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… ;_; Oh, and please don't forget to read & review this one.
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Chapter Twenty-One
***
7 days later…
The man from the train ticket booth handed Rufus two first class tickets. "Nice to have you here to ride our new train, President Rufus," he said.
Rufus did not know whether to smile or not because Aerith, Elena, Scarlet and Tifa had to fix his hair and put tons of gel on it so that they could shape it into Cloud's hairdo. "Great… all the people know that their president has spiky hair… better change that image once I get back in the office," Rufus thought with a fake smile before turning to Aerith. "Now, what?" he asked her.
"Let's go," Aerith told him as she took his hand and led the way to the train.
"Do you really have to hold my hand?!" Rufus asked, feeling embarrassed. He wasn't used to letting other girls touch him, except for Tifa.
"I'm Aerith Gainsborough and you are Cloud Strife in this scene, so just play along," Aerith whispered.
When some old folks passed by to greet them, "Ohohohohoho! How sweet! It's President Rufus and his girlfriend Aerith! Good morning, you two lovebirds!"
Rufus's mouth dropped open.
"I know, you're shocked. Let's just hurry," Aerith said with a patient smile as she sped up a little.
***
"How come Cloud isn't here yet?" Tseng asked.
"He hasn't been attending meetings for a week already… I'm beginning to get tired of this… trips from here to Rocket Town are becoming more expensive for me!" Palmer snapped impatiently as he leaned back on his seat.
"And I haven't seen him for a week already… I wonder where he went to?" Tseng asked.
Rude looked at the empty chairs in the conference room and he somewhat missed the others. "Gee, I wonder if we can be complete again…" he admitted.
"What do you mean?" Palmer asked.
"Scarlet, Reeve, Heidegger, Reno, Elena… and President Rufus," he said.
"As long as the President Rufus that you're talking about isn't Cloud Strife," Palmer replied.
"And what's with him cutting his hair?" Tseng asked.
"Maybe he wanted to be Rufus completely. Poor kid's got an identity crisis," Palmer explained.
"And where did Aerith go?" Tseng asked.
"She just left one day and did not come back…" Rude pointed out.
Palmer looked at his watch and saw that it was already 4:00pm. "That does it! In five minutes, if he doesn't arrive, I'm out of here and I'm going to quit being the head of the Space Development Division!" he snapped angrily as he pounded impatiently on the table.
"You're not going anywhere, Palmer."
All eyes turned to the doorway of the conference room when they heard a smooth, low, masculine voice speak up.
Their eyes grew wide in awe when they saw a spiky-haired young man standing there with Aerith Gainsborough.
"P…President Rufus!" Tseng, Palmer and Rude all said in unison.
Rufus flipped his hair. "So, are we going to start the meeting or not?" he asked as he approached his seat and sat down. He began to scan the documents prepared in front of him. "You still have those Mako Reactors running?" he asked.
Aerith smiled gently at Tseng, Palmer and Rude before exiting.
"S…sir, where have you been? How come… your hair grew back again and you seem taller?" Tseng asked in disbelief.
"You haven't seen me for seven days, of course I look taller and my hair's longer! And yes, I looked all over Midgar for Aerith and finally, I found her." Rufus snapped. "Now, answer my question before," he continued.
"Uhm… yes, sir. The Mako Reactors are still running," Palmer replied.
"Well then, stop all the operations." Rufus stated.
"WHAT?!" Palmer and Tseng exclaimed.
Rufus flashed them an impatient look which made them just nod their head in agreement. "Yes, sir…" they replied nervously.
Outside, Aerith stood by the closed door listening to their meeting. She smiled in relief. "Finally… Rufus is back… I wonder where Cloud is…" she thought silently before proceeding down the hallway.
The meeting went on for two more hours, but they did not find it boring…
"Gee… Cloud's ideas are becoming better… I wonder what happened to him? Maybe he went under rehab… heheh…" Tseng was thinking silently as he continued to write the plans on his notebook, but he stopped upon hearing Palmer's question. "Your excellency, I'm just wondering… no offense, but don't you think we should just call you Cloud instead of Rufus? Besides, it's your real name… you should be the one to be promoted to the people as President, not Rufus… correct?"
Tseng and Rude froze.
Rufus was quiet but he licked his lips and flipped his hair. "That won't be necessary anymore, Palmer. The people know their president. I am Rufus ShinRa. They will know me as me." He told them reassuringly with a sly smile on his face.
They were all silent for a few seconds before Rufus caught their attention again by clearing his throat and speaking up again, "Anyway, back to our budget… since this marketing plan is only good for this season, I will just throw in 500,000,000 Gil for everything. Fair enough? Any excess after this season, we'll add up to the expenses for the next season."
Everyone was silent.
"Gee… he really improved… and he really seems different… I wonder what happened…" Rude thought silently.
"Hah… this is more like it. I think his plans are more effective now…" Palmer thought with a quiet smile.
Tseng nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect…" he thought, finally getting it now. He scanned Rufus's face and smiled slightly. "He is Rufus ShinRa…" he thought.
Rufus smiled proudly at all of them. "Finally, I'm back… now to get Tifa…" he thought silently before saying out loud, "Any questions?"
"None, sir," the three replied.
"Oh, and by the way, you mentioned earlier in this meeting that there should be a Vice President? Well then, the position is reserved for my future heir… don't worry, I'll be marrying Tifa as soon as possible." Rufus continued with a wink before standing up and flipping his hair again. "I'll just be in my room." He told them before exiting.
Rude and Palmer froze. "Did he just say Tifa?" the latter asked.
"I thought his girlfriend's name is Aerith?" Rude asked.
Tseng shook his head. "You don't get it, do you? I think that's Rufus… the real Rufus!" he told them.
Rude and Palmer raised their eyebrows.
***
Tifa swallowed hard as she gazed up at the night sky. She still felt so worried about Rufus. "I wonder how things are already doing in Midgar? Did he make it there safely?" she thought silently.
She was interrupted when she heard footsteps from behind her. It was Elena.
"Mind if I join you here in the balcony?" Elena asked cheerfully.
"No," Tifa replied weakly as she moved aside so that Elena could sit down on the bench.
Elena sighed heavily as she sat down beside Tifa. "What are you doing here? Don't you wanna come inside?" she asked.
"Nah…" Tifa replied.
Elena stifled a giggle. "You miss Rufus?' she asked.
Tifa nodded shyly, feeling her cheeks reddening.
Elena scanned the view in front of them. "Wow… you can practically see the whole town in here…" she said in awe.
"Yeah…" Tifa said with a slight smile.
"Where's your house?" Elena asked.
Tifa pointed. "Over there… that's where Rufus and I grew up… and that's Cloud's house. It's been empty ever since he started living here…" she trailed off when she noticed something. There was some light inside Cloud's house. She frowned slightly. "Did he even sell that house?" she asked aloud.
"Huh?" Elena asked.
Tifa got up to take a better view. "Someone's in there," she said.
Elena got up and joined her in looking, "But…you said that that house had been empty ever since Heidegger and the others kidnapped him," she told her.
"Yeah, but…" Tifa frowned. "There's something fishy going on here… let's take a look," she told her.
Elena blinked. "Are you serious?! What if it's a trap?" she asked.
"Aw, c'mon, Elena! We're not defenseless damsels in distress! We know how to kick asses! Now, let's go!" Tifa grabbed Elena's hand and led the way to the front door. "Can't we inform the others first?" Elena asked.
"It's going to take time and besides, knowing Scarlet, she wouldn't allow us to go… most especially me!" Tifa explained as they finally got out of the Mansion.
"Why are you so excited to know if someone's really living there?" Elena asked.
"Coz if it's Cloud, I can be certain that Rufus will be safe…" Tifa explained.
"What if there are ghosts in there?"
"Elena?!"
"Just think of the possibilities, Tifa!"
Tifa sighed miserably and stopped walking the moment they finally reached the house. "There are no ghosts, Elena." She said before knocking on the door.
"ACK! What are you doing?!" Elena asked.
"I just knocked," Tifa said.
"But…" Elena trailed off when the door slowly opened and there was this blonde guy who looks so much like Rufus, but he was shorter.
Tifa and Elena's mouths dropped open. "Wh…what the…" the latter stammered while the former stared unbelievably at the man.
Cloud narrowed his eyes at them. "I see… if it isn't Tifa and Elena…" he mumbled as he scanned the looks on their faces.
"What happened to his spiky hair?" Tifa thought silently as she stared at his head. "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in Midgar enjoying all the luxuries that ShinRa could offer you?" she asked frankly.
Cloud was silent for a while before replying. "Rufus and I already had a serious talk." He began.
"About what?" Elena asked.
"Switching places," he replied with a serious look on his face.
They were silent.
Cloud turned to Tifa. "Maybe you could consider going back to him now. He needs you, not Aerith, you know?" he said with a wink.
Tifa raised an eyebrow.
Elena giggled. "Heehee! At one point you had me thinking that when you said switching places, I also thought that you'd be switching girlfriends… eheheheh… I'm glad that didn't come to be because I'm really going to be confused! I mean, I know that you and Aerith had been very close with each other even though I really didn't see much of it, but in President Rufus's case, I'd say that he and Miss Lockheart are really good for each other and they're also very close and…"
"Elena, you talk too much," Cloud said frankly with a ridiculous look on his face.
Elena smiled sheepishly and covered her mouth in an effort not to laugh.
With that, Cloud spoke up again, looking at Tifa. "I'm sure what you mean when I said that Rufus and I switched places." He said before he closed the door.
Tifa and Elena stood outside his house quietly.
"How rude…" Elena muttered.
Tifa smiled. "At least I think everything's gonna be okay now… I hope…" she said softly.
Elena looked up at the skies when she noticed a shooting star. She smiled and turned to Tifa. "Let's go back to the Mansion, Miss Lockheart," she said gently.
Tifa nodded. "Okay." She said.
Cloud watched from his window as the two girls walked away from his house. He smiled, contented, as he looked away and leaned against the wall, sighing heavily as he examined the whole place. "Well… I missed this place… it's better than the ShinRa Mansion or Junon or ShinRa HQ in Midgar…" he said softly.
He could remember that Rufus even offered him to be the vice president of the ShinRa Electric Power Company since he has experience and the skills to be able to do so, but he had to refuse the offer.
He knew that all the riches and all the luxuries in the world could never take the place of simple happiness… just loving Aerith and having her beside him is enough to make him survive living without those things… besides, those riches almost made him lose her, right?
The thought of starting a family with Aerith there in Nibelheim made him smile.
…and he couldn't wait to see her again…
He stopped when he turned back to the window again, seeing his reflection on the glass and frowned, looking at his hair. "You'd better grow back and be spiky again…" he scolded it.
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