Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Rhapsody of Tears ❯ When It Hurts ( Chapter 8 )

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

Geeze, I am SO bored today (after getting my brother's car inspected and stuff... shesh)... I can't think of anything else BUT RoT, so here's the next chapter... Is this too good to be true? I fear I shall relapse in the future on this story if this keeps up. I know it's weird, but it happens.

Hehee, as Mint-san and KrystalClear-san had pointed out before about the few CloRis moments, so this chapter is for them and the CloRis fans... capturing Cloud's thoughts and memories! And for AeRuf fans, more mushiness... then... BAAM!! Enjoy!

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A spikey-haired blonde was just waking up after the cool evening breeze whipped across his face. He pushed himself from the ground and sat up to find himself on the empty beach. He clutched his head in pain, but when it subsided, the first thing that came to his mind was a gunshot, followed by a blurred image of a girl falling forward. "AERIS!" he impulsively cried, reaching his hands out to hopefully catch her. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was just a memory from the previous night.

Cloud hit his fist angrily into the sand, remembering it was Rufus who comforted her. He was so confused as to what happened then. What did Rufus do to her to make her trust in him so? Did he brainwash her in some way? She didn't seem to even notice him when Rufus was there. Just what did that Shinra do to her?! He wanted so bad to know, even if he had to pound it out of the president.

He tried to push those thoughts away and climbed to his feet, just to fall back down again. He had forgotten all about his leg injury, courtesy of Reno. He tore his pants open around wound to get a better look at it, and he knew he had to get the bullet out. He took out a small knife and was forced to ripped his shirt as bandages. He used the fire materia to sterilize the knife and then braced himself for the excrutiating pain as he wedge the tip of the knife into his wound, prying the bullet out of his leg. The tiny object popped out, and he quickly pressed some of the bandages against the bleeding wound and wrapped the rest around his leg.

He fell onto his back and rested for a bit, covering his face from the afternoon sun. He closed his eyes for a moment, wondering if it was all a dream, and hoped that when he opened his eyes again, he would be staring at the the beautiful green eyes of an angel, like the time he fell through the church roof. He sighed and finally opened his blue eyes, and to his disappointment, his reality was as real as the pain in his leg.


Rhapsody of Tears

written by K-chan

Chapter Eight: When It Hurts


Cloud propped himself up again, and using his sword as a crutched, he began walking along the beach, hoping to find his teammates. It finally occurred to him that Tifa wasn't there, since he had held her hand when they jumped off the ship, but he knew for certain she would be all right. She was a very tough girl and had gone through a lot in life, and so were Barret and Red, but Aeris was the one he was worried about the most. To make it worse, he was afraid she might be in the company of Rufus.

He stopped and stared out into the ocean, like there was something out beyond the horizon he could see, so distant yet he still wanted to reach it, no matter what. It reminded him of how alone he was, for so many years--even after seeing Tifa again, it still wasn't the same. Of course, they knew each other when they were children, but he didn't think they were ever close, not like what he saw between Aeris and Rufus. He wasn't sure what was going on between the two, but it was the closeness that he envied. Maybe it was just Aeris herself that made it seem so special. He had felt that uniqueness from her, not only in the church but also the first time they met in the slums, buying a flower from her.

His sky-blue eyes softened at the memory when his gloved hand had brushed against her fingers, accepting the flower. How strange he never asked for her name, as if he knew he would see her again. But what he treasured the most was the memory of the two of them at the ruins of the playground, sitting together on the top of the slide. She was staring up at the sky with her knees pulled up against her chest, leaning her head on the back of her hand.

Cloud watched her in silence, admiring her beautiful profile like it was glowing in the moonlight. He looked away and watched the night skies too. "It's been such a long time since I watched the stars with someone," she said quiet, and he looked at her. She turned to face and couldn't help but stare into his blue eyes. "You remind me of him... those same eyes," she whispered.

He looked down, not able to push her green eyes of sparkling hope from his mind. Were those eyes seeing HIM or just gazing at a memory that she missed. "Your boyfriend?" he concluded hastily and regretted it later for feeling a bit jealous. He had only met her twice and hardly knew her, but just being next to her for a few minutes was like years of friendship.

She giggle, like the tinkling of bells in the air, that only made him smile for some reason. "I think we were more like friends, but I think about him a lot... It's been so long, you know."

He nodded, "Yeah, I saw my childhood friend again, just recently."

"That's so nice," she sighed, admiring him for having such an opportunity, "To have someone who has the same memories as you do." She put her head on her knees, hugging them tightly. "It gets lonely holding them all by yourself."

"I know how you feel, Aeris," he whispered, remembering her words and face so vividly from that time. He turned away from the ocean and noticed something rising into the skies. It was clearly smoke coming from somewhere in the depths of the jungle, meaning someone was there. He slowly made his way for it, knowing it could be anyone at all, but he hoped it was Aeris because he wanted to hear her comforting voice again. It was her voice and presence that reminded him how human he was.

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The night was quite different from day when the temperature dropped, but it was perfect snuggling up under the moonlight with one coat. Their clothes were clean and dried since the late afternoon, just in time for the fall of night. He had an arm around her waist as she tried to concentrate on rotating the fishes over the open fire. It was hard to since his hand constantly tickled her, making her giggle like crazy. "RuRu, how am I suppose to make dinner if your hands won't keep still," she jokingly admonished.

"Heh, we can just skip it and go right to dessert," he chuckled. Aeris rolled her eyes and rotated the fishes on a stick. And thankfully, he stopped playing around and stared at the fish, thinking deeply. She noticed his gaze, but before she could say anything, he spoke up, "Remember that time when we had sweet potatoes?"

She nodded, smiling, "Of course. You hurt your hands, and we nearly burned down the church too."

"Because you panicked."

"I did say the potatoes would be hot, but you didn't listen... so, of course, I panicked."

He laughed, "I was eager to taste it..."

"Are they done yet?" a young Rufus asked his companion, who was intently cowered over the small fire. She had a stick in her hand, prodding two whole sweet potatoes wrapped in foil. He watched them eagerly, having never had such a traditional autumn dish. Sure, he had money and could buy anything he wanted, even roasted sweet potatoes, but it wouldn't give him the same cozy feeling around the open fire compared to sitting in an elegant restaurant.

"Not yet," she said, focusing on the cooking, "Mother said to wait till the foil turns dark. That's when it'll be all soft inside." He nodded and lifted his eyes from the potatoes to the girl who would one day be an excellent cook for a lucky, young man. He sat back, still staring at her, and thought about the many times he would sneak out of the building just to be with her. Out in the slums, no one cared who he was nor want to know, but everyone knew about this small girl who would share a little of her cheerfulness with all. She had a sort of charm about her personality that attracted many to her, and Rufus knew this the first time he looked into her emerald eyes.

Being with Aeris showed him many things, allowing him to appreciate the little things in life, like sitting there in the back of the abandoned church during one of the chilly autumn days in wait of a little, roast sweet potato. He chuckled to himself, but his laughter caught her ears, and she looked over to him just in time to hear his stomache growl. They both laughed.

"Okay, they're done!" Aeris chirped, throwing the stick into the fire, and reached for the fishes. "And be careful this time," she warned him with a cute, little smirk. Rufus took it from her and broke it in half, so he could give her one.

"Am I interrupting anything?" came a familiar voice. Aeris looked in the direction of the voice and gaped at the figure, dropping her fish to the ground. She stood up and moved towards him, "Cloud! Are you all right?!" She hurried to him and supported his weight after seeing his body leaning on his sword. Unfortunately for Rufus, he had lost his appetite and put the fish back over the fire.

Aeris helped Cloud over to the fire and sat him down. She was staring at his wound, but all the while, his eyes were on her, even to the point of being oblivious to a third person there. "It's good to see you again, Aeris," he said.

She smiled, "It's good to see you too. Let me treat that wound for you." He looked confused because she didn't seem to have any weapon or materia on her, and he would've used a cure materia if he had it. "There are some things you still don't know about me," she giggled. She closed her eyes, holding both hands over his leg injury, and began to chant some words quietly. Before his eyes, a faint green light appeared and the streams of green began to seep into his leg. It only took a minute or so when Cloud didn't feel any pain anymore. The light disappeared when she pulled back, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"You should be fine now." She falter a bit, but Cloud caught her in his arms.

Rufus rushed to her side, glaring at Cloud, who returned the same welcoming acknowledgement, "Aeris, are you all right?"

She nodded, "I'll be fine. I just concentrated a little hard." She propped herself up, but Cloud still didn't drop his arms from her that only made Rufus burn madly inside, though he remained calm on the surface. They continued their private glaring game with Aeris quietly rubbing her eyes in weariness.

Cloud was the first to break away, noting Aeris's sleepy state, "Let's get some sleep, and we'll figure out what to do tomorrow." She nodded as Rufus stood up and walked over to where they had sat earlier to get his trenchcoat. He returned to Aeris's side and gave it to her. She looked at it and then to Cloud, now realizing that he didn't have a shirt on, and handed it to him.

"You'll catch a cold, Cloud," she said with concern in her voice. He smiled, shaking his head, because just the thought of her caring was good enough for him.

Rufus clenched his jaw, patiently taking off his coat, and threw it at Cloud, "Take. It."

"It's not my style, but thanks," the mercenary responded civilly as possible, trying to restrain himself from grabbing his sword and slice him to pieces. He put the coat on and laid down as Rufus, still eying him, plopped down on the grassy ground.

"Ne RuRu, we can sure this together," Aeris said to him, indicating the trenchcoat in her hands. She waited until he finally settled down next to her, smiling inwardly at Cloud's narrowed eyes watching his every move. She draped the coat over their bodies as Rufus snuggled close to her, which Cloud noticed she didn't mind and looked away with a hurt, strained expression. Cloud put both hands beneath his head, staring up through the leafy trees at the night sky, while Rufus laid contently with Aeris in his arms, but he too couldn not sleep immediately. Both young men now knowing the other's affections for the girl drifting away in her dreams.

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Elsewhere, the TURKs had camped out beneath the stars as well with a boat anchored on the shore. Two tents were propped up, but only Tseng and Elena remained around the campfire. He was staring at the fire in silence while the blonde periodically glanced at him, wondering what he was thinking. He was such a mysterious man, and even Reno and Rude, who had been TURKs longer than she had, couldn't read him, but it just made him more attractive.

Suddenly, Tseng looked up, and their eyes met. She blushed and averted her eyes elsewhere. And the awkward silence hovered over them until they heard someone snoring in the background. They glanced at the tent, where Reno was exiting from, groaning. He brushed a hand through his wild hair in frustration, and when he noticed the conscious TURKs staring at him, he smiled, "Say, Elena, if you're not using your tent, mind if I take it instead? For someone as quiet as Rude, he sure snores up a storm."

She frowned, "Then where would I sleep?!"

He smirked, "You could always keep me company."

"UUGH!!" she stood up angrily, "You are impossible!!"

"Oh c'mon, I know you've been wanting to! I mean, I'm an irresistable man."

"RENO! The only thing that'll attract me to you is MY FIST to YOUR FACE!!" she yelled, grabbing a stick from the fire and started to chase Reno, threatening him with it. Tseng watched the whole scene in silence, not bothering to stop them because he knew that each one had a different way of easing the severity of their current situation. He had a feeling they would find the president soon, but he hoped under safe conditions for all of them. He tried to relax, pushing those thoughts from his mind, for a bit and continued to watch Elena grab Reno's ponytail and pull him to the ground about to give him several bruises. How funny that this scene brought a faint smile to his lips.


TO BE CONTINUED...

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*sniffle, sniffle* I feel SO bad for putting Cloud in that situation... but it couldn't be helped since it IS a love triangle... err, polygonal thing, if you add in Tifa and umm, Reno too?

As you can see, I changed the little playground scene from Aeris remembering Zack to Rufus 'cause well, I said before to drop the whole Aeris & Zack thing. Anyway both Rufus and Cloud have blonde hair and blue eyes, so there. Bleh. *giggle*

Heh heh, you guys are so sillie! But then again, I think I'd have to duel Casey-san for RuRu. Don't worrie, Mint-san, I really do appreciate your emails, and everyone else's too!! They let me know that I do have people who are interested and support me, which is mainly the reason I do continue it. Though I do get stressed out sometimes with my schoolwork, that's why I give a little warning in advance.

Umm, I rated last chapter as lime 'cause it IMPLIES their naughtiness... *giggle* whereas lemons go all out, usually in detail, but I'm not that kinda gal. There's also 'citrus' which is before lime and is just kissing and and talk about umm, stuff. Hee. =^.^;=