Author: Grasshopper (A.K.A. The Undertaker's Muse)
Rated: PG-13
Warnings: Hetero-type romance thingy with a side order of combat.
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Challenge: Are You Game?
Prompt: Final Fantasy VII, Rude/Tifa: amazon - Her strength would have intimidated a lesser man, but Rude found it to be her most attractive feature. Though...he wouldn't deny that her curves had a magic all their own.
Spoilers: None really, but set sometime post-AC or DoC.
Pairings: Rude/Tifa
Summary: He had to be careful with most people, but not with her.
Author's Notes: Now this, this is more like what I've been hoping for with this pair. If only it were longer, though.
Disclaimer: All things Final Fantasy VII belong to Square-Enix. Grassy only lays claim to the plot.
Rude adjusted his sunglasses, waiting for the moment of attack. Tifa stood solidly, several feet away from him in the open lot they often sparred in. One breath and two and then-
Fists and feet flew with speed and power. One wrong move and even he, with all of his strength and training, would not be left undamaged. Zangan-ryu was not a fighting ballet, not poetry in motion; it was the shattering of spines and crushing of skulls, swift and violent death; the flash of a wolf bitch's fangs and claws in defense of her young, fiercely unyielding in the face of an enemy. It was a form that suited Tifa more than most realized upon meeting her. The sight of her in battle was shocking to those who only knew the friendly barmaid, the loving mother.
Her strength would have intimidated a lesser man, but Rude found it to be her most attractive feature. Most people found it difficult to keep up with him and he kept control by surrounding himself with those not easily felled by him. The only equal to her powerful fists and feet was her heart. Though...he wouldn't deny that her curves had a magic all their own.
Beautiful in body - and what a body it was - as well as spirit. Strength of fists and mind. Determination enough to help save and change a world.
As the shock of pain from the impact of fist-to-torso left him momentarily breathless, Rude grinned sharply. Maybe, just maybe - he was a little bit in love. But he didn't have time to think of that until later and whirled Tifa's body across the lot by his grip on her ankle. Her answering smile as she wiped away the blood from her mouth was vicious and defiantly triumphant.
Yes, this feeling was definitely love.
The End