Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Tilted Axys ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 7

“How . . . how is this possible?” Yazoo asked, getting to his feet shakily and setting down next to Kadaj, who was also waiting for them.

“All will be explained, my son.” Jenova said, reaching for the cup of tea that set in front of her.

For the next two hours, Jenova talked. She talked of her accidental landing on the planet, and the accidental poisoning of the Cetra. She talked of a crazy scientist who, when he discovered how powerful people were when injected with her cells, thought that Jenova herself would be unstoppable, so he created a clone using some of the larger pieces of Jenova's body.

“So you see, my sons, the cells in your bodies, even the cells inside Axys, are mine, not that . . . abomination. I do not wish the destruction of the world. Sadly, the clone was able to twist and mutate your brother's mind, making him think that I wanted revenge against the planet. No. I wished only for revenge against the scientist that did this to me, but he has . . . disappeared from our radar.”

The green light surrounding her started to fade, as did her body.

“Oh! I'm sorry, my sons, but I must go. I will see you all again. Kadaj? Go to Wutai. What you seek is there. Loz, never be afraid of who you are. Yazoo. My son, hold on to what you've got. She will save us all, in the end. Tell my daughter not to despair. I will help her discover herself. Never forget where you come from.”

Her voice faded as her body disappeared, leaving three very shaken clones behind her.

“What are we going to do?” Loz asked.

“Whatever we have to.” Kadaj said.

“We find Hojo. I know that's whom Mother was talking about. We contact ShinRa, and help them destroy that fraud. We make up for our assault on Tseng and Elena. Make sure Axys knows that she can . . . leave . . . if she wants.” That last part was more difficult for Yazoo to say than anything he had ever said before.

“I'm not going anywhere.” Axys said from the doorway. “I heard everything. I'm going to help you. I'm one of you now, and you aren't going to talk me out of it, I don't care how dangerous it is!” She said, holding her hand up to silence Yazoo when he started to protest.

“Good.” She said when no one offered argument. “It's settled then.” She turned to walk away.

“Axys!” Kadaj called. She stopped and turned back to face him.

“Yes?” She asked.

You could have heard a pin drop as Kadaj stood and walked to Axys, with Loz following closely behind. Both of the men dropped to their knees on the floor and bowed before her.

“Forgive me, Axys.” Kadaj said. Loz nodded his agreement.

Axys gasped as Yazoo joined the others on the floor. She was silent for a moment, then she too, fell to the floor. She pulled the three of them onto her arms and held them there.

“It is forgotten, my brothers.” She kissed Loz and Kadaj on their foreheads, then wrapped her arms around Yazoo and pressed her lips to his. He returned the kiss, then pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

“I love you.” He whispered, smiling when he heard Loz and Kadaj gasp.

“I love you, too, my Yazoo.” Axys answered.

“So you see, it was all Hojo's fault.” Axys said to Vincent.

“I see.” Vincent said, solemnly. Vincent lost himself in conversation with the triplets, leaving Yuffie free to talk to Axys.

“Oh Gods, Axys, I'm so glad you're alright! I was afraid I'd never see you again!” Yuffie said, grabbing Axys and clutching her tightly.

“Yuffie!! Yuffie!! Must . . . have . . .oxygen!!” Axys choked out.

“Oh! Sorry!” Yuffie said, releasing Axys. The girls straightened themselves out. “So. Tell me how you managed to survive? I saw what they did to Tseng and Elena.”

“Well . . . I don't really feel like I want to talk about it just yet. Not right now. But-“ Axys added when Yuffie began to protest, “As you can see, I'm alright. They didn't do any permanent damage.”

Yazoo was listening to Vincent talk about how to go about convincing ShinRa to allow them to help, when he heard Axys defending his brother's and him. He turned away from Vincent abruptly and walked to Axys, placing his hand on her shoulder. He smiled down at her sadly when her questioning eyes rose to his.

“You don't have to lie for us, Axys.” He said. His gaze fell to Vincent, who was watching Yazoo intently. Yazoo gulped and continued. “We did hurt her. The first night she was with us, Loz and I . . . we . . . raped her.” He watched as Vincent's eyes narrowed and got just a fraction colder. “A week or so later, she tried to escape. We beat her so severely that night that I honestly thought she wouldn't make it.” Again, Vincent's eyes cooled a bit more. Yazoo glanced at Yuffie and found her in tears, clasping Axys' hands and shaking with silenced sobs. Axys pleaded silently for him to stop, glancing at Vincent. He continued. “After that, we . . . continued to . . . force ourselves on her. Everyday. Yet . . . she never complained. She never pleaded, she just . . . took it, and after that, we injected her with Je-“ his words were cut off as he hit the floor.

He looked up and saw Vincent standing above him with his claw outstretched. The look in his eyes was . . . livid . . . lethal. He stood up and wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand, only to hit the ground again, face first. Loz and Kadaj rushed to help, but Yazoo held up his hand to stop them. “No.” He said, “I deserve it. We all do.”

The other two clones backed away and watched as Vincent beat Yazoo viciously. Loz couldn't watch anymore and moved to intercept Vincent. Vincent just looked at him and said, his voice low and feral, “Wait your turn!”

He turned back to Yazoo and raised his gauntlet to deliver what would have been a fatal blow, when he heard Axys' sobs.

“Stop!” She cried, dropping to her knees, “Please, Vincent! Stop!”

Vincent looked at her, his claw still poised for the kill.

“Axys, these men-“ He started

“No! You don't understand what she did to them, Vincent! You don't understand how powerful she is! How hard they have to fight her, even now!”

“And you understand it?” Yuffie asked, still sobbing.

“Yes, I do!”

“How, Axys?” Vincent asked.

“Because they injected me with her cells. I know how bad it is, Vincent! No!” She cried, throwing herself at Vincent when he let his claw fall to connect with Yazoo's chest. Her unexpected weight threw him off balance and his blow landed on Yazoo's shoulder, slicing through the flesh. Axys landed on her knees beside Yazoo. Vincent watched their exchange silently.

“You idiot,” she said, “Why did you do that?” She pulled his upper body into her lap and held him close, crying into his hair. “Can you stand?”

“I think so, but you really should have let him do it, Axys.” Yazoo said, weakly.

“After I just found you? You're not getting away that easily-!” She made a worried sound when Yazoo tried to stand, only to let out a small pained grunt and fall back to her lap. She hugged him again and cried against his blood-covered neck. “Loz? Kadaj? *sob* Can you carry him to our room at the inn? I don't think I can do it myself . . . “

Kadaj and Loz walked to her. Kadaj lifting Yazoo from her lap and helping him limp out the door, and Loz gently lifting Axys to her feet, embracing her and leading her after them.

“Wait!” Vincent called. Axys stopped. “Axys, I-“

“It's alright, Vincent, I understand that you only want to protect me, but . . . you should have let him finish. I . . . wanted him, Vincent. I . . . After I tried to escape, after they tortured me, he healed me, and he . . . stayed with me. He made sure that-even when Loz and Kadaj came-I didn't get hurt again.” She smiled a very fake smile when the look of realization dawned on Vincent's face. “I love him. And he loves me.” Her voice cracked as she tried to hold in the sobs.

“Axys . . . “ Yuffie cut in.

Axys held her hand up, a silent signal for Yuffie to stop. “I'll talk to you tomorrow, Vincent, Yuffie. Now I need to go and make sure that Yazoo will live through his punishment.”

Vincent and Yuffie watched with mild guilt and frustration as Axys followed Loz out of their house and to the inn across the square.

“Ah! Dammit Kadaj!” Yazoo growled as Kadaj pressed the needle to his skin.

“Just hold still and it'll be over soon.” He chuckled.

“What's so funny?!” Yazoo snarled.

“The fact that you can dish it out but you can't take it.”

“Stop arguing, right now!” Axys yelled, stepping into the room. She still had tears streaming down her face. “I have had enough of the violence! Move, Kadaj!” She pushed him out of the way and grabbed the bloody needle from his hand. She sat down and looked into Yazoo's eyes. “Leave.” She said to Loz and Kadaj, without looking away from Yazoo. They both did as they were told, each patting her softly on the shoulder and kissing her forehead as they walked past her. Once they were gone, she lowered the needle to Yazoo's shoulder and carefully began stitching the skin together. She didn't speak for a long time. The only sounds were the soft gasps and grunts from Yazoo as the needle pierced his flesh. So absorbed in the silence was he, that it startled him and he jumped when Axys spoke. He groaned when the needle pressed deeper than it should.

“Hold still and answer my question. “What were you trying to do? Did you want him to kill you?”

“I just . . . I don't ever want you to cover for us, Axys. What we did to you was unforgivable, yet you forgave us. We will accept whatever comes to us.”

She slapped him across the face. “Don't you ever, everdo something like that again. I will notlose you when I just found you!” She finished the last stitch and gently cleaned the area of the remaining blood, then wrapped his shoulder with soft, white cloth. He tried to sit up and Axys held her hand out to stop him.

“Just stay there for a little while, okay? I don't care how strong and powerful you are, you need some rest. I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm going to go get you something to eat.” She stepped out of the room and called for Kadaj and Loz. They stepped around the corner. “I'm going to get some food, will one of you make sure he stays in bed?” Loz nodded and walked past her into the room. “Thank you, Loz.” She said, “I'll be back in a little while.”

She walked past Kadaj. “Axys!” he called. She stopped and turned back.

“Hm?” she said.

“I'm coming too, I've never actually been here before.”

“Okay, come on then.” She said, motioning for him to hurry up.

“You really do love him, don't you?” Kadaj asked as they walked through the market.

Axys looked at him from the corner of her eye, then looked back to the fruit stand just as quickly. “I do.” She said, passionately.

“Good,” Kadaj said, “because he loves you, and if you hurt him, I would have to hurt you, and I don't want to do that.” He finished, a noble look on his childish features.

Axys tried not to smile. “Death couldn't keep me from him, Kadaj.”

Kadaj smiled, and patted her shoulder.

“Good. I think I'll go back to the hotel and check on Loz and Yazoo. Call if you need anything, okay?” Kadaj said.

“Okay. I'll see you later.” Kadaj nodded and walked away as Axys pulled out her cigarettes and lit one, walking to an out-door coffee shop just a few yards away.

She sat down and gave her order to the waiter, settling in with her cigarette and losing herself in thought. What was she to tell Vincent? How would she convince him that the triplets meant no harm, and wished only to redeem themselves? And what about ShinRa? How would they convince Him to let them help?

“What the hell do you mean, you don't serve liquor?!”

The all-to-familiar voice jolted Axys from her worries. She very carefully peeked around behind her, only to see the last person in the world she need run into.

Reno. Reno andRude. `Shit. Shit, shit, shit.' She thought, turning back around.

“We're a coffeeshop. Sir. We don't sell alcoholic beverages.” The waiter said, calmly. Reno huffed his way to the table directly behind Axys and sat waiting while Rude ordered coffee. When Rude joined him, they began talking again.

“So why d'you think Valentine wanted us to come here? Think he found her body?” Reno asked Rude. The big man merely shrugged his shoulders.

“I mean, it's been almost two months. There's no way that Axys survived. She was a tough girl. Great Turk, but . . . Tseng and Elena are stillrecovering. And they were only with them for a few days-“ Rude shifted uncomfortably. Reno caught it. “Oh, sorry man, I know how you felt about her. But think of it this way, Elena is alive and she'll be with you.”

They didn't recognize her . . . her taller frame, silver hair . . . The waiter gave her coffee to her, and she hastily paid him, standing and almost running away from the shop. When she thought she was a safe distance away, she made a sharp left and went to Vincent's house.

“How is he?” Kadaj whispered, peeking into the room to find Loz sitting at the table cleaning the Dual Hound and Yazoo asleep soundly in the bed.

“He'll live. We should have shared the pain, though.” Loz answered.

As dumb as people think Loz is, he's not. Just quiet, and a little naïve. Curious, too.

“I know. It wasn't even his idea to do any of it. I don't know how I didn't see that he was in love with her.” Kadaj said sitting across from Loz and pulling out his sword, reaching for an extra rag and the oil that Loz had sitting on the table.

“What would you have done if you had known?” Loz asked, still not looking up from his chore.

“Killed her, probably. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't know.”

“He wouldn't have let you kill her. I only saw him hit her once after the night she tried to get away, and after he slapped her, he went to the garden and attacked the statue of Brother. It was the first night you had her.”

Kadaj paused, momentarily forgetting about cleaning Souba. “He did that? I thought I heard gunfire . . . ” He added as an afterthought.

“Yes. He emptied three clips into that statue.”

“Wow.”

Loz chuckled. “Yes, `Wow'.”

Their brother was a dangerous man, indeed.

“Why are Reno and Rude here?” Axys asked, confused and terrified.

“I called them to talk to them about Jenova. I wanted to know why they thought it alright not to tell us that the body they have is a clone. We are Turks too, and we had a right to know.” He paused. “How did you know that they were here? They didn't see you, did they?” He actually sounded concerned.

“I saw them at the market, and don't worry, they didn't recognize me. I'm surprised that you did.”

Vincent relaxed back into his chair in the lounge.

“So you didn't tell them about me?” Axys asked, relieved.

Vincent smiled. “No. After everything that happened to you, and all you've forgiven, I think it best to allow you to decide when they know.” He paused again. “I'm sorry, about Yazoo. I didn't realize, and I was so . . . angry when I heard what they'd done to you. But after thinking about it, and talking with Yuffie, I understand what you meant when you said that I didn't know what `She' had done. You saved us, I think.”

Axys tried to say something, but Vincent tensed up and held his hand out.

“If you don't want Reno and Rude to see you, you'd better go now. They're here.” Axys jumped up. “Out the back. There's a passage between this house and Cid's-whom be the way you should see, he deserves to know that you are okay. He searched for weeks after you disappeared-take that passage back to the market, and don't leave your hotel room til I call you, okay?”

She nodded. “Thank you.” She said, exiting the house as quietly as she could.

When Axys returned with all her groceries, the sight she found warmed her tired heart. Yazoo slept in the bed, Loz was asleep at the table-the Dual Hound still in pieces-and Kadaj slept in the sofa-chair next to the bed. She quietly put the food away and made her way to the bathroom to shower. She sang softly, a sad song that her mother had taught her long ago.

“Where once was light

Now darkness falls

Where once was love

Love is no more

Don't say Goodbye

Don't say I didn't try

These tears we cry

Are fooling rain

For all the lies you told us

The hurt, the blame

And we will weep to be so alone

We are lost, we can never go home

So in the end I'll be

What I will be

No loyal friend

Was ever there for me

Now we say Goodbye

We say you didn't try

These tears you cry

Have come too late

Take back the lies

The hurt, the blame

And you will weep when you face the end alone

You are lost, you can never go home

You are lost, you can never go home.”

When she was finished and left the bathroom, all three men were awake.

“Hello-what's wrong?” She asked, seeing their solemn expressions.

“Never sing that song again, Axys. Please.” Yazoo said. His voice sounded strained and she realized what she had done.

“Oh, I'm sorry Yazoo, I . . . my mother taught it to me when I was little. I sing it when I'm feeling lost. I saw Reno and Rude at the market, after Kadaj left.”

“Turks? Here?” Kadaj said, disgust evident in his voice.

“Hey!” Axys scolded, “You seem to be conveniently forgetting the fact that Vincent and I areTurks!” She leaned down to give Yazoo a soft peck and check his bandages.

“We're not forgetting, my little assassin, just . . . hoping for a change.” Yazoo said, teasingly.

Axys pushed at a tender spot a little harder than necessary and he gasped and pulled away, then laughed at Axys' innocent expression. Kadaj and Loz laughed as well.

“So why are they here?” Loz asked, metal clicking as he reassembled the Dual Hound.

“Vincent called them. Now, before you jump to conclusions,” she said when each man got an infuriated look in his eyes, “He wanted to know why they kept it from us that the Jenova they have is a fraud. He thinks that, as Turks, we had a right to know, and I agree with him. I just don't think it's the right time to let them know that I'm okay. Oh,” she added, “I almost forgot. Vincent advised that we stay in the room til he calls us and lets us know that Reno and Rude have left.” She finished poking at Yazoo and stood again. “Are you hungry?” She asked them.

“A bit.” Yazoo admitted. Kadaj and Loz nodded their agreement.

“Okay. I'll make dinner.” Axys said. She made her way around the table to the kitchen, taking the sliced chocobo breast from the fridge and washing it. The men watched as she sliced it into small strips with expert ease. She seasoned the strips, then fried them up, adding peppers, onions, chives, and carrots. She pulled out some Gyashi Green tortillas and warmed them, then ripped them to shreds and placed them on plates, adding generous portions of the chocobo fry to the plates.

“I bought some wine, would you like some? Kadaj? Loz?” She asked.

“What about me?” Yazoo asked, already sensing what she would say.

“You can't have any, you're injured.” She said. She poured two glasses full for Kadaj and Loz, and gave them their plates and their drinks. She poured Yazoo some water, adding a bit of a potion to the glass and handed it to him.

“Drink this first.” She ordered. He did as he was told, grimacing at the aftertaste of the potion. Axys handed him his plate and then poured him another glass of water.

“Can I at least sit at the table?” Yazoo asked.

“No.” Axys said and turned back to the kitchen to fix herself a plate. She poured her wine and then sat down at the table with Loz and Kadaj.

The four ate in silence, and when they were finished-to Axys' surprise-Loz and Kadaj offered to do the dishes. This gave Axys time to sit with Yazoo.

When she was close enough, he reached out and pulled her into the bed with him. She snuggled against him gently, laying her head on his uninjured shoulder and resting her hand on his chest. He leaned down and kissed the bridge of her nose, nudging her with his own nose to tilt her chin up. She did so and he claimed her lips for a tired, chocobo flavored kiss.

“Mm.” He said after he pulled away. “You picked an excellent wine.”

She smiled and stifled a yawn.

“Go to sleep, Axys,” Yazoo said, holding her more tightly against him. “We'll wake you if Vincent calls.”

“M'kay.” She mumbled, already half asleep.

“I think I'm gonna take a shower.” Kadaj said, after finishing the dishes and seeing Axys wrapped in Yazoo's arms, fast asleep. He grabbed Loz as he made his way to the bathroom. “You too.”

Sometimes, Kadaj was happy that Yazoo, Loz, and himself were not reallyrelated.