Yet another one. Here ya go.

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Fifty Days

Chapter 7: Basically, You're Studying

She awoke to find herself back in the hospital in Esthar, tubes running into her arms, and a bright light over her head. She heard whirring, and craned her neck to see something sharp and metallic slowly move towards her head. She twisted away from it, but she was restrained, and vainly fought against the tight straps. She heard the whirring getting louder, and then she felt the whirling steel instrument touch her skull, and she screamed…

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She bolted up out of her bed, scream still on the edge of her lips, and she put her hand over he mouth, lest any noise escape from it. Breathing heavily, she looked around. She was in her room, in Balamb Garden. She was safe.

That thought earned a grim smile, and she swung out of bed slowly, taking care to move her head around as little as possible. This soon became unfeasible, so she simply thought what the hell and reached across for the bottle of… whatever they were… that Odine had given to her at their parting. She gulped down a few, and felt the pain and aches flow away from her. She sighed in relief, and stood slowly, preparing for a new day of teach-

Seifer!

Damn! I completely forgot about him!

Dressing and showering with a speed that would have done the Starship Enterprise proud, she exited her dorm a few minutes later.

"Instructor."
Quistis turned to face him. Speak of the devil…

"Seifer," she said formally.

"Have you decided to actually try to teach me anything this week? Or are you going to disappear because you're just too-"

"I'll teach you," she said quickly, and then cursed. That had come out more like a followed order than a statement. Seifer smirked. "Are you willing to be taught though?" she asked next.

Seifer scowled. "Watch me try," he said quietly but not at all softly.

Quistis didn't reply, but instead stalked away, and gestured behind her at him indicating he should follow. To her surprise, he did without complaint, and the two walked side by side down Garden's corridors and foyer, towards the elevator.

"Where did you go?"

Quistis looked across to see him staring at her. "Excuse me?" she asked politely.

"Where did you go the last week?" he asked bluntly.

"That's none of your business," Quistis said quickly, and then realised she had said it. "It was personal," she added.

Seifer shrugged. "And here I thought you were supposed to be teaching," he said, his trademark smirk returning to his features.

The elevator came and went, and deposited them on the first floor, where they walked to the classroom in relative silence, Seifer scowling at anyone who dared look at him or whisper in his hearing range.

She walked into the classroom and instantly her schoolteacher manner returned to her. "Sit," she said, and indicated the bench directly in front of her. Seifer draped himself over it lazily. "Here." She took a key from her pocket, and manipulated something behind her. As she turned back her arm flew out in an arc that threw the Hyperion at him. He didn't move a muscle, and it landed squarely between his feet. She sighed. "Since you're already combat-proven, you won't be training with the other students. You will be poring over every book in the library in preparation for your theory exam."

Seifer's mouth dropped open as he leant back up from picking his Gunblade from out of the floor. "What?" he said incredulously.

Quistis didn't bother to hide her smile. "A practical exam will not be required. If your attitude has improved sufficiently, then Cid has judged it unnecessary to give you the opportunity to screw up in the field. Again."

Seifer was about to protest, but she held up her hand to stem any complaints. "Seifer, this is a good thing. Remember the trouble with Xu?"

"She hates my guts," Seifer muttered.

"So don't give her the chance to rip them apart!" Quistis exclaimed. She reached behind her for a small-is notepad liberally covered in writing, and threw it across to him. He caught it easily and then regarded it as something nasty and possibly poisonous.

"A list of reading material you need to look up. You will be receiving regular tests on what you may or may not have learned, and you will pass them all," she said. "I'll check up on you occasionally, but this time you'll be mostly on your own." Again she raised her hand to stop complaints. "I don't like it, but Cid is telling me to play it this way, so I will."

He smirked. "Still playing second fiddle to others more competent than you?" he asked. He cringed a few seconds later. He stared at Quistis' face intently, expecting a blow-up of epic proportions. Instead all he got was a sign.

"Seifer, I don't really care what Cid thinks of you right now, or anyone else for that matter, but you are my student," she leaned closer to him, and he saw the look in her eyes. "And I am going to be damned if you screw up the last thing I ever do."

Without another word, she walked out of the room, leaving Seifer to stare as the door shut on her once again, and once again he got the feeling he was missing something very basic, and very important.

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Quistis sat on one of the cold metal cafeteria chairs, putting her lunch on it with about the same enthusiasm. Just the site of real actual food to eat, instead of drip-fed anaesthetic and mush nearly made her mouth drool, but something about it also made her stomach want to rebel at the sight of it. She tried to eat some, but gagged before it got to her mouth. She resisted screaming in exasperation, and tried again.

This isn't fair!

She slapped her hand across the table, and sent the tray and it's meagre contents hurtling across the floor, where a boot neatly checked it. A cowboy boot, to be precise.

"That time of the month eh?" the cowboy said, oblivious to the peril this put him in.

Quistis managed a weak smile. "Sorry Irvine. I've just been feeling a little under the weather recently."

"Zell told us," he said.

Quistis froze, and looked up at him from under her hands. "Told you what?" she asked.

Irvine raised his hands in the universal gesture for I-was-just-asking. "Nasty bug going around in Esthar, he told us you got sick, that's all. Calm down," he said in his best soothing voice.

Quistis' heart started beating again. "Sorry. I've just been… recovering lately," she said. She stifled a cough as she said so. Don't tempt fate.

Irvine saw her swallow, and a raised eyebrow asked everything for him.

She shrugged away the silent inquiry. "Pick-me-up's," she said dismissively, and placed the bottle back in hr pocket.

"Just as long as you're OK," he said, and gave her what he probably thought was a Dazzling Smile of Charm.

Quistus laughed for the first time in days. "Thanks Irvine. I appreciate it. Where is everyone anyway?" she asked, gesturing around at the mostly empty cafeteria.

Irvine suddenly leaned forwards slightly and stared at her. "Quistis, it's only ten o' clock. Most students are still in lessons," he said quietly. "Are you sure you're feeling better?" he asked.

Quistis nodded, mind turning. What? I lost track of time that badly? " Really. Just woke up on the wrong side of bed recently. I'm OK," she said reassuringly.

Irvine looked puzzled, then smiled for a few seconds, and tipped his hat. "S'fine by me if you say so Quisty. See ya around." He turned slowly and walked out, leaving Quistis aloe in the cafeteria with a smashed bowl of salad. She turned to see the dinner lady looking at her with the look she reserved for those who dared make a mess in her cafeteria. She smiled at her, and then proceeded to pick up the remains of her... breakfast?

It must be. How could I mess up time so badly? It's getting worse…

A fit of dizziness came over her, and she stood again, salad balanced precariously in one hand. She grabbed the edge of a table for support and just stood there until the spell went away. She looked back up at the dinner lady, who was staring at her with an entirely different expression than before. She walked out as fast as she could, gulping down another of Odine's pills, leant against a wall until the world reasserted itself around her. She closed her eyes.

I hate this. I don't want to pretend anymore. I'm going to tell Squall I quit.

And let Seifer fail his exam again?

He might not. I'm tired. I don't want to…

You know he will if you're not there to make sure he doesn't screw up. You said it yourself. Don't let the last thing you do be a failure…

Bout of self-doubt over, she opened her eyes again, and actually looked around at where she was. She blinked in surprise when she found she was outside of the Training Centre.

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Seifer swung again and decapitated the luckless Grat that had dared to cross his path, venting his frustration at not being allowed to take the practical exam by some wholesale killing. He liked taking the exam; he liked showing what he could do to others, even if being better and more aware than them meant failing. He enjoyed it.

He swung again as the Grat made one final ineffectual lunge at his torso, slicing its arms off in a spray of green blood.

He turned as he heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see Trepe walking past him, going through the centre the other way around for him, hading for the Secret Area. He frowned when he realised she didn't have her whip on her, or any other weapons he could see.

Blind curiosity took hold, and he followed her at a distance, absentmindedly killing any monster foolish enough to cross his path.

He caught up to her at the entrance to the Secret Area, where he soon saw three embarrassed-looking students exit it quickly, no doubt encouraged to do so by the presence of an Instructor among them.

He walked in to see her looking out over the Garden, facing directly away from him, both hands gripping the railing so hard he could see they were turning white.

He felt the urge to shout 'Boo!' at her, but he had the feeling doing this next to a sheer drop of several dozen feet would be possibly fatal, so he settled for a quieter; "Quistis?" he asked.

Quistis spun around at he sound of another voice, and Seifer involuntary took a step back as for a single second he was confronted by a face with all barriers down, and with no hope. She looked dead inside.

Then the façade sprang back up, and she was Quistis again.

"Yes?" she asked slowly. Seifer risked a glance down, and saw that her hands were shaking, one gripping a bottle of something that was rattling softly. He ignored the biting comment that had been forming when he had walked in.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

Quistis laughed, but it was without any recognisable humour. "I'm as OK as I can expect to be," she said, and started to walk towards her. "Excuse me, I just needed some air." She came within a hair's-breadth of pushing past his shoulder, but didn't seem to notice, and as he passed he could almost feel the strawberry perfume she was wearing. He resisted the urge to take another breath, and instead turned and watched as she walked out of the Area, and the Centre. At no point, he noticed, did she take either of her hands from a wall or railing.

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