Disclaimer- I in no way shape or form own any aspect of final fantasy VIII...(game not included).

Roarke Stratton- Hmm...I'm still waiting for the second part to your review. ;)

Jade Almasy- You're still reading! I'm glad you liked how its been rewritten. Thanks for the review.

Rune- Thanks for the review. Glad you found the beginning so interesting.

CaboosesGirl- Haha. Yeah an unusually high number of people died in the last chapter...

Aratcorien- I was so excited to see your review. It made my day. I'm glad you like the Zell and Fujin scenes, I put a lot of effort into trying to portray them in character.

A Patch and Pancakes

A light breeze played with the tips of her hair as she pulled the comforter up over her shoulders. Fujin slowly opened her eyes and squinted in the bright morning light. She stretched her arms up over her head and then snuggled down into her pillow. A small smile crept across her lips. The pillow smelled like him. She quickly forced the smile away and slowly sat up. Her hand fell instinctively to the place where Zell should've been lying, only he wasn't there.

Worried, she quickly climbed out of bed and pulled the drapes across the window. The bright morning sun was giving her a headache. Combing her fingers through her platinum hair, she walked into the bathroom and examined her clothes. Both her pants and shirt were still damp, she was annoyed but tossed both articles of clothing over the shower curtain without a second thought. She stretched again as she picked her patch up off of the bathroom counter and pulled it down over her eye.

Fujin knew Zell'd been upset when she drifted off to sleep the night before. She hadn't meant to, because she'd learned long ago that letting Zell think too much was a mistake. He was a very smart person despite what most people thought about him. Given he wasn't an avid reader, he didn't need to be. It seemed he possessed the ability to comprehend new ideas and information very easily. His mind was always occupied and while she had slept, she worried he had dwelled too much over last night's discovery.

She pulled herself from her thoughts to find herself standing in front of his closet. Quickly grabbing a pair of jeans, she pulled them up to her hips and then stopped. The taught fabric wouldn't go any higher. She pulled them off and looked up at his closet in hopes of finding something else. In disbelief she settled for a pair of elastic banded, blue and gold running shorts. Sure they matched the t-shirt he'd lent her to sleep in, she just couldn't believe he wore a smaller pant size than her! Giving her reflection in the mirror a scowl, she hurried out of the room and down the stairs.

She'd found Zell sprawled out in the lounge chair in the study. Taking care not to wake him, she approached his sleeping form on her tiptoes and then knelt down beside him. His left arm dangled down beside the chair but with his right arm, he clutched the baby book securely to his chest. Fujin stared at the book and then at his face. She couldn't tell if he were clutching it so tightly because it was the only evidence he had proving he had a brother, or if he were clutching it because it was the only thing he had that represented his brother. He stirred in the chair and then pulled his left hand up on the arm rest. His breaths were shallow and she could tell he was almost ready to wake from his light sleep. The night before had been hard for him and it had probably gotten worse once he was the only one awake.

Fujin resisted the urge to brush the hair from his eyes and slowly stood up. If she knew one thing about her boyfriend, it was food always brightened his spirits. After a night like last night, she figured he'd need some cheering up and a lot of pancakes to do it. Now a woman on a mission, she walked straight to the kitchen and cringed. She'd forgotten about the window's that lined the far wall. Ma Dincht certainly liked her sunlight. Fujin hurried across the room and pulled the shades on every window in the room. She gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light and then quickly opened the refrigerator.

Heat radiated off the asphalt and steel of the shipping dock as the relentless sun slowly rose. Today was already hot and was obviously destined to be sweltering. Gunther Audley walked along the edge of the dock inspecting the train for any problems. He grimaced as he pulled at his soaking wet t-shirt and wiped the sweat from his brow. A few dozen feet away he watched as one of his crews had stopped working. Tightening the straps to his gloves he turned and headed in their direction. Luckily for them, he was intercepted.

"If you're going to take their entire shipment I think you'll need to add another three or four more flatcars to the train."

Audley paused his walk and turned to face his newly acquired shipping foreman. "I think three cars will handle it Ben," He answered and then resumed walking. Ben looked at the train and then back at his boss.

"There's only one flat car behind the engine Sir."

Audley stopped and smirked. "Of course there is. I've learned from the past two heists that its easier to take the cars rather than try to unload them all between rail junctions."

"They can't track the cars can they?"

Audley crossed his arms and nodded approvingly. "I spent ten years planning all this, but I never even thought about that... Do you know how the cars are wired to the engine's main computer?"

Ben shrugged. "From what I know, the only thing electrical on the flat cars is the couplers. They do that so the engineer can tell that all cars are attached without having to leave the cabin. That aside, a flat car is nothing but the wheels and a big ass steel slab. If the couplers are disengaged the engineer will be alerted immediately...unless you can mess with the computer and trick it into thinking its still hooked up...But as far as tracing it...I honestly don't know. I would say its probably some rudimentary wiring system. However, once the train companies start loosing their cars to these heists I'd say they may start putting tracking beacons on them."

Audley wiped at his face and then pushed his blonde hair back out of his eyes. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and jotted down a note on the palm of his hand. "The more you're with me the more you prove your worth Mr. Piper," Audley tilted his head to the side and stared at his foreman. "I am curious...you're an intelligent man. You have instincts and a strong common sense that most of my men lack. Why again did you leave the military? My sources say you were a commander."

"The government changed. The new President was a lot different than the old one. His priorities were a bit mixed up and he stumbled around like a complete moron. Since he's been in office, the military's funding has been cut, jobs have been cut, in the first year we lost over 150,000 stationed men and women. It wasn't a place I wanted to be. I refused to work for and directly serve under such a bumbling idiot," Ben answered.

"You were up for a promotion," Audley watched him with interest.

"Oh hell yeah," Ben answered. "With Caraway being elected President, it left his former General's position vacant. He used his new seat of power to try and get me to take it."

"You turned down the General's position over the most powerful army in the world?"

Ben shrugged. "It isn't the most powerful anymore. That would be Esthar's military. Galbadia is dying. For years it dominated and controlled the world like a possessive beast guarding its territory. Now its suffering and writhing a slow festering death with a weakened and under funded military and a sky high unemployment rate for released soldiers."

"You're a military man."

Ben smirked. "Only when the military's respectable enough to serve."

Audley grinned. "I may have some use for you after this raid is done. There's a second part to my plan I've yet to even set into motion."

"Just tell me what to do."

Audley nodded and looked back over to the warehouses behind the shipping docks. From what he could tell the workers were all back to work. "Those boys of yours have turned out to be very good at their jobs. The one seems a bit hesitant sometimes, but he's making progress. I'm anxious to see how well all of them do today. The train we're working is much larger than the last two we've done."

"They'll do alright," Ben assured him. "I can assure you of that."

"Good," Audley nodded and stared back towards the warehouses. "I need to run a few more inspections. I'll speak with you right after we get back from the job."

"Umm...Sir?" Audley paused and looked at him. "Do you have any children?"

Audley crossed his arms, "Depends on why you're asking."

"Well, its just that you look just like Zell Dincht...or rather he looks like you."

"Zell...Dincht?" Audley stared at him in excitement and mortification. "How do you know that name?"

"A few years back, SeeD finally got their evil sorceress to fight. He was one of the six SeeDs who saved the world."

"Zell..." Audley stared off as the dwelled on the name.

"Can I assume that you have a son named Zell?"

Audley nodded numbly. "I haven't seen him since he was nine months old." Ben watched Audley as he slowly paced around. "You said he looks like me?"

"Yeah," Ben answered. "Maybe a bit shorter, but other than that, he's a carbon copy."

A broad grin crossed Audley's face. "Did you say his name was Dincht?"

"Yes Sir."

"Isn't that ironic."

"I don't understand Sir."

Audley waved away his statement. "Don't worry about it. Get back to work. This train leaves in half an hour. Everything needs to be ready...by everything I mean those three boys of yours." Not giving Ben the chance to respond, Audley turned and stalked towards the warehouses.

Back in Balamb, Zell awoke to a falling sensation. Panicked, he leapt up from the chair and knocked it into the bookcase on the wall. He stared at the chair until the events of the previous night came back to him. Still clutched in his right hand, the book was all the evidence he needed that everything he remembered from the night before hadn't been just a dream. His fingers ran across the binding of the book until he realized he wasn't home alone.

Feeling instantly guilty about leaving Fujin by herself, Zell dropped the book in the chair and walked out into the main foyer. 'I have to be the worst boyfriend ever,' He thought bitterly to himself. Much to his disappointment and relief he found her in the kitchen. He was disappointed she wasn' t still asleep. Had she been, he could've laid down next to her and pretended he'd been up there with her the whole time. By the same token, she did look fairly content cooking breakfast in the kitchen. He couldn't help but notice that she'd already cooked more than she'd ever consider eating in an entire day. A goofy grin spread across his face. That meant she was cooking for him as well. He leaned against the doorframe, relieved that she apparently wasn't angry at him over the previous night.

"MORNING," She said without turning.

"Morning," He answered as he watched her flip a pancake up in the air and catch it with the skillet. "See! I could never do anything like that. Ma wouldn't even let me try." Fujin tried to stifle her laugher but it came out as a muffled snort. "What?" He asked.

"NOTHING."

"Oh no, its definitely something. You're making fun of me," He crossed his arms. Fujin smiled and bit her bottom lip. "So," He said to change the subject. "Do I get any?"

"AFFIRMATIVE," She answered as she flipped another pancake.

"Cool...Hey, I'll be right back," He promised and then quickly climbed the stairs. Fujin took the skillet off the burner and placed two plates on the table. Zell slid down the banister and hit the floor with such force that he stumbled a few feet and nearly fell down. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fujin poke her head out of the kitchen to check on him. "I'm okay," He assured her. "Just checking for leaks and storm damage. Be there in a minute." Without another word, he pushed open the front window and then groaned to himself. The drain next to the door was definitely clogged. All the standing water outside was going to be a problem.

"BREAKFAST!" Fujin called from the kitchen. Zell rose at her words and hit his forehead on the top of the window.

"Ahh!" He cried out as he fell out of the window and landed in the wet landscaping below. He was still blinking, trying to figure out what had hit him, when Fujin leaned out the window and gave him a questioning look. He stared up at her in a daze, both arms flung out to his sides, his right leg still hanging in the window while his left was bent and leaned against the house itself. Fujin squinted and raised a pale hand to try and see him better. Then without a word, she turned and walked back into the kitchen.

Ever since Zell had finally sat down and started eating, he'd been talking non-stop. Fujin grinned to her self as she carried her dirty plate to the sink.

"I tried calling Ma last night but the phone lines must be down," He paused to shove a fork full of pancakes in his mouth. Fujin grimaced as she watched him eat. "Even the cell's dead. I'm guessing' the tower's out too." With his right hand he scooped up his glass of milk and gulped it down.

"STORM DAMAGE?" Fujin asked, trying to change the subject from his family.

Zell nodded as he sat his glass down and leaned back in his seat. "I really wanted to talk to Ma last night. But because I couldn't it gave me time to think. I'm sure Ma and Pa had their reasons for not telling me I was adopted. I guess they had their reasons for not telling me about Lex...I just can't figure out what they were."

"RELAX," Fujin ordered as she took a seat across from him. "Just because someone has their reasons doesn't mean its the right thing to do. But maybe, whatever the reasons were, its what kept your Ma and Pa going and somehow helped them raise you."

"Maybe," Zell seemed to consider her response. "What about your family Fuu?" He asked as he picked up the remaining dirty dishes. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"NEGATIVE," She said as she brushed her hair back behind her ears. "I was the first child adopted from the Kramer's orphanage." Her words were slow as she thought about what to say. "From what I read, my parents were scientists up in some colony in Trabia. I don't know what they studied, but I do know they needed the cooperation of the Shumi Village. Anyway, my file said that I was left in the care of the Shumi while my parents went into some frozen cavern. One of the tunnels collapsed and I guess my parents were in it because they never came back for me," She looked at the floor.

"File? What file did you get all that from?" Zell asked.

"Ask Edea. She has one for each of us."

"Really?"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"Cool. I'll have to ask her about that when I get back to Garden," He paused. "So, what were your adoptive parents like? You know how mine are...well you know how Ma is. I was just curious about yours." Fujin watched as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"They were alright. My mother was always too frail to do anything and my father was too obsessed with his work. I think they chose me because I was a girl and had health problems."

"Health problems?" Zell's whole world threatened to crash down on him. "What do you mean?"

Fujin crossed her arms and stared at him in disbelief. "Albinism. I have...problems with my eyes."

Zell looked perplexed. "Exactly what's wrong with your eyes Fuu?" He asked as he leaned on the counter next to her. She shot him a quick glance and then smiled reassuringly.

"They're just sensitive to bright lights," She answered.

"Are they getting worse?" The concern in his voice surprised her.

"NEGATIVE."

"Don't lie to me," He pleaded.

"I'm not," She crossed her arms.

"Fuu, every blind in this house is closed. You've never done that before."

Fujin tilted her head to the side and grinned. "I had a headache when I woke up. I closed the blinds to keep out the sunlight. The less light, the less the chance it could worsen my headache."

"Oh."

"Anyways," She changed the subject away from herself. "My father was a commander in the Galbadian Army. He and his wife had three sons before they adopted me. After Dak, their youngest, was born my mother was unable to have any more children. I think I was more a gift for his wife," She snorted. "She'd been a nurse for years, but after their third child her health just started deteriorating. Within a few years she had to quit her job. My father wanted her to have a daughter, someone she could relate to I guess. He picked me out because of my albinism, figuring if she couldn't be a nurse at work she could at least be one at home...He once told me that I brought her more joy than anything had in years," She fell silent.

"What happened to her?"

"She became frail and died when I was ten," Fujin played with the bottom of her shirt. "I became a bit of an outcast without her there. My father was a true military man and the only way to really gain his recognition was to be a formidable fighter. It wasn't really fair, I was the only one of the children never sent to any kind of military academy or training classes. My oldest brother Ross was the first of my siblings to realize what was going on. He came home on the weekends and taught me how to kick box and how to use a katana. It was Dak that suggested I use some sort of pinwheel," She smiled. "He was the worrier of the family. Always afraid I'd get hurt if I fought my opponents too close."

"But you still use one," Zell pointed out.

Fujin shrugged playfully. "What can I say? I enjoy hurling sharp spinning objects at people's heads." Zell started to say something and resolved to just shake his head. "Long story short, I proved my worth as a fighter and then I left. I went to Balamb Garden and I never called, wrote or visited. To say I never looked back would be a lie. I thought about my mother all the time. I miss her." Fujin smiled. "She was real. Her heart, her actions, everything she did was for her children. My father Ben, was away a lot, and my brother's were always being sent off to one trainer or another. So most of the time it was just the two of us. In her eyes I honestly believe she accepted me as her little girl. I was real to her," She smiled again. "Problem was once she died I didn't exist anymore. I ran off to Balamb Garden when I was fifteen and Ben never came for me."

Zell watched as she closed her eyes. He remained silent, afraid to say anything to upset her. With a steady hand he slowly started to remove her patch.

"No," She pushed his hand away.

"Why not Fuu?"

"Its sensitive...more so than the other eye."

Zell didn't look convinced.

"Its slower than the other eye," She admitted as she stared at the floor. "I have to have a patch for SeeD. Without it I sometimes get double vision and my depth perception goes out the window."

"I'm sorry. You would've thought in the-," He paused to count on his fingers. "Eleven months we've been seeing each other I would've picked up on that." She laughed and ran her fingers through his flat hair. With her left hand she tried to comb it out and make it look better. While she played, Zell put his arms around her waist and stepped closer to her. She let her hand fall slowly to his shoulders and then, with a little difficulty, raised her right hand to his shoulders as well. He smiled warmly and then leaned in and kissed her. "Can I take it off for just a minute?" He begged between kisses. She nodded and scrunched her nose as he pulled it off.

"Happy?" She asked as she squinted her eyes.

"Very," Zell grinned. "You have such a beautiful face." At his words she looked down. He caught her chin with his hand and ran his thumb across her cheek. "You have such soft, delicate features for such a kick ass fighter."

She laughed and shook her head.

"I'm serious. You're very beautiful."

"Thanks," She blushed.

"Can I ask you a question?" She nodded. "How did you hurt your right arm?"

Fujin remained silent as she thought. "About a year after joining Garden, Raijin and Seifer and I, took our fall break and spent it camping a few miles outside of Winhill. The scenery there was beautiful and the monsters very plentiful," She grinned.

"Let me get this straight. You guys went on a camping trip to train?"

"Yes," She smiled. "We were hiking back to where we'd left the rental car when we were attacked...In order to get to the car we had to cross this rickety little rope bridge. Seifer and I were already across, but Raijin wanted to look at something. So we had to wait on him." She fidgeted. "While we were waiting, we began to hear a T-Rexaur off in the distance. Seifer and I readied our weapons, just in case, but the T-Rexaur that attacked us wasn't the one we were expecting. A second one, the bull of the pair, literally leapt from the shallow ravine below and hit both of us with its tail. Both my Zephyrus and his Hyperion were knocked from our hands and we were both thrown through the air. It was a short lived fight for me. Seifer skidded to a stop a few feet from the bridge, but I was rolled right over him. He tried to grab me but I slid right through his fingers and tumbled down the side of the hill. It wasn't until I reached the bottom that I got hurt."

"What happened?" Zell asked. Fujin hesitated. "Come on," He pleaded.

"I landed on top of Hyperion, blade side up." Zell paled. "It cut me clean to the bone. Actually, it cut part of the way through the bone as well."

"There were two T-Rexaurs. How did you get out of there alive?"

"I really don't know. I passed out right after Seifer got down to where I was at. I woke up stretched across the backseat of the car. Raijin was opening the door to get me out and Seifer was holding me to his chest." Zell stiffened at her last statement. She rolled her eyes. "That was the day we became family," She spoke sternly. "It was when we knew that we'd always be there to look after one another." Zell relaxed and loosely crossed his arms.

"I just don't know them like you do," He admitted with a frown. "Especially Seifer."

"Hopefully someday you will," She smiled and kissed him on the tip of his nose. "I'm getting in the shower. Please try to find me something to wear."

"Sure," Zell smiled as he watched her turn and leave.

The tree tops of Timber's lush forest swayed ever so gently in the early summer's breeze. In the narrow clearing between the walls of dense vegetation, a small pebble vibrated on the rail in which it sat. After a few moments the vibrations scooted the pebble off the edge of the rail and other small pebbles and twigs began to shake and vibrate as well. What animals had congregated near the clearing darted for cover as a low rumble quickly grew to a large bellowing growl that echoed through the forest. The loose boards under the rails began to shake in protest as a sleek flat black locomotive sped around the turn and barreled along the tracks.

Not even bothering to blow its whistle, the engine continued to gain momentum as it sped downhill. Rounding one last corner, it burst out from the forest's sanctuary and came up next to another train running on parallel tracks. It slowed to match the other train's speed and then three men, all clad in grey, jumped from the nose of the engine to the one of the other train's boxcars. Two of the men quickly slid down the car's ladder and began the uncoupling process while the third remained on top as a lookout.

The two men worked frantically, although they both knew that they had plenty of track to get what they needed done. Both had been on enough train heists to know that it only took an instant for something to go wrong and plans to fall apart. The man on top slowly walked the length of the car as he looked for any possible problems.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" A guard called out from the back door the passenger car in front of them. The two men working on uncoupling the train paused momentarily to look up at him.

"Never mind us," The blond headed man spoke as he pressed the last digit in the code and jumped to the boxcar's small ledge. He looked down at the growing distance between the two cars as he took hold of the ladder behind his body. Beside him his partner stared at him nervously.

"Never mind you? I'll show you never mind," The guard reached for his radio.

"Luke don't-" The younger train bandit's shouts were cut off by the fire of a gun. He cringed and recoiled, grasping onto the handrail of the boxcar as he watched the guard stagger back against the passenger car. In a mortified disbelief, the guard placed his hands over the wound to his chest and then swayed forward and fell between the two cars. His head hit the end of the boxcar, throwing his body backwards onto the track. Both Lucas and his brother watched as the man's body was knocked around like a rag doll and then some of his blood and flesh flung up on the side of the car. Neither man spoke for a moment as they stared at the place where the man's body had disappeared. "This was supposed to be clean..." His voice trembled.

Lucas stared down at his brother and frowned. "Will you please just shut up," He groaned as he pulled a small shred of tissue from his brother's auburn hair. "And Dak," He whispered as he knelt to be eye level with his brother. "Don't ever say my name during a mission again...Got it?" With a frown Lucas stood and climbed up the latter. He paused when he reached the top and stared up at the end of a gun barrel.

"You really talk to much! Keep it up and I'll only have one brother!" The watchman shouted over the sound of their approaching engine. "Now get back down there and make sure the engine hooks up without complications!"

Lucas narrowed his eyes and pushed the gun away from his face. "Don't push me Ross!"

Ross dropped his gun and grabbed Lucas by the shirt collar. "Don't make me push you," Ross threatened. "Now get down there and do your damn job."

Still holding onto the hand rail, Dak watched as his boss' black engine and flatcar filled the gap between the boxcar and passenger car, and closed his eyes while it slowed and grew closer. The entire boxcar shook as the engine attached itself and then pulled forward to connect to the passenger car. Still gripping the hand rail tightly, Dak pulled himself to his feet and watched as Lucas came down the ladder.

"Let's get back to work," Lucas mumbled as he pulled a few tools off his belt. Dak wordlessly followed him inside the boxcar.

On the roof, Ross talked quietly to the engineer through his headset. "We already have one casualty Sir. This was supposed to be a clean mission. Lucas knew better."

Back in Balamb, Fujin dried her hair as she stared into the hallway mirror. She turned her head from side to side as she tried to decide how much truth Zell's compliment had really held. Dropping the towel to the floor, she tried ruffling her hair with her hands and then laughed at the crazy wind blown look her hair held. She silently stared at her reflection and wrapped her arms around herself. Zell had found her a pair of his baggy pants and she was more than happy to wear them instead of the shorts she'd had earlier. From upstairs she could still hear the water from his shower running. It amazed her how pokey of a person he really was when it came to cleaning up. Thanks to the previous night's power outage her shower had lasted all of two minutes. She wasn't a fan of frigid water raining down on her and the water pouring from that shower head was beyond ice cold.

Rubbing her hands along her arms, Fujin slowly made her way into the study and sat down in the arm chair Zell had occupied a few hours ago. She sat in silence as she pulled out the book that had caused Zell so much distress and slowly flipped through the pages in it. Her gaze then fell to a small pile of pictures and newspaper articles on the desk. Leaning forward, she looked at each one before setting them aside. It was nice having the piece and quiet to just sit and think sometimes. The more she was with Zell the less and less time she had alone to get lost in her thoughts. She didn't regret being with him, but she did regret the time she'd lost with Raijin and Seifer.

They were as close as family and yet, ever since they'd all made SeeD, Raijin and Seifer had been nearly impossible to contact thanks to their missions. She used to worry about them all the time. Raijin was a massively built man. He was intimidating to most people. But he had a soft side and she knew that once anyone realized how soft he really was he could be easily taken advantage of. For years she'd tried to act as the big sister to him; guarding him against people she didn't approve of and having him follow her around like a child. Times and experiences had changed him and it didn't take her too long to realize, that while she thought she was protecting him all this time, he was trying to protect her. Raijin it seemed, was a great actor. He used his seemingly harmless chatter to make himself seem less a threat to people. Something about that made people more comfortable around him. He had let her guard him because he wanted her to feel needed. Apparently, he was playing a sort of big brother role to her by letting her think she was playing the big sister. In a way it was sweet. Raijin always had the softest heart of everyone in the posse.

Her smile faded as she thought about Seifer. He'd always worried her more than Raijin. She knew he had his inner demons he was fighting but she could never figure out what they were. She supposed that just maybe the reason behind Seifer's anger was the same reason that drove Squall to his solitude. Perhaps it had something to do with both of them not being adopted and feeling unwanted. She wasn't entirely sure but Seifer worried her. He had a bad habit of finding trouble when he was left to his own devices and it took everything she had to keep him in check. For the short time they were the student disciplinary committee, they had been inseparable. He kept her and Raijin with him at all times. It was like he had to have someone around at all times. Raijin was his best friend and she was his better judgment. He needed her and that's why she had followed him to hell and back when he was possessed. Seifer was good at putting on acts and pretending nothing was wrong. He'd almost had her tricked for a few weeks after Ultimecia was defeated but Fujin was no fool. The subconscious doesn't lie, especially when it screams out at you in dreams. His screaming in his nightmares kept her awake and it became her job to wake him every time his dreams seemed to get to bad.

She looked over another one of the newspaper clippings to divert her attention from her thoughts. If it weren't bad enough that Seifer was haunted by the sorceress in his sleep, his wrongful imprisonment at D-District, was enough to push him over the edge. He'd been captured, given a false trial, and then tortured while imprisoned. Thanks to Ellone and Dr. Odine he had been freed but Fujin sincerely doubted he'd left the facility unscathed. She'd talked to Ellone many times after Seifer had returned to Garden. It seemed D-District had made his nightmares progressively worse. Fujin frowned at the thought. The only good thing that she could see coming from that situation was that Seifer seemed to have formed a connection with Ellone. That thought brought a smile to her face. Although Seifer had yet to admit it, there was definitely something going on. Perhaps she didn't need to guard and protect him as much as she'd use to. He seemed to have found someone else to fill her shoes.

The thought was saddening but Fujin hoped she was right. She had enough problems between Zell and herself to worry about. Her fingers pulled at two articles stuck together. As carefully as she could, she pried them apart. Her heart sank as she stared at the article in her hand. She sincerely hoped Ellone could look after Seifer because if Zell found this article it'd take everything she had to console him.