He was lying flat on his back, his breathing quick and gasping, belying his troubled sleep. Thrashing a little in his sleep, he groaned and seemed to struggle against an opponent that only existed inside his head.

His eyes snapped open, his chest rising and falling quickly as he panted for breath. His heart was pounding; sweat was sliding down his temples. His eyes were wide and slightly panicked as his mind struggled to reorient itself with the real world.

"No," he gasped. "She's gone," he breathed, seemingly trying to reassure himself. With his arms he pulled himself up the bed to lean against the wall behind him. With a heavy sigh his head dropped into his hands and he began breathing slowly, trying to calm himself.

"What do you want Quistis?" he asked suddenly, not taking his hands away from his face.

"Just checking to see if you were okay," she replied slowly, only a raised eyebrow to reveal her surprise at his acknowledgement of her presence.

"I'll be better whenever the trial is over tomorrow," he said gruffly, turning his head to look at her. He could see her blue eyes shining in the darkness and the sight brought a rare smile to his face.

His smile surprised her and she couldn't help but ask, "And what exactly have you found to smile about?"

The smile changed into a smirk and he responded, "You. On the night before the trial of the sorceresses and her knight, you are at the door of the cell of the person that started the whole war. I just find it…" His voice trailed off and she found herself leaning closer to the bars to hear him.

When he didn't speak more she just sighed and rested her forehead against the cool metal of the bars of his cell. "I couldn't sleep knowing you were down here just waiting for tomorrow," she said into the silence. He let out a short, almost mocking laugh in response. If there was anything Seifer Almasy hated, it was pity.

Heaving an exasperated sigh she grit her teeth to keep from responding angrily and ruining her reason for journeying down here, talking to him. She couldn't explain her irresistible compulsion to trek down into the depths of the Garden, down on the NORG level, just to be near him, talk to him if she could. She just had a strange desire to try and understand him…his reasons, before she possibly lost the chance forever.

Biting back her innate desire to retaliate, she closed her eyes and shook her head. He would never, ever change.

And then, for some reason, their conversation at the SeeD ball came to her mind.

"You never change."

"Would you want me to?" he responded instantly.

She looked carefully at him for a moment and slowly shook her head.

"I guess not."

Smiling to herself, she realized that what she had said then was still true. Despite everything that had happened to him and everything that he had done, he was still the same person he always had been. Hopefully in the future he would demonstrate that the ordeal had taught him the value of thinking before running off and acting impetuously all the time. But, even if it hadn't, she found that she didn't care. For better or worse, he was who he was. She and the rest of the world just had to accept that.

As she pondered this silently she realized that he was watching her, his normally sneering expression one of curiosity.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

"You," she said, stealing his response. He recognized it and smirked.

"Can't get me out of your head, can you?" he asked smugly, his green eyes shining with silent laughter.

She smirked but answered him with surprising seriousness. "No, it seems I can't."

Looking away from his eyes, she sighed and stepped away from the bars, leaning against the wall instead.

He sighed deeply and seemed to steel himself. "Quistis," he started slowly. "You know," he paused to gather his thoughts. "I never meant to hurt you…any of you. I was just trying to protect Matron."

She nodded slowly and turned her head to look at him again. "I know Seifer," she assured him.

"Do you think the judges will?" he asked, for the first time since she had arrived the fear was evident in his voice.

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "Squall and Cid are on the panel, along with Laguna. If they want to get Edea and Rinoa off, they have to get you off too so I think there's a good chance you could be spared. Of course, General Caraway is sure to be out for your blood but if he wants to save his daughter, he'll have to spare you. The only other judge is Headmaster Martine but if the other one's all choose to spare you, Rinoa, and Matron then he'll either go along or his one vote won't count enough to matter. So, I think there's a good chance you'll get off."

Her logic was comforting. He let out a sigh of relief and she couldn't help but smile.

"Think you can sleep now?" she asked. He nodded and lay back down on the narrow bed.

"I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded and smirked. "We'll go out to lunch after the trial," he said, trying to reassure himself more than her, of the result.

She smiled good naturedly. "I think I'd like that," she said in response as she pushed the up button on the elevator.

"Well it's a date then," he said, a smirk in his voice.

AN: its taken forever but it's almost done...just one more chapter...no telling when it'll be up...hopefully faster than this one.

Twin-Lance: Thanks for reviewing all the chapters - you rock! - When you said the possession was eerie, was that a good eerie or a bad eerie? I was just curious when I read the review... - I hope you like the new chapter - I'm sorry their sporadic but that's kind of what I had in mind when I started - the chapters are just supposed to be Seifer/Quistis interactions that could theoretically have occured but that aren't mentioned in the game.