Sry for the late update up I've been reaaaaaallllyyy busy. Here's the last 2 chapters. :P
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.
Tifa slowly opened her eyes, she felt refreshed. She rolled over and out of Rufus' arms. She looked at the clock. It was 10am! They would be opening in an hour! Tifa sat up and tired to jump out of bed. 2 arms grabbed her waist and pulled her back down.
"What's the rush?" Rufus asked and pulled her to him.
"The bar's opening in an hour" Tifa pleaded with him, she hated being weaker then him. Rufus just held her tight and opened his eyes. He smiled at her pretty face and kissed her on the cheek.
"Just stay with me for 10 minutes, then you have 50 to get ready" He said giving her puppy dog eyes.
"Fine" Tifa gave in and relaxed, "Don't you have paper work to catch up on"
"Your a meanie you know" He told her.
"What? why?" She asked.
"You don't want to spend any time with me" He said and she rolled her eyes.
"Of course I do but I feel like I'm slacking off when I should get up" Tifa said and he just smirked at her.
"I have paper work to do, but I think I'll get you to do it instead" Rufus said and Tifa gave him a puzzled look, "Remember our bet" Her eyes widened, she had forgotten about that.
"I... but... no fair" She sighed, this would be a long month.
"But seeing as how I'm soooo nice I'll let you off easy, just take care of the paper work for your business and I'll take care of mine" Rufus said and Tifa let out a breath.
"Your so good to me" She sighed.
"You know it" He smirked and she giggled, leave it to him to be egotistic. Tifa lay her head down on his arm again, she closed her eyes. Rufus smiled down at her, these were some of his happiest moments. He ran his hand along her side and she opened her eyes. Tifa smirked up at him. She leaned up and kissed him, he kissed her back. He deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to him. Tifa put her hand on his bare chest and traced a path with her finger. They broke apart and Tifa smiled.
"Do you work out?" She asked and he shook his head.
"Not once in my life" He told her.
"What ever body builder dude" She said and continued tracing a path down his well-sculpted chest. Tifa gave him a quick kiss and jumped out of bed. Rufus rolled out on his side as well. They both got dressed and walked to breakfast together.
"Morning" Yuffie greeted when they came in the door. Tifa had to admit that that was the first time someone had said that to her at the breakfast table.
"Morning" She said and sat down. She ate quickly and so did Yuffie and Aerith they were all excited to go to another day of work.
"Where are you all off too in such a rush" Mrs. Shinra asked.
"7th Heaven, we're have our first official day" Yuffie was giddy. Mrs. Shinra smiled at her enthusiasm and nodded.
"Well don't let us keep you waiting, go on and have fun," She said and the girls left. Tifa was greet by ShinRa staff for the first time ever. Each one was saying 'Good morning Mrs. Shinra' and bowing their heads. Tifareturned their greetings awkwardly, she wasn't use to this type of attention. Elena came running towards them.
"Look at this Tifa, you're famous," She said handing her a newspaper. The heading was 'Shinra heir gets married' the article was about how they met and where they got married. It was said to be a secret ceremony and was small. She read on, they had written about her bar as well, she was hoping this would bring more costumers.
"My sister the celebrity, how wonderful" Yuffie said with stars in her eyes. Tifa whacked the stars out of her head and continued on.
"I'm not a celebrity just because I got married, they're making a big deal out of nothing" Tifa said, "Hey Elena if you're not busy, how about coming with us to 7th Heaven?" She offered.
"Sure" Elena said following behind them. They borrowed a car and drove off to the bar. Aerith was driving and Yuffie was telling her how she should drive.
"Just let the girl drive" Tifa sighed as Yuffie told Aerith another way to get back at drivers that cut her off.
"Fine, but don't come crying to me if you need help" Yuffie said.
"Don't worry I wont" Aerith giggled. Tifa stepped out when they arrived and opened the bar. The 4 went inside.
"Wow this place is nice" Elena said walking around looking at everything.
"I know" Tifa smiled proudly. She got all the drinks ready for the day and switched the sigh to open. One by one people came in for drinks. Soon the bar was filled with people.
"Good crowd" Yuffie commented serving another drink. Tifa nodded in agreement. She counted heads every hour to see how many there were. It was enough for the 3 to handle. Elena joined in too and Tifa taught her how to mix drinks.
"You make it look so easy" Elena said, her head spinning from all the information.
"You'll get the hang of it, just give it a try" Tifa said and Elena nodded, she took an order and handed her costumer a drink. He took a sip and left the counter smiling. Elena smiled to herself and Tifa giggled.
"See you'll be fine, thanks for the help" Tifa said, Yuffie ran over to her.
"Hey I found something really cool" She said and grabbed Tifa's wrist, she pulled her towards the pinball machine, "Watch" She kicked the machine and it moved down. Tifa's eye widened.
"Cool!" She said looking at the large room down below, "You could live down here!"
"I plan to if that's ok with you" Yuffie said, "I can even spit it into 2 so Aerith can have a room. We can make a bathroom and everything."
"That would be good if you guys want," Tifa said, "You'd be leaving Shinra though right?"
"Yeah I guess so but it might be for the best, we need to get our own lives and this way we can watch over the bar and see you everyday" Yuffie grinned and Tifa smiled.
"We should go ask Aerith" Tifa said and Yuffie gave a nod, she jumped back on the platform and kicked the machine again. It rumbled and brought them back up. Yuffie ran over to tell Aerith and Tifa followed behind.
"I think that's a good idea until we can find our own places to live with our husbands" Aerith agreed and Yuffie made a face.
"I ain't gettin married yet," She said and Aerith giggled.
"I meant in the future," She said and Yuffie shook her head.
"No even then, boys are a waist of time," She said proudly and Tifa and Aerith shook their heads and sighed at the same time.
"Just wait till you're in love" Tifa said with a wink, Yuffie just rolled her eyes.
"The guy I love is far away" She said and clapped her hands over her mouth. In a split second Tifa, Aerith and Elena had Yuffie pinned up against the counter. They surrounded her like the FIB and were ready in ask questions.
"Who?" Elena asked.
"When did you realize you loved him?" Aerith questioned.
"When are you going to see him again?" Tifa continued the questions, "Oh and where does he live"
"I'm not saying anything" Yuffie said and pushed her way through the girls. She continued serving drinks. Tifa, Aerith and Elena stood together and sighed, they shook their heads.
"It's so sad to see her in denial" Tifa said thoughtfully.
"So true" Aerith said playing along.
"Poor girl" Elena said and they nodded. They giggled and went back to their work. Ever so often one of them would try and get an answer out of Yuffie but the little girl would just glare at them.
"I bet its Vincent" Aerith snapped her fingers as she thought of it.
"How did you kn.... ahem How did you get so demented?" Yuffie said trying to cover it up.
"It is Vincent!" Tifa said and laughed, "I knew it"
"Who's Vincent?" Elena asked, feeling out of it.
"He's the fighter she met at the Gold Saucer, they went on a couple dates but now he's gone" Tifa explained.
"How sad" Elena said and Aerith nodded.
"We should find him," She said.
"No!" Yuffie snapped, "No way, he's probably already got a new girlfriend, he doesn't feel the same way so there's no point trying to find him" She crossed her arms over her chest.
"What ever you say Yuffie" Tifa said, she gave her an evil look as if she was plotting something.
"Tifa I know that look! Don't you do anything, or I'll kill you" Yuffie swore and Tifa just walked away looking innocent. Tifa laughed at the two and continued with her work. Tifa decided she'd better start looking for afew people to heir. She left Aerith, Yuffie and Elena for a while to make some phone calls. She still knew a few people from working at the old 7th Heaven. She figured they might be interested in work. Sure enough they were. She got 3 people to come and help. They would start tomorrow. Although Tifa wanted to work in her bar as much as possible it would be nice to have some days off. She returned and told the others.
"That's great, I wasn't thinking that this would be my permanent job so it's good we have people to take over" Aerith smiled.
"Yah, and if we ever move to another city we wont be leaving you with too much work" Yuffie added.
"And I was only doing this for today so good luck to ya" Elena said and Tifa smiled.
"I know, I can always hire more if I need to" Tifa said. The crowd for the rest of the day seemed to thin out and then build up again. There was quite moments where the girls had a moment to sit and talk but soon enough there would more people coming in. Yuffie had started arranging for the downstairs to be built. Tifa was surprised at how quick she had done that but Yuffie was excited for it. She went on and on about how she was going to decorate it and how cool it would be to live underground. Aerith said she wanted to move in with her but first she wanted to look around at other places too. Now that Tifa would be paying her she was sure she could afford a place around here. She told them she was going to go house hunting after her shift was over. If she couldn't find anything then she would move in with Yuffie.
"Time to close up guys" Tifa yawned at 12 am. She rubbed her tired eyes and helped clean up. It was never hard to clean the bar and took almost no time. Tifa organized the bottles and Yuffie rolled her eyes.
"Your such a neat freak" Yuffie said and Tifa shrugged.
"It's good to be neat," She said sticking her tongue out at her sister. Tifa finished up at the counter.
"Builders are coming tomorrow," Yuffie announced.
"Tomorrow!" Tifa exclaimed, "Why does life have to move so fast" She said giving up trying to keep up with everything.
"I want to live in my underground house as soon as possible" Yuffie said all excited. Tifa just shook her head.
"Where's Aerith?" Elena asked looking around.
"She went house hunting a long time ago, she must have left without saying good bye, I didn't see her leave either" Yuffie said looking around as well.
"She may have gone back to ShinRa, there's no way she's out this late" Tifa said.
"Alright lets go back then," Yuffie said and they headed out the door. Tifa locked up and drove them home. Rufus was waiting for her when she walked in the door. Tifa blinked, he looked almost mad.
"Are you going to be out that late every night?" He questioned, he had his arms folded and was taping his foot. Tifa nodded.
"I might be, unless I can get people to cover for me," Tifa said.
"We'll have to look into that" Rufus said, "Tomorrow night you have a dinner to attend with me"
"Really? Where?" Tifa asked.
"They're opening this new store in sector one that's a partner to ShinRa. My father expects all the Shinra's to be there," Rufus explained.
"Okay" Tifa said, "Where's Aerith?" Tifa asked.
"She went to bed a while ago" He said, Yuffie yawned and Elena did shortly after her.
"We should go to bed too," Elena said and Yuffie nodded.
"I'm so tired" Yuffie said and dragged herself down the hall. Elena left as well to go to her room.
"Shall we go?" Tifa asked and Rufus smirked. He bent down and picked her up. He swung her over his back and carried her up to the elevator.
"Hey put me down" Tifa giggled and kicked her feet a bit. It was no use; she was stuck like this until he put her down. She looked up and watched the elevator doors close.
"You're not getting away little one" Rufus chuckled.
"I'm not little" Tifa snapped playfully.
"Then how come I can carry you?" Rufus asked.
"I don't know, but I'm still not small" Tifa said.
"What ever small girl" Rufus continued to annoy her.
"Grrrrr" Tifa growled and Rufus chuckled. The elevator doors opened, he stepped out and walked down the hall.
"Hey" He greeted Reno and Reno just stared at the strange scene in front of him.
"Um… Hi" He said. Rufus kicked the door opened and closed it with his foot once they were inside. He gave a little push and Tifa squeaked as she flew up into the air. He caught her in his arms and she left out a breath of relief.
"Don't do that!" She hit him in the chest and he just smirked, "Put me down"
"Okay" Rufus simply let go of her and she fell onto the bed. She blew the hair out of her eyes and glared at him.
"Brat!" She snapped and threw a pillow at him. Rufus easily caught it; he knew she wasn't mad she was just acting like it. He knew she was having fun. Rufus continued to catch the numerous pillows that were thrown at him.
"Your to easy" He said jumping onto his side of the bed.
"Want me to chuck a lamp at you" Tifa raised an eyebrow, "See how easy that is"
"No way" He chuckled and she smiled. Rufus flopped down beside her. Rufus put his hands behind his head and stretched himself out. Tifa lay her head down on his stomach. He reached his hand down and played with a small strand of her hair.
"How was business today?" He asked
"It was busy, lots of people," Tifa told him.
"That's good, it's always hard to start up a business but you did really well" Rufus complimented her.
"Thanks" She grinned, she left proud of herself, that's when a thought came into her mind," Do you have Vincent's phone number?"
"No, and you should be concerned if I did" Rufus said, making her laugh.
"Hmmm...." She thought.
"What?" Rufus asked, "You don't like him do you"
"No, but Yuffie does, in fact she's in love with him" Tifa explained, "I want to call him and ask him if he can pick her up and take her somewhere"
"That would be good, and if he can't we can always get one of the ShinRa choppers to take her" he said.
"Where can I find his number" Tifa thought out loud.
"How about the phone book" Rufus said sarcastically and Tifa gave him a 'what ever' look.
"I can try but I doubt he would list himself there, as a fighter he's slowly becoming a celebrity and I don't think he would want anyone calling him" Tifa said, Rufus just nodded and closed his eyes, "Your not falling asleep are you?" Rufus pretended to snore and Tifa whacked him in the arm.
"If you keep hitting me I'm going to have to report you to Spouse Abuse" Rufus warned and Tifa whacked him again.
"Shut up" She giggled and he smirked; he reached down and pulled her up beside him.
"Your such a meanie" He said looking into her eyes.
"Your such a baby" Tifa stuck her tongue out.
"Now who's the baby? Childish brat" He playfully snapped.
"ShinRa brat" Tifa snapped back he just smiled at her and she smiled back. She snuggled into his arms and Rufus held her tighter.
"Good night ShinRa brat" She said.
"Good night childish brat" Rufus said and hugged her tighter. Some how he was afraid someone would take her away from him.
Tifa woke up in the morning with the bright sun shinning through the windows. She closed her eyes again not ready to get up yet. She seemed to always wake up before Rufus now. It was better that way; she had time to look at his peaceful face. Tifa moved around in his arms and took a deep breath. She was ready to get up but she didn't want to. Rufus slowly opened his eyes when she moved. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and she smiled at him.
"Morning" She greeted him rolled away from him. She slipped out of bed and walked to the bathroom.
"Morning" He returned her greeting and got up as well. Tifa got dressed in a pair of jeans and a tank top. Rufus got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Tifa eyed him, she knew his dad might have a fit but Rufus would want to dress this way. His style had become more relaxed while Tifa's had become better. They had kinda met in the middle and now almost looked alike.
"What time is the dinner?" Tifa asked poking her head out of the closet.
"6 pm" Rufus told her.
"Okay I'll be back by then" Tifa said heading out the door. Rufus frowned it was like he never got to see her anymore. Tifa bounced down the stairs and out the door. She went to her bar and opened it. Tifa looked around.
"Hello?" She called, she wasn't sure if anyone else was there.
"Down here Tiff!" Yuffie called, and Tifa walked over to the pinball machine, well where it use to be. It was down at the bottom of the floor and Yuffie was smiling up at her. Tifa hit the button like Yuffie had done the day before and the machine moved up. She stepped on and hit the button again. It bumped its way down and she jumped off. Yuffie yawned.
"Not much down here" Tifa commented when she saw Yuffie's pile of clothes and the mattress she was sleeping on.
"Well it's a start, plus I don't need much else, a bath room, bed and dresser, that should do it" She grinned and the 2 headed back up to the top.
"I have to leave early today, but it shouldn't be to bad, the new help is coming today" Tifa told her.
"Oh good, then I can probably take off early too" Yuffie said.
"Take off where? You live in the bar!" Tifa giggled.
"Good point" Yuffie said, thinking hard. Tifa reached behind the counter and pulled out a phone book. She remembered the conversation Rufus and her had last night. She was sure Vincent's name wouldn't be in there.
"Who are you calling?" Yuffie asked curiously.
"Drink supplier" Tifa lied and looked through it. She gave the phone book a surprised look, and an image of Rufus dancing around saying 'I told you so' came into her head. Vincent's name was in the phone book! Tifacouldn't believe she was wrong, she decided not to tell Rufus. Tifa took the cordless phone out side and called the number.
"Hello?" Vincent answered.
"Hi, it's Tifa, Yuffie's Sister. Remember me?" She asked, "You do? Oh well would you like to see Yuffie again. Yeah she does. No. Yeah. Okie. You will? When? Why not? Oh Ok" Tifa kept talking, she waved as Aerithpassed her. Tifa mouth the words 'Vincent' to her and she nodded. Aerith went inside to help Yuffie. She had been house hunting again but found nothing. Tifa hung up the phone and headed back inside.
"Are we ready to open" She said switching to business mode. Yuffie and Aerith gave a nod. "Great then!"
"So what did the Drink suppliers say?" Yuffie asked, she was a little suspicious, why would she have to call them outside.
"They said they'll have another shipment to us in a few weeks" Tifa grinned trying not to giggle as she often did when she was lying.
"Okay" Yuffie accepted her answer and went behind the counter. Soon the bar was filled with people tokeep the girls busy. Aerith left at lunchtime and a girl named Nikki took over for her. Yuffie went down to work on her room and a boy named Tory took over for her. Tifa's turn to leave came soon after and the last member of the 7th Heaven crew, Meori, took over for her.
Tifa headed back to the ShinRa building. She dressed in a long black dress and fixed her hair. She did her make up and smiled at her reflection. She moved a few strands of hair into place and smiled once again. Rufus walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him.
"You look pretty" Tifa giggled.
"So do you" Rufus smirked, not bothering to snap at her for the 'pretty' comment.
"Are we leaving now?" She asked and Rufus nodded. He let go of her and held out his arm. Tifa took it and they walked down the hall to the elevator.
"Are you nervous, it's your first time out in public as Mrs. Shinra" Rufus teased.
"No" Tifa grinned.
"You better make a good impression" Rufus warned gently.
"Won you over didn't I?" Tifa smirked.
"Barely" Rufus gave her a confident smile and Tifa stuck out her tongue at him. The elevator doors glided open and she stepped out. Tifa and Rufus walked down to the awaiting limo and Mrs. Shinra was there to inspect her.
"Head up, back straight, smile brighter... brighter Tifa" She instructed. Tifa attempted to do all she demanded as well as she could.
"Am I perfect now" Tifa asked almost mockingly.
"Almost" Mrs. Shinra gave her a sarcastic smile. Her look softened and she burst into tears. This took them both by surprise.
"What's wrong mom?" Rufus asked.
"You... two.. look... soooo... beautiful. My little boy is growing up," She cried and Tifa smiled. Rufus put his hand to his head and sighed.
"Get a hold of yourself, I'm not a grown up yet" He sighed and she sniffed.
"I know, now go on" Mrs. Shinra pointed at the limo and they claimed inside. The scenery rolled by and Tifa fiddled with her dress.
"So you are nervous" Rufus smirked.
"A little" Tifa admitted.
"You'll be great. Won me over didn't you? and that's not easy" He said confidently. Tifa rolled her eyes. The limo pulled up outside a fancy looking restaurant and they stepped out. Thousands of cameras went off as Tifa and Rufus walked together down the entranceway. Tifa smiled slightly but was too blind to see anything. She relied on Rufus to steer her. They entered the large and beautifully decorated dinning hall. Tifa's eyes calmed down after all the flashes disappeared. She blinked a few times and finally everything was ok again.
"Does that happen all the time?' Tifa asked.
"Yeah, I've been keeping out of the lime light lately so it's more intense now then it ever has been." Rufus explained. Tifa gave a nod and they were led to their seats. Tifa sat down and looked over at Rufus. He was a real pro at all of this. His table manners were exceptional and he sat with such poise. Tifa could only try and do the same but it was hard with so many eyes on her. Everyone was whispering about her and Rufus. Tifa hoped it was nothing negative.
"Tifa?" Rufus asked
"Yeah?" She said, meeting his gaze.
"Are you ok?" He raised an eyebrow. Somehow he wasn't surprised she was intimidated. Life like this could take a while to get use to.
"Yeah fine, just a little um... over whelmed" Tifa searched for the right word, she gave a small smile. The dinner started being served and speeches were made through out the meal. Rufus had to stand up a few times when ShinRa was mentioned and everyone clapped for him. His face remained stern as always but she could tell he was enjoying the attention. Tifa listen to what everyone around them was saying. They had started talking louder and she could listen in no a few tables.
"I hear she's from sector 7. I bet Rufus took pity on her."
"Maybe but she's very pretty though. Maybe they're trying to cover something up. Maybe she was out on the streets and Rufus had an affair. Maybe she's pregnant so they had to get married"
"That could be it, if it is they should be a shamed" Tifa heard one table say, she frowned at their comments.
"Look at the way she sits, no wonder Rufus choose her, she's so elegant"
"Do you think he just choose her on looks? Maybe she's charming and a great activist or something"
"You never know, she seems very nice. The poor girl must hate so many people staring at her" Tifa like this convo better. She was happy that at least 2 people thought she wasn't a charity case. Rufus yawned and Tifa looked over at him.
"Are you tired?" She asked, she felt Rufus' foot running up and down her leg under the table and she gave a small smile.
"No, just bored, we should find a way out of here" Rufus smirked.
"What? Why?" Tifa asked.
"I'm bored, I wanna go do something fun. These events haven't gotten any funner since I was young." Rufus said resting his chin in his palm.
"What did you do when you were young?" Tifa asked interested to know what pranks or hell he put his parents through.
"I would throw a fit and they'd take me home." He explained and Tifa rolled her eyes.
"You really are a brat. Well we're not doing that here" Tifa said sternly but giggled.
"Fine" Rufus said and grabbed her hand. He pulled her through the crowd and to the front doors. He took the hand he was holding and used it to slap himself across the face. Tifa blinked and everyone stared at them.
"I swear I wasn't looking at her like that" Rufus snapped and looked at her with hurt eyes. Tifa blinked again but soon caught on.
"Yes you were, I though you said you loved me," She snapped back.
"I do, but you just don't trust me" Rufus told her.
"Well fine, if that's how you feel then I'm leaving" Tifa stormed out the door and Rufus went his separate way towards the back of the building.
Finally done that chapter. It took a while heh. Hope you enjoyed it.