Secrets

Chapter 1

The night had been long for Quistis Trepe. Her thoughts, her worries and doubts keeping her awake for most of the night and when she finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion she found herself awake only a few hours later.

She awoke from a restless sleep before her alarm clock as usual and lifted her head from the pillow to face the day. She was forced to squint as her eyes focused and got used to the piercing light of the sun that shone through the wall length window of her quarters in Balamb Garden. She really had to start shutting the blinds before she fell asleep but Quistis' recent insomnia had made her quite fond of stargazing out of her open window. She grudgingly sat up and bitterly thought of the irony of how she could never sleep when she wanted to but when she needed to be up she was exhausted. She wiped the negative thoughts from her mind, got out of bed and stepped into the shower intent on refreshing herself from a sleepless night. She could feel herself getting in a bad mood and she definitely did not want to feel miserable for another day. Yes she'd had quite enough of that.

After her revitalizing shower she left her apartment dressed in her usual attire and hoped her walk to her classroom would be relatively undisturbed by the ever increasing number of trepies roaming the halls. She smiled at the thought because although they were annoying, the fact she had her own 'fan club' was extremely flattering. Her purposeful strides slowed to a tired walk as she entered the empty second floor classroom and sat at her desk. She could not keep doing this much longer she kept telling herself. She could put on this happy façade a few hours each morning but the stress would weigh her down and take her over at the end of the day. Quistis leaned back into her chair and waited for her class to arrive. Immediately after the Sorceress War she had achieved the title of hero as did her friends but more importantly to her she had proved her leadership skills and gained back her Instructor's license. The best thing about that was that she knew she deserved it. She had earned it for a second time and this time no one could take it away from her. But it wasn't something she thought a lot about anymore. Other things had a bit more importance in her life now.

Two months she thought wistfully. Two months since Fujin Kazeno had left. Fujin, along with Seifer and Raijin, had returned to Garden a year after the Sorceress War with pride and heads held high. There return had been unexpected to the people of Garden and there had been several violent outbreaks instigated by several angered students when they discovered that the posse had been allowed to train as SeeDs again. Nevertheless the three had kept their heads down, ignored the slandering and threats and focused on their studies much to everyone's surprise. Fujin and Seifer had become fully fledged SeeDs within months which everyone had expected from the start but Raijin had a severe step back after unfortunately injuring his back in battle. His fate still had to be decided. Everyone had always known Seifer had the potential and capability to be one of the most gifted SeeDs in Garden he just lacked obedience. But restraint had been one of the many things he'd learnt after his time away from Garden and spending the last year with his two faithful comrades. Fujin also had a reputation as an accomplished and skilled fighter and well deserved the title of SeeD mercenary to her name even after becoming sidetracked onto the side of the enemy during the War.

Since Fujin had been registered in one of Quistis's classes they had become close friends as Quistis offered to help her more with her studies during her free time. A blissful smile crept across her face as she thought about their time together then. She'd seen a side of Fujin she'd never seen before then during those tough months and she knew she had fallen for her right from the start. It was an unexpected surprise to her of course but a very welcome one. It had never occurred to her before that she could fall in love with someone like Fujin but there was just something special about her, which she was so drawn to. Her smile was soon replaced by a grim and anguished expression as she realized that Fujin was probably never coming back. Hell, she didn't even know if she was alive. Two months ago Fujin had volunteered at the last minute for a mission to the perilous Grandidi Forest, well known for its limitless amount of bone-crushingly dangerous monsters living in its depths, along with Seifer and three other rookie SeeDs she'd never heard of before. The mission was rumored to be extremely top secret and came with high risks, which did nothing to settle Quistis' nerves over Fujin's safety. She knew the type of people who volunteered for those missions and they were not people like Fujin, they were more like Seifer with a hint more arrogance and cockiness.But the fact that the pay for these missions was worth triple the average SeeD salary was alsoa very attractive feature. The missions may have good pay but they were bloody foolhardy and life threatening. Quistis wondered why SeeD ever allowed such missions and she could not figure to this day why Fujin would leave all of a sudden to go on one of these reckless assignments. She wondered had the money been too much of a temptation? No, Fujin was not like that. Had Seifer made her go? No, not even Seifer would make his best friend risk her life. No matter how many explanations and excuses she thought of she always brooded over one thought: had Fujin left because of her?

All Quistis could do was wait and hope that Fujin was safe and that she would come back to Garden unharmed.

-----------------

Fujin sat back into her seat on the sleek SeeD transport and breathed a sigh of relief that this mission was finally over and she and the rest of the team were returning to Garden. She bowed her head slightly and closed her eyes as she felt the ship shudder violently as it departed the shore and glided out into the ocean toward Balamb. Fujin rested her head back hoping to fall asleep but grimaced slightly as she could still feel the vibrations of the transport. Sleep never did come easy for her. The sound of someone sitting down next to her caught her attention and she opened her eye to acknowledge them.

'How ya doin?' Seifer leaned back in his seat, put his feet up on the table and greeted Fujin with a more sympathetic edge to his grin. She turned to her friend and made an expression that vaguely resembled a smile.

'That good, huh?' he chuckled softly at the face she made. Fujin shook her head at Seifer, not quite understanding how he could be so cheerful and sat up in her seat resting her elbows on her knees.

'I'm fine' she said tersely before closing her eye and resting her head in her hands. Seifer had become used to Fujin's silent manner and abrupt way of speaking so he didn't push her into saying anything more than she was willing to but the fact that his friend was so obviously not fine was worrying him. He'd never known Fujin to dwell on a matter for so long before.

'Fujin…it'll be alright.' He tried to cheer her up but the sound of her muffled sarcastic laughter told him she did not believe a word of it. He watched her for a minute as she massaged her temples trying to dissipate the ache of an encroaching migraine.

'You can't let this get to you Fujin,' Seifer said as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder and waited for Fujin to look at him. She found it hard to ignore her closest friend and was inevitably forced to look him in the eye as he reassured her,

'We did what we came to do and now its finished. Everything that happened there stays there' he leaned in closer to Fujin and whispered in her ear,

'Look Fuj, you know you can trust me...and those guys,' he nodded his head in the direction of the three other team members who sat stoically on the row of seats opposite him and Fujin, 'well they know the score,' he spoke the last sentence loud enough for the three other SeeDs to hear. They all looked to each other then to Seifer and Fujin and it was clear in Fujin's eyes that were was a silent but clear understanding between all of them.

Fujin took a moment to observe the three other members of the team who now sat with heads bowed and deep in thought. They were tough, dependable in the field and terribly overconfident. She was not familiar with any of them and was extremely glad that Seifer had come with her on this mission. She wouldn't have plucked up the nerve to go alone she was ashamed to admit. But rather to Fujin's own surprise she felt she could trust the three SeeDs that suddenly had a new found respect for her in an odd sort of way after the disturbing set of events that had taken place during the last two months. However, she had no desire to make friends. One thing was certain; she never wanted to lay eyes on any them ever again.

'Don't worry Fuj,' she heard Seifer's confident voice in the background, 'just a couple more hours and we'll be back home.' Fujin was relieved the mission in Grandidi Forest was over but she was not all that excited at the prospect of returning to the Garden after all that had happened. The mere thought of standing in the Headmaster's office in front of Hyne knows how many SeeD officials and giving a full debriefing of the mission filled her up with dread. Time to face the music she thought whilst clasping her hands together in her lap to try and stop them shaking.

To be continued…