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 and all non-canon concepts seen in this chapter and previous chapters. 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 Fifteen
City of Wutai --- Palace
Vincent opened his eyes to see Yuffie lying on a futon, her breath quiet and even. He could tell just by looking at her that she had sustained little physical damage.
He examined the room he'd woken in. It looked like Yuffie's room. Shuriken of all shapes and sizes hung from the ceiling. Someone had covered the walls in yellow paper, and he recognized a distinctly South Wutaian pattern in the fabrics of the green rugs on the floor. Blue paper covered the lanterns, blue ribbons hung from the ceiling.
The shadows were particularly deep in a specific corner. He stared into them, discerning the shape of a man after a moment.
The man chuckled. "Impressive, Mr. Valentine. You went from consciousness to wariness in under a minute."
"Why are you here?"
"Please, forgive my rudeness, Mr. Valentine. I am Chang Sho Tzu. That is not the House of my birth, of course. But the House of Chang was kind enough to adopt me into it when I swore fealty to Kisaragi Yu Fi."
"You had a child attempt to follow me when I arrived here."
If ninja could look puzzled, Sho Tzu certainly looked that. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. If I want to know a person's movements, I will send a member of Division Six."
Odd. Either Sho Tzu was lying. . . Or somebody else named Sho Tzu had sent that child after him.
Vincent glared. "Why are you here?"
"I am the Jonin of Division Six, Mr. Valentine. I swore fealty to Yuffie when I was seventeen, shortly after her mother's death. I have protected her since then."
"You think me a threat?"
"You damaged her reputation, and immediately after you left her sight. . . She went berserk. She seems to think she lacks the power to save Wutai."
"Da Chao, make me worthy, you stubborn bastard!" She murmured.
Vincent blinked. Sho Tzu blinked. But Yuffie only rolled over and went back to sleep.
"Define berserk."
"She attacked Tsen Li. She broke almost all of his ribs, the bone and cartilage of his nose, and came close to rupturing his right kidney. Several rib fragments pierced his lungs. It was a miracle he survived, even with Chekhov casting Cure3 on him repeatedly." Sho Tzu quieted for a moment. "I had to drag her off him when she tried to crush his skull."
That didn't sound like Yuffie at all. She was a very physical person, giving out physical affection as well as blows when she was angry, but still. . . That kind of violence directed at another person, and one she had promised to marry? It just seemed so out of character.
"Did she give any reason for her actions?"
Sho Tzu sighed. "She operates under her own logic. I know her better than most residents of this Palace can claim, but even still, she is a difficult creature to understand. She screamed her reasons for the Palace to hear, but—"
"—They made no sense."
"You have the right of it. She seems to think that he's destroyed Wutai's ability to sell the materia strands."
"He hasn't, not if she can find a way to contact Cloud. Of course, delivering the strands may be a problem."
"She will be pleased to hear that."
"Pleased and angry at herself. She'll have jeopardized her marriage to Tsen Li for nothing."
"I think she took extreme satisfaction in beating him. She doesn't seem to like him overmuch."
"He's a dickhead," Yuffie announced. "And you two do know that talking about a person behind their back is rude, right?"
"My apologies, Second."
"I'm sorry, Yuffie."
Wait. What. Yuffie was awake.
Yuffie was awake.
"Yuffie, what possessed you to jump off First Face's hand?"
Her head dipped onto her chest as she mumbled something Vincent barely understood.
"That legend, little Lady?" Sho Tzu cried. "You threatened your life for that that idiot legend!"
Something inside Vincent snapped. He crossed the room in an instant, hefting her by one arm.
"Yuffie Kisaragi, you try my patience to its end! You risked your life for a child's story! Had I not—" He didn't finish that sentence. He didn't want to think about the way that sentence would end. Instead, he paused. Let the sentence he didn't want to say resolve itself in her mind. "For a story."
"Sorry, Vinnie. I just." She sighed. "I know it was a dumb idea. Okay? I knew from the start that it was a dumb idea. But if Da Chao is real, then, then why can't the legend be real, too? I mean, I know Leviathan is real. I've called Him. So. . . It made sense at the time, you know?"
"No. I don't know, Yuffie." And I'm glad I don't know. Sane men do not jump out of airships after teenaged girls.
"You're right. Sane men don't jump out of airships after teenaged girls." She smiled at him. "But guess what, Vinnie? Neither do monsters."
He blinked. Did I say that out loud?
Wait. Neither do monsters.
"What are you trying to say?"
She shrugged. "Just a thought that struck me. It seemed like a good idea to say it."
Impulsive. She was so impulsive. And, Leviathan help him, that was one of her best qualities. Half of her genius stemmed from her ability to look for alternative solutions and her inability to stop herself from testing those solutions.
They were silent for a few moments. At length, Vincent sighed. "Yuffie, if you ever do something that stupid and crazy again. . . "
"You'll never forgive me, right?"
He laughed. It startled him as much as it startled her. "Yuffie, I cannot yet forgive myself. What right have I to withhold forgiveness from you? What right have I to forgive you?"
"Then what will you do?"
He didn't know. That was the thing. He couldn't predict his actions in such a situation. He didn't want to predict such a situation.
So he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Promise me you will never do that again."
"I dunno, Vinnie. Now that I think about it. . . " She grinned. "Free fall is actually kinda fun."
He resisted the urge to tear out his hair. "You try my patience beyond its limits! You risked your life! You nearly died! And now that it's over, free fall is fun?"
"Yep!"
Vincent sighed. "Promise me, Yuffie."
"Okay. I promise I will never jump from deadly heights. . ."
He let out a relieved breath.
". . .Without a parachute."
". . . " He nearly tore his hair out this time. "You are incorrigible."
"And you just encourage me more!"
"Do you mind?"
"I know, I know. I'm totally ruining your lecture, aren't I? But I meant what I said. I'll never try free fall without a parachute. I swear on the Scales."
It would have to do. He likely wouldn't get much better than this. "Sworn and witnessed. I'm holding you to that promise, Yuffie."
She nodded. "I keep my promises, Vincent."
This was the most serious he'd seen her in some time. No, scratch that. This was the most serious he'd seen her. Even after Don Corneo had hanged her from Da Chao, when she had begged to let her join AVALANCHE, she hadn't sounded quite like this. She had whined and cajoled in an annoying, high-pitched voice.
But.
He raised an eyebrow and crossed the room until he stood at her side. He bent down until he could comfortably touch her hair.
She was so tiny. Almost a foot shorter than he, with a waist he could almost completely encircle with one hand and slender shoulders. So tiny, so frail-looking, and yet so sturdy.
He left his eyebrow raised. "Really?"
Yuffie blushed, her cheeks going bright pink. The way the pink contrasted with her just barely golden skin gave her colour an almost dusky look.
Something inside him clenched at that flush on her face. It wasn't the same tightening of his throat when he thought of her jumping off Da Chao, or the way something had squeezed his heart when he thought he wouldn't be able to make it in time. This was something else. Something better.
Almost pleasant.
"Well, yeah, there was that one." She paused. "You aren't. . . Mad about that, are you?"
Angry? Do you fear my anger, Yuffie? And you always seemed so unafraid.
"Vincent, please don't be mad at me. The rest of AVALANCHE probably hates my guts right now. . . I can't lose everybody again. I know you hate being touched but—"
He found himself laughing. Not that he found her pain funny. He simply laughed that he could have been so blind. She didn't fear his anger, she never had.
"Vinnie? Are you okay?"
"I am fine, Yuffie. I. . . You have changed a great deal, in only a year, but some things remain the same." And for that, I am glad. . .
"You need to start making sense, Vinnie."
(Hr)
Godo paced in his study. Nobody would call it pacing, because it didn't follow a set pattern. He didn't look anxious. But if you knew Godo well enough, you would know that he had a tendency to walk when he was nervous.
He doubted he'd ever felt so disturbed in his life. Learning that his daughter had attempted suicide had been. . .
Hell. It had been hell. He knew that she had jumped from Da Chao; he knew that she had hit the ground because gravity only works one way, but he didn't know if she was alive or not.
He assumed alive, because Sho Tzu had posted ninja to guard Chekhov's house and had stayed with her since then.
I should be the one to watch over her. I'm her father. I should be with her.
After all, it was at least partly his fault. Though he had no real idea why she'd jumped, he could make an educated guess. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Yuffie had loathed the idea of marrying Tsen Li, even if it was a marriage in name only. That he had given her hand in marriage to a man she barely knew— and, when she came to know him, detested him— to save the honour of a dead man surely galled her.
He could lie all he wanted and say that he had done it to prevent a civil war. But that was only half true. Shu Mao Li had issued two demands in addition to the surrender of contact with Vincent Valentine. Fulfilling either of those demands would have appeased Mao Li.
Yuffie had to hate him. She had to hate herself, for letting her pride make her sign the scroll. She had to hate the House of Shu.
And in a world where you are surrounded by what you hate with only one escape rout, what do you do?
Why? Why didn't I move sooner? I love her, I do. . . So why did I choose to finish that damned meeting before I went to her?
Tsen Li had returned to the Palace, shouting about how she had jumped off Da Chao (this was about the last thing anybody had actually told Godo). And Godo, who had been meeting with a representative of a village to the north, had chosen to finish out that meeting before seeing to his daughter. Politically and economically, it was a good choice. But it had meant. . .
It had meant that by the time he'd arrived at Da Chao's feet, Division Six had already found Yuffie and carried her away. He'd checked the house Yuffie had claimed for her own, then rushed to Chekhov's house.
Damn you, Sho Tzu. Are you really so suspicious? Why didn't you bring her to the Palace? She belongs here
A genin of Division Six appeared in a corner.
"Lord Godo, the Second has regained consciousness."
Godo nodded. "Will Sho Tzu permit his liege to see her?"
The ninja nodded. "Yes, Lord Godo. She is ready for visitors."
"How is she?"
"I don't know, milord. I have not seen the Second's condition."
"I will be there shortly."
"Yes, milord. I will inform Sho Tzu."
And like that, the genin was gone. Godo sighed, not bothering to wonder about holes in his security. He slid the shoji closed behind him.
His feet seemed to know the way to what had once been Cho's house better than he did. If asked to give directions, he could not have done it, but he found his way there without even thinking about it.
Ah, Cho. You would be so proud. . . She is your mother's granddaughter in more than just name.
Removing his shoes once in the foyer, he remembered why he hadn't visited Chekhov at home in years.
Chekhov sat at her table, calmly drinking tea. Sho Tzu sat with her. Chekhov held three coins in one hand. A bundle of scrolls sat on the table.
The Yi Jing.
"She is in her old room, Lord Godo," Sho Tzu said without looking up. "I have instructed the guards at the door to let you in."
"Would they stop me if you hadn't?"
"Division Six belongs to the Second, Lord Godo."
Hidden meaning: yes, because they answer to Yuffie or I, and not you, and have never answered to you, and they never will.
Damn you, Yuffie. You invoked the Right of Deuce just to spite me.
The two ninja stepped aside as he approached her door. He slid it open to find Yuffie sitting on her futon, perfectly unharmed, perfectly coifed in a kimono he knew she hadn't left the house wearing.
It looked achingly familiar. He was sure he had seen that kimono before, but he couldn't place where.
There was someone else in the room. Godo found his eye drawn inexorably to the right. He saw only the briefest flash of red before he whirled to stare at Yuffie.
"Kisaragi Yu Fi, you are an idiot and you are lucky that I do not disown you. You jump off Da Chao-statue, and then bring Vincent Valentine back into the city?"
"Vincent saved my life. I'd be squashed like. . . a piece of fruit that's been thrown from very high up if Vincent hadn't been there. I think we owe him a night in Wutai."
Godo sighed and turned to face the man. "Is that true?"
Vincent nodded once, then turned his attention back to Yuffie.
His insides burned. Vincent Valentine was probably a hobo, and he had just dismissed him. A hobo had dismissed him.
Who the hell rules this city? He found himself wondering.
Yuffie looked at him, but Godo couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her face was perfectly blank.
And then she dropped her eyes, bowing her head until he couldn't see much of her face.
"I require a private audience with Lord Shu Mao Li," she said. She sounded tired. "Will you permit that?"
"Give me back Division Six."
"Will you permit that?" She looked up at him, glaring.
In that moment, with her hair hanging in a thick braid she'd pulled beside her face, her eyes narrowed in anger, wearing a kimono he recognized from Leviathan-knew-where. . .
. . .she looked more like her mother than she ever had.
And he remembered where he had seen that kimono before. It had been Cho's. "That was your mother's kimono."
"I asked a question, Lord of Wutai."
"Fine. You may have an audience with the Lord of Le Phe Tan in the throne room. Does that satisfy the Second?"
"I am satisfied."
At least she isn't insulting me, he thought. But then he realised that he'd liked those times better. This rote, mechanical speech, nothing but traditional phrases, unnerved him.
He wasn't sure whether it made him a failure as a father, or a brilliant success.
"Vincent, I'm not going to report your presence to Tsen Li until noon tomorrow. Make sure you're gone by noon."
He nodded once, then looked back to Yuffie.
Icy little monsters ran up and down Godo's spine at the way Vincent watched her. What was this man's fixation with his daughter? What were his intentions for her? He couldn't recall ever looking at Cho like that, and their marriage had not been one of political convenience.
It had been one of legal convenience, what with the Pagoda passing to the eldest child specifically. So long as a child older than his legitimate children existed, the Pagoda could not accept his eldest legitimate child as Lord or Lady.
"Valentine, we need to talk," he said before he left. "I'll be waiting in the basement of Yuffie's old house."
Vincent didn't respond, but he knew he'd be there. Vincent would know what he wanted to talk about.
And Vincent would come.