Chapter Eight: Rejunction
He'd gone to find her later that same afternoon. There were only a few places he'd find her--Selphie was a pretty predictable person. He found her in the library, and walked over beside her.
"Timber Maniacs?" he read over his shoulder. "Laguna Loire? Who's that?"
"My hero, sorta," she laughed. "How are you, Seifer?"
"I could be better," he shrugged. At least he was honest. "When do we leave for Esthar?"
"Tomorrow."
"...tell me about Seishi," though it was a sentence, he said it more like a question. "I'd like to know what I'm fighting, and you knew her, right?"
She laid the magazine down carefully, as not to bend it.
"I can't talk about it, Seifer..."
He didn't respond, hoping that she intended on finishing her previous thought, since she had seemed to trail off instead of just ending her sentence...
"But, look, I've done a lot of research stuff on GFs. So listen, I think that sometimes our memories fuse, somehow, with our GFs. So if we junction them and then unjunction them, we pick up some of the 'loose memories' attached to the GF. A few months ago, I drew Ifrit from Zell as a joke. It's a long story...but anyway, I junctioned Ifrit to myself, and then all these memories came to me. I don't know why, because I wasn't in any of them, and I couldn't ever even slightly remember them...they weren't even my memories. I told Zell about them when I gave Ifrit back to them, and it turns out they were actually Zell's memories. So...draw Doomtrain from me and junction it to yourself. When you've seen Seishi enough in my memories, let me know and I'll get my GF back."
"You sure about this, Selph'?"
"Yep," she smiled. He sat down in one of the library's chairs, and followed her orders, mind suddenly filled with feelings and emotions that had never been his....
I've known her for five years, now, okay, and I still have no idea why she feels like this!!!
"Sei, why?! Why do you want revenge on the whole world?!"
("What? This...must be one of Selphie's memories. Sei...is that Seishi? The blonde girl that looks so mad?")
"`Cuz, I mean, I know the Trabia people are mean but--"
"--I don't care. This world's done nothing for me, nothing to help me...I don't care if the whole world suffers my revenge."
("She looks so familiar...do I know her, or is she only familiar because she's in Selphie's memory?")
"But Sei--"
"--no buts, Sefie! I've made up my mind and that settles it!!"
He could feel two more memories attached to the GF, and wondered if they, too, involved Seishi...
This doesn't make sense...why is she dropping out? Why?! She's got such a future ahead of her, she's such a great fighter, she's so smart...what on earth is she thinking?!
"Sei, no. You can just go to Balamb with me."
"Selphie, for the hundredth time, 'NO!'"
She didn't call me Sefie. She and all my closest friends are the only ones who still call me Sefie, and they do it only because they're my friends...
...so are we not friends anymore?
"Sei, you don't hate me too...right?"
"Of course not, Sefie," Seishi sighed impatiently. "It's everyone else I'm after."
"I don't think--"
"--Sefie, I've heard your opinions a billion times now. They affect me none."
I'm powerless to stop or even help her...
"Will this be the last time I see you, Sei?"
I can't help Sei. She's beyond helping, for right now at least. Someday I'll help her again. And someday, I'll make a positive impact on someone's life. If it's the last thing I do, then so be it!
"I doubt it. I hope you have a good life, Sefie. You're the only good friend I got. Sayonara."
"See ya, Sei..."
"Is that all the memories on my GF, Seifer?"
"No, there's one more..."
I'm so glad I have Rinoa to talk to...
("I know where I'm at, now. This is right outside the front gate at Balamb. And she's talking about Rinoa. Is Seishi in this memory somehow anyway?")
I just hope I can trust you...
("I don't think Seishi is in this memory...but why's Selphie worried about trusting Rinoa?")
"You think you really like him, huh?" Rinoa asked quietly.
"Yeah, and I don't believe anything's hopeless. But you know, things aren't looking very good..."
"He's a really nice person, Sefie. I bet you already figured that out, though. Once you get past his cold, tough side, there's such a nice guy down there...it's just so hard to get to him. I hope you'll make him happy. I hate seeing him so depressed all the time. I did care for him, you know. I'm glad you decided to be his friend, Selph'."
"So am I."
("Who are they talking about?!"
And even if Seifer never likes me, it'll be okay, because I mean we're friends, and that's all I really care abo--
He dropped the memory instantly, letting Selphie take her GF back. He could feel his face turning a warm shade of red, and tried to fight it off...
"Did you learn enough about Seishi?"
He nodded quickly.
"Thanks a lot, Sefie, see y'tomorrow," he sped off.
It was him?! Selphie liked him?!
He could hardly believe it. She actually really liked him!! But would she ever admit that? How on earth could she possibly like a guy like him, who not only teamed up with an evil sorceress but helped kill so many people and--
And she still liked him?!
No way. I'll sort this out after we deal with Seishi.
~//~