Disclaimer:
Nope, still don't own it...legally anyways...
Author's Note:
Okay, I got this chapter up a little ahead of schedule! But that's good right? Of course it is! Things heat up between Reno and Tifa in this chapter! Please review once you're done! There's a button down there that needs some lovin'!
Hope you enjoy this chapter!
I climbed off Firecracker's back and lifted Logan off as well. He took his shirt off and gave it to me before running towards the surf. He squealed when the cold water touched his feet and ran back toward me. "Mommy, the water's cold!" He exclaimed, latching onto me.
"Well, of course!" I said, kneeling next to him. "Did you expect it to be warm?"
He giggled before running back towards the water. I placed Logan's shirt on Firecracker's back before lifting my halter-top over my head. I turned to Reno who was standing next to Clover, watching Logan run around on the wet sand. I walked over to him and stopped in front of him.
He diverted his attention away from Logan and focused on me. I cocked my head to the side in thought. "Are you okay now?" I asked. I guess my question caught him off guard for he just stood there in a stupor. "You didn't really seem like yourself earlier."
"Oh, that," he replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I just figured I should stop being a such a shit head."
I chuckled at his comment. "Well, you do do that well," I said, sitting down next to Firecracker who warked and laid down as well.
"What? Being a shit head?" He asked, like he didn't know what I was trying to get at.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "No, Reno, being a very orthodox gentlemen." I paused and let my own smartass comment sink in before speaking up again. "Of course being a shit head, Reno. What do you think?" He shrugged and managed a crooked smile before turning his head and watching Logan skip around collecting seashells. I studied his face for a few moments, a smile coming to my lips. "You're quite taken with my little boy, aren't you, Reno?"
He didn't reply for a few silent moments. "I guess," he said, crossing his legs underneath him. "I've never been all that good with kids though. Probably won't make a very good father one of these days."
"You never know until you try," I said, grabbing my shirt and placing it on the sand behind me so I could lie on my elbows without scratching them up. I looked over at Reno.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not so sure if I want to try. I've never been able to hold a relationship longer than a few days. Maybe I'm just one of those people that are destined to stay single their whole life."
"Well," I started, hoping my topic would at least cheer him up a little. "I was taught that everyone on the planet has their own special someone somewhere out there and all they have to do is wait for them."
He shrugged again. "Eh, relationships aren't for me. I can't see me actually settling down anytime in the near future."
I rolled my eyes. Reno didn't pull off "Rico Suave" very well at all.
I looked away from him to watch Logan run around in the water. He squealed and almost fell over when a small wave hit him. I laughed as I watched him run after a receding wave then run back up the shore as fast as his little legs could carry him so another incoming wave wouldn't hit him. I was concentrating so hard on watching my son that I didn't hear Reno speak up.
"Are you serious about what you said?" He asked, staring at me seriously.
I frowned and looked at him with confusion etched on my face. "What did I say?"
"You know, about me being a good father one of these days," he replied, looking away and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Reno, like I said, you'll never know until you try it. I didn't think I'd be a very good mother, but here I am. I've raised Logan all by myself and he hasn't turned into a serial killer yet."
He nodded and stared at the ground in front of him, getting lost in thought. I twisted and grabbed the sun tan lotion bottle from where I had placed it and began to put some more lotion on my face. After I thought I had it all rubbed in, I looked at Reno. "Did I get it all?"
He studied my face and a small grin formed on his lips as he reached up and wiped some remaining lotion that had been on the tip of my nose. I smiled and brought my hand up to my face to make sure I got it all before placing the bottle back in the sand.
Reno and I sat in revered silence for quite a while before I got up. I pushed the skirt off of me and began to walk toward my son.
I neither saw nor heard Reno get up, but before I could register what had happened, Reno had scooped me up into his arms and was beginning to walk toward the water at a fast pace. I looked at him with a wide-eyed expression on my face as I realized what he was going to do.
"Reno!" I said, trying to squirm out of his grip. "No! Don't you dare throw me in!" My cries went unheard as he got closer and closer to the surf. "Reno, I swear if you throw me in I'm taking you with me!"
He stopped and began to swing me back and forth in preparation but when he let go of me I latched onto his neck and brought him down with me into the freezing water. I landed with a small splash in the knee-deep water but as I began to get up a wave washed over me.
I sat in shock of the intense cold of the water but my shock soon melted into glee when I saw Reno sitting a few feet away from me just as soaked as I was. He narrowed his eyes as he pushed his sopping wet hair out of his face. "Now you're gonna get it, Lockheart," he threatened.
"Oh yeah?" I replied, challenging him. "Well, you gotta catch me first."
With that I sprang up out of the freezing water and sprinted off down the beach. I could hear Reno behind me, which only made me run faster. I dared to look behind me and gasped when I saw that he was only a few feet behind me and was gaining fast. I began to pump my legs harder, running out of the surf and onto the sand.
I felt one of Reno's hands swipe against my arm, making me veer off to the right heading back into the water. I was about to turn around and head back in the other direction when Reno jumped at me. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and tried to dodge him, which only caused me to lose my footing and go tumbling into the water.
I felt two strong arms wrap around me and lift me out of the freezing water. I began laughing as soon as my head surfaced. This only caused Reno to almost drop me for he had also begun to laugh, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop laughing and, apparently, neither could he.
He lost his balance and fell to the ground with me on top of him. We continued laughing like that for who knows how long. As our laughing diminished, I found myself staring intently into Reno's eyes. His brow furrowed as he brought one of his hands up and grazed my cheek with the pads of his fingers before placing his hand on the back of my head. I realized what he was doing but I couldn't bring myself to pull away from him. It was like some mysterious force was holding me in place as our faces got progressively closer.
Then an awkward thought appeared in my head. What if I wanted this?
Right before his lips were going to brush against mine, I backed up and placed my fingers over his mouth. What was I about to do? Have I totally lost all competent thought?
Reno gazed into my eyes with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. "Tifa – "
"No, Reno," I said, immediately cutting him off. "I can't. I just can't."
I quickly got off of Reno and stared to walk away from him but froze when I saw my son standing ten feet away. Logan gave me a confused look as I walked up to him. "Why were you laying on Unca Reno?"
I walked toward him and picked him up. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart."
I almost felt compelled to look behind me to look at Reno but I didn't want to see that look of rejection again.
"Mommy!" Logan called. I looked up at him. "Come here, Mommy!"
I smiled as I got up and walked toward him. He ran up to me and handed me something. "Look what I found!"
He held up a fairly large shell that looked like a clam or oyster. It was intact so I pried it open with my fingernails and smiled. My initial thoughts were true. I kneeled down next to my son and showed him the inside of the shell. "Look, Logan," I said, pointing to a round object nestled in the middle of the shell. "It's a pearl."
His mouth made a perfect 'o' as he reached down and carefully plucked the pearl from the shell. "Wow," he said, placing it in the middle of his palm. He stared at it intently before looking up at me. "Can I keep it?"
"Of course you can," I said, kissing him on the cheek. "Here, put it back so you don't lose it."
He placed the pearl back and I shut the shell. Reno walked up to me. "I can hold it for Logan," he said, placing his hand in front of me with his palm open.
I looked up at him for a few brief moments before nodding and placing it in his hand. I watched him slip it into his pocket then looked back over at Logan. The little blonde caught my gaze and ran up to me. "Mommy, I wanna go back now. I'm tired."
"Okay," I said, grabbing his small hand. "Let's go get dried off."
He nodded and smiled as he walked with me back to the chocobos. He slipped his sandals back on his feet and grabbed his towel, handing it to me so I could dry him off. I wiped him off before slipping his black tank top over his head then I proceeded to dry myself off. Once I was dry and all the sand was off of me, I put my skirt and tank top back on then put Logan on Firecracker's back. I picked up the lotion and the camera.
Oh! I forgot to take pictures!
But I froze; seeing that the camera no longer was wrapped in the plastic it came in. I looked at the small indicator that was next to the button that was used to take the picture. The indicator said that ten of the twenty-seven pictures had been used up. I frowned; Logan must have taken the pictures.
In that case, I smiled. I loved looking at the pictures he took. They were usually of random things and his fingers were usually in the picture as well. I handed the camera and lotion bottle to him then climbed onto Firecracker's back.
I watched Reno climb onto Clover's back stiffly for his clothes were still wet. I smiled at the look on his face but bit my lip to keep a chuckle from escaping. He had the most miserable look on his face, his hair was frizzy and all over the place; he was the picture of pity.
He caught my glance, which only made his face turn sour for he knew what the look on my face meant. "Keep smilin', Lockheart," he mumbled. "I'll get you back."
That made me giggle because I knew that Reno would get me back for his previous actions today. The way he would go about paying me back was beyond me.
We arrived back at the canyon around seven o'clock that evening. We returned the chocobos to Lyman then walked into the canyon. I started to walk in the direction of the Observatory when Reno stopped me.
"Hey, Tifa." I turned around and walked back toward him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away from me. "Can you meet me back down here in like twenty minutes?"
I frowned, a little bit confused. "Sure, why?" I asked, looking at Logan to find his eyes were closed.
"You'll find out," was all he said before he walked toward the inn.
I sighed, frustrated, but he had hooked my attention. I looked down at Logan before continuing. I walked through the Observatory door and climbed up the ladder with Logan in my arms. It wasn't easy, but I managed to get up it without falling off.
I got him out of his wet swim trunks and put a clean pair of underwear on him as well as a pair of shorts then wrapped him in the covers so he could sleep. I got out of my bathing suit and put on clean undergarments but kept the skirt and halter-top I had worn to the beach.
I ran my brush through my hair, succeeding in getting all the tangles out of it but ending up pulling most of it out. I looked in the mirror wondering if I should put some make-up on. My face didn't burn, surprisingly enough so I didn't have to worry about that.
"Screw it," I said, walking out of the bathroom.
I checked on Logan, making sure he was comfortable before climbing down the ladder and walking into the star display room. Red and Nairi were napping with the cubs. I tiptoed over to Red and tapped him on the shoulder. His yellow eyes opened and he lifted his head off of his paws and yawned.
"Oh, Tifa," he said quietly so he wouldn't disturb his family. "Come," he said, getting up. "Let's go talk in the other room." I nodded and followed him out. He sat on the floor in front of the couch and yawned again. "So, how was your day at the beach?"
"It was great," I said, sitting on the couch. "Logan loved it."
"That's good," Red said, climbing onto the couch next to me.
I looked at my watch and found that Reno would probably be waiting for me. "Hey, Red, I'm meeting Reno down near the inn."
He looked up at me and nodded. "Were is Logan?"
"He's upstairs sleeping," I replied, getting up from the couch. "Can you tell him where I went if he wakes up?"
"Of course. When will you be back?" He asked, scratching an ear.
"Not sure," I said, beginning to walk toward the door. "But I doubt I'll be gone long."
"Alright, enjoy yourself," he said, jumping down from the couch and walking back into the star display room.
I sighed and left the Observatory, still wondering what Reno's little 'surprise' was going to be.
