Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ (FCC) My Last Christmas ❯ Prologue

She was at it again.

As intelligent, and cunning and lethal as Elena could be, she was too downright perky at times. And obnoxious. And dense. And... well, you get the picture. Couple this with the already too cheery feel of the holidays, eggnog, fruitcake, and Reno's growing hangover induced headache, and you've got a growing problem and one Turk ready to explode.

"Reno!" She called from across the office, her voice chiming over the radio, blaring Jingle Bells. "You never told me what you wanted for Christmas."

She talked too much too.

And Reno wasn't in the mood for it.

He glared at her, crumpling the newspaper he had been previously attempting to read, and stalked off, out of the room, leaving a confused Elena, and a stoic Rude.

A confused, annoyed Elena.

"Oh no. You're not." She clenched her fists and stormed after the redhead. Vaguely hearing Rude's voice calling her back, she continued on her way, until she found herself going up the stairs.

Now where's he goin?

Reno sighed as he leaned forward on the balcony overlooking much of the continent. Roof access could be a great thing. Reno often found himself coming up to this spot, either to look down on the industrial city of Midgar, or the beautiful, nearly untouched countryside.

Today he chose the countryside.

Reno lit up a cigarette and looked to the snow covered hills outside Midgar. It truly was beautiful. He hadn't been in snow for years... ever since...

"Reno?"

Godammit...

"What do you want, Elena?"

"Uh-uh. You're not going to pull this shit on me again. I'm sick of you running off somewhere when I-- Wow. It's beautiful up here."

"Elena." Reno looked away from the snow fields sharply and gazed toward the ocean. "What do you want?"

"Well..."

Reno put out the cigarette on the railing and let it fall to the ground. He glared at her, emerald eyes flashing anger, annoyance. . . fear?

Sadness... pain?

"Just..."

"I'm waiting."

"What is your problem?! Ooh, big bad Reno hates Christmas."

"So?"

"Why?"

"Why do you care?" He grinned cynically. "Still believe in Santa?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Why don't you try talking to us, Reno, we're your friends... I mention something and you go off. It's so fucking annoying and cowardly."

Reno glared at her, not saying anything.

"...I mean Christmas... you'd think you'd be happy... spending it with family--"

"You think wrong Elena."

"Huh? What? Divorce? Your job? Are you the blacksheep? What?! Tell me! I've been working with you for five years."

"I have no family."

He glared at her coldly, and turned away, leaving her alone once again.

"Wait! Reno!"

So maybe I was a bit harsh...

Traffic. It almost seemed fitting. Of course there would be traffic when all Reno wanted to do was race to his apartment as fast as he could, grab a cold beer from his fridge, and promptly sit down on his couch and watch mind numbing afternoon programming.

Instead he got to sit in his car - his unmoving car, listening to Christmas songs, alone with his own thoughts.

"Hark, the herald angels sing..."

Reno clicked off the radio, letting silence embrace him. Damned if he wasn't going to take care of the one problem that he could.

"What was that all about?" Elena was still confused as to Reno's actions.

Rude looked up from his cup of coffee, sighed, and placed it on the table. None of this surprised him one bit. "He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Just as I thought. Rude had a feeling that Reno had never told the rookie of his past... or at least this particular part of his past. It had taken him may years of friendship, and one snowy and emotional night of drinking for Rude to finally learn the truth.

"Don't mention Christmas, Elena. He's not a big fan of it."

"Oh." Elena threw herself onto the plush couch. "Why would anyone dislike Christmas so?"

"He just does."

"And what's this about his family."

Rude dropped the newspaper suddenly. "What about it?"

Jumpy. Elena thought as looked at Rude. "Just got annoyed.... says he doesn't have a family."

Rude attempted to compose himself. He picked up the fallen newspaper. "Oh. He doesn't."

Elena looked at her cup of coffee, thoughtfully. "But.... everyone has a family..."

Forty five minutes later, Reno was finally within the warm, cozy, albeit messy confines of his upper Midgar apartment. True to his intent, he immediately headed for the kitchen and grabbed a beer. He opened the can, and turned on the television as he plopped onto his well worn couch.

"Ho-ho-h-" Click. He changed the channel.

"Last minute Christmas shopping?" Click.

"We're on the island of misfit toys..." Click.

"Merry Chri-" Click. Reno shut off the TV with a sigh. What was he thinking? December 23. Of course this is all that would be on. He took a final gulp of beer, shut his eyes, and fell asleep.

"Daddy's home, Daddy's home!" A young boy runs toward a red haired man as he attempts to enter his home. The man scoops the boy up into a hug, and looks up to see his wife, standing across from him, her soft green eyes showing a mixture of surprise and unadulterated happiness.

"I got you something, big guy... Merry Christmas." He hands the boy a box, and once again looks up at his wife. "Merry Christmas Bella..."

"You're home..." Tears well up in her eyes as she runs to him and embraces him in a hug. "I've missed you..."

"I've missed you too... They didn't want me to come, but I couldn't just leave you... It's Christmas... I couldn't miss another Christmas..."

"I know, I know."

"Mom! Mom! Look! I get to be like Daddy!" The boy held out a toy gun and a badge. "I get to be a TURK..."

Reno awoke in a cold sweat. He hadn't dreamt of that fateful day in a long time.

"Damned Elena..."

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this....

Elena sat in a dimly lit office, staring at a computer screen. Sure they all thought she was incompetent and stupid. She was the rookie after all. But she had one skill that she knew the rest of the TURKs didn't...

Elena was a hacker.

And if there was anything in Reno's past that would explain why Reno was being such an ass in regards to Christmas, Elena was going to find it.

And his family. Couldn't forget that. The file's would probably have their current addresses...

Seconds went by. Then minutes. Finally Elena pulled up Reno's personal file.

Security's harder to break than I thought...

Name : Charlemagne, Reno A.

Elena stifled a giggle... Charlemagne?

Age : 25

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 170

Wait... Charlemagne? Elena thought for a moment... Charlemagne somehow sounded familiar...

Mother : Gray, Isabella; Deceased.

How sad...

Father : Charlemagne, Daniel Reno; Deceased....

Daniel Charlemagne... of course... he's almost a legend in TURK history... but.... wait...

Elena bit her lip, her tense features softening as realization hit.

Daniel Charlemagne... No...

Cause of Death: Ambushed in home. December 25.

December 24. Work was optional, but what else would Reno do? It was either work or get drunk, and he didn't particularly feel like being drunk at the moment.

So he worked.

"Paperwork... what fun." He muttered under his breath.

What did he think? That there would actually be a mission for him to do on Christmas eve? Not that he'd mind it. At least it would be something to get his mind off things.

The least he could do if he was going to stay sober, was to get some coffee. Reno pulled himself up from the plush leather chair and headed towards the cafeteria.

He also almost headed straight into an opening door. Lo and behold, it was Elena... a very nervous and suspicious looking Elena.

"Oh! H-Hi Reno! Did I hit you? I'm sorry if I hit you. I didn't hit you, did I?"

"No, Elena, you didn't hit me. What are you up to?"

"Up to? I'm not up to anything! Why would you think I'd be up to something? Do I look like I've been..."

Reno sighed and rubbed the back of his head.... Migraine's coming back... "Just curious Elena... Just curious."

"Oh! Well, I guess I'll see you later! Got some stuff to do!" Elena seemed to exit extraordinarily fast. Reno smiled as he watched her leave. "Guess she got to the coffee before me..."

I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot.

Elena knew she was screwed. First she hacked into Reno's personnel file. Then she made a moron of herself in front of Reno. All for what? To fulfill her curiosity?

She wished she hadn't seen it. This was not the kind of thing that she wanted to know. No wonder he hated Christmas so much. But what could she do about it?

Realization hit. He did have a family... and she knew what to give him for Christmas...

Elena sighed. But now? She needed caffeine, a nice long bath, and a nap...

"We're closing up in five minutes."

Reno stared down at his glass and sighed. It wasn't even midnight yet, and the bar was closing? Sure, it made sense... some people did have places to go... people to spend time with on Christmas day.

Besides... what was the point of keeping the bar open all night? Especially on a night such as this? Reno looked around the quiet room, noting only two people in there with him. One was packing up his stuff to leave... a business man of some sort. The other was an old man dressed in rags, obviously there just to take shelter from the cold.

And Reno? He was a regular. Him and Rude. He closed his eyes. Why was he here? Why didn't he just go back to his apartment and get wasted there? He was alone. He knew how he appeared to the few people who stopped by earlier to grab a drink or wish seasons greetings to the bartender.

A drunk. A sad worthless drunk. That's what Reno was.

Reno shook his head as he once again resumed staring at the glass. If only they knew why he was here. What he had gone through.

Elena...

Why did it always have to come back to Elena? Especially lately? Well, it was obvious in some ways... she did bring up the events of a past he'd rather forget.

He gulped the remaining portion of his beer and left a few gil for the bartender. Sure he hated Christmas, but he wasn't a complete jackass.

Reno looked up and down the streets of Neo-Midgar. He had to hand it to Reeve, the place did look better than the original Midgar. The goatee'd man had rebuilt whole sections of the massive city, cleaning up the slums. Sure, some areas weren't as great as others, but nothing compared to the great poverty of the bad sectors under Shinra. At the center of the city lay the headquarters of Reeve's new, flourishing company. He'd removed the plates, and began mass building projects around the outer edges of Midgar, expanding the city farther.

It didn't look half bad.

Especially when one took into account one of the side effects of having no plate to cover the sky... For the first time ever, Midgar had a white Christmas.

Reno sighed, a light, whimsical smile playing upon his features. It was nice...

He trudged through the snow, hoping to find a taxi to the subways...

It was nice, but extremely cold.

Then something struck him and he nearly burst into laughter.

It was nice, cold, and... familiar.

Reno laughed. Elena lived here! Of course!

He shivered as he looked up and down the streets. Now if only I could remember which house was hers... Not blue... not that ugly... definitely not that.... Ah!

A small white house, complete with a porch, a love seat, and a Christmas wreath adorning the door... it was so... her.

He pushed the doorbell and waited for a few minutes.

Ring, Ring!

Elena groaned and looked to her left, barely able to focus on the light of her alarm clock.

12:38

She rubbed her eyes and fumbled in the dark to find her slippers and robe. Who the hell was ringing her doorbell at the ungodly time? Elena stumbled through her darkened house, cursing to herself. If this is some sort of prank...

She opened to door and immediately the look of anger was replaced by that of shock.

Reno yawned as he waited for the Turk to come to the door. He looked at his watch and sighed as he read the glowing face.

Forgot it was so early... Probably woke her up...

Finally, a very tired and very annoyed Elena appeared, her short blonde hair tied back.

"Who... Reno?! What are you doing here?"

He stifled back a shudder. It seemed to be getting colder. "...Was at the bar, and then remembered you lived here... thought I'd stop by."

"Oh, well... um... Come in!" She ushered Reno into her living room. "You must be freezing!"

He nodded and removed his slightly damp coat, leaving it to hang on her coat rack.

"Sit down... I'll go get you a blanket." Elena turned on her electric fireplace and left for another room. Reno watched her and resigned to the plush couch next to the fireplace. He rubbed the melting snow from his hair and yawned. He was tired and cold.

Wonder if 'Lena would let me sleep here tonight? ...Nah, probably think I'm making a move on her... She is cute though.

His eyes shot open. Now where the hell did that sentiment come from?!

She returned minutes later with a blanket. She handed him the quilt and eyed him, concern showing in her brown eyes. "You're shivering! Hold on, I'll get you a cup of coffee."

His teeth were chattering, slightly, his body racked with the cold. Reno wrapped the blanket around himself.

Didn't realize I was that cold.

"Here." Elena handed him the mug of steaming coffee. "Hope that helps a bit." She sat next to him on the couch and rubbed her arms nervously. "So... how's it going?"

He sipped the coffee. "...Okay... you?"

"Okay, I guess."

An awkward silence resumed.

Reno placed the cup of coffee on the small table next to him. He cleared his throat. He knew what he had to say, bit it wasn't exactly easy. "Listen, Elena.... I'm... I'm sorry about the other day."

"Oh. That's okay, Reno..."

"No. I shouldn't have snapped at you. There was no way you could have known..."

She looked down, playing with the sleeves of her robe, then looked up, into his emerald eyes. "And I'm sorry I pushed you so hard. You're my friend, Reno... If you ever need to talk to someone about anything. I'm here."

"I know Elena, I know. It's just..." He sighed, sadly. "It was so hard..."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded solemnly, here chocolate brown eyes meeting his once again.

She knows... but how?

He was silent for a moment. It was so obvious, but yet he wasn't angry. She was his friend, one of his closest... maybe she deserved to know. She'd told him about her past... her family... A seven year old Elena fleeing an abusive step father with her mother. He knew all about it... She did deserve to know... But how did she find out?

The computer room... of course. Elena's not stupid.

He looked away, letting silence fill the room once more. Reno sighed and raked his fingers through his disheveled hair.

"They weren't killed right in front of me."

Elena looked up to him, once again. Startled that he'd begun to speak again. His voice was barely above a whisper.

"If I was in the room... I probably wouldn't be here today.

"My father was Daniel Charlemagne." Reno said with a hint of pride in his voice. "The greatest Turk ever. My mother, Isabella Gray, was a dressmaker, until she met and married dad. They had me about a year after the wedding.

"I can remember when I was about five. Dad had just gotten a promotion... he became the head of the Turks. And, to coincide with this, he got a big job... Some sort of rebel uprising... heh, sounds familiar. Him and his team... they were supposed to take care of it.

He absently played with the fabric of the blanket. "They say that people, especially kids, repress bad memories... but... I can remember everything. Every word, action, detail, thought, everything.

"I couldn't sleep that night," Reno laughed softly, "Hell, what kid can sleep on Christmas Eve? I know I heard a sound coming from the front of the house. Sounded like keys jingling and the door opening. I thought it was Santa, so I ran into the living room.

"It wasn't Santa. It was someone better.

"It was dad. He wasn't allowed to come home until the job was taken care of, but he'd missed the previous Christmas because of work and didn't want to miss another. Mom came in after me... I'd never seen her so happy.

"He gave me a present... Turk related stuff... and talked to mom for a while. She was so happy, we were all so happy. Then there was a knocking... No, a pounding on the door... and the happiness ended." Reno seemed so far away to Elena. She could clearly see the pain in his eyes now.

"Dad looked up at the door, terrified. I'd never seen that look in his eyes before. He turned to mom, and told her to take me out back... get me out of there. Mom grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the house, pulling me in back of her through the snowy grass. I didn't know what to think... I don't even know if I was truly scared.

"Then I heard gunshots.

"Mom stopped in her tracks. I think she knew what was going to happen. I think she knew that she wasn't going to live through this."

Reno sighed heavily, trying to collect himself. "'I love you Reno... We both do... and we always will.'"

Reno made a strange sound, somewhere between a choke and a sob. Elena looked up at him, tears welling up in her own eyes. She pulled an arm around him, holding him close.

He sighed, again, and continued. "She had me run to the nearest town... told me to hide there for a while. She said she would see me again, but I know now that she said that only so I would leave.

"I ran and ran, until I fell in the snow, exhausted. Somewhere along the line I heard a gunshot and a scream. Someone from the nearest town found me lying in the snow, sobbing. He took me in and eventually adopted me.

"All I have left of them is my name and a beaten old replica of a Turks badge. And the memories."

He looked into Elena's tear filled eyes and smiled sadly.

"I haven't been able to enjoy Christmas since."

Reno sighed heavily as he stepped out of the taxi and onto the snow covered sidewalk in front of his apartment. He'd spent the night on Elena's couch, after telling her his whole story.

He felt weird having her know... but it was probably for the best.

Reno entered the building and climbed to the third floor of the complex.

"What the?" Reno closed the door behind him and knelt in front of the small, brightly colored package that lay on his floor. Someone had obviously stuck in through his mail slot, but who? And who sent it in the first place?

Reno sat on his couch, tore open the wrapping paper, and opened the box. He removed a small note from the box.

Reno,

I know you say you don't like Christmas, but I just couldn't not get you something. I'm sorry, that's just the way I am.

You say you have no family. I don't know what you mean by this, but whatever the circumstances, you will always have a family.

Rude and I are your family. I will always be there for you and I know Rude would as well. You will always have us, and we'll always have you.

Merry Christmas, Reno.

Love, Elena

Reno placed the note on his coffee table, tears of happiness welling in his eyes. He pulled the present out from the box, a picture frame with a picture of himself, Elena, Rude, and Tseng, celebrating Reno's 24th birthday during the Meteor affair.

Reno smiled as he placed the picture on his table. This wasn't such a bad Christmas after all.

A/N: I hope that was pretty good! I wanted to do another Christmas story, and this time my muses called for it to be Final Fantasy. (Last year it was "The Gift" in the Gundam section, not a shameless plug, I assure you! =)

I'd love to know what anyone thinks! Happy holidays to all!