Prophecy's Refrain

Harmony relaxed in a lawn chair off to the side of the field. Cloud and Zack were sparring in a far corner, each holding his own pretty well, it seemed. Angeal and Sephiroth were sparring not far from them, both having been told that hey were not, in any way, to harm the training grounds. Kadaj was fighting Vincent, deflecting blanks left and right and dodging blows from the lethal looking gauntlet the older man wore. Cid and Genesis were paired as well, Cid throwing taunting curses at the man. Genesis had asked Cid to allow teach him to use the spear, and Cid was obviously amazed and frustrated when he picked it up almost instantly. Rude and Tseng not far from that. Barrett was further down the field, shooting at paper plates that Harmony had painted like targets, as was Rufus. Reno and Hojo were the only others that remained in what they deemed ‘The Rest Area’.

Hojo was reading one of the few non-fiction books that Harmony allowed him to borrow. It was on the Holocaust.

“This is very disconcerting.” He said, more to himself than anyone else. “Your Hitler was a genius, yet he did nothing to further his armies. Nothing to better their combat.”

“So much death, millions of people killed in that war out of nothing but pure hate and prejudice, and you find the so-called inadequacies of his army to be the only thing disconcerting?” Harmony asked. She shook her head. “You’re hopeless. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with you.”

“You have many of these books on this era. Why is that?” Hojo asked, not looking up form his reading.

“My mother’s side of the family is Romanian. There were over two-hundred-seventy-thousand Romanie killed in the Holocaust. My ancestors were among them. They were Gypsies.”

Hojo made a strange sound in his throat, and promptly began ignoring her.

“I’d ask your story, but I already know.” Reno said, turning her attention to him. He lounged against a log on the ground, plucking at the grass. “Angeal told us. Hope that’s alright.” He said.

“Yes, I told him he could tell you. You have a right to know what kind of nut-case you’re staying with.” She smirked.

“I can sympathize with you, coming from an abusive family. My dad was a drinker. He’d drink himself half-blind and then sober up by beating on me and Ma’. Long as I can remember. Ma’ finally left him when I was fourteen.” He started.

Harmony looked at him, shocked that he was sharing this with her, and that he had started the conversation.

He nodded and continued. “She moved us to Midgar, thinking that it would be better for us there. Dad couldn’t find us, and there was plenty of work. We were still pretty poor, though.” He looked out across the field, losing himself in memory, it seemed. Harmony was able to admire the glow of his green eyes and the shimmer of the sun off of his unusual red hair. He shook his head, took a breath, and continued.

“I got into trouble a lot. Drinking, using any drug I could get my hands on, stealing, fighting. Ma’ just didn’t know what to do with me. Finally one day, I got caught. I broke into the house of some bigwig, gonna steal him blind and sell his stuff. Turns out that bigwig was Tseng.” Harmony gasped and looked down the field where Tseng was sparring with Rude.

Reno chuckled. “Yeah, he beat the hell out of me. Tied me up and made me tell him who I was, where I came from, and why I broke into his house. He thought I was an assassin sent to kill him. When I asked why he would think that, he told me he was a TURK. Then he told me I was going to be one, too. He really straightened me out. Even though he’s only a few years older than me, I kind of see him as a dad. Don’t tell him I said that!” Reno said, shooting his gaze to her.

She closed her mouth and turned her fingers in front of it like she was turning a key. “Not a word.” she promised.

Reno nodded, satisfied, and continued. “So yeah. That was how it went down. How I became a TURK. I lived with Ma’ until I was eighteen, and went to ShinRa every day for classes and training. Graduated third in my class in Academics, and first in Combat. Moved out, got my own place. Ma’ was pretty proud. Tseng found out she was having a hard time and moved her to a nicer place downtown, closer to where she worked, and closer to me. She died not long after I officially became a TURK.”

“I’m sorry.” Harmony offered, laying her hand on his arm.

“Nah, its alright. She was happy, finally. Finally…after everything we went through, after working so hard. She was tired, and it was time to rest, I guess.” He seemed to be at peace with it, so Harmony didn’t push.

“Well, thank you, Reno. For sharing that with me.” She said.

“Yeah, well, it was only fair.” He smiled. They looked up when they heard Rude’s frustrated exclamation and saw the big man hit the dirt, Tseng standing over him with his pistol pointed in his face. Tseng stepped back and let Rude up. He patted Rude’s shoulder and then shrugged his own shoulders, walking in a circle and loosening his muscles a bit.

Reno grinned widely. “Gotta run, nice talking to ya, Harmony.” he said, standing up. “Yo! Boss!” He called to Tseng, jogging over. “Got any more fight in ya? How bought a round?”

Tseng smiled softly and nodded his head, holstering his gun and taking out his stun-rod as Reno began tauntingly dancing around him.


Harmony smiled and shook her head at Reno’s antics.

“Harmony!” Came the shout of her name. She looked around to find Vincent, Rufus, and Kadaj making their way to her.

“How can I help ya?” she asked from her seat in the shade.

“You any good with a gun?” Kadaj asked. The other two looked very interested in her answer.

“I’m alright, but there’s definitely room for improvement.” She answered, tilting her head to the side like a curious puppy. “Why do you ask?”

“We know that Yazoo offered to help train you and perfect your martial arts skills, and I wondered if you were any good with a gun, and if not, if you would like to learn.” Rufus answered.

“Well, sure. I would be willing to perfect it. I know I need a lot of work. I used to be a pretty good shot, but I don’t know about now. And I know next to nothing about maintenance. Who would be doing the teaching?” She said.

“Myself and Yazoo, mostly. Tseng has offered to help as well.” Vincent said.

Harmony was impressed. And excited. “Great! When do you want to start?”

The rumbling of her stomach interrupted them.

“How about after lunch?” Rufus chuckled.

“Yeah, lunch sounds good. How ‘bout you guys keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll head back to the cabin real quick and grab some stuff for sandwiches?” Harmony said.

“That would be acceptable.” Vincent nodded, sounding interested.

“I’ll go with you.” Kadaj offered.

Harmony hesitated. “Okay.” She agreed. “Nobody leave the clearing, if a stranger comes across this place, just hide. Don’t bother them. I’ll chase them off, this is private property.” She instructed Rufus and Vincent.

“Yes Ma’am.” Rufus said, seating himself in the lawn chair. It was still difficult for him to stand for long periods of time, even though the geostigma was non-existent in this world.

“And don’t call me ‘Ma’am’. it makes me feel old.” With that, she turned and made her way into the forest, both she and Kadaj disappearing into the trees.

“Should I send someone to make sure he doesn’t try anything?” Rufus asked Vincent in a hushed tone.

Vincent shook his head. “After what Cid and I witnessed the other day, I think she’s safe enough.”

“So what were you and the TURK talking about?” Kadaj asked. He was balancing himself and walking along a small branch that ran next to Harmony. She smiled at how innocent and childlike he looked, knowing that it was far from the truth.

“He was just telling me about himself. How he grew up and such.” Harmony answered. She desperately wanted to ask about Kadaj, but didn’t want to offend him. As calm and tame as he was acting, she knew that he was able of becoming very angry, very quickly. She trusted him, but she didn’t want to push him.

“I see. You did pretty well against Yazoo. I’ve seen very few people last as long as you did. I think he was impressed. I heard he offered to train you?” Kadaj hopped down and came to walk beside her.

“Yeah. I’m a little rusty. I usually do my katas every morning, and practice with my fans, but I need to work on my swordplay, and I‘m a bit on the slow side.”

Kadaj nodded, trying his very best not to be intimidating. He wanted to find out why she was against anything happening between them, and he knew she wouldn’t talk to him if she was intimidated. “I could help you with your swordplay.” He offered, hoping that she couldn’t tell how unused he was to offering to actually help someone.

She smiled brilliantly at him. “Thank you, Kadaj. That would be great.”

They came to the cabin quickly, and Harmony went to the kitchen to gather food, instructing Kadaj to grab three of the wicker baskets from the coat closet by the door. He did so and she packed them with bottled water, tea and lemonade packets, bread, meats, cheese, and other sandwich condiments. As a side-thought, she grabbed a roll of paper towels and extra plates before tying the baskets closed.

Kadaj carried two, and Harmony carried one as they left the cabin and headed back to their ‘training grounds’.

“Can I ask you a question?” Kadaj asked, still feeling silly after going so long giving orders, never asking for anything, throwing politics and manners aside.

Harmony glanced at him. “Sure.” she said.

“Why are you so against anything happening between us? I know you’re attracted to me.”

Harmony froze, shocked, and almost dropped the basket of food she was carrying. She scrambled and righted the basket. “I, uh…” She swallowed and tried again. “I just think it’s a bad idea.”

“Why? What are you afraid of?” Kadaj asked.

“Becoming…attached.” Harmony whispered. “You might just be able to go back to your world. And I’ll be all emotionally attached, and it’ll hurt.”

Kadaj stared at her. “Is that it? What if there isn’t attachment? What if its just a man and a woman releasing some tension?”

“It doesn’t work that way, Kadaj. I just…I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She sighed. Kadaj huffed and dropped the baskets he was carrying. He wrenched hers from her hands and plopped it on the ground as well before grabbing her arm and yanking her to him.

“I think you’re fighting yourself.” He said, matter-of-factly. “I know that you want me.” he lowered his face to hers, trying to connect their lips. She turned her head away, but her breath had quickened, and she shivered slightly.

“I can feel you shiver, I can hear your breath and your heartbeat when I get close to you. When I touch you.” He ran his hand softly down the side of her face, and along her neck, continuing down her back and to her waist. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she whispered, her face still turned away from him.

“Because you want me to.” With that, Kadaj cupped her chin and forced their lips together.

She tried to resist, really she did…but his lips worked against hers in such a way that it made her breathless. Slowly, she kissed back, molding her lips to his almost nervously. His hand left her face and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him and pulling her up higher. He almost bent her backwards, he held her so tightly.

Harmony pulled away and gasped as her breasts were crushed to Kadaj’s chest, placing her hands on his shoulders and trying desperately not to arch into the pressure. Kadaj allowed her to pull away from his mouth, and took this opportunity to put his lips to her neck, mouthing not-quite-kisses along her throat and up to her ear.

“See?” He whispered huskily, “I can tell you want me. You can’t even lie to yourself. How do you expect to lie to me?” He nibbled on her ear.

“Please, Kadaj…” She whimpered, wanting him to pull away and give her time to think again.

“No.” He said. He crushed his lips to hers again, this time slipping his tongue into her mouth and brushing it against hers. She snaked her arms around his shoulders and moaned into his mouth and the sound went straight to his groin. He slipped his hand down her back and gripped a handful of her behind, squeezing and pressing her against his pelvis.


Harmony was caught in the battle of her life. What he was doing to her was so amazing, her body responded in a way that she had never experienced before. When his tongue brushed against hers her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she moaned, holding him close to her.

Then, he grasped her butt and pulled against him and she could feel the beginnings of his arousal. Instantly, she felt herself being pressed to a hard mattress. Felt rough hands tearing her clothes from her and forcing her down, holding her by the throat. She could feel the slimy tongue that traveled down her torso and cruel hands harshly kneaded her breasts.


Kadaj was oblivious to the demons in Harmony’s mind as he raised his hand and brought it down hard on her backside.


Harmony felt the rough slap and with that her memories over-rode where she was, and who she was with. She tore her mouth from his and a strangled whimper escaped her mouth before she started fighting.

“Stop!” She cried softly. “No, stop it! Get off me! No!” she struggled in his grip.

Kadaj released her as she struggled, confused as to what he had done wrong when not a moment before, she seemed to be truly enjoying herself. Then he saw the wild look in her eye, the same one he saw the night she would have killed Hojo.

“Harmony?” he said, taking a tentative step toward her.

“Stay back!” she said, “I mean it Jade! Get away!”

‘Oh, shit…’ he thought. She was caught in the memory of her rape. ‘Idiot!’ he admonished himself. He stepped forward again.

“GET AWAY!” She shouted at him, swinging a fist at his head. He dodged it and tried to grasp her arms.

“Harmony! Harmony, stop! It’s me! Its Kadaj! I’m sorry! I’m sorry…” he said, pulling her against him and hugging her tightly.

Her breath slowed to uneven sobs. “Kadaj?” she asked weakly.

“Shhh. Its okay. I’m sorry…I didn’t think that you would take it that way.” He gently lowered her to sit on the ground as her shaky legs could not support her.

“N-no…Its okay…its just…You’re the first person that I’ve kissed since it happened.” She said, looking at her hands and trying to calm herself. She hoped she hadn’t upset him. He was just starting to learn to be nice.

“Do you want to go back to the cabin? I’ll tell the others that you’re not feeling well.” Kadaj offered, wondering what exactly he was feeling. ‘Is this what remorse feels like? I can’t remember…’ he thought.

“No.” she said. “I need to fight. I need to do something to get rid of that memory.” she said, standing on shaky legs and bending to pick up her basket.

Kadaj nodded, silent, and picked up both of his baskets and followed her down the trail.