Relational
Twenty thoughts of Niou Masaharu.
To deceive is to control the perception of others.
Arc: Genre
Long Enough – One
Scar’s experience at Lior, and after.
The world was red. Red with blood. Red with pain clawing through his body. Red with the light rising around him. He watched it brighten, growing as each breath slowed, until one last breath felt like it wasn’t air any more.
Long Enough – Two
Scar’s experience at Lior, and after.
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by now,” she said, clinically. “You’re the most willful human I’ve ever met.”
Once More…Dear Friends – Prologue
Roy wakes up in the hospital.
Roy woke far more slowly than usual, which would have been his first clue that something was wrong, had he needed a clue.
Once More…Dear Friends – One
Roy recovers and Lisa keeps watch.
Hawkeye crossed one slippered foot over her knee and rubbed her toes. “I should have kept you at my apartment longer,” she said with some asperity. “At least I could walk across my guest room without tripping over anything.”
Counterpoint – Unresigned
Lisa gives her old job the boot, much to the puzzlement of those around her.
When General Hakuro popped out of an office right in their path Lisa knew he’d been waiting for them, and tensed. There were a lot of unpleasant ways this meeting could go, and she could tell by the number of teeth in Hakuro’s smile that he had at least one of them in mind.
Once More…Dear Friends – Two
What does a career soldier do when he loses his career? And what do his friends do about him?
Roy’s past slid through his fingers into a box: a folded “portrait” of him, product of Elysia’s first finger paints; a box with his captain’s insignia—so that’s where it had gone; two letter openers, one of them an old knife of Hughes’.
Counterpoint – Breaking Eggs
Lisa gets some good advice from Gracia.
Lisa set down the teacups with a bit more force than necessary. “I’m not heartbroken over anything.”
The Best
The husband and wife conspiracy team.
Maas folded his arms around her, beaming. “I’m so lucky,” he sighed. “Not only is my wife beautiful, smart, sweet and amazing, she’s also the best secret agent I’ve ever seen.”
Counterpoint – Deadly Force
Some reflections, while Hawkeye cleans her guns.
She liked her guns. Killing made her reluctant to eat for a day or two, but the guns themselves were clean and precise and definite at all times.
Housewarming
Havoc watches and worries a bit about his friends, as he moves them in.
Anyone with eyes knew Hawkeye’d had a thing for their superior officer since day one. Well, anyone with eyes who wasn’t Roy Mustang, but Jean had never been sure that wasn’t deliberate ignorance.
Counterpoint – Pick Up Sticks
Lisa chooses a new direction to move in.
Roy would be in motion again, soon. He probably didn’t know it, yet, but she was sure of it.
Once More…Dear Friends – Three
Roy comes to some realizations and starts to move again.
Lisa had been a sweet, cheerful girl, when he’d met her. But she’d been seventeen at the time. He hadn’t been surprised that she’d become more solemn, when she showed up as his new Second Lieutenant two and a half years later. People changed as they grew up.
Counterpoint – Trading
Lisa goes back to her roots.
A corner of her mouth twitched as she wondered what Roy would think if he knew that she’d learned half her officer skills from her family’s bank manager.
Once More…Dear Friends – Four
Roy stirs things up and gets a new job.
Clearly, Roy was heading for another superior who could spot him coming and going. This could be good or bad.
Once More…Dear Friends – Five
Team Mustang dives into politics.
Hawkeye sniffed. “It was bad enough, dealing with bureaucratic idiots as an officer,” she noted. “I’m not going to deal with them as a secretary.”
Counterpoint – Home Office
Lisa unveils her own new job.
She really couldn’t help a satisfied smile at the stunned realization spreading over Roy’s face. To be perfectly honest, she didn’t try all that hard.
Once More…Dear Friends – Six
Lisa and Roy reach an understanding.
“I’ve never met another woman who’s so beautiful when she isn’t trying.”
Only Tactics
Hakuro reflects grimly on Mustang’s influence.
It was a messy idea, a jury-rigged, special-dispensation way to disorder records and assignments. It proposed to bend regulations into pretzels without ever quite breaking their letter.
It was Mustang all over.
Research
Ross fields some odd questions from her new boss.
“Ross-kun,” he murmured, not seeming to notice. “What do women really want?”
Counterpoint – Previous Experience
Lisa gets tired of waiting and coaxes Roy into bed.
“Lisa.” The whisper drew her attention from his hands to his face, and her lips parted. Roy was looking at her—at nothing but her—with a focus she’d only ever seen when he faced mortal danger. Except that, where his eyes were cold, then, they were warm now.
Another Round
Havoc teases a happy Lisa.
Faint color painted her cheekbones and she gave him a mild glare. “Don’t you start too. Gracia is bad enough, giving me those doting looks every time I turn around.”
Once More…Dear Friends – Seven
Their world has changed.
The first assassination attempt should probably not have come as a surprise. And, in a way, it didn’t.
Diamond and Cobalt
Sort of missing-scenes. Three possible ways Diamond’s attack on Rufus’ office might have gone, two possible explanations for the look in Rufus’ eyes, one possible explanation for Jenova exposure. (And a partridge in a pear tree~. Or maybe that should be a president in a penthouse…).
“If you want to commit suicide, sir, I’m afraid we’re going to need advance notification.”
Seriously
Rufus gives Reno an assignment; or tries to. Written because I don’t, for an instant, believe Reno doesn’t take his job seriously.
Rufus looked like he wanted to run a hand through his hair, except it would mess up his styling. “Goddammit, Reno, when you think it’s a bad plan, can’t you just say so?”
White
Reno talks about Rufus a little to Tifa and Cloud.
“I’m not saying he’s nice, Tifa. But the old guy… he was a slime. Rufus-shachou is an ice cold bastard, but he’s honest about it. Always.”
One Simple Thing
Young Zack has a tough day; so does Sephiroth. Sex ensues.
“I just wanted to be around someone I could talk to. Who would understand.” A grin suddenly flashed over his face. “And who could sit on me if I lost the argument with my gonads.”
If I Should Wake Before I Die #1
After the first trip to the Forgotten City, Aerith comes to reassure Tifa and ask a favor.
Tifa reached out and felt her fingers brush through a soft, wavy wing of hair, and lost it completely. The tears rushed back and hit her in the chest, and her knees buckled, and she found herself curled up again pressing a fistful of Aerith’s skirt to her cheek as she cried.
If I Should Wake Before I Die #2
After calling up the Lifestream, Aerith recovers and Zack teases.
“How… can I be out of breath… if I haven’t got a body!” she panted. “This is so unfair.”
Where Seduction Serves
What if Sephiroth had been a little quicker on the uptake during the first encounter at the Northern Crater, and kept Cloud?
This copy was definitely not like all the others.
Execute
Reno distracts a tense Rufus, as, really, only Reno can.
Reno liked danger and dangerous things; he’d long ago figured out what he stayed in the Turks for.
If I Should Wake Before I Die #3
A bit after game-end, Cloud broods over Zack’s sword and gets a visitor.
“Cloud, you idiot, you were sicker with transition than anyone else I’ve ever seen, and by the time you could put two words together in a row all the physical evidence and memories you had pointed to you being me. Why should I be mad at you about that?”
If I Should Wake Before I Die #4
After Advent Children, Tifa visits the church and finds an unexpected Zack.
“I remember.” She closed the last few steps between them, eyes fixed on him. He looked so real, so there, that her hand lifted to touch and make sure. The amusement in his eyes brought her back to herself before she quite groped a stranger (mostly stranger), and she pulled her hand back quickly.
Hearts and Flowers
Zack and Aerith meet.
She tipped her head. That couldn’t have been what it sounded like. This guy was so obviously a SOLDIER, enhanced strength and reflexes and everything. He couldn’t possibly be ticklish enough to squeak.
305 The Way It Should Have Been
An exercise in rewriting canon, in cooperation with Kizu. Atobe does it himself.
- Atobe calls for cheers.
- Atobe doing it himself.
- Atobe triumphant.
- Shishido disgruntled.
- Oshitari and Mukahi.
- Jiriou, Kabaji and Hiyoshi.
Kizu’s part of this project:
Untitled Drabble
The first true drabble I ever wrote. For Athena, in a drabble exchange.
The Law of Rikkai
Possible origin of Rikkai’s “law”, and what it means to different people.
“We can’t lose.” That surety sings through him, like the blood through his muscles; he feels it.
Immanent
A new, young samurai arrives at the central castle of the Uesugi clan.
Echizen Ryouma had been in Kasugayama for a week, and one of Uesugi’s warriors for three and a half days, before he ran into trouble.
At First Sight
The young women of the castle sneak a look at the new warriors.
“Oh, oh, over here! Come here, Sakuno, you can see the new warriors from here!”
Convex
Echizen cleans his sword and thinks about his new place.
Ryouma sat in his rooms in the middle town, with his sword over his knees, cleaning it. His hands moved automatically, years and years of familiarity guiding them while his eyes rested on the blade without seeing it.
Unnoticed
Echizen escorts Sakuno and deals with a little trouble. Other sorts of trouble, he misses completely.
Or, she admitted to herself with a silent sigh, maybe he hadn’t done it for her at all. He was a samurai, after all; she was young, but she knew how the men of her own class could be about fights and challenges.
Tarnished
Tezuka watches his newest warrior and wonders about him.
Kaga would be a good place to see Echizen’s real mettle. Kunimitsu’s mouth tightened.
Echizen’s form was beautiful. Deadly.
And wrong.
Need Beyond Want
Echizen enters his first battle as a samurai of Uesugi, against the forces of Kaga under Tachibana.
They would probably have been fine if Echizen’s opponent hadn’t seen himself about to be caught between the two of them and panicked. Momo reacted automatically to the man’s desperate, circling slash.
So did Echizen.
Pride
Tachibana’s officers renew their bonds in the aftermath of their battle with Uesugi.
Akira hovered beside his friend as Shinji flexed his arm. He wanted to go on to recheck the rest of their injured, but he was wary of the thoughtful expression on Shinji’s face.
Hold
Tezuka tries to break through to Echizen.
Ryouma knelt where he was, staring up at the General. He could feel the deadly thin line of Tezuka-dono’s sword against his throat. It didn’t move when the General spoke.
Washed Dry
Fuji decides to try his hand against Echizen. It provokes a lot of thought.
Shuusuke felt a touch of excitement flicker along his nerves as they moved out into the open, feet scuffing up tiny puffs of dust to mark where they set themselves. Echizen was good. Not good enough to make Shuusuke lose, but perhaps…
Closed Circuit
Al wakes up, restored. Not all the news is good, though.
He and Nii-san were going to have to come up with whole new equations to talk about what had happened to him and probably some new technical vocabulary too. The thought steadied him, and he smiled.
Compression
Back with his teacher again, Al takes up his studies; this time, though, he already knows some things won’t work.
He dreamed of the color, sometimes, nights when he woke up sweating and threw open the window just to look up at the sky and know the whole world wasn’t red.
Abiding
Watanuki’s and Doumeki’s first kiss—the way you know it would really happen.
Kimihiro’s thoughts jumbled around inside his head, and one that didn’t usually get loose made it to the surface. Doumeki always waited, like this.
Waited on Kimihiro’s choices.
Luscious
Daisuke thinks Satoshi should get a little more enjoyment out of life.
Satoshi-kun was silent for a moment, and Daisuke tried not to squirm under his level gaze. At last Satoshi-kun looked back down at the food and extracted a piece of tamagoyaki to chew, carefully and without any change of expression Daisuke could see. He watched hopefully anyway.