Author's Note:
Blah! This is what I get for writing these chapters late at night while I'm half asleep, with my room mates rushing me to get off the computer. I so did not mean to reveal that Obsidian = Aeris. If I could take it back, I would, but some people have already seen it. It's just too late now. I was going to string out some clues about that, be a bit more obvious, but instead it came out of nowhere. Sure, it probably shocked some, but no one got the pleasure of being able to say something like 'Ha, I saw that one coming because [insert clue here]' ... all they have is 'Well, they both are involved in protecting the planet... and... uh... they both have green eyes... er... Where the heck did this come from?!' On top of that, it was poorly timed, with only one chapter separating it from Hargun's secret, which is in a sense very similar (only that one actually had clues telling you who Hargun was. Go back and look, you'll see them). Ah well, what's done is done.
More: I've received a complaint about the shortness of my chapters. I'm going to acknowledge that one now. Sure, they're short. But there are a lot of them. I post at least once a day, but sometimes more. I've been known to post anywhere from once to six times a day. (With the exception of one day off, I believe) So while my chapters are short (and I refuse to ruin perfectly good material by dragging it out any longer than it has to), you do have quantity. Oh yeah, and I'm sure you'll notice the fic has now taken on a 'Fate of Aeris' tone. I appreciate the criticism, though, so let's hear more of it, people!
Oh right. I don't own FF. (Oh right, I'm in negotiations with Reeve. He should be back next chapter to disclaim away)
Chapter Eighteen
Confessions
Tifa stared at Rude from her place on the bed, dumbstruck. This old man, Doctor Hargun, was Lucrecia? The same Lucrecia that Vincent was so anamoured with? It couldn't be. This had to be some sort of Turk trick. But for what purpose? Why would he make up such an incredible, unbelievable lie? To get closer to this Hargun, so he could kill him. But why would be pick such an unbelievable story?
The desperation in his amber eyes, the need for her to trust him was apparent. This wasn't the Turk facade she had seen so many times before. This wasn't a man who was calm, collected, ready to accomplish his mission no matter what. This was a man that, for whatever reason, was risking his mission for the sake of others, for people he had no reason to protect.
"Why?" The word came from her mouth, a lot harsher than she meant it.
He didn't answer, only reached into his breast pocket and drew a knife. He walked to her and cut the rope that bound her legs, then gestured for her to roll around. When she did, he sliced the bindings on her arms as well.
Her first instinct was to hit him. She was free. She could take him down and make her escape, get to Cloud and the others, find a way to isolate Hargun from them until they determined his true identity...
She turned around and saw Rude's eyes again. No. She wouldn't do that. He was trusting her to do the right thing, to help him do the right thing.
But she still had to know.
"Why?"
Again he ignored the question. He walked across the room to a cabinet on the wall and opened it. Inside were her combat gloves, Materia, and PHS. He pulled out the last and tossed it to her. She caught it, and looked at him quizically.
"Call your friends."
Her eyes hardened as she stared at him. The way he kept trying to deflect her question annoyed her. There had to be a reason. "Why?"
"You'll need your things, too." He pulled her gloves and her Materia out and set them down on the table near her.
"Stop it! Just tell me! Why? Why are you helping Avalanche?"
"I'm not helping Avalanche," came his immediate response.
"Then what are you gaining from this? Who are you helping by doing this?"
The intimidated look was replaced by an angered one. His eyes took on a different tone. There was no longer any fear at all. Something else, something she hadn't seen before when someone else looked at her.
"I'm helping you, you fool. Now take your damned PHS and call your friends!"
"No! Tell me why, first!"
"You can be such a child--"
"I'm the child? I'm not the one ignoring a simple question. Why are you doing this, Rude? Why are you helping me? Do you think you owe me after kidnaping me? Because--"
He was on her in a heartbeat. Reflexively, she punched him in the ribs. He grunted, but that didn't stop him. His lips pressed against hers firmly, with a kind of desperate strength. Tifa's eyes widened, and she kicked him in the shins. He didn't let up. She punched him weakly in the ribs again, but couldn't find the strength to put into the blow. Something was draining it...
And then he broke it off. He stood up straight and brushed his coat off. Turning away from her, he said, "And now you know."
She felt like a fool. She remembered Barret and Cait Sith, after a side trip to Gongaga, making fun of her and Aeris, saying they knew who liked them. At first, they had both been hoping, competing against each other, hoping that for one of them it meant Cloud. Later, as Cait Sith, howling with laughter, admitted it was Rude and Tseng who liked her and Aeris, she had felt that she was on the brunt of a large joke that wasn't funny at all. But in the Temple of the Ancients, Tseng had admitted his feelings for Aeris before dying. And since then... every time she had fought Rude, he had always seemed half-hearted about it, hesitant, almost unwilling to. She had always counted it as fear, but he had never displayed that same sort of attitude when squaring off against another member of Avalanche, even Vincent, who Rude had mentioned was a legend among the Turks.
"Is this what you meant? When you said you wished you had met me before the Turks?"
"Just call your friends. That's what's important."
She nodded numbly, not trusting herself what to say. She knew he couldn't see the acknowledgement, so she just picked up the PHS and began to dial for Cloud.
Her attention was immediately diverted at the sound of a door crashing down. Rude rushed for the door to the bedroom, his hand darting into his coat. His hand hit the doorknob just as the door came down on top of him. Red XIII stood on top of the door, growling. He looked up at Tifa and wagged his tail at her, then looked at one of Rude's out-stretched legs and growled.
"I apologize for taking so long in locating you, Tifa. It appears that Rude here is quite adept at remaining hidden. It took me a while to reason that Elena's perfume was obviously only a decoy, and from there deduce that wherever the scent of it wasn't was a likely candidate for your location. After finding a place that smelled so bad that would normally be an aversion to me, I figured that this was the most likely place he would be hiding. I trust you are not harmed?"
Tifa smiled. "I'm all right, Red. You can get off of Rude. I believe he's harmless. He might even be on our side."
The feline warrior cocked his head to one side, as if considering. Finally, he climbed off the door and allowed Rude some freedom. As he walked away, Red grunted, "Pity."
Rude slowly got up, the door sliding off of him. "Are you going to call your friend?"
"May I ask why we're deciding to trust him?" Nanaki asked.
"I'll explain later," Tifa said, picking up the PHS and hurriedly punching in a few numbers.
All that came up was static.
"That's odd," she said.
"What?" Rude asked, turning back to her.
"There's nothing but static on the line. The only time that's happened was when we were in... oh no. They're in Northern Crater, with Lucrecia, and we have no way to get to warn them."
Author's Note:
All right, this has been drastically changed towards the end. Hope you took the time to read the rewrite.
Blah! This is what I get for writing these chapters late at night while I'm half asleep, with my room mates rushing me to get off the computer. I so did not mean to reveal that Obsidian = Aeris. If I could take it back, I would, but some people have already seen it. It's just too late now. I was going to string out some clues about that, be a bit more obvious, but instead it came out of nowhere. Sure, it probably shocked some, but no one got the pleasure of being able to say something like 'Ha, I saw that one coming because [insert clue here]' ... all they have is 'Well, they both are involved in protecting the planet... and... uh... they both have green eyes... er... Where the heck did this come from?!' On top of that, it was poorly timed, with only one chapter separating it from Hargun's secret, which is in a sense very similar (only that one actually had clues telling you who Hargun was. Go back and look, you'll see them). Ah well, what's done is done.
More: I've received a complaint about the shortness of my chapters. I'm going to acknowledge that one now. Sure, they're short. But there are a lot of them. I post at least once a day, but sometimes more. I've been known to post anywhere from once to six times a day. (With the exception of one day off, I believe) So while my chapters are short (and I refuse to ruin perfectly good material by dragging it out any longer than it has to), you do have quantity. Oh yeah, and I'm sure you'll notice the fic has now taken on a 'Fate of Aeris' tone. I appreciate the criticism, though, so let's hear more of it, people!
Oh right. I don't own FF. (Oh right, I'm in negotiations with Reeve. He should be back next chapter to disclaim away)
Chapter Eighteen
Confessions
Tifa stared at Rude from her place on the bed, dumbstruck. This old man, Doctor Hargun, was Lucrecia? The same Lucrecia that Vincent was so anamoured with? It couldn't be. This had to be some sort of Turk trick. But for what purpose? Why would he make up such an incredible, unbelievable lie? To get closer to this Hargun, so he could kill him. But why would be pick such an unbelievable story?
The desperation in his amber eyes, the need for her to trust him was apparent. This wasn't the Turk facade she had seen so many times before. This wasn't a man who was calm, collected, ready to accomplish his mission no matter what. This was a man that, for whatever reason, was risking his mission for the sake of others, for people he had no reason to protect.
"Why?" The word came from her mouth, a lot harsher than she meant it.
He didn't answer, only reached into his breast pocket and drew a knife. He walked to her and cut the rope that bound her legs, then gestured for her to roll around. When she did, he sliced the bindings on her arms as well.
Her first instinct was to hit him. She was free. She could take him down and make her escape, get to Cloud and the others, find a way to isolate Hargun from them until they determined his true identity...
She turned around and saw Rude's eyes again. No. She wouldn't do that. He was trusting her to do the right thing, to help him do the right thing.
But she still had to know.
"Why?"
Again he ignored the question. He walked across the room to a cabinet on the wall and opened it. Inside were her combat gloves, Materia, and PHS. He pulled out the last and tossed it to her. She caught it, and looked at him quizically.
"Call your friends."
Her eyes hardened as she stared at him. The way he kept trying to deflect her question annoyed her. There had to be a reason. "Why?"
"You'll need your things, too." He pulled her gloves and her Materia out and set them down on the table near her.
"Stop it! Just tell me! Why? Why are you helping Avalanche?"
"I'm not helping Avalanche," came his immediate response.
"Then what are you gaining from this? Who are you helping by doing this?"
The intimidated look was replaced by an angered one. His eyes took on a different tone. There was no longer any fear at all. Something else, something she hadn't seen before when someone else looked at her.
"I'm helping you, you fool. Now take your damned PHS and call your friends!"
"No! Tell me why, first!"
"You can be such a child--"
"I'm the child? I'm not the one ignoring a simple question. Why are you doing this, Rude? Why are you helping me? Do you think you owe me after kidnaping me? Because--"
He was on her in a heartbeat. Reflexively, she punched him in the ribs. He grunted, but that didn't stop him. His lips pressed against hers firmly, with a kind of desperate strength. Tifa's eyes widened, and she kicked him in the shins. He didn't let up. She punched him weakly in the ribs again, but couldn't find the strength to put into the blow. Something was draining it...
And then he broke it off. He stood up straight and brushed his coat off. Turning away from her, he said, "And now you know."
She felt like a fool. She remembered Barret and Cait Sith, after a side trip to Gongaga, making fun of her and Aeris, saying they knew who liked them. At first, they had both been hoping, competing against each other, hoping that for one of them it meant Cloud. Later, as Cait Sith, howling with laughter, admitted it was Rude and Tseng who liked her and Aeris, she had felt that she was on the brunt of a large joke that wasn't funny at all. But in the Temple of the Ancients, Tseng had admitted his feelings for Aeris before dying. And since then... every time she had fought Rude, he had always seemed half-hearted about it, hesitant, almost unwilling to. She had always counted it as fear, but he had never displayed that same sort of attitude when squaring off against another member of Avalanche, even Vincent, who Rude had mentioned was a legend among the Turks.
"Is this what you meant? When you said you wished you had met me before the Turks?"
"Just call your friends. That's what's important."
She nodded numbly, not trusting herself what to say. She knew he couldn't see the acknowledgement, so she just picked up the PHS and began to dial for Cloud.
Her attention was immediately diverted at the sound of a door crashing down. Rude rushed for the door to the bedroom, his hand darting into his coat. His hand hit the doorknob just as the door came down on top of him. Red XIII stood on top of the door, growling. He looked up at Tifa and wagged his tail at her, then looked at one of Rude's out-stretched legs and growled.
"I apologize for taking so long in locating you, Tifa. It appears that Rude here is quite adept at remaining hidden. It took me a while to reason that Elena's perfume was obviously only a decoy, and from there deduce that wherever the scent of it wasn't was a likely candidate for your location. After finding a place that smelled so bad that would normally be an aversion to me, I figured that this was the most likely place he would be hiding. I trust you are not harmed?"
Tifa smiled. "I'm all right, Red. You can get off of Rude. I believe he's harmless. He might even be on our side."
The feline warrior cocked his head to one side, as if considering. Finally, he climbed off the door and allowed Rude some freedom. As he walked away, Red grunted, "Pity."
Rude slowly got up, the door sliding off of him. "Are you going to call your friend?"
"May I ask why we're deciding to trust him?" Nanaki asked.
"I'll explain later," Tifa said, picking up the PHS and hurriedly punching in a few numbers.
All that came up was static.
"That's odd," she said.
"What?" Rude asked, turning back to her.
"There's nothing but static on the line. The only time that's happened was when we were in... oh no. They're in Northern Crater, with Lucrecia, and we have no way to get to warn them."
Author's Note:
All right, this has been drastically changed towards the end. Hope you took the time to read the rewrite.