- A Final Fantasy VII Reno Fanfiction - by Nightcrawler666 -

Warningz! Character death here! :'(

So sorry FireWolfHeart (thx for the review!) but no, Tseng isn't staying with us… Tell me what you think cos it's my first time… killing… someone important in a fanfic, mainly because this is my first fanfic O.o

Chapter 14 - Born to Die

"No! This wasn't meant to happen! That should have been me!" Elena fussed again, crying all over her leader's dead body. She'd already sworn to him while on his dying breath to take care of herself better. She felt herself being pulled back by strong arms and was surprised to see her lover Rude pulling her into his chest. She gave up all attempts to run after Tseng when the ShinRa infantrymen came to carry his body away.

Rude held her there for a few minutes before he was confident she was alright, then ran to Reno. Thankfully, his attacker had merely cast Sleep on him, and with Lou's foundations he had fallen safely to the floor. Lou had her bloody head nestled in his side, her crying was muffled and her knuckles were white from the strong grip she had on his shirt. Rude sighed and silently tried to pry her away.

"Elena, no!" Tseng yelled, running over and hitting the floor hard with numerous bullets in his back. His vision blurred madly. Elena rolled him onto his back and stood for a moment, taking time to stomp with complete malice on her enemy's face. She let out a satisfied grunt when she rightfully perceived him as being dead.

Tseng's breaths were shallow and pointless, but Elena tried all she could. She spoke to him with as much of a smooth voice as she could through her tears. All the while Rude watched from the sidelines. His voice was unclear and choked when he finally spoke to her.

She felt his hand on hers and Tseng's head rolled sideways to meet her eyes. His grip was loose and his white hands were cold. It was like he'd already gone.

"It's alright Elena. I was born to die…"He said, then his eyes slowly fluttered shut and his chest heaved as his last breath left him.

"Tseng? Tseng! Tseng, I promise to you, I will always take care of myself from now. You weren't meant to- It should've been me! Oh, Goddess why wasn't it me? I'm so sorry Tseng!" She wept, resting her head on his motionless chest.

Lou was taken away to the infirmary while Tseng was taken to the morgue. Rude drove Elena home and Rufus came around with some more infantrymen to take Reno to his ShinRa apartment. All in all, everyone had something that was annoying them, or affecting them in such a way that they couldn't lie down without fear for a loved one.

Lou and Elena had both mentioned symptoms. Lou was sat up with the bloodstained bandages on her head and forearms, rocking back and forth chanting Reno's name in hope he would magically appear and take her away from her despair. Elena was sitting in silence with a plate of untouched Lasagne in front of her. Rude sat beside her and comforted her all he could, although deep down he felt the same pain she did.

It was raining at the funeral. Elena stood in her Turk suit and as did everyone else, including Reno. When he woke up and heard the terrible news he'd gone berserk, punching holes in windows and shooting with no end at targets in the practice range. He was silent about it though, only talking to Lou about anything he wanted to talk about.

Elena lay down the white lotus flower on Tseng's grave. A tear fell there with it even though the blonde Turk tried hard to stop it, and she quickly retracted back under the black umbrella with Rude. Reno and Lou stood in silence, mourning with only tears, and when the four remaining Turks retreated the crying found noise.

Lou and Reno sat alone on Lou's sofa, watching Dangermouse. Everything seemed to remind Reno of Tseng. Goddamnit, even Dangermouse! Lou hadn't stopped crying since the funeral, and neither of them had eaten since the incident when their leader was shot.

Reno wished he could have seen him one last time. The last time he saw him was in the office, working. He was always irritable when working. If Reno knew what was going to happen he would never have let Rude call him, never have let him come any closer to the man, never have let him bleed to death while he lay unconscious on the floor. He should have seen it coming.

Lou blamed herself - if she wasn't occupied by the urge to cry all over Reno then she could have saved him. She was also sure everyone blamed themselves. Suddenly she felt overwhelming sympathy for Elena. If Elena hadn't walked over, Tseng wouldn't have had to jump for her, and he wouldn't of died. But no-one was to blame except fate.

That's what Rude was telling himself. He'd stayed at Elena's. They'd also sat in solitude on the sofa, as Elena cried herself to sleep in Rude's arms. Rude didn't sleep and Rude didn't cry. He thought that it was meant to happen, that even someone as great as Tseng had to fall eventually. His days had ran out on Gaia, and it was time for him to join the Lifestream.

The next day at work was horrible. Reno was now in charge of the Turks, with Rude as his second-in-command. They all had to clean out Tseng's desk, and his ShinRa apartment. It only made Elena cry even more. Even Reno was crying then, trying hard to keep it silent as he sifted through the various papers in his leader's drawers. Rude went home early, not able to cope with the stress, and Lou ended up emptying the cafeteria's dessert trays at the end of lunch. Reno had suggested comfort food, but was reluctant to practice what he preached.

Instead he went to the target range again, shooting anything that moved. And after that the boxing gym, knocking four punch bags off the ceiling fixtures that suspended them. After he was thrown out of there he took to the fencing mat, something he hadn't done in years. He defeated eight opponents before also being exiled for breaking one of the foil. Then he went home, even though he would have gladly substituted all of that worthless exercise (on an empty stomach, don't forget) just to hold Lou.