Emerald Crisis--Final Fantasy VII--Disc One, Mission 5

Midgar Region: W.R.O. Hunter’s Lodge\

            Yuffie woke again in the Lodge’s hospital.  A splash of pain followed her into reality, starting in her stomach and spreading out like a wave.  It hurt to open her eyes, and it hurt more to realize that she was back in the same bed as a week ago.  She hadn’t felt this low since the fight with Nero and Deepground.

            She stared at the ceiling, counting the tiles.  The light hurt still, but she kept her eyes open and breathed through the pain.  Each intake made her want to vomit.  Each exhale brought her a fit of coughs.  She took some comfort in knowing that it could be worse—she could have not woken up at all.

            A few minutes passed before Tifa entered the room.  She had been waiting there.  Knitted fabric was left in the seat where she had been.  She yawned as she approached, and she smiled when she saw Yuffie.  “Oh, you’re awake.  That’s good.”

            Yuffie turned to see Tifa.  Denzel and Marlene were trailing after, both looking tired, but they smiled at her, and Denzel ran over to see her while Marlene waited patiently.  Yuffie smiled back.  “I am awake,” she said, pushing herself to sitting with extreme effort.  Her entire body felt like pudding.  “Mind telling me exactly what happened?”

            “Of course not.”  Tifa pulled her chair over and folded the knitting on her lap.  “What do you remember?”

            “Cid’s airship exploding and a big guy with sideburns.”  She looked Tifa in the eyes.  “He hit me, didn’t he?”

            “He did,” Tifa said.  “Shelke called me after giving you the info, and I decided to go in as back-up.”

            “That little—still, I guess I owe her.”

            Tifa smiled.  “You do,” she said.  “I found you and Hollis.  Shortly after, Reeve showed up and searched the tunnels.”

            “Did he hit you?”

            “No,” Tifa said, sweeping her hair back.  Yuffie rolled her eyes.

            “Of course not,” she said, sighing.  “I mean, good job, I guess.  Was there anything in the tunnels?”

            “Nothing.”

            “Damn.”

            “That’s not all.  Apparently, the floats around town were rigged to blow, so as we were trying to figure it all out, the city was blowing to bits.  Right now, we’re trying to figure out where the floats came from, but no one is talking.  It seems like everyone is either too afraid or too loyal to say anything.”

            “Loyal?  To those guys?”  Yuffie shook her head.  “If that’s the case, then the world has gone nuts.”

            “Whatever it is, it’s working.  Reeve is getting nothing.”

            “Something will come up,” Yuffie said.  “They’re terrorists, after all.”

            “Regardless,” Tifa said, packing away her things.  She pointed at Yuffie, “For now, you need to worry about you and rest.  Everything else can be taken care of later.”

            “No.  No time for rest.”  Yuffie, groaning, forced herself to standing through sheer force of will.  It hurt, initially, but it was nothing she hadn’t dealt with before.  She braced against the bed until the pain eased.

            Tifa closed in.  “Yuffie.”

            “Anything else I need to know?”

            Tifa, rolling her eyes, shook her head.  “Well, apparently the Emerald Lotus has officially declared war on the W.R.O.  There will be more attacks, and they’ll be bigger next time.  He said that he wanted to show people how powerless the W.R.O. really is.”

            Yuffie scoffed and crossed her arms.  “The guy’s a lunatic.”

            “Maybe but we should be careful.”

            Disbelief turned to anger, and Yuffie scowled.  “Oh, trust me, I know.  I’ve had first-hand experience with him.”  Yuffie sat on the edge of the bed and held her side.  For the first time in her life, she felt tired.  Rest was the last thing she wanted but, with her mind so foggy and her head so hot, it felt like the only thing she needed.  She looked sternly into Tifa’s eyes.  “And Hollis? Who the hell is he?”

            Tifa shrugged.  “I don’t know much.  They’ve brought him in for questioning, and that’s all I’m allowed to know.”

            “Brought him here?”

            “Apparently,” Tifa said.  “I remember there being some heated arguments about it, but Reed insisted.”

            “Why?  Edge has its own holding cells, and its own security.  It’d be the best place to trust.”

            “I think Reed just wanted him out of town,” Tifa said.  “The city is tense right now, after everything happened.”

            “His good intentions don’t make it any less stupid.  This facility is too small to put up a proper defense and too localized to survive bombardment, and clearly the Emerald Lotus isn’t shy about collateral damage.”

            “Calm down,” Tifa said, squeezing Yuffie’s shoulder.  “Everyone is doing the best they can, and Reed is as scared as everyone else.  The peace we’ve all fought for is crumbling around our feet.”

            “Yeah, yeah.”  Yuffie sighed, breathing through her pain, her nausea, and her confusion.  Then, she laughed.  “Think this is how Shinra felt when everything was falling apart?”

            Tifa allowed a small laugh.  “Probably,” she said, “But this isn’t a permanent solution.  H.Q. will be in soon, and that will be the safest place for him.”

            Another deep breath, and the battle replayed in Yuffie’s head.  Hollis was a tank, an impenetrable shell housing explosive power.  With strength like his, she couldn’t imagine transporting him anywhere he didn’t want to go.  It reminded her of Deepground, of the attack on W.R.O. HQ, of Azul the Cerulean, and of all the carnage.

            Tifa was there with them, though, and Reeve would be there soon.  It felt good for Yuffie to have her friends around again.  With them there, she wouldn’t be kept on the sidelines anymore, and she could take the war to the Emerald Lotus without fear of being reprimanded.  They would remind everyone watching exactly how they beat Sephiroth and all of the fools who followed after him.

            Then, Yuffie thought, she would have the opportunity to personally rip the mask off of Lotus’ face and feed her fist to him in front of everyone.

-Disc One-

            Yuffie drifted off to sleep with Tifa watching.  When she woke, Tifa was gone and the children had left with her.  This left Yuffie alone in the hospital room, with only the gentle buzz and beep of machines to keep her company.  The lights were dimmed.  Shadows clung to the ceiling, staring back at Yuffie as she stared at them.

            She breathed and relived each punch as she exhaled.  Hollis was unstoppable, a force of nature in human flesh.  Her stomach ached.  Her chest rattled.  Her pride was hurt most of all.  She remembered her father saying once that her pride would get her into trouble.  Sometimes, she felt like trouble just followed her around, waiting to kick her down whenever she built herself up too high.

            Lotus followed her, too, in her dreams and in waking.  He hid behind his mask, even in her thoughts, stabbing at her with words that echoed endlessly inside of her.  Another lost battle, another night spent in a hospital room.  It was beginning to feel useless.  She was more than weak, being saved by everyone.  Tifa, Daisy, Vincent, Cloud, and everyone else, the only thing she consistently managed to do on her own was get in over her head.

            Her thoughts made her restless.  She stood, legs unsteady, stomach churning, and pulled the catheter from her arm.  Her clothes were in a nearby dresser.  They had been freshly washed and folded.  She removed her gown, felt at the tender bruises still lining her body, and then dressed.  On her way out, she checked the bed where Daisy had been.  It was empty.

            Outside, she found Reed waiting.  He had his head down, his hands folded neatly and put held up as if in prayer.  As she left the room, he opened his eyes and met her with a tired glare.  She returned it as best as she could.

            “Ms. Kisaragi,” he said, “Excuse me, but I don’t think you’ve been discharged yet.”

            “I have.”

            “By whom?”

            “By me,” she said.  “I gave myself a clean bill of health.”

            He had been leaning against the wall, but he pushed off to stand tall and block her path.  “Return to bed.  You need the rest.”

            “I know my body, Reed, and I’m fine.”

            “I wasn’t asking, Kisaragi.”  His glare sharpened and his body grew tense.  “I am telling you.  Get back to bed.  Now!”

            Yuffie, still shaken and still tired, had to lean against the door frame for support.  She swallowed a fit of coughs that were threatening to erupt.  Bracing against the doorway with one arm, she stretched herself to full height and stared up into his eyes.  “Make me.”

            “Always the petulant child, aren’t we? Rebelling against any authority you can find.”

            Reed approached her, seizing her tight by the arm and dragging her back into the room.  He threw her back down onto the bed and, when she tried to stand, struck her hard in the gut.  She curled up, coughing and holding herself, as he stood over her.

            “Well, if you insist on fighting me, then you had better be up to the challenge!”

            Writhing and wheezing against the bed frame, Yuffie said, “You’re a real bastard,” and then squealed as he lifted her and tossed her onto the bed proper.  Then, she watched him smooth back his hair before he dragged a chair over.  He sat calmly, folding his hands and sitting forward to stare her in the eyes.  Yuffie stared back, holding her gut, breathless.  “What do you want now?”

            “To talk,” he said, without humor.  “And, as always, you make it difficult for me.”

            “Stuff it,” she said, and she used the wall to push herself up.  It hurt to move as pain crawled up her spine and spread through her.  After the way he moved her, it hurt to even breathe.  “If you’re going to lecture me, then just stuff it, because I don’t care to listen.”

            Reed snorted, laughed, and then turned a sharp glare on her.  His tone was harsh, acerbic, but he smiled.  “Always the same.  You’ll never change, will you?”  He stood.  “Fine.  If you want it that way, then this is how you do it.”  He slid the chair back against the wall.  “You’ll be discharged tomorrow,” he said.

            There was a pause, pregnant with meaning, and then Yuffie said, “And?”

            He stopped at the door, his hand on the knob, and feigned surprise.  “Oh, now you want to talk?”

            “What are you doing to me?”

            “What I should have done long ago,” he said.  “You’re suspended.  Effectively immediately.  You will not be in contact with anyone from the Hunters...”

            “You have no right!”

            “I have every right,” he shouted.  “What were you even doing there, chasing down Lotus? I took you off duty, put you into forced leave!”

            “And I was there off duty,” she said in return, shouting back at him.  It hurt her stomach to do it, but she felt it was important to match him word for word, shout for shout.  “Someone had to protect the people!”

            “Is that what you call running, blind, into danger and nearly getting yourself killed?”  He laughed as he said it.

            “It’s what I call doing your job for you,” she said in retort, and she felt smug afterward.  That smugness didn’t last long.  A bitter laugh ended it quickly as Reed threw his head back gave an empty bark.

            “And a fantastic job you did, injuring everyone around you.”  He looked her in the eyes. “There are people—an entire military worth of people—who are already hunting Lotus for us, but you think you are the only one equipped to do it.  Except you’re not.  Hell, you weren’t even fit for duty, and all you managed to do is get in the way.”

            “I got us that Hollis guy.”

            “Tifa got us Hollis, and she saved you in the process.”

            Yuffie, angry and hurt, stepped from the bed.  She wasn’t sure what she was doing or why, but she took a swing at him, and she missed.  He knocked her hand away and struck her in return, once in the chest, before grabbing her around the throat and dragging her back to the bed.  Then, he stared her in the eyes.  He was close, so close that she could smell his cologne, thick and pungent.

            “Which is what you do best—act recklessly and expect other people to come in and clean up your messes.  You claim to be a hero of the Jenvoa War, but you nearly cost your allies everything when you took their materia, didn’t you?  You’re no hero, Yuffie Kisaragi.  You are a selfish little girl who takes whatever she wants and expects to walk away with the stories.”

            “I...”

            “And the W.R.O. has so many other things to worry about than satisfying your personal fictions.  It has cities to watch, nations to run.  We, the Hunters, have more to do.  Our job is to find materia and to control its distribution.  To keep it out of the hands of those who would use it for negative ends.  That it is.  That is all.  And while the Emerald Lotus may have their hands in some materia, I assure you, they are so much more, which makes them someone else’s problem.”

            “But if we all work together...”

            “We won’t have time to do our jobs properly,” Reed snapped, releasing her onto the bed.  “Maybe, if we unify, we can solve one problem—the Emerald Lotus—but at the cost of other problems cropping up.”  He took a deep breath and adjusted his jacket.  “And then who will fix that?  Do we solve each problem as it comes, one at a time, or do we do our jobs as they are assigned and trust others to do their own jobs on their own?”

            Yuffie slumped into the bed, staring silently ahead.  It hurt to breathe and, increasingly, to think.  She hated Reed, hated every hair on his head and every word from his mouth, but she didn’t have the energy to argue anymore.  It wasn’t that she thought he was right.  The problem was that she didn’t immediately think he was wrong.

            She turned her gaze downward and stared—glared—at her feet, and she tried hard not to cry.  It reminded her of childhood and of being scolded by her father.  “Well, they’re not doing enough,” she whispered.

            “We’re doing what we can,” he said calmly and without his previous venom.  “And they’re doing more than you ever could on your own.  Running ahead into danger may look heroic, but all it does is get you hurt.”

            “Whatever,” Yuffie breathed, and she curled up on the bed and hugged her knees tightly.

            Reed tugged at his cuffs.  “I expected as much.  And, for the record, you ARE suspended from service, for your safety and for the safety of others.  Should you continue on this path, then I will take matters up with the Director myself.  This is your last warning, Yuffie.  No contact, no service, not unless we contact you ourselves.”

            Reed left the room, calm and collected, and that hurt worse than if he had screamed at her again.  Alone, Yuffie pulled the blanket over her and turned her back to the door.  Her body hurt, but her broken bones would mend.  She wasn’t so sure about her broken spirit, however.  Unable to hold back, she cried like a child for the first time in years, and she kept crying until she fell asleep.

-Disc One-

            The next day, Yuffie wandered down to the cafeteria before she was dicharged.  Slumped down alone at one of the long, steel tables, she picked mindlessly at the mushy rice they had served her.  The damage done to her was primarily internal and the cure materia had done all it could for her.  Now, she would have to rely on her own faculties to recover.

            She hadn’t slept well.  The conversation with Reed was hurting her more than Hollis’ fists had.  She didn’t think of her betrayal of the team in Wutai often, keeping it in the same box she used for the battle with Nero and, more recently, Daisy and the Lotus rally.  Reed, however, had managed to pull it out and leave it open in her sight, and she wasn’t so sure that he was in the wrong anymore.  Half of what she did, she was realizing, was being saved by others.

            She closed her eyes and focused her breathing.  Her lungs felt bruised, but the pain was clarifying, and she used it to keep dark thoughts at bay.  When she was alone and on her back in the bed, sometimes, it felt like she was floating unsteadily on water, like she would drown in all of her reveries.

            “Yuffie?”

            A familiar voice pulled her back into reality, and she sat up and found Daisy wheeling toward her.  Daisy wasn’t in the gown anymore, instead wearing a black tee and a pair of green medical scrub pants.  Her long hair was back in a ponytail, and she greeted Yuffie with a tired smile.  Oliver walked beside Daisy, carrying two trays of mushy rice.  Once Daisy had pulled up, he set her tray on her lap.

            “Daisy?”

            “What’re you doing out?  I thought you were injured.”  Daisy knitted her brows.  “Actually, you okay?  You don’t look so well.”

            Yuffie scoffed.  “Like you have room to talk.”  She cast her gaze down and stabbed at her rice.

            “At least she’s taking the time to get better,” Oliver said, seating himself.  Yuffie blew him a raspberry.

            Daisy laughed.  “Honestly, just be careful, please.  Don’t push yourself too hard.”

            Yuffie waved them off and leaned back.  She stirred her food absently.  “So, Daze, how is your recovery coming along, anyway?”

            “The medics have done what they can,” Daisy said, and she raised her top enough to expose a large, clean bandage taped across her torso.  She gave a glowing smile as she lowered it.  “I should be fine and back to service in a few days, though.”

            Looking Daisy over, Yuffie frowned.  “Then what’s with the chair?”

            Daisy nodded toward Oliver, who gave his own frown in response.  “This one.  He also got me this.”  Daisy reached back into the satchel that hung over the back of the wheelchair and produced a box of chocolates.  Opening it, she let Yuffie pluck a few.

            “Well, isn’t that sweet of him.”  Yuffie smiled, toothily.  “And why, exactly, don’t I get chocolates, Oliver?”

            Oliver’s frown deepened.

            “So, you’ll be back on soon,” Yuffie asked, stealing a few more chocolates.

            Daisy leaned back in her chair, stretching.  “I. Can’t. Wait.  I’m going nuts hearing about everything that happened in Edge.”  She sat forward and looked Yuffie in the eyes.  “And what exactly DID happen there, anyway?  No one around here will tell me anything worth hearing.”

            “Just a lot of noise,” Yuffie said, slouching again.  She rested her head on her arms like an agitated child.  “Reed gave me a talking to, doesn’t want me involved.  So, he’ll probably put you on something else, I’m sure, while he sweeps everything else under the rug.  Or into someone else’s hands.”

            “He’s trying to keep us focused on our job,” Oliver said, and he earned a glare from Yuffie for it.  When he looked at Daisy and found her glaring, too, he sighed.  “I’m just saying, we’re here to deal with materia and materia smuggling, not counter-terrorism.  We’re not a military, and with two failed attempts to stop them, I feel like it’s pretty clear that we’re in over our heads.”

            “Maybe if we had more support, then we wouldn’t be,” Yuffie countered.

            Oliver rolled his eyes and looked to Daisy for support.  “Come on, you’re more level-headed than this.  You just got out of the infirmary.  Yuffie’s been there twice already.  They have numbers, and we’re just three people, fit for infiltration and subterfuge, not war.  Reed may come down on you hard, but he’s right this time.”

            Daisy frowned.  “Oliver.”

            He looked between them, stared at Daisy, and took a deep breath.  “I’m just worried about you two.”

            “We’re fine,” Daisy said, taking his hand and giving a squeeze.  She looked across the table at Yuffie and smiled imploringly.  “Right, Yuffie?”

            “Yup.”  Yuffie stood from the table and felt unsteady on her feet for a moment.  Even after all of her rest, her head still wasn’t on straight, but she wouldn’t admit that in front of them.  Instead, she took up her tray and said.  “Listen, I want to stretch my legs before I’m shipped out.  I’ll talk to you later, Daisy.”

            “Okay.  We should meet up and compare notes soon.”

            Yuffie nodded, waved, and left.  Normally, in this sort of mood, she would pick a direction and walk.  She spent most of her life never really knowing where she was going, just that she was going, but lately it didn’t seem like enough.  Lately, she wanted a destination, but everywhere she landed felt unstable, unsafe.  It was like she has nowhere stable to plant her feet, nowhere that she could truly call home.

            As she left the cafeteria, she thought of Edge, and of Wutai, and of all the people she knew and loved, and she thought of what they all, truly, meant to her.

-Disc One-

            Yuffie walked the halls absently for a moment and then soon left the building entirely.  She went beyond the front gate, into the grasslands between Midgar and the sea, and she came to rest in the warm sands beside the ocean.  Dark grass grew in patches nearby.  The pale sky drifted by, cloudless, but she could feel a charge on the air.  A storm was coming.

            She shivered.  It was warm, but she could feel a cool breeze stirring and it left her hairs on end. Alone, she thought about the recent battles in her life.  She thought of Lotus and of Hollis, and she thought of Reed and of her cold, lonely nights in the infirmary.

            After the attack on Edge, she knew that Reeve would take interest in the Emerald Lotus problem, but she wasn’t so sure that he still supported her.  He would call on those he really trusted, on Cloud, Barrett, and Vincent.  He would rely on them, like he always did.

            Normally, it would leave her angry.  She was a soldier, a great ninja from Wutai, but after her recent battles—her recent failures—she wasn’t so sure anymore.  It hurt to admit it, but the others were reliable, and she wasn’t anymore.  There was a certain veracity to what Reed had said: she never saved the day; she was just there when the day was saved.  Her fame was earned only through proximity.

            The W.R.O. had Hollis, and that meant answers about the Emerald Lotus, and despite all of her effort, she wasn’t the one who did it.  Though she was first on the scene, it was Tifa who won the day, Tifa who had traded her leather gloves for a wet rag and an apron.  Tifa, the team mother who never had a taste for combat to begin with.  And all Yuffie did—all Yuffie ever did—was get in the way until someone else could come in and win the fight.

            Her phone rang and pulled her from those thoughts.  Yuffie sat up slowly, her body cold and racked with shivers.  The light had faded from the sky without her notice, and the wind was whipping up the sand.  The air was thicker now, and she could smell the storm mixing with the salt in the air.  Another ring and she answered.  “Yeah?”

            “Yuffie Kisaragi.”

            Yuffie curled up for warmth.  She hugged her legs with her free arm.  “Who else would it be, Shelke?”

            “I am just being careful,” Shelke said in her empty tones.  “You do not sound well.”

            “I’m...”  Yuffie wiped her eyes.  She couldn’t remember crying, but her cheeks felt warm.  She sniffed and hoped Shelke couldn’t tell anything was wrong.  “What do you need?”

            “I have information for you.”

            “I thought I was suspended.”

            “You are,” Shelke said absently.  “I will forward you the files for you to read in full later, but there is something which you should know right now: the Emerald Lotus is preparing to make another move soon.”

            “Then tell Reed,” Yuffie said.  It felt wrong in her mouth, but she couldn’t think of anyone else to help.  “Listen, I’m not on the case anymore.  I’m kicked out of the Hunters if I try.”

            “I have already informed him, as well as others,” Shelke said.  “Regardless, take care, Yuffie Kisaragi.”

            The line went dead.  Yuffie, alone on the beach, shouted into her phone before slamming it shut and tossing it a few feet away.  The sky was going dark, the colors of the sky—a bloody red and bruised purple—fading into the approaching slate of the storm clouds.  She hugged herself tight to keep the cold away but found it ineffective.

            Closing her eyes, she thought about home.  She remembered the warm sea waters of Wutai, the way the water glittered from the mountains in the evening, the cool mist that rose in the mornings.  She remembered the pagoda towering in the distance, almost touching the sky.  No matter where she went when she was a kid, she could always see it and always find her way home.  When she was really young, she used to visit her father at the very top of the pagoda, and she never told anyone, but she also used to think that he was the one who held up the sky.

            Her wounds throbbed, but her reveries eased the pain.  Old memories kept her warm, even as the clouds swallowed the sky.  She met the rain alone, shivering in the dark, a distant childhood memory the only thing she had to comfort her.

Emerald Crisis--Final Fantasy VII--Disc One, Mission 4

Edge: Town Square\

            Meteor Fall had forever changed the world.  In the wake of the final battle with Sephiroth, Midgar was destroyed.  The Sister Ray, along with the Holy spell, caused reactors to erupt in a furious display of the planet’s power.  The sky glowed, on that day, and the world shook.

            Survivors from the slums and the plate alike gathered together, and they founded a new city on the outskirts of the old.  Called Edge, it became a refuge for some, a home in time, and a fresh start for everyone.  Working together, the people of Edge built for themselves a bright new future, and they clung to it tightly.  Since, they then, they endured many a trial, including Sephiroth’s Remnants and return, as well as the invasion of Deep Ground and the activities that followed.

            Once a year, to celebrate the founding of the city and its continued survival, the populace took to the streets with floats, balloons, and fireworks.  This Founding Festival, as it was called, started as an informal gathering that quickly grew into a city-wide event.  In time, it even drew the attention of nearby cities and brought in crowds.  With the W.R.O.’s investment in the city, which it often called its throne, the festival flourished further.

            Yuffie spent her time with Tifa and the kids at the festival.  They woke early and walked the streets, visiting sidewalk markets and enjoying food and games.  By noon, they were ready for a break and took lunch at a small, street side cafe near the town square.  The sky was clear and blue, that day, and the air warmed by unrestrained sunlight.

            Leaning back in her chair, stretching her arms overhead, Yuffie took the city in.  People had flooded the streets.  Streamers were hung from every building.  The Edge she knew was lost in the hubbub, which was good.  Normally, the town was all cement and steel, a testament to mankind’s ingenuity and resolve colored on in muted greys.  The festival, however, and the people, brought it to life.  That day, the city shined.

            It had been days since she left the Lodge, calling Tifa for a ride and refusing to go back.  She had grown lazy and, in her own eyes, soft in the time, sulking around the bar and coming out only at Tifa’s insistence.  Sometimes, Tifa liked to send her on errands.  It was just to keep Yuffie busy and, while Yuffie complained, she was also secretly grateful.  When left to herself she thought, about Reed, about Lotus, and about Daisy.

            Tifa gathered the plates together after their meal and stacked them carefully with the silverware on-top.  “I’m glad you could make it out with us,” she said, speaking as she always did, with a genuine, motherly warmth.  Yuffie had been sour for days, and if Tifa minded, she certainly didn’t show it.  She was as Yuffie always remembered her, tall, strong, graceful, and always forgiving.  Even when Yuffie sulk about the bar, Tifa cleaned up after her with the sober patience of a saint.  “And it’s been nice to have someone help me keep an eye on the kids with Cloud off again.”

            “We don’t need an eye on us,” Denzel said, sulking in the corner.  As he got older, he got taller, and he got moodier.  At times, he reminded Yuffie of Cloud as Cloud was when they first met, solemn and laconic.  It made Yuffie laugh sometimes, because the older Marlene got, the more even-tempered the young woman became to compensate.

            Yuffie spared a glance at Denzel, flashed a grin, and rested her head in her arms, staring across the table at Tifa.  “Where is Cloud, anyway?”

            “Working,” Tifa said, her tone soft.  “He’s always working anymore.”

            “Got to pay the bills, doesn’t he?”

            “Of course, but I’m a bit worried this time,” Tifa said.  “It’s not the usual courier work he does.”

            “Then what is it?”

            “Something for Reeve,” Tifa said, sweeping her long hair back over her shoulder.  “They wouldn’t tell me the details of it.”

            “Oh.  One of those,” Yuffie said.  She chewed her straw and blew some bubbles into her iced tea.

            From where they were sitting, they could see a large, bulb-like object stationed in the center of the city.  A green tarp was leashed to it and held in place by a series of thick riggings that were worked into the asphalt.  The W.R.O. emblem—a bronze atlas showing the world they wished to regenerate—was emblazoned on the tarp.

            Yuffie sat up to regard it.  “Wonder what they’re doing over there.”

            “I think that’s the airship Cid was talking about.”  Tifa stood from the table and bent at the waist just long enough to get a better look.  “He was talking about the thing years ago.  I have to admit, I wasn’t sure he would ever really finish it.”

            Yuffie leaned back in her chair, holding her stomach and groaning to herself.  “Ugh. I wish he hadn’t finished it.”

            “Why,” Marlene asked.  She had been quiet to this point, scooping ice cream into her mouth and pretending not to notice whenever Denzel stole a bite.  “Airships are amazing.  They make it so easy to travel, even over long distances.  Without them, I wouldn’t be able to see papa nearly as much.”

            Yuffie grinned, and she reached across and messed Marlene’s hair.  “Leave it to the book worm to think like that.”

            “She gets motion sickness,” Denzel said, pointedly, as he continued sulking.

            “Well,” Yuffie said, standing up and leaving the table.  “Looks like they’re about done setting up now.  We should head over and nab the best spots.”

            “Good idea.”  Tifa stood with her and directed the children to do the same.  Everyone gathered their trash and tossed it into the bin.  Then, while Tifa took the dishes back, Yuffie waited with the kids on the sidewalk.  When they finished, it hardly looked like they had even ate there at all.

            The stage was completed when they arrived and the W.R.O. official took their places around it.  Reeve moved among them, greeting people and offering smiles.  He was as tall and thin as Yuffie remembered him, but the years of hard work were showing.  His face had more lines than she remembered and his hair more gray than before.  He stayed healthy, though, and carried with himself his characteristic vitality.  Watching him, Yuffie wondered where he got all of his energy from.

            Half an hour passed as people gathered around them.  It reminded Yuffie of the rally, though the energy was different.  There was tension, but it was excitement and joy.  Families were gathered with children whispering among themselves.  Everyone was safe here, protected by the W.R.O., and they were excited to see what new wonders would be brought to them.

            In a way, it reminded Yuffie of everything that she was fighting for.

            Fifteen minutes passed, and people continued to gather.  A few hundred were in attendance before a call was made for silence.  Among a group of W.R.O. officials—Reeve at their center—a short, round man appeared.  His hair was thinning, his face red and wet with sweat.  He held a microphone in is pudgy little hands and, looking like a beach ball in a brown suit, took center stage. In front of everyone, he tapped the microphone once, and the single finger-fall echoed through the streets.

            The man winced.  “My, that is loud, isn’t it?”  He teetered and laughed, rocking on his heels uncomfortable.  Yuffie knew him: the mayor of Edge, a sort of incompetent that gave the Emerald Lotus credence.  He was jovial and friendly, but the work he did was limited.  With the W.R.O. so close and so involved in the town’s politics, he didn’t so much run the city as make appearances and try not to be in the way whenever Reeve came by.  Many people didn’t even know him by his face, and those who did certainly weren’t impressed.

            As he stared out at the crowd, who stared back, his cheeks grew shiny with sweat.  He wiped it, ineffectually, with the napkin in his pocket.  “Anyhow, it is a good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for attending.  As you know, it has been many long years since the fall of Shinra and the founding of this city, and we, the people of Edge, that is, have really built something great, haven’t we?”

            He paused for applause.  There was none.

            “The, uh, the answer to the question is, of course, yes, yes we have.  We’ve faced trials!  Difficult trials, and we’ve overcome them, those trials.  We certainly did.”  He coughed. It, like his previous finger-fall, echoed through the streets.  His cheeks turned a more violent red.  “But, we, erm, we didn’t survive alone.  In fact, we had help.  Invaluable help, from the W.R.O., and through those, er, trials, we built a city with their help.  And today, that is what we celebrate.  Our city.  And their help.”  He looked back, went wide-eyed, stammered.  “Oh, and, uh, oh yes, we have a speaker!”

            The mayor turned, waving a short, fat arm toward the group of suits, and from them Reeve stood.  “Er, Chief Director Reeve, of the W.R.O., when you are ready.”

            Reeve smiled and stood.  A light applause sounded when he took the microphone, and he smiled again and adjusted his jacket before speaking.  His tie-clip shined in the afternoon light.

            “Thank you, mayor, and thank you to everyone here for your warm welcome.  I’ve always been fond of Edge, and I visit as often as I can, because the people here are of the strongest stock this world has ever known.  Survivors of Midgar, children of the meteor, enduring attacks by Shinra and its remnants time and time again.  Some may think that Edge has only survived with the support of the W.R.O., but I feel the opposite is true.  We of the W.R.O. can only survive and thrive as we have because of the hard work and faith of people like you.”

            Reeve’s voice, even his very presence, filled the town square.  It dwarfed the massive tarp behind him, dwarfed whatever was beneath it. Whenever Yuffie saw Reeve, she was always struck by how tall he was, how neat he dressed, and the precision of his every movement.  Even now, surrounded by people, she felt outnumbered by him.

            “The foundation of this city,” he continued, “was not a miracle but providence, and its survival was and is inevitable.  When you take people who know nothing but survival and challenge them, then they will rise to meet that challenge, and they will overcome it.  As you have, and as you will forever continue to do.

            “And you will not do it alone.  We at the W.R.O. will be there at your sides, helping you as you have helped us since day one.  We will guide you when you are lost, feed you when you are hungry, and heal you when you are sick.  We will not shepherd you, but walk alongside you, meeting each challenge with you and learning from your example.  Overcoming it with you.

            “And it is in that spirit that we celebrate today, the day of founding for your lovely city.  I have a special treat for you, a surprise of sorts, though I suspect many of you already know what it is.”  The crowd cheered and laughed, and he gave another smile.  “Now, enough from me.”  He turned and gestured toward the rounded tarp behind him.  “Now for the real show.  Cid, take it away.”

            Behind Reeve, the enormous black straps holding the tarp down snapped off.  The tarp fell away, revealing to the crowd the sleek, shining frame of an enormous airship.  It was larger than the Shera, with long, steel wings extending from the aft.  Enormous fan blades spun, slowly, within the wings.  Windows, each a story tall by themselves, covered the front and showed the crew working the bridge.  Standing at its helm was Cid, smoking as always, and shouting orders through his cigar.

            Yuffie whistled at the reveal.  “Okay, even I’m impressed by this.  I mean, I’ll never ride in the damn thing, but I am still impressed.”

            Tifa laughed and nudged Yuffie.  “Come on, not even a short ride?”

            “Tifa, please.”

            Projectors shot images of the airship across the town, showing different angles of the ship for everyone to see.  Still on stage, Reeve began speaking again, his voice clear until the ship’s engines roared to life.  “This is the newest airship straight from Cid’s workshop.  Known as the Model 3 Ricard, is boasts a brand new, remodeled engine, upgraded from the original Shera and outclassing her in speed, power, and even fuel efficiency.  Within a few months, full production will launch on this model, which will then replace all Model 6 Highwinds and Model 2 Sheras now on the market within only a few years.”  He turned his smile on the complex mechane behind him.  “And isn’t it a sight to behold?”

            The crowd roared loudly, stomping and flailing in their praise, competing now with the engines in noise.  Even Denzel was impressed enough to take time from his adolescent sulking to cheer alongside everyone else.  Marlene had to stop cheering long enough to note his excitement and earned a glare from him in return.

            “And now, if we could all wait while Cid gets it into the air, then we can show you that very speed which I was just bragging about.”

            The crowd fell silent, watching with eager anticipation as the airship came to life.  The propeller blades built into the wings gained speed, creating a whirlwind of air and noise around them that spread through the streets.  People in the crowd had to cover their eyes to keep watching.

            Tifa tied her hair back to keep it out of her face before leaning over to Yuffie and whispering, “I think Reeve wants to stay and see everyone after the meeting.”

            “That sounds nice.”

            “You should talk to him about your boss.”

            Yuffie stuffed her hands into her pockets.  “No, I shouldn’t.  Reeve’ll probably just take his side.”

            “Come on, Yuffie.  Reeve’s not like that.  He knows you.  He trusts you.”

            “And that’s why he threw me into the Hunters, because he trusts me,” she muttered to herself, and she felt Tifa staring.  She hated when Tifa stared.  It was always warm, always comforting, always accepting.  No matter what Yuffie did or said, Tifa was always there for her, and what made it so bad was that, deep down, Yuffie knew Tifa was genuinely trying to help.

            “He could help,” Tifa said, calmly.

            “I don’t need help,” Yuffie responded, not so calmly.

            “Fine.”  Tifa touched Yuffie’s shoulder and squeezed her gently.  “Then, I’m glad you’re taking time off to recover.”

            “Only because they blocked my onsite password to everything.”  Yuffie crossed her arms.  “I’ll be back in once I figure out how to hack it.”

            “And after you’ve recovered.”

            “I’ve been drinking Cure magic like its water for a week now.  I’m fine.”

            “But you haven’t been sleeping.”

            The Airship’s roar swelled and interrupted them, much to Yuffie’s delight.  It groaned and growled as it lifted into the air.  From one of the propellers, a stream of smoke appeared and a flash of fire.  The entire thing shook as it lifted above the nearby buildings, the engines whining so loud that it shook the windows along the street.

            Everyone covered their eyes to see it again the sun.

            “Wow,” Marlene cooed, and Tifa smiled at her.

            “It’s great, isn’t it?”

            “Yup!  And they’re putting them everywhere, so papa can come back and visit whenever he wants, right?”

            Tifa nodded in response.

            The airship rose, higher and higher, clearing even the tallest buildings and finding home in the air.  The black smoke grew thicker and darker as it ascended, and now it created a smoldering wake as the airship shined like a shooting star.

            Yuffie squinted.  She could smell fire.  A series of pops, like firecrackers echoing inside of a tin, and the left propeller erupted into flame.  Shrapnel and screws came loose, littering the streets, crushing cars and buildings beneath.

            The crowd screamed and scattered as shards of hot steel rained down from the airship.  The smoke was a plum now, gushing from the open, blazing wound. The Ricard scraped a building, tearing glass as it descended, exposing the framework to the city.

            Yuffie and Tifa pushed their way through the crowd, dragging Marlene and Denzel with them to the stage.  Reeve met them there and took the children into his care as the airship made a graceless descent.  Another bomb went off, on the other side of the ship, which was tilting for a nosedive.

            Yuffie looked at Tifa.  “Hey, Tifa, you been working out lately?”

            “What?”

            “Remember Cloud-tossing?”  Yuffie grinned and nodded at the sinking airship.

            “Yuffie, this sounds like a bad idea.”

            Yuffie produced, from her pocket, a green sphere—like a large marble—that gleamed in the sunlight.  “Just throw me already.”

            With a deep breath, Tifa hopped from the stage and held her arms out, hands folded together.  Yuffie took a ten-foot sprint and leaped, landing in Tifa’s hands.  Tifa dug in.  The asphalt cracked beneath Tifa, who hurled Yuffie with all of her might.  The small, Wutai woman rocketed through the air, like a bullet through the smoke.

            Yuffie met the airship with both feet and covered her eyes as she passed through the bridge windows.  She sailed through the bridge itself, catching herself on a handrail to keep from flying through the other side.  Her inertia pulled the rail apart.

            Cid, who held the control tightly in a desperate effort to keep the airship aloft—cigar still in his mouth—shouted, “Yuffie? Th’ hell you doin’?”

            “Saving your ass!”

            Yuffie squeezed the Materia tightly and closed her eyes. Green light filled the bridge interior.  A sphere of energy spread through the helm and caught the ship in its net.  The helm slowed; its descent eased.  The rear, still under normal gravity, came apart and crumpled to the ground before the rest of it landed lightly, still intact.

-Disc One-

            Yuffie winced when she opened her eyes.  The light bleeding in through the fractured glass made her head throb and her stomach churn.  She could smell smoke and little else.  Around her, the crew was stirring, working hard to help each other to standing or to evacuate the ship.

            She stood and braced herself against the railing.  Using her gravity materia, Yuffie was able to slow the bridge’s descent, but she could not save the ship.  The crash landing had left the floor slanted and the wind shield fractured.  The street around her was littered with debris, while the ship’s aft burned a short distance away.  There were bodies there, ones Yuffie would rather not see.

            She staggered her way to the open air and coughed for breath.  Her face was black with smoke and soot.  Cid walked among the surviving crew, checking them while he chewed an unlit cigarette.  Yuffie went to him, wiping her face as best she could on the way.

            “Goddamn.”  That was his greeting, delivered with a solemn breath.  “The hell is goin’ on here?”

            Yuffie struggled to stay standing.  The world continued to spin, and the fresh air was making her feel lightheaded.  She braced against the ship for support and eyed the street.  There were cars in the distance.  The W.R.O. in attendance at the ceremony were already doing what they could to help civilians.  Sirens wailed.

            Yuffie coughed until it hurt and then held herself.  Cid clapped his hand against her back.  “You okay, kid?”

            Yuffie straightened herself and pushed him away.  “Are you?”

            He rubbed his nose and chewed his cigarette more.  “’I’m fine.  Pissed off.  What kind of $@*% is going on here? Spent goddamn years working on this goddamn thing, and now it’s just a scrap in the &*#@ing street!”  He kicked the airships frame.  Something shifted inside as he screamed and clutched his foot.

            “But you don’t know what happened to it?”

            “I did, would I be standin’ here?!”

            Yuffie took another deep breath and forced herself to standing under her own power.  Her head was clearing slowly, but her body continued to hurt.  Cid watched her with concern.

            “You good to be movin’?”

            “I’ve got to go.  I’ve got to...”  Yuffie’s phone rang.  She answered. “What?”

            “Yuffie Kisaragi.”

            “Shelke?”  Yuffie staggered away from Cid and across the street, finding sanctuary against an alley wall.  “Shelke, what in the world is going on here?”

            “Sabotage.”

            “Yeah, thanks, I couldn’t figure that out on my own.”  She covered her free ear as the siren grew closer.  The W.R.O. was arriving in full now, and people were shouting orders.  “How?  Why? What can you tell me?”

            “I’ve traced the Lotus broadcast.”

            “The Lotus what?  How long was I out?”

            “I am uncertain,” Shelke said, “But for clarity, after the airship crashed, the Emerald Lotus made a broadcast and took responsibility for the attack.  They have set off bombs across the city and are declaring an official war against the W.R.O.”

            Yuffie stumbled away from the wreckage, toward the far end of the alley.  She looked back toward the city and saw four pillars of smoke, evenly spread across the sky.  “Oh, no.”  She rested against a nearby storefront to keep her legs from giving out.  “You said you traced it?”

            “Yes.  I’ve already sent the location to your phone.  Can you intercept them?”

            “Of course,” Yuffie said.  “And can you keep this between us?”

            “You have ten minutes.”

            “Right.”  Shelke hung up, and Yuffie checked her phone.  Afterward, she pocketed her phone and did some light stretches.  “Ten minutes,” she said, a grin on her face.  “That’ll be more than enough time to clean up this mess.”

-Disc One-

            The streets Yuffie took were empty as she passed.  Shelke sent her a map leading across the city to an old Midgar sewage system that was abandoned long ago. When she arrived, she found fetid water and refuse pooled beneath a long, hollow tube of rusted steel, an unfinished relic still struggling against time.  All around the water there were footprints left in the mud.

            Yuffie climbed the tubes and entered their depths.  She followed through winding curves, breathing shallowly of the stink of rotten feces and stagnant water.  Fungus grew along the walls and led her even deeper in.  Narrow walkways blocked her path, and she had to shimmy across them, her body tight against the wall, trying hard to ignore the cold, slick feeling against her back.

            The deeper she went, the stronger the smell of decay and damp became.  Holes in the walls allowed faded light inside.  The tubes went up, and she had to climb hand and knee, trading her phone between her hands to follow the map inside, and her journey came to a stop in the heart of the sewer network.

            The network itself met at a large, domed room with a circular, stone-laid floor.  Water flowed around the floor, crisscrossing under steel grates blackened by age.  Yellowed light bulbs buzzed overhead, casting a dull light.  The air was stale and, at the far end of the room, another set of tunnels, wider than the last, were exposed behind a broken wall.

            Lotus soldiers were at work in the center, packing as Lotus himself oversaw their activities.  A tall, tan man stood beside him, hair dark, sideburns looking like a wild mane.  He was enormous, almost beast-like, and he was the first to notice Yuffie’s approach.

            The man tapped Lotus on the shoulder, and Lotus turned to regard her.  His cloak flourished with his movements.  “And so, they sent a dog to sniff us out.  Congratulations.”

            “THEY didn’t send anyone,” Yuffie said.  She reached into her back pocket and produced a small switch blade.  “I’m here on my own.”

            “Seems you’ve chewed through your leash, then.  Let’s hope you haven’t gone rabid.”

            “The dog thing is getting real old, pal.”

            The tall man beside Lotus laughed.  It was a deep laugh, chest-rattling.  “At least he hasn’t called you a bitch, yet.”

            Yuffie flipped the blade, held it backhand, and ignored the man.  Her gaze was fixed on Lotus’ mask.  “So, you decided to forego the protecting the innocent thing.”

            “I decided to make myself known,” Lotus said, serene.  “And what about you?  Shouldn’t you be up there tending to the wounded and distraught?”

            “Not my job to clean up your mess.  I’d rather kick your ass and drag you up there to do it yourself.”

            “You always did imagine yourself to be the hero, didn’t you? But you’re not.  You’re just Yuffie Kisaragi, a little girl playing at saving the world while you hold onto the coat tails of your betters.”  He laughed and smirked behind his mask.  “You haven’t changed at all.”

            Soldiers gather around him, some carrying weapons, some baring only fists.  Lotus stood straight, body obscured, hidden behind his cloak.  He appeared at ease.  The man beside him towered over the group, his big, sculpted arms folded over his chest as he watched her.  Like Lotus, he was entirely at ease.

            “I’ll show you play!”  Yuffie threw her knife before charging.  One of the soldiers intercepted it, knocking it away while another stepped in with a wide stance.  When in range, Yuffie leaped and knocked the second soldier away with a kick to the head.  In the air, she spiraled, bringing her foot into the other soldier’s chest.  He fell backward, toward Lotus, but was intercepted by the big man.

            The big man held the soldier momentarily before tossing him to the side.  Lotus looked at him while Yuffie made a quick retreat, watching them as she hopped away.  Lotus said, “Hollis?”

            The tall man, Hollis, flashed a feral grin.  “Now, now, Mr. Lotus, you’re the big man in charge here.  We can’t have you dirtying your hands on her.”  Hollis flexed his big hands, popping his knuckles.  “Besides, she didn’t find us on her own.  She might be the first one here, but she won’t be the last.  Leave me to handle this.”

            “Are you sure?”

            Hollis’ grin broadened and his eyes went wide.  He looked more bestial with each passing moment.  “This is what you hired me for.”

            Lotus nodded and turned away, his cloak fanning.  “Right.  Everyone, back up and follow me.  Hollis,” he stopped on his way out, “Take care.”  Lotus leaped down and disappeared into the hole in the wall.

            Hollis sauntered forward, a big man standing nearly two-feet taller than Yuffie.  He could wrap his hands around her midriff and join them, if he chose.  “Sorry,” he said in his deep, harsh voice, “But boss man is busy.  I’ll be handling you myself, but don’t let that make you sloppy.  I’ve seen you in action before and let me tell you this: this’ll be an uphill battle for you.”

            Yuffie glared up at him, hands on her hips.  “Oh, I’m going to enjoy wiping the floor with you.”

            Hollis laughed.  “Name’s Hollis Ramsey.  I guess you could call me an enforcer of sorts.  See, my job is when people try to get rid of the boss, I get rid of them, first.”  He moved into a tight stance, legs close together, arms tight to his body.  Even coiled like this, he remained enormous.  “Which means, now, I got to get rid of you.”

            “Trust me,” Yuffie said, slinking, unfolding, “I’ll take care of you, first.”

            “That’s the spirit!  Finally, someone ready for a fight for once.  So, come on!  Show me the strength that saw you though the Jenova War.”

            Yuffie charged up the center, her footsteps echoing around the chamber.  When close, she leapt, spun, and came at him with a powerful kick, which he met with his big, meaty forearm. Using her momentum, she kicked off of his arm, flipping over him, and came to a stop behind him.

            She spun again, kicking at his leg to destabilize him, but it was like kicking a solid wall of granite.  His muscles were unyielding, and her foot bounced off.  He turned on her with a smile and waited, which only made her angrier.  She punched him in the face, as hard as she could, repeatedly, until she felt blood, and then retreated.  Both hands were wet and red with blood, but Yuffie didn’t know whose blood it was.

            Hollis laughed and followed her retreat.  “That the best you can do?”  He wiped away the blood, revealing a swollen nose and lip.  His sideburns were bristled, giving him the appearance of a wild animal.   Lunging, he grabbed her by the shoulders and held her in place while driving his knee forward into her gut.

            It felt like a cannon blast.  All of the air left her in a hurry, and she coughed and staggered away, struggling to remain standing.  She tried to kick at him, but he merely seized her once more and tossed her across the room.  She landed on her back and rolled once, onto her face.

            The battle stopped, briefly, as Yuffie caught her breath.  It hurt, what he was doing to her, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t suffered before.  Pushing herself to standing, she steadied herself, centered herself.  The battle was nothing new to her, and it was hollow.  He had strength, and she had speed, but she would never be able to whittle him down fast enough.

            Tifa came to mind, tall, strong, swift, and Yuffie thought again of the Death Blow.  It was too slow to work on Lotus, but Hollis was different, and she was never afraid to try again.  Planting her feet, she closed her eyes and breathed through the pain until it was far from her thoughts.

            She cleared her mind, pushing away the good and bad, leaving room only for the blow, for the air she breathed, and when she opened her eyes, she could see him clearly.  Energy suffused her body.  Every ounce of her, she knew, would have to go into her fist.  Each step, each breath, and one forceful, powerful strike.  She charged, and he met her with a humorless grin.  It wasn’t bloodlust but undiluted rage that powered him.  For a moment, Yuffie thought to retreat, but she didn’t have time.  If she didn’t end the fight, then she would never leave the sewers alive.

            When she entered range, she planted her feet, and she threw herself into the punch.  All of her followed through, all of her became a fist. She struck him, at full force, in the solar plexus, and she felt the world move.

            Hollis’ grin held.  He remained firmly rooted in place.  With all of the force in her tiny body she couldn’t move him an inch and so was moved instead.  There were scuffs where her feet had been, and her fist was bleeding.

            He breathed and then laughed.  “I have to admit, that was a pretty good punch, but I don’t think you did it right.”  He said that, and then he hit her.  Lotus was fast and precise, like a bullet.  Hollis was a wrecking ball.  Normally, she would see it coming.  Normally, she would dodge.  This time, she was dug in, feet planted, hand burning.  She saw him swing, followed the movement, but didn’t have the time to react.

            With one blow, she was knocked to her knees, bloodied.  Then, he kicked her and sent her spinning and skipping across the floor like a stone on water.  Her entire body was numb from the pain, and she bounced into the wall before coming to a stop.

            Hollis sauntered toward her, his big body blurred and obscuring the light like a great shadow.  He towered over her, like death, and stared down at her while she tried desperately to stand.  She wasn’t sure what she looked like, scrambling and struggling, but it seemed to amuse him.  “What you did earlier, I think it goes something like this…”

            Move, she told herself, but her body wouldn’t listen.  She had to hold the wall to keep herself standing, and she was too hurt to escape and too weak to block.  She stared, as he braced himself, and he punched her so hard in the stomach that she went through the wall.  The brickwork crumbled around her, and she was left limp, hanging from his enormous hand.

            He dropped her and dusted off his meaty palms.  Her world was fading, and she prepared for the ground’s cool embrace.  Instead, she found strong arms, soft and firm, that carried her away.  There was a swirl of brown hair and an encouraging whisper.

            The last thing Yuffie saw was Tifa, charging Hollis, and Hollis losing ground.