Chapter 13:
All was silent when Cloud and company entered Junon from the lower levels. The air was tight with the silence, as if everyone was afraid of making any noise that would draw attention to themselves.
"It's eerie," Aerith commented, her voice in a quiet whisper as well, unwilling to break the silence imposed upon them.
"It's just downright darn creepy, that's what it is," Yuffie, the newest member of their party replied, looking around with a grimace. Cloud looked around as well, taking in all the drawn faces and hostile looks. It didn't seem like they particularly welcomed newcomers.
"Come on," Cloud said, taking leadership once more, and he led the group towards where he knew the elevator was to get to the upper section of Junon. As the prototype for Midgar, Junon was also split into two parts, the upper section where those who could afford it lived and worked, and the lower section, which, just like Midgar, held the slums of those who couldn't afford housing up top. The only restriction of living on top was that they had to go through the slums every time they wanted to leave Junon. This caused many citizens to never step foot outside of the city, unwilling to traverse the undercity and its unknowns. AVALANCHE obediently followed, all aware of Cloud's history with Shinra, and trusting that he knew how to get through these cities with the least amount of attention possible. Their progress, however, was impeded as the elevator didn't come when it was called. The guard coming back from break chuckled as the group looked panicked. He reclaimed his seat and lifted his feet up onto a broken barrel in front of his chair.
"Don't worry 'bout it, folks. The elevator ain't runnin' right now. They're gettin' ready for tha' parade tomorrow, and security is tight. Come back in a few days. The elevator will be workin' then." Without a second glance at them, the guard pulled a book out of his bag and began reading. Backing the group away slightly, Cloud tried to get off of his adrenaline high. He was practically sure the guard would recognize them and engage them in a fight. Their faces had been plastered all over the tv and splashed across newspapers since their escape from Midgar.
"What do we do now?" Red asked, his good eye staying on the guard as the group huddled together to make a plan.
"We have to get up there. The ship leaves tomorrow, and that's our best chance. We need to get up there somehow, today, so we can sneak aboard before everyone else does," Cloud said resolutely.
"Sonny, don't even think about trying it," an old man rasped from behind them. The girls jumped in surprise, since he was directly behind them, but Barret was at the ready and pointed his gunarm in the old man's face.
"Explain," Cloud ordered, his face setting into a glare that would shake most weak willed citizens.
The old man wasn't fazed.
"The First Lady is going to be participating in the parade tomorrow, and if you think security is tight now, tomorrow will be airtight. President Rufus won't want anything to happen to his wife. All of us down here were given a paid week of vacation with bonuses so the elevator could be shut down. Besides helicopter, you're not getting in, and no one's getting out," the old man explained, unaffected by the intimidation tactics used by the men of the group. "Give up." Without another word, the old man shuffled away, his hands clasped behind his back and his back hunched. He didn't go into any house, though. He just stood outside of one of them before turning to watch them with beady little eyes. Unnerved, Cloud turned back to the group.
"Any ideas?"
A scream from down by the waterfront cut across the sky, the silence broken as people came streaming out of their houses. The old man that had accosted them earlier looked down at the waterfront in horror.
"Penelope!" he shouted out before hobbling down and past the group. Interested, the group slowly followed the milling crowd. Once there, they saw a little girl struggling in the deeper end of the water, trying to tread water but failing. A dolphin was swimming around her frantically, but she was flailing too much, she couldn't grab ahold of it when it got close enough.
None of the townspeople were trying to help her.
With a growl, Cloud took his boots and socks off, as well as his sword and harness. Leaving them with the group, he pushed past the townspeople gathered at the edge of the water before diving in. Swimming out to the girl who had finally stopped struggling, but still couldn't grab onto the dolphin, the blond grabbed the little girl and wrapped his arm around her waist, making sure to keep her face above water. When he got close enough, the old man pulled Penelope out of his arms and cradled her unmoving body. Hoisting himself out of the water, Cloud padded over to his group, and Yuffie handed him his sword while Aerith helped him back into his harness. Before he could start on his socks and shoes, however, a scream came from the front of the crowd and the townspeople surged backward, fleeing the waterfront.
"What now?" Barret grumbled as he looked for what could possibly had scared people away.
"Old man, run!" Yuffie suddenly screamed, noticing the giant mass in the water before Barret did. The old man was performing CPR on the girl, trying to get her to breathe again. A giant green and yellow serpentine monster rose out of the waters, crackling with electricity. Letting out a roar, it dove for the unprotected old man and girl still on the beach. With a roar of his own, Barret let loose a barrage of bullets at the beast, drawing its attention away from it's easy prey. Wielding his sword, the still barefoot Cloud joined the fray along with Red, leaving the girls to protect and help the old man with the drowned child.
Tifa really wasn't having a good time as she helped plan the parade. Kiani and Jean had roped her into helping, and she wished she could have been anywhere but there at the moment. It was only the promise of a fistfight spar with Jean that saw her still seated at the table as they hashed out last minute plans.
"I still don't understand why I have to be on top of the float with Rufus. Can't I just be on the platform at the end of the parade route?" she pleaded to the grinning secretaries.
"Of course not!" Jean replied, looking scandalized.
"You are the First Lady of the Shinra Corporation right now. It sends out an image of a united front to all of our customers and citizens when they see you standing next to your husband, waving and smiling to them all," Kiani explained. "President Shinra's wife did it when she was still able to, but once he had banished her and Rufus to Junon, that united front fell and President Shinra's ratings dropped. Unfortunately, public opinion is all about niceties and popularity, and a family man has a better chance of being loved than one who banished his wife and son for no public reason."
"Plus the people love you already, darling. Give them another reason to give you their hearts," Rufus said from the doorway. Astasia, his continuous shadow, loitered in the hallway behind him.
"President Rufus!" Jean greeted.
"Was there anything you needed, sir?" Kiani asked, straightening her posture as her boss lounged in the doorway.
"Just wondering if I could steal my wife for a lunch date," the blond replied, delighted as how pink Tifa's cheeks went at his request. "I promise to have her back by two." He grinned at his secretaries, knowing they couldn't say no to him. Holding his hand out for her, Tifa got up and came to him, making sure she had her purse with her. She'd forgotten it a few times already, since she was so unused to carrying one, but she had a routine, now, that she would check for her purse if she was wearing a dress instead of her working outfit, which she had finally convinced the tailors to make for her. Her working outfit was black leather with a white undershirt, a direct opposite to Rufus' white suit and black turtleneck. He had agreed to influence the tailors to make the outfit for her when she made a compelling argument of needing an outfit she could not only fight in should the need arise, but she would also like to start doing charity work and she couldn't well do it if she was wearing a dress. Willing to appease his wife, Rufus agreed, and so she had several working outfits so Tifa wouldn't have to rewear one over and over again.
"Don't over-awe her again! We still need her mind to be sharp to help figure out possible security breaches!" Jean called after them as Rufus led his wife out into the hallway.
"No promises!" Rufus shot back. Chuckling as they headed down the hallway, Astasia fell into step behind them, far away enough to give the couple privacy, but close enough to react to any danger that might befall the two.
"So, what place did you have in mind?" Tifa asked, their footsteps echoing in the hallway before he directed them to the elevator. Astasia was the one to press the button, and when the elevator got there, she stepped in first to sweep it, before giving the signal that all was well. Pressing the button for the ground floor, Rufus finally replied.
"I remember a dinner you and I had that got interrupted. If you were willing, we could make it up as a lunch?" he offered. Smiling brightly, Tifa nodded.
"I would like that."
Grinning back, Rufus brushed a kiss on her forehead before pulling her to his side, Tifa melting into his embrace, her arm sliding around his back underneath his suit coat. Noticing a holster there, Tifa shot him a quizzical look before tugging on it slightly.
"Astasia has her whip, you have your fists, Kiani has her pistols, and Jean has his brass knuckles. I want to be able to defend myself too, so I got an under jacket holster for my sawed off shotgun," he explained, and Tifa scowled. He immediately tried to defend himself, thinking she would berate him for having a weapon, but her lecture turned and went a different direction.
"Why you insist on fighting with a shotgun, I have no clue. The reload speed is atrocious, the ammo weighs you down, and while it allows you to be a wide range long range fighter, there's also the chance that you could hit an ally with your spray of bullets. Why not go with a pistol, or even a rifle?" Tifa asked, her eyes searching his and a scowl on her face. Sheepishly, Rufus grinned.
"Well, it was the only weapon my father let my mother use, and only in dire emergencies. I learned it from her. . ." He trailed off and a moment of silence passed between them.
"At least learn hand to hand fighting, if necessary. I'm sure Astasia's brother could teach you some basic sword techniques so if you get kidnapped, or something, you can fight back with a pipe your find." Tifa rose on her tiptoes to place a kiss on her husband's lips, and Astasia pretended she didn't see it.
"Alright, I'll consider it. We should be getting some down time soon after the parade is over. Also. . .dear, how would you like to go on a boat ride with me?" Rufus then asked, his grip tightening on her slightly. Tifa shot him another quizzical look.
"What kind of boat?" she asked suspiciously.
"It's. . .smaller than a cruise ship, but bigger than my personal ship," he explained, and Astasia snorted, trying to suppress a laugh. Tifa turned to her sharply and the darker haired woman seemed to try to shrink at the First Lady's unamused stare.
"Astasia, explain."
"Cargo ship," was Astasia's answer and Rufus groaned out the Lieutenant General's name in exasperation.
"You know you're really bad at keeping secrets," he accused her.
"A cargo ship?" Tifa asked incredulously. "Why do you want to go on a cargo ship?!"
"For bait," Astasia replied when Tifa shot her eyes to the taller woman once more after a few moments of silence from her husband.
"Bait?!" Tifa exclaimed, rounding on her blond husband.
"Oh, come on, Astasia, stop throwing me under the bus!" came his reply, and Tifa gripped his tie to bring him down to eye level with her.
"Explain or I'm eating lunch alone today," she threatened, and Rufus let out a sigh.
"There have been sightings of AVALANCHE in the lower part of the city. Knowing their luck, they'll slip past security and somehow get on the ship. The creature that escaped from Hojo's lab was last seen trying to get across the water, and we want to know where it's trying to go. If you and I were on the ship, AVALANCHE will surely follow. Once we complete the voyage, we'll be in Costa del Sol, and we'll have the option of either taking a vacation there and spend some time on the beach, or we could take the helicopter back over here to Junon. This way AVALANCHE will be on a whole different continent and will stop interfering with our plans."
His argument was sound, and Tifa couldn't complain with a vacation on the beach. Despite being with her husband again for close to two weeks now, they still haven't been intimate with each again. He was a gentleman and didn't push, and it was frustrating her to hell and back. The door to the elevator finally opened as they reached ground level, and Tifa stepped out of the elevator first, despite Astasia's protestations.
"Alright. I'll go on a boat ride with you, dear, and in exchange you give me a tropical vacation. How does that sound?" Tifa stated, and Rufus could only grin back.
"That sounds delightful," he replied before she took his arm and he led their trio to the restaurant they had to rush out of a week prior.
A/N: Here's another chapter, this one devoted to that brilliant FFVII Remake trailer revealed the other day at E3. Oh my goodness, I have no complaints about Tifa's character design whatsoever. She's so gorgeous.
Thanks so much for reading! I'm about 2 chapters ahead at this point, so hoping to post a little more every week. I don't know. I'll think up a posting schedule. I have a bajillion other projects in the works, writing, crochet, and more, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. We'll see.
Until next time, my Lovelies! MWAH! *kissy noises*