I never did consider myself much of a powerful romantic. In fact, if it hadn’t been for that coincidental meeting, I might have very well spent the rest of my life as a bachelor. Fate has a way of throwing a wrench in your plans, though, and I remember one event where an especially big wrench was tossed into the works. This wrench, this test of fate, was meant to either strengthen or dissolve our relationship forever. Up until now, Fujin and I had been on fairly good terms, but one event in particular would soon make or break our fledgling relationship. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Fujin and I were starting to grow close, but not in a terribly fast way. We were still friends, even though we had been on two official dates already, and the most we’ve ever done is shake hands. I’ve been brought up to believe that you should approach any relationship with another person slowly, and I was excelling at that. This way, I figured, we could’ve spontaneously called everything off and have no ill feelings at all.

Secretly, though, I wanted our weak bond to be pushed into a new level. Holding hands, hugging, maybe even a kiss or two, or even an intimate secret shared between us… Anything just to get the ball rolling. I… I was really starting to like her, and… well, I wanted to… ahh… well, you know…

So, one day, I decided to gamble on our relationship. I wanted to do something that would test her faith in me, or else mine in hers, but not something too big. I didn’t want to rush things, after all; keeping things slow was okay by me. Anyway, during the last school day of the week, I went over to the same cafeteria table we had always met at, and waited for her to come (with or without the posse). Fujin came, all right, and she brought a smile with her. I adored her smile, and her laugh, and to see her in such a good mood really made me feel good, too.

(It’s obvious we shared something, but like I said, I wanted to take things slow.)

“Hey,” I said, greeting her. She kept her smile and sat across from me as always.

“GREETINGS. CONDITIONS?”

“I’m doing all right,” I answered. By this time, I had gotten pretty good at interpreting her limited words, though I was still no expert. “What about you?” I asked.

“SAME,” she shrugged, and without much else to talk about, she dug into her lunch and began eating. This was my chance. It was either now, or…… well, I’d have to wait out the whole weekend. I didn’t know where she lived or even if she had a phone number, so if I had anything to say, now would have been the time to do it.

“…Hey, Fujin?” She swallowed her food and looked at me. Dear girl… most people would’ve kept on eating. She gave me her full attention. “…Uhh… I, uh, just heard about this really great park, and I was wondering if you’d like to spend some of the weekend there with me.” Fujin thought about it (bless her for not blurting things out like most normal people), smiled, and nodded her head.

“OFFICIAL DATE?”

“Yeah, like a date,” I said. “We can bring some food and have a picnic, and we can play around and talk, and just hang out, and do whatever. I heard it’s going to be a beautiful night.” She kept her smile, nodded once, and wiped her mouth of any crumbs.

“SOUNDS NICE. TIME?”

“Uhhh, how about five in the afternoon, tomorrow?”

“AGREED,” said Fujin, and we shook hands on it. I then told her where the park would be, and then where she should meet me, and she had a pretty good idea where to look. She said that she had been there before, on business, and knew the place pretty well. So, now that we had a little understanding about our next date, we then went on to have our usual lunchtime idle chat.

I told her that I would be taking my SeeD field exam very soon--the following Monday, to be exact. Fujin wished me luck, and regretted the fact that she wouldn’t be able to go with me. She had injured herself during training sessions one night, and so had to wait for the next SeeD test. I assured her that she would’ve blown everyone else out of the water had she went along, and next semester she should be even stronger.

Our conversation continued until the lunch bell rang, then we parted ways until the next day. Now, you might wonder why I said that setting up that date would be a test of our faith. Well, I guessed that if Fujin really was serious about our relationship, she would have taken the time out of her day to join me. Most of our dates were not quite as elaborate as this, and the park was a good distance away, so this might have been the defining moment in our relationship.

The rest of the school day went by as usual, with the Instructors wrapping up everything before the big SeeD exam on Monday. I had literally been preparing for this moment all of my life, so there was nothing they had to say that I hadn’t memorized already. I was probably more prepared for the exam than some of the Instructors, but that’s just my opinion.

The day passed into afternoon, and we were all let home to study or socialize as usual. We would all have two more days to be children, then come the next week we would have to shed off youthful antics and place the mantle of adulthood on our shoulders. I took this time to go home and plan my date with Fujin (I like the sound of that! My date!), and then afternoon fell into evening, and evening into night, and night into morning.

I spent most of my Saturday catching up on anything I thought was lacking in my studies. I discovered I wasn’t missing a thing; I had memorized everything I needed to know by heart. The rest of the day, I worked out until I became exhausted, then took a shower so I’d be in peak condition for my date. When my roommate asked why I was leaving in the middle of the afternoon with such nice clothes on, I plainly told him about my date.

“You’re kidding, right?!” he spat. “You, with Fujin?”

“Yes!” I stated.

“Fujin Kazeno?!”

“Yes… Do you know any others?”

“The Fujin Kazeno, the same one that hangs around Seifer and Raijin??”

“The one and only,” I said with a shrug. His mouth fell open in shock.

“Franks, how in all of Hyne’s green Earth did you manage to score a date with that creepy animal? And for that matter, why would you even want to go out with that thing?” I suddenly turned around and glared at my roommate, placing as much anger as I possibly could in my voice.

“Listen, Howard!” I snapped. “Fujin is a wonderful, kindhearted, intelligent young lady! She’s just as sensitive and humane as anyone else, and she’s not a thing! I know she looks different, and even acts different, but I don’t mind! I think she’s a beautiful woman, and if you have anything else to say, I suggest you make it an apology!!”

“Jeez, man,” he said, backing away from me slowly, “sor-ry! Okay, okay, I apologize, but don’t come crying to me if she sucks all your blood out!”

“You take that back!!!” I shouted, jamming my finger in his face. Howard sniffed and apologized one more time, and I left before any one of us could be insulted again. Yes, I might have gone a little overboard, but if I didn’t defend Fujin from those horrible rumors, then who would? We were friends, companions, and I liked her a lot, and I think when I defended her just then, it was a sign of my steadily-growing love.

I arrived at the park at 4:55. It was common courtesy to arrive anywhere early, and dates were no exception. The entire area was mostly grass and trees, but there were plenty of courts for eating or playing sports. A children’s playground stood out in the very center, along with other wide open spaces that had been used by traveling carnivals and such. It was a very beautiful day, and not too warm, and absolutely perfect for a picnic.

Since Fujin was very sensitive to the sun, I decided to have our date held in one of the scattered shelters. I spotted one that was fairly obvious from the road, and walked over to sit and wait for my date. I figured that I wouldn’t have to wait around that long--ten minutes at the most. Women can be excused from their tardiness because it takes them time to “get ready”, and even though I knew for a fact that Fujin was not one of these types, I still gave her plenty of time to spare.

I had a watch with me, so I could tell how much time had passed. I had first arrived at the park at 4:55, and once I got myself settled, it was five on the dot. I didn’t mind waiting for Fujin a little--after all, I had said to meet her at five, and though it was five now, I didn’t expect her to arrive at that very time. So, to pass the time, I brought out the book she gave me and began to read.

Every ten pages or so, I would mark my place and check my watch. Five o’clock turned into 5:10, and then 5:20, and then 5:30. After I had been sitting there for half an hour, I began to grow a little concerned, but shrugged it off easily. After all, she could have been delayed by several delinquents, or Seifer and Raijin might’ve had one of their regular “meetings”, and it had simply gone over. No problem.

Five forty-five… Five-fifty… Six o’clock… Six-fifteen… Six-thirty…

By the time I finished my book, it was seven o’clock, and Fujin was nowhere in sight. I began to grow a little angry at the delay, and wondered where she could be, and what the holdup was. Both Fujin and I knew where this date was going to be held, and we had both agreed on 5:00, and now two hours had passed with nothing to show for it except disappointment. Where could that woman be?! I shouted inwardly. What could have possibly delayed her? Did she get lost? Doesn’t she know where this stupid park is?! What’s the deal!!??

I looked at my watch again, and angrily grumbled as I saw it read 7:02. I had been here too long. She wasn’t going to show up! I had put my faith on the line and lost! I had trusted her to keep our promise and this is what I got! I was so mad that I could’ve broken something, and almost did. I finally decided that if she didn’t show up by 7:30, then this whole thing would be called off. I can understand somebody being a little late, maybe thirty minutes at the most, but two hours?! That was insane!

And so, I began to wait impatiently. Every second that passed, I grew a little angrier, and every minute yielded even more impatience. Come 7:26, I was steaming mad. How much time had I wasted out here, just sitting and waiting for somebody that would never come?! How much faith did I place on such an unreliable woman, anyway? Women! You never can trust them to do anything!!!

It was seven-thirty, and I daresay that at that moment, all the love I previously held for Fujin had now turned into hate. I was enraged over the fact that I had been foolish enough to sit out here waiting, while she had probably already forgotten about me! Just like everything else in life! I’ve been forgotten and overlooked everywhere I go, and no matter what I did, I always seemed to get second billing! I hated this!!!

Thank God I got my bearings straight before I left. Thank God…

Slowly, I calmed down. Thank God I calmed down… I took several deep breaths, cooled off, and made sure my fiery emotions were once again in check. And then, after I grew calm again, I began thinking with my head and not with my watch. How did I feel about Fujin? Did I love her or hate her? Was I really willing to put my faith in her on the line, or would I quit at the first sign of trouble? Would I stay on the path, even if it got too hard for me to bear, or would I leap off and be content with what I had?

If I stayed, I would be placing a lot on the line. My faith in Fujin would have to be stretched pretty far, but if I really and truly loved her, then I could have waited for all eternity. And then, it hit me. If I left, it would mean that I didn’t care for her, and that all of this was just something that happened, and it didn’t mean a thing. If I left, I would be taking the easy path--the path that led to nowhere. I would be… complacency.

But if I stayed and waited, and kept my faith in her… it meant that I really and truly did love her, and was willing to do anything to keep that love--even if it meant waiting out here in this park. Ah, now I understood. I knew what was going on. I really had been given an opportunity to test my faith, and I came dreadfully close to bailing out at the first sign of trouble. No wonder I wasn’t good with the ladies.

And so, when the clock struck 7:35, I decided to wait for her. I would have waited all night and into the morning if I had to, for I figured that, despite the cold that was quickly settling to the earth, Fujin would have been worth the wait. She was worth it, and more, so I decided to wait.

Seven-thirty turned to eight.

Eight turned to eight-thirty.

Eight-thirty turned to nine.

Nine turned to nine-thirty.

Nine-thirty turned to ten.

And I continued to wait patiently.

She would come. I had faith in her. Fujin would come. I just had to be patient.

It was growing darker and darker by the minute. I didn’t bring a blanket, so when the sun vanished below the horizon, I was slowly growing colder. As the light of the world faded, so did its heat, and I began to shiver because of the deepening cold. But, I continued to wait inside that shelter… Even as the darkness swallowed the whole world, and the people in the park left for their homes… even as the moon came out, and wild animals started to roam the park, I continued to wait.

I tried passing the time by reading, but once the sun was gone, I had nothing else to do except walk around and try keeping myself warm. I had no protection from the elements except for my own clothes, so I had to shiver and shake a lot to keep myself warm. The hands on my watch kept moving slower and slower, while the world grew darker and darker, and the temperature grew colder and colder.

Fujin will come. She said she would. Just keep believing that she’ll come. And, if she doesn’t… then… I’ll still love her…

When ten-thirty came and there was still no sign of Fujin, I finally realized that I loved her. Maybe not in the romantic way, but yes, I did love her. She might have been frightening and curt on the outside, and unusual in terms of looks and speech, but… I had seen something else behind all that. Behind the pale skin and the ruby eyes, she really was just an ordinary girl, one who had hopes and dreams and fears and regrets just like you or I.

I could understand her well. She was different in so many ways, and had had a hard life. She only had her brother and Seifer to look to for comfort, and no other friends. She was all alone, without a flock to call her own: birds of a feather flew together, but her flock was long extinct. She had desired none of the curses given to her, and only through the strength of her heart and will was she able to conquer it all.

The love I felt for her was not out of pity, but admiration. She had climbed above and beyond all the taunting and the laughter, and had made herself a force to fear. She was like a lamb that turned into a lion, and it was this strength that I loved, this… will to ascend beyond what curses had been thrown at her. Fujin was a strong woman, both inside and out, and I knew right then that I loved her because of this, and more.

So it was worth waiting for her.

Ten o’clock became ten-thirty, which in turn became eleven o’clock, and still no Fujin.

That was no problem. I would have waited until five in the morning for her.

A brief thought came to me during those dark hours…

I had to admit, though ridiculous, it wasn’t entirely possible. I had specified 5 p.m., and I think she would have known what I meant regardless, but still…

It was a pretty crazy thought.

I was nearly frozen stiff by the time eleven-thirty rolled around. Deep inside, I was growing impatient again, as I had been waiting for six and a half hours, but I kept on repeating to myself that it was worth the wait, and that Fujin would come, and all I had to do was be patient. I was chilled to the bone, and was too cold to move around much, and I was growing dreadfully hungry and sleepy, but I continued to wait, even as eleven-thirty passed me by to make room for midnight.

And then, just when the clock struck eleven forty-five, all my hours of waiting finally paid off as I saw Fujin off in the distance. I wanted to shout out to her, and I wanted to wrap my arms around her body in our first true embrace, but I was too cold to move. She saw me, though, and shouted out my name as she dashed towards me. When she came within touching distance, I mustered up all my energy to folding my arms around her, and I held Fujin close. The warmth of her body was… beautiful.

“Ffffu… Glad… made it…”

“NIDA… FEEL HORRIBLE…”

“Sssssokay,” I shivered, my arms quivering as they held her. “Iiiiiiwazzz woorff thuuhh waaaait.” Fujin shivered herself, though not from the cold, and slowly wrapped her own arms around my body. Feeling my frozen frame, she slowly shed her blue jacket and folded it over me so I wouldn’t be so cold. It was so toasty and warm that it almost immediately defrosted me, and Fujin gave me a sad smile as she silently begged for forgiveness.

“NIDA… WAIT HERE THIS LONG?”

“Y-yeah,” I managed, “I-I’ve b-been w-wait-ting ever s-s-since f-f-five…”

“FEEL TERRIBLE,” she quivered, her face contorted in deep sadness. I smiled and held her close, and never once doubted her reliability. It had been worth the wait. It had. All of this time waiting and all of this cold had finally paid off, and here I was with a beautiful young woman, with the strength of a lion and the heart of a lamb, and I couldn’t have been happier.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, my voice having a little hiss in it because of the cold. “It was… worth the wait…” I smiled as I held her close, and she shivered a little. Her skin was slowly growing goosebumps from the cold, but the combined warmth of our bodies ensured us that we would have little to fear from the elements.

“KEPT YOU WAITING,” whispered Fujin softly. “HORRIBLE PERSON. GLAD YOU REMAINED.”

“It’s all right,” I assured her again. “Fujin, you’re worth the wait…” She broke our embrace a little to gaze at me, and I elaborated. “Fujin, we’ve known each other for a little while now, but… I’m already starting to like you as more than just a friend… I wouldn’t have stayed if I didn’t care for you, and I do. I wanted to be with you today, so I waited all this time for you to show.”

“STUPID,” she squeaked hoarsely, and I could tell a tear or two tugged at her eye. “SHOULD HAVE LEFT. WILL FREEZE.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I shrugged. “And I don’t care what kept you, either. The point is that you made it, and my faith in you paid off, and… well, we can have that date.” She chuckled weakly, and gazed into my brown eyes with a slight trace of love. I had never seen Fujin look at anybody with compassion before, except maybe Seifer, and I had to admit that her stare was incredibly sweet and full of love. I had been right about her all along.

“…By the way,” I said, “what did keep you? I don’t mind that you’re late, I’m just curious.” Fujin’s shy smile faded, and she grew sad again as her eye looked away from me. She let go of my cold body, and instead turned her gaze to the ground.

“INJURY,” she said softly. “…HOSPITAL.”

“…Oh, I’m sorry,” I whispered. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have scheduled a date!” Her sad face instantly grew a smile again, and the love in her red eye returned.

“ALSO TESTED FAITH,” she said, pointing to herself. “HAD TO DECIDE, WHICH MORE IMPORTANT: NIDA, OR SELF? SELF, INJURED, BUT…… NIDA HURT WORSE, IF SELF ABSENT…” Her shy smile grew a little, as did mine, and I suddenly realized what she meant. My God… this woman had been in the hospital all that time, yet even with her injury, she managed to limp over here and keep her promise.

I nearly cried as I realized what she had went through. The injury had been in her lower leg, so every step she took was a painful one. Balamb Garden, or wherever she lived, was miles away from the park, and unless she drove, Fujin had probably walked all this way with an injury. Yet, even though she could have turned away as easily as I could’ve, she had asked herself which was more important--whether she really cared for me or not--and decided to go for broke, as I did.

The results paid off, for both of us, and I felt absolutely horrible for getting mad at her.

And then, I did cry.

“Oh, Fujin… you shouldn’t have done such a thing for me!”

“WORTH IT,” she said with a smile, and she once again leaned forward to give me a hug. I held her back, and the cold of the night faded as we grew much closer together. After the embrace, I ended up looking directly into her face, and my eyes met hers, and we both leaned forward and placed our lips together in our first real, loving kiss.

That alone warmed me heart and soul, and yes indeed, it had been worth the pains we went through. My faith had been rewarded.

When we broke the kiss, I gazed into her face, seeing the same shy, unsure, beautiful smile she usually had, and my hand went to her pale face. I didn’t care what anyone else said: Fujin was a gorgeous woman, inside and out, and I loved her deeply. In fact, I even declared it just then.

“I love you, Fujin Kazeno,” I whispered, and her single red eye flew open in surprise.

“NIDA…” I silenced her with another kiss, one she happily returned, and we held each other in the cold night as our bond became solidified. I may not have been experienced with romance, but I knew that I had a lot of love to give, if only there had been one patient and understanding enough to receive it. Apparently, I had found just such a person, in the most unlikely of places, and I couldn’t have been happier if I wanted to.

“…LOVE YOU TOO,” came Fujin’s soft, husky voice as our kiss broke, and the glow on her face told me that we would be much more than friends after that day.