AN: Sorry, it's taking me so long to get stuff up. I've been busy with school, problems at home, and church. (snickers) I do go to church. Anyways, I've set a goal for myself to update at least once a month on all my stories and try to get some work done on my novel. Hope this is a worthy effort. And thank you for reviewing Hikari Heijin.
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Chapter I
"Oh, Squall, please wake up! Please!" Rinoa pleaded, tears rapidly sliding down her blotchy cheeks. She gently cradled the limp brunette's head in her lap as the others stood around his pale body, his clothes torn and ragged as the ends flapped awkwardly in the wind. Zell's eyes shone with tears as he knelt to check Squall's pulse, if he even still had one. Selphie cried miserably in Irvine's arms as Zell shook his head and looked up. Seifer watched from behind them with a carefully schooled expression, but his hands were curled tight in fists.
"His pulse is so faint. And it's fading so fast. . . Damn it! We don't have any more potions left," the smaller, petite blonde said. He glared at the ground, balled up a fist, and suddenly punched it. "Fuck! It'd take us five days to get back to the nearest fuckin' village!"
Quistis placed a tender hand on his shoulder, trying to be reassuring. Zell picked up Squall's wrist again and began to cry his, until then, unshed tears. Seifer's breath caught in his throat as he watched.
"He's gone. . . He's. . . gone," he murmured so faintly that the others barely heard him. Seifer roughly pushed Irvine to the side, moving past the tall brunette, and then pushed Zell away from Squall's body. He dropped to his knees and suddenly reached for Squall's shoulders and shook them none too gently.
"I don't believe you," he hissed softly at Zell. Then he spoke louder, "Damn it, Squall. Wake up!"
"Seifer! He's dead! Leave him alone. . ." Rinoa whispered harshly and pulled the taller blond's hands from Squall's shoulders, her dark eyes snapping at his jade ones. Seifer dropped his gaze dejectedly to the bloody, torn, and pale body laying in front of him. He just shook his head in disbelief, unable to even wipe away the tears that now began to flow freely from his eyes. He silently looked down, not looking at anyone.
Irvine bowed his head, arms tight around Selphie's trembling body. Rinoa buried her face in her hands, some of her tears falling on to Squall's deathly pale face. Zell looked into the distance as Quistis leaned against him.
Seifer quietly leaned forward to brush back a strand of chocolate colored hair from the angelic face. He looked down at the scar that ran from above his right eye to just below his left eye. He traced it lightly with the index finger on his right hand, the same scar that he, himself had given to Squall.
"HOLY FUCK!"
Squall sprang up, gasping for air. Seifer's forehead stopping anymore forward progress as their heads collided in pain.
Rinoa and Quistis shrieked and Zell jumped a couple of feet into the air. Seifer groaned, pulled back to rub his forehead and he looked into Squall's wide moonstone gray eyes. Squall franticly searched around him for the little girl and tears openly fell from his eyes when he couldn't find her. He then began to weep into the palms of his hands as the rest looked on in disbelief.
"Squall?" Rinoa tenderly touched the brunette's hair and waited for him to look up at her. Seifer's face became blank as he slowly pulled away, stood, and backed away.
"Sara. . ."
Rinoa withdrew her hand like she'd been burned and bowed her head, her bangs hiding her eyes in shadow. Zell knelt beside him again, and then he gently pulled Squall's hands away from his face. Squall's red, puffy eyes looked up at him, but it seemed like he was looking through him at something in the distance.
"Sara?"
"S-she . . . she. . ." Squall choked on a sob.
"Who is Sara, Squall?" Zell asked patiently, his tone quiet but still loud enough for everyone to hear. Quistis knelt on Squall's other side, her eyes curious and relieved. Squall growled suddenly and hit the ground with a curled up fist. He lifted his tear-streaked face to the sky and stifled a sob in order to answer.
"A little girl. . . Young maybe nine. . . She stopped me! . . . Damn it all! She sent me back. . ." He sobbed again, ducking his head, and then began to chuckle. Before speaking between sobs, "She said that. . . That she was withholding my death. . . Until it's been earned. . . . ."
Seifer only watched as the others exchanged confused glances over the top of Squall's head, but he ignored them. All his attention was focused on the sobbing SeeD Commander still sitting on his rear, on the cold ground. His normally bright jade eyes were unfocused as he lost himself in his thoughts. Zell looked up at him then, eyes narrowed suspiciously at Seifer's thoughtful gaze. But Squall spoke up again.
"I thought. . . After all I've done. . . I was so damn sure," he paused again with a choked sob, "It was so close. . . I wanted it . . . but she pulled me back!"
Rinoa gasped at Squall's admission and she threw her arms lovingly around Squall's neck rocking him back and forth, trying to be reassuring to the brunette. Selphie's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something before Irvine pulled her back.
Seifer's head jerked up and he turned half way away. His eyes glazed over as he listened to the others try to calm Squall down. It was familiar. The little girl . . . who withheld death. . . "A pact with Death. . ." Seifer whispered quietly.
Zell was the only one close enough to hear Seifer's muttered words before the taller blond suddenly stalked off towards their camp. Rinoa eyed the retreating blond with concern, but turned back to Squall who was now struggling to his feet. She wrapped her arms around his waist quickly when he almost fell, but after he regained his footing he roughly pushed her away. She made a hurt noise and looked up at him with eyes full of tears.
"S-Squall?"
The brunette didn't even turn to look at her as he took unsteady steps towards his gunblade which was some ten feet away. "We broke up three months ago, Rinoa. Stay the hell away from me."
Squall picked up his gunblade, took a deep breath, and turned to face the others as if nothing at all had happened to him. His slightly blood-shot eyes were the only indication that he had been in a emotional uproar only a couple of minutes before. He coldly straightened his shredded jacket and headed for his tent. Selphie gazed after him with a sad sigh.
"That's so like him. To just bury it and ignore us. I wish we could help him, but he'll only turn us away, leave us behind, and move on." She tugged at a loose string on the bottom of her dress with nervous hands, silently contemplating the situation. Irvine caught her hand and looked over at Quistis. The honey-blonde woman was still on her knees, looking down at the blood stained ground with her hands clasped tightly on her lap, her knuckles white. Zell began pacing under the nearest tree, muttering to himself so quietly that no one could hear what he was saying. Rinoa leaned back against a tree trunk and cried to herself.
"Why won't he let me help? I still care about him!" Rinoa said aloud with tears streaming down her face again. She then lowered her voice to barely a whisper, "I-I still love him. . . "
"Shut up, Rinoa. . ." Quistis whispered softly. Rinoa turned on the kneeling woman with a glare.
"I will not shut up! I, at least, love him! He might have been the one to break it off, but that doesn't mean that my heart doesn't still have a place for him. That I-" Quistis leapt to her feet and slapped Rinoa across the face. Rinoa's chest heaved as she slowly turned her reddening face to look at the other woman in shock. Zell stopped pacing to watch the confrontation. Irvine and Selphie looked on with wide, puffy eyes and tear-streaked faces.
"How dare you! You. . . You little self-important, pompous, slut! How dare you imply that you are the only one here that loves him. That cares for him! That our hearts don't break when we watch him withdraw into himself. That we don't share his tears even when he tries to hide them. That we don't love him when he's so close to shattering. He has grown up with us, like our brother when we had no other family. He has all of us even if he doesn't want you anymore."
Quistis then turned on her heel and left towards the camp as well. Rinoa watched the other woman's departing back with anger. Zell stood quietly for a moment before following after Quistis. Selphie and Irvine glanced at each other before also withdrawing to their own tent. Rinoa just watched them all leave before dropping back against the tree trunk once more with a sigh of regret. Her tears had stopped but still she waited.
OvOvO
Seifer paced the river bank with rapid strides, only to turn and walk back the other way. He was confused. What Squall had said about the little girl had not made sense with what he already knew. Squall had seen the girl's face. Seifer wasn't sure how he knew that, but he did. The knowledge was there, like something invisible tightening around his chest trying to crush him. He paused to look up at the darkening night sky. He had been here for hours, wondering over the strange happenings of this day.
After all it wasn't every day that someone dies and then comes back to life talking about a little girl that I myself have met, but not seen. It brings back much that I don't ever want to think about again.
Seifer heaved a sigh before sitting down on a boulder that was half under water in the shallow river. He rubbed his head, looked across the river and downstream to where the camp was set up, and frowned. He saw a figure coming towards him but it was still to far away to see who it was. He loosened his gunblade from its sheath and waited. The stars started to appear in the sky above, bright enough to have reflections in the still river waters. The blond watched the sparkling reflections, only glancing up a couple of times to watch the figure come slowly closer. It was as if the person there was unsure of coming closer or was wandering slowly lost within their thoughts.
"It's only Zell, Seifer."
Seifer leapt to his feet, pulling his gunblade out and around in one fluid motion to confront who ever had spoken. He stopped short as he heard a soft giggle that seemed to be all around him. Suddenly he felt a pulling at the bottom of his stomach and he was floating mid-air in a dark place with no light. Even the sparse light of twinkling stars was denied him as he felt a nauseous twist in his belly. He couldn't feel anything, hear anything, or see anything. He tried to remain calm, but was quickly starting to panic.
"Silly goose! Be still! You almost dropped your gunblade onto your foot." Another soft giggle sounded around him, echoing in his very skull. "You'll need that foot later. There will come a time when you'll have to run. A time where running will be more important than your very next breath."
A pale white mist figure started to form before him as he pondered those words. The shape was small, delicate, slim, but also very beautiful. Seifer watched the mist form into the shape of a young girl. But it's feature's were blurred and he knew this was Sara. She came closer and placed a gentle kiss on both of his cheeks in greeting. Seifer's skin tingled where her hands and lips had touched his face.
"Sara," he breathed softly. He didn't see the mist figure smile, but he could feel it. He knew that she was smiling at him and that knowledge warmed him to his core. He reached out and tried to touch her, only to have his hand go through the mist. She wasn't really there with him after all.
"Yes, Seifer. I'm Sara. I'm here to help with your next great trial. I'll be behind you all the way even if I can't give you direct support. This was the reason I saved you two years ago. And now, there is one other that will be able to help you in the coming time of need, but you will have to find your source, yourself. For my wager will not allow me to give you a name." Sara brushed Seifer's face gently with the back of her misty hand and began to hum. "Be brave, my dear. Seek out the song. Good-bye, Seifer."
Seifer opened his mouth to say something more, but felt another belly twisting movement and the sensastion of falling. He screamed and hit the cold hard ground on his back, efficently knocking the air from his lungs. He gasped for air and opened his eyes to see a certain spiky-haired blond hovering over him, worry staining the bright blue eyes. Seifer drew in deep breaths of cool fresh air and struggled to sit up. Zell reached out a helping hand to draw the bigger blond to lean against the boulder he had been sitting on earlier that night. Before Sara had spoken to him. He moaned and closed his eyes again, his head throbbed in pain.
"Are you alright, Seifer?"
"Zell? Wha-"
"What the hell happened?" Quistis came running up the opposite riverside with Squall, Irvine, Selphie, and Rinoa following close behind. Seifer struggled not to vomit as he leaned dangerously to the left, Zell catching him before he fell over. Swiftly those on the other river bank crossed the dead tree slightly further upstream and surrounded the two blonds. Seifer forced his eyes open to look up at those around him. Rinoa leaned close, Zell looked at the others helplessly, Irvine held Selpie back, and Quistis placed a hand on her hip. Squall stood further back, his face lost in the deep shadows of the night as Quistis turned to Zell.
"What happened here Zell?"
"I don't know. I was walking down the other side of the river, thinking. I saw Seifer sitting on the boulder, but I wasn't paying attention to him. Suddenly I heard a strange noise, like a whoosh and I look over in time to see Seifer floating five freaking feet off the ground! I ran across the dead tree, then he screamed like he was being murdered and fell. I knelt beside him and he started gasping for air, like he hadn't been breathing. Then you all came." Seifer turned his jade eyes on Zell as he began to breathe a little easier. Squall's head tilted towards the ground and Quistis looked at Seifer with wide eyes.
Seifer looked away from the strange gazes and felt himself flush. Rinoa leaned closer and reached towards him to put her hand gently on his shoulder. He pulled away from her, quickly scrambling to his feet. Selphie stepped forward and brushed Irvine's restraining hand off her shoulder. She stopped in front of Seifer as he started to walk off into the deep forest. He paused, but started to go around her, not even having it in him to get angry and shove her out of his way.
"Seifer," she whispered softly. He stopped, his body level with hers. Neither looking at the other, but past into the gloom of the night. "What happened to you, Seifer? What happened that was so bad that you are now trying to run from it?"
Seifer choked back a sob.
"I wish I could tell you," he whispered back just as softly. "But I was commanded not to tell. It's the only order that I have ever received in my life that I was willing to obey."
"Seifer. . . I-"
"Stop, Selphie. There is only one that can ever know but first I have to find them. Now please, just let me go. I won't run away. I just need to think about some things. Tell everyone that I just want to be alone for right now and not to bother me. I'll be back before sunrise." Selphie sighed softly and nodded to the tall blond. He felt the corner of his mouth lift a little in response, but it was all that he could manage. He turned and walked deeper into the trees, leaving Selphie behind to contend with the others.
Squall didn't say anything when Selphie came back to tell all of them to leave Seifer be for the moment, he only turned and walked back down the riverbank. Rinoa pouted, Zell gazed after Seifer suspiciously, and Irvine merely shrugged. Quistis looked thoughtful and sat down on the boulder, lost within her thoughts. Every once in a while muttering something that only she could understand. Selphie finally led Irvine back to their tent, Zell wandered back down the river and Rinoa went to bed. Only Quistis stayed to watch the sun rise in the east.
MvOvM
AN: Please remember to RR. I like to here what you think. Questions? Ask and I'll answer as soon as possible.
