Chapter 2: How We Met

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the favs and reviews! It really made my day when I saw it lol. Hopefully this means you wanna see more of this story. Well let's get to it! I'm sure you want to know how Rufus and Lana's first meeting will be like!

This chapter is going to be a bit shorter than the previous one but mainly because I didn't want to stretch this scene out too much.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7; I just own my oc's.

Enjoy!

/

Dad was always embarrassed when he recalled how he first met mom. I'm sure he was expecting it to be something romantic like spotting her out in a crowd of people instead of being found bleeding in an alleyway. Either way their meeting was one no one would ever forget.

Lana quickly put away her knife when she saw the blood staining Rufus's hand and shirt. Pulling off her apron, she hurried over to him and pressed the fabric over the bleeding wound. Rufus hissed at the contact but didn't push her away. He needed to get ahold of Tseng before anyone else found out that he got injured. Lana frowned when she saw her white apron quickly turning red.

"This is really bad. I don't think the bleeding is going to stop on its own"

She replaced her hand with Rufus's and got up.

"Let me call an ambulance. You need medical help"

Before she could move to head back inside, Rufus snatched her wrist and stopped her.

"No! No ambulance!" he said quickly.

He couldn't go to a hospital. If word got out that the heir to the Shinra company was badly injured, it would cause chaos.

Lana just made a face at Rufus.

"You're bleeding out in an alleyway, what do you mean no ambulance?!" she snapped.

Rufus just groaned and rest his head against the wall. He had never been stabbed before and so far, he was not enjoying the pain he was in. Lana could sense how much pain he was in and pulled her hand away. She went to head back inside but Rufus snatched her wrist again and gave it a harsh squeeze.

"I said no ambulance" he snapped.

Lana glared at him and snatched her hand back.

"Stop being such a baby and let me try to help you!" she snapped.

"If I don't call for help, you're gonna bleed to death in some random alleyway in Sector 2. Is that really how you want to die?"

Rufus looked at her strangely. Didn't this woman know who he was? If anyone else was in her position they would be jumping for joy at the prospect of saving the son of the richest man in the world.

Lana turned on her heels and started walking back to the café.

"I'm calling for help and that's final"

Groaning, Rufus got up to his feet and leaned against the wall.

"Wait"

Digging into his jacket, he pulled out his cell phone.

"Don't call an ambulance. Use my phone to call someone named Tseng. He'll be able to help me"

Lana raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Is this Tseng guy a medical friend?"

"Something like that"

He didn't want to say that Tseng was a Turk, but it was better if he got help from him then going to a hospital. Lana just stared at him for a moment then sighed and held her hand out.

"Fine, I'll call him. But if he tells me to take you to the hospital, you're going"

"Trust me, he wouldn't do that unless it was absolutely necessary" Rufus said as he handed her the phone.

"And bleeding out on the streets isn't considered necessary?" Lana asked flatly.

She scrolled through his phone until she found Tseng's name. Hitting the name, she held the phone to her ear and waited for Tseng to pick up.

The Turk answered after the first ring.

"Sir?"

"Hi, is this Tseng?" Lana asked sheepishly.

"Yes. Who is this? And how do you have this phone?"

"My name is Lana. I found your friend bleeding out behind the Golden Rose café in Sector 2 and he insisted that I call you instead of doing the logical thing and calling an ambulance"

"What?! Is he alright?'

"He is now, but if I don't get him medical help soon, he won't be. If you can just call an ambulance that would be- "

"No need, I'm on my way. Golden Rose in Sector 2 correct?"

"Wha- I mean yes, that's where we are but you should- "

"I'll be there shortly"

"Wait don't hang up!" Lana cried.

The line went dead, signaling Tseng got off the phone. Lana hung her head, silently cursing her bad luck. She lifted her head when she saw Rufus slowly moving away.

"Oh no, no, no!"

She hurried over to him and forced him to sit on the ground.

"You sit your ass back down. You lost too much blood and you're gonna pass out if you move around"

Rufus gave her a tired glare but sat on the ground. Lana crouched to the ground and inspected his injury.

"The bleeding isn't letting up still" she groaned.

She quickly rummaged into her pockets and pulled out a cure Materia.

"Hold onto this. It won't stop the bleeding, but it should slow it down to where you're not losing a lot"

Rufus weakly grabbed the Materia and pressed it against the stab wound. He could instantly feel the orb doing its work as it slowed the bleeding down. Lana seemed satisfied as she saw the bleeding become less.

"That should hold you over until your friend gets here" she said.

Rufus just propped his head against the wall and sighed. What a day he was having. It started off with his father chewing him out about causing a scene and making the company look bad to ending with him being stabbed by an exe girlfriend.

"Elle was right. Exes are dangerous" he thought.

He looked over at Lana tiredly. She was trying to save him and didn't seem bothered that he was being rude to her.

"I apologize for my behavior before. I know you're trying to help me, and I appreciate that"

Lana just waved him off as she kept checking his injury.

"Don't worry about it. You got stabbed and were probably scared by it. I am surprised though that something like a stabbing would happen on the Upper plates. Usually that happens in the Slums"

Rufus raised an eyebrow at that.

"You're from the Slums?" he asked.

Lana nodded, not bothering to look up at him. She had a feeling that Rufus was going to be disgusted finding out that someone who was beneath him had helped him. She didn't need to see the look of shock on his face when he realized he was saved by a Slum Rat.

Rufus was shocked but not because he was disgusted. He knew people of the Slums hated his father. It was thanks to him that they were living in poverty while he was living in luxury. If they knew that the president's son was badly injured, they would have finished the job and killed him.

Surely Lana knew this so why was she trying so hard to help him?

"If you're from the Slums why are you trying to help me?" he couldn't help but asked.

Lana slowly looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Because you're bleeding?" she said slowly.

Now it was Rufus's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Don't you know who I am?"

Lana made a face when he said that.

"Obviously someone not important if you're using the 'Do you know who I am' card" she said dryly.

"Excuse me?"

Lana rolled her eyes. In annoyance.

"Oh, come on. Everyone knows if you say, 'Do you know who I am?' You're trying to make others think that you're important and special when in reality you're not but you just want people to think that you are"

Rufus looked baffled at Lana's explanation. She lived in the Slums and worked on the Upper Plate, yet she didn't know who he was? That couldn't be right.

"Surely you've seen my face before" he insisted.

Lana looked at his face but really couldn't see it properly. He did look familiar but since it was dark out, she couldn't tell where she saw his face before.

"I see a lot of people at my job so maybe you're one of my customers" she just shrugged.

Rufus just started at this strange woman in shock.

I think mom not knowing who dad was right away hurt him a lot more than being stabbed. You can heal the body easily but not a man's pride.

Lana snickered at Rufus's expression.

"What's the matter? Chocobo got your tongue?"

Rufus quickly shut his mouth. He looked away so Lana wouldn't see that he was blushing. This was absurd. He was Rufus Shinra, heir to the Shinra company. Everyone knew who he was and yet this tiny little slum girl had no idea she was sitting next to the second wealthiest man in the world.

Lana just patted his shoulder. She always found it funny when a man's pride was sabotaged over something silly as not being big and famous.

"Don't feel bad. Just because you're not big and famous doesn't mean you're not important"

Rufus gave Lana a withering glare. He felt bad that he was being rude to her earlier but now he was starting to take those feelings back.

"Why you insolent little- "

They were both slightly blinded by a set of car lights that appeared in the alleyway. Moments later, Tseng sprang from the car and rushed towards them.

"Sir!"

Lana stood up and face the Turk when he reached them.

"I take it you're Tseng?"

Tseng nodded, eyeing Lana questionably.

"I am. I take it you're the one I was on the phone with?"

"That would be me" Lana said tiredly.

"I was able to stop the bleeding a bit with a Cure Materia but he's gonna need professional medical help to seal up the wound. Your friend keeps insisting he doesn't need to go to the hospital but I'm gonna chalk it up as he doesn't know what he's talking about due to blood loss"

"Hey!" Rufus snapped.

Lana whipped her head around and glared at him.

"Shut up! You're in no position to be arguing with me right now" she retorted.

She turned back to Tseng and gave him a sweet smile.

"Since he won't listen to me, I'm sure he'll listen to you. I know people hate going to the doctors, but your friend is being childish"

Tseng simply raised an eyebrow at this strange woman. Did she have no idea who she just saved? He mentally shook his head. He didn't have time for this. His boss was bleeding and needed to be healed.

"I'll get him taken care of. Thank you for calling me and helping him until I got here"

He quickly went over to Rufus and helped him up to his feet.

"Let's go, Sir. I informed your personal doctor what happened, and he'll be waiting for us at the manor"

With Lana's help, they were able to get him in the back of the car. Rufus groaned as he was moved around but relaxed when he sat down. He knew it was going to be a bitch getting the blood off the seats, but he really didn't care at this point. He wasn't sitting on the hard ground.

Tseng went over to Lana when he made sure Rufus was secured inside.

"Thank you again for helping him"

"It's no problem. I just did what anyone else would do" Lana said.

"Oh, I highly doubt that" Tseng thought.

Lana looked at Rufus and gave him a small smile.

"You get better, alright buddy?"

"My name's not buddy" Rufus snapped.

Lana snickered shrugged sheepishly.

"You never gave me your name so what else was I supposed to call you?" she joked.

An idea sprang to Rufus's mind when he heard that. It annoyed him that she didn't know who he was or acted like he wasn't important. Since she stabbed his pride it was time to return the favor.

"That's right. I never did give you my name"

Tseng's eyes went wide. He knew was his boss was doing and knew it was a horrible idea. The fact that Lana had no idea who she saved worked heavily in their favor. She couldn't go to the press with it, and no one would no that the heir to the Shinra Electric Power Company had almost died. This was perfect.

"Sir, I don't think- "

Rufus waved him off and looked Lana dead in the eye.

"You really want to know my name?" he asked.

Lana looked puzzled. Why did the man insisted she know who he was?

"I mean sure, if you're that desperate in telling me" she said.

Rufus wore a shit eating grin as he looked at her. Payback time.

"Rufus Shinra"

Just as he expected, Lana went from smug and sweet to shocked and horrified. The color drained from her face when she realized why Rufus looked so familiar. He was all over the news today!

When mom talked about how she met dad she would always say she had no idea what horrified her the most. The fact that dad almost bleed to death in front of her or that she had no idea who he was.

Feeling satisfied, Rufus turned to Tseng.

"Let's go, Tseng. I don't want to die in the back of one of my father's cars. There are more dignified places to die at"

Tseng quickly nodded and hurried over to the car. Without so much as saying a goodbye, the two men left leaving Lana alone in the alleyway.

The night's events came crashing down on her and caused her to fall on her knees in shock. She just helped Rufus Shinra. Midgar's most eligible bachelor was bleeding right in front of her and she didn't even realize it!

"Oh, Gaia what did I just get myself into?" she asked herself.

She quickly shook her head.

"Get ahold of yourself Lana. This was just a random encounter. You were just being a good person and helped a poor man out…a man that happened to be the son of President Shinra"

She bit her lip as she walked in circles.

"Just relax. He's the richest man in the world, and you're just a girl from the Slums. There's no way you'll ever see him again" she said quietly.

That should have been the case, but it seems that the fates had other plans in mind. This was the first of many encounters she would have with the man who would end up being her husband.

/

A/N: Woo Hoo they finally met! I hope their first interaction wasn't too cheesy or cliché. Now that Lana knows who she saved, what's gonna happen next? Will she keep quiet about it? Will Rufus keep quiet about it? Guess we won't know until next time lol.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Take care!