For my Seifer and Rinoa friendship claim. Themes used were forgive and forget, fear and "I'm sorry...".
There's a strange amount of pain in his voice as he stares down at me -- always towering over me, once protective, once threatening, and now just something that seems so far above me that it's going to fall. "You're afraid of me." There's regret there too, thick and welling out of every part of him, regret and slight anger. But the anger isn't directed at me.
I don't answer him, just looking up at him. Meeting his eyes is so hard without the calming, strong, indomitable force of Squall behind me, but I manage it, and they are no longer a thing to fear. They're just the eyes of a man sad enough to want to kill himself. The eyes of a proud man humbled enough to apologise to the ones he hurt the most.
Squall tells me that Seifer went to him yesterday to apologise. That he thinks Seifer is sincere in his halting words. I think he's right; these eyes aren't the ones I saw when he was going to have me killed. This isn't the man that hated us all, that would have had us killed -- or taken great pleasure in killing us himself.
"You are. You're fucking afraid of me."
Despite his words, his voice is flat, defeated. I shake my head, denying it. "No."
"No?" he laughs bitterly, reaching out towards me. My first impulse is to flinch, but I don't as he seizes my arm. I always felt so fragile in his grip, and that hasn't changed, though his hand is so much less sure than it would have been, should be.
"No," I confirm with a nod. "Never. You weren't yourself."
"I'm sorry..."
"It wasn't your fault."
"Damn it, Rinoa, I'm still fucking sorry!" Anger bubbles out now, a hint of the old Seifer returning to his face. It makes me smile.
Gently, "I know."
Finally, he smiles a little. "I knew you'd forgive me, Rin."
"Nothing to forgive," I tell him, stepping forward to hug him close, feeling the defeated body straighten and become more like the Seifer I remember. "No guilt, okay?"