Switching Places
By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I neither own Final Fantasy 7 nor the characters. Duh.
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Chapter Ten
Heidegger opened up the credit card bills and examined them one by one. It had been five days ever since Cloud had become President of the ShinRa Electric Power Company, and every other normal activities happening within its walls just continued on like nothing happened.
As he scanned the last one, he frowned slightly and said, "Gyah…" surprising Tseng.
"Anything wrong, sir?" Tseng asked.
Heidegger was silent for awhile and he was frowning as he sighed heavily before reading aloud what was written on the bill, "Silver locket with special engraving: 500,000 Gil. Sute at the Sector Two Grand; suite 2450: 300,000 Gil… 500,000 Gil worth of… LADIES' WEAR?!" he put down the bill with a ridiculous look on his face. "Why would Rufus even buy a locket and rent a suite?" he asked in disbelief.
Tseng thought for a while, but before he could answer, Reno laughed at what had been asked and said, "Maybe it's for a girl!"
All eyes turned to him.
Heidegger shook his head. "I don't know, Reno… we still haven't found that Aerith, whoever the hell she is… she's not even from Sector 2 or 3…" he stated flatly before he got up. "Better ask Rufus about this," he said before leaving the room.
***
Rufus looked outside the window, seeing the ShinRa tower and then frowning slightly at the sight of it. "They should've seen the credit card bills by now," he told Tifa.
She remained seated on the couch, looking at him with too much adoration in her crimson eyes, but she did not say anything.
He sighed and turned to her with a smile on his face. "Everything's going to be okay, Tifa," he told her.
They looked very different already ever since they arrived in Midgar. He started to wear white suits again and kept his hair neatly brushed and gelled back, just like when he was still a little boy.
In Tifa's case, he bought her a new set of wardrobe, new shoes and new jewelry.
"What if Cloud doesn't want to?" she asked as she stood up.
"He has to step down. I am Rufus ShinRa…" Rufus said with a hard tone.
"Are you sure you're not going to have a hard time adjusting when you gain back control?" she asked with an unsure look as she approached him.
He shook his head. "I've been ready ever since I was a little boy. Besides, you're here with me, right?" he asked with a gentle smile on his face.
She smiled gently as she placed her arm around his waist and leaned her head on his chest. "But I'm just wondering… this current situation of the Planet," she began.
"President Rufus wouldn't just leave that situation. What my First Lady wants, she gets. You want the safety of the Planet; you'll get it…" he told her with a wink before hugging her. "…besides, I also want the safety of everyone here in the Planet… so once I get into office, all Mako reactors shall stop." He told her with a reassuring smile as he stroked her hair.
She nodded, pleased that Rufus isn't really like all the other ShinRas who did nothing but cause destruction. But she had this serious expression on her face when she felt herself getting nervous and uncomfortable all of a sudden. "How come it seems like I am going to lose him?" she thought silently.
Rufus was thinking of the same thing, but he held her tighter against him, frowning and his eyes narrowing as he stared at the floor. "No… I'm not going to lose… I own ShinRa. Tifa is coming with me… no one will prevent that…" he thought with too much determination.
***
Cloud frowned with a ridiculous look on his face as he stared at Heidegger. "I do not even have a girlfriend! What made you think that I would be buying those ladies' wear and that locket? I didn't even make reservations!" he said impatiently before continuing to rummage through the papers on top of his office desk.
"But, President Rufus…" Heidegger began.
"Get out of here! I'm busy." Cloud snapped.
Heidegger was quiet for a while but he spoke up again with a hesitant tone, "President Rufus, I was just wondering about this… do you think I should send my Turks over to that hotel to check…"
Cloud stopped and looked up at Heidegger. "What are you getting at?" he asked.
"Somebody else knows your credit card number… and this credit card number of yours had been existing ever since you were a little boy…" Heidegger trailed off when a thought passed through his mind. "Rufus… it could be the real Rufus… right. It's Rufus… that's his first credit card… and Cloud has 10 more credit cards but this credit card is the oldest…" he thought silently.
"Maybe someone is pretending to be me," Cloud told him with a nasty glint in his eye.
Heidegger's eyes grew wide when he felt himself getting nervous all of a sudden, remembering from the start what they had done to Cloud, making him, forcing him to pretend that he is Rufus ShinRa. "Uh… I don't think so," he lied.
With that, Cloud got up, suddenly feeling something in his head. "I've been getting constant headaches…" he realized as he touched his head and pounded gently on it before heading to the door. "I'll go and check the hotel myself." He told Heidegger.
"You want me to come with you?" Heidegger asked.
"No. Just the Turks… and Reeve." Cloud said.
"Reeve?" Heidegger asked.
"Why don't you just shut up and follow my commands?" Cloud demanded impatiently.
Heidegger saluted frantically, "Sir, yes, sir!" he said before running out of the office.
Cloud sighed heavily before turning to the window, seeing the snow falling. He somewhat felt light-hearted at the sight of it: pure and white…
And the next thing he knew, he was smiling already…
Because he thought of her…
***
"You awake, Aerith?"
Aerith did not move. She just remained seated by the dresser, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was not braided yet; she has no intention to fix it at that moment. She just wants to stare at herself.
Her green eyes reflected too much sadness, as she remained silent, unable to respond to the question called out by Yuffie from outside her room.
"Aerith, I'm coming in!"
"Leave me alone," she wanted to say out loud, but couldn't.
"Aerith, are you in there?" she heard another voice, this time; it was Barret's voice.
Her eyes narrowed at her reflection.
The door just opened without any warning so she just lowered her gaze to the floor, bowing her head and clasping her hands together on her lap.
"You haven't been eating for three days already. Do you feel well?" Yuffie asked.
"Why did you have to shoot him?" Aerith asked with a hard tone.
Barret stiffened but just turned away.
Two others were watching her from the doorway: Cid and Vincent.
Aerith got up and faced all of them with a fake smile on her face. "I'm going out for a while," she said before grabbing some gloves and her winter jacket. "Don't wait for me," she told them as she marched out of the room, pushing Cid and Vincent away from her path.
"What's wrong with her? I really missed a whole lotta @#$%*$# events, you know?" Cid told Barret.
"You were there when we attacked ShinRa days ago," Barret pointed out.
"But when you guys got down from the office of the President, she was already crying and you're dragging her away from something," Vincent pointed out.
"She's got a crush on the President," Barret said in disbelief as he shook his head in disgust.
All of them gasped.
"What the @#$%!?!? Aerith has a crush on that @#$^%& old geezer?!" Cid demanded in disbelief.
"No! That'd be @#$^%$* gross! I mean the new President!" Barret said.
Vincent frowned slightly. "Rufus ShinRa?" he asked.
"Yeah, that kid." Barret said.
"I don't know, but something's strange about Rufus," Vincent said.
"Like what?" Cid asked.
Vincent thought for a while before shaking his head in disapproval, "No. Must be my imagination…" he muttered before walking away.
***
Tifa got up from the couch when she heard someone knocking on the door. "Who could this be?" she thought silently before opening the door. "Yes?" she asked. Her eyes grew wide in surprise upon seeing who it was. "Cloud?" she asked in disbelief.
The four people behind Cloud frowned slightly upon hearing the name. "Wh…what did she call him?" the redhead whispered to the tall bald man.
Cloud frowned at Tifa. "Tifa Lockheart, right?" he asked.
Tifa nodded slightly. "Yes." She said.
Reeve began to feel nervous upon hearing her call Cloud, "Cloud".
"Tifa, who's there?" Rufus asked as he approached the door, but he stopped in his tracks upon seeing Reeve.
Reeve's eyes grew wide in awe. "It's you," he said in disbelief.
Rufus frowned at him and approached Tifa, pulling her away from the door. "Let me handle this, Tifa," he told her.
She nodded nervously before standing behind Rufus.
"Reeve, what is going on?" Tseng demanded in confusion.
"I demand an explanation for everything here, Reeve." Rufus commanded as he crossed his arms.
Cloud turned to face Tseng and the others. "You have been fooling me ever since I was seven, correct?" he asked.
Elena shook her head. "Pardon me, President Rufus, but I cannot understand what you're saying," she began uneasily.
"It's Cloud Strife. My name is Cloud Strife." Cloud corrected impatiently.
Rufus smiled slyly at all of them. "And I'm sure Reeve did not tell you that I am Rufus ShinRa?" he asked with pride in his voice.
Everyone was silent.
Rufus chuckled lightly. "Would you all like to come inside so that we could talk?" he asked.
***