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 9: Rufus

"Let me at the door," Cloud told Aerith, making her step aside before he started knocking frantically on the door. "Tifa? C'mon, open the door! This isn't funny!" he called out.

There was still no answer from inside.

Cloud rattled the doorknob, trying to twist it so he could open the door, but it was useless. "She locked it," he announced.

Tiffany placed her hands on her face, covering it for a few moments as she took a deep breath and sighed. She removed her hands from her face and clenched her fists. "If Reno hated her, and I am her daughter… how come I am still alive? What is he planning to do?" she thought with a deep frown on her face.

"I don't like this…" Elena told them as she grasped the doorknob tightly and tried to open the door. "Tifa! Are you in there?" she called out with a worried tone.

Rufford clenched his fists as he leaned against the wall and shoved his hands inside his pockets uneasily while keeping his eyes on the floor.

Cloud and Aerith turned their gazes to Rufford, then back to the door. "Don't you have a key?" they heard Rufford ask Elena.

Elena stiffened, somewhat affected by the tone of Rufford's impatient tone. "I thought for a second there that he's President Rufus…" she thought with a look of wonder on her face. "I don't know where Tifa hid the keys to her room…" she admitted with an embarrassed look on her face.

Rufford's gaze narrowed at Elena. "Well, you were an ex-Turk, right?" he asked.

"Uhm… yeah… why? What's that got to do with the door?" she asked with an inquiring look.

Rufford pointed at the doorknob. "You've been taught how to pick locks. Do it." He explained with a stiff tone.

Elena froze. "R…right…" she said with a trembling tone before she began to look around. "Uh… does anyone have anything pointy?" she asked.

Aerith pulled a hairpin from her head and gave it to Elena. "Here."

Elena smiled as thanks before she accepted it. Then, she turned to Rufford with a curious look on her face. "Who is this guy? I thought he's new to the Turks? How come he knows this?" she thought silently before she began to pick on the lock. After a few seconds, she heard a click. She smiled victoriously and removed the hairpin from the keyhole, until finally, she opened the door, revealing to everyone a big bedroom with dark furnishings.

Rufford was stunned, so were Cloud and Aerith.

"How could a seemingly-happy girl like Tifa be so… so…" Aerith wondered as she got inside.

Elena smiled sadly, but it faded when she saw the open window. "Oh no…" she said in shock before she ran to the window. She looked outside but there was no sign of Tifa.

Rufford turned to the bedside table and saw a picture frame with Tifa and Rufus's picture taken during their first dinner date. He smiled at the sight of it, but he frowned when he saw a folded piece of paper beside the picture. He quickly got it and flipped it open, reading it aloud, "Dear Elena, I'll be gone for a while… please take care… Tifa."

Elena's eyes grew wide in surprise before she ran to Rufford and grabbed the note away from him. She read the note repeatedly for five more times, silently, her frown deepening but her eyes reflecting too much worry. "What is she talking about? Where is she going?" she said in total confusion.

"Maybe she just decided to take a walk or something." Cloud replied.

"She never leaves this house. She hated walking around Midgar because she's afraid that Reno might find her and kill her!" Elena explained.

"Kill her?" Rufford and Tiffany repeated with twitching eyebrows.

Cloud, Aerith and Elena could tell that the two weren't so happy upon hearing that.

"That's what Reno's been trying to do: To get rid of her… a.k.a., Kill her. Ever since she married President Rufus, that's what he's been trying to do and I don't know why he hates the poor girl but she hasn't really done anything bad!" Elena replied as she approached Tiffany and handed her the note.

"They hate me!"

Tifa's words kept whirling around Rufford's head until he finally decided to turn away from everyone. "I'll… I'll go check if the car is ready, your excellency." He told Tiffany.

Tiffany nodded silently with a blank stare as she gazed at the floor.

Rufford took one last look at Tiffany before he got out of the room.

Cloud followed him with his gaze before he decided to personally follow him downstairs.

Rufford ignored the footsteps from behind him, knowing that it was only Cloud. "Go away, I don't want to talk about it." He snapped before stopping by the front door to open it, but before he could open the door, Cloud spoke up with a stiff tone, "Rufus,"

Rufford frowned and his eyes narrowed at Cloud the moment he turned to face him. "Don't call me that. If Elena or Tiffany heard that, my plans are over!" he said in a whispery tone as he collared him.

Cloud pushed him away. "Hey, watch it!" he snapped angrily.

Rufus turned away and flipped his hair. "I need to do this for the sake of my family, okay? Someone wants to destroy ShinRa by taking over it. I won't let that happen." He explained before he opened the door and finally got out of the house.

Cloud bowed down his head, thinking of the present people in-charge of ShinRa. "Now… who hates Tifa so much?" he thought as he opened the door and saw Rufus checking the tires. Cloud turned his gaze to the direction of the ShinRa tower and frowned, and then turned back to Rufus. "Hey, Rufford. May I have a word with you?" he asked.

Rufus turned to Cloud. "What?" he asked before approaching.

Cloud spoke up in a low whispery tone, "You'd better watch out for Reno… and while you're inside that place, watch your daughter as well. It is possible that he is using her for something… I know that your daughter is the smartest girl in the whole area but that Reno could be the slyest person inside that building. If you want her to live, you must protect her."

Rufus's eyes narrowed at him. "That's what I'm doing. I did not just enter ShinRa's territory and applied as a Turk so that I could spy on Reno and everyone below the President… but also to protect my daughter." He replied with a sly smile.

Cloud was quiet for a while, but he spoke up when he heard Tiffany's voice from upstairs talking to Elena and Aerith about Tifa. "I was wondering if you could use additional help from me. You know, I don't want to sound so moronic, but I really owe you a lot for bringing Aerith back to me." He said with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

Rufus chuckled lightly. "No problem. I also owe you a lot for helping me out with this… though I'm not sure if in the end, you'll kill me for being a ShinRa." He joked.

Cloud had to smile because of what he said. "No way, I wouldn't want Tifa to be sad." He said.

Rufus's face stiffened. "No hard feelings, but did you have anything going with Tifa before?" he asked with a low tone, Cloud sensing that there are hints of jealousy in it, so he laughed heartily. Rufus raised an eyebrow, feeling ticked off. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

Cloud stopped laughing and his face turned serious. "No. There wasn't any. Believe me, I swear to God. She was just this sort of best friend that I had when I was a little boy. Thank goodness you came into her life and stole her out of my spotlight." He said as he shoved his hands inside his pockets and flashed his new friend a silly smile on his face. "C'mon, Rufford, don't be jealous." He teased.

Rufus shook his head in disbelief. "Well, now that you've explained it, I'm convinced… now, where could she have gone off to?" he asked as he turned to the direction of the ShinRa building. "You think I'll succeed in getting everything back?" he asked.

Cloud followed his gaze and frowned. "We will do everything." He replied with a determined tone…