Still Here
The sound of busy feet coming down the stairway scared the silence that filled the living room away. General Caraway stopped at the feet of the staircase, glancing into the living room and noticed Seifer standing in front of the window, looking absentminded. "You're up early Mr Almasy." He noted as he buttoned up his shirt. "Couldn't sleep." Seifer replied, not turning. "You're not nervous about your assignment I hope." Caraway said. "Not at all, I'm on top of things." Seifer assured him. Caraway nodded in reply and just before he was about to go outside, he stopped and asked: "What does keep you from sleeping then?" Seifer made a face before he replied: "Bad dreams." Again, Caraway nodded his understanding before leaving.
A few hours later, faint sounds could be heard from the second floor. Rinoa was a real sleepyhead and it took more than 3-dozen alarm clocks to wake her up. Even out of bed, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't fall asleep in the bathroom or at the breakfast table. The maid made breakfast ready and soon Rinoa's pleading for five more minutes could be heard from the second floor. The maid argued that it was a beautiful day and that in order to make the most out of it, she should get up right away. More over, a cold breakfast wouldn't taste too well. Rinoa on the other hand, with a sleepy voice, argued that it was summer vacation and that she'd rather have a late lunch than an early breakfast.
"Honestly, she's just like her mother sometimes." The maid sighed as she came down from the second floor. "Sometimes is all the time." Seifer smirked to himself. After half an hour, the ever-sleepy Rinoa staggered into the kitchen and took a seat. She was quite remarkable sight; pink pyjamas with white sheep's for pattern, bright blue bunny slippers and the worst sleep hair in recorded history. Of course her eyes were just open by 1/10th and all her motions were done in ultra slow motion. "Uhm… Rinoa, your seat is the next one." Seifer kindly pointed out for her as she sat down on the wrong chair. "Huh? Oh… right." Rinoa mumbled, still half a sleep. "Are you always like this?" Seifer asked. "Huh? Hum… no, only during school vacation." Rinoa weakly chewed on her toast.
Around noon things picked up, Rinoa was more or less awake and starting to bubble with life and joy. "So were to princess?" Seifer asked her during lunch. "PICNIC!" She beamed at him. Rubbing his little finger in his ear, Seifer tried his best to regain his hearing. "Let's try to keep it somewhere public then." Seifer suggested. "But of course, we can't have you take advantage of me." She teased him. "Take…? What kind of magazines did you read last night anyway?" Seifer demanded as the two of them headed for the front door. "Tee-hee, s-e-c-r-e-t." Rinoa smiled at him.
In the park Rinoa found a good spot near a pond and the two of them settled down to eat. "So what's on the menu?" Seifer asked, peeping into the basket. "Today it's a Rinoa special-deluxe only menu!" Rinoa said with a hint of pride in her voice. "Uh-huh, that sounds interesting." Seifer replied. "Here you go, cheese, ham and butter sandwich." Rinoa handed him a slice. Seifer took a bite and chewed it for a while before he realized that Rinoa was a terrible cook. Even Squall could make better than this stuff (and he only made instant noodles should he miss a meal in the cafeteria).
Talking with food in your mouth is both rude and silly, as it makes it hard for others to understand what you're yapping about. "Mmmm? Thirsty?" Rinoa asked with a smile. Seifer nodded eagerly. "Here you go, homemade juice." She handed him a glass with a suspicious looking liquid inside it. What in Hyne's name was this? It looked like car oil and gas mixed together and watered out. Well, he'd gone this far so he might as well take a sip, Seifer thought. The moment his gustatory nerves identified the liquid, Seifer regretted that he didn't junction poison to status defence. "Yummy?" Rinoa asked innocently.
Seifer swallowed as much and as often as his stomach could tolerate. Even though he made it through round one, he doubted he'd live through round two. "Rinoa? HI!" A girls voice from down on the bike track became Seifer's rescuing angel. "Regina? Oh my god! It's been ages!" Rinoa quickly got on her feet and greeted her friend with a hug. A small bird landed on the picnic basket and looked at Seifer with a tilted head. "What? I'm not eating any more of that biohazard stuff, no matter how cute and fluffy you are." He pouted at the bird.
"Say Rinoa, who's your friend…?" Regina glanced over her shoulder and suddenly took interest in Seifer. "He's… a pen friend from Balamb." Rinoa said with a nervous smile. "Pen friend, huh?" Regina wasn't totally convinced and seemed to enjoy giving Rinoa a hard time. "Honest!" Rinoa fidgeted around with her hands. "Is it usual to take your pen friend out on a date…?" Regina asked her. "We're just friends…" Rinoa said with a blushed face. 3 more months, Seifer mentally groaned.
After a little chitchat, Regina finally left. "Do you want more?" Rinoa asked, offering Seifer another sandwich. "Ah… no thanks, I'm full." Seifer replied. "After just one bite…?" Rinoa asked with a puzzled expression. In the corner of his eye Seifer noticed a couple rowing in a little boat in the pond. "Yeah, say want to try that?" He said, pointing at the couple in the boat. "What? Be a couple of lovers?" Rinoa winked her eye at him. "NO! I mean yes, no hang on for a second…" It was Seifer's turn to fidget around, much to Rinoa's amusement.
Shortly after finding the boathouse that rented out the boats, Seifer and Rinoa gave it a go. "So peaceful…" Rinoa sighed. Seifer on the other hand struggled to keep Rinoa's sandwich and juice in his stomach as the slightly swaying boat was disturbing the balance of things. "Say, tell me about SeeD and Garden." Rinoa said. "Well… the Garden is located a good hour's walk from Balamb town. It's huge, the largest of the three Gardens, though very homey and cosy despite its size." Seifer began, still rowing.
"In the centre there's the main hall and from there it branches out to other sections, such as infirmary, cafeteria, quad, library etc. However, the biggest room is without a doubt the ballroom." He carried on, describing the building that he'd call home. "But why have a ballroom? I mean, it's a military academy right?" Rinoa asked. "True, but we need to keep a public image towards potential clients. So from time to time we arrange parties, quite formal mind you. It is also used to celebrate when a class has passed the Field Exam and become fully fledged SeeD's." Seifer carefully explained.
On the way home, the sun was already burning orange colours in the lower half of the sky, and Seifer still talking about SeeD and their Gardens. "Huuuh… so Balamb is the only one using para-magic?" Rinoa asked. "Not really, the other Gardens use it too, but we're the only ones that specializes in use of Guardian Forces. Galbadia Garden on the other hand relies more on technical gadgets and war machines than GF's." Seifer replied, opening the gate for her as he spoke.
"Are you a SeeD?" She asked him rather directly. "No, not yet. I've yet to pass my Field Exam." Seifer admitted honestly. "Then what low level GF did you confront as your… what did you call it?" Rinoa asked. "Para-magic battle test." Seifer supplied before continuing. "I fought and defeated Quezacotl, a spirit that governs lightning." Rinoa blinked at him. "Wow, that's a tongue twister." She giggled. "So you didn't go into the Fire Cavern?" She asked questions like a little girl at the first day at school. Answer one and 5 more pop up right afterwards. "No, the Fire Cavern was too unstable at that time, so other Guardian Forces were set up as test subjects when I took that test." Seifer said as he took of his coat.
The house was dark and silent, perhaps a bit too silent for comfort. Rinoa fell silent as soon as she noticed Seifer's serious expression. "What is it?" She asked in a whisper. Seifer just put a finger to his lips signalling her to keep quiet. "Stay close." He said as he took a firm grip around her wrist and walked quietly into the house. Aside from the bright orange light from the sun, the house was in total darkness. There were no indications of struggle or forced entry as far as he could tell. Then again, he hadn't checked the back door or the second floor windows yet.
After going through all the rooms on the first floor, Seifer decided to explore the second floor. With his gunblade at ready, he and Rinoa climbed the stairway on cat's feet. The second floor hallway was just as it had been this morning. At a second glance Seifer noted that the door to Rinoa's room was slightly ajar and a streak of orange light peeked through the crack. "If something happens, run to your fathers office and tell him what's going on." Seifer whispered before letting go of Rinoa's wrist and sneaking closer to the door.
Seifer planted his hand gently on the door, took a breather and pushed it open with a bang. His eyes swept from side to side, up and finally they landed at the floor. The room was in a total mess, the window broken, glass on the floor and the maid was lying unconscious on the floor. Seifer walked carefully over to the maid and checked for a pulse. She was dead and had been so for quite some time.
Despite wearing gloves, Seifer felt the coldness from the body. "Seifer…?" Rinoa called his name nervously from the hallway. "It's okay Rinoa, no one's here. Where's the phone?" He asked her as he came out from the room. "Eh? Downstairs by the refrigerator, but who are you going to call? If everything's okay…" Rinoa tagged along like a lost puppy. "Your room has been ransacked and the maid is dead. I need to call the morgue and your father." Seifer replied over his shoulder.
Rinoa froze in her tracks. "Jennifer is… dead…?" She whispered in a trembling voice. "Yup, cold as ice-cream." Seifer confirmed it as if it was a daily thing. "Jennifer… NO! JENNIFER!" Rinoa spun on her heels and was about to dash up the stairs again when Seifer grabbed her around the waist and carried her downstairs with ease.
"NO! LET ME GO! JENNIFER! NO, NO, NO! LET ME GO! SHE CAN'T BE…!" Rinoa cracked into a state of shock, denial and hysteria. "Pipe down, you can't help her now. She's already been dead for hours. You'll just compromise the crime scene if you go in there now." Seifer barked as he carried Rinoa over his left shoulder. Rinoa broke into tears at that point, wailing and sobbing like there was no tomorrow. At least she was too busy crying her heart out to be doing anything rash.
Seifer put her down at the kitchen bench and dialled general Caraway's office. "General Caraway please, it's Seifer Almasy. Tell him it's urgent." Seifer said as soon as the receptionist answered the phone. "Mr Almasy, what is the meaning of this?" Caraway grumbled in the other end of the phone. "Sir, there has been an attempt to kidnap your daughter in your house. Thankfully she was with me in the park when it happened, though her room has been turned inside-out during what looks like a ransack and whoever did this killed the maid." The report was fast, accurate and direct. All calls in and out of the Galbadian HQ were recorded so Garden might review the tapes when evaluating Seifer's performance during his exam. Besides, Caraway was a general and he didn't hire Seifer to have a phone buddy.
The silence that followed made Seifer a little nervous and possible scenarios flickered through his mind. Was this a setup? Could it be possible that the good father wasn't all that good and loving after all? Not unthinkable, but then again Caraway was a war veteran from the Sorceress War, so it would take more than a simple broken entry and a dead maid to shake his bones. "Very well Mr Almasy. I'll make arrangements to pick up the body, repairs and securing evidence from the crime scene. You'll fill in the officer in charge with what you know and stay put with Rinoa. You're not to leave the house, unless extremely necessary. Understood?" Caraway's voice was firm and determined.
"With all due respect sir, I must advice against this. The kidnappers might come back and they already know these premises…" Seifer tried to reason a little with the general, but realized all too late his error. "Do NOT question my instructions Mr Almasy, is that clear?" General Caraway snapped through the phone. "Like a bell, sir." Seifer replied dryly.
A bleeping sound with a steady rhythm told Seifer that the conversation was over. All he had to do now was sit tight and wait it out. At the end of the line, Caraway was more of a general than a father. "How's it going? You still with me over there?" He asked Rinoa who had buried her face in her arms, leaning over the kitchen counter. "What happens next…?" She asked, not raising her head. "Your father will make arrangements for Jennifer's body, secure evidence for the crime scene and…" Seifer began but Rinoa cut him off.
Her eyes were bloodshot red from all the crying, dried out rivers of tears were painted down her cheeks and sadness coloured her face. "I mean what happens to us?" She asked with a hoarse voice. "We're to remain here for the time being." Seifer said. "Here…? Are we safe here?" Rinoa seemed to be elsewhere mentally. "I'll make it safe." Seifer tired his best to assure her.
The house was soon filled with strangers. The local police force was kept out of it, as Caraway didn't trust them and at least a dozen Galbadian soldiers buzzed around like busy little ants. Seifer talked with the officer in charge, a certain major Biggs, plotting out the course of events, though he never let Rinoa out of his sight. She just sat in a chair in the living room, wrapped in a warm blanket, looking weakened and miserable. After roughly speaking 3 hours, the soldiers packed up and left, leaving the house bigger and emptier than ever before.
Rinoa still sat in the same chair, looking absentminded as she stared lifelessly out the window. Seifer on the other hand, quietly walked around the house, securing the perimeter the best he could. Doors to unnecessary rooms were locked, curtains drawn closed in all the windows and all the lights were left on. "Wouldn't it be better to leave the house in darkness?" Rinoa asked in a small voice. "No, lights in one room with the rest of the house dark will attract them to that room. As long as they don't see our shadows, we'll be harder to spot by keeping all the lights on." Seifer explained calmly.
"He's not coming home, is he?" She asked after a pause. She's probably talking about her father, Seifer thought to himself. "No, it doesn't look like it. He'll probably work all night long trying to find out who did this." Seifer sighed as he closed the final curtains, blocking Rinoa's view. "What kind of parent abandons his only child in the time of need?" Rinoa asked herself. "Heh… well, at least you have a parent. I don't." He told her as he took a seat, resting his gunblade in his lap.
Rinoa snuggled closer to Seifer and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders tighter. "You're an orphan?" She asked quietly. Seifer gently put his arm around her trembling shoulders and nodded quietly. "I don't have much of a memory from my parents." He admitted. "Mmmm…" Rinoa replied sleepy sounding.
"You should try and get some sleep." Seifer said, rubbing her shoulder. "How can I sleep here? The spell is broken…" Rinoa said, still sounding dead tired. "Spell? What spell?" Seifer asked her with a baffled look. "Every home that's filled with love has a spell. You wouldn't know, because you're an orphan." Rinoa quietly explained. "The spell says that this is safe, it is secure, the people in here loves you, wishes you no harm and fear has no dominion." She continued. "Home is sacred, if home is not safe, then what is?" Rinoa shivered and curled together even more.
Somehow, Seifer understood what she meant. Although it was a new home, home was home. She lived here with her father and the maid. Those things were enough to recast the spell on this structure, but now the spell was shattered. The window, although just a thin and fragile membrane, it was enough to make the room secure and homey.
The stuffed toy animals, drawings made at kindergarten, pretty green stones found on the beach and that ever-familiar pillow and bed. All of these things were scattered about, although not much was destroyed, they had been tainted. The beasts had been able to reach so far into her shelter, and that was enough. The maid, which had been acting like a mother figure for Rinoa since she was 5 and a half was now dead, but why? Probably because she heard a noise she shouldn't have, opened the wrong door at the wrong time. Seifer had found a pile of newly washed towels next to the body. She'd probably done the laundry and was on her way to the bathroom to change towels.
Seifer came out of his thoughts as he felt something wet on his arm. Looking down, he saw Rinoa crying silent tears, biting her lower lip to keep the sobs from escaping. Loosing a mother twice, no child deserved that Seifer thought to himself. His mind raced to think of a way to cheer Rinoa up. Both because she was the individual that he was suppose to protect, thus her well-being was more or less his responsibility, and that Seifer had begun to genuinely care for the girl.
After some thought, an idea presented itself inside Seifer's mind. Although it was a long shot, it couldn't hurt trying it. Seifer closed his eyes and concentrated as he'd been taught at Garden. After a few moments, another voice, weak at first, began to speak inside his mind. "Quezacotl, I need you to lend me a hand." Seifer spoke out mentally. "Of course master, I'm yours to command." Quezacotl replied in its majestic voice. "Rinoa, look… a fairy has come to watch over you in your sleep." Seifer said, nudging the tired and cried out Rinoa gently.
Rinoa weakly raised her head and looked into the fully illuminated living room. It was hard to spot at first, but it was there. A bird like creature, not larger than a grown mans hand hovered in mid air, just above the lamp that Seifer had put on the floor. Its graceful movements fascinated Rinoa and her eyes began to shine again.
Seifer let her slip slowly out of his arm as she crawled on all fours over to Quezacotl's semi transparent image. She reached out to touch it carefully with her fingers, but they went straight through. Frowning a bit, she tired again, but the result was the same. Seifer chuckled a little to himself at the sight. "What's so funny?" Rinoa asked, looking over her shoulder. "He, he, he… see for yourself." Seifer sniggered while jerking his thumb towards the mirror. Pouting a little like a kid, Rinoa got on her feet and walked up to the mirror. "My hair!" She exclaimed while pointing at her reflection in astonishment. "Static electricity does that to you." Seifer laughed, slapping his knee in amusement.
Rinoa looked at him with narrowed eyes for a moment before taking a seat right in front of him. "Fix it." She said. "Oh, okay. You know, if you junction thunder based magic wrong, you get hair even worse than this?" Seifer said as he removed one of his gloves. "Fine, fine. Ha, ha, ha. Very funny, now get over with it or I'll tickle you so hard you'll die smiling." Rinoa grumbled. "Just hold still for a second." Seifer smiled and placed his finger in front of Rinoa's nose and closed in the distance little by little.
When they almost touched, a little spark flashed between Seifer's fingertip and Rinoa's nose, at the same time a little sparkling noise could be heard. "Owie! That hurt." Rinoa said, jerking backwards and quickly rubbing her nose. Seifer on the other hand had a hard time stop laughing.
A pillow flat in the face did muffle Seifer's laughter a little, but it still took him a good 15 minutes to calm down. "Get some sleep Rinoa. You've had a busy day. I'll make sure nothing happens." Seifer assured her sincerely. "You better keep your word buster." She said with a threatening pointy finger. Rinoa lied down and found a good position before falling sound asleep. Seifer wrapped her in a blanket and stroke her hair a few times before standing up to make his first round around the house.
The dream picked up from where it left off at the train cabin. Seifer had just heard a thudding sound from above, meaning that someone had made a rather heavy landing on the roof. Fujin was on that roof, unarmed and inexperienced. He didn't waste a second, not even to curse his own stupidity and arrogance. Several feet were dashing down the stairs that lead up to the roof. Seifer could make out three pair of feet. They would come through this building and set up a sniper position at the 16th floor on the eastern wall. It was an ideal spot to pop some heads inside the conference room in the building across the street.
Seifer let the first person pass the bathroom door and as the second was right at the door, he kicked it open. The door swung outwards in the hallway with great speed, knocking the second assassin off balance and into the arms of his buddy that was only a few steps behind. The first one halted to check what the noise was all about. Before he could react, Seifer was on top of him. The hallway was too narrow for gunblades, so he had to settle with naked fists.
Two quick punches, one right and one left hook sent the first assassin out cold. The two others had just managed to get back on their feet, when Seifer quickly drew and casted a thunder spell upon the assassin that was knocked down by the bathroom door. The assassin shrieked in pain before falling lifeless to the floor.
The third assassin had more than shit for brains as he made a quick retreat up to the floor again. "Goddamn chicken-shit!" Seifer cursed and pulled out a combat knife from the second assassin's leg sheath. Holding it in the blade, Seifer threw it with a vertical boomerang effect straight in-between the shoulder blades of the third assassin. A faint groan escaped his lips before he landed face first in the stairway.
They were all dressed in black suits, covering every inch of their skin, no loose parts that would make noise when moving and they had high tech night vision goggles to boot. The first assassin had a sniper rifle kit strapped to his back. The book required him to call in the episode, but Fujin might still be in danger. First things first, Seifer thought to himself and he dashed with all possible speed up the stairs to the roof.
Pillars of pale white light floated over the roof. A stealth helicopter maybe? These guys were more organized than Seifer expected. He had to thread lightly. Fujin stood there, at the edge of the roof, trembling with both cold and fear. The fourth assassin stood right behind her, his left arm locked around her chest and in his right hand he held a combat knife.
The sound of loud heartbeats began to dominate the sound image of this constantly reappearing dream. Seifer let his Hyperion gunblade rest at his side. He stood there, calm as ice, determination shaped his face and fury glowed in his eyes. Rivers of rain rushed down across the gunblade's surface and outlined the curves of his blade. The seconds ticked by, Seifer not moving a muscle and the assassin, mute and just as determined made no move either.
Clenching his grip around the pistol shaft even further, Seifer let out a small sigh. His breath appeared as a pale grey cloud before fading away into nothing. "Let her go…" He said. The assassin tilted his head and then tightened his grip around Fujin.
By now, the heartbeats were both deafening and going at a wild stampede. Just as Seifer thought his heart would explode, it stopped as he witnessed the cruellest act his young eyes had ever seen. The knife, its cold edge made its way closer and closer to Fujin's eye. She struggled, but her weak frame was no match for the assassin. A grown and well-trained man against a teenager speaks for itself. Fujin screamed, pleading to make him stop, but the cold wet edge of the knife soon got coloured with small red rivers of blood.
It snapped for Seifer. Anger of untold dimensions exploded within and he dashed forward, screaming like some wild beast, gunblade raised and ready to strike. The partially flooded roof exploded for each step Seifer took. His own screams of rage drowned Fujin's screams of agony and time seemed to stand still.
The assassin, still looking calm, lifted Fujin up over his head. The bastard is going to use her as a shield! Seifer kept his gunblade high over his head until the very last moment. Without the slightest warning, he ducked and made a slash for the knees. The legs were cut straight off from the rest of the body, making a clean cut. A scream followed, a hollow cry in pain. Blood flooded freely from the huge wounds as if thanking Seifer from freeing it and the legs that were cut off, dropped to the ground like lifeless objects of flesh, bone and blood.
Seifer looked up, smirking with a sadistic satisfaction, but the smile would not last for long. Seifer's victory was bittersweet, as the assassin quite naturally lost his footing and tipped backwards. In the massive agony he found himself in, he threw Fujin away and reached down to his wounds with trembling hands. Fujin, again screaming and pleading for her life, fell down and out of view.
The assassin twisted in agony and pain on the flooded rooftop, screaming so loud that he was already beginning to loose his voice. "YOU SICK FUCK! SHE WAS JUST A KID DAMNIT!" Seifer found his fury burning anew as he fell on his knees on top of the screaming assassin and shook him around violently.
He held the assassins face close to his own. "Please… I'm dying…" He pleaded weakly, his hands covered with blood. "YEAH? Well, die screaming you disgusting piece of…!" Seifer couldn't find the words. He just started hitting the assassin in the face, repeatedly. The night vision goggles hurt like hell, but Seifer's hand had already grown num and without feeling. They shattered, screws, pieces of glass, wires and tiny circuits flew through the air. The assassin's eyes were dead, either from Seifer's beating or he'd just pasted out cold due to the pain.
Seifer wanted to scream, but his voice got piled up deep inside his throat. He wanted to cry, but no tears would flow. He wanted to die, but he was still amongst the living. He sat there, on his knees, a dead assassin between his legs, staring lifelessly up at the sky, as if hoping that the rain would wash away his pain and purify him. He felt sanity leaking out of his mind, one drop at the time.
"SEIFER!" A voice, Fujin's voice it sounded like. "SEIFER!" It called him again. Seifer blinked. Fujin was still amongst the living? But she fell… she had no magic junctioned, hell she didn't even have a GF junctioned, so how…? Confused, Seifer looked around himself, scanning his surroundings. The roof was empty, even the stealth helicopter had left, its mission had ended in failure. Looking over the edge, Seifer saw Fujin, clinging desperately to a rain gutter pipe.
Thank Hyne! It wasn't a street Fujin had fallen into, but a narrow alleyway. Somehow, Hyne knows how, she'd managed to grab a hold on the rain gutter at the opposite building. Still, she was shocked, injured, scared and weak. She wouldn't be able to hold on for long. Again, there was no time to get help. Seifer scanned his junction setup in hope of finding something useful, but nothing proved its worth in this situation. He didn't even have Cure spells stocked, because he felt he didn't need it!
Seifer looked around over the edge of the building. There was a streetlight very close to Fujin, though it was at the opposite side of the street. "Fujin, try to grab a hold of the streetlight and just lower yourself to street level like a fireman!" Seifer shouted. "My hands hurt! I can't do it!" Fujin cried, sounding terrified. Seifer spat a few curses and tried to think. Fujin hadn't been in SeeD long enough to handle that kind of thing, both mentally and physically.
An idea came to his mind, it was risky but it was all Seifer's stressed out mind could come up with. "Fujin! I'll climb down on the streetlight. Then, you jump out towards me as much as you can. I'll grab you and swing you back on the roof, okay?" It was crazy and the odds weren't in their favour, but with his junction setup and Hyne willing, it could work. "Oh-okay…" Fujin nodded her understanding. "Trust me on this Fujin!" Seifer called out as he climbed down on the streetlight.
Seifer took a little moment to get into place, did some quick test measurements by stretching out his arm as far as he could and soon considered himself as ready as he'd ever be. "Okay Fujin, whenever you're ready!" Seifer shouted. Fujin's lower lip trembled with fear and cold, half her face bathed in blood from her cut out eye and she had her doubts if she would live to see the sunrise. They were both scared and neither of them made any attempt in hiding it.
Then the crucial moment came. Fujin pulled herself closer to the wall before kicking and pushing with her arms and legs with all her might. Her hands shot out like angry whips, desperately seeking Seifer's outstretched arm. Fujin was beginning to fall downward, panic flared in her eye and she was about to scream when the connection was finally made. Seifer's arm found her hands and the slapping sound of wet flesh colliding was the sweetest of sounds. Fujin's nails dug into Seifer's arm until blood began to flow, his face twisted with effort and pain. "Don't look down, look at me Fujin, all the time." Fujin did as she was told, trying her best to stay calm.
Now all that remained was the hard part. Before the momentum Fujin had started died out, Seifer began swinging her back and forth, making most out of what momentum that was left. Faster and faster, a wet swishing sound could be heard as Fujin swayed through the rain. Seifer saw that he'd gained as much speed as he dared and swung Fujin over the roofs edge and let go of her wrist. Fujin on the other hand, didn't let go. Her nails remained dogged into Seifer's skin, tearing shreds of skin with her as she slipped out of his grasp. At the end of his arm, she even tore off his watch before landing on the floor with a thud.
Seifer woke up to the smell of freshly made coffee. "Damn dream… get out." He mumbled, poking his head. Rinoa stood in the kitchen, tending to the coffee machine. "Oh, good morning Seifer." Rinoa greeted him. Seifer nodded and stretched out in a yawn. "Did you have a bad dream? You were tossing around in your sleep and sweating like a pig." Rinoa asked as she handed him a cup of coffee. "Yeah… a 2 year old nightmare." Seifer grumbled into his coffee cup. "Mind telling me about it?" Rinoa gently asked. "It's not a story that should be told at a time like this. Some other time perhaps." Seifer said, putting on a forced smile.