--Through Torrents of Time--
Author Notes:
Thank you for the reveiw magusanubis! Don't harm yourself, here's Chapter Three: Unbeknownst To Me! I hope you enjoy it, I know it's a bit cheesy. The chapter after this though, Home and Heart, keep a look out for! It just happens to be my very favorite so far. Glad everyone's enjoying my story. :) Keep reading and reveiwing!
PS
Sorry I've been slow on updating this story! I'm currently obsessed with Tales of Symphonia and am working on "In the Wake of a Smile" and "Unmasked" (which I actually finished yesterday, going to post that soon!)
Chapter Three: Unbeknownst To Me
"Here we are…"
Rufus came to a stop at two giant green, metal, double doors and turned to Storm, just for sake of her reaction to the doors. The doors were partially rusted and the paint was peeling a little bit. To put it simply, she looked skeptical, but smiled for courtesy. Rufus pulled out a card key and swiped it through the box at the side of the door. A green light flashed on the box and there was a sound of something being unlocked. He handed her the key card, "It's all yours."
Storm took it with a curious look on her face, "But I thought you--"
"Said you needed a job interview?" He interrupted, "Well…being the vice president, I have connections."
Storm's eyes widened. Rufus laughed. He thought inside that he'd never been happier in all his life; giving something so someone who had nothing felt insanely wonderful, more so then getting something for himself, he who practically held the world in the palm of his hand.
"Well, go on, open the door!" He urged, pushing her gently towards them.
"Okay…" Storm giggled and then her eyes flashed playfully, "We'll open them together, alright?"
"To…gether?" Rufus blinked and blushed slightly.
"Yes, together!" Storm nodded to him, taking one of the door handles in her hands, "Ready?"
Rufus shrugged and took the other handle of the alternate door in hand, "Alright, I suppose…" inside he felt slightly childish doing something of this sort. But for some reason, it felt like he was breaking the ice so to speak? It was like Storm meant something more by her phrase, 'yes, together'.
"One…" Storm called out.
"Two…" Rufus echoed.
"Three!" They yelled in unison throwing the doors open and stepping inside. Storm was immediately breath-taken at what she saw.
"I…don't believe this…it's…it's…"
The room was absolutely giant. There were tables and tables of spare parts and tools hung up all along the eastern wall. The western wall of the room looked out from her 15th floor workshop. The window was floor to ceiling and took up most of the wall. A giant curtain stretched over it, drawn closed at the moment, but light filtered in through the blinds giving the place a dusty, very lived in sort of feel. But the best part was the section at the back…there were motorcycles by the dozen that needed repairing and shining up. It was a Mechanic's dream. Storm was in tears.
"It's…so…perfect…" she dropped to her knees, still gazing disbelievingly about the vast room shaking her head, "Rufus, you did this for me…?"
He blinked at her and then with a slow smile, nodded, "Yes…I did." It was then he began to wonder why. Was it because compassion actually moved in his life that night just a few nights ago, or was there some…higher purpose…
--
The night was cold and dark, but that made absolutely no difference to the famous stranger drugging through the grime of the Midgar streets. The only comforts to him were the streetlights that shone down like angels descending to touch this tortured planet.
Why was he born into wealth and fame?
"I would have been happier here on the streets…" He cursed to heaven, kicking a small pebble. Cars rolled by, splashing through puddles from the previous rain. The Vice President shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his head low, also edging well away in fear of getting drenched by a passing car. Heck, if he was splashed, he could sue and put the man in the driver's seat out of his job, make him go bankrupt, it'd be like stealing food off his table, making him suffer just a fraction of things he went through day to day. At times he wished HE were bankrupt, starving, and job-less. That man in the driver's seat had one thing he hadn't…
Love.
Sure, Rufus Shinra had admiration, but that's never the same thing as love. His father had never really loved him…and his parents had never really loved each other. His mother hated his father and his father hated his mother. He'd used her…used her just to produce someone to inherit ShinRa Inc. when he died. Rufus only remembered his mother just a little…he'd gotten all of his features from her, for sure. His eyes were the same aqua as hers, but would never be as beautiful. His mother's eyes were soft and forgiving, full of compassion and feeling. Still at all times, he remembered the hint of fatigue and exasperation. His mother tried so hard…
Her hair was an orange blonde that reached down past her shoulders. It was full and flowing, shining in light. But if you looked closely you could see streaks of grey, not from age, but from overwork. When Rufus was barely a year old he used to play with that silky hair, warping it gently around his tiny hands; he'd never tug. His mother sang to him, bittersweet lullabies that still rang in his head, that mellifluous voice with a slight vibrato that haunted every corner of his memory. Every song had a minor key which made that baby's eyelids fall…how he wished he'd had that luxury for much longer now…When Rufus was just three, his mother demanded divorce and intended to leave. She'd take Rufus with her and away from the hideous man he choked to call father. But this never did happen. His mother was shot in the heart and die; Shot…by his own father.
Rufus shut his eyes tightly for a moment or so to shut out tears. He loathed his father who'd neglected and ignored him from birth. Bud he'd loved his mother…probably the only person he had ever loved, the only person he would ever love.
The air was heavy and the scent of the city was damp and putrid. Rufus kept walking. As he walked he stepped on an empty aluminum beer can, this made him stop. He stooped and picked up the crushed can up and stared at it curiously.
Used. Empty. Thrown away. Crushed.
Just a few words that described the beer can. A small nostalgic smile crossed his face as her turned the can over in his hand.
Used. Empty. Thrown away. Crushed.
Just a few words that described him.
He sat the aluminum can on the dirty cement sidewalk and then straightened back up. As he came back up something caught his eye. One street light was dying, flickering and blinking, struggling to shine. But really it wasn't the streetlight that caught his interest, it was the person lying beneath its wavering light. Rufus approached slowly…as he came closer it was clear that it was certainly a girl lying there. A girl…sprawled out under a dying streetlight? He stopped, "What am I doing?" he asked himself aloud.
Rufus turned and began to talk away. She was just a random girl, lying in the street under a dying light. Who cared about her? No one…She was a stranger, Rufus didn't know her at all, it didn't matter.
Suddenly the pungent scent of Mako came to his senses…
--Used.
He stopped. Mako was a common scent in Midgar sure, but in the middle of downtown so far from the reactors?
--Empty.
He turned and looked again at the girl beneath the streetlamp. Nothing but thick cloth wraps covered her chest, from her armpits to her belly button. Her shorts were navy blue and torn. The waistline clung to her hips instead and a leather belt kept them up all but barely. Her skin was pale, so pale it was like her blood had run cold. In the winking light it looked nearly translucent…
--Thrown Away.
Rufus took a step, then another step, then another…he now stood over the girl, looking down at her. Her long dark brown hair shadowed her face, her features hidden from his sight. Rufus kneeled and then slowly reached out to touch her. The girl was frigid to his touch, sending a shiver up his spine, but not because she was cold…because he felt he…knew this girl for some weird reason. Carefully he moved her onto his lap and took her into his arms. As he did this her hair fell away from her face and he drew back with a gasp.
It was the girl who watched from the small notch in the wall…
--Crushed…
A small dribble of fluorescent green liquid ran from her cracked white lips…
"Mako…"
She reeked of it, drenched in it! The girl looked in a terrible condition, almost as if she were drunk. There was blood seeping through the bandages around her chest; because he'd picked her up the wound had opened up again. Her broken body couldn't take this much longer he knew, she just couldn't loose more blood, he'd die.
Rufus came to a conclusion. Gathering her tenderly in his arms he rose slowly to his feet.
"Hang on…" He murmured as he began to run back to ShinRa Inc.
Life suddenly had purpose…
--
"Why?"
Rufus blinked and snapped back into reality as his eyes came to rest on Storm.
"I…well um…" he fumbled. Why was he stuttering? Why in the name of Mako did he suddenly feel so nervous?
"You well um, what?" She pried with a slight smile.
Rufus' heart was pounding out of control and he felt his throat contract and restrict his breathing. He gulped down air and his mouth was as dry as the Sandy Badlands out East, "Uh…" He felt a blush creep onto his cheeks, "I…used to watch you from the training platform," He admitted with a lame start, "I always did see you there. Something about that drew me to the night drills, made me actually want to do to observe the squadrons…" he grimaced inwardly at his indirectness.
Storm felt herself turn red and suddenly stiffen, "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that…"
NO! He screamed inside. Don't tell her. You can't! You'll never give yourself up, never! All that's ever brought is pain!
"Is that…I love you, Storm."
Rufus wanted to die right there.
Storm almost keeled over from shock. Her mind reeled. The only boys she'd ever heard that from were her brothers and her father! It had never hit her with a force like this. There was an oddly exhilarating tingling feeling that rose up from her feet to the tips of her fingers, a shiver throughout her whole body. She felt hot and cold at the same time and her heart skipped several beats, fluttering away in an inaudible wind.
"You…love me?"
The words made her lips prickle in a pleasant way and for a moment she almost smiled.
What was the point in denying? Rufus thought to himself. But he shook his head, "I-It is irrelevant. I cannot truly LOVE you, for I've only just met you. And…there is no such thing as love at first sight. Surely you don't believe in fantasies such as tha--"
"But I do." Storm interrupted with a wide bright smile, "And also, this isn't first sight, is it, Vice President? You said you watched me, and I watched you. It was curiosity that drove me at first and before long we both acknowledged an intangible, unrequited love, don'tcha think?"
Rufus was speechless. She'd hit the nail right oh the head. A silence surrounded them…until Rufus broke it, clearing his throat, "Then you…return--"
"Your feelings?" Storm paused, folding her hands and looking down shyly at the ground, "I…well…" She took a deep breath, "I'll…get back to you on that…"
Rufus gulped and the color drained from his face. He should have known.
"Please understand, Rufus, I…need time to really think and get settled. I'm all over the place emotionally." Storm added hastily.
"Understandable." Rufus replied, regaining his regal formality. His spirits rose slightly.
"Let's um…spend more time together, alright?" Storm proposed.
Rufus smiled and nodded, "Yes, let's."
With a respectful bow, Rufus excused himself. When Storm heard the doors clang shut and Rufus footsteps patter down the hall and fade she jumped into the air and screamed, "YES! Things are really turning up!" She laughed to herself, "A job, a place to eat, and a potential boyfriend, cute at that…landed all in one day! It's a miracle! Ha ha!" Then it hit her.
"Gee, I need a place to crash…"
!PREVEIW!
Chapter Four: Home and Heart
Finally settling in, finally being accepted...Storm's beginning to find her place in life. Finding a home, and maybe even a new father, Storm starts to really feel her life is coming together. Will she ever get back to Rufus about his confession? Read chapter four to find out!