Firsts

Final Fantasy VII © SQUARE ENIX

Firsts © fhclause

The first time they ever properly got close enough to talk, he was unconscious and she was shouting orders left and right.

Diamond Weapon just blasted through Midgar and Cloud quickly sent her and Vincent off to Midgar. While Yuffie felt a little bit put off by not being able to fight the big battle with Sephiroth, Barrett's anxiety to have Marlene safe shifted her priorities. It strengthened when she saw how awful Midgar had become.

She went to Shinra Headquarters first as it suffered the most from the blast. Dust filled the air and pieces of walls and sharp metals scattered on the ground. The abled survivors had already started searching for the other survivors under the rubbles. Those who were too hurt were gathered where the debris were scarce and were tended by the medic who had just arrived at the scene. From a distance, she heard the medic copters were already on their way, so she called Vincent to update him on the situation while he informed her he would try to find any survivors near the Mako Cannon. As she put down her PHS, she spotted a familiar, unkempt red hair. He was trying to get up, which was ridiculous, because one of his legs was twisted in an unnatural way.

It took a loud curse from him that Yuffie finally registered what he was saying. "You don't understand, yo! Rude…Rude is still in there! And the boss man—!"

Yuffie's breath hitched. Shinra is still in there. Rufus Shinra…

It would be really easy to put the blame on him. In fact, Yuffie already did because she was pretty sure that everything that happened was his fault. Because of his selfishness to manipulate the Planet. The Diamond Weapon, Mako Cannon, Sephiroth and—and…Wutai.

Her long-time hate on the Shinra family almost consumed her, but it halted when she spotted something white billowing weakly in the wind. Her mind still raging with hatred, instantly made the connection. There was only one person who she knew favoured that colour around here. She internally screamed to herself to leave—just leave and pretend she didn't see anything—but Yuffie suddenly found herself staring, next to her feet, at the man who started everything.

He was so still. No sign of breathing. No sign of life. A deep, red cut already marred his left eye. The big rubble undoubtedly crushing him from his waist down.

Yuffie assessed the damage, trying to force herself to feel something—glee, sympathy, guilt—but there was nothing. Not until she looked up to his face once more and her grey eyes met the gaze of one, right blue eye, staring blankly back at her.

It blinked.

Her heart thumped wildly in her chest because this was her chance to tell him that everything was his fault. To let him know that the Planet suffered because of him. To scream at him until he died out of guilt.

So scream she did.

"Medic!"

.

.

The first time they properly came face to face, his legs were numb and her palm stung.

After the Diamond Weapon incident, life had become quite dull. Well, it might be dull for an adventurous, daredevil like her, but to the people of Midgar, this was peace. They, especially those of Sector 7, were slowly picking their way up. What was broken were rebuild. Shops were opened one by one. Weariness slowly replaced by laughter.

Grudge against Rufus Shinra intensified.

Sure, the people talked about Sephiroth and the bad things he had done. But the root of the problem, everyone seemed to agree, was Rufus Shinra's fault. No one had heard from him after the Diamond Weapon incident, so most people assumed he was dead, but the brewing hostility might have been caused by the constant reminder around them. The remains of the Shinra Headquarters, the empty Mako Cannons, and the Turks survivors that were freely roaming around the city…

There was definitely no love lost between the people and Rufus Shinra.

Really, for a guy who was assumed dead, Rufus Shinra could still make his enemy easily. Yuffie tried not to fool herself though. Yeah, she agreed that what happened might be his fault, but there were days where she frowned at the insults she heard about him. The guy wasn't even there to defend himself and Yuffie believed that insults should be hurtled, received or blocked only if the person involved was right in front of your face.

But then she thought that might not be such a hot idea after all, because if the people knew he was actually alive, he might be dead before a word even uttered.

How she knew?

She didn't at first. After he left with the medic, she didn't ask for any updates about Rufus Shinra's wellbeing. In fact, she had forgotten all about him what with Planet's fate, restoring Wutai, and going around the world to her friends who might need her help. It wasn't until she saw Tseng standing in front of Seventh Heaven's door—almost as if he was waiting for her—and gave her a deep bow.

He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Tseng's world practically revolved around Rufus Shinra and his action said it all.

A few days later, Rude picked her up—literally picked her up—and dumped her into the back of a black car which was driven by one-broken legged Reno. Yuffie would probably have kicked them for manhandling her like this, but she was too busy trying to hold the contents of her stomach in and thinking of happy thoughts before Reno killed them all with his driving skill.

And then Rude picked her up—again—dumped her onto a chair, left the room, and closed the door. Then, Yuffie wished, really wished that Rufus Shinra was dead, gobbled up by Bahamut, slapped by Leviathan's tail and crushed by Odin's horse. When she felt that wasn't enough, she let out a string of curses that could make Cid's ears red.

All to Rufus Shinra's face.

Instead of being offended, he chuckled and looked at her with his one, mocking blue eye. Somehow, having just one cold eye looking at you was more disturbing than two cold ones.

She crossed her arms to cover the shiver that rocked her body. "So, what d'ya want?"

The mockery in his eye stretched into the corner of his lips. "Why, to give you my gratitude, of course, Miss Kisaragi."

"One of your Turkies already done that."

His lips flattened at that statement, but it quickly quirked back. "Tseng, I suppose? His action was done without my permission, but let me extend that by giving you my personal gratitude."

"If that's all you wanted, just give me a bouquet of roses and a thank you card," she said with a roll of her eyes. She stood up to leave but his next words froze her on her feet.

"I might not be able to walk again."

Yuffie's eyes darted towards his legs, hidden underneath the blanket. Her eyes immediately flashed back to his face—she didn't want him to see she was even slightly curious. Too late; he already caught her stare.

Yuffie tilted her chin up. "So? It's not my problem."

His one eye narrowed and distantly, Yuffie wondered if his left eye that was covered up was blind. "Is it not? You saved me after all."

"Saving you doesn't make you my responsibility. If it is, then everyone that I saved is my responsibility and that's one hell of a stuffy place to be."

"Of course it is," he chuckled scathingly. "No wonder Wutai is as bad as it is. Her princess doesn't bother with 'responsibility'."

A chill washed over her. "What?"

"Isn't that the reason why you go around? Because you don't want to be held responsible for your people? You shamed them by pilfering other people's belongings, claiming it would save them. And when a prick of conscience struck you, you can't go back to daddy, can you? So you join some miserable group to make up for it. Save the world? You're just a hypocrite—"

The slap that came didn't surprise any of them but the silence that came with it rung in her ears so loudly that that pained her more than her throbbing palm.

Was it such a surprise that he knew so much, even when they never exchanged a single word to each other? He was a Shinra after all.

She finally found her voice, but her lips felt stiff. "If that's all you have to say, Shinra, then I'm leaving." She turned away, reached for the door knob and—

"Why the hell did you save me?"

The anger brewing just exploded at that. "What. The. Hell. Why did I save you? How dare you? How. Dare. You! Do you know how many people didn't make it? How many got out but died on their way to the hospital!? You don't have the right to ask that question, Shinra!"

His fist hit the mattress so hard, it creaked. "I can't move! I can't move from this fucking bed because of your misplaced sense of—Why the hell are you smirking?"

"Because it's funny. I've always thought a Shinra is always invincible, no matter what the circumstances are. But I guess that's just a front, huh? Not so surprising with all the Turks around you." Yuffie chuckled with a snarl. "If I had known that all it takes to break you was to break your legs, I would've done it long time ago. Oh, but wait! You're not a Shinra, are you? Because no Shinra that I know gives up as easily as you do."

When she finally walked out of the room, she ignored the uneasy looks the Turks gave her. Who cares if they heard them? She certainly didn't.

Yuffie wished, really wished that Rufus Shinra was dead.

Yuffie never got her wish, though, even with the Geostigma outbreak.

Because Rufus Shinra finally decided to stand up.

.

.

The first time they were cordial to each other, he grinned as if it was carved onto his face while she sucked her lips, wishing she never opened them.

The mess with Deepground and Vincent's vanishing act right after his battle with Omega, made Yuffie so strung up that Tifa kicked her out from Seventh Heaven and dumped her into Reeve Tuesti's hands. Reeve, a businessman that he was—friendly, but a businessman to the core—saw her as an opportunity for WRO's growth and accepted her with open arms.

A half year later, the thought of the tall gunslinger slowly slipped off her mind as she busied herself with missions. She hadn't seen him since he was gone and honestly, she didn't really care anymore if he was actually gone 'gone' or just didn't bother to show up. Let him be the stuck up that he was. She was not going to be the lovesick puppy, waiting for his master to come home.

Her PHS rang and she brought it up to her ear. "Hey. Wassup, Reeve?"

"Hello, Yuffie," the voice over the phone crackled. "I was wondering if you're free right now."

"For my most favourite boss in the whole world? Of course I do."

"Great. Would you please come over to my office, then? I'll see you there."

Yuffie raised her eyebrow. Meet him at the office? That's a first.

Reeve was never that formal when giving her missions. He usually called her, gave her a briefing for the mission and expected a call back after she finished her task. But Yuffie just shrugged and headed for WRO anyway.

When she stepped into Reeve's office, two things surprised her. One, was the sight of Vincent Valentine, hovering next to Reeve's desk. Seeing him after all this time made her feel awkward—like being in a long ride with a stranger in an elevator.

Two, Shinra—that Rufus Shinra who laid on his bed, seething with anger because of his inability to move—was standing up. On his two feet.

Granted, he had a cane supporting him, but the sight of this Rufus Shinra from the last time she saw him was so different, Yuffie had to double check if the man in front of her wasn't actually a ghost.

Then, he smirked that mocking smile of his and Yuffie instantly knew she wasn't imagining things. "See something interesting, Miss Kisaragi?"

Yuffie scoffed at that, gave the eyebrow greeting to Vincent, pretending to be casual about everything and looked at Reeve. "What's the mission?"

"As you know," Reeve started with a forced cheer, clearly sensing the awkwardness in the room, "WRO has successfully dismantled Deepground organization nine months ago and taken out the last of their members a fortnight ago. However, it seemed there are supporters for this organization and they had become quite angry. They had decided to take out the problem—which is us, the WRO—by removing the root of the problem—which is our fundraiser. We would have try to find out who and where these supporters are, but we're out of time. Our source informed us that they already know the identity of our fundraiser." A glint of mischief reflected on Reeve's eyes. "We're already have a countermeasure for that, though."

"Lemme guess," Yuffie cut in. "Make our boss's boss as the bait, protect him at the same time, and catch the bad guys. Two birds with one stone."

Reeve laughed with delight. "I swear, Yuffie! You read my mind sometimes!"

Yuffie grinned. "Great mind thinks alike. So, who's our fundraiser?"

At that, Reeve's smile froze in place and silence filled the room. She suddenly felt an aura of disapproval from where Vincent stood and it suddenly struck her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait! Hold on! You!?"

The blonde man raised an eyebrow at the finger pointing rudely at him. "Surprise?" he drawled sarcastically.

She blinked, her eyes swept critically from his carefully combed hair to his shiny black shoes. Her eyes paused at his two working legs. "Huh. I can practically you say 'Take that, bitch!' in your head right now. So...nope." She looked up at him with an irritated look. "You really like to prove everyone wrong, don't you?"

As the white clad Shinra smirked, Yuffie realized too late that she accidentally painted their conversation as if Shinra and her were close—putting a reference that no one could understand but both of them—as she felt the curious looks from both Reeve and Vincent. But she just shrugged it off. She didn't owe them any explanation.

Then, she opened her mouth. "So, you can get it up, huh?"

The usual mockery on his face lit with surprise and it took Reeve's loud laugh for her to finally register what she had said. "Wait, no! I don't mean 'it'! I mean, 'them'! As in, your legs! As in, standing up! You! Standing up! With your legs!"

And Shinra certainly didn't help any as he grinned in mischief. "It seems it would be a great pleasure to work with you, Miss Kisaragi."

"Noooo!"

.

.

The first time they arrived to a decision together, he walked away while she stomped her foot angrily.

Wutai had become from bad to worse.

The streets had become less occupied, the crimes were rampant, the nights were too quiet and the elders over the palace had become frenzied over a marriage that they would believe could save them all.

Don't get Yuffie wrong. It wasn't the elders that made the decision for her—hell, her father threatened to disown her when she told him her decision—but to Yuffie Kisaragi, marrying Rufus Shinra was the best plan she could cook up to save Wutai.

So why her friends were so against it?

Okay, so he was the cause of everything. But didn't he make amends for that? Wasn't he still?

And out of everyone, she really had thought Cloud would understand. Wasn't he the one who allowed a kleptomaniac ninja obsessed with materia, an unstable gunman prone to transform and a midget of a woman with the memory of a dead woman in her head into his happy, little group? How was Rufus any different? But no. Cloud wasn't receptive to the news and when he didn't, neither would everyone else.

She was making an unnecessary sacrifice? Puh-lease. This wasn't some kind of a soap opera. It was all business and mutual agreement.

He was manipulating her? Oh, come on! She was the one who came up with the idea, confront him and directly ask him to marry her. She might as well be a gold digger!

She could do better? Umm, hello? See above. Gold digger. Meaning, she would marry a rich man. A really, really rich man. The richest man in the Planet, in fact. She doubted she could do better than that.

So, like, seriously. Stop!

"Yuffie—"

"No, Tifa. I've heard enough." Yuffie clenched her fist and breathed loudly through her nose. She was trying really hard not to punch something.

Yuffie had brought Rufus here to Seventh Heaven to introduce him to her friends—not that they didn't know each other already. Rufus didn't think it was such a good idea, but she specifically told him that yes, her friends would grumble and threaten to kill him in ten different ways, but they would get over it in five minutes.

She was so, so wrong.

She could practically feel the chill in the room as they stepped into the bar. The silence was so overwhelming that it made them froze in the doorway. Vincent and Cloud were throwing daggers by the bar. Nanaki thumped his tail on the floorboard and looked ready to pounce. Barret was frowning over his suspiciously, newly polished gunhand. Even Shelke—Shelke, the little woman who almost destroyed the world with her little groupie—was staring down at them—at Rufus—from the stairway as if he was merely a bug underneath her feet.

The moment snowballed when Cid—the guy who she thought would be the first one who would stepped over and welcomed him—tripped Rufus' cane with his foot. He sneered, "Whoops. Didn't see that."

Rufus refused to take the bait—refused to even utter a word—as he bent down to pick his cane. Yuffie wanted so badly for him to raise his head because she knew how badly it hurt for him to put pressure on his legs like that. She wanted to apologize for bringing him here; to explain this wasn't supposed to happen, but he refused to even meet her eyes—and everyone else's—as he brushed past her, calmly told her he would be waiting outside.

As she watched his retreating back, cold settled at the pit of her stomach. She knew that posture before; a posture of someone who reached out a hand for acceptance only to be rejected in the end. Didn't her confrontation with her father end up like this so many times before? Only the difference was; with her father, she expected rejection, while he got his hope dashed when she put it there in the first place.

When the door slowly closed—the sound loud against the silence of the room—Yuffie started to rage. "How could you guys do that?"

"Yuffie," Tifa started. She had avoided eye contact the moment they stepped into the bar. "We were just trying to protect you."

"No. No, you weren't. This is about you guys protecting your ideals about him still being the bad guy. I wasn't expecting hug and kisses, you guys, but I wasn't expecting you to be cruel too!" Yuffie stomped her foot. "Look. I know who he is. I was there, when everything happened. But I also know, he wasn't the same man he was years ago. The chances of him finding a mad scientist to revive Sephiroth is as slim as Shelke going to slit Vincent's throat in his sleep. I know he isn't perfect, but neither are we.

"He's trying to make amends for the things he'd done. I thought, out of everyone, you two would understand that." Cloud looked away at that statement while Vincent dug his face deeper into his collar. "We've done things, guys. Either we're proud of them or not, depends on you. But what I've always known, is that AVALANCHE have always extended their hands to help people. No matter who they are, we will always try to help." Which was why I brought him here, Yuffie continued in her thoughts.

A minute ticked in further silence, until Nanaki padded towards her, raised his head as if begging to be petted. She knew it was sign of him begging for forgiveness, but Yuffie didn't dare to reach out—not until all of her friends understood. She gave him a watery smile instead. "Look. He is going to be my husband and that means he's going to be a family. Reject my family, and you reject me, too."

Yuffie turned towards the door and stepped out, but before she fully closed the door, she looked at them. "I don't know about you guys, but I still want us to be friends."

Five days after that, a loud rumbling of a motorcycle and the loud hiss of an airship was heard near Healen Lodge. Out of nowhere, a red beast and a deeper red shadow took Reno and Rude out. When they broke in, retaliation by Tseng and Elena was futile as they were hold back by two EM sabers, and they looked helplessly as Rufus was shoved by a huge, gunhand onto his back and out of the safety of his house.

Three hours later, Yuffie received a frantic call from Tifa but when she reached Seventh Heaven, the sight before her was one she would have never expected. The Turks, Cloud and Tifa were gathered around the bar, with Reno already slumped over it. Shelke was politely giving the drinks around. Nanaki was comfortably settling down on the floor, leaning against the chair Rufus was sitting on. Vincent was arranging the cards on the table as Barrett were laughing alongside Cid, who was shaking Rufus' shoulder.

As Yuffie walked towards them—really, Cid was shaking him way too hard; his head was going to fall off—Rufus turned his head and caught her eyes. There was a curve on his lips that she had never seen on him before.

Yuffie smiled back.

.

.

The first time they discovered the skeletons in each other closets, he stank so badly that she laughed so hard.

Being married was weird. You learned a lot of things being married. Yuffie was not the anal retentive type—not even a normal attentive one—but being married made her discover a lot of new things about herself. Like, how she hated the continuous typing sound of keyboards, how she loved the way he explained the stupidity of the characters in horror movies. How she hated it when he stared at her until she spilled whatever pranks she played on the Turks and how she loved it when his fingers started to rub her toes without her asking.

She learned a lot of things about him too. Like how he didn't like to be served cereal in the mornings and how he didn't like her stealing his socks before he went to work. How he preferred to sleep farthest from the window, regardless of bed sides. How he preferred her to stand on his left, so she could be his eye because he couldn't see very well on that side.

Oh, he also loved being the bottom in bed…

Anyway, that's what she discovered being married. Even though Yuffie never told him anything much about herself to him, she was pretty sure, Rufus being Rufus, knew every single thing about her. Even about that one time she ate her cat food to see how it tasted like when she was nine.

But that's the thing.

She knew Rufus knew everything about her and yes, she was starting to know him as well, but it wasn't the same. He knew about the things before and now, but she only knew about the things she learned now. When she casually mentioned it as he was rubbing her feet, he gave her a blank look.

It wasn't until two months later that Rufus invited her to come along for a business meeting. Yuffie wasn't that interested in his business matter, but this was also the first time he invited her, so she agreed to meet up with him in Mideel after she was finished dealing with some matter at the palace.

There, he brought her further south until they came across another village called Banora. It didn't look entirely different from Mideel, only it was less dense with trees and had more windmills. He walked passed the gates until they came to the orchard. It was unique, with its trees bended, shaped into a half round canopy made of tree trunks. Yuffie whistled. "Nice place for a date. Lucky this place is pretty, or I would've killed you for making me walked so far."

Rufus smirked at that. "I promise a full massage later."

The wind accompanied their comfortable silence. Rufus plucked the nearest Banora apple and offered it to her. Yuffie scrunched nose at the proffered apple. Like, seriously. Who would eat that? It was blac—

"My half-brother died here."

Her eyes snapped at that, but he was unaware of her shock as he stared at the windmill on the mountain to the right. "His name was Lazard. He would be around forty now, if he was still alive.

"I first knew about him when I heard about a man, who was raised in the slum, got hired into our company. I didn't think much about it; dismissed it as a luck on his side. Then, I heard, that the same man was being promoted with such speed that I thought it was suspicious. It was then when I knew who he really was. My father's illegitimate son. It wasn't surprising, considering who my father was. And Lazard, being related to my father, made him even more suspicious. So, I had him investigated."

Finally, Rufus looked at her, the apple in his hand was covered by her smaller ones. "He was a good man. Always courteous to his subordinates, always tried to help the slums he called family, always tried to save as many of his SOLDIER as he could. He was elevated in status merely for who he was, not because he was my father's son." Rufus chuckled grimly. "I think even my father was unaware that Lazard was his illegitimate son, let alone working under him."

"Did he know about you?"

Rufus shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know if he knew who he really was to us. If he did, he never came to me nor to my father about it." Then, he grinned, pulled Yuffie closer by the neck until their nose almost brushed. "Now you know my deepest, darkest secret, Mrs. Yuffie Kisaragi Shinra, what do you think about it?"

Yuffie gave him a mocking eyebrow. "Pretty anti-climactic, but entertaining enough." She grinned when he laughed at that. "You know, I think…if you told him that you knew, he would like to know you."

"Of how much of an asshole I was?"

"Hey, you're still an asshole, just lesser." Yuffie leaned closer. "You two would've gotten along well because you're a good man too, in your own way."

"Is that so?"

"Mm." Her hum was both in confirmation as well as her approval when his lips finally meshed with her own.

When he suggested they went back to Mideel by the mini plane, Yuffie asked if he was sure. Rufus gave her an odd look as he nodded. She tried really hard to hold the contents of her stomach in—Damn it! I shouldn't have eaten that stupid apple!—but when Rufus accidentally jostled her shoulder to get a more comfortable position from her death grip, Yuffie vomited.

"Wha—Yuffie, why the hell didn't you tell me that you are airsick!?"

Yuffie blinked at him, still dazed by the aftermath of throwing up. "Wait, you…you didn't know?"

"I would've prepared something if I did! Better yet, I would've not ridden with you!"

It was then the horror on his face registered into Yuffie's brain. His lower suit and his pants were soiled by her stomach's contents and even though he smelled bad, Yuffie didn't feel a bit sorry.

She found it funny.

Rufus grumbled as his wife laughed madly at his expense.

.

.

The first time they admitted they loved each other, she was crying on his supposedly white, blood-stained suit.

She should have known.

No. She had known for a while. She just put it out at the back of her head and then, forgot all about it. They were not living in a fairy-tale. She should not have expected happy endings.

She should have been more careful. More vigilant. More—

"Yuffie?"

Tifa frowned worriedly when Yuffie gave her a wobbly smile. She knew what Yuffie was doing; pretending she was alright as to not worry anyone. Tifa stepped closer and hugged her. "They'll find him." She felt the ninja flinched in her arms at the mention of 'him' and small fingers suddenly gripped her back. Tifa hugged her tighter. "They'll find him, Yuffie. I promise."

It was supposed to be a joyous day as the New Shinra Electric Company celebrated their fifth anniversary. Everything had went so well and Yuffie was about to pull Rufus away to the balcony, so she could tell him something—but a loud crash shocked them as smoke suddenly filled up the room. Her right arm was harshly pulled and when she turned to look, Rufus was already gone. Tseng (or was it Rude?) ran towards the shadow behind the smoke.

Just before the smoke settled down, Elena grabbed her and rushed towards the helicopter. Yuffie refused to leave without her husband, but when Tseng came up to the helipad and reported that Rufus was gone from the premise and was likely kidnapped, Elena took her bewildered state as a chance and jostled her into the helicopter.

When Yuffie finally came to her senses, she was calm enough to demand the Turks to take her to Seventh Heaven and called her friends through her phone. She wasn't sure if it was because of the foreboding calm she felt, Reno learned some new trick flying the helicopter or because of the new element in her body, but Yuffie didn't feel sick at all during the flight.

When they landed, all of her friends were already there. They were briefed of the situation by Tseng. Reno, Cloud and Vincent were to catch up with Rude, while Tseng, Cid and Barret would see Reeve if he had any clues as to who were behind it. The others would stay with Yuffie.

It had been two slow weeks with no progress. The kidnappers did nothing to attract themselves other than their little show on the day they kidnapped Rufus—not even a ransom note. It was hard to search for them because clues were sparse and any heads-up ended up to be nothing. Yuffie was quietly listening to Cid's report when she suddenly spring from her seat and ran towards the bathroom.

"Yuffie!?" Tifa called worriedly as she followed her friend. A terrible retching sound was heard and Tifa saw the little ninja had her face down the toilet. She crouched and rubbed her friend's back.

Tifa still didn't stop rubbing Yuffie's back even when she had finally calm down. She didn't know what to say; any other time, it would be a happy occasion, but in light of what was happening, Tifa wasn't sure if bringing up the topic would make things better or worse. Still, she steeled herself. "Yuffie…are you pregnant?"

Yuffie stared at her blankly, as if she didn't understand what she heard. Then, her face scrunched up and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. "Oh, god…Tifa. I—I was supposed to tell him—"

"Yuffie…"

Yuffie shook her head. She had persevered for so long; she needed to tell this to someone. "I was supposed to tell him that night, Tifa. He looked so happy. He was happy. I just—It was a good opportunity to…to tell him. But he doesn't know! What if—what if he doesn't come back? Tifa, he'll never know! He won't know he'll be a father!"

Tifa brushed Yuffie's hair as she tried to calm her down. At first, she had doubts about Rufus and Yuffie's relationship. But after years of seeing them together, that doubt dwindled and was replaced by a hunch on how two most different, impossible people seemed to be happy together. She really wondered if… "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

The question was met with silence, but the non-stop tears confirmed her suspicion. "Shh, it'll be alright. They'll find him," Tifa assured her.

After three months, Tifa wondered if they really would find him. Even with the best Turks and the AVALANCHE together, it didn't seem they were going to find him anytime soon. Tifa peeked a glance at Yuffie, who was sitting near the window with Shelke. Other than the occasional, uncharacteristic silence from Yuffie, she hadn't had any breakdown since that last time and that worried Tifa more than anything. She knew, despite Yuffie's cheerful and outgoing persona, if Yuffie wanted to keep her emotions in, she could be worse than Cloud or even Vincent. Right now though, she was glad that something else occupied the little ninja's mind. The baby had started to kick a few weeks ago and it was enough to pique Shelke's curiosity that it turned on Yuffie's boasting side.

Yuffie suddenly jumped from her seat and dashed out of the bar. It reminded Tifa of what happened when she first discovered Yuffie's pregnancy that she followed her outside. There, Yuffie seemed frozen, looking worried. Just as Tifa was about to ask what was wrong, she heard the humming sound of an airship.

They were back!

The Shera landed softly on the ground. There was a tense moment when all the members of the AVALANCHE got off the ship. Yuffie almost whimpered when there was no sign of Rufus at all, but then she spotted a cane—one that he hadn't used for a couple of years now—thumped heavily on the opened hatch. Her breath caught as her eyes trailed up from the dusty black shoes to the messy blonde hair. His usual pristine suit was dirty and stained with blood and bandages covered his neck and forehead. Was that…really him?

"Rufus?" It was nothing but a soft whisper, and he shouldn't have heard it from the distance, but his head snapped up as if she shouted his name. His lips breathed her name, but what affirmed her that he really was Rufus was when he took a big step with the cane and limped hurriedly towards her, because who else could walk so strongly like that despite the pain?

"Rufus!" She ran closer, he opened his arms and caught her as she slammed towards him. A cluttering wooden sound was heard but they were too preoccupied with each other's presence to notice. Yuffie grabbed the lapels of his suit—she could still smell the blood even though it was dry. "You're hurt! Oh god, I shouldn't hold you so tight! Am I hurting you now?"

"Yuffie…"

"They hurt you, didn't they? I swear, if they're here, I'll kill them! Is that why the Turks aren't here? Are they taking care of them? Is that it? Because whoever it was are still alive, I'll fray them. They hurt you and—"

"Yuffie!" Rufus brushed a stray tear with his thumb. "I'm alright. I'm alright now." He pulled her back into his arms—yes, it hurt when she grabbed him so tightly, but it hurt more when she wasn't. Especially his lower abdomen where he could feel soft, constant thumping on it.

Thumping?

Rufus pulled back and looked down. There was a bump on Yuffie's stomach that wasn't there before. He suddenly felt lightheaded. "Yuffie?"

"I was going to tell you," his wife whimpered. "B—but, you were gone for so long. And—and the baby is growing so fast and I was so afra—mmph."

Lips smashed on hers—expressing his gratitude for the new life, his grief for leaving, his regret for not being there and his—Rufus moved his lips to her ear and murmured the words he had been dying to tell her since that night he was taken away. Yuffie gasped and clung to him tightly.

A loud cough was heard from the side and the couple turned to see Cid grinning at them. "Well, brats. Seems there's gonna be a whole lot of things to celebrate about tonight, huh?"

Yuffie didn't mind becoming his human crutch as they left his cane on the ground—he was gone for so long and he had given her the best present.

"I love you," he said.

.

.

The first time they reflected what happened, they laughed it off as something silly.

"Since when you're a romantic, Shinra?"

Rufus threw her a raised eyebrow over his shoulder. "Does stargazing considered as something romantic?"

"It is when you're doing it with someone at your side," Yuffie grinned as she settled herself standing beside him. "What are you doing up here, anyway? The party's down there."

Rufus continued looking up as he listened the robust sound of a party underneath the roof. He smiled as he heard the giggle of a little girl. "She sounds happy."

"Nanaki is giving her a ride. He did promise when she turned four. And today is her birthday. So? Quit changing the subject. What are you doing up here?"

"Contemplating."

"About?"

"About when we first met."

Yuffie gave him a disgusted look. "Rufus, darling. Your romantic mood is creeping me out."

He grinned mischievously and gave her quick peck on the lips. He laughed when she rubbed it off her lips and glared at him suspiciously. "Don't worry. It's not as romantic as you think it is. I was merely wondering if you hadn't saved me, we probably wouldn't be here."

"Uh-huh," Yuffie drawled, suddenly amused by a thought. "And…if I hadn't taken advantage of you when you were drunk that one night, we'd probably still haven't consummated our wedding night."

"And here I thought I was being a gentleman," Rufus said with a roll of his eyes. He smirked when his wife snickered. "Would you like to know something strange?"

"What?"

"I'm happy."

That simple statement took her aback for a moment, but then she shuffled closer and brushed her nose against his. He took a step closer and brushed their lips together. "Would you like to know something stranger?"

"What?"

"I'm happy, too."

And then they laughed because they felt silly, but happy that there was another first memory to remember.

Ahh, Rufus and Yuffie. Or Ruffie, as I would like to call them. I am not sure if there is any official fandom shipping name for these two, so Ruffie it will be.

For those who follow me for Yuffentine, I know you know that I am a big Yuffentine shipper, so it might seem strange for you to see me writing a Ruffie fanfic. TBH though, I see Rufus and Vincent as two different side of the same coin. A reflection of the other, but also the antithesis of the other. Both use guns as primary weapon, both has regrets (Rufus on FFVII AC and Vincent on DOC). But, the other is seen as the hero while the other as the enemy.

So, yes. There is a part of me that ship Ruffie. In my headcanon, if Yuffentine doesn't work out, Ruffie will. In fact, I need my Rufife fix so much that plot bunny ganging up on me that I had to write this. There might be some similarities in this fanfic with The Arrangement by Kittie Darkhart—like the cane and the people thought Rufus was dead—but that's because this fic is slightly inspired by it.

Also, who's excited for FFVII remake? I can't wait for Yuffie, Vincent, Rufus and Sephiroth HD faces. The remake would also mean FFVII fanfiction shall be revived, because gawd, I swear this place is dead...

Thank you for reading and please kindly leave your thoughts and review.