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Chapter 30

I was laying in a pool of water it seemed…but I wasn’t wet, I was completely comfortable- as if I was sleeping in my bed. I could hear the swoosh of water as people moved about me. Footsteps- they echoed in my ear- seemed distant and at the same time, I could feel people walking next to me. I tried to open my eyes, by bright lights blinded me, and I quickly snapped them shut. The light was painful, hot, unlike the water that eased me back to a comfortable state. I tried to figure out if I was dead…and if this was some kind of level of hell.

Voices swirled around me, giving me a painful headache all of a sudden. This had to be hell, I could feel pain. Someone, or something, ran their thin fingers through my hair. I jerked away from the touch out of instinct, only to earn a laugh from the culprit. Another presence made itself known…it bent down next to me and placed it’s hand on my chest- right over my heart.

“Oh,” it said with a chuckle, “I can feel his heartbeat.”

The other one laughed, “Oh no, seems like he isn’t ready.”

“Cloud Strife, always in a rush.”

“Better get back home- some people are waiting for you to wake up.”

The water disappeared, the footsteps stopped their echoing, and I felt like I was actually in a bed- an uncomfortable bed. I tried to open my eyes again, only to find the painful light still shining brightly in my face. I groaned and closed them tightly again, to keep the light from leaking in and poisoning my eyes. I didn’t know if I wanted to go to sleep or force myself to call for help. I didn’t even know where I was anymore- if I was still on the street waiting for all my blood to leave my body, or in some hospital on life support. After I collapsed, everything was just…dark…

“Argh fucker I have to pee like you don’t even know,” a familiar voice shouted. My brain juggled the voice, trying to look for the person who owned the harshly sweet tone.

“Then why don’t you go?” a much cooler voice responded to the other.

“I kind of can’t…he won’t let go of my hand. He is holding it for dear life, like I’m going away or something. Come on blondie, wake the fuck up, Reno has to do a number one before I pee on top of ya!”

Oh…right…he owns that voice. That voice I used to hate, but somehow grown to love as much as him. My mind started to process what was going on around me. I must be in a hospital- yes I can hear the footsteps and the dead voices of nurses and doctors who work too long. The bright, painful light, from the hospitals white walls and white sheets and white, blank, atmosphere. And those voices…Reno and Vincent…

“He isn’t waking up,” Reno sighed, “He’s gonna wake up right? I mean, he wasn’t shot nearly as bad as me- just in his shoulder.”

“You’re both lucky to be alive,” Vincent scolded.

“Yeah I guess we are…”

A tense silence killed the room suddenly- as if something was going unspoken. I could finally feel Reno’s hand in mine, his thumb rubbing against my index finger slowly. I just had to will myself to wake up so I could see that pretty face of his…

But all my body did was release his hand from my grasp, and allowed him the freedom he needed.

“Ha! I knew he could here me!”

“Well now are you going to use the restroom finally?”

“…Nah…I don’t have to go anymore.”

I heard someone arise from a chair and walking further and further away from me. “Well, I have to get going, Elena needs me.”

“I’ll call you if this fucker wakes up.”

More rustling, coming from the red head, he was moving away from me. That’s when my body finally reacted to what my brain was screaming. I forced myself awake, my body jolted to a sitting position- as if I had awoken from a bad dream. Instantly a jolt of pain came from my arm, and I fell back on to the bed- clutching the burning arm with my hand.

“Hey hey hey,” Reno cooed, caressing my face with his hand, surprisingly easing away the pain coming from my arm, “Bought time you woke up. It’s been a fucking week.”

“I’ve been out for a week,” I groaned, “What happened?”

“A lot of shit happened. Most of the houses burned down thanks to Sephiroth. Hojo is dead. Vincent cut his hair-“

“No no,” I shook my head, “What happened with Sephiroth?”

His eyebrows knitted together, and he quickly pulled his eyes away from my confused blue orbs. “Well, that’s…that’s a little iffy.”

No, I had to have killed him- it wasn’t possible that he was still alive. I mean, I stabbed him in the gut…I watched him take his last breath….

“Iffy,” I snapped, “what do you mean?”

He closed his green orbs, trying to search his mind for the proper words to tell me the news, “Cloud, they never found his body- all they found was a trail of blood leading to an empty parking space. We think he had someone help him leave. Everyone is on high alert right now…”

I had failed…I tried with all my soul to rid the world of that sociopath, and all I got in return was a busted shoulder and the guilt of failure. If he was alive, he could come back at any time, finish the job…throw this whole horrible place in hell. He was that powerful…he wasn’t a boy, or a man, or even human- humans you can kill. I couldn’t kill him. You can’t kill the devil can you? All I could do was hope that Sephiroth was either dead in a ditch, or became some born-again Christian and leave me alone. But where has hope ever gotten me?

I guess it has gotten me this far right? I’m alive at least. Reno’s alive. Everything was going to be okay I guess.

“Cloud, I love you,” Reno smiled- still not looking in my eyes. Something in my stomach told me something was seriously…seriously wrong. He wasn’t looking at me. He was hiding something.

“Reno…” I called to him, “Reno Strife, look at me.”

“I am,” he laughed sadly, “I am.”

“No you are looking at my stomach, look at me right now.”

Reno didn’t listen; he instead closed his eyes and laughed painfully. He gripped the white sheets, as if the news he was too tell me was too painful for is own body to bare. He shoot his head and kept mumbling over and over again how much he loved me, and how much being with me changed his life…

“You saved my life, babe,” he whispered hoarsely, “and if we were just a couple of years older, nothing would matter. No one could touch us. Everything would have been okay.”

“Reno,” I whimpered, “Just tell me honey…”

“I have to go away for a little while-“

Someone…it felt like…someone took a knife and stabbed me in the heart. I thought a breaking heart was just a metaphor, I think it could actually happen. I felt my heart die that day.

“My parents want to send me someplace,” I laughed painfully, “To try to curve my inappropriate behavior I guess. You mom and dad tried to fight to get legal guardianship over me, but…your dad only has so much influence in this place, and the courts basically laughed in his face- said he was promoting bad behavior.”

“When do you leave,” I managed to choke out (someone had to have been strangling me).

Once again he stopped talking…and my heart broke faster. I don’t even think he needed to tell me, it was written across his face. Life just wasn’t fair in the end. Life is built with the suffering of others. I had fought so hard, no…we had fought so hard to stay together in this world, and just like that he had to go. A little while he said? What bullshit. A little while means nothing. A Little while is just a lie, a white lie he built in his little head to shield me from the pain of the truth. I wanted to truth, and at the same time, I just wanted to live in ignorance. Ignorance is bliss right? Turns out that too was a lie.

He finally got the courage to look into my contorted blue eyes, mixed with fear, sadness and anger. As he stared, trying to make sense of my own confused mind, I tried to think of ways I could keep him with me. But the legal system, it was always going to be against us. He was a minor; he was still under his parent’s rule. Our so called “marriage” didn’t mean anything- just a drunken night where we flashed our fake IDs to some Justice of the peace and told him to give us one of those Civil Unions. I can’t remember that night, but I knew if I had, if I could, it would have been the happiest moment of my life. Sadly that’s beside the point. There was nothing I could to keep him with me. He had to do what his parents said…even if his parents were attempting to strip him of his personality.

It should be considered child abuse what his parent’s were asking.

“I have to go now,” he whispered against my lips- the pain in his voice traveling to my heart and added to my own pain. I wanted to cry, sob, and beg him to stop…to stay.

“No,” I shook my head, “No, you can’t go…you can’t go that isn’t fair. That isn’t how things are supposed to work. You have to stay- I fought too hard for you.”

“I’ll come back,” he smiled through the pain, “I’ll come back and everything will be alright. I promise.”

He placed a light kiss against my lips- painful, sad kiss…the worse kiss I’ve ever received in my life. It was something so final…so definite. A farewell kiss instead of a see you later kiss. A tortured, painful, kiss. But it was from him, so it meant something. It was still drenched in love...like always.

He reluctantly pulled away, and pushed himself off the bed- I could see the pain in his eyes twinkle from the horrible gunshot in his stomach. He looked at me one last time, with tears threatening to fall from his beautiful green orbs. Reno started for the door…

“Reno wait!” I called out. He quickly turned around. “Reno, I don’t want the memory of you walking out that door…”

Reno stared at me for a good ten seconds, contemplating something I couldn’t read on his face. He swallowed back the pain…and said his final words to me: “Then close your eyes…”

And that was the ending of our tragedy…Reno walking out of my life.