"Reno has sure been happy lately." Rude said as he got into bed with his wife.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Elena replied, smiling as her husband took her in his arms. She had subtly found out from Rude what kind of pornographic media Reno liked, and used the information to give Marlene a list of what to include in each of the letters to keep Reno hooked.

Tifa was cleaning under a table at 7th Heaven before opening when she noticed Marlene sneak out from the kitchen and put something on Reno's usual barstool. Getting up once Marlene was back in the kitchen, she walked over and picked up the envelope. Big Red Turk? What was Marlene doing leaving letters for Reno? She couldn't open it in good conscience open it, but she was curious, so she'd either find out from Reno or Marlene. Putting the envelope back, she continued making sure everything was ready for the weekend crowd.

Reno stepped out of the shower, eager to find out if his secret admirer had left him any more letters. The three he had gotten so far were amazing. He had no idea what the woman looked like, and part of him wondered if it was possible for a woman to be as attractive as intelligent and sexy as her letters were. Reno hoped no one knew about those mornings he woke up from wet dreams imagining he was doing to his admirer what she wrote about, only to find himself doing them to his pillows instead. He was worried she might be spying on him, because she seemed to know him so well.

Hurrying to the bar, he was thrilled to see the envelope on his seat when he walked in just after opening. Ripping it open, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he read all about the sexual adoration she had for him. She had explained in her second letter that she couldn't meet him in person yet, because she wanted everything to be perfect, and Reno had no problem with that. He didn't want to ruin the best thing he had going for him in years.

"You mind picking that up, Reno?" Tifa asked him.

"Huh?" Reno had no idea what she was talking about.

"That!" Tifa pointed to the shredded envelope on the floor.

"Oh…sorry." Reno mumbled and bent down to pick it up, and Tifa hurriedly scanned the letter in his hand, trying to control the shock as she only read a couple sentences before Reno had picked up the envelope and was putting it and the letter in his jacket pocket. "Happy now?" he asked. "Hey, why is your face so red?"

"I…I need to go lie down. Clara, would you take over for a while?" Tifa asked her other bartender, then hurried to her office once Clara agreed. Tifa laid down on the couch, trying to calm herself down. Little Marlene was involved in giving Reno such explicit letters?! Please let her just be delivering them and not know what they contain! Tifa prayed, then realized with a second shock that Marlene wasn't so little anymore. She was seventeen…in less than a year, she'd be legally an adult. Marlene was already going to college in a special high school program for advanced students, and she wanted a double major in education and child psychology. She and Cloud were proud of both her and Denzel, even if they were both saddened by how Denzel distanced himself from them now. He was in college, studying to be a chiropractor. He had a girlfriend he planned to marry when they graduated, who was studying to be an accountant. Though he never said it, Tifa had a feeling Denzel was worn out by the constant upheavals he'd been through, and how the planet kept seeming to be at jeopardy with Tifa, Cloud, and their allies the only ones able to save it. Denzel just wanted a boring life now, and she and Cloud just wanted him to be happy.

"Aunt Tifa, are you okay?" Marlene asked, poking her head inside the office. "Clara said you weren't feeling good and needed to lie down."

"Come in and close the door, please." Tifa requested. "I need to talk to you."

Surprised, Marlene did as Tifa asked, and sat down next to her on the couch. "Talk to me about what?"

"About Big Red Turks." Tifa decided to just go with the upfront approach. Marlene was too smart to not figure out a subtle approach anyway.

Marlene's cheeks reddened. "Are….what…I mean…you're not spying on me, are you?!" She tried to pretend to be outraged, but she was just terribly embarrassed that Tifa had found out before she was ready to tell her, preferably after she and Reno eloped after she graduated from college in three years. She loved the idea of running away with him, it seemed so romantic.

"You are responsible for the letters? I had hoped you were just delivering them. I know I've talked to you about sex, but Reno is…" Tifa tried to figure out what to say next.

"He's the man I love!" Marlene exclaimed.

"What?!" Tifa was glad she was already lying down on the couch, because she felt like passing out.

"I love Reno." Marlene said, quietly but firmly.

Tifa took a deep breath, wondering how she and the others failed Marlene to have her think she loved Reno. "He's twenty years older than you and he's…haven't you heard about his reputation?"

"I love Reno." Marlene repeated, that stubborn look in her eyes appearing that Tifa knew all too well.

"Have you and he…" Tifa swallowed hard. "done anything?"

"No, he doesn't even know it's me. He's not going to, not til next year. I have it all planned out." Marlene explained.

As Tifa listened to Marlene's plans for her and Reno's future together, the only thing that comforted her is that Marlene actually did have a plan. How did this happen without any of them knowing about it? And Reno was terribly lonely, even if he wouldn't admit it. Maybe…Tifa shook her head. What was she thinking? "If you and Reno haven't done anything yet, where'd you get those ideas for the letters?"

"I asked Elena for help when I decided I wanted to marry Reno. She has access to his file." Marlene admitted.

"And when did you decide this?" Tifa wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer though.

"When I was fourteen." Marlene told her.

"Fourteen?" Tifa couldn't handle this anymore. She knew Marlene used to have a crush on Reno when she was a kid, but she had assumed that was long over. "Go back to the kitchen, please. And tell Carla I'll be out there in a couple minutes." As soon as Marlene left, Tifa went to her desk drawer and pulled out the bottle of strong whiskey she kept there for emergencies. She had only drunk from it once or twice in the last…was it fifteen years already? Tifa shook her head again and down her shot glass in one gulp. Grimacing at the taste, she put it back and went to resume her bartending.

"Feeling better now?" Reno asked.

Tifa glared at him and wasn't aware she had made a fist until her elbow hit one of the bottles behind her when she drew back to hit him. "That's none of your damned business." she replied as she forced herself to relax.

Reno was surprised at her behavior, then just shrugged it off as her monthly issues. "No wonder Cloud hasn't been around lately." he said quietly to himself.

"Do you want me to throw that envelope away?" Tifa asked him a little while later. She knew how Marlene felt, now she wondered how Reno felt about his 'secret admirer'.

"No!" Reno snapped, putting his hand over the pocket they were in, then relaxed. "Sorry Tifa, but it's classified information." he said with a contented smirk.

Tifa slowly walked up the stairs to her place. Going down the hallway to Marlene's room, she lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in." Marlene said.

Quietly closing the door behind her, Tifa took another deep breath before she said what she came to say.

"You won't tell Uncle Cloud, will you?" Marlene asked when she was done.

"No. Not until you want me to." Tifa promised her, then left to get some much needed sleep.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked her when she finally got into bed. "Clara said you needed to lie down for a while."

"It was nothing." Tifa said, hoping she would get some peace from the turmoil she felt from agreeing to help Marlene in snagging Reno. Snuggling closer to her husband, Tifa shut her eyes and hoped things would make more sense in the morning and the days to come.