After dinner, the party was in full swing; the ballroom was packed with formally-dressed men and women, the air filled with the rollicking murmur of dozens of voices. Somehow, Elena had found herself stuck in some dull conversation with a senior designer from Weapons Dev. and a SOLDIER lieutenant. She excused herself to get another glass of wine and promptly disappeared into the crowd to try and find her fellow Turks. She spotted Rude off in one corner and started heading toward him, but was halted after accidentally bumping into a man in a charcoal-grey suit along the way. The man placed a hand on her shoulder.
         "Slow down there, Elena! What's the big rush?"
         She turned around once she heard the man's voice. It was Reeve.
         "Oh, I'm just… Forget it. It's nothing. So, how are you?"
         Reeve gave her an odd look, which she couldn't quite decipher. "I'm all right, though a bit tired. These past few days have been strenuous, to say the least."
         "Yeah…"
         "You look exhausted yourself."
         "Do I?"
         Reeve nodded. "Of course, I don't blame you. Listen, I'm actually on my way home. I can give you a lift, if you'd like to join me."
         "Well, I was starting to get kind of bored…"
         "Right. Let's see if we can find the front door."
         At that moment, Elena noticed that Rude had caught sight of her, and was now coming their way. As Reeve took her arm and began to maneuver toward the entrance, Elena turned back and waved her arm in an attempt to let Rude know that she was leaving. Rude seemed to have gotten the message, as he stopped and returned her goodbye wave. She turned back to look in front of her, and soon, both her and Reeve were free of the crowd, standing in the foyer of the building. Save for a few of the ballroom's employees, the place was sparsely populated. Reeve walked up to a man in a tuxedo who was sitting on a velvet couch, reading a newspaper.
         "Hey Curtis, long time no see."
         The man looked up from his newspaper. "Reeve? What do you want?"
         "A ride, of course. I don't think Scarlet will be heading home for at least another hour."
         "I dunno, man… you sure it would be cool with her?"
         "You think I care about that?" Reeve smirked. Curtis gave him an odd look, then turned to face Elena, who was standing off to the side.
         "Isn't she one of the Turks?" Curtis asked, pointing at Elena. "What's she doing with you?"
         "Elena's just a good friend of mine who happens to live in the same building as I do. I was hoping you could drop both of us off, no questions asked."
         Curtis shook his head. "You know, if Scarlet finds out—"
         "But she's not going to, is she?" Reeve cooly replied, removing a gil note of some large denomination from his wallet, which he pressed in Curtis' palm. "Besides, I'm still married to her. You shouldn't have to feel so guilty about driving me home."
         "Okay, already," Curtis said, standing up. "I'll take you and your friend home."

         After an entirely uneventful ride back to Sector Two, Reeve and Elena rode the elevator up to the eighth floor. Reeve invited Elena to his place, and she took him up on his offer, allowing him to escort her inside. She walked into the living room and eased onto the couch; Reeve, who had been following her, walked around the couch to the low wooden cabinet behind it. She watched as he pulled out a bottle of champagne, a corkscrew, and two glass flutes, then walked back around to the front of the couch where he sat at the end opposite from her. He opened the bottle and poured the clear, sparkling liquid into the glasses, then picked both of them up, handing one to her. He raised his glass before her.
         "To Yoshiro Kawaguchi."
         For a moment, Elena thought she caught a strange glint in Reeve's eyes, but she blinked, and it was no more. She smiled as best she could and said, "To Tseng," then closed off the toast by clinking her glass with his and taking a drink. Reeve set his now half-empty glass on the coffee table and rested one arm on the back of the couch, his eyes seemingly fixed on Elena. For some reason, his looking at her made her nervous, and she took another sip of the champagne before setting her own glass down. Reeve tilted his head, his eyes averted.
         "I'm sorry, Elena. I wish I could say something."
         "What about?"
         "Your boss. I… know you had feelings for him."
         Elena stared across at Reeve, who seemed to bear many weeks' worth of weariness on his face. She lowered her own head.
         "It's okay. It doesn't matter now…"
         "Oh? Is that right?"
         "Yeah. I… I'll get over him. But I still miss him, very much."
         "Of course you do. I certainly don't blame you."
         Elena nodded once, thinking about how this was an odd thing of him to say. Of course she was to blame—she was the unlucky fourth Turk, after all.
         "He saved my life not too long ago," Reeve said, raising his eyes back to her.
         "Really? I didn't know that."
         "It was back when we were investigating the first reactor bombing. I nearly got crushed underneath a huge, broken down mecha. Felt like I owed him after that."
         "Did you ever…"
         "Repay him?" Reeve smiled. "I'm not sure that I did, no."
         "What do you mean, you're 'not sure'?"
         "Nothing." He reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, and she found herself frozen upon his touch. "Do I make you nervous?" he asked, softly.
         "N—no…"
         "You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" he replied, as his fingers traced her lips. She quivered, and backed away from his wandering hand.
         "I'm sorry. I just—"
         "No, no, it's okay," Elena replied, herself wondering at her actions. Wasn't this supposed to be right for her? Didn't she want her bad luck cancelled out by his good luck? Didn't she want that sort of stability, and to take Tseng's advice? She downed the rest of the champagne and stood up. Reeve remained on the couch, rubbing the lip gloss-stained tips of his fingers together and wearing a concerned expression.
         "Elena…"
         "I'm going to put this in the sink," she said, indicating the glass. "I'll be right back."
         She made her way to the kitchen, and even when she heard Reeve shuffle behind her, she didn't pause in her actions. After rinsing the glass in the sink, she left it there and turned to see Reeve standing in the doorjamb. She couldn't help but stare at him then—she'd never seen him in a grey suit before, and couldn't help thinking that it looked good on him, especially with that dark red tie. She knew that he knew she was staring, and the look in his own eyes was one she was only faintly familiar with, but recognized all the same.
         She remained where she was as Reeve came up to her, and took her chin in his hand.
         "May I?" he whispered.
         Elena nodded.
         He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, the short hairs of his beard just barely touching her face. She puckered, replying to the gesture in kind. Reeve's response to this was a deeper kiss, and he drew Elena close to him. As she circled her arms around him, she felt his hands start to wander, exploring the curves of her waist, and lower.
         Elena knew what was going to come next, but by this point, she wasn't about to stop him.

         Her shirt, spread out beneath her, was the only protection she had from the cold, squeaky linoleum of the kitchen floor. After a bit of awkward fumbling, Reeve had procured his own protection, and she spread her legs and braced herself with her arms as he penetrated her. They spoke no words during the whole procedure; assorted pants, grunts, and moans being the only sounds that escaped from their lips. She was enjoying herself, as guilty as this pleasure was, but he came far too soon for her taste. Elena supposed that she couldn't blame him; considering the situation with his wife, it had probably been a long time since he'd gotten any. Longer than her, anyway; she'd dumped her last boyfriend only a month before Reeve became her next-door neighbor.
         Reeve pulled out, then sank his head between her breasts. Both of their bodies were completely covered with a light coating of sweat. For a while, neither of them said a thing.
         He sighed and asked, "Are you all right?"
         Elena nodded as best she could in her current position. "Yeah…"
         "I'm sorry. I came too fast."
         "Don't worry about it. I'm just… stunned that this happened at all."
         "Elena," he said, half gasping, half whispering. "This can't be comfortable for you." Reeve raised himself from her chest, and stood up. He offered her his hand, which she took, and he pulled her to his feet. " I'm going to clean up. I'll be right back, okay?"
         Elena nodded, and followed him into his bedroom, where she promptly collapsed on his unmade bed. Reeve, on the other hand, continued on to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. She examined her new surroundings, her eyes darting around this unfamiliar space, as she breathed in the dry, musky air—the generic scent of a bachelor pad. The room itself was fully furnished, and its walls were bare, save for a couple of framed fine art prints. An antique bureau near the bathroom door had a freshly-pressed blue suit—still wrapped in a plastic dry cleaner's covering—hanging from one of it's knobbed upper corners. The top of the low dresser directly across from the bed was cluttered; aside from the usual grooming tools, there was an ashtray and a lighter, a pack of cigarettes, a shot glass full of loose change, a few small gadgets, and some framed photos of people she didn't recognize. The two small tables on either side of the bed held identical lamps and not much else. The carpeted floor was largely bare, save for a few scattered bits of clothing, and a cardboard box in one corner that held rolled-up blueprints and a few thick binders. Finally, on the windowsill, there was a box of maroon lacquer, on top of which was a photo, housed in a brushed metal frame, of Reeve and Reno in tuxedos, holding champagne glasses and grinning at each other.
         Reeve came out of the bathroom and picked up the cigarette package from his dresser. He fished out a cigarette and wedged it between his lips. "Mind if I smoke?"
         Elena shook her head, and he picked up his metal lighter and flicked it open, the flame emanating from it glowing in the dim night. Reeve took a long drag and stared down at her naked form, seemingly indifferent about his own nudity.
         "Damn," he murmured, shaking his head. "How the hell did we get here?"
         "I don't know."
         He picked up the ashtray from the dresser and ambled over to the vacant side of the bed. After setting it down on his sidetable, he lay next to her, on his side, propping his head up with one arm. Elena remained flat on her back, hands folded across her belly, as Reeve's eyes traced her form.
         "You really are beautiful. Yet even so…"
         "Huh?"
         Reeve smiled, apparently lost in thought. "I promised myself I wouldn't do anything like this while I was still married to Scarlet. I mean, I did leave her and all, but technically I'm still her husband."
         "Hmm," Elena replied. "Well, she cheated on you first, right?"
         "It had nothing to do with that. I wanted to be the bigger person; prove that I was above adultery."
         "I guess it's too late for that."
         "Indeed it is."
         "How do you feel about it now?"
         "I don't know." He rolled over slightly to flick some ashes into the ashtray. Taking another drag from his cigarette, he continued, "I suppose part of what I feel is relief. I had a lot pent up inside of me. But that's not to say that I consciously intended to use you."
         "Then what was your intention?"
         Facing her once more, he let his head sink to the pillows as he placed one hand on top of hers, and gently stroked her fingers. "I really like you, Elena, and find you very attractive. But I would feel awkward about being in a serious relationship with you."
         Elena found herself pondering by Reeve's words. Here she was, lying on his bed, both of them recovering after the quickie on his kitchen floor, and he was expressing his doubts? No, she felt the same way, and had been since the very beginning. Whatever forces had brought them together had done so in the most random, cut-and-paste fashion.
         "To be honest," she finally replied, "I've had my own doubts about getting involved with you."
         "Why is that? Because of… well, you know."
         "Tseng?"
         "…Yes."
         "That was part of it. I think, when it comes down to it, it was my own instincts above all else."
         "Hmm," Reeve said, drawing his hand away. He pulled himself up again and took one final drag before extinguishing his cig in the ashtray. "You don't mind being here with me, do you? You don't regret what we just did?"
         "No. If anything, I'm glad that it happened, and that we're able to talk like this."
         Reeve drew close to Elena, leaning his head against hers. The strong smell of charred tobacco commingled with his already champagne-sweetened breath as he spoke.
         "You know something? You've really changed from when I first met you."
         "Have I?"
         "Yes. I can see Tseng has been a good mentor."
         "Tseng…" she murmured, bringing a hand up to her eyes. She took a deep breath, then rolled over on her side.
         "I'm sorry," she heard him say. "I didn't mean to—"
         "It's all right."
         "Elena," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
         "You know, I thought I liked him, but as time went on, I realized that what I was feeling was something else entirely."
         "What was that?"
         "Admiration. I didn't want him, after all. I wanted to be like him. I still want to… so calm and collected."
         "There's a reason why he was like that. It was because he wanted to be like his father, the original Tseng. That's why he took on his father's name after he died."
         Elena fell silent, pondering this bit of information. It was so funny, she thought, that her former boss once had his own object of admiration. Maybe they were more alike than she'd thought.
         "Reeve?" she asked. "How well did you know him?"
         "Not as much as I would've liked. I feel as if I still had a lot to learn from him."
         "You do?"
         "Yes, and I miss him because of it."
         "Mmm," Elena affirmed, snuggling close to the man behind her, close enough so that her body was nestled against his. He heard Reeve sigh as his arms wrapped around her. "I miss him too, Reeve," she whispered, a few tears silently rolling down her cheeks. "A lot."
         "I know. And I also know that someday, you'll be as strong as the man you admired."
         "You think so?"
         "Yes," he replied softly, kissing the back of her neck, shifting his legs against hers. She could feel him getting aroused again. "Elena… I still owe you something. Do you mind if I make up for my poor performance earlier?"
         "No…"
         "Are you sure?" he whispered into her ear, his voice heavy with lust.
         "Yes. But first, I want to verify something. No commitments?"
         "No commitments."
         Pressing up harder against him, she said, "All right. Let's do this."
         Elena closed her eyes and let herself go as Reeve slid his hand between her legs, and his kisses evolved into suckling; all the while thinking about the strange man named Yoshiro that she never knew, and about how his final request to her was both completely off-base and exactly what she needed.

*****

         Reeve got up and once again stumbled off to the bathroom, promising Elena that he would be back soon. She nodded, a slight yawn escaping her mouth, before curling into a fetal position. Closing the door behind him, Reeve stared at his haggard face in the medicine cabinet's mirror. There were bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep, and his hair was messy and rumpled, doubtless a side-effect of recent events. After cleaning himself off for the second time that night—not that he minded, since the sex this time around had been better for both of them—he washed his hands and brushed his teeth. He examined his reflection again while running his hands through his hair, pulling loose the knots that had formed. Pausing midway, he took a deep breath and murmured, "You've really done it this time, haven't you? Wonder what the fuck Reno's going to say once he finds out. Ahh well, it's not like I didn't warn him."
         He let his arms flop back down to his sides and opened the door, shutting off the light as he did so. On the bed, Elena lay in the same position as he had left her, but this time, her eyes were closed. He whispered, "Elena? You still awake?", as he walked up to the bed, but she didn't answer. She was asleep, and in a rather deep sleep by the looks of things. Reeve sighed and scratched the back of his head; even though he was himself exhausted, he didn't feel like sleeping, not yet. He decided to take a shower, and trudged back to the bathroom.
         As the streams of hot water ran over his back, he thought about everything that had gone on those past few days—not in his own life, but in his other, as Cait Sith. The second Cait model that he'd had custom-built by the Gold Saucer's corps of engineers had arrived on the scene just in time, having ridden across the ocean on Reeve's own chocobo. It had been too perfect an opportunity—Cloud needed the Black Materia, and he needed to get rid of the original Cait Sith. Yet then, the unthinkable happened as Sephiroth arrived on the scene and Cloud handed him the Ultimate Destruction Magic that they'd worked so hard to secure. Reeve didn't understand why Cloud did such a thing; nor, it seemed, did anyone else. Still, he'd committed himself to the group, and whatever happened to Cloud that day would doubtless be explained in time. As for Cloud, he was currently asleep, having collapsed after giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth. Everyone carried him away back to the town of Gongaga, on Aeris' suggestion. It was now three days since they'd left the Temple Island, and Cloud showed no signs of waking.
         Reeve stepped out of the shower and pulled his towel from the rack. As he dried himself off, he continued thinking about the group, and wondered what they were up to. Perhaps Cloud had awakened and they'd moved on, with Cait Sith's autopilot taking care of whatever needed to be done on Reeve's end; but if that was the case, then where would they go next? They were fresh out of leads, as Sephiroth hadn't said a damned thing after taking the Black Materia from them.
         After wrapping the towel around his waist, Reeve left the bathroom. He noticed that Elena was still asleep, in the same fetal position, as he snuck past her to the window. He picked up the picture of him and Reno—taken at the Gold Saucer's first anniversary party—and set it to one side. Then, he opened the lacquer box, which held his stash—Zeio, White, and a few Remedies in case something ever went wrong. He only touched this box on occasion, and considering all the stress he'd been under lately, it seemed as if another excuse to smoke some Zeio had come. He found a pre-rolled joint in the box, buried underneath some of the other stuff; taking that, he closed the lid and set the frame back in place. Examining the picture for a moment, he noted that neither of them were facing the camera; he and Reno were looking at each other, smiling. This, in turn, caused the viewer of the picture to smile, and he shook his head sadly, as times had changed, and unfortunately, so had they.
         Reeve stood up and left the bedroom, carefully closing the door behind him. He walked past the kitchen, noting that both his and Elena's clothes were still scattered there, as intermingled as their owners had been earlier that same night. He continued on to the living room and sat down on the sofa, where an ashtray, lighter, and his laptop were waiting on the coffee table right in front of him. After lighting the joint and taking a brief first hit, he tapped the small receiver that he kept carefully hidden under his hair, a little ways behind his right ear, and turned the laptop on.

         Cait Sith opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was in the lobby of the Gongaga Inn; a small, cramped place, like many of the buildings here. He sighed wearily, understanding why Aeris would want to come back to this dirt-poor town, but not particularly liking it. Cait peered through the open door of the inn's single room. Cloud was still fast asleep, and with no indicators that he would be waking up any time soon. Sitting on the bed opposite of Cloud was Tifa, whose eyes were squarely focused on her childhood friend, not even noticing that the cat was awake.
         Cait sighed again and coaxed his giant moogle carrier to stand up and take him outside of the dimly-lit inn. The early evening sky was a soft indigo, with large clouds streaming off toward the horizon. The townspeople were going about their business, as little of it there was these days. The members of the group—he could no longer call them AVALANCHE—seemed to be scattered about. Cait spotted Cid Highwind talking with an older man outside of the weapon shop, and also saw Yuffie and Nanaki in the distance, exploring the ruined mako reactor. Cait walked throughout the town, wondering if waking up had been a waste of time, when the door to one of the houses opened, and Aeris stepped out.
         "Cait Sith!" she exclaimed. "Just the person I wanted to see."
         "Oh yeah? Why's that?"
         Aeris looked around for a moment before replying, "It's a little bit personal. Let's say we get out of here and go someplace where we can be alone." She glanced around again, then took the moogle's paw and dragged Cait into the thick jungle behind the house she had just been visiting. They walked through the trees and vines, fighting off whatever got in their way, before coming to a sandy beach behind the large red rock that sat near the town.
         As Aeris sat down on the secluded shore, Cait stood in front of her. "So what's this all about?"
         "Who are you? Who at Shinra is controlling you?"
         "Aeris…"
         "C'mon, tell me! I swear I won't reveal your identity to any of the others."
         The cat raised an eyebrow, then decided that there wouldn't be any harm in her knowing, but all the same, she was going to have to figure it out herself. Reeve had promised Tseng that he wouldn't tell anyone of Cait's identity, sure, but the Turk had said nothing about dropping hints.
         "Tseng picked me out himself. We've known each other, you and me, for some time now."
         "Then you're probably Reno, Rude, or Reeve."
         "Yeah," the cat laughed. "One of those three 'R's."
         "Well, if I were to guess… I would say you're Reeve."
         "And why's that?"
         "We've run into Reno and Rude here and in Wutai. There didn't seem to be anything unusual about them, nothing that would indicate that they were controlling you."
         Cait nodded. "Well, you're right. I am Reeve." His moogle sat down perpendicular to Aeris; all the better to watch for anyone coming toward them from the village.
         "Why did Tseng pick you for this job? Aren't you usually pretty busy with your own work? You have a whole division of Shinra to run, if I remember correctly."
         "Yes I do, but Tseng wanted someone he could trust, and he wanted someone who knew you, and of his relationship to you."
         "Why? To protect me?"
         "Something like that. Basically just to ensure that you would be safe."
         "Figured," Aeris huffed, a hint of disgust in her voice. "He didn't trust me as much as I thought he did, especially recently. He didn't trust us—by which I mean, our little group."
         Something was odd about how Aeris was speaking about Tseng, and he quickly figured out what it was. "Aeris, you know what happened to him, don't you? Not long after you last saw him?"
         "Yes. I sensed his return to the Planet the moment it happened." Aeris pulled her legs up and held them close to her, her gaze fixed at the ocean beyond, her face expressionless.
         "How do you feel about that?"
         "I'm not sure. I've always been close to him, but at the same time, I sometimes felt smothered by his worrying."
         Cait nodded slowly. "I think I know what you mean. He loved you, and you loved him, but he put that love at risk by not allowing you to trust in yourself."
         Aeris sighed. "It's just like when I first started seeing Zack. I was never serious with him, but Tseng was worried all the same that Zack wouldn't treat me right."
         "Sounds like he had a bit of an 'older brother' complex."
         "Yes, but you know, thinking back on it now, I don't mind so much any more. His heart was in the right place, and that's all that should've mattered."
         Cait had nothing to say to that, so he joined Aeris in staring out at the ocean. He'd forgotten what it had been like, on the shoreline near his hometown, especially since it had been several years since he'd had an evening like this—one where he was alone with a young woman on this very beach. Back then, it had been Scarlet, shortly before they got married. They had wandered out here together while their parents were hashing out the details of a wedding that neither of them wanted. He remembered that it was a fine evening, and she looked pretty in her white sundress. And yet, despite that…
         "What are you thinking about, Cait?" Aeris said, interrupting his train of thought.
         "Scarlet."
         "Good or bad?"
         "I'm not sure."
         She shifted closer to Cait and leaned against the moogle's large belly. "You two still married?"
         "Technically, yes. I moved out of the penthouse some time ago."
         "You miss her?"
         "No, but right now, I wish I was able to. If only she was a different person to begin with…"
         Aeris didn't reply, but instead, changed the subject. "I saw Zack's parents today."
         "That's the house that you were coming out of?"
         "Yes. I went there because I wanted to be sure. I wanted to know if the Zack that lived there as their son was the same Zack that I went out with in Midgar."
         "And what did you find out?"
         "He was. I had no idea he was from Gongaga."
         "Hmm." He didn't know much about Zack, unfortunately; not as much as others he knew. "Do you think he might still be alive?"
         "Huh?"
         "Well, I mean, you can pretty much tell when someone's 'returned to the Planet', right? I think it's fairly obvious to me that he's out there somewhere."
         "Maybe. You know something? After we left here the first time, I told Tifa about Zack. When we first came to that house, we had both run out of there at around the same time, which I thought was an odd gesture on her part. Later on, she said she didn't know anything."
         "That's weird."
         "It's just so odd that he'd disappear from my life like that. I didn't even know anything about the mission he left on. And Cloud…"
         "What about Cloud?"
         "There's something strange about him, like the way he gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth—it's frightening, isn't it?"
         "Do you think Cloud realizes what he did that day?"
         "Maybe, but it seemed as if he couldn't help himself all the same."
         "We need to keep an eye on him."
         Aeris said nothing. Instead, she stood up, brushing off the sand from the backside of her dress.
         "You know, there's something that I learned while we were in the Temple. Something amazing…"
         "Yeah? What's that?"
         She turned to face Cait, not saying anything; wearing a calm, yet cryptic, smile on her face. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad we had this talk, Cait."
         "Err… sure thing."
         "What do you plan on doing the rest of the night?"
         "Shut down, or convert to Auto. Reeve is tired and needs to get up early tomorrow."
         "I see. It's probably very late in Midgar right now."
         "One-thirty in the morning, by my clock."
         Aeris nodded. "Let's head back to Gongaga, then. You should get some sleep."

         Once Cait had returned to his place at the inn, Reeve shut off Cait's software controls, then tapped the hidden receiver twice. Talking to Aeris like this made him feel a bit better about his current situation, but he wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe, he thought, it was due to her inborn charm, or it was just another of her mysterious powers. He shut down the laptop, locked its affixed security device, and stood up. He walked back into the kitchen and took a small round case from one of the cabinets. Then, he carefully removed the special contact lens from his eye and placed it in the case, which was filled with blue fluid. After hiding both the case and the security key behind stacks of canned vegetables, he closed the cabinet and walked over to the bedroom door, where he stopped. Did he want to go back in there and join Elena in sleep? There was always the couch. After a moment's deliberation, he turned the handle on the door and pushed it open, figuring that he might as well be a gentleman about it and do her the courtesy of being beside her when she woke up. On the bed, Elena was still sleeping, her position having since relaxed. Reeve removed the towel from his waist and let it fall to the floor. He eased himself onto the mattress, taking the sheet bunched up at the bottom of the bed and pulling it over them, then closed his eyes. Within moments, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.