AN: Woof, long chapter.

If Octorawk is still reading, my favorite episode of Cowboy Bebop was always Speak Like a Child. Maybe that has something to do with this chapter, maybe not -_-

"So let me see if I got this straight," said Reno, sitting backwards on his chair, his arms draped over the headrest. "I know a blockhead like me can't exactly grasp all the subtleties of a genius plan like yours, so I got to be absolutely sure. So phase one is the magic paper bird. And phase two is…this."

Tseng sat on the floor of Mr. Fair's living room, his legs crossed underneath him. At four points, forming a perfect square around him, four candles burned in brass holders; the room was otherwise dark. They showed his face in a gentle light, and he looked calm. His hands rested on his knees, and his eyes were shut.

"This isn't part of the plan," he said, quietly. "I just felt like it."

"Well, terrific."

Reno got up, and paced around Tseng, passing Rude where he stood by the window, and Elena, curled up on the sofa. He wrung his hands behind his back.

"Say this letter gets through. Scarlet's doing her thing tomorrow, I bet. What's to say help gets here in time?"

"Something tells me my friend isn't far away. Though he may pretend otherwise, he remains an interested party. He'll want to see this through to the end."

"So…what. He helps us bust out? I bet we could bust out anyway, but once old man Shinra sends half of Soldier after us…"

"Reno," said Tseng, his voice patient. "You talk too much."

"Well fucking excuse me! I don't exactly relish the thought of being executed. I'm only the greatest high-wire acrobat of my generation. Think of the loss to the arts."

"A wise man isn't deceived by appearances."

Reno stopped by the door, and cast a long, jagged shadow across it.

"Oh, is that right?"

"There's an old story in Wu-Tai…" Tseng clenched his eyes slightly, remembering. "The story of a poor farmer. His prized mare gives birth to a beautiful colt. It's a stroke of luck, a present from the gods. But the colt is so spirited, when his eldest son tries to ride, it throws him, and breaks his leg."

"Gee, how uplifting."

"Hang on. The story isn't finished. You see, that autumn, the Emperor declares a levy. All able-bodied young men are to report for military service. But when the Emperor's men come to the poor farmer's house, his son is laid up in bed."

Rude was listening, and smiled a little.

"The war is a terrible one. Half the young men who were called up for service are killed on foreign soil. By the time it's over, the farmer's son's legs have healed, the colt is broken in, and his farm becomes the most prosperous in the district. So, who's to say what was good, and what was bad?"

Elena giggled, in spite of herself.

"Stop laughing!" said Reno. "Listen to this guy. I think I like you better drunk. So you're old, you must be like forty; maybe you're not scared to die, and you trust the gods will pull something out of their ass at the last second. I aint exactly got that luxury."

"You were willing enough to follow me out of that bar."

"Yeah, well…that was different. At least then, we had a chance. When somebody's pointing a gun at you, and you got your own, there's a chance."

"And when a thousand guns are pointed at you, and you have one of your own, there's a chance."

There was a knock on the door. Rude answered. Two MPs stood outside, one much taller than the other.

"We're here to relieve this shift," said the tall one, in a deep voice. "Is the Lieutenant inside?"

A kindly-faced, middle-aged MP, his facemask up, came out of the kitchen.

"I'm Lieutenant Cramer. My men are on patrol."

The newcomer presented his identification, and Kramer, having looked it over, frowned.

"Keating, Veil. How come there are only two of you?"

The shorter MP spoke up, in a young woman's voice: "There's, like, this huge party? Scarlet found all this Gongagan wine the Shinra rep was hoarding, and she's totally opened every barrel. I mean, it's not every day you get the drop on the Turks…no offense, sir," she said to Tseng.

"None taken."

"Anyway, everyone's drunk like skunks. Respectfully, sir, I would get over there before it's all gone."

"You sure about that?" Cramer reached for his transceiver. "I'd better call Kolani…"

The taller MP, in an odd gesture, reached out and put his hand on one side of Cramer's face. In a low, intense voice he said: "There is no need."

Cramer shook his head. "I…guess there's no need, after all. A party. Heh. Alright, I'll head on over; my men could use a break. You two stay out of trouble. Sorry you have to miss out, eh, Tseng?"

"I'm having a fine time here. You enjoy yourself."

Chuckling, Cramer went out, shutting the door behind him. For a minute, as his footsteps receded, everyone in the room went completely still.

"If this shit is what I think it is," said Reno, finally, "you have got to be kidding me."

The shorter MP walked up to him. She peered intently into his face. Then she slapped him.

"Okay," he said, rubbing his cheek, "I guess I had that coming."

"You guess, huh! Well take that!" She slapped him with her other hand, then kicked his left shin. He stood like a tailor's dummy. She punched him several times, pulled on his tie, gave a grunt of frustration, and collapsed against him.

"I missed you, little sister," he said. "How you been keeping?"

Yuffie pulled back her facemask. Tears glittered in her eyes, and her face, red-cheeked, looked as if she instead had been slapped.

"C'mere," said Reno.

He pulled her into a reluctant embrace, and she stood, her head nestled against his chest.

"Argh. I can't stand you."

Tseng regarded them with a bemused smile.

"Godo," he said. "I'm sorry to put you to the trouble."

"No trouble." The taller MP put back his mask, revealing a powerful, bearded face, and deep-set eyes. "All you had to do was mention that devil-woman's name."

"You understand the risk to yourself…not to mention your daughter. I'm surprised you didn't deposit her back in Wu-Tai immediately."

"What sort of fool do you take me for? Of course I know the risk. It would be worth much more to get my revenge on that miserable harpy. I should almost thank you…Tseng."

"And I'm sure not letting my dad have all the fun! You mess with a Kisaragi, you mess with the whole clan! I-I can't wait to get my hands on her…I'll throttle her!"

Godo sighed. "I suppose…if I wanted to keep her out of trouble so badly, I never would have let her study ninjutsu. The old arts should be put to rest, for the sake of peace. But I couldn't bring myself not to…when she took to it so ably."

"Did you do the thing," asked Tseng, "where you put the child's ball and the shuriken…"

"Yes, yes, of course I did, as if I needed to. She had that gleam in her eye from the day she was born."

"Enough chit-chat," said Yuffie, and Rude nodded agreement. "Are we gonna do this or what?"

"Do what, exactly?" asked Elena, nervously.

Tseng got to his feet, and all eyes in the room fell on him.

"It's a matter of principle," he said. "I won't be arrested for treason I barely committed. Where's the fun in that? If I do the time…"

"…might as well do the crime," Reno finished, smirking.

"Correct. Now with his consent, Godo will take the Heaven Stone, and reforge it in the Gongaga reactor. That should make Scarlet a bit more amenable to negotiation. Hopefully we can come to a solution that pleases everyone…Scarlet, perhaps, least of all."

"What's to stop him from crossing us?" asked Reno, and wilted when Elena glared at him. "Wha-at! Just sayin'."

"No, the point is well-taken. But I trust Godo's word."

Godo nodded, his large jaw set. "You have it. You endangered yourself by giving your word to me. This is the least I can do to repay you."

"Then it's settled…"

But Yuffie sprang into their midst, holding out her arms. "Hang on a sec! Yours truly has a better idea, ladies and gents."

"Oh yeah?" said Reno. "Let's hear it, sprout."

"Dad?" she said, a bit sheepishly. "Sorry, but…you're kind of a war criminal. Sure, maybe Shinra let it slide til now, but they catch you inside that reactor, and they'll fry you for sure! I'm not gonna let that happen."

"Hmm. What do you propose instead?"

"Let me go…"

"Never."

"Hang on, lemme finish! There's two people here with the least to lose. Nobody knows who the heck I am, and I'd get tried as a minor…a thief knows the laws, okay?" she added, when Tseng raised an eyebrow. "Then there's Red here. He's not even a Turk. What's he got to lose? He couldn't possibly end up worse than he was before."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, jerkball, it's better than you deserve.-Anyway, then there's one of you, and one of us. It's safer. You totally saw him, like, completely and utterly betray me and break my maiden's heart and everything; there's no way we're still in cahoots. How is that not the perfect plan?"

Tseng was nodding slowly, rubbing his chin. "Quick thinking, young lady. However. One element of this plan gives me pause. Namely that if you two weren't such world-class fuck-ups, you'd still have the stone in the first place."

"Oh, that is so not fair!"

"She's right," said Reno, "we had the damn thing, and if I hadn't been dumb enough to trust you, this Scarlet bitch wouldn't have it now."

"The Rat King would have murdered both of you!"

"Like he almost murdered you before I saved your ass, brother?"

"Guys," Elena pleaded, "this is no time for a penis-measuring contest, we have to work together!" Then she blushed and covered her mouth. "I-I'm sorry, sir."

"Stay out of this, Blondie. Come on, Tseng, whip it out.-Metaphorically speaking. I want to see what you've got. You still don't trust me? Then say it to my face."

Yuffie put her hands over her ears. "Shut up! Shut up! Now if any of you sorry-ass, so-called grown-ups has a better plan than my awesome plan, spit it out already! Huh!" She glanced fiercely around. Rude dropped his eyes, while Elena looked discreetly elsewhere.

"Very well," said Tseng. "Godo?"

Godo put both hands on his daughter's shoulders.

"Yuffie," he said. "You are the last descendant of the shinobi. If anything should happen to you, it would be the end of the shinobi…but I suppose, if I held you back forever, it would be the end of the shinobi as well. To discharge that duty for which…"

"Oh for crying out loud," she said, "just say you love me!"

"I…I."

She gave an exasperated huff, threw her arms around him, and squeezed hard. Then she turned to Reno.

"Alright, traitor-boy, let's go."

"Before the Lieutenant gets back," Rude agreed.

"Oh," said Yuffie, "I wasn't making that up about the party. It's totes for real. I should know, we made sure Scarlet found that stuff ourselves. He won't back for a lo-ong time."

In a way, Reno reflected, not much had changed. Now, as so often in his life, he found himself standing behind a building, smoking, and waiting. Conveniently, there was a drain pipe situated at shoulder-level into which he blew the smoke. Rude had taught him a useful trick as well: field-stripping his cigarettes, removing the filter from the butt to render them less conspicuous. The risk was moderate; drunken soldiers wandered the streets, unpredictable, but less than alert. Several times he had to duck behind a rain barrel.

The window behind him stood slightly ajar, and a perfect hole had been cut in the glass. After he had been waiting for some twenty minutes, three soft taps sounded against the pane, and he stepped back. Yuffie shimmed out, sleek and quick as a weasel; he helped her down. When she got to her feet, he saw she was clutching a familiar-looking briefcase to her chest, and grinning like a maniac.

They dashed across the street, then on into the cover of the dense forest.

"Any trouble?" whispered Reno.

"Zilch. Ol' Meanie McHo-bag was sleepin' like an evil baby. Cripes, I'm surprised you couldn't smell her wine-breath from outside."

"I'm guessing you didn't throttle her?"

"Well…nah. Unnecessary risks, right?"

"Y'know, you're really bad at following through on your promises to kill people."

"Shyeah, well, you oughta be glad for that…!"

They were both giddy, smiling, on the verge of breaking out in laughter. Reno ushered her further into the trees. They came into a clearing, and when the moon fell suddenly on Yuffie's face, he stopped, and squinted at it.

"Shiva's tits. Did you put on lipstick while you were in there?"

She twisted her head. "S-so what if I did? She had like fifty tubes of the stuff, all, like, the exact same color. I…got curious."

"Yeesh, I'm starting to think Tseng was right about you. Screwy as a barnyard rabbit. Come on, it's a hike to that reactor…"

But as he walked off, Yuffie remained stationary, cradling the case. He looked at her turned back.

"What gives?"

"Hey, Red," she said softly. "You know…you really hurt me."

Reno scratched the back of his neck. "I think we established that. Like I said. I thought…"

"It was best for me, yeah, yeah. But y'know what? I believe you. That's what sucks."

"What d'you mean?"

"Because my special guy still thinks I'm just a kid."

"Whoah!" Reno threw up his hands. "Slow down, sister! You'd better be joking, cause that sure came the hell out of nowhere!"

"Did it?" Her voice was very small now. "I feel safe…when I'm with you. And like I'm always having fun. I guess I was pretty dumb to think you felt the same way."

"Well…ah…hell, I'm…flattered and all, I guess, but…after you calling me sleazebag eight billion times, need I state I'm really not into kids? No offense, little sister, but to you, the term jailbait does not even apply."

Yuffie sniffed. He darted back to her.

"I-I'm sorry! That came out wrong. Still…whatever you think you feel, it's the heat of the moment, alright? I assure you. Hell, I wouldn't wish falling for a guy like me on my worst enemy…"

"I was even thinking about marrying you. Like, do you know how rich I'll be when I hit twenty-one? You'd have to be a pretty big sap to turn that down."

"It's not about that…"

"Red," said Yuffie, turning. "Hold still for a sec, okay?"

He had no chance. She rose on tiptoes, planted the fingertips of one hand on his chest, kissed him delicately, and darted her tongue into his mouth.

Reno staggered back, putting the back of his hand to his lips.

She grinned at him. "Well? How was that?"

"I must be a pedo. I do feel something. What the hell is this?"

"I have that effect on guys."

"My…head feels light. Now there's two of you."

"Why don't you lie down," said Yuffie, solicitously, "and have a little rest."

Comprehension dawned in Reno's eyes, and he lunged at her, but she ducked easily out of the way and he fell full-out, facedown in the dirt. Scrabbling upright he mumbled:

"Why you little…!"

But his voice was slurred. Yuffie reached out one toe, and pushed him gently back. Then she got out a white handkerchief, dabbed at her lips, and tossed it away.

"Sleep tight, loverboy," she whispered, smiling sweetly down at him. "I guess you're right. I'm a little young to be thinking 'bout getting married. 'Sides…I can't be tied down. I still got work to do. Nyuk, nyuk."

Two guards blocked the path to the Shinra Number Fourteen Reactor, its silver towers rising above the treetops, a fairy tale castle to match the village of Gongaga. Tseng, Godo, Rude and Reno, the last looking groggy and much the worse for wear, ran full tilt up the path, and the guards instinctively leveled their guns.

"Sir!" yelped one, in surprise and confusion.

"Stand down," yelled Tseng, "we're in a state of emergency!"

"Y-you can't enter. We're at yellow alert, there's a suspected intruder…"

"That's why you need to let us in!"

"I apologize, but…"

Tseng looked into his eyes. "Soldier. Listen to me. I understand. With orders flying around, it can be hard to know whom to trust. But allow me to put it this way. Do you, on this night of your life, in this situation, want to fuck with me? Do you honestly want to?"

The guard trembled and looked down. "No, sir, I don't want that."

"Then get out of my way."

They stepped aside, and the Turks ran past.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot," Godo was muttering to himself.

"I'll say!" Tseng called back. "Twenty minutes inside the reactor core, and it's irreversible mako poisoning!"

"Gods damn you, Tseng, don't tell me my daughter is dead!"

"That's our best case scenario! If she isn't, the rest of us will be! She can't control those monsters. She'll wipe Gongaga off the face of the earth."

The inner chamber of the Gongaga reactor resembled the sanctum of a church. It was a tall, slender, silver-coated shaft, tubes and wires gracefully climbing its walls like celestial vines. Above, it shot up to the starry night sky, ringing it in a perfect halo. From beneath, the warm, vital glow of pure mako rose, the lifeblood of the planet. In the middle of that tableaux, on a circular platform of metal latticework tinted silver and green, a girl knelt as if in prayer.

Yuffie hugged the briefcase. She was knocked senseless at her own stupidity. She had carried it all this way, and only now, at the threshold of her dreams, remembered she had no idea how to open it.

Pressing her face against it, she whispered: "Wake up. Please."

There was no answer.

"'takku," she went on, plaintively, rubbing her warm cheek on the cold plastic. "Oi, kimira. Sono osoroshii kamigami nante na. Kikoenee janeeka. Atashi no you na yamato nadeshiko na no ni."

The case trembled, and she dropped it in shock. A little smoke curled from its seam. It was beginning to glow red.

Tseng hurtled into the chamber, tripped, and fell painfully on both knees. Rude ran past him, putting up his rifle. Reno made it a step further, caught himself, and fell backwards.

"Yuffie!" Tseng yelled. "Stop!"

The tiny girl stood at the edge of the platform, her back to them. The brilliant pool of mako seethed underneath her, spitting, licking the walls. She was enveloped in a scarlet blaze, crackling energy that moved over her body like dozens of fireballs.

"Sorry, gramps," she said, calm, soft, and deliberate. "Nothing doing."

"Please…" Tseng crawled forward, a look of horrible intensity on his face. "I, Black Tseng, never begged a man for anything in my life. But I'm begging you now, Yuffie. On my knees. Don't do what you're about to do. You'll kill us all…Shinra will move on Wu-Tai…the war will start over again. Everything we've worked for…"

"Yuffie!" called Godo. "Put that thing down this instant, and cease this foolishness! You are not the girl I raised! By all that's sacred…"

"Put a sock in it, daddy." Now she turned, and even Rude drew back. Her face, behind its mask of blood-red light, had an intensity of purpose that outmatched Tseng's. Her skin looked completely white, like a statue's; her eyes were dark pits. "I'm doing this for us. Even you, Oath-breaker. I'm doing what none of you had the guts to do!"

"Little sister, for the planet's sake! I'll marry you seven times over, I swear! You heard the man, you'll blow us all to hell!"

"They won't hurt me. They won't hurt you, either, if you're good. Don't worry, Red. Everything's gonna be okay."

She lifted the shimmering jewel, now complete, above her head. Its glow was as powerful as that of the mako beneath them.

Then there was a great clatter of footsteps behind Tseng, and he twisted around.

Scarlet entered, wrapped in a white bathrobe, her hair hanging crazily loose, and her unmade-up eyes staring. Groggily she yelled:

"Kolani, arrest…re-arrest these traitors!"

MPs surrounded her, and Kolani, alert but steady, appeared at her side.

"What's that in her hand," said an MP, aiming his gun, "a bomb?"

"Don't be an idiot, it's the stone we're after."

"Drop it, girlie! We'll blow you the fuck away!"

"Nobody provoke her," barked Kolani.

"That's right," said Yuffie, luxuriating in the energy that now seemed to be pouring down from her hand. "Stay back. I drop this, and boom, the whole reactor goes up. Scarlet? I'm glad you came. I want you to see this. Hear me, gods of Wu-Tai! Blue Dragon! White Tiger! Red Bird! Black Tortoise. I, Yuffie Kisaragi, daughter of Godo, invoke your names! Dete ko-i!"

"Let me take the shot," Rude whispered. "It's better we should die."

Tseng shook his head.

Then the stone blazed, if possible, brighter still.

"Hear me, gods of Wu-Tai! I invoke your…h-hey! Hey, what gives!"

The Heaven Stone rose slowly up into the air, even as she snatched at it. The glow left her body, coalescing around the stone. It hung in the air above them.

"No fair!" she screamed. "What, I'm not good enough? Huh?"

Tseng, as if remembering some long-forgotten instinct, very gradually reached out both hands.

Scarlet shook Kolani. "Get him! Now!"

"Ma'am…"

The stone fell. Tseng's hands closed around it.

Rude moved to protect him, brandishing the rifle. Scarlet tore at her hair. Reno shut his eyes. Kolani took one step back.

There was an expression of innocent wonder on Tseng's face. He might have aged backwards twenty years. He peered into the stone, at the intricate patterns of light and smoke inside, and something began to appear.

Godo moved and knelt across from him. Then Yuffie joined them. Together, they waited.

"What's coming to them is coming to you and your whole family," Scarlet hissed at Kolani.

"Ma'am, if something is coming out of that rock, I suggest every person in this room take the opportunity to make peace with their gods."

Then a voice filled the room. It echoed from below, from above, bouncing off the sensitive walls.

"Little children, if you can hear me, the war has been lost."

A face had appeared within the Heaven Stone. It was an old man, bald, with bushy white eyebrows, and an expression of pained compassion.

"Master Qan," whispered Godo.

Tseng's mouth hung open.

The voice drew breath, before continuing:

"Little children, forgive me. I have deceived you. I told you this stone was a weapon, one mighty enough to sunder the ranks of the Shinra, slay their commanders, and blow their fleets back to foreign shores. But how could such a weapon exist? No power exists in this world unused. The greed and hatred of men forbid it. No. This stone is my gift to you. It contains my words, that I could not speak while I lived, for I would have been put to death for sedition. And a true word is more powerful than any weapon, the tongue that speaks it, sharper than any sword."

Godo began to cry. The tears rolled down his motionless face, caught in his beard, and dripped onto the metal grate; but he made no sound. Tseng's face, as usual, was expressionless.

"Little children, recall to your minds the words of the sage: Weapons are the tools of bloodshed; all decent men detest them. Weapons are the tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity, and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint. He enters a battle gravely, and with sorrow, as if he were attending a funeral. I did not train you to be weapons. I trained you to be at peace with yourselves. You were the strength and mainstay of Wu-Tai, and your spirits sustained us all. But times grew dark. The god of war ransacked the land, and scattered men and women like grass. Please heed my words. Do not fight any longer. Surrender to the Shinra. The Emperor says that his soldiers will never die, but he lies. Only a man of pure and true spirit will never taste death, and such a man will not throw away his life, or the lives of others, needlessly. Little children, it was the crowning jewel of my long life to know you, and to have taught you, and I love you more than language has the power to express. Little children, I beg you…live."

The face vanished. The stone went dim.

Godo collapsed forward, throwing his arms over his head. Yuffie clung to him. Tseng got up, and handed the stone to Rude.

"Let's get out of here. I feel ill. It may already be too late."

Scarlet screamed incoherently and threw herself at them. Tseng reached for her, but Kolani, spasming with confused loyalties, held him back. She grappled Rude; the stone bounced out of his hand, and off Godo's prostrate back. Yuffie reached out; it slipped through her small fingers and struck the grate. Tseng and Kolani tripped over each other. Godo, Yuffie, Scarlet and Rude all crawled after the rolling stone; Rude's fingertips brushed it, but Scarlet clawed at his face. Yuffie scrambled over him, and reached with all her might, but her arms were too short. The stone vanished with a faint scraping noise over the edge of the grate.

Everyone present froze stiff, in their ridiculous attitudes. They appeared to be playing some schoolyard game. A second later there came a quiet splash.

"Run," said Tseng.

The MPs were first out the door. Then klaxons sounded, unbearably loud, red light strobed from the hallway, and a grating, mechanical voice blared:

"Warning. Warning. Energy levels exceeding parameters. Full meltdown immanent. All personnel evacuate immediately. Repeat, all personnel evacuate immediately. Warning. Energy levels exceeding parameters. Full meltdown immanent. All personnel evacuate immediately…"

Rude scooped Yuffie up in his arms and ran, Reno and Godo followed. Scarlet stumbled, and Tseng, in an unconscious gesture he would later have many occasions to regret, caught her arm. Kolani brought up the rear, and for once, finally, no one was chasing anyone, but all were running together, as fast as their legs would carry them.

AN: For references' sake, the words of the sage in chapter one are from Zhuangzi, while those in this chapter are from the Tao Te Ching.

Message me if you want a translation of what Yuffie says; I wanted that line, but I don't know, it's so short, it seemed kind of pretentious to include the translation.