Prophecy's Refrain

“Harmony?” Came the whisper of her name that tugged at her sleeping form.

“Go away!” She moaned. She tried to roll over and pull her pillow over her head, but the sharp stab of pain that shot through her body made her groan aloud scrunch her eyes closed.

“I’m sorry, Hari,” she recognized the soft voice of Yazoo, “but you really need to see this. Hurry.”

She groaned again and tried to sit up. “Oh Sweet Jesus my body hurts all over!” she said, opening her eyes.

Yazoo smiled sympathetically. “You’ve gotten soft, I imagine. That was a long day of hard combat. If you get up I’ll get you some coffee and see what I can do to ease your muscles.”

The promise of coffee gave her the added push to ease through her pain and sit up. She held her arms up. “Help me up.” she commanded. Yazoo nodded and wrapped his arms under hers and lifted her to her feet. With being as close to her as he was, he could still smell Kadaj all over her, and he forced down his blush and bit back a small smile.

He pulled one of her arms over his shoulders and walked her down the hall and stairs, depositing her on the couch where the other’s were watching the news on the small black and white television. They were playing a blurry video and she instantly recognized it as the police video from when she, Zack, Angeal, and Genesis broke the Remnants out of jail.

“Shit!” she cursed.

“The woman, identified as one Harmony LeAnn Geordon, is still at large, and she is considered armed and dangerous. Her companions identities are unknown, but they are also considered extremely dangerous. If seen on the street, please contact the authorities immediately. Do not approach them. If you have any information on the whereabouts of these suspects, Please contact the Chief of Police, Jonathan Gentry.

“Geordon appears to have with her a substance that causes instant and long-term paralysis-”

At that point, another anchor interrupted the first.

“Its very shocking and heartbreaking to see such a talented young woman turn to crime, Ed. Miss Geordon’s books have been a major stepping-stone for students studying religion and superstition…”

“Turn it off.” Harmony whispered. Zack reached up and turned the knob, bringing silence to the room.

“Are you okay, Harmony?” Cloud asked, stepping toward her.

She held a hand up to stop his advance. “No-just… I’m fine. Damnit! My career, my students, my friends… they all think I’m a criminal! I am a criminal!” she took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

“You were a teacher?” Reno piped in, stupidly.

“Reno!” Tseng hissed, “Let her calm down, you’re so insensitive!”

Harmony sighed. “Yes, I was a teacher. I taught Religious Studies at San Francisco State University.”

“You don’t look old enough to be a professor.” Rude said to her.

“Why thank you. I’m not. I only taught one class a day. I got my teaching degree when I was twenty-two. I student-taught for one year and got my license to teach. I’ve been teaching for two years. How old does that make me?” she said, her tone patronizing.

Rude sobered and nodded his head, and Harmony instantly felt guilty.

“I’m sorry-” she started, but Yazoo cut her off.

“Here.” he handed her a steaming cup of coffee, a few sugar cubes, and a bottle of cream. “I don’t know how you like it.” He continued as she doctored her coffee. “We understand. You had a life. You had a promising career, apparently you were also a respected author, and then we came along and snatched you off of the beach, and ruined your life.”

“I snatched her off of the beach.” Kadaj said, almost sounding forlorn.

Yazoo ignored him and continued. “I for one, apologize for this. When we first came here, I never realized how wrong we had been. We killed innocent people just because they stood in our way. We kidnapped children and brainwashed them into helping us further our violence. We tortured-” he glanced and Tseng, “-two of ShinRa’s best - one of whom is in this room - to get information. Information.

“I never felt guilty about it until coming here, and realizing that if Moth-… If Jenova… was right, there would not be so many people trying to stop us from finding her.” He got onto his knees in front of Harmony. “I’m sorry that I had a hand in taking your life from you.” He touched his forehead to the floor before raising to his knees and turning to face Rufus and the Turks. “I’m sorry for what I have done to you, Tseng.” Again, he touched his head to the floor. Finally, he turned to Cloud. “And you, brother, I am sorry that I took the boy, and I am sorry that I had a hand in trying to make him harm you.”

Loz jumped up and joined Yazoo on the floor. “Me too. I’m sorry I took the girl, and I’m sorry that I hurt the woman with her.”

The group regarded them solemnly. They had not risen from their bow after the final apology. Kadaj drew their attention when he stood, an unreadable, yet dark look about his youthful features. He walked to the other side of the fire pit, where all of them could see him clearly.

There, he dropped to his knees and slowly, every so slowly leaned down and touched his forehead to the ground, his arms outstretched before him, palms up. “It was my fault.” he whispered with a raspy voice. “I made them do it, and I am the one who took Harmony that morning. Even if you can’t forgive me… at least forgive them.”

Harmony watched in awe. She never would have expected such strong, proud warriors to lower themselves to groveling for forgiveness. She prayed that their sacrifice-the sacrifice of their pride-would not be ignored.

Kadaj raised his head and looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Cloud’s crystal eyes stared down at him.

“I forgive you.” He said. “All of you.”

“Aye.” Rufus agreed, and there was a chorus of the same from all of the others.

The three looked at Harmony, who had remained silent.

“How can you think that I wouldn’t forgive you?” She said. She tried to stand up to go to them, but didn’t make it any further than leaning forward a bit before her stomach muscles cried out their disagreement to the movement.

Cid acted quickly. “Anyone got a Cure materia? Or a potion?”

“Of course!” Yazoo said. “Why didn’t I think of that?” He went upstairs and retrieved his gun.

“Hey now!” Harmony said, “I know I’m useless right now but you don’t have to euthanize me!”

Everyone laughed-even Vincent managing an amused chuckle-and Harmony watched in amazement as Yazoo raised his hand to the pistol’s grip and pulled out a glowing green orb.

“What is that?!” she asked, breathless at the orbs beauty.

“This is materia. You remember how we told you that using spheres of condensed Mako can give us certain abilities?” Yazoo said. Harmony nodded. “This is a cure materia. It will help with the bruising, but it won’t take it away completely. Especially as I suspect that your ribs are bruised from either Loz or myself flinging you across the field yesterday.” he smiled apologetically. He pressed the materia to her forehead and her eyes widened at the feeling of warmth that rushed though her body. She was able to lean forward and stand up, but still had to steady herself against the couch.

“That should help a bit. I’m afraid the only thing that will fix you up almost completely is a potion, but I don’t have one.” Yazoo said, clicking the materia back into his gun.

“I have a potion.” Genesis said. He went to his room and dug the vial out of his trench coat. “Here.” he handed it to Harmony. “Drink this.”

She pulled the cap off of the vial and sniffed at the contents, shooting Genesis a suspicious glare and barely controlling the gag that threatened to make itself known.

“It smells like swamp ass!” she whined.

“You’re not supposed to smell it, you’re s’posed to drink it.” Barrett said. Harmony made a face.

“Will it make my stomach and my ribs quit hurting?”

“Not completely, but the effects will be dramatic.” Vincent piped in.

Harmony gulped. She scrunched up her face, plugged her nose with one hand, tipped back the vial, and downed the contents as quickly as she could.

She hurriedly took a big swallow of coffee after she was finished.

“Oh. My. God. If any of you smack me around bad enough that I have to take another one of those, I will smother you in your sleep!” she threatened.

Angeal chuckled. “All the new SOLDIER recruits say something to that effect. I’ll tell you what I tell them, easy solution: Don’t. Get. Hit.”

“Oh, can it, Hulk.” she huffed, playfully.

Angeal looked at her, confused at the nickname.

“Of course you wouldn’t know about the Incredible Hulk. It’s a comic, and a movie. If you’re a good boy, and eat all your vegetables at dinner, I’ll let you watch it.” she teased.

“Why yes, Mother, me too! I would so love to watch a movie before bedtime!” Zack teased back. The group chuckled at the childish display.

Harmony quieted her laughter and looked around at the men in the cabin. When she first heard their stories, when she first met them, she would never have imagined their personalities to be as they were. She had misjudged them all. A thought struck her as she thought about how wrong her perception of them had been in the beginning.

“Did anyone feed the Pony?” she asked.

“Pony?” Rufus looked confused.

“The horse’s-ass in the basement? Hojo?” She clarified.

“Yeah, I threw him a jar of peanut butter and a half a loaf of bread.” Rude said.

“You locked the door again, right?” She pressed.

He huffed. “Don’t insult me. I’m a TURK.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh I am so sorry Mr. TURK. Pray forgive me my thoughtless concern.”

Sensing an argument, Angeal interrupted. “What’s a horse?”

Harmony almost choked on the coffee she was sipping. “You guys don’t have horses in your world?!”

They shook their heads.

“Oh you poor things! Everybody get dressed. We’re going out today. Put your contacts in, too. I know the people we’re visiting and-”

“Harmony, are you sure that is a good idea? You’re a wanted woman.” Tseng reminded her.

“These guys would sooner cut their own heads off than turn me in. Have a little faith in me, guys. I may be a bit on the spontaneous side, but I’m not an idiot. Anyway. The people we are going to see are members of my coven. They know about you, but I still think it best if you try to blend in. I don‘t want to freak them out.”

When the group was dressed and had eaten a light breakfast, they piled into Harmony’s van. Barrett was driving, and Harmony, Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz, Angeal, Zack, and Genesis packed in as far back as they could fit, so that the tinted windows would hide their faces. Harmony called instructions to Barrett as they made their way to a small cabin on the other side of the town below the mountain.

When they pulled up outside, Harmony stopped the men getting out. “Tseng.” she called.

“Yes?”

“I need you to use some of that TURK training. I wrote this note before we left. Do you see that woman over there on the porch watching us?”

“I do.”

“Good. Give her this note. When you approach her I need you to call her name and tell her you are Mrs. Lee’s attorney. Tell her there was an accident and you need to discuss the contents of ‘the will’. Make sure plenty of people hear you.”

Tseng raised his eyebrow at this elaborate plan. “Won’t that give her the wrong impression?”

“Absolutely not. It’s a code. When she hears that, she knows to break down crying and close the ranch to the public. The ‘customers’ will leave, allowing us to enter unnoticed.” she grinned.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’re ShinRa material, Harmony.” Rufus said.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Harmony mocked playfully, “No way in hell. You’ll probably say the same thing about Jodee though. Miss Day is a very good actress, and pretty good in combat, too.”

At hearing the name he needed, Tseng exited the van, the manila envelope containing Harmony’s letter in his hand.

“Miss Day?” He asked. The woman nodded hesitantly. “My name is Tseng Kambashii. I am Miss Lee’s attorney.”

“Is Karen okay?” The woman asked.

Tseng shook his head, happy the woman was going along easily, and happier still when another woman left the cabin, followed by a large group of people. “I’m afraid not, Miss Day. There was an accident last week, and Miss Lee was killed. I am here today to review the contents of her Last Will and Testament.”

Harmony was right: the woman was a very convincing actress, as was the other that led the group out.

“Oh, God!” Jodee said shakily falling to her knees. “Karen! Lissy! Karen’s dead!”

“Oh Jesus…What happened?” The woman-Lissy, Tseng noted- asked.

“It was a car accident. She made an illegal turn and was hit by a large truck. May my colleagues and I come inside?” Tseng asked politely.

“Y-yes.” Jodee said, her voice sounding choked. “Melissa, please return our guests’ money and take them back to the parking area?” The other woman nodded.

Tseng helped Jodee to her feet and allowed her to lead him inside. Once the door was closed and Jodee was sure the customers were out of hearing range, she spun around to face Tseng.

“Where is Harmony, and why are you and those men in her van?!” Jodee said, sticking her finger in his face.

He handed her the envelope and took a step back. “I am who I said I was. Tseng Kambashii. Except I am a friend of hers, not an attorney.”

“You’re one of the travelers that our Priest told us about.” she said.

“Yes.”

“Harmony is in the van, isn’t she?” Jodee asked, fresh hopeful tears welling in her eyes.

Tseng nodded. “She is, and she’s okay.”

With those words, Jodee opened the envelope and read the contents. She sobbed and dove past Tseng, running outside and throwing the doors of the van open. She searched the strange faces until she found the one she was looking for.

“Hari!” she whispered.

“Jo…” Harmony said. She climbed frantically over the others in the van until she was diving into her friend’s arms.

“You’re okay!” Jodee sobbed. “We saw you on the news… We’ve been so worried! Come inside, all of you, before someone sees you. Lissy went to close the gates, but if someone comes in before she gets there she might miss them.”

The group piled out of the vehicle and hurried into the cabin.

“Introduce us.” Jodee said.

Harmony motioned to Cloud for him to start. After him, each man stepped forward and stated his name.

“Cloud Strife.”

“Barrett Wallace.”

“Cid Highwind.”

“Reno Montonati.”

“Anthony Rudow. Call me Rude.”

“Rufus ShinRa.”

“Genesis Rhapsodos.”

“Zack Fair.”

“Angeal Hewley.”

“Sephiroth. I have no last name.”

“Yazoo.” the long-haired Remnant stated. He looked at the expectant faces of those around him and sighed, resigned. “Yazoo Kobayashi.”

The other’s stared in shock, but none had time to address the fact that this Remnant was the legendary missing Master of the Hana Niwa dojo. Tseng vowed to dig into that topic as soon as they returned to the cabin.

Kadaj stepped forward. “Kadaj Nakamura.” Again, more stares.

“Rozzu Miyake, but most people call me ‘Loz’.”

“And you’ve already met Tseng. There is another. A scientist - and I want to talk to you guys about him. Because he is going to be a huge problem. He’s locked in the basement of Nightingale Ridge. We barred the windows and I put a sturdy barrier spell up so he can’t get the door open. His name is Hojo.”

“Fumio Hojo.” Vincent said.

“Nice to meet all of you, and we can talk about this ‘Hojo’ when Lissy gets back.” Jodee turned to Harmony. “The coven meeting isn’t for a month, what are you doing here? Not that you’re not welcome…” she rushed, “Just unexpected.”

“Well… its kind of a silly reason. You see, there is a tragedy that has befallen these fine gentlemen.” Harmony said with a slight smile.

Jodee smiled back at her. “And pray tell, what is this awful happening?” she played along.

“There are no horses in their world. They don’t even know what a ‘horse’ is!”

Jodee gasped. “That is a tragedy!” She gestured around her room to the figurines and paintings of large, four-legged animals. “These are horses. We ride them. People have been riding horses for thousands upon thousands of years.”

“So they’re like chocobos are to us, then.” Cloud reasoned.

“Really big, non-flying birds.” Reno added at the girl’s confused expressions.

The door slammed open. “Where is she?! I’m gonna kill ’er!” Melissa said, stomping into the cabin. She zeroed in on Harmony. “You! Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?!”

Harmony stood up. “I’m sorry. As you can see, I was a little busy. We’ll be staying at Nightingale Ridge until the coven meeting, and however long we need to before we can get them back and get rid of Jenova.”

“Is that the alien floating above San Francisco? The one that you could have killed yourself stopping?” Jodee cut in. “That was brilliant, and very well-worded, but stupid! You know how much energy spells like that take from you. You could have died!”

“Better one life than a million.” Harmony said.

“You are such an idiot!” Jodee said. She lunged at Harmony, intending to knock her upside the head, but Harmony blocked the attack. Each attack that Jodee threw was knocked away, until the girls were laughing and dancing around each other.

“Okay, okay. We came to see if you guys would let them ride.” Harmony said.

“Of course. Its been a while since I got to see you ride. I miss it.” Melissa said.

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Sephiroth picked up riding quickly, and now, on the back of Melissa’s massive Clydesdale, he galloped around the training field. His long chesnut hair whipped out behind him in a fluttering wave of brilliant shimmer.

“Well fuck me sideways. You’ve been living with that?!” Jodee whistled under her breath to Harmony.

“Yeah.” Harmony said. Her attention was focused on another man, though. Kadaj was in the circular corral on the back of a pretty black and white paint. The mare glided at a medium gate, Kadaj moving with the animal and looking as though it was the only place he ever wanted to be again. “He really is beautiful…” she said, not realizing she had voiced her thoughts.

“Damn straight.” Jodee said, and then she noticed that Harmony was not looking at Sephiroth. She was looking at Kadaj. Staring at Kadaj. “You’ve been close to him.” She said, matter-of-factly.

“What?” Harmony asked, looking at her.

“The smaller one. You can’t take your eyes off of him.”

Harmony sighed and quietly told her coven-sister the story between herself and Kadaj.

“I see your dilemma. That’s a tough choice, and you know I can’t make it for you. I will tell you this, though: I have never seen two auras more compatible than his and yours.” Jodee said, looking at Kadaj and squinting her eyes. “Why don’t you ride for a bit? Just relax and don’t think about it right now.”

Harmony nodded.

“Hey guys! Ya’ll are in for a treat! Hari’s gonna ride for ya!” Jodee called. She led the group-some on horseback, some not-to a different, fenced-in arena. There were white poles set up all over the arena, along with what looked like martial arts training dummies, and large, rusted barrels.

“Pick your pony.” Melissa said, gesturing to the three horses she was leading behind her.

“Do you even have to ask?” Harmony said, chuckling. She walked to the almost golden horse on Melissa’s left, taking the lead from her and affectionately patting the horse. She turned to the others. “This is Fionnlagh. He is an Akhal Teke, one of the most sought-after breeds in the world, and the pride and joy of the Lunar Ranch. He belongs to me. Akhal Teke are known for their strength, speed, and distinctive beauty.”

She ran her hand down the stallion’s neck and he nickered softly, turning his head and butting against her. She smiled and continued. “They are legendary. Spoken of in many stories. One of the stories is about the Battle of Geok- Tepe testifies: ’An Akhal Teke stallion wearing two heavy blankets and wounded by a saber blow carried away three Teke tribesmen across the quicksand from pursuing Cossacks.’ They are my favorite breed. Fionnlagh is one of my best friends, aren’t you boy?” she said to the stallion.

She turned back to the men with a smile on her face before swinging her leg over the horses back and settling in the saddle. “Kadaj, I know it may be overstepping my rights, but may I borrow your sword?” she asked.

He appeared to think about it for a moment before nodding his head and unsheathing the Souba, handing it to her with care. “Anything happens to that weapon and I take it out of your skin.” He warned. Harmony nodded.

She clicked her tongue and nudged the animal forward, breaking into a run and nearing the first fence.

The group watched in awe as the golden creature leaped over the first jump, turning sharply and veering around a barrel before sweeping past one of the training dummies. As they rode past, Harmony lashed out with Kadaj’s sword, slashing across the dummy’s chest and knocking it to the ground.

“Hey!” Jodee cried. “Don’t ruin my equipment!”