Warnings: None.

Pairing: Luxord/Tifa

Sassy's Note: La? Yeah, I know this isn't the greatest idea and Snow was a lot like it, but this one kinda fit more with the pairing. Snow was just crap.

Lightning

With a streak of lightning across the sky, a stranger strolled into her bar. He was a handsome man, a blue-eyed blond with a well-trimmed beard and piercings in both ears. He was dressed in neatly-pressed clothes that complimented him very well.

He strolled over to the bar and slid onto a stool gracefully, turning his blue eyes on Tifa. They were… gentle.

"What can I get you?" she asked, smiling at him.

When he spoke, his voice was a low rumbling accent that she found most melodious to her ears. She served him his drink with her kind smile still in place, and he returned it, his gentle eyes warming.

Tifa kept an eye on him for the rest of the night. The storm brought in more customers than it scared off this particular night. The stranger was genial to everyone, and within an hour of being there, he had initiated a massive poker game. She watched in gentle amusement as he won game after game. He was good.

Reno sulked at the bar for a good while after losing a fair amount of munny to the stranger. "Something's different about that guy, yo," said the redhead before gulping down his drink. "Different vibes, or something."

Tifa pondered over Reno's statement. She decided that – for once – the Turk was right. The handsome stranger did have a different feel about him – thought it wasn't an overall bad feel, just unusual.

The storm outside clamed after a while, and eventually the stranger rose from his seat, tripped his head graciously at Tifa and left the bar.

He came back, though. Weeks later when the sky was again gloomy and the lightning flashed again, he rolled in through the door as cool as he had been the first time, as neat and well dressed as before. His gentle eyes caught the barmaid, warming, and he slid onto the stool in front of her.

"Nice to have you back," she said with a smile. "What can I get you?"

His voice was still soothing to the ear, rumbling along with the thunder and lightning outside. Once more around the stranger a poker game broke out, and again the stranger dominated the game until the lightning stopped flashing and the man took his leave.

It didn't take Tifa long to realize that the stranger had a ritual about him. He always came when a storm blew up. Why? Tifa ventured a guess that he used the storm to cover his tracks. He was obviously not a native of Radiant Garden. A thunderstorm would be the perfect guise to escape under.

He never lost a game of chance. Tifa knew certain beings across the worlds possessed certain powers. She was sure her handsome stranger did. She wondered to herself if this was counted as cheating – then she decided it was good for Reno to lose and said nothing about it.

The vibes he gave off never faded, and Tifa became sure this man was as ethereal as he felt. His voice carried; his eyes melted every woman in the vicinity; his very presence demanded attention, and the bar inhabitants were all to eager to give it to him.

A year passed since the first strike of lightning brought the stranger to Tifa's bar, and she now knew why she was so drawn to him.

He was her lightning: the exciting burst of change in the redundant, dangerous storm of her life. At first he was unexpected, then became an eager, sporadic addition to her routine. Yes, he was the lightning itself.

And because that's what he was, she knew to keep her distance.

He was leaving. The storm had dissipated, and it was time for him to go. Tifa nodded at him as he slid a tip across the bar.

"Sir?" she asked before he could turn his back to her. His gentle gaze caught hers. "What is your name?"

The man grinned kindly, and with his passionate accent of a voice, he responded, "Luxord."

Ah, so that's why he seemed so ethereal. He was.

And now she could give the lightning a name.

-end-

Sassy: I just dislike the ending. Didn't wanna come out like I wanted it to. Anyway, I love Luxy, so that's why he comes off as mysterious-lover-man in this one. I love his voice, too, but that should be no surprise.

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