Chapter 14

"It's hard to find a good man, but sometimes a bad man is even better."

It was dangerous to stay in the same room with him. But much more in the same bed. And Quistis was in dire need of a place to sleep and the floor was beginning to feel just awful. Naturally, hotels make bath accessories available and she was thankful, at least, for the single towel that provided as cushion, making her seat almost bearable. She took the liberty of donning a robe, compliments of the hotel of course, while she dried her clothing by the fireplace.

She was huddled on the floor and stabbing at the cinders mindlessly with a poker. It had been already an hour since the storm had finally calmed down and turned into nothing more than a mild shower. But outside was the least of her concern. This is the second consecutive night that she hadn't any sleep. Her body was tired, but her mind was restless and insisted on staying awake.

It was ironic really, when earlier that afternoon she told Irvine that Seifer won't be staying in her room, or with her for that matter, any longer. But circumstance had their way of turning and she now found herself staying with him through the night. It was necessary, she thought, that she should monitor his well being. Although she had enough experience with Dr. Kadowaki to care for the injured, Seifer's condition was something different that occurs inside his body. It scared her most when every once in a while, he'd release one of those coughs that just might chuck out his lungs. Quistis didn't save him from the sea just so he could die from influenza. It was only natural that she should stay. And not because he asked her to.

And he would have lived through the storm, not because she had saved him, but because he was stubborn to boot. Panic. It was what sent her hurtling herself into the water after him. But before panic, before she dove after him in the frigid ocean, before she stepped out of her dorm, before she stepped out of Garden, and into the rain, all it was, was just plain and simple apprehension.

She needed to know where Seifer was. She needed answers. And it was definite that she won't likely find any from Laguna. Why else would he leave her out of this mystery? But the most disconcerting thought, was that she somehow knew, deep down in her bones, that Seifer might just make a good leader. It sounded ridiculous, but she had to believe it. That was the craziest part of all.

Quistis can't say that he is a wholly changed man. No, he was still Seifer through and through. His eyes still mirrored his past. He hadn't let go of his misdeeds and that was probably why he became the man he is now; because he refused to be condemned to repeat it. Seifer will always be Seifer, he didn't change as he grew older, he just became more clearly himself. And it was his guilt that would drive him to prove his ghosts wrong. The constant reminder of his transgressions was enough to push him to make himself better. And if she knew Seifer, he was tenacious and proud to a fault.

It had been a long day. Two days without sleep was really a long day, she thought groggily. Between running around Garden, dashing to and from Balamb and weathering the storm…Her eyelids drifted shut. It had been an unusually long day and…

Quistis sat up suddenly, her heart racing. It was a deep groan, followed by a thrashing noise. She hastened to Seifer's side and looked him over. He was lying on the bed, almost preternaturally still. The covers were pushed down, dangerously below his navel. Quistis edged closer, her eyes focused on his chest. She knew he couldn't possibly be dead, but she'd feel an awful lot better once she saw his chest rise and fall.

"Seifer?" she whispered. "Seifer?"

No response.

She crept closer, leaning over the edge of the bed. It wasn't needed to light a candle, because he was swathed in moonlight from the window. "Seifer?" she repeated.

His arm shot out and draped around her waist, pulling her off-balance until she fell onto the bed.

"Seifer!" she squealed. "Let go!"

But he began to thrash and moan, and there was an adequate amount of warmth coming off his breath and body that Quistis knew he was in the grips of a fever.

Somehow, she managed to tug herself free, and came tumbling off the bed while he persisted to toss and turn, mumbling a procession of words that made no sense. Quistis waited for a quiet second, then darted her hand out to feel his forehead. It was on fire.

She chewed on her lower lip as she tried to decide what to do. She had no experience nursing the feverish, but it seemed to her that the sensible thing would be to cool him off. On the other hand, the infirmary always seemed to be kept closed, stuffy, and warm. But then again, Seifer seemed to have pushed the covers down and lying spread eagle on the bed, because if he were shivering he would have been clutching at the covers to his chin. So maybe…

Seifer started to thrash again, and then, out of nowhere he murmured, "No."

Clutching the ties of her robe with her right hand, she leveled herself on the bed to examine him, curious as to what he was dreaming about.

"No," he said again. But his eyes remained closed. "Don't go."

As if it was second nature to her, she reached out and smoothed his brows. "Shh, I'm right here."

He opened his eyes, and for the merest of seconds appeared completely lucid and said, "Not you." Then his eyes rolled back and his head began turning from side to side again.

"Too bad, I'm all you've got," she whispered. "Stay there," she said with a nervous chuckle. "I'll be right back."

And with her blood racing through her veins, she ran to the bathroom and sat on the lidded toilet.

If she learned anything during her days as a nurse-aid to Dr. Kadowaki, it was that there always seemed to have a bowl of cool water and a hand towel on the bedside of her patients. She had no trouble finding those in the bathroom. She filled a pitcher, as a substitute for a bowl, with water and scavenged a few small towels. It wasn't as if Seifer had any mortal injury that a cure spell would help.

When she returned to his side, she found him lying quietly still again, but his breathing was shallow and rapid. Quistis laid a hand over his forehead and she was certain it had grown hotter.

She plunged the cloth in the pitcher, then wrung it out until it was no longer dripping at the corners. "This should make you feel better," she murmured, dabbing it over his brow. Then she added in a quite self-doubting voice, "At least I hope it will."

When he didn't flinch, she took it as a good sign, so she placed it carefully on his forehead. She prepared another cool towel, but she had no idea where to put it. On his chest didn't seem right, and she wasn't going to let the coverlet move any lower than his waist, unless the poor man was actually dead. And even then, she still wasn't inclined to, because she doesn't have any idea what she could do to resurrect him from down there.

When she noticed that he was beading with perspiration, she swept the linen over the sides of his face, behind his ears and continued on to his neck. "Feel better?" she asked, although she wasn't expecting any sort of reply, she hoped that her voice would at least settle him down. So she continued with her one-sided conversation and added, "You better be worth all this trouble. I can't seem to get any sleep since you came along."

He shifted in distress then mumbled something completely incoherent.

"Well, don't flatter yourself," she replied. "If you want me to dream about you then you must stop keeping me awake," she joked, trying to smile but failed miserably.

He mumbled again and she took it as a response.

"You think so?" she asked, touching the cloth lightly to his nose. "I'm going to have to disagree with you."

Seifer went still.

"Alright, fine. I'll let you win this time," she said gracelessly.

When he didn't move, nor make a sound, Quistis removed the towel from his head and dipped it again in the pitcher, then squeezed the water out and placed it back over his brow. She sighed. A person could only converse with an unconscious man before one started to feel extremely silly.

Really, Quistis, it sounds as if to fall in love is the only thing that could get you to be silly.

She dropped the towel.

Good God! Quistis gasped, thunderstruck. What was Laguna's voice doing in her head?

She dunked the other small towel in the pitcher. Quistis didn't bother wringing it out, because this time she placed the towel on her face, and let the rivulets roll on her neck. She hoped that the chilled water would bring back her sanity.

It was a fruitless effort because the old man's voice kept replaying over and over in her head. And there seems to be no stop or eject buttons. So she decided to remove the towel from her face.

This was the cause of sleep deprivation. But how could she sleep now that there seems to be an annoying speech of an old man in her head?

Sleep. She needs to sleep. There seems to be no other way to avoid it.

Now that Seifer seems to have finally calmed down, she thought that it was time to pay attention to herself. Even if she knew that he would push the covers down again, she pulled it up anyway.

She gave him one last glance, if only he'd realize how lucky he was not to remember this whole evening. Because she will be having a difficult time falling asleep if she was trying to analyze the entire event and still recall the whole thing the next day. And the day after that and the day after…

The first thing Seifer noticed the following morning was a damp cloth over his brows. He removed it decadently and thought, it can't be healthy, and tossed it away as it landed in wet slump. It puzzled him why he found himself stretched out in an ornately furnished bed in an ornately furnished room. But then again, it puzzled him why he couldn't remember how he got there in the first place.

It was like the Ragnarok incident all over again. But this time, his throat felt like it was on fire.

The last thing he remembered doing was swimming. And the storm.

Temporary amnesia seems to frequent his days suddenly. It was growing frustrating. So he chose to just lie there, not caring anymore of whatever surprise was in store for him. Because the last couple of days had been full of surprises, and whatever comes through that door couldn't possibly stun him any longer. He'd already made a couple of assumptions. This could very well be, he thought sourly, the Esthar Palace. Or better yet, if he was lucky, a woman's bedroom.

She probably might be a fairly attractive woman. He only wakes up beside the prettiest ones, even if he was too drunken the night before, he was still able to tell the difference.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to look out the window just to find out where he is.

He threw the covers aside and found, not to his surprise, himself stark naked. It was his preference that he sleeps unclothed anyway. And maybe, just maybe, he had fun last night after all.

Without pulling anything on, he walked over to the window just as he is and looked beyond the glass. To his relief, the streets, as he recognized it, were of Balamb.

This is nothing more than the Balamb Hotel.

He let out a long shaky breath. Maybe he shouldn't be relieved. He was planning to get away in the beginning. Actually, for five years if he could begin to recall.

And there's no time like the present to do just that. The earlier he gets started, the better to catch the morning train. He was leaving Balamb for the third time. And this stay was probably more memorable, since he couldn't remember ever setting foot inside the dorm room of Quistis Trepe. He could only imagine what the Trepies would pay just for him to describe the interior.

But to his utmost astonishment, when he pivoted away from the window, the image before him was like a punch in the gut.

There she was, sleeping on the floor at the foot of the bed. Quistis was barefoot and wearing what he could only guess was a complimentary hotel robe. There was the obvious Balamb emblem on the chest pocket. She looked very disheveled and extremely uncomfortable.

He didn't stand there for very long and strode, albeit nakedly, towards her sleeping form. It completely slipped his mind that he was nude when he scooped her up in his arms and laid her on the bed. She didn't stir. It was obvious how she didn't get much rest the previous night. Seifer pulled up the coverlet, tucking her in gingerly, then he sat on the edge of the bed.

And the most disturbing sensation crept up on him. It had always been there, but this time, it made its presence known again, and it was far stronger than before. It was guilt. He couldn't bring himself to look at the sleeping woman on the bed again, because he knew for sure that it would only remind him that he was the cause of her exhaustion. That he was the one to drive her to the floor.

There was a pitcher of water and linens on the bedside table, the telltale signs of a nursing chore. Not to mention, the damp cloth he found on his forehead earlier. Whatever happened between the time he was swimming back to shore and waking up this morning, was lost to his memory.

He still felt warm all over his body and his throat seemed to have closed up, but it was easier to ignore than the situation at hand.

Maybe there was more to last night than it seemed. What if he did or said something untoward? He didn't…They didn't…did they?

Maybe, he thought with a depleted sigh, she deserved an apology.

He wasn't exactly sure what he needed to apologize for; he was certain that there must be a specific thing that needed it.

But the situation needed something.

He sat there for what seemed like hours but it had only been mere minutes, when he felt the mattress move under him. Quistis shifted on her side and began to awaken. He looked her over and saw that she apparently doesn't really want to be awake, but the intense morning light goaded her to rouse.

Seifer almost forgot he was completely nude, sitting there with his naked rear in full view, and that was definitely something he did not want her to see first thing in the morning. So he slid down to the floor and sat there, so all she would have to see was his head.

When she finally came to, Quistis sat up and looked utterly confused.

"Good morning," he greeted from the floor.

She blinked. Once, twice, then again. "What am I doing on the bed?"

He coughed before saying, "I think people call it sleeping."

"No, I mean…are you alright?"

He just quirked an eyebrow.

Quistis shook her head to clear her meaning and said, "I mean, you were ill last night. You had quite a fever, you know."

"I did?" he asked, knowing full well that he really did. He still felt the remnants of that fever.

"Yes," she said, deciding that it was time he deserves reprimanding. "And now that you are finally clear-headed – " she paused, thinking on the last word she'd said then decided to rephrase. "I don't think you've ever been clear-headed in your life since you can't tell the difference of a bad weather. You were such an idiot going off into the beach like that. Do you know how many men were lost at sea this past year? No, I don't think you do. If you wanted to kill yourself, you should have just asked me and I'd gladly shoot your empty head. And what on earth are you smiling about?"

He coughed, or was it a stifled laugh? "I wasn't smiling."

She didn't believe him, but she didn't pursue the debate on whether or not he was actually smiling. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing. From the way you've put it, I don't seem to have a good defense," he said with a dutiful smile.

"Well, at least you know I'm right." She released a muffled yawn and added, "Good for you, you're finally starting to think like an average human being,"

"If always agreeing with you is an average human's description, then I must be on the wrong planet," he replied in good humor.

"How strange," she muttered under her breath.

"What's strange?"

"You're supposed to be cantankerous after a fever," she answered. "I was so ready for it."

He grumbled something under his breath that she couldn't quite understand then followed it with, "You've really been expecting the worst of me, have you?"

She backed up a little. "No, I didn't mean it that way. I had a few experience with Dr Kadowaki, and I have it on good account that men are just the worst sort of patients."

He raised another eyebrow.

"Really, your species are easily reduced to a baby," she said with a sniff.

"I've just disproved your theory, I'm not being grumpy right now, am I?" he disputed. "Besides, I'm feeling a bit better than I probably did last night." Then he discharged a rumble of cough, which earned him a reproaching look.

"I didn't uhh…" he cleared his throat. God, did it feel prickly.

Quistis watched him curiously, waiting for him to finish what he wanted to say.

"I didn't do anything I ought to apologize for, did I?"

Then to Quistis' utter horror, she blushed.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"No!" she said quickly. "Not at all."

Seifer narrowed his eyes and gave her one of his stony stares. "You just blushed."

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"If I did," she answered defiantly. "it was because I'm surprised that you'd think there was any reason you should apologize."

Seifer tightened his lips at the corners and gave her a look that suggested he was growing annoyed where the conversation was leading.

And Quistis was smart enough to recognize it and changed the topic. "In any case, you're still not well enough to be walking around," she stated, preparing herself to get up.

Then Seifer remembered that he was still naked. His full form may very well be hidden from her while she was still on the bed, but if she gets up… Well, he didn't particularly care if she'd see him in all his naked glory, but if she remained under the covers for a while, at least her 'awareness' would be kept at a minimum level. "Wait, I uh…stay there."

"Why?" she asked, still muzzy from sleep.

"I forgot to put my clothes on."

Her response was her lips forming an 'oh'.

He stared at her blankly.

She stared at him back.

He stared at her some more. Then finally, he said, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me where my clothes are?"

"Oh! Yes, I hung it in the bathroom," she replied, waving a hand in the direction of his clothes.

He gave her another stare, then tilted his head in annoyance.

"Now what?"

"I'm going to stand up. You may feel free to look all you want," he said, his voice laced with quiet amusement. "But I'm asking you to go under the covers for the sake of your sensibilities, not mine."

"Oh! Right, right." Then she covered herself with the bedspread, seeing nothing but patterns, and hearing the padded footsteps across the rug. She heard his movements in the bathroom, then a clutter of some sort.

"Can I come out now?" she yelled from under the covers.

"Not yet."

How long does it take to pull on a shirt and a pair of pants? She waited for another full three minutes. "Well? Did you find them or what?"

Then she heard his voice booming from the bathroom. "I found them alright."

She was going to pull off the coverlet when at the last second, Seifer added, "But they're still damp."

"Rats!" she muttered. She had been so tired that she forgot to put them beside the fire, along with her clothes last night.

"You can come out now." His voice sounded near.

When she piped her head out, she found him sitting at the foot of the bed, the rest of his body, except for his head, were hidden from her view. "I would've thought they'd be dry by now," she exhaled.

"Well, they're not. And my boots are ruined."

She swiped at her eyes. "You should've thought of that before you decided to chase an ocean," she countered.

He shook his head, and ignored her last rejoinder. "I got to wear something."

Quistis' head snapped up in sudden motion. "I know!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "My clothes are dry."

"Are you suggesting that I wear your clothes?" he asked dubiously.

"No, I'll get dressed then you can wear this robe," she proposed. "It's a bit big on me."

Seifer's look told her that he wasn't enjoying his naked state, much more than having to agree with her idea.

Quistis looked as if she was rather proud of herself to have worked around the problem about his nudity.

"And where are you're clothes, my dear?" he asked, his tone mixed with sarcastic humor.

Her eyes swept across the room, and found her clothes hanging neatly by the fireplace. Three feet away from Seifer. Oh, drat!

"I'll get it," he offered mordantly. Without warning he stood up. It was obvious he did it just to startle and annoy her.

But before she could even see the indentation on his back, she quickly dipped her head under the covers. Good God! Does the man feel any shame at all?

Then she felt her clothes hitting the other side of the blanket, which was when she felt safe to look out. And once again, Seifer was sitting on the same spot. "Wait a second," she said, beginning the process of removing the robe under the protection of the sheets. It was an easy task, since it only has a tie to secure it. When she was finally as naked as Seifer, she tossed the robe in his direction and made a quick grab for her clothes.

"Finally," he said, slipping into the robe and tying it securely at his waist. "I'm starting to get really cold,"

Quistis was struggling to pull on her underwear while lying down, and with gritted teeth she said, "Wait 'til I'm finished. Then you can take the bed."

Seifer felt ridiculous wearing a robe that couldn't even meet his knees. "This ca – "

If the situation couldn't get any worse, and when Seifer thought there wasn't anything else beyond the door to surprise him, he was wrong, terribly wrong, because whatever he was about to say was roughly interrupted by a door swinging widely open and a loud, "Quistis! Where have you – "

Then it was quickly followed by, "Oh….My….God!" The words tumbled slowly out of Selphie's mouth, standing, staring stupefied at the doorway.

And then another, "OH…MY…GOD!" This time was a lot louder because it came from Zell.

The next to enter was Irvine who was staring quite shamelessly.

Then Squall entered…then Laguna.

It might as well have been the whole neighborhood.

With Seifer standing beside the bed, with nothing on but a robe, and Quistis on the bed with nothing on but the coverlet, which she was nakedly clutching to her bosom, the picture they made was one of the most compromising to ever graze their memory.

It only goes without saying that people these days could only think in one direction.

A/N: Sorry sorry sorry!!! I'll post the next chapter soon.