Chapter One: Trial of the Century

A sickening knot twisted in her stomach and her skin was flushed. She felt like her skin was on fire, but goosebumps trailed down her pale flesh and a cold shudder trembled down her spine. This was it. This was the day that the traitor, Seifer Almasy would be on trial for treason on eight different accounts, as well as the murder of hundreds of generations of SeeD mercenary. Things seemed highly ominous, and Quistis couldn't help but feel nothing but dread over the highly anticipated trial.

The clouds overhead were black and ominous, twirling and gliding across the sky, likes hawks searching for their prey. The smell of rain was in the air but hadn't splashed from the sky to splatter on her skin just yet. The streets were silent and empty, only the occasional stray dog sauntering around the corner and slipping into an alleyway without the slightest whimper.

Quistis shivered and pulled the jacket tighter around her slender frame, breathing out slowly. Her hot breath fogged in the air in front of her and she wrinkled her nose. She hated the cold. Despite being nicknamed the Ice Queen because of her cold, stern and seemingly uptight attitude, she hated anything cold. She even drank her tea hot from the pot. Her hand rested on her stomach, willing the pain to go away.

Her crystal blue eyes turned down the street to rest on the courthouse, which stood tall over the smaller buildings around it. Inside that dark brick building sat Seifer Almasy himself, cuffed, bound, and slightly sedated. She shook her head, shaking her blonde locks out of her eyes. She had decided to wear it down today. If today was to be Seifer's last day on the planet, she wanted to honor it by showing to him that she wasn't just the uptight Instructor who wore the tight bun and constantly pushed him to be better. She was also the little girl he grew up with, the girl that she wished he would at least recognize as an acquaintance, if not a friend.

She strode towards the building, her heels clicking against the pavement. The sound reverberated against the buildings on either side of the street, the only sound, other than the wind whistling through the bare trees, shaking away what few leaves remained. She reached the doors almost too soon for her liking. She found that her arm was trembling as it reached to push the heavy oaken door open. She understood that he committed treason, murder and many other heinous crimes but it just didn't seem fair to condemn him for them. He was merely a puppet in these crimes, led blindly by the black witch. If only the world could see it that way…

She strode through the doors, swearing to herself that she would not show weakness through the trial. She would sit primly in her chair, her face carved of stone as she watched history in the making. And she vowed that she would not cry as Seifer's face fell and he weakened under the pressure of his impending doom. She would sit and watch, as silent as a doll.

xxx

Seifer tried to lift his head from the dingy pillow but he felt weak and sick. His skin glistened with sweat and he struggled against his bonds weakly. He blinked, trying to see the world around him without the blurring of colors and shapes but the room remained a blend of grays, blacks and browns. He could feel a hint of light from behind him and he assumed it was a window.

He sighed heavily, a pressure on his chest. It was a dead weight, the thickening feeling that his life was about to reach its end. It was slowly suffocating him and the lights around him seemed to grow dimmer. How could he have let this all happen? What happened to two years ago when his life seemed perfectly under his control? When had he lost it all? A sneer creeped to his face when remembrance sank into his fragile and damaged mind.

It had been her… That damned sorceress… She had led him astray. She pulled him away from Rinoa, from the school, where he was, if not happy, then at least settled, and from those he had grown up with. He was torn away, chasing a foolish ambition, a blind dream with no tomorrow. His cheeks burned with shame as he remembered how easily he had climbed into her trap, becoming the perfect puppet, the perfect pawn. It was all his fault that Rinoa was now in Squall's arms, that he was now forbidden to come anywhere near the Gardens on penalty of death, and that the eyes that once viewed him with some sense of familiarity and kindness, now glared upon him with hatred and the desire for vengeance.

He tugged once more uselessly at the heavy chains that bit into the thin flesh of his wrists as he turned his head towards the door. It slid open slowly, the creaking sound a siren to his ears. He closed his eyes with great effort, unwilling to stare his death in the eyes. He kept his poisonous green eyes closed off from the world as the stranger unchained him from the bed and yanked him to his feet.

"No funny business. Even though you are to stand trial, I have orders to shoot you if you try anything, Traitor." The man sneered, yanking the haggard Seifer across the room. Seifer hit something hard in his shins and stumbled, his arms reaching up to catch himself. But the chains still held his wrists inches apart and he slammed to the floor, biting his lips to keep from yelling out in pain.

His weakened body seared with pain as the man pulled back his leg and kicked Seifer hard in the ribs. "Get up now! We don't have time for this!" Seifer managed to roll onto his side and his eyes blinked open heavily. His vision was still blurry but now stars danced across his eyes.

"I would but I'm chained, remember?" He mumbled, shaking the chains lightly. The man growled and reached down, grabbing Seifer by the front of his shirt and once again hefted him to his feet.

"I can't wait until they hang you…" The man growled, his face not even an inch from Seifer's. "It's exactly what you deserve…" Seifer tried to laugh but his ribs felt broken. It even hurt to breathe…

"Then I hate to see what the hell you deserve!" He murmured before the man threw him out into the hall. He stumbled once more and hit the wall. This time, however, he didn't fall. He managed to stay on his feet barely. But he did hunch over, spewing the contents of his stomach. He coughed and retched, feeling like his insides were being ripped out.

Maybe death wasn't to be feared. Maybe it was to be desired…

xxx

All eyes were on his haggard and wasted away frame. The former glory that was Seifer had vanished. The once arrogant and healthy man now stood hunched over, life gone from his eyes. His face was covered in stubble, his flesh the pallor of death. Even under the old suit that the court had furnished for him, his bones stuck out alarmingly. He limped to his seat and grimaced as he was shoved down into it. The guard painfully locked him to his seat before striding away, proud that he had been one to put down the traitor with disdain.

Quistis found her hands clutching her seat so hard that her knuckles had turned bone white. This was Seifer? It couldn't be! This wasn't the young man that had treated her with loathing and disrespect for all of these years. This wasn't the young man that had once been so proud, so strong, so lost… He looked desolate, all like a lost soul, a forgotten child… Yet Quistis still did her best to confine her emotions to her heart, not to her face. Rinoa wasn't so lucky.

Tears streamed down her face and every now and then a choked sob escaped past her pouted lips. Her chocolate brown eyes were fixated on her former love, her former friend. Yet her hands clutched to Squall's as if she were afraid of what sat in front of her. And why else would she fear him, other than she had suffered as he fed her to the witch Ultimecia without a second thought to the feelings they used to share for each other? Seifer refused to return her gaze, instead choosing to stare at the tattered shoes he wore on his sore feet.

"Mr. Seifer Almasy. You are here today to stand trial for your crimes against Balamb, Galbadia, as well as all of Gaia. Have you anything to say before we begin?" The judge asked begrudgingly, annoyed that he had to go through all of the proceedings before he could lay down the sentence that Seifer was to face.

Seifer lifted his eyes, looking around the room at the faces that stared at him with utter loathing. He had a faint memory of when he had viewed the world the same way. Maybe it was only fair that the world now looked at him this way. Only one face did not look at him with such disdain and disgust.

The former Instructor sat rigid in her chair, her skin pale. His eyes fell on her own and she trembled noticeably. He almost smiled. He recognized the act she was pulling. She had done this before the Sorceress War. She would tense up, try to disguise the intense feelings she was shouldering. But by trying to hide them, she only made them more obvious. Well, obvious to those who even bothered to pay attention. He could see the slight trembling of her lip and recognized how glassy her eyes were getting. She was trying not to cry? He shook his head at the judge.

"I have nothing to say to anyone." He stammered, his voice gruff and rumbling, not a hint of his former arrogance or confidence remaining. He glanced back up at Quistis and found her crumbling under his gaze. A tear fell from the corner of her eye and landed on her hand. She barely even noticed and if she did, she made no move to show that she did.

The judge began but Seifer no longer heard any of the words they spoke. The sound of rushing water filled his head and soon he heard nothing at all. The world around him clouded but he knew it had nothing to do with the sedatives this time. This was just his realization that he was going to die. There was nothing left for him anymore. The entire world wanted him dead and they would get what they wanted it seemed. He was a broken man… And all because he wanted to fulfill some foolish romantic dream… What a fool he had been.

"The sentence for the traitor Seifer Almasy will be…" The court held its breath but Quistis found that hers was escaping in short gasps. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end… Could it? "Death."

The word reverberated in his mind. Death. As simple, and as complex, as that. That was to be his punishment for being too ambitious. He wasted his time on Gaia and he was to pay for it.

"Hyne… I never thought it would come to all of this…" He murmured as the court went into uproar around him. People jumped to their feet, slapping each other on the backs and laughing with glee. They were condemning him to death and that's all they could do was jump and laugh at him? He found that he was suffocating again but this time the dead weight was real. He was to die. That was the fate that the witch had fed to him. She had promised pride, glory, and fame. But he was dealt the opposite hand.

He lifted his dull green eyes to the only one who wasn't celebrating. She sat, a broken statue, crumbling in a world of hate. Tears flowed freely from her crystal blue eyes, staining her pale cheeks with the black mascara. She sobbed, unheard in the chaos of the building. He reached a hand out to her and she struggled to climb to her feet. Something was pulling her to him and she had to touch him one last time, to show him some part of the world that wasn't blackened with hate.

The guard pointed the gun to Seifer's head, a grin on his face. "C'mon, bastard, time to carry out your sentence in the courtyard. Everyone's ready to watch you hand." Quistis pushed the roaring crowds, her hand still extended for him. He struggled to reach out to her, to feel her warm flesh against his own suddenly cold skin. She seemed to be the only sanity left for him or anyone else. But the guards yanked him through the doors and the doors closed on her tearful face. She yelled one thing to him.

"Seifer!" The despair and longing in her voice was death itself. He shut his eyes and went limp, uncaring any longer. It was too late for Quistis, or anyone else for that matter, to save him. He was gone. The guards dragged his limp body up the makeshift platform roughly, but he no longer cared for pain. He had suffered his entire life, today would be no different other than the pain would finally end.

The crowds pushed through the doors following after them into the courtyard. Formerly a thing of precious beauty and fragility, it was now a waste of twisted plants and dead grasses. It seemed the perfect place for a death. Quistis was in the middle of the crowd, being herded out by their hysterics. She looked up at him only to find that he was gone, there was nothing left of Seifer.

He stood like a puppet as they strung him up, the thick knotted rope tightened around his throat. Tears formed in his eyes; in the last moments of his life, pride was useless and vanity a foolish concept. The world watched in a stunned silence as his last shred of dignity was ripped away as tears slid down his grungy cheeks. His hands were still handcuffed so he couldn't wipe them away.

Quistis stood at the foot of the stairs, her eyes turned upward to stare at the man that had made her life a living hell – and was about to be sent to hell. Her tears had stopped and the sobs subsided as she watched the oncoming death in front of her. She was young, only nineteen years old and the only person she had ever seen die was Ultimecia, and she could hardly be called human. Would Seifer be her first death, the first of many that will follow as she begins her career as a full-blown mercenary?

A ringing pain shot through her mind and she nearly fell to her knees. Her fingers raised to her temples, trying to stop the nearly blinding pain. Quistis struggled to keep her eyes on Seifer.

I don't want him to die either, Quistis… What can we do? Rinoa's voice pleaded with her inside the blonde woman's mind. Quistis grimaced. Rinoa's newly discovered power was especially useful during a mission but she still hadn't mastered it yet, which explained the pain and the ringing at the beginning. We have to think of something… It wasn't his fault!

There's nothing we can do… Nothing legal anyways… Quistis shifted her gaze from Seifer's trembling body to scan the crowd for Rinoa. She spotted the child sorceress directly across from her, standing on the other side of the platform. Just look at him, Rinoa… I think he's ready for this… He can only take so much.

But - ! Rinoa started. Quistis cut her off, shaking her head. Even if they could save Seifer somehow, someway, what kind of life would he live afterwards? He would be back to living the deteriorating life he had lived immediately following the Second Sorceress War – constantly on the run, never having a chance to rest, questioning his existence. Seifer needed to die. It was his only option, his only chance at redemption for the souls of those lost, souls that constantly plagued both his sleeping and waking hours.

There's nothing we can do… He's a broken man, Rinoa. Nothing could ever fix that… Then Rinoa said it, the words that reverberated deep within Quistis, awakening long forgotten desires.

You could do it. You could make him better again… Please, Quistis… Help me! Thunder crashed above them and the rain poured down, stinging on their skin. Seifer tilted his face upwards, enjoying the feeling of rain one last time. Quistis looked across at Rinoa, expecting her to be sobbing. This was not the case, however. Feather by feather, wings spread from her shoulder blades and her familiar blue and black attire was replaced by a simple white dress. Her skin paled and her eyes lightened, the spaded pupils becoming more apparent.

"Rinoa, no!" Quistis yelled at her. Seifer's eyes widened and he struggled against the rope and others bonds, trying to look over his shoulder at what exactly Quistis was telling Rinoa not to do. Quistis leapt up the stairs, shoving the guards aside. Rinoa lifted easily into the sky, not seeming to be affected by the rain. She still remained completely dry while Quistis looked on drenched.

Rinoa flew around to the front of the platform, the wind from her wings pushing the people backwards. Rinoa turned her eyes to Seifer's damaged form. Hold the guards off with your magick while I free Seifer and cure him enough to get out of here.

Quistis screamed. Do you know what's going to happen if we do this? We'll most likely follow him to the grave!

Do you want to watch him die? Rinoa asked simply, her gaze unwavering. Quistis turned her head slowly to look at the man that stood beside her. She found that the dull clouds had left his eyes and he had straightened a little. Was Rinoa already curing him? That's when Quistis noticed the white spark in the pupils of Seifer's eyes. Rinoa was using her deepest magick to heal him.

"Quistis…" He whispered to her. His bound hands lifted in her direction. She stepped towards him, once again compelled by some unknown force that drove her closer and closer to him. She reached a hand up, her hand coming up to his cheek. His eyes closed as he waited for her gentle touch on his cheek. But instead of touching him, she spun around, shooting magick at the guards that stood stunned, staring at the sorceress alight before them. They grunted as they were hit full force by the magick that flung them into the crowds of people held a bay by the wind of Rinoa's wings.

Rinoa's eyes lightened more and more until they were pure white. The spades had disappeared. Quistis looked back as Seifer was slowly returning to his former glory. She smiled and found that he actually smiled back – a real smile, not the sarcastic smirk that used to seem permanently affixed to his facial features. Quistis strode over to him, occasionally flicking a magick over her shoulder to keep the guards away.

Using her Fira magick, she melted away the bonds that held him. She left the noose for last. She stood in front of him, inches away from his body. She could feel his hot breath on her throat and she stared into his eyes for a moment or two. She was putting everything that was her into this moment, everything in saving his life. When had she become so foolhardy? She was letting everything go all at once. And if it failed, not only would his life be lost, but hers as well as Rinoa's.

She reached up and melted away the noose and slowly lifted it from his neck. He fell into her arms, pulling her tightly to him. "Thank you, Quisty…" He called her the old childhood nickname as he clutched her to him, his heart beating next to hers. This was it. They would be partners in crime now. And it felt strangely comforting to Quistis.