Unknown, So Right

~From the unformatted mind of Kouen~

"Because tomorrow we may die, oh, but tonight we're dancing in the fate light. Don't you rob yourself of what you're feeling. Don't rob yourself of all that you could be." –DMB; Angel

Seifer Almasy escorted Rinoa Heartilly into the party she'd convinced him to go to. Those kinds of things were easy for her. She was so optimistic. It had been easy for Seifer to tell her his problems, ever since he first met her, a year back. While they'd both decided that their boyfriend/girlfriend relationship wasn't meant to last, it had been fun, and they remained friends.

Today, the day for the year's SeeD exam, had brought about another crashing failure for Seifer. He'd easily turned to Rinoa, and instead of cutting up Cid, Quistis, Xu, and his squad members, he'd told her how upset the failure had made him. Seifer absolutely hated to admit to failure, but with Rinoa, he'd had someone to pick him up, to make him feel better about himself.

At first, Seifer had been completely against going to the party. Why celebrate his failure? No, he would not. But then Rinoa stepped in. "Support those who did succeed," she'd told him. "You owe them that much. You never know when you might need their help in the future."

"I don't need their help!" He'd exclaimed, offended.

"Then go for fun. You could take me!"

He had to chuckle at that. Rinoa loved to do anything that got her out of her father's house. He'd agreed only on that cause. Even Fujin and Raijin seemed happy to be going to the party. He'd decided to meet them there, and gone on his own to pick up Rinoa.

Which gets us back to where we began.

Rinoa, as full of energy as always, pulled Seifer around the room like a toy while she'd explored. She'd finally left him at the punch table after three dances, and several endless chats with SeeD and Garden members.

"Hey Seifer! Lookin' sharp, ya know? Lost the jacket, I see, but still ain't gonna wear the garden uniform?"

Seifer laughed. "Shut your mouth, Raijin, before I push your face in the punch bowl."

Raijin laughed too, and even Fujin joined in. Neither of them had chosen to wear the Garden's uniform either, but had picked out some clothes of their own. Raijin was in his usual baggy black pants, but had downed a more 'normal' looking white shirt to replace his purple vest. Regardless, he looked like a pirate wanna-be over a genie wanna-be.

Fujin was, amazingly, wearing a dress. It's blue matched the blue of her favorite shirt, and showed off her shoulders, arms, and at least half of her back. She'd even ditched her eye patch, but was blinking to shut out the mildly dim lights. (Her albinism had made her left eye much more sensitive to the light than it should have been. Plus, she'd thought the eye patch was a lot cooler than protective contacts.)

Seifer smiled at his two best friends. He himself had picked up some rather nice looking clothes in Dollet, but nothing too spectacular. Rinoa, at least, had approved, even though she'd refused to let him keep his gray jacket on. Red and black, she said, where definitely his colors.

"NICE!" Fujin told him, and he chuckled.

"You too," he answered, but she turned away. Probably embarrassment, he decided.

Selphie Tilmitt had bounced her way over to the group. "Heyyyyy captain of Squad B!!" she giggled. "Shame you didn't make it! I thought you were a pretty good leader! Just a little bit… headstrong!"

Seifer rolled his eyes, scanning his imagination for something to make her go away, but caught Rinoa's eye from across the room instead. "Yeah, well… congratulations on making it in…uh..?"

"Selphie, Selphie Tilmitt." Instead of offering her hand, she seized his and shook it vigorously. "Thanks! What's your name?"

"Almasy… Seifer Almasy."

"And your friend?"

Seifer glanced behind him and realized that Fujin was nowhere to be seen. "Uh… This is Raijin."

Selphie dropped Seifer's hand only to replace it with Raijin's. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Raijin!"

Raijin laughed. "Same to you, ya know, Ms. Tilmitt. You can jus' call me Raijin, ya know."

"Okay!" Selphie's voice was shrill and hyper, reminding Seifer somewhat of a bird. He glanced up through the windows almost expecting to see one, but instead saw a falling star. He smiled to himself, and then glanced back at Raijin, who was complimenting Selphie on her SeeD uniform. She spun in a circle, bouncing around in place, thanked him, and then grabbed his hand to pull him out on the dance floor. Seifer chuckled to himself as he Raijin struggle through the first part of the dance. He scanned the crowd for Rinoa, but his heart sank as he noticed her flinging Squall Leonhart around the room. It was kind of funny, though, to see the anti-social SeeD tripping over his own two feet.

Seifer tried blending his way out onto a balcony, ignoring the twinge in his chest knowing Rinoa, the one who'd convinced him to come in the first place, was dancing with his rival.

Stepping with grace onto the balcony, he noticed another figure out, leaning against the rail with her head down. A figure in a short blue dress, shoulders, arms, and back exposed. It was Fujin. What was she doing out here all alone? Seifer strode up beside her.

"Hey Fu, what're you doing out here all alone?"

"DARK," she told him, meaning less light.

He nodded, understanding. "You look nice, you know. You could have any guy in there dance with you, if you want."

"NO," She shook her head slowly, and then took a conscious effort to control her speech. "They don't want…dance with Fujin," she sounded so sad.

"Aw Fu… don't be so sad! I'm sure there's someone who will dance with you!" His heart went out to her, as he'd not expected it to. Fujin didn't deserve to feel so lonely. She was pretty, and a very sincere person. Sure, she was tough, but he liked that in a girl… didn't he? He held out his hand to her, and she looked at it, unbelievingly. "The question is, will you dance with me?"

She raised her eyes to his face, blinked, and then took his hand. She wondered if he knew how much this meant to her, this act of kindness. She wondered if he knew… if he knew that she loved him.

Seifer felt like he was dragging Fujin onto the dance floor, and glanced back only to realize that she was stumbling in her high heeled shoes. He laughed and slowed his pace. Once he got to the floor, he turned to face her, and offered his hands to dance with her. Fujin only looked meekly up at him, almost…afraid? No, Fujin would not be afraid. With his right hand, he picked up her left, and placed her right hand on his shoulder, then settled his left closely around her waist, and began the waltz.

Was Fujin avoiding his eyes, or just watching her feet? She seemed to have the steps down okay enough.

"You okay, Fuj?"

She nodded, but didn't lift her eyes. He squeezed her hip lightly to get her to look up, and she did. He smiled and looked into her pretty red eyes. She smiled back weakly. She was pretty when she smiled, he thought.

Fujin felt her cheeks grow hot, and was sure he could see her blushing. His eyes were as blue as the heart of a flame, and so beautiful, she couldn't drag her own away from his. He stomach leapt when he pulled her closer to him and rubbed his fingers against her lower back.

"You're very pretty, Fu," he told her with a grin. She ducked her head again, and he took the opportunity to move her so her head rested on his shoulder, and he rested his chin on it. She was tall, but skinny, and there was something about her that made her feel so…right in his arms. Had he just felt his own heart flutter?

Fujin's heart was shaking as Seifer held her. He had a knack for making her feel better about herself, but she craved more than just happiness. This, this dance, was fulfilling. She'd dreamed of this, dreamed of him holding her close. Yet, he thought he was just making her happy, filling his duty, once again. Her heart ached, and she leaned further against him, savoring the moments.

Fireworks exploded overhead, and both looked up to see them. Seifer grinned once again, and while Fujin blinked at the lights, brushed his lips ever so gently against her cheek. She turned her head to stare at him in amazement. He smiled warmly, squeezed her hand briefly, and then let go. Fujin stepped back a few steps, then turned away. Raijin was all ready bouncing his way over to her.

Seifer turned away from her as well, uncomfortable with the lurch his stomach at given after kissing Fujin, even if it had been only a quick peck on her cheek. He noticed Rinoa watching him over Squall's shoulder and gave her a half smile. Rinoa turned back to Squall, winked and then turned away from him, heading to another group of people she could get lost in. He glanced quickly over his shoulder, saw Raijin trying to get Fujin to dance, and went after Rinoa.

(End)

Authoress's note: This is only my second FF8 fic, and I'm afraid it's not too good! _ Fujin's my favorite character, and while I –did- start a Quistis fic, I couldn't help doing this one really quick. Please let me know what you think!!!