Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, characters, places, etc. All rights belong to Square-Enix and their respected owners.

Summary: Post AC/DoC. Because, sometimes, it's in everyone's best interest if both parties agree to commit to something as mundane as a marriage based on politics and personal gain. Better the devil you know than the one you don't. Rufus/Yuffie

The Arrangement

Prologue

"Marriage is the only war in which you sleep with the enemy." — Anonymous

Wutai, εуλ 0012

…

"You can't be serious."

But he was.

In fact, he was beyond serious. Dead serious, if she were to be perfectly honest.

And it infuriated her.

She hated that he'd put her into this position. She hated it, hated him. She especially hated that cold, hard look in his eyes—the one that she'd so often seen when he scolded her for one mistake after another in her childhood—said that he meant it. Every. Single. Word. He really meant it; and, to her growing contempt, she knew he'd make her go through with it, too. Gawd. As if returning home hadn't been enough to dampen her spirits. Now, it looked as if she'd have to go along with this cockamamie scheme of his, simply to satisfy him, too. Could her day get any worse?

"He's not even from around here, you know?" she bit out, attempting to be reasonable, yet failing utterly. She was no longer a child, although the impatient tapping of her left foot against the pagoda's sandalwood floor suggested otherwise. She, however, was oblivious to that fact. "I mean, how can you even consider it, especially since he doesn't have a single drop of Wutainese blood in him? I thought you were all for the whole keeping the "Royal dynasty in the family" kind of thing. I didn't think you were so damned desperate to be forking everything over to the highest bidder. It must've been a helluva lot of gil he offered you." Or Materia. She didn't say the last part out loud, but her father understood the implication regardless.

Lord Godo Kisaragi regarded his daughter in silence, that stern, discerning, careful expression never faltering in its solemn intake of the twenty-one-year-old young woman standing before him, clad in a dark navy-blue tank top and khaki shorts, a gloved hand—one of her personal trademarks in fashion—poised firmly upon her narrow hip, her entire posture bordering on lapsing into something of an unspeakable screaming fit. His mind reeled at the likelihood as he genuinely wished that his wife were here. Perhaps she could somehow manage to diffuse the ticking time bomb that was their daughter, the enduring White Rose of Wutai, who was, by virtue of her name and title, the next in line to the Kisaragi throne. The fact failed to settle the middle-aged lord's anxiety, since he felt a headache coming on in the wake of the news he'd given her. Nevertheless, he would not allow her to talk down to him, not even if she was, by her own definition—if he could even deem it that and take her seriously—a young woman in control of her own destiny. Destiny. Ha. She had no idea.

"You would do well to mind your tongue, young lady," he said, ever the lord of a fallen nation who strove to raise it from the ashes. "I am still your father."

Yuffie bit back a scathing retort, having the good sense not to remark on Godo's inadequacy in being a father. For in the five years since Meteor and the fall of Sephiroth and Jenova, as well as all that went down with Deepground, Yuffie's relationship with her father had all but remained as strained as it had been before she struck out on her own to collect Materia. She rarely visited her homeland, opting instead to stay on with Reeve and offer her time and services to the WRO. The occasional visit home, which was usually extended on the behest of a long-suffering Godo, was usually limited to two visits a year, if that. Most of the money she made was sent home, and while Wutai was still as much a tourist trap as it had been five years ago, its traditions had remained intact. Actually, under the new government set up by the WRO, her country had regained a semblance of its long-standing pride. And that's because I've worked my backside off in making sure that happens. Not that Dad would ever take notice of that, she thought irritably, and then cast him a disgruntled look. "I'm not going to agree to this, no matter what you say."

Her father responded with his own look of disapproval. "Yuffie…daughter…It's not my wish for this to take place; I'd rather you marry a fine young man from one of the families here. As it stands, however, this is an opportunity to regain everything we've lost since the war. I thought the restoration of our nation was important to you." He eyed her, critically. "I thought Wutai was important to you. What's being offered…it's an opportunity for Wutai, Yuffie."

"You mean it's an opportunity for you," Yuffie snapped with her hands upraised in a fit of anger, her brown eyes darkening like a blackening thunderstorm. "You never cared about how this might affect me personally. I'm your daughter, and yet you're about to sell me off like a piece of cheap Materia. And don't even start by going into how it's my duty to do this and that for the greater good of Wutai. I know my place; you've drilled that into my head since the day I was born, since 'An heir to the throne of Wutai must place the land and its people and their needs above her own.' I know that, Dad, but it certainly doesn't make me feel any better about this. I still can't believe you let him, or whoever set this sham of a patched up business deal you call a marriage proposal up, and then you having the nerve to make me go through with it." She shook her head, completely at a loss. "I don't guess it matters that maybe, just maybe, I'd had half a mind in marrying someone else."

Lord Godo stilled at his daughter's admission. Oh, yes, he knew well enough about her little infatuation—not that such mattered, of course, since, luckily, the object of her affections in question failed to return her interest—in a man so obviously unsuitable for his daughter and the position her husband would assume as joint reigning consort. Godo considered that much, at least, a fortunate thing. It was just a shame that she continued in pining over something that would, thankfully, never come to pass. He was almost half-tempted to send one of his best fire Materias to the man as a small measure of his gratitude, in distancing himself from one future empress of Wutai. Nevertheless, he still had yet to deal with the political fallout if Yuffie refused, or conveniently "disappeared" again. Unless it concerned some kind of life threatening situation, that usually entailed the ending of the world, then she was almost always hard-pressed in confronting a problem headfirst. Her tactics in such gained both his admiration and annoyance by turns, whereas now his feelings regarding his daughter's taciturn nature bordered on the latter, since he was on the verge of screaming himself.

"No one is forcing you into marrying him today," he replied calmly. "It will take half a year, at least, for all the preparations and a contract to be finalized. By then, you will have enough time to accustom yourself to the idea, and you never know…you might actually like him." He considered his daughter, carefully gauging her reaction. "It really might not be as bad as you think."

At this, Yuffie responded with an unladylike snort. "That might be possible for one of those spoiled brats that you had lined up at the door before you had this brilliant idea of yours, but what you're suggesting is beyond ridiculous. Actually, I think you've gone a little off the deep end in your old age, with all your crazy talk about my actually liking that power-hungry shark. Did you take stupid pills when you met with him? That man is the reason why we have Wutai as a tourist trap in the first place."

But Godo, attempting to retain if only a shred of his patience, merely shook his head. "He wasn't in control then and you know it."

Of course, Godo's reasoning, no matter how factual, and therefore being completely valid in his argument, did little to quell the storm raging in his daughter's eyes. She was beyond furious, practically livid, as she stood her ground and faced her aging father. "Oh, don't even bother to make excuses for him or anything he represents. I'm not in the mood to hear it right now, Dad."

Godo glowered reprovingly at his daughter. "Well, what would you have me do, Yuffie?" he retorted sharply. "I'm not getting any younger, as you've so casually observed. And you know the customs if I should pass on before you're married." He saw Yuffie pale slightly, although her anger remained. Seeing that he was getting nowhere with her, like any good father, he decided to switch tactics. "I just want to see you settled in with someone who will provide both a sense of intelligence in heading our family legacy and protection for you when I am gone." He looked at her, pointedly, the double bands of gray edging near his temples glinting harshly against the rest of his dark hair. He was no longer the strong, young widowed ruler who'd unfortunately surrendered during the Wutai war. "You won't have the luxury in trusting those around you once Gorki and the others are gone. Lord Kisangani and his sons, for example, wouldn't lament the sudden, unfortunate passing of Wutai's White Rose, should something terrible befall her in the prime of her youth."

Yuffie muttered something unpleasant underneath her breath, and a part of her anger dissipated. Yes, she knew well enough that Lord Kisangani, a nobleman of considerable wealth and influence in the south, as well as his two sons, were something of a minor threat to Godo's power at present, with their desire to attain more than what their present entitled status afforded them. Yuffie had been pursued by both sons, yet working half a world away had conveniently provided her a chance to avoid their unwanted attentions. In fact, she'd managed to elude their advances almost completely, save for the few times she found herself in the same room with them when they came by, most unexpectedly—or so Godo had claimed—when she happened to be in. Perhaps it would be a lighter sentence, to go through in shackling herself to a man she despised, at best, in a loveless marriage, than having to worry about whether she'd still be alive the next morning after marrying one of Kisangani's sons. With Rufus ShinRa, she could at least predict some sort of betrayal on his side of things, given the ineptness of his personal bodyguards in keeping things such as offing the wife of their employer to themselves. Knowing Reno, he would let such slip to her before the wedding. She almost laughed at the likelihood, her attention once again returning to Godo.

"I'm not agreeing to anything," she said carefully, knowing just how manipulative her father could be when words were shared, no matter how private or informal, as he somehow almost always found—damn him and his insightful way in playing a situation such as this to his advantage—some sort of loophole that worked out solely for his own benefit. "I'll think about it; that's all I can give you right now." She looked at him, her hard expression never faltering. "And don't think, for one minute, that my thinking about it will put everything in your favor. I'm more than just a stupid bargaining chip—to you or to the likes of that corporate scumbag. Now, I'm going out for a while. Don't send Shake or anyone else after me. I'd like to be alone for once."

Which meant that, even if Godo were to send the stealthiest member of the Wusheng to shadow his daughter, it would be to no avail; she noticed the slightest change in the wind, whereas another's presence would be instantly recognized. He had no wish to lose a faithful member to her Conformer. No, it would be best to allow Yuffie her space; she had much to consider in the silence Godo understood so well, since he already knew where she intended to go anyway. It was hardly any secret that Da Chao mountain was where Yuffie went to escape from the stifling life a princess of Wutai often felt, the traditions so long upheld by their family and nation forgotten, if only for a few precious hours where his daughter pretended to be as common as those whom she considered friends.

And so, with such an unfailing reassurance that Yuffie would indeed return home before morning, Godo inclined his head. Just as her consideration, however begrudging in its initial assertion, was closer to a yes than a flat-out refusal. "Very well," he answered quietly, obviously attempting to pacify her, as he dismissed her with a simple bow before returning to his own duties and the many state proposals and business contracts that awaited his signed signature.

Yuffie barely noticed his departure. She was already out the door and a quarter of the way up the trail that led to the mountain of the gods before she even thought about Godo and how his sudden, yet placating, dismissal had left her with only her thoughts and the silence. Almost too placating.

But she wouldn't consider the implications that his overly retiring gesture insinuated. She could play as dirty as Godo, when it came to scheming and the downright manipulation of others. She hadn't been a thief for all of those years—considering how deep her cache of Materia suggested—for nothing. But she would play her father's game; she would play the pretty, mindless, little pawn of a princess—sacrificing a queen if need be—and she would win. She would simply not settle for a marriage with that…with that…

She didn't even want to think about the other player in this twisted game her father had undoubtedly concocted over tea. It only surprised her that her would-be suitor was actually a willing participant. Unless he's been suckered into this, too. But of course, she highly doubted that such was indeed the case, especially since a man like Rufus ShinRa was not one to be so easily manipulated, not even by a wily old lord from a backwater island nation like Wutai. If the ShinRa overlord wanted, he could force the marriage…

…And then she would be merrily kicking his ass all the way to the Northern Crater and back.

The thought of beating Rufus ShinRa's backside to the point where his pathetic excuse of a father felt it in the Lifestream was mildly appealing, and Yuffie snickered at the prospect of it as she finished the last leg of her hike up the mountain.

Overlooking the whole of Wutai, she watched the sun as it set in the distance, a collective sigh—the first she could muster after Godo dropped the M-Bomb on her lap over dinner—escaping her. She glared at the wide expanse that she would one day be destined to rule and shook her head. It wasn't that she didn't want to marry; she wanted to, one day, but there was plenty of time for that, though. She was only twenty-one, after all. She hadn't even really allowed herself to get into a serious relationship with anyone. Those whom she worked with at the WRO were strictly colleagues and nothing more, whereas almost everyone in the village below was practically family. And, perhaps surprisingly, there had been no one-night-stands or covert affairs; she was far too damned busy for that kind of thing, unlike…

She muttered another curse underneath her breath—one that she'd learned from Cid—as she took in the stars that appeared in the northern sky. How many times had she seen this very sky and wondered if she would ever be free of the influence of her father? One too many, perhaps. First with the loss of her mother, and then before she'd run away to find Materia for a broken, war-torn Wutai. It seemed as if she'd been running for most of her life, and it looked as if she wouldn't be stopping any time soon. Though now…

Yuffie wasn't so sure of running now. For if one thing was certain, Godo hadn't been lying about her need to marry before his death, or the consequences that would surely derive from it if such failed to happen. Yuffie understood the laws set forth by her ancestors, knew the protocol by heart. And yet, it didn't explain why Godo was so damned antsy about her marrying the one man she absolutely, not in a hundred lifetimes, would ever consider chaining herself—for better or worse—to. Years ago, when the former President ShinRa was still alive, and the Wutai war was merely a lingering shadow in the discussions her father and the elder ShinRa had, might've, at one point, made sense that the two figureheads unite their respective heirs in a union that would forever bind Wutai with the almost divinely powerful ShinRa family. And although the ShinRas still attained a foothold in the Planet's affairs, things had changed since Meteorfall. Jenova and Sephiroth were not presently a threat, people suffering from Geostigma were now cured of their affliction, and remnants of those involved with Deepground were currently being ferreted out and brought to justice.

It seemed as if the Planet had finally attained a semblance of order in the cosmos, and yet her own life had been unduly thrown into one of chaos. She wanted nothing more than to scream, to cry out at the unfairness of it all. No, neither Godo nor Rufus ShinRa was going to force her into this little arrangement of theirs. There was someone else who held her heart, after all, and she would be a fool if she gave that up—for the good of Wutai or not—since she'd been harboring her feelings for a long time. Shaking her head, she began to laugh at the irony in her dilemma. As thick as the guy she cared about was in perceiving her aforementioned affections, she doubted that he'd even noticed, let alone acknowledged them. Perhaps it was for the best that he hadn't, she quietly reasoned, turning her gaze towards the east, a secret look of longing lingering in those solemn brown eyes. For if he did…

Well, she doubted that he would ever act on them, much less reciprocate her feelings. Unrequited love was as common as the ground she walked on, and she needed only to look around and see the many faces so lost in the throes of their own piteous ideals of love to know that very few ever turned out happily with the one whom they claimed to feel such affection for. The same would be no different for her, and a part of her—that small shred in which, in fact, realized that such was hopeless, even if she were to tell it straight to his face and kiss him before he knew what hit him—knew that. It was simply accepting it, which proved a more daunting task than anything.

She groaned then. This thinking in the quietude of the evening was almost wearing on her sanity. She needed to do something more constructive for a change, like planning her return to headquarters to speak to Reeve about her latest assignment. That was what she needed to think about, and not this whole marriage business Godo had singlehandedly thrust on her. Talking to the president of ShinRa on the rare occasion when the two were in the same room together was one thing; marrying him was something else entirely, and Yuffie wasn't even close to ready to begin thinking about what a life as the president's wife would entail. She couldn't even bring herself to associate the title with a human form; it was simply too much to consider, and she'd no wish to entertain the possibility—not now, when the sky above her reminded her of everything she could have, a sea of stars that represented only infinite possibilities—that would forever change the course of her life.

For now, however, she would hang out at her favorite spot and simply watch the stars drift across the midnight sky. Everything else could wait; the stars, however, could not. She smiled when she saw one shooting across the sky in the distance and she made a wish—a childish thing, perhaps—although she was never much one for exerting an ounce of maturity—another benefit, since she doubted that a man in his thirties, who lived strictly for business and no pleasure, would want to shackle himself to a woman with an emotional maturity level of that of a precocious sixteen-year-old girl. You're dilly dallying again, she quietly scolded herself, and looked once again to the world above, a hint of Omega dotting the night's sky among the stars. She looked at its scattered remains and wistfully smiled, remembering better days as she secretly dreaded the future, let alone what tomorrow morning would bring.

Whether she liked it or not, the chances of her getting out of this nightmare were as likely as her breaking the bank at Costa del Sol—legally.

It just wasn't possible.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't try.

Smiling to herself, she watched the starry night's sky before early dawn settled in on the horizon.

…

Author's Note: Well, I guess it's been a while since I last wrote for this fandom. Almost ten years, from the looks of it. Wow. It really doesn't seem like it's been all that long ago. Oh, well. Hopefully, my writing has improved since then. Anyway, yes, in all honestly, I really have no idea where this little mystery tour is going, since I just started typing this story, practically out of nowhere the other night. Actually, I do have some idea on the storyline, which is certainly a good thing; I just need to work out all the scattered bits and pieces that are presently strewn about in my mind. O.0; No easy task there. But I'm inspired, and I've missed writing fanfiction for all things FinalFantasy VII.

I also hope that I've kept Yuffie as her rather happy, genki, snarky self. She's twenty-one at this point, so I figured it might be possible that she's matured just a little bit since Dirge of Cerberus. She wouldn't be Yuffie if she were all calm, demure, and speaking properly. Tea and crumpets, Yuffie? No? Didn't think so. :P

Also, I've listed this fic as a drama/angst-type story, but romance will certainly be factored into this, as well. It just won't be fluffy or anything. I'm really going more so for collective realism with this story. There's that, and there's also the unfortunate fact that I just can't write anything relating to that of a happy, fluffy, romantic nature to save my life now. I love all things dealing with love, passion, and romance…but writing fluff…I just can't seem to write it…I really have a passion now for angsty romance. (Blushes.)

Oh, and something else. I know that Yuffie's eye color is a stormy gray/violet in a lot of artwork Tetsuya Nomura did of her back in the day, yet recent images of her from Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus have her with brown eyes instead, so I'm going with that latter concept in mind, because it seems to be a revision made by the games' creators. There's also the fact that, while I've played/beaten Final Fantasy VII, I can't really remember everything from it. I also haven't played Dirge of Cerberus, either, so everything I've mentioned so far is based on information I've either read/seen clips of about the game/storyline. I want to apologize in advance for any mistakes made on that count. There's just so much in the Compilation now to sort through that I really have no idea on where to begin. (Sighs.)

Anyway, I hope everyone has enjoyed this story so far. Rufus should be making an appearance in the next chapter, and a confrontation with a very enraged princess will undoubtedly ensue. It's going to be so much fun writing such a stormy dynamic between those two. If anyone has a chance, please let me know what you think. Any sort of input is greatly appreciated! :D

Until next time!

— Kittie