Zell was smiling.

Okay, Zell was doing more than smiling. Dodging the morning bottles and boots, Zell's facial muscles were cramping because of the enormous grin stretched across his tattooed face, but it was worth it.

Oh, it was so worth it.

"GOOD MORROW LORDS AND LADIES!"

"What's good about it?" A slightly peeved participant popped his head out of his tent and glared at the fool. "And why are you..." Zell ceased his merry dance and listened to the drowsy actor. "...what do you call that, anyway? That's the ugliest dance I've ever seen."

Bowing low before the tent, Zell removed his cap and gestured to the bright morning and the excited spectators already up and about, chattering amongst themselves about the big joust. He could finally understand why Selphie insisted on staying in character. It really was a hell of a lot more fun that way. "Why, I am capering, good sir, which is a fine and noble thing for one of my profession to do! Come sir! Shed the cloak of dreams and open thine eyes! Witness the grand scene before thee!"

The actor rubbed his eyes and tried to see what was so damned important. "I don't get it. I was expecting naked barmaids or at least a dwarf on a unicycle, but I don't see anything so fucking great."

"Dost thou not see the dark cloud that hath descended upon yon faire?"

"Eh? What the hell? The sun's out, you bloody fool!"

Zell laughed and began capering again. "Aye, good sir, and truly 'tis a most glorious day!"

"Then what's with the dark cloud? Is it supposed to rain or something?"

"Nay! Lookest thou closely...what once was a faire divided is now the house of Leonhart!"

Indeed, the faire had become a much darker place. Since Lord Kinneas fell to the wicked white knight, his supporters had turned out in royally pissed off droves to support his black robed ally. Even though the white knight's fans were fierce, they were still woefully outnumbered by the converted horde now sporting shades of midnight and ink.

If Squall lost today, then there would be no chance that Seifer could escape the faire without getting ye olde shit beat out of him.

"Oh. Well, that's nice, I suppose." The actor didn't give a costumed hoot who won the joust. He was still a loyal supporter of the brave Nida, who had long ago been eliminated from competition. It still pissed him off that nobody even seemed to notice...

"Look kid. Do you plan on letting me go back to sleep anytime soon? I had a pretty wild night and I just want to..."

"Of course! Rest easy, sir. But be certain to cheer on our gallant Lord Leonhart, who shall mightily cleave the head from the cowardly white knight and..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...oh look! Over there! I think I see some white...oh, it's a chick! Yep, and she's trying to do cheerleading of her own for Almasy. Go get 'er tiger!"

Zell jumped to his feet and scampered off in the direction of the actor's hand, blowing his horn and swinging his belled cap in an attempt to drown out any voices that would dare support that fucking asshole Seifer.

Chuckling, the actor ducked back into his tent and wondered how long it would be before Zell figured out that he had pointed him towards a bit of toilet paper caught in a tree above the privies.

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A small child mouthed the cracked and peeling words painted onto the side of a wagon, clutching her wooden sword in one sticky, vaguely strawberry scented hand. That poor lollipop never stood a chance against the brave Lady Bea, who had defeated three really mean boys and one awfully smelly dog to earn her prize. Fortune favored the bold, or so she had been told. And boy, was she ever bold. She wanted to be a knight herself one day, even though her daddy told her that girls couldn't be knights. Bea's grip tightened. She'd show him! After all, her mommy told her she could be anything she wanted, and mommy was right more than daddy.

Fortunes told to the brave and bold!

"Hey! I'm brave and bold!"

Tasseomancy and tarot reading--two gil.

"Guess I'll skip that one, whatever that one is."

Pendulum reading--three gil.

Bea noticed that this one was crossed out and statement was handwritten below.

Due to gimpy wheel, pendulum readings no longer offered. If a wheelwright happens by, free reading offered in exchange for repairs.

Yep, she did have a broken wheel on that wagon. Oh well. There was nothing Bea could do to help, since she was a knight in training and she knew nothing of wagon repair.

Palms read and dreams deciphered.--four gil

Bea rubbed her hands on her dingy white top, wincing when she saw that it stained the fabric even more. She had tried so hard to keep her shirt clean for the joust, but it was hard when a bunch of old bullies tried to roll her in the dirt. "Hmm. If she sees my palm now, all she'd be able to tell me was that I just some candy. Not that it matters anyway...those jerks took all my gil." Sighing, Bea turned to find her parents so they could eat lunch before they watched the joust, when a voice that matched the cracked paint stopped her.

"You there! Girly!"

Bea shifted her grip on her wooden sword and met the shining eyes of the old fortuneteller. "It's Bea, not Girly."

"Hmm. So it is. Why are you lurking around my wagon? Ain't ye ever heard of knocking?"

The girl blushed. "It wouldn't do me any good to knock. I lost my money and I can't..."

"That's a nice sword you have there, kiddo."

Bea looked at her sword, examining the nicks and cuts in the wood, each a reminder of a battle won against an opponent. "Yeah, I'm going to use it to defend a kingdom one day so I can be like the white knight!"

"Oh really? Why him and not the black knight?"

"Well..." Bea wasn't entirely certain. She supposed that she should pull for the black knight, since her parents both supported Lord Leonhart and he was very popular with the rest of the faire, but she liked the white knight. He made that big speech about defending his lady and Bea just thought that was the greatest thing since strawberry lollipops.

"Most girls want to be the princess instead of a knight, you know."

"Not me! I'm gonna find a queen like my mommy and keep her safe!"

"Do you think so?"

Bea curiously peered into the old woman's purple eyes, certain that she had just seen a quick flash of gold. Nope, they were still purple...weren't they? "Y-yeah, I know so! I'm gonna work really hard and be the best knight ever!"

The old woman grinned, then winked at the lady-knight. Taking her hand, she made a show of looking at the girl's dirty palm, though she didn't need it to see the greatness in this child. She would indeed be one hell of a knight. "You really don't need to see me at all, do you? Sounds to me like you've made your own fortune, eh, Lady Bea?"

Bea smiled and blushed deeper at the fortuneteller's praise. Looking at her palm, she closed one eye and tried to see what the old woman saw in the lines and ridges of her skin. "You think so?"

"Oh, I know so. I've been around for more ages than I can count, dear, and I've learned a lot in my time. I can see it."

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"Xu, I could have the fire lit in just a second if you would let me use some matches."

Teeth chattering, Xu rearranged the logs and gently puffed on the fragile sparks she had finally coaxed from the previous night's coals. "Hell no, Q. It's bad enough that you used a sleeping bag instead of wrapping up in your cloak. I'm going to light this fire the way they did it back in the day, so don't try to convince me to use any of your modern conveniences. I would think that you of all people would appreciate historical accuracy."

"Not when it keeps me from getting a cup of fucking coffee!" A tendril of smoke lifted from the fire pit and both sighed in relief as the flames rose from their ashy bed.

Xu was cold and Quistis needed her coffee. Both were being total bitches to each other, but at least they were no longer drowsy. "Thank God! I was getting ready to cast a fire spell over your shoulder."

Xu added some more wood and placed a metal camping coffee pot on the grate over the flames. "Look Lady Trepe. I know you want your coffee, but until the water starts boiling, you're going to have to be patient. It's not my fault that you had such a rough night. I tried to help."

Quistis rubbed her eyes, which were stinging and red from a combination of too much wine, too much weed, and crying all night into Xu's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Xu. I'm not trying to be a bitch, but absolutely nothing has worked out for me since I arrived. I wish that I had never left Garden to come to this stupid faire. The next time Selphie wants to do a fundraiser, I'm going to make sure that she sells magazine subscriptions."

With the fire blazing and the water on to boil, Xu began polishing her beloved axe so that she would be ready for her final few performances as the faire executioner. "Well, at least this faire is making a lot of money for that library renovation. Cid is thrilled, though he's spent most of the week so hammered that he can't even leave the royal privy."

"Yeah, he does like his booze, doesn't he?"

"Between him and Selphie, I think that...who the hell is that?" Xu squinted at a giant figure blocking the early morning sunlight.

"Mornin' Miss Torturer! Mornin' Instructor! I've been lookin' all mornin' for ya! Er, I mean, uh...oh hell...what is it I'm supposed to say?" A beaming Raijin failed to notice that Xu was tightening her grip on her axe handle as he struggled to think of words he could say that would make his boss proud of him. He knew that Seifer was taking the faire seriously, ya know, and that meant that the Posse had to take it seriously too. And all hell might break lose if the White Knight heard that his squire had been anything but polite to his lady...wait! That was it! Seifer was a knight and the instructor was his lady, so he had to use those funny words that his boss, er, sir liked so much. "Good morrow, Lady! This humble, uh, squire-guy would, I mean, wouldst like to...um, I mean, prithee..."

Xu and Quistis looked at each other, then looked at Raijin. The big man was pitifully confused and almost in tears at the thought that he might disappoint his boss. Shuffling his feet, Raijin came closer and closer to stomping out the fire that Xu had such trouble lighting just a little while ago.

Quistis stood and placed a hand on his arm before that could happen, since she needed that fire to heat the water for her coffee. Considering her foul mood, she knew that her barely-restrained-early-morning-pre-java-homicidal-impulses would go from pink-tinged daydreams to chunky blood-soaked reality if he prevented her from getting that coffee. "Raijin. You don't have to use those words around me. Just speak as you normally would."

Thank you, darling. Why couldn't it have been the other one? You know, what's-her-face...Patches. We'll be here all morning if we wait on this lug to spit out whatever he wants to say.

I don't want to see Fujin this morning either.

Nor do I love, but at least we'd know what the hell she wanted, and in a bloody hurry too. The poor dear practically barks, you know. Do you think I should offer her a throat lozenge the next time we see her? I wonder if that would help.

Are you serious?

Well, if this jolly stuttering asshole doesn't quit jabbering then, yes; I'll consider it. I want that coffee as badly as you, darling. Until we get rid of him, we'll have no peace.

"Thanks, ya know! Man, I was worried, 'cause I couldn't think of the right things to say, ya know and..." As he rambled on, Quistis wondered which was worse-Raijin's prithees or his ya knows. Either way, he was hard to understand. "...should be great, ya know. We've worked really hard to get ready for the joust, so it's nice to see the sky so..."

Waiting for the water to boil, she halfway listened to Raijin as he commented on the beautiful weather and the joust, feeling somewhat sympathetic for him, though very confused about his high spirits. She knew that Raijin wasn't the brightest man at the faire, but he wasn't an idiot. Why was he so damned happy this morning? Shouldn't he be ranting and raving about the betrayal of his Posse members? After all, he walked in on them in the middle of their horizontal acrobatics, so he should be ready to kill them both. Why was he still praising Seifer and getting so excited for that damned joust?

Xu passed out mugs when the coffee was ready, carefully watching and listening to the exchange. If what Quistis had told her was true, then why was he even visiting their tent? Xu's camp was far from Seifer's, so there was no way that he happened there by accident.

"...and I was just worried that you'd be mad at me for interruptin', ya know. The boss is plenty mad at me, 'cause he wanted to see you so bad, ya know..."

Enough was enough. His loyalty was touching, but she felt terrible knowing that Raijin was willing to let those two take advantage of his love for them. Shaking her head, Quistis looked up at Raijin and gave him a small smile. "I know that you think that they are your friends, but perhaps you should really reconsider..."

Raijin noticed the white ribbon holding back Quistis' long hair, surprised to see it with her instead of wrapped around Seifer's arm. "Wait, why do you have that ribbon? I thought you gave that to the boss, ya know."

Well, on second thought, maybe he really was an idiot.

"He's been actin' different since you gave it to him, ya know. Like he doesn't even care about winnin' anymore, ya know."

Quistis mentally slapped herself for feeling flattered that she had such an effect on the hyper-competitive Seifer, then blinked hard when...umm, herself slapped back.

Don't DO that!

Well, you did it to me!

I didn't mean to!

Well, just watch yourself, er, me, er...damn it, just quit slapping me! Even though the white knight is nothing more than a dick in an iron condom, you can still allow yourself to be flattered, dear. Admit it. You LIKE knowing that you are able to drive all thoughts out of his head except for...

Stop right there. I know where you plan on going with that one, so just save it, you great pervert.

Oh, fine. But still...you know I'm right.

"Raijin, winning this tournament is the only thing that matters to that jackass."

The oversized squire dropped his mug, splattering Xu and her newly polished axe with expensive Galbadian Roast. "No way! Sure, he wants to win and all, because he wants to beat the hell out of Leonhart, but I bet if you were to tell him to give it up, he'd have you on the back of his horse and..."

"RAIJIN! Will you listen to yourself?"

Xu and Raijin both jumped at the desperate squeak in Quistis' voice. Normally, she was calm and collected, every inch a perfect lady. Not this morning. Raijin just knew it was because he interrupted them when they wanted to be alone.

"Okay, so maybe he wouldn't really toss you on his horse, but I know that he'd do whatever you said. It's like you two are out of a story, ya know. At least, that's what the boss thinks, ya know."

"How can you even say that? You've been wronged by him as much as I have!"

Raijin silently corrected the instructor, thinking that it wasn't his boobs being groped by the boss in the middle of an alley, but he didn't want to bring that up in front of the executioner. He may have just been a squire, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be a gentleman. "Well, no. He was actually pretty calm about it, considerin' that I interrupted him when he uh, wanted to be...umm alone, ya know, with his lady and all. He didn't even yell at me...not much anyway. I just wanted to come by and tell you that I was sorry, ya know."

The handle of Quistis' coffee mug broke off in her hand. "Raijin, why the hell are you apologizing? There is no reason at all that you should ask my forgiveness. You've done nothing wrong. The only one that needs to apologize to me is Seifer."

Ooh, I don't think that an apology will cut it, darling. Now, if Xu would let us borrow her axe, we might be able to...

Would you be quiet so I can talk to this poor man?

Oh, be that way. Sure, you'll talk to HIM, but when I want to have a conversation, it's nothing but nag, nag, nag!

"Well, he spent all night lookin' for ya so he could tell you that he was sorry. He never even made it back to the tent last night." Worried, both Raijin and Fujin had wandered the faire in search of their boss, unaware that he was sitting through a long conversation with the old fortuneteller. "He told us that he felt really bad, ya know. He said that he shouldn't have treated you like that, ya know."

Quistis finished her coffee and stared at the brown stain at the bottom of the mug, afraid that she would start crying again if she looked at Raijin's honest, loyal face. "You're much too good a person to be friends with Seifer. He doesn't deserve you."

"Aw, thanks, but he's my boss, ya know."

Feeling much better now that he had been forgiven by the instructor, Raijin bid the pair another hesitant 'Good Morrow' and left them to return to Fujin. They had a busy day ahead of them and they needed a big breakfast. Even if it was nothing more than turkey, it was still the most important meal of the day. Besides, Fujin would kick his ass if he made her worry any more than necessary.

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Note: Okay, so one more chapter after this. (I think)

I know that I said that I was going to do the joust next, but I realized that it had been over a month since I updated this fic and I couldn't get everything I wanted written yet, plus I wanted to do the conversation with Q and Raijin and it just seemed silly tacked on to the next chapter.

Anyway, I've started playing FF9 again, so I wanted to pay a little respect to Beatrix, who just KICKS ASS! And a wee Kill Bill reference, since Beatrix and the Bride share the same name. (And yes, she has a sword named Save the Queen.)