Switching Places
By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I neither own Final Fantasy 7 nor the characters. Duh.
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Chapter Seven
Cloud turned around but the others were not there anymore. "Great… I don't even know where dad's office is…" he thought miserably before entering the elevator and pressing the button to the 70th floor.
It took him almost two minutes to reach the 70th floor, but he did not care. He was still bothered by what he had seen before he left Nibelheim. "I know I've seen them before… but how come I can't remember their names?" he thought silently as he stepped out of the elevator and looked around the place. He turned to his left, surprised to see the secretary seated with a pile of papers on her hand.
"Good morning, sir. Your father is expecting you," she greeted.
Cloud ignored her and turned to the door. "Is that his office?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," she replied.
With that, Cloud proceeded without even knocking, but the moment he got inside, there was no one there. "Where is he?" he thought.
He went to the secretary again. "There's no one here," Cloud said.
The secretary got up and peered inside. "Well, he must've left without saying anything…" she said.
Cloud got inside the office again and went to the desk, seeing a note taped on top of the telephone, saying, "Be back for dinner. Important meeting."
Cloud sighed heavily. "He hardly shows himself up to me anyway," he thought miserably before finally leaving the office. "He went out for an important meeting." He told the secretary before he proceeded to the elevator with an annoyed look on his face.
***
She got back inside her house with a sweet but rather shy smile on her face as she placed the basket of flowers on the floor by the kitchen doorway.
"You there, Aerith?" said a voice from the kitchen.
"Yes, mommy," she replied with a voice that sounded happy as she entered the kitchen.
Her mother examined her face and noticed her blushing. "Anything wrong, Aerith?" she asked with a probing smile.
Aerith sat down on the chair by the dining table and sighed dreamily as she leaned back. "Nothing, mommy," she replied as she smiled shyly.
Mrs. Gainsborough stopped slicing the carrots. "There's this glint in your eyes revealing that there's something good, huh? What's going on, dearie?" she asked with a smile on her face as she approached her daughter.
Aerith shrugged. "Nothing, really… I'm just happy," she said gently.
Mrs. Gainsborough sat down. "Okay… and where have you been this time?" she asked.
"Sector 1." Aerith replied simply.
"And what did you see in Sector 1? I thought I already told you not to go there! It's dangerous! " her mother said with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't worry, mom. Nothing happened to me… except that… did you know that President ShinRa's son just arrived today?" Aerith asked with an excited look on her face.
Mrs. Gainsborough thought for a while before responding with a sly smile on her face. "Oh, I get it… you saw Rufus ShinRa?" she asked.
Aerith giggled and looked away. "Yes…"
"And you like him?" her mother asked with a hard tone.
"…Uh…" Aerith bit her lower lip, not knowing how to answer.
Mrs. Gainsborough sighed heavily. "Aerith, Aerith, Aerith… if you're going to love someone, don't pick out someone from the elites… most especially the ShinRas!" she pointed out with a stern look on her face, though her voice still sounded gentle.
Aerith sighed heavily. "I know, mom… but something in Rufus is different… like he's not similar to all the other stuck-up elites…" she said with a look of longing on her face.
Mrs. Gainsborough shook her head in disbelief before she went back to the kitchen counter to continue slicing the carrots. "Well… I advise you not to see him again." She said plainly.
Aerith just looked at her mother before she got up from her seat and sighed heavily as she headed to her room upstairs. "Yes, mother," she said softly.
But as she plopped down on her bed, she hugged her pillow tightly, still thinking about him and the way he looked at her. She smiled sadly before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
***
"So, Rufus… how do you find Midgar so far?" President ShinRa asked with a sly smile on his face before gobbling up a piece of meat.
Cloud turned him from the other end of the long table but he did not smile, "It's fine. Can I have a look around outside this building tomorrow morning, since it's already 8:00 pm?" he asked.
"Take the Turks with you." President ShinRa said.
"Can't I go alone?" Cloud asked.
"No." President ShinRa snapped sternly.
Cloud fell silent before pushing his plate away from him. "I just lost my appetite," he said before standing up with an annoyed look on his face.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Where are you going, son?" President ShinRa demanded as he pounded on the table.
"To my room. You told me to keep track of the bids in the Stock Market, remember? So I'm watching their channel," Cloud replied with a mean tone as he headed for the door.
"You're not going anywhere until I finish this dinner!" President ShinRa snapped.
Heidegger blocked Cloud's way. "Better follow your dad, Sir," he whispered softly.
Cloud narrowed his eyes on the fat man before turning back to face the President. "What am I going to do here?" he asked.
President ShinRa's angry expression faded away as he motioned for Cloud to sit down again.
Cloud sighed heavily before obeying.
"It's about time you had a girlfriend, Rufus," President ShinRa said with a sly smile on his face as he winked.
Cloud frowned at him. "I don't need a girlfriend." He snapped.
"But I think you do. It's for the good of this company. If not a girlfriend, maybe someone who'll introduce you to the pleasures of being a man! Harharharharhar!"
Cloud listened to him and his laughter… it sickened him, but he did not say anything.
President ShinRa stopped laughing when Scarlet suddenly entered the dining room, panting and looking so disheveled. "President ShinRa!" she called out in panic.
All eyes turned to her. "What is it, Scarlet? What's with that new look?" President ShinRa asked with a ridiculous smile on his face.
"Kyah… there's this man who got killed near one of the Mako Reactors… kyah… since he was intruding… kyah… one of the Soldiers killed him… kyah…" Scarlet explained while trying her best to speak properly.
"Hmf… well then, dispose of him! I have no time for things like that!" President ShinRa snapped impatiently before taking a sip of wine.
"But sir… isn't this a warning that… kyah! That there are terrorists and that we should already be tightening our security?" Scarlet asked.
"Scarlet's right, dad." Cloud backed up as he nodded.
President ShinRa felt so annoyed. "Will you just leave me alone here? Rufus, go there and see the goddamn corpse and tell the others to dispose of it," he commanded.
"At least I'll be getting out of here if I do so," Cloud thought miserably as he stood up and went to the door with Scarlet and Heidegger.
***
"Does he have an I.D. with him? It could be in his wallet or something…" Reeve told them as he stooped down and examined the dead man on the floor.
Cloud just stared at the man slumped on his stomach to the ground. "Was he alone when he came here?" he asked.
"We don't really know… the Soldier who shot him also got killed by I don't know… Kyah…" Scarlet explained as she stared in disgust at the dead man.
"Maybe his companions." Cloud told them before his eyes narrowed at the sight of Reeve pulling out a wallet from the man's back pocket and then opening it to check for I.D.'s. After a few seconds, he revealed to Scarlet, Cloud, Heidegger and some Soldiers an I.D. card. "Lockheart," Reeve announced the surname.
Cloud's mouth dropped open. "Lockheart?" he echoed.
Somehow, he could recognize the surname but it was not very clear to him. "I… I think I know him…" he said softly.
"No, you don't!" Scarlet, Reeve and Heidegger all said in unison with a tone of denial.
Scarlet ran to Cloud and patted his shoulders. "Kyahahahahaha! Sir Rufus, why would you even know this guy? Besides, Lockheart is such a very common surname, you know?" she asked.
"Gyahahahaha! There are over a thousand Lockhearts all over Midgar and only 5% of them are related! Gyahahahahahaha!" Heidegger explained with a laugh.
Cloud frowned angrily at him. "Stop that horse-laugh! It's annoying!" he snapped angrily before turning away from them. "Dispose of that goddamn corpse and I want all of you to tighten the security around here." He commanded before he exited.
"Gyah…" Heidegger muttered.
Reeve snickered. "Looks like Rufus has his days, huh?" he asked.
"Gyah!" Heidegger screeched at him before walking away.
Reeve got up and crossed his arms before turning to the Soldiers. "Cremate him and throw his ashes into the sea." He commanded.
"Kyah… why do that?" Scarlet asked with a snotty look on her face.
"It's the least we could do for him. We don't even know him. I'm sure his intentions were good… I really don't like the idea of having these Mako reactors, you know?" Reeve told her in a whispery tone.
Scarlet snorted. "You're really deranged, you know that?" she snapped before walking away.
***
"Daddy didn't come home for 5 nights already… I wonder how he is…" Tifa wondered sadly as she sat down on the well.
Rufus frowned slightly as he sat down beside her. "…Look, I'm sorry if you feel bad about not being able to follow him because I stopped you…" he began.
Tifa shook her head. "No, Rufus. It's not your fault. I just thought it'd be better if I just stay behind here…" she looked up at him. "…with you," she said.
Rufus raised an eyebrow as he felt his blood rushing to his head. "Why?" he asked, not really knowing what to say.
Tifa shrugged and smiled gently. "Oh you know… you are Rufus ShinRa. I don't want you to feel lonely because that's the feeling that they've been giving to you ever since you were born, I guess." She said.
"Not really… I have my mother." He said with a smile as he patted her head.
Then, she sighed heavily and looked up at the starry sky.
Rufus noticed her sudden sadness. "Is there anything wrong?" he asked.
"Do you have any intention to go back to ShinRa?" she asked after a few moments of silence, still keeping her gaze up into the night sky.
Rufus looked down. "Yes," he replied.
Tifa's eyes widened before she turned to him. "When?" she asked with a rather demanding tone.
Rufus did not even look at her. "Once old man dies… I'll take my place. I have to." He told her.
"But why?" she asked, her voice faltering as she tried to stop the tears.
"Show them who's the true heir. It's only old man whom I don't want. The rest is easy." He explained with a rather cold look on his face.
Tifa swallowed hard and looked away with a very sad and disappointed look on her face as she clenched her fists. "Maybe it was all a big lie… hoping for nothing…" she thought silently. "…but when you go away, will you still remember me?" she asked.
Rufus looked at her but his eyes narrowed upon noticing that her head was turned away from him, like she was avoiding his gaze or something or she doesn't want to see him. He could feel his heart sinking, realizing what was really wrong with her. "Damn you, Rufus! You just had to make her cry, huh?" he scolded himself silently, mentally kicking himself; but he smiled gently as he got her hand. "Don't be ridiculous, Tifa… of course, I'll still remember you!" he said.
Tifa somewhat smiled, but she still felt bad as she looked up at him, staring into his blue eyes, but she did not say anything. Her eyes were damp with tears but they did not fall… she would never let them fall in front of him.
"I'll always remember you." He told her reassuringly.
It took a lot of energy for Tifa to respond, but still, her voice faltered, "…You promise?"
He examined her crimson eyes. "…somewhat yes," he replied with a cold look.
Her eyes widened in confusion, especially when he just put his arm around her shoulder and sighed heavily after laughing heartily. "…You really think I'll leave you alone here, Tifa? Of course not!" he told her as he looked down at her and leaned her head on his shoulder as he smiled proudly. "I'm taking you with me," he told her reassuringly.
Tifa's mouth dropped open as she looked up at him with a look of disbelief, but she was smiling unbelievably. "Wh…what?! R…really?" she asked in awe.
"Would I even lie to you?" he asked with a wink.
Tifa laughed lightly as she shook her head.
"If it's okay with you, Tifa," he said conditionally.
She smiled as she clasped her hands together on her lap and moved closer to Rufus. "Of course, Rufus… it's okay with me…" she told him reassuringly.
With that, Rufus looked up at the skies.
"You promise?" Tifa asked as she looked up at the night sky, suddenly feeling happy.
"Yes. I promise," he replied softly as he smiled gently.
And as she reached for his hand and interlaced her fingers with his, a shooting star fell.
***
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Author's Note: Yeesh… to tell you the truth, I hate too much mushy stuff… but I have to write this for the sake of the story… gyah… please forgive meh… ;_;