This is my second Tif/Ruf Fic. I hope everyone likes this one as much as the last one. I promise this one will be a lot longer.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.
Tifa worked hard in the bar. She was hoping to one day own this place but she didn't know if that would ever come true. She was almost 16, she would be in 3 weeks. Tifa smiled to herself, she couldn't wait to be 16. Tifa gave another drink to a costumer and continued making more. She thought about her dad, he was working hard at ShinRa and she felt sorry for him. From what she had heard the President wasn't a every nice boss. She had heard him talk about how cold he was and how he always yelled at him for being 3 seconds late to a meeting.
Tifa was always thought about her dad. Being a SOLDIER was hard and dangerous. Tifa heard that her dad was pretty close with everyone though. He was friends with the Turks and had made a friendships with the Presidents wife and thus the President. Tifa was proud of her dad for having friends in highplaces.
"So how are you today?" Tifa asked one of the costumers.
"Very gooddd" The mans voice slurred, Tifa gave him a half smile. She wasn't going to be mean to the people here but she didn't want to talk to the ones that were very drunk. Tifa continued severing drinks until finally everything calmed down and the bar was close. Tifa cleaned up and locked up. She walked out onto the street and walked the short distance to her house. It was cold and Tifa hugged her sweater tighter around herself. Tifa smiled when she saw her house and ran the rest of the way. Tifa unlocked the door. She checked her messages. There were none, Tifa frowned, her dad always called her from his missions once a day to check up on her. Tifa shrugged it off, she was sure he was fine. Maybe he had just forgotten today. Tifa held onto that thought as she made herself dinner and went to bed.
Rufus paced around his office, he was bored. After finishing all his paper work there was nothing to do. He looked out the window, he smiled to himself at the city lights sparkled in his blue eyes. His smiled quickly
faded as it always did, if it was ever seen. Rufus walked up to his dad's office. Rufus opened the door and walked in. His dad quickly looked up from his work but soon continued.
"Don't you have work to do?" He questioned his son.
"No, I'm finished" Rufus said almost defensively.
"Alright then, dinner will be done soon" His father informed him.
"Alright" Rufus said and turned to leave, he stopped when he saw the Turks walking in.
"President sir, we have a report about the Neo-Midgar mission" Rude said, Rufus stopped and listened.
"Yes, what progress have we made and what have we lost?" The President asked. Rude looked over at Reno and Reno nodded.
"We lost lockhart sir" Rude said "And some others"
"Oh" The President said, Rufus could hear the sadness in his voice. Rufus knew that Lockhart was a very good worker and had also had a friendship with his father.
"We have made a lot of progress though" Reno continued and Rufus decided to leave, he didn't want to hear anymore. This kind of talk bored him but he still liked knowing what was going on. Rufus walked a long the hallway and turned into the dinning room. His mom was setting the table. Rufus had always admired the fact that his mom decided to do the chores even though she could've hired servants to do so. They had a lot of money but Rufus' mom always wanted to save money.
"Hi mom" Rufus said dully and say down in his usual place.
"Hi, you look bored" His mother said.
"I kinda am" Rufus admitted, "Paper work everyday isn't that fun, 16 year olds don't usually have to do that"
"I know but ShinRa's become a big company, your father can't handel all the work by himself" His mother said warmly.
"Ya but I don't want to do it" Rufus whined, his mother smiled at him. She knew Rufus was just acting spoiled but he really wasn't.
"Do you know how the Neo-Midgar mission went?" His mother asked.
"Yah, well I only know that they lost some people, including Lockhart" Rufus informed her, his mother sighed.
"That's terrible, he was such a nice man. Oh! and his poor daughter she'll have no where to go" Mrs.. Shinra said almost in tears.
"He has a daughter?" Rufus asked, he was totally unaware of that fact.
"Yes, she's about your age" His mother said, "She'll have to come and live with us!" His mother said as she just got the idea.
"Who's living wear now?" President Shinra asked as he walked through the door.
"Lockhart's daughter, he's been so good to us and we have tons of room to spare" Mrs. Shinra said.
"That seems ok, as long as she does some chores and doesn't cause any trouble" Mr. Shinra said.
"Alright then I'll go tell her in the morning, although" Mrs. Shinra paused to think, "Don't make her work or think for a month or so, I mean her father did just die."
"That's true" Mr. Shinra agreed, "But if she causes any trouble she'll be out of here"
"But then she'll still have no where to go" Mrs. Shinra said.
"I know but that's her problem" Mr. Shinra said coldly. Rufus was listening but he could really careless if someone was coming to stay with them. He was hoping that she wouldn't bug him.
Tifa woke up in the morning with a knock at her door. She put on a robe and quickly smoothed out her hair. It was her day off from working at 7th Heaven and she was kinda mad about being woken up early. Tifa ran down stairs and opened the door. She was surprised to see a well dressed woman standing there.
"Good morning Miss Lockhart" She greeted, "I'm Mrs. Shinra"
"Oh my, I'm sorry I don't look more presentable" Tifa said embarrassed.
"Nonsense, may I come in" She asked kindly.
"Yes, please" Tifa said opening the door for her.
"Is there something wrong with my father since you here?" Tifa asked, since no one from ShinRa every visited her.
"Yes, I'm very sorry dear, but he was killed in a mission" She said slowly. Tifa's heart sank and she slowly slide to the ground. So many questions raced through her mind.
"H..How, W..W..where will I.... W.. What am I going to do" Tifa's eyes filled with tears. Her father was the only one that she had left and now he was gone.
"I know this must be very hard for you but I would like to make you an offer" Mrs. Shinra said, trying not to look at the sad girl.
"Huh?" Tifa chocked out, she didn't want Mrs. Shinra to see her cry but she couldn't help it. Tifa chocked back her tears and stood up.
"You could live with us" Mrs. Shinra said, "Lock... Mr. Lockhart meant a lot to us, it's the least we can do."
"I.. I don't want to be any trouble, I'll be fine on my own" Tifa said quietly as a few tears continued to roll down her cheeks.
"Nonsense, you'll come with me and we'll move all you belonging to your new bed room in ShinRa" Mrs. Shinra said. Tifa nodded quietly and Mrs. Shinra signaled the movers to take everything. Tifa watched as they
took her piano, clothes, bathroom things, they took everything till the whole house was bare. Tifa walked around and looked at everything. She tried not to remember the happy memories that had happened here. Tifa took one last look before she followed Mrs. Shinra outside. Tifa was sniffing a bit as she watched her house disappear from her site. Tifa turned towards Mrs. Shinra.
"Thank you" Tifa said, forcing a smiled.
"It's the least I can do, dear" Mrs. Shinra smiled warmly. They soon arrived at ShinRa and Mrs. Shinra lead Tifa inside.
"I'll give you a tour before you go to your room" She said and Tifa nodded. Her followed Mrs. Shinra around as she pointed out the different things around the building.
"This is Reno, Rude, Elena, Scarlet, and Tseng" She said in one long breath and Tifa stepped forward to shake their hands. She tried to smile but everyone could tell it was forced.
"Nice to meet you" Reno grinned at her, Tifa just smiled and continued on. The tour ended with the main office. Mr. Shinra and Rufus looked up to see them come in.
"This is Lockhart's girl?" The president asked with a raised eye brow.
"Yes, this is Tifa" Mrs. Shinra said in stern tone hinting to them to get up and shake her hand. Rufus locked eyes with the girl and she looked away. Rufus almost smirked at her shyness but kept a stern face. Rufus got up and so did his dad. They walked over to her and the President shook her hand. He leaned in and whispered "Don't get into any trouble"
Tifa nodded and once the President walked away Rufus shook her hand. He did the same as his father, he whispered in her ear "Don't listen to anything my old man says" Rufus smirked at her and Tifa nodded with a smile. Mrs. Shinra lead Tifa on and down the half.
"Over there is Rufus' room, feel free to bug him as much as you like" Mrs. Shinra smiled.
"Not helping mom" Rufus called from behind them and then walked into his room.
"Tifa, you just ignore him and get some rest" She said, "Your room is in here" Tifa was led into the door besides Rufus' room. She walked in and gasp, the room was big! Huge!! Tifa saw that her piano, clothes, pictures, posters, everything was in the room already.
"Your people work fast" Tifa commented, it was the first thing she had said all day since the news.
"They have to" Mrs. Shinra smiled, she then left Tifa alone in her room. Tifa sit down on her bed and just stared. She did so for a long time until she snapped herself out of it. She looked at herself, she was a mess.
She felt bad that she had looked so horrible in front of people of such high status. Tifa grabbed some new clothes and headed for the shower. Tifa took a shower and sighed, the hot water washed over her and she felt good. Tifa was still sad but refused to let herself cry. She couldn't believe all that had happened in just one day. Tifa turned off the water and stepped out. She dressed herself again in jeans and a tank top. Tifa brushed out her hair and tied it up like she normally did. Tifa smiled at herself, she looked good again and she was happy for that. She put her dirty clothes in a bin labeled laundry and headed back into her room.
Tifa sat down on her bed again. She was restless, she didn't know what to do. Tifa decided to take a walk, she might as well get to know the building she was going to live in. Tifa headed out the door and walked down the halls. She made sure to remember what was on which floor and soon found the 75 to be her favorite. It was an area with a small room, the walls where made of glass. There was a door the lead outside onto a large balcony. Tifa could see the whole city and it was beautiful. Tifa walked back to her room she was stopped by Reno.
"Dinner time Miss Lockhart, follow me" Reno said and Tifa nodded. He lead her down the hall to 2 large doors. Tifa stepped into the large white room which had a dinning table down the middle. Mr. and Mrs. Shinra were all ready sitting down along with Rufus who looked bored. They all looked over at her when she came in, Tifa looked at the ground.
"Come sit here, dear" Mrs. Shinra said and patted the seat beside her. Tifa nodded and took her place beside her and across from Rufus. Dinner was soon served and Tifa had never seen so much food before. She saw that the family ate with great manners and Tifa tried to do the same.
"Do you work any where Miss Lockhart?" President Shinra asked.
"I work at a bar called 7th Heaven, I hope to own it one day, I've been saving for a long time" Tifa said, she wondered if she had said to much.
"That's nice," He said and Tifa wasn't sure if he was bored by her quick story, "Why is it that you want to own it?"
"I like working there and I've always want my own place to live and work, my own business" Tifa smiled.
"You want your own business, Rufus you should be more like her. She wants her own business" He said 'wants' as if he was hinting that Rufus didn't like working. Rufus rolled his eyes and glared at Tifa. He wasn't sure if he liked her staying with them. She was already turning his parents against him and she had only been here one day.
The rest of their dinner went smoothly, Tifa told them more about herself and they told her stories as well. Tifa found them to be every interesting people except for Rufus who would just nod along and add the occasional "uhuh" and "What ever". Tifa left the table along with Rufus while his parents stayed behind to talk.
In away Tifa was happy to be out of there. She felt so out of place. She was foolish to think that she could instantly fit in with a family that had known each other for years. Tifa walked into her room and flopped down on her bed and she instantly felt tried. Her emotions had caught up to her. Tifa changed into her pjs and went to bed. She laid there for a while looking at the ceiling and soon her realized how alone she was. With tears in her eyes she fell asleep.
There's chapter one. I hope you liked it!