Chapter 3

The attention from the crowd of SeeD's was needless to say very unsettling. Fujin knew the mission had a very high profile due to its controversy and it had obviously been debated about a lot within Balamb Garden. As she looked at the crowd that seemed to surround her with their questioning and curious looks, it was evident to her that they had already heard the outcome of the mission, and it seemed that their reactions were rather more mixed than Esthar's. Sensing Fujin's discomfort Seifer stood tall and defiantly amongst the SeeD's and his aggressive appearance almost dared them to say something out of line but, as always, no one took the challenge. The young cadets did not generally like him but his skills were certainly respected. Eventually the crowd dispersed as they seemingly lost interest, the volume raised and the three other team members left Seifer and Fujin without a word to join their friends and colleagues as they left the lobby.

Fujin lifted her gaze from the floor to watch the retreating mass but she was far from relieved. She had not been at all anxious of the judgement of her fellow SeeD cadets but rather she was more concerned of the ruling of the SeeD review committee. She ignored the passers by and continued walking on towards her quarters, desperate to lie down and recover from her injuries but as she saw a Garden faculty member approaching, she felt that familiar feeling of dread. Surely the committee did not want to see them already?

'Fujin Kazeno and Seifer Almasy?'

Fujin's face showed a mask of impassiveness as she nodded curtly to the man's question. She was not about to show any sign that she was nervous about anything.

'Welcome back. The Headmaster and the review board wish to speak to your squad now. Please report to Headmaster Cid's office right away.' he said.

'What! We don't even get a minute to rest!' Seifer said angrily to the messenger who showed no sympathy to either Seifer's or Fujin's injuries.

'Report to the Headmaster's office immediately' he repeated and then walked away.

'Rude bastard' Seifer muttered to Fujin who could not have agreed more. Fujin shoved her hands into the pockets of her black SeeD trench coat and with a heavy sigh of stress, exhaustion and trepidation she silently made her way to the elevator with her friend and tried to mentally prepare herself for the worst. Before they entered the car Seifer turned to Fujin and laid a reassuring hand upon her shoulder and offered her one of his genuine smiles that aimed to put his companion's mind at rest and it was gratefully received. Knowing Seifer, like herself, was not good with words, she knew it was hard for him to show warmth especially in public.

'I'm fine. I can handle this.' she said but Seifer's face still showed concern so she gave a cute lopsided grin that reminded him that Fujin was not a weak minded person, 'Trust me' she said and walked into the car with Seifer following close behind.

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Quistis stood and stared in near disbelief, as there stood the woman who she had almost believed to be dead for the past few weeks. Any longer in that forest and she might have been she thought. Quistis watched Fujin and her almost heart broke at the sight of her. She had sustained some injuries and they looked bad and extremely painful and those were only the ones that could be seen. She was silent as always and showed no sign of bother with the crowd that had engulfed around the squad but Quistis could tell that Fujin was exhausted and in a great deal of discomfort by her injuries and even by the unwanted attention. As Quistis watched her talking to the Garden staff and almost teasingly grinning at Seifer she realised she did not feel any different about her than she did two months ago. Even after Fujin had left without a word to her, Quistis still loved her. The urge to brush the stray bits of silver hair away from her face, and take away the pain of her injuries was almost too much to bear as she watched Fujin walk away from her again without so much as a glance in her direction. She was tempted to call her name but thought better of bellowing across the hallways and accidentally attracting more attention than intended. Instead, she stood still in the foyer trying so hard to erase the shocked expression on her face and force her legs to move and take her to her quarters but, to Quistis' extreme annoyance, they were just not working.

'Well shit on me!' yelled a rather buoyant voice from directly behind her that made Quistis jump slightly.

'Must you do that so loudly directly in my ear, Zell?' she said smiling slightly with a mock tone of annoyance. She looked from Zell to the elevator in the hope of maybe catching one more glimpse of Fujin but the doors had closed and the car was making its way up.

'So they're back then? For a minute there I thought that forest had got 'em!' he said while also watching the elevator rise.

'So did I,' Quistis said unable to hide the relief in her voice. Zell, however, did not seem to notice as he walked beside Quistis who had managed to regain function of her limbs and began making her way slowly to her quarters, her mind filled with thoughts of only Fujin. Whereabouts was she now? Why was she not taken to the infirmary immediately when she clearly needed medical attention? They can't seriously be putting her in front of the review committee now? After a while of walking through many corridors and walking up numerous flights of stairs she became aware of Zell's unusual silent manner.

'Was there anything I could help you with Zell?' she asked him politely. Zell grimaced slightly. She had fallen back into her instructor stance and was being uncomfortably formal in front of him – something that Zell had noticed she was doing a lot lately and, in a way, it never ceased to irritate him. He felt like her student again and not her very good friend.

'Quisty?' he asked in what Quistis could tell was his 'I'm-worried-about-you' voice. 'You would tell me if something were wrong wouldn't you? You know, if your not…ok you can talk to me,' he had stopped outside Quistis' apartment and was looking at her in that 'I'm-worried-about-you' way. She met his eyes feeling slightly guilty. Out of all the good friends she had she considered Zell to be her sort of favorite out of them all and when she made him worry, she felt guilty. She did long to tell him how she felt about Fujin and when she left the Garden unexpectedly it had hurt her so much more than she would have thought it would. But now that she was back it just seemed to hurt just the same if not even more. Quistis inwardly scolded herself. She tried to be more positive and focused on one thing: Fujin was back in Garden alive.

'I don't like how you're being all quiet on me lately that's all' he said looking away from Quistis and staring at his shoes. It was obvious that he preferred not to engage in such serious talk.

'I'm fine, Zell, seriously. You gotta stop worrying about me so much!' she said with a quiet laugh. There was a split second where she could tell by the look on his face that he did not quite believe her. Something she knew very well about Zell was his inability to admit defeat.

'You know I'm not gonna quit bugging you till you talk,' he said lightly.

'I'm just tired. Being an instructor can be tiring,' she tried to convince him. He stared at her silently for a long while.

'Ok if you say so. You gonna be at the cafeteria later on?'

'Yeah I'll see you there?'

'It's a date! See ya later!' he said cheerfully and he left. Quistis was glad he had accepted that she was fine fairly quickly.

'Coz then I can bug you more over dinner!' she heard him yell from the end of the corridor. She should have known.

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'Wait here please,'

The Headmaster's secretary placed Fujin, Seifer and the rest of their squad in the waiting area outside Headmaster Cid's office while she informed the committee that they had arrived. While everyone else sat down in the comfortable leather armchairs to get a small amount of relief Fujin preferred to remain standing and watching the scenery outside a huge window that spanned the whole of the third floor. The Garden had taken off again and was indeed a terrific sight to behold. No matter how many times she looked out of one of the Garden's windows and watched the many different landscapes fly by, she would never get bored of it. It made Fujin feel incredibly calm to watch Balamb's white mountains on the right and the vast blue ocean on the left pass sleekly by the Garden as though it was not Garden that was moving but the scenery. She focused to her right slightly and saw the harbour approaching over the horizon. She stepped back with a frown on her face 'I've just come from there' she thought, definitely not appreciating the irony of it.

She continued to stand gazing out of the window. She began to wonder who would be on the committee. Headmaster Cid of course, she thought to herself. He was always present during mission reviews. Would Commander Leonhart be present? She really hoped he would be as she was fairly sure he would not say a word and make her answer loads of questions. That is what she was really apprehensive about. All those questions that she would have to think up quick and precise answers for. She shook her head a little and tried to think whom else might she expect to see in the committee. She wondered. Might Quistis be there? It was a plausible thought as Quistis is one of the highest-ranking SeeDs in Garden after all. Or should I go back to calling her Instructor Trepe now? Fujin thought that after basically running out on her suddenly without a word she had ruined any friendship that she had had with her. Don't go thinking about that now. You have more immediate things that need to be taken care of, she told herself. A door opening jolted her out of thoughts.

'The Headmaster and the committee are ready to see you all now,' the secretary said politely. She turned slowly and waited for Seifer to get up reluctantly and follow the rest of the squad into the large office. It was show time.

To be continued…