Disclaimer: I do not own Yuffie and Godo Kisaragi, Vincent Valentine, AVALANCHE, all characters and concepts related to AVALANCHE, or, in fact, anything that is from Final Fantasy VII (that honour goes to the wonderful bunch at Square-Enix).
Claimer: I DO, however, own the concept of this story, the name Phe Tsen Shu, the rest of the Shu family, the concept of North Wutai and South Wutai being separate countries, the concept of materia beading, the city of Le Phe Tan, the bastardization of the name Leviathan into Le Phe Tan, the bastardization of Da Chao into Da Cha O, the Lady Cho Lin Chang, and other things not found in FF7. Feel free to use my ideas and original characters, but please give me credit. If you don't give me credit, Tsen Li will turn into a Gary Stu, ruin your story, and then eat your liver.
And When that Day Comes
Dig my head down deep so I can't hear the cars
Outside on the street, and the stars are laughing
They get a kick out of my misery.
I've tried everything short of Aristotle,
Dramamine, and the whiskey bottle,
I pray for the day when my ship comes in
And I can sleep the sleep of the just again
—Insomniac, Straight No Chaser
Chapter Eleven
He heard laughter. Feminine laughter, but he couldn't imagine who would be laughing at the moment. Yuffie had left earlier, to go get something of her mother's. He didn't know of any other women living in the Palace.
"You know, you've gotten better at this whole socializing thing."
That was Yuffie's voice. But... Yuffie had left. And if she had returned, then why hadn't she come to greet them and show them this wonderful object that had belonged to her mother?
And who was she talking to, anyway?
"Necessity is the better part of genius."
That was a man's voice. Yuffie was talking with a man? In her bedroom? At night?
"Meaning you had to?"
"Meaning I had to."
What in the name of Leviathan? Tsen Li moved forward until he had crept up to Yuffie's shoji.
The shoji stood wide open. Yuffie obviously didn't care who saw or heard them. Was this a way of ensuring that nothing untoward happened? Or was it some sort of insult?
Through the open doorway, he could see a tall, dark-haired man looking down at Yuffie. The man had entangled his right hand in Yuffie's hair.
From the angles of their heads, Tsen Li could tell that the only things they were aware of were each other.
It was horrifying. This, this, this unknown man literally towered over her! He stood head and shoulders above just about every other man in the Palace that Tsen Li had seen (excepting himself, but then again, he was slightly shorter than this man). Yuffie had no protection against him at all! None!
Yuffie laughed. "Why did you have to?"
She has a nice laugh, Tsen Li found himself thinking.
"The same reason I cut my hair."
"Okay, then, Mr. Evasive. Why did you cut your hair?"
This was enough. She was in her room, in an intimate position, at night, with a man she had not bothered to introduce to Tsen Li. If he was right about their intentions for each other, this counted as a breach in their engagement contract!
As Tsen Li hurried away to go find his father and Lord Godo, it occurred to him that he was holding Yuffie to a double standard. He dismissed the idea quickly. After all, he'd decided to have the decency to wait until after they were married to take another lover.
This was obviously a longstanding relationship. Unfortunately, this meant that Tsen Li was not the victim here. The stranger was.
He found his father and Lord Godo playing a game of Go. From the layout, it looked as though his father was winning.
"Father!" Tsen Li hissed. "Lord Godo. Please, if you would come with me? I think I have found something you need to see."
Mao Li stared at him, but then stood with the aid of a servant. He took up his cane and moved towards Tsen Li.
"Idiot. This had better be good."
"No," Tsen Li replied. "No, it's not. It's horrible."
Godo stood after him and moved to follow.
He led them back to Yuffie's room. All three of them walked silently, though Godo somehow managed to make even less sound than Tsen Li or Mao Li did.
Damned ninja, Tsen Li thought.
They arrived at Yuffie's shoji to no different a sight from the one he'd left.
"And you've only smiled once. When I last saw you, you almost always smiled," the man said.
"I've laughed."
"And even your laughter has changed. Neither of us are the people we came to know."
The man looked up. His hand, which had been running through Yuffie's hair, stilled.
Tsen Li stared at him, making sure to make eye contact. He couldn't hold it, though. The man had red eyes. It was the creepiest thing he'd ever seen. He didn't want to look at him any longer.
So he looked at Yuffie's back, trying to hide his weakness with a show of apathy. Maybe the man wouldn't notice that he hadn't been able to hold eye contact.
Yuffie turned around. The man let his hand fall.
She looked at Tsen Li for all of a second before her gaze slipped to just beneath his right shoulder.
Tsen Li looked down.
Godo was glaring at her, his eyes narrowed. Tsen Li could have sworn he saw some sort of unholy light emanate from Godo's eyes.
"Vincent Valentine."
"Lord Godo."
"I would have expected this from that Ren-whatever fellow, but not from you."
The man named Vincent said nothing. He merely looked at Godo. His eyes never left the general part of the room where Godo's face was.
Godo tried to stare back, but even he couldn't hold the man's gaze for long.
"Phe Tsen?"
Tsen Li had to bite back a cry at the happiness in his father's voice. He'd never heard his father sound like that, except for once.
But that had been years ago.
Vincent visibly flinched. It was the first expression Tsen Li had seen him show.
"Who asks?"
His father's response to the question nearly gave Tsen Li a heart attack. The answer made no kind of sense.
"What is snow?"
Vincent flinched again. "According to Le Phe Tan legend, it is Leviathan's way of rubbing sleep from his eyes... Many foreigners become confused by this, as we call Leviathan the 'unsleeping one'."
"What do you believe?"
But Vincent shook his head. "I once believed both that Leviathan never slept and that snow was proof of his sleep. Now I know that snow is frozen water."
Mao Li sighed. "You look so much like him, but you're so young. And so pale. Are you his son, by any chance?"
"Whose son?"
"Shu Phe Tsen's."
Vincent threw back his head and laughed.
Yuffie skittered away from him, her hand darting out to grasp a shuriken. She watched the man named Vincent with a wary expression on her face. Godo looked as though someone had struck him.
"I haven't heard that name in a long, long time," Vincent said. "Why do you ask?'
"So, you are him?" Mao Li asked.
"I was, once. Why must you know?"
Yuffie continued to watch him.
"Because I've been looking for him for forty years."
Vincent blinked. His gaze went to Yuffie for a moment. "Yuffie, relax. I swore I would harm none in AVALANCHE, or their kin. Besides, they don't understand what's happening. They are no threat at the moment."
"Sorry, Vinnie. It's just I've never heard you laugh before."
He was her lover, and she'd never heard him laugh? How odd.
Vincent looked over at Mao Li. "How long ago did my father die?"
"Twenty-two years this winter. He went with honour."
"Honour, of course. Always with Honour. Were you proud of your younger brother?"
Tsen Li blinked. The sudden bitterness in Vincent's tone took him by surprise. Vincent had been so mild. Guarded, but mild. And now...
"What kind of question is that?" Mao Li demanded.
"What is snow?"
"Damn you... I'd thought I would be proud. Turned out that I wasn't. I was horrified."
Vincent nodded once. "It has been... an experience, seeing you again, Uncle. Pay respects to Father for me?"
"Pay them yourself, boy. I'll not have you staying away anymore. Why did you never come home?"
But Vincent didn't answer. Instead, he bowed low— too low. His head damn near hit the floor. Nobody bowed that low anymore.
And then he moved towards them. Past them.
"Vincent," Godo said. Somehow, he'd managed to tear his gaze from Yuffie.
"Yes, Lord Godo?"
"Had I known, I would have given her to you. In a heartbeat. You wouldn't have even had to ask."
"Well thanks, you jerk! Nice to know I'm something other than, oh, I dunno, an unwanted cat."
Their eyes moved back to Yuffie. Instead of simply gripping her shuriken, she prepared to throw it.
"I'm afraid I don't take your meaning, Lord Godo. Why would you give your daughter to me?"
"He meant give my hand," Yuffie snarled. "It's always the same, isn't it, Godo? You bastard. You're afraid the deal with Mao Li is off, so you're trying to make sure you've got some place to send me that isn't here."
"That's not it at all, daughter!"
"Oh, shut up. I know when people are lying to me."
"Daughter, I said that wasn't it and I meant it! I was telling the truth!"
"Wow, old man. You, telling me the truth? That's what, the first time in five years?"
"Hush! You don't know what you're talking about. I tried to explain as best I could, but you never listened. You never understood."
"Maybe I'd have listened if you'd looked me in the eye every once in a while."
"You impudent little... You're lucky I loved your mother. I'll tell you that much."
Tsen Li blinked at the sudden hostilities between the two.
Yuffie recovered first from the shock of what Godo had said. She straightened, adjusting her kimono.
"I see. Well, Father," she bit off the word as though uttering some sort of curse, "if you weren't telling Vincent you'd have offered my hand to him if you'd had even the slightest clue, what were you telling him?"
"Oh, I meant that part of it, Daughter." Was Godo mocking Yuffie's use of Father? "What you failed to understand is that I am not so desperate as to make sure you're 'anywhere but here'. Stop living in the past."
Living in the past? Yuffie had struck him as forward-thinking. She seemed to live exclusively for the moment. For example, that incident on the motorcycle, when she had somehow driven into oncoming traffic and then laughed, proclaiming, "GAWD, WHAT A RUSH!"
Tsen Li looked over at Vincent. Vincent wore a carefully blank expression. His face was mask-like. Hell, it had long passed mask-like, run by unreadable, shot expressionless to bits, and was now in the territory of if it wasn't so obviously human, I'd wonder if he didn't get a face transplant from an alien.
"I'm the one living in the past," Yuffie mumbled. "Whatever, old man. You're hopeless."
Godo started. "Yuffie do you still see me as the man who—"
She looked up. When she spoke, her voice had gone sharp. "Who told me that I looked too much like my mother, and that I was physically painful to look at, and that you didn't want to see me in the Palace unless you called for me? All in maybe two breaths? Yes. I do."
"That was six years ago, Yuffie."
"I was eleven years old! What kind of man tells that to an eleven year old?"
Vincent's gaze snapped to Yuffie. Tsen Li wouldn't have thought she'd startled him if his movements hadn't been so quick. Everything else about him screamed calm. Even his voice, which should have betrayed something, betrayed nothing but tranquillity.
"My apologies, but it would feel wrong to leave without resolving this issue. Lord Godo, you have misinterpreted our actions."
What was the man doing? Godo would have let him walk away without consequences if he hadn't interfered. Why would he draw attention to himself now, when Godo was in a foul mood? That would only ensure that Godo biased himself against him.
Surely he had a reason for this? Nobody could be that honourable. Not even somebody who had grown up forty years ago.
Godo laughed. "What's to misinterpret, Valentine? I found you standing over my daughter, your hand in her hair, your eyes on her alone— looking, frankly, like you were going to kiss her and more."
"I held no such intentions for your daughter."
Held? Ah, so he had gained those intentions by staying? Tsen Li shook his head. He had no right to mock this man, even if he only did so in his mind.
"So you say, Valentine. But you are a private person when it comes to intent and emotion. If you think I haven't noticed the discrepancies between your words and your—"
"—Say deeds and you will regret it." Vincent's mouth hardened into a thin, tight line.
"Double," Yuffie added, hefting her shuriken again. "Vincent's a lot of screwed-up shit, but he's NOT a hypocrite."
"I wasn't going to say that." Godo sighed. "In any case, regardless of your intentions, you have ruined my daughter's reputation."
"I haven't ruined Yuffie's reputation. My intentions were nothing but honourable, and my actions were—"
"If you finish that sentence, there will be consequences," Tsen Li found himself growling. "Your actions were an open insult to my claim on Kisaragi Yu Fi."
"Cripes, Tsen." Yuffie glared at him, rubbing the back of her head. "You are one hell of a possessive person. I mean, you outright told me that as soon as we're married, you're running back to Le Phe Tan to establish a permanent affair!"
Oh. No.
Mao Li looked over at him. "Is this about Xu Lin?"
Tsen Li grit his teeth. Who else could this have been about? He'd only been planning to marry her for ten years.
"Yes, Father. It's about Xu Lin."
"It's really quite touching that you want to honour the promise I made ten years ago, but that is not the way to go about it."
Same old idiot Father; this wasn't about honour or promises. This was about politics. Xu Lin came from the southern-most province. Marrying her (or at least making her his consort) would shut up the dissenting southern clans.
He informed Mao Li of this.
Mao Li's expression went hard.
Tsen Li prepared himself for a fight.
"Tsen Li," Vincent said with a deceptively mild tone. "Don't. Lord Godo, we have gone off topic. I maintain that my intent was honourable and however it may have seemed, nothing untoward would have come of my actions."
"As the case may be, Valentine. As the case may be. But as her father, I have the right to punish you for your actions."
It seemed that Godo wasn't good at listening to people. Tsen Li wondered again why Vincent had spoken when he had.
"As Yuffie's betrothed, I would like to be the one to decide that punishment," Tsen Li announced.
There. If she had been trying to get revenge on him, she would think she'd succeeded.
Well. He'd wipe that smirk out of her mind right now.
"You may, Tsen Li." Godo made a little bow. "I give you full authority."
"Vincent Valentine, you are now persona non grata in Heavenly City Da Cha O. Do not return to Heaven so long as Kisaragi Yu Fi and I are engaged... or married."
Vincent asked the requisite question. "And if I do?"
"You will be arrested, and then marched off the top of Da Chao-statue."
"Tsen Li! That is too harsh a punishment for your own flesh and blood!" His father cried.
He felt his eyebrow twitch. So what if this man was related to him? He'd never met him before in his life! He owed Vincent Valentine NOTHING. Especially since Vincent didn't even have the decency to use the family name they shared.
"That is far too harsh," Godo agreed. "And, frankly, I'm not willing to waste men trying to march him off Da Chao."
"Fine. Arrest him and forcibly remove him from the city."
"Agreed." Godo turned to the aforementioned man. "Do you understand these terms, Vincent Valentine?"
Tsen Li saw Yuffie's mouth open, but she spoke before he could stop her. "He does NOT! This is ridiculous! Tsen Li, you're acting like a spoiled, contrary child!"
Tsen Li snapped. "Hold your tongue!"
"No! This whole thing—"
"I said HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"
Startled, Yuffie went silent for a moment.
"If this is some twisted way of avenging yourself for what I plan, then it is YOU who is the child. My country comes first to me, and always will."
"Your country isn't the one that's going to become a vassal state! I don't care if you make arrangements with this Xu Lin woman! I've never met her, and as long as she never lives under my roof, I'm not GOING to care!"
"Oh."
She was considerably less shallow than he'd thought she was.
"Yuffie, stop," said Vincent. Of course, it wasn't actually talking. It was more of a well-pitched murmur, clearly audible but not loud at all. "I understand the terms, Lord Kisaragi, Future Lord Shu."
"Then leave this place and do not return," Godo intoned.
Vincent bowed again, again ridiculously low, and walked away.
The instant Vincent had left their sight, Yuffie marched over to Tsen Li. She glared at him, obviously focusing on his eyes. Matching gazes with an extremely angry Kisaragi wasn't his idea of an action with a high likelihood of positive consequences, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. His pride held his chin up, made him look down his nose at her.
Her left hand fisted in his collar. She yanked it, tugging him toward her. She released him after a moment, when she had him at the height (or distinct lack of it) she wanted him.
She took two silent steps back. And then, too fast for him to see, she did something.
Something solid collided with his nose. It hit him hard, it him fast, and it managed to hit him a good three times before he realized what was happening.
Before he could regain his balance from having his nose broken, both cartilage and bone, something a ridiculously bright shade of yellow hit the side of his head. Apparently, this was her immaculate left sneaker (and he wondered (because when you've just had your nose broken and weren't all that mentally balanced to begin with, you wonder stupid things like this) why she was wearing sneakers inside the Palace. Custom dictated the removal of shoes upon entry into a home. Of course, the sneakers could have been her choice of house shoes, but that seemed outlandish). Her follow-through managed to whip his head so that it tilted directly to the left.
Yuffie shifted her weight, insanely quickly for a girl wearing a kimono, and ploughed her right foot into his ribs, snapping her leg out at the knee perfectly.
He stumbled backwards, crashing into a thin wall and sliding almost bonelessly— and certainly without dignity— onto his butt.
Yuffie hauled him up by his hair. She pushed-threw him away from the wall and kicked him in the kidneys.
Tsen Li collapsed to his knees, chest heaving for breath that pained him coming and going, nose gushing blood, his entire body rebelling at the agony.
"He was my FRIEND, you bastard. He was a FRIEND, and that's all he was, and he was one of the ONLY people to treat me like an adult! And now you've gone and—"
She launched herself at him, kicking him square in the centre of his back. He fell forward, onto his face, and she began to kick him in the ribs, occasionally kicking him in the side of the head for good measure. At one point, she went so far as to stomp on the back of his head, apparently trying to grind his nose and the floor beneath it into a tiny greasy stain left upon a single woodchip.
"Is that what you would have had me do to Cloud, huh? Or Tifa? Or Cid? The members of AVALANCHE are my friends, you bastard! You stupid, selfish bastard! The only things I had to make me feel better about this stupid marriage was the knowledge that I could convince my friends to wear the bead work we made, but now that's not gonna happen, because AVALANCHE is gonna get pissed! So not only have you taken away one of my friends, you just ruined Wutai's future!"
She kicked him hard in the ribs again, this time on the side of the ribs she hadn't broken. "I STOLE MATERIA FOR SIX YEARS, YOU BASTARD! I LIED AND I STOLE AND I NEVER GOT TO COME HOME BUT FOR A MONTH OR TWO, AND NOW IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING!"
He heard several bones crack at the same time. Pain lanced up his right side, as well as his left. He swore he could feel something puncture one of his lungs.
It was at that point he passed out.
The last thing he heard as he drifted into nothingness was Yuffie sobbing, repeatedly, "I worked so hard... I worked so hard... And now it's not going to work... I can't save Wutai..."