Once inside the city boundaries, there was a strong smell of fish in the air. Quistis wrinkled her nose, though she really should've been used to the smell by now. This is a harbor town, you dolt, she mentally scolded herself.

Seifer looked down at her, eyebrows arched. "Something wrong?"

She looked up at him, and quickly shook her head. "Oh, me? Nope. Nothing at all." She smiled assuredly.

He shrugged, and, spotting a small restaurant, he was about to pull her inside, when he heard a shrill voice, calling out to Quistis.

"Why… is that my little Quisty?"

Quistis looked up at the sound of her nickname, and squinted her eyes, trying to establish where the voice had come from, when her eyes settled upon Zell's adoptive mother. She smiled, walking over to the stout woman with a smile on her face, dragging Seifer along behind her.

The woman held out her arms and hugged her, smiling all the while. "My, my, my… it sure has been a while, hasn't it, dear? How's my little Zell doing?"

Quistis grinned. "He's doing just fine. Quite the hot dog eater, as always."

Ma Dincht smiled wholeheartedly. "Well, that's good to hear." Her attention turned to Seifer, as if just noticing his presence. "And who might this handsome fella' be?"

Glancing up at him with a blush, Quistis smiled again. "This is Seifer Al-"

Before she could finish, Ma Dincht cut her off. "Why, Seifer Almasy! Is that you? My, it's been ages!" She roughly pulled him in for a hug.

The ex-knight forced a smile, reciprocating the hug, and wincing as he received a hard kiss on the cheek. "Uh…yeah, nice to see you too." He was rather confused she was so kind to him. He and Zell had never really gotten along.

Quistis elbowed him in the ribs and glared, as if silently telling him to "be nice."

"So, what are you kids doing in Balamb this morning?"

"Well, we decided to come into the town for a nice breakfast," Quistis answered.

Seifer started to pull her away. "Yeah, so it was nice to see you, and all that. Later!"

The woman's hands went to her hips. "Don't tell me you plan on going to one of these restaurants and payin' an awful lot of gil, when you could just as easily come over to my place and get a good homemade breakfast for no cost at all!" She shook her head at the two. "I just whipped up some nice pancakes and waffles! I can't eat it all myself, now." She smiled one of those 'do-as-I-say-or-die' smiles.

Before the pair had time to talk it over, they found themselves in the kitchen of the Dincht residence.

Seifer looked around curiously. "…How'd we get here?"

Quistis just shrugged, looking just as confused as he was. "She's good."

The two decided not to argue over it, and instead, each took a seat at the kitchen table.

Smiling broadly, Ma Dincht brought over two large, steaming plates; one piled high with pancakes, the other with waffles. "You two dig in, now! You're lookin' so skinny! Eat up and get some meat on those bones of yours."

Quistis couldn't help but look at Seifer and laugh. "Yes, you listen to her, Seifer! Get some meat on those bones!" She smirked, poking him playfully in the ribs to emphasize her point.

He glared her way as he started on his pancakes.

…………………

A couple hours, and many pancakes later…

Seifer held his stomach as he made his way out of the door, closing it roughly behind him. "I…have never in my life…eaten that much food." He glared at Quistis. "EVER."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Seifer, you are looking a bit thin." She paused. "Well…" She looked down at his stomach, which, surprisingly, did look just a bit fuller. "Were."

He gave her the evilest stare he could muster, as they walked down the Balamb streets, heading towards the docks. "You got somethin' to say, Trepe?"

She smirked, her eyes wandering down to his abdominal region again, and held in a laugh. "Oh no, nothing. Nothing at all, Seifer. Nothing at all."

As they reached the docks, Seifer led her down to the end of one of them, and turned to face her. "Really, now. Out with it, Trepe. You think I'm FAT, don't you?!"

Quistis shook her head, trying her best to hold in her laugh. "Oh, not at all, Seifer! You just… you just… the pancakes…and…" She couldn't help it, and she burst out laughing, doubling over as she held her aching sides. The truth was, he didn't look any different, besides the fact that his stomach was just the slightest bit bigger; not that it was actually noticeable. She knew quite well that by the next morning, it would be gone, and he would look exactly the same. But she couldn't help teasing him. It always gave her such amusement.

He had had just about enough by now. Leaning down slightly, he picked her up easily into his arms, and gracefully tossed her into the ocean.

Before Quistis realized what was going on, she was already in the water. And seeing as how it was only early Spring, the water was still rather cold.

As she resurfaced, Quistis was definitely not laughing anymore. "Seifer Almasy! How could you?!" Her teeth started chattering as she spoke. "D-do you have a-any idea as t-t-to how cold this w-water is?!"

Looking down at her, Seifer couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. Though he was too offended by her earlier statements to feel much remorse for her at this point.

As she reached her hand up to him, Seifer smirked, and leaned over to help her out, seeing as she had probably served enough punishment.

But as soon as Quistis had a grip on his hand, she put one foot up onto the side of the dock, and with one hard yank, pulled him into the water with her.

As soon as he surfaced, he was glaring; something he'd been doing quite often this morning. "That… was s-so wrong, Trepe."

Teeth still chattering violently, she shrugged. "I-I thought it w-w-was a just p-payment."

Seifer smirked, and simply dunked her under the water.

As soon as she surfaced, she launched herself at him, and wrestled with him until she successfully got his head underwater.

But once he was under, he didn't let go of her, like she thought he would. Instead, when he came up for air, he looked at her. And instead of a smirk or a glare, she saw a smile on his face; and she couldn't help but smile back.

Leaning forward a bit, Seifer closed the gap between their cold lips.

When he pulled away not-too-soon after, he simply smiled at her, before heaving himself up onto the dock; pulling her up right after.

As he pulled her up, she landed innocently on his lap. Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, figuring that if questioned, he could use the excuse that he simply "wanted to keep her warm."

Soon after, a light sea breeze swept in; a breeze which would have felt good, were the two not completely soaked. Instead, their teeth started chattering, and they decided it would be best if they headed back to Garden.

As they stood up, Seifer was about to reach for her hand, when he saw her wrap her arms around her own slim frame, and he knew she was thoroughly cold. He was actually starting to feel bad for throwing her into the water.

Reaching an arm out to her, Seifer pulled her close to him, hoping that, even if only a little, he could keep her warm.

Quistis smiled, gladly stepping into his arms as she wrapped her own around his midsection.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.

She looked up at him confusedly as they walked. "Sorry for what, Seifer?"

"For throwing you in. Now you're probably gonna' catch a cold, and it'll make me feel bad!" He looked down at her with honest concern.

"Well Seifer, look at it this way. If I get sick, you probably will too. Which means that we can be sick and stay in bed, eating warm soup all day together," she smiled. "Doesn't that sound good?"

He smirked, pulling her closer. "Sounds like a date."

Author's Notes: I know, I know. It's been almost three months, and I am a bad, bad person. But would it help if I told you I'm already working on ideas for the next chapter? Heh…okay, maybe not. But here is a new one for you! I know it's been a while! But enjoy, read, and review!