Chapter Two

Despite the extensive forces of our military, shinobi skills and materia, the Shin-Ra army brought Wutai to its knees. And during all this I sat quietly with Princess Yuffie playing a game of cards in complete silence. The death of her mother was still fresh and the destruction of her homeland only added to her misery.

Much of Yuffie's bubbly and mischievous personality had been absent for several weeks and rightly so. As royal heirs, we were kept in isolation, heavily under guard with mostly each other and a few servants for company.

"I'm bored with this game," Yuffie said throwing down her cards. I gave her a weak smile in agreement and set mine down too.

"Would you like to play something else? Shogi perhaps?"

Yuffie shook her head and rested back against the cushions placed helpfully near the tatami mats.

"It would be nice if we could go out and at least train."

I nodded in agreement and ordered a servant to open the sliding doors so we could have a nice view of the gardens. The rain was coming down hard. The tears of Wutai. Of weeping mothers and lost children. Servants gossip was easy to pick up as well as Lady Kisaragi's spy network, now turned over to me, bringing reports of the extensive destruction and cruelty the Shin-Ra army had wrought upon our nation.

Against orders, I had openly told these things to Yuffie. I was not going to shelter her from the cruelties of the world or leave her oblivious to the state of her nation.

Yet I couldn't get the images out of my head. Though I had not seen it personally, I could imagine. Entire villages and Wutaian cities up in flames, people running and screaming, and countless women raped.

I'd heard one of the servants daughter's who lived in a quaint little town south of the Imperial city had had her pregnant belly cut open and her unborn child fall out. Sometimes it amazed me how cruel people could be.

Dismissing the servant, I went to sit by the princess and gaze out into the distance.

"Lord Godo has forbidden it and the guards will stop us if we go out in the garden. He made it clear we are not to draw attention to ourselves. Shin-Ra soldiers are crawling all over the palace and the General is here undertaking negotiations."

Yuffie frowned and mocked spat to the side.

"Like I care what the General thinks of me or any of us. My father pandering to him and his men and serving them like royal guests is humiliating enough," she said bitterly.

I didn't know what to say to that. Defeat was humiliating, but it wasn't the end of the world. I spared telling the princess that the General had taken up residence within Lord Godo's spacious rooms while the Emperor was residing in those of lower rank. I did not mention how President Shin-Ra had sent the General two noble geisha to his apartments to be his whores as a reward for a job well done and to add further insult to us.

"They say he looks most unnatural. Like a demon out of hell. Silver hair and glowing eyes."

I'm sure he did look like a demon and was one in heart too.

"Perhaps. But most of the soldiers have glowing eyes. They inject their soldiers with mako to make them strong and the eyes give it away."

Yuffie made no comment on this, though it was what I would have normally expected her to do. To become so sullen and withdrawn. It was the type of behaviour Lord Godo had dreamed of for his unruly and rebellious daughter. I hoped it wouldn't last. It pleased me greatly that my cousin naturally had mischief and fire in her blood. So this withering sulking did not become her at all.

"Izumi told me that dad would make me marry Rufus Shin-Ra. As if I would want to be married to that spoilt brat."

I refrained from remarking coyly that they were one and the same. Nor did I tell her of the probability of me being offered up as wife in her place. Instead I decided to humour her.

"You might," I said cheerfully.

"But look on the bright side. He's incredibly rich and handsome for a Continental. You'd have beautiful children and I have no doubt in my mind that you could run him into an early grave."

At that Yuffie laughed. The first laugh I had heard from her in the weeks since her mother had died.

"And own all of his materia and take it back with me to Wutai."

I smiled with her and hummed in agreement.

One of the ushers came by the door and bowed down on his knees and forehead before us respectfully.

"Lady Gorkii Your Graces."

Immediately we both straightened up surprised to have a visit from one of the five mighty Gods from the Pagoda.

She entered the room and we lowered our heads respectfully in acknowledgement as she did to us.

Next she dismissed the few servants we had waiting to do our bidding and gestured for us to move to the side door.

Ah, something secret that she couldn't afford for any spy to overhear. The main palace was built full of secret passages and hidden rooms, some known only to the royal family.

I pushed behind a tapestry to flick the lever and the floor boards within Yuffie's quarters led down to a secret room and a passage. We both were aware of it in case it was needed to be used to escape the palace.

I waited until the princess and Gorkii had descended before I too followed and hit the lever behind me for the floorboards to close.

Fire materia lit up in the lamps at Gorkii's command and we sat obediently on a rug and waited to hear what she had to say.

"The treaty is complete. Unfortunately the Continentals have the upper hand, but it is not as bad as it seems."

I could see Yuffie's expression darken and my hand reached out and meaningfully squeezed hers though I kept my eyes on Gorkii.

"We have given a complete and utter surrender. Or a tactful surrender as Lord Godo may call it. In exchange for giving up our materia and most of our military weaponry, Shin-Ra will conduct trade with Wutai and to compensate for our current economic collapse, they have insisted we open our doors for tourism and their industries. For all this, construction of the mako reactor will be on hold for the next five years."

I listened intently. Five years? What did this mean?

As if sensing my thoughts and clearly amused by Yuffie's bewilderment, Gorkii continued.

"To put it bluntly, building the mako reactor would put us under complete control of Shin-Ra since they would have power over our resources and revenue. With industry and tourism, a good portion of the profits will go towards us and over time we will be able to subtly muster up troops and weaponry. Lord Godo was able to buy us some time by agreeing to several conditions. It is a long shot, but it is to save Wutai."

She paused, eyes narrowing as she looked at me and continued.

"Of course the royal family is to play its part. To show our commitment and trust to this agreement, a marriage proposal has also been made."

I saw Yuffie suck in her breath and I too tightened the grip on my plain yukata. I had no idea if Lady Kisaragi's plans and influence with the Mighty Gods had fallen through. I had no idea if I was to be married to any of the men she had named or if General Sephiroth proved the better negotiator and Yuffie was offered instead.

"The General was reluctant I will say. He is young and headstrong and men like that don't want a wife let alone one chosen for them, but the President ruled in his place and he finally complied. Tomoe you are going to wed the General within the year."

I felt my mouth go dry while Yuffie stared at me in shock, but even I could see some relief in her eyes. I didn't blame her. She was little more than a child and the prospect of marrying an enemy so young was probably frightening to her however brave she pretended to be.

Gorkii wasn't finished though.

"And you Yuffie are to marry Rufus Shin-Ra at the end of those five years as the final cement in the agreement."

Instead of gracefully being silent, Yuffie as usual decided to ignore all decorum and protocol and sneer.

"Well I hope Shin-Ra's brat won't get his hopes up as I will not marry him."

Gorkii's eyes sharpened and I half expected her to strike the princess in the face. Instead though she thinned her lips and gave her a pointed glare.

"You will not speak that out loud or in anyone's presence ever again. You are a royal princess and the heir to the throne. You may not speak as you wish. Our enemy won't take too kindly to being slighted by you either. A woman is to honour her father and the husband he has chosen for her. A princess even more so. You may leave us Yuffie and return to your room."

Yuffie scowled and I held my breath, preparing myself to take the blows or punishment for Yuffie as Lady Kisaragi trained me to do. Thankfully though, Yuffie held her tongue and with her nose comically pointed into the air, she left us to plot like two old witches over a cauldron.

"Such disrespect and disobedience. She is nearly sixteen and shows so little restraint. An Emperor and Empress are expected to be ice cold and to never show their emotions. She would embarrass us all if she was given any power whatsoever."

I decided not to agree or disagree. While her assessment was correct, Yuffie was strong in many other traits such as her skills as a ninja, her morals and her loyalty to Wutai. I could not fault her enthusiasm or sneaky ways. The strict protocols of the Wutaian court sometimes needed a jester.

"She's still young, she will learn. Her Grace has been spoilt all her life and the death of her mother hasn't helped."

Gorkii considered this and decided to move to more important matters other than Yuffie's behaviour.

"What do you know of General Sephiroth?"

I had been expecting this question on either of the men to be chosen for me.

"Most of what I know is hearsay. Servants' gossip isn't far from my ears of his cruelty. From what I can deduce though, he sounds like an intelligent methodological man and a formidable warrior. He is the one who appears to have thought over all the stratagems to break our defences. Not sure if I can say much for his sense of honour, but I have not been in battle to see it."

Gorkii nodded, a thoughtful look upon her face.

"Your assessment is mostly correct. As for his cruelty, he mostly ordered rather than killed entire villages himself, but we suspect him of having brutally tortured hundreds of prisoners in the camps they have set up to get valuable information. I'm not judging him on that, it is no different to what we would do, but the power he possesses..."

Gorkii paused and I saw her bite her lip. It was the first time I have ever seen her slightly shaken and I knew she was hiding a lot more under her cold unreadable mask.

She composed herself though and cleared her throat.

"The power he posses is unmatched. His power is so inhuman. It is clear to me we won't be using conventional methods to be rid of him."

Ah, so no chance of anyone challenging him to a duel and tricking him into thinking it was merely a spar. I would be playing the whore after all.

"I see," I said quietly and stared down at my hands.

Oh, I was confident in my own abilities and my beauty. I wasn't so oblivious as to fail to acknowledge my looks. But somehow I did not think Sephiroth was a fool like so many men were. It would take more than beauty and pretty words to get close to him and make him lower his guard.

"In other words, you will be married to him for some time before you can make a move. At the end of those five years do you think you can bring him to an end? It would not do well to poison him or kill him in his sleep so early on in your marriage. It comes down to whether or not you can make him trust you. Trust you enough to tell you Shin-Ra's secrets so we can use it against them. Enough for you at the end of it all to kill him. Do you think you can do it?"

I sat quietly for several moments. I had promised Lady Kisaragi I would do anything to save Wutai. I promised her like any woman behind a great man, I would turn that man's head as a woman had the power to do. Even though now I was starting to realize I wasn't going to be marrying some material worshipping idiot. That this was going to take every single skill I possessed/

Despite what was at stake, I knew what my duties were and where my loyalties lay.

"I will do it. I promised to do so for the Empress. And even if I can't win his love, I am certain I can command his respect."

Gorkii nodded, satisfied with my answer and reached into her bag to pull out several large folders.

She pushed them towards me, but her hands stayed upon them.

"These are images captured of ruined towns, tortured civilians, raped women, dead children and the prisoners in their camps. Some with information provided on what exactly happened to them and why. Others you will have to guess. I am showing you these because you will be gone a long time, married to a man that may potentially fall in love with you and treat you well. While I have every confidence in your abilities, I want you to sear these images into your mind. The heart can be quite a fluid thing and since you may be with him for years, it may be possible that you could grow affectionate for him and even come to love, justify and sympathize with his actions. I want you to remember these people, your countrymen so that whenever such a feeling starts to bubble, you remember that your husband is simply a means to an end. A mission. That he is a monster that needs to be brought to justice."

I felt my heart thumping loudly in my chest as my hands covered the files instead of hers. I hadn't entertained the possibility of betraying Wutai or falling in love, but the way Gorkii spoke of it certainly made it sound plausible. So I would follow her advice and burn these images into my mind so every time he touched me, uttered a kind word to me or did something affectionate, inwardly I would always be disgusted.

Gorkii stood up, breaking the silence and gestured down the hall.

"Burn those files when you are done with them. They are not to leave this room. Lady Kora will be coming to you and the princess shortly to get you ready for tonight. You are going to be presented to him. Study and calculate him as best you can, but remain as humble and subservient as any future wife."

I watched her go wordlessly, feeling my anxiety rise that I was to meet him so soon with little time to prepare.

Swallowing hard, I opened the folder and pulled out the first images feeling my stomach empty like a bottomless pit.

It was nearly evening when I emerged and Lady Kora was waiting impatiently. I offered no protest as I was stripped, thrown into the baths and scrubbed as if I was a monk who had stumbled out of a dirty hen coop. Roughly the servants scrubbed my body raw and raked combs through my long hair.

Lady Kora tutted at my occasional grunts of discomfort and oversaw the servants wrapping me in layers of silken kimono. Though I had practiced enough as a courtier in such garments, it had been a while since I had to make show for such an occasion and the fabric was heavy.

Red, mixed with royal blue and sewn with gold was the theme for tonight. The patternings were of representations of leviathan and I found myself a little concerned that the General and his entourage would find it a bit too affronting and proud. Still, it wasn't my place to offer complaint.

A maid went to prepare white foundation for my face, but Kora waved her off.

"Princess Tifa will be wearing little make up today. I was told the General doesn't appreciate Geisha facades."

I didn't know whether to feel insulted or relieved. Such face painting was a big tradition and was a big concept of beauty in our culture. The fact he didn't appreciate it annoyed me, but at the same time mollified me for enjoying the natural looks of a woman.

Instead I sat quietly as balm was applied to my lips, a bit of rouge, some eyeliner and natural eye shadow.

I felt as if I was staring at a whole new person the mirror. I was no longer Tomoe Kisaragi, Princess of Wutai, but Tifa Lockhart, soon to be wife of General Sephiroth.

"I think the Continentals will appreciate what they see and the General will get a glimpse of what he's buying."

I smiled weakly, hardly fazed by the comment. When it came to marriages and political intrigue, women were assessed like livestock at a market place.

"Chin up. It's almost time. You will sit according to precedence. Whether or not the General will acknowledge you will be up to him. For now you will be on the left side of Lord Godo as a formality."

I nodded and took one last look at myself in the mirror. From now on I would be constantly on parade and walking on eggshells. I'd have to put on a false facade and lying face to the world as I struggled to save my nation.

I put my hands together as was custom for the Wutaian woman, squared my shoulders and put my chin up high as Lady Kora advised.

Turning towards the doors, I nodded to the servants to open and took my first steps into destiny.