--Through Torrents of Time--
Author Notes:
Wow, thank you so much for the reveiws FinalFantasyAllStar and DivineAngel! I hope I meet your guys' expectations for chapter two! I almostdidn't repost it of lack of reveiws. sweatdrop So, thanks a bunch! I really appreciate your feed back. Anyhow, onto Chapter Two! Keep reading! Keep reveiwing!
Chapter Two: Things Begin to Turn
A long while later Storm awoke in a dark room, some strange liquid being poured down her throat. Gasping desperately for air she coughed spraying glowing green liquid all over the room and all over her, followed by convulsive coughing, coughing up blood. Soon she stopped. She looked at the person standing next to her, it was Sephiroth. When she tried to speak she couldn't and gave up. She felt like she had been lit on fire, either that or been to hell and back. She discovered her shirt had been pulled and tied up so her belly was exposed. Blood stained wraps encircled her middle.
"Hold still…" It was Sephiroth's voice. She looked at him oddly…something smelled like it was…burning…
Literally, a stabbing pain entered her right wrist. Sephiroth held a white hot knife in his hand, he had stabbed it into her wrist, puncturing her major vein. Storm screeched and found she couldn't move at all when she tried to jerk away. Smoke rose from her burning flesh…nothing bled. Again he stabbed, and again…and a fourth time. Twice more the stabbing pain ensued as he carved away at her wrist. When he was finished tears were streaming down Storm's red face and she was trembling, shaking so much she could hardly remain sitting up. She jerked her arm away from Sephiroth when he was done holding it to a small light he had turned on to see what he'd done to her.
#09 was imbued in her charred red skin.
Looking at her wrist made her stomach lurch. She threw up and then passed out from pain…
---
Unknown to Storm she was injected with high amounts of liquid Mako. So much the area along the bridge of her nose turned red making her appear as if she was drunk. Her consciousness was traceless, she was completely out. After injecting these high amounts of Mako Sephiroth threw the half lifeless girl into the streets of Midgar, drunken looking, and still bleeding. She was alone and now a slave…
---
Her senses began to return to her…smell, the pungent scent of Mako still around her but there was another, a fresh scent, like a new house or a new car…Taste; the sweet icy flavor of fresh water being tipped into her mouth…Sound, the sound of clothes rustling and an occasional sigh but nothing else met the ears of 13 year old Storm…Touch, there was the comforting feeling of a warm…something…tangent her high chest, just below her neck. A cold sensation met her flaming hot forehead and then last came sight…
Her blurry vision focused to see a man hovering over her. At first, realization didn't hit her…
Soft aqua eyes stared down into her Mako fused navy blue ones. Stray red-blonde strands of hair hung down in his eyes. Storm discovered the warm feeling on her chest had been his hand, for as he went to push the bangs behind his ears (only to have them fall back in his face again) that warm feeling left. Storm blinked at the stranger for a moment but then she realized that he was no stranger…
"V-vice P-p-president--"
"Rufus." He cut her off, "That's Rufus to you."
Storm couldn't breathe. Aside from the fact that she could barely breathe before thanks to the gash in her side the new blonde soldier had given her. So many questions she could ask him! But none met her lips. It was like the action to speak was impossible to achieve. Giving up, she concentrated on trying to breathe…
"Now…the question that's been bothering me for days. What is your name?"
"S-Storm Torrent." She managed to choke out. Bothering him for days?
"Storm Torrent…very fitting." He smiled, "You've been out for 5 days straight…we thought you were dead."
"W-we?" Storm coughed.
"Shinra. And of course all the Soldiers…" Rufus laughed, "Can you sit up?"
Storm did as she was told. Slowly she sat up and glanced around the room. She was shocked at the sight se saw, so shocked she could barely get out her next sentence, "T-this is the…"
"It's my office."
Storm just gawked. She must be dreaming…she was sitting in Vice President Rufus' office! The same Vice President she couldn't take her eyes off two—no wait 7 days ago. Another question exploded in her head, had he seen her before?
She couldn't say it…
"Wh-what happened to me…?" She asked finally, rubbing her eyes and blinking.
"I found you on the streets 5 days ago. You were drenched, it was raining. You looked like you were drunk but--"
"Why did you take me back here?"
Rufus was struck speechless. In truth, he really didn't know why. Why had he reached out? Was he going insane? He answered with a shake of his head, hoping she'd understand.
"You don't know why…"
Rufus nodded and then Storm laughed, "And here I was thinking the Vice President was a stuck up tight wad."
Those words hurt, because they were true. He was acting out of his personality and it felt weird. A split decision to change the subject was a saving grace, "Um…were you perchance the street girl who watched the soldiers from the notch in the wall?"
Storm gaped at him. He knew about the notch in the wall? That was she and Des' special hiding place, their only refuge and he must have blown their cover…he must have! Rufus didn't know but he wasn't exactly scoring points…
"You knew? You knew about that place? We were attacked…" The memories poured back into her mind, recalling every movement and every blade except for the one that hit her. She remembered the stinging pain in her side and looking up at the blonde haired soldier, staring into those shocking blue eyes as he looked down at her, confused at what he'd just done. And then…her brother's scream, "Des!" she said with a gasp, "Des! What happened to him?"
Rufus looked down, "The boy…was killed."
A deathly silence struck the room as Storm sat there, stunned, "So…Des is dead…I'm…all alone…" Then she began to cry. Rufus put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
It was this that saved his reputation, in her mind. She needed some one and Rufus' small gesture of comfort was all she needed to know, someone was backing her.
"Storm…" Rufus started, once she'd finished crying and was calming down, "There is an opening…for the Mechanic job if you would like to I can--"
"Mechanic?" Storm couldn't believe her ears, "Mechanic? You're serious?"
Rufus nodded, confused.
"It's always been my dream! There are so many things I could perfect! And…And I get paid?"
Rufus nodded again, smiling though, seeing she was happy.
"I don't believe it…" Storm marveled.
"As I was saying…I think I could get you in for a job interview and maybe you could meet some of the staff."
She hugged him. She hugged him! Storm flung her arms around his neck and hugged him. Rufus blinked with surprise also turning absolutely crimson.
"I love you!" She blurted out, making Rufus turn redder. Storm let the fly away comments pass her by, she was too focused on this…she was reaching her star.
---
"This is the cafeteria."
Storm was wide eyed at the starched clean cafeteria. This would be where she ate every day if she got the job. Rufus had been showing Storm around for a while. Shinra was an impressive place…everything she saw was like candy to her eyes.
The room was white, with tile floor. There was a count of 15 long tables
Suddenly Soldiers flocked over to the door Rufus and Storm came in all trying to get a look at Storm.
"Uh…hi?" Storm said hesitantly, waving her hand as a greeting.
Murmurs of 'who's she' of clueless Soldiers pulsed through the crowd of young men. Some sighed sighs of relief, those who had visited her while she was knocked out. It was strange…Rufus leaned over and explained, "There aren't many women on campus…"
"Ohhh…" Storm confirmed. She looked at all the stranger faces noticing some now and then from watching the training sessions. There was Travis…and Keith and…wait…standing in the back, looking down at the ground and not at her, was the blonde soldier, the one she hadn't recognized, the one that had hit her. A little bit of fury built up inside of her. Her side still hurt after all! And so, she pushed through the crowd and walked right up to this blonde soldier…
When she was only a few inches away from him she found she had to look up. The young man was a whole head taller than her. His crystal blue eyes widened as they made contact with hers.
"So, you're the guy?"
The blonde soldier's insides wrenched with guilt, remembering the incident…
---
"Strife, I think you got her…"
Slaps on the back and, phrases like 'good aim' or, 'nice one' whipped like a whirlwind around him. But he couldn't even think, he'd REALLY hit someone, and hurt them badly…
It felt so cold, so heartless seeing the girl's gaping side; the wound caused by his own blade. This perfect stranger was bleeding and dying before him, by his hand, someone she didn't even know. And now Soldier Strife stared down at the kill, lying in a pool of her own blood, hair soaking in the sea of crimson, eye lids shut tight but twitching with pain. Agonizing raspy breaths escaping her mouth and he found his own throat squeezing, constricting his own breaths…
"What have I done…?"
His stomach flipped as he studied her closer. She couldn't have been much younger than him. The image of her navy blue eyes was burned into his mind, that split second when perchance their vision locked and he peered into her life. He saw the hurt; he saw the nick he'd inflicted on her. A nick that would turn to a gash, a gash never healing, something she'd never forget…
He couldn't stop staring, the girl just laid there, and even after the soldiers had dispersed and left, he continued to watch her fade. The two perfect strangers were alone, the moonlight watching them in breathless silence as a hush engulfed their very existence. A reverence came over him like never before, and tears welled up in his soft blue eyes. Tears for this person, he didn't even know…
Suddenly a heavy hand came to rest on his shoulder.
"Strife."
It was Sephiroth…
"Y-yessir?" He stammered.
"She was just a commoner…"
"…yessir…I know that sir…" He managed to choke, not taking his eyes off of her. It was his first casualty, the first one caused by him…how could he just pass this innocent girl off as a commoner and forget it as if it were alright? Sephiroth seemed to see this in his eyes.
He was soft; his Captain could see that, he was tender really. He'd now shown that to the world by watching the girl in her final hours…minutes…her final seconds…that icy defensive wall was shattered and his heart was exposed to the world as if someone had opened the door, taken it out, then held it up and drove a stake through it. Yes, that's how it felt to have blood on your hands, that's how it felt.
"Pick her up."
"E-excuse me?" His eyes lifted to see his instructor Sephiroth pointing down at the dying girl.
"You heard me, pick her up, and follow me." With that he turned, coat billowing behind him.
Strife did as he was told, he gathered the girl in his arms, trying his best to ignore the blood. His eyes snapped wide and he jumped with surprise as his warm hands touched her bare shoulders—she was ice cold. He felt like he was touching death as he held her closer, absent mindedly hoping his own body heat would warm her, to no avail. The fault was his own. Her innocent blood was on his hands.
It was his fault…
HIS fault…
Hot guilty tears fell unmercifully from his downcast eyes as he started to walk, following his master, and holding the pale, bleeding girl close to him. She was so frail, so fragile, he was afraid she'd shatter if he slipped. He was afraid she'd burst if he held her too tight. But what did it matter? She was dying, and probably would die in the next few minutes, he was well aware of that. Why did he care? Why? None the less he walked and whispered, "I'm sorry…" to the unconscious girl.
The girl he didn't even know...
The girl he'd never forget…
---
"Well…?" Storm pried, cocking a brow at the flustered soldier.
The blonde opened his mouth to speak but then the blood drained from his face and he became white as a sheet. His stomach lurched painfully and he knew then he wasn't going make it.
"You okay man?" One soldier asked cautiously.
"Whoa, he's not looking too good…"
"Dude, he's gonna barf!"
In a second Strife was gone and the white doors of the cafeteria swung back and forth then finally came to a close. In his absence the cafeteria was filled with howls of whooping laughter.
Storm watched in disbelief as the mystery man disappeared into the Men's Bathroom, one hand clapped over his mouth. She just shook her head in disgrace.
"Okay…" She mumbled turning to Rufus, who simply shrugged.
"Don't mind him." Rufus added, "He's a new one."
"Yeah, I know that." Storm admitted to herself more than anyone. Rufus didn't even hear her.
Storm got lost in a moment of thought…this would be her life from now on. Here among these trappings, trappings of the drab white cafeteria wall, the jeering soldiers, poor trainee Strife, her Mechanic duties…Rufus.
Rufus…there was something about him that made her forget. Forget in a good way! Her life before was behind her, just a distant memories. There was something about him that made her smile, a gentleness that met her eyes, but so upright and collected.
But deep inside…if she looked hard enough she knew she'd find it. She saw the outside Rufus, the one everyone sees. But what was there inside?
"Storm?"
She was snapped back into reality by his voice, "Yes Vice Pre--"
"I told you call me Rufus, please?" He interjected.
Storm grinned and nodded, "Alright then, Rufus."
"I'll show you to your office." He stated, turning and walking off down the hall way.
"Oh alright." Storm said, standing there for a moment. Then she froze in disbelief, "O-office?"
!PREVEIW!
Chatper Three: Unbeknownst To Me
Thanks to Rufus Storm now has a job! As he shows her around her new office Rufus remembers seeing her for the first time. In voicing these memories how will Storm react? Read chapter three to find out!