Jade, Wine, and Turk training
By Kimetara
Multi-part
Disclaimer: I'm not the creator of FFVII, so don't sue. You'll only get...um...a Sea World map, 7 cents, and some lint anyway.
Chapter 3: Sincerity? What's that?
Tifa woke up at 6 am to the sun shining in her window. "Mmmm..." She yawned, then got out of bed and started brushing her hair out. The silky strands parted easily for the comb.
*I better go check on Reno...make sure he didn't try anything last night.* Her brushing done swiftly from the exceptional condition of her hair, Tifa quietly opened the door to her bedroom and padded softly down the tile hallway, her long, wide sleeved pajamas swishing faintly.
Carefully, she opened the door to the first of her two guest bedrooms, a long chocolate waterfall flowing over her arm. What she saw made a small smile appear on her face.
Reno was sprawled out on the bed, his long lanky legs taking up most of the room. One leg was dangerously close to falling off. He lay on his side, his arms spread in front of him; it looked as if he'd fallen asleep the moment he hit the bed.
Shaking her head, Tifa silently walked in. She hesitated for a second, then gently removed Reno's sunglasses, being careful not to wake him up. Placing the accessory on the small dresser next to the bed, the brunette left the room.
Reno cracked an eye open. *What the heck was that all about...? Oh well.* Reno closed his eye and went back to enjoying the feeling of a soft bed.
Humming gently, Tifa walked down the stairs to make breakfast.
An hour later, a disheveled redhead stumbled into the kitchen, the scent of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and sausage links luring him from the comfortable bed.
"Morning Reno!" Tifa greeted him cheerfully.
*Well she's obviously a morning person...*
"Bed alright?"
"Yeah, thanks," Reno managed to get out without drooling. "So, uh, what's for breakfast?"
Tifa giggled. "Oh c'mon, it's not like you can't smell it. I'm almost done, okay? Why don't you wait in the living room? I'll bring the food out in a second." She made a shooing motion. Tifa liked having the kitchen to herself while she was cooking.
Reno grinned. "Alright babe, I'm going." He strode out of the kitchen and onto a sofa.
A few minutes later, Tifa appeared, a tray balanced in her hands. Carefully, she placed Reno's plate down in front of him, complete with 10 pancakes, 5 sausage links, and a side of scrambled eggs. Next she set down a platter with a fork, spoon, butter knife, syrup, margarine, salt and pepper. Finally, a mug of steaming hot coffee was placed on the table. "There." Tifa smiled happily, surveying her work. *Looks like I still got my old touch from the bar.* " Is there anything else you need?"
Reno had already started wolfing the food down. "Guess not." Tifa sat on the couch next to his, pulling her legs up alongside her body, her cream colored pajamas making a striking contrast to the crimson cushions.
Around the 7th pancake, Reno started slowing down a bit. "Ahhh," he leaned back, satisfied. "I haven't had a meal like that since..."
"Since Shinra was destroyed?"
"Yeah." The room was silent. Then Reno abruptly turned, pinning Tifa with a hard stare. "Why are you doing this?"
Tifa merely gazed back at Reno. At one time, his cold eyes would have intimidated her...but that was at one time. "Doing what?"
"This." Reno gestured toward the house and the almost empty plate of food. "Taking me in. Giving me food. Treating me as if I didn't try to kill you multiple times."
"..."
"Well?" Reno snapped. "Just yesterday, when you first ran into me, you were ready to kick my ass. Now, you're feeding me pancakes, as if I were at your old bar, which I destroyed in the first place. What are you trying to pull?"
Tifa didn't answer, she just kept her gaze level.
"...you better not be counting on me paying for breakfast." Reno stood up, breaking eye contact. He turned away from her, his shoulders stiff.
"I'm not."
"..."
Tifa no longer held his killings against him. How could she, when her hands had destroyed just as many?
"I know what you all think of me," Reno spoke suddenly. "You're thinking, 'oh, poor Reno, once the great and powerful Turk and now reduced to nothing." He turned, and his eyes flashed, "but you know what? I don't want your pity and I don't need it. So you'd better stop giving it to me."
"I'm not," Tifa answered again.
"Then why."
The brunette bit her lower lip thoughtfully, her gaze directed toward the ceiling. "Well..."
"..." Reno simply gave her an expectant look.
"Because...I think we have a lot in common." Her deep wine eyes locked with jade green. "I'm not being nice because you have problems," she continued slowly. "I'm being nice because I understand them. I know what it's like, to have nothing. To be alone. And...although I love this house, it's a pretty big one...kind of intensifies the loneliness."
"I wasn't planning on having you spend the night. Or making you breakfast," she continued, her tone losing its softness and gaining a more professional edge. "But it was so late, I couldn't just kick you out in the middle of the night to walk back to Midgar. Trust me though," she got up, picked up Reno's plate and started toward the kitchen, "I feel no compulsion to take you in like a little lost puppy dog."
Reno ignored that last comment, and followed her to the sink, where she started washing the plate. "Alone, huh? Whatever happened to Strife anyway?"
He'd expected Tifa to turn away, or burst into tears. Instead, she looked at him quietly. "I left."
"I see." Reno crossed his arms and leaned back, his expression lofty. "Finally realized he wasn't going to let go of that Ancient, did you? Took ya long enough."
Tifa stiffened. "Shut up."
Reno raised an eyebrow. "What, it's the truth. Even I noticed it, and I didn't spend my entire day hanging around him."
For a second, Reno was afraid he'd gone too far. Her whole body tensed, her eyes narrowed, and her mouth thinned. Then suddenly, she took a deep breath and her entire body relaxed.
"Yeah, well...it's not as if you've ever loved somebody." Tifa shrugged. "When you do...common sense tends to take a vacation."
It was Reno's turn to shrug. "If you say so. Hey, aren't you going to eat anything?"
"I don't really feel like eating right now." Tifa finished drying the plate and put it away. She moved to leave the kitchen, only to find Reno's lean body blocking the doorway.
"Do you enjoy doing that? Standing in front of me?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"If it aggravates you, heck yeah," Reno grinned. "Come on Tifa, you know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I can't just let you skip it, after all you've done for me. Here," the Turk snapped his fingers, "tell ya what. You just sit back, and I'll cook for you." He grabbed her shoulders and started pushing her in front of him.
Tifa raised an eyebrow. *Reno? Cook? That may have disastrous results...*
Too late. Reno had already forced her down into a seat.
Tifa watched, amused, as Reno rushed about the kitchen. She had to admit, his cooking skills weren't bad. *Guess living on your own does that. Hmm...maybe he is decent. Elena's nice enough...*
"Ta da!" Reno announced with a flourish, placing in front of Tifa a perfect omelette.
Tifa bit into the omelette cautiously. It was pretty good.
"And what would the lovely lady like for a drink?" Reno bowed. "Coffee? Milk? Orange juice?"
"Juice...please..." Tifa blinked. It was getting hard to speak for some reason...and why was the room blurry?
*Drugged...*
Reno watched as the young woman's head fell back limply against the chair. For a moment, he felt something akin to regret, but he quickly shrugged it off. Carefully lifting her up by placing one arm under her knees and the other across her back, Reno walked out the door and into the open plains.
AN: Plot twist! ^_^ So, did Reno play Tifa like a violin, or was there some sincerity in his words? You'll have to find out... ^_~ R&R!