"Ready or not, here I come!" It was quiet around the Leaf House. You had been getting along with the kids and helping out whenever you could. Right now, they were on break from learning and such. You would normally take this time to play with them.
While they were learning though, you would take the time to run errands and straightening things up. Biggs did all the teaching and was even busier now that he had an apprentice, Ms. Folia. He never seemed stressed though. He was teaching some good kids, and Ms. Folia was a kind, patient woman; eighteen years old, dreamed of being a dancer.

She was with you right now, helping you seek the kids. She trailed shyly behind you. She had always seemed afraid of you for some reason, but you didn't pay much mind to it or take it personally.

As you approached a barrel behind the orphanage, you could hear snickering and shushing.

"I wonder where they are," you said, trying to sound confused. You could already tell though that one kid was in the barrel, and the other was hiding behind it. "What do you think, Ms. Folia?" She smiled and caught on.

"I don't know, Miss [F/N]," she said just as loud. "I thought I heard something, but maybe we're looking in the wrong place."

"Guess we'll have to look somewhere else." You gestured for her to hide on the opposite side of the barrel as you limped around the corner. Then, the kids perked up and looked around giggling. Ms. Folia stood up and placed her hands on their shoulders, causing them to groan.
"Found you."

"What's going on back here?" Biggs walked up next to you. Ms. Folia turned around and waved, probably thinking she was in trouble. He just nodded at her and gave a soft smile.

The kid who was hiding in the barrel climbed out. "We're playing hide and seek. Ms. Folia's really good at this. She tricked us!"

"Yeah, she did," the other kid announced.

Biggs smiled at them. "I'm glad you like her." Ms. Folia just gave a nervous laugh. Biggs turned around and looked at the multicolored horizon, signifying sunset. "You're not gonna like what I have to say next."

"Don't tell me...!" one of the kids whined.

"Time to go inside?" the other one chimed in. Biggs nodded in response. Both of the kids sighed, disappointed.

You nudged his shin with your foot. "But we haven't found everyone yet." He raised a brow and gave you a "don't do this" kind of expression.
You smiled and kept pushing. "We can't tell the others it's time to go inside if we can't find them." The kids snickered, but tried to hide it and seem genuine about letting the others know.

"Alright. Go find the others, then it's time to come inside." The two cheered as Biggs looked down at your smug face. He didn't normally give in, since he didn't like the thought of kids being out and about at night. Sounded too dangerous for his worrisome mind.
As you looked up at him, he averted his gaze, watching the other two run off with the apprentice.

"Sorry about that," you finally said. "I shouldn't have... Since you worry."

"It's all right," he shook his head dismissively. "I should start being more lenient."

"You're not strict. Just worried." He only nodded before you leaned on the wall, using it to make your way around the building. You sat on one of the barrels. He followed you. "If you need to take care of something, I can stay out here and see that all the kids make it back."

"Make sure my 'wife' makes it back too," he laughed and you punched his arm. He kept teasing you about that since the night you suggested that he had a wife and kids.

"Would you be quiet about that? You know by now that it was just an assumption."

"You're never living that down."
You scoffed and rolled your eyes jokingly.

"I do have some things to take care of before everyone comes inside though. Please do wait out here for them."

You nodded and gave a soft smile. "Of course."

"Thank you," he said before going inside.

You could hear kids screaming and laughing in the distance. Rushed footsteps would make their way over to you from time to time and then into the Leaf House. Normally, every night, some of the kids would bring you something they found. You told them that you liked collecting things, so they started finding stuff to give to you. It was a lie to get them off your back when you didn't feel like playing, but you warmed up to them and kept every last thing.

By the time it got dark, there were several items sitting in your lap; flowers, materia, bottle caps, rocks, and drawings.

Despite this though, you were still waiting on one more kid. Everyone else had gone inside, and Ms. Folia had left for Wall Market.
Not wanting to bother anyone, you sat everything down on the barrel and limped away from the orphanage, looking around and calling the kid's name.

Eventually you spotted him. He was six, and hadn't formally accepted the concept of not speaking to strangers. You quickly limped over to him to see who it was.

"There you are. Who are you talking... To...?" You put a hand on his shoulder. Your eyes widened when you saw he was talking to Reno and Rude. You quickly moved the child behind your back and he peeked out at them.

"Well, look who it is." Reno tapped his weapon against his shoulder. "Little Miss Rebel." He looked pissed, even though he tried to stay smug. Rude just grunted, pushing his sunglasses up.

"Reno..." you said quietly. You shook your head and began to speak hastily, "It's not-- me leaving wasn't what you think--"

"How you left without a second thought wasn't what I think? Rich," he growled.

"Don't lose sight, Reno," Rude suggested. "We're here tonight for the Ancient."

"Yeah, well screw the Ancient," Reno spat. "I wanna see what happens when the president gets his hands on his disobedient, selfish daughter." You could feel yourself tearing up. You felt sick and ashamed from those words leaving Reno's lips.
The only person who was your comfort back then was your enemy. There was never any coming back from this.

You swallowed a lump in your throat and looked down at the child hiding behind you. "Go home," you said. "Don't tell Biggs what's going on here, okay?"

"But Miss [F/N]--"

"You're not in any danger. Go home."

The boy just nodded quickly and let go of your hand, turning around and running away. You hollered after him, "I'll be right behind you!"

"You really think so, Miss... [F/N]?" Reno said. "Isn't that a cute name. So what are you doing here, kissing babies?"

"Look, Reno... I'm sorry," you pleaded, "just leave me alone..." You couldn't help but look away from his cold stare. He had never degraded you like this before or looked at you like this. With such disappointed demeanor.

He took a step toward you, causing you to flinch for some reason. Your reaction caused him to scoff. "Go ahead and act like we were friends, [Y/N]. In reality, you think I'm a monster, don't you?"

You ignored his question and turned to leave. As you began limping away, he sped in front of you.
"Reno, please..." You pushed past him and began to walk faster. He kept up with you, stepping in front of you from time to time. You were crying now as you tried to evade him.

Finally, you went to punch him, but he caught your fist and twisted your arm, causing you to wince and yelp. "Tell them we have the President's daughter, Rude. Unlike the Ancient, this one doesn't have to be willing."

Rude just sighed and decided to oblige.

"Stop!" You begged, squirming. "Please, just stop...!"

"Not a chance..." Reno wrestled your arms behind your back and had you pushed against the wall. Citizens glanced, but didn't intervene with ShinRa business. You just stayed quiet until you heard a helicopter flying overhead. You looked up and saw Tseng inside.

Rude got off of a phone call and put his phone in his pocket. "The director said bring her up. Said he wants to get this out of the way."

"Sure thing," Reno smirked and directed you towards the ladder. You only struggled until he pressed his weapon against your calf, causing it to hurt. He would do this any time you resisted, which didn't happen a lot because you quickly learned. He stayed behind you as you climbed up the ladder.

You were sitting in the back now, in between two officers. Your hands were cuffed and your calf was throbbing. Your emotions were all mixed up now. You felt guilty for so many different reasons.

"[Y/N]," Tseng said in a fake merry tone, "how nice of you to join us this evening."

"Shut up..."

"Guess you've acquired a new attitude. You're lucky the president has nothing to say to you."

"I don't wanna talk to him either. Piece of trash."

Tseng just chuckled in the front seat.
"We'll see how much better you prefer rotting in detainment." Your eyes widened a little, though it's not like you expected anything different. You looked outside as the helicopter left the sector. You couldn't see the Leaf House anymore.

Please don't come after me...

~~~~
Word Count
1606

Goal exceeded by:
106