Title: Silver Lining

Rating: PG

Theme: Dreamy

Pairings/Characters: Elena and a certain incredible chance encounter from before for the pairing. By now, this should be WAY apparent. And a visit from a co-worker! Yay!

Word Count: 2,500

Summary: Dreams come true in the oddest ways, and usually not when you're expecting them to.

Time Period: A short time after my other fic, Rain.

Warnings: Squee!-fluff. o.o You good with that, you should have no fears about this fic. X3

Dedication: To Alice! You're the Reno to my life. :D I can never get enough of our fake-fights. XD They're epicsauce!

Disclaimer: Only this crack is mine! Dx POR QUE? …doubt Square would ever take the advice of a fangirl though. X3 Smart tactic, for the most part. Veeeeeeery smaaaarrrttt…. JUST YOU WAIT SQUEENIX! I WILL INVADE YOUR COMPANY! SOMEDAYYYY! –Shakes fist!-

A/N: Sequel two of two to my fic, Rain! Hope you like it as much as its co-fic, Slow Down. :D

Song: Anytime (Free Tempo Remix) by Koda Kumi.

. . . . . . .

It had been no more than an hour after she had gotten home, and everything—her mind included—was in disarray. Usually her apartment was kept clean and tidy, accessorized with the odd knickknack, and floral-fluffy this and that. Now it was a little less than shipshape. The trail she had left as she entered from the door, swung into the kitchen and on into the living room was denoted first by her sopping jacket at the closed entrance door, pooling water on the cheery pink-cat-in-wicker-basket floor mat. The flower-shaped hooks to the right side of the door had been completely abandoned, and the mirror opposite them on the other wall stared back with as much bewilderment as they were possibly feeling.

The trail continued into her tight but effective kitchen, dotted with a few flowerpots that made up only a couple of the small collection of plants she had throughout her house. There were a few also in her living room, and even a small tropical sprout that she kept on the counter in her bathroom. They were precious little things that had been bought and raised dearly, for foliage of any type was rare in Midgar. The walls of her kitchen were a fresh green-yellow that looked particularly chipper with the darker chestnut color of her moldings and cabinets. Its amicable atmosphere was only emphasized by a mog plushie that adorned her small square table, watching over the constricted space with a friendly smile, eyes squeezed shut cutely. A few dishes left hurriedly in the sink and atop the counter were still there, being kept company now by the bag of groceries that had been placed there as the second piece of evidence in her trail.

It progressed deeper into the apartment with a pair of rain-slicked shoes discarded in the doorway connecting the kitchen nook to the living room. Socks were discarded a few more feet in, and there, beside a creamy yellow coffee table, the Turk sat cross-legged on the floor. The sole reason for her dishevelment was evident in the long black umbrella leaning elegantly upon her leg, the pointed end stuck in the thick, warmly colored carpet. She held the handle loosely in an open palm upon her knee, watching while it steadily left a wet patch on her carpeting as rain trickled down its closed sides. Absently she curled small fibers of the carpet between the fingers of her free hand.

Out of nowhere, a large groan escaped her and she fell backwards, thumping on the thick carpet dully with her hand a moment after. "I don't know!" she shouted aloud, squeezing her eyes shut and thrashing about lightly without moving the lower half of her body. "Is Sephiroth the type of man to offer his umbrella to absolutely anyone that needed it? That can't be it, Elena," she addressed herself, clearly in the middle of a conversation she had started some time back. "If that was it then he wouldn't have had a chance to give it to me! Besides, there are plenty of people who were in the same poor predicament I was." She pouted and knit her brows together, rolling her eyes upwards to look at the clock on the wall. But she didn't really see the timepiece.

After a moment she lifted her hand to rub her cheek and then the side of her face. "Well I can't say he isn't friendly, but maybe he's only friendly to people he knows? Or, er, well." Her eyebrows screwed up again, wrinkling her forehead. "Works with maybe." Her hand dropped to the floor again. "But I don't work with him!" she cried out and flung herself onto her side, the umbrella falling off her knee with a light thump onto the carpet. Her lips pursed a little unhappily and then she drew them thinly. "I never even met him in person," she muttered to herself. "Maybe a pass or two in the hallway. Uhmm," she bit her lip lightly, chewing it for a second. "There was that one meeting I had to attend with Tseng…? The General was there too. But then again," she noted dully, lips tightening with annoyance. "So were all the other executives, so…that probably doesn't count."

"Raaahhhhhh!" she shouted and turned over, slapping at the umbrella and sitting up with a grimace, wiping her newly wetted palm on her carpet—it was drier than either her shirt or pants. She looked down at herself and narrowed her eyes blandly. "Guess I'll go change." She grabbed the umbrella and used it as a cane to help herself up, stretching her arms overhead to unlock the kinks in her back. "Okay! Dryer and closet, then food!" She nodded to herself. "That's the plan."

She stepped a little lighter over her floor, moving to the opposite end of the room and into a small turn. Passing the door on the right that led into her bathroom, she walked into her bedroom. While one of the bigger rooms in the apartment, it still only had space enough for the necessities. The bed was up against the left wall and there was a dresser in the top-right corner facing the door. A little desk with a built in mirror was a little space away from the dresser on the right wall, facing the bed, and closest to the door was the sliding door to her closet, half of which could only be reached by actually squeezing into the narrow area. It was nothing fancy, so it was cozy enough. Now she leaned the umbrella up against her desk and quickly stripped off her wet clothes before pulling a comfortable t-shirt and pair of slacks from her closet.

"Puttin' on a show, 'Lena?" a voice broke through the relative quiet before she could get her first leg into her pink slacks. She shrieked and nearly toppled over, throwing out an arm and catching herself on her bed, eyes shooting to the doorway where a suited man stood grinning. "RENO!" she screamed, and clenched her teeth. "I told you not to DO that! Get OUT!" Grabbing the umbrella from where it leaned, clothes forgotten in her half-dressed state, she threw the object at her co-worker and slammed the door shut in his face. "Aw—OUCH 'Lena!" his voice and a clattering sound came through the door muffled. "Why you gotta do that? I didn't mean no harm!"

"Then RING THE BELL like NORMAL people!" she snapped back, clicking the lock on her door, hoping he got the point. It wasn't any mystery that he'd picked the first one anyway. This one would be even less work if he even tried. But she didn't bother crossing her fingers on that one, instead tugging on her clothes as fast as possible and flipping the lock before lurching the door open again, glare on full blast.

"So it was you," the redhead said smugly before she could chew him out. "Huh?" she responded, blinking her warm umber eyes at him, confused by the sudden change in topic. It clicked all too quickly after though. The cocky smirk and lowered brows to match his narrowed eyes was evidence enough what he had come here for. She wasn't able to stop herself before her eyes glanced to the sleek umbrella clutched casually in his left hand. "Gotcha," he said lowly and turned to walk back into the living room. "Time ta spill tha beans, Elena," he called back to her, raising the umbrella symbolically. "'Bout your little damsel-in-distress stunt with tha General!"

Elena groaned and considered slamming the door shut and pressing the dresser up against it to stop the redhead from interfering in her life. But it was only a fleeting thought, and she had by now grown so used to these common interferences in her personal life from her superior that her thoughts and urges had become solely a reflex action. So instead she trailed after him, lips still twitched sideways but now more in curiosity rather than annoyance. "How'd you find out?" she asked loudly enough so he could hear her from in the living room. "That wasn't more than an hour ago at most." She walked into the other room to find the Turk slumped quite comfortably on one end of her couch.

"At tha lights. I was makin' a delivery fer Tseng—on tha Nibel expedition we been plannin', 'member?" Elena nodded, and Reno kicked up his feet on the coffee table before continuing as the blonde walked over to take a seat on the opposite end of the couch. Elena, of course, automatically kicked out to get his feet off her table, even though she noticed he'd been respectful enough not to bring his shoes in. "I was three cars down," he explained, making a face of amused annoyance at her persistence in getting his feet off her furniture.

"Figures," the blonde responded, rolling her eyes and finally gave up when Reno set his feet on the small crossbars under the low table. She grabbed a pillow from the couch, curling up comfortably at her end and leaning back against the plush cushions. "So you saw the entire thing, then?"

"An' now that I'm here, I've seen everythin' else I needa see," he concluded, satisfied. Elena made a face. "What's that supposed to mean!" she demanded. Reno gave her a knowing look, the half-grin on his face making his point better than words. Elena huffed and sat up little straighter, using it as a reason to pull back a little defensively from the other Turk. "I won't deny that it was definitely a highlight to my day," she said plainly, poking out a finger at him from over her fat pillow. "But if you're suggesting there's anything more, then I'm going to have to suffocate you and get rid of the evidence later."

Reno laughed at her threat, and she joined in. They both knew she had just admitted it, and there was no shame in hiding it. The playfulness was as normal as work between them and it showed when Reno sat up a bit straighter and leaned closer to the blonde, an eyebrow raised and his smirk on full blast. "But that is tha case, ain't it, 'Lena?"

Elena shrugged and shook her head. "Reno, there's only a moment in the rain, and nothing else. I don't even know what that was about!" She tilted her head to the side and plopped her cheek against the pillow. "It was very nice of him, sure," she admitted, looking away as she thought it over. "But, beyond that, he just left without looking back or anything."

"But he stopped fer ya in tha first place," Reno noted, his smirk turned lazy as his lips covered his teeth.

"Well, yes. But—!"

"Come on, 'Lena. Outta alla tha people we got runnin' 'round this muck hole, he picks you offa tha street ta be nice to?"

"Reno," Elena said dryly. "Be serious."

"'ey, if there's anythin' I'm bein' right now, it's serious. Maybe a little of a far-shoota', but tha facts are there, kid." Elena drew her lips tight a bit, looking dubious. Reno slapped the couch lightly and leaned forward further so that he was eye level with her. "Tha General ain't someone jus' ta stop fer anyone or anythin', right? He's got places ta go and he's gotta be there on time, lookin' proper an' all that fuss, right?" He paused, and after a moment Elena nodded slightly. She looked about to say something but Reno rushed in quickly. "Eat yer pillow an' shut up fer a minute or two, 'Lena. Just cause it ain't ever entered yer wildest dreams dun mean there ain't a chance it can be true." Reno raised a brow and moved one side of his face closer to hers. "Or did we already ferget tha snow incident last winter?"

Elena's face lit up at the memory and she suddenly sat up straighter again. "…that is a good point," she admitted, smiling a bit.

"Ya see! If tha General stops an' ruins his own appearance an' time schedule jus' ta give ya an umbrella in tha pourin' rain! There's gotta be somethin' he likes about ya!" The redhead grinned triumphantly. However Elena grew silent again and looked thoughtful. "But what?" she asked with a pointed look. "And is it enough to—ahem," she cut herself off and blushed fiercely suddenly, dropping her gaze quickly. Reno grinned and reached out, patting her on the shoulder comfortingly. "I'd be a liar if I said I never thought it myself."

"You're a liar anyway," Elena snorted.

"Yah I am," Reno grinned. "Only when it counts though." He winked. Elena smiled at him and shoved her pillow in his face abruptly, eliciting a yell from the redhead. "'EY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE JOKIN'!" he grabbed her one arm and stole the pillow from her loosened grip before thumping it against her legs. "I wanted to get away without having to pay for your services!" she laughed and grabbed it back, bopping him over the head with it.

"Naw, my services are free this time around, 'Lena," he answered, but a slight smirk broke through.

"MORE LIES!" Elena cried and threw her pillow at him, laughing.

"Okay, okay! Yeesh! Quit with tha pillow-throwin'! I wanna get home an' not have ta explain my disheveled state ta any lady friends I have waiting." Elena rolled her eyes and promptly shoved him off her couch with both her feet. "The only one waiting for you at home is your cat!" she retorted. "Hey now! Don't go insulting my baby! She's a fine lady if ever I saw one," he defended from the floor, none too ruffled by Elena's actions. "An' lemme tell ya, I've seen plenty."

"Cut it out, bum-butt!" Elena said cheerily. "And name your price already."

At this, the redhead grew silent and thoughtful. After a minute or two, he got to his feet and looked down at the blonde. "Tell ya what, 'Lena," he said evenly. "I can tell, you ain't convinced yet. So I'll get ya tha proof ya need first, an' then, we'll discuss payment. Deal, pardner?" He stuck out his hand, a genuine if faintly devious smile on his lips. Elena knew that look well. He was already planning and way ahead of her little twittering thoughts. Somehow, she couldn't help herself from beaming. Getting up, she threw her arms around Reno in a hug.

"You're absolutely ridiculous, Reno!" she laughed. "But thanks."

"An' yer welcome," he sighed. "Ya'd be totally helpless without me, admit it."

Elena smacked him in the arm, pulling away with a smile. "I wouldn't! But I appreciate the help."

"Yup! No prob'! Now, whadda ya got ta eat around here?"

"What, didn't raid the fridge yet?" she teased.

"Shiva, no! With how your cookin' turns out sometimes?"

Elena threw the pillow in his face.