Beyond Seven

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) and Xu (zhakeena@yahoo.com)

Disclaimer: Oh, ya know… it goes a little somethin' like this… we don't own anything but the story plot and our sanities… duh… whatever… -_-

Authors' Notes: This is part of our plan to sow the seeds of the Rufus/Tifa shipping um… whatever! So there!

Chapter Twelve

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            "This is crazy… first you claim to have heard Aerith's voice and then you're saying that she's comin' back and then you got yourself into a mess with Tifa, Rufus, Elena and Reno! How stupid can you get?" Barret snapped.

Yuffie carefully applied the ointment on Cloud's bruised face.

"@#$%^$#! And what's Tifa doing on that ShinRa brat's side?" Cid demanded.

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?" Cloud muttered with a mean look on his face. "By the way, Barret, your daughter's with them." He said.

Barret wanted to faint. "What the… you mean… WHAT?! @#@$^$" he began to curse.

"Shut the f*ck up!" Cid snapped.

"But…but… my daughter…" Barret stated.

"Rufus wouldn't do anything to the little girl, trust me," Vincent told them with a serious tone.

"Easy for you to say, you were one of them!" Barret snapped.

Vincent ignored him.

"You know, I think you guys should quit yapping about today. Cloud looks really tired and he needs to rest." Yuffie suggested.

Cloud looked around. "Say, where's Red XIII?" he asked…

***

            "Meowrrr…" Dark Nation uneasily flipped her tail back and forth as she remained seated on the couch.

Marlene looked at the giant cat and said, "Mr. Rufus, I think your kitty senses someone coming," she said quietly, trying not to irritate anybody in the room, because everybody—Rufus, Elena, Reno, Rude, Heidegger, Scarlet and Reeve—seemed so stressed out about the day's trouble.

"Kya~! That Strife should die, you know?" Scarlet said.

"Shut up. It's not his fault he's that desperate for Gainsborough…" Rufus sneered, then turning to Dark Nation and Marlene. "I think we'd better get you back to your daddy," he told Marlene.

Marlene nodded sadly.

"Who's her daddy?" Reeve asked.

"I don't know," Rufus lied as he stood up and carried Marlene up on his shoulder. Dark Nation followed after them.

The moment they got out of the house, Rufus sighed heavily and smiled. "You know what, you are very lucky to have a daddy like Barret. He loves you so much." He told her.

"Yep! He's a good daddy and I love him too!" she replied cheerfully. Then, she looked down at Rufus. "What about you, Rufus? Where's your daddy?" she asked.

Rufus's eyes narrowed and anger began to fill his mind. He wanted to say, "He's burning in hell", but instead, he just said, "He's dead." He told her.

"Do you miss him?" she asked.

Rufus thought for a while, "No." he said sternly.

"Why?" she asked.

"What a stubborn kid… when'll she shut up?" he thought angrily. He sighed. "Geez… he's bad. He killed my mother." He explained with a trembling tone.

"Oh… I'm sorry…" she replied sadly.

He nodded glumly. "It's okay…" he said simply as he looked up at the dark clouds. "It's going to rain…" he thought.

"Don't you want to forgive him?" she asked.

For Rufus, that had been one of the stupidest questions everyone could ever ask him, but this time, Marlene made him think. He looked down and his expression softened. "Forgive my father?" he asked.

"Because Aerith told me before that when you hold a grudge against someone, you're only making yourself suffer and it would seem like your soul's being chained to the wall and you cannot be free forever." She explained.

"She's right…" Rufus thought silently.

Then, he stopped and turned to Dark Nation but she wasn't there. "W…where's Dark Nation?" he asked. Then, he saw Dark Nation running to the other direction. Rufus put down Marlene. "Let's go." He told her as he went after Dark Nation. Rufus could easily recognize the streets… and everything became clear to him when he finally saw Tifa's house.

Dark Nation pounded her paw against the door until Tifa opened it.

"Kitty!" she said.

Dark Nation saw the puffiness in her eyes and she whimpered. "Mew…" she said as she snuggled against Tifa's leg. Tifa smiled sadly as she bent down and embraced the big cat.

Marlene came up to them. "Tifa! Kitty!" she said happily.

"Marlene," Tifa said in disbelief.

Rufus was several steps behind and he was about to run to them but someone spoke up from behind him. "Don't tell me you're going to see that slut again?"

He recognized the voice and it made him feel annoyed all of a sudden. "Are you following me, Scarlet?" he demanded angrily.

Scarlet ignored his question. "I'm warning you, President ShinRa…" she began. "If you still insist on seeing that… that…" she pointed at Tifa. "SLUT, then ShinRa's never ever going to live again!!! She's holding you back—holding US back!!!"

Rufus glared at her with his icy blue eyes, now flaring with inexpressible rage. "What? How dare…"

Tifa led Marlene and Dark Nation inside her house, unaware of the trouble between Rufus and Scarlet from a few yards away.

"All I wanted to happen was to put ShinRa back in its rightful place! To make it the most superior thing on the whole Planet… I am not going to let Tifa take that dream away from you!" Scarlet told Rufus.

"What did Tifa ever do to you?" he asked in annoyance.

"She was a member of AVALANCHE!" she replied.

"WAS a member of AVALANCHE! Take note of the past tense, Scarlet! Didn't you learn that in English class?" Rufus sneered.

"Who knows, she's from the slums and she might just be using you so that she can get your money!" she snapped.

"You're crazy!" Rufus snapped.

"I am just trying to help! I'm only doing what your father had wanted to happen." She told him.

"Why would you think that I'd want to make that—that bastard happy?! You think I want to do what he wants me to do? No! I can't even bring myself to call him 'father' without forcing myself to!" Rufus harshly said.

"What? Well, that's too bad, you brat! You're out of his own flesh and blood! You have to run ShinRa Inc., whether you like it or not!" Scarlet replied.

Rufus had had it with her nagging. He punched her face, sending her crashing to the nearby wall of another house. "SHUT UP!"

The rain began to pour down.

Rufus approached her and collared her. "How would you feel if someone had prevented you from loving someone whom you believe in?" he demanded. He sneered at her, "My father did that to me and my mother and it wasn't good. Now that he's gone, you're here telling me that ShinRa needs to climb up to the top again and while on the process, you want me to stop seeing Tifa? How could you do this to me, Scarlet? I thought that a loyal servant would only wish for her master's happiness, but how come you are preventing it from happening to me?" His eyes narrowed at her, "I trust Lockheart and if I would climb up to the top again, I'd do it with her by my side… and if you and the others won't allow that, I would just have to give up all the luxuries I've had even before I was born in this sick sad world and live the simple life with her, if that would mean that I could be happier!" he released her, making her back hit the hard wall.

He took one last look at her before he walked away, going to Tifa's house.

Scarlet staggered angrily. "President Rufus! You don't know what you're saying! Even your mother wouldn't agree to this!" she screamed.

What she said made him stop in his tracks. "Wh…what…" he thought. He was already facing the front door of Tifa's house when he heard that. He somewhat hesitated. He knew he needed answers but who could answer his questions; his mother's been dead for several years now. He clenched his fists, holding back himself from knocking.

But, the door suddenly opened and there was Tifa. "Rufus, what are you doing here? I thought I sensed someone near my door and…" she stopped talking when she saw the cold look on his face.

"Where's Dark Nation?" he asked.

"Sh…she's," she began.

"Dark Nation," Rufus called out.

The black panther came out from the kitchen and approached him. Rufus led the way outside. Dark Nation wasn't sure if she should follow him or not, but Rufus yelled at her, "You stupid cat! Let's go!"

Dark Nation's tail drooped and she took one last look at Tifa before following Rufus.

"Rufus," Tifa said softly.

He kept on walking.

Tifa looked down as she clenched her fists. She could feel her tears forming in her eyes. "Rufus," she whispered.

Rufus didn't look back; he continued to walk away with Dark Nation following sadly from behind him. She kept on whimpering but Rufus stopped her by saying, "Stop that, it's getting annoying."

Dark Nation bowed her head.

Rufus kept on walking until he reached the ShinRa Mansion. The moment he got inside, everyone shot him weird stares but he kept on walking up the stairs until he reached his bedroom. He didn't let Dark Nation in.

Rufus went to the dresser and looked at himself in the mirror.

"No one's ever seen you bleed or cry…"

Those words whirled through his mind as he smiled sadly. "Well now, I'm crying… I can see it." He said aloud.