"Child soldiers," Grandma Shinra softly exhaled her cigarette smoke. "That's what SeeD are."
Fujin was silent as she stared at the old woman who had taken care of her for ten years. Her brown face was consumed with wrinkles that made her old age obvious but her green eyes were bright and awe-inspiring as if she was still in her twenties. Her yellow cane was rested against the railing of the balcony and Fujin wondered how it had yet to break from the constant abuse it received from its owner.
Her grandmother was her only family and it did not matter to Fujin that they were only related by paper instead of blood. Grandma Shinra had been blunt about Fujin's past, stating that she found the girl as a small infant crying on her doorstep. Instead of giving her up to an orphanage or Dollet's Child Services, Boz Shinra decided to adopt the baby herself at the age of seventy years old.
It was one of the best choices she ever made in her long life.
However almost a year ago she made a choice she hated: Grandma Shinra was forced to give up Fujin to Balamb Garden after she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Galbadia and Trabia were options as well but Grandma Shinra had met Balamb's headmaster several times in the past. Grandma Shinra did not trust her grandchild within Galbadian territory as far as she could throw a cactuar nor did she have a clue as to where the hell Trabia Garden even was. The main issue that she had with Balamb was its SeeD. The thought of Fujin being a mercenary at fifteen was worst than thinking about the funeral expenses.
Fujin took the news with a clouded eye and tears that refused to drop. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, cursing the fate of her grandmother that would leave her all alone. Grandma Shinra refused to tell Fujin how long she had left so the ten year old girl took it upon herself to visit her former caretaker as much as she could (three thousand gil was a hassle to save) until she unfortunately had to bury her.
Grandma Shinra flicked her cigarette bud into the grass below and coughed, "thankfully I'll be dead by the time ye get ye stupid self killed so expect me at Heaven's Gates waiting with a bottle of Dollet's Fine Wine."
Fujin snorted at that and slowly rested her head against Grandma Shinra's left arm. "Gross." She said with a small smile. She hated Dollet's Fine Wine and her grandmother knew that too.
She had raided the wine pantry when she was eight out of curiosity and Grandma Shinra caught her in the act. Grandma Shinra pulled out a small glass and gave Fujin a sip of the largest bottle of wine she owned.
Fujin had been sick with a tummy ache for a week.
"Don't forget the box of elixir and honey I put in yer room. Hyne knows ye will need it when I'm gone." Grandma Shinra tightly gripped the balcony as she stared at the setting sun. "Ye may not be a Shinra by blood, but ye sure act as fearless and bold as one." She snorted and released her right hand from the railing to ruffle Fujin's white hair.
Grandma Shinra was clearly referring to the incident that gave Fujin the black eye-patch. A close encounter with a washed up Adamtanoise at Dollet's beach resulted in her unable to see out of her left eye. She had no need for it as the wound was now healed but scarred. Yet Fujin grew fond of the accessory and made it more of a fashion piece than a medical necessity.
"Don't try to go fighting Fastitocalons with ye bare hands alright?" Grandma Shinra grinned and grabbed her yellow cane as she took a step back from the balcony railing. "I'm sure ye will win but I think ye need at least one good eye to be a SeeD, kiddo."
Fujin laughed this time as she saluted, "promise." Her smile was wide as she went to hug her grandmother, pleased to feel that for once she would not be leaving her with a stoic face and a heavy heart. Even though she knew her grandmother was doomed to a cold casket, Fujin would make sure that the time they had left together would be the best.
"Don't ever forget who ye are, Fuu," Grandma Shinra sighed as she rubbed Fujin's back with her free hand. "Ye will always be a Shinra and ye will wear our family name with honor. Which is why I'm going to give ye this." She took a step away from Fujin, placed her yellow cane against the balcony again, and grabbed a silver chain from around her neck that was hidden in the collar of her shirt. Hanging from the chain was a crest of an animal Fujin could not identify.
Fujin's jaw almost dropped as Grandma Shinra grabbed her right hand and placed the necklace within her palm. She slowly formed her granddaughter's right hand into a fist and pushed it to her chest. "Protect this with ye life. It was passed to me by my father and now I will give it to ye. I know ye will make me proud."
Fujin's bottom lip quivered as her right eye became misty. She vowed on the train ride to Dollet that she would not cry because she was a big girl yet her grandmother was so easily able to make her feel like a big baby.
"It is a great symbol for our family and it is usually passed down from parent to child. However, if ye believe that someone ye care about dearly will benefit from its protection more than ye, then ye are allowed to give it to them as well." Grandma Shinra explained with a soft smile, her accent thicker the more emotional she became. She wobbled slightly to the right, remembering that she could not stand on her own without her cane for more than a minute.
Fujin quickly gave her the cane with her left hand before putting on the necklace. "Happy." She sniffed and rubbed her eye to get rid of the tears.
"Ye best be." Grandma Shinra barked out a laugh and motioned for Fujin to walk inside. "Come on, kiddo. Ye train leaves within an hour. As much as ye hate goodbyes, Balamb is waiting for yer return."
"Not all goodbyes are permanent, but I'm sad that ours is."
Fujin had her face pressed against the window as the train slowly rolled out of Dollet Station. Grandma Shinra waved in farewell and Fujin smiled sadly as she leaned back from the glass. Her grandmother mouthed a 'see ye soon' and it took all of Fujin's strength to not let out a noise of grief.
She had a feeling this would be the last time she would ever see her grandmother alive.
Once the station was out of sight, Fujin made her way to her cabin with her duffel bag tightly gripped in her small hands. On her bad laid the box of elixir and honey, a concoction that Grandma Shinra made to make the item more bearable to consume. Elixirs tasted like a decade old shoe left in the rain but with two teaspoons of honey, it became sweeter while still having its medicinal purposes.
Fujin had to take the elixir and honey whenever her eye ached. Despite the wound being healed, the skin of her forcibly closed eyelid was still tender while her eye itself barely had an iris left. Occasionally it would become uncomfortable under the eye-patch.
"Next stop is Timber Station. I repeat, next stop is Timber Station," came from the intercom.
Fujin pursed her lips, irritated that she had not noticed that the train already arrived at East Academy Station. She collapsed dramatically on the bed within the cabin after pushing aside the box.
"Hate." She buried her face into the pillow and let out a frustrated scream. "Don't die." She turned her head to stare at the wall and held back a small sniff.
"Don't die." Fujin pleaded to the empty room.
"Alone. Don't want."
"Please."
"Please!"
"PLEASE."
Fujin was almost a year old when she said her first word. Grandma Shinra did not expect her to be speaking for a while, since the baby was unusually silent (which was both a pro and a con). Grandma Shinra was drinking a cold glass of Timber Beer while reading the morning newspaper a couple hours after sunrise. After several minutes of silence, Grandma Shinra released a loud burp that could probably be heard all the way to Cactuar Island. Young Fujin's chubby face twisted into a displeased look as she stared at her grandmother.
"What?" Grandma Shinra raised an eyebrow with amusement twinkling in her eyes.
"Ew." Fujin huffed.
Grandma Shinra almost dropped her beer as she guffawed for what seemed like hours.
The drawl of the train conductor's voice filled her ears, "arriving at Timber Station, I repeat we are arriving at Timber Station."
Fujin got into her first fight when she was four years old. An older child with a smart mouth and a gap tooth called Fujin a demon for having red eyes. Grandma Shinra could barely blink before Fujin launched herself at him with closed fists and crooked baby teeth shown as she snarled.
She reminded Grandma Shinra of a lion.
Grandma Shinra may or may not have been silently rooting for her grandchild before deciding to pull her off the boy. She may or may not had also rewarded Fujin with ice cream.
"Sorry to be the bringer of bad news, folks, but it seems there's rain clouds over Balamb."
It did not bother Fujin that she lacked friends as a child. Grandma Shinra was enough care and support she needed within her life. She did not give two Malboros about Claire Tucci and her newest doll or the news of Jean Salazar's newborn baby brother. The children of Dollet were loud and annoying. They were all bad at Triple Triad too (Fujin referred to herself as King among the players within her age range).
Grandma Shinra probably did not want Fujin to be friendless for the rest of her life so Fujin decided to appease her. Eventually Fujin vowed that her first friend would be the perfect one for her, even if she had to wait years to find them.
She imagined her perfect friend one day as she sat in the Town Square. She wanted them to be quiet but would speak to her enough that it would make her smile and enjoy their presence. Her perfect friend also had to be taller because people who were taller (like Grandma Shinra) often gave the best hugs. They also had to be good at fighting since Fujin needed someone to have her back if a group of bullies wanted to take her on.
"Arriving at Balamb Station, I repeat we are arriving at Balamb Station. Looks like you'll need an umbrella, folks."
Fujin pushed herself up with a grimace and ignored the tear stains on the pillow case. She hurriedly grabbed her duffel bag and box before she made her way to her train cart's exit. Several people were already there: a woman with her child and two men with briefcases. It was easy to forget that she was not in a private cart. The mother gave her a curious glance, clearly noticing that Fujin had been crying but smartly did not say anything after seeing Fujin's glare.
Fujin sighed in relief when the train finally stopped moving but her relief was quickly replaced with irritation at the down pour that awaited outside the station.
"Wet." Fujin pouted as she hurriedly hopped off the train and went to the steps that led into to town. When she arrived she looked around for the SeeD that was supposed to pick her up but there was no one there.
Within ten minutes, a girl wearing a SeeD uniform arrived at the bottom of the train station's steps and waved at Fujin with an apologetic smile. From the way Fujin looked absolutely lost and out of place, it was obvious that this was the cadet she was supposed to pick up.
The SeeD had a deep bronze skin tone with black, pixie cut hair. She seemed to be almost eighteen years old but was rather on the short side for her age. Her umbrella was a bright yellow that made Fujin's eye hurt.
"Shinra, Fujin?" the SeeD asked as Fujin all but dived under the umbrella.
Fujin nodded and brought her duffel bag close to her chest with one arm.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Mara Fraeis. I have a SeeD Carrier to take us back to Garden." Mara grabbed the soggy brown box when she noticed that Fujin was struggling to carry both her items. "I don't think Headmaster Cid wants you walking in the middle of a storm."
Fujin was still silent and only responded with an another nod. Mara stared at her for a moment before shrugging and leading her to the Personal Carrier Vehicle she had waiting outside of town.
With one final look over her shoulder, Fujin felt as if her heart was on the train back to Dollet. Back to Grandma Shinra.
Fujin had no idea she would not be returning home for seven long years.