Chapter 26: Date Night at the Gold Saucer
Jessie looked around the food court, looking for a place to sit down and eat her dinner. Spotting a few empty tables in the corner, she went over there and sat down.
It was rather amusing when she thought of it. She'd just helped slay a powerful monster that had almost decimated Corel, and not three hours later, here she was eating fast food like nothing had happened.
I thought I was jaded before…guess I wasn't.
And to top it off, she was at the Gold Saucer courtesy of Rufus Shinra- the man who was supposed to be one of her worst enemies. Tonight, she and the others would be sleeping in some of the Gold Saucer's most luxurious rooms, thanks to him. Rufus Shinra…the cold-hearted, womanizing, greedy bastard. Rufus Shinra…the intelligent, hard-working closet nerd and amateur pilot. It was impossible for Jessie to reconcile the image everyone saw, and the image that she now saw.
She thought about what Barrett had said right before she left. A month ago, Jessie would have agreed. But things were different now. The fact of the matter was, while Jessie had gotten along best with Biggs and Aeris, neither of those two were capable of satisfying Jessie's inner-techie. And strangely enough, the handsome and sophisticated Rufus ended up filling that void…and apparently, was about to fill it again.
"Care for some company?" Rufus asked as he approached her table with a tray.
"Sure," Jessie gestured for him to sit. "Where's your new bodyguard?" she joked.
Rufus set his tray on the table and sat down. "Strife? I gave him the evening off. I've got another bodyguard for tonight."
As if on cue, a large toy moogle carrying what looked like a cat on its head approached the table.
"Jessie, meet Cait Sith."
"Pleased to meet you!" the cat extended its paw, which Jessie bewilderedly shook.
"One of the guys from urban development apparently has a lot of free time on his hands, so he built this," Rufus explained, "And he happens to be the friend I mentioned before."
"Wait- you mean to tell me that this robot is your 'big connection'?" Jessie exclaimed.
Rufus chuckled. "You were expecting some mob guy?"
"Well…"
"Care for me to read your fortunes?" Cait Sith asked.
"Just keep an eye on things," Rufus instructed the robot, "Save your crackpot fortunes for the customers."
"Yessir!" Cait Sith hopped away.
"I've always wanted to come here," Jessie said as she looked around. "This place is exactly what I thought it would be."
"Have you checked out the arcade yet?" Rufus asked her before digging into his food.
"No. Is it any good?"
"The stuff in the main area isn't anything special," Rufus said, "But there's a back room that has twice as many games. That's the place worth checking out."
Jessie took a bite out of her food. "Sounds like fun," she mumbled.
"Would you care to join me there after we're done eating then?"
"I'd love to," Jessie told him, "But I was actually gonna head over to the Event Square first."
"What's at the event square?" Rufus asked.
"They're having some kind of performance," Jessie said, "You know, I used to catch shows every week before we left to…" She trailed off and looked away, embarrassed.
The executive smirked. "Before you decided to kidnap me? If this is what it's like, I should get abducted more often."
"Anyway," Jessie continued, "I haven't seen anything in over a month, so I'm desperate."
"Even some stupid play?" Rufus teased.
Jessie glared at him. "I happen to like plays."
"What time does it start?"
"One hour," Jessie noted.
"So if it sucks, can I throw food at the actors?" Rufus joked.
Jessie looked at him. "You want to come?" she asked, surprised.
Rufus shrugged. "Why not?"
Jessie smiled and continued to eat her dinner.
Cloud woke from his nap to the sound of knocking. With a yawn, he got up and went to answer the door.
"Hey Cloud," Tifa greeted him.
"What's up?"
Tifa bit her lip nervously. "I was just thinking…why don't the two of us sneak off and hang out together?"
"Uh…" Cloud began to say. Before he could actually finish the sentence, Tifa grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room.
"Come on, let's go!"
"Improv?" Rufus asked skeptically as he read the sign outside the theater.
"That should be interesting," Jessie commented as she and Rufus walked inside.
"We'll see," Rufus said skeptically.
They found two empty seats and sat down, sipping the sodas they'd picked up at the concessions stand. A couple minutes later, the lights dimmed, and man walked up onstage. He looked around, and began to speak:
"Long, long ago, an evil shadow appeared over the peaceful kingdom of Galdia. Princess Rosa was kidnapped by the evil dragon king, Valvados. What will become of her?"
Rufus gave the stage a thumbs-down sign.
"Oh, give it a chance," Jessie whispered.
Rufus' thumb remained where it was. Jessie then grabbed his arm and attempted to shove it down, but the vice-president was too strong. Rufus then smirked as Jessie wrapped her arms around his arm and attempted to wrestle it down, stifling a giggle herself.
"And just then," the narrator continued, "The legendary hero Alfred appears!"
Cloud stepped onto the stage, blushing furiously, and holding an old-fashioned sword and shield.
Jessie and Rufus burst out laughing.
A knight went up to him. "You must be the legendary hero…Alfred!"
Rufus put his head in his hands, still snickering at the terrible acting.
"Please!" the knight said loudly, "Talk…to the king!"
Cloud shrugged and went over to a man dressed in regal robes.
"Oh, legendary hero, Alfred!" the king said to Cloud, "You have come to save my beloved Rosa! On the peak of a dangerous mountain dwells the evil dragon king, Valvados!"
"Then I will talk to the knight," Cloud said in a monotone voice.
He walked back over to the knight.
"I am but a lowly knight," the knight declared, "How can I help you?"
"I want to defeat Valvados," Cloud droned.
On cue, a man in a monster costume stumbled onstage, roaring loudly. In his arms was Tifa.
"What the hell are these two doing there?" Jessie whispered to Rufus.
"Maybe Tifa's here to save this show," Rufus suggested hopefully.
"I am the evil dragon king, Valvados!" the "monster" yelled, "I have not harmed the princess!"
"Please help me…legendary hero!" Tifa yelled uncertainly.
"I spoke too soon," Rufus muttered.
Jessie cringed. I could've done better than this when I was in the fourth grade!
The dragon roared again. "Here I come, legendary hero Alfred! Yes, I already know your name!"
The knight began to yell as he charged at the Valvados. The dragon merely sidestepped the attack. The knight crashed to the floor and didn't move.
"What now, legendary hero?" the evil dragon king hissed, "Going back to the king? Or to consult the wizard? Where do you go from here?"
Jessie's head was now in her hands. This horrible acting genuinely made her want to cry.
Cloud shut his eyes in disgust. He'd has enough of this stupid play.
He raised his sword. "I am going…home!" he shouted as he bolted off the stage and out the door, dropping the sword and shield.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled after him, "Be serious! If you didn't wanna be in the play…! Ugh! Now I'm mad!"
She struggled to break free from the dragon king's grasp.
"Gaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" the evil dragon king roared, "You dare ignore me?"
"Oh, shut up!" Tifa yelled as she kicked him in the shins. He howled in pain as he dropped her. She then ran out of the hall. "Cloud!"
Jessie burst into hysterical laughter.
"Oh my," the narrator commented, "What an unusually strong princess! And so the new legendary hero Rosa lives happily ever after!"
The crowd burst into wild applause.
Rufus looked around in disbelief. "People are actually applauding this crap?"
"You didn't think that was funny just now?" Jessie asked, still giggling. "God, those two are adorable!"
"Oh, those two kids are hilarious," Rufus acknowledged, "But the play was crap. Good thing I didn't have to pay to get in."
"Wanna go to the arcade then?" Jessie asked, "Looks like it's more of the same garbage here."
"Let's," Rufus stood up. The two left the event square together.
"Cloud, get back here!" Tifa yelled as she chased him around the Wonder Square.
Cloud laughed as he kept running.
"You're such a jerk!"
"Hey, I didn't even get a say in whether or not I wanted to do that stupid play in the first place!"
"Did you have to be such a jerk about it though?"
"Didn't really have a choice, did I?"
Tifa found herself fighting not to laugh.
Cloud glanced behind himself as he continued to run. "You think it's funny!" he accused her.
"I do not!" Tifa couldn't help but giggle. "Cloud, when I get my hands on you, you're gonna be in so much trouble…!"
"What kind of a maniac are you?!" Rufus exclaimed as he and Jessie battled each other in a fighting game.
Jessie's character executed another "double sonic wave" on Rufus' character.
"I thought you said you were undefeated!" Jessie laughed as she continued to mash the buttons on the machine.
"I was!" Rufus insisted.
"Who the heck were you playing with then?" Jessie asked, "Because I'm totally kicking your ass!"
Rufus smirked. "I'm not done yet..."
He hit the buttons and moved the joystick in a certain sequence, causing fire to rain down on Jessie's character.
"Oh, you bastard!" Jessie exclaimed, "You did not just do that!"
Rufus grinned evilly. "And what are you going to do about it?"
Jessie only laughed.
Rufus watched in disbelief as Jessie's character grabbed his in a headlock, and flipped the sprite upside-down, slamming it on its head.
"K.O!" the game announced, "Player two wins!"
Rufus stared at the screen, dumbfounded.
"That was fun," Jessie declared, "Too bad we're all out of tokens."
Rufus glanced at his watch. "How long did we spend here? My god, we've been here over two hours."
"Damn! Really?" Jessie checked her own watch. "Wow. Time flies when you're kicking someone's ass."
"Hmm…intelligent and cocky," he observed, amused. "I'll admit, I haven't been able to just let loose and play like this in a long time. I was beginning to forget how much fun it is."
"Can I ask you something?" Jessie said suddenly.
"What is it?"
"Don't get me wrong," Jessie told him, "As incredible as it is that you've seen the light, wasn't your dream to run Shinra Inc.? There won't be much of a company left if you don't have mako to profit from."
"We'll take a bit of a fall, yes," Rufus agreed, "But we'll simply switch back to electric power. If anything, it's even more of a challenge: to rebuild this company into something better. I've got so many plans for the future…and that's why I have no intention of letting some psychotic alien bitch kill me."
"So hard to believe that this Jenova stuff is really happening," Jessie sighed, "Though it's sure made the feud between Avalanche and Shinra kinda pointless."
"Since Avalanche won't have any more need to continue existing after I tear down the reactors…" Rufus said thoughtfully, "Would you be interested in working for the company once this is all over?"
Jessie shook her head in disbelief. "Working for Shinra…that'd be so weird…"
"Weirder than playing video games with its future president?"
"You know what I mean!"
"I suppose," Rufus acknowledged. "You don't have to answer right away. It's just something to think about."
Jessie nodded. The two stood silently for a moment, while the room was filled with sounds of the other people playing.
Rufus looked out the large window at one of the cable cars gliding by.
"That looks fun," he remarked.
"What does?" Jessie asked.
Rufus pointed ahead. "The gondolas. I remember riding them the last time I came out here. You get a great view of the place."
"Really?" Jessie looked intrigued.
"Yeah. Come on." Rufus headed for the door.
Jessie smiled and shrugged before following him out of the arcade.
"All right," Cloud grumbled as he and Tifa stepped off the gondola, "I went to the chocobo races with you. I took you to the game room. I took you to the haunted house, and I took you on the gondola. Do you finally forgive me for messing with the play?"
Tifa grinned mischievously. "You've been forgiven since about an hour ago, actually..."
Cloud blinked. "What...?"
"Just wanted to see how far you'd go with your whole atonement bit," Tifa giggled.
Cloud stared incredulously at her.
"Oh come on- was it so bad?" she asked.
"…No, I guess it wasn't," Cloud admitted shyly.
"Hey, are you hungry?" Tifa asked suddenly, "My stomach's been rumbling for the past ten minutes."
"I guess I could go for a bite," Cloud admitted, "Lead the way."
"So pretty…" Jessie commented as she watched the fireworks going off inside the gondola.
Rufus nodded in agreement.
"Reminds me…" she continued, "…about something Aeris said. It was about two days after we all found out she was a Cetra. Cloud had asked her about the Promised Land. She described it as a land of supreme happiness, where all Cetra would eventually return to."
"No offense, but that sounds like a fairy-tale to me," Rufus told her.
Jessie chuckled. "That's what I said too. Aeris agreed with me, though. She said that if the promise of happiness lies in death, then what is the purpose of life?"
"She's a smart kid," Rufus commented, "But I guess one shouldn't be too surprised given who her father is."
"She said that after this was all over, she was going to find her own version of the Promised Land, in the world of the living. It's a beautiful thought, really, but now…you know, even if she does get better…with the life she's had here, why would she wanna come back? She's probably safer in that other world. Maybe that'll end up being her 'Promised Land'. It was kinda nice having a friend who was a girl- not to mention around my age. I'm always around Biggs and Wedge, it was nice to have something different."
All that fuss over another person, Rufus mused. But I think I'm beginning to understand finally…
"Like you're tired of the idiocy coming from people your age, so you turn to people who are older?" Rufus guessed. He knew that feeling all too well.
Jessie laughed. "Eh, something like that, I guess..."
Rufus laughed. "God, never did I think I'd find someone close to my age who I thought was worth having a decent conversation with, much less in a group of eco-terrorists."
"You're five years older than me," Jessie pointed out, "I'm not that close to your age."
"You act older," Rufus maintained. "All that stuff about 'diamonds in the rough', I guess is true."
"Same could be said for how I feel about you," Jessie agreed.
Rufus raised an eyebrow. "And…how do you feel about me?"
They jerked suddenly as the gondola came to a stop. The two silently stood up and got out."Hope you enjoyed yourselves," the ticket-man said. "Have a good night."
"…I guess I'm what one might call 'simple-minded'," Jessie said finally as they walked out of the Wonder Square together. "There's only a few people in my life I really concentrate on. Biggs, Wedge, and the rest of Avalanche. I also can't stop worrying about Aeris, as we really hit it off, despite being total opposites. And then you turned out to be pretty cool yourself…"
Rufus smiled. "Kind of like my own personal philosophy: most people aren't worth wasting your life on, so just concentrate on the few who are worthy."
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "'Worthy'? So I'm 'worthy' of your attention?"
"Oh, don't take it that way, I just meant-!"
Jessie laughed. "No, I'm not offended. From anyone else, I'd see it as an insult…but I know that in your own twisted way, that's a supreme compliment you just implied there."
"So then you wouldn't be completely repulsed if I did this…?" Rufus quickly leaned in and pressed his lips against Jessie's.
Jessie stiffened for a moment, completely caught off-guard. Then after a couple of seconds, she placed her hands on Rufus' shoulders and returned the kiss.
"Hey, get a room!" a kid jeered as he walked around the two of them.
Well, given that the world could end in a few days… Jessie mused as the kiss intensified. Know what? To hell with it...!
They finally pulled away, both slightly out of breath.
"So, my room or yours?" Rufus said half-jokingly.
"Whichever's closer," Jessie answered straight away.
Rufus looked slightly surprised at first, but then smirked as he grabbed Jessie's hand and led her down the path to the old hotel.
"Here we are," Cloud announced as he and Tifa reached the door to her room.
Tifa's brown eyes shined brightly as she smiled. "Cloud…this night was amazing," she told him.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I had a lot of fun…for a few hours I completely forgot about WEAPON and Jenova. Thank you."
Cloud looked around to make sure that no airplanes or drunken Zacks were around to interrupt them. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and delivered a quick kiss to Tifa's lips.
"Goodnight," he whispered.
Tifa blushed slightly, then took Cloud's hand. She pulled him back toward her, and kissed him back, only this time, lingering for a few seconds.
She stepped back. "Goodnight, Cloud," she said softly.
Cloud laughed nervously. "Yeah…"
"We should do something like this again…" Tifa suggested hopefully.
Cloud beamed. "Sure!"
He then stumbled, but regained his footing as he turned and walked away.
No way I'm going to let Jenova win now…Tifa thought as she opened the door and went inside her room.
What have I done?! What have I done?! This isn't real...I've completely lost my mind, haven't I? I literally just slept with the "enemy"!
Jessie lay in bed staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, while Rufus slept silently beside her.
So I've finally done it: I've embarked on my post-adolescent self-destructive phase. Well, you really know how to go about things, Jessie! God, when the others find out about this...because they will! Barrett will have an aneurysm, Vincent will also agree that I've lost my mind...Aeris...well, I'm definitely not telling her until she's better, because the shock will probably kill her...
She glanced at Rufus.
But...I've seriously had the best time in a long time...god, why did he have to turn out to be smart, good-looking, and have almost every single interest in common with me? Why him?
Just then, Rufus let out a small groan. Curious, Jessie sat up in bed, holding the covers up to her shoulders.
"Get away..." Rufus mumbled, "No...Father please..."
"Hey!" Jessie reached over and began to shake Rufus awake. The vice-president responded by flinging his arm out, which Jessie managed to dodge before he sat up abruptly.
Rufus looked around, his eyes wide.
"Sorry..." Jessie held her hands up defensively, "You were having a nightmare or something..."
"Oh hey..." Rufus exhaled as he remembered where he was. "I hope I didn't wake you up."
Jessie shook her head. "No, I couldn't sleep."
"Not 'buyer's remorse', I hope?" Rufus quipped.
Jessie laughed nervously.
"Or were you too busy staring at your hands again?"
Jessie's laughter instantly died as she stared off into space, a stricken look on her face. He'd noticed her bad habit...great.
"Hey..."
Jessie slowly looked back at Rufus.
"It's not just our mutual nerdy interests that has me intrigued by you," said Rufus, "There's something about you that goes deeper than that..."
"That sounds like a really corny pickup line..." Jessie laughed bitterly.
"There's a darkness about you," Rufus remarked, "A certain hardness that neither Aeris nor Tifa have...or even Medea for that matter even though she's basically a cop."
"I was born and raised in the slums," Jessie told him, "Not in a nice house like both Aeris and Tifa. Even when Aeris was always moving around, she lived in nice places, and she had Sephiroth to protect her. Me though, I've always been on my own."
"I thought you came from an intact family," Rufus said curiously.
"Yes..." Jessie acknowledged, "But like most people in the slums, they've got their own lives to worry about. So I was by myself most of the time."
Rufus nodded. "I know what that's like."
"So even when I was in my mid-teens, I was on my own," Jessie went on, "And like most sixteen-year-olds, I thought I was bulletproof."
Rufus smiled.
"So I thought I could walk home by myself at night from my part-time job at a computer repair shop."
Rufus' smile disappeared, not sure if he liked where this was going...
"Some creep grabbed me from behind and tried to pull me into an alley..." Jessie went on, "He made it pretty clear what he wanted to do to me...thank god I had my pocket-knife on me...but..."
Rufus stared warily. "...But?"
"I got carried away..." Jessie whispered, shaking her head. She then shut her eyes so tightly it was a wonder how any tears managed to fall from them. "I just swung my arm everywhere...and I managed to accidentally slit his throat...I got a good look at him as he died. God, he was probably my age!"
"And he tried to rape you," Rufus said bluntly, "You acted in self-defense. He might have killed you too for all you know. I don't know why he's worth shedding any tears for."
"Because now I have blood on my hands!" Jessie wept, "And now it's worse after the reactor explosion! Those guards that were killed? That was my bomb!"
"Oh..." Rufus shook his head immediately, "No, Jessie, you've got it all wrong."
"I'm pretty sure it was my bomb, Rufus!" Jessie retorted sardonically.
"No, I mean..." Rufus looked at her. "You've heard the term 'fake news', right?"
"Sure..." Jessie sniffed.
"Nobody died," Rufus reassured her, "That was just creative reporting to make your people look like monsters and sway public opinion in our favor."
Jessie stared at him in disbelief. "You..."
"I swear to you it's the truth," Rufus promised her, "I was at the meeting when the head of publicity came up with that idea and sent it off to the presses. Those people that 'died' were completely made up to sell newspapers. Classic yellow journalism."
"Oh god..." Jessie exhaled, "I..."
"I'm sorry that you had something like that weighing needlessly on your mind," Rufus told her, "Rest assured, you are not responsible for the deaths of any innocents."
"...But I still have blood on my hands," Jessie said softly.
"No you don't," Rufus insisted, "What you did back then was completely justified. If you'd just given him a non-lethal cut or stab wound, his adrenaline would've kicked in, and you'd be in much bigger trouble. I'll bet the guy was high on Shiva's Kiss or something like that."
"He did feel like his arm was shaking when he grabbed me," Jessie recalled, "After that...nothing was the same. I think part of the reason I got so into games was so I could take myself out of the real world for a bit...ironic considering what I thought about doing when I grew up..."
"Which was...?"
Jessie laughed ruefully. "It's nothing," she said dismissively, "It all went out the window when I killed that guy."
"You took that horrible situation into your own hands," Rufus said, "You fought back. You're a fighter, no matter what Valentine thought about your abilities. You helped destroy WEAPON, and you can protect yourself. And that..." he said as he laced his fingers in hers, "...is damned sexy."
Jessie couldn't help but laugh as she wiped her eyes.
"That's better..." Rufus said as he moved to kiss her.
Just then, a knock on the door could be heard.
Rufus groaned loudly as he looked at the clock. It was morning already?
"Rufus, sir, it's almost seven 'o clock. Your plans were for the four of you to be assembled by no later than eight. Cloud and Tifa are already waiting behind me," Cait Sith's voice called out loudly.
Rufus saw the alarmed look on Jessie's face as she quietly slipped out of bed and began looking frantically for her clothes. He grabbed his boxers and a white T-shirt and slipped them on before trudging over to the door and opening it, revealing the robot cat with Cloud and Tifa standing right behind him.
"You know, your voice is even more irritating when I've just woken up," Rufus remarked.
"Eh? You look as if you're hiding something," Cait Sith twisted around, trying to look past him. "Miss Jessie?! What are you doing getting dressed in Rufus' bedroom?"
Cloud and Tifa's mouths dropped open in shock.
Rufus grabbed Cait Sith by the scruff of his neck.
"You'd better relay a message to Mr. Tuesti," the vice-president hissed at the robot cat, "He'd better program some goddamn boundaries into your system if he knows what's good for him. If it wasn't for the fact that you've got your uses, I'd rip out all your circuits right now."
"I'll send him a memo ASAP, sir!" Cait Sith yelped, "Just don't hurt me, please!"
"It's all right, Rufus," Jessie said wearily as she appeared next to him fully clothed, save for her shoes and socks. Her hair was still unbound and she absently pushed a lock of it out of her face. "They were bound to find out eventually."
She then looked at the very uncomfortable Cloud and Tifa.
"You guys have fun last night?" she asked casually, "Loved that performance, by the way..."
Cloud looked away, mortified that someone he knew had actually seen him doing that stupid skit.
"So we'll meet downstairs in the food court in a few minutes?" Jessie suggested.
"Uh…sure," Tifa said, "Come on, Cloud."
"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" Cloud muttered as Tifa led him away.
Rufus closed the door.
"Hey..."
He looked expectantly at Jessie.
"What were you dreaming about?" she asked.
"Nothing important," Rufus answered, "At least...it won't be once I take care of things on the home front."
Jessie looked at the vice president confusedly.
"Don't worry about it for now," Rufus said as he laid his hand on her shoulder, letting it linger for a bit. "Let's just finish getting ready, all right?"
Jessie nodded. "All right."
A/N: So yeah, I expanded the Rufus/Jessie scene. Reforming the badboy is a trope that I intend to completely subvert.