Author's Note: This idea smacked me one day and refuses to leave me be, so I'm getting it all out! I'm also hopelessly obsessed with Reffie, because they complete each other, damnit. There's also not enough Reno/Yuffie out there, and it needs to be fixed! There will probably be lots of mentions of the Turks. They're great; Tseng is not a stick in the mud, Elena is not an airhead, and Rufus Shinra is a crackfic personified. Rated T for language and waggling eyebrows (innuendo and some steam). So for your enjoyment, I bring you this.

Bones of Winter

by Red (ZeMadame)

The news was all over the headlines of every paper in Edge before the reconnaissance group even made it back to the city. The Princess of the West, the Single White Rose of Wutai had been rescued alive. A small group had tracked down the location she was being held at, eliminated the surprisingly few thugs that were guarding her, and brought her to the sleek safety of a Shinra helicopter.

Tseng and Elena, along with a few carefully chosen Shinra troops, had infiltrated the make-shift base of the Bones of Wutai, the organization that had kidnapped Yuffie Kisaragi. She had been incapacitated by use of force on specific pressure points, but was otherwise unharmed. Only guarded by a handful of low level grunts with handguns, the mission had been a quick and easy one.

The princess, recovering quickly under Tseng's skilled care in the chopped, demanded to see her friends immediately.

"Apologies, Miss Kisaragi, but our orders are to take you to a medical facility upon your rescue," Tseng replied coolly.

"I don't give a damn about your orders," Yuffie snapped. "I was kidnapped, stuffed into a smelly van, and poked at until I couldn't move. I want to see my friends, and I want a corn dog from that stand on Third Street."

"That is impossible. Your father hired Shinra, and we are following his orders. Lord Godo wishes to ensure your health upon your safe retrieval," Tseng informed her. He leaned forward and rapped on the back of the pilot's chair. "Reno, take us out of here. Now."

"You take me to Tifa's bar right now, you skinny turkey jerk!" Yuffie cried, trying to sit forward. Elena calmly pushed her back down onto the makeshift cot.

"No can do, short-stack. Orders are orders," the red-head drawled, engaging the chopper in flight. The small ninja fought against Elena's grip on her shoulders.

"You are under the employ of Wutai and thereby under my employ and I order you to take me to the bar," she hissed through clenched teeth. Tseng ignored her, Reno couldn't hear her, and Elena just shrugged sympathetically and pulled out her PHS. With an irritated snarl, Yuffie sat back, crossing her arms and hoping that her pouting was felt by everyone in the chopper.

It didn't take long to get back to Edge. It was after sunset when they landed on the roof of the hospital.

"Elena, you get Yuffie checked in. I need to speak with President Shinra immediately. I'll return as soon as I am able," Tseng shouted over the noise of the chopper.

"Of course, sir," Elena shouted back. She pulled Yuffie out of the way. "Come on," she called to the young ninja. "The hospital has reserved a private room for you." Yuffie delayed going into the hospital through the roof's entrance to scowl at the helicopter as it took off from the landing pad.

In the hospital room, Yuffie allowed herself to be hooked up to an IV drip, though she flat out refused to be stuffed into a "creepy hospital gown". She sat cross-legged on the bed, glaring at the back of the retreating nurse.

Elena moved from her place by the door and approached Yuffie, holding out her open PHS for the young Wutaian woman to see. 'We have Yuffie, she is safe and well. Room 224 at the hospital. She wants a corn dog from Third Street.' Yuffie read the text to Tifa quickly and grinned up at Elena as big as she could.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. Elena smiled gently and shut her phone, pushing it into a pocket of her suit. For a moment, a concerned look took over the blond Turk's features.

"Are you okay? I mean, they didn't… hurt you, did they?" she asked quietly. Yuffie blinked, touched at the Turk's worry for her. They didn't know one another well, but Yuffie felt a sudden connection to the other woman. She was also grateful that Elena didn't look at her with sympathy - just concern.

"No, nothing like that. I think they were waiting for something, or someone," Yuffie said with a shiver. Elena set her lips in a thin line. Just as her PHS beeped at an incoming message, Tifa and Cid entered the room. Upon seeing her friend, Tifa charged into the room and wrapped Yuffie in a fierce hug. Looking over the martial artist's shoulder, she smiled at Cid. The gruff pilot nodded at her, but she could see relief in his bloodshot eyes. He held up a thermos.

"I brought tea," he said. "But that corn dog stand was closed for the night. Sorry, kid." Yuffie groaned; she'd really been looking forward to that corn dog.

"Are you okay?" Tifa asked, pulling back and holding Yuffie's face in her hands.

"I'm okay, Tif. Really, I'm just tired," the petite ninja said in earnest. Cid held out a paper cup filled with steaming tea. Yuffie accepted it gratefully and wrapped her cold fingers around it.

"Um," Elena began. She stepped forward, her hands behind her back. "Tseng isn't able to come back here tonight. I would prefer to give you privacy with your friends, but I must listen and gather information." Yuffie nodded in understanding. Cid poured three more cups of tea and dropped into a chair. Taking a seat of her own, Elena crossed her legs and sat forward slightly. "Yuffie, will you tell us what happened?" she asked gently. Yuffie took a swallow of tea and launched into her story.

She had been staying in Edge with Tifa and Cloud. She'd heard about the Bones of Wutai; they were a resistance movement against the royal family of Wutai. The country had, since the WRO had taken root, been working toward peace with the rest of the world. This, in turn, required Wutai to begin to leave some of their more archaic traditions in the dust. The first one to be abandoned had been the rule about arranged marriages at the age of twenty-one, conveniently enough just before Yuffie's twenty-first birthday. The princess considered it a personal victory as Lord Godo addressed his people, beaming out at the people she would one day rule. Only a small number of people had been less than pleased at the announcement. Mostly it was the old folks and traditionalists. The young men of Wutai were especially pleased, as they now saw their chance to win the free heart of their princess.

Not long after these changes began to take place, the Bones of Wutai made their presence known. They were what they called Purists - extreme traditionalists. No one knew who their leader was. Several Emir, high ranking members within the organization, were known. At first, they were a simple resistance group dedicated to peacefully protesting the changes and eradications of Wutai's traditions.

They began to grow in numbers and spread across the world, reaching the eastern continents. Once this happened, the Bones of Wutai stopped being so peaceful. They believed that Shinra was directly responsible for what they called the deterioration of Wutai. They began vandalizing Shinra buildings and harassing employees of the company. And employee that stood up for themselves found their apartments ransacked. Then a new group of Emir rose to power within the organization, and that's when the murders started.

When the news of what the group was doing reached Lord Godo, he was outraged. Knowing that Wutai currently did not have the resources to deal with such an issue, he called upon his new ally, Rufus Shinra. The president, eager to put an end to the attacks once and for all, agreed to assist the western country. Despite their cooperation, the Bones of Wutai proved to be a well organized and obedient group, and fought well against Shinra's brute force. Some in Edge still considered Shinra to be more of a gang than a company intending to adone for past atrocities. Because of this, many thought of this as a gang war. And indeed it sometimes seemed like one, complete with a shootout in the streets.

Months into the informally declared war, Lord Godo, Rufus Shinra, and Yuffie received a message from the enigmatic leader of the Bones. A grainy video with a plain concrete wall background was played by three people in three different locations. A man in a dark cloak and a ghastly white Noh mask sat on a plain wooden chair. When he spoke, his voice was modulated, deep and unnatural. He did not speak of his purpose, or of the actions of his organization.

"We are coming for you, little princess. Soon, the white rose of Wutai will fall to red, will bend to my will. You cannot run, Yuffie Kisaragi."

It was all he said, and it was enough to make the viewer's blood run cold. Within moments, Rufus was shouting for his Turks while phoning for Cloud. Godo was livid, dispatching his swiftest messengers to find his daughter. Yuffie, white as a sheet, ran downstairs, shouting for Tifa or Cloud or anyone who might've been at the bar.

As it turned out, none of the members of AVALANCE were occupying the bar. Instead, there were two strange men standing in her path. A third grabbed her from behind, and her world went black.

Only six members of the Bones guarded Yuffie. They seemed to have been waiting for their leader. They kept her physically subdued for two weeks by jabbing at her pressure points, rendering her limbs useless. Aside from that, she was surprised with the respect they showed her, and how they made sure her every need was met.

"And then Tseng and Elena swooped in and became my knights in sharp black suits," Yuffie finished.

"Did they say when their leader would arrive?" Elena asked. The Wutaian girl shook her head.

"No, they were really hush-hush about it. They're not idiots, which totally sucks," she grumbled. Tifa had been holding her hand the entire time, and she gave it a squeeze.

"Did they say anything about why they wanted you, or where their boss is holed up?" the older woman asked gently.

"Nada. I can only guess they wanted me because I'm an awesome ninja princess," Yuffie sighed. Despite her attempt at her usual carefree cheerfulness, the ninja felt deflated and run-down. Tifa cast an anxious look at Cid.

"They ain't smarter than us, kid," he grunted. Elena nodded in agreement.

"The pilot is right, Yuffie," she said. "They don't know who they're dealing with." Just then, her phone rang. Excusing herself from the room, she flipped it open and took the call.

A brief silence fell over the three occupants of the room. Then, Cid spoke.

"What would they want with a brat like you anyway?" he grumbled. There was affection in his eyes, but irritation etched into his features, not directed at Yuffie. She smirked.

"I told you, I'm an awesome ninja princess - why wouldn't they want me?" Her old cockiness resurfaced, and she had to admit, it felt good. Tifa narrowed her eyes at Cid.

"What I think he means is that you don't even live in Wutai right now. You… I mean, don't take this the wrong way, Yuff, but you don't have any power there at this point. Aside from extorting from your father, what could they want?" Tifa wondered.

"They want my foot up their ass," Yuffie complained.

"Them Turks will find out what they want. They're… slippery," Cid said, waggling his fingers.

"That we are, Cid," Elena said with a little smile, re-entering the room quietly. She looked at Yuffie. "Tseng wants to see you tomorrow morning. He has word from your father. I'm to escort you to headquarters tomorrow at first light."