A/N: A little shorter than my other chapters...but, hey, you can't beat the speed. Posted within 2 hours of my previous update. :-P
Chapter 17: Coming Home
The boat lurched from side to side, leaving Quistis with a queasy feeling in her stomach. Seifer was acting the part of a traveling companion, standing beside her at the railing and watching the Centra continent grow steadily upon the horizon. They were on their way to see Edea before she took him back to Balamb, and tension was fairly radiating from him as the neared closer and closer to their childhood home.
Quistis herself hadn't seen Edea in some time. She'd been busy with SeeD missions, looking after her social life, and most recently tracking down Seifer. Currently, it was beyond her what she'd been thinking when she jumped on the mission. Naturally, at the time she'd never considered how difficult it would turn out to be.
"Have you talked to her lately?" Seifer suddenly asked, his eyes squinted halfway shut to block out glare from the water.
"Not for a while," she answered.
"Oh..." He didn't elaborate on whatever he was thinking. That wasn't really his style, and she didn't expect him to go into a long yarn about his feelings concerning his foster mother.
"She's taking in more kids now, you know," Quistis tossed out as a topic for small talk.
"I know, you told me already," he barked.
Had she? She didn't remember a lot of what she'd told him. She'd been drifting in and out of a lull through most of the trip over the pass.
"Maybe if you're free someday, you can feel free to write my biography since you seem to know everything I try to tell you," she rolled her eyes, knowing the comment was lame at best.
"I'd love to," he replied distractedly. They could see the lighthouse in the distance now. It was tall and white, appearing suddenly on the horizon like a monument.
Quistis stepped back from the rail for a moment, sweeping her eyes up and down the shore line she'd played on so often as a child. This was home.
"It's weird, isn't it?" she murmured. "Knowing that we spent so much time here and only remembering bits and pieces of it."
"I remember quite a bit of it," Seifer admitted, looking down at her for a moment.
"Really?" she was a little surprised. "My memories are hazy at best. I remember playing on the beach, I remember you and Squall fighting all the time, and I remember setting of fireworks."
"You were awful," he shook his head. "Didn't listen to anybody. And, Hyne were you bossy."
"I wasn't bossy!" She got defensive. If she was a little bossy, it was only because she was the oldest (she had a few months on Seifer that as a child seemed to make a gigantic difference). The rest of them hadn't the sense to take care of themselves, so it was her duty as a big sister to protect them and instill some order in their lives.
"Like hell you weren't bossy," he shook his head. "You used to force Squall to play dolls with you. Selphie would have loved to, but no...you wanted Squall. And he sucked at it. Always wandered off, or didn't reply the way you wanted him to when your doll asked his doll to dance."
"I see things have really changed," she snorted, remembering the night of the SeeD ball when she'd criticized him for dancing with Rinoa.
"He was afraid of you, I think," Seifer laughed. "We all were."
"Afraid of me?" She brought one hand up to her chest. "I find it hard to believe you were ever intimidated by me."
"You cried all the time and got me in trouble," he shook his head. "Every time I came near you, you'd start making little orders for me to do things for you. Hell, you were only a few months older than me, and I was bigger. But you started bawling every time I told you no, and then I was the bad guy."
Quistis didn't remember all of this, but she was sure that if she did her memories would cast a whole new glow on the situation. Seifer wasn't as innocent as he was portraying. She did remember how he'd constantly teased Zell. That had never changed.
"I wasn't that bad," she insisted.
"Oh, yes you were."
"I was not!" She secured her hands firmly on her hips. "We'll have Matron settle this...you'll see. She'll agree that I wasn't bossy."
"Yeah, whatever you say," Seifer rolled his eyes.
It had been a long time since Quistis had done any real thinking about her childhood. Her reminiscing with Seifer had unexpectedly lit a desire within her to learn more of what she'd forgotten. He seemed to remember everything with complete clarity. It wasn't fair that she should loose a whole half of her life while his was still complete.
"Hey, look," she grabbed his arm, pointing out to sea where the rest of the orphanage had come into view. "Doesn't it look great? The new paint and trees look really beautiful from way out here."
"Looks nice," he nodded. It took Quistis a moment to realize she was still holding on to his arm, and she dropped it as suddenly as she had grasped it. Things were becoming just a little too friendly between them for her tastes. Back in Trabia she'd been ready to toss him to the lions. Then he'd showed a little compassion, and all of the sudden he was her brother again.
Brother.
She turned and looked at him. Part of her really liked the idea of Seifer as her brother, even though she knew he wasn't really. But, another part of her balked at the idea of an implied blood relation, and not for the reasons that she would have expected.
As much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she was a little attracted to Seifer. He was incredibly good looking (any girl with eyes would be forced to admit that). On top of that, he was dangerous, which was an incredible draw. Good girls always liked bad boys, and it was difficult to get more goody-goody than Quistis. He was still mysterious like Squall, but unlike his rival, she felt that Seifer had real things he was hiding from the world. Squall just liked to be left alone to his feelings, Seifer was repressing something.
She tilted her head slightly, as if doing so would magically allow her to see deep into him.
"She's going to be glad to see you," Quistis announced, pushing her unwanted thoughts about Seifer aside to concentrate on more favorable ones.
"Maybe," he shrugged.
The boat made shore a short time later, and both walked the short distance to the orphanage, taking the time to fight off the few monsters who were still prowling the area. Monsters weren't nearly the problem that they had once been, which was really sort of a pity. A twisted little part of her liked the action.
"Hi!" A cute little boy with an abundance of dark hair greeted them as they walked in through the gates. The day was hot, and both of them were slightly rumpled from the walk and boat trip. Quistis felt sticky and uncomfortable. She wasn't overly fond of children, although they seemed to be distantly fascinated by her. The little boy's attention immediately shifted to Seifer, however.
"Hey," he smiled broadly at the child. "Is Matron around?"
"You know her?" the kid asked skeptically, narrowing his eyes at them. Quistis looked back and forth from the child to Seifer, not failing to notice the change in Seifer's demeanor. He was more at ease, but at the same time more tense. None of that tension was obvious on the surface though as he rumpled the kid's hair under one gloved hand.
"Yeah, I know her," he grinned.
"I'm Faber," the child introduced himself proudly. He had a little ball in one hand, but offered the other one for Seifer to shake. He didn't seem at all concerned with Quistis. She supposed he lacked a father figure, and Seifer showing up was a chance for him to show off his manliness to another member of the male species. Seifer was good natured enough about it, and he shook Faber's offered hand with the same air as if he were shaking the hand of any other adult.
"I'm Seifer," he offered when the handshake was over.
"Quistis? Seifer?" They both looked up when Edea came out the door, her slight build framed by the darkness behind her. Even though Quistis had been included in her words, her gaze was riveted on Seifer. Her lost child, probably the one she'd come to care the most about. She had to admit, she was a little jealous.
Seifer smiled slightly, obviously unsure of how to handle himself.
"Seifer! Sweetheart!" Edea rushed down the steps and tossed her delicate arms around him. "I'm so glad you've come to see me!" She hugged him tightly, looking decidedly frail wrapped in his arms.
"Oh...and Quistis," Edea broke the hug long enough to rest a hand on Quistis' upper arm. "You've brought him back to me." She smiled broadly, her eyes shiny with moisture.
Faber came around Seifer to stand beside Quistis, obviously puzzled at what he was seeing. She supposed that, in a way, Seifer was his big brother, and she his big sister. Faber was working through the logistics of that in his head as he watched his mother embrace the older man.
"You haven't changed a bit," Edea smiled up at him. Quistis was sensitized enough to Seifer to practically feel the overwhelming emotion bubbling up in him. He'd missed her. And, back once again in his mothers arms, he deteriorated into the confused child he had once been. He'd followed her into hell, and because of it his entire life had been taken away.
"Please...come in and stay a while," she took his hand and led him inside. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too, Matron," he stuttered, saying his first words since she'd run from the house into his arms. Quistis and Faber stood together watching them walk together back into the house.
"What was that about?" Faber asked, scratching his head.
"Coming home after too long away," Quistis replied, looking down at him. He narrowed his dark eyes as he looked up at her.
"Welcome home, then."
Home, indeed. Taking the little boy's hand with a smile, she followed in Seifer and Edea's wake. As the two entered the cool, stone house together they saw Seifer and Edea seated at a table. She was fairly bursting with joy, and there were tears in Seifer's eyes.
She squeezed Faber's hand, frightened by seeing Seifer crying. He was trying his best to hide it, and nervously turned to wipe the dampness away when she walked in, but he couldn't hide what returning had done to him.
"Quistis, honey...sit with us," Edea smiled, not at all unnerved by the breakdown of Seifer's emotional state. He'd been through a lot in his time, and as Quistis let go of Faber's hand to take the seat beside him she had a feeling that the floodgates were only just beginning to open. He still had a lot to deal with, and enemies were waiting to face him. The end had only just begun, but this Seifer was not the same man who she'd looked at so many years ago.
Or, maybe he was...maybe he'd never changed at all. Perhaps he was the very same Seifer who'd played with her on the beach in what seemed a whole different lifetime.
