Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or its affiliates. I make no money from this exercise in literary creativity.
A.N. I have big plans for this story! Most of it is already plotted out, and will be posted as completed. I am back in college and things are starting to get crazy (I'll have my Masters next year!) so updates may be sporadic for a while. Thank you so much to those whom have stuck with me for so long!
Chapter 3
Revelations
Kunsel's head jerked up, his heart pounding furiously at the sharp knock on the door. This was it… He was about to offer the information that would get him killed if he ever went back. He'd hoped to stay longer, to gather more intel for his friend and all of Avalanche, but after yesterday…
He knew Merol had suspicions after their last conversation. He knew when he couldn't find the man later in the day that he'd gone right to The Crimson and it was only a matter of time before they came for him.
"Mr. Valentine?" He questioned quietly when he opened the door to find empty air. An odd sensation passed him, like people brushing by though there were no visible bodies, and he started when the door pulled from his hand and closed itself.
"You can drop it." He heard Valentine's disembodied voice whisper, and then out of the nothingness of his solitude four people popped into existence.
"Holy-!" He yelped, then calmed himself. "That's badass! Who can do-" He started to ask, but the Remnant with the shorter hair cut him off as he darted to the side and caught the woman before she hit the ground. Ah, it must have been her, and it must have been exhausting for her to do it.
"Put her on the bed." The Remnant with longer hair said, and as they moved to do so Vincent Valentine stepped into his line of sight, blocking his view of the powerful woman.
"So that's the Guardian… Cool." He said, more to himself, then turned his attention to Valentine. "I'm glad you guys made it here safely. Have a seat." He gestured to the couch across the room and the tea and charcuterie board spread across the coffee table. "Eat if you want."
"Thank you." The longer haired Remnant said, crossing behind Valentine to perch on the couch, though he didn't reach for the food. "I am Yazoo Kobayashi. You know Vincent, and that is Kadaj Nakamura and Harmony Geordon." He gestured to the two on the bed, Kadaj, he now knew, perched on the side and watching the woman with a worried and adoring expression.
"Kunsel." Kunsel replied. He crossed the room, coming to rest against the wall to the left of the couch and crossing his arms. "So, where do you want me to start?"
"I think just outright telling us the big picture is best, we can go over nuances later on." Vincent said, seating himself beside Yazoo.
"Right." Kunsel nodded. "Rufus now has ever member of the Tsviets safe for Shelke Rui at his disposal. The are actively hunting you. While they're searching, he's also started a smear campaign against Empress Kisaragi, saying that she was taken into your organization and murdered her father to 'aid in your diabolical cause'. He's declared war on Wutai. The invasion will start in one week."
"Why wait so long?" Kadaj asked, and Kunsel shrugged, then looked to Yazoo when he spoke.
"He's giving us time to get there. He hopes we'll rush to Yuffie's aid and he can take us all out at once."
"I agree that's likely his hope." Vincent put in.
And knowing that the Tsviets are all together again is concerning."
Yazoo opened his mouth to speak, but Kadaj cut him off.
"Don't even start. Rosso the Crimson may be the woman that gave birth to you, but she's not your mother. Whether she left willingly or was taken, she's not. She'd kill you just as soon as look at you. You know how those thought processes work."
Kunsel's jaw dropped. "The Crimson is-"
"Drop it." Kadaj said, and Kunsel found himself terrified of the power in that cat-eyed stare. "It's not your business, and we'll deal with our own as needed."
"Sorry." Kunsel muttered. "But… that brings up a problem. More of a question, really."
"And what is that?" Vincent asked.
Kunsel gulped. "I'm in The Crimson's unit. She's my CO. And… I think my cover has been blown. I don't dare go back. They'll kill me."
"So you want to come with us?" Vincent hummed, and sat back. All three men stared at Kunsel as he nervously shifted his weight.
"If you're thinking of saying no, I'll fry every single one of you. Don't you dare turn your backs on someone who has helped us so much." A female voice broke in, and it startled all three of them.
The Guardian was awake, taking her time to stare each of her comrades down.
"That wasn't a very long rest." Yazoo pointed out, and the woman – Harmony – rolled her eyes. She batted Kadaj's hands away when he tried to keep her on the bed, and stalked to the middle of the room.
"You're not going to abandon him after our needs are what put him in danger in the first place!"
"Calm down." Kadaj met her eye-roll with one of his own. "We're not going to say no."
Kunsel's shoulders sagged with relief.
"Good," Harmony started, "because-"
Another hard rap on the door had five sets of eyes shooting to it, the air in the room instantly igniting with tension.
"Who knew you were here?" Vincent asked in a harsh whisper.
"No one!" Kunsel said. "I swear!"
"Well someone did." Yazoo frowned. He stood, gesturing for Harmony to duck behind the bed. He and Kadaj took position to the left of the door, pressed against the wall to ambush whomever forced their way in, if it came to it. Vincent retreated to the window, disappearing into the heavy drapery until only the barrel of his gun could be seen aimed dead at the door.
"Answer it." Yazoo whispered, and Kunsel nodded with a heavy gulp.
"Yeah, whaddaya want? Can't a guy get some peace arou- Oh shit!" He yelped, and dove to the side. Yazoo didn't even blink before he was on the blonde that rushed inside – he had her on her face on the floor, both arms twisted painfully behind her back before even a cry of distress could leave her lips.
The door slammed closed, Kadaj having moved to give them privacy the moment Yazoo was clear.
"Who are you? What did you hear?" Yazoo snarled, then his eyes went wide.
"You know, you and I have been in this situation before, and it didn't go so well for me. So, if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could get your hands off me right this very second."
"Elena!" Harmony's head popped up from behind the bed, then she was scrambling over it to tackle Yazoo to the side and crush the blonde woman in a bear-hug.
"Shit, I could have killed you!" Yazoo cursed, a sure sign that he was shaken.
"Hang on, hang on!" Kunsel said, struggling to his feet. "She's a TURK! She's a theat! She's going to go right back to Rufus and-"
"Not her." Harmony said, her tone soothing but brooking no argument. "Elena would never… Right?" She turned her gaze back to the other woman, offering her a hand up to stand.
"I'm not here for Rufus." Elena confirmed. "I want to talk to my fiancé."
"Oh, shit." Kadaj chuckled. "Should I offer him the mercy of a heads-up?"
"You're such a dick, sometimes." Harmony sighed and shook her head. "Look, we just made a lot of noise. Someone could come investigating. We should get out of here. Are you coming with us?"
Elena paused, and Harmony frowned.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Elena whispered. "Not now that you've lose your only informant. You'll need another one."
"Rufus will never believe you." Vincent said. "He'll kill you, or use you to find us."
"I agree." Yazoo nodded.
"Come with us, Elena. Leave him to rot in his rage. Eventually, we'll be ready." Harmony said, pleading and sweet and understanding.
"You mean like Tseng did to me?!" She snapped back. "He didn't… He didn't come back for me. He didn't even tell me what was… All I've had to go on are what lies Rufus spewed and I don't even know what to believe anymore!"
Harmony's expression changed, and the moment it did Vincent and the two Remnants closed in on them.
"Better grab onto someone." Kadaj said to Kunsel, and just as he gasped and grasped Harmony's shoulder, the witch grabbed Elena's wrists. The others took hold of each other, Kadaj wrapping his arm around Harmony's waist, Yazoo linking arms with him, and Vincent tightly grasping Yazoo's shoulder.
Harmony's voice grit out the only warning either of the defectors would get: "To Hell with this. We're going home." And with a soft pop, the group vanished from sight.
! #$%^&*()
Michael stared hard at his princess, worry lines drawn tight across her brow as she went over the documents before her again and again.
There was no way around it: this was going to be bad. They just didn't have the numbers, didn't have the weapons. Their people… How would they keep the civilians safe? This war wouldn't be like the last time ShinRa came for Wutai… Rufus wouldn't stop until every Avalanche sympathizer was dead. They still had no real idea how many supported Yuffie's rule, and how many shared the GR's views!
"Stop looking at me like that. I'm not going to break." Yuffie sighed, and Michael blinked to clear his thoughts.
"I don't think that you are. I just want you to know that I'm here. That I support you. You don't have to take this on alone."
Yuffie's brow thudded against the table and her posture dropped, and Michael could see the exhaustion and worry in her spirit. God, never in his life had he thought he'd be in a place like this, living a life like this one. Even after coming here, even through the trials of the past years – especially the past few months – had he thought he'd be standing on the edge of a country at war.
Serving as a soldier back in his world? Yeah, if it had come to it, he may have. But this? He was engaged to the empress of a nation. True, Yuffie had all the real power – he was just fine with that – but he would still be in a much different position than he ever imagined.
"What are we gonna do, Mike?" Yuffie said, and his heart dropped to his toes at the tears in her voice. He frowned and hit his knees beside her, urging her to sit up so that he could rest his brow against her thigh.
"We'll make it, Yuffie. I won't let them take this away from you. I won't let them hurt our people." He pulled himself closer, hugged her legs tightly as she hunched over him.
"How?" She whispered. "How can we protect them from this? How do we fight an army like that? I know thw Wu Sheng will gladly fight to their last breaths. I know that I will! It's the honor and pride of Wutai! But… I don't want it to be their last breaths!"
"Yuffie… Yuffie!" Michael sat up, urging her out of her chair and onto his lap on the floor as her breathing sped and her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. His princess, normally so strong and spirited, was wavering on the knife's edge of panic and thought he understood it, though he knew she needed to feel things like this to truly cope, he also knew she would be ashamed and embarrassed, later.
And that could be dealt with later.
"Calm down." He murmured. "Just breathe, baby. It's alright. I'm going to help you make it alright. You're going to be the best damned empress this country has ever seen. They're going to build statues of you, baby. All over the world. We just need to think."
His heart broke at the feeling of her shaking against him, but a tiny smile found his lips when she growled.
"I'm not weak. I'm just overwhelmed. Don't tell me to calm down!"
"There's my girl." He said, and he placed a kiss atop her head. "Now, call Feng in here and we'll get some maps set up. I have an idea."
"What are you thinking?" Yuffie asked, sliding back into her chair and pressing the button on the side of her desk.
"I'm thinking we do this like ninja, not soldiers." He grinned, and Yuffie tilted her head curiously as the door to her office creaked open.
"You called, your Majesty?" Feng said, he nodded his respect to Michael when he caught the man's sight.
"I need a mapping table, and every map you have of the whole island." Michael said before Yuffie could speak. Feng looked to his empress.
"Please." She confirmed Michael's request, and Feng nodded.
"At once, Majesty. I also wish to inform you that the communication satellite Captain Highwind left with us is nearly ready. We should be able to make contact with them by tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Feng. I would like you and the Wu Sheng Captains to join us when the items we have requested are brought. Michael has some ideas, and I would like your input as well."
There she went, shoving her fears down and taking charge of her destiny. Michael smiled, full of pride. The thorns and leaves may drip with blood, but the White Rose of Wutai would remain pristine, a beacon to all that tyranny would never reign, and her people would always be safe.