The rest of the day crawled by for Squall. Through every second that dragged by, he almost caved in to the overwhelming temptation to personally call for Seifer, but decided to wait and see how the day would play out. He had told no-one of the previous night's events, or of his dream, because he knew that no matter who he told, it would spread. Rumours spread like wildfire in an organization as large as Balamb Garden, and Squall needed no questions of his mentality to be asked, even when he would go as far as to question it's state. Nevertheless, he couldn't help feeling paranoid, as though this was some big joke everyone was playing some part of, except, of course, him, however, Seifer did not seem to be the type of person who would go to such lengths as quietly challenging Squall to a duel just for kicks.

As the rest of the day passed, Squall try to figure out what it would e that Seifer would most likely want from him, other than enticing him into a fight. His gunblade would aimlessly adorn his office wall no longer, and he vowed that he would make good use of it's strength. Squall took it lovingly out of it's case, and looked at his weapon, feeling a gleam of pride in his normally sullen heart. He carefully dismantled and polished the internal workings with devotion that would rarely be seen of him, as he checked that all parts would work perfectly. After he reassembled it, he quickly put it back where it had been, as he heard someone at the door. It was Zell

"Hey Squall! How've you been?" Zell had been away on a mission, had returned the previous day, but was as ever to report in to his captain.

"I've been fine, Zell, I see you still haven't handed your report in..." he left the sentence open, to make as large a hint as possible.

"Report? Well, it went fine, how's that? Listen, they've got hot dogs down in the canteen, and I was wondering if-"

"As much as I'd love to gorge myself on junk good with you Zell, some of us have much more pressing work to do." Squall's mood must have been obvious, as he was usually withdrawn, not aggressive. 'Stay calm, Squall, stay calm,' he told himself.

"Are you sure everything's okay?"A serious question from Zell? Perish the thought.

"Yes, sorry, I've... got a lot of work on my mind at the moment, so... maybe another time?"

"Don't worry about it, See ya!"

'You just have to love him' Squall told himself. With anyone else, his frustration would have been obvious, well anyone but Selphie, but Zell seemed to know when to leave him to his thoughts.

As soon as he had finished his work, Squall left the Garden, and walked to where he and Seifer had fought that time. He sat on a nearby rock, and remembered the night, so long ago. It was close on midnight, and Squall had foolishly challenged Seifer to a duel, and had to live with the results for the rest of his life, in the form of the disfiguring scar across his face. He remembered the cold steel of his enemy's blade across his face, and then the immense heat as his head felt like it was gushing out through his face. He tried to stop his train of thought, and put it all behind him, and returned home, his mind lingering on that battle, all so long ago.

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A/N: I know, I know, a month is far too long to wait for an update, and that this really is too short to add much to the story, so for that, I apologise. Over ½ term (valentines day week), I went on holiday to America, and managed to get this chapter done, and am currently partway through chapter 3. I've had tons of coursework and stuff in my life recently, so that's why I haven't done as much as I would have liked, but I'm sure that m next update will be in less than a month and a bit. Btw, does anyone know if there's a specific name for the place where Squall and Seifer fought, or exactly how it happened? Because I have no idea.