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The Aethereality of You	By : RandiLynne Category: Final Fantasy VII > Het - Male/Female Views: 943 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Plenty of booze? Please. Tifa was planning the party in
the bar which she owned. Wouldn�t it be obvious that there would be plenty of
booze?
Time seemed to have betrayed her,
and she made it downstairs just in time to see the first of the guests trail
in. Tifa surveyed the room; just to be sure she hadn�t missed anything. The
d�cor was simple; however, the trays of food were anything but. Several
elaborate platters were set around the bar counter, displaying an array of
treats and appetizers. The main course was heating in the kitchen; the
chocolate cake in the freezer to be sure the mint ice cream within didn�t melt.
The bar would be closed to the public for tonight, the last thing she needed
was a drunkard interrupting all their fun.
Cid and Yuffie had wandered in
engaged in some competition to see who could give the cleverest nickname to the
rest of their friends, and Tifa caught the tail end of a name she thought must
have been for Cloud. She greeted them and shuffled into the kitchen to tend to
the dinner.
When Tifa finally emerged from the
kitchen, the room was filled with familiar faces. Barret was entertaining
Denzel and Marlene in the corner while Cid teased over the glass of whiskey in
his hand. Yuffie had taken to Nanaki, apparently fixing a few unruly hairs on
his back. Vincent and Cloud shared a terrifically silent conversation on the
opposite side of the room, but she felt dismayed when she didn�t find her
former enemies. What a strange feeling.
�Tifa, Tifa!� Marlene called as
she bounded toward Tifa with a beaming smile, successfully distracting her from
her thoughts.
Marlene didn�t give Tifa much of a
chance to speak as she flung her arms out, �Wanna see the magic trick daddy
showed me how to do?� She asked, her innocent voice carrying over the bar and
attracting Yuffie�s gaze.
�Sure, sweetie,� Tifa answered.
Marlene began her simple magic
trick which consisted of making a miniscule figurine disappear. Just as she
finished the trick, Tifa swept the little girl into her arms and spun her once with
a jubilant smile, �That was great, Marlene!�
As Tifa displayed her affections
for Marlene, the jingle on the bar room door chimed the arrival of the
unexpected guests. All eyes focused upon the redheaded Turk who first entered
the room, followed by Elena and Rude. Tifa felt a wave of most uncomfortable
air as Cid glared toward the approaching three. Barret also looked none too
pleased with the sight, but no one else seemed to mind. She figured it�d be
those two, if anyone one were to mind and she had predicted their reactions
perfectly. Yuffie simply yelled a hyper greeting toward the suit clad guests.
�Heya, Turkeys!�
she shouted, waving her hand toward them.
�Yuffie,� Reno greeted, a
smirk in place as he claimed a chair near the group. Elena and Rude merely
nodded and seated themselves near Reno.
�What�re they doing here?� Marlene
asked quietly, directing her gaze toward Tifa as she sat in the woman�s arms.
�They�re our friends, Marlene.
They�re here because they helped us when the bad men came,� Tifa explained.
Friends might have been a stretch, but the girl would never know. Marlene, in
all her innocence, accepted the explanation as undoubted truth and wiggled down
from Tifa�s arms.
Marlene made her way to the
display of snacks and hoisted a tray of cookies up in her short arms. With the
tray situated, she played waitress and delivered the treats to the table where Reno, Elena and Rude sat.
The tray found a home at the center of the table and Marlene beamed a girlish
smile.
�Thank you for helping Tifa,� the
little girl said.
As Reno swiped one of the cookies, Tifa noticed Barret
practically fuming and intercepted his stare with a smile. �Barret, they really
did help. A second chance won�t hurt, you know,� Tifa whispered, watching the
big man squirm in his chair, but sigh relief as Marlene returned to play with
Denzel.
�It will
if they go killin� someone,� he retorted quietly,
keeping his voice from reaching the kids.
�Now, Barret� Shin-Ra doesn�t
possess half the power it once did. Rufus claims he�s repenting for everything
that happened. It wasn�t entirely their fault, either, you know. Besides, we�re
just as guilty of using violence to prove points. Does blowing reactors ring a
bell?� Her voice faltered in the whispered tone, but she remained smiling.
�I s�pose
you�re right, Tif�,� Barret grumbled, peering at the Turks with a distinct lack
of emotion.
�That�s my Barret,� Tifa said,
sneaking a quick pat on the shoulder for her father-figure. Her gaze fell on
Cid; he would be far less convinced by her logical argument. Next best thing? She made her way to the bar and grabbed
a near-full bottle of her best whisky, bringing the black label bottle to Cid�s
table where she let it dangle in front of his eyes.
Cobalt irises shot up at the
bottle and a crooked grin immediately formed, the bottle claimed by calloused
hands. �Why, thank you very fuckin� much, Tif�,� Cid said.
�Of course, now be nice,� Tifa
pleaded, but the whiskey would have him calm as a lamb by the time he downed
several ounces. She always thought it funny that alcohol, aside from Tequila,
brought Cid to a cool demeanor. Usually, alcohol brought the opposite out of
men. Though if one really squared logic, those men were most calm before the
alcohol and Cid was a busy body with a temper. It made sense that he would be
calm while they took on his sober persona.
Putting out fires was a skill Tifa
happened to be quite grateful for. Many struggled to mend fences and maintain a
happy face, but Tifa did this effortlessly. Along side the skill to tame fires,
she could also start them quite well. Reno
ought to know that for a fact. Speaking
of Reno, Tifa finally turned her attention to the redhead across the room.
A smile graced her pretty face as she caught his eyes, her nose crinkled
slightly in the expression. She sauntered carelessly toward their table, and
upon arrival set a hand upon the surface and leaned lazily.
�Can I offer you anything to
drink?� she asked, keeping her focus on Reno.
�I thought you�d never ask,� he
said, keeping a sly grin present. �Vodka, on the rocks.�
�All right, and
the two of you?� Tifa gestured her attention to Elena and Rude.
�I�ll take a beer,� Rude answered.
�A glass of wine will do,� Elena
followed.
�Comin� right
up.� Tifa turned away from the table and headed back to the bar to work
on the drink order, though tonight there would be no bill.
With her hands full, Tifa skirted
through her friends and brought the freshly made drinks over to the table. Each
found a home on the table and Tifa boldly scooted out a chair and seated
herself beside Reno.
She could practically feel eyes burning into her back, and by the telltale grin
on Reno�s lips,
he was enjoying all the negative attention.
�Your friends don�t look too
happy,� the redhead pointed out the obvious.
�They�ll get over it,� she
countered, brushing her hair away from her face with two stiffened fingers.
�What�s with the nicey-nice attitude?� Elena questioned, though her tone was
less than threatening.
�I told you, �Laney, they�re glad
we helped out,� Reno
answered the question, though Elena�s gaze fell only on Tifa.
�That�s true. I figured you all
deserved a little thanks,� Tifa furthered.
�Well, in that case, thank you,�
Elena answered, tipping her glass toward Tifa before taking a dignified sip.
Elena always held her manners, despite her loose tongue and impetuous
personality.
�No thanks necessary,� Tifa
replied.
Across the room, Cloud leaned
against the wall with his focus on his former enemies and Tifa with a cold
stare. Tilting his head, he directed a quiet whisper to Vincent, �Why do you
think she�s doing this?�
Vincent brought his crimson gaze
over the blonde, �She�s Tifa,� he stated. This much, Cloud knew. Tifa was
always friendly and forever paying favors to people who happened to help her in
some way or another. �She likes to thank even those who may not fully deserve
it. Do not worry, Cloud. She places her trust wisely, and if there�s anything
to fret over� she�ll let you know,� Vincent continued monotonously. Neither he
nor Cloud spoke much, but when they were around one another they somehow
expanded their speech. A fair amount of comfort had bonded between them, and
they held a relationship that created Vincent as somewhat of a mentor.
�You�re right, but I still don�t
care for it. I don�t think I trust Rufus, and those three are loyal.� Cloud
shook his head as if to show disapproval.
�Then you will know what to do,�
Vincent replied, leaning further against the wall and crossing his arms over
the expanse of his chest.
Tifa could see Cloud and Vincent
through her peripheral vision, due to the way her chair was situated, but she�d
let their obvious whispers go unnoticed. �So, what will you all be doing now?�
Tifa asked, attempting to make small talk.
�Top secret,� Reno joked, smiling widely.
�Actually, we�re pretty much the
same,� Elena added, unnecessarily.
�The same?� Tifa questioned, the
thought proving a bit unnerving. Same would have meant that assassination,
espionage and calculated terror would all be fair play. Precisely what Barret
was fretting over on the other side of the room.
�To an extent.�
Rude corrected. Cleaning up Elena�s spills of information was usually his job.
The answer was closed enough to provoke no further questioning by anyone with
half the sense that he supposed Tifa had, yet it managed to keep the truth
discreet.
�Well, I hope you�ll work for the
greater good of the Planet, rather than against it.� Tifa made her thoughts
clear and concise. Reno
nearly cringed at the idea. The games they had gotten to play before the
apocalypse were quite entertaining, and he favored the old ways of business to
this new agenda Rufus carried. Even he had no idea whether Rufus was sincere in
his statements about righting the Planet and rebuilding the cities of the
world.
�The greater good�� depending on what you consider good, Reno
smirked.
�Well I�� Tifa began, but was
interrupted by Marlene tugging feverishly at her arm.
�Tifa, I�m starving!� Marlene let
out, tightening her tiny fingers around Tifa�s skin.
�Okay, I�ll get dinner out then,�
Tifa replied, dropping the conversation to head into the kitchen with Marlene
in tow.
Reno pondered the oddity of the way Tifa
fawned over the little brown haired girl, almost as if the child was her own. A
virtue he commended, but would never willingly affirm to such admiration. She
was surely admirable, if there were any way to attribute words to all of her
excellence. Just where in hell did all
this come from? He slammed a gulp of vodka back and watched Tifa and
Marlene carry a platter and bowl from the kitchen, placing the food at the once
empty center of the table. The aroma that soon drifted over was something like
the scents he usually sampled at those fancy restaurants Rufus liked to
frequent back in the glory days.
The night wore on with trivial
activities and several more glasses of vodka, before Elena and Rude escaped, leaving
Reno rather
bored. Not that he expected Cloud or many of the others to be very interesting.
Vincent was Cloud in a darker, older form that managed to sustain a higher
intelligence than most beings. Nanaki�s babble was
far more serious than Reno
might have liked on a night like this. Yuffie was humorous in that ditzy sort
of teenager way, but Barret was the polar opposite as he watched over Denzel
and Marlene. Cid, however, interested Reno
when he sauntered drunkenly to the table and plopped down where Tifa had been
sitting earlier. The lopsided smile he wore gave insight to the fact that he
wasn�t coming over to do any Turk bashing. Reno suspected that the pilot might have, in
fact, been about as bored as he was.
�You look as bored as I fuckin�
feel,� Cid babbled, his speech pronounced indistinctly under the influence of
the whiskey that tainted the air between them.
�This place could use a few more
drunks, maybe a stripper or two,� Reno
added, finishing his sixth glass of Vodka and feeling a little over served
considering the generous amount of clear liquid that inhabited each glass.
�No shit. If those goody-two-shoe
girls would get some liquor in their systems, I bet they�d loosen up,� Cid
grinned toothily. Reno
let his gaze wander over to Tifa, appreciating the curves of her slender
stomach as she stretched absently.
�That�d be nice,� Reno mused, fond of the idea as his eyes slid
higher up her form. The kind of night he was used to clashed
with this sort of night, not near as tame as the bar happened to be.
�You�re fondling her with your
eyes, ass,� Cid chuckled, knocking an elbow against the table with a curse.
Apparently, he wasn�t protective of Tifa, a staunch contradiction to his comrades.
�Too bad it�s only my eyes,� Reno grunted, joining Cid
in the masculine chorus of laughter. His mind flashed over an image of two old,
perverted drunks checking out women at a run down bar, likely what he and Cid
would look like if they remained this way into old age.
��Wonder if she�s any good� she�s
as innocent as they come,� Cid mumbled, making assumptions off her outward
appearance and mannerisms. Normally, he wouldn�t be so much like the image Reno imagined, but
alcohol made him calm and nasty. An odd combination that proved entertaining so
long as his corrupt side stayed subdued when unsuspecting women were present.
�You�d be surprised,� Reno trailed the word
�surprised� in a long descent, instantly regretting the statement.
�The fuck?
You been sneaking over here when Spike�s not around?�
Cid questioned with an incredulous expression.
�� no� but now that you mention
it,� Reno
played the idea in his mind, grinning deviously.
�Maybe not� but you�re keeping somethin�,� Cid pressed the matter, eyeing Reno suspiciously.
How was it that the drunk could
read expressions so well? �I might have kissed her� a long time ago,� Reno made the confession,
cocky as ever with a raised brow. Cid sculpted an �O� with his mouth, shocked
by the news through his stupor.
�Ya� what?
Fuck holy� that�s a surprise,� Cid commented.
�I said you�d be surprised, yo,� Reno waggled his brows and
laughed along with Cid.
Tifa watched the pilot and Turk
with curiosity, before deciding to interrupt their laughter and drunken
chit-chat. �What�s so funny, boys?� she asked, perching her hands against her
hips.
�I ought�a
leave the two of you alone,� Cid snickered, nearly toppling as he rose to his
feet and wandered back over near Cloud and Vincent.
�What was that all about?� Tifa questioned, quite intrigued by whatever Reno said to cause such a
reaction in Cid.
�He�s drunk,� Reno concluded.
�You don�t say?� Tifa giggled,
idly moving a bit closer.
�I need to tell you a secret�� Reno whispered, drawing
her in until she was bent at the midsection, her ear near his mouth.
He eyed the two blondes opposite
him in the room, and began to mumble through the curtain of dark silk that hung
limp beside Tifa�s face. �He knows,� were the only words Reno whispered before
scooting back in his chair and peering curiously while her head turned and her
eyes met his.
�He knows what?� Tifa asked,
figuring this was some sort of spiel Reno
thought up in his scheming mind.
�That I�ve� tasted you,� the words
slipped through his lips in a smooth, sensuous tone that rocked her nerves. The
word choice immediately gave a faint pink glow to her cheeks as her eyes
widened, in shock, horror or pleasant surprise, he didn�t know. He simply
watched a myriad of expressions form over her face in fleeting seconds. �Have
you forgotten?� Again, his words stole her breath.
�I� thought you did,� she uttered
the sentence as though glass rose in her throat with each syllable.
�I�ve tried,� he whispered,
nearing her face until the tickle of his vodka tainted breath brushed her lips.
Before she could respond, he stood from the chair and spoke loudly, ��Laney
will be pissed if I miss my curfew.�
Any words Tifa thought to say
froze on her dry tongue, fearing any sort of reaction he might have. A simple
nod was all she could muster, along with �Good night.�
�You know where to find me,� he
directed the whisper to her, assuring that no one else heard the exchange as he
slid a thin piece of paper onto the table beneath some gil to provoke the idea
that he was repaying a sliver of the cost she fronted for his alcoholic habits.
With that, he strode out the door into the night leaving a rather befuddled
Tifa.
She quickly swiped the gil and paper from the table, nervous that someone might
spot it, and hid the items away in a pocket. Instantly, she cursed herself for
not being angry with Reno
for spilling such information to the likes of Cid. While he was least
protective over her out of the men, he was decent friends with Cloud and might
divulge such information in his rapport.
Damage control was the next thing
on her mind as she quickly made for Cid and Cloud, keen to the fact that Cloud
was staring at her with little emotion. A good sign. A
smile was given as she looped an arm through Cid�s, leading him away
mid-conversation. He was mumbling something about airships when he simply
dropped, tugging hard against her arm. Her breath hitched as she glanced down
to the puddle of Cid at her feet, rolling her eyes and nearly laughing at the
sight.
�Barret?� she called over her
sloped shoulder, wriggling her limb loose from Cid�s death grip.
�Got it,� he called, moving from
his seat to assist in bringing Cid to a couch in the makeshift living room
adjacent to the bar room where he dumped the unconscious blonde onto the
cushions while Tifa found an extra blanket and flipped it over the length of
the couch.
�I guess giving him the entire
bottle was a bad idea,� she laughed, watching Barret shake his head and flee
the scene to scurry Marlene and Denzel off to bed.
Tifa figured most everyone would
be staying the night, as each eventually found a spot to curl up and pass out
from the evening. Vincent was the only soul to wander off into the dark abyss
Edge became at night. As she climbed the stairs, Tifa felt a yawn bubble up and
stifled the action with a balled hand.
�Interesting night,� came a
nonchalant voice.
Tifa nearly fled her skin,
startled by the sudden voice. At the top of the stairs, she found two familiar
boots and hesitantly discovered the blonde who wore them. �You could say that,�
she nodded in agreement, finishing her ascent of the stairs and pausing a foot
away to gaze into Mako infused blue.
Cloud said nothing, simply stared
with that uncaring gaze as he sized her up. She felt hot beneath his suspicious
eyes, and immediately came to the conclusion that she hadn�t yanked Cid away in
time. The slender form pivoted into the shadows and disappeared into a room
he�d claimed when they moved in. A sigh blew through Tifa�s lips while her
heart sunk into her stomach. He must
know.
A pang of remorse caused her stomach
to flip as she closed her bedroom door. She sat on the plush edge of the
mattress, feeling the paper flex in her pocket where it had all but burned a
hole. The card was pulled from her pocket, the words examined carefully. He�d
hand written a telephone number and a small note. She traced the letters with
her eyes, marveling at the neatness of the capitalized words. She had expected
chicken scratch like most men, but his writing was perfectly formed as if he�d
practiced the note several times.
Tifa sighed yet again and set the
card on her dresser along with the gil. Her clothes
met a quick demise, save for her undershirt and panties, as she flicked the
light off and climbed into her modest bed. In the darkness, she felt a growing
curiosity while gazing out at the ethereal glow of the moon.
Sleep simply eluded her as she lay
in silence. She tossed and turned for what seemed an eternity, returning to
gaze out the window every now and then as if expecting someone to appear beyond
the pane of glass. Try as she might, she simply couldn�t pry her mind from the
card sitting on her dresser. Did he mean tonight?
That would be preposterous. She barely knew him, and he was beckoning her to
late night meetings? Simply insane,
she thought as she began to fathom what he might have in mind for such a
meeting.
There was a decision to be made,
and she was willing herself to make it post-haste.
---------------
So ends chapter four of The Aethereality
of You. Another semi-uneventful chapter, but the events will add to the
bigger picture, if you know what I mean. I like the idea of Cid and Reno forming a distant
friendship. Perhaps Cid will be an ally, perhaps not. I am still deciding. Will
Tifa meet Reno
in this mystery of intentions? What do you think should happen? I�d love input,
as I am writing this not only for myself, but for the readers :) Please feel
free to share ideas, as I am open to adjusting my predetermined plot. (It�s
more fun to add twists anyhow!) Sooo, review! And
thanks to those who have done so already. You are my inspiration� -Cheesy grin-
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The Aethereality of You