Hours later, Hojo and Cloud emerged nearly best friends...well, Cloud was trying to be Hojo's best friend...but it only seemed to scare the older dude. Tifa ran to Cloud and Scarlet ran to Hojo and both of them got pushed away. Vincent slapped his head. "Oy...not again."
Cloud climbed up on a soapbox in the waiting room. "I hearby decree Hojo STILL officially dead! Nobody is allowed to go near him, hurt him, sue him, etc..."
"HEY! No FAIR!" Vincent complained.
Hojo stuck his tongue out triumphantly at his old rival. "MLEH!!"
Vincent flipped him the Italian middle finger with his claw...and it flew off. "Dammit, Hojo!" he exclaimed as he rushed off to find it.
"What about his debt to society?" Aeris demanded.
"He HAS no debt to society! He's dead!" Cloud insisted.
Scarlet put her hands on her hips. "He doesn't look dead to me."
"He looks KINNA dead to me," Zack said. "See? He's really pale and his eyes are kinna bloodshot and the smell--"
"A-HEM!" Hojo a-HEMed.
"AH! He's not dead! He just a-HEMed!" Sephiroth pointed out.
"Postmortem spasm," Cloud insisted.
The little crowd looked at the AVALANCHE leader dubiously.
"... ...OK, OK! So, he's not dead! Just leave him alone if he wants to be left alone, OK?!"
"That worked a little better," Hojo said in a low voice.
"OK! So, now do I get to take my daddy home?" asked Sephiroth.
"I thought you hated him for not telling you that you were his kid and teased him at every instance he encountered you?" Cloud recalled.
Sephiroth flicked his eyes to the left...then to the right... "PLEEEEASE?"
"Weeeell..."
Sephiroth looked up with biiiig puppy eyes. "Pweeeease Mr. Cwowd! I pwomise I'll take cawe of my cwotchity owd daddy!"
Cloud thought about this for a moment or two, looked at the ceiling, then at Hojo who was vehemently shaking his head and brought down his gavel. "Yeah, I guess. If y'wanna."
Hojo turned around and bonked his head on the wall. "Dammit! DAMMIT!!! I'm ALWAYS stuck with the kid!"
Scarlet huffed.
Sephiroth jumped up for joy. "YAY! I got my loaded daddy back! Let's all go home back to da ShinRa Mansion!"
"Give me a break."
Sephiroth held up a wrinkly piece of paper with a bunch of stick figures on it. "See, Daddy? I drew US!"
Hojo squinted at the several childish, stick-figure-ey drawings Sephiroth had scrawled with his non-dominant hand across the 8 x 11 sheet of notebook paper. "Why do you have me wearing a dress?"
Sephiroth beamed. "NO! That's not a dress! It's yer lab coat! Now, can we go back home to the ShinRa Mansion?"
"Hey! That's MY ancestral home!" Rufus stated.
Sephiroth held up a check. "I'll give you MOOOOONEEEEEEY!!"
Rufus scowled.
"YIEE!" Sephiroth yiee-ed and jumped on top of Hojo's head. "Daddy, don't let da rich man hoyt me!"
Hojo narrowed his already narrow eyes. "MRFRLRPHRPHRPHR."
"What was that, Kisaragi?" Rufus asked, feeling so da bomb for using Hojo's last name in public.
Hojo narrowed his eyes and peeled his son off of his head. "Give the brat the house, ShinRa."
"Why SHOULD I, ya senile old geezer?" Rufus demanded.
"Because I am no longer an employee of ShinRa INC., I could STILL find another space parasite if I wanted to and Sephiroth has a REALLY big sword that I do not think you would want to get into an argument with!" Hojo rationalized. Rufus blinked. "OHH! Oh! Take the thing, PLEASE! Too dusty for me anyway! I like high-rises myself! HAHAHA!" the ex-president of ShinRa said, plopping down defeatedly next to Cid.
Sephiroth jumped for joy. "YAAY! Come on, Daddy! Let's go HOME!"
"I am going to live to regret this..." Hojo said, trudging off to the helicopter pad with his son.
"Y'ever been in a helicopter?" Cid asked.
"Why, yes. Many times. Why do you ask?" Rufus asked.
Cid put out his cigarette on his hand. "Weyl, we @#$% dogs here at AVALANCHE might be opening an airport right soon. We're gunna be in need of pilots."
"Have your people call my people on...Tuesday," Rufus said, flipping through a scorched planner.
Cloud sat down next to Aeris and she turned politely. "What did Hojo say, Cloud?"
"He said...to not make the same mistake he did."
"What? Turning a Turk into a monster, abandoning his son, trying to interbreed dog-lion-things and humans or trying to blow up Midgar?" Zack asked.
Cloud smiled and walked over to Tifa. "Neither of you would understand. Hojo's got problems...but he's still got a heart."
Scarlet looked up from the floor and sniffed. "Did he say anything about me?"
Cloud whispered something into Tifa's ear and she helped Scarlet stand up. "Hojo told Cloud that he wanted to say something to you before he left. Maybe you should go out to the helicopter.
Scarlet stared at Tifa as if she had three heads and was denying the exsistance of one. "What did you say?!"
"Hojo wants to talk to you, Scarlet," Cloud said with a smile.
Is this true? Has he finally softened up enough enough to... "Thank you!" Scarlet thanked them, with tears of joy in her eyes. She began to walk off, but stopped. "Oh...Tifa?"
Tifa turned. "Yes?"
"I apologize for being such a bitch around you. I guess...I was jealous of what you and Cloud have that Hojo and I don't..."
"Are you absolutely certain that you two don't have anything?" Cloud asked.
"What are you insinuting, Mr. Strife?" Scarlet queried with somewhat of a smirk.
Tifa put her hands on Scarlet's bony shoulders. "Why don't you find out, Miss ShinRa?"
"Mrs. Kisaragi, actually," Scarlet told them. "And thank you both again...for everything."
Cloud poked Tifa's arm and whispered: "What did we do again?"
Tifa elbowed him and waved good-bye to Scarlet. "I wish you two the most happiness anyone could ask for!"
"The same to you two, too!" Scarlet beamed, running off.
The Turks went away to search the building for Reno; Reeve, Barret, Yuffie, Cid, Zack and Aeris went home and Rufus walked off with a flight cap on his head. Cloud turned to Tifa and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for treating you horribly. Please forgive me."
Tifa hugged Cloud and replied, "I forgive you, Cloud. ...Is that what Hojo told you not to make a mistake of?"
"He said not to make you into the next Scarlet," Cloud said. He and Tifa locked arms and went back into the conference room.
Rude came back around the corner and sniffled. "R-r-reno's not anywhere, Elena!"
"Did you check the casino?" asked Tseng.
"There are no casinos in the AVALANCHE building, Tseng," Elena said and rubbed Rude's bald head comfortingly.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-HAAAAH-HAAAA-HAAAAAAAAH!! Reno's not heeeere!" Rude bawled.
"Don't you worry, Rude. We'll help you find him," Tseng said.
A yellowish claw appeared on Tseng's shoulder. "I'll help, too," said Vincent.
Elena blinked back tears. "Re-NO! Where ARE you?!"
The wind whipped violently around on the roof of the AVALANCHE building. Hojo looked up. "A storm is coming..."
Sephiroth jumped up to the copter and tilted his head. His father had turned around, and was looking at the door that had taken them to the roof. "Father?"
"Don't wait for me, Sephiroth. I'll take the next one," Hojo said.
Sephiroth told the pilot to go and the helicopter bolted off, leaving Professor Hojo alone on the roof.
Come on...hurry up...the next chopper will get here soon!
There was a creak. The door to the roof opened and out stepped Scarlet.
"It's about TIME, wench!" Hojo sneered. STUPID! Speak sensitively!
His words seemed to spear the former Weapons Bimbo in the heart. Tears of joy changed to tears of pain. "Hojo...Cloud said you wanted to talk to me."
Do I remember HOW to speak kindly to her? "...I have forgotten how to say what I want to tell you," Hojo said, looking at the ground.
Scarlet walked closer with something that partially resembled a frown on her face. "What does THAT mean?"
Hojo scowled at the ground. You stupid, senile old FART! Why can't you remember how to say three puny little words and mean it?! "...I..."
Scarlet stepped closer and squinted at him. "...Hojo? Are you crying?"
Hojo jerked his head up. Tears streamed down his face. "SO WHAT IF I AM?!"
"What's this thing that all boys have with being macho? Isn't that something you do only when other boys are around? You don't have to keep your pride pumped up to limit break level, you know! It's not a dishonor to cry!"
She's...so... "Scarlet...you don't know..." Hojo said, stepping forward.
They were only a meter apart. Scarlet stared at the man she had always wanted to call her husband. He was trying to say something, but he had forgotten how to say it, after years of reacting negatively to her, he had forgotten how to speak tenderly to her. No, that wasn't the case...there was the Sister Ray tower...he had had no trouble coming out and saying it then...why not now? What was so different from now than then? Scarlet's expression softened. "Are you sure you don't know?"
Reflexes that Hojo had developed as a response to Scarlet letting her guard down were gearing up. THERE! Guard is down! Point blank slap in the face! It's as good a chance as you've ever gotten! Hojo raised his right arm, but put it back down. No, that's not what I said I would do. Sensitive! Be SENSITIVE! "Scarlet...I'm...sorry. That won't do for 30 years of Hell, though, I know that..." YAHOO! You remembered!
Scarlet blinked. She hadn't been slapped! This was HER chance now.
SLAP!
"You think you can wait that long and I'm just going to melt in your arms?!"
Hojo re-adjusted his glasses and stood there like a wall. Don't react...she at least deserves to beat you up, Hojo.
"That is NO way to treat a woman!" Scarlet barked, using her backhand this time.
SLAP!
"Eghh..." Hojo waggled his jaw a bit to make sure it wasn't broken.
"Especially one who loves you!"
WHACK!
That was a kick! With a high-heeled platform shoe! In the NUTS! You've got the right to retaliate now! DO IT!
Hojo doubled over and squeaked. "I deserve it...Scarlet...come on...do it again...you know you want to."
"You BET I do!" Scarlet yelled, kicking him square in the forehead.
"Thank you for putting up with me..."
KICK!
"...for all these years...even when you didn't have to..."
WHACK!
"...because you know, don't you? You know..."
Scarlet pulled the scientist up by the collar. "Know WHAT?!"
PUNCH!
"That I..."
PUNCH!
"I..."
PUNCH!
"You can STOP that now!"
Scarlet stopped.
"I...love you, Scarlet," Hojo said, defeatedly.
Scarlet stared at him and let go of his collar, causing him to collapse on the roof. "For real?"
"With all of my heart," said he, standing back up and brushing himself off.
"Ohhh! Hojo!" Scarlet cried, throwing her arms around him.
"Scarlet...d-don't do that!" Hojo spazzed.
"Huh?"
"Don't...touch me, Scarlet..."
Scarlet scowled. "WHY NOT?!"
"Because...b-because..."
Scarlet tore away from him. "Because your pride doesn't like being put down like this!"
Hojo reached out for her arm. "NO! No! Scarlet, come back!"
"EGO EGO EGO! That's all you are!" she snapped, stomping back downstairs.
"Scarlet!" Hojo cried, running after her.
There was a loud sound behind them and the wind kicked up.
"Damn! The helicopter! Scarlet, I didn't mean it like that, you stupid bimbo!"
Scarlet huffed and stomped down the stairs.
"Gaw...that WOMAN!" Hojo cursed to himself, getting into the chopper. "Going to be the end of me..."