Magic, of Sorts
By Bippo

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, the characters, locations, or weapons. If I did, do you honestly think I'd be writing fan fiction about them?


Chapter One:
Homecoming

In a small community like Balamb Garden, tall tales fly faster than Zell at the helm of the Ragnarok. The previous week's reliable source had been refuted when Squall and Rinoa -- supposed to have broken up before the sorceress departed on her SeeD exam -- were seen laughing and dancing with each other at the graduation bal. That the couple looked charming in their matching SeeD uniforms did nothing to cheer the resident gossips*, now faced with the task of 'accidentally overhearing' some equally shocking news in what became an uncommonly slow, uneventful seven days. The rumor of Seifer Almasy's impending return to Garden, then, came as a soothing balm for those poor minds, deprived of wild speculation for so long. . .

It was, as most rumors prove to be, only half true: I had already been in the building for nearly an hour when the first rounds of "did-you-hear"s were whispered over lunch. I'd spent that hour (and the next two -- is that man ever long-winded) being talked at by Cid in his office, oblivious to the mutating rumors on the floors below.

I probably should have been paying more attention to his speech. He went over everything I could possibly ever need to know, from the special ground rules for my return to what I should do if I were threatened with death, but I just couldn't force myself to listen to his droning. Instead I stared at the tattered hem of my beloved gray trench coat and debated whether being readmitted after what I'd done was worth such a lecture.

"Seifer, you realize that your situation is exceedingly delicate," the headmaster said. I looked up at him and nodded my head automatically, a habit I'd developed over the years. It made him think that I was listening. "There are many people who would rather see you incarcerated than offered the opportunity to start over."

That caught my attention, and I nodded obligingly. I understood that much all to well -- one of the reasons I'd wanted to come back to Garden was to get away from people who were more eager to shoot me than to listen to me.

"As such," Cid continued, "you will need to be extremely careful in your actions, lest they be perceived by civilians as dangerous to society. Garden cannot afford another incident -- having so many of our students defect nearly two years ago was more damaging than you may realize."

"Yes, Headmaster Cid, I understand. No instigating rebellions, no provoking others to do things they'll regret." Like follow me on some damn fool crusade to take over the world. I know what you're trying not to say, and you're wasting your breath. I'm not that stupid anymore. I was sorry for dragging Fuj and Rai, and the whole of Galbadia Garden, for that matter, through what should have been my own personal Hell. Friends deserve better, especially when they're the only ones you've got.

Cid seemed appeased by my answer; at any rate, he'd finally stopped lecturing me. He leaned over his desk and pressed the button for the intercom.

"Would commander Squall Leonheart please report to the Headmaster's office immediately." Despite the polite phrasing, it wasn't a question -- meaning that the old man still commanded considerable power at Garden.

A few awkward moments passed as we waited for my former rival to arrive. What do you say to a man who helped raise you, only to have you turn around and team up with his possessed wife in an effort to destroy him and all he'd worked to build? I certainly didn't know, so I didn't say anything. I sat quietly, anticipating the look on Squall's face when he saw me for the first time in over a year.

Puberty boy certainly didn't disappoint me. He recovered himself quickly; I'll give him credit for that. But when he first saw me sitting in front of Cid's desk, right ankle resting on my left knee, Hyperion lying in my lap, relaxed as can be -- he gawked. His eyes bugged out, his jaw dropped. . . Really, I was almost proud of him. It was the most emotion I'd ever seen him display, and that's counting the training session where we gave each other our scars. His surprise, of course, quickly turned to anger as he fixed me with a stare of utter loathing.

"What are you doing here," he growled. "Cid. What is he doing here?"

Cid met Squall's angry gaze with his own unwaveringly calm one.

"Seifer has requested to return to Garden. I have granted his request." The headmaster's words stood almost as a challenge to Squall, daring him to object. Some small part of me almost hoped he would.

Instead the Commander (now there was something that would take some getting used to; thinking of Puberty Boy as someone important) nodded, silently, reluctantly. The expression on his face never changed. Cid returned Squall's nod with a trace of gratitude. Thanking him, I guess, for not putting up a fuss about my sudden change in status, from enemy to ally.

"Commander, I know you've had you differences with Cadet Almasy in the past, but I ask that you try to set those differences aside. He will be living and training here at Garden, and if he passes his field exam -- which he assures me he will -- he will become a full-fledged SeeD. You will be working alongside him, and to do so, you will need to trust him. For that reason I am assigning you, and the rest of the so-called 'Sorceress Gang', to watch over Mr. Almasy. You will learn to get along with him, and he will learn to rely on you."

I jerked up out of my casual pose, nearly dropping Hyperion in the process. "What? Sir, this wasn't part of the agreement!

Squall echoed my protest with his own cry of dismay, which Cid quickly waved away.

"Seifer," the headmaster fixed me with a stern stare that did little to calm me, "this is my decision. You will abide by it if you wish to remain at Garden. And Squall," he continued, turning his gaze upon my opposite, "I am asking you to do this because it is the only way I can see that Seifer will be tolerated by the rest of the students and faculty. If the SeeDs who fought against Cadet Almasy in Sorceress War are seen accepting his return, then perhaps that acceptance will spread. Like it or not, people look up to you. They will follow your example."

Squall didn't seem too pleased with Cid's reasoning. Then again, Squall never seemed too pleased about anything. It was a near impossibility to judge how he was really feeling behind that impassive front -- he could be the happiest man in the world inside, and I doubt anyone would know the difference.

"Sir, I'd like to speak to you in private." Squall's voice sounded strained, as though he was barely managing to remain civil.

The old man nodded his assent and asked me to wait outside his office doors while he and the Commander discussed in private.

"I have to take you to your class now."

I looked up at Squall slowly, giving myself time to mask my surprise. I hadn't heard him enter the lobby outside of the headmaster's office. Am I that out of practice?

"I have to take you to class," he repeated, each word conveying his reluctance to fulfill the task.

"No you don't. Tell me where it is, I can find my way. I did live here for seven years, you know." Puberty Boy, escorting me to class? How badly did Cid want to humiliate me?

Pretty badly, it would seem.

"I can't, " he said. "I have to explain your situation to your instructor. I'm also here as a deterrent to overzealous students. Or some reason Cid doesn't want them attacking you, thinking they're doing the world a favor."

I couldn't believe it. Squall, the grand high Commander, mighty Captain Puberty himself, was being sent to protect me from some lousy half-trained SeeD cadets.

"I don't need a bodyguard. Hyne, if my time as the Sorceress' Knight proved anything, it should be that I can hold my own in a fight."

The moron stared at me blankly. "I'm protecting them from you."

I couldn't decide whether that was better or worse. "I'm not going to kill on my way to my frickin' classroom!"

Squall actually rolled his eyes. "I know. If I'm with you, no one will bother you, and no fights will break out. No fights means no chance of someone being accidentally injured, on either side. So shut up and follow me, Almasy."

I followed him into the elevator, but I couldn't let my archrival have the last word.

"So why're you so talkative all of a sudden? The Squall I remember had a three-word vocabulary."

". . . whatever."

I chuckled softly in satisfaction. "That's more like it. Still. . . you were actually using whole sentences a minute ago, and you sounded used using them in conversations. I wonder what finally loosened your tongue?"

Squall didn't answer, he simply stared straight ahead, tapping his fingers against the hilt of his gunblade in time with the atrociously out-of-place elevator music.

"What. . . or who?" I persisted, musing aloud. "Chicken Wuss? Nah, he's too annoying. I can't see you getting close to him. That hyperactive chick, Selphie? Somehow I don't think so. The cowboy's a moron, and as far as I know he doesn't swing that way anyway." I could see Squall tense slightly as I ticked off people on my fingers. I'd missed messing with him. "That leaves the luscious instructor Trepe -- but last I'd heard, you told her to talk to a wall. Oh, and the Sorceress. . . . Was it her, Squall?"

I knew full well that Squall and Rinoa were a couple, and had been for some time. Actually, I'd been a bit jealous when I first heard that they were together. Not because I still liked Rinoa, but because Squall's relationship with her was another way for him to win the imaginary war for superiority between us. I had come in second again, more unlovable even than the cold, insensitive Leonheart.

If I were anyone else, I probably would have stopped my prodding there, but I'm Seifer Almasy. I had to see things through to the end.

"Yes, I can see it," I drawled suggestively. By now I'd followed him out of the elevator and down the second-floor corridor. "I'm sure you started out small. She probably had you grunting and moaning within the first week, then -- oof!"

I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence, because Squall knocked the breath out of me when he spun and pinned me to the wall. Surprisingly, I couldn't break free of his grasp. He leaned in close to my face, our mirroring scars almost touching.

"Don't," he growled through clenched teeth, "you dare say those things about Rinoa. Say what you want about me, my family, my ancestry, my sexuality, whatever! But leave Rinoa out of it. She is the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful person I've ever met, and she doesn't deserve all this crap." Each word he spoke was slow, deliberate, and occasionally punctuated by slamming me against the wall. By the end of his outburst, Squall was shaking with suppressed rage. Strangely, though, his eyes weren't focused on me anymore. It was more like he was staring through me.

He suddenly dropped his arms to his sides, looking for moment like a lost little boy. I would have laughed if it weren't so unsettling.

"Follow me." Squall's voice was once again his usual monotone.

We had barely gone ten paces when Puberty Boy stopped before an all-too-familiar doorway. He knocked twice, smartly, and then motioned for me to go inside.






*AN: Or the Squinoa-haters, for that matter ;-P
So. . . this is my first Final Fantasy fic. I'd really appreciate feedback of all sorts. Also note that the title is temporary, until I come up with something better. Suggestions for a new one are welcome!