Did I actually just get eleven reviews for a single chapter? Wow… I'll have to really work at this one to avoid disappointing everyone… And as God is my witness I will do so!

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Fifty Days

Chapter 2: Lessons

Seifer stood at the back of the room as the rest of the class filed out, legs up on the work terminal in his trademark I-can't-be-bothered-listening pose. He turned to see one of the other students glare balefully at him on the way out, and he slowly brought the Hyperion into view from behind the desk. The student took one look at the shiny, infamous, and above all sharp Gunblade, and immediately started to walk quicker to catch up with his friends.

"Don't intimidate the students Mr Almasy."

Seifer didn't even look up. "Instructor," he said coldly. He might have sworn to finish the damned course, but he sure as hell was not going to enjoy it. "Just giving the little cadets a warning," he said.

Quistis crossed her arms. "Seifer, you do not take your weapon into lessons. Garden Regulations 20/3," she said quietly.

Seifer stood slowly and towered over the instructor. "I never go anywhere unarmed, as you know Instructor."

Quistis leant over him. "Put. It. Away," she hissed at him. If human eyes could glow hers would be doing it. Reluctantly Seifer handed over the Hyperion into her grasp, and she yanked it away, walking over to her desk and placing it against the side. She turned back. "You can have it when the day is over," she said quietly.

Seifer smirked. "What's withal the whispering Instructor?" he asked. "Chocobo got your tongue?"

Quistis leaned back against the desk opposite him, and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. "Seifer. You have been accepted back into garden for one last try. Since the headmaster did this without consulting anyone else first, I have been the one to be landed with this thankless task. There are forty-nine days left to the final exam," she walked up to him so they were face to face, "and this time you are going to pass it, if I have to hammer the knowledge into your brain with a very large mallet. Do I make myself totally clear?"

Seifer unconsciously leaned away from her. He had always remembered Quistis as one hell of a SeeD, but basically insecure. He had never seen her so… focussed… before… He put on his best I'm-not-fazed voice. "Whatever you say, Instructor."

Quistis smiled. The kind of smile a shark has when it sees swimmers in the water. "Good. Lessons will begin tomorrow morning at nine am. I expect you-"

"Hey, hold on. I only have three lessons tomorrow, none of them with you,"

She smile stayed. "I may not have said that correctly. Your lessons. Your catch-up­ lessons will start at seven AM tomorrow. I expect you here, on time. Rest assured on this, your second time in Garden, you're going to succeed, even if I have to pound the knowledge into your head with a sledgehammer. Good day Mr Almasy." She turned and walked out, leaving Seifer sitting there in his chair. He took a deep breath, and against his hard-man image waited until he was certain she was gone before standing and walking over to his Gunblade. He was about try and walk out with it before he realised she had somehow chained it to her desk.

Damn…

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Quistis closed to door to the classroom, and the adrenaline rush from facing Seifer instantly left, draining her. Moving calmly away from the room Seifer still sat in, she made her way around the foyer, looking deep in thought as students smiled at her.

Coming to the dormitories, she almost made it before-

"Instructor!"

Quistis turned to watch the student approach. "Yes Brea?" she asked.

"Instructor, I was just wondering about the lesson tonight. You see, I- Miss Trepe? Are you alright?" she girl suddenly asked, as Quistis took a step backwards and put her hand against the wall.

One. Two. Three… "Yes. I'm fine," Quistis said slowly, trying to think the stars out of her eyes. "Please, carry on."

Brea looked perturbed. "That's OK. I'll just ask later," she said. Before Quistis could ask what was wrong, the blonde had turned the corner and went out of sight.

Quistis turned and walked as fast as she could down the corridor. Finally reaching her own quarters, she slid her card through the slot and walk in, closing the door behind her. Sinking against the inner wall, she put a hand in her pocket and withdrew the bottle of painkillers from her pocket and swallowed three without thinking. Holding up her hand to eye level, she concentrated as hard as she could. Only when her hand stopped shaking did she lower it to the ground.

"Damn it!"

Quistis head snapped up and she looked around for whoever had just shouted right next to her ear. It took her a minute to realise that it had been her.

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Squall and Rinoa sat in the cafeteria, Squall picking unenthusiastically at the food on his tray, and Rinoa just watching him.

"You're upset," she said simply.

"I'm fine," was the instant reply.

Rinoa sighed. Shelled up again. "It's Seifer isn't it?"

"It's not Seifer."

"Liar."

Squall dropped up his fork and stared Rinoa in the eyes. She cheered mentally. Woohoo! Eye contact!

"It's not that I don't like Seifer. I despise him. I hate him for what he did. He damn near fed you to Adel."

Rinoa sighed. Again. Not so good. "But he was under mind control at the time. Anyway, I can sense what he's feeling. He's here to do what he says he is."

Squall looked up from the remains of his meal at his girlfriend. That was one of the good things about having a sorceress for a girlfriend (the other that most others were afraid of her) was that she could, well, read people. If Rinoa said someone wasn't plotting his or her deaths, then that was usually good enough…

But this is Seifer, is what you're about to say next I think, Rinoa thought at him.

Oh, and telepathic Knight-Sorceress link was pretty handy too.

"I just… can't see him here without remembering everything," Squall finished weakly.

Rinoa sighed, this time in exasperation. "Squall, even you can't go through the rest of your life with a grudge against Seifer. He made his mistakes. Now he's paying for them."

Now it was Squall's turn to sigh. He did. "OK, fine. But the first sign we get of trouble, I'm getting Cid to eject his ass from Garden."

Rinoa smiled at him. He had changed a lot, even if he didn't realise it. "That's just fine," she said quietly.

Squall smiled at Rinoa's happy expression. Even if she didn't realise it, she had as well. "Anyway, don't you have a job to go to?" he asked.

Rinoa stared at him for a few seconds, and then slapped her palm against her head. "I completely forgot!" Picking up her jacket, she quickly stood and ran past Squall, stopping to give him a peck on the cheek, before running back to the infirmary. Squall grinned slightly, after making sure no-one was around. Rinoa as a nurse as funny as hell. Especially when she was late for the night shift.

Grabbing the remnants of his lunch, he shoved it down the garbage hole and put the tray back on the pile, walking out of the cafeteria and back to the Training Centre, where the last class of the day was waiting for him.

Footsteps alerted him before the students voice did. He turned. "Yes Brea?" he asked as he saw the young blonde running towards him. She slowed to a walk as she approached and saluted him. He saluted back.

"Sir, it's you haven't seen Mi- Instructor Trepe around have you?" she asked.

Squall shook his head. "No, why?"

Brea looked agitated. "She's supposed to be teaching the lesson I'm in now, but she hasn't turned up."

Squall looked at the expression on the Cadet's face, worry combined with professionalism, and a slight touch of awe. Since the Ultimecia Ordeal the six SeeDs had been treated with that a lot. Luckily, Cid had made it known that such behaviour would be frowned upon in Garden.

That didn't stop the Trepes though. They had been here before the Ordeal, and would probably be here long after. Brea wasn't a member – she was far too sensible for that – but she looked up to Quistis. "I'll find out," he said, and turned to walk away.

Brea watched him leave, and shivered slightly.

Patience child.

Brea smiled as her GF addressed her calmly. Crux had been a constant companion to her since she had been three; guiding her and helping her along ever since she had joined Balamb Garden.

"I don't know," she said quietly, "something doesn't seem right."

That's probably just emotions you're getting from me, Crux replied. Brea felt a ghostly hand brush through her hair, and smiled.

"You're probably right." She turned and walked away. Crux's prescience – and there, to some extent her own – had managed to baffle the entire Garden faculty for months, and still did. She didn't think too hard about it as she walked away, and she hadn't fully grasped Crux's last sentence.

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Squall knocked politely on Quistis door, checking his watch. He stood there for about three minutes, and was in the act of turning away when the door swung open.

"Yes?" Quistis said.

Squall started to turn back to face the Instructor. "Quistis, Cadet Brea came up to me, she's wondering whether class is- are you OK?"

Quistis nodded quickly. "I'm fine. I completely forgot about the class. I'll be there in a few minutes," she said quietly but forcibly. The message was clear: not now.

Squall nodded, confused. "Sure. Just thought you'd like to know," he said.

Quistis smiled slightly. "Thanks for the headzup though." She tried to close the door, but Squall got his hand around it first.

"Are you sure you're alright?" It's her eyes…They looked… closed…

"I said I was fine Squall," Quistis whispered. Just leave me the hell alone.

Squall gave the impression that if he wasn't trying to be polite he would have sighed. "OK. See you around." Fine, be that way.

This time, Quistis actually did manage to get the door shut. Squall stood in the hall for a few seconds, just trying to think about the fact that he had just had a door close in his face. Then he turned and walked off back towards his own lesson. On the way he checked his watch. Five minutes late. Damn.

Quistis leant against the door until she muffled sound of footsteps faded from the corridor, then slid down against the thick plastic surface. She punched the floor and cursed silently. Now she was forgetting things. Absentmindedly she brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face and closed her eyes. When she had been young, she had always believed that nice people who died went to heaven, and evil people who died went to hell.

Well, what about blonde mercenaries who have killed innocent men women and children by the time they were fifteen, but saved the world once?

She didn't know, but she was going to find out. Soon.

A dull ache in her head gave her the warning, and she had reached for the bottle of pills before the pain fully descended on her.

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Squall was nearly at the end of the hall leading back to the foyer when he heard footsteps running behind him. He turned to see Quistis slow as she approached him. He let her make the first move.

"Squall, I'm sorry about back there. I shouldn't have been so mad. It's just been a busy week, with the lessons and all," Quistis said.

Squall was surprised. Quistis? Admitting to being busy?

Wait, what's that sound?

Oh, that's just Hell freezing over.

"That's OK," Squall said. "What about the lesson?"

Quistis leant back slightly. Squall got the impression she hadn't meant to. He tried to stare into her eyes again. Instead of the cold hard gaze he had saw the last time, they were… softer.

"Damn, I forgot about that-"

Liar…

"…I'll just have to catch up next time around…"

I'll be damned if you ever missed a lesson before due to illness. Squall remembered one week when she had a fever, and had still managed to teach her classes for the day, before recovering at lightspeed over the weekend.

"…Can you tell Cid I'm sorry next time you see him?" she finished.

Squall nodded. "Sure," he said. Quistis turned and went back to her dormitory, once again leaving Squall staring at her retreating back. Damn girl, what is wrong with you?

He checked his watch for the second time, sighed, and decided to follow suit. No way was he going to get to his class in time…

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Seifer sat on his bed in his dorm, staring at the ceiling and mentally berating himself.

First day back and already I got in a fight with the Instructor… he had little respect for any Garden staff, and less for Trepe, but she was still his Hyne-damned instructor…

Not a good idea to piss off teacher…

Seifer lay back on his bed. Damn that woman, making him get up at seven in the morning!

He rolled over onto his stomach and closed his eyes, and tried to get some sleep for the coming trials. If he knew her, she really was going to pound the learning into his head. Hell hath no fury…

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At roughly the same time, Quistis collapsed back on her bed. Unlike Seifer, she was not thinking about the upcoming lessons. She remembered to set her alarm for seven Am, and then she just sat there. She wondered what it would feel like when it came.

A coughing fit ran through her body, and she grabbed for the bottle of pills on the bedside table. Swallowing one, she lay back and tried to get some sleep, attempting to escape for future, at least for a little while.

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Ahhh, another chapter done… Tell me what you think so far!