A/N: Now we're getting started on the list! And there's going to be tons of fighting here…Do read and review would you kindly? And also, I'm still taking suggestions for girl names, so feel free to add more suggestions would you kindly?
Time until Vincent's life expires: 17 days, 5 months…
Vincent looked out the window at the trees as they passed by from his seat in the car. Yuffie sat next to him with sleep ruling over her. It was done! Finally, all their paperwork was done, and so now they can get started on their bucket lists. Vincent's will was ready, and Yuffie checked on the baby. Now they were going to do something on Vincent's list to mark their stay…they were going to find Vincent's old home, hopefully it remained right where it was. Their first destination would be taking them to Old Wutai—it would be in this district where many of the older generation would stay: grandparents would be visited by their children, and traditionalists would practice the old traditions to their heart's content despite the law that they could practice all they like as long as it didn't go too far.
"What do you think we should name the baby?"
As she murmured that sentence, Vincent began to wonder…what sort of name should he be giving to their soon-to-come daughter? Of course he had several ideas, but at the same time he was curious. "I have a few names on mind, but I'd like to hear your ideas first."
"I say Michiko, after my mother."
"True, but my father had always wanted a daughter named Alexandra or Emmiliene."
"Good choice Mr. Valentine, but what about Victoria?"
"No…I never really agreed with that name, thank Leviathan that my father never even considered that name, and for not making me a girl…otherwise, you would be married to Victoria Valentine. How about Nozomi?"
"You're naming our baby girl 'hope'?"
"What have we other than hope that she becomes a very healthy little girl?" It was then that Vincent put his head near the bulge in Yuffie's stomach. "What hope do we have indeed? Your mother hopes you'll be like her. I just hope that you grow up to be a happy and beautiful little girl…my girl. And although I won't be there for you, you can always hope that I'm watching you from beyond and showing my love for the two of you." Yuffie smiled briefly…it was reassuring to both her and their pretty little girl. It was then that she fell asleep holding Vincent's head to her belly…
Flashback, roughly 1.85 years ago…
Yuffie had finally reached the top of the pagoda panting as she walked away from the steps. The entire room was large, enough to accommodate something of a small battle…this was the moment that she had been waiting for. Her ascendance to the throne was nigh—the future of Wutai depended on her taking power and implementing the changes and reforms that she would be able to put into practice. Nobody was going to stop her…and Vincent stood by to watch over her and pay witness to the upcoming battle.
Godo was sitting near the balcony of the top tier of the pagoda. He was watching the view of the empire that his ancestors had forged from his perch—his eyes were focused upon the city and empire of Wutai. "So many years of our rule, and the people had always supported our family to lead them through thick and through thin. We've come a long way from our origins within the independent tribes even coming to blows with them once in a while…and now it seems time for change to start once again."
"Dad, are you sure about this?"
Godo did not even turn to face his daughter, but everyone in the room could tell that he was very apprehensive about the situation. "Yes, I am sure. The only way for you to take the throne by law is to defeat me in combat. If you don't defeat me, then there's no coming back—had you come sooner, you would have plenty of opportunity to try again, but now that you're at your age now, this is a one-shot deal. If you fail, then you are no longer able to take the crown as you would be exiled and then your next-eldest cousin will be trained to take this up. Are you prepared to lose everything for your beliefs Yuffie?"
She looked back into the past…Wutai had become a mockery of its former self. The natives of the once-glorious city were cowed to the whims of foreigners…the economy was dependent on tourism to survive after Shin-Ra confiscated all their materia and sapped their land of mako. Yuffie had seen the many people of her home dressed in rags and being malnourished. Casinos and brothels had run rampant, and the yakuza ruled the streets with an iron fist—though a good number of them loved the royal family too much to lay a finger on them, the others became gangsters only for the profits. Wutai was crying to her daughter for help—she was counting on Yuffie to do something…she was counting on her to clean up her streets of crime and corruption…and most of all, she was counting on her to bring her people to a brighter future. And most of all, she saw the look of despair in the other guardians of the pagoda before she faced each one…and the look of hope washing over them when she defeated them.
Once she had glanced back into the past, once she had seen why she had to take power, there was no longer any hesitation in Yuffie's eyes—she was resolute in what she had to do…Vincent stood by and watched as Yuffie faced her father eye-to-eye while tightening her grip around Conformer. "I'm ready."
It was then that Godo bent over to reach in front of him; and from then on, Vincent knew what it was that his old friend had picked up. In one hand, he carried a shakujo with a solid steel shaft and in the other was an ornate katana…this would be a difficult fight indeed—from what he had heard, Godo's tutelage under the yamabushi of Mt. Da Chao had taught him many things which included a mastery in martial arts in addition to philosophy and politics, and it showed itself in how Godo approached the battle: he charged in at the speed of lightning, starting the battle by slamming the ring-laden tip of his shakujo at Yuffie who dodged the thrust and ducked under the inward swing of the katana and jumping over the second outward slash and side-stepping the downwards slam of the shakujo.
Yuffie countered by swinging Conformer downwards in an attempt to smash Godo under the ring before she pulled the shuriken out of the wooden floor and dodge a outwards cross slash and countering with a straight kick to his face and using his body as a springboard to jump backward while throwing the shuriken at his head. Conformer missed its target, but Yuffie's skill with the massive shuriken guaranteed that it rebounded back and into her hand the second that Godo rolled backwards—as soon as he regained his ground, Godo smirked as he clapped his hands together, and allowed a golden aura to surround him and a bright flash filled the room before revealing what it was in the light: Godo had become the three-faced avatar of Da Chao. His six arms were poised and ready to attack with a sword in each hand. Yuffie blocked the first attack with Conformer, and then found herself working extra hard to dodge each subsequent slash. When dealing with a master swordsman like Godo when he is transformed into the avatar of Da Chao, it is an extremely difficult fight as every movement of an asura is like a dance, and the three faces give a complete 360-degree view all around.
The first move was to jump back even further, from Godo, granting even more distance, and then charging in while dragging Conformer along the ground before jumping into the air for a flying uppercut and successfully knocking away two of the six scimitars in Godo's hands—with that done, the "Greased Lightning" attack was finished only for Yuffie to have to shift her weight mid-air to barely dodge a sideways swing from one of Godo's swords shortly after he dodged the attack, and then rolling away as he brought two of his scimitars up and brought them both down to stab her with an underhanded grip the second she landed and then pulling out both swords from the ground to twirl in the air like a top and successfully cutting her three times. It was fortunate that Yuffie had managed to get into a cartwheel just in time, otherwise she would have ended up chopped into four pieces like that log she used to substitute for herself. With that, she meditated, and focused her inner power towards healing herself using "Clear Tranquil", reducing the flesh wounds on her abdominal muscles to mere scratches on her skin. As she caught her breath, she noted that Godo's six arms were flailing around gracefully as if to prepare for the next few steps while he stood there balancing on the ball of his foot…it would appear that mass area effect damage may be needed…with that, she jumped into the air, and landed on the ground, performing the attack known as Landscraper, causing the ground to shake while a miniature earthquake shook the entire tier of the pagoda—but the avatar of Da Chao was not to be discouraged by the imbalance caused by a quake; he slowly and gently twirled around with the grace of a ballerina on each foot, never losing a second of balance as he danced his way around the earthquake, and finishing off by making three cross-slashes at Yuffie in an attempt to slice her into pieces—that was before she jumped backwards and countered by throwing an exploding Gauntlet bomb in mid-air.
The second she landed, Yuffie paused to inspect the results of her attack…surely that should have been enough to do the job, but once the smoke cleared up, she saw the remains of her bomb, on the ground, with hardly a dent on Godo…damn! Before she could react, Godo charged on in and stabbed all six of his swords into a wooden dummy…that was close! Too close! As Yuffie looked on at her opponent, she began to ask herself 'What am I doing wrong?' It was then that she noted in between her tired breaths that of the attacks she used against Godo so far, the only attack that he even bothered blocking was Greased Lightning, while it was no effort at all to dance his way around Landscraper and be able to take Gauntlet. She smiled as she realized that she had an edge after all! With that, she charged her opponent, and performed Bloodfest…Godo had very little trouble to block each strike before Yuffie finally landed an extremely heavy hit that caused him to stagger, and then she followed through with another heavy swing that actually knocked him back, and opened up a cut on his chest.
Yuffie could not help but smirk in her moment of victory. "You may be the avatar of the great Da Chao, but even you can't seem to keep up with speed now can you?" Her sense of smug satisfaction didn't last long as she saw that all three of Godo's faces had smiled…something was wrong. By the time she realized it, it was too late; she felt six swords penetrate her skin. The six blades all dug themselves into a subclavian artery, a jugular vein, a lung, her heart, a kidney, and her stomach at the same time—her last view was an image of Godo fading away, and becoming a log…
Present Day…
Yuffie woke up with a start when she heard the car stop. "My lady and General, we have arrived at Old Wutai." Now would be the time that they would begin the search for Vincent's old home…since they're going to get started on the list, they may as well pay respects to his mother first. Ichigo opened the door, and allowed both the husband and wife to come out of the car—taking care to get Vincent into his wheelchair before anything else.
"I'll be waiting for the two of you here."
"Thank-you Ichigo." With that, Yuffie began to wheel her husband throughout the town. The architecture throughout that part of the city was mostly traditional buildings that have been untouched by the hand of time. Some of the buildings had fading paint though, but that was the beauty of the old style Wutainese buildings—with them, you were able to look into the past and see what the architects of old did to make them successful…such was the art of architecture. As they walked through the streets of Old Wutai, many of the citizens bowed their heads down in respect for the empress as she wheeled Vincent around.
"Which way Vince?"
"Let's head for Ocean Star. I think I'll have a better reference point as we get closer."
The two of them made their way to the restaurant. It's been a good half-hour walk, but at least they got there. On the way, it would appear that Vincent's sense of nostalgia had come—oh he remembered several of the buildings. He remembered "Chu's Noodle House", and a particular building that caught his eye: "Byakko Shinryoujou". It was from there that Vincent asked for Yuffie to stop.
"I remember this place well," he said as he turned to face the building. It was old and shabby, and apparently, there were a line of people waiting as well—apparently it was still treating patients with Traditional Wutainese Medicine. "This place is where everything started…this is where the rivalry of Li Xiao Long Nu and Zangan Gorobei began…actually, I am probably the closest witness to their rivalry, if it was in fact a rivalry at all."
It came as no surprise to Yuffie that Vincent knew of this—everyone in Wutai knew of the rivalry between the two martial artists. Zangan Gorobei, father of Tifa's master Zangan Mitchell, headed the Wutainese "Four Emperors" at one point…prior to that, they were known as the "Three Kings of Martial Arts", and after the day that Vincent spoke of, they unofficially became the "Four Emperors" in the eyes of the public.
"It was on a bright and sunny day like this. My mother had received a complaint in the clinic from the Three Kings a few days prior that she needed to go through a martial arts trial with the 'Three Kings' testing her in front of a board of five elders and earning a certificate to be teaching martial arts. It was a great battle—the best fight I've ever seen my mother take part in yet.
"The fight was set up in this particular clinic while Zangan had no patients to treat. He took out a large round table he normally reserved for guests, and set it up dead-center in the middle of the dojo—and surrounded it with stools turned upside-down and placed in such a manner that their legs were all in an equal distance away from each other. She leapt onto the table gracefully and waited for her opponents…her first victim underestimated her for being a woman—a mistake that Manten Hiroyasu would never forget as she danced around all his attacks and countered by attacking all his acupuncture meridians…she never took a single hit while Manten's Iron Shirt training was penetrated as she found all the chinks in his armor: she timed all her attacks with his and targeted the acupuncture meridians located in his joints while he was in the middle of an attack. Her next opponent was Suigetsu Ueda—he took what he learned from Manten's battle, and put up a slightly better fight but even he was out-danced by my mother. And then came the ultimate fight…Zangan Gorobei and Li Xiao Long Nu. Their battle was by far the longest fight I've ever seen, and certainly the greatest…Zangan was the strongest and most well-balanced of the three masters, but what set him apart from them was that he was the eldest—he was not as strong as he was in his prime, that I could tell, but what he lacked in brute strength then, he more than compensated for with his newly-found strength in fighting smart. The match ended half an hour later, winding up with a destroyed table, and both of them fighting on legs of the stools—I'll never forget the way it ended: the two of them were panting for breath, and that was the first time I ever saw my mother sweat in martial arts, and both knew that their stamina would not last. And so they both leaped at each other with tremendous force, blocking and countering each other until Zangan finally managed to catch my mother in a single-handed chokehold, while she threatened a point on his throat that would have paralyzed his entire body, thus ending the match in a draw.
"After the match, the certificate was written up, but my mother refused it—saying that the martial arts were simply a way of meditation and communication, and that one should not require a certificate to be teaching. And so the rivalry began, between the students of my mother's and that of Zangan's dojo…it took the police to break it up when it threatened to break into a riot. I was there when my mother went to see Zangan about the rude and disrespectful conduct of his students, and how many of the younger students kept harassing me with rocks from afar, and calling me various names I shall not repeat. I suppose that that was the last straw because on that day, he questioned his students about the validity of my mother's claims and threatened that physical trauma would be the least of their worries should such conduct continue, as he had threatened them all with expulsion from the dojo."
Yuffie grew up on tales of the Martial Forest—she knew what it meant to be expelled from the dojo. In normal society, expulsion from school is never a good thing to have on your record but at least you can keep it private and save yourself at least a little bit of dignity; in the Martial Forest it is a fate worse than death as the news of your expulsion from any dojo flies immediately to the top of the rumor mill faster than a gold chocobo on a coffee rush with an extra dose of sugar and hyped up on too many shots of epinephrine, and the poor fools that get expelled are treated as a worse outcast than the bastard child of a well-known whore (thankfully the rest of their family is spared). "Since then, the only things I've ever received were glares from Zangan's students—Manten and Suigetsu's respective students, were a rocky relationship at best. I didn't meet Zangan Mitchell until him and his father met my mother while she was supervising her students outside. As the two of us drilled near the other students, I saw something of a rapport between them—at first, I thought they were just becoming nice to each other, but Zangan and his son visited us often, and we them, and I believed that they were good friends and rivals and nothing more. I never realized the true extent of their relationship until my mother died, when Gorobei attended her funeral and cried tears not reserved for a friend, but for a lover. When I moved, I never saw Mitchell again until he transferred to Mideel High as a sophomore when Zangan Gorobei died nearly five years later—after that, everything is history."
"And history it is," said a voice from behind them "it seems that we've all made history in one aspect or another since we last met." Yuffie wheeled around and the two of them were face-to-face with a man with white hairs of old age on his head and beard.
"Mitch, it's been long."
"Likewise Vince."
As Yuffie listened in, she realized that the tone they were using was the sort that would be reserved between old friends.
"So, Vincent, what are you doing here in our homeland?"
"Looking for my mother's clinic, yourself?"
"I'm mostly here to see if there's any new recruits I can find in the clinic. How've you been since your hospitalization?"
"Tifa told you?"
"We keep in contact."
"I'm still coughing now and again, but after I take my medicine, the damage to my lungs is reduced."
"I can't believe it…I finally get a chance to meet you again, and you're dying. It's just not fair."
"Life never is my friend. Although it was good to see you again…right now, I'm heading to my old home."
"Well then I may as well travel with you…it's been a while since I last visited my father's grave anyway, and so maybe it's time to pay him a visit."
The three people moved from that point towards their destination; Vincent knew that if they had come across the "Byakko Shinryoujou", then his mother's clinic is directly east of here…
Flashback, roughly 1.85 years ago…
This was the end of the line…she was going to die…she felt a sort of electricity going up to her brain as it became harder to breathe—no doubt it was the blood loss from getting stabbed in six kill zones doing this to her. Her vision began to blur—and then she started seeing white…and feeling herself falling. As she lingered, she saw a pair of the prettiest green eyes she'd ever laid eyes on—she knew only one person with eyes like that, but this was not her.
"Don't give up Yuffie."
As she inspected the appearance of this stranger in her mind, she could not help but wonder where she met this woman before. She looked like a woman in her mid-twenties or thirties, and wore a kimono with feather-like patterns and a tiara around her head holding up her silky midnight black hair and on her back was a pair of large fire-colored bird's wings that were spread out into the air. Everything about this woman screamed both 'queen' and 'fire' as her makeup was such that it befitted a Wutainese empress of her status while her clothes gave the idea of things burning up. "Don't give up. There is too much at stake for you to die now…too many lives depend on you taking the crown. And most of all, Vincent is hoping that you'd get out of this alive—he's hoping that you'll return to his arms again. Don't leave him!"
It was from that moment that she was reminded why she needed to stay alive…why she needed to take the throne…because most of Yuffie's other cousins either refused the throne or were dead, the next in line would be the Tsunayoshi family. They were a decadent bunch who cared nothing about the state of Wutai—if they took power, then there would be much suffering inflicted upon the pride and economy of the people. The Tsunayoshi family were practically sell-outs…they'd sell their grandmothers off for a measly 10 gil if it came to that—they were even cheaper than the Kisaragi. The reason they were next in line was because all twelve of the major families within the city were related to the original Kisaragi, and because the Tsunayoshi were the second-oldest family, they would inherit the empire. Next would be the Manten, followed by the Suigetsu, and so on and so forth. If she had to lose now, it would be better if the others were next in line as the Tsunayoshi are currently the bad eggs of the family…but now was not the time to die—Yuffie had a mission, and come hell or high water, she was determined to get it done.
Before she could think anymore on the matter, she felt something race through her body. It jolted her out of her vision and she awoke with the six swords of Da Chao being pulled out of her and feeling a kick to her back that flung her across the room and landing on the floor. Weakened, she started to rise as a white light engulfed her entire being. When the light cleared out, in Yuffie's place stood a being that could only be described as an angel of fire with her characteristics: Her torso was covered in a slightly revealing suit of armor that resembled a one-piece bikini somewhat, her arms were covered with a pair of sleeves that tied to her biceps with feather motifs on them, and on her back was a pair of large and fiery wings that would not be out of place on an eagle. The healthy tan on Yuffie's body was replaced by an otherworldly orange glow was like fire. At the end of the transformation, all the wounds were gone…and it was then that she realized who it was that saved her…it was Phoenix.
Yuffie snapped out of her inspection, and found that her Conformer had become a different weapon: it was now a giant ring with eight fire motifs jutting out of the edge with each flame equidistant from each other, and they each connected to a thick spoke that extended to a smaller ring inside the direct center within the ring's hoop. She recognized the name of the weapon by instinct: Housenkamaru. She then stared down her opponent, and flew into the air with both wings, and dove at Godo swinging her new weapon at him, causing him to block the strike with all six swords—it was too fast to dodge. Before long, the two of them began a deadly dance as Yuffie's wings clashed against Godo's swords as if they were made of steel, in the dance known only as "Death to the Living" as she danced around all of his blades without getting hit herself, but she countered each swing with a small cut, each one gradually getting deeper and deeper before she finished the combo by landing an extremely heavy swing that knocked Godo back, sending him skidding backwards against the floor.
Godo regained his footing and his balance by stabbing all six of his swords into the ground—and stopping him from smashing into another column. By the time it was over, he was breathing heavily from all three faces, and he was bleeding heavily from each cut that Yuffie had inflicted upon him. This was a very difficult battle indeed…before he could pull his swords out of the ground, Godo watched as his daughter started to grab her weapon by one of its spokes, and then raising it above her head such that its face was pointed at his general direction before she lowered it and it was now facing him. The next thing that he noted was that a large amount of ki had collected in the center of the giant shuriken. SHIT! Before long, Godo found himself pulling out all six of his swords, and ducking for cover only to see that he barely dodged the beam of the almighty attack that was taught to all members of the Kisaragi family that managed to defeat the final guardian…in their native tongue, the attack was known as "Shinra Bansho", but to the Westerners, it would literally be translated to "All Creation".
The second that the attack was finished, Godo managed to stand back up and size up his daughter. Yuffie had gotten stronger indeed—there was no doubt in his mind that this was meant to be. With that, he started transforming back to his human form and knelt down in reverie. "I surrender the crown to you, Kisaragi Yuffie…avatar of Phoenix, may the blessings of Leviathan be upon you." With those words said, Yuffie transformed back into her human form, and ran to hug her father with tears of joy falling down her cheeks. Vincent watched the entire exchange—true, he had thought of pulling out Cerberus and shooting his friend during the duel if necessary, but the second that Yuffie had started to transform, he realized that the fight was not over yet. He saw for himself that she was strong. He walked on up to the father and daughter, and bowed low.
"I congratulate you, your majesty. May the blessings of Leviathan be with you always." Yuffie simply smiled and picked up her lover so that he could see her face-to-face, and kissed him. There would be a brighter future for Wutai now that Yuffie is in power…
Present
It took an hour on foot to reach the place, but the three of them made it…it was the Qinglong Clinic. The entire compound was an old mansion when Vincent's mother moved in, but she made full use of the building. The outer courtyard served as a dojo for her students, while the interior of the mansion contained the living spaces for her and Vincent, as well as some servants, as well as the patient rooms and an office. Yuffie looked around, and found the knocker for the traditional building—she lifted it, and knocked three times.
It wouldn't be long before someone opened the door—it was an old man possibly in his seventies or eighties. "Can I help you?"
Vincent studied the man, wondering if he knew him from somewhere. His thoughts were broken when Yuffie spoke to him. "Excuse me sir, I wanted to ask about the former residents of this mansion."
"Mansion? Ma'am, I don't know about you, but this is not a mansion for sale."
"Is this how you speak to an empress old man?"
The old man looked carefully at Yuffie. When his face registered shock, he panicked, and cowed his head to the ground. "I'm sorry milady. This is but a humble clinic, and now if you'll excuse me, the doctor has some patients to treat."
It was then that something clicked in Vincent's mind. "Really now? Because I could have sworn I smelled the scent of those siu mai of yours being made in that direction, Matsutaka Gen…you always did enjoy cooking more than you did training."
The old man's eyes widened in surprise and shock upon hearing his name. "How do you know who I am?"
"I remember you steaming those siu mai when I was a child. You served as a cook for my mother because you could not pay for those martial arts instructions in money, and you were indebted to her for that medical operation she performed for your wife a while before that."
Gen's eyes softened as he recognized the man in the wheelchair before him. "Master Vincent?"
"The one and only."
"It's been so long, I've heard of what you did with AVALANCHE by rumor. To think, you helped to save the world three times! Oh, your mother would have been so proud. Come in! Come in!" With that, Yuffie, Zangan, and Vincent entered the walls of the mansion—for Yuffie, it was like walking into a place much more beautiful than the palace, but for Zangan and Vincent, it really brought back memories. "I heard that you became the general for the Military Police and that you married the empress herself. And from what I've seen, she's a most beautiful lady."
"That she is. And I see that you've kept the mansion the way I remember it. Is there a new doctor treating patients in there?"
"Yes, it's Hazama Kuro—I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you again."
Vincent remembered Hazama Kuro indeed as they entered the mansion. He was a student to his mother in martial arts and studied medicine under her—he was a genius in both Traditional Wutainese Medicine and unconventional treatment methods. Although older than Vincent by almost ten years, the two got along very well as friends and almost twenty years Matsutaka's junior.
"I'm curious Master Vincent, what brings you back here?"
Vincent heaved out a heavy sigh…it was going to be a long discussion the second he gets into the mansion…
A/N: And another one gone and another one gone! Another one bites the dust! Two down, five to go on Vincent's list. Perhaps I'll be doing at least one thing on the two lists per chapter neh? In any case, I'm looking to more name suggestions if you can assist—I'll keep taking names until Vincent has 1 month left.
Songs Played:
"Fatal Fight (Jin & Margulis)", Yuki Kajiura—Yuffie vs. Godo
"Merry-go-round of Life", Joe Hisaishi—Yuffie and Vincent stroll around and meet Zangan.
Vocabulary and Culture notes:
Shakujo—this is a Buddhist meditation tool, it takes the form of a stick with a metal ring at one end that is holding a number of smaller metal rings within it; wandering monks use this to warn all little creatures to move aside lest they get stepped on accidentally, and to tell others that there is a monk nearby in need of alms.
Yamabushi—a Shinto ascetic that lives in the mountains practicing "shugendo" which is "the art of being one with nature".
Byakko Shinryoujou—Japanese for "White Tiger Medical Clinic".
Asura—a three-faced demon with six arms; in Buddhist and Hindu teachings about reincarnation, the worst possible fate that could befall you due to an overload of bad karma is to become an asura.
Martial Forest—the literal term for this in Mandarin is "Wulin"…it's a fictional society in Chinese martial arts novels where everyone knows martial arts.
Housenkamaru—this is Japanese for "Phonix Fire", and is a boy's name because of the '-maru' attached to the end.
Shinra Bansho—this is literally how you say "All Creation" in Japanese…an idiom that meant 'everything covered by God' which fits by Buddhist teachings.