AN; A new story by moi. Set in an Alternate Universe, but not quite. Please let me know if you see any major grammatical errors so I can fix them... If anyone can consider themselves BETAing this story, I'd appreciate it. And no flames, please.

Rating; T. Rating may change.

Disclaimer; Whatever you recognize does not belong to me...

1

She wished there was a way to correct all mistakes.

She would want to go back to that fateful moment when everything went wrong. That night. The party. The week she'd turned sixteen.

If she had never revolted against her father's will…

If she had never snuck out…

If she'd never had gone where good wutaian girls shouldn't go…

But that was years ago, and now Yuffie Kisaragi's fingers were cold as ice as they squeezed around the telephone.

"I can't marry him, father. It's impossible."

Godo Kisaragi inhaled impatiently. "The only thing impossible is that you are still unmarried at the age of twenty-three! You put a shame to our family."

In Wutai, women married early to keep their honour from harm. But Yuffie had never been very Wutaian. And even though she had grown up in Edge with her liberal, intellectual mother, she'd never really belonged there either.

"He is a prominent man, Yuffie. Powerful, influential…"

"I don't care."

Silence. "Yuffie, you have to understand that this is important for us all. You have to get married. Don Corneo has chosen you. You should feel flattered."

Her father wouldn't listen to her. According to her mother, her father rarely listened to anyone –especially not a woman – and that had been the reason her mother had left him when Yuffie was still a child.

Yuffie massaged her temples with her fingertips. She liked her father, but he had no idea how western she'd become. She was far from the obscured life in Wutai, a small kingdom in the east with extensive provinces and a beautiful capital.

"I live in Midgar, father. I have my work and my friends here."

"But no husband."

"I don't want a husband." Yuffie's voice hardened. "I just finished my education and started on my carrier."

"Carrier?"

"Yeah, I want a carrier. I'm smart and…"

"This is your mother's work! I should never have allowed her to take you with her. You should have stayed with me. She was inappropriate as a parent.

Anger boiled within Yuffie, but she had had enough taking sides in her parents' private war.

"Marriage is an honour," her father continued. "A good marriage would be glorious for all of us."

'Not for me' she thought heatedly while old memories welled up inside her. "I don't want to get married," she repeated in a choked voice. "I've never wanted it."

"But I do. You're my only child, my future."

"No."

Rage and irritation mixed together in her father's voice. "Don't disgrace me, Yuffie Kisaragi. Don't you put shame on this family."

The warning was clear, but Yuffie couldn't allow herself to surrender to her father's frustration. She could never be what he wanted her to be.

She could only be herself, and what Yuffie had become was unacceptable in Wutai. But her father knew nothing of that. He would never know.

Yuffie glanced down at her watch and realized she had to get moving if she didn't want to get caught in the traffic jam. "I have to go. I'll be late for work."

"Work? What kind of work do you have on a Sunday morning?"

That was another thing her father didn't know about. He really had no idea who she was.

"I dance."

Godo's silence of deprecation was significant. He had never approved to his daughter dancing ballet, and when she had reached puberty had his dissatisfaction with her increased. When Yuffie was twelve had he forced her to quit her lessons, and when he one year later discovered that his daughter danced in a Christmas-production of the Nutcracker, he'd threatened to take her back to Wutai for good.

His daughter would not show herself in tricots.

His daughter would not be touched by a member of the opposite sex, not even a dance-partner.

And Yuffie's defiant, brave mother had yielded. She was the one who'd persuaded her to stop dancing. "You shouldn't tease your father's patience, Yuffie. He's not like us. If he gets provoked enough, he can do just about anything…"

So after eight years of daily practice, Yuffie had been forced to give up her beloved ballet.

"I thought you had stopped with such nonsense."

"I did," Yuffie answered silently. To stop dancing had crushed her heart. Yuffie's wants and needs had never been important in her parents' fights. Their decisions were completely egoistical.

"I really have to go, " she continued. Her father couldn't make her change her mind. She'd found her freedom in Midgar, and was never going to return to Wutai.

Wutai was a beautiful country, and the cultural mixture of native wutaians and immigrants had created a fascinating community. But the women were still overprotected and isolated, and Yuffie had spent too much time amongst modern ethical standards, that it would be impossible for her to live her life there again.

"Yuffie, you can not ignore your duty."

The cultural differences stood like an invincible wall between them.

"Sorry, but I don't believe in arranged marriages."

After a long moment of utter silence did Godo Kisaragi finally speak up. "Twenty-four hours, Yuffie. That's all."

"No."

"This is not a request. I have made my decision. If you don't return to Wutai within twenty-four hours, I will send someone to come and get you."

Then he hung up.

Yuffie stared at the phone. He couldn't be serious. To force her into coming back…

Mutely, she gathered her belongings and seated herself inside the car. The hands on the wheel shivered as she drove through the heavy traffic. Marry someone she didn't even know? Marry a wutaian man only because her father wanted it?

With one eye on the traffic, Yuffie dialled her father's number on her cell.

"You can't be serious, " she exclaimed as soon as he answered. "How can you threaten with something like that? I have never lived in Wutai. I haven't been there for years…"

"But you are still wutaian, whether you admit it or not. I have let you finish your studies, but now it's time for you to come home."

"Wutai's not my home!"

"You were born in the Pagoda. You spent your childhood here."

"Until I was four!"

Yuffie may have been born in the capitol of Wutai, with its small buildings and twisting alleys. But she had been brought up in Midgar. She'd only visited her father once a year.

During her childhood, Yuffie had dreaded her travels to Wutai during her summer holidays. Every year meant less liberties and a more narrowed circle of friends. Her father had been determined to shape her into the perfect wutaian woman – beautiful, talented, quiet.

"I'll never go back," she said slowly in midgarian, but continued in wutaian. "I'd rather die that return to Wutai."

When her father finally answered her, his voice had hardened and was as cold as ice. "Be careful what you wish for."

Then he hung up.

Again.

Godo Kisaragi wouldn't appreciate his daughter's leisure pursuit.

Tseng saw how the line of beautiful young women ran through the tunnel, out onto the sunny football-field in time for the entertainment during the game-break. They danced together, dressed in their short shorts and knee high boots. High kicks and wriggling hips.

His gaze fell on the woman with the short black hair in the back row. Yuffie Kisaragi. Godo's daughter.

He pursued his lips. Yuffie was not afraid of dying. Godo had been upset when his daughter had moved to Midgar. What would he do if he found out she displayed herself in front of sixty thousand people?

Indeed. Yuffie Kisaragi was in trouble.

It didn't matter if that it was late September. Yuffie was sweating. While she kicked and twisted under the burning sun, her nausea increased by the minute.

But it wasn't the sunlight that made her want to throw up.

It was the horrid realization that she didn't know her own father. If he put his threats to work, she'd have nowhere to hide. Her father had too much money, and too much influence. He had connections everywhere. If he wanted Yuffie home, he'd make sure he got what he wanted.

She has trouble breathing. She tried to concentrate on her dancing, but her father's ominous voice haunted her. The burning rays of the sun made her head throb, and she felt bizarrely secluded from her dancing, swaying body.

Lifting her face towards the sun, she fought to clear her mind from the horrible knowledge that hammered in her head.

Things would happen.

Really, really scary things.

Several hours after the game had ended, Yuffie leaned against the balcony parapet of a sumptuous apartment with a glass of wine in her hand. She wasn't really in the mood for partying tonight, but the owner of the team said he'd invited an important guest, and requested her presence.

Said owner – who was the one to pay her salary - hardly ever asked her of anything, so Yuffie had reluctantly dressed up and arrived to the party.

Now she blessed the dark balcony and did her best to relax. But her father's threat overshadowed all her thoughts. He had sworn to bring her home, and force her into marriage.

What was she going to do? Who could help her?

Godo had a personal relationship to almost every powerful man in the world, and his fortune only increased his own power. He struck terror into those who provoked him.

So who would be so insane that they risked their lives to help Godo Kisaragi's daughter?

Yuffie frowned. Her headache was getting worse. It had been a long day, and now she was trapped on the balcony while loud music roared from the stereo equipment inside, where beautiful women laughed and flirted with loaded men.

She shouldn't have come. The music was too loud, the people too different, and the night was too warm.

Panic worked its way up within her. She squeezed her glass and took a deep breath to calm herself down. 'Calm, just be calm. Nothing's gonna happen. Everything's okay.'

Despite the many years that had passed, she still hated parties. The heat, noise and the merry atmosphere that came with too much alcohol still managed to make her edgy. It didn't matter how far you ran from the past, sooner or later, it always caught up.

"Don't jump," a cold and cynical male voice said behind her. The accent was unusual, refined midgarian, but still exotic.

The hair on Yuffie's neck raised, but she didn't turn around. "I don't intend to," she answered with the same calm tone and sipped her wine.

"Even though you are beyond saving?"

Yuffie brushed off the sudden flash of fear. "That's one conceited statement...!"

"Not if you know someone as well as I know you."

She really didn't like this man and his supercilious attitude, her instinct screamed to her that she should walk back in to the apartment, but she refused to give this man the satisfaction of watching her flee like a scared little mouse.

"I'd call your bluff," she threw out, stiffly. "But I'm not interested in continuing this conversation."

"Then I shall call yours, Lady Princess Yuffie Kisaragi."

Wutaian. Ancient, royal wutaian.

The man knew her father. He'd called her by her full name.

Slowly she forced herself to turn around, but the balcony was in complete darkness.

"Who are you?"

"A friend of the family."

She closed her eyes. It'd already been done. Her father hadn't waited for twenty-four hours before he sent someone to get her. He hadn't even waited eight…

She opened her eyes again to steadily meet his hidden gaze.

"What do you want?"

"I want to offer you an option."

Yuffie didn't trust men, especially not men from Wutai. "I don't get it."

"I think you do."

There was something familiar with his voice that caused every bundle of nerves in her body to shiver. "Step out of the dark," she demanded. "I want to look at you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to see the gutless son of a bitch who amuses himself by scaring a woman."

"Well then…" The man took a step closer to the light that streamed from the open doors.

"Better?" he wondered in a drawling voice.

Yuffie's eyes widened to the shape of saucers and shied away.

"Perhaps you preferred the shadows?" he asked as he slowly started to move towards her.

"Yeah. There you can get what you came here for."

"And what did I come here to do?"

"Force me back to Wutai."

"Ah."

In all his cold sternness, his voice was oddly seductive. It held an air of exotic spices and expensive habits.

He leaned onto the balcony parapet. In the enchanting moonlight, she could almost see the contours of his straight dark eyebrows, and the tall cheekbones' strong angularity seemed far too familiar. It was years ago since a face just like that had been a part of her most private fantasies…

She shut her eyes once again to fight back the painful memories. Her dreams had been crushed so cruelly.

Another breath and she opened them again. Though she didn't look at him, she was unpleasantly aware of his well-built body.

"My father didn't even wait for twenty-four hours," she complained. "He lied."

The stranger was silent for a moment, but Yuffie could sense his scornful smirk before he spoke. "I'm not sent here by the orders of your father."

She almost choked on her breath as relief blended with another, inexplicable fear. "Then who the hell are you?"

"You don't remember me?"

His tone was so soft that she felt as if cold hand squeezed her heart. She knew she'd recognized him right away, but hadn't believed it. She still couldn't believe it. Not after all these years…

"I am sure you do," he added.

Yuffie's blood froze in her veins. "Step into the light,"

"Now you're just ridiculous…"

But he lit a match-stick, and in the faint light of the flame, Yuffie stared at his face. Dark eyelashes framed eyes that glittered with a golden amber blaze.

The light died, and Yuffie looked away. She wanted to shake her head and free herself from the image that'd etched onto the insides if her eyelids.

Maybe it was possible for her to forget his facial structures, but she would always remember his golden stare. Eyes that never smiled, but saw straight into other people's hearts.

No one had eyes like that. No one but Tseng Yamaoka.

Yuffie's own, childish romance fantasy.

Tears she couldn't explain stung her eyes and her grip on her glass of wine threatened to shatter it to pieces. She had been so blindly in love with him. Such a silly crush…

"Tseng," she whispered under her breath, not daring to look at the man.

He nodded in his urbane manner and spoke the traditional wutaian greeting. "Leviathan be with you."

Wrong answer from the man that once'd been Mr. Right. She exhaled slowly. Tseng Yamaoka was here. The shock hit her with such a force that the world around her looked as if it crumbled.

She hadn't seen Tseng for years. Now he was here, but he weren't kindly disposed. That much she knew.

"You can't tell me my father didn't send you," she spat in anger. "You can't lie to me."

He only shrugged. "I can tell you the truth, but you decide for yourself it you wish to listen, and what you choose to believe."

"I want the truth."

"I know your father's plans."

The statement was so blunt that it left Yuffie dumbfounded for a moment, while her confusion amplified. Somehow, she knew this man was far more dangerous than her what her father planned.

"My father works with your boss."

"Your father only work for himself," Tseng replied with scorn.

Yuffie narrowed her stare. "You don't trust him."

"No." The Turk studied her attentively. "Do you?"

"He's my father."

"Youthful naivety."

"Naivety?"

"A more pleasant word for stupidity."

The fury rising within her still couldn't smother her fear. "I'm asking again. What do you want?"

"Offer you an option, like I said."

When Yuffie mutely stared at him as Tseng's mouth curved into a cruel leer. "You don't have to marry Don Corneo."

Something inside her clenched. 'No,' she thought bitterly. You were the one I wanted to marry.' "And what's wrong with him?"

"He is old, fat and hairy."

"And?"

"All children from his first marriage are older than you."

She didn't answer.

"His fanaticism is notorious."

Her jaws tensed. It was obvious that Tseng amused himself at her expense. 'Bastard.'

"Besides, his political ambitions are distrustful." The Turk waved ha hand suggestively. "But if all that sound attractive to you…"

Yuffie's gaze travelled across the flashing light of the city. "You know it doesn't…"

"You need my help."

"I don't want your help!" She didn't want anything from any man. She had changed from the stupid, gullible little girl she'd once been.

"So you would rather put misery on yourself, than accept my help?"

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know that that beautiful face of yours will soon be hidden from the rest of the world, except for your husband, if you refuse to listen to me."

Yuffie couldn't bring herself to answer him. She couldn't bare the thought of the confined world Wutaian women lived in. She had finished her education with good grades and received a post at an international company with its seat in Midgar. She'd worked and travelled with a success better than expected.

How would she bear to lose her freedom? How could she ever go back to all that she'd run away from?

No. She would never comply to be hidden and oppressed as if she was someone to be ashamed of. "I haven't lived in Wutai since I was four," she informed the Turk.

"Your father has already sent his men to pick you up. Three men are waiting in your house right now." He silenced to let his words sink in. "They won't leave without you."

"Then I guess I'll crash somewhere else…"

"Your father have unlimited resources. No matter where you go, they will be waiting for you."

"No."

"You know it's true."

Tseng was right. And she hated him for it. Her father always got what he wanted.

"Take in the truth, Lady Kisaragi. It's me or them. Choose now. Plague or cholera..."

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