Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII
Hello again! I've got a slightly different one-shot this week - it's AU. Have a guess at what story it was (loosely) based on!
Thank you to my reviewers CupofTeaforAliceandHatter and breathingin for your reviews! Thanks you so much for pointing out my typos so I can fix them and for leaving your comments! I appreciate it more than I can say.
Well, I don't really have much else to add. Enjoy!
091. Fireflies
The decree was out, and the war was on. All men of serving age must join the army in the war against Shinra, against the threat of loosing one's home, family, and honour. A decree from her father, no less. And yet, Yuffie, despite being a girl, was not safe from this. The royal household had no man, or boy, to send. Only she and her father occupied the immediate positions on and around the throne - her father's concubines and their children couldn't get a look in. The male children she knew her father preferred.
So here she was, in the dead of night, cutting her hair to a boyish length, that she'd always found she preferred anyway, and dressing in the standard armour of the nation. From today on, she was not the Imperial Princess Yuphemia, but merely Yuffie, a boy from the countryside around Wutai - not known by many. To the city, the Imperial Princess was being sent away to the country with her household, to be protected from the war. In reality, a half-sister who looked near enough like the true born princess was being sent as a replacement.
It almost hurt her how willing her father was to be rid of her, but she left the palace grounds in the dead of night in complete silence, putting to use her martial arts skills, and running to catch up with and sign into the army, with no trace of her femininity nor past, royal identity remaining.
If she had to fight for her country with her life, she would. Yuffie was no one special.
The camp, Yuffie decided quickly, was not a nice place. And men, she also decided, were animals. The training was laborious and repetitive - everyday was archery, breakfast, sword play, weight training, lunch, cardiovascular activities, pyrotechnic training, stealth training, dinner and finally, sleep. The weeks dragged on and on, with the men slowly getting more tolerable and life outside the Imperial Palace liveable, until they were finally on the move. And a new general arrived to lead them through the first night into the dawn, and their first march before their first bloodshed.
He arrived before them at night; lined up as they were in wide rows of twenty across, and falling back into wider still rows behind that, ready to converge if needed. He was easy to spot. Red cape flapping in the breezy Wutaian wind, he approached. Not long after, Yuffie spotted his long black hair, and red hair band wrapped around his head. He was clothed in almost entirely black - for ease of movement or camouflage she didn't know - except for the golden gauntlet entirely enveloping one arm, and the golden, pointed, metal shoes he wore as another weapon. Yuffie eyed the guns and spare bullets strapped around his waist wearily. It made her ever more conscious of how good she was, and needed to stay, with her shuriken. The closer he came, the more his pale skin was illuminated in the moonlight and, finally, she could see his red eyes - wine-like and dangerous and utterly sexy in every kind of way. Something about the danger and uniqueness and darkness within them pulled her emotions firmly in his direction. Of course, the moment when she was suppose to be a boy was also when her sexual awakening struck.
"They call him the Monster. He's ruthless and they say he won't fail to send a failing solider home, alone, with no extra food or water or map."
Yuffie stiffened as one of the men she'd met, Taro, whispered this information in her ear. Before she could even adjust her appearance to be more boyish, or whisper something back to the slight taller man to her left, he was here, standing before them with a monstrous black horse by his side. His red, red eyes focused on Yuffie for much longer than she would've liked.
"Soldiers, you will follow me on whatever I say and whatever I do. You will not disobey me. You will not be rude to me. You will not deviate in any way from my instructions. You will continue to train as we travel, and you will fight to the death without it even being asked of you. Understood?" He bellowed, and a short burst of 'yes' in unison caught Yuffie by surprise. She supposed she showed that.
"You there, step forward and give your name." His eyes came to rest on Yuffie, who gingerly stepped forwards, shoulders back and head up with a false air of confidence.
"Yes sir. Hazuki Yuffie, sir." She said, voice deepened so that she sounded no different to any of the other men here.
"I asked you, 'understood?'. Well, do you?" He said in a voice more akin to a deep monster-like growl than a roaring, vein-popping, yell.
"Yes sir!" She replied, and when he gestured for her to step back, she almost felt dizzy from the pressure and fear.
Later, she would find out that his name was Vincent Valentine, and he would become the only man to ever know her love, and her secret.
He would walk in silence all day and, with her prodding at night, he would reveal a few things about himself to her, in return for her neatly woven lies. She fell deeper in love with this mysterious man, slowly revealing more and more of himself like a delicate, soft rose. And even if they joked that Yuffie was taming the Monster, there was nothing that she could do.
And yet, one night, that entire facade of his kindness to her shattered. Yuffie was bathing in the river, not used to the luxury of a body of water and choosing to finally have a nice, thorough bath. The men had gone for the night, having bathed earlier whilst Yuffie faked her typical early nights. After they had all finally returned and fallen asleep, smelling far less than they had done upon leaving, she tiptoed outside, and settled into the clear, fresh river. Running fingers through her hair felt more than good - it was getting to be past her shoulders - and in the reflection of her face, she almost saw a hint of the Imperial Princess Yuphemia, the woman that the men talked to each other about, with entirely too high expectations of her beauty and smarts. Well, Yuffie thought that anyway.
The cool autumnal breeze swept over her pale skin, and goose pimples nicked on the skin of her fair, narrow shoulders. The face of the shimmering lake only rippled when she moved her hands under the cool surface of the water, or the wind skimmed along the brilliant reflection of the bright stars above. One tree rustled from the small island amidst the wide lake, the green grass flecked with fallen, red leaves.
It was so peaceful here. So peaceful that she never wanted to leave, or put back on her bindings, and heavy armour, and the mask of Yuffie. At home, those who she counted as friends would called her Yuffie, as she wished. But she was always, really, Kisaragi Yuphemia, Imperial Princess and Heir to the throne of Wutai. Here, she was the lowly peasant farmer Hazuki Yuffie, a man, and the only person to reach out to The Monster, a personality she'd come to loathe as a facade. Soon, she may even fall as Hazuki Yuffie, never to reclaim her title, birth, or true self.
The long grass behind her on the shore ruffled with something stronger than the wind, and she shuddered, turning quickly and ducking further under the pale, not nearly opaque enough water. There was nothing she could hide behind near her, nor anything she could quickly clothe herself in without giving it all away.
Nothing seemed to approach, and she turned away from the grass, enough to focus on the island before her, and the solitary, red, rustling tree on it.
"Hazuki." A voice, deep and baritone that she'd come to hear all to often in her scattered dreams. It commanded her, and very slowly, she turned her head just barely enough to confirm what she dreaded.
It was him, Vincent Valentine, The Monster, the man she loved. Whatever one could call him, he was there, looking at her with unreadable burgundy eyes that darkened in the depths of the night.
"General Valentine, Sir." Yuffie called, in a breathless, reedy voice. She could feel that the game was about to be up, but she wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Hazuki," he said again, looking over her skin and body for long enough to make her squirm under his red eyes, "I thought you'd gone to bed."
She sunk lower down into the water, covering her chest as much as she could. "Yes sir, I was. But I couldn't sleep, so I came out here."
He eyes her over and nodded, sitting on the shore, golden shoes and gauntlet glinting in the pale moonlight. "I heard the men talking of Princess Yuphemia earlier."
"Oh." She said, looking at the water level so close to her own eyes.
"They said she'd gone off to the countryside, with all her young half-brothers and sisters."
"Yes sir. I heard so too, sir."
"The thing is, Hazuki," he shifted in his position slightly so as to look down at her face, "I saw her being taken away."
"Y-You did? What did she look like?" She tried to sound like the randy men she was surrounded by, but couldn't deny the vicious pounding of her heart in her chest.
"Yes." Somewhere in the distance, cicadas began to sing their song, and flit around in the moonlight. He didn't say what he thought of her looks. "But I've seen the Princess once before."
Yuffie's eyes widened, and she looked back at him. "Really?"
He nodded, flicking his red eyes up to the round, serene moon. "And she looked nothing like the woman in the carriage."
"I..." Yuffie's eyebrows knitted together. "I don't quite follow, sir."
He sighed, and looked directly into her eyes, as though looking through her soul. "I mean that it wasn't the princess being taken away in that carriage."
"You mean to say that...?"
"You are... A girl." He didn't even bother to phrase it as a question - he already knew that he was right. He didn't say anything more, or offer any sign of emotion, comfort, or sympathy in his face. He merely stared at Yuffie's widening eyes, dumb with shock, and full of regret.
"I... I didn't mean to keep it a secret, Sir. I had no choice." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
He said nothing, and Yuffie made her way to the shallower waters, inch by inch, walking steadily closer to his reedy seat.
"My father, he made me - said I'd disgrace the royal family if they didn't offer any men. I think I know what other reasons he had too, the he preferred. So I went. I promise, I would've told you eventually."
Nothing in his face changed, he merely stared into her grey eyes with utter stoicism and silence.
Finally, he opened his mouth. "I was right, you are the Princess." His eyes board holes into her like the brightest gemstones or the deadliest fireflies.
"Yes. My... My name is really Yuphemia. Kisaragi Yuphemia, Imperial Princess. Please, don't tell anyone, don't send me away on my own - I don't want to leave..." She looked at the trembling water, nervous of how he would react, "you. I don't want to leave you. Even if it is to bring shame on my family."
He only stared at her in silence, his lips finally pulling only slightly at the corners.
"It is a disgrace, for you and for me."
Yuffie said nothing. She rose out of the water, adjusting to the silence they were settling into again. She didn't bother to hide her nakedness from him, but he only looked into her eyes in silence.
"Don't send me away. Don't leave me for the other men to abuse." She reached out a out a wet hand on the side of his face, stray droplets rolling down his right cheek. "Please, I want you. I am now beyond disgrace... I have lived with men like they were my brothers; when the people find out, I shall no longer be worthy of their throne, so I think. So please, disgrace me further. I have no wish to never experience this feeling with the one I love. Even if he did believe I was a man." She said, and stepped closer to him, feeling the heat coming from his warmer, larger body.
He said nothing, remained in silence in front of the woman he'd known until recently was a man, a warrior, and a lowly farmer. He'd lied to him, and Vincent felt a distant anger bubbling along side this latent lust. And now she, this Princess Yuphemia that was so familiar yet entirely new, was pleading for him to take her, all lithe, beautiful body and no foresight.
He remained in silence as she kissed him, and amongst the sandy river bank and long grass, took him.
She was right, her father would have not been pleased that one had discovered her secret, but he never had to know. With victory in hand, the male Yuffie disappeared on the battle field, and Yuphemia reemerged from the countryside, looking older and wiser. With General Valentine being the winning leader, he was rewarded with a title, lands, and the hand of the Imperial Princess - the Yuphemia he'd never met dressed in kimonos and with long hair, but the Yuffie he'd come to know, better than any other, in the bare flesh.
That old fool of an emperor should've known better than to meddle with luck and the gods, and send a woman in a male camp of soldiers that has a Monster for a leader.
I mean, it should be fairly obvious to guess what I was inspired by... But let's see if that's just me!
Please follow for more and review if you've got time. Thanks!