Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, xXxValentinexXx, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.
The man looked down at his sleeping daughter. Sorrow nearly overwhelmed him—sorrow for his fate, for Wutai's, a subject kingdom under Shinra, but most especially sorrow for her. With what he was about to do, he hoped to give her back the future he had always planned for himself… for Wutai… and for her.
"Yuffie… My dear, come with me please." Emperor Godo gently shook her shoulder. "Come on, sweetheart. There's something you have to do tonight."
Yuffie cracked an eyelid at her father, "what is it, Father?" Yuffie rolled onto her back looking up at her father. Alarm suddenly hit her at the worry on his face. "What's going on? Is it Shinra? Have Soldiers come? Are we under attack?!" Yuffie was now scrambling, flinging blankets off the bed, and reaching for the knife under her pillow.
"No… No fighting just yet… though there almost certainly will be soon enough… No, there's something you have to do, and it must be done now. Here, put this on and meet me in the hall as soon as you're dressed," he handed her a dark blue silk gown, elegantly cut, on a hanger.
Yuffie frowned, holding the hanger in one hand, and watched her father leave her room. What was going on?
cccccccccccccccccccc
Joining her father in the hallway, Godo took his daughter's hands and kissed her on both cheeks.
"You look so much like your mother, it makes my heart turn over." The corners of Godo's eyes tightened as if in pain. "Yuffie, I'm sorry to get you out of bed like this, but you're coming with me now to the High Shrine."
"High Shrine? Why? Father, what is going on?" Yuffie raised an eyebrow at the man in front of her. "The High Shrine is for state occasions, and me in a dress… Wait a minute. You've made a decision, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have." Godo paused to take a deep breath. His plans were suddenly becoming very real. "I've decided to declare you the legal heir of Wutai—without that fashion-plate Rufus Shinra's approval." This last was said with a snarl. "Come along." Yuffie could feel the blood rush from her face as her father took her hand and lead her down the hall to a side exit from the palace. They crossed the courtyard sticking to the shadows. No one would be around to see them. No security camera pointed this way. That traitor ingrate, General Tseng, didn't know every corner in the palace. Godo had plans for Tseng, too.
Yuffie's mind was in a whirl. If Father were sending her through the heirship rite tonight, then the Wutai forces would be moving into position shortly (possibly even now), and the rebellion, for which she and every other young Wutainese had trained secretly, would be starting soon. A smirk planted itself on her porcelain features. No more bowing to Shinra or to that pale child-eater, the demon-god, Sephiroth (her mind gave a shudder at the thought of him and his slinky hair). Freedom. Soon.
Her mind slipped back to that last conference between Wutai and Shinra. She had stood at her father's side and listened as Rufus Shinra had denied Godo's request to announce Yuffie's official heirship to the throne of Wutai. With his denial, Shinra had effectively stated that Godo would be the last emperor of Wutai. The demon-god and the traitor had stood at his side reminding all Wutainese of the power of Shinra and Wutai's subservient place in the world. Arg!
Yuffie was uncertain how good an empress she would make, and she didn't intend to be empress for a long time, but she knew if she wasn't proclaimed heir, Wutai, as a country, would cease to exist with the death of her father.
Ccccccccccccccccccccccc
The pair entered the shrine through a little-used side door where they were met by two men. One, the high priest, Dong, Yuffie had known, and detested, her whole life. "Stuffy old windbag… but necessary to the process, I suppose." The other man she supposed to be an acolyte. Old Dong was just that, old—about 85, terminally ill, toothless, with skin like a dry spring roll over his skull and only a few wisps of white hair floating around his head. No wonder he had an acolyte with him.
"Let's get started," Godo said softly to the priest.
"Yes." Dong turned to the girl with a slight bow. "Your highness, your father and I will proceed to the high altar. I will begin with several prayers and an invocation. When you hear the gong, please join us." Yuffie listened to Dong's voice and thought it as wispy as his hair. Godo took the priest's elbow and helped him walk away.
"Congratulations, your highness, on your proclamation," a low-pitched, soft male voice seemed to wrap itself around Yuffie. She started. She had been watching her father walk away and was surprised to find the acolyte still with her.
"I'm sorry. Did you say something?"
"Yes… Congratulations." A hand extended itself toward the girl, and Yuffie for the first time examined the young man beside her. He was a head taller than her and perhaps ten years older dressed in a long coat with the handle of a large sword rising over his shoulder. She could see now that that the coat was dark red, his hair a dark brown, but it was the shine of his eyes that caused Yuffie to step back, realizing her mistake.
"Soldier! No!" Yuffie gasped and turned to run, but the man caught her by her arm.
"Stop, princess, please." He whispered tensely and pulled her back toward him. Not ungently as Yuffie had expected. "I'm not here for Shinra. My name is Genesis Rhapsodos. While I once was a Soldier, I'm here to help your father, and you, in your rebellion." Yuffie turned back to face him with her upper arm still in his grip, but found her hands ached for her weapons. Yuffie took a deep breath. If a Solder were here now at her proclamation, then her father must know about him and have approved. Yuffie's shoulders relaxed slightly, and Genesis, watching the thoughts cross her face, relaxed his grip on her arm, just as slightly. Just as suddenly, the sound of a soft gong reached their ears.
"If you will excuse me, Mr. Rhapsodos, I'm needed at the altar." With that, the girl turned on her heel to climb to the altar with her father and the priest.
"So… that's Princess Yuffie Kisaragi… Hm, Crown Princess Yuffie Kisaragi, I suppose… Empress Yuffie Kisaragi?" With the lift of an eyebrow, Genesis stepped back into the shadows of the shrine, only the speculative gleam of his eyes indicating his location to the three at the altar. "Clearly, my dear, Godo hasn't broken all the news to you yet. 'The mysterious abyss tis the Gift of the Goddess. In pursuit of this gift we take flight. Within the heart's water surface a hopeless wander will flow. Like ripples to waves come forth the dreams below.' Loveless, Chapter 1."