RETURN TO INNOCENCE
Author: Yumari

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CHAPTER 2
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"Matron?"

Edea looked up from where she sat brushing her hair. There, by the doorway stood Seifer, his small form huddled against the doorframe. "Seifer, why are you still up?" she asked, a worried frown marring her serene features. She put down the brush on her dresser, walked towards Seifer and took his hand, leading him in and out of the darkness of the small hallway.

Seifer walked in quietly behind her and remained standing when she sat on her bed. "Tell me what's bothering you." There was no need to ask if anything was wrong, Edea knew her little boy very well and a mere glance at his green eyes gave it all away.

Seifer bit his lower lip, his eyes downcast as he thought of how he would construct his question. There was a few seconds of silence, then: "It - it's not the woman's fault if - if she was a sorceress, right, Matron?" Seifer exclaimed, stuttering as the words came out in a rush.

Edea could see the sadness pooling in the green eyes that met hers when he looked up. "Oh, my dear boy!" Wrapping her arms around him, she smiled softly, a soft laugh slipping from her lips. "Is that what you're worried about?" Had it been another kid in the Orphanage, Seifer would have either stalked out of the room or punched the poor kid square in the face for laughing at him, but this was Matron. Her soft, magical-sounding laughter always soothed him. It made him feel everything's alright. And that he could always get away with anything.

That was often the case, anyway.

Seifer nodded silently, his eyes fixated on the newly waxed parquet of Matron and Mr. Cid's room.

Edea hugged him tighter, planting a kiss on the top of his head. "No, dear. It's not her fault. It is Fate's will. It is no one's fault." Inwardly, she sighed. She should have known better than to tell them a story about sorceresses. But Selphie had been persistent and everyone else seemed eager to hear it. They would never quit asking her if she didn't. But now it looked like it didn't matter if she told them or not; she still wouldn't hear the end of it anyway.

"Then why did they have to seal her?" Seifer's green eyes met her amber ones.

"My dear Seifer," Edea started, pushing the boy back a bit so she could cup his face in her hands, "there's too much you do not understand about the world yet."

Seifer frowned, puffing his chest out indignantly. "C'mon Matron! I'm not stooopid like Chicken!"

Edea raised a perfect eyebrow at that. "Seifer, what did I tell you about calling Zell names?"

The blond boy pouted even more.

Sighing, she released his face and folded her hands on her lap. Her eyes, however, didn't stray from his. "Seifer, the girl was given powers that was too great for her. She could not control it. It's just like when you grab a fistful of sand, no matter how hard you try to hold on to it, the grains just keep slipping from your little fingers."

"But why didn't anyone help her?"

"They..." A sad smile made its way to the woman's face. "They were afraid of her."

"But Matron!" Seifer exclaimed, his voice incredulous. "She's just a girl, isn't she? Why would they be scared of her?"

And here, Edea thought Quistis was the inquisitive one.

"Seifer, I think this is enough story-telling for tonight."

"But Matron!"

"Seifer." Softly-spoken, yet by all means commanding. No one ever dared to contest with Matron when her voice wore that tone. Not even Cid.

Seifer's shoulders visibly sunk. Mumbling his "goodnight", he trudged out of the room with the "why?" still swimming in his head.

Why did he care so much, anyway?

When Seifer awoke, stars had already littered the sky. Cursing, he propped himself up on the sand, dusted his sleeves and picked up his pack. No wonder he was starving; night had already fallen on Cetra and not even a single cracker touched his lips ever since he arrived. And that was how many hours ago? Six? "Great, just great," he muttered as he got to his knees and pushed himself up, the pack slung over his right shoulder. While the starlit sky was quite a sight to behold, the air had gotten really cold and he had no intention to catch any sort of cold, especially not when the old orphanage was just a few flight of stairs away. If he has somewhere to go for shelter, then why should he expose himself to the wild?

There goes that Hyne-damned question again…

Why?

- Tsuzuku -

Author's Note: Ah, yes! I finally got to update this thing! XD To everyone who reviewed the last chapter and are waiting for my next update, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm so sorry I made you wait so long! Actually, this chapter's been sitting around my comp for several, uh, months already, and was just waiting to be uploaded. Thing is, I couldn't decide whether I should post it already even if it's that short or wait a while to see if there's anything else I could add to it. Turns out that I won't be adding anything after all. Ugh. Anyway, like I said, it's really quite short. And there wasn't much going on except for that dream but believe me, it's an essential part of the story. Or at least I think so for the time being. XD But 'nuff of that… What do you think of it?

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and all characters and names/places/terms associated with it are rightful properties of Square Enix. However, Return to Innocence - the story and everything else, unless specified, are mine. I do not gain anything from this except personal happiness, thank you very much.