Two: Zack and the Rest are Back!
Zack eyed her from head to toe before smiling kindly at her. He let go of the cloth that he was using for polishing his Buster Sword and wiped his hand onto his pants before approaching her and offered a handshake. "Hi. Nice to meet you, Miss Kisaragi, ma'am. Your father has told me lots of cool stories about you." He said.
She stared at his hand for a few seconds while thinking, "Grossness!" before she hesitantly took it and shook hands with him. "R…really now? Like what?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
Before Zack could answer, Lord Godo interrupted him by clearing his throat, "Ahem… Lots of things, Yuffie, lots of things." He told his daughter. Yuffie instantly let go of Zack and went back into hiding behind her father. "Can I go now? I want to wash my hands…" she whispered to him with a disgusted look on her face.
"Not yet, Yuffie. You talk to him first. I'll be in my room." He told her.
"Like, what will I say?" she whispered in panic.
"Ask him where he came from… interrogate him! After all, he's your new instructor… and your new guardian." He replied.
"WHAT?!" Yuffie screeched, surprising both Zack and her father.
Yuffie made him face her and collared him, surprising Zack because of her display of such strength… and disrespect. "Look, Old Man, you didn't say anything about this Hedgehog-guy being my bodyguard in the first place, and now you're telling me that… that… he will be my bodyguard? What the hell do I need a bodyguard for?!" she demanded frantically in annoyance.
Zack cringed a little, "Hedgehog?" he repeated.
"Yuffie, you are such a disrespectful daughter! The more you'll have him as your bodyguard if you don't let go of me at once!" Lord Godo said sternly.
But Yuffie just shook him violently, "AAAARGH!!! Are you up to ruining my social life?! I don't need an effing bodyguard!!!" she screamed hysterically at his face.
"Hey, hey, calm down!" Zack got her instantly when Lord Godo signaled for him to help him. He drew her away from her father. She was panting heavily and her face was red in rage. "Dad, you can't do this to me… I can take care of myself!" she told him.
"Oh yeah? And how would you explain being kidnapped by Don Corneo and almost getting raped by that dirty old man, huh? I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. Even if you are very disrespectful, loud and spoiled, you are still my daughter, do you understand?" he snapped back at her rather impatiently before marching out of the room, leaving her there with Zack.
She let out an exasperated cry, "GAWDS!!!" she moved away from him and stomped her foot, going to one corner of the room and plopped down angrily on the floor in a sitting position. "Now I'm never going to be able to see my friends again…" she muttered miserably.
"Well… you can still go out of the house. But I think I'll be staying with you if you do so." He told her.
"Never mind. They live too far from here anyway… in the another continent." She explained, sitting in fetal position and hugging her knees closer to herself.
Zack could easily interpret the sad and miserable look on her face. "Hmm… I see… well, maybe one time we could still… pass by there or something. If it makes you happy…" he began.
"Never mind. It won't please my Old Man anyway." She told him miserably. "So, he mentioned you're from SOLDIER, huh? Which class?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.
He smiled at her, finally relieved that she has calmed down even for a bit. He walked over to the closet once more and picked up the cloth and started polishing his Buster Sword. "Well… yeah. But I'm an ex-SOLDIER now." He told her.
"Oh, how come?" she asked, and then remembered something. "Oh well, since ShinRa's gone you could be considered as an ex-SOLDIER, huh?" she asked.
"Well… not exactly…" he told her.
She blinked. "Why?" she asked.
"I… something bad happened to me so I guess all of them assumed that I'm dead. But now I'm back… well," he stammered.
"Anyway, how old are you?" she asked, giving him the hint that she is not in the mood for long life and personal stories. He was quite surprised at her sudden shift of mood and subject. "I'm 23 now." He told her. "And you?" he asked before inspecting the blade of his sword.
"16." She muttered miserably.
"You don't look 16." He told her.
She just stared glumly at him.
"You look like you're 14." He added.
She frowned at what he said and she instantly got up and rushed to him, "Look, big guy, I didn't ask for your opinion about how I look like! And since you're just my bodyguard, it means that I am your master; meaning, you should not speak unless you're asked to, understand?" she asked.
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. But it was meant to be a compliment. Usually girls would like to look older than their age because they want to be more mature… and hook up with more boys. I'm sure you're not like that, are you?" he asked with a playful smile on his face.
She just raised an eyebrow at him. "Definitely not. And mind me, I don't hang out with that kind of crowd. Now if you'll excuse me…" she turned away from him and went over to the door to leave, but he stopped her by speaking up again, "Uhm… Miss Kisaragi," he began.
"What?" she asked through clenched teeth as she opened the door.
Zack thought for a while before asking, "Uhm… don't mind me asking but… where have you been? Your father mentioned that you've been gone for so long…"
The question made her think of her friends again. It took her around three days before she was able to reach Wutai again from Midgar because she just rode a boat with her father's other guards. And in those three long days, she somewhat felt so lonely because she realized how much she missed Tifa, Barret, Cid, Vincent and Cloud… She smiled bitterly, bowing down her head, "Even that big red dog and Marlene… and Aerith…" she thought sadly. She sighed heavily before she stepped out of the room but turned to face him again from outside in the hallway. "Saving the world from Sephiroth with the best buddies any Ninja like me could ever have." She replied sadly before shutting the door… but she wondered why Zack suddenly looked surprised at the mention of the name Sephiroth… like he knew the guy. She shrugged it off and proceeded down the hallway going to her own room. "Oh well, he's from SOLDIER, after all…" she muttered to herself. When she stepped inside her supposedly room, she gasped. "OH MY GAWD!!!!!"
Lord Godo just sat still on the floor, drinking his tea, while listening to Yuffie blab, "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY OLD ROOM?! WHERE ARE MY STUFF?!"
He took a small sip before taking a deep breath and answered, "I transferred them to your new room."
She felt so stunned. "New room? But where?" she asked.
"Just beside Zack's. I figured you need to be protected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… so there. No questions asked." He said sternly before taking another sip.
She just clenched her fists. "OH MY GAWD!!!!! You can't do this to me!!! That's a connecting room!!! What if that big hunk of a guy just barges in and… and… and…" she stammered.
"And what?" he asked seriously.
"…and violates me?!" she continued, finally saying the "right" word.
Lord Godo just stared blankly at her. "The man is seven years older than you. And did you even care to think that he would not even be attracted to a girl who looks like you? Har har har har har har!!!" he just began to laugh hysterically.
Yuffie clenched her fists. "GAWDS!!!" she screeched before walking out of the room.
Tifa jumped up in surprise when she heard the sound of roaring thunder in sync with the flash of bright lightning from the skies. Marlene screeched in surprise and hid behind her.
Tifa's heart was still racing and her maroon-brown eyes were wide were still wide. She wiped her flour-covered hands on a kitchen towel hanging by the refrigerator. "Marlene, calm down! It's just thunder and lightning." She said reassuringly, although her voice was shaky.
Marlene still clung to her waist. "But… but… it was too loud!" she said shakily.
Tifa shook her head in dismay. "Be brave, Marlene." She said sternly as she patted the child's head with a soft smile on her face.
Vincent continued to read the newspaper while he was seated on one of the chairs in the dining room area just beside the kitchen while listening to Marlene say to Tifa, "But I read in a book in Miss Elmyra's house that when lightning and thunder go together in one stormy afternoon, it means that bad things are going to happen!"
"Bad things like what?" Tifa asked curiously.
"Bad things like the dead people coming back to life!" Marlene explained.
Vincent slowly put down the newspaper away from his face and stared inquiringly at the little girl who was still clinging onto Tifa's waist. Tifa was trying to walk across the kitchen with the little girl still attached to her. She was carrying a mixing bowl and a cookie cutter and placed it on the kitchen counter, then walked across the kitchen again to go to the cupboard to get a spatula. "Marlene, dead people can't go back to life." Tifa choked out.
Vincent just looked down to the floor upon hearing that.
"Yes they can! If magic people will magic them, they will come back to life! It's in the book!" Marlene defended.
"You shouldn't believe everything you read, Marlene. Now please, let go of me? I have to finish baking these cookies so that you can bring them to school tomorrow and eat them for recess." Tifa said with a stern tone.
"But I'm still scared!" the little girl reasoned.
Tifa sighed heavily. "Where's Barret anyway…" she turned to Vincent. "Oh there's Uncle Vincent? Why don't you go to him so that you won't be scared anymore?" she asked sweetly.
Vincent just stared unbelievably at her. He was not even sure if he's good with kids… and then there was Marlene running up to him. "Uncle Vinny! Uncle Vinny!!!" she chanted before hugging him.
Vincent was surprised upon being hugged by a child. "Yes, Marlene?" he asked.
Then it happened again: thunder roared and lightning flashed… The little girl screamed. Vincent brought the child closer to himself, as if to protect her from something unseen that he could already feel lurking around the area.
"It's been so gloomy ever since the full moon before Yuffie left us and went back to Wutai… I hope she had a safe journey." Tifa said with a worried look on her face.
Vincent turned back to the newspaper that was lying on the table. He could see the weather news and he frowned. "But there's no storm… and it's not even raining." He said.
"Oh well, the weather's really unpredictable these days…" Tifa began, but she stopped when she heard loud blaring parade music from outside… "What the…" she had managed to say.
"A parade in the late afternoon?" Vincent thought in curiosity.
Barret came rushing down the stairs with a frantic look on his face, "Foo's! Take a look at what's on TV!!!" he was yelling.
Tifa was not able to move. "Wh…what's going on?" she asked with a worried look on her face.
Barret rushed to the television set and switched it on. He grabbed the remote and switched to the news channel and turned up the volume. Vincent, Tifa and Marlene listened to the voice of the newscaster, "ShinRa is back in business! And to lead its new empire is the supposedly-late President ShinRa! Much to our big surprise… but right now there's a welcoming parade in this city. At this moment, the ShinRa building is being restored to its old place. What kind of phenomenon is this?! And then…"
"Wh…what?! I thought… I thought they're dead?" Tifa had managed to ask as she rushed to the window and took a good look outside. For her, it seemed like doomsday… something worse than Meteor… She could see the ShinRa Tower starting reconstruction and restoration with never before seen machinery for construction. "Oh dear…" she said softly with a worried look on her face.
Marlene rushed over to her father and clung to his leg. "Papa, I'm scared!" she began to cry.
Vincent got up and went to the door, taking a peek outside. A lot of people were on the streets, crowding and cheering and throwing confetti all over the place. He saw ShinRa Soldiers marching and a big float approaching… and on top of the float was the old man ShinRa… the one that Sephiroth had supposedly killed. Vincent's mouth dropped open upon seeing the old man. "What the…" he had managed to say before he shut the door.
"What's the matter, Vincent?" Barret asked while trying to calm the little girl down.
"It's… President ShinRa… the media are not lying." Vincent replied, feeling that his mouth is getting dry.
"What?!" Barret demanded impatiently before he placed Marlene on the sofa and rushed to the door, opening it wide enough for all of them from inside to see.
On the float with President ShinRa were his five complete executives… and four Turks…
"What… what are they doing… here? I thought they're supposed to be dead?" Tifa asked with a fearful look on her face as she stood behind Vincent.
Much to Vincent's anger, he saw Hojo.
"How come they're here?" Tifa whispered, clenching her fists.
"Oh damn… tell me I think we ain't dreamin'…" Barret muttered while pinching himself.
Vincent clenched his right fist and slammed the door shut. "I don't want to believe this!" he said angrily.
It seemed to all of them that the dead had risen from their graves… and they're all back to cause havoc; but why the bad guys?
Tifa went over to the window to watch the people passing by. She suddenly had a sad and worried look on her face. "But… where's Aerith?" she said softly.
"What?" Barret asked her.
She swallowed hard, "It… it seems that all the dead people are back… and they're complete! So… I'd assume that Aerith would be back, right?" she asked with a hopeful tone.
Vincent's eyes widened before turning to her, "And…" he stopped himself from saying the name.
"And what?" Barret asked.
"Lucrecia…" he just thought silently before shaking his head in dismay. "N…nothing…" he told them before he sat down on the couch, clutching his head in confusion. "What is going on?! Are we in one nightmare?" he asked out loud… and he remembered what Marlene had mentioned moments ago about the "magic men that will magic the dead so that they would come back to life". He raked his right hand through his hair before he looked up at Tifa and Barret who were staring strangely at him. "Maybe… maybe what Marlene had mentioned is right…" he said softly.
Lightning flashed in sync with loud and roaring thunder which made all of them, but Vincent, jerk up in surprise.
"Looks like rain again…" Lucrecia said out loud when she heard the thunder and saw the lightning outside in the gloomy skies.
Rufus just rolled his eyes but he remained seated on the small couch. "I hope they used metal rods for Old Man's canopy in his float…" he muttered with a mean look in eyes. Sephiroth laughed at what he said, "I get what you mean." He pointed out.
"Oh, that's so violent, Rufus." Aerith remarked with a disturbed look on her face.
"I know. And I love it." Rufus replied airily before flipping his hair.
Lucrecia frowned. "I'm worried for us here… sooner or later, they might find out where we are and… and take us to ShinRa." She told them.
"Don't worry, mom. I'll make sure they don't find us." Sephiroth assured her with a wink before he unsheathed his Masamune and started polishing it again.
"That's the nth time you've polished it for today," Rufus pointed out.
"Hey, mind your own beeswax, ShinRa boy." Sephiroth replied nastily while eyeing him warningly. He turned back to his Masamune. "Besides, I missed this baby of mine. Mwahahahahaha." He said before hugging it close to himself.
Aerith just raised an eyebrow and exchanged weird looks with Rufus. Lucrecia saw how he was hugging his weapon so she shook her head in disbelief, "Careful not to cut yourself, Sephy." She warned.
Aerith giggled while Rufus snickered. "Heh heh heh… Sephy. Heh, heh, heh." He mocked.
"What?" Sephiroth snapped impatiently at them with a slight blush on his cheeks.
Lucrecia giggled and went over to her son. "C'mere, dear. Don't let those horrible people get the best of you and bully you. You're definitely better than them!" she said while hugging him. Sephiroth could feel his face getting red. "Mom… please, not in front of other people!" he muttered in mortification.
Aerith laughed out loud, "It's alright, Sephiroth. You don't have to be embarrassed. It's only me and Rufus." She said.
Rufus just smiled wickedly at him. Sephiroth sneered at him.
It had been days since they had been brought back. They also could not understand why they were brought back in the first place… but they were wondering why there had been a limited number of people who could come back. Professor Gast, Ifalna, Cloud's mother and Rufus's mother could not even come with them.
When they all woke up, they realized that they were all in a hospital. Lucrecia was the first one who regained consciousness among all of them, and when she realized what had happened, she instantly woke up her son. When Sephiroth had awoken, he rushed to find Rufus and also woke him up, and in the process, had awoken Aerith who was in the same ward with Rufus. The four of them had managed to escape, in fear and worry that President ShinRa might find out that they are also alive and then make use of them again for his personal plans. As for Rufus, he simply hated his father, so he went with them, even if he had to go through poverty first. He could not get his own money from the bank, otherwise, his father will find out where he is hiding and that he is also alive.
The four of them just decided to settle in a small rented room in Sector 7, Midgar. Aerith and Lucrecia shared space on a bed with an old squeaky mattress, while the boys would just settle on the floor. There were times when they would have nothing to eat, and Sephiroth would joke about staying in outside the Church of Sector 6 and he would play the guitar while Aerith and Rufus performed something for the crowd, and maybe the people would find it amusing and give them alms. Obviously they could not do that because they are in hiding.
Rufus shivered slightly and rubbed his palms together. "Bloody hell… this room's heater is not working well." He muttered miserably.
"Actually, it's not working anymore." Lucrecia said.
"But we'll freeze to death without that! And it's near winter already!" Rufus pointed out.
"It's alright, Rufus, it's alright. We won't freeze to death, I can assure you that. We're going to get out of this place as soon as we could find Aerith's old friends." Lucrecia assured him.
Aerith bowed down her head. "I'm… not sure if we could even find them easily. Sector 7 is such a big place… and dangerous too. I tried going around early this morning, asking for people if they know any Cloud Strife, but they said they don't." she said softly.
"You want to try again?" Rufus asked with a desperate look in his eyes, although his face looked so expressionless. Aerith could tell that he is not really used to living in such poor conditions. She sighed heavily. "Alright," she said before she got up.
Sephiroth sheathed back his sword. "No, you just stay here. I'll go with Rufus." He told her before he got up. Rufus got up and dusted himself while straightening his white pants. They were already dirty and he really wanted to change into something cleaner and warmer, but he chose to live a life away from his rich but corrupt father, so he was not really complaining too much about it.
"Wouldn't it be obvious if the two of you got together and started roaming around the streets of Sector 7?" Lucrecia asked.
"What's the matter with the two of us?" Sephiroth asked.
"Especially you, Sephiroth. You cannot be seen publicly, otherwise, the people might throw rocks at you. Remember what you did to them before," she pointed out. He frowned slightly. "They won't recognize me." He assured her.
Lucrecia thought for a while before sighing heavily, "You just stay here with Aerith. I'll go with Rufus instead." She said.
"But mom, they might—." Sephiroth began, but she stopped him, "I've been away too long from this place. They won't be able to know that it's Lucrecia." She said with a wink before turning to Rufus. "As for you, try to mess up your hair a bit." She told him.
Rufus just stared stiffly at her before raking his fingers through his hair. "It's not even brushed back just like before. Besides, this is how my hair looked like when I was 15." He pointed out before heading for the door.
Aerith followed them with her gaze. She wanted to come with them too. "Let me go with you, please!" she said as she got to her feet and sprinted to them.
"Just let her go with you. I'll guard the place." Sephiroth told them as he plopped down on the bed.
Aerith exchanged looks with Lucrecia and Rufus before proceeding to open the door for her two companions. "Let's go." She said as she went ahead.
President ShinRa gazed around his surroundings and down at the audience from where he stood before the podium. "How do you like it, President ShinRa?" Heidegger whispered proudly.
"Very good. Very, very good. But I'm wondering where my son is… I thought he was revived with us." President ShinRa said to him.
"Gyah. I've already sent some of the SOLDIER and the Turks to make rounds… and if they see anybody suspicious, I already told them to arrest those people." Heidegger replied proudly.
"Very good, Heidegger." President ShinRa said before turning back to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began for his speech.
The cold early winter breeze began to blow softly, sending shivers down their spines. Aerith hugged herself as she rubbed her own arms with her cold palms. "Brr…" she shuddered.
Rufus just continued to walk with his usual poker-faced expression.
Lucrecia shoved her hands inside the pockets of her white laboratory coat in an effort to keep them warm. "I'd expect snow to start falling two weeks from now." She told them.
But Rufus did not care.
Aerith looked up at the skies and then at her whole surroundings. "This part of Midgar still looks the same…" she said out loud.
Rufus just kept quiet as they proceeded to walk.
Lucrecia forced a smile, "Aerith, you mentioned that one of your friends have a bar here in this area?" she asked.
"Oh yes! Tifa's Seventh Heaven? But I'm not sure where it is in this area." Aerith replied. Rufus turned to her, "You think we could ask for directions?" he asked.
"I think… wait a moment," Aerith said before approaching a group of people in suits who were standing by a tall electrical post and also shivering in the cold. She could hear them complaining loudly of the cold weather, but she still proceeded, "Excuse me," she began.
Rufus had been following her with his gaze, and he easily recognized the people that Aerith had approached. "Bloody hell!" he ran for Aerith, wanting to grab her and drag her away from those people before they could turn around to face her. Lucrecia gasped and took a few steps backward in fear.
Aerith's eyes widened when the people in suits turned to face her. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed as she took a few steps backward bumping against Rufus. Rufus forced her to his back, like protecting her, but he was still moving backward with her. His gaze remained on the Turks.
"Sir Rufus!" Tseng exclaimed.
Rufus just frowned at them. "Just pretend that you haven't seen me and I'll go easy on you Turks." He told them warningly.
Tseng frowned at him. Reno clapped his hands twice… and from the dark alleys, a bunch of ShinRa Soldiers approached them. "Sorry, sir. Orders from your father." Elena reasoned with a dismayed smile on her face.
Rufus looked around. They were surrounded… but Lucrecia was the one who can run off and escape. Clenching his fists, he turned to her and yelled, "Go, Lucrecia! Run away!"
Without further ado, Lucrecia bolted off, pushing some Soldiers away from her path and rushed to the nearest alley she could go into.
"Go after her!" Tseng urged, pushing Elena to lead some Soldiers. She obeyed immediately, taking around five Soldiers with her. The Soldier started firing at Lucrecia.
The rest of the Soldiers and the remaining Turks began to come closer to Aerith and Rufus. "Oh no… Rufus…" she said softly.
"Bloody hell… just when we're unequipped with Materia and we have no weapons…" he muttered miserably. But he had his gaze on one of the Soldiers who was closest to him. "If I could get my hands on his gun… I could use it for defense… and run away." He was thinking quietly.
Aerith swallowed hard and clenched her fists. "I don't care. I'm fighting them. I won't let them catch me and bring me back to the laboratory." She said softly with a determined look on her face.
"Alright… if that's the case," Rufus murmured before taking a step forward and then kicked the nearest Soldier's hand, making him let go of his rifle. Rufus immediately grabbed the rifle, and as soon as he did so, Aerith started attacking the rest of the Soldiers with punches and kicks.
Rufus started firing at the other Soldiers, until Rude arrived to confront him. Rude was able to kick his hand, causing him to drop the rifle to the ground. But Rufus was not to be beaten easily; he began a hand-to-hand combat with the bald Turk. "Aren't you afraid of getting a salary deduction, Rude?" he demanded angrily.
"Just doing my job, sir. Your father wants you to come home." Rude replied with a rather apologetic tone.
But Rufus was still stubborn. He still continued to fight the bald Turk. He took quick glances at Aerith and realized that she could easily escape. "Go, Aerith!" he yelled.
She gave Tseng one blow on the face, sending him flying to a wall far from them. "Gah!" Tseng reacted in pain and agony as his back hit the hard brick wall.
Aerith pushed the rest of the Soldiers away and rushed off.
"GO AFTER HER!!!" Tseng yelled angrily at Reno and at some Soldiers who were not doing anything, his Wutaian accent slipping. Rufus's frown deepened. "Damn…" he thought silently.
He realized that he has changed when he became friends with Aerith when they met in the afterlife, but he did not want anybody else to know that, so he maintained his poker-faced expression and his cold exterior. Now he was… rather helpful… and really against his father's wishes and plans.
After a few moments, Rufus stopped fighting when he saw that Reno was on his way back to them, and he was holding Aerith captive with his electric rod pointed against her neck. He was holding her hands behind her back and was twisting them slightly if she would struggle to harm him or any of the Soldiers. "Hey, Rufus. Look. It's Miss Gainsborough!" Reno said mockingly.
Aerith forced a smile at Rufus but she looked like she's in pain. "D…don't mind me, Rufus, I'm alright…" she told him.
He saw the blood trickling down from her mouth and nose, and a bruise was forming on her left cheek. Rufus's face was expressionless but he still said, "What have you done to her?"
"Forgive us, sir, but she was stubborn." Reno pointed out rather casually. Rufus thought for a while before finally saying, "Okay, I give up. I'm coming with you to ShinRa… on one condition,"
Rude helped Tseng up. "And what is that?" Tseng asked stiffly.
Rufus raked his fingers through his blonde hair and he smiled arrogantly at them. "You release the girl."
Aerith's eyes widened. "What?" she asked in disbelief.
"You heard me. Release Miss Gainsborough and I'll go back with you." He told them, ignoring Aerith's protests.
Tseng, Reno and Rude exchanged looks before finally letting go of Aerith, but they pushed the girl to the ground. She landed helplessly on the floor with a look of awe on her face. She looked up at Rufus with a concerned look on her face. He just gazed down at her with a cold look on his face before turning back to Tseng. "I didn't tell you to hurt her." He said stiffly before he offered his hand to her. She took it with a trembling hand and he helped her up. As she got up, he leaned forward to her and whispered in a low tone only audible and understandable enough for her and himself to hear, "You go find Cloud. I'll be alright. I'll make sure Old Man doesn't harm him or your friends. Go."
She swallowed hard and nodded slightly before giving him a friendly hug, "Thank you, Rufus. I always knew you had a soft spot in you." She said softly. He just stared blankly at the ground. The fight is not yet over, and he knows it. With that, she let him go and ran off. And just as Rufus had expected, Tseng commanded to Rude and to five of the Soldiers, "Get her,"
Rude ran off with the five Soldiers while Tseng and Reno approached Rufus in an attempt to grab his hand and handcuff him, but Rufus moved away from them. "No need to restrain me." He said stiffly.
Lucrecia kept on running, but she was already beginning to feel so tired. She had been shot on her right shoulder and on her left leg, but she still struggled to run away, although she was staggering already. She passed through a lot of dark alleys and crowded streets, not knowing where else to go. She just wanted to lose the ones chasing after her.
Finally, she arrived at a certain street. The first house that she saw, she ran to, and then started pounding frantically on the hard wooden door. "Oh please! Help me! Please!!! Open the door! Help!!! Please!" she cried out in panic as tears streamed down from her face.
But no one was opening the door.
She gave one last hopeless pound on the door as she sobbed. "Please…" she said softly as she leaned against the door… and finally, somebody answered her plea and opened the door. She fell forward into the arms of some tall person.
A man.
Lucrecia held onto the man's arms for support, but she wondered why his left arm felt somewhat hard… and cold like metal. Her green eyes widened in shock before she looked up at the man. "Vinny?"
Vincent Valentine gaped at the woman before him. "L…Lucrecia?" he struggled to say.
Tifa came into view with a worried look on her face, "Vincent, who…" she gasped, "Oh my God! She's bleeding!" she cried out in shock before approaching them. "Take her inside," she said, assisting Vincent in taking Lucrecia to the couch before she shut the door and bolted it.
Lucrecia was still holding onto Vincent and looking up at him with a pleased look on her face, "Oh Vincent. I'm so glad! It's you! Am I dreaming? Oh my… I hope I'm not! It's you!!!" she said with a frantic but excited smile on her face.
Vincent felt so speechless. He doesn't know how to react further to the situation, but he snapped out of his trance when she just closed her eyes and passed out. "Lucrecia!" he cried out in surprise.
"Vincent, she's wounded! What happened to her?" Tifa aksed.
"I… I don't know… but it's like she's been shot…" Vincent concluded with a worried look on his face.
"But… it seemed like she's running away from something… or from someone…" Tifa said before rushing to the kitchen. "Take her upstairs. I'll just go get some water and the first aid kit." She instructed.
With that, Vincent took Lucrecia in his arms and carried her upstairs to his room.
Aerith kept on running, feeling so confused and dizzy; not knowing where else to go. Rude and the Soldiers were still running after her tirelessly. "Oh God… when will this end?!" she thought in agony.
She rounded a corner and she bumped against something hard that went, "Oomph!"
"Oh I'm sorry!" Aerith apologized quickly as she accidentally held onto the man's arms to prevent herself from falling backward.
Cloud Strife's eyes widened upon recognizing her. "Aer… Aerith?!" he exclaimed.
Aerith's heart jumped in sudden joy as she slowly lifted her gaze up to him. "C…Cloud!" she exclaimed. But she almost forgot about her assailants. "Where's your sword?" she asked.
"Wh…wha?" he felt so dumbfounded and so confused.
She saw his Ultima Weapon and grabbed it from his back and turned back to face her assailants. "May I borrow this for a while?" she asked with a sweet smile on her face.
Cloud's eyes widened when he saw Rude and the Soldiers coming for them. "What the—?!" he trailed off.
He watched in awe as Aerith started attacking her assailants. Some Soldiers also attempted to attack him but he survived through hand-to-hand combat.
When he looked at Aerith, she was trying to cut Rude in half, but the Turk was too agile. Cloud instantly rushed to them, going behind Rude where he wasn't able to see him and gave him a blow at the back of his head with his elbow, knocking the Turk unconscious. With that, he grabbed his sword away from Aerith "You shouldn't be playing with dangerous weapons, Aerith!" he said with a worried look on his face before taking her by her wrist and dragged her with him to a dark alley away from the Soldiers and Rude.