By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or Squaresoft. Gyah…
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Rufus was seated on his office chair, feeling so ridiculous and shaky. "My panther is… my panther is… my panther is…" he kept on saying breathlessly.
Dark Nation was sprawled on the floor beside him, looking up at him ridiculously. "Meowrrr…" she uttered, as if to say, "Snap out of it! I'm pregnant, okay?"
Scarlet and Heidegger were still fanning him with empty folders while Reeve tried to offer him a glass of ice cold water.
"What did the vet say again?" Elena whispered to Reno as they stood in one corner of the room, just observing Rufus freaking out.
"The black cat's pregnant. Heheheheh… she must've had a wild rendezvous in the slums with a stray! Heheheheheh…" Reno snickered maliciously.
Elena's eyes grew wide in surprise as she gasped. "If she's pregnant, how come it made President Rufus faint?" she asked.
"Probably too hard for him to take… or maybe he's excited." He replied, shrugging as he shoved his hands inside his trouser pockets. "But how could that big thing have sex with a stray cat? I doubt if there are any more big cats like Dark Nation roaming around in the slums…" she told him.
Reno raised his eyebrows at Elena, "I never knew you could ask such questions?!"
"Hey, I'm curious, okay?" she snapped before approaching Rufus.
"Excuse me, sir, don't mind me asking but… what do you think happened?" she asked.
Rufus just looked up at her blankly with a stunned look.
"Dark Nation is going to have panther cubs…" he muttered glumly.
"Is that so bad?" Reeve asked.
"N…not really… but…" Rufus started.
Dark Nation felt so impatient and annoyed with her master so she just got up and went to Rufus and big his hand that was dangling from the armrest. "AAARGH!!!" He screamed in agony as he withdrew his hand from Dark Nation.
Scarlet and Heidegger moved away from Rufus and the panther, suddenly aware that Dark Nation could be dangerous again…
Rufus got up and shook his head in disbelief at Dark Nation before marching to the door. "I need to see her," he said aloud with a frantic look on his face as he raked his fingers through his disheveled hair. He was beginning to sweat because of the tension, so he removed his two white coats, revealing his long-sleeved black turtleneck.
"President Rufus, where are you going? Gyah…" Heidegger ran after him.
Dark Nation sprinted to Rufus, running as fast as she could. Finally, she reached him and she slowed down a bit to match his pace as he headed for the elevator.
"Leave me alone, Heidegger," Rufus snapped.
Heidegger stopped in his tracks.
The others joined him. "Where's he going?" Reeve asked.
"I thought I heard him say that he needs to see her… who's the her?" Reno asked.
"Don't you think we should follow him? He's actually going out alone!" Elena said.
"Gyah… if we follow him, he'd kill us… it's his command, we have to obey him…" Heidegger replied, though he really did not like the idea of letting Rufus out of the building without any bodyguards.
***
"Where are we going, Master?" Dark Nation thought as she looked up at Rufus as they continued to make their way to the train station.
Rufus could not believe that he was taking the train alone without any bodyguards. "Chill out, you can take care of yourself…" he thought silently as they finally boarded the train.
Everyone was looking at them, especially at Rufus as he took his seat.
"Is that Rufus ShinRa?" he heard someone ask.
"I don't think so. He wouldn't be caught dead riding a public transportation like this… he has cars, you know? Besides, he wouldn't leave without any bodyguards," he heard someone answer.
Rufus just looked down to the ground as he crossed his arms across his chest, sighing heavily. "Well, I am that goddamned President Rufus…" he thought miserably before he heard the voice from the announcer saying, "This train is headed straight to Sector 7. Have a nice trip. Good day,"
He could feel his heart racing so he just turned to Dark Nation who was seated on the floor, staring up at him. He smiled gently at her and patted her head. "I'm going to be asking questions to your other guardian when I was away regarding those kittens of yours," he thought silently as he stroked her fur gently.
Dark Nation came nearer and nuzzled her head against his legs. "Meowrrr…" she purred happily, meaning to say, "I knew you're going to like Tifa, Master Rufus!"
Then, he gently slapped her head. "You nasty cat. Why did you bite my hand moments ago?" he muttered angrily.
She hissed and scratched his face. "You didn't have to slap my head!" she wanted to say.
Rufus's eyes grew wide before getting a pocket mirror and groaned upon examining his face. "Damn… now my face has a scratch…" he thought miserably as he saw some blood on his left cheek.
"Don't worry, it will not produce a scar to ruin your handsome face, I'm sure of it…" Dark Nation thought as she yawned and climbed up on the seat beside Rufus and decided to sleep for a while by resting her chin on his leg.
He smiled gently as he started to stroke her fur. "You naughty girl," he muttered under his breath.
***
"C'mon, Tifa, what's wrong? You used to be full of enthusiasm and now you're…"
Tifa pounded on the dresser and looked at Yuffie from the mirror reflection. "Do I have to explain over and over again?" she asked impatiently before starting to brush her hair again. "Fine, I'm desperate and I feel so lonely. How old am I? I'm past 21? And I could recall my mom telling me 'Tifa, by 21, you should already be stable'… and look at me now… I mean, I'm living in this house doing household chores for all of you… I feel like some maid without any purpose in life." She thought silently, not really wanting to reveal her thoughts to Yuffie or else she would look very vulnerable. She just cried her eyes out for an hour until Yuffie finally got upstairs from the dining area.
Her eyes still looked puffy but she did not care.
Yuffie giggled. "If it'd make you feel better, I think you should go shopping." She said.
Tifa stopped and turned to Yuffie. "What for? I'll just be burning money?" she said with a ridiculous look on her face before she got up and went to the closet to get some clothes and some shoes. Yuffie watched silently as Tifa pulled out a maroon floral sundress and a pair of black sandals.
"You're going out?" Yuffie asked.
Tifa smiled at her before she headed out for the bathroom to get dressed.
After a few moments, Tifa got out of the bathroom wearing the sundress and the sandals. Yuffie's eyes grew wide in awe. "Oh my God… Tifa, you look fantastic!" she said with a happy smile on her face as she approached Tifa and examined her further.
Tifa didn't care. "Time to put these in the laundry…" she said as she showed Yuffie her old clothes.
"Oh, so you just changed so that you can wash your usual clothes?" Yuffie asked with a frown on her face as she placed her hands on her hips, looking strict all of a sudden.
Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Why? You want me to stink?" she asked.
Yuffie shook her head as she grabbed the white top and the short skirt plus the socks. "Let me at those. You need to relax! Why don't you just go out for a while and enjoy the afternoon breeze?" she asked before rushing inside their room to pull out a black denim jacket from the closet and went back outside in the hallway where Tifa was standing in awe. Yuffie smiled reassuringly as she handed Tifa the jacket. "Relax, it's not like I'm gonna be bleaching everything!" she said.
Tifa smiled weakly. "O…okay…" she replied, thinking that she really needed the break somehow to clear her head. With that, she went downstairs and saw Barret and Vincent watching some television.
Their jaws dropped in awe upon seeing Tifa wearing different clothes. "Whoa, Teef! Where ya headin'?" Barret asked.
"Stroll." She replied simply with a wink before she finally got out.
Vincent raised his eyebrows. "Is that really Tifa?" he asked.
"I think so…" Barret muttered before they turned back their attention to the TV.
***
Tifa continued to walk down the streets of Sector 7 until she came to a halt in front of a small Church. She looked up at the steeple and smiled gently upon the memory of Cloud and Aerith getting married in the same Church. She sighed heavily as she hugged herself. "That's got to be one of the most romantic couple I've ever seen…" then, she decided to enter the Church. "I wonder when I can finally meet that special someone and marry him?" she thought with a dreamy look on her face as she headed for the front pews and knelt down to pray.
***
"So much for walks…" Red XIII thought miserably as he stared up miserably at Cloud and Aerith who were seated on a park bench and watching some of the people passing by while telling stories to each other. He just decided to lie on the ground on his stomach and just sleep, but he could not do so because he could hear Cloud & Aerith's voices.
He sighed heavily as he turned his gaze to the children playing in the playground.
Suddenly, he remembered Dark Nation. He smiled bitterly. "Is she okay? What if she's already pregnant and then she gives birth? I want to be with her when that happens… but unfortunately, I can't… she's simply too far…" he thought silently as he watched the children.
Aerith looked down at Red XIII, sensing that there really is something wrong. "Red, do you feel okay?" she asked as she stooped down a little to pat his head.
He just shook his head.
Aerith sighed heavily. "Oh, Red… you've been so miserable ever since Dark Nation left… you're just like Tifa in that sense." She said honestly.
"I thought you didn't like Dark Nation? How come you're brooding over her now?" Cloud asked, looking at Red XIII.
Red looked up at them. "You know, you never really realize how much you love someone until they're gone…" he replied with a miserable voice and look before resting his chin on his two front paws.
Cloud thought for a while, remembering what he had felt when Sephiroth killed Aerith. He was really glad that Aerith is back after quite a long while. He nodded his head slightly. "I understand," he thought silently.
Red sighed heavily.
"That's the 95th time you've sighed that way today," Aerith pointed out.
"Never really counted it…" Red XIII muttered glumly.
"I think we should just leave him alone for awhile…" Cloud whispered to Aerith.
***