A/N: This is a oneshot ReTi for my new friend, The Sacred and Profane. ENJOY!! =D
(There's a bit of Clouffie in here too! Just felt like making another pairing in there. ;D)
Buried in Snow
"I don't understand why -hic- Cloud always tells me what to do!" Yuffie groaned. She was laying her head on the counter of the bar and had most probably had a little too much to drink. "He thinks he's -hiccup- so cool with that spexy hair of -BURP- his."
Spexy? Tifa wondered to herself, trying not to laugh at her friend's drunken state. The barmaid could only assume that Yuffie was trying to say both spiky and sexy at the same time. Maybe. Maybe not. Knowing Yuffie, though, Tifa was probably right. "He's just watching out for you," Tifa assured after taking the empty bottle of beer away from the inebriated ninja. "You almost got yourself killed on that mission. Can you blame him for reacting the way he did?"
I'm sure Reno would react the same exact way if it had been me in her shoes, Tifa thought to herself.
Yuffie lifted her head up for a second, blinking a few times and shaking her head slowly. Then her head fell back on the counter with a soft thump. "Still…" came her muffled voice from against the marble surface.
It was about midnight, and Tifa knew that Yuffie was in no shape to make it back to her and Cloud's apartment. Especially since the recent, unexpected blizzard had effectively covered their surrounding area in two and a half feet of snow. Tifa had closed the bar early because no other patrons dared to venture out in the horrible conditions. But Yuffie, being Yuffie, had insisted on staying at the bar to catch up on old times.
Catching up for the ninja, however, only resulted in Tifa being forced to listen to the latest fight in Yuffie and Cloud's odd relationship.
Reno sighed after downing the rest of his beer. "I can't believe the ninja kid is stuck here with us for the rest of the night, Teef." He glanced over at the assumably passed out ninja with a shake of his head. "We were gonna do something special, I thought," he whined jokingly.
Tifa smirked as she put away the last of the clean bottles on their proper spots in the cupboards. "Hmm, I guess you missed out then. Too bad." She smiled innocently as she walked around the counter to go look out the window. As she walked away from Reno, she purposely added an extra swing or two to her hips. "I was looking forward to it, too." She reached the window of the door and slowly wiped her hand against the frosty surface so she could gaze into the white blankets of snow and ice outside. She sighed, remembering how she used to get so incredibly excited when the first snow of the season came in Nibelheim. It hardly ever snows here, though. This blizzard sure was out of the blue. I wonder…
Hands wrapped around her waist suddenly, and a smooth voice whispered inside her ear, "Do you wanna go outside and play with me?"
Tifa giggled. "That depends on what you mean by play," she replied seductively. "Because if it means running around, having a snowball fight and even making a snowman…then I'm all for it," she finished with a smile.
Reno laughed, bending his head closer to his girlfriend. Tifa bit her lip to keep from laughing at the tickly sensation she got when the sound of his voice reverberated on her neck. I love his laugh. "Oh, of course it does," he said casually. He leaned forward and opened the door. "Let's go."
"Hang on!" Tifa reluctantly left Reno's embrace for a moment so she could go put on her earmuffs, scarf, boots, and coat. "Okay, now I'm ready."
"Teef, it's not even that cold outside," Reno laughed at the image of the big, puffy Tifa. "Why all the layers? They're just gonna come off later, anyway."
Tifa huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Reno, for your information, the temperature is below zero out there! I do not want to get frostbite!" She took a few steps closer. "And what makes you so sure these layers are gonna come off? I'm kind of comfy right now, actually."
"Ah, Teef, you know I never get cold!" Reno exclaimed happily. Oh, right. You are the immortal, unstoppable, chronically sexy ex-Turk. How could I forget? Tifa thought sarcastically. Okay, so maybe the sexy part wasn't as sarcastic as every other part of her thought. "And, I have a way or two of knowing all about the gravitational nature of clothing. There's something in the air that's telling me that yours are coming off later. For sure," Reno stated nonchalantly.
Tifa rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Re," she smiled as she dashed outside, leaving Reno standing at the entrance to the bar dumbfounded. "Come on, slowpoke!" she shouted, looking back for a second to stick her tongue out at him.
"Hey, be careful with that tongue!" Reno yelled, running after her. "You don't want it to get cold. Then, I'd have to warm it up for ya!"
"I can warm my own tongue up, thank you very much." Tifa bent over slowly as Reno was briefly distracted, looking around at all the snow-covered buildings. "Hyaa!" She chucked a snowball directly at his face and nailed it dead on.
"Hey!" Reno swiped the snow off his face and spit out a little bit that had made its way into his mouth. "I wasn't even ready!" He grabbed a quick handful of snow, mashing it into a sphere and sending it rocketing in her direction. The force of the snowball was so strong and unexpected that Tifa stumbled backwards a few steps, landing on a large snow drift.
She closed her eyes and clutched her stomach in pain. "Why so rough, Reno?" she choked out in pain.
Reno's eyes widened and he sprinted over to Tifa in a split-second. He got to his knees and leaned over her. "Teef, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to throw it that hard!" He tucked a stray tress of dark hair behind her ear for her.
Tifa peeked one eye open and the next thing Reno knew, Tifa was on top of him, smirking triumphantly. "Gotcha!" she chirped with a twinkle in her eye.
"Oh, so you do like it rough. I can handle that!" Reno grabbed her hips and leaned forward to brush his lips across hers, but the only thing his lips felt was the freezing cold snow being shoved onto them by an all-too-innocent Tifa.
"Catch me if you can!" she laughed, standing up and running away from her boyfriend.
"Oh, it's on!" Reno stood up, brushed himself off and bent over to make a few more snowballs that he could…toss her way as he tried to catch her. "This'll teach her to mess with me," he murmured.
Each and every time Reno tried to hit Tifa with a snowball, though, Tifa either dodged it, hid behind something, or interrupted his throw mid-swing by hurling a snowball at his face. He had to hand it to her. She was pretty fast…and damn good at throwing snowballs.
"Too slow!" Tifa teased, ducking behind an old rusty sign for the Seventh Heaven bar. "Geez, Reno. I thought Turks were supposed to have good aim!?"
Reno shook his head, launching another snowball at Tifa, who just squealed and ducked behind the sign again. "We do," he defended. "It doesn't count when you're hiding like a little chicken!"
Tifa huffed, standing up and pointing at him with a devastating glare. "I am not a chicken!"
Reno saw his chance and darted towards the sign, jumping over it and tackling Tifa to the snow. Good thing the snow was so soft and fluffy. Otherwise, he could've actually hurt Tifa a little bit. "You cheater," Tifa murmured, trying her best to fight back a smile as he nuzzled into her neck.
"You know I won fair and square, Teef." Reno sighed contentedly. "Why couldn't we just do this to begin with?" he muttered, closing his eyes and resting his head in the nape of Tifa's neck.
"Do what?" Tifa asked. "Suffocate me by crushing my body with your weight?" she joked, wrapping her arms around Reno's back and kissing him on the cheek.
"No." Reno's voice was starting to become more dreamy. There was less of the confident, worriless tone that everybody knew. Instead, there were deep traces of care, longing and love. "This. Us. You and me, Teef." He lifted his head slowly so he could look deep into her mahogany eyes.
Tifa sighed and avoided his eyes. "You know, Reno…snow has always made me feel so safe and secure. Ever since I was little, I would go outside after a huge snowfall and just lay down and make snow angels." She laughed softly. "It made all the problems of my life…the stupid and petty worries I had about everything just disappear. Snow shut them out by blanketing me with a huge, silent barrier where I could just forget everything and relax. And you make me feel the same exact way, Reno." Tifa finally met his eyes. "So, then, do you hear that?" she asked softly.
"Hear…what, Teef?" he asked in confusion, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.
Tifa nodded her head. "Exactly. There isn't anything to hear. There isn't anything to worry about. There's just you," she kissed him on the cheek again, "and me. It makes no difference how we came to be here together. All that matters is that it ended up happening for us."
"You're right," Reno murmured as he started trailing kisses from her neck all the way up from the corner of her lips. "You always are."
"'Course I am." Tifa smiled and winked. "I love you, you know."
"I know. And you know I love you too," Reno whispered as he leaned in for a sweet kiss.
"HEY! Where -burp- did everybody go! And why'd you guys -BURP- turn off the lights on me!?" Yuffie's high-pitched voice came echoing towards Reno and Tifa just as their lips were about to meet.
Reno groaned. "Damn that ninja to hell. She has horrible timing."
Tifa sighed. "Be nice, Reno." They both stood up and waved Yuffie over to them. "Yuffie you should really be wearing something more than that!" Tifa chided. "You could catch your death of a cold." Yuffie was wearing her regular clothes: short shorts, boots with laces all the way to her mid-thigh, a bandana, and a tank-top.
Yuffie snorted and waved Tifa's worries away her a shake of her hand. "Pfft. Ninjas -hiccup- don't get colds."
"But they do get drunk off their asses when they're in pointless fights with their spiky-haired boyfriends," Reno muttered, earning him an elbow to the gut from Tifa to get him to shut up. It didn't matter anyway because Yuffie wasn't paying attention to them anymore. She was squinting her eyes at something in the distance.
"Oh mah gawd! -BURP- Godo was right! There are abominable snowmen in Edge!" She wrapped her arms around herself in fear. "Save me," she whispered hopelessly.
Poor Yuffie. This is the drunkest that I think I've ever seen her. She doesn't even realize that what she thinks she's seeing is just a guy on a motorcycle…wait a minute. "Yuffie, relax. It's just Cloud."
Yuffie immediately dropped her arms to her sides and glared at the figure that was coming closer and closer with every passing second. "What's that jerk doing -hiccup- here?"
"This is just a wild guess," Reno said sarcastically, "but maybe he's here for you?"
Yuffie stuck her chin in the air and huffed. "I'm not -hic- talking to that asshole!"
Tifa slapped her hand to her forehead in exasperation. She peeked at Reno desperately and they shared a look that most probably read, I hope we never become as bad as them.
Cloud pulled up a few feet away from them and shut off the engine to Fenrir, taking off his helmet and glancing at the three people in front of him. Reno whistled in appreciation. "That's a nice bike ya got there, Spikes. How could that possibly ride in two and a half feet of snow?"
Cloud shrugged in response, dismounting his motorcycle and walking over to Yuffie. He obviously wasn't in the mood for small talk. He was here for Yuffie. "I figured you would be here."
Yuffie crossed her arms. "I don't care that you care." She didn't mind how childish that sounded. Plus, she was drunk.
Cloud sighed. "Yuffie, you never called to tell me where you were. I haven't heard from you since three this afternoon."
"So?" Yuffie countered.
Tifa opened her mouth to say something, probably to chide Yuffie for not contacting Cloud, especially since there was a blizzard, but a firm hand pressed itself over her mouth. "Let them work it out. It's not our place," Reno murmured. Tifa nodded. He's right.
Yuffie shrugged, challenging Cloud to dare to continue. "Yuffie. You could've been dead, buried in snow somewhere for all I knew. I did not want to go through thinking…that you're gone. Not again." He closed his eyes and shook his head.
The expression on Yuffie's face softened completely and she took a few steps closer to Cloud. "Aww -BURP-! How sweet!"
"Yuffie. You're drunk," Cloud stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Actually, in Yuffie's case it was pretty obvious. Reno wrapped his arm around Tifa's shoulder as they watched, trying not to laugh out loud at the comical scene between the awkward couple.
"Yeah. I am!" She opened her arms wide and wiggled her fingers at Cloud. "Come here, my little chocobo! Give me a -BURP- hug!"
Cloud's eyes widened and he looked at Tifa and Reno for help. He hadn't ever seen Yuffie this drunk before either. "Hey, let's make a snowman!" Tifa shouted out, hoping to all gods that it would distract Yuffie enough to spare Cloud in that moment.
Yuffie snapped her head in Tifa's direction and she gave her the biggest smile she could muster. "YEAH! I've always wanted to make a snowman!" She reached over to Cloud and looped her arm through his. "We don't get snow in Wutai. Have I ever told you that I'm -hic- from Wutai, Cloudyboy?" Cloud closed his eyes and nodded. "-Hiccup-Good."
Tifa and Reno stayed where they were as they allowed Yuffie to drag Cloud ahead of them to find a place to make their snowman. Reno turned to Tifa with a confused look on his face. "I will never understand how those two ended up together."
Tifa smiled. Placing her hands on either side of Reno's face she leaned in for that kiss that they had been denied earlier. It was soft and fleeting. Just the way Tifa always felt when kissing Reno. She loved the feeling. And she loved Reno.
As she pulled away, she let out a soft laugh. "You know, Reno, some people didn't understand how on Gaia we ended up together, either."
Reno laughed, pecking Tifa on the forehead with a quick kiss. "You're right again. But still, do we look that odd to people?"
Tifa snorted and reached down to grab Reno's hand. "Of course not. Reno, we don't have fights over stuff like that. I mean, that's just silly."
Reno raised his eyebrows. "What about yesterday when I accidentally left the toilet seat up again?"
Tifa rolled her eyes. "That's different. I could've been injured. Yuffie was perfectly safe at the bar with us."
"Yuffie was completely and utterly drunk and---You're admitting that the fight was legitimate!? That's bullshit, Teef, and you know it!" Reno exclaimed, raising his arms into the air dramatically.
Tifa put her index finger to her lips in an attempt to get him to lower his volume a little bit. She could only guess what the neighbors were thinking. Tifa and Reno, outside, playing in the snow and yelling at each other at one in the morning. What an odd sight that would be. Especially if the neighbors didn't know the two of them very well.
The barmaid planted a quick kiss on Reno's lips to get him to calm down. When his expression finally softened, she chirped, "Yep! But I still love you, Reno, and that's all that matters."
Reno shook his head. "Yeah, you're right." Again, Tifa mentally finished for him.
He smiled softly as he leaned in for another kiss. "HEY, HURRY YOU'RE -BURP- ASSES UP, YOU TWO! I WANNA MAKE A SMOWNAM NOW!" Reno groaned at having another kiss interrupted by the noisy ninja.
Smownam? Tifa thought, shaking her head. "I hope she doesn't wake the neighbors. She is so loud!"
"Eh, she won't wake them up. Don't worry." Reno looked at Tifa out of the corner of his eye. "We might wake them up later, though, with the noise that we'll be making in the bedr-" Whoosh. Another snowball to the face. Tifa ran away giggling again.
"Catch me if you can!"
Reno sighed, shaking his head slowly and staying rooted to the spot. "I think I might already have you, Teef." He watched as she reached Yuffie and Cloud to help them gather snow to make the first part of the snowman. "And I'm fucking lucky to have a girl like you," he murmured before running after the woman that he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
A/N: Ehh, i hope that was good!? Let me know whatcha think! ;D THANKS FOR READING!!!