Reeve: What are you doing?

Reno: Building a time machine.

Reeve: Okay, instead of asking how or when you get the knowledge to manipulate physics to your heart's desire, I'm going to ask why you're decided to risk the sake of the universe by affect causality as you are?

Reno: Huh?

Reeve smacks forehead

Reeve: Why are you trying to kill us all by playing with time?

Reno: Oh, that. That's easy. I'm going back in time to stop myself from smoking my last cigarette so I can smoke it now. This way, I have an infinite supply of cigarettes by forever resmoking the last one.

Reeve: ... Tyramir doesn't own the rights to Final Fantasy or any of its characters. But I'm putting in a bid myself to buy the character of Reno.

Reno: Cool. Why?

Reeve: So I can make it illegal for people to write me alongside you.

Chapter Twenty Four

The Snake Pit

As she walked down the halls of the Junon Shinra office, Aeris tried not to think about her last experience as a prisoner of Shinra. Instead, she chose to remember her time with Cloud, focusing on the happy pieces of their being together and not the separation. She looked over to Shera, and wondered how that woman had the strength to be here with her. Why had she come? She hadn't explained, merely agreed. And Aeris had decided not to ask, respecting the other woman's decision.

Whatever Shera's reason for deciding to come, Aeris was glad for it. She did not want to be alone in a place like this, no matter Rufus' assurances. She had little reason to trust him. The only reason why she had come was knowing that Reeve would be protecting her, and while he hadn't proven himself completely reliable in the past, she knew that he was a decent man, if not a good one.

No, Aeris Gainsborough did not want to be here. But the Planet had spoken to Cloud, and it had told him to make an alliance with Shinra. And if this was needed for an alliance with Shinra...

She shuddered, feeling cold, thinking all the while. Why had the Planet chosen to speak to Cloud? Why to him, and not her? She was a Cetra, after all. She was born with the ability to speak to the Planet born into her. Even Rufus seemed like a more reasonable choice than Cloud. He wasn't pure Cetra, but it was in his blood. So, why the young man from Nibelheim? As much as she liked him, maybe even loved him, it just seemed wrong. He was, despite his victory against it, tainted by Jenova, the very anathema to the Planet. So why him?

She finally concluded that it was because he was the Planet's Champion. Sword in hand, he had fought off evil corporations, enemies from the sky, mutated monsters, Meteors and a mind-controlled angel. Why not Cloud? He was always at the forefront of the fight, always in the lead. Despise his insecurities and weaknesses, he was the strongest of them all.

The guard who was escorting her stopped, and she nearly bumped into him, lost in her thoughts as she was. There was a man in a similar uniform, decorated with more medals on his shirt than the one who had escorted her though, and he nodded his head to the guard to open the door he was standing by. The undecorated officer opened the door and went inside, while the other stayed behind.

"Excuse me?" Aeris asked.

"What?" the man answered rudely.

"Is Rufus in there?"

"Yeah. This is the med-lab. Not many get to see him these days. You must be someone important. Hey, wait. I recognize you. Aren't you that Ancient? Yeah, I recognize you. I used to fly the Turk helicopter, and I was there when Tseng captured you. Heard you died."

Aeris smiled, then nodded. "I did."

She couldn't see the man's face, obscured by his mask as it was, but she knew his jaw was probably hanging open. The door opened, and the guard who had escorted them in came back out. "The President will see you now."

Not waiting on the guard, Aeris slipping into the med-lab, followed by Shera. The woman who accompanied Aeris said, "That was a little cruel."

Letting out a small laugh, she said, "It was just a little fun. And the truth. It's not my fault if he can't handle it."

The humor of the situation quickly dissolved when she found herself face to face with Rufus. The man wasn't much taller than her. He was of a height and build with Cloud, and she was startled by the similarities. And they didn't end just there. The eyes, enhanced with Mako and glowing a soft blue, were startlingly close to Cloud's, and the hair was of a similar hue, but with a hint of orange. But the similarities ended there. Rufus was more handsome than Cloud, less rough, more elegant. And in his eyes there was an unmistakable pride. This was a man who knew who and what he was, and loved himself for it. But it was coupled with something... Fear? Uncertainty? She wasn't sure, but whatever it was seemed to lessen him, take away from his majesty and imperialistic stance.

"Ms. Gainsborough, Ms. Cole," Rufus said, nodding his head in turn to each. She had only met Rufus twice before, and he seemed different. The first time had been directly after his father's death, when Sephiroth had attacked Shinra Incorporated's main branch in Midgar single-handedly and depopulated the building, Tobias Shinra, Rufus' own father, among the slain. Rufus had seemed cold then, but at the same time, satisfied with what had happened. Where a normal man may have mourned, Rufus had seen a chance to grab power. The second time had been during the final confrontation with Jenova. He had seemed angry, and almost distraught then. He had once again taken up his cold persona, and in an amazing display of humanity, had joined forces with Cloud in order to defeat Jenova. And then, at the end of the battle, he had demanded for Cloud to surrender her to him. Aeris had been more than a little confused. Was he still pursuing his vendetta against the Weapons? Did he view her as one, and sought to destroy her? And yet now, in this third encounter, he seemed respectful, almost, but not quite, warm.

This was a different Rufus Shinra. One she wasn't sure of. Was he friend or enemy? The very idea that he could be more than an ally, but a friend, frightened her for some reason. Before, the line had been set. Rufus Shinra was the enemy. Then, he had become an ally in the face of a greater enemy. And now? Now she wasn't sure what he was.

"Mr. President," Shera responded, and Aeris nearly jumped, realizing she hadn't responded to his greeting.

She didn't want to call him by his title. That was too distant, and even if she didn't know him all that well, it didn't seem right to call him 'Mr. President'. But it didn't seem right to call him just 'Rufus' either. She had had a similar struggle the first time she had met Barret, and had settled on calling him 'Mr. Barret' the first time she had spoken to him because she hadn't known his last name. What was Rufus' last name anyway? Shinra? Or was that just a nickname? Smiling, she tipped her head slightly in respect and said, "Mr. Rufus."

She looked up to see he was smiling, not the cold and arrogant smile that usually touched his face when it wasn't completely emotionless, but an actual smile.

"Mr. Rufus?" he said, a hint of amusement in his voice, but he didn't bother to correct her. He continued, "You'll forgive me if I'm blunt. My Vice President, Reeve, suffered a grevious injury just a short while ago, and the healing is scheduled very shortly. As much as I'd like to speak with you and see you settled, I..." he stopped, and a look of confusion covered his face, followed immediately by pain.

He stumbled, and fell to one knee, gasping. Aeris reached out to him, but agony immediately gripped her gut, and she let out a small groan before falling to her knees as well. Her palms smacked the floor, and she gasped. It felt as if something was rotting inside her. She knew this feeling, but had never had it so strongly before.

And then it was gone, just as quickly as it had come. She stood up with Shera's help, and saw Rufus struggling to stand himself. He looked as if he were about to vomit. If he did, she wouldn't blame him. She felt almost as bad.

"What happened?" Shera asked.

"The Planet..." Aeris managed to say, "... so much pain. It tried to tell me, but it... was so caught up in its suffering."

"South, somewhere..." Rufus said. "Somewhere to the south, the Planet is hurt. I have to go. But..." He stopped, turning to look at Reeve who lay on the hospital bed, once more sleeping peacefully.

"We have to," Aeris said firmly. An idea came to her, and she nearly smiled. She just discovered a way to gain Rufus' trust without having to sit in the belly of Shinra or near its labs. "Can we alter the terms of our agreement?"

Rufus turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "In what way?"

"You said that Reeve would be watching me. Until he's healed, I don't think he can, and the important thing you want is to know I'm with you, right? So why don't I go with you to see what's wrong with the Planet? I may be able to help you, and you'll be able to keep an eye on me."

The President of Shinra frowned, as if considering, and then a devillish smile crossed his face. "Very well. You may accompany me. I'll need to get things in order first. See to it that Ms. Cole has the supplies she'll need to work on the Highwind and Gelnika projects--"

"Excuse me," Shera said.

"Yes?" Rufus said, his voice nearly a growl, obviously upset at being interrupted.

"I'm afraid I can't help you on the Gelnika project. I'm barely familiar with the schematics, and was only assigned to that project for three weeks before getting reassigned to the space program to help Cid work on the rocket. I can, however, help with the Highwind. But I have a condition."

"What is it?"

"Re-open the space program, under my supervision. I want to run it. It was Cid's dream, but since he... well, I'm going to continue it for him."

Seeming almost annoyed, Rufus said, "Fine. You'll get the old space program, and the chair on the board of directors leading it. But the Highwind project comes first. Is that understood?"

Shera nodded, and Rufus merely said, "Good. Now, as I was saying. I'll see to it that Ms. Cole has the supplies she'll need to work on the Highwind project, as well as the authority to head up the space program. I'll also need to see about a suitable escort to this problem that we are headed towards, and then we'll be on our way."

Author's Note:

My god, I am so sorry about how long it took to write this chapter. I just hated doing it. I had to force myself to do even so much as a sentence. I don't know why, but I just don't like doing Aeris POVs. I apologize so much.