Tifa wiped her eyes as she sat in her jeep waiting for the traffic light to change. She had regretted the slap and insult right away, but Reno had no right to be so cruel to her. How dare he say Cloud would never marry her! Her growing self-righteous anger overrode not only her guilt, but also the small voice inside her that also doubted she and Cloud were meant to be that she frequently ignored. Parking in front of the bar, she jumped out of her jeep and hurried upstairs to her apartment, hoping Marlene and Denzel were alright. Having remembered she left them alone all night brought back her guilt. She unlocked her front door and rushed inside.
"Aerith! What are you doing here?" Tifa was stunned to see her friend having breakfast with Marlene and Denzel.
Aerith was stunned as well to see Tifa so obviously disheveled and upset. "Um, why don't you take a nice shower and we can talk later? These two need to go catch the bus." she continued, looking at Marlene and Denzel.
"Yes, Aunt Aerith." they agreed, grabbing their backpacks and heading out the door, passing by Tifa as she went to her bathroom. "Glad you're home, Aunt Tifa."
It felt good to have a nice warm shower in her own apartment, but she was still confused, if relieved, about why Aerith was there to watch the kids, since she hadn't called her. She took her time, trying to wash all memory of Reno off her. Finally she felt clean and calm enough and wrapped her hair in a towel and put her bathrobe on before finding Aerith in the living room, watching TV. "Who called you?" Tifa asked her, sitting down next to her.
"Reno sent me a text last night saying you wouldn't be coming home and I should come over to make sure Marlene and Denzel were okay. What happened?" Aerith wanted to know.
"He did what?" Tifa stared disbelieving at her friend. "How did he find the time? We were..." she clamped her mouth shut before she blabbed everything.
"You were what? Teef, what's going on here?" Aerith asked worriedly.
"I was...we were...um...working." she said lamely, trying to figure out not only a better excuse, but why Reno would act out of character and make sure Marlene and Denzel were safe. The surface calmness she achieved with her shower disappeared, replaced by confusion about Reno's conflicting behavior.
"You've been acting really strange lately, now you stay out all night without letting the kids know and come back looking awful." Aerith said. "What is going on with you?"
"I..." Tifa's cheeks reddened . "I don't want to talk about it."
"You're going to tell me and you're going to tell me now." Aerith put her hands on her hips and demanded answers in her best imitation of the tone her own mother would use when Aerith was in her naughty child phase.
Knowing Aerith wouldn't let it go, Tifa lowered her head before answering. "I...I had sex with Reno." she muttered almost under her breath.
"What?" Aerith wasn't sure she heard correctly.
"I had sex with Reno!" Tifa blurted out as her cheeks turned even redder.
"Oh." Aerith wasn't sure what she was expecting Tifa to tell her, but this definitely wasn't it. "Does that mean..."
"I still love Cloud...I don't know how Reno could do this to me!" Tifa exclaimed before she started confessing everything, how it all started with the nude modeling, and ended up with a night of constant raunchy sex.
Naked men had been unwillingly on Aerith's mind since the art class, and she couldn't help but want more details from Tifa. With Zack still missing, she could only experience romance vicariously through her friends, she thought as she fidgeted with the promise ring he had given her. "What was it like having sex with Reno? What's his body really like in action?"
"He's...he's incredible." Tifa reluctantly admitted, too distraught to hold anything back or notice Aerith started blushing as well as she got specific.
"I wonder if Zack could do that." Aerith murmured to herself as Tifa's descriptions caused unfamiliar sensations in her body. She wanted to be sympathetic to Tifa's plight, but it really didn't seem all that bad to her. Cloud wasn't meant for her, even if Tifa didn't want to admit it, and Reno seemed like an extremely enjoyable alternative. Aerith only had Zack's promise ring to hold back the loneliness. "So you enjoyed yourself." she said out loud.
"Until he showed his true colors." Tifa told her best friend pissedly, wondering how Reno could be so contradictory.
"That's it, I'm done." Reno panted as they lay next to each other, catching their breath. "You wore me out."
"What?" Tifa was surprised. "It's barely midnight!"
"Yeah, and we started in the afternoon." Reno pointed out. "You're insatiable, aren't you?" he teased her.
"I thought you would be too." Tifa pouted. She hadn't been consciously aware of her backlog of pent-up sexual frustration until she had Reno, and even though he had fulfilled that, now she just wanted to know that someone found her desirable. "You promised me I'd be satisfied."
"Well, in that case..." Reno took her in his arms and slipped his hand between her legs, smiling as she eagerly responded to his touch. He never thought he'd meet the woman that could outlast him, or that it would be the seemingly uptight Tifa. "I'm a man of my word, after all." Finally he sated Tifa enough for her to sleep, and Reno wasn't far behind her, cuddling her body against his, resting his head against the curve of her neck and closing his eyes. It wasn't always the quiet ones that surprised you, cause nothing about Tifa was quiet. He wondered if Mrs B remembered to turn her hearing aid off. Putting it out of his head, Reno couldn't wait for morning to taste Tifa's other goodies and find out if she cooked as she fucked. He fell asleep feeling more contented than he had in a long time.
"You're late." Rude remarked as Reno plopped down in his favorite chair in the break room. "Lemme guess, it's all some woman's fault." he smiled at his longtime partner, noticing he was moving slightly slower than usual.
"Yeah, it is." Reno said sourly. "Mind pouring me a cup of coffee?"
"Here ya go." Rude handed him a steaming mug with the sugar dispenser and a spoon, knowing how Reno liked his coffee.
"You'll rot your teeth." Elena repeated one of her favorite complaints as she watched Reno pour heaping spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee. He usually responded that he'd like to show her he didn't need teeth for a good time, but he didn't feel like it today.
"Oh hey, Tseng mentioned something about finally having tomorrow off, so how about we try out some of the new clubs and bars. You up for it, partner?" Rude asked him, surprised he didn't needle Elena as usual. "There's sure to be some hotties available."
Reno opened his mouth to turn down the invitation, but then he got a better idea. "We'll stick to the tried and true first, and if that doesn't pan out, then we'll go cruisin'. Seventh Heaven, around 8pm, that work for you?" If Tifa didn't care for his company, he'd shove it in her face how many women did.
Yuffie woke up to the sun shining through her windows and Cloud gently stroking her hair. Was she supposed to feel sore in places she didn't even know she had? He had woken up twice during the night and repeated his earlier performance. "Good morning." Yuffie tentatively smiled at him, unsure how she was supposed to act. She had been given tips only on how to get Cloud into bed, no advice on what to do afterwards
"I'm sorry about last night." Cloud said, and Yuffie's face fell.
"You...you didn't want me after all?" she asked quietly.
"Oh no, that's not what I meant!" Cloud quickly protested. "I'm sorry I didn't make sure you enjoyed it too, that's all."
"Oh. Well, I did like it." Yuffie said. "Your body is just as good as Reno's."
"What?!" Cloud exclaimed. "I thought last night was your first time!"
"It was, but um...there was this art class, and uh...Reno turned out to be the model that day." Yuffie stammered as her cheeks turned cherry-red. "I've never been with anyone but you."
Cloud relaxed and his growing jealous anger faded. "Why me?"
"You forget who my father is. According to Wutaian custom, I'm not allowed to have sex with any man except my husband." Yuffie explained.
"But then...we...what does that mean?" Cloud was totally bewildered. "I thought you left home to get away from that since you didn't believe in it."
"I didn't believe in how my father led our people after the war with Shinra." Yuffie clarified. "I'm the last of the Kisaragi line, I will have to get married someday and keep our family going."
"So you're proposing to me?" Cloud still didn't know what was going on, but he was starting to get the uncomfortable feeling he was being used.
"No!" Yuffie shook her head in denial. "My father will choose my husband for me, and I'll pretend to be the innocent bride I'm supposed to be. No one will think twice about your presence here overnight, since you're with Tifa and everyone knows you're a man of honor. Seeing Reno's naked body got me curious." Yuffie left out Mrs. Beasley's guidance, and was about to explain that it brought up her old crush when Cloud spoke first.
"I'm not with Tifa! And apparently I'm not with you either!" Cloud angrily got out of bed and started getting dressed.
"You're leaving? What's wrong?" It was Yuffie's turn to be confused.
"I'm glad I was stupid enough to satisfy your curiosity!" he spat at her. "I had thought you had grown up, but you're still just a petty thief. You thought I was with Tifa, your best friend, and you still try and steal me for one night just to amuse yourself. You're just as selfish as she is!" With that, Cloud stormed out of her penthouse.
"I...I didn't do it for me, I did it for us!" Yuffie cried out too late at the shut door.
