"I expected her to be here by now," Squall murmured to his lover as they leaned against one of the few uncovered windows on the third floor. Non-combatants had been dropped at Balamb Town, and there were three more cadets up on the bridge to trade off as lookouts. Squall and Seifer had met back up in one of the small board rooms that faced towards where they figured Galbadia Garden would be coming from, waiting for their enemy to show. And for Cid to finish his last-minute staff meeting with a group of slightly panicked faculty members who hadn't been willing to vacate the building.

"So did I," Seifer admitted, taking a moment to rest his eyes while Squall watched the ocean. They didn't really need to be playing lookout, but with everything else prepared, there wasn't much else they could do, especially with how on edge they were. "Clearly, Ultimecia doesn't keep to sensible schedules."

Squall shrugged, eyes flickering towards the door of the room as it pressed open. "We don't, really, know how long it will take her to get Galbadia Garden off the ground," he pointed out before turning his attention towards the newcomer. "Cid. The chickens finally shut up?"

Cid gave the two young men a tired smile and fell into one of the chairs around the table that they'd been ignoring. "They're content to hide out in the dorms, for now. They're still refusing to disembark, however." He shook his head. "I thought you found lookouts."

"I did," Seifer agreed, "but we can't just sit around, twiddling our thumbs. At least this way we feel like we're doing something."

"I hate waiting," Squall muttered, rubbing at his scar. Considering he'd been waiting most of his life for this moment, he was ready for everything to just be done.

Cid considered the teens for a long moment, taking in the strained lines around their eyes and the edge to their postures. "Tell me about this Sorceress. You called her Ultimecia?" He'd overheard a portion of the explanation Squall and Seifer must have given to October's team while he'd been hunting down pilots, so he had some clue as to who the brunet had been referring to in his office, but he had no idea how Squall would have reached such a conclusion. Especially since he'd been at sea since before Edea would have been possessed.

Seifer glanced questioningly towards Squall, silently asking how much he planned to explain, and the brunet let out a sigh, looking far older than his seventeen years. "You know about the man who visited the orphanage?" he said quietly, ignoring the startled sound Seifer made and the sharpness in Cid's eyes. "The one who told Matron about Garden and SeeD?"

"I know of him," Cid agreed tightly. Thinking about that young man made him consider the teen at the window and he was a little surprised to realise that he recognised the new jacket Squall was wearing from Edea's description of that visitor. This Squall had never bothered with such flashy dress, his missions often requiring something more subtle, and Cid wondered where the teen had found the jacket, why he'd even bothered to get it.

Squall considered him for a moment, then said, "That was me. Will be me. He lived this war, and I remember his life."

Cid drew in a sharp breath. "You–"

"I don't know why, or how," Squall continued, interrupting Cid's attempt to speak, "but over the year following his visit, I remembered his life. All his training, all his knowledge of SeeD and Garden and what was going to happen. I don't always know specifics – I gave a lot to Shiva when I first got her – but I know the general way the world was supposed to go. The way this war would have gone. Trabia levelled, Balamb dodging a missile strike by the skin of our teeth, an epic battle over the orphanage between us and Galbadia..."

Squall took a deep breath, turning away from the terrible sadness in Cid's eyes at the knowledge of the burden he'd borne. "The Sorceress who bequeathed her powers upon Matron back then was a Sorceress from the future called Ultimecia. Dr Odine of Esthar had created a machine that replicated Sis' ability to send a consciousness into the past, and she's using it to enact Time Compression, which will allow her to have a world all of her own, where she rules as a sort of god. But she can't go far enough back, so she needs Sis.

"We can't reach her while she's possessing people in our present; killing the body only leaves her to take the control of another. The only way to kill her would be to ride Time Compression to reach her in the world she's creating and face her there. It has its own dangers, but it's the only way we could figure out to take her out, and leaving her to destroy the world was never an option."

Cid shook his head. "If you'd only said something–"

"To what end?" Squall demanded, turning to glare at the Headmaster. "You find a GF for a five-year-old to block my memories? I go back to being some reticent kid who refused to form attachments to other people in fear of getting hurt again?" He scoffed. "No. I like who I am, Cid! I have friends and a family. The Ghost – the other Squall – was always lonely, always shunning the helping hands of others, thinking he was better off relying only on himself. I don't want to be like him! I never wanted to be like him!"

"Squall," Seifer called, grabbing his best friend's shoulder. "He gets it."

Cid did get it. He remembered watching the young Squall slowly shutting himself away when Ellone left, remembered Edea's happy news about Squall reaching out and insisting they take a photo so they'd always remember each other. He remembered a thought he'd had, once, when the two young men were still cadets, that Squall and Seifer had only got so far because they'd always had each other, that they'd never have managed as well if they'd been apart. They would have both been but half the men they were now, without each other.

'And yet, to suffer those memories as a child... The life of a SeeD is no storybook, no tale for a boy of almost five,' Cid thought.

"What's done is done," Seifer interrupted, shaking his head and soothing a hand down Squall's back. "There's no changing the past, only facing this future. Cid, you're no fighter or tactician, but we could use your help in this fight none-the-less. Are you willing to help, knowing that Matron might get hurt?"

Cid jerked at that, too distracted by Squall's long-held secret to have worried over the fact that they would soon be going into battle against his wife. He felt sick to his stomach for a long moment, the urge to flee after his faculty and hide under the covers of his bed too strong to put into words. But then he looked up at the two young men silhouetted against the endless ocean and sky, saw the determination in their eyes to see this through. 'Squall has known since he was five that he would one day be facing Edea in battle, yet he kept on. And, judging by Seifer's lack of surprise, I'd say he had a pretty good idea of what was coming. If anyone can move this battle in such a way to keep Edea alive, it's these two; I couldn't protect them as children from the darkness of this life, but maybe I can ease their way now.'

"Where do you want me?" he asked, heart in his throat.

Relief flashed in eyes of green and grey-blue before they were calm and ready to direct once again. "The comm is sketchy near the front gates because of the cut wires, and Zell can only keep up with so much," Seifer explained. "I know it's a little close to the fighting, but if you could stand back by the line of planters and help direct the wounded or shout warnings about changes in orders to Zell, that frees up another pair of hands that could be wielding a weapon."

Cid took a breath, fought against the raging beast of fear in his chest – he hadn't been a soldier in decades, and even then, he'd been a poor one – and inclined his head. "I can do that," he agreed.

Seifer pushed away from the window. "Excellent. Let's get you set up down there, then."

Cid stood from his chair and spared a glance for Squall, who had turned his eyes back towards the horizon. "I..." His voice caught and he took a moment to cough while the two teens with world-weary eyes looked at him in question. "I wish I could have protected you, back then."

Squall shrugged, expression blank. "I don't," he replied before turning back to the window.

Seifer gently directed his quasi-uncle from the board room, shaking his head at Squall's blunt statement. On the stairs down – the lift was still wrecked in the lowest levels – he offered, "That other life is so much a part of Squall now that taking it away would be like amputating his arm." He smiled a bit grimly when Cid looked back at him with pain in his eyes. "Don't take his words the wrong way, Cid. He knows you care about him, but this is his life – our life – and for all its faults, all of its pain and darkest moments, we wouldn't give it up for anything. Not even a few extra years of peace and innocence."

Cid looked away, hurt. "It's the duty of adults to protect children," he insisted. "If there was anything I could have done to ease your pain–"

"Squall received the memories of a seventeen year old version of himself," Seifer interrupted, a note of impatience in his voice. "He hasn't considered himself a child since he realised what the memories were, and he's lived his life as if he was still the age of that other Squall, just adding on the years. Where everyone else saw a prodigy, he saw an adult in a child's body. He never even considered asking for assistance or protection of any kind, already knowing how to take care of himself."

"You could have come to me," Cid pointed out, looking up at the blond as they started down the last flight of steps.

Seifer shook his head. "By the time Squall told me anything, we were both already SeeDs. And, honestly, there wasn't much anyone could have done for us at that point." He shrugged and admitted, "I never really saw the memories as a burden, not once Squall was willing to stop carrying their weight all on his own. An explanation for his skills and knowledge, sure, but not something that telling an adult could fix." He snorted. "Honestly, I'm not sure Squall thought of them as a burden until he'd shared them and realised how much easier life was knowing someone else knew his secret."

"I wish, sometimes, that I'd held off on making you two SeeDs." Cid sighed and shook his head. "Though, learning all this, I suppose it wouldn't have made much difference in Squall's case."

"No, it wouldn't have," Seifer agreed, stopping Cid before he could open the door to the main level. "Listen, Cid... Squall hasn't shared that secret with anyone other than me, and I don't know why he told you, but he did. I'm glad he did – I've been trying to get him to tell other people for years – but it's something you should probably keep to yourself. Maybe tell Matron, but..."

Cid inclined his head. "I understand." He offered the blond a broken sort of smile. "I wouldn't break Squall's trust."

Seifer relaxed in relief, unable to even contemplate Squall's reaction if their friends were to find out through means other than the brown-haired gunblader. "Thanks. Erm... I'm glad?" Seifer shook his head, frowning faintly. "Whatever. Let's get you set up with Zell's team so I can get upstairs before Squally starts hacking at the table in impatience."

Cid chuckled at that, the pain and stress of the situation lightening with each exhale.

Seifer rolled his eyes and directed Cid to where they needed him, letting Zell know about the change in personnel. As he turned to leave, Cid called his name. "Yes?" he asked, looking back at the Headmaster.

Cid offered him a smile that was still a little cracked around the edges, but much more relaxed from his earlier moment of mirth. "I'm glad he has you."

Seifer flushed and inclined his head before hurrying away, unable to help but think, 'Would you still be saying that if you knew we've been sleeping together for two years?'

-0-

"I'm beginning to think her plan is to wear us down with waiting," Seifer complained once he and Squall had dismissed the five cadets from the bridge to get some food and water down in Cid's office. It had been almost three hours since Squall told Cid about his memories, and Kadowaki had finally come up to them and demanded they set up schedules for people so they didn't have everyone on alert for the attack that might take some time to come.

"She's certainly twisted enough," Squall murmured from where he was playing with the wires of the control panel.

Seifer wasn't certain he wanted to know what his lover was doing to the console, honestly; the explanation would either go right over his head, or cause undue worry. Possibly both. "I wish she'd just get here, already," he muttered, turning his attention back towards the horizon, instead of on Squall.

"So do I," Squall agreed, snapping a panel on the underside of the console shut and prying open another one to pull out the wires and consider them. He was mostly doing it to see how long it took Seifer to snap, but also because he liked to look at the old Centran technology. "I want this whole fucking thing over with so we can move on with our lives. Maybe take that vacation in Esthar."

"Uh-oh. Squally's finally going to visit Daddy Laguna?"

Squall grunted and moved on to another panel. "Might as well. Sis would like to see him again, and there's nothing wrong with trying to start a working relationship with Esthar. Especially if we can talk them into bombing the Tomb."

Seifer snorted and glanced over his shoulder, only to twitch a little violently at the mess of wires Squall was poking through. "Damn it, Squall. Would you– Stop. Just...stop. Okay?"

Squall flashed him an evil little smile and continued sorting through the wires, mentally cataloguing what each one went to.

Seifer firmly turned his back on his lover. "What made you suddenly decide to tell someone?"

Squall's good humour faded and he shoved the wires back up, under their panel, no longer interested in fucking with his best friend. "Shiva."

"So the Ice Bitch finally managed to talk some sense into you? Well, if I'd known having her on my side was all it took–" Seifer snarked.

"She's always been on your side," Squall cut in, voice a bit sharper than he'd intended. He closed his eyes and let out a breath, resisting the urge to bang his head back against the steel floor. "Dammit, Seifer. Can we... not have this argument right now?"

Seifer pressed his lips together and glared out at the empty horizon. "What made Cid so special, then?"

"I didn't want to deal with his suspicion right before a big battle," Squall replied tiredly. "Having him assisting us, instead of cowering in his room, was just an added bonus."

"So you'll only tell people when you have no choice in the matter," Seifer intoned.

"I had a choice with you."

Seifer pressed his lips back into a line. Yes, Squall had been given the choice to leave Seifer in the dark and work with an irritated partner alone in Centra, or tell him the truth and chance having to finish the mission alone. Neither option had been great, and Seifer was glad that Squall had taken the chance – would always be grateful – but that didn't mean he liked leaving their friends in the dark. The others were all so open about everything, sharing their every thought and memory, and it hurt to leave them so in the dark about something so big. Seifer hated it.

Squall got up from the floor with a sigh and stepped over to Seifer's side, lightly touching his shoulder. "Seifer, please."

Seifer let out a heavy breath, unwilling to continue the argument when Squall used that tone. He moved his arm to wrap it around the younger teen's shoulders, only to freeze partway through at the sudden gleam of red on the horizon. "Fuck."

Squall's head jerked around and he squinted against the glare of the setting sun. Just to the north of the sun sat a red speck. "Fucking great," he agreed, quickly calculating the time of arrival in his head.

"Maybe an hour," Seifer said before Squall could finish his mental calculations. "They're still pretty far off."

After a moment's thought, Squall had to agree with that assessment. "I'll announce that we've got forty-five minutes," he decided. "Let everyone grab some food and get a chance to relax a bit before they have to be back on their feet."

Seifer nodded and dropped his arm to let Squall past him and at the comm. His own eyes remained glued on the approaching dot as Squall's even voice washed over him, coolly factual as he ordered everyone to rest for forty-five minutes and be ready to take on their fellow Garden after that.

The lift whirred behind them as Squall clicked off the comm and both SeeDs turned to see their pilots and lookouts standing there, eyes wide with panic, but determined to do their part. "We can take our positions again," the elder pilot, Flynn Paz, insisted.

Seifer shook his head. "Go back down to the office. We need you at your best, and that means finishing your dinner and taking twenty minutes to clear your thoughts, not standing around up here, staring at consoles. Squall and I are capable of keeping an eye on things up here."

"Go back down," Squall added, pinning the group of them with a hard stare.

The five kids meekly returned to the office.

"This isn't going to be fun," Squall commented as he joined Seifer back at the window, eyes flickering towards the setting sun. Bright spots danced in his vision, berating him for looking towards the fiery ball, but he blinked past them at the approaching Garden.

"A night battle won't be fun for either of us," Seifer pointed out as he wrapped an arm around Squall's abdomen and situated them so he could rest his head against the brunet's. "Not unless they've got outdoor lights installed to point the way."

"Or night goggles."

"Those only do so much."

"They do enough."

"Not when you're trying to aim a motorcycle towards an opposing quad."

Squall snorted and relaxed slightly back against the blond's chest.

"Maybe someone will grow a pair and tell Ultimecia we're all best off waiting until the sun rises again to try this," Seifer suggested. "Not that that would be much better, since we'd all spend the night on edge..."

"Anyone who tried suggesting that to her would end up dead," Squall replied drily. "No, she wants Garden wiped from history, and she's not going to care about a few misaimed motorcycles falling to their deaths in the ocean below if it means destroying us all."

"Cheerful." Seifer kissed Squall's cheek, smiling at the glimmer of amusement in the blue-grey eyes at his actions. "Come on, Squally. No point in standing here, staring at the incoming eyesore. We could use a snack, too."

Squall sighed and nodded. "I know. Do you want to go down a snag a few sandwiches before they eat them all?"

Seifer kissed his cheek again before drawing back. "Yeah. Play with your consoles some more."

Squall rolled his eyes, but returned to his original position under the row of controls while Seifer took the lift down. Focussing his attention on something other than the incoming Garden was a good way to relax, but that didn't make it easy. It wasn't until Seifer came back with the promised food and some drinks and joined him on the floor, asking about what one wire or another was for, that he was able to put Galbadia Garden out of his mind.

-0-

The battle, when it happened, was held over the ocean, completely by the lights of their respective halos. As expected, Ultimecia hadn't cared if a couple people died in their attempts to get over to Balamb Garden, and Squall was all too glad that he and Seifer had agreed to keep their plans defensive, rather than ever trying to go on the offensive against the larger Garden.

Far too many of the Galbadians who made it across gave themselves up in relief from having survived their trip, filling the Garden hub with unarmed men and women curled together with fear and relief warring in their eyes. On one hand, it meant the fighting wasn't so hard for the Balamb forces; on the other, if the Galbadian forces decided to suddenly revolt, they were already inside Garden, and there weren't enough SeeDs and cadets to keep an eye on them. Squall and Seifer had sent Shiva and Ifrit down to watch the huddled group, but that only helped them relax so far.

For the Ghost, they had fought over land, and one good ram had caught the Gardens' rings in some trees and enabled them to tilt just enough to catch fast at their entrances. Over the ocean, there were no such trees, only an endless view of ocean that slowed the large shelters if they tilted and caught against it, but didn't stop them. But their pilots were just the right side of clever and desperate and they finally managed to scoop under Galbadia's front gate, halos caught up in each other and letting out a terrible screeching sound before the power flickered and they crashed into the water below.

"Cadet Paz, do what you can to keep us here," Squall directed as Seifer used the comm to call their friends to meet them, with Ellone, at the front gates. They'd discussed whether or not to let the others accompany them through Time Compression – another almost fight about letting their friends in – and Seifer had finally won by pointing out that the battle against Ultimecia would go far better if they had some sort of backup. Squall didn't like dragging his friends after them to fight the uber-bitch, but they were more than capable, and they would need all the help they could get.

Paz saluted the two SeeDs as Squall and Seifer took the lift down to the office. Then they were running, down the nearest staircase and past the crowd of Galbadians to where eight other SeeDs and Ellone awaited them, all just a little grim-faced, but expectant. Some other SeeDs and cadets had come to relieve the two GFs standing watch over the Galbadians, so Shiva and Ifrit returned to their chosen humans once they caught sight of them.

"Quis, Selph, October, and Xu, keep to Sis and protect her," Squall ordered as they started for the front gate. "Seifer, Rai, and I will take point; Irvy, Fuu, and Zell, you're to cover our backs."

"Understood," they all replied with cold efficiency as they spread out to take their positions.

A group of combatants from Galbadia Garden had jumped across to Balamb, and the front gate defenders were locked in a heavy battle with the incoming. With Squall and Seifer moving at the fore, Raijin just behind, they cut through the opposing forces like they weren't even there, both clearing their path to the larger Garden and easing the strain on the front gate defenders. As they started up the false cliff to the other Garden, cheers and encouragement rang out from behind them, the Balamb defenders grateful for the momentary break the group of SeeDs had given them.

They ran into few defenders inside Galbadia Garden, most of them having been sent toward Balamb already. Those they did run into were easily taken out by the SeeDs, including the team that had thought sneaking up on the group would be a better idea, thinking Fujin, Irvine, and Zell were all less dangerous than the well-known duo leading the way.

The lift to the Headmaster's office wasn't large enough for all of them, so they split up, leaving Ellone with the second group. Squall, Seifer, Raijin, Xu, and Selphie made up the first group, and they stepped out of the lift with weapons in hand to face the cruel woman smiling at them from the dais she stood on.

"Welcome, my children," Ultimecia said with Edea's voice, trying for honey, but ending up only sounding like murder.

Seifer shot the woman a cocky smile as the lift closed behind them and started down. "You know," he said, "if you'd thought to ask for what you wanted, we might well have given her to you. Without the loss of life."

Ultimecia looked momentarily startled. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"You mustn't listen to them, my Lady!" a woman's voice called as she stepped forward, a jagged sword bare in one hand. "They'll only spin you lies, as these disgusting SeeDs always do."

"Found her Knight," Seifer muttered under his breath before speaking louder to say, "So you don't have any interest in Ellone Loire?"

The Knight took a step forward, her free hand lighting with a fire spell, but Ultimecia held up a hand to stop her, greed shining in gold eyes. "The Time Witch Ellone, you say?" she replied, voice once again honeyed with death.

"The same," Seifer agreed.

"Filthy, disgusting liars!" the Knight spat, glaring at the group in front of the door with true hatred in her eyes. "They deserve only to be wiped from existence, my Lady. Don't listen to them!"

Ultimecia again waved her Knight back, but suspicion had entered her own golden eyes. "And why would you allow me what I want? Is it not the duty of all SeeDs to destroy those with the gift of Sorcery?"

"We have nothing against Sorceresses. We've always loved Matron, even with her powers," Seifer replied with an easy shrug. "We're only giving you what you want so you'll get out of Matron's body."

Ultimecia jerked, clearly shocked at his words.

Before anything further could be said, the lift slid open, admitting the second half of their group, Ellone in the lead. The woman was nervous, but determined. She faltered for a breath upon seeing the Sorceress up ahead, but she shook her surprise away and stepped forward to stand with Seifer and Squall at the head of the group. "Sorceress Ultimecia," she said in greeting.

Ultimecia narrowed her eyes at the girl. "So you know me."

"I know only what my siblings have told me," Ellone replied, shaking her head. "You wish to be sent back to the Sorceress Adel, correct?" Her hands came up, pressed together in front of her face as if to pray.

"Yes," Ultimecia breathed, greed making her golden eyes glow.

Ellone gave a brief nod and closed her eyes.

The world around them shifted, colours bleeding into one another like a painting gone wrong. The Knight on the dais was clearly frightened, but the SeeDs had all been prepared before the battle by Squall and Seifer, never questioning how their friends had known what would happen.

Squall touched Ellone's shoulder. "Thank you, Sis. We'll take it from here."

Ellone blinked around at the group of young men and women she called her family and inclined her head. "Be safe," she whispered, taking a step back, towards where Edea was awakening on the dais.

Squall gave a sharp nod, then looked over his friends, one hand dropping from Lion Heart's hilt to entwine with the hand Seifer held out to him. "Remember who you are, who everyone else is. The only way to survive this is to remember each other, create a place for each other outside of time. Only we can keep each other alive."

The others clasped hands, much as Squall and Seifer had, weapons held awkwardly as they all created a circle together, refusing to let go as the floor bled away beneath them, causing them to free-fall through images of other places and times. They looked away from those images, however, focussing on their friends; on nights spent working together on homework and waiting impatiently for Squall and Seifer to get home. They thought of piling together for photos and working together on missions. The ties of death and violence that made up their lives together, leaning on each other when it all seemed too much to bear.

The world stabilised, only to find them facing a line of Sorceresses sharing hatred of SeeDs, all willing to die for the end of those supposed Sorceress Hunters. With the determination born from the world's end balancing on their shoulders, the group moved among the Sorceresses, taking them out with the cold efficiency of those all too used to murder.

At last, they stood before Ultimecia's castle, a little more bloody than they'd been before Time Compression started, but no less determined.

"We'll take a break," Seifer ordered, dropping onto the steps of the castle. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired, and this seems as good a place as any to catch our breath."

"I'm hungry," Zell complained as he dropped to the ground, rubbing at his stomach. Xu settled next to him, much more dignified as she tucked a couple daggers away.

Squall nodded to October, who he'd asked to gather some food while he was keeping an eye on Ellone and getting some rest before the battle. The eldest SeeD pulled out a bag and passed it around. "It's not much, but it's something," he told them.

Zell sighed a little sadly at the sight of sandwiches instead of hot dogs, but he still shot a grateful smile at his friend as he pulled one out and passed the bag to Xu.

They stayed there for almost two hours, silent in the presence of the dark castle looming over them, but comforted by the sense of togetherness and the food.

Finally, Squall got to his feet and reached down to help Seifer up. "Let's go."

They all rose, letting out quiet groans at the aches and pains of their bodies. They took a moment to ready their weapons, then turned hard eyes on the large doors, which opened almost of their own accord. "Let's take this bitch out," Zell growled, tightening his fists.

"Let's," Squall agreed before starting forward, the others falling in behind him without another word.