Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Who's John ShinRa? ❯ Never Been Kissed ( Chapter 24 )

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

Chapter 24: Never Been Kissed

Rude screwed in the last screw to the small robotic doll that lay lifeless on the table. He hoped that the small microphone he attached to Kate Sith's head would actually work. It had been a while since he last fixed anything electronic and replacing the batteries on Reno's magrod didn't count. He took a quick sip of coffee before placing Kate Sith on the ground and switching the little doll on.

Movement? Check. Video feed? Check. Audio feed? Unknown. Rude knew that the best way to test the new upgrade to Kate Sith was to find an unsuspecting victim. Smiling, Rude remembered that Elena's room was close to the Turk's break room. Checking his watch, it was right about the time that she usually went out for her morning work-out. Rude maneuvered Kate Sith until the doll was almost to Elena's room. Sure enough, as Rude had predicted, Elena walked out of her room clad in some shorts and a sports bra. She hadn't noticed Sara's toy lying behind her yet.

Adjusting the microphone on Kate Sith's remote controller, Rude cleared his throat, thankful he installed the voice distorter on the doll before speaking, “Good morning Miss Elena!”

Elena turned sharply after hearing the robotic voice greet her. She breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Sara's little robotic toy smiling at her. She didn't know that Sara was up this early.

“Good Morning Kate Sith, how are you today?” Elena smiled as she lowered her head down to get closer to the doll.

“I am very well Thank you. How about yourself?” the robotic doll replied in a child-like feminine voice.

“I'm good. I didn't realize that you could talk.”

“I didn't realize I could talk until now. It's like a newfound freedom to finally speak my mind.”

Elena looked at the doll slightly confused. Since when did Sara talk like that? Suddenly, Elena realized that there were only two people she knew who could add a microphone to Kate Sith. One of them was either still asleep with his wife or too busy running the country and the other one always had a knack of waking up before dawn to drink some coffee. “Rude, is that you?”

“. . .”

“Yep, that's you alright. Does Sara know what you did to her doll?” Elena smiled as she put her hands on her hips.

“Not yet. But I'm going to surprise her. Think she'll like it?” Rude responded through Kate Sith's high-pitched voice.

“Well, considering how fond she is of you, I think she will. Just don't spy on me while I'm working out,” Elena waved as she jogged down the corridors to the gym.

Rude gazed at her shrinking form in the small monitor and smiled. Audio feed? Check. Now all he had to do was show Sara how to use the new features on her doll. He wondered if she would have as much as a knack for controlling the robot as her father did with Cait Sith. Though he doubted that Kate Sith would be spying on terrorist organizations anytime soon.

Just as the robotic doll had returned to the break room, Rude's PHS suddenly rang. He noticed Reno's number flashing on his phone and raised his brow, wondering what Reno was doing up so early. The man never woke-up before noon if he could help it.

“Rude here.”

“Yo, what's up?” Reno's tired voice echoed.

“Nothing out of the ordinary here. Find anything?”

“A really hot strawberry-blonde chick. Too bad she dyes.”

“How can you tell?”

“The carpet doesn't match the drapes. Anywho, I wanted to let ya know that I've got an idea of where they might be at. It's somewhere around 25th street. I'm going to sniff around and see if I smell any of their crap.”

“That's good. I'll get Elena to check the computers and see if anyone suspicious checked into any of the hotels around that area.”

“Sounds good to me,” Reno paused a bit before speaking in a more serious tone. “Is Elena still mad at me?”

“She cooled off after playing with Sara for a while. But I can't guarantee that she won't try to hurt you when you get back.”

“I guess I'll just have to buy her flowers or some shit like that. Are you sure you don't mind?”

“I told you Reno. I only had a small infatuation with her. It's the same with Tifa. They're both beautiful women, but I know I could never make them happy.”

“And you think I can make her happy? Elena that is, not Tifa. Though Tifa is pretty damn hot. But Elena . . . ”

“Yes. There are only two people I've seen who have made her really smile and that's you and Tseng,” Rude said with a hint of remorse over the loss of their former boss.

“Thanks Rude. You're a real pal.”

“No problem. I'll call you if we dig up anything on our end.”

“Good stuff. Laters,” Reno said before hanging up.

Rude put his PHS down and sighed as he drank some more coffee. He knew that Elena cared about Reno. She wouldn't have been so angry at his actions if it wasn't because she was worried about him. The real question was whether or not they would see past their flirtatious bickering to actually talk about a relationship. Rude wasn't going to worry about that because they were both adults and perfectly capable of handling the situation themselves. He was just never going to tell Reno that Elena had threatened to tie Reno to a bed and beat some sense into him. But then again, Reno might like that.

* * *

The sweet smells of freshly brewed coffee brought a smile to Rufus's lips as he wrapped himself in a blanket. The scent was both refreshing and soothing at the same time. Feeling the caffeine urge, he rolled around the carpeted floor until he was sitting up. Looking around, he noticed that the couch was empty and the blanket that he had wrapped around Tifa last night was now tangled between his legs.

Tifa walked into the room carrying two steaming cups of coffee as she smiled and offered a cup to him. Rufus couldn't think of anything better to wake up to in the morning: the coffee was a plus.

“Morning. Sleep well?”

“Yes, I did. Thanks for the coffee Tifa,” Rufus took a sip and sighed. “That really hits the spot.”

“You're welcome. You might want to take a shower before Yuffie wakes up. She tends to take a while,” Tifa sat on the couch and savored the dark liquid.

“Yeah, I don't think I want to be around when she and her new boyfriend get up,” Rufus stole a glance at the bedroom door.

“I'm not waking her, that's for sure. I'll go and make some breakfast while you're freshening up.”

Rufus watched her saunter into the kitchen humming a beautiful melody. The coffee was working its magic on his body and the salty air refreshed his lungs. This was what it was like to be free and Rufus savored it. It didn't take long for him to finish his coffee and take a shower, especially when there would be breakfast waiting for him and the piping hot plate of eggs, bacon and toast certainly didn't disappoint him.

It was like a blissful morning dream. There he was eating a delicious meal prepared by a beautiful woman and there they were eating said delicious meal and enjoying each other's company. It was a picture for one of those advertisements that you usually see trying to sell coffee or some morning byproduct. Of course, it could have also been a TV ad for encouraging parents to talk to their rambunctious teenagers about sex, drugs, and rock `n roll as Yuffie stormed into the kitchen hungry and giddy.

“Man Tifa, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! Did'ja make enough food for me and Ace?” Yuffie barged into the kitchen grabbing whatever food she could get to.

“Ace?” Tifa asked as she protected her plate of food from Yuffie's quick hands.

Just then, a teenage boy with blond streaks in his hair wearing nothing but some khaki colored swim trunks lazed into the kitchen. The tall muscular boy hardly noticed anyone as he headed straight for the refrigerator, grabbed a carton of milk and started to drink straight from the carton.

“That's Ace,” Yuffie pointed to the boy who continued to drink out of the carton as he briefly waved to the group.

Tifa and Rufus watched the boy as he chugged down the rest of the milk and sighed in satisfaction. Tifa made a mental note to throw away the milk after she saw Ace put the empty container back into the fridge.

Finally, after much longer than reasonable, Ace introduced himself with a simple statement, “Yo.”

“Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Tifa--”

“Yeah! This is my sister Tifa. I was tell you about her,” Yuffie quickly interrupted Tifa as she gave Tifa a knowing look. “And that guy sitting over there is her boyfriend John. Right sis?”

Rufus nearly choked on his food as Yuffie introduced him as Tifa's boyfriend. “Yuffie! What--”

Yuffie smacked Rufus in the arm before he could talk, “Oh, come on John. Don't tell me you're embarrassed of having such a hot girlfriend. It's always fun to tease your boyfriend sis. It really is.”

“Psst! Yuffie,” Tifa motioned for the younger girl. “What are you trying to pull here?”

“I don't want Ace to think that you're single, otherwise he might not pay attention to me anymore,” Yuffie whispered so only Tifa could hear.

“Trust me Yuffie; I have no interest in him.”

“I know, but it doesn't mean he probably won't think about it. I'm just making sure that if he does, he'll know that you're taken so please, please, please! Pretend you're dating John? I really like this guy,” Yuffie silently begged.

Tifa looked at Yuffie as she thought about the situation. There really was no harm in pretending to be Yuffie's sister since she practically felt like she was. Tifa knew she didn't want to have a teenage boy hitting on her, especially one who Yuffie seemed to have a huge crush on. Besides, she always had a soft spot for Yuffie's puppy-dog face.

Tifa faked a pleasant smile on her face as she spoke loudly for everyone to hear. “Now please remember, sis. I know that you like to tease my boyfriend John, but you know how he hates it.”

Yuffie grinned broadly as she stood up feeling victorious, “Sorry about that, sis. I'll try not to do that again. Hope there aren't any hard feelings, right John?”

Rufus looked at Yuffie confused as the ninja pursed her lips waiting for him to say something. He felt someone nudge him in the side as he turned to see Tifa mouthing the words `play along.' He had no idea what the two girls were up to, but if he was going to play along with this charade, he was going to milk it for all it's worth.

“No, no hard feelings at all,” Rufus roughly slapped Yuffie on her back, causing the petite ninja to nearly topple over. “I should never be embarrassed about dating such a beautiful woman like your sister. Right, honey?” Rufus winked and smiled.

“Right, darling,” Tifa replied slightly embarrassed.

She was grateful that he had been so quick and willing to play along with Yuffie's bizarre plan. She slowly relaxed placing her hands on the table until she felt a pair of hands close around hers. John's hands are so warm. He's really getting into this. Tifa blushed, trying her best to get her mind off of the slight flutter in her heart, Tifa turned to their new companion. “So, um, Ace. What do you do here in Costa Del Sol?”

“Surf,” Ace said in a monotone voice as he wrapped his arms around Yuffie's waist.

“Do you do anything else other than surf?” Tifa asked.

“Yeah, I hang out with friends and other stuff,” Ace said aloofly. “I mainly surf.”

“Ace happens to be the best surfer on the beach,” Yuffie grinned.

“Well that's certainly something to be proud of,” Rufus said with little enthusiasm.

“Proud of? Dude! That's so rufus!” Yuffie squealed.

Rufus panicked and nearly fell out of his chair, tightening his grip on Tifa's hand. “Rufus? Who's Rufus?”

“Oh come on, don't tell me you've never heard of rufus before?”

Rufus quickly shook his head while Tifa gave Yuffie a perplexed look.

“Gawd, you two are so old. Ace, you know what I'm talking about, right?”

“Yeah Yuffie. Rufus is what you say when something is rufus. Like, surfing is rufus, hot chicks are rufus, even ice cream. There are also things that aren't rufus, like school is so unrufus. So, you two rufus now?”

Tifa politely nodded while Rufus stared at Ace as he if had grown a second head. Both weren't about to admit that though it was the most that they had heard from the boy, his explanation explained nothing.

“Isn't Ace so smart?” Yuffie beamed. “He offered to take us to Gold Saucer and get us in for FREE! Can we go to Gold Saucer next Tifa? Can we?”

“Well, we do need to head there next and talk to Dio to see if he knows anything. I guess it wouldn't hurt,” Tifa tried her best to compose herself.

“Tifa, are you sure it's safe for your sister's boyfriend to come along with us?” Rufus looked skeptically at Ace who mainly paid attention to Yuffie.

“Don't worry about Ace. He's got muscles and he can fight. Besides, we'll be able to go to Gold Saucer! Aren't you excited?”

“I'm ecstatic,” Rufus said flatly.

“I bet Ace is a better fighter than you are,” Yuffie teased.

“Somehow I doubt that,” Rufus scoffed.

Tifa shot out and smacked him lightly on the arm, “Be nice, darling.”

“Yes, dear. Sorry about that,” Rufus grumbled as he unconsciously stroked his fingers tenderly over Tifa's hand.

Tifa smiled softly until she realized the situation they were in and who was holding her hand. “Um, darling, sweetie?”

“Hm?” Rufus looked up to stare at Tifa's blushing face.

“We have guests,” Tifa cleared her throat as her eyes pointed to his hand caressing hers.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Rufus blushed furiously as he put his hands back onto his lap.

Tifa did the same as she also put her hands in her lap. She didn't want to admit that it felt nice: didn't want to admit that she felt safe and loved the tender strokes of his fingers on her hand. It was all Tifa could do to slow down her racing heart.

As Rufus and Tifa both stared at anything but each other, trying to hide their embarrassment, Yuffie smiled. None of the events between the pair went unnoticed by the young ninja who shifted her back comfortably into Ace's strong torso. Operation `Get Tifa to fall in love again and hopefully with John' was in effect and working as planned.

“Yuffie, you are a genius,” the young ninja thought to herself with a grin.

The rest of the morning was spent with Yuffie chatting away with Ace while Tifa and Rufus tried their best to ignore their conversation. It wasn't that they disliked talking with the young ninja and her new friend; it was just that her unlimited quantity of exuberance was too much for the pair. No coffee or legal stimulants in the world were strong enough to get anyone as energetic as Yuffie Kisaragi.

* * *

It was another early morning for the temporary residents of Elmyra's temporary house in Kalm. Of all of the people in the house, no one was more excited about the day than Barret Wallace. He had been reunited with his Aunt and now that Aunt was coming by to see Marlene for the first time. He smiled down at Marlene who was lying on the ground coloring pictures of Elmyra washing the dishes. Barret busied himself around the house with Elmyra, quickly cleaning it so it was more presentable to Donna.

“Barret, mind if I leave early to head to the mines? I want to talk to Mr. Wheeler about something,” Nanaki padded over to the larger man.

“Sure, I see nutin' wrong with that.”

“Yeah, Red, you go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later after my morning cigarette,” Cid as he glared at Barret.

Barret saw the menacing glare the pilot gave him as he left the house. No one dared to stop the pilot from getting his nicotine fix; even Barret learned that lesson the hard way.

While Barret was ecstatic about the day, Cid was the exact opposite. The pilot was busy running through his mind the conversation he had with Donna last night. The conversation was more along the lines of Donna arguing with him about what he needed to do, but what the older woman had to say really struck a chord with him. It concerned Shera. Although Cid had been consciously trying to be much more pleasant with Shera, Donna thought it wasn't enough.

“You better treat her like a lady and never take her for granted. Cause if you don't, I guarantee that some other gentleman is going to come along and sweep her off her feet and there ain't no words that could come out of your dirty mouth that would convince her to stay.”

Donna's words replayed in his mind all night as Cid tried to think of what Donna would have considered “treating her like a lady.” He knew that he wasn't raised with good manners. Hell, he hardly understood the words `gentile' and `proper.' Cid Highwind silently wished for the old days when men would knock their women over the head with a club and then drag them into their cave. Things were much easier then.

“There you are!”

Cid turned and came face to face with the last person he wanted to see.

“Are you treatin' Miss Shera like a lady like I asked you to?” Donna eyed him suspiciously.

“Um, sure I am,” Cid laughed nervously.

Donna crossed her arms in front of her and glared at the pilot seeing right through his lie. “Sure you did. Did you say `Good Morning' to her? In fact, I don't think you said `Good Morning' to me yet, have you?”

“Good Morning Ms. Wallace,” Cid grumbled. “And no, I haven't seen Shera yet so I couldn't say `Good Morning' to her. There!”

“Good Morning Cid!” Shera's voice echoed from behind Cid. “Good Morning Ms. Wallace!”

“Good Morning to you too Shera,” Donna smiled.

“Morin' Sher--, I mean. Good Morning Shera. You look nice today,” Cid said as he tried to avoid Donna's disapproving gaze.

“Why thank you Cid,” Shera blushed. “Oh, Ms. Wallace. Barret and Marlene are waiting for you in the kitchen. Marlene is very excited to meet you.”

“Why thank you sweetie. I'll jus' head on in and leave you two alone,” Donna smiled at Shera. “Now Mr. Highwind, remember what I told you,” Donna said with a knowing look in her eye.

Cid saw the look in the woman's eyes and interpreted her words as, “You better be nice to Shera or I'm going to come out and kick your sorry ass all over Kalm.” Cid had no doubt that the older, heftier woman could do it either. He really missed the courting rituals of cavemen.

As soon as Donna entered Elmyra's house in Kalm, Cid let out a firestorm of curses that were bottled up inside of him. “Damn, that woman's crazy!”

“You mean Barret's Aunt?”

“Yeah, the weird one.”

“She's just excited to see her family again. She is a sweet woman.”

“Yeah, well, I was never one for women like that.”

“You mean you don't like sweet women?” Shera said sadly.

“Nah, I like sweet girls, just not boisterously sweet. I mean, you're sweet, but not the same kinda sweet Donna is. You're the kinda sweet, I like.” Cid rubbed the back of his head, stumbling with his words.

“Oh Cid, that's really . . . sweet.” Shera blushed at Cid's unusual flirtatious nature.

Cid stared down at Shera's beautiful face and smiled. Donna was right. He did need to treat her like a lady. He tried to think of what sort of compliments he should give Shera as he looked at her blushing face.

“Um, that white coat looks nice on you, is it new?”

“Oh, this old coat? It's the same one I've had for years. I just bleach it,” Shera said smoothing out the small wrinkles on her coat.

“Oh, um,” Cid said scratching his head. “Those glasses look nice on you.”

“My glasses? They do?” Shera adjusted her wide-rimmed glasses. “I always thought that I looked like kinda nerdy with them on.”

Cid was getting frustrated. None of his compliments were working. Courting women like a gentleman is supposed to was just not something he was good at. If he were to try and court her the way Donna wanted him to, it would probably take twenty years for them to get together. Cid wasn't going to wait that long.

“Hell, I'm getting too old for this,” Cid sighed.

“What do you mean--” Shera was about to say until she was cut off by Cid's rough lips on hers.

To Shera, he tasted bitter and sweet at the same time. For Cid, she tasted like the purists of honeyed-fruits. They were both enraptured in a state of passion and fulfillment. The kiss spoke for them as all of Shera's silent admiration and Cid's stubborn admittance of his feelings were finally pouring out from their lips. There would be no more uncertainties, no more hurtful words. Everything was going to be alright for Cid and Shera and the pair were finally going to be happy together.

* * *

Donna marveled at Marlene's art. Even though she knew that the little girl was adopted by her nephew, she could not help but rain kisses and hugs upon the child who was wrapping her little finger around her heart.

“Look Auntie Donna, I made a drawing of Un'ca Cid and Auntie Shera,” Marlene held up her picture with a huge smiled.

“Oh, isn't that precious. You even have them holdin' hands,” Donna pinched Marlene's cheek.

Looking at the picture of the couple reminded Donna that she needed to check on how Cid was progressing in his futile attempt at a relationship with Shera. As she gazed out the window she saw Cid kissing Shera passionately in a display that could be called borderline sinful. It wasn't exactly what Donna had in mind when she hoped he would be nicer to her, but as long as he took the initiative, it didn't matter to her. She just had to remember to warn him about hurting her feelings while she was around. Otherwise Cid Highwind would know the true meaning of pain and Donna was going to make sure of that.

“So Marlene, are you gonna show that drawing to Mr. Cid and Miss Shera?” Donna asked; tickled at the scene she just saw outside of the window.

“I don't know if Un'ca Cid would like it. But Auntie Shera would, she was the one who asked me to draw it.”

“Oh, don't you worry sweetie. I'm sure your Uncle Cid would love to see it, ain't that right now Barret?”

“Yeah Marlene. Go ahead and show `im when you see him next. He'll like it,” Barret winked at Donna, knowing of his Aunt's plans to get Cid to be nicer to Shera.

“Should I go show them now Papa?” Marlene bounced eagerly on the floor.

“Not now sweetie,” Donna quickly answered. “You can show them later. Right now I want you to draw that picture of all your other Aunts and Uncles you say you have that aren't here right now.”

“Okay. I'm gonna get more crayons,” Marlene smiled as she ran over to Elmyra. “Auntie Elmyra, can you help me look for more crayons?”

“Sure thing sweetie, let me just put these dishes in the sink real quick,” the older woman smiled.

Barret and Donna could only smile as they watched the adorable little girl bound away with Elmyra to find more crayons.

“So what do you think of Marlene?” Barret asked his Aunt.

“She's a real sweet girl. If I didn't already know she wasn't yours, I would have sworn I saw Myrna in her.”

“Well, Myrna and Eleanor were always close. Eleanor was Marlene's real mother. I hope she's somewhere up there thinkin' I did a good job raising her daughter.”

“Little Bear, She would'a been mighty proud of how Marlene turned out, I'm sure of it,” Donna smiled. “Does Marlene know who her real parents were?”

“No. I don't know if she'd old enough to understand. `Sides, I haven't had the heart to tell her that I ain't her real Papa.”

“You need to tell her Little Bear. You need to tell her and tell her soon. It ain't right for her not to know.”

“Yeah, I know. But what will it do to her knowing that I have ta tell her, I ain't her real Daddy? I jus don't want to confuse her.”

“Little Bear, let me tell you a little bit about your `ole Aunt Donna. I left North Coral cause I fell in love with a man from Kalm. You remember your Uncle Rammy, don't ya?”

Barret nodded his head.

“He was everything to me he was. Of course, you probably remember how he passed away some years back. It was a car accident. There was nothing no one could do about it. I stayed in Kalm as a nurse not wantin' to go back to North Corel. I just didn't want ta leave the town Rammy grew-up in. Then I met Casey. He's such a strange man. But he's a good man. He used ta work for ShinRa. I don't think he's worked for them for a while. He lives in Junon, but always finds his way back to Kalm. He says that he can't leave Junon, but can't stay in Kalm. I'm nev'r sure if he leaves because of me or stays because of me. But he's back here now and all I know is that I love that man. We've both lived too long knowing each other, we just can't stay apart too long. I think how I feel for that man is probably what it's like with you an' Marlene.”

“I don't understand.”

“Casey and I aren't married little Bear. We've known each other for years, but we've never gotten married. He can't forget his old wife and I can't forget about Rammy. Still, I love him like I'd love a husband. He's not really my husband, but I treat him like one. It's the same with you an' Marlene. She ain't your daughter, but no one could doubt that you love her like a father. Just tell her who her real parents were and show her that you'll never stop lovin' her like you do now. She'll understand.”

Barret mused over his aunt's words as he stared down at his gunarm. He thought about that fateful night when he tore through the burning rubble of his hometown to find Myrna. Barret couldn't remember the pain that he was in as his right arm hung limply by his side. All he remembered was hearing a baby crying through the raging fire. He barely registered the pain in his heart when he finally found the source of the crying only to see Myrna dead lying beside Eleanor. They were both huddled over Marlene trying to protect her from the fire. The only thing Barret truly recalled happening after that is carrying Marlene in his good arm as he ran away from all the pain and death in North Corel. If it weren't for the fact that he had a young baby in his arms, Barret probably would have sat next to Myrna's body waiting for the flames to consume him. But he didn't because of Marlene. He could remember the difficulties of changing her diaper with one metal arm. He remembered her first words, her first step. The first time he carried her over his shoulders like she loved. Marlene was his life.

“Papa! I have more crayons!” Marlene squealed as she ran into the room with Elmyra behind her.

Barret smiled and looked at Marlene, noticing how much she looked like Eleanor, but had Dyne's energy. Then he remembered that he had promised Dyne that he would give Marlene Eleanor's locket.

“Hey babydoll, come here for a second. Papa has something important to tell ya,” Barret said as he scooped the little girl onto his lap.

“What is it Papa?”

“I want to give you somethin' and before I do. I want ya to remember that you're always my baby-girl and I'll always love you,” Barret smiled tenderly.

Marlene smiled as she nodded, letting her short brown hair flap carelessly around her face.

Barret sighed as he pulled out the silver locket he had in his coat pocket. Marlene's eyes lit up with surprise as she cautiously held the beautiful necklace.

“It's so pretty.”

“Go ahead and open it,” Barret urged.

Marlene pushed the small latch on the locket and scrunched her face in confusion as she looked at the picture of the couple holding their baby. The woman had light brown hair and a beautiful smile while the man had bluish hair. They both looked happy together with their baby held close between them.

“Papa, who are they?” Marlene pointed to the picture.

“Well, that pretty lady over there is Eleanor. That man next to her is her husband Dyne and the baby that they're holding . . . well, that's you.”

Marlene looked up at Barret's face confused. “That's me?”

Barret nodded and took a deep breath. Donna gave Barret a quick squeeze on the shoulder for moral support. “Eleanor and Dyne are your real Mama and Papa. This picture was taken shortly after you were born. Your Mama put it in a locket and always wore it `round her neck.”

“Where are they now?”

“They're not here anymore sweetie.”

“Why aren't they here anymore? Did they not love me?” Marlene asked, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“No, no sweetie. They loved you very much,” Barret quickly answered.

“Then why are you my Papa now and they aren't?”

Barret was afraid to tell Marlene the complete truth about what really happened. He didn't want to tell her about North Corel or his confrontation with Dyne at Gold Saucer. He was at a loss for the best way to tell Marlene that her parents were dead.

“Hey Marlene sweetie?” Elymra suddenly spoke as she bent down to speak to the young child. “Do you remember Aeris, the flower lady?”

Marlene smiled as she remembered the stories Elmyra would tell her about Aeris.

“Your Mama and Papa are with her now, in the lifestream,” Elmyra stroked the little girl's hair.

“They're with the flower lady now?” Marlene smiled. “So that means that they went to help save the planet like the flower lady did. Right?”

“Yes, they did,” Elmyra answered.

Barret and Donna both smiled at Aeris's adopted mother in appreciation.

“So they still love me?”

“Yes. They saved the planet because you were still living on it. They wanted to save you,” Elmyra smiled.

Marlene smiled satisfied with the answer. The little girl looked up expectantly at Barret and gazed into his face, wrought with emotions.

“Papa? You're still going to be my Papa, right?” Marlene asked with trepidation.

“Of course baby doll. I'll always be your Papa!”

“I love you Papa,” Marlene hugged Barret as she kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you too sweetie,” Barret smiled as a few tears streamed down his face.

For the first time in years, Barret Wallace felt like he was a part of a real family again: he felt complete.

* * *

Rufus felt like he should be chewing out Yuffie for making him and Tifa lie, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe it was because she was making him act like Tifa's boyfriend or the fact that every chance she got, the young ninja tried to get him to hold hands with Tifa. Now Rufus knew that he should be berating Yuffie for cooking up some silly scheme to get Ace to join their party, but she was suggesting having him and Tifa ride a chocobo together and he just couldn't find the will to do it.

“So Yuffie, why is it that Ace can't ride with you again?” Tifa asked worried she was giving the teen too much leeway.

“Oh come on Tifa. You know that Maru's still just a baby. She can't handle two people riding on her. Mortius on the other hand can carry both you and John. Besides, you're going to be with your boyfriend, right?”

Tifa merely rolled her eyes playfully at the young girl. “So I have this clear. You want me to let Ace ride Sabina, while you ride along on Maru and I ride with John on Mortius.”

“Exactly!”

“Fine,” Tifa looked over at Ace who was already strapping two surfboards to Sabina's saddle. Tifa didn't want to know what Ace was planning on doing with surfboards in Gold Saucer, considering that there were no water rides or attractions at the large amusement park.

“Come on Tifa, let's get moving,” Yuffie whined as she sat on top of her chocobo impatiently.

“Alright, I'm coming. John, is the chocobo ready to go?”

“Just finished,” Rufus replied as he tightened a strap. He smiled at Tifa as she stood there waiting to mount Mortius.

“Here,” Rufus offered his hand to help Tifa onto the chocobo.

“Thanks,” Tifa smiled.

Tifa leapt onto the chocobo with ease as Rufus took a deep breath before hoisting himself onto the chocobo behind her. Rufus wrapped his arms around Tifa's waist to get to the reins trying his best to keep his hands on the reins and not someplace that would get him kicked off of the chocobo. Ace didn't have much trouble on the chocobo, though Sabina's legs did wobble a bit carrying the large muscular boy.

“Everyone ready?” Tifa asked.

“Ready as I'll ever be!” Yuffie cheered.

Ace gave Tifa a thumbs-up as he spoke, “I'm rufus.”

“Okay, let's--.”

“Heeeuyy!” a loud voice interrupted Tifa.

Everyone turned to see several drunken people staggering back towards the beach. Leading the group and yelling at the top of her lungs was Claudia.

“Hey!” Claudia ran up to Yuffie's chocobo stroking its feathers. “Can you fly? You can fly can't you?”

“Gah! Stop molesting my chocobo you stupid crackho!” Yuffie tried to kick Claudia away.

“I was just asking the chocobo if he can fly! Wow, a surfing chocobo! Kewl!” Claudia slurred as her eyes focused on Tifa and Rufus.

“Oh! That person has two heads and huge breasts!” Claudia pointed at the pair.

Tifa stared blankly at the drunken woman and took a mental note to never travel through Costa Del Sol with small children if she ever had any. “Okay guys, let's head out,” Tifa sighed as the group moved around the band of drunkards.

“I think your boobs are fabulous! Absolutely beautiful! Even if you have two heads! Don't forget to teach me how to fly Mr. Chocobo!” Claudia yelled out after the group.

“Was that . . . ?” Rufus asked Tifa.

“Yes.”

“Did she . . . ?”

“Yes.”

“Did I ever thank you for saving me from her?”

“Yes. And I'm thankful I did it too,” Tifa smiled. “Who knows what sort of tortures that woman would have put you through.”

Rufus shuddered as he gripped tightly on the reins. “Let's not think about that.”

Tifa laughed as her back would occasionally lean into Rufus. He had to remember to thank Yuffie one day for somehow arranging this. He loved the feel of her arms brushing against his and the smell of her sweet-scented hair. Rufus wouldn't even mind having Ace become a permanent member of their party if they could keep their riding arrangements. If Ace actually proved himself on the battlefield, maybe Tifa would consider it. If only he were so lucky.

* * *

Nick paced around the room bitter and upset. He had been making calls all day trying to find some sort of loophole or gullible person who would believe he had rights to ShinRa's fortune. His irritation was only growing more and more as the passionate sounds of neighbors were echoing throughout the tiny hotel. It was the only thing you could hear all day and all night.

“Damnit! That imbecile working at the ShinRa Bank still refuses to give us any money. Remind me when I'm in office to fire him.” Nick seethed as he turned to the shaking walls. “Will you keep it down in there!”

“Don't worry about him. You just need to calm down a bit,” Matilda said as she lounged in a chair.

“Why shouldn't I worry? I'm only trying my best to come up with some money so we can hopefully pay those assassins who've agreed to kill President Anderson's administration. I guess you don't think it's going to be much of a problem if we can't pay them and have them start hunting us down like dogs,” Nick screamed.

“I said not to worry. I still have an Ace up my sleeve that will help you.”

“So what is this secret weapon that you have that's supposed to help me become President of ShinRa?”

“You know about birth certificates, don't you?”

“Yeah, what does my birth certificate have to do with anything?”

“Did you know that the policy for birth certificates is that both parents have to sign it?”

Nick straightened up, “So you're saying that you have hard proof that Augustus ShinRa is my father?”

“I've had this since you were born,” Matilda flashed the yellowed piece of paper in front of her son. “This is what will guarantee your place at ShinRa. No one can dispute the signature because it's an original document with the ShinRa seal on it as well.”

The document was authentic. There in plain ink were the signatures of Matilda King and Augustus ShinRa. The date on the birth certificate proved that he was born before Rufus and that he and he alone was the rightful heir to the ShinRa fortune. Why did his stupid mother keep this important document away from him for so long? He probably could have had ShinRa years ago if he had known.

“This document is the key to getting me into ShinRa's head seat and you've been keeping it from me all this time?”

“There's a time and place for everything Nicholas. Right now the company is at its weakest.”

“But you kept this from me the whole time! It could be me in the President's chair right now; not that bearded geek!”

“If you had known about this document earlier you only would have used it at a bad time. There is no way that you would have survived the Sephiroth and Meteor incident, after all, it killed both your father and that brat Rufus,” Matilda retaliated.

“That's where you're wrong mother! I would have been competent enough to prevent that from happening. I would have been a great leader. Better than Rufus ShinRa! Better than my father! I should be the one guiding the people right now in this crisis because it is my birthright and not that lucky ShinRa executive who happened to be the only one who survived after Meteor fell.”

“You could have never been a greater leader than your father,” Matilda seethed, angry that her son had just insulted her former lover. “He was more of a man than you.”

“I guess you would know since you only knew about his politics in bed. Isn't that how you got me in the first place?” Nick said bitterly.

“You little ingrate!” Matilda screeched before launching herself at her son.

Nick quickly reacted as he swatted her hands away and clutched her throat tightly with his hands. He had hated the life his mother had subjected him to. Since the day he was born, she had raised him to become the heir to Augustus ShinRa. She had lied to him and said that his day would come and if he was patient and ShinRa would call on him to lead the country. He had no life outside of her ambitions and eventually those ambitions mutated into his. She was the sole reason he even desired power and wealth. Now she was trying to rob those from him by withholding the birth certificate that would convince ShinRa, Inc. and the world that he was the rightful heir to the company. She was trying to keep him from becoming President by killing him and after he was dead, take all the profits for herself. Nicholas King was not going to let that happen.

“You stupid bitch!” Nick yelled as he tightened his grip on her throat. “Why did you have to doubt me? Why did you have to raise me to be the best, but doubt me now? You told me I was going to be President of ShinRa, you told me I was destined to be President of ShinRa! Now you tell me after all these years of waiting that I could have been heir to the Presidency when I was born! Stupid, stupid bitch!”

Through Nick's anger, he didn't notice when his mother's clawing hands were slowly beginning to weaken. He didn't hear the sounds of other hotel patrons in their loud throes of passion. All he was focused on was tightening the grip on his hands tighter and tighter until something snapped. Even if Nick had noticed that his mother was slowly dying, he probably wouldn't have cared. She only wanted her son in office so she could become more powerful. What she didn't anticipate was the fact that her son wasn't willing to share and that was her fatal mistake.

A/N: The whole scene with the word `rufus' as a slang word was taken from the movie, Never Been Kissed. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.

(continued…)