"Happy Birthday Tifa," Yuffie said giving her a hug and handing her a brightly wrapped present.
Tifa smiled and hugged her back, it was her birthday so most of the TURKS and AVALANCHE kept showing up to bring her presents and give her birthday greetings.
Tifa was the belle of the ball as she moved from one table to the next getting well wishes from friends and bar patrons come to drink a toast the popular young woman's twenty fifth birthday.
One pair of eyes never left her, their movements obscured by the sunglasses they always had before them. Their owner was a tall, bald man with a small goatee and tanned skin. He was a TURK and sat with his partner as Reno looked out for eligible young women, one of whom might share his bed that night. But Rude only had eyes for Tifa and a silver wrapped present on the gift table that didn't have a card attached to it.
The night was in full swing and even Tseng and Vincent seemed to be having fun but didn't look comfortable in the pointy party hats Yuffie had insisted everyone wear.
Rude never left his table and would sit there alone while Reno would leave to dance with a potential partner of the evening and would soon return after striking out with the young lady in question. But Rude watched in anticipation as a cake with sloppy decorations had been thoughtfully made by Yuffie herself, who had little talent for cooking or baking. However Tifa praised it as if it had been made by the finest baker in the land and blew out all the candles in a single breath.
Then it was time to open the gifts and he felt breathless and light headed as she thanked each person for whatever she received from that person. Her smile was a tad sad as she opened a courier package from Cloud to find he had bought her a duplicate scarf from the her birthday a year before. She set it aside before picking up the final present, a large silver box and carefully opening it. Yuffie and her eyes seemed to bulge out of their heads as they recognized the logo on the box as belonging to one of the most expensive dress shops in town.
She opened it and gasped at what it contained. "Tifa that's the dress from when we went shopping. Who could have bought this for you or even known about it?" Yuffie asked her.
Tifa could only stare at it. It was a black strapless dress with small red ribbon in the centre of the sweetheart neckline. More red ribbons make up the corset back and the short skater skirt was edged at the bottom by more red ribbons.
Flashback
Rude had the day off and had been going to buy some stamps when he spotted the woman of his dreams in a dress shop wearing a beautiful black dress with red ribbons on it. "Tifa it's so beautiful, you should so buy it" Yuffie insisted to her and Rude paused at the side of the open doorway and felt rather guilty for listening in on their private conversation.
She looked at the price tag and paled "it's beautiful but I can only afford Wal Mart with my budget" she said with regret in her voice.
"I could put it on my credit card and you can pay daddy back" Yuffie offered.
"I can't allow you to do that" Tifa said and went to change out of it after lingering a few extra seconds before the mirror.
Rude waited until she departed and then walked into a woman's dress shop for the first time in his life. He could feel his cheeks glow and avoided looking at manikins wearing dainty lingerie.
"Can I help you with something?" the saleslady asked.
"That dress; was that the one my friend was just trying on?" he asked her because she was holding a similar one.
"You mean the brunette that just left?" she asked him.
"Yes that's the one" he said.
"Yes it is" she concurred.
"I would like to surprise her by buying it for her" he said pulling out his credit card.
"That's so nice of you, every woman would love to have a friend like you" she enthused. "I can wrap it free of charge and have it delivered to her" she offered.
"I would like it wrapped but would like to take it with me" he said.
"How would you like your card to read?" she asked him.
"I don't want a card included" he said.
End Flashback
"It seems you have a secret admirer and a generous one at that" Yuffie enthused.
"But this is too expensive to accept" Tifa insisted."Perhaps if I bring this back to the store they'll refund their money?"
"The person obviously wanted you to have this, go put it on" Yuffie insisted.
"I guess" Tifa said with hesitation in her voice until she allowed herself to be persuaded and came down wearing it to the admiration of everyone present. Yet the person who had bought it for her thought she would look beautiful wearing even a burlap sack, but could feel his cheeks heat up as he admired her in his present.
Reno came back and threw himself heavily on his chair and sporting a fresh red handprint shaped mark on his alabaster cheek and looked in surprise to find the normally unflappable Rude blushing like a maiden. He followed the direction of his gaze.
"So the dress is from you?" he guessed in a hushed tone.
"Shut up" Rude snapped at him under his breath.
Reno got up and put on number 28 on the jukebox and Unchained Melody came on. "Tifa, Yuffie. Could I have this dance?" he called to them.
"Both of us at the same time? Reno you're such a horn dog" Tifa teased him.
"Actually, I remember that you banned me from hitting on you so I was wondering if Yuffie would allow me to partner her while you dance with Rude?" Reno said in an innocent sounding voice that made Rude's eyes go wide behind his sunglasses.
"Would you mind Rude? I do love this song" Tifa said turning towards him.
"Okay" was his answer and he stood up with his heart racing. He could feel a full body blush covering him as petite arms encircled his neck and he lightly put his hands at her waist.
"You can hold me closer to you, I not that fragile" Tifa said smiling up at him and he drew her as close to him as he dared and she soon had lay her head on his breast as the romantic song drew her into it and they swayed in time together and his fantasy of being able to dance with her in his present became true and had he died on the spot, he would have died a happy man.
Reno's smile as he easily looked over his own dance partner's head was almost tender to see his friend so happy though Rude's face betrayed nothing, he seemed to glow as he danced with the woman of his dreams.