Tifa, unable to sleep that night, took the lunar harp and tucked the small object in her hair. She began to walk through the Sleeping Forest, towards the Ancient City.

Tifa kept her guard up, prepared to fight anything that dared to bother her. She mainly decided to take the stroll towards the the Forgotten City in the dead of night to do some thinking, to hopefully relieve some stress and clear her mind of all the plagueing thoughts she was having about Cloud.

"He will be alright," She promised herself as she entered the clearing that led out of the Sleeping Forest and gave a clear view of the quiet city which was once home to the Cetra. "I must be strong for him."

Tifa entered the City of the Ancients and after walking down a dust pathway, sat upon a bolder and quietly closed her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to go to the lake where they had less than a year ago buried Aeris, much less visit the altar underground where her friend had been killed. Even, thought Tifa, if all that pain was gone now.

A tear escaped Tifa's eye as more painful thoughts of Cloud came to her. What if she lost him as they had Aeris? Surely he wouldn't come back to life. The Planet would have no cause to revive him as she had Aeris, Sephiroth, and Tayeko. How would she live without Cloud? She couldn't! She would throw herself upon his sword and die with him.

Tifa was shivering from the misery of her thoughts when she heard a giggle in the distance. Her head snapped up, and she thought she saw a flash of pink disappear behind a nearby shell house.

"Aeris?" she said aloud.

She rose from the boulder and walked toward the shell house. She heard the laughter again and was sure it was Aeris' voice. She came upon the shell house and walked to the back of it. Sure enough, Aeris stood behind the house, smiling, and posed as though she were hiding from something.

"Aeris!" Tifa cried in alarm. "What are you doing here? We've been looking everywhere for you! Zack is worried sick!"

Aeris frowned and cocked her head to the side as though she'd never seen Tifa before.

"Who are you?"

Tifa blinked in surprise, unsure of how to respond. "What?" she said stupidly.

"Who are you? What do you speak to me of?"

Tifa opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. How could Aeris not know who she was?

"A-ha! Found you!"

Tifa was surprised to see Tayeko had run from behind another shell house and had slapped Aeris on the back as if they were engaged in some game of tag. She completely ignored Tifa's presence.

Aeris whirled around to Tayeko, momentarilly forgeting Tifa was there also. "Shoot, I lost again. I guess I will be washing the dishes tonight."

Tayeko laughed.

"Whats going on?!" Tifa demanded suddenly. Both women turned to her.

"Who is that?" Tayeko asked, her eyes showing no recognition whatsoever. "She's certainly no Cetra."

"You're right, she's not," Aeris agreed. "She's one of them."

Tifa blanched.

"I'm going to tell mom," Tayeko stated. She turned and began jogging in the opposite direction.

Aeris eyed Tifa another moment before running off to join Tayeko.

"Hey!" Tifa cried. "Wait!"

"MOTHER!" Tayeko yelled like a child.

Confused and a bit angry, Tifa followed after them until they stopped at one of the larger shell houses. She was about to call out to them when a woman stepped out of the front door.

She was a radiant and beautiful creature, and Tifa was stunned for a moment. The woman stepped out wearing a white garment that was completely trimmed in gold, and she was adorned in gold jewelry and accessories as well.

She had long chestnut brown hair that was slighty darker than Aeris', and the same bright jade green eyes that Aeris had. However, her beauty greatly differed from Aeris'. She didn't have the innocent beauty that Aeris did, rather she had the beauty of a woman who could be deadly, Tifa thought. She was slightly older looking but didn't appear a day over thirty. Her green eyes were more slanted than Aeris' big orbs, and her facial structure was more angular, more seductive. But she was positively gorgeous.

"Who are you?" the woman immediately queried Tifa.

"Who are you?" Tifa asked back. "These are my friends, and they don't recognize me. What have you done to them?"

The woman stepped closer. "Who I am is none of your concern. You are advised to turn back the way you came and forget anything you know of this place."

"What?" Tifa shouted in alarm. "No way. I need my friends back. The planet is in danger, my husband is dying. They are Cetras and we need their help!"

Kaeori laughed at the woman's plead. What did she care of a pathetic dying human male? And as for the planet, Kaeori would not allow anything more to happen to it. That was why she was there in the first place.

"I know of the Planet's cries," Kaeori said. "I am a Cetra too."

Tifa's eyes flew wider open in shock. "How can that be? Where did you come from?"

"That is none of your concern," Kaeori told her again. "I have things to do, and I need Aeris and Tayeko. You don't need them. You humans could never understand creatures as precious and powerful as us."

"That's not true!" Tifa cried in protest. "Aeris and Tayeko are two of my closest friends. Aeris is very close to my husband as well. She would want to help him."

"Is that so Aeris?" Kaeori asked.

Aeris shook her head. "I don't know him."

"Cloud!" Tifa cried. "Cloud Strife."

"Cloud?" Kaeori repeated as Aeris continued to shake her head in disagreement.

"What about Sephiroth!" Tifa yelled, edging towards Tayeko. "Your husband! He's sick with worry. He needs you!"

"I'm not married," Tayeko said stubbornly.

"You're pregnant Tifa persisted. "With twins! What about your babies!?"

Tayeko put a hand to her swollen belly and suddenly looked doubtful. "Pregnant?"

"I told you that was a stomach virus!" Kaeori snapped at Tayeko. She turned to Tifa with a threatening look. "You had better get out of here, or you're going to be sorry."

"Not without my friends!" Tifa said defiantly.

Kaeori raised her hands and a large ball of white, fiery energy formed between her palms. She glared at Tifa.

"If you value your life, you will run, or else you can stay there and have this tear through your very being."

Tifa looked at the fire ball with fear. She decided she would tell the others and they would return as a group. She swallowed before turning and making a run down the stone path.

Kaeori dropped her arms to her sides and the ball dissapated. She then lifted one hand and sent a spell at Tifa, a spell that would make her lose memory completely of what had just happened.

Tifa didn't realize until she made it all the way to Bone Village, suddenly wondering why she had been running through the forest like a mad woman.

She walked towards the back of the pool room and approached the hot tub. Taking a glance around, she decided that no one would likely come to use the pool at this time in the middle of the night, especially considering that there weren't many people checked in at the inn. She peeled off her swimsuit and decided to relax in the tub nude.

The pretty woman eased into the tub. As her long hair touched the water, she didn't mind that the wetness was curling her hair up after she'd spent fifty gil in the salon just a week ago to have it straightened. She wanted to relax now, to free her mind of unneccessary stress.

Her smooth caramel skin disappeared under water as she sank into the tub. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

Since her mother's death, times had become rough for her. She'd kept her mother's savings and was holding on to it carefully. At the still young age of 21, and with no college or university education, she'd found it very hard to make ends meet. She had been fired from two waitressing jobs and a saleswoman job at a boutique in Midgar since the tragedy, she finally decided to try to make her way in Junon.

Unable to afford the high rents, she settled for staying in one of the cheapest rooms in the Junon Inn. She'd started another waitressing job just two days ago, this time in a small family owned diner a few blocks from the Inn, right across the street from the new Ross Building. Things seemed to be going rather well at the diner, although the pay wasn't magnificent and neither were the tips, there didn't seem to be any indication that she'd be getting fired.

She closed her light brown eyes and suddenly felt very tired. Sighing, she decided she would retreat back to her room for some rest. She began to rise from the tub, reaching for her towel.

Sucks, he thought to himself.

Rude had finally made up with Faiza and had taken her to Casey's to make up for his foul up the night before. Tseng still hadn't returned from Midgar, where he was to report the Turks' intelligence from their latest mission to Rufus and Reeve. Elena was still deployed on her own special mission, and was probably with Ross at the very moment, although Reno was sure she was miserable. And Randy had a visitor from Midgar, whom he didn't care to introduce or even discuss to the others, but Reno had a feeling it was that girlfriend of his.

Reno sighed and stood, hoping a walk around the Inn would help cure his lonliness and boredom. The brandy he'd been drinking left him slightly shakier on his feet than he expected he'd be, but Reno smiled and figured walzting through the Inn drunk was better than nothing.

Reno was walking for a few moments when the smell of chlorine greeted his nose. He looked down the hall to see a sigh that read "Pool" with an arrow to the left.

Reno perked up. "Aw, what the hell," he said to himself. "A little skinny dippin' might be some fun."

Smiling drunkedly with his eyes half closed, Reno continued down the hall and took the sharp left. He smacked into a body and heard a crash.

"What the...?" His eyes popped open and he looked to the floor.

He sobered up immediately.

A young woman was on the floor, completely naked and still a bit wet from the pool. She'd dropped her towel, and was on the floor in front of Reno, baring all.

Reno's eyes grew wider every second he stared.

The woman locked eyes with him for half a second before she let out a cry of alarm. She scrambled to grab her towel and nearly lept off the floor, turning her back to him as she attempted to wrap the material around her as fast as she could.

When she was satisfied that she was covered, she turned back around towards Reno. His mouth hung wide open.

She turned red with embarrassment. "Pervert! You were staring!" She accused. "Have you no shame?"

Reno didn't respond. This woman was possibly one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. She had smooth bronze skin and long, thick, reddish brown hair thats curls were wet and stuck to her body and face from the moisture. Her eyes were a beautiful light brown color and her face was heartshaped and absolutely gorgeous! Her body was immaculate. Beautiful, thought Reno, the woman is a goddess.

She tried to push past him.

"Wait!" Reno suddenly found his voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I was just shocked."

"Sure, whatever," the woman spat. "I know who you are. You're a TURK. Reno, right? I hear your the most womanizing of them all."

For the first time, Reno didn't appreciate how his reputation seemed to span far and wide.

"Sure," he said, trying to block her path. "But I wasn't staring at you on purpose. I wasn't trying to invade your space or make you feel further uncomfortable in your already embarrassing moment. It's just that, you're so beatiful..."

She wasn't convinced. "Yeah, right!" She tried to push past him once more. "Like I should beileve that coming from your mouth."

"I mean it," Reno said, feigning his best sincere voice. "I -"

"Move!" she cried. "I don't want to hear it."

Reno wouldn't let her pass throught the narrow hallway. "Please wait. I apologize. Can I make it up to you at dinner?"

She looked at him as if he had two heads.

"A date?" She cried. "What makes you think I would even stomach a date with you, after what you'd done to me?! If I could, I would kill you right here!"

"Huh?" Reno was confused. "What did I ever do to you? I don't even know you!"

The woman stared at him with sad, angry eyes. "You killed my family, Reno of the Turks."

Reno looked at her, thinking for a second. He shook his head. "When was this? You must have me mistaken with someone else."

"Don't play stupid now," she spat, finally losing her patience. She pushed past Reno with all her might, removing him from her way and proceeding down the hall.

"Wait!" He called after her. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

She kept walking without a response.

Reno started after her. "At least tell me your name!"

The young woman turned to look at him. "Lela," She shouted. She then broke into a trot and disappeared through some double doors that led to a stairway.

Reno, still in a state of drunkeness, stared at down the hallway in shock. That woman was like an angel out of heaven. Her face, her body, her hair...

Reno wanted her.

He shook his head out. What was she talking about? When did he kill her family? Of course he didn't put it past himself, but he didn't recognize the girl, and he didn't remember a thing. Maybe she was the daughter of someone President Shin-Ra asked him to exterminate a few years back.

Reno smirked. He was going to find out who that angel was and how she knew him.

If only Reno knew! She had seen those blues eyes and that crumpled suit and she was so shocked she didn't realize she was on the floor in a heap of nudity.

For years, ever since she was younger and Reno had first become a part of the Turks, Lela had loved him from afar. She had admired him on television, a man whose bright turquoise eyes and wild red hair was incredibly attractive to her. But, her fantasy had been no more than that. Lela knew that there was nothing that could bring her close to Reno. After all, he was a dangerous man, a cold blooded trained assassin, a vital part of the Shin-Ra corporation. She was just a slum girl - poor, black, with nothing to offer.

When her family had been killed, Lela was forced to forget her feelings for Reno. Her plans to become a famous singer and capture his heart that way had been abandoned as well. How could she love a man who was responsible for her family's death? She had been foolish to have fantasies about a man who was involved in Shin-Ra.

Tseng was able to get some much needed rest the day before. He'd arrived in Midgar in the early hours of the morning via helicopter, and had planned to share the information he and the rest of the Turks had gathered in Junon when spying on Ross. However, it hadn't worked out that way. Reeve told Tseng that Rufus refused to have a meeting at the last minute, and that whatever he had to tell him could wait till the next day. Apparently, living with child had tired Rufus and made him more irritable than usual.

He was able to convince the President to hold a meeting the very next day, and now Tseng was entering the dark blue Shin-Ra vehicle and was on his way to deliver the news that would surely give Rufus another reason to stress.

Tseng carefully sipped a cup a black Mr. Midgar coffee that the driver had been insturted to pick up for the Turk before coming to fetch him. He held the black folder which contained details of the Turk's last mission securely in his lap.

When the driver pulled into the R&R Shin-Ra parking garage, Tseng looked upward and noticed that construction that was expanding the building upward and out. Rufus had hoped to have the new building have more floors and be more immense that the first Shin-Ra building which his father created.

The driver pulled up in front of an elevator.

"Here we are, Mr. Tseng."

Tseng nodded and departed the vehicle, tossing the empty styrofoam coffee cup in a nearby trash can. He approached the elevator and pushed the button for the twenty-nineth floor.

Tseng rode the elevator, looking down at the black folder. What the Turks had found out was disturbing, especially what Randy had found when eavesdropping on some Ross bigwigs. He shuddered, knowing the President would be furious.

He arrived at the twenty-nineth floor and watched as the doors slid open. He passed through them and headed down the hallway to the left, towards the conference room.

He knocked on the door and heard Reeve call "come in." Tseng opened the door and saw Rufus and Reeve seated at the long conference table, two cups of coffee and a box of Mr. Midgar doughnuts in front of them.

"Good Morning, Tseng," Reeve greeted him pleasantly. "Doughnut?"

"No thanks," Tseng answered. He approached the table and set his folder down.

"I'm afraid I don't bring good news."

Reeve shrugged. "At least you've found something, which is better then where we were a couple days ago."

Tseng nodded and looked to Rufus. He suddenly noticed how tired the President looked. His eyes were droopy with bags under them, and he leaned on one arm, holding none of the airy posture he usually had.

"How are you, Mr. President?" Tseng asked kindly. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"No," Rufus answered in a dry voice. "My daughter keeps me awake all night."

Tseng smirked slightly at hearing Rufus refer to Jewel openly as his daughter. "Don't the servants give you help?"

"They help, but I don't trust them much," Rufus explained. "Believe it or not, I've grown quite attached to the little lady in the past couple of days. She sleeps in my room. If she wakes and cries, I'm always the first to retrieve her."

Tseng was impressed.

"I don't, however," Rufus continued, "Change diapers. I call a maid servant to handle that."

Tseng smiled as Reeve shook his head.

"Well, enough of that," Rufus said, rubbing his eyes. "Let's talk business."

Tseng nodded and opened the folder.

"Er, Tseng, have you heard from Scarlet lately?"

"No," Tseng answered. "Why?"

"She's been AWOL for over a week," Rufus spat, suddenly angry. "She doesn't answer her home phone or PHS. She hasn't shown up to the office or any meetings at all!"

"I'm beginning to worry," Reeve admitted. "Scarlet never disappeared like this before."

"She's probably off whoring herself somewhere," Rufus said. "She could be giving this company up to Ross at the very moment!"

"Scarlet wouldn't do that," Reeve defended her.

"I wouldn't put it past her," Rufus commented. "I never trusted that woman much."

Reeve shrugged as Tseng cleared his throat.

"Let me tell you what the Turks have found."

Rufus and Reeve turned to Tseng and listened quietly.

"I divided the Turks up and sent them on different missions within the Ross company, wearing temporary disguises," Tseng explained. "I sent Rude into the Weapons Department, Reno into the Energy Department, Randy into the Inteliigence Department, and myself to the Science department. Elena, as you know, has a special mission."

"What information have they gathered?" Rufus asked impatiently.

"Elena is still deployed on her mission," Tseng continued. "She says she is getting closer and closer to Ross by the day.

Reno says he found out that Ross uses a substance known as Zyba to generate power."

"Zyba?" Rufus repeated as Reeve took notes. "What is that?"

"It's some element that comes from the Planet, much like Mako. Reno says all he could find out about it is that its blue and comes from the Northern Crator."

"Wait a second," Reeve said, turning to look at Rufus. "Isn't that what Tifa said she was going to the Northern Crator to find to save Cloud's life?"

Rufus stared back at Reeve for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Excuse me?" Tseng said.

"Cloud Strife is suffering Mako poisoning and he's in a coma," Rufus explained, waving his hand nonchalantly. "His doctor told Tifa the only way he could be saved is if she gets this Zyba stuff from the Northern Crator to reverse the effects." He sighed. "That is why Jewel is staying here in the first place."

Tseng shook his head. "You might as well tell Tifa to spare herself the trouble of visiting the Crator," Tseng said. "She could just get it from one of Ross's power plants."

Rufus shook his head.

"She's long gone," he said. "Anyway, tell me what else you've found."

Tseng swallowed. He hadn't gotten to the bad part yet.

"Well, I tried snooping around the labs, but the security was phenomonal, almost like what Hojo had to secure his labs back in the day.

"That frightens me," Reeve said.

Tseng nodded. "Anyway, I sent the Turks newest recruit, Randy, to investigate the intelligence department."

Rufus did not hide his dislike for Randy by sighing and rolling his eyes.

"He gathered the most important and disturbing information."

"Oh?" Rufus queried. "And what might that be?"

"He was disguised as a janitor, sweeping some offices when he stumbled across a meeting between what I guess are three of Ross' top execs," Tseng explained. "He listened in on their conversation."

"And?" Rufus demanded impatiently.

Tseng sighed before continuing. "They were saying how they were knew that Shin-Ra was watching them. They were trying to figure out how to get 'rid of the competition.' They were debating whether or not the best course of action would be to assassinate President Rufus and Vice President Reeve, or to declare war on Shin-Ra."

Rufus stared at Tseng with his mouth open.

"They are going to present their ideas to Ross the next time they meet with him."

Rufus turned to Reeve, who was obviously frightened by the idea of being killed. Rufus suddenly lept up from his chair.

"Ross wouldn't dare have me killed!" He shouted. "And WAR? Him and what army?"

Tseng cleared his throat. "This is what Rude found out," Tseng continued. "They are using Zyba to create destructive wartime weapons." He pulled the plans that Rude had stolen from the weapons vault and slid them across the table to Rufus. "And those rumors that Randy heard about a human cy-borg army? They aren't rumors at all. They're completely true." He slid more papers to Rufus."

Rufus sat shaking in anger as he looked through all the papers. His eyes grew wider as he read the plans carefully. He pushed them to Reeve as he finished with them.

Rufus pushed away from the table and began pacing. "We're going to need twenty-four hour protection, Reeve," he said. "And I need to meet with Sephiroth as soon as possible. The troops need to prepare for war."

"Sephiroth has taken a leave of absence," Reeve said, his voice shaking slightly after reading the plans from Ross's weapon's vault.

"Who granted him permission to do so?" Rufus suddenly turned on Reeve.

"I-I did, sir," Reeve stammered. "His wife has disappeared."

Rufus thought for a moment and then decided it was better to not deny Sephiroth anything, especially when it came to his pregnant wife.

"Find the next highest ranking officer and tell him to prepare the troops until Sephiroth returns," Rufus instructed, still pacing. "Tseng, I am appointing you my personal bodyguard once again. Get the Turks back in Midgar immediately."

"What about Elena?" Tseng asked. "She is still on her mission."

"Let her stay, then," Rufus said. "But the rest of the Turks are needed here to protect the homestead. Anyway, I don't trust Ross even for a second."

Tseng didn't like the idea of leaving Elena alone in Junon with Ross, but nodded.

"I will call the Turks now," he told Rufus. "I'll have them return to Midgar at once."

Rufus nodded. He looked at Reeve. "Tseng, assign one of the Turks to protect Reeve also. I don't want him getting shot up either."

Reeve smiled at Rufus, but the President ignored it.

"I must be getting home," Rufus said. "I'm now nervous to leave Jewel alone with the caregivers. Tseng, I expect you to meet me in the garage in fifteen minutes to escort me to my property."

Tseng nodded.

With that, the President walked out of the conference room with his head held high, determined not to let anyone see how afraid he was inside.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Rude and Randy had already woken. Rude sat at the desk reading his book again, and Randy was sitting on his bed with a woman Reno'd never seen before. From the looks of Elena's untouched bed, she had yet to return from her outing with Ross the night before.

Rude gave Reno a once over before speaking.

"Don't you look dashing today," he said. "Any particular reason for this change?"

"I'm meeting someone," Reno replied with a note of finality in his voice. He didn't care to discuss his plans in front of Randy.

Randy turned to him. "Hey, Reno, I want you to meet my girl, Tiamoyia. She came to Junon to pick me up."

Reno looked at the girl beside Randy as she stood up to shake hands. She was pretty girl, with a complexion darker than Randy's and long, straight black hair that was fashined into two Pochahantas style braids. She was thin, but had a buxom chest and wide hips, and, Reno couldn't help but notice, a rather large behind.

"Nice to meet you, Tiamoyia," Reno said. "You are a very unlucky woman."

Tiamoyia laughed as Randy scowled.

"Nice meeting you too, Reno. Thanks for finding my knucklehead a job."

"I can hear you guys, you know," Randy informed them.

Tiamoyia shared a laugh with Reno before she sat back down beside her seething boyfriend.

"Tseng says for us to report to Midgar ASAP," Rude spoke. "The boss wasn't too happy with the news we got. Tseng will send us a helicopter as soon as we're ready.

"What about Elena?" Reno asked, pointing to her bed.

"She's to remain here and continue her mission," Rude said. "I tried calling her PHS to let her know we'd be leaving, but it appears to be turned off."

Reno nodded. "I have to take care of something first. I'll be back soon."

Rude nodded and watched as Reno made his exit. As soon as the door shut behind him, Randy turned to Rude.

"What's going on?" he asked. "He looked decent!"

"I can't imagine that it has anything to do with anything other than a woman," he answered with a smile on his face.

Scarlet turned in her chair to face Stephens, who stood smiling at her from the opposite end of the room. Scarlet frowned and ignored his compliment.

"I would like a shower," she said importantly.

Stephens frowned. "Maybe later. Ross would like you to see the unveiling of the soldiers you helped to create."

"Without taking a shower in days?" she squealed.

"No one cares how you smell, Scarlet," he told her, laughing. "You're just a prisoner - a prisoner with a purpose."

Scarlet's anger caused her to breathe hard.

"Well, maybe not so much anymore," he continued. "Now that your job is done, Ross will most likely lock you up in a cell until he can figure out what to do with you."

Scarlet spit at him and missed.

"That isn't nice, darling," Stephens said. Two guards came into the room and began to unstrap Scarlet from her binds to the chair, however not before cuffing her wrists together. They forced her to her feet and prodded her along toward the doorway.

"Let us make our way to the unveiling," Stephens said, turning with out giving Scarlet another glance.

"Good morning, Mr. Reno," the boy said in a shaky voice. "Can I help you with anything today?"

Reno nodded. "I'm looking for a guest," he said. "I need her room number."

"Oh, sir," the boy started. "We can't give out the room numbers of our guests."

Reno stared at him intensly.

"Oh alright!" The clerk cried, throwing up his hands. He didn't dare upset one of the Turks. "What's her name?"

"I just know her first name," Reno answered, leaning on the counter, close to the clerk. "Lela."

The clerk nodded nervously and began to flip through his guest list.

"Hmm... I don't seem to have anyone by the name of Lela here, sir."

Reno frowned. "How can that be? Did she check out this morning?"

The clerk shook his head. "I've been here since six this morning, and check out time isn't until eleven anyway. Nobody's left."

Reno came closer to the clerk's face. "I know that woman is staying here," he said in a serious tone. "I need to find her. Understand?"

The clerk swallowed. "Yes, but I don't have a Lela!" he replied in a squeak of a voice. "Maybe you've got the wrong name!"

Reno closed his eyes for a moment in irritation. Did she lie to him about her name? He reopened his eyes and focused them on the clerk.

"Alright, then maybe you'll know who she is if I describe her."

The clerk nodded slowly. How he wished this Turk would leave him alone!

"She's a real looker," Reno began. "She's got long brownish hair and a honey complexion. A gorgeous face. Looks like she's in her early twenties."

The clerk sighed. He knew who Reno was talking about. He looked in his list.

"Yeah, but she signed in with her initials only," he told the Turk. "R.S."

Reno nodded. "So? Her room?"

"306," The clerk answered.

Reno patted the clerk on his back and left a ten gil peice on the counter for his trouble. He turned and headed for the stairs.

The clerk frowned as he pocketed the money.

Reno approached the girl's door and knocked softly. A few moments later, the door swung open.

The young woman stood in the doorframe and immediately frowned. Her long hair was straight and she wore a red halter top and a denim skirt. She crossed her arms over her breasts.

"What do you want?" she asked with great hostility.

Reno smiled. "You lied to me. Your name isn't Lela."

"Yes it is," she insisted.

"No its not," he said again. "You're checked in under R.S."

She scowled. "Lela is my middle name," she informed him. "No one calls me by my first name."

Reno stared at her, debating whether or not to believe her.

"Fine, Lela," he said. "If you insist. I just came by to talk to you, and to apologize for last night."

"Fine." She started to close the door.

"Wait!" Reno shouted. He began to push the door further open and force himself into the room. "I want to talk to you!"

Unbeknownest to her, Lela's features began to soften. "About what?"

Reno edged himself deeper into the room, forcing Lela to step back. "I want to know what you were talking about last night, when you said I killed your family."

Lela crossed back into the room and allowed Reno to enter. He shut the door behind him.

Lela turned away from him and looked down to the floor. "You... you dropped the plate on sector seven, Reno."

Reno mentally kicked himself. Why didn't he think of that before?

"The truth is, I used to have a crush on you, Reno," Lela began, allowing her emotions to flow. "I used to dream that one day I would become a famous singer and I would capture your heart. How else would Reno of the Turks fall in love with slum trash like myself?"

"But when the plate fell on my family's heads, I had to force myself to forget you."

Reno took a step closer to her. "I'm sorry, Lela. I really am. I was only doing my job..."

"I had a fight with my mother the day before the plate fell," Lela continued. "I left with a wealthy man I'd met in a club who was supposed to be getting me a deal with a record label in Midgar."

She turned to face Reno, and he flinched at the tears in her eyes. "My mother didn't want me to go. She didn't want me to sing, either. She said it was a foolish dream, that I should work and save money to go to a county college. She told me the man I was leaving with to the record company was proabably nothing more than a snake."

"I didn't listen, of course, and we fought about it until I decided that with or without her approval, I would leave. My "friend" came to pick me up one night."

"My mother had been right," she wiped her eyes. "The man who was supposed to help me didn't bring me to a recording studio, he brought me to a gentlemen's club on the upper plate. He was a pimp, not a record exec. They all tried to rape me."

She sat down on the edge of her bed haphhazardly. "I should have known an affluent man like him was up to no good chasing girls in the slums..." she sobbed. "But I was so naive."

Reno tried to speak, but Lela shook her head and continued.

"I managed to get away from the club, but I was out on the streets of the upper plates with no place to go. I had a few dollars on me, so I decided to wait for the train that went into the slums. I would go home to my family.

The train wouldn't be coming again until morning, so I knew I'd be staying on the street that night. I stopped in a bar to kill time when I heard a terrible wail that shook the sector.

"I couldn't tell what the sound was or where it came from, but fifteen minutes later the breaking news report came on the television in the bar. The sector seven plate had been dropped, crushing the slums. There couldn't be survivors.

"There was no way to get the bodies, so I couldn't have a funeral. The bank gave me control of what little money my mother had saved. My father left us when I was young and I had no way to find him. My other brother was in SOLDIER, but when I tried to contact Shin-Ra about him, I was told he was MIA and presumed dead. I've been all alone since then."

She held her face in her hands as she began to sob. "AVALANCHE had been blamed for the attacks, although several months later the truth came out that Shin-Ra was responsible, and YOU had been the one to press the button. I felt like my heart had been crushed. Even though I was familyless, I was even more determined to make my dreams come true. But I learned that it couldn't happen."

Reno wanted to say something to soothe her, but the words wouldn't come to him. What could he say? He had been responsible for her family's demise. He couldn't deny it and what could he say to ease her pain? How could he possibly try to date her now?

He lowered his head. "I'm so sorry, Lela," he said sincerely.

She looked up at him with teary eyes.

Reno shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I'm so sorry," he said again. "Nothing I can ever say or do can compensate for what I've taken from you... but you have to understand... I didn't have much choice in the matter. I had been working for Shin-Ra for years and one of the terms of employment of the Turks was following orders with strict compliance."

He looked down. "I never wanted to kill all those people," he said quietly. "Killing is not what I want to do. But I've been doing it for so long... even before I joined the Turks.

"You see, I'm from the slums also," he continued, looking into Lela's wet eyes as he spoke. "I was once poorer than dirt. My mom was a prostitute and she had been murdered when I was about thirteen. I had a younger sister named Ronnie, too."

Lela waited patiently for him to continue.

Reno sat beside her on the bed. This time she didn't move away from him. He could feel the heat coming from her body. He closed his eyes.

"When my mom was killed, I was left to take care of Ronnie. I sold drugs and did some "jobs" for crime lords in the slums. That's how I put food on the table.

"I had started a gang too, as a way of protecting myself and Ronnie. But my gang wasn't too popular in sector three. We made enemies quick."

"To make a long story short, when I was about seventeen I came home to find Ronnie, who was then thirteen, tied to the bed with three members of the rival gang around her.

"Other thugs in the slums were so jealous of me because I was so good at everything I did - from killing, selling drugs, to extorting and dealing with the mob bosses.... they had been trying to get at me for years. They finally got me - through my sister."

Reno's voice turned cold. "I was forced to watch as they raped and murdered Ronnie right in front of my eyes."

Lela's eyes opened in shock. Her eyes flooded with more tears.

Once Ronnie was dead, they let me go. I wondered why they didn't try to kill me. I went to their hideout a week later and blew it to pieces."

He sighed. "Soon after that, Tseng approached me when I was lounging on a streetcorner. He said he'd been watching me for quite a while. He said Shin-Ra was going to give me the option of facing persecution for my numerous crimes, or I could join the Turks."

"I didn't want to go at first, but I chose the Turks, because some how Shin-Ra had kept track of nearly all of the criminal activity I'd been involved with in the last five years. With my record, I was either headed to prison for life, or to death row."

"That's how I became a Turk," he came near the end of his story. "I didn't want to, but I had to. And everything Shin-Ra told me to do, I had to do it. After a while, I became used to it."

Lela shook her head.

"I'm so sorry Reno," she said. "I had no idea...."

"No one does," Reno said. "You're the first person I've ever told about my life before the Turks."

Lela shivered, and Reno carefully placed an arm around her shoulder. "We are more alike than I thought," Lela told him.

"Yes," Reno agreed. He cleared his throat. "I hope you can forgive me for what I did to sector seven."

Lela looked up at him. "I will try," she answered.

"Great," Reno said, grinning. "Now, will you accept my invitation for dinner?"

Lela stared at him and then giggled. "Sure, Reno, I will."

Reno nodded as he stood. "You have to come with me to Midgar, because I have to report there today. Is that alright with you?"

Lela thought for a moment and then nodded. "Sure," she said. "I'm not doing anything in Junon."

Reno nodded and dared to give her a quick peck on the cheek. "I've got to pack. I'll call your room when its time."

Lela watched as the red haired Turk dissapeared from her room. She immmediately collasped on the bed.