Disclaimer: Finial Fantasy belongs 100% to Square Enix. Plotline is our own.
Chapter Nine: Trial by Fire… and steel
Genesis and Alanna entered the VR room to begin their daily training. Reno and Ryu were standing by the doorway. Genesis scowled at Reno.
"This VR room was scheduled for us." Reno grinned.
"I know." He said. "You're the best Materia master there is, yo."Genesis nodded his head mentally preening. "So it makes sense that when it comes to Materia to go to you." Reno pulled Ryu forward. "So it makes sense that you get to train her, yo." He said.
"RENO!" Ryu protested. Genesis glared at Reno.
"And if I say no?" He asked. Reno grabbed Ryu's hand and showed Genesis her open palm with a white scar across it.
"We're responsible for all of them."Reno said angrily. "This one's on me, yo. It's my fault for letting her be part of that mission, but any after is on you." He said before dropping her hand and walking out of the room, his hands shoved into his pockets. Genesis stared after him for a long moment before he sighed and looked at Ryu.
"Have you thought of any materia you even want to learn?" He asked her. She nodded her head.
"Cure, Barrier, and Thunder." She said. Genesis understood the first two, but not the last.
"Why Thunder?" Ryu pulled her EMR out and showed him the materia slots.
"Super charged EMR." She said.
"Of course." Alanna said, rolling her eyes. Ryu grinned.
"Before you get to thunder it would be best if you learned cure, so that you can fix any of your mistakes." Genesis said. Ryu nodded her head.
"Alanna, go practice your own materia while I teach Ryu the basics." Genesis told Alanna. She nodded and went off to a corner to practice her fira.
When Ryu had learned the basics, Genesis called Alanna back to them. He unsheathed Rapier.
"Draw you blade Alanna." Alanna drew her Buster, Jr. and took up a guard position.
"I thought she was learning cure." She said cautiously. Genesis smiled.
"She is." Alanna cowered slightly behind her sword. Ryu frowned seeing is plan.
"Isn't this..." She started then fell silent.
"It's good practice for both of you." He told them.
"I fail to see the benefit for me." Alanna muttered. Genesis smiled, slightly evilly.
"Your swordplay leaves much to be desired."
Ryu sat quietly on the ground watching them duel. She noted Alanna kept trying to use a weapon that wasn't in the other hand. She knew Alanna loved to duel wield, but it seemed to be more instinct then choice like they had all assumed.
Not long past the time Ryu expected Genesis to let her heal Alanna, she saw that he was going to take this too far. He'd forgotten, or chosen not care, that she was his student and only ranked at 3rd class.
Alanna put up a good fight. Her blade blocking and sometimes attacking for sometime, but when Genesis activated his rune blade she no longer stood a chance. He shattered her blade, most of the shards flying backwards and embedding themselves in her skin. Ryu jumped to her feet as Genesis charged a Fira and let it fly at her. Ryu could tell he was furious, but why she didn't have the time to figure out. The fire ball slammed into Alanna. She flew backwards with the force of the blast and slammed into what felt like a very real wall. Alanna's hand still clutched the hilt of her broken buster, Jr.. Genesis brought his blade around for a killing strike.
Ryu jumped forward drawing her EMR. The electrodes of the EMR touched the blade as Ryu slid to a stop in front of Alanna. The triggered EMR blast travelled up the blade and shocked Genesis's hand, causing him to halt his swing.
"Enough." She snapped. Her eyes were Mako bright and glowing with anger. Genesis looked at her surprised.
"If you want to kill her, you'll have to get through me." Genesis sneered. Ryu smiled back, aggressively.
"You may see me as just a Turk but she is my best friend, and I'll destroy you before I let you hurt her. We have a saying back home, 'She's my best friend, hurt her and I'll destroy your face'." Genesis scowled.
"As if you could lay a hand on me." He scoffed. Ryu raised an eyebrow.
"Want to try me?" She snapped. When he lowered his blade, she turned and knelt by Alanna's side, drawing her cure materia out.
Ryu rolled quickly to the side, her foot coming up and kicking the flat of the blade as Genesis took a swing at her back. Alanna feebly moved a finger freezing Genesis before he could take another swing.
"A.I., call Reno and tell him to get Angeal down here now." Ryu said.
"Affirmative." A mechanical voice responded, as Ryu bent over Alanna and cast her first cure.
Alanna couldn't hold Genesis for long but it was enough to bring him to his senses. Genesis stared horrified at what he'd done. Before he could think to cast Curaga on Alanna, Ryu was braced over Alanna healing her. He watched as Ryu drained herself. That snapped him out of it. He took a half step forward.
Ryu turned her head slowly to look at him. Bright blue, glowing mako eyes glared at him. She bared her teeth. She was pale, her skin almost grey, her arms and legs shaking with the effort to hold herself up.
"Don't you dare come near her you mother fucking bastard. When I can move, I am going to rip out your god forsaken, trice cursed, bloody fucking heart." She hissed at him.
Angeal and Reno entered the VR room at a dead run. They skidded to a halt and stared briefly at the sight before them. Ryu was crouched over Alanna's bloody, bleeding, shredded body, her eyes glowing with Mako as she threatened Genesis.
When they moved toward Alanna and Ryu, Ryu actually growled at them.
"Mako Rage." Angeal said.
"But she made the call…"Reno started, he stopped and looked at Genesis. "What the hell?" He muttered starting toward him. Angeal caught the red head's shoulder.
"Not now. Alanna is our main concern. We can yell at him later. She needs a doctor now." He said. Reno nodded his head. Angeal dug into his pockets and pulled out a sleep material he equipped it and cast Sleep on Ryu. She collapsed forward. Reno caught her just as her weight landed on Alanna.
"There's no reasoning with someone in Mako rage." Angeal said quietly before he walked over to poor Alanna and picked her up. "It'll be faster if I just bring her down." He muttered, walking to the doorway completely ignoring Genesis. Reno carried Ryu out of the room leaving Genesis alone in the VR room staring at a pool of blood.
.
Morgan looked up as Reno entered the apartment with Ryu in his arms. He jumped to his feet.
"What happened?" He asked worried.
"Idiot saved Alanna, at the risk of her own life." Reno said.
"Where's Alanna?" Piper asked worried.
"Angeal took her to the infirmary." Reno told them as Morgan took Ryu from him and headed to the door.
"She'll want to know that Lanna's okay when she wakes up." Morgan explained before Reno could ask. Piper, Mary and Matti followed them.
.
Genesis lingered outside the private room where Alanna had been put, after the doctors had put her together as much as they could. He wanted to go in but the other four doppelgangers had glared at him through the glass. Mary looked as if she wanted to go out and kill him. Ryu was passed out on a spare bed in the room. The doctors had taken one look at Ryu's gray skin and had stuck an IV into her.
Angeal came out of the room. Genesis leaned back against the wall. He knew he was in for a lecture that he fully deserved.
"What happened?"Angeal asked him. Genesis looked at his friend surprised. Angeal hadn't launched immediately into a lecture. Angeal sighed.
"Before I lecture you I want to know what happened." He said. Genesis shrugged.
"I don't know Angeal." He sighed and ran a hand through his auburn hair.
"You know better than to use your full strength against anyone but me or Sephiroth." Angeal said. Genesis sighed again.
"I know. I lost my temper."
"Genesis..." Angeal began, but Genesis shook his head.
"I know I can't afford to lose my temper around the doppelgangers."He said, using their name for their group. Angeal shook his head.
"I'd be surprised if you didn't." He admitted with a wry grin, "But you do know better so what happened?" Genesis looked away.
"I thought after Icicle Inn there wouldn't be a possibility of this happening."Angeal began. Genesis colored slightly pink. "You like her Genesis. That's why you didn't push her off the bed. That's why you left her the book to read." Angeal continued, "So how could possibly hurt her?"
"I don't know 'Geal. I don't even know if what you said about me liking her is true. I am so confused, so angry right now. Maybe you had better teach them until I get this figured out," he said before he walked away down the hall. Reno came out into the hall.
"Arrogantly stubborn until the end, yo." He said. Angeal nodded his head.
"Maybe he'll begin to understand." Angeal said. Reno snorted.
"When Chocobos stop running, yo." he said.
.
Alanna opened her eyes. She was laying on the couch in the apartment. There was a weight on her arm, when she looked down it was Piper's head. She was sleeping sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, using Alanna's arm as a pillow. Matti was laying on the floor next to her. She could just make out Mary's foot as she was curled up in one of the chairs. Alanna turned her head and could just barely make out one of Morgan's legs near the love seat. She pushed herself up, pulling her arm from under Piper's head. As she sat up she finished looking around. Morgan was sitting on the floor, his back against the loveseat, his arms folded over his drawn up legs, his head resting on his arms. Ryu was laying under a light blanket on the loveseat. An IV was hanging by the loveseat and attached to her arm.
Alanna frowned wondering what happened. The last thing she truly remembered was Genesis's fireball.
"For someone so tiny she has a very foul mouth and is as aggressive as a dragon." Genesis said as he came in from the kitchen. He was holding a steaming mug of coffee in his hand. He handed it to her.
"I am sorry for losing my temper and expecting you to be better then you are. After only two months of training you've come very far. It's just frustrating to know you can go farther but you seem to have stalled." He said. Alanna took the coffee and took a sip.
"Apology accepted, just promise not to lose your temper again." She said. Genesis nodded his head.
"Is she going to be alright?" Alanna asked. Genesis nodded his head.
"She drained herself almost to death to keep you alive. The doctors don't understand how with a simple Cure she healed massive injuries to your heart and throat. She healed only those two injuries all the others were untouched but the doctors say it was enough to keep you alive long enough for Angeal to take you to the infirmary." he told her. Alanna nodded her head.
"It's not surprising she focused on the throat and heart injuries. She studied anatomy and other biological sciences."
"Your carotid and aortic arteries were severed by shards of your Buster, Jr." Mary said waking up and glaring at Genesis. The man paled just a little and walked out of the room. Alanna glared at Mary.
"You can't go around chasing him away forever." Alanna told her, "He's my mentor."
"Angeal is training you in sword fighting for a while and Cloud is going to work with all of us in Materia for a while. Genesis handed you off for a bit. At least until he understands why he did what he did." Mary said.
"Oh..." Alanna said a little sad. Ryu stirred fitfully, twitching, frowning in her sleep. Morgan woke up, half turned, and pushed her hair out of her face, before he rested his head on the loveseat, her hand in his. Ryu's frown eased and she fell back into deeper sleep.
Alanna grinned and mimed taking a picture. Mary laughed.
"Angeal already did. Morgan's refused to be too far from her. Rude can't pry him out of the apartment. Not that any of us have gone too far from you either, once they released you from the infirmary. We couldn't all crowd in there so we took it in shifts."
A sudden thought came to Alanna.
"I bet Reno was furious." She said. Mary shook her head.
"He was at first, but he calmed down pretty quickly after Angeal talked to him. Those two seem to be in on something." Mary said frowning in thought.
"Why did he say she has a foul mouth and is like a dragon?" Alanna asked curious. Mary grinned.
"Apparently our little goody two shoes cussed Genesis out to put some guy named Cid to shame, and she went into a Mako rage." Mary cast Alanna a glance. "I am guessing you already know about Mako rages." Alanna nodded her head.
"Yeah I already know about them." She said. She looked over at Ryu.
"Did she really go into a Mako rage?"
"You almost died." Matti said from where he was laying on the floor.
"Alright Tseng, stop listening without telling people you are awake." Alanna grumbled, slightly peeved that neither she nor Mary had noticed that Matti was in fact awake. He grinned and flipped her off.
"You almost died of course she got pissed. From what Reno told Tseng when he and Angeal got there she was threatening to rip Genesis's heart out." Matti said.
"Anything else interesting to report?" Alanna asked slightly amused.
"Reno was the one who said she out cussed Cid from the space department." Matti said. Alanna laughed.
"He had to have been exaggerating."She said.
"Only a little, yo. She gave it a good try and given that she had the freaky glowing eyes thing goin' on, and she was crouched over you in your blood, pale as a ghost, teeth bared, growling and shakin' like a leaf cuz she almost killed herself casting cure. I think Cid would give her the award of scary cussing." Reno said as he came in, he stepped over Matti and flopped into the spare chair in the room, carelessly throwing his legs over the side. He tipped his head back over the other arm and closed his eyes.
Alanna studied the red headed Turk. He had dark circles under his eyes; his normally messy red hair looked messier than normal. His clothes while always rumpled and disorganized but clean, right then he actually looked like he'd slept in them recently.
"You look like crap." She told him. Reno opened one eye and looked at her.
"Have you looked in the mirror yet, yo?" he asked her. Alanna grinned.
"I hear you and Angeal were the ones who took us to the infirmary. So thank you for that." She said. Reno closed his eye and nodded his head before he threw his arm over his eyes.
"Don't mention it; neesan would have tried to kick my ass if I didn't." He said. Matti laughed.
"Tried? In a Mako rage she would have." He said. Reno, without opening his eyes or moving his arm, grabbed the blanket that was across the back of the chair and threw it over Matti.
"Go back to sleep, yo." Reno told him. Matti laughed and settled the blanket over himself and Piper.
"Thanks for the blanket. I was getting cold." he said.
"Oh go to hell." Reno told him. They all laughed.
.
Soon Alanna was up hobbling around the apartment. One of the doppelgangers was never too far from her and another, usually Morgan, was always with Ryu who was still asleep on the loveseat.
It was the fourth day after the accident when things got interesting and almost out of hand.
Ryu woke to someone poking her side and saying, "This is a Turk? A Turk so special Tseng has been keeping them hidden from the rest of the company?" Ryu cracked one eye open to glare at him and looked right into green eyes. The man had blond hair slicked back and was wearing a white suit with a white trench coat. Ryu grabbed the offending hand.
"Keep poking me and I'll prove how much of a Turk I am." She growled before she pushed his hand away, rolled onto her side, pulled the blanket over her head and muttered, "I'll wake up for coffee but not Rufus Shinra."
Rufus Shinra stared down, shocked at the girl who'd been sleeping on the loveseat. She'd grabbed his hand made her threat and was now apparently going back to sleep. The SOLDIERs and Turks were attempting to keep from laughing. The other doppelgangers were laughing quietly, having given up the attempt immediately.
Reno got up and went into the kitchen.
"That'd better be strong, dark coffee with plenty of sugar and cream you're getting." Morgan yelled after him. Ryu popped her head out from under the blanket and squinted in the bright light.
"Why is he here?" She asked pointing to Rufus not seeing that Director Lazard was standing behind him.
Reno came back out with a large cup of coffee. Ryu sat up and took it from him. She curled her legs under her and kept the blanket securely wrapped around her body before she took a sip.
"He's here because we found out that Tseng has six Turks on the payroll, who have little to no information in their files." Director Lazard said, stepping forward. Ryu eyed him.
"Well before you can find that out I want to know why I was sleeping in the living room." She said. Morgan laughed.
"Ryu you passed out after you used Cure on Alanna. You've been sleeping for five days straight." He said. Ryu blinked.
"No wonder I'm so hungry." She said. Everyone laughed. Ryu smiled at Alanna.
"You're clearly alive so I don't have to ask if it worked." Alanna grinned and sat on the loveseat next to Ryu.
"Thanks for that." Alanna said. Ryu grinned.
"I wasn't going to let you die. I've still got a lot of things I want to kick your ass for." She said. Alanna grinned.
"You're welcome to try anytime... Turk." Ryu set her coffee down and pounced on top of Alanna.
"Take that back, you're a Turk too." She said laughing. Morgan reached over and pulled Ryu back to him.
"You can rough house later." he said.
"Oh all right." Ryu huffed taking her coffee back.
"Tseng..." Rufus said. Tseng sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"They take getting used to." Tseng said.
"But why hire them at all?" Lazard asked as he eyed Ryu and Alanna, "Particularly if they are so stressful."
"Because they fill a role perfectly," Tseng said.
"And that role is?" Rufus asked. Tseng waved to the SOLDIERs.
"Three of them make perfect copies of Angeal, Genesis, and Zack. The other three are perfect copies of myself, Rude and Reno, but each of them in their own right make phenomenal Turks," he paused eying them, "or they will when they are done training." he said. Lazard sighed.
"I sense there is another reason for why you are protecting them. Hojo's seen the Mako lab reports. The amounts of Mako they seem to be able to handle is making him want them." he said, "You've been fighting him to keep them away from him. Why?" The six looked at Tseng.
"Tseng is it true?" Piper asked. Tseng nodded his head.
"Hojo's after all of you but he won't get his hands on any of my Turks." He said.
"If he goes to father he might." Rufus said. Ryu twisted to look at Lazard.
"Our job is to keep them," She waved to the SOLDIERs, "Safe, not from monsters but from everything else, and we take it seriously." She told him. Lazard frowned. He remembered approaching Tseng about finding a group capable of just that. Zack jumped forward, hugging Piper.
"Hojo can't have Piper puppy. He'd hurt her." He said. Matti sighed and face palmed. Genesis stepped into the room.
"The consequences of Hojo taking them are not worth his experiments.
'My friend, the fates are cruel
There are no dreams, no honor remains
The arrow has left the bow of the goddess
My soul, corrupted by vengeance
Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey
In my own salvation
And your eternal slumber
Legend shall speak
Of sacrifice at world's end
The wind sails over the water's surface
Quietly, but surely" He recited softly. Rufus and Lazard both looked thoughtful.
"The five of you like them don't you?" Lazard said.
"It's not just them, yo." Reno said. He and Rude were standing behind Tseng arms crossed over their chests. Reno's EMR was dangling from the strap around his wrist.
"They are strange but we like them."Rude said.
"HEY!" All six protested. Ryu grinned.
"Well okay maybe we are a little strange." She admitted. Reno raised an eyebrow at her.
"A lot of strange, but that doesn't change the fact, yo."He said. Ryu stuck her tongue out at him.
"They protect us from the things we can't handle," Cloud began.
"Like the fangirls," Sephiroth added quickly, Cloud nodded his head.
"It's only fair we protect them from Hojo." He finished.
"The mission at Icicle Inn went so smoothly because three of them went with us and, held down the fort so to speak." Angeal said.
"So what you're asking for is that I support Tseng in his denial of Hojo's request." Lazard said more than asked. Sephiroth shrugged.
"We're not asking so much as telling you." He said. Lazard straightened up understanding Sephiroth's threat.
"Don't threaten me Sephiroth..." he started. Sephiroth glared at him.
"It wasn't directed at you, sir. It was directed at Hojo." He snapped.
"And why should I help at all?" Rufus asked, "Having seen them I should agree with Professor Hojo." Ryu and Alanna traded a glance.
"Because if you hand us over to Hojo your dad would become stronger and you don't want that?" Alanna guessed. Rufus scowled at her.
"That's true, but I fail to see how the six of you could make him that much stronger." He said.
"They could." Tseng admitted.
"How so?" Rufus asked. Tseng nodded to Alanna and Ryu. He had already figured out that they knew something more than they were telling. They traded a glance.
"Well there's the fact that we know about Lazard being your half-brother, and I could tell your father about Dark Nation's barrier and M-barrier. That knowledge might help him greatly if he sees you as a threat in the future." Alanna commented slyly, looking down at her fingers. Ryu laughed.
"And you don't wanna know the slash that comes out of people's sick twisted minds."Ryu added. Rufus paled and looked a little worried.
"Slash?" He asked worried.
"Combining people that shouldn't be together..." Ryu said giving a shudder. She actually shook her head and stuffed her fingers in her ears humming and bouncing, clearly trying to get something out of her head. Alanna poked her.
"What are you thinking?" She asked her, already starting to smirk.
"That terrible, terrible thing you told me about." Ryu muttered before draining her coffee cup and leaping from the couch and running to the bathroom.
"I HATE YOU 'LANNA, FOR EVER TELLING ME ABOUT THAT!" She yelled as she left.
"What did you tell her?" Rufus asked. Alanna shook her head, giggling.
"She'll kill me. It's a fairly common slash couple that just disturbs her."
Lazard frowned in thought. There was something Tseng wasn't telling them. The strange Turks, there was something off about them.
"Where did you find them Tseng?" He asked.
"Would you believe me if I told you they fell into our laps?" Tseng asked. Rufus gave him an unimpressed look. Tseng shrugged.
Ryu bounced back into the living room seeing Reno with his back turned to her, she leaped onto his back. Reno caught her legs under the knees with a slight grunt and hoisted her up onto his back.
"Niisan, I'm hungry" She said. Reno grinned.
"Let's go see what the SOLDIERs got in their fridge, yo." He said walking off, with Ryu clinging to his back.
-Saved by Ryu.- Tseng thought as Lazard and Rufus were distracted by Reno and Ryu. The worst was Tseng couldn't tell if she'd meant it that way or if she was truly this childish while recuperating. Morgan stood.
"I'd better go save Reno before Ryu's picky appetite gets the better of her." He said heading to the kitchen. Sephiroth turned to Rufus.
"They make our job easier, don't take that away." he said. Zack and Cloud nodded their heads.
"It is the honorable thing to do." Angeal told him. Rufus sighed.
"For now at least I'll let you have your way." He said.
"Well, that's sweet of you." Alanna drawled.
"Don't aggravate him. He might not help us." Piper said.
"If he doesn't, I'll carry out my threat." Alanna said. Rufus sighed.
"I get it already. "He said glaring at her. Alanna grinned.
"It won't be that bad Rufus, you'll see. Soon enough, you will be in control anyway." Alanna told him. Rufus snorted in disbelief. The conversation turned to other things.
Zak suddenly tipped his head to the side looking at the kitchen.
"What are they doing in there?" He asked. Cloud, with the most sensitive hearing, tipped his head in the direction of the kitchen.
"Sounds like..." He smirked suddenly, "Ryu took pity on Seph." Sephiroth perked up.
"Please, please, please." He whispered excited.
"Yup, she's making cookies." Sephiroth was off the couch and in the kitchen in a blur.
Ryu's only warning was when a glob of cookie dough went missing from the bowl.
"Sephy!" She squeaked just before the silver general picked her up off the counter and hugged her.
"You're my favorite person." he said, just like an excited child. She pulled on his bangs.
"Put me down, Sephy. I can't trust the boys to make cookies."
"Hey!" Reno protested. He was wearing oven mitts as he pulled a tray out of the oven. There was the sound of a shutter clicking. They all turned to face the entrance. Angeal was standing there with his camera.
"'Geal" Ryu protested squirming in Sephiroth's arms. The rest of the SOLDIERs, Turks and doppelgangers crowded around Angeal and stared at them. Ryu poked Sephiroth's nose.
"Down." She said pointing to the counter. Sephiroth sighed and put her down. She patted the top of his head.
"Good boy." She said. Sephiroth grinned and filched about five cookies from the tray.
"Oh you!" She said grinning, swinging her foot to kick him lightly.
"Rufus and Lazard left." Tseng said as he came into the kitchen.
"Good I didn't want them to see me cooking, yo. It's not very scary for a Turk to be cooking." Reno said.
"They might anyways." Zack said gesturing to Angeal's camera.
"No cookies for you, yo." Reno told him, mock scowling at him.
"WHAaaaahhh?" Zack said looking like a dejected puppy. Ryu giggled and took pity on the poor 1st.
"Poor Zack. Of course you can have a cookie." She told him. Zack bounded forward and grabbed her off the counter to hug her.
"ACK!" Ryu said,"Zack put me down." Morgan sighed and rubbed his temples.
"What is with you guys and picking them up? Are they dolls, or cute little baby animals or something?" he asked. Zack hugged Ryu closer. She hung from his grip facing Morgan, her arms over his crossed arms, her feet just inches from the floor. She gave off a strangled sound.
"Jealous?" Zack asked him. Morgan grinned and leaned against the counter.
"Nope." He said. Ryu grinned at him. She reached back and ruffled Zack's hair.
"Sorry Zack." She said. Zack just grinned and set her on the counter.
"So long as you give me cookies." he said leaning against the counter his face close to Ryu's.
"Go play, puppy." Ryu said pushing his face away from hers. Zack grinned and bounced out of the room with a few cookies.
"Stay out of the cookies." She yelled after him. The toaster popped sending a bagel into the air. Sephiroth caught the lightly toasted slices and handed them to Ryu. She took them, juggling them before she dropped them on the counter.
"Hot!" She murmured sticking her fingers in her mouth. Morgan chuckled and handed her a jar of spread and a knife.
"You want help supervising the boys?" Alanna asked, leaning on the doorframe. Ryu shrugged.
"If you want to help, be my guest." She said before taking a bite out of her bagel.
"Hmmm, food." She said licking her lips, "So anything happen while I was catching up on my beauty sleep?"She asked.
"Nothing much. Alanna's been limping around for a couple of days now." Mary said.
"Seph's been craving cookies." Zack said from around the corner. Angeal reached around and grabbed Zack and pulled him back into the kitchen.
"He's been begging us for them, that's why he left the message on the board." Cloud said.
"Well I am sure he's happy, now that I made cookies." Ryu said.
"You made cookies?" Reno scoffed, "I made cookies."
"Pssshhht" She said, "You had no clue what you were doing."
"Nothing is impossible for the Turks." Reno said. Ryu laughed and kicked him in the leg.
"Niisan, I don't think cooking falls into that category." Tseng snorted.
"Not really, no." He said. Reno glared at Tseng.
"Yo, bossman you ain't helpin' me." he protested, as he shoved a clump of dough in his mouth. Tseng shrugged.
"Sorry Reno, but it's true." He said. Reno shook his head sorrowfully.
"I don't get any appreciation." He said. Ryu grinned and kicked him lightly.
"Sure you do, just not for cooking." She said. The others laughed.
.
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A/N: Sorry this is going up so late. I know I had said to be looking for this chapter on Wednesday, but my week went to hell. Any more progress I was going to make last night was then postponed by the Olympic Opening Ceremony, which was wonderful. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I should have another two up in the next couple days.