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CHAPTER THIRTY – BRAND NEW DAY

'How many of you people out there … Been hurt in some kind of love affair? … And how many times did you swear … That you'd never love again? … How many lonely, sleepless nights? … How many lies, how many fights? … And why would you want to … Put yourself through all of that again? … Love is pain I hear you say … Love has a cruel and bitter way of … Paying you back for all the faith you ever had in your brain … How could it be that what you need the most … Can leave you feeling just like a ghost? … You never want to feel so sad and lost again … It could happen to you, … Just like it happened to me, … There is simply no immunity … There's no guarantee. … I say love is such a force if you should find yourself in it … You need some time for reflection … You say, baby wait a minute, wait a minute … I'm the present to your future … You're the wound and I'm the suture … You're the magnet to my pole … I'm the devil in your soul … You're the pupil I'm the teacher … You're the church and I'm the preacher … You're the flower I'm the rain … You're the tunnel I'm the train … (Sting: 'Brand New Day' heavily edited for length!)'

Morning. Inn. Costa del Sol.

Reno was sitting in the bed, his back resting on the pillows propped against the headboard. One knee was bent in what he considered to be his customary pose when he was relaxing in bed, something he hadn't had the luxury of doing in a long time. One wrist was draped over his bent knee; the other, that would have normally held a cigarette, lightly rested on the sleeping beauty lying next to him. He'd been awake for hours, studying her and thinking about the past. Thinking about what their daughter might look like. Thinking how damned lucky he was to finally have her back.

A shaft of sunlight from the open window glinted off the Mythril band on his finger. He tipped his head back and looked up at the ceiling. Holy, he couldn't believe he'd done it. He couldn't believe he'd done it and been totally sober at the time.

The gentle breeze brushed against her bare skin, awakening her. She was momentarily disoriented as she felt the cool breeze from the open window against her skin and the warmth of a hand resting in her hair. She rolled over, disturbing the hand that moved seemingly of its own accord out of the way, only to find him staring at the ceiling.

"Morning." She greeted sleepily.

He'd been aware of her moving and moved his head to look at her. "Morning, sunshine." He responded using the greeting he'd used during their first trip to Costa del Sol five years prior.

"You're not a dream, are you?" She asked him, trying to regain her mental bearings. It felt very strange to wake up next to him again.

"No, most consider me their worst nightmare." He grinned at her, sliding down to lay next to her, but feeling almost strange to be bantering with and welcoming the company of a woman still in bed with him in the morning.

"Not mine. At least not anymore." She responded, brushing a lock of red hair out of his face, struck by his words.

The suffering visage of Vincent Valentine snuck into her thoughts, and she wondered what had happened to him. No one claimed to have heard anything from him since he disappeared after Meteor. She hoped he was all right. Though she doubted it, she hoped he'd one day find the absolution he so desperately deserved.

The glint of sunlight off the stone set into the band on her finger brought her back to the man with her. She gazed at the ring, asking him softly, "We really did, didn't we?"

He cupped her face in his hands and she could feel the cool metal on his finger against her warm cheek. "Yes, Mrs. Reno, we did."

'Tifa Reno.' She let the name sift through her mind, trying to get used to it as she kissed him.

Kissing her, holding her… it was such bliss. He could easily spend the whole day wrapped up in her, making sweet love to her, but reality was that everyone thought they were still enemies, and Reeve's plans for the day included leaving for Junon. He expected a search party at any moment, and didn't want to start something he was certain he wouldn't be able to finish.

"Not that I don't want to spend the whole day with you here, but we'd better get moving," He told her, reluctantly breaking away from her sweet kiss. "Before they think I murdered you and come look-"

The knock sounded on the door before he could finish his sentence.

"Too late." Tifa told him, laughing softly. "Jessie?"

"No one else would have the courage to come to the room of the Turk." Reno grinned as he got up to open the door, still clad in only black silk boxers. "They all fear me!"

"You talk to your sister. I'm going to take a shower." She told him, getting up and heading towards the bathroom.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him before she could get far. "Oh, no, you don't. We do this together."

He was terrified of facing his sister, and wanted his bride right there with him as they told her. Jessie was going to be both ecstatic and hurt that they hadn't told her, but he was fairly certain that another ceremony- one more public- would smooth any ruffled feathers of Jessie's or anyone else. He groaned inwardly as he realized Rude was never going to let him live this one down… eloping in Costa del Sol with his "enemy" was up there as the craziest thing he'd ever done. And the best thing.

On the plus side, he could get a lot of mileage torturing Strife with it. Unless the spiky-haired Soldier wash out decided to come after him with that huge sword of his. Reno grinned. Metal was a great conductor of electricity. That could be amusing.

Tifa wrapped a robe around her body as Reno went to open the door, watching him move across the room. He moved with a grace that she could only imagine came from the need for stealth in his former line of work. Although she didn't care to admit it to him, Tifa knew he was a formidable fighter in battle, both in physical battles and verbal spats.

He opened the door to find, as suspected, his sister standing there with a worried expression on her face.

"Have you seen Tifa? She didn't come back to the Villa last night." Jessie spoke quickly, trying to look into the room, but her brother's body was blocking her view. "We're all really worried about her."

"I wouldn't worry. She can take care of herself."

"Nathan!" Jessie quickly grew exasperated with him, having no time for his games this morning. "The last time I saw you was when I pushed you out of the bar. Did you find her?"

"She's right here." Reno smirked as he opened the door wider to let his sister in, deciding from the tone of his little sister's voice that he shouldn't mess with her about Tifa's whereabouts anymore.

Tifa had noticed how Nathan had kept his hand on the door as he'd spoken to his sister. Whether that had been a natural move or an attempt to hide the silver-toned band on his finger, she didn't know, but in a move of shyness as the door was opened further, she pulled her hands behind her back as the robe was conveniently lacking any pockets.

"Tifa!" Jessie gushed. "I was so worried about you when you didn't come back to the Villa. I was up all night. I know I should've come looking for you sooner, but-" She glanced at her brother who stood at the door, a bemused expression on his face as his sister went on and on. "What's that look for?" She asked, noting his expression.

"I wasn't going to kill her, little sister." Reno moved back towards the women in his room and stood behind the one that had driven him crazy for the past year.

"I didn't think you would, Nathan." Jessie told him, shooting him a look that asked him if he thought she distrusted her own twin. "I was worried about the other weirdos out there."

"Are you saying I'm a weirdo?" Reno shot Jessie a mock hurt look as he took Tifa's hands in his own behind her back and brought them around to the front of her body.

"Oh, I give up!" Jessie rolled her eyes at her brother, thinking there was something really different about him this morning, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Sure, Tifa was standing in his room wearing a robe the morning after she'd confessed to him that they'd had a daughter a few years back, but there was something else. Something that she hadn't seen in years- the mischievous sparkle was back in his eye. That usually spelled trouble.

Reno shrugged, moving his and Tifa's arms so that the rings on their fingers would be very obvious if his sister looked. He couldn't resist messing with her. "If you give up, then we won't tell you."

"I'm not dumb, Nathan." Jessie went on, oblivious to the metal that her brother was trying to bring to her attention. "Obviously, you've managed to make up and I hope that the two of you have finally told each other how you feel and will give up the ridiculous game of cat and mouse you've been playing."

"Um, yeah." Tifa smiled softly, unable to contain it anymore. "Nathan and I got married last night."

Jessie's mouth dropped open in shock as she finally noticed what her brother had been trying to show her while she'd been rambling. Reno had never heard his sister utter that sound, but Jessie literally squealed in delight as she grabbed their entwined hands and looked at the rings.

"This isn't a joke? You two really did?" Jessie looked at them, looking for a sign that they were playing a major trick on her.

Reno shook his head. "No tricks, Jess. It's the real thing." He pointed to the long dresser in the room of the inn, moving Tifa's arm with his as he did so, unwilling to let go of her for even a moment. "The marriage license is over there."

Jessie wrapped her arms around both of them in a hug. "Finally! I was only hoping you'd admit that you loved one another, but this is wonderful!

"We didn't intend to get married, but the chapel was there and it just felt like the right thing to do." Tifa explained to her new sister-in-law.

"You have to tell me all about it!" Jessie's eyes gleamed in excitement. She was slightly hurt that they hadn't told her beforehand, but since it wasn't pre-meditated, she'd forgive them.

"You two have a nice girl talk," Reno told them, kissing Tifa on the cheek before walking towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."

Tifa watched him disappear into the bathroom, vowing to get him back later for bowing out on her when he hadn't let her do the same earlier. She hoped he enjoyed it.