Chapter 2: Awake, Sweet Dreamer
Seifer was almost happy with the results of his conversation with Cid. He was going to be allowed back into Garden (he was never really expelled) and also allowed to take the SeeD exam that coming fall. He wasn't happy about the part that stated he wasn't allowed to get in any serious trouble at all or he'd be kicked out. No fights, no acts of senseless violence. That sucked majorly hard. Especially since he was really pissed at Squall for what he had said before. That was totally uncalled for. Thinking about that, he thought about Quistis. He remembered how good it had felt to hold her against him and he shivered slightly. Then he worried slightly if she was still arguing with the lovebirds or if she was in bed asleep. It had been a few hours since their little scene in the halls, but still…
He stood staring at the door to her dorm room with a blank look on his face. It was way past curfew but he was still out and about. He had never been afraid of anything before in his life, but he was suddenly scared. Scared of being rejected, scared of being hurt, scared of being in love again. Rinoa had hurt him pretty bad when she went for his archenemy. And he was still pretty sure he liked Quistis more than just the big sister figure he remembered her as. She was more to him than that; she kinda always had been. Standing there in the darkened hallway he knew he had to make sure. Nodding, he pushed the door gently. It swung open without a sound. Seifer tensed. Why would she just leave her door open? Something more than his previous fear coursed in his veins. It was cold terror like the kind you feel when you know something's missing. Seifer prayed to Hyne that Quistis was asleep in her bed and that she was too exhausted to lock her door. He moved quieter than the shadows in the room to where every bed in those dorms would be. In the moonlight and shadow of the room, it looked like she wasn't there, but only for an instant. The drapes covering the open window fluttered in a breeze letting more light spill over the bed. There she was sprawled on top of the sheets, still in the same clothes she had been in earlier. Seifer sighed quietly. He was relieved she was still there and he just stood there. He didn't move because he realized something. He did love Quistis Trepe that figure in the bed. Every nerve in his body seemed to stretch towards her, craving the feeling of her body again. Seifer held back his urge to yell all his feelings, to jump into that bed next to her and hold her all night. So, he just stood there in the filtered moonlight that seemed to shift with the wind.
Luckily for both of them he left before she woke up, left before he could do anything::AHEM:: wrong. He wandered off to sleep in his room hours later and she slept soundly until dawn. Yawning loudly, Quistis sat up and squinted at her clock. It read 7:35. The perfect time for someone like her to go to the library to get a few hours of brief reading in before classes started. She hurried to take a shower and get dressed, and then she stopped halfway to her SeeD uniform. A painful thought made her shudder in her towel standing in front of her closet. 'I'm not an instructor anymore so why am I bothering with this anymore?' Quistis' shoulders slumped and she turned away from her closet. A frown fell into its familiar place on her lips as she rummaged through her dresser for her usual orange outfit. Slipping it on silently and doing her hair in its usual style in that same silence, Quistis glanced quickly at herself in the mirror. She looked just like all of the other SeeDs, ordinary, no fancy titles.
She managed to drag herself over to the library where the brown haired girl with the ponytail sat at the desk. She smiled and waved at the blond woman as she entered. "Hello, Quistis! How did you sleep last night?" The girl bubbled over the counter. Quistis sighed and leaned heavily on the other side of said counter. "Okay, I guess." The girl nodded her general agreement. "Same here. Did ya hear? Seifer's back. Whoo! He gives me the creeps." Quistis' eyes slid out of focus as she thought of Seifer's daring rescue the day before and of the way he had smiled at her after Squall totally verbally trashed him. The librarian kept babbling about how Seifer freaked her out and how much Zell (her ultimate crush) despised the trench coat wearing wacko. Quistis nodded when appropriate and even interjected a few things about how she was disappointed in the way he conducted himself. Then she waved and disappeared into the shelves of books. Leaning her back against the nearest shelf, Quistis tried to sort out the weird thoughts and feelings fluttering around in her skull. She had felt way too defensive when Peggy (the librarian) had started talking about him like he was an evil spirit or something. Why had she suddenly felt the urge to yank the girl's ponytail and shout, "Seifer's not evil! He's just misunderstood!" But something had stopped her. She didn't really know if Seifer was okay or not yet. He could be pulling some elaborate prank on her, on everyone, by coming back and saving her like he did. Then again, there was something in the way he had held her, the way he looked at her, smiled at her. It was all very warm, very UN-Seifer-like. Confused, she sank down to the floor, dropping her head onto her knees. This was way too much for her…
What seemed like hours later to her, she heard a group of people enter the library. They were yelling and running and calling out to Peggy. "Hey Peg! Seifer and Squall are dukin' it out in the field outside Winhill! You gotta come see!" The sound of a chair scraping and more running followed. Quistis hesitated. Her immediate reaction was to run out there and break it up. But a secondary defense kicked in. Squall had offended her the day before so she should let him have it. Wait, how did she know Seifer would win? The last few times they faced him he had lost. But, Squall hadn't been alone. "Hyne!" She cried slamming her fists into the self behind her. She was way too confused right then.
Then in the silence after she heard rushed footsteps, the sound of a body flopping onto the ground and she heard the soft sobs for the first time. Curious as to who was upset enough to be bawling in the library she stood slowly, edging around the self just enough so she could see what was going on. Rinoa was sprawled near her favorite corner, her body heaving with hushed sobs. Quistis froze. 'Why in Hyne's name would she be crying? She has everything I always wanted.' Quistis thought bitterly, eyeing the raven-haired girl warily. Then her sisterly instincts kicked in and she rushed over to the sobbing form. "Rinoa, what's wrong?" She gently placed her hand on the shaking back of her friend. Rinoa jumped slightly and hurried to wipe her tears away before sitting up. "I-I didn't know anyone else was in here! I though they were all watching…" She looked away, towards the door through which you could still here the faint sounds of the mob rushing to see the fight. Quistis nodded knowingly. "Yes, that silly old thing. I've seen way too many of their fights and broken all of them up. Except for that one that got them those matching scars." Rinoa's eyes filled with shimmering tears and she through herself at her big sister-like friend. "Oh Quisty! It's horrible! Squall was so pissed when he left this morning! He swore on his life that he would destroy Seifer and all that he stood for. I-I used to love the way Squall would rush off like that, but it scared me. The way that fire burned in his eyes as he looked at me, the way he grabbed the Lionheart and slashed the air. Everything!" She burst into uncontrollable sobs against Quistis' shoulder. Quistis was shocked into silence. She never knew there was something wrong in that perfect relationship. She could see, though, why Rinoa was so upset. Squall was a nut case when he was mad, when something he loved was hurt or in danger. Something dawned on her. Why Squall was after Seifer's blood had confused her until the moment she thought of the reasons Squall got scarily mad. When something or someone he loved was hurt or in danger. The scene in the halls the day before flashed into her mind. Seifer holding her, Squall glaring and struggling to control himself. He was after Seifer because of her. Quistis started to cry too, then. Only silently, swaying slightly as if rocking Rinoa's and her own sadness away.