A/N: Rated M for language and sexual content. Standard disclaimer applies.

Updated 6/17/2020: Edits throughout. Added additional scenes involving monster attacks around the world and with Tifa and the Turks.

Chapter 4:

The setting sun in Wutai hovered between the large wooden pillars of the torii that stood at the entrance to the city's western side, where the ancient pagoda and Godo's palace sat. The bright orange orb sat just below the crown of the archway, perched above the line of mountains stretching against the horizon, casting those mountains in a deep purple. They sky above the mountain peaks was an orangey pink, stretching out from either side of the sun. Further north, the sky faded into pink, purple, and finally dark blue, with the first twinkling stars of night visible to those who looked hard enough.

A gentle breeze disturbed the Wutain maple trees, which cast their shadows long against the buildings of Eastern Wutai. The canal that ran through the city flowed quietly in the evening, reflecting the colors of the sky in its small waves.

The town was peaceful, the residents quietly home with their families and settling in for the night. As they went about their lives – eating dinner, watching TV, enjoying a conversation – their quiet was interrupted by a loud, bird-like shriek.

It echoed off the Da Chao cliffs and reverberated within the walls of the dwellings and shops, halting most citizens in place while inciting others to action.

"Guards!"

It was the fifth time that day authorities had been summoned by a townsperson, and they knew what it meant: Another monster had entered Wutai. The city protectors stationed at the main gate drew their weapons in an attempt to get the creature to stay outside the city limits but had been pushed back toward Yuffie's house. They were quickly joined by residents armed with their own swords or random pieces of equipment they decided to use as weapons. By the time the city's main defenders arrived, the fiend was already surrounded by people who were repeatedly trying to jab it with pointy things.

The wild garuda slashed and pecked at the villagers around it, managing to swipe one off his feet with a thrust of its muscular arm. One of the guards lunged forward and stabbed the creature with his katana. The beast raised its head and cried out in pain but continued to fight, the sword still sticking out of its shoulder. It threw its head to the side and knocked the guard back several feet. It got a hold of another guard and threw him into some of the armed citizens.

A small, lone figured watched from a distance at the scene taking place just inside the city. She was crouched upon the roof of her house, silhouetted against the second floor of the building behind her. Yuffie Kisaragi had never seen so many monsters get into the town in one day before, and she had certainly never seen any put up such a fight. As she watched the garuda take out the guards and residents, she readied her Conformer.

She held the weapon in front of her, flattened, and looked down the length of it as if it were the scope on a gun. She pointed it right at the garuda's head and followed its movements. She then tightened her grip on the weapon, bent her elbow to raise it back to her shoulder, and with one effortless motion, hurled the Conformer at the beast, slashing its neck. Blood shot out of the creature's jugular, splattering some of the people fighting it, before it fell to its side in the dirt. The residents and guards lowered their weapons, slightly confused by the projectile that had just killed their target. They quickly realized what had happened and looked around for the young woman who had helped them.

They wouldn't find her. Yuffie caught her Conformer as smoothly as she had thrown it, disappearing into the night to consider what was happening to her homeland.

Cosmo Canyon…

Nanaki leapt onto the griffin's back, latching onto its hide with his claws and clamping down onto its feathery neck with his teeth. The creature shook its neck violently, trying its best to throw the red beast, but its focus was broken long enough for others in Cosmo Canyon to advance.

The creature had broken through the first set of barriers at the base of the canyon, the city's first line of defense. Nanaki had been out hunting when he heard the two familiar guards grunting and yelling at the monster. He galloped toward them and then past them without a word, leaping onto the griffin. Those two guards had now each stabbed it in the chest with their swords, killing it instantly. It fell to the ground before Nanaki even let go of its neck.

He landed, as always, on all fours, and turned to face the guards.

"That's the tenth monster this week to break through our barriers," one of the guards told the red lion.

"It's never been this bad before," said the other.

Nanaki shook his head and looked up at Bugenhagen's observatory.

"What's going on, Grandpa?" he asked, knowing he would receive no answer.

The attacks had become more frequent over the past year and seemed to be escalating at an even quicker pace during the past few months. Nanaki now spent much of his days patrolling the lower canyon for fiends to try to kill them before they could reach the first sets of guards. If the current trend continued, the monsters could reach the main city within months. Nanaki was determined not to let that happen.

He had returned to Cosmo Canyon with the promise that he would protect the people of the small spiritual community as his father, the great warrior Seto, had done decades earlier. Nanaki was still young by his species' standards, now just 50, but he was determined to lead and protect as if he were an adult. He had to. It was his destiny, even if he and his AVALANCHE companions had destroyed destiny nearly two years ago. The people of Cosmo Canyon still believed in it, and so did their protector.

North Corel…

"Fire in the hole!" Barret yelled as he pressed an Ice materia into his weapon and opened fire on the three bombs threatening the coal miners.

The rotund fiery little demon spawns hurled fire balls at Barret, who held his gun arm up to protect himself from their attacks. A couple of the miners behind him tossed grenades at the creatures, which only served to anger them. One gritted its teeth and began shaking, increasing its mass by about 50%.

Barret motioned for his team to get deeper into the mine. They had just finished their lunch break and were heading back to work when they felt the intense heat radiating from the bombs. Barret had groaned – they had battled at least a dozen monsters this week. North Corel had grown considerably in the past year and a half, but it was not prepared for the increase in monster attacks that had started a year ago. The town no longer relied on tents as homes; people had upgraded to small huts and cabins as they worked to establish businesses and roads.

When Barret first returned, the people of North Corel still shunned him, even though he had been with Cid to stop the train from colliding with the town. He refused to give up and eventually convinced the people to let him see if there was still coal in the mines. There was, so he led a team to start mining again. He was able to use some of the money made from providing coal to to replace mako as a way to start drilling for oil in the fields around North Corel. Again, he was successful and was able to turn a once decimated town into the energy capital of the world. He was put in charge but refused to take anything for himself until the town was more prosperous. He built a small, two-bedroom shack for himself and Marlene but put every gil he made from his oil fields back into the town.

He would alternate his days between working the oil fields and helping the miners. He could never be someone like Reeve, who sat in an office all day making decisions. Barret had to be on the ground, with the people, or else he'd go stir crazy.

In addition to his duties with the town's commodities, he also helped train people to fight the monsters that were regularly attacking. He couldn't remember a time in all of his adventures where the world's cities had been so unsafe.

The two smaller bombs had now grown in size, while the larger one increased again. Barret knew the warning signs, called for his men to get as far into the mine as possible.

"Get the fuck outta here, it's gonna blow!" he growled, turning to run for cover himself.

He leapt into the air just as the bomb exploded, extending his good arm and his gun arm out to brace himself for landing. He twisted to land on his shoulder and rolled into a crouched position, pieces of the monster singing his skin and clothing. He felt weak, having been closer to the fiend than anyone else, but with what strength he had left he lifted his gun arm and fired at the two remaining bombs.

Barret woke up a few minutes later as a miner poured a phoenix down into his mouth. The bombs were dead, and his men had all survived. He scratched his head and blinked a few times, looking toward the entrance of the mine where the bombs had attacked.

"This shit is gettin' nuts," he said to no one in particular.

Rocket Town…

Cid was struggling to lead the scientists who made up his hometown in an effort to kill the swarm of kyuvilduns that had infested the rocket launch pad. The fiends stabbed his employees with their long beaks and clawed them with their spiny front legs. Cid jumped into the air to drive his spear into the carapace of one of creatures. Its red eyes tried to find what had attacked it but couldn't move its head to look up. Cid wrenched his sword from its back as black ooze seeped from where he had broken its shell.

He really hated bugs.

At one point, one of the beasts made it into the pilot's backyard while he was fighting another one elsewhere in town. When he returned home, he found a dead kyuvildun in his backyard; its face burned. Shera had thrown the pot of boiling water she had made for tea on it.

"I told you your tea is too damn hot," Cid told her. Shera shrugged.

Cid had to admit he was impressed with Shera's skills. When the monster attacks started increasing, he thought he would have to spend his days protecting her instead of working, as she refused to stay home and do nothing – even if it meant staying alive.

But Shera had proven herself more than capable at taking on the monsters that seemed to be infiltrating the town several times a day. She wasn't skilled in any particular weapon, so she would just use whatever was lying around, such as boiling water or one of Cid's tools. Since the monster attacks had become so frequent, however, he bought her a double-barrel shotgun just to be safe.

He already had to patch several holes in the wall of their home.

After the last bug was squashed, Cid's phone started ringing. He answered it, still looking over the dead body and wondering how he would remove it from his property.

"Hello? You too? I've been busy here. Every day. Yeah, sorry, no way I can leave now," Cid said before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Shera asked.

"Nanaki. Looks like the canyon is gettin' fuckin' overrun with monsters, too."

"He wanted your help?"

"Yeah. Apparently, he asked Barret for help, but North Corel is gettin' the shit kicked outta them as well."

"Hmm," Shera said, crossing her arms and hanging her head in thought.

Cid knew that look, she was trying to think of some scientific way to stop the monster attacks, but with a village as small as Rocket Town, it would be difficult to build something so impressive while fending off the daily attacks. As it stood, several scientists had to quit in order to patrol for monsters full-time. Cid wasn't happy about it, and he helped out during every battle, but it was all they could do. They had never needed a dedicated police force before, and he was damned if he was gonna ask Reeve to help him out.

Edge…

"Hello?" Tifa answered her phone. "Oh, hi Nanaki."

The red beast had a special phone made so he could call his friends after they parted ways. It consisted of a head piece with an attached microphone and voice-operated calling features. Reeve had it made for him, modified from one of the contraptions he used to control Cait Sith. It was a little crude, and the voice commands didn't always pick up what Nanaki was saying, but he managed. It was better than being cut off from the friends he missed so dearly.

"Yeah, it's getting really bad here, too," Tifa said in response to Nanaki's question. "Did you try Cid? Barret? Yuffie? Really?"

Tifa didn't bother asking whether he had reached out to Reeve, Cloud, or Vincent. Reeve was too busy planning Edge to take control of Cait Sith again, Cloud never answered his phone, and Vincent didn't even have one. Tifa hadn't even seen Vincent since they all met at Aerith's lake a year and a half ago. She'd at least been able to contact all her other friends – except Cloud, once he left – to keep up with their lives and see how they were doing. She had… neglected to tell any of them that Cloud left, however. They'd ask how he was doing, and she'd cover it up by saying he was "good" or "just stepped out." She didn't know how much longer they would believe her.

"Do you have any idea what's causing it?" Tifa asked. Nanaki wasn't sure, but he suspected that the calamity had something to do with the increase in monsters.

"I wish I could come help, but we're struggling here as it is," she said, before Nanaki asked another question. "Um.. it's just me and the Turks."

Tifa had to hold the phone away from her ear at Nanaki's surprised exclamation.

"I know, but that's all I have," she answered. "If you find out anything else, let me know."

Tifa hung up and stared out the window. Her friends were in trouble, and she couldn't leave to help them.

She was struggling to keep Edge safe. It had been weeks since the elfadunk attack, and since then, dozens of monsters had caused havoc around town. The Turks took care of most of them, but Tifa helped when she ran her daily errands or when they were outside her bar.

The consistent attacks made her miss Cloud and her companions more than ever. They had been a team. She had rarely had to fight on her own. She was used to Cloud being by her side, slashing his sword wildly while she made sure his flanks were protected. If he were still here, she'd have no trouble with all the fights. It would feel like old times. Now she was more aware than ever that Cloud was gone.

Now she found herself relying on the Turks – the Turks! – for help in dispatching the monsters. In fact, the Turks were actually around to help her a lot, lately. It seemed like every time a monster was attacking the street outside her business; the Turks were already on it or showed up just after she started pummeling the fiend. She hated to admit it, but she was glad they were there.

She was still cold to them, but she didn't completely ignore them like she used to. They were in her bar almost every night of the week – her most loyal customers, which unnerved her. She hadn't stopped hating them, but they were the only consistent thing in her life right now, and that somehow comforted her in some creepy way she tried not to think about.

When it was time to open the bar for the evening, Tifa walked over to the front door to flip on the lighted sign outside. She had no sooner taken her finger off the switch when the door opened, causing the bells above to jingle. A slender man with flaming red hair walked in wearing an immaculate dark blue suit with an unbuttoned jacket, revealing an untucked white dress shirt underneath that was wrinkled and haphazardly buttoned itself.

"Hiya, Lockhart," Reno said as he followed Tifa to the bar. Rude wasn't with him.

She didn't even acknowledge him, as she wasn't used to either of them coming in alone. They were almost always together; rarely with Elena. Tifa could have sworn she had seen Tseng in the hospital on the Chosen Day, but he hadn't come to the bar with the others and she didn't hear them talk about him. Of course, she didn't pay attention to their conversations, so that could be the reason.

Reno sat in his usual seat as Tifa walked behind the bar to prepare for more desirable customers. Not that the standard barflies were pleasant by any means, but they were preferable to Reno.

"So, about that drink you owe me," the young Turk said, undeterred by her silent treatment.

That got Tifa's attention. She snapped her head around to throw him a puzzled look.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know, for saving your ass from that elfadunk the other day?"

Tifa's expression didn't change.

"And I must say, it was a fine ass to save," Reno said, his eyes glancing down.

Tifa placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him, making a mental note not to walk too close to her former enemy.

"That was weeks ago," she informed him harshly, raising one hand into the air with her palm turned upward. "And where's your partner in crime?"

"Oh, he'll be in later," Reno replied. "Got held up at work so I thought I'd come bother ya."

The truth was, Rude was on a date that Elena had set up for him. Elena, too, wanted Rude to get over Tifa and thought that if Rude just met a woman who was smart and pretty and actually interested in him, he might forget about the barmaid.

"Great," Tifa said sarcastically. Reno feigned an injury to his heart.

"Ouch, is that any way to talk to the man who saved your life?"

"You didn't save my life," she sneered. "If anything, you distracted me from defending myself."

"Oh? You find me distracting?"

Tifa rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I meant."

Reno grinned at her and winked.

"Sure, Lockhart. Now, about that drink?"

"Fine, you can have one free drink. What do you want?"

"The usual."

Tifa grabbed a tumbler from the shelf behind the bar and placed it in front of Reno before grabbing her finest bottle of scotch – the one he always ordered – and pouring it in his glass, shorting him by about a half-inch. He noticed but said nothing, content enough with the fact that she was giving him free alcohol at all.

"Here," she said, forcefully, before pushing the glass closer to him. Reno picked it up and swirled the liquid inside before bringing it to his lips for a sip. He let out a sigh indicating his approval.

"That's the stuff," he said.

Tifa went back to her work as more customers entered the bar. As the room filled up, she was able to forget about Reno and busy herself with other patrons. She had been a little shaken by his comments. Was he… flirting with her? It was an odd development; one she didn't like. She might have caught him staring at her anatomy before, vaguely remembered an errant comment or two during their fights back before Meteorfall, but the idea of him thinking for one second that he had a chance with her made her blood boil. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of him even looking at her.

She didn't notice that his eyes were trained on her almost the entire night, as if he were studying her.

Flashback…

"Hey, Rude. Who do you like?" Reno asked his friend and partner as they waited for AVALANCHE along the forest path to Gongaga. It was their first assignment since the plate dropped, and though they were thankful to be back out in the field – they hated office work – they did appreciate the break. They were rarely ever in the Shinra building, even though they lived there. They were always out on missions, sleeping in hotels or tents if necessary. The office meant paperwork and boredom – but they made the most of it by pranking their fellow employees, which meant people stayed out of their way when they were in HQ. No, their apartments were only there so they could say they had a home. They had both grown up in the slums in unstable homes, so the idea of having their own place that couldn't go away unless they chose seemed like a good idea.

In truth, Reno had only asked the question so that he could tell Rude about who he liked. He had expected Rude to say Elena, their newest coworker, so that he could impress and confuse his partner by revealing who he had become infatuated with.

It had happened weeks earlier, in Midgar. Reno was a skilled fighter and had never expected to meet a woman who could match him in a battle. The women he usually bed didn't put up much of a fight, so he was surprised that he had become attracted to one who could.

It was when her heel first clipped his jaw that he had become enamored. A moment before impact, he had noticed a glimpse of white beneath her skirt. He would later credit that with distracting him just long enough for her foot to make contact with his face. He knew right then that he was smitten, though he would never call it that.

But he also realized he was there to work. He knew that continuing to fight with her would distract him from pushing the button to destroy the pillar holding up Sector 7. She was just as quick and agile as he was, matching his every move; he had to take her out of the equation. He used his EMR to construct a pyramid-shaped force field around her, freezing her in place so that he could concentrate on taking out her companions.

Her presence, however, was enough to distract him. He found himself glancing over at her as she remained imprisoned, suspended in air, chest raised, writhing in pain from the electricity coursing through her veins. The first time Reno saw her in that state, his left eye twitched and Cloud Strife was able to knock him off balance.

When the force field was finally broken, Reno reinstated it. He soon realized that her male companions might get wise to him, so he alternated his pyramids on them as well and tried to focus his attention on the party member that was neither imprisoned nor blessed with great tits.

He had taken quite a beating atop the pillar before the chopper crashed and Rude joined the fight. Reno lasted a little longer against the AVALANCHE rats, but finally succumbed to his injuries. Those rats didn't play fair – that was his move. If Rude hadn't been able to get to main control panel, Reno would have cost them the mission. No, she would have cost them the mission. If it hadn't been for her legs and tits, Reno might have been able to concentrate.

As he lay around the office recovering, he found his mind drifting back to her quite often. He hadn't felt this way before and didn't understand it. Lust, he understood, but not whatever it was he was feeling in addition to sexual urges.

He began imagining himself fighting with her, seeing it as some alternate version of sex; the give and take, the sweat and grunting, the conquest. He would close his eyes and imagine her running toward him, ready to attack. He would imagine her arm cocked and her fist prepared to punch him, her breasts bouncing as she kicked and leapt to avoid his own attacks, and her skirt unable to cover her as she spun her toned legs around him. It was those thoughts that made him almost want to take Tseng up on his R&R offer – but then he might not get to see her again for a while, and he had to know if that unexplainable feeling he had was just a fluke; he wanted it to go away.

It was weird, he thought, that he was now getting turned on by a battle. He had gotten into some weird fetishes over the years, some of which had come and gone (literally and figuratively). He would always gleefully fill Rude in on his latest kinks and had been wanting to ask him who he was fawning over these days just so he could explain. He stuck his tongue out between his teeth and readied himself for Rude's answer by rocking back and forth on the balls his feet in a fighting stance.

"…Tifa," Rude said, bringing Reno back down to earth.

The redhead didn't know how to respond. Rude had knocked the wind out of his metaphorical sails. Now Reno couldn't tell him that he also liked Tifa. He mentally kicked himself for bringing this whole thing up.

"Hmmm," Reno replied, at a loss for words. "That's a tough one. But, poor Elena. She… you…"

Reno really had thought that Rude liked Elena. They seemed to get along so well, and Reno much preferred his partner like the short-haired blonde and not the long-haired brunette that spent her evenings twirling in Reno's imagination.

"No, she likes Tseng," Rude said, plainly.

"I never knew that! But Tseng likes that Ancient…"

Neither had time to finish their conversation before Cloud, that lion-dog thing, and she appeared.

Present day…

Ever since Reno first saw her, he couldn't get her out of his head. After his conversation with Rude, however, he tried to suppress his attraction and find comfort in the arms of many different women. He never told Rude about his own feelings for the barmaid and had managed to nearly forget about her by the time Meteor came around, since by then he hadn't seen her in months. In fact, until the night of the calamity, he hadn't seen her since Gongaga, except on monitors and television screens as she and AVALANCHE traveled the plant - and of course, in his dreams.

Before then, he realized that he was not just attracted to the fight in Tifa, although he very much wanted to fight her again – alone. There was something more. No, not her personality, as he didn't really know her. It was the air about her. Despite the way she dressed, she seemed so pure, so innocent. Something about that made Reno want to corrupt her.

The women he was used to certainly didn't have that same aura. Not even Aerith had it. During their days following Sephiroth, Reno had suspected that Tifa was a virgin. The thought of taking that away from her drove him crazy.

Since he had been coming to Seventh Heaven with Rude and seeing how she interacted with Cloud, however, he knew that was not the case. Yet still she had that aura of innocence about her. He figured Cloud just couldn't dirty her up enough. Reno knew that if he got the chance, he could pound that purity right the hell out of her.

But he knew he would never get a chance if he kept antagonizing her, even if the look of anger on her face turned him on. If he were ever to conquer her, he would have to play nice, and he told himself that conquering her was all he wanted from the busty brunette.

"Another drink?" she asked, bringing him back to reality. He hadn't noticed how long he had been zoned out. He nodded meekly at her and she turned around to grab his favorite bottle of scotch. His eyes focused on her posterior as she did so.

"So, where's Cloud?" Reno heard himself ask, scrunching his face in disappointment at his choice of question.

Some old habits die hard.

He could see Tifa's muscles tighten at the mention of the pokey-headed dork's name. It delighted Reno, even if he knew instantly he had chosen the wrong discussion topic. Still, the tenseness of her muscles showed them off, and he knew that even if he couldn't turn things around tonight, he would have plenty to imagine later.

"He's out," she said, straightening her back but not turning to face him just yet.

"For three months?" Reno pressed. He just couldn't help himself.

Tifa took a deep breath before turning around to pour Reno another drink.

"Yes," she said. "He's out picking up supplies."

Reno knew she was lying and decided to keep picking.

"If I knew a woman like you were at home waiting for me, I'd never leave," he said, looking into her eyes with a smirk. His comments and expression frightened Tifa a little, combined with his earlier flirtations. She took a step back from him, bumping into the liquor shelf behind her. He kept his eyes focused on hers. "Yanno, his head looks like a chocobo's butt."

Tifa chortled but quickly caught herself. Had Reno just made her laugh? She covered her mouth with her hand and steeled her expression. This murderer may have made her smile a few weeks ago, but he would not make her laugh, nor would they become friendly. She didn't even know why his statement made her laugh. Maybe it was the fact that the usually vulgar-tongued Reno used the word "butt" instead of "ass," or maybe it was because someone finally insulted Cloud and she was in a place to hear it. He had been gone three months, after all.

Marle would never go so far as to tear down Cloud, knowing how it would make Tifa feel. She kept her comments about the blond tepid, saying just enough to comfort Tifa.

"He's not out for supplies, is he?" Reno asked after Tifa had helped another customer.

Tifa stared at him for a moment, her expression becoming stony as she tried to keep his words from stinging her heart.

"We all have our demons, Reno," she said simply.

Her words burrowed into Reno's brain. He hadn't expected her to meet his barbs with such a comment. He knew she was referring to Cloud, but he felt the comment could have applied to Tifa herself or even to him.

Tifa resumed waiting on other customers, only returning to Reno when he needed another drink. He could tell that he had gotten to her, as her demeanor changed after her conversation with him. He wasn't satisfied though. He had told himself to stop angering her, and immediately failed as he tried to anger her to get her to look at him as she had a month ago. Seeing her sad made him feel… guilty. He hated that. He was a Turk. Guilt was not part of the job description or an approved emotion. He felt guilt after the plate dropped and had vowed never to let it wash over him again. He failed at that, too.

Rude joined him an hour or so later. Reno slapped him on the back to welcome him to the "party" and let his partner capture his attention instead of Tifa. He had started a dangerous game by flirting with her tonight, even if it was just a couple of comments. His best friend had a crush on the same woman, and Reno knew how wrong it would be if he tried to pursue her. So, he now felt that guilt as well. The only solace he could take was the fact that she would never, probably, in a million years ever even consider one of them. Not when the blond Boy Wonder could come back at any minute.

"Earth to Reno," Rude said, tapping his knuckles against the side of the redhead's temple, as Reno had done a month ago the night he pissed off Tifa.

"Hey, knock it off!" he replied, swatting Rude's hand away. The bald man smirked.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked.

"Nope," Reno said, trying to control the corners of his lips that kept wanting to curl upward. Rude noticed, but assumed Reno had antagonized Tifa again, something the redhead seemed to enjoy. "So, I take it no luck?"

Rude scoffed. "No. She reminded me too much of you."

Reno tried not to smile by biting his lips but failed. Then he tried not to smile wider but failed that, too. Then he tried not to laugh but, again, failed. Elena had set Rude up with a woman like Reno. Elena thought Rude would actually like a female Reno. He had to wipe a tear from his eye by the time Rude spoke again.

"It's not funny!" Rude pouted, making a mental note to kill Elena.

His blind date had red hair, more orange than crimson, and honey-colored eyes and a feral grin. She was talkative and shared too much information about herself and had a sardonic sense of humor. Maybe she was what Rude needed, but she certainly wasn't what he wanted, and he didn't appreciate Elena's implications.

As it neared last call, Rude started standing up to pay his tab.

"Think I'm gonna head home early, it's been a hell of a night," he said, placing a large stack of gil on the bar – far more than Tifa deserved for the way she treated the Turks.

"I think I'll stay a bit. Maybe we spend too much time together…" Reno offered, pulling a sneer from Rude as the bald Turk turned to leave the bar.

Reno ordered another drink and watched Tifa as she cleaned up the empty tables. That used to be Cloud's job. When she was done with the tables, she moved back to the bar and announced that it was last call. She served a couple customers and began wiping down the bar itself.

"So, what are your demons?" Reno asked her when she was in earshot.

The question startled her, and she met his gaze.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You said earlier that we all have our demons," Reno said. "What are yours?"

"I am not discussing that with you," she said, harshly. She wasn't about to give him more ammunition to use against her. She thought he was like a child who picked at their scabs. He would use whatever she said against her in the future.

"Want to know mine?" he asked with his trademark grin.

"Not really," she said without looking at him, continuing to polish the rosewood.

"Sector 7 is one of my demons," Reno said. "I've always felt bad about it, yanno."

Tifa stopped cleaning but didn't look at him. She hadn't expected him to say that. She figured he was only saying that to get her to open up and returned to her work. Reno may have told her a few weeks ago that they didn't do that "Turk shit" anymore, but she never expected him to genuinely apologize for what happened. And in fact, that's not what he was doing right now.

"At the time, I thought you all were the bad guys," Reno continued, staring at the last few drops of liquor in his drink. "As we went on, I started to question my loyalty to Shinra, but that was my employer, yanno?"

"You kept going," Tifa said, looking Reno right in the eyes. "You gave no indication to us that you were questioning anything."

"Didn't you ever wonder if you were really doing the right thing?" Reno asked her. "But you kept on going, too, didn't you?"

Tifa had to admit that he was right. She had been nervous before she helped Cloud and Barret destroy the second reactor, and she certainly questioned her role in AVALANCHE after the Sector 7 plate fell. But she continued on; she had to, for her friends and for the planet.

"Sometimes…" she responded, before returning to her polishing.

Reno nodded and finished the last of his drink. He paused before placing the glass down on the bar, instead continuing to move the glass as if he were swirling the non-existent liquid inside.

"We all have our demons," he said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.