A/N: *blows the dust off of this*. So, sorry for abandoning this guys. I kinda lost all my work on this a few months ago, I had it on an external hard-drive, and said drive broke :( But my love for all that's FFVII has been completely awoken by this remake :)

Why was it always carrots?

She hugged the pristine bowl, clutching at the cool porcelain for the small relief it offered, pressing her hot brow against the smooth surface; school. Why was she so nervous about starting school? Okay, new people and new teachers galore, but Aiveen had already promised to stick with her - to show her the ropes and not let her get lost in the school. But it was still a new place - it was stilled filled with new people, and she'd already missed weeks of school, and it was her final year and — and she was actually freaking out about this. Arleen forced herself to swallow, a small grimace as the bitter bile stung the back of her throat as she reached for the flusher. She could do this. An hour or two and she'd be scoffing at the big deal she'd made out of this.

"— Arly, please … you've been in there for ten minutes. I'm bursting."

Reno rapped on the bathroom door as he pulled on his second shoe - that was one thing Tifa and Yuffie had neglected to tell him; having a teenager daughter forfeited his claim to his own bathroom. That, and the usually clean wash basin and bath were suddenly lined with bottles galore - shampoo, bubble bath, cleanser … potions and lotions, and god forbid he ask what each of them were for.

A yawn scratched at the back of his throat as he grabbed his keys from the counter, taking a breath to shout back down the hallway towards the bathroom before a knock to the front door cut him off short. The Turk glanced down to his watch, a brow creasing as he tried to figure out who could be playing visitor at this hour of the morning. But no sooner had he turned the latch on the door, than he found himself back against the wall, a certain short blonde brushing past him, her groggy son in tow.

"Morning."

He offered Jared a small nod of acknowledgement for his mumbled greeting, before kicking the door shut - falling into pace behind the teenager. Reno shrugged his shoulders when they got into the kitchen, Arleen shooting him a dubious look as she finished zipping up her backpack - at least he could use his own bathroom now. But curiosity now trumped his bladder. He folded his arms across his chest, a crease furrowing his brow as he watched Jared scrub sleep from his eyes.

"Eh, mornin' Elena … maybe want to tell me what you're doin' here?"

"Making sure you're awake."

Elena answered without any hesitation, perching herself against the edge of the kitchen table before she let her voice soften, a smile surfacing as she turned her attention to Arleen. The poor girl looked sick with worry - nerves could be insidious. Cruel and creeping, with an innate ability to play havoc with the stomach. And that was something she knew from experience.

"A little nervous?"

The small nod the girl offered her was more than an answer enough - hadn't she been the same when she'd joined Reno and Rude's team all those years ago? Excitement and dread all rolled into one - but it had worked out just fine for her. Actually, it hindsight, it had been one of those defining moments in her life. A benchmark that served as the before and after in her life.

This would work out for Arleen too. A few days, and she'd settle in to things. It wasn't a replacement of what she'd had before, no. But a change, that was all. Elena glanced to the ShinRa issue watch on her wrist - an hour and a half until the first bell went and the first class of the day started. The school itself was probably about twenty minutes walk, but given Arleen's faded bruises, maybe thirty minutes would be more realistic?

A car ride would get them to school in minutes, but the poor girl looked anxious enough without putting her in that situation too. Reno had let slip to her yesterday, mentioning how he'd had to stop and allow Arleen to clamber into the back of his jeep when leaving Costa del Sol.

"You'll be fine, sweetie - you mind if I steal your Dad though? Work stuff, I'm afraid."

The meek dip of her head almost made Reno cut across Elena - tell her that work could wait. Christ, work stuff, at this hour … when they knew he had Arly starting school this morning? He was already swallowing back a couple of expletives when Jared reached across him, taking Arleen's backpack and slipping its strap onto his own shoulder, alongside his own book-laden bag.

"C'mon - if we get in a bit early, I can give you a rundown on the room numbers and classes … trust me, Aiveen's heart's in the right place, but she cannot give directions to save her life - you'll end up in the broom cupboard by second period."

A bubble of laughter, a peck on the cheek and they were gone, the apartment door swinging shut behind him … Reno looked between the door and where Elena still stood in his kitchen. Why did he feel like he'd just been duped? He shook his head, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he wandered further into the kitchen stopping at the table directly across from Elena, eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

"The hell Elena? Unless Sephiroth and his three twerps are running around the city, I'm not interested in 'work stuff' at this hour of the morning."

"Yeah, that was a lie."

"— y'what?"

"A lie … y'know - an intentional attempt to deceive?"

He shot her a glare, slipping onto one of the chairs - doing nothing to hide the childish tone in his voice.

"Don't be a smartass, that's my calling card."

Elena pushed herself away from the table, tugging out the chair opposite Reno, a small smile on her lips as she watched him sulk … a white lie. One that wasn't intended to hurt anyone. Arleen needed to figure out this place, find her feet in school. She hadn't done it to undermine Reno, of course not - if anything, she had done it to lift a small weight from his shoulders. Things had changed a lot lately, and though he never showed it on the outside, she knew he had to be stressed. Arleen would be fine. Jared was making sure she didn't aggravate any of her healing injuries - be it with her backpack or the bustling corridors of the school.

"She'll be fine … I figured she wouldn't be too fond of getting into a car, that's why I asked Jared to walk with her. And I know what it's like to be the newbie - it's nice to have someone standing next to you when you walk through new doors, Red."

The blonde reached across the table, gently touching the other Turk's arm, her voice softer as she glanced around the gleaming apartment - not a thing out of place. Reno had never exactly flown the flag for neatness and order. Then again, he had his fair share of secrets. He had certainly kept Arleen in the shadows. To say that part of her wasn't miffed about that would be a complete and utter lie. Of course she was. They had been comrades in arms for years - they had seen Meteorfall and the rise of Edge, they had helped to drag ShinRa back out of the mud and dirt … and he still hadn't trust them enough to tell them about his daughter.

But, the Reno she had known all these years - he wouldn't have been awake at this hour, let alone sitting in the kitchen, with what looked to be a pressed uniform on him … still no tie, there wasn't a crease in sight.

"You've changed, Reno."

"Generally speaking, you're not allowed to have your phone on you at all, it's supposed to be kept in your locker - but if they do a spot check, just toss it to Declan. He's an exception to that rule because of his standing as the vice president of his Dad's company. Or to Matt, pretty much the same story, just WRO instead of ShinRa."

Arleen nodded, taking the elbow Jared offered her as they climbed the steps leading up to the school's entrance - not as large as the one she'd attended in Costa del Sol, but it certainly wasn't tiny either. She braced her free arm across her ribs, a small support to the nagging pain that still liked to catch her off guard when she got a little too big for her boots.

Okay, so that covered how not to get detention 101. And a couple of teachers Jared had given her a heads up about … who to avoid and which ones were the soft touches. And her Dad had already told her that he'd sorted out the transfer to Edge, got her files sent on from her old school and her subject choices and exam results.

"Oh, and here."

Arleen blinked, a key dangled in front of her - she looked to Jared and back again before taking it and turning it over in her hand.

"Uh - what's it for?"

"A lock."

"Hardy-har-har … imagine that, a key that opens a lock."

"It's for your locker - I got it from the principal on Friday. Figured you wouldn't want to spend the morning standing in his office, listening to a lecture. And it's next to Aiveen's."

Arleen pulled a face, slipping the key into her pants pocket. Okay - next to Aiveen's ... that was good. At least she could well and truly stick with her until she figured out the layout of this school. Her stomach was still doing somersaults worthy of a medal, but nothing compared to the backflips it had been pulling off in the bathroom that morning. She smiled when Jared held the door open for her, ducking beneath his arm as they finally stepped into the school.

"Nah, Laney… I haven't changed."

Reno raked a hand through his unruly hair, head lolling to the side as he perched an elbow against the solid wood of the table, holding Elena's stare as a smile curled the corner of his mouth.

"The only thing's that changed is your perspective … she's been a part of my life for the last seventeen years, Elena. Her living with me is a change, yeah, but I haven't changed."

"— why keep us out of the loop, Reno? Didn't you trust us?"

And there it was - the metaphorical elephant in the room - the one the blonde had been expertly skirting around since he'd arrived back from Costa del Sol with Arleen. He had been privy to their private lives, their relationships and their families, and yet the only person he had told about Arleen had been Rude. He hadn't planned it that way … no. But with the mess he'd created with Kelly, and 'mess' was an utter understatement. But he hadn't seen the point in drawing any attention to his own personal life - and it wasn't a slight to those he had fought alongside. Of course not. He trusted his fellow Turks with his life - Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie … all the others too.

"When I broke up with her mother, it wasn't pretty, Elena. She and I had been together briefly when we were kids … when I was still in the slums, well before the Turks. We got back together after Deepground."

Reno paused, teeth worrying at the inside of his cheek as he let a couple of seconds slide by, his sharp blue eyes refusing to wander away from the soft brown of Elena's. Rude knew the story. Tseng too, probably. He'd never openly shared these details with anyone besides Rude, yet he had no doubt their leader had done his own digging.

"Her parents had split up years before, but Kelly's brother had been graduating from university the next day … both of her parents had been in the slums when I brought sector seven down, Elena. Things started getting serious between us, so I tried to do the right thing - the honest thing - I told her what I'd done."

"… Reno."

His name slipped out on a soft breath, a hand coming up to guard her mouth - so that was why there was so much tension between the Turk and his ex. That bloody plate … that damned order. How easy it was for them to brush away the weight of that action - to repeat the same mantra over and over again; it was an order. If he had not carried it out, someone else would have. The result would have been the same. People still would have died. It was horrible, and it was an atrocity, but that guilt alone had been Reno's burden to bear.

As long as she had known him, she'd never so much as heard a whisper of any torment the redhead might have bottled up. No ill-rooted jibes about the order, no mention of it from him since the sector had been dropped. Perhaps that had been Reno's wish - leave it alone.

"I didn't know she was pregnant until she left for Costa del Sol. She told me to stay away."

"But you didn't."

"Would you have?"

Reno arched a brow, the tug of a smirk still lilting the corner of his lips upwards - well, this was one way to start the morning. A cup of coffee and a shrink session. There was a reason his personal life stayed that way, but didn't he owe her a truthful explanation? He let out a sigh, pushing his chair back from the table as he stood, taking a couple of aimless paces around the kitchen.

"I don't do relationships. I don't let people in, Elena - the last person I let in was Kelly and it fucked me up when it went to shit. My relationship with Arleen's mother burned because I was honest … honesty isn't always the best policy, Elena."

And he was still doing a fantastic job at dancing around the question. Reno scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, another pace or two until he pivoted on his heel, spinning to face Elena - arms cast wide as he hiked his shoulders into a shrug.

"I guess, I figured keeping Arleen away from this place was keeping her away from the ghosts of my own past. It was never about your or the other Turks, or any of the others, Elena. You know I trust you."

A/N: I'm hoping to have the next chapter up in a few days :)