A/N: Rated M for language and sexual content. Contains some brief, graphic sexual description, so if you don't want to read them you can skip the last section of the chapter.
Chapter 41:
Tifa was sitting in her kitchen, sipping her coffee, and trying to plan Seventh Heaven's grand reopening when the knock came. She wanted to open the bar back up soon now that the monster problem was solved and people were again able to walk the streets, but she hadn't been able to concentrate on her list of things that needed to be done to make sure that could happen. Something was taking up her thoughts.
Flashback…
"Oh!" Tifa awoke from a rather pleasant dream at the sound of her phone's ringtone.
She quickly sat up and reached for the PHS lying next to her hotel bed.
Cid.
"Hello?" she asked, still sounding sleepy. It had to have been too early to wake up.
"Where you two at, huh? It's time to go and that spikey-headed jackass ain't answerin' his damn phone!" Cid said in his usual overly excited tone.
Tifa looked at the digital clock next to her bed.
10:48 a.m.
She had overslept.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, already jumping out of bed and trying to gather her things. "I didn't realize it was so late! I'll get Cloud and we'll be right out!"
She hadn't brought much with her since it was a short trip, but she dressed and picked up what she had before dashing out of her room and across the hall to Cloud's door. She stopped just outside and knocked gently.
No answer.
She placed her hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it, figuring the door would be locked but that she should check anyway. To her surprise the warrior had left it unlocked. She pushed open the door as quietly as she could and entered his room, which was still dark. She found her way to his bed and reached out to shake his shoulder, knowing his reflexes might get her into trouble.
Instead of an attack, however, Cloud moaned softly and reached out to gently grab her arm.
"Cloud, Cid is waiting," she whispered.
"He can wait," Cloud said, still half asleep.
He tugged her arm and she sat on the bed next to him. With another moan, he reached his arm behind her back to place his hand on her waist, and pulled her down onto the bed beside him, keeping his arm wrapped around her so that her back was pressed up against him. Tifa melted into his embrace even though she knew they needed to get back to the Highwind. It felt so good to lie next to him like this again.
"Cloud, we need to go," she said softly, though she didn't try to get up.
"Just a little longer," Cloud replied, squeezing her closer.
"Mmm," Tifa moaned, not wanting to argue with him even if it meant getting an expletive-laden response from Cid.
She had just closed her eyes to relax when her phone started ringing again. This time she slipped off the bed and out of Cloud's reach.
"That would be Cid again," she said, answering her PHS.
Cloud sat up and rubbed his head after she pulled away from him.
"Mmhmm. I know. We're on our way," Tifa said into her phone before hanging up. "He's waiting."
"Wait, did we? Did you?" Cloud asked, looking confused and still half asleep.
Tifa smiled and bent at the waist to look at him.
"No, silly! I just tried to wake you up and you pulled me onto the bed," she said.
Cloud turned away, looking disappointed.
"Oh," he said. "Sorry." Tifa giggled.
"Must have been some dream," she teased. Cloud blushed.
"At least they're getting better," he responded with a light chuckle.
"Well, that's good to hear. C'mon, we've gotta go."
She and Cloud didn't say much on the trip back to Edge; just kept looking at each other and smiling or blushing. It was like they were nervous teenagers again. Cid had noticed the obvious tension between them, as the bridge was unusually quiet. While he wanted to tease them about it and ask what had happened, he figured he should let them be for now. Let them get back together and then he can tease them.
Present moment…
It was now the afternoon and Tifa was alone in Seventh Heaven. She heard the knock again and put down her coffee mug to head for the door. With her luck, it could be literally anyone from a friend to the next person wanting to destroy the planet.
So, she was pleasantly surprised to find Elena on the other side of the door, dressed in her typical Turk uniform and looking as chipper as always.
"Elena?"
"Hi, Tifa," the shorter blonde said. "I'm here to… remove the recording devices from your home and the bar…"
She stopped smiling as she spoke and looked at her feet sheepishly. Tifa opened the door and stepped back to allow Elena to enter. Elena walked in and stopped in the middle of the bar to look around for where Rude and Reno might have hidden the bugs.
"Did you install them?" Tifa asked, a little surprised for some reason that Elena might have helped, though she didn't know why it would surprise her. Elena was every bit as much a Turk as Reno and Rude, yet somehow Tifa never pictured her being involved in this particular mission.
"Um, me? N… no, but I know where they would be hidden," Elena replied.
"Why didn't the actual culprits come to undo their deed?"
"Reno sent me, thinking you'd be more comfortable if I were the one to remove them."
"Oh, how nice of him," Tifa said with a roll of her eyes.
"Um, do you mind if I look behind the bar and in the storage room?"
"Have at it," Tifa said, waving her hand as if disinterested.
She took a seat on one of the bar stools while Elena searched for the devices. She had nothing to do – her coffee and notebook were upstairs – but she didn't want to leave Elena alone down here.
"Found one!" Elena said, a little too excited. She was crouching down behind the bar, shining a flashlight into the back corner of a shelf. She stood up and dropped the tiny piece of equipment on the top of the bar in front of Tifa. "That's one."
Tifa looked dismayed. "One? How many are there?"
Elena looked at her nervously before appearing to count in her head.
"Let's see… Rude planted four and Reno installed…" she stopped counting and looked at Tifa, who did not look happy. "Uh, I'll just remove them and be quiet."
Elena found the other bugs in the bar within a few minutes and placed them with the one in front of Tifa. She remained on the opposite side of the bar from the brunette and leaned over on her elbows.
"You know, Reno really did fight Rufus on this mission all the way," she said in a hushed tone.
"Is this why he really sent you?" Tifa asked.
Elena put her hands up defensively, shaking her palms and stepping back from the bar.
"No, no. His only instructions were to remove the bugs and not say anything to make you mad at him."
Flashback…
"What should I tell her?" Elena asked.
"Just that you're there to remove them. And Elena, for the love of God don't say anything more than you have to," Reno said, almost menacingly. "Or so help me…"
"I get it," Elena responded quickly.
Present moment…
"He's really softened these past couple months…" Elena offered, approaching the bar again. "You've had an effect on him, for sure."
"He has?"
Elena's face lit up and she leaned over the bar counter again.
"Oh yeah! He tries to hide it, but we can all tell…"
"Tell what?" Tifa asked.
Elena quickly turned serious. "Uh, nothing. We should head upstairs so I can get the ones up there."
"…Okay…" Tifa said, suspicious.
She led the blonde upstairs into her living quarters and returned to her coffee and notebook. Elena scoped the room for where the bugs might have been hidden and began to search.
"I've never seen him like this, really," she said while looking through Tifa's kitchen cabinets.
"Like what?"
"Well, since your fight he's been really down. Rude says he hasn't seen him like this since after he dropped the plate…"
Tifa's eyebrow twitched.
"He's been really quiet."
"Really? Reno, quiet?"
"Right! Can you imagine?"
Both women giggled.
"We keep trying to get him to talk about it, but he refuses," Elena continued. "Typical guy, won't admit what everyone else knows."
Tifa looked at her questioningly, but Elena just ignored her.
"Do you mind if I look in the bedroom and bathroom?" she asked.
"Go ahead, just make sure you get them all."
"Will do," Elena said before heading down the hall.
She stopped when she noticed a vase of fresh white flowers on Tifa's bedside table. They were the same kind that Reno had gotten her awhile back. Since Tifa was still in her kitchen, Elena approached the flowers and noticed a small card attached to them. She looked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being watched, and quickly read the card.
Here's to new beginnings
-Cloud
Elena crossed her arms and smirked. So that's why Reno had called her so desperate the other day asking her to remove the recording devices. Okay, so he didn't sound desperate, but Elena could read between the lines.
She knew Reno had enlisted Rude for something yesterday, but she didn't know what. She assumed it had something to do with Tifa, as Reno had been unwilling to talk about anything personal and Rude wasn't exactly up for guy talk.
Elena found a device behind Tifa's headboard. She hated this one the most, since it caught most of the sound that Elena had to spend her days listening to, and even though it hadn't been touched, she still felt like she wanted to disinfect it. She continued to look around the room, more for curiosity than actually thinking there would be another device. She stopped at the dresser to inspect the photos, looking over each one out of a habit she had picked up to get a read on people she investigated. She couldn't help but let that carry over to friends and acquaintances. Tifa was no longer under surveillance, but Elena couldn't stop herself.
She turned to enter the bathroom and realized something. Something about the way the bed was made yet other things were out of order made her suspicious. Tifa was a tidy person, so it would make sense that she would make her bed after getting up, but the bathroom had items out of place. Elena looked around to figure out what she was sensing.
Tifa didn't sleep here.
"Oh, Reno…" Elena said quietly enough so only she could hear. Reno may have already lost.
Elena found and removed the device in the bathroom and found another in the hallway, but none in the spare bedroom. She found all the ones Reno told her about, so just shrugged and brought them back to Tifa, dropping them on the kitchen island next to her.
"That's all of 'em," she said proudly.
"Thanks," Tifa said, again sounding disinterested.
Elena knew she should leave but hesitated. Tifa had busied herself writing notes, yet the blonde woman suddenly found herself wishing for a friend.
"Can I ask you something?" Elena said after a long pause.
"Hmm?" Tifa said, looking up from her notebook as if she were a little surprised Elena was still there.
"How'd ya do it?" she asked.
"Excuse me?" Tifa asked with knitted eyebrows.
Elena's face turned white as she realized how her question must have sounded. She took a step back toward Tifa and folded her arms across her chest, placing her weight on one leg and sticking her hip out.
"How did you get Reno… I mean, he's the last guy on Gaia I ever thought would want to…" she trailed off before quickly walking to the kitchen island and sitting on the stool next to Tifa, who looked confused. "Look, I've known Reno for years – and I knew of him long before that. About 10 years total."
"Really?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah, and in all that time I've seen him… oh, I promised I wouldn't say anything to make you mad at him…"
"What?"
Elena fidgeted with her hands a moment without looking at Tifa. She knew what Reno meant when he told her not to say anything more than she had to. He knew she might say something that would make Tifa even madder at him, but did this really count?"
"I guess it's no surprise that Reno's slept with a lot of women," Elena continued, her voice low as if Reno were nearby. "Half of them have worked for Shinra."
Tifa's left lower eyelid puffed a little as a thought crossed her mind. Elena seemed to catch on and put her hands up defensively.
"Oh, no, not me!" she insisted, shaking her head furiously. "But my sister, when she was a new recruit, along with some other girls in her Turk class…"
Tifa scoffed. It's not like she didn't know this about Reno, but it still disgusted her to hear. Even worse, it embarrassed her that she had become just another notch in his bedpost.
"…Anyway, I've watched so many girls try to get him to settle down, and no one has even come close," Elena continued, looking toward the kitchen cabinets instead of making eye contact with Tifa. "And every time we went out as a group – it was the same thing. Until he met you."
"Met me? You mean two years ago?" Tifa asked. Elena grunted in the affirmative.
"Yeah. Something was different about him ever since he fought you in Gongaga."
"What do you mean, different?"
"Well, it's not like it happened overnight," Elena said. "He was just different after he had been around you. Subtle. I don't think Rude or Tseng noticed. I'm pretty sure he did what he could to hide it until Cloud left."
Tifa looked forward and took a sip of her coffee. When Cloud left…
"So, Reno has feelings…" Tifa said, almost to herself.
"Who knew, right?" Elena joked. "By the way, please don't tell him I told you any of this. He'll kill me."
"Secret's safe with me, but it'll be hard not to tease him about some of this," Tifa said, turning to look at Elena with a devious grin.
"I would actually enjoy watching his reaction, damn," the blonde responded and both women laughed.
A few minutes of awkward silence passed between them. Tifa couldn't bring herself to kick Elena out or work on her notes, but she did finish her coffee. Elena just fidgeted in her chair before tapping her fingers lightly on the counter.
"So… AVALANCHE and the Turks, huh?" Tifa said after her second pretend sip of coffee.
"Who would have thought? It wasn't too long ago that I hated you," Elena responded.
"Well, that makes two of us," Tifa replied with a laugh.
"I'd cheers to that if we were downstairs," Elena offered.
"I like the way you think," Tifa said, getting up from her kitchen stool.
Elena took a few steps to follow her but stopped suddenly.
"Wait, don't you have a date with Reno tonight?" she asked.
Tifa spun around and covered her mouth with her hands, gasping and looking horrified.
"Oh my God!" she said, a little too shocked to have just forgotten about dinner.
"What?"
Tifa's eyes shifted from side to side while her hands remained over her mouth.
"I never responded to his text," she said.
"You didn't?" Elena asked, stifling a laugh. The thought of Reno spending the day twisting in the wind was delightful, even though she knew it wasn't fair.
"I don't usually respond and never really had to…" Tifa said, lowering her hands.
Elena folded her arms across her chest.
"Well, you could respond now, but might I make a suggestion?" she asked.
"What?"
Elena took a few steps closer and brought her fingers together, keeping her palms apart. She then pointed her fingers toward Tifa.
"It's a little late to agree to dinner, and from what I gather… you didn't sleep here last night."
Tifa looked at the blonde skeptically – how did she know all this?
"How did you…?"
"Tifa, I'm a Turk. I know how to read my surroundings."
"Right, of course."
"Hear me out," Elena continued. "Why don't you tell Reno to hold off until tomorrow. You need a night off, and might I suggest drinking with a new friend?"
Tifa gave Elena a quizzical glance. They weren't enemies anymore, but they certainly weren't that close. Was the Turk up to something? Still, Tifa knew could handle herself, and she did need a break from all the drama in her life.
"What the hell," she told the blonde, who seemed more excited than expected.
"Great! You know, I'm sure this comes as no surprise, but I don't get to hang out with a lot of women," Elena admitted as the two headed downstairs to the bar.
"Story of my life," Tifa responded. "I grew up in a village of all boys, then I had Jessie for a few years. She died in Sector 7. Then I had Aeris, and now there's just Yuffie when she decides to visit."
"Guess we're not so different. I was never close to my sister and was so focused on becoming a Turk that I didn't have time for friends," Elena said.
Tifa took out her phone after she entered the bar. She felt really bad blowing Reno off like this and worried she would hurt him after what Elena told her.
"Oh, he'll be fine," Elena said behind her, sensing her hesitation. "Reno's still Reno."
Tifa nodded and began typing.
"I'm really sorry I didn't respond earlier. Can we have dinner tomorrow instead?" the message said. Tifa stared at the screen a few moments to wait for a response but didn't receive one.
She then walked behind the bar as Elena took a seat and placed outstretched hands on the bar counter and smiled. "So, what'll you have?"
Several drinks later…
"Oh my God, no!" Tifa said between fits of laughing.
"He did! To this day, I refuse to staple anything."
"What a rat!" but Tifa couldn't stop laughing. She steadied herself on the bar and wiped away a tear. Working with Reno must be a nightmare, but to an outsider, his pranks sounded hilarious.
After the two stopped laughing, Elena turned serious for a moment.
"Heh, you know why I always hated you so much?" she asked the brunette who was pouring them each another round of drinks.
"Uh oh, maybe we should find another subject."
"No, you'll laugh, I promise," Elena insisted, waiting patiently for her new drink.
"Uh huh."
"It never had anything to do with being on opposite sides or anything you did," Elena said. She looked down into her freshly poured beverage a moment, feeling nostalgic. "The Turks are my family. I hate being away from them, but ever since you opened the bar, all Reno and Rude wanted to do was drink and be near you. I wanted to be around them, but they just wanted to worship you."
"I had no idea," Tifa said. "Well, I knew Rude had at one point liked me, but I didn't know it was like that for you."
"It's actually funny, when I think back. They're so pathetic. But it was nice when Tseng was around, too. It gave us a chance to get to know each other."
"Silver lining," Tifa said, holding her glass up for Elena to clink hers against.
The two sat in silence a moment before they both heard the sound of Elena's stomach growling. Elena, with pink cheeks, held her hand over her belly and cleared her throat.
"Oh, wow, didn't realize I was so hungry," she said.
"Snack run?" Tifa asked, now realizing that she hadn't eat anything all day.
"Oh yeah, I would kill for some chips right now," Elena said, her eyes flickering upward as she emphasized the word "kill."
Tifa got off her stool and stumbled ever so slightly. Maybe she had drank a little more than she thought – or maybe it was just the lack of nutrition.
"There's a market just down the street," she told the blonde woman, who seemed to be struggling a bit more to get to the front door.
"Have you ever been to The Phoenix Club?" Elena asked as they made their way down the street.
The only hint that they had been drinking was their giddiness and constant chatting about nothing important.
"No, I've never really been the clubbing type," Tifa answered. "I wouldn't have pegged you as the type either."
"Oh, I only went once – on a mission," Elena confessed. "But it was so beautiful inside and they have this drink called the Phoenix Flame that was amazing but I can't figure out what was in it."
"Hmm, I bet I could figure it out if I tried it," Tifa, ever the bartender, stated.
"I don't know, the bartender set it on fire and it changed color! And then he flicked something at it and made sparks. I've never seen anything like it."
Tifa smiled and thought to herself a moment. Non-bartenders really did think simple tricks were mesmerizing. Still, she wouldn't mind getting a look at and taste of this drink. Maybe she could modify it and come up with a new special. She liked to rotate her drink specials, and right now she was making the Cosmo Canyon because it was the first drink she ever made for Cloud – that he liked. She still hadn't forgot how he held the glass up to inspect the drink and said "beautiful." She was standing in his line of sight, and to this day always believed he had meant the word for her and not the drink. Maybe she should ask him about that someday – but now he'd probably say she was right even if she wasn't.
"Think we could get in tonight?" Tifa asked. Now she was curious.
"Are you serious?" Elena said as more of a statement than a question. "You just saved the planet – again – you can get in anywhere you want."
"Hmm," Tifa replied. If Elena was right, it meant the press might start hounding her again soon – she already might be getting followed. "We can try. But first: Snacks."
"Agreed," Elena said. The two women started giggling again as they reached the market.
The girls grabbed armfuls of what they were craving (who has time for baskets?) and were waiting in an unusually long line before finally reaching the conveyor belt. Tifa placed her items on it as she waited for the customers in front of her and pulled out her phone. No messages from Cloud, which wasn't surprising since even now he wasn't much of a texter. But Reno still hadn't responded, and she now worried she had hurt him.
"Reno hasn't texted me back," she told Elena, who was standing in line behind her, still holding snacks.
Tifa was really feeling bad about cancelling – or never confirming – Reno's request. He had done so much for her while Cloud was away, but as soon as her childhood friend returned she had barely spoken to the Turk outside of their fight. She suddenly felt like she did when Cloud left, constantly looking at her phone and hoping she would hear from him. Maybe Reno had given up? That would make things easier, but all at once she didn't want that. Maybe it was the alcohol and the fact that Cloud wasn't around either.
"Oh, he's a big boy," she said. "Don't worry about it."
Tifa looked at the blonde woman and nodded before something caught her attention out the corner of her eye. She had been staring at the back of the person in front of her until she placed her groceries on the conveyor belt, but now she didn't know how she could have missed this.
Among the gossip magazines and tabloids was one that had the unforgettable Shinra logo on its cover and in large letters: "Shinra Solves Monster Crisis." Tifa grabbed the tabloid and flipped it open to the page describing how Shinra saved the planet. In much smaller letters under the main headline were the words: "AVALANCHE Joins Fight."
Tifa blinked a few times as she stared at the page, reading and rereading the words several times to make sure she hadn't gone crazy. She then skimmed through the main article to discover Rufus Shinra's spin on what happened at the Northern Crater.
"After weeks of research, Shinra scientists theorized that some part of Jenova must still be alive in the Northern Crater, calling its remaining cells to it," the article said. "President Rufus Shinra gathered members of his elite security force – the Turks – and sought out AVALANCHE to assist in the company's disposal of the remaining Jenova cells."
Tifa's fingers curled around the pages and gripped tightly, tearing and wrinkling the paper as she nearly tore it to shreds. So, Rufus was taking the credit for stopping Jenova? Pretending he employed AVALANCHE to help? Describing the Turks as an "elite security force"? Cloud Strife was the only named member of AVALANCHE in the article, and the photo included in the body of the text was of Rufus in his office.
"Are you kidding me?" Tifa snarled as she continued to stare at the tabloid.
Elena, who had put her groceries down by now, placed a hand on Tifa's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"You knew about this?" Tifa asked, shaking with rage.
"I saw the article a few days ago – we had no idea he was going to do that."
"No one even contacted me or Cloud – that I know of."
Elena sighed. "The Turks" may have been mentioned, but not by name either. They knew Shinra was going to use AVALANCHE's fame to get good publicity, and she figured Rufus would try to inflate Shinra's role in the whole mission, but she underestimated to what extent he would steal credit.
"I doubt anyone in the world truly believes Shinra organized the mission – and you know, none of us will try to steal credit from you and your friends," Elena offered. "We helped, but we were nothing compared to you and AVALANCHE."
"Elena," Tifa said, calming a little, "don't sell yourselves short. We couldn't have done it without you, Reno, Rude, and Tseng."
"Thanks," Elena said.
She hadn't realized how much she wanted to hear someone from AVALANCHE tell the Turks they mattered. It seemed silly; of course the Turks mattered, but Elena and her coworkers still had this thought that AVALANCHE looked down on them and dismissed the assistance they provided.
"I think I have to pay for this," Tifa told the cashier when it was her turn. She held up the tattered paper with a guilty look on her face and handed it to the woman behind the counter, who looked at her funny.
Tifa and Elena paid for their items and returned to Seventh Heaven to consume them.
"Oh, God, cheese-flavored processed corn meal never tasted so good!" Elena cooed as she took another bite.
Tifa just giggled and unwrapped another piece of chocolate.
"So, did you still want to try that drink?" Elena asked after she had eaten most of her snacks.
"That would mean going to a club, trying the drink, and then coming back here where I would work to recreate it and you would sit there taste testing?" Tifa replied.
"We could stay at the club if it's fun."
"Maybe, but I actually want to see this drink you think is so amazing."
After a month or so of Cloud pulling away back then, Tifa tried to get out of the house more so she wouldn't be left alone with her thoughts and feelings of loneliness. She decided to take an advanced bartending course, since she had never had formal training but had learned the basics and then some over her years of working behind a bar. She hadn't really gotten to use her new skills since her customers weren't the discerning type, so she'd use what she learned to make a weekly special and hope people would try it. Some did, but she had to stop using the most advanced techniques because the drinks would become too complicated and take too long to make for her patrons. She was actually looking forward to trying something new and seeing if she could recreate it.
"Well, let's head out then!" Elena exclaimed, already getting up from her seat and heading for the door.
"Wait!" Tifa said, reaching her hand out as if she could grab Elena, who was out of reach. "Do we need to change for the club?"
Elena laughed. "Tifa, you're wearing a leather miniskirt and a crop top, you're already dressed for the club."
They arrived at The Phoenix Club a short time later to find a line to get in that stretched out the door and around the block.
"Guess we'll be waiting awhile," Tifa said as she scanned the crowd.
Elena rolled her eyes and grabbed Tifa by the wrist, pulling her toward the bouncer at the front of the line. "We don't need to wait. We have you." She pulled Tifa a little harder to force her to step up to the bouncer, who looked the brunette up and down.
"You're in," he said, reaching for the velvet rope that blocked their path and motioning toward the door.
"Am I really that famous?" Tifa asked Elena earnestly.
"You're famous?" she heard the bouncer say behind her as Elena ushered her inside.
Inside was exactly what Tifa expected: A dimly lit, crowded, and loud upscale establishment that she could never compete with – nor did she want to. The furniture was all red and purple velvet with leather accents. The walls, too, had deep red wallpaper with dark wood wainscoting. The floor was dark marble. Tifa could just barely see part of the bar, which looked antique, with a bartender dressed in a dress shirt and a double-breasted silk vest with sleeve garters. It felt like stepping into a time machine.
"Let's go upstairs, it's usually less crowded," Elena said as she again tugged on Tifa's arm.
Upstairs was slightly lighter and less crowded, allowing the girls to find a booth in a back corner. A waiter, dressed similarly to the bartender downstairs, came by a few minutes later to take their drink orders.
"Two Phoenix Flames," Elena ordered for them with a smile.
Tifa watched the waiter disappear into the crowd and kept her gaze in that direction, trying to get a glimpse of the bartender making the drink. A few minutes later, the bartender himself approached their table with two double shot glasses filled halfway with a shimmery blue liquid and two single shot glasses with a cloudy, slightly yellow liquid. Under his arm he carried a bottle of rum 151. He set the glasses with the blue liquid at the head of the table in front of him and set the other, smaller glasses to the side. He then pulled a spoon out of his apron and layered the rum on top of each blue drink as the women watched with anticipation.
The bartender then removed a lighter from his apron and flipped it around in his hand with some flair as he brought it up and then back down to light the two blue drinks on fire. The darkness of the club allowed the women to see the dark blue flame radiating from their glittery drinks.
"That's so pretty," Tifa declared.
"Wait for it," Elena cautioned.
The bartender then poured the glasses of yellowish liquid into each of the flaming drinks, causing the blue shimmery liquid to turn purple. With some more flair, the bartender flicked his fingers at the drink, causing sparks to shoot out from the flames.
Elena smiled and cheered while Tifa just stared at the drink in amazement. She had a couple ideas on how some of the magic happened, but she was truly in awe of what she had just seen.
"How… did you do that?" she asked the bartender as he gathered the extra equipment.
"Sorry, club secret," he said with a mischievous smile. "I'll be right back with plates so you can extinguish the flames."
Tifa didn't even acknowledge him as she was still captivated by the flaming drink in front of her. She was mesmerized by the dancing flames and sparkly liquid inside. She knew she couldn't learn the ingredients without tasting it, but it was so pretty to look at she didn't want to ruin the view. The bartender returned with two small plates and taught the women how to use them to put out the flames. After he left, they each begrudgingly extinguished their drinks.
"Cheers," Elena said as she lifted her glass toward Tifa.
Tifa reciprocated the gesture but instead of downing the drink as a shot, she took a sip hoping to learn the ingredients. It was sweet, and she could definitely taste a hint of lemon, as well as gin and vodka and, oh, what was that one flavor she learned about in the bartending course? It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't recall it as she took her time finishing the rest of the drink.
"We're going to need to order another – and preferably at the bar," she told her companion.
"Oh! I see two seats opening up, let's go," Elena said, grabbing her drink and purse and bolting for the bar.
She managed to get onto one of the plush stools just before a couple had approached, and quickly placed her hand on the other seat to claim it for Tifa, who joined her a moment later.
"Well, hello ladies, come to spy on me?" he asked in Tifa's direction with a wink.
"Maybe," Elena said, resting her elbow on the bar and leaning forward to place her chin on her fist. "We'll take two more."
The bartender nodded and turned his back to the women. Tifa shifted in her seat to try and see around the man to see what bottles he was grabbing. She finally managed to see him pull from the refrigerator a bottle with a homemade label on it. Elde…
"Hey!" another customer huffed at her. She looked at him before realizing she was leaning across the bar and into his space.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly.
What did that bottle say? Oh! That's right, that's the flavor she was trying to remember. Elderflower. Another bottle, which the bartender took from the freezer, had a homemade label that said, "CG Gin." She could see the bartender straining freshly squeezed lemon juice into a glass along with vodka and what was in the elderflower bottle. When he poured the gin, it was already blue and sparkly.
He turned around holding four glasses again and performed the same routine as he had done previously. The women were again amazed, though Tifa continued to show a hint of disbelief as she studied the bartender's every move.
Tasting the drink now after learning some of the ingredients, she was getting a better idea of what it would take to make it – and she knew it would take time and effort.
"Figured it out yet?" Elena asked after she finished her second drink.
"I definitely have an idea," Tifa responded with a grin. "Let's order one more."
"Don't have to ask me twice," Elena said, motioning to the bartender that they wanted another round. "Hey, let's get a picture together!"
Tifa was surprised by the blonde woman's suggestion. She felt closer to Elena now that they had spent more time together, but the question still felt out of the blue. Could this be some Turk trap she was unwittingly walking into? Elena did look sincere – and drunk – so maybe not. Tifa shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" she said, figuring that a picture of her and Elena couldn't actually cause any problems.
Elena took out her phone and leaned close to Tifa, angling the phone above them for a selfie that showed just the two women's faces down to their chests but no details that would give away their location.
"This'll be a good memory, huh?" Elena asked.
Tifa nodded. Elena wasn't so bad once you got to know her, and Tifa definitely felt she had this night. She didn't quite trust her – or any Turk, for that matter – but she could see the wall between them definitely coming down now.
Meanwhile…
Reno sat at a crowded bar, the heels of his shoes hooked on the lower rung of his barstool. He was hunched over the counter, his elbows resting on the rosewood and one hand limply holding a glass of liquor, which he was currently studying when he felt his phone vibrate in his suit jacket pocket.
He had finally admitted to himself last night that he loved Tifa, even if he was still trying not to think about the revelation. When she texted to cancel on him, he had been surprised at how wounded he felt, his chest heating up and tightening as if he had been stabbed. He then felt the now-familiar sting of hot jealousy as his thoughts quickly settled on the assumption that Tifa must still be with Cloud after their date at The Gold Saucer.
His feelings may be changing, but muscle memory caused him to take the predictable actions he would always take whenever he was pissed off. After reading her text a few times and hating the feeling it was causing in his body, he stuffed his phone in his pocket, grabbed his keys, and headed for a bar.
He ordered his usual scotch at a bar he used to frequent and settled in for a long night. He alternated between sipping his scotch and rereading Tifa's text. The more he read it, the colder it seemed. Sure, she was asking to reschedule for the next night, but she could just cancel that as well. This could be her icing him out now that Wonder Boy was back in town.
"And just like that, Reno is cast aside," he said to himself with a sigh as he put his phone away and stared into his drink as if it would give him the answer he wanted. It'd worked before.
After he put his phone away he brushed his hand up the back of his head, a new habit that had formed earlier that day when he suddenly decided to cut off his ponytail. The hair at the back of his head still felt sharp and fresh against his fingers as he stroked it. He had cut it off to change things up, given his newfound… feelings. He couldn't even remember why he had grown it out in the first place.
No, he knew, but it was another one of those things he tried to suppress. He had started growing out his hair after Veld left and Reno was promoted to second-in-command. Looking back, he wasn't sure why he chose to grow out his hair, but he had kept it going and was prepared to keep growing it until either Veld returned or Reno learned of his real death.
He put his drink down and ran his hands down his face, pulling down his eyelids and cheeks as he realized he was now no different than one of those women who got dumped and chopped their hair off or got bangs. No, he hadn't been dumped – and he cut his hair before Tifa cancelled on him – but right now he felt pretty damn low.
A shiver ran up his spine when his phone vibrated. The part of him he now hated hoped it was a text from Tifa asking to meet up, even though he knew she would never initiate such an encounter, especially not now. He retrieved his phone and flipped it open, a disappointed look quickly appearing on his face.
"One text message from Elena."
He groaned, figuring he was about to read some annoying long text telling him to keep his head up and not give up. He considered simply putting his phone back in his pocket and not even bothering, but the need to confirm his suspicions nagged at him. He opened the message to find a picture without words – a picture of Tifa and Elena looking like they were having a blast together.
Reno's left eye twitched and his nostrils flared. This was Elena's doing. He tightened his grip on his phone and his hand began to shake. Just as the device started to struggle against the pressure, it vibrated again. Another message from Elena.
"Don't ever mess with my stapler again."
Meanwhile…
Elena sat up smugly in her seat after she sent the messages to Reno, satisfied with yet another successful scheme. You see, Elena was as cold and calculating as they came, but she was able to mask it all behind her alleged "ramblings."
"Elena, you talk too much," Tseng told her during her first encounter with AVALANCHE in the Mythril Mines two years ago. She smiled at the memory. That's what they all thought. But everything, everything she said had a purpose, a plan.
The bartender brought her and Tifa's third Phoenix Flames and set the glasses down in front of them. Tifa had her phone out so she could film the pouring and color change. She wouldn't be able to steal the drink to compare it to the one she was about to make, but at least she could make sure it looked the same.
When they finished their drinks, the two women paid their tabs and left the club, giggling as they did so.
"I still can't believe Rufus had that article printed," Tifa said as they walked toward a liquor store that was near Seventh Heaven.
"You can't?" Elena asked. "I mean, this is Rufus Shinra we're talking about."
"I guess I'm not surprised, I just can't believe it actually went to print," Tifa replied wistfully.
They walked in silence for a few blocks after that.
"So, do you think you know what you need for the cocktail?" Elena finally asked.
"I've been going over a list in my head but I don't know how to make it change color like that or how to make it glittery."
"You know who's really good at tasting alcohol?" Elena asked.
"Reno?"
Elena shook her head but knew she'd be tucking away Tifa's answer for a later date.
"And might know how to make it glitter and change color?"
Tifa just stared at the blonde as they walked, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Rude!" Elena said with a grin.
"Really?"
"He spent months training with a master chef for an assignment way back when, he still knows how to make some really weird stuff," Elena explained. "Plus, he'd be an excellent taster."
"I guess we could try," Tifa replied just as they reached the liquor store.
Elena pulled out her PHS and dialed Rude's number, hoping he wouldn't be out drinking with Reno since Tifa cancelled.
"Hey Rude," she said when he answered. "You're not with Reno, are you?"
Tifa saw Elena smile.
"Good. Hey listen, Tifa and I are trying to figure out how to make a cocktail, and we were wondering if you know how to make drinks glittery and change color."
She didn't speak for a moment.
"Well, I guess that's what the Database is for. Okay, come meet us at the liquor store by Seventh Heaven."
Elena hung up and looked at Tifa as they walked toward the gin section.
"So, good and bad news," Elena began. "Rude knows how to add edible glitter to food but he doesn't know how to make liquor change color."
"He… knows about food glitter?" Tifa asked, blinking and shaking her head in disbelief.
"Heh, yeah. Apparently he had to help the chef make glittery cupcake frosting for a bridal party."
Tifa's confusion wasn't alleviated.
"So… Rude – Rude – made cupcakes for a bridal shower?"
Both women burst out laughing and leaned against each other for support. The image of Rude making glittery, girlie frosting and decorating cupcakes was too much. Once they had composed themselves – and gotten a few strange looks from other customers – Tifa began looking over the selection of gin.
"Okay, so I know there was gin in it and vodka," Tifa said, more to herself than Elena. "I have lemons at home and rum 151, but I want to get a new bottle of gin and vodka instead of taking from the bar for this."
"Sounds like a plan."
"We'll need to go to the grocery store after this – I need the ingredients for elderflower syrup – and, oh! I'm out of cinnamon."
"Cinnamon?" Elena asked. "I love cinnamon. I did not taste any cinnamon in that drink."
Tifa grinned. "It's what made the fire crackle." That little trick she learned from the course, as well as how to make elderflower syrup. The class, frankly, was a little heavy on elderflower drinks for Tifa's taste, but at least that knowledge would be put to good use now.
After selecting a gin and vodka, the two women were waiting in line to purchase their items when Rude entered the store. Elena waved him over and he joined them in line.
"So, you'll have to tell me about these glittery cupcakes," Tifa teased.
She could see just the faintest hint of a blush on Rude's cheeks, but he just grunted in response and folded his arms across his chest.
"Oh, lighten up, Rude!" Elena said, playfully batting his chest with the back of her hand as Tifa paid for the booze.
"Ok, so how do I make shimmery liquor?" Tifa asked Rude after she paid for her items.
"Food-grade petal luster dust."
"Petal what?" Elena asked.
Tifa crossed her arms but brought one hand up to her lips in contemplation.
"Hmm, there's a craft shop nearby, would they have it?" she asked.
Rude shrugged. "Probably."
"Okay, why don't you go get what we need while Elena and I get what else we need at the grocery store and figure out how to make the gin change color. Meet back at Seventh Heaven?"
Rude nodded and headed in the direction Tifa pointed for the hobby shop. Glitter duty. What he wasn't willing to put up with to be near Tifa knowing it would get under Reno's skin. He had forgiven his partner, but he could still have a little fun, right?
Back in the grocery store, Elena took out her phone to search the Database – a vast record of information compiled by Shinra's tech team that had the answers to pretty much any question. It was originally developed for internal use, but once word of the technology leaked out, the company opened it up for the general public.
"Let's see… color changing alcohol," Elena said as she typed.
"You think Shinra would have drink recipes?"
"Oh, it has everything," Elena explained. A moment later, her face lit up. "Got it!"
"Really?"
"We need Butterfly Pea flowers and… huh, that's it."
"Butterfly Pea flowers?" Tifa asked, surprised it could be so simple. "I'll go get those and elderflowers from the garden shop, can you get cinnamon and sugar?"
"I'm on it," Elena said, bringing her hand up to her forehead in a salute before turning to gather the items Tifa asked for.
As expected, the small garden center at the grocery store did not have either of the flowers Tifa needed. She joined Elena in line and groaned.
"Maybe we could tell Rude to go find them?" Elena asked.
"This feels like one of the old fetch quests I used to do with AVALANCHE," Tifa said through another groan.
"Rude will find them, he can find anything," Elena replied, taking out her phone to call her colleague.
The women paid for their items and returned to Seventh Heaven to find Rude waiting on the front steps with everything they asked him to find. Tifa looked at him with a quizzical look on her face and her mouth agape.
"How did you…?" she asked.
"I have my ways," he said, pushing his sunglasses up his nose with the hand that was holding the flowers.
Tifa and Elena had pretty much sobered up at this point and led Rude into the bar. Tifa gathered all the other ingredients she knew she needed and started working on the elderflower syrup.
"You know this needs to sit for three to five days," she said after she poured the boiling hot sugar and water mixture over the flowers and lemon.
"Anyway to speed that up?" Elena asked expectantly, leaning across the bar on her elbows with her hands clasped together.
"Unfortunately, no," Tifa answered. "And according to the instructions you found in the Database, the color-changing gin has to sit overnight."
"So, we did all this for nothing?" Elena asked.
"'Fraid so," Tifa said. "I'll go ahead and make the gin though, maybe we can try this in a few days?"
"Ugh," Elena said, elongating the word. "I was hoping to figure this out tonight."
Without a word, Rude got up from his stool and pulled out his phone. He brought it to his ear and walked a few steps away from the women, who just looked at him questioningly.
"Elderflower syrup and color changing gin," they heard him say into the phone.
"Great, see you in thirty," he said after a pause.
The two women continued to stare at him.
"How did you…?" Tifa asked for the second time that night.
"I have my ways," Rude said, again.
Elena didn't seem phased at all by Rude's ability to find such obscure items, having experienced this skill many times over the past few years. It was one of the reasons she invited him tonight.
Tifa turned back to the bar and grabbed a couple glasses. She pulled a few bottles off the shelves and poured them into the glasses before turning around to provide Rude his customary scotch and Elena her vodka-soda. Tifa poured herself a glass of Corel wine but remained behind the bar.
"Something to pass the time," she said.
"Let's take a picture together!" Elena suggested after a few sips of alcohol.
Rude immediately looked at Tifa but had no expression on his face. Not too long ago, he would have killed to be in a picture with her, even if it included Elena. He still wouldn't mind a picture of her or with her, but things were different now.
Tifa looked at Rude before looking to Elena. She had never pictured the Turk as one of those people who wanted to take photos of her outings, but she didn't really know her that well before tonight. She nodded and leaned over the counter toward Elena as the blonde held her phone up to get all three of them in frame.
Meanwhile…
"You're that Turk, right?"
"Lady, tonight I'm just a man trying to drink alone in peace," Reno retorted without even turning to look at the woman who had just approached him.
"Bullshit," the woman said. "If you wanted to do that you could have stayed home, but you're out in a bar because you want attention."
Reno had decided to go to a bar because chopping his hair off and drinking alone felt too pathetic, but if he were at a bar, at least he could say he wasn't drinking alone, even if he didn't interact with anyone.
"I like the atmosphere," he said, his left leg bouncing on the bottom rung of the barstool. He continued to look into the drink he was lazily swirling in his raised hand.
"You used to come here a lot more," the woman just wouldn't quit. "Always left with someone different, too."
"Musta been someone else," he replied. He had no desire to even see what this woman looked like, something he never would have done in the past.
"Haven't seen you 'round," she continued, seemingly unaffected by his coldness. "You had a girlfriend?"
"Nope," he said as the picture of Tifa and Elena flashed before his mind's eye.
"Good," the woman said before sitting on the stool next to Reno's.
He had no interest in conversing with anyone else tonight – especially not a strange woman – but he was starting to get the urge to be a bit judgy. No woman could possibly be more attractive than Tifa or make him want to forget about her for the evening, but he now wanted to at least know who was trying.
He slowly turned his head and shifted his eyes to the side to look at her without fully turning his body so as not to give her a signal he might be interested. She was probably around his age and may have been pretty years ago before her now obvious drug and alcohol abuse problem. At least turning her down would be super easy, since he probably wouldn't have gone for her even before he decided to put all his effort into obtaining Tifa.
By now she shifted on the stool to turn toward him and was about to say something when his phone vibrated again. He immediately reached for it in his jacket pocket to stop her from saying anything else. As he flipped it open, he silently prayed that it was from Tifa or Elena asking him to join them. He'd have to decline, of course; couldn't let them think he had nothing better to do than sit around and wait for an invite.
"One text message from Elena."
Good enough, he thought as he clicked on it. His expression immediately changed to one of anger with a hint of disappointment. He was now staring at a photo of Tifa, Elena, and Rude enjoying themselves together somewhere. Well, Rude looked like he always did, but Reno knew he was having fun. Worse, Elena had angled the camera and directed Tifa and Rude to lean in such a way that obscured their surroundings so he couldn't figure out where they were – you know, in case he wanted to casually crash. It also looked like Elena had edited the photo to obscure the top corners that might have given him some indication as to their location.
"Bitch," he thought to himself.
He then typed a message back to her: "Where are you guys?"
It was definitely not what he expected to say, but he hadn't been alone with Tifa in days and it was starting to hurt mentally and physically. He hated that.
His phone buzzed again and he saw Elena had responded.
"Classified," she wrote.
"Oh, c'mon!" Reno said out loud to his phone, which didn't respond.
"Something wrong?" the woman who had been trying to chat him up asked.
"No," he said, snapping his phone closed and returning it to his pocket.
"You're lying," she said with a coy smile.
"So, what if I am?"
"I could help you forget about her…"
Reno looked the woman in the eyes and almost sneered. He might be drunk and upset, but he was smart enough not to blow his chances with Tifa by sleeping with some floozy. Without saying a word he reached into his other pocket and pulled out more than enough gil to cover his bar tab and tossed it on the counter. The woman's face lit up until Reno met her gaze again and glared, shaking his head back and forth just slightly.
Reno kept his head held high as he walked out of the building and into the night, the flickering neon lights of The Phoenix Club behind him.
Meanwhile…
Rude's "guy" arrived within 30 minutes exactly with the items the Turk had asked for, much to Tifa's surprise. It was after midnight by now, yet Rude had managed to get some pretty obscure items within half an hour.
Tifa tasted the elderflower syrup and examined the color-changing gin. It was blue, just like at The Phoenix Club. She took out a double shot glass and filled it halfway with the Gin. She then dropped in some of the luster dust and stirred the contents.
"Ooo, pretty!" Elena said, the effects of alcohol again showing in her demeanor.
"Okay, I think that yellowish liquid he poured in it was elderflower syrup, lemon juice, and vodka, but I don't know the ratio," Tifa said, staring at the three ingredients.
She shrugged and poured a little of each into a shaker. She shook them with a bit of bartender flair out of habit, but she didn't smile and look at Elena or Rude as she did so. She would usually look at the customer she was mixing the drink for while she shook it – that usually got her a better tip.
She then poured some of mix into a single shot glass and placed it next to the blue drink. She grabbed a spoon and held it upside down over the drink to pour the rum 151 on top before reaching under the bar for a lighter and setting the drink on fire.
So far, so good, she thought. She picked up the other shot glass and carefully poured it into the flaming drink. Much to her surprise, the drink turned a purplish blue.
"Yay!" she said, hopping up and down a little.
She then pulled out the cinnamon, opened the bottle, and flicked a little at the flame, causing sparks.
"This looks almost like the one at The Phoenix Club!" Elena cheered as Rude watched, expressionless.
Tifa put the flame out with a plate and passed the drink to Elena.
"The real test is the taste," the brunette said.
Elena nodded and brought the drink up under her nose. Just from the smell she could tell something wasn't right, but she decided to taste it anyway.
"Whoa! Heavy on the vodka, yeesh," she said, pulling the unfinished drink away from her.
Tifa frowned.
"Guess I didn't get the ratio right," she said.
"I think you're close, though," Elena responded.
Tifa nodded and pulled out a couple more large shot glasses. She made two drinks the next time – one each for Elena and Rude to test – while she continued to sip her wine.
"This one was a little better, maybe too much lemon," Elena said.
Rude just grunted in such a way that seemed like he agreed with Elena.
Round three. Tifa made a glass for each of them this time. To her, it tasted quite pleasant, but she waited for a reaction from Elena or Rude.
Elena took a sip, swished it in her mouth to really taste it, swallowed, and then downed the rest of the drink like it was a shot.
"This. Is. It," she exclaimed, thoroughly feeling the alcohol.
Rude, too, seemed to approve, and Tifa couldn't help but giggle at the image of him in his dark Turk suit sipping on a glittery purple drink made with flowers.
"I think you could modify this and totally steal it for the bar," Elena said.
"Hmm, maybe," Tifa responded. "I'm just glad I was able to figure it out – plus I learned some new techniques."
Meanwhile…
Reno slammed his apartment door behind him and walked straight into his bathroom to turn on the shower – cold. He undressed and stood under the water with his left palm resting against the tile under the shower head. He looked down at the drain as the water ran over his muscles, snaking its way down his arms and legs and out below.
Even the blast of cold water couldn't get him to stop thinking about Tifa, though it did help him not to think about her too much. He stayed like this for a few minutes, running his free hand up the back of his head and then back through his hair.
"Fuck it," he thought as he reached out to turn the water temperature up.
He hadn't been able to touch Tifa since their night in The Forgotten Capital, and he couldn't get her out of his mind. He needed a release and set about doing just that.
He thought of Tifa's beautiful naked body on top of him near Aeris' lake, her breasts bouncing as she rode his cock like she was competing at a chocobo rodeo. He moaned as he lost himself in his own pleasure, remembering the feeling of his cock deep inside her as his hips slapped against her ass in the forest.
It took a while longer, but he finally came, saying her name out loud when he did. He was actually cursing her for whatever spell she had put on him – a spell that had completely changed him into this new, almost unrecognizable person in his view. He couldn't imagine being with anyone else other than her and found himself filled with fear that she would choose Cloud.
Dinner tomorrow would have to be perfect.
A/N: So, this chapter got away from me. It started out being a short little break for Tifa from the boys in her life, but it clearly turned into a "T.C. Rose teaches you how to make an amazing cocktail." BTW, the Phoenix Flame is a real drink I found after searching "phoenix cocktail." Can't post a hyperlink here, but it's easy to find.
Props to The Flavor Bender, for the recipe.
Also, I needed some CloTi intimacy after beating the Remake, and then I missed the Reno smut, so I included just a glimpse of that as well. Hope you enjoyed anyway.