Here we are, born to be kings! We're princes of..the uni...verse...yeah, a little carried away there...and here it is, the next chapter! Bet you want to know who's shooting at them, huh? Well, you'll just have to wait to find out! MWAHAHAHA!

I don't own FF VII or any of her characters. I just own the story.

They landed without incident, Reno quickly turning the aircraft off. He was out of his seat and detaching Renji's harness, fingers flying over the buckles and clips. The second he was free, Renji was in his arms, clutching him desperately and crying. Not wailing sobs like in the park, but tears and shaking. As much as he felt bad for Renji, he was getting more and more angry as Renji cried on his shoulder. When I find the son of a bitch that shot at us, I'll rip out his fingernails and bury him up to his neck in the desert for the scorpions to get.

The tears did not last long. He was still clinging to Reno, but Renji was no longer crying. He took a proffered handkerchief and noisily blew his nose. Reno took the half soggy fabric and threw it on the back seat. Unlike Yuffie, he had nothing to keep such things in on his person. He tried to soften his face for Renji's sake before talking to him. He knew he was frightening when he was angry, and he did not want Renji to see him that way.

"We're going outside, buddy. That okay?"

"Yeah. Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you still teach me to fly?"

"Yes. Absolutely. You don't know how much I want to." Renji nodded and Reno carried him over to the door, managing to open it one handed. Rude was there, inspecting the side of the helicopter, as was Rufus. They both looked up when he got out. Judging by their expressions, Rude as alarmed as he ever looked, and Rufus slightly taken aback, he was not doing a very good job at not looking angry. He tossed a set of keys to Rude and started walking away with Rufus beside him.

"Tseng and Elena are with the patrol they sent out. Very upset at working on their vacation, but-"

"This is a little more important than their vacation."

"Which is what I told them. Rude seemed very upset that the two of you were attacked." Renji tightened his grip around Reno's neck at the word 'attack', and Reno turned a dangerous glare at his boss.

"You're not helping him feel any better. Just wait to talk about it til later."

Rufus remained silent as they walked into the Turtles Paradise and out into the garden. Reno almost growled at the butterflies that fluttered about. He didn't because Renji would be distracted by them, which was exactly what he wanted. Renji watched them without moving his head from Reno's shoulder. Rufus startled them both when he spoke.

"What type of butterflies are these, Renji?"

"I dunno. Gotta look at them closer." Rufus caught one carefully, and brought it over for Renji to see. Reno cringed inwardly, but did nothing else. "Its a Yellow Lady. Only, the yellow ones are boys, and the yellow and purple ones are girls."

"Seems silly, to call it a Yellow Lady, doesn't it? Why not a Yellow Lad?" Renji shrugged and laid back on Reno's shoulder. "Are there any pink butterflies?"

"No. Pink's only in flowers, not butterflies." Renji sniffed and then turned to Reno. "Can I look at the other ones?"

"Yeah." He put Renji down, and watched as the boy caught another butterfly, this one blue and red, and proceeded to tell Rufus about it. Reno took the opportunity to call Yuffie and get the worst of the anger out of the way before she got there.

'Hello?'

"Hey, it's me."

'Oh, how was the flight? Renji have a good time?'

"Yeah. Just one thing wasn't all that good."

'Was Renji sick?'

"No. No, he did great. Loved nearly every minute of it."

'So, what happened?'

"Well, we were shot at by some person in the hills."

'WHAT! WHAT DID YO-' Reno held the phone away from his ear, saving his hearing from Yuffies shrieks. She went on for some time, making Rufus and Renji look at the phone he was holding curiously. She finally stopped yelling after saying his name.

"Are you done screaming yet?"

'NO I'M NOT DO-' Again, he held the phone away from him, waiting for her to finish. She seemed to be panting for breath after a minute more. Reno took his chance.

"Okay, now that I'm deaf in one ear, will you listen to me? He's fine. Right here with Rufus telling him about one of those butterflies."

'What happened!'

"I'd tell you if I knew. We just gone done with some tricks, and there's shooting from out of nowhere. Lousy shot, too, but nothing happened beyond a few dents and holes in the metal. Renji was just scared, nothing else."

'You're sure? Are you alright?'

"I'm pissed. This is getting out of hand, Yuffie. Whoever the fu-whoever is doing this has gone too far. Falling off a swing is one thing, actually shooting at us while in flight is another."

'Damn right! When I get my hands on whoever did this...I'm so mad I can't even think of a good torture.'

"Think of one on the way here. Renji's still scared."

'Tell him I'll be right there.'

-click-

"Glad that's over with...what?" Rufus was giving him another triumphant smirk. "I'd rather deal with Sephiroth again than a pissed off Yuffie." Renji came over to him, holding out his hand expectantly. "Oh man, did it again..." He pulled out four gil from his pocket and deposited it in Renji's hand. The boy put them in his pocket before reaching up for him. Reno obliged, finding a chair to sit in after picking him up. He tried to relax, but he was itching to get on the trail of the shooter. He couldn't do that until Yuffie arrived. "Just you wait, Rufus, one day you'll be the same way."

"I highly doubt it. She'd have to have hair more beautiful than my own."

"I'm really going to pretend you didn't just say that."

"It was supposed to be a joke, Reno. What was the gil about, anyway?"

"Every time I use a 'bad word' he gets a gil."

"Renji, you'll be a rich boy by your next birthday." Renji smiled, but did not otherwise respond. He was worn out from the days excitement and crying. He fell asleep shortly after, using Reno as his pillow. "It's amazing how much he looks like you."

"Yeah. Freaked me out the first time I saw him." He looked up at the sky, praying that the good weather would hold. A heavy rain would erase any trail or clue left behind at the scene. "What I want is to go and beat the answer out of Godo. He knows who's doing this, and he either hired him or is ignoring the fact that his own grandchild is in danger."

"Or he does not know." Reno gave him a skeptical look. "As much as Godo despises you, he would not allow harm to come to his family. Children are more treasured than anything else in Wutai."

"Yeah, well some sleaze-ball here is sure trying to hurt this one." Reno brushed a lock of hair from Renji's face, only to have it fall back down a few seconds later. He sighed and tried to push the hair from his own face, only to have the same thing happen. "I don't get why, though. If they're after me, why do things that'll hurt my kid?"

"Because he's yours. That's the best way to get at a person, you know that. How many times have you used that same process to get to your goal?"

"Dunno. But whoever is doing thing is mistaken if they think they'll get away with it."

"Indeed. I look forward to their capture." Reno didn't say anything, but he raised an eyebrow at Rufus. "Surprised? I happen to like Renji. And not because he's your son. Most people have children that are little more than maggots. Renji's not spoiled or bratty."

"You should have seen him throw a fit yesterday when he found out he couldn't go for a helicopter ride...I felt like a piece of sh-" Reno threw a peeved look at the peacefully slumbering Renji before continuing. "Piece of crap for making him cry. And don't you laugh at me, cause if you use 'bad words' you'll be paying him too. You say it, you pay it."

"Very well. But when have you ever heard me use profanity?"

"That's beside the point, and you know it." Rufus chuckled, getting a scowl from Reno. "I'm glad you find this funny, Rufus."

"What? No 'Mr. President' this time?"

"You're on vacation."

"But you're not. You should still be using my proper title."

"Go ahead and fire me, then. That'll solve one of my problems."

"Problems? Do tell." Reno made a rude face at him before answering.

"I can't just spend one weekend a month here with them. My job's in Midgar, or where ever you're at. How am I supposed to be here for them and work at the same time?"

"Good question. You could always retire, you know. Live a life of freedom." Rufus had his chin in one hand, the arm owning the hand sitting on the arm rest of another chair like Reno's. He gave the lock of hair that swept over his face from the wind a vague glance before pushing it aside. He received a very droll look, akin to what certain comics used in the 'sweat-drop' expression.

"Me? Retire? I'd go nuts after a month."

"You'll just have to stay employed then, won't you Reno?"

"You make it sound easy, sir."

"It is. You make things more complicated than they really are."

"What're you talking about? How do I make things more complicated? I get things done in the easiest way possible."

"I meant in your personal life. You wouldn't have this problem with someone attacking you had you known about Renji in the first place."

"Don't start on that, Rufus. I feel bad enough already."

"Very well. There's an elegant solution to your 'problem', if you'd bother to think about it."

"And what's that, wise leader? It'd better involve me still flying helicopters."

"You could-"

Rufus was interrupted by a panting Yuffie skidding to a halt in front of them. She bent over, hands on her thighs as she tried to catch her breath. It was several minutes before she could speak, or even breath normally.

"So, what happened?" She reached over to Renji and brushed the same lock of hair from his face that Reno had. He was happy to note that it fell back again just as quickly as when he did it. "Why did someone shoot at you?"

"Don't know."

"Tseng and Elena are with the patrol that was sent out to investigate, so they will have something for us before long." Rufus spoke with a certainty that left no doubt that they would indeed find something to report. "I'd suggest you both go home." Reno opened his mouth to protest, but Rufus cut him off before he started. "There is nothing you can do at this time, Reno, and you know it. Those two are perfectly capable of handling things in the field. You will know immediately when they make a report."

"We'd better, Rufus. I'll drown whoever's doing this in half congealed jello mixed with paint thinner."

"Finally thought of a good one, huh?" Reno said with a smile. Yuffie grinned and nodded. "I like it. Just enough humor in it to make it embarrassing. I'm proud of you."

"Why thank you." Yuffie made a bow, much to the amusement of both men in the garden.

"What's funny?" Rude asked, walking up to them. He nodded a greeting at Yuffie before turning to Reno. "Got a few bullets out of the armor. Older model. Long range rifle. I'm surprised these are still around." Reno scowled. That fact would make it both easier and harder to find the gunman. Easier because those guns were hard to come by. People collected them. It would be harder because they would have to track down registered owners. "I've got headquarters running a check on owners of all late model riffles. They'll call when they get done."

"I hate waiting."

"I remember you waiting for something. Said it was worth it." Yuffie was teasing him, he knew, but it seemed out of place in the current situation.

"Yeah, but that didn't involve attempted murder."

"Relax, Reno. No sense worrying about what you can't do anything about."

"How can you be so calm about it? I'm ready to rip someone to shreds and you're joking around."

"You get used to it, Reno. Once the initial anger is gone, there's nothing left to do but wait. We had to wait and watch Meteor come closer and closer, knowing there was nothing we could do about it. We had to sit there and watch Cloud fight Sephy, knowing there was no way we could help. I want to die knowing I spent my life doing something other than worry. So if there's nothing I can do, I don't worry too much about it."

"Yeah, well-wait. Did you just call him 'Sephy'?" Yuffie nodded, grinning again.

"He didn't like the nickname much. Not that I care. The Sephy Clones made me giggle like crazy. They were way too emo for their own good." They all laughed softly, not wanting to wake the sleeping child Reno held. "Although, I think Loz was okay. He kept Marleen safe in Ajit. Kinda."

"They tried to kill everyone. Does that mean nothing?" Rufus was still in the same position as before, chin resting on his palm.

"Well, Reno tried to kill me and my friends. See how that turned out?"

"A good point." He stood then, walking toward the double doors that lead inside the inn. "I still say you should go home and wait. Have a nice day." Rufus waved his hand behind him and walked inside, Rude following.

"Does he have some sort of special Perfect Hair materia or something?" Yuffie asked, peering after Rufus as he brushed his hair aside.

"Probably. He said he'd only end up in love if a woman had hair more beautiful than his." She turned to him, wickedly grinning. He knew that look. It meant trouble. He loved it. "What deviltry are you thinking up, Yuffie?"

"I know someone with hair more beautiful than his."

I love playing with these men, I swear there is more fun in it than anything else! Except a pool of lime cubed jello. That would be more fun for like ten minutes. Review please, it makes me smile when you hit that little 'GO!' button!

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