[Aerith brings the BEST presents. Closed to Rufus~]

[earlylight]

He is such a good dog, bouncing and rolling; she can even forgive him for crushing some of her flowers! But he doesn't belong with her and as she rubs his ears, she makes him a promise:

"I'll get you home~!" her green eyes sparkle merrily and Dark Nation barks, his whole back end wagging, "I know, I know! I'll send him a message."

It takes some doing, especially with giant puppy paws interfering, but she manages to write a note to a certain Shinra. She will, of course, make use of his Turks to get it to him swiftly. He won't want to waste any time.

Come to the church in the Slums! I have a friend for you.

~ A

The short note ends with an unmistakable paw print. There. Dark Nation signed it too.

Comments

[ambitiousblond]

He instantly recognizes that paw print when he sees the note. It briefly crosses his mind that this could be some kind of trap to lure him out of the Shinra building but he didn't care. If there was a chance that she had Dark Nation than he was willing to take this risk.

Rufus doesn't give anyone the chance to argue with him about going out himself to meet her. He doesn't care that Sephiroth is on the loose somewhere, that there are multiple Sephiroths. It doesn't matter. Nothing was going to stop him.

He had never actually been to the church in the slums. It's rather beautiful but the moment he steps in his attention is focused on Dark Nation. It had been over two years since he had seen his hound but there he is, alive and well. He doesn't care that she's watching them as he knelt down with his arms open for Dark Nation to practically slam into him happily.

It's only after he has his arms wrapped around Dark Nation that he looks up at her. "You found him."

[earlylight]

The reunion is perfect and Aerith beams, crossing her arms behind her back. She lets them have their moment, tilting her head slightly to see the puppy's happy face. Rufus is giving such a good boy the attention he richly deserves and she's glad Dark Nation isn't being ignored.

"He has been looking for you." she sighs a little and takes a step forward, "I heard him whining. His paw was hurt, but he's feeling much better!"

Obviously. She glances at her flattened flowers and tuts.

"Look what he did to my garden." and he is already forgiven, but she has to make a fuss anyway. That's part of her contract as Aerith Gainsborough!

[ambitiousblond]

Rufus pulls away to inspect Dark Nation's paws, finding the injured one to look it over. It seemed to be fine but he would keep an eye on it to make sure it wasn't going to be trouble in the future. He kisses the top of Dark Nation's head, not caring how he looked. He had missed Dark Nation for so many nights, especially when he had been sick.

He looks up at her before he looks at the crushed flowers.

"I'll compensate you, it's the least I can do. I don't have any gil on me now but I'll have Tseng or one of the others handle it," he says without hesitation. She had brought him Dark Nation back and he owed her a great deal for that. "Where did you find him?"