Author's Notes: Ah, sorry it took a bit in order to get this posted. Stuff goes down... oh, and I want to thank the reviewers! I would comment and reply to y'all, but everytime I get to writing Fanfiction.net is down. [Like now... 1:08 in the AMs...] so I don't get to sneak a look at the reviews in order to reply to 'em. If I had a printer, I'd print them out and tape them to my binder! I tape too many things to my binder...

Downfall : Part Five of Many : A Short Discussion

Seifer slouched in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. He looked quite unwelcomed to the conversation, but was slightly intrigued that the always silent Squall would mind a chat. He also was curious on what he had to say. Seifer figured it was important... or something...

"Yeah?" Seifer questioned, urging Squall to get on with it. As much as he wanted to know what Squall needed to say [Seifer would never admit that to himself, though] he didn't have much time to waste.

"Was your mother... named Kalida?" Squall had questioned.

Wherever Squall got that information, Seifer wouldn't know. "What if she was?" Seifer admitted to himself one thing- that he was shocked that Squall would know his mother's name. Even though it was documented somewhere most likely, who would even care to notice if they just stumbled upon it? Or acknowledge it even? Why would it matter? Such questions danced through his mind, as Squall brought upon a usual period of silence.

"She had a husband named Bayla, correct?" Squall questioned, in a boring monotonous tone.

Seifer nodded. Even though the way Squall was speaking was annoying him to death, the information Squall knew wasn't so boring. So what if Squall knew his parent's names? He had to have something to spit out if he was bothering to ask those questions. Seifer sensed this, obviously, and was listening intently for anything else he had to say.

"I knew them," was all Squall had said. And Seifer waited silent... wondering if he was going to continue. Maybe Squall knew something he himself didn't know about his parents. Which if he did, it was most definitely Seifer's rights to know.

"Oh yeah?" Seifer questioned, as a way to show his interest in the topic.

"Yes," Squall artlessly replied, shifting his gaze from Seifer to the off-white ceilings of the Infirmary.

"That meant I want to know, 'how did you know them, when did you meet them,' and things of the sort, Squall. Tell me." Seifer's words weren't words, they were commands.

"Last night, I had recalled some events while I was in Timber with my mother. Well, I think it was my mother. My mother or whoever I was with was part of a resistance faction in Timber. And I was quite young at the time. She was aquainted with a woman named Kalida," Squall began.

"And?"

" Kalida would always talk about her husband and her son to my mother. Even though I was extremely young, I was curious to find out who these people were. And when my mother left me with Kalida, she showed me a picture. Said it was her husband and her son. The son's resemblance to you was uncanny. I remember her last name being Almasy, too. That is why I had asked." That had to have been the most Squall had ever spoken at once. Maybe he was interested in the conversation, too, just like Seifer was.

"So you're ma knew my ma. Interesting," Seifer commented.

"Just a coincidence," Squall insisted.

"So--"

While Seifer was about to ask his final questions, Quistis invited herself into the room, just as Seifer was about to ask some more of his questions. Quistis' timing had always been perfect, when it came to being disruptive. She sighed as she looked over at Squall, with her sapphire eyes matching her expression. A sympathetic look.

And if anybody would know better, it would've been Seifer, that would know that Squall didn't want any sympathy. For anything. Which was good for Seifer, since he would never lend it. Especially to his rival.

"Squall, you're alright!" Quistis said, cheerfully.

"Yeah, and you've know this news for how long...?" Seifer inquired.

"Can it, Seifer," Quistis ordered.

"My bad..." Seifer excused, slouching down in his seat even further.

Quistis was trying to speak with Squall, but Squall wasn't saying much. Seifer acknowledged the fact that nothing special was going on with this conversation so Seifer began to wonder about everything Squall was saying. And Seifer was shocking himself, for it was the only time he had actually wanted to talk to Squall without having the urge to say something rude to him. He just wanted to know about how Squall knew his dad.

He had only start to say about Seifer's mother... but what about Seifer's dad? Squall had said he knew both, after all.

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I know you're all thinking... or atleast the majority of you are thinking... "Raine is Squall's mother! And she lived in Winhill!" I can't say anything about that really without spoiling the story. Just forget about Raine for now.