I think this is my longest chapter so far for this story. Hopefully, it's not too long.

I'd called Cloud early on the morning of the "date" to confirm that he was coming. Surprisingly, he agreed instantly. "I've always wanted to take Aerith to Banora, but with my wages I can't afford it." I rolled my eyes and hung up.

The plan was for us all to meet up at the bar and walk to Banora. However, Tifa had had an idea. She would drop by my apartment to pick me up in her car, and then drive to the bar.

"And why do you wanna do that?" I had asked her when she'd called me with her proposition.

"For authenticity if nothing else, baby," she'd replied in her best sappy voice.

"But wouldn't it be more authentic if I picked you up, not the other way around?"

She'd hung up on me when I'd said that, which made me laugh.

**GREEN**

Tifa pulled up at my apartment about ten minutes later. I double-checked my tie in the mirror before going out to meet her.

Even though I wasn't actually attracted to her, I had to admit she looked amazing. Her dress was a simple black, as were her shoes. "You scrub up pretty nice," she said loudly to me as I approached her.

"You're not so bad yourself," I quipped.

She grinned and opened the door of her black BMW. "After you," she purred, bowing low.

"If you insist," I grinned, diving into the passenger seat.

As we went off, an idea came to me. "I have an idea," I said to my date.

"Do you now?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the road.

"How about, when we get to the bar, we act like normal. But when we get to Banora, you start trying to…er, seduce me."

She glanced at me quickly. "Seriously?"

"Er…yeah." I was glad that it was a dark night, because I was blushing.

"You know, that's a good idea. You should tell Zack and Yuffie about it."

"Why?"

"Well," she said nonchalantly, "how about I first try to make a move on Zack, who says no. I get a bit pouty, but I move on to you. And you're a bit more…enthusiastic about it."

I looked at her. "Tifa, you are more devious than a politician."

"I know," she replied. "Aren't you proud of me?"

**GREEN**

We pulled up out front of the bar, where Zack, Cloud, Aerith and Yuffie were already waiting. Like me, Zack and Cloud wore simple black suits. Yuffie's dress was a dark green, while Aerith's was, as expected, pink.

"Looking good, Boobs!" Yuffie called out as we got out of the car.

"Thanks," Tifa replied, ignoring the nickname that Yuffie had given her which always annoyed the crap out of her.

"Looking fancy, Luke," Zack said to me.

"Spiffing, wot?" I replied in my best British accent.

"Let's go already!" Aerith shouted. That was out of character. Aerith's never in a hurry. "They'll give away our table!"

"No way, Aerith," I placated her. "Lazard's my friend, remember? He's expecting us."

"Oh. Sorry, I forgot."

Cloud grabbed her hand and led us away. I fell back to talk to Zack.

"Did you get my text?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I got it. Yuffie did too. That's a pretty good idea, by the way."

"Thanks." I'll admit that I said it a bit smugly.

**GREEN**

We were escorted to our table. It was round, with a white tablecloth. There were tall candles on the table in silver candle holders. Lazard had even scattered a few rose petals on the tablecloth. I rolled my eyes at that.

Cloud sat next to Aerith, as expected. Yuffie was on Aerith's right, and Zack was on Yuffie's. Tifa was next, followed by me.

Before we could even order entrees, Lazard came out of the office. He wore a white suit, and his blonde hair was swept back to keep it out of his eyes. His thin-rimmed glasses were perched a bit precariously on the bridge of his nose. He also wore white gloves.

"Luke, my good friend," he greeted me expansively, his arms out. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Lazard," I replied, getting up and giving him a "man-hug". "Better now that you're here, though," I added cheekily.

"Stop it, you. Ah, so these must be your friends."

"They are. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Lazard Deusericus. Lazard, this is everyone. To be precise, this is Tifa, Zack, Yuffie, Aerith and Cloud."

"Nice to meet you all. Now don't worry about paying for this. It's on me. Consider it a gift."

"Thank you, my friend," I grinned, and sat back down as Lazard left.

"Aw, that was nice of him," Tifa giggled. "Don't you think, Zack?" She casually put her hand on his.

Cloud gave him a bit of a look. I hid my smile behind my hand. Clearly Cloud did have some form of feelings for Tifa.

"Er, um, ah," Zack stammered, "yeah." He moved his hand away.

Tifa pouted. "Aww," she whined, sounding disappointed. Then she looked at me. "Thank you so much for this, Luke," she thanked me, winking.

I smiled and winked back. "No problem," I replied, nudging her other hand with mine. She took the hint and laced her pinkie finger over mine.

Now the fun's really gonna start.

**GREEN**

The "date" was a success. Cloud and Aerith now believed that I was dating Tifa, and that Yuffie was at least interested in Zack.

Yuffie offered to drop Zack and me off after the dinner. Zack got dropped off first, before Yuffie's green Ford Fiesta pulled up to my apartment.

She got out and led me to the door, chatting to me about the plan all the while.

"So how was being Tifa's BF for the night?" she asked cheekily.

"Nervous," I replied. "Cloud seemed a bit protective."

"You saw it too, huh?"

"It was kinda hard to ignore it."

"But…"

I sighed. "But Tifa's a good-looking girl, and even pretending to be her other half is kinda nice."

"There," Yuffie smiled at me as we reached my door, "was that so hard?"

I chuckled slightly. "Not as hard as the kissing's gonna be."

"Why?"

"Because…er…" I was blushing again.

"Spit it out!" She punched my arm.

"Because I've never kissed a girl!" I blurted.

Her eyes widened. "So, you don't want your first kiss to not mean anything? Is that it?"

"Er, yeah." I was about to explain more, but I couldn't.

Mainly because Yuffie had grabbed my tie and kissed me full on the lips.

My arms flailed around for a bit, not knowing what to do. Eventually, though, my hands went to her shoulders, holding them lightly. For the love of the Planet, she was a good kisser!

The kiss went on for a while, until I remembered something. I suddenly pushed Yuffie away, leaving her with a shocked look.

"What's wrong?" she asked me.

I took a deep breath as I composed myself. I tried to explain, but no words came out.

"Is it that you don't want this?"

"What? No, no, no, no, that's not it at all! It's just the plan. You know, 'Operation Green'?"

"What about it?"

"Well, it wouldn't do the plan any good if I was meant to be dating Tifa, but I was making out with you on the side. So even if I did want this, which I do, we can't."

She stared at me for a while, but nodded slowly. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"The minute the plan's over and done with, you're mine." Her eyes blazed with a fiery determination.

I grinned. "Deal."

We shook on it. Yuffie snuck a quick peck on my cheek before she left.

I held in my exultant yell until Yuffie's car had driven away. I didn't want her hearing it.

So about the band that I mentioned at the end of the first chapter. I've decided to do both! You'll understand better when the next couple of chapters roll around.