Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Hearts Second Chance ❯ Chapter 34 ( Chapter 34 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Advisor Strife sat in the plush chair on the other side of the desk from Rufus while he reclined contently in his own chair. With the members of Avalanche dispersed within his company, he had lost the power he had expected to have when his father had been assassinated. However, with Mrs. Strife’s gentle persuasion he had gained a power that rivaled his fathers. This whole rule with kindness thing worked surprisingly well.
“If that is all sir I will finish my reports for the day and leave a little early.” Mrs. Strife said as she stood.
“That’s right you have your family reunion in the mountains in two days.” Rufus said as he stood to walk her out. Over the last five years, he had grown to respect the woman whom had been one of his company’s biggest enemies.
“Yes, this is a good time of year to have our reunion, business is slow and the weather prevents any construction work, so Cloud and Sephiroth can freely leave the sight,” she commented as she loaded all her paperwork into the briefcase. “Oh, will the general and my sons be able to take the time off too?”
“I have already arranged it. Reno and Rude have already requested to be the ones to take all of you to the house, and I have agreed. Please enjoy your time off,” he said with a genuine smile.
“Are you sure you will be okay while we are all away?” Mrs. Strife asked with concern in her voice.
“Yes,” he blushed slightly, “Robin has agreed to a dinner date with me.”
Mrs. Strife smiled at his obvious embarrassment. When the girl had agreed to come to the company as Vice President, Rufus had hounded her for months to go on a date with him. She had finally, and in a most humiliating way, turned him down telling him he was only interested in her so he could sway her vote. He had sulked for months over her rejection. Once they started working together, he had rethought his attraction to her, and for a while, they could not get along no matter how many people tried to help. Then, one day, when Rufus was so sure he would loose the vote for a project he had proposed, Robin had voted for his plan. He had been so stunned by Robin’s comments that he had cornered her after the meeting and demanded to know why. She had told him his plan was well thought out and would not only profit Shin-Ra but would be beneficial for the people. After that day two years ago, their relationship became less volatile. In the last six months, he had finally come to terms with his feelings for her and had been gently trying to convince her to go to dinner with him.
Mrs. Strife was happy for Rufus. He had come so far since his need to rule the world with fear. “I’m glad Robin finally agreed. Just remember to take it at her pace.”
“I will.” he said blushing, and then his eyes met hers, “were you able to get a message to Lilly and Vincent?”
Mrs. Strife’s face turned sad. “I asked for a message to be posted on the community board in the village your people heard rumor they were staying. I can’t believe it’s been five years since anyone had heard from them.”
“I’m sure they received your message and will show up.” Rufus said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
“You have said that every year,” she said with teary eyes, “it has been six months since that last lab was burned to the ground. I would have thought they would have contacted me by now.”
Rufus had nothing to say. The first few years had been filled with constant reports of attacks on Hojo’s hidden labs, but the last year and a half the number of reports had dropped considerably. Over that time, only six had been reported. He was even a little worried about what had happened to those two.
“Well, enough about that, I’ve got bags to pack and people to see. Good luck on your date with Robin.” Mrs. Strife said cheerfully as she left the room.

Cloud was in the closet throwing things around trying to find the cloths for warmer climates. They were currently working in one of the windiest areas in the world and summers were not very warm. When fall came elsewhere in the world it was freaking cold here and when winter finally came it was so fucking cold that there was no leaving the cabin. So most of their cloths were thick and well insulated for the colder climate.
“Cloud you’re making a mess.” Sephiroth chided form the bedroom.
“I don’t care I know that bag is here somewhere.” Cloud’s muffled voice responded from the depths of the closet.
Sephiroth chuckled when he finished braiding his long hair. When the wind turbine build had been proposed after a handful of the solar plants had been finished, Sephiroth had considered cutting his hair for the first time in his life. Wind and long hair simply did not go well together. Cloud had protested aggressively and finally had forced Sephiroth to let him braid his hair. Now it was part of their daily ritual, although today Cloud was a little busy packing for their family reunion.
“Ha, found it.” Cloud shouted. Exiting the closet, he threw the vacuum-sealed bag into their suitcase. Looking at Sephiroth a pout appeared on his face. “You already braided your hair.”
Sephiroth smiled as he walked to Cloud. Wrapping his arms around Cloud’s waist, he kissed him on the tip of his nose. “You had a lot of things you needed to do. I’m sure there will be plenty of times in the future for you to play with my hair.”
Cloud blushed a little from the comment. “Let’s finish packing. I can’t wait to see mom and everyone.”
“Myself as well.” Sephiroth said.


Mrs. Strife was so happy to see her people all together chatting about all of the things they had been doing over the last year. Tifa and Yuffie were in the kitchen making dinner for everyone laughing while they talked. The triplets were excitedly reliving their missions while Sephiroth and Cloud listened closely. Even Zack, Reno, and Rude seemed interested in Cid’s description of his newest invention. Mrs. Strife sat in her chair quietly sipping on her tea, listening to all the different stories.
Sephiroth was the first to loose focus on the conversations as he heard what sounded like a chopper approaching. Soon everyone quieted and listened to the ever-increasing sound. When the noise had become deafening everyone rushed from the house knowing it intended to land nearby.
A large, black, unmarked chopper circled the area once then began to land in the clearing in front of the house. Once it touched down, the blades began to slow and Mrs. Strife took a step down the stairs praying it was Lilly and Vincent. The pilot side door opened and Vincent jumped to the ground. Mrs. Strife let out the breath she had been holding and took another step on shaky legs. She was grateful she did not collapse into a grateful pile on the ground from the first sighting of him in five years. He looked different; the red cape he had always worn was gone, replaced by a pair of black cargos and a dark red long sleeved shirt. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and the clawed gauntlet was missing. Not that Mrs. Strife was complaining she had always hated the sight of the menacing object.
Vincent ran around the chopper and opened the door allowing Lilly to hop to the ground. Overcome with joy, Mrs. Strife launched from the porch and ran for the chopper. She was nearly there when she watched Lilly pull a little girl from the chopper. Slowing down, her joy changed to surprise then to anger as she approached the two adults.
When Vincent turned towards her, she could not control her anger. She slapped him hard across the face. “How dare you stay away so long and you never even told me you two had a child.”
Mrs. Strife continued to rant and rave until the little girl whimpered and wrapped her tiny arms around Lilly. Stopping, Mrs. Strife closed her eyes and took a deep soothing breath to try to calm her raging emotions. She should not have acted like that in front of an innocent child. Opening her eyes she gave what she hoped was an apologetic look.
“We are sorry. There was no excuse for our absence however we only found little Rose six moths ago.” Lilly said as she petted the reddish brown locks to sooth the little ones fears.
“What?” Mrs. Strife asked as the others gained the courage to get close.
“I did not get pregnant I promise.” Lilly said cheerfully. Looking down at the little girl, Lilly straightened her pink hat. “Sweetie do you remember me telling you about my family?”
The little girl sniffled and nodded her head. “Good.” Lilly said proudly as she pointed to Mrs. Strife, “this is your grandma, and this is Tifa, Yuffie, Zack, Reno, Rude, Cid.” she continued “and your uncles Kadaj, Loz, Yazoo, and Cloud.”
“Unca Coud.” Rose parroted cheerfully.
“And do you remember me talking about Sephiroth?” Lilly continued with a giant smile on her face.
Rose’s face lit up, “Unca-boo,” she screeched as she launched at Sephiroth.
Sephiroth’s heart nearly stopped as he reached out to grab the tiny child before she hit the ground. Becoming aware of the snickering coming from the group, Sephiroth frowned at them, what was so unusual about a child launching at him?
Then Cloud said, “Unca-boo.” and everyone erupted into laughter.
Lilly turned bright red as Vincent wrapped his arms around her waist. “We told her that you were her brother and that you were going to merry her uncle one day. After that she started to refer to you as her Unca-boo.” Everyone snickered again.
“She thought that up?” Sephiroth said as he began to look at her. Rose looked to be about three years old but her eyes appeared to be older.
She smiled brightly at him and with a bob of her head, she said, “Yes.”
Everyone stopped laughing, looked at the little girl and all at once noticed her pink hat cocked to the side to reveal a furry cat like ear twitch near the top of her head.
“Well, we have a lot to catch up on. So let’s go into the cabin. Tifa and Yuffie have made dinner. Oh and Vincent I’m sorry for slapping you.” Mrs. Strife said trying to distract the group from making little Rose uncomfortable.
“It is fine. I did deserve it for keeping Lilly away for such a long time.” Vincent replied sheepishly.

Rose lay on Lilly’s lap sleeping peacefully, her soft breathing the only sound other than the occasional flutter form her ears twitching. It had been a very eventful day for the child. Lilly pet her curly hair as rose slipped her thumb into her mouth.
“Here.” Mrs. Strife said handing her a mug filled with tea. Lilly took it with a grateful thank you and inhaled the aroma with joy. It had been such a long time since she had time to take care of herself. It had taken Lilly a while to get used to having someone so helpless depend on her and Lilly had neglected a lot of things for herself for so long that the basic things like a hot bath had become a luxury.
Mrs. Strife sat down in a chair near Lilly and watched the little girl sleeping. It had been entertaining to watch little Rose order the grown men around. Not that they were complaining, much, they may have grumbled but they had done the deeds with a twinkle in their eyes. She had even been surprised at the gentle way Vincent had treated the child.
“So now that little Rose is asleep I think it is time you explain what happened.”
Lilly looked up from her cup to see the expectant faces of Mrs. Strife, Sephiroth, Cloud, and the triplets. Everyone else had retired to their rooms. With a deep sigh, she looked at Vincent. Understanding her question, he nodded.
“As you are aware we have been searching for all of Hojo’s labs to make sure he is in fact gone. In each lab we scanned the computers and files for possible locations for other labs then destroyed everything before we moved on.” Vincent began as everyone settled in for their account of the time they were gone, “the lab we raided six moths ago was unusual. It was the place where we found Rose. She was another of Hojo’s experiments but her file labeled her a failure. Rose had only been there three days and had been scheduled for euthanasia,” Vincent said gently stroking her hair when Rose mumbled in her sleep.
“She was not the only one left alive at the lab, there were three others.” Lilly added. Both Vincent and Lilly shared a pain filled look as they relived the memory of that day six months ago.