Cloud Strife arrived at his front door, with the unconscious girl still in his arms. He unlocked the door and looked for a place to lay her down. He decided that his bed was probably the best choice. There was hardly a decent couch in the place.

As he gently put the girl down, he thought of what to do. He had no experience with anything related to taking care of people. When he found her - and rescued her with Vincent's shotgun that he had taken to a shop to get it fixed - she was about to get raped. He brought a chair next to the bed and observed her. Her cheeks were stained with tears.

He realized he couldn't do much of anything until she was fully dressed. She was half-bare, and he didn't dare to take off his jacket off her. There was a strange aura about her that told him that she was chaste, untainted, and he felt uneasy about invading any part of her privacy . . . without her permission.

After thinking for a while, he called a number. After a few rings, someone picked up.

"Hey, Tifa?"

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Tifa had been watching an old movie, sitting on her couch with a bowl of popcorn on her lap. It was a romantic movie, one of those ones where two lovers are separated but are reunited at the end. Even though she didn't seem the type, she loved the heartwarming movies. It was an assurance to her - even though she had experienced that the real world was cruel - that everything will turn out okay.

Cloud. . .

It was just like a movie between them two, she thought. Childhood friends. Haven't seen each other in the longest time. Met again, scarcely ever talk about anything other than business. But. . .

She threw a fistful of popcorn at the TV as the man appeared to be completely enticed as he saw a certain rival to the heroine for the first time. She knew the plot. He would fall in love with her quickly and desperately, but would eventually succumb to the power of TRUE love and return to the heroine. And they will live happily ever after. So Tifa wasn't mad. She had watched this movie for like the tenth time now. It was peaceful in the empty bar, and nighttime was one of the only times she ever got any quiet. The only time she ever got to confront her deep emotional side and feelings. Cloud. . .

Just then the phone rang. Tifa groaned and got up from the couch, turned down the volume, and answered the phone groggily.

"Hey, Tifa?"

"Cloud!!" 'What a perfect time to call, Cloud! I was just thinking about you!' If only she could say it out loud.

"Yeah. Um, you busy?"

"Nope, why?"

"Well I kinda need your help. . . It's kind of an emergency." He hesitated for a moment. "Do you think you could come down to my apartment? Or is it too much trouble?"

"Oh no, I'll be there."

Of course she will be there. Tifa's face slowly lightened up as a smile appeared. YES! She wondered why he would want her in his apartment. Maybe he wanted to talk all the tension between them out? No, she shouldn't get ahead of herself and get her hopes up. The higher her hopes were, the harder it was to bear the fall.

She quickly found a coat and headed out the door.



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Cloud slowly ran his fingers on her cheeks, trying to guess what could have upset her this much. A frightening thought entered his head. What if she never wakes up?! He looked at the clock. Tifa, where are you?!!

A knock on the door and he yelled for Tifa to come in. She promptly did and went into the room where the voice came been. She was surprised to see a girl on Cloud's bed, with Cloud gently caressing her cheeks.

"Cloud??"

"Hey Tifa." Cloud looked up. He looked worried. He got up and walked toward Tifa.

"What HAPPENED??" Tifa was completely dumbfounded.

"Er. . . I don't know really. You know how Vincent asked me to take his gun to the shop to get it fixed, right? I was just coming down the allies and I saw this girl surrounded by three men." Cloud paused, then began again. "I thought she was gonna get raped and she probably was. They tore up her dress." He pointed to the jacket he covered her with. "And I shot them on impulse and they all went away and I carried her here."

He stopped and looked apologetically at Tifa. "You think you could help me take care of her just for tonight? I'm completely new at this kind of stuff, you know. And you're used to this so. . ." Cloud again stopped. "Do you think you can? Cuz if you don't, I understand."

"No, I can. Cloud, I will. Let me see," Tifa hastily said, as she approached the girl. Her mind was a jumble. She actually was feeling kind of . . . threatened at this new appearance. Cloud seemed to care about her a lot, even though they just met. She quickly erased the thoughts and looked at the figure on the bed.

She lifted the jacket and an awkward Cloud got out of the room, claiming to make some coffee. She obviously had been abused, as she saw some bruises on her arms and waist. She turned her over and saw a huge boot mark on her back. It was apparent that she WAS going to get raped, for the upper half of her dress was violently torn. She noticed that the girl looked exhausted, and that she had been crying her heart out.

Now for the clothes. . . She searched Cloud's drawer and got out a thick shirt. She lifted the unconscious girl up and put it on. She lifted the covers again and tucked her in. She found a thermometer and checked her temperature. A little above normal. Not too bad.

Right then, Cloud stepped into the door, carrying two cups of coffee. He offered one to Tifa and brought another chair for her to sit down on.

"How is she?"

"She's ok. I think she should be fine. And I think you were right, she was in danger. She has bruises on her body. And she was crying."

"Yeah." Cloud let out a sigh. "You have no idea how surprised I was when this girl just plopped down on the floor. I half-thought she was dead."

"Oh. . ."

The conversation slowly shifted from the unconscious girl to other things. They had been talking and, in Tifa's case, snoozing, when they heard a soft moan.

Tifa's eyes snapped open and Cloud gave his complete attention on the now- moving girl on the bed.

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Aeris had been dreaming. Rufus had found her. He had explained that it was all a mistake. And of course, everything was perfect again. Like it was supposed to be. Everything was a big mistake, nothing like yesterday ever happened, it was all in her imagination. . .

Suddenly her head throbbed with immense pain and she knew that she was slowly waking up from her unconscious state.

She moaned slightly and twitched as a sharp pain went up her spine. However, now she was awake. Where was she? Please. . . let Rufus be next to her, holding her hand.

A tuft of blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Her eyes pooled with tears. RUFUS!!

Aeris suddenly sat up on the bed and almost threw herself to Rufus. She buried her face into his chest as tears began to make their way down.



Cloud just sat, utterly shocked, then awkwardly tried to return the embrace, petting her back.

Tifa just sat too, unable to believe what just happened.

They both saw now that the girl was delirious, her face suddenly becoming flushed with fever, as she began to mumble about something in desperate sobs.

She suddenly stopped and lifted her face up.

"Rufus. . ." Aeris said, her voice choked with relief. Then she saw that. . . it wasn't Rufus at all. Another man. Completely different.

What's happening????

"Rufus?" Aeris suddenly let go, falling. The man caught her.

"Where is he?" Aeris looked around. "You're not Rufus."

He wasn't Rufus. Rufus wasn't here, next to her side, ready to explain what was going on.

So he didn't care after all?

Aeris felt herself slip from reality as her head became faint.

Cloud and Tifa both gasped in unison as the girl fell unconscious once more.

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Rufus was sitting in his desk, looking at the clock on the wall and drumming his fingers against a glass he was holding. His blue eyes had an intense glow even though he hadn't slept ever since yesterday.

He recalled her eyes pooling with tears, her shaky voice confronting him. She looked so fragile, like a porcelain doll, someone whose trust was carefully bound with such strong faith. Such a feeble string, he realized, she had. He had shattered it.

He poured whatever it was that was on his desk and gulped it down. He just knew it was alcohol, and he needed it. His mind was becoming seriously strained.

'Aeris. . .'

She was so delicate, so frail, in his eyes. He had wanted to give her all the protection and comfort she needed - but instead, he pushed her into the unforgiving world.

A thought made him start. What if she was attacked by some goddamned bastards? She had said that it was the reason she joined Shinra.

What could possibly take the TURKS so long!! It has been almost a day already; the sun was slowly setting. Should he order a group of SOLDIER to go after them?

He was half arisen from his seat when his intercom beeped.

"Sir, the TURKS are here to see you."

"Send them in." Rufus closed his eyes. Finally.



Tseng stepped in and the three others followed him. Rufus noticed that Tseng's eyes were red, as were the other four.

"Where is she?" Rufus immediately asked, feeling uneasy.

Tseng and Rude looked morose, and Reno and Elena just shuffled awkwardly. Finally, Tseng spoke.

"Sir, we couldn't find her anywhere. However we did find a piece of her dress. . ." He motioned to Elena and she held it up.

It was an upper part of the dress she wore. Yes, it was right. It was roughly torn. It had covered her from her shoulders down to her waist.

It took a moment for Rufus to register what that meant.

Everyone was shocked, being overly strained already, when suddenly Rufus' glass shattered in his left hand.





Author's Note: Yeah, I decided to go with Cloud. I chose the character by counting the pplz who wanted a specific character. Only that. I hope there's no hard feelings ^^ and that the pplz who wanted a different character would still read my fic and gimme reviews and suggestions!

And I do realize the excuse for Cloud using a gun is very lame. Yeah, but I couldn't come up with anything else!! ^_^ Cloud, or any other character who doesn't use a gun, might use a gun at some point because a gun's very convenient in hiding the person's identity.

Also, Tifa fans. It will get better. . . in time.