The moon shone down hazily. It illuminated many things; a small nook off the side of the road that led into a tiny clearing, surrounded by scrawny trees and bushes. A few bare patches of ground covered sparsely with grass. Seifer and Quistis lay side by side on the damp grass, not speaking or moving. Seifer's jacket was draped over Quistis' shoulders, but she still shivered with a mortal fear. She didn't understand where she could go. She didn't even understand any more. The person she used to be, the one who would write up school papers and hope for good grades, seemed a world away, a whole different life away. Could she ever escape from her hunter? Eventually, she would die, stalked and killed by some conspiracy that had no qualms about murder. They'd already killed at least two people already…Canon, and Melody, and she had very nearly been a third…another shiver racked her body, and she wrapped her arms around herself to keep herself warm.
"Are you cold?"
Seifer's voice was low and throaty, and it sounded as if he had been crying. Quistis shut her eyes tightly, the threat of tears enveloping her. When Seifer started to lose control? She remained silent for a few minutes, listening to the rustle of leaves and the musical breeze around her. A strand of hair blew into her face. She didn't move to brush it away. She'd used to long for adventure, for pirates and knights in shining armour who would rescue her. But this wasn't an adventure. It wasn't like the movies. It was horror, pure and simple, and for the first time Quistis realised what fear really was. It wasn't worrying about failing an exam. It was fighting for your right to live, the will to live. And when you lost that…
"I'm scared…"
Seifer moved on the ground next to her, so that he was leaning over her. He brushed away the strand of hair from her face.
"Why…?"
Quistis rolled over to look at his face. She saw no fear in his eyes, only some sort of grim resolve that startled, if not frightened her.
"Why not…"
Seifer's face grew soft in the moonlight as he looked at her under the canopy of stars. "Did you ever believe in those stories you used to read, Quisty?"
"Stories…?"
"The ones where the knight rescues the princess from the top of the tower. It's love at first sight. There is no fear or terror in fairytales. Do you know why?"
Quistis shook her head silently. She thought she saw the glimmer of a tear in his eyes. "Tell me."
"There is a love beyond all fear. If love is supposed to conquer everything, then love, pain, and sorrow can never exist side by side. There is love, and there is pain, and there is fear, and when they come together your heart feels as if it could be torn in two. Yet, if you have enough love, you can never be afraid. Fear cannot exist where there is love. Because where there is love, there is trust, and where there is trust, there is no fear."
Tears were rolling slowly down his cheeks now, dropping one by one onto the pale ivory of Quistis' forehead.
"Do you trust me?"
She nodded slowly, her fingertips searching for his. She grasped his hand tightly, drawing on his strength. "I trust you. I love you."
"Then understand what I have to say to you. You will understand, won't you, Quistis?"
Suspicion clouded Quistis' eyes. "What is it…"
"I have to leave you, Quistis."
I have to leave you Quistis. I have to leave you. Leave you. Alone. The words echoed in Quistis' head. A throbbing pain started in her temples. She opened her mouth, searching for words to say, but none came out.
"Wh…I mean…why…"
Her words were no more than a whisper, a choked whisper.
"It's me they're after, Quistis. Not you. As long as I am with you…you are in danger. If you were hurt, it would be my fault. And I couldn't live with that…not with your pain, not with my guilt…"
Quistis shook her head silently, tears coursing down her face as he continued.
"If I leave you, they'll find me. I'll handle it, I'll do what I have to, fight, fight to kill if necessary, but I know that you will be safe. You will be safe, won't you Quisty?"
"Don't go…"
Quistis sat up suddenly, her fingernails digging into the ground at her sides. Anger and frustration tinged her words. "DON'T GO!"
"Quistis, Quisty, I have to, I have to…you have to be strong. You have to be strong."
"No…no…"
Seifer stood up quickly, tears filling his eyes. He raised his voice, fire blazing in his heart. "Do you think this is easy for me either? Imagine if you came with me, Quistis, imagine if that bastard found us again. Imagine this time you were shot, and this time it didn't miss. Imagine my face as blood stains your dress, imagine the tears and hurt and guilt and shame. How could I live with that? I couldn't, that's what, I would die and it would be both our lives. A goddam waste!!! This way, if I die…I know you will be safe. I know I will have protected you…"
"But we have to be together. Whatever happens, at least we should be together! My life is nothing without you, nothing…"
Seifer crossed over to her in two strides, his face and voice softening. "Don't talk like that, Quistis. Don't talk like that. Just know I will always love you."
That was the moment. That was the moment it broke through to her that she could never see him again. He took her in his arms, and her fingers pressed into his back, and he felt her chest rise and fall irregularly, trembling with the force of the sobs that were pouring out from her soul. Gut wrenching, terrible sobs. He thought he would never hear such a sound again, and the sound would haunt him for the rest of his life. He found himself crying too, and Hyne looked down on the two lovers sobbing in eachother's arms, and wove a blanket of moonlight around them. They glowed like deities in the dark night, as their hearts beat as one, and their tears mingled on eachother's cheeks as they pressed their lips to one another's over and over again. Seifer buried his face in her neck, the tears dampening the pure white skin. And then he drew away, his wide eyes wet but full of determination.
"Goodbye…"
He touched her hand briefly.
"Head to the town at sun up. It's not far, you can walk. Don't walk down any dark alleys or anything…Get in touch with Squall or something. Take this-" – he pressed something cold into her hand – "…I love you."
He turned around and jumped into the car at the roadside, not looking back. This was the last time he would ever see her, hear her voice…and those were the last words he would ever have said to her.
The car swerved away from the roadside, screeching away as fast as it would go. Quistis jumped to her feet and ran desperately behind it, but soon it was only a disappearing speck, and she was left cold and exhausted by the roadside. Tears ran down her cheeks still. Her legs gave way beneath her and she fell to her knees, alone on the cold hard gravel, the tears dripping into the dust with nobody there to wipe them away.
"…Remember me."
***
I know this chapter was a bit short too, but bear with me! PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!