Disclaimer:

No, still don't own it...

Author's Note:

Man, three chapters in one week... I am on FIRE! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'm glad that all of you liked that little plot twist I threw in last chapter! I've had that idea in my little head for a long time but I really wasn't sure how I was going to do it but then I thought 'Cloud is obsessed with Aeris so why not letthe object of affection make her appearance?' But, anyways, I hope you guys like what I did with this chapter.

Oh, and the glowy eye thing in the last chapter will all be explained in due time...patience, my children, patience...

Oh and I'm gonna be working on all the mixed up chapters here pretty soon. I just have to figure out which ones I have to exchange and it'll be fixed.


That morning when I woke up Reno was gone. I looked at my alarm clock and cursed. It was almost noon. He had left for work almost four hours ago. I sighed and flopped over onto my back. I was hoping that he would have woken me up so I could at least say good-bye to him. I rolled back over onto my side and smiled when the scent of Reno's cologne drifted up from the pillowcase. A warm, fuzzy feeling rose from the pit of my stomach as I tried to imagine that he was still lying next to me.

After a few long moments I finally got up. I stretched my arms far over my head and yawned. I had no clue what I was going to do until I had to go to work. Maybe I'd call Barret and take him up on his offer of Logan spending the night with him and Marlene. Corel was only a couple hours drive away. Barret would have enough time to drive here and get him before I had to go to work.

I walked out of my room and found Logan lying on the floor with his chin propped up in his hands, watching his favorite TV show. I sat down next to him. "Good morning, little man."

"Morning, Mommy," he said, while still keeping his attention on the TV.

"Did you sleep good?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair.

"Yeah," he replied.

I smiled. He never really was very good at conversation when he was watching TV. I figured I'd bring up the subject of him spending the night with Marlene after his show was over. I got up and made my way into the kitchen where I kept my house phone. I picked it up from the dock and dialed Barret's number. It ran a few times before Barret's gruff voice sounded on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" He said, not sounding very happy at all.

"Hi, Barret, it's Tifa."

"Oh, hey there, Teef. Whatcha up to?"

"Oh, I was just wondering." I paused for a couple seconds. "Is that offer of Logan spending the night with you and Marlene still open?"

"Well, of course it is. Logan's always welcome here with me an' Marlene. She hasn't seen him for a while anyhow. She'll be excited he's coming to visit."

"Is tonight all right?" I asked, walking out of the kitchen and sitting down on the couch.

"Well, let me see here." Barret was silent for a few moments. "Marlene'll be out of school here in 'bout an hour. After she gets home I'll come and get him, how does that sound?"

"Wonderful. He's watching a TV show right now so I'll tell him after it's over. Thanks again, Barret."

"Hey, no problem. Havin' Logan over here at my house means that you get a little time to yourself. What time do you want Logan home tomorrow?"

"Well, I don't have to go to work until six o'clock so why don't you have him home between four and five?"

"Sure I can do that."

"Thanks again, Barret. See you in a few hours."

"Alright, Teef. See ya."

I hung the phone up and returned it to the dock. I leaned up against the kitchen entryway and watched Logan as he sat there swinging his feet back and forth, intently watching his show. I was still so proud of the fact that I had won custody. Hopefully things would start to turn up.

Logan's television show ended and he got up and toddled over to me. He grabbed onto my shirt and looked up at me. "Who you talk to?"

I kneeled down in front of him and placed my hand on his cheek. "What do you think about spending the night at Marlene's house?"

Logan smiled widely. "Yeah, I wanna see Marlene!"

"Okay, Barret and Marlene will be here in a few hours to pick you up."

"Okay!" Logan exclaimed, dashing off down the hall to his room.

I followed him and stood in his doorway. "They won't be coming for a while. You don't have to pack yet."

"I wanna," he said, grabbing a few shirts and a couple pairs of shorts out of his dresser. He ran up to me and tugged on my shirt some more. "Do you think we go to Golden Saucer?"

"Maybe. I'll give you some gil just in case you do go. Can you pack by yourself?" I asked as he ran back to collect more clothing.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed, getting socks.

I smiled. "Okay, come get me when you're done."

I walked back into the living room and switched off the TV. I grabbed the book that I had failed to read for the past few weeks and quickly delved back into it, soon finding out that I had forgotten most of what was going on. I sighed as I walked over to the small bookcase by the couch and looked around for another book to read. I found an old mushy romance novel that I had fallen in love with and decided to read that instead. I placed the previous book back on the shelf and sat down on the couch to do some reading before Logan came clambering back into the living room.

I made it only three chapters into my book when Logan ran back into the room. He pulled on my arm restlessly. "Come on, Mommy! I finished!"

"Okay, okay," I said, placing a bookmark on my page and setting it down on the coffee table. "I'm coming." I got up and followed my eager toddler back into his room.

He had his small duffel bag stuffed with clothes to the point that he couldn't get it zipped. I laughed as I sat down in front of it. "Logan, you don't need this many clothes. You're only staying one night." I began to sort through all the clothes he had stuffed in his duffel bag. After about ten minutes of asking him which shirts and shorts he wanted to take he decided on two pairs of his favorite denim shorts and three of his favorite shirts. I also packed his sandals and three pairs of socks.

Hey, kids have an uncanny ability of getting dirty, especially two-year-old little boys. Over packing is almost a necessity when they're away from home overnight.

After all the clothes he wanted to bring were in order I made sure to include enough diapers to get him through the next twenty-four hours. Barret knew how to change diapers, this I was sure of. Marlene may not be his biological child but I remember him telling me that when he first adopted her he had a 'hell of a time figuring out how to change her diapers.' Quote unquote.

Logan grabbed his blanket and plush chocobo then went out to sit on the couch. I looked at the clock and it was almost three. Barret, knowing his driving skills, would be here any time. I peered into the kitchen and settled on doing the dishes.

I had just finished filling the sink with hot water and soap when my cell phone started ringing. I rolled my eyes, not really wanting to run into my room and get it. "Logan, answer Mommy's cell phone!"

"Okay," came his simple response.

As I waited for my son to bring me the phone, I began scrubbing the dirty plates and bowls. I stopped and listened when the ringing stopped.

"Hello?" A brief pause. "Yeah, who this?" Another pause. "Unca Reno! Yeah."

I smiled and wiped my hands off then turned around to retrieve my cell phone from my son. I put the phone to my ear. "Hi, Reno."

"Hey there beautiful. What you doin'?"

I rolled my eyes as I got back to washing the dishes. "Washing all the dirty dishes."

"Oh." He paused. "Hey, uh, you're still going into work at six, right?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked, straightening.

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to do something."

I smiled at the thought of getting to spend three hours with Reno before I had to go to work. I knew that I'd probably be in a better mood when I left than I usually was. "Alright, what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know. Why don't I come over? We can figure it out from there."

"Okay." I paused as a thought occurred to me. "Hold on, are you off work already?"

"Yeah, no more ships were coming in or going out for the rest of the day so my boss sent me home early instead of making me go in and record all the shipments."

"Oh, that's cool." I jumped as I heard the doorbell. I wedged the phone in between my shoulder and my ear as I dried my hands off. "You can go ahead and come over right now if you want."

"Alright, see you in a bit, babe."

"Bye."

I ended the call and placed it on the dinning room table before walking out of the kitchen. Logan had already wandered over to the door and was in the middle of twisting the doorknob. He was having a little trouble so I opened it for him. As soon as the door had opened Marlene dashed in and grabbed Logan. The nine-year-old little girl twirled around with Logan in her arms, laughing as she did so. Barret followed her in and closed the door behind him.

Once she placed Logan back on the floor he had a hard time regaining his balance and only succeeded in falling onto his bum. "Hi, Marlene!" He said, getting back up on his feet.

Logan and Marlene dashed into Logan's room to play for a while before driving back to Corel. I turned to Barret and gave him a hug. "So, how are you, Papa Bear?" I asked, using the pet name I gave him when we were still living in Midgar.

"Oh, I'm doin' just fine. Being the Mayor of Corel isn't easy but it pays the bills."

"What are you talking about, Barret? You make more money in one month than I do in a half a year."

"Hey, a job like mine'll give you gray hair early."

I looked over and admired his gun arm. That's when a thought occurred to me. "So, when are you getting fitted for your prosthetic?"

"In a few days actually. The doctors told me that they can make me a prosthetic arm that can change back into a gun if need be. I'm actually kinda excited. Haven't had a actual right hand in a while. It's gonna take some getting' used to when I start usin' my right hand again."

The doorbell rang and I smiled, quickly going to the door. I opened it and I squealed as Reno swooped in and grabbed me, lifting me into the air and twirling around. He set me back down and gave me a hug. "How's it goin', babe?"

"Pretty good," I said, laughing.

Reno spotted Barret and immediately stuck out his left hand. "What's up, Barret?"

"Well, same ol', same 'ol, I guess," he mumbled.

I was pretty surprised how well Barret took to Reno. If anything, Barret resented the Turks more than anyone else did. I was relieved that Barret allowed Reno in so easily. Red XIII even took a quick liking to him, but he wasn't around when Reno dropped the plate. He was around for every other time we encountered the Turks though. Especially when we encountered Rude and Reno in the sunken Galinka. Red was already peeved for getting wet when he stepped off the ladder, encountering those two only made his temper worse.

Marlene came running out of Logan's room with his duffel bag in her hands. "Okay, Daddy, let's go now."

"Alright, pumpkin, hold on for a second." He walked over to me and embraced me one last time. "You take care. Logan'll be safe with me. I'll have him home around four tomorrow."

"Alright, Barret. Thanks again." I stepped away from Barret and kneeled in front of my son. "You have fun now. Don't get into too much trouble." I got up and remembered I was supposed to give him some money. I turned to Barret. "Hey, Barret, were you planning on going to the Gold Saucer?"

"Yeah, but I still got that Lifetime pass we bought a while back. I'll pay for anything else Logan wants."

"Are you sure? I could give him some spending money."

"Aw, don't worry 'bout it. I've got him covered." Barret took Logan's duffel from Marlene and gave me one last hug. "See you tomorrow."

"Alright, bye Barret. I'll see you tomorrow, baby," I said, kneeling down and giving Logan one last quick kiss.

"Bye, Mommy! Bye, Unca Reno!" He said as Marlene pulled him toward Barret's car.

Reno waved. "See ya later, sport!"

We watched Barret drive off from the doorway and after he disappeared from view I shut the door. Reno stuffed his hands into his pockets and strode towards the couch. He sat down and beckoned to me. "Come 'ere, you."

I smiled and walked over to him, sitting down on his lap. He gave me quick kiss then sat back. "So, can I call you my girlfriend now?" He asked, with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"If that's what you want to call me."

"Because I was gonna settle on 'sex slave.'"

I slapped his chest. "Reno!"

"What?" He asked, chuckling at the reaction he got out of me.

"Nothing." I settled on resting my head on his chest and shutting up because I knew any smart-ass comment that came out of my mouth Reno would twist and turn into something dirty.

"So," he said, lazily running his fingers through my hair. "When did you finally notice that I left?"

"I woke up at noon."

"Geez, woman. You sure do know how to sleep in."

"Hey, when you work until midnight every night it kinda becomes a habit."

He shrugged his shoulders. "It would." We were silent for many long moments until Reno broke the silence one more. "So, whatcha wanna do?"

I rose my head off of his chest and looked for the nearest clock. It was a little after three thirty. I had about two hours before I had to start getting ready. I thought for a few moments before shrugging. "You have anything in mind?" I asked, looking back at him.

He shook his head. "No, not really."

"You're a really big help you know that, right?" I asked, before laying my head back on his chest.

"I know."

After about ten minutes of sitting on my living room couch thinking about how we were going to waste time until I had to go to work, I finally came up with a good topic of conversation to occupy us out of boredom. "So, you wanna do something after I get off of work?"

"Maybe I'll spend the night again."

I smiled. "Okay."

Reno was silent for a few moments before he took a deep breath. "You know, I've never been in a relationship like this before. All the relationships I've had have been one night stands."

I looked up at him. "What made you change your mind?"

He diverted his eyes away from mine and shrugged, almost like he was a little apprehensive to tell me the truth. Finally after mumbling for a few minutes he turned back to me. "I've just never felt anything like this before. I've never really known what love really is."

"To tell you the truth, neither have I."

Reno frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought I was in love with Cloud. Maybe I was in love with him for a time but it all started when we were kids."

"What happened when you were kids? Did you grow up together or something?" He asked, very intrigued to be hearing about my past.

"Yeah, we grew up in Nibelheim together. He was sort of the outcast. He didn't have any friends and my group always made fun of him. He needed a friend and I guess that's when I started to pity him."

"There's another thing we have in common," Reno said, smiling. "Neither of us have known what love really is."

I smiled and laid my head back on his chest, knowing that no other words needed to be said. We spent the rest of our time together just enjoying each other's company. We would occasionally make small talk, but most of the time he would be playing with my hair and I would be drawing small intricate patterns on his chest with my fingernails. Before I knew it, it was time for me to start getting ready for work.

"Well, I better get goin'," Reno said, as I walked toward my bedroom.

"Are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself." He walked towards me and circled his arms around my waist.

"I know that. I just figure it would be easier on both of us." I smiled at him as I placed my hands on his chest.

"Hey, it's alright, babe. My apartment isn't far from here anyways."

"You're staying the night again, right?"

He nodded. "Of course. Just give me a ring after you get off work and I'll meet you here." He leaned down and gave me a lingering kiss before walking towards the door.

"See you tonight." He turned back and smiled at me before disappearing out the door. I grinned before venturing into my room to get ready for work.

Reno stuffed his hands in his pockets and leisurely walked down the street to his apartment. He smiled as he thought of Tifa. She had changed something within him. While he was working for Shinra he had never met a woman that had such a big impact on him. Everything about Tifa just seemed so…perfect and it just seemed so right to be with her.

His pleasant thoughts about Tifa were interrupted when he saw none other than Cloud Strife walk out of a clothes store about a block down. He frowned. The clothes store he had just come out of was a woman's clothes store. What the hell would he be doing in there?

His Turk instincts kicked in as he decided to follow him. As he got closer to Cloud it seemed as though he was carrying on a conversation with thin air. He was waving his hands about hysterically but he couldn't hear a word Cloud was saying to his imaginary friend.

"What the hell is Strife's problem?" Reno mumbled to himself as he followed Cloud at a safe distance. "I think the poor boy's finally gone off the deep end."

Reno followed Cloud down on the beach and past all the tourists. There was an old shack two miles down the beach that had been there as long as the little resort town. Sailors used it if their boats ran aground. It was always well stocked with food, clothing and any other necessities that sea going men or women were in need of.

Reno dove into the brush as Cloud looked over his shoulder to make sure no one had followed him before vanishing inside the shack. Reno got a little closer and spied a small window. He crouched as low as he could and slowly made his way towards the shack. Once he reached the window he slowly sat down next to it, trying to over hear Cloud's conversation with the invisible person.

"Okay, Aeris, it's safe now."

Aeris? Reno thought. Isn't she supposed to be dead?

Reno shook those thoughts from his head as he heard Aeris's voice. "Are you sure Tifa wears these kinds of clothes?"

"Of course I am. I lived with her for almost six months before I knocked her up. You'd think that I would observe what kind of clothes she wears on a daily basis."

"Well, that's good. I need to look as much like Tifa as I can."

Reno frowned as he listened to a conversation between Cloud and someone that supposed to be dead. Man, why do things around here just keep getting weirder and weirder? And why does she want to look like Tifa?

There were a few minutes of shuffling around before Aeris spoke up again. "Well, we're going to abduct him from the day care center, correct? Do you know what her work uniform looks like?"

"No," Cloud said simply.

"I'm going to have to get one. She works at the casino, right?"

"Yeah, she's worked there ever since it opened three years ago."

"Good, wait for me here. I'll be right back."

Reno quickly but quietly got up and hid behind the shack to insure that Aeris didn't see him on her way out. He didn't see Aeris walk away but if he looked close enough he could see where the sand would cave in as she walked down the beach.

What should I do? Wait here until she gets back or leave now?

After a few moments of thinking, leaving now would be stupid. He needed to find out what was going on here and he wasn't going to find out by leaving before he found out all the details.

Besides, he was a Turk. He's a professional.