ShinRa
By: Quistis & Xu
Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.
Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to "Diary of the First Lady" by General Quistis.
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Chapter 6: Secrets and the Truth
Tiffany leaned back on backseat of the limousine and sighed gruffly as she crossed her arms and tapped her feet against the floor of the car. "Dammit… of all the days… why a flat tire now? And the stupid driver didn't bring a wrench or anything to remove the old tire and replace it with something new?!" she thought angrily. She looked outside the window and saw the driver scratching his head. She could tell that he was already worrying if she would fire him or not. "Nah… I can't lose another driver… I won't fire him…" she thought miserably before turning her gaze to Rufford, who was already standing by the door of a big house. She saw him press the doorbell button.
"This is embarrassing… a ShinRa like me asking for assistance from common citizens…" she thought silently before a thought crossed her mind about Rufford. She narrowed her eyes on him. "Gee… he really resembles my dad…" she sighed and looked down sadly with a sad smile on her face. "I wonder what dad's really like if he's still alive now…" she said aloud.
Rufford sighed heavily and flipped his hair, just when the front door opened up and there was Tifa. "Yes?" she asked with a cold look on her face.
Rufford's eyes grew wide upon seeing her and so did she. "T…" he almost said her name but he stopped himself before he could do so. He mentally smacked his head. "Damn it… I can't get busted right now…" he thought silently as he gaped at her. He looked away and cleared his throat before he smiled at her. "Hi, could we ask for a little help here?" he asked.
Tifa nodded slightly. "I…uh… okay… what's the problem?" she asked with a trembling voice. Suddenly, she wanted to cry. "Rufus?" she thought silently as she continued to stare at him.
Rufford turned back to the black limousine and gestured uneasily to the wheel. "Flat tire. We need some tools to change it." He replied.
Tifa frowned slightly. "He even sounds like Rufus…" she thought. Then, she looked away, "Damn it, Tifa… stop it! Rufus is dead and he's not coming back…" she thought miserably before she forced a weak smile at Rufford. "Do you have a spare tire?" she asked.
"Yeah, we do." He replied.
She nodded. "Okay, I'll just go and get the toolbox… would you like to wait here or would you like to have some tea first?" she asked.
"I think President ShinRa would love that. I'll go and ask that." He said with a sly smile before he walked back to the limo.
Tifa's eyes grew wide. "What?" she said. "You mean the President is here?" she asked.
Rufford turned back to her. "Yeah," he replied before he finally got to the limo.
Tiffany raised an eyebrow when Rufford opened the door. "The kind lady of the house is inviting us for tea inside. Would you like to have some while the driver is replacing the wheel?" he asked.
Tiffany was stunned, then turned to Tifa.
Flashbacks of the woman from the pictures began to return to her. Something from deep inside her urged her to say yes, so she got out of the limo and walked to the front door of the house. She forced a smile at Tifa. "Hi… your name is?" she asked.
It took a while before Tifa answered, "Tifa ShinRa…" she said.
Tiffany froze for a moment and then flashed her a perplexed look. "How are you related to me?" she asked softly.
Rufford saw the perplexed look on Tiffany's face then turned back to Tifa to hear her explanation, but there wasn't any, instead, she ran back inside the house. "Excuse me," she called back to them before rushing upstairs.
Tiffany blinked and she basically wanted to run after Tifa, sensing something different from her instincts that she knows everything about Tiffany's true nature, but Rufford stopped her. "Let's just stay here for a while, your excellency." He said gently as he got her hand and squeezed it gently.
Tiffany felt some comfort upon his action, so she obeyed.
They were about to leave but Cloud showed up. "What's going on? I heard Tifa run upstairs…" he trailed off when he saw Tiffany. "Gee… she really resembles both Tifa and Rufus…" he thought silently as he examined her features. Then, he turned to Rufford and greeted him by raising his eyebrows as if he had known him for a long time.
Rufford nodded seriously, then turned to Tiffany again. "President ShinRa, I would like you to meet Cloud Strife. He's an ex-SOLDIER from ShinRa when your grandfather was still alive." He said, rather gruffly when he arrived at the word grandfather.
Tiffany nodded slightly. "How do you do?" she asked with a slight smile as she offered a handshake.
Cloud turned to Rufford, as if asking whether he should accept the handshake or not, but Rufford just looked away from him. Cloud turned back to Tiffany with a sly smile on his face as he took her hand and shook it eagerly. "Fine thank you, your excellency." He replied before he let go.
From where she is, Tiffany turned her gaze inside the house, as if searching for someone then turned back to Cloud. "What happened to Miss ShinRa?" she asked.
Cloud looked back inside and then back to Tiffany with a hard look on his face. "I think she's mentally ill because of some problems..." He said before flashing Rufford a confused look.
Rufford just shrugged. "Anyway, Mister Strife, the reason why we're here is because we need some tools so that we can get our flat tire changed." He explained with a cold look on his face.
Cloud nodded. "Come inside first. You wouldn't want assassinations. Even if this city looks safer now than before, you still can't count on some of the citizens… who knows, there could be rebels hiding around somewhere." He replied as he stepped aside to let them in.
Tiffany frowned at what he said but she did not react. She just stepped inside and gazed around the house. "How are you related to Miss ShinRa?" she asked.
"I'm a friend of hers. We've known each other ever since childhood." He replied.
"And how is she related to me?" she added with a demanding look on her face, which resembled so much of her father's own demanding look whenever he would like to have immediate answers.
Cloud was silent for a while and then turned his gaze to the stairs. "Consider the fact that the spelling different. Yours has a capital R while hers has a small letter R. You get the idea," he said before proceeding to the living room. "Follow me." He said simply.
Rufford urged Tiffany to go ahead and he would just follow so she did.
"You have a pretty big place here," Tiffany remarked as she gazed around. Finally, they got to the living room.
Aerith and Elena were surprised upon seeing Cloud with Tiffany and Rufford. Elena instantly got up and bowed down at the sight of Tiffany ShinRa, President of the ShinRa Electric Power Company. "President ShinRa…" she said with respect.
Tiffany just looked down at her. "Stand up," she commanded. Elena stood up and smiled happily at the sight of her and then took her hand and squeezed it gently. "President ShinRa, it's really nice to have your presence here," she said as thoughts were whirling around her head like, "Should I tell her that her mother is just here? Say, where's Tifa? I thought she was the one who got the door?"
Tiffany just looked at her. "You've been to ShinRa before, eh?" she asked.
"Of course, ma'am, I… I attend your annual parties there." Elena replied uneasily because she almost said, "I worked there before."
"I see, so that's why you look so familiar… though I think I've seen your face somewhere in the Turks' Files before when I was browsing through them. I think she just resembles you… and she also became my dad's personal secretary." Tiffany replied as Elena let go of her hand.
Elena pretended not to know anything so she asked, "Really? What happened to her?"
Cloud went off for a while to search for the toolbox.
Aerith gestured for Tiffany to sit down, so she did. Rufford just stood by the couch where Tiffany was seated. "I can't remember much anymore. I was only 12 when I saw her profile and when Reno saw that I was browsing through them, he got them away from me and threw them in the fireplace." She said with a frown on her face.
From the way she explained things and judging from her facial expression, Aerith and Elena could tell that Tiffany hated Reno so much.
There was silence for a few seconds until Aerith moved to pour Tiffany a cup of tea and offered it to her with a warm smile. "Here, I think you should relax. Being in ShinRa is rather stressful, am I correct?" she asked with a wink.
Tiffany smiled at what she said. "Yeah. If you want to know how to deal with nasty employees, you should take my job." She said as she eagerly took it and began to drink slowly.
Aerith poured another cup for Rufford but he refused it.
"I've been stressed out ever since I was 5. Imagine waking up early in the morning to the sound of the most annoying voice in the whole company and then all you wanted to do is to sit alone in the garden and play with your pet and let no one else bother you… but unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to enjoy those things… they've been treating me like an adult ever since I was 5 and it was really hard for me… I don't think I was even able to experience being a kid… and next month, I'll be turning 18… they'll be throwing another annoying party for me and they don't even realize that I don't enjoy parties because I don't know much of the people there and I refuse to socialize," Tiffany trailed off when she realized that she had said so much about her life. She just shook her head and placed the teacup down on the coffee table. "Sorry," she said as she leaned back on the couch and covered her face with her hands.
Everyone was silent, observing her actions. Aerith felt so sorry for the young girl. Elena just kept her eyes on the ground.
Tiffany removed her hands from her face and sighed heavily, though her breath sounded a little ragged, which made Aerith, Elena and Rufford realize that she was stopping herself from crying. "And now I'm looking for my supposedly-dead mother and nobody wants to help me…" she said softly with a trembling voice.
They were silent for a few seconds before Elena finally spoke up. "Would you like me to help you find her?" she asked with a soft tone.
Tiffany was about to say something more but they were interrupted when they heard Cloud's footsteps coming out from the kitchen. She did not reply but she just began to drink her tea.
Cloud turned to Rufford and handed him the toolbox. "Need help?" he asked.
"I think the driver can manage," Rufford replied as he got the toolbox. "President ShinRa, I'll be going outside for a while to give this to the driver." He said, turning to Tiffany.
Tiffany did not answer, but Rufford went on ahead, knowing that it was useless waiting for answers; she just continued to stare into empty space.
Elena waited until he got away, then she turned to the side table and pulled out an album from the shelf. She began to scan through the pages until she came across a very important picture. She smiled slightly at Tiffany and then handed her the album with the picture. "I think this can give you a clue." She said softly as Tiffany took the album and stared at it for a couple of minutes. Tiffany's eyes grew wide as she examined the photo and touched the faces on it. "It's…" she bit her lower lip and turned to the direction of the stairs. She smiled, though she felt so afraid of the consequences. "Why did Reno tell me that she's dead? There must be something wrong…" she thought silently before turning back to the picture.
Aerith and Cloud took a peek at the picture and they were both surprised to see that it was the wedding picture of Tifa and Rufus.
Elena bowed down her head; a gentle smile was still on her face. "That's the only remaining picture of them together…" she said.
Tiffany turned to Elena. "Tell me everything. Explain to me the truth… everything… who am I?" she asked with a panicky tone as she quickly placed the photo album on top of the coffee table and immediately went to Elena and got her hand. "Tell me everything, please?" she pleaded with a trembling voice as her crimson eyes reflected too much hurt and longing for her lost parents.
Elena was silent for a while, then she looked up at Tiffany. "I once worked for ShinRa. I was one of the Turks and I also became your father's secretary. 17 years ago, a few weeks after you were born, there was a threat for your mother's life. As a loyal ShinRa employee, I decided to help her escape and take you with us, since I know that President Rufus would be angry if something bad happens to her, in case he was still around. Unfortunately, on the evening of our departure, Reno was able to kill your caretaker, Rude. I couldn't risk Tifa's life anymore so we just took off without you. Tifa Lockheart ShinRa is your mother and all the rumors that Reno was spreading around aren't true about her." she explained with a serious tone.
Tiffany's eyes grew wider in anticipation. Thoughts were flooding her mind. "That Reno…" she thought angrily as she slowly let go of Elena's hand. She wanted to cry but she stopped herself. "No one should see me cry…" she thought miserably.