Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. They all belong to Squaresoft.
An Unlikely Meeting- Part III
Seifer woke up with a pounding headache. "Damn," he mumbled through clenched teeth. He was seeing black spots dancing across his line of vision. With a groan, he rolled over to find Quistis lying right next to him. He looked at her, puzzled for a moment, then remembered what had happened and quickly got to his feet, expecting her eyes to suddenly snap open and attack him as she had done before.
He looked at his watch. It was two in the morning. He had lain there for four hours. He looked back at Quistis's still form. She hadn't moved. He stepped closer to her and checked her eyes. It had cooled to its usual sea blue color, but they were bloodshot. He frowned at took her pulse.
"Oh crap!," he exclaimed. Her pulse was weak and erratic. She stirred, and her eyebrows furrowed together as she whimpered quietly in pain.
"Quistis," Seifer said, shaking her desperately. "Hey, wake up!"
Her eyes fluttered, then opened. They were filled with pain.
"My whole body... hurts," she said pathetically.
"Oh man, hold on. I'll get you outta here." And with that, he managed to hoist her up on his back, and began walking. It wasn't that far anyway, or so he thought. The journey was made more difficult because of his blurring and spotted vision. He tried blinking it away, but it was futile, plus, his body was still hurting from the previous assault. Gritting his teeth in determination, he finally managed to reach Garden thirty minutes later. The man at the gates had fallen asleep on the job, so Seifer let himself in through the turnstiles. As quickly as he possibly could, he headed for the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.
"Damn, you stupid elevator," he murmured under his breath. His anxiousness made everything around him seem to go very slowly. Finally, he heard the familiar "ding!" as the elevator stopped at the third floor.
Seifer wasn't very sure if Cid was even in Garden anymore, let alone Edea, but he was desperate, and he banged on door of their quarters three times with his fists. No one answered.
"Headmaster Cid!," he called out loud. "Matron! I- I could really use your help right about now!" Still no response. "Hey! Wake up you old..."
The door swung open, and there stood old Cid in his nightgown, rubbing his eyes.
"Who in heavens... Seifer?!," he said, surprised yet still drowsy. "What are you doing here? And what is that... Dear Hyne! Quistis!," he cried, when he saw her limp form. He was now fully awake. "What happened?"
Edea appeared behind Cid and noticed what was wrong. She hadn't been sleeping for she wasn't dressed for bed.
"Oh!," she breathed. "Seifer, please tell us what happened to poor Quistis!"
"Oh man. She... I... Well...,"Seifer stammered. He didn't know where or how to begin. By this time, Cid and Edea had already taken Quistis's shivering body and laid her on their long couch.
Edea had crossed the room and held Seifer's shoulders in a firm grip, and said to him in a very different, soft tone of voice, "Please, why is she like this?"
Taking in a shaky breath and slowly letting it out, he said, "She's been showing some signs of long supressed powers."
Edea's eyes narrowed. "What kind of powers?"
"Psychic, I think."
She shook her head. Cid had brought in a basin of water with a washcloth and had begun to dab at her forehead. Seifer continued on.
"She told me about this strange dream she'd been having. Then, in the afternoon, she said she met... Celeste."
Edea's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
"But the last time anyone has ever heard of her..."
"Yeah, I know. I think she wants something from Quistis."
Realizing that the topic had gone off track, Edea asked Seifer, "But why is Quistis in this condition?"
"I don't know. All of a sudden, while we were talking, she just blows up on me."
"She must've been under the sorceress's influence."
"Yeah, I figured that too."
With a look of resolution, Edea quickly exited the room and opened the door leading to the office, with its cabinets of files. She opened one file cabinet and began shuffling through the papers. Seifer followed her up to the door and asked what she was doing.
"I cannot treat anything such as this. I do not have the powers anymore. I need to know Rinoa's dorm number so I can call her."
"Rinoa's a SeeD?"
"Yes," and with a small smile, she added, "She is as good a SeeD as she is a sorceress." She finally found what she was looking for and quickly called her.
"Hello? Rinoa, honey, I'm very sorry to be calling you at such an inconvenient hour, but we have an emergency here, and we need your help... That will be very much appreciated, thank you darling." She hung up the phone and they both quickly went back to the bedroom.
"How is she doing?," Edea asked Cid.
"Not so well, I'm afraid," he answered with a worried shake of his head. He put the washcloth down and stood up to stretch out his back. "I think she's delirious, and she's trembling so terribly."
Seifer quickly went to Quistis's side. He took the washcloth Cid had discarded, dipped it in the basin, wrung out the water, and placed it on her forehead. He trailed one finger slowly down her pale cheek.
"Don't worry," Edea was telling Cid. "I called Rinoa. She will be here soon."
At that moment, the door burst open, and Rinoa stood by the entryway, breathing heavily from having run such a long distance. "Edea, Headmaster, what's wrong?," she panted, and at that moment, she saw Seifer by Quistis's side, and she didn't know what to do. At the same time, Squall entered the room. He saw Seifer, and immediately strided up to him.
Seifer smirked. Following her around like a puppy dog, I see, he thought.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here Seifer?," Squall said, his voice quiet with anger.
"Back-off," Seifer snarled back, stressing the two syllables. "You have no idea what's going on, so I suggest you just sit down and shut up."
During this time, Edea had summarized the situation very briefly to Rinoa, and Rinoa interrupted the spat.
"Excuse me, but if you guys hadn't known, I was sent here to do a job." And with that, she knelt beside Quistis. Seifer stood up to give her some space. Rinoa removed the wet cloth from Quistis's forehead and she laid her hand in its place. She closed her eyes and concentrated. A tiny glow was visible from under her hand, and the glow quickly spread throughout Quistis's body and disappeared just as quickly. Although Quistis's brows were still knit together, her breathing returned to normal, and she wasn't shivering as much.
Rinoa sighed, relieved. Her training with Edea had helped to improve her abilities immensly. She smiled proudly.
"Very well done," Edea said.
"I must say!," commented Cid.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?," Squall interupted with his arms folded across his chest. He gave Seifer, who had gone back to Quistis's side, a cold, accusing look. Seifer returned the look challengingly and stood up.
"All I know," he addressed the group, "is that Quistis had been showing some signs of powers that she'd been holding back."
"He's said that she was having strange dreams," Edea said.
"Oh?," said Squall with a raised eyebrow. "And how would you know something like that Seifer?"
"Is it any of your business?," snapped Seifer.
"Hey!," Cid interjected sternly. "We have an emergency here, and you two are bickering like little children. Can we please act like the sensible adults I hope we all are?" He turned to Seifer with a hard stare. "Seifer, I suggest you start from the very beginning."
"Well, Headmaster, that's..."
"And I mean start from the day when you two began seeing each other."
Seifer paused. Dammit, he didn't want to start from there. It made him extremely uncomfortable. He took a deep breath.
"Well," he finally began, "It kinda started when we happened to meet by the beach a few days ago. Ya know, the one in front of Garden?" He looked at his audience. They stared at him expectantly. He continued. "Anyway, we talked, and the next afternoon, we ended up seeing each other again at the mall. We talked some more and I promised that I would take her to this club that night. My crew and I started it when we left Garden." Seifer stopped to collect his thoughts and think of how stupid he must seem, telling this to all of them. He heard a snicker coming from Squall, so he looked up at him and gave him a look which promised that all hell would break loose once he was finished with the story.
"So we were dancing and all, when all of a sudden, she got this weird look on her face, so I took her outside under a tree and she told me about all her, uh, problems."
"Like?," interupted Rinoa.
Seifer ran his fingers through his hair. "Like this dream that she had the night before. She told me she saw this town burning to the ground with this suspicious looking lady hidden somewhere in the background. And the afternoon at the mall, she said she actually saw that woman. Right in front of her. And the weirdest thing was that Quistis was able to get her name, without anyone really telling her. She's been showing some signs of psychic abilities which had been hidden all this time."
Silence ensued. Finally, Rinoa cleared her throat and asked again. "What was her name?"
He paused, then sighed. "Celeste."
"Who's Celeste?," said Squall. Edea and Seifer seemed to be the only ones who knew.
"Celeste," Edea said, "is one of the most notorious sorceresses of all time. She is extremely shrewd and has powers beyond that of the average sorceress. She has the ability to read minds and see the future. Because she is able to see into the future, she'd foreseen the fall of Ultimecia, who is said to be equal in power as Celeste, so she hid away for many years until she was nearly forgotten."
"And now she's come back because she wants to use Quistis's powers once she gains all her abilities," Seifer finished. He shook his head. The world will once again experience the sheer brutality of the sorceress. And Quistis will be the cause if it all.
Cid frowned. "Do we know where Celeste is?"
Seifer shook his head again. "When she disappeared, she told no one of what she was planning to do. Not even her followers knew of it."
"And how do you know so much about this?," Squall asked his accusingly.
"Hey, I was the sorceress's knight, remember? I've learned some stuff over time," Seifer answered back without acknowledging the hostility.
"Well," said Cid. "Since we don't have any more information which can help us, and since it's too early in the morning," he said, indicating to the wall clock which read three o'clock, "I suggest we get our rest and discuss this further later today. It seems Quistis isn't in need of our immediate attention either, so we can wait."
Everyone turned to look at Quistis lying on the couch, sleeping.
"But she can't just stay here for the rest of the night...," said Rinoa.
"I'll take care of her." Seifer turned to Cid.
"But..." the Headmaster began.
"I'm sure she has the card to her room. I'll take her there and watch over her during the night."
Cid opened his mouth to argue against Seifer's statement, but Seifer didn't wait for a response and quickly went over to Quistis. He took her on his back again and exited the room without turning to look at anyone else. The door closed behind him with a soft click. The four remaining in the room looked at each other and wondered about the future that lay ahead.
Once Seifer entered Quistis's room, he switched on the light. The dorm was softly illuminated, and despite the situation, Seifer couldn't help but to manage a small smile. Good old Quistis, he thought. How typical. Her room was spotless and immaculate. All her books stood side by side on a shelf, arranged by category and author. Her desktop was empty except for two piles of papers and a red pen beside them. They were obviously tests she was grading for her class.
He quickly went over to her bed and gently settled her on the bed. When he thought she would be comfortable, he stood up straight and stretched. He sat down at the chair placed in front of her desk and leaned back.
Man, he thought, why the hell did I get myself into this mess? Why am I even here, in the same room with Quistis? I could've just left after I told them the story. He let out an exasperated groan and rubbed his eyes, then remembered what Raijin had told him at the bar earlier, about Seifer having feelings for Quistis. Is it true? Does he really care for someone? Quistis? He pondered on that, but he quickly shook his head, trying to shake the thought out of his mind. He didn't want to think about that, but the more he tried to forget it, the more he thought about her honey-blond hair, her deep blue eyes...
He drifted off to sleep.
When Quistis awoke, the first thing she noticed was her vision. Everything had a fuzzy edge to it. Then she noticed her pounding head. She groaned and struggled into a sitting position. When she finally did, she was swept by such a strong wave of dizziness and nausea that she had to lie back down. She took this time to observe her surroundings and realized that she was in her own room.
By this time, her vision had cleared, and she saw Seifer slumped on her chair, sleeping. She frowned. What was he doing here? Suddenly, she felt an unexpected sting of pain in her head, and she hissed.
Seifer stirred from his sleep and finally opened his eyes and looked up at her. He smiled. "So you're finally awake, huh?," he said quietly. "You okay?"
"Just very dizzy. I feel sick." Quistis laid the back of her hand on her forehead. "What happened?"
"Well, just in case you didn't remember, you went kinda berserk last night, attacked me, I fainted, you fainted, then when I woke up, you were in pretty bad condition, so I brought you to Cid and Matron and we got you fixed up."
Quistis looked at him from the bed, in shock. "I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I never expected I could cause so much trouble."
"Hey, no biggie," Seifer said with a shrug.
Quistis tried to get back up, but Seifer quickly pushed her gently back onto her bed.
"Hey, you need to get your rest. You're body just went into shock from building up your psychic abilities so quickly and from being under Celeste's influence."
Quistis sighed forlornly. "You look so tired," she observed. "What time is it?"
Seifer glanced at her wall clock. "It's almost six."
Quistis smiled shyly. "Was it because of me that you couldn't sleep?"
"Hells yeah," he replied jokingly. "Geez Quistis, I never knew such a composed girl like you would snore so loudly."
Quistis gave him a playful, yet weak, slap to the side of his arm. Her arm dropped back to her side and her eyelids began to droop. "You should get some more sleep," she said quietly.
"I don't need any more sleep."
"Sleep," she said as her last command before drifting off into sleep herself.
Seifer looked at her as she slept. She seemed so at peace. Maybe I should sleep for a little while longer, he thought. Besides, I gotta be prepared for whatever happens tomorrow. He spotted a comforable overstuffed chair by the bookshelves. He made himself comfortable and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
An Unlikely Meeting- Part III
Seifer woke up with a pounding headache. "Damn," he mumbled through clenched teeth. He was seeing black spots dancing across his line of vision. With a groan, he rolled over to find Quistis lying right next to him. He looked at her, puzzled for a moment, then remembered what had happened and quickly got to his feet, expecting her eyes to suddenly snap open and attack him as she had done before.
He looked at his watch. It was two in the morning. He had lain there for four hours. He looked back at Quistis's still form. She hadn't moved. He stepped closer to her and checked her eyes. It had cooled to its usual sea blue color, but they were bloodshot. He frowned at took her pulse.
"Oh crap!," he exclaimed. Her pulse was weak and erratic. She stirred, and her eyebrows furrowed together as she whimpered quietly in pain.
"Quistis," Seifer said, shaking her desperately. "Hey, wake up!"
Her eyes fluttered, then opened. They were filled with pain.
"My whole body... hurts," she said pathetically.
"Oh man, hold on. I'll get you outta here." And with that, he managed to hoist her up on his back, and began walking. It wasn't that far anyway, or so he thought. The journey was made more difficult because of his blurring and spotted vision. He tried blinking it away, but it was futile, plus, his body was still hurting from the previous assault. Gritting his teeth in determination, he finally managed to reach Garden thirty minutes later. The man at the gates had fallen asleep on the job, so Seifer let himself in through the turnstiles. As quickly as he possibly could, he headed for the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.
"Damn, you stupid elevator," he murmured under his breath. His anxiousness made everything around him seem to go very slowly. Finally, he heard the familiar "ding!" as the elevator stopped at the third floor.
Seifer wasn't very sure if Cid was even in Garden anymore, let alone Edea, but he was desperate, and he banged on door of their quarters three times with his fists. No one answered.
"Headmaster Cid!," he called out loud. "Matron! I- I could really use your help right about now!" Still no response. "Hey! Wake up you old..."
The door swung open, and there stood old Cid in his nightgown, rubbing his eyes.
"Who in heavens... Seifer?!," he said, surprised yet still drowsy. "What are you doing here? And what is that... Dear Hyne! Quistis!," he cried, when he saw her limp form. He was now fully awake. "What happened?"
Edea appeared behind Cid and noticed what was wrong. She hadn't been sleeping for she wasn't dressed for bed.
"Oh!," she breathed. "Seifer, please tell us what happened to poor Quistis!"
"Oh man. She... I... Well...,"Seifer stammered. He didn't know where or how to begin. By this time, Cid and Edea had already taken Quistis's shivering body and laid her on their long couch.
Edea had crossed the room and held Seifer's shoulders in a firm grip, and said to him in a very different, soft tone of voice, "Please, why is she like this?"
Taking in a shaky breath and slowly letting it out, he said, "She's been showing some signs of long supressed powers."
Edea's eyes narrowed. "What kind of powers?"
"Psychic, I think."
She shook her head. Cid had brought in a basin of water with a washcloth and had begun to dab at her forehead. Seifer continued on.
"She told me about this strange dream she'd been having. Then, in the afternoon, she said she met... Celeste."
Edea's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
"But the last time anyone has ever heard of her..."
"Yeah, I know. I think she wants something from Quistis."
Realizing that the topic had gone off track, Edea asked Seifer, "But why is Quistis in this condition?"
"I don't know. All of a sudden, while we were talking, she just blows up on me."
"She must've been under the sorceress's influence."
"Yeah, I figured that too."
With a look of resolution, Edea quickly exited the room and opened the door leading to the office, with its cabinets of files. She opened one file cabinet and began shuffling through the papers. Seifer followed her up to the door and asked what she was doing.
"I cannot treat anything such as this. I do not have the powers anymore. I need to know Rinoa's dorm number so I can call her."
"Rinoa's a SeeD?"
"Yes," and with a small smile, she added, "She is as good a SeeD as she is a sorceress." She finally found what she was looking for and quickly called her.
"Hello? Rinoa, honey, I'm very sorry to be calling you at such an inconvenient hour, but we have an emergency here, and we need your help... That will be very much appreciated, thank you darling." She hung up the phone and they both quickly went back to the bedroom.
"How is she doing?," Edea asked Cid.
"Not so well, I'm afraid," he answered with a worried shake of his head. He put the washcloth down and stood up to stretch out his back. "I think she's delirious, and she's trembling so terribly."
Seifer quickly went to Quistis's side. He took the washcloth Cid had discarded, dipped it in the basin, wrung out the water, and placed it on her forehead. He trailed one finger slowly down her pale cheek.
"Don't worry," Edea was telling Cid. "I called Rinoa. She will be here soon."
At that moment, the door burst open, and Rinoa stood by the entryway, breathing heavily from having run such a long distance. "Edea, Headmaster, what's wrong?," she panted, and at that moment, she saw Seifer by Quistis's side, and she didn't know what to do. At the same time, Squall entered the room. He saw Seifer, and immediately strided up to him.
Seifer smirked. Following her around like a puppy dog, I see, he thought.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here Seifer?," Squall said, his voice quiet with anger.
"Back-off," Seifer snarled back, stressing the two syllables. "You have no idea what's going on, so I suggest you just sit down and shut up."
During this time, Edea had summarized the situation very briefly to Rinoa, and Rinoa interrupted the spat.
"Excuse me, but if you guys hadn't known, I was sent here to do a job." And with that, she knelt beside Quistis. Seifer stood up to give her some space. Rinoa removed the wet cloth from Quistis's forehead and she laid her hand in its place. She closed her eyes and concentrated. A tiny glow was visible from under her hand, and the glow quickly spread throughout Quistis's body and disappeared just as quickly. Although Quistis's brows were still knit together, her breathing returned to normal, and she wasn't shivering as much.
Rinoa sighed, relieved. Her training with Edea had helped to improve her abilities immensly. She smiled proudly.
"Very well done," Edea said.
"I must say!," commented Cid.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?," Squall interupted with his arms folded across his chest. He gave Seifer, who had gone back to Quistis's side, a cold, accusing look. Seifer returned the look challengingly and stood up.
"All I know," he addressed the group, "is that Quistis had been showing some signs of powers that she'd been holding back."
"He's said that she was having strange dreams," Edea said.
"Oh?," said Squall with a raised eyebrow. "And how would you know something like that Seifer?"
"Is it any of your business?," snapped Seifer.
"Hey!," Cid interjected sternly. "We have an emergency here, and you two are bickering like little children. Can we please act like the sensible adults I hope we all are?" He turned to Seifer with a hard stare. "Seifer, I suggest you start from the very beginning."
"Well, Headmaster, that's..."
"And I mean start from the day when you two began seeing each other."
Seifer paused. Dammit, he didn't want to start from there. It made him extremely uncomfortable. He took a deep breath.
"Well," he finally began, "It kinda started when we happened to meet by the beach a few days ago. Ya know, the one in front of Garden?" He looked at his audience. They stared at him expectantly. He continued. "Anyway, we talked, and the next afternoon, we ended up seeing each other again at the mall. We talked some more and I promised that I would take her to this club that night. My crew and I started it when we left Garden." Seifer stopped to collect his thoughts and think of how stupid he must seem, telling this to all of them. He heard a snicker coming from Squall, so he looked up at him and gave him a look which promised that all hell would break loose once he was finished with the story.
"So we were dancing and all, when all of a sudden, she got this weird look on her face, so I took her outside under a tree and she told me about all her, uh, problems."
"Like?," interupted Rinoa.
Seifer ran his fingers through his hair. "Like this dream that she had the night before. She told me she saw this town burning to the ground with this suspicious looking lady hidden somewhere in the background. And the afternoon at the mall, she said she actually saw that woman. Right in front of her. And the weirdest thing was that Quistis was able to get her name, without anyone really telling her. She's been showing some signs of psychic abilities which had been hidden all this time."
Silence ensued. Finally, Rinoa cleared her throat and asked again. "What was her name?"
He paused, then sighed. "Celeste."
"Who's Celeste?," said Squall. Edea and Seifer seemed to be the only ones who knew.
"Celeste," Edea said, "is one of the most notorious sorceresses of all time. She is extremely shrewd and has powers beyond that of the average sorceress. She has the ability to read minds and see the future. Because she is able to see into the future, she'd foreseen the fall of Ultimecia, who is said to be equal in power as Celeste, so she hid away for many years until she was nearly forgotten."
"And now she's come back because she wants to use Quistis's powers once she gains all her abilities," Seifer finished. He shook his head. The world will once again experience the sheer brutality of the sorceress. And Quistis will be the cause if it all.
Cid frowned. "Do we know where Celeste is?"
Seifer shook his head again. "When she disappeared, she told no one of what she was planning to do. Not even her followers knew of it."
"And how do you know so much about this?," Squall asked his accusingly.
"Hey, I was the sorceress's knight, remember? I've learned some stuff over time," Seifer answered back without acknowledging the hostility.
"Well," said Cid. "Since we don't have any more information which can help us, and since it's too early in the morning," he said, indicating to the wall clock which read three o'clock, "I suggest we get our rest and discuss this further later today. It seems Quistis isn't in need of our immediate attention either, so we can wait."
Everyone turned to look at Quistis lying on the couch, sleeping.
"But she can't just stay here for the rest of the night...," said Rinoa.
"I'll take care of her." Seifer turned to Cid.
"But..." the Headmaster began.
"I'm sure she has the card to her room. I'll take her there and watch over her during the night."
Cid opened his mouth to argue against Seifer's statement, but Seifer didn't wait for a response and quickly went over to Quistis. He took her on his back again and exited the room without turning to look at anyone else. The door closed behind him with a soft click. The four remaining in the room looked at each other and wondered about the future that lay ahead.
Once Seifer entered Quistis's room, he switched on the light. The dorm was softly illuminated, and despite the situation, Seifer couldn't help but to manage a small smile. Good old Quistis, he thought. How typical. Her room was spotless and immaculate. All her books stood side by side on a shelf, arranged by category and author. Her desktop was empty except for two piles of papers and a red pen beside them. They were obviously tests she was grading for her class.
He quickly went over to her bed and gently settled her on the bed. When he thought she would be comfortable, he stood up straight and stretched. He sat down at the chair placed in front of her desk and leaned back.
Man, he thought, why the hell did I get myself into this mess? Why am I even here, in the same room with Quistis? I could've just left after I told them the story. He let out an exasperated groan and rubbed his eyes, then remembered what Raijin had told him at the bar earlier, about Seifer having feelings for Quistis. Is it true? Does he really care for someone? Quistis? He pondered on that, but he quickly shook his head, trying to shake the thought out of his mind. He didn't want to think about that, but the more he tried to forget it, the more he thought about her honey-blond hair, her deep blue eyes...
He drifted off to sleep.
When Quistis awoke, the first thing she noticed was her vision. Everything had a fuzzy edge to it. Then she noticed her pounding head. She groaned and struggled into a sitting position. When she finally did, she was swept by such a strong wave of dizziness and nausea that she had to lie back down. She took this time to observe her surroundings and realized that she was in her own room.
By this time, her vision had cleared, and she saw Seifer slumped on her chair, sleeping. She frowned. What was he doing here? Suddenly, she felt an unexpected sting of pain in her head, and she hissed.
Seifer stirred from his sleep and finally opened his eyes and looked up at her. He smiled. "So you're finally awake, huh?," he said quietly. "You okay?"
"Just very dizzy. I feel sick." Quistis laid the back of her hand on her forehead. "What happened?"
"Well, just in case you didn't remember, you went kinda berserk last night, attacked me, I fainted, you fainted, then when I woke up, you were in pretty bad condition, so I brought you to Cid and Matron and we got you fixed up."
Quistis looked at him from the bed, in shock. "I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I never expected I could cause so much trouble."
"Hey, no biggie," Seifer said with a shrug.
Quistis tried to get back up, but Seifer quickly pushed her gently back onto her bed.
"Hey, you need to get your rest. You're body just went into shock from building up your psychic abilities so quickly and from being under Celeste's influence."
Quistis sighed forlornly. "You look so tired," she observed. "What time is it?"
Seifer glanced at her wall clock. "It's almost six."
Quistis smiled shyly. "Was it because of me that you couldn't sleep?"
"Hells yeah," he replied jokingly. "Geez Quistis, I never knew such a composed girl like you would snore so loudly."
Quistis gave him a playful, yet weak, slap to the side of his arm. Her arm dropped back to her side and her eyelids began to droop. "You should get some more sleep," she said quietly.
"I don't need any more sleep."
"Sleep," she said as her last command before drifting off into sleep herself.
Seifer looked at her as she slept. She seemed so at peace. Maybe I should sleep for a little while longer, he thought. Besides, I gotta be prepared for whatever happens tomorrow. He spotted a comforable overstuffed chair by the bookshelves. He made himself comfortable and quickly fell into a deep sleep.