Pins & Needles Chapter 16
Remember
By Asyria
Seifer and Raijin had decided, since their options were limited, to lay Fujin's body to rest in the Fire Cave. At midnight, Seifer, Raijin, Quistis, Zell, and Irvine set out for the cave, Seifer carrying Fujin's body. No words were spoken along the way, but the tragic noise of mourning hearts could be heard easily. The night seemed to swallow them up. No moon, no stars. Just dark, enveloping clouds. They made their way through the blistering cave to the threshold of Ifrit's pit. The five stood around the lava pit in a circle.
"Aren't people suppose to say stuff at funerals?" Raijin asked though the tears that hadn't stopped falling.
Seifer looked at the other posse member. "If you want to, go ahead." He said emotionlessly.
Raijin paused to reflect for a moment. "Fujin was more than a friend to me, ya know. She was my sister. She always kept other kids from pickin' on me cause I'm dumb, ya know." He said, frowning as he gazed on her corpse. "I'm really gonna miss her…"
Seifer looked at the others. "How about you guys?"
Quistis shook her head. "We don't deserve to say anything."
He nodded, looking down at Fujin's body. "I've said to her all I needed to." He replied, kissing her cold forehead. He knelt, feeling the heat from the lava, and pushed her body into her fiery grave. Her body became nothing, being consumed by the magma. There was silence again for a long time. Quite tears being shed. Seifer looked around at the people with him. "I…I don't plan on returning to the Garden with you all."
With the exception of Raijin, none were really surprised by his words. "What do ya mean?" Raijin asked.
Seifer looked at his friend with a stern expression. "I'm dying Raijin. It'll be a slow, horrible death, one that I deserve. But I don't want them to have to take care of me the whole time." He spoke, gesturing to the SeeDs. "I won't die fast, like Fujin did. It could take months."
Raijin shook his head. "I can take care of you, ya know!"
Seifer approached his friend. "I know. But I don't want to burden you either." He sighed, looking down at the ground. "It's better this way, Raijin."
Raijin bit back his tears. "But what am I gonna do without you and Fujin? I'll be alone, ya know!"
Seifer shook his head. "No you won't. You have Quistis, Zell, and Irvine. They could probably get you back into the Garden. You could become a SeeD, like them."
"But we were supposed to graduate together!"
"That ain't gonna happen now. But you can still do it!" Seifer objected. "Do it for me and Fujin. You're stronger than we were. You can do it!" He told him. "You can make us proud."
Raijin hesitantly nodded. "I will, ya know. I'll be a SeeD and make you and Fu proud of me!"
Seifer smiled. "That's right." He said, walking with Raijin over to the others. He stopped by Irvine and whispered to him. "Get him outside. I don't want him to have to see this."
Irvine nodded, putting his arm around Raijin's shoulder. "Hey Raijin, lets go outside."
"Alright." He agreed sadly, walking out of the cave with Irvine. He didn't look back.
Zell looked at Seifer nervously. "Funny isn't it?" he said, "A while ago I wanted to kill you. Now, I don't want you to die."
Seifer said nothing at first, then a crafty smirk appeared on his face. "Don't go getting mushy on me, Chicken-wuss."
Zell smirked back. "We're gonna miss you, Lapdog."
Seifer's smirk faded, the grim expression returned. "Take care of Raijin."
Quistis nodded. "He'll be a SeeD if I have to threaten Squall myself."
Seifer put his arm on Quistis shoulder. "I want you to teach him, Quisty. Only you." He told her firmly. "You're the best fuckin' instructor in that whole damn Garden." Quistis lost her composure and threw her arms around Seifer, hugging him tightly. "If I had only listened to you, not been such an arrogant bastard."
Quistis pulled away, smiling up at him. "Then you wouldn't be Seifer Almasy."
Seifer kissed her on her tear soaked cheek. "Goodbye, instructor." He looked over at Zell. "You better take good care of her."
Zell blushed slightly. "Yeah, I will."
"If you don't, I'll come back and haunt you till you go crazy!" He warned him. "Zell, I also want you to have Hyperon." Seifer told him.
Zell's brow frowned in confusion. "Your gunblade? Why?"
Seifer stared at him in the eyes, his own in total seriousness. "So you'll remember." He replied. "Remember me. Remember everything that happened, good and bad. I know it's had quiet a shady past, but I don't want anyone else to have it. To anybody else, it would only be a trophy, or a piece of metal that means nothing. I don't want Hyperon to be a weapon anymore, only a reminder of the past. You understand?"
Zell nodded quickly. "I understand."
Seifer breathed out heavily. He walked back to where he had stood when he laid Fujin's body. He looked down at the lava, seeing only her face. Smiling, he looked back up at Zell and Quistis. "I'll see you guys around." He told them.
Quistis forced a smiled and Zell simply nodded. "Later, Seifer."
Seifer closed his eyes and put one foot forward…
Edea gazed up slowly from the infirmary desk. She went to the window and looked outside. Rain beat softly against the glass as she put her hands to it. "…Seifer?"
Squall rose from his bed in the Presidential Palace in Esthar to find his beloved standing next to the balcony window. Rinoa was watching the rain outside.
"What's wrong?" He asked her softly, putting his arms around her waist.
Rinoa shook her head slightly. "I…I don't know. Something's happened."
"What?"
Rinoa shrugged, turning to smile at him. "It's okay. Go back to sleep, I'll be there in a minute." Squall obliged, returning to the bed. When she knew Squall was out of earshot, she whispered to the night. "Goodbye Seifer."
"I knew you'd wait for me."
"I told you I would."
"I'll never leave you again."
"Then let's go."
"Where?"
"Sky."
'No mother should outlive her own child. He left and never returned. Even though I had expected this, my sorrow was limitless. It rained that night. Would the heaven's weep for him? Would the sky grieve for a child of it's conception. The golden dreamer. A son he was to me. My beautiful, stubborn, dreamer. And I will always remember him as such. The boy sitting on the beach, looking up at the sky. The sky held no limits for him, every possibility available to him. His eyes always filled with fantasy. My bright little boy, who grew up to be a brighter man. I cannot picture his face without smiling and weeping. May Hyne have mercy and give the dreamer his endless sky.'
Excerpt from Edea Kramer's journal
The End
Notes: That's it. I have finally finished it! I really hope you all have enjoyed it, as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for all the love and support you've shown me though this! I really appreciate it!
Other Notes: For those of you who care, this story was inspired by a song. Sarah McLaughlin's 'Arms of an Angel'. It's a beautiful song, and it's about heroin. Every chapter was written while that song was playing. Thanks again!
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