-seriously cannot contain herself- I TOTALLY FOOLED YOU GUYS! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -cough- YOU'LL SEE JUST CHECK IT OUT, I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF! -dies-

Coming Home

Chapter 6: PSYCHE!

Okay, I was kidding. Anyway! I'm really hyper. And I love cliffhangers now.

Chapter 6: Revelation

"You can't let me… stay?" Seifer rasped. Squall smiled in satisfaction as a mixed feeling went through the rest of the group. Unwilling to read the others faces, Seifer merely felt his heart drop several feet and turned. "Did you even… I… how can you…" he stuttered. Cid ran a hand through his hair and slumped slightly.

"That is my decision. I am… sorry…" Seifer watched the older man stand quickly, and begin to leave. Laguna's expression was that of utter confusion, unable to produce even a sound as he watched the headmaster approach the door with heavy, small, and slow footsteps. All eyes followed him, until he finally reached the door. Cid pulled it open, and turned to look at Seifer's disappointed and broken face.

"Wait, Headmaster," Zell said in a low voice. Cid froze just as he was about to let the door close behind him. "That's it?" he asked. The headmaster gave the teen a confused expression.

"Why are you not giving Seifer a chance?" Laguna asked in a dazed voice.

"He… told us his story. He does not fit the category of a SeeD, which I should have seen long ago," Cid stated briefly, turning to leave once more.

"Headmaster Cid, wasn't there someone who gave you a second chance?" Seifer jerked his head slightly to see… Quistis. Standing erect, holding her head high, and staring the man right in the face. She had hardly looked at Seifer at all the entire time he'd been talking, and now she was defending him. It blew his mind.

"Quistis?" Squall said, stunned at her quick and unexpected motion.

"If I am not mistaken, you ordered SeeD to kill your wife. Matron forgave you, didn't she? If your wife could forgive you for trying to assassinate her, then why can't you forgive him?"

"He didn't try to kill one person, he tried to kill all of us! Everyone!" Squall shouted. Finally, for the first time, Rinoa stood and looked Squall straight in the eye. Seifer stepped back slightly. This matter was entirely out of his hands now, and that worried him.

"Quistis is speaking her mind, Squall. We are all entitled to opinions on this matter, and I happen to stand with her." Seifer winced, only too aware that Squall looked as though he'd been betrayed a thousand times over. His eyes showed a deep hurt… Seifer watched as Squall shook the emotion away and turned to look at Headmaster Cid.

"Rinoa…" Selphie said quietly, coming to stand by her friend as tears began to sting at Rinoa's eyes.

"I do not condone what he has done, Squall," she said quietly. "None of us do. But I have seen enough of him to know that his heart is-"

"Heart?" Squall laughed mirthlessly, a cold tone that bit at Seifer's conscience like a viper. "Who says he has one? Rinoa…" here his voice took a lower tone, "…He tried to kill all of us. He tried to hurt you. …I just can't forgive him for that." Seifer downcast his eyes. To hear them talking as if he wasn't there peeved him slightly, but this was not of his concern. His future was on the line, and the fact that it was dangling between two people with completely different opinions worried him more than a little.

"…Squall…" Quistis said with a small smile. "We all know how you feel. But if you were to place yourself within his shoes, wouldn't you want a second chance?" Seifer couldn't help but try to see why Quistis was defending him like this… could it be that she had looked through the photo album and… Without his realizing it, he turned a dull shade of red and turned away, only half listening to the conversation and attempting to sort out his jumbling thoughts.

Why had he been as idiotic to leave that note in the first place? Maybe he'd been caught up in the moment, and since Ellone had forgiven him he automatically figured that everyone would. How stupid he had been. He now had a splitting headache, and a bright red face… the perfect day for the perfect person, he snorted to himself. As he continued to debate and argue with himself, he hadn't noticed that the others were now staring expectantly at him… and he wasn't about to anytime soon.

"Look… Headmaster Cid, I can't let you just turn him away like that," Quistis said quietly. Irvine gave her a quick glance, tipping his hat further over his eyes.

"What gave you the change of heart?" he asked quietly. Quistis's cheeks turned a bright pink, but Seifer was too preoccupied to notice. Still immersed in the argument with himself, he wasn't snapped out of it until four or five minutes later. Laguna placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him slightly.

"Seifer," he said quietly, "Would you mind giving us some privacy? You can wait in the hall… unless you want to go back to your jail cell?" Yeah, right, Seifer thought. He gave a polite nod, and the older man smiled brightly as he herded him through the door. "We'll be just a few minutes!" he said cheerfully.

"Sure, like, tomorrow soon," he muttered as the president pulled the door closed. Heaving a sigh, Seifer swept one hand through his hair and propped himself up against the door. He'd been making a lot of mistakes lately… first the whole sorceress business, and now this! Not only had he been stupid enough to get captured and thrown into prison, he'd been stupid enough to assume that everyone was going to forgive him right away. Of course, he thought, he now had a bruised face to prove that he'd been wrong too many times.

As he listened half-heartedly to the loud voices carrying on behind him, Seifer felt an odd wave of exhaustion sweep over him. "Odd…" he muttered to himself, rubbing his temple slightly. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't keep his eyes open… Shaking himself, he opened his eyes again and stared grumpily down the hallway while sleep continued to beat against his brain with the ferocity of a tomahawk. Finally, he gave up and let his eyes slide shut. He'd only sleep for a few minutes…

All right, guys, I give up. I just totally give up. I've been trying to work on this chapter forever, but I can only get this far. I apologize for the lameness and the shortness, but I have completely forsaken this chapter. I'm trying so hard to make this story keep going, but writer's block has completely taken hold of my mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm gonna keep going since I have a lot of plans for this story. Just… don't expect it to be quick, okay? I'm really sorry, guys… anyway.

-bows- Forgive me! -cowers under desk-

Here's Hoping!

Grieverwings

Oh, yeah. Reviews.

Asga- XD I updated. Now I feel bad. At least you people have something to go on.

Kitsu- I know, really. XD Thanks for being a constant reviewer, by the way.

Dragon Princess Isis- Heh… well, I always figured him a bit differently.

Sir MIDNIGHT- Apparently I can't think of anything better. XD

Hibeki- Thank you very much! You guys supporting me makes me feel better.

Ally-Kat- Aw… my stories feel loved. -laughs-

-continues cowering- Please don't kill me!

Grieverwings