Epilogue:
Lilie finished telling Reid about the story of how she had met, loved and lost his father. She was in tears as she finished. Her son just gently touched the tears rolling down her cheeks. He gave her a comforting smile. "I' will be al'ight, mama. Don' cry."
Lilie wiped her tears away as she placed a kiss on her son's forehead. How she loved this boy with all her heart. Reid reminded her so much of his father, the one man she loved the most. She breathed in a deep sigh as she looked around the ruins. She didn't want to leave this place, but then again, what did she have here? She had nothing left. She had only her Psis, the necklace Rufus had given her, and her son.
"Let's go home now." She said as she set Reid down on the seat.
But then she looked at him when he gasped. There was a frightened look on his face as he looked over her shoulder. She spun around and a gasp escaped her own throat. There was several Nibel wolves creeping out of the ruins, snarling towards the two. Lilie quickly stood up straight, placing her hands on the car roof and the door, as if just blocking the wolves from her son. Her eyes narrowed at the monsters starting to stalk towards her. "Go away!" She yelled at them.
The wolves only snarled again. Lilie quickly turned around and rolled the car window up. "Reid, don't come out of the car! No matter what happens!" She said as she locked the doors and closed the door. The little boy was now crying as he put his hands against the glass and watched his mother.
Lilie whipped out her Psis and stood in a fighting stance, her eyes burning with rage. "Stay away from my son!" She yelled. The wolves snarled as they began to lunge at her. She quickly ducked under one wolf, stabbing upwards with her Psi. The wolf yiped as it fell to the earth, bleeding heavily from the wound. She spun around, slashing out at the next wolf. Her Psi cut into the wolf's jugular. It fell to the ground, dead.
The Ex-Turk moved extremely graceful as she dodged the jaws of the beasts and sliced them with her Psis. That is until she heard the sound of glass shattering and a scream. She looked past the wolves and saw one of them were attacking the car to get inside. And inside, Reid was screaming in fear for her.
"Reid!" She screamed before she kicked a Nibel wolf hard in the head with her foot and then rushed over to the car.
She stabbed the wolf in the back with her Psi, making it yelp in pain. She yanked her blade out of the wolf and stabbed it again. It pulled its head out of the glass and backed away, rolling around on the ground with painful yipes. Lilie looked into the car at her terrorified son. "Reid! Lay on the ground and put the blanket on you!" She cried out to him before she screamed in pain as a wolf slashed into her back.
"Mommy!" Reid screamed.
Lilie spun around and slashed the wolf that had attacked her. She placed her hand on her shoulder where it ached. She glared at the remaining four wolves. They were snarling and slowly enclosing. There was too many for her to take out by herself. But she couldn't let any of them get to Reid. She charged again at the wolves, jumping to the side as one wolf tried to snap at her heels. She kicked up hard, hitting the wolf right in the chin. The wolf yiped as blood filled its mouth from biting its tongue in half. Lilie threw out her hand at the wolf, blasting it with Fire 3. It went flying back right into the scrap piles.
Suddenly she felt a heavy body jump on her, knocking her to the ground. She screamed in pain as jaws locked onto her arm.
The remaining three wolves jumped on her trying to attack her at once. She could hear Reid screaming for her. She had dropped the Psis from the fall so she had a hard time in escaping. She could feel the wolves trying to slash her apart. But the only thing she looked at was her son's white and tear streaked face. She felt her own tears stinging in her eyes. 'My son is going to watch me die!' She thought as she tried to shove a wolf off of her. Another wolf bit into her leg making her scream.
"Yo! Get off her, you nasty beast!" A voice yelled out before one of the wolves yanked away, yiping as a boot connected with its head. The other two jumped away as someone landed next to them and then swung a long, thin rod at them. They snarled at the intruder.
There was another thud and another man joined the first. "Reno! The woman! See if she's all right! We'll take care of this." A new voice rang. It sounded awfully familiar. It sounded like someone that Lilie had known a long time ago. But it couldn't have been Tseng. He was dead, wasn't he?
But she still gasped in surprise as she heard the name. She looked up to see a handsome face looking down at her. The man looked just as surprised as soon as he got a good look at her. It was a face that Lilie had not seen for such a long time.
"Lilie?!"
"Reno?!"
A grin appeared on the red head's face as he looked at her. "My Hyne! I can't believe it's you!" He then frowned as he looked her over. "Man, are you all right?!" He gasped as he pulled out a blue green orb. Lilie gave a weak laugh as she winced from the pain in her arm. "I'm bleeding from an attack by those savage beasts, Reno. What do you think?"
Reno smiled faintly as he held her sit up. "Yeah, you got a point. You look like shit. Come on. See if you can stand up." he said as he waved his hand over her, casting a Cure 3 over. Her wounds instantly healed as she let Reno pull her up to her feet. She rubbed her arm where the wolf had bitten her. She then looked to see a very familiar blonde haired woman firing her gun at one of the wolves. Two more men were fighting the other two.
And one of them, the one who had given Reno the orders of checking on her a moment ago shocked the hell out of her to see him. She could not not believe her own eyes. It was Tseng!
"Tseng?!" She gasped. Once the black haired man finished killing the wolf, he turned to look at her. His own eyes widened from seeing her.
"Lilie?" He gasped as he hurried over. Elena and Rude finished killing the last ones. They looked over at Lilie, astonishment filled their eyes. Lilie was just looking at Tseng in shock. "Tseng? Is that you?"
Tseng couldn't help but smile as he looked her over. He then shook himself out of his stunned ways and smiled. "Yeah. It's me. Lilie, I can't believe it's you." He said as he walked over. Lilie smiled with tears in her eyes before she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Tseng's chest. Everyone only smiled as they watched. Tseng hugged her back before pulling away, holding her at arms length.
"Tseng! I thought you were dead! Sephiroth killed you! I saw you die!" Lilie said with tears running down her cheeks. Tseng only smiled as he stepped back and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Well, not exactly. You didn't actually see me die. Before you came, Cloud and his gang found me at the Temple. Aeris had healed me before they went in. And then at Healin Lodge, the doctors managed to save my life. You know, you saved me too. You took me there at the right time." He said. Lilie smiled as she looked over at the smiling Elena and Rude. "Elena, Rude." She said weakly. The blonde laughed a little as she rushed forward, hugging her next. "Lilie, it's been so long. We've all been so worried about you." She said as she pulled away. Lilie wiped her tears away. "I've been travelling a lot since the last time we met."
"Mommy!" Lilie gasped when she heard Reid's voice. She quickly looked over Reno's shoulder at her frightened son in the car as he was struggling to unlock the door. "Reid!" She pushed past the red haired Turk and rushed over to the car. She took the keys out of her pocket and quickly unlocked the door.
The four surprised looking Turks only watched as Lilie scooped up the three in a half year old boy and hold him close. "Reid, are you all right?" She asked. The crying boy only sniffed into her shoulder, hugging her tight. She then turned with him and looked at the looks on her four friends' faces. "Oh!" She then smiled as she pulled away from Reid, who looked tearfully, yet curiously at the four. Reno's eyes were as wide as golf balls as he just studied the child. Rude had removed his glasses to get a good look at the boy, himself, while Tseng and Elena looked astonished. Lilie looked from them to her son and then back. "Um, guys, Elena. This is Reid. He's my son. Reid, these are my friends. The Turks from my stories." She said sweetly.
Tseng was the first one to say something. He smiled as he stepped forward and held out his hand towards the boy, who shyly looked at him then took his finger. "Well, well. Who would have thought? He's quite the boy, Lilie." He said as he shook Reid's hand. Lilie only smiled proudly. Reno just stared with shock. "Oh my god. He looks like Rufus."
Everyone laughed as they looked the boy over. Lilie sadly smiled. "That's because Reid is his son too." She told them.
The four Turks looked at her in shock. "What?" Elena gasped as she covered her mouth. Reno stepped back from being so shocked. Lilie nodded with a sad sigh. "That's right. Before Rufus died, we...um, well...you get the idea. Rufus was Reid's father." She said. The four just stood there for a long time before smiles started to appear on their faces. Elena shook her head.
"Lilie, Rufus isn't..." She never got to finish because Reno quickly covered her mouth to shut her up. "Really?! Wow! That's...you know, I would've never guessed!"
Lilie was staring at him with surprise. Tseng and Rude seemed to guess what Reno had in mind. They both smiled. Tseng nodded as he looked at Lilie with a sad smile. "Your son is very beautiful, Lilie. Rufus would have been proud." He said. Lilie returned the sad smile. Elena pulled Reno's hand off her mouth and gave him a cold look. "But..." She was saying. Tseng turned around. "Elena, why don't you and Rude go get the car? We'll take Lilie and her son to Healin Lodge so she can get cleaned up. And then we can catch up." He said. Rude quickly grabbed Elena's arm and dragged her with him, while whispering something to her.
Lilie just stared after them with confusion and suspicion. "All right, what's going on?" She asked as she set Reid down and held his hand. Tseng and Reno both shook their heads. "Nothing!" They both said at the same time.
"We just want to know if you want to join us for a cup of coffee." The red head said. Lilie gave them another look before smiling slyly. "Sorry. But I can't. Reid and I are going back to Kalm Harbor and then we're taking a boat back to Costa Del Sol." She said. Tseng frowned a little but Reno only grinned. "Aw, come on, Lil. Join us. Healin Lodge is on the way. Just stop by with us."
Lilie shook her head. "You guys, I can't. Reid and I will miss our boat."
Tseng shrugged. "There'll be other boats. Come on, Lilie. This will be fun." He said. Lilie folded her arms, giving them a look. "All right. What is going on? I'm not going anywhere with you four unless you tell me." She said. Tseng and Reno looked at one another before sighing. "Okay, okay. We'll tell you. We're having a party with Avalanche. We're celebrating the end of the Geostigma crisis." The black haired Turk said. Reno nodded. "Yeah! Cloud and his gang would love see you again. It's been a while since you saw them too, hasn't it?"
Lilie faintly smiled and nodded. "That's true. Well...I guess it would be all right." She looked down at Reid who looking at the two taller men with interest. "What do you think, little man? You want to go to a party?" His mother asked. Reid smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah!" He said excitedly. The three adults smiled. "All right. There you have it. You have to come now." Reno said. Lilie looked at him. "Okay. We'll go."
Tseng and Reno grinned at one another. "Good. You're never going to regret this, Lil. Believe me."
The two cars made their way up the driveway towards the lodge. Lilie just looked up at the building with interest. She had been to the Healin Lodge twice but that was a long time ago. The parking lot in front of the lodge had a few cars parked here and there. Lilie could see a very nice motorbike sitting off to the side all by itself.
When they parked, Lilie and Reid both climbed out of the car, still looking up at the building. Tseng walked over to them with a smile. "Well, if we're going to be at a party, don't you want to change before you see everyone?"
Lilie shrugged. "I guess so." She got into her bag and pulled out some cloths. "I'll just get changed inside." She said. Tseng bit his lip, but then nodded. "All right. Come. I'll take you inside."
Reno hurried up with a big smile. "Hey, Reid. Want to ride on my shoulders?" He asked. Reid jumped up and down with joy. "Yeah! Yeah! Mama, can I?" He asked looking up at Lilie, who smiled and nodded. Reno scooped Reid up and placed him onto his shoulders. "All right! It's party time!" He said hurrying towards the house. "Reno! Don't go too fast! Because if you drop him, I will drop you!" Lilie called after them.
They went inside together, but Tseng pulled Lilie aside to a room. "Here you can get dressed in here real quick. Then we'll go upstairs where everyone is." He said. Lilie nodded as she closed the door and moved over to a bed to change.
As soon as she was done, she let Tseng lead her to the stairs where Reno and Reid were waiting. "Come on. Everyone's waiting." The red head said. Lilie took Reid's hand and they climbed the stairs after Tseng and Reno, who were grinning at each other.
They approached a room where there were voices heard from the otherside and the lights were on. Somone was laughing their head off and Lilie knew that voice. She recognized it as Cid Highwind's voice. She smiled remembering the first time she had met him. It wasn't a very pleasant first meeting either. Reno pushed the door open, strolling in with a big grin. "Hey, everyone! We're back from Midgar! And you will not believe what we found!"
Tseng paused in the door way as he turned to look at Lilie with a very warm smile. Lilie looked past him to see a very familiar man, standing in the corner. It was Vincent Valentine. Like always, he was wearing all black and his big red cloak. When he had turned his blood red eyes onto her, they widened with surprise and he immediately straightened.
"Hey, Vince. What's wrong with you?" Lilie heard the voice of that one girl, Yuffie. She couldn't control herself anymore. She had to see them. So she went in.
Everyone was just looked up at her when she entered before freezing in surprise. Cid had been leaning against the wall, chewing on a toothpick since everyone had yelled at him for smoking around the kids. But when he saw Lilie walk into the room, the toothpick dropped right out of his mouth. Even Reeve was there. Just sitting on his chair with Cait Sith sitting on his lap. Every single Avalanche member was there.
Of course, there was another face there that Lilie had not counted on seeing.
She froze stock still when she saw him just sitting there in a wheelchair, holding a glass of champaigne. Her eyes had grown wide and tears began to sting them. Her mouth had fallen wide. The man she had been looking at looked just as stunned. He was stunned enough to drop his champaigne glass, making it shatter. His icy blue eyes just gazed right back into her's.
It was none other than Rufus Shinra.
Lilie just stood there gazing right at Rufus as if he was a ghost. Her face had drained of color. She felt so cold. She couldn't believe it. It was him. He was alive. But...but how? She let go of Reid's hand and covered her mouth as tears just filled her eyes.
Rufus, slowly stood up from the wheelchair he had been sitting in and looked her over. "Lil-Lilie?" He felt like he was dreaming. If this was a dream, it was a cruel one. He had not seen her for such a long time. And now that he was seeing her, he only hoped that it wasn't a dream.
"Rufus." Lilie whispered as she slowly dropped her hands. A very faint smile appeared on her face as the tears fell. Rufus could feel his heart just swelling up with joy. His frown slowly turned into a smile. "Lilie..." He said rather breathlessly. Lilie felt a sob escape her as she moved forward. Everyone watched with smiles as the two rushed forward, catching one another into each other's arms. Rufus pulled Lilie close to him as she buried her face into his chest, just crying her heart out now.
This was the grandest reunion anyone had seen for such a long time.
The couple pulled away and then looked at one another. "You're alive." Lilie said weakly. Rufus, surprisingly, had his own tears as he looked her over. "Of course I am. I'm a Shinra." He said before he kissed her very passionately. She returned the kiss, not caring that everyone was watching. She had forgotten that everyone was there. All that mattered that she was back in Rufus's arms. They held each other for the longest time before a tiny voice broke them out of their happy moment.
"Mommy?"
Every head turned to look at the confused looking thee year old. Jaws had fallen at the mere sight of him. Tifa gasped as she threw her hand over her mouth. Cid nearly slid down the wall. "Holy Mother of friggen God." He whispered.
Lilie pulled away from the stunned looking Rufus and smiled at her son. "Reid, honey. Come here. I want you to meet someone." She said holding out her hands. Reid ran over and let his mother pick him up. Lilie looked around at everyone, who all looked just as stunned as Rufus did. She smiled through her tears as she just looked directly at the stunned Rufus. "Everyone, I want you to meet my son, Reid. Reid, these are all of the people from my stories. And this," She pointed at Rufus. "...Reid, this is Rufus. He's your daddy, baby." She whispered to him. Reid just stared at the man that looked exactly like him.
Rufus couldn't take his eyes off the boy. He was trembling from so many emotions going through his mind at the moment. He slowly looked at Lilie. "Lil-Lilie, this is...this isn't a joke, is it? He's...he's really..." He couldn't finish his sentence.
Lilie half laughed, half sobbed as she nodded. "Yes." She choked out. Rufus looked the boy over as a smile crept up on his face. He rose a trembling hand, wanting to touch his son. Reid only stared at him before he reached out and took the man's hand. "Dada?"
Rufus couldn't help but laugh weakly as he clutched his son's hand. For the very first time, he cried in front of someone. But it wasn't sad tears, it was happy. He had Lilie back and he was a father. "God...he's so beautiful." He whispered. Lilie nodded as she smiled. "Go to your daddy, Reid." She said. Reid held out his hands to Rufus, who took him with shaky arms. They just stared at one another with smiles. Lilie then looked around at Avalanche. "Hey, everyone. It's good to see you too."
Tifa was the first to say something. She quickly stood and hugged Lilie with a weak laugh. "Lilie, it's so good to see you. I can't believe you're a mother. That's so fantastic."
Barret just stared at Rufus and the boy. "I can't believe Shinra's a damn father." Everyone laughed as they stood and welcomed Lilie and Reid. Lilie looked over at the smiling Vincent Valentine in the corner. "Hey, Vince." She said going over to him while everyone was just talking at once about how charming Reid looked.
The tall and dark Ex-Turk stepped forward, holding out his golden hand to Lilie. She gently took it and then pulled him into a hug, though everyone who was watching them just laughed. Vincent hesitated before returning the hug. "I missed you too." He whispered to her. Lilie pulled away from and gave him a warm smile. "Come say hello to your nephew." She whispered, pulling him towards Rufus and Reid.
While everyone was talking to one another or watching Reid and Vincent just look at one another in wonderment, Rufus pulled Lilie close to him. They gazed at one another, lovingly. "I missed you so much." The blonde said.
Lilie smiled at him. "I thought you were dead. How did you survive?" She whispered.
The Ex-President only smiled at her as he shook his head. "I couldn't die, Lil. I just couldn't. When Diamond Weapon blew up my office, I just thought about you. I guess..." He shrugged. "I guess the Planet believed that it wasn't my time yet. It knew that I needed you and you needed me." He said. Lilie placed her head on his chest, holding him close.
Rufus just looked down at her before kissing the top of her head and then lowered his mouth to her ear. "Lilie Moy, marry me."
Lilie looked up at him with surprise but then smiled. She slowly nodded and kissed him. She had Rufus Shinra back in her life. And he was going to stay in her life forever. She would never leave him and he would never leave her.
The End
A/N: Though this is the end of A Shinra Love Story, this is not exactly the end. There will be a sequel coming up. In the next story, it's going to be about Reid's life and how he falls in love with one of Rufus Shinra's oldest enemies' daughter. It will include all of the Avalanche members' kids too. Thank you all for reading this story and I assure you, the sequel will be up soon.
Eden Black
