The helicopter landed and Junon airport. Rufus stepped out and looked at Cloud.
"Are you ok?" Rufus asked him.
"Yeah." Cloud was a little pale and shaking.
Rufus sent the guards, who were just standing around, away. He then searched his pockets. He pulled out a tranquilizer and handed it to him.
"Thanks." Replied Cloud who promptly used it.
Rufus smiled. "Feeling any better?"
"Can you believe a guy like me gets motion sick?"
"It happened. Some people are prone to it."
"Don't let me get started on how I do with boats."
Rufus grinned slightly at Cloud, who was standing next to him. "We're going to have to get you some more tranquilizers."
"Oh no."
"I've got word that Sephiroth is headed across the ocean."
Cloud nodded.
"I wonder where your friends are." Rufus mused.
"Me too. Wonder if there is a way to get them a message."
"I could send the Turks, but, I'm afraid a fight will start by accident."
"That guy out of the hospital yet?"
"Yeah."
"Great..."
"And last I heard, he's not too happy."
"Hmm, does he know?"
"He might. The guy's a boozehound, wild fighter, and a sex addict, as well as being a Turk. Turks seem to notice everything."
"He's probably watching us now if that is so."
"Or dead drunk, or in someone's bed."
"So, what are we going to do here?"
"Well, in two days there will be a parade in my honor. There I will give a speech, then head out across the ocean."
"Ohh, boats. I hate them. Can I just swim across?" Cloud smirked.
Rufus shook his head. "You'd drown, it's too far."
"The waves, they go up and down, up and down. Ugh, I'm getting sick just thinking of it."
Rufus headed into a near by building, then looked back at Cloud. He smiled as Cloud caught up. They headed down the hall. Rufus saluted the guards as he passed them. He led Cloud into a large and very comfortable room. Once he closed the door he kissed Cloud passionately. Cloud slipped his arms around him.
"I hate the way they stare." Rufus remarked. He smiled at Cloud.
"It's like they're mentally dissecting me."
"Yeah." Looks a Cloud a moment. "I wonder if ShinRa research can ever cure motion sickness."
"It has something to do with the inner ear."
Rufus caressed the side of Cloud's cheek and nodded.
"I feel much better now anyway. It passes quickly." Cloud told him.
"Well, that's good. You thirsty?"
"Hmm, yeah, kind of now that you mention it."
Rufus slipped away from Cloud and walked over to the bar in the corner. "What do you want to drink?"
"Whatcha got?"
"Anything. Everything." Rufus grinned. "Hey, I'm the most powerful man in the world now."
"Hmm, got Rock N' Rye with the little fruits at the bottom?"
Rufus nodded. "Do you want that?"
"Yeah."
Rufus smiled and fixed the drink for Cloud. He walked back over and handed it to him. Cloud sipped it slowly.
"How is it?" Rufus asked him.
"Good."
Rufus smiled.
"I've been depriving myself stuff," Cloud continued, "Cuz of my obsession."
Rufus nodded. "You should not let obsession get in the way of other things."
"True. Like I said, sometimes I would forget to eat and sleep and stuff. The others would have to remind me."
Rufus stroked the side of Cloud's face and smiled. "I'll remind you. You know, I don't smile often. Well, a real smile. I have to force a lot of smiles." He smiled again. "You make me smile for real."
Cloud drained the glass and put his arms around Rufus. Rufus held him. Cloud kissed Rufus. He kissed back.
"I've never," Continued Rufus, "Felt this good before."
"Neither have I. At least, not like this in a long time."
"No one has ever made me feel anything real. Other then the pain my father gave me that is."
Cloud shook his head. "I can't believe anyone could do that to a kid. Makes me wonder how he was treated as a kid."
"I'm going to make a death penalty for child abusers. I don't know how he was treated as a child. I remember his parents died before he started up the ShinRa Company."
"Death is too good for them. Should be more like having to endure what they made their kids endure."
"Well..." Rufus grinned. "That's a good idea, but, it would kill most of them any way."
"True."
"Well, what I went through should have killed me. It's sort of strange..."
"Perhaps you are stronger then you think."
Rufus sat on the bed. "Yeah, I've always felt different, even when I was small."
"Sephiroth said that too."
Rufus looked at him. "What?"
"He said he always felt different from everyone else, even when he was little."
"That's strange. But for him it was because of the Jenova project."
"ShinRa did some weird things."
Rufus nodded. "Yes they did."
"Those monsters in the reactor at Nibelheim..."
"Tell me about them. I only heard a few rumors here and there."
"Sephiroth, I really don't understand what is wrong with him."
"Neither do I."
"He said they had been human once. They were overexposed to Mako, turned them into monsters."
Rufus looked at Cloud from the bed. "Monsters..."
"He thought he was monster."
"But, they still would not have been the type of monster that ran ShinRa." Rufus nodded. "I think Sephiroth lost his mind."
"If I had stayed with him..."
"Cloud, you can't blame yourself. It might have happened any way, even if you did stay."
Cloud frowned. Rufus reached his hand out to him. Cloud sat next to him and said, "He called me a traitor."
Rufus looked at him. "What else did he say?"
"Something about the Cetra. Then he went off to get that monster thing he calls his mother, Jenova."
"They say he is an ancient. Jenova..." Rufus lay down on his back. "Cloud?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you ever hear voices? When you are alone?"
"Well, I have heard voices, to tell you the truth."
"When?"
"When I went to blow up the reactor. When I fell from the reactor platform and ended up in Aeris's flower bed."
"Is that the only times?"
"I'm sure there have been more. There are times when the others would stare at me like I have antennae or something."
Rufus chuckled. "You don't appear to."
"So I would be sure something strange had happened, that I didn't remember."
"I told you of that one voice I heard. I heard it first when I was 5. It was a soothing, female, voice. It sounded motherly. It told me I would survive."
"Hmm."
"The last time I heard it was 5 years ago." Rufus sighed. "It was strange. It almost caused me to drop what I was doing and go look for something."
"Hmm, well, I hope it doesn't cause you to drop me and look for whatever it is."
Rufus shook his head. "I haven't heard it since."
"Hmm."
"Well, I do occasionally hear other voices, whispers, but not that one."
"So, where do we go after here?"
"Costa Del Sol is the other port." Rufus closed his eyes. "I used to live there on and off as a child."
"Ooh, the resort?"
"That's where I go a concussion."
Cloud hugged him. "It's gonna bring back bad memories, isn't it?"
Rufus hugged him back. "Maybe, but we are taking a helicopter from there."
Cloud groaned.
"Sorry," Rufus told him, "Well, maybe we can arrange different transport."
"I'll be fine."
Rufus smiled, still on his back. "It was Costa Del Sol that I first heard the voice too. I usually avoid that place, but I have to make an exception."
Cloud nodded and looked at Rufus. "I wouldn't wanna go someplace that I remembered as, painful."
"Yeah, but Midgar is painful too. My home there..."
"We aren't gonna go anywhere near Nibelheim are we?"
"No."
Cloud sighed in relief.
"My mom," continued Rufus, "Keeps begging me to come home and see her, but I really do not want to go back to that place either."
"Hmm?"
"She never knew. She had only found out the other day that he slept around." Rufus sighed. "I don't think she care that he died."
"God, you depress me, you know that?"
"She still has a lot of money." Rufus looked over at Cloud who lay next to him. "How?"
"Just knowing what you had to put up with as a kid, your whole life almost."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright, you gotta let it out."
"I just, it just makes me feel better to finally tell some one." Rufus smiled.
"You keep it all pent up and you're gonna go nuts, like Sephiroth."
"I don't want to go nuts. I've worked too hard to stay sane."
"Well, you have a new reason not to go nuts."
Rufus smiled. He reached over and stroked Cloud's face, rolling onto his side. Cloud moved closer and kissed him.
"It makes me happy to have you." Rufus told him, kissing back.
"Who care what any one else thinks."
"And to no longer be the only one to know. Other then the dead that is."
"Just gotta watch for Turks."
Rufus chuckled. "Well, one Turk. Wait, two."
"They all dislike me."
"Rude tells everything to Reno. Tseng though, he'll keep his mouth shut. He's very good at following orders." He kissed Cloud again.
Cloud cuddled against Rufus. "What did you see in Reno anyway?"
Rufus smiled. "I don't know. He was cute."
"He's a drunken slob from what I've seen."
"And I used to hang around the Turks."
"He is kind of cute though."
"Yes, but Reno basically sleeps with whom ever he can get his hands on."
"That's not the kind of guy you want..."
Rufus smiled and traced his fingers along Cloud's face. "Yeah. There are much better types."
"Hmm, like me?" Cloud chuckled. "I sound like I have an ego."
"Yeah, like you." Rufus smiled again. "No, that does not mean you are overly vain."
Cloud mussed Rufus's hair. "I have some sort of hair fetish."
"I noticed." Rufus ran his fingers through Cloud's spikey hair.
"Hmm, careful you don't cut yourself there." He smirked.
Rufus grinned. "Don't worry." He kissed Cloud tenderly.
"How do you feel about me kissing you in public?"
"Hmm, I have to think about that one. I hate it when people stare."
"That would certainly make them stare."
"They already look at me cause of who I am, but I hate it when they stare."
"Well, what goes on behind closed doors is none of their business."
"I think the world is a screwed up place, and I need to fix that. There are certain things that should not be aloud, like child abuse. That was behind closed doors."
"I grew up in a little teeny town. Everyone knew everyone else. Never had that sort of thing. The city, it's so damned different. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else."
"Costa Del Sol was small, but I had bad things done to me there. My father used to drag me everywhere with him. He used to bring me there as cover, and so her could hurt me."
"I wouldn't have been able to deal with that, I would have lost it."
"He went there for women. I nearly did lose it. The voice got me to hang on."
"I nearly lost it when I walked out of the mansion and the town was on fire. Everyone I knew, even my mom..." Cloud sighed.
Rufus nodded slowly. "I'm sorry that happened."
"Wonder what he has been doing for five years?"
Rufus kissed him softly. "Sephiroth?"
"I mean, we all thought he was dead and then, poof. He appears and kills your old man."
"Oh, by the way, Hojo left the ShinRa. He took of yesterday right about the time Sephiroth showed up."
"Hojo, now that guy..." Cloud shuttered.
"What?"
"Creepy."
"Yes. He is nothing like Professor Gast. I liked Gast. He was always so nice to me for some reason. And then he and his wife disappeared. I found out later he had died." Rufus sighed.
"More of a father to you than your own?"
"I suppose." He kissed Cloud again.
Cloud sat up and kneeled over Rufus. "You've had such a tough life."
"I know."
Cloud put his hands on Rufus's chest. "Makes me wish I had been there."
"Why?"
"So you would have had someone."
Rufus smiled. "I have you now. If you had been there then, things would be different."
"Probably. Hee hee, I'm a little giddy. I haven't drank in a long time, and it's getting to me."
Rufus reached up and stroked Cloud's face some more. "It's ok, you're safe here. No women are going to take you home and rape you." He chuckled. "Just me here." Rufus smiled.
"Not that I would mind."
"The women?"
"No, you. Women..."
Rufus grinned, knowing what Cloud meant.
"They'd," Cloud shuttered, "Be alright if they weren't always hanging on me!"
Rufus drew Cloud's face close to his and kissed him deeply. "Yeah, I know."
"She's got it all worked out in her mind, and you're part of the plan, and you don't have the final word."
"Huh?"
"Oh, it's just a song."
"Oh."
"It's kind of the way Tifa and Aeris work."
"Yeah."
"They think I'm theirs, they don't even ask if I wanna be theirs."
"Reminds me of something else though."
"Hmm?"
"Oh, nothing." He smiled again.
Cloud smiled a bit drunkenly. "I gotta work my tolerance back up."
"For drinking?"
"Yeah, I used to be able to drink like a Turk. Then that broad..."
Rufus glanced over at the bar. "That's why I got that bar. I used to hang with the Turks. That's how I learned to mix drinks. Those guys drink all the time."
"Well, I don't think anyone can ever drink like them. They must get liver transplants monthly."
Rufus chuckled. "Either that or they are all mutants of some sort. Or, been a research project."
"Wouldn't be surprised. Not with the way ShinRa worked. Reno was able to take an amazing amount of damage."
"Yes, and he was not in the hospital very long."
"I thought maybe it was cuz he was just too stupid to feel pain."
"I think the Turks have to be better made then those in SOLDIER. Reno's not that dumb, he's just drunk."
"Is there a difference?"
Rufus chuckled. "Maybe not."
Cloud sighed.
"Something wrong?" Rufus asked him.
"No." He cuddled against Rufus.
"You really like to cuddle, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"I like it when you do."
"I'm quite affectionate, once you get past the obsessive stuff."
"I've noticed. No one has been this way with me before." Rufus smiled more.
"I'm this way, because, well, I've fallen for you. All because you took the time to sit and talk, instead of hacking at me, or thinking I'm nuts."
"That makes me very happy. No one has ever truly listened to me before."
"Just looking at me, you'd never know I had a heart, or liked to cuddle."
"Look at me."
"Same thing with you."
"Everyone thinks, and mostly it is true, that I have ice running through my veins, but you bring a whole new side of me out."
"Same here."
Rufus kissed him softly.
"I can," Cloud continued, "Actually forget that I'm on some suicidal quest, when I'm here with you."
"That's good to hear. I hate the idea of a suicidal quest."
"Hmm, because it involves me?"
"Yes."
"The others never tried to stop me, they just followed. You, you make me want to stop."
Rufus kissed him again. "Thanks. I do not want you to die on me."
"What is I did?"
"I'd be sad, and upset at the world for letting you die."
"Don't take your wrath out on the world if I die, but I promise you, I will try my best not to get killed."
Rufus smiled. "That's good." He ran his fingers along Cloud's spin on top of his shirt. He felt Cloud shutter in pleasure from his touch and continued.
"Mm." Breathed Cloud.
"You like that?"
"Yes. You're touch, geez, nothing's ever felt that good before."
He continued to tickle Cloud's spine. "You flatter me."
"No, no, not flattery." He nibbled Rufus's ear.
Rufus smiled. "Mm. I like when you do that." He got his hand under Cloud's shirt and trailed his spine with his fingers.
"Mm. I can feel that all through. It sends tingling sensations all through my body."
"I'm glad you like it." His fingers brushed Cloud's spine, making their way down his back. Rufus kissed him deeply.
"Oh geez, you own me."
Rufus smiled.

In another part of Junon two of the Turks, Reno and Rude, sat in a bar. Reno was still in a bad mood. Rude was his normal quiet self.
"I really do not like that Cloud kid." Reno remarked.
"I saw him once." Rude replied.
"Yeah, well, you didn't have to fight him and his friends."
"Odd, I thought you loved to fight."
"Yeah, but only when I win."
"Oh."
Reno tilted his head back and dumped what he was drinking down his throat. "Now the new president has taken a shine to him."
"Hmm."
"That means Rufus will not let anyone touch him"
"Oh."
"You know Rude, you can say a few more words and make this a two sided conversation for once."
"I don't have much to say."
"You never do."
"You're just going on and on about Cloud."
"Yeah, I don't like him. I want to pay him back for what he did to me."
"But, if the president likes him..."
"Yeah, I'd have some problems getting to him."
"Hmm."
The two of them finished their drinks and left the bar.