The thin figure slipped into the shadows of the night. He kicked a pebble out of his way, a little show of the frustration in him.

He didn't and couldn't understand.

Why did she answer that way?

Why did he ask her that?

Why did he even think about asking?

Most important of all, why the hell was he feeling this way?

He let out a frustrated groan.

He had no idea what hit him. It was just a sudden feeling. Something that he couldn't explain but it just hit him without any warning. It was something he had never really felt before. Sure, he heard about it, saw it, but never did he actually feel it himself.

"This is stupid." He muttered.

…………………………………………………………………………

She stood at the window, letting the cold air of the night brush past her. She stared at the lone figure out on the street.

Her eyes fell downcast.

Questions whirled through her mind, none answered.

She lifted a limp hand to push away a lock of sable hair that was in her face.

With one last glance, she quickly retreated to the darkness of the room.

……………………………………………………………………………

"There's a note for you on the counter." Mae said as Tifa stepped into the bar.

The sable haired girl cast a questioning look at her friend. Mae just smiled and pointed to the counter.

Tifa gingerly picked up the note and immediately recognized the familiar hand writing.

'Meet me at the town square at 7?'

She stared at the paper in her hand for a moment.

"Are you going to meet him? Cause if you are, then you can go ahead. Tris and I can take care of the place." Mae said as she walked up to Tifa.

Tifa only responded with a shrug. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was just another few minutes to 7. She debated her decision.

She stared at the note again before looking back up at the clock. It went that way a few times, before she finally made up her mind.

……………………………………………………………………………

He stared at the sea of people around him. The town square seemed extra crowded tonight.

He shoved his hands in his back pockets while looking around to see if she was here yet.

No sign of her.

He glanced up at the clock tower.

20 minutes past 7.

'Is she even coming?'

He could only hope.

Truthfully, he didn't really wanted to see her, but he needed to clear things up with her.

He hated the nagging feeling that was gnawing his insides every single minute.

He hated that flowery-like feeling that was consuming him.

He just hated it all, but the one thing he couldn't bring himself to hate…was her.

……………………………………………………………………………

"Thank you for taking care of my little boy."

Tifa shook her head and smiled.

"Well we have to go now. Thank you." The lady said again as she took hold of her the hand belonging to a little boy next to her.

"Thank you." The boy chirped.

"You're welcome."

She smiled affectionately at the boy and gave a small wave as she watched them go.

Tifa was on her way to the town square when she bumped into the little boy who was crying. It took her a while to coax him out of his crying and to explain what had happened. When she found out he was lost and separated from his mom, she immediately took up the job to help the little boy.

She looked at her watch.

7.30.

'Should I still go? Maybe he had already left…'
………………………………………………………………………

"She's not gonna come." He muttered to himself.

Staring up at the clock again, he saw it was near 8.

He sighed and shook his head.

"Excuse me sir…"

Annoyed, Reno turned to glare at the young voice that had just bugged him. The young voice belonged to a little girl large brown eyes and long black hair that were tied with a maroon ribbon at the nape of her neck. She looked almost like a younger version of the girl he was waiting for.

"I'm sorry. But I was wondering if you'd have a spare gil." The girl spoke up.

"Whatever do you need the gil for?" He said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I have to make a call to my father, sir." She answered with the least fear of him.

Reno sighed and dug into the pockets of his black jeans. His hand dug out a coin and he handed it to the little girl.

She took it and smiled gratefully at him.

The innocence and sincerity of her smile made a thin line curved at his own lips, forming a small smile.

"Thank you so much."

He stared at her for a moment, wondering if she'd be safe all by herself with the crowd. 'What the hell…it's not a big deal anyway.'

"Do you need me to take you to a place where you can call your dad?" He suddenly offered.

A thoughtful look crossed her little face. She then looked up at him and nodded.

"If that's okay with you sir."

"It's okay with me, on one condition."

Her brown eyes widened as she awaited for his words.

"You will stop calling me sir. Heck, I'm not some old balding foggy like some fu…" Reno caught himself in time before he could say the word he'd probably regret saying in front of the kid.

The little girl giggled and nodded.

"Alright, then let's get going."

She fell in step beside him.

"What's your name?" she asked curiously as she looked up at him.

"Reno."

She nodded.

Reno felt the obligation to ask hers.

"What about you kiddo?"

"Shinae."

"That's a nice name."

"You have a nice name too. Reno. I like it." She replied with another smile at him.

Reno grinned.

"Well glad you think so kiddo."

"Were you waiting for someone?"

Reno thought over his answer for a moment before shaking his head.

"No."

………………………………………………………………………

Tifa looked all around her.

She then looked up at the clock tower.

8.10.

He was nowhere in sight. She sighed.

'This is stupid. He had probably left.'

She sat down at the fountain and stared at the ground, contemplating what she was to do next.

'Call him and apologize? No, why should I? I didn't do anything wrong…although I was late…but I had a good excuse…but still, I should have at least called him or something to say I'd be late…but I don't owe him an explanation do I?'

Tifa shook her head at her mind rambling.

She looked around again, hoping to spot the familiar red hair somewhere.

Nope. The town square was unusually bustling with people, with some taking casual evening walks, some selling stuffs…

Tifa sighed and cupped her chin with her hands as she observed the crowd.

She could just leave the square and head back to the bar, but for some unknown reason, she didn't want to. Not yet.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a visitor to this town and I am sort of lost. Do you think you could help me with the directions?"

Tifa blinked and stared at the owner of the voice.

She quickly stood up and smiled at the old man standing next to her.

"Sure." She replied cheerfully.

Tifa carefully went through the directions with the old man and explained the road he needed to take to get to his destination.

Busy with the map in her hands, she didn't notice the thin red-haired figure in black shirt and black jeans, walk past them.

…………………………………………………………………………

"I'll take the chocolate."

"I'll have the…" he paused as he stared at the particular flavor.

Shinae looked up at Reno and gently tugged at the cuff of his sleeve.

Reno snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at her.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He responded quickly before proceeding to choose the lime flavored ice cream.

The both of them took their respective ice cream cones from the vendor and found themselves a spot to sit by the fountain.

"You like lime?"

"It's okay."

"I like chocolate. It's nice."

Reno had to smile at her innocence. It was nice hanging out with someone who sees things in a simple manner. He felt like he didn't have to be the adult he is while being in the presence of the little girl. On the way back after she had made the call, she started telling him about her friends, the games they play, the food her mother cooks, the simple random things. He had felt himself enjoying her company, just listening to her childish ramblings, without worrying about anything else.

He had invited her for an ice cream cone and she had agreed. While waiting for their ice cream, they had played rock, paper, scissors. It had been a long time since he played such a game and he barely even remembered the rules of the game. But it was something different from his past, where his hands were familiar to the gun and his nightstick. She provided him the childish heaven that he had long forgotten.

"Let's play hopscotch." Shinae suddenly spoke up.

"What in the world is that?"

She giggled and shook her head at him.

"What?"

"Have you ever played it?"

"Doubt it."

"Well, you can start now."

……………………………………………………………………………

He stood up from his spot at the fountain and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

The little girl's father had picked her up half and hour ago. Before leaving she even gave a slight peck on his cheek, causing him to blush deep red. He had never been that close to a kid before, he never had the intention to. He suspected hanging around with someone who was that dead set with maternal instincts must have something to do with it. Namely a girl called Lockheart.

There was still no sign of her though.

He sighed.

Just as he took a step forward, ready to leave and forget all about it, he heard her voice calling his name. Reno paused in his tracks but didn't turned around.

"Reno." She called out again.

His back stiffened at the sound of his name.

She slowly made her way past the crowd towards him.

Hesitantly, she placed her hand on his arm. He felt his insides squirm at her touch but he kept his cool persona and didn't turned back to face her.

Tifa dropped her hand from his arm.

"I…"

He waited for her explanation.

"I…I was…" She began again but then paused.

He suddenly whipped around with frustration written all over his face.

"Where were you?" He demanded.

Tifa took a step back, surprised at his sudden outburst.

He shook his head and looked away.

"I was helping a little boy to his find his mom." She explained softly.

"Did it occur to you I was here waiting for you? For nearly two hours?" He barked.

Tifa slowly nodded.

He blew the strand of red hair that was in his face.

"You wanted to see me?" She said softly.

"Not anymore." He answered with a wave of dismissal.

Her eyebrow raised.

"You called me here and now you're telling me you have nothing to say?"

He shrugged.

Tifa's eyes narrowed. She was about to open her mouth to speak when a girl suddenly interrupted her.

"Flower miss? Sir? Would you like to get a flower for the lovely lady?" The girl said cheerfully.

"I'm sure she'd love a flower or two." She added again.

Reno sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. He looked at the girl before looking at Tifa. Tifa however, averted her gaze when he looked to her.

"Well, if you're having an argument, the best thing is to forgive and forget and what better with a flower as a peace offering?" The girl chimed.

Reno rolled his eyes at her words.

"C'mon sir. A flower could melt any girl's heart." She prodded.

Wanting to get rid of the persistent girl, he impatiently pulled out some coins from his pocket and gave it to the girl. The young girl in exchange, gave him a stalk. He sullenly took hold of it without a word.

"Thank you! Have a nice evening. Oh, and the both of you make a very cute couple too. You would have lovely kids. Trust me." The girl said with a grin before walking away.

Reno nearly had a heart attack while Tifa stared wide-eyed at the space she was looking at upon hearing the girl's words.

The both of them looked up and gazed at each other at the same time. Both felt a sudden heat in their cheeks.

Not wanting to get caught embarrassed, he broke the gaze by staring back down at the flower in his hands. A white tulip. He nearly groaned out loud. 'Of all flowers it has to be this one.'

Both stood there for a while without a word, contemplating what they should do next.

He twirled the flower carelessly in his hand.

She kept her hands together in front of her, silently fidgeting with her fingers.

Reluctantly and slowly, he took a step forward to her. He held out the flower to her.

Reno kept his head bowed low, not looking up.

Tifa looked at him in surprise at his gesture.

Her hand hesitantly took the flower from his hand.

A/N: Alright, I know, I'm such a slacker for not updating at all. I'm sorry to everyone who had waited so long for this. Hopefully you guys would still be interested in the story...but if you're not, that's okay. It's my fault for slacking. I was just really busy with my internship and all, kinda takes up most of my time and energy. Anyway, this chapter hasn't really been checked/edited/proof-read yet, so I apologize for the mistakes if they are any. Just didn't want to make you guys wait too long for it. Thanks to all who reviewed. Also, happy new year to everyone.