Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7! If I did, there will be Cloud Jrs and Li'll Tifas running all around~
Words
" Tell me again, dude: Why do I let him kick my butt around when he is perfectly capable of walking?"
" ...You're paid."
"Oh, come on dude! It's not even a perfectly good excuse! He sits on a wheelchair as if he can't move! And now he wants me to talk to that Strife guy! You know how whiny he can get! Oh Leviathan, what did I do?" The redhead put his hands together in a praying gesture and looked up with whiny eyes for an overdramatic effect.
His companion who was driving the 'Turk Mobile', as dubbed by Reno, kept his eyes straight on the road, ignoring the sentiments of his friend.
"You messed up, Reno." And Rude said nothing more.
Reno, at that point grew a bit annoyed at Rude. After a few seconds of waiting for Rude to continue, Reno spoke up.
"Come on, man. You know that I wanna know what I messed up. Continue, continue," he said as he slumped back into his seat.
Rude answered in his normal, deep voice.
"You obviously were the one who managed to change Strife's mind about helping us."
"Wha- Oh c'mon! I was being loyal to ShinRa! What does Rufus have to complain about? Seriously, that guy-" and from that point onwards, Rude cut his blabbering ally's words to concentrate on his driving.
XXX
" ...and then he just had to throw a tantrum and boss me around for months! Do you even know how bossy Tseng can be? It's like he has something in him programmed to mess with me. But when he's with Elena, everything is so- Hey! The church! Alright! My legs are numb already!" At the rate at which Reno was talking, Rude was surprised that it was his legs that were numb, not his mouth. In, fact, Rude wondered if Reno could conduct mouth exercise classes. The motto of the class would definitely be "Talk till you drop".
Rude started to 'unblock' his hearing when Reno happily exclaimed like a five-year-old kid that they were at the Sector 5 Church, obviously. Rude took his seatbelt off and got out of the black, stylish car just a second after Reno. To Rude, being paired up with Reno on assignments was annoying but fun at the same time. Rude had never known anybody as energetic as Reno, but the redhead could be really professional when it comes to work. Weird.
"Dude, looking at this church reminds me of the Cetra. All those good time of chasing... I wish it would come back and end differently." Reno changed from an energetic and overexcited Turk to a nostalgic Turk in the time span of less than one second. He himself could not fully comprehend why he had acted like that, so he finally decided to credit the sacredness of the church for his nostalgic burst. Rude just acknowledged Reno's statement by nodding in agreement. There was regret in both of them during those days though- for destroying the world and maybe- in being one of the stepping stones that brought the cruel fate upon the last Cetra on earth.
But, however bad those days had been, he could never bring himself to regret meeting the ruby-eyed martial artist who could kick-ass real good. It's funny, when he thought about how the Turks got on better terms with AVALANCHE after meteor, but not buddy buddy in that sense. Rude and Reno just hoped that what they did in the past will not taint people's thoughts on who they were now.
Rude stepped into the church followed by Reno. The floor of the old church squeaked under their weight. Both of them had expected Cloud to be sitting somewhere in the church and looking all gloomy or sulking. Instead, they were greeted by broken benches and dust prints that were fairly recent.
"What on Gaia happened here? And where is Strife?" Reno remarked after taking in the church's condition, before spotting something at the field of lilies.
"Rude, what's that?"
The bald headed man turned to look at the spot where Reno was looking and felt his heart break. There she was, his very much admired raven-haired beauty, lying on the flower bed, looking so content and peaceful, except for a few bruises here and there. Rude would have been better- if not for the fact that Strife was also there, his face reflecting her expression.
Reno, after checking their pulses made a remark.
"Whoa- Yin and Yang? They're like trying to fit each other. You know dude, Strife will really need to learn how to 'fit the puzzle pieces' in a different way and at a more appropriate place- if you know what I mea-" Reno abruptly stopped himself from saying more after realizing that he was hurting Rude's feelings by blabbering about the two. Reno knew, all the other Turks knew that Rude had a thing for Tifa. Rude had confessed to Reno once, and never acknowledged Reno's constant teasing after that, while the others could see through Rude.
The church was filled with a lingering tension before Rude broke the silence.
"Let's get them to Seventh Heaven. Call Rufus and tell him that you can't talk to Strife now." Reno followed whatever orders that Rude gave and dare not speak. While waiting for Rufus to answer, Reno could sense a tinge of pain from Rude's broken heart.
XXX
Rude and Reno had just finished placing Cloud and Tifa on the children's bed, not wanting to peer in any of their closed bedroom in case they might find evidence that the two AVALANCHE members were sharing a bed. No, that would break Rude's heart further.
While waiting for them to wake up, Reno received a call from Rufus who strictly ordered Reno to get Strife to their side. After hanging up and waiting downstairs for a good 20 minutes, the two Turks decided to check on them, only to find Cloud standing beside Tifa's bed and staring at her, with his back to them. The Turks had a reputation for keeping their footsteps silent, except when they were at the church, where the floor squeaked like crazy. So when Reno spoke up, he startled the still dazed savior of Gaia.
XXX
After the short conversation between Cloud and the two Turks, the bald and the redhead could clearly see that Cloud did not want to leave Tifa's side, so they left the room. Rude slammed the door behind him in slight anger and jealousy that he accidentally showed. Maybe keeping his expression stoic during the conversation really didn't do any good.
Reno was on the phone with Rufus, trying to convince the president that he would not need a talk to have Strife to help them. The kidnapping of the children took care of that. Rude, on the other hand, went up to the room and saw Cloud still staring at Tifa, with the only difference of Cloud sitting beside her on the bed instead of standing.
Even from where he was, Rude could see the uncertainty in Cloud's actions. Rude was an expert at reading body language, which was one of the requirements to be a Turk. As for now, Rude saw the guilt in the blonde warrior, as well as his want to hold her in his arms. Somehow, Rude knew that the guilt consuming the usually stoic and unreadable swordsman made him vulnerable till the point where he did not notice the Turk opening the door and stepping quietly into the room a few moments earlier.
It did not take long for Cloud to feel the presence of the Turk. Rude saw Cloud putting up his walls up to mask his feelings, and could not comprehend how a small framed martial artist could manage to break down Cloud's wall even when she was unconscious.
"What do you want?" Cloud stated coolly, now his face without the trace of love and adoration that the Turk did not want to acknowledge earlier on.
Rude got straight to the point.
"What do you feel for her?" Rude was aware that Cloud knew what he felt for Tifa and was not ashamed to get things straight.
For a moment, Cloud was caught by surprise at his question, but his face flicked from surprised to cool. He turned his head away from the Turk to stare at her.
"Cloud..."
Tifa's voice was weak in the cold room. Her words- somehow- broke Rude's heart. Rude didn't need to hear any more: not Tifa's voice calling Cloud's name, not Cloud acknowledging his feelings for Tifa. Rude saw Cloud slowly reaching out for Tifa's hands.
Rude didn't need any words. Their actions were enough to confirm what he'd suspected.
He turned to walk out of the door and head down to where the other Turk was, replacing his hurt feelings with the urgent need to find the missing children.
Please tell me what you think about this, and sorry if you're here for the romance. It's almost non-existent...