Chapter 8: Old Friends

( Oo I'm an idiot! I was on the second page of this chapter and I accidentally didn't save it and I erased it! Way to go Sakura! Anyways, it's been months, and I've neglected this story. It's the summer time, and I feel like writing... A LOT! Thanks for the couple of reviews for when I was away! I promise to writ more... And I don't, you have the write to kick my butt. Well... I don't own anyone, so whee! Enjoy! )

Yuffie sighed happily and stared into oblivion, "Well some one is happy! I'm glad that you and Reno got to go on your date!" Yuffie sighed again at Tifa's comment. Tifa chuckled and went into the bathroom to fix up her hair. Yuffie smiled, but then snapped out of it and looked at Tifa, who was dressed in traveler's clothing, "Where are you going to?"

"Mideel. To meet up with Red there! Remember? I told you today!" Tifa then pauses and thinks, "But then again, you were probably day dreaming, so whatever! OH! But do remember... If anyone asks where I am, just tell him or her I've gone to do errands, ok? Like tell them I've gone to the Chocobo Sage, and Junon, but don't tell them I've gone to Mideel!" Yuffie nodded and rolled onto her back, on the bed.

Tifa walked out of the bathroom while putting her hair up into a ponytail and looked at Yuffie, "You got that?" Yuffie looked up at Tifa, "Yes ma'am!" Tifa smiled, "Good... And I promise if I find any rare materia, I'll bring it back. Just for you!" Yuffie giggled, "YAY!"

"Well I'm off! Bye Yuf!" Tifa left in a hurry and dove into the elevator at the end of the hall, "Phew! Made it! What luck to have the elevator on my level!" She had herself pressed against the elevator glass and she sighed, turning her head to spot Rufus, "EEP! Uh... Hi Rufus!" She sneered at her, looking her up and down, but then smirked, "Good Morning Tifa. Off somewhere?" Tifa stood straight and nodded, "Yessir, I'm off to do some errands, sir!"

He stepped forward and leaned at Tifa, "And where are you going?" Tifa was thinking, 'Don't mention the date!', but then she said with great grace, "I'm going to Junon, the Chocobo Sage. Oh you know. ShinRa-y stuff!" Rufus gave her a mean face, but then grinned, "Well now. Aren't you a good, little employee!" The elevator stopped and Tifa got off, "Bye!" Rufus waved, but then pressed the floor button up to Yuffie's level.

Tifa ran into the garage, and sighed, "Man! He sure was acting funny! I thought he was ready to kill me on the elevator!" Tifa was leaning against a concrete pillar, but then stood straight and whistled. A car came swerving around the corner and stopped in front of Tifa with a screech, "Nice driving Reno." Reno stepped out of the car and opened the door for Tifa, "Heh, thanks!" Reno smiled and handed her the keys once she sat down. He closed the door and tapped the roof of the car, "Drive safely!"

She shook her head and chuckled, "Yea, yea." She put the key in the ignition, but then looked at Reno who was walking off, "Visiting Yuf-er Taki?" He smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "Thought so. Bye Reno!" She drove off to Mideel.

Rufus' elevator stopped at the level we designated himself, "Now let's see where Tifa's really going." Rufus walked up to the door slowly and was about to knock on it.

Down below, Reno stepped inside the elevator and sighed happily, pressing the same level as Rufus.

Rufus then opened the door with his car key instead of knocking and Yuffie sat straight up, "Reno?! Oh... Good evening President ShinRa." He smiled and shook his hand, "Never mind that. Call me Rufus." She nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, "How may I help you this evening?"

"I saw your roommate leave. She left with very little detail and I would like to know where she is heading." Rufus stepped closed. "And for what purpose would you need this information for President- I mean Rufus?"

"Company purposes!" He snapped. "Oh. Pardon me. I mean we need to know, so if she is in any trouble, we can track her down. And help." He grinned. "Well... uh..." Yuffie stumbled in her words, but then thought carefully. "She said something about Chocobo Sage! And I think something about Junon too!"

Reno got off the elevator and stepped lightly down the hall, but then spotted the door open. He heard two voices, so he stayed hidden to listen as he occasionally peeked to spy on what was going on.

"Oh dear. Taki Kanzaki was your name, correct?" Rufus pondered. Yuffie nodded and stood up, "Yessir it is." Rufus grabbed one of Yuffie's hands, "Ms. Kanzaki. Please. Tell me if there are any other places Tifa is going. We need to keep an eye on every employee, for the sake of their safety and our company." Yuffie thought for a second, "Uh..."

"Come on Taki! Think harder!" He snapped, grabbing her wrist, pulling her close and placing a hand on her side, hard. "Ow! Rufus... You are hurting me! I don't know where she went!"

Reno heard Yuffie's cry of pain and slowly walked in the doorway, knocking on the doorframe, "Hello? Oh President Rufus, Taki. What are you guys doing?" Rufus let go of Taki and straightened his lab coat, "We are discussing about Tifa's departure. And Ms. Kanzaki is telling me that she hasn't a clue of where she went." Reno gave a mean smirk and went up to the two people, "Well Rufus. Hurting a young lady isn't a way to get any information from someone! You have to be more polite."

Reno turned to talk and placed his hands on her shoulder, bending downward a little, with a soft smile, "Now. Where did Tifa go?" Yuffie stared at Reno with her mouth slightly open and with watery eyes, shaking her head slowly. Her expression seemed frightened from what Rufus did. She whispered softly, "I can't tell." Rufus stepped forward quickly, "What did she say?" Reno turned to Rufus, "Fort Condor. Chill Rufus. What has gotten into you lately?"

"Do not speak to the President that way!" He snapped and walked out of the room at the door closed on his way out, but then he leaned against the wall outside to listen to them. Yuffie then sobbed lightly and fell into Reno's arms, "I couldn't tell him! I just couldn't tell him! If I did, he would know she's with Red, and I didn't want to see them hurt! I almost told him though!"

Reno held her close, "It's ok... I understand." He stroked her hair softly, "Where did she go?" She whimpered the word in between sniffles, "Mideel. She knew no one would go there, so she went there to meet him." Reno stroked her hair some more, "It's alright. If you'd like, I could go protect her if anyone snoops around, alright?" Yuffie nodded softly, "That might me a good idea." She kissed him and held it for a few seconds, "Be careful." He nodded and went to the door.

"Rufus?" Reno spotted him walking down the hall, towards the elevators, with his hands in his pockets. Reno then guessed where Rufus was going, "Oh no! Shit!" He went to the stairs and started to leap down the stairs, trying to beat him to the bottom, "I must hurry!"

Tifa skidded across the water and smiled, "YIPPEE! I sure do love these ShinRa cars! They can do anything!" She continued to drive across the water and made it onto shore. After a few minutes of driving over the land she stops at Mideel. The land was so quite, but peaceful. She stepped onto a wooden plank to get across to another area, "My this place has grown." She spotted some new, but small houses.

"Tifa!" She turned her head to spot Red XIII. "RED!" She ran over to him and he pounced on her, "Oh it's so good to see you Red!"

"Same! I've missed you!" Red got off Tifa and she stood up, "So how are you?" Red smiled, "Well let's go somewhere where we can sit and have a snack. It'll be more comfortable." She nodded and the two went to a small restaurant.

Reno made it down the stairs. He spotted Rufus talking to Tseng and Elena, hearing him saying he's going out somewhere and to keep in touch with him. Reno then ran and got into a car, swerving off. Rufus heard the screeches and thought, "Damn. He's leaving before me." Rufus then ran for an air ship to go faster.

"So Red. When you showed me that clip of Cloud, I was wondering. Did you ever get in contact with him again?" Tifa was resting her head in her hands. "Uh..." Red paused, "Not really." Tifa rose an eyebrow, "Really? Do you think he's coming after me to kill me?" Red shrugged his animal shoulders, "Doubt it." After a few minutes of talking, a car is heard outside, screeching, "Holy shnikies! That sounds like Reno."

Red jumped up, "Reno?!" He snapped, "What is he doing here?" Tifa pushed Red down, "It's alright! He's on our side. My side, but he won't harm you or rat on us." An airship from above flew over Mideel and Reno came running up, "TIFA!! TIIIIFAAA! Hide! QUICKLY! Rufus is after you guys!"

"What?!" Tifa stood up. "Come on Red! Let's go!" Tifa started to run, but then turned her head towards, "I want an explanation later!" Reno nodded and ran out of Mideel to keep Rufus out.

Tifa and Red ran out of Mideel and into the forest, "I can't believe it! Yuffie had better not have told Rufus! Or no materia for her!" Red growled, "Jump on! You're too slow!" Tifa rose an eyebrow, "Uh... Ok?" She jumped on top of Red and he ran faster then ever before. Tifa pointed, "Look! That tree is huge, maybe we can hide in there!"

"Got that!!" Red XIII jumped up high into the tree and they carefully hide them selves well, while casting a rare and new materia, 'Camouflage.'

Rufus then made his way to the entrance, "Ah. Reno. What matters do you have in Mideel?" Reno leaned against the opening, "Ah you know! There is a rare new materia here. I thought I'd pick it up." Rufus glared at him, "You aren't allowed to have materia while on the job Reno." Reno glared back at him, "I know that President. I'm picking it up for when I have to go out and battle. You know how I have to protect ShinRa with everything I've got."

Rufus grinned, "Such a good Turk. Now if you could move."

"I'm sorry Rufus, but I can't let you." Reno closed his eyes. "And why would that be?" Rufus had a mean tone in his voice. "You know the people here! If they saw that the President was here, they'd either crowd around you, try to fight you, or just kick you out. They are the rebels of all the land I hear. They hate the President and ShinRa." Rufus glared, "And they let you in?"

"Oh I haven't gone in. Well... I tried, but they kicked me out." Reno took out a cigarette and lit it, crossing his arms. Rufus turned his head, "Who's car is that over there?" Reno looked over, "Mine." Rufus shook his head, "No, I'm talking about that other car." Reno spotted Tifa's car and whispered, "Shit."

"That's probably one of the resident's car." Reno shrugged. "It looks like a ShinRa car." Rufus replied. "You know those rebels. They steal and fight, even though they are nice people. It's probably one of our old ones anyways." Rufus squinted and stared, "It looks new to me."

Reno then burst, "I DON'T KNOW THEN! IT'S NOT OUR CAR! GET OVER IT RUFUS! GEEZ!" Rufus then stepped back, but Reno continued, "If you want to go inside and get your ass kicked inside out, then be my guest, but then I suggest that you leave before we both get killed." Reno then held out his weapon at Rufus, "Leave." Reno went to his car, got inside and drove off, as Rufus stood there, standing blankly, "Uh..."

"Tch. Whatever. I'll leave. I mean he is a Turk after all, and I have to trust my own Turks." Rufus went off, totally forgetting that Reno was playing with his mind, and made him lose his concentration. He got into his airship and left. Tifa and Red saw it fly off and Rufus was staring out the window, "He's gone." Tifa mumbled. They climbed out of the tree and sighed, "I guess I better go now Red. I'm sorry, but I wish my visit could have been longer."

Red jumped up, "It's alright Tifa. I understand." She leaned down and kissed Red XIII on the head and walked off, "Oh! Do you need a ride Red?" He grinned, "If that would be ok!" She nodded and ran on.

Reno made it back to ShinRa and took the elevator to Yuffie, running to her room, "Open up!" Yuffie recognized the voice and opened the door. He smiled, but looked worried, "Rufus isn't back is he?" She shook her head, "Breathe Reno! Sit down for a moment. What happened?" She went to go fetch him a glass of water.

"I got there just in time to make Tifa and her friend hide. I forced Rufus to stay out and then we both left. So it's all ok hopefully." Yuffie returned with a glass of water and handed it to him, "Thanks Yuf." He gulped it down and handed her the glass. He fell back onto Yuffie's bed and sighed, "Man, I'm tired from running around." Yuffie sat next to him and stroked his hair, "Just rest. I'll watch after you."

Shortly after Reno's return, Rufus returned, still unknown of what he was supposed to do, and went straight to his office. Tifa returned Red, and 20 minutes after Rufus returned, Tifa finally made it back. She quietly made her way back to the room and smiled, looking at Reno and Yuffie and they slept. She quietly went to the bathroom to change clothes and she sat down at the table afterwards to have a little snack.

"Hmm... I don't think this snack will fill me up. I'll order some down in the cafeteria." Tifa got up, wrote a small note for Yuffie saying she was down in the cafeteria if she woke up and needed her. Tifa walked down the hall and got inside the elevator. She pressed the button to the cafeteria, but with a sharp stop, the elevator stopped suddenly and loud sirens went off along with red lights, "Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! An unknown, blonde haired man was identified in level 53! Caution! He carries a weapon! Caution!"

Yuffie and Reno woke up with a startle and sat up, "Did he say 53?" Yuffie stared at Reno. Reno looked back at her, "And did he say blonde?" Yuffie got a scared face and her eyes went wide, "Oh no! He's after Tifa!"

Tifa looked around, "That must be...!"

Yuffie's door open and there stood a silhouette of a man, holding a sword, "Where is she?"

Tifa pressed every button of the elevator, trying to go up, "No! Go up! GO UP!!"

The man took the note for Yuffie, "The cafeteria?" After he read it, he ran out of the room. Yuffie stood up, "NO! I must follow him!" Yuffie ran out of the room and tried to keep up. He stood at the edge, where the elevator is supposed to be and he looked down, spotting Tifa in the elevator.

Tifa looked up and spotted the man, "That's... It can't be..."

"It's Cloud..."

( You know what else chitlins? I might end up having more than 15 chapters. MAYBE MORE! Why? I haven't even gotten close to explaining Tifa's new love ( xD ) and when and why Cloud is after here. I tried to hint a little near the end of this chapter but yea... I'm lame. Sorry people. o.o )