Whoa. One very exhausted writer checking in. If anyone's interested in my progress for the challenge I'm writing for (60k words in a month), I'm a little behind, my novel is being one huge bitch to me, and this fic is being slow and stubborn. Seifer and Squall don't seem to like the fact that they haven't got any yet. ;) What I have got done is this, a short story that will hopefully be published and a fifth of a rewrite of my novel.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. My darling sister/beta reader/best friend/partner in crime (pick one!) hasn't read this yet, so... as always, there might be edits.

Seifer POV

I try not to be disappointed when he doesn't talk to me. After all, I haven't seen him since yesterday – I camped out on Quisty's floor last night – that is, unless you count dreams, and now the whole gang is here. Not exactly the best time to start talking about our feelings, even for someone as open as me.

But I do receive a look and a smile that makes me feel suddenly a lot more hopeful. He's all business and Commander again within a second, but I know I saw that look and there's nobody else he would give it to.

I hope.

He nods to Selphie, asking her to speak in that silent language of his, and the energetic girl bounds up, waving at us. "Hey, guys! Medea – the SeeD who found the entrance – showed me where we have to go, and I've scouted it out. I think she was right, so we have to prepare for an expedition – Squall?"

She hands over to him gracefully, sitting down again with a thump.

He stands up, looking every bit the proud, confident Commander he's supposed to be. I don't remember ever seeing Squall quite like this. If I were a girl, I'd admit that seeing him like that gives me butterflies. But I'm not a girl, and it doesn't. Really.

Okay. Little butterflies. The type of butterflies you get when you see someone you really want and you think you're going to get them.

Yeah, I'm acting like a girl. Shit.

He doesn't look at me, and that allows me to calm my hormones and just appreciate the view while trying to focus on his words. Funny how just yesterday I wouldn't even think twice about fucking Squall – well, maybe I would have, but I wouldn't have been this obvious, hell, I was in denial even to myself – and now it's the only thing I can think about.

"I don't know what we'll face once we're through that entrance. Judging from the size, we're going to have to be a small team, well accustomed to working together."

"That rules me out, then," I raise an eyebrow.

"Nuh-uh! You and Squall work well together!" Selphie chimes in. Oh, that, right. Should have known Squall wouldn't stop me from fighting. I have my badass reputation to kill, after all. And maybe he has his reasons for wanting people to know I'm innocent. Well, not innocent, but… not completely at fault.

He continues; the thread of his thought barely interrupted by the exchange. "I want to make two teams of three to go in first. I called Galbadia Garden earlier, and Irvine will be joining us again. That makes the teams me, Quistis and Seifer, and Zell, Selphie and Irvine."

Selphie whoops a little at hearing that Irvine will be here, getting up and bouncing with excitement. "Is that all?"

"No," he says, coolly amused. "Sit down, Selphie."

She sits.

"The ideal thing would be to get in and get out without being noticed at all. The odds on that actually happening are virtually nil. This means we're going to have to kill on sight, or take captives." He folds his arms in front of his chest, his bangs hanging down into his intense grey-blue eyes. "That's up to your squad at the time, but one or two captives could be useful."

"Question. Why are we being so cautious about this? Why don't we just annihilate them?"

Squall looks at me. "We could. But I'm interested to find out more about them before we just crush them."

"Makes sense," Quistis says, with a nod, "Then we'll find out how they intend to take over Garden."

"Right."

Should've remembered that Garden is always his prime concern. Mind you, the thought of this place being in the wrong hands doesn't sit too well with me, either.

Before anything else can happen, there's a knock on the door and a girl comes in. She looks vaguely familiar in her uniform, with one arm bound up and in a sling…

"Sir," she says, lifting her chin, "I wish to make a request. I want to come with you."

Oh, that girl. Medea. The girl who found the entrance.

I'm not very surprised at her request, actually. She's a SeeD, she must like these missions at least a little, and she probably wants to see this mission right through to the end.

"You can't," he tells her, a little more gently than I expected, "You still have a broken arm."

She looks over at Selphie appealingly, "But I did fine when I showed you the entrance!"

"You did," Selphie says, doubtfully, "But we have our teams set up and there's no room for you."

"Permission to at least come with you and wait outside with another team, sir?" She looks over at Squall again.

He hesitates. He never does like changing his plans when they're already sorted out. But apparently he's not immune to puppy dog eyes. He nods. "Get a squad – a good squad – together. You will be the squad leader. I expect you to handle things well. We'll be meeting again here in three hours, be ready for then."

Quistis looks about to object, but then she closes her mouth. Trusting Squall's judgement. She always used to interrupt him, in training scenarios, and get him to rethink. And he'd always be right in the end.

I think she's remembering that now.

I always admired him for that ability to quickly analyse a situation and come to the right decision, and stick by it, and prove that he was right. I act quickly, as well, but with me there's a chance I'll get things wrong, since I just work on pure impulse.

Squall can probably justify every single decision he's ever made.

Except maybe one.

The way he drew back after we'd been kissing yesterday makes me wonder how much he thought over that situation. Apparently not too much, or he wouldn't have had any regrets at all.

Though I am sure that his smiles are perfectly calculated to reassure me, as, indeed, they have. I'm not sure if he intended to bring on the not-butterflies, too, but you never know with Squall.

Squall POV

I can feel Seifer's eyes on me, watching me, the whole time, and for some reason, it doesn't bother me. I even, somehow, enjoy the fact that he can't seem to look away from me.

I've come to the conclusion that somehow I don't think Seifer is setting out to hurt me, and he's not the type to do something he doesn't mean. I don't know whether that means we'll have a relationship, and I'm positive I'm more trouble than I'm worth in relationships, but I want to give things a try.

Medea nods to me, turns and leaves the room, and with a sigh, I turn back to the others. "Are we all clear now?"

Zell, Selphie and Quistis all nod agreement, but Seifer snorts softly. "I have one question."

"What?"

"Who is going to baby-sit me until then?"

"I will, if you want me to, Squall!" Selphie offers cheerfully.

The look of fear on Seifer's face makes me want to laugh. I'm tempted to take Selphie up on that offer, just to see his face then, but maybe he would think of that as a rejection, so used to my tactics of avoidance. And rejecting him is just about the last thing I want to do, at least for now.

"It's okay, I don't mind now. As long as he behaves himself." I allow a touch of humour to creep into my voice, and get amused looks from the girls and Zell, and a raised eyebrow from the slightly insulted Seifer.

"Well, if you're sure…" Quistis stands up, saluting me, as always. She does that just to taunt me; I've told her she doesn't have to.

"Just go already," Seifer says, rolling his eyes and standing up as well.

"Eager to get the Commander on his own, huh?" Selphie asks with a wink. She's joking, but no doubt she's really quite close to the truth.

Seifer grins, "Oh yeah."

He isn't joking.

But once they're gone, the light hearted look disappears and comes to stand next to me, just a little closer than I would maybe have liked before. But this isn't before.

"Come to some conclusions?" he asks, quirking an eyebrow, completely serious.

I've never been good with words; I think I've said that before. So I step forward, close to him again, and kiss him. He responds eagerly, wrapping his arms around me.

He chuckles softly as he pulls back. "So, Squally-boy, what is that supposed to mean?" He pushes my hair back, tucking it behind my ears, the gesture more gentle than I might have expected from him.

I glare at him for asking the obvious.

"Hey, I just want some confirmation, okay?" His mouth twists in his ever familiar smirk, a more taunting note coming into his voice to disguise the fact that he actually cares. Idiot. "Want me to make it easier for you?"

I don't answer, just step back a little and meet his eyes steadily.

He sighs. "Look, do you want to be with me, Squall? It's that easy. Yes or no."

"Yes." Silently, I add, 'of course'.

He smiles, not a smirk, but a smile. I could definitely get used to seeing him honestly smiling more often. "Good." He pulls me closer, holding me close. "Good," he says again, tilting my head up and kissing me again, his voice very soft, "Very good, even."

"Shut up." I interrupt his stupid babbling, reaching up to wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me, and I just kiss him, parting my mouth against his invitingly. He mumbles something like 'fucking butterflies' against my mouth, deepening the kiss.

Neither of us pull back from the kiss or move from that perfect, close embrace, for a long time. And when I do pull back, it isn't far, my lips still almost brushing his.

"No reason to rush this," he says softly, leaning his forehead against mine. And then the smirk touches his lips again. "Besides, we have a mission in, how long did you say? Three hours?"

"Three hours. When this is over… will you stay at Garden?"

He hesitates.

"You don't have to," I say, already pulling away a little.

He tightens his arms around me, a half angry look crossing his face as he pulls me back close. "You idiot, I'll stay for your sake, but people don't like me here, that's all. You're the only one who wants me here. Don't you dare go thinking I'm going to leave you. I remember how bitchy you got when Ellone left the Orphanage."

I stiffen slightly in his arms, "You remember?"

"Of course." He smiles slightly, brushes my hair out of my face again, "Just little things, though."

"I don't remember much."

"I don't think any of us do." He shrugs. Apparently, it doesn't bother him. "It's a shame, but we've already got over it. Now," his eyes fill with teasing warmth, "since everything's all sorted out, your insecurities included, can we get back to the kissing part?"

"You were the one looking insecure earlier," I raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well." He has the grace to look a little embarrassed.

"Since we've got three hours… do you want to go outside Garden for a while?"

He looks pleased at the suggestion. "That would be nice."

"Come on then."