Switching Places
By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I neither own Final Fantasy 7 nor the characters. Duh.
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Chapter Nine
Rufus was outside, shoveling by the front door. "Nasty snow…" he thought miserably. He could already smell the food that Tifa was cooking for their dinner and he suddenly felt hungry. "Gotta hurry up," he thought silently with a secret smile on his face.
He stopped for a while when he noticed some old folks passing by and talking about ShinRa.
"It's such a shame… the old President's dead this morning."
"Hmf… the ShinRa reign's not yet over, dearie. There's still his son, remember?"
Rufus stared at them. "What?" he thought silently as he continued to listen while proceeding to shovel.
"Right… Rufus ShinRa. Heard the boy's injured right now."
"Yeah."
Rufus stopped and placed the shovel by the door before he stepped inside. "Tifa," he called out as he closed the door.
"Yeah?" she called out from the kitchen.
Rufus ran to the kitchen with a slight smile on his face. "I just heard some news from the old folks passing by," he told her.
"What is it?" she asked as she removed the saucepan from the stove and placed it on the kitchen counter before facing him.
Rufus did not feel ashamed that he was really happy upon his father's death. "Old man's dead," he announced.
Tifa's eyes grew wide in shock. "Wh…what?" she asked in disbelief.
Rufus got her hands and squeezed them gently. "Old man's dead! Just this morning! I don't know how but… he's dead!" he said happily with an evil glint in his eyes.
Tifa really felt so unsure whether she should be cheering for him or not, but she just decided to smile reassuringly at him, "Well then, what now?" she asked.
Rufus let go of her. "It's time for us to go to Midgar. Tomorrow morning." He told her.
She blinked. "Tomorrow morning?" she asked.
"The sooner, the better," he said.
She shrugged. "I don't know, Rufus… where are we going to stay there?" she asked.
He stared at her unbelievably. "Tifa, look at me! Who do you see standing here before you and talking to you? I'm not just any ordinary citizen around here, you know?" he asked.
She scratched her head. "I…I know, you are Rufus ShinRa," she began.
"That's right, Tifa. And I'm not going to let us stay in just some plain old place, but we're staying in Sector 1 or Sector 2." He said reassuringly.
She nodded shyly. "O…okay… whatever you say," she said.
"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing her sudden change in behavior.
She sighed heavily. "Oh nothing… it's just that… I feel like I'm suddenly from another planet… and you're from this place filled with all the treasures you can wish for…" she stammered.
He understood what she meant but he just smiled reassuringly at her and gave her a hug. "Please don't be intimidated and overwhelmed by me… you're going to be just fine with me, okay?" he asked.
She nodded as she leaned her head on his chest.
He frowned slightly. "And I have to get Cloud out of there… who knows what those idiots have done to him to make him act like me, deceiving everyone…" he thought silently as his embrace tightened around Tifa.
Tifa wasn't sure about what he was thinking about because of his sudden silence, but she spoke up anyway, "Rufus, how would you present yourself to them?" she asked.
Rufus thought for a while. "I'll let them come to me," he told her.
***
"Where is she?" Yuffie asked.
"She's in her room," Barret replied.
"Is she okay?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Can't really tell. She's been crying ever since we got out of that building," he replied miserably.
***
Hojo stared at Cloud for a while before shrugging. "At least be thankful that he's safe now… we need him to be President." He told the others.
Reeve was silent, staring at the sleeping boy.
Scarlet sighed heavily. "Kyah… I feel sorry for him," she said.
Heidegger shook his head. "Gyah… don't be, Scarlet. He doesn't deserve it. He's just our puppet after all," he said with a cold look on his face as he stared at Cloud.
"Kyah! How could you say that! This was just an innocent little boy that we kidnapped and then turned him into President Rufus! He has a mind and we're forcing him to forget everything so that he could live Rufus's life!" she snapped.
Hojo began to inject something into Cloud's bloodstream once again.
"That's the fifth time you did that; don't you think it's enough?" Palmer asked him with a frown on his face.
"It's for his own good. The sixth one's for his death…" Hojo replied.
"What do you mean for his death?" Reeve demanded.
"This boy isn't the real Rufus ShinRa. I figured that Rufus wouldn't be returning unless his father's dead and rotting in the ground… now that his father's gone, he could be returning sooner or later, like a lost prince who wants to reclaim his throne. Once he does, we are going to kill this boy. We just can't throw him away and leave him to blab about everything that happened in his pathetic miserable life," Hojo said.
"Kyah!!! That's so mean!" Scarlet said as she snatched the syringe from Hojo and threw it on the floor. "Heidegger, Reeve and I took care of this boy and you just can't kill him like that! We trained him to be someone who is better than Rufus, you just can't kill him!" she snapped angrily as she pushed him away from the bed and slapped his face.
"Hehehehehe… is that, so, Scarlet?" Hojo asked.
"Gyahahahah! Scarlet's right. This boy is going to be the president and he is going to make ShinRa rise again!" Heidegger started.
Hojo adjusted his glasses as he glared mockingly at Scarlet and Heidegger. "We shall see…" he said before he left the room.
"Maybe we should already start with bringing him back to who he really is…" Reeve told Scarlet and Heidegger.
The two were silent as they watched the sleeping Cloud.
Then, they were interrupted when they heard someone knocking.
Scarlet rushed to the door and opened it, surprised to see Tseng with a bouquet of white and pink flowers.
She narrowed her gaze on him. "Kyah… if you're planning to give me those nasty flowers, you'd better think twice! I like someone else, so get lost!" she snapped.
Tseng raised an eyebrow as he made a disgusted face. "Ugh! Who, Reeve?" he asked with a teasing tone before he stepped inside. "Besides, these aren't for you, Scarlet. This is for President Rufus," he said as he placed the flowers on top of the bedside table.
Scarlet raised an eyebrow as she went to Tseng. "Really, where did it come from?" she asked.
"Someone left it by the gate. Reno just saw it and brought it in." Tseng replied.
"You sure there's no bomb inside?" Reeve pointed out with an unsure look on his face.
"We even let Dark Nation sniff it. No bomb," Tseng replied with a silly smile on his face.
Heidegger examined the flowers and was stunned to see a note card. He got it and read it aloud, "I hope you are well, Rufus. I'm always praying for you, love, Aerith,"
"Aerith?" Scarlet echoed.
Tseng raised an eyebrow. "Aerith?!" he said in disbelief.
"Why, you know this girl?" Heidegger demanded.
Tseng shook his head frantically. "Uh… no. I don't." he lied.
Heidegger scanned the note card for a while and then turned to Cloud. He just jumped away from the bed when he saw the boy's eyes wide open, staring at him. "GYAH!" he said in surprise.
Cloud slowly sat up, clutching his injured shoulder. "What's going on? Where am I?" he asked.
Everyone was silent, staring at him in awe.
Cloud frowned at them. "What's going on?' he asked.
"President ShinRa," Tseng began.
"What did you just call me?" Cloud asked in disbelief.
Scarlet approached him. "Sir Rufus, your… your father died… and now you're the President…" she stammered.
Cloud fell silent for a while and then nodded. "I know. I remember seeing him in his office… I think that big man killed him…" he stopped when he recalled about the girl. "There's… there's a girl with him…" he stated flatly.
"What girl?" Scarlet asked.
"Gyah… President ShinRa, these flowers just arrived today. They're for you… and here's some note card with it," Heidegger said, referring to the flowers and then handing he note card to him.
Cloud got the note card and read it slowly. When he came across the name, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Aerith?" he asked.
"Kya~h! Do you know any Aerith, President ShinRa?' Scarlet asked.
Cloud frowned at her. "Stop calling me by my father's surname. I hate it! Just refer to me as President Rufus," he commanded before shaking his head in disagreement. "No, I don't know any Aerith," he said as he let go of the card and stared at the flowers for a very long time.
But from the back of his mind, he could see the image of the girl with braided brown hair… the one who tried to save him… the one who smiled at him when he first arrived in Midgar…
And as he continued to stare at the flowers, his lips slowly curved into a gentle smile, surprising everyone else in the room.
"P…President Rufus, is everything okay?" Palmer asked.
Cloud looked up at them and he had this determined look on his face. "I want you to find this girl," he commanded.