Deep Thoughts
It was several days after the written exam and Seifer was awakened by a knock on the door of his dorm.
Grumbling at having been woken earlier than his norm he walked to the door in his boxers prepared to give the person on the other side a beating for waking him.
He was surprised to see Quistis standing there holding a file folder.
"What do you want at this time of the morning?" he groaned.
She smirked at him and handed him the folder.
"There was a mission request called in this morning," she replied simply.
His green eyes widened as he realized the implications of her statement.
"So…I…I'm taking my exam today?"
She grinned openly at his confusion and nodded.
"Get dressed and meet me in the cafeteria so we can go over the briefing before we have to leave."
His dumbfounded expression faded and he nodded.
As his door began to slide closed she called through the opening, "Nice pajamas Seifer."
Seifer entered the cafeteria dressed in his SeeD cadet uniform. He looked around him for Quistis but he didn't see her. He shrugged and walked towards the food line.
As he took the tray from the attendant he heard a voice behind him say, "That uniform looks good on you."
He turned and looked into the smiling face of Quistis Trepe.
He smirked and gave a short laugh.
"Everything looks good on me Trepe. You should know that by now."
She rolled her eyes and commented, "Same old Seifer. You'll never change."
"Would you want me too?" he grinned.
"It would certainly make my life easier," she returned quickly.
The two grinned at each other as Quistis took her tray and they moved to the tables. They sat down together and he pulled the mission briefing from his uniform jacket pocket.
She spread the information out on the table and began to explain the mission objectives and requirements.
The mission was a small one, requiring only two SeeDs. It had been decided that Seifer would go with Quistis. She was in command but he could offer an opinion if directed. That way he would still have to take orders from someone but he was free to help decide their course of action. Cid had decided that it might not be wise to make Seifer the squad captain again after the disastrous results of his last attempt.
Quistis and Seifer were to leave the mobile Garden by boat and go to Esthar to be given further directions by the Estharian president Laguna Loire. From the information given to them in the briefing there had been an uprising of cyborg soldiers that the Estharian technicians had been unable to stop. SeeD was being called in to stop the rouge robots and to determine, if possible, who or what was making them malfunction.
After they had eaten and equipped their magic and GFs they got Squall to dock the Garden so that they could take a boat from the SeeD garage at the town of Balamb.
As they were boarding the boat Squall stopped them.
"Be very careful. Both of you."
"Aww, Squally cares. That's so sweet," Seifer said with a grin.
Squall rolled his eyes and Quistis spoke up.
"We'll be fine Squall."
He nodded and saluted his friends.
They both saluted back and he turned and left the dock to return to Garden.
As soon as he was gone Quistis turned to Seifer and, blue eyes flashing, she stomped past him onto the boat.
With a groan he turned after her and followed her to the bottom deck of the boat.
She was setting the autopilot for the coast of Esthar and while she was distracted he moved up behind her and asked, "What did I do this time?"
"Why do you always have to push his buttons?!"
"What? You mean Squall? Quistis you should know better than anyone that pushing each others buttons is what Squall and I do best."
"I know that but Squall is really trying to be more open with his feelings and actually talk to us about things and when you get in his face about his feelings he shrinks back inside himself and it makes it that much harder to get him to open up again."
He looked thoughtful for a second and then reluctantly nodded.
"I guess I'll back off."
Quistis looked surprised at his acquiescence to her request.
"Just let me ask you one thing," he requested.
She nodded and he continued, "Why do you want me to back off, is it because you like him or do you really want to see him become a more open person. Because you have to know that the more he opens himself the more of his heart he will give to Rinoa. If you want him for yourself then you're only hurting that goal if you make me stop pushing him."
She looked deep into Seifer's eyes as she thought about her response. She was surprised into his insight into her mind and seriously considered his question.
She finally sighed and swallowed as she prepared to answer. The silence in the cabin of the boat was only broken by the hum of the engines and the sound of the waves they rode through on their voyage.
"I genuinely care about Squall and I want him to be happy. I do love him but just as a brother. He is my brother, my leader, and one of my best friends. I know that Rinoa and him belong together and that for their relationship to work he needs to be totally honest with her. That will be a hard thing for him to learn to do but I know that she will help him and I know that I want to help them learn to be together."
He appeared satisfied with her answer and turned to go up onto the top deck of the boat.
His mind and heart filled with relief at her answer; so much relief that he was surprised at the amount of weight his heart had attached to her reply.
"How do you feel that your rival is in love with your ex-girlfriend?"
Her voice stopped his progress to the upper deck and he slowly turned to look her in the eyes.
Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had a serious look on her face.
"Umm…"
He stumbled for a reply.
He gathered his thoughts for a moment and began to speak.
"Squall has always gotten everything I have ever wanted. He became SeeD before me. He always got the attention that I craved. I think it is only just that he has Rinoa too. Besides, what me and Rinoa had would never have lasted past that summer. She was destined for him. Anyway, now that they are together I think I can finally get something that he always had but never wanted."
With that he turned and went up onto the deck.
"Now what did he mean by that?" Quistis wondered aloud.
The SeeD boat landed at the dock on the coast of Esthar that afternoon. The two teens eagerly disembarked. They were both tired of being cramped on the small boat all day.
They had landed as close to the city as they could and were going to walk to the city and meet with President Loire when they arrived.
The walk through the desert was uneventful except for a few run ins with some Mesmerizes.
Soon after they left the boat they found the entrance into town and they were met by a car sent by Laguna. They both climbed in and the car zoomed off towards the Presidential Palace.
When they arrived at the huge house they were met by the exuberant president himself. As soon as they got out of the car they were engulfed in hugs from the excitable old man. Kiros and Ward were there to help them extract themselves from the president's grasp.
Once they got him calmed down the group retired into the meeting room of the massive mansion.
"Well first of all, welcome to Esthar again Quistis and Seifer. Um, we called SeeD about some rampaging cyborg soldiers."
"Yes, sir," replied the two SeeD representatives.
"The cyborgs have been attacking the city during the day and then at night they retreat into the desert," Kiros told them.
"Can you tell us anything else?" Quistis questioned.
Laguna and his friends thought and Kiros and Laguna shook their heads.
Ward took a piece of paper from the desk and began writing. When he had finished he handed it to Quistis.
'The cyborgs have been leaving the city at 9:47 each night.'
She showed the note to Seifer and he nodded as he read.
The two SeeDs thanked Laguna and Kiros and Ward for their help and prepared to leave.
As they exited the palace Quistis faced Seifer and asked' "This is it. Are you ready?"
He nodded.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time. I won't screw up again."
AN: Please Review.
Next Chapter: Seifer and Quistis defend Esthar from the cyborgs and try to uncover the mystery surrounding them.