Authoress' Notes:

O.O Wow! I don't think I've ever gotten that many people liking my story so quickly! Thank you so much! I now give you… part two! x3

I feel like I should mention that Reno's a little OOC right now, but I mean, he lost his buddy! Anyways, trust me- he gets WAY more psycho later. ;3 I did, however, write a scene with good ol' drunken, lecherous, gay Reno today, so some of that will be showing up.

I'm hovering around 8,400 words total right now, but I'm gonna try to keep a good amount unposted at all times, in case the writer's block strikes, ne? That being said, I'm having far less trouble with that than usual, so this story could possibly go up without a hitch! ...I doubt it, though.

My AP English exam is tomorrow morning- eek! I got a 4 on my practice exam, but I dunno… I'm still not sure about my essays.

Anyways, I have Latin tutoring in like 10 minutes, so I'll stop rambling now. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I dun own anything!

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Rain

Reno lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom. He heard the knocking, but he didn't really care. After a few minutes, though, it bothered him enough that he called quietly, "Come in, yo."

The door swung open, and Rufus, covered by his omnipresent white sheet, wheeled in. Reno knew he should get up and show respect to his boss, but why bother? It wasn't like he cared.

"Reno…" Rufus sighed. "You've been in here for three days without eating a thing. How long are you going to keep this up?"

Reno felt like he would have started crying if he'd had any tears left. "I don't know, yo! Don't you understand what… what Rude…" He couldn't keep talking.

Rufus sighed. "I know, Reno. I," and here, Rufus' voice trembled dangerously, "I miss him too." Rufus cleared his throat. "But," he continued, his voice stronger now, "I'm going on with my life."

Reno nodded noncommittally, staring back up at the ceiling. He knew what Rufus was getting at, but he didn't really care. Reno suddenly realized that Rufus was still talking. "…which is why I'm giving you a new assignment." What?

Rufus turned his chair, heading out of the door. "Follow me." When Reno didn't move, Rufus' voice took on a sharper tone. "TURK! Follow me, NOW!"

Before Reno knew what had happened, his training had him on his feet, following Rufus down the hallway. He was vaguely grateful to Rufus for making the TURK in him take over. Reno shivered as he realized that they were nearing the medical wing. The last time he'd passed through this door, he'd been carrying Rude. The last time he'd passed through this door, Rude had been alive.

"Why…" Reno started, but he trailed off as he realized that he and Rufus weren't alone.

Reno felt an explosion of emotion as he looked down at the silver-haired prisoner he'd been with when Rude… when it happened. Yazoo lay sleeping quietly, face peaceful in spite of the bruises that colored the otherwise flawless skin. Reno felt strangely guilty, looking at the damage he'd caused- but the young monster had deserved every bit of it.

That made things far more difficult when Rufus turned to him and said, "This is your new assignment."

Reno's eyes widened. "W-w-what? What do I have to do?"

Rufus' voice told him that the President was smiling. "You have to keep an eye on him. You have to make sure he doesn't escape. You have to make sure he gets better. In short, Reno, you have to take care of him." Without further ado, Rufus turned and rolled out of the room, letting the door fall closed behind him.

Reno stared after his superior, mouthing silently.

"Hmm?" At the sound of the door, the silver-haired man groaned slightly, opening his eyes. When he saw Reno, his eyes immediately became filled with a mixture of fear and anger.

Reno turned to leave, but to his surprise, he found that Rufus had locked the door behind him. With the first flash of anger he'd really felt since… since then, Reno turned to grumpily regard the other man. He still blamed the other man, but, having spent three solid days crying, Reno felt a little bit less inclined to kill the man. Anyways, he had no idea when Rufus would let him out, and he'd rather be stuck with a grudging acquaintance than a hated enemy.

Reno turned the door handle fruitlessly one last time, then petulantly kicked the offending door. Yazoo couldn't help but laugh a little at the pouting expression on the redhead's face. He drew back, however, as the other man walked towards him. "Alright… it looks like I'm stuck in here with you, so… I'm Reno, yo." Reno walked over to the corner, pulled a chair over to Yazoo's bedside, and slumped down into it. He tried not to look at the bed next to the youth's- the bed he'd put Rude into on that day.

Yazoo, who had already decided that it would be best to wait until he was healed to resist and hopefully escape, quietly said, "I'm Yazoo." An awkward silence filled the room. Yazoo rolled over slightly, to be able to see Reno better, and winced slightly as he felt the pain in his ribs.

Reno tried to apologize for the pain he knew the other man must be in, but his apology caught in his throat as he remembered why he'd attacked the other man in the first place. He looked down, tears prickling his eyes, as Rude's face filled his mind.

Yazoo studied the man before him. Reno's face was very pale, with high cheekbones marked by bright red tattoos. His bright blue eyes refused to meet Yazoo's, and were hidden under an unkempt fringe of red hair, spikes giving way to a long ponytail at the base of the pale, graceful neck. Yazoo guessed, from the rumpled look of the white dress shirt Reno wore, that he'd been wearing the shirt for days.

Unable to endure the scrutiny any longer, Reno stood, moving over to the window near Yazoo's bed. "Looks like it's gonna start raining, yo," he murmured. Yazoo nodded in agreement. He'd already picked up on the unusually damp air.

As Reno continued to stare out of the window, raindrops did, indeed begin to fall. They were the sort of raindrops that didn't really fall individually, but instead seemed to melt into each other, lazily falling in a soft curtain. Reno watched silently, thinking about Rude. He didn't know why, but he kept thinking of things that had happened. The time he and Rude had forgotten an umbrella, the time they'd been forced to land the chopper in some poor woman's back yard because of a storm…

Yazoo's eyes drifted closed as he lay on his side, looking at Reno and listening to the comforting murmur of the rain. He didn't like being held captive, but he knew that he could've picked a much worse place to be detained.

Without warning, an image flashed across his mind. He saw a strange woman with blue skin, floating in a tank of clear liquid. Silvery hair fell across her chest, but also drifted freely above the strange device she wore on her head. Yazoo wondered who this woman could be, but that thought, along with all other thought, fled when her eyes opened.

An eerie reddish light seemed to emanate from her eyes as she turned to stare straight at Yazoo. She seemed almost to stare straight through him. He felt his courage leave him as the delicate, icy features turned in a disapproving frown. Mother…he thought, but, to his surprise, Yazoo felt none of the joy he would have expected. Instead, every instinct in his body, save the one that tied him to this terrible specter, screamed at him to get away. That single, rebellious instinct, though, was enough. He was drawn closer, shaking. He wanted nothing more than to get away, but at the same time, he wanted so very badly to get close, to fulfill the task Mother had set before him…

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Yeah… the dreams get a little better later, I think, but oh well. Do you think I described Jenova well? I tried!

That rain, by the way… I was stuck at that part, sitting there bored in math, and it started raining exactly like that- quiet, warm, slow spring rain. It's my favorite kind of rain, so, I randomly put that in.

Please review!