Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

Empress & Concubine, Part II	By : tinkerheck Category: Final Fantasy VII > Het - Male/Female Views: 1723 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII from the Final Fantasy Universe, or any of its forms or related media. I do not own these characters. I spent money to learn about this series, and I make no money in borrowing it.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
++++++++ Please see disclaimer & story notes in chapter one ++++++++
Sorry for the long wait, but such is life. If interested, more info can be found in my DeviantArt journal.
This chappie was a struggle to hammer out. You will find it kinda boring if all you’re looking for is the juicy stuff, but it hadda get done, advancing the plot, all that.
Chapter 3, however, will be up fairly soon as it is nearly done, and it has already earned the M rating several times over… nudge nudge, wink wink, Say. No. More!
BTW, if you want a kinda-sorta alert from me as to when I update this fic, you’ll need a DeviantArt.com account (it’s free). Sign in and find my profile page by searching for ‘tinkerheck’ (my account name). Once there, click on the ‘watch’ button in the upper right hand corner, and be sure to check ‘journals & polls’.
I will post a journal entry every time I post a new chapter (and as far as I know) you will be prompted to check it out when you log into DevianArt.
My thanks to mihoyonagi, who has been of enormous help regarding the black holes in my head where canon is concerned. Her enthusiastic influence is seen, somewhere, someway, in this and just about every chapter, past and future.
I fly beta-less. Please forgive the typos.

+

Empress & Concubine II
Chapter Two

The Summit

+

“Yuffie, slow down,” Vincent urged, gently grasping her upper arm. He pulled her back towards the couch, in an effort to get her out of arm’s reach of her mother’s antique glass bottles on the fireplace’s mantelshelf.
She’d been furious, stomping up to their room with her formal geta clacking loudly on the ancient polished stairs. They’d been on their way to retiring to her room after the tenth and final day of a very public, internationally arbitrated summit, convened to resolve Wutai’s civil unrest.
He knew Yuffie was angry, given that the negotiations hadn’t quite borne out a huge win for Wutai – but she’d avoided a civil war and was able to keep slightly more than the entire northern half of the continent as land belonging to Wutai, so Vincent still felt that the royal house and all who supported it had come out on top. Considering the circumstances, no outcome could have been seen as a victory, but…
He never expected her to throw a tantrum. He was thankful that she’d at least had the presence of mind to wait until they were alone.
Vincent’s back had been to her when he’d locked the door to their suite. He actually started at the loud crash behind him, and discovered just how angry Yuffie was when he turned.
The hand-crafted bamboo wastebasket next to her writing desk had quickly been stomped to death. Blind with rage, Yuffie kicked it, sending it sailing across the room into a lamp. Then she shoved everything on the desk to the floor violently, including a fully-loaded ink well and her royal sealing wax set with it, Great Grandma Naya’s Leviathan stamp included. After she pounded her fists on the ancient desk, she screamed at the top of her lungs and charged towards the mantle… and that’s when Vincent had gone after her.
Yuffie ground out something unintelligible, fighting like hell to get out of his grasp.
“Breaking precious family heirlooms will do you no good,” he hissed, pulling her back with some force and depositing her roughly onto the couch. Vincent loomed above her, arms crossed. “Shall we visit the dojo? It might do you some good.”
“Oh!” she barked, waving a hand at him and looking off to the side, embarrassed. “No! Well – yeah, maybe. I’m just… ashamed of myself, that’s all.”
When it appeared that she was going to cooperate – at least, she probably would while he had her trapped – he dropped to one knee and his voice softened.
“Whatever for? You did well, Yuffie. Wutai did well, we all did. This division was bound to happen one way or the other. Be grateful it happened with so little violence.”
“I know that. I know–”
Yuffie leaned over, palming her face and exhaling. The dojo was still a good idea, but perhaps tomorrow. She was clearly exhausted.
“Then why feel ashamed?” He took her hands from her face and made her look him in the eye. “Yuffie?”
She did look at him for a time, her thoughts clearly painful, before answering him.
“They wanted to leave… So somewhere along the line I must have let them down. Right? I don’t know how, or when. And I’m not talking about him and his fucking military agenda. I’m talking about real, hardworking Wutains. Some of them are even families that are voluntarily splitting up, and that’s the worst part. All the people that are packing their bags, right now as we speak… I let ‘em down, Vinnie.”
She swallowed hard, tears not far off.
“I… failed.”
+
“You have one last request, General Shinshuro?”
Genie Milano, a civilian representative from Edge and owner of the largest clothing manufacturer on Gaia, had addressed Wutai’s former military leader as politely as she could mange, then took a sip of her tea hoping to stave off the laryngitis that was beginning to threaten.
It was the afternoon before Yuffie’s tirade. After a week and a half of long days and very few breaks – asking questions, arguing, and leaving much of Wutai’s future in the hands of outsiders – everyone in attendance was very tired.
Immediately after that fateful council meeting where Ginto Shinshuro announced his intentions to remove the royal house and restructure the political system that Wutai had employed for nearly a millennia, Yuffie had leapt into action. It had taken her just six days to arrange the summit, pulling out every favor she was owed in order to get an impartial panel of arbitrators to come and help them avoid a civil war. Between preparing for the summit itself and overseeing all the details involved in holding such a thing under the very roof that she called home, she was wearing herself out. Godo himself had led their country through a war and many battles, but no leader before Yuffie had gone through anything like this.
Although her staff and supporters had freely given their time and talents to help her as much as they could, she’d gotten very little sleep before the summit even started. Yet, on a steady diet of caffeine, she persevered and held her head high for the entire event, determined to get the very best outcome for her country. All Vincent could do was take in the stunning sight of Yuffie Kisaragi as she knuckled down and behaved like nothing but an Empress for days on end.
He helped her where he was able to while she worked like a maniac to ‘do things properly’ – her own words. Right from the start she had been terrified that the rest of Gaia would not take their situation seriously – or worse, would be disinterested and turn their backs on Wutai – leaving her powerless to stop her country destroying itself from the inside out.
But volunteers from all over were anxious to help and signed up almost instantaneously, reassuring her as to Wutai’s newfound status as an important Planet player. Both she and Shinshuro had to comply with the rules as set up by the arbitration committee; neither of them were to be shown any favor, and both of them had to prove the legitimacy of their conditions and claims.
In the end, Shinshuro had gotten some of the lands that he’d asked for, and Yuffie was able to protect that which was most dear to Wutai. Both sides had to give some things up.
After Nanaki privately expressed his concern to Vincent about Shinshuro wanting to establish his new government so close to the firetail’s own home, Vincent himself came up with the idea that Yuffie plead to the arbitrators to have the southernmost section of the continent declared a neutral area, making it off-limits to all human life – not simply Parties Kisaragi or Shinshuro. Yuffie had a feeling that if she hadn’t taken such a drastic step, the good General would have simply been granted that piece of land as well. He would’ve happily wiped out the entire population of creatures there, just to claim himself another coastline, not to mention frighteningly easy access to Cosmo Canyon.
Some things just shouldn’t be messed with as far as she was concerned, and those shy, formidable creatures were on the list. Better to lose a bit more land than allow Ginto the opportunity to mangle the Planet any further than he was already planning to.
She won that plea. Ginto and his followers were only granted lands in the lower half of Wutai, but he was forbidden to settle in the south where the cave monsters lived, including the crescent-shaped peninsula just off the continent’s tip.
It was no longer a secret that Ginto Shinshuro had made extensive plans to use the middle of the continent for drilling, in the hopes to turn Wutai into a formidable oil supplier for Gaia. He got his wish, obtaining land that the traditional people of Wutai, the agricultural community, had little interest in.
But he still had one fight left, because he wanted to drill under the same name.
Shinshuro cleared his throat and re-arranged the notes on the table in front of him, smug as always as he prepared to give that one last request. “Yes, Miss Milano, I do. As to the designation of our new countries, might I suggest the fair and equal use of the name Wutai, as Northern Wutai and Southern Wu–”
“Forget it,” Yuffie barked into her microphone at her table, interrupting the general. Then she looked around at some of the startled faces in the transformed banquet hall, which included camera operators from every major network on Gaia.
Not one moment of the summit had been held behind closed doors, as per the rules.
She took a breath, checked her attitude, and continued.
“General Shinshuro, respected arbitrators, honored witnesses. I am sure that a long and impassioned speech has been composed outlining an idea for how our soon to be separate countries should refer to themselves. However… please understand that when it comes to the name Wutai, there is nothing for us to share. The name Wutai will only be used for this government. It will only be used for this land. If you want to be referred to as Wutai, then you’ll live in, and obey the laws of, my country. Come up with any name you please, but no matter what you settle on… Wutai, or any reference to her, is absolutely out of the question.”
There was no response.
“I will not capitulate on this,” she added quietly.
+
A peace treaty was signed, and the summit came to an end. All that was left to do was the sad business of registering who was staying in Wutai, and who was leaving.
The interviews were conducted by the summit committee and many more foreign volunteers. Reeve was among the group that handled the military. He registered a young soldier, a woman who was going with Shinshuro. She favored a government that encouraged profit at nearly any cost. She despised ‘dissidents’ such as homosexuals, magic-lovers, and artists, condsidering them to be ‘dangerous’ elements that had destroyed the fabric of Wutai society. It was a typical speech, one that he’d heard too many times that week, delivered by soldiers with clipped voices using nearly the same words each time.
One quarter of the military remained in Wutai – which surprised Yuffie, as she had no idea so many of them still supported her.
A Gold Saucer casino owner was in the group of volunteers recording the wishes of the Arms and Legs. One such interview was with a homemaker and mother of three. She would remain in Wutai, but she and her husband would divorce as he was going with Ginto. She was now faced with running the family farm alone. She knew a difficult life was ahead of her, but it was her family’s farm, and her heart was in Wutai. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Her husband was an exception. Very few of Wutai’s Arms and Legs left.
Similar to that homemaker, more than a handful of couples were getting divorced because of the split. In that instance, the arbitration committee had to make a difficult decision. In the end they decreed if any underage children were involved, they would remain with whichever spouse had chosen to stay in Wutai. This had caused Yuffie more distress than losing real estate, but she accepted that a ruling simply had to made.
Genie Milano spoke to the ninja as a whole. They refused to be interviewed any other way. Not surprisingly, they were all remaining with their Empress.
Tseng and Shera were also volunteers, and they registered the decisions of most of Wutai’s merchants. Most of them remained, their very livelihoods being rooted in the village. Those who left were given settlements at having to leave their shops behind, or in some cases, their shops and their spouses.
The volunteer group that Shelke was in interviewed Father Oleg and the clergy. He was staying, as expected. Only a few of the priests were leaving behind the order, and their vows, in the process.
A Rocket Town volunteer interviewed Shinshuro’s doctor. He was actually on the fence before the summit, but he’d been offered a lucrative position with Ginto, so he decided to go with him in the end. Among Wutai’s professionals – medical personnel, teachers, that sort of ilk – about half of them left.
The council elders broke up exactly as expected – three left, leaving Chekov to hold the reigns. Only two other council members left. The rest remained with Yuffie.
In the end, Yuffie lost almost twenty-three percent of the entire Wutai population to Ginto Shinshuro. It wasn’t a huge amount of people, considering Wutai’s population was not terribly vast to begin with, but she felt every loss like a knife in her heart.
Her continent was now divided, with Yuffie having two very long coasts and the very best lands for livestock and farming. This included Mime, with the new border just Mime’s inlet.
Shinshuro now had claim to the hitherto unexploited oil fields in the continent’s rocky lower half. The south was forbidden to him, as it was to everyone. As a result, he’d only have access to the sea from the east and the west.
The summit was considered a success, and the arbitrators were as pleased as they could be, which admittedly wasn’t much. Shinshuro and his followers were given a month to pick up and leave Yuffie’s country, and she’d stay the hell out of his.
+
Now Vincent was getting upset – not at her, specifically, but he wanted her to quit with the self-blame. He’d seen enough of that for two lifetimes.
“You did not fail, Yuffie.” He stood up. “I’m going to order us some dinner and run you a bath. Can I count on you to be a good girl and not break anything else while I do this?”
She pursed her lips, and nodded, not making eye contact.
She took a hot bath while the food was being prepared. Vincent came in at one point just to check on her, but he stayed, using the excuse that he wanted to wash her hair after he saw her eyes drifting shut. It was amazing that she was still awake.
Her temper had cooled by the time dinner arrived, but she was still showing signs of needing a good long sleep.
“You’re going to bed after dinner.”
She didn’t respond at first, but eventually it registered that he had spoken. “What?”
“Sleep, Yuffie. You need a lot of it.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” She chewed and swallowed another bite of her chicken, then added, “I need a break, too. I’m really looking forward to the gathering now.”
Vincent’s fork stopped in midair on the way to his mouth.
“You don’t actually think we are leaving Wutai, do you?”
She blinked at him. “Oh fuck yes ‘cuz I’m going to the Avalanche gathering uh huh.”
“No, absolutely not. Between the assassination attempt and the split, you are not going anywhere.”
“But Vincent, the summit is over with! And you remember what Barret said… this’ll be the third year in a row I’ll have missed it!”
“I don’t give a damn. Shinshuro may have been ordered to migrate, but I don’t trust him. You aren’t leaving Wutai for a good, long while, Empress. Too dangerous.”
“But–”
“No.”
She tossed her chopsticks on her plate, her appetite vaporized.
“Well, Vinnie! Please say ‘hi’ to all our friends, and do have a great time without me.” She pushed her chair out from behind her with enough force to knock it over and stomped into the bathroom. He heard her grab her toothbrush as she began going through the motions of getting ready for bed.
He sighed, and got up. After righting her chair, he moved to stand in the doorway of their bathroom. He watched, telling himself to be patient, as she shoved things about angrily.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I would never go to the gathering without you. I’m not leaving your side.” When she didn’t reply, he was forced to ask, “What is this about, really?”
She spat out the last of the toothpaste, shoved the brush into its holder and rinsed her mouth. “You’re all uptight again,” she barked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she pushed past him and moved towards the bed. “I thought you were done with that shit!”
Yuffie got into bed, deliberately facing away from him.
“Yuffie, I’m only trying to–”
“Just shut up and let me adjust to this new imprisonment.”
Vincent closed his eyes and shook his head. They didn’t speak for the rest of the night.
+
When Vincent calmly reminded her over breakfast the next morning that they had promised never to go to bed angry, Yuffie didn’t even attempt to argue. She apologized immediately, and very meekly. He did so as well, but she was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the day.
She remained quiet, in fact, during the entire month that Shinshuro’s exodus took place. Vincent tried a few times to get her to talk about it, but she refused, always stating that she was fine.
But he knew she was agitated. He didn’t actually think that they were in trouble as a couple, or that pushing her on speaking about it would tip the scales in that direction. They’d been through too much already; there was no way they were breaking up, not for any reason. And he felt certain she’d get over the disappointment her divided country had left her with after the new borders were in place for a while and she’d gotten used to them. It was just going to take some time, and she had little other choice, after all.
He was wrong, on two counts: why she was withdrawn, and assuming that she’d get past it.
A couple weeks after the population had begun to feel settled, Yuffie was participating in what was supposed to have been a leisurely afternoon walk through the village to see how things were progressing. She was accompanied by her husband, flanked by a solitary ninja and followed, of course, by her loyal bodyguard. She entered shops and tents, mingling and chatting easily with merchants, but to Vincent’s eyes she seemed distracted. She seemed to be waiting for something.
That ‘something’ turned out to be nothing more than an opportune moment to pull a disappearing act.
They all panicked, Vincent included. But he swiftly realized that if she had been in honest trouble, it was not likely that they would have been able to take a woman capable of bellowing so loudly unnoticed. Back in the day he’d heard her yell, snore, ramble, and scream – and all within five hours of meeting her. But living with Yuffie for a mere eight months had given him new respect for the true strength of her lungs. They were in tip-top condition, even if her ninja wasn’t.
She’d ditched him, the little brat. Him. He was now angrier with her than he’d ever been before, but he decided on saving that for later as the best course of action. He needed to find her before he could put her in her place, after all.
He was also going to have to own up to the fact that no matter why she’d done it, he was still terrified that she really would get hurt… or worse.
He let go of the rage and concentrated, honing in on those scents and sounds that he knew belonged only to Yuffie. It didn’t take him too long to track her down to where she was hiking in the woods, completely off any known trail and, so far, quite safe. She was headed in the general direction of the palace, in no hurry to get there while she admired the scenery.
What pissed him off even further, though, was the damn humming.
He came up behind her without making a sound, startling her out of her woolgathering. After she turned and yelped, he told her to keep moving through clenched teeth. His eyes were on fire, scaring her even further.
That wasn’t going to stop her trying to bitch at him however, and when she opened her mouth to protest, he put up a finger and strode forward, invading her personal space.
“Don’t even think about defending your actions. Get back to the Pagoda. Right now.”
Vincent trailed the expected three feet behind Yuffie the entire way, enjoying the fact that despite her high and mighty footsteps, she was radiating incredible nervousness.
+
“Little girl, you cannot do crap like that!”
Shake could yell pretty loud. Not as loud as Yuffie, but he was pretty good. Unfortunately the only thing she did in response was to roll her eyes.
“Empress. Once again we are faced with the impossible task of making you understand just how important you are to Wutai.”
That, from Hiroyuki. In his ‘stern’ voice. Yuffie gave him a blank stare.
The two men had been chastising her for over twenty minutes in the royal library, and they weren’t getting anywhere. Vincent had chosen to stay out of the conversation, glowering with his back planted against the wall near the door. The only door, making it the only escape. If Yuffie tried to pull another stunt she’d never get past him… this time.
Chekov was there as well, sitting across from Yuffie in a stuffed chair. Thus far, neither she nor Yuffie had uttered a single sound. Sensei and ninja tried to get Empress to speak up, but she just sat there with her arms crossed and her face stormy, looking for all of Gaia like a snotty schoolgirl.
“Oh fer – Chekov, you deal with her!” Shake thundered. “The brat obviously don’t give a damn what we got to say to her.”
Hiro looked from Shake to the councilwoman, his index finger brushing thoughtfully across his upper lip. He saw Chekov’s sharp eyes flicker to Vincent for a moment, then she went back to gazing at Yuffie.
“I agree, Madam,” Yuffie’s husband finally said. “Perhaps you can get through to her.”
Chekov glanced at him, then, and he felt a chill go up his spine.
The older woman took a breath and leaned forward, draping her forearms over her knees and looking Yuffie in the eyes.
“I’m sure it’s no secret to you that these two men care about you a great deal, Yuffie. But I can see that their approach is falling on deaf ears.”
Yuffie crossed her legs as she stared at the rug, kicking her foot in the air, pretending like there was no one else in the room.
“And Vincent’s demeanor suggests he’s waiting to have words with you.”
Yuffie’s chin went up, defiant, but still she would not look at Chekov.
“All right. So, let me ask you this. What if something had happened to you?” Chekov’s voice, so unlike anything else in the room, was quiet and calm. Yuffie finally looked up from the spot on the rug she’d been fixated on and frowned, meeting Chekov’s eyes for the first time since she’d returned.
Yuffie gaped at what she saw.
“What if Vincent had gotten there too late?” The councilwoman’s eyes were shining with tears. “Do I really need to tell you how devastated I’d be if I lost the closest thing to a child I’ve ever had?”
The Empress paused, her mouth opening and closing, until she finally found her voice.
“I wasn’t trying… I never meant to…”
“No,” Chekov said sadly, leaning back. “But, you did.” Her disappointment in Yuffie was not lost on anyone in the room.
Yuffie’s lower lip quirked, and all the councilwoman did was shake her head, sighing.
Perhaps Hiro’s only weakness was that he didn’t like it when his womenfolk cried. He was just about to pull out a hanky and offer his wife some sympathy when he felt Shake’s iron grip on the shoulder of his silks. He got dragged out of the room without another word.
Yuffie covered her face with her hands in a useless attempt to hide her tears. Chekov rose, dignified, and moved to leave as well. Her voice was almost a whisper as she strode past Vincent. The man was still glaring at Yuffie.
“Finding out why she did this is preferable to further reprimands.”
Chekov gave him a pointed look, but all he did was scowl at her.
+
When Vincent got Yuffie back up to their room, he stood with his arms crossed, staring at her from the middle of the room. She exhaled heavily and sat on the edge of their bed.
After a while she realized that he wasn’t even breathing. She looked up at him and had the nerve to shrug.
“What?” she said, haughtily.
“You have some nerve, Kisaragi. What the fuck were you thinking – no, I take that back. Obviously you weren’t thinking at all.”
Her lips formed a tight line across her face. “Look, Vinnie. Just calm down and let me explain.”
“Sounds like fun. Unfortunately, I am not interested in hearing anymore of your shit tonight.”
He undid the belt to his outer-kosode and ripped the garment off, tossing it over a chair. She stood up and turned on him them, clenching her fists at her sides to stop herself from pummeling him.
“Dammit, will you at least listen to me?!”
He waited a beat, then replied with acid in his voice.
“Actually, no. I’d rather not.”
Yuffie reared back a tiny bit, paling noticeably. She blinked at him, at first looking astonished… Then her features went very carefully blank.
Vincent’s mouth twitched in surprise.
Oh, fuck. She picked that up from me. Here comes the silent treatment.
No sooner had he realized what she was about to do when Yuffie turned on her heel and marched into their bathroom. She slammed the door shut behind her, locking it immediately.
Vincent exhaled loudly, looking up at the ceiling. “Gaia, give me strength,” he muttered, too low for anyone else to hear. Walking over to the closed door, he said in a normal tone of voice, “Yuffie. Open up.”
Nothing.
Then, just a bit louder, “Yuffie, open the door.”
He couldn’t even hear her breathing. Which meant she was probably holding her breath out of spite.
He knocked, politely. Nothing.
“Yuffie.”
He had to admit she was pretty good at this, given how mouthy she could be otherwise. Vincent tried clenching his jaw to stop the string of curse words that was threatening to leave his mouth. When that didn’t work, he pounded his fist on the door twice.
“I will bust this door down if you do not open it, now.”
He heard a noise coming from the general area of the toilet, in what sounded like her arms crossing, then, more silence.
“Yuffie Kisaragi open the goddamn door!”
After a beat, she thundered, “Go fuck yourself, Valentine!”
He stalked away from the door and threw himself into one of the chairs by the hearth. She screamed at him again.
“Dickhead!”
There was only so much he could take before even The Mighty Valentine resorted to name-calling. “Bitch,” he countered, but they could both tell from the forced sarcasm in his voice that he didn’t truly mean it.
Vincent removed his footwear in a huff, throwing the sandals and tabi across the room, and he didn’t give a damn where they wound up. He hoped they landed on her writing desk so that she’d be forced to touch them.
He sat with his arms crossed, staring at the cold fireplace like it was an old, unbeatable enemy. He didn’t know how long he stayed like that – it felt like an hour, but was more likely ten minutes – before he finally heard Yuffie moving around in the bathroom.
He heard her sniff loudly before she blew her nose, then the toilet flushed. Yuffie ran the faucet a few times, opening and closing a cupboard with too much force. After a few more moments of shuffling about, she emerged, already in her pajamas and with her hair pulled back for sleeping. She made a beeline for their bed, muttering to herself with each step.
Yuffie flipped the covers back roughly, climbed in, covered up, and remained still with her back to the other half of the bed, just as she had done the night the summit came to a close.
Rolling his eyes, Vincent got up from the chair and rounded on her.
“If you want to go to bed mad again, fine,” he said, pointing at her rudely. “But I’ll remind you again that we promised never to do tha–”
She screeched an expletive in ancient Wutai, hurting his ears, then sat up.
“You don’t want to listen to me! How the fuck else do you think this night is going to end if you won’t hear what I have to say? You… you asshole!”
She slammed her body back down against the mattress and pulled the covers up in a dramatic fashion. Vincent let go the breath he’d been holding.
“If all you are going to do is bite my head off, again, for wanting to keep you safe, again… It’s an old speech, Yuffie, and I don’t want to hear it.”
“Stop pretending like you can read my goddamn mind, Vince.” The Empress crossed her arms under the covers and refused to look at him while she spoke through clenched teeth. “You have no fucking idea what I wanted to tell you.”
Vincent stood still for a few moments, working hard to contain his anger, because it was obvious she wasn’t going to make an effort to do the same.
He remembered Chekov’s last words, and what she was expecting him to accomplish here. It sure as hell didn’t entail more screaming.
“Enough,” he said, moving to the bed and sitting down next to her. He pulled back the covers but she grabbed them and told him to fuck off again, this time in Wutai.
“No, Yuffie, enough.”
He yanked the covers off of her and got his arms around her before she could scoot across the bed and out of his reach. He held onto her tight, not yelling, not saying a word. Yuffie bit out a few more expletives, absolutely filthy ones that he’d never heard her use before. But still he held onto her, silent, his arms like a vise, as she continued to struggle against him.
Finally she got it through her thick skull that he wasn’t going to let her get away. She was still breathing hard, and he continued to hold her until that slowed and he felt her body relax. She was tired, and after so many long days of craziness as they’d just had, she must have been close to being all out of fight.
“Tell me.”
Yuffie hung limp in Vincent’s arms, then her hands started snaking around his waist. She tensed again, but for a completely different reason this time, and he wasn’t at all surprised as he felt her begin to sob against him, her grip on his body getting tighter.
He let her cry some, then he quietly spoke near her ear.
“Will you tell me?”
She nodded, then finally, finally it came out in a guilty whisper, as though she felt she had no right to feel it.
“I miss being free.”
+
While Yuffie cleaned off her face in the bathroom yet again, Vincent ordered some sweets and a pot of tea be brought up to their room. After changing into some light sleepwear, they were lounging in front of a dying fire and talking about the past.
“Gaia, don’t you miss it? You can’t tell me you don’t.”
He refilled her tea and she took the offered cup, smiling. After pouring some tea into his own cup, he answered, “Sometimes. But being solitary wasn’t all that great after I faced up to how lonely I really was.”
She tilted her head. “Okay, I’ll grant you that. But, it worked for me because no one cared where I was or what I was doing. It was a good time.”
“Now, hold on – I must take issue with that one,” he said, sitting down next to her on the couch.
Yuffie smiled. They were having a decent, civil discussion for the first time in weeks, filled with their usual disagreements and counterpoints – but without yelling, finger pointing or name calling. A few accusations, maybe, but nothing they couldn’t handle.
“That’s not true. We did wonder where you were. Tifa was out of her mind sometimes, imagining the worst, wondering if you were safe, or even alive. Reeve worried when you weren’t on a mission, because you’d virtually drop out of his sight as well. We were all concerned, Yuffie.”
She shrugged. “You knew where I was, most of the time.”
“What, by tracing the location of your texts?” She smirked at him and he looked down into his teacup. “I admit that I actually did that. Every time. But that’s not an excuse for never responding.”
She snickered. “The excuse is that we were at war, silly. You’d have lost.”
“Still not an excuse,” he muttered, taking a sip of his tea, relishing the heat. “Don’t you see what I was doing? Avalanche was wondering where you were all the time, while I was comforted by the fact that you were not dead, or hurt, simply by receiving your numerous texts. I never responded to you out of pride, and I never shared your texts with them as they worried. That was selfish.”
“You got real concerned real quick when I stopped.”
“Yes, and I still didn’t respond. Which was terrible of me.”
“Well, I wasn’t helping any either. Godo got sick and I was beginning to see my very real future, all up-close and personal-like. It was starting to freak me out.”
“You took it on head-first, as I recall. No giving up, no backing down.”
“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t freaking out. Because I was, Vincent.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry I…”
She eyed him thoughtfully over the rim of her teacup.
“What? What are you sorry about?”
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. After our fight on Tifa’s porch, I just… shut down again, in a way. I took on as much work as I could find, the very worst jobs Reeve could come up with, just to get my mind off of you. Selfish. You see?”
She laughed lightly. “I guess. Maybe you were just coping though, huh?”
He fell silent, so she continued.
“After the coronation, and daddy dying, I just went with it. Whatever it took, I did it. I didn’t even realize it was happening, and before I knew it I had settled into this… role. I had real responsibilities. I couldn’t get crazy with the ninja stuff anymore, couldn’t just disappear and stroll into Cosmo Canyon unannounced and alone.” She gave him a sly smile. “I couldn’t text a certain gunslinger out of the blue and ask him to come ravish me ‘cuz I was bored and thinking about his long legs again.”
He smiled, shaking his head. “You had Reno for that.”
“His legs aren’t as long as yours, dude.”
Feeling playful, she drummed against his thigh with the bottoms of her cold feet, until he swatted them away.
“Shiva’s tits, Vincent… I couldn’t even go to the toilet without being watched, and the worst part was that I didn’t think anything about that was weird. On top of everything else, I knew I’d lost most of my skills. Oh don’t get me wrong – I can still toss a fairly decent shuriken, but I’m talking ‘bout the cool stuff, like moving through a crowd undetected.”
“Or scaling walls? Leaping across city rooftops?” he added thoughtfully.
“Oh yeah! And melting into the shadows… I miss that shit, Vinnie.” He smirked at her. “Anyway, I felt a lot better after you took the oath, of course… and way better after you got in my bed.”
“Me too,” he said gently.
She smiled, then shook her head.
“After the summit I began to question things again. Not us… just me. My abilities, and what I was really hoping to accomplish here. I got mad. And today… well, it kind of came to a head. I wanted to escape, so I decided to see if I could still melt out of everyone’s sight. Just for a little while. I wanted that feeling again - like it didn’t matter where I was or what I was doing. I wasn’t anyone of consequence… not a former member of Avalanche, or the princess who lost her skills, or the leader who failed… the Empress of a big, giant, broken country.”
When he looked at her she was staring at the fire, her face troubled again.
“Yuffie, Wutai is not broken.” He set down his cup and shifted to face her. “You are not at fault for the split, and… melting into a crowd is not a skill that you need,” he said emphatically. But when she frowned harder, he amended that by saying, “At the present time,” and gave her knee a squeeze.
“I’m sorry, Vincent,” she said, stroking the back of his hand with her fingertips before grabbing it. “For running away. I really, really am. And then for yelling at you. I know that all I should be thinking about right now is Wutai. We’ve got troubles enough without me being selfish–”
Her words came to a sticky halt as she sucked in a harsh breath, then he heard a small whine in her throat, which only meant that she was trying really hard to not cry, and he felt terrible all over again.
“Yuffie…” he whispered, pulling her thin, small frame into his arms. “Don’t be upset. I apologize as well. I said cruel things. I wouldn’t listen to you. And… I called you a nasty name. That wasn’t right.”
“Oh, I don’t give a damn about that. You can call me anything you want to, those’r just words. I was wrong, because I made you worry, and then I got mad at you… Well, for being mad.” Yuffie pulled back to look him in the eye. She sniffed before adding, “You deserve to get as angry at me as much as anyone else does. I don’t want you feeling like you have to keep it in.”
When she wiped her runny nose on her arm, he winced. Vincent reached over and grabbed a box of tissues on the lamp table next to the couch. He pulled a thick stack out of the box and proceeded to clean her face, hands and forearm, tossing each tissue onto the floor as they got soiled.
“My dear girl, you are a complete mess when you start crying,” he said, chuckling.
When he was satisfied that she was cleaned up enough, he pulled her close and they relaxed into the corner of the couch. “All right?” he asked, kissing her temple.
“Yeah. But I mean it, Vinnie. No holding it in anymore when you get pissed off.” She sniffed. “Don’t wait till you explode, just let me have it. Okay?”
“Yes.”
She looked up, eying him critically. With a huff, he added, “I promise.”
She raised her eyebrows in disbelief, and he sighed, exasperated.
“Good Gods, woman. I give you my word of honor that I will yell my ass off at you anytime I damn well please.” He frowned. “Satisfied?”
She leaned into him and hid a watery smile against his chest.
+
“…With all that’s happened, I appreciate that you put your foot down with Yuffie regarding the annual Gathering that you and your Avalanche friends have. While that decision may have been poorly handled, as it caused more problems, it was still the right thing to do.”
Vincent looked at Chekov, baffled. “How did you know I told her we are not going?”
The Councilwoman smirked quietly behind a delicate porcelain cup, sipping her tea.
For as long as he could remember, everyone Vincent had ever known had been at least a bit intimidated by him, if not a lot, and that was even before the demons had been implanted. It’d happened when he was a child, as he still remembered some of the looks his own parents had given him. Even Hojo had been put off, despite all his squawking and threats. Vincent’s presence unnerved the cocky scientist and the young Turk had known it.
But sitting there like a schoolboy in Madam Chekov’s cluttered, busy office, it suddenly occurred to him that she was the only human being on Gaia ever to break this streak. It had started with the very first time they’d met, years previous. She had managed to stare him down, and she’d been entirely polite while doing so.
After fourteen months in what was technically Chekov’s employ, one thing he knew for sure about the councilwoman was that she did not scare easily, and she certainly wasn’t afraid of him. It was only now that he realized she’d put him in exactly the place she’d wanted him to be without him even being aware of it.
In fact, she was a sneaky, talented, clever, confident woman. It was clear that her influence on Yuffie had been enormous – and fortunate, considering the girl had been left motherless at such a young age.
“You never mind that,” Chekov finally said, pulling him out of whatever reverie he was in. “I have called you here today to discuss what happened after Yuffie went AWOL on us, and to–”
“I did not discipline her for that – that was yourself, and Shake, and Hiro…” His voice trailed off as he withered slightly under her gaze.
“Could you please be quiet until I am finished speaking?”
Vincent clammed up. He didn’t bother saying ‘my apologies’ – thinking better of saying anything at all – and simply nodded.
“Thank you. Now. I knew that something was amiss between the two before she gave you the slip. But when you remained perfectly still and silent in the back of the library while the rest of us berated her, frankly, I became worried–”
“Madam Chekov, I would never do anything to harm Yuffie – ever. I’m…”
He shut up again, rather pathetically, as she glared at him for interrupting her a second time.
“No one believes for a second that you would physically hurt Yuffie. For one thing, the ninjas would kill you if you tried, even if you took most of them out in the process… but more importantly, they, like myself, understand the difference between people having a row and abuse.” She cleared her throat. “Between your silence, and that stormy expression you were sporting, I became worried that the two of you would have a bad argument over this, and unfortunately my fears were realized.”
She remained silent, and he took that for what it was: his turn to talk.
“I don’t mean any disrespect, but I must insist that my relationship with Yuffie remain private.”
“Oh, I do too. Definitely. It’s better for you, and it’s necessary for Yuffie’s safety and peace of mind.”
He tilted his head at her, ever so slightly.
“Then… why…?”
“When the two of you enter her bedchamber, close the door, then proceed to bellow at each other so loudly that it can be heard in the corridor on the second floor, it is time to re-think just how much effort you’re putting into keeping your love life… ‘private’.” She did air-quotes on the last word, and smirked at him unpleasantly. Vincent sighed, closing his eyes and palming his face.
“Yes… that’s about the reaction I expected from you.”
“Who heard us?” he muttered from behind his hands.
Chekov grinned at him, not bothering to hide that she was enjoying this. At least a little bit.
“Ah, well… to which time do you refer?”
He looked up at her and winced. “Dammit.”
“You think? Fortunately, it was never anyone who would use the information to their advantage, just the ninjas on guard… and then Nadja, once.” He swallowed, and she continued. “The clinic was empty that time because of the summit. So, you got lucky.”
“I am very sorry, Madam. And I’ll apologize to Nadja, and the guards, when you are done with me here.”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“I’ll do it anyway, and I’ll be more careful next time. Yuffie will as well; I’ll discuss this with her.”
Vincent froze for a moment, thinking about the fact that he had just promised Yuffie he’d go ahead and yell at her whenever he wanted.
Fuck.
Chekov smiled, shaking her head sadly. “I’ve had my own share of lover’s spats, Vincent. I am not without sympathy. But rest assured… with both of your respective personalities, this will not be the last fight.” He nodded, as he could not deny the truth in her words.
“Yelling will happen. Yelling is expected – it’s fine, even. Just… try to yell quieter next time, yes?”
“Yes. Yes, of course. Again, I am sorry.” He stood to go. “Was that everything?”
Chekov did not get up to shake his hand or bow. She didn’t even move.
“Sit down, young man,” she finally said. It took him less than a second to comply. “Now… Vincent. I am also not the type to drag a person into my office, scold them for their improper behavior, and then not offer a suggestion.”
She eyed him critically, and Vincent narrowed his eyes.
“What exactly do you suggest?”
Chekov paused, smiling to herself.
+
Yuffie was startled awake by the insistent hands and stern voice of Vincent Valentine, in what she considered to be his ‘outdoor voice’.
“Vince, what the fuck? I’m sleepin’ here, man. It’s still fucking dark out,” she bitched, rolling away from him and clutching his pillow, prepared to drift off again.
“I do not think so, my dear girl, now get your backside out of bed and get dressed. We have no time.”
She flipped her head back to where he was doing something next to their bed, and cracked open one eye. What she saw surprised her.
Vincent was dressed in his garb of old, the black leather and huge gold boots, all the way to the cloak and the headband. Cerberus was back in its old holster, firmly attached to Vincent’s long, leather-covered thigh. He was frantically stuffing clothing and water bottles into his pack. When she sat up, now fully awake, he leaned across to grab her empty backpack from off the floor and tossed it at her head. She caught it, paling.
“Get out of bed, Yuffie. Put on your gear and get your conformer, we leave in five minutes.”
Yuffie swallowed hard. “Oh, Gaia… what the hell happened? Is it Shinshuro? Vincent, what’s happening?!” She threw off the covers and ignored her nudity, gathering her old clothes and rushing to do as she had been told.
“Please, Yuffie. Just get ready. Chekov is waiting for us downstairs. She has found help for us, but we must leave Wutai.” He closed his pack, tying the cords tight, then glanced over at her face. He looked possibly… slightly regretful? In that moment, she honestly couldn’t read him. “I’ll be downstairs getting more supplies.”
With that, he left, closing the door behind him.
Yuffie rushed to get dressed, throwing on canvas shorts and a long-sleeved sweater, sturdy boots, and her arm and leg braces for good measure. She quickly threw things in her pack, toothpaste, their toothbrushes – because he always forgets his own – a bar of soap, 3 face towels, and about twenty changes of underwear, as well as several kunai and shuriken. Sealing it up tight, she stood, straightened her shoulders, and heaved the pack onto her back. Grabbing her conformer, she glanced at the clock next to their bed, finding it was the Gaia-forsaken hour of four-twenty-two in the morning.
Yuffie closed her eyes and exhaled, willing herself to calm down. She took one last look at the treasures above her bed before she ran out of the room that she and Vincent had shared for barely ten months.
She headed to the lower floor of the pagoda, taking the stairs as fast as her little legs could carry her. When she neared the bottom, she found Vincent exchanging some curt words with Chekov. Shake and Hiroyuki were there as well, looking up at her as she jumped down the last few steps.
“What the hell is going on?” she said anxiously.
“Vincent will explain everything to you later, sweetheart. You need to get going. I have procured two Chocobos, they are waiting for you at the top of the hill overlooking the royal cemetery.”
Our hilltop, Yuffie thought, Under the big tree. Our first real date.
“Now, Yuffie. Leave,” Chekov urged, pulling her out of her thoughts.
Vincent grabbed her hand, pulling her into the empty courtyard, but she pulled back and turned to face the people that she was about to leave behind.
“But…” she started, then shook her head.
“Empress,” said Hiroyuki, stoic as ever, “We will send for you when it is safe for you to return to Wutai.”
“Sensei,” she whined, hoping at least Shake would give her some insight.
“Trust us,” he added, “We can take care of things for now. It’ll be all right, kiddo.”
She winced, then moved away as Vincent tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her into the garden, winding her through the long path that led to their hilltop.
+
Of course it had all been a ruse, and if Yuffie had looked back just one more time before the garden path had swallowed them up, she might have at least grown suspicious when a fourth figure casually joined the others.
“You left the beasts where I told you to?” Chekov muttered to the man, a genial fellow about her age that owned and operated Wutai’s only remaining chocobo breeding ranch.
“Sure did, sweetie, they are tied up at the base of the big maple.”
Chekov turned to him, narrowing her eyes. “I have told you, repeatedly, Lemski… not to call me that.”
He laughed. “They are two of my finest, strongest Golds. They listen eagerly to orders and are very brave,” he said, proudly.
“And they can cross the channel at Mime?”
“With ease. Honestly, have I ever let you down, Svetlana?”
Chekov exhaled angrily, and he only laughed again.
The three of them finally looked at Hiroyuki, who was standing at the entryway to the courtyard, gazing at the spot where he had last seen his Empress and his friend.
“Hey… Hiro?”
The ninja turned back to face his master.
“I am sorry, Sensei, Madam. Are we sure this is the right thing to do?”
“I know you are worried because you cannot see your Empress. But Yuffie could not be in better hands, yes? We all know that after… recent events.” Chekov sighed. “Yuffie needs to know that Wutai can at least function without her, at least for a short period of time. She runs the country, but if she doesn’t stop her constant worrying about it, she’s going to go mad.”
“Besides,” Shake added, “we all know she struggles daily with that wanderlust of hers. This little getaway is just what she needs. But,” Shake turned to Chekov, “do you at least know where Valentine is taking her?”
“Know?” Chekov scoffed. “I arranged it!”
“Oh, that reminds me, my bunny,” the rancher oozed, causing all three of them to turn and face him with varying degrees of disgust. “When are we going to go on another lover’s holiday? It’s been years…”
Chekov muttered an obscenity at him and marched off down the hall, the smitten rancher hot on her heels. As the man’s soothing, friendly voice drifted off, Hiroyuki and Shake trailed behind them.
“We can trust this person?”
“Implicitly,” said Shake, the sarcastic smile refusing to leave his lips. “We were at school together. I’ve known Lemski for years, and – obviously – so has our Councilwoman.”
They continued on, until Hiroyuki could no longer hold back the next question.
“So… her given name is Svetlana?” he asked of Shake, careful to keep his voice low. “That is an extremely pretty name.”
“Yeah, it is,” the Sensei answered, “And you’d do well not to ever use it.”
+
They were about a third of the way to Mime and the sun was beating down on the tops of their heads when Yuffie couldn’t take it anymore.
“Vinnie, what the hell?” she spat, lightly digging her heels into her chocobo’s ribs until it caught up to his own bird. “I know something is going on. And it’s got nothing to do with Wutai. Now spill it.”
Vincent only smiled. It was a small smile, but he still attempted to hide it behind the collar of his cloak. It didn’t do any good, because Yuffie knew his eyes too well not to see the expression clearly.
“I frikkin’ knew it! What are you guys up to?” she bellowed.
“Don’t be angry. We just wanted to give you a little adventure.” Vincent glanced at her, preparing himself for the barrage of vicious threats about what she was going to do to his person if they didn’t get ‘back to Wutai this instant’.
“Oh. Well… That’s okay then.” He sighed in relief, quietly. “But who exactly is ‘we’?”
“Madam Chekov suggested that you… that we needed a vacation. She actually used the word ‘honeymoon’, but I didn’t think you’d find that–”
“Honeymoon is fine,” she quipped, interrupting him. “It’s just fine.”
He cocked an eyebrow, admiring the way her haughty ponytail swung back and forth as she cantered on ahead of him.
“I’m getting a bit queasy, and we’ll need to camp for the night so the birds can rest before we cross the channel. There’s a hilly spot about an hour south of here that’d do nicely,” she said, tossing her words over her shoulder to casually prove that she might just know where they were headed.
Yuffie and Vincent were secretly thrilled to be traveling the wilds together again, but they were both out of practice at being warrior-mercenaries for hire. Tired and hungry, they dismounted when they found Yuffie’s hilly spot shortly before sunset. The chocobos were led to a stream, then the giant birds were left to graze on their own in a meadow next to the campsite. Yuffie sat down for a bit with some water to get her nausea under control while Vincent got the tent set up.
They managed to catch a few trout and made some plain rice to go with the fish. The simple, non-spicy meal pacified Yuffie’s hunger without making the motion sickness after-affects worse, then they cleaned up and retired to their tent for the night.
Even though it was early August, typically the hottest month of the year in Wutai, autumn had begun announcing its approach with nights that were slowly getting colder – perfect for a good night’s sleep. But Yuffie could not stop chattering. For the first time in the history of their relationship they used one sleeping bag because they wanted to, as opposed to having no choice in the matter – a topic that she couldn’t seem to stop giggling about.
“Who’da thought we’d both willingly end up in the same bag, huh Vinnie? Same tent, sure, but not the same bag.”
“You did, and frequently, or so you’ve said.”
“I only said I fantasized about it,” she said around a jaw-splitting yawn. “I never really imagined it would happen.”
“Didn’t you? It’s not like you to have so little confidence.” He spooned up behind her, both of them too tired to do anything more than try and sleep. “I thought it might happen.”
“You did not!”
“Yes I did.”
She scoffed. “Right. When?”
He paused before answering. “The last time we were forced to share a sleeping bag out of necessity.”
She winced. “That was… That was when we ran into that hive of Forget-Me-Nots, right? I got stung pretty bad, so I must have missed something that night.” When he didn’t respond, she leaned back to look up at him. “What?” she asked coyly.
“You were sound asleep.”
“Puh-lease. I was poisoned. Unconscious. With chills.”
“Yes, and I was simply trying to keep you warm.”
“And that’s when you thought about… Oh! Ewww, you pervert.” She giggled again, and her entire body shook against his.
“I’m only joking. Well… mostly. Let me just say this… When it comes to you, I have finally given in to the fact that I lack any suitable defense.”
She yawned again and he rubbed her tummy. “Vinnie… You’ve been secretly wanting my ass for a long time now. Am I right?”
He hesitated before answering, but she was right. It served no purpose anymore, trying to maintain what she knew versus what she didn’t where he was concerned.
“A bit more than just your ass,” he muttered against her ear, making her laugh again. He quietly reveled in how much more relaxed she was – they both were – now that they were away from Wutai and their big, important jobs.
Without the press of other people and all those responsibilities, it occurred to Vincent that he had forgotten a lot about their previous lives – those days when they used to be on the road together so much. They got along well and took care of each other very easily.
He’d forgotten… that they had made a damn good team, even before the Empress and Bodyguard thing.
So, what if our circumstances had been different? What if we had met as ‘normal’ people do?
What if they had been contemporaries? He had to admit that she’d have made a great Turk. He was a different man then, too. One who, despite his father’s careful teachings, had carelessly nailed a few of his fellow female Turks, not to mention a lot of other women he’d met in the field.
As his co-worker, would he have tried to date Yuffie, or just fuck her?
Then again, they may not have shown the slightest interest in each other.
Not likely. The attraction would have caught up to us eventually.
What if he’d met her before he met Lucrecia? What if he hadn’t been a freak sleeping in a coffin for three decades? What if the burden of the throne had not been a factor in her life, if he had been able to court her properly without having to deal with the critical eyes of their associates, if she wasn’t so crazy, if he wasn’t so Emo…
Too many damn variables. If we hadn’t had to save the Planet, twice, we’d have probably been working on baby number five by now.
He smiled, his expression hidden, safe behind her pretty neck.
Then again, he thought, if all of that other stuff hadn’t happened, we never would have met. So… We were fortunate.
“Go to sleep, Yuffie. We have a long ride tomorrow.”
“Mm-hm,” she sighed, pressing his human hand to her chest and holding it possessively against her t-shirt. She pushed the back of her body more thoroughly against the front of his and snuggled deeper into the bag, safe in the circle of his arms, human and otherwise.

+

tbc

+

++++++++ notes ++++++++
Ahhh… the interesting twists & turns life can take us on. :)
Feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading.
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Empress & Concubine, Part II