It was cold and dark and dreary.

In the aftermath of Ultimecia, Seifer had isolated himself in a cabin near Trabia and spent the last several months in a state of guilt and lethargy. He had become an old man. Always lonely and angry for days gone by. Constantly lashing out at the only two people who chose to remain in his pathetic life for whatever reason. In his current state, he reminded himself of a certain someone which made himself even sicker. Who would've guessed the brooding puberty boy would end up with it all? A knight with his beloved sorceress at his side, champions of the goddamn world. And the best part is, he probably hates it. Wants absolutely nothing to do with any of it, the dumb bastard. Maybe if I sulk like this for the next seventeen years everything will just fall into my lap too. His thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt knock at his door.

"Go away!" He yelled, his back to the door. Another few curt knocks, followed by a moment of silence. The heavy door swung open.

"Company." A familiar solemn voice said by the doorway.

"Dammnit, Fujin! If I wanted company I would've as-" His words hung in the air as he spun around expecting to see messy silver hair and a single, stern red eye peering up at him. Instead what he saw was far more unsettling.

Rinoa. She looked different from the last time he had seen her at Adel's tomb. Seifer thought back to that time, remembering every last detail as if it were burned into his memory. The tight grip he had on her small frame. The look of fear in her dark eyes as she parted her pretty, pink lips for him, begging him to stop. Truthfully, it was a position he wouldn't mind seeing in her again. Desire settled uncomfortably in the knot that was always inside his stomach, finding itself a home there with anger and guilt. Seifer studied the woman before him now. Her hair had grown longer and her face had thinned out. She looked more mature, elegant even. It scared him a little.

"Seifer, mind if I join you?" Her voice cut through the stale air. It had been too long since he had spoken to another person other than Fujin and Raijin. Who, let's be honest, were hardly conversationalists.

"As if I could stop you." Was all he said in reply, but the excitement sparkling in his green eyes gave him away.

She walked over and sat down across from him all the while smiling, with that sly, child-like grin of hers, and he felt a little more at ease. Rinoa leaned in, she was watching him, waiting...for what? He stared back at her intensely, watching the reflection of flame of the candle inbetween them dancing in her eyes. She sighed and leaned back into her chair.

"I didn't expect you to be so quiet." Rinoa stated simply.

"Sorry to disappoint, Princess. Same could be said of you. I imagined the next time I saw you either to be hit with a barrage of spells, gunblade to the heart, dog mauling, at the very minimum some claw marks to the face." Seifer told her and enjoyed seeing the increasing amusement behind her eyes.

Rinoa laughed and as Seifer watched her, again his mind flashed back. This time to a light hearted memory of a summer where he thought he knew exactly who he was, or could be for her. To soft shudders under pale moonlight and to broken promises and disappointment.

"Why are you here, Rinoa?" He asked her, forcing himself back to reality.

She looked away from him and crossed her arms across her breasts, which coincidentally he had noted had grown fuller since he had last seen her as well. What the hell did she want? Why would she, of all people, travel out to the middle of nowhere to visit him? The anger in him swelled.

Seifer stood up knocking his chair back and loomed over her, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Did you seriously come here all by yourself...to do what exactly? Have you forgotten what I did to you? What I'm capable of?!"

"Seifer...I..." Rinoa stood from her chair slowly, not breaking eye contact with the man above her. There was no fear in her eyes, however, only pity. This only angered him further. His large hands grabbed her bare shoulders and he roughly pushed her against the cabin wall and leaned in, blonde stubble tickling her ear.

"It's been a while but I bet I can still make you scream." He whispered and felt her shudder beneath him. Seifer brought his face mere inches from hers again expecting to see fear but only saw lust staring back at him.

"Is that what you want?" Rinoa asked innocently, tilting her head at him.

He groaned and hungrily claimed her mouth, kissing her with depravity. When they parted he looked at her darkly, took both her wrists in one gloved hand and pinned them above her head. Seifer brought his other hand to her mouth where she bit each fingertip and slowly pulled the glove off of his hand. He caressed her parted lips with his now bare thumb and her tongue darted out to capture the digit between her soft, pink lips.

Seifer leaned in once more to whisper into her ear, "I still think of you more than I'd like to admit." He felt her cheek brush against his stubble again as her face stretched into a wide grin. He dropped his forehead to her shoulder as he let his ungloved hand travel down her body. Memorizing the hollow of her throat, the jut of her collarbone, and dipping between the layers fabric to feel the swell of her breast.

Rinoa sighed, "Oh how I've missed the touch of my knight..." She spoke with a heavy foreign accent. Seifer froze. His mind had to be playing tricks on him, but he'd recognize that voice anywhere. It haunted him.

"What...did you just say?" He dropped his hands away from Rinoa and peered, fearfully, into her face. Long bangs obscured her eyes from his sight but she still wore the wide grin from his earlier confession. The grin was almost too wide for her face, it was more like a sneer. Slowly, she turned her head to him and he saw that her dark eyes had flecks of gold shining through.

"What did I kome here for, you asked? I kame here for you, Seifer. Only you!" She said in a sing-song mocking voice, "Isn't that what you longed to hear? Do you think this stupid girl would have left her safe, lion's side to be with you? My poor, disillusioned boy. You still dream of her, don't you? How many times have you kried out her name in our throes of passion. Now we both kan have what we want." Rinoa's eyes were pure gold now, with only a small ring of black around the pupils.

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Seifer screamed, backing away from not-Rinoa who was now slinking towards him. He fell backwards on an over turned chair, slamming the back of his head into the solid wood table.

Everything went black.

Seifer awoke with a start. He was fully dressed in his bed. There was a throbbing in the back of his head. He sat up, where was...

"Rinoa!" He called out, catching her just as she was about to head out the door. Most of the candles in the cabin had gone out, it was too dim to see the color of her eyes.

"Seifer..." She said softly, looking down and drawing circles on the ground with her boot.

"What...happened?" He asked, unsure himself.

Her expression looked surprised, "You...don't remember? We were talking...well...I guess arguing would be more accurate. We stood up, you knocked your chair over, then...um...some kissing happened. I pushed you away and you fell backwards and hit your head on the table. Knocked you out cold." Rinoa looked at him sheepishly.

She sounded like Rinoa and was certainly acting like Rinoa. "How did I get in my bed?" He asked suspiciously.

Rinoa put her hands to her hips, "I am a sorceress, remember? I used float. Listen, are you okay? I probably should have never come in the first place. I'm really sorry. I should go." Her expression was anxious as she turned her back and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Rinoa, wait...why did you come here?" Seifer asked, holding his breath.

"I came here for you, Seifer. Only for you."

A/N: Hello! Hope everyone had wonderful holidays. I was struck by inspiration with a scene between these two today and this is what I ended up with. I'm a really big fan of some of the darker fics I've read on here as well as archive of our own but I'm not that talented to make something beautiful so this is what you get lol. Anyways, I've always wanted to explore the relationship between Rinoa and Seifer since I think its an interesting one. More to come hopefully. Thanks for reading!