Disclaimer: As the same with all the other chapters, we don't own anything we didn't come
up with. That belongs to Square. We do this for no profit. Blah, blah, blah.

Chapter 18: Dangerously Familiar

It was the soft pattering of rain on the cabin roof that eventually awoke Seifer. He
rubbed his eyes and opened them, taking a moment to adjust to the dim light. He felt something
laying on his chest, and he looked down to see Quistis laying beside him, her arm draped across
him. Instantly, he remembered the night before; both of them kissing and hugging, murmuring
softly to one another before they finally fell asleep in each other's arms.

Seifer gently moved Quistis' arm to one side and sat up so as not to disturb her. He got
up and checked his clothes. They were dry, thank Hyne for small favors. He put on his shirt and
boots before he went outside to relieve himself. The rain had slackened off considerably since
the night before.

The night before... Seifer sighed, thinking it was crazy that he had made out with his
former instructor. But ...it was mutual and she seemed to have liked it. Still, there was just
something about it all that made it kind of ironic. That he, former Sorceress' Knight, was in
love with his former teacher and enemy.

"Heard about having the hots for teacher, but this is ridiculous," he muttered to
himself as he strode into the light rain. Seifer did his business and went back inside and was
greeted by Quistis pulling on her boots. "Good morning," Seifer said.

Quistis looked up at him and flashed him a smile. "Hey. I was wondering where you went."

Seifer shrugged and smiled. "Call of nature. Anyway..."

"Anyway..." Quistis replied, falling silent. She looked back down as she pulled on her
last boot.

Seifer sensed that there was something wrong.

-At least I'm not the only one having second thoughts.-

"What's the matter? Something happen?" he said, crouching down next to her.

Quistis shrugged, not looking at him. "I don't...no, nothing happened. It's just..."
She sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I guess I'm just confused as to what I feel. I mean I
like you and I think I love you, but..."

Seifer nodded. "But what will the others think about a former instructor being with a
former Sorceress' knight."

Quistis sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I know I shouldn't care...but yeah."

Seifer took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Well...I'm not really going to worry
about it. Yeah, it'll raise a few eyebrows, but hey, what do they care?"

Quistis laughed lightly. "I can just imagine the looks on the faces of Raijin, Fujin,
and Xu when they find out."

Seifer grinned mischieviously. "I think we oughta get a camera just so we can get that
on film."

Quistis laughed and gave him a mock-horrified look. "You're terrible," she said as she
brought his hand to her lips.

Seifer smiled and kissed Quistis, her full, warm lips meeting his. "Yeah. That's me," he
murmured as they parted.

Quistis laughed and she pushed him away lightly. "Come on, we need to get going. I found
some maps in the trunk. They're kinda old, but the river goes right by Winhill, and if I'm
right, then we're almost three miles from it."

"Great! That means we'll be there before noon." Seifer was relieved. Finally, a decent
meal, some warm, clean clothes, and no T-Rexaurs! Seifer put on his coat and strapped on his
gunblade, eager to get going. As he stepped out into the damp air of the forest, he breathed in
deeply, feeling better than he had in a long while.

Major Biggs of the Galbadian military scowled at his scanner and pounded on it once or
twice. Galbadian technology was notorious for malfunctioning in wet conditions, and the scanner
was no exception.

"Problems, sir?" Lieutenant Wedge asked him over his shoulder.

Biggs elbowed him away. "Nothing, Wedge! Just keep an eye out. Those SeeDs are still out
there and this forest is so dense, they could walk right by us. So keep looking!"

Wedge grunted. "All I see are trees and your fat head," he mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?!"Biggs said sharply.

"Nothing!" Wedge quickly answered.

Biggs grumbled and turned his attention back to the scanner. He and Wedge had climbed
back up to their previous ranks, but with the Sorceress now in control, Biggs didn't want to be
demoted again. Which meant doing everything she asked down to the letter.

Biggs picked up a faint signal. It was almost three miles south of Winhill, and it was
moving. It had to be the SeeDs.

Biggs thumbed on the comm. "Sir Kravis? We have them, sir. Three oh mark four, sector
Gamma. Yes sir, about three miles south. Yes, sir. Major Biggs out."

Biggs put away the comm and turned to Wedge. "Alright, we monitor them until Kravis gets
here."

"That should be easy, sir. Though I'm not sure if I like working with these Black
SeeDs."

Biggs nodded. "I don't like it either, but then I'm not about to argue with Xana. Let's
just stick-"

A low growl came from behind them. Biggs turned to see a large, red reptilian leg
attached to a huge, muscular body...and the huge head of a T-Rexaur that gazed at them
maliciously.

"S-s-sir?" Wedge stammered.

"What?" Biggs said in a cracked voice.

-Hyne, that thing is BIG...-

"I wet 'em."

"Don't worry about it, I just think...we should RUUUUUNNN!!!" Biggs screamed as he and
Wedge took off through the forest, the Rexaur in hot pursuit. And as they ran, Biggs wondered
why they hadn't retired before.


Quistis looked up from the map she was holding and off in the direction where the roar
came from. It sounded distant, maybe a mile or so, so she relaxed a little. The Rexaur had been
such a pain in the ass, she didn't want to run into it again. She turned her attention back to
the map and absently brushed one damp bang off of her brow.

"So if this river eventually runs into Galbadia river, then we should be on the right
track." Seifer's finger traced the small faded blue line that represented the river's course
right past Winhill.

"Yeah," Quistis nodded. "So we should be getting out of the forest into some fields once
we get close."

Seifer nodded and looked around them. The rain had stopped, but everything was still
wet, the river rushing past in a frantic pace. "Well, let's go then." He smiled slightly as they
started off again. "Tell you what, once we get back, lunch is on me."

Quistis chuckled. "Well that depends. Can you afford dinner at the Flying Griffon
restaurant in Deling?"

Seifer raised his eyebrows at her. "I might have a SeeD's salary, but I'm not THAT well
off!"

Quistis laughed. "I was kidding. That'd be great."

Seifer smirked and shook his head. "Don't scare me like that."

Quistis grinned devilishly. "How's this for scary; Selphie and Irvine with kids."

Seifer shuddered. "I'd rather not even think on that."

They both laughed, Quistis relishing Seifer's company. Suddenly, they were on a well
used trail, one that looked very familiar to Quistis.

"Hey wait a second!" Quistis exclaimed as she stopped abruptly. Seifer stopped and
looked at her with bemusement.

"What is it?"

"I've been here before," she said. "When we were in prison, Ellone used her powers and I
was in Kiros. He was visiting Laguna in Winhill and they had to patrol the area around it. And
this was one part that they patroled!"

Seifer looked around and shrugged. "Well, lead the way then."

Quistis walked forward with a more determined step, relieved and excited that they were
finally somewhere that she recognized. They followed it for several minutes, the forest giving
way to tall grass.

-This should go straight into Winhill. If the Galbadians haven't overtaken it, we can
contact Squall and possibly shower and rest up before he comes to get us...and have a nice
dinner...maybe walk around a bit...-

Quistis was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't see their attacker until Seifer
pulled her back as a slim blade slice the air in front of her, missing her by inches. Quistis
cried out as a man materialized out of nowhere in front of them. As he stood up, she could
almost feel the violence radiate off of him. He wore the same all black SeeD uniform as the
sniper in Galbadia Garden had. His brown hair was cut short and spiked, and his deep forest
green eyes glittered with malicious intent. His weapon was a staff with wickedly sharp blades at
either end. And the most disturbing thing was that he was vaguely familiar.

"Hello Quistis, Seifer. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" His voice was rougher and
dripped with venomous hatred, but it still sounded eerily familiar, like someone she had known
before...

"Kravis?" Quistis could scarcely believe it.

-It's him! And he's a Black SeeD. How? Why?-

"Ah, well it's nice to be recognized. Gotta hand it to ya, Seifer, you landed a nice
piece of ass there." Kravis twirled his staff, his expression one of arrogance, his voice
mocking.

"Knock it off, Kravis. Is that all you do is talk?" Seifer growled as he unsheathed his
gun blade.

"My my, touchy aren't we? Oh well. You know Quistis, if you ever wanted to have a real
man..." Kravis looked her up and down. Quistis kept herself from shuddering under Kravis' gaze
and unbuckled her whip.

"Sorry, Kravis, but I like men, not boys," Quistis spat back. Kravis smiled wickedly and
brandished his staff.

"Ah well, I can't say I didn't try. But enough of this. Let's play, kids."


Seifer shoved Quistis out of the way and parried Kravis' first blow and dodged the
second, swinging back with his gunblade. Kravis merely parried it and landed a kick in Seifer's
midsection that threw him off balance.

"Ah come on, Seifer. You think I'd be that easy?" Kravis twirled his staff with ease and
slashed at Seifer, who barely dodged the blow.

Seifer heard a snap and and suddenly Quistis had her whip wrapped around Kravis' staff.
Kravis spat at her and jerked his staff, Quistis stumbling forward a few steps while trying to
maintain her grip. Kravis smiled evilly and executed a roundhouse kick that sent Quistis
sprawling.

"Hynedamned bastard," Seifer roared as he brought his blade around in a wide arc. Kravis
parried it, but only just, and he was knocked to the ground by the force of the blow. Seifer
seized the opportunity and charged up a Fire spell and cast it at Kravis. Kravis caught the
blast on his staff, which saved him from serious damage, but he was blown back a few steps.

Seifer charged forward and slashed at him with his gunblade, dimly remembering that this
had been the same way he had given Squall his scar. He had a split second of seeing Kravis' eyes
grow wide before he brought up his staff, trying to ward off the attack.

Seifer's blow was sure and hard, slicing through the staff like a twig and bit into the
flesh and bone of Kravis' face. Kravis fell back, screaming horribly and clutching the left side
of his bloody face. At that moment, the sound of a jet engine roared over head and he looked up
to see the welcome sight of the Ragnarok. It hovered a few feet off the ground, Vira and Dorin
standing on the entrance ramp.

Seifer turned and picked up Quistis before he ran the short distance to the Ragnarok.
Dorin took Quistis and Vira helped him up as the ramp closed as the Ragnarok took off. As they
climbed into the sky, Seifer catched a glimpse of a bloodied Kravis as the ramp closed, staring
up at them as they escaped into the sky.


Vira helped Quistis into a seat in the conference room under the main cockpit. She
looked dirty and bruised, but she was alive. Vira put a Potion to Quistis' lips and in a moment,
Quistis awoke.

"Wha-what happened?" she asked groggily, putting a hand to the side of her head.

"You were attacked by a Black SeeD and we rescued you. You're on the Ragnarok now," Vira
answered. She was dazed, but she would recover. Vira stood up and looked at Quistis for a second
before she walked to the conference room door.

"I'll get you something to eat and drink. Just stay here."

"No porblem with that," Quistis answered. Vira smirked slightly and opened the door. As
she left, Seifer walked past her and nodded to her, saying nothing. Vira nodded back and as the
door slid shut, she saw Seifer take a seat next to Quistis and...put an arm around her?

"Hmm. Guess they're together?"

Vira turned to the cultured voice of Dorin, who stood leaning against a bulkhead,
looking rather amused.

She shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. It's none of my business. They're just lucky we
got back to FH quick enough and that the Ragnarok had been repaired."

Dorin nodded and walked over to the elevator to the cockpit. Vira followed, though she
couldn't help wondering what had happened between those two.

Seifer sat there with Quistis in his arms, stroking her hair and staring out the large
crysta-glass dome that covered the conference room.

"So he's alive," Quistis said, snuggling against Seifer.

"Yeah." Kravis being alive wasn't that much of a surprise to him as it was that he was a
Black SeeD. It seemed that Xana could have anyone she wanted, anyone at all...

-But not me. I'm Quistis'.-

Seifer smiled at the thought and hugged her close, the soft drone of the Ragnarok's
engines lulling them to sleep.

Author's comments: There ya go! The last part in this little sub-plot with Seifer and
Quistis. Again, give a big hand for Nightstalker's excellent job on it! :D Next chapter will get
back on track with the main plot. All the SeeDs stop to rest up in Garden, still docked in FH.
Wanna know more? Well, I can't tell you or it'd spoil the surprise! I can say that Vira's
troubles get worse, we get to peek further into Dorin's past, and another new enemy will arise,
out for one of our heroes for revenge. Stay tuned and please R&R! :)