A/n: This is an AU ReTi one-shot for The Sacred and Profane! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"It's not that difficult, Tifa! Think of it this way. With that spell book, I can surpass Vincent. I'll know all of his dark and dirty secrets!" Elena stated with a victorious smile on her lips. She was putting away her own spell books on a shelf and stared at her apprentice, Tifa.

"Not difficult? Madame, if I can remind you…Reno will be there, even if Vincent is not! He is an apprentice…like myself." The brunette pleaded, wringing her hands as she played with the cord of her gown. Elena shot Tifa a look and shook her head.

"Nonsense. We are sorceresses; much better than that wizard, Vincent and his redheaded crony. He knows that I am a good competition…why else would he cheat during our duels? Hmm? Now, Tifa…be a good apprentice and get that spell book! Go on!" the blonde shooed Tifa out of the room where she conducted her magic, pushing the younger girl out of the door and into the dirt road of Gongaga.

'See if I get you anything for Christmas…' Tifa muttered to herself as she dusted off her gown and pulled her cloak closer to her body. She really didn't want to do this. She hated Vincent's, the rival wizard of Gongaga. She also hated his apprentice. Reno. He was a womanizing jerk who always had something rude to say about Elena and Tifa.

You see, Vincent was sly and very…coy about his magic. He would often cheat during their duels, leaving Elena ashamed and embarrassed. As much as she wanted to please the blonde, Tifa really dreaded the thought of having to infiltrate Vincent's cottage, especially with Reno there. The redhead knew what she looked like, no doubt…and it was a matter of time before he figured it out…but she had to try.

It didn't take long for Tifa to find the old cottage, hidden by magic. She cast a reveal spell, causing it to slowly show itself among the mist of the lake it was near. She walked up to the door and rapped on it lightly, only to have it swing open suddenly, with Reno leaning on the door frame, glaring down at her, with a smirk on his face.

"Well, well, well…if it isn't Tifa Lockhart, the apprentice of the pathetic Sorceress Elena!" he said, laughing at his own joke. Tifa was not amused.

"You are an unimaginable bastard."

"Hey, it's not my fault my master can kick her ass in a duel."

"He cheats!"

"No, he doesn't. Is that what she tells you? Come see for yourself!" Reno argued, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the cottage. Was it really going to be this easy? Tifa could hardly keep the smirk off of her face as he dragged her over to the very book she was supposed to grab.

Reno shoved the book at her, crossing his arms before waving her to go on and have a look. He knew Vincent would kill him if he found out that Tifa had looked at it, but both hardly knew how to conduct such difficult magic…so he wasn't too worried. Tifa flipped through the book, not really reading it, but trying to think of a way to distract him so she could make away with the book and get it to Elena.

"Wow…such great magic, I can only hope to become this great…" Tifa stated, feigning interest in the spell book. Reno laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah, like you'll become that great under Elena."

"With this book I will." Tifa stated quickly, darting away from Reno, the book in her hand as she ran out of the cottage. She turned back around and swished her wand at the redhead, freezing him in place.

"See how far you get with that, Reno!" she called out with a laugh, crossing the lake with ease and stumbling back onto the dirt road.

"Get back here with that book,Tifa!" Reno yelled, his voice closer than she had expected. Wait, did that spell not work? It had to! Then she remembered he was an apprentice too! He knew as much magic as she. Oh well, if this was what game he wanted to play? Fine, she'd give him a run for his money.

Reno caught up with her, just feet behind her when he flicked his wand, turning Tifa into a tiger, with the book and her wand clamped in her jaw.

"Dammit, that was the wrong one!" he cried out, cursing himself for making her faster as he pointed his wand at her again, this time turning her into a turtle. Tifa tried to speed up her slow crawl, but Reno was too fast, pulling the book out of her mouth.

"Oh, no you don't!" she yelled, turning her wand with her head as she turned herself into a human again. This was ridiculous! If they kept this up, she'd never get home in time!

"Reno, wait!" the brunette called out to the running Reno. He stopped and turned towards her, spinning the book in his hand tauntingly.

"What? Is this what you want? Will you not get a lesson if you don't give this to Elena? Hmm?" he asked, still taunting Tifa with the book, stepping closer to her. Despite the fact that Tifa wanted to grab it and run, she held herself still.

"No…but why don't we handle this…like Wizards? You know…have a duel? Whoever wins gets the book. Deal?" she asked, holding a hand out for him to shake. Reno pondered the idea for a few moments before grinning widely and shaking his free hand with hers.

"Fine, but we all know who will win."

"That's what you think…now, let's get started!" Tifa stated, back up to a good distance from the redhead, so they could carry out a proper duel. She was about to call it to begin, when Reno jumped ahead of her. He pointed his wand and tapped it lightly in the air, causing Tifa to lose all of her hair with just a puff of blue smoke.

"Oh wow…" Reno said to himself, busting into laughter as Tifa grabbed her hair…or lack thereof, and cried out.

"What the hell, Reno! I look terrible!"

"Show me what ya got, Tifa!" he said between laughs, bracing himself for her spell. Outraged, the brunette tapped her wand furiously in his direction, a puff of green smoke appearing where Reno once stood. Reno looked down and noticed that he was wearing a gown, much like hers and he had grown certain…assets that he hadn't had before.

"Awww, how cute, Miss Reno! Why, you could be in a pageant!" she called out, forgetting all about her missing hair. Reno scowled and laughed bitterly at her joke.

"Very funny, but not as funny as this!" he spat, magic shooting from his wand at Tifa, giving her a unibrow. The brunette slapped a hand over her new curse and screamed. She probably looked terrible at this point.

This went on for a few hours, Tifa and Reno taking turns, turning each other into the most ridiculous things. Reno, at the end was still a woman, with green hair, monster fangs and with a tail. Tifa, on the other hand, was bald, with a unibrow, a unicorn horn and hairy feet. By the end they were on the ground exhausted, the book in the middle of both of them.

"So…who won?" Tifa croaked, groaning on the ground. Reno took a deep breath and turned to her.

"I did, obviously." This caused Tifa to shoot up from her lying position and glare at the other apprentice.

"Are you kidding me?! I turned you into a woman for crying out loud!" she protested. Reno joined her sitting stance and cocked his head to the side.

"What!? I gave you a unicorn head and..and…" Reno began, only to burst out laughing again, pointing at the brunette. Instead of getting mad, Tifa looked hurt, her gaze shifting from his face to the dusty ground. Reno was about to finish his sentence when he noticed the change in her demeanor. Guilt washed over her as he bit his lip.

"Well…it doesn't look that bad…"

"Yes it does! And it's your fault!"

"Well, how do you think I feel! I have boobs!"

"At least you have hair!" she said with tears evident in her eyes. Reno looked down at his wand before looking back up at Tifa again.

"Well…why don't we fix this then…" Tifa heard Reno's words and looked up from her tears.

"How?" she asked

"Tifa? Have you not noticed the spell book right there? It's got to have something in it about changing people back to their regular state. Why don't we look?" Reno suggested, crawling towards the book in the middle, Tifa following suit. They glared at the red book for a few moments before Tifa reached out hesitantly.

"May I?"

"Sure, you can experiment on me until you get me changed back."

Tifa nodded and looked through the book, searching for any trace of a spell to fix their problematic states. She flicked through pages upon pages, when she finally found it. Pointing, she read the contents involved with the spell.

"Okay, Reno? You ready? You just have to…spin around three times while I chant this and I'll point my wand at you." She explained, Reno listening as he stood up and began to spin around. Tifa resisted the urge to laugh at his sudden compliance and pointed her wand as she chanted the words found on the book.

Slowly, a cloud of pink smoke began to wrap itself around Reno, causing him to disappear underneath it for a few moments. She could hear him coughing as the smoke overwhelmed him. Moments later, the smoke dissipated and Reno was revealed once more, this time looking just as he had before the duel even started. With a smile Tifa jumped up and down.

"Yes! It worked!" she exclaimed, Reno looked down at himself with a smile.

"Very nice, Lockhart. Now I'm sexy again." He said with his trademark smirk. Tifa rolled her eyes and tossed the book at him.

"Okay, now fix me…please." She suggested, beginning to turn around, much like he had. Reno nodded and repeated the action that Tifa had just performed on him, the smoke clouding around her. She coughed much like Reno had and covered her eyes.

When the smoke cleared, Tifa immediately looked down, sighing in relief that she was back to normal again. In her excitement she jumped on Reno, giving him a big hug.

"Thanks so much, Reno. Really." She said softly, blushing at her action as she backed up a little bit. Reno shoved his hands in his cloak, smirking at her action.

"No problem, Lockhart."

"You know, it's weird…I usually wouldn't care about my looks around you…because I thought I'de hate you too much to care. But I got so upset…" she trailed off, wondering, more to herself than to Reno. He was listening, however. Her eyes now on her foot that was shuffling dirt, Tifa didn't see Reno come up right in front of her and take her hands.

"Tifa…this is going to sound strange…but as much as we're supposed to hate each other…I don't think we can…" he agreed, a small smile forming on his lips. Tifa giggled at this, but soon stopped as her eyes locked with his.

What happened next, Tifa would have never expected. Reno leaned down and brushed his lips against hers gently, pulling her flush to him. Tifa returned the gesture as she locked her arms around his waist before breaking the soft kiss.

"You know…I don't think I mind this new arrangement of feelings." She whispered, stealing a kiss once more.

"Reno!"

"Tifa!"

Two voices called out, startling both apprentices. They turned in either direction, seeing Elena and Vincent rushing furiously at them both. The two didn't let go of each other however as they greeted their master.

"What are you doing with this buffoon?" Elena questioned, pointing her wand at Reno.

"Likewise, Reno!" Vincent demanded, following Elena's gesture as he pointed his wand at Tifa. Reno rolled his eyes and turned to Vincent.

"Listen…me and Tifa came to an epiphany. After all this time…of us hating each other and turning each other into everything imaginable, we came to realize that, we love each other, right babe?" Reno explained, turning to the brunette. Tifa nodded with a smile as she turned to Elena.

"That's right!"

Elena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, unable to make nice with the situation. Vincent walked over to Elena as they watched Tifa and Reno walk back to Vincent's cottage, holding the spell book, and each others hand.

"Well…that was unexpected." Vincent stated, shaking his head in confusion. Elena sighed.

"I agree. That's what happens when I send Tifa out on errands I guess."

"Same with Reno…I should've known they would end up together. I have noticed the way they look at each other when the other isn't looking."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, I guess."

"This doesn't mean we have to be friends…right?" Vincent asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Nope, sure doesn't! Until the next duel, Vincent." she stated, walking in the other direction, back to her cottage.

"So how bad did I really look back there?" Tifa asked, her arm locked around Reno's. He smiled as he kissed her.

"Horrible…but I love you all the same. It's hard to believe things ended this way, huh?"

"Sure is…but…I kind of like it…Miss Reno." She replied, giggling as she ran off in front of him. Reno smirked as he raced after her.

"Oh yeah? Come here, baldy!" he yelled after her.

They ran off into the sunset, and they lived happily ever after.

The End.

A/N: Phew…I hoped everyone liked this!! It took me a while to see how I wanted it to play out, so hopefully it worked out for the best! Thanks for reading!