.
(Role reversal. Touché, eh Leonhart?) Seifer watched the SeeD box from his perch nearly twenty feet above the square. He was keeping an eye on it twice, so to speak. In his hands, he held a small viewscreen that displayed the perspective of a camera hidden in the corner of the supposedly private area, focused directly on the seats occupied by Rinoa and Squall.
He leaned back impatiently. No one was going to make a move on the objective until the inauguration ceremony itself began. The idea was that the audience would be too engrossed in the situation in front of them to notice any commotion less than a gigantic explosion, regardless of the fact that it would happen right next to them.
The problem with waiting, though, is that it allowed one's mind to wander to places kept firmly locked away by activity. Idle hands aren't used directly by the devil; idle hands usually just make for idle minds. But idle minds, now that is the devil's domain.
Seifer found that he couldn't keep Fuijin's brief, but intent urgings out of his head.
.
He looked up at her, half-drunk. "Come on now, Fuu. I wanted to be like old times now, I don't need to hear all your thoughts on every aspect of my life."
She shook her head. "it's not that i want to. YOU NEED."
"Geez, my ears." Seifer closed his eyes. "Look let's just go to sleep now. I have a comfy couch in the other room." He made a big show of flopping onto his bed.
Fuijin got up, reached over, and, without pause, shoved him onto the floor.
He sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "What's the big idea?"
"NO SLEEP. not until you say why you'd do this." She pulled a piece of paper from her pants pocket and read his own words back. "'fuu, i told caraway that rinoa is a threat to us. we're probably going to seal her away. getting her out of our hair forever. aren't you proud?' WHY? this is stupidity. complete." Her face showed the strain from controlling both her voice and her emotion. "you'll start a new war. you'll fight with galbadia against balamb again."
"I have my reasons, Fuu, and you have to believe me that they aren't selfish. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy watching Squall get his, but you know what? That's icing on the cake of actually redeeming my past stupidity. My stupidity that will become Squall's stupidity if we keep the one who inherited Ultimecia's powers alive and viable. They killed her in the future, but she had to come from somewhere, right?"
Silent for a moment, she simply bowed her head. "you lost last time. most don't survive on to lose a second time. don't tempt fate, seif."
"Why the hell do you have to do this now? You don't even have the decency to pretend everything's all right on the eve of a day that you're convinced I'm gonna die?!" He stood up angrily. "Go ahead, then. Lecture me. Yell at me, please."
She looked him straight on. "no, no yelling. no show for you. just gonna get me." Her expression changed a bit; she looked deep in thought. "there are probably more sorceresses out there besides rinoa. those going to go, too?"
"If necessary, of course they are. Fuu, believe me, this isn't a grudge match. I'd fuck up a grudge match, right?"
"no. just 'romantic' dreams."
"Hey. Don't go there."
"what if a sorceress is someone important to you?"
"That won't be a problem. Edea got rid of her powers."
"don't be so sure. rinoa became one. big surprise."
Seifer sighed. "Fuijin. I'm sorry you came here just to gripe on this. I'm tired. You're welcome to sleep over, but I'm going to bed now. I have a big day tomorrow."
"yes." Her voice was cold. "don't worry. LEAVING." She turned to leave.
"And that's how it goes again," he said to himself.
Suddenly, she faced him again and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. Then, as quickly as it happened, it was over.
He heard the front door opening and then being firmly shut. Sitting down on the edge of his bed, Seifer slowly laid down, head on pillow. His mind was racing with the things she'd said to him. Soft, yet firm. Fuijin was always brashness and hard edges except for the split seconds she was the exact opposite. Part of the reason her words cut him so deep was the fact that he could have sworn he felt something soft and warm brush his lips before she had run out the door.
It's always convenient when things that can keep a person up for days happen the night he needs his sleep the most.
.
A blink, then a shake of the head, and the lingering thoughts were forgotten, for the time being. Garden training did have its uses, in the end. Seifer's eyes darted up towards the podium and watched as Caraway made his way up the steps to the large pavilion being used for the ceremony.
It was almost time.
"What in Bahamut are we looking for?" asked Selphie in wonderment, as the four SeeDs sat around the large screen television. Well, not merely sitting–even huddled would be an understatement.
"Didn't Xu and I brief you all last night?" Quistis pursed her lips in annoyance.
"Yeah. I'm just not sure what..." Her voice trailed off when she noticed the blonde snort. "Sheesh, Quisty, it's not like I'm playing stupid. I have no idea what exactly you think's gonna happen."
"If we're that worried, why ain't there a unit in Galbadia right now?" Irvine wondered aloud, in his slow, drawling way.
"Because this matter is more complicated. It's a problem of diplomacy, and a family matter, and a sorceress matter–"
"And a Seifer matter!" Zell leaped off the couch. "Quis, dammit, there's a guy on the rooftop in between the pavilion and the luxury boxes."
"A guy equals Seifer now?" Selphie looked confused.
"A guy with ugly hair, ugly trench coat, and an ugly gunblade does!" The hyper man-child was literally bouncing off the wall, throwing punches to the air.
Quistis grabbed the in-Garden phone and dialed up to Xu. "You better contact Galbadia and tell them there's a suspicious character in sniping distance of the president-to-be." A pause. "Xu...it's Seifer. Thanks."
"So what can we do?" Irvine looked around. "I wish my gun reached to Galbadia."
The graceful woman sat back down on the sofa. "Watch, and wait, I suppose. Scrutinize the inaugural celebration and hope to the powers-that-be that the stupid moron doesn't start a war."
Their attention thus diverted, it wasn't until after the former General Caraway had been fully sworn in that any of them noticed that Seifer had left his post.
Rinoa leaned back in her seat, with the expression of feigned disinterest that she generally wore during matters concerning her father. The inauguration ceremony didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary; Caraway stood with his right hand raised and his left hand resting on a book of law, while reciting the oath of office. She stifled a yawn and glanced to her right.
Squall seemed to be having trouble staying awake.
"I thought I was bored," she whispered, amused.
He blinked a couple times. "I was fine until just a minute ago or so," he murmured sleepily.
"Are you all right?" The question came forth from Rinoa's lips even as she felt her own consciousness start to slip away.
"Yeah." His head fell forward a bit, and his chin was resting on his chest now.
Rinoa's eyes closed. "...so...tired."
The box was silent, save for one last mumble. "Not again...gonna kill...Elle..."
.
The curtain at the entrance was pulled hastily aside by a battle-hardened hand. Icy blue eyes surveyed the dozing occupants, and then the hand motioned down the small entrance corridor. The sleeping powder had worked better on them than he had expected.
Four Galbadian privates stood before Seifer, saluting.
The protocol was surprising; he stood silent for a moment, taken aback. Shaking his head, he decided to give his final orders. "You two," he said, pointing, "are to take Headmaster Leonhart and put him up in one of the 'special' suites at the Presidential Mansion." He studied his slumbering rival. "Be careful. Make sure it looks like he's walking on his own and stumbling. If anyone asks, the boy's drunk. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Another salute, and Squall was gone from the box within thirty seconds.
Seifer's eyes fell on Rinoa. Sleeping peacefully. Innocent. Dressed the way she used to look, years ago. A small pang of conscience tugged at his mind, but he pushed it aside. The time for such concerns was long past. "You," he addressed the two soldiers left, "bring the girl and follow me. She became ill from the crowd and fainted."
The men quickly went to follow their orders.
"Try to be as careful with her as possible." The words came from his mouth on their accord. He shook his head and walked back out the door, taking care to make sure the others were close behind.
Remorse was easy to stop after that; Garden's military training did have its uses, after all. But his mind leapt back to the very words he had just spoken. They scared him.
(Even after everything that has happened,) Seifer thought, (I have a feeling this knightly gig is going to be harder to just "give up" than anyone has imagined. The sorceress has a knight.) He glanced back to Rinoa. (And the job may remain, even if the true power is sealed away forever.)
A/N: Well, it took me ages and ages and ages to get this chapter out. Hopefully the plot (and me writing this damn thing) will start to pick up in a bit. Boy, this chapter had a lot of Seifer in it, didn't it? ^^;
