Quality Time

Quistis awoke late the morning following the party. She took her time taking a shower and getting dressed.

By the time she arrived at the cafeteria she was not surprised to see that most everyone else had already departed for missions and classes. She retrieved her normal breakfast from the line and got a table in the back of the room.

She hadn't been there long before the rest of her friends trooped in, all of them looking exhausted.

Each grabbed their food and came to join her at her table. Zell's plate was loaded down with sausage and eggs and muffins. He gave her single bagel a disgusted look and frowned at her.

"How do you survive on that tiny amount of food?"

Quistis rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Not everyone burns as much energy in one day as you do Zell. I don't have to eat as much to keep going."

He scoffed.

"It cannot be good for you."

"I'm sure I'll be fine Zell."

He looked doubtful as he returned his attention to his mountain of food.

The others at the table were trying not to fall asleep on their trays.

Rinoa had her head buried in Squall's shoulder and he was leaning on his arm, struggling to stay awake.

Selphie's head was laying flat against the table, very nearly in her plate of scrambled eggs.

Irvine was leaning back in his chair and had his hat over his eyes.

"Why did we stay up so late?" Selphie groaned, her voice muffled by the table.

"Huh, what are you talking about? The party ended at one thirty." Seifer questioned.

Irvine shot straight up in his chair and Selphie's head raised very quickly.

"Heh heh, um…she doesn't know what she's talking about. We went to bed right after the party." Irvine quickly responded.

Seifer's eyes lit up and he smirked.

"Yeah, but what happened in bed that kept you two up so late?" he questioned with a mischievous grin.

Selphie's face went bright red and she hurriedly shoveled her food into her mouth.

"Nothing that's any of your business Seifer," Irvine responded but his face was slowly turning crimson.

Seifer's grin widened and he laughed.

"Seifer leave them alone."

"Aww, I'm just having a little fun Quistis."

"Well I'm the only one who's awake enough to get the humor and I don't appreciate it."

Instead of quelling his playful spirit, her rebuke just made him want to continue his little joke.

His next targets were Squall and Rinoa.

"So why are you two lovebirds so tired this morning?" he questioned.

Squall's blue eyes narrowed and he glared at his rival turned friend. Rinoa blushed and hid her face in Squall's coat.

Quistis was quick to stop the argument that was about to start. She sent Seifer a glare as she stood up.

"Seifer would you like to come with me to Cid's office and see if there are any missions that came in?"

"Um…no not…"

The look in her blue eyes stopped whatever he was going to say and he sighed and picked up his last piece of toast as he stood up.

"Sure, why not."

The rest of the table looked at each other in confusion as the two left the cafeteria.

"What's going on with those two?" Selphie asked.

"You are impossible. I asked you to leave them alone and you just have to keep it up. Why can't you just listen to me?"

"I was just messing around Quistis. I wasn't hurting anyone or anything."

"Seifer, I don't know if you realize this but you have this ability to make people feel bad about themselves and even if you don't mean your teasing to hurt someone sometimes it can hurt. What you did to Selphie and Irvine and Rinoa and Squall was embarrassing and it probably hurt their feelings."

His head went down as he thought over what she had said.

They were stopped in the main corridor of the Garden, just outside of the cafeteria.

His head came up and he met her eyes.

"Sorry."

"It's not me you need to apologize to Seifer."

"No, Quistis I do owe you an apology. All that stuff you just said about what I did to them, I did it to you too. I'm sorry."

She stared at him for a small eternity before her face turned crimson and she ducked her head.

He stepped as close as he dared and lifted her chin with his fingers.

"And don't even think that I didn't mean it. I'm sorry for everything that I've done that hurt you."

She looked stunned and surprised at his admission.

"Wait here for me, I'll go apologize to the others."

The rest of the group was still sitting at the table blushing. Zell had missed the whole thing and was oblivious to the reason the rest of his friends were blushing in the uncomfortable silence.

Seifer ran back in the cafeteria and the rest of the group scowled at him.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to apologize for the little joke earlier. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?"

In a daze at hearing Seifer uttering those words the group just nodded and he grinned and ran back out of the room.

"Quistis is really having an effect on him," Selphie noted after a few seconds.

Upon hearing this Rinoa's brown eyes lit up and she looked at Selphie with a grin.

"Do you think…?"

"Yeah, maybe…"

The two girls jumped up and ran out of the cafeteria without another word.

"What just happened here?" Squall asked with a confused look on his face.

The other two guys just shrugged and returned to their food. The commander was quick to follow suit.

Edea was sitting in the Quad when Selphie and Rinoa bolted in. The two teens skidded to a halt in front of the older woman.

"Matron, we need your help."

"Very well children, what is it?"

"Well, we were thinking that Seifer and Quistis both seem kind of lonely and they work good together so maybe we could get them together," Selphie explained hurriedly.

Edea's beautiful face frowned in thought for a moment before a small smile graced her lips.

"Yes they would be good together. They can help each other. It's perfect."

The two teens grinned at each other and began plotting.

Cid ushered the two tall blondes into his office and they saluted and stood at attention until he had moved back behind his desk.

"Is there something I can help you two with?"

Quistis nodded and Seifer rolled his eyes.

"Yeah we were wondering if there were any new missions that had come in."

Before the headmaster could answer, his phone rang. He glanced at the caller id and cleared his throat.

"Um, if you'll excuse me I need to take this call."

The two nodded and Cid picked up the receiver.

"Yes? ... Ok… Those two? ... Are you sure? … Yeah, I'll do it."

He hung up and returned his gaze to the patient teens standing at attention in front of him. He consulted a list in front of him and glanced at the pair.

He lifted a sheet from a stack on his desk and perused it before handing it to Quistis.

"I think you two will do well on this mission."

"Um sir…we didn't mean that we wanted a mission together."

"Aww, Quisty, this will be fun. Let's do it."

So saying, Seifer snatched the paper from her hands and read it.

'SeeD is to go undercover and infiltrate the headquarters of the Galbadian military that is controlling the town of Timber. The SeeDs are to gather intelligence which will help lead to the downfall of Galbadian control in Timber.'

Seifer's formerly tanned face drained of color as he completed the letter.

"Um, Cid I'm still wanted by the Galbadians for treason."

"Um, I had forgotten that little detail. I'll make some calls and try and take care of that."

Quistis gasped and gazed at Cid.

"You didn't take care of that after the trial!?!"

"Um, it slipped my mind."

She made like she was going to lunge on the old man but Seifer grabbed her around the waist and dragged her away from him.

"Just get it taken care of before we leave, ok?" Seifer requested as he pulled the thrashing woman towards the door.

The frightened old man nodded and immediately picked up his phone.

Outside Seifer pinned the raging Quistis to the wall and tried to calm her down.

"What in Hyne's name is wrong with you?"

"This whole time Galbadia has been after you and he could have taken care of it but it 'slipped his mind.'"

"They're not stupid enough to attack Balamb Garden just to get to me. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried about the Garden, you idiot. I'm worried about you."

The last part of her statement was delivered in a whisper but he heard her anyway.

His eyes widened and he loosened his hold on her.

She looked up at him, suddenly nervous.

"Um, look, just forget I said that ok?"

He looked down at her and, seeing the desperation and confusion in her eyes, nodded.

She slipped out of his arms and walked quickly down the hall.

"Now, what did she mean by that?" Seifer wondered to himself.
Around the corner Quistis leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

Was it true?

Did it really worry her this much that Seifer still had death warrants on his head?

She should have expected it.

But no.

It had surprised her and she had slipped.

She had lost control for two minutes and revealed feelings that she hadn't admitted to herself that she had.

She was worried about him.

Damn it.

She didn't want to lose him.

AN: I know I said that they were going out to dinner in this chapter but I just started writing and this is what came out. They will go out to dinner in the next chapter.

Please Review

Next Chapter: Seifer and friends go out to dinner and Selphie and Rinoa begin their matchmaking plot.