Chapter 6

"Sir? Sir where are you going?!" said Elena watching Tseng walk towards the door.

"I'm going out, tell the rest I'll be back in a while," said Tseng, opening the door.

"What? But- but sir, where are you going?" said Elena, frowning. She didn't like it when Tseng didn't tell her things, she always wanted to know what he was up to and what he did. She cared about him, that was the reason for it all. Even though Tseng didn't return his affections. Tseng looked at Elena.

"There's just some things that I need to sort out… I'll be back soon," said Tseng, and he walked out, leaving Elena confused and frustrated. Reno walked into the room.

"Did Tseng just leave?" he asked her.

"Yep, he said he'll be back soon…" she said sadly.

"Where?"

"He didn't say, he just said he needed to sort things out.." Elena then got up from her seat and miserably retreated to her bedroom. Rude then appeared and raised one eyebrow at Reno.

"What happened? Did Tseng just leave?" he asked Reno.

"Yeah…I pity Elena, she cares about Tseng so much and he's oblivious to her feelings for him!" said Reno.

"Either that or he just doesn't feel the same way," said Rude.

Reno nodded and walked out the room.

---

Tseng made his way down the street through the harsh cold night, the moon's light shone down on his liqourice black hair, his shoes scraped against the hard concrete as he marched onwards on his way to Aerith's house. He needed to know what was bothering her. Aerith; the sweet, gentle and always smiling Cetra he had fallen for. He just had to know exactly what was wrong, and if Cloud was the cause of it then he'd definitely have to put a stop to it.

Tseng arrived at the house, pushing open the gates that blocked entrance to the house. He walked up to the front door and stopped in his tracks: Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to ask her? Was he also really going to face his fears and tell the one he loved how he really felt? Yes. He had to. Tseng drew in his breath and raised his fist, about to knock on the door - suddenly he felt a pair of rough hands grab him from the collar of his suit and yank him backwards, causing him to fall to the ground back first. Before he knew what was happening, a sharp blade was held against his adam's apple, fierce blues eyes bore into his confused brown ones. Blonde hair blew about in the wind.

"So - I should have known it was you all along!" said Cloud angrily, holding his Buster Sword closer to Tseng's throat. Tseng blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean by that, Cloud?" he asked nervously, his fingers digging into the hard concrete.

"Aerith was seeing you wasn't she?!" Cloud spat out, slightly piercing Tseng's pale skin with the tip of the sword. "I knew she was lying to me! She's never been truthful!"

"What are you talking about? Aeirth hasn't been seeing me or anyone else for that matter!" said Tseng angrily, gaining a bit of courage. Cloud landed a kick to Tseng's side, causing him to double up and clutch his throbbing side.

"Lies! I know Aerith has been unfaithful and I don't need you trying to protect her! How DARE you!!" Cloud yelled, raising his Buster Sword.

A fountain of blood drenched the grass and flowers that were nearby and the concrete had now a new shade of red...

~---~

Aerith scrubbed the glasses vigorously, eager to get them as clean as possible while Tifa dealt with the customers that entered the bar. She didn't notice a fairly muscular arm prop itself up on the counter infront of her; catching her attention, she looked up to find a pair of friendly mako blue eyes staring into her green ones.

"Gooooooooooooood morning, baby!" Zack joked flirtingly, flicking back a quiff of his hair and smirking handsomely at Aerith.

"Oh, a charmer I see," giggled Aerith, jokingly wacking his arm with the tablecloth. She held up an empty glass. "Thirsty?"

"Oh no thanks, your presence quenches my thirst."

"Oh you!" said Aerith giggling, pushing Zack's arm.

"All right then - a glass of water please, my dear," laughed Zack.

Aerith turned her back on him and poured him his drink, Tifa walked up from behind him; her hands behind her back.

"Sooooooo - the love birds are once again together!" grinned Tifa, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh you know it, Teef!" said Zack happily. "I haven't felt this happy in a long while!"

"Well I'm glad you're happy, Zack. Ever since Cissnei died I wondered if you were ever gonna get back to your normal self - yet here you are!" said Tifa, smiling warmly.

Zack gave her this glorious grin before Aerith placed his glass of water in front of him. "Here you are, Zack."

"Thanks, Aerith," he raised his glass to her. "Here's to us!" said Zack and he knocked the clear substance back. He handed Aerith his empty glass and grinned. "Hey Aerith, I was just wondering - would you like to come to the center of Midgar with me at Christmas? The lights there are gonna be just fantastic and I really want you to come see them!"

"Well..." Aerith faltered, she fidgeted and looked at Tifa for help.

"She'd love to!" said Tifa, winking at Aerith.

"Really? Would you, Aerith?" Zack asked, staring at her hopefully.

Aerith blushed. "Well - yes, of course I'd come!"

"Sweet! You won't be dissapointed - I swear. You're really gonna love it!" said Zack promisingly, he leaned in and gave Aerith a quick kiss on the cheek before saying: "Well, I've gotta go back to work now - sorry to leave you ladies here all of a sudden but as you know, duty calls. I'll see you all later!"

He rushed out of the bar after waving goodbye to Aerith and Tifa, Tifa side-stepped around the counter and nudged Aerith.

"I can't believe you guys are actually together again!" she said cheerfully.

"I can't believe it either - oh, Tifa, this is terrible!" wailed Aerith, cupping her face with both hands.

"Terrible?! What do you mean 'terrible'?" Tifa asked, shocked, placing her hands on her hips. "This is just absolutely wonderful!"

"No, no you're missing the point - doesn't Cloud ring any bells to you?"

Tifa's face fell. "Oh yes - I forgot." her expression suddenly changed. "You've gotta leave that bastard, Aerith!"

"If only it were that simple..." said Aerith sadly, she suddenly remembered what Zack told her. "But - Zack said he'd help me!"

"Well there you go! Problem solved! You've nothing to worry about now that you have help - and I'll be there for you Aerith, no matter what."

The door of the bar suddenly swung open violently, and in came Reno with Rude and Elena, though the look on his face didn't mean that he was here on friendly terms. His blue eyes shone with hatred and he slammed his hand angrily down on the counter.

"All right - you avalanche bastards are really starting to piss me off!" he said furiously, resting his EMR on his shoulder.

"What the hell are you talking about, Reno? We never bothered the Turks or ShinRa so I don't know why we're suddenly pissing you off!" said Tifa, frowning.

"Oh you bloody know what I'm talkin' about bitch! Where's Tseng?" Reno demanded.

"Oh and it's automatically our fault when your careless leader goes missing?" said Tifa, raising an eyebrow. This comeback was definitely not amusing Reno.

"I'd advise you to not mess with me, bitch! You wouldn't want to be reminded of who you're dealing with!"

"I'd advise you to not develop strange accusations, Reno. We've no idea where Tseng is." Tifa retorted, turning her back on him. Reno glowered and then turned his attention to Aerith.

"What about you? He's always been nuts about you, ancient - so where is he?" Reno demanded once more. Aerith stepped back, confused as to why he was blaming her for his boss's disappearance. Elena looked shocked, now hearing that Tseng had feelings for Aerith and not her.

"I- I don't know where he is! I haven't seen Tseng in a long while!" said Aerith, she glanced at Elena's heartbroken face and suddenly felt guilty. It wasn't her fault that Tseng liked her, but why did she feel so bad about it?

"Then who the fuck knows where he is?!" said Reno, exasperated.

"How should we know?" Tifa snapped, slamming down the glass she was cleaning. Rude cleared his throat, trying to get everyone's attention.

"Reno - I think barging in here with these accusations wasn't the best idea. We didn't have to go and break the peace between us." said Rude. Reno frowned at him.

"Then why don't you do the rest of the talking then?! Sheesh!" Reno then remained quiet, silently fuming. Elena was gulping back sobs, trying to remain professional even though she was devastated to learn that Tseng didn't love her back. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks.

Rude turned to Tifa and Aerith.

"Sorry - we didn't mean for Reno to come off so harshly, we're just really worried about Tseng. He left the house last night and didn't return." said Rude.

"Did he say why he was leaving?" Tifa asked, calming down.

"He said he had some things he needed to sort out - he didn't say what exactly," said Rude.

"Why does he always do these things?!" Elena burst out angrily, more tears spilling down her cheeks.

Tifa glanced at Aerith, both feared the worse for Tseng. "I don't mean to cause you guys to worry any more than now, but that doesn't sound good to me." said Tifa worriedly.

"Then you shouldn't have said anything at all!" sniffed Elena, wiping the tears from her eyes, trying to pull herself together. She never meant to sound harsh, it was just that the thought of Tseng in any sort of danger terrified her.

"Sorry.. I didn't mean to upset you.." said Tifa apologetically. Elena shook her head.

"Don't be - I'm just really worried about him! What if something terrible did happen? What if he's in mortal danger?" she said frantically, tugging at Rude's sleeve.

"Elena, please, don't get yourself sick with worry. Tseng's a tough leader and I'm sure that wherever he is, he's just fine." said Rude, trying to reassure Elena, though by the looks of it it didn't seem like it was working considering that Elena was still tugging frantically at his sleeve.

"We've gotta go find him!" she demanded, almost ripping Rude's sleeve off.

"We'll help you!" said Tifa, walking round the counter to the front with Aerith right behind her.

Elena stared thankfully at the two and continued tugging at Rude's sleeve.

"C'mon! We've gotta hurry!" said Elena.

"OK then, let's go," said Rude, pulling his sleeve out of her grasp and heading for the door. Reno shifted himself off of the stool upon noticing that everyone was leaving, he gave Tifa a dirty look before walking up closer to his colleagues.

It was a horrible day outside: Dark, cold and very wet. Heavy rain pelted them as they trudged through the wet concrete, Rude stopped in his tracks.

"Where should we look anyway?" he asked, rain hitting against his bald head. He took off his sunglasses and wiped the water off them with the front of his jacket.

"I'm not sure - where would Tseng go anyway?" said Elena, becoming frantic and hanging onto Rude's sleeve yet again.

"Why not try ShinRa? He's probably just hanging around there," Reno suggested, pushing back his soaked hair with his fingers.

"Good idea, let's move." said Elena, letting of Rude's sleeve and marching forwards, the others followed through the harsh rain.

They arrived at ShinRa inc. finally after a long, wet walk through the rain, unfortunately the rain hadn't eased up on their journey and they were

soaked to the bone. Aerith rubbed her hands together over the nearest fireplace at the entrance inside ShinRa inc., she gazed around at the place and noticed how different it looked from the last time she was in here; which was many years ago before Meteor destroyed Midgar. Tifa joined Aerith at the fireplace while Reno and Rude went around searching for Tseng and asking other colleagues if they'd seen him. Elena walked over to Tifa and Aerith.

"Hey, sorry for acting like such a bitch before - I was just really worried about Tseng," Elena apologized.

"There's no need to apologize, Elena. We all know how much you care for him," said Aerith, rubbing her hands together, enjoying the warm feeling the fire gave her poor frozen hands. Elena took her soaked jacket off and lay it close to the fireplace to dry, she held her cold hands close to the flames, trying to warm them up.

"Aerith?" she began. "Did you know about Tseng liking you?"

"No... I've never taken any notice before... we don't see each other enough for me to know anyway." said Aerith.

"I guess it was quite obvious from the start... he never really stopped talking about you."

"Mmm? I never knew..."

"But I still told myself - I'm gonna tell him how I really feel someday... I just wish I could have told him earlier - I really hope he's ok."

"He'll be just fine, Elena. Don't worry-"

Their conversation was interrupted by Reno and Rude's sudden appearance as they burst out of one of the doors, panting heavily. Reno looked up at the three with sad eyes.

"T-Tseng's - Tseng's dead!" he stammered.

The room had suddenly felt ice cold.