A fic dedicated to my beloved Fujin, the best, and most overlooked, character in final fantasy, by the way, it's a Fujin/squall fic, cos hardly anyone ever does those and I think they are perfect for each other, I'll be damned if I ever let Seifer have her

Fujin awoke with a start, perspiration dampening her thin nightshirt, blearily rubbing her eyes, why was she awake? Was it time for class? No it was the dream again, she couldn't remember it, but it haunted her every night. Fujin yawned and stretched, briefly glancing over towards her alarm clock, 5am, it wasn't due to go off for another 2 hours Well since she was awake she may as well use the time. Fujin reached out and grasped her eyepatch, the same ritual every morning since the attack, lift the patch to the damaged eye, pull the strings round the back, over, under, in and out, pull closed and it was done. Her imperfection, her blemish, her flaw, hidden from the world, if only it were that easy, she thought, regarding herself in the mirror, to hide the rest of her, that would be perfect, nobody would notice, nobody would care, the world would be better off, minus an antisocial albino Cyclops. There were enough monsters in the world, without another one. Fujin pulled her clothes on with these thoughts running through her mind.

She shook her head to clear it of these unwanted thoughts, then took another look in the mirror, this time she saw differently, she saw a petite and attractive girl, with shiny platinum hair and beautiful crimson eyes, one covered by a patch that blended so well with her crisp and neat blue uniform that it may well have been nothing more than a fashion accessory. Both were false images both biased, Fujin knew what she was, she was a plain girl with a disfiguring injury and she was happy this way, at least now people avoided her. Having nothing better to do she set off towards the training area, it wasn't booked for her right now, but who else would be awake at such antisocial hours. Fujin walked down the corridors with almost a spring in her step, training was her escape, during combat there was no time to think of anything else, just the thrill of the fight.

She entered the training room to see somebody already there, much to her annoyance "SQUALL EXPLAIN"

Squall looked casually in her direction "I booked some time here, training helps me wake up in the mornings"

"RAGE"

"Whatever" squall looked at the ground "If you want to train, you can partner with me"

Fujin stood there blankly for while, partner? She had never been anyone's training partner before, even Raijin and Seifer didn't train with her

"PARTNER?" a slightly questioning tone of voice, then "AFFIRMITIVE" much more definitely

"Whatever" squall looked at the ground again "let's get going we only have this place for the next hour"

Why did he keep looking at the ground? Wondered Fujin but really she knew it was so he didn't have to look at her, she realized with a sudden clarity why he was letting her train with him, it was so that he didn't have to argue, Squall was like that, he never wanted a confrontation with people

Fujin shook her head, these thoughts were wrong, Squall wasn't like that at all, he was different from other people, he didn't just look at her and decide she was a freak, he looked deeper than that and saw somebody who just needed a friend. That was wrong too she decided, it was because Squall didn't really care if she was there or not, somehow the idea of indifference stung more than hurled insults or curious stares. Fujin ran after Squall before he could get too far ahead

Fujin was back in her dormitory, she had to be ready for class in an hour, but she felt she needed the rest, other training sessions didn't even compare to this morning, a glorious hour of mortal combat, her and Squall side by side against the monsters, him watching her back, and her watching his, Fujin never knew it could feel so good to fight with a partner, but it was fantastic, while they were fighting, she wasn't a cripple, wasn't a freak, she was Fujin Kazeno, comrade in arms to Squall Leonhart, she'd been a member of a posse before, but for that one hour, she felt like she was really on a team

Then she remembered his offer and sighed happily, she would train with him again every Monday and Thursday morning. The alarm clock trilled its caution that class was soon to begin, and Fujin got to her feet and almost skipped on her way to class, passing Seifer and Raijin on the way, both of whom looked very confused

"Was that really Fujin? She was smiling ya know" Raijin was definitely puzzled

Seifer shrugged "Who cares? Maybe the psychiatrist finally gave up and prescribed her Prozac?"

Seifer was right in some way, thought Raijin, who cares why she was happy? It was nice to see Fujin smile

please R&R, I have another few chapters planned