El Conejo (literally translated: The Rabbit)
By General Quistis & Zhakeena
General Quistis's Note: Erm… Zhakeena's away so I'm stuck alone for this chapter… and sorry if it took somewhat long because I'm spending long hours in the TV station as an intern, since the deadline for completion of internship will be next week already. cries in vain Oh well… but anyway, I tried to make this as funny as possible, even though maybe some of you might not laugh… ==' Here's my effort! Please read and then review if you have the time… we'd really appreciate it. And yes, while you're at it, please read our other fic "Children of the Hearts"; it's a Kingdom Hearts fic crossed-over with Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9 and 10 plus Devil May Cry, Ragnarök (manga), Dark Stalkers and Resident Evil. ;; We need feedback on how it's doing. So please!!! sniff
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Chapter 6
"Why don't you tell me what happened to Teef?" Barret demanded from Cloud.
"I… don't even know myself! I just passed by the lobby and I saw her fainting! Maybe she'll tell us why she fainted once she wakes up." Cloud fibbed.
Red XIII just watched from one corner of the room with a glum look on his face. The rabbit was beside Tifa, sniffing her as if trying to find out if she would be waking up sooner or later.
"Feh! For all I know Cloud must've mooned her or something." Cid teased.
"I would never do such a thing." Cloud muttered glumly while eyeing him warningly. Cid laughed.
Yuffie also burst out laughing, "Yeah, for all we know Cid's the one who did it and Tifa fainted when she saw his warty butt! Heeheeheehee!"
Cid frowned at her, "Why ya #$%%$!!!???" he demanded.
"Hey, hey, she's coming around!" Barret said, hushing them when he saw Tifa move.
Cloud just sat still on the chair by the bed.
She slowly opened her eyes. "Wh…where am I…?" she said softly as her eyes roamed around the whole area. She felt relieved when she saw all her friends there… and she froze when she saw the rabbit sitting beside her and staring curiously at her.
"Ya 'ayt, Teef?" Barret asked with a worried look on his face.
She nodded her head slightly, still eyeing the rabbit with a look of awe on her face. "Y…yeah… I… just… felt dizzy moments ago that's why I fainted… I must've eaten something bad for breakfast…" she fibbed.
Cloud and Red felt relieved when she said that.
She slowly sat up, but still had her gaze glued to the rabbit. She thought the rabbit had frowned at her, as if asking, "What the bloody hell are you looking at me for?"
She swallowed hard before forcing a smile at everyone. "Can I have some privacy here first?" she asked.
Silence.
"Alright," Barret said before proceeding to the door with Yuffie and Cid. "Just yell if you need anythin', 'ayt?" he asked before they got out of the room.
Cloud got up from the chair and called for Red XIII to go with him, but Tifa spoke up sternly, "Except for the two of you,"
Cloud sat down again and Red XIII went back to his spot. "So, you're alright now?" the former asked. Tifa eyed the rabbit curiously before moving slightly away from it, "I… I'm not sure if I dreamt about it…" she muttered with a look of disgust on her face.
Rufus eyed her rather snottily before hopping away from her… but he was so darn cute in his rabbit form…
Tifa burst into tears before grabbing the rabbit again and held it close to herself, hugging it tightly, "Oh but you're so adorable! Don't leave me!!! Why can't you just stay in this form forever?" she asked.
Cloud's jaw dropped in shock.
Red XIII shook his head in disbelief. "Tifa, you didn't dream it. That is Rufus." He pointed out.
The rabbit was already suffocating because of too much body heat and excitement… and his nose began to bleed again. "Uh… Tifa, Rufus's nose is bleeding. Please let go of him…" Red XIII said softly.
"Tifa, whenever you're holding him, will you refrain from letting his face touch your chest?" Cloud asked, pulling Rufus away from her and wiping his nose with a piece of cloth that he found lying around on the bedside table.
Tifa stared at the rabbit, then at Cloud. "How could Rufus even turn into such a cute creature like that?" she asked with a hurtful look on her face.
"It's all Hojo's doing, okay? And this is the whole truth: Rufus made a deal with me that if I get him the reverse potion, he'll give me the revival potion. So Vincent went over to Junon in Hojo's lab there to get it but unfortunately…" he trailed off when Tifa butt in, "Hey, hey, wait a moment! What's the reverse potion for again?" she asked.
"So that Rufus could become human again." Cloud explained.
"But due to some unavoidable circumstances, Hojo must have found that out so he turned Vincent into a rabbit." Red XIII pointed out.
"But… what about Sephiroth? How did he manage to get his hands on Vincent?" she asked in confusion.
"That we don't know. That's why Red and I are planning to go to Sephiroth right now and get Vincent back." Cloud explained.
"You think Sephiroth will give you his bunny rabbit? I don't think so." Tifa muttered.
"We could give it a try!" Cloud told her.
"Why can't we just get the revival potion by ourselves instead? We don't need Rufus to get it, right?" she asked, eyeing the rabbit rather haughtily. Ruffy the rabbit seemed to frown at her. "Oh so now you hate me? What about those nights we spent together cuddled up in that bed?" he was saying. Obviously, Cloud and Tifa couldn't understand that since he's still a rabbit… but Red XIII heard it loud and clear… and he looked unbelievably at him.
"You don't understand; Rufus knows where it is. Once he's human again, he can get it for us." Cloud explained.
"But what if it's another one of his bloody traps? Just like what he said before… he said that he still wants to find out more about JENOVA and stuff like that, so he invited us to join him, saying 'I want you all to come with me; there's still so much more I want to know!'" Tifa even imitated Rufus's facial expression and his voice, impressing Cloud, Rufus and Red XIII before proceeding, "Yeah right! And look what he did to us! He sentenced us to death for all the world to see! He wanted to blame AVALANCHE for all the troubles that ShinRa and Sephiroth had caused to the whole Planet! Can't you understand that that bunny rabbit you're holding right now is the world's greatest bastard?!" she snapped impatiently.
The rabbit's eyes widened upon hearing that.
"He said that people are ignorant and they'll feel better once someone is punished… that's exactly what he did. He sentenced me to death together with Barret…" Tifa trailed off when the rabbit hopped off from Cloud's grasp and back to her. The rabbit pounded its right front paw on the bed's cushion and its ears were red in fury.
"He's saying 'how dare you say those things!'" Red XIII translated.
Tifa just glared angrily at the rabbit. "Looks like we're going to have rabbit stew for dinner tonight," she muttered with a mean smile on her face. The rabbit's eyes widened at her.
"Hey, hey, calm down, Teef!" Cloud said, grabbing the rabbit away from her before she could get her hands on it. He placed Ruffy on the floor by his left foot. "Look, we're all having a hard time here, okay? Why can't we trust Rufus this time?" he asked.
Tifa was surprised upon hearing that, so was Red XIII. "Oh so now you're on Rufus's side? That guy almost killed me!!!" she exclaimed.
"Not really…" Cloud began. And it all became clear to Tifa and Red XIII. "Oh… I see…" Tifa nodded with a suspicious smile on her face.
"This is about getting Aerith back, right?" Red XIII asked seriously.
"Hell yeah! That's why it's easy to make that spiky-headed jerk to close a deal with me." Rufus replied.
Cloud was just silent for a few moments before he just got up. "Fine. I don't anyone's help. Since Sephiroth isn't going to be doing anything stupid for the next couple of days, I might as well confront him all by myself! I'm getting Vincent back here." he declared before picking up Rufus and taking him out of the room with Red XIII following after him.
Tifa just sighed in despair as she leaned back against the headboard and stared sadly into the space before her. "Too bad…" she muttered miserably before deciding to get up and headed for the window. She looked outside and waited until she saw Cloud with the rabbit and Red XIII. The rabbit was on Red XIII's back, and to her surprise, it turned its head back to where her window is.
She jerked slightly and moved away from the window with a solemn look on her face. "Oh well… here goes…" she said softly before she went over to the side of the bed to put on her socks, her shoes and her gloves. With that, she headed for the door and slowly opened it, peeking outside to see if Barret or any of her other companions are standing guard. When she saw that the coast was clear, she stepped out of the room and proceeded to the elevator…
"Isn't it lovely?" Sephiroth asked with a calm look on his face while eyeing the sunset in Costa del Sol. He was seated on the roof of his new house watching the sunset with his black rabbit on his lap and trembling rather violently.
"It would be lovelier if you were Lucrecia…" Vincent was thinking miserably.
It was a small house… like a one-storey cottage made out of strong wood. It once belonged to Hojo but he completely abandoned it when he found it too small for himself and his scientific gadgets and just decided to rent rooms in the hotel whenever he would take a vacation in that place.
"How the hell am I going to get out of here?" Vincent thought to himself before he froze upon feeling Sephiroth's fingers raking through his ebony black fur. "Oh no…" he thought.
"You're so beautiful, Vinny," Sephiroth remarked before lifting him up, bringing him to his lips and kissing him on the nose. "Mwahahahaha! I'm so happy to have found you!" Sephiroth told him.
"Oh Lucrecia!" Vincent was thinking horridly.
Before Sephiroth could kiss him again, they were interrupted when they heard a familiar voice calling his master's name. Upon hearing it, Sephiroth almost slipped off the roof. "Shit! Who the hell— ." he cussed, but trailed off when he saw Cloud Strife standing below with Red XIII and rabbit. "Oh… it's you… what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" Sephiroth demanded.
Cloud stared curiously at Sephiroth, then at the black rabbit. The black rabbit was staring helplessly at him, as if saying, "Save me!!!"
Red XIII nudged Cloud with his nose, "It's Vincent. He wants us to save him. I think he's been tortured mentally," he whispered.
Rufus looked at Vincent and snickered. "Welcome to my world!" he said sarcastically.
Vincent eyed him miserably, "Thanks to you, Rufus." He said.
Sephiroth frowned at them before deciding to jump down from the roof with the black bunny in his right grasp. He landed perfectly on his two feet on the ground and the flipped his hair before facing Cloud and his animal friends, "What do you want, Strife? Can't you see I've retired?" he demanded.
Cloud didn't know how to begin; he was just eyeing the black bunny with pity mixed with suppressed laughter in his eyes. "Poor guy," he thought silently.
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes on him before he started stroking the rabbit's black fur. "Hmm… if this is about Aerith, well sorry. I can't bring her back…" he began, but Cloud cut him off while still looking at the rabbit, "It's… alright, Sephiroth. No need to worry about her… can I see that rabbit?" he asked.
Sephiroth frowned at him. "What for?" he asked.
"I'd… like to see it. It's so cute. Just like mine! Heh heh," Cloud replied weakly, picking up Rufus and showing him to Sephiroth.
Sephiroth eyed the blue-eyed rabbit before shaking his head, "You've got an odd one here. My Vinny here is better! Mwahahahahaha!" he said proudly.
Cloud swallowed hard. Rufus told Red XIII, "This is going to take long! Why can't Cloud just snatch Vinny away from Sephiroth?"
Red XIII just shook his head in dismay.
"You gotta get me away from Sephiroth!!!" Vincent was telling Rufus and Red XIII.
"Uh… Sephiroth, can we talk inside? I don't want people seeing me talking with you…" Cloud began.
"Better be good, Strife," Sephiroth muttered.
"Uh… yeah. Sure. It's about… our rabbits… maybe we could start a business together… like… mate them!" Cloud suggested while eyeing Vincent the rabbit with a weak smile on his face.
Sephiroth thought for a while before saying, "Hmm… is your rabbit a girl?" he asked.
"Yeah… her name's… Lucrecia," Cloud lied.
"What?!" Rufus exclaimed, his ears twitching and turning red.
Red XIII eyed him warningly, as if saying, "Just play along…"
"What the hell are you doing, Cloud?!" Vincent said.
Sephiroth thought for a while before deciding to take a closer look on Ruffy, but Cloud stepped back. "Nah-uh. No peeking. She's very sensitive about men looking at her genitals." He warned Sephiroth.
Sephiroth just raised his eyebrows at the statement. "Oh." He said in confusion. "Anyway… let's just go inside first and discuss it over dinner," he told them.
"Dinner? But… I need to go home immediately. Tifa's cooking dinner for me and the rest. Heheh…" Cloud said weakly.
"No. We're discussing about our rabbits' relationship inside for dinner NOW!" Sephiroth insisted before leading the way inside. "And take your dog inside too. Don't want him peeing in the yard." He said, referring to Red XIII. Red twitched upon hearing that.
"Oh well… here goes…" Cloud muttered under his breath.
"Better be good!" Vincent told Red XIII and Rufus, assuming that they'd be the only ones who could understand animal language.
Hojo had fallen asleep by his PC once again, snoring hard. Scarlet entered his laboratory and frowned upon seeing him. "Kyah! Sleeping on the job again… hmf…" she stepped forward and screamed in his ear, "KYAH!!!", surprising him, waking him up. He jumped up in surprise and shock and fell off his seat. "You…" he began angrily.
"Board meeting in five minutes!" She announced haughtily before strutting out of the lab.
Hojo snorted and adjusted his glasses before searching through his folders and then grabbed a few files before walking out of the laboratory.
A few moments after he had gotten out of the laboratory, Tifa Lockheart emerged from the vent. She jumped down to the ground and rushed to his PC which he had left switched on. She began to go through his list of formulas and potions, searching for the revival potion.
Finally, she found it. She read carefully where it was located, "Top Secret. Cabinet AA, drawer 1." With that, she went off to the place where his cabinets are located. She began to search quickly but carefully, almost going through all the readied potions in Cabinet AA-drawer 1. But she still couldn't find it…
"Damn it! I'd better hurry up if I wanna be alive!" she thought silently as she continued to search… and she froze in terror when she felt a pair of hands seize her from behind, clutching her arms tightly. She gasped and jerked in shock when she felt something pierce through her skin… and thick liquid gushing through her veins.
"Lucky for me, I left my lucky pen that's why I had to come back."
Her eyes widened upon realizing who it was: Hojo.
Instantly, she elbowed him, causing him to let go of her, but the needle was still stuck into her flesh with the syringe already empty. She annoyingly removed it from herself and threw it on the ground. Hojo got his gun, ready to aim at her, but she decided to dodge and quickly attacked him with her punches and kicks. Defenseless without his weapon and his syringes that could make him transform into a monster, he instantly fell to the ground, unconscious when she purposely hit his head on the wall after kicking him against it.
She was panting heavily, landing on the floor. She suddenly felt so dizzy. "Damn… what did he inject in me?!" she muttered miserably before she struggled to get up and rushed back to the cabinet, not giving up on the search. "Please, please, please… Aerith, guide me! This is for Cloud, dammit!" she was praying out loud. Finally, she found it. Her crimson eyes lit up in happiness. She picked it up and kissed it in joy. "YES! Thank you, Aerith! You're really a buddy!" she cheered, assuming her friend had heard her prayer. With that, she rushed back to the vent and began to crawl her way through it going to the place where she had entered. But while inside, she was already beginning to feel dizzier and sleepier…
"Shit… I have to get out of here… I have to give this to Cloud… I can't die in here!" she thought in despair as she struggled to crawl further…
Around 11:00 in the evening, Barret realized that Tifa, Cloud and Red XIII were missing when he visited their room to say goodnight and to see if Tifa was already okay.
"What the…" he instantly headed for Cid's room to announce to him what he had just found out.
"What? #$%!!! Maybe they eloped!" Cid cussed.
"Impossible!" Yuffie argued.
"Let's not jump into conclusions! Maybe they're just…" Barret trailed off when he saw a small bunny rabbit with reddish-black fur and crimson eyes hopping desperately heading for Tifa and Cloud's room. He rushed out of Cid's room and followed the rabbit with his gaze. He realized that he had left the door open, so the rabbit just entered the room.
Barret, Yuffie and Cid watched curiously as the strange rabbit hopped up on the bed and it was trembling and breathing hard, as if it ran away from something that scared it. What made them wonder even more was that it had something in its mouth… a glass vial.
"What the…" Barret approached the rabbit carefully and studied it curiously, but before he could touch it, he jerked in surprise when he heard Cloud speak up from the doorway, "What are you doing?" he asked.
Barret, Cid and Yuffie faced Cloud with surprised looks on their faces. "CLOUD!" they all said in unison.
Cloud frowned, staring curiously at them and realized that there was no one on the bed. "Where's Tifa?" he asked.
"We thought she's with you!" Yuffie declared.
"No, she's not!" he replied in confusion before letting go of Ruffy the rabbit, placing him on the floor. The rabbit hopped going to the bed, "What do you mean Tifa's not here?" he asked.
"I'm right here…" he heard Tifa's voice.
Red XIII froze and his gaze turned to the bed.
Rufus hopped onto the bed and saw the dark-furred rabbit with a vial lying before it. His bunny eyes widened further upon seeing her… "TIFA?!" he exclaimed in shock, in a language only understandable by animals.
Cloud stared unbelievably at the dark-furred rabbit. "Oh no… please don't tell me…" thought silently in shock before going to Cid, Barret and Yuffie; pushing them out of the room. "Out, out, out! I need some time alone! Out!" he declared. He was too panicky already to think of some other excuse to drive the others out of the room. He shut the door and bolted it before turning back on the bed where the two rabbits were seated, staring at each other.
Red XIII was standing by the bed, eyeing the two rabbits unbelievably.
Cloud slowly approached the bed. "Red… that is not Tifa, is it?" he asked in worry.
Red swallowed hard before turning to Cloud, smiling weakly, "Uhm… unfortunately, Cloud… it is Tifa…" he said softly.
They were all silent for several moments before Cloud reacted with a soft, "What?" in a tone that also seemed to falter. Red XIII, Rufus and Tifa watched as the color disappeared from his face, and his hands and arms stiffening.
"Cloud, don't worry about me! I'll be alright! But I got this for you!" Tifa explained, but obviously, Cloud couldn't hear or understand it, so Red XIII translated for her.
Cloud fought the urge to pass out when he saw the vial with the pink liquid inside. He frowned slightly as he reached out a trembling hand to it and began to examine it.
"What's that?" Rufus asked her.
"It's the revival potion that you're talking about, President Rufus." She replied with a haughty tone. He felt enraged. Now his plan is ruined! "WHAT?! You got it all by yourself?!" he demanded angrily.
Her rabbit head nodded in delight, "Uh-huh! But I have to suffer some consequences, such as turning into a bunny rabbit too. Heehee!" she giggled.
Rufus eyed her miserably. "You got the bloody revival potion and didn't get the reverse potion in the process?" he asked.
"Her mouth is too small to carry two items. Besides, I think that reverse potion is only good for one person. You have to get two others for Vincent and Tifa if that's the case." Red XIII pointed out to him.
"Bloody hell! You mean I'm going to be stuck as a rabbit for several more days?!" Rufus snapped impatiently.
"Why? Weren't you able to get Vincent back?" Tifa asked.
"No. Sephiroth said we'd discuss it over dinner at his place but while having dinner, we only discussed about mating his rabbit with this rabbit." Red XIII explained, referring to Rufus by pointing his right paw onto him. Rufus's ears twitched upon hearing that while staring at Tifa's reaction. Her ears also twitched and her nose twisted lightly. "What?! You're going to mate Vincent with Rufus?! What the hell were you guys thinking?!" she demanded in shock.
"Blame it on that spiky-headed jerk! Oh that's the most embarrassing thing I've ever been into!" Rufus complained, turning away from them and hiding his face by burying it against the pillow.
"Well be thankful that Sephiroth wasn't able to see your genitals so that he would know that you're not really a girl but a boy bunny rabbit. Otherwise he could've stabbed us to death." Red XIII said before turning to Cloud upon hearing him muffle a sob. "You're crying?" he asked.
Tifa and Rufus both turned to look up at Cloud, eyeing him curiously. The former wagged her cotton tail happily, "Red, tell Cloud that that's for him and Aerith… and tell him to stop crying too because he should be happy that Aerith is coming back!" she said.
Red smiled slightly before nudging Cloud's leg with his left paw, "You should be glad that Aerith is coming back now that you have that; thanks to Tifa. She says it's her gift for you and Aerith." He turned his head to the side, looking at Tifa in her rabbit form through his peripheral vision, "She only wishes the best for you and Aerith, Cloud." He said softly in a voice audible enough for only Cloud to hear while Tifa stared curiously at him, wondering what he added.
Cloud slowly faced Tifa and Rufus before approaching them, sitting on the bed and then patted their heads. "Thanks you two. You've been a big help." He said with a grateful but sad smile on his face. He was somewhat worried about what would happen once he drinks that reviving potion. He could recall what Rufus had explained to him: he has to drink the potion and it would make him unconscious. While in that state, his state of mind would be somewhere in another dimension wherein he could find Aerith… and he has 100 hours to find her and then take her back with him. But what happens if he goes past the deadline? He lifted Rufus and placed him on his lap, then got Tifa and did the same. Rufus was looking up at him like saying, "What are you thanking me for?"
Cloud understood and said softly, "If it wasn't for you, I would still be grieving." Then to Tifa, "Thanks for getting this for me. I promise I'll get the reverse potions for you, Rufus and Vincent once I regain consciousness." He said.
She blinked at him, "Don't promise me anything, Cloud." She said.
"She says don't promise her anything." Red XIII translated.
Cloud just smiled at Tifa. "Just one last promise, my friend." He told her before patting her head. She just stared up at him with a worried look in her eyes before hopping off his lap with Rufus. With that, Cloud got up and opened the vial, sniffing its contents. For some strange reason, it smelled like… Aerith. He smiled softly before gulping down the contents which tasted like sweet nectar from flowers.
"Don't you think he should be doing this with humans present around him?" Rufus asked Tifa and Red XIII.
"No. We'll take care of him ourselves." Tifa insisted before turning to him. "Besides, I can't let Barret and the others learn that you're Rufus ShinRa. They might do something bad to you like… turn you into rabbit stew!" she said with a concerned tone. Rufus eyed her curiously. "Oh…" was all he said before looking away, feeling somewhat embarrassed that the girl that he had attempted to kill once was already showing concern to him… but then again, he recalled when he asked one of the soldiers to "accidentally" drop a key by her inside the gas chamber to help her escape. Something just triggered pity in him… and he did not feel guilty about it.
Tifa and Red XIII observed quietly as Cloud slowly sat down on the bed as he dropped the vial onto the floor, breaking it. He clutched his head, as if in pain, but his eyes showed nothingness… and his expression appeared very blank.
"Cloud, how are you feeling?" Red XIII asked curiously.
"I'm… alright… just… leave me here for a while…" Cloud responded as he laid himself down on the bed and slowly closed his eyes. He plopped down his hands on his sides and breathed deeply as a calm look took over his facial expression.
Tifa bowed down her head.
"Shall we leave him?" Red XIII asked.
"No. We're staying here." Rufus said before hopping up onto the bed and towards Cloud's head. He examined the peaceful look on Cloud's face. "He's asleep." He announced.
"Is he alright?" Tifa asked curiously.
Red XIII began to sniff Cloud and he frowned at the scent. Rufus and Tifa were also able to smell it. "He smells different…" Red XIII pointed out before sniffing again. "…like flowers… in Aerith's Church…" he said softly.
Tifa just stared at Cloud with a solemn look on her face. "I hope he can survive this," she said.
Rufus just turned away and hopped down from the bed, going to the window. He climbed onto the windowpane and sat there, watching the snow falling gently outside. "He'd better…" he muttered to himself with a stiff look in his eyes.
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to be continued. Baaaaah XD