Gunpowder and Firecrackers

II. Yuffie


The lady of Wutai was writing a letter when the phone rang.

It was raining in Wutai, torrents coming down in drenching curtains outside, and there had been a particularly loud clap of thunder just before the phone started its shrill beeping. Yuffie had almost forgotten she'd had the thing. She kept it in its charger by her bedside just in case, but no one ever called.

This particular letter was to the management of Green Earth, attention of one Rufus Shinra, the latest letter in a long line of regular mailings. She wasn't sure how the letter writing competition had started. Perhaps it was when she had lent the startup company some money with an anonymous donation, deciding that Rufus, who she had never liked and had downright hated at one point in time, was finally doing something right. Wutai hadn't been hit by Weapon, but she didn't see anything wrong with supporting something for the good of the Planet. Her father would have approved.

Two weeks later, she'd gotten back a handwritten page from Rufus Shinra himself, formally thanking her for the money and stamped with his official seal. Her response to that had been one sentence: I thought I'd checked the damn 'anonymous' box on the donation slip. The next week brought another letter, in which Rufus wrote, The lady of Wutai is never anonymous.

That had amused Yuffie, and she'd decided to write him back, and for some reason, he had responded in kind. Perhaps she amused him, too. It was odd to think of herself as a friend of Rufus Shinra, when their friendship was based on the odd letter once every few weeks. They'd started out with polite exchanges of pleasantries, inquiries about business. Thirteen years later, they had grown comfortable enough, at least on paper, to argue, joke, and insult like old friends. They were both rebuilding something - Rufus rebuilding the world, Yuffie concentrating all her efforts on making Wutai back into the city it used to be. Rufus had sent out notices via Reeve and Cid's airships that any old Midgar inhabitants who had Wutai blood were welcome home, and to Yuffie's surprise, hundreds had responded. She'd thanked Rufus by sending him more money. They had never met in person nor had she ever felt the need to phone him. It was like having an old-fashioned penpal who happened to be one of the most powerful men in the world.

Rufus had taken the liberty of responding to her last correspondence with a ten page rambling letter on...something. Yuffie wasn't sure if he'd started out with a subject, and the letter sounded like it had been written in spurts over several weeks. That was usually how it was with him when he was preoccupied, and Green Earth's new expansion branch into the Great Glacier area was taking up much of his time. Parts of the letter were randomly dotted with business strategies and financial formulas, which she glanced over and dismissed. Other parts were easier to understand - small talk about the weather and idle gossip about the former Turks, inquiries into Wutai's goings-on, and something odd at the end about Nibelheim. I'm sending Rude to confirm, Rufus had written. I hope it's nothing, but it's best not to ignore hunches, no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

The phone's shrill ringing cut her off in mid-thought and she cursed the half-finished sentence on the paper as her fountain pen bled off a dark spot of ink at the end of a word. She scrambled to the screaming thing, jammed it to her ear.

"Yo," she said. "Hope this is important, whoever it is, cause you just made me ruin a perfectly good piece of paper."

"Yuffie, it's Tifa. Is my number not showing up on your screen?"

"Oh," she said, and felt dumb. She hadn't recognized the other woman's voice for a moment, a fact that bothered her when she realized it. "Hi, Tifa. What's up?"

Tifa sounded hesitant. "I'm sorry about your paper. Writing a letter?"

Yuffie laughed. "Don't worry about it. The ringing startled me, that's all. I can count one hand the number of calls I get on the thing monthly. How are you? I haven't talked to you in a while."

"I'm fine," Tifa said, though the response sounded canned, forced. "The business is going well. How are you?"

"Wutai's busy as usual," Yuffie said. She paused, unsure of what to say to her old friend. Maybe it was her fault for not being good at keeping in touch on the phone. None of the others, besides Rufus, were any good at letters, and Yuffie wasn't a big fan of computers. Eight years ago, when they'd lost Cloud, she'd flown over to Midgar as part of the search party and as moral support for Tifa, but that was the last they'd seen of each other since. "Is anything wrong? No one ever calls me unless there's a crisis."

There was a pause. "Rude and I are getting married," Tifa said.

"Whoa," she said, deciding to go for the direct route. "Finally? What took so long?"

There was a tired laugh. "That's what the general reaction is to the news." She sounded resigned, not exactly the reaction Yuffie would have expected from a newly engaged woman. Then again, things were different where Tifa was concerned. It was Yuffie's opinion that she'd waited for Cloud far too long, but she would never say that out loud, as if giving words to the thought would somehow diminish all that Cloud had been.

"So spill the juicy details," Yuffie said. "When, where, how, that kind of thing? I'm guessing this is recent news, as the great Rufus didn't mention anything about this in his last letter."

"You two are still penpal-ing?" Tifa said, sounding a bit more cheery. "Maybe I should be the one asking what's taking so long."

Yuffie snorted. "We're friends. I've never even formally met Rufus in person without us trying to kill each other. Anyway, we're not talking about me. What about you?"

"Rude's not there, is he?" Tifa asked abruptly.

Yuffie blinked in surprised. "Well, no. You'd know his whereabouts better than me. I haven't had any visitors in months, not since good ol' Vincent came breezing in three months ago on his way to Junon."

Silence. "I...see," she said. Yuffie frowned.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Rude had said he was on his way to see you in Wutai when he left Midgar yesterday morning. I got a call from Reno the same day. He'd phoned to congratulate me on the news, and accidentally let slip that Rude was actually going to Nibelheim. I thought I would confirm with you...just in case..." she trailed off.

"Nibelheim?" Yuffie said, gripping the phone tightly. "What the hell?"

"I don't know. I was hoping to find out. I'm assuming that Rufus is behind all of this, but I don't know how far he'd entrust this kind of information."

"Not to me," Yuffie said. "We're penpals, sort of. That's about it. He wouldn't-" She stopped, inhaled sharply. "Wait a second."

Rufus' ten page novel was the first manuscript in the file cabinet next to her desk, and she flipped through it until she found the reference. "He does mention something about Nibelheim in here," she said. "And sending Rude to check it out, hoping his hunch is wrong. That's all it says. Weird. That city's a virtual ghost town now. I wouldn't go near it if you gave me all the materia in the world."

"I thought so," Tifa said, and then was silent for so long that Yuffie would have wondered if the phone had cut out if she hadn't been able to hear the other woman's breathing. She didn't have to be psychic to know what Tifa was thinking.

"You think it's about Cloud," she said flatly.

"I do." Another long pause. "Yuffie, I-"

"I'm not getting anything out of Rufus that he doesn't want to give out," Yuffie said sharply. "The man's more hardheaded than the damn rocks outside my window. The cute Yuffie doesn't work on him, and neither does the nagging Yuffie. He was head of Shinra - I mean, goddamn, talk about the ability to keep secrets."

"Rude said something about you having lent them some money."

"That was twelve years and hundreds of letters ago. Green Earth is going to be more influential than Shinra ever was, and in a good way. I mention the money every once in a while, but it's become more of an inside joke than anything. We've both done each other favors."

Silence again. "Please, Yuffie," Tifa said.

It was the pleading in Tifa's voice that frightened Yuffie. She'd never heard Tifa plead like that - not the scared, lost sound she heard over the phone line at that moment, like a child. Tifa was the strongest woman Yuffie knew, unshakeable through Aeris' death, through Cloud's disappearance, always their ray of hope through the dark times.

But she knew what Tifa was thinking. If Rufus thought that Cloud might be alive, or if he'd discovered what had happened to him - Yuffie could understand why he'd want to hide it from them until he was sure one way or the other, but the secret was out now, and it would be more cruel, in her opinion, to keep Tifa guessing. Rufus had mentioned that he hoped he was wrong, and that did not sound promising, but it would be good for them all to know once and for all how their friend had died.

Which meant that asking him in a letter would be too slow. She'd have to use the phone.

Damn, Reno, when I next see you I'm going to kick your ass.

"All right, Tifa," she said slowly, "I'll call and ask him."

The other woman let out a breath. "Thank you, Yuffie. I owe you."

"You all owe me lots," she retorted jokingly with more vigor than she felt. Thirty-one and she was already feeling the old age creeping in. Or maybe she was just tired. She'd had bad dreams last night, and Tifa's call wasn't helping her sanity any. "No, really. We've all been worried about you. I know I'm crap at keeping in touch these days, and I don't think the others are much better, but even Vincent's been asking about you, and you know how he is."

"I'm sorry," Tifa said. "If I'd known I was such a gossip topic, I would have probably tried to clean my image up a little."

Yuffie laughed. "Your image is clean. That's part of the problem." The unfinished letter on her desk caught her eye and she swallowed. "I gotta go...guess I'll try dialing that direct line our former Shinra president gave me and see where that gets me. Funny, it's been on all his stationary for the last thirteen years, and I've never had the urge to use it."

"I really appreciate-"

"Yeah, yeah," Yuffie said. "Don't you fret. We'll get this sorted out. Say hi to Mari and Denzel for me, wontcha?"

"Thank you," Tifa said again, and hung up.

Yuffie stared at the letter on her desk again, the rain outside her window, again at the letter, then swore softly and got out of her chair, padding over the tatami and out the sliding doors of the traditional room she used as a sort of private office. The hallways of the old house were quiet, the rain muffled, her footsteps silent over the reed mats. The ancient shrine at the end of the wing was just as quiet, with only the faint flickering of candles at the far end of the chamber and the smell of musky incense wafting through the air as she stepped up and entered the room.

She folded her legs into the traditional seiza position a respectful distance away from Da Chao's carved form, bending in prayer, her mind whirling with questions. Never come to the god in chaos, her father had cautioned. Have your mind clear, and the answers will be clear.

Yuffie knelt a long time trying to clear her mind and failing, trying to dig out exactly what she was searching for, fumbling blindly in the dark. Images danced in front of her closed eyelids - Ifrit's summoning hellfire, the ghostly light of the Temple of the Ancients, Cloud's Mako eyes, the Shinra building collapsing as they fled the heart of Midgar one last time. At the time, she had hoped with all her heart that Rufus had died along with his organization. Now, she was fervently glad that he had not. How was she supposed to ask the god to grant her wishes if she wasn't even sure what she should want? She pictured the box in the corner of her dusty closet where the Conformer lay wrapped in scraps of used silks, where she'd stashed it eight years ago in the hopes she'd never had to use it again.

It was useless, she decided finally, and got to her feet with a slight wobble and the feelings of pins and needles in her toes. It had been a long time since she'd gone to pay her respects. Life got in the way, or something like that, because making that excuse was easier than admitting that she'd been lazy. After her father had died four years ago, life simply seemed slow and drab.

She wandered slowly back down the hall. The lacquered red walls of her study were dark with the greyness of rain and Yuffie went to the light switch, flicking it on. The darkness eased a little. She shuffled to the filing cabinet again, pulling out the first page of Rufus' letter, which began as it always did under the formal letterhead: To the lady of Wutai. She couldn't remember if he'd ever used her name. That was Rufus - all mock formality and flashy showmanship covering a mind so brilliant that Yuffie wondered why he bothered with anyone, least of all her. Yuffie Kisaragi figured herself to be pretty smart, but she wasn't near interesting or powerful enough for the attentions of someone who had once ruled the world, and it wasn't like Rufus to give friendship for nothing.

Maybe that was why she'd never phoned him. The mere exchange of words on paper was detached enough that she could tell herself that it didn't matter, just in case this whole thing turned out to be Rufus Shinra's idea of one big joke.

She grabbed the phone from where it still lay on the desk, took a deep breath, and punched in the phone number at the top of the paper. Her hands were sweating, she realized as the rings echoed in her ear. Maybe he'd changed phone numbers, or maybe he wasn't there.

A click as the line picked up. "Green Earth enterprises, president's office," the pleasant female voice said. "How may I direct your call?"

"Uh," Yuffie said, and cleared her throat. "I'd like to speak to Rufus Shinra please."

"May I ask who's calling?"

Yuffie's mouth quirked in an involuntary smile. "Tell him it's the lady of Wutai," she said.

"Please hold," the woman said, and some terrible elevator music came on. It sounded like the chocobo music from Gold Saucer, and she stared out her window at the rain-drenched mountains, taking deep breaths. It was all right. It wasn't like they were strangers, and this was for Tifa.

"This is a pleasant surprise."

His voice was deep, smooth and melodious, and he actually sounded pleased. Yuffie wasn't quite what she had expected, and all her carefully planned dialogue sounded forced now to her. What should I say? she thought frantically.

"Hello?" Rufus questioned. "Am I still on the line?"

"Shinra," she said, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he said, falling back into what sounded like a formal, stilted response. "A little busy, as always."

Silence. It was that terrible awkward phone silence that Yuffie hated with a passion, and she remembered belatedly that it was mostly why she avoided the phone like the plague. She cleared her throat. "So, um-" she began, just as he said "So just what-"

They both stopped. Then Rufus laughed, a rich, sophisticated sound that reminded her just how inferior her station in life had been to his, before Sephiroth had reduced the rest of the world to the same level. "This is a bit awkward."

"Yeah," she said, feeling a little relieved he was feeling it too. "It is. Um. Honestly, this isn't just a call to say what's up or anything."

He chuckled again. "We've been exchanging mail for thirteen years without phoning, and I didn't think you would start now."

"Why is that?" Yuffie challenged, and then mentally cursed herself for not thinking before she spoke. But it was too late; the words were out.

"I don't quite know," Rufus said lightly. He seemed to be brushing off her question as idle curiosity, and Yuffie felt partly relieved, partly annoyed. "Perhaps neither of us are phone people. What brings you calling on this sunny afternoon?"

"It's raining in Wutai," she said peevishly. "And it's about Tifa."

After a moment, he murmured quietly, "I figured as much."

"So you're one step ahead of the rest of us," Yuffie said, emboldened now with righteous indignation. So he was stringing Tifa and the rest of them along. The rest of them, fine. But to do it to Tifa was unacceptable in Yuffie's book after all the woman had been through. "It's high time you brought us up to speed. What the hell are you doing in Nibelheim, and why haven't you told Tifa?"

Another silence. "It's not something I want to talk about over the phone," Rufus said finally. "Please don't mention the name of that town again during this conversation. It's not safe."

"Not safe?" Yuffie retorted. "What-" She stopped as the memory of Kadaj and his little toady minions resurfaced, how they'd used their own PHS technology to track them. "Right," she said grudgingly. "That doesn't do a thing for the answer to my question."

"You know," Rufus said after another long pause, "this isn't quite how I imagined our first real conversation to be."

Yuffie hadn't ever imagined one at all, and the simple fact that Rufus had now admitted that he had was a bit startling. "Shinra-"

"I have another call," he said abruptly. "Business, so it might take a while. I tell you what, lady - if you want to know what's going on, come to Corel."

Several possible answers to that passed through Yuffie's brain, none of them suitable for polite company. "What?" she finally sputtered. "Shinra, you're out of your goddamn mind."

"I'll see you in Corel," he returned, and the phone went dead.

She swore, clenching her fists, resisting the urge to throw the phone across the room. Rufus Shinra had been the leader of the world and apparently he still thought he could use that power to make people do what he wanted. That was about to stop right now. If he thought he could make Yuffie Kisaragi bow to his wishes, he was dead wrong.

"It's not like I can just take a damn vacation," she muttered to the rain outside, kicking the wall more in frustration than in real anger. It wasn't safe, Rufus said. What wasn't safe? Why all the secrecy now, when peace had reigned for thirteen years and life was getting back to normal? There were more questions than answers, and Yuffie didn't like that either.

Her eyes went to the unfinished letter on her desk, and she marched to it, crumpling up and preparing to make a clean shot of it into the trash basket. I called and asked him, she told herself, clenching the wadded paper in her hands. That's what I promised Tifa. Nothing more.

I'll see you in Corel.

Fifteen years ago Yuffie Kisaragi the materia hoarder would have brushed all of it off as someone else's problem. But she was the lady of Wutai now, thirty-one, responsible. It wasn't any of that that killed her - it was the fact that there were people now who counted on her, people who trusted her to keep promises. Rufus Shinra was an enigma still, but Tifa Lockhart was still one of those people she had sworn to protect, who she would give her life for without a second thought.

She threw the crumpled letter against the wall instead, where it made a thunking sound that wasn't as satisfying as she would have liked, and went to pack.


to Part III: Reno