Her Sweetest Revenge
By: Riquisel Yutifae
Author's Note: I'm really, really, really sorry for the OOC. ='(
And yes, to those who are curious, my penname came from RInoa, QUIstis, SELphie and then YUffie, TIFa and AErith. =_='
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=Third=
Rufus was looking around the small seafood restaurant in the Wall Market. "This place is…" he didn't continue anymore, not wanting to hurt Tifa's feelings.
She smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, Rufus, the food here is great! Especially if you order Lobster!" she told him.
"Well, how much is the food here?" he asked before flipping his hair and sat down beside Tifa.
"Oh don't worry about it, everything's for only 70 Gil." She replied with a sweet smile on her face.
Rufus just tried to avoid the fact that everyone was staring at him.
"Gee… he looks like the President…" some of the people were muttering.
"Why the hell did I agree to go here with Tifa? I should've just suggested that we eat at the seafood restaurant in Sector 1!" he thought silently with a deep frown on his face, but his thoughts were interrupted when the chef approached them. "Well, what will you two young fellas have?" the chef asked with a warm smile.
"Buttered shrimp, please," Tifa replied.
"Uhm… fish fillet with tartar sauce." He told the chef.
"Coming up," the chef left them for a while.
Tifa sighed heavily. "You want to drink something?" she asked Rufus.
"What kind?" he asked.
"I mean, later on… after dinner. In case you want to have some wine or something alcoholic, we can always go to the bar near the Honey Bee Inn." She told him.
"Honey Bee Inn?" he asked in disbelief. He somewhat blushed at the name of the place.
She giggled. "Oh, c'mon, Rufus, don't tell me you wanna go there?!" she joked as she gently nudged his arm with her elbow.
He frowned at what she said. "Of course not! I'm simply too refined to be going to that disgusting place." he said as he flipped his hair and smiled playfully at her. "…Unless you want to?" he joked.
Her mouth dropped open at what he said and she gasped slightly. "?!"
He laughed at her. "I was just kidding, Tifa," he said.
She smiled softly upon hearing his laughter and the way he smiles. She turned away from him and just faced the table in front of them while watching the chef cook their food.
He stopped laughing and moved closer to her, "So… do you have a boyfriend already?" he asked.
She turned to him with a ridiculous look on her face. "Nope. Why do you ask?" she asked curiously.
"Nothing… I was just wondering… but you've had several ex-boyfriends, right?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I've never had a boyfriend before." She admitted.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Never?" he asked in awe.
She smiled calmly at him. "Never." She swore.
He just shrugged and turned to the chef when he saw him approaching with their food.
"That's 70 Gil each." The chef told them as he placed their meals in front of them.
Tifa pulled out some cash from her wallet but then Rufus stopped her. "Let me," he told her.
She felt a little embarrassed but she just let him pay. "After all, this is just an act, right?" she reminded herself quietly as she returned her wallet inside her pocket.
Rufus pulled out 500 Gil and handed it to the chef. "Keep the change, sir." He said with a kind smile on his face.
The chef was overwhelmed for a few seconds before coming back to his senses. "Well… uh… thank you, sir." He told Rufus before turning away.
"That's a lot of money… are you sure?" Tifa whispered to Rufus with an unsure look on his face, realizing that everyone else was looking at them.
"Yeah. Why?" he asked her.
"But…" she stammered.
"Money isn't everything." He reminded her with a wink. With that, he started eating. She gazed at him in awe for a few seconds. "Man… what happened to him? Did he go through rehabilitation for the two years that he wasn't here?" she thought silently. "…just like Sephiroth… they're nicer…" she continued to think silently as she ate her meal.
From the corner of her eye, she could tell that Rufus had been stealing glances at her. She just ignored it and proceeded to eat, but she couldn't help but smile.
After dinner, they proceeded to the bar to drink some wine.
"You know, I have to admit, the food here is better than the ones in Sector 1." He told her as they sat down together on one of the lounge sofas inside the bar.
"You haven't tried the street food yet like the fish balls, squid balls and the crab sticks! Those are really scrumptious! You wanna grab some of those after this one?" she asked.
"Nah… maybe next time. I'm already full." He told her apologetically before finishing off his glass of red wine.
"Oh, so you're planning on a 'next time'?" she asked excitedly.
He smiled at her. "If you want to," he told her.
She nodded eagerly. "Of course, Rufus, of course," she told him before she mindlessly got his hand and held it against her own. When she noticed his surprised expression, that was when she realized that she was holding his left hand. She stared at his hand for a few seconds before putting it down on his lap again, realizing that he wasn't wearing his glove and it was bandaged. Her heart jumped at the sight of it. "Wh…what happened to your…" she stammered.
He just stared blankly at his own hand. "Got burned." He told her.
Her eyes widened. "H…how?" she asked, suddenly feeling nervous about his situation.
"When ShinRa exploded two years ago due to Diamond Weapon. I was in my Office. No time to get out. I didn't know why I couldn't move… and when the explosion occurred, I shielded myself with my left arm... and so I eventually got this," he told her solemnly even though his tone sounded stiff.
She reached out for his hand and touched it gently, caressing it slowly as she stared at it with some pity in her eyes. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"Don't pity me, Tifa. It's just a second-degree burn. It will eventually get well. Lucrecia just advised that I put bandages around it with some medicinal cream underneath." He explained rather stiffly.
"Second-degree?" she asked in disbelief. She had expected it to be a third-degree burn.
"Surprising. I know. Even the doctors were amazed." He told her with a bitter smile on his face.
She gazed into his eyes with a gentle smile on her face before giving his hand a kiss. He raised an eyebrow at her, surprised at what she did. "Wh… wha…" he stammered.
She smiled sweetly at him. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"Not anymore. It used to sting so much but now, it's just itchy." He told her with a reassuring look on his face.
She smiled happily. "Well, it means that it's healing pretty fast." She told him.
He smiled at her before mindlessly touching her face with his right hand. "You're so cheerful. I like that," he admitted.
She wanted to smack herself for blushing all of a sudden, but she just tried to maintain her poise and still continued to smile at Rufus like she was dense or something. "I just try to maintain a positive attitude all the time… especially whenever I have problems," she told him.
He withdrew his hand from her. "That's what I've noticed about you whenever you're working and under pressure. Tell me, how do you do it?" he asked with a probing look in his eyes.
She shrugged. "I guess it just comes naturally… because I don't want to feel sad." She told him.
He smiled slyly at her. "Heh heh heh heh…" he chuckled lightly.
"What's so funny?" she asked him with slight frown on her face.
"You don't want to feel sad? Why? I think sadness is everywhere… tell me, what makes you feel sad?" he asked with a smile that Tifa couldn't tell if it was sarcastic or not.
"If I get disappointed about something, I feel sad…" she stated flatly, not really wanting to answer the question.
"What can make you disappointed?" he asked her curiously.
She thought for a few moments, thinking of she should tell him the truth or not.
"You can trust me, Tifa," he told her.
She just sighed and looked away. "I don't like it whenever I get broken-hearted…" she told him.
Silence.
"Broken-hearted?" he asked.
She just nodded.
Silence.
He just shrugged and took her hand, holding it gently. "Don't worry about it. Whoever he is, you don't deserve him. Who knows, there's another person in store for you… someone who'll love you truly." He told her.
She shivered. "Icks… he's actually really nice… and sympathetic! What the hell happened to him?! Did he bump his head on something when ShinRa exploded?" she thought silently as she kept a straight face at him. "Thanks, Rufus," she just said softly.
He glanced at his watch and raised his eyebrows. "Well, I guess time flies when you're having fun, huh?" he asked casually before he let go of her hand and got up from the seat.
Tifa turned to her own watch and realized that it was already 11:30 in the evening. "What the… how long did…" she thought silently as she followed after Rufus and walked out of the bar.
During the ride back to ShinRa HQ in Sector 1, he was just quiet… so was she.
She was thinking of what else to do to Rufus while they are still together at that moment, though she is sure that that isn't the last time that they would be going out. "Well, the sooner the better, right?" she reminded herself quietly as she took quick but shy glances at Rufus on purpose so that he would eventually notice her and turn to her direction and maybe ask her a question on what's wrong or anything else.
"Anything wrong, Tifa?" he asked.
She smiled victoriously but turned her head away from his gaze so that he wouldn't see her. "Nothing," she told him with a shy tone as she clasped her hands together on her lap and acted like she is nervous or something.
Rufus noticed her sudden actions. "You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah…" she replied with a tone that seemed to falter.
Unfortunately, there was a little traffic on the roads of Sector 2 leading to Sector 1, so they were just stuck there for more than 20 minutes.
Rufus sighed heavily. "Oh well… I'll just move the meeting tomorrow at around 3 pm so that I can still sleep the whole morning." He said out loud as he stretched a little.
She turned to him with a look of awe. "Oh, Rufus. Did I tire you or something?" she asked.
"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion.
"I was the one who forced you to go out and have dinner in the Wall Market with me and now you're tired…" she stammered.
He shook his head. "No. You didn't. Don't worry about it," he told her with a wink before turning his eyes back onto the road. He had this somewhat blank stare but he still managed to smile softly. "You remind me of someone…" he told her.
"Who?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Nah…" he disagreed.
"Aw, c'mon! Who?" she urged playfully.
"She looks exactly like you… except that her hair's not braided and her clothes are… not so elegant as yours. I think she's even as tall as you are if you remove those heels…" he explained.
She frowned slightly. "Really? Who's she?" she asked.
"I don't even know her name. That's the strangest part." He told her.
"Is she a crush or something?" she asked with a probing tone.
"Well… I guess I could say that I was somewhat… attracted to her. The only thing hindering me from approaching her is the fact that she's… she's from the enemy's side." he explained.
She thought for a while, imagining his situation. "Well, you should've fought for your love! Oh wait, that's cheesy…" she muttered suddenly and then burst out laughing. "Heeheeheehee! Oh what the hell… well, where is she now?" she asked mindlessly.
"I don't know… maybe she's already married to that… that blonde guy with spiky hair." He said with a deep frown on his face.
She stopped laughing and realized that he suddenly looked disappointed and somewhat annoyed. She bowed down her head. "What made you think of that?" she asked. "Blonde with spiky hair?" she thought silently, trying to picture the guy in her hair.
"I don't know… but sometimes, I feel that way… and it makes me somewhat… sad…" he admitted, feeling a little awkward because he was admitting his true feelings to her. "Never mind…" he said in the end.
She looked up at the stars. "Maybe you could try wishing her back. I'm sure she's not yet married. Who knows, maybe she's also looking for you." She told him. "Damn… the things I have to say to sound convincing," she thought silently.
He just kept quiet.
After a few moments, the traffic had eased up and they started to move again.
Upon arriving at the ShinRa Building, Rufus parked the car inside his private garage. They got down from the car and walked together going to the elevator.
"Well, it's past midnight already," she told him.
He was just quiet.
"You're not going to your office at this hour, are you?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Nah." He replied.
The elevator stopped at the 35th floor. "Good night," Rufus told her before stepping out of the elevator, leaving her there, but she grabbed his hand and stopped him, pulled him back inside and gave him a long kiss on the lips. His eyes widened in awe.
She wrapped her arms around him. "Good night, Rufus," she whispered against his lips before she let him go. He slowly moved out of the elevator with a stunned expression on his face.
The elevator door closed and it proceeded up to the 40th floor where her quarters are located.
Rufus touched his own lips with a trembling hand as he proceeded down the hallway of the 35th floor. He stopped upon reaching a certain door and he tried to regain his calm poise before opening it. The room was dimly-lit with the lamp by the bed. He smiled calmly. "Hi," he greeted.
She raised her green eyes to him and smiled sweetly, though she looked weary. She was lying down on the bed. "Hi, Rufus," she greeted softly.
He closed the door and approached her. "How do you feel?" he asked.
She sighed heavily. "I don't know… but I think I'll be okay…" she said softly.
"Is there anything else I can do?" he asked as he sat down on the couch by the bed.
She swallowed hard. "I want to see him…" she said softly.
He nodded. "I know… but I still need some time." He told her.
She nodded her head solemnly. "Did you go out with Tifa?" she asked.
He smiled. "Yeah." He told her.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"She's…" he stammered.
"C'mon, ShinRa, say it! She never fails to captivate you," Sephiroth pointed out from one corner of the room.
Rufus jerked upon hearing Sephiroth and seeing him standing by the window. The room was so dim that he didn't notice his friend at first. "Oh, so you're here," Rufus said simply.
She giggled.
"What's so funny?" Rufus demanded, turning back to her. "You've got some lipstick smeared on your lips," she said simply.
He rolled his eyes, looking away from her and then turning to Sephiroth. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked.
"Mom told me to guard her while she's getting her medication. Can't let the other executives know that we're keeping her here." Sephiroth replied.
"Yeah… or else they might do something to her." Rufus replied before he got up and mindlessly wiped his lips with the back of his right hand. "Well, I guess I'll be sleeping now." He told them.
"Sweet dreams, Rufus," she said sweetly.
"Yeah, whatever," Rufus muttered miserably before proceeding to the door.
"She said sweet dreams, Rufus; not wet dreams!" Sephiroth joked.
"That's disgusting!" Rufus snapped at him before he walked out of the room.
She turned back to Sephiroth and stopped giggling. "How is she?" she asked.
"She's still the same, I guess… though I think AVALANCHE is up to something and they're using her weakness for this." He explained.
She sighed heavily. "I hope she changes her mind…" she prayed softly…
