Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, or any of the contents from the game (including characters, which is rather unfortunate…but probably for the best ^.~;) , but I do own this story line.
Authors Note: Chapter 4 is finally up! Keep the reviews coming! I really hope everyone of you are enjoying this story. Actually I'm having a lot of fun writing this. And it seems to be forming quite nicely. So yah…leave a review message when you're done reading this. It'd be greatly appreciated!
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Orphan at Heart
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Written by: Lixia
Chapter 4
Frowning, Quistis wondered what Seifer was talking about. "I…"
"You wouldn't be able to live, would you?" Seifer broke in, "No more vacation, no more fine dining, no more…well you wouldn't be able to purchase all those things." He said, pointing to the piles of bags on her bed.
"Hell, you'll barely be able to eat."
"What are you saying Seifer?"
"My job isn't earning me much cash. Occasionally we get our ups and downs, but most of the time we're fresh out of income."
"And you want to take some of mine, do you?" Quistis asked. She was pretty much appalled that Seifer would ask her this. She barely knew him! And she despised him!
"No…not exactly. Damnit, Quistis. Let me explain to you…we, well, Fujin, Raijin and I need to borrow some money. Just for a short period of time. We'll return it back to you once we get our next paycheck."
"Where do you work anyway? Why don't you just quit, and get a new job?" Quistis interrupted.
Seifer shook his head. "You don't understand. I can't just quit any ol' job and get a new one with the snap of my fingers. No one's forgotten my past. Everyone cringes at the sight of me. If they don't, it's because they hate me so the anger blinds them, or they ignore me as if I don't exist. I can't get a new job because no one wants to hire me. Fujin and Raijin are in the same situation. They've wreaked havoc, thanks to me, and they refuse to leave my side. So people naturally think we're all monsters out to get them."
Quistis sat at the edge of her bed in deep thought. Suddenly she felt a pity for Seifer, something she never would imagine having. She almost wanted to help him out. But she wasn't exactly loaded either. Especially not after the shopping spree. She looked at him, watching him.
He looked almost fragile at the moment. He had his head in his hands, slumped forward. She didn't know Seifer was capable of looking genuinely pathetic. Pathetic in a piteous sense, not the usual hot-shot, full-of-himself pathetic look.
Suddenly she had an idea. "Maybe you could come back with me to Balamb Garden next week. You, Fujin and Raijin. If we talk to Cid, I'm sure he'll let you three re-enroll and you can study to become a SeeD again." She suggested.
Seifer looked up at her, a flash of hope glinted in his green eyes. It disappeared as fast as it had appeared, and he looked down again.
"I can't go back there," he muttered.
Quistis looked puzzled, "Why not?"
"They hate me there worse than they do here. Puberty Boy will make it his duty to boast about his perfect little heroes life," Seifer grumbled bitterly.
"Hmm.."
"And everyone knows how I can't stand him! Oh, and that blonde kid…Chicken-wuss…" Seifer sighed.
"You could try to mend things. If you gave it time, everything could be fixed. You're so quick to judge, Seifer. Maybe that's why nothing's worked for you. Besides…how can I be sure I can trust you?" she asked with sudden caution.
"Listen. You don't need to give me much. I just need enough to get a place to stay for the night, and dinner. When the week is over, I'll give you what I owe you and I'll be out of your hair," Seifer explained. "Besides, what am I going to do? You have a case on me that you'll win automatically. If you say I'm a lousy rotten thief, everyone will believe you right off the bat."
Quistis remained silent for a moment, going over the possibilities and consequences if she complied to his plan.
"All right," she said, finally. Something seemed to tug at her, telling her this was right. And for some odd reason, she felt a sudden connection to the blonde man in the trench coat; something she didn't have with him before he came into her room and talked to her like a normal person.
"Thank you, Quistis."
"But…under one condition. Don't think I'm going to give you something for nothing," she said, as Seifer rose from his seat. "In return, I want you to come to my room every night until you repay me my money. Just to talk, maybe get to know one another a bit more. Besides, I have to keep an eye on you, ya know?"
Seifer nodded, suddenly chuckling.
"What's so funny?" Quistis asked.
"Just…don't quote Raijin next time," he said, then approached her. "I appreciate this," he said, taking Quistis' hand, his tone suddenly very serious. A red tinge fell across her face, and she shook his hand.
"I'll see you tonight, then," he said. Then he checked his watch. "I've got to meet Fujin and Raijin." He left apologetically, where Quistis bid him goodbye till tonight, and closed the door.
There was something very different about Seifer. He was so…unpredictable.
As Seifer left the hotel, he wondered what he'd gotten himself into. Now he had to see her…every day. To talk? Talk about what? He leaned against the wall of the hotel and sighed.
"Seifer! Hey man…where were you?" Raijin yelled, coming up to him.
"Just…taking care of some things," Seifer said coolly.
"WHAT?" Fujin asked curiously.
Seifer shrugged, "Nevermind it, lets go."
They walked away from the hotel. Seifer couldn't help but feel like he had accomplished more than borrowing money. It was a strange feeling, one he was foreign to, but it was there, and he didn't like it.
Fujin noticed the look in Seifer's eyes. It looked almost as if he was a zombie.
"AWAKE?" she asked him. Raijin looked over and wondered what in Hyne was going on. Then he too saw Seifer's expression of deep contemplation. In a moment, as if things dawned on the blonde man, he was back in reality.
He glanced at his two friends and growled. "What the hell are you two staring at?" he snapped.
"You looked kinda dead. Just worried, ya know?" Raijin shrugged.
"Well don't worry. It's not like I have any diseases or something," he said.
"FINE." Fujin said coldly, her eye never leaving Seifer's face.
Once they returned to their usual alleyway, Seifer explained to them that they would soon be able to afford a ticket out of Deling. The two friends both took it well. "Out of this dump?" Raijin asked, the excitement in his voice was apparent.
"FREEDOM." Fujin added, patting Seifer on the back.
He smirked. "Yep, by the end of this week, we'll be out of Deling, and we'll be on our way to start a new life."
However, he did not explain to them how he was getting the money. They were both too excited to care at the moment, and Seifer hoped it would remain that way.
"Oh and I have to meet someone tonight, so don't mind me. And eat at some restaurant by yourselves to celebrate tonight." Raijin and Fujin's expressions returned to the usual seriousness.
"Who?" Raijin asked curiously.
"Just…someone. I'll be getting the money tonight."
"And you're sure he's not some other crook? We have bad luck in making friends, ya know?" Raijin wondered.
"No. Not a crook," Seifer assured them.
So by the time the sun set, Seifer bid his friends a good dinner and a pleasant evening, and returned to the hotel.
* * *
Quistis looked around her room, realizing it was still rather messy. She had packed away the gifts for her friends, then crawled into bed to try and rest. All was well in her dreams, until someone came into them. First it was Squall, and she was there embracing him. But as she gazed into Squall's ice-blue eyes, they somehow changed colour. It was slow at first, but then the blue drained out and was replaced by green. Squall's once brown coloured hair changed to blonde hair, and Squall's attire slowly changed to the simple gray trench coat.
Yet…she was still embracing the figure.
Then she woke up, shaking her head. What an odd dream… Quistis thought. She was no longer able to sleep, so she tried to find something to do to get her mind off it.
"How could this be?" Quistis wondered, "the first man I see other than Squall, and I'm going school-girl on him?" She shook her head in disgust. Suddenly she hated Seifer. She hated him for getting her involved in his life.
Until he was at her door.
"Good evening Quistis," Seifer greeted her.
"Right on time," Quistis remarked, moving to allow him in.
"As usual. You know me, ne?" Seifer smirked.
Quistis shrugged.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Seifer asked, staring at the framework on the dresser. He saw the money for him on top and took it. Quistis nodded in acknowledgment.
"Just anything. Things you've been up to…you know…small talk," she suggested.
Seifer nodded, "Sure, okay. I worked in a crummy job as a fisherman. The first
day was great. We were all enjoying ourselves. And then we quit. Got a new job,
and well…that's hell, so we're thinking of quitting…" even though we can't…
"but hell, I needed the money. There. So now you know what I've been up to."
Irritated, because this was not what she had in mind, she snapped, "I'm not here to interrogate you, Almasy. I just wanted to have a nice conversation."
"Okay, okay. I was never very good with this conversation crap, and you know it," Seifer retorted.
"You can try, can't you? Would it kill you?" Quistis asked angrily, her hands on her hips.
"No, but your oh-so-tough Instructor's glare might," Seifer mocked.
Quistis threw her hands in the air exasperated. "You're a hopeless cause, Almasy!"
"So I am…" he said in triumph. They both sat in silence before Quistis interrupted.
"Isn't there something you wanted to know about your former life, and what you've left?"
Seifer shrugged, "It doesn't bother me. It was all in the past anyway. They all
hate me, and that works well, because I hate them all too." He sat still, in
bitterness.
Quistis wondered how Seifer could go on living, hating and being hated. Respect and love from others was something she valued, even though she never showed that to her friends. Without it, she believed it was what made a person who they were. And yet, she had no love, and maybe that was what made her so vulnerable.
"What are you thinking about?" Seifer suddenly asked.
Quistis took a moment to snap back to reality," Just…things. I don't see how you can stand hating everyone and everything and having people hate you in return. Don't you feel rotten?"
"Quistis, I've felt rotten ever since I set foot in the Matron's orphanage. From the start, I've been rejected by you, Puberty Boy, Chicken-Wuss, my family. For Hyne's sake, I've tried to fit in, but you were all so hard to deal with. Chicken-wuss cried about any little thing, even if he had his spikey hair in a muddle. Puberty boy wouldn't talk. He was so attached to the Matron, and stared out to space most of his spare time. And you—" Seifer shook his head. "Rotten childhood equals rotten Seifer. End of discussion," he concluded.
Quistis shook her head, "That's not true. You can change. And besides, you had Fujin, Raijin there with you. You even had Rinoa…"
"Rinoa," Seifer scoffed. "She was…my everything…but I didn't know how to deal with things like that." He wondered how much he was going to tell the blonde woman in front of him. "Instead of me pouring my guts to you, why don't you tell me why you're here in Deling. You gave me a vague excuse last night. I want to know why you really came here."
Quistis wore an expression of surprise for a moment, then wrung her hands nervously.
"I…wanted to get away from it all…"
