Disclaimer : I do not own FFVII, Crisis Core, Advent Children, or any of the characters that you recognise. As much as I love these guys, they belong to those other guys.

Review replies

starrienight : Awww I'm sorry it has to end! I already have some other stuff written though so don't worry if you enjoy my mad writing style haha! Thank you for faithfully following along with me :)

Jasien: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm really enjoying your comments chapter by chapter! They will definitely help me for writing these two and others in future :D

Chapter 27 : It's Not Really Goodbye

Tifa's laughter was on the verge of hysterical as she practically fell in the doorway of her hotel room, hanging onto the doorknob as she narrowly avoided landing on her knees. Reno was bent over in half behind her, clutching his sides as they ached with his own hilarity.

"Can't believe you did that to that snowman!"

"What? S'not fair that just 'cause he's made of snow he doesn't get a chance to impress the ladies! I simply gave him something to show-"

"Oh no! Shhhh Reno s'late!" Tifa attempted to whisper, her finger pressed to her lips for emphasis. Reno mirrored her action, although he was still vibrating silently with laughter. He switched the light on before he closed the door behind them and, after about four attempts to get the key in the lock, locked the door behind him. When he turned round, Tifa was sprawled on the floor on her stomach, still giggling madly. Reno had managed to stifle his laughter but he still grinned stupidly.

"Teef, whatcha doin' on the floor?"

"Tryin' to get my boots off!"

"No yer not, yer just lyin' there." He pointed out as he knelt beside her, still grinning. Tifa rolled onto her back, her shoulders still shaking with mirth.

"Oh yeah." She looked up at him with a wide grin and he simply held her gaze. They just stared at each other for a few moments before Reno helped her with her boots. Tifa simply lay back and stared at the ceiling, her vision fuzzy with alcohol. She had told herself she'd drink the first round of drinks that he'd already bought and then she insist he didn't buy any more. Three beers, five Long Island Iced Teas, and countless tequila shots later and she wondered if this holiday had completely ruined her ability to say no. Or she would think that, if she'd actually wanted to say no at any point. They had brought their burgers and fries home in a doggy bag, too busy slamming back tequila to really care for eating. The barman had finally sent them on their way at closing time with their meals in a bag. Tifa had insisted on settling the tab to thank Reno for the room and everything else, and he had been too drunk to really stop her. It had taken them three times as long to get back to the hotel thanks to Reno's insistence that he needed to add some extra...appendages...to a snowman they had come across. Tifa had been too busy clutching her sides in peels of laughter to pull him away. They had then fallen through the hotel lobby and up the stairs, Tifa thankfully being too busy laughing to make any passing comments at the receptionist who was now pretending she didn't exist. And that led them to now. Tifa sprawled out on the floor and Reno helping her to disrobe. Again.

Reno managed to get her boots off and removed his own, cursing as he struggled to untie the laces thanks to his fuzzy boozed-up brain. He blamed Tifa and the lack of sleep for his strangely low tolerance to alcohol tonight. It was probably more to do with the fact that he'd sunk twice as many tequila shots as Tifa had. All on an empty stomach. He attempted to get up off the floor and failed, instead crawling on his hands and knees over to the bed. He managed to pull himself up into the bed and flopped down on his stomach, sighing happily into the soft duvet. He felt his eyes getting heavy and had to give himself a shake as he realised Tifa hadn't joined him yet. Pulling himself round so his head was hanging off the end of the bed upside down, he stared over at her. She was still lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling with a slightly dreamy look on her face. Reno blinked a few times before he reached his hands out in her direction.

"Tifa! Why ain't ya comin, ta bed?" He slurred, his hands clenching and unclenching as he made grabby hands at her. Tifa didn't move, but her smile did widen slightly. Reno blinked a few more times and let his hands fall to the floor. "S'wrong?"

"Absolutely nothin'. The exact opposite in fact." Tifa finally replied, her own voice slightly slurred but not as badly as Reno's. He furrowed his brows slightly and frowned.

"So yer okay?"

"I'm fantastic Reno."

"Then why ya not comin' over here?"

"Cause you told me I couldn't talk 'bout it." She answered. Reno's drunken brain whirled with confusion. Wait, what? What did I say she couldn't talk about? Dammit Drunk Reno, ya gotta remember what Sober Reno said to her. Was it to do with the snowman? No, the snowman was definitely Drunk Reno. He sniggered slightly at his drunken inner ramblings. He gave himself a shake and stared over at Tifa again. She had turned her head to look at him now.

"Who cares. C'mere." He lifted his hands again, grabbing in her direction. Tifa giggled.

"You don't remember, do you?"

"Course I do. Just don't care 'bout it anymore." He lied. Tifa just giggled again but she sat up and crawled over to him. He continued to watch her upside down, his drunken mind amused that she seemed to be crawling across the ceiling towards him. She stopped in front of him, taking his head in her hands as she stared into his eyes. He groggily tried to focus on the chocolate and crimson pools in front of him as she searched his eyes, her gaze flicking back and forth. A lopsided smile spread across his lips. She smiled back at him.

"You."

"Wha? Me?" Reno blinked in confusion. Tifa nodded.

"Yes you. You've changed me. S'only been a few days but you have."

"Huh?" Reno wasn't sure if it was the blood rushing to his head or the tequila that was making her seem like she wasn't making any sense. He opened his mouth again to question her but she silenced him by pressing her lips clumsily against his. Kissing upside down was interesting and probably required sober coordination to be successfully sexy, but Reno was drunk enough that it felt good anyway. Tifa continued to hold his face as she kissed him, her eyes half closed. Reno hummed a little as she pulled back and looked into his eyes again, a smile on her face.

"This weekend has been..." She trailed off as Reno placed a finger on her lips. He knew what she was going to say, and had he been sober he would have been able to talk about this with her in a way that didn't leave him too emotionally open. But drunk he might admit something that left him vulnerable. And that terrified him. Tifa obviously knew what he was doing and gently moved his finger away. "Reno, please. I might not be brave enough to say this in the morning."

"Then don't. You don't have to."

"But I want to."

"Tifa..." Reno sighed as he rolled over onto his stomach before he pushed himself back onto his heels in a kneeling position. He held his hand out to her and she took it, allowing him to pull her up on the bed in front of him. He shifted so he sat back against the headboard, pulling her back with him before he guided her onto his lap. He sat with his legs loosely crossed so she could fit snugly against him with her own legs wrapped loosely around his waist. He gently cupped her face with his hands, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. She simply stared up at him as she held onto the front of his tshirt with her hands, her eyes seeming impossibly large. He could get lost in them for hours, but now was not the time. She was expecting something of him, and he didn't want to hurt her. He took a deep breath before he spoke, all traces of slurring gone as he appeared surprisingly sober.

"I know what you want to say about us. And there's a part of me that wants to hear you say it. You wanna say that this weekend has been unexpectedly amazing. You wanna tell me that you thought you were gonna regret what happened but you didn't. In fact you kinda didn't want it to end. That's why you brought me back up to your room, because you wanted one last memory. And you wanted to make sure I remembered you like this." He ran a hand through her hair gently, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I'm not gonna forget this weekend in a hurry, Tifa. Hell, I'm gutted you're leaving tomorrow. But you have the bar, and your life back there. You'll look back on this fondly but you know Barret is gonna chew you out for fraternising with the enemy." He managed a small chuckle. Tifa opened her mouth to deny it but he placed a finger on her lips. "And I know you're gonna say you don't care. But you will. When the holiday feeling is gone and you're back to normal, you might even feel a bit guilty. But don't. Cause I don't. And I wouldn't change what's happened for anything."

Reno finished his small speech and simply looked at her. She looked as if she was going to say something, but he knew he'd covered everything she wanted to say. So instead, she pulled gently at the front of his tshirt and leaned forward to kiss him. Reno's eyes drifted shut and he settled his hands on her hips, his thumbs gently stroking the skin just under her top. His shoulders relaxed completely as she slid her hands up his chest slowly and over his shoulders before gently running her fingers through the loose strands of hair at the base of his scalp, her lips gently pulling at his with no burning lust this time, just the need to feel his mouth against hers.

The kissing eventually escalated to something more, but it was without the desperate sense of urgency that it had been earlier in the evening. Clothing came off slowly, punctuated with soft, lingering kisses. They spent more time holding each other, more time touching and tasting each other's skin and mouths. When they finally lay down together, Reno held her gently but Tifa clung to him almost possessively, as if she needed every inch of him to be pressed against every inch of her. They eventually climaxed together, but it was with limbs tangled around each other and soft gasps rather than names cried out in strangled voices. They fell asleep afterwards, side by side but with her in his arms and her leg wound round his.

When the morning came and light streamed into the window, Reno was the one who woke up alone, bleary eyed and with a pounding headache. He noticed her belongings were gone and he smiled to himself. They had said their goodbyes last night, and that was definitely for the best.

He took his time. Showering, dressing, and finally leaving the room behind with one last look around the room. He smiled to himself as he walked out and locked the door behind him.

AN : Aww man! I hope this is a satisfying ending for you guys. I have a little epilogue I wanna write but this is pretty much it for this fic! Thank you all for reading, I love you guys!