By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I neither own Final Fantasy 7 nor the characters. Duh. I don't own anything…but the story plot…
Author's Note: I'm so sorry if there's this OOC tendency for this fic… I have to transform their personalities… like Cloud turning evil whatsoever… -.-' Please forgive meh… ;_;
And by the way, if you want to see some fic-art or drawings regarding this fic and all my other fics, just go to my site: …thank you very much. Oh, and please don't forget to read & review this one. =)
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Chapter Nineteen
"I'm sorry if we don't have a car or a chopper to take us here to Nibelheim, President Rufus," Reeve said apologetically.
"It's fine, really. I'm used to living the simple life… taking the train and then walking…" Rufus told them reassuringly with quite a proud smile on his face before turning to Tifa and taking her hand, squeezing it gently. "Thanks to you, Teef," he whispered softly.
She smiled shyly as she looked up at him with a gentle look on her face. "You sound pleased," she said.
"Your dad once told me that to be able to survive living in this kind of world that we have right now, one needs to be able to take care of himself… knowing how to live simply and loving it… at least that's how I understood it," he told her.
"Well, I guess that's what he really meant by that, Rufus," she said reassuringly.
Vincent, Scarlet, Reeve, Red XIII and Dark Nation were listening to their conversation and they found Rufus to be very knowledgeable already about himself and the world around him.
"He's really going to be a very good President for ShinRa," Vincent told them with a voice loud enough for only them to hear except for Tifa and Rufus.
"I think so too. He understands his staff and communicates with them effectively… and he's very smart too," Red XIII replied.
"Kyah… I can't wait until he gets into office and that Cloud steps down from the pedestal." Scarlet said.
"What I can't understand about Cloud is that… he doesn't have gratitude. Didn't he even consider that maybe if it weren't for us, he wouldn't be molded into that kind of a smart and powerful person he is right now?" Reeve asked.
"Money makes you greedy… same with power… and some people are just arrogant enough to become too proud of themselves, they turn stuck-up and forget about concern for others… one day, Cloud will just find out that the only thing he cares about is himself." Vincent explained.
"I hope Aerith could prevent that… I have faith in her…" Scarlet thought silently.
Rufus stopped walking, so did they. "So, where do you guys want to stay? Rent some rooms at an inn, the ShinRa Mansion or Tifa's house?" he asked.
"If we rent rooms at an inn, our names would be registered there and we don't have enough money. We can't use our credit cards because we'll be detected by ShinRa that we're here." Vincent told them.
"My house is quite small…" Tifa added.
Rufus turned his gaze to the old ShinRa Mansion that still stood tall despite the years.
Vincent stepped forward to Rufus, "If you're thinking of staying there, I think you'd better let us clean it for awhile. You and Tifa can stay in her house while me and the others take care of the ShinRa Mansion." He suggested.
"Vincent's right." Red XIII backed up.
Tifa nodded. "Okay then… let's go, Rufus." And she turned back to Reeve, Scarlet, Red XIII and Vincent. "Don't worry about us, we can protect ourselves." She said with a wink as she showed them her right fist.
Rufus smiled slyly at Reeve and Scarlet, "I still haven't forgotten my shooting lessons, don't worry," he told them.
Reeve and Scarlet both sighed in relief. "Kyah… that's good, President Rufus. We thought that since you're off from ShinRa for several years, you'd be forgetting everything," the latter said.
Rufus frowned at them. "Don't be ridiculous; I'm not that stupid, you know?" he snapped before going to the other direction with Tifa. "I'll see you later this afternoon," he told them without turning back.
***
"Great… just great! Heidegger's dead… Reeve, Scarlet, Elena and Reno are missing… and we're stuck here in ShinRa with Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough and Palmer…" Tseng muttered as he stood up from his office chair and turned to Rude. "What time is it?" he asked.
"2pm, sir," Rude replied.
"Cloud said by this afternoon…" Tseng recalled about the execution and then shook his head in disbelief. "Well, it's past the deadline… no trace of them… they could've gotten out of Midgar… and hid someplace else," he said.
"I hope they did," Rude pointed out.
"Yeah… me too…" Tseng said with a worried look on his face.
They were interrupted when somebody started to knock on the office door.
"Come in," Tseng called out.
Palmer entered with an angry look on his face. "You guys owe me an explanation on why we're the only ones left here…" he told them.
"Don't ask me, I also don't know!" Tseng wailed in total impatience.
Palmer sat down on the chair facing Tseng's office desk. "You weren't able to find them?" he asked.
"Yeah. And Cloud can't do anything about it; he wants to find them, then he should go on and find them himself! Maybe if he leaves, we can get President Rufus back here and make him sit down on his throne." Tseng pointed out with a sarcastic smile on his face as he went to the window and looked outside.
"Better shut up or he might hear you. You know how sensitive he is now… and I really don't believe that Scarlet killed Hojo and Heidegger…" Palmer pointed out.
"Who would believe that anyway? I know how Scarlet hated those geezers but she wouldn't kill them unless told to do so," Tseng said.
Silence.
"Aerith said she'd do her part in helping us in this situation…" Tseng explained with a soft tone, keeping his gaze on the windowpane.
"What can that poor girl do? She's been in Cloud's bedroom all day and she hasn't been eating for more than 12 hours already!" Palmer pointed out.
"What? But… where's Cloud?" Tseng asked.
"He's in his office doing his work there…" Palmer said.
Without thinking, Tseng just left the room.
Palmer and Rude got up and went after him. They followed silently until they reached the master's bedroom. Tseng knocked on the door. "Miss Gainsborough?" he called out.
No answer.
Tseng frowned slightly.
"You think she's okay?" Rude asked.
Tseng shook his head in disbelief before opening the door and entering. He scanned the whole room and frowned when he still saw the bloodstains on the carpet.
Rude nudged him upon seeing Aerith standing by the window, looking outside with a blank stare.
"Miss Gainsborough," Tseng began as he approached her.
Aerith did not seem to hear him or notice him; she was just staring outside, he eyes wide in total blankness.
"Oh my God… what did that spiky-headed moronic blonde do to her?" Palmer muttered miserably as he gently tapped Aerith's arm.
Aerith slowly turned her gaze to Tseng and she started to cry.
The three men were surprised and felt confused as they watched Aerith cover her face and turn away from all of them.
"Are you okay?" Tseng asked.
She did not answer. She just kept on crying and moved away from all of them.
"I think we should just leave her alone…" Rude whispered to Tseng.
***
***
A year later…
"It's been a year now and still no sign of them nor AVALANCHE…" Cloud stated flatly.
Tseng just remained silent.
Aerith just stared into empty space as she sat quietly on a chair beside Cloud's.
Tseng, Rude and Palmer knew that the girl never spoke to them ever since Heidegger's death… that gave them the hint that Cloud must've killed the old man in front of Aerith.
They couldn't help but pity her.
When he didn't receive any reply from everyone in the room, Cloud just turned to his computer and began to check on the database of Midgar. "I'm quite sure that they're still hiding somewhere…" he told them.
Aerith looked down and stood up. She looked at Cloud with a tired smile on her face before proceeding outside.
"Are you still angry at them, President Rufus?" Palmer asked.
"Yes," Cloud stated flatly before standing up. "I'll just go and talk to Aerith," he said.
***
Aerith stopped walking when she heard Cloud's footsteps from behind her. She turned around to face him with a tired look on her face.
"Where are you going?" he asked her.
She looked up at him as he neared her but she was silent.
"Aerith," he began.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"You are not Rufus ShinRa… you are Cloud Strife… why are you doing this?" she asked.
He fell silent for a while but he answered with a blank look on his face, "Revenge."
She just shook her head. "Did you realize how many lives you're threatening? Not only Tifa and Rufus… but also AVALANCHE and… the whole of Midgar…" she said softly.
He shook his head and just turned away. "You don't understand, Aerith… they all ruined my life. If Heidegger didn't find me, I wouldn't be here. If Scarlet and Reeve just objected to his stupid idea, I wouldn't be here… If Rufus didn't run away, I wouldn't be here… if Tifa did not insist that Rufus stayed with her, I wouldn't be here…" he said.
"So you're going to kill Scarlet, Reeve, Tifa and Rufus just because of that?" she asked with a frown.
He turned back to her. "Do you remember what I was trying to tell you on the night Heidegger died? I told you to help me look for Rufus but I was interrupted when Heidegger entered. You missed the whole point. I wanted you to talk to Rufus because this is very important to me…" he began.
"What, convince him to die in your power?" she cut off.
"No… Aerith… c'mon, I'm not all that bad… I'm not crazy either… I just… I just want to end all of these, okay?" he asked with a pleading look on his face.
She fell silent. "Wh…what are you going to do?" she asked.
He just smiled at her. "You'll know once he gets here…" he told her.