Kids
Four
"You're up early," Riku told Sora as he joined him in the kitchen. "Yep. Everyone's still asleep. Probably because of the commotion we caused last night with Auntie Yuffie." Sora replied as he opened the refrigerator to look at the food there. "I think they won't be up until noontime, so we'd better fix ourselves our own breakfast." He continued.
"Where's Kairi?" Riku asked as he sat down on one of the chairs and observed Sora as he rummaged through the refrigerator.
"She slept in Auntie Yuffie's room last night. Well she wanted to be with her mommy. So what do you want for breakfast?" Sora asked.
"Waffles?" Riku asked.
"They don't have it. I even checked the cupboards a while ago." Sora replied.
"Do they have jam?" Riku asked.
"Nope."
"Raisin loaf?"
"Nah-uh."
"Pancakes?"
"None of those."
"And let me guess… no hash browns too huh?" Riku retorted as he clenched his fists. "What kind of house is this! They don't have food!" he snapped impatiently.
"Well they're not really as well-off as they will be in the future. Remember we're in the past, Riku," Sora said patiently as he brought out some eggs. "I could scramble these." He decided.
Riku just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Damn. Oh well, I've got money here. We can buy our food someplace else." He told him.
"What's going on?" Kairi asked as she stepped inside the kitchen.
Sora turned to her as he readied the stove and the frying pan. "Riku is expecting that he's gonna have ShinRa breakfast today. Haha!" he pointed out.
"ShinRa breakfast?" Kairi laughed. "Riku, we're in the wrong place and time." She said before proceeding to help Sora in cooking breakfast. "They're not as rich as they are from where we came from." She added.
Riku just rolled his eyes. "Well are eggs the only food they have here?" he asked impatiently. "Well not really. I think they have stale bread over there…" Sora replied, pointing at the breadbin on the kitchen counter. "Ew! Do you think they still eat that?" Kairi reacted in disgust before approaching the breadbin and inspected the bread. "It even has molds in it…" she muttered. Riku got up from his seat and went over to the refrigerator while Sora proceeded in beating the eggs in a bowl. "Lemme at that refrigerator. I'm gonna find something edible for all of us here." Riku told them as he opened the refrigerator and inspected. One of the plastic containers there had a block of cheese in it but the plastic container itself had a long strip of masking tape to serve as a label and on it was the name Cloud. "Looks like Uncle Cloud really loves cheese…" he muttered. "You think we can have some of these?" he asked them.
Sora gasped. "Oh no! Don't! Dad's really into his cheese! If you touch it and you're not a Strife, he'll get angry!" he warned.
Riku blinked. "It's just cheese!" he pointed out.
"Exactly. And my dad loves it. If there's cheese in the refrigerator at home and it belongs to him, he'll only allow me, my younger sister and my mommy to eat it with his consent. If you're not related to him, he'll get angry!" Sora explained.
Riku was quiet for a while before rolling his eyes in frustration, deciding to look for other food inside the refrigerator. "Hmf. And I didn't bring Paopu fruits with me…" he muttered miserably. "I'm going to starve." He snapped impatiently before slamming the refrigerator door shut, surprising the two.
"What's going on?" Tifa asked sleepily as she arrived from the stairs. Riku just stared at her with a frown on his face, scanning her appearance from head to toe. He shook his head in annoyance. "Look at her! She's so different from where we come from!" he protested at Sora and Kairi.
Tifa blinked. "Huh?" she wondered.
"Of course she's different." Kairi replied.
"What do you mean?" Tifa asked in confusion.
Riku turned back to her, "I'm… not used to seeing you wearing rags." He said directly. Sora and Kairi knows how frank Riku can be and that attitude of his had caused him so much trouble in several instances… and they could not believe that he just had to be frank with their auntie Tifa.
Tifa, on the other hand, was mortified. "I beg your pardon?" she demanded in shock. She knows that her clothes aren't that presentable but those are the only decent ones she has at that moment. It was her usual get-up: the white sleeveless top and the black mini skirt. Except that she's not wearing her arm-warmers, fighting gloves, her boots, her socks, her belt and her suspenders; but she had slippers on.
"Isn't it, Auntie Tifa? Look at yourself! You look like a…" Riku was about to say a really mean noun… the meanest noun to refer to Tifa… but he stopped and just reacted in pain when Kairi bonked his head with a frying pan. "RIKU!" she screeched in panic.
Tifa was just stunned, staring unbelievably at Riku, "What the bloody hell are you saying!" she demanded in disbelief. Riku rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "Ow…Kairi! What's wrong with saying that she looks like a sl—…" he stopped when Sora signaled for him to zip his mouth.
But Tifa understood. She felt so offended… and it came from a 15 year-old. She frowned at Riku, narrowing her eyes at him. Riku raised his eyebrows at her. "What?" he asked innocently, not knowing why she's suddenly angry. She just approached him and slapped his face.
Everyone was quiet because of shock and mortification. "You are really the son of Sephiroth. Whoever your mother is, she should teach you some manners to respect ladies!" Tifa snapped angrily with a trembling voice before marching up the stairs again.
The three youngsters were silent as if taking time to accept the reality that just happened. Riku felt the whole room spinning around him. "Farking hell!" he cursed. "Riku, that's enough!" Kairi told him. "I didn't say the F word directly! I used an alternative!" he retorted. She just rolled her eyes. "Now look what you've done! She's angry!" she pointed out.
Riku just crossed his arms and didn't say anything.
Sora shook his head in dismay, "Now look what you've done, Riku! You just ruined your chance with Samara!" he told him.
The room fell silent. Riku growled, "AAARGH!" and ran to Sora, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently, "Now what shall I do! Auntie Tifa will hate me forever and I can never play with Theodore ever again… or even hang out with Samara!" he cried out in panic.
"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down!" Sora said, trying to push Riku away from himself. Kairi pulled Riku away from Sora. "Riku!" she exclaimed.
Riku clutched his head. "ARGH!" he screamed in annoyance, making his two friends cringe. "Hush, Riku! You're going to wake them up!" Sora told him as he shook Riku violently. "Just take him outside!" Kairi suggested with a panicky look on her face. Sora instantly grabbed Riku's hand and dragged him outside the house.
Kairi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, shuddering in the process. She could still hear Riku's screams of anger and confusion.
"That kid's got issues," Tifa was saying as she was going down the stairs again. This time, she was wearing a green robe over her normal clothing, but it was rather too small for her. The length was a few inches above her knee and the sleeves were a bit shorter than her arms. Kairi stared curiously at her. Tifa stared back at the young girl and smiled kindly, "…what's wrong?" she asked. Kairi smiled sheepishly and shook her head, "N…nothing! I'm just… not used to seeing you dressed like that." She admitted flatly. "Well… this is not even my robe. It's Yuffie's. I just borrowed it. So, what kind of clothes are you used to seeing me into?" Tifa asked as she decided to take over the cooking. "Just sit over there. I'll take it from here." She instructed Kairi. As Kairi headed over to a chair, she responded, "I'm used to seeing you wearing designer dresses and suits."
Tifa almost got herself burned as she was lighting the stove with a match. "…What?" she asked in disbelief before turning around to look at Kairi in shock. Kairi blinked, realizing that she has said too much. She shook her head. "You didn't hear anything from me!" she told her.
Tifa blinked. "But I just did!" she said.
"…no you didn't." Kairi blurted out, looking away. "I'd better check on Sora and Riku." She said as she got up, but Tifa stopped her, "Oh no, you're staying here!" she said sternly. Kairi stopped in her tracks and sat down again rather obediently. Tifa began to scramble the eggs in the frying pan. "You and those two boys have caused so much havoc in this household ever since the first one of you three arrived here." She said.
"…we know that, Auntie Tifa." Kairi explained with a disappointed tone like she was being scolded upon. She sniffed.
Tifa turned to look at her. "Aw c'mon, don't cry!" she said with a look of disbelief on her face. Kairi sniffed again. Her eyes were already watery. "…I'm sorry… it's just that I haven't been scolded by you before… it just feels… bad…" and she began to cry.
Tifa's heart sank but she just tried her best to keep calm, "Oh dear… please don't cry!" she pleaded.
"What did you do? You made her cry!" Barret told Tifa as he arrived from upstairs. He still looked sleepy but it seemed like he has been disturbed from his slumber… probably because of the noise Riku was making outside. Tifa finished scrambling the eggs and placed them on a big plate before turning to face Kairi and Barret. Barret was already comforting the girl. Tifa shook her head. "I… don't know why she's crying." Tifa said, confused.
"Uncle Barret… is Auntie Tifa mad at me?" Kairi asked as she hugged him with a sad look on her face and wiping her tears away.
Barret looked up at Tifa. "Are you angry at Kairi?" he asked.
"I am not angry at Kairi. I was just telling her how things had started to go wrong ever since they arrived here!" she stated flatly.
"Darn foo'! You're blamin' her and her friends! No wonder she feels guilty! I wonder what kind of parent you'll become in the future… if ever you become one! With that kind of attitude of yours, Teef, I don't think you'll be such a good parent!" he told her with a scolding tone.
Tifa just stared at him in disbelief. "Barret, Kairi is not a child. She's… what's your age again?" she asked, turning to Kairi.
"14." She replied with a trembling tone.
"You see? She's 14!" Tifa said.
"Well she must've been raised in a different way! In the city, if a girl is 14, she's already starting to mature but Kairi here seems different. She must've grown up in another place." Barret said while patting the girl's head. "Tell me, where were you born?" he asked gently.
She sniffed. "…Midgar… but a day after I was born, Grampa and mommy took me to Destiny Islands. It's where I grew up." She replied.
Barret and Tifa were silent for a while. "Where's your daddy?" the latter asked.
"Grampa didn't like him at first because he wasn't well-off like Grampa and mommy. My daddy's a SOLDIER." She replied.
Tifa's eyes widened in surprise. "A SOLDIER?" she asked in disbelief.
Kairi nodded.
They were unaware that Yuffie, Cloud and Vincent were listening from the stairs. Yuffie was already shaking in doubt, fear and confusion before looking up at Cloud. Cloud just frowned at her, "Don't even think that I will be your husband." He muttered miserably with a threatening tone. Yuffie shook her head. "No. I'm just… friggin' confused! Who is he!" she cried out in annoyance before rushing to the kitchen. "Awright, kiddo! I will not believe that you are my daughter until you show me concrete proof NOW!" Yuffie demanded, surprising Kairi and the rest.
Kairi swallowed hard, staring up at Yuffie. "…I… can have my DNA tested if you want to!" she presented nervously.
"No. I want proof now!" Yuffie told her sternly with a shaky tone. Kairi blinked back her tears. "But… I might do something drastic for the future…" she thought nervously. "Oh where are Riku and Sora when I need them!" she thought to herself as she looked up at Tifa and then to Barret.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Rufus was already having a migraine. He was clutching his head while his elbow rested on top of his desk. Sephiroth, Cloud and Yuffie were seated on the couch across his desk while Samara sat on a separate chair with her hands resting on top of her lap and staring regretfully at her father. "Are you mad at me, daddy?" she asked softly.
"I'm not mad; I'm disappointed." Rufus wanted to say out loud but he just decided to shut up. "Cloud," he began.
His External Vice-President turned to him with an inquiring look on his face. "Where's my wife?" Rufus asked, dragging his tone. His head was really aching. "Aerith already called her. She'll be home from the bar soon." Cloud told him. Sephiroth crossed his arms and stared disappointedly at Samara. "You turned your friends into Science experiments…" he told her with a low and serious tone. But she was unaffected by it. She just shrugged. "They'll be back." She told him.
"How can you reassure that they'll be back safely without causing any harm to the past which will affect the present?" Sephiroth yelled at her angrily.
"Hey. Don't yell at my daughter!" Rufus snapped at him.
"How would you feel if she transported your other children to the past?" Sephiroth sneered.
Yuffie just sat still, staring pitifully at Samara. "It was an accident… I guess… even though… I don't think we can do anything about it right now…" she muttered. But Samara could read her mind… and she was suppressing anger.
Samara lowered her gaze to the floor. "Do you really want to know where their physical bodies are?" she asked. Everyone turned to her.
o-o-o
"Theodore!"
The 10 year-old blonde and brown-eyed boy looked up from his reading material when he heard his father knocking on the door and calling his name. Blinking in confusion, he looked at the clock. It was only 10 in the evening and his father is already out of the office and wants to talk to him? He shrugged the thought off his concerns and put down the book that he was reading before rushing to the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see his father alongside his Uncle Sephiroth, Uncle Cloud and Auntie Yuffie… and Samara was behind them with her hair covering her face. Theodore raised his eyebrow at his twin sister before looking up at his father, "Yes, daddy?" he asked, trying to sound innocent, even though he knows what the matter is all about because of the presence of his twin at the same area.
"Step aside." Rufus instructed sternly. Theodore moved away from the door and let his father and the rest inside the bedroom.
"Doing your homework?" Rufus asked, trying to sound casual as he went over to the closets.
"Just reading a novel…" Theodore replied as he turned to his twin. Samara just walked up beside him and stood by him as they watched their father open the closet. "I warned you. It's not a pretty sight." Samara told them warningly with a slight smile on her face.
Once the closet was opened, the adults were surprised and their eyes widened in terror. In unison, they screamed their children's names while staring horridly at the bodies inside the closet. Rufus was just silent, his mouth slightly open in shock.
"They're not dead. They're just asleep." Theodore told them to keep them calm. But it didn't help. Rufus turned to his son, "You're with Samara!" he demanded in disbelief.
"Well she needed help on where to put the bodies." Theodore responded coolly with a cheerful smile on his face.
Sephiroth scooped up the sleeping Riku into his arms. "Damn… he's really asleep!" he muttered before dropping him roughly on the divan by the foot of the bed and shook him. "Riku! Wake up!" he snapped.
"Don't wake him up!" Samara cried out as she rushed to them and got hold of Sephiroth's hands that were shaking Riku violently. Sephiroth glared at the little girl. "You've already caused enough trouble. You should be grounded!" he snarled.
"I'm warning you, if you wake him up at this state, he will die. Kairi has to find him and Sora first to be able to go back here." She told him with a serious look on her face.
"But… Kairi is alive?" Yuffie asked hopefully.
"Of course she's alive, Auntie Yuffie! Samzy's not mean enough to kill her friends! Right, Samzy?" Theodore asked cheerfully, turning to his twin sister. Samara just kept quiet, staring blankly at Riku's sleeping face. Cloud took out the sleeping Sora from the closet. "I guess he'll be… staying here in ShinRa for a while…" he said with a tone that seemed to falter. "Although I don't know how to explain this to Aerith…" he muttered as he placed Sora on Theodore's bed before turning back to Kairi, helping Yuffie carry her daughter. He placed her beside Sora.
"GAWDS! Zack's gonna be looking for her once I get home! What will I tell him!" Yuffie cried out in confusion.
"Tell your husband your kid's like Sleeping Beauty and she needs a Prince to wake her up." Sephiroth said sarcastically.
"OH MY GAWD!" Yuffie screeched in panic, making Rufus cringe and snap back to his senses. He turned to the door when he sensed that his wife was already there. "…T…Tifa," he began.
The woman was wearing a white corporate suit similar to Rufus's except that she was wearing a skirt and her brown eyes were eyeing the unconscious children in shock.
Samara could easily read what's on her mother's mind. "They're not dead, mommy." She told her.
"…What happened… to them?" Tifa asked in confusion.
Behind her, Aerith arrived carrying Tifa's handbag which she had almost left inside the limousine upon hurrying inside the lobby to see what was going on and why they were suddenly summoned back to ShinRa. Aerith accidentally dropped the bag to the floor when she saw Sora unconscious. "Oh… Sora…" she instantly ran inside and rushed to her son's side. "What happened to him?" she asked with a trembling voice.
Yuffie turned to Samara, "Awright, tell me how they're going to wake up again!" she snapped impatiently.
"I gave Kairi my necklace. If she finds Sora and Riku and they're ready to come back here, she can just hold it and call my name and then I can go and fetch them." She told them.
"Why didn't you do that in the first place when Sora was the first one who went missing!" Sephiroth demanded impatiently.
"Because I don't have a close link with him! It's either Riku or Kairi!" Samara protested before taking a deep breath and proceeded, "When Riku went to follow and look for Sora, he refused to take my necklace with him because he's confident he can go back on his own." She bowed down her head. "I'm sorry for causing too much trouble." She muttered miserably, clenching her fists. Aerith smiled softly and approached her, patting her shoulders gently as she knelt down before her. "I trust you, Samara." She said softly.
Samara refused to look at her Auntie Aerith.
Rufus's facial expression softened a little as his headache started to ease off slowly as he looked at his daughter. "Where exactly did you transport them?" he asked. Samara didn't answer so Theodore did, "Kalm. Some 20 or so years ago when Auntie Aerith, Uncle Sephiroth and the rest of the dead guys haven't returned yet."
Everyone fell silent. They suddenly had a bad feeling about themselves and the situation.
Tifa fainted.
"Damn." Rufus muttered as he rushed to her. "Could somebody call the Turks?" he instructed. Cloud sighed heavily while staring at Sora and dialing the number of the Turk Lounge from his mobile phone.
Meanwhile, Samara was beginning to get worried. "I hope Kairi is able to find Sora and Riku…" she thought silently as she stared at Riku's face with a worried look on her face. She mindlessly took his hand and squeezed it gently. "I hope you're okay…" she thought.