Disclaimer: Much like in the last chapter, I still don't own the characters. Imagine that. Some people in a company called Squaresoft do.
Authors Notes: I got a lot more reviews than I ever expected for this, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. Seeing all the nice comments for this story really made my day. I changed the title from Ties that Bind to My Sad Obsession. I really didn't know WHAT to call this story, so I made up "Ties that Bind". But to be honest, I thought that wasn't the best title, I just couldn't think of anything better. Still, I wasn't happy with it. Then I saw about 20 other stories called "The Ties that Bind" and just HAD to change it. I didn't want a name 20 other stories already took. Too confusing, not to mention the lack of originality. So, I changed the title, but this is the SAME story.
One other thing: This story is about Quistis and Seifer being forced together. However, I'm still undecided as to whether Seifer and Quistis should get together in the end, romantically speaking. Do I make them a couple or just have them drive each other crazy? It's time for reader involvement, what do you think? (Note: No matter what happens, I am NOT gonna put Seifer and Rinoa together, that's not an option for me.)
Chapter Two: Drawing Attention
Quistis stepped forward and kissed Seifer, sealing herself to him forever. Her skin began to glow as if she was burning, and then there was something of a flash as they both burned brighter, then returned to their normal coloring. Quistis closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. The feelings that had just rushed through her were indescribable and beyond belief. Nerves that she never knew she had tingled with the sudden burst of energy. Then, her euphoric high quickly faded as she realised what had just happened.
'I just sold my soul to the devil,' she thought numbly. Selphie shrieked. "AUUGH! Quistis and SEIFER?!" A bombshell exploded in the back of her mind and she snapped out of the dazed state she had been in. "I JUST SOLD MY SOUL TO SEIFER!"
"Actually," Squall pointed out helpfully. "He didn't pay you anything."
Quistis glared, then turned to Edea. "There has to be some way you can undo this!" she pleaded. Edea shook her head sadly. "I-I am sorry...there's nothing I can do," she replied quietly.
Hot tears began to burn in Quistis' eyes. Zell put his arm around her, and she leaned against him for support. She hated to admit it, she thought it made her look weak and silly, but like most girls, she dreamed of meeting Mr. Right someday. Of the prince who would sweep her off her feet and charm her. Being stuck with Seifer was bad enough. What made it unbearable knowing she would never meet the prince. A few tears escaped her eyes at the thought, and she buried her face in Zell's shoulder, trying to hide them. After a moment, she lifted her head, hoping no one could see the shine in her eyes.
"So I'm stuck with Seifer for good?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
"Well, maybe not.." Edea said thoughtfully. Quistis' heart lept. There was a way to get out of this? Edea continued, "For now, you are. But if you were ever to meet the person you are destined to be with, the enchantment with Seifer would be dissolved."
"The person I'm destined to be with?" Quistis echoed.
"Yes," Edea replied. "Provided that it isn't Seifer, of course."
Quistis nearly laughed, but stopped herself in time. Well, of course it wasn't Seifer. And she still had a chance to meet the right person. And get rid of Seifer. She was so relieved.
Seifer finally whistled sharply, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Could I bother someone enough to explain WHAT is going on here?" Everyone looked uncomfortably at each other, avoiding his gaze. "Well, Zell, you're good with words," Rinoa spoke up.
"WHAT?! No way, Selphie should do it!"
"Shouldn't Quistis? It's her and him, after all."
"What do you mean, 'her and him'?" Seifer said, narrowing his eyes.
Edea cleared her throat. "Seifer, we were up here with Rinoa and Squall to......"
Seifer just stared. Edea had explained everything again. There was one part he took note of. The part about being stuck with Quistis.
"Oh, HEEELL no!" he finally yelled. "No way in HELL am I gonna have any part of this!"
"Well, Seifer, you really don't have any choice-" Edea began. "Whaddya mean, I don't have any choice? I didn't hear anyone asking MY opinion! No one asked me if I wanted to do this! You can't make me spend Hyne-knows-how-long with some...some chick against my will!" Selphie stamped her foot angrily. "Look here, Seifer! How do you think Quisty feels?! She's stuck with YOU! YOU!! You're LUCKY to have her! She saved your life, and she gets PUNISHED with YOU for eternity! You should be thanking her!" Seifer stared at Quistis for a minute. "I never asked for your help," he finally said coldly, stalking out of the room. Quistis watched him go. 'I have to learn to deal with THAT?' she thought. Selphie patted her shoulder, trying to be comforting. All of a sudden, Quistis felt like she might cry again. "I..I better go after him..." Quistis stammered, running out of the room. She ran all the way to her dorm. Locking the door behind her, she flung herself down on the bed and burst into tears.
After half an hour, her head began to ache. She wasn't sure if it was from crying, or if it was what Edea had meant by physical pain at being separated from Seifer. She wiped her face as best as she could, then went to the nearest rest room to wash. Luckily, no one saw her. She splashed cold water on her face and waited till her skin didn't look as puffy and blotchy. Then she left the rest room.
And ran into Seifer just down the hallway. She wasn't sure if she should call out to him or he wanted to be left alone. Luckily, he came to her. He studied her face critically for a minute, and something changed in his eyes. She blushed, knowing he could see the tearmarks. Now he thought she was weak. Then he shook his head and walked away. She watched him go, too stunned to call after him.
Early that evening, Quistis knocked on his dorm room. He opened the door and stared at her. After an uncomfortable pause, she asked, "Can I come in?" He walked away, leaving the door open. She took that as a yes, and followed him. He flopped back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. She looked around, realising that she had just entered Abaddon. "So," she spoke after a moment, noticing a container of aspirin on his night table, "I guess you've been having head aches like Edea was talking about, too." He snatched the bottle off the table, gripping it in his hand out of her sight, but didn't respond. She sat down at his desk chair. "Seifer, I know you don't like this, but it's not much fun for me, either. But we're stuck together, and I'm staying right here. My migraine has finally gone away. Edea was right." He still didn't answer, not even looking at her. She sighed in frustration, then picked up a book off the desk. After reading for about 15 minutes, she said half to herself, "This is some advanced stuff. Mental conditions? Schizophrenia? The brain and how it functions?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm going to get something to eat," he announced. Standing up, he walked out of the dorm. Pausing in the doorway, he turned back to her for a minute, then left. She knew that was her invitation to come along. Quickly setting the book down, she hurried after him.
Seifer sat down at a table in a secluded corner of the cafeteria. She sat across from him and began eating her salad. She was getting used to the silence between them. Looking around the cafeteria, she laughed, holding her fork up in mid-air. Seifer glared at her suspiciously. "What's so funny?" She set the fork down and laughed again. "Look at them stare! I never thought about it, really, but what a sight we must be, for all the attention we're getting."
Seifer followed her gaze and chuckled, seeing 5 girls at a table staring, their mouths agape, whispering among themselves. "Quistis Trepe eating dinner with former student Seifer Almasy, who happens to be the most talked about guy at Garden now...sitting at a table for two.. with the guy who tried to kill her..." He trailed off, his face darkening. He shook his head slightly as if trying to get rid of the sudden unexpected thought, then leaned over and stole a slice of tomato out of her salad. Winking at the girls, he ate it. They all turned away in surprise with a few nervous giggles, continuing to whisper to each other. He smirked. "Well, you're back in the spot light, Quistis."
They spent the rest of the evening much more relaxed than they had been. Quistis was wary around him- when a guy tries to kill you, it tends to have that effect on you- but found the fact that he was unarmed quite comforting. After the experience at dinner, he became more talkative, and there was less tension between them. She still didn't trust him, or like him very much, but they were getting along at least. They finished eating, then walked around Garden for awhile. Quistis returned to her dorm after awhile, figuring she'd spend the rest of the night there. That is, until she woke up at around midnight feeling sicker than she had ever had in her entire life. After awhile, she slowly began making her way to Seifer's dorm. She hesitated in front of his door. It was after midnight, after all. Another wave of nausea passed over her, and she quickly knocked on the door, struggling to stay upright. There was a groan from inside, then a loud bang, and then some muttered cursing. The door swung open and Seifer stood, glaring at her. She blushed, seeing him shirtless. "Oh, it's you," he said simply, walking away, leaving the door open again. She followed him into the dorm, shutting the door behind her. She watched him right his desk chair and realised that the noise was him knocking it over. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I-I wasn't feeling well." she replied. His attitude made her nervous. He was much larger, and stronger, than she was, and they both knew it. Not to mention his previous repeated attacks on her. The logical part of her knew he wouldn't do anything, being at Garden meant too much to him. He was lucky for a second chance, he'd never get a third. But the part of her that remembered his Hyperion flying towards her and the blood thirsty look in his eyes made her unconsciously take a step away from him.
He frowned slightly, watching her move farther away. "I'm going to bed. If you want to stay here, you can sleep on the floor." He climbed back under his covers, then sat up. Pulling a blanket off of him, he tossed it to her on the floor wordlessly. Then he lay back down on his side, turning his back to her before she could say anything.
Quistis was leaning over him, shaking his arm. "Seifer, Seifer, calm down." He sat up abruptly, drenched in a cold sweat. "Where's Rinoa's dorm?" he gasped breathlessly.
"It was just a nightmare, calm d-"
He pushed her hand off of his arm. "Where's Rinoa?! Where's her dorm?!"
"Seifer-"
He jumped out of the bed, even though she fought to keep him down. "Tell me the fuckin' number!"
Her eyes widened in surprise. "214." He raced out of the room, tearing down the hallways till he reached her room. He pounded on the door. She answered the door after awhile, looking tired. Squall stood behind her. Seeing Seifer there, Rinoa straightened up, suddenly wide awake. "Seifer? What are-"
He closed her in a hug, clinging to her, burying his face in her hair. "You're all right," he whispered. "You're fine." She put her arms around him, hugging him back. He held her closer, tightening his grip as though he was afraid she'd disappear. "You're all right," he kept repeating. After awhile, he broke away from her abruptly. He took one last long look at her, then turned abruptly and walked away. Rinoa and Squall both stared after him. Quistis was torn between going after him and staying with her friends. She realised that, while Squall and Rinoa were just confused, Seifer was hurting. A lot.
She ran down the hallway after him.
Seifer tapped his straw against the table. He was nervous. Quistis had wanted to go to the cafeteria and talk to Selphie or something. He shrugged and told her to do whatever she wanted. After about 40 minutes, he began feeling dizzy and followed her to the cafeteria. Of course, he was too stubborn to go up to her and admit he was coming after her, so instead he sat down at a table by himself, trying not to draw her attention. But sitting by himself had problems, too. Like making him feel incredibly self conscious. He didn't care much for the cafeteria since his return to Garden. Too many gossipy snots. He went when he was hungry. And always with Fujin and Raijin. Now, not only was he not hungry, but he was left all alone. So he sat tapping his straw, looking down at the table, and hoping everyone would simply ignore him.
He had no such luck. He heard a chair across the table from him scratch on the floor as it was pulled out and someone sat down. He took a breath, then slowly looked up.
It was Squall.
"What do you want?" Seifer demanded tiredly. He knew eventually Squall would show up, asking about last night.
"Seifer, what...what happened ?"
"I..I had a dream," Seifer began, lost in his thoughts. "This dream where I...I took Rinoa. I took her and forced her to Adel..." He paused for a moment, then, gazing out a window, asked, "I really did that, didn't I?"
"Yeah.." Squall said quietly. Seifer nodded, absorbing this new information. After a few minutes, he pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention back to Squall. "So I had this dream where, well, I hurt Rinoa. I tried to kill her. And... I guess I just panicked. I woke up, and it was like the dream was so real- because I guess it was- and...I just...I had to make sure she was all right.."
"Do you still love her?" Squall asked seriously.
Seifer shook his head. "Nah. I never did. She was a friend. When she was around, I didn't feel as alone. And she was 16, and wanted to be in love, and I happened to be around. So she convinced herself she loved me...she just wanted someone to love her. But what we had, it never turned out that way. But I always thought she was a friend, and thinking that I killed her..." he trailed off, then gazed over at Quistis a few tables away. "I didn't love Rinoa. You don't love Quistis, but if you thought you were responsible for hurting her..."
Squall nodded. "I see what you mean." He paused, then asked, "So...you really don't remember what happened when you were..I mean, when.." he hesitated again, unsure of what to say.
"No." Seifer replied. "Not really. I know things that I did, I've heard the stories. I didn't know about Rinoa, though..." He looked away again through the window.
Squall was lost for words. Edea had explained that Seifer had somehow blocked out all of his memories. He had grown up with Seifer and, while they didn't always get along, world domination was something he didn't think even Seifer would attempt. They fought, and competed, and argued but...in a way, Seifer was like him. They were the same, and they were different. But he could understand Seifer, and Seifer could understand him. Better than most people could. He had been genuinely sorry when he thought Seifer died. He had been almost in awe when Seifer attempted to kill Deling. He had been shocked when he found Seifer working with the Sorceress. Even as hard as it had been originally to see Seifer as the enemy, now he finally did. Seifer was now, in his mind, the bad guy. And here he was, confusing him again, making Squall almost believe it wasn't all Seifer's fault. He had a hard time buying it when Edea fed them that line about Seifer being possessed like she was. But part of him couldn't help but see how much sense that actually made. Now, talking to Seifer, he looked so serious, so believable, when he denied knowing what he had done as a Knight. Still, he knew Seifer as the bad guy, and it was too hard to see it any other way. But there was the doubt in the back of his mind, the curiousity, the questions. How could Seifer not remember?
Squall stood up. "Don't worry...Rinoa was fine. You didn't hurt her..."
Seifer moved his gaze to the table, still avoiding Squall's eyes.
"...I have to go now.." Squall said lamely, not knowing what else to say. All of a sudden, he desperately wanted out of this conversation. Talking with Seifer made him think too much. It brought up too many questions he couldn't answer. He liked the way it was before, when it was simple. He was the good guy, Seifer was the bad guy, Edea was the innocent victim and Ultemecia was the enemy. Black and white.
Seifer said nothing. Squall turned and left, leaving Seifer alone once again.
