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31_days2006-02-12 09:23 pm
yesthatnagia.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2006-02-12 09:23 pm
[Feb 12] [FFVII] In the Morning
[t]itle: In the Morning
[r]ating: PG
[w]ordcount: 1517
[d]ay: Feb 12 - the chrysthanthemum promise
[f]andom: FFVII
[p]airing: gen
[s]ummary: Yuffie's mother made a promise. Pity, she never got to keep it. Not in the way she wanted to.
[n]otes: Young!Yuffie breakah my heart.
1
Outside, Ashura wept and Leviathan roared. Or maybe the two were dancing?
Yuffie was never sure. Nobody had explained to her how you knew if Leviathan and Ashura had been upset or just too happy. She had a vague understanding that if the storm was "bad", then their deities had been upset.
The problem was, what was a "bad" storm? Was a "bad" storm one where tree branches fell, or one where people died, or one that kept you inside when you wanted to play?
And was there ever a "good" storm?
But nobody ever had time to explain this to Yuffie. So every time it rained, Yuffie did the same thing.
She offered prayers and incense in the household shrine, mumbling her happiness that Ashura and Leviathan were happy, and her sincere wishes that they have lots of babies when they were done dancing. And in case they were upset, she vowed that she would find whatever or whoever had made them angry or sad and stomp it into dust.
And, as so often happened, Leviathan chose that moment to give a great shout. The Palace shook. The panes of shoji rattled.
Yuffie squealed. Her surprise caused her to hit her head on the shrine as she bowed. She yelped in pain and then groaned when she realized she'd upset the incense.
Hissing and saying foul words her mother would make her wash her mouth out at the shrine for, Yuffie put all the incense back in their little holder. Her fingers hurt from where she'd had to touch the hot incense sticks.
Her mother heard her yelps, as mothers somehow always do. Yuffie knew her mother had heard her because the shoji door slid open and her mother rushed in.
At the sight of her (mostly) unharmed daughter, Kisaragi Cho gave a relieved smile.
"What's wrong, baby girl?" Cho crooned.
Yuffie smiled back. "I was just praying."
"What were you praying for?" Cho moved towards her daughter, sitting seiza before the shrine. Lovely, nimble fingers soon had the shrine put to rights, and Yuffie found herself envious of her mother. Her mother was beautiful and could so many things, and could fix just about everything that Yuffie did wrong, which was a lot.
"I was just praying."
Cho laughed. "You said you were. What were you praying about?"
"The storm. I was just telling them that I'm glad they're happy and hope they have fun making babies," here, Cho's smile widened and she began to laugh even harder, "and that if they're mad, I'll make sure they can be happy again." Yuffie realized, somewhat belatedly, that her mother was laughing at something she'd said. "What? What's so funny?"
"You, baby girl. Come here."
She obeyed. Her mother pulled her close, wrapping her strong, warm arms around them both.
They sat like that, with Yuffie in her mother's lap, her head resting on her mother's chest.
Her mother, smiling, kissed the top of her head. "Has anybody told you how you know what Leviathan and Ashura are saying?"
She shook her head and looked up, at Cho's face.
Cho frowned a little. "I could have sworn I told Aoshi to—" she cut herself off. "Baby girl, I want you to sit very quiet and very still."
Yuffie sat very quiet and very still.
"How do the thunder and rain make you feel? Do they scare you? Or do they make you sleepy?"
Yuffie thought about it. Sitting in her mother's lap, listening to her mother's heartbeat, she felt warm, drowsy. "Makes me sleepy."
"Then Leviathan and Ashura are happy. They're dancing, not shouting."
"Then I hope they have fun... But what if a tree falls on somebody's house? Isn't that bad? Doesn't that mean they're angry?"
Cho shook her head. "Ashura dances for nobody but Leviathan and her children. How her dances affect us is how you tell. If something bad happens to somebody else, then maybe they were too happy... Like when your father broke that dish."
"Daddy dropped it. 'Cos he had oily fingers."
Cho laughed again. "No, baby girl, Daddy dropped it because he was happy."
"Happy? Then why was Daddy all upset about the dish?"
"Well, it was oily fingers, but you know how we sometimes drink sake? Well, sometimes, when you drink enough, you get things like oily fingers and headaches in the morning."
They lapsed into silence. Cho watched the incense's curling smoke with dark, sombre eyes. Yuffie listened to her mother's breathing.
At another of Leviathan's shouts, Yuffie buried her head in her mother's chest.
"I love you, baby girl," Cho whispered, kissing Yuffie's forehead again.
"Love you too."
"Why don't we go to bed, hm?"
"Don't wanna. Wanna stay here with you."
Her mother's hand fisted in her hair. "Ah, but we both have to get up bright and early tomorrow. General Sephiroth is coming to visit, and you know what that means."
"Cleaning for the filthy easterner?" She smiled.
Her mother smiled back. "That's right. Cleaning for the filthy easterner."
"You think it'll all be over soon?"
Her mother's expression turned serious. "I know it will, baby girl."
"Promise?"
"I promise. And once the war is over, I promise you, we'll spend more time together."
"We'll run up Da Chao?"
"Barefoot." Her mother smiled that crooked smile that meant she was planning mischief. "And we'll pick berries from the thorn bushes that grow on the path, and we'll put them in your father's sushi."
"And we'll put in lots of unripe ones and he'll get sick and throw up!"
"That's right. And we'll go fishing."
"Without poles! We'll catch them with our bare hands!"
"Yes. With our bare hands. And what else will we do, when the war is over?"
"We'll, um, dance! We'll go outside in the summer, on a rainy night, and we'll dance. All night."
"Or until you fall asleep."
"What if you fall asleep first?"
"Then I guess Daddy will just have to carry us both back to bed, hm?"
"Yeah! And, uh, the next day we'll tease him about—"
"No, the next day we'll thank him. Now, let's go to bed. We have to clean for General Sephiroth is coming tomorrow, and you don't want to miss seeing him because you're still asleep, do you?"
Yuffie shook her head.
2
Yuffie thoroughly hated Junon. She hated it, she hated it, she hated it.
There was too much rain. And here, the rain made her feel nothing. The rain was dead. It had nothing to do with Leviathan or Ashura. And that was bad enough.
But those nights where the rain made her feel warm and sleepy, and even safe, those were worse.
"How long are we going to be here?" Yuffie demanded of Tifa.
Tifa only smiled a smile that made Yuffie want to cry (or kill things. Killing things was also an option). "Ask Cloud."
"I am not asking that idiot anything. I seriously doubt Spike knows we're in Junon."
"Yuffie!" Tifa's voice was sharp, but Yuffie didn't care.
"I just want out of this town. Seriously. If I like, LEFT, would you guys not let me join you wherever you go next?"
The other woman huffed. "No, we wouldn't."
"Then tranq me. I can't stand all this goddamn rain." She made a grouchy sound and flopped onto her bed. "I hate it here. I hate this town."
"I know. Junon hails itself as civilized, but it has the same slum system Midgar does. Hypocrites."
"That's not why. It's the rain."
The bed was lumpy, and Yuffie was rather busy trying to get comfortable on it. She only realized that Tifa was glaring at her when she felt eyes on her.
"You love rain." Tifa gritted out. "So what's the problem here?"
"This rain is fake. It's like... It's like Leviathan and Ashura are dancing, but without Leviathan and Ashura."
Finally comfortable, she leaned back and re-examined her surroundings. The place was made out of brick, but of course, the walls were lined in wood. That was Junon for you: wasting trees on some shoddy hotel. The carpets were a colour that Yuffie could only describe was "orange puke", and the bed covers were a hideous plaid of orange, yellow, and green.
"Fake?" Tifa wondered. "Wutaian religion is...."
"Weird, I know. But hey, you try worshipping a water god and not coming out a little nuts."
Tifa laughed. "No thanks."
"You like your sanity where it is, huh?"
"What's left of it, anyway. I love you guys, but you all drive me insane." Tifa moved towards Yuffie, her hand finding Yuffie's shoulder. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
Yuffie grinned up at her. "Just don't make any promises, okay? You make a promise on a rainy night and you'll probably die before you can keep it."
The light-hearted, if somewhat annoyed, mood in the room turned serious.
Tifa sat down on her bed. "Are you talking about Aeris?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Fuck it. I don't wanna talk about it."
And with that, she was up, out the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Dancing."
[r]ating: PG
[w]ordcount: 1517
[d]ay: Feb 12 - the chrysthanthemum promise
[f]andom: FFVII
[p]airing: gen
[s]ummary: Yuffie's mother made a promise. Pity, she never got to keep it. Not in the way she wanted to.
[n]otes: Young!Yuffie breakah my heart.
1
Outside, Ashura wept and Leviathan roared. Or maybe the two were dancing?
Yuffie was never sure. Nobody had explained to her how you knew if Leviathan and Ashura had been upset or just too happy. She had a vague understanding that if the storm was "bad", then their deities had been upset.
The problem was, what was a "bad" storm? Was a "bad" storm one where tree branches fell, or one where people died, or one that kept you inside when you wanted to play?
And was there ever a "good" storm?
But nobody ever had time to explain this to Yuffie. So every time it rained, Yuffie did the same thing.
She offered prayers and incense in the household shrine, mumbling her happiness that Ashura and Leviathan were happy, and her sincere wishes that they have lots of babies when they were done dancing. And in case they were upset, she vowed that she would find whatever or whoever had made them angry or sad and stomp it into dust.
And, as so often happened, Leviathan chose that moment to give a great shout. The Palace shook. The panes of shoji rattled.
Yuffie squealed. Her surprise caused her to hit her head on the shrine as she bowed. She yelped in pain and then groaned when she realized she'd upset the incense.
Hissing and saying foul words her mother would make her wash her mouth out at the shrine for, Yuffie put all the incense back in their little holder. Her fingers hurt from where she'd had to touch the hot incense sticks.
Her mother heard her yelps, as mothers somehow always do. Yuffie knew her mother had heard her because the shoji door slid open and her mother rushed in.
At the sight of her (mostly) unharmed daughter, Kisaragi Cho gave a relieved smile.
"What's wrong, baby girl?" Cho crooned.
Yuffie smiled back. "I was just praying."
"What were you praying for?" Cho moved towards her daughter, sitting seiza before the shrine. Lovely, nimble fingers soon had the shrine put to rights, and Yuffie found herself envious of her mother. Her mother was beautiful and could so many things, and could fix just about everything that Yuffie did wrong, which was a lot.
"I was just praying."
Cho laughed. "You said you were. What were you praying about?"
"The storm. I was just telling them that I'm glad they're happy and hope they have fun making babies," here, Cho's smile widened and she began to laugh even harder, "and that if they're mad, I'll make sure they can be happy again." Yuffie realized, somewhat belatedly, that her mother was laughing at something she'd said. "What? What's so funny?"
"You, baby girl. Come here."
She obeyed. Her mother pulled her close, wrapping her strong, warm arms around them both.
They sat like that, with Yuffie in her mother's lap, her head resting on her mother's chest.
Her mother, smiling, kissed the top of her head. "Has anybody told you how you know what Leviathan and Ashura are saying?"
She shook her head and looked up, at Cho's face.
Cho frowned a little. "I could have sworn I told Aoshi to—" she cut herself off. "Baby girl, I want you to sit very quiet and very still."
Yuffie sat very quiet and very still.
"How do the thunder and rain make you feel? Do they scare you? Or do they make you sleepy?"
Yuffie thought about it. Sitting in her mother's lap, listening to her mother's heartbeat, she felt warm, drowsy. "Makes me sleepy."
"Then Leviathan and Ashura are happy. They're dancing, not shouting."
"Then I hope they have fun... But what if a tree falls on somebody's house? Isn't that bad? Doesn't that mean they're angry?"
Cho shook her head. "Ashura dances for nobody but Leviathan and her children. How her dances affect us is how you tell. If something bad happens to somebody else, then maybe they were too happy... Like when your father broke that dish."
"Daddy dropped it. 'Cos he had oily fingers."
Cho laughed again. "No, baby girl, Daddy dropped it because he was happy."
"Happy? Then why was Daddy all upset about the dish?"
"Well, it was oily fingers, but you know how we sometimes drink sake? Well, sometimes, when you drink enough, you get things like oily fingers and headaches in the morning."
They lapsed into silence. Cho watched the incense's curling smoke with dark, sombre eyes. Yuffie listened to her mother's breathing.
At another of Leviathan's shouts, Yuffie buried her head in her mother's chest.
"I love you, baby girl," Cho whispered, kissing Yuffie's forehead again.
"Love you too."
"Why don't we go to bed, hm?"
"Don't wanna. Wanna stay here with you."
Her mother's hand fisted in her hair. "Ah, but we both have to get up bright and early tomorrow. General Sephiroth is coming to visit, and you know what that means."
"Cleaning for the filthy easterner?" She smiled.
Her mother smiled back. "That's right. Cleaning for the filthy easterner."
"You think it'll all be over soon?"
Her mother's expression turned serious. "I know it will, baby girl."
"Promise?"
"I promise. And once the war is over, I promise you, we'll spend more time together."
"We'll run up Da Chao?"
"Barefoot." Her mother smiled that crooked smile that meant she was planning mischief. "And we'll pick berries from the thorn bushes that grow on the path, and we'll put them in your father's sushi."
"And we'll put in lots of unripe ones and he'll get sick and throw up!"
"That's right. And we'll go fishing."
"Without poles! We'll catch them with our bare hands!"
"Yes. With our bare hands. And what else will we do, when the war is over?"
"We'll, um, dance! We'll go outside in the summer, on a rainy night, and we'll dance. All night."
"Or until you fall asleep."
"What if you fall asleep first?"
"Then I guess Daddy will just have to carry us both back to bed, hm?"
"Yeah! And, uh, the next day we'll tease him about—"
"No, the next day we'll thank him. Now, let's go to bed. We have to clean for General Sephiroth is coming tomorrow, and you don't want to miss seeing him because you're still asleep, do you?"
Yuffie shook her head.
2
Yuffie thoroughly hated Junon. She hated it, she hated it, she hated it.
There was too much rain. And here, the rain made her feel nothing. The rain was dead. It had nothing to do with Leviathan or Ashura. And that was bad enough.
But those nights where the rain made her feel warm and sleepy, and even safe, those were worse.
"How long are we going to be here?" Yuffie demanded of Tifa.
Tifa only smiled a smile that made Yuffie want to cry (or kill things. Killing things was also an option). "Ask Cloud."
"I am not asking that idiot anything. I seriously doubt Spike knows we're in Junon."
"Yuffie!" Tifa's voice was sharp, but Yuffie didn't care.
"I just want out of this town. Seriously. If I like, LEFT, would you guys not let me join you wherever you go next?"
The other woman huffed. "No, we wouldn't."
"Then tranq me. I can't stand all this goddamn rain." She made a grouchy sound and flopped onto her bed. "I hate it here. I hate this town."
"I know. Junon hails itself as civilized, but it has the same slum system Midgar does. Hypocrites."
"That's not why. It's the rain."
The bed was lumpy, and Yuffie was rather busy trying to get comfortable on it. She only realized that Tifa was glaring at her when she felt eyes on her.
"You love rain." Tifa gritted out. "So what's the problem here?"
"This rain is fake. It's like... It's like Leviathan and Ashura are dancing, but without Leviathan and Ashura."
Finally comfortable, she leaned back and re-examined her surroundings. The place was made out of brick, but of course, the walls were lined in wood. That was Junon for you: wasting trees on some shoddy hotel. The carpets were a colour that Yuffie could only describe was "orange puke", and the bed covers were a hideous plaid of orange, yellow, and green.
"Fake?" Tifa wondered. "Wutaian religion is...."
"Weird, I know. But hey, you try worshipping a water god and not coming out a little nuts."
Tifa laughed. "No thanks."
"You like your sanity where it is, huh?"
"What's left of it, anyway. I love you guys, but you all drive me insane." Tifa moved towards Yuffie, her hand finding Yuffie's shoulder. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
Yuffie grinned up at her. "Just don't make any promises, okay? You make a promise on a rainy night and you'll probably die before you can keep it."
The light-hearted, if somewhat annoyed, mood in the room turned serious.
Tifa sat down on her bed. "Are you talking about Aeris?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Fuck it. I don't wanna talk about it."
And with that, she was up, out the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Dancing."