Seifer instantly got up upon seeing the shadow of Quistis at the edge of the beach. He began yelling at Squall at the top of his lungs, but as they weren't yet visible to her, he gave Squall a little wink so that he would catch on. Squall began yelling back at an equal volume, so that Quistis would think they were at least arguing, if not fighting.
"What the hell was that, Squall? What a way to direct yourself in front of the trainees!"
"Me?!? Of all people, you were the one that attacked me without even telling me! How's that for discipline, Seifer?" They pretended as if it was their first sighting of Quistis, and acted accordingly.
"Instructor," Squall said. He was inwardly laughing, but as always, keeping his cool on the outside.
"What the hell is going on?" Quistis said. "I receive half-babbled reports from students who ran back on their own from this training expedition, saying that you two began beating the hell out of each other, and here I am. Now all I see is you two arguing, both without a scratch, and I can easily expect that you both are hiding something. Will you tell me what it is?" Seifer and Squall were both surprised at this outburst from the usually calm and collected instructor, but both remained silent for awhile.
"Well?" Quistis pried further. Finally, Seifer spoke up.
"It's not like you to flip out like this, Quistis. Squall and I got into a fight-is that too hard to believe?"
"No," Quistis said, "but from what I heard-"
"What you heard is probably a vast distortion of the truth. You know, these are the same trainees who think that the Fire Cavern is the lair of the bogey man," Seifer shot back.
"Well, I can't-I don't know." Quistis turned and began to walk off, but then she stopped.
"Can you at least tell me the truth? I know what you're telling me isn't the truth, and I can promise to keep it between us." Seifer looked at Squall and then back at Quistis.
"Seifer and I...well..." Squall struggled to get out exactly the words, but Quistis understood. She nodded to show this, and turned without a word, walking back towards Garden. Squall and Seifer waited for a while, and then walked back to Garden a good distance behind her.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Squall awoke the next morning, not of his own accord, but to a face. He was expecting Zell to give him a lecture about his caffeine intake, but instead of Zell's tattooed face, he was greeted with the face of Seifer. He thought that the happenings of the previous day were nothing more then a dream, and so he was surprised to see the one proof he needed that they weren't merely a figment of his imagination: Seifer in close proximity to him without aggression. Regardless, he scrambled back and almost hit his head on the front board of his bed.
"Relax, Squall. I wasn't kidding when I said you were too uptight yesterday."
"What...what time is it?" Squall asked, extremely confused.
"We've got about an hour before official wake-up," Seifer said, "and I figured we could go off to the beach. Saves us staging another impromptu diversion again, doesn't it?" Squall rubbed his abs, still sore from where Seifer had speared him the day before, and he agreed.
"You argue a hard case. Okay, just wait for me to get dressed." Seifer backed up and sat right on the edge of Zell's bed, the oblivious sleeping blonde not knowing that the one person he hated most was sitting right next to him. Squall finished his ensemble by pulling on his leather jacket, and tossing his hair out of his eyes.
"A little vain, aren't we?" Seifer teased.
"You should talk, Mr. Trench Coat," Squall fired back.
"Are you just mad because you haven't had your morning coffee?" Squall cringed at the thought of not having his caffeine fix of the morning, but he actually didn't feel as if he needed it-perhaps for the first time in his life since he had hit puberty-and so he let the comment slide.
It was early enough in the morning that even the ever-rigid guards for the cafeteria and the library were asleep-although they still stood in a guarding position. It wasn't like anyone would be able to tell the difference, whether they were asleep or awake. Talk about whipped, Squall thought. They made their way across the central hall to get to the exit of the garden, and when they had gotten out of the confines of the structure, they broke into a run for the beach. Halfway through, the run turned into a chase, with Seifer the pursuer and Squall the target. They were both laughing maniacally on their way there, and although Squall almost made it to the beach before Seifer, the blonde put on a final burst of speed, grabbing onto Squall's shoulders before he reached the sand. Squall stumbled at the added weight, and crashed face first into the sand, with Seifer lying across his back. Squall spat out the sand that had gotten into his mouth, and brushed out whatever had gotten into his hair, while Seifer, giggling uncontrollably, sat up to allow Squall the chance to turn over so that his relaxing position wouldn't have him lying with his face in the sand. They both collapsed, again with Seifer's head lying on Squall's stomach, just enjoying the beach and the solitude.
"Seifer?"
"Yes, Squall?"
"You still never answered my question yesterday." Seifer cringed at the mention of the question to which he had no answer.
"I truthfully don't know. I probably never will It will probably haunt me to my grave." Squall sighed. Seifer could be so melodramatic sometimes.
"But, even if you don't know for sure, then why me? We hated each other with a fiery passion, and now it's almost the exact opposite."
"I don't know, Squall. It feels right. And you're not complaining, are you." He certainly wasn't. Squall felt more alive now then he had ever felt in his life, and he wasn't about to give it up." They sat there in silence for a long while, the crash of the waves against the beach lulling them into a total relaxation, and finally, a sleep.
When they awoke with a start an hour and a half later, they both got up quickly and checked the time.
"Damn! We've missed role call! And breakfast!" Seifer yelled out. "This isn't the way to get a promotion!" Squall shared Seifer's sentiments, but he didn't present them. They both rushed back to Garden, but found that, when they got their, they weren't being allowed in.
"Why the hell not!" Seifer shouted.
"Our orders are to keep you here. Someone has been looking for you."
"Do you know who?" Squall said.
"I'm not at liberty to say," the gate guard responded. Squall swallowed hard, and looked at Seifer. All they could do now was wait...