Chapter 7: Threats and Promises.
Tifa snuggled into her own warm bed and instantly fell asleep.
Outside, a lanky physique was snaking its way up the drainpipe with a sharpened knife in its mouth.
The Turk had noticed Tifa's uncanny habit of leaving her window open, and so, with little or no sound at all, leapt softly through the ajar window and landed, cat footed on the plushy carpet inside Tifa's bedroom.
The red head crept over to Tifa's bedside and raised the knife. He was accustomed to emotional agony, but nothing like this.
'Reno…?' Tifa murmured in her sleep.
The tall, lanky Turk gave a strangled cry and dropped the potential murder weapon to the floor.
'I can't do it!' He gave a choked sob. 'Sack me if you will, sir, but I am unable to fulfil my mission!'
Tifa sat bolt upright in bed, a cold sweat having broken out on her forehead.
'I had a horrible nightmare.' She whispered hoarsely to the darkness.
'It wasn't a nightmare.'
Tifa had to stop herself from screaming when she saw Reno's tear streaked face by the bed.
'I'm sorry, Tifa. The President assigned me to get some information from you, gain your trust, and assassinate you. He believes that AVALANCHE is still a threat, and wanted you picked off, one by one.'
Tifa had to try very hard not to throw up as she realised just how narrowly she had escaped death.
The full, horrible magnitude of the situation hit her.
Reno had attempted to murder her.
Reno, whom she had trusted, even loved in the short time they had been together, had tried to kill her.
He must have detected a hint of her thoughts, because he hastily continued:
'It was a mission, I didn't volunteer for it, I swear!'
Tifa wanted to hurt Reno, to hurt him physically as much as she hurt inside.
She rose slowly from the bed and aimed a hard kick at him. Surprisingly, it hit its mark, sending Reno flying out the open window head first.
He landed with a sickening crunch on the ground below, but somehow managed to get up and stagger away.
Tifa felt immediate remorse in her tender heart. Reno hadn't killed her, putting her before money, before his job, maybe even before his own life.
Yet he had still intended to do it. Why h hadn't was a mystery to her. She picked up the razor sharp knife and threw it after him out the window.
All night she stayed awake, fretting over whether to forgive him, or to give him her full scale hatred.
In the morning, her eyes were red and sore from crying and lack of sleep. She didn't feel like emerging from her room until the sun was high in the sky.
Tifa trudged sullenly into the kitchen to find Cloud closing the back door. Just as he closed it, she thought she caught a flash of vivid red hair.
'An…ahem… anonymous note was left for you.' Cloud said, handing her a silver envelope.
Tifa stared at it apprehensively. She did not want anything more to do with Reno, but a part of her longed to tear the envelope open, to drink in his neat handwriting.
She picked open the envelope and slid out the note inside:
Tifa,
I have been fired from Shinra Inc. for not completing my 'mission'.
Now, I am going to Nibelheim with my substantial fortune to buy a quaint little house I have had my eye on for some time.
I just want you to know, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to love you, I will be there.
Until that fateful day we meet again,
Reno xx
With the note came a lock of flaming red hair,
and a single white rose.
The End.