Chapter 46

Things seemed to become routine. Cadan and his people hadn't been seen since Zena had burned down the pub, and the attacks on ShinRa employees had appeared to cease overnight. Aura continued to go to Healen Lodge every day and work on trying to do something about the Geostigma. She had lunch every day with Reno and Elena and Rude. Sometimes Tseng joined them, and sometimes Zena did. Each evening she would go home and work in her garden until the sun had begun to set, and then she would head inside. Reno would arrive not long after that and they would prepare dinner and sit on the couch as they watched something on the television as they ate together. When they were tired, she would take him to bed and they would wrap around one another, familiar and content with the warm comfort they found there.

As Aura stepped out of her house, having gotten changed into some comfortable loose-fitting clothing to garden in, she spotted her neighbour Maati waving her over from the other side of the fence.

"Hi!" she called, heading his way. She smiled when she reached him. "How have you been?"

"Just fine, darlin'" he replied, reaching into his pocket. Aura watched him pull out a small packet. "I brought these back with me." He held the packet out to her. "They're seeds for your garden."

"Oh!" Aura took the packet with a smile. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." He said, his eyes moving to her garden behind her. "You've done some work out here in the last few weeks."

"Yeah." Aura turned to survey her work. "Yeah… It's comin' along, yo."

"It'll look good when it's all in bloom." Maati smiled at her and Aura nodded. "Have you been okay?" he asked her, "Before I left, you seemed to be getting pretty busy in and out of the place…"

"I suppose so…"

"Hope you didn't get yourself into any trouble… you know how things can get around here…"

Aura tilted her head, looking the man over. Did he know that she worked for ShinRa now? How would he have felt about that? "I… I'm okay." She said and he smiled again.

"Alright…" he said gruffly, and waved a hand at her garden, "Well, if you need some help, let me know."

"That's kind of you." She replied, nodding. "I will." Maati smiled one last time at her and then turned to head inside, and Aura walked across to where she would be working for the afternoon. A glance at the sky told her she had about an hour of good sunlight left, and she figured she could get the new garden bed she was digging done well before then. She might even have time to start planting. Eying the end of the garden bed, Aura considered the packet of seeds Maati had given her. Perhaps she could extend the bed a little further… that would require more digging, however.

Crouching down, Aura set to work.

Elena pulled her collar up against the swiftly cooling evening air as she walked down the street. Things had been pretty calm and peaceful the last little while, but Elena couldn't help feeling that Cadan and his people were just biding their time. Their pub may have burned down, but there had been no sign of any of them around there afterwards. They had picked up and left. Elena was sure they'd found somewhere else to congregate. She would find them.

If she managed to be the one to locate their enemies, Elena was sure that the President would see how far she had come. He would see that she wasn't just some rookie anymore. She had to prove herself after how she had messed up with Aura and Zena. She had to prove her worth.

The wind shifted and the light faded, and Elena shrank into the lengthening shadows. She had noticed the increasing number of frowns and second looks she had been receiving for at least the last twenty minutes. She did not want to be taken by surprise again, and she definitely did not want to be killed. Her eyes scanned the street, looking for any signs of anybody she recognised. She was pretty sure that she remembered a few faces from that time she had been drugged when they'd tried to go undercover. Would they recognise her? She didn't know, but she knew that the uniform was a giveaway.

She had nothing specific to be looking for, but she had noticed the definite difference in the way that people reacted to her uniform, and she had tried to follow that. Eventually, she had come to a large warehouse and, fading into the shadows, Elena tried to watch and see if anything would be of use. A warehouse would make sense. Would this be where they intended to store the shipment from Junon? The fake cure?

She pulled out her phone to take a few pictures and decided she should head back to Healen to see what Tseng thought. Glancing at her watch, Elena wondered if the man would still be at his desk. She would be rather surprised if he was not. Tseng always knew what to do. Perhaps the two of them could return and scope the place out a little more. She would definitely like that.

The smirk that worked its way on to Elena's face was followed by irritation at herself. She was meant to be professional. How was she meant to prove that she wasn't an incompetent child when she couldn't even keep her mind on what she was doing?

By the time she had gotten back to Healen, nearly everyone had left and there was merely the faint glow of the sun hovering over the horizon. True to form, Tseng was at his desk and Elena dropped down into a chair facing him. His sleek hair shone in the bright light coming from overhead and she watched him write something on the form he was reading. "Sir…"

"I did notice you, Elena." He said, not looking up.

"Sorry…"

Tseng put his pen down and looked at her calmly. "You have something to tell me?"

Elena handed her phone to him, and watched as he took it, raising a questioning eyebrow at her as he did so. "I might have found them." She said.

By the time Reno got to Aura's house it was dark. He was, then, rather surprised to find her still in the garden on her hands and knees as she dug at a garden bed. "Aura, sweetheart, what are you doing?" he asked mildly, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at her.

"Gardening."

"In the dark?"

She looked up and around, as if she hadn't noticed. "I… wanted to get it finished, so I can plant tomorrow."

Reno squinted at what she was doing. "Okay… you go inside and shower, I'll finish this."

"Really?"

"Sure thing, yo." He gestured at the house and Aura got to her feet. She moved closer and then pulled him down so she could press a kiss to his cheek before bounding away and into the house. Reno turned on the garden and picked up a nearby hoe.

Twenty minutes later, Reno had finished and headed inside to find Aura in the kitchen. Her hair was still damp from her shower and she stood over the stove, stirring something in a pan. Reno allowed his eyes to move over her as he approached, and he couldn't help a small smile work its way onto his lips. "That smells amazing." He told her. She turned to look at him with a wide smile.

"Doesn't it, yo?"

"Mhmm…" He slid an arm around her waist from behind and was pleased when she leaned back into him as she continued to steadily stir the vegetables in the pan. Reno dipped his head to press his lips to the side of her throat and felt a soft laugh shake her.

"Reno…"

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Don't distract me…" she said, "I'm cooking…"

"That is true…"

"Why don't you go and have a quick shower?" she suggested, "You've just been digging in dirt… and by the time you get out this will be ready…"

"As you wish." He let her go and headed for the hallway. He really did need a shower.

By the time Reno had gotten out of the shower, Aura had left clean clothing for him by the door. He was grateful that he had begun leaving some of his things at her place recently, as he hadn't been looking forward to putting his dirty stuff on again. Heading back into the living room, he reflected on how much everything had changed since she had learned what it was that he did for ShinRa, and since Rufus had learned that she existed. He didn't suppose he could have let them know about her before the world had nearly been obliterated, the rules had definitely changed since then, but he did wish that things could have been this way sooner.

He found her sitting on the couch, two plates before her on the small table, and she smiled at him as he approached. "Still smells really good." He said, sitting beside her.

"Thanks for finishing out in the garden." She replied and Reno just winked at her and her smile widened. "Eat that before it gets cold." She jerked her chin at his plate and he picked it up. He raised his fork to his lips, and his eyes returned to Aura as he chewed. He wondered what she thought of their playing House the last little while. She seemed content, and he hoped that she was. A home like this, with comfort and a garden was something that he knew she had always wanted, and the fact that she was working as hard as she had been out in that garden recently spoke volumes.

He did not think that she would be happy to leave. If Cadan knowing where she was made this place unsafe, then Reno would have to rectify that situation. He would make sure that this place, her home, was entirely safe and that nobody would threaten that. He would do whatever it took to ensure that she was never threatened again.