Switching Places
By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I neither own Final Fantasy 7 nor the characters. Duh.
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Chapter Five
Tifa entered her classroom and took her seat. "I wonder what Rufus is doing now?" she thought silently with a smile on her face as she brought out her notebook, preparing for class which would be starting in a few minutes.
She was already in the first grade.
When she got a little bored, she began to doodle at the back page of her notebook, but she stopped when she heard a few classmates talking about an insignificant other in her life.
"You know that Cloud Strife from the second grade?"
"Yeah, that guy with spiky blonde hair? I think he's cute!"
"Eww! You're gross!"
"Why, what happened?"
"He's missing!"
"Missing? Missing on classes? But I just saw him go to school yesterday!"
"No, he just disappeared!"
Tifa just raised her eyebrows and shrugged before continuing to doodle, but she stiffened when she heard more talking.
"I heard from mom and dad that last night, they heard a gunshot from the big house!"
"Me too! I heard it too! It was scary!"
"You think somebody died in there?"
"I don't know… but you know that President ShinRa is a bad man, according to grandpa…he could've killed someone!"
"Ohh, I'm scared of him!"
"Maybe he killed his wife!"
"Oh yeah? How would you know that?"
"Because every morning, I can see her in their garden, but this morning, I didn't see her!"
"Maybe she's sick or something…"
Tifa bit her lower lip, thinking about Rufus. She was really glad that her father had let him stay with them. "I really feel so sorry for him…" she thought silently as she began to write his name.
***
"I'm only supposed to be studying pluses, minuses, multiplications and divisions… how come they're giving me square roots?!" Cloud thought miserably as he stared at his math book.
The tutor had fallen asleep beside him because he was taking a long time to answer the exercises.
Then, he turned his gaze to the black panther cub looking up at him from the floor. "Meowrrr," she said with nasty look on her face.
Cloud frowned at her before he was interrupted by someone who opened the door. "Hello, Sir Rufus,"
It was Reeve and he was holding a math book for Grade 2 students. "Having difficulty, sir?" he asked as he placed the book before the little boy and then turned to the sleeping tutor. "I think we have to fire him and get you another one…" he muttered glumly.
Cloud turned to the black panther cub again. "What's her name?" he asked.
"I thought you named him Dark Nation, sir?" Reeve asked, trying to act casual.
Cloud nodded. "I just forgot…sorry…" he said.
Dark Nation climbed up on his lap and yawned before falling asleep there.
Reeve was thankful that Dark Nation did not harm Cloud or else it would blow their cover. "Does he know who he is?" he thought silently as he observed Cloud's eyes. He just checked out the boy's citizen record and found out that his real name was Cloud Strife and that he is already in second grade. "Problem is his birthday… it's on the 19th of August… which is right now… and President Rufus's birthday is on the 23rd of December… I just hope that this kid doesn't really realize everything. I'm afraid that Hojo's formula could just get washed off from this kid's system in time…" he thought silently as he watched Cloud opened the new math book and began to read through the multiplication lesson.
Reeve watched him silently, observing how he studied. "Heidegger told me to fire this tutor or else he'll realize that this boy doesn't know algebra yet… and we'll get busted… in the meantime, I'll just have to teach this boy myself until he reaches President Rufus's level… which is already equivalent to first year high school…" he thought silently as he tapped the tutor's shoulder.
The tutor jerked up and stood up, facing Reeve.
Reeve smiled kindly at the tutor. "You're fired." He said calmly.
The tutor stared for a while before he grabbed his things and left.
With that, Reeve sat down beside Rufus. "Need any help?" he asked.
Cloud nodded. "Yes, thank you, Sir Reeve." He said politely.
Reeve smiled at him before he started the lesson on multiplication.
***
Mister Lockheart observed quietly from his peripheral vision as Rufus continued to sweep the floor. Mister Lockheart was washing the dishes and he was thankful that Rufus was very eager in doing household chores and he never complained.
Rufus did his job well and happily continued it. "This is quite fun than sitting around just watching TV… though I really miss just sitting around… but I have to do this if I want to stay here… I don't want to go back to ShinRa…" he thought silently with a secret smile on his face.
"You're learning fast, huh, Rufus?" Mister Lockheart asked.
Rufus turned to him and smiled proudly. "Thank you for teaching me, Uncle." He said.
"No problem, Rufus. It's basic for every person: know how to do chores and manage a home so that if poverty strikes, you know how to take care of yourself." Mister Lockheart explained with a wink.
Rufus nodded his head in agreement. He was also surprised to find out that he is enjoying his stay in that place… away from all the luxuries in the world.
"So, Rufus, tell me. What are your interests?" Mister Lockheart asked.
"Me? Oh, I enjoy Marketing, Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Accountancy and knowing what's going on in the Stock Market." Rufus said happily.
Of course, Mister Lockheart was in awe upon hearing that from a young boy like Rufus so he ended up gaping at him. Rufus noticed his sudden reaction so he cleared his throat and laughed. "…I also enjoy music, reading and technology." He continued with an embarrassed smile on his face.
Mister Lockheart nodded in disbelief. "You must be a smart kid, huh?" he asked with a wink.
Rufus blushed. "Eh… thanks…" he said shyly before proceeding with his work. "I also play the piano." He added.
Mister Lockheart smiled gently at him. "Well, my Tifa also likes to play the piano. She also sings well." He pointed out.
Rufus blinked. "Really?" he asked, hardly believing it.
"There's a piano in her bedroom in case you want to play it. You may." He told Rufus.
Rufus smiled. "Thank you, Uncle." He said, then thought for a while before speaking again, "May I know what time Tifa would be coming back?" he asked.
"She'll be here by lunch. She's only in first grade. Half-day. What about you, Rufus, what grade are you in right now?" Mister Lockheart asked.
Rufus felt hesitant for a moment but he replied anyway, "First year high school…" with an embarrassed smile on his face, expecting that Mister Lockheart would not believe him.
He was shocked. "First year high school? Really now?!" he asked as he faced Rufus with a look of awe.
Rufus nodded nervously. "I…I got accelerated several times… You can test my knowledge if you want to…" he said.
Mister Lockheart thought for a while before smiling kindly at Rufus. "Okay, what's the formula of the Pythagorean theorem?" he asked.
"c2=a2+b2" Rufus replied without any effort as he continued to sweep the floor.
"One divided by zero?"
Rufus looked up to him. "Undefined." He replied.
"Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Rufus raised his eyebrows. "What?" he asked in awe.
Mister Lockheart stared at him for a while and then laughed heartily. "Just testin' you, Rufus. But do you know the answer?" he asked.
Rufus smiled. "Sure… to get to the other side?" he asked.
Mister Lockheart approached him and smiled proudly at him. "You've proven yourself to me already. If I could just send you to school, you'd be in the gifted class… But tell me, Tifa is going to be teaching you simple additions and subtractions and spelling easy words… don't you think you should be going on to major stuff?" he asked.
Rufus shrugged. "It's okay with me. I can teach myself, really." he said.
"I've got some textbooks upstairs for high school, college and graduate studies in case you wanna take a look at them." Mister Lockheart said.
Rufus really liked Mister Lockheart and wished that his own father could be just like him. "Thank you, Uncle. I'd really appreciate it." He said reassuringly.
***
Tifa was playing the piano while singing "London Bridge". Rufus just remained seated by the study desk reading the textbook about Geology.
Tifa stopped and turned to him. Upon noticing that she stopped playing, he also looked at her. "Why did you stop?' he asked.
"I thought I might be disturbing you… you're studying," she said.
Rufus smiled gently at her. "It's okay, really. I like listening to you," he admitted shyly.
Tifa smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you, Rufus," she said before she started playing again.
As she played and sang, Rufus thought of his own mother. She was the one who taught him how to appreciate music and play the piano. Again, he felt like crying, but he didn't want to anymore. "I must not cry anymore… I should be happy here… with Tifa…" he thought silently before turning back to his book. But he was frowning. "I wonder why dad finally gave up searching for me? I didn't hear anything about Heidegger and the others." He thought silently. "Hmf… maybe he never really cared about me. He's probably just going to get another woman and marry her and she'll bear him a son who can be his next heir… he probably thinks I'm dead by now… oh well, whatever. Curse him." He thought with a shrug before proceeding to read.
After a few moments, they were interrupted when they heard a voice from the door, saying, "Bedtime! It's 9:00."
They stopped their current activities and turned to the door, surprised to see Mister Lockheart standing there.
Tifa smiled. "Okay, daddy," she said cheerfully before running to him and reached up to him. He stooped down so that he could kiss her cheek. "G'night, honey." He said.
"G'night, daddy," Tifa said.
Rufus smiled at them. Mister Lockheart turned to him. "G'night, Rufus." He said with a gentle smile on his face.
"G'night," Rufus said as he nodded his head before putting down the book and headed for the bed.
With that, Mister Lockheart closed the lights and got out, closing the door gently.
Tifa got up on the bed and covered herself with a blanket.
Rufus had his back to her as his blue eyes stared blankly into the darkness, thinking of random things about his former life in the big Mansion.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard her voice, "Rufus?"
It seemed to tremble.
"Yeah?" he asked. He still did not feel sleepy because he could not help but relive the events from last night in the mansion.
The gunshot. The blood. The screams…
Everything.
"I'm scared…" she admitted with a trembling tone as she turned to the side, their backs already facing each other.
"Of what?" he asked with a tone that seemed to reveal that he did not want anything to do with it. "I shouldn't be afraid…" he thought silently.
"Of the dark," Tifa admitted.
He laughed. "You're afraid of the dark?" he asked mockingly.
"Rufus?!" she wailed.
"Awoooooo!" he wailed softly, as if imitating a ghost.
"Stop that!" she snapped as she covered her ears, but she could still hear him.
"Have you heard about the video tape that when you watch it you'll die in seven days?" he asked.
"Stop it, Rufus!" she said, nearing tears.
Rufus heard her voice falter so he faced her and moved closer to her. To Tifa's surprise, he embraced her. Her crimson eyes were wide in awe.
Rufus rested his head against her neck. "My mother used to hug me whenever I get afraid of the dark…" he admitted softly, trying his best to stop himself from crying again.
She smiled gently. "Me too…" she said as tears streamed down her face as her hands traveled to his hands, touching them gently.
"I'm sorry, Tifa," he told her.
He was not used to saying sorry to people he had offended, except for his own mother, something from deep inside of him had forced him to do so.
With that, they fell asleep; with Rufus still hugging him, and a slight smile could be seen on Tifa's face…
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