Kids
by Riquisel Yutifae
Author's Note: I know it's been quite a while, but it's here! Go on and read! But if you have anything against it, just leave it alone.
Ten
Barret and Red XIII were relieved that Sora, Kairi and Riku finally arrived home. "Ye'r all back!" Barret said, glad that the three are safe.
"Uncle Barret!" Sora and Kairi all ran to him and gave him a hug. Barret had an urge to give the two a big bear hug, so he did. Riku never really liked bear hugs because he feels uncomfortable so he refused to join the group bear hug.
"What happened?" Red XIII asked. "Where have you kids been?" Barret asked, letting go of them.
"We got locked up in the Healin Lodge but we're okay now. Uncle Rufus saved us from his mean younger version." Kairi said happily.
Barret's smile faded. "What?" he asked, hearing the name.
"Oh, don't get us wrong. He's not mean in the future. I guess he was just confused right here that's why he acted so badly even towards Samara here." Sora pointed out.
"Samara?" Red XIII asked.
The door burst open and there was the older Rufus with Vincent and an unconscious Tifa. Barret gasped and instantly got up, aiming his gun-arm at Rufus. "Whoa! What the goddamn hell is going on here?" he demanded, eyeing Rufus, but then he frowned slightly. "He looks kinda different…" he continued.
"This is Uncle Rufus from the future." Kairi introduced.
Rufus eyed Barret rather warningly, "I'm going to have to request you to put down your gun-arm; you might give Sora and his friends a traumatic experience just by pointing that against my face with Tifa still in my arms." He said calmly but with a cold air in his tone.
Barret was still dumbfounded but he obeyed. "Okay but how am I gonna be sure I can trust dis foo'?" he asked, turning to Vincent. "And how do I make sure you're not the Vincent from the future?" he demanded.
"Relax, my dad wears the Turk uniform. This one doesn't. In our time, he just wears that red cape ensemble when he's at home and chillin'." Riku pointed out with a proud smile on his face.
"Where can I put here?" Rufus asked, interrupting them.
"Just put her upstairs. You can tell where her bedroom is, I'm sure." Vincent said.
Rufus looked around and made a disgusted face, "This is such a small shack. How can you take living here?" he asked rather airily.
"Hey if yer just gonna insult dis haus…" Barret began, but Riku interrupted, "Hey, relax, Uncle Barret. It's just typical of him to say something like that." He explained.
Rufus went upstairs, "Gee… I just pity your condition. You're very lucky you are going to marry someone like me. I can save you from your poverty and sorrow." He muttered to the sleeping Tifa.
"That sounded so…" Barret realized.
"…so nasty." Vincent continued before looking around, "Where is Yuffie anyway? I thought she went ahead of us already?" he asked.
And the Ninja girl arrived, panting hard. "Hey!" she greeted. And an unbearable smell followed. "Ugh! Where did you come from?" Barret demanded, covering his nose.
Vincent turned even paler because of the smell. "Oh." He covered his nose and turned away.
Kairi wrinkled her nose while Sora and Riku decided to open the windows to let some fresh air in. "Mom! Go wash your boots!" Kairi told her with a disgusted look on her face.
"Heehee! I stepped on Chocobo Manure!" Yuffie said proudly before taking off her boots and left them outside. "I'll do it in the morning… or I'll tell Cloud or Tifa to wash them for me." She said before closing the door.
"That's called karma because you were making fun of Cloud." Vincent pointed out.
"I wasn't making fun of Cloud, Vincent…" Yuffie muttered before looking away with a mean smile on her face, "Alright, I admit it, it was quite funny when he stepped on Chocobo Manure. Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk." She snickered rather evilly. Kairi giggled and said something in Gongagan, and they were all surprised at her. "You know how to speak in another language?" Yuffie demanded in shock.
"Why yes. I know how to speak two kinds of Wutaian which would be Nihongo and Mandarin, and then Midgarian English, and then Gongagan…" Kairi began.
"Her dad is Gongagan." Riku pointed out with his arms crossed and with a sly smile on his face as if waiting for any violent reaction from Yuffie.
Yuffie's jaw dropped.
Kairi seemed to be looking past her, at the door that was slowly opening but Yuffie did not seem to notice it because she was busily minding the fact that her future husband is going to come from Gongaga, the poorest country in the Planet. It's going to upset her father.
Kairi smiled slightly and looked up at her future mother again. "You really want to know his name?" she asked.
"Like, yeah?" Yuffie replied with an impatient and annoyed look on her face.
"Okay, his name is Zack." Kairi replied proudly.
Before Yuffie could react further, she felt someone grab her right wrist. She looked down and saw a small white hand holding it… and then she just lost consciousness and fell to the ground. Samara instantly let go of her before she could fall down with her to the floor.
"You know I kinda regret telling her because she'll just forget it eventually when she wakes up." Kairi pointed out with a guilty look on her face.
"Nah. Don't mind her. She's the past anyway." Riku said, yawning. Samara walked over to Barret who was gaping at her. "Aren't you the…" he began.
She just smiled. "In the flesh, Uncle Barret." She said before putting him to sleep. Barret fell onto the sofa.
Aerith just stood outside the house while Cloud stood by the doorway, watching as Samara continued to put Red XIII and then Vincent to sleep.
"Isn't Uncle Vinny going to wonder why he's sleeping on the floor?" Sora asked.
"Nah. Dad's gonna be like, 'Oh, why am I sleeping on the floor? I must've been so tired last night. Oh well.' And then he'll forget all about it." Riku explained with a humorless look on his face… and even imitated the British accent.
Silence.
Aerith giggled. "He does act like that, right Cloud?" she asked. Cloud turned to her with a curious look on his face. She just smiled sweetly at him. "I'll see you, Cloud." She said, welcoming him with open arms.
Cloud stared at her for a while, feeling so hurtful. He wanted to weep but he was stopping himself. He slowly moved towards Aerith, but just as when he was about to reach her, Samara lightly touched his lower back and uttered, "Sleep".
And he fell forward. Aerith had managed to catch him in her arms, but since he was too heavy for her, she could not support his weight so she had to let go of him so that she wouldn't fall backwards. His landed on the ground, his face landing on Yuffie's boots… the boots that still have Chocobo Manure on it.
"AAACK!" Aerith, Sora, Riku and Samara all reacted in disgust.
"GROSSNESS!" Kairi wailed.
Silence.
Aerith could not determine whether she would laugh or cry or panic, but she was chuckling in confusion. "Aha ha ha… uhm… a little help here?" she asked, moving Cloud away from the boots.
"I'll go get some tissue and some soap and water, mom. Hah hah… hah hah…" Sora offered, trying to stop himself from cracking up, as he proceeded to the kitchen.
"Eeeeeeeew. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck!" Riku was wailing in disgust. "If that happens to me I'll kill myself!" he cried out in disgust, turning away from the scene.
"Oh stop acting like your father, Riku!" Aerith told him with a funny smile on her face.
Riku just cringed. "Brr… that's really disgusting. I don't think I'll be going on trips to Kalm for now if I want to avoid Chocobo Manure…" he muttered.
"Hee hee." Samara snickered.
Kairi went over to the sofa and got a throw pillow and placed it underneath Yuffie's head. "There you go. So that you wouldn't complain about stiff necks." She said gently before giving her mother a kiss on the cheek and got up and went to her Auntie Aerith. "Let's take him inside," she told her.
Aerith nodded and with enough help from Kairi, Riku and Samara, they were able to drag Cloud inside.
Sora finally arrived back in the living room area with soap, tissue and water. While Aerith and Sora were cleaning Cloud's face, Riku was wondering how they were going to drag Cloud's body upstairs back to his own room, because it might look awkward if a majority of them are all sleeping on the floor except for Tifa and Marlene.
…
"Marlene!" Riku exclaimed.
"Where is she?" Kairi asked.
"Did she see you?" Aerith asked with a worried look on her face.
"…Yes." Sora replied weakly.
They were silent for a while before Samara decided to go upstairs to check on the rooms if the kid Marlene is sleeping in one of those. And they heard a shrill scream for a brief moment.
Silence.
"What was that?" Riku called out from downstairs.
Samara descended the stairs again, looking disturbed. "She's… in her own bedroom… and she screamed when she saw me. I think I scared her. But don't worry, I put her to sleep already." She explained.
"Oh good," Aerith said, sighing in relief with a gentle smile on her face. "And Yuffie too… we have to put her someplace else." She decided.
"Yeah. It doesn't look good. She and my dad are on the floor." Riku said, frowning and eyeing the two with an irritated stare.
"Riku, you've got muscles. I think you're strong enough to carry her. After all she seems light." Kairi told him.
Riku shrugged. "Okay." He said, going to Yuffie and lifting her up carefully. "Gee… she's as light as Sora." He said.
Silence.
"What the bloody hell did you mean by that?" Samara demanded, her eyes narrowing. Kairi looked mortified as he stared horridly at Riku.
Riku snapped at them, "Hey, it's not what you're thinking! You know Sora and I sometimes wrestle in the sand in Destiny Island!"
"Hmf." Samara just crossed her arms and stepped aside, giving way to Riku so that he could pass and go upstairs.
Kairi crossed her arms, eyeing Riku suspiciously. He sensed it and just said, "Aw c'mon, Kairi! Don't listen to your fangirl classmates! They're nuts!"
Aerith was finally done cleaning Cloud's face.
"I'll just put these away." Sora said, getting the basin of water, tissue and soap again and brought them back to the kitchen.
Aerith got up. "Where in the world is Rufus? What's taking him so long? I want him to take Cloud upstairs… but he's not yet here?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips with a suspicious look on her face.
"Last thing I heard he's going upstairs to take Auntie Tifa to her room." Kairi pointed out.
Riku came down again. "Alright. Auntie Yuffie's back in her room." He said once he reached the first floor again.
"Did you see your Uncle Rufus?" Aerith asked.
Riku frowned slightly, shaking his head. "Nope."
"I wonder where he is… Samara, could you go upstairs and check on your father?" Aerith asked the little girl who was just standing by the stairs. The little girl nodded before proceeding upstairs.
Sora returned to the living room, wiping his hands on his shorts. "Done." He said proudly.
Kairi went to the door and opened it again, looking at the soiled boots of her mother. "Gee. I think I should clean them so that she wouldn't worry about what happened to it when she wakes up in the morning." She told them.
"Yeah. You'd better." Riku told her.
She stepped outside and got the boots, taking them to the backyard and washed it with the garden hose. She was done in a jiffy and went back inside. "I guess they'll dry by themselves. I'll take them upstairs to her room." She said before rushing upstairs.
Aerith checked her watch. It read 4:00am. "We'd better hurry… where's Rufus?" she was thinking.
Samara came running down the stairs with a disturbed look on her face. "Aaaaaah! Auntie Aerith!" she wailed, running to her and then hugging her.
Aerith blinked. "Why? What's the matter?" she asked in worry.
"I… -sniff-…opened the door and… -sniff- aaaaaaaah!" Samara cried.
Aerith raised an eyebrow as she took a sharp intake of breath. "I… see…" she said with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "Riku, could you please take care of her for a while? I have to check on your Uncle Rufus upstairs…" she said, passing on Samara to Riku who was just standing by the stairs.
Riku just smiled slyly, "Sure," he said, raising his eyebrows as he took Samara into his arms. "There, there, stop crying." He said rather gently, which surprised Sora.
"What are you looking at?" Riku demanded from his friend.
Sora flashed him a teasing smile, "SCORE!" he cheered for Riku while flashing the U-Rock hand signal. Riku just made a face at him. Samara pushed him away from herself and dusted herself. "You nasty boys…" she muttered miserably before deciding to just sit down in one corner and lament.
"Aw c'mon, what did you see up there anyway?" Riku asked, feeling dismayed.
"You wouldn't wanna know. Sora might laugh." She replied miserably.
Kairi arrived downstairs. "What's going on?" she asked.
Before anyone could answer, they heard Aerith yelling, "And you accuse me of doing honky-honkies with Cloud! You oughtta be ashamed of yourself!"
"I was just removing her shoes, socks and belt so that she will be comfortable!" they heard Rufus respond.
Silence.
After a few moments, the two adults were descending the stairs with Rufus leading the way and Aerith guilt-tripping him. "Alright, alright. Fine. I sneaked a few kisses, so what?" Rufus asked.
"That's unfair. I'm kissing Cloud too." Aerith told him before turning to Cloud who was still sleeping soundly on the floor, but Rufus lifted him up just in time. "No. We'll bring him upstairs first to his room and put him comfortably on his bed." He said before going upstairs again. "Bloody hell… he's too heavy…" he muttered. Aerith followed after him.
"I wonder what will happen if Auntie Tifa was the one who went here instead of Uncle Rufus." Kairi thought out loud.
"If that happens, we'll still be in the Healin Lodge by now…" Riku muttered.
Samara turned to him unbelievably.
He blinked at her, "What?" he asked, totally clueless.
She just made a face and turned away again.
"No, what if it was Uncle Sephiroth!" Sora suggested.
"Hmm…" the four of them began to think. And they laughed.
"What's so funny, kids?" Rufus asked once he got down from the stairs again with Aerith.
The four stopped laughing. "…nothing Uncle Rufus." Sora responded.
"Well… everyone's been put to sleep already…" Aerith said, looking around.
"Shall we go?" Sora asked.
"Yes. We should." Rufus told them.
"Let's go outside. I'll transport us back in the forest in the lake." Samara told them, leading the way.
"Like, how?" Kairi asked.
"I'll create a portal there. And then we can dive into the lake. Hee!" Samara responded.
Rufus cringed. "Oh no… my suit is going to get wet." He thought miserably.
X-x-X-x-X
On to the last chapter…