Seifer awoke well before dawn for early morning drills with Raijin, as he'd mentioned. They'd talked about training together but hadn't officially set a concrete date in stone, so Quistis opted to allow Seifer to get used to his new early morning regimen before loading him up with too many training tasks too soon. Secretly, she was elated to rise with him – someone to share her early mornings with – and it also served as initiative to get herself out of bed and start her workout routines again.

They had all earned some heavy R&R after the war and there were no expectations from Cid to get back to duty immediately, but the weeks dropped off the calendar and Quistis didn't like to sit idle for long. She'd already lost valuable proficiency in junctioning high level magic once they released all the Guardian Forces, and she did not like feeling so unprepared and vulnerable. The sooner she got to shake off the rust, the better.

They both got ready together and agreed to meet up for breakfast after training before going their separate ways outside of Garden – Seifer towards the Balamb fields where Raijin was already bellowing at a group of fresh cadets, and Quistis towards the road so she could get a quick jog in before practicing with Save the Queen on some old targets that were set up outside, meant to serve as a range for magic and weapons practice. She could have easily gone back inside to the training center, but Grats and T-Rexaurs were hardly a challenge anymore, and a part of her wanted to watch Seifer work with Raijin on the new group of cadets. When she was finished with her run and practiced until her forearm and shoulder were screaming in protest, she walked towards the Garden entrance and glanced out over the fields, where the drills were being held. She smiled as she saw Seifer barking out orders, clapping his hands and yelling at them to stop if they did something wrong, telling them to drop and do pushups, and crossing his arms to glare at all of them as they obeyed every grueling command from the two senior SeeDs.

She decided to wait for him at the entrance and did her stretches, enjoying the soft orange horizon as the sun started to peek out from behind the dark blue ocean. It wasn't long before he caught up with her, and they headed to the cafeteria to grab breakfast. It was still early enough that it was barely light outside, so most of Garden was still asleep. The cafeteria, technically open 24 hours, only had a self-serve station for toast, cereal, fruit, and pre-wrapped items such as protein bars or refrigerated breakfast burritos this early in the morning. The cooks wouldn't be in to prepare a full breakfast bar until 0600 hours, and it was only a little after 0500.

As they grabbed their food and sat towards the back of the very dim, empty cafeteria, Quistis started to wonder over the events that had unfolded over the past few months; something she'd started to do more often as of late. She glanced at Seifer and suppressed a smile at the vision – black military pants, a tight grey shirt, unkempt hair that he didn't bother to fix after rolling out of bed, and a shadow of a scowl etched across his face as he was still getting used to early mornings and idiot rookies.

Over time, Quistis gradually started to realize that something was different. Very different. Even though unjunctioning guardian forces meant losing crucial magic skills, she started to get her memories back, which were further accentuated by the returning memories she'd lost during time compression. Since then, it was like a thick haze over her mind was slowly starting to lift. Her memories became more vivid; subtle recollections of supposed events, stories, and childhood experiences started to expand and shape into something much more detailed. Real. Tangible. Before, she thought she could maybe remember the disjointed past if she tried hard enough, but now the crystal-clear presence of her memories served as concrete proof that they had indeed occurred, and they were so much more than muddled, fleeting dreams.

Along with the lucidity came also the clarity of her feelings.

And she had very strong feelings for Seifer.

It surprised her. She'd been junctioned with a guardian force for so long, as long as she was a SeeD, that she'd been rendered completely numb to her own feelings for others. After unjunctioning, she was finally able to recollect so many memories she'd shared with him – at the orphanage and at Balamb – and they had played together so much as kids and spent so much time together in Garden that it was no wonder he bullied her after she junctioned. It was no wonder she had "failed leadership qualities" as an instructor. It was no wonder that her own feelings for Squall were confusing; she couldn't even tease out the difference between sisterly affection and…love. Unrequited, passionate, lustful, sacrificial, absolute devotion. That kind of love. Of course, she was confused by it all then, but it was painfully obvious now.

So as she buttered a piece of toast and watched him across the table from her, she was in utter awe by how much she felt for him, how she was able to feel so much, after so long without experiencing anything like this. Her heart was full to the brim, and it was most likely going to overflow. To boot, they were alive because they survived a very dangerous war, which easily put things into perspective and gave each of them a new outlook on life, as they realized what really, truly mattered. That, and their relationship was new and fun and exciting, so every little thing he did shot flutters through her entire body.

Is this how he felt about her, the whole time, without junctioning a GF?

Seifer tore open the wrapper to a protein bar and bit a piece off, his jaw muscles working as he chewed.

Quistis blinked at him forlornly. How could one go through years of that kind of agony, without the other person knowing? It must have felt awful for something to be that one-sided. Quistis barely got a taste of it through Squall, which was incredibly short-lived and superficial, but it was still a terrible feeling.

How was it that Seifer never gave up on her?

It was this type of thinking that just made her absolutely ache for him even more. She wanted to launch over the table and jump his bones to make up for all the lost time.

He was chewing thoughtfully, looking over at nothing in particular, when he noticed her watching him. "What?"

She already felt hot. It must've shown on her face by now. "Nothing. Just thinking." She gave him a shrug, a smile, and took a small bite of toast, ignoring her heart pounding in her throat. She swallowed hard and took a small sip of water, all too aware of his scorching gaze upon her.

He continued to examine her, his face neutral. She took another bite of toast and watched him back, licked her lips, and absent-mindedly wiped a crumb from the corner of her mouth. He swallowed.

"Quistis."

"Hm?"

There was a long pause as he studied her, his brows slightly knit, as if he were concentrating. He slowly shook his head and sat back. "You're so beautiful."

His statement caught her completely off guard and she automatically looked down. If she was hot before, she was positively burning now, from the inside out. Her cheeks must have turned pink, and there were furious butterflies in her chest. She looked back up and gave him a small smile, thanking him shyly without words. She wasn't used to compliments like this (Trepies did not count), especially from Seifer, and she couldn't find the words. She had no idea how to respond.

There was another pause. Seifer's jaw worked. "You kill me, you know that?"

That was it. She couldn't hold back any longer. Quistis dropped the piece of toast, shoved the tray aside, and stood up. She leaned over the table and grabbed the front of his shirt, yanked him forward, and climbed up onto the table on all fours to plant a forceful kiss into his lips. He rose up and she rose with him; he was standing, she was on the table on her knees, and he pulled her closer, pressing her into him, pushing back, holding her waist with one hand and cupping her jaw with the other as they kissed each other furiously. She wrapped her arms around his neck and raked her nails up and down his back, up his neck, through his hair, then clutched at his shirt and found that she was yanking at the fabric, just trying to get it out of the way –

"Quistis," Seifer pulled away, breathing heavily into her lips. "We need to stop, otherwise - "

"Now, Seifer," she interrupted him breathlessly and tugged at his waistline. "I want you."

His surprise caught in his throat and she thought she heard him stutter. "H-here?"

"Yes. Now."

He didn't need to hear the order a third time. Effortlessly, he lifted her off the table and lowered her down onto the floor on her back, yanking down her workout pants with one hand and pulling a large potted plant around to the side of the table with the other hand. It was it too early in the morning for anyone to be in the cafeteria, but in the off-chance that someone did happen to walk in, it was impossible to see activity on the dark floor in the very back, behind rows and rows of tables and chairs – and one huge fiddle leaf fig plant.

He yanked his waistline down and she managed to kick off one shoe, pull off one pant leg, and hike her foot around his back. She elicited a high whimper as he went inside her and clutched him desperately, moving with him, arching into him, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, propping himself on his elbows at the same time. Their kiss turned deep, desperate, wanton, and she moaned again and again – maybe a little too loudly – with every hard thrust, not caring where she was, only that this deep desire be sated immediately. The emotions she felt for him had been repressed for entirely too long; they were bursting out of her as if the lid to an over-pressurized container was loosened, and she would not resist the onslaught. She breathed his name and moaned in his ear and grabbed a fistful of his hair, and he would respond to her by sucking and biting her neck, pushing into her harder and faster.

It didn't take long for either one of them to come undone in each other's arms, and they lay there in a trance, out of breath, and sweaty in the back of the cafeteria on the cold, hard, floor.

After a long while, Seifer sighed against her neck and let out a soft chuckle that was barely audible.

Quistis smiled back, her eyes still closed, and turned her cheek into his head. "Hmm?"

"Guess we should add the cafeteria to our list."

She smiled wider. "Mmm. Yeah."

"Hyne, Quistis…that was…"

"Mmm," she breathed again. "I know."

"Where did that come from?"

She instinctively hugged him tighter, unsure of how to explain. "I don't know. I just…"

Seifer slowly lifted his head up to examine her. There was a pause as he waited.

At a loss for words, Quistis just looked into his eyes. There was really only one reason she could give. "I love you, Seifer."

He blinked at her. He'd known that she did, but it was the first time she actually admitted it out loud. He dipped his head to give her a slow, deep kiss, then embraced her tightly and lowered his head with a sigh, kissed her lightly on the cheek, and whispered in her ear, "Yeah. I love you too."

She clutched him tightly and nuzzled her cheek against his.

He kissed her earlobe. "But seriously…we should go."

Quistis opened her eyes and looked at him questioningly. "Why? Are you afraid we'll be seen?"

He lifted his head and looked at her. His eyes were dark, full of lust. "No. But I'm not done with you yet."

A/N: I shamelessly pulled inspiration from the cafeteria scene in Passengers (Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence). I love that movie :)