I'm alive, and I'm still here! (claps)

Anyway, I have the next five chapters written out, but I'll be releasing them week by week... can't spoil the excitement, can we? Lots of submitted OC's from you will be appearing soon, since Reno and Arien are going to need all the help they can get. Hehehe.

itachi349 - I'm glad you like her. I was kinda hoping that she'd hook up with Rufus first, because... I'd NEVER EVER want to marry Reno. That's just a sure way to ruin my life. If I married Rufus I'd probably never see him around because he's too busy, but his plastic is MY plastic! I'd be buying Saks 5th Avenue... or maybe he'd already own it, which means that I'd just waltz in, empty the apparel department, and leave. What a great life.

Crazy Bubbling Blonde - Thanks! I'm planning a major rehaul of the previous two stories because I can't read it without groaning and blushing in embarrassment :-S This one doesn't have such writer-incapability-induced awkwardness. Gawd I was such an awkward writer back then. I like the couple of following chapters, because I didn't really have to struggle with any of the scenes, and it was very fun to write them.

Echo the Ethereal Swordmaster - Yes, this story is still alive! And Michele is making an appearance soon! I'm updating every week, nice and easy. No, your character isn't hyper in the story (yet). The story is sprinting forward, and so are the characters... Cloud and Tifa, Vincent Valentine are all going to make appearances in this story (sorry, not Cid, because he's not my love of my life... well, neither's Cloud, but he's popular. It's all popularity contest.)

Moonshine's Guide - Rufus received mako treatment soon after he was healed of geostigma... don't ask me how, because I just made that up right now in my chair. But yes, he's sterile, just like Cloud, Sephiroth (giggle), and everyone else who received mako treatment. Yes, Arien apologized... and that will probably be the last time that we'll ever hear it. I don't know why cults are so badassed. But I've never heard of a nice cult...

Raspberry Polar Bear - YEY! YOU'RE STILL HERE! Just like Ivy's Arien's mental support (it's NOT Reno), you're mine! Oops... yeah, it's the same phrase, not the same sentence. Obviously I'm not going into linguistics for college. I think it was really a surprise for everybody that Arien apologized, because... well, Reno here says she's a righteous old bitch, and so I guess that's what she is. Rufus saw Clarissa in a hospital back in 'Footsteps of life' at the end.

Chapter 11: The Past and the Present

Elena arrived the next day armed with a PDA and two large duffel bags. When Elena called, Arien was sleeping, and Reno was smoking on the veranda. Hearing the hotel phone ring, he ran into the room and picked up the phone, not wishing to wake up the sleeping woman.

"Yeah?" It was Reno's habit to never start a phone conversation with a more polite greeting terms, such as "hello".

"Hello, Mr. Henderson. There's a woman wishing to speak with you." Concierge. Reno hated concierges. For some reason that he could not understand, they reminded him of a sick puppy he had seen in the alley as a small child.

A woman...? No, he had not ordered a hooker, or a stripper, as far as he could remember. Tseng was too damn serious to do some prank like that. Arien had too much respect for herself to go mingle voluntarily with such a crowd. Elena would directly call his cell. He had no idea who she was. "Alright. Put her on."

It was Elena. Her piping voice filled his ear. "Reno. Where are you?"

"I'm in Room 205." He stopped. "Why the hell didn't you call my cell?"

"Because you didn't pick it up!"

"Ur..." He could not remember if he heard the phone ring. "Okay, whatever, yo."

"I'm booked in Room 311. Can I see you two in about two hours?" Elena sounded breathless, like she had been running.

"Uh." He looked at the sleeping figure. "How about three?"

"Why? Anything wrong?"

"Arien just fell asleep two hours ago, and she's exhausted," Reno expounded. "I wanna give her a few more hours."

"Okay. Three then. In your room, I'm still in a mess." The phone clicked. He returned to the veranda. The sea breeze was fresh, not hot and enveloping like Costa, but cool and a little harsh on the skin. Sticking his left hand in the jean pocket, feeling the air on his naked chest, he smoked, enjoying the fragrance in the mouth.

Arien woke up two hours later, looking sleepy and childish, when Reno was in bed watching TV, still smoking. She rubbed her eyes like a cat in a circular motion, then touched his arm. Her naked shoulders between the sheets looked extremely feminine to him, as well as the long raven hair spread out on the pillow.

"Awake?"

"Mm, mmm." She stretched, adjusting the straps on her pyjamas. She slithered up until she was leaning onto the headboard beside him. She leaned onto his shoulder, taking a deep breath.

"Mm."

"It'd help if you actually spoke, yo," Reno said, slightly prodding the female.

"I don't have anything to say except that you smell of…" she stopped.

"Smell of what?"

"Cigarettes and the usual." She shrugged. "Mm, I love your smell. Is Elena here?"

"Yup. She's gonna meet us here in…" he looked at the clock. "An hour."

"When did she say that?"

"While you were sleeping." He switched the TV off with a remote. "Hey, Arie?"

Arien, who had slid out of the sheets and was now looking for a shirt, grabbed Reno's and wore it without much thought. The T-shirt was too large for the woman and gave her a very lost look. "What?"

"Promise me something?"

"Alright, what is it?"

"When we get Vince back and we get back home," he said seriously, "I'm going to fuck your brains out."

The said Turk, who was now in the process of looking for her jeans, turned. She stared, then began to laugh. "Of all the times you say that now," she said, laughing. "You had your chance four hours ago."

When Elena knocked on the door, the bed was made, if sloppily, and all traces of personal life had disappeared. Guns and EMR were in sight, as well as maps, pens, and two laptops. Arien looked much more comfortable in jeans and a simple t-shirt; she was on an online conference with Rufus, reporting the progress. She wiggled her bare toes as she talked into the microphone, sitting cross-legged in the large chair.

"Yes, sir. Yes, that's why we needed Elena," she explained as she moved the cursor on the screen, pointing at a certain point on the map. "We can't go today, but we know where the temple is. We'll infiltrate it tomorrow. No, we'll go regular."

"Will you be returning to The Edge as soon as you get the information?" Rufus' voice sounded metallic.

"Negative. Reno and I'll be heading to the next location. Elena, I believe, will be returning."

"I see." The president paused. "Arien, are you hiding something?"

Arien looked up into the mirror that was nailed to the wall, and saw Reno gesturing wildly behind her to keep her mouth shut.

"No, sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm certain, sir."

"Very well then." Rufus let go, or so Arien believed; the young President could get quite manipulative if he wished, and she knew that he could get the information out of anyone, even the Turks. "Oh, and Arien?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I want a full report when you two get back."

"Yes sir."

"Connection closed", the pop-up told her. Turning around, she saw her coworker and now her friend. "Hello, Elena. Thank you for coming."

"I left Rufus to Rude," Elena said jovially. "I was getting a little exhausted with The Edge."

"And being with Tseng every night," Reno said quietly with a smirk. Elena blushed and tried to punch Reno, which he expertly dodged.

"Bahamut! I was only guessing!" He cried as he dodged the second attack. "Why am I always attacked by women?"

"Because you're rude," Elena countered.

"No, I'm not. I'm Reno."

"Oh, shut up!"

"That's it? You still need to polish your comebacks, blondie!"

"Reno!"

The two jumped and stopped the bickering. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Sorry Reno, but as the commander of informational tactics I'm going to have to overrule your amusements." Her choice of words told the two that she was now all business; Reno glared at her, but she calmly ignored it. "Right then. Tomorrow, preferably at 800 hours, we will begin our infiltration into the Temple."

"Where is this temple?" Elena asked.

"See this place where there used to be a big elevator up to the parading grounds?" She tapped the sliding pad on the computer and showed the location marked by a cross. "Right beside it."

"And how are we going to get there?"

"Since the former Shinra facility is no longer operating, we'd have to pose as Shinra security officials here to check," Arien explained. "We'd get into the elevator, go down to the bottom floor. Then we'd have to use what you brought, Elena."

"I don't know what I brought," Elena confessed. "Tseng just gave it to me before I left. He said that Reno knew how to use it."

"Left the bedroom or left the office? There's a big difference, yo."

"Reno."

"Okay, okay." Reno looked at Elena, then at his girlfriend and winked. Arien pretended that nothing had happened.

"What you brought in the duffel bag is a drilling missile launcher," Arien told Elena in a cool matter-of-fact tone.

"A what?" Elena's eyes widened.

"It's a big drill with a missile at the end," Reno explained. "Stick it into the wall, drills a hole and then blows it up to break the wall."

"Right." Arien clicked on one a blinking icon, and another screen came up. "Now, if we blow up the right wall we should come to one of the unused rooms of the temple. From there, we'd have to decipher where they're headed next."

"And where do I come in?"

"The clues are written on the walls of the main chamber," Arien said as she closed her laptop. "They're written in Middle Junonese, or so the report said. Reno's clueless except for Common and Costan, and I've only studied Junonese briefly. Your profile said that you've specialized in Middle and New Junonese at school."

"You want me to translate."

The two nodded in unison.

"Okay." Elena nodded. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"The ceremony which is to take place in a month requires certain people to be present," Arien explained. "Any details leading to those people, locations, items needed, time. That sort of thing. Of course, we're going to videotape the walls, so you don't have to come, if you don't want to."

"No, I'll go. There might be things that you two miss that I might need to know.." Elena looked around, saw that the informational meeting was finished.

"Are we done?" Reno yawned. Arien nodded.

"Um, Arien?" Arien turned to see Elena.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course." She stood up. "Do you want me to kick Reno out of the room?"

"Hey!" came the protest.

"N… no. You can come to my room."

"Alright." Arien stood up, grabbed the keycard. "Don't shoot when I open the door."

"Right. I'm gonna be sleeping, so don't expect me to open the door."

"I'll see you at 7 then," Elena said. The two women walked out the door. As soon as Arien was sure that they were out of Reno's earshot, she opened her mouth. "What's wrong?"

"Are all Wutaians like that?"

The elevator came, so Arien was unable to express her surprise verbally. Instead, she just showed it on her face. Elena did not see her bewildered expression; Arien just saw it on the mirrored walls of the elevator.

"Like what? What do you mean?" she asked as Elena pushed "3".

"Well, Tseng and I…" Elena stopped. "Do you know?" The elevator door slid open, and the two walked out the cubicle. Elena turned left and opened the second door down left from the elevator lobby. The room was orderly, with books piled on the desk.

"Coffee?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks. Can I sit?" Seeing Elena nod, Arien pulled out a chair and sat down. Elena sat down across from her, a coffee cup in her hand.

"Back to the question," Arien said, "I do know that you two have a relationship. I don't know how far," Arien admitted honestly. "Wutaians are more reserved than Midgarians, and we all know that Costans know no inhibitions." Elena smiled. "So I wouldn't know, Elena."

"Well… we're about as intimate as I want," Elena confessed, blushing and looking down.

"You mean, about as Reno and me?"

"I guess so. Yes."

"What's wrong, Elena?" Arien asked curiously. "Why are you looking down?"

"Well… Tseng seems to feel guilty about…"

"Your relationship?" Elena nodded. Arien could see it. She herself did not really have that much inhibitions about premarital sex than say, Tseng; after all, she was much more liberated than her boss, who was from the priest class and therefore extremely conservative about those things. Sure, the Wutaian had shed most of the inhibitions carefully grained into him throughout childhood, but sexuality was rarely touched and most deeply grained. Tseng happened to be one of those people who were dedicated to rules and beliefs, the complete opposite from the redhead.

"He looks so guilty about it," Elena said sadly. "We aren't doing anything wrong! But…"

This was the difference between Midgarians, who were a little more liberal, and Wutaians, who were conservatives to the extreme. Arien remembered her father; he seemed to like Reno to a certain degree, but the fact that they were unmarried and were living together seemed to be almost heretical to him. And her father was not from the priest class! Elena might think that they aren't doing anything wrong, but Tseng was probably damning his soul.

"Elena," Arien said gently, "I used to think like that too, so I know how Tseng feels. We Wutaians believe that premarital relationships mean lack of self-control to wait." She stopped, remembered how in her childhood she had seen her friends' elder siblings unable to even hold hands because "it wasn't right". "Most of us have arranged marriages," she explained. "We can't even hold hands until we're engaged."

"But you…"

"Tseng is from the priestly class. His education was more conservative. I'm from a lower class than that, and my family left Wutai when I was young. I grew up in Midgar. Though, I don't think I would have stepped into a relationship with Reno if I wasn't panicking." She smiled, remembering the night; they had been ambushed, one thing led to another. That young Arien was not thinking straight; all she had known was that she felt extremely attracted to the man, and she would not regret the consequences, no matter what. Well, Arien sometimes wondered what would have happened if there was no ambush that night, or if Tseng had more sense than to house her in the same apartment complex as the redhead. But that wasn't exactly regretting.

"There's nothing wrong with you two, and you know that," Arien said. "There's nothing wrong expressing love to one another with more than just words. But for us, virginity is sacred, a gift given to the husband on the wedding night. It's the only thing the woman can give to the husband, while the husband will provide monetary support for the rest of her life. Women rarely work after marriage on the island, Elena."

"But you're working," Elena pointed out. "Why is that?"

"I like working." Arien smiled again, a gentle smile to a friend. "But if I quit, I think Reno's earnings will feed us. You know," Arien said, breathing out, "Reno was my first. Did you know?"

"No!" Elena was surprised. "I knew you had a previous boyfriend, and so…"

Darren. "Darren was more of a mentor for me," the Wutaian mused. "I was like his sister, and he was very idealistic about love. Reno is extremely physical. When he's angry, he destroys things. When he's happy, he laughs. Anyway, I gave my gift to Reno, and I don't regret it. That's the point. But Tseng can't see the meaning behind the rules, I think. We're all adults – I even have a child – and by all means you should be able to express love freely to whoever you want to without rules and inhibitions."

"What can I do?" Elena asked somberly. "I think Tseng likes me, and I love him, but he looks tortured! It's almost as if he thinks what he's doing is wrong."

Were Turks even allowed to have emotions like love? Arien had no idea. She had never really heard of a relationship between two members of the squad, but then, she had never really studied the lives of her predecessors. Vincent Valentine had fallen in love with Lucrecia Crescent, and well, he really didn't have a jolly time.

But then, Turks were also human beings, no matter what the general population thought. They all had their first kills, they all shed their tears in one way or another. Rude's secret (well, quiet, Arien amended) affection for the owner of Seventh Heaven was so old and well-known that Reno had given up joking about it. These kind of things were expected, weren't they?

"To him right now, what you two are doing is wrong," Arien reminded her. "Reno and I didn't have much time to do the regular courting steps before we went to the last step, so I won't be able to be much help, but give Tseng some time, Elena. He's shed some inhibitions before, and he's clever." She cracked a grin. "I think Reno presents a certain epitome for him – a bad example of a Turk. Reno's liberal about that kind of thing, and he certainly gets into bad scrapes sometimes, so maybe Tseng wants to go the opposite."

"Will he understand?"

"I think so. Worst comes worst, just marry him." Elena smiled at that. "There's nothing wrong with it; just show him that there's nothing wrong with two mature adults showing that they love each other. It's not physical yearning, Elena; it's communication, and nothing's against that."

Reno was taking a nap. Arien was gone, and knowing that they were women, Elena and she would be talking for a while. Reno thought that this would be a nice time to nap. He really needed to sleep; his head felt fuzzy.

It was only fifteen minutes after he had wandered off to the dreamland when his cell phone trilled out the Electrical Parade. It was an extremely silly tune but Reno thought it was hilarious. Arien thought it was annoying. Now he was starting to see her point.

"What!" he shouted without looking at the caller ID.

"Uh… Reno? It's Amedeo," said a voice, sounding taken aback. "Is it bad time?"

"Dude, I was sleepin, yo. You woke me up."

"Sorry." He really sounded sorry. "I just needed to tell you that Clarissa's brother came to see his sister two days ago."

"You woke me up just for that!" Reno fumed.

"Well, his brother never visits her. And now he suddenly decides to share brotherly love? That's out."

"Huh." Reno stretched his arm. "Any clues about what he said to the girl?"

"Yeah. Wanted to know when she was getting married."

Something was up. He was alert now. "Fucking bastard," he said to the phone.

"Oh, and looks like your kid is safe for now. They can't kill him till the ceremony."

"Why?"

"Because he has to be… er… sacrificed on the night of the lunar eclipse."

"That git. Thinks he can outsmart us." Reno murmured. "Wrong choice."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Hey, Reno?"

"Yo."

"Is your wife there?"

"Hold on a sec," Reno said. "First of all, Arie ain't my wife. Second of all, no, she ain't here. Third of all, why dya wanna know?"

"Just wondering." Amedeo's voice sounded very suspicious. "It's surprising."

"What?"

"I thought you went for… well, curvy types."

"What the hell do you mean?" Reno demanded.

"Well, you know, Scarlet type."

"And?"

"Arien isn't your type, that's all." Amedeo laughed. "See ya." Before Reno could say anything, Amedeo had disconnected.

Reno threw the innocent phone onto a chair, then lay back, arms under his head, thinking. Arien wasn't his type, that much was true. He personally liked feminine types; most of those he had dated were blatantly sexual.

Arien had none of those. She was not talkative. She was decisive. She was like a steel wire. She wasn't fragile, like the Cetra, or gentle, like Tifa. She didn't have cleavage. She was delicate, yes, but not fragile. Thin but supple and sturdy. She was prideful, hard, determined.

Her face? It was exceptional, beautiful even, but it was not to his taste. He liked certain gentleness in women's faces, like Aeris' or Tifa's. Arien did not qualify. Her eyes were much more slanted than he would have liked; in fact, when she actually put make-up on she ended up looking like a fox. Since he greatly resembled a cat, a fox did not balance. It did not help that she rarely showed feelings but usually had a vague smile on her face that gave a sly, unknown expression, or a frown.

What exactly did he first see in her? He remembered that his first intention was just to sleep with her, but what made him think that?

You wanted to see her crumble. You wanted to see the prideful shell break down.

He remembered the eyes. The first time he saw her, through the window on the wall. Arien, new and tense, sitting in the next room, her new office. Then she had looked at him, her eyes full of challenge. Don't touch me, the eyes had said. I'm not cheap, and I can fight back.

Reno had known many women, and could tell which did not know men and which were experienced. Arien's naïve protective stances, her extreme aversion to public displays of sexuality, were flashing signs that she had never known man. Reno liked women, but he liked dominance even more, the sense that the woman was his, mentally enslaved to him. Arien was like an expensive fruit, hard to get but untouched, fresh and unblemished, her virginity like an expensive crystal glass that was just begging to be shattered. Reno had felt the desire to blemish her, enslave her, make her his own.

It was an expensive bargain.

The hunter became the hunted, and they had both fell into the trap. They had made it themselves, Reno knew; but no matter how much they struggled to get out, the ropes grew tighter and tighter.

After the talk, Arien left the room to return to her own. She entered the room, sat down on a chair that was facing the veranda. And blew out a puff of air. "I'm never going to join any religion," she declared.

Reno did not reply. He was staring out the glass panels leading to the veranda, sitting the wrong way on a wooden chair, facing Arien, hugging the back of the seat.

"Amedeo said that Vince is safe for now," Reno reported.

"Why? How does he know?" She leaned forward, as if her movement will allow her to get the news faster.

"Because Vince gotta be sacrificed on the night of the lunar eclipse, or some shit like that. Won't happen," Reno hastily added, seeing Arien's lips tremble, "but he's safe for now, yo. By the way, what did you guys talk about?" Reno asked, not looking at her.

"Oh, the girl talk. Men. You."

"Me?"

"Yes. You came up in the discussion quite often." Arien leaned back and crossed her legs. "Reno?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you regret the past?"

Taken aback, Reno sat up straighter, looked at her with question in his eyes. Had she read his mind? "What do ya mean? There are loads I should regret about, but if I did regret all of them I'd be a wailing idiot like Chocobo Head, yo."

"No." She shook her head. Her loose hair flopped down, casting a shadow on her left cheek. "Do you regret… me?"

"What do you mean, me?"

"Well, being with me. This relationship."

"Why ask?"

"Well…" she looked at her nails, but Reno could tell that she wasn't paying attention to them. "If… if you left that morning, we wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here. You might have gone through less pain." She did not specify which morning, but they both knew which particular morning she was talking about. Their first morning together.

The first step into the trap.

Reno stopped, looked up at the ceiling with a pensive expression. "Not really," he said finally. "I mean, I did go loads because I was with you – like I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't exactly jump into your bed that night – but I've lost you twice and I know how it feels, you not being around, Arie. It feels… weird," he said, gesturing with his hand. "So no, I don't regret it." He looked at her. 'Do you?" Did she know what it felt to lose him? Of course not. She had never lost him. Never in her life had she truly feared him dead, or found him missing from her life.

It wasn't painful. It was numbing. All the senses became blurred, dull. Noises had silenced, colors became dull, and taste became bland. Reno remembered himself, when Arien was gone. He had killed more, fought more, drank more, all to feel. None of them had worked.

"I think I made the right choice that night," Arien said quietly. "I decided to give my gift to someone I knew I wouldn't regret."

"Even though you nearly died because of me?"

Arien shrugged. "I shot you. You shot me. We're even."

"You shot my arm. I shot you in the chest."

"Reno." Her expression was delicate, caring. Just as he had changed, so had she. "Are you still beating yourself about that? I told you, there's nothing to forgive."

"Yeah, but…"

"Shh." Arien silenced him. "It's over, Reno. That nightmare's over."

"Arie, I've just thought of something."

Arien looked at him, her eyes slightly squinting between the contrast of the darkness of the room and the bright sunset outside. It was few hours later, and they had moved to the bed, still fully dressed. "I hope it's not a long thought. It's getting late and I'm fried."

"The return of the Old God and shit, I'm hoping to Shiva that I'm wrong, but…"

"But what?"

"What if the Old God happened to be Sephiroth? What if he made a comeback?"

Arien stopped breathing for a moment. "If it's my so-called brother trying to make a comeback to this world," she said finally, "I'm going to ask him to please find another receptacle and leave our poor son alone. And preferably find another planet to plague." Her look grew stern. "He's a memory now," she said. "Memories shouldn't come alive."