Jade, Wine, and Turk training
By Kimetara
Multi-part
Disclaimer: See previous.
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*****
~~~~~ = time break
Chapter 18: Now, and two months later
Tifa hurried to catch up with the redhead, who seemed to be stomping away rather angrily. "Reno?"
"..." Reno didn't turn to look back at her.
*Maybe I was too harsh...* Tifa bit her lip. "Reno!" She was right behind the Turk, debating whether she should reach out to tap him on the shoulder or not. She decided against it. "Reno, hold on a second, okay? Please?"
He stopped, still facing away from her. Tifa approached him cautiously from behind. "...are you mad at me?" she asked quietly.
"..."
"You are?" Tifa asked worriedly. Despite their previous encounters, Tifa had grown to consider Reno a friend – not a good one, of course, that was just plain stupid. But a friend.
And Tifa hated it when her friends were angry with her. "Reno, are you mad at me?" she asked again, this time a confused and slightly pleading note laced through her voice.
Reno finally sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "...no," he admitted.
Tifa, relieved, hugged the Turk from behind. Reno closed his eyes, trying to ignore the feelings her warm body against his created.
"That's good," she spoke, releasing his torso. "Um...do you want your jacket back?" Tifa moved to take it off.
Reno turned around. "...yeah, sure. That is," he quickly added on, trying to regain his usual demeanor, "if you don't want it as a keepsake." He grinned.
"Okay then." Tifa left it on, that teasing light back in her eyes.
Reno blinked. Tifa laughed at the surprised expression on his face. "Well, Reno? Shall we go?" she inquired innocently, then went around him and walked briskly back to her trailer.
Reno, for the second time that week, found himself staring after the brunette. He didn't stop until she closed the door.
~~~~~
"Captain!" Shera's voice echoed through the house. "We've got mail!" Shera waited for a moment. "CID!"
"I'm COMING!" *Goddamned woman with the goddamn mail, what @#!%$ would be sending us mail anyway? That's what the @#!#$% internet's for...* "What's in the stupid mail that's so important, huh?!" he yelled the moment he strode into the kitchen, pissed at being called away from the Tiny Bronco.
Shera smiled, used to Cid's roughness. "Look! It's the wedding invitation!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
Cid stared at her, his jaw dropped. "What the... YOU INTERRUPTED ME FOR A GODDAMN WEDDING INVITE?!?!"
"Sit down and drink your tea." Shera completely ignored Cid's outburst, opening the invitation gleefully. "It's from Barret and Elmyra, of course... Oh, look, they chose a date and a location now... February 19th, in Cosmo Canyon. Isn't that lovely?"
"Yeah yeah, just peachy," Cid grumbled, sipping his drink. Tea always did improve his mood. "So, ol' Inspiration's finally tying the knot," he mused thoughtfully. "Didn't think I'd ever see that coming..."
"Oh Cid! Look! They included a list of all the people invited!" Shera hurriedly began reading.
"...yeah? So?" Cid asked, confused at what was so great about a list of people, most whom they've never heard of.
Shera sighed. Barret and Elmyra had listed all the old members of AVALANCHE at the top, but... "Tifa's not coming," she observed disappointedly.
"...oh." Cid caught on. "Shera, I already told you, Tifa's a big girl. Quit worrying!"
Shera turned and glared at her husband. "Maybe I'm not worrying! Maybe I just want to see her!"
Cid shook his head. His wife was a horrible liar. "Let me see that," he muttered, snatching the list from Shera's hand and scanning it quickly. "Hey! Inspiration somehow got Spike to come!"
"Really?" Shera read over Cid's shoulder. Sure enough, Cloud's name was on the list. "That's wonderful! I haven't seen him since...well...since Meteor."
"Same here." Cid had been extremely annoyed when Cloud hadn't come to his wedding, but he was glad the blond was finally seeming to snap out of it. "Wonder whether the little dumbass is as thick-headed as before," he voiced fondly.
Shera simply shook her head. *Men...*
~~~~~
*****
~~~~~
Tifa played with her hair, waiting for Reno to take Matt's place. She would have tried to strike up a conversation with the nervous SOLDIER, but he was just too jittery. He practically jumped out of his skin if she even looked at him, and whenever she tried to get closer, he'd slowly reach for his gun – not exactly the most reassuring thing to do.
And considering there was really nothing else to do in this trailer, Tifa had begun to look forward to Reno's turns at "guarding" her. For some reason, Tifa had noticed over the past weeks that nobody but Reno and Matt were her guards. She'd asked Reno about it, but...
*****
"Hey Reno?"
"Yeah?" The Turk looked up from the 5-in-a-row game the pair had taken to playing. Reno had taught her how to play last week, and already Tifa was hooked. She almost always lost, of course, but there was that one-in-a-hundred chance...
"Why do only you and Matt ever watch me?"
Reno shrugged. "Dunno," he answered, for once honest. He'd asked Jason himself that a while ago, but the blond had refused to answer.
"Huh. Do you think they dislike me?" Tifa asked thoughtfully.
"Dislike you? No way," Reno grinned.
Tifa smiled back at him. "If you say so..."
*****
*Hmm...they're probably just trying to keep their captives all in one place...* she mused. Tifa had long forgiven Reno's original intent of kidnapping her, and she was sure that if Reno could help her escape then he would. As a matter of fact, Tifa considered Reno as her only ally here – he was another prisoner of these SOLDIERs.
Besides...she was actually enjoying Reno's company. He made her have...fun. More than she'd had in the past four years. Chatting, telling her stories about the SOLDIERs who'd kidnapped her, playing games, light-hearted flirting...
*Fun...having fun with a Turk...* Tifa smiled at the irony. *Who'd have ever thought that was possible?*
And yet it obviously was, because here she was, sitting and looking forward to Reno's visits...
*Just for fun,* she quickly reassured herself. *That's all there is to it.*
AN: Uh...sorry for the HUGE time break. I bet a lot of you are wondering why I had those two extra months at all...well, how much time do you think you'd need to get close to somebody that tried to kill you? ^_^;; (Actually, I'll probably go back and redo this part when I'm finished with the fic – make a whole chapter dedicated to interludes or something like that.)
Ah, so Tifa trusts Reno now, but has that trust been misplaced...? Please R&R! (Yes, I will write faster, lol)