Title: Five Life Lessons
Author: CrisisChild
Summary: That Rufus Shinra learned from his mother.
Rated: K+
Beta'd: Nope
Editted & Remastered: Yeap.
Diclaimer: I do not own Rufus Shinra or any part of the FFVII Compilation. I just write bad fanfictions. Yeap.
Life Lesson #3
Don't Let Them See You're Afraid
Once when he was quite young, Rufus was found at home early from school, cowering under his parent's bed. His mother had found him before anyone else and she chuckled at his childishness. Instead of coaxing him out to face her, the woman crawled into the tight space with her son who squeaked at the sight of her. She wrapped an arm around his smaller shivering form and pulled him close. His little hands wrapped themselves up in the fabric of her clothes, clinging tightly.
Time to figure out what was up. "Are we hiding from big scary monsters, baby?"
"N-no," Rufus replied.
His mother smiled. "So, are we hiding from the scary, scary Turks and their big scary guns?" she inquired with a knowing laugh.
Rufus shook his head. He scooted closer to his mother's side. "Uh-uh."
The older woman hummed in understanding. "Oh? Then are we hiding from Professor Hojo? Your booster shot is scheduled soon."
Rufus paled, but shook his head vehemently. He was only five, what was he supposed to do in this situation? He was new at the school and all. He shouldn't have to deal with this problem…Worse, his mother was here and he was being such a big baby and he didn't know why or how he should express his worries without being a tattle. He didn't want to be a bad son.
"No." It was all he could say.
"Then what, baby?"
Rufus looked at his mother, at the dark clothes she wore as if she were always mourning someone. A 'suit', she once told him, because she had to look her best as she, too, worked with his father at the company. She always stayed around his father most of the time, doing this and that for him; Mother would make a wonderful personal assistant, he thought. She also told him that her suit made her invincible, too. Rufus wanted an invincibility suit. He wanted to be just like his mother.
"...The kids at school," he replied, at long last.
She laughed at him.
Rufus got defensive. "It's not funny!"
"Yes, it is. Here I am, thinking we're hiding from a Behemoth or the coming of Chaos and all you're scared of are boys and girls? Rufus, baby, there's nothing to be scared of." His mother gave him a squeeze and a quick, affectionate kiss on his temple; he whined at her about doing that, while secretly loving the attention. "Oh, baby, my baby…don't ever get scared. For anything. There's no reason to be. Are they picking on you at school?"
Rufus nodded, rather shamefully. His father was going to have words for him later that was for sure. There were always words. Harsh ones that made Rufus feel smaller than he already was. A 'runt' he'd been called, more than once. A 'worthless whelp' at others. And the latest whopper was 'loser'. But for the moment that old man's opinion didn't matter. What did matter was listening to his mother, because she always seemed to know just what to say.
"Well, baby, here's a trick against bullies. Don't let them know you're afraid. More often than not, baby, they're really scared of you. And they have all the right to be." She kissed his cheek. "You have the scariest mum and dad in the entire world. By making you scared, they're trying to hide the fact that they're scared, too. So don't pay them any mind. Just be brave and things will work out. Now come out, baby. I'll get you some cookies. They'll help get your fighting spirit back."
And they did, along with his mother's encouraging words. Rufus munched on some homebaked sweets before being taken back to school. She held his hand on the ride there, kept him close and stroked his hair. The action was so soothing that he dozed off like that. There were many frightening things waiting for him in this world, he knew, but he would meet them head on no matter how hurt he got, he decided. He needed to be brave. He promised her he would be good for her.
When they got to the school, he insisted on going in alone. He let go of her hand. He waved to her, told his mother he loved her, like a good son, and went on with his life.
And like a good son, when he faced off Kadaj and his gang, he could only smirk and show no fear in face of such madness with the head of Jenova safely tucked away in the folds of his blanket. So close, yet so far, weren't they, Kadaj? From the one person that meant most to them. Kept and taken away by the illustrious name that was Shinra.
He chuckled as he held the head of Jenova tauntingly. Oh, poor simple, mad Kadaj. So very near-sighted. So very angry, but Rufus held no emotion other than pity and amusement for the Remnant. He had nothing to fear here.
"A good son would have known."