Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Counterfeit God: Part II ❯ Chapter 2
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Shiratori-Strife Inc 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.04.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 143 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.04.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 143 | Status: Completed
2
---
They’d spent three hours shopping and, like the typical women they were, had only come back with a few bags. It was for the best, of course. Besides, most of it had ended up being for Sarah anyway, whom, the two women had discovered upon their return, wasn’t a very happy child.
“What’s wrong?” Morghann set her bags aside as she came into the room and a panicked looking Yuffie came at her with a frantically sobbing two year old.
“She’s running a fever and she won’t eat,”
“Oh,” Morghann took Sarah against her chest and rocked her gently, quieting her sobs. “She’s burning up. Got get the children’s Tylenol for me, please? It’s in my bathroom cabinet. Break a tablet in half for me. Shh, Sarah, it’s ok,”
“Poor thing,” Sirius reached out and stroked the red curls that adorned the child’s head and gave her a small smile. “She caught a cold. Hi, Sarah,”
“Surus,” Sarah sobbed pathetically and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. “Nana go?”
“Aww,” Hastily, Sirius moved towards the diaper bag and grabbed the pacifier that was lying next to it, cleaned it, then brought it back to the weeping child. “There you go. There’s your nana,”
Subdued, at least for the time being, Sarah was content to cling to her mother for comfort for a little while. After Morghann coaxed her daughter to take the Tylenol (having crushed it up and put it into her water) she started to try and cheer the child up, but it did little good. Sarah didn’t start crying again, but she was tired and miserable, and, she wanted her father here to comfort her, too.
Besides, her baby senses picked up on her mother’s exhaustion. “Dad?”
“He’ll be home soon, sweetheart,” Morghann soothed, cuddling and stroking. “Go to sleep, sweetie.”
“Sleep?”
“Yeah,” Sirius knelt down, smiling sweetly at the miserable child. “The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner your dad will be home, ok?”
“Pomis?”
“Yes,” Giggling, Sirius kissed the baby’s heated forehead. “I promise,” Worriedly, Sirius gazed up at Morghann, wondering how the woman could be so calm in this kind of situation.
“They come and go,” Morghann said stiffly. “I worry about it, Sirius, but after a while you learn what to do to help them. The Tylenol will bring her fever down and she’ll be fine,”
“Are you sure?”
“Sirius, relax. Trust me, you’ll have your share of these events when you and Cloud have a kid,”
“Speaking of having kids…You’re not…?”
“No, thank God,” Morghann said miserably. “Got scared there, for a while, but it came out negative. I couldn’t handle it right now. Not with Eko already looming over Sarah,”
“What did Reno think about it?”
“He was disappointed, which was adorably sweet, but he agreed that it wouldn’t have been a good time. Besides, I don’t want to bulge through my wedding dress. You know how long it took to find that damned thing!”
“Yeah,” Sirius grinned. “My feet still hurt from that shopping spree,”
“Oh, shut up, you loved it and you know it!” Morghann warmed up to the grin Sirius continued to flash as she aided in comforting little Sarah. Sirius had been such wonderful help and the best sister anyone could have, even if they weren’t even remotely related. What in the world would I do without you?
---
Reno rolled in his sleep and snuggled against the warmth resting against him, and was completely oblivious to the obnoxious pounding on his front door.
“Reno! RENO!”
Jolting, Reno sat up and pushed the locks of red hair away from his eyes. “What the fuck?” He suddenly heard the door slam as it was closed and realized, much to his horror, that someone had taken the liberty of coming into his home without asking. And to make matters worse, Morghann, whom was supposed to be dead, was sleeping peacefully beside him.
“Shit…!” He threw himself out of the bed as quickly as possible and started the search for the pants that had been carelessly tossed aside the night before. When he finally found them and was heading for the door while pulling them up, his bedroom door flew open and slammed against the wall. “Reno!”
Woken by the sudden sound, Morghann sat up and pulled the sheets up to her, staring in horror at the woman filling Reno’s doorway.
“What are you-oh, God! Put your pants on! Put them on!” The woman turned away, using her long strands of silver hair to help cover her eyes. “I did not want to see that…”
“Then you should have fucking knocked! Jesus, Sirius, what the hell is your problem?” Reno finished fastening his pants and froze when Sirius turned around again and stared at Morghann’s horrified form.
“Why does she look like she’s about to die? Reno, what did you do to her?”
“Nothing!”
“Uh-huh,” Sirius tilted to get a better look at the woman and quirked an eye brow. “Ooh…isn’t she supposed to be dead?”
“Sirius!” Reno said sharply, fighting the urge to shove her out of the room. “Shouldn’t you be back at the lab, making yourself useful?”
“This is Morghann?”
“Yes, damnit!” Reno cursed, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously.
“Oh,” Sirius brushed passed him and smiled sweetly. “Just so you know, I hate Shinra, too, and can’t wait until I get a chance to blow that damned company to hell. I’m Sirius Maelstrom,”
“Morghann Matthews,” Morghann whispered, a faint smile blooming. “What did they do to you?”
“Oh, nothing much. Cloned me off of Sephiroth and Jenova, infused me with something that the mad doctor liked to call Geostigma, and tried to cage me for the majority of my life. You?”
“They killed my parents…”
“Ah,” Sirius offered an apologetic smile and whirled around to face Reno. “You!” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “I need your help,”
“What the hell for?”
“I’m getting the fuck out of here and I need your help to do that,”
“Ah, hell, why do I have a feeling that I’m going to regret this? What if-WHOA! PUT THOSE AWAY!” Jumping away from the twin katanas that she threatened him with, he started to desperately wish that he hadn’t left his electro-mag rod by the bed…
But Morghann was laughing at his predicament.
“Don’t get your balls all in a knot, Reno,” Morghann muttered. “I don’t think she’s asking for much,”
“Yeah, well, you haven’t known her for most of her life. You don’t know what kind of trouble she is!”
Another knock came at the already opened front door and Reno’s tension only increased with the obnoxious shout of, “Reno! Sirius! I’ve got some new Materia!”
“Yuffie!” Sirius grinned, waving. “We’re in the bedroom!”
“Eww, what for?!” Yuffie poked her head around the corner and gave the three inside a quick look. “I don’t want to even know what you all were doing in here. Hey, Morghann!”
“Hi, Yuffie,”
“WHAT THE HELL!?”
“I spent most of my life out on the land, Reno. You can’t have expected me not to have met anyone. Yuffie stole the Materia I found and when I caught up to her to take it back, we ended up finding good sparring partners in each other.” Morghann shifted. “Now, can you all get out so that I can get dressed? It’s kind of cold…”
---
Later that night, as the others settled down to sleep and Sirius had set off to wait for Cloud for their sparring match, Morghann, exhausted, found herself pacing back and forth in her bedroom, trying, desperately, to coax her daughter into going back to sleep. The Tylenol had helped but the fever had come back and now Sarah just wouldn’t take the other half.
“Please calm down, Sarah,” Morghann pleaded, feeling her own frustrations building beyond the point of emotional stability. She was too tired and she couldn’t handle it for much longer. “Sarah, please. Take your medicine and you’ll be fine…”
“Noooo!!!!” Sarah cried out, sobbing uncontrollably, wanting desperately for her misery to just go away.
“What’s going on?” Reno closed the door behind him and tossed his soiled clothes aside.
“Oh, thank God,” Morghann sighed in relief as Reno came up to her and took the frantic child that reached for him.
“She’s burning up, Morghann,”
“She won’t take her medicine,” Morghann whispered, close to tears. Reno studied her, reaching out and touching her face.
“I’ve got her, Morg. Get some sleep,”
Sighing Morghann nodded and moved for the bed, only to be stopped by Reno. He pulled her close and kissed her lightly, smiling. “Cheer up, yo! It’ll be ok,”
“Will it, Reno?”
The fierce fire was blazing in his eyes again as he looked at her. “Yes,” He said stubbornly. “It will be ok, Morghann,”
“Daaaad….!” Sarah clung to him, snuggling, sniffling, miserable in her sickness.
“Shh, darling,” Reno cooed, bouncing her and grinning stupidly. “You know, if you take your medicine, it helps,”
“No!” She started sobbing again, shaking her head wildly.
“What if I promise you an ice cream?”
“Reno,” Morghann said sharply, wanting to smack the man. She was having a hard enough time getting Sarah to sleep now, she didn’t need the sugar rush from the ice cream later on when the girl shouldn’t have a problem at all with getting to sleep.
“What do you say, Sarah? Will you take your medicine?” He reached for her pacifier and watched her lean back from him in protest, but her father was just as stubborn as she was, and she eventually lost the battle and was left with no other choice but to take the medicine. And she did, thankfully.
“Ice cream?”
“Yes, ice cream,” Reno looked at Morghann and smirked. “She can barely form coherent words yet, but ice cream comes out just as crisp and clean as if she wasn’t having a problem,”
Morghann glared at him a little, but was smiling just the slightest bit. “I wonder why,”
---
“You know, Morghann I was-and you’re asleep,” Chuckling, Reno admired his sleeping soon-to-be-wife and felt the pride swell in him again. How lucky was he, to have been blessed with so much? “I don’t deserve you…” He touched her face, smiling, and slid into bed behind her.
“No, you don’t,” She murmured as she turned and snuggled against his chest. “You might if you give me a back massage,”
“Ooh, I knew that was coming,” Smirking, Reno turned her over and started to give her that massage, stopping only when she told him to. “You ok?”
“No, Reno,”
Sitting up a little, he let her turn back onto her back and studied her carefully. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I feel useless. Like I could be doing more to prepare. To help protect our daughter,”
“You’re taking care of her, Morghann. How is that useless?”
“Not that, Reno,” Sighing Morghann looked away. “I’m really out of shape and I’m hating it. I need to get back out and exercise and run for a while or something. I can’t stand that lingering feeling that I won’t be helpful during the fight if I’m still struggling with post-pregnancy baby fat.”
“Morghann,” Reno leaned down and kissed her. “There’s no baby fat on you. You’ve got your figure back, you just need to work a little to tone it out more,”
“That’s what I mean,”
“Well, then why don’t we start doing like Sirius and Cloud? After I get home from training those damned SOLDIERs and we get Sarah to bed, we’ll go outside and spar for a while. It’ll take a little while, but we’ll get you back into shape.”
“Ok,” She smiled and kissed him, content to snuggle against him for the rest of the night.
“What about the rest of that massage?”
“I’m good. I just want your arms around me,” Morghann said quietly, nuzzling his bare chest with her nose. “You smell good,”
“Well, thank you,” Chuckling, Reno wrapped his arms around her and took in the scent of her hair. “You do, too,”
“Good save,” Morghann giggled before they settled in to sleep.
---
Reno woke with a start, startled by the piercing pain behind his eyes. Where the hell had this headache come from all of a sudden? He rubbed his temples then pinched the bridge of his nose, trying anything to relieve the pain, but nothing seemed to be working. If anything, it only seemed to get worse. That’s when he realized what was causing the pressure.
“Morghann!” He shook her, trying to wake her, knowing that some of the others would be waking up because of these headaches soon, too. “Morghann, wake up!”
Grunting, she rolled, stirring, but when she awoke, it was sudden and she flew forward, crying out, “RENO!”
“I’m here!” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Shh, Morghann, I’m here…!”
“I…Reno…” Shaking her head, she curled up against him, trying to force the images from the nightmare far from her mind. “It was horrible,”
“Don’t think about it,” He whispered, stroking her hair, trying to sooth her. “Shh, Morghann…”
“There was so much blood…That creepy feeling of death was pressing against us,”
“Morghann, who died?”
“I don’t know,” She whispered, trying to relax. “It wouldn’t show me,”
“Morg, listen to me, no one is going to die. Do you hear me? No one. So don’t get yourself all riled up, all right?” Reno squeezed her tightly. “We’re all going to protect you, and you’re going to be able to protect yourself without having to use the Lifestream unless you absolutely have to. If something happens and the danger gets passed me, I want you to be able to fight against it without weakening yourself to the point that you won’t be able to protect Sarah,”
“Sarah…she needs us, Reno,”
“Yes, she does,” Reno kissed her hair and sighed heavily. “And she’ll always have us,”
“I didn’t wake the others, did I?”
“I don’t know,” Shaking his head and feeling his tiredness catching up to him, he pulled her back down into the pillows and cuddled her. “Let’s just go back to sleep, ok? Tomorrow’s a new day and we’ll get through it just like we got through today. And when I get home I’ll take you out and we’ll practice a few rounds,”
“Ok,” She whispered, yawning deeply. “Reno?”
“Hm?”
“I found the dress,”
“Dress? What-Oh! Wait, when?”
“Today, with Sirius,”
“I’m sure it’s beautiful,” He smiled, stroking her cheek.
“You’ll get to see it soon,”
“How soon?” He inquired, his heart skipping a few beats.
“How does August 19th sound?”
“It’s perfect, Morghann!” Excited now, he hugged her. “I guess now you have something to do tomorrow. Sending out invitations and such,”
“Already did,” Sleepily, she snuggled, her eyes drooping. “Sent those out yesterday…”
Reno grinned. Finally, after all the hell they’d been put through as a couple, they were going to be married. And in only a month!
---
End Chapter
---
They’d spent three hours shopping and, like the typical women they were, had only come back with a few bags. It was for the best, of course. Besides, most of it had ended up being for Sarah anyway, whom, the two women had discovered upon their return, wasn’t a very happy child.
“What’s wrong?” Morghann set her bags aside as she came into the room and a panicked looking Yuffie came at her with a frantically sobbing two year old.
“She’s running a fever and she won’t eat,”
“Oh,” Morghann took Sarah against her chest and rocked her gently, quieting her sobs. “She’s burning up. Got get the children’s Tylenol for me, please? It’s in my bathroom cabinet. Break a tablet in half for me. Shh, Sarah, it’s ok,”
“Poor thing,” Sirius reached out and stroked the red curls that adorned the child’s head and gave her a small smile. “She caught a cold. Hi, Sarah,”
“Surus,” Sarah sobbed pathetically and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. “Nana go?”
“Aww,” Hastily, Sirius moved towards the diaper bag and grabbed the pacifier that was lying next to it, cleaned it, then brought it back to the weeping child. “There you go. There’s your nana,”
Subdued, at least for the time being, Sarah was content to cling to her mother for comfort for a little while. After Morghann coaxed her daughter to take the Tylenol (having crushed it up and put it into her water) she started to try and cheer the child up, but it did little good. Sarah didn’t start crying again, but she was tired and miserable, and, she wanted her father here to comfort her, too.
Besides, her baby senses picked up on her mother’s exhaustion. “Dad?”
“He’ll be home soon, sweetheart,” Morghann soothed, cuddling and stroking. “Go to sleep, sweetie.”
“Sleep?”
“Yeah,” Sirius knelt down, smiling sweetly at the miserable child. “The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner your dad will be home, ok?”
“Pomis?”
“Yes,” Giggling, Sirius kissed the baby’s heated forehead. “I promise,” Worriedly, Sirius gazed up at Morghann, wondering how the woman could be so calm in this kind of situation.
“They come and go,” Morghann said stiffly. “I worry about it, Sirius, but after a while you learn what to do to help them. The Tylenol will bring her fever down and she’ll be fine,”
“Are you sure?”
“Sirius, relax. Trust me, you’ll have your share of these events when you and Cloud have a kid,”
“Speaking of having kids…You’re not…?”
“No, thank God,” Morghann said miserably. “Got scared there, for a while, but it came out negative. I couldn’t handle it right now. Not with Eko already looming over Sarah,”
“What did Reno think about it?”
“He was disappointed, which was adorably sweet, but he agreed that it wouldn’t have been a good time. Besides, I don’t want to bulge through my wedding dress. You know how long it took to find that damned thing!”
“Yeah,” Sirius grinned. “My feet still hurt from that shopping spree,”
“Oh, shut up, you loved it and you know it!” Morghann warmed up to the grin Sirius continued to flash as she aided in comforting little Sarah. Sirius had been such wonderful help and the best sister anyone could have, even if they weren’t even remotely related. What in the world would I do without you?
---
Reno rolled in his sleep and snuggled against the warmth resting against him, and was completely oblivious to the obnoxious pounding on his front door.
“Reno! RENO!”
Jolting, Reno sat up and pushed the locks of red hair away from his eyes. “What the fuck?” He suddenly heard the door slam as it was closed and realized, much to his horror, that someone had taken the liberty of coming into his home without asking. And to make matters worse, Morghann, whom was supposed to be dead, was sleeping peacefully beside him.
“Shit…!” He threw himself out of the bed as quickly as possible and started the search for the pants that had been carelessly tossed aside the night before. When he finally found them and was heading for the door while pulling them up, his bedroom door flew open and slammed against the wall. “Reno!”
Woken by the sudden sound, Morghann sat up and pulled the sheets up to her, staring in horror at the woman filling Reno’s doorway.
“What are you-oh, God! Put your pants on! Put them on!” The woman turned away, using her long strands of silver hair to help cover her eyes. “I did not want to see that…”
“Then you should have fucking knocked! Jesus, Sirius, what the hell is your problem?” Reno finished fastening his pants and froze when Sirius turned around again and stared at Morghann’s horrified form.
“Why does she look like she’s about to die? Reno, what did you do to her?”
“Nothing!”
“Uh-huh,” Sirius tilted to get a better look at the woman and quirked an eye brow. “Ooh…isn’t she supposed to be dead?”
“Sirius!” Reno said sharply, fighting the urge to shove her out of the room. “Shouldn’t you be back at the lab, making yourself useful?”
“This is Morghann?”
“Yes, damnit!” Reno cursed, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously.
“Oh,” Sirius brushed passed him and smiled sweetly. “Just so you know, I hate Shinra, too, and can’t wait until I get a chance to blow that damned company to hell. I’m Sirius Maelstrom,”
“Morghann Matthews,” Morghann whispered, a faint smile blooming. “What did they do to you?”
“Oh, nothing much. Cloned me off of Sephiroth and Jenova, infused me with something that the mad doctor liked to call Geostigma, and tried to cage me for the majority of my life. You?”
“They killed my parents…”
“Ah,” Sirius offered an apologetic smile and whirled around to face Reno. “You!” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “I need your help,”
“What the hell for?”
“I’m getting the fuck out of here and I need your help to do that,”
“Ah, hell, why do I have a feeling that I’m going to regret this? What if-WHOA! PUT THOSE AWAY!” Jumping away from the twin katanas that she threatened him with, he started to desperately wish that he hadn’t left his electro-mag rod by the bed…
But Morghann was laughing at his predicament.
“Don’t get your balls all in a knot, Reno,” Morghann muttered. “I don’t think she’s asking for much,”
“Yeah, well, you haven’t known her for most of her life. You don’t know what kind of trouble she is!”
Another knock came at the already opened front door and Reno’s tension only increased with the obnoxious shout of, “Reno! Sirius! I’ve got some new Materia!”
“Yuffie!” Sirius grinned, waving. “We’re in the bedroom!”
“Eww, what for?!” Yuffie poked her head around the corner and gave the three inside a quick look. “I don’t want to even know what you all were doing in here. Hey, Morghann!”
“Hi, Yuffie,”
“WHAT THE HELL!?”
“I spent most of my life out on the land, Reno. You can’t have expected me not to have met anyone. Yuffie stole the Materia I found and when I caught up to her to take it back, we ended up finding good sparring partners in each other.” Morghann shifted. “Now, can you all get out so that I can get dressed? It’s kind of cold…”
---
Later that night, as the others settled down to sleep and Sirius had set off to wait for Cloud for their sparring match, Morghann, exhausted, found herself pacing back and forth in her bedroom, trying, desperately, to coax her daughter into going back to sleep. The Tylenol had helped but the fever had come back and now Sarah just wouldn’t take the other half.
“Please calm down, Sarah,” Morghann pleaded, feeling her own frustrations building beyond the point of emotional stability. She was too tired and she couldn’t handle it for much longer. “Sarah, please. Take your medicine and you’ll be fine…”
“Noooo!!!!” Sarah cried out, sobbing uncontrollably, wanting desperately for her misery to just go away.
“What’s going on?” Reno closed the door behind him and tossed his soiled clothes aside.
“Oh, thank God,” Morghann sighed in relief as Reno came up to her and took the frantic child that reached for him.
“She’s burning up, Morghann,”
“She won’t take her medicine,” Morghann whispered, close to tears. Reno studied her, reaching out and touching her face.
“I’ve got her, Morg. Get some sleep,”
Sighing Morghann nodded and moved for the bed, only to be stopped by Reno. He pulled her close and kissed her lightly, smiling. “Cheer up, yo! It’ll be ok,”
“Will it, Reno?”
The fierce fire was blazing in his eyes again as he looked at her. “Yes,” He said stubbornly. “It will be ok, Morghann,”
“Daaaad….!” Sarah clung to him, snuggling, sniffling, miserable in her sickness.
“Shh, darling,” Reno cooed, bouncing her and grinning stupidly. “You know, if you take your medicine, it helps,”
“No!” She started sobbing again, shaking her head wildly.
“What if I promise you an ice cream?”
“Reno,” Morghann said sharply, wanting to smack the man. She was having a hard enough time getting Sarah to sleep now, she didn’t need the sugar rush from the ice cream later on when the girl shouldn’t have a problem at all with getting to sleep.
“What do you say, Sarah? Will you take your medicine?” He reached for her pacifier and watched her lean back from him in protest, but her father was just as stubborn as she was, and she eventually lost the battle and was left with no other choice but to take the medicine. And she did, thankfully.
“Ice cream?”
“Yes, ice cream,” Reno looked at Morghann and smirked. “She can barely form coherent words yet, but ice cream comes out just as crisp and clean as if she wasn’t having a problem,”
Morghann glared at him a little, but was smiling just the slightest bit. “I wonder why,”
---
“You know, Morghann I was-and you’re asleep,” Chuckling, Reno admired his sleeping soon-to-be-wife and felt the pride swell in him again. How lucky was he, to have been blessed with so much? “I don’t deserve you…” He touched her face, smiling, and slid into bed behind her.
“No, you don’t,” She murmured as she turned and snuggled against his chest. “You might if you give me a back massage,”
“Ooh, I knew that was coming,” Smirking, Reno turned her over and started to give her that massage, stopping only when she told him to. “You ok?”
“No, Reno,”
Sitting up a little, he let her turn back onto her back and studied her carefully. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I feel useless. Like I could be doing more to prepare. To help protect our daughter,”
“You’re taking care of her, Morghann. How is that useless?”
“Not that, Reno,” Sighing Morghann looked away. “I’m really out of shape and I’m hating it. I need to get back out and exercise and run for a while or something. I can’t stand that lingering feeling that I won’t be helpful during the fight if I’m still struggling with post-pregnancy baby fat.”
“Morghann,” Reno leaned down and kissed her. “There’s no baby fat on you. You’ve got your figure back, you just need to work a little to tone it out more,”
“That’s what I mean,”
“Well, then why don’t we start doing like Sirius and Cloud? After I get home from training those damned SOLDIERs and we get Sarah to bed, we’ll go outside and spar for a while. It’ll take a little while, but we’ll get you back into shape.”
“Ok,” She smiled and kissed him, content to snuggle against him for the rest of the night.
“What about the rest of that massage?”
“I’m good. I just want your arms around me,” Morghann said quietly, nuzzling his bare chest with her nose. “You smell good,”
“Well, thank you,” Chuckling, Reno wrapped his arms around her and took in the scent of her hair. “You do, too,”
“Good save,” Morghann giggled before they settled in to sleep.
---
Reno woke with a start, startled by the piercing pain behind his eyes. Where the hell had this headache come from all of a sudden? He rubbed his temples then pinched the bridge of his nose, trying anything to relieve the pain, but nothing seemed to be working. If anything, it only seemed to get worse. That’s when he realized what was causing the pressure.
“Morghann!” He shook her, trying to wake her, knowing that some of the others would be waking up because of these headaches soon, too. “Morghann, wake up!”
Grunting, she rolled, stirring, but when she awoke, it was sudden and she flew forward, crying out, “RENO!”
“I’m here!” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Shh, Morghann, I’m here…!”
“I…Reno…” Shaking her head, she curled up against him, trying to force the images from the nightmare far from her mind. “It was horrible,”
“Don’t think about it,” He whispered, stroking her hair, trying to sooth her. “Shh, Morghann…”
“There was so much blood…That creepy feeling of death was pressing against us,”
“Morghann, who died?”
“I don’t know,” She whispered, trying to relax. “It wouldn’t show me,”
“Morg, listen to me, no one is going to die. Do you hear me? No one. So don’t get yourself all riled up, all right?” Reno squeezed her tightly. “We’re all going to protect you, and you’re going to be able to protect yourself without having to use the Lifestream unless you absolutely have to. If something happens and the danger gets passed me, I want you to be able to fight against it without weakening yourself to the point that you won’t be able to protect Sarah,”
“Sarah…she needs us, Reno,”
“Yes, she does,” Reno kissed her hair and sighed heavily. “And she’ll always have us,”
“I didn’t wake the others, did I?”
“I don’t know,” Shaking his head and feeling his tiredness catching up to him, he pulled her back down into the pillows and cuddled her. “Let’s just go back to sleep, ok? Tomorrow’s a new day and we’ll get through it just like we got through today. And when I get home I’ll take you out and we’ll practice a few rounds,”
“Ok,” She whispered, yawning deeply. “Reno?”
“Hm?”
“I found the dress,”
“Dress? What-Oh! Wait, when?”
“Today, with Sirius,”
“I’m sure it’s beautiful,” He smiled, stroking her cheek.
“You’ll get to see it soon,”
“How soon?” He inquired, his heart skipping a few beats.
“How does August 19th sound?”
“It’s perfect, Morghann!” Excited now, he hugged her. “I guess now you have something to do tomorrow. Sending out invitations and such,”
“Already did,” Sleepily, she snuggled, her eyes drooping. “Sent those out yesterday…”
Reno grinned. Finally, after all the hell they’d been put through as a couple, they were going to be married. And in only a month!
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End Chapter