XX: Deja Vous All Over Again
It had been decided that Seifer, Fujin, Nida--and yes, Zell too--would be going with Amy when she finally returned to her own world. Seifer and Fujin would be leaving little behind, except for Raijin, and the last time anyone checked, he seemed very well-off. Nida would not be terribly missed; he had in fact passed his reigns of pilot to the Garden to another just before leaving, and planned to go into business or trade afterwards.
It was Zell who would be missed--after all, there were friends and family that he would leave behind--but his reasons were legit. Still, it would be up to Squall, Rinoa, and Vera to inform everyone at Balamb of his choice, and of the choices of everyone else. Though only Zell would really leave a hole behind, it wouldn't do for Balamb to send out a search party, so somebody had to know what was going on.
But that would all have to happen in good time. For now, Rinoa had to do her part, and a final, final farewell had to be said to friends old and new.
The sorceress raised her hands in the air, chanting out what she hoped to be the incantation for a dimensional gate to open. Her husband was holding her, whispering words of kindness in her ear, and on occasion would kiss her neck or squeeze her slowly-growing belly. Amy's own hands were clasping Zell's; Fujin had her arms crossed, choosing to stare emptily at the world she was leaving. Nida, something of a spiritualist, was praying for Rinoa's success, and Seifer…
Well, he just smiled.
With a sudden sharp gasp, Rinoa's eyes shot open.
"I did it!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "I… I actually opened a tear in reality!!" Everyone looked over to the place where she was pointing, and noticed a definite "tear" in the very fabric of reality. Through some unknown means, Rinoa had opened up a doorway to Amy's dimension, and it was as visible and present as the white fields beneath them.
Many pairs of eyes gazed into the portal, daring to wonder what really laid behind that door, but only one pair really knew. The eyes of this one certain woman blinked once, and squeezed Zell's hand.
"Is everybody ready?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Then here goes nothing!" exclaimed the girl. Sensing their departure, the Savage Six each unsheathed their swords, raising them high in the air in their ultimate salute. One by one, they used their free hand to cover their heart, and each bade farewell as another person left the world.
"Amy Mizuno, salute!" barked Vera, and just like that, Amy was gone.
"Zell Dincht, salute!" barked Brutus von Rightfield, and soon Zell vanished. Rinoa shed a tear for him, and even Squall smiled as the young man left.
"Nida Franks… salute!" shouted Changeman, and without looking back, Nida left the world behind him.
"Fujin Smythe… salute!" quivered Virgil Smythe, unable to control his tears. Fujin paused, smiled warmly at her father, and rushed forth to hug him one final time.
"Daddy… don't worry about me," she whispered. Smythe could only cry.
"My… my little baby… My little baby Fu-Fu!!"
"Ssh," assured the woman. "This bird had to fly out of the nest sometime. Just think of this as marriage… And who knows, maybe you'll see me again." She smiled at her father, kissed him several times, hugged him once more, and publicly expressed her love.
"I love you, ya know?" she whispered. Sniveling, he nodded his head.
"LOVE YOU TOO," he replied, and with one final smile, they bade each other farewell. Rinoa cried again, but it was too late for regrets. Finally, the last man standing was next, and fittingly enough, he paused.
"Seifer Almasy…" began Morpheus, but he was silenced by Turn. The leader of the Savage Six gazed at Seifer with pride in his eyes, and for the first time in the young man's life, he was honored.
"Seifer Almasy…" said Turn in a thick voice, "…this world will miss you. Savage Six… salute!!" The members of the Savage Six each put their weapons away, and instead raised their fists in the air, giving Seifer their most cherished honor. He smiled quietly, saluted back in the same fashion, and took one last look at the world before leaving.
"Until we meet again," he said, and then Seifer was gone.
Emptiness.
One world passed.
Another slowly came forth.
Five special people sailed from one reality to another.
Five dreamers, smiling.
It was their turn now.
But for Amy, it was deja vous all over again.
Together, the four young women scoured the park, hoping for some sign that their friend was still there. They had not been searching long--in fact, they had just got there--and had already started to call out her name. A normal passerby would have thought they were all playing hide-and-seek, and one girl among them--"Amy", they called out--was an especially good hider.
The truth was, though, that Amy Mizuno was missing from that world, and she had been gone for some time now. Nobody could come up with an explanation for the girl's absence, but that would have to come later. Right now, they needed to find the missing member of their group. She was, after all, one of their own.
One of the girls, a woman with long black hair and piercing violet eyes, was aimlessly looking around a small group of pine trees. She didn't expect to see anything, nor did she expect to hear anything… And then, suddenly, from out of nowhere…
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"
BOOM!!!!
"OWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!"
Raye Hino growled, rubbing her poor abused noggin gingerly as she sat up. Some THING had just fallen out of nowhere, and had smacked right into her, almost as if it were designed to just hit her! She would normally have blamed Serena Tsukino for such an unjust attack, but the blonde was off in another section of the park. Besides, the object that had struck Raye was moving--and speaking.
"Ouch," grumbled a male voice. "That… really… hurt!"
"…Uh, Zell?" mumbled another male voice. "…Uhh… could you, like, get your elbow out of my stomach?"
"Oh, man, I'm sorry!!" shrieked the first male voice. Raye Hino's eyes bulged out until they were about the size of hula-hoops, and her hair frizzed out as she gazed at the massive pile of--as strange as it seemed--human bodies. One of them poked their head out suddenly, shook itself, and looked up at the bewildered woman. With a single weak chuckle and wave, Amy Mizuno saw Raye for the first time in four months.
"…Ahhhh… hehehe… Uhhh, hi Raye… How's it, uhh… How's it going?" Raye Hino, a great martial artist and priestess, and one who could easily calm herself or ignite her fires, responded to Amy's meek greeting in the only way she knew how.
She screamed.
"AMY!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED???!!!" Somewhat glad that her long-lost friend had not fainted instead--though not by much--Amy dashed forward and squeezed the brains right out of Raye. She sobbed uncontrollably, and wailed as she called the girl's name out time and time again.
"Oh Raye, Raye! I'm so glad to see you!! Raye, you don't know how much I've missed you in these past four months!!!"
"Four months?" parroted the priestess. Amy loosened her grip on the young woman slightly, and gave her a look.
"Yes! I've been gone for four whole months!"
"No you haven't!" insisted Raye. "Jeez, Amy, that blast must've really messed with your mind! You've only been gone for a day!"
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the normally-quiet girl. She sent Raye tumbling, and the other girls a-running, and things quickly became chaotic as the worlds of Sailor Scouts and SeeDs collided for the second time.
"AMY!!!!" Three other girls pounced on their small friend, each one squealing and cooing over her appearance--and each one insisted that she had only been gone for a day. In fact, it had nearly been twenty-four hours to the dot since Amy left that world. Amy's head began to spin as she figured in these claims, and nearly fell to her knees from the blow. But who could blame her? She had spent four entire months with Zell and Fujin and Balamb, but over in her own world, only a day had gone by.
It was a miracle she didn't scream as well.
One by one, the five girls each helped one of Amy's new friends up. Amy took the liberty of introducing each of them to her friends, and some people clicked better than others.
"…So… you're Amy's new best friend?" asked Serena shyly, looking fearfully into the face of Fujin. The pale woman, who had not known the warrior of the moon for more than two minutes, quietly nodded her head and tried to be as gentle as possible. Fujin had heard a lot of nice things about Serena from Amy, and had wanted to make a good first impression.
"AFFIRMATIVE. GOOD MEETING YOU."
"Ahh… right…" Serena smiled weakly, and tried her best to be friends with the woman. Normally, she could make friends with anyone, with almost no effort at all, but Fujin might very well have been an exception to that rule.
"Amy sure has met some strange friends," noted Raye as she helped Nida up. "But you don't look so different. What's your story?"
"…Well… It's kinda long…"
"Oh…" Raye paused, shrugged, and took Nida's hand into her own. "Well, that's okay. I have plenty of time to hear about it. I certainly would like to know where Amy's been this whole time, and why she thinks she's been gone for four months, and where the heck she found all you people."
"Again," said Nida, managing a weak smile, "it's a long story." Raye shrugged again, and promised one day to hear him out. Suddenly, a massive surge of squeals came from the girls, Mina especially, as they all saw Zell emerge from the pile of mangled people. Hearts came to everybody's eyes, even Serena's, and each girl let out a dreamy sigh as they saw just who this young man was.
"Oh, Amy!" wailed Mina dreamily. "Where did you find him?? He's absolutely gorgeous!"
"For real," sighed Raye. "He's so totally dreamy…!"
"Amy, please, tell us he's single!" sighed Lita, her face rosy. Zell's face was red too, though for a completely different reason, and he looked at Amy in confusion as she tried holding back a laugh. To the girls' shock, she walked over and wrapped her arms around his elbow.
"Sorry, guys, but he's all mine!"
"NO FRICKIN' WAY!!!!" screamed the girls, all of whom were now absolutely blue with jealousy. Amy giggled again, and kissed Zell on the lips to prove it.
"She's right," said the blonde with a proud smile. "Amy and I are now officially an item!"
"NO FAIR!!!" whined the girls, their faces blue and their eyes watery. "Just when we finally see a completely-gorgeous and wonderful guy, he ends up being Amy's!!!"
"And just what is that supposed to mean?!" snarled Amy. Her friends saw her enraged face, and moaned as they realized that they had just insulted her deeply. Lita, who had been closest to Amy before the fight with the Void Droid, stepped forward to make an official apology on behalf of everyone else.
"We're so sorry, Amy!" she sang, her eyes shut in humility. "We didn't mean to say that! Of course it's fair! You deserve someone like him! You've taken the back seat to our own love lives for so long that… well, I guess it's all right if you snag yourself a good-looking guy like this!!" Zell's face was redder than a Stop sign by now, and even Amy had a smile on her face. The other girls, though still slightly jealous, began to applaud Amy's success.
"Woo-hoo!" squealed Mina, bringing back fond memories of Selphie. "Amy, you old fox! Pretending to be shy and quiet all these years, when you're really a super-powerful man-magnet! You go, girl!!" The other three ladies cheered as well, and even though they had no idea what was going on, Nida and Fujin clapped along as well.
Amy's face was even redder than Zell's.
"Uugggghhnnnn… helllllp…" Suddenly, everyone's attention was directed towards the last remaining person in the pile, who was still unfortunately on the ground. The girls nearly fainted as they realized they had left one behind, and Lita blurted out a hasty apology as she rushed over to help the poor guy.
"Oh, man! I'm so sorry! We forgot all about him!!" She bent over and grabbed his hand, hoisting up to his feet again. "I'm so sorry!" she wailed. "I'm so… so…… So…" Lita suddenly froze as she got a good look at the young man she was helping up. He groaned slightly, rubbing his head as he was helped to his feet, and opened his eyes so he could see who had helped him.
"Ughn, thanks miss, I… I…… I…" He froze too, his hand still clasped onto hers.
Seifer looked into Lita's eyes…
Lita looked into Seifer's eyes…
Seifer slowly smiled at Lita…
Lita slowly smiled at Seifer…
Seifer grew a dreamy look as he continued to gaze at the brunette…
Lita grew a dreamy look as she continued to gaze at the blonde…
Several mischievous eyebrows were raised and wiggled…
Lita sighed dreamily as she looked at Seifer…
And he sighed.
"I've got to get you into my life," he said. Lita smiled, then stuttered as she realized their hands were still clasped together. She yanked hers away and hastily apologized, but he only smiled.
"No, it's okay," he said, extending his hand once again. "My name's Almasy, Seifer Almasy."
"Wow," she whispered, her cheeks turning rosy as she took his hand, "what a great name…! …Oh, uh, I'm Lita, Lita Kino."
"Lita Kino…" Seifer smiled, and to the shock of Fujin and Zell, raised her soft hand to his lips and kissed it. "That too, is a beautiful name." She giggled softly, and continued to stare into his eyes. More than one girl present issued out an impish ooooooooooohhh!!!
"Ya see?" squeaked Mina, performing her classical "wink-with a smile-and-outstretched finger" maneuver. "Life really is fair! Amy gets her nice guy, Lita gets her nice guy, and everybody's happy in the end!!" Seifer and Lita smiled at Mina's words, as did Fujin and Nida, and especially Zell and Amy. This was definitely the start of a wonderful relationship, for all of them.
"(I've got a feeling things are gonna get a lot more interesting around here,)" murmured Serena to Raye. The dark-haired girl could not agree more even if she tried.
