(Kit Thespian enters)
Kit Thespian: WAAAAHHH!!! I have no time to myself anymore! Being a Theatre Major doing "Fiddler on the Roof"; I'm not even a principle; I'm an old lady! Well, it doesn't help that I'm also the Props Master for the show. There are about a gazillion props.
(Cid enters)
Cid: What the heck is "Fiddler on the Roof"?
(Kit Thespian lets out a long, drawn-out gasp)
Kit Thespian: You uncultured philistine!
Cid: …What did I say?
Kit Thespian: I PUNISH YOU! (Snaps fingers)
Cid (sings, dances like Reb Teyve): If I were a rich man, deedle, diddle-diddle, deedle-diddle-diddle-diddle dum.
All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum, if I were a wealthy man!
I wouldn't have to work hard; deedle-diddle-diddle-deedle-deedle-diddle-diddle dum,
If I were a biddy-biddy rich, diddle-diddle-diddle-diddle man!
Kit Thespian (snaps fingers with a flourish): OY!
Cid: What in the –bleep- was I just singing?!?
Disclaimer: Kit Thespian does not own Final Fantasy VII or the characters therein and she is not making money off of this. And she doesn't own "Fiddler on the Roof" either…goshdangit.
Chapter Twenty-Nine- Breaking Point
"Hello, my boy!" Rosem jovially approached Sephiroth while the ex-SOLDIER stood next to the Fire in the village. It was the middle of the night. Rosem had watched Sephiroth walk down the trails to the Fire in the front of town and he followed him there.
Sephiroth looked around and raised an arm to quiet the old man down, "Not so loud; you want to wake the whole town?"
"Oh, thppt!" Rosem raspberried, "You're just like your father; always shushing."
Sephiroth did not respond but looked into the flames. Rosem gingerly stepped up onto the platform and stood next to Sephiroth, leaning on his cane. He had already been a short man before age bent him over, so he practically looked like a midget next to the former General. Rosem looked up at him, studying him for a moment.
"Amazing…" he murmured.
"What is?"
"How you turned out. You know, I was already gone before your hair started turning completely silver. It was still black with silver streaks in it when Dr. Gast left Shinra. Do you remember?"
"Barely."
"I'd figure a man with your intelligence would have a better memory than that. Ah well. Turn around; let me see you more clearly."
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.
"Oh!" Rosem pounded his cane against the ground, "Humor an old man!"
Sephiroth rolled his eyes and turned around. He bent over a little so Rosem could get a better look at him. Rosem took Sephiroth's chin into his free hand and gently turned his head side to side.
"Mmm-hmm…" Rosem smirked, "You get most of your looks from your mother; the eyes, the chin, the mouth…but you do seem to have your father's nose."
Sephiroth grimaced and turned back around to the fire. So, it was true, Rosem thought. Sephiroth truly disdained his father and disliked the thought of being like him at all. Of course, he didn't realize that by doing this he looked more like Hojo than ever, all stern and stubborn, with a grimace on his face.
"You don't seem to like my observations," Rosem said, sounding a little more serious, "Does it bother you so much that you have some of your father in you?"
"And why should I even call him my father?" Sephiroth sneered.
"Probably because he is your father."
"What did he ever do to deserve my respect?"
That did it. Rosem fumed, "What did he do? Ohhh! You have another trait that your father possessed when he first came to Shinra: total pomposity…!"
"…Total what?"
Rosem didn't even stop to take a breath. He poked Sephiroth in the chest with his cane, "You, you, you! It's all about you! What you suffered! Everything you went through! I don't suppose you've ever stopped for one moment and thought about what Hojo went through. All the things he did to keep you alive!"
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"Here you are sounding like the biggest, most selfish spoiled brat… All right, Hojo did some pretty frightful things, dreadful things. I don't approve of all of the things he did. As a matter of fact, I chewed him out more than once. Not that he listened to me, but that's beside the point! He wasn't all there, you know! But you, you should be grateful for some of the things he did! I don't suppose you know what happened when I discovered Ilfalna to be the last Ancient. It made the Jenova Project irrelevant, for the entire purpose of the project was to produce someone with the powers of the Ancients. That made you irrelevant too. And you know what that meant to the old President Shinra."
"What did it mean?"
"Ahh, don't pretend to be naïve. Dr. Gast wasn't the first person to be put on the President's death list. You were. He was going to sign the order for your execution, when you were only five years old. A technician called Geko Ellijen ran to tell your father; he didn't know that Hojo was your father, but he couldn't bear the thought of a little child being executed and he didn't trust Dr Hemin."
"Who is Dr. Hemin?"
"You'd know who I'm talking about if I explained it. But later. Your father went to the President's office as quickly as possible, and he spent two hours there carefully negotiating with the old president to save your life. Finally, the president tore up the order. But that wasn't the last time Hojo was going to have to save your life. Every so often, until you joined SOLDIER, the president would call your 'relevancy' into question. And every time, Hojo would stick his neck out for you and your life would be spared for a little while longer. Funnily enough, the President started to admire Hojo because of his cunning. And you'd think everything would be just hunky-dory after you became a great General and defeated Wutai…"
"Be just what?"
"But you were dangerous; far more dangerous than you yourself realized. There were people who wanted to dethrone the Shinras and place you in power. I would go to some of the secret meetings, just to see what would happen. Some of them were held here in Cosmo Canyon; some in Nibelheim. The President had to get rid of you but secretly and without suspicion. Didn't you think that being sent to Nibelheim was rather mundane for a person in your position?"
Someone nearby gasped. Rosem quickly turned around and saw a figure in the shadows. Sephiroth, despite his apprehension about what Dr. Rosem had just said, calmly turned towards the figure and said, "Your cover is blown, Yuffie."
"Shoot," Yuffie emerged into the light, "How long have you known I was here?"
"Since you followed me here."
"Gracious, me!" Rosem put his hand on his chest, "You've been there this entire time?"
"She's good at sneaking around," Sephiroth answered, "But I have very sensitive ears."
" But Dr. Rosem," Yuffie approached the old man, "What did you mean about the President and Nibelheim?"
"Er…ah…" Rosem was not sure if his information was for Yuffie's ears, even if she was Sephiroth's significant "other." He looked questioningly at Sephiroth, who nodded in response. With this reassurance, Rosem took a deep breath and continued, "You went there with your partner Zack and a young lieutenant named Cloud Strife went with you as well, this you know. But did you ever know the identity of the other lieutenant who accompanied you?"
"His name was Garrison Boran," answered Sephiroth.
"Wrong. He was operating under a pseudonym; his real name was Rudolph Yaber, and he was a Turk. The President sent him on the trip to assassinate you."
Yuffie asked, "And how on earth was a little ol' Turk supposed to kill Sephiroth?"
Rosem replied, matter-of-factly, "Cruelly," he turned to Sephiroth, "Do you remember what happened to you after you ate Wutainese food for the first time? Your father told me all about it."
Sephiroth had never thought that this subject would come up. It was rather embarrassing actually, that he should have such a ridiculous weakness. He gave a sidelong glance to Yuffie, who was staring at him with curiosity. Sephiroth spoke through his teeth, "I had an allergic reaction…to the kramoibe flower seed oil."
Yuffie's eyes widened like saucers. Kramoibe flower seed oil was a commonly used preservative in Wutainese food. True, she had never used it much whenever she had the opportunity to cook (it wasn't very widely available these days), but he could have said something just in case Tifa may have used some in her cooking one day. And why should an allergy be so embarrassing? It wasn't as if he could help it. But Sephiroth looked ready to crawl underneath a rock because of his confession. Maybe this was why he was such a picky eater.
Rosem went on, "Not just a little reaction, but a horribly deadly reaction. If there hadn't been a SOLDIER nearby with the same allergy to give you a dose of epinephrine, you would have died. The Turk Yaber was given a bottle of kramoibe oil to put in your food. The President told him to make sure that you would be eating alone at one point and that Yaber would be the one to bring you your food. Your throat would swell to where you would not be able to shout, and then would close altogether, suffocating you. Judging by your angry and panicky reaction during your first allergic reaction, the President guessed that you would lack the wherewithal during your episode to do anything helpful for yourself."
"But that's…that's ridiculous!" Yuffie interjected, "Surely Sephiroth would have some epinephrine with him; all people with allergies keep some with them."
"A little covert picking from the General's luggage would take care of that problem," Rosem spoke, "Precious time would be lost while Sephiroth would be searching for it. Anyway, something went wrong with the mission. Yaber got lost in the mountains during the trip to the Mako reactor. By the time he found his way back to Nibelheim, the village was burning to the ground, and you were in the midst of it, slaughtering innocent people. He fled to here, in Cosmo Canyon; he was half-mad when we found him. We thought he was babbling nonsense, until your father came to me two weeks later. As far as your father knew at that point, you were dead. And a young lieutenant named Cloud Strife was to blame. Your comrade Zack was with you as well, but Hojo placed most of the blame on Strife."
"That makes sense," Yuffie said, "Cloud said that he was in worse shape than Zack was when they escaped. But I had always thought that was because Zack didn't react to the treatments that Hojo gave him like Cloud did."
"Hey, he's my friend, but when Hojo has a vengeance against someone, it can get ugly. Yaber was staying with me when Hojo came to my house to tell me all about it. Yaber heard everything Hojo said, which including saying that you were his son. Yaber was a young Turk; he hadn't been hardened by his work yet, and he felt horribly guilty about his mission, because the President had told him that you weren't really human. He emerged from the living room to apologize to Hojo and explain what had almost happened. Now, Hojo wasn't very happy…"
"I can imagine," Sephiroth muttered.
"But instead of shooting the Turk's head off like he wanted to, he found a better use for Yaber. Having a Turk loyal to him would prove very useful in the future."
"Wait…" Yuffie thought of something, "What did you say the Turk's first name was?"
"Rudolph. Rudolph Yaber."
"Rudolph…Rudolph…Ru…Rude? With the bald head and sunglasses?"
Rosem blinked, "You know him?"
"You could say that I know him; we all know him! We…fought him and his friends a lot. Rude was in league with Hojo?"
"Yes, and I believe he was so until Hojo's death a year ago."
"…I would have never guessed that Rude was working for him!"
"The point is," Rosem went back to Sephiroth, "the president went to strange lengths to see you dead. Even without what happened in the Mako Reactor in the Nibel Mountains, I wonder if he would have succeeded in his assassination plots eventually. After your supposed death while the rest of the Shinra Empire mourned the President had a private celebration, according to Yaber, who was told so by some of his associates. Even if you hadn't died in the method that he had planned for you, you were still dead and gone. The President even considered exposing you for a traitor who had destroyed Nibelheim, but he knew it would suit the people more to have a martyred hero. Your father's every thought from that time on was finding you wherever you were. If you were alive, then wonderful. If you were dead, he would bury you."
Sephiroth really did not know what to say to all of this. He clenched his jaw together and stared at the bonfire. It was a hard revelation; he had believed his position in Shinra to be so secure when he was there. For all the pain that his memories at Shinra had, there had always been the feeling of being singled out, of being privileged. In his pride, he had never imagined that anyone there wished to harm him. He thought he was their prize possession. Half of the fun of giving into Jenova had been the thought that he was robbing Shinra of their silver idol. Knowing that he had been as expendable as any soldier cut even deeper into what was left of his conceit.
"All I am saying, Sephiroth," Rosem continued, "is that you need to be a little more careful of the opinions you throw at your father. Some of them, while not completely unjustified, are uncalled-for. He fought so hard for you."
"I…" Sephiroth gritted his teeth, "I cannot forget everything that happened so easily… I cannot."
Rosem agitatedly tapped his stick on the ground, "Suit yourself. You're only making you and everyone else around you miserable for your bitterness." And with that, Rosem turned around and hobbled away, leaving Sephiroth and Yuffie at the Fire. He called over his shoulder, "And by the way, I'll be expecting that blood sample from you tomorrow."
After Rosem disappeared around the wooden stairwell, Yuffie held out her hand to Sephiroth, "Let's walk. And we don't have to talk about anything…"
Sephiroth ignored her, "It sounds incredible, doesn't it? But do you know? It makes sense!" Sephiroth laughed, but it was dark and sarcastic laughter. It frightened Yuffie, but she stood her ground. He started to pace around, "Now you know my most humiliating secret…"
"Sephiroth, it's not shameful to have an allergy. I mean, you really should have told me…!"
"That's not what I'm talking about. I mean how foolish I was all of those years to think that I was their golden boy, wallowing in my foolish arrogance, only to find that the entire time I was little better than a toy to them. Once I outlive my usefulness, they throw me away!"
Yuffie stamped her foot, "Sephiroth, stop it! That's in the past! It's over now! Why does this matter to you?"
"Because the one person that I've hated for all of my troubles throughout all of these years…isn't the one responsible. In fact, from everything I hear, he seems to be the only one who did not think of me as a mere tool. And the man that I looked up to the most left me behind to die!"
Now Yuffie realized what was bothering him, "…I see… You're having a tough time dealing with the fact that you were wrong, hmm? Guess what? We all have to deal with that sooner or later. You're not the first person in the world to be wrong about something! And it wasn't as if you were no value to the Shinra. Your value was too great; greater than theirs! They were threatened by you…"
"If what Rosem says is true…I can't even think of what to say to him, Yuffie."
"If you can't think of anything to say, then all right! Don't say anything! Take it slowly."
"How?"
"Well, you could actually start calling him 'father', for a change. You call Lucrecia 'Mother' but you don't call Hojo 'Father'…"
Sephiroth huffed, "Father? Him? Whether he interceded for me or not, that doesn't mean…"
"There you go again! You're more stubborn than an ox!"
"…What makes you think he would let me call him father?"
Yuffie shrugged, "I don't know! But it's worth a try. We can't go on like this, with this horrible anger between you and him. It has to stop or you'll both go crazy."
Sephiroth growled and turned around. Even with all of this new information, he could not think of Hojo as a father to him. But whose fault was that? Hojo's or his? It didn't make sense. All right then, he was being stubborn, but he was not ready to take that step.
"…Please don't turn your back on me, Sephiroth," Yuffie said, "Please…let's take a walk, and not say anything, like you like it."
Sephiroth did not respond. Tears stung Yuffie's eyes; what was going through his mind to make him cold? She hated it when he was like this!
"Fine, then! Be that way! Dr. Rosem's right; you're making everybody miserable, including me and you!"
Having said that, Yuffie turned on her heel, left the Fire platform, and started walking towards the staircase. But before she took five steps, she felt a sharp pain in her left arm and she was jerked around quickly to find Sephiroth's glowing green eyes glaring down at her. He was clearly angry; not upset, angry. Apparently he didn't like Yuffie turning her back on him either. Yuffie had underestimated the depth of his torment at that time. But now he held a vice-grip on her arm, probably not even aware of the pain he was causing her. She tried to wrestle out of it, but it only caused more agony.
"Sephiroth, don't…"
"Miserable?" Sephiroth hissed.
"You're hurting me…!"
"You only think you know what misery is!"
"Sephiroth!"
"Yes, you've been cold and hungry. You've seen the horrors of war. You've known grief. But are you burdened at every waking moment by what you've done? Are you constantly reminded of every horrible thing you have committed? Do you see the faces and hear the screams? And can you imagine fearing yourself all the time?" Sephiroth spoke as if every syllable was an effort, "I have no peace! My past curses my future!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, "You foolish, foolish girl! If you knew what was good for you, you would never come near me or think of me again! Better yet, you would kill me! Because I can kill you, like I killed those villagers, like I have almost killed you before! Yuffie, if I killed you…I would have to kill myself. I couldn't live with…!" his voice fell, "Yuffie…don't you understand? I love you…and I can't bear the thought of hurting you…"
Tears that had been welling up in Yuffie's eyes chose that moment to fall down her cheeks. At this admittance, Sephiroth's grip grew weak and so did his knees. He slid down until he was on the ground, his hands wrapped around Yuffie's waist. Yuffie was numb with shock; Sephiroth was shocked himself at his own words, but they were true.
"What I have done…" Sephiroth hoarsely spoke, "has destroyed so many lives. So much blood is on my hands…"
"Sephiroth," Yuffie managed to speak without her voice breaking, "what you have done is not as important to me as you are."
"I couldn't stand it if…"
"Then let it be my decision. I love you too…" She bit back a sob, "And if you think for one second that I'm going to leave you alone, you've got another thing coming! You're stuck with me forever!" Although Yuffie tried to keep her trademark cheerfulness, she was crying, "I guess this means I'm stuck with you too…"
Sephiroth wanted to comfort her tears. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face in his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair, "I'm sorry…"
Yuffie looked up at him and smiled, "No, it's all right! I'm not sad! You've made me so happy!"
He made her happy; all of the pain and sufferings he had caused the rest of the world and he had managed to make the most important person in the world happy. Maybe there was hope for his future. Wasn't that cause for him to be happy as well? He leaned down and gently kissed her. She brushed the back of his head with her hand as warmth went through the both of them. The world would be against this, he knew. Well, let them. He surprised Yuffie by scooping her up in his arms and walking away from the Fire.
"Where are we going?" Yuffie asked.
"Where do you want to go?"
Yuffie giggled and spread one of her arms out, "To the Moon!"
"Well…" Sephiroth said, "I don't know about the moon, but you know Cosmo Canyon better than I do."
"There's a nice little spot at the top of the staircase near the inn."
"Answer this question for me: what does one do to make an honest woman out of you?"
Yuffie's jaw nearly dropped, "You mean…like…marry? Are you serious? Wait a minute…make an honest woman of me? Does think mean you plan to make a dishonest woman out of me first? You cad!" Yuffie playfully slapped his shoulder. She said, "Actually, marriage is a very funny term these days, since there's no government to issue marriage licenses and therefore, 'legal' marriages."
Sephiroth's brow furrowed, "Then how are Cloud and Tifa married?"
Yuffie smirked, "Really, they just have their commitment to each other to make their marriage binding. They left one day and came back saying they were married and they've been married ever since. I believe the term is called 'married by habit and repute.' And Cloud gave Tifa his name."
"…I was never given a last name."
"So?"
"I have no name to give you, in that respect."
Yuffie leaned her head on his shoulder, "So, you really are proposing to me?"
"Yes."
"I accept, Mr. Sephiroth."
"You do?"
"Of course. Where will we make our home?"
"…You're really saying 'yes'?"
"Yes. Now let's talk business, while we're still out of our heads."
"…As you well know, bounty hunting monsters turns out a tidy profit."
"So we'll make our living like Cloud does. Good plan."
"And I would prefer we live in a location that's rather remote, but at the same time people will have money to pay us."
"Well, here is not a bad place for that. Icicle Inn is plagued by beasts, and they have money. Maybe we're making this too complicated; we could stay in Kalm until we get on our feet on the ground. We already pay something of a 'tribute' to the house there with the bounty money we've gotten so far." Then she laughed, brushing her nose against Sephiroth's neck.
"What's so funny?" Sephiroth asked.
"I've just realized that my life is about to get a lot stranger and perhaps scarier, and I'm not afraid."
At Nanaki's house…
"I'm going to stay here," Hojo declared to his wife while they were alone in the living room. Neither one of them had been able to sleep. Lucrecia had been reading a book and he was looking at a painting on the wall, examining which ways the brush strokes went. At his statement, she looked up with surprise.
"Here, in Cosmo Canyon?" she asked.
"Yes. This is the only place suited to a scientist now." He circled around to face Lucrecia, "I would like you to stay with me, if it's not too much to ask."
Lucrecia put her book and aside and stood up, "Yes, I'll stay with you. What a silly question…"
"Well, it didn't hurt to ask."
"We'll talk to Red XIII; perhaps he'll let us house-sit for him," she looked around, "He needs someone to keep this place clean while he's away. The house belonged to his adoptive grandfather, I think, before he passed away."
"Bugenhagen. All of us at Shinra knew him; he specialized in weapons, believe it or not, before he got peace-happy."
"I'm sure there will be no problem with us staying here… Has Sephiroth come in yet?"
"No; he went out hours ago…I think he's with Yuffie."
"How do you know?"
"I haven't seen Sephiroth, but Yuffie came back about ten minutes ago, while you were reading. I was in the hallway, coming from the restroom. She was sneaking out the back door with a white sheet, a comforter, and a pillow."
Lucrecia put a hand to her mouth, "…Oh dear."
"Fortunately I was the only one to see her and I didn't let on to her that I noticed what she was doing. Whatever they do is their business," Hojo straightened his glasses, "although I doubt their friends will see it that way."
"But…But…they…Sephiroth and Yuffie, I mean…"
"I believe their intentions are honorable."
"Sneaking around at night? We didn't sneak off like that. We had a ceremony and a party with our friends first when we got married."
"Times have apparently changed; and you are not familiar with Wutainese customs. After the war, some of the brighter Wutainese people came to work at Shinra. I overheard several conversations; I speak their language, you know. Apparently a husband and wife must have their wedding night lying on a white sheet."
"But why…oh." Lucrecia turned red.
Hojo nodded, "The white sheet has significance in that way. If they were going off to have a little fun, they would just take a sleeping bag, most likely. I would have to say that they've made this decision rather quickly though."
"…Not terribly quickly. They've known each other for a while now. As I recall, you proposed to me four months after meeting me, and that's only because you were shy."
"I was not shy, merely…"
"Shy. But I wonder where they are anyway."
"Well, I'm not going to look; I'm not that curious."
Lucrecia put her hands on her hips, "Did I say anything about looking?"
"No, you didn't."
"Have either of you seen Sephiroth and Yuffie?" Cloud walked into the living room, his hair comically disheveled. Apparently he had been sleeping. He said, "Say, what are you two doing up? It's nearly two o' clock."
"We're going to bed soon," Hojo answered.
Cloud winced, "Together? On second thought, don't answer that. Good night." The blond promptly turned back around and went up the spiral staircase. As soon as he was out of hearing range, Hojo spoke:
"Well, his disgust at our relationship spared us having to answer the first question."
Lucrecia crossed her arms, "That wasn't very tactful of him at all. Remind me to whack him on the back of the head tomorrow, with a blunt object."
"Considering all of the circumstances, I think tomorrow is going to bring enough problems without that."
