Disclaimer: I only own Terra and Akira, nothing else is mine.

Chapter One: Butterfly Kisses

"Daddy..." Akira's whispering voice cut into Seifer's deep, dreamless sleep. She rolled her eyes. "Daddy... Daddy, get up! You promised!" She nudged her father in the ribs hard and he finally blinked and looked up at her.

"Morning," he told her, still half asleep.

"Yeah, yeah, morning Daddy. Now come on!" Akira said jumping up and down on the bed impatiently.

"What are you talking about?" Seifer asked as he still tried to rid the sleep from his emerald eyes.

"You said I could try out your Gunblade today!" she exclaimed as she smacked him softly on the arm. He only laughed and pulled her closer to him as he began to fall back to sleep. "Daddy!"

"It's too early," he mumbled. "What time is it, anyway?"

Akira sighed heavily and stretched her neck to look at the clock over her father's lazy form. "It's only five-thirty."

Seifer's eyes jolted open again. "Five-thirty?! Little girls like you should still be sleeping at this hour."

Akira giggled as Seifer mercilessly tickled her sides. "No I don't," she told him between giggles. "I take after you remember?" Seifer stopped what he had been doing and his smile slowly faded. "What's wrong Daddy?" She snuggled closer to him, who still smelled of the cologne he had put on the night before.

"Nothing," he told her as his bright smile returned. "Why don't we head downstairs and I'll make you some breakfast?"

Akira's eyes, which were an exact replica of her father's, shimmered with delight. "And then can we go outside and train?"

Seifer chuckled as he slid out of bed. "Yeah, then we can train 'til your heart's content."

"Now you wait here," Seifer instructed the 11-year old standing before him. "I'll be back with my Gunblade." And he went around the back of the house to fetch his weapon of choice from the life his daughter knew nothing about. And he wanted it to stay that way. His past was just that - the past. Akira didn't need to know what her father was like when he was 18 and a complete idiot. Now he was 29 and had a whole new life. No one, not even Mr. High and Mighty, aka Squall Leonheart could spoil it now. He never wanted to see any of those stuck up SeeDs ever again.

Akira slowly ambled around the front yard, kicking at rocks and dirt innocently. Then, the sound of a bird flying by caught her ear, and she watched as it soared across the bright blue sky. As her purified emerald eyes followed the animal, her gaze soon rested upon a looming structure way out in the distance. "Whoa..." A huge dome shaped building stood out among the greenery around it; it was brightly colored and brightly lit. She'd never seen anything like it in her life.

The sound of Seifer's footsteps reached her ears, but she didn't turn to face him. "Okay, I'm back." He stood there for a moment, but his daughter seemed to be intrigued by something out in the valley below. He went to her side and followed her gaze, his stomach tying into multiple knots when he realized what she was so interested in: Balamb Garden.

"What's that thing Daddy?" she asked. He could tell she was in awe.

"It's nothing," he replied quickly. "Come on."

"No. I wanna go there." She turned to him, a pleading look in her eyes. "Can we Daddy?"

"Absolutely not," he told her firmly.

"But... But why?" She was already beginning to tear up.

"Because I said so."

"That's not a good answer!" she said defiantly.

"Well it's good enough for me," he replied. "Now come on Akira." His daughter said nothing more about Balamb for the rest of the day, but he knew the time would come when she'd ask again, and he'd eventually have to tell her why exactly she couldn't go there. Hopefully though, that time wouldn't come for quite a while.

Seifer sat in the kitchen, the handle of a mug of strong coffee being held firmly in his grasp. Akira questioning about Balamb had given him wild anxiety, causing the old emotions that had fired him up since he'd first gone to Balamb Garden to stir deep inside him once again. He couldn't hide it forever; she was only eleven years old for Hyne's sake, but sooner or later it would come up again. Thinking about it only caused his stomach to turn itself inside out.

He heard soft footsteps which caused him to turn halfway around, where he saw a blonde haired, green eyed little girl standing. "Daddy, I can't sleep..." she grumbled as she climbed up into her father's lap. "And it's all because of you."

"Me?" Seifer was slightly taken aback. "What did I do?"

"You were mean to me before." Seifer suddenly realized what she meant. "Why can't we go to that place Daddy?"

Seifer sighed and began involuntarily playing with Akira's long hair. "You're too young to understand hon..." he told her, almost sadly.

"Well when will I be old enough to understand?" she insisted.

Seifer shook his head. "I don't know. But you'll be the first person I tell when I find out okay?" A smile formed at the corners of his mouth.

"It'll be when I'm fifty, right?" Akira asked with a roll of her eyes. "Cause by then, I'll probably be a mommy already." Akira laughed, but as soon as Seifer heard the word 'mommy', his heart ached something fierce. "Daddy?"

"Hmm?"

"Why don't I have a mommy?" Seifer's throat tightened, but somehow, he'd known the question was coming.

"You do have a mommy, Akira. But... She's not here anymore..."

"Why? Doesn't she like me?" Akira's voice held naivety but her eyes told him she somehow understood.

"No! Of course she does, 'Kira. It's just... Your mommy couldn't take care of you, so she let me do it instead." Seifer visibly cringed as he awaited Akira's response.

"Will I ever see Mommy?"

Seifer hesitated. "I don't... think so. So you just stick with me, okay sweetheart?"

Akira nodded and flashed him a smile. "You got it!"

"Now will you get your little tush back to sleep?" Seifer asked as he lifted her up as he stood. He had never realized how heavy she was. Time seemed to be flying anymore.

"Hmm... could be..." she replied with a smirk. "As long as you promise we can go somewhere tomorrow."

Seifer laughed and he began walking towards Akira's bedroom. "Go somewhere? Hyne, where do you get all your energy, 'Kira?"

"How should I know? All I know is I got it and I need to use it all up!"

"Use it all up?" Seifer echoed.

Akira raised an eyebrow in a similar manner to Seifer. "Is there an echo in here?" Seifer laughed once again as he recalled the line he always said from a teenager and up. "I gotta use all my energy up before I get all old like you, Daddy!"

"Oh, is that so?" By this time, they had reached her bedroom, which was adorned with stuffed animals of every kind (she collected them) and bright colors everywhere you looked. Seifer tossed her gently onto the bed, causing her to giggle uncontrollably. "Now go to sleep!" he told her with a grin.

Akira sat up for a moment and saluted, which of course reminded him of life at Garden, causing his heart to momentarily sink. "Yes, sir!" Seifer leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Night, Daddy!" she said as she slid under the covers.

"Goodnight baby."

As Seifer shut off the light and exited the tiny room, he leaned against the hall wall to think for a bit. Man Almasy, you got a little girl in there who's so much like you it's eerie. Who'd ever believe that? he asked himself. But she can't go to Balamb Garden. Never. Not only is she an Almasy, but if she went, then I'd have to go as well - to sign for her. I never want to see Squall or any of the others ever again, I swore to that. And I meant it.

Like it so far? Please let me know. And for those of you who like Seiftis fics this might turn into a Seiftis eventually, but it wouldn't be for a little while. And let me know what you think of Seifer being a dad. A lot of fics have a "new generation" theme going, but I haven't seen that many who really zone in on how Seifer would handle fatherhood. Stay tuned!!