Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Rhapsody of Tears ❯ Nothing Between Us ( Chapter 7 )

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

My gosh, I must love you guys LOTS for posting this next chapter, which wouldn't have been up till TWO whole weeks, and putting all my other stories on hiatus. *think, think* Well... maybe because there's more mushy AeRuf scenes that got me to continue... or the sleep deprivation... *grin, grin* Anyway, here's Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII at its... umm, uuh... *sweatdrop* HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER!!

Oh yes, this chapter is for Mint-san 'cause she wanted some mushiness, and this is as far as I go when it comes to lime-ie scenes! Warning though, my writing's crap, but try to imagine it as a poetic imagery or something like that. *sigh* And I'm sorry it's short too, kinda a last minute deal tonight. *bow, bow* Gomen, but please ENJOY!!

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The sea at dawn was one of the gorgeous sights in the world, with the shy morning sun peeking at the horizon with care. The chirping of seagulls echoed through the skies as their wonderous flights set the start of a new day. The stretches of watery blue remained still with no hint of disruption to nature as time continued to flow.

For centuries, the Planet and humans have lived together peacefully, but when man believed he himself could defy the limitations set to all existence and create and alter beings that only God could ever bestow on the earth, mortals would taste the wrath from above as chaos and destruction rained upon them. A revolution of death to bring all life back to its beginning. But how could the Planet forsake all because of the few who went against the laws of nature?

'The salvation of man...'

'it is written...'

'must be conceived...'

' from his own sacrifice...'

The quiet breeze drifted across the ocean surface, pushing against the sandy shores of paradise. The low tide washed onto the beach and then subsided, leaving bubbly, white foams for crustaceans to scurry through. A lonesome crab stopped, having encountered some sort of blockade ahead, and after some hesitation, the creatured opted for another path, leaving as fast as it came.

Two bodies laid motionlessly on the grainy beach with fingers entwined in an unbreakable hold. The water from the ocean rushed in towards them, only reaching the lower half of their bodies... One male, one female.


Rhapsody of Tears

written by K-chan

Chapter Seven: Nothing Between Us


At first sight of the morning sun, Rude and Reno dragged themselves from the comfortable couches all in the name of duty. Yawning, Reno tried to stay awake as the crew prepared several helicopters to send out on a search for the president. They couldn't carry out one last night because of the hindrance of the darkness, and it didn't help when they were low on fuel either.

"We're ready to go, sir!" a worker informed, saluting them. Reno smiled smuggly, liking the sound of 'sir' in addressing him. The two TURKs followed him to their helicopter and boarded. They flew to the wreckage from the previous night and looked around, but found no signs of anyone. It was decided that they spread out and search, following the ocean currents, while Rude checked the map they carried along.

Reno yawned again, leaning back in his seat, and rubbed his stomache. "Why couldn't we get breakfast first," he grumbled.

"I believe the president is more important than food," his companion said, still absorbed in the map. The red head decided to sit up and see what was so fascinating about a doodle of the Planet on paper. He saw the dot that was supposedly Junon, and hundreds of kilometers off the coast were groups of islands scattered across the rest of the ocean.

He raised an eyebrow at that interesting piece of information, "Do you think they could be there?"

"According to this other map," Rude said, pulling out another one that had lots of arrows drawn in the blue areas, which were water, "the currents around the wreckage wouldn't push them farther out to sea." He pointed to where the incident occur. "But I've spoken to an old man in Junon's Geography & Environmental Divison. He said their observations indicated the change in currents... in the past month, which isn't supposed to happen so quickly and drastically."

Reno looked puzzled and amazed at the same time at the information his usually silent partner obtained. "And that's supposed to help us... how?"

"The ocean floor has changed, causing the currents to increase strength and divert from its usual course. The president was most likely caught in these currents." His finger circled around a group of islands.

"So those are the places they could be pulled to?" Rude nodded, and their PHS went off. Reno picked it up and answered, "Reno here."

"I've heard the news," came Tseng's voice. "Any sign of the president yet?"

"Nope, but we're heading to..." he glanced at the map again, getting the names of the islands, "Coral Islands."

"All right, we'll be on the next chopper out there."

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Hours passed as the sun rose, bathing all life in its refreshing light and warmth. He stirred from the brightness striking his face, and his shut eyes twitching involuntarily. His body ached all over from struggling in the watery depths, but he slowly opened his eyes to his rough setting. His vision blurred at first but soon focused on the figure lying across from him. He felt her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. No response came, and worriedly, he let her hand go and tried to push himself up from the sand.

He winced at the throbbing pain, but he managed to sit upright and crawled over to her body. He brushed her caramel locks from her face to find her eyes close, but she was still breathing. He brushed the grains of sand from her face and leaned close to her, whispering, "Aeris." He checked her for any physical injuries and was very thankful she had none. He caressed her cheek a few times, and when she flinched, he smiled because she was all right.

"Uugh... RuRu..." she mumbled, causing him to smile wider. She opened her eyes, letting them slowly focus to her situation, and with Rufus's help, she sitting up though very tired. They leaned on each other for a while, allowing their bodies adjust to a different environment.

Aeris looked around and saw a vast ocean ahead of her, and along the sides were stretches of sand. She whirled her head to the back and found a thick jungle. "Where are we?" she asked.

"I'm not sure myself," he said, standing up after being well rested. Holding her hand, he helped Aeris up to her feet. They walked along the beach for a few minutes, wondering what to do.

She held onto his arm, keeping a careful eye at the intimidating greenery. "I hope Cloud and the others are all right," she said quietly. At the mention of the enemy's name, Rufus frowned because it only brought back bad memories of what happened, but he was taken back when they both heard Aeris's stomache growling. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and she blushed.

"Let's go find something to put into that cute tummy," he chuckled, poking her stomache. She playfully slapped his hand away and stuck her tongue out at him, running ahead. He chased after her, promising to punish her for such an offense.

After a short cat-and-mouse game, they pushed their way cautiously through the jungle. If anything pounced on them now, Rufus would just have defend them with his bare hands since he had dropped his gun on board the chaotic ship. He stopped at the thought of something. "What is it, RuRu?" she asked as he let go of her hand.

He knelt down and checked his boat. He smiled and pulled out a dagger, now remembering he had an extra weapon in case of emergencies, and this definitely was one. At least this weapon was more useful than a gun. He took her hand again, leading them through the leafy jungle. They continued for who knew how long, and at one point, Aeris's dress got caught on a branch, and unfortunately when she didn't realize it until it was too late, which left a rip from above her thigh all the way down. But Rufus was a gentleman and draped his trenchcoat over her.

They slowed down when a sound in the distance hit their ears. They listened intently at the gushing sound and then hurried forward. Rufus parted the tall bushes and found a gorgeous waterfall before him. Aeris poked her head through and was awed by the sight too. She rushed out happily and knelt on the bank for the clear water. Rufus walked up to her, taking off his inner jacket and shirt, with the thought of getting out of the salty clothes and get cleaned up.

Aeris was so content with the refreshing drink that she didn't realize he was taking off his clothes. "Ooh, this is so wonderful," she giggled, getting tingly at the cold water against her skin. "RuRu, you should have some too! After all that walking in the heat!" She turned around and saw him just stripping down to his boxers. "RUFUS!" she yelped, turning back around towards the waterfall with a red face, "what are you doing?!"

He looked over at her, not understanding what she meant, until it dawned on him that she wasn't looking back at him in his semi-naked state. He smiled, moving steathily up to her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She screamed in surprise and flailed her arms as they both fell back onto the grassy bank. "RuRu," she gasped as she laid on her back and he pressed his body on top of hers.

"It's just you and me," he said huskily, leaning his face over hers. His finger trailed down the side of her face, giving her shivers at the electrifying touch. This was a different feeling than before when she was with him, against his warm body. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that ever since she was abducted by those men, she was deathly afraid of never seeing Rufus again. All her thoughts were of him during her capture, hoping and praying that she would see him again and that he would rescue her. It hurt her so much when she was separated from him for so long, like her heart ached at every second of not seeing, hearing, or feeling him.

Was it love she was feeling? She did love him though, like a friend, like family because he was all she had from her past. But were those emotions spinning her heart that of just a friend? It just couldn't be... because, because she loved the way his blue eyes would glaze over as he stared into her own eyes like nothing else existed in the world but the two of them. She could feel her eyes spilling over with tears, of fear and joy.

Aeris threw her arms around him, sobbing against him, as he held her, stroking her hair. She lost him the first time, and the second time came very close to that, but she knew she couldn't bare of losing him forever. "Rufus, please," she cried, "please don't leave me!!"

"It's all right, Aeris," he said quietly. "I will never leave you. I'll even go through hell just to be with you, and in my case, I might have to," he added lightly. He pulled back to see her teary face and then smiled gently, touching his forehead to hers, "Aeris... my sweet Aeris... to see you smile, I am willingly to give up my life." She gasped, cupping his face with both hands. "Because I love you... I have always loved you..."

The tears her threatening to flow again, but she was very happy. She smiled and whispered without any hesitation, "I love you, Rufus... I love you!" His lips pressed against hers, locked in timeless passion. They knew of no place nor time when all that needed to be known was each other, entwined in their love as the day passed by. Even in the cool, night waters, he waded near the edge, watching her slip the dress off her body, and admired every inch of beauty about her that he loved, inside and out. He extended his hand up to her, keeping his eyes on her own, as she accepted and descended into the water next to him. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her as their naked bodies pressed against each other, like two halves becoming whole once again.


'I'm falling for you with all of my heart.
I know it's true, right from the start.
I'm falling for you with all of my dreams.
This love will grow deep within.
I can't help myself just to tell you...
Falling for you...'


TO BE CONTINUED...

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The words at the end are some lyrics from this song Falling for You sung by Aaron Kwok. *sigh* I just love that song, and it fits PERFECTLY with Aeris & Rufus! Waai, you'll see the rest of the song later on when I'll actually have the song itself being played in the story!! Anyway...

Hehee... *grin, grin* DOES Tifa really end up with Cloud-ie?? Hmm... *think, think* Anyway, I've settled on most of the ending, which will be a happy one for some of the characters and others not... uuh, wait it won't be a totally happie ending... but I promise it has some sort... if you noticed the opening to this chapter: man has to redeem himself now.

Gomen, if the last chapter seemed like a lot to handle at once, but the chapters before that kinda built up to that point... Err, well I guess I could've split it into like two parts for convenience, but I was being stupid... I think. And I tend to criss-cross various sets of characters/scenes/events like that... I mean, while Aeris & Rufus does this, Cloud-tachi does that... and somehow their separate events will cross paths. I do that a lot in my other stories too, just drawing them together to one major event... in this case (jumping off) the ship. *giggle, giggle* Most of the crap about the currents and stuff are bluffed 'cause I know next to nothing about oceanography ('cept the definition of the word)... and the Coral Islands are made up, of course--I don't think there are any islands between Junon and Costa del Sol, ne? Well... I didn't see anything on the map I had...

Oh, I have to add that this chapter was somewhat inspired from Lila-san's Relinquishing the Past, where Aeris & Reno were on the island. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you should go read her AeReno trilogy!!!! I love it!! Hee.

Okay, here's a final after though... I can't believe I've continued with a story for THIS long... usually I would umm, leave it for months and then come back to it later (if I ever do). But I guess I have you guys to keep in line, huh? *smile, smile* That's a good thing though, and it helps that I enjoy working on it too. Okies, that's it for now!!! Thanksie!! =^-^=