," Charlie says. "She'll be fine. Have you seen Reeve?"
Elmyra's eyes flick towards the back door, a guilty look on her face. When Charlie takes a step forward, she's shocked that the other woman moves quickly to block her from going outside. Elmyra stands anxiously in the threshold, hands clutching the doorframe.
"Excuse me," Charlie says again, trying to move past her, but Elmyra doesn't move. "You're not going to let me go out there?"
"Reeve has been very good to us," Elmyra tells her very firmly, as if Charlie doesn't already know what Reeve has done for them, as if Charlie isn't appreciative.
"I'm not going to hurt him."
Elmyra's face says very plainly: but you already have.
Charlie tries to be reasonable. She doesn't want Elmyra to think she's just as unhinged as her brother. "I just want to talk to him. I don't know what you think I'm going to do to him."
Accepting defeat, Elmyra lowers her hands to her sides, lingering in front of the back door. "He's been through enough."
That gives Charlie pause, though she couldn't say why. Though, the more she thinks about it, the clearer it seems to become. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been forced into this position. If it weren't for her, he could have settled down with a nice girl years ago. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been subjected to years of mockery or harsh criticism and judgement.
Reeve has done so much for her, more than she's ever done for him, more than she could ever do for him.
"I know what he's been through," Charlie whispers, feeling the anger rise up inside her. "Please let me pass now."
She finds him outside, seated in a chair on the back patio, elbows on his thighs and his head in his hands, dark hair hiding his face from view.
Meteor is closer than ever, hours away from making contact with Midgar and the surrounding area. It's sobering to know that she will probably die tonight, and Charlie is surprised with how numb she feels towards the whole thing.
There's no point fighting it, she tells herself. It's a very real possibility, and there's nothing I can do about it now.
Charlie bites down on her bottom lip, taking a few steps closer. She isn't sure whether or not he wants her to be here, but it doesn't stop her from placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Reeve?"
He lifts his head from his hands, looking a man defeated, shoulders slumped and his hair disheveled and a deep frown on his face. "Charlotte—" Sighing, he shakes his head. "No. Stay."
It's her turn to frown, remaining frozen to the spot.
"Gods," he sighs again, sitting up only to lean back in his chair. "Why did you leave?"
"I—" Charlie blushes heatedly. "I thought you—"
"No, no—I know why you left, it's just—" When Reeve looks up at her next, it breaks her heart. "Seeing you like that with Marlene and Cat, I just can't help but wonder what could have been."
She suddenly remembers what Reno had told her weeks ago, when she had been dragged back from Gongaga, about her disappearance causing Reeve to drag his feet. She has hurt him terribly, the very last person in the whole word she wanted to hurt.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I've quite . . . processed what's about to happen, and I don't mean to take it out on you."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. If anyone should be apologizing, it's me," she assures him, kneeling down in the grass in front of him to look up into his face. She puts her hands on his knees, meeting no resistance. "Reeve, you've done nothing wrong."
"Then why does it feel like I've done nothing right? If I've done nothing wrong, then why have I lost everything?"
Charlie won't deny that his statement hurts. Perhaps she flinches, because Reeve immediately looks apologetic. "You still have me."
"Do I?"
"I begged to see you when the Turks brought me back from Gongaga," she admits, though it doesn't seem to catch his interest as much as she hoped it might. "I was going to explain everything, and apologize to you, but no one would bring you to me. And when I saw that you had moved out, I . . . I was just happy you were safe, even if you didn't want me anymore. Even if you didn't want me anymore, I still would have done anything to keep you safe."
He doesn't look entirely convinced.
"I cried myself to sleep for weeks after I left Costa del Sol. All I wanted was to wake up and be with you again, but . . ." Charlie hesitates. If she doesn't say it now, she may not get another chance. "I couldn't live like that. Even if I had nothing with Avalanche, at least I was free. At least I was a person to them, with feelings and ideas, even if they weren't well-received. I was never going to be that in Midgar. I didn't want to be my brother's hostage anymore, and I didn't want you to be that, either."
Reeve smiles weakly at her. "Let's not talk about this now—"
"If not now, then when?" she asks, stamping her foot, blushing afterwards. "When I left with Avalanche again from Rocket Town, I didn't think I was ever going to go back home. I didn't think I was ever going to see you again. I didn't intend on surviving until everything that happened at the Northern Crater. I tried to see you in Junon, too, but Rufus wouldn't allow it."
He exhales softly. She tenses, assuming that he's laughing at her, but that fear is put to rest when he says, "I tried to see you, too. But all I left with was a broken nose."
Charlie doesn't answer right away. She doesn't think his broken nose is very funny at all. "Rufus broke your nose because you . . . wanted to see me?"
"No, not quite," he confesses. "I may have said some things I've been keeping in for a while."
She can only imagine the things Reeve has been keeping inside for years. "I love you," she blurts out, the only thing she can think to say, "and I am so sorry if I ever made you think or feel otherwise. I will never hurt you again."
"An easy promise to make now," he mutters bitterly, but when he looks up at Meteor, Charlie knows that bitterness is not directed towards her.
"A promise I fully intend on following through with—if we survive Meteor." She rests her cheek upon his knee, closing her eyes when his fingers brush some of her hair out of her face. "I would only hurt your cause, whatever you set out to do. You know that, don't you?"
"I think that's something we can seriously consider only once we know Meteor isn't going to destroy the planet."
Charlie thinks that's fair. They'll find out the fate of the planet by tonight.
His anxiety is through the roof, but he isn't going to let it show. Not in front of everyone else.
With Elmyra cooking a late lunch, using as much food in the house as she can, Charlie and Marlene color quietly at the kitchen table with Cat lying at their feet.
"Look at mine. I think it's turning out well. Looks just like you, doesn't it?" Charlie holds her drawing up to Marlene, who examines it very critically. "Your nose, here—"
"That doesn't look like my nose!" Marlene protests, sticking her tongue out at Charlie teasingly.
"No?" Charlie smiles, returning to her drawing again.
Reeve lowers his eyes again to his own piece of work, holding a napkin in his lap with one hand and a ballpoint pen with the other. He watches Charlie's face change from across the table, taking on a more troubled expression the moment Marlene is distracted again.
She's anxious, as well. She does a very admirable job of hiding it, especially from Marlene, but he knows Charlie too well and has become accustomed to this worried look of hers through the eyes of Cait Sith over the past few weeks. She's letting her guard down, letting herself be vulnerable, chewing on her lip as her leg bounces beneath the table.
He thinks that anxiety is portrayed in his little sketch, so unlike the rest of the drawings he's done, most of them involving Charlie in some state of undress, posing sweetly for him.
His hands are shaking slightly, though it's taken this long to notice. Half of him is too preoccupied keeping up with Cait Sith in order to be fully attentive, not that anyone seems to mind.
It's going to take hours for Cloud and the others to navigate the winding tunnels of the Northern Crater. If they're lucky, they'll reach Sephiroth just before Meteor strikes. One wrong turn, or a monster that's too strong, however . . .
After they eat, Elmyra puts a movie on for Marlene, who asks him and Charlie to play cards. While Elmyra knits on the sofa, the three of them smile and laugh and play cards on the floor of the living room, putting on a rousing show for each other, as if trying to see who can be the happiest.
His anxiety just keeps getting worse.
He can't stay here and count down the hours he has left playing family.
He wants to go back to Midgar, to the place where it all started for him. He wants to help, wants to do what he can while their friends are off doing their part.
But he can't just bring Charlie with him—that would be the most irresponsible thing he could do, and if he did happen to survive Meteor, he can count about six people that might kill him for doing something so stupid.
And she would only be upset if he left her behind here.
After their card game ends, the sun has begun to set, and the wind has begun to pick up. Reeve can hear it howling outside, making the windows rattle, and Elmyra turns up the television to drown out the sound.
It won't be long now, and Cloud and the others still haven't reached Sephiroth.
"Reeve, can I talk to you upstairs for a minute?"
Charlie is already on her feet, looking down at him with her lip still caught between her teeth.
Assuming she wants to ask about Cait Sith and their progress at the Northern Crater, Reeve follows her upstairs to the bedroom while thinking of things that he could say to her that might sound reassuring.
What he doesn't expect is for Charlie to take him by the hands, look very seriously up into his face, and say, "I think we should go back to Midgar."
Reeve blinks at her in answer. Unable to speak, he brings his hands to either side of her face and kisses her hard, teeth clacking together and a surprised little noise from her throat that's immediately stifled.
Charlie wraps her arms around her neck, and he stumbles backwards slightly, but she goes with him. For a moment, there is nothing in the world but the hand on the back of his neck and the open mouth pressed against his own, her tongue tasting of tea, her breathing hard and her breath hot.
When she breaks apart from him to catch her breath, resting her forehead against his own, his brain can't quite catch up. Her bright red lipstick is smeared all around her mouth, pink against her creamy skin and the underside of her long nose.
"I love you," they both whisper, and this time, he laughs with her.
"Are you sure?" Reeve asks her breathlessly, once the soft laughter has died out.
"Positive," she answers, nodding. "I can't bear to think I might die without having done everything I could."
"We would have to leave right now."
"Don't keep me waiting, then."
The words almost slip out of him, just like they had when she had worked whatever magic she did the first time he asked her to marry him. Every little thing before now seems so insignificant, and the only thing that seems to matter is that she's here now, and there's still a very small chance that they may survive, which is a very small chance at a future with her without Shinra's influence weighing on the both of them.
Reeve leans in to kiss her again, but Charlie stops him with a hand on her chest and a smile on her face. "There's no time!"
"Sorry," he says, blushing. "You're right. Just give me a few moments."
Charlie doesn't lower her hand right away. She continues to smile at him, swiping at his bottom lip with her thumb, the pad of it coming away pink, and she giggles quietly.
Before doing anything, he decides to change, dressing in a suit to mark his final return to the city that made him, dressing for his own funeral. He doesn't know, nor care, if anyone remembers him now, but he refuses to die without any dignity left to him.
Charlie wipes the smeared lipstick off his mouth, ties his tie for him and slides his tie clip in place, puts his cufflinks on, smooths out the wrinkles in his white shirt best she can until she's satisfied, all in silence. Even as they stand together in the bathroom, shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the mirror as Charlie fixes her makeup and he does his hair, it's done quietly, a very practiced routine that they've been doing for years.
He even kisses her cheek like he used to, watching her eyes flutter closed and a small smile creep onto her face in the mirror.
"You are so beautiful, Charlotte." The words are pulled from him, unbidden, but that doesn't mean they aren't true.
Charlie looks at his reflection, absolutely radiant when she beams at him.
Sighing, Reeve reaches into his pocket, where the loose ring taunts him. It would look better on her finger, on full display for the world to see during its last hours.
No one deserves the ring more than she does (after all, it had been made special just for her), but a lot has happened these past weeks. He had watched her fall in love with the pilot, no matter what she says to deny it.
And yet, Cait Sith himself had overheard her say, very plainly to Cid, I don't love you.
And she had come back the moment Reeve was in trouble, had chosen to remain here, had chosen to die with him instead of anyone else in the world.
He makes his decision quickly, because it's the end of the world. While she's reapplying her lipstick, Reeve pulls it out of his pocket, holding it up and finding he can't speak with the lump in his throat.
Had it been so difficult last time? No, it hadn't. He had been stupid enough to let it slip at his most vulnerable.
Charlie catches sight of it quickly enough, turning to face him with her lipstick still in her hand. "What are you doing?" she asks him with wide eyes.
He takes the lipstick out of her hand, placing it on the corner of the sink, and takes her hand in his own, but she pulls away, looking frightened.
"What's wrong?"
"I just . . . don't want this if you're not serious about it."
Reeve frowns. "What makes you think I'm not serious?"
"Don't give that to me just because you think we're going to die."
Damn. Does it seem so obvious to her?
No. It's not true, though. Of course he wants to marry her, and even if she doesn't want to marry him, he at least wants to get rid of the damned thing so he doesn't have to constantly remember what he had lost.
"I love you," he says, giving a casual shrug of his shoulders. "It doesn't have to be anything more than a ring, if that's what you want."
"Of course I want it to be more than that. But I want you to feel that way, too."
Giving her a very exasperated look, he scoffs lightly, reaching out for her hand again, meeting no resistance this time. "Don't act like I'll ever not love you."
The ring looks just as pretty on her finger now as it did before. Charlie looks down at it for a long time before meeting his eyes again. "I don't deserve you."
"No?" he asks mildly, raising an eyebrow. "You were the only person who ever supported me within the company. The only person who fought for me. The only person who loved me. Even with Avalanche, you defended me."
"Why wouldn't I?"
Reeve smiles at her. She's just proved his point without even realizing it, and he kisses the ring on her finger before releasing her hand. "Hurry," he whispers, and she gives him a very determined nod.
When he and Charlie re-enter the living room, Elmyra doesn't seem surprised in the slightest to see them with bags slung over their shoulders, dressed as if they're ready to attend a board meeting.
She sighs heavily and sets her knitting down beside her on the sofa. "You're going back to Midgar, aren't you?"
Marlene jumps to her feet from her place upon the floor. "You're leaving?"
"Just for a little while," Reeve tells her gently. "We'll be back as soon as we can. But I have a very important job for you until we come back. A job that I can only trust you to do."
This has piqued Marlene's interest. When he kneels, she approaches. "What is it?"
"I need you to take care of Elmyra and Cat while we're in Midgar. Do you think you can do that? Can you be on your best behavior until I'm back?"
Marlene considers him, but then smiles, nodding very dramatically. "Okay," she says, throwing her arms around his neck.
Reeve looks up at Charlie, who's smiling softly down at him. Marlene may or may not know that he might never come back (though, she's smarter than he sometimes gives her credit for), so her good-bye seems very temporary, like he's just told her he'll be away on business for a little while.
With Marlene's cheek settled over his heart, he can't help but feel his heart beat a little faster. This house had been safety over the last few weeks, a true home while Charlie was away, and the people inside of it had made it that way, even if they aren't his real family.
"I'll see you soon," he says, another empty promise whispered into the girl's ear before he disentangles himself from her and stands back up.
Elmyra is on her feet, as well, looking teary-eyed. Charlie watches their interaction closely, arms folded across her chest and seemingly uncomfortable while they're saying their last good-byes.
Elmyra's soft hands touch either side of his face, her lips pursed. She's shorter than him by a head, but far more intimidating than he could ever hope to be himself. Perhaps she doesn't want to say too much in front of Marlene, especially while she's listening so attentively.
A thumb brushes lightly over his cheekbone before her hands are gone, cradled against her chest. "We'll leave the light on for the both of you," she tells them quietly, turning to Charlie. "Take care of him. He's been very good to us."
Charlie smiles at him. "I will."
He doesn't have any doubts when they approach the car, hurrying inside to escape the brutal wind.
She's delighted that he drives so fast, but he isn't doing it to impress her, despite what he says. A few miles outside of Kalm, he urges her to call Tseng, to ask about the state of Midgar.
Reeve is genuinely surprised when Tseng answers so quickly, the faint sound of a helicopter in the distance as Charlie holds his phone up between them.
"Tseng, it's me," she begins, "I'm with Reeve. We're on our way back to Midgar—"
"You what?" He sounds out of breath. "Put Reeve on the phone right now—"
"No! Leave him alone. It was my idea," Charlie protests, frowning down at the phone. "We just left Kalm—"
"Charlotte, I would not be doing my job if I told you this is madness," Tseng answers, and she opens her mouth to speak, but he continues before she can get the words out. "That being said—Veld and I will meet you both at the northern entrance to Midgar. It's chaos here. Be prepared for the worst."
"All right. We're ready. I'll call you soon." Charlie hangs up the call and gives his phone back, sighing and leaning back in her seat just as rain begins to sprinkle on the windshield. "Do you remember what Bugenhagen said about my mother?"
"Yes, of course."
She turns in her seat to face him. She never wears her seatbelt, but this time, she is. "Do you think they're watching over us? Do you think they see how hard we're trying?"
"Who? Your mother?"
"Her, and Angeal." Charlie looks nervous when she mentions his name, but Reeve only smiles weakly at her. It seems to reassure her. "And Aerith."
Reeve considers it. He hadn't really believed Bugenhagen and his touching sentiment, but now, after everything he's learned and seen . . .
"Yes," he answers, sure of it, "I do."
Charlie takes his hand in her own, squeezing. "You okay?"
"I'm okay. You?"
She nods slightly, smiling. "I'm good."