A/N: Moving day! P.S. I personally know Jack Shit about electronics, so this is all BS, okay? Well, I can wire Cat5's through a building, but that's about it. And I did set up an entire network at my old job, but...yeah...Jack Shit and BS, okay? Okay! P.P.S. dantesdarkqueen owns the game names 'Demon May Weep', 'SoulBlade' and the gaming system the 'Game Station'. Axel is a dog that Sephiroth gives to Kandi in 'Evidence of Sephiorth's Humanity', also by dantesdarkqueen. We've combined our fics! Of course I'm using stuff from hers!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the iPod featured in this chapter. It's a cool iPod, with a lot of cool songs. Yay for my iPod!
My heart knows me better than I know myself
So I'm gonna let it do all the talking
"Woo hoo!" Kandi exclaimed as the song blasted through her newly set up, totally customized, surround sound entertainment system in all three bedrooms, both bathrooms, the kitchen and the living room. Oh yes, wires and connectors and speakers, oh my! They turned her on...big time. And no one could see the speakers. The were itty, bitty, teeny, tiny Bose speakers which she had hidden within the walls of the rooms. If she turned the bass up too far, the walls would be shaking from the inside out.
Electronics were so cool.
The music blaring was coming from her iPod she had sitting in it's 'Base of Operations' as she had dubbed it. The base was then hooked up to the speakers in each room via a control panel, allowing her to switch off the speakers in each individual room. She had done this in case her daughter, gods forbid, didn't have the same taste of music as she did. Oh yeah, and she had a similar set up in Andria's room. With a brand new dark purple iPod waiting to be filled with new songs. Downloaded off her new dark purple laptop. Which could be hooked up to her new shiny black Game Station 3 for optimum MMORPG performance. Which could also be hooked up to her 37 inch flat screen plasma TV that was hanging on her wall.
Oh yes, she was spoiling her daughter. But it was hella fun!
Kandi had waken up super early this morning, heading down to her new apartment to start the wiring needed for her massive electronics addiction. There were boxes sitting on the floor, waiting to be unpacked, bags of new things needing to be put in their places, dishes to be put up. She had put the ice cream up. She didn't want that to melt. But she figured, she would handle the stuff that she was an expert in (ie. electronics) and let her friends unback the other shit when they got there.
First thing she had set up was the security system. The apartment didn't come with one, so she made one. She had gathered the retinal information from all of the Turks she worked with and programmed it into the security system, letting it know that those people were allowed in at any time. They were family. If they needed a beer and were in the area and she wasn't home, they could scan their eyes and boom! Instant access and beer. Of course, she'd have to tell Andria about this and scan her pretty little violet eyes, too, but at least it made her feel safer.
Oh, and anybody not on the retinal database who tried to get in would receive precisely three-hundred volts of electricity shot through their body when they touched the doorknob while a text message alert was sent to her cellphone as well as to Turk headquarters and the local law enforcement office, resulting in a nearly instant arrest of the person when/if they came back into consciousness. Mwah ha ha. No one was messing with her kid. But for the sake of moving day, it was temporarily disabled.
Next, had been her computer. Her baby, her pride and joy. She had built this little jewel from the motherboard up. Everything else electronic would be operated from this computer. She could access Andria's laptop if she wanted to, but she wouldn't. Privacy was important and unless she suspected her of Anti-ShinRa terrorism, it wouldn't be necessary. From this computer, this gorgeous, powerful 10,000 gig computer, she could access all of ShinRa's database, all of the W.R.O's database, including Commissioner Reeve Tuesti's personal computer (which had some slightly disturbing sites on his browsing history, involving robtic bedmates), all at a speed of 0.000001 seconds per click. Oh yeah, bring it bitch!
The darling was set up in the third bedroom, to act as an office away from the office. You know, in case of sick days or if Andria was sick. No way was she going to work if her daughter was sick. Nuh uh. Tseng could fuck himself with a hard drive before that happened.
Next, came her Game Station 3. Yes, the electronics store dude was hella happy when she came in, bringing good tidings of much gil and leaving with two Game Station 3's, three 37 inch flat screen plasma TVs (one for Andria's room, her room, and the home office), two new laptops (she wanted one too!), an iPod, a 52 inch flat screen plasma TV (for the living room), a router, wires, connectors, four universal remotes, and a robot vacuum cleaner. She hated vacuuming. Let the AI do it.
And now, she had just finished hooking up her entertainment system. The 52 inch flat screen plasma TV was sitting proudly on the wall. It had a built in DVD/BlueRay player in the side and right now it was freeze framed on the gorgeous visage of Captain Jack Sparrow. "Welcome to my new home, People," she smirked, resisting the urge to lick the screen.
Her bedroom furniture was all that needed to be moved from the penthouse the floor up. She and the other Amazons had all pitched in together when they moved in to buy the other furniture, so it was staying. Ram and Katrina had both went in together and bought her a brand new living room suite (black leather...WOOT!), black leather bar stools for the bar (WOOT!) and a new kitchen table (black iron...WOOT!). She had also bought a new washer and dryer to go in the laundry room. Yes, the apartment had a laundry room. No laundramat for this Turk, hell no!
There was a knock on the door and Kandi squealed in delight at her first helper. She opened the door and grinned up at Rude. Rude's eyes immediately went to her chest and he grinned. "Okay, if you say so," he said, rushing into the apartment and closing the door, tackling her to the ground. Kandi laughed in surprise as he began attacking her neck with kisses, his hands roaming over her body.
"Ah, what are you doing?!" she exclaimed in between laughter. "My bed's not set up yet!"
"Just doing what the T-shirt says," he told her.
Kandi pushed him off and looked at her T-shirt. The dark brown shirt bore the message in bright purple letters, 'Fuck Me! I'm HORNY!' She laughed. "It was dark when I got dressed this morning," she explained, giving him a quick kiss. "Probably not the best shirt to be wearing, but it works."
Rude checked her out and his smile widened. In addition to the T-shirt, she wore a pair of tight blue jeans with her tool belt. He loved that tool belt. That tool belt could get him rock hard in an instant. "Been working already?" he asked lowly.
Her eyes began to sparkle with excitement and he knew the answer. She leapt to her feet and grabbed his hand, showing him all her cool new electronic equipment. He had to admit; he was impressed. The girl could wire anything, anywhere. "You dropped a shitload of gil, Babe," he said, checking out her new games for the GS3. "Demon May Weep 4! This just came out!"
"I know, right?" she said excitedly. "We'll break into tonight after everythings done before we hit the sack."
He looked at her over the tops of his sunglasses. "You want me to stay the night?" he asked. "First night with the kid and you want your lover over."
She shrugged. "We'll see how it goes," she said. "Whether you stay or not, we'll still start it, okay?"
"You are every fifteen year old boys' dream girl, you know that?" he laughed. "You get so into these RPGs and gaming systems and computers."
She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her body against his. "Yeah, but you're not fifteen, so you know what to do with me," she purred. She pushed him away and smacked his ass. "Now, let's get to work. I need those big, strong muscles to carry some shit."
Rude grabbed her around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. "You got it, Babe," he said as he carried her to the elevator and up to the penthouse, her laughter echoing down the halls.
Nearly lunchtime and her apartment was full of people. She had been attacked to the ground twice more by Reno and Joel because of her T-shirt, the two men receiving a black eye from Rude for their efforts. Tifa and Cloud had brought Marlene, Denzel and Andria over. Tifa was in the kitchen unpacking her dishes and arranging her glasses over the bar. She had brought her a box of liquor, stocking her supply.
"Don't worry," she had told her with a smile. "Andria knows to stay away from it."
Cloud was helping move the furniture in with Rude, Joel and Randak, Kandi not trusting the movers to do it without tearing it. Denzel and Marlene were in Andria's room with Nilto and Randak's two kids, Kaya and Damian, setting up all of her stuff and taking turns playing her new Game Station 3.
When Andria had went into her room, she had shrieked like the little girl she was, running out of the room and grabbing Kandi in a fierce hug, dragging her into the room. "I've got my own TV! I've got my own laptop! I've got my own GS3! I've got my own iPod! And you got the bed I wanted!" she screamed. Kandi had indeed gotten the bed she wanted. She had asked for the bunk bed with the futon on the bottom to act as a couch and a spare bed when she had friends over to spend the night. Currently, she, Marlene and Kaya (who was seven) were fixing the beds up with her dark purple and black bedding while Denzel played Soulblade on the GS3, showing Damian, who was only five, how to play the game.
Nilto was in the kitchen with Tifa, stocking the shelves and pantry with a ton of good, healthy food that her kids liked, and she figured Andria would like as well. Macaroni and cheese, beef ravioli, baked potato chips, pretzels, peanut butter, Fruit Roll-Ups. She and Tifa were chatting up a storm and making notes of recipes they knew their kids liked and hoped Kandi would find useful in raising Andria.
Niki had come in with Reno and was keeping Kandi's dog Axel out of the way. She was sitting in the corner with him in her lap and a bag of marshmellows and a skewer, holding the marshmellow in front of him and watching as he breathed fire and roasted the marshmellow to perfection. Niki giggled and hugged the dog, sharing her marshmellows with him.
Katrina was trying to sneak some booze out of the newly stocked bar, but Tifa kept slapping her hand away. Finally, the martial artist got fed up with it and put the rookie Turk in a full Nelson. "Vincent, please get your girlfriend to AA," she said with a laugh. "In my professional opinion as a bartender, she has a serious problem."
Ram and Sage were in Kandi's home office, checking out the massive beast of a computer. Sage was drooling over the power it had and had to close the door so the kids wouldn't see him molest Ram in his state of horniness. The office was officially broken in before lunch.
Tseng and Elena were arranging Kandi's DVD and CD collection in the shelfs Tseng and Vincent had set up on either side of the TV. There was a soft knocking on the door and Kandi looked to see her green-haired friend coming in, followed by a stack of pizzas with black hair. "Hey," Kandi said going to Akalara and giving her a hug. "Glad you could make it."
"Sorry we're late," she said, taking a few of the pizzas away from the stack and revealing a very handsome little boy with piercing cranberry red eyes and a sharp, noble nose and shoulder length black hair. She could see just a small trace of silver underneath it. He smiled shyly and shifted his gaze to the floor. "But Azrael thought it would be nice to get lunch for everyone since you all have been working so hard."
Kandi knelt down to get eye level with her friend's son, with both of her friends' son. "Hey Az," she said with a grin. "I'm Kandi. I've known both your mom and dad for a long time. Glad to finally meet you."
"Thank you," he said politely. "I like your apartment."
"Hey thanks!" she said standing up and ruffling his hair. She turned to Akalara. "You want to make the introductions?"
She nodded. Kandi grinned and turned to everyone. "Hey guys!" she said. "Akalara brought pizza!"
"Woo hoo!" the cheers went up from the ravenous movers. The kids came running out of Andria's room at the mention of pizza. Andria stopped when she saw Azrael and blushed.
"H-hey Az," she said shyly.
Azrael looked up and grinned at seeing a familiar face. "Hey Andi!" he said rushing over to her. "Gods, I didn't know I'd see you here. Are you helping move, too?"
"Uh, this is my new house," she said, blushing even brighter. She gestured to Kandi with her head. "That's my mom."
Azrael smiled at her. "You found her?" he asked. "That's cool! What about your dad?"
"He...died," she said. "About three years ago. His name was Zachary Fair."
Azrael's pale face went a little paler. "I know that name," he said quietly. "He was Sephiroth's second in command."
"Yeah."
"Sorry."
Andria shrugged. "It's okay," she said. "Let's get some pizza. You wanna see my room? Denzel, Marlene and Kaya are here, too."
"Oh cool, yeah!" he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the kitchen. The got plates from Tifa and cups of soda from Nilto.
"Hey Mom?" Andria asked. "Can we eat in my room?"
"Sure," she said with a smile.
Andria grinned. "Thanks, Mom!" she said, leading the way.
Azrael stopped and whispered something to his mother and she nodded, smiling when he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Whose the kid, Akalara?" Reno asked, bending down to kiss her other cheek.
"He's...mine," she said softly. Everyone stopped eating and stared at her. Revan's mouth hung open mid bite as he waited. "He's my son."
"Whoa," Brit said, plopping down on Torr's lap. "How come we never knew about him?"
"Because of his father," Akalara said.
"What, dickhead didn't want everyone to know he knocked you up?" Nina asked.
The green-haired woman shook her head. "No, he died before he found out I was pregnant," she said.
"Oh, Ak," Silhouette said. "I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, what happened?" N.C. asked.
"Maybe she doesn't want to talk about," Magni added.
"Yeah, could be painful," said Wei.
"No, it's okay," Akalara said. "He's kinda famous."
"Like a rockstar?" Widdow asked.
"Cool!" Feather exclaimed.
"Who is it?" Black asked.
"No, he's not a rockstar," she said. "He was in the ShinRa military. He was a very powerful man."
Cloud paled and Tifa covered her mouth with her hands. Vincent closed his eyes, a small, pained smile covering his lips.
"Azrael's father...is Sephiroth."
Kai was the first to speak. "You've kept him secret to protect him," she stated more than asked.
Akalara nodded.
"It's safe now for her to bring him home, though," Tseng said. "There is no risk of anyone in the labs trying to experiment on him. And now that his extended family knows who his father is, he has that much more protection. Correct?"
"Hell yeah," Katrina was the first to say. "No one messes with mini-Turks."
Tifa pulled Cloud aside and whispered to him. Cloud's eyes were downcast, but he smiled and nodded at what she said. Tifa beamed and kissed his cheek. "Akalara," she said sweetly. "You are more than welcome to let Azrael come to the bar after school with Andria and the kids if you want," she said. "You can pick him up there after you get off work."
Akalara looked up in shock. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. "I didn't think you would want anything to do with him, considering who his father is."
"Doesn't matter," Cloud said. "I knew Sephiroth before the whole Jenova thing. He really was a great guy. She just got to his head. Azrael can't help that. He's just innocent in all of this. Like Sephiroth was."
Akalara smiled in appreciation. "Thank you," she whispered. "Really. Thanks."
Revan went to her side and kissed her gently. "Quit dying his hair," he said with a smile. "He looks more like Valentine's kid than Sephiorth's, especially with those red eyes."
"Those are mine," Akalara said with a smile.
He cupped her cheek and kissed her again. "I know," he grinned at her.
The rest of the moving went very well. Everything was set up, Niki managed to keep Axel from burning the place down, the kids had played and beaten every game that Andria had, new and old. Kaya and Marlene were spending the night with Andria, but they got Reno to promise that Axys could come over and have a slumber party with them next weekend. Everyone else had left for the night, Ram and Katrina giving Kandi a huge hug as they left, sad that their threesome was split by one floor. Rude, however, was staying.
He was in the shower and Kandi was sitting on her new leather sofa, eyes closed as she listened to Laseedra Vaneth's haunting voice singing the lyics of 'My Immortal'. She felt something land beside her and looked over to see her daughter snuggling in close to her. "Hey Kiddo," she said, running her fingers through her hair.
"Hey Mom," she replied with a smile. "We get everything done?"
"Yep, everything," she said. "We got a cool family, huh?"
"Uh huh," she said. "It's cool that you work with some of my best friends' parents. You know, Kaya, Axys and Az."
"Yeah, small world, huh?"
"Yeah," Andria said, clutching something to her chest. She pulled it away and showed Kandi. "Is that Daddy?"
Kandi took the framed picture and nodded, smiling at the picture. It was of the two of them at a bar, The Black Cat. If she remembered correctly, Sephiroth had taken that picture. It was the same night they had first met Akalara. "Yeah, that's Zack," she said.
"No wonder you liked him," Andria said with a grin. "Dad's a hottie."
Kandi laughed. "He was definitely that," she replied. "And he was a lot of fun to be with. Working or just hanging out. He always made me smile."
"So, what's up with you and Rude?" Andria asked. "You guys together?"
She nodded. "Yeah, pretty much," she said. "Is...that okay?"
"Yeah, I like him," she said with a grin. "He's really cool and he looks like he can kick some major ass."
"Yeah, he can," she said. "I'm glad you like him."
"I'm glad you like him," Andria teased.
"So, what's up with you and Az?" she asked. "I saw that bitchin' blush come to your face when you saw him in our living room. You got a crush on him or something?"
"Moooommmm!" Andria whinned, pushing against her and blushing. "Stop it!"
Kandi laughed. "Sorry," she said, kissing the top of her head. "You want some snacks to take into your room for your friends?"
"Yeah, thanks," she said, getting up to help her. They gathered some chips and drinks and put them on a tray.
"You got it or you need help?" Kandi asked, not wanting to push it.
Andria grinned. "I think I got it," she said. She began walking back to her room, then stopped. She sat the tray on the table and went back to Kandi, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I love you, Mom."
Kandi smiled and bent down, hugging her close. "I love you, too, Andria," she said.
Andria smiled and got the tray, heading back to her room. Kandi turned off the lights and went into her bedroom where Rude was just exiting the bathroom, his skin still damp from the shower. "Hey," he said. "Kids in bed?"
"There in Andria's room," she said, closing her door.
"Hmm, I don't know if you can keep from screaming," Rude said with a grin, his sunglasses free eyes twinkling at her.
"Doesn't matter," Kandi said, pulling a glowing green orb from her pocket. "Do you know how many cool uses a mastered Barrier materia has? Elena told me it keeps sound in."
"Care to test that theory?" Rude asked, unbuttoning her pants. "Because I'm more than ready to do what that damn T-shirt says."
Kandi cast the spell, surround her room in a green hue. "Way ahead of ya, Babe."
A/N: Epilogue up next. Review please!
