L-O-V-E
by BikoNeko/PokeSqrt
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and its characters belong to Squaresoft, not I.
Author's Notes: Hello everyone, this is a Seifer & Quistis fic. I got so inspired to write this and I just couldn't restrain myself from doing so! There is never enough of that pairing, anyway! ^^ Well, I hope you like.
PART 1 If This is Love
He watched in terror as the lovely porcelain vase was flung across the room. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his small hands onto his ears to block out the ear-piercing shattering of the object upon hitting the wall. He retreated into his room and jumped onto his bed, putting the pillow over his head in an attempt to hinder the painful sounds of his parents fighting.
'Mommy...Daddy...please stop fighting...' he pleaded in his mind as tears stained his cheeks. 'I don't want you to fight anymore...'
~*~*~*~
"GOD DAMMIT, QUISTIS!!!" Seifer boomed, green eyes flaring. "What would you have done if I didn't come in time, huh? WHAT!!! Someone could have taken away our kid!!! Then what?!"
"Look, I specifically told you that I was going somewhere today," Quistis retorted.
"I have to work! What the hell!!! Why didn't you just take him with you!? Or leave him with a babysitter!?"
"We don't have enough money to afford a babysitter every single day, Seifer! I told you that we had to alternate! I have things to attend to, too, you know!!!"
"Who brings in the money to this house, huh??? WHO!!!???"
"I support this family too!!! I would have brought in more if you'd just stay here while I worked!"
"Wait, we are NOT a family! It's only me and you and the kid. DON'T think I'm doing this for you because I'm not! This is only for the kid! I work for that kid! And what am I supposed to do while you were out at work anyway, huh? Sit here and cook?!"
"So you expect me to do that?!"
"Of course, that's all you're good for!"
{PAK!!!}
Placing a hand tenderly on the welt on his cheek, he glared at the woman with her eyes lowered. Before he could yell at her for her action, she angrily stormed away to their room.
"Where the hell are you going?" he demanded. "I'm not done with you!"
Hastily wiping away tears from her eyes, Quistis yanked a suitcase from the closet and started throwing her belongings into the bag.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" hollered Seifer. "Think that's gonna work on me?! See if I give a fucking damn! Go if you want, it'd be better for me!!"
Tears painfully stung her eyes but she refused to let them spill. Not in front of him. She couldn't let him see the weak side of her, the hopeless side that showed she cared. Letting him know that she was vulnerable would only cause her more pain because she knew all he would do is scoff at her weakness.
"For five years, I've put up with this and I won't put up with it anymore," she said through clenched teeth. "I've bit back my tongue and haven't said a word but I know. You are a poor excuse for a father and I will no longer take it. I know your salary and every time I check, there's always some money missing. I'd hate to know what crap you buy with it but I'm not going to stand this anymore. You're probably using that money on some whore! That money's supposed to go to our son! I refuse to live under the same roof with a selfish bastard like you!" She quickly shut her suitcase and rushed over to her son's room.
"Don't you dare take him away from me!" Seifer ordered, following the young woman.
"He's MY son!"
"I support him! Don't you fucking take him away or I'll--" He stopped when she froze upon opening the door.
"Reni..." Quistis murmured softly. "He's gone..."
~*~*~*~
"Should we contact his parents?" Cid inquired as he watched his wife stroke the hair of the little boy in her arms.
"There has to be a reason Reni ran away," Selphie interjected. "Reni loves his parents and his parents love him. He would never just run away for the fun of it."
"Selphie is right," Edea said. "There must be a reason Reni left his home. Something..."
"It's probably real serious," Zell said. "Why would he go from Balamb Town all the way over to here?"
Edea nodded, gazing at the sleeping boy. Although he was only five, he had a strong spirit and a will of iron. She imagined that he inherited those, like the features that reminded her of his parents. His soft silky strands of gold were probably from his mother, but like his father, there was always that stubborn one that stuck out of his head. His skin was flawless and of a fair complexion, and his eyes were a stunning sky blue.
"We shall ask him about it in the morning," Edea said to the five friends. "For now, we shall let him rest. Everybody should go back to their rooms and get some sleep."
~*~*~*~
He looked up in response to the gentle calling of his mother.
"Reni," she said, smiling sweetly. "Come on."
"Mommy..."
He stood straight and headed for his mother as leaves of yellow, red and orange fluttered in the crisp, autumn breeze.
"Come on, Son," a male voice called out. His father, standing by his mother with a strong arm draped lovingly around her shoulder.
"Mommy... Daddy..." He finally reached his parents and his mother took him in her warm embrace. He could see her glimpse up at the young man beside her and a soft smile graced her rose-colored lips. It was obvious that this woman was in love. His father stared down at her with the same affectionate look on his face and smiled. He, too, was in love.
"Mommy... Daddy..." Reni spoke softly. "Can we be a family now?"
"Sure," his father laughed. "But we need one more thing..." He dug his hand into the pocket of his coat and took out a small, black, velvet box. He placed a finger on the young woman's lips to stop her from saying a word and handed her the box. "Now we can be a family."
~*~*~*~
"GAH!" Reni sat up from his bed and realized he had been dreaming. He was in Garden and no longer in the wonderful dream world where his parents were in love. He was no longer in the dream world where there were no more fights and they could be a happy family. No disagreements, no shouting, no screaming or cursing. Just two parents deeply in love.
He sniffled and started to cry. It seemed so real but now that he was back in the horrible reality where his parents despised each other and argued all the time, he didn't know what to do anymore. Seeing them fight was hard on him and all he could do was cry. Knowing that it was all his fault hurt him even more. If he hadn't been born then they didn't have to quarrel every single waking second and continue hurting each other. His father wouldn't have to go sleep on the couch every night and his mother didn't have to cry herself to sleep. It was all his fault.
"Reni," Edea called out as she entered the room. Worry was visible throughout her pale features as she approached the bed. "Darling..."
"Matron!" he cried, jumping into her arms.
"Oh, my poor Reni..."
"It's all my fault... Mommy an' Daddy are always fightin'... I don't want them to fight anymore..."
"Is that why you ran away?"
"Mm-hm," he nodded.
"Do not worry, Reni. It is not your fault. Your mother and father love you very much and they would never be angry with you. It is not your fault."
"Edea...?" Cid slowly came into the room. He saw her and Reni and went over to them.
"Uncle SeeD..." Reni murmured.
"Ahem!" Cid cleared his throat and chuckled. "That's 'Cid', Reni."
"Okie, Cid Reni."
"Er..."
"Sir!" Xu entered the room with a phone in her hand. "Sir, it's Quistis."
"Ah..." the headmaster turned to his wife. "Should we tell her?"
"Well...we will have to ask the one she is looking for." Edea looked down at the little boy. "Reni, your mother is searching for you. Do you want her to know where you are?"
"..." Reni took a moment to think about this. "Okie."
Cid took the phone from Xu. "Hello? Oh, good morning, Quistis. How are you? Oh? Really? Your son is missing?! Well, Quistis...he's here. Yes, we found him. Hold on, let me ask him." He put down the phone and asked Reni, "Would you like to speak with your mother?" Reni nodded and Cid handed him the phone.
"Hi, Mommy..." Reni greeted meekly. "I'm okay."
~*~*~*~
The young blonde woman fumbled with the hem of her skirt and finally stopped when the man next to her in the driver's seat parked their black, muddy convertible in Balamb Garden's parking lot. The car was actually a real beauty but with all the things she and Seifer had to do, there was hardly any time to get the car cleaned. But, she remembered fondly how it shined and how lustrous it had been when it arrived at Balamb Garden that fine, autumn morning. Seeing Seifer come out had made her heart skip a beat. It was the day he decided to return, a few months after Reni had been born. She remembered every single detail of that day; how Seifer looked so serious as he stalked his way up to the headmaster's office and of course that priceless expression he had when he found out that he had a child. She reported the news calmly and coolly, making it sound like it was no big deal, and made it clear that she wasn't forcing him to help her take care of their son. Seifer had changed after the incident with Ultimecia but just she had no idea how much. He apologized for his absence during Reni's birth and first few months and said he would take full responsibility and make up for lost time. His offer to support their child had shown that he had grown up and this caused her to just fall head over heels for him.
Reni looked so much like his father. And now they were off to fetch him. Then what? They'd take him home and everything would be back to normal. If a parent had lost their child and found them again, they would want their lives to be normal again. But Quistis didn't. Who would want to go back to constant fighting, heartbreak and tears? She wished she and Seifer could just put all that to a halt. Even though she said many detrimental things to him, she never meant them and in her heart, she held a deep affection for him. She knew she did because if she didn't really give a damn then she wouldn't be so hurt by his hateful words.
'You always hurt the one you love...and they always hurt you...' she thought, wiping a tear from her eye and turning away. She wanted to tell him but it was impossible with all the disagreements they had. How could she tell him her feelings amidst the cursing and screaming? And there were always those 'what-ifs'. What if he didn't care? What if he laughed at her? What if he recognized her feelings as a weakness and used it against her? And all these 'what-ifs' were ended with 'then-whats'. What if telling him her feelings caused him to leave her? Then what? These 'what-ifs' and 'then-whats' never had any answers and so she kept her emotions to herself. But it was so hard because she cared for him...so much...
They got out of the car and entered the Garden. Cid and Edea were already waiting in the front hall with Reni by their side, along with certain five other people.
"Reni!" Quistis cried, running over to her son and taking him into her tight embrace. She let go him and bowed to the headmaster and his wife. "Thank you very much for taking care of him."
Edea smiled. "We would never let your son get hurt. We love him just as much as you do."
The blonde nodded and took her son's hand. "Come on, Reni, let's go back home."
"Hm-mm," he shook his head, pulling away. "I don't wanna go..."
"Reni," his mother said, with a hurt expression on her face. "Please, Reni, let's go home now."
"I don't wanna go home," the small boy stated. "You an' Daddy are always fightin' and I don't want that. It's my fault you're always fightin'. I don't want you to fight anymore!"
"Reni..."
"Quistis," Cid cut in. "Myself and the others have come up with a plan."
"What is it, Sir?" she asked.
"For one month," he said. "You and Seifer will be apart."
"What do you mean by that?" Seifer inquired.
"You and Quistis can't interact with each other for thirty whole days," Selphie explained.
"But...but what about Reni?" the blonde woman asked worriedly.
"He will stay with us," Edea nodded. "We will take good care of him."
"And after the month is over..." the headmaster continued.
"You and Seifer will meet again," Rinoa said.
"And you two'll decide..." Irvine added.
"If you wanna stay together," Zell finished.
"So me and Quistis are gonna split up for one month?" Seifer raised an eyebrow. "And then see each other after that month if we wanna stay together? But where're we gonna meet?"
"Reni here has decided," Cid replied. "He wants you to meet at Balamb Town's harbor. For the duration of that month, he will be on the White SeeD ship. Do you agree with this proposition?"
The tall blond shrugged. "Not like there's anything to lose..."
Those words caused Quistis to feel a pang in her chest but she didn't show her hurt. "It's fine with me," she replied nonchalantly.
"Good. Then it's settled," Cid stated. "Will it be all right if our deal begins tomorrow."
"The sooner the better," Quistis smiled.
"Yes. There's a room available here in Garden and either one of you may stay there."
"I'll take it," she said. "Tell you what? Let's begin right now. I can just go take my things and come back."
"Very well," he looked at his watch. "So on the fourth of October, at 1200 hours, you, Quistis Trepe and Seifer Almasy will meet at Balamb Harbor."
The blonde woman nodded and smirked in a way to make people believe that she actually was anxious about being away from the ex-knight for one whole month. But she was really worried of what Seifer would decide. This was his chance to break things off with her and he would surely take it. It was an offer he couldn't refuse and he would gladly accept. 'One month...thirty days without Reni...or Seifer... Please, please, please, don't take him away from me...'