Rude lit up momentarily when the elevator doors opened and Elena stood there. This was her first day back at work, and he had been hoping to see her. She started to smile at him before walking in and hitting the button for the research floor. They stood awkwardly apart from each other, neither of them sure if they should say anything or not. Suddenly the car lurched and the regular lights went out, then the emergency lights came on.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked, steadying herself with the handrail.

"I'm not sure." Rude tried all the emergency procedures he knew with the control panel, but none of them worked.

"Well I hope…" Elena started to say, then the elevator car dropped a couple floors, and when it stopped, she found herself in Rude's arms. She looked up at him, and as soon as they made eye contact, his lips were on hers, and she was unbuttoning his shirt. She had missed feeling his skin on hers, but hadn't known how to approach him after she had asked him to leave her alone. Now Fate had solved her problem perfectly.

Reno smiled as he watched the security video feed from the elevator. He had figured out what happened between those two, their obvious avoidance of each other might as well have painted a huge sign on them that said "HEY, WE HAD SEX!" Reno didn't mind helping them out by playing Cupid. He turned the monitor off once he noticed they were both naked. He did mind watching other people have sex when he worked with them. He set the rigged elevator to resume normal function in an hour. If Rude and Elena took longer than that, they were on their own.

Elena reluctantly separated from Rude to get her clothes back on. It had been two weeks since the elevator incident, and they had decided to continue their relationship, but to do it discreetly. They always met late at night at their apartments, taking turns on whose it was. Right now they were at his place.

"Do you really have to go?" Rude asked as he watched her get dressed.

"Yes, I've got to make sure I still can pass the physical exam. Being bedridden with a broken leg might have put me off my game." Elena put her bra and panties back on, then leaned over to kiss him before going back to the other room where they had taken off the rest of her clothes. She tried to be annoyed that one of her buttons on her shirt had been ripped off, but it was hard when remembering the circumstances made her smile.

Reno and Tifa were both upset when her activities with AVALANCHE brought them into direct combat with each other again. He couldn't bring himself to strike her, so he focused on that blond spiky-haired man she was with. He had knocked the man down, and was just about to taser him when Tifa intervened.

"No, please don't hurt Cloud!" she pleaded, kneeling over her childhood sweetheart. "Take me prisoner again if you have to, but don't hurt him!"

Reno frowned, realizing from her behavior that this must be the man she was saving herself for. He paused, and Cloud took advantage of his distraction to knock Reno down to the ground as well. Cloud stood up and shoved his sword in front of Reno's face, upsetting Tifa more.

"No Cloud, leave Reno alone." Tifa pushed the sword away, and stood between Cloud and Reno. Just then, Reno's cellphone rang.

"Reno here. Okay, I'll be right there." He hung up his phone. "Well, you two are lucky I'm needed elsewhere." A brief relieved smile passed over his lips as he looked at Tifa before leaving.

Reno took a deep breath to get some energy back. Evacuating Midgar wasn't as easy as it sounded, but Meteorfall was deadly.

"Reno?" A female voice called out in concern.

"Who's there?" He thought he had everyone out of the building.

"It's me." Tifa stepped into view.

"What are you doing here?" Reno was surprised at how she seemed to show up where he least expected her, though he was always glad to see her alive and well.

"I got word that you were evacuating this sector and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm a Turk, of course I'm alright. How's that Cloud guy doing? He is the one you were saving yourself for, right? Are you married yet?" Reno wondered what the hell he was doing, her relationships were none of his business.

"Cloud is resting up after defeating Sephiroth." Tifa stated with quiet pride.

"And the two of you?" Reno persisted. "Shouldn't you be with him right now, instead of me?"

Tifa looked down at the ground, and Reno was alarmed by how her body seemed to sag.

"What's wrong?" Reno asked.

"I…I lost him to Aerith." Tifa didn't know why she was unburdening herself to Reno, but she felt compelled to let it all out. "He never looked at me the way I saw him look at her. Sephiroth killing her only made it worse. He acts like he cares about me, but something's missing. Who'd have ever thought I'd lose him to a dead girl?" Tifa got slightly hysterical, torn between laughing over the irony and crying over it.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I'm sure he'll come to his senses." Reno took her in his arms to calm her down. "Who wouldn't want someone like you?"

Tifa sniffled as she mulled over his words. "Do you want me?" She wondered aloud, lifting her tearstained face up to look into his eyes.

Reno kissed her as his answer, relieved that she eagerly responded to his affections instead of slapping him again. "Marry me." he said without realizing what he suggested at first.

"What?" Tifa was stunned, not only by his proposal, but by how her body had started to react to him.

"Marry me. It's almost the end of the world, what have you got to lose?" Reno indicated Meteorfall, and the rubble falling nearby.

"Who could even marry us now?" Tifa found herself getting carried away with the absurdity of it all.

"No problem." Reno took her by the hand and led her to a reinforced military vehicle of some sort, and knocked on the door.

"Reno, what are you doing here? You should be helping the others with evacuating their assigned sectors if you're done with yours." Reeve said as he opened the door.

"Marry us." Reno told him.

"You can marry people, Reeve?" Tifa was getting constantly surprised by recent events.

"I'm a licensed minister." Reeve proudly exclaimed, showing her his certificate. "You two actually want to get married now?"

"Why not?" Reno asked.

"I want to be married." Tifa said, knowing that was the truth. She just wanted to be married to Cloud, but she couldn't be with someone who didn't want to be with her.

"Okay, sign this first." Reeve reached inside the cab and grabbed a paper from a stack of forms. "It's the marriage license that has to be registered at City Hall. If City Hall is still standing after this."

"Okay, your turn." Reno signed his name, then handed the paper and his pen to Tifa, who paused before signing her name, thinking how unreal this all felt.

"Do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?" Reeve asked Reno.

"Aren't you supposed to say more than that? Like something about as long as you both shall live." Reno said.

"Meteorfall might kill us all, I'd like to get this done and get out of here, if you don't mind." Reeve snapped.

"Well, then I do take Tifa Lockhart as my lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold." Reno smiled at her.

"Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?" Reeve asked Tifa.

"I do take this man as my husband." Tifa replied.

"Then I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Reeve announced, and everyone's face turned into an expression of wonderment as the lifestream appeared, coming up from cracks in the ground to attack Meteor. "I'm getting the hell out of here, good luck on your lives together." Reeve grabbed the license from Tifa before hopping into the cab of his vehicle, slamming the door before speeding away from them.

"What do you want to do now?" Reno asked Tifa. "I guess the world's not going to end after all.

Tifa felt that maybe the lifesteam appearing to destroy Meteor after they were officially married was a sign. "I think we should…" Tifa started to say when Reno's phone rang.

"What? Yeah I cleared my sector. Is that really important now?" Reno sighed. "I'll be right there." Reno hung up his phone. "I'm sorry, but duty calls. I'll find you later." Reno kissed her and then he was gone.

Tifa frowned. She hadn't even been married for ten minutes before her husband disappeared. Maybe she just needed to avoid spiky-haired men in the future.

Tifa walked upstairs to answer the phone. "Hello?" She froze when she heard Reno's voice on the other end of the line. She hadn't seen him since the day they got married. Two years of technically being his wife, and this was the first time she knew he was even still alive. She hadn't been able to bring herself to have the marriage annulled, because it would expose her secret to everyone to go through the necessary legal steps. She wasn't exactly ashamed of being married to Reno, she didn't know him well enough to feel that way.

"Yeah, I remember you." Tifa said, trying not to get pissed off that he had the nerve to ask her that. Maybe she should become a nun…the man she wanted to marry and the man she had married, they had both made a habit out of ignoring her. She wondered if they were forming a Tifa Avoidance club, since Reno only called her with a message for Cloud. Reno's voice sounded funny, but she dismissed it at awkwardness of calling his wife for the first time in two years.

Elena knocked on the door, then knocked again when she didn't get an immediate answer. A few moments later, Tifa opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" Tifa asked in surprise. She had thought maybe it was Cloud bringing the kids back. Since being cured of Geostigma, he had spent most of his time with Denzel and Marlene, neglecting her again in the process.

"I want to help you." Elena said. "May I come in?"

"Um, sure." Tifa let her in, then closed her door, wondering what Elena could possibly help her with.

"I know you're Reno's wife." Elena said as she sat down on the couch in the living room."

"What? How did you…" Tifa felt her cheeks redden.

"Reno's been weird even for him lately, and I found out it started when he called you a few weeks ago. Reeve finally spilled the beans with some persuasion. I know Reno well enough that he's just using his job as an excuse to avoid you. He must care about you on some level, or he wouldn't have bothered getting married, and I think that's what scared him off.

"I wouldn't know, I hardly know him." Tifa informed her.

"Rude proposed to me last week, and…" Elena paused as she felt her cheeks redden as well, remembering how he proposed, or more specifically, what they were doing when he popped the question. "Anyway, our wedding is scheduled next month between missions, and I have an idea." Elena pulled a folder out of her jacket. "This is a copy of Reno's personnel file, burn it when you're done reading it. This might answer some of your questions about him." Elena stood up and headed to the door, before turning back to Tifa. "Call me if you're interested, my number's inside."

Tifa read Reno's file as she lay alone in bed that night. It was awful…no wonder he was so distant when she took care of him after the crash. No one should have to deal with what he had to. He just needed someone to love him, and he was legally her husband. She picked up the phone and dialed. "Elena? I'm in. What do I have to do?"

Rude was nervous…his tuxedo wasn't that much different from his Turk uniform, but this was his wedding day, and Elena had taken him into her confidence with a plan of hers, and he hoped it worked, for everyone's sake.

"Do I really need to wear this?" Reno complained about his tuxedo. He felt too proper that he didn't feel like himself.

"Yes, you're the Best Man, that's part of the gig." Rude snapped, trying to hide his anxiety.

"Don't be so pissy, you've got the easy part, all you have to do is do what you're told. At least that will prepare you for marriage." Reno said, somewhat jealous of his partner and Elena, since they were obviously happy together.

"You had the easy part, you know you liked planning the bachelor party." Rude reminded him.

"Yeah…" Reno smiled at the memory of those twin strippers he had found for the event, then he shook his head as the memory of Reeve marrying him and Tifa surfaced. He told himself it was just because Reeve was now marrying Rude and Elena today. "Are you ready?"

"Yes I am!" Rude took a deep breath and Reno ushered him out the door.

"If there is anyone here who feels these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." Reeve spoke to the crowd.

"I object!" A voice exclaimed.

Everyone turned to see Tifa standing at the end of the red carpeted aisle, in a beautiful wedding gown. She gracefully walked up to the bottom of the stairs.

"What is your objection?" Reeve asked.

"They don't get to hog the spotlight, this is our wedding day too!" Tifa replied, taking Reno's hand in hers, squeezing it in reassurance. "Even if we are already married, it's time we make it official." she whispered to Reno.

"Here ya go, partner." Rude gave Reno a little jewelry gift box, as he and Elena moved over slightly to make room for Reno and Tifa right next to them.

At the wedding reception, Yuffie caught Elena's bouquet, and went over to where Vincent was trying to be unnoticed in a dark corner. A little while later, the wedding photographer took a picture of Vincent with the bouquet sticking out of his mouth and Yuffie angrily downing shots at the bar.

Scarlet caught Tifa's bouquet, and was later seen next to Cloud, chatting him up as he nursed his glass of whiskey. Soon afterwards, guests saw them speed off on Cloud's motorcycle.

"Does this mean we have to have a honeymoon now?" Reno asked Tifa as the guests started to leave. He was still somewhat in shock as the surprise they all sprang on him.

"No, but we do finally have to have a wedding night." Tifa informed him.

Reno brightened at the prospect. "Where?"

"That's up to you, I helped plan the wedding, you get to plan the wedding night."

Reno unlocked and opened the door to his place, then carried Tifa over the threshold, kicking his front door shut before carrying her to his bedroom. Tifa kissed him as he started to take off her wedding dress. When he went to pull it off her, he got a face full of intricately beaded lace.

"Why do wedding dresses have to contain so much nonsense?" Reno groused as he tossed the gown onto the floor.

"Because hopefully you only wear it once, so it needs to be really special." Tifa explained as she started taking his tuxedo off.

Reno felt better once they were both naked in his bed, it was more familiar territory to him, the rings on their fingers the only difference between this and all his other sexual encounters. As his hand slid up her leg, he decided to take his time with her to make sure she enjoyed it.

Tifa wasn't sure exactly what she had expected from the long-delayed consummation of her marriage, but Reno made sure she would never forget it. He made sure that every part of her body was screaming for fulfillment before he ever entered her. Laying in his arms, her face was flushed and her heart beat rapidly as she recovered from her third orgasm.

Unbeknownst to each other, they both had the same thought before they fell into a contented sleep…that if this was what married life was like, they were willing to make a go of it.

Tifa knocked on Elena's door, and she answered it almost immediately. "Oh, it's you. I was hoping Rude was coming home to help out. Lucas is teething." Elena offered as an explanation for her behavior as she went back into the living room, leaving Tifa to come in on her own. Tifa brought the car seat in and closed the door.

"I brought Alexandra over for their playdate, maybe she'll help distract him." Tifa said as she took her infant daughter out of the car seat and put her in the playpen with Lucas, who was crying a little as he halfheartedly played with a set of big plastic keys.

Alexandra crawled over to Lucas and tried to take his key toy from him. When she didn't have the strength to just take it from him, she bopped him on the head and when Lucas cried harder and put his hands on his head, she grabbed the keys and started shoving them in her mouth as Lucas tried to kick her, but his level of motor skills made it difficult.

"Alexandra!" "Lucas!" Tifa and Elena called out their own child's name simultaneously, picking them up out of the playpen. Tifa scolded her daughter as Elena cuddled her son.

"This is what we get for marrying Turks." The mothers both said simultaneously again.