8


"Well," the older girl exclaimed after I'd told her the story. A pause, then a lower, "Well ..."

I hadn't intended to tell Ellone what all had happened, but she'd caught me at a really bad time. Few things shock me; I pride myself on being totally unflappable and able to take up any challenge, but this completely blindsided me. When I started speaking it was in jerky half-mutterings, an easy signal that something was wrong; when Ellone confronted me about it I tried to deny it, but she told me if I didn't say anything she'd ask Seifer was had happened. She's apparently passed him while trying to find me, and put two and two together.

There was no way I was going to let him give his side of the story, but it still took her threatening to get the truth by whatever means necessary before I spilled my guts. As she was as powerful as a sorceress and had time to tweak in her hands, I decided talking would be easiest.

Now we both sat there against the wall, each unsure what to say next. As the silence stretched, my mind began pulling interesting tidbits out of supposedly thin air. The more I thought about it, I realized I couldn't remember a single time when Ellone had critisized Seifer. Zell, Selphie, and Irvine had talked a lot about him, mostly disparaging things; Squall very rarely spoke of the blond, and Rinoa steered clear of the subject. I myself hadn't exactly been vocally critical of him, but that was because it was my job to stay impartial; Hyne knew what I'd been thinking about him. But Ellone, even when she'd been around us during those times, had never participated in the talks; if anything, she'd tried to stop us or change the subject whenever it turned to Seifer-bashing. Unfortunately, she divided her time between Garden and Esthar so wasn't always there, leaving us to get comfortable joking at the expense of the blond man.

"I think," Ellone started and I looked eagerly at her, but she lapsed again into silence. It might have been amusing at any other instance just how desperate I was for guidance right at that moment, especially that of an older woman. Of course, she was older only by five years but when you're nineteen, a difference in age like five years might as well be a lifetime. I felt anything but amused, however, as I waited avidly for whatever she might be able to tell me.

Ellone glanced at me, then sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time since we'd gone quiet. "I think," she said slowly, "that I'm not the one you should be asking for answers. I myself have never been in any relationship this, um, complicated, and I don't know if I could help you right. See if you can run it by Matron Edea; she may have a bit more experience in matters of the heart."

I visibly deflated, my shoulders slumping forward just a bit. I'd have to tell someone else now? While I loved Matron, no doubt about it, somehow telling her my love life was like...like...I don't know, but just wrong. She was like a mother to me, and who wants to tell their mothers about boys they'd been snogging.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you Quistis," Ellone said, looking a bit crestfallen herself, "but I have something I've been wanting to ask you too. Have you noticed if Zell is acting peculiar?"

"Zell?" What could be the matter with Zell?

"Yes, well, he'd been acting a bit..." She waved her hand around delicately, searching for the word. "Depressed lately. Do you know why that might be?"

Zell, depressed? Funny, I hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary and told Ellone so. She nodded, but implored me, "Could you keep a close eye on him? I haven't been able to talk to him as much as I used to lately, and whenever I do...I don't know, he just seems sad. Please keep an eye on him Quistis, and talk to Matron about your problem. I'm sorry I had to saddle you with more worries."

I waved it off. "No problem, you know me: I thrive on these kinds of things." Indeed, her telling me her suspicions of Zell had taken my mind almost totally off of Seifer. It was a relief not to worry about why I'd acted like that and have something else to think about. "Actually," I added, standing up, "it's about lunch time and they should all be in the cafeteria. Care to accompany me there?"

"Sure," she replied softly, taking my proffered hand to help her to her feet. "It's been a while since I talked to everyone together."

We exited the dueling hall, chatting casually about business in Esthar and Balamb, both Seifer and Zell momentarily forgotten. That is, until I stepped out and saw Seifer standing at the far end of the hall, leaning against a wall. I stopped, my brow furrowing, but before I could do anything he pushed off the wall and turned down the corridor next to him, disappearing from view.

--0--

For the life of me, I couldn't see what Ellone was talking about.

We were all sitting in the cafeteria, eating and chatting like normal. Squall and Rinoa were seated together as usual, with Selphie and Irvine talking animatedly next to them. Zell sat next to me, his plate piled high with his normal staple: hotdogs. Lots and lots of hotdogs. He was scarfing them down at a record rate, barely pausing between bites to give his opinion on any topic currently being discussed. If this was what being depressed looked like, it didn't seem to be that bad of a state. He, Selphie, and Irvine were laughing about something, but I was too involved with a conversation between Squall, Ellone, and myself to pay attention to whatever they were discussing.

"The number of requests for missions has dropped dramatically since we returned," Squall was saying. "At the rate we're going, we may not be able to take in any new recruits this year; we don't have enough revenue to support them, let alone the hundreds we already have stationed here."

"What about Trabia and Galbadia gardens?" I asked. "I know they're both still trying to get back on their feet, but have they noticed the same thing?"

Squall nodded. "Galbadia garden just opened up its acceptance for missions, but they too had noticed a remarkable drop in requests...before all this." He waved vaguely in the air, a faint grimace on his face. "Trabia's too new; they don't have their permanent facilities erected yet and they had too many casualties in the air raid to be fully operational for a long time."

"Selphie's been wanting to go back to help," Rinoa piped up. "It was her home garden after all, even though she loves Balamb. She's been thinking about it for a while now."

"What's keeping her here?" Ellone asked, looking genuinely curious.

Rinoa opened her mouth, then suddenly blushed and closed it again. "I'm, uh, not supposed to tell," she said softly, leaning away from Selphie. If the other girl heard what Rinoa said she gave no evidence of it, apparently deep in her own conversation with Irvine.

Ellone laughed lightly. "It's a boy, isn't it?" she murmured, smiling as Rinoa blushed deepened. "Don't worry, you didn't tell. It's just quite obvious."

Zell, I noticed, had gotten in on the conversation, listening intently and slowing down on his hotdog consumption.

"Well, I think you should talk to her about it if you want to know any more," Rinoa whispered. "I shouldn't have even told you this..."

"Told what?" Selphie piped up, turning around and beaming at the rest of us. "Sorry, what were you guys talking about?"

Rinoa was blushing furiously now and Squall seemed to have no idea what to say next, so I answered, "We were thinking of talking with Matron about Galbadia Garden. Maybe she would have some tips on what to do."

Selphie nodded, the edges of her mouth drooping just a bit. "I sure wish I knew what was going on there," she stated, her normally upbeat voice slightly diminished. "It just happened so suddenly, the whole Garden cutting all ties to the outside world and all. Why would they..." She trailed off, her gaze switching to Irvine. I watched her brow furrow and glanced at him as well. He had gone suspiciously blank, somber eyes staring at the ground and his hands gripping his knees tightly.

A bright smile suddenly flashed over Selphie's face and she leaped up from her chair. "Hey, I know what we can do Irvy," she exclaimed, bouncing onto his lap. "You're going to be staying here for a while, so why don't you let me decorate your room?" Grabbing his hat and jamming it on her head, she seized his hand and pulled him to his feet. "I promise it won't be like last time; I didn't know you weren't a fan of purple, I could have sworn you told me it was your favorite color. Anyways, ivy really is coming back in style, what do you think? Yellow might look good with your coat, or a pale green to match the ivy..." She dragged him out of the cafeteria, still chattering away; Irvine was sporting a very bemused expression, but his lips had tipped into a smile as he allowed himself to be led away.

Amused, we all watched them leave before turning back to our various conversations. I had a small smile on my face as I looked over at Zell, but it slowly faded as I noticed him still watching the door. A moment later he heaved a sigh and pushed his plate, which still held at least four hotdogs, away from him toward the center of the table. He caught my eye and, looking sheepish, remarked, "I think I took too many."

I nodded vaguely and turned to Ellone, who was staring at Zell with a peculiar look on her face. He didn't seem to notice the sudden attention as he leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling, rocking back and forth like he hadn't a care in the world.

Ellone glanced at me, and I quirked an eyebrow with a nod towards Zell. She nodded slightly, indicating she had caught on, then stood up. "If you all wouldn't mind," she said, "I have a few things I need to get done. If you all will excuse me."

I started to stand as well but she gave her head a faint shake without looking at me, and I settled back into my seat.

"No need to ask Ellone," Rinoa said with a grin. "We're not formal around here, at least not if the guys have anything to say about it."

"Hey," Squall protested, "we're outnumbered here, it's not a fair fight."

"Since when do boys play fair," Rinoa replied, giving her boyfriend's arm a small punch to emphasize the joke. "Oh Ellone," she added quickly, turning her attention to the older girl, "can I talk with you later, before you head back to Esthar? There's something I've been meaning to ask."

"I'm actually planning to stay a while longer," Ellone replied, giving Rinoa a warm smile. "I'll be in my room tonight if there's anything you need." She paused, then pursed her lips and murmured, "Oh dear."

"What's the problem?" Zell asked, setting all four legs of his chair to the ground.

Ellone's hands fluttered around like little bird; it was amazing how easily the girl could pull off the whole 'damsel in distress' look. "I'm going to need some help getting a few other things up into my temporary room," she replied. "Zell, would you, um, mind please...?"

"Sure, I'm not doing anything right now." He jumped up out of the chair with a grin, saluting the rest of us. "Off to help a lady, see ya'll later!" He grabbed the remaining hotdogs on his plate, stuffed two into his pockets and started unwrapping the others as he and Ellone headed out of the cafeteria.

"I should be going now too." I figured it was as good a time as any to grade papers; Hyne knew I was behind because of my mission. And I still wanted my bath, complete now with a healthy dose of bubbles and light music. Contrary to popular opinion, there really are times when I enjoyed the frillier parts of girl-dom.

"Okay, see you around," Rinoa piped up as I stood to leave.

"You know Quistis," Squall remarked distractedly, "your idea of talking with Edea has merit; I'll see what ideas she has on the subject."

I nodded and bid my farewell to the couple, then walked out of the cafeteria to my classroom. I headed up the elevator and into the hall, passing a few of my students along the way. As I was in no mood to be interrupted I didn't pause to chat with anyone instead making a beeline to my class, intent on getting what I needed and heading straight to my quarters.

I was pulling up to my classroom when a low grunt sounded inside the room next to mine. I paused, then heard the unmistakable slapping sound of flesh meeting flesh. Frowning, I headed over and checked the door, but it had been sealed from the inside. Cursing softly as I heard yet another blow and what sounded like a snicker, I punched in my authorization code on the panel and heard the door unlock with a faint *click*. The doors swished open and I entered just in time to see one redheaded student mutter, "Bastard," before letting loose with a roundhouse punch which caught his victim hard in the side of the head.

The two others, each holding an arm of their captive, saw me first and quickly let go of the one they'd been beating. The white trenchcoat laying haphazardly on the floor and blond hair identified the victim, and I unfurled my whip as the redhead whirled around. His face blanked as he saw who had walked in on their little punchfest, but before he could get a word out I lashed out with the whip.

My choice in weapon had gone through some serious upgrades since I first became a SeeD, so even on the lowest setting it packs quite a punch. The whip cracked over the boy's chest, propelling him through the air onto one of the desks at the rear of the class. One of the other students started towards the redhead but I lashed out again, this time aiming for his legs; the whip wrapped around his shins and he tripped, smashing face-first on the ground.

"Don't even think about moving," I warned the other one, my voice cold enough to freeze Hell. He took my threat seriously, freezing in a position that, in another situation, might have been considered funny. "Now," I continued, "someone tell me what exactly is going on here."

"Nothing that concerns you, Instructor," an unexpected voice answered. "You can just move along now."

I blinked at Seifer, momentarily taking my focus off his assailants. He was working his jaw tenderly and had a large bruise forming beside his right eye; I knew he'd have a hell of a shiner in a few hours. He ran a hand over his face, smearing the blood coming from his nose but stared at me defiantly anyway. Behind him I saw the redhead get gingerly to his feet, his face a mask of anger and chagrin at being caught.

"Mr. Cahill," I snapped, and watched as the redhead's head jerked up. "Ken Simeon, Akito Salme. You are to go up to the Headmaster's office right this minute and tell Xu everything that happened here. She will decide what punishment will be dealt for attacking a fellow cadet. If I find out that any one of you took a detour on the way there, or didn't put the appropriate amount of speed in your step, I will personally kick you out of this Garden so fast you won't know what hit you. Am I understood?"

"But Instructor," Akito pleaded but I cut him off with the crack of the whip.

"Do you understand me?" I asked, my voice lower. All three boys nodded, and I indicated the door with a jerk of my head when none of them showed signs of moving. The trio shuffled past me at a fast walk; if they knew what was good for them they'd keep this pace until they got to Xu's office. I noticed Cahill give Seifer a scathing look as he passed the blond, which Seifer ignored as he fingered the cut beside his eyebrow. I pulled my communicator out of my pocket and flipped it on, fingering Xu's code. "Xu, it's Quistis. I just sent up three students I caught assaulting another cadet. They'll hopefully tell you the whole story, and I will be up there later to coroborate what they said."

"Understood," Xu's no nonsense voice came back over the comm.

I sighed, pocketting the communicator. So much for rest and relaxation, I thought dismally.

"You know, Instructor, you have the nasty habit of poking your nose into other peoples' business."

Fighting the urge to not fling my own punch at his arrogant face, I pressed two fingers to the bridge of my nose. "Whenever it has to do with my students, Mr. Almasy, it is my business."

He gave a grunt and stalked past me...and my control snapped. Seriously, one can tolerate being unappreciated for only so long. Before I thought twice about it I again lashed out with my whip, this time my aim being Seifer. Even with his back turned I knew that if he hadn't been expecting this from prim, proper me it wouldn't have worked; the tentacle which made up my weapon stretched past him and before he could react wrapped itself around his body, trapping his arms and jerking his feet together. Anyone else would have done a face-plant, but Seifer somehow managed to keep his feet under him, even hopped around to face me. His face held equal amounts of incredulity and anger, and I began to realize that I had a nicely packaged bomb on my hands...and no idea what to do next.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he shouted, struggling against the bonds. He only succeeded in nearly toppling himself, keeping upright through some fancy footwork, the only part of his body still mobile.

It's the only way I could get you to stop and talk, I wanted to shout but said instead, "Someone needs to save you from you. Hyne Seifer, would you look at yourself?"

"I won't stand here and be lectured by you," he shot back contemptuously.

"You'll stand there and be lectured like the child you are, Seifer," I answered, my lip curling in disgust. "Do you realize how immature you've been acting lately? The whole "I'm so bad and I deserve this" pile of bull is getting really old. I'm tired of having to save you from situations like this..."

"I can take care of myself," he bellowed.

"Then do it from now on! Dammit Seifer," I yelled back at him, stamping my foot for effect. "Right now I don't care one jot why you think you should take this abuse! What you need to realize is, when you allow someone to do that to you you're teaching them that it's *okay* to bully another human being. Here I am, trying my BEST to teach these kids to act like a team, and you're baiting them into a fight!"

He was silent for a moment, both of us fuming. Then he grumbled something and looked away, blond hair falling over his eyes. When he glanced back the anger had been replaced by a look of pained frustration. "You just don't get it, do you?" he bit out, his eyes never leaving mine. "Because of what I did, I don't have the luxury of defending myself."

"Oh, come off the pity party," I shot back scathingly, but Seifer just shook his head and snorted.

"A pity party, is that what you think this is?" The frustration was replaced by disdain, his eyes boring into mine as he spoke. "Everything I do now is, in some way or another, monitored: where I go, what I eat, how many possibly dangerous pills I have in my medicine cabinet. Who I talk to is even screened; if I form any relationships outside Garden these people will have background checks done on them."

"Now you're just being paranoid," I interrupted, but my voice didn't sound all that convincing.

Again he shook his head, his eyes leaving mine as his face sobered. "When Cid allowed me back into Garden, he was forced to make rules. You know Cid," and here a ghost of a smile flitted briefly across his mouth, "he would have just let me in, no questions asked. But others demanded I be watched, that my 'past' wouldn't come back to haunt me."

I stared at him, anger gone and puzzlement firmly in its place. "If that's the case, why didn't I know about it?"

He flickered a surprised gaze at me, then again looked away. "I don't know, maybe they thought you were too close to the situation," he answered slowly. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to answer to this little incident though, in one way or another."

"It wasn't your fault," I said quickly, finding it ironic that mere moments before I'd been accusing him of starting it. Frankly, this brand new side of Seifer was really beginning to freak me out. There was no cocky edge to play off, no haughty demeanor to look down at. He was being absolutely serious outside a battle situation, and it was scaring the heck out of me.

He squirmed again, and I became aware my whip was still wrapped around him. Startled out of my thoughts I was just about to release him when the doors slid open again, and a grey-haired woman came in.

Fujin. Oh dear...

"SEIFER?" she called just before her eyes settled on us. Her one good eye widened, and I had a sinking suspicion what was going through her head right at that moment. Fujin's mouth worked soundlessly for an instant, then her already red eye blazed as her face contorted into a look of overwhelming fury. "RAGE!" she screamed at me and went into full attack mode.

"Fujin, no!" Seifer shouted but the woman wasn't having it; she kept coming at me, a berserk look in her face that made me just want to run. Thing was, I didn't want to fight her; she was trying to protect Seifer from yet another attacker, further underscoring the fact that this was definitely one of my lamer ideas. Too little, too late.

I jumped to the side as she threw herself at me, and managed to get the whip loose from around Seifer's body. I could do little else, however, as Fujin turned back and tried to attack me again, so I did the only thing I could think about - I ran. Perhaps in another place, if the situation hadn't been so pathetic, it might have been funny; there was little to laugh about, however, as I just barely missed being sliced by Fujin's own weapon.

Me running around the desks to keep away from Fujin, Seifer shouting at both of us to stop it, Fujin screaming at the top of her lungs single-word expletives and threats which managed to convey her message surprisingly well...

"'May I have you attention students.'"

Fujin came at me again and I dodged, trying to listen to the announcement and keep away from the sudden berserker and her powerful weapon.

"'I'd like to announce the following cadets have reached SeeD rank: Archimedes Himura, Rhea Summers, Irvine Kinneas...'"

My eyebrow rose at that but I was too focussed on diving away from an exploding desk panel to think about the political implications of that decision.

"'... Luna Silver, and Seifer Almasy.'"

All action froze in the classroom. As if wondering just what we were doing, Fujin and I each cast curious glances across the class towards Seifer. The blond, for his part, was blinking blankly at us, as if trying to digest this new information himself.

"'Will these students please report to my office as soon as possible. Thank you.'"

Nobody in the room seemed inclined to do anything. Seifer was looking from Fujin to me to the floor, then back again. A slow smile spread across his face, his lips curling into an expression that was very unlike his normal sneer.

Fujin was the first to break the silence. "FINALLY."

I coughed a little laugh at the very appropriate statement: the one word seemed to sum up the situation perfectly. I started to congratulate him myself when I saw Fujin, less than two feet from me, shift. A small gloved fist came straight at my head - I saw it yet didn't react. I suppose, at the time, I thought deserved it. Heh, does that make me sound too much like Seifer?