Chapter 4
The five exhausted SeeDs stood obediently shoulder to shoulder in front of the large oak oval table where the small review committee sat facing there own stack of papers - no doubt they were all reading through the mission details and the results. The committee was usually a selection of about three or four SeeDs; some were high ranking and experienced whereas others may sometimes be young rookies chosen to gain a feel for the tedious bureaucracy side of being a SeeD. It was a side of the job that Fujin and Seifer definitely did not care for. It was their responsibility to compile all the facts and inquire of any unusual actions of any SeeD that may have doubted any part of the mission specification. In other words, if there had been any disregard of strict Garden rules. If there was any evidence of a SeeD behaving inappropriately during a mission then severe disciplinary action could be taken and this was not always restricted to Garden. Action against a SeeD could be taken from any government or faction of any country in the world if the actions of the SeeD in question were seen to threaten them or compromise their laws. This was a rare situation but it was still a situation that Fujin was desperately trying to avoid. Even though she personally felt she had done nothing wrong she knew an outside observer might have a different point of view.
Fujin's hopes had raised slightly as she identified the members of this committee: Squall was present after all. As he was idly flicking through the sheets of paper in front of him she noticed straight away that he looked about as bored as she would if she had to sit through one of these reviews. Xu occupied the seat next to the Commander. She looked calm and attentive as she read like she always does but she was nearly always present at mission review meetings especially high profile ones. Besides the Headmaster the last person was Rusco the Mission Director - the representative from the Estharian Government. He unlike the others was not reading through the mission statements. Instead he was leaning back in the comfortable leather chair with a near cocky expression on his face, with his hands in his lap and twiddling his thumbs. He was too casual for Fujin's liking. To him this mission had been a success with no flaws and he obviously did not show any enthusiasm for this meeting. Fujin admitted she felt a little disappointed that Quistis was not present. A comforting glance a two from her would have made all the difference.
She heard Seifer sigh heavily with obvious impatience with the committee's slow perusal of the details and he coughed slightly to remind them that they were still standing in front of them with discomfort and pain. Fujin empathised with him and fixed her gaze on Headmaster Cid almost praying that he would switch his focus from the papers on the desk to the people stood in front his desk. Cid eventually looked up and greeted the team with a fleeting smile,
'Welcome back,' he said warmly, 'I know you're all feeling undoubtedly exhausted and desperate to get back to your own comfortable quarters so we'll try and get this over with as quickly as possible'. He glanced at Fujin seemingly trying to gauge how she felt about this but her expression was stoic and unreadable.
'So does anyone have any queries or problems regarding the results of this mission that they'd like to bring into question?' he asked the rest of the committee. Fujin shuddered slightly.
'No I don't think so Cid,' said Rusco smiling and sitting up in his chair, 'Pretty much an open and shut case don't you think? Just a fine bunch of SeeDs doing their job and a damn good job they did to,' he looked over at the five of them and nodded as if saying to himself that they were indeed 'a fine bunch of SeeDs.'
'No need for all this review nonsense if you ask me,' Rusco added.
Fujin heard a quiet hear hear from the direction of one of the other team members and by the disapproving expressions of both Cid and Xu, Fujin was not the only one to have heard him.
'Thankfully, Rusco, Garden does not enlist the help of government representatives such as yourself to run things here,' Xu said venomously more in defence of Headmaster Cid than anything else. Fujin was not sure how to feel now: pleased that Rusco was taking this with a pinch of salt or amused that Xu was knocking him down a peg or two. Rusco, not impressed by Xu's insolence, leaned back in his chair with the look of someone who was certainly not used to someone not agreeing with him. Cid chose to ignore the small altercation and asked if anyone else had something they wanted to bring up. Xu nodded and ignored Rusco's exasperated sigh,
'Just a few questions Headmaster. The mission objective stated that the fugitive, Reeno Black, was to be primarily caught alive to be re-imprisoned in Esthar. Why were five obviously capable SeeDs unable to bring him in alive?' She looked at the group questioningly. Fujin was surprisingly calm at the face of this question but Seifer was the one to speak for them all,
'The mission objective indeed stated that the fugitive, Reeno Black, was to be primarily caught alive to be re-imprisoned in Esthar' he said slightly mocking Xu's speech, 'however it also stated that if Black posed any threat to us then we were to take him in by any means necessary.' He paused.
Squall, suddenly interested in what they had to say, looked up when Seifer stopped talking.
'Well? What kind of a threat did he pose to you?' Squall said with a hint of amusement that Seifer would admit to feeling threatened by one man. Seifer glared at his old rival for a long time thinking for a good response that Squall would not be able to question. Fujin was starting to get more anxious. It became obvious to her that Squall was not going to believe Seifer. She could not let him cover for her anymore.
'I felt threatened,' she said immediately grabbing everyone's attention. 'He had guns. Starting shooting at us.' She said trying to look Xu in the eye as she spoke.
'It was obvious he wasn't gonna go without a fight, we were forced to take an offensive approach,' Seifer spoke up again as he sensed Fujin's discomfort with speaking in front of everyone.
'Fujin, you were the one that killed him weren't you?' Xu asked the silver- haired woman. The bluntness of it made Fujin shudder again. Yes, she had killed him.
'Yes,'
'Oh please! Is it really necessary to go through all of this?' Rusco spoke up against Xu but a raised hand from Cid warned him to be silent. Although he was an influential man in Esthar he knew his powers were greatly diluted in Garden.
'How come the rest of your team had not witnessed this? Only Seifer is written here as the only other person present with you when our transport arrived to pick you up.'
'I decided to split the team up after 45 days in the forest. We were getting frustrated. I thought it best to cover more ground and meet up later,' the team leader, Han, spoke with confidence. He was a tall lanky man with dark hair and a tough exterior. Right now though he looked about ready to collapse and was desperate to get out of this meeting. Fujin felt relief when Cid nodded in agreement with Han's decision to split the group into two.
'Good idea. You could have been gone for much longer than 3 months if you'd all stuck together,' he said not looking at anyone in particular but instead choosing to stare at the ceiling.
'Did any of you want to investigate this further?'
Fujin waited patiently but inside her heart had almost stopped beating. Xu looked like she was going to say more but something stopped her from going further. She shook her head.
'Squall?' Cid looked over to the Commander who no longer looked bored but deep in thought.
'I think this is Esthar's grievance. If they have no problems with the outcome then I agree with Xu that we don't need to investigate this further,' Squall said looking over to Fujin and Seifer. 'It was a dead or alive mission which resulted in the former and nothing more.' Fujin felt her heart start beating again. They believed them.
'Ok then well didn't I tell you we'd get this over with quickly?' Cid said with a chuckle as he rose from his seat. He walked over to the group and shook each of their hands and offered them congratulations on making it back safely. But he did something strange when he came to shake Fujin's hand that made her step back in confusion. He leaned in close and whispered quietly so no one else could hear,
'I'm sorry'. She stared in puzzlement at his kindly ageing face that wore an unmistakable sad apologetic smile as he looked back.
'You are dismissed, get some rest,' he said before turning to speak with a delighted Rusco. It took her a while to realise that she was allowed to leave and Seifer had to take her by the arm and lead her out as she continued to gaze questioningly at Cid. The next thing she knew she was stood in the lift with Seifer who was grinning at her.
'No problem Fuj,'
Then it had hit her. Maybe it was the odd exhilarating sensation of relief that came with getting away with something, or perhaps it was because now she felt a sense of freedom of being released from some controlling grasp that she had no power of that made her smile back at her friend. It was an expression that showed her incredulity but contentment that it was all finally over. But somewhere deep down a part of her knew it should not have been this easy.
To be continued...