By Kristen Gupton-Williams

It was around three in the morning when Vincent and Tifa recited their respective prayers for the forty-ninth and final time. Tifa rose up to stretch her aching legs, envying for the moment Vincent's mechanical body and endurance.

He watched her and smiled. "If you want to go to the house and sleep, I don't mind."

Tifa had made the decision earlier to remain with him all night and wasn't going to give in now. "No, I'm okay."

Vincent could easily tell from the posture of her body that she was in need of rest but knew that she was too proud to give up. "Tea?"

"Huh?" Tifa wasn't thinking her best at the moment.

"Tea Ceremony." Vincent got up from the floor. "No time like the present to learn."

"Oh yeah." Tifa clasped her hands, ready to give it a try. "I'm ready."

"Wait here just a minute." Vincent said as he went into the small room adjacent to where they were. He quickly returned with a tray containing several items. He placed it upon the table that they had been praying before and arranged the items. There was a small stand that he placed a teapot on, and lit a small candle beneath it. There was also a jar, bowl, basin, spoon, two white pieces of fabric, and a tea whisk. He left the room again for a moment, to retrieve a stone ware bowl, containing water and a ladle. He then pulled the table to the center of the room, kneeling on one side of it. "Come sit opposite to me."

Tifa did as ordered and knelt as he did. "Okay, what do I do?"

"First, take one of the napkins."

She did as ordered and then looked at him for further instruction.

"Wipe off the ladle, the spoon, and then wipe out the inside of that white bowl." Vincent said, pointing to the appropriate items.

Again, Tifa did as requested.

"Now, use the ladle to place some of the water from that large bowl into the little one. Then, pick up the tea whisk, swish it around the bowl a few times and then set it down."

She complied and looked back up at him.

"Now, pour the water in the bowl out into the basin, then wipe it out with the cloth again." He was surprised that she hadn't stopped yet to ask why she was doing any of these things.

Tifa emptied the bowl and dried it, then setting it down before her. "Now what?"

"Take the lid off that jar, and use the spoon to put three scoops of tea into the bowl." It may have been over thirty years since he had seen this done, but it was etched in his memory.

Tifa carefully measured out the three spoonfuls before placing the lid back onto the jar and setting down her spoon.

Vincent nodded in approval, seeing that she wasn't having much trouble with it. Luckily the Wutain Tea Ceremony was by far simpler than that of some other Buddhist nations. "Now, pour just enough of the hot water from the kettle to cover the tea in the bottom of the bowl."

Tifa poured the water as instructed.

"Now, mix it with the whisk until the powder is dissolved. Then add just a little more water and mix it until it's the consistency of melted ice-cream."

Tifa smiled a little at his example but quickly did as she was told. "Okay, there."

"Now, pretend I'm the monk and hand me the bowl."

She picked up the bowl and held it towards him.

"Now, as I reach for it I will bow, and after I take it from you, you bow back, making sure to get just a little lower than I went."

Tifa watched him graciously accept the tea before bowing back as prescribed.

Vincent brought the bowl close to his body and then took his right hand, grasped the rim and rotated the bowl towards his body three times. That done, he brought the bowl up to his lips and drank, again for a total of three times. He then picked up the second of the white cloths and wiped the edge of the bowl before handing it back to Tifa, bowing once more in the process.

This time she didn't need to be prompted and she bowed as she accepted the bowl from him.

Vincent smiled at her in approval. "There, that's basically it. Now all you have to do is rinse out the bowl like you did the first time, clean the whisk, and then dry everything."

"Then I'm done?" Tifa asked, getting to the task of cleaning the supplies.

"Until the end of the funeral. Then you will do this again for the monk before he leaves, except that time you'll make the tea a little thinner." Vincent replied.

"Can I ask what this means?" Tifa finally inquired.

"Well, first off, offering the tea to the monk is a sign of respect. The thick tea that you make first is to signify his accession to the spiritual world, so that Tseng will understand his actions during the funeral. The thinner tea at the end represents the monk's return to the physical world." Vincent hoped this didn't sound as corny to her as it did him at the moment.

She seemed to accept his answer completely, just nodding in response when he was finished. "Can we do it one more time, just to make sure I get it right?"

"Sure." Vincent smiled at her. "This time, you drink some of it too, so you'll know what it's like. It'll help keep you awake, too."

***

About that same time in the night, Reno awoke to find that Angel was missing from his bed. He sat up and looked around the dimly lit room, not seeing her anywhere. Not liking the idea of her being off wandering the house at this hour, he threw off the sheets and decided to scout out the house in nothing more than his boxers. He opened the bedroom door and stared into the family room, seeing nothing other than Cid and Brad camped out snoring on the floor. Reno made his way forward, carefully stepping over the pilots that littered the carpet and entered the kitchen. Much to his relief, he found Angel sitting at the kitchen table. "There you are."

She smiled at him with tired eyes. "Come over here and sit."

He did as ordered, wondering what was on her mind keeping her up this late. "Something wrong?"

Angel shook her head, her smile not fading. "No, nothing's wrong at all."

"Then what's up?" Reno rested his arms on the table's surface. "My girl doesn't miss sleep for much."

"Well, this is something sort of important." Angel replied, before taking a sip from her cup of hot chocolate.

Reno knit his brow, "What?"

"I was going to wait to tell you when we got back to the base, since it didn't seem quite appropriate to tell you here, with the funeral happening tomorrow and all." Angel's composure changed slightly, indicating that she was getting nervous.

Now Reno was really intrigued. "Tell me what? You want a divorce or something?"

"No, retard." Angel reached over and shoved him lightly. "Reno, you're going to be a father."

His eyes went wide and for the first time in his life, Reno found himself at a loss for words. His breathing became erratic, and if it hadn't been so dark, Angel would have seen the color drain from his face.

Angel wasn't sure what his reaction meant, "Are you okay?"

His head bobbed slightly before he fell out of his chair and onto the floor. The hyperventilating that he had started caused him to pass out.

Angel gasped and got out of her chair, racing to his side. She bent down and placed her hands on the sides of his face, "Reno?"

He opened one confused eye and looked up at her. "That's me."

"Are you all right?" Angel already knew the answer since he was feeling well enough to toy around.

His other eye opened and he smiled. "Are you sure?"

Angel laughed quietly to herself. "Of course I am. Dr. Arlin confirmed it for me yesterday."

"No shit?" Reno sat up. "Really?"

"Yes." Angel was feeling relieved in having told him.

"Crap, your dad's going to kill me, you know that right?" Reno truly did fear Vincent's reaction to this news.

"No, he won't." She got back up to her feet and extended a hand to him.

Reno stood and took her into his arms. "Are you happy?"

"Of course!" Angel rested her head against his shoulder. "Are you?"

Reno smiled, "Hell yeah, I love you."