Archive of Our Own

“Bored,” Fujin announced as she flopped down on the couch beside her fiancé. He grunted and covered one of her knees with a large hand but kept his eyes on the screen. She tossed the glossy magazine onto the table with a huff. He glanced at the cover and chuckled.

“No wonder, magazine like that will put anyone to sleep, ya know? What’s got you reading that?” Raijin asked with an upward chuck of his chin. Fujin glared at the cover depicting a smiling bride.

“Tilmitt,” Fujin said with a roll of her eyes that could rattle worlds.

With a belly laugh Raijin looked back at the television and shook his head. “Never shoulda agreed to her planning our wedding, Fuj. She’s as much a tyrant as Ultimecia was.”

“Worse,” Fujin stated with a wry smile.

Raijin reached for the remote and switched the television off. It didn’t matter that it was the final inning in the playoffs. Game was boring anyway. “We can still elope, ya know? We don’t have to do the whole big Garden wedding. It never was our thing anyway. Let Tilmitt find some other pair of suckers to improve post-war relations or whatever,” Raijun took both of Fujin’s hands into his. He leaned in and gave her the biggest, roundest puppy dog eyes ever. A trick she had been known to fall for in the past.

“Tempting,” she huffed out a laugh that dissolved into a sigh.

“But it’s too late, yeah?” Raijin collapsed back onto the couch. He groaned and draped his arm over his eyes.

“Yes,” she said, flopping down on his chest. He wrapped both broad arms around her and placed a kiss on her crown.

“Maybe I’ll just throw you over my shoulder caveman style and run away with you.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Fujin retorted with a snort.

He was about to respond when her phone buzzed on the table. A notification flashed across the screen. Both of them saw it; neither of them would ever ignore it.

She untangled herself from their embrace and bypassed the lock screen. For a long moment she stared at the received message, her brows slowly lifting. Silent, she passed the phone over to Raijin.

“Told ya he’d come,” Raijin’s lips curled up into the biggest grin. He lounged back into the couch with a triumphant whoop his legs jiggling. “I knew he wouldn’t miss our wedding.”

“Obvious,” Fujin said with a roll of her eyes. “Plus one?”

“Yeah. Do you think he’s bringing that babe from Esthar?” Raijin tilted his head whilst trying to remember her name.

“Doubtful,” she responded, opening the Postagram app on her phone. Seifer had created the account a few days before he left on his road trip. Said it was a way for them to keep in touch. It made sense. Even still his posts were infrequent. She couldn’t blame him really. He was out there living life.

It had been a while since she had checked his account but she was pretty sure the last photo of the woman from Esthar was over six months ago. The most recent post was from a few days ago. She tapped to enlarge.

“Blonde?” Fujin raised her brows as she stared at the picture. The Dollet shore highway. A rocky shore with the glittering sea beyond. Seifer’s white convertible. The passenger seat occupied by a woman in a bikini top. The bright sun blotted out most of her silhouette. The length of her hair being tousled by the wind. No caption, not even an emoji. Standard Seifer. “Know her?”

“Hard to tell. He must have taken it while driving,” Raijin shrugged and stared down at the phone in her hands.

“Idiot,” Fujin shook her head and tutted. She was about to close the image when she caught sight of just a hint of tattoo on the curve of the woman’s shoulder. “Trepe?”

“As in Quistis Trepe?” Raijin leaned in to glare at the phone. He shook his head. “Nah, he wouldn’t. He hates her, remember?”

“Right,” Fujin tried to remember the absolute rant he went on a few years back. The details were hazy. They had all been pretty drunk on Raijin’s homemade hard cider. But she could remember some of his words, something about an uptight bitch who had cost him his SeeD license more than once.

Hate sex, sure. That would make total sense. But Seifer would never actually like her enough to bring Trepe to their wedding, right?

Fujin shook her head and dropped her phone back on the table. It was probably just some random Dollet chick that Seifer had picked up during a night of fun. He didn’t do relationships.

“That’s my Best Man sorted,” Raijin had his biggest grin on.

“No. My Man of Honour,” She stated firmly and he guffawed. Before he could argue further she shoved the bridal magazine to the floor and turned the television back on.

Raijin laughed, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and settled in to watch the game.

“And Seifer Almasy,” Selphie said. The tip of her tongue stuck out slightly as she jotted his name.

“Plus one,” Fujin jabbed the notepad.

“You heard from him? He’s coming and is bringing a date?” Selphie brows shot up.

“Course he’s coming. He’s my best man, ya know?” Raijin nudged Fujin who frowned at him.

“Man of honour,” She stated whilst crossing her arms. Raijin just smirked, eyes sparkling.

“I uh,” Selphie scratched her cheek and stared down at her notepad. “I didn’t expect him to actually attend. I’m not sure Garden would…”

“Don’t,” Fujin interrupted.

“But come on, he’s a war criminal! Not to mention, who in the world would date Seifer Almasy?”

“Not a criminal. Found not responsible,” Fujin’s voice had dropped a few octaves. Each word was a threat wrapped in deadly silk. The sound made Selphie let out a weak laugh. She glanced at Irvine nearby who was lounging on the grass, hat over his face, pretending not to listen.

“When we agreed that you could help plan our wedding you promised you’d be nice about him,” Raijin cut in with a smooth smile. Fujin glared, completely unsurprised to see he was stepping into his role as eternal peacekeeper.

“He’s not wrong,” Irvine drawled and Selphie scowled at him for his betrayal. She let out an indignant huff and then looked back to her list.

“Very well,” Her voice was saccharine, syrup over pancakes. “Can I at least have the name of his plus one for the place setting?”

“Don’t know her, some blonde,” Raijin opened his phone and flashed the picture at Selphie who gasped.

“I didn’t know Seifer had a Postagram!” She grabbed it from Raijin’s hand and started scrolling through the feed. Her tiny body was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Secret,” Fujin groaned nudging Raijin under the table. He grunted and shot her an apologetic look.

“Oh don’t worry, I can totally keep a secret,” Selphie said. But her words trailed off as she got to the most recent picture. She stopped and stared. “Is this who I think it is? I think I’ve seen that tattoo before.”

“Trepe?” Fujin ventured to say.

“Last I heard Quistis was in Deling City,” Irvine rose to glance at the picture with a shrug. “Could be her, I suppose.”

“Lots of girls have tattoos in the same place. Could even be a shadow,” Selphie zoomed in. She stared for a few moments and then sniffed. “It’s not her. Impossible. Quistis hates Seifer.”

She set down the phone firmly in front of Raijin. Fujin glanced up at Irvine who didn’t look quite as sure. He just shrugged his shoulders before strolling back over to his patch of grass.

“Now, about the cake,” Selphie said turning the page in her notepad.

Once upon a time everyone had claimed Seifer was a bully. They obviously had never met Selphie Tilmitt. Fujin fully believed the girl had been waiting outside her dorm room in ambush to drag her through Garden and out to the Quad.

“Welcome to our weekly Balamb Babes that Brunch!” Selphie bounced on her toes and hauled Fujin forward. They did this every week? Fujin glanced up at the garlands of flowers and the bobbing balloons. Every Sunday? Did Selphie ever sleep?

Riona bounded over and shoved a Mimosa into her hand. “Come on, Fujin. You can sit next to me.”

How did one refuse a sorceress whom they had tried to kill in the past? And so Fujin sat. Awkwardly. Uncomfortably.

The picnic table was covered in a spread of food that could feed a family for weeks. Everything was festooned in flowers. There was delicate china dishes and long-stemmed wineglasses.

“Can you believe it? Seifer responded to the wedding RSVP!” Selphie sank down next to Xu reaching for a towering stack of pancakes.

“Well, no duh. Of course he’s coming,” Rinoa hummed as she reached across Fujin for an almond croissant.

“Yes, obvious,” Fujin agreed with a small smile. Their fling had been short but Seifer had admitted more than once that Riona just got him. Why was everyone else so surprised that their best friend was coming to their wedding?

“And he’s bringing a date,” Selphie stated as if it was the biggest scandal the Garden had ever seen.

“Must be serious. He wouldn’t bring just anyone to the wedding of his best friends,” Rinoa took a sip of her drink and glanced at Fujin.

“Stranger,” Fujin shrugged. “Don’t really care.”

“You’re right,” Rinoa nodded. “It doesn’t matter who he brings as long as he turns up.”

“Come on, aren’t you the least bit curious?” Selphie insisted as she pulled out her phone. The yellow case glittered in the sunlight as she brought up Seifer’s Postagram and turned the most recent image towards Riona. “I think this is her.”

“Oh yeah, I saw that when he posted it,” Rinoa’s glance at the phone was brief. “Whoever she is, she seems happy.”

“You knew he had a Postagram and you never told me?” Selphie’s voice went shrill. “Rinny, please tell me you aren’t still crushing on Seifer.”

“No,” She shook her head with a twinkling laugh. “That ship has long sailed and sunk. Whoever she is she is welcome to him.”

“Do you think she looks a little bit like Quistis?” Selphie asked tilting her head and squinting at the picture.

“She’s blond I guess? I’m not sure Quistis would wear a bikini like that,” Riona said with a dismissive shrug. “But her and I don’t exactly talk much. We’re not close. Xu, what do you think?”

“Quistis would never date Seifer Almasy,” Xu stated spearing a strawberry with her fork. She didn’t even bother to look at the image.

“Do you want whoever she is to come to your bachelorette party?” Selphie looked across the table at Fujin with a gleam in her eye.

“Not having one,” Fujin sliced a hand through the air.

“Ugh,” Riona tossed a napkin at Selphie and rolled her eyes. “Not this argument again.”

“You have to have one, Fui,” Selphie pleaded. “You can’t just go into marital bliss without one last big blow out.”

“No,” Fuijin shook her head.

Riona glanced down at the picture Selphie’s phone as the war raged around her. The blonde’s captured features were similar to Quisits. But the curtain of golden hair made it hard to tell. Her bare shoulders were sunkissed and she looked like she was laughing.

Not long after he was cleared of all his charges, days before leaving Garden, Seifer had approached her. They were both sad over the events of the war. But she was happy now with Squall and Seifer was happy for her. A tentative friendship was formed. Squall knew and didn’t care for it but hadn’t taken much notice of their occasional texts around his long hours as Commander.

Seifer hadn’t mentioned this woman. But that didn’t mean anything. Their conversations rarely strayed to relationships. Whoever the woman was she seemed relaxed and happy. Riona hoped that after everything, Seifer was too.

They had run into each other at a Dollet beach one Sunday afternoon. She sat down next to him on the sand and held out a bottle of sun cream. Fresh, unopened, and the most brilliant shade of orange in her tanned hand. She warned him that his forehead was going to burn. The gesture was so her, so fucking Quistis. He retorted, with a grin, that he was hotter than any sun and with a roll of her eyes she shoved him over into the sand.

Still, amidst laughter, he put on the sun cream. Partly because she was right but also because after everything… it was a nice thing for her to do. They didn’t say much after that. Just watched the sunset in comfortable silence. Two people who had shared a lifetime together and ended up on the wrong side of a bitter war.

A few days later her ran into her again. At the gym this time. He offered to spot her at the bench press. She encouraged him to try a heavier bar. They were both intent on their lifts but the quiet companionship was palpable.

As they were saying their good-byes he invited her to lunch. His favourite place. A little dive bar with over-sized margaritas and fish tacos to die for. To his surprise she agreed. Things were awkward at first. Their history lingered in the air like a bad smell. But a few drinks got them both talking.

She confessed that not long after his trial she had fled Balamb Garden. Every line of the place reminded her of her failures as an Instructor. The post-war attention had been too much. Trepie activity had ramped up to an uncomfortable degree. She proclaimed with utter sincerity that she was searching for a new life. He told her there was nothing greater in life than being free.

The next few weeks unfolded amongst sun-soaked days and trips to the beach. They trained together. Travelled to Deling City where she dragged him to see some fancy Opera. He had to admit, it wasn't half bad. Afterwards they sat together in the park, gazing up at the great arch, and she had been bold enough to ask him about the parade. He tried to explain to her what those moments had felt like on Edea’s float. But it was only snippets of scattered memories, a messy fever dream. He had been nothing more than a marionette with Ultimecia tugging on his strings. A fate that had gone against everything he was.

That night they had made love under the stars.

Quistis had changed. She was still as take charge as ever but the bossy edge was gone. There were moments when her features softened. The armour she had been so carefully constructing her entire life had been withered away by battle. And when she whimpered during nightmares of the war, he was the one to soothe her. The irony was not lost on either of them.

She had gone into their relationship with caution. Just like everything else. But not him. Once he started to catch feelings he was all in. Just like everything else.

And now here she stood before him. A different sea as her backdrop. Her form was covered in a teal gauzy dress that matched his eyes. The tumble of her hair free from its clip. It framed her face, the sun lighting her crown and making her look like a Queen.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” She asked, lingering by the car as if it was some kind of lifeboat. He was in a slate grey suit, top button undone on the crisp white shirt.

“Course,” He grinned. “Fujin and Raijin are my posse. They’re family.”

She winced a little and looked away to where the hulking form of Balamb Garden could be seen glittering on the horizon. That distant look in her eyes had appeared more and more since she had accepted his invite. She was thinking of her friends. The ones she barely spoke to, had trouble communicating with, and yet they all still held the bonds of battle and war. They had bled together.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his side. “Listen, you know I don’t care what they think. But I get it if you do.”

“I don’t.” Her delicate nose crinkled. “Not really. But I am sure they are going to have a whole lot to say about us dating. When Xu and I texted she basically refused to believe it. I don’t want to ruin your friend’s day with the drama of it all.”

“Fujin will probably be happy about the distraction. She has never been one to want to be the centre of attention. If people want to talk then let them. It doesn't have to mean anything to us,” Seifer kissed her temple.

“When did you get so wise?” She asked looking up at him with brows raised.

“Didn’t you know? I have mastered the art of giving no fucks,” He smirked down at her resembling the arrogant boy that had graced her classroom so long ago.

“I know that’s not true. I know you care, Seifer. You’re just very choosy about what,” She said turning to face him and placing a soft hand upon his chest. His hand lifted to cup her face.

“Yeah,” He responded leaning towards her.

“Seifer,” Raijin’s boisterous voice broke into the moment. He came bounding up in a few strides. The two men hugged, clapping each other on the back. “You look good, ya know?”

“Thanks Raij,” Seifer said turning to his date. “You remember Quis?”

“Yeah,” Raijin greeted her with a warm smile. “Glad you could make it.”

“Thank you so much for having me. This is a beautiful spot for a wedding,” She took his offered hand and instead of a shake he pulled her into a hug. She laughed as they parted.

“Sorry to take you from your girl, Seif. I wanted you as my best man but I know Fujin would really like it if you would walk her down the aisle as her man of honour. Do you mind?”

“Hell no,” Seifer’s grin was gorgeous as he clasped his friend’s shoulder. Quisits had never seen such warmth in his gaze before. “Where is she?”

“White tent up the hill,” Raijun chucked his chin towards a stair winding its way through the gardens. “Should be alone. Pretty sure she kicked Tilmitt out about ten minutes ago.”

“I’ll head up now,” Seifer turned his gaze to Quisits. The warmth in his eyes when he looked at her was one of a different kind. “Will you be alright?”

“Of course,” She smiled at him and she meant it. “I’ve faced down some of the worst monsters imaginable. What is one teeny Garden’s worth of faculty and students?”

“That’s my girl,” He said through a laugh. He leaned in to steal a kiss before turning to stride up the steps.

“Let me walk you down,” Raijun offered his arm to Quistis. She took it gratefully before squaring her shoulders in preparation to join her friends.

The tent was silent as he slipped inside. One of the sides had been rolled back so the bride to be could gaze down at the gathering crowd on the beach below.

“Seifer,” Fuijin greeted him with a smile. Instead of a white gown hers was a silvery grey, shimmering in the beach sunset. Her hair was pulled back and up into some kind of elaborate twist. His best friend had never looked more beautiful.

“You always did want to get married at the beach,” Seifer crossed the space and kissed her cheek. She pulled him in for a tight hug. His heart ached at how long it had been since the posse had been together.

“Non-negotiable.” She grinned up at him as they parted.

“Yeah, but all the rest of it?”

“Tilmit,” Fujin groaned. “Menace.”

“Raij says I’m your Man of Honour?” Seifer asked. He was touched at the gesture and was surprised at how that feeling rang in his voice.

“No, his best man,” She countered with a soft smile. Her eyes drifted back down to the scene below. Quisits had just reached the wedding set up and a crowd was forming around her. He could see Tilmitt gesturing wildly. Leonhart standing nearby, silent as a statue. Dincht was making some kind of punching motions. Only Rinoa stepped forward to embrace her, pulling her forward to find a seat.

“Quistis?” Fuijin enquired.

“Yeah, she came with me,” He confirmed. “Feel like I fed her to the wolves.”

“Strong,” She said before moving to pick up her bouquet of lilies.

“You’re right, I don’t need to worry about her. You’re not gonna ask about the war or mention all the shitty things I said about her?”

“In the past,” Fujin shrugged and come to stand beside him. He gazed down at her for a long silent moment. She regarded him back.

“She’s cautious. Worried I’m gonna hurt her,” He confessed in a low tone. “Don’t blame her really. I’m the world’s most famous fuck up.”

“Trust her judgement?”

“Yeah of course I do,” Seifer blew out a hot breath.

“And does she make you happy?” She asked.

“Yes, more than I thought possible,” He responded.

“Then what else matters?”

And that was that. No more needed to be said. He nodded and pulled her in for another tight hug.

Someone below called her name. The first notes of the wedding march rang in the air.

“Love you, Fui,” He looped her arm through hers.

“Love you too Seifer,” She responded with a smile.

“Come on, then. Let’s get you married.”