This is my first fan-fiction in first person, so please, bear with me. I might miss a few things like clothes descriptions or explainations of what is going on, but that is what reviews are for, right? Please review and tell me what you think. I would like to know what people have to say so I can improve my writing. Thanks, now...enjoy! (Yes, I did use the song by Seal-"Kiss by a Rose" for my title, I am completely aware of that.)

Disclaimer: I absolutely hate these things because it is obvious that I did not create or own Final Fantasy, otherwise I would not be writing a fan-fiction on it. But, since it is required by Terms of Service, here goes...I DON'T OWN FINAL FANTASY, I only own Adelita. (Thank God that's over with.)

IDIOTS! THIS STORY IS FINISHED! STOP PUTTING ALERTS ON IT!! IT'S ANNOYING!

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Part 1 Adelita

Her name was Adelita, or Adela for short. I did not know how my life would change when I left for the bar that night. Just a normal Friday, finish work, leave the office late, get a few drinks at the bar, and head home. It was nothing new, same old same old. The one thing that I was not counting on was a surprise visit. I hate surprises, but this one was different. It brought to me feelings that I had never known before; I liked it. She was the one thing that I never expected.

I sat at the bar, finishing off my first drink of the evening. I set the glass back on the table and the barmaid, Tifa, came and refilled it for me with some more scotch. I thanked her and she continued down the counter, wiping up spilled beer and handing out more drinks. The newly filled glass was almost to my lips when the door to the bar opened up and everyone inside went silent. I turned around on the bar stool I sat on and saw a young girl, probably no older than sixteen or seventeen, stumble inside. Her clothes were torn almost to shreds, she had bruises everywhere, and she was bleeding from a few cuts and scrapes. She looked downright dreadful and sounded the same when she forced out a few words. "H-help me…please…"

I sat there, staring at this girl, who was from Costa del Sol by the looks of her, with a full glass of scotch in my hand, unable to fully understand what was happening. Tifa set down the rag she had been using to wipe the counter and stepped out from behind the bar. She knelt down next to the girl and asked the girl what was wrong. The girl broke out crying and Tifa wiped away the tears that fell from her dark eyes. Tifa knew she was not going to get anything from the girl at that moment so she offered something else instead.

"There, there," she said, helping the girl to her feet and covering her with her apron. "You can stay here for the night if you like."

I quickly downed my glass of scotch and jumped off the bar stool. Placing my hand on Tifa's shoulder, I shook my head. "No, I'll take her in." I do not know what made me do this. I had never shown compassion to anyone before, why should this girl be any different? Yet there was something about her, I still do not know what, that made me feel something. Some remorse, some shame, but why? I never felt like I had reason to until now. But what was my reason?

Tifa looked at me disbelievingly. "Rufus, are you sure?" I nodded and gave a rare smile, but she still did not believe me. I took the girl from her regardless and removed the apron. Handing it back to Tifa, I removed my white cotton jacket and placed it over the girl. I placed my arm around the her waist to help her walk and we headed out the door of the Seventh Heaven bar and to my car that sat next to a parking meter on the side of the road. I opened the passenger-side door and helped her in the front seat, then I buckled her seatbelt, shut the door, and ran around to the other side of the car. Settling into the driver's seat, I drove out of Midgar to my suite up in Healin. When I arrived, Reno was there with that damned arrogant smirk on his face and usual.

"Another one down for the count, boss?" he asked in a teasing voice as I helped the girl out of the car. I would have given anything for him not to have been there that night, but it was his night for guard duty and he was the only one there so I had no right to complain.

"No, now get out of my way." I growled at him and shoved at his shoulder as I walked past.

As if unmarred by my annoyance, he followed me like a dog at my heels. "Who is she? You probably wouldn't know, you never do. If you haven't spoken for her, can I take her?" Same old Reno, always trying to get a girl into bed.

Angry, I rounded on him and grabbed his shirt front, pulling him in closer so I could yell right in his face. "Damn it, Reno! Shut up! She's not mine and she's not yours! She belongs to no one, now get your skinny ass away from me and go back to your duties before I give you work for the weekend!" That last threat was good enough for him. He turned around and walked off, muttering under his breath as he went. To make Reno come to work on a weekend was the worst thing anyone could do to him, so he thought. It was the perfect way to make him leave if he was being the shithead that he always was. Unfortunately for the other Turks, I was the only one who could threaten him that way and he would actually believe me. He would not joke around about it.

I brought the girl up to my suite and set her in the extra room that I had. I then left to the bathroom and grabbed a bar of soap and a wet wash towel and returned to see her stare at me quizzically. Holding up the items I had brought, I asked her if it would be okay if I helped her clean up. She nodded her head and I proceeded to clean her wounds. When the soap touched the cuts, she winced at the sting but she did not withdraw. I was gentle and thorough, something I had never been before. Thorough, yes; gentle, no. I could not figure out why I was acting so different towards this girl then I did towards everyone else, but something made me feel like I could, something in those eyes, those deep, beautifully brown eyes, said that I did not have to use threats or force to get things done. Yet I still did not know why I had taken her here in the first place.

I finished cleaning what I could, then went to my room to find some clothes. I found some polyester pajamas of mine and returned with them only to find that the girl had fallen fast asleep. Smiling, I set the pajamas down on a chair and picked her up then removed the covers of the bed and set her down. Covering her with the sheets, I left the room and turned out the lights. Tomorrow, I thought. Tomorrow I will find out who she is.

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She was up before me the next day. I awoke and went into the kitchen to see her standing by the stove in the pajamas I had left for her. She was cooking breakfast, or, at least I believe it was breakfast. Possibly a native Costan breakfast but I did not care; it smelled delicious so I ate it anyway.

"What time is it?" I asked. I did not bother with a "good morning." I never had to and did not think I had to now.

She cocked her head to the side, as if thinking, before she answered. "It is eleven minus fifteen in the morning."

I frowned at her answer. "You mean ten forty-five in the morning," I corrected. She just nodded and handed me a plate of food. I took it and sat down at the kitchen table; picking up a fork and poking at it. "What is this?" I asked coldly. It looked rather odd to me.

She replied with one word. "Omelet," she said. I shrugged. I had never seen an omelet like this, but it was an omelet nonetheless so I figured it would be okay. She sat down in the chair next to me as I took a bite. I tasted the egg and the cheese and there was the distinct grainy texture of potatoes, but there was something else as well. It tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. At first I quickly dismissed it, but then my mouth began to burn, it burned like a small fire was alight in my mouth. Dropping my fork, I rose to my feet, startled that a simple omelet could do this.

"Water!" I demanded. She went to the refrigerator instead and handed me a glass of milk. "I said water, dammit! Give me water!" I was angry and my true self was emerging again. Or was it my true self? I was having trouble understanding myself and the feelings that I was feeling. I immediately regretted yelling at her and hoped that she would not be angry with me.

She shoved the glass of milk at me again. "Milk works better," she insisted. Frustrated and just wanting to get rid of the fire in my mouth, I took the glass from her small hand and poured the cool liquid in my mouth. Almost immediately, my tongue cooled down and the burning feeling was gone. She had been right, the milk worked very well.

Relatively calm now, I sat down and took another bite, this one was not as bad as the first one but it still burned so I took another sip of milk. Again, the burning feeling left. "What is your name?" I suddenly found myself asking her.

"Adelita," she replied as she sat down again. "Please, call me Adela."

I nodded. "Very well, Adela, how did you come to be at the bar last night?" She became very quiet when I asked her that, I could tell she had a very long story to tell. Oddly enough, I wanted to know that story. I wanted to know everything about her, what made her laugh, and what made her cry; her likes and her dislikes, everything.

"I…" She faltered. "I grew up in Costa Del Sol. My father left my mother and me when I was a baby and my mother died from a strange desease when I was thirteen. When she died, I came here looking for my father." She stopped there but I knew there was more to the story.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Sixteen. I've been in Midgar for three years." I could have figured that out myself but I guess she felt the need to say it. Finally, after a long, drawn-out silence, she continued with her story. "I hadn't found any trace of my father since I had arrived and I was beginning to give up. I was low on money and I was hungry. A man came by and offered his services. I agreed and went with him to the slums. There, we met with his friends and I began to grow uncomfortable under their greedy stares."

I sat, I listened, very quietly, to her tale. Very reluctantly, she spoke of how the men grabbed at her and tried to rape her. She told of her narrow escape before they could do anything and how she had ran all the way to the Seventh Heaven bar, thinking that the men had given up long ago but was not willing to take the chance. Her story ended there and we sat in silence for a few minutes before I stood and took my plate to the sink.

"Don't worry, Adela. You're safe with me. The Turks take good care of me and they will take good care of you as well, just as long as I order them to."

She stared at me. "They take orders from you?" She seemed surprised.

I nodded. "Yes, I am their boss."

"I see."

Satisfied, I left the kitchen and went to my bedroom. I grabbed my phone and dialed a number. I heard it ring twice before a female voice answered. "Yes?"

"Elena? This is Rufus; could you come over for a moment? I need your help with something."

There was a pause. "What do you need help with?"

I sighed. "Well, it's more like someone, but please, just get over here quickly." I hung up without waiting for an answer. She would come, she always did. Good Elena, I could always depend on her even if I never showed it, I trusted her as one of my best Turks. Her and Tseng, they were both good people.

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Adelita is the pet name for Adela. It is most commonly used in Mexico where it is the name of a folk song about a female soldier. The omelet Adela gave Rufus is called a tortilla, or a Spanish Omelet. I can't remember exactly what is in it, but I do know that there is egg, cheese, possible potatoes, and chile if you want it. And yes, milk does work best, I've done it myself. Rufus called Elena over so she could take Adela shoping for some good clothes (I bet you were wondering so I thought I'd tell you now because it doesn't get explained later on, sorry).