Title: Time
Fandom/ Pairing: FFVIII/KH2/ Seifer x Zell (and others?)
Rating: PG13 - M for language I suppose (thus far)
Word Count: Chapter 1: 3960 aprox.
Spoilers/ Warnings: Err… KH2 spoilers? I dunno! Warnings? Err…. Prepared to be a bit confused and such, might higher rating in later chapters.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective creators. I own nothing besides my stupid imagination.

(Chapter beta read and edited on 18th of march 2013)

Chapter 1

Twilight Town had always been a rather sleepy town. It was, after all, a fairly small town; nothing much out of the ordinary happened there. But living in a small town did have its setbacks: everyone knew everyone, more or less. Kids couldn't cause trouble without it circling back to their parents somehow, when it was something bigger, that is.

But kids will be kids, and there will be rivalries and fights, groups will be built and cliques made. There were two very defined groups that were indeed rivals and had been since early ages. The lot of them were only a year apart in age, if not the same in one case.

One of those groups even dubbed themselves the town's disciplinary committee and took it upon themselves to make sure that not too much trouble was caused in the sleepy little town.

Hayner, Pence and Olette had been friends since kindergarten, and then there were Seifer, Fujin and Rajin who had also been friends since kindergarten. But as it were, the two groups clashed horribly, or rather, Seifer and Hayner clashed. They had gotten into fights since day one. They just couldn't stand one another. The fistfights weren't that common though; it was mostly verbal, to Hayner's dismay. Hayner almost preferred the fistfights: they, at the very least, were over with relatively quickly.

The dynamics of the groups changed slightly the summer when Hanyer and his group had just finished with 5th grade because that was the summer a cousin of Hayner's suddenly showed up...

It was a very warm day when Hayner's cousin arrived; Hayner hadn't even known he had a cousin out of town. Apparently, he was the same age and would be staying with them for the summer vacation due to his parents working nightshifts or whatever, but either way, both of them had taken on a heavier workload during the summer.

Hayner wasn't really that pleased with having a cousin coming to stay; it meant he would have to share his room with a stranger.

When Hayner's mom came back from the airport and ushered a short kid through the door in front of her, Hayner had a feeling it was going to be a long summer. First of all, he had to deal with Seifer on a regular basis, and now he had to babysit his cousin, even if they were the same age.

"Come on now, don't worry, your mom said she would call you every evening before she heads out to work," Hayner heard his mom say as he looked around the back of the armchair he was draped across. He hadn't been allowed to go out and hang out with Olette and Pence that day because his mother had insisted that he should meet his cousin before he went anywhere.

"Hayner, come and say hello."

The dark-blond boy rolled off the armchair with a sigh and shuffled to the hallway, his hands stuck deep within the pockets of his cammo shorts. "Hi," Hayner said tersely and got a smack on the back of the head because of it. "Behave, Hayner," His mother chided and smiled towards the scrawny kid standing staring at Hayner with big azure eyes.

"Would you show Zell to your room? I need to get the rest of the luggage out of the car," the brown haired woman said before she set one small bag down beside the door before she turned to head outside once more. A thick silence settled between the cousins before Hayner motioned for Zell to follow towards the set of stairs leading to the next floor.

"Zell's a strange name," Hayner eventually said as they made their way up the rather steep stairs. He couldn't see the look on his cousin's face, but he heard the huff. "And Hayner isn't?" Hayner actually stopped and turned around to look at the kid again surprised by the harsh tone. Zell was frowning up at Hayner, and azure eyes were narrowed in annoyance. "Could you get movin'? This thing is heavy," Zell said as he motioned to the suitcase irretably. Hayner continued up the stairs and Zell followed.

"You don't have to be an ass-hat to someone ya don't even know," The shorter blond muttered as he let go of the bag once they reached the second floor hallway. Hayner's eyes grew a bit wider at what his cousin had just said. He was honestly surprised; he had taken Zell for a complete pushover at first glance.

"So where's yer room?" Zell asked. The anger seemed to have already faded away and he looked around what he could see of the upstairs floor, a curious tilt to his head. "Um...this way," Hayner said and started towards his room once more and Zell dutifully followed, dragging the suitcase behind him, as well as readjusting the backpack hanging off one of his shoulders. Hayner hadn't even noticed it, for such a scrawny kid he managed quite a load.

They entered the bedroom, it was fairly big and bright. The high bunk bed snug against the furthest wall, the window to the side of it, the moss green curtains pulled apart to let the midday sun inside. Hayner had always had a bunk bed; it was much more fun that way in his oppinion, and it was way easier to have sleepovers as well when you had a bunk bed. Zell looked the room over and slowly a frown settled over his features. "...Your room's a mess," the azure eyed boy stated and Hayner bristled; even if his room was a disaster zone, it didn't need to be pointed out.

"So what? It's not like I care. And the top bunk is mine," Hayner said before he stalked over to a beanbag, shoved unceremoniously into one of the unoccupied corners, and plunked down on top of it before he glared openly at the other blond. Zell didn't seem to care though. "I hate messes... and it doesn't really matter where I sleep," Zell said before he tossed the backpack onto the bed, where it bounced twice on the springy mattress, before he shuffled some toys out of the way with his feet so that he could set his suitcase down near the bed without crushing anything.

A minute later, Hayner's mom came into the room with a bright smile on her lips but it soon melted away into a frown, and her brows drew together ominously, well, ominously for Hayner, because he knew what that look meant. "Hayner! I told you to tidy up your room while I was gone." Hayner just frowned right back, if not as fiercely, at his mother and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest.

"It's ok Auntie, I'll help," Zell suddenly said with a bright smile directed at Hayner's mother. Hayner's head swiveled around so that he could stare at his cousin for a long moment, and then shifted his gaze towards his mom who smiled back at Zell. "Oh Zell, sweetie, you don't have to do that, you just had a long flight..." She said in her kindest, and most caring, tone.

Zell simply continued to flash his bright smile at the woman and then gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "I don't mind; if we do it together, it'll go much faster. And I'd really like to go outside and have a look around later if that's ok with Hayner."

Hayner stared at the exchange with a look on his face that was something between horror and confusion. "Oh, that's fine, sweetie. Hayner will show you around town. And you're such a good boy who offers to help out your cousin. When you're done, just come downstairs and I'll make you two something to eat before you head out." Hayner's mom turned to look at her son with a somewhat disapproving tilt to her mouth. "Be happy you have such a nice cousin, Hayner. Now get off your backside and get cleaning." With a grumble, Hayner got off the beanbag as his mother left, her foot falls fading as she made her way down the stairs. As soon as she was gone though, the bright smile melted away from Zell's face and he started to move things off the floor, piling them into his arms as he went.

"So, where does all this go?" Zell asked as he held an armful of toys, some hanging precariously out of his grip, and all Hayner could do was point towards the toy box on the other end of the room as he was at a loss for words...

They got the cleaning done fairly fast and were downstairs within ten minutes and out the door in another twenty. Hayner led the way, hands clasped behind his head as they walked. Zell had his hands in the pockets of his dark blue jean shorts, the black and red T-shirts looking a bit awkward on him as it seemed to be a couple of sizes too big for his small frame. Zell's hair was much blonder than Hayner's, and while Hayner's hair was slightly wavy, Zell's was straight. Zell was also shorter then Hayner and looked to be a few years younger than he actually was. There really wasn't much of a resemblance at all, so Hayner guessed they both took after their dads because it was their moms who were related.

They wandered around for a bit, and eventually happened to come across Pence and Olette; Twilight Town wasn't that big so it wasn't really a surprise, not for Hayner anyway.

"Hi, Hayner!" Olette said cheerfully and made her way over, a bounce in her step. "Is this your cousin?" she asked curiously. Her big green eyes looking at Zell trying to see a resemblance, Zell smiled brightly back at the girl. "Hi, I'm Zell," the short boy said giving a small wave as greeting. Olette copied the wave and then motioned towards herself. "I'm Olette, and this is Pence; we're like best friends with Hayner." Pence grinned as well and waved at Zell. "Hello."

Hayner watched the interaction with a frown. "So where are you from Zell? Hayner didn't say," Pence asked and Hayner let out a huff at that before he plunked himself down on a nearby bench. "Because I don't know. Mom didn't say," Hayner muttered grumpily and continued to frown. Pence took a seat beside Hayner as Olette drew closer to Zell, her hands clasped behind her back.

"I'm from Zanarkand, well, the outskirts really. Dad's a fisherman and mom works nights at the hospital," Zell said with a small but friendly smile. Olette let out an awed sound. Zanarkand was really far away and it was a really big city near the ocean. None of them had been further than the next town over, so meeting someone from one of the biggest cities around was something new indeed.

Hayner continued to frown as Pence and Olette continued to ask questions, and Zell answered them happily. It was annoying how friendly his cousin seemed to be...

The first week that passed was quite uneventful. They went to the beach a few times with different parents; sometimes it would be Olette's mom, or Pence's dad, or Hayner's mom. And it was crazy how fast Zell got tan and his hair turned platinum, but Hayner's mom said it made him look a lot healthier, and that he had been awfully pale when he'd gotten there.

Hayner still had a problem with his cousin though, because as soon as they were alone he wasn't as smiley and happy as he was around others. But the day Seifer and Zell met, it had seriously made Hayner's day. Hayner, Zell, Olette and Pence had just been walking around town eating ice cream, well, everyone except Zell; he really didn't like the sea salt ice cream at all and had given his to Pence, who had gladly eaten it.

They had really just been minding their own business when Seifer and his posse cut them off, and blocking their way."Well, well, if it isn't Chicken-wuss and his gang of losers, plus a new one. Who's the scrawny scarecrow?" Seifer asked all haughty as he smirked down at Zell.

"Stop it Seifer, you're so mean," Olette said her whole posture changing and her brows drew together in a worried frown. Hayner just rolled his eyes though; it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Seifer to act like an arse.

"...Scarecrow?" Zell asked as a mildly confused look stretching over his features as he let his azure eyes quickly scan over the taller blond. "At least I'm not stupid enough to walk around with a friggin' beanie in the middle of summer," Zell said before he crossed his arms over his chest, and Zell's tone of voice clearly indicating that he really thought Seifer was the stupidest person he'd ever come across.

Ocean green eyes glared down at the much shorter blond for a brief moment before Seifer tilted his head in a very cocky sort of way. "Oh, it speaks," he said and took a menacing step closer, and Zell couldn't help but flinch, Seifer was after all kind of intimidating. That small flinch drew a smirk to the older blond's lips though. "Oh, so we have another chicken, do we?" Zell straightened his posture and glared right back up at Seifer. "I'm not scared of an ass-hat like you, and don't call me chicken." Zell said, without really thinking, and even though that part of Zell's brain was screaming at him to just shut it and run away, Zell ignored it, it was what he usually did.

"Who are you calling an ass-hat, chicken-shit?" Seifer said slowly, his eyes narrowing as he drew even closer to Zell.

"Hey, you guys, stop it!" Olette shrieked, her hands fisted and held close to her chest as her eyes shifted worriedly between the blonds.

"You think they're going to fight?" Pence whispered to Hayner The blond just shrugged his shoulders but kept an eye on his cousin and his, well... bully. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to have Zell around after all...

After a short but intense bout of name calling an actual fistfight broke out between Seifer and Zell. What surprised everyone was how well Zell could actually hold his ground; the two blonds were dishing out and receiving an equal number of blows up until an adult got there and pulled them apart. Seifer had acquired a split lip and Zell a bloodied nose, and as the two blonds stood a good way away from one another, trying to stop their injuries from bleeding, all of them got a long lecture about how they shouldn't fight.

When Hayner and Zell eventually got home, after Olette had fussed over Zell and his nose for a good five minutes even though it had already stopped bleeding by then, Hayner's mom had a fit; she'd already heard what happened. And apparently she thought it was all Seifer's doing, which was good for Zell, but even so she lectured them both on why you shouldn't fight, and then lectured Hayner for not doing anything to stop it.

The both of them were grounded for the next two days, and Hayner couldn't see why he had to stay home; he hadn't done anything. They weren't confined to being inside though. They could go out into the yard because the weather was so nice, but it still sucked. Zell, who seemed to have been genuinely sorry about causing trouble was awfully quiet for the whole duration of their grounding. Not that Hayner minded. Zell had a tendency to talk way to much anyway.

After the first incident between Seifer and Zell it became commonplace to see the two blonds verbally fight with one another. It didn't really help that Zell was prone to get annoyed with the other blond really fast; he dished out as many nasty comments as Seifer but it was usually the older of the two that bated the other into the verbal sparring match. But they didn't get into another fistfight. They got into one another's personal bubble, but no blows were exchanged; it was close on several occasions, but someone intervened before it could come to physical blows.

What really surprised Hayner though, was that for the rest of the summer the older blond ignored him completely. No snide remarks or name-calling was thrown his way at all. All attention was focused on Zell. Not that Hayner minded at all; it was nice to have a bit of a breather from Seifer's constant bullying.

A week before school was about to start Zell flew back home. Apparently, his dad worked all summer so that he could be home the rest of the year. But when he did that, there was no one home during the nights because Zell's mom worked nightshifts. But now it would be fine, so Zell could go home and spend the last of his summer vacation with his family.

It was a bit strange to have the room all to himself again, and only a couple of days after Zell was gone the room was a mess. Hayner hadn't realized until then that Zell actually put everything away even if he hadn't been the one to get it out.

But the next time Hayner, Pence and Olette ran into Seifer, the older blond seemed even more annoyed than usual, and took it out on Hayner. Summer vacation was indeed over.

The next summer was much the same, and Hayner was almost happy that Zell would be coming. The relentless bullying Seifer had been keeping up was exhausting. There were the Struggle battles though, where they could actually fight it out instead of throwing insults at one another. But Seifer had a year worth of Training on Hayner, so Seifer won all the time. It was like he had some inborn skill, which was extremely annoying. The smugness on Seifer's face when he won was just, well, annoying.

Zell had just happened to fly out in time to see the Struggle tournament that year, and he'd had an utterly confused look on his face as he'd watched it, and it hadn't been long before the blond Zanarkandian had burst out laughing. Olette had asked what he thought was so funny.

"Well... It just looks kinda stupid to me. I didn't know somethin' like this existed; we don't have it in Zanarkand, that's for sure. I'm on the Blitzball team at school though... way more entertainin' than this," the short blond had said before he had settled back to watch in amusement as Hayner got his ass kicked.

"...Seifer seems to be good at it though," Zell had commented in a bland sort of way. The bullying blond had actually won the tournament that year, and Hayner had gotten 5th place, which wasn't bad, but it really was a blow to Hayner's ego.

The rest of the summer went about much as the previous one had. But this time, Zell was poking fun at Seifer for fighting with something that looked like it belonged in a cartoon show with puppets. To say that the other blond got angry was an understatement, and had at times used said bat to fight Zell. The shorter blond did well to block the hits though, but would end up bruised at times. But he often got a few hits in himself. They stayed away from places where adults could see them though; they didn't need another lecture about fighting. And besides, no one got seriously hurt.

After one of those fights, while Zell was nursing a badly bruised thigh, Olette had asked something that the other boys had also been wondering. "Hey Zelly, how come you're like, able to fight Seifer like that?" the green eyed girl had asked as she handed him an icepack. They were hanging out in Olette's backyard that evening in an attempt to avoid more of Seifer and his gang.

Zell looked a bit confused at first, then broke out into a wide grin. "Oh, I didn't tell ya I've been taking martial arts classes since I was like 6?" Olette shook her head and Pence snickered, while Hayner looked like he was torn between being mildly impressed and annoyed for some reason. "Like, my mom thought I was way to hyper and figured I needed some sort of outlet for all that energy, so she signed me up for martial arts classes. Kiddy classes ain't really that into the whole fightin' thing, but when I got old enough to actually train, it got a whole lot funner," Zell said in a happy tone and shifted the icepack around a bit before he reclined back on the grass.

"Funner?" Pence had asked, a smile on his chubby face. Zell had just waved dismissively at Pence. "Ya know what I mean," He'd said, but gave a small embarrassed laugh anyway.

Later that summer, Zell found some other kids to hang out with; they had been practicing some sort of ball sport at the beach and the short blond had hurried over excitedly and asked to join them. Zell was a people person, someting Olette had pointed out at that time. Zell had no problems making friends. He was loud and outgoing and just liked being around people and having fun.

He had asked them to join later, but they had all declined; they didn't know the rules and it was almost time to head home.

Hayner, Pence and Olette didn't see much of Zell for the rest of that summer, not during the days anyway, but in the evenings, Hayner would have to spend time with the blond, due to the sheer fact that they lived under the same roof for the summer.

"Seifer's been like, stalking around town all day," Olette whispered as she looked around the corner. Pence glanced around as well and watched as Seifer briskly walked across the sandlot and out of sight. "Seems like he's looking for someone," Pence said before he glanced over at Hayner. "You think he's looking for you?"

Hayner shrugged and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his cammo pants; it was getting chillier with summer being over. "Dunno, but considering Zell went home last week, I suppose he's looking for someone else to bully."

"I feel a bit bad for Zelly. I mean it's like, he comes here for the whole summer, having to spend all of his vacation away from home, and then he has to deal with Seifer on top of that," Olette said as the three of them continued on their way towards the ice-cream shop. "Hey! I have to deal with him ALL the time!" Hayner said almost indignantly. How could Olette feel sorry for Zell who only had to deal with Seifer a few weeks while he had to deal with Seifer the rest of the year?

Olette looked over at him with apologetic eyes. "Sorry, I just meant it has to suck for him because he's not from here and like... well..." The brunette girl was scrabbling around for words, but eventually gave up. "It's just that I feel sorry for Zelly, it has to be though you know..." she said with a small pout.

Hayner frowned and Pence stayed quiet.

'Why can't he just stay in Zanarkand...?' Hayner thought sulkily as they walked down the sidewalk, the buildings bathed in the orange glow of the sunset. Not that any of them really noticed, it was a very common sight to them after all.

Notes: Thank you for reading! Leave a comment if you like? I would love to hear what you guys think of this one. X3 And cudos to my beta!