Author's Note: Many thanks to – Daniel Wesley Rydell,Eloide, andnaysaysfire for reviewing!

Summeray: Seifer, in an effort to find as place where he won't be criticized for what he had done, leaves Garden and travels.

Rating: PG – 13

In the Moment

By: Mazzie May

Introduction Part Two

Seifer was a very independent man. He didn't ask for help. Not if he could help it. He was a leader, not a follower. He didn't need someone to show him where to go, what to say. He didn't need a map, he'd make his own. He was very good at relying on himself and coming up with his own answers. He'd had 18 years of experience with it. Very few were as good at it as he was. He didn't need anybody, but damn it! Why hadn't Instructor Trepe called yet?!

He was out of ideas. He had no idea where to try next. He knew he couldn't apply at another Garden, and he'd rather die than go back to Balamb. Timber was too boring for him and Delling, Ha! It had been silly to come here in the first place. He should've just sold the ticket, and bought a new one for some where else. But where else? He thought angrily. Where will no one bother me?

Now, as I said before, Seifer was independent. It made him strong willed. He was a rock, strong and true. A mountain, even, and no wind could move him. But I'd be damned if he didn't fell insecure when children pointed and cried when they saw him, or when mothers gathered their small ones and darted for their houses, locking the doors and windows as he passed, or when drunken men and soldiers would pick fights with him when he entered a restaurant or bar. A mountain can beat the wind, but water can erode it away.

It was very hard on him. Not that he'd ever admit it, mind you. No, Seifer Almasy is too proud for that. In fact, he has enough pride to choke a horse. Which is why he was expelled from Gardens everywhere. He refused to admit he was wrong. He became a Sorceress' Knight. To hell with ethics or consequences, he'd done something very few ever achieve, he chased a dream.

At least, that's how Edea had phrased it when she spoke in his defense. Seifer wasn't so poetic. But in the end, not even Edea Kramer's pleading would save him. They'd sent him packing and he'd gone with his trade mark smirk. He'd given himself a serious mental ass kicking several times since then, though. He should've apologized and just gone on with life. Hurray for Stubborn Bastardness.

The phone rang.

He slide off the bed reaching for it. Relieved? Who, Seifer? Never. He got back up quickly. "Hello?!" he said in a rush. Be the Instructor, be the Instructor. The whole mind-over-matter thing was wasn't his deal, but it worked for Selphie like a charm. What could it hurt?

A soft laughter could be heard on the other end. "Good to know you're so calm, Mr. Almasy." It was Instructor Trepe. He let a small sigh, before turning tough again.

"I was asleep is all" he lied. "Didn't expect someone to call." He glanced over at his nearly untouched bed. "What do you want?"

She laughed again. "Asleep? At 8:46 PM? Dear me, you must be terribly tired from all your travels, Mr. Almasy". She was teasing him, not something he was too found of. But he'd let it go. He'd learned to be cool about that kind of thing. "Anyway" she continued, amusement still in her voice. He could tell she was smiling. "I just thought I'd check in on you."

"Oh, yeah? Why?" He was still playing meanie. He'd told her specifically where she could reach him, just so she would call. It'd been awhile sense he'd talked to anyone who didn't hate him. Steve had been nice, but it wasn't the same.

"Oooh, I don't know." She was playing the game with him. On purpose, too. He was kind of embarrassed at how he was handling this, but she didn't seem to mind, and it was working so he just shrugged to himself. "I wanted to thank you for the lovely presents. Even if they tend to momentarily blind me." She spat out the last part.

He snickered. That Moomba had been a very loud orange. He hadn't been sure what was brighter – the Moomba or the sun. The cactuar he'd sent her from Timber was a radioactive, neon green concoction, and the little blue alien thing was electric blue. He bought the blue plushie because it resembled monster on a card from Triple Triade. Pupu, or something. Whatever, it was still cute. "Yeah, thought I'd keep up the tradition."

"Mm, yes, indeed. But now, I'm sure realize you'll have to send me some outrageous stuffed animal from where ever you go" she told him. He could almost hear her smile.

"Well, whatever" he sat on the bed. "So, I guess now you're gonna tell me how everyone's doing, aren't you?" She laughed on the other end. Okay, so that was a totally obvious way of asking how everyone was, without really asking. It didn't necessarily mean that he missed them, he was just curious.

"Yes! Actually I just was" she chimed in. She was still playing for him. "So, who would you like to hear about first?"

"Ugh, I don't care." he ran a hand through his hair. "I dunno… how's the Messenger Girl?"

"Well, Miss Tilmitt's hair has gotten so long! All the way to her waist! She hasn't mellowed out at all, though. Still as hyper as ever."

"She still has that stupid web site?"

"Yes"

He grimaced. "Hyne, isn't that the gayest thing you've ever seen?"

She laughed. "Now, Mr. Almasy, be nice. Moving on, I relayed your message to Mr. Dincht. I'm sure he'll take to heart." She laughed some more and he cackled. "Mr. Kinneas returned to Galbadia, his home Garden. Miss Tilmitt, managed to steal his hat, though, and where's it everyday." He snorted.

"Religiously, I bet"

"Mr. Almasy" she said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah. Who else is there? I'm tired" he stifled a yawn. Surprisingly, he was indeed tired.

"Well, Fujin and Raijin are fine. You've been keeping in contact with them, have you not?" He'd been sending them postcards, but that was about it. He couldn't have called Fujin, she wouldn't talk to him, and he could only take so many 'Ya know?'s from Raijin. "So, you know how they're doing."

There was a slight pause. Only two people were left; Squall and Rinoa. It's not that he was jealous of them, but he was a mad that in Squall finding a place to be, Seifer had lost his comfort zone. It was irritating. He could tell Instructor Trepe wasn't sure what to say, and thought that she was going to just say Good night, before she said "Miss Heartly cut her hair"

He blinked. "W-what?!" All the curiosity he'd been holding back exploded into that one word. "Yes. It's just below her chin now." He was shocked, speechless. "It looks good." She added quickly. "And she's still the same as ever. Mr. Leonheart's still Mr. Leonheartl. Full of lots of 'Whatever's and ……." She stopped talking to imitate his constant silence. It made him laugh. "Hee, well, then, if you're tired, I'll let you be, Mr. Almasy"

"No, ah…" Shoot. He just screwed that one up. He was really tired. He'd be back to his quick, mean self in the morning, he promised himself he just needed sleep.

Instructor Trepe seemed to catch on, and acted as if he hadn't said anything. "Oh, before I go, one more thing; where are you heading next?"

He leaned backwards unto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I.. don't know" he replied honestly.

"Hmmm" she made that thinking sound deep in her throat. "May I make a suggestion?"

"Yes."

"Esthar".

"Esthar?" The Great City, Esthar? Hidden by a hologram on an endless image of the Great Salt Lake? Why the hell should he go way the fuck out there?

"Yes, Esthar. Think about it; look where it's located, in the middle of no where, so no one would follow you. Its location makes it so Esthar's contact with the rest of the world is rare." She paused, gathering her thoughts and warming to the idea. "And its political stand point makes it efficient all on its own, so there's very little need for trade with any city out of its bounds. And they don't pay much attention to what's going outside their city – except for political parties and negotiators – so no one on the street would take notice to you. And even if they knew about the Sorceress, they wouldn't know her Knight – least of all what he looks like."

She paused again, but this time to take a breath. "And thanks to the weather and surroundings and isolation immigration traffic is extremely low, so the chance of someone who actually knows who you are, are slim. And the chances of you actually running into that person in a city as large as Esthar… well, those chances are just astronomical." She took a moment to breathe again, and added in her 'I'm-instructor-I-know-everything tone, "Astronomical means never" He rolled his eyes.

She continued. "You just can't run into someone like that in that big a city. No one would know about you or your past. It'd be a good place to go, and at least worth a looksie, don't you think?"

He'd listened to everything she had said and thought about it. It really seemed like a good idea. But he'd never been to Esthar, and if what she said was true, then she hadn't been there recently. What if things had changed? Well, it's at least worth a look. One more thing, though. "Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Tell them what? That I haven't seen you in sense you left and I haven't heard a peep out of you like the rest of them?" she said in a kind voice. She wasn't going to tell. That was cool.

"Alright… I guess I could at least check it out." He said.

"To Esthar!" She agreed. "Call me when you get there. It's an order. I know people there that can help get started there."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Good night, Mr. Alma -" she interrupted herself. "Oh! Do you know how you're getting there?"

He mentally slapped himself and physically rubbed his temple. Damn complications. "Uhm, walk across the old railroad, past FH, and then go through the Great Salt Lake, I guess"

"That's quite the walk, Mr. Almasy" she mummered quietly, followed by a sigh. "Believe me, I've taken that walk. And it's no stroll. Not only is it long and tiring, but it's dangerous, too". Oh no.. "I don't like the idea of going alone." No, no, no, no. "You know how important teams are, don't you?" Nonononononono!!

And here comes the infamous team work speech. Seifer hated this speech. Hated it. He leaned back on the bed and held the phone away from his ear. But even then, he couldn't escape it; his mind recited it with her, as he'd heard it so many times. He groaned and covered his face with a pillow. We are humans. Humans need people, blah, blah, blah. When we're in trouble, we group up. Communities are made up of groups of people, yadda, yadda. Teams are most efficient. Working together can bring blah, blah. A sense of satisfactory and completion and trust will be shared among you. Being able to trust means, - I don't care – and SeeD is made of trust. SeeDs work in teams and – don't care, don't care, don't care – to reach our goal! Now go out and be a team player!

"Ugh.." he grumbled under the pillow. Hate that speech. He removed the pillow when he heard her voice stop. He placed the receive back by his ear. "Are you done yet?"

He could just see her scowling at him ignoring the team work speech, but didn't scold him. "Yes, yes, I'm done. But that doesn't mean I'm not worried. Call from FH, okay?"

"Whatever".

"Goodnight, Mr. Almasy, and stay safe." She smothered a yawn; he could hear her hand slide against her phone.

" 'Night." She hung up, he hung up. He shrugged off his grey trench coat and lay back down. Esthar, huh? Well, I guess it couldn't hurt. He drifted off. Wonder who she knows there.

Author's Note: Wooo, second chapter up. But I think it'll still be another chapter or so before he actually gets to Esthar. I meant to post this sooner, but I got distracted, sorry. And eheheheh. Those darn spelling errors, sneaking in like that… I'd like to blame that on the fact that I was typing at, like, 3 am, but really, I was typing it at like, 10 pm, soo… I am a loser. Also, I promise Seifer will be more Seifer next chapter. I was just showing that when you're tired and everybody hates you, it's hard to be tough sometimes.

If it's that big a deal, I can go back and repost it. It's up to all of you.

Anyway, yeah. Comments? Suggestions? Threats? R&R

See ya next chapter!