Honestly, I confuse myself. When I commit myself to update quickly on a story, for some reason it takes what seems like ages. But when I say I won't update often? Boom. Two chapters ready in less than twenty four hours. I need to start saying I won't update on all my stories.

Anyway, another chapter, another pairing. Let's do it.

I don't own Final Fantasy VII.


Waiting

7th Heaven: Bar

Reno x Yuffie

Waiting...yeah, that's what he was doing. Drinking too, but mostly waiting.

He'd been pondering over Rude's very true accusation for a while now, 'Hypocrite', he'd said. For telling him just to talk to the girl he liked, to quit moping, and instead stop acting a fool and do something about it.

Yeah...he was such a fucking hypocrite. What was he doing right now?

He seriously considered backing out like a little pansy, but downed the rest of his whisky as an alternative. Liquid courage, and all that. Tifa raised an eyebrow at him from behind the well polished bar counter, and smiled a little, but said nothing. Did she know? Would she tell her if she did? Wait, if she knew then she must've already told her. Sweet baby Shiva, he needed to relax. Reno wanted to order another drink, but seeing as it was two minutes to ten, he decided to wait. She'd usually switch with Tifa and be on duty at ten, on the second.

His thoughts turned back to Rude. He seemed suddenly happier as of a few days ago, but Reno didn't understand why; he still didn't have the object of his affections. Yet his partner had stopped hanging out at the Train Graveyard in Sector Seven every odd day as far as he knew. Rude had apparently sorted out his feelings for Tifa, though he didn't know how exactly. He supposed it didn't really matter; now he had to do the same. If his way didn't work out, he'd have to ask his partner how he did it.

Tifa glanced at the clock as Yuffie came bounding down the stairs to take over the bar.

"Perfectly on time, as always." Tifa commented, and the ninja grinned.

"Wutai's are always punctual, Teef." She responded, matter of fact, before taking her place behind the bar as the owner of the 7th Heaven disappeared.

Reno took a moment to admire her figure. She looked stunning in her normal, casual shorts, but had mixed it up a little and chosen to wear a plain corset that matched the colour of his uniform.

"You can't eye me up without ordering a drink first, Turk." Yuffie told him playfully.

He smirked in what he hoped was an attractive fashion, "Alright, I'll have another whisky, babe."

She smiled and took the glass he offered, their fingers brushing slightly. Why would he even notice that? He glared at his hand, as it had begun to shake slightly. He clenched it into a fist.

Why was he acting like such a fool?

"Here you go." The ninja placed the drink in front of him, and he thanked her, before she moved away to serve other customers. He tried not to read too much into the fact that she'd served him first.

Alright, now all he had to do was to wait until closing time; he'd make sure to be the last one here, and finally he'd be alone with her...and then he'd make his move. He would. If his socially awkward best friend could solve the problem of unresolved feelings (who knew Turks were capable), then he certainly could. But he would do it his way.

For now, he contented himself with observing Yuffie dance around serving customers. Literally, dance. She always seemed to have so much energy, and it was infectious. The Turk watched as she skipped over to the jukebox and put on some upbeat Wutai song. He didn't understand a word, and briefly wished he had Tseng with him to translate the lyrics. He wanted to know what kind of songs she liked.

Many other men were watching Yuffie dance too, which grated on his nerves a little. He wasn't usually the jealous type; hell, he wasn't the type to stick around long enough to ever get jealous. But this time it was different. He emptied his glass in one.

"Hey, beautiful, can I get a refill?" he asked when she passed him.

"Sure thing handsome." She answered teasingly, "Same again?"

He nodded, smiling openly. Once she'd set the drink down, he attempted to engage her in conversation in order to keep her attention on him.

"So Yuffie, how've ya been?" he enquired, not having to try too hard to look genuinely interested. He was such a fool.

"Well..." she pondered on the answer for a moment, "Recently, I've been feeling pretty good."

"I'm glad." He told her, "I got the feeling you were a little down these past few months." And he was pretty sure he knew why.

She nodded, "I was, but..." A sly smile spread across her face, as though she was recalling a fond memory, "I'm over it."

Reno smiled too, happy that Valentine was no longer an obstacle in his path, "Good."

"What about you?" she asked.

"Well, I..." should he hint at his feelings first? "I've been thinking a lot about y-"

"Excuse me, bartender!" A male voice cut him off, "Can I get a drink, please?"

"Sorry sir, of course." Yuffie replied, holding up her index finger to Reno in the universal sign of 'one minute' as she walked over to serve the man.

The Turk shot a glare in the obnoxious man's direction, but he wasn't paying attention to anything but Yuffie.

"Hey gorgeous, you're looking good tonight." He told her. The ninja smiled politely.

"Thanks." She replied, setting down his beer. Reno felt his fingers twitch uncontrollably, itching to punch something. Maybe he should corner the guy in an alley somewhere and show him why Turks should still be feared...

As Yuffie went to move away, the guy reached over and grabbed her wrist, "Hey, why don't you stay here and talk to me for a while?"

She kept the polite smile fixed on her face, "I'm sorry sir, but I was talking to someone else."

The Turk desperately wanted to intervene, but knew Yuffie wouldn't like it; she was the kind of girl that fought her own battles.

"What, that guy?" The man said, jerking his thumb in Reno's direction, who was just two seats down, "He isn't worth such a beautiful girl's time."

She jerked her hand from his grasp, "Actually, he's my friend."

He sent Reno an incredulous look, and the Turk raised his glass in a mock -yet somehow still victorious- toast.

The guy scoffed, "Friends with a Turk huh? Fine, never mind. I thought you looked like a whore anyway."

Reno saw red.

He was brought back by a sharp blow to the jaw, and realized he'd pissed off two of the guy's friends. The loathsome man himself was on the ground, howling and clutching his face; the Turk could see profuse amounts of blood seeping through his fingers. Reno was also aware that his right hand was smarting. A quick glance down revealed he had a deep, nasty cut, with shards of glass lodged into his skin. Huh. He must've smashed his glass into the guys face.

One of the man's friends went in for another punch, but then Yuffie was at his side, expertly blocking the fist and countering with a pretty, practised punch of her own. Reno smirked a little and focused his attention on the last guy.

It was over within seconds. Nursing their various wounds, the men stumbled out of the bar, the first man still noisily weeping.

"Alright, everybody out!" Yuffie ordered loudly.

She was mad at him, he knew. But he didn't regret anything.

Reno sat on his usual barstool as Yuffie cleaned up his hand with a damp cloth, after removing all the shattered glass and placing it onto a small tray. She hadn't spoken to him since she'd ordered him to "Sit" and began tending to his wounds.

"How long you gonna keep up the silent treatment?" he asked.

"That was completely unnecessary!" she snapped almost as soon as he'd finished his sentence.

"The guy was a complete wanker." The Turk defended as she used some antiseptic spray on his hand.

"That's no excuse to inflict grievous bodily harm by smashing a glass into his face!" The ninja exclaimed, "Dear Leviathan Reno, I know you've done much worse but-"

She abruptly stopped speaking, finally looking at his face to catch his reaction. He made his expression carefully blank and gave her a look that challenged her to keep talking. She didn't.

They didn't speak for a moment while she bandaged his hand tightly.

"He called you a whore." Reno said, breaking the quiet, "Wasn't gonna stand for that."

"I didn't need you to defend my honour." She told him, though she didn't sound as upset anymore.

"Yeah, I know." He replied, smiling at her gently, "You've kicked my ass plenty of times before."

Yuffie smiled back, before taking the cloth and tray away to the sink. As she ran the cloth under the hot tap, washing away the blood, Reno wondered whether his chance had been lost, and couldn't decide if he was relieved or disappointed. The ninja wrung out the cloth tightly and strode around the counter to stand in front of him again. Leaning down slightly, she began to gently dab at Reno's swollen and split lip. He took the opportunity to take in her facial features up close; her flawless skin, her cute button nose, her dark Wutai hair and eyes, and the shape of her lips...

He brought his eyes back to hers to find her looking into his own, as if she was trying to decide what colour they were, exactly. Blue or green? Hers were difficult to decipher also; they were clearly dark brown, but sometimes looked gray depending on the light.

The Turk realized now was the time, if ever. He leaned forward a little, as there wasn't much distance between them, and closed his eyes just before he pressed his mouth to hers lightly.

For a second, neither moved, and Reno delighted in the feel of her smooth lips. He was finally kissing her. But then she pulled back abruptly, and his eyes flew open in surprise. Shock was the most prominent expression on her face, before she stepped back and was that...guilt?

"What was that?!" Yuffie asked urgently as he stood up, "What did that mean?!"

"I-" he wasn't sure what to say, so he went for the truth, "I've had feelings for you for a while and I decided to act on them-"

She was already shaking her head halfway through his sentence. It wasn't that she didn't care about him, it was just that her mind kept fixating on the fact that she'd had sex with his partner and best friend not seventy two hours ago. She was a terrible person.

"No." She muttered, "You need to go."

The hurt was quite plain on his face, and the ninja cursed herself. She was terrible, selfish person. Reno hardened his expression, threw up a fake –yet slightly sadistic- smile, and raised his hands, "Hey, no skin off my back."

With that, the Turk walked to the exit with long strides, slamming the door behind him with more force than necessary.

In the newly acquired silence, Yuffie sighed regretfully.


M'kay. Review please? Reno in love always seems a bit OOC to me...but, I can't help it. I think it's freakin' adorable. :3

Thank you for reading!