Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 89: One Fine Morning

Tseng watched silently as the the ferry pulled its gangway back aboard, and started away from shore, leaving him behind on the snowy beach. It had taken him quite some time… and three hundred gil, in cash… to convince the captain to drop him off at the same port of call he routinely left the little town’s mysterious “mini merc”. He smirked slightly at the thought of that nickname, and wondered if it was something Kai had encouraged, or simply something that had evolved from the locals.

Likely a bit of both, knowing her. The diminutive Turk was far from unaware of her smaller than average stature… and in fact, frequently used it to her advantage. Standing at only just five feet tall, the young woman was easily underestimated in a fight. Doing so, however, typically proved to be her opponent’s downfall.

Tseng turned away from the sea and started walking. The island hadn’t looked particularly large from the water, but now that he was actually here, he found his first impression to be a bit deceptive. But it was still an island… and the only way off of it was the boat that had just departed. Kai was here, and he was going to find her if he had to search every inch of it.

He’d come prepared, just in case his search took longer than he anticipated. Tent, sleeping bag, provisions for several days… and most importantly, fire materia, as he never had been very good at manual firemaking, despite Kai’s insistence over the years that he learn to do it properly.

The island was rocky, and largely barren this time of year, though the Turk lieutenant could see the skeletons of trees and brush poking up from the large drifts of snow that blanketed the beach. It was probably quite a lush and inviting place in the spring and summer… but at the moment, he found it decidedly depressing, and couldn’t help but wonder why his friend had chosen this place to make her temporary home. Was it the solitude alone that drew her here? Or was there more to it than that?

Tseng shook his head and began to make his way down the beach. Assuming the captain had indeed dropped him off on the correct island – and not merely scammed him and stopped at whatever random one they’d first happened across – Kai had likely made camp some distance from the shore… both to avoid the tides, and the bone-chilling wind that blew in from the water in a near constant barrage. He remembered that much of his survival training, at least. His best bet, he decided, was likely the high cliffs a fair distance from his present position, towards the east end of the minuscule land mass. They would probably provide the most shelter of anything here… and there may even have been a cave or two that his friend had taken up residence in.

The senior Turk exhaled a plume of mist in the chill morning air, hoping that she wouldn’t be too difficult to locate, and set off towards his chosen destination to begin his search in earnest.

---

She was running low on wood again, Kai noted as she fed the small fire that was keeping her home away from home bearably warm for the moment. She’d have to do something about that today, or it would very quickly come back to bite her in the ass. Winter had barely even begun and the seaside was half frozen. It was hard to believe that just a four or so day sail south of here was the far more temperate island nation of Mideel, where, in all likelihood, the snow had yet to reach – and even if it had, they seldom got more than a dusting of the white stuff until very late in the season, when the air currents shifted, carrying the arctic winds farther sound. Even then, it didn’t stick around for long.

Here, however, the temperature outside could almost rival the northern continent… or at least that’s certainly how it had felt that morning when she’d forced herself to finally take the uncomfortably chilly bath she’d been avoiding for almost a week now. That was the downside to camping in the winter. You either dealt with heating water on the fire, only for it to go cold far too quickly… or you lived with your own stench.

She’d finally had enough and taken the plunge… such as it was. The distinct lack of bathing facilities in the middle of this frozen nowhere meant it was really more of a full-body wipe-down than an actual bath… but at least she couldn’t smell herself anymore.

Of course, if she was going to go out and chop wood today, she’d likely undo all that effort in a matter of hours.

She half laughed, and half sighed, at the thought of it, and prodded the eggs she was frying in a pan over the fire, checking to see how they were doing. They were her last two, in fact. She’d have to do something about that soon, as well. Another provision run was obviously in her not-so-distant future.

She’d meant to do so the last time she’d gone to the mainland… but the storm that had set in had been poised to shut things down in the village for at least a day or two. She’d been lucky to find someone willing to take her back out to her camp after Reno had departed on the ferry for Junon. Shopping just hadn’t been in the cards that day, and she’d kept herself busy enough in the days that had followed that she hadn’t made another attempt just yet.

Thinking of the little redhead drew yet another sigh from the Turk… well, former Turk, now, she supposed. It wasn’t technically official yet, but she’d sent her message back with Reno… and she trusted him to deliver it, whether he wanted to or not. He’d made it very clear that he wasn’t happy about her decision, but as much as it pained her to break his adorable little Turkling heart, she just… couldn’t go back to Shinra.

It was one thing to understand and accept the odds of the people you cared about dying in the line of duty… It was something else entirely to watch it play out in front of you over and over again. It never got easier. It never got less painful. And it would never stop. That was just the reality of the life they’d signed up for, and she couldn’t do it anymore.

The smell of burning bacon jarred her from her thoughts, and Kai swore loudly as she realized that her breakfast was going up in smoke. She hurriedly dumped the contents of the pan out onto her plate, grimacing at the somewhat more than slightly charred meat and decidedly overcooked eggs.

“Oh… Great job, Kai…” she groaned. She’d been looking forward to a nice, runny yolk… not a solid mass of yellow. Well… there was nothing for it now. It wasn’t as if she could try again… nevermind the fact that she couldn’t afford to waste food when she was already running a bit low.

She’d head in to town tomorrow and resupply. Maybe check the job board again while she was there. She had funds enough to keep herself comfortably stocked through the winter, at least, but it never hurt to pick up a little extra cash, and she could use the break in routine.

Today, though, the priority was the fire.

That decided, Kai settled back against the the log she’d been using as a backrest for the last month or so and tucked into her breakfast. It… wasn’t good, but it was still edible. She’d barely taken four bites when an unexpected sound met her ears.

The wind had been blowing hard all night, and hadn’t abated with the rising of the sun, but the distinctive crunch, crunch, crunch of boots on snow was surprisingly loud over the the sound. Kai set her unfinished plate aside, eyes narrowing. She was alone on the island, last she checked… but those footsteps were definitely human.

She slipped silently to the makeshift door of her shelter, and let a knife slide into her palm, listening… straining to pick out even the faintest sound over the howl of the wind.

“Kai,” a voice suddenly called out, with an irritating calmness, just on the other side of the thin barrier. “If you’re in there, I would very much appreciate it if you didn’t stab me…”

The diminutive woman scoffed and rolled her eyes before putting the blade away and wrenching open the door.

“I should have known,” she stated bluntly, folding her arms across her chest, “What other idiot would come all the way out here to see me in the dead of winter?”

Tseng smirked, and mirrored her stance.

“If I’m the idiot for coming to find you, just what does that make you for living out here?” he asked, somewhat teasingly.

“Shut up…” she muttered, but all the same, waved her friend inside, out of the cold… an offer the Turk lieutenant was only to happy to accept. “I know why you’re here. And you’re not going to change my mind. I thought I made that clear to Reno, but as usual you’re too stubborn to take the hint.”

“Oh, I can take a hint. But I’m hardly going to stand by and be silent while my best friend throws her entire career away,” Tseng replied, staring her down. Kai snorted and shut the door again, latching it against the wind.

It had taken her quite some time to build this little shelter. In fact, she’d put extra care into it, after she’d decided, during the warmer months of the fall, that she’d be wintering on the island. It was partly made up of a natural depression in the cliff face – unfortunately, there were no true caves on this island… at least not that she’d ever stumbled upon – and partly made from a latticework of wooden branches and mud. With a fire burning, it was surprisingly cozy, even with the bitter cold outside.

She took a seat in what passed for her “living room”, and Tseng followed suit.

“… Is this really what you want, Kai?” he pressed, looking around at the space. “Living like a hermit, alone on a island?”

The younger woman rolled her eyes. “I’m going back to Midgar in the spring. For Kjata’s sake, Tseng… I haven’t completely lost my mind. I just… wanted to be alone for awhile. Until I was sure. This was the best way I knew how.”

“Everyone misses you,” he said, wasting no time playing on her feelings for her strange little family, and she glared at him.

“Don’t you dare try and manipulate me, Tseng…”

To his credit, her friend had the decency to look slightly ashamed of the attempt.

“I’m sorry. But, my own intentions with that statement aside, it’s true, you know. We do miss you,” he reiterated, “I miss you.”

“I miss you all, too,” Kai replied. “But I can’t do it anymore. I can’t… see you all every day. Talk to you every day. Not when I know that one of these days I’m going to walk into that office and you’re going to come up to me and tell me that someone’s dead.”

She blinked furiously, holding back the tears that threatened, but just as it had been when she’d had a much less in-depth version of this conversation with Reno, it was a losing battle.

“Tseng… You know better than anyone how close Aly’s death came to destroying me. I can’t go through that again. I almost got Reno killed. Twice. He’s not my Aly… but I love him. Not in the same way I loved her, but… I would never survive being the cause of his death. And I’m not willing to take the risk.” She finally let the tears fall. “We both know I’ve always been a little reckless. I always just thought that… if I get myself killed, well… that’s on me. But I have to accept the fact that I don’t live in a bubble where the stupid risks I sometimes take only affect me. They affect everyone around me, too.”

“Kai…” Tseng breathed, reaching for her. He pulled her into an embrace, and she let her head rest against his solid chest.

“I know you want me to come back. And a part of me wants to come back, too… but I’m terrified of what will happen if I do,” she whispered.

---

Sykes inhaled deeply as they stepped out into the open air just north of the resort town, and flashed the redhead a wide grin.

“Nothing like winter at home, sir,” he said. Reno snorted softly.

“Sykes… I got news for ya. This isn’t winter. This is hell frozen over,” the redhead replied, shivering as a gust of wind cut through his heavy winter coat. “Fuck. How do people live here year round? It’s dark by noon ‘n ya freeze your ass off within thirty seconds of leavin’ the house…”

Rude snickered unabashedly beside his friend. “Thought you liked the snow…” he pointed out.

“Yeah. The snow. Not risking frostbite every time I step outside.”

“So… not gonna give the ski jump another shot today, then?” the bald Turk joked. Reno rolled his eyes, and for a brief moment, he could have sworn his shoulder gave a dull, aching throb at the memory.

“Shut up,” he shot back. Rude laughed quietly, and turned to go and help the pilot secure the copter. Reno huffed in annoyance at the teasing, but quickly turned back to the task at hand. “Sykes… get movin’. The President’s not gonna want to sit around waitin’ on us all day.”

“Yes, sir,” the younger Turk replied, and hurried off, down the path leading into town. As soon as he gave the the all clear at the lodge, they’d move the VIPs. Until then, it was just a game of sit and wait. And he wasn’t going to do that out here.

Reno climbed back aboard the executive helicopter, pulling the door shut behind him and made his way over to the president.

“We should be ready to head into town in a few minutes, sir,” he informed him.

“Good,” the chief executive replied, not bothering to look up at the Turk from his newspaper. Taking the apathy as dismissal, the redhead made his way to the other end of the aircraft, where Rufus seemed to be having a surprisingly friendly debate with Petra.

“It’s not really that they have any special powers, sir. They just… give you something to focus on, and sometimes focus is what you need the most,” she explained, holding up a small, pale pink crystal on a chain looped around her neck. “I find it very helpful for grounding myself when I meditate.”

Typically, Turks avoided wearing much in the way of jewelry. Oh, sure… most of them wore a watch, and there were piercings aplenty among the ranks, but they tended to keep that sort of things limited to studs and very small hoops. Necklaces, rings and anything else that didn’t serve a specific function – and that might have a tendency to get caught on something at an inopportune moment – was usually avoided… though there wasn’t anything specifically prohibiting them. It was more a matter of common sense. The few who did wear such things, usually wore them under their clothes and out of sight. And indeed, a moment later, Petra tucked the little bauble away, as well.

“Thinkin’ of takin’ up yoga, sir?” Reno asked, with a somewhat teasing grin, as he dropped into the seat beside the pair.

Rufus snorted in contempt. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you that it’s rude to interrupt a conversation you’re not a part of?”

“Ya know, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were tryin’ to replace me…” the redhead replied, affecting a mock-hurt expression.

“If only Tseng would allow it…” the vice president deadpanned.

“Ouch…” Reno laughed, “Anyway… get ready to move. Soon as Sykes lets me know we’re good, we’re heading up to the lodge.”

“Yes, yes… fine,” Rufus answered in a disinterested tone, “The sooner this starts, the sooner it’s over, and the sooner I can get back to doing the things I actually want to be doing. Incidentally, on the return trip, we’ll be making a detour to Kalm. You’re dropping me off. I don’t intend to miss the entire festival. Petra has agreed to remain with me as security.”

“… And I suppose I’m gonna be the one tellin’ the President about that little side trip,” the senior Turk said, stifling a groan. Rufus smirked.

“You want your mentor’s job? That’s part of it. Get used to it,” he said, simply, calmly studying his nails.

“Tch… I was wrong. You’re not replacin’ me. You’re tryin’ to get me killed, outright,” Reno joked. Before the executive could come up with a suitable retort, however, the redhead’s PHS pinged. He glanced down at the screen, noting the text message that had just arrived. “Looks like we’re clear. Time to go freeze.”

---

The axe swung downwards, but instead of splitting the log in half as intended, it glanced off the top and embedded itself in the frozen ground next to it. The log toppled over, landing on its side. Tseng sighed and lowered the axe head to the ground, leaning the handle against his thigh as he bent over to stand it back up.

“For Kjata’s sake…” Kai’s voice interrupted, snickering loudly. “When did you get so terrible at this?”

The Wutaiian Turk straightened and shot her an annoyed glare.

“Forgive me for not including living like a hermit on the frozen tundra among my favorite weekend hobbies,” he returned, “It’s… been awhile since I’ve done this.”

For the time being, Tseng had decided to drop the subject of Kai returning to Midgar with him. His first attempt had been met with such an emotional response, he’d determined that a change in tactics was necessary. His goal, now, was not to convince her to come back to the Turks… but rather to come home for Christmas… though even that idea, he was easing into slowly. It seemed to be paying off, as Kai – no longer being at the mercy of his expectations – was far more like her old self, joking with him and teasing him for his complete lack of both ability and desire to live in a mud hut on a frozen island in the middle of nowhere. He’d agreed to help her restock her wood supply, and things seemed, at least, to be going well.

Kai huffed and picked up the axe. “And this is exactly why we need regular wilderness training. When you never use a skill, you start to forget it.”

Tseng hurriedly repressed a smile. He definitely hadn’t missed that ‘we’. She shooed him off to one side and, once he was clear, brought the axe down dead center on the log, cleanly cleaving it in two. Kai smirked at him, and handed it back.

“Now… do it just like that about ninety-nine more times,” she added, grinning slightly.

“If I’d known this visit would involve so much manual labor, I’d have brought Sykes or Rude with me, instead of sending them both up to Icicle Inn with Reno…”

“You’re making my poor Baby Turkling work on the weekend? Right before a holiday break?” Kai asked, with a feigned look of shock. Tseng chuckled softly.

“Your ‘poor Baby Turkling’ is twenty years old, and coming up on four years on the job, you know. He’s training the real Turklings, at this point.” He paused a moment, and smirked, folding his arms over his chest. “And for that matter… he’s my protege. Just what gives you so much claim on him, anyway?”

Kai smiled and shook her head.

“I don’t know…” she said with a soft laugh, “I guess I just see him as something of a kindred spirit. I just can’t help being protective of him. I was him, once upon a time. No family, no direction to speak of… and then the Turks found me.” Her smile faded slightly. “That’s why it hit me so hard when he got shot last summer. I’d never want to see any of us get hurt like that… but especially not Reno. And then to find out that it was all because of my stupid mistake…”

“Kai… That wasn’t –” Tseng began, only to be cut off.

“Yes, it was. It was my fault. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it was still my fault, and no amount of forgiveness from either of you will ever change that,” the diminutive Turk firmly stated, “And… I’ve more or less come to terms with that. I can’t change what happened, or the fact that I trusted someone I never should have. I can only make sure it never happens again.”

“By leaving?”

“Yes. By leaving,” Kai replied. “I already told you. I can’t live with consequences if something I do ends up getting him, or someone else, killed. Please, Tseng… stop asking me to reconsider.”

Tseng felt his stomach drop at that quiet plea. Something in her voice carried an utterly unmistakable resoluteness. In that moment, he knew… She was committed to this course of action, and there was nothing he, or anyone else, could do to dissuade her. He breathed a heavy sigh.

“Alright,” he agreed, softly. He sadly glanced up at her. “Will you at least come back for the holidays? I really did mean it, earlier… Everyone misses you. They would all very much like to see you.”

“… I told Reno I’d think about it,” she answered, fiddling with one of her gloves, “I’m… still thinking.”

---

“Ifrit, just kill me now…” Reno breathed. The words were, mercifully swept away by the wind, so no one but himself had heard them. The redhead couldn’t imagine there was anyone else on the planet who liked to hear himself talk more than President Shinra. Today’s speech had been going on for almost – he subtly glanced down at his watch, and bit back a groan – thirty freaking minutes. That was thirty minutes of standing outside in sub-freezing temperatures with the wind cutting through him like knives. Thirty minutes of listening to the man drone on and on about… well, to be honest, Reno had kind of stopped listening around the fifteen minute mark. At that point, the subject had been the great contributions Shinra Company had made to life here on the Glacier. Now? Who the fuck even knew?

He didn’t feel too bad about that. He wasn’t here for the speech, anyway. He was here to watch the President’s back. Thus, accordingly, most of Reno’s attention had been focused on the crowd, and the various approaches to the small stage from which the race’s officials were conducting things. He spotted Rude and Sykes some distance away, stealthily patrolling the periphery of the audience. Rufus, of course, had a front row seat for the proceedings… though, frankly, he looked like he would have preferred to have been just about anywhere else at the moment. Petra was at his side, dutifully keeping an eye out for anything that might threaten the company’s vice president.

He couldn’t help but smirk slightly at that. Rufus had been a pain in the ass little shit from the moment the redhead had met him. Literally, from the very first over the years, he’d come to learn that there was a reason for that. Rufus didn’t trust people easily… and he made sure to keep them at arms length until he did trust them. How Petra had managed to gain his favor so comparatively quickly, he wasn’t really sure… but then again, maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.

Petra tended to be, not just forthright, but occasionally downright blunt with her opinions. It wasn’t that she lacked a filter – the way Reno himself often did – but rather, that she was so much of a free spirit, that when asked for her input, she simply stated exactly what she thought of something. He could see how that would be appealing to someone like Rufus, who utterly hated it when someone tried to tell him only what they thought he wanted to hear. He was perfectly aware that that was a big part of the executive’s grudging respect for him,as well, so it made sense that it would extent to others.

He had to admit… he was a little torn. For almost four years now – well, okay, probably closer to three, given that Rufus had spent most of Reno’s first six months or so of being a Turk hating his guts – he’d had the distinction of being one of the two people Rufus trusted most in the Company. On one hand, having someone else to pick up some of the responsibility that came along with that was undeniably a good thing. On the other… it meant that, in a way, he’d lost a little bit of that distinction.

Before the Turks, Reno had never had much to take any particularly great amount of pride in. But things were different now. He did take pride in his work. He loved his job and the family that had come with it, and he strove to make them proud of him. A part of him couldn’t help but think that Petra gaining favor with Rufus took something away from him… and the thought irritated him immensely, because anything that Petra had gained, she’d earned. He had no right to be jealous of that… but he had to concede, if only to himself, that he was. Just a little bit.

After all… he’d come dangerously close to giving his life for Rufus. Not to mention all the other times he’d saved the Brat’s ass from some threat or another. But now Petra seemed to be Rufus’ new preference for security… to the point that he hadn’t even bother to discuss his plans to divert to the festival with the redhead. Just informed him of it after said plans had been made.

He couldn’t even quite place why that was bothering him… at least not at first. It wasn’t like he and Rufus were friends. Not really. He was a trusted employee, and Rufus was his superior. That was really the extent of their relationship. It certainly wasn’t akin to the Shinra heir’s relationship with Tseng… which bordered on almost parental at times. No, the truth was that Rufus respected him, trusted him, even valued him… but he didn’t particularly like him. And coming to that realization somewhat unexpectedly… hurt. It was becoming more than obvious that Rufus actually liked Petra, and that was what made her newfound position in this little hierarchy nag at him so.

Reno quickly pulled himself from his thoughts as he realized that he was letting himself get distracted. He was supposed to be protecting the President… not wallowing in some weird sense of self-pity over not being the VP’s favorite anymore. Well… second favorite. Favorite, of course, went to Tseng, and likely always would. Thankfully, the senior executive finally seemed to be wrapping things up.

About time, too, as, glancing down at his watch again, Reno saw that the race was actually supposed to have started almost three minutes ago. Finally, though, the President mercifully shut up, and picked up the starter’s pistol from the little wooden box one of the race officials was holding out to him.

“And so, I declare the Great Glacier Relay has begun!” President Shinra announced in an excited tone, an a second later, fired the gun into the air. A cheer went up from the crowd as the racing teams began their mad dash into the icy terrain outside of the resort town, and it wasn’t long before they were mere specs in the distance.

Reno followed President Shinra off of the stage as he jovially shook hands with the race officials, proclaiming what an honor it was to start off this year’s race. The redhead nodded at Rude, who began clearing a path for them through the gathered crowd, back to the lodge. The sooner they were back inside, the better… not just because it was far safer than being out in the open in the middle of a massive crowd of onlookers… but also because he’d lost most of the feeling in his toes about ten minutes ago.

“Finally…” a voice muttered behind him, “I honestly think the hot air he spews out during his speeches must prevent him from noticing just how Ramuh-be-cursed cold it is out here!”

Reno turned to see Rufus and Petra catching up to the rest of the group.

“Kinda wish some of that had extended my way, sir…” he admitted, shivering slightly, and Rufus snorted in amusement. They continued up the path to the lodge, and Rude and Sykes eventually moved in, picking up the rear of the group. Before any further conversation could be had, however, the President turned and snapped his fingers impatiently at the redhead. Duly summoned, Reno hurried to his side.

“We’ll be staying longer than planned,” the President informed him, “Rufus and I have been invited to lunch with the race officials and last year’s winner.”

“Understood, sir,” Reno replied. He wasn’t really that surprised. Presidential visits often ran longer than initially scheduled, and he’d planned ahead for such a contingency. In fact, he had a fall back even if things went way off schedule and they ended up not leaving until tomorrow morning, having ordered Rude to reserve a few rooms at the lodge just in case… though with all the people in town, space was limited. While the President and the Vice President got their own private rooms, the four Turks were going to be bunking together, along with their pilot and co-pilot in one… and probably sharing a bed and/or sleeping on the floor, since the only other room left was a single. He… kinda hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Sykes snored… and frankly, so did Rude, even if did always deny it. And if he was being completely honest, he really wasn’t the best roommate himself, given his status as a ridiculously light sleeper. Reno woke up frequently during the night… usually rolling over and going right back to sleep, but his constant restlessness tended to keep other people awake.

The senior Turk dropped back a bit, leaving the President with the rest of his newly acquired entourage, and fell into step next to Petra.

“Looks like we’re stayin’ for lunch,” he informed her.

“Excuse me?” Rufus cut in, eyes narrowed angrily.

“Hey, I’m just the messenger. The President says you’re havin’ lunch with last year’s winner,” he replied with a shrug. Rufus scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Wonderful…” he sneered, “Yet more time out of my own weekend. He better not have made dinner plans, as well…”

“Well… if he does, at least you get your own room tonight,” Reno snickered, “The rest of us are gonna be sleepin’ on top of each other in whatever closet they manage to squeeze us into.”

“Hmph… perhaps you should have planned ahead,” Rufus replied, smugly.

“I did plan ahead, sir,” the redhead retorted, grinning slightly, “That’s why you got your own room on reserve. But us commoners don’t get the VIP treatment, ‘n just about everything’s booked, so… it’s the closet for us.”

Petra giggled softly at the comment. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad, if it comes to it.”

Reno smirked. “Yeah? You’ve never spent the night with Sykes and Rude and me in the same room. Hope you brought earplugs. Those two snore like behemoths, ‘n I’m a chronic insomniac.”

He didn’t wait for a response. Instead, Reno dropped back again to fill the other two members of the security team in on the change in plans.

~end chapter 89~