Okay, this chapter doesn't seem very exciting. For the most part, it's just to introduce you to some of the characters 8 years after AC.
Probably starting next chapter will be really getting into the plot. In the meantime, I have a question to ask:
Who's the bad guy in this? Is it Jenova? Shinra? Rude himself, perhaps? Denzel?
I know it's a bit early. But I'm curious as to what you guys think. I know who it is (duh), but I don't know if it's who you guys suspect, or if I should make another baddie.
Also, I'm going to try to only update every 2-4 weeks unless there's a MAJOR part coming up. In addition, if you want to see a small "poster" of the9 main characters (Rude, Tifa, Jenova, Denzel, Reno, and Marlene), go to my deviantart page (in my profile) and find my deviation called "Jenova's Witness -- Basic Cast." Should be the 2nd one listed under "Recent" if you're going there before Chapter 3 comes out.
So, enjoy a day in the life of Rude and Tifa's family.
Chapter 2: Daily Routine
Rude flinched slightly in his sleep. A short moment later, his dull brown eyes opened slowly. The sun was shining through the window onto his face, making him shut his eyes halfway again. His eyes turned to the alarm clock. It was nearly noon, but instead of crawling out of bed, Rude rolled onto his side, wrapped up tighter under the quilt, and sighed softly, reaching a hand to his shoulder and massaging the tension away. He had been gone for a week running an errand with Reno. They finished two nights ago, but it had taken him another day to write his report for Rufus. By the time Rude had come home at 2 in the morning, everyone else was already fast asleep. He didn't mind though; it gave him a chance to watch something other than educational kid's shows and the news, and he was able to snag a bowl of ice cream before everyone else got to it. But now, he lay in bed and tried to shut the sun from his mind. He was still tired despite the time of day.
Just as he was slipping back into sleep, one eye snapped open. He listened closely to the voices behind him. A small smile played across his lips as he listened to the floorboards creak under the intruder's footsteps, and the smile widened at the little gasps that escaped with each creak. As they got closer, Rude made sure not to move. His eye shut again, and he did his best to indiscreetly hide the grin. It wasn't until he felt the bed sink a little behind him and a small hand shaking him that he made his move.
"Is he awake?" a boy whispered.
"I don't think so," replied the girl who was kneeling beside Rude. She laid a hand on his shoulder and shook. A moment later, both children found the quilt wrapped over them and Rude pinning them down.
"It's not nice to sneak up on someone when they're sleeping!" Rude laughed. The two children shrieked then began giggling hysterically.
"Mommy! Daddy's crushing us again!" screeched the two kids through the laughter. Their laughing got worse when their heads finally emerged from the blankets and Rude began tickling them. "Get off, daddy! Ha ha! Stop!"
"You two need some help?" their mother smiled from the doorway. They nodded, being unable to speak through their breathless laughs. She walked over to the bed and ran her fingertips over Rude's bare spine. He shivered at the touched and reached around to grab her wrist.
"Tifa! That's not fair!"
"All's fair in love and tickle wars," Tifa giggled. She smiled at the two kids. "You two get your butts downstairs and eat your lunch. I've already got it on the table."
"Aw mom! We wanted to say hi to dad!" the little girl whined. Rude smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.
"You already did. Now go eat your lunch like mom told you."
And with that, the two children were racing down to the kitchen. Instead of following them, Rude yawned and laid back down. Tifa smiled at him warmly and kissed his cheek.
"You must have gotten in pretty late last night. I don't remember you coming to bed."
"I got home around two, didn't come to bed until three or f-four," he replied, stuttering slightly through another large yawn. Unfortunately, the yawn was not loud enough to cover a low growl from his stomach. Tifa smiled and pulled him back up.
"Come get something to eat, you sound like you're starving."
"No, I'm fine. I would rather sleep than eat right now."
"Come on, Rude, you need to eat," Tifa urged further. She grabbed his wrist and tried to drag him out of bed. Unfortunately, he was much stronger then she was. With a turn of his wrist, Rude grabbed Tifa instead and pulled her back down next to him. He looked at her and smiled a moment, then stroked her face and kissed her, holding it a long moment.
"I missed you while I was gone…" he whispered. Tifa nodded and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I missed you, too. Bao and Aeris were bored out of their minds missing you," she laughed a little.
"What about Denzel? I didn't see him trying to help the kids like he usually does," pointed out Rude. Tifa bit her lip slightly and paused.
"Actually, I don't know what's wrong with him. He's been quieter than usual and all he seems to want to do is read," replied Tifa as she sat up.
"There's nothing wrong with that," shrugged her husband. He stood and started changing.
"I know it's probably nothing… I've always been maternal, especially since Aeris was born. I'm probably looking too much into it."
"Don't worry about it until you find out that he's plotting to take over the world," Rude smiled. Her hugged her tightly before heading to the kitchen downstairs. He smiled as he walked through the kitchen door. The two children were eating at the breakfast table, each with a sandwich in front of them. Rude hesitated to enter further. It was a picture he had imagined for years. A moment later, Tifa was slipping into the kitchen and working. It was then that he noticed someone was missing…
"Where's Denzel?"
"Good question… Oh! He's outside reading," Tifa explained, looking out the window.
"He's always outside with a book!" the little girl at the table yelled. Tifa tapped her on the head, being gentle yet scolding.
"That's not a bad thing, Aeris. You could learn a thing or two. I'd love to see you with a book every so often."
Rude smiled at them. As Tifa moved away, five-year-old Aeris Elena locked eyes with him and smiled. She looked almost exactly like Tifa: dark brown hair and brown eyes. He often found himself hoping her looks would change later in life. If she got to look too much like Tifa, Rude thought he might get even more overprotective of her than he already was, thought that maybe he would get so attached to her he would hinder her chances at being independent, make her want to stay at home under his protection. Aeris' gaze lingered with his a moment, then she turned back to her sandwich.
The little three-year-old boy across the table from her almost always made Rude's heart break. Bao Zack looked almost exactly like his namesake, with brown-almost-black eyes, short black hair and long bangs. Rude never cared for the hairstyle, but Bao saw a picture of his uncle and was adamant about getting the same cut the last time they went. At the moment, the child had a face covered in peanut butter. Laughing, Rude got a wet napkin and helped him clean up, then finally got a cup of coffee.
As he drank, his gaze turned to Denzel outside. Over the past seven years that Rude and Tifa had been married, Denzel had turned into both a little brother and a son for the man. The teenager had changed over the years though. Rude could remember first meeting him when Geostigma broke out. Back then, Denzel was heavily freckle-faced and had very curly hair. As he matured, most of his freckles had faded, and his hair had straightened dramatically. One thing had not changed though: the young man's love for Marlene Wallace. They wrote letters to each other everyday, and talked on the phone at least once a week.
As Rude reflected on his current life and the past few years, his dreams entered his mind once again, the memories of his past. But further dreams entered as well. Not only was his past intruding, but things yet to come. Rude found himself biting his lip slightly as the image of Reno being shot in the shoulder and falling off of the new Shinra tower came forth. He shuddered slightly; like many of his dreams, this one seemed too realistic to be a mere dream. Anything that was not past nearly always came true eventually. But the image of Reno had been recurring… For the past month, Rude was doing everything he could to keep his friend off of the roof of that building. Something must have translated to his face, because he jumped when Tifa laid a hand upon his shoulder and gave him a concerned look.
"Rude, are you ok? You're looking awfully worried lately," she pointed out. Tifa lowered her voice so the children would not overhear. "Is it one of your dreams again? Did you see something last night?"
"Not last night… last night I dreamt of my past for once. But I've been having a dream lately…" Rude quietly told her what he had been seeing in his dreams. She gave him a worried look.
"Denzel had the same dream while you were gone. You don't think he'll actually…?"
"No I don't. I kept my eyes on Reno the whole time. It's highly unlikely it will happen."
"It still concerns me. What are the chances of both of you having the same dreams?" she wondered aloud as the phone rang. She picked it up and her face immediately went from gloomy to thrilled. Rude smiled and drained his cup. He didn't need to ask her to know that either Cloud or Barret was on the other line; it was rare that she smiled for anyone else's call. Indeed, Tifa hung up a few minutes later and turned to Aeris and Bao.
"Momma who was that?" Aeris asked her.
"That was Uncle Barret. You two go get your rooms cleaned up, he and Marlene are going to come visit tomorrow," replied their mother. Both children cheered and hugged her tightly. Aeris was highly fond of Marlene and always did her best to please her. Bao, on the other hand, was too young to remember her. However, the rest of the family spoke so highly of her that he was excited to finally meet Marlene Wallace.
"It's Marlene's birthday tomorrow, right?" Rude asked as the two children hurried to their rooms. Tifa nodded.
"She'll be fourteen, can you believe it?"
"Of course, considering I didn't really get to know her until she was six or seven. It's our own kids I can't believe," he smiled. "I mean, it feels like it was yesterday when you were telling me you were pregnant with Aeris."
"Well don't expect anymore anytime soon, I've got my hands full as it is," Tifa smiled back, cleaning up lunch. "Oh and Rude, don't say anything to Denzel. Marlene wants to surprise him."
"I can imagine. It's been a couple of years since they came out here."
"Can you blame them? I mean, this is Gongaga. Corel isn't exactly a hop, skip, and a jump away."
"If they wanted to come out here, I could take my helicopter and get them, we'd be back in less than two hours," Rude pointed out, a hint of confidence in his voice. Tifa punched him teasingly in the arm. He grabbed where she hit him and yelled, "Hey!"
"Braggart," Tifa grinned. "Always bragging about how fast your helicopter is, about how you're the best helicopter pilot Shinra's ever seen. But need I remind you that the last time you raced Cid he beat you by five minutes?"
"He cheated. He changed the distance at the last minute, I slowed down where he said the end was then he blew past me."
"Excuses, excuses," she giggled. A shriek and laugh escaped her lips when he grabbed her around the middle and swung her around.
"What was that?" Rude chuckled. Tifa hugged him tightly.
"Nothing at all," she grinned, looking up at him. They kissed again slowly, holding each other close.
"Why don't you learn to get a room once in awhile?" Denzel wondered rather loudly, walking past them with the slightest glance. Tifa pulled away from Rude and stuck her tongue out at him, resulting in the teenager's soft chuckle.
"You're just jealous you don't have someone like Tifa," Rude teased. Denzel shook his head.
"And I don't want someone like Tifa. Besides I have a girl."
"Oh really? Who?" Tifa pressed. Rude was the one to answer
"Marlene, remember? The girl he always hangs around, won't leave alone, wants to drag to his room an-"
"Okay okay we get it!" Denzel yelled, flinging his hand towards Rude. The elder man suddenly found his voice stuck in his throat, to which he glowered at Denzel and swung his hand out in return. Denzel found himself floating upside down a moment later. "Ack! Okay! I'll take it off!" And with another sweep of his hand, Rude coughed to loosen his throat again.
"You're getting good at sneak attacks. But you need to learn to protect yourself from your opponent's retaliation."
"I'm practicing, don't worry. It'd help if you gave me a chance once in awhile."
"Your opponent won't give you a chance on the field."
"Okay, okay, I'll practice more. Um… can I get down now?" Denzel inquired. Rude grinned then dropped his hand. Denzel promptly started falling, but before his head hit the floor, he managed a flip and landed on his feet. "You think Bao or Aeris will be able to do this sort of telekinetic stuff?"
"They might," Rude shrugged. "I have no idea if it's hereditary, but I don't remember my parents or brother being able to do it."
"But you can't remember having anything done to you while you worked for Shinra, right? So it must be hereditary," Tifa pointed out.
"Besides, some genes skip generations," Denzel added. Rude shrugged again.
"I guess we'll just wait and find out. Oh, and Denzel you need to get your room cleaned up. We've got company coming tomorrow."
"Oh. Okay I'll get to it," Denzel muttered. He sighed a little, headed for his room, and under his breath muttered, "I'd be more thrilled if Marlene was coming for once…"
"So what were you so busy doing this past week?" Tifa asked her husband. Rude smiled at her, a little pained.
"You know I can't tell you that. Just being married to me is risky enough, if I tell you anything I do that risk just builds up. I don't want to do anything to hurt you or our kids."
"I know. But you can't blame me for trying."
"I promise, the minute I'm able to sneak out of there I'll tell you everything," Rude assured her. Tifa smiled and hugged him again.
"I know you will. But until then… it scares me when I don't know what you're up to."
"It scares me too," he replied, wrapping his arms around her in return.
"Why does it scare you? You're the one there, you know what's happening…"
"But I don't know how things here are. There are many men and women out there who want to get back at Shinra and the Turks for what we've done… Everyday I'm not here I fear for all of you that are. I'm always afraid that I'll come back to find you all dead or the house burned down or something."
"But we have the plan, right? As long as we follow it we should be fine," Tifa whispered, resting against him. Her uncertainty was clear in her voice, making Rude hold her tighter.
"Trust me. If anything happens, go straight to Cosmo Canyon and call Cid to pick you up."
"Then he'll call you and you'll meet us," Tifa said. Rude nodded and kissed her forehead.
"And I'll get to you as soon as I can."
"Hopefully it won't take too long," she muttered. She smiled softly and pulled away. "We really should get this place cleaned up, they'll be here this time tomorrow."
"Of course," Rude pecked her on the lips. "You take downstairs and I'll take upstairs?"
"As always. But don't touch our room."
"Why not?"
"Because," she began, grinning, "you came in so late last night I wasn't able to give you a proper greeting for your return." Rude smiled widely in return.
--JENOVA--
Rude yawned and lay down in bed, shirtless. After spending the past seven days on a mission then ten hours cleaning, the soft mattress and warm quilt was extremely welcoming. He closed his eyes and started to drift off, but he opened his eyes again when Tifa woke him. He looked up at her and smiled.
"What's wrong with you? Are you too tired to spend time with your wife?" she teased. Tifa was wearing her favorite (though least worn) nightshirt, which was black and only reached halfway down her thighs, while the upper half barely kept her chest covered.
"Of course not. Just resting up," Rude grinned. He pulled her into bed and hugged her, kissing her gently. Tifa stretched out along his side and smiled, massaging his shoulders.
"Don't be so tense…"
"I'm not trying…" he whispered. They kissed slowly again…
KA-BOOM!
"AH!" Rude yelled and jumped, staring at the window with his heart pounding.
"Oh for the god's sakes," Tifa giggled. "You know, one of these days you're going to learn not to be so scared of storms."
"Not tonight… Sounds like a bad one," Rude muttered, his voice shaky. Indeed, the thunder was rolling nearly nonstop and rain pounded against the windows. The lightning illuminated the room to the point it almost looked like daytime. A moment later, the lamp in their room went out and the lightning was all that lit their room. Rude cowered under the quilt as another loud blast of thunder rumbled. Tifa giggled and slipped under the quilt with him.
"Come on, Rude," she encouraged. Tifa took a few moments to calm him down. When he was finally relaxing, Tifa kissed him gently and rubbed his chest. Rude started running a hand up her thigh when they both sat up straight. Both children were shrieking.
"Is it because of the storm?" Tifa wondered, a hint of fear to her voice. She glared teasingly at Rude. "They got it from you, you know."
"Oh, shut up," he groaned just as teasingly, slipping out of bed. "We'd better check on them." Before he went two steps towards the door, it opened and three figures stood in the doorway. The next flash of lightning revealed Denzel, Aeris, and Bao.
"Daddy!" Aeris cried. She ran up to her father and hugged him tightly around the middle. Tears were staining her cheeks. "Daddy, I'm scared!"
"I know you are, sweety," he whispered, picking her up and holding her tightly. He kissed her forehead and wiped her tears.
"Momma!" Bao yelled. He ran over to Tifa and jumped into her arms, then promptly started sucking his thumb.
"Daddy, can we sleep with you and mommy tonight?" Aeris asked sweetly. Rude smiled helplessly at Tifa.
"Of course you can. Go crawl in bed, I want to talk to Denzel a minute. I'll be right back."
"Hurry, daddy," Aeris whimpered, crawling in bed next to Tifa. Rude walked out of the room with Denzel.
"There isn't enough room for you, too. You're on your own."
"I know, I know," Denzel laughed.
"Then why did you get up? Just to bring them to us?"
"Not really… I needed to talk to you."
"What about?" Rude whispered.
"I had a vision…"
"What was it?"
"I saw Reno being shot and-"
"-Falling off the Shinra building, right? I've been having the same one."
"I also saw Marlene… She was being dragged off by guards. My vision went forward, and…" his voice caught in his throat, not wanting to say what he had seen.
"What was it? What happened to her?"
"The… the guards raped her. They took all her clothes and raped her, then left her naked in a prison cell," Denzel's voice cracked. "It won't happen, will it? I mean, I don't want her to be hurt like that."
"I know. I can't say whether it will happen or not. But I know how to find out. Call her tomorrow. It's her birthday, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Call her and talk to her. Make sure she's okay."
"Sure… It just scared me."
"I know. I had the same sort of dream about Tifa, but it hasn't come true. Not that I know of at least, and I know Tifa wouldn't hide something like that from me. Now try to get some sleep, okay?"
"Yeah… I'll try. But don't be surprised if you find me in bed with you guys in the morning," he chuckled. He hugged Rude and went back to his room.
Rude slipped back into his room and froze at the lightning-illuminated sight. Tifa was lying on her side, her arms around their children. Aeris and Bao were hugging each other with one arm each, and their other arms were wrapped around Tifa's. The two children were crying very lightly, comforted by the warmth and security. Rude slid into bed and found Aeris immediately clinging to him. She smiled up at him and rested her forehead against his chest. Bao shifted to lie next to Aeris, taking the same position she did except against Tifa. Tifa wrapped her arm gently over her son and smiled at Rude, a few tears in her eyes.
"Well… so much for your 'welcome home celebration,'" she whispered. Rude smiled.
"I wouldn't trade this welcome for anything… even sex with you," he muttered back. He leaned over the two children and kissed Tifa again gently, then kissed both children on the head. He watched them all fall asleep, and remained awake a few minutes longer to watch them sleep peacefully. Rude finally closed his eyes and fell asleep, the thunder being a comforting drone for the first time in his life.
