Authors Notes: Thanks for the reviews! By the way, in the last chapter I divided Squall's bit with Cid's but the asterisks didn't show up, I was able to do this on previous stories, does anybody know why this is happening?!
Friends Show their Loyalty in times of trouble, not happiness.
-William Arrowsmith
ChapterTwo - Meeting with the Devil Man
Quistis sat on the pier in Balmb, she had changed quite a bit since her adventures seven years previously. Her hair was no longer tied up, rather let down in a layered haircut with a side fringe. It was no longer perfectly straight, it was rather wavy. She no longer opted to be a blond, now her hair was a light shade of brunette with some blonde highlights. She wore a pair of brown, round toe boots that went up to just bellow her knee, a dark denim skirt that was a few inches above her leg, a white t-shirt with a dark denim blazer jacket.
He was coming tonight. It had been a while since they had one of their chats. There weren't many people Quistis could talk to anymore. Rinoa had vanished, and Squall had reverted back to his old self. Edea was dead, Quistis was told she died of natural causes, the others seemed to accept this, but Quistis was suspicious. Cid had become distant in the past few years, Quistis wondered if it was guilt, for what she didn't know. She often conjugated if this was in any way linked to the suspicious way Edea died. He was not nearly as distant as Squall, but he was no longer a father figure for all of them, he was a military leader. Xu had been transferred to Trabia, and Dr. Kadawoki had retired to Winhill. As for the rest of them, Zell left Garden three years ago, he now ran a martial arts class, Irvine moved back to Galbadia and Selphie was in Trabia, none of them talked to Quistis anymore. Ever since Rinoa broke it off with Squall, Quistis tried to be there for Squall but he had lost his ability to trust, the rest of them sided with Rinoa thinking of her as the victim, however Quistis knew differently.
Quistis was a blue mage, and possessed a reasonable amount of power as a result. She knew how much power corrupted. She wasn't nearly as powerful as Rinoa, not at all, so it was easier for her. However Quistis needed to talk somebody now, there were only three people who would talk to her now. All of them knew what it was like to be crushed by immense power.
In the distance Quistis saw the familiar posse on their boat. They were coming from FH, Quistis had called them after Cid told her some unsettling news, and she hoped that maybe they could help her out.
Rajin was the first of the boat, Fujin jumped out afterwards, and then Seifer. Rajin and Fujin hadn't changed much, Fujin's had now opted for a crew cut, but that was it. It was Seifer who had changed the most over the past seven years. He discarded his grey coat and his hair was longer it was just long enough to tie into a small ponytail with the front strands lazily hanging around his face, and he sported a very short stubbly beard. He no longer kept his gunblade by his side, it was kept safe in his boat for emergencies only.
"So what did you drag us out of the pub for now?" He asked with a smirk, he was still arrogant, sarcastic and rude, but he had grown up a lot since the Ultimecia affair. He had toned down and it was actually possible to have a civilized conversation with him. Quistis didn't know why she still talked to him, well she did. There was nobody else to talk to.
"I'll buy you one if you want it that much," Quistis responded while rolling her eyes.
"If it's for me, they won't serve it, you know that. They may have calmed down a bit in FH, but everybody in Balmb still wants to rip my head off and play football with it. Or is it that they want to burn me at the steak? I always get confused between Balmb and Timber." Seifer said half jokingly, and half seriously, he did have a point.
"Aw, c'mon I'm thirsty ya know. We've been working all day, I need a pint ya know!" Rajin moaned,
"SILENCE!" Fujin snapped and slapped him hard on the arm. Quistis had to laugh,
"Well you obviously aren't calling us for drinks, so what's up?" Seifer asked,
"Well, a lot." Quistis said with a sigh, "It'll take a while, and it would be better if we could do this in a more private location." Quistis said going into SeeD mode,
"Well there's always the tugboat, it stinks of fish, so it'll be just like Balmb's pub anyway!" Seifer said motioning to the rather dilapidated boat, it would have to do.
The posse climbed back in along with Quistis. She had a quick look around to make sure nobody was around to see her. She was about to give classified mission information to three failed SeeD's turned fishermen, when she thought of it like that she questioned herself on talking to Seifer. Then again, she often questioned her motives for almost everything she did, including trying to get Squall to open up.
"Well? What's so important that you had to drag us all the way out here?" Seifer asked impatiently,
"Cid had a meeting today…" Quistis began,
"No, I'm not going back to Garden," Seifer snapped,
"Neither am I, ya know!"
"ME ASWELL!"
"…With General Caraway," Quistis continued, ignoring the interruptions. "He wants to hire Squall and myself for a mission."
"Terrible," Seifer said derisively, "It's just the worst thing I've ever heard. You and the hermit you seem to like for Hyne knows what reason, have to go on a mission together," Seifer enjoyed tormenting Quistis about her obvious attraction to Squall, which she continually denied, Seifer didn't understand the woman. Squall effectively spat on her heart and she still pined after him. Maybe it was just women in general he didn't understand, he had given up trying to understand them a long time ago.
"Would you just shut up for five minutes!" Quistis retorted angrily, "It's an assassination mission." She said looking at Seifer,
"Thanks for the heads up," Seifer said suddenly looking worried and reaching for his gunblade,
"Not you!" Quistis retorted, "Rinoa."
For the first time that day, Seifer had no sarcastic comment. Rajin muttered something inaudible and Fujin was looking at the ground.
"I knew that Rinoa and her father didn't get along, but this? I didn't see that one coming, and of all people, why you and Squall?" Seifer asked in a serious tone, "He's a military man, he should know that emotional kills are always the messiest, if he wanted a clean kill he should hire somebody neutral. Hiring you and Squall is just bad tactics."
"I know, Cid thought so too but when he suggested somebody else Caraway didn't want to hear it. He said something about Rinoa having a lot of friends here and in Trabia and Galbadia, and he knows that Rinoa broke Squalls heart, but why he'd hire me I don't know! I mean, I don't like Rinoa but I don't hate her to that extent."
"Do you not?" Seifer asked giving her a hard stare,
"He has a point ya know," Rajin added,
"Look, whatever my feelings are about her, I still think that killing her is a drastic measure. It's Squall I'm worried about," Quistis said softly,
"Why, what hat does he think about it?" Seifer asked,
"That's the thing, he doesn't know anything about this yet. I'm supposed to tell him tonight," Quistis sighed,
"You?! Get Cid to do it, he's the goddamn headmaster!" Seifer snapped,
"Given the circumstances, Cid felt it would be better if I told him." Quistis said quietly,
"BULLSHIT!" Fujin barked,
"He's afraid to tell him ya know,"
"So he's getting you to do his dirty work," Seifer said darkly,
Quistis sat in silence for a moment. She was a SeeD, trained to operate and do her job without emotion, and up to now that was going alright for her, now she had this mission thrown in her face. She was angry at Cid for even considering the mission for her or Squall. "I don't know what to do," She said silently, "I really don't." Seifer lit up a cigarette, he couldn't stand the tension in the room at that moment, "You really shouldn't do that." Quistis said in an instructor like manner,
"Helps me think," Seifer said indifferently, "Look, you and Rinoa are past acquaintances right? And Squall and Rinoa were romantically involved, this results in a conflict of interest, tell Cid no." Seifer said,
"You know for a second there you sounded like a SeeD." Quistis said frankly, but she was met with hostility,
"Don't flatter yourself, I got sick of their bullshit." Seifer spat,
"That's not how I remember it." Quistis said sternly,
"Look we're not here to talk about me and SeeD, we're here to talk about you and Squall slapping Rinoa six feet under."
"So eloquently put Seifer." Quistis said mordantly, "Look, this isn't leaving this boat alright? I'm a trained SeeD and I know how to hurt a person, a lot." Quistis said giving a cold stare to Seifer,
"What me? Do you not trust me? Why Quistis, I find your lack of faith in me disturbing," Seifer said with a sneer,
"Seifer!" Quistis was in no mood for messing around,
"HE WON'T!" Fujin said also giving Seifer a glare, "RAJIN!" She gave a look to Rajin,
"What! When have I not kept a secret?!" He protested. The look in Fujin's face said a lot, she knew perfectly well how big his mouth was,
"Try anything…" She chocked, struggling with her words "And…I will…HURT!" Rajin got the message.
"Well, I better go deliver the good news to Squall," Quistis said reluctantly,
"Rather you than me," Seifer mumbled.
"GOOD LUCK!"
"Yeah, you're gonna need it ya know…"
"Thanks," Quistis murmured. She knew there was no way of just coming out and saying it to Squall, she would just give him the mission brief and hope for the best. This was going to be hard for him, and her.