Zack walked along the barren stretch of sand that made up the Midgar coastline, the dim night sky hanging overhead, devoid of stars. He did so in silence, reflecting on his and Jenova's recent journey to the Temple of the Ancients.
         Sephiroth had gotten there first, and struck Yoshiro just as they were navigating the deep shaft where the Guardian of Time dwelled. They had run into Sephiroth on their way to the main hall and managed to get some idea of what he was planning—to have Cloud retrieve the Black Materia, of which the entire temple was constructed. As Sephiroth had examined the device which would shrink the temple, Zack had shuddered. Was Sephiroth really planning to have Cloud collapsed into the Black Materia? Would he indeed use his old friend to such a cruel and heartless end? Jenova had protested, saying that she needed every single cell in her body—as did Sephiroth—if they were to achieve anything. Sephiroth had merely smiled, telling Jenova that he was sure that the puppet would come through.
         Of course, after all was said and done, Zack realized that Sephiroth had never said which puppet.
         Zack could never have anticipated that the robotic cat that had been traveling with Cloud would sacrifice itself to condense the Temple of the Ancients into the Black Materia, and he wasn't sure that even Sephiroth knew such a thing would happen. Whether or not Sephiroth had been bluffing, his plan to pry the magical orb from Cloud's grip was a shocking success. Jenova, as to be expected, was furious.
         They had departed far into the jungle by that time, flying from the Temple just as Cloud and Aeris arrived. After watching the proceedings from a nearby mountain, Zack had felt Jenova bristle with irritation when Sephiroth sailed over their heads, his condescending stare cast down on his "Mother" and her special servant.
         Now, a few days later, they had moved north to the Eastern Continent, traveling silently up the pallid beach that lay to the west of Midgar. As thin black clouds slowly coursed across the sky, for the first time in many miles, Zack heard Jenova address him from within his mind.
         "Look there, to your right. The one that Sephiroth has slain now lies beneath the ground."
         Zack turned his head in the direction she had indicated, a little ways inland where the Shinra Military Cemetery sat on a slightly raised patch of land. The plain grey markers of the enlisted men surrounded an even higher plateau, where obelisks and statues marked the tombs of officers, executives, and Turks. Without thinking, and without any interference from Jenova, Zack walked into the cemetery, toward this exclusive part of the graveyard.
         The Turks' section was off to the left, a grassy set of plots watched over by a large willow tree. Zack glanced at the half-dozen or so markers, including a large statue of Chaos, dedicated to those Turks who had gone missing-in-action; the pedestal of this particular memorial contained a short list of names, beginning with Vincent Valentine and ending with Sasha Weiss. The last set of plots in the section were twin graves with matching tombstones; between them was a classical-style column with Leviathan coiled around its height. The stone to the left bore the name of Tseng Kawaguchi, while the newer one on the right had "Yoshiro Tseng Kawaguchi" etched into the marble. Zack stared at the latter, feeling slightly unnerved that this man he'd once known was dead and resting beneath his very feet.
         "You know something? Yoshiro was Sephiroth's intelligence advisor during the war—told me so himself. Yoshiro was also the one who… got me on that Nibelheim mission…"
         "What are you trying to say?"
         "I don't know," Zack answered, sinking to a crouching position. "I'm just thinking, I guess. About what his part was in all of this. Kind of have to wonder what was going through Sephiroth's mind when he slew Yoshiro. Also gets me thinking about my own role…"
         "It is nothing you need to fret over, since you can do nothing about it."
         "Yoshiro, as much as I loathed him at times, was a part of my life. I can't not think about it, Jenova. Don't you understand that?"
         Ignoring the question, Jenova simply replied, "Let us leave this place. Time is slipping by."
         He sighed heavily and ran his right hand along one edge of Yoshiro's tombstone before standing up. "What's next?"
         "We need to obtain the Black Materia, but we also might have another problem to deal with."
         "Which is…?"
         "For now, I do not wish to say, as I am unsure as to whether or not we will, in actuality, run into this problem."
         Jenova was being her usual vague self, which made Zack a bit wary, but he was in no position to argue. "All right. So where to?"
         "We must continue northward…"

*****

         The following morning, Reno made his way down the streets of Sector Two toward the apartment building where Reeve and Elena lived, thinking about what Rude had seen and told him at the party the night before. It didn't seem like a big deal, but for some reason, Rude's account of Elena being dragged out of the ballroom by Reeve refused to vacate his subconscious mind.
         Reno soon arrived at the building. Just as he was about to open the door, a black motorcar pulled up to the curb and stopped. It was one of the more exclusive models, made especially for the wealthy; in fact, it was the very same model that Scarlet's chauffeur drove. Therefore, it didn't come as too much of a surprise when Scarlet herself stepped out, wearing her usual red satin dress. When she noticed Reno, still gripping the handle to the building's front door, the slight frown on her face turned into an outright scowl.
         "What are you doing here?" she snapped.
         "I think you owe me that explanation first."
         A frigid smile crept onto her face. "Well, if you must know, I'm here to see my husband. It seems he 'borrowed' the use of my chauffeur last night, without my knowledge."
         "And the chauffeur told you where Reeve got dropped off?"
         "Exactly. Not only that," she continued, as she walked toward the front door, "but there was a woman with him."
         "A woman…" Reno's thoughts turned once again to Elena. It only made sense, he told himself, as the two of them lived in the same building. Perhaps he simply wanted to be a nice guy and share his ride home.
         Scarlet stopped in front of the door, which Reno was still holding on to. "Well?"
         "Oh, right," Reno replied. He cut directly in front of her and swung the door open, letting himself in and sensing the irritation of the blonde bitch behind him. The last thing he wanted to do on this day was to be courteous to the Ruby Dragon. He heard her speak from behind him after they stepped into the lobby.
         "If you're going to be the new Head Turk, you should at least display some chivalrous qualities. Tseng was always—"
         "I'm not Tseng," he interrupted. "I had to tell the President the exact same thing. I admire the man, sure, but I plan on being my own Head Turk."
         "What a shame," Scarlet replied as Reno pushed the button for the elevator. "By the way, you still haven't told me why you're here."
         "This is where Elena lives," he said, only telling half the story. "I'm picking her up, then we're going to meet Rude for breakfast at this place on the Sector Four plate. It's sort of a Turk tradition before an induction takes place."
         Reno had noticed that Scarlet's nose turned up upon his mention of Elena. "I see."
         The elevator arrived and the two of them boarded. Reno asked Scarlet what floor she was getting off at, to which she replied, "Whatever one you are." He rolled his eyes and hit the button for the eighth floor.
         "Listen, if you're looking for Reeve here, you're probably wasting your time. I mean, what are you gonna do? Search every apartment? There's no 'Forrest Reeves' listed in this building's directory, last I checked."
         "Elena might know where he is."
         Reno sighed. "You'd have to ask her yourself."
         The elevator stopped and they got off, Reno unwillingly leading Scarlet to the end of the hall where Elena's place was. He knocked a few times, but not once got a reply.
         "Seems as though she's not home," Scarlet said.
         He banged on the door with his fist and, as he did so, looked down the hall toward Reeve's apartment. He'd never been to Reeve's new place, but knew just where it was. Not caring about Scarlet any more, he marched back down the hall to the door directly adjacent to Elena's, mentally double-checked the number on the brass plate, and started knocking again, trying to keep his cool. Once more, there was no reply.
         "Oh ho ho, so this is where Reeve lives!" Scarlet declared.
         "Scarlet, do you have a hairpin on you?"
         "What for?"
         "To pick the fucking lock, what do you think?" Stupid bitch.
         She sniffed at Reno, then dutifully pulled a slender black pin from her hair. "I thought you Turks had special tools for this sort of thing."
         "It's not like we do this breaking and entering shit every day," Reno mumbled as he took out his pocketknife and began sawing into the hairpin, just enough so that he could snap it in half. He then went to work on the doorknob and the deadbolt, managing to unlock both of them. Slowly, he opened the door, soon finding that there was a security chain that he still had to contend with.
         "Shit!" he swore under his breath.
         Her voice oozing with displeasure, Scarlet said, "I suppose you'll be asking me for a Transform materia next. I'm sorry, but I don't have one on me."
         "That's okay," Reno replied, his fingertips dancing over the surface of a small green orb set into his armlet, "because I do."
         Reno watched as the world around him grew bigger and bigger as he shrunk down to a sixth of his normal height. He sarcastically saluted at the towering Scarlet, then eased through the crack in the door.
         He cast Mini on himself a second time once he'd entered the room, reverting back to his regular size. Reno glanced back at the chained door, where Scarlet was patiently waiting.
         "Sorry ma'am, but you're gonna have to stay right where you are."
         "What?"
         With nary a smile on his face, Reno shut the door and set the locks back in place. He halfheartedly listened to her bang against the door for a moment, then walked into the living room to examine his new surroundings. It looked like a fairly normal apartment, but for the moment Reno wasn't as concerned with the overall appearance as he was with the smaller details. After checking out the living room, he wandered into the kitchen, where he noticed something that made his stomach turn. It was a blue shirt, spread out on the floor, which seemed too small to be one of Reeve's. Pushing aside a couple of bar stools, he examined some other scattered articles of clothing, including a bra, panties, and most unsettling of all, a Turk dress jacket.
         "Shit."
         Just under the jacket, a small bit of plastic caught his eye. Carefully, Reno pushed the jacket aside with the tip of his shoe, and was met face to face with a condom wrapper.
         "Shit, shit, shit!"
         He briskly walked back into the living room and stood behind the couch, wondering what he should do, when he heard a door behind him open, then close again. Turning his head, he saw Reeve walking toward him, adjusting the cuffs of his clean white shirt. There was something odd about Reeve's expression; it bore the weight of caution.
         "Was that you banging on the door just now?"
         "No," Reno answered. "That was your wife."
         "Scarlet?" Reeve asked, his voice fallen to a half-whisper. "What the hell's she doing here?"
         "You borrowed her car last night."
         "Oh, right. And you?"
         "I'm here to pick up one of my Turks. We have a breakfast date this morning."
         Reeve said nothing as the redhead locked eyes with him.
         Reno's voice lowered. "She's here, isn't she."
         "Reno…"
         The Turk hissed, "Answer me, goddamnit!"
         Reeve sighed. "…Yes, she's here."
         "And the clothing in the kitchen—some of it's hers, right?"
         "Yes."
         "You had her last night."
         "Yes, I did."
         "You bastard."
         "Listen to yourself, Reno. You act as if I cheated on you."
         "That's beside the point."
         "What are you getting at then?"
         "Well you see, it's like this—"
         They were interrupted by a series of loud gunshots, penetrating the front door. Instinctively, Reno grabbed Reeve and pulled him down to the floor. When the noise had settled and some of the dust had cleared, Reno slowly rose to his knees. Scarlet had walked into the room and now stood above them, brandishing a smoking pistol.
         "Nice place you have here, dear," she seethed, staring down at her husband.
         "Scarlet, I'm sorry about the car."
         "You damn well better be."
         Reeve held up one finger, as if to say "just a moment", then cupped one hand around Reno's ear. "Listen," he whispered. "I'm gonna see if I can get Scarlet on the couch, so her back is turned away from the 'evidence'. Go back in the kitchen, pick up Elena's stuff, and head into the bedroom. There's an Exit materia in a drawer in the right-hand nightstand. Use that to get her out of here."
         In turn, Reno whispered into Reeve's ear, "And why the hell should I do this for you?"
         "You care about her, right? Well, you want to know something? I care about both of you. If Scarlet saw her here, it wouldn't be good for any one of us."
         Reno nodded curtly. He didn't like this situation to begin with, but he had a feeling that Reeve was right. They didn't have much time, anyway, and he could probably get an explanation out of him later. The hard way, if need be.
         "Well, are you two gentlemen done?" Scarlet snapped.
         Reeve nodded. "Listen Scarlet, why don't we sit down and talk about this?"
         Scarlet shot Reno a look, which he replied to with a mere shrug, before turning around and allowing Reeve to escort her to the couch. When all seemed safe, Reno wandered back into the kitchen and scooped up the pile of clothing, including the discarded wrapper. As quietly and inconspicuously as he could, he opened the bedroom door and entered, then carefully shut it behind him. Elena stood at the edge of the bed, freshly showered and wrapped in a clean towel.
         "Were those gunshots just now?"
         "You don't wanna know. Oh, and you dropped something," Reno deadpanned as he dumped the clothes on the bed. Elena bowed her head, cheeks flushed. Reno continued, "He sure doesn't waste any time, does he."
         "What do you mean by that?"
         "Nothing."
         "I guess I'm partially to blame as well," she sighed, fishing through the pile of clothes. After pulling out her items, she turned her back to Reno and proceeded to get dressed.
         "Why'd you do it, Elena? Why did you…"
         "Spend the night with him?" she replied, finishing Reno's thought for him.
         "Yeah."
         "It's really not any of your business."
         Reno glared at Elena; this wasn't like her. "So it's nothing you can't tell me?"
         She pulled her shirt on and turned around to face him. "I'm sorry. Maybe later."
         Reno sighed wearily and walked over to the nightstand where he would find the Exit materia. As he did so, he passed the window, where he noticed the framed picture on top of the lacquer box. He looked at Reeve standing there in his tux, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and wearing an equally natural smile that was directed to the other man in the picture, himself. In the photo he was smiling, but in the present, he felt rather miserable.
         He reached the nightstand, where he soon found the materia he needed. "Elena?" he asked. "Are you finished getting dressed?"
         "Almost."
         "Okay. I have an Exit materia here. I'm going to send you home. Once you're there, put on a fresh suit and call my PHS. Just play along with me and I'll take care of the rest." Reno turned around and saw her pulling on her jacket, her undone tie loosely draped around her neck. "You ready?"
         "Yeah."
         Reno closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "One more thing. Promise me that we'll talk later, just the two of us."
         "A-all right. If you insist…"
         He placed the materia in an empty slot on his armlet, then activated it. When he opened his eyes, Elena was gone.

         Alone in Reeve's bedroom, Reno returned the Exit materia to the nightstand drawer and looked about the place. It was messy and reeked of pheromones. He stepped across the floor back to the windowsill, where he picked up the picture and stared at it. They had been good times, back then, before both their lives had taken the unexpected turns that they did. He got to wondering what it was about this particular picture that Reeve liked enough to frame when his PHS rang.
         He set the picture back in its place and flipped open his phone on the second ring. As he talked, he left the bedroom and carefully closed the door behind him.
         "Hello?… Oh, hi Elena—where the hell've you been?… What? Your alarm didn't go off?… You couldn't hear me knocking earlier? Man, you sleep like a fuckin'—What?… Yeah, of course I'm here. I'm at Reeve's. C'mon over… Okay… okay… see ya."
         He walked over to the couch where Reeve and Scarlet sat in silence and said, "Hey Reeve, I noticed you're out of tranquilizers. Couldn't find any in the medicine cabinet."
         "Really?"
         "Yeah. Don't worry about it. I can pick some up at a store somewhere. So anyway, Elena just called. We're gonna head out soon."
         "Is that so…" Scarlet replied, eyeing the two men warily.
         "Yeah, it is." A knock came at the front door. "That must be her now."
         Reno stepped through the numerous shards of wood that lay strewn across the floor, and opened the door. Elena was standing just beyond it, looking sharp in a freshly-pressed suit, and staring in horror at the splintered door.
         "'Morning Elena. Sleep well?" Reno asked.
         "Y-yeah. What happened to the door?"
         "Scarlet happened. She blasted her way in here."
         "Oh, Scarlet's here?" Elena looked into the living room, where Reeve and Scarlet were standing. She gave a brief wave, but neither of them returned it.
         Scarlet sighed impatiently, tucked her gun back into her purse, and headed for the front door. "I don't know what you three are up to, but I intend to find out." With that, she left the apartment and marched down the hall to the elevator. Reno and Elena stepped into the apartment.
         After an uneasy moment of silence, Reno asked, "What did you two talk about?"
         "A couple different things, mostly relating to the divorce. Nothing either of you have to worry about. Anyway, don't you two have go somewhere?"
         "Yeah, we do," Reno replied. "Rude's pretty patient, but he's probably starting to wonder where we got off to."
         Reeve nodded. "You and Elena should get going."
         "Right. See you at the ceremony?"
         "Wouldn't miss it."
         Reno sighed heavily. "All right. Let's go, Elena."
         "Just… one more thing."
         "Yeah? What?"
         Reeve's voice grew quiet. "I know you were bluffing before, but I really do think you need a tranquilizer. Your skin looks a little ashen."
         Reno stared down at his hands, and found that they did look a bit flushed, not to mention dry. No, not dry— scaly.
         Clumsily, he dug through one of his trouser pockets and pulled out a couple of pills. Without a word, Reeve briskly walked into the kitchen while Reno popped the pills into his mouth, one at a time. Reeve came back with a full glass of water, which Reno drank in one go. He handed the glass back to Reeve, who looked noticeably shaken.
         "You're damned lucky that I was able to keep my cool to the extent that I did," Reno hissed under his breath.
         "We'll talk later."
         "If you insist. Now, we have to go."
         With that, Reno placed a hand on Elena's shoulder and guided her out of the apartment, where they began a largely uneventful trip into Sector Four. Pondering over what had transpired at Reeve's place, he wondered to himself if the rest of the day was going to be just as fucked up.