Chapter 9 is completed! Let the sparks fly as Seifer and Rinoa are confronted with each other in the place they least expected. Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think! Another thing I wanted to say is that on Jan. 16th, I am going back to college, which means that the updates will become less regular, although believe me, I will be working as hard as possible to bring you new chapters. Be patient and keep checking back! I might be able to write another chapter before Wednesday, so keep your fingers crossed. Thanks for your support!

Oh, when you guys have a second. go read Dalpal's story called "One More Day." It rocks. Probably one of the most touching Quifers I've ever read!

Chapter 9

"Well, well," said Seifer with a slightly bemused look on his face. His lips twisted into a smirk, baring his white teeth. "So… we meet again. Tell me, Rinoa, are you the one these people call leader?"

"That's right," she tried to say but no sound escaped her lips as she mouthed the words. She allowed her hand to rest against the wall as if trying to steady herself. Seifer shot the two men Rinoa referred to as Zone and Watts a quizzical look.

"So, shall we get down to business?" he said casually and then turned back to Rinoa. "If I heard correctly, our long awaited leader has arrived. " Watts slowly got up to his feet, rubbing the blue bandana that was wrapped tightly around his head.

"Ugh… I see you've met Rinoa, Mr. Almasy," he stammered. He looked pleadingly at Rinoa, as if to prompt her to speak. Seifer smiled.

"Pure coincidence," he said. "It was my pleasure to escort Rinoa to her father's birthday party." At that remark, loud murmur erupted from the table. Zone stood up, clutching his stomach as if the utterance gave him a severe case of indigestion.

"You mean you infiltrated Caraway's estate?" he asked incredulously.

Rinoa, who had kept surprisingly quiet up until that moment, finally chimed in.

"Would someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?" she clamored. After a protracted moment of silence Watts began to speak, although rather timidly.

"Well, Mr. Almasy.."

"Seifer"

"Seifer… is a cadet from Balamb Garden. Since, Zone and I had no luck recruitin' anyone in Timber who was willin' to help, we took a train to Balamb. We ran into Seifer at a local bar. He was wearin' his Garden uniform at the time…" At those words Seifer slightly cringed but remained silent.

"So anyways, we overheard that Mr. Almas… Seifer was looking for a summer job. So, not wanting to reveal our identities in case he disagreed, we sent Art to go talk to him and see if we could arrange a meeting. Seifer agreed, and Art told him to go to Deling City Inn and await further instruction." He stopped and looked at the hushed faces of his companions. Zone, momentrarily breaking his hand away from his stomach, broke the silence.

"So, what WERE you doing at Caraway's house when you were told to stay put until we contacted you?"

"Sightseeing," Seifer responded smirking.

"Sightseeing, huh… Did it ever occur to you that Caraway will remember you now?"

"Relax. I have it covered. Caraway thinks I am here on business as a bodyguard for a daughter of an important client." At those words, a pained expression flickered before Rinoa's eyes.

"So those two people, you were with," she said in low voice, "who are they?"

Before Seifer could respond, Zone cut it again.

"You brought your friends here? After Art specifically told you to come alone?" He lightly slapped his forehead with his hand in exasperation.

"Call them my insurance," Seifer responded calmly. They were really beginning to annoy him, almost to the point of wishing he had never agreed to meet with them. It was the sheer thought of Rinoa that held him in place.

"Now, can someone please tell Miss Leader over there to get down to business. I don't have all day."

Rinoa, who looked like she was lost in her own thoughts for a minute, shot him a nasty look.
"You will address me, when speaking, Mr. Almasy, unless you've decided that you no longer want this job." She looked like a panther ready to strike, her long black hair almost raising on ends.

"Yes, m'am. I am eagerly awaiting for you to tell me what my job entails." Rinoa looked helplessly at Zone and Watts. She had just as much information about Seifer's new job as Seifer himself. Ugh! How embarassing! Seifer grinned, satisfied. Watts, clearly wanting to release some of the tension began speaking.

"For some time, we have been aware that General Caraway is planning a massive attack against the major anti-president groups, here in Deling. Me and Zone almost got arrested yesterday by Caraway's guards as we held a preliminary meeting at the Galbadia Café. Fortunately, our training has paid off well, and we were able to resist the attackers single-handed. " Rinoa raised her brow and exchanged knowing looks with Seifer.

"However," he continued, "We must put an end to the threat that Caraway poses to us once and for all. I have intel from my sources that Deling gave Caraway an ultimatum. If he fails to produce live or dead proof of his efforts to stop the resistance, he will be relieved of command. Our goal is to make sure that happens. For the lack of a better replacement candidate, Deling is sure to put up General Bhatt who is a half-senile fool who relives his old days of glory back during the First Sorceress War. We believe that Deling has met with Lt. Khan and will order a strike on the Crimson Rose, the largest resistance group in Deling to whom we have many ties. The strike will take place almost two weeks from now, on June 21 at the Deling Docks where the Crimson Rose is meeting a weapons supply ship from Timber. Our immediate goal is to make sure that the attack fails and to do that, we need a person on the inside who will spy on Caraway and let us know the exact details of what those bastards have in store. This is where Seifer comes in." He stopped talking and looked at Seifer who by all indications only seemed to be half- listening to what Watts had to say. Then lazily running his fingers through his golden hair, Seifer faced Watts and said, "For your information, the attack is planned for June 18 because the Crimson Rose is expecting the attack and have already made alternate arrangements." Watts looked at him with surprise; Zone scowled in the corner of the table. Then Rinoa shed light on the situation.

"When I… when I saw you in the hallway leading to my father's conference room… at the party… you were eavesdropping on them, weren't you?"

Seifer looked into her eyes and clapped his hands, clearly amused at the expression of shock on everyone's face.

"Do you know this for sure, Mr. Almasy?" rang another voice from the table. Seifer flashed him a frustrated look, but nevertheless shook his head in assent. After nervously playing with his bandana again, Watts spoke up.

"If Seifer is correct, that means that we have even less time than we had originally expected. We need to get him on the inside as soon as possible," he said addressing his companions at the table and Rinoa. "However, now, we must figure out a way to do so, considering Seifer already met the General… and that might be a little difficult… yet it's impossible to look for a replacement so late in the game. We must proceed regardless…" His face looked downcast, as he glanced over at Rinoa who seemed to be lost in thought again. The suddenly her eyes lit up and she nearly jumped out of her chair.

"Hey, guys," she said with noticeable excitement in her voice, "I think I have a plan." Seifer's eyes observed her with interest as he waited for her to continue.

"Since Seifer already revealed his identity to my father, we must use that to our advantage. He said he was in the bodyguard business. Well, suppose that we could get my father to hire Seifer as his bodyguard!" She looked around the room, only to see disapproving eyes yet undaunted she continued.

"Please hear me out before you say anything. Seifer can come visit me at the estate to supposedly let me know that he is done with his body-guarding job for his client and will be departing for Balamb. My father will overhear this conversation. At that moment, some of our men can stage a mock attack on my father, first disabling his bodyguard who he has hired just recently. Then Seifer will save him while risking his life, thus influencing my father to hire him as his replacement."

Every single person in the room clapped as she finished her speech, including Seifer who gave her an impressed look. Watts waited for everyone to quiet down and then began speaking.

"This plan might be just what we are looking for. We will need some sort of a distraction to divert the attention of Caraway's guards while our men infiltrate the house. Then I suppose Seifer can use a stunning spell on them. They'll be put in Caraway's private jail of course, but that's not a problem," he added reaching into his pocket and extracting a set of keys. "Any volunteers?" The room suddenly got quiet. "Oh, come on people, we have an outsider risking his life for us, don't tell me none of you are brave enough for this!" After getting a few volunteers, a plan finally seemed to be in the works. Rinoa's glanced nervously at her watch.

"Hey, guys, can you finish up without me? I need to get back, before my father gets home."

"Well, it looks like we are all done for now anyways," responded Watts. "I am sure Seifer also has things to do. So if that's ok with you, Rinoa, I think we'll call it a day. We can meet again tomorrow to finalize."

"Ugh, there is no way I can leave tomorrow unnoticed." She looked concerned.

"That's why I am here, angel." Seifer grinned at her. "Mind if I pay you a visit tomorrow?"

"Uh.. not at all." She didn't meet his eyes.

"Well, if that's everything, I guess I will see you guys soon enough," Watts chimed in again. "I am gonna stay here a bit longer to work out a few details with the guys."

Seifer and Rinoa nodded and walked out the conference room. As soon as they stepped outside, a wave of fury erupted from Rinoa.

"You lying asshole!" she bellowed, not caring who could hear her. Seifer gave her a surprised look, stopping dead in his tracks.

"You set this whole thing up, didn't you! How could you, Seifer?!" She was indignant.

"You made me look like a complete fool in there! Am I your toy? Did you enjoy toying with my feelings, huh? Answer me when I am talking to you! How long did it take you to find me at the mall with your stupid friends just so you can get yourself invited to my father's party and show off in front of everyone today!"

Then, unexpectedly she slapped him hard across the face, making his cheek sting like a thousand needles poking it simultaneously. Seifer staggered, looking aghast. Rinoa sank to the ground sobbing, burying her face between her hands. Nearly a minute passed before Seifer sat on the ground beside her. He gently put his arms on her shoulder, causing her to shrink back.

"Go away, Seifer… just go," she stammered in a hoarse whisper. She had pulled her hands away from her eyes to look at him. Her large brown eyes had streaks of red around them, her lips were slightly puffy from crying. Then in one swift motion Seifer leaned over, putting his hands firmly on the back of her neck, and kissed her firmly on the lips. She recoiled and put her hand up for another slap, but before she could accomplish her goal, she felt her back hit the pavement, although not painfully. Seifer held back her arms above her head and lowered his face to give her another kiss. At first she resisted, fighting to pull her lips away from his, spitting like and hissing like and angry cat, then gave into the kiss, gave in to him, allowing him to explore her mouth. Any resolve to fight slowly left her, as she felt pleasantly crushed beneath his warm body. She was dimly aware that she was lying on the cold sidewalk with Zone and Watts probably snickering in the window, undoubtedly attracted by the sounds of them fighting, but at the moment she hardly cared.

"Hey, angel," Seifer whispered looking directly into her eyes. "I'm sorry."