Chapter nine:
A/N: ^__^ a catalyst is a major turning point :/
Note: again, this chapter is a bystander’s POV. Sorry for the confusion, but I need the normal POV sometimes when the chapter has both Fujin and Seifer -_-;;
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He’d been breathing her scent all night, tropical fruits and a mix of mountain flowers, with just another smell Seifer couldn’t quite put his finger on. He opened his eyes slowly, and touched the silky hair that adorned the head that was resting on his torso.
“Morning.” Fujin cooed softly, taking her head off his chest and smiling tenderly.
“Hey.” This has to be the best night of my life, he thought before asking, “Whatcha reading?”
She looked down at the book she’d been reading only moments ago, “Raijin’s book. He knew about Sorceresses more than he let on.”
Instead of getting up, he pulled her to him and yawned, “Mhmm… well, I’m going back to sleep.”
He heard a soft giggle before feeling the pleasant weight of her head returned to his chest.
~
He opened his eyes again sometime in the afternoon and stretched.
“*Groan* I’ve never slept this good in my life.” He rubbed his eyes and noticed that Fujin was not there. “Oh crap.”
Seifer jumped up and knocked on the bathroom door, he noticed steam coming out of it and guessed that Fujin might have suffocated from the lack of oxygen. “Fuu you in there?” the door was locked.
With a single shove, Seifer dislocated the old door from its hinges, and waved a hand in front of his face to shoo away the fog.
“Fujin?” he questioned but no one answered, he squinted to see whoever was in the bathtub but all he could see was calm water.
He waited for a few seconds until the steam evaporated and took another look around the bathroom, only to be shocked to see Fujin’s body motionless underwater.
“Sh!t!”
Seifer pulled his drowned sorceress out of the bathroom and deposited her on the floor. He slapped her red cheeks and tried to wake her up, until it sunk in that she had swallowed too much water.
“It’s now or never,” he murmured to himself before pressing his mouth to hers, blowing air into her motionless lungs. It didn’t work at first, but when he tried it again and again, her calm body quivered with rough coughs. He pulled her up in a sitting position, as she gurgled and coughed to relieve herself of the water that invaded what little space her breath needed.
“Fuu, I though I lost you,” he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. Even as she coughed water into his shirt, he just stroked his cheek on her neck affectionately.
“*Gasp*” *cough cough* “*Gasp*” Fujin grasped his sleeves as if holding on to the only means of life, “S-Seifer, he- tried, drowned, water everywhere. Hot, couldn’t breathe.” She rambled nonsense as she coughed and gasped for air through scared sobs.
“Shh, its gonna be okay, you are safe now.” He hugged her closely and felt her cry into his shirt.
A long while passed before any of them opened their eyes, Fujin rubbed her own and then curled into a human ball in his arms, “Seifer, toss me a towel.”
Without looking down, he remembered that she was in her birthday suit -or rather, lack of - he nodded and got up to grab a bathrobe from the hotel closet. He tossed it to her without looking back, and grabbed himself some new fresh clothes from his suitcase.
“How did he get in here, whoever he was?” he asked as he hauled his shirt over his head, and tossed it on the wrinkled bed sheet on the floor.
Fujin secured the bathrobe around her small body, and opened her own bag to pull out some clothes. “I was showering, and then the door opened, first I thought it was you but then I noticed that his eyes were black.”
Seifer turned around and made a face, “He looked like me?”
“Mhmm.” Fujin pulled out her clothes and headed to the bathroom, she didn’t close the door, but instead stood behind it to change, “Exactly like you, same haircut, same build, even the facial expressions looked the same. He threw me off balance and I fell on my back. Before I knew it, he was filling the tub and was pushing my face down in the water.” Her voice wavered for a moment, before she walked out and stood in front of her knight, “I stopped thrashing soon enough for him to suppose I was dead, but I was already losing it. I woke up and there you were kissing me.” Her face showed a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
He scratched his head, “I wasn’t kissing you I was saving your life!”
She nodded, “T-thank you.”
Seifer shook his head and started to gather the scattered clothes. “Well, how did he get in?”
“I don’t know.” She pulled Raijin’s book from under Seifer’s pillow and hugged it close, “And I don’t care because we won’t be staying here for another day.”
~~~~~~~~~
Seifer decided that they wouldn’t be living at Balamb, since it was the scene of too many unhappy events.
The air ruffled Fujin’s hair as she looked out the window of the car, as Seifer drove across Esthar’s continental bridge. “Are you sure we’ll find us an apartment there?”
Seifer nodded confidently, “Of course, it’s a huge country, and no one will recognize you there!”
“I doubt it.” She hugged the book in her arms and sighed, “Seifer, I’ve read some of this book, Raijin had been going too deep into researching about sorceresses, and he got himself killed for it.”
“What’d he write?”
“Well,” she thought for a moment, “He wrote a lot about passing powers, the lives and deaths of sorceresses and their knights, even about their inability to produce children with their knights.”
“He knew about it all? How?” Seifer glanced briefly at her before turning back to the road.
“I don’t know, but what confused me the most, is that he mentioned there was ‘one way’ to have the sorceress marry her knight and still have a family of her own, but it wasn’t clear and the papers were ripped from the book.”
That got them both thinking.
“Fuu, am I your knight?” Seifer asked quietly.
O_O “Hmm?” Fujin jerked her head towards him and felt her cheeks burning hot. “I-I don’t know!”
“Well, can I be your knight?”
“I guess.” She shrugged, not really thinking until it was already said.
Seifer smiled at her and remained silent for the rest of the trip.
~~~~~~~~~~
After four hours of walking around and not finding a single fitting apartment:
“Fuu, why can’t we just ask Squall to find us something at the presidential palace?” Seifer huffed and dropped their luggage to the ground.
“Seifer, the reason we came here is because no one should recognize me, or let the media know that I’m here in Esthar!” Fujin lectured before stepping into a shabby-looking apartment building.
“How much a month is an apartment here?” Fujin slammed her palms on the desk where a fat man sat.
“Two thousand Gil a month, woman, don’t be so loud.” He slurred and took another swig of his beer.
Seifer’s eyes flashed in mischief, “Well, can’t we have it without one of the zeroes?”
The man pulled out a piece of paper, “Sure, just sign here.”
“Two hundred Gil a month huh?” Seifer questioned and Fujin gawked at him. Was he serious?
“Yeah yea,” the drunkard scribbled two hundred on the paper and Seifer gladly signed the contract.
Fujin and Seifer chuckled quietly as they climbed the stairs to their apartment.
When the door was opened, Seifer frowned, “You know, I don’t think it’s even worth one Gil.”
“As long as it has a door lock and a bed its fine.” Fujin looked at the inner side of the door as she closed it, “The lock part is okay.”
Seifer walked out of the bedroom grinning, “And a bed.”
Fujin nodded but felt something strange in Seifer’s grin, “What?”
“It was a bed.” His brows drew up, he chuckled, and then entered the kitchen.
What’s wrong with a bed? Fujin glanced into the bedroom and found the reason Seifer was grinning, there was only one bed.
“Ha ha,” she mocked in a monotone voice, “Very funny, Seifer.”
Ignoring her, Seifer complimented the kitchen, “Wow! An oven!”
“Stop ignoring me Seifer!” Fujin felt a smile spreading on her lips.
“*Gasp* look Fuu! A refrigerator!”
“Seifer!”
“A window! Unbelievable!”
“SEIFER!”
“What?” he turned around to look at her.
“I’m taking the bed.”
“Okay, but we are sharing, there isn’t any sofa, mind you, and the floor is cold.”
“I don’t care! I’m taking the bed and me only!”
“Blah, whatever.” He dragged his suitcase into the room, and started stuffing his clothes into the empty cupboard.
“So we have to live together?” Fujin dragged in her own stuff and started sorting them neatly in a small drawer.
“I guess… I just hope people mind their businesses here, wouldn’t want rumors flying around about us.” Seifer kept on stuffing his unfolded clothes in the cupboard as he spoke.
“Seifer, stop. I’ll put these in their place!” Fujin said in annoyance. His carelessness irritated her.
“Sure.” He got up. “I’m gonna have to go look for a job, too.”
Fujin’s eyes widened, “And leave me alone?”
“No one will find you here, Fuu!” he reasoned. “Just keep the door locked and don’t open up to anybody.”
Fujin nodded halfheartedly and continued to fold and arrange Seifer’s clothes. She found the garments he had been wearing that morning, and decided to put them aside for washing, but then she noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the back pocket of his pants.
She read the paper scrap and her pulse raced with every sentence about the ‘holy knights’.
Why did Seifer keep this hidden away from her?
Seifer walked in from the bathroom and toweled his wet face, “Its much warmer here than in Bal-“ he stopped and frowned when he saw the paper in Fujin’s hands. “You read it?”
She nodded and dropped it on the floor, “Why’d you keep it from me?”
“You didn’t have to know,” he picked it up and shred it to pieces before throwing it out the window. “I bet they are the ones who killed our brother.”
She simply nodded.
“Well, I’m gonna go out and look for a job, there might still be a chance I can use this,” he pulled up Hyperion, and huffed some hot breath on it before scrubbing it clean with his sleeve.
“Good luck,” she smiled softly, still thinking of her murdered friend.
“I’m gonna get this key copied on my way back,” he pulled out the apartment key to show it to her, before leaving and locking the door behind him.
So there she was, alone in a completely foreign place, folding somebody else’s clothes.
We’re not even related! She thought bitterly before getting up to get a glass of water. There aren’t any glasses here, just my luck.
She cursed quietly and threw herself on the bed, catching the scent of lavender and dust, mixing with the smell of her own shampoo as she lay face down on the soft thick blankets.
Not long had passed before she fell asleep.
~~~~~~~
Seifer had walked around aimlessly, carrying the weight of Hyperion over his shoulder like a potato sack.
“S’cuse me sir,” he asked the first old man he saw, “Where can I put this li’l blade to work around here?” he turned to the side slightly so that the man could see the gunblade.
O_O, “Umm, well, sonny, there is a military school about two blocks away. You can study there for very little money if you show talent.”
Seifer blinked, “I’m a SeeD, sir. I’m here for the money.”
O_O;; “Oh!” he swallowed, “Well, maybe they need instructors. Kids here are sissies.” -_-;
“Thanks gramps,” muttered Seifer before turning around to cross the street.
“Meh T_Tx kids these days, I tell yah, when I was a young lad in the sorceress war-“ the guy kept yapping about his young days in the war…
“Old men,” cursed Seifer to nobody in particular, “They think they know everything.” He blinked as he strode across the street, ignoring the few curious glances he got on the way, “Except for Laguna Loire, he is the only guy who doesn’t know anything.”
The way to the military school wasn’t as long as Seifer expected it to be.
The man at the door frowned at Seifer’s appearance and demanded. “Authorization needed.”
Seifer scowled, “I’m here to apply as an instructor.”
The doorman nodded with an unbelieving smirk, “Aha, and I’m Hyne.”
T/_ T “I don’t see breasts.”
T_Tx “What do you want?”
“I told you! I’m here to apply!”
“Go right in, I doubt they’d let you see the headmaster though.” The man crossed his arms and chuckled.
Seifer shoved his way in and crossed different training rooms and offices, until he found a huge door labeled “Headmaster.”
He opened the door in his usual careless way, “I’m here to apply for an instructor.”
The headmaster, who was talking on the phone, frowned and ended his call, “And who gave you permission to enter?”
Seifer smirked and leaned Hyperion on the chair so that the man could see it. “I thought this was a military school, not a gentlemen’s club.”
The old headmaster glanced at the gunblade, “I suppose.” He got up to inspect the blade, “A gunblade specialist?”
“Yeah.”
“Very good, you are employed.” The headmaster grinned, “Just what rank are you, I suppose you are from Garden?”
“Yeah, I used to be a SeeD, but left. I’m a rank A SeeD.”
O_O “Um, A?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm, Then you will teach class B starting tomorrow morning. Is 6000 Gil a month enough?” The man smiled and pulled out a paper to scribble Seifer’s name on it and sign.
“Hmm, not as much as Garden, but it’ll do!” The knight signed the contract and strode out happily.
“And I thought finding a job was hard!” Seifer laughed as he held Hyperion to his shoulder, peeking into classes and bothering passing boys going to the bathroom.
He stopped at a class that was very quiet, and peeked in. It was the class B, the one he’ll be teaching the next morning.
“Yellow.” He cocked an eyebrow; the instructor was an old man who sat Indian-style on a cushion, watching two students training with swords in a very slow motion.
The instructor’s deep calm eyes glanced at Seifer before holding up a hand to halt the battle. “Come in.”
“Whazzup? I’m gonna be teaching here tomorrow.” Seifer strode in, feeling quite full of himself at the gasps and ‘oh’s’ Hyperion caused.
“Sit here.” The man calmly instructed. Seifer did as instructed, as Hyperion protectively lay in his lap. The instructor nodded and the battle continued.
Seifer was watching the combat excitedly. Every basic move, every dodge and every slash, he remembered -with glee- practicing in Garden only years ago. And now here he was, preparing himself to pass on these skills.
The deadly dance ended and Seifer found himself clapping excitedly, “That was great!” he started complimenting, but then pointed to the boy on the right, “You there just need to practice your footwork.” Just as he finished his sentence, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
The old man smiled softly at him, “You have a passion for swords.”
“No kidding.” Seifer smiled.
“You will do just fine.” The man nodded then pointed for two other students to start another battle.
~~~~~~~~
Fujin opened her eyes slowly from a very relaxing nap. Things had been crazy lately and she desperately needed the quiet sleep. She yawned lightly and rolled to her side. She saw Seifer looking down at her.
“Hi Seifer,” she whispered sleepily, his face blurry and she could only make out the outlines.
“Sorceress Fujin?” he asked quietly, brushing back a few strands of hair from her face.
His touch felt different, hesitant maybe, but very different, it brought her to her senses.
She got up and opened her eyes, it wasn’t Seifer! It was the other guy with black eyes! “Who are you?”
He smiled softly, “I am your knight.” His voice was very calm and convincing, opposed to the fears that roamed her brain and made her heart beat fast in her ears.
“No you are not!” she denied fearfully, “How did you get in here?”
He looked hurt, “It doesn’t matter.” With that, he stepped forward.
Before he was able to touch her, they both heard the door creek open and a happy Seifer marched in. “Fuu, I’m home!”
Fujin turned to the general direction of the voice, and then looked back at the strange guy. To her surprise, he was gone!
Seifer stepped into the bedroom happily, “Guess what? I got me a job! I have- why do you look so pale?” his grin turned into a confused frown.
“Nothing.” She shook her head, “I just woke up.”
“Oh.” He shrugged out of his coat, “Well anyway, I get to teach a couple o’ kids how to swing a sword and get 6000 Gil a month! Isn’t it cool?” he sat on the bed next to her, “Are you sure you are okay, bad dreams or something? Because I know how pale you usually are and right now you are not okay.”
She shook her head, “I saw that guy.”
Seifer’s brow’s knotted in fear for his sorceress, “Here?”
She nodded, “Mhmm.”
“Maybe you were just dreaming?” Seifer brushed away a few strands of hair out of her face.
“No, he touched my hair, he was real.” She remembered the man’s touch, and it felt nothing like Seifer’s.
“WHAT?” T/_ T “He touched you?”
She nodded, “Yeah, just my hair. Don’t act all protective.”
Seifer frowned angrily and got off the bed, out of his friendly mood, “A friggin’ stranger gets to walk in here and dare lay his fu**in’ hands on you and all you care about is your stupid fuc**ing hair?” he shouted angrily without thinking.
Fujin closed her eyes and lay back on the bed.
“And now you’re going to sleep to ignore this stupid bastard huh?” he referred to himself before sitting down, but still angry.
“No,” Fujin shook her head against the bed sheets, “My head hurts.”
Seifer paused for a second before edging closer to her and touching her forehead, “Want an aspirin?”
Fujin shook her head roughly against the sheets and gave a high-pitched cry, “Oh, it hurts! Make it stop!”
Her knight started to panic, “Make what stop? Fuu what's going on?”
Fujin held her head and clenched her jaws, “Headache- buzzing, make it stop.”
The baffled man didn’t know what to do, other than hold her to him and rock her gently, “I don’t know what's going on Fuu, can you talk? What’s happening?”
His sorceress breathed for a moment, before giving a sigh of relief and taking her head off his chest, the headache seemingly over. “I don’t know. It felt like electricity was closing over my head. I couldn’t breathe.”
He nodded softly, “Was it because of me?”
She looked up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears, “Huh?”
“You know, I yelled at you and all.” He scratched his neck.
Fujin smiled, “No, I don’t think so.” She got up and stumbled into the bathroom. Seifer heard the rusty faucet being turned on and sighed.
Before he even started to wonder what had just happened, Fujin stumbled hastily into the room again, “Seifer! I forgot to tell you that Ultimecia is still alive!” she exclaimed with horror in her eyes.
Seifer blinked, “Just go wash your face. Leonhart killed her.”
Fujin shook her head, splashed water on her face, then got back to sit next to him, “No Seifer, when I was in the other world, Bahamut told me that she was frozen in time, but then a stupid gimm- erm… event, woke her up and Bahamut brought me here away from her!”
Seifer nodded along with every word, then his eyes widened in surprise, “So, what you are saying is, she isn’t dead?”
Fujin nodded.
“Great. Just great. Where is she?”
“I have no idea.” Fujin looked thoughtful, “Maybe the ‘Holy knights’ are trying to find her. Or maybe they are working with her. Maybe that’s why they want to kill me!”
Seifer’s expression hardened, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Fujin bit her lower lip, “Erm, sure.”
Seifer sighed in irritation. “I’m serious Fuu, I really want to protect you. I need you to trust me!”
“Seifer?” questioned the sorceress after a seconds thinking, “Are we going to live together?”
“Yeah.” Seifer confirmed absently, but then got her point. “Why?”
“I’m sleeping on the bed.” She reminded him and got up to straighten her clothes.
He frowned, “You know, Fuu, sleeping isn’t all. We are going to have to share every thing from now on. The bedroom, the bathroom, the food, the newspapers.”
Fujin walked out with him following behind, “Well, how about we start with the food? I’m starving.”
Seifer nodded and peeked into the empty fridge, “You are right. This box is as empty as my stomach.” He got up and leaned on the wall. “Or as empty as Raijin’s head.” He chuckled but then fell silent when he saw the sad look on Fujin’s face. “Sorry.”
“His head wasn’t empty; we were just too stupid to see how brilliant he was. He got killed because of us.” Fujin mourned.
Seifer sighed, “Its not our fault, Fujin, get it out of your little head, he died because he got too deep into someone’s shi*. We got nothing to do with it!”
“Fine, fine, whatever. Go get something to eat.” She ordered and sat on the chair by the table, in the middle of the kitchen.
Seifer threw his coat over his shoulders and huffed, “Jeesh, what a way to speak to the guy who gave you the kiss of life.”
“I didn’t ask you to save me!” Fujin spat angrily, not looking at him. “I think I miss Siren’s company.”
“Fine, go ahead and leave me, why don’t yah?” he growled and left to buy something, slamming the door behind him.
“Puff.” Fujin huffed hair out of her face and slumped low into the chair to hold her head, “That was very stupid and childish. Sorry Seifer.”
Though he was already too far to hear her.
Fujin felt the headache start again and held her head. “Maybe I should have told Seifer to bring me some Aspirin.” She murmured to herself and rested her head on the table. Thankfully, her head didn’t hurt too much this time, and she didn’t hear herself scream. But the little pain left her drained and tired.
She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, “What could be doing this to me? Arguing with Seifer?”
“You are a sorceress of emotion.”
Fujin gasped and looked behind her, she saw the Seifer-look-alike smiling down at her, his deep black eyes shining in glee.
“I thought you left!” her brows knotted, and she turned around completely to prepare herself to whatever he might have in store for her.
“You are too weak to fight me, Fujin. Just rest this time.” He lectured softly.
Fujin started to wonder if he knew anything, “How do you know? Why does my head hurt? Who are you anyway?”
He chuckled, “I am your knight! I have been your mother’s and I will be yours.”
Fujin shook her head, “How did you get in here?”
He sighed, “Ahh, so many questions and so little time. Forgive me my sorceress, but I must leave. Be sure to get something for your head.” In a blink, pinkish-blue fog exploded from under him and he dissolved into the floor, leaving only a cold breeze behind him.
Two seconds later Seifer walked in, two bags in his hands and a grumpy look on his face, “It’s a rip-off I tell yah.” He stepped into the kitchen and dropped his bags on the table in front of his sorceress, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Fujin shook her head, dismissing the incident which occurred just moments ago, “Nothing, just tired.” She poked into the bags, “What’d you bring.”
Seifer stretched and sat on the only other chair around the table, “Chocolate noodles.”
Fujin cringed, “No, really. What’d you bring?”
“Honest.” He widened his eyes and pulled out a cup with shop-sticks, “They said it was popular, so I thought I’d try it.”
Fujin watched in horror as he opened the box, and started chewing on the brown strings in delight. “Oh, I get it. You want revenge because I told you to go and get something edible huh? Well, fine. I’m not hungry anymore.” She crossed her arms and got up, feeling dizzy suddenly and leaning on the wall.
“Seems to me that you are starving.” He noted between mouthfuls, “Bethidth- *gulp* I brought you some pasta, thought you’d like it.” He pulled out a nicely sealed box and pulled out a couple of forks, “Here, I hope you like hot sauce.”
Fujin turned around and blinked. He wasn’t making fun of her; he had probably forgotten the whole fight before. And he was just not telling her the whole truth, she couldn’t believe that she got all upset about it.
She walked back and sat opposite him, watching as he dug into his strange dish, and she found herself laughing when his cheeks got stained.
“Gosh, Seifer, you eat like a kid.” She laughed and grabbed her fork to dig into her own lunch.
“Only when nobody is watching.” He reached over to take a taste out of her pasta.
“Hey! That’s mine!” She mocked anger.
“Meh, fight me!” He spat everywhere as he spoke and Fujin threw whatever object she could reach at him.
“You are disgusting!” She got up and took a mouthful out of his dish. “Mmm, Seifer, this is real good!”
“Yeah, but its mine!” He pouted playfully, before pouring what's left of his chocolate noodles into her pasta and joining her in eating both.
*An hour later*
“So I told him, who cares? As long as it has a blade and shoots bullets, it’s a gunblade!”
Fujin giggled and leaned forward, it was a rarity that Seifer spoke to her freely. She was glad she knew the right buttons to push, mostly ones which formed the word ‘g-u-n-b-l-a-d-e’
“So does that mean you know how to fire real guns?” she questioned as she cleared the table.
“Sure, gunblade students always learn how to fire guns before they are allowed to use the weapon in actual combat. Wouldn’t wanna splatter your trainer’s head on the floor or anything.” He laughed and stuffed the empty plates and used forks into the bag. “We need to buy stuff.”
“Like what?”
“You know, trash cans, sofas, toilet paper, sofas, bed sheets. Did I mention sofas?” he laughed and peeked into the living room, “And a TV set, definitely a cable network.”
Fujin nodded, “Do you have the money?”
Seifer frowned, “
Fujin shrugged and sat next to him, “Better then gaining weight in front of E.S.P.N!”
Seifer shook his head, “But instructing? I mean, I hated Trepe for being a cold merciless instructor, how do I end up being one?”
“Merciless?”
“Homework.” He rolled his eyes.
“Oh yeah, right. Well, you don’t give homework when you are teaching kids how to swing a sword.” She reasoned.
“Hmm, yeah… well, now where am I going to sleep?”
Fujin shrugged and stifled a laugh, “I dunno, but I don’t share my bed with cooties.”
“You believe they exist?” he scrunched up his nose.
“No, it’s just an excuse.” She got up and headed into the bedroom.
“Whatever. Well, now that I’m free. I’m bored! I don’t have a TV, can’t go to the training center and can’t even go fishing with Raijin… anymore…” He spoke to himself.
Fujin was listening from where she sat folding her friend’s clothes. She felt tears sting her eyes but wouldn’t let them come out. She decided that she had cried enough for him and that tears would not get him back.
Sometime during the long silence, Fujin gasped.
“What?” Seifer walked in and sat on the floor next to her, watching her shuffle through the pictures he had taken from Raijin’s album. “Oh, these.”
“Where did you get this?” she was looking at the picture where her younger self was looking at a butterfly.
He smiled, “Raijin’s room. Fuu, you look nice here.”
She sneered at the comment, “Never was, never will be.” She pressed a fingertip to the eye patch, “And this made me look uglier. I’m glad I never have to wear it ever again.”
Seifer thought for a moment before asking, “Fuu, you told me once that you had to wear it. It’s just occurred to me now, what was wrong with your eye back then?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I was sick but now I’m all right, okay? I don’t want to talk about it ever again.”
Seifer shuffled through the rest of the pictures quietly before changing the subject, “I should buy this a stand.” He referred to the photo where he, Raijin and Fujin were standing at the pier.
His sorceress only nodded, “Yes, you should.”
Seifer sighed in boredom before he lay on the floor, “Fuu, are you sure the guy who looks like me exists?”
Fujin nodded and placed the photos down, “Yes, he spoke to me today, told me to get something for the headache.”
The blond tried not to let anger get the best of him. “Aspirin?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged and sat next to him, looking down into his face. “I don’t even know what’s making my head hurt!”
Seifer rolled to his side, “Do you think it’s about us fighting? Because every time we fight, something bad happens.”
Fujin shrugged, “I don’t know, the man told me that I was a sorceress of emotion.”
The knight joined his brows, “You mean like Ellone with the past-present thing, and Edea with brain-washing?”
The sorceress nodded, “I think so. I felt Cid’s fear and confusion when he expelled us from garden last night. But then again,” she started thinking out loud, “Shiva told me that I was a sorceress of time and space, does that mean I can travel through time like Ultimecia too?”
“You are nothing like that-” he started, but was cut off by Fujin who spoke angrily.
“Don’t even start! It’s my mother you’re talking about!” she was very, very afraid of telling him that fact, but there was no doubt anymore, she had to tell him.
Seifer frowned and shook his head, “Nothing will surprise me anymore Fuu, even if that guy showed up right now I wouldn’t be very surprised.”
The albino sensed the mockery in his voice, “Seifer I’m serious!”
“Of course you are! You just need a little rest.” He started to get up and pulled her up with him.
“I’m not a child Seifer! And I don’t care if you believe me or not!” she walked to the bed and sat in the middle. “Good night!”
“But its still 5 in the afternoon.”
“I don’t care!” she pulled the covers over her head. “I thought you trusted me. I thought you believed me.”
Seifer sat next to her and placed a hand where her shoulders should be under the blanket, “Fuu, I believe you. Well, I usually do, but what you’re saying is farfetched! I mean, how can you be Ultimecia’s daughter? Your hair-” he stopped for a moment, and Fujin peeked out to see his expression, “Okay, so a coincidence, the hair looks the same, her eyes are violet and your eye is re-“ He stopped again mid-sentence and Fujin poked out her whole head to smirk at him, “The skin… erm, the- structure. Oh God, Fuu, you are her daughter! You’re even a sorceress!” the expression of fear splashed over his face and he hugged her through the blankets, “So does that mean she’ll try to get you? Fuu I won’t let that happen.”
Fujin squirmed a little, not used to hugs and embraces in blankets, “You are choking me.”
“Sorry.” He got up and brushed back his lengthy hair, “Is that why you knew she was still alive?”
She nodded and sighed, “I guess. Seifer, that look-alike of you keeps telling me that he is my knight. It’s so confusing. Are you my knight or is it him?”
“You don’t even know the guy.” Seifer dismissed, “I am your knight! And nobody else!”
Fujin corked an eyebrow, “And who made you my knight?”
“Umm… Me?”
“Seifer, do I love you?” She questioned, hoping that he shared the same feeling for her.
Poor girl never knew that he did.
“Of course you do!” he figured, “That’s why you were stuck with me and not with anybody else!”
She swallowed, “Well, do you love me?”
His smile faltered, “D-do I have to? I mean, I can’t just- we shouldn’t maybe… ahh, whatever.” He growled and turned his back to her.
“No!” she got up and squeezed his shoulder; this is why she got back here! To ask this stupid goddamned question! And here he was squirming his way out of it! “Answer me this Seifer! Do you love me?”
His eyes went wide as he answered, “Wow, Fuu, I never knew you were so persistent!”
“Answer the question.”
“Well… who cares huh?”
“Answer the question, Seifer.” Her voice was even, for she knew his games.
“C’mon. It doesn’t matter because we’ll be living together anyway, right?”
“Answer.”
“You are hurting my shoulder.”
“No I’m not. Answer the question.”
“Yes you are.”
“I’m not… Don’t change the subject.”
“Fuu… I’m trying to worm my way out of it! Cant you see?” he grinned sheepishly.
“Answer the goddamned question Seifer or I’m throwing myself out of the window!” she screamed and ran to the window, opened it and glared back at him.
Seifer got up, calmly rubbed his shoulders and then looked up at her, “Well, you could have just said please!”
Fujin frowned and actually jumped out.
“NO!” O/_ O!! “I love you okay!!” he stumbled to the floor on his way to look out the window.
They were on the fourth floor so there was no way she’d survive.
Seifer looked out the window in horror, feeling his heartbeat hammering against his ribs and hearing his own heart in his ears. He found her sticking out her tongue at him from the small emergency stairway just two feet below.
He frowned and pulled her inside, grumbling and cursing the whole time.
“Thank you for answering Seifer.” U_Ux “That meant so much to me.” Her voice was seeping with anger.
“YOU FREAKED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!” he screamed, eyes wide, “What did you want me to say?”
“The truth!” she spat back, “Why is it so hard for you to admit that you are only using me, just to be the great knight you always wanted to be?”
He looked shocked but didn’t say anything. She took it as a sign to keep going so she did, “You think I don’t know you? I know you are not with me to protect me, but to tell others that you are the ‘sorceress’s knight!’ You can’t even love your sorceress! You make me sick!” she turned around and sat on the bed. “Close the window, it’s drafty.”
Seifer blinked for a moment before questioning, “Is anything I might say now change your mind?”
“No.” she snapped angrily.
He shrugged and went to close the window.
“ARRG!” she growled, “At least TRY!”
“What? You just told me not to bother convincing you!”
“I lied! I wanted you to convince me…” she sniffled and hugged herself, “I can’t believe you do what you are told!”
Seifer rolled his eyes, “Fuu are you PMSy? I wouldn’t wanna bother fighting with you if it’s futile.”
Fujin glared up at him from where she sat, “And what's wrong with being PMSy?”
Uh-oh he thought, I don’t wanna talk about this! “Nothing! It just gets you edgy!”
“No I’m not PMSy, I’m angry at you!” she explained, still angry.
“Just because I told you that I loved you? What if I said I didn’t?” he laughed.
“It would have made my life easier.” She muttered and rested her head on her knees.
Seifer took an anxious breath before opening his mouth to speak.
“Oh, no… not again!” Fujin held her head in her hands and clenched her jaws.
“The headache?” he guessed and climbed the bed next to her.
She nodded and made small sounds of vulnerability as she slumped face down on the bed, squeezing her head.
Seifer frowned. Maybe she’s just doing this to get my attention…there is no good reason why she should get such a pain so suddenly. He watched her squirm for a moment without even lifting a finger to help her, partly guessing that this all was a stupid act to get his sympathy, but mostly because he couldn’t do much anyway.
After a few seconds Fujin laid motionless, panting and sweating.
Seifer felt something churn in his stomach. She
couldn’t be lying, could she?
“Huh-” the sorceress breathed. “Sor-rry…” she fought to get up and acted like nothing happened, “What were we *gulp* talking about?” her words were a slur even to him.
“Nothing.” He pushed her to the bed gently, “Just rest.” His throat tightened when he saw the trail of tears down her face, as she fell asleep right away.
She was not acting. She was never acting… Maybe he was just too stubborn to think with his heart.
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End of chapter nine
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A/N: okie-dokie. Raijin’s been scolding me for killing him, and I’m tired of all this… I have to have a fluffy scene soon or I’m gonna die ;_; so, any speculation of why Fujin gets headaches? ~_^ BTW, I have the feeling that I’m going to be away for a while, I dunno when I’ll be back but the next chapter is halfway done so don’t worry much ^_^ review please!