A/N: Yessssssss! The 'ebil' exams of Sauron are OVER! Now two more weeks to re-take any exams necessary, which will not be more than two hopefully… Ahh... T'feels good to sleep until 3 p.m. Sorry you had to wait so long for this update, but the mid-terms were driving me insane…
Last chapter summary: Seifer passed the SeeD exam… Yay for him! And Quisty just walked inside the ballroom…
~*A second chance*~
By: Sickness in Salvation
Chapter 7: It's On
Quistis and Xu made their way across the ballroom, towards the bar. They felt countless male pairs of eyes practically nailed upon them, many of which came from Instructors even… Xu grinned and leaned over to Quistis' ear.
- "I guess the dress was a success after all…" she said.
- "*Scoff* Please…They're all just trying to interpret the image of me in a dress …" replied Quistis, seemingly annoyed.
- "Honestly Quistis, you should give yourself much more credit than that… You look great!" protested Xu.
- "I don't feel comfortable… And those damn heels are killing me!" she whispered, wincing a bit in pain.
- "No pain, no gain…" said Xu.
- "What could I possibly 'gain' from the traumatic experience of torturing my feet?" Quistis asked exasperated.
- "Some male company by your bedside for the night?" asked Xu, nudging her friend playfully in the ribs.
Quistis shook her head in disbelief and approached the bar.
- "How may I help you?" asked the bartender, grinning broadly.
- "A Martini, please. Dry, no olive." said Quistis dryly, noticing the expression on the bartender's face.
- "A Tequila for me, on the rocks." said Xu.
- "Right away…" said the man and turned around to fix their drinks.
- "By the way…" whispered Xu in Quistis' ear "Instructor Rogers is here…" she said slyly.
- "And…?" asked Quistis, arching an eyebrow.
- "Well you know he's shown quite the interest in you ever since you became an Instructor…" Xu trailed off.
- "Honestly, what is it with you setting me up tonight?!" asked Quistis in exasperation.
- "One: I don't like to see my friend spoiling what could possibly the most 'interesting' years of her life while waiting for Prince charming…" began Xu.
- "I'm not waiting for 'Prince charming', thank you very much!" protested Quistis.
- "…And two:…" continued Xu dispassionately "…I don't want to feel guilty for ditching you while I seduce Instructor Blaine tonight…" she finished, grinning mischievously.
- "*Groan* Go ahead and 'seduce' him… I won't be staying for long anyway…" said Quistis moodily.
- "Your drinks ladies…" said the bartender suddenly, handing them two glasses.
- "Thank you." said the two women in unison.
They both strolled around the Ballroom, making idle conversation –in Xu's case- with other Instructors, or the Headmaster himself. At some point, Xu leaned over Quistis' ear and said something, walking towards the Ladies' room. Quistis stood in a corner, sipping her drink quietly while glancing around the ballroom. Right across the room, Seifer, deciding he'd heard enough ex-boyfriend stories to last him a lifetime, decided to go for a re-fill of his punch cup, making a mental note to take his sweet time doing it…
- "Devon?" he said, interrupting the red-head "Could you excuse me for a sec? I'll go re-fill my cup."
- "Alright…" mumbled Devon, sounding a bit disappointed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The tall blond –slowly- made his way to the grand buffet, looking around for the punch-bowl. He re-filled his cup and turned around to look back at the table of the people he'd been hanging with. Noticing that Devon was engrossed in a conversation with some other girl, he seized the opportunity and slipped out to the balcony cautiously. Once outside, he leaned against the wall, sighing in relief. The weather outside was very warm and Seifer found himself pulling the collar of his shirt uneasily 'Damn this uniform… I'll be getting back to my dorm drenched…'
- "Hot isn't it?"
Jumping up startled, Seifer turned to his left, only to find Quistis Trepe standing there, looking as impressive as ever, holding a glass filled with her drink of choice. He gave her a nod and spoke.
- "Tell me about it… I'm sweating my ass off here…" he said, taking a sip of his refreshing punch.
- "Always the gentleman Seifer…" Quistis said sarcastically, unable to suppress a small grin in any case.
Seifer made an attempt at flashing her one of his infamous smirks. However, something didn't quite add up to Quistis. Whenever he actually did it, it never seemed like he was trying; right now, it did.
- "Everything alright Seifer?" she asked in concern, approaching him a bit.
- "Fine…" Seifer replied shrugging indifferently, bringing the cup to his lips again.
- "Are you sure?" Quistis asked arching a fair eyebrow, not quite convinced.
Seifer stared blankly ahead of him for a few seconds, then grinned and turned his gaze to her.
- "Dead sure." he replied somewhat grimly, emptying the remainder of his drink in one huge gulp.
Quistis didn't know what, but knew that something was really wrong. She felt the urge to ask, but was quite certain that she would probably have to use of a crowbar to make the young swordsman blurt it out to her. She needed to make a different approach…
- "Oh!" she exclaimed, slapping her forehead lightly "I almost forgot what I came out here for… Congratulations!" she added smiling brightly, extending her hand to him.
- "Thank you…" Seifer mumbled, nodding and shook her hand in a lukewarm manner.
- "I heard from Xu that you did very well," she said, taking a sip from her drink "I was there of course, but I had to keep an eye on my Squad. How was it?" she asked.
- "Meh… Not as much of a challenge as I expected… Still, an… amusing experience…" he replied, trying –and failing- to fake nonchalance.
- "'Amusing', eh?" repeated Quistis, starting to get a clue or two on what exactly was bugging her former student "I remember my first exam…" she reminisced "Took me quite a while to get over it…"
- "Why?" Seifer asked frowning, raising an eyebrow and then proceeded in asking himself why the hell he even gave a damn.
- "Never seen so much blood before… I guess I wasn't prepared to face death in the eye when I was only fifteen…" she said gloomily "It's a miracle I passed actually. I never thought I'd sleep peacefully again…" she trailed off.
- "You were too young, that's all…" said Seifer firmly, gazing in font of him, at nowhere in particular.
- "Probably…" said Quistis shrugging "But then again," she began knowingly "No-one ever feels ready to take another person's life away, no matter how old they are…"
Seifer seemed to stop breathing for a moment. Mechanically, he raised the cup to his lips, only to recall that he'd emptied it not too long ago. He mumbled a curse and shook his head in disbelief. Quistis moved closer to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Seifer jumped up at the touch and sharply turned to look at her.
- "Many students of mine have felt this way when passing through that stage," she said softly, as if being able to read his thoughts "It's nothing to be ashamed of…" she added.
- "I can deal with murder just fine, thank you very much…" said Seifer abruptly, moving a bit further away to become rid of her touch.
He might as well have enjoyed the enticing sight of her, but this conversation didn't appeal to him. Not one bit…
- "Seifer, it's not murder," Quistis retorted patiently "It's battle. There's a huge difference. Trust me, almost everyone feels that way. It'll become easier by the time, you'll see." she said, smiling warmly at him.
Seifer brought his eyes to meet with hers. He didn't know what to say or what to think, so he just retained an expressionless mask on his face. Neither of them spoke for a long time, and only broke eye contact when Seifer turned away. Silently, Quistis made a move to walk back to the doorframe and out of the balcony, when she heard Seifer's voice.
- "It's just that…" he mumbled in a voice barely audible "I can't forget his eyes… The look on his face…"
Quistis turned around and walked over to him.
- "It wasn't the blood… Just his… expression…" he continued, lowering his head to stare awkwardly at the floor.
Right then, without even realizing what she was doing, Quistis approached Seifer and slid her arms around his waist. She rested her head on his chest and sighed.
- "It'll be alright Seifer…" she whispered to the bemused blond.
Now that had been something he wouldn't expect her to have done in a million years. Trepe? Engaging into actual physical contact with him of all people? He recalled many a time of him joking around, asking her if he was her favorite student and beaming at her affirmative response, but he never took it seriously. And then suddenly, the tiny devious 'gears' inside his brain began working relentlessly 'Well, well, well…' he thought, unable to suppress a smirk 'Now that's certainly an 'invitation' if I've ever seen one…Seems like the Instructor finally succumbed to my charms…' He grinned inwardly. He wouldn't really mind a piece of her right now… Hell, he wouldn't mind it the least bit…
He wrapped one arm around her as well and slid the other one to the small of her back, slowly caressing it, making his way steadily downwards. Quistis blinked and felt really uncomfortable all of a sudden. What in Hyne's name was he doing?
- "Seifer," she said, pulling away from him "What are you doing?" she asked, the most bewildered expression on her face.
- "What's wrong with you, Trepe?" asked Seifer arching an eyebrow "One minute you're coming all over me and the other-"
- "Whoa – whoa – whoa… I'm what?!" asked Quistis, eyes shooting wide open.
- "Come off it Instructor…" he said almost exasperated "You think I don't know where all this supportive crap was heading towards?"
- "You thought I was-?" she began, looking flabbergasted.
- "Correction: I know you were." he said smirking.
- "Seifer, I was only aiming to comfort you, not," she said, grimacing "'Flirt' you…"
- "*Scoff* Who said I needed you to Hyne damn comfort me in the first place?" he asked, frowning.
- "You needn't tell me! You looked distressed and I tried to make you feel better. You said-"
- "I'm not some pansy-ass pussy to need frickin' comfort Trepe. Probably just the booze talkin' anyway…" Seifer said looking away, trying to redeem himself for the newly added bruise to his ego "Don't try and turn this over to me. You were the one who initiated all the huggin' and shit…"
Quistis' jaw dropped in appall by what she'd just heard. And to think she had actually felt for him for a moment there… Taking a deep breath, she regained her composure and narrowed her eyes at him.
- "I suggest that you stay away form any more drinking spree for the night Mr. Almasy." she said coldly "The only thing alcohol does to an already rotten behavior, is deteriorate it. Good night." she finished, turning her heel.
Seifer's eyebrows arched at the blonde woman's remark and he stood there still, watching her disappear from sight as she walked back inside the ballroom. He scoffed and walked towards the doorframe himself 'I guess I won't be getting' any tonight then…' Once back in, his gaze traveled across the room, only to notice that Quistis had disappeared. He shrugged, thinking he couldn't care less, deciding to stand by his previous view on Trepe 'Just another fucking pretty face in the crowd…'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, that just shows how right I was before, doesn't it? I don't even understand why you'd want to show me that…
I dunno, I thought you two had a moment there…
Moment?! He was trying to grab my ass for crying out loud!
He was vulnerable. He felt really bad about what happened in his exam, you were there, you comforted him and he just
misunderstood your intentions… Or did he?
*Sigh* You've still got a lot to learn about Seifer Almasy, Ellone… You don't know how his mind works.
I never said he was a 'saint' from the beginning Quisty. But people change. And I also never said you just fell for each
other head over heels with the first touch…
Who's side are you on again?
I'm on no-one's side. I'm just trying to help you out here and you seem to keep forgetting that.
You're right… I'm sorry. I-
I'm not mad, but if you want me to be honest with you, you can't expect me to show you only the good moments you and Seifer shared.
Good Hyne, we actually had good ones?
It's not funny Quistis. I'm serious here.
I know, I was only joking…
Listen Quisty, as much as I'm a sucker for romance myself, there's something you need to understand. There's no such thing as 'instant' love. Even
Squall and Rinoa, for whom everyone said they are a match made in heaven, had to work hard for their relationship. And you know that better
than I do. Nothing is perfect. People have to try a lot to make a relationship work. And that's what makes it truly special…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A clattering sound broke the silence of the otherwise silent Dormitory corridor; the sound of Quistis' heels against the concrete floor. The blonde Instructor made her way back to her quarters, infuriated beyond imagination. She'd told Xu that she felt tired and was going to sleep. Sleep… She highly doubted she'd be able to get any tonight, with the tenseness she could feel right now. She opened her purse and slid her key-card through the receptor on her door, rushing inside her dorm. She threw her purse on the bed and sat on it, beginning to remove her sandals. How dare he? How dare he talk to her like that? He'd acted even worse than the Hyne damn Trepies. At least none of them had displayed the obscene audacity Seifer Almasy just had. Maybe it was the damned dress that had done all the 'damage'.
Quistis kicked the now loosened sandals off her feet, sending them flying across the room, falling with a mild thud on the floor. She sighed. For a moment, the thought that Seifer could actually have a thing for her crossed her mind. She scoffed and pushed it away immediately. Seifer Almasy was incapable of falling for anyone. Not that he was a bad guy really… Just unbelievably full of himself and selfish. Just a big bully… She had to admit that she kind of liked him as a person. She admired his confidence and his spirit. But nothing beyond that. He'd been her student for Hyne's sake. And he'd done nothing to try and win over her heart, to make her even consider of giving him a chance. And what the hell was she thinking, hugging him in the first place? Either way, he had no right to take advantage of it…
'Men… I'll never understand them…' she thought and began getting undressed 'And certainly not Almasy…'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning…
Seifer stirred around in his bed. The bright morning light had found its way through the thin curtains of his room right to his face, awakening him. He let out a sleepy moan and stretched, yawning deeply. He lazily rubbed his eyes open with one palm and slowly cracked them open. His head was throbbing mildly and his stomach felt slightly queasy that morning. He hadn't had too much to drink last night thankfully, otherwise he knew he'd be dragging himself out of bed to the bathroom by now… He sat up in bed, resting his weight on his palms. He glanced to his right and found Raijin sleeping peacefully in his bed on the other side of the room, oblivious to the world around him.
He grinned. That would probably be the last time he'd ever lay eyes on that sight again, since he was going to have his own room as of today, becoming a SeeD and all. He'd actually done it. No more boring classes, no more having to put up with every shitty Instructor's attitude 'Fuck…' he thought suddenly. The memory of coming on to Quistis rushed into his mind. He'd felt somewhat touched by her interest last night and to top it, the damn hormones did nothing to hold him back from doing something as stupid as what he'd done. But hell, she was the one who hugged him in the first place. How the heck was he supposed to know what she meant by it? OK, so it was a bit out of line to try and get advantage of it as well, but he certainly didn't deserve that spiteful comment she'd retorted… did he?
'Women… I'll never fucking understand them…' he thought, getting up from bed 'And certainly not Trepe.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The silver metal fork pierced through the amber colored egg, sprawled on Quistis' plate, filling it with similarly colored yolk. The blonde girl let out a groan of disgust and pushed the dish away, bringing her carton coffee cup closer at the same time. She took a sip and rubbed her sore temples, burying her head inside the cleft of her folded arms. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Her mind had been way too busy wandering around in pointless thoughts to even consider giving her a break and take a rest. She felt like she could fall asleep right then and there if it weren't for the buoyant humming of students chatting all around the cafeteria.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed, before the clatter of a plate being placed upon the table and a muffled 'Good morning' brought her out of her trance. She lazily poked her head out of its hiding place and found Xu sitting right across her on the table, maiming a completely innocent blueberry muffin with a knife, while resting her cheek on her fist in boredom. And probably drowsiness.
- "I take it your night didn't go as planned?" Quistis asked, a small sarcastic smirk spreading on her full lips. Xu sighed.
- "Let's just say," she said "That fame, obviously isn't everything…" she added, tossing her knife to the side.
The small metal object let out a clattering sound as it bounced upon the table. Clearly, that wasn't the wisest action to take, as Xu's hangover-suffering ears interpreted the clatter as a drum-piercing sound that could have easily blown the insides of her head to pieces. The brunette grimaced and hissed, covering her ears.
- "Not too fond of loud sounds, are we today?" Quistis asked, arching an eyebrow.
- "As if my night wasn't disastrous enough…" replied Xu, shaking her head in disbelief.
- "That bad?"
- "Worse." retorted Xu "I'm telling you, the guy's living in denial… I had to bite my lip so that I wouldn't burst out laughing…"
- "*Groan* And you're saying he's full of himself…" said Quistis, rolling her eyes.
- "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that…" said Xu, taking a sip from her coffee "So how'd your night go?"
- "Could have gone better I guess…" said Quistis, narrowing her eyes which followed the tall, brawny silhouette that had just entered the cafeteria, followed by a bulkier and a feminine one.
Xu cocked an eyebrow and turned around, trying to spot what her friend's eyes had been plastered upon. She arched both eyebrows at the sight and turned around abruptly.
- "Don't tell me you're beginning to eye Almasy with nasty intentions…" she said, her expression flabbergasted.
- "For your own sake, I hope that by 'nasty', you mean the intention to beat him into a pulp…" said Quistis, now narrowing her eyes at her friend.
- "I shall put aside the fact that you think you can beat up Almasy," said Xu smirking, earning a glare from Quistis "And I'll try to concentrate hard of exactly what a woman could possibly see in him."
Quistis rolled her eyes as the brunette across her turned back around and began studying Seifer more intently. The first, pulled her friend back around from her arm and spoke.
- "Will you please drop it?" said the blonde frustrated "I didn't mean I'm into Seifer…"
- "Oh, so now he's plain Seifer?" Xu asked, her brow cocking upwards once more.
- "You're unbelievable…" said Quistis, shaking her head in disbelief.
- "Well…I don't totally blame ya," said Xu shrugging "But aside from a firm pair of cheeks, a good set of muscles and a presentable face, I really don't think there's more to pursue…"
- "Please tell me that you meant the cheeks on his face…" said Quistis, burying her head in her arms again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Across the big cafeteria room, Raijin grabbed a tray full of food from the counter and followed Fujin and Seifer towards their usual table in the hall. The Disciplinary Committee trio made its way to the table and sat down. A pair of jade eyes scouted around the room in boredom, stopping onto the frame of a blonde woman, sulking, seated across a brunette who was saying something that had obviously bothered her. Seifer grabbed a piece of toast from his plate, taking a big bite off it. He continued to stare at his former Instructor, who had now raised her head, so far concealed within her arms, and was glancing around the room as well. Blue and green rays suddenly met and both pairs of eyes narrowed. Quistis was the first to break contact after a fair few seconds, frowning, and turning her gaze back to her friend. Seifer scoffed and took another huge bite, shifting his look to someplace else as well. His green eyes stopped on a poster, glued to one of the columns near the counters. His eyebrow cocked and he smirked. He turned back around to face Quistis, whom he caught staring back at him, but she swiftly looked away when he did. He scoffed and bit his lip, seemingly falling into thought for a few seconds.
- "Yo, Seifer man…" said Raijin, waving a hand in front the blond's face, who appeared to have zoned out "You there?"
Seifer jolted up slightly as Fujin snapped her fingers in front of him. He let out a small 'Hmmm' sound and got up.
- "I'll see you in a bit." he said, taking a sip from his coffee "There's something I need to take care of…"
The silver-haired girl and her colossal friend stared at each other puzzled as their blond counterpart stormed out of the cafeteria, then shrugged and went on with their breakfast.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
One week later…
Quistis made her way up to Xu's office after her evening lessons to hand in the weekly report on her work and her students' progress. She leaned with her back against the walls of the elevator, running her slender fingers through the numerous reports in her binder. As soon as the elevator doors slid open, she came face to face with an extremely excited Xu.
- "Guess what?!" she asked thrilled.
- "What?" asked Quistis, stepping inside.
- "Someone's gonna give us the pleasure of becoming rid of our 'company' for the whole summer!" Xu said grinning.
- "Who?" asked Quistis, arching an eyebrow.
- "Your secret heartthrob, so I'll understand if you don't share my excitement…" said Xu, winking at Quistis.
- "And who in Hyne's name would that be?" Quistis asked, placing both palms on her hips.
- "Almasy." replied the brunette, smirking.
- "Oh dear, not again…" said Quistis rolling her eyes, walking towards Xu's office.
Xu chuckled and followed her friend inside, closing the door behind her. Quistis rested her binder on Xu's office and turned to look at her.
- "So where is he going?" asked Quistis, curious.
- "Didn't you hear about this military camp that Caraway of the Galbadian Army had been jabbering about?" said Xu.
- "I've heard a few things, yes. What's it about?"
- "Basically, training men for the Galbadian army." replied Xu.
- "Seifer's joining the Galbadian army?" asked Quistis, cocking an eyebrow.
- "No. From what I heard-"
- "Overheard…" Quistis corrected her friend.
- "Tsk… Whatever…" said Xu waving her hands in the air "Anyway, I heard that he's only going for the training and just to keep busy with something during the summer…" she added "Unfortunately, he's coming back at fall…"
- "Well, good for him then." said Quistis nodding.
- "He's in Cid's office right now."
- "Right."
- "He's leaving tomorrow."
- "Good."
- "*Pause* Well don't you want to say 'Goodbye' to him?" Xu asked playfully.
- "Really Xu…" said Quistis, shaking her head in disbelief "This is getting annoying…"
Xu grinned and went over to sit behind her desk, going through the reports Quistis had brought. The blonde sat on the armchair across Xu and began going over the papers briefly. A few minutes later, she heard the door of Cid's office opening nearby and the muffled sound of two male voices came to hear ears; Cid and Seifer. She heard the older man bid Seifer farewell and wish him good luck and seconds later, she saw through the glass surface on the back wall of Xu's office, the latter's tall frame making its way towards the elevator. As if sensing her eyes onto him, Seifer turned around briefly, catching her gaze. He shot her his infamous smirk and disappeared behind the elevator doors.
- "*Scoff* Good riddance…"
- "What?" asked Xu, raising her head up from the papers in front of her.
- "Nothing…" mumbled Quistis, concentrating back on the reports.
Xu shrugged and returned to her work 'Damn… Did I say that out loud?' thought the blonde…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*Chuckle* You're an open book Quisty… Xu got to you immediately!
What do you mean 'got to me'? It's more than obvious that I'm still in a logical enough state of mind
to avoid Seifer as I should have!
*Sigh* I can see this is going to take a loooot of work…
Are you getting tired?
No, it's alright… We still have a many things to see for today.
'For today'?
Well, you don't expect me to show you the events of almost two years all in one 'sitting', do you?
I suppose not… So when will we do this again?
For now, just keep watching. When we're done for the day, we'll talk about it…
Alright… What's next?
Let me see…There's your first courses with the next class of cadets for the exam. And then
there's Seifer's summer at the camp.
Wait… Is that the summer when he met Rinoa?
Most likely. Do you want to skip that?
No, I'm curious…
You know… I shouldn't be doing that… I should only be showing you your own past…
Relax… He's my boyfriend. I have the right to know…
Ahh… So now that it's convenient, he's your boyfriend?
The clock is ticking… We're wasting time…
I'll pretend not to notice the oh-so-not-subtle change of subject and I'll just move on…
A/N: Ah the interaction between those two… I never grow tired of portraying it…
ON THE NEXT CHAPTER OF 'A SECOND CHANCE':
Quistis begins to teach the next classes for the SeeD exam and a certain anti-social student catches her attention…
Meanwhile, Seifer arrives in Deling to spend the summer in Caraway's military camp…