Well, I just finished typing the first chapter, and I'm already started on this one. I wrote most of the first part in Geography and English… I'm so bad. I love this freaking story now… and I'm not even done with the second chapter. That's what I call an obsession.

I hope you guys like this one. LONG LIVE SEIFER! And LONG LIVE ANNOYING FAN FICS ABOUT HIM!

Coming Home

Chapter 2: Fisherman's Horizon

Seifer paced back and forth, up and down, while his friends spoke with the innkeeper. They had been chasing Garden all around the world for weeks, and it most certainly showed. The retired knight was ragged, cloak so dirty it looked a dingy grey. Shadows circled his eyes, bloodshot and weary. Every day, they arrived at a new destination, and every day, they left only to realize that they were a step behind.

"You're positive they're in Winhill?" Raijin asked the innkeeper. The man sighed.

"Yes, I'm positive. They said something about a festival. Are you staying or not?"

"For one night, please," Fujin said sweetly, dropping the money on the counter. "We'll be back later." She then shoved the two men out the door and sighed.

"They'll be gone tomorrow," Seifer groaned. Fujin shrugged.

"NO PROBLEM," she said.

"Aren't you getting a bit obsessed, ya know?" Raijin asked. Seifer glared, knuckles white from clutching the book's spine in his hand. "It's just a scrapbook. Why care, ya know?"

"I just do, okay?" he shouted. "Why don't you guys go… just go fish or something?"

"But where do we-"

"It's called Fisherman's Horizon, there's bound to be somewhere to fish. Just leave me alone." He sat on a chain rope, glaring down at his reflection on the sea as footsteps slowly made their way from behind him. Minutes ticked by as Seifer was left with his angry thoughts, until footsteps brought him back to attention. "Couldn't find a fishing spot?" he sarcastically asked, assuming it was Raijin.

"This is my fishing spot." A small fishing line distorted Seifer's reflection; he looked up to see an old man, leaning against the chain and looking relaxed. "You've quite a temper, don't you?"

"So what if I do?" The older man laughed, a wheedling tone much different from his deep voice.

"You certainly answered my question. Did no one ever tell you to respect your elders?" There was no reply. "I see. Now, son," he now adopted a business like tone "I've been around longer than three of you, and I can see a depressed young man from a mile away. What's your problem?" Seifer glared at his reflection once more, ignoring the bait floating through.

"None of your business." The man chuckled again, rummaging through a pack he had at his side.

"So, this has nothing to do with it?" In his hand was the scrapbook, which he handed to Seifer. "You dropped it when you sat on the chain." Seifer opened it, examining the pages and pausing on a picture of Quistis lying on her back watching the clouds. "She's adorable," the man said. "She your sister?" Seifer shook his head. "Cousin? Aunt?" Seifer continued to shake his head. "Don't tell me she's your daughter!" A glare from Seifer sent the old man into a fit of chuckles. "Only a joke, only a joke. So… who is she?"

"She's… kind of like an old friend. I just want to return it to her." The man sighed, withdrawing his line and casting it again.

"I assume she's your age now?" Seifer nodded. "So it's girl troubles, is it?" His head snapped up again, frowning.

"No, it's not her that's the problem, it's-"

"Now, look here, son," he said sharply. "I know that- oh, I'm Dizz. You?"

"Seifer…"

"Seifer, I know that look, and it's almost impossible to hide anything for you to hide anything from me." He paused a minute, sighing quietly. "I was in the war, those seventeen years ago. "Dizz chuckled again as Seifer gave him a look of surprise. "I look old today, but back then, I was the strong and brave type. Had a heart of steel, I did. Spies for Adel would crumble when I gave them a single glare. They couldn't hide anything for me."

"Sounds like someone I know…" Seifer said bitterly.

"It was that same heart of steel that let go of my dreams thirty years ago." Once more, Dizz stopped, checking his line for a fish. "You heard about the war we were just in, didn't you?" Seifer gave a mirthless laugh as Dizz raised his eyebrows.

"Sure as hell did."

"You were in it?" he asked. No response. "Blimey, they'll put anyone in the army these days. Well, take some advice, son: you can't let wars or what happens in them harden your heart. You've gotta chase your dreams…" he smiled and put a finger on the picture of a young Quistis and Seifer "and your girl." Seifer pondered for a moment. While it was slightly offensive that he had referred to Quistis as "his girl"… what Dizz had said made perfect sense.

"Thanks," he said, shaking the old man's hand. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost that book…"

"No sweat, son. Out of curiosity… whose side were you on, in the war?"

"I- uh… I…" Now he was trapped. Public enemy number one, no, national enemy number one, hanging around a small town with a paranoid mayor. Boy didn't that feel stupid now. Any minute, the Galbadian or Estharian police would come and haul him away…

"You don't need to tell me. That's the beauty of FH… peace first. No one cares about the other's past, you come here, and you're accepted. That's it." He awkwardly patted Seifer on the shoulder before turning back to the sea. "Good luck." Seifer smiled and turned away, but was deterred by a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Seifer… here." He handed him a sheet of paper with scribbles on it. "Write me if you ever need more pointless old-man blabber, okay?"

"Thanks, Dizz… see you." With a smile, so rare since the final battle, he moved away and quietly walked the abandoned streets. As he silently trod, recounting memories once more, a glint of sunlight made him wince and throw a hand up into his face to block it.

The afternoon sun reflected on a low glass dome, the center of which had a small building on a raised platform. A set of stairs led down to the platform. With the sun reflecting off the windows of the building and onto the glass, it seemed to shine like it was made of pure diamond. Lowering his arm, Seifer watched the glittering surface as he sat himself on the edge of a wall.

"I don't know why she wanted this place burned, y'know…" Seifer turned to see Raijin and Fujin standing behind him. "It's great…"

"BORING, BUT GREAT," Fujin said with a smile. Seifer nodded, turning back to the glass.

"What's down there?" he asked.

"That's the mayor's house, ya know. We went down there earlier, but he kind of… well… chased us out."

"PARANOID." Seifer chuckled slightly, sweeping the stupid strand of hair that kept falling in his face out of the way.

"Not like I didn't already know that, but… thanks. Shall we go do something that doesn't involve sitting around or fishing?" he asked sarcastically. Raijin scratched the back of his head, looking guilty.

"Uh… you'll be hard pressed there, ya know. If I do recall," he said, trying not to laugh, "'It's called Fisherman's Horizon', isn't it?" Fujin grinned widely and shrugged.

"POINT TAKEN." Seifer chuckled lightly and raised his hands, holding them above his head.

"All right, all right. I give; you guys win. So… what is there to do here while we wait?" Raijin shrugged, as Fujin thought for a moment. After a few seconds, a light shone in her eye… the visible one, anyway. To be perfectly honest, it caught Seifer off-guard… Fujin never even looked remotely happy unless she was putting her boot to good use- in Raijin's shin.

"WHY WAIT?" she asked, mischievously grinning. Raijin's mouth dropped open as Seifer stared with a raised eyebrow.

"You're kidding, right? I mean, it'll take forever to get to Winhill, y'know?" Seifer put a hand to Fujin's forehead.

"Did you… hit your head or something? I mean, come on… we're almost out of money as it is."

"Besides, we don't even know the train schedule, ya know? The train could be leaving any minute!" Seifer looked into the distance in the direction of the station. A month ago, Esthar had donated a few mechanics to get the station running again, so now it was easier to move from country to country. However… it was harder to get to trains on time, since only two ran per day.

"If we run," Seifer said, grinning slightly, "We can make it." Without another warning, the three of them took off in the other direction, the inn and the other buildings a multicolored blur. Dizz watched them run past, a smile on his face. There was no need to be too worried about that boy… he was okay.

Panting heavily, they arrived at the station, where the train… was in place, not leaving for another half-hour. Seifer, clutching at his chest, glared at Fujin as she smiled.

"You planned that, didn't you?" She grinned again, shrugging lightly.

"WORTH IT," she said, observing Raijin with her good eye as he panted, doubled over, and gasping for air. With the air of someone who was very proud of herself, she meandered over to the ticket booth and rapped on the glass window. "Three tickets on the next train to Timber, please." Sliding a few coins over the counter, she reached for the tickets and smiled briefly as the ticket counter gave her an odd look. "Thank you very much!"

"Why do you insist upon speaking normally around strangers?" Seifer asked, regaining his composure. Fujin shrugged, pocketing the tickets.

"POLITE." Seifer gave her a quick smile before turning and glancing around suspiciously. Though he had never really been in this town before, there was bound to have been an announcement about him somewhere, and the less time he spent here, the better.

"Do you think they'll object if we get on the train now?" he asked. Raijin shrugged, still breathing heavily. Taking that as a yes, Seifer smartly walked to where the train guard was and bent towards him, speaking in a low voice. "Would you mind if we got on the train now? We need a bit of a rest." The guard nodded, waving them through. As they slowly boarded the train, the guard pulled out a radio and began to speak into it quietly, glancing every so often into the crowd. Seifer turned to watch him as the door slid shut, as he went and looked for a compartment.

"Here's… one… ya know!" Raijin panted, pointing. Seifer opened the door and made a show of bowing them in, letting it shut as he walked in and took a seat on the opposite side of his friends.

"Don't you think you're milking it a little bit?" he asked sarcastically. "Fujin and I recovered long before you did."

"Oh, yeah… you two have… better endurance levels… than I do, ya know?"

"Didn't stop you when there were hot dogs in the cafeteria, now, did it?" Seifer asked, leaning back and closing his eyes. A reply from Raijin was cut off shortly as the train lurched into action, nearly throwing them off their seats. Seifer caught himself and looked out the window. They were pulling away… way off schedule.

"Weren't we supposed to leave in a half-hour?" Raijin asked, pushing himself back into his seat. Fujin shrugged, re-adjusting her eye patch.

"BETTER."

"She's right; the sooner we leave, the earlier we can get to Winhill. But… how come we left so early? Do you think it had to do with that guard back there…?" He looked out the window again, this time a bit nervously.

"You worry too much, ya know? I'm sure they decided to launch it early, that's all." Fujin glared at him, before whacking him in the back of the head.

"FORGETFUL," she said over Raijin's moans.

"You forget, Raijin, that we're wanted in every country. If this train left early, then it must have been of our accord. The problem is… do you think we're safe on this train?" The question shook the other two slightly. It certainly was a nuisance, to be world-wide enemy number one. Even if Raijin had forgotten for the time being, Seifer was positive that the rest of the world hadn't.

ZOMG, I love Dizz! If you didn't find out, he's one of the random fishermen wandering around. I don't remember if he has a real name or not, but if he does… then… well, I erased it from memory. He'll make an appearance in later chapters as well, and he'll have a semi-important part in it…

Fujin makes me laugh, too, now that I think about it. Didn't really think she'd make them run so much that their spleens'd fall out just to make sure Seifer smiled again. But, then again, that's what friends do for their buds, right? And she's proven to all of us that she can speak normally when she wants to… maybe it's just her "thing". Review replies, and then I'm off to start the second chapter!

Chocobo Nunchaku- Nice to meet you! I take that grammar thing to heart, because I find on this site that there are several people who seem to think bad grammar is a redeeming quality to a story. NEWS FLASH, it's not. Welcome to the wonderful world of "Crazy Author Grieverwings".

Kitsu- I'm not sure why either, I think it's just that he tried to convince himself that it was his dream, and he ended up confusing himself. And yes, I now tolerate them. It's just too cute to resist… to a certain degree.

Hibeki- Dizz is the OC, as you can tell. Fast enough for you? Welcome to the show.

Sir MIDNIGHT- Thank you very much; I'd better have just as much fun writing it.

Best to my readers,

Grieverwings