試験管ベビー   von <span style='color: gray;'>abgemeldet</span>
                            (Kapitel 25 in Arbeit)
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                             Kapitel 18: Surprise
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Chapter 18

Opening: >Surprise< (by Flow)

The next few days passed without anything special happening. Most of the time,
Tifa and Reno were avoiding each other, but when they eventually met, they got
along fairly well… at least better than in the beginning, though it seemed
kind of forced.
Reno was sitting in his room, staring out of the window. He was getting pretty
bored. He wanted something to do really soon. Otherwise, he would have to tell
Reeve that he was sorry and leave. So it would be better if something happened
soon. To be honest, he didn't want to abandon Reeve. He really didn't. But he
would do that, if he had no other choice.
A knock at the door pulled him out of his reverie.
"Who is it?" he wanted to know. He didn't expect anyone to come here. Rude had
seen him earlier, and a look at his watch told him that there were still some
hours until lunch. So, who could it be?
The door opened and Reeve peeked inside. "Are you busy at the moment?" he
asked.
"You kidding?" Reno snorted. "I've been aching to do something for days, I'm
bored."
"Sorry…" Reeve said. "But I needed to sort some things out. Want to go on a
mission?"
His eyes sparkling, the redhead jumped to his feet. Maybe this was a
coincidence, maybe Reeve could read minds… but no matter what, this was just
great! Finally, he could do something. He wouldn't have to sit around any
longer. Though Elena always said he was lazy as Hell – and sometimes, he
really was – he was still willing to work.
"Where are we going?" he asked Reeve as he reached the door.
The other one couldn't suppress a grin as he stepped back. "Midgar," he said,
then became serious again. "I've heard of increased monster attacks in the
outskirts of sector 5."
Reno stopped dead in his tracks. "There are still people there?" he whispered,
quite shocked.
Reeve shrugged uncomfortably. "Well… there hadn't been quite enough time to
evacuate the whole town when Meteor approached. You know, the city is pretty
huge."
The redhead sighed. "Whatever… As long as they're still alive, it's fine with
me."
Without discussing this matter further, both men descended the stairs. As they
passed the second floor, Reno stopped again. He wasn't too sure if he heard
correctly, but to him, it seemed like there was someone crying in one of the
rooms.
Reeve stopped, too. "What is it?" he wanted to know.
"There's someone crying…"
Promptly, Reeve's face turned sad. "Tifa…" he whispered. "She still didn't get
over it…" He sighed, then went on.
Reno followed him quickly. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.
"Cloud," the other one replied without looking at him.
"What did he do?"
"He left her… without saying anything to her…" Reeve stopped and caused Reno
to bump into him. "Not that they've ever been a couple or anything…" he
continued, "but… you know… it's still hard for her…"
The redhead looked thunderstruck. Now he finally understood why Tifa had been
crying on that day when she had knocked him down in the kitchen. But he could
understand why she hadn't told him about that. It was not his business. But
since they had to work together now, it would have been better, if she at least
told him where his boundaries lay before he crossed them.
"Come on… let's go…" Reeve said. "The others are waiting for us."

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When Tifa stepped out of the bathroom, she felt a little better than before. She
hated the worn-out feeling after crying. She opened her wardrobe and took out
some casual grey baggy pants and a black v-neck shirt. While she dressed, she
thought about what she could make for lunch.
She opened the drawer of her bedstand, looking for her earrings. While she was
searching, she saw a light blue package between all her things. The first moment
she didn't know how it could be there, but then she remembered that it was the
gift Reno had given her when he had apologized to her a few days ago, before
they had had that argument about sector 7.
She had completely forgotten about it.
She sat down on her bed and looked at it, holding the package in both hands. She
had never bothered to open it, because she had still been a little mad at Reno.
But when she thought about it now… she wanted to know what it was.
Tifa really was curious… but somehow, she was a little afraid to open it,
too.
After she had considered it for a few moments, she finally decided to do it.
There was nothing to lose, now, was there?
Her fingers shaking slightly, she slowly unwrapped the paper and opened the
package. Inside was a thin necklace and the pendant looked like a tear drop. It
fit perfectly with her favourite earrings.
Tentatively, she tried it on, then searched for her earrings. When she was
finally ready, she looked into the mirror. It looked really good, the necklace
suited her. She was really baffled that the redhead had bought something that
she liked, how could he have known? She needed to go and thank him for that.
Now she still didn't know what she should make for lunch… but she would worry
about that when she got downstairs. Maybe she could ask the others what they
wanted to eat, that would be far easier.

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