Paper Tiger Burning

I respectfully credit all Original Creators, namely Squaresoft, which became SquareEnix,for these characters. In this way, I pay homage to my Fandom's Original Creator, and illustrate my Community's belief that Fan Fiction is "fair use". I do not claim to own these characters. I do not make money or gil from using these protected characters, nor do I wish to make money or gil from them. In other words, I am borrowing these characters to entertain the adult fanfiction community, but I am doing so with the highest degree of respect to the engineers, game designers, music makers, and voice actors.




“How could she do this?” Adjudicator Laelin asked some ten minutes later.

“Miss Gainsborough is the last Ancient, a race capable of empathic healing,” I answered.

“And she did not mind to heal the man who had held her prisoner?” Laelin looked for my flower girl amongst the accusers. “Stand, Miss Gainsborough,” he commanded.

Aerith stood. I kept my eyes to the monitor, watching her every movement there since looking behind myself wasn’t protocol during a hearing. She raised her pretty face to the stern official, clasping her hands in front of herself and blushing slightly. I knew she would captivate and enthrall any who saw her.

“General Sephiroth claims you have miraculous healing abilities,” he began. “I would like to see a demonstration.”

Aerith’s blush deepened. “Of course, Adjudicator Laelin,” she agreed. “But the nature of your complaint shouldn’t be public knowledge; you are in too high a standing.”

Silence, awful silence fell.

Laelin banged his gavel. “I call a short break in order to view Miss Gainsborough’s abilities in a suitable office,” he proclaimed, his voice strained. “Bailiff Johnse and Aide Stewart will accompany us as witnesses.”

They were gone for twenty minutes. We all sat or stood as still as possible, listening to the murmuring of the crowd. When all parties returned, Aerith slid into her seat and looked at the floor, blushing furiously. Incredibly, Laelin and his companions blushed too. “I am satisfied as to the veracity of Miss Gainsborough’s healing ability,” he said clearly. “General Sephiroth, please continue.”

“Very well,” I agreed. Later I would get the story from Aerith. “Miss Gainsborough is of a gentle nature and forgave my father for what he did to her. She turned her attentions toward healing him of various mental illnesses and emotional trauma.”

“Did she succeed, Professor Hojo Kanaye?”

I started. I’d never heard my father’s first name. He stood up, looking utterly calm. “Yes, Adjudicator Laelin, Miss Gainsborough rid me of three forms of schizophrenia, among other conditions.” He adjusted his glasses. “Shall I list them for the record?”

“No, that will not be needed, Professor,” Laelin replied. “You may be seated.” He turned to me. “So, you developed a relationship with your father that put you on the same side; against Shin-Ra Corporation.”

“Yes, but I did not intend to include him or Miss Gainsborough in my plans to reveal Shin-Ra or in my intention to free the children Lucas Havars kept in his private scientific compound. I instead asked Cloud Strife, Vincent Valentine, and my secretary, Eldon Garchae to accompany me to the compound.” So far this recitation was easy. I anticipated seeing the video shortly.

“And is this where the video footage begins?”

“No, we began filming during an interrogation of Havars’, wanting to get his confession of guilt. I caught Sheila Shinra with him, plotting yet again to incapacitate me with Rohypnol and opiates. That is where the footage begins.”

“Good.” Laelin nodded to a projectionist. “Begin the video. I will inform you of the moments I wish to pause and get testimony or clarification of events.”

It began. The only sound in the large room was of the video. I watched the bumpy action even out, and our approach to Havars’ apartment. Reliving this felt fairly good. Now the world knew our actions were justified. No one could listen to Havars or Sheila and doubt their guilt.

Oddly, Valentine didn’t show up on the screen very well. One could tell it was him, but the picture blurred at his face a good deal. I could see Eldon had tried again and again to refocus, but his efforts didn’t last longer than a few seconds.

Reno, however, looked like a superstar. Even when he didn’t look at the camera he seemed posed.

The scene shifted to our position above the compound. I listened and watched as we plotted our moves; saw the sterile look on my face as I was voted for the killing. They didn’t speak at all the whole time I was gone. Laelin let the footage roll in real time, making us all sit for twenty minutes. When my figure emerged from the faraway barracks, people gasped aloud.

Of course. What did I expect?

Covered in blood I returned to my companions and informed I’d left one man. Laelin stopped the feed.

“Is this man present?” he asked.

A man seated with the children stood up. “I am, sir,” he said in a miserable voice. “I was a guard at Havars’ compound.”

“Did you see General Sephiroth executing your companions?”

“They weren’t my companions, they were my jailors,” he answered. “I got conscripted, along with five of my buddies while on a pleasure trip to Costa del Sol. I was the only one left by the time General Sephiroth came.” He looked at the floor suddenly. “Didn’t see any of the killing. I only saw him for a minute.”

“Alright, continue.”

We blew up the compound storage tanks and entered. Now came the fun part.

I watched in a detached sort of way as I mowed through large groups of heavily armed men. Only when I observed my attempt at painting did I find any real interest. I heard people trying to get out of the room and dozens vomiting up their breakfasts. One of Laelin’s aides fainted.

Recess,” Laelin said, signaling the cut-off. “We will reconvene in forty-five minutes.”

They hadn’t made it through the slaughter.

I reclined, content to wait. Looking backward, I saw Aerith and Hojo leaning against each other. They appeared quite content to rely upon their own strength. With satisfied eyes I watched them support one another. They leaned shoulder to shoulder, not speaking but evidently drawing strength as a pair.

It heartened me that my father and my lover would find comfort without me. Should I disappear off the face of the planet, the two most important people to me would not float adrift…

“Wanted to ask you,” Reno said, appearing in my vision. “You know Valentine very well?”

I shrugged. “No,” I admitted. “Why?”

“No real reason,” Reno answered, leaning against my chair. “Just a little…needy, if you know what I mean.”

I glanced at the dark man sitting with stoic indifference beside of Cloud. He seemed as impenetrable and stony as a reinforcement wall. “You want a hook-up?” I asked, disbelieving. “As far as I know, Valentine is a straight hetero.”

“If you say,” Reno replied quietly, his eyes upon Valentine. “Do me a favor and hook me up when this is all over, yeah?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I relented.

Some twenty minutes later the court returned. Laelin signaled for the video to start again. Without pause we watched until the very end. I noticed with pride that Eldon didn’t skimp on any of the happenings. He covered the most brutal to the most heartening, spending equal time with each. My fall to Jenova’s presence, and Cloud’s fall were recorded. The meet and greet, the liberation of the children and the emergency medical set up displayed for the entire world.

I heard people crying as child after child emerged.

At long last, the tape switched to the killing of dire wolves. In less than twenty minutes we all stared at a blank screen. Laelin signaled for the tape’s ending. For a long few minutes he stared at his desk, his dark eyes sober. Finally, he straightened. “Do the accused have a defense ready?” he asked, his voice even and measured.

But I knew he’d already made up his mind. So had the audience. In the end the justice lay in their hands, not Laelin’s. He only sat the bench to make sure everyone got equal say and for the clarification of detail.

“We don’t need their words!” Someone shouted from the back of the room. “They’re as guilty as sin! The video showed everything!”

A murmur of agreement sparked, becoming an absolute throng of angry voices. Satisfied, I relaxed. These people would make certain the Shinra twosome got their stripes, and Lucas Havars too. My father and the flower girl were safe now.

It would be the shortest judicial decision in Midgar history.

Laelin struck his gavel to the bench. “Order!”

The crowd would not be quieted.

“Our children,” a woman screamed. “Our neighbor’s children!”

The children in question, sensitive to upheaval by now, began to stir uneasily. Aerith and Hojo, alert to the young ones behind them, got up from their seats and joined a few Turks in quieting them. Two broke free and sought me, the siblings I’d liberated first. I let them crawl upon me, my heart stirred to comforting them. They put their thumbs in their mouths and huddled under my arms, pressing as close to me as they could.

Laelin looked at me. “The accusers will leave the courtroom,” he said, having to shout over the din. “We will call you back in an hour.”

We filed out. A few children adhered to Hojo like Velcro, clinging to his coat and forcing him to almost drag them out as he walked. Aerith picked up a small girl, as did Cloud, but Valentine took an older boy of about nine, carrying him like a baby. Every Turk took a child, until only the older, more confident children walked on their own. We spilled out into the holding room and stood, uncertain.

Wordlessly, my father patted a girl’s head, his black eyes aggrieved.

“Sephiroth,” Aerith said softly.

I looked at her, smiling. “Yes?”

“Let’s sit down together and give the children a chance to quiet.” Aerith tugged on me and we sat on folding metal chairs. Hojo sat on my other side.

I listened to the small talk in the room. Valentine and Reno spoke in monosyllabic tones in the corner, their small charges sticking to them closely. For some reason it illustrated to me more what we’d done in the compound. I tightened my grip on the children in my arms. The girl nestled under my hair, her arms around my neck.

Eldon approached, his daughter sitting on his hip. “Lily wanted to talk to the angel,” he said quietly.

“Hello, Lily,” I greeted.

“Hi,” she said shyly. “Did you like the flowers?” Her eyes, now mako-engineered, looked only slightly more luminous than before. Eldon had dressed her in her best clothes.

“I did,” I told her. “And so did Aerith.” I gestured to my flower girl. “She’s the one who planted them, many years ago.”

“You planted the roses?” Lily smiled at Aerith.

“Yes.” Aerith reached out and touched her button of a nose. “I’m glad another flower girl took charge of them, thank you.”

Lily smiled bashfully. She lifted her arms, prompting Eldon to lift her up.

“What a small world,” my secretary sighed. “I hadn’t known until today that Lily sold you those flowers. We used the money to pay bills. She’d kept it safe under her little dollhouse.”

“Things will improve for you now,” I said. “Be patient.”

Again Elson sighed. “Easier said than done.”


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Want yaoi? Go to yaoi section of Final Fantasy and click on Turk's Gambit.