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: We have reached the end! I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS! Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it!

He could hear the loud thumps of metal from above the building, not too far from where his office was, but muffled enough by the soundproof walls his father installed around it. There was some slight shaking as well, an indication that the cannon was docked as carefully as the aircrafts could manage. And for a moment, he was worried it would smash down and demolish the whole building just by its sheer weight, until he was reminded of his father's preparation for the possibility of it and had scaffoldings installed to frame and support the weapon in place. His mouth frowned to a side at the thought— that his father managed to plan the efficiency and strength of the whole building for future possibilities but failed to plan for his son's future and the strength of the company.

Pathetic, as always. But at least he did one thing right.

Rufus was looking out from his office window, watching as Shinra's helicopters arrived one after another carrying parts and equipment meant to put the Mako Cannon together. He quickly looked at his phone the moment it rang and grimaced when Heidegger's name appeared.

"Sir, Sister Ray is ready for charging."

"Charge it, then."

He rang off, not intending to hear any more of Heidegger's absurd reasons to call. No initiative, no mind of his own, nothing else to expect but inquiries and pointless apologies for his own mistakes. As with Palmer, he already had one person in mind to replace him should he continue to perform so poorly. The man was beginning to offend him.

He turned around when the door opened and Elena walked in. She clicked her heels together.

"Sir. I have intel from Mr. Tuesti," she said with a tone of an expectant preamble. "The escape pod has finally landed. Missus Shinra and the others were spotted in Mideel by the crew of Highwind. They are on their way to pick them up," she elaborated as tersely as she could to mask the same concern and worry he was cleaving on for Tifa. With two dire missions in hand, it was not the right time to be emotional. She reached over with a radio unit in hand. "The staff from the control room advised us to use this to get in touch with Highwind. They are not reachable for now because of distance issues, but we will try to start our correspondence with them as soon as possible."

Rufus nodded, taking the radio and eyeing it. Suddenly, it was the most prized thing he had. "Thank you, Elena. Please start evacuating the residents of Midgar."

"What about you, Sir?"

Rufus lifted his eyes to her and smiled. "I'll join you soon."

Elena bowed and headed out, leaving him with a contributive lead. Tuesti. Of course. Cait Sith had been with the other AVALANCHE members the whole time, meaning he could give him a real-time progression of events. With Tifa unreachable at the moment, it was the next best thing.

Rufus took out his phone again and punched Tuesti's number. He could imagine the executive currently topsy-turvying between the evacuation of the cities and operating Cait Sith, and was about to deal with an antsy boss too.

Tuesti sounded drained when he answered. "Mr. President, this is not a good time."

"Good afternoon to you, too. And there is no better time, Tuesti," Rufus retorted nonchalantly. "Has Tifa already boarded the Highwind?"

Tuesti sighed. "No. Not yet."

"Then call me when she does."

"I will."

"What city are you working on now?"

"Gongaga," Tuesti replied, suddenly collected.

"That's far from Mideel, correct?"

"It is. Why?"

Rufus hung up. Far from Tifa's sight, then.

The seism came so suddenly some moments later, rattling the paperweight and pen on his desk and thrumming low rumbles from the walls of the room. Rufus had thought it came from the cannon above his head until he espied what looked like a silver Weapon rising somewhere from the farther outskirts of Midgar.

He gripped on his phone, ready to call Tseng, Elena, or Reeve. He slid a foot away from the window and towards the door. His other hand, still grabbing the radio, raised itself closer to his mouth. For some reason he could not spell, Rufus did not know what to do first.

But then the tremor stopped as quickly as it came and the room steadied. Rufus stared back at the Weapon, so small in the distance that he started to doubt if it was moving at all. His sight flitted at the sand outside and then at the dust in his office, hovering in the air, frozen in place, never reaching the ground. He narrowed his eyes, his breaths suddenly becoming loud hisses, and his heartbeat pounding deafeningly against his ears. It was as if something turned everything off and set the time to a deadlock.

"You cannot redeem yourself this way, Shinra."

Rufus whirled in search of the voice— so low did it sound that his senses cried danger and pure menace. There was only one being who could invoke that kind of threat.

And he was standing in the shadow from a corner of his office— bright green eyes almost glowing around the slits of his pupils, silver hair stretching to his legs and easily caught in the wisps of the windless air, his skin deathly pale. He was leering, grinning, belittling his existence as he stood tall and looming, still armored in his archetypal black garment.

Rufus sneered back. He dared reciprocate the mockery at Sephiroth. "And why is that, pray tell?"

Sephiroth scoffed. He walked closer, his heavy footsteps clapping against the marble floor more loudly in the arresting silence, gaze tied to Rufus as the latter's eyes followed his. "Because in the end, all of these rest on your sins."

"Ah. Do amuse me and tell me something I don't already know. But I fail to understand the reason for that answer."

Sephiroth grinned and then he chuckled, his voice bouncing in the muted trice and then gradually drowning among the sudden crisp crackling of flames and howls of the desert wind wafting through thick smoke under the sunless sky. The office had rippled into a place of carnage, reminiscent of the malady that took place in Sector Seven, only more pernicious and irreversible. Shinra's crumpled insignia peeked under the black and gray and bloodstained rubbles and debris on the uneven ground, laying among the bodies of those who fought— Cloud, Aerith, Reno, Tseng, Cid, Rude, even the supposedly immortal Vincent.

And Tifa.

"I bet this is something you don't know yet," Sephiroth jabbed precariously.

Rufus glared back at Sephiroth, fastening himself on him and nowhere else. He had pulled this trick before on Tifa and Cloud, drawing out their worst fears and memories and driving them to the point of delusion that what they were seeing was real. All an illusion, he reminded himself, because it was an effective tactic to manipulate his psyche. Sephiroth found his sliver of weakness and used it to toy with his fears of the future where they failed, and everything in the scene around him would be what failure looked like.

None of it is real, he told himself. He was safe. Everyone was safe. Tifa was safe.

Sephiroth ambled to his right, ominous eyes slicing through Rufus' while he maintained his cautious sight on him. The exchange had become an encroaching game Rufus had caught himself in where he was either the hunter or the hunted.

"Shinra is the Planet's downfall," the former SOLDIER continued. "Destruction has been plated on your path, forged by the blood and cries of the Planet's children. And I am your sin, the wake, the aftermath of your ambitions."

Rufus scoffed, sneering. "And nothing more than a mistake."

"A mistake you created. A masterstroke birthed by Mother who reigned omnipotent in the worlds beyond. A legacy."

He heard her voice, a whimper from where she was supposedly laying. Rufus broke from Sephiroth and turned to Tifa, his eyes tightening at the profuse bleeding under her chest, her blood spreading and dripping along the rubbles as her life was slowly being drained from her.

Sephiroth scanned the lawless disarray around them. "And this is your legacy. The world's doom. Don't forget that you took part in this. You were served by the success of Shinra's rule. You and I are not so different, after all."

Rufus clenched his fists more tightly on his sides, his fingers growing numb. "Oh, don't we make a pair?"

Sephiroth looked heavenward, the smoky black skies fusing with his vision like a stickling spectre. "Power runs through our veins. Ruling the Planet is our bequeathal. I only stand on a higher pedestal as its god and you as Mother's mortal gambit. We play with the Planet by your hands. We cause destruction. We are feared. But you are feeble. An imbecile. And that is your folly."

Rufus heard Tifa draw her last breath. It was not easy to miss— the sounds she was making as she held on for her life was the only thing that kept him from snapping, illusion or reality be damned. He yanked his shotgun and pulled the trigger at Sephiroth. The latter chuckled and dissipated into thin glimmering wisps of the lifestream and reappeared behind him.

"Nibelheim," Sephiroth said. "You let that happen. Don't try to resist the deposition. You allowed the whole town to burn while you waited it out somewhere miles away."

Rufus was convulsing. He was not aware of it until he turned around and fired three more shells at Sephiroth, a feckless attack when he reappeared only inches from Rufus's face and curled his fingers around the barrel of his gun, steadying it from shaking. He should have expected that.

Sephiroth grinned, his other hand snaking to Rufus' by the trigger. "My death will not be a repentance of your sins to the Planet, and especially not to her. As you continue your existence in the world, so will they."

Rufus' heart was beating so furiously at the proximity and the transgression, he felt it latch up in his throat. He kept himself in line, refusing to falter at the face of the enemy. "Just so we are clear, you were sent to keep Nibelheim safe. Not to burn it."

Sephiroth leaned in closer. "Then perhaps you can't deny this."

His eyes widened when the ground began splitting under them and Tifa's lifeless body plummeted to the remains of what looked like Sector Seven. Disoriented by the illusion, Rufus had momentarily thought that he was about to fall too and bent over to reach for Tifa. But he was still standing midair, stepping on an invisible floor and looking down at the expanse of what once was Midgar

"This one, you allowed to happen by your leave," the foe said.

Rufus was still staring at the bottom where the wreckage laid, the world that mattered to her so much. He had never thought of looking, never known what it looked like after that night when the Turks set the order in motion. He never thought of searching for her either, too focused and distracted on the seat he had inherited from his late father. He could still remember the look on her face when she saw him again as her enemy, the man who let it all happen.

He understood now why she doubted him.

"You tried to hide from this," Sephiroth taunted. "You deceived her and everyone else. Steve, was it? Was it your pitiful attempt to run from the sins of your name? But blood has been spilled and the spiral continues. Even when you try to defeat me, even when she does, the spiral will never stop spinning back to the decisions you have made. And there is nothing to save you from it. You will always be the cause of her sufferings, her nightmares. You are the monster who created the boogeyman who haunts her for as long as she lives. Nothing more."

But he had another bullet at his disposal. Rufus smirked. Tifa had forgiven him. He knew the moment she kissed him that night he surrendered himself to her. He was certain from then on that his heart was no longer his but hers in her mercy. How she would treat it, if she could find herself to accept it fully, had been the only thing that always mattered.

"But you are forgetting something," Rufus said finally. "Her decision is what will save me from that spiral. And she had decided. And I am saved."

Sephiroth strewed a jesting grin. "Let's hope she does not regret it."

"No. I am certain now that she won't," Rufus said. "The reason you are here right now is because you knew your defeat will arrive soon, and I am taking part in it. The Mako Cannon above will pop your little bubble, and Strife and the Ancient will do the rest. And I will make sure they succeed. You see, we are different after all. I have found my salvation and you are doomed."

Sephiroth chuckled. "Oh, you will soon find out what I am pertaining to. And you will have no second to spare."

He disappeared in one swift motion while everything else waved into thin air. The blighted scene of Midgar was no more and Rufus was abruptly back in his office, catching his breath as if all the lost time leading to the present had riveted to him. He glanced around when the ground quaked even more violently than when he first sighted the Weapon.

He looked out the window. The Weapon was closer to Midgar now.

"Rufus!"

Rufus turned to the radio where Tifa's distressed voice came through and fumbled for the device. His phone was resting next to it with flashes of alerts from almost everyone— Tseng, Elena, Heidegger, and even Reeve.

"Tifa."

Her voice broke from relief. "Rufus!"

She was safe. Good. "Where are you?"

"Get out of Midgar, now!"

He watched the Weapon steady itself on its feet so haltingly from its weight and size. It lifted its chest that emitted glowing yellow rays that gradually grew larger in every second. Faint blue light trickled from above the window at the same time, his own counterattack coming from the Mako Cannon.

"I'm sorry, Tifa," he said. "I have to see this through."

"No! Please! Get out!"

The lights from the Weapon were growing larger while the ray from the cannon was growing brighter. Rufus felt a painful lump in his throat and he choked it down as he stood there watching in the heart of it all. Running— no. He would not run this time. He had to be there and govern the attack to serve their cause because that was his task and no one else's. He was already in the position to fulfill his role in this fight against Sephiroth and he was not about to abandon it. Not until he had seen the Mako Cannon's attack on the barrier. Even if it would cost him his life. He failed to protect her world once. Never again.

"Thank you for giving me a chance, Tifa."

"Why are you talking like that?" Tifa's voice was wavering in the midst of her crying. "Stop talking like that! We're on our way to you!"

He curled his lip up. "I hope I have made it up to the Planet."

"Get to the rooftop where we can see you!"

The blue light was growing brighter. Standing by it would take his sight away. At least he was certain she was aboard the Highwind. "I hope I have made it up to you."

"Rufus! Please!" Tifa sobbed desperately. "Come back to me and tell me these yourself!"

Rufus swallowed down the pain in his throat when it returned. And despite that, even when he tried to curb his own bereavement, a tear had made its way out of his eye. He scoffed, learning then what it felt like to know when one was about to die. He knew the chances of his survival, even with the hidden chute his father had built for him. It was built within the structure and would share whatever fate and future the building held. He determined that his luck would just have to decide for him even if the probabilities of getting out alive were slim to none. Still, he lamented over the time he was given to spend with her— it was too short, too little.

"Don't cry, Tifa," he said as he watched the Weapon grow brighter. "Everything will be alright."

"You promise? You promised we won't lie to each other."

Rufus chuckled. "I promise."

"Then wait for me there, we're coming!"

The Weapon released multiple flares of light towards Midgar just as the Mako Cannon fired its own, stabbing through the Weapon and maintaining its speed as it propelled towards the Northern Crater.

That was it. That was it for him.

"Tifa, tell me something. Do you regret it?"

"What?"

"Having known me?"

Her sobs grew louder. It was a question he never heard the answer to. "No. Never."

Rufus smiled. Another victory over Sephiroth. "Will you still love me if I break one promise?"

"RUFUS!"

"C'mon, Tifa. Please answer me."

"Y-yes, Rufus," she managed to say through the sounds of her inconsolable anguish. "I will."

Rufus smiled, his heart calming back down in his chest at the solace of her words. "Will you really?"

"To the end."

.

.

.

Once, many years ago, Rufus was asked a question he would never forget.

"What do you fear the most?"

He was still in primary school then, sitting on his chair as his classmates answered the question one by one. " Spider " seemed to be the most popular answer, and he remembered thinking about bringing them to one of his father ' s laboratories where all sorts of spiders have mutated into something else entirely. They still kept their crittery legs though, but not their sizes or docility. " Waterfalls " was the most amusing answer he heard, but not enough to stun his teacher when his attention landed on him.

"What about you, Rufus?"

He remembered raising his gaze to him and ignoring the intrigued stares from everyone else. He had an answer ready, rooted from the memory of his mother ' s funeral.

The most beautiful, most amazing woman he had known who made his disconsolate childhood a little brighter, had her shine dulled by her screwed, philandering husband. Rufus would walk to her door, too tall and too heavy to open while he heard her cry from the other side. He did not know then why she was sad or why she was wailing so gravely that she would always try to catch her breath. It was not until he grew older that he understood better— that she was crying over her accursed life, a life full of scorn, pretenses, and empty of love. And that was when he started to truly hate his father.

It was her grief that drowned her in alcohol and brought her back to the lifestream. He watched the visitors as she laid alone in her gray casket at the other end of the room. They were chatting, socializing, treating the whole affair like a business occasion where they could extend their personal networks and improve their entrepreneurial advantages. He turned to his father who was talking to another man he never met, nodding and smiling while his wife laid dead away from his sight.

Not one of them shed a tear. Not one wept for her existence, her light, her smile. No one remembered her for the person that she was, as if her life was not worth celebrating. She lived and died neglected and ignored because she was a Shinra.

Rufus blinked at the teacher and answered, " That no one would weep for me. "

.

.

.

Tifa was howling.

Her vision tunneled at the blast that expunged Shinra's Headquarters in Midgar. Rufus. Rufus. Rufus was there. Was.

She did not know how long she had lost herself. The next thing she knew, she had descended to the ground zero of the building and ran to the debris, soot, and smoking embers from the Weapon's attack. She pushed the hard and heavy litters away, determined to see the bottom where Rufus might be. Her head rigidified at all other possibilities than that of Rufus alive. She was not asking for much. She just wanted to see him.

Two tears dropped from her and quickly evaporated from the heat of the rubbles the moment it touched the surface. She lifted her gloved hands and turned them around to take a look— her fingers were shaking and covered in bloodied blisters and her palms sore from the burning heat of the Weapon's ray that settled on the crags. She hitched a deep breath, a sob, at the thought of Rufus buried in heaps of it.

"What is the circus doing here?"

Tifa clenched her fists at the sound of Scarlet's voice, her skin stinging under the pressure of her fingers. Cloud, who had been standing behind her, unsheathed his sword and held it in front of him in a defensive stance.

"The President is dead," Heidegger announced. Tifa could hear him grin and sent him a glare over her shoulder, tears still falling along her cheeks. "I'm in charge now!"

She heaved herself towards him with a hard fist to his face. Heidegger stumbled back on his foot then lifted his own palm to hit her back. Cloud was ready to strike first when Tseng suddenly appeared and held Heidegger by his arm.

"You were never in charge to begin with," Tseng said. He lowered his arm and smirked when Heidegger pried himself from his tight grip and massaged the spot with his other hand. Tseng crept in front of Tifa, his sight still on Heidegger. "Shinra lives through the next kin."

"There is no next kin," Heidegger spat.

"Apparently, you know nothing, Mr. Heidegger." Tseng turned around and held out a hand to Tifa. "Madam President."

Heidegger's jaw dropped and Scarlet's eyes went so wide they almost fell out.

Tifa stared at Tseng's hand and sniffled. She shook her head, refusing to accept that she was supposed to assume her husband's position, but was returned with a firm, reassuring nod.

"You are Shinra now," Tseng said, formal but lulling. "All of these rest upon you. There is still so much work to do in his absence."

.

.

.

It had been four days since Sephiroth's defeat.

The Planet was saved from Meteor, everyone was celebrating as the world rebuilt starting with a place east of Midgar they dubbed the "Edge," while Tifa stood alone in what was supposed to be their room at his loft in Healen Lodge that morning. From the long roster of his estates she could choose from, that one was the place closest to the Edge which did not hold any of her memories of him. And right at that moment, she would prefer not to be too enveloped by them in her mourning while she longed in her hope that he was still alive.

Her eyelids were still warm and heavy from crying, yet they shut on their own when tears began welling around them again. It was not the first time she had lost someone so dear to her, but he was the love of her life. A big part of her was ripped and shredded to pieces that the ache had become a cruel cycle. The world had begun spinning too slow with nothing to alleviate the pain that never grew smaller.

Aerith, Yuffie, and Cloud all tried to offer their own ways of comfort. They brought small moments of laughter and happiness which she was grateful for, but nothing to cure her grief for longer than an hour's time. Elena offered her own company and slept within the vicinity of the loft daily at her beck and call, while Yuffie practically forced herself inside to cheer her up. Still, at the end of the day, they would have responsibilities to hold and tasks to fulfill at far and stretching places. And so was she.

The first order she gave Tseng was to find Rufus. Tseng had assured her that they had been ceaseless in their search since the Diamond Weapon's attack on Midgar. For three days Rufus was alone wherever he was. The thought was becoming harder to sit still for with each passing hour.

Tifa straightened herself as she took a deep breath. She rubbed her eyes before opening them, sniffled, and then cleared her throat to recompose herself. She ironed her lavender blouse with her hand and grabbed her purse before leaving the room. Elena was already waiting on the couch and jumped on her feet when Tifa approached. The former bowed.

"Madam Shinra."

Tifa shook her head and gently squeezed Elena by her arm. "We've already talked about this, Elle. You don't need to be so formal with me."

Elena bowed her head. "Oh. Right. But Tseng will scold me again for being too casual with you. It's the Turks' protocol."

"Then maybe we can keep it between us. Just call me Tifa when we're alone. And you are allowed to be comfortable around me."

Elena nodded vigorously. She was too young and callow to deviate from working by the rules and understanding why it was acceptable from time to time. Her frivolous character made Tifa smile a little knowing that there was a deadly side to Elena as was with every Turk when they needed to be.

Elena took out her black notebook and skimmed a finger downward on a page. "This first work on our list is Mr. Tuesti at Kalm," she said, eyes on the list. "Then Junon to revisit the rehabilitation we are doing after the raid. Mr. Highwind is also requesting that you examine a project in Rocket Town. We will also revisit Edge to check on Midgar's rehabilitation, and then the reexamination of the mako reactors from our former HQ."

Tifa's eye twitched on the last one. "You think we can make it in all of these?"

"That depends on how long each will take. But if we can't finish them all, we can reschedule on the following days."

"Is that how…"

Elena smiled. She closed her notebook and placed it back into the inner pocket of her suit. "Yeah."

Tifa nodded. "Okay. Kalm first, then."

Reeve was already waiting outside his makeshift office— an empty one-story structure made of gray bricks and a blue roof on the outside, while the interiors were predominantly metal with open pipes and mounted screens and gizmos. Cid and Shera were already sitting on their chairs by an elongated table, waiting with their own cups of tea. Tifa took the one at the center.

"How are you, Tifa?" Reeve asked. He leaned forward against the table, gaze intent on her and listening.

Tifa forced a smile and shrugged, pressing her lips together from telling him the truth behind why it took her longer to prepare for the day. He gave her a sympathetic smile.

Shera stood. "I'll make you some tea. A tea will make it all better."

Tifa lowered her head. "Thank you, Shera."

Cid was leaning laxly back on his chair, an elbow plopped on its backrest, and his mouth chewing on a tip of a toothpick. He gestured at something in front of her. "Those the plans?"

Tifa jerked backward and realized that she suddenly had an envelope in front of her. Elena might have placed it there without her knowing. "Uhm, yes. These are the plans we have."

Cid fanned his fingers inward and cocked his head at it. "Let me see 'em."

The meeting dragged for two hours more with too many plan changes and too many proposals. She had realized that it was the inevitable consequence of firing all the more experienced executives of Shinra and replacing them with new people. Hojo was the first to go, though she was yet to think of someone to replace him in his department. She presented the position to Vincent, though the most he could do was oversee it while she looked for someone more permanent. Shera filled in Scarlet's position, and Cid was the obvious choice for Palmer's. Heidegger's was offered to Cloud, but he rapidly rejected it. Only Reeve was able to preserve his position.

"The monetary mobility stalled after the Meteor incident," Reeve said while pulling out more documents. Cid was growing more disinterested but was managing to keep his attention up in the meeting. Shera was more immersed, taking notes when she needed to. "We will need more from our financial flow if we are to pursue the research and construction of alternative energy sources."

"Are the mako reactors still running?" Tifa asked.

"For now. As long as we don't have anything to replace them with, people will have to rely on the reactors for electricity."

"Did the former President make any notes about it?" Cid asked.

"He did, but they were made before the Weapons and the Meteor had made their appearances."

Tifa pressed her fingers against her temple. His words were rolling like rusty gears inside her head.

"Maybe it's for the better that we don't hire someone for Public Safety yet," Shera added. "Less people to hire means less expenses. Tifa can hold out on her own and she has Cloud, the Turks, and us. Perhaps we can redirect the expense into building these proposals?"

"As for the Director of Public Safety, I have someone in mind that I can suggest. A certain General Caraway might have the ideal character for it. As for the expenses, I would agree, but we will have to await Tifa's decision."

"Tifa?"

She had both of her hands on her head now. Their words had soaked in her and all she could hear was white noise against the angry thumping inside her chest.

"Excuse me," she muttered and stood so abruptly, the scraping of her chair made more noise than her voice. She headed out the door.

The cool air outside felt refreshing when it blew to her skin and filled her lungs. She closed her eyes and inhaled a few more deep breaths to bury the overwhelming awareness that Rufus should have been there making the decisions and not her. Every matter in their meeting was Rufus' vision, and she was only ever supposed to help out. Rufus should be seeing those happen while she should be standing beside him smiling proud at his own achievements. She wasn't supposed to do both— making the decisions and standing alone.

The door opened behind her and Reeve walked out. He stopped beside her and folded his arms around himself. "You okay?"

Tifa nodded at first, then she shook her head.

"I told them to take a break," he said. "You can take your time."

"Thank you."

They both lapsed into silence as their eyes settled at the idle activity within the town. The children in Kalm started to come out of their school with their parents or their friends. Old wives hung their laundry while the younger women helped. The men ran most of the establishments and some of them were doing laborious works on constructions.

It was Tifa who broke the quiet. "Reeve, I think you should take charge."

He shifted to her with rounded eyes.

She lowered her head. "I can't do it for now. I can't decide things for the company. I don't know how he did it. You will have to do it."

"I have no right to decide," Reeve said.

"I do. And I'm deciding on that now," Tifa replied, her voice falling.

"Okay, Tifa. I'll do it," he said eventually after a moment of musing. "I know why you're doing this. You can take all the time you need. But you will have to come back in there eventually. You know that, don't you?"

Tifa nodded slowly. "Yeah. I will." She lifted her gaze to him, her vision blurred from tire and tears. "I trust you. I know you'll handle this better."

Reeve nodded. "Okay, Tifa. If it's the least that I can do."

"It is."

The fourth day was about to reach its end and she still had not heard a word from Tseng.

The rest of the Turks had suddenly gone silent. Elena sat by her inside the car upon her insistence as they made their way from Junon to Healen Lodge. She could no longer bring herself to look at the time and passed the duty of managing her itinerary completely to Elena.

Her left thumb fiddled with her rings, her eyes staring blankly at the floor, and her mouth slightly parted. She was trapped in a numbing rapture while Elena read her phone until she felt the Turk's hand on her wrist.

"Tifa," she called, then squeezed her gently.

Tifa lifted her head and blinked her eyes back to focus, her eyes still rashed and stinging from crying. She looked at Elena and smiled, a small assurance that she was fine. For now.

But that did not fool the Turk. She suddenly reached forward and tapped the driver's shoulder. "Take us to Edge."

Tifa did not react. She knew what Elena was trying to do. Edge was where Aerith, Cloud, Marlene, and Barret stayed and where the rest of the party sporadically visited.

The place was still lacking lights. The refugees, former Midgarians, installed makeshift lamp posts from spare parts they salvaged from what was left of Shinra's building. The roads were thick with mud and cluttered with fragments of equipment, wood, and tools the residents used to build their makeshift homes and merchandise stalls around the clock. Its rehabilitation had been one of her priorities and entrusted the implementation of their plans to Cloud and Barret. A few months of free water and electricity sources were part of her initial aid to the populace as they recovered. And when Shinra recoups some gil, she would work on the public structures and housings next.

The car stopped in front of a wooden assemblage standing in the middle of the provisional city where the sign "Seventh Heaven" hung without a light. With Cid's help, Barret did his best to reconstruct her bar.

"It'll give you some comfort from your ol' life in Sector Seven," he told her. She remembered agreeing to it only for reconciliation's sake. At least Barret was trying, she thought. Even when it was supposed to be one of Rufus' plans.

Tifa stepped out of the car and took a deep breath as she surveyed the edifice. Elena looped an arm around hers and smiled then gently guided her up the steps and to the door. Tifa opened it.

Yuffie was standing in the winebar arranging the bottles inside the shelf while Red was pulling a crate through a rope by his fangs. Cloud and Barret were installing a window screen and Aerith was sweeping the floor from the dense dust coming from it. Reno and Rude appeared from the back door, dusting off their hands, surprising her by their appearances but not as much as by the lone man sitting on one of the stools.

Newsboy cap. Brown jacket. Bright blond hair.

She covered her mouth with her hand and sucked in a deep breath. Could it be…

When the man turned around to face her with his usual smirk, she had forgotten all else, even the smiles everyone threw her way as they shifted their gazes between him and her. She ran to him while he slid off and strode towards her with reaching arms. She threw himself to him and locked him in her tight embrace around his neck. He lifted her, one arm around her waist and the other up her back.

"Rufus…" she sighed through the nape of his neck between her sobs. She fastened herself to him, to feel him and make sure he was real. Very real.

Rufus buried his lips through her hair and kissed the crown of her head. "Forgive me, Tifa. I took so long."

Tifa nodded and gasped for breath and chuckled. Of course she forgave him. She would always forgive him. She would do anything for him.

Her mind ran with so many questions. How he survived, for one. Or how he managed to be found. Who found him? What happened in the past few days? Was he hurting anywhere? But the answer was always the same: she would soon find out and she would be there by his side whatever the answers may be.

"I love you, Tifa."

"Gaia, Rufus," she breathed. "I love you so much."

A/N: Thank you so so much for reading this fic! Special thanks to the readers, reviewers, commenters, and a big big shoutout to my fellow RufTis and multi-shippers! Thank you so much for your support and love! I would also like to thank the CloTis who encouraged me to keep writing! Thank you! BIG BIG THANKS to Naya, my favorite beta reader who willingly and wholeheartedly read and improved this fic each chapter to the end! Our cruise has ended, but another one is on the way, so hold on tight!