Chapter 47

Glancing over her shoulder as she snuck into the infirmary, Aura tiptoed to the bench by the windowsill and carefully set the bunch of flowers she was carrying in the vase there. She had done the same thing every day since she and Zena had been freed from Cadan, and she was pretty certain that the woman didn't know who had been leaving them for her. Aura knew that the other woman hadn't wanted anybody making a fuss over her, but Aura had wanted to do something to ensure that she knew that she was appreciated.

Rearranging the flowers in the vase, and turning it for the best angle, Aura listened carefully to the hallway outside and then turned and hurried back out the door as quickly as she could before anybody came and found her. Aura was barely halfway up the hallway, heading for her own workroom when Elena came around the corner looking flustered but excitable. "Hey Aura!"

"Hi." Aura replied, coming to a halt and looking the girl over. "What's up?"

"Tseng is talking to the Boss about something…" Elena replied, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "And if he agrees, then it means that I've done something right and I…" she paused, "I made up for messing up for…" Guilt passed across Elena's face and Aura shook her head.

"You don't still feel bad for what happened with Zena and I… that wasn't your fault."

Elena shrugged, "Well, the Boss would still see it as a failure…" Aura made a face but Elena carried on, "That's why this is important. He'll see I'm capable. That I'm an effective Turk."

"I'm sure he knows that already." Aura told her gently, "The others do. I know Reno thinks really highly of you, and it's clear Tseng does as well." She watched Elena's cheeks flush and the girl nodded, her eyes falling to the floor between them.

"Yeah, I know…" Elena met her eyes again, "But… y'know… I'm the youngest… and now I'm the only girl… and I just constantly feel like I need to defend my position, and prove I can be just as good as they can…"

Aura gave her a small smile. "I'm sure you've proven that a hundred times over, yo."

Elena shrugged again. "We'll see."

"Hey, will you train with me some time?" Aura asked the other woman, "I'd really like to learn some stuff from you. You're not much taller than me, and I reckon you'd know some stuff I could use." She smiled again when Elena nodded.

"Yeah, no worries."

Reno peered around the corner of the little street he had ducked down. With a scowl, he rubbed at his cheek, bringing away a little blood on his hand. He hadn't so much as seen the first rock coming. Since there had been no further reason for him not to be recognised, Rufus had him back in his uniform whenever he was on the clock, and so now everybody who saw him knew once again what he was. He had expected this patrol to have been as uneventful as every other one in the last little while. Nothing had been happening around Edge and he'd grown rather complacent.

The rock had hit him in the face hard enough to cause his eyes to water and he'd staggered, looking around just as the second one came at him and hit him with enough force that he'd fallen, cracking his head on the road. Sitting up, he'd squinted, raising his hand as blood ran down into his eye. Reno had been unable to place the people throwing them, but judging from the sounds he'd heard, he figured they were teens. Getting to his feet, he'd been hit again and again before he'd just turned tail and disappeared down a nearby street. He'd ducked and woven for several minutes before coming to a rest in a side street and leaning against the wall to gather himself once more.

His head hurt, and he hoped that when he got back to Healen that Zena would give him something powerful enough to stop the aching throb that was currently making his vision swim, and something to stop the incessant bleeding. He hated head wounds, they were so dramatic. Keeping one hand on the wall, Reno began slowly down the street, hoping that he didn't come across anyone else.

It took him a while but, when he finally got back to Healen, Reno found Zena in the infirmary. She was standing by the window, fiddling with a bunch of flowers in a vase.

"Zena…"

"Yes?" she turned to face him, her head tilted questioningly.

"Might need some painkillers…" He leaned against a bench and she hurried toward him. Reno let her put him on one of the beds and then he closed his eyes while she moved around the room. He opened them only when she brought him some water.

"Drink this." She told him and he did so. "Now, breathe in through this." Reno put the small tube she held out between his lips and breathed in. "Two more times…"

He shifted back on the bed more comfortably when Zena took the tube and headed back across the room. "Thanks…" he let out a relieved breath when his head stopped pounding and his vision became sharper. She returned with something soft that she pressed to his forehead and he was able to lower his hand while she quickly wiped at his blood, frowning at him as she did so.

"What happened?"

"Had a bit of a run in with some kids with rocks…"

"This will need stitching…"

Reno sighed, having guessed as much. He really missed the days when they'd had materia. "Fine…" he murmured, closing his eyes again. "Do your thing."

He sat, with his eyes closed, while Zena cleaned him up and prepared to stitch the wound. He tried to imagine he was elsewhere and to focus on literally anything other than the weird sensation that he had never become accustomed to as she pulled her thread through his skin. His eyes did not open again until she told him that she was done.

"So… rocks…?" she asked, and Reno nodded.

"Yep… not a fan, yo."

"Yeah, I'm going to look you over real quick…"

"Yeah…" he just sat there when she returned with several pieces of equipment and began scanning him. Looking around the room, Reno tried to keep still. "Nice flowers."

Zena looked at him and then returned to what she had been doing. "Mhm."

"What? Who brought them?"

"Aura." Zena replied, "She does it every day. I think she thinks I don't know it's her."

"Oh?" Reno smiled, "That sounds like her." He watched the woman try to hide a small smile. "It really means a lot." He told her, "What you did."

Zena's eyes remained on her equipment. "I know." She replied, "That's why I did it."

"Well… flowers… whatever you want, yo…" He said, "I owe you."

Zena looked at him then. "Were you and Aura together… that night we fucked at 7th Heaven?" She raised an eyebrow at him and Reno looked away.

"No. Not…" he broke off, "We hadn't… sorted that out…"

"Ah." She said, "Explains why she tried to avoid me for days afterward…"

"I… I hurt her. I shouldn't have done that…"

"So no chance of a repeat performance, then?" she asked, pressing several buttons on the thing in her hands.

"Ah… No…" He watched her for any reaction. Zena sighed and gave a shrug.

"Too bad." She looked at him again. "That was the best fuck I'd had in a while."

Reno didn't think he was breathing. "I… I… well…" he swallowed, "I…" he had absolutely no idea what to say to her. He didn't want to insult her, especially after what she'd done for Aura, but he also didn't want to give her the wrong idea and hence hope that it may happen again. He just about sighed with relief when the doors opened and Tseng walked in.

Zena pressed more buttons and said no more.

"Reno…" Tseng's dark eyes looked him over and Reno just nodded in greeting. "I've come for your report."

"I'm a bit out of it, yo…" Reno swallowed a groan at the thought of paperwork.

"I'll take it down for you." Tseng replied, "I just want you to tell me what happened."

"Is that all?" Zena asked, setting her equipment aside.

"Assuming he's capable…" Tseng's voice was flat.

"To talk? He is." The woman replied, "But I'll be keeping him here for a few hours."

"Why?" Reno asked.

"I want to keep you under observation." She replied, "Just to rule out an intracranial haemorrhage…"

"But… I can go home at the end of the day?"

"Assuming you're fine, yes."

Reno settled back against his pillow and looked at Tseng. "You got a pen, yo?"