Seifer Almasy paced restlessly as he waited for the door to Cid's office to open. He had been summoned to the headmaster's office but now couldn't get in to find out what was going on.
The call had come over the intercom, forcing Seifer to abandon his breakfast with Quistis and hurry up to find out what was going on. Now, however, he was stuck waiting.
Sighing with impatience, he dropped onto a long bench that was sitting against the wall in the lobby.
"This is so boring," he sighed to himself, leaning against the wall. Xu was sitting silently at her desk, smirking at his impatience. She had never liked the blonde SeeD and had made no secret of her disdain for the former knight during the last three months since Seifer and Quistis' return from Timber.
In the time since they had come back to the Garden, they had become inseparable; much to the annoyance of the Trepies. There had been no more kidnappings, the disgruntled youths had contained themselves to shooting death glares at Seifer's back when they were positive that there was no way they could be spotted. For the most part the Garden had been running as smoothly as it ever did, the blossoming relationship of two of its members, even members as well known as Quistis and Seifer were, didn't do much to disrupt the normal procedures of the Garden.
With a creak, the door to the headmaster's office swung open and Seifer stood at attention as General Caraway, Headmaster Cid, and another older man Seifer didn't recognize walked out. Noticing Seifer standing to the side, Cid nodded in greeting and signaled him to relax.
"Here's the man for the job," Cid said, extending his hand to indicate Seifer. General Caraway scowled but grudgingly nodded. The other man gazed at Seifer without expression for a moment before inclining his head just the tiniest amount.
Seifer didn't know exactly what he was being chosen to do but he knew that regardless, he had to prove himself worthy of the faith that had been put in him.
"Seifer has just recently returned from an undercover mission in Timber a few months ago. The mission didn't exactly go as planned but Seifer and his partner handled the situation very well. I think he would be the best candidate for a return mission," Cid continued, looking hopeful that his choice wouldn't be denied.
Seifer just stood there stoically, determined not to let any anticipation show on his face. It had been, in his opinion, too long since he had had a mission; everything had been fairly quiet since his and Quistis' last mission to Timber. He was eager for something exciting to do.
The two men that had been in Cid's office just stared at Seifer for a long moment before nodding, albeit reluctantly in Caraway's case. Cid shot a smile over to Seifer before ushering the men back into his office.
"Dismissed," Cid said over his shoulder as he closed the office door behind him. Shrugging to himself Seifer entered the elevator, eager to get back to the cafeteria with Quistis and tell her about his mission.
"What do you mean it's a solo mission?" Quistis asked, her voice rising as she stood up to loom over the seated Seifer. "I'm not going back with you?"
Seifer looked up at her, smirking a little at her reaction. "Quis, just sit down. It's not a big deal. It's just a mission. It's not like I'm a rookie or anything." He tugged a little on her hand, pulling her back into her seat beside him. "I'll be fine. You're just overreacting."
She sat down with a huff, knowing he was right but not willing to let him know it. Without looking at him, she continued to eat her breakfast as if her outburst hadn't happened. She was steadily ignoring him when the alarm on her watch beeped signaling her that she needed to get to her classroom before the students arrived. Still without speaking, she gathered up her dishes on her tray, preparing to leave the cafeteria. As she stood up Seifer grabbed her hand, causing her to drop the tray back onto the table. She opened her mouth to protest but was silenced as he kissed her quickly.
After a few moments he released her and she picked up her tray and continued on her way to class. Seifer remained standing, staring after her without speaking. As he slowly dropped back into his seat Squall and Rinoa joined him at the table.
"You've got guts Seifer," Squall stated simply, a hint of a smirk on his face.
Rinoa nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're brave. Not a lot of people can do something like that to Quistis and get away with it."
Seifer scowled. "If anyone kisses her like that but me it won't be her they have to worry about getting away from," he said seriously.
"You two are really serious aren't you?" Rinoa asked. Seifer's green eyes were completely serious as he looked at her.
"If this isn't love, I don't think I can handle the real thing," he said quietly, almost too low for the two sitting across from him to hear. Squall's eyes widened and Rinoa's jaw dropped.
"Are you sure?" Rinoa asked him, reaching compulsively across the table and taking her ex-boyfriend's hand.
"I've never felt this way before," he said, as serious as either Squall or Rinoa had ever seen him.
"Wow," Squall said, succinct as ever. Rinoa rolled her eyes and Seifer's serious face broke out in a smirk.
Seifer looked around his dorm, looking for his boots. No matter what he did they always seemed to disappear. With a sigh he leaned over to peer under the bed.
Quistis smirked as she entered Seifer's dorm and saw him with his rear sticking up in the air. The sight brought back memories of their first mission to Timber. When everything started to change.
The smirk dropped from her face as she moved up behind him. Seifer straightened up as he found the missing boots and stiffened as he felt a body suddenly leaning against his back. He relaxed as her arms slipped around his waist and he felt her head leaning against his back.
"Hey baby," he greeted her, dropping his boots on the bed so that his hands were free to grasp hers.
"Seifer, I'm worried," she said quietly, squeezing his hands. He turned in her arms, peering down into her blue eyes.
"What are you worried about?" he asked. "I'm just going back to Timber. Its nothing to worry about."
"But Seifer the last time we were in Timber you could have been killed or captured. Anything could have happened."
"Well if I remember correctly, you were the one that was captured, not me," he argued, smiling down at her.
She pulled back a little, rolling her eyes at him. "I also recall that I escaped with no help from anyone."
"Hey! I was coming to rescue you," he objected. She smirked up at him, smiling whenever he smirked back at her. "That's what I wanted to see," he murmured, his own smirk becoming a smile as he looked down at her. "So, am I forgiven?" he asked.
"Always," she sighed, leaning her head back onto his chest.
He rested his chin on the top of her head and breathed deeply. "Thank Hyne for second chances," he said as he held her tighter.
A knock on the door caused Rinoa to look up from her reading toward the door of Squall's dorm.
"Who is it?" she called, sliding her finger into the book to hold her place.
"It's Quistis," the reply came through the door. "Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"
Rinoa smiled to herself as she folded down the corner of her page, calling out, "Yeah, sure Quis. The door is open."
The door of the dorm slid open and the blonde instructor entered the room. Rinoa stood up to greet her and was surprised when the normally controlled Quistis immediately pulled the younger girl into a hug.
"Is everything okay?" Rinoa asked, squeezing her friend tightly.
"I love him," Quistis stated, her voice muffled in Rinoa's shoulder.
"Seifer?" Rinoa asked, just to clarify. Quistis nodded and Rinoa smiled behind her friend's back. "So what's the problem?"
"I'm terrified that I'm going to lose him. What if something happens to him on the mission and I'm not there? What if he dies never knowing that I love him?"
Rinoa pulled back from the hug, gently placing a finger over Quistis' mouth, silencing her friend's rambling. "Are you going to tell him before he leaves?" she asked. Quistis nodded and Rinoa smiled up at her friend. "Well then what's the problem?" the black haired girl asked. Quistis opened her mouth to tell her exactly what the problem was but Rinoa shushed her again, putting her hand over the blonde's mouth a second time.
"Quistis, don't worry about it. I mean, its fairly obvious how he feels about you. It's really nothing to be afraid of. He won't hurt you," Rinoa stated confidently.
"How can you be so sure?" Quistis asked the younger girl, her fear still reflected in her eyes.
"I've known Seifer for a long time. The whole time we were together, when I thought I loved him, he never once looked at me the way he looks at you every day."
Quistis seemed to visbly relax. Rinoa grinned widely and hugged her friend.
"How do you know Squall loves you?" Quistis asked, pulling back to look into Rinoa's face.
Before Rinoa could answer the dorm door slid open and Squall himself entered. His leather jacket was off, held over his shoulder. His hair was hanging in his face and there was a tiredness in his blue eyes.
Smiling at Quistis, Rinoa moved out of her friend's arms and into Squall's. The commander's arm slipped around the sorceress' shoulders and his eyes visibly softened as he looked down at her.
"This is how," Rinoa said simply, not looking away from Squall. Quistis smiled as she watched her friends. Rinoa reached up with her hand and brushed Squall's brown hair back away from his eyes.
Not willing to disturb them, Quistis moved quickly towards the door, exiting the dorm and making sure the door slid closed behind her. Determined now, Quistis set off quickly down the hall of the dormitory, heading towards Seifer's room where he was still packing for his mission.
Seifer groaned as he tried to force his bag closed. With a sigh, he climbed on top of the duffel and tried to use his body weight to get it to close. He was bouncing up and down on it when Quistis entered the dorm.
"Seifer Almasy! You get off that bag," she ordered, swatting him on the arm as she moved to the side of the bed. Grinning at her, he slid off the duffel bag so that he was lying down beside it. Propping his head up on his hand, he smirked as she began to pull his unfolded clothes from the luggage and fold them.
"You quit smirking. You're going to have to learn to do this sooner or later," she said, rolling her eyes at him as he stuck his tounge out at her. She quickly finished packing his bag and closed it. As she lowered it to the floor, she was surprised when Seifer's face appeared right in front of her as she was leaning over next to the bed.
"Hey Quistis," he said quietly, staring at her.
"Hey Seifer," she responded, equally quiet. She hesitated for a second before beginning to speak again. "Can I tell you something?" she asked, suddenly nervous. He nodded and reached forward with his hand to gently remove her glasses.
"Now I can see you better," he murmured, putting the glasses on the small table beside his bed. Quistis swallowed thickly as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. Seifer quickly sat up, swinging his feet over the side of the bed and pulling the craying blonde into his lap. Her head rested against his chest as he held her tightly to him. His hand that wasn't resting on her waist was gently rubbing circles on her back, trying to soothe her.
"Quis, baby, what's wrong? What did I do?" he asked, anxious that he had unwittingly done something to upset her.
She quickly pulled back to look him in the face. "No Seifer. You didn't do anything. I didn't mean to start crying. I'm sorry," she rambled, unable to stop talking. Seifer quickly shushed her using the same technique as Rinoa.
"Shhh baby, just breathe. It's okay. Just take it slow. I'm not going anywhere," he said, trying to tell her his feelings wihtout saying the words. As her sobs slowed, she took a deep breath and lifted her head up to look into his face. She swallowed her tears and smiled a tiny hint of a smile to reassure him.
"Seifer, I just wanted to tell you, before you leave," she paused and the silence seemed to Seifer to last forever. "I love you Seifer," her statement was followed by a silence more profound than the one before as Seifer seemed to have stopped breathing.
When he didn't respond, Quistis pulled back further and gently tapped her fingers against his cheek, trying to bring him back to her. After a few moments his eyes moved to meet hers and his jaw dropped open.
"Are you?" She didn't let him finish the question, kissing him instead. He kissed her back immediately and her arms would themselves around his neck.
As she broke the kiss, both of them breathing heavily, she dropped her head back onto his chest.
"I love you too," he breathed into the space between them as he held her tightly to him.
AN: Its taken me forever to get this chapter to a point where I liked the way its written - in my opinion this chapter is one of the most important emotionally for the characters and I'm not very good at expressing emotion so this whole chapter was one of the most difficult for me to write. It turned out to be one of my favorites for this story so I hope I did a good job and that it turns out to be worth the wait. I'm back at school and trying to get back into a rhythm so hopefully updates should start coming more steadily. Half a chapter exists for Fool to Think (if anyone is reading that or is interested) and the next chapter of Apt 29 B should be getting worked on tonight as soon as I post this.one.