Disclaimer: Squaresoft owns the character, I own the plot. (kinda)

Warning: Adult Language, not recommended for all audiences.

Zell was in bed. His bed, he realized, once he opened his eyes. He remembered opening the door and his Ma was there. And…Squall? Yes, Squall…he was in the room now too. Sitting in a chair looking at him. Zell tried to speak, and managed to croak out "Wha-?"

"You passed out. Seifer and I carried you upstairs. Zell…how did you get here? What happened at the Garden?"

"…Fell." Zell's mind was spinning. They didn't know what he had really been doing. The letters must have blown away. Thank Hyne. He didn't know what he would do if they knew. If they pitied him. He couldn't handle it if they pitied him.

"As soon as your feeling more up to it, we're going to the Garden. They don't know your alright yet. Selphie has been crying for days."

"Seifer?" Zell wondered why his mind went to Seifer right away. Because he had seen him fall, he told himself. Probably blamed himself for startling him. Great. More guilt to bear.

"Seifer…he's downstairs, helping your mother. The shock didn't really do her good. She's still trying to understand what is going on. To be honest, we all are. How did you fall Zell, its not like you."

To give him the honest answer, or a half-honest one…half honest was safer. "…Drunk." That got him a look of reproach. Well, good. Its about time they realized he wasn't some innocent little kid anymore. If it was Irvine drunk, they shrug it off. But not little Zelly- No. Got to stop thinking that kind of thing. Bad thoughts. Bad.

'Yes. They are.' Ah, Shiva was awake.

'Going to lecture me more and then describe how you will hurt me if I screw up again?'

Mental smirk 'Not quite, "Zelly."' After that, Zell just cut off mental contact. He didn't need to hear that again. He knew he had messed up, why couldn't they just leave him alone. He just wanted to be alo-. Zell paused, and thought about what happened last time he was alone. Alone was bad. Then he realized Squall was waiting for an answer to something.

"What?"

An exasperated look. "I said, I'm going back to the Garden now. Do you want to come with me, get more sleep, or have me send Seifer up to talk?"

Options. Options were good. Which one though… "You go, I'll stay. Go with Seifer later." Squall just nodded and left without another word. Typical. Zell wondered when he got so cynical.

"Umm, Seifer, why are we walking on the beach, when the Garden is north?" Zell turned to face Seifer, and was in time to get a punch in the stomach, doubling him over and leaving him gasping for air.

Doubled over, Zell managed to gasp out "What…fuck…Seifer?" No answer, just something white and rectangular landing by his face. Once the stars faded, Zell let out a groan, both physical and mental. A white envelope. With the word "Seifer" written on it. In his writing. Seifer knew. Seifer knew. He was screwed. Seifer would tell. They would lock him up until he was "better". They would pity him. The pity. So Zell did the only thing he could think of, and thought with his fist. As he sprung from the sand and send a punch into Seifer's midriff, he wondered what this would accomplish, but pushed it to the back of his mind.

The two traded blows. Not a one hit on the face or exposed skin. They didn't want to leave marks. They both knew they couldn't. What Zell didn't know, was why Seifer was fighting. Zell knew that he was fighting because it was the only thing he could do well, and it just helped to let the stress flow through his fists, but what was driving Seifer. What?

After a hit to his chest sent him sprawling, Zell decided to just stay down, and closed his eyes. He could hear the ocean, and himself and Seifer panting. Then he heard Seifer drop down next to him in the sand.

"What the fuck indeed Zell. What. The. F-" Seifer began.

"I wasn't going to" Zell murmured, cutting the taller blond off. "Right when you opened the door…I was going to get down. But…I heard a voice, I thought it was Matron, and I turned and…"

The two were silent. There was nothing more to say. Not for the next half hour, as they watched the sun slowly sink below the waves.

"Will you tell?"

"No. I didn't tell them, and I won't. They don't deserve that much caring." Seifer's tone was bitter.

"Thanks…why do you care?"

"Because, Squall never forgot my birthday. And we aren't friends. You two are." Silence.

"Why me?"

"Why you what?"

"Why me to give your ma her letter."

Zell's eyes widened at that. "You didn't. You wouldn't. Did you? Would you" Desperation just oozed from Zell.

"I was about to, when you crashed in. But answer the question."

"Because."

"Because why?"

…Why indeed? "Because we're friends."

They didn't say anymore. Later, they got up, and walked home to the Garden in silence. They didn't need to say anything more, because it had all be said."

Lunchtime in the Cafeteria. Two weeks after Zell's return


"Is to."

"Is not"

"Is to"

"Isn't"

"Is no- awrgh! Stop messing me up Seifer. A Gunblade is just a phallic symbol and you and Squall both know it!"

"If it's a phallic symbol, whats your little Cowboy's rifle then?"

"A weapon"

"Selphie" Sweetly.

"What?" Suspicious

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

Selphie growled and Zell laughed. Selphie and Seifer had this argument, or, well, any argument, almost every day. They both enjoyed it, and it always ended with one or the other ignoring the other one.

A SeeD cadet was walking up to their table, obviously in awe, or very seriously ill, carrying a pen and paper. "I..ah, I mean. Room space is getting short. All SeeDs have to pair up into a room to make space for cadets. Can, I, ah, please get your names and who you'll bunk with?"

Raijin and Fujin, Selphie and Irvine bunked up together right off, and Quistis looked at Squall with amusement, and asked him, to which he just shrugged and looks back at his reports. Quistis grinned and added both of them to a single room, and then the cadet look to Zell.

"Seifer? Will you?" Zell let his normal enthusiasm flow, gesturing wildly and trying to give a puppy-dog eye look. Seifer pointedly looked at Squall so everyone knew what he was doing and replied in dry tones "…whatever." At that, everyone (excluding Squall, who was absorbed in his work) began to chuckle, and Zell grinned. The two groups, the Sorceress Slayers and the Disciplinary Committee were just one big happy group now, and the fact that they could joke about each other and get laughs on each side was just proof. Zell gave his scrawl on the paper, rooming him together with Seifer. "We'll take my room." He said. "They gave me one of the bigger ones." He added quickly at Seifer's look of about to make a comment on that.

Zell was shocked at how much Seifer had fit into one of the smaller dorms. It nearly filled his bigger one, and it was all still boxed away. Dropping one box onto his bed, he turned to go back for more, when Seifer stepped in, carrying his mattress. "This is all that's left."

Between the two, they quickly had the two beds moved to the opposite wall, rather than in the middle where Zell's was before, and set up in Seifers case. Then Zell began to make a wall of boxes, much to the amusement of Seifer.

"What are you doing?"

"Splitting the room into my half and your half."

Seifer didn't have a reply for that. It actually made sense the way Zell was doing it. And Zell had been right; he had gotten one of the bigger ones. Shower, bath, and Kitchen were all in this one single dorm. Much better than his old one.

That night, from the vantage offered by his bed, Zell observed Seifer, as he went through an evening ritual. He went to the bathroom, changed, came back, unjunctioned, turned off the lights, and went straight to sleep. Shrugging to himself, Zell drifted off into dreams.

AN: Again, sorry for time between updates, but I did make it a larger one for you, rather than two smaller ones.

Also, I think the description on this story is driving away readers. Any suggestions what a better one fitting the story might be?

Bloody Rose: The reason the ice cave scene was so short, with so little, is because it wasn't part of the script originally. It was added last moment to add in certain plot elements, and I didn't really have any other plans for it. I realized I needed certain elements before the birthday chapter, and it was the first idea to come to mind.