I gave/printed/presented this to Eqin as a thanks for her muffins so I decided, 'Why not upload?' :D For Eqin and Nii. (Their muffins and cookies are pure addiction.) I gave them a ReTi since they love Reno much. xD Sorry for typos n everything. And to The Sacred and Profane, don't worry I'm still working on your request. :D
Anyhow, gorge yourselves with Fear of. And tol oocness.
He was an assassin, serving a lordly guild leader. She was another, from a small guild. And one day they met in a much unexpected way.
He stared up at her sitting on a tree branch. Her hair waved gently in the wind and she was humming a soft tune to herself. She picked up his presence almost immediately and flashed him a smile and he automatically returned it with a half grin.
"The name's Reno," he said. She shook her head and tucked her hair behind an ear.
"Are you okay with it?" Reno raised an eyebrow when she laughed softly at him.
"Okay with what?"
"By stating your name, you are giving away your identity. You can be a potential target for assassins, given time. I ask you again, are you okay with it?" He shrugged indifferently. Nothing would change even if she knows my name, right? That he told himself silently.
"I'm cool, yo. If you don't pose a threat, that is." Her eyes glimmered like rubies and she hopped off to the ground, landing next to him gracefully. Dusts rippled around her listlessly. She held his hand with both of hers gently.
"Likewise. I am Tifa, …Reno."
Tifa, he repeated silently. A name which rings strength, simplicity, and of course her looks said it all—sheer beauty.
And their friendship started there.
-- -- --
They met often, at the same spot, the same time always. He would always find her there, be it singing, watching nature or just combing her hair. She would, if possible, go there at the same time or earlier. However, this time, he was already there and he gave her one of his trademark smirks. He didn't show it, but he would always look forward seeing her again. At times, they would talk about trivial things and at one time, they would sit next to each other in comfortable silence.
And each time by meeting her, having her company, he would always feel that his feelings for her would increase—for they had started to close the gap in their seats and lean on each other, a small and simple movement that meant a lot to him. He learnt that she loved green. She found out he liked her songs. And hair. And eyes. And laughs. And so much more he listed down.
"My partner got a girlfriend, yo," he said suddenly. She laughed quietly.
"So are you feeling lonely?" she asked.
"Not really, yo," he replied.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"I have you."
"…Funny. I don't remember confessing to you," she said before letting a chuckle—more to ridicule her own self than him, she told herself. He kept silent but his head began to ponder about lots of things.
Why hadn't she told me what she really worked as? Why does she let me come close to her? Is she always open with her friends like she was with me? Why is it that every time I feel that I knew her more this day than before yet she still closes herself in a shell? Does she laugh the same way to her friends like she did to me?
"Heh. I'm guessing you already have another guy then." Her expression fell.
"No, I don't. The thought of love worries me. I have an unreasonable fear of love."
With that, she stood up, brushing off invisible dusts and retreated from where she came from—through the forest, avoiding the sunlight.
Fear of love? He asked himself.
How ridiculous can that be?
Later that night, he sensed someone had entered his room—and however stealthily the person had been, he was sharper.
—Behind!
He pulled out his rod and parried a gloved fist. His eyes met her familiar ones. He gasped slightly and pulled away.
"Tifa?" She smiled and 'hmf'ed bitterly. She tore her gaze away from him.
'I give up," she sighed, lowering her fists. She made her exit at his opened window.
-- -- --
Perched at the usual tree, she smiled sweetly down at him which always simply melted his insides.
"You are a fool, Reno. Coming here knowing that I can very easily have your head," she hissed, trying to coat it with venom but failed miserably. Her eyes told him the opposite. He smirked at her.
"Yo, you're more than an idiot, for not having my heart," he retorted. She sighed and sat down at her usual spot, next to him. She shrugged.
"…Maybe I am…for dropping that mission." He couldn't hide his smirk.
"Why?"
"Fear, I suppose." He frowned. She couldn't have feared me. She may fear me dying—she hinted so, saying she gave up. Or like what she said, fear of love.
"Yo, do you ever fall in love?" She bit her lip for a moment and shook her head.
"Presently, I do not want to know it. Maybe I have, maybe not."
"Why do you fear something that you have never experienced before?" he asked, brushing a leaf off her hair.
"…I don't know."
"Then stop confusing yourself. Why do you keep returning here just to see me? Why don't you just talk to your friends about yourself? Do you even know why you let me live?"
Receiving nothing from her other than a blank look, he got really furious.
"Tifa, listen. I love you." Her eyes widened.
"…Why," she whispered, "do you love for someone who you do not even know?"
"Don't you get it, yo? I know you very well. It's you who are oblivious of your own feelings. You didn't realize it, but I know you love me." Her eyes filled with tears. Someone had seen through her, a cold, merciless assassin. Well, used to be—before he came knocking the door of her heart.
She fled.
He never seen her since that day but he continued to wait for her.
-- -- --
She walked for who knows how long and far. It could be days, weeks, months or years. It was that long before she realized she had loved him too, thinking on his words. She never expected him, of all people to know her well—and to love her. He was right; she was oblivious. Nevertheless, she found herself returning to the spot where she had first met him.
And there he sat, on that same spot under the same tree. She called out his name while trying to hold back a tear.
"…Reno." He turned his head to her.
"Yo," he greeted. 'You're back." She lowered her head, finding the words carefully.
"…Yeah. I'm sorry. I was...foolish." She reached out to him to touch his arm—only to find it was her hand that went through his. She stared up at him, and he knowingly smiled at her. "I…"
"…died, falling from a cliff when you fled," he told her. His breaths were getting faint. He was dying, and she was lost.
"Reno, please, listen what I have to say to you!" He gave her a weak smirk.
"I am, babe. I'm listening."
"I love you."
"I knew from the beginning."
He shut his eyes and his pulse stopped. The grief she felt was greater than when she left him. She felt a warm presence crept up to her and embracing her from behind. Turning around, she found the redhead smiling at her—to show everything's all right.