A/N: I am such a mean btch! smacks self No really. Do you want to know why? I wrote out this chapter by hand like... a year ago and I never posted it. (endures lots of rotten tomatoes.) Don't hate me! (screams and jeers galore) Hey, you have to thank Blue Eyes for making me realize how stupid I am. Yes, this is a comeback, but remember that this is also the summer. I have more time than usual and I will post as much as I can before I go back to school, which is Sept 15th 2005 (we get in late this year). Okay, okay... good... now, read the story. This is a chappie most of you will like. Also, it's SquFuu oriented, as we are the few and the proud raises up Raijin's big stick of glory
Chapter 6: Deal
(A/N: Let the SquFuu commence pulls out maracas.)
Balamb City, capital of the Kingdom of Balamb, was completely desolate due to the weather. The rain caused the shops and the merchants to close for the day. Fresh fruits or vegetables weren't to be seen for miles.
This aggravated Fujin to no end.
Her stomach rumbling, her head fuming, Fujin muttered a 'RAGE' under her breath. Because of the rain, it was hard to find a place to stay and the fact that she actually closely resembled a drowned rat didn't help her situation or her confidence in the least.
"DAMN." She swore. There wasn't a motel in sight.
"Excuse me; are you looking for a place to stay?" A man said, stumbling and swaying as he spoke. His hair was sticking up despite the rain and his tattoo caressed the side of his face. Fujin wondered if his hair was a cause of his drunkenness.
Fujin raised an eyebrow. "...MAYBE."
"Well..." The guy hiccupped and the ale on his breath smelled sour. "Look no farther! I know there's this place that's not booked and really booyaka but there's a party goin' on and well... it'll be pretty loud tonight."
"I..."
"Oh, come on! The owner's really cool! You'd love it!" He paused for a moment, He was making a face, but Fujin couldn't tell if he was thinking really hard or if he had to pee.
Evidently, it was the former. "Well, the person I met isn't the owner, now that I think about it. She's this lady who owns this cool bar in Midgar, but she's helping the person in charge out since this place is new."
Before she new it, Fujin was being dragged by the young man with the chocobo haircut and the winding tattoo towards the hotel. With the same bizarre air he used to reach her, he left, talking to himself about inventions and stumbling the whole way.
Fujin opened the door and blanched. There were people dancing on tables, swinging mugs of ale and clapping their hands offbeat to the songs that were sung off key. There was a piano in the corner, where the man banged away, probably the only person there with no pitch problems. A lady sat on top of it, laughing at the scene before her.
The woman looked up as she spotted Fujin walking in. "Welcome, young traveler!" The woman was attractive, with long dark hair tinted with grey and a sweet smile. "Do you need a room?"
Fujin nodded and gave her enough gil for one night. The woman took her to her room. "Sorry about the noise, but it's the grand opening of the hotel and lots of people came to party. More people than I realized with all of the rain. But I don't think this room will be so noisy." She smiled again, causing Fujin to melt. There was something about this woman, something sweet and kind, that made Fujin's hand itch to her pocket where her mother's locket and letter lay.
"Is there... something wrong?" The woman looked into her eyes, the smile leaving her face, but not her soft brown eyes with flecks of red. Fujin shook her head and the woman shrugged and walked off, back down to the party.
The albino shook her head again, trying to shake the sense off of the woman with the soft eyes with the red hue. She opened the door and flopped on the bed, pulling her eyepatch off of her eye. In all honesty, she was half surprised that the rainwater didn't fall out of her eye and splash onto the floor. The rain was getting heavier.
She slid off the bed, pulling her eyepatch into the front of her bag, so she could get a clear view of the rain. She sat at the ledge and wondered where she would go next. Midgar seemed like a place she could go for clues about... about Aerith Gainsborough and Vincent Valentine. She fingered the locket in thought, wondering that this was the same locket that Aerith wanted to give Vincent. It burned her heart.
"WHAT-" Fujin pressed her pale nose up against the window. A man was coughing hysterically outside as the rain pressed on. His brown hair was slick with water and plastered against his head.
Common sense told her that going back into that storm was damn near suicide. But even the most hardcore girl has some compassion. Some...
(What would my mother do?)
She twitched her eyebrow. (Damn)
Fujin practically flew off of the windowsill and ran downstairs, calling an alarm.
"HELP!" She screamed through the party hall "MAN, SICK!"
"Is there a problem?" the woman asked, running towards her.
"AFFIRMATIVE." Fujin pulled the woman outside into the room and pointed.
"HELP."
"Oh God," The woman ran over to the man, who had fallen in a coughing fit. She put him over her shoulder and pulled his head back so his face faced the sky. The strength within the woman was incredible, considering both her age and her petite size.
Fujin's eyes widened and her body froze in place. A chain bearing the Griever fell out of his shirt and swung around his chest.
"You!" The woman barked. "Are you going to help me with him or what?" Her hair had fallen around her face and her arms showed strong, slightly muscled arms in the rain.
Fujin blinked and ran over to her, helping the man up. They both managed to get the man upstairs and into Fujin's room.
The woman rang her hands after they placed the man onto the bed. "He seems to have blacked out." She said. "But he'll probably cough in his sleep, trying to get the water out of his lungs."
"MEDICINE."
"Oh, I have some potions on me, if you want." The woman rummaged her side travel pocket bag.
"NEGA-... I mean." Fujin sighed. "How do you know so much about healing people?"
The woman looked up, a somber look on her face. "I... I once knew a woman who had the power to heal the world."
Fujin didn't press her for more information. It seemed as if just the simple question about healing wasn't able to heal the wounds of her heart.
"OKAY."
"Here are the potions, but I'm afraid it won't be enough." She placed it into Fujin's cold hands and smiled again. Fujin tried smiling back, but her lips weren't use to stretching in such a way. The face she gave her made the woman laugh.
"I would take care of him myself." She explained. "But the group downstairs is getting wilder. If I give you some real medicine, will you please take care of him for the night?"
Fujin hesitated and looked at the man in the bed. Every so often, his chest would constrict and he would cough until his throat was sore. His short brown hair was still stuck to his head.
She nodded. "TOWELS TOO."
The woman flashed another smile and walked out of the room.
Now alone in a room with a man she hardly knew, Fujin began to feel her heart beating rapidly.
(Oh Hyne, help me.)
She hovered over him and brushed his hair away from his eyes. The slight movement caused his senses to hit overdrive (hehe). His eyes snapped open and he grabbed Fujin's wrist in shock. The attack on her arm caused Fujin to yelp in surprise.
"Are you okay?" The woman had burst into the room, her arms full of medicines, towels, and water.
Fujin looked down at the man as he released her arm. He cleared his throat. "We're fine."
The woman sighed and left. Fujin took the items and brought them to the bed. "N-NAME."
He squinted at her. "What's it to you?"
"PRINCE." She mumbled (well, as best as she could, for someone who speaks in caps lock.) "PRINCE SQUALL."
He raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?" He launched into another coughing fit and Fujin shoved a spoonful of medicine down his throat. It burned on the way down to his stomach and he stopped coughing immediately, but he wasn't sure if that was because of the medicine or the forced spoonful.
"BETTER?"
He nodded and focused on her face. "You look familiar to me."
She sighed. "PAST?"
"You even talk like her." He coughed again and sat up. "But since you are a boy, I don't believe you are her."
Fujin's heart skipped a beat. Even in her boy clothes, he still recognized her from three years ago. "LOOKS?"
"She looked like you, yes, but she obviously isn't you, so ...whatever." he sighed. "I hate being taken care of."
Fujin unbuttoned his shirt when he stopped, her hand on her own.
"Do you know her?"
She hesitated. "MAYBE."
His eyes, cold and blue, bore into her red ones and she buckled. "RELATIVE. TALKED, YOU. FESTIVAL."
He nodded. "Do you think I can see her again?"
"WHY?" she asked, staring at him, unblinkingly. "WHY, CARE?"
He stared at her, searching her eyes for signs of faltering and found none. "To be honest, I don't know myself. Perhaps... nevermind."
Fujin bit her lip. She was half tempted to tell him that she was the girl from the Festival. But if she did, her cover would be blown. Instead, she tugged at his clothes. "SICK. CLOTHES, WET."
She waited for him to make a comment on her forceful attitude about wanting to take his clothes off, but when he didn't, she realized that she had lived much too long with Seifer. He undid his shirt without question, letting the Griever swing around his neck. He was about to dry himself off, but endured another coughing fit.
"LET ME." She toweled off his chest, trying to hide her blush and cursed her moonpale skin. "FEVOR."
"Yeah, I realize that." Squall sighed. His clipped tone seemed to stem from not being about to answer her. She ignored him and continued to dry his chest, back, and hair.
"Who are you?" Squall asked.
Fujin faltered, looking into his eyes. "Uh... F-FUU-"
"Fuu?" Squall repeated?"
She sighed. She might as well lie while she was at it, as he just interrupted her. It wasn't as if she could tell him her real name anyway; That would blow her cover as well. "AFFIRMATIVE."
"Too young." He mumbled.
"FOR?"
"For this thing I have to do."
"OH." She sighed and continued to dry his hair. He kept staring at her as she tried to keep him dry.
"Can you bring her to me?"
"WHO?"
"That girl. Your relative. I... I want to see her again."
Fujin stopped rubbing his head. "UH..."
"I need to see her before the month is over." He took her hands. "I need to see her again."
"I..."Fujin bit her lip.
"I'll do anything for you." Squall coughed again, but this time he didn't let it sidetrack him. "Why are you in a hotel? Are you traveling? There must be some reason you came to Balamb."
"I... I..." She bit her lip. "SEARCHING."
"For what?"
"A... COMRADE. FRIEND."
"What's the name?"
"VINCENT VALENTINE."
Squall stayed quiet for a moment and turned his thoughts over in his head. "If you can bring me to her, I will help you find this Valentine of yours."
Fujin blushed harder than ever. "...POSSIBLE." Fujin said slowly. "BUT..."
"But what? Anything, at least before the month ends."
"AH..." Fujin frowned in thought. "LONG TIME. TAKES TIME."
"Will she not be able to come in time?"
"ER..." Fujin was digging herself into a hole.
Squall sighed. "Or she is married and cannot come at all."
(Well, Seifer and Fujin love triangles have circulated all over the town since I was at least twelve, but that's beside the point.) "NEGATIVE. NOT MARRIED. JUST-"
"It will take her a bit to get here."
"AFFIRMATIVE." Fujin sighed. That took too much energy not to lie. At least he would get off her case about... herself. (How stupid does that sound?)
Squall remained silent again in thought. "I'll take that chance."
If this were an anime, Fujin would have facevaulted.
"Fuu, if you can contact her and at least try to get her to me within the month, I'll help you on your quest for Vincent Valentine." He struck out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Fujin stared at the prince's hand for a very long time. On one hand, she could just lie to the prince later, say 'Fujin' was not available, and get his services. On the other, she could decline everything and go at it alone. However, not only would the latter be much harder, but it would be damn near unbearable to swallow her pride and live out the night with someone who requested for 'Fujin' with such determination. She was about to ask herself what her mother would do again, but that just made her want to kick her own shins.
She sighed and took his hand. "DEAL."
They dropped hands and Squall let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He relaxed and lay back down on the bed, closing his eyes. Fujin, seeing that he had fallen asleep, stood up and moved to her bag to fetch her own clothes, as she had been wet for over an hour.
"Fuu?"
Fujin stopped short, towering over the prince. His eyes were still closed. "YES?"
"What is her name?"
Fujin's cheeks turned a hue unknown to man. As badly as she wanted to lie, her own name tumbled out from her mouth.
"Fujin." She said softly.
With that, all she heard were his light snores as he entered slumber.
A/N: Holy moley! I love this chapter. Now, we get to see how will unfold.
Next chappie clues:
Fujin will go to the castle and meet everyone.
Irvine will enter the scene again. (He was supposed to enter this chapter, but I decided to make this one SquFuu oriented.
And lots more.
Btw: Does anyone know who the bar mistress is? I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count XD