And here's the next chapter! Time for some background info, kinda, and some rain! WOO. It's been so rainy here, I had to put it in the story. I think it fits perfectly. You'll get some Reno in the next two chapters. Aren't you excited? I know I am.

I do not own FF VII, or any of the characters therein. I simply borrow the world and characters for my own device. Enjoy!

Rufus was sitting on a park bench. Rude, as always, was beside him, keeping an eye out for trouble. It was early afternoon, but there was little sunlight. Clouds were gathering in the sky, announcing the coming rains. Storms in Wutai were few and far between, but they had a frightening intensity to make up for it. All of the locals were heading for cover. Parents had young children in tow, while others were helping the elderly. He watched the mass exodus, wondering why no one bothered to carry an umbrella on a day when they knew there would be rain. Rufus and Rude were both distracted from people watching by a familiar voice nearby.

"...you're worried, why not ask Mr. Rufus? Or Mr. Rude? They're right over there, Mommy." They turned to the right and found Renji walking toward them, holding his mother's hand. The woman looked around for a moment, and caught sight of them. Her eyes widened with shock, and she looked down at her son.

"How did you know they were here?"

"I met them at the beach, Mommy. They're nice. You can ask them." Renji was looking up at her, his young face oddly serious.

"I'd be happy to answer any questions I can." Rufus announced, gaining the woman's attention again. The Great Ninja Yuffie, as she had called herself, had grown and matured more than he could imagine. She was still slim, and slightly tom-boyish, but she was a marked beauty. Her eyes still retained their look of mischeif, and there were more curves on her body than before. Now he realized why Reno found her attractive. Yuffi was petite, beautiful, and apparently still a human incarnation of an imp.

"We don't have time, Renji. The rain'll start any minute! Do you want to get all wet and squish everywhere you walk?" Renji giggled at this.

"Yes!" Yuffie rolled her eyes dramatically, giving her son a smile afterward. "Mommy, why can't they come have tea with us? Then you can ask and we'll all be dry."

"Renji, Mr. Rufus and Mr. Rude are busy men, they might not be able to. You should ask them first if they'd like to."

"Mr. Rufus, Mr. Rude? Wanna-" Yuffi interupted him with an 'ahem'. Renji sighed, then continued. "Would you like to come to tea with us?" He pronounced each word, pointedly looking at his mother while doing it.

"I'd love to. I'm not busy at all. What about you Rude? Are you busy?"

"No sir."

"See, Mommy? I told you they were nice."

"I never doubted you, silly monkey. Well, if you're coming, hurry it up. I don't want to get caught in the storm."

Yuffie and Renji took the lead, setting as fast a pace as the boy could handle without running. While they were walking, the day got darker and darker as the grey clouds got ready to dump their burden of rain on Wutai. Just as they were passing the Pagoda, huge rain drops began to fall. Renji turned back to them briefly.

"We gotta run!" With that, they ran, following Yuffie and her son as they turned two more streets and onto a porch attached to a small house. Just as they got under cover, the rain began in earnest, obscurring everything from view. "That was close, huh Mommy?"

"Yeah. Really close. And what did I tell you about saying 'gotta' and 'wanna'?"

"That I know better and I should use the real words cause I'm not a walking ape?"

"Yes. If you were an ape you'd be all hairy and eat BUGS!" Renji made a face, wrinkling his nose while shaking his head. Rufus chuckled at it. Reno made the exact same face when confronted with insects. The man could face down those Sephiroth clones without breaking a sweat, but put an insect in front of him, and he freaked out. Yuffie unlocked the door, and they followed her inside. The house was bigger than he thought. It was a comfortable place, one that was lived in. Toys were stuck in odd areas and a half-full glass of water were surrounded by simple, yet tasteful pieces of furniture. Brush paintings adorned the walls, with scenes ranging from mountains to cats.

"Renji, why don't you show Mr. Rufus and Mr. Rude your paintings while I get the tea ready?"

"Okay! Come on!" Renji grabbed both men by the hand and lead them down a short hallway. Before he left Yuffie's presense, Rufus found her giving him a distinct look. It said something along the lines of 'hurt my son and you'll end up with a shruiken up your ass'. Rufus nodded in understanding then followed his tiny leader. The boy opened a door and lead them in, reaching up to hit the light switch.

A huge canvas drop cloth covered the floor. The walls here held paintings as well, but only on the upper half. The bottom half of the room had long pieces of thin rope strung from wall to wall. Several paintings were hanging from what looked like clothes hangeres. A small table, suitable to Renji's size, was the main piece of furniture. Two chairs sat in the corner near the window.

"This is where I make all my paintings! Mommy keeps all of them, even the bad ones. I don't want her to have the bad ones. Just the good ones."

"You made all these?" Rufus and Rude both looked at the red-haired boy in surprise. Rude walked to where one was hanging, taking off his sunglasses to examine a picture. Rufus did the same, marveling at it. "You're so young! It takes years to learn to do these this well."

"Yeah, I made them. I'm really good at it. Mommy says that I can go to school for it, when I'm older if I want. I just like to make them. I saw them at the Pagoda, and I made them at home with crayons. Mommy and Grampa saw them, and got me a nice brush set and lots of paper. And books! See?" A closet door opened to reveal shelves lined with books. "These are all about brush painting, and pictures of the really good ones. I want mine to be in one of these books!" Rufus came to look at the boy's collection, and found beautifully illustrated books and instruction manuals. The manuals were untouched, but the spines of the illustrated ones were beginning to wear out from use.

"And here's where all my paintings are." The boy was dragging out a large black portfolio that was taller than he was. Rufus took it from the boy, who smiled with relief, and placed it on the low table. After un-zipping it, he found the inside was full of the boy's work, some of them were rolled and tied with ribbon. As he leafed through them, Renji gave him the date he made it and what it was about. Some were simply scenery, and of the surrounding lands. A few were depictions of fairy tales and fables, some of legends. Rude was looking over his shoulder, sunglasses still off. Rufus stopped and looked carefully at one painting.

It was a garden, complete with fish pond and cherry blossoms. Kneeling beside the water was a woman, dressed in a traditional kimono. An air of sadness and loneliness surrounded her, depicted by nothing but her posture. There were no other living creatures within the painting. Renji, who had been a chatter-box until that painting, was quiet. Rufus looked over at the boy questioningly.

"What was this one from?" He was curious to see why a child would paint something so sad. Rude looked at the boy also.

"That's Mommy, in Grampa's garden." Renji frowned. "Grampa asked her to do the Butterfly Dance at some party thing. She wouldn't do it, and her and Grampa yelled at each other. Then she ran off into the garden. All the lights and people kept me awake, so I went to see if Mommy was alright."

"Was she?"

"Kinda...I waited til she stopped crying to give her a hug. I don't know why Grampa would say such a mean thing."

"What did he say? You don't have to tell, but I'll keep it a secret." Rufus made sure his face was completely serious, causing Rude to cover a laugh with a cough. "Rude will too, won't you Rude?" The tall man nodded.

"He said Mommy should forget about my daddy. That he's a bad person, and a jerk, and that if he cared he'd be here with us. Daddy's not a bad person. He's not here cause he doesn't know about me. That's all."

"So he really doesn't know..." Renji shook his head in response.

"Nope. I asked Mommy why he wasn't here, and she told me. She tells me lots of things about him, though. He flies 'copters, and fights bad guys and works for a big company called Shinra."

"Yes, he does. He has his own special helicopter, too. He won't let anyone else fly it but him. He's very good at it."

"I hope he'll take me on a ride in one...Uncle Cid took us up on his airship one time, but Mommy got sick. Mr. Rufus?" The boy was serious again. It was so odd to see that expression on a child's face. Rufus nodded at him. "Can't you make Daddy come here? I wanna meet him, and Mommy's so lonely and sad."

"We'll get him here, kid." Rude answered. He gave his boss a look, which always meant that the man had a plan.

"Really? You will?"

"Yeah."

"YAY!" The remark was punctuated by a jump. "Don't tell Mommy. I want it to be a surprise. Okay?"

"Will do."

"I think Mommy's almost done. Let's go!" Rufus helped the boy zip the portfolio up and put it away in the closet before they left, turning out the light. Just as Renji predicted, Yuffie was walking out of the kitchen with a tray bearing cups and a tea pot. Renji immediately offered to help, but was told to sit down instead.

Tea in Wutai was usually a formal affair, with ceremony for pouring and drinking. It was tiresome to those who did not see the point of it. Rufus was one of the few who were born out of Wutai that enjoyed the tea ceremony. It was taxing, but it was worth it in his mind. An informal tea, like this one, was welcomed more than a formal one, though. Renji, surprisingly, got his own cup of tea. He enjoyed it as much as anyone else did, with a miminum of sugar added. Rude had been dragged off to see a book on butterflies over at the opposite wall once they had drained their cups, leaving Rufus and Yuffie to themselves.

"So, what is it that you needed to ask me?" Rufus said, setting down his cup on a side table.

"Hmm..."

"Is it about Reno?"

"Hmm...he called yesterday. And didn't say a word, then hung up. Is he alright?" Yuffie was sitting with her feet under her, cradling her cup in both hands. She was looking at her son, but he could see the worry in her face.

"He was when we left. Nothing has happened since then, so it's safe to assume he's alright."

"Hmm..." There was silence for a while, as she watched Renji and Rude flipping through a book. "Go ahead, Rufus. You know you want to ask."

"Reno's his father, correct?"

"With that face and hair, who else would be his father?"

"True. Why didn't you ever tell him about Renji?"

"I tried to. He wouldn't answer my calls, and I can't exactly hop onto an airship three months pregnant to see him. I left messages, but I guess he either didn't get them or doesn't care that he has a son."

"You know him better than that."

"He didn't answer because he was scared."

"Scared? I'm the one who went through nine months of morning sickness, a twelve hour labor and raised a child for three years ALONE. He's got no excuse." Rufus winced slightly, but he could understand her point. Being a parent was a difficult job for two people, he could not imagine doing it alone. "My dad wanted to have Reno killed. He couldn't do it, cause I wouldn't name Reno as the father until after Renji was two. You can't hold blood feud after two years. So, it's just as well Reno never came here. The last thing I want is for him to be hurt."

"You love him, don't you?" Ruffie looked up sharply at him. He stared back calmly, waiting for her to answer.

"Yeah. But it doesn't matter, cause he's apparently happy on his own." Even Rufus could see the emotional pain she was in. It was no wonder Renji picked it up in his painting.

"He isn't, you know."

"What? When Tifa tells me about all the different women he goes out with?"

"He just takes them to dinner. He doesn't sleep with them." An expression crossed her face so quickly, he thougth he imagined it. He couldn't name it, but it was powerful. Yuffie then looked away from him, staring at her cup. Seeing that a change of subject would be appreciated, he started a new thread. "Renji is incredibly intelligent for a boy his age."

"You don't know the half of it. Renji's smart. Really smart. He was talking in complete sentenses before he was a year and a half. He reads books like there is no tomorrow. He doesn't go to pre-school because he's so far ahead of kids his age. I have no idea where he gets it from, either."

"There's no where for him to go? What about time in an advanced class?"

"Renji's a little boy. He needs to be a little boy, not a tiny adult. I make sure he runs and plays like any other little boy, but its hard for him not to have friends that understand. That's why he makes friends with adults. At least they aren't cruel to him for being smart."

Rufus hadn't thought of things that way. Yuffie, apparently, was a better parent than most. She knew and recognized the need for play and friends, but there was little she could do beyond being a parent.

"I'll call him later, make sure he's alright."

"Thank you."

"Mommy! Can we go to the mountains and hunt for butterflies tomorrow? I want to catch a Blue Swallow Tail to show Mr. Rude."

"If it doesn't rain, and you promise to set it the butterfly free after you show Mr. Rude."

"Okay! I'd set it free anyway, after you took a picture of it. You'll like it, Mr. Rude. It's such a pretty butterfly."

"Yeah."

Soooooooooo...I'd like some imput, people! All you guys read this, but no reviews...I don't know if you like it or not if you don't give me some feedback:) So, R&R and thanks!

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