Author's Notes:

Reno: Wow, we haven't been around for a while, have we?

Reeve: Yeah, Tyramir's been going on about advertising some "Final Trinity" garbage, whatever the hell that is, and felt it would have more of an impact if he said it and not us.

Reno: That's bullshit.

Reeve: I know, I know. Anyway, Tyramir doesn't own Final Fantasy or any of its characters.

Chapter Fourty Four

Final Vision

As Shinra's battle with the Tali Hishna concluded, the enemy force fleeing from the spotlights on the helicopters, Rufus' words followed after them, taunting them as they ran.

"I am Shinra! No one defeats Shinra!"

He yelled at their backs as they ran like the cowards they were, a fury gripping him. He nearly gave chase, a desperate charge to show them once and for all who the true master was, who deserved this land above all others. And as he took his first step forward, a hand gripped his shoulder, stopping and pulling him back.

He whirled about and looked into Aeris' eyes, weapons still in hand. He stopped, the rage fading completely from him. He grinned amusedly, a foreign expression on his normally callous face. This moment, he ignored her pity and pretended her reproach was not there. This was a day of victory, and he wanted it treated as such.

"Aeris, I-"

"You said 'Shinra'," she stated.

Confusion crossed his face. "What?"

"You said 'Shinra.' 'No one defeats Shinra.' And worse... 'I am Shinra.'"

His normally cold expression slipped back on, devoid of feeling. Had he said that? He guessed he did, but it didn't seem right. Shinra was power, but was that still who he was? He shunned his father, but with that sudden burst of... madness... he'd come dangerously close to sounding just like him.

He sheathed Murasame and put away his shotgun in its hip holster. Brushing her hand from his shoulder and turning from her, he began to walk away as he said, "Forget it. I got lost in the moment is all. It's nothing."

"Are you your father or not?" There was an unusual amount of firmness in her voice.

"No," he said. "My father could never..." He stopped himself short as he realized what he was about to say. He clamped his mouth shut and began walking again.

"Your father could never what?" Aeris asked, stepping into stride beside him, a curious look in her eye.

"My father could never be as ambitious as I am. I have a dream, Aeris. A dream of an Empire. The Planet itself showed it to me. I'll rebuild the City of the Ancients, and gather the people there, and make the greatest city this world has ever known. It will be a place of peace and tolerance and harmony. People will be happy there. Happy. My name will be sung throughout the ages because of it."

"So... you want to make people happy so you'll be a legend?"

"I would be lying if I said 'no.' Do my motives really matter?"

"They're all that matters, I think. Better to fail at making an Empire such as yours and see that people are happy then to succeed for nothing more than simple pride. You have to forget what people think about you, and serve your common man in the best way you can."

He thought about that for a moment as the two walked back to the encampment. Already defensive formations and sentries were being formalized, and tents were being erected for the long night that was sure to come.

After a long silence, just as they were entering the main camp, Aeris asked, "So, what is it that your father never really could do?"

He jolted for a moment, surprised she had seen through his lie. He stammered for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"Your Empire. His ambition, or lack of it. That's not true. If the old President Shinra had anything, it was ambition. What do you have that he doesn't? What do you really have?"

Rufus quickened his pace, leaving her behind, and entered the center pavilion, set up exclusively as his living quarters while on the road. He closed the tent flap behind him and immediately threw off his coat and discarded his weapons. For the first time, he noticed it was covered in blood. He looked down to his gloved hands, and noticed they, too, were similarly covered. He buried his face in his hands as he sat down in the cot that was set up for him, wondering when it would ever end.

Aeris made no sound as she entered, just stood by the tent flap. He sensed her more than anything, aware of her presence. He wanted to tell her to go away, to leave him. Instead, he just uttered, "Love."

He started as he felt her hands take his and pull them away from his face. She was kneeling in front of him, and he realized that for the first time, there was a little bit of blood on her face as well.

"Who do you love?" she asked.

He smirked condescendingly, something he was good at. "I thought it would be obvious by now. I only tried to kidnap you, and when that failed, blackmailed Cloud with his little treaty into surrendering you to me."

A startled look came into her eyes. "Rufus... that's not love. You don't... you don't try to force someone... you don't even know me!"

"No, I don't," he admitted. "But I want to. I want to so desperately. At first, I wanted to destroy you. You were part of Weapon, and I hated Weapon more than anything else. But then... something inside of me. The Cetra in me. It convinced me that your race, our race, needed to live on. There isn't enough Cetra DNA to create a race of us through the Soldier process, but it's enough for a start. But we need to breed. So I thought... that we could... And then I met you, and our talks. Aeris, our talks! You've made me think. Think about my whole life. Rethink everything. And-"

He stopped as she stood up, releasing his hands as she did.

She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Rufus, I really am, but I don't love you, and I'm not even sure if you know what love is."

And with that, she was gone.

He simply sat there on his cot after she left. He felt cold inside, and his fingers tingled. He knew he should be angry. He had just been rejected, rejected by the only woman he had truly wanted.

She was right. He hadn't known what love was. He did now. It was something he would never have. Always someone else was taking from him, and he was always forced to take it back. His father had destroyed Rufus' younger years, so he had taken back his own life by killing Tobias Shinra. Diamond Weapon had destroyed Shinra, so Rufus had rebuilt it and carried on a personal war against Obsidian Weapon. And now... now Cloud Strife had stolen Aeris from him! That's what it was. There was still a score to settle between the two, they both knew it. Cloud had stolen a measure of pride from Rufus in defeating him in battle twice, by helping to kill Jenova once and for all where he could not, and now this final insult! No more!

Standing up, he yelled, "NO MORE!"

He screamed his defiance, yelling until his throat was sore, until tears streamed down his eyes from the pain. A guard opened the tent flap, looking to see the cause of the commotion, but immediately Rufus stopped his yelling and chased the man out. The President of Shinra charged about his pavilion, knocking over collapsible shelves and desks, over battle reports and a bar fridge. He kicked over his cot, tore at the fabric walls of his room, and screamed in rage.

Rufus Shinra had a temper tantrum.

When he was finished, he collapsed to the ground, heaving in exhaustion until he finally fell asleep.

Once more he was in the dreamscape, a field of rolling green all about him. He still was lying on the ground, but nothing else was the same. The place was not familiar to him, a featureless plain of endless grass and blue sky.

He reluctantly stood up, and there, predictably, was the figure of his father.

"I told you that you did not have it in you to be a Cetra."

Rufus wanted to charge at this apparition. Attack it with his bare hands and rend the life from it and do whatever damage he could. Instead, he simply nodded his head in agreement.

Tobias continued, "She will not help you. Not now, not ever. Strife will prevent that. She loves him, and will never leave him. He's the better warrior, the man of better ethics. He's a hero, a champion. She will always choose him, you know. No matter what you do. Because your methods and your views are so far apart from hers. But there is a way to have her."

"How?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"All women are attracted to the hero, yes," the ghost said slyly, "but there is another thing they are attracted to. Make your Empire, Rufus. Build it however you can, in whatever way you can. Do not worry about peace and harmony and happiness. Just build it, and make sure it lasts a thousand years. And use it to crush Cloud Strife. Show her who the superior man is. That will draw her."

Rufus laughed. "You are mad, father. Do you honestly think I will do that?"

"No, Rufus. I do not. Because you are not half the man I was. Only a few times in your life have you grasped power, and always you have failed with it. Only through treachery have you ever succeeded. You're good at that, Rufus. In order to survive through the days to come, you will need that."

"And you think what? The only way I will achieve my Empire will be through betrayal? How? Who will I betray? I am already at the top!"

"You will be defeated, Rufus! You may win the war against the Tali Hishna, but do you think it will end there? They will return, and attack in different ways! You will lose this war. I have seen it, and so have you. Your people will die in the path you pursue. You will die."

Rufus shook his head, not wanting to believe it. But it was true, he knew. He would not survive this conflict. He was fighting a losing battle on the losing side. "What do I do? What do I do so I can live and build my Empire?"

"Fight like a Shinra."