A Mutual Understanding.

A/N: Shhh, I'm not quite done with FF8 yet. I wrote it in about a half hour. Unbeta'd. That's my excuse. It's lame, but it's better than no excuse at all?

xxxxxx

"I would be a sorceress," Quistis said sternly.

"What?"

"You heard me. If I could change one thing about my life, then I would become a sorceress."

Seifer sat across from her, staring at her in disbelief. Leaning in, he studied her face. Quistis looked pretty serious about what she had just said. Still, he wasn't entirely sure that he had heard her correctly. Why would anyone willingly become a sorceress? After a brief moment of silence as he was digesting what she had said, he began to laugh. It was quiet at first, just a little chuckle, but it quickly grew into a roar of laughter.

He stopped after he noticed her glaring daggers at him and leaned back in his seat. The smirk, however, remained plastered on his face.

"A sorceress," Seifer said. "Out of all the things in the world you would change, you would find a way to become a sorceress?"

"Yes."

There was an awkward pause. "I can't believe you're serious."

"And why not?"

Seifer shrugged. "Well, I guess that if you were a sorceress, I wouldn't find you all that intimidating."

"What does 'being intimidating' have anything to do with it? Rinoa's not too particularly intimidating, but she's a sorceress."

"Yeah, but, see, unlike you, Rinoa doesn't have a look of displeasure on her face half the time. People would look at you and be like, 'Oh, look, it's the great Sorceress Quistis. Watch out guys, she's going to give you a detention slip.' And maybe it's just me – maybe it's because of that fling we had that one summer, I just don't know – but there is something intimidating about seeing a cute girl like Rinoa suddenly transforming into something that wicked and evil."

"If she had asked you," Quistis said quietly, slowly, carefully choosing her words, "would you have been her Knight?"

"When the hell did this conversation become about Rinoa? Look, I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would say, 'I want to be a sorceress because it looks like fun!' And, for the record, I would have been her Knight, just to piss off Puberty Boy."

Quistis rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't be because of fun."

"Then indulge me, dear Instructor."

Cringing at the old nickname, Quistis looked down at the table. "The power. I would want the power. I would be known for having power, and there would be just so many things that that power could be used for..."

"I guess that's fair reasoning."

"What?" Quistis looked back up at him. Now, it was her turn to be surprised – was he actually agreeing with something that she had said?

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I think it's the stupidest reason ever, but it's still a fair one. I can understand why you'd want the power. Everyone wants to feel powerful over something or someone at one point in their lives."

"I'm glad that we understand each other."

"We've almost understood each other. I've just got one more question - would you save the town or burn it down?"

This was the true question – Seifer could tell by the look on her face. Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated on figuring out what her answer would be. Smiling to himself, he prepared himself for the obvious answer.

Finally, she answered: "I wouldn't save the town or burn it down. I'd probably set my sights on destroying the world."

Seifer's eyes widened in shock. This wasn't the answer he was expecting at all. "What kind of side of you is this?"

"Well," she said, her mouth curved in a mischievous grin, "wouldn't destroying the world be a lot more fun? Besides, I'm kind of tired of Rinoa and Squall getting the limelight all the time. I might want to make them suffer a little. I mean, maybe not suffer, just... not be so happy together all the time. It gets a little old after a while."

"While I love the idea of making people suffer just for the hell of it, that idea is coming from your mouth. I really can't tell if you're being serious or not."

"Who says that it's serious? It's just speculation. The 'what-if' scenario. It doesn't have to make any sense at all."

Seifer took a swig of his drink and set the glass down loudly on the table. "Well, I just want to put it out there, that if that whole scenario of yours did happen, I'd gladly be your Knight. I mean, you can't have Puberty Boy all to yourself. That'd just be unfair."

"I'm glad we understand each other, Seifer."

Seifer nodded in agreement. "If only life would be so kind..."