Disclaimer: Anything that is not mine, is not mine. The games, the characters, they are not mine. The concept of the story is mine, but the elements added that were not originally mine, are definitely not mine. I hope that's enough disclaimer!

Author's Note: You are cordially invited to— ah, never mind. Thank you Naya for beta reading this chapter and for LOVING it! Do you guys have any idea how hard to please Naya? She's a meticulous reader, too meticulous that the thought of submitting anything to her scares me. Seriously, I almost died of happiness when she said she loved it!

As usual, thank you so much for reading!

They barely made it out alive. He saw it all unfold through Cait Sith— giant monsters that looked too archaic to be real teetered out of the North Crater and almost hit the Highwind with enough force to crash them straight to the barbed peaks of the cliffs. He watched as they carried the unconscious Tifa and Cloud back into the aircraft, while Cid and Barret tried to reason with the rest of the crew as far as their radical words could take them to fly the danger away from the civilians. Unfortunately, the crew deflected each plea with "President's order," the only answer they could muster as they directed the craft towards Junon.

All because Cloud was too vulnerable to stop himself from handing the black materia willingly to the wrong man. Or entity. Or whatever Sephiroth was.

And then there was Meteorfall that could obliterate the whole Planet. It was more than Reeve Tuesti could take, so much that he decided to shut down Cait Sith temporarily as he tried to find other ways to resolve their incommunicado problem and the impending apocalypse without having to reveal his part in all of this.

His secretary, Rebecca, suddenly shot up from her chair as he approached the door to his office. "Sir!"

He paused and eyed her, releasing the pinch of his brows. "What is it? Something wrong?"

Rebecca pressed her lips together then bit her lip. "It's the President. He's…" She directed her eyes cautiously towards his office.

Reeve let out a dragging sigh, closing his eyes, and braced himself for more impact.

Rufus turned his swivel chair back around when he entered. He was holding up his elbows against the armrest and his hands clasped together, sneering at Reeve's unguarded look.

"I didn't expect this visit from you, Mr. President," Reeve began and shut the door behind him. "What can I do for you?"

The steely look Rufus was giving him was nothing out of the ordinary, but it happened often enough when he was about to demand something from anyone, something hefty.

Rufus held still from how and where he was for a moment before straightening himself up. "I am going to perform a public execution on two of the AVALANCHE members. And I will need your help."

Reeve furrowed his brows and took a testy step forward, impervious of whatever consequence his daring action had called for. Rufus did not flinch. "But Mr. President, that's crossing the line!"

Rufus smirked. "Is it? My, where is my better judgement? Ah, here it is. Allow me to let you in on a little secret that might enlighten you regarding my eccentric request." He waited for a moment, just the right length of time to catch the executive off-guard before he went on to the punch line. "Tifa is no longer a Lockhart. She is now Tifa Shinra."

Rufus watched as Reeve's eyes turned from disdain to shock. He chuckled.

"That's right. Tifa and I are now married."

Reeve took a staggering step back as his gaze darted around the room before landing again on Rufus. How did it all happen? How was it kept from him— from them— the whole time? Did he miss something? "You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am, gladly at that." Rufus stood from the chair and stalked towards the front of the desk, leaning his thighs against it then crossing his arms against his chest.

"But—y—you threw them in jail!"

"All for show," Rufus replied, shrugging. "Scarlet caught up with our, well, recent interactions, and threatened to spread her gossip because it would allow her to play me, hence the company, by her fingers."

Reeve narrowed his eyes. "Only it isn't gossip."

"No," Rufus replied plainly.

There was a sudden pang of concern in Reeve. Rufus Shinra married one of AVALANCHE's main fighters, one of their own. He knew Tifa long enough in their journey that she did not deserve to be toyed by Rufus for his own political, entrepreneurial, or personal advantage. He needed to push him back a little, and he treaded lightly.

"I'm assuming that this relationship was something mutual."

Rufus grinned. "Yes, it is."

Reeve grimaced. "I'm also assuming— well, hoping— that this mutual relationship was what led to your eventual marriage."

Rufus' grin slowly fell. "Yes."

Reeve was still dubious. "You didn't force her into anything?"

Rufus rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from the desk, hanging his arms loose to his sides. "I'm starting to get offended by your endless questions."

"I'm only making sure that you are forthright in involving yourself this way into her life," Reeve countered sternly. "Marriage is more than just a commitment— it's a lifetime of living a life that isn't just your own. You have just tied her into that kind of life, and I need to know that you are sure to give her a good one, an honest one, before I agree to help you."

Rufus narrowed his eyes, seemingly taking in every word he heard. Not a beat more after the first second had passed, he replied, "Yes." He shrugged. "Easily."

The executive's face slowly softened when the President's eyes tamed with pining.

"I will spare you the details. It's a long account worth of years," Rufus said. "I am not sure what you think of me, but I would assume not too different from the distasteful reputation everyone had nailed me into. I do not mind, of course, as long as it means that they remember well not to be too complacent. That is why we must also maintain its secrecy as we see through our mission's success. Much will be compromised in both parties. However," Rufus' face tightened, "I care for her. And love turned out to be a snare not even I was able to escape from. You understand what I'm saying, don't you?"

Reeve furrowed his brows and nodded, his eyes lingering on the floor. "I see."

"So you also understand now that the public execution is going to be fake," Rufus continued. "We have already planned her escape. She trusts you, and so do I, making you the most convenient person who can fulfill a vital role." Rufus looked over his shoulder and on Reeve's desk, picking up a figurine of Cait Sith. He smirked when he turned back to Reeve, cocking an eyebrow. "Or should I say, roles?"

Tifa jumped when Barret scoffed all of a sudden, the sound of it bouncing against the concrete walls of their cramped cell. She was only able to really look around their cell the moment she returned from Rufus' office— dark, dank, and reeking of toilet waste from the flooding bowl. The whole thing was designed and built for misery.

"I s'ppose the President ain't got no guts like I thought," he spat, subtly dabbed with forlorn. The moment Tifa lifted her head to look at him, he continued. "Gonna let everyone watch us die, even our friends and families, Even Marlene. He don't care about no life. We're nothin' but expendable things when it serves him."

She sighed deeply, the stink of the place burning right up her nose. She closed her eyes and turned away. No, she wanted to tell him. Rufus would never do something like that.

"Whyd'ja think he chose us?"

Tifa gulped. "Well… uhm…" she trailed, fumbling on her words, "He would pick one of us anyway even without good reason. He just wants people to fear him. That's the feeling I got from him when he interrogated me."

Barret snorted. "I'd rather he didn't pick any."

A Shinra guard tapped the bars with his metal baton to alert them then pointed it to Tifa. "You. Up."

Tifa glanced at Barret, who was shooting daggers at the guard, before standing up. The guard unlocked the cell door and allowed Tifa out, fastening the handcuffs around her wrists. She gave Barret one last glance as the guard locked the cell door again and pushed her forward.

She kept quiet as they walked, slowly realizing that they started walking by empty cells as the hall grew darker. They stopped at one cell, the dimmest one where the light of the hall barely passed through the bars, and opened it for her.

It was definitely a larger one than what she and Barret shared. And cleaner, so clean she might be okay sleeping on the floor.

"Maybe you two will stop conspiring now," the guard said, priggish and cocky, as he removed her cuffs. She pressed her lips together and dipped her chin, realizing that she just had her answer as to why she was taken away from Barret, an excuse Rufus surely made to make the transfer possible. She turned around and watched the guard lock her door and waited for him to march away before taking further steps in. She was careful to stay within the breadth of the light as she looked around, barely making out the narrow bed, the untouched sink, and the spotless toilet bowl.

"How do you like it?"

Tifa gasped and jumped at the low voice that emerged from the dark, shivers running up her arms, and her mind drawing a blank. She glanced around the room with widened eyes and quickly stumbled back when she heard footsteps approaching from the depths of the cell's shadow. Tifa let out a long puff of relief when she realized it was only Rufus.

"Did you really have to scare me like that?" Her voice was still shaky as she glared at him. It quickly sank into her that the reason why he blended in the dark so well was because he was wearing black— cap to cover his bright hair, buttoned shirt, down to his slacks. It was a new look on him that she didn't mind, but the way it slimmed him down made her feel something furious that spiralled from her chest to her stomach.

Rufus had his signature smugly grin plastered on him and gave her a once-over, eyes falling back on her lips. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"I seriously thought you were a gh—" Tifa rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Never mind."

Rufus' mouth quirked a little higher. "Scared of ghosts, I see."

"Not… fun in the train graveyard."

Rufus lolled his head to a side and reached for her chin to pull her back to him, gently brushing his thumb along her jaw. "You've been there?"

"Long story," she replied, casting her eyes down, leaning a little to his palm.

Rufus hummed against his throat after a few wordless seconds passed between them. "Where are you?"

Tifa snapped her eyes back to him. "Huh?"

"You were somewhere else. Let me in."

Tifa shook her head, rubbing his other forearm to assure him. "It's nothing."

Rufus frowned. "You know you can tell me anything. I'm your husband."

Tifa nodded, running her fingers along his arm until she reached his hand and squeezed it. "Nothing. It's just that, it's all so sudden and all of these feel new to me."

"Any regrets?"

Tifa shook her head. "No. Of course not."

Rufus smiled slightly, appeased by her answer. He gently led her towards the darkness and to the bed attached on the wall, removed his shoes, then sat, scooting himself back and lifting his legs. Tifa followed over and sat in front of him, leaning her back carefully against his chest. She drew a sharp breath when he glided his hands along her arms and pulled her closer to him, urging her to lean back on him completely. He buried his head on the crook of her neck, his breath prickling at the touch. She finally understood Rufus' choice of the cell— the secrecy of its darkness cradled their need for privacy, and she felt herself sinking comfortably in it with the warmth of her husband.

Her husband.

"What about you?" she managed to breathe, hesitating a little.

"Hm?"

"Do you regret it?"

Rufus planted a gentle kiss on her skin, sending a jolting sensation to the peaks of her whole being. "No. Never. Have you already forgotten that I proposed to you?"

Tifa guided his arms around her and pulled them more tightly, towing him closer to her. "But I basically forced you to."

"Hm, I barely understand what that means."

Tifa gulped. "If I didn't doubt you, would you still do it?"

Rufus chuckled, his kisses travelling up her neck to the back of her ear, igniting a blazing heat down there. "Perhaps in a more appropriate time and manner, but yes. I still would in a heartbeat."

Tifa turned around and quickly met his lips with hers, kissing him so deeply she felt his arms stiffen and squeeze more tightly around her, his breaths growing sharper and shallow once their tongues grazed. When they broke away, their breaths whirled together in the small space between them and their eyes glazed with fervor.

Rufus licked his lips and slid his hand into his pocket. "Speaking of which—" he took out a blue velvety cushioned box, "—we ought to wear them before we forget."

Tifa shifted on her thighs and took the box, her breath hitched the moment she opened it. Inside were two matching white gold bands and a solitaire diamond ring ornate with baguette diamonds around like its halo.

Rufus chuckled and reached for her left hand then removed her glove. He gently plucked out the smaller ring and the solitaire from the box with his other hand. "You must excuse the delay of their arrival." He slipped both rings on her finger. "I was barely prepared."

Tifa laughed gently as she took the larger band from the box, reached for his left hand, and slipped it on his ring finger. "That's okay."

Rufus shut the box and placed it back into his pocket, pulling Tifa closer again.

"Not exactly the honeymoon I imagined," Tifa teased.

"Hmph, barely." Rufus looked around the cell until his eyes travelled along the length of the bed. "I have ideas where and how we can make do with this 'honeymoon,' but I don't enjoy the prospect of keeping this shabby space in your memory."

Tifa turned to her side, facing him halfway, a playful smile on her lips. "Then why did you have to move me here?"

His grin came back as his eyes roved all over her. "To make you comfortable, of course. Seven days of waiting here is a long time."

"But you came here for me." Tifa raised an eyebrow and lowered her head, eyeing him with enticing scrutiny. "Are you sure it's not for something else?"

Rufus charged in for another hard kiss. He grinned against her lips then whispered, "If you don't mind."

Tifa smiled and relaxed against Rufus as he lunged forward, his tongue entangling with hers. The Meteor is looming above our heads, she wanted to tell him. Of course she wanted this. She would very much like to spend every second she had with him and grab every chance to fulfill every moment they missed and might miss. Meteorfall might not give them a future, so she wanted each bit of the present to matter. And right now, if she could not get married properly, then she would want to do the married life as perfectly as possible.

"This bed is quite cold and hard."

Tifa lifted her head from Rufus' chest. "Really?"

Rufus scoffed. "Of course, you wouldn't know."

Tifa laughed gently in her throat. She was sprawled over Rufus, using him as her cushion from whatever hardness or coldness of the cell bed. "That's funny. So is the bed I'm laying on."

Rufus frowned under her gaze and tilted his head. "I am?"

"So they say. You have some reputation."

He shifted his head to get a better look at her, grinning. "Glad I was able to vindicate that. I was beginning to worry you made me too soft."

"I'm among the very few who know better, don't worry. Everyone else either hates you or dreads you." Tifa moved against him uneasily and lifted herself somewhat. "Am I weighing on you too hard? Am I heavy?"

Rufus quickly pulled her back down to him. "No. You're very light." It was not long after that he began to shift uneasily on his back and groaned when he couldn't seem to find a comfortable position. "That's it."

Tifa sat up just as Rufus did, the latter circling his shoulders backwards and craning his neck. He glared at the surface he previously laid on then slid from the bed, gently guiding Tifa out of his way. "I'm not going to allow you to spend another minute in this cell," he grumbled as he reached for his trousers and fished for his phone.

She narrowed her eyes, watching Rufus move in all his glorious nakedness. "What are you doing"

"Calling Tseng," Rufus huffed as he dialled for the Turks' number. "We're doing the execution today. Seven days is too long for you to stay in here."

Tifa snorted. "You should have seen Barret's."

Rufus harrumphed and lifted his phone to his ear. "Call it a small reprisal for bombing the reactors. Also, for handing the black materia to Strife."

"Too harsh."

"It will be over for him soon, too, don't worry."

Tifa chuckled silently and shook her head. There was nothing anyone could do that would slip right under Rufus' nose and get away with it.

Rufus glanced at her and smirked when he caught her eyes hooked where they were joined not too long ago. He strode towards her, breaking her stare, and bent forward to kiss her.

"Tseng," he said when they parted. "Prepare the chamber now. Invite the media. We're doing it today." He hung up too quickly, Tifa wondered if Rufus had missed any response or if it had always been a normal exchange between them. Rufus dialled another number, the recipient answering immediately this time.

"Tuesti, get ready. We're doing it today. Proceed as we planned," Rufus barked with so much formality, Tifa felt it was too strange hearing it from him.

Rufus placed his phone on the bed and sat beside her. He turned to her, nodding. "I should get going."

Tifa nodded back. "Yeah."

"Do you still remember the plan?"

"Yeah. We went over it at least five times at your office."

"Good. Then you'll have no problem recounting it now."

Tifa sighed. They said she worried a lot. They should wait until they meet Rufus— the real Rufus. "I will be escorted into the conference room and Barret and I will be tried there. Cait Sith will also be there in disguise. I will be tied on a chair inside the chamber and wait until Scarlet leaves. There will be a camera inside, but that will be fake, too. Reeve will be there, disguised as a guard, and he will give me the key to my bounds. Cait Sith will put Scarlet to sleep, cause a distraction, and I will use my keycard to open the door and we will escape together to the airport where Highwind is waiting."

Rufus stared at her intently as she narrated the events that would follow. When she had finished, he nodded curtly. "If anything goes wrong, I will know. And I'll be there."

Tifa gulped and nodded. "I know."

Rufus held her cheek and planted another kiss on her lips. "Good."

He stood again to put everything back on and handed Tifa her clothes and effects when he picked the rest of his garment. She looped the solitaire ring into the chain of her silver bracelet before wearing her gloves then tucked the entire thing under her arm sleeve. Rings like that would do her no good other than break her finger in battles.

"Where do you plan to go next?" Rufus asked midway into buttoning his shirt.

Tifa was pulling her second thigh high up her leg when she answered, "We're gonna try to stop the Meteor by having Aerith summon Holy without letting Sephiroth kill her."

Rufus jerked his arms forward to adjust the sleeves around his arms and shoulders. "Sounds taxing. Maybe the key there is how you can sneak Aerith out of Sephiroth's radar."

Tifa picked up her skirt next. "That and without having to go back to the Temple of the Ancients."

"Perhaps Gast Faremis' research papers can help you."

Tifa paused. "As in the Professor Gast?"

Rufus pulled a sleeve up his arm. "Hojo claimed Gast did some research about Weapons and Ancients. He denied having the actual reports themselves and said he committed them all to memory. I beg to differ, however, considering all the flaws in his own experiments which only proves he did not understand the research to heart. Hojo should still have documents about them in one of his facilities. But I am certain that he still kept his reports about Sephiroth and Jenova as well. Those should help."

Tifa sighed loudly. "I hope it's that easy."

"It's easy to get to them for certain. Your keycard will make that possible." Rufus turned back around at her, one sleeve folded messily up to this elbow and his other sleeve still undone. "All you have to remember is which building."

Once Tifa was done with her shirt and suspenders, she walked to Rufus and gestured at him to raise his arm. She straightened his sleeve and began folding it. "Okay. Which one and where?"

She wasn't aware of it as she focused on working with his sleeve, but Rufus was gazing at her intently. "You will have to trek your way back to Cosmo Canyon. We have a facility there. It's not hard to find, but I will send you the coordinates."

Tifa paused and let out a shaky breath. Rufus stiffened.

"Will it work?" she whispered.

Rufus blinked and tightened his lips together, grasping her fear of the plight of their failure that mounted higher than their tiny shred of success. He sighed. "I wish I could tell you it will. But nothing is certain right now."

Tifa nodded slowly, trailing her fingers along his forearm then taking his hand in hers. He clasped her in his palms and squeezed tightly.

"We will have to try everything," he said, hopeful as she was.

Blaring blue lights filled the room where the hearing was supposed to take place. Tifa kept her chin high and stood next to a tall, plump man in beige suit. Her eyes darted to Scarlet who was glancing around the room and every spectator in it, her arms crossed against her chest and crunching her pushed-up cleavage. Fake, Tifa thought when she caught a closer look of Scarlet's perfectly ballooned breasts. Definitely fake.

"Is everyone here?" Scarlet asked in her shrilly voice when Barret walked inside. She tilted her head and sneered when her eyes fell on Tifa, probing her with intrusive condescension.

"These are the one who are guilty for bringing this madness into this world," she continued. "It is only deserving that the whole world sees your miserable deaths live on television." She shrugged and hummed lardily. "President's orders, of course, because you have wronged the Planet, therefore crossing him."

Tifa willed herself not to roll her eyes and shifted them forward instead. But she could not help grinding her teeth at the sound of Scarlet's voice talking about Rufus like that.

The stout man beside Tifa suddenly spoke, pointing a microphone towards the executive. "Scarlet, why a public execution? Isn't that too ancient for this day and age?"

"Because the people need to know who the real enemies are of the Planet." She swung an arm and pointed it at Tifa and Barret's direction. "Shinra will always be the Planet's ally and the people's. We, along with the President, will do everything to save the planet from the Meteorfall." Scarlet strutted towards a camera being held up by one of the cameramen. "And so we will eliminate all the threats and crush AVALANCHE before it's too late." She turned around and faced Tifa, smirking. "Let's start with the girl."

Barret shuffled in his handcuffs and was held back by the guards when he began to charge forward. "HEY! If you gotta do it, take me first!"

Scarlet gasped at the cameras then gestured towards Barret. "Make sure you're getting this! People will love the tearful goodbye!" she ordered, followed by her annoying high pitched laugh.

Tifa glared at the guard when he pushed her as they began walking towards a concave metal door. Inside was a bare soldered room with a chair and open plated pipes hanging above it. A single lightbulb on the ceiling lit the whole place dulled by the smoke sprayed from the pipings and the walls.

She almost stumbled forward when Scarlet suddenly shoved her with enough force to lose her footing. Tifa whirled around and sent Scarlet a fatal glare. "What are you doing?!"

Scarlet scoffed and flounced around her. "Making sure you remember that this is my special chamber as you enjoy your slow and painful last moments." She grabbed a handful of Tifa's hair by the crown of her head and yanked it backward until she yelped from the strain then immediately shoved her again onto the chair. The guard who stood in waiting promptly locked the metal tethers that bound her wrists to the chair, and Scarlet waited until she could plod forward and slap Tifa across her cheek.

"What a stuck-up bitch," Scarlet jabbed.

Tifa was heaving now, the smoke racing away from her with each puff of air, glowering at Scarlet and swearing to herself that hell would be too light of a punishment to make her pay the moment she gets out of her chair.

Scarlet bequeathed her with one last sneer as she made her way towards the door. The guard slowed in front of her then flicked his fingers by his waist so subtly, Tifa already knew it was Reeve even under the helmet like Rufus had told her. She watched him as he stepped out of the door and gave her one last knowing glance before shutting it, wishing her good luck if she would know any better.

The smoke grew thicker with the rushing emission from the pipes the moment they left her alone. It did not smell of poison nor the sedative like Don Corneo had subjected her and his brides to, but it did smell familiar. She didn't dwell on it too much, however, as she glanced at the golden key that shone on her lap against her black skirt. She bent forward then lifted her thighs to reach the key with her mouth. She bit the key with her teeth, holding it in place, then bent to her right to unlock the cuff there first. She almost dropped the key as she took it in her hand when the vicious tremor came so suddenly in the place.

Tifa yelped and crouched to her left while dust from the ceiling snowed on her. She waited for a few more seconds after the quake had stopped and glanced around the place with bulging eyes, her breath bursting in a out in sync with the flashing red light and the roaring siren. She fumbled with the key, missing the keyhole of the clamp around her left wrist from too much shaking of her hand, clicking her tongue at herself for losing focus at a time of urgency. This was not in Rufus' plan, she thought as she tried to bring herself back in control, the scent of the smoke calming her a little and helped her insert the key and finally free herself. Her hands still shaking, she took the keycard from her pouch and tapped it on the terminal by the door.

"ACCESS GRANTED" it said in a blazing green light, but the door did not unlatch itself. Tifa tapped again and again yet nothing changed.

She gasped when the tremor returned, more powerful this time, and she ducked with her arms shielding the back of her head.

Sandalwood, she thought of the smoke as more of it filled her lungs in her heaving. The same scent she immersed herself in on that day at Rufus' place. That was it. Sandalwood. She bit her lip and fixated herself on that memory to soothe the rushed beating of her heart.

If anything goes wrong, I will know. And I'll be there, he had told her.

"The execution is going well as planned," Tseng said behind him.

Rufus nodded once without removing his eyes from the brazen rose of the sunset sky in Junon where the cursed meteor had grown larger in each hour. A ticking time bomb was what it was, a threat that grew worse in each passing moment they stood still doing nothing. Rufus clenched his jaws and took a deep breath. He did not want to rouse Tifa's anger any further and riddle her anxiety by loudly expressing to her the futile what-could've-beens, but if he had to be honest, the what-could-be was far better with both their parties working separately together towards stopping (or defeating, if any of them were that ambitious) Sephiroth. If only Scarlet was not sniffing too much with her pointed nose, no time would have to be wasted over this theatrical nonsense. He was this close to considering eliminating her, but Tifa would not like it. He made a promise to her. Besides, it would be too scandalous.

Then again, perhaps he should thank her for his impromptu marriage. At least he had gained a reason to tie the knot with Tifa without having to challenge his unconfident courage any further. Simple and anticlimactic as it was, involving only the Turks to act as their legal witnesses while they signed the contracts, it had been an unbelievable bliss. And what he meant by "unbelievable" was he did not expect her to say yes to his proposal, and for the right reason too. He was married. Married. And he was starting to think what good had he done to deserve the best on the Planet. Maybe, if his wife would agree on it, he ought to send Scarlet an invitation when he and Tifa throw a bigger wedding once all of it is over. He would very much like to see the look on her face when they exchange their vows for the second time.

That is, if they don't screw this up. And his sign had fallen on to him, rather through the window in front of him, when Sapphire Weapon suddenly emerged from the Northern skies.

The ground shook, swaying him almost off his balance, and the siren was already pealing in his office. Rufus' eyes widened at the Weapon hovering over the building.

Tifa.

"Sir," Tseng called after him when he started to make his way to the door. "Heidegger is here."

Heidegger did not give him a chance to stop and turn around. "Mr. President!"

Rufus faced the executive with a downturned mouth.

Heidegger shifted on his feet and cleared his throat. "The Weapon—" his voice whiffled, so he cleared his throat once more, "—the Weapon, Sir, had reached the vicinity."

"Can we handle it?"

"Yes, Sir. If we use our canons, we can defeat it. Or scram it away from us, at the very least."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Rufus retorted icily.

"Your orders, Sir," Heidegger uttered uneasily, almost bowing. "Is that an affirmative on the canons?"

"You did not even have to ask," Rufus replied and turned around for the door.

He heard Heidegger ask Tseng behind him where he was going. Tseng had a better sense when he replied "To safety, of course."

But both of them knew where he really was heading.

Rufus heard the echoes of the sliding and clanking metals of the canon against the walls of the bare hallways leading to the chamber. He walked at a steady pace, with Tseng tracking behind him, trying his best to be as watchful of his bearing as best as he could. When the second jolt came, a stronger and longer one, he began sprinting, then running.

He cursed when the door to the chamber was still shut tight. Scarlet was lying unconscious on the floor, an indication that Cait Sith had already escaped with Wallace to the airport. Rufus banged on the alloy door.

"Tifa!"

There was a pause. Rufus yelled more loudly.

"Tifa!"

Her voice came forth this time, weak and unsure. "Rufus?"

He let out a puff of relief. "Why are you still inside? Are you okay?"

Her footsteps approached him from the other side. "The door wouldn't open."

Rufus drew his gun and pointed it at the latch of the door. "Step back!"

A blasting sound quavered the ground once more. Rufus felt the dread rushed all over him when Tifa yelled.

"TIFA!" Rufus fired two shots on the latch, cursing again when it did not budge. His third bullet loosened the hinge, enough for him to kick the door open.

Tifa was crouching at a corner of the room, away from a massive hole in the ceilings. He bolted to Tifa's side and pulled her up to her feet by her waist, running his eyes over her for injuries.

"What happened?" he asked. "Are you hurt?"

Tifa looked at him then at the hole and then back to him. "Something blasted some flare spell through there." She shook her head to the ground, holding on to Rufus' arms. "I don't know what it was. A huge monster."

"Weapon," Rufus said, turning his head back to the ceiling.

"Weapon?"

Rufus met her gaze. "Created by the Planet itself as its defense mechanism. They emerge when the Planet is in peril to destroy the threat. In this case, Meteor. But it also capable of destroying the Planet."

Tifa's brows pinched up. "But… that sounds like…"

"Destroying the Planet so there won't be a threat on anything anymore. An amusing notion, really," Rufus continued for her dryly.

The Weapon roared outside, right as one of the canons was recharging, its gears reverberating through the walls as a telltale for it. Tifa's grip tightened around Rufus' arms.

"Don't worry, the other canon seemed to have veered the Weapon away from here. Come." Rufus gently guided her to the hole. "You can jump over there, right?"

Tifa shot him a dazed look. "Are you serious?!"

Rufus nodded. "The Highwind should have disembarked from the airport by now. It will fly right here where another canon is. You can hop on it faster this way."

Tifa maintained the disbelief in her eyes as he talked. "A canon?" she asked, though more of a statement to reinstate her incredulity. "I will board the Highwind through a canon outside with a Weapon floating around nearby? Are you crazy?"

Rufus opened his mouth to argue until they were distracted by Scarlet's voice beyond the door followed by Tseng who was doing his part distracting her from entering the chamber. With one swoop of his hands, Rufus lifted the still-distracted Tifa and hauled her up to the hole. She yelped at the suddenness of it, but managed to catch through and gripped on a concrete edge. She easily lifted herself to the surface then knelt by the opening, looking over at him.

"I stand corrected about your lightness!" he called at her.

"Rufus!" Tifa yelled back, scolding him.

Rufus scoffed and bent his knee, stretching his other leg back. He thrusted himself up against his feet and grabbed the edge beside Tifa, hoisting himself up with one swift pull.

"Show off," Tifa muttered with a shy smile, his favorite on hers.

He harrumphed, his smugness cut short by Tifa's quick kiss on his cheek.

"I see that impressed my wife," he said, cramming his hands into his pockets to harness himself from holding her before anyone catches them.

The pink in her cheeks reddened intensely. "More than you think."

Rufus smirked just as they felt the sudden blow of air below them.

"Highwind," he said. He pointed at the other end of the canon. "It's best to wait for its arrival over there."

Tifa followed his hand then returned to him. "What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you."

"In Cosmo Canyon?"

Rufus nodded. Tifa smiled.

"You bitch!"

They both turned around back at the hole where they just jumped from at the sound of Scarlet's voice. She was closing in.

Rufus turned back at Tifa. "You can take her on easily."

Tifa gave him a knowing smirk. "Yeah. Can't wait."

"Good. Then punch me."

Tifa's eyes bulged. "What—"

"Punch me." Rufus pointed at the middle of his abdomen. "Here. Right here. Like you mean it."

"But—"

Scarlet's voice was getting louder. "You can't get away with this!"

"Now, Tifa," Rufus barked.

It was perhaps the link that they had that tied them together in one heart and mind which brought Tifa to understand what Rufus was thinking, his reasons for his wild requests without uttering his words of plea. She came to understand that it was called trust, and she trusted Rufus just as much as he trusted her now.

So she gave him what he asked for with one hard blow. He groaned loudly, his eyes rounding in pain as he sunk to the surface of the canon.

"I'm sorry," Tifa whined.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Scarlet had just emerged from the hole. Tifa gave Rufus a brief glance and he winked at her.

Play with it, he seemed to say.

Scarlet stomped toward her, her way of making a significant impression on Rufus, though Tifa was more impressed by the fact that she could do it in high stilettos. Her musing was interrupted when Scarlet landed a slap across her cheek.

Even the pain from Rufus' face quickly drained and was replaced by white rage. He was angry, but she was angrier.

So she slapped her back, harder than the hook she punched Rufus with, so strong was it that Scarlet lost all her bearing along with her good senses and fell on the surface, out cold.

Tifa glanced back at her husband, smirking and shrugging. "Did that impress my husband?"

Impressed? He thought, smirking back. Impressed was when she threw that punch on him, enough to make him kneel even when she was trying to hold herself back. But that slap? Hell, he was proud.

Still on his knees, still in his role of being the evil President, he watched as she ran to the end of the canon just as Highwind drifted to position and opened the door for her where Cait Sith stood ready to catch her. He waited until she jumped in and joined her party, now safe and free from the clutches of the wicked Scarlet.

Inside, Barret greeted her first, then Aerith, Yuffie, and Cloud who seemed to have woken up from his daze.

"Tifa," he called her, nodding.

She nodded back. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Aerith helped me."

Tifa smiled more widely and hummed in her throat. "Good."

"President Shinra went after you?" Yuffie asked worriedly.

Tifa nodded, glancing at Cait Sith who was uncharacteristically silent, looking at her in anticipation for her reply. "He… was trying to stop me from escaping. He wanted that public execution to happen. And he thought I was stealing the Highwind."

The clamor that followed from the group, especially at their sight of Rufus defeated on top of the canon, was too loud to bear. Undeserving praises are what they were, and even Cait Sith knew, the only one in their party who stayed silent which spoke of the loudest message in the room. That he knew the truth.

Tifa averted her eyes away from him when Red suddenly said. "We are just about to decide where to go next."

She nodded, knowing exactly where. "I heard that there are research papers in Cosmo Canyon that might help us, about Professor Gast's research. Hojo also has documents there about Sephiroth and Jenova. We might have missed them on our first visit. I suggest we should head back there, find them, and see them for ourselves."

And found them they did. But not without costing them every bit of their strength from the endless horde of creatures and beasts, leading to the spontaneous backup from Rufus Shinra and his Turks, surprising things, and almost losing Tifa to one of the monsters.