--Fallen Angels & Lost SOLDIERs, Chapter 6: Lt. General--
It had been nearly two months since Sayuri had found and reclaimed Adanna, her seven-year-old daughter, and she still had only told Reno and Reeve about the girl: she had not allowed any of the others to meet Adanna and had made certain not to mention the child to any of them. She did not feel like raising any suspicions or dealing with unwanted questions until Adanna had become entirely accustomed to her new life with her mother, which involved sporadic and various levels of exposure to Reno and all of his habits. Adanna was horribly hyper around Reno; Sayuri suspected that the girl had taken it upon herself to appoint Reno as her father-figure, whether Reno wanted the position or not. Yet, Adanna was still bashful and seemed to be almost fearful of the red-headed Turk: every time Reno came around, the girl would hide until Sayuri coaxed her out of her room. By the same token, once Adanna came out, she firmly attached herself to Reno and would follow him like a puppy, watching his every move and even imitating him occasionally.
As luck seemed to have it, Reno liked Adanna and though he wasn't very experienced with children, he did know a few things that thrilled the girl to no end. One example was his piloting skills: Adanna had gotten to take a short flight in the chopper with Reno and her mother from Junon to the WRO headquarters. Sayuri had taken a position there, as Reeve's main intelligence agent, partnered with Cait-Sith, and was also the WRO's new weapons and materia specialist. Therefore, she had been given private living quarters within the main building. She had been given free range to pick any of the buildings' unoccupied living quarters and had chosen to take over a section of the very bottom floor: the same floor that was nearly one hundred meters underground and nigh impregnable. It was on this floor that Reeve had taken up residence himself. This made it an ideal choice in Sayuri's mind when taking into consideration the protection of her seven-year-old and the recent attacks that had been staged on the WRO by Deepground. Now that she was truly a part of Adanna's life, and she hers, Sayuri wasn't about to risk either of them losing the other. As she was thinking about these things, Sayuri was busy cooking lunch for Adanna, who had not yet woken up from her nap on Reno's chest.
The two of them had been watching some cartoon that Adanna adored and the little girl had promptly fallen asleep halfway through it. Not having the heart to move the drowsing child, Reno had shrugged and joined her in a nap. When Sayuri had come in from a short meeting upstairs to discuss the possible production of materia for some of the more skilled members of the WRO, she had found the two of them fast asleep on the couch. Adanna was curled up on Reno's chest and torso, her head snuggled under his chin, and he had draped one arm around her to keep her from falling off of the couch. Smiling at how cute they were, Sayuri gently covered them with a light blanket and went about making preparations for lunch. Now, with lunch nearly done, she cursed under her breath when her phone rang; she had her hands full and consequently had to juggle to answer it.
"Alpha." Was all she said, since she was trying not to drop an armful of dishes that she was angling to get into the sink.
"Sayuri, I feel inclined to warn you that the Turks are currently headed for your quarters: they're looking for Reno. Apparently, he hasn't been answering his phone for the past day and a half. Naturally, Rufus is a bit upset about it." Reeve had a slightly amused undertone in his voice as he spoke. This gave the impression that he found this all quite funny, making Sayuri slightly cross. "On top of that, Cloud just called. He said that Vincent has something he needs to speak with you about. So, Cloud is coming with Tifa and the kids, Vincent, Barret, and Cid on his airship. All we're missing now is the rest of AVALANCHE and we'll have a full reunion by tomorrow evening." Sayuri mentally cursed Reeve's timing as she succeeded in depositing the dishes into the empty sink, making a fair bit of noise in the process. Freezing to listen for any signs of having disturbed Reno or Adanna, Sayuri breathed a sigh of relief when none came. The relief was extremely short-lived, however.
"Thanks for the warning Reeve!" Sayuri snapped crossly as a knock sounded on her door. "What'd you do, wait until they were a floor above me to call?"
"You're welcome." Reeve chuckled as Sayuri hung up and tossed the phone back onto the kitchen table. As she passed by the couch on her way to the door, she was caught by her pant leg and she turned to spy a playfully grinning Reno.
"You could always ignore them, yo." Came the sleep-edged answer to her raised eyebrow and annoyed expression.
"It's Rude." Her tone was one that was both amused and annoyed as she imparted a warning towards the red-head. Both of them knew that Rude was perfectly capable of breaking down the heavy duty, iridium re-enforced tungsten door: though there were two separate doors, a normal one that was currently the only one in use, and the tungsten one. Sayuri enjoyed the fact that she could use both of them separately. Reno, however, was apparently misinterpreting her meaning: he seemed to think she meant that it would be bad manners to ignore the visitors, not that she was referring to Rude, the tall and stoic Turk.
"So? Whoever it is will get over it; it's not like people aren't rude all the time." Reno yawned as he slowly and carefully repositioned himself without waking Adanna.
"No, Reno. I mean that it's Rude, your partner. You know, tall, bald, and never says more than twelve sentences per month…" Smiling as comprehension dawned in the red-head's startled face, Sayuri left him to splutter on about why she didn't say so the first time and went to open the door. After all, she would have to let Rude meet Adanna sooner or later: there were no secrets between Reno and Rude, and Adanna would be no exception. Rude would be told what Reno had told her: "She may not be mine by blood, but I'll gladly claim her if her real father won't." Tseng and Elena would simply be told that Reno was Adanna's father, since that was what Reno intended to tell them anyway. Sayuri knew that Reno had taken a strong liking to her daughter and was happy to let the little girl call him 'Daddy': over the past few weeks, Adanna had begun to run to the door whenever Reno arrived, calling out, "Daddy's home!" Reno would laugh and ruffle the child's long blond hair affectionately, with a reply of, "Sure I am! Did you think I wouldn't come back for the fair princess and beautiful queen?"
Sayuri would playfully punch him and instruct her two troublemakers to go clean up, since Reno almost always arrived just before a meal. Now his co-workers were doing the same; Sayuri sighed in exasperation at the odd irony of this surprise visit. As she opened the door, she heard Reno shifting as he rose from the couch, probably carrying Adanna judging from the sound of the way the floor shifted slightly. As soon as she opened the door, she was face to face with Elena and her mood instantly soured. She slammed the door back into the annoying girl's face and shouted through it, "Rude, you and Tseng can come in but leave the puppy outside. It isn't well trained and I just finished cooking lunch: I don't want it begging for things that don't belong to it." Reno whistled from the living room at how nasty Sayuri was being towards Elena but he really didn't blame her. Elena could be extremely annoying, so much so that she bordered on being physically painful, actually. The door opened and Rude came in with a small smirk on his face, Tseng right behind him, while Elena was trying to figure out if what Sayuri had just said equaled out to an insult.
Elena came in behind Tseng but Sayuri chose to ignore the younger blond woman's dagger-like glare as she figured out the insult and returned her attention to Reno as she entered the living room. Her expression instantly softened: Adanna had woken up and Reno was holding her in his arms while she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, telling her what Mommy had made for lunch. "She made some of your favorites: tomato sandwiches with some milk to drink and some sweet rolls for afterwards. You know the ones that she fries like doughnuts and then sprinkles sugar on top?" Adanna's face lit up at the mention of her favorite dessert, but fell again as she seemed to think of something.
"I have to eat all my sandwich first, don't I Daddy?" She asked with a solemn and serious face, earning a smile from Reno as he nodded. "If I finish my sandwich and drink all my milk, then I get two sweet rolls. That's only fair, isn't it Mommy?" :My child has inherited entirely too much of mine and her father's brains…: Sayuri thought wryly.
"Only if you finish ALL of your sandwich and your milk; Daddy can't share any of your lunch or its cheating and that is a bad habit, right Reno?" The look she pinned him with told him that she knew he had a habit of cheating his way out of things and that she didn't want Adanna to pick it up.
"That's right; cheating is a bad habit. Okay, Adanna; time to go wash up with Mommy. I'll be waiting in the kitchen when you come back." Reno gently set the girl on the floor and Adanna scampered off towards the bathroom, running right past Rude, Tseng, and Elena. Sayuri followed at a far more sedate pace than her offspring, pausing to give all of them a slightly menacing look before vanishing down a hallway. "Now…" Reno's voice snapped all of their attention back to him. "What are you guys doing here? I told Rufus I was taking a two-week vacation and it hasn't even been two days. Rude, you knew where I was going, man…why bother me now, yo?"
"Reno, Rufus has recently had something brought to his attention. There are rumors that he has a young child somewhere in Wutai: if this is true, then this child is the next heir to the Shinra Company and we have to find the child as soon as possible." Tseng wasted no time on niceties or formalities; he simply got right to the point. Reno forced himself not to react and instead schooled his eyes and expression into pure unconcern.
"So? You're telling me that the three of you aren't good enough to find one kid? That you HAVE to have my help to find this brat? Do you even know if it really is more than a rumor, cause we all know lots of people want Rufus dead and even more think he IS dead. Who's to say that this isn't a hoax or a trap? How old is this 'kid'? Do we know what gender it is or what it looks like? I'm gonna guess not." Reno didn't want them to figure out who Adanna looked like, because even someone who had never seen Sayuri could tell she wasn't his, what with that blond hair. Her blue eyes might have been attributed to him, if it weren't for an utter lack of anyone with blond hair in either his or Sayuri's families. But then, sometimes that happened: no history of blond hair in a family for as far back as anyone knew and yet a kid would be born with blond hair. He only hoped they wouldn't ask.
"No, we don't know if this is more than just a rumor or anything else that you said. However, Rufus is the one that pays us and he wants us to go. That means we go, Reno, no questions asked and you know it." Tseng's response was nearly acidic and he was glaring at his red-headed co-worker with an unusual amount of vehemence. As if on cue, Sayuri reappeared with Adanna and the girl ran over to grab Reno's hand and pull him towards the kitchen.
"Hurry, Daddy, or it'll get yucky!" Adanna was irrepressible and Reno couldn't help but smile as he let her lead him into the kitchen. Sayuri did not follow them immediately, hanging behind to address the other Turks instead.
"I suppose that all of you have put two and two together and realized that Adanna is my daughter." They all gave her some form of affirmation, verbal or otherwise. "Good, then that makes all of this easier. Reno took vacation so he could get to know Adanna: she is our daughter, but he never knew about her and now he wants to make up for lost time." Sayuri wasn't really lying...she just wasn't telling them the entire truth. "When I had her, I left her with a friend in Kalm because I was scared that Reno wouldn't want her. After that, I was sealed in the cryo-chamber and two months ago I went looking for that friend. I found her over on the West Continent, where she and her husband have twin boys a year younger than Adanna. My friend had raised her as her niece and gave her a picture of all of us from that time we had to escort Rufus to the club. Tseng, you and I were the only ones sober by the time we went home so you'll remember even if Rude doesn't."
"I remember…" Came from both men and Sayuri laughed at them.
"Good; well Adanna has been raised knowing what both of us look like and constantly being told that we would come for her one day, but that they didn't know precisely when that would be. She's only seven years old as it is: a little under eight, really…" Her eyes spoke of the threat that her words did not: if they hurt her daughter, they would not live long to reflect on it. Rude and Tseng had always known how fiercely protective Sayuri was of those she loved; Reno and Adanna were clearly no exception to the rule. Sayuri shrugged and motioned for them to follow her into the kitchen. "Come on you lot; you're lucky I made more than enough for my two bottomless pits today. I actually think I have enough to feed all of us and then some…" All of them smiled as they entered the large dining room to find Reno keeping a careful hold on Adanna's milk glass while the girl took a long sip from it.
"There we go; y'know this stuff makes your bones stronger?" Big blue eyes met with Reno's amused ones and he nodded seriously. "It's true! If you drink lots of milk then your bones grow big and strong and you'll be able to beat up the kids that pick on you!"
"Eh-hem…" Sayuri raised an eyebrow at Reno and he ducked his head, laughing.
"Or you can always talk to a grown-up and have it stopped without fighting, like good people do. You knew your mommy was a Turk, right? Well, she never got in a fight unless absolutely necessary, because she doesn't like hurting people." Reno continued to awe his adopted daughter with his small and mildly fibbing story while Sayuri made plates for the other three Turks and herself. Adanna was absently munching away on her sandwich and it was gone before the girl realized it: Sayuri had to admit that Reno knew how to get her to eat everything on her plate without her noticing it. Before the girl could register that her plate was empty, Sayuri whisked it away and replaced it with a small saucer bearing the child's much beloved dessert. As Adanna squealed with pleasure and thanked her mother, Reno dug into his own plate and was soon gifted with the same reward when he effectively cleaned his as well.
Sayuri smiled as she watched the group interact but quietly rose and left, taking the dishes with her, when she sensed someone approaching. She knew the presence and was not at all surprised to find Vincent waiting for her in the kitchen. She smiled softly when she saw her father and continued towards the sink to put the dishes in to soak. She silently offered to make him something but he shook his head to decline the offer. Sayuri sighed, knowing why it was that he had come and was not surprised in the least: he had been the one to battle Weiss and Omega after all. It only made sense that he would want to know more about 'G', the one whose cells the Tsviets had been infused with.
"I suppose…that you wish to know about Project G: or more specifically, about the man known only as 'G'. Well, his name is Genesis Rhapsodos and he was SOLDIER 1st Class…once upon a time, not so very long ago actually. He came from the same project as Angeal Hewley, and though of a different class, was part of the same process that launched Project S and eventually resulted in Sephiroth's birth." Sayuri had taken a seat at the table, idly twirling a strand of her wavy reddish-black hair on one finger. It was an obvious sign of how nervous and depressed she was, but Vincent had not known her long enough to recognize the dangerous territory he was entering. He got a crystal clear sign, however, with Sayuri's next sentence. "Very well; I will tell you that which this Alpha knows about one Genesis Rhapsodos. He was bred by scientists at Shinra, whether he was born of a real mother or not has never been divulged. He was given to a couple under the power and control of Shinra and taken to be raised in Banora. Gillian Hewley, the mother of Angeal, is suspected to have supplied the ovum with which Genesis was conceived but again, this is unconfirmed information."
"So these men, Genesis and Angeal, may have been brothers?" Vincent asked quietly, afraid of his daughter's answer.
"As this Alpha stated Vincent Valentine; that information has been neither confirmed nor denied…it simply is. We know that Angeal Hewley was Dr. Gillian Hewley's biological child and that she allowed for her unborn child to be subjected to experiments and tests in attempts to create an Ancient from genetic engineering. Genesis was the same and seen as a complete failure while Angeal was at least seen as a successful attempt, if not a perfect success. You know most of the story behind Sephiroth, more so than most this Alpha would wager, and so I do not need to elaborate on that topic. Genesis and Angeal grew up together in Banora with Genesis raised as the son of the Banora landlord and Angeal as a normal resident." Her eyes flashed golden as she narrowed them at a spot on the wall behind Vincent, seemingly ignoring his presence. "They were the best of friends and once they became SOLDIERs, soon that bond came to include Sephiroth and this Alpha. Despite Genesis's rivalry and resentment towards Sephiroth, he still saw Genesis as a friend. I admit that at first I was fond of Genesis…one might even say that I was attracted to him." Vincent was obviously surprised by her sudden change in tone and tact, but he was also curious.
"Nevertheless, we were and still are SOLDIERs: personal relationships between SOLDIER operatives generally do not end well. As a result, I ignored him and my own attraction in favor of Sephiroth. My orders were clear and concise: I was not to belong to any man except for Sephiroth and if he would not have me or I him, then I would belong to no man. Angeal was always the serious one and told me not to worry about it, but Genesis never forgave Sephiroth or I for what happened. During a simulation battle between the three, Genesis attacked Sephiroth full-on and was wounded: it was superficial and should have healed fairly quickly. It did not. His condition began to rapidly worsen and he was in need of regular blood transfusions to keep him from degenerating. Sephiroth offered to give him a transfusion, since it was he that had injured him. He was denied, however, because his blood was incompatible being from Project S. I was also denied from doing this, though for a much different reason: my blood was exceptionally compatible with Genesis, but if I gave him my blood then he would become unstable and possibly too strong to be handled."
"Yuri?" Vincent and Sayuri both snapped their attention to Reno, who stood in the door to the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. Sayuri seemed to come back to herself and gasped at how late it was: she and Vincent had been talking for nearly three hours without either of them noticing. "Tseng and Elena have gone; I let Rude take the spare bedroom since he has other things to talk to me about. Adanna fell asleep about an hour and a half ago: all the excitement wore her out I think…" He let his blue gaze drift back and forth between the two Valentines, marveling at how similar father and daughter were. They had never known each other and yet they dressed alike, looked alike, thought alike, and even acted alike. Not caring if Vincent became protective or whatever, Reno casually entered the room and pulled a chair next to Sayuri before straddling it. He saw the lingering emotions in her eyes, which were still sparsely flecked with gold and sighed.
"You have got to stop thinking about what happened as your fault, yo." Reno said, seeming to read Sayuri's mind as her thoughts lingered on Genesis and Sephiroth. "Genesis was whack to start with and well…Sephiroth was bound to crack, learning the truth the way he did and after everything he had been raised to believe was revealed as lies. That doesn't means that it was your fault, just that they were fools for taking it out on you. C'mon babe, you and I both know you didn't ask to have a piece of Jenova's heart stuck in you. That has Hojo written all over it! Just like him infusing the Alpha WEAPON into your body: it was the same with Omega and Weiss…and I'll bet that Vincent understands that better than anyone, don't cha Vince?" Vincent nodded at Reno's words but Sayuri did not seem to have heard him. Her eyes had become distant and the light appeared to have faded right out of them: she was lost in her memory and heedless of the present.
"All right you pussies: stand up straight and smile, because here comes the Lieutenant General! Lt. General Valentine hates tardiness, poor hygiene, and ignorance so I suggest you all remember that! The Lt. General is a hard-ass motherfucker and will not tolerate ANY usurpation in the ranks." One of the SOLDIER 2nd Classes was telling the newest band of SOLDIER hopefuls what to expect of their examiner, pacing before the nervous youths. Sayuri stood to one side, among them, and smiled to herself: this batch was going to be so very easy…
"You do your job and do it well or the Lt. General will have you out of SOLDIER in less time than it takes you to blink, be it by one method or another. Pray you do not get the Lt. General on a bad day, or you just might be killed for sport. Also, if you so much as annoy the Lt. General and the General hears of it, you may as well kiss your ass good-bye because General Sephiroth will kill you for your insolence!" Now the 2nd Class smiled and stopped, turning to face the group of thirty -plus one SOLDIER 1st Class- as a whole. "Of course, all of this applies only if you pass this exam. You have passed the physicals, the training, and all of the other requirements but this…THIS is the final and most important one. Today you hopefuls will fight a real, seasoned, and well-trained SOLDIER. This is the real deal kiddies, so please try not to shit yourselves. The General and the other 1st Classes are watching you, but you can't see them. They will rate your performance and your potential before placing you in a rank or dismissing you from the program to try again another day."
All of the hopefuls shuffled uneasily and Sayuri smiled again, wider this time, before a loud gunshot signaled that it was time for her to start. Without warning, she reached out and grabbed the nearest hopeful from behind, her arms up under his and her hands grasping either side of his face. She easily hefted the larger male into the air, bending over backwards at an impossible angle as she slammed him headfirst into the ground. Standing up and dusting her hands off, she addressed the group. "Always be vigilant: enemies can be anyone, anywhere, anytime. He has failed because he was not prepared: those of you who were near to him noticed my mako eyes and knew I was there, getting out of the way when the gun was fired. This has allowed the remaining twenty-nine hopefuls the chance to fight me one-on-one with a warning about my skills. Nice job, newbies…for now, that is." Her eyes glowed with mako and mischief as she continued. "The twenty-nine of you remaining will be selected randomly and called to meet me over there-" She pointed to the simulation room and chuckled at the worry on their faces. "Where we will fight and you will either fail or be allotted a rank. I look forward to seeing each of you in combat."
Sayuri walked into the simulation room and patiently restrained her strength as hopeful after hopeful came and went. Out of the fifteen she had already beaten, only one had been promising: a youth by the name of Zack Fair, from Gongaga. Young Zack now stood inside the observation room with Lazard and Angeal as they watched Sayuri effortlessly beat the remaining fourteen hopefuls. Some of the others did become SOLDIERs, but Zack was to be the highest ranking out of them and since he held the most promise, was the only one to get to meet Sayuri, Angeal, and Lazard afterwards.
"It's a real pity that none of them, not even this kid here, could give her a good warm-up." Lazard said with a frustrated sigh, indicating Zack, who winched slightly as he was reminded of how thoroughly Sayuri had beaten him even though he had given it his all and had landed a couple of hard attacks on the female SOLDIER. All of his attacks seemed to glance right off of her, though…
"That's true Lazard, but you and I both know that she has a talent for picking out the most promising ones. If she says that he is the only one worthy of being trained by one of us, then that is what he is. Now, which of us are you going to saddle with him?" Angeal asked in a friendly and joking manner of the Director.
"He goes with you Angel." Sayuri chuckled as she entered the observation room to look over Zack again. "Look at him: he reminds me of you at that age but a little less refined in discipline! I think he can benefit from you the most; besides which, Genesis won't take anyone under his wing and neither will Sephiroth. As for me, I cannot take him because of my position as Lt. General and because I am a woman, remember? Females can only take females and males can only take males, etc., etc., etc." Sayuri waved her hand as she finished her ramble about how stupid the rules were, making all three men chuckle and laugh at her.
Sayuri never felt it as her body collapsed and she passed out, her mind continuing to travel down a corridor of memories that she had long ago locked away, distancing herself from the woman she used to be. She had always been mischievous and playful towards Angeal, Sephiroth, Genesis, and later Zack. However, that was only a small piece of who she had been during the years before she met Reno. As she crumpled in on herself, Reno quickly caught her and lifted her into his arms.
"On that note, I believe that your conversation is over for the night Vince." Reno said as he carefully readjusted Sayuri against his shoulder, cradling her in much the same way he did Adanna. Vincent could easily recognize Reno's feelings for Sayuri: they were the same as his feelings for Lucrecia. "We have another spare bedroom, ya know…you're welcome to it, if you like." The ex-Turk looked at the red-headed Turk with mild surprise, though it was well hidden, and smiled as he nodded in acceptance of the offer. After all, he had never met his granddaughter who was to grow up thinking of him as an uncle.