NOT WHAT I'LL HAVE YOU BELIEVE
Part One: The Gin & Tonic
It was ten days until the Midwinter festival - the height of the holiday season - and Reno was solidly drunk.
Jaden, the bartender of the Turtle's Paradise, looked at him with mingled concern and dismay as the redhead's wave for another drink nearly swept him off the bar stool. Shaking his head, Jaden walked over. At least the bar was nearly empty - it wouldn't do for the reputation of Turtle's Paradise to be harboring absolute drunkards. Besides, he usually got one or two of these guys each time he took the night shift, so he was used to sending them on their way. He couldn't help but wonder what each of them avoided by spending hours in the smoky, comfortable bar. Especially someone this young, and this far into the holiday season - the redhead seemed to only have a couple of years on Jaden in age, and yet he was precariously close to drinking himself under the table.
"That's enough for one night, pal. I think you should be heading home for the night." But as Jaden reached forward a hand to take away the glass, the seemingly discombobulated young man reacted with impressive speed. One hand snapped down fiercely on the barkeep's wrist, where the other cradled the aforementioned glass carefully.
"No." With an expression that any two-year-old would be proud of, Reno pulled the glass closer to his chest."You know, if you knew who I was, you wouldn't be refusing me a drink." But the barkeep's gray eyes were resolute, despite the fact that his trapped hand was rapidly turning an interesting shade of red.
"Don't care, doesn't matter, and bar's closed."
Immediately, Reno's eyes swept the room, lingering on the sparsely populated tables behind him. He may have been mildly - more than mildly - inebriated, but his eyes told him that the bar certainly wasn't closed.
"Look. We can do this the easy way, or the difficult way..." Pausing, Reno lifted the nightstick partway out of its holster and grinned at the barkeep. "You won't like the difficult way."
Despite his every attempt, Jaden couldn't help but catch a slight breath as the man on the other side of the bar revealed his weapon. It made sense now: although the young redhead had seemed familiar when he stomped into the bar, he wasn't one of the regulars and was certainly foreign... but the way that the older patrons edged away at his approach should have been enough of a sign. The unusual weapon clinched it. The red hair, the temper, the inclination towards gin and tonics were good clues, but very few people could successfully wield a nightstick. None of whom he had any desire to meet personally.
Least of all this one.
Reno, the infamous ex-Turk, was sitting at his bar, and if the rumor mill held even the tiniest scrap of truth in its various fabrications, Jaden knew that it was definitely safer to just give in and give the redhead his drink instead of refusing again.
Watching the young barkeep carefully, Reno's smile turned predatory. Good. The boy had realized who he was. Who I was, Reno corrected. The Turks are gone. But before he could chase that thought further, the barkeeper interrupted his reflections.
Gray eyes met green as Jaden replied. "Look, you're hammered. I know it and you know it. I also know it's probably not the wisest thing to prevent you from having another drink..."
"Damn straight," Reno muttered.
"...but then you have to let me get you someone to give you a ride home from the bar to your hotel or whatever. No way are you driving any sort of moving object - you'd hit something, or worse, someone."
"Would not," he paused, "unless I wanted to." Reno used his free hand to straighten up on the stool. "So, how about that drink?"
"How about that deal?" Jaden didn't know if that was one push too far, as Reno's temper was legendary for good reason, but the other man seemed more amused than annoyed. Besides, Jaden wasn't used to showing his fear; he had learned at a young age that it usually made the situation worse.
Unbidden, old memories of a young girl sprung into his mind, her deep brown eyes flashing with what he would soon learn was one part curiosity, one part fury, and three parts trouble. He had grown since, and towered over her now, but oh, that day, he had not...
Distracted, Jaden didn't even hear Reno mutter "Fine, whatever floats your boat, kid," or notice the other man's head sink to rest on the bar.
. o .
It all had happened in the year that he and his family moved to Wutai to help his granddad run the Turtle's Paradise, and, bored by the so-called "adult stuff" that had to be done while moving in, the then-twelve-year-old Jaden had taken it upon himself to explore. He had thought the architecture was a little strange, and there were these weird statues all over the place, but there had to be kids his age to play with somewhere.
"Boring. . . boring. . . boring. . ." he muttered. He had just about given up hope, when, on the steps of what had to be the largest house in the town, his eye caught the sight of a girl about his age examining a small pile of materia. Jaden's attention was immediately piqued. He didn't know a lot about materia, but he could tell, even at a distance, that what this girl was working with was of very good quality. However, before he could ask exactly what she was doing with it, she caught sight of him.
"What're you staring at, buster?" Gathering the spheres to her chest with a wary look, she addressed Jaden.
"Wasn't staring."
"Was so!"
"Was not!"
"Was not!" she doubled, dark eyes dancing.
"Was s-" he caught himself mid-retort, catching the smug grin on her face. Rolling his eyes, he sighed. But, since it seemed that she wasn't going anywhere until she got some sort of answer, he continued. "I wasn't staring, your Royal Annoyingness. I just noticed you had some nice materia."
Although her expression turned dangerous at his taunt, it softened as she noted the admiration for the materia she cradled against her t-shirt. "Uh. . . thanks, I guess. These two," she gestured with her free hand towards two spheres, one pale green and the other bright purple, "were from my Pop." Gesturing over her shoulder at the large pagoda, she grinned. "He runs the place."
He smiled in return. "So I guess you really are a Royal Annoyingness, Princess, or do you have a name?"
"Yuffie Ayame Kisaragi," she answered. "Though 'Princess' sounds good from you, y'know." Pausing, Yuffie toyed with the small shuriken she had pulled from the small pouch hanging at her hip. "Just so ya know, call me 'annoying' one more time and you'll be finding one of these where you don't want it found. I'm good, but I'm always up for target practise."
Coming from a slip of a girl, that statement might not have intimidated most people, but this Yuffie's expression was dead serious. Plus, she had an inch or so on him in height. While Jaden was more than adequate with his fists, those ninja star things were long range. Concluding that aggression would cause more trouble than it was worth, he tried another tack, and smiled cheerfully as he replied. "Fair enough... Princess."
She quirked an eyebrow, but noticed that he had to swallow a slight gulp... "So, what'd you know about materia, kid?"
"Name's Jaden." There was only so much a guy could allow.
"Jay-den, then," she retorted, deliberately exaggerating his name. "It's not a very Wutaian name. You're not from around here."
Jaden shook his head. "Nope - family's from Junon. We're here to help Grandpa run the Turtle."
Yuffie's eyes widened. "You're Ono's grandson!" Smiling at the thought of the old man who handed her materia and other treasures on the sly, she looked speculatively at the boy. Deciding that he looked friendly enough, and if he wasn't, she had warned him, Yuffie smiled and held the five materia she was holding out to him. "Any friend of Ono's is a friend of mine! You wanna see these, or what?"
"Sure!" Taking them, Jaden sorted through the small pile. Four were pretty ordinary: Fire, an All, a Restore, and an Ice, but they were certainly well-loved. Wondering what sort of hobbies would allow a girl his age to possess near-mastered materia, and quickly deciding that he didn't want to know - Jaden examined the last materia, nearly dropping it from his left hand as he realized what it was. "Steal, if I miss my guess," he muttered, unaware that his thoughts were being vocalized. "How'd you get your hands on this one, Princess?"
"I told you already! Geez, don't you listen?" Sticking her tongue out playfully, she added, "Yeah, it's a Steal, I just don't really know how to use it. Not too many people 'round here have one; Pops told me it was pretty rare."
Jaden nodded, and, handing the rest of her materia back to her, he pushed up his right sleeve to reveal a silvery vambrace that stretched from his wrist to just below his elbow. Gesturing towards one of the materia embedded into it, he looked up at her. "I have one, and it's easy to learn how to use it." A plan forming, he flicked Yuffie's Steal materia up his left sleeve. Her usually keen eyes, intent on his other arm, missed this. Then, as if nothing was amiss, Jaden continued. She had to learn sooner or later not to hand off materia to a stranger.
"And?" Yuffie asked, puzzled by his pause.
"And, um..." Jaden eyed the distance between where they stood and the next turn in the road. Coming to the conclusion that by the time she realized that her Steal was stolen and reached for one of those killer stars, he'd be well enough away. He certainly hoped he would be. Not like he was going to keep the thing; he'd probably just drop it with Grandfather Ono, and let her figure it out.
Yuffie's expression was quickly turning suspicious, so he schooled his expression and cleared his throat. "Basically, all there is to using the Steal materia is three things. One - an innocent expression, complete with an easy smile." Taking a step back, he smiled winningly. "Two - the ability to use sleight of hand," he continued, waving his hands in front of him to demonstrate that they were empty. Time for the next phase. "The last, and most important thing, Princess, is simply the ability to run like hell."
Jaden turned, and proceeded to do exactly that. "Five. . . four. . . three. . . two. . ." He rounded the corner, counting under his breath in anticipation that was half worry and half adrenaline. True to form, her shout sounded out just as his lips formed 'one.'
"Why you little. . . give it back, YOU JERK!"
At her words, Jaden added an extra burst of speed. He turned, twisting through the narrow Wutaian alleyways with childish agility. But he couldn't hear footsteps behind him, which was odd. Huh, Jaden thought, you'd think she'd make some noise... As he came around a bend in the alley, he breathed a sigh of relief. The Turtle's Paradise was feet away - home free, and the Yuffie-girl wasn't even in sight.
As a throwing star thudded into the ground between his feet, he realized that she didn't need to be in sight to be trouble.
"Hey! Jaden! I think you have something of mine." Yuffie called. His escape route had been predictable, but she had no clue how he'd hidden her Steal materia without her taking any notice of it. The uncomfortable feeling of grudging admiration was swept away by one look at his expression. Grinning at his mutinous expression, she jumped down from the rafters of the lowest roof of the Turtle's Paradise.
"How - how'd you do that?" Jaden stuttered, alternating his gaze from the amused girl to the lethal-looking star embedded in the road between his feet.
"Ninja, remember?" Voice dripping in sarcasm as she pointed to herself, Yuffie replied. "Now, I'd like my materia back, unless you really want me to miss next time."
"Uh, um, sure. I was gonna return it anyway," he answered, petulance sneaking into his tone.
"Suuuuuure you were. Anyhow. I'll call it even - if you help me with the sleight-of-hand stuff you mentioned." Before he could interject, his eyes meeting her own no longer with apprehension, but with mischief, she continued. "No more running away; I'll find you."
"Is that a threat, Princess?"
"It's a promise."
"Well..." Pausing dramatically, Jaden conceded. "Since you've given me no choice, I accept." As time passed, Jaden came to realize that the decision to teach Yuffie the secrets of the trickster's trade was probably one ofhis most foolhardy decisions. But that day, foolish choice or not, he had made a valuable - if troublesome - friend.
. o .
Now, looking between the dozing ex-Turk slumped over the bar, and the grown-up, but equally dangerous young woman playing with a horribly familiar shuriken at one of the shadowed tables, Jaden's grin turned calculating. Oh, this was going to be fun -if he could get behind some sort of mythril shield before the fireworks started.
Throwing caution to the wind, Jaden called her over. "Hey, Princess. Up here for a second."
Eyebrow raised, and still fiddling with the shuriken, she unfolded herself from her seat and ambled up to the bar. "Is there a problem, Jaden?" Yuffie asked, tossing the metal star up and catching it in midair, much to the obvious disquiet of her friend.
"Would you stop doing that, Yuff? It gives me the heebie-jeebies."
The young woman in question only smiled. "You ever think that that's why I do it, Jade?" Still smirking, her eyes slid appreciatively to the dozing redhead. "Who's the sleeping beauty? Don't think I saw him come in..."
"He beat you here." Pausing to gauge her mood - she seemed pretty contented, he thought, playing with her shuriken and appreciating strange men. But even after seven years of being the closest thing to a friend that she allowed, he still didn't understand her at times. Still, as his shout had shaken Reno into something closer to consciousness, Jaden didn't have long to get Yuffie to agree to what he had planned. "I need a bit of a favor, y'see."
Taking in the late hour, the emptiness of the bar, and the possibly attractive redhead beside her - although she'd had a bad history with that hair color - her eyes narrowed in speculation. "What kind of favor?" she asked cautiously.
Jaden looked up from the gin and tonic he was mixing. "This guy needs a ride back to wherever he's staying. There's no way I'm letting him go anywhere on his own; heck, you can tell he's had one too many. I can't leave till close, Shinji's on sick leave -" he watched as her eyes darted around the room for the other bartender to no avail. "Please? You've done it before, I know, but this will be the last time. I promise." Looking up at her with comically pleading eyes, he bit back a huff of disappointment.
"I taught you that look, Jaden. Don't even." Yuffie paused, only to cave heartbeats later, throwing up her hands in defeat. Her friend looked more like a bug-eyed fish than a pleading puppy dog, but she was going to laugh if he kept up that look for one more second. "Fine," she sighed. "I'm in. But if he lays one finger on me - you got that, Jade? - you're going to totally wish you never asked."
"That depends completely on how good looking you are. . . princess. . ."
Both Yuffie and Jaden's eyes darted to the redhead, who swept back his bangs as he straightened up. Still facing the bar, Reno smiled and inclined his head slightly. "My drink, assh requested. Exshellent." Propping one elbow on the counter, he raised the glass.
Yuffie's mind was flying.She had heard that voice before. It had been a while, but he seemed familiar and she wasn't quite sure that that was a good thing.
An old flame?
Certainly not.
Someone she had appropriated materia from in her early days? Cocking her head to the side to look at him, his profile mostly hidden by the long crimson strands, she dismissed that thought. Drunk at the moment or not, she doubted it. There were easier targets. Something was missing about him, though. Ah well, all she could do was ask.
"Say, mister..."
He set his glass down, finished, and turned slowly to look at her. "Yesh?"
Intrigued russet met glittering emerald.
And, for all that both parties were known for their unusual, extensive, and undeniably colorful rhetoric, the only word that either managed was a simultaneous and incredulous...
"YOU?"
. o .
TBC. . .
o .
Disclaimer: Most things you recognize belongs to Square Enix and affiliates. Really, the only things I can lay claim to thus far are Jaden, Shinji, and the plotline.
Sabe's Scribbles: Every tale has its beginning, and this is the start of theirs..."Believe" is, at its core, a love story, but it is one that takes a good deal of fight scenes, of intrigues, of repartee and various other characters falling in love first to get there. Part of this is the fault of the central characters, but a considerable part falls to the mayhem that is about to pick up and toss Yuffie and Reno about...
Thus, sit back, and I hope you enjoy the fireworks. The fun is, as they say, just getting started.
Additionally, this story runs canonically with the game, but not with any of the subsequent sequels or prequels such as Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, or Before Crisis.