"She's not wakin' up, yo."
"Leave her; she's had a rough couple of days."
"Maybe I should give her a remedy."
"No Reno, now sit there and watch her."
I wake up a few hours later in a bed, the softest, freshest smelling bed I've ever laid in. I open my eyes to see a modestly spacious room with pure white walls, complete with the annoying redhead Turk sitting in the far corner with his arms crossed over his chest sulking. I sit up finding that someone's changed my clothes while I was asleep; it seems that I'm wearing a far too large white button-down shirt. The guy in the corner notices I'm up and looks out the door, "She's up everybody." The redhead walks back into the room, along with the wutai from earlier, a petit girl with brown, wavy hair, which reaches just past her shoulders and a younger girl with a short blonde bob, and big brown eyes. They all stand around me, and are all wearing the same navy suit. The blonde's looking around nervously, fidgeting, while the brunette gives me a friendly smile. The dark haired man with a bindi dot in the centre of his forehead cleared his throat.
"Miss Levine may introduce you to your half-brother; Rufus Shinra." As he said this everyone turned to look at the door, I did the same. In walked a man with combed blonde hair wearing a pristine white suit, he is followed in by a bald man with sunglasses. He stands by the door, with his hands clasped together in front of him. Rufus comes over to the foot of the bed. He tries to give me a disarming smile, but considering who this is it makes me shrink further into the bed.
"Do you know who know who I am Sky?"
"Yeah, he jus' told me." I reply pointing to the wutai, "Rufus Shinra." I can feel him watching me with his blue eyes.
"Do you know why you're here?"
"Um, no. I jus' found out I might be President Shinra's kid. Then next thing I know, he's nocked me out with a sleep materia." Everyone including Rufus turned to glare daggers at Reno.
"What? The crazy bitch stabbed my car. She's lucky she's your lil' sister, otherwise I would have shoved my EMR right up her-" He quickly shuts up when he receives an icy stare from Rufus.
"I'm sorry for how Reno treated you, and for your loss."
"What loss?" I ask innocently, genuinely not knowing what hells he was going on about.
"Well the loss of your mother, I must say how brave you are handling it so well and grown up."
"Oh yeah that thing. Well to tell ya the truth, I'm surprised it wasn't sooner. But what can you do?" The only one who doesn't look shocked is the guy they call Reno, he just gives me a knowing look. He must know what it's like living in the slums. Then that reminds me, "What gang did you belong to?"
"What?"
"What gang were you in? Those tattoos underneath your cheeks, I recognise them from one of the local slum gangs." He gives me a look that told me to mind my own business, and I will. For now at least.
Rufus dismisses everyone. After the last one leaves he comes over to me and gives me an awkward hug which lasts quite literately seconds. After her pulls away I fight the urge to check if there's a knife in my back, "I've been waiting for so long." He pulls up a chair near my bed that I hadn't noticed until now, sits on it holding my right hand. "There's something that I need to tell you, our father – President Shinra doesn't know that you're here." He pauses a moment to allow me to take what he had just said in, I'm starting to get frustrated not knowing what the fuck is going on. "He must not ever know you are here, and that you are aware of the fact that he is your father. If he does he will surely kill you. Do you understand Sky?" He looks at me with pleading, hopeful eyes.
"Yeah I understand. But if he can't know about me, where do I go? Back to the slums?"
"No, you'll be looked after by the Turks and you'll stay here in this apartment. Tseng's already looking at schools for you, and we'll probably pass you off as Reno's cousin."
"Why Reno's cousin?"
"Well that's the catch;" he looks almost guilty saying this "I'm sorry but you're going to have to share this apartment with him." I'm about to object and say that I'd rather go back to the slums but the blonde interrupts me by walking in holding some shopping bags. "Elena here has brought you some new clothes, I urge you to get dressed quickly you've got a long day ahead of you." With that he leaves.
"Your brother is so nice doing all of this for you," She rushes over to me gushing. Oh gods, the torture has already begun, I can already tell she's going to be an annoying one. The ditz extents her hand, when I don't shake it she quickly retracts it, laughing nervously. "Hi, I'm Elena, I'm new!" She excitedly shrieks, and then remembers that bags that are still in her hands. I'm already fighting the urge to see if slapping some sense into people actually works, girls like her give blondes a bad name. "These are some clothes Rufus ordered for you, I'll just leave them right here." She places the bags on the chair Rufus was sitting on and leaves me to get changed closing the door behind her.