Times Change
by Lovelace Neko

Too...many...random...ideas...

Okay, I've got to stop getting ideas. They're really not healthy for my grades. But I read, like, a billion Rufus/Tifa fics (okay, maybe not that many), and I just get random ideas popping into my head.

And I apologize for the terrible-ness of this first chapter; it's not edited or anything. I wrote what came into my head. Too bad if it's not good. That's my problem, isn't it?

Disclaimer: Oh, damn. I don't own anything. Except the plot. Yes, plot is mine. MIIIIIINE!

About 6 months after Meteor, Tifa was living in Nibelheim. Alone. Cloud had taken to staying in the Forgotten Capital, making daily rituals of staring blankly into the lake where Aeris had been laid to rest. Tifa had stayed with him for a couple days, but she couldn't take it. Cloud was throwing his life away being hung up on a girl who was long dead. On the day that Tifa left, she tried to give up her love for Cloud. He still loved Aeris, and there was nothing she could do about that. But the heart does not listen well.

She spent a week getting to Nibelheim. When Tifa began her trip from Bone Village, she caught a blue chocobo to ride across the water to Midgar. But she changed her plans halfway there, and instead headed toward Rocket Town. She arrived there the same day Cid proposed to Shera, just in time for the celebration. Tifa stayed over night, and then left in the morning, walking. The next place she got to was Nibelheim, and found that the townspeople had cleaned her house up. They invited her to stay. Since Tifa really had nowhere else to go, she stayed.

For months, she spent her days hoping that Cloud would come back. It was an empty hope, and she knew it. But it was something that got her to wake up in the morning. But one day, she woke and it hit her; Cloud wasn't coming, she was wasting her life living an empty hope, and she had to get past that. She spent her time getting over Cloud. And it worked. It took months, but it worked. Everyone noticed that she was getting happier.

Tifa enjoyed the simple life she had in Nibelheim. It wasn't hard, except for having to turn away the young men who so often knocked on her door, asking for dates. There had been more since she had gotten over Cloud. But life was still good. Everyday was about the same.

Of course, life can only stay perfect for so long.

Shortly after dinner one evening, Tifa heard knocking on her door. Which was surprising, because no one usually bothered her after 6 o'clock. Sighing, she got up to answer the door, curious as to who it was. She opened it, and was looking up at a blond haired, blue-eyed young man. But no, it wasn't Cloud. It was Rufus ShinRa.

"Oh, it's you," Tifa said before closing the door in his face. Which only lasted for about 30 seconds, because something clicked in her head. Rufus ShinRa was dead. She turned around immediately and opened the door again.

"You're supposed to be dead!" she exclaimed.

"Really? I wasn't aware," he answered sarcastically.

"What do you want?" Tifa snapped at him, annoyed by his sarcastic attitude already.

"A place to stay."

"A place to – what?! You can't stay here! I'm sure you've got enough gil to go buy yourself a house or something."

"And why can't I stay here?"

"Why would you even want to stay here?! Besides, it's my house."

"Do you think I really want to go back to ShinRa? They've got a new president now," Rufus answered coldly.

"I'm sure they would love to hear how you survived that explosion," Tifa told him, adding 'as would I' in her head.

"I didn't, damn it!" he snapped.

"What?!"

"I said I didn't survive. Is it that hard to grasp?"

"Oh, sorry if I'm not used to having people coming up to me and saying that they're back from the dead. You know what, fine. Come in. And explain yourself," she said, thoroughly confused and annoyed, as she stepped aside to allow him to come in. Tifa walked to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Rufus followed obediently behind her.

As soon as he sat down across from her, Tifa said, "Alright. Explain. Now."

"I was dead. Now I'm alive. Simple," he answered.

"It's not that simple. Besides, why you? Why not someone nice, like Aeris?" she asked.

"Because...she told me that I needed to come back," Rufus told her, flipping his hair.

"Who told you?"

"Aeris."

"WHAT?!"

"In the Lifestream. I met her."

"And she said that you needed to come back? Somehow, I find that very unbelievable," Tifa told him.

"You think it makes any more sense to me?" Rufus sighed.

"So...why Nibelheim?" Tifa ventured to ask.

"I was planning on staying in the old mansion, but I can't very well with the state it's in now. So I knocked on the first door I came to," he explained reluctantly.

"And it just so happened to be mine. Lucky me," she stated sarcastically. "Now, why don't you go back to whatever it was you were doing before you interrupted my evening?"

"Oh, excuse me. Daydreaming about Strife?"

"Shut up."

"I'm right."

"No, you're an ass."

"Same thing."

"I never knew you were this sarcastic."

"Everyone's full of surprises."

Tifa sighed. She was losing this fight. "You can stay in the spare bedroom as long as you don't break anything. And don't hesitate to knock yourself out."

Rufus looked at her strangely. 'That's it? I can just...stay?!' he thought, beginning to question her sanity. And his own, as he followed Tifa up the steps to what would become his room.

You should have seen me in health class today. We were listing life-threatening conditions. Of course, they made the mistake of mentioning second and third degree burns. Damn them. The first thing that pops into my head is, of course, Rufus ShinRa. So I go all teary-eyed and Tiona (who's sitting next to me) looked at me with a 'is something wrong?' look. And then I almost start giggling so now my class thinks I'm crazy.

That was completely uncalled for, and I know it. Review, please? If everyone likes it I'll continue, if not...I'll continue anyway. It's gonna be funny, eventually, I promise.