Reno grumbled to himself as Elena left his office. Just because she would corner Tseng when he was too drunk or tired to resist her, she thought she had the right to boss him and Rude around. Now she wanted him to clean his desk. He had his reasons for it looking so cluttered and messy. It meant only he knew where things were on it. And he didn't want anyone to find Aerith's diary. He had snatched it after she had been killed, because he didn't want Tseng to find out what she had written in it. He shoved her diary in his jacket and headed back to his apartment.

Once there, he hid the diary and then headed back to the office. He had just sat back down at his desk when Elena returned.

"I thought I told you to clean your desk!" Elena exclaimed.

Reno picked up a pencil off the desk and put it in the pencil cup. "There, it's clean now."

Elena looked ready to erupt and stormed out. "Tseng!" she called out.

Reno cursed her under his breath as Tseng wearily came in and told Reno he could take the rest of the day off. Once back home, he took out Aerith's diary and reread the part of it that included him.

Aerith was in the church tending her flowers when she became aware of the presence of another person. She turned towards the entrance and saw someone standing there. She immediately recognized the outfit as a Turk, but he didn't look like any Turk she had seen before.

"Hello." she said cautiously.

"Are you…" the man took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Aerith?"

"Yes."

Reno cursed under his breath. Why did Tseng stick him with doing his dirty work? Sometimes being the second-in-command wasn't worth the hassle. Telling pretty girls that someone they cared about was dead, that wasn't what he signed up for, but he was stuck for it. And Tseng kept him so busy lately, he couldn't remember the last time he had sex and it was driving him crazy. He'd much rather be in a bar or a brothel right now.

"Who are you?" Aerith asked, having a sneaking suspicion about why he was there, and didn't want confirmation of what she feared.

"I'm Reno. And I regret to inform you that-"

"Here." Aerith interrupted, handing him a hand shovel. "You can help me separate the bulbs."

Reno stared at the shovel and then shrugged. Helping her was a lot better than telling her bad news. Soon Aerith ran out of things for him to help her with. Desperate to avoid the inevitable, she impulsively kissed him. She almost pulled away when she felt his hands sliding up her legs. She had hoped Zack would be the one to…she clamped down on thoughts of him and cooperated with Reno as much as she knew how. In moments they were naked on the ground, surrounded by the scent of her flowers.

Reno was torn. On one hand, he was glad he got the sexual release he had needed for so long, but on the other hand, he wished Aerith hadn't been a virgin. What had Zack and Tseng been waiting for? He had been far rougher than he would have been with her if he had known.

Aerith lay in his arms, confused. He must have been the Reno she had heard about, he knew what to do to make her body react, but it had been over so fast, she wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel more or less.

"Aerith?" Reno asked for her attention, wanting to get his dirty work over with.

She turned to face him, and it was hard for him to ignore her breasts against his chest.

"Zack's-" Reno started to say, but Aerith shushed him by putting a finger over his lips.

"Please don't." Aerith pleaded. "I…I already know."

Reno was surprised, and when he felt her start to tremble with grief, he tightened his arms around her and kissed her. Aerith's response was enough to make him realize he needed more relief as much as she did. This time he went slower and was much more thorough. Aerith was even more convinced this was the Reno she had been warned about. She didn't know it was possible to feel so much…her blood connection to the planet was intensified a hundredfold. She cried out as she felt the power coursing through planet build up in her until she exploded and found herself drifting through the stars.

"Aerith? Aerith!" Reno was concerned that he might have hurt her. She suddenly became unresponsive.

She cried out again as she suddenly found herself back in her own body, Reno hovering over her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine now." she reassured him after a moment.

They stood up and brushed the dirt off themselves and got dressed again. Aerith's outfit was a bit too torn above the waist to be presentable, so Reno gave her his jacket to use.

"Don't worry about it, I can always get more." Reno said.

Aerith nodded. "I better get home, it's almost dinner time now." She hurried out of the church.

"Did you tell her?" Tseng asked Reno.

"Uh, not exactly. She already knew." Reno replied.

Tseng nodded. "She would." Then he looked more closely at Reno. "Why do you have dirt in your hair?"

"Oh, um, she wanted me to help her with her flowers."

"What took you so long?" Her foster mother asked from the kitchen as Aerith walked in the door.

"I had to separate the bulbs today, so we'll have even more flowers next year." Aerith called out to her before hurrying to her room before she got asked more questions. She pulled out her diary and started writing.

Reno looked at the extra notations she had made about that day.

Now I know why everyone warned me about the infamous Reno.

I wonder if I'll ever see him again? I'd like to give him back his jacket before my mother sees it and starts asking questions.

Epilogue

Reno cursed under his breath as the elevator doors closed. He was really getting tired of doing everyone else's dirty work, especially when it meant delivering Aerith to Hojo's lab. Reno didn't trust him one bit, but orders were orders. Aerith seemed unconcerned by her fate, and he wondered how sheltered she had been. He rubbed the back of his neck, remembering his proof as to some of the answer.

"Don't worry." Aerith said as she came to stand beside him. "I'll be fine. And no one else knows. No one but you, and me, and my diary."

Reno turned his towards her in surprise, and suddenly felt Aerith's lips on his, and as soon as he started to respond, she pulled away as the elevators door opened to a very eager Hojo who could barely restrain himself as Aerith walked out of the elevator and followed him to the laboratory. She turned and waved at Reno before she went inside. He cursed under his breath again, wondering why Aerith seemed to be the only female available when he was hard up. Then a pretty brunette he recognized as someone new to the secretarial pool stepped into the elevator and a wicked grin spread over his face as he pushed the button for the floor she requested and the doors closed.

Rude stood in front of the elevator and later on, he wondered why he was so surprised when the doors opened to Reno and some brunette. Reno was holding her up against the wall of the elevator by her thighs, and her breasts were exposed, her hands clenched around his neck. Reno turned his head slightly towards the open doors.

"Do you mind?" Reno said as he hit another floor button and the doors closed.

Rude walked towards the stairs in disgust. He hoped Reno would at least make it to the meeting on time. He wasn't gonna get stuck with Tseng ordering him to do Reno's dirty work just cause Reno was being dirty.