Author's Notes: Sorry this one is a little late. Recently I was out of town for the State Speech Tournament! WHOOT! This simply means that I am one of the best Impromptu speakers in the state in which I live. This is nice, because it was fun and I had time to write a lot. So, over a month later I have my latest chapter in Seeds: Darkness Versus Light. This chapter took the fic in a direction I was not expecting, and makes a little reference to a summon from Final Fantasy 10. Which is interesting, you know, because Seifer makes a reference to a 'video game I played in my youth', and makes you wonder if their fate might already have been predicted in a video game… But… I just like doing that. There is a bit more description this chapter, and the first real-time view of Ultimecia and Squall Leonheart. I hope, as always, that you like it. Please Review all. And Remember, Author's Notes are here to help you, so don't discard them so easily.

Firefly-Dreams: You're always here for me hun, and I appreciate it, so this chapter goes out to you. Things are going a bit better, but still, no asking. I am glad you got sad, because sometimes that is exactly what I am going for. This chapter is a bit more uplifting… And ends on the title of the chapter… Enjoy!

Chapter 5: The White Knight

"Ellone, this is a bad idea!" I said as she pushed a few more Hi-Potions into her pack and glared at me.

"I'm going Seifer, that is final," she said as she stood and shouldered her pack to test the weight.

There was no arguing with Ellone when she had made a decision, especially one like this, but I tried anyway, "We're not leaving until tomorrow… Just come back to bed."

"Seifer, please understand…"

I cut her off, "Ellone, I understand, more than you could ever understand. He was like a brother to us all. You may feel you have more right to him, but you share as much of his blood as I do, as any of us do. Squall was like your brother, but he was my brother, friend, rival and savior from the sorceresses. I am the only one that failed him, not you, not Laguna, not Rinoa. Only me, and I should be the only one held responsible for it. I do understand Ellone; it's you that needs to understand. I want to protect you because I love you."

My wife sighed and sat next to me on the bed, "Like you loved him?"

"Like I love him," I admitted.

"More than you love me?" she questioned.

"Does that matter?"

"Yes Seifer, it does. Very much so… But, not right now. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

While she fell asleep in my arms I thought of another brunette that meant the world to me, another I had held in these arms once upon a time. Yes, all those years ago I had loved him, and he was the reason I turned to the witches. My dream had been to be his knight, but I knew he'd never allow it. Years later, when I had learned of Ellone being his actual, legally adopted sister (and not some girl he had grown up with), I swore to protect her because Squall couldn't. Now just look at the corner I have backed myself into this time.

Xx Next Morning xX

"You Seifee, we have a gift for you!" Xu said from the other side of the small grassy park we'd set up in our Cetra base. The whole place was hidden in a man made cavern under the mountains on the island near where the White SeeDs of my teenaged years had hidden on their ship. This place was a marvel of modern technology. The ceilings of the caverns were covered with Estharian panels that holographically projected images of the sky at the given moment so we could feel like we were outdoors. Weather machines made rain and heat and cold, and we even had an artificial sun made by Esthar too. The whole place had been designed in the first year after the Time Compression defeat of Ultimecia, paid for by Laguna Loire and run by the secret head of the White SeeD, Kiros Seagul. On top of it all was a security and camouflage system superior to the one that even the President's shelter had ever had….

Xu waved Ellone and me over to where the rest of our small party was assembled for the trip first to the surface, and then into the heart of Ultimecia's lands. Nida and Raijin were talking in low voices while Fujin marked our progress and Xu juggled two boxes in one hand. Ellone smiled and ran over to the group, trying to keep the fake smile on her face. This gift would probably have been her idea, Xu just being the method of delivery and the others in on it somehow as well. When I finally reached them, Xu shoved the two boxes into my hands.

"Clothes?" I asked, knowing by the size and shape of the boxes that the gifts were probably clothes. I looked down at my immaculate SeeD uniform, "This isn't good enough for you guys?"

"Haven't you noticed that you are the only one in uniform?" Nida asked with a chuckle.

Sure enough my friend told the truth. Fujin and Raijin were dressed in things almost identical to the clothes they wore as teens in Garden, except now Fujin didn't have the eye patch and Raijin had an armguard on like her. Xu, who I had rarely seen out of uniform, was in her old Balamb instructor's uniform (Balamb was now a teaching institute for the Sorceress's fighters and thus had a new uniform system) with the minor change that she was wearing pants and hiking boots. Ellone had chosen a blue tank top and blue-jeans, avoiding her old shawl because of the Katals at her sides. Then there was Nida… Hyne, did his look ever shock me! Everything above the neck was good old Nida, but the rest was far from what I expected. The man had baggy black jeans on that reminded me of a darker version of the white SeeD uniform pants, a black tank top and leather trench coat. Odder still was the silver chains that seemingly bound him with a gothic appearance. It was like this creature in a video game I played in my youth, an aeon (much like our Guardian Forces) called Anima. Still, I knew those chains were more than just decorative, for they looked like they limited his movement greatly. Upon closer inspection I saw there were several key links on it, links that would snap with a flick of the wrist and free the chain around him for fighting. In a close battle he could probably use those things to tangle up an opponent's weapon, tie them up, or use them as a whip like Quistus did.

Yeah… Compared to them I am the suspicious looking one.

"So… You going to open it?" Fujin asked with a smile. Damn, she really is in on this too!

I sighed and untied the bow on top so I could open the box. For a moment I had been tempted to drop the thing when I saw what was in it, but my muscled betrayed me by tensing up to prevent that. Looking up at me was a pair of black jeans and a navy blue vest with a silver cross on it. These were my old clothes, the clothes of a sorceress knight, and the clothes of a SeeD candidate. Before I could question them, the second box was pulled away and Raijin was pushing me towards the nearest place to change.

Once in a stall of a shower room I had the chance to inspect the 'gift'. The last time I had worn these was to Edea's funeral. My hands lingered on the silky vest and soft, but stiff and strong, cotton pants. Once upon a time they embodied Seifer Almasy, both in good times and in bad. Now they were a fearful reminder of the past.

"Where did you guys get these?"

"You gave them to me and Fuu for safe keeping after Matron died, remember?" Raijin responded.

I nodded solemnly. That hadn't been the best day of my life. It was the day I joined the White SeeDs as a leader, not just a trainee.

"They still fit?"

"Perfectly Rai…"

"Here," he said, tossing a piece of white silk to me, a White SeeD headband, "Tie it around your right arm. We all got them on, ya know?"

I nodded again and tied the material around my bicep, enjoying the stark contrast to my dark clothes and tanned skin.

"Good. Now you're a proper SeeD, ya know?"

He was right about that. White SeeDs, even when in hiding, wore these to remember who they were and why they were fighting. With that done I tossed my uniform into a hamper in the corner, knowing it would be washed and hung in my room, and followed Raijin back 'outside'. The girls jumped back as we opened the door, all three smirking. Nida shook his head at me in a 'how could I keep them from spying' look before inspecting me. Xu gave me a once over as well and whistled in appreciation, much to Ellone and Nida's discomfort. That was when Fujin forced the other box I had seen into my hands. I had to admit that I was scared of what I might find…

Sure enough, there it was… White cotton lined with violet silk and with a large collar and crimson crosses on the sleeves. My old trench coat did have a new addition though, something I noted when I took it out to get a better look. There were marks of my rank visible on the collar and wrists of the coat, the symbol of Hyne which I was proud of marking me as the High Commander of SeeD. I was in too much shock to put it on, so I allowed the girls to take it and then Nida to help me into it. It was a familiar weight on my body and it only took a few moments to recognize that all these years without it had been more of a hindrance than a help with my fighting skills. Ellone tossed me Hyperion and with the same movement that I caught my blade, I slashed the air a few times. After a moment I pushed past them to the grassy field. Once out of their way I really let lose with a training exercise Squall and I had created and once done daily, an exercise that our weapons master had once said looked much like a dance, a dance of death.

When I finally stopped the exercise and looked toward my companions, I saw them standing there in awe. SeeDs had gathered around as well to watch me. Judging by their looked and the position of the artificial sun in our fake sky, I estimated that I'd been doing this for several hours… And I hadn't broken a sweat.

"Whoa…" was all the rather talkative Raijin could muster.

With a smirk I leaned Hyperion on my shoulder a winked, "You shouldn't drool like that Raijin, Fuu might thing you're leaving her for me!"

"Amazing," Nida said as he walked up, easily cutting off Raijin's near rant, "If you fought like that back during the war then we would have lost, without a doubt."

THAT comment was hardly comforting.

"After that I'm afraid to see what will happen when we give him the final thing!" Ellone chuckled.

Fujin walked over and forced something cold and metal into my freehand. With a not to her I knelt down and she placed the chain around my neck. Finally I stood and looked around.

"I guess," I said, running my fingers over the engraving of my choker, "that we are ready now."

Ellone smiled, "The Seifer Almasy the world know as a rebel is completely gone now… Replaced by our own Knight… The White Knight."

I smirked at the comment, she was right. It wasn't a matter of SeeD versus SeeD anymore, not for me. Though I was still SeeD, the battle would now be Knight versus Knight, and ultimately, Knight versus Sorceress. A battle of Darkness versus Light…

"You let thosse Kurssed SseeD get away," she hissed at my comrades, "And look at what hass happened now!"

The sorceress glared at the three bowing before her and to the glass orb floating before her. Though her magic could show them, it could not tell her where they were. Rinoa believed it was because of Ellone and Seifer's innate magics, but it was in truth my own power that protected them. Where was the fun in the hunt if I knew where they were? Of course, it often got the others punished, but like I cared.

"Sskwall," she said, turning to regard me.

"Yes m'lady?" I asked as I stepped from my place beside her so she could look at me at her leisure.

"Sslay them all," she hissed out, "Take Irvine with you. He iss reliable."

"Yes m'lady," I growled. Ultimecia had taken too much of a liking to Irvine for my tastes.

I took one last look at the image of Seifer practicing our routine, fully clothed in his old clothes. He paused a moment and looked up at whatever sky he was under, as if he knew that he was being watched. My opposite touched the chocker that outwardly bore his name. Long ago I had given that to him for his birthday. He was why we were fighting. Seifer, do you know I love you? When he paused again and touched the underside of the choker, I knew he did, more so than I loved Ultimecia. The words engraved there told our fate… 'My White Knight'.