Final Fantasy VII is owned by Squareenix

Given that anything in Nibelheim had always been on walking distance, Tifa needed some time before she could really adapt to Midgar's commuting system. Thousand of slum dwellers boarded on cramped train every morning. It was easy to miss her stop and get lost in the foreign city. It was even easier to admit defeat and moved to smaller city. However without fail, every day she woke up with blue mood, lined up to get on the train, and walked a long way into her new working place on upper plate. She filled a position as bartender on training at a diner/pub. Figured out she could pick up some useful skills there since she would like to set up a bar on her own someday.

Every patron knew her in short time. They were all taken by her charm. The girl was polite and all smile, and none of that sardonic smirk teenager usually had, but a real, sincere smile, as if living in a slum wouldn't change that.

By the time lunch was over, the place was deserted, save for a few customers. Tifa was daydreaming while standing behind the counter. Now that she was living in the same city as Cloud, there would be a chance running into him one day. So whenever she passed SOLDIER's HQ, she would swipe her eyes through the area to spot a familiar blond between groups of men in standard blue uniform. She wanted to thank him for saving her on that unfortunate day. Then maybe they could take it from there. It was a silly dream of romance, but it was what keep her going everyday without fail. She needed all the hope she could find to survive.

"Well, look at you."

A voice she recognized brought her back to reality. Reno plopped on the stool, smiling sheepishly. "Dreaming in the middle of the day. How quaint."

Tifa couldn't keep the groan that escaped her mouth. "What do you want, Turk?"

"Reno is fine." He propped one elbow at the table, slouching. "By the way, your prince has been looking for you."

"What prince?"

"Your blond prince," he said quickly, rolling his eyes as if the answer was obvious.

Tifa's heart beat faster. Might he be-

"Rufus Shinra."

Tifa felt like somebody had dropped a bucket of cold water on her back. How stupid to think Reno was talking about Cloud.

"Could always tell he has a thing for brunette."

Tifa looked away. This conversation was making her suffocated, reminding her of something shameful she's been trying to hide. "I don't want to talk about this," she whispered.

"What's not to like? Handsome, powerful, a lot of money…"

Why does he keep pushing Rufus my way? Tifa glared to make him stop, which didn't work.

"And he never go twice for the same girl, so you must have done something right."

She had enough. Better make it subtle since he clearly couldn't read her body language. With white knuckles and gritted teeth, the bartender tried to make her point, "I understand my line of work is often associated with that. But I'm not that kind of girl, so I don't want anything to do with your employer."

Reno, was either unnerving or unable to read between the lines, still dared to wink at her and came with another reply, "But with the right price…"

That was the last straw. Tifa picked a glass of water and threw the content onto him. She took the sight of drenched Turk in satisfaction.

"Yo, Tifa. Is this underfed asshole bothering you?" One of the customers, a huge man who was a bouncer stepped up.

"We were just talking," Reno said in subdued tone. He stayed very still, keeping the same slouching posture.

She nodded quietly. The fact that Reno was calm making her even more nervous. She had a hard time to decide, whether to tell the bouncer to remove the Turk off the premises or to remove himself before too late.

"Get lost, scum. I hate kid like you the most, pretty boy on a suit. For me you just another slum's rat-"

With a speed of light, a bottle was crashed into the man's head, following with a blitz on his neck. Before he could let out a squeal, Reno already jammed a fork from nearby table into the man's ear. He must have been blindingly in pain that there was no voice coming out from his open mouth. As if it wasn't enough, the Turk grabbed a stool and slammed it on the defenseless man for several times until it was broken.

Tifa couldn't believe her eyes. The skinny guy really could fight and he successfully intimidated the rest of the customers. By the look of it, nobody intended to make a stand. Tifa had the same thought as she distanced herself until her back hit the wall.

"Now where are we?" Reno dusted himself before looking at her. "Aww, why the worry look? I'm totally fine."

Tifa felt her knees go weak as Reno approached her behind the counter. Without a word, he dragged her by the arm.

"You just cost me a job!" Tifa said, stomping in anger as she regained her composure back.

The girl somehow reminded Reno of a child-throwing tantrum. He decided to tease her just to see how she would react.

"I saved you from that shitty place," he tut-tutted. "One day you will thank me. What could you gain from working over that third-class diner anyway, aside from wasting time…"

"I don't need to be saved! I have a plan to go from there! Thanks to you I have to start over!" Tifa cut him hotly. "And just because someone earn her keep honestly doesn't mean she waste her time!"

"I applaud your good, hardworking policy," replied him with a smile which difficult to read, whether he meant it as compliment or sarcasm.

Realizing he still got a hold of her, Tifa slapped his hand lightly. He let her go with a sly grin and she almost kicked herself to think that he was very attractive. Must have been his suit or his careless attitude… weren't girls her age always have something for bad boys, like a moth to the light?

When she noticed he was observing her, Tifa crossed her arms over her chest and pretended to be oblivious of the effect her action hold on opposite sex. From the corner of his eyes, she caught his mouth twitching.

"How old are you again?"

She almost jumped at his sudden question, but quickly got a hold of herself. "Sixteen…" muttered her softly, suddenly embarrassing.

Her age was very awkward, he noted. She could change in extreme way physically. It was common to find average looking girl turn into beauty queen during that age and vice versa. On her case, Reno expected no less. Couldn't wait to see the grown up version of Miss Lockhart. Could imagine why that Shinra brat had taken an interest on her.

Good taste. Old man Shinra groomed his son to be an impeccable young man with penchant for underage girl, Reno grimly thought.

"How old are you?"

Reno blinked at her question. Actually he wasn't that much older than her. Still, the fact that she was still a minor made their four years difference seemed like an eternity. They were in different phase of life and he had felt like a pedophile for leering at her chest… so, he purposely ignored the question, whistling randomly and sauntering past her, which earned him a good smack. She didn't hold her punch. He cringed in pain.

"That's for being unfair!" she scolded him, sticking out her tongue.

Great. Way to remind him he was dealing with a child. Child. Not sexy girl. Not sex object. Talking about sex…

"Hey, we got some unfinished business so I need you to come with me," his voice turned stiff and formal.

Sensing how serious he became, her gut told her to get away, but she felt queasy all of sudden.

"Rufus Shinra, isn't it?"

Her words hung like black cloud. Reno scratched his neck uneasily. He never had problem picking up girls for his employer before, so why was she different from the others?

"Yeah…"

She defiantly shook her head. "I don't want to."

Reno sighed. "So you prefer to be a waitress for the rest of your life?"

"I told you I have a plan! I'm not going to be there forever! I need to learn the skill to open my own bar and I don't need to be someone's whore to do that!"

"You do know that opening your own bar needs money… A lot of them."

"I got some…"

"…from Rufus," he interjected. "That amount of money will not be enough to cover the rent, only operational cost maybe, for a limited time. And then what?"

Tifa bit her lip, hating to admit he was right. She needed to raise a lot of money to do her plan and no matter how hard she had saved from her current job; the amount was still far from the target. The wall she had to climb was really high. And here he was, offering a proposal she was having a hard time to say no to.