((A/N: Welcome to Chapter Six! I'm surprised I'm still writing . I appreciate the few of you who reviewed. Oh oh oh! Before I forget! Go check out the work of mah good buddies and fellow writers, Skylander (ID# 455829) and Newin (ID# 666286) Keep them writing too! Well, here's the next chapter. Read, REVIEW (pwease? T-T), Enjoy, and keep coming back!))

Chapter Six

Not So Warm Welcome

First steps onto the Highroad brought her to an immediate halt. Her abrupt stop led Naji to run straight into her, since he had been focusing his attention a quite attractive Al Bhed woman that ran the hover service. Ren stumbled forward and then turned quickly to glare at him. He laughed nervously and she shook her head, sighing. "Drec'c frana fa ku uin cabynyda fyoc, so myto," Naji said.

"Aww," Ren complained. "Are you sure? Do we have to?" When the Al Bhed nodded, it seemed to the praetor, who stood at a bit of a distance, that the rekindled spark within Ren had just gone out. The light to her suddenly seemed dull and she put on a smile that the praetor now knew was false and she said to the Al Bhed, "Kuut poa, Naji. Drana'c y lryhla E fuh'd caa oui ykyeh..."

Eyes showing suppressed sadness, Naji looked down and replied, "E ghuf... Yht ed sygac sa fyhd du gemm res..."

A true smile glimmered on her lips for a moment and then it vanished. "That would be bad, Naji."

He gave her a friendly kiss on the forehead and walked away, back to where he had left his vehicle.

Looking to the hover, Ren looked to Baralai and said, "This way Praetor." Her tone had been kind, but he could feel she wanted to yell at him. The two, after speaking with the Al Bhed woman that Naji had oggled, boarded the hover and were taken to the road that led into the village near the Mi'ihen Highroad. The hovers had been banned from entering the village since they startled the chocobos.

Glancing down the road, Ren said softly, "This way," and entered her village. As soon as she and the praetor entered the sight of the villagers, Ren knew something was very wrong. There were no smiles, no hello, no how have you been. There were merely glares, and none of them were friendly. Turning around as she walked, looking at the faces that looked at her, she went to her home and casually opened the door.

Ren's mother turned to face her and, so shocked as she was to see her daughter and the praetor standing in the door way, she dropped the plate in her hands and it shattered upon the floor. "Naoska!" she said and then covered her mouth. A genuine smile of happiness crossed over Ren's face, but it once again quickly vanished when her mother rushed over and pulled her daughter away from the praetor and farther into the house.

Baralai stood there, watching as Ren's mother leaned in close to whisper to her daughter.

"Naoska, please leave. You can't be here anymore," she told her daughter. "If your father catches you here, he will be so angry, Naoska. Please, take him and go. Leave the village now."

"W-what? But... Mother..." Ren began, yet seeing the look on her mother's face made her quiet. "Okay." Turning, Ren didn't even say good bye before walking out the door and into the front yard. Baralai followed, and as soon as they had left the house, the door shut quickly.

Glancing around at the people she grew up with, Ren watched as they leaned into each other and whispered words she couldn't hear as they kept their eyes on her. "Traitors," she whispered so very softly to herself.

The praetor walked to her side and, hesitant at first, he put his hand gently on her shoulder. In a daze for a moment, Ren quickly snapped out of it and looked to him. She tilted her head slightly to the left and smiled a false smile that, for once, looked very forced. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. "Follow me, Praetor. I want to show you my favorite place."

Ren lead the way to a cliff that hung over a small gorge with a river running through it. Walking up to the edge of the cliff, she turned to face the praetor, hands behind her back, she smiled, and there was a great sadness in it that she was trying so desperately to cover up. He walked up next to her and she turned to the gorge. Looking up at the sky, she said softly, "At night, the sky is lit up with stars as far as the eye can see."

"We can stay until night," he told her and looked to her, watching as her eyes fell to the ground at her feet.

"I'd... rather we didn't," she replied softly.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Shaking her head, Ren replied, "No, nothing's wrong."

Turning to her, he gently took her hand in his and asked, "Are you sure?"

Tense, she looked to him and nodded, though her eyes told a completley different story.

"Well what do we have here?" said a very familiar voice to Ren's ears.

Ren and Baralai turned quickly to see a group of villagers blocking their only path back to town. "Tannan?" Ren said and looked awkwardly to him.

"What'd you think you were doing, Naoska," he said. "Bringing that bastard into our village. And then we hear you're going to marry him? You're being stupid."

"Tannan," Ren said with a heavy sigh. "Let us pass, we're leaving."

"No!" he said.

"Tannan," she nearly growled, losing her patience. "I beat you when we were younger, I can do it again!"

The group advanced on Ren and Baralai and they backed up. The praetor slipped on a loose bit of dirt on the edge and fell over. Still holding onto his hand, Ren was yanked back, but she kept a tight hold on his hand and tried with all her might to pull him back up. He caught his grip, yet just before he was back on solid ground, Ren received a hard shove to the back which sent her over the edge with a yelp. Her weight caused his grip to slide as she then clung to him for dear life.

"Ren!" the praetor shouted to her, keeping his grip tight on her hand. "Hold on!"

Her hand slipped from his and she caught quickly to his leg. Scared eyes looking up to him, she watched as he tried to pull them both up. Every time he got a good grip, his hands would slip or the ground would break. "There's no way," she said softly. When she felt his boot begin to slip from his foot, she called up to him, "Save yourself."

Eyes dropping down to her, mouth opening to protest, he reached to her, grabbing for her hand. Ren smiled weakly, a forced smile once more, and then she let go.

Curling up, she rolled down the hill, the picturesque version of a ragdoll a she hit rocks and skipped over the ground. Nearing the river, her body scraped a rock, leaving a dark crimson stain across it before she splashed into the water and failed to resurface.