Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Cetra Muyo OAV ❯ Farewell Home, Hello Red-Ohki ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Episode Three: Farewell Home, Hello Red-Ohki!
Rufus wandered through the garden, somewhat sulking and reminiscing on the memories with Analfi. Just because she had the blood of the Cetras flowing in her body, she was given many responsibilities. And it was one of the responsibilities that was the cause of their separation. It was all because stupid Sephiroth attacked the royal palace, and Analfi went after him.

But there was a precious memory--right before she left him--that he held dear to him. He stopped in his trek and looked around at the various, colorful flower around him until one particular one caught his eyes. He walked over to it and knelt down, remembering that special event when Analfi had given him that same violet flower.

He was too caught up in his memories that he didn't realize light footsteps were heading his way. He finally noticed someone behind him when he saw the shadow looming over him. "Rufus, are you okay?" the gentle voice asked. He stood up to meet Aeris's gaze while holding the flower between his fingers. Holding her hands behind her back, she saw the flower and smiled sweetly, "You like flowers too?"

"Not really," he said dully. "Just that this one reminds me of Analfi."

She covered her mouth with one hand apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Rufus." She revealed the hand behind her back to him, that was holding the staff. She held it out to him. "I should return this to you. It's a valuable keepsake." He accepted the item from her without taking his eyes off the smiling girl. Something about her reminded him of his Analfi, but he couldn't quite understand what it was. Was it her sweet personality? Or her heavenly beauty?

"Tell me," he began, "Is it all a lie? 'Her' death." He stared into her green eyes, searching for some sort of confirmation to the answer he already knew and dreaded. Just the look in her eyes told him everything, and he dragged his eyes to the item in his hands, the Royal Guard--with only the white and black materia in the slots--that was always by Analfi's side. He closed his eyes as if he was in mourning.

"RUFUS!!" the voice boomed in his ears. His eyes snapped open, and he laid in bed, staring at the white ceiling above him. "RUFUS!!" came the rude voice again, followed by banging on the door. "GET YOUR DAMN ASS OUTTA BED!! IT'S MID-MORNIN', AND EVERYONE ELSE'S UP!!" Rufus sat up in bed, throwing the covers aside to reveal himself in nothing but boxer shorts. [SD-K-chan is starry-eyed, drooling at the image.]

He rubbed his temples, easing the gentle throbbing in his head before it became major timebomb and destroy his sanity. Sephiroth was the usual cause to his annoyance and pain, but at that moment, his little brother could be dressed in drags by Tifa and Yuffie for all he cared. "DAMMIT, CLOUD!! I'M UP ALREADY!!" he shouted back.

"At least someone in the royal family know what gratitude is," he heard the younger blonde grumbled, and then footstepts disappeared down the hall. Cloud could be really bothersome, even as a half-brother. He just didn't understand how much Analfi meant to him.

Rufus glanced at the Royal Guard leaning against the wall and then finally decided to get dress and become the proper guest he was to the Gainsborough.

Thirty minutes passed by until Rufus graced the household with his almighty presence in the main room. He stumbled backwards when he saw Sephiroth sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the television screen. Barret was seated on the floor--almost in front of the television--yelling (or maybe cheering) at the two large men pounding each other senseless. Wearing a frilly, pink apron, Cloud walked into the room with a tray of food and set it on the table.

Very bothered by his brother's sudden appearance (in such a girlie thing), Rufus announced his presence loudly, "CLOUD, WHAT THE HELL?!!" He pointed a shaky finger at the puzzled blonde while Barret and Sephiroth tilted their heads to the side so they could see the program on the screen better since Rufus was blocking most of it now. "YO-YOU'RE CROSS-DRESSIN' AGAIN!!" he managed to splutter out.

"DAMMIT, BOY!!" Barret shouted, "STAND SOMEWHERE ELSE AND YELL!! YOU'RE IN DA WAY!!"

Cloud glared at his brother, very hard, and then got up to yank the young man away from the host's view to his own television set. "NOW my brother worries 'bout MY well-bein'," he grumbled, but only got shocking stares from Rufus. He whacked Rufus's head and explained, "I was helping Aeris with breakfast, and she told me to wear this so my clothes wouldn't get ruined."

Rufus finally let out a sigh of relief--the royal family of SHINRA-sei could not have anymore insanity than it already did. Then his attention quickly turned to Sephiroth, who released an amusing snort at the brotherly scene without looking at them. Rufus crossed his arms and sneered at him, "What are you doing farting so early in the day, Sephiroth?"

Cloud facefaulted but quickly recovered from his brother's sudden insult to the once great Space SOLDIER. "You can be SO vulgar," he sighed.

"I was merely expressing my amusement at your foolish assumption," Sephiroth explained without giving him eye contact. "If Cloud had strange preferences, wouldn't I have known when he was under my leadership? But I find him rather likable than the other princes of SHINRA-sei. I don't know..." He looked semi-thoughtful, "they have that family quirkiness. Cloud seems to be spared from that traumatic gene."

Rufus's left eyes was twitching now as he glared at Sephiroth, knowing that HE--the first and the only other prince of SHINRA-sei--had been insulted again directly in his face. "WHY YOU..." he started, getting to his feet with clenched fists, "YOU WANNA FIGHT?!!"

Sephiroth stood up, finally looking at the young prince with visible pleasure. Cloud quickly got between them, "Hey, you shouldn't be fighting here. It's not our place to do whatever we want, remember?"

Sephiroth didn't back down at all, but Rufus's thoughts turned to Aeris from the day before, and he glanced around the room and then towards the kitchen. "Where is Lady Aeris?" he asked. No one noticed Sephiroth's eyes had immediately narrowed at Rufus when he had inquired about the girl's whereabouts.

"With her grandmother, I think," Cloud answered, "somewhere in the back garden."

Rufus nodded, suddenly having forgotten about Sephiroth's presence, and sat down at the table with Cloud. Sephiroth sat down too, and the three were about to eat when Barret jumped at the television set, yelling and cursing, "YOU F**KIN' IDIOT!! WHAT KINDA MOVE WAS THAT?!! KICK 'IM!! KICK 'IM AND BREAK HIS DAMN LEGS!!" In his raging anger at the fighter's stupid move, he punched the television out of commission.

The SHINRA princes just gaped at the big man while Sephiroth began to eat peacefully, ignoring the sudden, strange outburst. Barret snapped out of his anger and blinked at the broken equipment. "Aaawe, s**t. Third TV this week, " he groaned, smacking a hand to his forehead.


After a short, in-depth practice with handling the staff more, Ifalna and Aeris were now walking down the pathway together as they chatted. The girl was relating what happened a few days ago to her grandmother, who actually took it quite nicely. "I'm REALLY sorry, grandmother, for all this trouble," she said, stopping in her tracks, "but they have no one else to turn to here on the Planet."

The woman continued walking without a word until she stopped and looked back at her granddaughter. She wore a pensive expression and could burst into laughter any moment. "Hmm, so we have three, young men in our house now," she said. She turned around and continued walking, "Come along now, Aeris. We shouldn't keep them waiting."

Aeris blinked for a moment before catching up to the woman. "So these men," her grandmother started again, "One's the demon Sephiroth, and the other two are princes from SHINRA-sei?" The girl only nodded. "I must say, this is very interesting. At least our quiet house will be more lively now!" she laughed.

"Grandmother," Aeris sighed at the woman's unnatural behavior.

During the rest of the way back to the house, Aeris didn't hear the end of the woman's laughter and suggestiongs of one of the young men being her grandson-in-law. [SD-K-chan blinks.] "Grandmother!" she said a bit firmly.

"Aah, but Aeris, I'm an old woman here. I could just drop dead any day now." Aeris gasped at such bluntness to her own condition, but it was so untrue when her grandmother had always been so healthy. "I'm just eager for you to settle down," she said with a heavy sigh that made Aeris feel guilty. "So I can have a great-grandson to hold and dote on," she laughed while Aeris hung her head low, regretting that she ever felt guilty.

They finally made it to the house, and when they entered the kitchen through the backdoor, Aeris rushed into the main room to find Rufus and Sephiroth in a battle while Cloud and Barret were beneath the table, salvaging whatever was left of the meal. Cloud had long given up on convincing either to stop and focused on his own protection, putting up a small shield around the table. He almost forgot how the fight started until his chopsticks picked at the fish's head.

It was the same piece that Rufus was aiming to get until Sephiroth reached it before he did, and that led to a verbal contest and then escalating to a full-scale, living room war. "The things people do for food," Cloud remarked.

Barret shook his head, "Dis ain't any food. It's Aeris's cookin'. She's a helluva chef!" Cloud thought about that for a moment and realized that the man was right. The food was delicious, and he snickered at how stupid Rufus and Sephiroth were for missing out on it.

"BOTH OF YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!" Aeris demanded, and the whole scene just stopped as if time itself had stood still. All four pairs of eyes were on her as Ifalna appeared behind the girl. Rufus had his shotgun by his side and a hand in the air about to cast a spell while Sephiroth held his Masamune in the air about to execute a technique. The room was in complete shambles with bullet holes all over the place not to mention a bit of frozen and burnt areas because some people had to cast ICE and LIGTNING spells.

Aeris appeared to be the only one upset at this situation while Ifalna examined the damage with great interest. As Cloud and Barret crawled out of their 'hiding' place, she said, "You boys put in quite some power."

"Grandmother!" Aeris called, "You shouldn't encourage them!"

She laughed nervously, noticing the girl's strict glare. "Haha, okay. Well I hope this won't be an every day event." She turned back to the exit and patted Aeris's back. "Good luck with all the cleaning," she said before hurrying off to avoid all house work.

Aeris gaped at the woman fleeing from responsibilities as the owner of the house and then turned to the four men in the living room, glaring at them with her silence. Sephiroth was indifferent while Rufus felt awkward with the silence and Cloud was feeling terrible since he spoiled himself with her cooking instead of stopping them. Aeris's green eyes had scanned the room carefully until it landed on the busted television, and her glare was then focused on her father, who looked away sheepishly.

"The food was great!" Cloud nervously said, hoping to lighten the mood. "I mean, you're an excellent chef, Aeris, if uhh, that makes it any better."

She smiled faintly at Cloud's compliment amidst disaster. "Thank you, Cloud, but that really doesn't get everyone out of cleaning up. You too, father." She eyed the older man, who willingly sucuumbed to the girl's orders because he was somewhat involved and he loved her too much to deny her anything.

Sephiroth smiled inwardly, sheathing the sword away, and walked to Aeris. "While they're cleaning up, let us go somewhere peaceful." He grabbed her wrist and vanished with her before Rufus could shoot the damn SOLDIER for escaping responsibilities--instead the bullet found its target in an antique vase. Rufus cursed the empty air, not knowing that that vase was a precious item left to Aeris from her deceased mother.

"Aah, well we should get started," Cloud said.

Rufus glared at him, "What the hell?! This was Sephiroth's fault!!! He started the whole thing!!" He had enough with Sephiroth and was about to blow a fuse, but Cloud quickly stomped it off by not literally stomping his brother to the ground, but stuffing the older prince's mouth with Aeris's delish fish dish! [SD-K-chan is rolling with laughter.] Rufus did calm down as he dwelled on the wonderful taste until he wondered why he missed out on such great food. That was when the image of a laughing, psychotic Sephiroth holding a Masamune-shish-kabob of fishes appeared in his mind.

Cloud didn't like that look on his brother's face, and Barret was still finishing up the meal as he stood next to Cloud, looking at the other young man. "Say, is dat boy al'ight? Is he mental?"

The blonde shrugged, "You don't know the half of it." He walked to the front door and opened it, calling, "Hey, Tifa! Yuffie! Can ya do me a favor?"

"Aah, Cloud-sama!" Tifa cried happily. "Anything for you!"

"What's up, boss number two?" Yuffie added. "Hey, what was that funny noise in the house? It sounded like you guys were havin' a party."

"Aaawe, Cloud-sama! You didn't invite us!!" Tifa whined.

"Err," Cloud sweated, "that's why I'm inviting you NOW!"

Barret chuckled, "Yeah, after da party's ova."


Just as Sephiroth and Aeris reappeared by a nearby lakeside, the girl jerked her hand from his grasp. She turned away from him with her arms folded across her chest. "I don't even want to know how it started," she said. "I'm sure you're involved somehow, spurring Rufus on. Why are you two always fighting?" He moved in front of her, so she could look at him. She turned her head to the side and looked at the ground. He moved in that spot, and she looked else where. This continued for the next five minutes until she pouted and closed her eyes.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled. He leaned down close to her face and his lips slowly descending upon hers, placing a gentle kiss that shook her whole body. Her eyes snapped open as he lingered on her lips and caressed her cheek with great care as if she would just suddenly break if he put anymore pressure.

She was too shock to do anything but let her body melt at his touch and most of all his warm kiss that sent all sorts of emotions spinning in her body. And anger was what caused her to retreat without returning the kiss because that kiss was her very first, and of course, she had every right to be upset. She almost shoved him back, surprising him. It was written all over his face.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked as if he didn't know what it was.

She glared at him with fierce, green eyes. "YES!" she blurted out, "THE KISS!"

"It wasn't to your liking?" he inquired thoughtfully.

"NO!!" She blushed at the answer, quickly adding, "YES!! NO, I MEAN... IT WAS MY FIRST KISS!" She no longer blushed but continued to glare at him.

"Really? I feel special," he smirked, truly meaning every word of it, but somehow it came off as a sarcastic remark.

She frowned and stomped away from him, but he quickly pursued her by air, drifting after her. She glanced to her side, finding him staring at her. She felt her face burning, but she wasn't sure if it was anger or embarrassment. At least he wasn't trying to kill her now. "You're beautiful when you're upset," he noted.

The comment caused her face to become bloody crimson, and she tried to ignore him. She took off running with an entertained Sephiroth after her. She looked back over her shoulder and saw that he was right behind her, but wondered why he didn't speed up to catch her. He was flying through the air which was much faster than her by foot. She concluded that it was another one of his games and was about to slow down when her house came into view. Her foot suddenly slipped, and she fell backwards for the ground.

Sephiroth saw this and flew faster to her aid, catching her falling body into his arms. She looked up at him and blushed, "Th-thank you." She recovered and knelt to the ground where her foot had slipped after feeling something beneath it. She saw something sparkle and found the red materia that she had given Sephiroth a few days ago to summon 'Red-Ohki'. Just as she picked it up, the burning sensation caused her hand to throw it back down. "IT'S HOT!" she yelped, rubbing her heated palm.

Sephiroth checked her injury, seeing a faint burnt mark, and then eyed the red materia, which suddenly started to stir. He stood in front of Aeris as they slowly backed off. The mist of red energy filled the air and continuted to gather into an indefinite form. "What's happening, Sephiroth?" she asked, wondering if the red spaceship was going to appear, but how was that possible when it had also crashed into the ocean that evening. Then it dawned on her that the energy coming out felt dark and cold.

"It's Red-Ohki," he told her.

"But the crash..."

"The red materia is a summoning type," he explained, "and it calls upon Red-Ohki anytime. But when he is released without the power of the staff to tame him, destruction will only lay in his path."

During his explanation, the red energy blazed into a giant, four-legged creature with crackling red-orange eyes. "Oh gosh!" she gasped. "I gave it to Rufus!"

Sephiroth pulled out the Masamune, preparing to battle. "I'll distract him while you get the staff." Aeris nodded and waited until he charge at the flaming creature. Several fireballs blasted at Sephiroth, but the latter easily dodged aside, casting an ICE spell. The demon countered the spell with more fireballs. He lashed his paw of fire at the young man, who blocked the attack with the Masamune.

Aeris ran towards the house, but her movements were quickly picked up by the creature. He shot out a fireball in her direction. Sephiroth was too far away to help her as she screamed in horror. While his attention was on her, he didn't realize the monster's large tail was heading right for him till it was too late. The heavy tail of fire slammed Sephiroth across the fields of flowers.

Sephiroth recovered quickly after he heard the explosion, and his body boiled with such intensity at the thought of Aeris being hurt that he would rip the creature with his own bare hands. He searched for any signs of the girl in her previous spot and much to his relief, he found Cloud standing protectively in front of Aeris with his Ultima Weapon.

"Aeris, are you all right?" the blonde asked.

"Ye-yeah," she answered, somewhat still in shock. "Thank you, Cloud."

"No problem."

Rufus was also near them with Tifa and Yuffie. He commanded the two logs, "Protect Lady Aeris!" After that order, he and Cloud charged into the fight, joining Sephiroth, but Rufus had no intention of helping the ex-Space SOLDIER. He was still a guest to the Gainsboroughs, and having an alien monster loose in their backyard when it was partly his fault was not a good way to treat his hostesses and host.

While the three were occuppied with the creature of fire, Aeris ran into the house with Tifa and Yuffie dutifully trailing behind. "AERIS-SAMAAAAAAAAA!!" they called uselessly after her. The girl ignored their cries as she ran through the semi-clean living room where Barret was about to get rid of the busted television and Ifalna was reading a book and finally into Rufus's room. She immediately spotted the staff on top of the bed and grabbed it.

When she returned downstairs with the two logs behind her, Ifalna stopped them, "There will be no running in the house, young lady."

"Yes, grandmother," she acknowledged, not bothering to think about why the woman had decree that rule instead of the 'no fighting' one. "Let's go!" she shouted to the logs as she took off running again.

Ifalna just shook her head and returned to her book. "Barret, you've spoiled her."

He lifted the broken equipment over one shoulder and looked at the old woman. "A father's love for his li'l girl is unbounded," he said and then stalked off to the front door. All this happened while the loud battle was audiable in the background. Neither questioned it because they assumed the boys were fighting again. A loud, monstrous roar stunned the two occupants of the house. "Dat Rufus boy is sure feisty," Barret commented. Ifalna nodded without taking her eyes from the book.

Thanks to the monster outside, the roof was suddenly ripped from the foundation of the house, making a clear view of the afternoon sky. Ifalna looked up and frowned. "Barret, call into Kalm and get some repairmen over here now."

"Sure thing," he replied as he left through the front door with the television.


When Aeris reached her friends again, the creatured seemed to have been worn out along with the three, young men. It appeared that the princes didn't have the stamina like Sephiroth did, or the ex-Space SOLDIER was a master at hiding all weaknesses. "Rufus-sama! Cloud-sama!" the logs cried worriedly and rushed to their princes' sides.

The monster turned his attention to an unguarded Aeris, who stood paralyzed beneath his gaze. He was too close to her and would destroy her before any of the others, especially Sephiroth, could get to her in time. The creatured lurched at her as she screamed, holding the staff as her only means of defense. They cried out her name at what they thought was certain doom, but the creatured roared in pain as it smashed against the power of the Royal Guard. The weapon had automatically casted a barrier around its destined user.

Rufus and Cloud stared wide-eyed at the girl, wondering why the Royal Guard had protected her when they knew it could only be used by those of Cetran blood. While the red monster retreated in pain, Sephiroth took his chance and flew in and snatched Aeris safely into his arms. Aeris latched her arms around his neck for fear of falling, but of course, he wouldn't let her fall, and he certainly was enjoying every second of it.

His glowing green eyes scanned the ground below for the spot the red materia had been. When he found the place, he flew down to it and picked up the sparkling object. No longer burning hot, he gave it to Aeris. "With this on the staff, the other materias will draw the dark energy of the red materia back into it." She nodded and did as she was told.

"What now?" she asked when it was in place. The creature had recover from the shock and was now intent on destroying Aeris and everything within its range.

"It's up to you," he told her.

"WHAAAAT?!!" she shook her head. "I don't know what to do. I have no experience with this."

Sephiroth calmed her down, caressing her hand, "It's all right, Aeris. I know you can do it. When we first met in the cavern, I felt your power." His expression softened for only her, which stunned her to silence. "I'll be right beside you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Hey, Tifa," Yuffie called. "Don't ja think their dialogue's way too long? I mean, shouldn't the evil Red-Ohki have attacked by NOW."

"Hmm, yeah."

Cloud looked at the chattering blockheads strangely while Rufus was glaring at Sephiroth holding Aeris's hand. The older prince stood up, yelling at them, "WOULD JA F**KIN' HURRY UP AND GET THIS DONE WITH!!"

The pair looked up as the monster of flames tore down in their directions. Aeris closed her eyes and held the Royal Guard with both hands in front of her. Her body and the staff began to radiate a bright light as the latter slowly floated into the air. Aeris clasped her hands together and prayed that they could stop the evil Red-Ohki.

Of course, her prayers were answered when the white light engulfed Red-Ohki as it roared at that the intense, pure energy rushing through its form. Slowly, the three materias of the Royal Guard absorbed in the negative energy, purifying it. In the end, all that was left was a feline-looking animal lying on the grass.

The staff returned to Aeris's hands as she practically collapsed to the ground wearily, but Sephiroth caught her and held her up. Her eyes were glued on the mysterious red creature on the ground. She finally managed to stand on her own feet and staggered over to the fallen animal. She knelt down next to it, observing the fascinating creature. "Is this," she began, "Red-Ohki?"

"Yes," he said, joining her on the ground, and didn't bother to acknowlege Rufus and the others. He laid a hand on Red-Ohki's side and was inwardly satisfied that his companion was breathing. "He'll be fine."

"Partners in crime," Rufus snorted. "You two always make hell."

"What honor do I have," the creature breathed as he slowly came out of unconsciousness, "to be in the presence of his Highness, Prince Rufus of SHINRA-sei?" His tone was dripped with total sarcasm.

Cloud yanked on Rufus's shirt collar, preventing his brother from starting another war and this time with a giant spaceship while they had none. "Heh, sorry 'bout that," the sensible blonde said. "You put up a pretty good fight with us teamin' against ya."

Red-Ohki straightened his posture and nodded, flinching a bit from some pain received during the battle. Aeris at first was startled and frightened when the creature awoken, but now he seemed so gentle and polite that she couldn't help but brush her hand down his back, soothing his pain. Red-Ohki purred deeply at the girl's nice gesture. He turned his attention to the girl and recalled her being on board the ship.

"Lady Aeris," he acknowledged.

"Aeris is just fine," she giggled at such formality. She stood up as he did. "And welcome to the family, Red-Ohki!"

"AERIS!!" they all heard Ifalna called. "WE'RE ALL HEADING TO KALM!! IT'LL TAKE A FEW DAYS FOR THEM TO FIX THE ROOF!!"

"The roof?" everyone said puzzled. Their eyes averted to the top of the house and realized there wasn't one. Aeris gawked at the damage with her left eye twitching while Sephiroth was indifferent. Cloud and Red-Ohki wore guilty looks. Rufus just slapped his hand to his forehead in frustration.

Yuffie laughed, "Aren't ja glad there's still a house at all!!"