A/N:
Just to annoy the hell out of some people, I do not and never will own Final Fantasy. I do in fact, own two characters in this story...ah, you'll figure it out. And I want to continue thanking InterfaceLeader and TifaG for reviews and Unigirl for...ah...moral support! Yeah, that's it, moral support! (Even though she doesn't even do that ^_^)
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Tifa Lockhart thought quietly with her elbow on the bar counter top. She wondered when Cloud would be back. It was about the fifteenth time that he had come back VERY late from the training center. It was already a day after he had left. She often wondered what he was doing during these times. Who was he with? And if he WAS with anybody, why? Ever since Meteor, he hadn't really said anything. He would nod his head in thanks or greeting, but would never say hello. She wondered if he loved her. She was positive that he knew of her feelings, but she had no idea of his.
She sighed and got up slowly, as if it hurt to move.
"Yo, Tif, you okay?" asked Barret gruffly. He had just finished helping fix up a few problems that Meteor had caused, and was tromping into the bar.
Just those words seemed to trigger something. Tifa suddenly blurted out,"Where do you think Cloud's gone? Is he okay? Why hasn't he come back yet? I NEED TO KNOW!!!!!!" she sat down again slowly, her face bright red. "Sorry..." she mumbled. Barret just smiled.
"Tha's bin all caught up in yo head fo' a while, hah? Don't worry. Spike prob'y jus' thinkin', ya know? We all gotta do it sometime. You seem to have bin doin' that a lot nowadays."
Tifa put her head on her arms. "I HATE not knowing things. I just want to know if he...if he really...nevermind." She stood calmly and went into the storage room to get some beer out. Barret just shook his head and walked out of the bar to get some air. He really thought that Tifa needed a vacation, or at least some sort of response from Cloud other than just a nod or a shake. He had several things he wanted to say to his spikey-headed comrad anyway.
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Cloud himself was still training. He never felt the ache in his body as he pushed each muscle over its limits. He never noticed the crowd of gaping people that stood around him and watch him completely destroy punching bag after punching bag, a new one being replaced carefully to avoid his sill moving fists. He felt nothing, no emotion at all. All he felt was anger.
He remembered Sephiroth. He remembered Aeris, smiling to her death. He remembered Jenova, the cause of Sephiroth's insanity. He remembered the blood that he cleaned off of his gleaming sword, as he slowly walked away from its dead owner. All he had now was Tifa. And it was she that he would continue to fight for.
But a small part of his subconcious mind seemed to be struggling against his training. Why is he doing this? He was fit enough! And what he really owed Tifa was affection and attention, not protection! And what about all of his friends? His comrads-in-arms? If he truly wanted to protect any of them, he should tell them now, not avoid them as he trained for hours. Or was it days? He had forgotten.
The part of Cloud that was making his body ache from training was slowly pushing those thoughts away. He would not tell any of them until he was ready.
But as days wore on, he began to truly wonder if any of them actually meant anything to him. Had they done anything? Have they tried to talk to him? No! He was not training for *them*, he was training for power! He would become the next Sephiroth! Cold and ruthless! The ultimate warrior!
Still, the small subconciousness reminded him of Tifa. It reminded him of his friends now, and that there was nothing he could do for his torn and shattered past, but his future will be the same if he continued like this. But he did not care. He continued on punching and kicking, mutilating the punching bag.
"Uh...um, sir?" said a meek voice, quickly bringing him back to his senses. "Sir, that's our last bag. And um, well, the total damage is four hundred fifty thousand gil...Butweunderstandifyoudontwanttopaydonthurtme!" the small teenager put his hands in front of his face to provide as much protection as they could.
Cloud shook his head as if coming out of a trance. "Oh, uh...no, I'll pay. Um, here." He payed the kid and quickly left the gym, amazed at what he had done.
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Tifa cried for joy when Cloud came back.
"Cloud! Where were you? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Oh, your muscles are so knotted! Here, let me get you something for them!" she was trying to go twenty places at once, her skin the only thing keeping her from doing so.
"Whoa! Tif, chill. Spike here's fine! You go get yoself some well deserved rest, ya know?" Barret boomed.
"But! I gotta help Cloud! He's gotta be tired and hungry and hurting and...and.."
Cloud was suddenly painfully aware of his aching body. He walked slowly to a bar stool. His stomach also reminded him of his hunger, but was too tired to eat or speak. 'Tifa knows me too well.' he thought. He wanted to say several things at once, but his jaw had been clenched so tightly as he trained he found he could not move it. 'So, this is what I get for being a jackass.' and he fell asleep right there on the spot. Once again failing to see the small figure that had followed him home.
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It was officially the next day when Reno got up to go to work. He somehow managed to pack during an enormous hangover, but he failed to remember the chocobo's number.
"Damn..." he said pathetically as he walked taking small, and very stiff, steps to his car. He'd just have to pay Rufus, and Rufus's hot secretary, another visit.
It was about nine thirty by the time Reno got to his office and dropped off his luggage by his cluttered desk and sat. He was waiting for his day to start by Elena's weak insults. but none came. He glanced over at Elena, seeing her typing like mad.
"Oh? Working hard, are we? Who'da thought you had that kind of...oh, what's that word?...*motivation* in you?"
"Shut up, Reno! I'm busy!" Elena's eyes glued to her screen. Reno could have sworn he saw some hair stick up from her head in stress.
Reno gave Rude the "what's-up-with-her?" look. "Rufus suddenly gave her a lot of paperwork. She wants to show him that she has potential. The best part is, he wants all of that-" he nodded to the largest pile of paper Reno had ever seen,"-by Friday. And in case you didn't know already, it's Tuesday."
Reno, being who he was, sauntered over to Elena and look at what she was typing. "Ooh-hoo...what have we got here? Updating profiles? Not taking out bad guys? No adrenaline-pumping action-packed mission?"
"Shut the hell up, Reno! I'm stressed enough already, I don't need you butting into my work!"
"Why, Elena. You offend me. And I thought we had a strong relationship going?"
"SHUT UP!" she suddenly stood up, banging her fists onto the table in anger. "IF YOU FOR ONE, @#$%&*! SECOND, COULD JUST SHUT THE HELL UP MAYBE I WOULDN'T BE SO PISSED OFF AT YOU!" her face was bright red, her palms practically bleeding from her fingernails that were being pushed into her flesh. She was on the brink of tears, shuddering from anger. Reno took one step back.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
"OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW! YOU NEVER KNOW! IT'S NEVER YOUR FAULT!" she shouted accusingly, then quickly ran crying to the washroom in the back of the office.
"Whoa..." Reno didn't speak again until noon.
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Reno looked up at the clock. It read 12:30.
'Time to go.'
"Well, my adoring fans, I must leave you now, but I'll be back for autographs on the first." he blew them a kiss, picked up his bag, and left the office, glad to be away from Elena.
He quickly ran up to Rufus's office and got the number of his chocobo (it took a lot more than he had expected it to) and ran to the stables. He harnessed up his gold chocobo, which the hostler had fondly dubbed GoldenTail, and ran off to the small island with the mysterious package.
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It had to be two hours of land travel and four on the sea, not to mention several stops for rest for the chocobo, who had been running so far so fast that its sides were heaving. But finally, Reno got to the island. It was large, about two leagues in diameter, with a huge volcano in the center. He waited near the large lake that Rufus had previously mentioned, and waited.
It was only about fifteen minutes until he heard a sound swift feet running towards him. He kept a hand on his gun as the noise became louder. Soon something broke through the forest heading quickly towards the lake. It stopped, showing itself to be a man, about as tall as Reno's nose and rippling muscles. He had curly brown har, cobalt blue eyes and a short sinewy neck. He wore loose army print pants and a black tank top with worn-down boots and claws on his gloves. All in all, Reno didn't find him in the least bit intimidating, as he knew the clothing was implying.
"Are you Reno?" he said, his voice surprisingly small and wavering.
"Yeah. You are?"
"Roger Clammings." he seemed to straighten up a little. "I'm sure you've heard of the Clammings? War heroes from a while back?"
Reno put a hand on his cheek in mock surprise. "The Clammings? You don't say. Never heard of 'em. Anyway, I've got the box."
Roger widened his eyes. "You mean, they sent *you* to help a war hero like *me*, as if I needed any, with item 6025926?"
Reno imitated him, widening his aqua eyes. "Yeah, the sent *me* to help *you*. Rufus told me you couldn't handle the job yourself."
Roger clenched his clawed fists in anger. "Why you! Shut up! I'll show you the true strength of a Clammings!"
"Not that much of a war hero's name, huh? Maybe you should change it to G.I. Joe."
With that, Roger charged. Reno instinctively duck and brought his fist up and under. Roger doubled up in pain. After that, Reno's subconcious took over. While Roger was still recoiling, he straightened and brought his knee up to meet Roger's stomach and his hand to meet his back, catching him in a scissor-like attack. Reno backed off, letting Roger fall over. He came up, slashing the air wildly with his taloned gloves. Each throw was blocked by a hand that came in contact with Roger's wrists, making him stop attacking briefly before another set of wild punches came at him again.
Reno continued to block each punch, as he waited for an opening. It wasn't hard to find. He ducked two of the wild blows and elbowed Roger's left flank just below the ribs. Winded, Roger drew back, and then Reno made his move. He got behind him and chopped down on the back of his opponent's neck, knocking him out.
The fight being over, Reno dragged Roger over to the cover of the forest. He would have killed him right then and there, but then he wouldn't have known where go or what to do with item 6025...whatever. And of course, it started raining.
'Oh, my favorite. I just *love* rain. I just hope that Elena's having as bad of a day as I am.'
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A/N:
Hardy har har harr! I did it by Friday! Yay! More coming once my writer's block gone! P.S. Reno's the best!!! ^_^
Just to annoy the hell out of some people, I do not and never will own Final Fantasy. I do in fact, own two characters in this story...ah, you'll figure it out. And I want to continue thanking InterfaceLeader and TifaG for reviews and Unigirl for...ah...moral support! Yeah, that's it, moral support! (Even though she doesn't even do that ^_^)
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Tifa Lockhart thought quietly with her elbow on the bar counter top. She wondered when Cloud would be back. It was about the fifteenth time that he had come back VERY late from the training center. It was already a day after he had left. She often wondered what he was doing during these times. Who was he with? And if he WAS with anybody, why? Ever since Meteor, he hadn't really said anything. He would nod his head in thanks or greeting, but would never say hello. She wondered if he loved her. She was positive that he knew of her feelings, but she had no idea of his.
She sighed and got up slowly, as if it hurt to move.
"Yo, Tif, you okay?" asked Barret gruffly. He had just finished helping fix up a few problems that Meteor had caused, and was tromping into the bar.
Just those words seemed to trigger something. Tifa suddenly blurted out,"Where do you think Cloud's gone? Is he okay? Why hasn't he come back yet? I NEED TO KNOW!!!!!!" she sat down again slowly, her face bright red. "Sorry..." she mumbled. Barret just smiled.
"Tha's bin all caught up in yo head fo' a while, hah? Don't worry. Spike prob'y jus' thinkin', ya know? We all gotta do it sometime. You seem to have bin doin' that a lot nowadays."
Tifa put her head on her arms. "I HATE not knowing things. I just want to know if he...if he really...nevermind." She stood calmly and went into the storage room to get some beer out. Barret just shook his head and walked out of the bar to get some air. He really thought that Tifa needed a vacation, or at least some sort of response from Cloud other than just a nod or a shake. He had several things he wanted to say to his spikey-headed comrad anyway.
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Cloud himself was still training. He never felt the ache in his body as he pushed each muscle over its limits. He never noticed the crowd of gaping people that stood around him and watch him completely destroy punching bag after punching bag, a new one being replaced carefully to avoid his sill moving fists. He felt nothing, no emotion at all. All he felt was anger.
He remembered Sephiroth. He remembered Aeris, smiling to her death. He remembered Jenova, the cause of Sephiroth's insanity. He remembered the blood that he cleaned off of his gleaming sword, as he slowly walked away from its dead owner. All he had now was Tifa. And it was she that he would continue to fight for.
But a small part of his subconcious mind seemed to be struggling against his training. Why is he doing this? He was fit enough! And what he really owed Tifa was affection and attention, not protection! And what about all of his friends? His comrads-in-arms? If he truly wanted to protect any of them, he should tell them now, not avoid them as he trained for hours. Or was it days? He had forgotten.
The part of Cloud that was making his body ache from training was slowly pushing those thoughts away. He would not tell any of them until he was ready.
But as days wore on, he began to truly wonder if any of them actually meant anything to him. Had they done anything? Have they tried to talk to him? No! He was not training for *them*, he was training for power! He would become the next Sephiroth! Cold and ruthless! The ultimate warrior!
Still, the small subconciousness reminded him of Tifa. It reminded him of his friends now, and that there was nothing he could do for his torn and shattered past, but his future will be the same if he continued like this. But he did not care. He continued on punching and kicking, mutilating the punching bag.
"Uh...um, sir?" said a meek voice, quickly bringing him back to his senses. "Sir, that's our last bag. And um, well, the total damage is four hundred fifty thousand gil...Butweunderstandifyoudontwanttopaydonthurtme!" the small teenager put his hands in front of his face to provide as much protection as they could.
Cloud shook his head as if coming out of a trance. "Oh, uh...no, I'll pay. Um, here." He payed the kid and quickly left the gym, amazed at what he had done.
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Tifa cried for joy when Cloud came back.
"Cloud! Where were you? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Oh, your muscles are so knotted! Here, let me get you something for them!" she was trying to go twenty places at once, her skin the only thing keeping her from doing so.
"Whoa! Tif, chill. Spike here's fine! You go get yoself some well deserved rest, ya know?" Barret boomed.
"But! I gotta help Cloud! He's gotta be tired and hungry and hurting and...and.."
Cloud was suddenly painfully aware of his aching body. He walked slowly to a bar stool. His stomach also reminded him of his hunger, but was too tired to eat or speak. 'Tifa knows me too well.' he thought. He wanted to say several things at once, but his jaw had been clenched so tightly as he trained he found he could not move it. 'So, this is what I get for being a jackass.' and he fell asleep right there on the spot. Once again failing to see the small figure that had followed him home.
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It was officially the next day when Reno got up to go to work. He somehow managed to pack during an enormous hangover, but he failed to remember the chocobo's number.
"Damn..." he said pathetically as he walked taking small, and very stiff, steps to his car. He'd just have to pay Rufus, and Rufus's hot secretary, another visit.
It was about nine thirty by the time Reno got to his office and dropped off his luggage by his cluttered desk and sat. He was waiting for his day to start by Elena's weak insults. but none came. He glanced over at Elena, seeing her typing like mad.
"Oh? Working hard, are we? Who'da thought you had that kind of...oh, what's that word?...*motivation* in you?"
"Shut up, Reno! I'm busy!" Elena's eyes glued to her screen. Reno could have sworn he saw some hair stick up from her head in stress.
Reno gave Rude the "what's-up-with-her?" look. "Rufus suddenly gave her a lot of paperwork. She wants to show him that she has potential. The best part is, he wants all of that-" he nodded to the largest pile of paper Reno had ever seen,"-by Friday. And in case you didn't know already, it's Tuesday."
Reno, being who he was, sauntered over to Elena and look at what she was typing. "Ooh-hoo...what have we got here? Updating profiles? Not taking out bad guys? No adrenaline-pumping action-packed mission?"
"Shut the hell up, Reno! I'm stressed enough already, I don't need you butting into my work!"
"Why, Elena. You offend me. And I thought we had a strong relationship going?"
"SHUT UP!" she suddenly stood up, banging her fists onto the table in anger. "IF YOU FOR ONE, @#$%&*! SECOND, COULD JUST SHUT THE HELL UP MAYBE I WOULDN'T BE SO PISSED OFF AT YOU!" her face was bright red, her palms practically bleeding from her fingernails that were being pushed into her flesh. She was on the brink of tears, shuddering from anger. Reno took one step back.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
"OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW! YOU NEVER KNOW! IT'S NEVER YOUR FAULT!" she shouted accusingly, then quickly ran crying to the washroom in the back of the office.
"Whoa..." Reno didn't speak again until noon.
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Reno looked up at the clock. It read 12:30.
'Time to go.'
"Well, my adoring fans, I must leave you now, but I'll be back for autographs on the first." he blew them a kiss, picked up his bag, and left the office, glad to be away from Elena.
He quickly ran up to Rufus's office and got the number of his chocobo (it took a lot more than he had expected it to) and ran to the stables. He harnessed up his gold chocobo, which the hostler had fondly dubbed GoldenTail, and ran off to the small island with the mysterious package.
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It had to be two hours of land travel and four on the sea, not to mention several stops for rest for the chocobo, who had been running so far so fast that its sides were heaving. But finally, Reno got to the island. It was large, about two leagues in diameter, with a huge volcano in the center. He waited near the large lake that Rufus had previously mentioned, and waited.
It was only about fifteen minutes until he heard a sound swift feet running towards him. He kept a hand on his gun as the noise became louder. Soon something broke through the forest heading quickly towards the lake. It stopped, showing itself to be a man, about as tall as Reno's nose and rippling muscles. He had curly brown har, cobalt blue eyes and a short sinewy neck. He wore loose army print pants and a black tank top with worn-down boots and claws on his gloves. All in all, Reno didn't find him in the least bit intimidating, as he knew the clothing was implying.
"Are you Reno?" he said, his voice surprisingly small and wavering.
"Yeah. You are?"
"Roger Clammings." he seemed to straighten up a little. "I'm sure you've heard of the Clammings? War heroes from a while back?"
Reno put a hand on his cheek in mock surprise. "The Clammings? You don't say. Never heard of 'em. Anyway, I've got the box."
Roger widened his eyes. "You mean, they sent *you* to help a war hero like *me*, as if I needed any, with item 6025926?"
Reno imitated him, widening his aqua eyes. "Yeah, the sent *me* to help *you*. Rufus told me you couldn't handle the job yourself."
Roger clenched his clawed fists in anger. "Why you! Shut up! I'll show you the true strength of a Clammings!"
"Not that much of a war hero's name, huh? Maybe you should change it to G.I. Joe."
With that, Roger charged. Reno instinctively duck and brought his fist up and under. Roger doubled up in pain. After that, Reno's subconcious took over. While Roger was still recoiling, he straightened and brought his knee up to meet Roger's stomach and his hand to meet his back, catching him in a scissor-like attack. Reno backed off, letting Roger fall over. He came up, slashing the air wildly with his taloned gloves. Each throw was blocked by a hand that came in contact with Roger's wrists, making him stop attacking briefly before another set of wild punches came at him again.
Reno continued to block each punch, as he waited for an opening. It wasn't hard to find. He ducked two of the wild blows and elbowed Roger's left flank just below the ribs. Winded, Roger drew back, and then Reno made his move. He got behind him and chopped down on the back of his opponent's neck, knocking him out.
The fight being over, Reno dragged Roger over to the cover of the forest. He would have killed him right then and there, but then he wouldn't have known where go or what to do with item 6025...whatever. And of course, it started raining.
'Oh, my favorite. I just *love* rain. I just hope that Elena's having as bad of a day as I am.'
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A/N:
Hardy har har harr! I did it by Friday! Yay! More coming once my writer's block gone! P.S. Reno's the best!!! ^_^