Chapter 21

"He did what?!"

Sephiroth winced at Genesis' volume and strode off down the hall.

"I'm not making any decisions right now," he said.

"Right sure, that's a good idea. Man, that pisses me off!"

"Would you calm down? You're making people nervous."

"I'm calm; I'm cool." Genesis stayed quiet for a second. "I cannot believe the gall of that man! Barging in and saying—"

"I know what he said, Gen."

The redhead growled at the elevator doors as they stepped into the car.

"What did James say?" he asked. Sephiroth gave a small shrug.

"He was supportive but he said he'd have to call Marilyn first."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"Besides run Vincent through with Masamune?"

Genesis chuckled and flicked his hair out of his face.

"You just give me the word and he'll disappear. If he so much as looks at you cross-eyed, I'll light him and that tacky cape on fire."

"No, Gen." Sephiroth paused. "But yes, do that. And let me tell Angeal. I don't want a lecture right now."

"Sure, sure. Where are you headed now?"

"President Shinra wanted to see me then I'm going to look in on the firearms certification classes."

"Kay. Well, have fun. I'm going to go enjoy the attentions of women."

"That is today, isn't it?"

Women's self-defense was a relatively new class that Angeal requested after a girl went home with the wrong guy and ended up in a dumpster. Parents all over the city latched onto the program, along with whatever classes were offered locally. Teenage girls stormed the classes as much to see their heroes as to learn. Then older women started coming, mothers and teachers, office workers. The second day of the conference was considered 'Women's Day' for all of the estrogen flooding the halls, after which the attendance would return to mostly men.

Genesis was chosen to handle the women's classes due to his charm. And because Angeal was too nice to keep the women on track if they started fangirling and it frankly wasn't safe for Sephiroth. The general had actually lost skin the first and last time he tried.

"We're still going out to eat, right?" Genesis asked.

"As far as I know."

"Good. See you later, Seph. Call me if you need something."

?

Yanna sat in the middle of a large classroom, surrounded by women and girls of all ages. In the span of five minutes, she had seen more apple charms and "Mrs. Rhapsodos" badges than she ever cared to. She couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, you're a Silver, huh?" The woman next to her asked. Fiery red hair fell around her shoulders but Yanna could see the dark brown roots. Aw. She dyed her hair to match Genesis.

"Yeah," Yanna said, grinning. "But I'm sure General Rhapsodos has some good ideas. He's a First, right?"

"He should be the First if President Shinra had any brains," the redhead huffed. "I've taken the class every year they've offered it."

"Wow, you should be old hat at this then."

"Yeah." Her smile turned smug. "He even used me in the demonstration last year."

"Wow."

"Good afternoon, ladies." Genesis swept into the room and the women cheered. One girl even tried to run up with a notebook and pen but he held up his hand.

"No, darling, if I tried to sign anything now, all of you would storm me and I'd lose my train of thought. And possibly my clothes."

From the giggles, that obviously didn't sound like a bad idea.

"He's so going to pick me again," the woman whispered. Yanna rolled her eyes and the class began with Genesis passing out workbooks.

"So, show of hands, how many of you get home after dark?"

The next four hours were truly a pleasure to watch. Genesis was masterful at keeping their attention, making them laugh even when he had important points. It really felt like he was just flirting with all of them in an everyday conversation. Women she thought would go at each other's throat if left in the same room roleplayed and worked together like old friends.

Yanna found herself laughing and smiling through most of it, though she did take some notes. It was a little surprising that he had to say things like "don't go down the dark alley" and "park under a streetlamp" and "for Gaia's sake, don't go home with someone you just met." Really? He really had to tell them this?

But then, these women lived in the city. They didn't see things in terms of life and death. A bad day for them was losing their cellphones, whereas a bad day for Genesis was holding his stomach together in a war zone.

There were a few more aggressive women in the group though. One, a little old lady with pale blonde hair, said she got a gun to take to church. Genesis just smiled indulgently.

"Yes, darling, but you're worth more to the goddess alive than dead. If you have the choice, running is eminently better. The law doesn't recognize 'he scared me and I shot him in the head.'"

That was another thing that surprised her. The laws weren't different for men and women. The very concept was mind-boggling. So a woman could be charged with assault if she chased her assailant? But if he crossed her threshold, it was her responsibility to make sure he didn't come back with reinforcements. A live enemy meant he was still a threat.

But Genesis made a point to say that most criminals are looking for the easy score. The television shows and movies that show psychotically persistent bad guys exaggerated an incredibly rare event. It was far more likely for them to get raped by a guy they thought they were joking with than a stalker bent on destroying everyone in their lives.

"Just because you think it's joking and safe," Genesis said, "doesn't mean he sees it that way. 'No' does not always mean 'no.' 'No' very often means 'maybe later' and if he thinks you're flirting with him, he's going to think you want it. Establish your boundaries now, outside of a situation, so when something does happen, you can put your foot down and not mix your signals."

He also mentioned how, while weapons are great tools, most didn't have the time to use them. A few women asked the 'what if' questions. What if they found themselves in the dark alley anyway? What if they were in the back of some guy's truck and he got violent? What if some other woman started screaming at them and they had to take care of it?

His answer to all of it was "Why did you put yourself in that position to begin with?"

"Ninety percent of all situations had more than one participant," he said. "It's like what General Sephiroth talked about this morning. Just because you think it was 'self-defense,' doesn't mean it was."

Yes, she remembered Sephiroth's lecture after Angeal's. He seemed okay, safely back in 'General' mode. Then, after the first five minutes, she had nearly forgotten anything was wrong. For all his stoicism, he really was a good teacher. In fact, he was really funny, if only because he was so sarcastic. The soldiers around her had hung on his every word but she saw a few of the older ones nodding now and then. He hadn't just been talking out of thin air. He knew, first hand, how these things happened.

As did Genesis. Charming and light-hearted though he was, Yanna could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"I want you to leave here smarter and more aware than when you came in. I'm not just talking because I like the attention, though you ladies have been wonderful. The most important thing we teach the soldiers is that you go home at the end of the day. And that's what I want you to remember."

Genesis spread his hands.

"I'm one man. I'll help if I can but you can't always rely on someone else to take care of you. You're women. You're the girlfriends and moms and sisters and daughters. Half the time, you'll be taking care of them, right? So be there to take care of them."

The last half hour was reserved for questions and a few of them did result in demonstrations. Much to Yanna's delight, the woman didn't get picked though a little girl, maybe fifteen, did. The poor thing was almost beside herself, crying and giggling and generally all over the place. Genesis was as sweet as ever and guided her through the demonstration, a little roleplay exercise of getting out of a man's grip.

"You're a cute little thing," he said. "And people snatch up cute little things, whether it's someone you know or not. Now here's what I want you to do."

That was probably the only time Genesis would ever just stand there and let someone hit him in the crotch. Yanna wished she had her phone out to record it. The girl, on the other hand, was mortified. She had just punched, kicked, and bit her future husband.

Genesis just waved her off with a bright smile, though he was favoring his middle a bit.

"It's fine, darling. You did a good job." Coughing, the general straightened and adjusted his uniform. "All right, so there's a test on our website if you want to take it, just to refresh your memory. Gets you a pretty little certificate that you can print out. There's also a physical test offered here on Thursday if you want to get a gun permit. I highly recommend taking that class and, if you can, CPR and first aid. Other than that, I think we're done. Have a good day, ladies. It was a pleasure."

The room applauded and he bowed with a great flourish before women started to trickle down for autographs. Yanna put away her things, waiting for the crowd to thin. It took a while. Everyone had something they wanted to say or ask. The shaman watched with a smile as she edged closer to the red general.

At last, Genesis caught a breath and gave her a hug.

"Enjoy yourself, darling?" he asked.

"A brilliant performance, as always." She frowned. "I'm a really violent person, aren't I?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just wondering. Ready to go?"

"I have to run by my office real quick. You're welcome to come with me, if you like."

"Great." Yanna followed him out of the room, sparing one last glance for that woman. "This whole 'same law for everyone' thing kind of sucks."

"Yes, but it's all got a point to it."

"Yeah, I know. But you guys understand. I think that's why I hang out with soldiers so much. Everyone else is just so squishy."

"Not everyone carries a foot long knife in their skirt, honey." Genesis held the door open for her and they made their way up to the less crowded halls leading to the Soldier building. It took a while but they weren't in any hurry and the glass and iron walkways that connected the buildings were pretty.

"Seph told me about last night," Genesis said quietly. "Pretty intense."

"Yeah, I've never heard him raise his voice before."

"Wait, what?" He stopped short. "He yelled at him?"

"Yeah. And cussed. I didn't even think Sephiroth knew swear words. He never uses them."

"No, he wouldn't. Not around you. He's very careful." Genesis shook his head in bewilderment. "Goddess, I need a drink. Come on."

Yanna hurried to keep up with him.

"Should I not have told you?" she asked.

"Well, he certainly didn't. I know he was angry but…Did he talk about it?"

"Not really. He said he wouldn't make any decisions until after the conference."

When they reached his office, the redhead set his papers on the desk and started digging around in one of the file cabinets.

"I'm worried, Gen," Yanna said, folding her arms. "I don't know how to help."

"You've helped more than you realize." He stuck whatever reports he wanted in his laptop bag and slung it over his shoulder. "After you, darling."

"Thanks. What do you think we should do?"

"Well, I can think of a lot of things I'd like to do but I know me and I know my temper. We'd have to talk to Angeal first but Seph wants to tell him himself."

"So nothing for a while then." Sighing, she tucked some hair behind her ear. The walk back seemed longer somehow. "You think he'll go?"

"Yeah. If for nothing else than to prove Vincent wrong. Other than that…" Genesis shook his head then smiled. "You look lovely, sweetheart. New dress?"

?

It took Sephiroth nearly an hour and a half to escape the black hole that was the conference building. James waited patiently for him in the lobby, talking to Genesis, Angeal, and Yanna.

"Sorry," he said. As he approached, Cissnei and Missy walked in, each in green and blue dresses, respectively. Yanna smiled brightly at him then ran to hug the girls.

"Ready to go?" James asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry it took so long."

"Oh, it's fine. Now, who are these lovely ladies?"

Angeal beamed and drew Missy in for a quick kiss.

"Sweetheart, this is Colonel James Murron. James, this is my girlfriend, Celeste Abarthe. We call her 'Missy.'"

"So nice to meet you. Glad you're feeling better." James shook her hand and turned to Cissnei. "I remember you. Junon, a few years ago."

"Yeah, that was me." Cissnei shook his hand with a noticeably firmer grip.

"The poor colonel had to deal with the boys when they were teenagers," Yanna said. That drew a round of sympathetic noises from the girls and Missy gave him a hug.

"I know," James sighed, eating it up. "It was awful. All those late nights."

"Incredible," Genesis said. "A sixty-year-old man has more game than I do."

"I could have told you that," Sephiroth said.

"Time to go to the restaurant then?" Yanna asked.

"Sure. You want to ride with us, Colonel?" Cissnei asked. "Yanna, you don't get him this time."

"What?"

"He rode with you on the way here in the General's car. That means you got at least one embarrassing story and I want to hear about the Cinnabon Incident."

"You're a Turk!" Missy protested. "You probably know all about it already. Why can't he just ride with us?"

"Okay okay," James said. "How about I ride to the restaurant with Genesis and Cissnei and back to Sephiroth's house with Angeal and Missy. Sound fair?"

"Fine," the girls said. James just laughed and headed for the door, Missy and Cissnei on his arms.

"Can I still ride with you?" Yanna asked.

"Of course." He led the way out to his car. "It's different, isn't it?"

"Is it that obvious?" She grinned, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, it's different. But it's good, right?"

"It's supposed to be. Just learn what you can and ask questions when you need to."

"Yes, General."

"I thought I told you to call me 'Seph.'"

"Yeah, still trying to wrap my head around that."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Well, as you so deftly put it, I have your rank in my cleavage." She gave him an amused, if exasperated look. "Yes, it's a little weird."

When they arrived, the waiter showed them to a table in a private room of the restaurant and Sephiroth claimed the spot in the corner.

"You were racing for that spot, weren't you?" she asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mm-hmm. Can I sit by you?"

He nodded, eyeing her.

"You don't have to ask permission for everything," he said. "You lived with me for a month."

She shrugged and sipped at the water that was already on the table.

"I just don't want you to get tired of me," she said. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes.

"Like he did."

"No! I didn't mean—"

"Yanna."

"I—okay. I won't do it as much."

"Thank you."

The rest of the group barged in at that point, James in the middle of some story or other. Their drink and food orders followed and Sephiroth felt Yanna settle a little closer to his side.

"Hey, Yanna, could I look at your notes?" Missy asked. "Angeal's been telling me all about it but you went to the Women's Class today, right?"

"Yeah. I have the workbook in my bag, if you wanna see."

"Sure."

The shaman handed over the blue book and Missy started flipping through it with Cissnei.

"Yup," the Turk nodded, reading her notes. "Yup, yup. Okay, no on that. We just shoot them."

"Not everyone has immunity at home, darling." Genesis took a drink of his wine.

"Too bad. Ooh, what are these? 'Fangirls are stupid.' Yeah, I'll drink to that. 'Sephiroth looks hot in leather.'"

The table burst out laughing and Yanna turned purple.

"It does not say that!" she cried.

"What's that right there?" Missy showed her some scribbles at the top of the page.

"'Sephiroth's a good teacher!' Gen referenced something from this morning." Yanna snatched back the book and stuffed it in her bag. "Can we talk about something else please? Gen, tell a story."

"Nope, we're still on this."

"James!"

The older man laughed and rubbed his hands together.

"Okay, I've got one. Every year where we live, in the spring, there are dozens of parades. Hundreds of thousands of people show up to these things. It's unreal. Regular soldiers get overtime just to help the police and peacekeepers direct traffic. There's drinking, food, women flashing for beads—"

"Aka Saturday Night at Gen's House," Angeal said.

"Oh come on, get it right. That's Friday night."

"Sorry, Saturday night's for the orgies."

"There ya go."

"So a few years ago, I'm working with the patrol units while the other half of the squad is doing parades. We get a domestic violence call. We assume someone's drunk, they got in a fight, and now they're calling 'foul.'"

"Most calls aren't legit," Sephiroth said.

"Yeah so we get there and this girl is sitting on the side of the road with her dad, face all cut up. She says her sister attacked her and the dad says the sister has been off her meds for a while." James rolled his eyes. "Oh crap. We go in, she's sitting on the couch, calm as could be, not a mark on her which means she wasn't defending herself. Either it didn't happen or she was the aggressor. An old lady is laying on another couch, her grandmother or aunt or something. We ask the girl 'did you attack your sister?' She starts going on about how she didn't start nuthin and we're just bein prejudice and all this other crap.

"Well, in domestic violence cases, we have to arrest the aggressor, or both if they're fighting. So we go to put handcuffs on her and she goes nuts. She starts screaming and spitting and fighting, punches my partner in the face. I pick her up and slam her into the carpet. The old lady goes crazy, 'stop hurting my baby, stop hurting my baby.'"

"Oh gosh," Missy said, leaning into Angeal.

"Wait for it," Genesis said.

"The girl starts screaming that she's the goddess. 'You're eeeeevil and you're trying to kill meee.'" The colonel contorted his face, making them all laugh. Sephiroth never tired of hearing these stories.

"We're dry-stunning this fruit with our tazers, finally get her in the car and we're driving her in, she's still screaming. Halfway to the station, she flips again. 'I'm Satan and I'm going to kill you all! I spit blood and razorblades!'"

"You're making this up!" Yanna accused.

"Hand to the goddess, this is all true. In the same half-hour, this woman was the goddess, the devil, the goddess' daughter, President Shinra, an Ancient, and the lead actress from 'Loveless.' I have never heard so many voice changes in my life. She said she'd burn us, throw us in the pit, kill us. And we kept wondering if we're the devil then shouldn't we be helping her instead of arresting her since she's the devil too and if she wasn't, then were just doing what we were made for and she couldn't yell at us. It was the best parade ever. Right up there with the queen's dress falling off."

"What happened to her?" Cissnei asked.

"She runs a daycare."