The Calm after the Storm (working title) Chapter 11 Fandom:Final Fantasy VII Rating:PG-13 for the mo. Summary:Chaos has returned to the planet along with Omega, but for Vincent there are still issues to deal with left in their wake. For the rest of Gaia, there's a planet that needs to heal and rebuild. The WRO on one side, opposing factions on the other, life doesn't seem to get any smoother. Author notes:Seriously don't ask. I have no idea what is going on here, I haven't even run a basic grammar check on this because I got sick of staring at it to see if it made any sense, so I'm relying on you my poor long suffering readers to tell me if this chapter is total wtf or not (long author notes are long). Disclaimer:I barely claim to own this fic some days, let alone any of the characters.
Yuffie was in the outdoor area that was used as the communal kitchen peeling potatoes, as the other women were working around her, preparing the evening meal. Yuffie had been itching for a long time to ask a question, which, now Jula was next to her, she decided to take the opportunity to ask. "Why do the men never help out with this stuff?
Jula looked at her in mild shock. "Women do the work women are supposed to do. The men fill their traditional roles. I cannot hunt."
"But what if I can? Reno's got arms, let him peel the potatoes for once, I'll catch dinner."
Jula laughed. "I'd like to see you get that one to peel potatoes."
Yuffie liked Jula, but sometimes she thought the women of the camp needed a lesson in current social trends and where they were headed. Instead she just smiled. I'll have him peeling potatoes before long."
Reno was out on a patrol with Evans keeping the borders of the camp free of monsters. They had passed the time in idle conversation, always with Reno gently guiding Evans words in the direction he wanted the man to follow. He had managed to get in a small group of Evans' men on a few minor attacks on Midgar. They had gone well, though the areas hit had been unpopulated at the time. With a few minor, if not successes, not failures under his belt, he was hoping to get more directly in with Evans and build up the group's confidence to hit something bigger.
"So, boss. What exactly is it we're hoping to achieve by hitting Midgar? No one's there much 'cept workers, besides The WRO's got a sizable military, so it's not like we can displace them."
"Why not? At the moment, it's an easier target that Edge. The WRO guard the place, but the security isn't as high." Evans loudly blew his nose, stuffing the old tissue back into his pocket. "Even with the small victories we've made, they take us too lightly. But that makes life easier for us."
"So what's your goal here really? I got that you tagged onto VEHGA at first, but since then?"
"To be honest," Evans said as he picked his teeth with a toothpick, making Reno wish the man would take care of his personal hygiene sometime when he wasn't there. "I don't really give a flying fuck for what VEHGA want, they're a bunch of wet pacifists." Evans continued. "Some of the other guys here genuinely believe it, but feel it should be a little more 'pro-active', you could say." He laughed at his own bad joke. "I'm happy enough to use that. If they have any kind of success, I figure I could get something out of it. New world, new leaders. Initially? I was in it mainly for fun, but then the old guy got killed by the dual horn that was let loose, so I took over. Now I figure, rather than have a go at the WRO which was always the old guy's motivation, how 'bout if I step it up a notch. eh?"
Reno silently groaned. Another mindless thug wanting to be the big man. Reno disliked him, the man was a slob and reminded him of Don Corneo. Reno might have been a bit of a lazy-ass jack himself, but he had some kind of standards. He just nodded. "Never know where it could lead ya."
"True. So, your girl then. She faithful to ya?" Evans said ,changing the subject.
Evans nodded. "Lot of men round here, watch she don't take a liking to one of 'em." He winked.
Reno grinned weakly and resolved to keep Yuffie at a distance from Evans. He didn't like her that much, but no one needed that fat bastard trying to get into their pants.
They had come back into the camp. "Let me show you something, boy."
Reno nodded, interested as to what Evans could possible have that would be of any interest. He followed Evans through the camp, dutifully waving at Yuffie as he passed, in a way he knew would annoy her.
To the east of the camp, the side that bordered Mideel, Evan's uncovered a small wooden lid set in the floor of the forest. Lifting it up, Reno could see coloured orbs sitting inside.
"Materia? How the hell'd you get them?"
Evans smiled. "One advantage of living so close to where Mideel once was. The lifestream on the surface throws up some goodies for us at times." He put the lid back and covered it again. "And that's not all." Evans moved another, this time larger wooden lid. Inside the buried crate were weapons. He put the lid back, scraping to cover it with brush again with his boot. "One of the better things that come out of our raids of Midgar."
"You intend on using these," Reno stated.
"Correct. I figure we can't take on the WRO just yet, but with this we can take Midgar. I don't want to rule the world, I just want my piece of it."
Reno wondered how Evans figured he was going to achieve his goals. The military of the WRO wasn't exactly small. They'd taken losses with Deepground, but not enough for a two-bit thug to take over Midgar. President Shinra was happy to ignore people like Don Corneo, as long as they didn't dig into Shinra pockets, but this was too ambitious and Reeve was not President Shinra. He wasn't going to turn a blind eye to anything. "Problem is, boss, is can we take Midgar with just the handful of men we've got? The materia and Deepground weapons will give us an edge, but is it enough? "
They started walking back into the camp proper. "There are enough displaced men in the world who would be willing to be a part of shaping the future. We see them everyday."
"True. But will there be enough?"
Evans' reply made Reno feel Evans had been put on the planet to jump through Reno's hoops. "We give them something else, away from Midgar, We use the smaller attacks to divert them there, then we hit something big somewhere else. They'll move people and while they're distracted...wham." He punched his fist into his palm for emphasis. "We get a foot in the door."
Reno looked suitably enthused. "Any ideas what to hit yet, boss?"
"No, but we'll know when it comes up. We'll just bid our time."
"I look forward to it."
Evans grinned. "Keep the good work up, and you'll be my right hand man by then."
"I'll just have to keep getting things right then." Reno smirked, the picture of confidence. "Well, I'd better go find my girl."
Evans laughed. "Yeah, you should. She's a valued asset to us, it wouldn't do to annoy her."
Nodding, Reno turned and headed back to Yuffie. They needed to start bringing the plan up a notch.
After the evening meal Reno caught up with Yuffie in their hut. She was looking distinctly irritated when he sat on the floor opposite. "We need to talk," He said, then noticed her look. "What's eating you?"
Yuffie gave an exasperated growl. "Don't ask."
"Okay, I won't," Reno replied casually.
"I can't believe that woman! Do they deliberately pry into everything round here?"
Reno looked at her concerned. "Our cover...?"
Yuffie glared. "Our precious cover is fine," she hissed quietly. "Can we walk?"
"Sure, I need to talk to you anyway."
"If it gets me away from here for a while, good."
Taking one of the camp torches, they walked into the dark of the woods. "So, what's the update?" Yuffie demanded.
"Look, what's this prying about? If there's a chance..."
Yuffie cut him off. "No. Jula seems to have taken on a role of concerned aunt. She just asked me if things between us were okay."
Relieved, Reno now found himself amused and curious as to why Yuffie had been so worked up over it. "So why you so het up about it?"
Yuffie glared at him again. "She asked why we seemed to not have a physical relationship!"
Reno choked, laughing. Yuffie hit him on the back, making a point to hit him harder than was necessary. On regaining his breath, Reno had to ask. "How did she come to this conclusion?"
"Apparently she's concerned and if I ever want to talk..." Yuffie said, her tone mocking. She grimaced. "Jula's not too far away from us and she'd not heard anything. She said it's not right for people our age to not..." She trailed off not really wanting to finish the sentence. "I told her we had a argument."
Reno was still trying not to laugh, but wasn't going to risk getting hit again. "How long has this 'argument' lasted?"
"She said she didn't mean to pry. I know she's just trying to be nice, and I appreciate it, I do. but...urgh! Why can't she ask me if I miss my Dad or something normal like that?"
"You're supposed to be marrying me, from her point of view it probably is normal."
"Still seems weird to me," Yuffie complained. "Can we change the subject now?"
Reno brought her up to speed on all he'd learnt from Evans earlier in the day.
"So we need to get even closer to Evans? Shouldn't be too hard." Yuffie leant against a tree, trying to get comfortable.
"I'm going to get word to Rufus to give us a bigger target, something to get their confidence up. And then I'm gonna to send you in."
"Me? Woohoo! If it gets me away from Jula's 'mothering'."
Reno laughed. "We ought to head back soon."
"If Ru..." Yuffie found her words smothered by Reno's mouth. She was about to kick him when she noticed out of the corner of her eye a person approaching them. Instead, she closed her eyes and played along vowing to kill Reno at her next convenient moment.
A woman coughed politely. "I'm sorry to disturb you. But we're having a get together of the whole camp this evening, we thought you may like to join us. But I shall go, as you are busy."
Yuffie squeezed past Reno and walked quickly over to Jula. "We'd love to," She said brightly. Reno walked just a way from them, partially on the pretence of keeping lookout.
"I'm glad you two seem to have worked thing out.," Jula said, smiling. It's nice when young people can work through their problems. So many end badly these days."
Yuffie smiled and engaged Jula in conversation back to the camp, avoiding looking at Reno unsure she could keep herself from hitting him.