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

Chapter 38:

Reno opened the back door to Seventh Heaven and immediately collided with the absolute last person he wanted to see at that very moment: Cloud Strife. Without thinking, he yelled "Fuck!" after tangling with his rival, partially because of who he had just bumped into but also letting out the anguish that was now pent up inside of him.

He continued past Cloud and stormed out the front door of the bar without making eye contact with anyone. He tried his best to slip out quietly, yet his outburst just inside the bar made that impossible. Once he was outside, however, he didn't care who noticed his leaving or what they thought was wrong with him.

The air was getting cooler now that fall was approaching, something Reno looked forward to each year. Don't get him wrong, he loved women's summer fashion, but he was more comfortable in a cooler climate. He walked briskly from the bar in the direction of his apartment, wanting nothing more than to pass out and pray this was all some kind of bad dream.

Why did he say those things to Tifa? He had always thought those things about Cloud, but he never intended to tell Tifa any of that. He panicked. He felt himself losing her and he lashed out, like an idiot. Like someone who had never been in a real relationship before. Well, he certainly fucked that up.

He needed to sleep, and she needed time to cool down before he could approach her again. But Cloud would probably swoop in during that time. It wasn't fair that the blond got to live there with her and get her undivided attention while Reno had to hope he wouldn't lose her.

He was about a block from Seventh Heaven when his phone rang. Without taking even a second to consider who might be calling – Elena, Rude, maybe even Rufus or Tifa – he took out his phone and flipped it open to his ear.

Back inside, Elena turned to Yuffie and apologized for Reno with an awkward smile.

"We should… probably go," the blonde woman said. "I'm glad we were able to put the past behind us, at least for a little while."

Yuffie nodded, confused by Reno's actions but suspecting what might have happened. Elena made eye contact with Tseng and Rude, who quickly followed her out the front door in search of Reno. They may have been having a pleasant conversation, but things were surely about to go south. The atmosphere was already cool, with the Turks distrusting AVALANCHE's view of them and AVALANCHE distrusting the Turk's motives. At best, the celebration could be considered a truce, though everyone seemed to be getting along.

Elena looked both ways after exiting the bar, but Reno was already out of sight. She broke into a jog, hoping to find him skulking down a side road on his way home. He didn't have much of a head start, so finding him wasn't difficult; he was only a block ahead of them, standing in the alleyway and talking on the phone. The Turks could only hear Reno's side of the conversation.

"Of course I'm glad you're okay, too. It's just that the chopper is my baby," Reno said into his phone, his voice raised and irritated.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said after a brief pause. It was then that he glanced over his shoulder and noticed his colleagues had followed him out of Seventh Heaven. He immediately turned to walk swiftly in the opposite direction, pretending he didn't notice them.

"For the love of God, you women have a one-track mind," he said into his phone as his pace quickened.

"Shotgun, I'm exhausted and pissed off, can we deal with this tomorrow?" he said, trying to keep his voice down so the other Turks wouldn't hear his conversation.

"Freyra! God!" he yelled after her response, immediately forgetting that he was trying to keep his voice down.

"Fine – fuck – just go into the office and look in my bottom right desk drawer – no snooping!" he turned a corner.

"No, Freyra, I can't," he said before hanging up.

He didn't look back at his fellow Turks even after he hung up; just continued to try to lose them on his way back to his apartment. Sure, they knew where he lived, but he had noise-cancelling headphones up there and a will to ignore.

"Reno!" he heard Elena call to him. He kept walking. "Reno! I know you can hear me!"

Elena looked at Tseng and then to Rude with an apologetic expression. They each nodded, knowing that she would have to use her particular talent, even though she didn't like them to witness it often. She took a deep breath before speaking in her most shrill tone.

"Reno! You can keep walking away, but we'll keep following, and I'm going to keep talking the entire way back to your apartment. Nonstop. Reno. Reno. Reno! Talk to us. Reno. What happened. Reno?"

"Okay!" Reno spun around and shot Elena a nasty look. He was exhausted, and irritated, and feeling guilty. He just wanted to go home.

"What happened?" Elena asked, more calmly this time. Reno groaned.

"We had a fight, that's all," Reno insisted, not caring whether Elena was referring to Tifa or Freyra.

Elena shifted her weight to the side and folded her arms across her chest. Rude stared at him through his sunglasses and Reno could tell his expression was disapproving. Tseng stood motionless, as usual, with an expression that Reno couldn't read, even after all these years.

"People have fights," Elena said in a soothing tone.

"Not like this," Reno said, refusing to make eye contact with his colleagues. "She knows we bugged her house."

He hated his emotions right now and the fact that his coworkers were seeing him like this. He felt weak. This thing he had with Tifa; it was weighing him down like an anchor. It was embarrassing.

"I wouldn't give up," Elena pleaded. Reno shot her another look.

"Why do you care so much, 'Lena?" he snapped.

"Because I want you to be happy!" she retorted. "I've seen you two together, she'd be good for you."

"But I'm no good for her," Reno turned to start walking away from everyone. "Never was."

"That's not true!" Elena sounded desperate. "You can fix this!"

"I'm going home. Maybe shit won't look so bad tomorrow," Reno said over his shoulder.

"That's the spirit," Tseng said emotionlessly. Reno's nostril twitched into a sneer.

"Heh, I doubt it."

Reno kept a brisk pace as he walked back to his apartment building. He hated how every conversation with his coworkers was now about getting him into a relationship. They used to have so much fun together, before Elena made it her life mission to get Reno and Tifa together. He used to tell them about his latest conquest – which was fun for him, not so much them. When that was done, they'd talk about explosives or have long, sometimes heated discussions about completely irrelevant things. One time they argued about what would have happened if AVALANCHE fought fairly, instead of 3-on-1 or 3-on-2. Would three Turks be able to defeat one member of AVALANCHE? Even Cloud?

Then there was the time they spent an entire afternoon arguing which materia element was best. Reno contended it was thunder, since it could destroy things in water and start a fire. Elena argued for water, since it could damage electronics and put out the fire. Rude, always the contrarian in these discussions, defended earth or wind. The topic got so intense Elena ended up "proving" her point by dropping Reno's PHS in a glass of liquid and storming out.

Reno missed those days, but he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to them, at least not any time soon. He found himself reliving those conversations but with Tifa in the group, as if that were ever truly a possibility. What were her thoughts on the element question?

He had calmed down a bit by the time he reached his apartment door. He hesitated outside in the hallway for a moment, lowering his head and sighing. Suddenly solitude didn't have the same appeal and knowing Tifa was pissed at him and probably being comforted by Cloud right now only made the situation worse.

He fumbled around in his pocket for the key and placed it into the lock. He took a deep breath to prepare for the loneliness he was about to feel and opened the door to find that the lights were already on…

In the alley…

The other Turks watched Reno walk away for a moment before turning to each other.

"Why are you so concerned about his personal life, Elena?" Tseng asked when Reno was out of earshot.

"I just… I just want people to be happy, is that so wrong?"

Rude let out a grunt that sounded like a laugh. He was standing with his arms crossed, looking at the ground in front of him.

"I think it's time to let him go," Rude said without lifting his head. "Reno's going to do what Reno's going to do. All we can do is pick up the pieces."

"I had hoped we'd get a break after defeating Jenova," Elena said. "But I guess not."

In the bar…

After Reno and the other Turks left, Nanaki surprised everyone by stepping forward and making a suggestion.

"I think it's time we all left as well," he said, sitting on his haunches as the other members of AVALANCHE looked at him.

Barret turned back to look at Yuffie, who was still behind the bar. It made sense for Barret to assume Yuffie knew what was going on, as she was Tifa's best friend by default. Yuffie looked to Barret because he was the only other person she thought might have an inkling about Reno and Tifa's relationship, though he could be thick-headed. They were both surprised that Nanaki was the one to interject. Yuffie didn't make it much of a secret on the trip to the Forgotten Capital, but Nanaki had seemed so opposed to everything other than the books that Yuffie didn't think he paid attention.

Before anyone else could say anything, the back door opened again and Tifa ran in, heading straight up the stairs without saying a word to anyone. Yuffie, being the closest to the back door, could tell her friend had been crying. A moment later, Cloud also burst through the back door, calling for Tifa and looking around before heading up the stairs as well.

Cid wasn't sure what all had happened, but he knew a lover's quarrel when he saw one. He looked to the rest of AVALANCHE, who were still stunned, and cleared his throat.

"C'mon everyone, I'll take ya home," he said, motioning toward the door. "Probably wasn't a good idea to put a bunch of former adversaries in a close space with alcohol after the biggest fight of our lives."

Barret nodded and followed Cid out the door along with the remaining members of AVALANCHE. Outside, they said goodbye to Reeve, who then turned toward the center of town and began walking. A block away, as Reeve passed an alley, he overheard the Turks talking. He hid behind the corner of the opposite building and listened.

He heard Reno say he had a fight with someone, but Reeve didn't connect that it was probably Tifa until Elena said, "she'd be good for you." Reeve shook his head; unsure he had actually heard what he thought. Surely, Reno couldn't actually think he had something with Tifa? Reeve had never cared for the Turks, though his tolerance for them had grown since Meteor. He still couldn't see anything happening between Reno and Tifa though. He thought he knew Tifa, but maybe he had been so busy the past few months he missed some things.

He knew she was heartbroken after Cloud left, but enough to fall for Reno?

When he stopped hearing the Turks' voices he quickly started walking again toward the center of town and then to his house.

The rest of AVALANCHE didn't say much as they returned to the Highwind, but once onboard, Barret tried to get some information from Yuffie, who was hunched over and trying to calm her motion sickness. Nothing Cloud told her years ago ever seemed to work.

"Do you know what all that was back there?" Barret asked the sick young ninja.

She held up a hand to him to indicate she had something to say but needed a minute. Her other hand was covering her mouth. She gagged a few times.

"Ya know, they make potions for that now," Barret said, crossing his arms.

"No potions, materia," Yuffie said weakly. Barret shook his head and groaned.

"So?" he asked again.

"I have an idea, but I'm not telling you," she responded.

"Was there really something going on with her and the Turk?"

Yuffie shrugged. "You'd have to ask her."

"Hmm."

Barret was the first one dropped off. Elmyra and Marlene were waiting for him, covering their faces as sand flew everywhere when the Highwind landed. He ran toward them. Marlene ran toward him and leapt up into his arms as he kneeled down to catch her.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck. He tossed her into the air and onto his shoulder, where she sat as they walked back to Elmyra. "The monsters stopped attacking! Did you do that?"

"I helped, baby girl," Barret told her. Elmyra smiled.

"I'm glad you're back safe," she said.

The Highwind began to take off in the distance, and the three shielded their eyes and waved to the ship as it flew away.

"How did you stop them?" Marlene asked. "Did Cloud and Tifa help? What about Mr. Reno and Mr. Reeve? Did you see Cait Sith? Was it Sephiroth? Were you scared?"

"Whoa, slow down, kiddo," Barret insisted. "One question at a time."

He and Elmyra laughed as they walked back to Barret's small home.

Nanaki was taken to Cosmo Canyon next, where the tribe cheered for his return. The barriers that had been set up deep into the canyon had been removed, and access to the town was restored. He wasted no time assessing the damage that had been done to his home and was already talking to the village elders when the Highwind left. Nanaki took a brief pause from his conversation to look over his shoulder at the large airship, feeling a pang of sadness at the knowledge that he probably wouldn't see his friends again for a long time.

After Meteorfall they went their separate ways and barely spoke for a while. Nanaki loved being in Cosmo Canyon, but he was never happier than the days he spent fighting with AVALANCHE. He didn't like the increase in monster attacks, but it felt good to again be traveling and researching.

Yuffie was Cid's last drop off after he realized Vincent was not on the airship. Did he even board with them? Cid suddenly couldn't remember.

"Alright girl, stay out of trouble," Cid said to Yuffie as if he were a father giving his daughter advice. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Okay, dad," she said before quickly disembarking and running into Wutai to see what needed to be fixed. It was the first time she had seen the town clear and people on the streets in months. It felt good. She grabbed her luggage and headed for her house. Once inside, she took out her PHS and texted Tifa.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

Behind Seventh Heaven

"How long were you listening?

"Long enough to hear that while I was dying trying to get back to you, you were getting close to the man who destroyed Sector 7," Cloud said, instantly regretting his words. Why would he say that? He had never said anything so cruel to anyone in his life, how could he say that to Tifa? It was definitely not what he wanted to say to her. It was the first thought that popped into his head, but it was by no means what he thought about the situation. Tifa didn't know he was trying to get back to her at that time.

His words made her want to vomit. She wanted to slap him. She wished the past two months had never happened. She wanted Reno to come back. She wished Cloud had never come home. She wished he had never left. She wanted die.

She gave him a defeated look before leaping to her feet and dashing back inside and up the stairs, tears streaming down her face.

Cloud jumped up and back when she did, expecting her to yell at him. He didn't think she'd run from him, though he couldn't blame her.

"Dammit!" he said, kicking at some debris in the alley.

He hadn't felt this bad since, well, since he first left her months ago. He knew back then that he was doing the wrong thing, but thought he was protecting her. Now he was just lashing out. He rushed to the back door and flung it open, looking around the bar for her.

"Tifa?" he called as he scanned the room for her.

He didn't think she had time to make it across the bar and out the front door, and since he only saw the faces of other AVALANCHE members – no Turks – he took off up the stairs to the room he used to share with Tifa.

He stopped in the doorway, afraid he'd find her packing a suitcase or throwing out his things. Instead, he saw that she was in bed, curled up with the sheet pulled up under her arm and facing away from the door. He had seen her like that once before he left, on the day he thinks she finally gave up on him. When he started his journey home, he had vowed to never see her like that again.

About two months ago…

Cloud had been pulling away from her for months. His headaches were getting worse and he was finding it more difficult to hide the pain and fear. His nightmares were becoming more intense. He stopped smiling and would barely even look at Tifa – at least from what she noticed.

She had tried everything she could think of to salvage their relationship. She tried asking him what was wrong many, many, many times. She tried rephrasing it by asking him to "talk to her" as sweetly and nonchalantly as possible. She tried asking him what was on his mind. She finally gave up asking when she started worrying her questions were annoying him. He never answered anyway.

She then tried to pretend nothing was wrong. She'd go about her day and make small comments to him in the hopes normalcy would fix things. She'd ask him to help her with the bar or give him tasks like she did before his headaches started consuming him. He would barely respond to her comments, but he would at least help her if she asked. Things still did not improve, and within a few weeks, Cloud was hardly around for her to even ask him for help.

She swallowed her pride eventually and thought about what Aeris would do in this situation. Tifa tried to be bold and say whatever was on her mind, even if she thought she might be rejected or embarrassed. She tried to ask open-ended and random questions to start discussions with Cloud, like which fiend would win in a race or which one he would most like to have as a pet. When she asked, Cloud would barely acknowledge she had even spoke, offering only some kind of grunt – if he responded at all. Sometimes he would just say his head was hurting and leave the room.

Getting more and more defeated as the months dragged on, Tifa tried to start being more affectionate toward Cloud, thinking actions might be better than words. But when she'd place her hand on his shoulder or try to wrap her arms around his waist, he'd twist away from her and say he had something to do. She never saw how much the act was hurting him as well.

Tifa didn't have the relationship experience to read the writing on the wall. She thought the whole time that she could fix things and salvage what they had. Sometimes she couldn't hide her tears or anger and would end up in an argument with Cloud. Every time that happened, she felt him pull further and further away, until she feared that one more argument would drive him away for good. She started hiding her emotions.

She tried grand gestures, like cooking Cloud his favorite meals or buying him gifts. He'd eat the food and hardly say a word to her other than a barely audible "thank you." He'd try to reject the gifts.

Finally, she decided to make one last big move. It was not something she would have ever done without knowing he would respond positively, but after months of thinking she was losing him, she had no other ideas. She had tried everything else she could think of. She had tried talking to him, inviting their friends over to cheer him up, pretending things were fine, crying in front of him, fighting with him, showing him affection. Nothing worked.

That night she took a deep breath and opened her closet. Cloud was downstairs moping, so she knew she had some time. She pulled out a dress she hadn't worn in years and put it on, along with a matching pair of heels. She applied more makeup than she would usually wear, and left her hair untied and falling about her shoulders. She then sat on the bed in a seductive pose and waited for him to come upstairs.

He still slept in their bed some nights, but he had gradually started sleeping in the guest room over the months while his headaches worsened. Each night he stayed away, Tifa would stay up hoping he would join her – as she had done when he first came back into her life two years earlier. When she eventually accepted that he wasn't coming to bed, she would fight back tears before falling asleep.

On this particular night, she heard his heavy footsteps trudge up the stairs and stop outside their bedroom door. Her heart started to flutter as she anticipated him entering their room and finding her on the bed dressed as she was. But after a moment of silence, she heard the footsteps getting quieter and she knew he was heading for the spare bedroom.

Trying not to cry, she stood up from the bed and took another deep breath. She waited a few minutes until she stopped hearing noises from the other room before quietly opening her door and stepping into the hallway. Typically a quiet walker, her heels clacked on the wood floor as she nervously approached the guest room.

She held her fist up to the door and prepared to knock but thought better of it. Instead, she reached for the doorknob and turned it slowly, her heart practically beating out of her chest and her cheeks flushed.

The lights were still on when she opened the door. Cloud was lying on his bed, reading. He looked up when she entered, and she could have sworn she saw a quick glint in his eye and the corners of his lips curl. She didn't know how hard he had to fight to not react to the sight of her in the doorway.

She was leaning her shoulder against the doorframe, with her other hand resting on her hip. She was wearing the blue dress she wore when Cloud saved her from Don Corneo. She wore a tied choker around her neck and heels the color of her dress. The dress itself was more lingerie than actual clothing. It was a halter dress that barely covered her breasts and bottom. The back plunged to her hip bones.

She was clearly uncomfortable and kept trying to hide herself with her hair. But then she'd quickly remember what she was trying to do and brush her hair back behind her shoulder again.

She knew this was a stupid move. Cloud knew what she looked like and knew what it was like to be with her sexually. Yet it had been months since they had been physical, and she thought that maybe this kind of bold reminder might snap him out of his prolonged funk.

"Tifa…" Cloud said in a dejected tone.

Tifa didn't let it deter her. She walked over to the side of the bed and straddled him, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around her and for a minute she thought her gambit had worked. He wasn't kissing back, but he wasn't pulling away from her either.

That lasted for no more than three seconds. Cloud gently twisted to the side, bringing Tifa with him off his lap. She stared at him with wide, hurt, and questioning eyes that were beginning to glisten.

"Tifa," Cloud said, looking away from her. "I can't."

"Why not? What's wrong?" she asked as the first tear escaped down her cheek.

Cloud still wouldn't look at her, but his voice was cold. "I don't want to, not anymore."

The words felt like a slap in the face to her, but also like a kind of closure; proof that he was really leaving her even if he hadn't actually done it. She swallowed the lump in her throat and jumped off the bed.

"I'm sorry," she said as she quickly left the room, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Tifa!" Cloud said as she left. He wanted to call her back and explain why he was acting this way, but his voice was barely more than a whisper.

He didn't want to leave her, but he was dying and a danger to her. His dreams had become so vivid that he woke up expecting to find a trail of blood leading to Tifa's body. He couldn't risk her life and he didn't want her to waste his last few months on earth taking care of him and watching him die - he knew what kind of toll that would take on her. He thought that if he acted cold and distant, she could move on quicker, but she was so loyal she just kept trying to help him. He should have expected that, and it hurt him every second of the day.

He forced himself to only look at her for a second at a time so she wouldn't accidentally catch him. He twisted out of her embraces because he knew if he didn't, he would give in and it would be impossible for him to protect her. He tried to think about Barret and Sephiroth when she walked in his room wearing that blue dress – it was almost too much for him to handle.

When she left he felt his heart die a little. He waited until he couldn't hear the sounds of her heels slapping against the wood floor before getting up and quietly walking to her – their – bedroom. The light was off when he slowly opened the door, but there was enough moonlight for him to see her lying in bed, curled up with her back to him. Her heels were sitting on the floor next to her. Cloud could see she was shaking and heard her sobs.

He knew he had done that to her. He had broken the only woman he loved, and she didn't know why. He closed the door and turned, with his hand still resting on the wooden slab. He closed his eyes for a moment to think about what he had to do now before returning to the guest room.

He left her the next night.

Present day…

"Tifa…" Cloud said when he fully entered her bedroom.

She didn't move, so he took a few steps closer to her.

"Tifa?" he asked; his voice low and soothing.

"What?" she asked harshly, without moving a muscle.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice sullen and sincere. "I didn't mean to say that."

Tifa sat up quickly and spun around to face him. Her cheeks were red and moist, her eyes puffy and bloodshot.

"But you did," she responded, her own voice dripping with hurt.

"It was just the shock of everything," Cloud acknowledged, glumly. "I thought everything would go back to the way it was but now I find out you've been with someone else." Tifa's eyes narrowed. "And not just anyone, but Reno."

"You left me," Tifa snapped at him through a sob.

"For two months…" Cloud knew he didn't exactly have the high ground, and that maybe it was unfair to expect Tifa to sit around waiting for him to come back after he broke her heart, but part of him thought she would.

"It was longer than that and you know it," she responded.

There was less anger in her voice than there was pain, which hurt him even more. Tifa could never stay angry for very long, but she held her pain within for too long, sometimes. She tried to keep her feelings hidden, but Cloud could always tell when she was hurting.

"I'm sorry," he said again, hanging his head.

He met Tifa's gaze and saw her eyes watering and her pupils watering, searching for the what to say.

"Why didn't you just tell me what was going on with you?" she asked after silence fell between them. Cloud hesitantly moved to sit on the bed next to her, and she adjusted to give him space.

"I thought it would be easier for both of us," he said without looking at her. "I thought I was dying and I thought you were in danger because of me."

"You could have told me," Tifa replied. "But instead you made me think you stopped loving me. Do you know how much that hurt?"

"I know," Cloud said, lowering his head and staring at his lap for a moment instead of looking at Tifa. He then lifted his gaze to meet her eyes. "If I could go back and change things, I would," he said, placing his hand over hers.

"But we can't," Tifa said solemnly. Cloud sighed.

"I know," he said. "I thought you'd be able to move on better after I was gone if you spent that time hating me."

"I could never hate you," Tifa responded. "But just now, when you found out maybe I had moved on... you got mad."

"I know!" Cloud said, angrier at himself than anything else. "I guess I didn't think you would move on so quickly – or with Reno."

"It wasn't quick, Cloud!" she retorted, a certain defiance in her voice. "You left me months before that and made me think I was unlovable and worthless."

Cloud stood up from the bed abruptly.

"I know!" he said, still angry at himself, though that's not how it appeared to Tifa.

"And Reno and the Turks have been here for me!" she exclaimed, now defensive. "They've helped me fight the monsters that were destroying the town, they helped keep the bar going when business started to crumble, and they were there when I got shot! They took me to the hospital and brought me home the next morning. They did all of that for me - when you were gone."

"I was trying to get back to you…" Cloud trailed off, still facing the door and not Tifa.

"But I didn't know that then! All I knew was that the love of my life abandoned me. I thought it would be pathetic if I went looking for you like some lost little puppy," Tifa said, tears again flowing. "But I went to Aeris' church anyway and checked the villa and looked for you whenever I traveled…"

Cloud couldn't stand to listen to this. It wasn't that he didn't like hearing Tifa describe him as the "love of her life," or how she did go looking for him, it was that he was being forced to listen to how he failed her, again. He turned to Tifa, masking his hurt with anger.

"But Reno, Tifa. Reno?" he asked. She merely stared back at him, a mixture of embarrassment, hurt, and anger on her face. Cloud sighed. "Do you love him?"

He feared the answer, of course, but in that moment he thought he had to know. He needed to know how badly he screwed up and if there was any hope of fixing what he had with Tifa. She didn't respond for a few moments, which caused him more anxiety. Finally, she looked down at her lap before speaking.

"I... don't know," she admitted.

"You don't know?" Cloud asked, folding his arms across his chest. "You don't know?"

As he looked at her his eyes glanced over to the dresser on the other side of the room. He reached it within a few strides, knowing exactly what he was looking for to make his point.

He was briefly hurt when he saw the photo of himself and Tifa lying face down behind the other framed pictures, especially since he didn't know whether Tifa or Reno had moved it. Ignoring that photo for a moment, he picked up the one of the early members of AVALANCHE and showed it to Tifa with some insistence.

"What about them, Tifa? What would they think?"

Tifa clenched her jaw.

"If they could tell us, it meant the plate never fell and we wouldn't be having this issue!"

"He killed them Tifa! Have you forgotten that?"

"Of course not!" she retorted. "But he's different now. He's been helping…"

Cloud shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was no redemption for a man who flattened an entire section of the largest city on earth without a second thought.

Tifa had always been too forgiving. Even though she vowed that she hated Shinra and wanted to destroy them for what happened in Nibelheim, she was having second thoughts by the time she and Cloud reunited. Maybe that made her a better person than him, but right now he couldn't see it.

"I need to get out of here," Cloud said after a moment.

"You're leaving, again?" Tifa asked in such a way that sent a knife through Cloud's heart.

His anger dissipated and he sat down on the bed with her again, tentatively placing a hand on her cheek. She didn't refuse him.

"Tifa, I'm not leaving like last time," he said, stroking her cheek. "I just want to get some air and clear my head. It's been such a long day and I think we're all just exhausted and cranky."

His words seemed to calm her a bit as well. Even when she was mad, she always seemed to find the humor in any situation.

"Yeah. It was stupid of me to invite everyone over for drinks instead of getting some rest first," Tifa said with a half laugh.

"It wasn't stupid; just bad timing," Cloud responded. "I'll come back, I swear."

He gave her a kiss on the forehead and left the room.

Tifa didn't even realize she had started holding her breath after he left until she heard the front door close behind him. He seemed to have softened before he left, but who knew what would happen once he was alone with his thoughts. She felt her heart begin to race as she considered all the horrible things he might be thinking about her.

But Cloud was right about being exhausted. After a few minutes of worrying she laid back down on her bed, too numb to cry anymore. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was out.

Meanwhile…

Reno didn't remember leaving the lights on when he left his apartment, but he had been gone a few days now and couldn't be sure. He slowly opened the door, letting his hand hover over the hilt of his mag rod just in case. His fingers twitched above his weapon until he entered his living room and saw Freyra sitting calmly on his couch, her legs crossed and her right arm resting comfortably on the raised side.

She didn't flinch when he entered. Instead, she casually turned her head to look at him as her long ashy blonde ponytail fell against her shoulder.

Reno groaned and tossed his keys on the end table near her before crossing his arms and giving her a stern look.

"Freyra, what are you doing here?" he asked, annoyed. "I thought I told you I was exhausted."

Freyra uncrossed her legs and rose to her feet to place a hand on her hip.

"I know, and I'm not here for the reason you think," she said. "Well, I was going to come here for that, but then I heard you on the phone and I just wanted to thank you in person and make sure you're alright."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't actually hang up your phone after we talked. I thought at first you and 'Lena were talking about me, but I'm pretty sure you didn't bug my house," she offered him a questioning but sarcastic glance.

"Great," Reno said, rolling his eyes. Now another person heard him emote all over the place.

"First, I want to thank you," Freyra said, smiling softly and crossing one arm over her stomach. "For saving my life."

Reno chortled before raising a hand in the air to wave off her appreciation. "It was nothing, yo."

"If it weren't for you, I would have died above the crater, Reno. The Highwind may have survived the cave-in but our helicopter wouldn't have," Freyra bit her lower lip briefly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," it felt foreign for Reno to say.

"Also, thank you for paying me – with interest," she added with a smirk.

Reno looked down to notice for the first time a black duffle bag near Freyra's feet.

"Interest?"

"Yeah! I took the money from the drawer and found a little extra elsewhere."

"You stole my escape stash?!" Reno asked. He also had a bag of gil, fake IDs, and clothing in his work desk in case he needed to make a quick getaway and had no time to go home. He realized that her snooping through his desk was how she figured out where he lived as well.

"Don't worry, I left everything else," Freyra teased.

"Fine, keep it," Reno groaned. "Now can you please let me get some rest?"

Freyra ignored him and instead sat back down on the couch.

"So, who is she?" Freyra asked casually.

"Who?"

"The woman who got 100,000-thousand gil flowers," Freyra answered, crossing her slender legs again. She really looked good in a Turk uniform.

Reno huffed and walked over to his oversized leather armchair on the far end of the couch. He collapsed into it, his long fingers gripping the edge of the armrest as he sunk back into the chair. He rarely sat on these chairs. It was too easy to make a fool of oneself by underestimating how far one would sink into them – and Reno did not want to be a fool.

"She's no one. It doesn't matter. It's over," Reno said.

"Reno, we've known each other, what, 10 years now? And in all that time I've never seen you like this. I'm not going to lie, it hurts a little that I wasn't the girl who made you feel this way, but honestly? I'm actually kind of happy that you are capable of feeling something."

"Come on, Freyra," Reno said.

"Seriously. You've never gone to such lengths to win someone over or been this hung up on anyone, and I have a very limited knowledge of this relationship. Just from what little I've seen, something's different with you."

Reno rolled his eyes.

"Well, it's over, so you can forget all that," he said.

"It doesn't sound like it's over for you," Freyra said in a sisterly tone.

"Well it is," Reno pouted. "Now that Cloud Strife is back, I have no chance."

"Cloud Strife? The Cloud Strife?" Freyra asked.

Reno leaned back into the chair and groaned yet again.

"Yes, the Cloud Strife," he said, mocking her previous emphasis.

"So, that would mean the girl is…"

"Tifa Lockhart," Reno said, sounding more defeated than Freyra expected.

"The little girl with the cat?"

"Huh?"

"I remember her back in Nibelheim," Freyra said, reminiscing. "She must have been 15. She was chasing a cat around and we hired her to guide us through the mountains."

Freyra's eyes suddenly grew and she looked at Reno with a raised nostril and look of disgust.

"Wait – you haven't liked her since then have you?"

"No, Freyra! God!" Reno insisted. "I wasn't even on that mission – it was you and Tseng."

"Oh yeah, whew. For a minute there…"

"No way, this isn't a Tseng situation," Reno said. And then Freyra made that face they all made whenever they were reminded that Tseng had watched Aeris grow up and fallen for her – at some point. He always said he developed feelings for the Ancient long after she turned 18, but it was always a little creepy to the rest of them. They respected their leader, but that didn't stop them from occasionally making light of the situation.

"So, when did you start falling for her?"

"I'm not falling for her," Reno again insisted. "But I guess I first noticed her when she kicked me in the face on top of the Sector 7 pillar."

"Of course. Most classic love stories begin that way," Freyra teased.

"Yeah, well, that's why there's no point in thinking there will be some happy ending here."

Freyra couldn't object. Reno may seem different now, may even love Tifa, but he was competing against Cloud Strife – the world's hero. That was a steep hill to climb.

The two fell into an awkward silence before Freyra sighed and, placing her hands on her thighs, pushed herself up off the couch and turned toward the door.

"Well, guess I'll be heading out then," she said.

Her voice startled Reno, who had dozed off during the brief pause in their conversation. He jerked awake and focused his eyes on Freyra's slim form.

She turned back toward him once she reached the door, as if she were thinking of something else to say.

"If you want my advice," she began, bringing a finger to her chin thoughtfully "I think you should send her an apology before she has a chance to stew too much longer."

Reno looked up at her through heavy-lidded eyes. He could barely stay awake and knew sending an apology in a text wasn't good enough.

"I'm not sending her some sappy text. I'm not putting any of this in writing that can be traced back and used against me," Reno said plainly.

"The consummate professional," Freyra said, almost to herself.

"Besides, I'm tired and it'll only come off as pathetic and probably incoherent."

Freyra's eyes lit up.

"Let me write it," she offered.

"What? No!" Reno said tersely. Honestly, all he wanted to do was sleep right now. He couldn't think about anything else, especially not something so serious.

"Oh, come on, I know what a girl would want to hear," Freyra pushed.

Reno narrowed his eyes, trying in his diminished state to ascertain whether this was all some further ruse to get back at him. He couldn't hand over his phone to Freyra and give her access to it, even if it might be brief. She could type something cruel to Tifa as some final "fuck you" for what happened between them so many years ago – and throughout the years since.

He studied her expression for what seemed like minutes. Her brow was relaxed and her smile soft, genuine. Her eyes showed no hint of betrayal, but that was Freyra's talents – one of many. Reno took a deep breath and reached in his pocket for his PHS.

"What are you going to say – and," he said abruptly, holding up one finger – "if I let you do this, I want you to never bring this up again. And make sure everyone else stops, too. I'm your second in command, dammit. My personal life is off limits."

Freyra pouted for a minute before grinning.

"Whatever you say, boss."

She returned to where Reno was sitting and reached for the phone in his outstretched hand, but he quickly retreated.

"Freyra."

"I'm just going to tell her you're sorry for being an ass – I assume you were – and that you didn't mean what you said. I'll even let you read it before hitting 'send.'"

Reno held his phone out of reach a second more to stare deep into Freyra's eyes. He puffed his lower eyelids slightly to give her a look that said, "you better not screw me," before timidly offering her his phone, which she quickly snatched.

She immediately stood straight up so that she was out of his reach while he sat on the chair and began searching his phone for Tifa's number. Once she found it, she walked away from Reno, behind his couch, while furiously typing.

Reno was already regretting this decision. A text wasn't enough to undo the damage he had caused. Worse yet, Tifa could show it to Cloud and all her friends and he'd lose the reputation he had built over his career. It was bad enough his coworkers were now treating him like some lovesick puppy, but they always knew there was more to him than a ruthless bastard. But he couldn't risk word of that getting out to the general population. His job and his life depended on people still fearing him.

After a few moments, Freyra was standing over him again and holding his phone in her upturned palm so he could take it. He grabbed it and made sure she hadn't hit send before looking up at her skeptically and a little disgusted.

"This is what you want me to say to her? I sound like a sap."

"Trust me, Reno, it's what I would want to hear from you," Freyra assured him.

Reno's nostrils flared and he strained his neck to show how uncomfortable he was with the message. Until now he had always gotten by with short, suggestive comments. He'd never had to say something like this to a woman before. Well, he probably should have said it to a lot of women, but he never did.

"Just send it," Freyra said after Reno took too long to respond.

"Fine!" he blurted, hitting the button to send the message to Tifa.

His heart started racing as he started fearing her response – if he even got one. Is this how women felt waiting for him to text back? It was awful.

"It's done," Reno said, slowly rising to his feet. "I'm going to crash. Lock the door on your way out and don't steal anything."

Freyra nodded and smiled before slipping out of Reno's apartment with her bag of gil as Reno disappeared into his bedroom.