The following day, Quistis awoke to the rather annoying sound of her alarm clock, once again. She looked over at it groggily. The flashing letters read 7:00. Sighing, she rolled out of bed, and sat up.
Running a hand through her long blonde hair, she stretched and then headed to the bathroom for her morning routine.
Once finished, she threw on a simple pair of jeans and a white tanktop. She had decided that she'd head down to the Infirmary before breakfast to check on Seifer. He'd complained about having to spend another night in what he referred to as "The Room of Torture", but she'd stayed with him all of the previous day, so he'd agreed to spend one more night there.
After clipping her hair up in its usual fashion, she headed down to the Infirmary, deciding to get breakfast later.
As she entered the Infirmary, the first person she saw was Dr. Kadowaki. She smiled. "Good morning, Doctor."
The older woman flashed her a smile. "Well good morning to you too, Miss Trepe." She set her mug of coffee on her desk, and looked up at Quistis. "What brings you here so early in the morning?"
She grinned, a slight blush staining her cheeks. "I just wanted to check on Seifer, that's all."
Dr. Kadowaki nodded knowingly. "Go on. I think he might still be sleeping. But I think I'll be okay with him leaving today," she winked.
Quistis smiled. "Oh, that's great news! I'm sure that ought to cheer him up." Excitedly, she made her way to Seifer's room. Unsurprisingly, he was still sleeping, and was even snoring rather loudly.
Walking over to him quietly, she bent down and kissed his forehead, leaning down to whisper in his ear, "Wake up, Sleepyhead."
His eyes opened almost instantly at the sound of her voice. "Q-Quisty?" he asked sleepily.
Smiling, she nodded. "Yes, Seifer. It's me. It's almost eight o'clock, you should be getting up, you lazy bum."
Rubbing his eyes, he carefully sat up on his bed. "I'm tired... can't I sleep some more?" he whined.
She shrugged. "Well, sure. That's fine. Perhaps you aren't ready to leave today, like Dr. Kadowaki thought." She smirked.
His mood seemed to perk up rather quickly at the mentioning of his leaving. "Wait! I get to leave today? No more Room of Torture?!"
She couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, Seifer. No more Room of Torture. So if you get up and ready to go, you can join me for breakfast if you like," she added with a smile.
Seifer grinned. "Love to."
Quistis helped him get his jacket and shoes back on, and led him from the Infirmary room. Seeing as he was still a bit dizzy from all the Pain Killers, Quistis filled out all of the necessary paperwork, and with a thank you and a goodbye to Dr. Kadowaki, they left the room together.
As they made their way to the cafeteria, Seifer reached out and grasped Quistis's hand, making her blush profusely. "So we still up for goin' into Balamb?"
She looked over at him, a worried look on her face. "As much as I'd love to Seifer, you were just released from the Infirmary, and you're still weak. I don't think taking a trip to Balamb would be such a good idea."
He waved off her comment. "Psh... you think a little scratch like this is gonna keep me?" He winked. "Besides, I could do with some walking around. I've been chained to a bed in the Room of Torture for almost three days."
She couldn't help but laugh. "I'd hardly say you were chained, Seifer. You were on too many medications to be able to stand up straight."
He glared at her. "Hey... don't make me sound like too much of a chicken wuss, now."
Quistis smiled. "Of course not." She looked over at him, giving his hand a slight squeeze. "But to answer your question, yes I'd love to go into Balamb with you today."
He returned her smile as they entered the cafeteria. "Good. Then we won't be needing any of this." He exited the doors just as soon as he'd entered them, pulling her along behind him.
"W-wait! Seifer, where are you going? I thought we were going to eat breakfast."
"We can do all that in Balamb, Quisty. Besides, wouldn't you rather have some of Balamb's delicious cuisine over that crap they like to call food in the cafeteria?" He shuddered. "I'd hate to know what they put in those hot dogs."
Quistis couldn't help but smile to herself at the thought of all the times she had witnessed Zell shoveling those very same hot dogs down his throat. Actually... she couldn't think of a time that she'd been in the cafeteria with him that he hadn't been shoveling hot dogs down his throat. She never wanted to know what exactly they put in those things. And she hoped Zell would never find out either. It could possibly scar him forever.
The couple made their way to the exit of Garden, still getting a few odd glances once in a while from passing students.
Once outside, they once again strolled down the narrow road towards Balamb. Quistis couldn't help but smile a bit, remembering the last time they'd taken a walk to Balamb together. That had been the first time he'd kissed her.
Cautiously, Seifer unclasped his hand with Quistis's, and instead, rested his arm nonchalantly about her shoulders. Noticing the smile that was still on her face, he couldn't help but inquire, "What're you so happy about?"
Quistis shook her head, snapping herself out of her reverie, and looked up at Seifer, a crimson shade staining her cheeks. "O-oh, me? Nothing. It's nothing."
He gave her an odd glance. "Nothing, eh? Can't just be nothing."
She shrugged embarrassedly. "I was just... thinking about something."
Seifer raised an eyebrow. "Well, come on now. Spit it out."
"Seriously Seifer, it's nothing!"
"Well I'm nosy! And now ya' got me wondering!"
"Well I'm not telling you." She stuck her tongue out childishly.
"Oh, now you did it." Smirking, Seifer reached out and tickled Quistis's sides, causing them both to fall to the ground.
She shrieked between fits of laughter. "No! Seifer, stop it! I'm not telling you!"
"Oh yeah? Well I think you might wanna. Otherwise, this could get ugly." He continued with the tickling, refusing to give up if she didn't tell him.
Quistis sighed in defeat, finally giving in. "Fine, fine!" Looking up, she just began to notice their compromising position. Seifer was on his knees, straddling her, not wanting to put his full weight on her. He had had to hold her down so that he could tickle her without the chance of her escaping.
Looking up at him, she blushed. "I was just... thinking about the last time we went into Balamb together... not too long ago. And how it was the first time... that you kissed me." She turned her head to the side, avoiding his gaze. She knew he was going to laugh at her for acting so childishly.
But, contrary to what she'd thought, he didn't laugh. He only smiled down at her; a genuine smile. "Oh, you mean like this?" With a smirk, he leaned down and captured her mouth in a passionate kiss.
She seemed a bit taken aback by his sudden actions, but reciprocated them, nonetheless.
When he pulled away, he just smiled down at her. "So... ready to continue our exciting journey?"
Quistis nodded in response, smiling back. "Quite ready."
Seifer carefully rolled off of her and stood up, brushing off his pants. Reaching out a hand, he silently offered to help her up.
She took his hand with a smile as he pulled her up.
Running a gloved hand through his hair, he didn't let go of her hand as he started walking in the direction of their destination.
Quistis looked up at him with a smile as they walked, hand-in-hand, into the town of Balamb.
Author's Notes: Another chapter successfully completed. I've just realized that this story is mainly just fluff. lol But hey, people like fluff, and you've gotta give the people what they want. Thanks for reading. Hope you liked! And now that you've made it this far, go review!