Reflections of Reno Chapter 7
The Ember Exit
By Christina Bruno
"My mouth is dry
Forgot how to cry
What's up with that
You're hurting me
I'm running fast
Can't hide the past
What's up with that
You're pushing me
Why, bleeding is breathing
You're hiding underneath the smoke in the room
Try, bleeding is believing
I saw you crawling on the floor"
-Natalie Imbruglia, Smoke
Reno came to a room without end, in complete darkness; the ebony haze obscured
any physical features that might surround him. He stumbled up onto his knees and
finally found his legs. Strands of ember smoke formed all around him, as he
stood bewildered. He didn't see where they were coming from, there didn't seem
to be any rhyme or reason to them. If he looked down it seemed as if the smoke
had been rising, if he looked up it seemed it has been falling. They had no
beginning and no end, much like his suffering.
Reno's eyes attempted to adjust to the absence of light, but he was unable to. He assumed Tifa had dumped him somewhere and he was hallucinating from loss of blood, this place was too surreal. He had never experienced something like this before, it didn't feel...physical. He squinted his eyes, but he could not prevent the inevitable tears that streamed down his face. Smoke would do that to you.
A single tear built up in his eye, and then streamed down his cheek. He stepped back, watching it hit the ground. When it did, the smoke began to accumulate into the form of a woman. Reno stepped back, in amazement and horror.
"Reno…?" The translucent and faceless figure began to assume form and speak to him. He turned away; the voice was all too familiar. It sounded like the soft chimes of silver bells. It was always so gentle, so understanding. Too goddamn benevolent, she was always such a damn masochist!
"You don't even recognize your own mother?"
Reno looked over his shoulder, her words piercing his ears. He wondered dimly if they would bleed. The smoke had still left her faceless, but he could recognize the soft waves at the bottom of her hair.
"I know who you are." He responded coldly, back to his old self. The one that everyone loathed, it was the way he liked it. No one had a damn right to know what he was feeling.
"How can you speak to me that way, Reno?" She spoke again, still gentle. She was always so damn nice; she would forgive anyone. He never understood her, where did she come from? Was she a saint or a fool? Reno thought she was a fool. After all, she was his mother.
"How can you be so goddamn nice to me?! It's my fault you're dead!"
He could no longer suppress the feelings that he had inside. As a boy, he loved his mother dearly. He obeyed her every command, but she was raising him to be docile. She was raising him to be submissive like her. She raised him to be fearful; it was her fault that he ran from the cops. She was such an idiot, always worshipping his father. He didn't even show her one-ounce of affection. Before he got home, she would rush around the house cleaning it up in hopes to satisfy him. She would always wait for him to place a kiss on her soft visage and he just walked right to the dinner table. Reno would just watch, he didn't know any better then. But now, he knew it all too well.
He wanted her to hate him. He wanted her to express some form of regret, some form of anger. He wanted her to be irate. Every fiber of his being wished that she would beat him senseless for what he had done, call it even - so he could live with his goddamn self.
But she didn't, she just didn't respond. He was guilty.
Reno couldn't bear the depthless sorrow; so he ran through the figure of smoke and watched it wither away. He watched the ember tresses join with the others that were floating around. He had run from his begging mother again. What a wonderful son he had turned out to be. She was no doubt ashamed of him as she rested peacefully in the Lifestream.
Reno had found a wall, after what seemed like days of running in the smoke. It was a miracle he wasn't dead by then, but there was nothing else he could do. He slammed his hands against the wall in a bitter rage.
Then suddenly, beams of light shot from everywhere. The smoke was gone in an instant, and he turned to see he was in a room full of mirrors. He fell back, as he stared at his reflection. In his hands lied nothing, they were completely empty. He wanted to scream when his looked upon his face…the face of his father.
"RENO!"
The man was thrust out of the surreal world that one would like to describe as a nightmare, with a few slaps to the face. Tifa drove with on hand on the wheel, and one continuously striking Reno. After a few consecutive smacks, the man was at least half conscious. He knew that the girl's fists were always her forte.
"Ugh…" Reno shook his head, he could feel the pain piercing his lower backside and he was almost thankful, physical pain he could handle.
Tifa didn't look towards him; she continued to watch the road. She could hardly see Gongaga in the dark and the Mako reactor was no longer there. Gongaga had become a trading town. It did have two bodies of water near it after all, the river and the sea. It was still surrounded by hedges, but where reactor was no longer there. A blooming market place with cafes, and small business establishments had surfaced there. It was an adorable town, and it was the nearest place to get help for the downtrodden Turk.
"Just keep driving." Reno commented laconically, shifting painfully against the seat.
Tifa shook her head, thinking to herself. While he had been unconscious, he appeared almost innocent. He looked like a child; his lips quivered just a bit. The moonlight christened his creamy visage, but his eyelids hid beautiful aqua orbs that were so enticing to her. She shook her head, not in a million years and meteor would she ever consider Reno, the cockiest of all the Turks, attractive. She must have been far too tired she had been driving for a while, maybe the darkness way getting to her.
She looked up at the sky, glancing at the stars for just a moment, wondering what they were really made up of. This was an attempt to get those ridiculous thoughts of Reno out of her mind. So many events in her life had taken place under those stars. When Cloud had made that promise to her. A promise she hoped he'd keep and he did to a degree, sometimes she wished he hadn't. The more he was around, the more her heart eroded until there was nothing left.
Tifa shook her head, and focused on the beckoning horizon once more. She didn't want to think about those circumstances at that moment. She wasn't attracted to Reno; it was just a mere moment of insanity that made her become slightly infatuated with his good looks. And Cloud? Well, she didn't even want to think about him ever again.
"We're almost there, just got to get over the river, hold on." Tifa spoke to him as she concentrated, the drove over the shallow thing they liked to describe as a river. In the dark she could make out an ominous dark stain dangerously increasing in size on the seat behind Reno. His shirt had long since turned crimson and she was worried. Worried that she would wind up with a corpse on her hands...that had to be it, right? She couldn't possibly be concerned for his well being? And if that was true, then why did she help him in the first place? The river once again caught her attention and she was glad for the distraction. Many vehicles passed over it time and time again. It was what separated a small time place like Gongaga, from places like Corel and Gold Saucer.
Tifa drove over the shallow pool with precision and speed. Reno lay slumped in his seat, gritting his teeth. The pain was still bearable, but he hated it. No one ever enjoyed being wounded, even someone as hard as him. He sort of enjoyed the undulating trip over the waters; he had made it many times before. But this time was different; he had never actually taken in the feeling.
Tifa let in a deep sigh when they were back on the grass. She wished they would build some sort of passageway over the river. It was so strange driving over it; it made her so damn nervous. She immediately stepped on the gas to get to Gongaga quicker, Reno just looked up at her hazily. She wondered why she was trying so hard to help him. Why was she acting like his mother?
"Why are you helping me?" He muttered, she could hear the effort behind it.
"Didn't you ask me too?" She rolled her eyes. Maybe the pain was really getting to him now, it was affecting his memory. Or was she afraid, that Reno was reading her goddamned mind?
"Yea, well I didn't think you'd do it." He wanted to call her a stupid ass. If she hated him so much, why didn't she let him die? He wanted to know why, but he would suck it out of her another time.
Tifa sighed unable to decide upon a response; sometimes it was better to just keep your damn mouth shut. She ran the car through the deep green bushes that surrounded Gongaga, and drove straight into the town. Reno hadn't seen Gongaga in quite a while; he blinked at all of the changes that surrounded them, trying to keep a hold on reality.
It was not a city, by any means. But it had recovered from its traumatic explosion quite well. There were a slew of tiny shops, and homes. There was a particular home that stood out, it was quite well made, large, and in the center of the town. It was obviously the Mayor's home and office, and Tifa knew she would be able to get help there. There were some perks to being a savior of the planet.
She saw a man in the dark, exiting. He left the Mayor's house behind him. She stopped the car short right in front of the man; her anxiety had prohibited her from slowing down earlier in anticipation of his crossing the road. The car jerked to a halt. The figure seemed unmoved by her violent actions; he remained staring stonily at her through the windshield, illuminated by the headlights. He gave no response.
Tifa jumped out of the car, her jaw dropped when she saw who it was. Two Turks in one night?! Indeed, it was the cue ball himself - Rude.