"Hey Marlene, would you mind if I wanted to invite someone as my date to your party next week?" Reno asked her four months later as she was cleaning the bar.

"Oh, you have a girlfriend?" Marlene replied casually, though she had an idea whom he meant. She had gotten over her disappointment in his lack of literary skills, because Aunt Tifa had been right, it wasn't his literary ability that caused her to fall in love with him.

"I…I don't know." Reno admitted. Marlene and Bertha were the only two women in the world that he felt he could trust. Marlene was a sweet kid who would always give him a to-go bag of one of his favorite foods, and Bertha was the sexiest lady.

"Well, if you want, lemme find you an extra invitation, I'll stick it in your bag when you're ready to go." Marlene promised.

"Thanks." Reno said, smiling at her while he finished his drink.

A couple hours later, Marlene handed him the to-go bag with the invitation to her double celebration for not only graduating high school, but her eighteenth birthday as well. Tifa had agreed to a masquerade ball to help Marlene out with her plans. "Here you go, Reno, invitation is in there as promised."

"You're a great kid, Marlene." Reno told her.

She had long since learned to not be upset when he called her a kid, he'd learn otherwise soon enough. "You're not so bad yourself, Reno." Marlene stood up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek before casually going back into the bar's kitchen to finish the dishes.

Reno stood there for a moment, putting his hand on his cheek, unaware his face was turning as red as his hair. He got a hold of himself and headed home to write a letter to Bertha.

"Are you ready for this?" Tifa asked Marlene while helping her with her first costume for the masquerade ball.

"Yes." Marlene said a bit too intensely, trying to cover the slight anxiousness she felt about how Reno would react to the news.

Reno wasn't enjoying Marlene's party too much, because Bertha had agreed that they could meet at a masquerade ball, and told him what costume she would be wearing, but he hadn't seen her yet. He was worried he was going to be horribly disappointed by her not showing up, or she did show up but wasn't anything like her letters made her out to be. He stayed by the punch bowl, glad he had his flask with him to add to his cup to calm his nerves. Tifa had done a good job with decorating the bar for this party at least.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Marlene asked him, suddenly appearing at his side.

"I'll let you know when I do." Reno replied, taking another drink. "Oh, and happy birthday and graduation." He handed her a fat envelope, slightly distracted by her outfit. Objectively he knew she wasn't a kid anymore, but it felt weird to see her subtly displaying her grown-up body.

"Thanks, Reno. I hope your girlfriend shows up soon." Marlene left to go put his gift on the table with all the others, then disappeared as she mingled with all the other costumed people.

A few minutes later, he was startled by a tap on the shoulder. Turning around, he was happily surprised to see his guest. "Bertha! You made it!" Reno smiled.

Bertha nodded, then pulled him over to the dance floor. Reno was a bit upset her face was covered by a mask, but her body was quite to his liking, even if she had an evening gown that didn't show much skin. Something tugged at his memory, but he was too distracted by finally meeting his secret admirer of the past year, and getting his hands on her while dancing.

"Okay, time to open the presents. Where's Marlene?" Tifa called out into the crowd.

Reno looked around for her like everyone else, and then suddenly realized Bertha had disappeared. He started looking around for her instead.

"I'm here, Aunt Tifa!" Marlene announced, hurrying to the gift table. She kept an eye on Reno, looking for Bertha. Trying to not appear ungrateful or rushed, she opened all her presents as fast as she could, properly thanking everyone, then went to the bathroom and put her ball gown back on.

Bertha showed up back at Reno's side, much to his relief. "You want to dance more?" he asked, and Bertha shook her head.

"How come you're not talking to me?" Reno wondered. "Are you medically mute or something?"

Bertha shook her head again with a smile, then pulled Reno into the center of the room where everyone was dancing. Then she shocked him by taking off her mask and what he didn't know was a wig.

"Marlene!" Reno felt his world turn upside down. "What's going on here?" He demanded to know, unaware that everyone was suddenly staring at them.

She smiled. "I'm giving myself a present, that's what." Marlene further shocked Reno by passionately kissing him in front of everyone.