A/N: Ah...these are way too much fun. :) Anyhow, as requested by popular demand, here is the sequel to "Stealing." However, it looks like this might be turning out to be more of a mini-series more than anything which I'm going to label my Thief-verse hereon out.

Enjoy!

ANOTHER LIFETIME

#33: Illegal
Summary: Tifa Lockhart was a good girl...for the most part.
Word Count: 498
Originally Posted: October 17, 2009

Tifa Lockhart considered herself a good girl.

In all her twenty-odd years, she'd never been a big drinker, didn't involve herself too much with the nightclub scene, was generally known as a good student in school, and if she ever did happen to, say, break someone's arm, it was usually for extremely good reason (e.g. groping her, though that only happened once since no one dared to do it ever again). She was what everyone envisioned as the perfect daughter, perfect student, perfect girlfriend, should that lucky man ever arise.

So yes, Tifa Lockhart was a good girl.

So what if she occasionally (frequently) "bent" the law a little? It wasn't as if she was really a criminal or anything. She just often happened to be in the right place at the right time and looking for the right thing to give to the right people.

Right.

So she found it utterly ridiculous and highly exasperating that he was still trailing after her since he obviously wasn't government-issue considering who she'd been stealing—ahem, borrowing from—was the same person he was stealing from. Sure, she'd basically stolen what he'd stolen straight from his hands—she didn't deny herself the mental snicker of victory at the reminder—but that was no reason to have chased her around the city for three days.

And it wasn't as if he was even after the files so much as he was trying to score a date!

She couldn't help the flush that blossomed on her cheeks when she recalled how he'd leaned into her bodily the last time he'd come close enough to nearly catch her. His breath had been heated against her sensitive skin and he had that infuriating grin plastered on his lips that would have been damn attractive if it weren't so smug. And the way his eyes watched her with an intensity that was smoldering had her torn between smacking him a good one and melting into a spineless pile of goo at his feet.

Unfortunately for him, Tifa was not just a good girl. She was also a born fighter. And so it really shouldn't have been a surprise when she lowered her eyelids demurely and brought dexterous fingers dancing across his chest that she was simply waiting for him to be distracted just enough for her to ghost her breath across the shell of his ear and murmur a soft "Stop" command.

She pulled back with a victorious smirk when she saw the surprise frozen in his eyes.

"Sorry hon, but I'm a good girl"—world-renowned thief though she may be—"and good girls," she eyed him almost predatorily, "don't date bad boys."

And then she'd slipped under his arms and with a cheeky little wave had gone on her way again.

Oh yes, Tifa Lockhart was a good girl. But even as she dodged through the crowd of morning traffic, she couldn't help but think that maybe just once, she could make an exception.

THANK YOU!!! to: mom calling, Fairheartstrife, gingerbreadbear, Vanilla Raindrops, kitsune13, K.M. Anderson, silverdigger, vLuna