Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I do not own the places. I don't own anything related to FFVIII, all I own is the plot.
- Chapter two: Living a Lie -
Fujin's father was sitting in a single chair in a large white hall. Fujin was on his right side, Seifer on his left. The man nodded in the direction of the door and the guards on either side of it opened it.
A small group of three people entered. Rajin was one of them, the others were a woman and a man.
"Oh, Fujin my dear. How lovely to see you again! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding." The woman cooed.
Fujin's father forced a smile. Seifer puked inwardly, but Fujin smiled.
"THANK YOU. AUNT." She said. "WELCOME."
Her aunt stepped aside to let her husband shake Fujin's hand. The aunt now stepped towards Seifer and eyed him from head to toe.
"You look strong, lad. Not to mention handsome. Glad to see you two finally got together. Mind you," she said, waving her finger annoyingly, "I saw it coming! She was always talking about you. Couldn't mention anyone else."
Seifer forced a smile. "Yes ma'am. But as you can see…she finally got me."
"And are you happy, boy?"
"Yes ma'am. Very happy."
From the corner of his eye he could see Fujin bobbing her head in the direction of the door. Hyne he could kill himself. A thousand times had they rehearsed this and still he forgot.
Quickly he offered the older woman his arm, hoping he hadn't obviously forgotten.
"May I escort you to the dining room?"
The aunt practically dragged Seifer towards the door. He could catch one glimpse of Fujin before he had been taken away. She was glowing. Her face was glowing with happiness. And he could only be happy for her.
Even though he had not consented to marry her of his own accord, he felt happy for her. A quick flash of memory of Quistis saddened him, but he banned the thought from his mind. There was no point. She was gone, his life was shattered and marrying Fujin was the only option he had left.
The next few hours happened without much excitement. They dined, they talked, and nothing could spoil the evening. No one dared to say anything that might possibly spoil it. So the main subject was the wedding.
Seifer didn't really listen. He just looked around and memorised the faces. Her uncle was talking with her father. Her aunt kept complimenting Fujin and complaining about the trip to Dollet. Now and then she would say something to Seifer and he just answered "Yes" or "Quite right" or "Indeed" here and there with a smile on his face.
Fujin looked so happy. A smile of sad happiness appeared on his face. She smiled back.
He glanced around the room. He had gotten to know it well over the last few months. It was decorated with flowers along the side of the ceiling. At the doors were two guards, like in almost every other room in this…fortress.
And there was also a serving maid, waiting at the door. Any second now aunt Deidi would raise her hand, ask the maid for a new fork of Fujin's father would order another bottle of wine.
He felt sorry for the girl.
'Imagine being a serving maid in these times. We passed those days centuries ago.'
He gave her an encouraging smile. She smiled back shyly and blushed. He could have punched himself. Here in Dollet it was a completely different world.
'Don't smile at the maid, don't be friendly with the workers, Hyne, it feels like being back in the Dark Ages.'
The maid must have been feeling honoured, thinking 'the master smiled at me.'
He looked back at Fujin.
'I can live…pretending to be happy…I think. It…I….maybe. But I can never truly love her.'
He made a metal note to take out the photograph for his bedside table that night.
"Seifer…do tell. How did you propose to my niece. Where, when. I want to know all the details." Aunt Deidi was looking at him expectantly.
He looked around. The rest of the people at the table were looking at him too.
"Well…I…err…" he said.
What was there to tell? It hadn't been that special. Nor had it been romantic.
"Well…when, when Rajin, Fujin and I were on our trip around the world…we were on deck one night…and…well, Rajin was already sleeping. Fujin and I were talking and…it all happened rather quick. Nothing special. I just asked her."
Fujin was going red.
"But." Her aunt continued. "But…that was it? How did she respond?"
"AUNT…" Fujin said quietly.
She didn't take the hint. "How did she respond?"
Seifer's heart ached. Here he was, talking about a proposal he had never made himself…never out of his own free will.
'Just that damned bracelet!'
"Obviously she said yes. If she hadn't, none of us would be at this table right now." he said more harshly than he had intended.
Deidi was taken aback. No one ever spoke to her like that. Fujin jumped up from the table.
"EXCUSE ME." She said, almost stumbling as she got out of the room.
The others looked at each other. Deidi was almost hyperventilating.
"Why I never…"
Seifer wiped his mouth with his napkin and also got up. "I'm very sorry. I'll go see how she is doing. Please excuse me."
He knew where she would be. Her balcony.
She was staring at the sea.
"Fujin…"
She didn't respond.
He cast a look around at the room. Wedding brochures were scattered everywhere.
"Fujin…don't make this into a big problem. It was only one dinner. "
"RUINED. THE WEDDING TOO. IF YOU DON'T TRY."
Seifer looked at her, not completely believing what he heard.
"If I don't try? Are you completely out of it? I never wanted this marriage in the first place!"
"BUT YOU CAN LOVE ME."
"No! I loved Quistis, I still do, and you…you killed her."
"LIE!"
"No, not a lie. You killed her because you took us away from each other. We loved each other more than anything, but you broke it. Finished it. Forced me into this. She couldn't live without me and so she drowned herself! I wonder what the hell I'm doing here right now. I should have died when she did. At least then we still would have been together!"
"YOU LOVED ME FIRST. YOU WERE MINE. SHE HAD NO RIGHT-"
"No Fujin, you had no right. Have you forgotten? You made me love you. It was artificial. Fake. You knew it, I didn't. But still, I'm here. And that's only because I have nothing else left in the world. All my ties, my contact with my own world, my own home, are cut."
He stormed out the room. Anger had risen once again. He would never love Fujin. He would marry her, but only because he couldn't do anything else,
His friends didn't know better than that Seifer was happily engaged with the heiress to the ruler's seat of Dollet. They probably thought he had forgotten about them, or that he felt too high and mighty and important to talk to them because he hadn't contacted them. And they didn't know how to reach him.
Sadness washed over him again. Hyne…two whole more days before her eighteenth birthday and then another week or so before the wedding.
He didn't really know and he didn't really care.
He ran to his room where he let himself fall down on his bed. He laid still for a moment or two. Then he rolled over to his side and reached for the bedside table.
Under a book, in a little box, was a photo frame with a picture in it. He looked at the photograph. A tear escaped his eyes.
How could he ever have been so happy? It was a happy picture, everyone was there, smiling. And he…he had his hand on Quistis' shoulder. It had been taken at the orphanage, after a day of repairing the cottage for new kids.
It had been taken even before he had realised he loved her. His Quistis…her smile on the picture hurt him. No one could ever have imagined that it could have ended the way it did.
He closed his eyes and saw her face. He pressed his hands against his ears and screamed as he heard that splash again. That sound of her body hitting the water.
Yay! Three reviews! And all from people who have read other stories by me too :) I'm happy now :D The next update, however, will have to wait a bit longer. You see,today is the first day of my exam period. Finals! I'm nervous…. But we'll see what happens, eh? Right, so…I'll be able to update in…a week I think, hope you guys won't mind :)
Matron Raenee: Yay, you like it so far? Well, I hope you'll like the rest too. And thank you again for reading BSG all in one day even though it had loads of bad spelling. I can promise that the spelling will be better in this story!
Dark Angels: Woohoo! You're reading it too! Well, I did sort of promise to think about a sequel…and at first it was really crappy, so everyone please forgive me for the first few chapters. It will get better :), I promise. I'm glad I made your day, you certainly made mine by leaving a review!
p.s., glad you liked the flashback bit at the beginning :P I thought the story needed it nn
Firess Ifrit Devil: Woohoo! Another BSG veteran! SO glad you're reading this! I hope you will be able to bear with me that I have to study this entire week and can not allow myself to update within that time, but that is because of my exams and I really need to focus on them first. But as soon as they are done and over, I will be able to focus on this story completely! Thank you for the review!
It really feels good to know that the three of you are reading this. After all, I wrote it for the BSG fans and now you guys are reading it too! YAY! I will see you guys real soon, just not as soon as I could hope for ;P because of those stupid finals. But thank god they only last a week.
Now I have to go study again, but I am really feeling good thanks to the reviews :) See you all at the next chapter!
Love, Raven55