Standard Disclaimers Apply

Family Affair

Blue eyes stared at the offensive book that was filled with jargon he couldn't understand.

"Mikagi."

Aidan Mikagi raised his eyes and met his teacher's who was looking at him sternly. "What do you think?"

"Uhhhhh...." The little boy scratched his head. Soft giggles surrounded him as he thought of a clever way to get out of the situation.

The teacher sighed. "Can anyone tell me who General Sepiroth was?"

'Sepiroth...' The name sounded familiar to Aidan, even as he scanned his books on information regarding the general, there was the concise information the Department of Education saw fit to include in elementary text books, but there was something... he could have sworn he heard his 'Uncles' mention that name before.

Before he could recall anything from his memory, the bell rang, and all thoughts of Sepiroth vanished from the young boy's mind. His father was taking him to a basketball game tonight.

"No running in the hall!" Kano Matsurro called out to his students who ignored him. He shook his head and started to pack up when a small red wallet caught his attention. One of the students must have dropped it. He walked over and picked up the property and opened it, hoping that whoever owned it had an ID. He was not surprised to find none, an edge of a photograph peeked from the sleeves and he took it out so that he could see who the wallet belonged to. Kano dropped the wallet as he stared at the picture.

"It can't be..." He whispered. His mind denied what his eyes were seeing. A younger Aidan Mikagi smiled at him, as well as a young dark haired woman, a woman who bore a strong resemblance to Wutai's lost princess. He heard that she was exiled for disobeying her father. Lady Yuffie Kisaragi, heir to the throne of Wutai was banished from their land. Had he found his princess? No one but the Guardians of the Pagoda besides Godo knew why she was punished. He looked at Aidan and could see nothing Wutaian. Could this woman be Aidan's mother? Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe...

"Bullshit!"

Aidan winced as his father continued to swear at the referee. There was only thee minutes remaining, and the Midgar Lions and the Junon Warriors were tied at 65. He ignored his father and continued to cheer for the Lions, his eyes following the game as well as the clock above the stadiums. The Lions side screamed in delight as their team scored a point. The Lions became more aggressive to protect their two point lead, and soon, it was over.

Father and son jumped as the Lions were announced as winners. "Wow! I bet Uncle Cid is disappointed." Aidan said, not feeling really sympathetic at all. Reno grinned as he hi-fived his son. He felt his phone vibrate and he fished it out of his pocket.

"Yeah?"

"The guardian Shake was seen headed to your apartment."

Reno clicked the connection off as he took his son's hands. "Your uncle Rude called, looks like we gotta go, kid."

Aidan nodded and tried not to yawn. Reno smirked as he picked the boy up. "Uggghhh, getting bigger every time." He was rewarded with a laugh. The boy's laughter lightened his dark thoughts for a few seconds as he walked back to his car. It would only take about fifteen minutes by car to get home, and hopefully, the guardian was still there. It was going to be an interesting night. He thought of all the times he saw Yuffie wistfully looking at photographs she had hid inside a wooden box carved with the Wutain Royal Crest, the only thing besides her headband that she had of Wutai. Why the hell are they appearing now after all these years?

He carefully picked his son from the passenger seat and walked towards their apartment, certain that he was being watched. If they tried something while Aidan was here, he'd show them exactly why he became a Turk. He reached their door and he took his keys and unlocked the door. It was dark inside and he narrowed his eyes as he looked around. He walked softly towards Yuffie's room and opened the door, his son climbed down and sleepily walked towards the bed and joined his mother who welcomed her son in her sleep.

Satisfied that both were fine, he locked their door and walked back out of their apartment. EMR in hand, he casually strolled to the tree just outside the building and looked up. "You have one second to come down here and tell me what you want or I fry your ass."

Shake, First Guardian of the Pagoda jumped down and eyed Reno warily. "I wanted to check on Yuffie,"

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Really? You decide you want to check up on her now? Why? Making sure I treat her right?"

"You destroyed her life!" Shake accused.

"Me? Oh that's rich. Pot calling kettle black?" Reno smirked and pointed his EMR at the other man. "Tell me another."

"I don't have to tell you anything, Turk."

Reno's eyes narrowed. "You can tell me shit for all I care, but if I see you, or any of your cronies near my son and Yuffie, I will kill you." He said softly, but Shake knew that his words were not a threat, but a promise.

"Yuffie belongs to Wutai. She'll return to us, when that time comes, you'd better not stand in her way."

"And her son?"

"The boy has no claim to the throne. He does not exist under our law."

His words angered Reno as he recalled Yuffie's words months ago, and her sadness. /Wutai will never accept him./ Instead of welcoming his anger at how his son was being treated, he chose to fight a different battle.

"What makes you think she'll leave our son? She chose him once, and you and I both know she'll choose him again, so let me rephrase myself. If I find that you have plotted in any way, shape or form to separate my child from his mother, I will make you see why you should be afraid of the Turks."

Shake shook his head. "You have no right to stop Yuffie from fulfilling her destiny. She is a Kisaragi, the royal blood flows in her veins and lives in her heart. She will return to us, Turk."

"Hmph. Why are you here after all these years? You didn't give a shit back then, why is she so important now?"

Shake reddened at his words. "She has always been important to us! Godo allowed her to..."

Reno laughed harshly, cutting the guardian. "Allowed? Correct me if I'm wrong but 'allowed' wasn't exactly what happened to Yuffie."

"She was carrying a child of foreign blood! She refused to give the child up, Godo had no choice!"

Shake watched the Turk who was looking at him, expression vacant. "She will not refuse the call of Wutai..."

"What happened this time?" Reno asked as realisation dawned on him. "That's it, isn't it? This has nothing to do with Yuffie returning to Wutai, you need her because you know that the old man can't handle whatever shit he got into this time!"

"You dare speak about Lord Godo..."

"Listen, pal. It's late, and I'm getting tired. Let me make it clear again to you. If you even try, even think to separate Yuffie away from my son, I will make sure that you will live to regret it." Reno didn't wait for an answer as he turned away. "Mark my words, Guardian. The war may have long been over, but a Turk will always be a Turk."

In the darkness of his house, Kano waited for the return of the Guardian Shake. When he left Wutai to begin a new life, he never expected to find his past. The prosperous Wutai was now under threat to a warlord that emerged a few years ago. Makoto Oshii was a man with big ambitions. To conquer Wutai would be to show his power, but he was also a smart man. To invade Wutai would be a disaster. Even Kano knew that Wutai would loose, but there was the legacy of AVALANCHE. The group has been disbanded long ago, but he knew that they will come because of Yuffie Kisaragi. Her exile however, could mean that Oshii could be plotting something big, Godo now had no heir, should he die... Kano shook his head. The princess must return to Wutai! If only to appease the people who he knew lived in fear everyday not knowing if an attack would come or not. They needed their princess, and they needed her now, more than ever.

Bubblegum. That was the first scent that greeted Yuffie as she woke up. She looked down at her sleeping son and smiled. Giving the child a soft kiss, she got up and tucked Aidan in. It was Saturday, there was no harm in letting him sleep longer. Yuffie tried to open the door, only to realise it was locked. Aidan never locked her, or Reno's door for that matter when he went in to their rooms to sleep. Pushing the thought as being insignificant, she unlocked the door and walked to the kitchen, surprised to see Reno awake.

"You're up early." She greeted as she took a piece of apple. 'Was it a good game?"

"We won," He answered with a grin.

Yuffie chuckled. She could just imagine Cid's reaction to loosing. "I guess you and Aidan had fun then."

Reno nodded as he handed her a note. "Parent-Teacher night this Friday..."

Yuffie nodded. "I'll let Brian know I need to leave early."

"Brian?"

"My shift supervisor at the bookstore." Yuffie answered as she watched Reno who was reading the sports page. "I'm going to finish my shift at four, so that would leave me plenty of time to prepare."

"I'll meet you at the bookstore, then."

"Meet me?" Yuffie asked. "What for?"

"So we can go together at the Parent-Teacher. I've got nothing planned for that night." He replied as he looked at Yuffie. Their relationship over the years haven't exactly been normal, they were more like flatmates who just saw each other from time to time, and have a cordial respect towards each other.

"Good, we've never really gone together, have we?" Yuffie asked as she finished her apple. "At four, then?"

Reno gave a smile. "It's a date."

Yuffie rolled her eyes at Reno and was about to make a comment when the phone rang. Reno took the cordless off the table and answered the call. "Hello?"

She watched as Reno listened, obviously bored. "Hold your horses, Spike." Reno muttered as he tossed the phone to Yuffie who caught it with ease. "Strife's in trouble again."

"Cloud?" Yuffie winced as she listened to Cloud. Who knew that the man on the other line was the great leader of AVALANCHE. "But her a dozen flowers and just get down on your knees and apologise." Yuffie answered before sighing. "Cloud, unless you want to stay with Cid again, trust me. Flowers and apologies are the way to go. Besides, just a few more weeks, right?"

Reno watched as Yuffie snickered, obviously enjoying Strife's predicament. "What did he do this time?" He asked after Yuffie said goodbye to Cloud.

"He couldn't answer her when she asked if she was fat."

"Enough said." Reno said with a smirk. "So, working today?"

"No... I'm off until Monday." Yuffie replied. "You?"

"Nothing, Rude and Elena's off to Costa del Sol."

Yuffie grinned. "They make a good pair, don't they?"

Reno scowled. "Don't even go there."

Yuffie laughed. "Awwww, what's the matter Reno?"

The redhead ignored the laughing woman in front of him.

"What's so funny?"

Both adults turned to look at their son walking sleepily towards them. Yuffie kissed Aidan as she ruffled his hair. "What do you want for breakfast? Your strawberry oats?"

Aidan nodded as he kissed his mother in the cheek before moving to his father and crawling to his lap. Reno adjusted Aidan as the boy curled in his lap. "Still tired?"

"No..." The kid answered as Reno smirked.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

Aidan suddenly perked up, which caused Reno to groan as his son started talking about the things he wanted to do. "One by one, kid."

Aidan nodded "Can we go to the mall and buy a new videogame? I want to see the new games that are out. My friend's got this new game and I want to get a better one."

Reno nodded in agreement. "No problem."

Yuffie just sighed as she gave Aidan his breakfast. "You have to eat your breakfast first and have a shower, and clean your room before you go."

Aidan groaned as he looked at his dad for help.

"Don't look at me, you know the rules. You mess it..."

"You fix it." Aidan muttered and Yuffie had to laugh at his expression.

"Tell you what, after we get your game, why don't we see that movie you want?"

Aidan grinned at his mom. "The Army of Balamb?"

"Yup."

Reno snorted. "Come on, Yuffie. You know what a load of crap that movie is."

"I know it, you know it, but Aidan wants to see it."

"Can't imagine why. You want to know real action, let me tell you..."

Aidan turned his pleading eyes at his mother. "Not again!"

Reno pretended to look offended. "What do you mean, not again? You don't believe how good your dad is?"

Aidan just looked at him. "Uhhhh..."

"Hey, I can take your favourite action heroes and beat them with one hand tied behind my back. Heh, you own mother can take those pansy actors with both hands tied behind her back."

Aidan looked at his mother and back to his dad. "Bullshit!"

"Aidan, language! Honestly, Reno..."

"Hey... why is always me?" Reno complained as he looked at his son who was now eating his breakfast.

"Sorry, mom." The little boy said between gulps and tried to loom contrite.

"Don't say those words again, okay?" Yuffie told her son who nodded, and finished his breakfast in one gulp.

"We can go after I clean my room?"

"Uh-huh." Yuffie replied and laughed as her son ran to his room. "You're right, though."

Reno looked at Yuffie. "About what?"

"Those pansy actors." Yuffie said with disgust. "Did you see those stunts at the trailer? I can do half of those with my eyes closed. Please, even Caith can take them on."

"Tell me about it." Reno muttered. "I swear, if they ever make a movie with what happened with Sepiroth..."

Yuffie groaned. "Oh no... no way they can do that! Who do you think they'll have to play Sepiroth?"

"I want to see them find an actor to play Valentine!"

"Vinnie is one of a kind. Besides, they can't make a movie about us and not have our permission, right?"

"Well, I would worry more about what we're going to tell Aidan if they ever did make a movie about us."

The two remained silent. "We'll have to tell him soon, I guess. They've touched on Sepiroth, not in detail..."

"But it will lead to the Fall of Wutai." Reno finished. Yuffie nodded.

"I can tell him about AVALANCHE, about you and the Turks... I don't want him to know about Wutai, Reno. I..."

"I hear you. But you know you can't hide it from him. Sooner or later he's going to pick up a book and see you. You're not exactly a commoner from Wutai."

"I know." Yuffie said with a small smile as she looked at Reno. "I just want to protect him, that's all."

Reno nodded, debating if he should tell her about Shake. "Will you ever return to Wutai?"

"Not without Aidan being recognised. I won't let them see my son as a bastard, Reno."

"Your dad's the Lord, can't he just change it?"

Yuffie shook her head. "Godo cares too much for tradition and the old ways to embrace change. Why do you think Wutai fell? Anyway, it's all in the past. The Wutai I love is more like a dream than the real place now anyway." She gazed outside the window. "We better get ready. I'm sure Aidan will be finished soon."

Reno and Yuffie stared at the movie with annoyance as another fight scene erupted. Aidan was fully engrossed in the movie admiring his favourite action heroes move on the screen. Yuffie winced at the lame line being delivered by the actors.

/Gawd, I don't think we ever stooped that low when fighting Sepiroth./

Reno's hands twitched as he watched the fighting scene. Talk about lame.

Thankfully, the movie finished and Yuffie and Reno were just relieve to walk out of the cinema.

"That was so cool!" Aidan exclaimed as he walked ahead of his parents. "Did you see the scene when they were on the bridge and they were fighting with the big goon?"

Obviously, their son was impressed and Yuffie could only smile at her son's enthusiasm. She looked at Reno who was scowling. "Hated it?"

"Every fucking minute." He muttered softly so only Yuffie could hear him swear. She never had any problems with swearing, as long as their son wasn't around. "Things we do for that kid."

Yuffie smiled. "Well, at least the new Pokemon movie won't be out for another six months. That should give is time to recover."

Reno groaned, and Yuffie laughed as they continued to walk behind their son. Aidan turned around and grinned as he watched his parents walk together, talking. He liked seeing them together. His dad's long red hair tied behind was a contrast to his mom's short brown hair. He definitely liked seeing them together.

Back in his apartment. Kano looked the small vial that was handed to him by Hanzo, one of the High Elders of Wutai. "No."

"It has to be done." He said softly, not entirely convinced of his own words. "It's a direct order from the Lord of Wutai."

"He is just a boy!"

Hanzo looked at him in anger. "Don't you think we know that? We don't want to do this, but we all know that Yuffie will not come willingly, not without her son!" The elder exclaimed. "Yuffie can not return as the heir of Wutai while that boy is alive. Our spies have gathered enough information to know that Oshii's is planning an ambush. We can not fight, we need Yuffie inside the walls of Wutai to survive." Hanzo added.

"If we ask her..."

"Fighting is not the issue! Wutai needs a legitimate heir. AVALANCHE will surely come even if Yuffie has not returned to Wutai, Kano. Godo is an old man, he's not going to live forever, We may survive another war, but we can not survive without Godo or Yuffie. Wutai needs Yuffie, you know that."

"I do! But to kill this boy...do you think she will return to us if we kill her son?"

"She will return to Wutai to save her son. Yuffie knows how lethal the poison of Da Chao is. If we administer the right dosage, the boy will survive if given the antidote, which we will give is she denounces the boy."

"An antidote that can only be found in Wutai.."

"Yes, old friend. We have no choice left, it's either we kill the boy, or Yuffie denounce him. Either way, the boy must no longer be part of her life. We have a duty to Wutai. Do it for Wutai."

"For Wutai." Kano mumbled. "The Guardians?"

"Have agreed."

Kano nodded. He would do it. For Wutai. "Alright. I will do it.

Hanzo hid his smile as he embraced his friend. His plan was working, and soon, Wutai would belong to him.

End chapter

Hello to everyone who remembers this, and to the others who just read this for the first time. It's been a long time since I've written FF7, so I'm rusty. I decided to finish my FF7 fics that I haven't finished, and I'll try to do the next chapter of Breath Away and Price of Innocence. Wish me luck!! Oh, and btw, long life Reffie!

And my apologies for the OOCness of the fic... let me get my bearings again!