"A snakebite's not my enemy, but it taught me how to fight." - Jon Bon Jovi

Chapter 17: Tangerine Dream

With no other options left to them, Quistis and Adrian supported Seifer between them and rode the current around the island until they found an inlet with a gentle shore where they could haul him out of the water. He'd passed out at some point. And in the light of morning, Quistis could see why. Sharks were swimming into the shallows after them, darting in quick circles, drawn close by the blood still flowing from Seifer's wounds. On shore, Quistis rolled him over onto his stomach and pulled back his shirt to reveal the deep, angry slashes the shadow cat had torn through his flesh.

Tears blurred her vision as she looked down at him.

It was impossible to tell whether or not he'd been poisoned, though even if he hadn't, this sort of blood loss wasn't something that Quistis could remedy with magic. Still, she put her hands to his back and tried to ignore the slick warmth of his life ebbing away as she called up the most powerful healing spell she had. With half-closed eyes, she watched as it funneled down through her arms and into him, a blue-green glow that was slowly stitching his injuries closed. She cast for as long as she could, coaxing every last bit of energy she had to keep the magic flowing, until the white hot heat of the spell began to burn her fingertips. Then it broke from her control and was gone. With a deep breath, she cleared his blood away and saw only pale lines of scar tissue crossing his back.

"Is he going to be okay?" Adrian asked.

"I don't know," Quistis admitted.

She dashed tears from her cheeks with the back of her arm and then rolled Seifer over again. He was pale in the early morning sun, and Quistis could feel his shallow breaths and the thready beat of his heat under her palms. Would it just suddenly stop when the time came, she wondered? Or would it slow down until it faded into nothing? She closed her eyes, unable to look at him as she realized that the Seifer she knew could already be gone, his mind and soul already consumed by the shadow cat's poison.

"Oh God," she murmured, her voice little more than a groan. "Don't do this to me."

She'd watched people die before, but she'd never lost someone.

"Quistis…" Adrian squatted down beside her. His mouth curved into a gentle frown when she looked up at him, her eyes burning with grief. "Maybe you should tell him before it's too late," he said.

"Tell him what?"

Adrian paused, then finally replied, "Tell him why he can't leave you."

0 0 0

The sun was beginning its descent into the ocean. Tangerine splashed across the surface of the sea and sky was painted a feathery crimson. Light wispy clouds floated like breath through the air, reaching out with spidery arms toward the bubble of land that was quickly vanishing behind the Ragnarok.

Kelly pressed her face to the window.

There her life went, she thought, sinking away like a brave old battleship succumbing to the lure of the depths. It had put up an impressive fight but in the end duty had been forsaken. She had broken cardinal laws, ones with long memory that would weigh down her career for the rest of her life.

"Are you sure you've got everything we need?" Carson Brecht asked.

She peeled her gaze away from the sunrise and swiveled it about the interior of the purloined Garden craft to look at him.

"I'm sure," she replied.

He was dressed in his uniform, even his cuff links fastened tightly, despite the fact that they were acting right now in stark contradiction to their orders. They would probably both be stripped of their rank when they returned — if they returned. The only indication in amongst the black slacks, high laced boots, and embroidered jacket that he wasn't operating as an officially sanctioned SeeD was his slightly disheveled hair. He was standing in front of the Ragnarok's brilliantly illuminated navigation system. A small globe spun in the right hand corner of the screen while the rest of it was overwhelmed with satellite information being downloaded from the Garden database. He'd used his instructor number and password to gain access to the course logged by Quistis's ship as they left Deling City. Now they were on their way to help.

Turbulence jostled the ship and their young pilot shouted an apology over his shoulder. He was one of Brecht's students and was participating in their plot for extra credit. He wasn't a good enough pilot to actually land the Ragnarok on the island, so they had also stolen a Garden sea craft and had it in the Ragnarok's hold. The plan was to land on the far southern coast of Centra at Edea's orphanage, leave the Ragnarok and the pilot there to be retrieved, and then Kelly and Carson would continue on alone to the island.

Kelly hoped they wouldn't get the poor kid kicked out of Garden.

"We're good to go," Carson said and logged out of the navigation panel. "We'll use the exact same course as they did, so we should land in about the same place, assuming they haven't gone to another island."

"How long will it take to get there?" Kelly asked.

"Couple of days," he replied. "Our ship's about five years older than theirs, so it's not as fast."

"Great," Kelly muttered, wondering how she was going to pass a few days locked in a small boat with him.

She still wasn't entirely sure that this was a good idea.

After returning to Garden, she'd begun working with Dr. Kadowaki and the rest of Balamb Garden's medical staff on breaking down and developing an antidote to the poison she'd extracted from Sascha Maurden's body. They'd made a lot of advances by comparing the venom to those of known animals and had discovered quite a few similarities between the chemical makeup of the mysterious toxin and that employed by bite bugs. It was possible that the anti-venom Garden routinely used on cadets for bite bug stings might also be effective against the monster's poison, but it was impossible to know for sure without a fresh sample. Carson Brecht had caught Kelly on her way out of the library with a armful of books on venomous monsters, and when he explained his plan to her, the possibility that a simple dose of bite bug anti-venom might be able to save someone's life had convinced her to go with him.

The case of anti-venom they had procured was at Kelly's feet. Luckily, Dr. Kadowaki had a soft spot for Quistis Trepe.

"How long until we reach Centra?" she asked.

"Um…we should be there by morning," the pilot replied.

Morning — they were going to have to fly all night. Kelly leaned back in her seat with a sigh and looked out the window again to watch as the sun dropped lower in the sky, tangerine seas swallowing it whole.

0 0 0

Seifer could feel himself falling. He cascaded down an orange waterfall as birds swooped overhead. Their wings beat against the sky, propelling them away from him as he fell. They were soaring toward salvation, he thought, up toward heaven. And he was dropping into fear and delusion.

He fell until the water flooded over him, filling his mouth with the taste of blood. His body heaved and fought until the color around him deepened and darkened. No longer orange. Now it was red.

And the birds above him began to scream.

The sensation of falling slowed, but it wasn't a relief. Instead, he could feel himself being engulfed by something thicker, more suffocating. He couldn't move now, just sink slowly and inexorably as the darkness sucked him down.

Then, a voice broke through the haze. Was it a bird? He didn't think so. It sounded more like a woman…like someone he knew.

He lashed out with one hand, pushing against the force pulling at him. This wasn't right. He wanted out.

Fly. He had to fly.

The orange glow surfaced again in the crimson ooze, licking at his skin.

Yes. Up…up…

0 0 0

It was late at night when Seifer came to. Quistis was sleeping between him and Adrian in the small lean-to they'd built from the remains of their ship and palm fronds they'd culled from the jungle's edge. She had one arm thrown over Seifer and felt him stir. At first, she thought maybe it was a dream…or worse, some creature invading their camp. But then he grumbled something and tried to sit up.

She shushed him, kissed him, and he fell asleep again until morning.

In the light of day, he was more lucid, and immediately asked what had happened. Fighting back a smile that made her cheeks ache, Quistis explained that someone had destroyed their ship and that they were now stranded on the island.

"So, what're we going to do?" he asked, getting right down to business as if he hadn't just stepped back from death's door.

"For now," Quistis replied, "we're just going to try to survive. Hopefully, the islanders think we're already dead."

Adrian was back to full strength, but Seifer would need a few days to recover, so Quistis was more concerned with food and shelter than anything else. They seemed to be safe along the coast. So far, she and Adrian had found no indication that the shadow cats regularly left the island interior. The day before, while they'd been building the lean-to, they'd seen nothing but birds, bugs, and a few lizards — nothing big enough to draw the monsters out of their usual territory. It seemed like the best place to set up camp until they could come up with a better plan.

By mid-afternoon, Seifer was feeling well enough to bathe off some of the sweat and blood in the shallows. That night, they lit a small fire and crowded around it.

"We didn't think you were going to make it for a while there," Adrian said, smiling across the flames at Seifer.

"Same to you," Seifer replied. "I don't really know what happened or how the thing even got me. But I guess it was just a glancing blow. It didn't even poison me."

"You're damn lucky, but I don't think I'd call what you got a glancing blow," Adrian said. "You just about bled out. Quistis saved your life with some sort of spell I'd never even seen before."

Quistis didn't meet Seifer's eyes when he glanced at her. He knew just as well as she did the circumstances that allowed her to draw upon her blue magic. And the fact that she'd been able to do so on his behalf, without being injured herself, indicated a level of intense attachment that she wasn't ready to either admit to or discuss. It remained unspoken between them as they finished their dinner and went to bed, all of them curling up together in the lean-to against the chill of the night.

The next morning, Seifer was the first one up and his appetite had returned with a vengeance. With abject concern, Adrian watched him eat two fish and three granola bars, washing it all down with a bottle of water. They were already almost through all of the supplies that had been in their packs. It was obvious they were going to need more now that Seifer was getting better. Quistis was wading in the shallows, trying to catch another fish, when Adrian yelled to her from the shore that he was going to head back down the coast to where their ship had been anchored and comb the debris for supplies.

"Hold on a second and I'll come along and help you," she called back.

"It's all right. You stay here. I'll be back this afternoon." He waved, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and left.

For a few more minutes, Quistis stood in the water, waiting, until a fish darted past her thigh. "Stop!" she commanded and it sank in the water like a stone. She scooped it up, killed it, and climbed up the embankment to the camp where Seifer was sitting in the shade of their lean-to.

"I can help out, you know," he said as she sat down and started to clean the fish, tossing its guts into a hole she'd dug near the base of a tree.

"Yeah. But I'd rather you rested," she replied and smiled at him.

"I'm not an invalid," he grumbled.

"I never said you were."

She finished with the fish, strung it on a line, and walked back down to the water to wash her hands before flopping down next to Seifer. She laid back and stretched out, groaning and wiggling her toes where they stuck out into the sun.

Seifer turned around to look at her. "You do realize that we'll probably never get off this island, don't you?" he asked, his handsome face contorting into a scowl. "By now, Garden has probably written us off for dead. So no one is coming to save us."

Quistis sat up. "Yes. I know that."

"Then…why the hell are you so upbeat?"

She almost laughed, surprised that he even had to ask. "Because we're alive," she replied. "Because you're alive."

He was right, of course. It didn't make sense to feel happy in face of the odds that were still stacked against them. But after she'd come so close to losing both of her teammates, it was difficult to feel anything but grateful and relieved. She was glad not to be stuck on this island alone. And it didn't seem like an insurmountable task to complete the mission and get home alive with Seifer at her side.

The day was already growing hot, but it was pleasant in their lean-to with the birds singing overhead and cool sea breeze blowing through. Ignoring the way Seifer was looking at her, she laid back down, stretching her arms out above her, and let the morning wash over her.

"You're not worried?" Seifer persisted, leaning down and propping himself up on his elbow beside her.

"Not right now."

"Not even that you might never see Squall, or Brecht, or any of your friends ever again?" he pressed.

Surprised at how little that mattered to her at the moment, she shook her head.

Seifer grinned and leaned in close. "So what you're saying is—"

"What I'm saying," Quistis interrupted, "is that at the moment I'm only concerned with what's happening right here, right now."

For a long moment, he looked down at her, his green eyes curious and his fingers playing in the ends of her hair. Quistis was about to ask him what he was thinking when he leaned down and kissed her. He lingered for a moment once the kiss was through and she closed her eyes before reaching up to pull his head back down for another.

Seifer didn't need convincing. He cradled her head in one hand and worked his mouth slowly over hers, drawing her deeper and warming her blood with the gentle coaxing of his lips and teeth. Hyne, he was a good kisser. She'd never really appreciated what a man could do with his mouth before, but he had her stomach trembling in anticipation and her toes curling against the warm rock underneath them.

He broke away, then trailed kisses down the side of her neck and across her collar bone, biting and sucking.

"Where's Adrian?" he asked.

"Gone to look for supplies," she replied, her voice airy with gasps.

"How long will he be gone?"

"Said he'd be back this afternoon," she reassured him and, to let him know exactly where she hoped this was going, she slipped her hands under his shirt and pulled him back down on top of her.

He groaned a little — a sound that made Quistis melt. She might have groaned too it if he hadn't kissed her again, more forcefully this time. It didn't take long until he was kissing her just like he had back in the compound with his whole body behind it. The friction as he moved against her, his taste flooding her, drove Quistis crazy. She pulled his shirt up until it bunched around his shoulders, then tugged until he propped himself up long enough to take it off and toss it aside. His back was warm and broad under her hands, flawless except for the thin scars that had been left after she healed him. She traced them with her fingertips.

Seifer's own hand traveled down her side, down her thigh, and back up.

"I don't want to stop," she said when he sat up.

"We won't," he promised, then pulled her up into his arms again. Quistis shuddered when he hooked his fingers under her tank top and yanked it off. She strained to get closer to him and pressed hot kisses along his shoulder while he reached behind her and popped the clasp on her bra, letting it fall loose about her shoulders. Quistis shrugged out of it and smiled when Seifer sucked in a breath. For a few heart pounding moments, he licked and kissed and touched before clutching her tightly to his chest and lying back with her so that she was on top this time.

Quistis's loose hair fell around them as she ravaged him with a hungry kiss. He responded by holding her locked tight against him with one arm as the other hand traveled down, cupped her behind, and levered her hips against his own. Quistis knew she made some sort of sound but had a hard time hearing it past the roar of primal lust that fired through her. She'd never been this hot for a man in her entire life. She strained against him, her feet pushed against the rock beneath them, and she tried in vain to get her hands between them so that she could unfasten his pants.

"So over-eager," he chided with a chuckle.

She bit his lip until he gave in. They rolled to one side together as she fumbled with his button and fly, and he kicked out of them, hitting his knee hard against the ground in the process and not even caring. Quistis could hardly contain herself. She wanted him now, needed to be surrounded by him and filled with him and to lose herself in his arms. She'd never known that she could feel this way, beyond sense. Her heart was laid bare, ready for him to reach out and take it, as she sat back so that he could pull off her shorts.

They were around her ankles and she was kicking out of them when he rolled on top of her again.

"Seifer," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "I've never felt like this before. I think I—"

She stopped mid-sentence and Seifer froze on top of her when a shout reached them through the trees. Seifer growled, his grip tightening reflexively. "You've got to be kidding me," he grumbled.

The shouts got closer. It was Adrian, and he was yelling at the top of his lungs. They hadn't yet moved off of one another, still too dazed to react, until they could make out what it was he was shouting.

"A ship from Garden is here!"

Frantic, they broke away from one another and started getting dressed.

"It's Carson Brecht!" Adrian shouted, and they heard his footsteps pound into camp. "He came to save us!"

Quistis cursed quietly as she pulled her shirt on over her head. Of all the damn moments for Carson to man-up and play the part of the white knight riding to his lady's rescue, it just hadto be now.

"I'm going to kill that bastard," Seifer said as he left the lean-to, his hair mussed and his pants still unbuttoned. "I swear to God, I'm going to kill him."