Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Who's John ShinRa? ❯ Drunk Before Sober ( Chapter 36 )

Chapter 36: Drunk Before Sober

She was happy. It had been a long time since she had felt this way. Glee pulsed through her veins in a rush. She was high on life without a care in the world. This was how it should be; this was what she wanted. Tifa took another sip of the fermented berry drink before brazenly deepening the contact with her male companions’ side. John, after consuming several cups of the alcoholic drink, wrapped an arm around her affectionately. Her happiness soared to almost immeasurable heights; second only to the feelings she had when she was around Cloud.

AVALANCHE was celebrating. It was a celebration of life, death and victory. Life: over the joining of Nanaki and Kaya, who had found the team after being sent to investigate the strange energy, pulsating from the canyons. Death: for Sersa, who had passed shortly after returning to her homeland and finding forgiveness for the deeds she’d done. And finally, victory: for defeating Chaos and Jagger Grens. Their mission was over and all of Cosmo Canyon reveled in the festivities as they gathered around the Cosmo Candle.

The firelight danced in her eyes as she watched the villagers pay their respects to Sersa before blessing Nanaki and Kaya’s union. Tifa was taken aback at first over the celebrations since Sersa had recently passed away; it seemed strange to express their grief though such a gala. But Bugenhagen explained that her death only meant that she was being reborn in the lifestream and that the village was celebrating her rebirth. Tifa would have considered the custom farfetched. However, after seeing Vincent and being able to talk to Cloud again, she discovered the wisdom and truth to their traditions. It was better to think about the life they were being reborn into rather than the life they would have lived; something Tifa could understand having finally made peace with Cloud’s death.

Yuffie mingled with the villagers, occasionally shooting a wink or a thumbs-up in her direction. Tifa wasn’t sure if the signs of encouragement were meant for her, John or both of them. Taking another sip of “liquid courage,” Tifa dared to look up into her partner’s eyes and was nearly shocked at what she saw. Blazing blue shined back at her with an intensity that pierced through to her core. The sounds around her dulled to a faint buzzing; colors blended into nothing but the striking eyes staring back at her. The sweet smell of the fermented drink on John’s breath intoxicated her as she felt the soft press of his lips on hers.

A single kiss, innocent and sweet; but with the addition of alcohol and adrenaline, the kiss became more than sweet simple innocence. John wrapped his arms around Tifa, letting his fingers caress her soft skin. Tifa gripped John’s shirt trying to ground herself to something lest she drift off into blissful oblivion.

Tifa broke off the kiss in a breathless whisper. “Room.”

John nodded and hastily staggered to his feet, keeping as much contact with Tifa as he could. The pair left the party weaving in an out of the drunken villagers. They passed other couples enjoying the fermented berry drink as much as they were. Tifa vaguely noticed that the villagers had erected a new shrine for Cloud with the Ultima Blade hanging over the village’s inner sanctum. She would have stopped to admire the shrine if she weren’t being kissed with an intimate fervor. A part of her was afraid that they weren’t going to make it to the room, but with a small stumble the pair entered the room and locked it; both sharing a smoldering look.

With a coy smile, Tifa crawled backwards into the bed. Feelings she had been trying to ignore were boiling over. She gazed at John with a mixture of excitement and adventure. Only the blue of his eyes stood out in the darkened room like a beacon as she felt him draw near. Their breaths mingled in a mixture of passion before their lips met. Tifa thought she could drown in these sensations and was ready to dive in head first. But she felt John withdraw momentarily, looking at Tifa seriously.

“Tifa, there’s something important I have to tell you before . . .”

“What?” Tifa asked, wondering what John had to say as she ran her hands through his hair.

John closed his eyes as he relished the feeling. “I think I could have you do this to me forever.”

“I will if you want me to,” Tifa said never stopping her ministrations.

Reluctantly John pulled Tifa’s hands out his hair and held them close to his chest. “Tifa, there are so many things I want to tell you before we go on. I don’t know what’s going to happen to us afterwards, but I’m too fucking happy to care right now. First and most importantly, I love you.”

Tifa didn’t know what else he wanted to say, but she knew that it was good enough for her. She tried to kiss him again, but John stopped her after a minute.

“Tifa, please don’t make this hard for me. Trust me, I want you just as badly, but I need to finish,” John said as he struggled to rein in his passions. “There is something else I have to tell you. I’m Rufus ShinRa.”

Everything stopped in that moment as Tifa’s mind processed what her teammate had said. “John, are you drunk? How many drinks have you had?”

“Ten, I think. But I’m being completely serious here Tifa. I’m not drunk enough to forget who I really am. I’m Rufus ShinRa, and if you still want me after hearing this . . .”

He was breathing heavily gazing at her with a mixture of lust and fear. His hair was ruffled, but there was still a neatness about it that baffled her since her hair was a wild mess. And though there was no cockiness or hubris exuding from the man who claimed he was Rufus ShinRa, Tifa believed him.

But before Tifa had a chance to answer Rufus, his stomach lurched. She watched as John . . . no, Rufus bolted from the bed to the bathroom in a surprising act of agility despite his constitution. The retching in the bathroom was a sound she was familiar with having heard it enough times at Seventh Heaven. There was nothing more sobering than having to take care of a puking drunk. Cautiously, Tifa walked into the bathroom to spot Rufus worshiping the porcelain god. She slowly rubbed his back as he coughed and gagged the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

There were many types of drunks in this world. Tifa had seen them all in her time as a barmaid. There were the loud drunks, the quiet drunks, the sad drunks, and the happy drunks. There was a drunk for every known personality. Sometimes you could tell what type of drunk someone would be just by looking at them. For example, Sephiroth would be the type who would murder a town while drunk, but then again he did it when he was sober. Yuffie was a loud and horny drunk; she was glad she wasn’t going to see that tonight. Then there was John Woolfe, better known as, Rufus ShinRa. Before this night, Tifa would have pegged Rufus ShinRa as a sad drunk, but she knew better now. He was an honest drunk: an honest drunk who was making her emotions more difficult to deal with. At least all men were created equal when enough alcohol was involved: seeing someone as powerful as Rufus ShinRa throwing-up in the bathroom was proof of that.

* * *

The Cosmo Candle burned gently in the morning light as all signs of last night’s festivities were gone. Only the headaches and stomachaches from those who celebrated a bit too much remained. Kaya and Nanaki both lay in front of the candle staring intently at the flames.

“I’m glad that she got to see the village one last time before she passed.”

“She is part of the planet now and she is at peace. You can always find solace knowing that she will watch over you through the fires of the planet.”

“At least she saw the Cosmo Candle one last time. She always told me that the candle was the heart of this village. I never understood what she was talking about, but now that I’m here and now that I’ve seen the village, her words make sense to me.”

“There are things that you can never truly understand until you have lived them. I know that I have learned many things in the adventures I have had with my human companions.”

“Will you tell me those stories? All of them?”

Nanaki licked Kaya’s mane. “Of course. We have all the time in the world. I want to tell you everything.”

Kaya purred resting her head atop Nanaki’s. Her eyes traveled back to the Cosmo Candle. “Thank you mother. Thank you for bringing me home.”

* * *

It felt like his head was being used as Barrett and Cid’s doormat. He hadn’t gotten this wasted since Reno took him down to a trashy bar the night his father was killed by Sephiroth. Rufus had no recollection of how much he drank last night or even what he drank, but he was going to swear himself off of alcohol for a long time. In fact, if he ever got back into politics, he would make a motion to ban the substance altogether.

An unpleasant churn of his stomach forced Rufus off of his feet and into the bathroom where he vomited up whatever was left in his body. A cool cloth found its way onto the back of his neck as somebody rubbed his back. Rufus turned to find Tifa holding out a glass of water.

“Take a few slow sips. You’ll need to keep hydrated but don’t chug the water.”

Rufus graciously took the glass and sipped it slowly as instructed. Once he wetted his throat, he found he had enough energy to talk, “what happened last night?”

Tifa looked at him with a curious expression, “you don’t remember?”

“No, not really. I remember that we met up with Nanaki and Kaya then went to Cosmo Canyon. I met Bugenhagen: strange guy. Then there was a huge celebration. How many of those berry drinks did I have?”

“Ten,” Tifa answered, still staring at him intently. “You really don’t remember what happened last night?”

“No,” Rufus said carefully. “Did I do something wrong? Oh god Tifa! Was I a total asshole to you or something? Cause if I was I’m really sorry.”

“No! No! You didn’t do anything to me that was really . . . bad. Well, you almost threw-up on me, but you ran to the bathroom in time. I just . . . I was just curious, that’s all,” Tifa said with a faint blush.

Rufus was slightly relieved; however, that didn’t solve the problem of not remembering anything that had happened the night before. He knew that he was still wearing the same clothes from last night and somehow they ended up in his room. Tifa was only looking at him with a curious expression, so he guessed that he hadn’t done anything terribly embarrassing.

“So I guess whatever happened last night wasn’t a huge deal, right?”

Tifa’s eyes widened slightly, “Um, yeah. No big deal. Here, let me refill the glass of water for you and then you should take a shower . . . or um, freshen up a bit.”

The woman quickly left the bathroom barely glancing up at the hung-over male. Rufus was certain that something had to have happened. He knew he wasn’t completely out of sorts that he couldn’t tell that Tifa had been keeping something from him. He just didn’t know what it was or if any of it was his fault.

* * *

Yuffie knew this feeling. She was going to puke and there was nothing she could do about it. She was lucky that she made it to the bathroom in the village’s bar. A few of the patrons outside the bar weren’t so lucky. Yuffie hadn’t had this much to drink since that time in Wutai when she sneaked into her father’s liquor cabinet. She could sure use a Wutaniese hang-over cure right about now.

Washing her face, she tried to keep her focus on something other than the bright lights hanging over the mirror. Resting her forehead on the cool porcelain, Yuffie saw the pile of old crumpled newspapers stacked up under the sink. She started to read the first article sitting on top of the pile as the headlines mentioned something about ‘ShinRa’ in them. As she continued to read the paper, she gradually forgot the irritated churning of her stomach and the throbbing pain in her head. Instead, her eyes widened as she absorbed the information written in the article. Yuffie had just discovered the best cure for a hangover: the harsh slap of reality.

Grabbing the newspaper, she rushed out of the bathroom in search of her teammates. She also mentally told herself to stay away from newspapers for a while because they seemed to always be the bearer of bad news. The young ninja was lucky to find Tifa on her way to the Cosmo Candle.

“Tifa! Tifa! We have trouble!”

“What’s wrong Yuffie?”

Yuffie held the newspaper out for Tifa. “They think that Rufus ShinRa is still alive! The guy who died in the ShinRa tower a while back you know when we fought Diamond Weapon? Well . . . that wasn’t Rufus ShinRa. Tifa? What does this mean?”

Tifa held the paper in her hands, her face a mixture of uncertainty and acceptance. “I don’t know Yuffie. I honestly don’t know.”

* * *

His head still felt a bit fuzzy, but a nice hot shower had helped to wake him up. The biggest concern Rufus had right now was trying to figure out what, if anything, he had done to Tifa last night. He knew that she was hiding something from him. He was relatively certain that whatever it was it didn’t anger her; otherwise he wouldn’t be walking around with all of his body parts intact.

Rufus had to find Tifa and rectify whatever damage he may have done. Making his way to the Cosmo Candle, he was able to find her quickly as she stood talking to Yuffie.

“Tifa, I need to talk to you,” Rufus said as he walked straight up to the woman.

Yuffie grabbed his arm and shoved a newspaper in his face, “John! We’ve got trouble! Rufus ShinRa is still alive!”

Rufus read the headline and froze. “ ‘Who’s John ShinRa?: ShinRa conspiracy to cover-up that Rufus ShinRa still alive?’”

“What does this mean? Tifa and I are trying to figure that out. I mean, Rufus ShinRa is the bad guy, right?”

“I guess that depends on your point-of-view,” Rufus replied off-handedly as he skimmed the article. “It seems Ms. Noval is quite the conspiracy theorist. Rumors of illegitimate children, body-doubles . . . wonder what else is in here. The paper looks like it’s a few days old. There might be more recent information.”

“I’ll go check,” Yuffie said as she darted away.

“Do you think that there’s any truth to what she writes?” Tifa asked cautiously.

Rufus closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He knew that the accusations were true; there was no getting around that. It was just a matter of how much he wanted to reveal. “Well, you know what they say; beneath every great lie is a grain of truth. It certainly wouldn’t be impossible for this to happen. But there’s not much proof that Rufus ShinRa is around other than the fact that the man who died in the ShinRa tower was not Rufus ShinRa. Your guess is as good as mine Tifa.”

Tifa opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it before finally speaking. “John, if Rufus ShinRa is still alive, why do you think he’s been quiet all this time? Reeve has been the one acting as President since his supposed death . . . it just doesn’t seem like Rufus to lay low for so long letting someone else do his job.”

“I’m guessing that he enjoyed laying low for a while and acting like a regular citizen. But I really can’t say,” Rufus answered half-heartedly.

He stared into Tifa’s eyes as they studied him. Watching her inquisitive features nearly caused Rufus to tell her everything about who he really was; how he wanted to lay low and live a normal life for a while after seeing Meteor, how he didn’t think it was safe for him to reveal himself . . . and then he met AVALANCHE. He didn’t know when it happened, but over time he found himself wishing that he really was John Woolfe like he pretended. He wished that he could have been a normal man without all of the political baggage; that he could be the man Tifa and Yuffie have gotten to know and that Rufus ShinRa would have ceased to exist. But it seemed like that was impossible now because he knew that he would eventually have to reveal who he really was. He dreaded seeing the reaction on Tifa’s face when that happened. He desperately wanted to tell Tifa the truth for why Rufus ShinRa has laid low for so long: because of her.

He hadn’t noticed when Nanaki and his mate Kaya had joined the conversation. They were now trying to determine the truth behind the article and what their next course of action should be. Yuffie went into another fit of mindless cursing when she came back with several other papers. One paper recanted the first story while the remaining newspapers wrote about the potential conspiracy theories behind ShinRa and Rufus ShinRa’s faked death.

“Tifa, what are we going to do? Rufus ShinRa is probably still out there.” Yuffie asked.

“We go to Junon and talk to Reeve. All of us,” Tifa said looking pointedly at her male companion.

Nanaki looked worriedly at Kaya before speaking. “Tifa, if it would be alright, Kaya and I would like to stay here in Cosmo Canyon. There is so much I want to show her about her homeland. Do you think you’ll be fine without us?”

“Of course we will,” Tifa answered as she gently stroked his mane. “We’ll fill you in on all of the events through the PHS. Stay here with your people and your new mate.”

“The Highwind is still in the canyon. I’m sure that the pilots wouldn’t mind transporting you all back to the Eastern Continent,” said Nanaki graciously.

Yuffie blanched. “Um, Tifa. Can we wait to head to Junon until maybe after lunch or sometime way later than right now?”

“Let’s leave before we eat so your stomach won’t be as upset. We’ll all meet at the Highwind before noon, how does that sound?”

Rufus nodded his head, still trying to digest all of the information he just received and Yuffie hesitantly agreed.

“Good, get your stuff ready and I’ll met you then.”

Rufus watched everyone leave going their own separate ways. He found himself walking over to the Cosmo Candle staring at the flames lost in thought. He was going to have to tell Reeve and the rest of the ShinRa government the truth. He hadn’t been in touch with the news lately, but he could tell from the snippets that he had read in the newspapers that the world was restless. Questions needed to be answered and conspiracy theories put to rest. There was no plausible way for Reeve to rule as President if there was any question of his accession. Odd in its own way, the world needed Rufus ShinRa. The big question was whether or not he was going to tell Tifa before they reached Junon.

* * *

The sun was setting over the Kalm fields. A scarlet hue painted the sky almost as a reminder of the blood that was spilt that day. Two worn and weary men sat watching the sunset in peace; a welcome reprieve from the chaos of several hours earlier.

“We’re lucky you know. It could have been worse,” Cid said as he took a drag out of his cigarette.

“I know we’re lucky,” Barrett grumbled.
“Then why are you still all pissy?”

“Cause it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Damn, I wish Tifa or Reeve were here. They’d know what to do.”

Cid paused and nodded his head in agreement. “Have you called her?”

“Shit, the PHS ran out of batteries a few days ago and with everything going on, I forgot to charge it.”

“Well, no point in crying over spilled milk. Know who it was who died?”

“Some guy named Private Pete or something. Thomas is real upset over the whole thing.”

“Can’t say I blame him. I just hope that someone who has some political-balls comes out here to calm these people down. You and I aren’t exactly gentlemen of sound and virtue.”

“Yeah, but we’re all they’ve got. At least they’re listening now. Thanks to that old guy Casey.”

“Your Aunt’s beau?”

Barrett rolled his eyes. “Yeah, him. You know what Cid?”

“What’s that?”

“I have no problem fighting Sephiroth or working in the fields, but when it comes to leading the people, I don’t know what’s right from left. And I hate to say it, but I think Rufus ShinRa knew what he was doing?”

“What, being a corrupt politician?”

“Well, that too, but he knew how to talk to the people. That’s a gift I sure as hell don’t have and you don’t either.”

“That’s why you wish Tifa or Reeve was here now. Yeah, I hear ya. Give me a work crew to build a ship, and I can lead like nobody’s business. Give me a country to run, and I’ll drive it into the ground.”

“Midgar’s already run into the ground, maybe you could be the Mayor of Midgar,” Barrett patted Cid on the back.

“Yeah and I’ll make you Deputy Mayor of Midgar so us two working men can make a mess out of the whole political system.”

“Shit Cid, it already is a mess. When you’re wishing for a ShinRa to come back, then you know that things are bad.”

“Could be worse,” Cid shrugged.

“How?”

“Rufus ShinRa could still be alive and waiting to take over the government.”

Barrett stared blankly at Cid. “Don’t play me Cid. I know I gave the man some praise earlier but if he was still alive, that’d be really messed-up.”

* * *

Reeve stared at the reports on his desk in frustration. It was the same requests that he had been fielding ever since he was made President. Only now, the requests were getting more urgent and more demanding. They all wanted the same thing, the one item that supposedly made the world go round: money. Sadly, all of ShinRa’s accounts were still frozen until one of two things: either they produced the body of Rufus ShinRa or the real Rufus ShinRa came back. Easier said than done.

“Mark, any luck on finding me more funds?”

“I’ve been able to dip into some emergency funds that had been set-up by Rufus before he went AWOL. Luckily for us, that will sustain our troops and provide for all of the necessities, but I’m still working on trying to sort out all of these bogus claims for money,” the young banker said.

It was those bogus claims that were giving Reeve a splitting headache. Even though the Turks had nullified the threat of the ShinRa-King organization, it turned out that Nick King was a busy boy using the ShinRa name to rack up several expenses to be paid by the government. Under normal circumstances, these claims would have been thrown out and all the vendors would have been called foolish and naïve to give services to a man who clearly had no affiliation with ShinRa. But these were desperate times and desperate times called for desperate measures.

The news article about John ShinRa didn’t help the situation either. It only fueled the fire that there were men fathered by the late Augustus ShinRa and who held more sway over ShinRa’s funds than he did. It didn’t matter that the Turks had successfully gotten the reporter to recant her story. Once the article was published, the raging fire of suspicion couldn’t be quelled by a few simple words. The people didn’t need this sense of distrust when he was doing everything in his power to make things right. It helped that Reeve wasn’t a ShinRa so that more people placed his trust in him, but on the flip side many people didn’t support him because he wasn’t a ShinRa. There was simply no way to please everybody.

“Daddy, are you okay?”

Reeve peaked over to where his daughter and wife, Mel were playing only a few feet away. He couldn’t bring his work home since he didn’t have a real home anymore, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t bring home to work. “I’m fine sweetie. Just a little frustrated.”

“Don’t be sad Daddy. Mommy and I have been helping in Junon. We opened up a big building where all of the kids can play. I made a lot of new friends.”

“Ah yes, the new youth hostel,” Reeve said with a wink to Mel. “I’m sure your new friends are very happy where they are, right?”

Sara smiled brightly with a nod. “I told them all that my Daddy helped open the place and my Mommy was going to help take care of everyone.”

“Thanks sweetheart. I appreciate it,” Reeve smiled at his daughter before turning to address his wife. “So the youth hostel is all up and running now?”

“Yes, thanks to your help. We have a small group of volunteers that will sustain the building for about a month or so. At least until we can get more funding. I know that things are tight so take your time. You know that I’m working for free and the workers at the night shift are retirees who have no qualms helping out, but in the long term . . .”

“In the long term, the hostel won’t be able to stay open without proper funds,” Reeve finished for her. “I know Mel. Hopefully Mark and I can figure something out, but the ShinRas’ were very prudent when it came to who was able to spend their money.”

Mark Baker held back a laugh. “Anal retentive is probably the more correct term.”

“They’re not the only ones,” Reeve said under his breath as he fingered through the various fraudulent or over-priced invoices. “Any ideas on other ways to increase our funds?”

“Legally? Afraid not. Private donations from Dio and other wealthy businessmen have been helpful, but with tens of thousands of dollars being held up in this ShinRa-King mess, our hands are tied until the claims are resolved,” Mark said as he glared at his notes.

“Ah, my kingdom for a ShinRa,” Reeve muttered as he buried his head in his arms on the desk.

“Daddy, why do you need a ShinRa?” Reeve’s daughter Sara asked.

Reeve looked up and smiled as he ruffled her hair. “I’m just stressed out about how I’m going to help pay for the hostel that Mommy’s working so hard on and a ShinRa would help.”

“Why don’t you ask everyone for help paying for the hostel? That way people who want to help can,” Sara said with such simple innocence.

“That’s a great idea sweetie. Too bad it doesn’t help Daddy with all of the bad men who are asking for money.”

“You know what my teacher used to do back in Costa Del Sol? She would put the picture and names of all of the students who did something bad and put them on the board in the front of our classroom. Maybe you could do something like that?”

Reeve paused as he processed everything his daughter said. “Mark, what’s your thought about that idea?”

“I rather like it. I’d have to run it by Legal of course, but if we can pull it off, I think it would be satisfying if not effective.”

“Expose the rats and they’ll be run off, right?” Mel added wryly.

Reeve hugged Sara who beamed proudly at the help she gave. “Leave it to an idea from an eight-year old to bring corruption to its knees.”

“It’s actually kind of brilliant. Public humiliation is probably the worse form of punishment for businesses who need consumer support. It will still need a lot of tweaking. I don’t think simply posting the names of all the vendors in the newspapers will do the trick. We’ll need transparency in order for this to work. No one fully trusts ShinRa, but they trust philanthropic endeavors, especially those helping children. Use that as the crutch to get the money-grubby vendors off of our backs by getting the public to support the hostel and renounce the vendors,” Mark said as he scribbled notes furiously down on his notepad.

“I’m sure that Legal could help you with that. They’re not called money-grubbing lawyers for nothing. Also, get my assistant Chris Johnson over in Midgar involved. He’ll know the best way to bring the PR bit into this,” Reeve said feeling almost giddy with excitement. He always excelled at problem solving. Figuring out the solution to an intricate puzzle always gave him a buzz and this was no different. His victory high was suddenly replaced by something else much more pleasant.

Melissa gently rubbed her hands into her husbands’ shoulders as she spoke, “You looked like you needed this.”

“Thanks Mel,” Reeve said as he placed one of his hands on top of hers.

“You know, I never really knew what you did in the office all of the time. I don’t think I ever understood why you enjoyed working in the stuffy corporate or political world. But watching you do your job, I think I understand it a little bit. I could never do what you do, but at least I know why you have a passion for it.”

Reeve squeezed his wife’s hand as he smiled. “I’m glad we see eye-to-eye now. I don’t really want to go back to the way things were before everything happened. I’ve become spoiled being able to see you and Sara everyday. A guy could get used to this kind of thing.”

“As long as the world of politics won’t keep you away from me for too long, I won’t mind,” Mel said as she wrapped her arms around Reeve’s neck.

The two remained in those positions comfortably for a few minutes, shutting out the world outside. They were still working on their marriage. The tragedy of Meteor had helped bring them back together, but this conversation had given them both an understanding that healed many fissures in their relationship. Working together was what they needed to do to keep themselves from falling apart.

* * *

He hoped that if he ignored her long enough, she would go away. He was busy working with Eric Rivers and Chris Johnson to finalize the plans for the resettlement of Midgar’s citizens. The tunnel was ready for mass evacuations and the Wutai soldiers in Fort Condor had already set-up a settlement for the influx of refugees. Emperor Godo’s kindness was truly a blessing. There were some concerns at first about whether there were any tensions between the Wutai and Midgar’s army, but once they met Eric all of those fears seemed to dissipate. It helped that Eric had remembered the lessons in Wutainese that his mother had taught him. Thomas had known that Eric was very knowledgeable about Wutai culture, but didn’t know until today that his mother had been Wutainese. Apparently, Eric had been embarrassed about his mother’s heritage when he first started working for the company. The war against Wutai had already ended by the time he joined ShinRa, but the animosity hadn’t. The air would never be completely clear between Midgar and Wutai, but at least there was a start.

Of course, the challenges we had to face were only beginning. Thanks to the woman whom Thomas was still trying to ignore, the refugees and citizens of Kalm were ambivalent about receiving assistance from ShinRa. That’s where the Wutai soldiers also came as a godsend as the refugees felt more comfortable with the foreign helpers.

“So it looks like I’ll stay over in Fort Condor to keep the peace between Wutai and Midgar while Thomas works over here on the Kalm side and Chris heads to Junon to help Reeve, does that all sound right?” Eric asked as he looked over his notes.
“That sounds about right,” Thomas answered.

Chris nodded his head in confirmation. “I’m getting picked-up by some ShinRa guards in a few minutes for the transfer to Junon.”

“Great. We all have our PHS so if we need to get in touch with one another. Well, let’s make history boys,” Eric said before giving both Thomas and Chris a firm handshake.

“Be careful,” Thomas said to his coworkers.

He kept his gaze on their departing backs, wanting to delay the inevitable meeting that was going to take place. She was still there staring desperately at him. It was unfortunate how their almost-relationship disintegrated so quickly. Perhaps it was for the best. Physical attraction alone was not enough to build a stable relationship, even if there was an emotional and intellectual connection. Thomas had no doubts that what he once imagined, once hoped could happen between him and Autumn were nothing more than mere flights of fancy: an impossible dream.

Stealing a melancholy look at the new ShinRa guard posted to protect him, he turned towards Autumn and spoke, “what do you want?

“I’m really sorry about Pete,” Autumn whispered.

Her hair looked unkempt as if she hadn’t bothered to brush it in days. The sincerity of her words and the desperation in her eyes were almost enough to make him forgive her, but then he remembered the ache in his heart when he held Pete in his arms as he took his last breath. Nothing, not even Autumn, could make him forget that.

“He’d probably still be here if it weren’t for you.”

“I know. I truly am sorry,” Autumn pleaded.

“It’s a little too late to be sorry, don’t you think?” He was being cruel, but he was hurt. And as all people who are hurt do, they find someone else to hurt so they’re not the only ones in pain.

“Tom, why do you have to make this harder for me? I thought we were friends . . . I thought you liked me.”

“I did like you. I thought you were beautiful and you really are. But then you go and do something like this and . . . I just don’t know anymore,” Thomas choked on his words.

“Can we at least be friends?”

It took him sometime to finally answer. “I don’t know. Look, I need to check-up on things with Mayor Wildman. We’ll talk about this later or something, okay?”

“Okay,” Autumn meekly replied.

She watched dejectedly as he walked away from her. The guilt she was feeling ate her soul like a parasite, threatening to leave her limp and lifeless. She hadn’t felt so insignificant in a long, long time. All of the walls she had built up around her were crumbling down, leaving her exposed. Sadly, she didn’t have the energy or the desire to try and build them back-up. But she feared that she lost her chance to find that little piece of happiness. She knew she’d never find a man like him again and it was all her fault. She had made a mistake, leaving her with a lonely outlook. Regret was a harsh mistress.

Strangers walked by her with blank faces as Autumn stood rooted to the ground. They all ignored her walking by her as if she were invisible. She was lost in the sea of her own thoughts, unrecognizable as the woman she once was grasping onto the little hope she had left. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll write that novel he wanted me to write. And there, I’ll make the heroine right the wrongs she had done. And maybe he’ll keep his promise and read it, and see that I’m truly sorry. Maybe.