Author's note: Hey, I got another chapter up. I'm trying to hurry. I
promise as soon as school gets out, I won't take so long to update. Enjoy!
Disclaimer and legal crap: I don't own FF7 or any of the characters.
Chapter 3 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I know how you feel. My mom died a couple of years ago, and I really felt bad. But ya know what? I found out that if you keep your head up and be optimistic, or at least *look* happy, no matter what happens, something good will come to you. Not to mention it annoys the person trying to get you down.." Tifa smiled at him. "So that's the reason you're so quiet?"
He nodded. "That and the fact that there is NO one to talk to at the mansion. Well, no one except Vincent. He listens to me. That is when he's not drooling over Lucretzia. Also, we're about to move out of Nibleheim..." The young boy shook his head so that his hair moved from his eyes. "I can't believe I just told you my mom's story."
Tifa wiped the remnants of her tears away and shrugged. "People find me easy to talk to. Just remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, come find me, ok?" She watched him nod, and she smiled at him, her eyes glittering again against the fireworks of the amusement park.
Her smile reminded him of his own mother's loving smile, warm, and it made him feel safe. He grinned back at her. Her personality changed from immature 12 year old to motherly best friend in 10 minutes. To think that he had only met her this morning. He felt as though a ton of weight had been removed from his shoulders now that he revealed what happened to his mother and his true feelings about it. "Thanks for listening." "Anytime." She replied to him. Suddenly, Rufus felt a premonition of something horrible to come. A wave of fear washed over him as he watched three armed and dangerous ShinRa soldiers advance toward the café toward him.
Tifa looked behind her, to where Rufus was staring wide-eyed. "Uh- oh, are they here for you?" He nodded slowly to her. "I don't know if they've seen me yet." She grabbed his hand surprising him out of his fear zone. "Follow me, come on." She said, making him drop to the floor, crawling through the jungle of legs, tables and chairs towards the entrance. They shielded themselves with the tablecloths of each table they passed under.
Rufus grumbled the entire way about having to crawl, especially on the café's dusty floor, but froze when he saw the soldiers' boots, heels clicking against the cold tile floor. Tifa continued to pull him, urging him to keep going. "Almost there." she whispered. He followed her close and soon they were home free, walking away from the café.
"They'll be after us soon so be on guard for blue suits." He half heard her; he was busy dusting his hands and knees off. "Gross, I can't believe I just crawled on an amusement park's café floor."
She grinned at him. "Amazing, isn't it?" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Chocobo racing? Why are we here?" Rufus whined. Tifa giggled. "Oh shut up, we went on that stupid roller coaster six times, I figure you can stand being bored for at least ten minutes while I look at the chococbos.
He sighed, and then smiled at her. "Tch, fair enough." Tifa looked up at the screen, unmoving and mouth gaping, amazed at the speed and agility of the large birds. Rufus felt embarrassed standing by her; she looked so ridiculous. He looked around for a bit, then stopped short when he saw three men in blue again. He ran back to Tifa, knowing they had seen him this time. "Tifa... Tifa, they're back!!" He shook her, but she pushed his arm away.
"Hold on a sec, Rufus."
The feeling of fear washed over him again as they advanced quickly toward them. He kept poking and prodding Tifa, hoping she'd move, but she was not about to move from the spot. He couldn't just leave her there. When they realized that he was the real Rufus, they moved toward them faster, calling his name. Finally, Rufus shook Tifa away from the screen and turned her towards the soldiers.
Her eyes widened, and she was just about to turn and run but stopped when she saw the first two soldiers trip over something and the third tripped on them, creating a dog pile. It was a rather hilarious sight. Tifa burst out laughing, and Rufus couldn't help but chuckle. A red headed boy jumped up from behind the pile of soldiers. "Hey, watch where you're going you goons!" He looked down at his hand and a large grin spread across his face. "Cool, a quarter!!" The soldiers had tripped over the boy as he was picking up his treasure.
Tifa looked at the redhead ".Reno?" He looked up, wondering who called his name. He spotted the girl and waved. "Hey Tifa! What brings you to Golden Saucer?" Tifa saw the pile of guards start to squirm, she knew they were coming back to their senses, Rufus could tell too. They motioned for Reno to follow them and they went off to find another hiding spot.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So those guys are after you?" Reno asked the blonde. "Yeah, they want me to move to smelly old Junon. The fishmonger town."
Reno shrugged. "I'm sure they meant the bigger city on top of the Junon village." Rufus huddled on the bed, grasping his knees to chest. Costa del Sol was just fine, why couldn't he stay here?
Tifa cut in. "Well, we might as well not worry right now, I don't think they'll check here. Not many kids would come here, you know? So, Reno. What are you doing here in Golden Saucer? I know you can't afford to come here." Reno sniffed and gave a pouty lip. "Yeah, and who says? Besides, you're not exactly rich and famous yourself."
"Yeah, but my new friend here, Rufus, got me in free!" she bragged. Rufus blushed and looked down. Reno laughed. "Looks like someone has the hots for ya Teef." Rufus' cheeks burned, he was blushing so hard. "Nuh-uh!! I just thought it would be nice to have someone to talk to."
Reno put up his hands. "Whoa, chill out. By the way, your whole name wouldn't happen to be Rufus Shinra, would it?" Rufus nodded slowly.
"So that's why those dudes were after you!"
Tifa laughed at Reno's comment. "Well, not the brightest crayon in the box now, are we?" she said, giggling.
Rufus, who was still in the corner, chuckled. "Well, Reno, now you know my story, let's hear yours." Reno puffed his chest out. "As a matter of fact, I was born and raised in Midgar. We moved to Nibelheim and that's where I met Tifa."
Tifa giggled again, though in a slightly mean tone that kids sometime get. "You forgot to mention that you were kicked out of your apartment, that was in the SLUMS of Midgar, and that you moved in with your granny in Nibelheim."
Reno deflated slightly and took on a dejected look. "Gee, thanks. Way to boost my ego." He said, glaring at her in a playful way. She merely smirked and continued her verbal beating. "No problem. I figure you do enough boosting of your own ego."
Rufus chuckled again, though surprised at the comments Tifa had made. Her personality changed in a heartbeat; you'd never know how she'd be feeling. The tall blonde boy looked over at his newest friend. "Hey, Reno?" "Hm?" "Thanks for letting us stay in here for a while. Thank your parents for me too. K?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back on the beach, Rufus and Tifa sat, watching the sun set across the ocean; both quiet, both thinking deeply. Finally, Tifa broke the silence, and all Rufus could do was stare into her wine colored eyes. "Rufus, I know you don't like me, but thank you for taking me to Golden Saucer today, I really did have a lot of fun." She said quickly. Before he could say anything back, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Rufus' heart skipped a beat. No one had ever done that before, he was speechless.
Tifa smiled that big beautiful smile and blushed, quickly looking down as if embarrassed that she had just shown her feelings.
He put a hand to his cheek, eyes wide. His first kiss from a girl. He started to explain to her that what she said wasn't true; that he felt different when he was around her, like the happiness that had been gone for so long was back, and so many other things. But before he got a word out, he was lifted from the ground in a rude manner, legs kicking in the air. "Hey! Lemme go you creeps! I don't want to go to Junon!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, squirming and looking for a way out of the soldier's grip.
Tifa's terrified expression caught Rufus' eye. "Rufus!" she screamed when another guard picked her up. "And who do we have here, master Rufus? We saw her with you at the Golden Saucer today, so she must be special if she's still around you now. Heh, she's kinda cute, too bad you can't take her back to Junon with you as a servant or maid or something. Now," he dropped Tifa back to the sand; she let out a painful yelp. "It's time to go, fun and games are over. No more hide and seek. We're boarding the ship for Junon tomorrow."
Rufus kicked and flailed, but nothing worked. He looked back to the girl he'd just spent the day with. "I'm so sorry Tifa." he yelled back to her; she was holding her side, tears of pain and fear rolled down her cheeks. The terrified look still played across her face; the same look his mother gave when his father threatened to kill him. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Authors note: HOORAY! The third chapter is up. Don't worry, lots more to come, and hopefully at a faster rate, too. * Sings* Schoooooooool's out for sum-maaa!! Hehe, little bit of a cliffhanger, ain't it? This part was long too. Plus, I had to add Reno-chan. He's SUCH a vital character!
Chapter 3 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I know how you feel. My mom died a couple of years ago, and I really felt bad. But ya know what? I found out that if you keep your head up and be optimistic, or at least *look* happy, no matter what happens, something good will come to you. Not to mention it annoys the person trying to get you down.." Tifa smiled at him. "So that's the reason you're so quiet?"
He nodded. "That and the fact that there is NO one to talk to at the mansion. Well, no one except Vincent. He listens to me. That is when he's not drooling over Lucretzia. Also, we're about to move out of Nibleheim..." The young boy shook his head so that his hair moved from his eyes. "I can't believe I just told you my mom's story."
Tifa wiped the remnants of her tears away and shrugged. "People find me easy to talk to. Just remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, come find me, ok?" She watched him nod, and she smiled at him, her eyes glittering again against the fireworks of the amusement park.
Her smile reminded him of his own mother's loving smile, warm, and it made him feel safe. He grinned back at her. Her personality changed from immature 12 year old to motherly best friend in 10 minutes. To think that he had only met her this morning. He felt as though a ton of weight had been removed from his shoulders now that he revealed what happened to his mother and his true feelings about it. "Thanks for listening." "Anytime." She replied to him. Suddenly, Rufus felt a premonition of something horrible to come. A wave of fear washed over him as he watched three armed and dangerous ShinRa soldiers advance toward the café toward him.
Tifa looked behind her, to where Rufus was staring wide-eyed. "Uh- oh, are they here for you?" He nodded slowly to her. "I don't know if they've seen me yet." She grabbed his hand surprising him out of his fear zone. "Follow me, come on." She said, making him drop to the floor, crawling through the jungle of legs, tables and chairs towards the entrance. They shielded themselves with the tablecloths of each table they passed under.
Rufus grumbled the entire way about having to crawl, especially on the café's dusty floor, but froze when he saw the soldiers' boots, heels clicking against the cold tile floor. Tifa continued to pull him, urging him to keep going. "Almost there." she whispered. He followed her close and soon they were home free, walking away from the café.
"They'll be after us soon so be on guard for blue suits." He half heard her; he was busy dusting his hands and knees off. "Gross, I can't believe I just crawled on an amusement park's café floor."
She grinned at him. "Amazing, isn't it?" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Chocobo racing? Why are we here?" Rufus whined. Tifa giggled. "Oh shut up, we went on that stupid roller coaster six times, I figure you can stand being bored for at least ten minutes while I look at the chococbos.
He sighed, and then smiled at her. "Tch, fair enough." Tifa looked up at the screen, unmoving and mouth gaping, amazed at the speed and agility of the large birds. Rufus felt embarrassed standing by her; she looked so ridiculous. He looked around for a bit, then stopped short when he saw three men in blue again. He ran back to Tifa, knowing they had seen him this time. "Tifa... Tifa, they're back!!" He shook her, but she pushed his arm away.
"Hold on a sec, Rufus."
The feeling of fear washed over him again as they advanced quickly toward them. He kept poking and prodding Tifa, hoping she'd move, but she was not about to move from the spot. He couldn't just leave her there. When they realized that he was the real Rufus, they moved toward them faster, calling his name. Finally, Rufus shook Tifa away from the screen and turned her towards the soldiers.
Her eyes widened, and she was just about to turn and run but stopped when she saw the first two soldiers trip over something and the third tripped on them, creating a dog pile. It was a rather hilarious sight. Tifa burst out laughing, and Rufus couldn't help but chuckle. A red headed boy jumped up from behind the pile of soldiers. "Hey, watch where you're going you goons!" He looked down at his hand and a large grin spread across his face. "Cool, a quarter!!" The soldiers had tripped over the boy as he was picking up his treasure.
Tifa looked at the redhead ".Reno?" He looked up, wondering who called his name. He spotted the girl and waved. "Hey Tifa! What brings you to Golden Saucer?" Tifa saw the pile of guards start to squirm, she knew they were coming back to their senses, Rufus could tell too. They motioned for Reno to follow them and they went off to find another hiding spot.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So those guys are after you?" Reno asked the blonde. "Yeah, they want me to move to smelly old Junon. The fishmonger town."
Reno shrugged. "I'm sure they meant the bigger city on top of the Junon village." Rufus huddled on the bed, grasping his knees to chest. Costa del Sol was just fine, why couldn't he stay here?
Tifa cut in. "Well, we might as well not worry right now, I don't think they'll check here. Not many kids would come here, you know? So, Reno. What are you doing here in Golden Saucer? I know you can't afford to come here." Reno sniffed and gave a pouty lip. "Yeah, and who says? Besides, you're not exactly rich and famous yourself."
"Yeah, but my new friend here, Rufus, got me in free!" she bragged. Rufus blushed and looked down. Reno laughed. "Looks like someone has the hots for ya Teef." Rufus' cheeks burned, he was blushing so hard. "Nuh-uh!! I just thought it would be nice to have someone to talk to."
Reno put up his hands. "Whoa, chill out. By the way, your whole name wouldn't happen to be Rufus Shinra, would it?" Rufus nodded slowly.
"So that's why those dudes were after you!"
Tifa laughed at Reno's comment. "Well, not the brightest crayon in the box now, are we?" she said, giggling.
Rufus, who was still in the corner, chuckled. "Well, Reno, now you know my story, let's hear yours." Reno puffed his chest out. "As a matter of fact, I was born and raised in Midgar. We moved to Nibelheim and that's where I met Tifa."
Tifa giggled again, though in a slightly mean tone that kids sometime get. "You forgot to mention that you were kicked out of your apartment, that was in the SLUMS of Midgar, and that you moved in with your granny in Nibelheim."
Reno deflated slightly and took on a dejected look. "Gee, thanks. Way to boost my ego." He said, glaring at her in a playful way. She merely smirked and continued her verbal beating. "No problem. I figure you do enough boosting of your own ego."
Rufus chuckled again, though surprised at the comments Tifa had made. Her personality changed in a heartbeat; you'd never know how she'd be feeling. The tall blonde boy looked over at his newest friend. "Hey, Reno?" "Hm?" "Thanks for letting us stay in here for a while. Thank your parents for me too. K?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back on the beach, Rufus and Tifa sat, watching the sun set across the ocean; both quiet, both thinking deeply. Finally, Tifa broke the silence, and all Rufus could do was stare into her wine colored eyes. "Rufus, I know you don't like me, but thank you for taking me to Golden Saucer today, I really did have a lot of fun." She said quickly. Before he could say anything back, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Rufus' heart skipped a beat. No one had ever done that before, he was speechless.
Tifa smiled that big beautiful smile and blushed, quickly looking down as if embarrassed that she had just shown her feelings.
He put a hand to his cheek, eyes wide. His first kiss from a girl. He started to explain to her that what she said wasn't true; that he felt different when he was around her, like the happiness that had been gone for so long was back, and so many other things. But before he got a word out, he was lifted from the ground in a rude manner, legs kicking in the air. "Hey! Lemme go you creeps! I don't want to go to Junon!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, squirming and looking for a way out of the soldier's grip.
Tifa's terrified expression caught Rufus' eye. "Rufus!" she screamed when another guard picked her up. "And who do we have here, master Rufus? We saw her with you at the Golden Saucer today, so she must be special if she's still around you now. Heh, she's kinda cute, too bad you can't take her back to Junon with you as a servant or maid or something. Now," he dropped Tifa back to the sand; she let out a painful yelp. "It's time to go, fun and games are over. No more hide and seek. We're boarding the ship for Junon tomorrow."
Rufus kicked and flailed, but nothing worked. He looked back to the girl he'd just spent the day with. "I'm so sorry Tifa." he yelled back to her; she was holding her side, tears of pain and fear rolled down her cheeks. The terrified look still played across her face; the same look his mother gave when his father threatened to kill him. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Authors note: HOORAY! The third chapter is up. Don't worry, lots more to come, and hopefully at a faster rate, too. * Sings* Schoooooooool's out for sum-maaa!! Hehe, little bit of a cliffhanger, ain't it? This part was long too. Plus, I had to add Reno-chan. He's SUCH a vital character!