Healing, an act of humanity

((Set after the game but before Advent Children, right after Rufus was pulled out of the fallen Shinra Building. I know what cannon says, but in my mind, the poor man went through hell and back. His mom is alive in this one, or she's a ghost. That's up for you all to decide. Reviews and/flames welcome.))

Lilith watched from afar as the Turks and the doctors ran back and forth between the ward and the operating room. Her son had been removed from the fallen tower, she had learned. She had pulled herself out of hiding when she had learned of the attack and then the fall itself, rushing to the hospital and eventually to the hallway in which she now stood, three days later. The queen herself wasn't supposed to be there, but the world was in panic itself; no one noticed a woman in white slip through with the emergency entourage.

Well, she thought that no one had. She pressed her hand against the glass of the ward as she watched them bring the remains of her child in. She heard a doctor tell the bald Turk and a fiery red headed Turk-Rude and Reno, she thought- that Rufus was stable, but in a medically induced coma to help him heal. Lilith sighed, resting her head against the cool glass, closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, my prince," she murmured.

"I thought you told me that Shinras never apologize," a voice said. A hand against rested gently on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to look at who had spoken. She smiled sadly.

"Tseng," she said, turning to face him. He looked tired and ragged, his own injuries healing slowly. He looked around before addressing her, pulling her into a hug when he deemed the coast clear. The hall was empty.

"Lady Lilith," he said, pulling her head so it was buried in his chest. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "mom..." Lilith wrapped her arms around him; the man who was once her 'son' just as much as Rufus.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" she said to him quietly. He chuckled sadly and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I missed you," he said, told her truthfully. He started to say more, but a noise drew him away. She blinked and he was at the other side of the hall, talking to a young blonde. Elena,she thought, turning back to the glass. She looked over her shoulder at the two Turks, and then at the two others by her son's side. She smiled and turned to go, looking at Tseng as she left; his back was to her. She paused, taking a small card with the Shinra Logo out of her coat and setting it against the glass where she had been standing. She walked away, a single tear dropping to the ground. She did not look back.

Tseng nodded as Elena walked back inside the ward. He shook his head, looking through the doors as they closed.

Rufus will be alright,he told himself, preparing to tell the mother of his charge this too. He wasn't sure if it was true or not, but he told it anyway. However, when he turned to walk back to Lilith, she was gone, a note in her place. He picked up the piece of paper gingerly, opening it. He knew she was gone; there was nothing to chase.

Tseng,it read, thank you. Please stay strong. He smiled and put the note into his coat, hiding it for the moment. He stepped inside the ward and asked the other Turks to take five. They nodded and left, though reluctantly. He waited for them to be gone before he sat down next to the sleeping form of his friend.

"Rufus," he murmured, taking his friends uninjured hand in his, "I have something to read to you." He fished the note back out and held it with his free hand.

"It's from your mother..." he said, hoping that somewhere in the broken body in front of him, the little boy who once missed his mother could hear it, "She survived..."

"Just like you..."