AUTHORS NOTE: Wrote this one in about half an hour. First FF7 and FF8 one shots. Wheee! -is in a one shot mood again- I guess the next best thing would be... Hm... AHOY, FF9! -cough- Maybe. xDD. (Is it JUST me, or is this QuickEdit 2.03 ICKY? I can't get lengthy spaces in between each paragraph like I want. Oy)
"COLD." Fujin muttered irritably, taking a moment to release a stray bang that fell into her one eye. "UNCOMFORTABLE." That said, she pulled up the hood higher on her fur lined coat, the frown still evident on her face. "COME HERE. WHY?" Her question went unanswered, lost to the billowing chilly updraft.
There came a slight stumbling sound then and a sharp huff, followed by a sharp shin kick from Fujin. Ironically, she missed. For once. "I mean ... there's no water up here. We can't even fish, yanno?" Raijin crossed his arms grumpily, the thought of his brand spanking new fishing rod all the way back home caused him to grimace.
Out of the three, Seifer was the only one silent. In fact, the former Knight had been oddly somber and reflective in their journey here. Where was here, exactly? It was Trabia. The farthest and most isolated Garden, tucked high up in the mountains and distant from the other two movable Gardens, Galbadia and Balamb.
"COME HERE. WHY?" Fujin doggedly repeated, her slight form trudging through the sea of white to reach Seifer who stood poised, at one of two of Trabia's entrances. She crossed her gloved hands, eyebrow arched at their leader. Raijin simply snorted in the silence as the snow curled around the three of them.
"Because, Fuu-sama ... " He lingered over this and Fujin's agitation at the weather melted over into irritation at Seifer's often used nickname for her. "It's far. Far away from the rest of the world. Far away from the world I tormented." His hand unconsciously tightened on the hilt of his sheathed gunblade. "... Far away from the haunting memories ..." The rest of his words were lost to the whirring snow.
But it was the truth. The magnanimity of all that he'd done still haunted him at night in pressing, vivid memories and nightmares. The next words spoken lurched Seifer out of his looming thoughts.
"We're a posse ... and wherever you go, we go, yanno? But ..." Raijin trailed off, shifting from foot to foot uneasily as he cast a look around the sea of white. He wasn't used to so much ... snow. It was unsettling. He was used to clear blue skies, balmy weather and the sound of the ocean. Even the grating desert around Galbadia wasn't as bad as this.
"FAR, THIS IS. VERY. FAR." Fujin reiterated, but her continual voiced discomfort was suddenly halted by the look Seifer suddenly shot at her.
"You didn't have to come, you know." Was his dry comment, arching through the biting snow to pierce Fujin's ears.
She crossed her arms, jerked her head and her piercing gaze at Raijin, literally towering behind her. "THAT, I KNOW. RAIJIN, DETERMINED." She sighed, shook her head and bit her bottom lip, the subtle uncertainty that she only allowed her Posse to see. "Besides;" She grumbled in her normal voice, "It wouldn't feel right if we didn't come too."
"For support, yanno?" Raijin interjected, his wide grin attesting to his newfound cheery disposition. He was never one to dwell on the negative for long. "'Sides, Balamb just wasn't the same without ya, Seif."
Seifer laughed at that, a cutting, sharp sound. "You mean me causing havoc and making hell for everyone?" His voice was teasing, but not quite. It still held a bitter, guilty twinge to it.
Fujin shrugged, stuffed hands into the pockets of her thick, weather worn pants. "MATTERS NOT NOW. GO, LET'S."
Seifer sighed and turned back around, sneaking a glance at Trabia gates glinting briefly in the muted light. He ran a gloved hand through his tousled hair. Snowflakes scattered upon the contact and his breath foamed gently with each labored breath he took. It's what I came for, isn't it? To return to Garden. Just not the Garden everyone was expecting me to go back to.
It wasn't some life-changing epiphany, just the simple truth of things. The simple truth being something Seifer always possessed. The innate ability to be brutally honest. To see a situation for what it was.
And it was something that had to be done. It was inevitable - his return to Garden. And he'd rather face it now, then later. Not that it was some misconscrewed attempt at seeking some sort of absolution for his wrong-doings, it was merely because he was tired of running. And good or bad, facing things head on was still a strong quality within Seifer Almasy.
He looked from both Raijin to Fujin, allowing that trademark cocky smirk to frame his face. Although now, it packed less of a punch, but was no less searing.
It was fitting, for those two to be with him. They always had been there through it all. Now was no exception. And to think, I almost left them behind, without a word. Not that I ever could really leave them behind, anyway. It wasn't something that bothered him before, during the time he was with Ultimecia. That nagging little inner voice. But now ... things were different. He was different.
"Yeah, Fuu, Raij, you're right. Plus, I'm freezing my ass off. Let's go and get this over with."
The three started out almost at the same gait, a troublesome habit formed over the years that was more ingrained then not.
And walking thus, they passed through Trabia's gates together.