Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VII: Awakening ❯ Deep Within ( Chapter 31 )

Leira stood below the running showerhead as the bathtub emptied. Gently she put her hands behind her back and tugged at the bottom of her hair while watching the cement like dirt swirl down the chrome-covered drain.

"Why's he looking at me like that?"

"What? Like What?"

Why were her memories becoming so much more intense? The slightest thing was resurrecting ghosts from a past that she could scarcely remember.

"Like that!" Leira looked up and to her left at the yellow shower curtain and wrapped her arms around her breasts. The scene that played in her mind was crystal clear. So clear, it was that she could make out each grain of sand on the beach just outside out of Nibelheim.

"Him, look!" An image appeared to her far right. This ghostly visage quickly sculpted itself into her own naked image. An almost intense look of disgust easily read beneath the thread like bangs that covered her face. Reality did not exist anymore. She began to wonder if it ever really did.

Her lanky lover sloshed through the waist deep water that hugged the shoreline. His sunglasses hid his eyes but his pace proved that he was concerned and eager.

She put a finger below her lower lip and watched the curious specter approach.

"I don't like how he's looking at me.” Her ghost said privately as Reno set himself between her and the man in question. "For the past five minutes he's done nothing but stare at me. He hasn't moved a muscle…just…stood there.” The unclothed memory nodded as a means to indicate the source of her unrest.

Reno straightened and extended his arms above his head. With a casual tilt of his head peered over his shoulder to glance behind.

Another shadow appeared at least ten feet away. This was becoming too much for her. The form was none other than that of one of the men whose honor she would most likely have to defend alone. He stood with his wet black hair matted to his head. The red was so intense that it mimicked that of his natural hair color. Only when the clouds ceased their blockage of the sun did it actually become obvious to the untrained eye. The look on Timal Klefmon's face could have rivaled the below freezing temperatures of the Icicle Continents harshest of winters.

"Our ride up Mt. Nibel, you should have heard some of the strange things he was asking me. It was…weird…"

Reno fully turned and glared at the tall SOLDIER.

First Class Klefmon gave a foul smirk and closed his eyes as he diverted his attention to the vastness of the ocean. He splashed his muscular brown arms with water making them glisten in the sunlight.

"I've known this guy for awhile now-but if you're worried he might do something-"

"Reno, it's not that-it was almost like he knew me!"

Leira watched herself. He horrified her, back then.

The ghosts slowly faded.

She watched the last of the dirt disappear from the tub's interior. Each glob slowly separated into individual grains.

Leira flattened her hands to the tile of the shower and glanced back over her left side. The scene was still playing out. Maybe she needed some of Ecka's sedatives to make the memories stop manifesting themselves in such a painful form.

The shower curtain began to shift but she paid it no mind. Her muscles were relaxed despite her mind's cruel intervention.

Her toes captured her attention as the water continuously dripped down her face.

Something shot through the shower curtain and gripped her shoulders tightly.

"You've been in here for quite some time. I'm surprised that your skin isn't littered with welts."

Leira jumped but did not shout out. Instead, she watched the fingers kneed at the joints of her upper body.

"Where's Reno? Don't make me sic my boyfriend on you!" She added the last bit with a touch of soured humor.

The body of the man behind her pressed against her strong back. All at once, the hands left her shoulders and found themselves at her abdomen.

"You gave me quite a scare back there. You wouldn't mind telling me what happened…with him, would you? What did you see?"

Her chin lifted slightly, only to fall again. "I saw…my…mother?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened and his muscles became rigid.

"She started to talk to me again…she was different, somehow."

The man behind her sighed. He had stripped off his shirts before entering the shower. Feeling the water beat against his skin added a hint of pleasure to the forlorn conversation. Lazily, he raised his right eyebrow and bit into her neck. "It wasn't your mother…not your real one anyway. Thus is the price for living in blissful ignorance."

Leira began to study the holes in the shower joint.

The wet woman whipped around to face him. She raised her right hand and slapped him across the face. "Just for once, can you pah-lease stop speaking in riddles?!" She was about to reverse the direction of her hand to belt him again but Sephiroth closed his eyes and grabbed it with his right.

"I had a feeling that you saw 'her.'" He looked down at her ankles then quickly looked back into her eyes after his eyelids parted. "I never figured that Reeve's little drug would have blocked out everything so perfectly. You completely resisted the call of Jenova-not even Cloud was able to do that. I had thought that you were on my trail because of that demon…it was…really all by chance…"

Leira tore her hand back and grabbed for the nearest towel. She covered her nakedness in a mad rush and stormed out of the bathroom and into the hallway that stood between the living room and the rest of the house.

Phiphat began to explain to Yuffie about his family until he looked back toward the dark hallway settled behind his companion and noticed a tall feminine form staring back at him. He shook in disbelief and realized that it was Leira.

"So-Pippy, what happened then?" Yuffie looked at him and than glanced behind herself. "Good grief, girl! Get some clothes on! There are men-folk here and I'm not old enough to look at pornography yet!”

Before Leira could raise a hand to flip her off, Sephiroth grabbed her and pulled her into the closest room while offering a quick secretive smile to the little ninja.

The door slammed shut behind them and Phiphat was even more confused about what he had witnessed. "What was that about?"

"No worries-I think they're just going to do some of those nasty 'adult' things is all."

"Where are you going then if that's all that they are going to do?" the monk asked as he watched the girl get up and run for the room that Sephiroth and Leira were now occupying.

"Because, it's her and Sephiroth-that's why! I can't think of anyone that needs to be alone with him!”

Sephiroth threw his green tuxedo shirt to Leira. "Put it on."

"Would it be too much to ask why you did that?"

"I'm not finished with our conversation…and your body…is…distracting." He rolled his eyes at his own words.

Leira pulled on the shirt and sat down on a bed. "You didn't have a problem with it in Midgar,” she pouted.

"There weren't children present…anyway, the rate at which your memories returning is drawing attention…unwanted attention. We can't stay here much longer. I have a feeling they already know you're here."

"Who?"

"Listen to me-this continent is going to be a battle ground soon and I can't stop it…you said you were contacted by your mother." He paused and shook his head. "Jenova is the one that you saw. She's found you-just like she's been chasing me."

Leira got into his face. "Then for god's sake-why did you want me to survive?! Why didn't you just let Reeve's little concoction leave me brain dead-or whatever? Now that you know the consequences."

"Because I care about you-just like I did your family! When I learned about you-when I saw you nearly lifeless before me in Nibelheim…I…"

Sephiroth shielded his eyes in his hands. His feelings for his childhood friend were making it harder for him to tell her the truth about the events going on outside.

"Wow! Look at this!"

Her gleeful outburst was almost welcome to the old general and caused him to form a break between his hands.

Leira held a golden picture frame to her chest. If it was in a bedroom, a bedroom in a house owned by Reno…Sephiroth's lips twitched as he thought about the smutty image captured in the photograph. He remembered that Leira and Reno's relationship had been quite a bit more than kissing and hugging. "He saved one of your calendar shots, did he?" He quipped as he sat down beside her.

A back-fist connected with his chin and returned to holding the shiny frame.

Leira remembered the day the photo was taken. It was her first time visiting Costa del Sol. Reno sat on the sand behind her. Those were such wonderful memories. The man that took the picture had been a Shinra informant and a bit of a sleaze. Leira was topless wearing nothing but a green and yellow wrap around her hips. Reno wore shorts that matched her "almost" attire.

"I punched out the photographer." she smiled as she handed the picture to Sephiroth.

"I am surprised…I would have thought that you both would have been wearing a little less."

In some strange way, the words that Sephiroth spoke rekindled some distant feelings for the red haired man that had captured her heart so many years ago. "If we're quite done here…"

She left the picture with him and buttoned the green fabric before heading out of the room.

It was beginning to seem almost hopeless. Trying to educate that woman, especially on matters that would affect them both, was like talking to a wall.

"I just wanted to tell you that 'you rekindled my hope…I realized that I could beat this curse and leave Jenova behind forever. We could both escape her…it would be like it was before all this…the cloning, the death…the…"

Something caught his eye in the photograph. "This can't be right," he mouthed as he held the picture closer to his face. "They were completely obliterated! I saw it with my own eyes! Hojo, you bloody bastard, how could you do something so despicable?!"

"I take it you guys didn't do the dirty dirty did you?"

"What kind of a question is that? We were just having an adult-to-adult conversation. That's all."

Yuffie winked at her friend. "That's good…but you are wearing his clothes-at least his shirt-that is. You-uh-got anything on under that?"

Leira pushed beyond the girl and walked into the living room.

"I thought not." Yuffie seemed to bristle. "Where ya going?"

"I need to find Reno."

"Why?"

The face of Reann Thompson was clear as day. Leira's mother stood behind Reno in the picture. Her shoulder length red hair was so fine and wavy; it was obvious where Leira's hair type had come from. Even the clone contained the woman's pale skin. The proof that Hojo had been cloning SOLDIERs, long before Sephiroth's disappearance in Nibelheim, captured in one simple photograph. The beauty of both women did nothing to hide the ugliness of truth.

Yuffie was about to follow Leira when the sound of glass shattering vied for her attention. The teenager cast open the door to find Sephiroth towering above her. Something crunched underneath his feet as he exited the room. She looked down and took note of the thousands of shards of glass. "Wow, I guess she really didn't give him any!"

"I-I don't know where she went! She just walked out a minute ago!" Phiphat's scared voice rang out into the hall and snapped Yuffie back into the present situation. Leira skipped out leaving her alone with the young monk and Sephiroth.

As soon as she became visible, Phiphat tried his best to smile and wave at her.

Sephiroth lifted him off the ground, his hands tightly clenched around his neck.

Yuffie pushed her bandana further up her brow with her index finger and grinned. "It's ass kicking time!”

She leaped high into the air and managed to grab hold of the young monk's robes as she flew by.

Phiphat was drug backwards and fell against the floor. He was bruised but nothing was better than freedom and the simple pleasures of air running into his lungs. Breathing was a good thing he was thrilled to do more of it.

"Little girl, this is not your fight!" Sephiroth leered and pushed the picture into a pocket. He took up a quick offensive posture and rushed at her.

Yuffie hopped to the right and than the left. Hurriedly she pounded her fists together and ducked beneath him.

A kick loosed by Sephiroth went screaming above her head. Yuffie delivered her joined fists into his midsection causing him to back away. She passed a thumb below her nose and smiled triumphantly before vaulting into the air and delivering a flying roundhouse kick to Sephiroth's face.

Phiphat stood up, torn between running for help or staying behind and aiding his new friend.

Sephiroth grabbed Yuffie's extended foot and dangled her, upside down, above the hard floor. "Remember-back in the crater." his breathing was coming in ragged spurts. Clearly, he had not rested enough. "Remember the pain I made you feel that day-you and the rest of your comrades? I can do it again!" The silver haired man shut his eyes and began to chant a familiar spell.

The little girl was powerless as the sensation of lightning bolts streamed into her foot and spread through her body. An agonized scream shook her along with Sephiroth's attack.

A few elemental spells were contained in Phiphat's small magical inventory. Monsters were easy to use magic against…humans were almost impossible-let alone humans that could wield magic themselves. He tried his best to conjure up a spell that would have some kind of impact.

"EEEEEEEIIIIAAAAAAAAAAEEEEE!” Yuffie shrieked again.

"I had almost forgotten how much fun this spell is to cast." Sephiroth clenched his eyelids tighter together and increased the magnitude of his magic.

Yuffie's body was beginning to tremble even more. He was trying to electrocute her. Think, Yuff, think.

The monk raised his hands above his head and began to chant. His aim was to conjure up a small fire spell to make the insane man drop back and release Yuffie.

The boy's incantation forced Sephiroth to smile. "Oh, come now, child! You expect something that insignificant to help her?" He snapped his fingers and sent Phiphat's spell right back at him.

The monk's robes instantly began to catch fire and his concentration on saving Yuffie was lost.

"This…this-isn't…how you save…a…friend…Sephy…"

"What's this?"

Yuffie tried to speak again. "What…do-you think…wha-will happen-wha-when she gets…bah-back?"

Sephiroth lowered the potency of his spell as he thought about Yuffie's logic.

"She's…AAAH…you're key…is this-is this what you'll do…wha-when you find her?"

He exhaled and dropped her to the ground and crushed out the fire that had consumed the boy's purple robes.

"You're right…I suppose." He turned around and re-entered the bedroom where he had first glimpsed the photograph of Leira, her mother, and Reno. It was time to rest again.

Yuffie squirmed a little and flopped onto her back. No matter how much pain she was in, the fight was far from over.

Phiphat lay a couple feet away from her, clearly unconscious. She felt bad about him trying to save her. She had guessed that he had never fought someone like Sephiroth before. "Take a breather, Pippy, I'll be right back."

She stumbled off to meet up with Sephiroth once more.

The spells and fighting had indeed taken their toll on him. He rested a hand on the bedside to try to keep himself from falling over. Cure spells would be too weak to calm the wear and tear his body was experiencing. "Girl, I don't have time to play with you anymore right now. Maybe tommo…"

It looked like someone had flicked a switch and turned Sephiroth off as he collapsed against the bed and rolled off onto the floor. Yuffie chuckled to herself before she too lapsed into a slumber as well.

Leira wandered into the darkness alone. She wanted to tell Reno everything. Somewhere inside her, she wanted to be a part of him again. The only way she could make anything possible was to tell him about her past relationship with Timal.

Her bare feet caused the small pebbles and dirt to shift while she searched for her former lover. She looked into the blackness and saw a warm orange glow emanating from the local pub. Maybe she would find him there.

Reno stumbled out of the Turtle's Paradise with a girl under each arm and Rude by his side.

"Take it from a married man, Wren." The bald man said warningly. "Women, they don't like it when you cheat on 'em."

"Rudy," Reno reached over one girl and patted the man's cheek. "Women always think you're cheating on 'em."

"I know but it's worse when they have the proof right in front of them." The man pointed at a form slowly creeping out of the darkness.

Reno put a hand over his eyes as he tried to shield them from the power of the floodlights that illuminated the exterior of the pub making it almost daytime. "Who's that?"

Rude collided his fists and walked in front of Reno and his "friends." "Show yourself!" he demanded.

"Ease up, Rude. It's only me." Leira entered the light and began to cross the old wooden bridge that stretched out before bar.

"I…uh…I think I was looking for you earlier…" he let out a series of hiccups. “But then I figured I'd go get a drink…and-uh…well…" he scratched nervously at the back of his bald head.

"Right." Leira smiled and extended a hand to rub the side of Rude's face. "That's sweet of you-what's his excuse."

Reno suddenly found himself included in the conversation. "I just wanted to take these fine ladies out and-"

Leira clenched her fists together in anger. "Reno, you're impossible!"

The scandalously clad girls ducked out from Reno's arms and made a b line straight for Leira.

The Elite cracked her knuckles together, threw a right punch into one woman’s stomach and kicked the other in the face with her left leg followed it up with her right.

Reno darted behind her and grabbed her underneath her arms allowing the girls to run off into the darkness.

"You always do this when I want to have a little fun. We're not lovers anymore, Leira. There's been a lot of time that escaped between us. It's not just over-it's been over, girl!"

"You can let me go…now." Reno's words hit her in the pit of her stomach, harder than the impact of the blows she dealt the prostitutes that had escorted Reno, she guessed.

Reno did as she said while Rude approached and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"It's all right. I'm okay." she offered her former coworkers. "I know. I just want to talk to you anyway." She turned to her former lover. "Reno."

Rude watched as his partner sighed and shook his head.

"Fine." Reno replied. "I take it Sephiroth and the kid are still at my place."

Leira nodded.

"I really need a collar for that girl and an invisible fence with high voltage to keep her out. She's becoming more of a pain in the ass."

"Wren, I'm gonna split and head home. Tifa's probably breaking shit." He checked his watch. "Let me rephrase that-she's probably been breaking shit."

Reno and Leira waved as Rude darted off in the direction of his home.

"For a minute," Leira said coolly, "It was almost like old times."

"You mean, Rude rushing off to find a crowbar while you try and kick my teeth in." Reno showed her a small smile and took her by the elbow. He led her down a path near the small river that crisscrossed the town and into the woods.

They walked deeper into the woods until Reno was able to find a rock to sit down on.

"What are you going to crawl back under it or something-you wanted me to watch?"

"Funny, Lei, very funny-keep 'em coming." He sat down and found one of the few things that could calm him in stressful situations. Reno removed a cigarette from his pocket but seemed to have lost his lighter. "That's just great."

Leira whispered a quick fire spell and lit his cigarette for him.

"Thanks, doll. So what you want to tell me."

She sat down on the ground beneath the seated Reno.

"We may not be lovers but you can still sit next to me,” he extended a hand but she promptly declined his offer.

"Hojo…"

"He's dead, yeah?"

"He's dead-but his projects are still living. His cloning knowledge is still producing monsters. It's not just about Timal and Navig…and Ecka. If Timal and Ecka are cloned…I couldn't live with myself."

"Hmmm." Reno was actually beginning to show interest in her words.

"Jenova seems to be their target. Sephiroth believes she's back to pulling strings. Ecka and Sephiroth both seemed to confirm this. While I'm sure we'd both like to see Tim again…the clones end up twisted. They resurrected Sephiroth but he says he's powerless to stop them. They've bound him somehow."

Reno took another drag off his cigarette. "So. Sephiroth told you all this, huh?

"Yes."

"Ha. You know as well as I do-he can't be trusted."

"Reno, I believe him. I have to. He saved my life."

"But he doomed everyone else, Leira. If it weren't for him, Meteor and Lifestream…and Holy-we wouldn't have had to worry about them and Timmy and Benny would never be gone. Rude and I wouldn't be out of a job…and Tseng would still be alive, too."

Leira put a hand to her face in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I guess it's up to me then. I didn't mean to waste your time. I'll let Phiphat know tomorrow. Thanks for hearing me up." In reality, she felt sick to her stomach. Maybe she said something wrong. Reno's words about them not being lovers, though true, must have hit her deeper than she thought. She pushed herself off the ground and wobbled a little as she started to walk away.

"Hey."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and paused.

"I never said I wouldn't help…not that I recall, anyway. I've had a couple brews in between so my memories probably a bit foggy. We'll both talk to the towel head in the morning. I'm sure Yuffie's totally exhausted him with all her chit-chat…either that or Seph's bored the crap out of 'em."

"You sure?" Leira sensed that the liquor Reno had consumed was probably talking for him.

"It's a beautiful moon out tonight." He sat on the ground and tugged at Leira's left wrist. "Share it with me. Just don't go nuts like you did yesterday. Ya got me?"