Right Hand of Evil
By generalquistis
Chapter Three
President ShinRa was surprised to see his son arrive in his office while he was speaking to the captured members of AVALANCHE. The Turks who were standing guard (namely Rude and Reno) were also in awe to see the Vice President walk towards his father.
Rufus kept his right hand inside right lower pocket of his blazer as he kept a distant air from AVALANCHE and focused his attention on his father.
"What's he doin' here? I thought he's away on a business trip?" Barret muttered to Cloud.
"Who is he?" Cloud asked curiously.
"His name is Rufus. He's the President's son." Aerith explained.
President ShinRa frowned and got up, "What are you doing here, son? Aren't you supposed to be in Junon?" he asked.
Rufus hesitated for a while before replying, "I… just want to see how you are, father." He felt someone poking him from his pocket but he just stiffened further. "It…sure is… nice to see you again." he said. He felt like he was citing lines from a play, but he was a good actor and everyone was convinced…
Everyone but the President. "Okay, Sonny Boy. What do you want?" he asked sternly, crossing his arms and scanning the look on Rufus's face.
Rufus was quiet for a while but then he felt the poking again from his pocket, so he answered, "Nothing, fa…father. I just wanted to visit you." And he turned towards AVALANCHE. "You have visitors, I see," he said casually as he scanned the looks on the faces of Cloud, Aerith, Barret and Red XIII.
The four just stared back at him strangely.
"I thought you were five?" Rufus asked.
The four were surprised at him.
"Five?" Aerith asked.
Barret and Cloud exchanged looks, recalling Tifa.
"What do you mean, five, son?" President ShinRa asked.
Rufus turned to his father again. "I… was able to trace what AVALANCHE's plans are when I was in Junon. There's another… missing." He hesitated when he felt Tifa poking him from inside his pocket. "Ah… hold still…" he was thinking.
Tifa was already having a hard time breathing inside and it was extremely warm there.
"We don't know where she is. Maybe you kidnapped her." Barret sneered at him.
Rufus faced him with a calm look on his face. "Oh really? Why would I even do that? I don't even know her." He told them before facing his father again. "So… what do you say you release these people and… let's have dinner together at… the seafood restaurant in the Sector 1 Mall?" he asked with a cool smile on his face.
President ShinRa gave him a suspicious stare. "I could've sworn I've deposited five hundred thousand Gil in your bank account where I put your weekly allowance…" he said slowly.
"No, I don't need any money. I just… want to spend time with you." Rufus said, wanting to tell Tifa at that moment how fake he sounded because he was following the "script" that she had made for him for that occasion.
President ShinRa exchanged confused looks with the Turks, also with AVALANCHE. Then he noticed that his son's right hand had been inside the right blazer pocket for quite a long time already. "Hiding a pistol there? Gonna shoot your Old Man's brains?" he demanded with a sly smile on his face.
Rufus stiffened.
"Damn!" Tifa thought to herself as she stiffened too.
Rufus slowly brought out his right hand, revealing to everyone… that it was covered in bandages.
"What happened to your hand?" President ShinRa demanded.
"…Such uncontrollable caressing kills." Rufus replied with a slight smile on his face.
Silence.
President ShinRa smiled maliciously at him. "Heheheh. You naughty, naughty boy, you! C'mere, Sonny Boy! Give your Old Man a hug!" he said, welcoming his son with open arms.
Rufus hesitated for a while. "Gee… he bought it. I knew he's got an obscene mind. Tifa's smart after all…" he was thinking to himself before proceeding to his father.
President ShinRa was the one who embraced him but he did not hug back.
Rufus felt his "right hand" shaking and his eyes widened a little upon feeling it. It was Tifa signaling for him to embrace him back. Rufus had a poker-faced look on his face as he embraced his father back to look more convincing.
"Now, could you release the prisoners?" Rufus asked.
President ShinRa let him go. "Of course not, silly!" he turned to Rude and Reno. "Take them to the prison cells." He instructed.
"Yes sir." The two Turks obeyed.
While watching the Turks escort AVALANCHE out of the President's Office, Rufus fixed his eyes on Aerith.
And he saw the pink ribbon on her hair. "Bloody brilliant…" he muttered to himself. "Aerith is wearing pink," he muttered to Tifa as he brought her close to his mouth so that she would be the only one who can hear him while his father was busily checking his files.
"So what if she's wearing pink?" she responded softly in a voice audible enough for only Rufus to hear.
"Her ribbon could be the key so that we could go back to the future." He responded.
"That's absurd!" she reacted.
"I know. But we have to try! Didn't you touch the ribbon too? And I was holding it before I woke up today and realized I'm here in the past!" he told her.
"Who're you talking to, Sonny Boy?" President ShinRa asked curiously from his desk.
Rufus jerked slightly and turned to his father with a stiff look on his face. "Are you finished yet?" he asked.
President ShinRa sat down on his chair again and proceeded to work. "'fraid not, son. I have to check the plan for the new reactors." He told him.
Rufus gently placed Tifa inside his right blazer pocket once again as he approached his father. "What do you need those for?" he asked with a frown on his face.
"These reactors are what can keep Midgar running." President ShinRa said mindlessly as he began to look at the blueprints.
"By sucking the life out of the Planet?" Rufus asked.
President ShinRa looked at him. "Since when did you start getting concerned about the Planet?" he asked suspiciously. "Have you eaten your dinner yet or are you starving yourself to death again? You're talking crazy, Sonny Boy." He pointed out.
Rufus swallowed hard, trying to condition himself. He could recall the things that happened in the future from where he came from, and at that exact point where he was standing before his father and trying to save the Planet, he realized how terrible the future events will be if he is not able to change his father's mind.
"This may sound absurd, father, but… the Planet has its ways to get back at the people if they abuse her resources. Just think of the children who will be affected by famine, drought… and incurable illnesses if the Planet decides to get back at us." Rufus said.
President ShinRa looked at him like he was crazy. "And your point is?" he asked.
"Cancel all activities for the reactors. We can search for other sources for electricity." Rufus pointed out.
President ShinRa frowned at him. "That's too expensive." He said.
"We have the money to do it." Rufus insisted.
Tifa sighed heavily. "This is harder than I thought…" she muttered to herself.
President ShinRa was quiet for a few moments before telling Rufus, "Go home. Just go back home to Junon and leave me here. I don't need you here to tell me what to do. I am the President, you are the Vice President. I am your father, and you are my son, and whatever I say, you will have to do, do you understand?" and he turned back to his work again. "The reason why I sent you to Junon to live there in the first place is so that you can leave me alone. You're just like your mother. You always find ways to contradict me and my opinions. Now go!" he snapped angrily.
Rufus felt his heart skip a beat at the mention of his mother. He slowly brought out his right hand mindlessly as he stared at his father. "I guess there's no way I could change your mind, just like what mother tried to do." He muttered to his father before turning away. "I wish you were different." He said softly before he walked away. "Goodbye." He said before he went down the stairs.
President ShinRa observed his son as he walked away from him. He had a hard look on his face as he began to think about what his son had just said.
oOoOo
"Rufus, could you get the bandages off my head for a while? I'm really having a hard time breathing here." Tifa told Rufus as he was walking to the elevators.
Rufus pressed the down button and waited. He had a stunned look on his face as he continued to stare into empty space. He took a deep breath as he unwound the bandages off Tifa's head. She breathed in fresh air. "Whew! I think I never enjoyed breathing in some air like this… even though it's ShinRa air." She said in relief. She looked up at him and noticed the dazed look on his face. "I thought you're cured of Geostigma… for the meantime anyway?" she told him curiously.
He was just quiet as he kept on staring at the elevator door, trying to keep cool. "I don't have Geostigma now. But I think I'll eventually get it two years later from now." He said with a casual tone.
She saw the hurtful look in his blue eyes and she bowed down her head. She was not used to seeing him looking so vulnerable, and she did not know what to do. "Where are we going now?" she asked.
"We'll get the pink ribbon." He told her.
"You'll get it from Aerith?" she asked in disbelief.
"I won't go near her. You do the talking." Rufus instructed with a slight smile on his face.
Tifa frowned at him, "Me? But it's not even the ribbon that we touched!" she told him.
"I know, but why do you wear those ribbons anyway with your clothes? Isn't it in honor of Aerith?" he asked airily.
"Still, it's not her hair ribbon." She told him, not really wanting to tell him the real and exact reason behind the ribbons. "The original one… is with Cloud. The one she's wearing right now. And I think we buried him with it." Tifa said rather hesitantly, feeling bad upon remembering that two of her very good friends have died already in the future.
Rufus was silent. He seemed to have other things in his mind other than their present situation, so she just looked away, deciding to just oblige with what he wanted her to do to avoid further trouble with him. The last thing she would want to happen would be Rufus using her as his fist and punching the wall or other hard surface he could come in contact with because he got annoyed with her.
As the elevator door opened, Tifa heard President ShinRa calling out Rufus's name, "Rufus!"
"It's your father," she said.
Rufus ignored the two and just stepped inside. The elevator door closed and he pushed the button going to the floor where the prison cells are located. The elevator began to move down.
President ShinRa stopped running as he reached the elevator. He paused to catch his breath before he completely calmed down, staring at the elevator door for quite some time before smiling slightly. "…I just want to apologize, Sonny Boy. I hope we can still talk." He muttered to himself. But he proceeded back to his office because his mind was set on finishing his work before dealing seriously with his son. Maybe after work he could call him and ask him to meet him at a coffee shop where they could just sit down, have coffee (or tea, since he figured Rufus never liked coffee), and talk.
He smiled at the idea as he sat down again on his chair and stared at the blueprints for a while. His smile faded away when he stared at the blueprints. It was a hard decision to make but he knew he had to make it. He sighed heavily and realized that he could not finish the work for that night. With that, he got a notepad, tore out a single page and began to scribble something there. Afterwards, he stared at it and placed it underneath the paperweight. "I'll just have a Turk give this to Rufus later on…" he decided before turning back to the blueprints for a decision; but before he make up his mind about the company and his son, he felt something sharp and long impale him from his back.
oOoOo
The SOLDIERs in charge of guarding the prison cells were surprised to see Rufus walking to them. "Where did you put the members of AVALANCHE?" he asked coldly.
"Oh. Sir… eh… over there, sir." One of the SOLDIERs replied, pointing at the two consecutive doors from where they were standing in the entrance.
Rufus approached the first door. "Who's in here?" he asked.
"The girl and the blonde man with spiky hair." The SOLDIER replied.
"You put them together in one cell? What if they're doing something in there right now?" Tifa demanded carelessly.
Rufus hushed her by holding her head with his left palm and then shoved her down inside his blazer pocket again to muffle her protests.
"You were saying, sir?" a SOLDIER asked, surprised at the comment.
"You must be hearing things. I'd like to speak alone with the prisoners. So step out for a while." Rufus instructed.
The SOLDIERs had no choice but to obey.
With that, Rufus brought Tifa out of his pocket. "Pardon me for doing that, Tifa." He told her with a stiff look on his face.
From inside the 2 prison cells where Cloud and Aerith, and Barret and Red XIII were imprisoned, they heard what Rufus had told Tifa.
"…Tifa?" they wondered.
"You talk to them." Rufus told Tifa.
"Why me?" she asked.
"Because they are your friends." He said with an annoyed look on his face.
She rolled her eyes and began to speak, "…Cloud?" she called out loud in a voice audible enough for her friends to hear, since she's so small.
Cloud exchanged looks with Aerith before responding. "Tifa?" he asked.
"Foo'! You're here!" Barret exclaimed.
"What happened to you? You had us all worried!" Aerith told her with a worried look on her face as she got up and went to the door.
"I… was just… hanging around…" Tifa fibbed, looking at Rufus with a hesitant look on her face.
"Is Rufus with you?" Barret demanded.
"What… made you say that, Barret?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.
"We heard him apologizing to you." Red XIII told her.
Rufus and Tifa exchanged mortified glances before turning back to the door. "Uh… he's not here anymore." The latter reasoned.
"You sure?" Cloud asked suspiciously.
Red XIII sniffed the air. "I can still smell him… and you're standing very close to him." He revealed.
"Blimey." Rufus muttered to himself with a glum look on his face.
Tifa scratched her head. "He's not here anymore. Maybe his scent just got stuck on me because I bumped into him a while ago that's why he's apologizing!" she explained, trying to force a smile on her face.
"He didn't apprehend you?" Cloud asked in disbelief.
"Of course not! I'm… in a disguise! He thought I was a Turk! I'm wearing their suit!" Tifa fibbed, although she was wearing a red dress with puffy sleeves and ruffles and a black jacket with purple studs sewn on its sleeves. The dolls' clothes that had been brought for her were not exactly trendy and lovely for her and Rufus's tastes, but she had to put them on so that she would not be naked anymore. Even Rufus found the clothes horrendous.
"Foo'! Just get us out of here!" Barret told her.
"I can't do that. I might get into trouble." She replied rather hesitantly.
"Why would you even get into trouble if you're in a disguise?" Aerith asked curiously.
"Are you hiding something from us, Tifa? You just disappeared one day and now you're wearing a Turk uniform." Cloud said suspiciously with a frown on his face, although he remained seated on the bed with his arms crossed.
"…No, I'm not. But I… need something from you guys." Tifa responded hesitantly.
"Get us out of here first." Barret insisted.
"I'll get you out of here in time but first of all, I need Aerith's ribbon." Tifa said.
Silence.
"My what?" Aerith asked in awe.
"The ribbon on your hair. You know, the pink ribbon?" she asked.
Aerith exchanged confused looks with Cloud before turning back to the door. "What ever do you need it for, Tifa?" she asked in confusion.
Tifa looked up at Rufus, searching for an answer in his eyes. He did not even respond. He just shrugged.
She just shrugged at him and flashed him a look which said, "Come on, think of a reason!"
Rufus mindlessly answered, "Tell her that you need to tie your hair."
Tifa's eyes widened. "EEPS! Why did you speak?" she demanded in shock.
"Bloody hell!" Rufus covered his mouth.
Silence.
"You traitor! You're working with Rufus?" Barret demanded in shock.
"Tifa, how could you?" Aerith asked in disbelief.
"Damn, I just got Tifa'd back there." Rufus muttered.
"What do you mean?" Tifa demanded in annoyance.
"It means I just acted stupid." Rufus replied with an annoyed but stern tone.
"Why, I never…" she began, feeling offended. She was about to tell him off but they heard heavy footsteps approaching from the entrance.
"Quit yapping and let's hide." Rufus whispered to her as he ran off, going to one of the old vacant cells without the automatic door, stepping inside there.
"What's that?" Tifa asked softly, her eyes wide in sudden fear upon the recognition of the sound, but she still wanted to be sure.
"Doesn't sound like any of those guards to me." Rufus told her as she grabbed onto the door, eventually dragging it along with her as Rufus moved away from it…
SLAM.
Silence.
Rufus turned back to the door with a look of disbelief on his face, "TIFA!" he wanted to scream as he tried to open the door but it would not. It can only be opened from outside.
"You nasty…" he muttered, staring at her like he was ready to chop her off from his wrist.
She smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm sorry! I didn't know that it can only be opened from outside! Besides, you wouldn't want it to appear obvious that someone's hiding in here!" she reasoned.
His mind was still screaming at him but he just shook off his anger as he went over to the door and listened for any further movement outside. "It's Sephiroth." He whispered.
"How do you know?" she asked softly with fear in her eyes.
"I know the sound of his footsteps." He replied.
Tifa eyed him suspiciously but she just kept quiet.
It was awfully silent outside but they still did not move. Rufus and Tifa were still listening for any further movement.
"What is he doing?" Tifa whispered.
"I don't know but he's still there…" he responded softly with a frown on his face.
Tifa looked up at the ceiling and saw that there was a vent. "Rufus," she said, tugging at his sleeve gently and then pointed up at the vent when he turned to look at her. He raised his eyebrows. "What do you want to do?" he asked.
"Go up there." She said.
"I beg your pardon?" he demanded in a whispery tone.
"You do want to get out of here, right? I know you don't want to yell for help because it's not in your personality description, if I am not mistaken," she said with a sly smile on her face as she crossed her arms. He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath before turning to a steel chair in one corner of the room. "What do you know about me, Tifa?" he asked in exasperation as he walked over to the chair, picked it up single-handedly with his left hand and positioned it right below the vent.
"Just the obvious stuff that people had mentioned about you. For example, Barret told me that you're President ShinRa's son… and then Aerith said that no one's ever seen you bleed or cry…" she began to recall the night when she first saw Rufus on the 70th floor's balcony right after the death of President ShinRa… "It's all going to happen later on, unfortunately I won't be there tonight because I'm attached to you." She said, rolling her eyes as Rufus stepped onto the chair and eyed the vent with a disgusted look in his blue eyes. "What will I do?" he asked.
"Remove the grills and then you climb up there." She instructed.
"Climb up there? That's disgusting!" he retorted.
"But we have to get out of here!" she said. He just stared at her with a frown on his face. She rolled her eyes. "It isn't all that bad. I've been there before." She told him.
"And you smelled bad." He told her.
Her eyes widened in surprise. "I beg your pardon?" she demanded.
"Don't you remember that when I approached you firsthand during my inauguration speech? Don't think that I failed to take a whiff out of your odor back there, Tifa." He said airily with a sly smile on his face as he used his left hand to flip his hair mindlessly.
She stared at him in mortification, "You can remember me from that?" she demanded.
"Well actually I can remember you because of your putrid odor." He told her before looking up at the vent. "Now if you're going to be attached to me for quite some time until we can figure out how to wake ourselves up from this nightmare, I don't want you smelling anything like that anymore. Is that understood?" he asked sternly.
She bit her lower lip, frowning in annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with." She said.
Rufus took a deep breath before touching the grills above him. He immediately withdrew he left hand from it in disgust. "Argh! I hate dust!" he reacted in annoyance as he shook his left hand violently and instantly jumped off from the stool.
"Rufus, it's just dust!" Tifa said with a slight smile on her face. She had to admit he acted funny back there and when she could not take it any longer, she just had to let out her laughter.
"What's so funny?" he demanded.
"Your obsessive-compulsion is funny, Rufus." She told him. "It's just dust Rufus. We even inhale it even if we don't see it. It's everywhere." She said.
"Oh. I never knew you're that smart, Tifa." He said sarcastically with a frown on his face.
"Hey, don't underestimate me just because I didn't attend formal schooling like you did!" she told him, feeling insulted.
"I didn't say anything like that, Tifa." He said with a mocking tone before he looked up at the vent again. "Bloody hell…" he stepped onto the chair again. "Why don't you touch it instead?" he asked.
"I'm too small. Those grills are too heavy for me." She reasoned.
"Well then I'll help you. I'll force you up." He told her as he moved her towards the grills.
She sneezed because of the dust but grabbed hold of one of the bars. "Pardon me for sneezing." She said, excusing herself.
Rufus did not answer. He just observed Tifa and waited until she was holding on the bars. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yes." She answered simply.
He gave her a slight push upward but the vent was too heavy for her.
"Rufus, I need you to hold the grills with your left hand." She instructed.
He grunted before giving in to her request. He reached out his other hand to the grills and then gave it a push.
It budged upward and then he pushed it sideways to give way for passage.
"There you go! Wasn't that easy?" she asked brightly with an optimistic tone.
Rufus stared at his soiled left hand. "I sure hope it's easy to clean off this… ugh… dust and grime!" he remarked before looking up at the open vent again. "I think I'm going to get asthma afterwards…" he muttered.
"Well you do want to get out of here, right? If Sephiroth finds you here he'll probably get suspicious of you." She told him sternly.
"Of me? Why only me? You're with me." He protested.
"Well you wouldn't want to reveal to your friend that a woman is attached to your right wrist and has replaced your right hand, right?" she asked.
He clenched his jaw, not wanting to argue further with her. He lifted her up towards the passage. "Check if there are any mice, spiders or cockroaches… or any strange insect inside." He told her.
She shuddered, but looked around the vent anyway. "…nope. I can't see anything strange. Though it's rather…" she sniffed and covered her nose. "Oh my God! It's horrible!" she reacted.
He withdrew her from the passage. "Alright we're going in." he told her with a determined look on his face. "…even though it stinks there…" he was thinking. But he could still sense Sephiroth outside. "What's he doing there? Waiting for people to fall asleep?" he thought as he levered himself and Tifa up into the vent.
Rufus was fighting nausea as he began to crawl.
"Alright, where to?" he asked.
"I don't know." She said softly.
He stopped and took a deep breath. "You made me come up here with you and now you don't know where to go… splendid!" he said sarcastically.
"Well how should I know? This is ShinRa you should know where to go." She told him.
"Unfortunately I know the ShinRa building but not the vents! This is like an endless maze if you ask me." He told her.
She grunted. "Alright, alright. Where do you plan to go? Maybe I could try to navigate in case your sense of direction is bad…" she muttered.
"Oh for your information, my sense of direction isn't bad. Now if you'll excuse me, we have to start crawling now." He told her before crawling to the right. "Blimey. Remind me to tell housekeeping to clean the vent once we get out of here…" he muttered.
"…if we get out of here." She said softly.
"We will get out of here." He told her with a determined look on his face.
One hour later…
"I'm sweating like a swine…" Rufus muttered under his breath as he wiped the sweat off his brow.
"If you're not wearing that three-layered suit, then you wouldn't be suffering like that." She told him.
"Whatever gave you the idea that I'm wearing a three-layered suit?" he asked, trying to sound innocent.
"I'm a good observer." She said proudly.
"You were peeking when I was getting dressed!" he said accusingly.
"I did not!" she protested.
"Yes you were. Now where are we going?" he asked, wanting to change the subject as they came across a ladder leading up.
"I don't know. Might as well go through that." She replied.
Rufus obliged. He just had to get out of there and all options were being considered. Upon reaching the top, he was crawling horizontally again. "Blimey. This is endless." He said.
"What if we get stuck here forever?" she asked with a worried look on her face.
"Will you stop thinking about that?" he demanded.
"I can't help but become paranoid!" she cried out in panic before covering her face. "Oh bloody hell… if we don't get out of here I don't wanna be found in here as a skeleton!" she said.
"…a skeleton attached to my skeleton. That's so bloody wrong! Everyone will think I was a freak when I was alive." He said as he sped up upon seeing some light at the end of the vent tunnel and feeling some cool air from the airconditioner hitting his face from that light. "We'll get out of here and go back to the prison and get Aerith's ribbon." He decided.
"If she has the intention to give it to us." Tifa said with a glum look on her face.
"Don't worry, we'll force her." He said stiffly.
Finally, they reached the end and saw an opening covered with grills. "Here we are." He peered down. "It's Old Man's office." He said.
"Can you see anyone?" she asked.
Rufus focused his gaze below… and saw his father still seated on his chair, but this time, he was slumped on his desk… and bloody.
"Bloody brilliant. We're too late…" Rufus muttered before forcing the grills off and then got down from the vent. He landed on his feet behind his father's chair.
"Oh my God. This feels like déjà vu…" Tifa said softly as she stared horridly at the corpse while Rufus neared it.
Rufus frowned slightly as he stared at his father's current state. He had to admit he felt stunned, but he just kept quiet and stared at the corpse with a cold look on his face. But Tifa saw the shock being expressed in his eyes.
"…you're… surprised." She told him softly.
Rufus blinked and just looked away. "I never really took a look at him when he died… I just… told the Turks to send him to the mortuary and have him cremated and then… have his ashes thrown somewhere." He said with a serious tone before scanning the work that his father was doing. The blueprints were stained with blood now and the other documents spread across the table had blood splattered on them. What caught his eye was the paper underneath the paperweight.
Tifa led his hand and she picked it up. Rufus was surprised that she was able to move by herself and was able to drag him towards the paper.
They read it silently:
"Rufus. Sorry for my behavior early this evening. Maybe you and I could talk sometime and discuss our personal issues? After all, we've only got each other now. Sorry. I just want the best for you. Love, Papa."
Rufus's lips curled into a scornful pout as he grabbed the paper from Tifa's grasp with his left hand and he just crumpled it. When he was about to throw it away, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Rufus's frown deepened as he mindlessly shoved the crumpled letter inside his left blazer pocket and he walked away from his father, taking one last look at him and then rushed to the balcony.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Sephiroth!" he called out, ignoring her inquiry. He shoved Tifa inside his right side trouser pocket as he reached the balcony and looked around and then up at the skies. "Sephiroth!" he repeated.
He sounded exasperated. Tifa even heard a slight choke as he yelled, but she did not react. She just kept still. She could feel the rest of his right arm heating up as if he was feeling tense or something.
"You sound as if you're unsatisfied by what I did?" Sephiroth asked from the topmost part of the tower as he peered down at Rufus with a demented look in his wide green eyes.
Rufus did not look at him and he just kept still, facing the wind blowing against his face as he stood near the railing of the balcony. He swallowed hard and kept his head held up high. "Just leave before anybody else arrives…" he muttered.
Sephiroth smiled slyly at him before finally leaving.
"What was that all about?" Tifa cried out from inside his pocket. She sounded muffled but he was able to understand her fully. "Aren't you feeling the least bit guilty about your father's demise?" she asked.
He just swallowed hard and smiled bitterly, knowing that nobody else can see it. "Everything happens for a reason, Tifa." He said with a stern tone as a chopper began to approach.
But before Rufus could signal for the chopper to land so that he could hop in, he heard people coming out from the 70th floor…
oOoOo
to be continued