it would have been great to send my tanks for fun and effort u put in all your chapters i was so lucky to come across ur fic now Thank you for the grt time i hade i love reno its not easy to find aa long great fic ab him u kept him into character and his charterer development along the way was interesting I love that he became new leader of shinra building up company again _

I absolutely loved this story! It would take forever to explain why I love it and I would end up rambling but I just want to say that it was so beautifully written! Amazing job!

Im gonna be honest here. I havent stumbled on a fic that got me hooked in a loooong. I usually give up after the first few chapters. This one though... man this is gold. I love it. I knw it's been up for years but thank you thank you thank you for this! I havent cared about a character this way in ages. Now u got me all worried about Reno. His cry for help just...gah.

Haven't visited this fandom in ages so I wasnt expecting some new material. I this has been up for two years now but WOW. I love ur writing style. I think it captures the angst and humor that are usually present in ReTi fics. Plus the characters remain in-character...you can tell. Anyhoo tnx for this fic!

I cried. I wish I could review in detail about how much this story touched me, the whole healing process and the loss of self that is just so TERRIFYING even though it's probably a good thing, because you're changing, and changing means you are moving on and living, but you've been a shell for so long that living is scary, so so so so so scary and it never disappears, you can never be 'fixed'... but you can improve and heal.

That's the best I can do right now, detail-wise. Hope that makes sense. :) Beautiful story, I love how intensely HUMAN it all is.

"new head of the Shinra Electric Power Company" - GOD MY OH

AH CID. CID YOUR DREAMS MY MAN YOUR DREAMS

"Cissnei... remembered enough to see how damaged Reno was." - Oh lil Cissnei nuuu

"Marlene. His little Marlene." - *furious sobbing*

"He always ignored it." - Good boy Reno no pity Marlene luvs u

Ffff 'how to change' is a good question. It's like you know something does and just not

WHAT exactly guh Reno you are my new spirit animal.

THE CONFESSION OF HIS 'LOVE'. MY HEART

"There were a few reports she had scribbled all over on the few occasions that she visited him at work, and he kept them in his desk, lying to the respective offices and saying that he lost them. They were just papers. They were easily reproduced." - HE'S A PROUD FATHER PUT THEM ON THE FRIDGE RENO

THE PICTURE

HE *DOES* PUT IT ON THE FRIDGE OMHG

"That feeling. He was... content." - *screams*

Lord Razer tbh this is the only FF fic I have read because I was never huge on it as fan. But you've completely cemented Reno for me. He was never anything more than that amusing 'don't step on the flowers *steps on them*' guy to me, but you've given him a whole personality beyond the game and made him so LOVEABLE to me (and relatable, as you know) I'd have a hard time accepting any other Reno honestly because it just WORKED perfectly for his character.

Your AN sums it up perfectly. Clearly I did not know about his fandom characterisation but I can say confidently you did just that: add depth and a level of exploration to him that's just not done amongst most fanfic writers and is always something admirable.

I'm just sorry this took so long of I am done now and I'm glad I made to the end after everything because for a while there, really thought that I wouldn't as you know. I'm just bowled over by how much I can relate to Reno, I guess getting to the end here is pretty similar to Reno getting to the end of the war, in some really roundabout way.

OK the whole first part of Reno's nightmares jfc he has changed SO MUCH over the course of the story and this is just heartrending because even though we're coming to the end Reno still hasn't moved past his old haunts and fears. THE FACT HE CAN'T BEAR TO LOSE TIFA MARLENE AND CISSNEI LIKE HE LOST EVERYONE ELSE MY HEART

"Would you like to get better?" she asked again, tapping the side of her
head, "Up here." - Help me

"Maybe if he kept suffering, those he killed would forgive him." - this is seriously the kind of thinking I struggle with sometimes. Like I deny myself the chance to get better because I feel so messed up and guilty. This whole segment is really personable here I get this SO MUCH

"How many people chose only now to haunt him after he had done some /good?/" - no bb its the healing process its' guilt then resolve you a good bb reno a good bb

"Reno almost felt disgusted with himself (through to)... similar ones." - AGAIN I FUCKING RELATE SO MUCH

"as Cid reached out to tuck some of her hair behind her ear." - oh gawd Shera I love her she reminds me of me lol

"But he could make no promises to succeed, only to try." -AND AGAIN THIS. I kinda resent the 'just do it' mentality, especailly since failure HAPPENS. I hate this idea that you either do a thing or you don't. This is so refreshing and so very Reno.

ONE MORE CHAP GAH.

Right finally since I've gotten my writing bug a little placated BACK TO REVIEWING

"Reno thought that they worked well together, him and Tifa." - OFC U DO

"But when he noticed the child standing beside the weakest of them all, he knew what he

had to do." - OH FUCK YOU SEPH

"It was the flow of the Lifestream." - FUCKITY FUCK

"And then at last (through to)...lost." - FUCKING GONE BYE

ZACK. FUCKING ZACK. OMFG ZACK

Aerith being the voice is so fucking appropriate the LITTLE CETRA BB

"Barret had crouched down to Marlene's level and looked desperate to touch her, and in return Marlene watched her Father." - *lies down*

"And as always, Rude knew what to say, "Live." - Ok I'm choking here fsadgrehehwq

"No heroes, only survivors; because heroes could never emerge from things as devastating as this place. No heroes, only survivors; because only survivors would have a chance to live again." - This is so fucking true in every aspect. Everybody thinks of the heroes but never the survivors, really hits home how harrowing war is.

CAN I JUST SAY that this was literally like a final battle with SUCH an appropriate finish guh.

So sorry for taking so damn long with this. Work and just general apathy to do anything is making me a bad Chem.

"It might shock you to learn, Cid," to "He wondered if it ever would." - *rolls in feels.*

HIS WHOLE FUCKING SPEECH RENO BABY You've just condensed his entire person and his seeming madness so beautifully with his words and put him right *out there* to the whole group and its bloody painful because HES RIGHT and- *ugly sobbing*

"No, you're not a monster," Tifa affirmed, "Not to me." - He is your bb isn't he Tifa

"Reno did see Tifa kiss Cloud's cheek, but he would lie to himself and pretend that it didn't bother him. Instead, he stood and moved to the Highwind's radar, staring
at it intently." - BAD TIFA

"If the sky weren't dark, those people would see the sun again." - All that doom and gloom and then this lovely thing. God it reminds me of how Aerith used to be apprehensive about seeing the sky. Bless em

"Oddly enough, despite being so close to the end, his only thought was of
making sure Marlene was safe." - Reno becomes Barrett *lies down*

"Well," he chimed, "Let's begin." - Aww yiss the cliffhanger fffffffft

this was honestly one of the best fanfics I have ever read. well done.

Fionally Chem returns to Libra, one review at a time.

"Did he /want/ to?" through to "Yeah. He wanted to." - SCREAMS

"In its place stood Tifa, his strong, unyielding Tifa as she did what she did best – protect." - HIS? HIS!

Good lord you write this battle perfectly fhfhfkdhrehjtrjy

"Sephiroth couldn't help but swallow thickly when he realised just what had emerged from the water, and that it was searching only for him." - Least he has SOME sense. Crazy nutjob

"and although he wouldn't admit it, he was frightened." - everybody is Sephy, gamers and in game chars alike.

"But when no sound, no movement, /no nothing/ came from the east, he
swallowed thickly and repeated his orders, not even noticing that AVALANCHE was standing again and approaching quickly." - ehehehehhahahahahah!

"but just as he was about to make contact with Sephiroth, the latter vanished into thin air, teleporting away." - f u Seph

I should be able to get another chap R&R'd today, expect I am swamped so lets see!

Yay! Good story! It's nice to read a story about Reno and him not be stupid or drunk all the time. Great job! _

This was really an amazing story. One of the best Reno stories I have read. I must particularly applaud you for not exactly having anybody completely healed from the events. Even Reno is not sure if Marlene is ok. Very realistic and very well done.

It's been a long time since the beginning of this story, with long waits between chapters, but every wait has been worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and expect I shall with all your other stories. Thank you for the memories.

That was a very fantastic ending I love how Reno got better, and Marlene is so close to him now. Is there going to be a sequel? I'd love to see him and Tifa get together :) Amazing fanfic and I loved reading it! :D