"The Best Thing to Wake Up To in the Morning"

First there was always coffee, and sometimes Selphie made it, some mornings Seifer made it. There was no reason or schedule they adhered to, but one of them would always wake up just a little bit earlier than the other, and whoever that might have been would make breakfast. This particular day it was Seifer who woke up first. A little after seven, Selphie was awoken by the smell of his fresh-brewing coffee and blueberry pancakes-with blueberries from their garden, no less, which was Selphie's favorite part of what had come into their possession when she bought the place.

Rather than spend the time getting ready right away, that morning she decided to just throw on a bright yellow bathrobe over her underwear and tiptoed down to the kitchen. With a yawn, she sat down at the table and then stretched her arms and legs with a satisfied moan. From his place at the stovetop, Seifer glanced around to say good morning, but at the sight of her something seemed to have stopped the words from escaping his mouth. Instead he just stared at her in surprise, and only when one of the pancakes started burning did he look away again in order to rescue it.

"Morning," Selphie said when she was done stretching.

Seifer flipped off the stove and brought over a plate piled with delicious pancakes. As he was getting some silverware, Selphie got up to snag the blueberry syrup from the countertop and set it right where she was sitting, intending to hog most of it. "Oh, it smells so good." She almost wanted to cry of happiness. There were few things better in life than pancakes, not to mention pancakes with fresh-picked blueberries.

And it was the first time they would get to try their blueberries. Selphie and Nida had picked them the day before, and only Nida had tasted them to make sure they were truly ripe. Selphie had wanted to wait, to first try them in some delicious meal made by Seifer's hands. Now was that time and she could no longer wait a second more.

When everything was placed, Seifer sat down. "I've . . . I've never made blueberry pancakes before."

As she piled four onto her plate, Selphie said, "No one would be able to tell." She poured half the bottle of syrup on them. "Mhm!" she hummed happily.

"Hyne, don't use all the syrup," Seifer complained, stealing the bottle from her before she could pour more. "It's pancakes with syrup, not syrup with pancakes."

Without further ado, she gave him a cheeky look as she stuffed a massive bite into her mouth. When she couldn't fit it all in, she groaned and then relinquished some of it back onto her plate.

Seifer gave her a disgusted expression and then drizzled a little syrup on his pancakes.

Selphie managed to chew and swallow the giant mass of pancakes, and followed up with a giant swig of coffee-luckily it wasn't so fresh she burned all the taste buds off her tongue. Sighing contentedly, she slouched back in her chair. "Thanks for breakfast."

He just shrugged and continued eating.

Smiling to herself, Selphie let her eyes linger on him a bit before digging back into her pancakes. Ten minutes later and the two of them had eaten every last crumb, Selphie somehow managing just as many as Seifer. He insisted on cleaning up as well, so Selphie took the last of the coffee with her out into the back. She sat down in a chair and waited for the sunrise, her legs tucked underneath her and the mug of coffee clutched in both hands. The mid-May air was warm, with the coolest and softest of breezes teasing the ends of Selphie's hair.

Seifer came out to join her some time later and leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen door. Folding his arms, he said, "We got patrol. Or are you not coming today?"

"Oh, I'm coming," Selphie assured him. "I just felt like watching the sunrise today."

"We see the sunrise every day," Seifer pointed out.

She waved a hand above her head. "Not like this. Not to really enjoy it. We're too busy looking for monsters. Every once in awhile, we need to just sit and really appreciate it, you know?"

A few seconds passed and then she heard Seifer sigh. A few more and then he was standing next to her, hands in his pockets as he looked towards the horizon. The sun was only several minutes away and the sky was a milky pink and orange-yellow, stretching halfway across the sky, nearly to the other side of the horizon where it was still a faint shade of navy. The light was agreeable on the angles of Seifer's face and Selphie found herself admiring him again-especially the focused purse of his lips.

She offered him her mug and without looking, his hand reached up a little to hook a finger around the handle. He took a long, slow sip, his eyes closed, and Selphie found herself smiling again. When he gave it back, he looked at her and must have noticed the gleam in her eyes. He suddenly tensed up and asked almost defensively, "What?"

Selphie gratefully took the mug back and looked back at the beginning sunrise. The pink and orange-yellow had both warmed and brightened in intensity. "Look," she whispered rather than answer his question.

He did look, and this time the parting of his lips was gentle and filled with awe.

"I was inside most of the time during my Esthar years," Selphie said, "so I never really got to see the sunrises. And when I was going to Trabia, the mountains were so close and tall that I didn't see the sun until well into the day, when I was already in class and busy. At Balamb and during the war, I just didn't have time to think about it too much."

Seifer said nothing, eyes still enraptured with the colors. The sunrise added fire to his cerulean, and something about it brought back memories of Leviathan and Ifrit, particularly when she and Seifer had worked together to save Garden from Sanctus. Both of the guardian forces fit him well, two completely different sides of him that still managed to be so Seifer.

And me, too?

Selphie finished the coffee and set it on the glass table beside her chair so she could stand beside Seifer, lean against his arm. "Too boring for Seifer Almasy?" she teased.

He scoffed. "I never said that."

"You're not saying much of anything," Selphie said. "Which, I guess, isn't a surprise at all, but it seems a little different this time."

"I'm just trying to watch the Hynedamned sunrise, Selphie," he said, but there was no irritation in his voice, though she was sure he must have wanted there to be.

She wrapped her arms around his arm. After some hesitation, her hand nudged at his and much to her pleasant surprise, his fingers interlocked with hers. A jolt of emotion shot through her chest at how easy it had been and she wondered if he was even consciously aware of what was happening. Either way, she was pleased and more than happy to let it last as long as the universe would allow.

They stood in silence as the sun made its way fully into the sky. The colors muted a little as blue sky replaced it, and then Seifer said, without moving his eyes from the sky still, "There's no point in heading in to town for a patrol. All the districts will be claimed by the time we get there."

"There's all the other days. We can afford to miss a few," Selphie said.

Seifer jerked a little at her words and then he was looking down at her. "What?"

"I'm not in the mood today is all," Selphie said. "Rather, how about we go sell some of our fruit in town later? Then we can just enjoy our morning."

Seemingly lost for words, Seifer's mouth opened and then closed and he looked away again. Only then did she feel the pressure on her hand change, and he was looking down at their interlocked fingers.

"Sorry," Selphie said, immediately letting go and standing up straight.

Seifer shrugged, but he had a look in his eye she couldn't quite pin down. Could it be . . . ? Ha, no, Selphie. That's ridiculous. Of course not.

"We should enjoy our mornings more often," she said as nonchalantly as she could. "Mornings here are so nice. They're not busy or noisy like in Esthar, and there's no pressure of going to a full schedule of classes." She paused before adding, "And if I'm going back to Esthar, then I should start taking full advantage of what Winhill is offering me, right?"

"You're only deciding this now?" Seifer asked, slightly amused.

"The past few months have been different than the other ones," Selphie said quietly. "I've had plenty of time to think."

I like waking up to breakfast with you, she thought. She wanted to say it out loud, but there was a fear tugging at her stomach, and despite how well she and Seifer now knew each other, there were still some things they hadn't really broached. It was enough for her that she simply knew.

Seifer's nose and brow scrunched up, and he looked almost angry, though his voice just as nonchalant as she was trying to be: "When are you planning on going back to Esthar?"

That was the question. The others had asked her in their weekly chats, but Selphie never had an answer for them. The best she could give was "maybe a few years, I don't know." None of them seemed satisfied with that, but they never pushed and Selphie was grateful for that. With the dramatic reduction in Garden's power and activities, everyone was a little foggy on their exact future except maybe Quistis, who settled far too well into the role of headmistress to consider leaving anytime soon.

"Haven't decided," Selphie said.

"I didn't think you'd last here very long," Seifer admitted.

Selphie chuckled and crossed an arm over her chest. "Neither did I, honestly."

"You don't have to decide," Seifer said. He cringed a little and then reworded: "I mean, don't think about it. One day you'll wake up and just know it's time to go. That's when you decide."

Selphie hummed thoughtfully. "Don't let it loom over me, you mean?"

"Sure, whatever, if that's how you interpret it."

With a snort, Selphie shot back, "I'm not interested in my interpretation, I'm trying to figure out what you really mean. Hey." She tugged on his sleeve so he was facing her. "You okay?" She scrunched up her own face to mimic his. "I'm not worrying about it, and neither should you. You're right: I'm here right now and I like it, so I should focus on that."

Seifer's face unscrunched. "I'm not worrying."

"Mhm, sure, sure," she said and then pulled her robe tighter around her. "Well, I suppose I should get dressed. And then I'm going to pick some more fruit we can sell today. I think the blackberries and plums are ready. The apricots are almost there." She held up two fingers, a tiny gap between them to show just how close.

"I'll get a head start, I guess," Seifer said. "If we're not going on patrol."

"Don't pick too many without me!" she insisted as she backed away to the kitchen.

Seifer shook his head to hide a tiny smile. "Well, it depends on how long you take."

Selphie cupped her hands around her mouth, even though they were only a few yards apart. "I'll be faster than you can blink!" She turned around and disappeared into the kitchen, but before she went upstairs, she snuck a peek at Seifer through the kitchen window. He was looking up at the sky, a content smile on his face.

You're right. I'll know when to go back. For now, I'm just going to focus all my energy on this place. The place we built together.