ShinRa

By General Quistis & Zhakeena

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Chapter Fourteen: Rufus Returns to ShinRa

Tiffany sighed heavily as she leaned back on the sofa, crossing her arms across her chest. "What time do you think are they returning here?" she asked uneasily. It was already 6:30 in the evening but they were still there in the living room doing nothing. She was beginning to feel so uncomfortable and worried.

"Well… I'd usually expect them to be back here by this time already… but…" Cliff began, but he stopped when the door burst open and there was Vincent Valentine with Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind, Marlene and Yuffie. They got inside the house, minding their own business, not even noticing that there were people in the living room area. Vincent went straight upstairs to his room while Cid rushed to the bathroom on the first floor. Marlene began to help Yuffie to prepare dinner and Barret went over to the living room to watch TV. He greeted Cliff, "Hey, you still here? I thought you left with your mom and dad already! Oh well, maybe they're coming back to get you later… but if they don't, you can sleep over here." He told him as he sat down and switched on the TV and began to watch the evening news.

Cliff and Tiffany exchanged confused looks on their faces. He turned back to Barret. "What do you mean my mom and dad left?" he asked.

"They went back to Midgar already via train. They said that…" Barret trailed off when he noticed a blonde girl staring strangely at him. "Oh… is she your girlfriend?" he asked.

Tiffany blushed slightly as her mouth dropped open in shock. "I beg your pardon?!" she exclaimed.

"Whoa. She sounds like your Uncle Rufus too. Must be a rich girl…" Barret trailed off when he realized who she was. "HOLY SHIT!!!" he got up in shock, staring unbelievably at her.

"Why? What's going on?" Cid asked as he stepped out of the bathroom. Yuffie and Marlene checked out what was going on and they froze when they saw Tiffany ShinRa just seated on the couch and looking strangely at them.

"What is she doing here?" Yuffie asked in awe.

"Uh…" Tiffany began. Cliff got up. "Let me explain first…" he began, but Yuffie approached Tiffany with a look of awe on her face. "You're Tifa's daughter?! OH MY GAWD!!!" she said happily.

Tiffany felt ashamed all of a sudden. Who are these people?

Cliff smiled. "Y…yes, Auntie Yuffie. She's Auntie Tifa and Uncle Rufus's daughter…" he began.

Tiffany smiled shyly at all of them. "H…hello… I'm… Tiffany…" she began.

"But you're the President!" Cid pointed out. "Duh!" Barret snapped at him with a sarcastic look on his face.

"I thought they're all reunited already? How come Tifa and Rufus aren't here?" Marlene asked curiously.

Silence.

"Rufus?" Tiffany asked.

"Damn, she's not yet supposed to know that her $&!$! father is alive!!!" Cid cried out.

Tiffany's eyes widened. "What?!" she asked in shock.

"You just had to blab, huh?" Barret muttered miserably. "If Rufus starts asking questions, you'll do the explanation on why his plans were busted…" he told Cid.

"What? My father? Plans?" Tiffany felt her heart racing. She approached Barret and held his left hand, "Please! Tell me that it's true! Tell me that my father is alive!" she pleaded helplessly. Somehow, she felt safe around these people… like she belong to them and that she is easily welcomed in their family.

"Well… for starters… yes, your dad is alive. But… sit down foo'. We'll tell you everything." Barret instructed gently.

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When Reno arrived in ShinRa again with the wounded Tifa, everyone was surprised to see them… and he's actually helping her. "Hey! I need help!" he told them.

The SOLDIERs just stared unbelievably at him. Heidegger was eyeing him accusingly. Reno could easily read what's in their heads through the looks in their eyes, it's as if they're telling him, "So finally you've managed to find that woman and now you've successfully killed her!"

But she was still alive.

"Mrs. ShinRa!" Reeve said in surprise as he and Scarlet approached them. He froze when he saw Tifa's current condition. Tifa just gazed up at them with a weary look on her face. "Please… listen to Reno… he'll explain everything…" she said shakily. She was really very pale now.

"Call a doctor! Hurry!" Reno instructed.

The SOLDIERs took off. Reeve and Heidegger helped Reno with Tifa and carried her to the masters' bedroom that was once Rufus's room. Scarlet went ahead of them to open the door and the lights for them. The men settled Tifa onto the bed.

Dark Nation entered the room and went over to Tifa, meowing excitedly, "Meowrrr!!!" and she began to purr, but when she saw Tifa's current condition, she began to sulk.

When the doctor arrived, Reno began to explain to Reeve, Scarlet and Heidegger what happened to him and to Tifa. The three were shocked to find out what happened, especially Heidegger. "So the experiment wasn't a flop…" he thought to himself.

"So Hojo is behind all of this?!" Reeve asked in disbelief.

"Yes, but please don't tell anybody else that I've returned here and that Mrs. ShinRa is with me! If that Mad Scientist finds out about it, he might go berserk and do something unimaginable… like harm her further… or worse, do something bad to Tiffany!" Reno said in panic.

"But where is she?" Scarlet asked.

"Who?" Reno asked.

"The President! Tiffany!" she pointed out.

Silence.

"I… can't remember. Was I with her?" he asked.

Silence.

"Oh no… she's with Rufford…" Heidegger muttered.

"They were… at my house in Sector 7… but I don't know where they are right now because I went to Nibelheim to visit Rufus's grave, but when I got there, the gravedigger said that it's empty! It's like someone just stole his body," Tifa said, still lingering. She doesn't want to close her eyes yet because she felt like if she did, she would die.

The doctor was beginning to treat her wounds. "Gee… you're a very strong woman, I could see," she told Tifa as she began to remove the bullet from the wound.

"Ow…" Tifa cringed in pain. There was no anesthesia.

"The grave is empty?!" Heidegger exclaimed.

"Kyah! We better have it investigated!" Scarlet told them, but before anybody else could say anything else about the situation, someone just barged inside the room. "TIFA!!!"

Silence.

Cloud and Aerith finally caught up with Rufus who went ahead of them. "Rufus, calm down!" the latter told him, but she froze when she realized that there were other people there.

…and Reno was also there.

Rufus, unable to control his temper and his emotions, rushed to Reno with an angry look on his face. "You bastard! What have you done to my wife and to my daughter!!!???" he snarled angrily, strangling him.

Tifa was surprised that she instantly sat up unbelievably. The others stared in awe at Rufus and Reno.

"Rufford…" Heidegger began, but he froze upon remembering what he had heard from Aerith and what Rufford had said. A while ago. Wife and daughter…

"Ack!!! Please let me go!!! Ack… he…lp!!!" Reno struggled to say.

"Rufford, calm down!!!" Reeve and Scarlet tried to pull Rufus away from Reno but he wouldn't let go. He was very angry.

Tifa began to cry, "Rufus, no! Reno didn't do anything! It was Hojo who did all those bad things to our family!" she pointed out with a helpless look on her face before she finally collapsed back onto the bed, unconscious. Although she was excited to find out that her husband is alive, she still could not keep herself awake because her body was beginning to feel weaker by the moment.

Rufus turned back to Tifa. Reno felt him loosen his grip and that's when he pushed him away and struggled to breath. Rufus left Reno and went over to Tifa. "Tifa?" he asked softly.

The Doctor shook her head in disbelief. "Oh dear… she lost consciousness… could anyone please ask for an oxygen tank? She needs it right now. I'm gonna have to give her an I.V. too." she told them.

Rufus felt so weak all of a sudden, "Is she going to be alright? Please tell me she's going to be alright…" he said weakly as he knelt down before the bed and touched his wife's bloody hands. "She is going to be okay if we hurry things up a little, Mister. Tell me, how are you related to her anyway? … and she is your wife?" the doctor asked unbelievably as Reeve and Scarlet rushed out of the room to order for an oxygen tank plus other medical equipment from the laboratory.

Rufus took a deep breath before turning to Cloud and Aerith. The latter just smiled kindly at him as if telling him, "Just tell them the truth. Everything will be alright. We're all in your side."

Rufus turned back to the Doctor and he got up, flipping his hair mindlessly. "I am Rufus ShinRa… and this woman is my wife."

Heidegger was shocked to hear what he had just said. "But… Rufus is…"

"Dead? No. I'm not dead. I just… faked my death and then investigated the happenings from afar so that I would know who's causing all the trouble within this company." Rufus explained, keeping his gaze on Tifa.

Heidegger was stunned. "But… why?! I mean, you could've told me or…" he stammered.

"I wouldn't know if it was you who were causing the trouble. If I had known that you were innocent after all, I could've informed you." Rufus pointed out before moving away from Tifa and took a seat on the couch by the window. Dark Nation walked over to him and rubbed her head against his leg. He mindlessly reached out to her and stroked her thick black fur gently. Reno finally regained composure and sighed heavily. "I can explain everything that Hojo had said to me, President Rufus." He offered with an apologetic look on his face. "If… just to make up to all the… bad things that I've done in behalf of that bastard scientist…" he said softly.

Rufus just turned to him and nodded his head with a troubled look on his face. Reno began to explain just when Cloud and Aerith remembered about Tiffany.

"Oh no..." Aerith said softly.

"What's the matter, Aerith?" Rufus asked, turning to her. She was quiet for a while with a hesitant look on her face. She was hesitant to tell him because he was already stressed out and she would not want to add up to his concerns and problems; however, she still knew that it would matter to him. Cloud did the talking for her, "Tiffany is…"

Rufus did not let him finish. He instantly remembered. "Bloody hell?!" he cried out in surprise.

"Wh…why? Where is she?" Heidegger asked, worrying also.

"We left her in Nibelheim because we were looking for Reno and Tifa. But don't worry too much because she's in good hands." Cloud pointed out.

"What? But Hojo is in Nibelheim! We can't let him near the girl!" Reno told him in disbelief.

"What do you mean she's in good hands? Where is she specifically located?" Heidegger asked.

"I left her with my son, Cliff. And I'm sure at this hour Vincent, Barret, Cid and Yuffie are back home in the same house where I left the two." Aerith said in assurance.

Heidegger and Reno were still restless. They turned to Rufus, "Shall we send some SOLDIERs to patrol around the area, sir?" the former asked.

Rufus just shook his head. "I believe in what Vincent and the others could do… especially Cliff. Tiffany is safe there." He explained before he got up and went over to Tifa. He knelt down beside her and stroked her hair. "Besides, we wouldn't want to be obvious to Hojo that Tiffany is there, right?" he asked with a slight smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Tifa, I'll leave you here for a while. I have to go to our daughter and bring her back here…" he thought silently to himself before he got up and faced them again. "I'll go there myself and fetch her. Besides, she and I have a lot to talk about." He told them.

"Are you going to tell her the truth about yourself?" Cloud asked.

Rufus was quiet for a while, eyeing Tifa from the corner of his eye. Perhaps it was enough high time for him to reunite his family and get rid of those who are trying to destroy it…

He smiled calmly and nodded. "Come on, Cloud. Let's go together." He told him before turning to Aerith. She smiled calmly at him. "Don't worry, I'll be with Tifa. I'll be telling Elena to come here too." she said.

Reno's face lit up when he heard the name. "Elena?" he asked in awe.

All eyes turned to him but they were not able to make a comment because they saw Reno crying tears of joy as he got up and rushed to Aerith. "Where is she? Where is Elena? Is she alive?" he asked happily.

"H…hey, calm down! Of course she is alive!" Aerith told him with a weak smile on her face.

Reno let go of her and took a step backward. "Oh no… what if…" he turned back to Rufus. "Isn't she supposed to be… dead?" he asked in shock, referring to Aerith.

Silence.

"Cloud and I have to run… uhm… Aerith, please do the explaining to him." Rufus said with a slight frown on his face before going out of the bedroom with Cloud following after him.

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To be continued…