A/N: Hey, sorry about the wait. So... once again I was wrong, and there may be two more chapters left after this, I'm not sure. It'll be either one or two anyway. Sorry if it's not up to scratch, I was having some difficulties with it. Also... please review guys? I seem to be getting less and less reviews and it sucks :(

Enjoy

Chapter 16

The route back was surprisingly unfamiliar to Elena, and she only hoped that Reno had some sort of idea where he was going. When she thought about it though, Elena had no idea how to get back, and she didn't have the confidence like Reno did just to guess. Although Kayla seemed young, she seemed perfectly able to help her father get along, so Elena decided her best efforts should be in sticking by Reno. Every now and then, the blond looked across at her fellow Turk and saw he always had the same undecipherable expression on his face. He seemed to be puzzling something over; possibly, or hopefully the direction they were taking.

"Umm... excuse me?" Elena heard the man behind them say quietly. Elena turned around to see he'd stopped walking. Reno stopped as well.

"Yeah?" The redhead said, crossing his arms.

"Umm... I was just thinking... don't you two need to get back to Midgar?"

"Course..." Reno said, furrowing his brow.

"Well... how?"

"Chopper... just past Bone Village. Don't ya worry."

"Hmm... okay." Andy smiled and began to walk again. Elena was happy to see he was a lot steadier on his feet now; perhaps it was just getting used to it since he'd been stuck in that cell for so long. She turned back to face forwards an nearly screamed at what she saw.

A familiar old man was standing in front of them, leaning heavily on a cane in his left hand. Everything from that point onwards seemed silent; Elena could hear nothing except her own blood rushing through her head... Until Reno spoke.

"You!" there was an anger about the redhead's voice that Elena had never heard before. The blond could remember meeting the old man, but Reno had not been with her at the time. Did that mean the redhead had met him as well.

"Sorry." the man said. His voice was completely dull, and Elena wasn't sure whether it was a sincere apology or not. The man just stared with his piercing blue eyes.

"Shut up." Reno yelled. Any weakness he had shown before had vanished. "You put all of us in danger..."

"No one has a clue what you're talking about." The man hissed, suddenly showing anger Elena wouldn't expect from someone so frail-looking. Once again, although she didn't know why, Elena was scared.

"I don't give a shit. I don't know who you are, but you're about to tell my why you did what you did." Reno said loudly. "You lead us all into danger on purpose."

"Not true." The man raised his eyebrows. "I lead your blond friend away from the Shiso."

"Don't gimme that shit! You're a manipulator... you know how to talk to people to get them to do what you want... now-" Reno stepped forward and grabbed the man by the collar. "You're about to tell me what your game is."
Elena only just became aware that she was shaking. It wasn't the situation she was scared of, it was Reno. She had never seen him so angry, and she hadn't got a clue what he was talking about. The man had tried to lead her away from the Shiso, but she had ignored him. She remembered the way his blue eyes had lit up when Elena had mentioned Reno. She hadn't thought about it before, but he had acted like he knew more than he let on. He had been such an insignificant character in the past week she hadn't given him a second thought.

"Alright." The man choked, dropping his cane on the floor. "I didn't have a choice... the Shiso, they made me."

Reno stared at the man momentarily before sighing and letting go on his collar. He rubbed his windpipe defensively and picked up his cane. "You've done nothin' put piss me off..." the redhead said, looking down at him. "But you're workin' for the Shiso... you ain't gonna be any more trouble."

"Reno?" Elena pleaded. Was he really just going to let this man go? It seemed to Elena that something was running though his head that she would never understand. Something a bit like when he'd decided not to tell Shinra that the Shiso were in fact descendants of the Cetra. What could he possibly be thinking?

"Where do you live?" Reno demanded.

"I live with the Shiso... something tells me a disturbance has occurred..." The man looked blankly at the four other people.

"Oh... shit." Reno cocked his head to one side and pulled his gun inconspicuously out of his pocket. "How the hell do you know that? You're one of them, ain't ya?"

The man cleared his throat, looking completely unnerved, but Elena was speechless. What Reno had suggested was highly possible, but the man didn't resemble the Shiso at all. For a start, he was a man, also his eyes weren't red...
"Rei? What have you done to her?"

"She bit the dust pal, and unless ya start talkin', you won't be far behind." Reno looked livid again.

"Yes, you're right..." The man sighed again, obviously seeing no other option but to talk. "The Shiso killed all their men long ago, believing them to be not of pure blood. I was the only one who survived, since at the time they didn't realize I even was a Shiso."

"So why ya still alive now then?" The redhead inquired.

"Because I'm helping them... their race would've died out if it weren't for me. You see, most of those Shiso aren't pure-blood-"

"Okay, I've heard enough." Reno said loudly. "So thats it, is it? Put other people's lives before your own?"

"You criticize me, but are you any better?" The man seemed unnerved by Reno's growing temper. "You're a Turk, aren't you? I can tell by the uniform... Shinra lap-dog – killing anyone they tell you to, no matter what the reason."

Elena could tell from the twitch under Reno's eye that he had touched a nerve. "You don't know shit, ya jerk!" the redhead yelled. He pulled his gun fully out and wasted no time in firing, shooting the man down dead. Elena couldn't help but feel that Reno had made a mistake, but he had been frightening her, and at least he would probably calm down now. "Bastard." he hissed under his breath.

"Reno?" Andy and Kayla seemed to frightened to say anything, so Elena approached her fellow Turk who was breathing heavily as he put his gun back in his pocket.

"He was gonna be more trouble... he wouldn't have argued if he'd given up the game..." Reno said. He seemed to be trying to comfort himself more than Elena.

"Reno... let's go." Elena put her hand on his back. There was something about the redhead's heavy breathing and silence that she didn't like. She had to hand it to him though, he was doing well given how much he'd been through the past few days.

"Okay..." Reno nodded and seemed to gather his nerves again, and stood up slightly straighter. "C'mon."

Reno started walking, and once Elena was sure Kayla and Andy were going to follow, she started as well. The more they walked, the more familiar her surroundings became. Soon enough, the forest starting thinning slightly, and Elena realized how close they actually were to Bone Village. Not a word was said until they were about 5 minutes away from civilization, when Kayla piped up.

"What's Bone Village like, daddy?" she asked. Elena raised her eyebrows. Andy had said they'd come from Bone Village. If that was where they'd lived, how did she not know what the place was like?

"You'll see soon, sweetie." Andy replied. His voice sounded much stronger now, and Elena guessed once he got home and rested up he'd be fine. Hopefully the same could be said for Reno.

It was like bliss, stepping out of that dreaded forest and into the small, isolate village. There may have not been many people there, but it was certainly better than the Shiso's dwelling. Elena turned around and her gaze met that of Andy, who looked positively elated. Kayla was looking around the area in awe and her father smiled at the two Turks.

"Thank you so much for your help." he said bowing his head slightly. "I can't tell you how grateful I am."

"It's nothin'." Reno waved off the thanks and looked to Elena. "You 'kay?"

"Yeah." Elena smiled. It was starting to sink in; they were safe. "Wait a second... Andy, if you've been gone for 2 years, do you still have a place to live?"

"I own part of the hotel here... we'd still have a room there, don't worry." Andy replied.

"Now the question is, what about us?" Elena turned to Reno. "We've still got a way to walk to the helicopter."

"Let's rest for a while, huh?" Reno suggested, running his hands through his messy red hair. "C'mon."

Elena knew something was wrong as soon as they entered the hotel. The atmosphere was tense, and everyone seemed to be staring at them; and not in a good way. Reno seemed to pick up on this as well, as he looked uneasy.

"You." The man behind the counter said harshly as soon as he saw the four visitors. "Leave."

"Oh, shit." Reno looked slightly awkward, seemingly thinking something over. "Look-"

"You've caused enough trouble. Leave, now." The man looked positively livid, and Elena didn't know why. Then it clicked... the man Reno had kicked before they'd ran into the Sleeping Forest; it was only a few days before, and it had probably caused quite a stir. Details were bound to have been exaggerated as well, shoving the Turks into the lime-light of being the bad-guys.

"There's a perfectly reasonably explanation to what... oh." Reno stopped talking and it seemed the two Turks picked up on the same detail at exactly the same time; the man behind the counter had a faint purple bruise on his face. "I'm sorry, okay? It was a misunderstanding."

"Sir..." Andy stepped forwards. "These two people saved me and my daughter. Let them stay here tonight."

"A-Andy? Is that you?" The man seemed to double-take.

"Yes it is." Andy turned to Reno and Elena. "This is Kenuo, together we own this hotel."

"Yeah... two years is long time, Andy. Where have you been?" The man named Kenuo asked.

"Another day, Kenuo. Let these two have a room first." Andy whispered. Kenuo nodded and handed Reno a key.

"Room 105." Kenuo said quietly. "Sorry for the... inconvenience."