Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of the Final Materia ❯ Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Pastel colored light that held shades of pink, yellow and purple crept across the sky. Soon the sun rose from below the horizon, filling the sky with its brilliant light. The morning light shined brightly in Shukera's window waking her up. She opened her eyes then quickly shielded them with her hands. The daylight meant one thing to her: time to leave Midgar. "For good I hope."

Shukera stood up and stretched the cricks out of her body from sleeping in the position she was in. She yawned as she stretched once again. She dropped her hands and sighed. "Time to get this shit together. Reeve should be here any minute."

Slowly Shukera gazed around the room she was in. Memories of Sephiroth and the time they spent together filled her mind as the realization hit her. For almost six years Sephiroth was at her side every waking moment. Despite the hatred she felt for him, Shukera filled with remorse and began to miss him till she reminded herself that he had caused the damage, not her. She knew it was time to bury the memories and move on.

The memories of Sephiroth were only replaced with another memory: The conversation she had with Reno before he left. They had been good friends for as long as she could remember. Thinking about that reminded her of the days before she joined Soldier.

Reno and Aerith were with her since she moved there after her parents were killed. The three of them spent a lot of time together before Soldier, the Turks, or the knowledge of the Ancients entered their lives. They were teenage friends torn apart by Shin Ra.

One day she went out to check the town out, wandered into the slums, and ran into Aerith. There, Aerith and her sat down in the play area where the swings were and began talking.

It was then that Aerith told her about her special abilities and showed her the pale green stone she carried in her hair. She remembered Aerith saying, "It was given to me by my mother, but it's hardly useful. So, I just keep it with me because I feel my mother closer to me when I do."

They had become close friends from that moment on. It wasn't long after that when they both met Reno. He was a street punk who grew up in the slums and always looking for trouble. The three of them became inseparable.

Shukera's hatred for Shin Ra drove her to join Soldier, bringing her close to Sephiroth. Reno's street experience made him the perfect candidate for the Turks. They came to him, made him an offer, and he accepted gladly. That tore a rift between him and Shukera, which only widened when he was assigned to capture Aerith. For a long time, they became enemies, until he proved to her that although Shin Ra assigned him to do it, he had lost interest after Cloud and his friends let them go right before Shin Ra was slammed with Meteor.

She remembered the bitter argument they had which led to her threatening to kill him. Then he agreed to join her group to destroy Shin Ra. She knew he was only in it for the chance to do more backstabbing, which he made into an art form.

Shukera faced him and stuck her sword into his face and spat, "You try any of that stupid shit on me and I will kill you Reno!! Don't think I won't either!"

She remembered Reno shaking his head, "I know that!" Then he looked at her innocently. "So now that's over, let's go grab a beer." That night they had gotten drunk and sat up talking all night. It was that night that he told her all about the mission where he and Rude tracked down Cloud and Avalanche. She had gone to see him in the hospital after Cloud and his friends beat him up. They both laughed when they remembered her leaving him saying, "You got what you deserved Reno!"

The memories flooded her mind like a storm. Her own voice startled her when she replied, "Those were the best times of my life." She shut her eyes in an attempt to block off the flow of tears that built up inside her. She shook her head sadly; "This life is over…Seifer needs my protection even though he doesn't know it. That whole place will need to be enlightened on Shin Ra's ways. Hopefully they will accept me then I can help prepare them for what's ahead for them."