Match

AN: I own nothing in this story. This is for Queen Alla so enjoy! Please R&R.

Elena observed the crowds of people bustling through the zoo, heard the laughter streaming from the lips of the tiniest tots to the oldest of seniors, and yet she couldn't find the family that had invited her on this outing. She was about to check the crowds again when a voice rang out.

"Aunt Laney, Aunt Laney, over here!" Turning to her right, she saw the little girl who had called out to her perched on her father's shoulders. A smirk lit up Reno's face as she got closer and Tifa just gave her a warm smile although her eyes flashed with mischief. She was becoming more like her husband than she realized, Elena noted.

"I'm not late am I?" Elena asked. Elly, Tifa and Reno's daughter, shook her head.

"Nope, not one bit. Daddy, will you put me down?" Once the child was on her feet, she rushed towards Elena and wrapped her tiny arms around her in a strong hug. Elena smiled at Elly and when the girl looked up at her it was with wide brown eyes.

"We're gonna have so much fun! Mommy said they have elephants here and monkeys with red butts!" Elena gave a laugh at Elly's enthusiasm and nodded.

"So I've heard...so what are we waiting around for?"

"Uncle Dot Head," Elly replied.

"Elly, we don't call him that, remember?" Tifa said. Elly turned to her mother and nodded.

"Alright, I'll try not to Mommy. But he really does have a dot on his head." Reno laughed at that but one glare from Tifa shut him up in an instant.

"Tifa, you've got to teach me how to do that, it would save me some headaches at work," Elena said. Tifa nodded at her request. Elly soon started jumping and pointing when she saw something to the left.

"It's Uncle Dot-I mean Uncle Tseng! Over here Uncle Tseng!" The Wutain Turk approached them, a small smile on his face.

"Reno, Mrs. Lockhart, Elena, how are you?" Tseng inquired politely. Elly ran up to him, cheeks puffing out in outrage. Reaching an arm up, she tugged on his shirt roughly.

"Don't forget about me!" Tseng looked down at the little redhead and showed her what he had in his left hand. Elly's cheeks deflated and a wide grin lit up her face. "Candy! Thanks Uncle Dot-I mean Uncle Tseng!" Tseng's eyebrow twitched a little but he smiled anyway.

"Don't mention it Elly." While Elly was munching on her new treat, she came up to her mother and took her hand.

"Can we...see...animals...now?" Tifa smiled down at her daughter and nodded.

"Let's go with Daddy and we'll let Uncle Tseng and Aunt Elena go on their own for awhile. Then you can go with them when we meet up again, alright?" Elly nodded, gulping down her mouthful of candy. And before Tseng or Elena could offer a word of protest, Tifa picked up Elly, placed her on her shoulders, and dragged Reno away with her.

"Did you notice the smirk on Reno's face?" Tseng asked.

"Yeah, I really hope he doesn't prank us," Elena answered.

"If he does I'll partner him with Kisaragi on every WRO mission for the next year," Tseng said.

"So...where do we go first?"

"What's your favorite animal?" Tseng countered.

Elena had picked the koala bear exhibit, the female Turk gushing over the cute mammals. She was quite cute when she was like that, in Tseng's estimation, but he couldn't let her know. His observation was cut off by Elena pointing out a nearby souvenir shop.

"Tseng, we have to get these," she said, gesturing to the fake koala ears.

"Elena, we're not children- but Elena ignored him and proceeded to buy two of the items. Placing a pair on her head, she cocked it to the side when she looked back at her superior.

"How do I look?" Now she was even more adorable but Tseng managed to keep control of his emotions and gave her a rare smirk.

"Like a five year old." Elena glared at him for that and Tseng was about to apologize but instead of yelling at him she placed the second pair of koala ears on his head.

"Don't take those off or else I'll get angry, understand?"

"Need I remind you that you're my subordinate?" Elena shook her head at his question.

"No, but we're not at work are we?" Tseng gave a sigh at that.

"So were are we going next?"

They decided on the crocodile area, the two attracting the stares of quite a number of children as they passed by. And as the two Turks looked at the crocodiles, three girls and two boys came up to them.

"Excuse me Mister...why do you have a dot on your head?" one of the boys asked.

"It's part of my culture and-

"You look silly!" a girl interrupted, placing her hands on her hips. "Boys shouldn't have dots on their heads!" Elena gave a few silent chuckles and when Tseng gave her a pleading look, she spoke up.

"You shouldn't make fun of others you know," Elena admonished. But the children just rolled their eyes at that. One of the girls then noticed their koala ears.

"Are you two in love?" she said, big eyes blinking rapidly.

"We work together and- but Tseng was once again interrupted.

"But you have the same ears, you've gots to be in love!" the younger girl said. "Give her a kiss!" Tseng's eyes widened at that and he started to shake his head before he felt Elena's hand on his arm.

"C'mon Tseng, it's just one kiss," she said softly. Her cheeks were tinged pink as she said this however. Part of Tseng wanted to kiss her while the other part was trying to find a means of escape. However, Elena moved closer then and soon her lips were inches from his own.

So he gave in.

The kiss, though fleeting, was very satisfying to the raven haired man and when they had broken apart he heard the girls sigh while the boys stuck out their tongue.

"Ewww...that's nasty!" one of the boys said.

"It is not, you're just a booger head!" one of the girls yelled in reply. However their argument ceased when a few voices cried out some names. The kids rushed off, leaving Tseng and Elena alone.

"Tseng, I apologize if that made you uncomfortable I just- but Tseng cut her off with a small smile and a shake of the head.

"No, it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact it was quite nice." Elena's cheeks burned red at that and she started to walk on but Tseng took her hand.

"Mind if I pick out the next animal we go see?" Elena shook her head and allowed him to lead her on, neither noticing how much closer they were as they walked, or the fact that Tseng hadn't let go of her hand.

Elly was holding onto Reno's hand, the two watching a lone chocobo pecking at the ground.

"That's Uncle Cloud," Elly observed. Reno chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah it is..." Tifa came back to them, a smile on her face.

"What are you two looking at?"

"Uncle Cloud!" Elly said, pointing to the chocobo. Tifa laughed at that.

"Really?" Elly nodded and then saw a monkey a few cages down, chattering away.

"And that's Aunt Yuffie!" That sent husband and wife into hysterics and Elly started laughing as well, caught up in the infectious mood. As they walked, Elly asked for a piggy back with Tifa obliging in an instant, letting her daughter wrap her arms around her neck.

"Where's Daddy among all these animals?" Tifa asked. Elly looked thoughtful for a moment before spying a turkey with a very red head and a cocky looking strut. She pointed to it and Tifa nodded. "Looks like Daddy to me," Tifa said softly.

"Hey, I am not a turkey," Reno cut in. "I'm at least a lion...right?" Elly and Tifa looked at each other before shaking their heads in unison. Reno's shoulders slumped at their verdict and Elly reached out a hand to wrap around his neck.

"It's okay Daddy, you're the best turkey ever." Reno smiled at that.

"I am aren't I? Now where's Mommy?" The family were passing by another cage and as soon as Elly saw what was inside, she knew exactly what to compare her mother to.

"Mommy's a bear," Elly said, gesturing towards a mother bear who had her cub nestled close.

"And why am I a bear?" Tifa inquired.

"Well you're really strong, you're big, and you love honey," Elly said, Reno nodding at every observation.

"Big? I'm not big...am I?" Tifa asked, adding some sniffles in for good measure. Elly's eyes widened at her mother's duress and shook her head really fast.

"No Mommy, not like Pooh bear...more like Baloo," Elly said with total confidence. "Right daddy?"

"That's right," Reno agreed, wrapping an arm around his wife's side. Tifa laughed a little and kissed Reno on the cheek.

"And I don't like it when a certain turkey eats my porridge, do I?" Reno gulped, causing Elly to laugh.

"Silly Mommy and Daddy. What animal am I?" Reno and Tifa looked around at the various animals on display before finding the perfect one.

"You're a koala bear," Reno said, Tifa agreeing with a nod. They pointed it out to their daughter and she gasped.

"I am?!"

"You're small, adorable, and love piggy back rides," Tifa confirmed.

"Yep, that's me," Elly said, squeezing her mother's neck.

And with that the turkey, bear, and their little koala continued on their walk through the zoo.

Tseng and Elena were almost finished with their first circuit of the zoo when Tseng finally spoke once more.

"Elena...I was wondering if you'd possibly like to go to a movie with me sometime," Tseng said rather rapidly, leaving Elena to decipher what he had muttered. But once that was done she gave him a wide smile.

"I would love to." And she moved to kiss him again, unaware that they were being observed.

"Reno, come look at this!" Tifa said, eyes locked on Tseng and Elena kissing. The red haired Turk came up to his wife and saw his two friends, a smirk on his face.

"Looks like our little plan was a success babe." Tifa nodded before sighing.

"They'll be great together and- but Tifa was interrupted by Elly's tiny foot stomping on the ground.

"Mommy, Daddy, you two are being bad," the eight year old said, cheeks puffing out.

"What did we do?" Reno asked, amused at his daughter's anger.

"You're spying on Aunt Elena and Uncle Tseng! You two should get a time out," Elly said with conviction.

"Elly, did you know that they have ice cream here?" Tifa said sweetly.

"Mommy, I don't want-ice cream?!" Elly's brown eyes bugged out at that. "Fudge Ripple ice cream?!"

"Whatever kind you want," Tifa answered. Elly pondered this bribe for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, but you have to pinky swear to never do this again, 'kay?" Elly held up her pinky once she had given this ultimatum, Tifa quickly linking her own finger with the tiny digit.

"Pinky swear," she said as serious as could be. Once they broke apart, Reno repeated the pinky swear ritual.

"Ice cream time!" She then rushed off, causing Reno and Tifa to chase after her.

After Tseng and Elena broke apart from their second kiss, they both had shy smiles on their faces.

"You know we can't act like this at work, right?" Tseng said. Elena rolled her eyes and nodded. But before they could kiss again they heard three pairs of feet coming up to them.

"Aunt Laney, Aunt Laney, ice cream time!" Elly then crashed into Elena, unbalancing the blonde but not knocking her to the ground. Tifa and Reno stopped a few feet in front of them and smiled apologetically.

"Ice cream time, are you sure?" Elena asked Elly. Elly nodded.

"Yup and then we can go see the monkeys with red butts!"

"Sounds like a plan, don't you agree Uncle Tseng?" Elena said, turning to the Wutian, Elly following her gaze.

"Indeed...is it alright if I go with you Elly?" Elly smiled at him and nodded.

"Of course Uncle Dot- I mean Uncle Tseng. But you gots to eat more ice cream than me!" The child then noticed the koala ears on their heads. "Uncle Tseng, you have my ears on your head!" Tseng's eyebrows shot up at that and he looked dumbfounded for the first time in his life.

Reno, Tifa, and Elena instantly started laughing while Elly shook her head.

"Their silly Uncle Tseng. Will you give me a piggyback to the ice cream shop?" Tseng nodded and Elly cheered.

And even though he was still wearing the koala ears on his head, as Tseng walked beside Elena with Elly on his back he couldn't keep the contented smile from his face.