Negotiations

A Final Fantasy 7 Ruffie Fanfic

8/2/2012

Author's Notes: Set when Yuffie's 25…which makes Rufus 34… Ages don't matter! "Shinra" is used as Rufus's last name. "Shin-Ra" is used as the Company name. I have not played Before Crisis, Crisis Core, nor have I played Dirge of Cerberus recently. Most of my knowledge is FF7 and FF7:AC(C). And now I have . Sorry for any blatant mistakes. I'm writing a fic with only the knowledge that is readily available in my head.

00000000

Chapter 1

The room stank like the battlefield; full of anger, blood lust and the intent to kill. Those with any fighting intuition could smell it, taste it. There was a want for blood. To those without battle instincts, they only had the senses of what was really in the room. Where they smelled roses and lilies, fighters smelled fear and sweat. The piano was not the only important sound; the sharp breathing of the person on the other side of the door was much more on beat than the pace of the pianist. And what looked like a wedding, was really a funeral.

White was, after all, the color for funerals in Wutai. Yuffie Kisaragi only thought it was appropriate color to wear that day.

Her wedding day.

To Rufus Shinra.

She felt like she was dying. A slow, painful, torturous and inevitable death.

For months, she fought with Godo, trying to stop the idea, to find another way to save their country. But to no avail. And once Godo talked to Rufus and made an agreement, there was nothing Yuffie could do.

Throughout the adventures with AVALANCHE, Yuffie started to believe that Sephiroth and Jenova were the true terrors of the world. She was soon converted in belief. Men. Men were the true terror. Godo and Rufus were going to shackle her without mercy.

Even then, standing in the hall, waiting for the change of music, Yuffie felt like she was entering the psych ward for the crazy. Her wedding dress was her strait jacket, her bouquet her shackles. The armed guards were not part of her imagination, though. They stood at the door, fully prepared to drag her up the aisle at gunpoint if necessary.

A full prayer to Leviathan took five minutes. She had one page of music to walk up the aisle. It was a long walk and she was in heels. She had to decide if she wanted to stall and pray, or concentrate on not tripping over her high heels.

The music changed.

"Walk first, pray later." Yuffie muttered under her breath.

The doors opened, covering the sound of the safeties coming off the guards' guns. She gave them a stony glare and marched to the dirge in her own mind.

Every seat was filled. Her own friends, the only people she wanted at her own wedding, the people who saved the world twice, were shoved into row seven and eight on her side of the grand hall. Most of the rest, Yuffie did not even care about. She did notice familiar Turks and Reeve on the Shin-Ra company side. Her father and mentors filled the first row. She pointedly turned her head away from them. Instead, Yuffie chose to look at the table with the offending stack of papers on it.

She did not even glance at the groom.

The piano stopped.

"We are gathered—"

Yuffie blocked out the minister's voice and started her prayer to Leviathan. She asked for the same thing each day. To not lose her life to the dismal title of "Mrs. Rufus Shinra." As a freak flood had yet to kill the groom, Yuffie was fairly certain that her father had bribed the god with a better offer than to stop stealing Materia.

For an hour, the old man in front of her droned about the duties of husband and wife. Yuffie might have died from boredom. She yawned, silently, but blatantly under her veil. Several times. The minister either didn't notice or chose to ignore her.

"Rufus Shinra, do you agree to take on the responsibilities laid here in terms of honoring both woman and duties?" The minister's hand rested menacingly on the official marriage license. The contract.

"I do."

"Yuffie Kisaragi, do you agree to take on the responsibilities laid here in terms of honoring both man and duties?" All eyes rested on Yuffie. Her own eyes closed and she swallowed, wet her lips with her tongue and tried to take a breath.

"For Wutai. For Wutai." Yuffie chanted to herself. Her hands strangled her flowers. "Leviathan, give me strength."

"I do." Her voice was a soft crack and a tear started trailing down her face.

"Very good." The minister set out a pen. Rufus took it and scrawled his name on the marriage certificate. He knew better than to hand the pen to her. Instead, he set it down and shifted away.

With trembling fingers, Yuffie picked up the pen. She was committing suicide and her weapon was a pen. Taking a deep calming breath like before every battle, Yuffie steeled herself and adorned the document with her own signature.

"You may now kiss the bride."

A fresh wave of tears etched down her cheeks. She couldn't turn, wouldn't turn. Rufus had to reach out and carefully, like handling something sharp and dangerous, turned her to him. She did not make things easy for him to move her veil. Eventually, Rufus scrunched it up and easily threw it over her head, leaving a crinkled mess.

"I really wanted my first kiss to be someone else." Yuffie lamented internally, eyes unfocused, completely ignoring the presence of the man in front of her.

"Close your eyes." Rufus whispered. "Please."

She told herself that she chose to take a very long blink as he leaned in. Cameras flashed and Yuffie could see the lights beneath her lids. Rufus's lips pressed against hers. Warm, soft, unintrusive. He held it for three heartbeats, then pulled away. Yuffie opened her eyes and turned.

Together, they walked down the aisle. Rufus, though she could not see, had the same emotionless expression on his face as they walked together. In the photos, they looked like porcelain dolls with unchanging faces. There were plenty of photos taken. Every journalist from around Gaia came and wanted their own picture for their article.

Outside the hall, Yuffie and Rufus stood perfectly still against a wall in front of the photographers, as their guests filed out of the chapel and into the adjacent ballroom for the reception. Soon after, the flashes stopped and the writers and photographers moved to join the rest of the party.

"Yuffie. Rufus." Godo stood by an office door.

"Godo." Rufus greeted his new father-in-law.

"Come in." The Lord of Wutai took them into the small room. Yuffie stayed standing even though there were many chairs. Sitting in the dress was next to impossible. Standing up was even worse, requiring assistance and she was not going to let either man touch her more than necessary. She had already allotted the time. Rufus stood beside her as Godo spoke. "I'm no good with Midgar party functions. So I will bid my farewell here."

What he meant was, he wasn't going to waste any more time with formalities. He was going to head back to Wutai and start using the Shin-Ra company resources to kick start Wutai's future.

"Yuffie. You disobey and Wutai is ruined. Remember that." How could she forget? "Rufus. You better hold up your end."

"Everything is already set up. Safe trip home, Lord Godo." Rufus shook Godo's hand and the older man left. Yuffie said nothing.

For a minute, the new couple stood silently next to each other. Rufus chanced a glance at his wife.

"You look beautiful, Yuffie." He said. It wasn't to make her feel better. But it was the truth. Her dress fit perfectly, her hair, now long, was swept up into an elegant twist. "Your friends are waiting."

He went and opened the door for her. Yuffie strode out.

The music was too loud, the food too heavy and the lights too bright. Yuffie only spent a few precious minutes with her friends. In which she begged each one to kill her with their Limit Break.

"No." Vincent was her best bet. Chaos might not reside inside the stoic gunman anymore, but there were three other crazy entities that would be willing to do the job.

They left early. Tifa's bar was going to be full that night and they needed the money. And they had left Marlene and Denzel behind with Elmyra.

Yuffie sat at the high table alone and watched as Rufus went around to talk to everyone. He was not wearing his ridiculous white suit. Of that, Yuffie was actually happy. He looked sharp in his tailored black tuxedo. There was solid foundation for women's infatuation with his good looks.

Which was why Godo made it a point to have Rufus agree to the "infidelity" clause. Should Rufus have any inappropriate relationship with anyone other than Yuffie, the company would be handed over to Godo, the marriage dissolved and Rufus would be left penniless. Yuffie threw a tantrum when she saw that clause. It was more a point to force her into intimate situations with Rufus, more so than to prevent Rufus from seeking pleasure elsewhere.

Hours passed. Yuffie had a pounding headache and couldn't breathe. The corset she was forced into, to make her body curvier, was choking the breath from her. She hadn't eaten anything beside one bite of cake and one sip of champagne.

He had watched as Wutai's White Rose wilted throughout the party. Once he was done with his obligations to the guests, Rufus approached the table, intent on making their exit. Then, suddenly, he froze. The one sound he did not want to hear was ringing out.

Silverware tapping a glass.

He had given specific rules. No excessive drinking. Anyone remotely buzzed was to be escorted out immediately. If he found out who had let the one person remain, they would soon realize that Hell looked a lot like the end of a double barreled shotgun.

The clinking spread.

He stood beside Yuffie and raised a hand. The noise stopped.

"Yuffie?"

She turned in her seat, grumbling internally, knowing they would have a riot otherwise. Rufus's lips met hers a second time, soft and almost apologetic before he helped her from her seat.

"Friends! We wish to thank you for attending, please, enjoy yourselves." Then they disappeared. Yuffie couldn't go anywhere in her wedding dress, so they went into the dressing room that was prepared ahead of time. Women milled around inside and helped free Yuffie from her prison of silk and stays.

They exited form the building through the garage. Tseng and Elena drove them to the Estate in Edge. From her seat, the looming gates looked like the gates to the Underworld like she had read in her fantasy novels. Only doom lurked behind those walls.

The new couple was left at their door and the Turks drove off. Yuffie went into the living room upon entering the house. Kicking off her shoes, she curled up on the couch and squeezed her eyes shut, fighting with the headache. Several minutes went unnoticed by Yuffie, then she heard Rufus walk in and set down a tray.

"You need to eat a little to take this medicine." His voice was soft, since it was evident that her head hurt. Yuffie sat up, hair mussed and sat on the floor to eat at the low table.

There were dozens of pins holding up her long thick locks, and it was clear that Midgar hairdressers did not know how to handle Wutaian hair. It was coming loose and tugging at her scalp. Carefully, Rufus eased himself onto the couch behind her and started working at removing the pins. Yuffie said nothing, merely nibbling at the light sandwich and tea before taking the medicine. She sat, still as a statue as he pulled the last pin free.

"Thank you." Yuffie reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, brushing it smooth again and massaging her sore head.

"You're welcome." Rufus stood and went to the door. "I'm going to change, but you can shower and take a nap. I won't be in the room long."

Warily, Yuffie stalked behind the tall blonde man as he led the way to their bedroom. Those words, "their bedroom," left a foul, decaying taste in her mouth that made her dry heave for several steps before forcing her mind elsewhere.

For the past few months, Rufus was nothing like his usual arrogant self around Yuffie. He was always polite and considerate towards her. Since she was moved into Edge under guarded supervision, Yuffie kept her interaction with the president to a minimum. Her opinion was, after all, completely ignored, so she was unnecessary in the negotiations for the marriage contract.

Yuffie spent more time with the Turks than with Rufus. According to Reno and Rude, their president was a much the same as ever after he healed from the Geostigma. Yuffie refused to think of what he looked like with the ailment covering his body. It was healed now, that was what mattered.

Apparently, Rufus was working hard at bringing his company to what he wanted from it, rather than what his father had built. He cut most of the departments, as there wasn't room for them anyway in Edge. He allowed Reeve to take his entire Industrial Management and Development department for the WRO efforts. The science department was drastically reduced and the weapons department was cut completely.

From what Tseng told the Wutaian princess, Rufus helped find work for everyone, even if it was manual labor to build new towns or start farms. Even the SOLDIERs were disbanded and sent to protective services or police work. Only the Turks stayed as the personal security for the Shin-Ra power company.

With her own observations, Rufus Shinra was a different person than his father and from before Meteorfall. Perhaps his prolonged encounter with the Lifestream changed his outlook when he was given the chance at life again.

True to his word, Rufus stayed in the room only long enough to change from his tux into less formal slacks and shirt.

"Yuffie, I'll come get you when dinner is ready. Rest well." Rufus called through the bathroom door to where Yuffie had holed up.

Showering took a while. Yuffie had to shampoo her hair twice to get all the hair spray and mousse out. Then, she carefully dried it with a towel and brushed it until it was semi-dry before flopping on top of the large bed.

The windows were open to let the clean and slowly cooling summer air waft over her sleeping body. After the wedding, she had been forced into another dress. Now that she had control over her wardrobe again and was in the comfort of her home, Yuffie chose shorts and a t-shirt. At the age of 25, she still wore short shorts, but now covered her stomach and shoulders with proper tops. As a ninja who loved to run, she hated the feeling of long, restricting pants. Long socks, rather than pants, were more her style and she wore them often.

When dinner was ready and Rufus went to wake Yuffie, he found her curled around her pillow, legs and arms firmly clamped around it. There was a peaceful expression on her face and her hair splayed out in a fan-like fashion behind her on the bed.

"Yuffie?" Rufus had never woken a girl before. He was known for sneaking away while they slept. "Yuffie?"

For being a ninja with razor sharp instincts, she slept like the dead at that moment.

"Yuffie, dinner is served."

She stirred, shifted and stretched, her long legs releasing the pillow to straighten out on the bed.

"Are you awake, Yuffie?"

"Mm-hm."

She reminded Rufus of Dark Nation, his cat. The feline went through the same pattern of stretching as the Wutaian ninja. At the last moment, Rufus turned away as Yuffie stretched on all fours, with her butt in the air. Just like Dark Nation. Now that she was his wife, Rufus didn't want other people to see how she woke up. Especially if she was going to continue wearing those ridiculously short shorts.

"Dinner time?" Her voice was still heavy with sleep.

"Yes." Rufus cleared his throat and waited at the door for Yuffie to pull on her socks and house slippers. They walked side by side down the hall with as much space between them as possible.

They ate in silence. For a little while, anyway.

"If you don't talk to me, how am I supposed to know what you want?" Rufus looked to his right where Yuffie was eating sullenly.

"You don't want me to talk." Yuffie did not look at him. She could survive if she didn't have to think about him. Once she did, years of anger to the Shinra family bubbled into a rage. She decimated the monster population around her town shortly before getting dragged to Edge because she thought too much.

"There were things left at your house in Wutai, weren't there? You can have them brought here." The house was completely furnished in the Midgar style with nothing to comfort the girl.

"My cats. But I'm sure you don't want a dozen cats shedding all over the place." Yuffie thought of all the strays she had taken in over the years. She missed them, for all that they destroyed her house and never let her pet them.

"I love cats. Dark Nation left cat fur on and in my bed all the time." Rufus smiled ruefully at the memory of waking up with hair choking him all the time.

"Dark Nation?"

"My cat… panther. Father gave her to me when I was a boy. Since I could have no other companions."

"How long did she live?" Yuffie picked up on his use of the past tense. "Did she get sick?"

"She was twenty." He remembered that night. His father was murdered. "She died protecting me."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. It's always hard to lose a pet… a friend… after so long." Yuffie knew how it felt.

"It's been a while now. So it's not too bad to remember. Can you have your cats brought here? Or will you have to go yourself?"

"Gorki and Shake can probably bring them over. I don't know when they will be able to get away." With a clink, Yuffie set down her utensils and leaned back in her chair. "Ah, that was good."

"I'm glad you got your appetite back. You haven't been eating a lot the past month." Rufus had noticed her drop in weight. She wasn't allowed to exercise, so she didn't eat even a fraction of what she usually packed away. "Now that the wedding is over, you can go outdoors again. You'll probably want to clean and sharpen your weapons though."

"What?" Yuffie finally looked at him, in pure confusion. "Godo took all of my weapons. Even my paper Tsuru."

"That's because he sent them to me." Rufus explained apologetically. "I was afraid you would do something rash."

"Rash? Like what?"

"Kill your guards, all my Turks, your father and me."

Yuffie let out a bark of laughter.

"You're right. Being told what to do and following rules I don't like hasn't really been my forte." She looked relaxed. It was the first time in months, nearly a year since she was unwatched by guards and she could feel the weight lifted from her shoulders. As if to test it, she first rolled one shoulder, then the other.

"First night free of guards. Please don't kill me in my sleep." Rufus was completely serious on the inside, though he used a light tone meant to keep things as friendly as possible.

"I'm open to negotiations on the topic." Yuffie rarely used her diplomatic voice. It made her seem older than yelling for people to hand over their Materia.

"Good." Rufus stood. "Will you come with me to the library?"

Hesitantly, like she were skirting around a sleeping Dragon, Yuffie walked with Rufus into the comfortable study room. The walls were covered in shelves, and though there were a few bare cases, each had a ladder on a rail to reach the higher books with ease. There were chairs and tables in the room. The hardwood floor was covered by a single rug with a Wutaian inspired design.

Rufus turned on a light at the desk and set a comfortable chair for Yuffie, which she curled up in immediately. Pulling out a pen and paper, Rufus finally sat, beside Yuffie, rather than on the opposite side of the table.

"Godo and I have a contract on your marriage to me in terms of supporting Wutai. Now that he is gone, we can finally have our own negotiations in peace." Rufus uncapped the pen and wrote the date at the top of the paper.

"And what negotiations would that be?" Yuffie sat up, crossed her arms defiantly and gave him her stone gray stare.

"Our negotiations of what we want in our marriage." Rufus paused, smiled kindly, then with a tone that hinted slightly at his old arrogance, then added, "Of course."

00000

Author's notes: What do you think?