"Give that back!" Lavinia shrieked angrily at Reno's ear, leaving him stunned.
"Nuh-uh! Not until you apologize to the boss for biting him again! And not until you two tell us where ya hid the booze!" Reno yelled back, holding the teddy bear out of Lavinia's reach.
"No! You and Rude are going to get drunk again! You'll probably vomit while telling Theodore his bedtime story!" Lavinia snapped.
"Alright, alright! What's so important about this bear anyway?" Reno asked in annoyance.
"That isn't even mine! I was just borrowing it from Samzy!" Lavinia exclaimed, trying to jump up to Reno and grab the teddy bear, but she was still short.
"Reno, just give Miss Lavinia the bear. My hand is… fine now… ouch…" Tseng commanded with a glum look on his face while continuing to wrap bandages around his sore right hand.
"Yeah, yeah. Okay, Lavinia, let's go to sleep now. It's waaaay past your bedtime." Reno said, scooping up the little girl in his arms and carrying her back to her bed.
Lavinia sneered at him when he dropped her on the soft bed. "How come you Turks are the ones who are assigned to babysit us and guard us while we're here in Costa del Sol taking a vacation?" she asked rather airily.
"Because we're the only ones available. And if you think that I'm enjoying this, I am not." Reno snapped impatiently before handing her the teddy bear and sat down on the couch by the bed, smiling gently at her, "There you go, Miss ShinRa. Now, good night, sleep tight; don't let the bed bugs bite!" he teased as he patted her head playfully.
She frowned at him before hugging the teddy bear tightly and looked away with a disappointed blank stare. "I miss Samara…" she said softly.
Reno thought for a while before saying, "We all miss her, Miss ShinRa." He said rather fakely.
"No you don't." she said.
Tseng got up from the small kiddie stool where he was seated, finally finished with the bandages, "Alright, that's enough." He told her sternly.
"You know, you stupid Turks are lucky because since we ShinRa Bratlings enjoy making your lives a miserable hell, we're not telling daddy and mommy how much you insult us! Heeheehee!" Lavinia snapped at them.
"Oh so you are completely aware that you are a ShinRa Bratling? That's so smart of you!" Tseng said sarcastically.
"Are you aware that this conversation's being recorded?" Lavinia asked.
Silence.
Then, they heard the sound of a tape being rewinded and then they heard Tseng's voice again, saying his last sentence.
"Ehehehehe!" Theodore popped out from under the bed, which really surprised Tseng and Reno, causing them to jump up in shock. "Nice going, Mr. Tseng!" he said smugly.
Tseng tried to control his temper, but he ended up having to leave the room to cuss in Wutaian. Reno tried to stop his headache and told them, "Fine, ya got us good. Now will you go to sleep?!"
Lavinia stuck out her tongue. "Not yet, Mr. Reno. Theodore has to upload this on the Net first. You might destroy the tape while we sleep, after all." She said.
Reno frowned at her. "Damn… this little girl is worse than her father…" he thought miserably before smiling cheerfully at her, "Tell me… how come you hate me, Mister Rude and Mister Tseng? AND YOU ARE NOT DOING ANYTHING TO ELENA?!?!?" he demanded impatiently.
"Ehehehehehe! Simple logic…" Theodore turned to Lavinia and the two exchanged dull looks before their faces lightened up and they both said in unison, "DUH!" and they both giggled before turning back to Reno. "She's a good lady!" Lavinia pointed out.
"And the three of you are Turkeys." Theodore said before flipping his hair and then laughed out loud.
Reno and Tseng stared dumbfoundedly at the little boy. "Thank you, we appreciate the remark." The latter said before picking up the little boy and dragging him out of the room. Theodore was not even protesting; he just kept on laughing even as they finally got out of Lavinia's bedroom.
Reno went over to the main lightswitch by the door and was about to turn out the lights when Lavinia spoke up again, "Mister Reno,"
He turned to her with a curious look on his face. She sounded like she was going to ask a very important question.
She had this worried look on her face. "I'm worried about Samara…" she said sadly.
He thought for a while before approaching her again. He sat down on the bed and just stared inquiringly at her as she continued, "Haven't you found any trace of her yet?" she asked.
He thought for a while before smiling calmly at her, "Okay, girl. Sleep now. Stop thinking about your wicked sister. She's going to be alright." He said, meaning it as a joke.
She just smiled sadly at him. "You think so?" she asked.
"Yeah. And don't worry. You're not the only one worried about her. Even though she's also your sidekick in making the Turks' lives miserable, I still care about her." He admitted with a sad but hesitant look on his face.
She widened her eyes at him, "Awww, Mister Reno, that's so sweet of you!!!" she hugged him. "You're my favorite nanny." She said sweetly.
He made a disgusted face as he stared down at her, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Cut out the mush. Now, go to sleep." He told her before he got up.
He switched off the lights and opened the door, but before he stepped out of the room, Lavinia spoke up again, "Mister Reno!"
He stopped and turned to her despite the darkness of the room. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Please keep guard." She said softly.
He wondered why she had to say that. Of course he wouldn't leave his post and would even stay up all night guarding the whole ShinRa Villa with the rest of the Turks so that they wouldn't get a salary deduction from the President. He just smiled discreetly before stepping out of the room, not even bothering to answer to her.
Kairi and Samara spent the next few hours together just talking about one another and sharing different stories about their lives. The former was relieved that the latter was already beginning to feel at ease with her. She's happy that she has found a new friend… and it happens to be a girl just like herself… someone who'd understand her girly mind.
"We actually have houses and suites in different areas of this Planet, but the main base is in Midgar. My most favorite place is in Nibelheim. It happens to be my mommy's hometown too. Maybe you'd like to go there sometime?" Samara asked.
"I've been there too. It's so nice and quiet and peaceful there… I've been to the ShinRa mansion and met your dad. GAWDS! I can't believe he's the President! And he looks so young too!" Kairi responded in awe.
"What about your dad? What does he do for a living?" Samara asked curiously.
"Oh him? He's a mercenary. He once belonged to Soldier but eventually quit." Kairi replied with an uninterested look on her face.
"You don't seem to like your dad?" Samara asked, eyeing her carefully. Kairi smiled weakly, "Not really… it's just that… he's odd. It's like he's been deprived of something… because he always says that life is so unfair. But I love him because he's my daddy." She explained.
Samara just stared blankly at her before sighing heavily. Then, Kairi remembered something, "Samara, I think you shouldn't believe the Doctor who told you that your parents do not love you." She began.
Samara just bowed down her head, hiding her face behind her long black hair.
Kairi moved closer to her and knelt down before her, parting Samara's hair so that she could see her face. Kairi was smiling kindly at her before reaching down to the pendant, looking at the ShinRa logo. "This is your family's logo, right?" she asked.
Samara just snatched the pendant away from her and turned away stubbornly, but she refused to say anything.
"What exactly did the Doctor tell you?" Kairi asked gently.
Samara was silent for a while before finally replying with a low but trembling tone, "Daddy loves his money… he wants me to go away… because ever since I came into his life, the sales went down…"
Silence.
Kairi giggled. "Samara, your family is practically okay! In fact, it's richer than ever!" she said.
"Because I've been gone for a year!" Samara exclaimed.
"No!" Kairi made the little girl face her as she held onto her shoulders, "Samara, if your parents do not love you, how come they are looking for you?"
Samara's eyes widened upon hearing that. Kairi nodded her head. "Daddy told me about it. My mom went with Mrs. Strife to accompany Mrs. ShinRa to Nibelheim because she is looking for you! And President Rufus? He's been going back and forth from Junon to Midgar so that he could check on how the investigations are going. The Turks are also looking for you! Samara, please understand! That Doctor you're talking about is evil. He brainwashed you with his lies!" she explained futher with a determined look on her face.
Samara just stared up at her in wonder. "Wh…what?" she asked in shock.
"Samara, he has taken advantage of your innocence and your love for your parents that's why he was able to make you believe in all of those lies! Samara, please believe me. I'm not joking!" Kairi said, slowly letting her go.
Before Samara could say something else, they heard someone cussing from somewhere within the cave too… and approaching.
"Who's that?" Kairi asked in a hoarse whisper.
Samara instantly got up and got Kairi's hand and led the way to an exit.
"Serves Riku right! Hmf! Ugh… stupid fire… it burned a part of my cape… now it's dirty!" Kuja was muttering angrily before he stopped in his tracks. The aura that he had sensed was gone.
He sneered when he saw the bonfire. "They were here…" and proceeded his way through the cave again, looking for Kairi and Samara…
Samara and Kairi just kept on running for their lives, even though they were already very tired and they wanted so much to just rest in one place. They finally got out of the cave and went down the other side of the mountains until they saw a small beach resort.
"Look! Over there!" Kairi said, pointing at the small cottages.
Samara just narrowed her eyes at the cottages.
Kairi smiled at her, "We could ask help from them!" she said.
"No! I don't like those innocent people to be harmed by Kuja in case they take care of us. Let's just get out of this place!" Samara explained with a concerned look on her face.
Kairi thought for a while before nodding her head, "You're right. C'mon, let's go." She said, but still went for the cottages.
"Kairi?! I thought we're going away?" Samara called out in a loud whisper.
"We are. But we can't just run all night, right?" Kairi asked before hurrying up. Finally, they arrived at the resort and saw parked cars.
Samara blinked and stared at the cars… and saw a white convertible.
Kairi was also eyeing the white convertible with a stern smile on her face before rushing to it, chuckling.
Samara went after her and watched as she hopped in.
Kairi checked for the keys, but there weren't any.
"Obviously, the driver wouldn't leave the keys here unless he's stupid," Samara said airily.
"Well there must be a way for us to start this thing without keys!" Kairi said.
Samara hopped inside and sat down on the front passenger seat. "Yes, there is a way," she said before surprising her friend when the engine just started.
Kairi stared unbelievably at her.
Samara just smiled sweetly. "Well, I do hope that you can drive this thing." She said.
Kairi laughed nervously, realizing that Samara was controlling the engine with her mind. "Alright… heehee… you almost scared me… eheh…" she stepped on the accelerator immediately, making the two of them jump in surprise when the car suddenly jolted to a start.
"Whoa!" Kairi stepped on the brakes.
They were stunned.
"Let me guess… you don't know how to drive?" Samara asked before she buckled up.
Kairi was panting heavily, "Well… no… but I could learn! I watched my dad drive several times!" she said before putting on her seatbelt.
The two took a deep breath.
"Are you aware that we're stealing this car?" Samara asked.
"Well… we're just going to borrow it! I mean, our life depends on this thing!" Kairi said with a weak and sheepish smile on her face as she finally made the car run again and then they finally got on the road.
"Never mind! This is not the time to start feeling guilty. Just hurry it up. I'm having a hard time multi-tasking!" Samara snapped impatiently while clutching her head tightly.
"Are you alright?" Kairi asked nervously, turning to her.
"Just keep your eyes on the road. I'm concentrating. I'm trying to block our auras from radiating further from a meter from us so that Kuja wouldn't know where we are; and I'm also trying to keep this car's engine moving." Samara explained.
"Gee… I wish I had your abilities so that I can have something worthwhile to do." Kairi said before turning back to the road ahead of them. She also turned on the headlights so that she could see well. The highway was really dark.
"Why?" Samara asked.
"Well… I really hate it whenever Riku and Sora are fighting monsters and then I'm just stuck standing behind them… really far from them so that I wouldn't get hurt." Kairi explained with a sheepish look on her face.
Samara thought for a while before asking, "You mentioned earlier that your mom's a ninja and your dad's a mercenary?"
"Yeah, but they don't really teach me everything that they know." Kairi sighed heavily. "I wish someone would teach me how to hold a sword… or even a little kick-boxing! Yeah, that'd be cool too!" she continued with a hopeful look on her face.
"You could tell your mom and dad that you want to learn those things… maybe they can teach you." Samara said.
"Well… yeah… I could… I've tried it once but they're so busy with other stuff about family expenses, their jobs and themselves. Not that I'm a neglected child, but they leave me to do my own thing. Mommy even gave me shurikens for my last birthday but I don't know how to use them!" Kairi explained with a troubled look on her face.
"If you want… once we get back to our homes, I could help you learn. And I'll also teach you what I know about guns and kick-boxing." Samara offered.
"You'd really do that?" Kairi asked in awe, turning to her.
Samara smiled and nodded. "Yep. It's easy!" and slowly turned her gaze back on the road when she realized that a truck was approaching them, ready to hit. "TRUCK!!!!!" she screeched.
Kairi instantly turned back to the road and screeched with Samara before swerving sharply to the gutter to avoid the incoming truck.
As soon as they had avoided the truck, Kairi drove the car back on the main highway, panting heavily. "GAWDS!!!" She reacted in relief.
Samara was clutching her chest. "Just… keep your eyes on the road!" she snapped in annoyance.
Kairi giggled sheepishly. "Heehee! I'm sorry…" she apologized.
"Yeah, whatever…" Samara muttered miserably.
Riku woke up in the middle of the night, feeling so light-headed. "Ugh… I'll never want to have another shot of that tranquilizer…" he muttered miserably before he sat up groggily and tried to feel for the switch of the lamplight. "And why did they have to turn out the lights?" he thought miserably before he finally found the switch and then turned on the lamplight. He gazed around the dimly-lit bedroom, and realized that he was just alone there.
"They left me? I thought they were still injured…" he thought to himself, feeling irritated as he slowly got out of bed, feeling his stomach grumbling. "And I'm hungry too…" he murmured as he groggily made his way to the door and slowly got out of the room. The hallway still had lights on so he did not have a hard time locating the stairs and tried to find the dining room and the kitchen. On his way down, he heard the telephone ringing.
He stopped walking and began to search the whole hallway, until he caught sight of the telephone on top of an endtable at the end of the stairs on the first floor. He made his way to it and sensing that no one else was awake to answer it, he just picked it up and placed the receiver against his ear, saying, "H…Hello?"
"Hallo, I'd like to speak to my mum, please?" said the voice on the other line.
"U-uh…" Riku gulped, feeling a bit awkward, "Who shall I say is calling?"
The voice on the other line paused. "This is Theodore. Who is this?"
Riku's eyes widened upon hearing the name. He could recall Samara mentioning that name several times before… "It's her twin…" he reminded himself silently before somebody tapped his shoulder from behind. He jerked and turned around, but calmed down when he saw that it was only the First Lady.
Tifa examined the perplexed look in Riku's face with a concerned look on her face, "Riku, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be resting?" she asked gently.
Riku smiled weakly at her before handing her the receiver, "It's… Theodore," he revealed. She blinked before taking the receiver from his grasp and placed it against her ear, "Hello, Theo?" she greeted softly.
"Mommy! Who was that?" the little boy asked from the other line.
"Oh, that was Riku, one of Mister Sephiroth's sons." She said as she watched Riku walk away from her, looking around the big lobby of the mansion. He headed for one particular direction where a big family picture of the ShinRas was displayed. He just stared up at it with awe in his eyes while Tifa continued to talk on the phone.
"Anyway, dearie, why did you call? Do you know what time it is?" she asked.
"…I can't sleep. I keep having… dreams…" Theodore responded. He sounded worried.
She frowned slightly. "What kind of dreams?" she asked curiously.
"…Samara." He replied.
Tifa was silent for a while, thinking of what else to say, as he continued to explain, "Samara came back… but… someone is after her… and her life is in danger."
She bowed down her head, remembering what happened earlier that day. If it wasn't for Kuja, she could've been reunited with her daughter already… She just bit her lower lip before rubbing her forehead with her free hand. "I… I'm sure your sister will be alright… even though… Kuja is looking for her…" she admitted.
Theodore was silent for a few moments, staring at his twin sister's face on the picture that he was holding. It was a shot of the two of them taken with a Polaroid camera and he had it placed in a small frame. He would even take the picture with him everywhere he goes because he has a copy of it in his wallet… and even in his bedrooms in the ShinRa Villa (what he's holding at that moment), ShinRa Mansion, ShinRa Base in Junon and in Midgar… even in his mother's house in Nibelheim.
The picture consisted only of the two of them. He was hugging her tightly and he looked very pleased, even though she looked unhappy about it. He knows how much she hated having her picture taken, but during that day, he was able to convince her.
"I'm sure you have heard of what happened earlier?" Tifa asked her.
Theodore pressed his lips together before answering, "It's in the evening news, mom… but… I know that Samara did not do that." He said.
"How?" she asked.
He smiled bitterly. "Because I'm her twin. I should know, right mom? I… can feel her… and I know she's alright. I don't know where she is right now… but it seems like she's coming closer. I've never felt this before in all those months that she was gone… and now, she feels closer again…" he admitted.
Tifa just smiled softly as she leaned against the railing of the stair. "That's alright, Theodore… maybe… what you're feeling right now has a significance…" she said.
Theodore was silent for a few moments before saying, "Good night, mom…" and then hung up.
Tifa put down the receiver on the phone and sighed heavily. She sat down on the first step of the stairs, looking down on the ground with a tired look on her face. "… I'm sorry, Theodore…" she whispered softly.
Riku turned around, looking at her curiously. He approached her, "Are you alright, Ma'am?" he asked.
She smiled weakly at him. "I'm… just… confused… so confused right now…" she covered her face with her hands and rested her elbows on her lap. She felt so hopeless and more confused than before. "…I just want my Samara back…" she said with a trembling tone as she began to cry.
Riku's expression softened as he sat down beside her and listened carefully to her, "…I… don't know why or how that Doctor had managed to make her think that I'd do something like… hate her; while that would be the last thing that I would do." She said softly as she removed her hands from her face and looked up at the big photo hanging on the wall, "And now I'm feeling so guilty because the first thing I thought about when I saw Nibelheim on fire today is that Samara was the one who started it." She told him.
Riku just stared unbelievably at her.
She smiled bitterly before turning her attention at Samara's picture. "I know that I'm aware of the harm that she could cause… but I'm trying my best to teach her to use it for the benefit of people… not for destruction…" she explained.
Riku frowned slightly, "But she uses it to defend herself… and I can assure you that… she wasn't the one who started the fire." He told her.
"I know… but… I don't know what came into me that made me think that she was the one who did it…" she responded before wiping her tears away, "…when Samara disappeared, I was the last one who found out about it… My husband, Rufus, was already panicking and he was yelling at everyone, blaming everybody from the Turks to the Soldiers when I arrived in Junon for his parade. I arrived late because I had to pick up Lavinia from school… Theodore was crying and he wanted to jump into the ocean and he was screaming, Samara's in there! Samara's in there! I have to save her! … Oh, Riku… it was one of the most horrible days of my life!" she explained.
From the second floor, they were unaware that Cloud, Sora and Squall were listening to the conversation.
Squall was silently thinking, "Maybe Hojo escaped through a submarine…"
Cloud just kept quiet, staring at Tifa with wonder in his eyes. "How come the ShinRas kept it a secret from everybody else… that one of the children is missing?" he said softly in a tone audible enough for only Squall and Sora to hear.
Squall bowed down his head, lowering his gaze to the family picture on the first floor wall by the doorway leading to the hall to the dining area and the kitchen. "Maybe because ShinRa is a picture of perfection… and Rufus wants to keep it that way." He replied with a slight frown on his face.
Sora just kept quiet, remembering everything that Samara had told him before... and what Squall had just mentioned. He looked up at his father and smiled solemnly. "I guess I should be thankful that even if we aren't basically as rich as the ShinRas and the Valentines, we are still together and… our lives are peaceful and nobody's bothering us." He thought silently.
They just watched in complete silence as Tifa wiped her own tears away and smiled cheerfully at Riku and got up, "So, aren't you supposed to be resting?" she asked.
He got up and smiled sheepishly at her, "Er… I'm really hungry right now and I was thinking if I could eat…" he began embarrassingly.
She chuckled lightly, "Oh yes. I'll fix you something in the kitchen. C'mon, what do you want? Some BLT sandwhich or macaroni and cheese or anything… you name it, I'll cook it for you!" she said as she led the way to the kitchen.
Riku's eyes widened as he followed after her, "Uhm… no thank you. It's… embarrassing! I mean, you're the First Lady and… you're not supposed to do…" he began.
When Sora heard that, he was shocked. Cloud noticed his reaction and laughed, "Stop wondering. Not all rich people are like Tifa… so we're very lucky to have her as a friend." He told him.
"How come?" Sora asked.
"She wasn't born rich. She was from the middle class in her childhood, and she had been through a lot of poverty and suffering when her father died… so she can relate to us normal citizens as much as possible." Cloud explained.
"So you mean to say that she's the image-booster of ShinRa?" Squall asked.
"Well… yes and no… because Rufus is helping her. I'm telling you; that guy has changed a lot ever since he met her…" Cloud told them before deciding to go down the stairs. The two followed after him, "What do you mean?" Squall asked.
"Well… I never really thought that I'd be friends with a person like him but now… he's really one of my closest pals." Cloud responded before picking up the receiver of the telephone. "And since we're going into battle, I just thought I'd call upon reinforcements…" he said before dialing some numbers.
"Oh is that why you were reading the news online hours ago?" Squall asked. He recalled seeing Cloud inside Rufus's study reading the online news. Cloud told him that he read about Tidus and co. coming arriving in Midgar because Spira had been destroyed by Kuja. "You guys go ahead to the kitchen for a midnight snack. I'll just talk to Tidus." Cloud instructed.
"Yeah, whatever…" Squall responded before going ahead. Sora smiled happily at Cloud before hugging him tightly, surprising him. "I love you dad!" he said happily before he let go and ran after Squall. "Hey, wait up, Leon!" he called out.
Squall's frown deepened and he had this irritated look on his face as he snapped back at Sora, "It's Squall.."
"Yeah, whatever!" Sora mimicked rather mockingly before laughing heartily. Squall just rolled his eyes.