A/N: Alright, I see there's some confusion going on regarding the stories I spoke of. The two stories I wrote the summaries about are NOT the sequels! They are just two NEW ideas I had and I want to write one of them, parallel to the sequels of 'Love conquers all' understood? Anywayz, I'll give this some more time, until the next update to clear off the misunderstanding, mmmkay?
Once again, thanks for all the kind reviews!
Chapter 25: Nightmare on Balamb Street
Seifer was sitting on his bed. Books were spread around it, while he was holding a notebook, taking some notes down. At some point, he heard a gentle knock on his door and before he had time to get up and answer the door, it opened. Quistis came inside holding a key-card.
- "Just testing this out…" she said smiling.
- "What is it?" asked Seifer getting up, approaching her.
- "As an Instructor, you get a key-card that gives you access to all rooms." replied Quistis.
- "Really now? I dunno if I like this…" said Seifer.
- "Why not?"
- "'Cause you might sneak into my room one night and rape me…" said Seifer mockingly, hugging her.
- "And you wouldn't like that?" she asked with a mischievous grin.
- "I dunno… Maybe you should try tonight…" he said biting his bottom lip.
- "Mmm… Sounds good… Speaking of which, we gotta start being more careful during the day. Someone might see us…" she said.
- "Did anyone see you now?" he asked.
- "No, everyone's out in classes right now. I'm just saying it 'cause it's pretty risky."
- "And what do you suggest we do?"
- "I dunno…" she said sighing, resting her head on his broad chest "Maybe we should meet outside… Like in Balamb. At least during the day…"
- "I think we're safe when everyone's having classes…" he said running a hand through her hair.
- "Yeah, but when I start teaching again we won't be able to…" she said getting gloomy "Don't you just want to come out with it at times? It's really tiring me to hide… It's not like we're doing anything wrong…"
- "Trust me, you don't want to spoil your reputation by dating a guy like me…" said Seifer. Quistis rose her head up and gave him a 'Pu-lease' look "I'm serious…" he said.
- "I'll just ignore that comment…" she said. Her eye rested upon Seifer's bed "What were you reading?" she asked.
- "Just some books to start taking the SeeD test." he said approaching his bed, picking a book up "I want to raise my rank quickly."
- "How come?" asked Quistis.
- "Low-ranked SeeDs are doing all the dirty work in missions and get paid very few Gil. I won't be able to stand this for long…" said Seifer.
- "Too proud for it?" asked Quistis raising an eyebrow.
- "Hey, my level is almost three times as big as that of other SeeDs who have the same rank as me…" he said a bit offended.
- "I'm only kidding silly…" said Quistis hugging him from the waist "It's a really good idea." she added giving him a peck "If you want, I can test you when you've finished."
- "Mmm… I think you should test me now…" he said kissing her deeply, pulling her to the bed.
With one hand he shoved all the books on the floor and laid down on top of Quistis.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Just outside the window, much oblivious to the couple inside the dorm, two people had climbed onto a tree.
- "Ha! Just in time! Get that!" said the woman.
- "Just a sec Dixie! It's not easy to stand straight up here you know…" said the bald man.
He tried to sit up, while taking out his camera.
- "Come on… Hurry!" said Dixie.
- "Take it easy! It's not like they'll be finished in quite some time…" said the man smirking.
Jack the paparazzi, aimed with his camera and got ready to take a shot of Quistis and Seifer. Suddenly, a cracking sound was heard right beneath him. He lowered his camera and looked at Dixie.
- "What's this cra-a-a-a-a" he began, but the branch underneath him and Dixie broke, sending them both hard on the ground below.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
!CRASH!
- "What was that?" said Seifer raising his head up from its previous position, Quistis' neck.
- "I dunno… Sounded loud though…" said a half-naked Quistis, lying underneath Seifer.
- "Hold on…" said Seifer getting up, wrapping a sheet around his waist "I'll go check it out."
He walked over to the window and opened it. He looked around raising an eyebrow, but saw nothing and no-one, so he went back in.
- "I didn't see anything…" he said closing the window "Must've been an animal, or a monster or something…"
- "Hmmm… Oh well…" said Quistis shrugging.
Seifer walked back over to the bed and removed the sheet he had around his waist. He lay back on top of Quistis and covered themselves with the sheet up to their waists.
- "Now…" he said getting his face close to hers "Where were we kitten?" he asked grinning mischievously.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later on in the after noon, Seifer was heading towards the cafeteria to grab some coffee and something to eat. Selphie caught up with him in the corridor before he even got there, though.
- "Hey Seify!" she yelled out of breath.
- "Could you please not call me that?" he said annoyed.
- "Aw, why not? It's really cute!" she said. Seifer rolled his eyes.
- "Can I help you with something?"
- "Well yeah dummy, that's why I called you! I'm starting to work on the Garden Festival again and I want you to take part in it!" she said excitedly.
- "'Take part'?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
- "Yeah, like sing and stuff!" said Selphie bouncing up and down.
- "Forget it." he said and made a move to leave.
- "Aw c'mon!"
- "I said forget it. I never sing for audiences."
- "You sang for us…"
- "That was because it was your birthday…"
- "Really?!" she said touched, grinning.
- "*Sigh* I'm going now…" he said and made a move to leave.
- "Hey wait!" she said grabbing his arm "If you're not taking part in the show, at least come and help out with some settings?" she asked adopting a cute smile.
- "Settings? That early?"
- "Well actually, we still haven't taken down the decorations from the previous Festival. Can you believe it? It's almost been a month!" she said exasperated "Anyway, can you come down and help out?"
- "Right now?" he asked.
- "Yes! Are you coming?" she asked impatiently.
- "*Sigh* You're not leaving me alone until I agree, are you?" he asked crossing his arms.
- "No!" she said giggling "Come on!" she said excitedly, grabbing his hand, dragging him to the Quad.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Down at the Quad many boys and girls were already working, removing the decorations from the stage. Selphie arrived there sprinting, holding Seifer's hand.
- "Hey everyone!" exclaimed Selphie "Look who I brought to help us out!"
Seifer shot her an angry look; he didn't like to be 'presented' like that. Immediately, giggles and whispers of delight were heard from all the girls, while the guys just nodded at him.
- "Well, let's all get back to work!" said Selphie excitedly.
Seifer walked up on stage and climbed up on a ladder, helping out two guys to remove some banners. Later on, they began working on hammering some loose tiles on the platform. Work soon got intense and tiring. Seifer found himself getting drenched in sweat under the bright July sun. He stopped working for a moment, wiping his forehead with his white T-shirt. He proceeded in removing it, staying with his blue jeans on only. As soon as he did so, all the girls turned their heads around to look at him, swooning at his bare chest. Oblivious to their piercing looks and dirty (!) thoughts, he went on with his work. After a few minutes, while all pairs of female eyes on the Quad were still on him, he felt this weird sensation and looked around him. Immediately, all the girls turned back to their work. Seifer raised an eyebrow and scoffed cockily.
- "Hey Selphie…" said Quistis who had just walked down at the Quad "…the Headmaster sent me over to…" she began, but stopped when she saw Selphie not responding, having a dreamy expression on her face.
She looked at her puzzled, then turned to see what she was looking at. She saw Seifer working on the stage, while almost every girl out there sighed at the sight of him. She raised an eyebrow and pinched Selphie on the ribs.
- "OW! What was that for?" Selphie asked annoyed.
- "Snap out of it!" said Quistis "What's with the 'Almasy show'?" she asked mockingly, motioning towards the stage.
- "*Sigh* Don't get me wrong, I love Irvine and all, but Seifer's just… Wow!" she said turning back to look at him.
- "For goodness sake, we grew up with that guy. We knew him back when he used to eat his own bogies…" said Quistis.
- "EW! Did he really do that?!" asked Selphie disgusted.
- "I don't know, just made it up…" said Quistis grinning.
- "Hey Selphie… I'm done here…" said Seifer who just walked up over to them.
- "Why hello there Ricky…" said Quistis mockingly.
- "Bite me Instructor…" he spat back, although he couldn't help but grin at her comment.
- "*Scoff* Selphie, Cid sent me over to ask you to go over to his office. He said he wanted to talk about something concerning the Christmas Festival." said Quistis.
- "Tell him I'll go later. I've still got work to do." replied Selphie.
- "Tell him yourself. Call him or something, I've got things to do too. Gotta go." said Quistis.
- "I'm goin' too. Bye." said Seifer following Quistis.
- "Bye, thanks for your help!" said Selphie.
Seifer strode quickly to catch up with Quistis.
- "So…" she said raising an eyebrow, grinning "Decided to make the ladies happy by stripping?"
- "I was working you know… Plus it's hot out here…" he said.
- "You're so dead tonight…" she said giving him a mischievous grin.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Quistis was lying on Seifer's bed sleeping lightly. She was covered with one of Seifer's black sheets and was wearing one of his big -on her- T-shirts. She was soon woken up by the sound of water running. She opened her eyes lazily and looked at the empty side of the bed next to her. She grabbed the clock by the nightstand and looked at it. It read 12:30. Puzzled, she got up from bed. She rubbed her loose hair, letting out a yawn and looked around the room. The bathroom door was closed, but light came underneath it and the sound of water running was obviously coming from there, two good signs that Seifer was inside 'What's he doing, showering at this hour?' she though, walking over to the bathroom.
She pushed the door open and walked inside the steamy room. She opened the door widely, to let out all the steam and be able to see clearly. When the atmosphere cleared out, she found Seifer. He was sitting down on the shower floor, naked, curled up in a ball. The shower was turned on and a small waterfall fell down straight on his head. He was hugging his knees with his arms and was shuddering. He was breathing fast, as if he was hyperventilating. Quistis looked at him confused.
- "Seifer?" she asked. No response "Seifer, can you hear me?" she asked again "Baby, what's wrong?" she said walking over to him.
She kneeled down next to him and held his shoulder. Hot water came down on her palm, burning it.
- "Hyne!" she said jolting up "What are you doing?! Are you trying to burn yourself?!" she asked, while turning off the shower.
- "I…can't…" he spoke for the first time. Quistis kneeled back next to him.
- "What is it?" she asked concerned.
- "I… can't… g-g-get warm…" he stuttered, trembling.
- "Hyne Seifer, you're scaring me… What happened to you?" she asked rubbing his arms for warmth.
- "I… I…" he tried to speak. Quistis got up and brought him a big towel, covering him up "I… had… a… nightmare…"
- "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked wiping his wet face with one corner of the towel. Seifer shook his head "Why not?"
- "I just… c-c-can't…" he said.
- "Come on, I'll take you to bed." she said helping him up.
She took him back to the bedroom where she had him sit down on the bed. Quickly she went through his closet and found him some clothes. She helped him put them on, while he just stared blankly at nowhere in particular. When Quistis was done helping him dress, she began drying off his wet hair with the towel.
- "Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked at some point "Please?"
- "Of course." she said kissing him tenderly on the forehead.
She lay down next to him on the bed and held him inside her arms. He rested his head on her chest and held her from the waist. Quistis caressed his blond damp locks, until he fell asleep…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I know, I know… Poor Seifer… I wonder what's he been dreaming about all this time? ^_^ I guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out…
ON THE NEXT CHAPTER OF 'LOVE CONQUERS ALL':
We go on with the story one month later than the aforementioned events.
Quistis meets up with Edea and they discuss the issue of Seifer's nightmares. Will Quistis finally find out what's been haunting her lover in Morpheus' realm?