WARNINGS: NONE (Only apply to certain chapter)

~*~*~*~= Time/Place/POV change

Flames are welcomed; indeed, I await the day I get my first flame! I shall ridicule it and commit it to memory.

I own none of these characters. All of the characters are © Squaresoft. Enjoy!

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Matron watched Zell's eye's as they widened briefly before refocusing on the baby in front of him. He slowly reached out his hand and stroked the babies face, tracing the tattoo gently.

"OUCH!" Zell screamed, and abruptly pulled his hand back from the baby in Edea's arms. "That thing just bit me!" He looked death at the little child muttering curses under his breath while shaking out his hand. Edea giggled slightly, and re-wrapped the child in her shawl.

"This one's got a set of chompers, better watch out, Zell." She rocked in her chair while waiting for Zell's unavoidable questions. When Zell didn't say anything for five minutes, and just stared at the spot where the baby was, Matron took it upon herself to get the conversation moving. "Zell, when did you get that tattoo?" she asked. A good opening question. Make him think a little. Zell curled his tongue in thought, obviously thinking hard; he had stopped rocking on his heels and cracking his knuckles. He opened his mouth as if to reply, but then snapped it shut.

"I…don't know." He finally told her. Zell knew it was an inadequate answer just as well as she did.

Edea juggled her choices carefully, and decided a bit of humor was good.  "So it's not the result of being surrounded by your friends and having too much beer?" Zell went a shade of red.

"No! O-Of course not! I'm not that dumb…" Zell muttered. He shuffled his feet back and forth. Matron noticed his discomfort and pointed to a big plushy chair in the corner. Zell slowly walked over to it, giving it a challenging look before dragging the big plushy thing over to the right hand side of his Matron's rocking chair. He was hesitant to sit in it, less it swallowed him up without a second thought.

The former Sorceress's voice commanded him to, however. "Sit, Zell." She thought that Zell muttered something under his breath, but discarded it as complaining.

"So…why's that kid got the same tattoo as me?" Zell finally asked.

Edea shifted in her seat before answering, "I'm…not completely sure. A day ago someone came and knocked on the door. When I opened it, I found him." She gestured to the baby. She held up her hand so Zell wouldn't speak before she was done. "No, I don't know who dropped him off. Don't you think I would have already confronted them if I knew?" she waited for the blonde to nod before continuing. "Zell, when you came to my Orphanage, you had the same tattoo as this little fellow."

Time seemed to slow a bit after she said that. Zell was sure he'd misheard her.

"Nuhh?" was all he could get out before he regained his composure. "But…bu..but! You said-" she once again silenced him. "No, Zell. You looked almost exactly like him when you showed up. Tattoo and all." The lithe blonde shot up from the chair.

"That's impossible! That would mean that someone had given a kid some tattoo when they…were…" He slowly gulped. Suddenly he became cold. "What do I care? It's not like he's my kid, or anything. I'm not responsible for the brat."

"Is he your kid?" asked the Matron purposefully.

Zell seemed a little shocked that Matron would even consider him having an illegitimate child. "Of course not, Matron!" He stomped his foot childishly. "Why does everyone think I'm stupid?!"

"Honey, I never said you were stupid; neither did I imply it. I simply asked. It was a YES or NO question. No need to erupt, child." Matron scolded.

Zell scuffed his shoes together again. "Sorry, Matron. It's just…alotta weird thing been happening lately, 'n I feel kinda overwhelmed…" his mind flashed back too the incident in the elevator. Seifer's hot breath upon his cheek, the way his leg had slightly parte- "Zell! Child! Are you listening to me! Are you all right?" Matron searched his eyes, noting Zell's increased rate of breathing.

"Maybe you should go to the Infirmary? You look a bit red." Edea suggested. To emphasize, she pushed him towards the door to Cid's office, and at the same time-

Seifer.

"OH HYNE! I'M NOT DOING IT! I REFUSE! YOU CAN'T JUS-" a moment of silence "Bu-" Edea rose from her chair and silently opened the wood door to see who was causing the commotion in Cid's office.

"What in hyne's name is going on in here? Seifer! Sit down! You too, honey. Now, boys what is the problem…-" Zell walked to the door and shut it. He needed peace and quiet. Zell Dincht didn't have the reputation of thinking much. In fact, he was known to act on impulse rather than coherent thought. But right now, he just wanted to have a nice warm cup of hot cocoa, a foot massage, and an uncluttered brain. He slowly rocked back and forth, thinking about what Matron had told him, about the kid. If they both had the same tattoos, then there had to be a connection somewhere… but where? Zell's brow knitted in frustration. Squall and Quistis were good at puzzles- not him! He always seemed to get stuck with the rotten end of the deal nowadays. Squall and Rinoa seemed as stuck together as they could get, and Quistis seemed rather attracted to Nida—no, wait, they were going out already. Selphie had finally broken it off with Irvine after quite a few dishes were broke. And now Seifer was back, and Zell had no one to talk to. Feeling quite deserted, he started to haul his butt off of Edea's chair, but she came into the room and grabbed his hand before he could get up properly, and he ended up sprawled across the floor.

Matron gasped and cried, "Oh, sorry about that, dear!" then she yelled through the doorway, "Now I hope you too feel better! I want no more yelling in Cid's office, Seifer. And honey, you need to buy more toilet paper for the Orphanage and send it over. The children can't be wiping with their hands!" Zell had picked himself off the floor, but was pushed right back down again by a large, leather clad hand.

"Heya, chicken-wuss. Looking for scraps of food down there? You'd probably have more luck in the cafeteria." Seifer wisely pointed out. Zell could practically feel Seifer's smugness radiating from his body.

"Get off me, Seifer!" Zell yelled up at the larger blonde, bucking up as he yelled.

"Seifer, let Zell get up." Matron said with an air of exasperation. "And Zell, don't forget to go to the Infirmary! Seifer, make sure he goes!" With that, she went over to the Headmaster and started talking.

Zell felt a tug at his hand. He saw Seifer, looking down at him with a rather interesting expression. He looked almost… worried? Seifer Almasy didn't worry about other people, he worried about himself.

"Well, are you going to stand staring at me all day, chicken? Let's go." Seifer said with a smug expression already plastered over the one he had worn before. Zell immediately dropped the other blonde's hand.

"Stop calling me that, Seifer! I'm tired of it!" Zell almost yelled. He caught himself, remembering Edea's new rule about NO YELLING just in time. Seifer simply dragged Zell out of Cid's office, managing a casual goodbye wave to Edea and a sharp glare to Cid.

As soon as the couple had left the office, Seifer turned toward the Infirmary. Zell stopped as soon as he realized where Seifer was headed. Eventually the taller man noticed there wasn't a bouncy boy next to him, and turned around. Zell stood defiantly in front of the door, his feet shoulder-width apart, and his eye's daring Seifer to come and get him.

Seifer would never turn down a dare.

He smirked grandly as he stalked towards Zell, the predatory gleam in his eyes unmistakable. As Zell looked into the older man's eye's, he had second thoughts about standing his ground. He was torn between making a fool of himself by running away from a cadet, or get beat up by the most physical adept person in Balamb Garden.

"Zell." Seifer waved his hand in front of Zell's face. "Edea said you had to go to the Infirmary. So why are you just standing there, chicken-wuss? You should respect your superiors." This made Zell's brain over-load with anger. He stood there, just seething.

"Well, it looks like you can't move. I guess I'll have to carry you." Seifer smirked rather maliciously before leaning down to Zell's level and picking him up. The tattooed blonde seemed rather shocked at the moment, and didn't even put up a struggle to Seifer's efforts to get him to the Infirmary, and was still in a semi-state of shock at being picked up by his nemesis. In this manner, Seifer carried Zell to Dr. Kadowaki's office, avoiding the questioning eye's that followed the duo down the hall.

When he opened the doctor's door, he saw Squall and Quistis standing next to each other, conversing with the Headmaster.

How'd he get down there so quick?

Matron beckoned them over to a table where the baby that she had been holding earlier was sprawled out. Seifer immediately dropped Zell when he saw the babies face, and exact (if smaller) replica of the man he had been holding a few seconds earlier.

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A/N: I am sorry for the long delay in my updating. Vacation plans (among other things) were not the most accommodating for writing.

The 'quite a few dishes were broke' means people's feelings were hurt, ok? Don't want ya to get confused on me. I will start the next chapter as soon as I post this one!

Abbee Dincht: This will be a Se/Z. I dunno about the Sq/Irvy thing, though. Maybe…. I hate Squinoa's  with a passion too…but I don't exactly root for Sq/Irvy, either. Irvine always looked good with Selphie… *dodges shoes thrown at her* …Jeesh, no need to get aggressive, my reviewing friends...Thanks for the shoes, though! Damn, they're the wrong size…

If you look at the reviews, I left some hyperlinks connecting to a picture of Zell being carried by Seifer! I didn't know whether the hyperlinks would upload on ff.net.