AN: I finally got around to writing another chapter! It might be the penultimate one, as well :O
Big thanks to all the readers. I know there are a few of you, since I pop into my stats section every now and then, and I appreciate your time! Another big thanks to the reviewers, and of course my beta VendettaSmiles.
Chapter 7
Thunder
"She has at least an hour head start," said Rufus. His pensive stare scanned the town of Wutai below them as Reno manoeuvred the helicopter to the ground.
"Well, boss. You kinda chose an awkward time to take a nap," said Reno, grinning. His feeble attempt to make light of the situation earned him an icy look from said boss.
"She spiked my drink, Reno. If the two of you had thought to check on me a bit earlier, we might have caught up with her by now." Rufus noticed the bite to his own tone, but it didn`t matter. He didn`t like being incriminated by his subordinate.
"No way, man." Reno threw his hands up in indignation. Rude, though remaining largely calm and collected, instinctively grabbed hold of the helicopter`s control stick, preventing a seaside crash.
"We had no idea what you two were up to in there, boss. Could`ve been something way riskier than a spiked drink..." Reno let the implication hang in the air as he grabbed the control stick and steered them towards ground.
In an effort to let the subject die down, Rufus bit back a retort. Even though he would never admit it to Reno – simply because it would amuse the Turk too much – Rufus knew he had been careless around Yuffie. He cursed himself for his thoughtlessness; this wasn`t like him, at all.
"Right, bossman. We`re here."
Rufus snapped out of his thoughts and followed his Turks out of the helicopter. Wutai was looking significantly better than it had just a few years ago; its economy was better, and the whole town was thriving and bustling with a renewed and vigorous atmosphere. He suspected a certain ninja had something to do with restoring some of Wutai`s former glory.
"Hey, Rude." Reno elbowed the silent Turk. "Remember when that brat stole Cloud`s Materia and they ran around here like headless chocobos." Reno chuckled to himself as Rude gave a noncommittal shrug.
"She has a house here, no?" Rufus scanned the buildings ahead of them, although they all looked fairly similar.
"Yeah, it was over there, maybe?" Reno pointed to an elevated house by a stream.
"Let`s check it out." Rufus strode off before either of the Turks could respond.
"Adventurous today, eh boss? I like it."
Rude replaced his lock-picking set and allowed his boss access to the abode before them. Stepping through the doorway, Rufus fought the urge to gag; the strong stench of urine invaded his nostrils, and he immediately noticed the source of said odour.
"Meow."
A tabby brushed up against his leg, leaving a trail of short ginger fur along his pristine white clothing. Ignoring the countless felines, he fought his way through clutter, weapons, clothes, pillows and random objects strewn across the floor and hanging perilously from the ceiling. How could a person live like this? It was unfathomable to him, but here he was, swimming in a sea of clutter.
"I checked downstairs, boss. I don`t think she`s here." Reno stumbled through the countless shurikens, knives, and cats that blocked his path. Rufus was almost relieved at the news; he longed to escape the confinements of this pigsty and breathe ammonia-free air once more. As blissful as the air outside was, his original objective remained: find Yuffie Kisaragi.
"The Turtle`s Paradise!" Reno exclaimed, pointing wildly.
"No drinking on the job, Reno." Rufus was still recovering from the unsanitary shock moments before.
"The brat." Reno rolled his eyes. "I saw her by the Turtle, but she`s gone now."
Rufus squinted against the evening sun towards the bar. Nothing. Except a gaggle of tipsy customers who had stepped outside for a cigarette break.
"Let`s go." Rude had spoken, and led the way towards the bar.
"Excuse me, but have you seen the lady Yuffie Kisaragi?" Rude inquired of one of the men outside, with Rufus and Reno standing behind him, silently exchanging looks due to Rude`s newfound vocabulary. The drunken man turned a pair of drowsy eyes toward the bald Turk, his face screwed up in concentration.
"Uh… yeah," he said, hiccupping. "I mean, no. No one by that name 'round here." The man hastily spun to face his friends again, clearly taking great care to ignore Rude and his question.
"Don`t bother," Rufus interjected, and pointed towards a small boy standing in front of the mountain path. "There are easier targets."
Approaching the boy, Rufus took out his leather wallet and pulled out several notes of gil.
"Boy." Rufus stared down at the child, who gave him a frightened look.
"Great work, bossman. You just scared the daylights out of the kid."
Rufus shrugged indifferently as Reno crouched in front of the child, putting on a wide, sleazy smile. "Hey, kid. How 'bout you be a nice lad and do the three of us a nice, big favour, eh?"
Rufus rolled his eyes. "Indeed, Reno. That didn`t sound dodgy, at all."
"It seems neither of you are any good with kids." Rude knelt before the child and took off his sunglasses. In one swift motion, he pulled out his own money from his suit pocket and held it up in front of the child, whose eyes turned from fearful to conniving.
"Yuffie Kisaragi," said Rude as the kid swiped the money from his fingers.
"Nope, there was definitely not anyone by that name who ran past here a few minutes ago." The kid shook his head vigorously, and Rude pulled out another note for the boy.
"Where was she headed?" Rude let the boy snatch the money.
"Nope, there was definitely not a young girl headed for the mountains just now. Nope." The boy shook his head again and ran off before Rude could ask another question.
Straightening his suit jacket as he stood upright, Rude nodded towards Da Chao and its several narrow paths and caves. Rufus swallowed hard.
"The helicopter?" He turned to Reno with a pleading look, but the Turk shook his head.
"Manoeuvring the chopper through those rocky peaks? Fat chance, boss."
Although Reno was always a cynic, Rufus recognised that the Turk had a point; they would have to leg it.
"I suggest we separate. We can cover more ground that way," said Rufus as they embarked on their hike up the mountain path.
Reno made a choking sound. "Hell, no. What if you run into trouble?"
Rufus chuckled lightly. "I`ll call you if I find her. You do the same." With that, he left the two Turks at the fork in the path.
He passed several hands, feet and other body parts protruding from the mountainside, neatly carved out of the stone, as well as numerous cavern entrances. He realised Yuffie could be in one of these caves. Then the thought sunk in: Yuffie could be in any of these groaned, again cursing himself for his carelessness that had landed him in this mess in the first place. He supposed the past few years had changed him, somewhat. He was still the same person, essentially, but his priorities had changed, and with them his attitude towards people had shifted, as well.
A slight glow from one of the caves caught his attention, and as he approached it, he heard the sound of fire crackling from inside. It was then he noticed how far he had walked; he was already at one of the topmost peaks of Da Chao. He entered, but before he could look around, a loud rumble from outside caused his heart to do a back flip. Thunder, followed by heavy rain pouring down outside. He forgot how temperamental the weather in Wutai could get, and the mountain was no place to be walking around during heavy rain showers and thunderstorms, either. On the bright side, he was dry and relatively safe inside the cavern, which angled upwards, preventing the water from flooding the place. On the other hand, he was stuck in here until the weather cleared up.
"Oh gawd, it`s you."
Rufus snapped out of his thoughts, and his eyes focused on the young girl in front of him. "I think you know what I`ve come for." He approached her calmly.
She winked at him , grinning wickedly.
"Yeah, but you ain`t getting it." Yuffie nodded past him, to the curtain of rain visible outside the cave entrance. "I guess we`re stuck here for a while. Come on." She headed deeper into the cavern, towards the source of the glowing light.
"How large is this cavern?" Rufus followed her, and they soon found themselves in an area with a large open fire.
"Oh, sweet Minerva," Rufus exclaimed, jumping back slightly. Fire roared from the far end of the cavern – open, unprotected fire that threatened to engulf him where he stood. Yuffie chuckled mirthfully beside him.
"This is the Da Chao fire cavern. Those flames don`t ever move, day or night, summer or winter." She sat down against the cavern wall opposite the fire, a safe distance away. "So don`t worry your pretty little head, Rufus. It won`t get you."
She belittled him, he knew as much. At the same time, he was relieved to hear the flames wouldn`t burn him to a crisp – he had come close enough when WEAPON had attacked the Shinra HQ four years previous. He took a seat next to Yuffie, and let himself enjoy the warmth that radiated from the fire opposite them. A few moments of precious silence went by until Rufus remembered what he had come for.
"So, where did you hide it?" His tone carried no malice. Perhaps it was this sudden change in demeanour that caused her to answer in such honesty.
"It`s here." Yuffie pulled out the device from her rucksack.
He half expected her to hand it over to him, but when she didn`t, he turned to look at her. She stared intensely at the naked flames dancing in front of her, illuminating her stormy grey eyes. He noticed they were glossier than usual, and her voice was cracked when she finally spoke.
"I wanted to use it. I really did."
"But you didn`t," he said, almost as a question. She shook her head, and a tear streaked down her cheek.
"My mother." Yuffie swallowed hard. "She died when I was little. I wanted so badly to see her again. Like, who cares if some random criminal has to die so that she can live again?" She wiped her wet face on her glove.
"Like Cloud? Or Barret? Or Tifa?"
Yuffie snapped around to face him, anger flaring up in her eyes. "What? They`re my friends," she barked.
"And from a completely objective point of view, they were also criminals."
Yuffie huffed, crossing her arms. "Yeah, well, so were you, Shinra…"
Rufus smiled. "So, what stopped you?"
"Huh?" Yuffie responded ineloquently.
"Why didn`t you use the device? As you said, who cares about a 'random criminal'?" He peered into her dark orbs, ignoring the stream of tears down her cheeks.
"My mother." Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Pardon?"
"My mother would care." She smiled slightly, and Rufus immediately decided she looked a hundred times more beautiful when smiling. It was already obvious to him that Yuffie was no attractive crier. Her nose and cheeks turned red and shiny, her black hair stuck to her teary skin and she attempted to snort back the snot that trickled down from her nostrils. The girl certainly wasn`t pretty sight to behold when she cried, but her smile, on the other hand, was cheerful, mischievous, infectious, and could light up a room.
"So, you decided against using the device because you think your mother would care about a random person?" He had meant it as a genuine question, but his tone was more sarcastic than he`d intended.
She popped an eyebrow at him."Yeah." She took a deep breath, sniffling as she inhaled. "From what I remember of her, she was a woman with strong values and a heart of gold. I think that heart would break if she knew someone was killed for her."
Rufus gazed at her, though she ignored his attempt at eye contact. Instead, she seemed to find her shoelaces a sudden source of fascination. He sighed and wrapped an arm around her puny figure, pulling her into a sideways embrace. He might regret comforting her later, but right now it seemed fitting.
"I think my mother would feel the same way," said Rufus. Through his peripheral vision, he saw her peering at him from behind her fringe.
"She was the only one who ever loved me unconditionally," he said, stealing a quick glance at the small figure huddled against him. She didn`t move and didn`t return his glance.
"I… suppose you have given me a lot to consider, Yuffie." He felt her shift closer towards him, snuggling into his side.
Yuffie was greeted by a stiff neck and swollen eyes when she awoke. She carefully shifted in Rufus`s one-armed embrace and tried to study his face. His eyes were closed and his face leaned slightly the other way. His rhythmic breathing suggested he was asleep. She studied his features for a moment, and then it hit her, just as it had before. His cologne. Yuffie was a sucker for a good cologne on a man, and it didn`t matter if the wearer of said cologne was the former president of Shinra, or a mercenary with severe personality disorders and selective amnesia, or even a goateed nerd, twice her age, with a fetish for robotic cats. Yuffie could never resist a quick whiff when presented with such a delightful scent.
Just as she got close enough for her nose to graze his neck, his eyes snapped open and his face turned towards hers, their noses almost touching. Yuffie wished her heart wouldn't beat so loud, and she was sure Rufus would hear it pounding within her ribcage. Their eyes met and they sat like that for what felt like an eternity to her, but was actually closer to a minute in reality.
"Do I make you uncomfortable, Yuffie?" He asked, clearly having noticed her uneasiness.
Her throat went dry as she noticed he had lowered his eyes to stare at her lips. Before she could pull away, he raised a hand to cup her cheek, pulling her closer. She soon found her lips lightly touching his, and she tentatively let him kiss her. She wanted to close her eyes, but there was no need. Whatever it was, it was brief, finished – short, but sweet. It wasn`t passionate or heavy, like she had always imagined her first kiss would be. Instead, it was more like a light peck. Nevertheless, it was enough to send her heart into a fluttering frenzy that she yearned desperately to control.
"Hey, boss. Sir? Ya in here?"
Yuffie jumped at the echoing voice from the cavern entrance. Scrambling away from Rufus`s side, she jumped to her feet and dusted herself off just as Reno`s lanky figure appeared. The Turk looked from Rufus, still seated near the wall, to Yuffie, who probably looked as perturbed as she felt, and let out a long indicative whistle.
"I guess you ran into trouble, after all, eh sir?"
"Sir, are you alright?" Rude appeared, and Rufus nodded in response.
"Took ya long enough, Turkeys." Yuffie blew Reno a raspberry, which he returned with a dark scowl.
"I don`t recall you having this much trouble finding Corneo," Rufus commented as he stood and brushed himself off. Reno shrugged.
"Yeah, well, Corneo was flashy and loud, with even louder clothes. And he wasn`t hiding out in one of the gazillion caves around here."
Yuffie shuddered at the memory of the perverted slum-lord and her near death experience hanging upside down by her feet, with Elena the rookie Turk next to her.
"Anyway, the weather`s cleared up. Let`s grab the device and be gone." Reno and Rude exited the cavern on that note, leaving Yuffie and Rufus inside. She spun on him, hands on her hips in a manner she was convinced seemed threatening.
"You`re not gonna use it, are ya? We had an agreement." She followed closely behind Rufus as he headed outside.
"We had no such agreement, Yuffie."
She stared after him, incredulous, before she regained her senses.
"Wait, what? Wait, I said." She fruitlessly tugged at his arm. She had actually believed in a better Rufus last night, but in the end he had only served her bullshit, and she had been so gullible.
"If it`s true what you said about her, she`ll resent you for it, you know. She`ll resent her new life." This made him turn around, meeting her eyes with his icy blue. He looked as though he might speak, but when he didn`t, Yuffie continued.
"That`s who you wanna bring back, right? Your mother? She`d probably hate you if you killed some random person for her." She did her best not to let her gaze falter, but found it increasingly tricky under his indecipherable stare. He seemed resolved, stern, but at the same time his eyes looked sad and uncertain.
"Goodbye, Yuffie." His words were soft.
She had expected more. Perhaps a short lecture on how it was not her business or how she shouldn`t presume to know him or his mother. Indeed, she certainly had expected more. Still, with a peculiar finality to his words, Rufus had bid her farewell and left her. He had the device now, and he was going to use it. Yuffie felt her heart sink at this realisation. She had to fix it, and she had to fix it soon. Otherwise, Reeve and Cloud would probably fight each other over who got to kill her first.
AN: Thank you again for reading, and please leave a review if you can :) I also welcome constructive criticism. It`s my first fan fic, so I desperately need it ;)