Sorry this took so long. Had to replay part of the game to get this right, and even so I had to rewrite the fight waaayyy too many times. And then chop most of it out because it sucked.

Thoughts are "quoted italics"

GF speech is "bold quoted italics"

Everything else is as it is.

I own the story, but not the characters or locations. I also own an overweight, spoiled housecat (wait, maybe I have that backwards. The cat owns me...) and an old VW Jetta, which is all you'd get if you sued me. Besides, I'm hardly making money at this (the proof is the car, trust me!).

Loyalties

Finding Seifer a week ago had been an eye-opener for Fujin and Raijin. Now, they were helping him and the Sorceress unite the people under one ruler. "If only they believed it really is for their own good, this would be so much easier!" But first they had to find Ellone, who could help the Sorceress go back in time and fix the things that went wrong and led to a world that needed this many mercenaries and armies. Their first lead was Balamb, where Fujin had been left in charge with Raijin as her second-in-command. The people didn't want them there, let alone the Galbadian soldiers that were with them. But in the long term, no one would remember anyway. "Just the means to a good end, if we can tough it out until then…"

As she was going up the stairs, the hotel doors opened and Raijin charged in, slightly out of breath. "Fuj … Commander, we got problems!"

She sighed wearily and turned, expecting another report on how the people were resisting. "We need a diplomat, dammit! Raijin and I can't make these people understand. Of course, when they keep catching him sleeping …" She locked gazes with the big man on the floor below. "REPORT" she demanded.

"I was patrolling, ya know, the docks, the entrance, and I stopped by the train, just for a minute. Oh, yeah, no clues yet on Ellone. But anyway, yeah, Squall's here. With help. And pissed."

With a deep breath, Fujin asked Pandora to gently shove Raijin back outside. "HANDLE" she ordered as the wind pushed him outside. She ignored his comments about waking the dog, knowing he was trying to save some face with the guards stationed at the entrance. Hearing fighting break out, Fujin descended to the lobby and waited.

The fight was brief, and Fujin was surprised when Squall came in with Zell and a woman she'd never seen before. "Another sorceress!" There was surprise in Pandora's voice.

"Well, that explains a lot," Fujin thought. "RAIJIN … DEFEATED …?" she asked Squall.

"That's right, baby," Zell answered before Squall could even open his mouth. "Now, where's Seifer and the Sorceress? You're all goin' DOWN!"

Spotting Raijin sneaking in behind the three warriors she faced, Fujin sighed lightly and sent a Cura his direction. He stood taller and flashed her a grateful smile. Then Squall spoke up, voice calm.

"Zell, calm down." The martial artist took a step back and opened his mouth, but Squall cut him off. "Fujin, looks like you're on your own. Still willing to fight?"

"Surrender? To this misguided fool?" "RAGE!"

Raijin's bellowing laugh made the other three jump in surprise. "She's not alone."

"Who's there?" Zell demanded, jaw dropping at the sight of the dark man moving to stand by Fujin.

Raijin flexed his arms. "Major comeback, ya know! Actually, I feel a lot betta, ya know. Invincible!" He flexed again to show off and assumed a fighting stance, nodding at Fujin as she unstrapped her shuriken from her belt.

"These idiots are going to ruin everything!" Fujin snarled as the woman struck first with her crossbow. Fujin threw an Aero, tumbling the other three around like leaves in a whirlwind. As they regained their balance, she called for Pandora's assistance. "Just a boost on the spells. Don't want to play all the cards yet." She closed her eye for a moment, reveling in the power from the GF, then she heard Raijin grunt and opened her eye in time to see Zell step back with a triumphant grin.

She retaliated with her shuriken, then winced as the woman struck her again. "RAGE!" she snarled, her grip on her temper slipping as she threw the shuriken at the woman. Not inflicting the damage she'd hoped for, Fujin readied another Aero and was channeling some of the GF's energy into it when she felt the first mental 'tug'. "Pan, what's wrong?"

"Pulled," she heard the GF straining. "Gunblade – Stop him!"

The emptiness that followed nearly brought Fujin to her knees. She saw Raijin strike Squall, but not before he'd stolen Pandora. Screaming her anguish, she loosed the spell and watched her enemies be tossed around the room again. Without the GF's boost, however, the regained their footing quickly.

Raijin attacked Squall and left him twitching on the floor, but the woman threw some type of potion and returned him to battle-ready. Fujin tried attacking the woman, but Squall unleashed Shiva and was immediately followed by Diablos from Zell. This gave the woman time to throw a protect spell on herself, freeing the two men to continue assaulting Fujin and Raijin with the GFs they had in readiness.

Despite their best efforts, Fujin and Raijin couldn't withstand the continued attacks from GFs and had to admit defeat. As a final blow, Raijin was able to take out the martial artist before the Sorceress teleported them away from the fight. Now, they knelt on the floor in exhaustion before Seifer, eyes on the floor as he stood there, saying nothing to either of them. It would have been easier if he'd shown some sign of anger or disappointment – then they would know what he was thinking.

Raijin finally broke the silence. "Seifer … I … we dunno what happened, ya know? We should've beat them! They should have been spots on the floor, ya know …"

Seifer sighed and chuckled. "S'alright. Didn't know they had their own sorceress to fight for. Just means we gotta take a step back and make a new plan." Squatting down in front of Fujin, Seifer put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, Fuj?" he asked quietly.

She nodded sharply and looked up to meet his gaze. "PANDORA GONE" Fujin forced the words out, still not wanting to believe them. The statement refueled her anger at Squall. Clenching her teeth, she hung her head and closed her eye as the loss washed through her again.

"We'll get her back, Fuj." Raijin's voice was determined. "Squall stole her, she won't work for him, ya know?"

She looked up at her friends and saw Seifer's nod. "That we will, Fuj." She was glad to see the wolfish grin back on his face. That grin meant a good plan forming, and she couldn't help but smile weakly back.