Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Final Fantasy VIII and I don't wish to. Where would I keep them; a cage in my basement?
Revert
by Fair Haven Heights
Water lapped playfully against the sea-soaked metal of the Balamb docks. Squall hung his legs over the side of the pier, looking down into the shiny water. It moved endlessly back and forth, just like the conflict in his mind. Back and forth, like a pendulum. He had completely shut down.
Poor sensitive, kind, smart, gorgeous Rinoa. There were so many words to describe the woman that was the joy of his heart. To Squall, right there on the Balamb docks, those words were all that remained. Rinoa Heartilly, age 19, died in a car accident in Deling City. The funeral was a large event, stuffing Timber to its limits with sadness and grief. Squall stood over her casket. She had told him he had opened up. She had told him he was beginning to show signs of love. She had made him open up.
He didn't shed a single tear for her. Two years after the defeat of Ultimecia, he had grown so much but it all snapped back, like an overstretched rubber band, and reverted. He was sad, no doubt, but it wasn't the kind of sadness that tore at his heart. It was a dull drone in his ears sadness, a reminder that he was still human, that she was human, and that mortality was a reality everyone had to face.
She was buried next to her mother, who died of the same cause. Ironic, thought Squall, but he wasn't in a joke making mood. Squall had watched Rinoa being lain into the ground. He looked up from the angelic corpse, gazing around at his friends. Selphie, the most emotional, fell to her knees, to be comforted by a silent Irvine. Quistis and Xu stood stoically, next to a strong Ma Dincht. Squall glanced around as General Caraway walked away from the group, but something else caught his eye.
Seifer. Dressed in a formal suit, Squall hadn't immediately recognized him. His hair was combed decently for once, giving him a bit of a somber look, despite the sharp eyebrows.
That was the last time Squall had seen Seifer. And that was three years ago. A total of five years from Ultimecia's demise. As the new commander of the renovated Balamb Garden, Squall felt that time had passed quickly. Balamb was like a new home to him; he hadn't left the island much and the sun and calming waves kept his most inner thoughts of the tragedy at bay. He stood up from his session of contemplation and began to walk back inland, toward the town. His solitary march back to Garden was uninterrupted and uneventful. As he approached the gate, Xu walked down the main steps to greet him.
"Squall! Squall! I've been looking all over for you! Where've you been?" she cried.
Squall didn't answer. Did it matter where he was as long as he was here now?
"I just wanted to remind you. Quistis is taking off for vacation for the next two weeks. The long term substitute is coming in tonight on the late train."
Squall was unimpressed. "...And?"
"Well," Xu stammered, either holding back laughter or trying not to anger Squall, "just before Quistis left, I got a notice from the sub. Guess who it is?"
Squall stayed silent as Xu handed him an email printout. The words Seifer Almasy were printed in deep black on the sender line.
"Hyne, how long has it been? Three years? Wow, I never thought he'd be a SeeD let alone a--"
Squall wasn't interested in the rest of her story. He had stormed past her, briskly walking, almost running. He made it to his third floor private office easily.
Questions and demands ran through his head. Did Quistis request Seifer? How did Seifer end up becoming an instructor? He couldn't really answer anything. It had been five years since they had had any major contact; they didn't really have much new to fight about. But with Rinoa gone, the last thread that held them in common was cut. They were moving on with their lives. "Why do you have to come back to haunt me, Seifer? Why now?"