Angel Trapped On Earth
Chapter Nine
. + . A Memory Recalled .+.
Everything was lost to him. He searched around frantically the dark corner of a bar, his eyes blood-shot from all the unrest he had experienced. Night after night of running away from vengeful men who looked to kill him. They had caught up to him, and now they were looking at him with pure hatred.
"Now, you're going to get your just punishment. Betchu feel fear now dontcha?" A man said scathingly. Rufus held his chin up high and spat at the ground.
The man growled and took a menacing step forward. "Beg for your life. I want you to beg before I kill you."
"No." Rufus said, his blue eyes sharpening.
"Then you die now." The man hissed, and took out his pocket knife. The sharp blade gleamed in the night, and Rufus closed his eyes, prepared for the end.
He deserved it anyways. In these mere seconds, he realized all that he had done and he had felt the fear that he had caused. He was just getting his fair punishment, and regretted what he had done in the past. His death couldn't even pay back for what he had done.
He waited, but only silence came. He opened his eyes and saw that the man who had been holding the blade had fallen to the ground, and a woman's foot was on top of his back. His eyes wandered up those fantastic pair of legs and into the face of none other than Tifa Lockheart. She narrowed her eyes at him, and swung her foot around to kick another man in the neck. Her fighting skills were exceptional. She put her hands up in balls of fists, and even though she didn't look it, she was damn scary when she threw her punches at the targets.
Her limit break came, her heart was pumping, and one by one she plummeted all of them. Rufus was going to suffer the same fate, she decided with a satisfied nod of her head.
Sure enough, after a few brief minutes, all the men that had threatened Rufus now lay face down on the dirty ground. She turned to Rufus, and nudged him with her foot, motioning for him to get up. He winced in pain, letting Tifa know that he very well couldn't. She rolled her eyes and groaned. She bent down, grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him up.
"I don't fight people who are not capable of defending themselves." She spat out. Somehow, he knew she was talking about him and how he did exactly that.
"Tifa.." Rufus said hoarsely.
"Explain yourself." She snapped.
"I ..I know I can't apologize for all the things that I've done," Rufus started hastily, but Tifa cut in.
"Actually--that would be a good start." She said with a quirk of her eyebrow.
"Okay," Rufus began slowly, "I am sorry. I've…got nothing now. I've lost everything.. everything." He murmured, his eyes suddenly prickling, and his throat felt incredibly clamped tight.
The words, 'I've lost everything' struck Tifa like a silk, and she suddenly softened. Like him, she knows how it feels to have lost everything and have no one to comfort her. She knew what it was like to be lonely and have nothing. She turned around and started walking away briskly. Rufus stared after her dumbfounded, and she stopped abruptly and turned around.
"Well?" She asked impatientely, her hands firmly planted on her hips.
He looked quizically at her, and she sighed exasperately.
"You're coming with me until you're recovered." She said, and walked off again. He was still firmly rooted to the ground with confusion. What the hell?
"Hurry up! I haven't got all night!" She yelled, and he hurriedly followed her. She stopped again, causing him to almost crash into her. She looked at him with a fierce glare.
"Don't think that just because I've saved your pathetic, lowly, selfish ass that it means we're friends. Got that?" She snapped. He blinked and merely nodded.
He followed her knowing full well that he didn't quite agree. In fact, they did indeed grow to be very good friends. He never forgot what she did, and her hospitality. In time, she forgave him, and brought him back to ShinRa. He changed into a better person, and has been one ever since. He just wondered when and how he could repay Tifa back.
[ Author's note : Just a little chapter explaining how the friendship between Rufus and Tifa came to be. Hope you liked it, and eventually more explainations will come as the story develops. ^_^ I have *BIG* plans for this story--tee-hee! So keep checking for updates and reviewing! ^_^ ]