It was like looking at an exquisitely crafted figurine. A figurine of let's say, oh I don't know, a beautiful woman. Made of the finest crystal by the most proficient artisan in the land. Something that was lovingly hand crafted through years of painstaking toil. Something so delicate and fragile that anyone looking at it could only gape in wonder at it's beauty. Someone's life work. A masterpiece, perfect in every way.
It was taking that figurine, and watching it fall to the ground to shatter into a thousand tiny shards against the cold concrete of the floor. It was looking at that and knowing it was something that could never be replaced, knowing that something of such beauty would never grace the face of the planet again. Knowing that something priceless had been lost to the world forever.
That was the image that came to Reno's mind, looking at Tifa at that moment.
He'd heard about Meteor Fever. It was in the papers almost every day, but he hadn't paid that much attention. He knew it was serious. He knew kids died from it, but that was all.
"You can help her, can't you?" he asked.
He looked from the doctor to Tifa and back. Neither one of them spoke. Tifa just sat there staring in front of her, her shoulders hunched, her face in her hands, crying silently. So instead Reno focused on the man in front of him, the doctor who was just standing there, as if he didn't know what to say.
"The prognosis is poor," the doctor finally replied.
"Poor? What does that mean? It's bad but you can cure her, right?" Reno insisted.
Again a numbing silence fell. The doctor didn't seem to want to answer, as if Reno had to drag the words from him. Eventually he did reply, glancing at Tifa first.
"I'm afraid... " he stopped and cleared his throat. "I'm afraid that Meteor Fever is invariably fatal."
Tifa let out a little cry at that. She couldn't help it. She couldn't hold it in. Reno looked at her but she was staring at the ground. He felt his own throat begin to go dry. The kid was gonna die?
"How..."
Reno looked at Tifa. It was as if it had taken all her effort just to get out that single word. She lifted her head, looking up at the doctor, struggling to hold back the sobs that were threatening to overwhelm her at any moment long enough to finish her sentence.
"How long?"
Dr. Quigley looked at her gravely.
"There's no way to tell for sure. Two weeks. Three at the most."
Tifa bowed her head once again.
"I'm sorry," Dr. Quigley said. "We'll try to make her as comfortable as possible. I suggest you go home. Get some rest. You can see her tomorrow. She'll be in her own room by then."
Tifa stood up, feeling like she was choking, like she was sinking into a vast bottomless well. She needed to get out of here. She didn't want the people to see her like this. Mechanically she started for the exit, not looking back, not noticing whether Reno followed or not. She didn't care. She didn't care about anything.
The cold stung at her face and threatened to take her breath away as she walked out into the street. She had unbuttoned her coat inside, and hadn't bothered to button it back up. She could feel the icy fingers of cold clutching for her, but it didn't bother her. She welcomed it. The cold outside couldn't compare with the frigid numbness that gripped her mind.
She was aware of Reno walking beside her, but he remained mercifully silent. She was glad. She didn't think she would be able to stand any of his glib remarks. Not now.
It didn't take long for her to reach her apartment. The hospital was located only a few blocks away. She fumbled with her keys a moment, her hands shaking, though whether from the cold or just because of her nerves, she couldn't say, before getting the door open. She didn't bother to close it, didn't bother to take off her coat or even turn on the light, she just walked over to the couch and sank down on it, curling up into a ball in one corner.
She blinked through her tears as the lights flicked on. She looked up to see Reno closing the door. He took off his coat, walking over to the couch. He tossed the coat across the back and sat down beside her.
"Go home Reno," she managed to say. She didn't want company. She didn't want comfort. No, that wasn't true. She did want comfort. In fact, she desperately wanted it, but not from Reno.
"Do you really want to be alone right now?" he asked.
"No, I don't want to be alone, but I don't want to be with you either," she replied honestly.
There hadn't been any anger in her words, only sadness. Still, he had to admit that stung. This was a tough one for anyone to handle, and he had to admit he admired the way she was taking it. He had forgotten all about their little tiff and wished she would too. He might be a royal pain in the ass but even he realized this was no time to screw around. For once in his life he was being genuinely sympathetic and yet she still treated him like he was being a jerk.
Tifa abruptly stood up. She walked into the kitchen, ignoring Reno. She picked up her phone and dialed quickly. Her hands were shaking so badly it took her two tries to finally dial the correct number.
Reno sat on the couch just looking at her.
"Brent?" Tifa said after a moment. Her cheeks were still wet with tears. She could barely talk. It was obvious to any listener with just that one word that something was seriously wrong. "Brent. I know it's late but some... something's happened. It's Karisa. She..." Tifa stopped, not able to go on for a moment. "She's got Meteor Fever." There was a long pause after that. "Yes. I don't know. We took her to the hospital tonight. We? Oh, no one. Just... just someone from work." Tifa had to stop again. Reno saw her visibly try to compose herself. She did not succeed very well. "I don't know. She's in the isolation ward. No. They told me I could see her tomorrow."
Tifa paused a moment, glancing over at Reno. Seeing him looking at her she turned away.
"Brent. I... I need you."
There was another long pause.
"I... I know. Brent... Of course but...I just...."
Tifa closed her eyes and brought her hand up to her head.
"Yes, I understand. Just do what you can, okay? Yeah, all right. Goodbye."
She hung up the phone. Without a word she walked back over to the couch. She took off her coat and let it drop to the floor, then she sat down again. Hugging herself with her arms, she brought her knees up in front of her and bowed her head.
"Is he coming?" Reno asked.
Tifa just sat there for a long time.
"He doesn't know when he can get a flight," she finally replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
Reno didn't reply, knowing it was no time to make a snide remark. She lifted her head and turned her tear stained face toward him.
"Go home Reno."
Again he felt a sting at her dismissal of him. Maybe she was right. Maybe it would be better if he left. She looked like she wanted to die, like she wanted to just fall apart completely. Maybe that was what she needed to do, but she was too proud to do that in front of someone. Still, if he walked out without saying anything, it would just reinforce her image of him.
"I'm sorry about Karisa," he said slowly.
She looked at him for a moment, then lowered her head again.
"People... people die all the time. That's just their tough luck. Weren't you the one who told me that?"
Shit. What the hell did she have to remember that for? Did she have a photographic memory or something? Maybe he was banging his head against the wall. Maybe there wasn't any way to change her concept of him. If so, he couldn't really blame her for it. It was his own damn fault. He thought of half a dozen things he could say, but he had a feeling all of them would just sound like cliches coming from his lips. Why didn't he just walk out the door like she wanted him to? Why would he care what she thought of him anyway?
Nevertheless, he didn't get up.
"Look, you may think of me as just some cold heartless bastard, but no matter what you think I'm not completely unfeeling. I know I can't pretend to possibly know what you're going through, I obviously don't know your kid nearly as well as you do, but that doesn't mean that... that I want something like this to happen to her."
She didn't reply. Didn't move.
"Yeah, I can be glib at times, but that's just my way of protecting myself. When..."
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"When my... mother died, I cried and cried for days, but then afterward, I swore to myself that would never happen again, that I'd never let the world hurt me again. That was the only way..."
Tifa stirred. She lifted her head again and looked at him.
"The only way that I could win," he continued. "Life slaps you down all the time. You either get up or give up. That was my way of getting life back. That was the only way I could. I was going to prove to it that no matter what it did, no matter what it threw at me, it wasn't going to hurt me again."
He fell silent. She didn't say anything, just sat there looking at him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"How old were you?"
Not really a question he had been expecting. He wondered why she wanted to know that.
"I was twelve"
Tifa nodded slowly. She wiped a hand across her face again. Reno stood up, looking around. He walked over to the hallway then into the bathroom. Returning with a box of tissues, he handed it to her. She took them without a word and wiped her face again as he sat down.
"She's only three."
Reno didn't have a reply to that. He felt his insides twist. She sounded so damn hopeless...
He looked over at her. She was staring down at her hands, holding a tissue, as if the weight of the entire world sat on her shoulders. Seeing her that way, it stirred something inside him, something he hadn't felt in a long time. It tore at his guts, and he couldn't understand why. He only knew he didn't like seeing her like this.
Slowly he reached out his hand, until it fell lightly on her shoulder. He paused, waiting for a reaction, waiting for her to shrug it away, to tell him to go home, to leave her alone. She didn't. She didn't move, didn't react at all, just sat there looking down and crying.
Ever since the doctor had told her, it was as if something inside her had been tearing at her, ripping up her insides trying to get out. She had been trying her best to hold it in, to not let it free, because she didn't want Reno to see how weak she really was. Or perhaps that wasn't it at all, perhaps she didn't want to realize it herself, but it was like swimming against a strong tide, a tide that was sweeping her out to sea. She was swimming with all her might, yet every time she looked up, the safety of the beach was farther and farther away. There came a point where you realized the task was impossible, where struggling became pointless, where you were filled with the overwhelming realization that no matter how hard you tried, this was something you just couldn't fight.
Slowly she felt the last of her strength drain out of her. She had held back as long as she could, but she just wasn't strong enough to fight it any longer. She curled up on the couch, turning toward him and sinking down, willing to reach out for any comfort at all, even what he could provide. He lifted his hand as she turned toward him, and she slowly sank into his arms.
"She's all I have Reno. She's everything to me. Everything. I can't.. I can't live without her."
Her shoulders shuddering she began to sob, and once she started it became impossible for her to hold back. For a long time they sat there, Tifa crying uncontrollably, Reno holding her in his arms, not saying a word, knowing that there wasn't a damn thing he could say, knowing that this was just something that she had to go through, something that had to pass on it's own. He didn't say anything, but silently he cursed the world, cursed the gods that could do something like this to a person like her. He expected one day to die a miserable death, somewhere alone and abandoned. It wasn't any more than he deserved and he didn't expect anyone to mourn for him, not even himself, but she deserved better. He always knew the world was a miserable place but now he had to admit it had sunk to a new low. What the hell purpose could it possibly serve to take the three year old daughter away from this woman? What kind of twisted world would do something like that?
He had been right. He had told her that life sucked, that she couldn't expect anything to come from the way she acted, that she wouldn't get any reward for doing what was right. He knew life would only knock her down somewhere along the way. Even so, for the first time in his life he wished with all his heart that he had been wrong about something.
Eventually Tifa fell silent. Her head was resting against his chest now. All he could see was the top of her head and her chocolate hair falling about her shoulders. For a long time they just sat there in complete silence but finally she stirred. She lifted her head. Taking a deep breath, she slid out of his arms and sat up. She glanced at him, looking embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," she said.
She picked up the box of tissues and slid into the corner of the couch, away from him once more.
"You've got nothing to be sorry about," he told her.
She kind of shrugged her shoulders at that. She wiped her red and swollen eyes one more time. She seemed to have finally stopped crying, at least for now, but the haunted look remained on her face.
Reno stood up.
"I need a drink, and you look like you do to."
He paused for a moment, waiting for a response. A tiny nod of her head told him she didn't object. He walked into the kitchen, took out the liquor and mixed them up two drinks. He brought them back and handed her one. When she took it her hand shook so badly some spilled out onto the floor. She quickly lifted the drink to her lips and gulped it down. Too quickly. A moment later she spilled some more as she bent over coughing.
Reno stepped toward her and patted her on the back.
"Take it easy with that," he told her. "I made it pretty strong."
She nodded, wiping her mouth with a tissue and putting the glass down on the coffee table.
"I'm sorry," she said again.
"And I told you, you have nothing to be sorry for. It's life that should be sorry, sorry for doing something like this to someone like you. You have every right to act this way. Cry all you want. Scream. Run around. Break things. Do whatever you have to do. I know I would."
Tifa didn't reply, just looked at him. She hadn't wanted to fall apart like that in front of Reno, but she just couldn't help it. Still, she was surprised a bit. He hadn't been rude or callous. He seemed genuinely sympathetic. Of course, that could be an act. She didn't think it was, but Reno had fooled her before. Even so, he did seem to like Karisa. After what he said about his mother she could at least understand why he acted the way he did, even if she didn't agree. Maybe there really was some feeling in there somewhere after all.
Either way it didn't matter. She didn't care what he really thought. He was here. Just his presense made her feel better, feel like she wasn't so alone. He was at least willing to give her a shoulder to cry on, to be there, no matter if he was sincere or not. Just being here was all that mattered.
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that this should happen to her daughter. The child was just three. She'd never done anything, never hurt anyone. How could something like this happen to her? She'd tried to do everything she could for the child, tried to protect her, to keep her safe. Karisa was the one thing, the only thing, that made her life worthwhile.
"What have I done wrong Reno? Where did I go astray?"
Reno didn't know how to answer that. This wasn't some fantasy world. Good people didn't get rewarded just because they were good, nor did the bad always get punished. Did she think her behavior would protect her from something like this? People always wanted to think that, to think that when something bad happens, it was that persons own fault, that they'd done something wrong, that they deserved it somehow. It made things easier. It made you think that it couldn't happen to you as long as you didn't do anything bad yourself. It made you think that you could protect yourself from bad things. It gave them hope, something to cling to, a way to say, this could never happen to me, but it was false hope. If they just opened their eyes and looked around, they'd see that the world just didn't work that way.
"You didn't do anything wrong. It's just random chance. It doesn't matter what you've done, whether you've been good or bad. That has nothing to do with it. You roll the dice and sometimes you crap out. That's just the way it is."
Tifa said nothing. She knew Reno was just trying to make her feel better, yet she wasn't sure his words were all that comforting. She lifted her drink and quickly drained her glass. Then she lowered her head and rested it against the glass. The ice keeping the glass cold felt soothing against her forehead.
Reno stood up again, he reached over and teased the glass out of her hands. She looked up at him but he just turned away, walking into the kitchen to make her another one. This time he brought the bottle back with him when he returned and placed it on the table, then held out the glass for her.
She took it hesitantly. Her hands were still shaking a little.
"I don't want to get drunk," she told him.
He sat down again before replying.
"Why the hell not?" he questioned. "If ever there was a reason to, I think this might be it."
"Drinking isn't going to solve anything!" she said sharply.
"That may be true," he replied, unperturbed. "But it might help you forget about this for a little while."
"I don't want to forget!"
"Why not?" he questioned, speaking just as sharply as she had. "What are you afraid of? C'mon Tifa, relax for once in your life. You look like you've got the weight of the world hanging over you. Alcohol isn't going to solve your problems but it could relieve that, at least for a little while. You're not going anywhere tonight, you're in your own home. You're not going to become an alcoholic just by indulging once. Are you worried you're going to do something stupid? Or do you think this is just some sort of ploy on my part? Do you think I'm just trying to get you into bed or something? I'm not. I may be shallow and crude and callous, but even I wouldn't try to take advantage of a situation like this, not after what's happened. I give you my word I won't try to seduce you. There, does that make you feel better?"
She didn't answer right away. He seemed sincere enough but what else was new? It wasn't like he hadn't made promises before and lied. He told her he wouldn't go to her club and he said he would go away if she told him to and he'd lied both times. Of course, this situation was a bit more serious than they had been.
She had a headache. She didn't want to think about it anymore.
"Whatever," she said finally.
Reno wasn't sure whether that meant she agreed with him or not, but she didn't put down her drink.
"You know," he said after a moment. "I'm not the only one here capable of seducing someone. How do I know if I can trust you? How do I know you won't try to seduce me?"
Tifa gave him a look.
"I'd never get that drunk."
Reno grinned, but it quickly faded. At least she wasn't so lost in her misery that she couldn't fire a barb at him. Still, she didn't smile, just looked down at her glass.
For a long time they were silent, until Tifa lifted her head again.
"Tell me about your family Reno."
This time it was Reno's turn to look down. He had been wondering if she would ever delve again into this subject. Was this some kind of test? Was she trying to judge his sincerity? He didn't think so. He didn't think she would be thinking about something like that right now, at least not consciously. She was too honest.
He lifted his glass and drained it. It had nearly been full so it took a moment. Then he leaned forward and poured himself another.
He had planned on telling her eventually anyway, he had just been waiting for the right time. She hadn't said this would be a tit for tat thing, she hadn't said she'd open up to him if he did the same, and he wasn't about to bluntly ask her that. That wouldn't work with her. He had a feeling though, that if he told her this it would make her feel obligated to reciprocate. You had to give something to get something, right?
He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.
"There really isn't all that much to tell. What do you want to know?" he asked.
Tifa hesitated. She wanted to know it all, but she wasn't exactly sure where to start.
"Was your father an alcoholic?"
Reno turned to look at her.
"Right to the heart of the matter, eh?"
Tifa just looked at him.
"Yeah, big time. He used to beat both me and mother all the time. Or at least, that's what my mother told me. I don't really remember all that much myself. I was really young at the time. That's probably for the best. I do remember his eyes, he had these deep blue eyes, sad looking eyes, it seemed to me, and a big long strap he used to hit us with. I'll never forget that strap."
Tifa shuddered.
"Was that why she left him?"
"Yeah. If it wasn't for me she probably would have stayed. She could take the beatings herself but she didn't want anything to happen to me. She said she still loved him. Can you believe that? If she had stayed he probably would have ended up killing her. Maybe she'd 'a been better off."
"Why do you say that?"
"So one night she took me and left. She brought me to Midgar. She figured he'd never be able to find her in a big city like that. It was someplace we could get lost in, you know? So we lived in the slums. She ran off without a penny to her name, and it wasn't like she was highly skilled. She tried a few odd jobs, but it was nowhere near enough to pay the bills. Eventually she took a job as a prostitute."
"That's horrible," Tifa said.
"It's not that all uncommon, you know," Reno replied. "She started working for a guy everyone called Z. I never found out his real name. She tried to hide it from me, of course, but I wasn't stupid. I knew what was going on. She tried to keep it out of our house but it wasn't always possible. Anyways she was keeping some of the gil she made, trying to save enough to get us the hell out of there so we could start a new life somewhere else with enough that she wouldn't have to do anything like that again. She was taking a bit more out of the gil than she was supposed to. My mom was pretty smart. She thought she was being careful, but eventually Z found out."
Tifa held her breath. It was obvious this story was not going to have a happy ending.
"He came over one day with a couple of his boys. They roughed her up, and then he shot her in the head. Just like that, like she was nothing, right there in front of me."
"Oh my God," Tifa said.
"Yeah well, that's life."
"That's not life Reno! That's horrible. That shouldn't happen to anyone."
"But it did," Reno said. "My mother took a gamble and she lost. How you or I or anyone might feel about it ain't gonna change that. I tried to fight them, I tried to hurt him, but I was only twelve, and there were three of them. They beat me up pretty bad too, but they didn't kill me. Z told me he liked my spunk. He took me under his wing, took me back to his place, gave me a job at the brothel as a lookout. I ran away the first chance I got and joined a gang, and that was that."
They fell silent again. This explained a lot about him. A lot. Tifa hadn't exactly had a dream childhood. Her mother had died young, and then Sephiroth had come to Nibelheim and destroyed the town. After that it had been a few years of hell living in Midgar. Sephiroth had killed her father, almost right in front of her and had nearly killed her. Still, she thought what Reno had gone through was worse. Both her father and mother had loved her dearly when they were alive. She had at least been happy for a little while.
"Is that why you won't work for a pimp?" she asked.
Reno nodded. He lifted his glass and drained it again, looking shaken. Tifa had never seen him like that. She realized it must have taken a lot for him to tell her all this.
"Have you ever seen your father again?"
Reno filled his glass again and shook his head.
"No, and I have no desire to."
Tifa took a sip from her glass and realized it was empty as well. She put it down on the coffee table. Reno filled it up again. She hesitated a moment, the lifted it up again.
"What about Z? What happened to him, do you know?"
"He's dead."
"You killed him?"
"As my first unofficial act as as a Turk, yes. It took me a while, but I got my revenge. It didn't change anything though, it didn't bring my mother back."
They fell silent again. Tifa took another tissue and wiped her eyes. They were still red and moist from her crying. Reno looked at her for a moment, then asked a question of his own.
"So, what about you? What happened between you and Cloud?"
Tifa finished dabbing her eyes. She tossed the used tissue on the coffee table beside the pile that was already there. Then she turned to look at him. She didn't say anything for a long time. She kept telling herself it didn't matter. She had nothing to hide anymore. He had opened up to her, the least she could do was do the same for him. Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't pretty much guessed it already.
"He dumped me Reno," she said evenly. "Just like you said. Can't you see the big 'L' plastered on my forehead?"
Reno gave her a sour look.
"You're not a loser, Tifa."
"Thank you for saying so, but that doesn't mean I believe you."
Reno shook his head in frustration. Why did she always have to be so hard on herself?
"The truth is, I admire you.," he said.
"Huh?"
"Your life hasn't been a hell of a lot better than mine, if it was at all," he said. "Your parents died early, Sephiroth took away everything you ever had. The guy you loved practically your whole life left you. Yet you've kept yourself together. You're got a job that pays the bills. You're raising a daughter all by yourself. You've survived, and you've done it the hard way. You had every excuse to turn into a person just like me and yet you didn't. You haven't compromised your principles, you haven't taken the easy way out, like I did."
Tifa didn't know what to say to that. She wasn't sure what he was saying was so true, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She would have never expected something like that from him. The man was just full of surprises tonight.
"Thank you," she said softly. She looked at him closely.
"What?" he questioned, seeing her look.
"There really is a person in there, isn't there?"
Reno shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess," he said, sounding loath to admit it. "Just don't let that get around."
He leaned forward suddenly, looking at her this time.
"What is it?' she asked.
"I don't know," he said, leaning back again. "I almost thought I might have gotten a little smile out of you over that."
She did smile this time, but it was one of those wry crooked ones, before she looked away again. He wasn't sure that counted.
He took another sip from his drink, still looking at her. She glanced his way once after a moment, but turned away again when she saw him looking at her. He only had one more question left. Might as well go for it.
"So is Karisa Cloud's or not?"
Tifa still didn't look at him. She lifted her hand and chewed on her finger for a moment. She'd come this far, she might as well get it all out.
"Yes, yes she is."
Reno frowned.
"You had his baby and he left you?"
Tifa did turn toward him now.
"He didn't know! He left before I found out I was pregnant. He doesn't know about her."
"Hmm, if he ever wanders back here, he'll be in for a surprise then."
"I don't think that's going to happen."
"Hey, you never know."
Tifa just shrugged. She didn't want to think about that anymore. She'd thought about it often enough in the past. Every day after he'd left she'd looked at every stranger that came into town hoping to see his face again, hoping he'd made a mistake, that he'd come back to her. Even now, she still looked at the people who came in the bar, or felt her heart flutter at a knock on the door, but it was rare now. The emotion was still there, if only just a spark. She wished it wasn't. She wished she could just move on, just forget about him once and for all.
She didn't reply. She had nothing to say. Thinking about Karisa she felt a renewed stabbing in her gut. In spite of her efforts not to, she began to cry slowly again.
He reached out his hand, and this time she slipped into his arms with little hesitation.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't stop."
He was tempted to tell her to cut it out, that she didn't have to say she was sorry, but he didn't think it would do much good. How many times had he said that already?
"Don't worry about it," was his actual comment.
She sniffed for a bit, but then fell silent. He couldn't see her face anymore, it was resting on his chest again, but it seemed she had gotten a hold of herself a lot quicker this time.
"Well, you've found out everything you wanted to know," she said after a while. "I have no more secrets. You got what you wanted. Are you going to leave now?"
That question annoyed him a bit. He couldn't help it. After all they had gone through tonight, was she still questioning his motives?
"Do you want me to?"
She hadn't meant it like that though. Every man she had ever known had taken what they wanted from her and then left. Even Brent, she wasn't sure if he was only using her too, if he was only in it just for the sex. Were they all like that?
"No," she whispered. She hadn't thought it could happen but she felt comfortable in his arms. Safe. Whether he was a bastard yesterday, whether he would be a bastard tomorrow, she didn't care. All she knew was that he was being kind tonight, for whatever reason, for her sake, or Karisa's or some selfish motive of his own, she didn't care. She just knew she needed someone to be there and he was obliging and that was good enough for her.
She sniffed a few more times, then went quiet again. Reno sat there, staring at the far wall, not sure what to think about the whole situation. She trusted him now, a little bit more than she had, of that he was certain. Whether she would feel the same way in the morning, he couldn't say. She was right in a way. All this time he had been telling her, been telling himself, that he had been hanging around because he was curious, because she had been so mysterious. He knew all along it had been more than that, but he didn't even know himself how much more. She was beautiful, there was no denying that and he had to admit getting her into bed had crossed his mind. There was more to it than that now, however. Somehow, he wasn't sure how, he had developed a genuine fondness for the kid, maybe even for both of them. He wasn't sure exactly how it had happened. He had never admitted it to anyone, but he'd always liked kids. No one knew that about him, not even Rude. Being a Turk, after all, didn't leave you much time to interact with any.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there pondering, confused. Eventually he looked down at Tifa. She was quietly resting against him. He could feel her chest rising and falling slowly with her breath, but other than that she wasn't moving.
"Are you awake?" he asked softly.
No response.
He shifted to the side, reaching out and lifting her head. Her eyes had been closed, but she opened them when he moved.
"Hmmm?" she said, then her eyes fluttered shut again.
"C'mon, let's get you to bed."
He stood up. As soon as he did she flopped down on the space he had just vacated.
He grasped her shoulder and shook her.
"Don't you want to go to bed?"
She opened her eyes again, looking around for a moment.
"Dizzy," she said, and closed her eyes once more.
Reno placed his hands on his hips. He wasn't sure how much they had had to drink. He hadn't kept count, but he looked over at the bottle and saw it was empty.
"Looks like someone has had a little too much to drink," he observed.
Tifa did not reply.
He stood there a moment, then reached down and lifted her into his arms. She grumbled something, then put her arms around his neck. He carried into the bedroom and eased her down onto the bed. She immediately curled up on the covers. He looked at her for a moment, then bent down and pulled off her shoes.
"What are you doing?" he heard her mutter.
"Putting you to bed, what does it look like?"
"Umm, bed," she said agreeably.
The shoes fell to the floor. Reno stood up once more, looking her over. He hadn't turned on the light. It would have been too difficult with her in his arms. The light from the hall, however, was enough for him to see by. She didn't look all that comfortable in her jeans, but he didn't think it would be wise to try to remove them. He didn't know just how drunk she was, and she was almost certain to get the wrong idea. He wasn't anxious to end up with her knee in his face.
"Wow, me taking care of a drunk Tifa, that's a switch," he muttered. "You're still one up on me though."
Tifa remained silent.
Reno stood there for quite some time just looking at her, not sure why. Slowly he walked over to the head of the bed, looking down at her. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. His hand came up and slowly, gently he ran it along her cheek. There was no response. He hesitated for a moment, then, certain that she was asleep, bent down and lightly kissed her forehead.
"Good night," he said softly.
He turned away, walking over to the door. He took hold of it and started to close it.
"Thank you."
His head spun around. She was lying in bed just as he had left her, her eyes open, looking at him.
"Umm, err, you're welcome," he sputtered. He quickly closed the door and turned away, walking back to the couch. There he eased himself down and shook his head slowly, feeling oddly embarrassed.
What the hell did he think he was doing?