Graduation…?
Seifer paced anxiously as he waited for the announcements of the SeeD cadets who had passed.
His friends stood up the hall a ways, not wanting to get in his way. He had been moody and stressed all day and seemed to be relapsing into his former persona.
That morning all his friends had come by to wish him luck and he had been snappy and angry. He had been trying to pick fights with Squall and had been antagonistic and rude all day.
Since his friends had begun to give him a wide berth he had been thinking a lot about his decision to join SeeD. He had begun his quest for redemption hoping to prove that he could be better than what everyone thought of him. He was better than a defeated lapdog. He could be the knight that he had always boasted that he would become.
He had to be.
He had nothing left outside of that dream.
He knew that he was an excellent swordsman, on par with the SeeD commander himself. However, he was unsure if he could devote himself to the mercenary organization as strongly as Squall had.
He was unsure if he wanted to.
Squall had everything. He had gotten the girl. He had the large group of friends. He was the hero of the world.
What was there left for Seifer?
Seifer was the loner. The outsider at Garden. The villain to Squall's hero.
The mere thought, however, of surrendering to his rival made his blood boil.
His eyes flashed.
No.
He would not take second place to Squall.
He would work harder. Be better.
He would make a home here and become the commander's equal or better.
Nothing else was acceptable to Seifer's pride.
Just then the very SeeD Seifer had just determined to beat walked around the corner into the second floor hallway.
"Almasy, come with me."
Seifer nodded and followed his leader to the elevator.
The elevator slid to a smooth stop at the third floor. As the two young men stepped out of the car they were greeted by Cid who was flanked by Edea and Xu. Quistis stood several feet behind them.
Squall walked toward Cid and the old man handed the commander something that Seifer couldn't see.
Seifer was getting nervous as he stood facing the entourage before him. Instead of showing his weakness in front of his superiors he hid his fear behind a mask of arrogant anger.
He was surprised when the Garden commander turned to face him, a rolled document in his hands.
"Seifer Almasy, I am pleased to present you with this diploma declaring your graduation from cadet status to active SeeD duty," Squall said seriously.
Seifer's shoulders slumped quickly in relief and he saluted Squall proudly.
The headmaster came to Seifer next and whispered, "You are only the second gunblader to graduate in 10 years. Make us proud."
After Squall and Cid stepped back Seifer unrolled the document that he had been handed.
'Seifer Almasy has successfully completed classes at Balamb Garden and has passed his field exam with a score of: 8.'
He could not help the cocky grin that appeared on his face.
He smelled raspberries and his head came up to look into the blue eyes of Quistis Trepe.
"Congratulations Seifer," was all she said.
"Instructor," he responded with a nod.
She sighed and turned to walk away.
He moved behind her and stopped her with a hand to the shoulder.
"Would you come to a congratulations dinner with me?"
Her eyebrow raised a fraction and her head cocked a little to the side.
"I meant along with everyone else."
Her face cleared and he thought he might have seen a tiny hint of disappointment lingering in her eyes.
But, fast as blinking her face was back to the impassive face that he was so used to seeing on her.
She nodded and he released her shoulder.
"What crawled up her ass and died?" he questioned to himself as she walked away.
The group was in the cafeteria waiting for any word from the cranky ex-knight or from his rival commander.
Squall walked in and headed over to the table.
He just nodded and the worried faces of his friends melted into relief.
"So…where is he now?" spoke up Rinoa.
Squall just shrugged and went to get his lunch.
Rinoa huffed momentarily about her boyfriend's lack of vocal response and thought for a moment.
"Training Center," she proclaimed.
Seifer's Hyperion whirled through the air. The strike connected with the meaty calf of the T- Rexaur which was Seifer's opponent for the moment.
Seifer quickly followed his slash up with a quick Fira spell which caused the dinosaur to rear back in surprise and pain.
His blade was quickly slashing and striking at the T-Rex's softer underbelly.
After the monster had regained its balance he went back to striking its leg.
With a roar the leg gave out and the victorious warrior quickly put the beast out of its misery.
The applause when he completed the fight was as unexpected as the one who was giving it.
Quistis stood leaning against a tree, watching him.
"Bravo."
He gallantly bowed and smirked.
"How about a fight against a human opponent?"
He considered.
"You couldn't handle me," he declared.
She scoffed at his arrogance and unfurled her whip.
Save-the-Queen's sharp barbs gleamed in the light as it snapped and curled in the air.
A quick snap of its mistress' wrist had it curling towards her hand where she plucked it from the air with ease.
Seifer eyed her for a moment before shrugging out of his SeeD uniform jacket. He placed it carefully to the side and readied his stance before nodding to her.
Before either could comprehend what was happening, they were charging. His blade rose to meet the tip of her striking whip.
The sword managed to get the whip away from him but before he could start to mount an offensive she had pulled the whip back into her grip and was preparing another strike.
He noticed just in time and managed to take a step closer to her and force the whip to strike too far out.
He quickly moved his blade into range for a slash at her.
She was lithe and quick however, and was able to slide out of the way.
The next time she struck at him he took two strides toward her and was even closer to contact with his slashing blade.
Their dance continued.
Whip.
Step into range.
Slash.
Dodge.
Start over.
Sweat was pouring down both of their faces as they circled, still striking and stepping and slashing.
Finally, tired of the endless duel, Seifer, as he dodged her strike at his legs, ran at her.
This caught Quistis off guard and she stumbled backwards.
He got close enough that she couldn't strike at him and he slid his sword to her throat.
She reluctantly dropped her whip and glared daggers at him.
He contemplated her as he held his blade steadily at her neck.
"I think I understand something about you now, Trepe."
Her eyes squinted but she said nothing.
"The closer people get to you," he said, stepping closer but not lowering his sword, "the more you start to slip up."
He moved even closer.
"That's why you're the Ice Queen all the time, you're afraid if you let someone into your heart- if you let your guard down enough to let them in then they will destroy you as soon as they possibly can."
So saying he stepped as close as possible while lowering Hyperion to his side.
"Is it really so bad to trust people not to hurt you?"
"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" she returned acidly.
She really hated the insight into her that he possessed.
It frightened her that he could read her that easily.
Before either could say another word Rinoa, Selphie, Irvine and Zell walked around the bridge behind them.
Seifer stepped away from Quistis and collected his jacket.
"Hey guys!" Selphie shouted in greeting.
"Hi Selph," Quistis replied, straightening her hair.
Seifer just nodded.
He gathered his thoughts for a moment and spoke up.
"Tonight is the SeeD party but tomorrow night could we all go to dinner together?" he asked quickly.
The party nodded and he quickly took his leave of the room.
"I'll never understand him," Rinoa said.
Quistis couldn't help but agree.
AN: Thank you Shortey for reviewing. I'm glad you like it. I tried to add more insight into this chapter.
Please review!
Next Chapter: Seifer's graduation party