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It still felt strange to be pleased to see the Turks in Seventh Heaven.
Tifa had always considered herself a flexible woman. If asked, she would have listed it among her best traits. Her idyllic childhood had not prepared her for the train wreck her life would become. Still, through everything, she met life’s challenges with a certain amount of poise. She was hardly perfect, she had made more than her fair share of mistakes, but she had also come to accept herself despite those mistakes.
After traveling the world to defeat more than one lunatic bent on destroying the planet, hosting several notorious assassins in her place of business seemed downright normal. Besides, as they were so fond of pointing out, as an infamous eco-terrorist she could hardly turn her dainty little nose up at them. They also drank like fish and always paid their tabs, so that helped.
Still, trading pleasant greetings with men she had once beaten into the ground seemed surreal. They had been on opposite sides of the planetary conflict for so long that it was hard to get past the idea of them as enemies. As she placed a tall mug of Kalm Summer Ale in front of Rude and a glass of whiskey in front of Reno before they had a chance to come order from the bar, Tifa realized it was getting easier all the time.
She gave Cloud a little grin as she came back around the bar. After the Battle of Midgar, as it was being called, things had finally settled into relative normalcy again. They had gone six whole months without a crisis. Cloud said that if they made it a year, he wanted to throw a party. Yuffie had joked that his wanting to have a party was one of the signs of the apocalypse all on its own.
It had been nice, normal even. Cloud’s delivery service was doing well, but he made sure he spent long stretches of time at home. There were still days that he ran from the memories of Zack and the things that had been done to them, but they were fewer and far between.
Even after Vincent had returned from his battle against Omega, Yuffie had stayed in Edge. She split her time between working at the bar and working for Reeve, but it was more than they had seen her in years.
Shelke had settled in with Denzel and Marlene, despite the fact that she was not really a child. She spent most of her days at the WRO and had told Tifa that she was enjoying the novelty of a family while she figured out her place in the world. Tifa and Yuffie had a bet on about how long it would take Shelke to realize that she had already found it. Things changed and they stayed the same at the same time.
They had a routine and Tifa reveled in it. The bar was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to give them all a break. The last Sunday of the month was a family dinner, with a standing invitation to every member of Avalanche. There was always at least one or two extra members of their extended family in attendance. Bills were paid, leisure activities were pursued, the kids started taking classes at a newly developed school, and Reno and Rude showed up like clockwork at sundown on Friday evenings.
The pair were more or less harmless and Tifa actually believed them when they said they were just there to drink. Very occasionally unfamiliar men and women in blue suits stopped by to meet them for a round or two and the never caused trouble. Usually, they were so quiet that Tifa forgot about them unless they needed a refill. When they got rowdy, it was always Reno’s fault. She knew she was in for trouble when she could actually hear Reno.
“Listen, man, either you do it or I’m going to.” Reno’s voice easily carried over the usual din of the Friday night crowd, “I’ve waited this long out of respect for you, but this is getting to be bullshit and you know it. Get your ass over there.”
Tifa used the mirror behind the bar to check Reno and Rude’s table. Reno was glaring at his partner, gesturing toward the bar. Rude’s face was as impassive as usual, but there was a tightness in his shoulders that betrayed his irritation. For a moment neither moved, staring each other down across the table.
“You’re a fucking idiot, yo.” Reno snarled.
Before he could wiggle out of the booth, Rude was on his feet. He reached up and straightened his tie in a quick, agitated motion, “Fine.”
“It’s about time, man.” Reno said, saluting Rude with his drink and reclining back in the booth as if they had not been fighting the moment before.
Tifa only realized that Rude was coming to speak to her when their gazes met in the mirror. He paused mid-step for a moment and then started forward again. It was next to impossible to get a read on him with his sunglasses on, but it was not hard to guess what was going on.
She knew that Rude had harbored feelings for her her at one point. She never really forgot the ridiculous conversation they had stumbled on when they found the Turks waiting just outside of Gongaga. They had been cool and collected, weapons at the ready, talking about soulmates. Reno had been speculating on pairs he suspected of being soulmates and pointed out that Rude still had not met his. When Reno had asked who Rude would have picked, if he had a choice, Tifa had certainly not expected her own name to come out of his mouth.
Tifa had always thought that the moment was idle chatting to pass the time while they waited for Avalanche. She had not given it any serious thought, but she could not forget it. It looked like Rude never had either.
She turned with a smile when he leaned against the bar behind her, “So what’s Reno putting you up to now?”
Rude’s lips quirked up in a small smile, “Reno was about to proposition you. I just… I thought…”
“You’d beat him to it?” Tifa teased, leaning against the other side of the bar to mimic his pose. She laughed when his eyebrows shot up, “I was in Gongaga when he was harassing you about me a few years back. It’s not surprising that he’s still giving you a hard time about it.”
His chin dropped as his gaze slid away from hers, a bit of color appearing high on his cheeks. He fiddled with one of his cuff’s awkwardly. Rude had never been a man of many words, but when he was embarrassed it seemed that they left him completely.
Taking pity on him, she reached out and nudged his shoulder, “If we hadn’t been fighting, I might have been flattered.”
Yuffie snorted as she brought a bin of clean glasses to be stacked on the counter beside them, “Don’t let her lie to you, Rude. She was flattered anyway. You should have heard her and Aeris go on about it that night. ‘Aeris, he’s got such a sweet blush! It was adorable.’”
“Yuffie!” Tifa felt herself redden and swatted at her friend.
Yuffie grinned, unrepentantly as she ducked away from Tifa, “If Reno’s gonna blab all Rude’s secrets, someone’s got to help even the playing field. You two will never get anywhere, otherwise!”
She poured a refill for Reno and came around the bar. As she passed Rude, she smacked him playfully on the butt, “Go get her, you cuahl, you.”
Rude made an affronted noise and fixed her with a glare that was not nearly as effective with his sunglasses in the way. Both Yuffie and Reno started cackling madly. When he turned back to Tifa, Rude’s whole body was uncomfortably stiff, “Maybe I should just go-”
“Do you really think they’ll give us any peace?” Tifa asked, coming around the bar. In that moment, she realized that Yuffie and Reno had a point. She had never really considered Rude, but now that he was in front of her, she was curious to see what might be between them, “Stop dancing and just say it already.”
That made Rude smile again briefly. He reached up to take his sunglasses off, tucking them away in the inner pocket of his jacket, “Look, I… never really expected you to forgive me…”
His voice trailed off and he kept his gaze lowered as he tried to find the words he wanted to say. He missed the expression of shock and horror she knew was on her face. Tifa could only stare at him. She could not move, could not breathe, paralyzed by the words she had dreaded hearing her whole life.
It had been Rude she was waiting for, all this time.
Now, it was too late.
“Say something else.” Tifa said finally, her voice small.
Rude’s head whipped up. Without the barrier of his sunglasses, she could see his eyes widen, reflecting the terror in her own. He swallowed hard, his whole body tight with tension. Tifa was fairly sure he had stopped breathing.
The suspense was too much for her to handle. Her patience snapped, “Damn it, Rude, say something!”
His breath escaped him in a shaken laugh. It cut off as abruptly as it had started, realization dawning in his eyes. They flicked back and forth briefly as his brain scrambled to come up with a word and failed. He shrugged helplessly and said, “Something?”
Tifa’s knees turned to water beneath her. She would have fallen had Rude not caught her. She leaned into him, her forehead resting against his chest, and let out her own choked laughter.
“Hey Cloud, Rude’s stealing your lines!” Yuffie jeered from her perch on Reno’s table.
Rude eased Tifa back onto a nearby bar stool and then peeled off his suit jacket. As he began to unbutton his left cuff, Reno let out a whistle, “So it’s that kind of party now, huh Rude?”
“Guys, shut up.” Cloud said to Reno and Yuffie somewhere behind them.
Later, Tifa knew she would feel a little bad. This would make all the old memories of Zack fresh for Cloud again. Not that he would begrudge her the chance to be with her soulmate. He would be ecstatic for her, knowing the untold joy that could come from meeting the person you were meant to be with. Still, she hated to cause him that kind of pain.
That would come later, though. For now, her eyes were riveted on the skin of Rude’s forearm. In the tiny dark lettering of his soulmate’s mark were the words, “Say something else.”
Tifa wrenched off the leather glove covering her left hand. His words curled around her thumb and up over her index finger. He took her hand in his, the fingers of his free hand trailing over the words with awe.
“What the hell?” Reno asked, catching on at last, “That makes no sense, yo!”
“Soulmate marks are for the last words, not 'hey it’s Friday night’ words.” Yuffie agreed, coming over to peer past Tifa’s shoulder, “What gives?”
“Anomalies have been known to happen…” Rude said with a shrug.
Tifa did not buy it. She narrowed her eyes at Rude, pulling her hand from his grasp and fisting it in the front of his pressed white shirt. She tugged him down until they were nose to nose, “Or Turks are lunatics who like causing mischief and blowing things up. You would be just the sort of guy to recklessly say his words out loud! The next time they come out of your mouth, you had better be dying… or I’ll make sure you’ll wish you were.”
It took Rude a moment to follow her line of thought. When he did, he smirked and carefully worked Tifa’s fingers free of his shirt. He smoothed the fabric flat and straightened his tie with smooth, efficient motions, the way he always had. Composed again, he extended his hand to Tifa.
She glanced back at Cloud and Yuffie. The bar was still open and if she left, they would have to cover for her. Cloud fixed her with a flat look and went back to washing glasses. Yuffie snorted and made a shooing motion toward the stairs.
With a wry smile, Tifa took Rude’s hand and started to tow him toward the stairs that led up to the apartment above the bar. There was a lot to be decided, but Tifa knew they were lucky to have found each other before the end. She had known too many people who were not nearly so lucky. Rude started to rub his thumb over the mark in an absent caress. His expression was still a little disbelieving even though the initial shock had passed.
Tifa kept her face turned from his to hide a silly smile. She had resigned herself to a platonic soulmate or one found and lost at the height of some crisis. This had been the perfect moment she had never let herself imagine… and if she was being honest with herself, she could do a lot worse than Rude.
Not that she was going to tell him that, “I meant it, Rude. If you ever put me through that again, I will break something vital.”
“I believe you.”
His tone was too accepting. When Tifa opened the door to the living room, Rude gave her a small, impertinent smile as he stepped past her.
“You’re going to do it again, aren’t you?” Tifa asked, trying and failing to bite back a smile despite her exasperation.
Rude only smiled again and took her hand to draw her down to sit beside him on a nearby couch, “I want to know more about you.”
The words filled her with warmth. For the first time, she really understood the loss that Cloud and Barret were forced to deal with. They had only barely begun, but Tifa could not imagine losing Rude the way Cloud had Zack or Barret had Myrna. She vowed to make the most of the time they had together and covered Rude’s hand with her own, “Where do you want to start?”