CHAPTER 13: Changes

So far, Tifa had been staying with Reno for two weeks at his place, occasionally heading from to her house to pick up some of her stuff. Tifa had quit her job at the Green Dragon and had since found a different workplace at a bar called Seventh Heaven. It was a lot busier than the Dragon had been and Cloud didn't work there so it was great for her. She also got paid way more.

They'd been ignoring their cell phones and pagers, cutting themselves off from the mercenary world. They had discussed leaving the business many times, but were never able to reach a final decision. But the way things had been lately, it seemed like they were well on their way to turning their lives around.

Tseng had been by to visit once and he was incredibly surprised to find that Tifa was pretty much living with Reno. She explained to him that Reno had told her everything and that there were no more secrets between them anymore. Tseng, however, remained suspicious of the whole thing.

Reno watched as Tifa slept soundly in the bed beside him. She was on her stomach; a pillow was tucked up against her body and her face was partially hidden by her hair. He touched her shoulder lightly and she stirred a bit before she began snoring loudly. He laughed to himself and slipped silently from the bed. He grabbed his cell phone from the night table and dialed Rude's number.

"Rude here."

"Yo, Rude." Reno said softly, pacing around his apartment.

"Reno? Where the hell have you been, man? Aaron's pissed! He says he's gonna fire your sorry ass!"

"Tell him he can do it." Reno said.

"What?"

"And while you're at it, tell him you quit, too."

Rude paused. "Why would I wanna do that?"

"Dude... I'm ditching the mercenary thing."

"What?!"

"Shh! Lower your damn voice!"

"Sorry." Rude lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "Why are you gonna do that?"

Reno shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe so I can, uh, you know--change my life around."

"How you gonna do that? Become a priest?"

"Nah. Maybe worse."

"What's worse than that?"

"A husband."

Rude snorted. "You mean, to a wife kind of a husband?"

"Yes!" Reno hissed, "What other kind of husband is there?"

"I didn't think you even had a girlfriend..."

"Well, things change." Reno said after a pause.

Tifa woke up, blinking her eyes as the sunlight hit her face. She groaned and turned onto her side. Reno was laying in the bed next to her, staring at her.

"Good morning." she said, surprised, "What time is it?"

"Almost 10:30." Reno replied softly.

"Why did you let me sleep past 9:00?" She asked, sitting up.

"You looked so peaceful." he said, sitting beside her.

She looked at him. "What's up?"

"Huh?"

"You look like you have something on your mind. What is it?"

"Well, uh..." he chewed on his lower lip, "I've made a decision this morning."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"I decided that... well... that I'm going to stop."

"Stop what...?" she paused, realizing the answer to her own question, "Oh! Really?"

"I didn't come to this decision lightly." Reno said, standing, "But if I'm going to be with you... I'm not going to keep doing this."

Tifa looked up at him as he took her hands in his.

"A--are you sure this is what you want, Reno?"

"I think so." he sighed, "I don't know. I'm worried about something."

"What's that?"

"I got into this biz after I met a guy in a bar." Reno began, "He trained me and taught me everything I know. He got me my start."

"That's funny. Me, too." Tifa said, drawing her brows together.

"Yeah, well, before he got whacked he told me that he wanted someone to carry on his legacy." Reno said, staring ahead, "And I thought that I would be the one to do that for him."

"God, this sounds awfully familiar..." Tifa thought for a moment, "What was his name?"

"Caleb Driscoll." Reno said.

"What did you say?"

"I said Ca--"

"I heard what you said." Tifa interrupted.

"Okay, so wh--"

"Reno!" She sprang to her feet, "Caleb Driscoll trained you?"

"Y--yes... I just said that..."

"Caleb Driscoll? As in the guy that got whacked doing the Francesco Cartellini job?"

"Yeah!" Reno looked at Tifa strangely, "Did you know about him?"

"H--he... he trained me!"

"What?"

"Caleb! Caleb Driscoll!" Tifa cried, her hands shuddering, "Oh, wow! This is... unbelievable."

"It's gotta be a mistake..." Reno shook his head.

"It's not!" she insisted, "Reno!" she laughed, "This is so crazy!"

"You're telling me!"

"Wow, it really is a small world, huh?"

"Apparently..." he frowned. "Are you sure...?"

"God damn it, Reno!" Tifa slapped her hands down on his shoulders, "Are you ever gonna trust me?"

"I trust you... I guess I just... c--cant believe it."

"Reno. Look at me."

He looked into her eyes. "Yes."

"Do you really want to do this?" she asked.

"What? Stop?"

"Yes."

"Let me finish what I was saying before..."

"Okay."

"Caleb, as you know apparently, wanted someone to carry on his legacy." Reno said, "I thought it would be me, but then I got to thinking. Who would carry on my legacy, you know?"

"Uh-huh."

"And that's when I realized. I don't have anything, Tifa." Reno looked around him, "I don't have anyone with me. I don't have anyone to miss me when I'm gone. I don't have anyone to carry on my name in this world after I leave it."

"Yeah." Tifa looked down sadly, "I've thought that before."

He lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes again. "I don't want to die alone, Tifa."

"Me neither." she whispered.

"So..." he grinned, "Whaddya think?"

"You wanna know what I think?" she smiled.

"Yes."

Tifa kissed him on his lips gently.

"So does that mean...?" he looked to her for an answer.

"It means that I'm done, too, if you are." Tifa said.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure!"

"Think you could live with me?" Reno asked, making a face, "I can be kind of a pain in the ass."

"Well," Tifa shrugged, "I could always kill you if it got too much for me to handle."

"Hey!" he pinched her arm.

They shared a laugh before Reno spoke again.

"So, uh, does this mean that I came out on top?"

"On top of what?" She looked at him curiously.

"On top of the game? Best mercenary alive?"

"Oh, please..." she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay." he sighed, "You were better than me! I admit it!"

"Nah..." Tifa confessed, "You were the better man."

The couple stood in a silent embrace for a moment before Tifa announced that she would be taking a shower. Reno told her he'd be in the kitchen whipping up a breakfast, the first breakfast he'd be sharing with company.

But as she walked to the bathroom, Tifa chuckled to herself. "'The better man'..." she muttered, "What a sucker."

Reno, who had entered the kitchen and begun making breakfast, shook his head and thought to himself 'You were better than me!' Hah! Tifa, you sucker.

END

A/N: Okay, so sorry if the end was short and cheesy and sucked... my creative juices were running low.

But I had fun writing it so I hope you had fun reading it and thank you all for sticking with it :D