Warning: Contains slight gore and sexual content.

Take Me With You! Chapter 12

When it all falls apart

The voice through the PHS, sounded a little distorted from the way Tifa remembered it to be, but the tenderness and warmth beneath was undoubtedly Aerith's. Disregarding the noisy background on Aerith's side, they exchanged extraneous pleasantries and Tifa soon found herself inarticulate. There were too much and yet too little to talk about, and they chatted about the trivial, such as Midgar weather, and the increasing pollution until Aerith broke into the solemn issues.

"I've left Shinra two weeks ago." The underlying melancholy was palpable even in her cover of thick nonchalance. Tifa stirred a little on her bed and waited as Aerith continued. "I… saw some things I'd spend the rest of my life trying to forget."

Tifa knew better than to question and push for a reply, rather, she remained silent until Aerith changed the topic. "President Shinra gave me a small apartment in the slums. There's a beautiful church here, despite its dilapidated state. You should visit sometime; I'll bring you around sector 5, though it's not a good place for sight-seeing." On her end, Tifa could sense the bitterness washed, but not fully eradicated by the PHS transmission and the noisy background. It's only been two months, yet the six of them can never return to the way they were. Never again.

Closing her eyes and leaning back against the bed with an arm behind her head, Tifa thought of a the world beyond the mansion. She had managed to catch a glimpse at the huge plate that shadowed the entire city. Aerith living under the cold, dark plate sent shivers down her spine. "I would love to." The resignation in her voice was apparent and Tifa wondered if Aerith ask. "It's like a prison here and…" Tifa trailed off, thinking of Yuffie. "I can't leave."

Tifa was determined to learn 'magic'. Yuffie kept her words. After dinner tonight, Yuffie had knocked out Cissnei, Elena and the maids with 'Sleepel' again. Her plan always worked, for she was smart enough to previously reconfigure their equipped weapons and material to make them vulnerable to sleep without their knowledge. When Yuffie is serious, she does her Ninja job well. Together, they trained in the garden beside the East Wing, and that was when Tifa realized the sound of metal against tree bark was made by Yuffie's Shuriken. Yuffie explained the basics of magic to Tifa, the use of mana to summon magic and how it drains her mental concentration, weakening her, not physically, but made her dizzy if her mana was used up.

"Well, from what I've heard from Rufus, I think he is planning on 'bailing' you out."

Tifa tried to change the focus, feeling her abdomen turn cold when Aerith mentioned Rufus. The way he acted yesterday made her hair stand in worry. "Will you visit?"

Aerith took an elongated breath, so slowly and painfully. "No. I don't think so… Teefie…" It's been years since Tifa heard that endearing nickname coined by Aerith for her, she could feel her chest constrict and a tsunami of emotions washed through her. The last part of her sentence was so soft, yet full of resolve. There is something Aerith needs to do, in her own space, her own world. And for the first time in the two months, Tifa truly felt alone.

"Tifa," Aerith whispered, "I saw a flower in the church when I moved in."

Tifa took a deep breath and listened while she confided. "It was a beautiful flower, so delicate. Creamy yellow petals that flicker with golden hues under the sun… the only speck of sun beneath the plate, through the hole in the roof." She paused slightly, "Did I tell you my favourite colour was cream yellow?"

"No… I always thought it was pink. The colour suits you."

"He said that too… Zack… when I first met him, he was wearing a cream yellow shirt and matching shorts, dirtied by soot from the fire, but it too, had a golden hue under the sun."

Tifa waited patiently as she spoke, there were questions, definitely. How did Aerith feel towards Cloud then?

"I'll take good care of the flower. By the time I meet him again, it'll be a flower bed… There's still hope beneath the plate, Tifa. I believe in it."

She didn't understand Aerith's flow of emotions. The mansion she lived in looked luxurious, there were trees, and a blue sky that stretched endlessly above her. Yet Aerith sounded as if she was in a totally alien world.

"The flower, like he did, will support me."

xXx

"Barret, release the young man." Bugenhagen commanded, his voice unnervingly calm. "They are not SOLDIERs, not yet. Killing them is murder, not justice… hoho…" His laugh was dark and humourless as he drifted across to the man's side.

Cloud could feel the hammering in his pulse as the man lowered his huge gun, when he saw how the huge gun replaced two thirds of the man's right arm, where flesh was supposed to be, his blood ran cold. Zack placed a protective arm over him and pulled him away from the enraged man. The man let a menacing snarl escape from his thick lips that were pulled into a tight line, enveloped in thick bushes of moustache below his bottom lip.

"Ya better don' be fuckin' showin' yer asses here no more!"

Zack looked at the big man with a slight smirk, and turned to Bugenhagen. "Thanks for the fine accommodation, I'm sorry our motives are conflicted."

"It is alright, young man. Hohohoho… I can sense that you will not do harm to this planet." Bugenhagen stroked his overgrown beard and lowered his head to look at them with his greying eyes beneath his glasses. "I look forward to meeting you both again, young men…"

Nanaki growled lowly in his throat and threw the backpacks to their feet. They picked it up and walked silently towards the door.

"What was that?" Cloud asked, when they left the main Canyon was made out of rocks and the different ways the residents manipulated it. Homes and shops were caves within these huge rocks. There was definitely science involved, the way these compartments held on despite a single standing cliff and huge buffered rocks.

"I don't want to get involved in their 'noble' acts, Cloud." Zack sighed, giving Cloud an inconspicuous glare. "You might want to stay off trouble. The world isn't that simple. Who are we to judge who's right and who's wrong?" Cloud could feel a sharp pang of embarrassment seeping under his cheeks as he listened to Zack. So easily, by a group of strangers, he was pulled in and so simply, he believed.

"To me, it's really not about the planet, or the justice, but to be closer to Shinra, where she is."

Zack was right. He didn't have to do so much thinking. Get stronger, get bigger, and get closer to Tifa, that is what he really wants. To protect his loved ones. There isn't much to think… Let someone else worry about the weight of the planet. If possible, he would help, but at 16, Cloud was weak and young, impossible to shoulder this dying planet.

"Let's just stock up and leave this place."

xXx

It had been six months since she last talked to Aerith, and about ten months since she last felt Cloud's sweet, sweet lips on hers. She was now closer to Yuffie than ever, Cissnei and Elena knew about their secret meetings, but did not disrupt them. Now, Yuffie would visit every day, without the need for Sleepel. Tifa, on the other hand, focused on improving her magic skills, leveling her spells up.

Tifa's thoughts were disrupted by a soft knock on the door, as Cissnei brought in snacks. She knew it wasn't for her.

Rufus visited every Thursday, and knowing that he will arrive soon, Tifa shifted on the couch anxiously. Recently, Tifa realized that her 'elder brother' held less innocent thoughts about their relationship. He had kissed her on the lips, and on certain occasions, forcefully pushed into her mouth and tasted her. She had much experience with Cloud, but it was different, she could lose herself in the burning heat, but when Rufus kissed her… she could feel her blood run icy cold and her stomach churn in disgust.

Rufus was good-looking, that's for sure. But anyone other than Cloud was wrong, and the wrongness turned her stomach.

The automated gate opened with a soft thud and Tifa clenched her fist tight until her knuckles whitened.

Tifa tried to keep her mind away from the footsteps that were approaching, and the soft click of the door, then a pair of cold hands on her arms, snaking up to cradle her.

"Hey…" Rufus mumbled into the nape of her neck, into her sweater and Tifa gulped.

"H-Hey…" She replied, trying to pry his hands away from her. Tifa had been rejecting Rufus for months, but to no avail. The turks would warn her, Cissnei tried convincing her, but there wasn't much they could do. Rufus would only seek physical touch, or at times confide about his father to her, but never said he loved her. She didn't know how to take this. She pushed him away, yelled, told him 'no'. But he would only stop for a few days. He was persistent. "I can't breathe. Please, let me go." Eight months, she had been struggling to escape from him, but she couldn't. The Turks, Shinra personnels, Yuffie, and this house, her parents, all under the control of Rufus and his father.

"Why? We're family." Rufus whispered and slowly turned her head around, led by her chin. Before he could plant a soft kiss, Tifa placed her hands on his chest and moved him away, softly.

"Families… don't do these… things."

Rufus grabbed her by her wrists and kissed the back of her hand. "It doesn't matter. I don't have a family, I have you."

Tifa flinched when he softly kisses his way to her neck, across the long sleeve sweater she was wearing. He pulled the collar down and kissed her soft, smooth skin. "Rufus, stop."

"No…" He muttered as he traced small circles around her neck with his tongue. Tifa could feel her heart sink and her skin turn ice cold as the blood drained from her body under his touch. "I want you."

Tifa's eyes widened in horror, she tried to pry his body away but he wouldn't budge. Tifa was strong, she was a fighter, an elite one that that, but Rufus was stronger, older and her position rendered her at a disadvantage. "NO-!" When Tifa screamed, he opportunistically shoved his tongue into her mouth and rubbed around forcefully.

She would have kicked him if her thighs weren't pinned down under his knees. Her legs screamed in agony as his knee drove deeper into her muscles. She flinched and wriggled her body, hoping to free herself.

She could feel tears escaping when he pushed his free hand under her shirt and cupped her breasts. Bile filled her throat when she heard him whisper a soft 'wow' as he fondled her under her bra.

Yuffie would have come to her rescue if she knew. But the ventilation channel was empty, and despair filled Tifa's soft sobs.

After rubbing her nipples sore, Rufus tore open her sweater and looked down at her. Her face was blue, not red, her neck swollen from the hickeys he gave and her tears stained the couch, her bra was not undone, but pressed above her full breasts, the pressure making them slightly flushed. Then his eyes focused on a small piece of metal around her neck: A pair of rings strung into a necklace.

It had always been there, around her neck, chaining her to another man. He could feel pure, unadulterated anger surging through his veins as he ripped the sweater from her. "Cloud, isn't it?" It was not a matter that required an answer, but when she pushed his hand away to cup the two rings, ignoring her disgraced state while nodding at his question, he could feel pure rage burn in his core.

He grabbed her wrist and she struggled against him. His grip was tight enough to stop blood from flowing to her hand, numbing it. Hastily adjusting her bra as he pulled her out of the room, Tifa squealed and tried to resist him.

"Rufus, let me go!"

"No." His voice had a grim finality to it. "You tramp! How dare you!"

"Let me go!" She tried to hold her ground, but was dragged across the room and down the stairs, nearly falling straight down. "Let go!"

"I should have known! Failed experiments like you won't do without the full process!"

She stopped, trying to decipher his words. "E-experiment…?" She asked, in a soft voice.

"Hojo will fix you!"

She could hear Yuffie screaming behind them, and Rufus' bodyguards holding her back, but more than that, she could hear the ringing in her head as she blacked out.

xXx

She could hear a familiar sound of metal scraping against metal. Somehow, at the back of her head, a young voice whispered.

"He's sharpening the tools."

"He's walking here."

"Oh no, oh no. Teeheehehehee. He's going to cut us up!"

A sharp piercing pain filled her abdomen. She would have bolted right up, land a somersault kick on her attacker, but there were no strength in her limbs, she was drifting in a dark world with nothing but the voice of a young girl, and excruciating pain.

"The intestines now! He's gonna axe-track some of those juices, mix with some weird kem-ah-kals and pour it into our tummy again! Hee hee!"

"Pain is wonderful! I love pain!"

Tifa screamed in her head, her stomach was burning. Then it was cold, and then it was burning again. But throughout, the unbearable pain cut into her.

"Mama said, if we enjoy it, then it won't hurt! Hee hee!"

"It doesn't hurt! It won't hurt!"

"It doesn't hurt!"

"The needle is coming! Into our flesh now, deep, deeeeeeep!"

A surge of cold enveloped her left arm, slowly followed by a fire, exploding within her veins, burning every part of her, her arms, chest, stomach, neck, head, abdomen, thighs, legs…

Then she was thrown into a sea of black again.

xXx

The first thing she realized, was her nakedness. Then, the way her arms are chained onto a metallic table, and the endless trays of knives, tubes, bloodied cotton, tweezers, machinery.

Tifa cried dry tears when she felt the dull pain on her stomach, when she lifted her head forward to see her body, nausea filled her exposed intestines. Her belly skin was cut straight down, pinned onto the work table; her intestines were a gooey mess.

She was like a marinated turkey in the kitchen on thanksgiving.

She fainted.

.

.

.

"We are still breathing!" The small voice chimed.

"It's just another round, and we'll be home with papa and mama again!"

"Who are you?" She softly asked. In the world of darkness, the little voice was her only companion.

"Then, we'll get to play with Cloudie! Hee hee!"

"Cloud…ie?"

"We can't tell him that we are axe-pear-ee-ments! Mama and Papa said that if he knew, he won't play with us anymore!"

"Just a little more! Doctor Hojo will sew us up and we'll be fine again!"

.

.

.

While drifting, and pushing the little voice to the edge of her mind, Tifa calmed herself.

Whatever she thought she were, was nothing but a lie.

xXx