Don't Make Him Cry
Chapter One - Dreamer
By Sniffles
Dedicated to: Kitsune. The poor girl needed ficcies!
Notes: Eg... I've never written FF8 in third person. >.< I bet this is just horrible. The tenses all screwed up and all that shit. *sigh* Forgive me. This chapter is split into parts. (Yeah, as crazy as that sounds, it's true. So sue me) And I did say I'd post more tonight, so I'm posting the first part. :P So there. I'll post the others when I can, which doesn't look like anytime soon since I'm leaving tomorrow or the day after (not sure yet). Anyway. I should really shut up.
PS: Yes. this will be a FF7/8 crossover. >.< Just hope I do it well. *holds breath*
Disclaimer: I don't own FF8.
Don't Make Him Cry
Chapter One - Dreamer
By Sniffles
-1-
In that brief moment, between dreams and awareness, that's where he saw him. Every morning as the fogs of Morpheus gently lifted, the vision came upon him. The man in his vision was always bathed in white. Rufus could never get a clear look at the man's face, but he was aware of bright, blue eyes and golden hair. The man would look at him, quietly, always quietly. And then the vision would fade and awareness would thrust itself upon him, quite violently.
He didn't mind the dreams, and he didn't mind the vision, it was the waking that bothered him. The dreams were sometimes fun, sometimes sweet, but mostly good. And the vision was.. strange, but it left him feeling warm. Reality... reality always left him cold and angry. Everything about his reality disgusted him.
But, despite this, he did have to get up. So, with a groan, and a sigh, he let the last remnants of the vision fade and he opened his eyes. Everything was as it should be. He was lying on a hard cot, in the middle of a large tent that stunk a lot like urine. He crinkled his nose up and sighed again. War was a bitch.
Because of this stupid war he had to sleep in this rotted tent every night. It was times like these, his hair feeling like it had permanently bonded with dirt and grunge, that he wished he really had died when Midgar was destroyed.
It had been close. Real close. But fate and those damn Turks kept him alive. He'd get them back for that someday. Sick bastards.
During Cloud's fateful battle with Sephiroth, he had been in a coma. When he awoke, the Turks were there. At first they talked about re-instating him as President Shinra. But that wouldn't work. Shinra was gone. Midgar was destroyed. So Rufus told them to 'bloody well bugger off', and he joined society. Which wasn't easy. But it worked... until just a few months ago.
Hojo was not dead. Or, rather, his legacy wasn't. Sephiroth was not his only son. He had another, Tsui. And Tsui was just as messed up in the head as his father. Soon Hojo's monsters began to reappear in force. Only now, they were angrier, and deadlier.
An army was formed, as was a government. It was named AVALANCHE, in honor of the ones who saved the world. Shortly after the army was formed Rufus joined up. He used a different name and disguised himself by wearing glasses. Hey! It worked for Superman. No one recognized him, but then he hadn't expected them to. Not many people saw Rufus Shinra when Shinra was in power. And that worked to his favor.
He had never been a soldier before. He knew how to fight, yes. He was quite adept at fighting, but fighting on a battlefield was nothing like the controlled fights he'd been in. He caught on quickly and soon rose in rank. Enough so that he had his own tent, thank god. He hated sleeping in group tents.
With another sigh he stretched and shook his head to clear his head. He hated mornings. Almost as much as he hated Hojo. No wait... yeah... he hated mornings more.
"Ruf! HEY RUF!"
Rufus flinched at the name. When signing up he'd panicked when they asked for his name. So he told them his name was Ruf Ra. God, it was awful. But he had been under a great deal of stress and everyone was entitled to their moments of complete stupidity. That had been his.
"WHAT?" He yelled back, getting out of the bed and stretching his legs.
The one who had screamed at him, Private Gatt, poked his head into Rufus' tent. "Morning sleepy head," he grinned easily. In truth he didn't know Rufus well and the stoic, hot-headed Lieutenant made him nervous as hell, but he'd never show it. "Glad to see you've decided to get up."
"What do you want Gatt?" Rufus growled, running a quick through his hair and grimacing as he felt the slimey texture of his once luxurious locks. Being on the battlefield for three weeks did horrible things to your hair.
"Meeting. General's called a meeting." Gatt responded through suddenly dry lips. As he stared at Rufus he saw, for the first time, just how beautiful the man was. He'd never noticed before, mostly because he hadn't been paying attention.
"I'll be there in a sec." Rufus waved his hand to dismiss Gatt. He started to gather his things when he noticed Gatt still hovering in the tent's entrance. He turned to Gatt with narrowed eyes.
Gatt made a soft squeaking noise, "Uh! Yeah. K. See you there!" Gatt quickly darted out of the tent.
Rufus sighed and shook his head. "I'm surrounded by morons." He muttered as started putting on his belts. Two. One for his pistol, and the other for the shotgun he wore strapped to his back. He pulled on his jacket and sat down to pull on his boots.
"But... who's the bigger moron? The moron? Or the moron who hangs out with the morons?" Rufus smiled to himself. When his mother was alive she used to make comments like that all the time. Comments that made you wonder and comments that made you smile. Sometimes, comments that just made you shake your head with a patient smile.
He liked to think he was like his mother. From what he remembered about her.. she was really great. His smile faded as he thought of his father. It was because of his father that his mother was dead. He knew he was like his father, and he hated himself for it.
With a vicious tug he tied the boots and got to his feet.
"Knock 'em dead Rufie boy." He sneered, imitating the voice of his first weapon's instructor.
"Knock 'em dead."
-1.2-
Seifer turned just in time to see it happen. He was the only one who saw, and strangely enough, as much as he hated Rinoa, when that creature thrust one of it's many talons into her heart he felt his world stop. No one noticed as she looked down, moving in slow motion, or so it seemed to him. He was the only one who saw her smile. A small, weak smile. And then she fell and Seifer found himself running, towards her.
He dropped to his knees by her side, screaming for a medic. But the battle was hot and no one heard. She stared up at him, that smile still on her lips. "Just relax." He muttered, "I don't have any cure spells but.."
She reached up and pressed her hand against his cheek. "I'll be all right." She whispered.
/Yeah right. You've got a huge gaping hole in your chest, but you'll be all right./ Seifer thought, unable to stop the sneer that curved his lip. "If you die here and we don't get the phoenix to you fast eno-"
She pressed her fingers against his mouth. "Sh." She murmured softly. "You worry about yourself."
Seifer noticed that she was starting to tremble. "You're going into shock." He muttered, ripping off his jacket and carefully laying it over her. /Why am I doing this?/ He wondered as he watched himself treat her so gently.
"Behind you..Look out!" Rinoa gasped, her eyes widening with horror.
Seifer whirled around, the gunblade in his hand arching high. He judged correctly and the blade sliced through a talon that had been reaching out to grab him. He got to his feet with an angry cry and charged at the creature.
Slash.
Slash.
Jab. The sharp blade slipped easily into the creature's chest. Seifer grinned as the creature let out a terrified cry. Then he pulled the trigger. The creature screamed as it's chest was ripped open. Seifer stumbled back. He watched as the creature fell. Then he turned and hurried back to Rinoa. "Squall." She whispered as Seifer kneeled beside her, "Help Squall."
"Dammit Riona. You're the one who needs help."
"Please." She whispered.
He shook his head once, then got to his feet and raced across the field to where Squall and the others were battling. Squall glanced up as Seifer rushed towards them. His eyes hardened, but he didn't speak. "Don't fail me now." Seifer whispered, twirling his gunblade and lifting it before him. He closed his eyes and summoned Ifrit, the GF Quistis gave him months ago when she found out he had none.
The world whited out. He was dimly aware of Ifrit's attack but he could not see it. The attack ended and Ifrit returned to him. He blinked several times as the world righted itself. Only... it wasn't right.
-1.3-
Rinoa watched as Seifer summoned Ifrit. As always, when a GF was summoned the person who was summoning, along with his allies, faded. No one knew where they went, but some believed that they went to rest temporarily where the GF's themselves lived. If they didn't fade they too would be killed by the GF's attack. She didn't fade, she was too far away from the heat of the battle. She watched Ifrit attack, and then disappear. She watched as Squall, Irvine and Quistis reappeared. But.. no Seifer. Her eyes widened and she tried to sit up.
She scanned the area quickly, but he was no where. She couldn't see him at all. With a soft gasp she pressed her fist to her mouth. /Seifer? Where are you?/ She wondered. Her heart was beating so fast it almost hurt. She pressed her hands against her wound and lay back. She watched the battle anxiously, waiting for Seifer to show up. But he never did.
And she was left to wonder what happened.