Dear Journal

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction

Chapter 11

Kasumi

Luxaria stole a glance at Cid as he made a face. "So, you are not of this place? You are… like me, yes?"

"'Like' you?" Kasumi's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then she snapped her fingers, things clicked in her mind, and a sad look entered her eyes. "Right, sorry, Cid mentioned that you weren't from here… Um… How'd you know… that I'm not from this world?" Kasumi asked hiding her sorrow with a look of confusion.

Luxaria shook her head, "You are of Earth, yes?" After a moment or two, Kasumi nodded slowly. "Typical, you humans think only of yourselves… nothing has changed in over a thousand years." Luxaria produced a fireball. "Tell me, can you guess what I am?"

Kasumi froze and her face became blank. Everyone stopped what they were doing and were watching the two girls warily. Kasumi looked Luxaria over carefully, "I wasn't only thinking of myself; haven't done that in years. You're an Elemental Blood Elf, right?" Kasumi asked Luxaria as her eyes narrowed. Luxaria seemed surprised by this but before she could speak, Kasumi continued. "Elemental Blood Elves are considered Myths and Legends along with Gods and Goddesses on Earth. Always thought Myths and Legends were real, not just stories."

"Ah, a smart human. Then you know what I can do… and how I know what you are." She extinguished the fireball. "Tell me, have you ever heard of Luxaria Rose?"

Kasumi's eyes narrowed even more; they took on a glow, just like any cat's eyes would. Yuffie gasped and Barret said something along the lines of "Fuck, what the Hell is up with that?" when they saw a pair of blue cat ears appear on the top of Kasumi's head.

Kasumi's attention was back on Luxaria in a matter of two seconds, "I know a lot about you, Luxaria Rose; quite the royal troublemaker and equal of Thor and Loki."

Luxaria laughed darkly, so different from what the others were used to. "Oh, so the mutant human knows of them as well?"

"'Mutant'?" Kasumi hissed, sounding very much like a cat.

Luxaria took a step away from Cid, moving closer to Kasumi. "Perhaps I should not have met you, human."

"Don't fuck with me, Bitch." Kasumi's face was twisted with rage as she gained fangs. "I may be cursed, but I'm not a 'mutant' and unlike you," Kasumi smirked darkly. "I don't have Thor's arrogance and Loki's mischief. Besides, who cares if you 'should have met' me or not? Fate's not under your control, Bitch." Cid looked shocked, Kasumi hadn't cussed once… until having met Lu.

At this Luxaria laughed, "Please, you honestly think that will do anything? You are human, I am not." Luxaria moved even closer to her, removing her jacket as she walked, the dark vine markings grew brighter as her hair also became brighter and more fire like, her eyes also changed from snow to honey in color with irises burning. Kasumi didn't answer as she pulled her guns from their holsters and leveled them with Luxaria's heart.

"Words? Words will do nothing, a bullet or six? They kill." Kasumi was emotionless, face blank, and human looking again.

Luxaria moved closer, took a hold of a triple barreled gun and pushed it closer to her heart. "Go ahead, shoot me, it makes this more fun." The others looked surprised with the turn of events and were ready to jump in at any moment. In fact, many wanted to jump in right this moment but something seemed to be holding them back as if telling them that everything would be okay. Cid pushed this feeling away and rushed towards the two.

"Fool," was all Kasumi said before Cid moved between Luxaria and the guns. Kasumi just stared at Luxaria for a moment before returning her guns to their holsters. A look of pure sadness over came her emotionless mask and she moved passed the two to the bar. "You ask that I steal something precious… I have already taken more lives than I've ever wanted to… and paid with the loss of almost everything I'd ever known. I suppose you could say that 'that was my sin. And this… this is my punishment'." Kasumi smiled sadly at the quote and one person, dressed in black and red, wondered about her words… a phrase he had thought of before, many times before.

Luxaria blinked, returning to normal, and stared up at Cid. Then she turned to look at Kasumi, "You are like me…" Luxaria's face mirrored Kasumi's, "I too- I am sorry."

Kasumi looked at Luxaria via the mirror behind the bar, "Do not apologize to me. I was more of an outsider anyways. To lose what I did, is not as bad as what you did."

Luxaria moved to the bar, taking the seat next to Kasumi, "We are… friends, yes?"

Kasumi turned to the woman next to her; Kasumi looked like she wouldn't mind crying, but she nodded her head and forced a smile. "I see no reason why I can't be friends with a princess from a world I'll never get to see." A warm, real smile graced her lips as she caught sight of the Elf's expression. "Sumimasen (I'm sorry)," Kasumi said quickly as she looked down at her hands, her face red with embarrassment.

Luxaria smiled, looking over at Cid and the others, who looked confused by the sudden change in mood. "It is alright, they like to… tease others too."

Kasumi looked up and over at Luxaria, "May… M-may I call you 'Lux'?"

Luxaria smiled, "Yes." She gestured to the others in the bar. "They address me as such… only one does not."

"Cid, right?" Kasumi guessed before smiling; she stood, leaning against the bar stool she had been sitting on as she removed her gun holsters, set them on the bar, and moved behind the bar to help Tifa with cooking lunch. Luxaria smiled and soon followed her; after all, she did work for Tifa. "Cid called you 'Lu' while we were on his airship – on our way over here, in fact." Kasumi said.

Luxaria blushed slightly, "Yes… He does not know how to say my real name."

Kasumi smiled knowingly at the shorter girl, "Lots of people with Southern accents would have trouble with a name like "Luxaria" and I think it's sweet that he gave you a nickname."

Luxaria blinked, "Yes, it is sweet. What is 'Southern'?"

Kasumi froze, turned to Luxaria, and opened and closed her mouth a few times looking like a fish out of water. It took her a few minutes after snapping her mouth shut to think of how to explain. "Southern… it's a term used to describe things, places, or people. Like on Earth, the Earth is divided into four hemispheres: North, South, East, and West. See, there's the Northern Hemisphere which is divided into East and West and same for the Southern Hemisphere. The West and East are, likewise, divided into North and South." Kasumi blushed and rubbed the back of her neck, "Sumimasen, I'm not the best at explaining things. Um… if you refer to someone as a Southerner then you're referring to the fact that they live or is/are from the Southern region of a continent; take me for example, I'm from a small city in Tennessee, which is in the Southern region of the United States of America on Earth." Kasumi had returned her attention to the meat for the lasagna they were making.

Luxaria blinked, "That makes sense; I understand him now." Then she returned her attention to the part of the sauce she was working on, while Tifa worked on getting the noodles ready. Kasumi giggled slightly.

"Cid may talk like some of the boys from my hometown, but he's not really a Southerner. Cid's from Rocket Town and that's in the upper half of the continent it's on."

Kasumi, Luxaria, Yuffie, and Tifa were picking up the empty, dirty plates from the lasagna that AVALANCHE and its two newest members had eaten for lunch, or breakfast in Kasumi's case. Kasumi had just finished stacking the plates from the table that Reeve, Barret, Cait Sith, Cloud, Reno, Nanaki also called Red XIII, and Cid were seated around when Nanaki announced that Kasumi was not of their world; several of the group had not heard Luxaria's and Kasumi's full conversion on the matter earlier. Kasumi felt her face get hot and nodded, "I'm not of Gaia or whatever you want to call this planet; like Lux said, I'm from Earth." And it seemed that Nanaki and Lux were not the only ones to note that the newest member to their group was otherworldly, Vincent had noticed it but didn't say anything. From there, Kasumi had to provide proof for the other members of AVALANCHE who were not so easily convinced that she was not of Gaia. But in the end, they all believed that Kasumi was like Luxaria - not from Gaia. Kasumi helped Tifa and Lux with washing dishes and putting them away; it was while doing so that Tifa offered Kasumi a job. Tifa also learned that Kasumi could sing as well as cook and clean, but Kasumi ended up telling her she needed some time to think and figure some things out.

Marlene, Barret's daughter, seemed to follow Kasumi around when she wasn't behind the bar, it was almost like watching a mother duck and her duckling or rather a mother cat and her kit, and asked her as many questions as she could. Denzel was not as outgoing as Marlene and stuck around Cloud and the others, but he did help Kasumi with putting up the dishes and they talked a bit; at one point, she got Denzel to blush and, at another point, to laugh.

Before anyone knew it, it was time for Kasumi and Cid to leave. It was as Cid and Kasumi were saying their farewells that Kasumi realized some things that she had noted throughout the time she had spent with the group. One, Cid and Lux liked each other and Cid didn't really realize that he was head over heels for the princess. Two, Reno liked Cloud - Reno wanted to be with the blond hero but Cloud seemed to not care… although, Kasumi thought she had seen him blush when Reno's hand had brushed his. And the third thing Kasumi noticed was that Tifa and Yuffie liked each other – the little looks, the blushes when their hands met, the way they quickly looked away when they got caught staring. Kasumi thought it was cute, three different couples that weren't even couples. In Kasumi's opinion, in matters of love, the only thing that mattered was if you were happy; to Kasumi, it didn't matter: race, religion, gender, and whatever else people wanted to throw in there… as long as the people in the relationship were happy. Kasumi was glad to have met the people she only got to see in video games and movies, but her good mood went south with one comment from Cloud.

"Try and take care of yourself, your parents are probably worried about you." While meaning well, Cloud had stepped on a landmine; Kasumi felt like she had been, simultaneously, slapped and punched in the gut. She looked down so that her eyes were hidden from view and spoke too quietly to be heard.

"What?" Tifa asked, leaning forward slightly.

Kasumi suddenly looked up, glared at Cloud, and snapped. "I can take care of myself just fine, thank you very much! As for worrying parents, mine are dead! I've been living without them since I was very young, and I've been living alone, with my cat, since I was seventeen!" Kasumi then turned on her heels and ran out of the bar, leaving without Cid or her guns.

When Cid finally caught up with her, she was halfway to the airship. "Wait up, Spitfire! Spiky didn't mean anythin'; come on back ta the bar."

Kasumi shook her head; she was bent over, hands on her knees, face hidden by her hair, and Cid was sure she was crying. "I… I…" a sob escaped her and she muttered curses that would have made Barret proud. Kasumi's right hand moved from her knee to her thigh and she froze. "My guns…" Her left hand flew to her other thigh – no guns and no holsters – Kasumi suddenly stood up straight, an almost fearful look in her watery eyes. "I've got to get my guns, my inheritance from my Mother." Kasumi looked at Cid and then ran off in the direction of the bar; Cid followed, yelling after her.

Kasumi had gotten about halfway to Seventh Heaven and Cid had yet to catch up. "Where do you think you're going, Kitten?" a man's voice asked from her left, she slowed her run to a stop as she turned to the speaker. The man was tall, taller than Kasumi by about two or three inches; Kasumi vaguely remembered that Vincent was four inches taller than herself and noted that he was taller than this man… not that it was important... The man had a dark tan, a pink and purple Mohawk, and lavender eyes. He was dressed in the typical suit that most Turks wore.

"Who are you calling 'Kitten'?" Kasumi asked; she should have kept going, shouldn't have stopped, shouldn't have acknowledged the Turk, should have listened to her gut, and shouldn't have tossed her better judgment aside.

"You," the man stated before lunging at Kasumi. She dodged to the right, only to feel a surge of electricity rush through her body; a groan escaped her as she turned and hit the source of the pain she felt.

"Bastard," Kasumi growled as the Taser flew into a wall and exploded into a shower of broken parts; the other Turk, the one Kasumi attacked, fell backwards with a cry of pain. Before he landed, Kasumi's foot shot out; it connected with his middle and he was sent flying a few feet and landed painfully on his side. The other Turk had taken this time to come up behind her, hit several pressure points, and attacked her with the electrical ability of the Turks typical weapon: a rod. "Damn, Bastards…" Kasumi said as she fell to the ground and into the world of unconsciousness; she had taken too much damage, after all, a healing person can only take so much more pain.

"You alright, partner?"

"I'll live." The Turk said as he struggled to get to his feet.

"Now, to get her back to Base."

"Right…"