Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fragments ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Trick Sparrow 
Everything comes back to Rufus, while a certain person comes back to Yuffie.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.14.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 286 | Status: Completed
Everything comes back to Rufus, while a certain person comes back to Yuffie.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.14.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 286 | Status: Completed
//Wow, almost fifty reviews! I never thought I'd get *that* many... Thanks for your interest and support!//
Chapter 9
"Elmywa? What's wrong wif him?"
"He fainted, dear. But I think he might be coming around... Poor young man..."
"Yeah, poor. Just remember who he is, 'Myra."
"I know, I know. I wonder what made him pass out like that?"
"I'm not-- Hey, he's wakin' up! You okay, Shin-ra?"
Rufus opened his azure eyes painfully and examined his surroundings. As his vision cleared, he found he was in a stereotypical room at an inn, which after a while he realized was the inn at Kalm... Yes, he recalled he had been talking with the large black man, Barret. Cloud's friend. He had told him the truth about the Turks, and then...
"Oh, God," he moaned, wincing and massaging his temples. Barret and Elmyra were knelt at the bedside, along with a little girl with shiny brown hair. Rufus looked at the child and smiled despite himself. "Marlene?"
She grinned, nodding vigorously. "Yup, that's me! And you'we Wufus Shin-wa?"
He nodded and forced himself up to a sitting position, swinging his slender legs onto the cold wooden floor. He looked over at Barret. "How long was I out?"
"Not long," he said, shrugging. "'Bout two hours, maybe two and a half. What made ya just keel over like that?"
Rufus closed his eyes, lowering his weary head to his chest. For a while he could not bring himself to answer. Finally he spoke, almost too softly to be heard. "I remembered. It... it all came back to me."
"You mean, everything?" Elmyra ventured, fingering the collar of her blouse nervously. It seemed all were eager for the boy to end his painful contemplation.
"Every... last... detail," he said bitterly, through clenched teeth. "I ordered the kidnapping of Aeris Gainsborough, the last Cetra." This caused Elmyra to shift uneasily in her place. "I gave Hojo my special permission to experiment on the Ancient, along with the animal we codenamed 'Red XIII'. I... I ordered Tseng to kill my father," he finished, burying his head in his hands. It was plain to see that the boy was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"Marlene," said Barret quickly, ushering the child out of the room, "Why doncha call your Uncle Cid and see how Shera and the baby are doing? You haven't talked to Cid in a while. 'Myra, you go with her."
Marlene hurried out the door along with Elmyra, looking at Rufus with wide brown eyes. Barret turned around to face the young blond once more. "Kid, I don't really know what I could say to comfort ya. I mean, it's kinda hard to think of anything... fitting, ya know?"
Suddenly Rufus stood up and paced back and forth across the room. "Don't you get it? I didn't want anyone to get in the way of *my* success. I would have killed my own father, if Jenova hadn't! I tried to kill Cloud! *Cloud*! My best friend! I don't deserve to live!!" He squeezed his eyes shut, not daring to allow the tears to trickle forth. "And I don't deserve Yuffie..." he whispered in utter misery.
Barret stood tall and silent, unable to think of anything to say. He wished that he didn't agree with every word Rufus said, but he did. Still, watching the young man pace to and fro with a feverish restlessness as he stood at the edge of sanity, Barret tried desperately to think of some way to console him.
As Barret watched helplessly, Rufus suddenly stopped, searching the room with a bizarre hunger in his wild blue eyes. The cerulean orbs fell upon the bedside lamp, an oil lantern with a glass vessel containing lighter fuel. He made his way toward the small table and yanked the drawer open, spilling its entire contents onto the bedspread. As his hands fished through the objects, Barret's dark eyes widened in horror as he saw what those frenzied fingers had wrapped themselves around.
It was a book of matches.
"Rufus, don't!!" he bellowed, advancing on him. The boy took the oil lamp into his hands, and with one swift motion, shattered it against his chest, staining his shirt with lighter fuel and blood from the glass shards that had gashed his tender skin. He raised the matchbook to strike one of the heads against the box, but Barret threw himself on top of him, pinning the frail young man to the floor with his massive bulk.
Breathing hard, he pulled the matchbook from Rufus's tenacious hand and smacked him on the side of the head with it. "Whaddya think you're doin', foo?!" he roared as Rufus struggled underneath him.
"LET ME GO!!" the boy cried in a high, strangled voice. "You couldn't *possibly* understand!! The Planet would be better off if I was dead!" His shoulders slumped, and he moaned in a voice filled with pure anguish and heartbreak. "Yuffie's better off with Vincent."
Barret never thought he could feel such pity for a person that he used to so despise. But Rufus Shin-ra was no longer the proud, arrogant, ruthless man he had once been. He was a broken, defeated, wisp of a boy who had not a shred of respect for himself. Barret could tell that he loved Yuffie dearly, but he loathed himself too much to permit himself to tell her. Perhaps she *was* better off with Vincent...
"Vincent!" he suddenly exclaimed. Rufus looked up at him in surprise. "You said you were gonna go find Vincent! Didn't you promise Yuff you'd find him-- for her?" Rufus gazed dully up at the ceiling, but Barret shook him violently. "Didn't ya!? Answer me, boy!"
"Yes," he whispered, finally meeting Barret's angry stare with his own haunted one. "I did."
The large man's sable eyes bored holes into him. "You gonna break that promise by killin' yourself? What's that gonna accomplish? Yuffie already lost Vincent. You think she wants to lose you, too?"
Hot tears streamed down Rufus's delicate face. He shook his head, wiping his cheeks and smearing them with blood in the process. "I can't live without her," he said weakly, "But if she doesn't even feel the same way, I might as well not live at all."
"Don't say that, kid," said Barret quietly, shaking his head. "How do ya think that'd make her feel? Just... see who she chooses, all right?" He picked the boy up as if he weighed no more than a feather pillow and set him on his feet. "Let's get you washed up. I don't want Marlene to see you like this."
At that moment Elmyra peeked her head into the doorway. "I heard a crash, and I was worried something might have--" Her hazel eyes widened as she saw Rufus, stained with blood, tears, and lantern oil. "Oh, my!" she cried, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Rufus had a brief lapse in sanity," said Barret, brushing past her. "Why doncha go help him wash up and make sure he's outta range of anything sharp, okay? Is Marlene still talkin' to Cid?"
Elmyra blinked. "Yes, why?"
He turned to Rufus. "You said Vince was in Nibelheim?"
"As far as I know," he replied.
Barret grinned. "Looks like the good captain might have to take the Highwind out for a spin," he said, walking out the door.
Reno was definitely not the kind of companionship Yuffie would have preferred. He was loud, crude, and sloppy, and only did what she asked him after telling him at least five times. Tifa or Cloud would have kept her company, but Cloud was busy with his weapon shop, and his wife had gone to Sector 5 to get groceries. Rude and Elena had gone to one of Reeve's weekly meetings, and Yuffie was starting to think even they would have been more pleasant to be with than Reno, man of a thousand dirty or just plain bad jokes.
"Hey, Kisaragi," he said, stretching out in his chair beside her bed. The ninja had grown accustomed to the Turk's use of her last name. "What do you get when you cross a manwhore with a circus clown?"
Yuffie sighed, meeting his aquamarine gaze with a mischievous glint. "Gee, I don't know," she said, smirking. "You?"
Reno pursed his lips. "Dang, girl, you're a clever one today, aren't you? Apparently my intellect is no match for yours, so I guess I'll just go home and leave you here all alone. I'm sure you and your massive brain can figure out how to work the childproof lid on your medicine, right?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Not me, I'm too dense." That was one thing he had going for him: where politeness failed, Reno could always make her laugh. And even though she would never admit it, she was grateful for the distraction. Heaven knew her mind was troubled with the thoughts and worries about two of her dearest friends. She would never get a break from her sullen mood if it wasn't for Reno.
The Turk looked at her thoughtfully. "Look, Kisaragi," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I know you're just tryin' to put on a brave face and all that. But I can tell you miss Mr. Pres--" He caught himself and smacked his forehead, causing his sunglasses to go askew. "*Rufus*. You ain't too good at hiding your feelings."
"Well, yeah, of course I miss him," she said defensively, fingering the edge of her blanket. "He's one of my best friends."
"No, no, no," he said quickly, pushing his shades back out of his wild red bangs. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. Man, why didn't you tell him how you felt before he left?!"
"Because I didn't *know* how I felt, okay?" Yuffie cried angrily, propping herself against her pillows. "And I still don't! Yeah, I have feelings for him, but I have feelings for Vinnie, too! And I can't decide who to choose!" She buried her face in her hands, sobbing. "There, are you happy?"
Reno opened his mouth, but thought better of it. Instead, he simply left his chair and sat down on the edge of the bed. Reaching out with a tentative hand, he brought it to rest on the girl's shoulder. "Hey, come on," he said in what he hoped was a comforting tone. "You'll see them again. I know it. If I know anyone who can get himself out of a rough situation, it's Rufus Shin-ra. And I'm sure Valentine's the same way."
Yuffie gave him a teary smile. "Thanks, Turk," she said, punching his arm.
"No problem, Kisaragi. Now I better keep my distance, if I don't want to catch your germs." He grinned and whacked her lightly on the chin. He stood up, wondering how he could have thrown away his resentment for AVALANCHE in such a short period of time. It must have been because of Rufus's affections for the Strife household. Any friend of the president's was a friend of Reno's... to a degree.
"Hey, Reno," said Yuffie, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Where'd you leave the remote control? I'm gonna go watch TV."
"Planning on rotting your brain with cartoons? Okay, I'll join ya." He turned toward the door to leave, and his jaw dropped.
There, in the doorway, stood a tall, lean man with eyes as red as smoldering embers and long hair like ravens' feathers. His trim shoulders were draped with a cloak that was almost as deep a shade of crimson as his eyes, and at his side hung an arm of tarnished brass.
Yuffie's eyes widened in disbelief. "Vincent?!"
Reno simply gaped at him. "Valentine!!"
"Yes," he replied, his sonorous voice thick with exhaustion. He staggered toward Yuffie on weak legs and took her hand in his claw. "I'm here, Yuffie," he whispered, stroking her cheek gently with his human fingers. "And I promise I will never leave you again."
//MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Cliffhangers to all, and to all a horribly restless night!!//
Chapter 9
"Elmywa? What's wrong wif him?"
"He fainted, dear. But I think he might be coming around... Poor young man..."
"Yeah, poor. Just remember who he is, 'Myra."
"I know, I know. I wonder what made him pass out like that?"
"I'm not-- Hey, he's wakin' up! You okay, Shin-ra?"
Rufus opened his azure eyes painfully and examined his surroundings. As his vision cleared, he found he was in a stereotypical room at an inn, which after a while he realized was the inn at Kalm... Yes, he recalled he had been talking with the large black man, Barret. Cloud's friend. He had told him the truth about the Turks, and then...
"Oh, God," he moaned, wincing and massaging his temples. Barret and Elmyra were knelt at the bedside, along with a little girl with shiny brown hair. Rufus looked at the child and smiled despite himself. "Marlene?"
She grinned, nodding vigorously. "Yup, that's me! And you'we Wufus Shin-wa?"
He nodded and forced himself up to a sitting position, swinging his slender legs onto the cold wooden floor. He looked over at Barret. "How long was I out?"
"Not long," he said, shrugging. "'Bout two hours, maybe two and a half. What made ya just keel over like that?"
Rufus closed his eyes, lowering his weary head to his chest. For a while he could not bring himself to answer. Finally he spoke, almost too softly to be heard. "I remembered. It... it all came back to me."
"You mean, everything?" Elmyra ventured, fingering the collar of her blouse nervously. It seemed all were eager for the boy to end his painful contemplation.
"Every... last... detail," he said bitterly, through clenched teeth. "I ordered the kidnapping of Aeris Gainsborough, the last Cetra." This caused Elmyra to shift uneasily in her place. "I gave Hojo my special permission to experiment on the Ancient, along with the animal we codenamed 'Red XIII'. I... I ordered Tseng to kill my father," he finished, burying his head in his hands. It was plain to see that the boy was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"Marlene," said Barret quickly, ushering the child out of the room, "Why doncha call your Uncle Cid and see how Shera and the baby are doing? You haven't talked to Cid in a while. 'Myra, you go with her."
Marlene hurried out the door along with Elmyra, looking at Rufus with wide brown eyes. Barret turned around to face the young blond once more. "Kid, I don't really know what I could say to comfort ya. I mean, it's kinda hard to think of anything... fitting, ya know?"
Suddenly Rufus stood up and paced back and forth across the room. "Don't you get it? I didn't want anyone to get in the way of *my* success. I would have killed my own father, if Jenova hadn't! I tried to kill Cloud! *Cloud*! My best friend! I don't deserve to live!!" He squeezed his eyes shut, not daring to allow the tears to trickle forth. "And I don't deserve Yuffie..." he whispered in utter misery.
Barret stood tall and silent, unable to think of anything to say. He wished that he didn't agree with every word Rufus said, but he did. Still, watching the young man pace to and fro with a feverish restlessness as he stood at the edge of sanity, Barret tried desperately to think of some way to console him.
As Barret watched helplessly, Rufus suddenly stopped, searching the room with a bizarre hunger in his wild blue eyes. The cerulean orbs fell upon the bedside lamp, an oil lantern with a glass vessel containing lighter fuel. He made his way toward the small table and yanked the drawer open, spilling its entire contents onto the bedspread. As his hands fished through the objects, Barret's dark eyes widened in horror as he saw what those frenzied fingers had wrapped themselves around.
It was a book of matches.
"Rufus, don't!!" he bellowed, advancing on him. The boy took the oil lamp into his hands, and with one swift motion, shattered it against his chest, staining his shirt with lighter fuel and blood from the glass shards that had gashed his tender skin. He raised the matchbook to strike one of the heads against the box, but Barret threw himself on top of him, pinning the frail young man to the floor with his massive bulk.
Breathing hard, he pulled the matchbook from Rufus's tenacious hand and smacked him on the side of the head with it. "Whaddya think you're doin', foo?!" he roared as Rufus struggled underneath him.
"LET ME GO!!" the boy cried in a high, strangled voice. "You couldn't *possibly* understand!! The Planet would be better off if I was dead!" His shoulders slumped, and he moaned in a voice filled with pure anguish and heartbreak. "Yuffie's better off with Vincent."
Barret never thought he could feel such pity for a person that he used to so despise. But Rufus Shin-ra was no longer the proud, arrogant, ruthless man he had once been. He was a broken, defeated, wisp of a boy who had not a shred of respect for himself. Barret could tell that he loved Yuffie dearly, but he loathed himself too much to permit himself to tell her. Perhaps she *was* better off with Vincent...
"Vincent!" he suddenly exclaimed. Rufus looked up at him in surprise. "You said you were gonna go find Vincent! Didn't you promise Yuff you'd find him-- for her?" Rufus gazed dully up at the ceiling, but Barret shook him violently. "Didn't ya!? Answer me, boy!"
"Yes," he whispered, finally meeting Barret's angry stare with his own haunted one. "I did."
The large man's sable eyes bored holes into him. "You gonna break that promise by killin' yourself? What's that gonna accomplish? Yuffie already lost Vincent. You think she wants to lose you, too?"
Hot tears streamed down Rufus's delicate face. He shook his head, wiping his cheeks and smearing them with blood in the process. "I can't live without her," he said weakly, "But if she doesn't even feel the same way, I might as well not live at all."
"Don't say that, kid," said Barret quietly, shaking his head. "How do ya think that'd make her feel? Just... see who she chooses, all right?" He picked the boy up as if he weighed no more than a feather pillow and set him on his feet. "Let's get you washed up. I don't want Marlene to see you like this."
At that moment Elmyra peeked her head into the doorway. "I heard a crash, and I was worried something might have--" Her hazel eyes widened as she saw Rufus, stained with blood, tears, and lantern oil. "Oh, my!" she cried, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Rufus had a brief lapse in sanity," said Barret, brushing past her. "Why doncha go help him wash up and make sure he's outta range of anything sharp, okay? Is Marlene still talkin' to Cid?"
Elmyra blinked. "Yes, why?"
He turned to Rufus. "You said Vince was in Nibelheim?"
"As far as I know," he replied.
Barret grinned. "Looks like the good captain might have to take the Highwind out for a spin," he said, walking out the door.
Reno was definitely not the kind of companionship Yuffie would have preferred. He was loud, crude, and sloppy, and only did what she asked him after telling him at least five times. Tifa or Cloud would have kept her company, but Cloud was busy with his weapon shop, and his wife had gone to Sector 5 to get groceries. Rude and Elena had gone to one of Reeve's weekly meetings, and Yuffie was starting to think even they would have been more pleasant to be with than Reno, man of a thousand dirty or just plain bad jokes.
"Hey, Kisaragi," he said, stretching out in his chair beside her bed. The ninja had grown accustomed to the Turk's use of her last name. "What do you get when you cross a manwhore with a circus clown?"
Yuffie sighed, meeting his aquamarine gaze with a mischievous glint. "Gee, I don't know," she said, smirking. "You?"
Reno pursed his lips. "Dang, girl, you're a clever one today, aren't you? Apparently my intellect is no match for yours, so I guess I'll just go home and leave you here all alone. I'm sure you and your massive brain can figure out how to work the childproof lid on your medicine, right?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Not me, I'm too dense." That was one thing he had going for him: where politeness failed, Reno could always make her laugh. And even though she would never admit it, she was grateful for the distraction. Heaven knew her mind was troubled with the thoughts and worries about two of her dearest friends. She would never get a break from her sullen mood if it wasn't for Reno.
The Turk looked at her thoughtfully. "Look, Kisaragi," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I know you're just tryin' to put on a brave face and all that. But I can tell you miss Mr. Pres--" He caught himself and smacked his forehead, causing his sunglasses to go askew. "*Rufus*. You ain't too good at hiding your feelings."
"Well, yeah, of course I miss him," she said defensively, fingering the edge of her blanket. "He's one of my best friends."
"No, no, no," he said quickly, pushing his shades back out of his wild red bangs. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. Man, why didn't you tell him how you felt before he left?!"
"Because I didn't *know* how I felt, okay?" Yuffie cried angrily, propping herself against her pillows. "And I still don't! Yeah, I have feelings for him, but I have feelings for Vinnie, too! And I can't decide who to choose!" She buried her face in her hands, sobbing. "There, are you happy?"
Reno opened his mouth, but thought better of it. Instead, he simply left his chair and sat down on the edge of the bed. Reaching out with a tentative hand, he brought it to rest on the girl's shoulder. "Hey, come on," he said in what he hoped was a comforting tone. "You'll see them again. I know it. If I know anyone who can get himself out of a rough situation, it's Rufus Shin-ra. And I'm sure Valentine's the same way."
Yuffie gave him a teary smile. "Thanks, Turk," she said, punching his arm.
"No problem, Kisaragi. Now I better keep my distance, if I don't want to catch your germs." He grinned and whacked her lightly on the chin. He stood up, wondering how he could have thrown away his resentment for AVALANCHE in such a short period of time. It must have been because of Rufus's affections for the Strife household. Any friend of the president's was a friend of Reno's... to a degree.
"Hey, Reno," said Yuffie, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Where'd you leave the remote control? I'm gonna go watch TV."
"Planning on rotting your brain with cartoons? Okay, I'll join ya." He turned toward the door to leave, and his jaw dropped.
There, in the doorway, stood a tall, lean man with eyes as red as smoldering embers and long hair like ravens' feathers. His trim shoulders were draped with a cloak that was almost as deep a shade of crimson as his eyes, and at his side hung an arm of tarnished brass.
Yuffie's eyes widened in disbelief. "Vincent?!"
Reno simply gaped at him. "Valentine!!"
"Yes," he replied, his sonorous voice thick with exhaustion. He staggered toward Yuffie on weak legs and took her hand in his claw. "I'm here, Yuffie," he whispered, stroking her cheek gently with his human fingers. "And I promise I will never leave you again."
//MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Cliffhangers to all, and to all a horribly restless night!!//