Chapter 11

At Gun Point

"Sai…what are you doing?"

"Sis…"

The gun went off, the bullet rocketing towards Fujin.

"FUJIN! GODDAMMIT, MOVE!"

"Sai! Don't move!"

"To hell with you, Avery! She's gotta get out! She's wounded!"

"We have our orders! I said hold your position!"

"FUJIIIIIN!"

But the bullet did not hit her, nor did it touch her as it flew past her. Instead, it found itself buried deep into a stranger's chest, rendering him dead before he hit the ground.

Stars flashed before Fujin's eyes as her mind tried to comprehend everything that had just happened.

There had been blood, plenty of it as she clutched her eye with trembling fingers. "My eye…I can't see…"

"Medic! Medic! Where the fuck is Yari!"

Hands gripped Fujin as she trembled traumatically. Identical crimson eyes gazed down at her. They were full of fear. "Sis…sis, it's going to be all right. Sis, stay awake."

Fujin, too stunned to say anything, gasped for breath. Her knees gave way and she stumbled backwards against the ground, staring up at the corpse a few paces behind her.

Sai lowered his gun and gazed at his sister, towering over her. "Sis, we need to talk," he whispered quietly. "Please."

"Seifer, what's going on?" Rinoa demanded, releasing her grip from Seifer's wrist. "Did something happen to you? Are you all right?"

Seifer looked around desperately, trying to find any signs of his missing partner. Fujin was nowhere to be found. Glancing at Rinoa, he replied, "Fujin? Where's Fujin?" He stopped following the raven-haired woman and planted his feet firmly on the ground.

Rinoa shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know. I know I pulled her over as well. I could've sworn she had been running right next to us," she answered, a worried look suddenly appreaing her face. "There was so much going on, I didn't realize she had suddenly wandered off."

Seifer scowled. Fujin was not the type to wander off aimlessly. Either she had her reasons for ditching him, or she was still trapped with the media.

Shaking his head, he started off back to where Fujin had been last standing. "We've got to go back for her."

"Seifer, wait!"

A firm grip grasped his shoulder, and the blonde SeeD had no choice but to look back at Rinoa.

Rinoa had a fearful look on her face as she clutched Seifer's arm. "I…I didn't want to tell you this. I thought you would figure it out on your own," she began, her eyes flitting about, as if to see if anyone were watching them.

"What are you talking about?" Seifer growled, scowling.

"I think there's something wrong. It's about Fujin."

"I've been hiding from the public eye ever since that incident at Dollet. We all have," came the soft whisper.

Fujin's gaze looked hopeful as her eye widened slightly. "Th-then you know what's happened to Avery and Yari and the rest?"

Sai nodded slightly. "Yes. We've all been in hiding after that last mission. The world needn't know of our existence," he answered, moving over to the railing overlooking the ocean. "We were used, sis. We were just the military's lapdogs. There was no cause to our fights. We were merely tests the military used against SeeD. That's why we all disappeared from world, determined not to let the military use us as their toys once again."

"So why – "

"When you were injured, we all thought you were a goner," Sai interrupted, gazing at the sapphire blue ocean intently. "We couldn't find you medical aid on time, and so you were blinded in one eye. Once we were out of Dollet, SeeDs rescued us and took you away for medical treatment…I haven't seen you since then."

Fujin leaned her back against the railing, watching her brother carefully. "Sai…that was six years ago."

"I never stopped looking for you, even when they told me you were dead," Sai replied, finally gazing into his twin's eye. "It wasn't until a few years later that I realized you were training to be a SeeD in Balamb. I thought you had forgotten about me and everything we had been fighting for. 'Maybe,' I thought to myself, 'she wanted to start a new life, with new friends who would accept her. Or maybe the enemy's brainwashed her.'"

"I don't understand," Fujin said, shaking her head. "If you found me, why didn't you say something?"

"I was afraid you would hate me…after you lost your eye trying to protect me," came the quiet reply. "And I was afraid they would hurt you if they realized who you really were. We were SeeDs' enemy, sis. I was scared they would kill you if they found out who you really were…" He paused for a moment and closed his eyes, as if pondering his next move.

"Not too long before you came to Deiling did I discover you. I've been keeping a close eye on you since, sis. But now I have to act before something bad happens to you again."

Fujin scowled, folding her arms over her chest. But before she could open her mouth to reply, Sai interrupted her once again.

"You're in danger, sis. Someone wants you dead, and he's here in Balamb."

Time was suspended for a long moment, as Fujin gazed into her brother's identical eyes intently. "Who? Who would be after me?"

Sai shrugged his head. "I don't know, sis. But you have got to disappear," he said firmly, his quiet voice growing louder. "You have to leave Balamb and everything else behind you."

"What?" Fujin asked, shocked. She felt her heart sink to her stomach. How could her brother ask her to do such a thing?

Sai enveloped his arms around his sister's thin frame and hugged her tightly. "Please, sis. You have to stop being a SeeD. Whoever is after you won't stop until you're dead. And the people you're working for might discover who you really are. You won't ever be safe."

Fujin said nothing as she wrapped her arms around her brother as well. Closing her eye, she sighed and shook her head.

"Come with me, sis. It'll just be like old times. With Avery and Yari and the rest of the Psyche survivors. We'll be safe from harm. Please…come with me."

"It's about Fujin," Rinoa began quietly. "I think she may be deceiving you."

Seifer studied Rinoa's expression carefully, trying to register the words that were dripping out of her mouth. Was Fujin really trying to deceive him? Had she really been working for the bad guys after all?

"What are you talking about?" Seifer demanded with a scowl on his face.

Rinoa continued to glance around her surroundings, as if worried of someone watching her. "You know those gangs and their illegal operations…" she answered nervously. "I-I think she's been feeding them information about what you've been doing."

"Fujin's life was in danger before, Rinoa," Seifer replied sternly, his emerald eyes glaring at her. "She almost died back there in Deiling. How could she be behind all this?"

Rinoa grabbed firmly onto Seifer's jacket and shook her head. "Listen to me!" she hissed urgently. "She's not who you think she is. She was a former mercenary trained to eliminate SeeDs before she came to Balamb! She's one of the Psyches! She's been fooling you this whole time!"

Seifer tore Rinoa's grip again from his jacket and twisted her arm painfully. He was angry now. "How dare you accuse Fujin of something like that!" he growled furiously. "She and Raijin have always been by my side. She would never do something like this!" He pushed Rinoa away and stomped off back to the hospital.

Rinoa stumbled onto the ground and yelped. "You're wrong, Seifer! You don't know Fujin at all," she yelled after him. "Was Fujin with you when you sided with the sorceress?"

Seifer stopped in his tracks, his muscles growing tense. "Shut up," he growled dangerously.

"Did she stay with you all the way, even in defeat?"

Seifer now felt his gut fall to the pit of his stomach. "Shut up!"
Rinoa rose up from the ground, the wind blowing her raven hair against her face. "Why do you think she tried to kill herself back at the hotel, Seifer?"

Seifer felt his mouth go dry as Rinoa's words penetrated his train of thought. "I said SHUT UP!" He grabbed Rinoa's neck and squeezed tightly, making her gasp.

Rinoa flinched as his grip tightened around her neck. "S-Seifer," she choked. "P-please! Th-those pills…she was trying to get rid of all the evidence! P-please! Listen to me!" she pleaded, desperation in her voice.

Seifer released his grip from Rinoa's neck and stepped away from her, shaking his head. "How do you know all this?" he whispered quietly.

"I'm the Princess of the Timber Owls, Seifer. I'm on your side," she said firmly, rubbing her neck. "Timber has been monitoring former Psyche members for some time now. I was sent here to investigate Fujin. She's dangerous, Seifer. You know that!"

Seifer took a step back from Rinoa, his mind in chaos. For a long moment, he said nothing, as he stared off into space, his eyes widening in shock.

September 21, Windhill…The Psyche has arrived and is recruiting kids my age…

Rinoa looked up into Seifer's troubled face and slowly inched towards him, taking his hands. "Seifer?"

October 11, Psyche…Life here isn't what I expected it to be…

"God," he whispered to no one in particular. "God. God!" Quickly, he pushed Rinoa aside and stormed off towards the hotel, ignoring the attention he was receiving from his behavior. Nothing made sense anymore. Something was wrong. "Fu…"

Rinoa watched as Seifer dashed off back the hotel and fished a cell phone out of her pocket. Immediately, she pressed a number on speed dial and placed the phone to her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Move," Rinoa said into the mouthpiece, her eyes shifting carefully to her surroundings. "We got him." And with that, she hung up and slipped the cell phone back into her pocket, her lips curling into a devious smile.

Seifer arrived at the hotel in fifteen minutes, quickly brushing past a puzzled looking clerk and dashing into the elevator. Within seconds, he was up on the seventh floor, hurrying down the hallway and into his room.

Where is it? he thought to himself as he threw open the door to his room. He had to find it. It was his only proof. Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, he glanced around the room in random directions, eventually spotting a slim figure sitting against the windowsill.

"Fu…" Seifer said quietly, trying to recollect his thoughts. His senses were suddenly alive, making him aware of everything around him. His heart began to pound loudly against his chest, and his breathing became shallow.

Slowly, Fujin turned to glance at him, her face expressionless. She seemed unperturbed by her partner's abrupt entrance.

Seifer's heart sank as he met her crimson gaze. He wanted to kill her. He had to kill her.

Stop it, he thought to himself, taking a in a deep breath. Regaining his composure, he forced his heartbeat to slow down to its normal pace, unwilling to show his shock. Slowly, he walked over to her and sat beside her on the windowsill, saying nothing.

Fujin gave no objection to Seifer's presence and shifted her gaze back to the window, staring up at the clear azure sky.

The blonde SeeD studied Fujin's face carefully, his eyes unreadable. There was something different a about Fujin. Something he had never seen before.

Her eye…

Fujin's gaze was blank and hollow. Her regular glare vanished without a trace. She was no longer the Fujin Seifer had known.

"What are you doing, Fu?" Seifer asked, breaking the silence at last.

"…Thinking," Fujin replied, her voice a quiet whisper. She was still not looking at Seifer.

Seifer leaned his head against the glass and sighed. "Why are you in here?"

Fujin gave a small shrug. "I don't know. Waiting for you, I guess."

Something was wrong. This was not the Fujin from a few hours ago. Something had happened. Something had changed her.

"What's wrong, Fu?" Seifer asked, closing his eyes. "You look as if someone just died."

"Perhaps," she responded with a shrug, her vacant look now moving towards Seifer.

Seifer did not return her gaze. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and stared out into space. "Humph, just what I'd expect from you. Never a straight answer. You winging out on me?" he asked, finally meeting her gaze.

Fujin held Seifer's eyes with hers, her hands trembling slightly. Shaking her head, she entwined her fingers with Seifer's and sighed. "You can trust me, Seifer." And for a brief moment, she held his hand, her eyes never leaving his.

Finally, she moved away and rose up from the windowsill, tearing her gaze away from his emerald eyes. Wordlessly, she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Seifer stood up as well and curled his hands into fists. Without any warning, he threw his fist against the glass and shattered it, cutting himself in the process.

The glass scattered onto the floor and outside the building, breaking into millions of pieces as they shattered onto the floor. Seifer stood where he was, motionless, unable to hold his emotions down any longer.

"Fu…"

Author's Note: Help! I'm sooo stumped right now. I have no idea where this is taking me, and I feel that I've just written a really bad chapter. Ugh! I'm losing my mind!