Disclaimer: I don't own ff8. I do however own a small dog named Teal and an 11" Squall statue.
~*Chapter 12*~
Squall groaned, the grate of metal tearing him from his dreams. He looked around at his surroundings in a daze, trying to work out where he was.
"Morning son. You sleep well?"
Squall jumped as the voice boomed from the stairs. Caraway strolled down from the top floor, heading for the rattling letterbox that had awoken Squall.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks sir. I, I musta dozed off, sorry about that…" He stumbled over his words, he was not at his best in the mornings, especially when he was attempting to put on a suitably impressive front for his girlfriends father.
"Not at all, don't worry about it. And enough with this sir business, call me Vincent." The man gave him a conspiring wink, as if they shared a secret, and went to answer the door.
"I suppose we do," Squall mused inwardly, "at least until I ask her." Caraway's pondering interrupted his thoughts.
"Who could it be at this hour in the morning? If it's one of those numbskull guards, I swear to Hyne I'll…"
He flung open the door to an unexpected face.
"Long time no see Caraway." The smirk in the voice was unmistakable. Squall leapt from the couch to see Seifer slouching against the doorframe. The cool green eyes focused on Squall and a grin spread over the blonde's face.
"You!" Squall hissed through gritted teeth, unable to keep the rage from his voice.
Seifer merely chuckled, his posse appearing from seemingly nowhere to flank either side. They nodded coolly at Squall before returning their rapt attention to their leader's face.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Commander Puberty! Not off saving the world today, pal?"
Caraway blustered in, indignant at the young mans imposition, "I thought I told you never to show your face around these parts again Almasy."
Seifer's eyes flicked to Caraway, "I am well aware of that Sir, and I do hope you'll forgive my imposition, waking you at such an early hour! But Squall and I have some…unfinished business." His tone was sincere, only Squall could see the mocking in his eyes.
Caraway looked to Squall, he nodded and Caraway moved back into the hall. Squall was suddenly weary, tired of having to deal with Seifer and his antics.
"What do you want here Seifer?" He sighed. The other boy's face grew serious and a pleading look took hold of his eyes.
"You, you know I was controlled by Ultimecia, right? I never wanted to hurt anyone, I never meant to. But I couldn't stop myself. It was like, I was watching myself kill all these innocent people, but I couldn't do a thing." He faltered, a tear in his eye.
"What's your point Seifer?" Squall growled, he wasn't being taken in by an act this time.
"I want to come back to Garden, ahh!" he winced as Fuujin kicked his ankle discretely, "I mean, we want to come back to Garden. We want our old jobs back. I want to try again as a SeeD. Cid said it was ok with him, but that the final say lies with you."
"Why should I give you a second chance? You hurt so many people, you tried to kill us for Hyne's sake!"
"I know. I know you might never forgive me, but it wasn't me. I could maybe fight you Squall, but I would never have done anything to Rinoa, or Sis. You gotta believe me. I need to sort my life out, and Garden is my life. Give me a second chance, Squall."
An arm snaked round his waist and dark hair spilled over his shoulder. Rinoa, still half-sleeping had her head on his shoulder, smiling sweetly despite her rude awakening.
"Hi." She murmured, stretching up to peck his lips. He smiled down at her, forgetting for a moment the visitors. His face hardened when Seifer began clapping,
"What a lovely scene! The sorceress and her knight. Touching."
"Have you forgotten why you're here?" Squall spat. Seifer's cool façade faltered briefly, but never waned. The smirk was still there.
"Squall? Give him his second chance." Rinoa mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
She looks so cute when she does that, all vulnerable and…"What did you say?"
"Give him a second chance. You got one, don't deprive Seifer of his."
"Listen to the wife Squall!" Seifer suggested helpfully. Squall answered with a glare. His eyes softened when he turned to Rinoa,
"But Rin, after all he did…"
"It wasn't his fault. What about what I did? I set Adel free, but you forgave me. Let it go Squall. Too much has been lost already." Seifer shot Rinoa a grateful look, she responded by merely raising her eyebrows.
He sighed, defeated. "Ok Seifer. You all can come home, on two conditions. You will take the next SeeD test, if you fail, you're out. Also, you'll have to explain what happened to everyone at Garden and make a formal apology. It's not for my benefit; it's for yours. I don't want to have to save you from lynch squads every day." Squall smirked at the repressed anger on Seifer's face.
"Tch. Fine." He brightened suddenly and ruffled Squall's hair; Squall winced as Seifer's roughness pulled out a few hairs.
Seifer pulled away abruptly, leaving Squall rubbing his head.
"Catch ya later Commander Puberty! We'll be home in a week! Tell chicken-wuss I'm looking forward to seeing him!" he yelled over his shoulder, his two flunkies running to keep up with his purposeful strides.
He closed the door and leaned back on it heavily, closing his eyes and contemplating what had just happened, ""Weird…" He muttered under his breath.
He felt Rinoa snuggle into him and relished the scent of her light perfume. He brushed her silken hair lightly with his lips and felt her smile into his chest.
"You wanna come back to bed? It's still early…" She yawned.
"I'll just stay here Rin. You go back up, I'll wait on you. I don't want to offend your father."
She smiled and made her way wearily back upstairs, "Thank you. I love you, d'you know that?"
"Nope. You'll have to tell me more."
"How about I show you sometime as well?" she teased gently, speaking just loudly enough for him to hear. She giggled at the blush that grew on his cheeks and ran the rest of the way to bed.
He just shook his head and smiled. She was going to be a handful.
~*~*~*~*~
Seifer quivered, then reprimanded himself. He was scared of no man. Well, no man except this one.
"Did you get the specimen?" The man barked. Seifer cowered and nodded, handing over the few strands of hair he'd ripped from Squall's scalp.
"No tongue in your head boy? No matter. You have served your purpose well. Garden will fall easily, destroyed from the inside out. You will remember none of this. You will go back to your pathetic friends and remember only that you have been wandering for months, lost and broken child that you are.
It was fortuitous that I found you lying there, so weak from pain you bent easily to my will. Your position in Garden was fortunate also. Now, you have what I detected you desired, a way home. A pity then, that after you have settled back in you will die along with every other accursed SeeD! You are too young for me boy, I have no need for children. Go, and forget I ever took you."
The man snapped his fingers and Seifer woke up beside Raijin and Fuujin on the plains of Balamb, his head pounding.
"What in Hyne's name? How the hell did we get here?" Seifer grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his throbbing temples.
"UNKNOWN."
"Yeah man, we musta dozed off on our way back here from Deling. I reckon we musta had a bit too much to drink, ya know?" Raijin looked at him earnestly, seeking approval. Seifer grimaced and nodded.
"Well then. Lets do it." He pointed to Garden and started out, choking back his fears. He'd reform, prove them wrong. He'd be the best damn SeeD there was!
