Her Sweetest Revenge
Author's Note: Pretend Advent Children didn't happen for this fic. smiles uneasily This fic has been on hibernation for a long time already and I've decided to wake it up. And don't complain about OOC's. It's for a purpose. They're just acting.
Seventh
She woke up at around 10:00 in the morning with puffy eyes; obvious that she cried herself to sleep. She knew that she was already late and she had missed a meeting that was supposed to be scheduled at 7:30, but she did not care at that moment.
She took a quick shower, got dressed in her corporate attire and got her mobile phone. She stood by the window of her bedroom and started to call her friends' place.
"Hello?" someone answered from the other end of the line.
"Cloud?" she asked.
"Tifa?" he responded.
She sighed heavily. "I… it's… hard to explain…" she stammered nervously. Tears were welling in her eyes again and they began to fall uncontrollably. She couldn't take it anymore.
She sniffed as she wiped them away with the back of her free hand.
"Are you crying?" he asked with a stiff tone.
"No I'm not… I just got the sniffles… anyway… I… I think I'd like to… to quit with this job." She muttered.
Silence.
"Why?" Cloud asked.
"It's just unfair for Rufus… and for me too." She responded. "And for Aerith…" she thought silently.
Cloud was silent for a few seconds before replying, "Tell that to Barret." And hung up.
Tifa frowned slightly as she dropped her phone on the table by the window before covering her face. "Oh my God… Cloud, I'm so sorry…" she thought silently.
"I think with this situation, I can never see Cloud for a long while…"
Those words from Aerith made her feel so guilty. "Because of me, Cloud will be sadder and Aerith will be more miserable… and to think that she's here again because she wants to be with him… and I'm hindering it… just like before… I'm such a bitch…" she thought miserably as she removed her hands from her face and wiped her tears away. She was interrupted when someone just knocked on her door.
"Tifa, are you there?"
Lucrecia.
Tifa bit her lower lip. "And because of me agreeing to do this, Vincent can't be with her for a while…" she thought silently before faking a smile and calling out, "Yeah, why?"
Lucrecia entered and she looked worried.
Tifa's smile faded away upon seeing the worried look on Lucrecia's face. "Anything wrong?" she asked.
"You weren't in the meeting this morning, we were wondering what happened to you," Lucrecia began as she approached Tifa.
"I… I just overslept. I don't feel so good." Tifa explained with a slight smile on her face.
Lucrecia placed her hands on Tifa's forehead, feeling her temperature. "You seem fine." She put down her hand and smiled sweetly at her, "Congratulations on your engagement to Rufus. He's really happy to announce it again today during the meeting. Looks like he's so proud of having you as his fiancée. We've never seen him look so happy and know that he's feeling so good about himself. He used to be so dull and serious, now he seems… livelier!" she got Tifa's hands and squeezed them gently. "We here at ShinRa are really happy to have you here… and I'm so thankful that you came along into our lives. You're so sweet and so understanding. You've influenced Rufus to be like that and we're so glad that you did. Maybe if it was another girl, we'd still be down in the dumps with the same old bad image and reputation." She explained with a pleased look on her face.
Tifa bit her lower lip and sniffed softly, trying to control her tears, but Lucrecia noticed her eyes glistening with them. "Oh, what's the matter?" Lucrecia asked with a concerned look on her face.
Tifa burst into tears and embraced her friend. "Oh, Lucrecia… it's nothing. Just tears of joy…" she cried helplessly.
Lucrecia raised her eyebrows and just smiled blankly as she returned Tifa's embrace.
Tifa felt so stupid. "These are not tears of joy… these are tears of guilt, dammit!" she thought silently.
And up to now, she is still acting.
Shame on her.
"Oh, by the way, there's going to be a parade this afternoon. It's a welcoming ceremony in Junon. We have to leave at exactly 12:00 noon so that we'll arrive there before 13:00. Alright?" Lucrecia asked, letting go of Tifa.
"We…welcoming ceremony? What for?" Tifa asked nervously.
"To re-welcome the president. It's like he's new and improved… everyone likes the way he runs the government and ShinRa." Lucrecia explained.
Tifa was stunned. "Oh. That's… good to hear," she smiled as she felt a little relieved. "Well, I think I'd better go and greet him a good morning and apologize for not being able to attend the meeting." She said before heading outside, leaving Lucrecia inside with a perplexed look on her face.
x-O-x-O-x
Rufus kept on clenching and then relaxing his left fist, and then bending and flexing his left arm; as if exercising his injured arm. The pain would lessen once in a while, thanks to the new ointment that Lucrecia had formulated for him.
"Disgusting…" he thought miserably, feeling grossed-out with himself as he removed his white jackets, and then removed his black turtleneck, draping everything on his office chair. Half-naked, he began to remove the bandages from his left arm with a deep frown on his face.
He did not even notice Tifa enter his office.
She watched quietly in curiosity and awe as the scarred left arm was revealed to her sight.
Rufus made a face like he was so disgusted with himself. "Damn…" he muttered frustratingly.
She bit her lower lip, remembering the explosion that occurred two years ago… quick flashes returned to her mind but she shook her head to rid herself of those horrible memories.
"Rufus," she began softly with a concerned tone as she ran to him.
Rufus jerked slightly upon hearing her voice and then turned to face her. His eyes were wide for a few seconds before narrowing them at her. "Oh… hello, Tifa," he greeted stiffly before turning back to his arm and began to wrap the bandages around it again.
She stopped him and held his left hand gently, careful not to hurt it as she examined it slowly.
"Don't stare at it… it's disgusting." He told her with a stiff tone, though his eyes revealed that he felt so ashamed and hurt.
She looked up at him and smiled sweetly. "I don't mind, Rufus. It's just a scar… besides, I think it will disappear." Her smile faded.
"Anything wrong?" he asked.
"…I have a scar too…" she admitted.
"H…how?" he asked.
"Sephiroth. He… slashed me from this part," she placed her hand below her left chest and traced down in a slant direction to her right waist. "down to here… with his Masamune. I was only 15 back then." She explained with a sad look on her face.
He could hardly believe what she was saying. "Really now?" he asked.
She nodded. "But please, don't get mad at Sephiroth… I understand that he was out of his mind when he did that, so right now, I'm not really blaming him." She explained with a nervous look on her face.
"I see… so you're still afraid of Sephiroth huh? You don't want me to scold him so that he wouldn't get back at you?" he asked with a sly smile on his face.
She was quiet for a while before laughing sarcastically. "Yeah, yeah, right… Fear. You control the world with fear." She pointed out.
He chuckled lightly before turning serious again, "Can I see it?" he asked.
"What?" she asked.
"Your scar." He pointed out.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe the ointment that Lucrecia had given to me can help you too. I think it's effective in my part." He pointed out, showing her the ointment.
"I don't think so." She said, blushing.
"Ahem…"
The two were interrupted, turning to the direction where they heard the sound.
Rufus's eyes widened. "Wh…what are you doing here?" he asked.
It was Aerith… but she was wearing a white floral sundress and her hair was not braided.
She smiled sweetly at them. "Hello Rufus! Is that the way you greet an old friend who's been bedridden for days?" she asked as she approached.
Tifa was looking at the girl strangely. "She resembles so much of Aerith… what if…" she thought silently before turning to Rufus, examining the annoyed look on his face. "Nah… it can't be Aerith. Rufus wouldn't be annoyed at Aerith." She thought.
"What is she doing here?" Rufus thought silently before faking a smile at Aerith. "I'm sorry. I was just surprised…" he trailed off when Aerith went to Tifa and held her hands happily, "It is simply nice to see you again." She whispered softly in a voice edible enough for only Tifa to hear. She was smiling sweetly at her.
Rufus was surprised at Aerith revealing to Tifa that she's alive. Feeling uneasy, he began to wrap his arm again with bandages.
Tifa smiled uneasily at the girl. "…you are?" she asked, wanting to be sure.
From the stairway, Rufus could see Sephiroth smiling maliciously at him. Rufus made a face at him, as if saying, "Is this one of your ideas!"
Sephiroth just grinned and went down again, leaving Aerith, Rufus and Tifa there.
Aerith was examining the look on Tifa's face. "What's the matter? It looks like you've seen a ghost in me or something," she pointed out.
Tifa blinked and turned away, feeling sheepish that she had been staring at her for too long just because she had a lot of thoughts in her head regarding Aerith. "N…nothing, really. I was just… surprised," she turned back to her. "I thought you were someone I knew at first glance…" she explained sheepishly.
"Really? Who is she?" Aerith asked sweetly.
Tifa had this sad look on her face, "I… I'd rather not talk about it." She said.
Rufus was already fixing himself up while listening to the conversation of the two girls. When he was all ready, he turned to face them, "Well, if you two are done with your chitchat, we'll head for Junon right now." He told them.
"You mean you're taking me with you?" Aerith asked while batting her eyelashes sweetly at Rufus.
Rufus retained a poker-face as he stared at her.
Tifa blinked. "Rufus, who is she?" she asked curiously with a slight frown on her face. She could feel her heart beating fast and her throat was beginning to feel dry.
"…like Aerith?" Aerith asked softly. Rufus did not move. He just stared back at Tifa with a blank look in his eyes before turning to Aerith. "She… is Aerith. Aerith, this is… Tifa, my fiancée." He replied.
Tifa's eyes widened as she stared unbelievably at Aerith. Aerith smiled at her. "In the flesh." She told her. The next thing they knew, Tifa fainted.
Rufus stared down at Tifa on the floor with a cold look on his face, "Look what you've done, Gainsborough." He muttered miserably before clapping his hands twice, "Sephiroth!" he called out, knowing that Sephiroth is still around and eavesdropping. In five seconds, Sephiroth was climbing up the stairs again going to the elevated part of the 70th floor. "You got me." He announced.
Aerith went over to Tifa and knelt down beside her. "I guess her mind's clouded and she ended up getting confused… so she fainted." She explained. "Oh, she's always confused." Rufus muttered before telling her, "Aerith, what are you doing? You're up and about!"
She giggled. "Oh I'm well enough to walk but I can't strain myself too much. Besides, Sephiroth talked me into this." She told him.
"Are you sure she's unconscious?" Sephiroth asked her, staring curiously at Tifa. Aerith looked down at Tifa again, parting her left eyelids open and then letting it go. "Yeah. She is." She replied plainly. "Better hurry though before she regains consciousness." She advised.
"What is the meaning of this?" Rufus asked.
"You wouldn't want Tifa to win this game, right?" Sephiroth asked him with a stern look on his face.
Rufus stared unbelievably at him, "Sephiroth, we've talked about this before! I've got the situation under control! I won't let her fool me with her silly little AVALANCHE games." He told them.
"So that's why you decided to betroth yourself to her?" Aerith asked while shrugging.
Rufus shook his head. "This is the plan: we have known from the start that they're up to something against us. They don't know that our company is doing all it could to improve the lives of people that's why they sent Tifa over here to spy on our activities and—quote-unquote—seduce me and she thinks she has succeeded already. At least she thinks I am interested in her…" he began.
"Are you?" Aerith cut him off.
Rufus's eyes widened at her, "Bloody hell, no! Anyway, the goal is to make her think that I am interested in her so that she will lie low and will think that victory is near…"
"You two are just playing a never-ending game!" she said in disbelief.
"So this is the new plan." Sephiroth interrupted. Rufus turned to him before turning to Aerith, "You're on this, aren't you?" he asked with a slight smile on his face. She smiled sweetly at him. "I can't let my fellow AVALANCHE harm my ShinRa friend." She said sweetly. Rufus didn't know if she was being sarcastic or not but he just turned back to Sephiroth to hear his explanation. Sephiroth smiled and walked over to Tifa, kneeling down beside her and making sure she's still unconscious. "Aerith is going to act as a third party in your relationship with Ms. Lockheart." He began. Rufus's eyes widened upon hearing that. "What?" he demanded in disbelief. "Oh you know… she'll play a little bit too nice to you… it's just like she's flirting but she's not. And then Tifa's going to see it and she'll get jealous." Sephiroth continued.
"Why would she even get jealous? Tifa doesn't even like me in reality; she's just acting just like me acting like I like her!" Rufus told him.
"She's got to keep your attention to her and only to her otherwise her plan will be a flop!" Sephiroth told him before he got up. "And what happens now? What if word gets to Cloud Strife about his girlfriend flirting with the President? Wouldn't that tick him off?" Rufus asked, aware of Cloud and Aerith's relationship.
Sephiroth shrugged and smiled slyly at him, "Wouldn't that tick him off?" he asked.
They were silent for a few moments before they heard Tifa groan. "Oh…" They were surprised. Sephiroth just did the thumbs-up to Rufus and got down from the office, leaving Rufus and Aerith to deal with Tifa. Aerith was giving him the "are you ready" look. He just frowned and thought, "Let's just get it over with…" before following after Sephiroth.
"Oh are you alright?" Aerith asked Tifa as she offered to help her up. Tifa opened her eyes and stared back at Aerith in disbelief. "…How did you manage to…" she began.
"Oh. It's a long story. But I took Sephiroth and Rufus with me… along with Lucrecia." Aerith replied sweetly as she helped her friend up. "But I still can't go out and tell Cloud because I'm not yet well enough." She added.
Tifa looked around the room. "Where's… where's Rufus?" she asked. Aerith blinked, surprised at Tifa being concerned more about Rufus than her. "He… is on his way to the chopper now. He's going to Junon. If you wanna come with him you should hurry." She told her.
Tifa was stunned. "He… he is?" she asked. "But… he left me here?" she asked in confusion.
Aerith shrugged, acting innocent. "He's in a hurry."
Tifa was silent for a while, recalling the events. "Wait a second, how were you able to recognize me? I'm supposed to be in a disguise—like having another identity?" she asked.
"TiffayneLockheart, right? Of course I know! I was once a part of AVALANCHE too. I know the group's style! Teehee!" Aerith giggled. "Don't worry, it's just between me and you. Rufus and Sephiroth will never know." She said. But she was mentally kicking herself, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you, I promise!" she was thinking silently to herself.
Tifa just swallowed hard. "Well… alright… so you're with me in this mission?" she asked.
"What's the plan anyway?" Aerith asked. Tifa took a deep breath before starting, "I'm supposed to seduce Rufus, make him fall in-love with me and then leave him…. While in the process, sabotaging ShinRa so that once I get out of here, he'll be just… picking up the pieces and sticking them back together with glue." She replied rather uneasily.
Aerith tilted her head to the side while staring into Tifa's eyes. "You don't… sound happy about it…" she said softly.
Tifa shook her head. "I am not! I want to quit! I want to… just go back to Sector 7, grab my stuff and run away and change my name and identity so that no one can find me… I can't do this anymore!" she told her before covering her face with her hands and marching towards the window. She heard the chopper leave and when she looked up at the skies, she saw it pass by the window. Rufus and Sephiroth were in it already and she was hoping that the former would look at her but he didn't. He was busily discussing something with Sephiroth.
"He… just left…" she said in disbelief.
"Why? Were you supposed to go with him?" Aerith asked innocently. Tifa just stood still as she felt her knees get weak. "…at least that's what I thought. Or maybe I'm letting everything get into my head…" she said softly before turning to face Aerith again with a sad smile on her face. "I know the feeling of… getting hurt. Rufus loves me now, and I guess while making him fall in-love with me, I…" she trailed off, not sure if she should tell Aerith about her true feelings. She just swallowed hard and shook her head, "…And I don't want to hurt him once I leave him." She proceeded.
Aerith just kept quiet but she was surprised at Tifa's revelation. "Well then… just… quit the plan!" she suggested.
"I can't do that! Barret and the rest will get mad at me!" Tifa protested.
"Well then… just… break it to them gently…" Aerith said flatly. "Like how? It's not easy. In maybe… around… a month, I'll get married to Rufus… and then they'll expect me to do something drastic in a matter of weeks after the wedding… the worse that I can do is to shoot him even though I can't wield a gun!" Tifa stated flatly. Aerith was surprised. "Shoot him!" she gasped.
"I've been securing a gun under my skirts ever since I started working here. They said that I might need it if I just get the urge to shoot him…" Tifa said with a disturbed look on her face before sitting down on Rufus's chair, sighing heavily.
Aerith just bowed down her head, trying to think of something else to say to her old friend. "Tifa, what exactly do you feel right now?" she asked.
Tifa was quiet for a while before realizing that Rufus's PC has been left open and the file with all the monthly expenses was open. She recalled that before, when given the opportunity, she would instantly change some digits, but at that moment, she didn't move. She just stared at it. "Guilt." She replied with a voice that seemed to falter.
x-O-x-O-x
"I can't believe you left her there." Sephiroth told him.
"As if I really care about her." Rufus muttered, crossing his arms as he looked outside the window, staring at the clouds. "Can you book the wedding at the cathedral in Junon?" he asked.
"When?" Sephiroth asked.
"During the ceremony, you go there. I can manage on my own. The Turks are with me anyway." Rufus told him. Sephiroth just nodded. "And when will the wedding take place?" he asked. "Next year. January 15. And book us a suite in Costa del Sol too. Make sure it's a 5-star hotel." Rufus instructed.
Sephiroth began to encode the details in the reminders of his mobile phone. "It's so fast, Rufus. Is there really a need to rush things?" he asked.
"It's only July." Rufus pointed out.
"She's expecting perhaps that you'll be wed next month." Sephiroth pointed out.
"Well no. I'm giving her time to change her mind, if you know what I mean." Rufus explained with a dull look on his face. Sephiroth stared at his facial expression, "You're getting smile lines from all the acting you're doing around Tifa." He told him. Rufus just laughed dully. "Yes, yes, I know. But it rejuvenates my soul… sometimes I don't feel like acting anymore." He said.
"What do you mean? You actually like that girl already?" Sephiroth asked in disbelief. "Well… she's pretty and… voluptuous; not exactly my type but... I can't blame you if you…" he continued, not wanting to offend Rufus. Rufus just shrugged. "I don't know." Sephiroth just laughed, making him frown. "Well… alright… whatever you say." Sephiroth told him with a silly smile on his face.
Rufus just kept quiet, lowering his gaze as he inhaled as he thought, "…she should change her mind. I have deceived enough minds already… If she doesn't change her mind, I'll be forced to… become a bastard like Old Man…" but he looked at Sephiroth with an inquiring stare. His friend frowned at him, "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.
"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" Rufus asked.
Sephiroth stared glumly at him, "Aw c'mon! Don't tell me you're feeling guilty about acting?" he asked.
Rufus just kept quiet as Sephiroth went on: "It's just fair. What do you want her to do, toss you around and let her play with you until you realize how bad it is to get hurt by someone you love?"
"It's funny hearing those words from someone like you, Sephiroth." Rufus pointed out, wanting to change the subject. He wasn't really into talking about his real feelings.
"Hey, you're not the only one who has undergone the Aerith Gainsborough Reform sessions. Mwahaha." Sephiroth kidded. Rufus just shook his head in disbelief but he did not say anything further to prolong the discussion.
x-O-x-O-x
Tifa finally gave up dialing Cloud's number. "He's not answering." She muttered miserably.
"Did you try the landline?" Aerith asked.
"It's busy. Yuffie's probably using it." Tifa replied as she leaned back on Rufus's seat. "Oh well, I guess there's nothing left for me to do but to continue with what Cloud and the others are expecting me to do so that it'll make them happy…" she decided.
Aerith was quiet for a few moments, looking pitifully at Tifa, and then let out a hopeless sigh, "Suit yourself. I'll just be here." She said softly. Tifa stared at the computer monitor while mindlessly encoding a text message: "ShinRa isn't that bad anymore. It changed." And then sent it to Cloud. With that, she got up and decided to shut down Rufus's PC before telling Aerith that she would be in her own office. Aerith just nodded; and as she watched Tifa go down the stairs, she thought, "Looks like I'm not going to be acting like I love Rufus anymore." And smiled solemnly.
to be continued...
