Rufus was just quiet, reflecting on things that Sephiroth was saying. "You said you've known her. When was it?" he asked.

"She was just 15 back then… that was five years ago. She's as old as you are… 20." Sephiroth replied.

"What did you do to her?" Rufus asked.

Sephiroth laughed nastily at the question. Rufus eyed him cautiously with a cold glare. He stopped laughing and just decided to smirk proudly at Rufus. "Oh you know… she was a naughty girl, so I just had to teach her a little lesson by letting her taste the blade of my Masamune." He said.

Rufus just stared blankly at him, "In lay man's terms?" he asked, wanting Sephiroth to elaborate and stop using figures of speech.

"Slashed her. You might see a scar from her chest down to her abdomen if you undress her." He replied rather casually.

Rufus's eyes somewhat widened at what he said. Sephiroth laughed at him, "Aw, c'mon, Rufus, you think I saw her naked already? Get a life! I hate that bitch. I just think that the force I used on her was powerful enough to leave a scar on her. But mind me, I think that wound took some time to heal." He explained.

"She's yours." Sephiroth muttered.

"You sound frustrated." Rufus pointed out.

"Not really... but one wrong move of AVALANCHE against me and then I accidentally kill her this time, it's not my fault." Sephiroth said.

Rufus frowned at him. "You shall not harm her," he commanded.

"Right. So the Promised Land is mine," Sephiroth said.

Rufus just turned away. "This guy is really insane…" he thought silently. "I didn't say anything like that, but anyway, I'll lead AVALANCHE to you, you give Tifa to me and I'll give up the Promised Land so that it'll be yours." He told him.

Sephiroth laughed victoriously. "Hah! I knew it'd be nice doing business with you, ShinRa, and my oh my, how come you're giving up everything just for the girl? That is so unlikely of you, ShinRa." he said, slapping Rufus's back again.

"Watch it, Sephiroth. And don't call me ShinRa. Reminds me of Old Man." Rufus muttered as he dusted himself again.

They were just quiet for a few seconds.

"What are you going to do to Tifa Lockheart?" Sephiroth interrupted.

Rufus did not answer.

"Bed her and leave her?" Sephiroth suggested.

"You're sick." Rufus muttered.

Sephiroth just laughed at him. "Well, I'd better go now." He said before patting Rufus's shoulder and then walked away from him.

Rufus waited for a few more moments before he finally decided to go back to the crowded area, buy some strawberry shake and then head back to where his executives are.

He just kept on walking until he saw Cloud Strife again with Aerith. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulder as he gazed down at her lovingly. She was holding a playbill and reading it out loud to him.

Rufus somewhat felt envious, and he felt so lonely. He was suddenly surprised that a few feet away from Cloud and Aerith, Tifa was walking with Yuffie, her arms crossed. Yuffie kept on jumping up and down happily. "Whee! That was a nice play, don't you think so, Teef? Huh? Huh? Huh?" she asked happily.

"It was wonderful," Tifa said rather plainly with a cheerful smile on her face, but Rufus could see through her mask: she was annoyed.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Let's get shakes!" Yuffie said, pulling Tifa's hand and led her to the direction where Rufus is.

"Slow down! I might trip!" Tifa said while laughing slightly at the fact that she's really allowing the ninja girl to drag her to the food booths.

Rufus turned away and just went ahead, going to the shakes. "Strawberry shake please," he said before pulling out 2 Gil.

He slightly turned to his side upon hearing a panting Tifa and a happy Yuffie.

Yuffie spoke up, "Two strawberry shakes, please!"

"But I'm already full!" Tifa protested.

"Aw, c'mon! If you can't finish it, I'll drink it for you! Heeheehee!" Yuffie jumped up and down happily.

Rufus rolled his eyes.

Tifa looked up at the man standing beside her and she smiled rather brightly. "Oh, hello again," she greeted.

Yuffie stopped and examined the two.

Rufus switched his cold gaze to Tifa. "Oh… it's you," he said rather coldly.

Tifa still had this cheerful smile plastered upon her face before she just decided to turn away from the man. After all, he is a stranger.

"Who's he?" Yuffie asked curiously.

"Oh, he's the guy I was telling you about before the play began." Tifa whispered softly, trying to stifle her giggle.

Yuffie snickered. "Looks like a rich kid to me! Wanna see his wallet?" she asked playfully.

"Yuffie?!" Tifa scolded.

"Wahahahahahaha! Gotcha there, didn't I? Heeheehee!" Yuffie jumped up and down excitedly.

Tifa rolled her eyes and gave her friend a playful push. "Oh shut up," she snapped playfully.

Watching her quietly, he decided to hang around a little longer in the Gold Saucer before he can go back to his executives. "If only to get rid of this friend of hers…" Rufus thought silently.

"Here are your shakes," the vendor placed three glasses on top of the counter.

Tifa was about to get 4 Gil but Rufus spoke up to her, "No, my treat," he told her. She was surprised at him.

"Oh my…" Yuffie said out loud.

Rufus added 4 Gil to his own 2 and handed it to the vendor.

"Th…thank you," Tifa said gratefully.

"Yeah, very seldom do we see guys like you around." Yuffie said rather teasingly.

Rufus flipped his hair before grabbing his shake. "Why? Don't your boyfriends do that to you?" he asked rather snottily.

"Excuse me?" Yuffie asked in disbelief.

Tifa had a perplexed look on her face. "N…no, I don't have a boyfriend." She said.

"He wasn't even asking if you have," Yuffie teased.

Tifa blushed and just smiled uneasily at the man. "I mean… oh never mind…" she stammered before she just decided to drink.

"OOOH! It's Cloud and Aerith!!!" Yuffie saw the two buying some food in the other stall far from them. "C'mon, Teef! Let's go and join them!" she said happily before running off to the two.

Tifa just stared blankly at the two and bowed down her head.

"Aren't you going to follow your friend?" Rufus asked with a low tone.

She shook her head. "Nah. They're on a date. Don't want to disturb them." She said before turning to him again. "So, what's your name?" she asked mindlessly, not knowing what else to say. Maybe she could hang out with him for a while and relieve some tension.

"Rufus." He replied.

"Rufus?" she asked, her eyes widening at the sound of the name.

"And you?" he asked casually.

She thought for a few moments. "I'm sure Rufus ShinRa wouldn't be in a place like this… but anyway…" she thought silently before replying with a cheerful smile on her face. "Tifa. Nice to meet you, Rufus,"

He smiled slightly at her.

"Wanna walk with me?" she asked.

"Where?" he asked.

"Just around here or anywhere without much people." She told him. "I want to sit down. My feet are killing me." she explained.

"Well, let's go," he told her before he led the way to the secluded area again where he had just spoken with Sephiroth.

There were benches in that place so they sat down immediately before someone else could hog the last bench.

She was just quiet, not knowing what to do or say to him. One part of her was screaming that she should leave already because her intuition was telling her that he is a dangerous man… but another part of her wanted to her just stay with him even for a while: the lonely part of her.

She listened to the latter.

She looked at Rufus's blank gaze at the stars, not knowing whether he was admiring them or simply staring at them and looking for constellations or something else.

He finished his strawberry shake before throwing it in the trash can beside the bench where they were seated. She also finished hers and threw it away.

Still, they were silent. But she easily noticed that he was strangely seated too close to her.

"You want her, Rufus,"

Rufus's eyes widened upon hearing the voice in his head. He began to gaze around the premises, searching for the person who spoke up through his head. He stopped upon staring at the dark area near the forest where he saw a pair of glowing green Mako eyes staring back at him rather slyly. "Sephiroth," he thought with a sneer as he narrowed his blue eyes at him.

"Anything wrong?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Rufus instantly turned back to Tifa. "Nothing. I just… thought I saw something in the forest," he explained.

She smiled gently. "Oh… must be a forest creature… like a panther or something," she said.

"You're not afraid of those, are you?" he asked.

"I think they're cute as long as they don't bite you," she told him.

He smiled at her. "Yes. I agree with you. I had a pet panther once… but she died protecting me…" he said, his smile fading away as he went on.

She suddenly sympathized with him. "Oh, that's so sad… why? What happened?" she asked.

"Never mind." He told her blankly. "Cloud Strife killed her." He just thought silently before looking away from her.

They were surprised when they realized that it was beginning to drizzle. They both looked up at the skies and saw that the rain clouds had covered the stars and the moon rather quickly.

"Oh no… the hotel's far from here," she said out loud as she got up.

Rufus frowned slightly upon feeling the rain hitting his face. "Stay at my place first," he told her before he took her hand and led the way to the exit. "Is it near here?" she asked.

"Somewhat. We'll get there in no time." He assured her.

But the rain poured harder than expected. "Damn!" Rufus cursed angrily, realizing that he was already soaked to the skin and his white pants were already muddy. Disgusted and frustrated, he just decided to enter in the first hotel he saw.

"This is where you're staying?" she asked in awe, realizing that it was one of the most expensive hotels around the area.

"No. But we can't continue to my place because the rain's too strong. Besides, we're already wet and muddy… might as well take shelter here for a while until the rain stops." He told her.

She couldn't think clearly whether the idea is good or not, but she just followed him. He got themselves a room… a big suite on the last floor.

"Man, he must be a really rich guy… he even used a credit card for this…" she thought silently as they entered the room.

After he placed his wallet and his mobile phone on top of the coffee table by the window, he went to the bathroom, hogged it for almost 30 minutes because he took a bath and made sure that he was not dirty anymore, and got a bathrobe and wore it. He had this stiff look on his face as he raked his fingers through his wet blonde locks. Then, he remembered that Tifa was with him. He felt nervous. "I can't believe I have her here… what if I just…" he smiled slightly as he flipped his hair. "…claim her tonight?" he thought silently.

And his smile faded away the moment he got out of the bathroom, seeing Tifa seated on the floor wearing a loose white robe. She was facing the fireplace and she was staring at the fire with a tired and somewhat troubled look on her face. The sound of the bathroom door closing made her turn to it and saw Rufus standing there with his usual poker-faced expression. Her eyes suddenly widened upon gazing up at him, the fire illuminating his icy blue eyes.

The first moment he saw her after he came from the bathroom, he saw that the color had returned to her cheeks after getting drenched and cold in the rain, but she turned pale again the moment she looked at him. "Is there anything wrong?" he asked her with a low tone.

She swallowed hard and moved slightly away from the fire. "You are Rufus ShinRa, aren't you?" she demanded with a trembling voice.

"Oh shit… how did she find out?" he thought as he continued to stare at her. "How did you know?" he asked casually.

"Your mobile phone. It was ringing. I looked at the caller I.D. and it said Heidegger. I answered it and he said 'Gyah! President Rufus, where are you?' …" she explained rather nervously.

They were silent for several seconds before Rufus started chuckling.

She was surprised at him. "Wh…what's so funny?" she asked.

"The way you imitated Heidegger's voice; you did it perfectly." He told her frankly before picking up his mobile phone and returned Heidegger's call. Tifa listened quietly, thinking of a plan to escape. "This could be a trap," she thought silently with a deep frown on her face. "Hmm… Rufus has no magic. He only has a shotgun… I can beat him easily." She thought silently, calculating all the possibilities she could do to kick his ass.

"I'm here… somewhere… stranded. Don't go here. It's raining hard. I'll be there tomorrow. Don't worry about me. Yes, I'm alone." He told Heidegger.

"Gyah! We're so worried about you, President Rufus! We thought AVALANCHE already kidnapped you and killed you! But how come the first time you answered, you did not even speak up and you hung up on me?" Heidegger told him from the other line.

Rufus parted the red drapes slightly so that he could look at the view outside. It was still raining. "You idiot! Didn't you even think that I was eating and when I eat I don't talk?" he snapped impatiently.

"Gyah… sorry sir." Heidegger apologized.

"Hmf. Whatever. Don't go bothering me and that goes to Scarlet and the others as well! I'll sleep now. I'll see you when the rain stops." Rufus hung up and switched off his mobile phone to avoid any more calls and SMS from his executives and Turks. He sighed heavily before turning to Tifa. She was still staring unbelievably at him.

"Yes, I am Rufus ShinRa. President of the ShinRa Electric Power Company. And you are Tifa Lockheart from AVALANCHE." He told her with a stiff tone.

She was quiet for several seconds before finally deciding to speak, "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" She hated herself for sounding a little pathetic.

"I don't hurt women if they do not deserve it." He told her before he walked to her and sat down closely beside her. She moved away from him.

"Hey, I took a bath already so don't treat me like scum by moving away from me," he told her rather stiffly.

She swallowed hard. "Punch him now… punch him now…" she commanded herself silently.

"You just came in from the rain. You should take a bath too or else you'll catch cold." He told her rather gently before he turned to face the fire so that he can also warm up.

She was surprised at his sudden concern. "Oh well, if I follow his advice, I won't get sick. If I get sick, the more I won't be able to escape here." She thought silently before she got up and went to the bathroom.

While she was there for around 10 minutes, he got up and went to the small bar just beside the fireplace. He began to rummage through the drinks there, looking for some wine to drink, when she came out of the bathroom still wearing the white robe.

"Can't find wine here," he told her.

She smiled gently. "I can make you a drink to make you feel warm if you're still cold. I know how to," she said.

He turned to face her. "You?" he asked unbelievably.

She went over to him and inspected the bottled drinks, the glasses and all the other things needed to make a drink. "Of course. I once owned a bar in Sector 7." She told him rather proudly.

"Oh yeah… I heard from one of my Turks that you make the best drinks. I think it was Reno." Rufus replied.

"Reno? The redhead?" she asked.

"Yeah. The messy-looking one." He explained.

She laughed at what he said, but stopped herself upon realizing that she shouldn't be laughing and talking to Rufus like that. She just began to make the drink for Rufus.

He sat down a meter away from the fireplace, watching her as she worked. In less than three minutes, she was done and poured the contents into a wine goblet. She went over to Rufus with a pleased expression on her face. "Here you go!" she said rather cheerfully. Deep inside, she hoped that Rufus would like it so that he could praise her somehow for her talent. It could boost her confidence and her ego.

He sniffed it and he raised an eyebrow, staring at the crimson liquid before he took a sip.

Tifa sat down beside him, watching him closely as he continued to drink it until half of the goblet was empty. He smiled at Tifa rather strangely and the expression in his eyes changed.

"Do you like it, President Rufus?" she asked. "Hmf… I put some strong stuff in there." She thought silently.

"I love it, Tifa. What did you put in this?" he asked her.

She giggled. "Oh I can't tell you, President Rufus. It's my secret ingredient." She told him with a wink.

"Why don't you try it?" he asked her, handling her the drink. "Damn you, you put something bad in here, didn't you?" he thought silently, noticing the happy glint in Tifa's eye.

Her smile faded away. "Uh… no thanks, I don't feel so cold anymore," she lied.

He flipped his hair and placed the goblet against her lips when she least expected it, tilted the goblet until the crimson liquid touched her lips. "Let's drink for the night, Tifa," he said rather sluggishly... and then used his other hand to forcefully open her mouth and forced her to drink the crimson liquid.

She struggled to move away from him but it was too late. She had swallowed everything.

"Now we're even, Tifa," he told her with a mean look on his face.

She suddenly felt dizzy. She couldn't stand up anymore. "Dammit!" she thought silently.

"Come here," he told her as he slowly got hold of her hand.

"N…no!" she told him, attempting to hit him, but his other hand grabbed her fist and before she could attempt another move, he dove onto her, pinning her down on the carpeted floor and then planted a long passionate kiss on her lips, which surprised her.

She eased up, still able to taste the sweetness of the drink she made for him on his lips. His grip loosened from her hands as he continued to kiss her. "Go ahead, resist me," he whispered against her lips, as if teasing her.

She closed her eyes and just wrapped her arms around him, pulling him further down to her so that she could return his kisses. "P…President Rufus…" she whispered softly.

He smiled slightly against the kiss. "It's Rufus." He reminded her.