I could lose myself in your eyes, your hair, and your smile. I love the way you look
when you laugh. You don't laugh very often. Why not? You are so beautiful
when you laugh. Your entire face lights up. I hope I get to see you smile
more often.

Until Next time,

"Fire Cross"


"How does that look?" a young Garden student asked the tall man sitting
across from him.

Seifer Almasy took the small paper from the kid's hands, and scanned it with
his green eyes.

"Hmm...Well..it'll do. I like the part where you say she should smile
often. Come to think of it...she doesn't smile very often, does she?"

"Instructor Trepe...I have only seen her smile a couple times. Most of the
time, it looks forced anyway."

"Well, I guess this will bring a little light to her dreary life." Seifer
replied, with a mischievous smile.

"Aren't you ever going to tell her?"

"What, and spoil my fun? No way! If she's smart enough, she will figure it
out."

For the past two weeks, Seifer Almasy had been leaving anonymous notes to
his instructor Quistis Trepe. He didn't have an ounce of writing ability,
when it came to these things, so he volunteered a fellow garden student to
do all of the writing for him.

These little "love notes" had started out as just a little joke, but as time had passed, Seifer had actually started to like Quistis. Of course, no one knew this but him, and he would have stopped the letters long ago, had it not been for his growing feelings
for his instructor.

"Same time same place, next week." Seifer said, as he folded up the piece of
paper, and walked away.

"See ya!" The excited garden student replied, simply content to be seen
"hanging out" with the Seifer Almasy.

"What a nerd."  Seifer thought as he watched the skinny kid wave frantically to him.

Seifer walked quickly out to the quad, and sat down in a secluded spot behind a small tree.  He took the note out again, and scanned over it.

He had been back at Balamb Garden for almost a year now, and everything was once again normal.

He had enrolled in classes again, and decided to turn his live around.  "No more living in a dream world." He had said when he first came back. "It's high time I grew up."

Seifer had practically fell to his knees, and begged for forgiveness from Squall.

Seifer would've rather cut off his left arm, than beg his former adversary for forgiveness.

He was desperate, though, to belong somewhere, and was willing to do even that to get back into his former home

Squall had seemed very hesitant to let him back in, and it took much effort on Seifer's part to convince him otherwise.

Finally, Squall had given in to Seifer's pleading, and had let him back into Balamb Garden.

What Squall didn't know, though, was that Seifer still held resentment toward him.  Squall had ruined Seifer's one chance at fame, his becoming a true Sorceress' Knight, and this was something that could never be forgiven.

Seifer's emerald eyes narrowed at the thought of Squall.  All this time, Squall was under the impression that Seifer was a changed man, and Seifer played the part well.

Always the "perfect gentlemen" while out in public, his attitude was quick to change when no one was around.

Seifer stood quickly, tired of sitting in the secluded spot.  He walked slowly toward the quad balcony.  When he reached it, he leaned forward, and rested his arms on the cool concrete ledge.

He looked down and scanned the huge field in front of him.  He noticed a few trees, here and there, and off in the distance, a thick forest.

He then shifted his gaze to the left, and saw the large rose garden that had been there long before he had came back.

Suddenly, a glint of gold caught his eye.  He stood up straight, and leaned further over the balcony to see none other than Quistis Trepe sitting in the rose garden!

Her beautiful blonde hair was glinting in the sunlight, and that was what had caught Seifer's attention.  She was sitting amongst a small cluster of white rose bushes, reading.

"She would never like me."  Seifer thought, "I'm definitely not her type."

He watched as she brushed a strand of her long hair from her eyes, and turned a page of the small blue book she held in her hands.

 "How am I going to tell her that I actually really like her?" Seifer thought with a loud sigh.

************************************************************************  

"Where am I?" Laguna thought, as he made his way out into the sunshine.

He had somehow made his way through the cafeteria, to the library, turned around and ended up in the training center not once, but twice, and was now out in the open air surrounded by hundreds of rose bushes.

"What the…..Maybe I should've stuck with Rinoa."  Laguna said, running a hand through his hair.

Curiosity suddenly took over Laguna, and he decided to explore the maze of roses a little more.  He made his way through the oranges, reds, pinks, and yellows of the beautiful, fragrant rose bushes in the garden.

He walked quietly amongst the roses, listening to the quiet whispers of lovers walking hand in hand, and the breeze whistling through the leaves.

After a few minutes of walking, he came upon a small group of beautiful white rose bushes.

"How different these seem from the rest.  So much more pure and elegant."  Laguna thought, running his hand over one of the bush's large blossoms.

As he came closer to smell the fragrance of the rose, a flash of color caught his eye.  He looked around the bushes and saw a beautiful girl sitting and reading quietly among the bushes.

"An angel."  Was the first thought that popped into the man's head.  He then realized who the "angel" really was.

"The girl from the picture, with the beautiful eyes.  Quistis."

Laguna suddenly felt very funny.  This was the most beautiful girl he had seen since Raine had died.  A sudden nervousness stirred in the depths of his stomach. 

"Should I talk to her?"  He thought as he laid a hand over his abdomen. "She is so beautiful.  Even more than I remember."

He watched as she turned a page of the book she was reading, and heard as she sighed quietly. 

"She seems so sad…how can such a beautiful person be so sad?"  Laguna thought as he watched.

Laguna finally got up the courage to talk to her, and started to walk quietly toward her still form.

As he approached her, he reached up, and plucked a single white rose bud from a nearby bush, to give to her.

"A token of my love."  Laguna thought with a small smile.

************************************************************************ 

Don't worry Glen 393!  Ch. 4's finally here!

Sorry it took me so long to update!  Thanks everyone for your great reviews!!!  I hope you like the story so far!!!!  Please read and review!