By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my own mind that forced me to write this thing, thank you very much.
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Dark Nation drank some water after eating but ended up finishing the whole contents of the water dish. Afterwards, she looked around, hoping to find Tifa.
"You're looking for Teef? She left moments ago while you're eating," Barret told her, as if guessing why she was suddenly looking and sniffing around.
"Meorrr…" she said.
Then, all eyes turned to the stairs when they heard Vincent, Cloud and Red XIII going down.
"Meowr…" Dark Nation uttered, as if calling, "Red!"
Red rushed down ahead of Vincent and Cloud and headed for Dark Nation. "Oh there you are." He said.
Marlene looked up at Vincent's face and began to giggle hysterically. Yuffie was trying to stifle her laugh. Cid laughed out loud at the sight of the band-aid on Vincent's nose.
"I know, it's funny… stop laughing." Vincent muttered before sitting down.
Cloud sat down beside Vincent and raised his right hand on the table. "Aerith, did the vet give Red some rabies shots?" he asked with a glum look on his face.
Aerith's eyes grew wide. "Oh my goodness… no! I forgot to take him to the vet!" she said in shock.
Cloud and Vincent almost fell off from their seats.
Aerith giggled. "I was just kidding!" she said reassuringly as she approached Cloud and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Cloud blushed for a while before turning to Cid, wanting to change the subject. "What's on the news?" he asked.
"Lotsa stuff about ShinRa's comeback." Cid replied.
"Oh, by the way, Rufus is restoring Nibelheim." Yuffie told Cloud.
"Really?" Cloud asked in awe.
Red XIII heard what they were talking about and then turned to Dark Nation, whispering, "Is that true?" he asked.
"Yep. Master left this morning to stay there for three weeks." She replied with a low "Meowrrr…" before looking around again. "What are their names again? I only remember Cloud," she told him.
"The little girl's Marlene. She's the daughter of that big bear-like guy named Barret Wallace. That guy beside Cloud is Vincent Valentine. He once worked with ShinRa, maybe that's why he could recognize you… then there's Yuffie, that girl with short hair? She's really a ninja though it isn't very obvious because of her looks." Red explained while pointing a paw at the following people.
"I see… what about that guy who kept on cussing?" she asked.
"Oh, that's Cid Highwind." He replied.
She thought for a while and then turned back to Red XIII. "What about the two nice ladies who gave me a bath?" she asked.
"The girl in braids… she's over there," Red said, referring to Aerith. "Her name's Aerith. She's Cloud Strife's wife now. They just got married 5 months ago and now she's expecting a baby." He explained.
Dark Nation nodded. "What about the other one with her?" she asked with lots of enthusiasm.
"Oh that girl with long dark hair? She's Tifa. Tifa Lockheart. You sound so curious about her," he pointed out.
Dark Nation plopped down on the floor, as if smiling when she declared, "She's very beautiful…"
"Oh man… don't tell me you're a lesbian?!" Red snapped, making the others turn around to look at them.
"Oh look what you've done! They're looking at me! Of course not! I'm no lesbian! It's just that she's very beautiful, that's all… she's the most beautiful human girl I've ever seen." Dark Nation snapped.
Red XIII turned to all of them "I was just telling her stories," he declared.
With that, they proceeded with their own business and Red sighed in relief. "Almost got you there, huh?" he said with a wink as he plopped down on the floor beside Dark Nation. "You mean you've never seen a human girl before?" he asked.
"I have… but they're ugly or just plain-looking for me. There's one executive in ShinRa named Scarlet; she's got this nasty cackle just like that Heidegger guy and I know how much Master hated those laughs but they just won't stop. Scarlet could be pretty but she's got loads of make-up on her face which makes her look much older than her real age…" she explained before raising up her head to look for Tifa again within the area. "Miss Tifa seems so natural and I was wondering if I could just stay here for a while just to be with her. The way she holds me is similar to the way Master holds me… they have the same grip, except that hers has this feminine touch to it. I like her!" She explained.
"What are you looking for?" he asked before yawning.
"Where did she go?" she asked.
"Who?" he asked.
"Miss Tifa." She replied with a look of longing on her face.
Red turned to Cloud and the others again, "Can anyone tell me where Tifa is?" he asked.
"Why?" Yuffie asked.
"Princess is looking for her." Red replied.
"Princess?" Cloud asked in awe again.
"Face it, Cloud… she's Princess." Vincent muttered under his breath as he stared at the loaf of bread before him, wondering if he should eat it or not.
"Princess?!" Cloud repeated unbelievably.
"Are you sure that cat is really Dark Nation? How come she likes Tifa? Normally she'd bite anyone's head off since she's very loyal to Rufus." Vincent muttered to Cloud.
"I still can't believe Red XIII called her Princess." Cloud muttered with a disgusted look on his face. "But yeah… that is Dark Nation… maybe she likes Tifa because she could sniff her good side…" he replied as he turned his gaze to Vincent.
"Tifa is doing laundry." Barret explained to Red XIII.
"All by herself?" Red asked as he got up and walked to them.
"She didn't want me to come with her because she says I need to rest and take it easy and insisted that coming with her is bad for the baby." Aerith reasoned with a sad look on her face.
"Don't you think she's been doing too much household chores lately?" Cloud pointed out, turning to Aerith.
"Yeah… and she says she doesn't need any help with it." Yuffie replied.
"The strange thing is, she even shut down 7th Heaven." Cloud added.
"Do you think there's something wrong with her?" Vincent asked.
"She just wants to… to forget…" Aerith replied, avoiding their gazes.
"Forget what?" Cid asked.
"…it's really something between the two of us…" she replied before standing up to gather all the dirty dishes.
Cloud frowned. "Is it something about me again?" he asked with a frown.
"No. She never mentioned anything about you… it's this guy… a new guy she's… oh never mind…" she replied, trying to stifle a smile.
"A guy?" Red XIII asked.
"Mew?" Dark Nation uttered.
"Who's the guy? Can we meet him?" Barret asked excitedly.
"Is he someone we know?" Cloud asked with an inquiring look on his face.
Aerith thought for a while. "I don't know…" she lied.
"C'mon, Aerith!" Yuffie said, jumping out of her seat and going to Aerith, helping her with the dishes.
"Just a clue… he came from a well-off family." Aerith pointed out with a wink.
Everyone was silent.
"Is it that stuck-up rich brat with black hair?" Barret asked with a frown.
"No." Aerith replied.
"Who is he?" Cid asked.
"I said I don't know!" Aerith lied with an impatient tone.
"But you gave us a clue; you must know something!" Yuffie said.
Aerith smiled impatiently at them. "Just eat, will ya?" she asked.
They all fell silent.
Dark Nation closed her eyes and uttered a low "reorrr…" as if groaning.
Red XIII approached her again. "Something wrong?" he asked.
"I wonder when can I go home?" she told him.
"I can tell Tifa to bring you back home to ShinRa." He said.
"No! Don't do that!" she said, getting up in alarm and rushing to him.
"Why?" he asked.
"Not until Master comes back from Nibelheim! Please, let me stay here with Tifa…" Dark Nation replied.
Red XIII stared at her for a while. "Okay, then." He replied.
"And please, don't tell them who I am. I don't want Tifa to leave me…" Dark Nation said.
"Why are you so attached to her all of a sudden?" Red asked.
"Because she's nice…" she trailed off when she remembered something, "Speaking of Tifa… why was she crying awhile ago?" she asked.
"Oh, she's always crying… especially every night whenever she's on top of the roof, sits facing the ShinRa Tower while watching the stars and then she ends up crying." Red replied.
"Why?" she asked.
"Nobody knows… except for Aerith… maybe tonight you would like to go up there and stay with her to keep her company. Actually, we've never seen her so happy until you came here." He explained.
Dark Nation wanted to smile. "Really? Maybe she likes me too!" she said with a proud look on her face, sitting pretty and tall on the floor. "Hmf! Who could resist my beauty?" she asked regally.
Red XIII just stared at her in disbelief. "Whatever…" he said before lying down on his stomach and sighing heavily. "Hey Aerith, isn't it time for you to head to the Pediatrician?" he asked, turning to Aerith.
Cloud turned to Red, then to Aerith. "He's right. You want to go now?" he asked.
"Doctor's fee is so expensive…" Aerith told them.
"Meowr?" Dark Nation turned her head to Aerith.
"What are you thinking of, Dark Nation?" Red XIII whispered.
"I could give you Master's credit card number if you want to use it." She told him.
"Nah. Cloud has lots of money from before but he hides it and never uses it. He can take care of the expenses." Red explained with a reassuring look before yawning again.
Dark Nation went to the table and approached Cloud, tapping his leg with her paw. He looked down at her curiously. "What do you want, Dark… I mean… Princess?" he asked.
"Meowrrr…" she uttered, meaning to say, "Where's Tifa?"
"She's doing the laundry," Red XIII told her lazily.
Cloud turned to Red. "You can understand her?" he asked.
"Obviously." Red replied.
Vincent and Cloud exchanged curious looks before turning back to Dark Nation. The latter stooped down and patted Dark Nation's head. "Tell me, why did you run away? Did Rufus abuse you?" he whispered.
Dark Nation hissed and moved away. "He did not abuse me. He loves me. I'm his pet. Those nasty executives are the ones who hate me." She thought as she approached Red XIII and plopped down beside him, and unconsciously, she began to nuzzle her head and her whole body against his, surprising everyone in the kitchen.
Red XIII immediately got up and growled at her, "What's the big idea?!"
Dark Nation, realizing what she had done, got up and hissed at him. "Shut up! I didn't even know what I was doing!" she snapped angrily.
Cloud just looked away with a funny look on his face.
Aerith started to giggle.
Cid's mouth was wide open.
Barret made a disgusted face and said, "Ugh… just don't mate in front of us…"
Dark Nation wanted to faint but she just hissed at Barret. "What mate?!" she demanded angrily as she growled.
"For your information, I don't have no intention to mate with her!" Red XIII replied before walking towards Aerith who was still giggling hysterically. "Stop it, Aerith… it's not funny." He pointed out with a disgusted look on his face.
"But Red, if Dark Nation's in heat, you can't stop the *urge*… heeheeheeheehee!" Aerith whispered gently as she stooped down to pat his head.
Red just narrowed his eyes on her and turned away with a "Hmf! Fine!"
Cloud and Vincent exchanged confused glances. "That's unfair. How come whenever we're teasing Red, he ends up biting us?" the latter asked.
"Yeah, he didn't even bite Aerith…" Cloud muttered glumly as he eyed Red XIII.
Dark Nation bowed down her head and plopped down on the floor again by the stairs. "Crazy people…" she thought miserably before she closed her eyes and fell asleep…