Sorry for the HUGE wait. I died and was resurrected from the dead. Did you believe that. Cus if you did I got a huge track of land I can sell you in Antarctica.

I love school. cough not cough It's sucking my life away and all I have to look forward to is that I have this last year… before college. Which is another four years of mindlessly banging your head against the wall.

Now that I've got that off my chest let's get on to something a little more productive. Life has been hectic and now that school and work are settling down since I got accepted to college it's time for some writing.

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. Now on with the story! (Which is what everyone is really here for.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. But someday, once I'm through college, I hope to make a game equally as good.

Seifer shook his head and opened his eyes. Above him the clouds moved lazily across the sky and the sun shined brightly down on the earth. Seifer sat up and glanced at the field around him. It was covered in green grass and trees lined the edge. A figure dressed in black stood by one of the far trees and beckoned him.

Seifer stood unsteadily and stumbled towards the figure. As he set his foot down a the ground rippled beneath him and a an inky black wave rose off from the ground and spread out covering the area. Seifer watched as the trees and everything disappeared around him.

Suddenly he was pitched backwards and pair of arms wrapped around him. Glancing up his eyes locked with those of the Sorceress.

She let out a small sigh and shook her head. "My dear Knight. Your weakness has cost you everything. You had the potential to be great and instead you condemned yourself to this life of repentance."

Suddenly she let go and Seifer dropped through the darkness blindly grabbing for something around him. Just as suddenly as the fall had started it stopped when his body hit the floor with the sounds of bone crunching. The ground rippled again but this time it was a wave of red that covered the area. Accompanying this wave was the unmistakable smell of blood.

Seifer jumped to his feet, surprised to find himself undamaged, and tried to run. As he tried to lift his foot he found that he'd sunk to his ankles in the red sticky substance. The Sorceress appeared again this time cloaked in red.

"This is the color of your power. The color of your existence. Why won't you embrace your destiny and do as I wished before I was defeated? As long as the ideal lives there are people willing to fight for it. Why don't you fight for your dream?"

Seifer smiled grimly. "Why should I fight for something that will never be realized? Why should I fight for a damn manipulative bitch like you? I believed I was fighting for my dream but I found out that I was just a pawn in your elaborate scheme. I also found about your assassination attempt on Zell. I'm not listening to you anymore."

"I'm sorry you feel that way my Knight. But maybe I can change your mind." Suddenly a pillar of stone rose from the bloody ground and manacled to it's surface was Selphie. He hadn't known the little brunette energy ball for long but in that short period of time he'd grown kind of attached.

"Watch as I destroy everything that is dear to you. Watch as I destroy all you live for and then you'll beg for my power. Watch as I show you why nobody ever denies me what I want."

Seifer watched in horror as from the bloody depths spears rose and circled the stone. Suddenly one sped forward and dived into Selphie's body. Her scream reverberated throughout the area and Seifer flinched. One after another the spears flew towards the unprotected girl and each time her anguished screams tore Seifer's fragile psyche to millions of pieces.

Squall paced his office nervously. A psychopathic killer had been living in the best defended place on earth, right under his nose, and Squall hadn't been able do anything about it. It almost resulted in the death of some of his closest friends.

Rinoa peeked into the office cautiously and sighed at her boyfriend walking a hole in the carpet. She slowly walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling her face in his back. "You're worried about them aren't you?"

Squall paused for a second before nodding. "But I don't really understand why."

"Well you never really hated Zell did you?"

Squall turned in her embrace and eyed her critically. He sighed in resignation, "I guess not. For some reason I guess I felt my trust was betrayed. I'd opened up to Zell a lot and he'd pretty much become my best friend, then I found out he'd been hiding a huge secret from me. He didn't trust me enough to tell me until it was all over."

Rinoa smiled up at him and kissed him on the nose. "I guess you've realized that it was pretty stupid of you to feel that way for this long and shut him out."

Squall nodded. "But I still don't understand why I'm so concerned with Seifer. I've done nothing but fight him for years and now that he's in the infirmary I can't help but feel concern. Guess my Ice Prince days are over, huh?"

Rinoa rested her head against Squall's chest. "I don't think you ever really were an Ice Prince. Just a man with a lot of insecurities and trust problems."

"Maybe we should go check on everyone. Make sure they're fine." Squall stepped back and looked down at Rinoa.

"Yeah. Maybe we should." Rinoa smiled up at him glad he was finally opening up again.

Zell watched nervously as the doctor attached small metallic pads to Siefer's temples. The machine it was attached to whirred and sputtered sporadically as the combination of electricity and magic coursed through it.

"There is no guarantee as to what will happen if you put this on your head. You could very well be killed. Do you still want to do this?" Doctor Kodowaki watched him warily as she made sure the pads were attached.

Zell hesitated for a moment his resolve wavering. He had to do it though, for Seifer. He didn't understand why he had to do it but deep down he knew that someone had to save Seifer and that someone was him. "Hook me up doctor."

She nodded and patted the table beside her. "I have no idea exactly how this is going to feel so be ready for anything. If your vital signs drop too low I'm pulling you out of it no matter what. You ready to start?"

Zell nodded as he hopped up on the table. He was ready for a little pain. Now that he knew some of what Seifer had been going through he couldn't help but feel a little responsible. Why he felt responsible he didn't know but the feeling was still there and he was going to do something about it. Lying down he waited for it to begin. He steeled himself for everything he could and watched the doctor mull around the room.

"Now when this machine starts your consciousness is going to be magically converted and linked to his unconscious there…"

Zell shook his head effectively cutting her off. "I don't really understand all that so could we just get on with it?" The doctor nodded and continued to mess with various machinery. All this was building on his nerves. He wanted to get done with it before any of his doubts got a hold of him.

Suddenly the door slid open and in walked a smiling Rinoa, followed by Squall. He wasn't really happy to see the second of the pair but he held his emotions in check and stared neutrally at the other male before turning away.

Doctor Kodowaki smiled nervously as she attached the metal pads. "We're going to begin."

Zell nodded and looked back at Rinoa for support. She was beaming at him and then pointed to her boyfriend. Squall gave a small nod and half smirk. Zell broke out into a smile of his own as he rested his head back. This was going to be interesting.

A burst of magical energy lit the room and Zell's back arched into the air his eyes rolling closed. Every emotion he'd ever felt rushed through him and all that remained was an empty whiteness. He felt protected and warm and yet he felt nothing at the same time. It was all too confusing for Zell and instead of trying to keep with the flow of his thoughts he let his mind roam.

His thoughts centered on Seifer and his confusing feelings toward the scarred blond, as well as the others not so confused feelings. Suddenly he felt pulled and allowed his body to be dragged in that direction. Colors, sounds, and people sped past and Zell watched it with a detached fascination. Darkness slowly seeped into surroundings until nothing was visible. Then, with a sudden violent wrench, Zell was pulled from the darkness and landed in a red liquid on hands and knees.

A gasp escaped his throat as what he was sitting in dawned on him. He jumped up causing the blood around him to send out waves and slowly he glanced around stopping short at what he saw.

Seifer stood with his back to him looking at the Sorceress floating above 4 pillars. On each of the pillars was a dead body. Selphie, Rinoa, Fujin, and Rajin were all speared through, their glassy eyes staring accusingly at Seifer. Another pillar was slowing rising from the crimson depths and on it was Zell. Growling the real Zell stalked forward to stand behind the other blond man. "You bitch!" Then everything froze and Seifer slowly turned his head, confused.

"Zell? What's happening?"

Suddenly Zell slapped him across the face and growled menacingly, "You need to snap the fuck out of it!"

The world around them shattered and all that was left was a vast whiteness. "Where are we Zell?" Seifer was confused and just a little bit scared. No he was scared shitless and felt like his whole world was stripped away from him. Now all of a sudden there was another Zell and everything had just disappeared.

"We're in your mind. You've got to snap out it." Zell cautiously approached the trembling man before him.

Seifer's thoughts were a jumble of blood, death, and pain. Zell's revelation about them being trapped in his mind didn't really make sense and Seifer was wondering if this was all just another illusion. A trick to break him and make him finally succumb to the Sorceress' tricks.

Lightning flashed through the now pitch black sky and stone walls appeared from no where with the bodies of countless people were strung up with swords and pikes and other weapons. Blood flowed from the walls and surrounded them until the only piece of land that wasn't covered was where they stood. Lightning crashed into the ground and there stood Hyperion glinting grimly.

Seifer picked up his sword and brought it up to attack Zell as he had countless of times before. He only had a moment to feel the surprise as Zell, instead of standing there and asking why, let his fist connect with his face.

Suddenly both their worlds went black.

Zell felt a jolt and his chest rise as he came back from his trip into Seifer's mind. Something cold was pressed against his chest and people were shouting above him. With detached interest he noted that he wasn't breathing. Then it hit him and he gasped out a breath as his eyes flew open.

The doctor stood posed over him a concerned look etched into her tired face and ready to continue jolting the life back into his body. "You're alive!" The relief in her voice was evident and as his vision focused he was able to see everyone else surrounding his bed.

"Oh, he survived." The statement was a simple one but Quistis managed to put so much loathing behind it that it sounded like a damnation. Her tone obviously suggested that she wanted him dead and that didn't sit well with the small blond.

"Yes he survived and so did I. Why are you here?" Seifer was sitting up in his bed a hand pressed to his forehead.

"I'm allowed to be here whenever I wish. Unlike you I have some authority in the Garden."

"So your hear to follow Squall around like a lost bitch. Got it."

Quistis spluttered for a second and looked at the glares of contempt coming from everyone else in the room. "I can see my presence here isn't necessary. I'll be busy in the office when you're done Squall." With that she left the room, her dignity smarting from Seifer's scathing blow.

Zell looked at the place where she was sitting for a moment before turning his attention to the blond in the other bed. "Seifer. What was that?"

Seifer glanced up a tired look in his eyes. "Not now."

Zell was about to raise objections when Dr. Kodowaki interjected. "Now that you two are up and able to function I want you to return to your room and rest a bit. I'll need you to clear out soon as I have accumulated quite a lot of patients that need my care during this interesting experiment. I want you to come back tomorrow Zell and give me a brief summary of what happened and so I can check up on you."

Zell nodded at the doctor's expectant look and managed, with only a small amount of difficulty, to get himself out of bed.

Seifer on the other hand was not having such an easy time about it. As soon as he set foot out of bed his legs folded from under him and only the quick actions of Squall kept him from hitting the floor. Seifer glared at the brunet for a moment before diverting his gaze and allowing them to assist him down the hall.

After getting Seifer into the bedroom Squall and Rinoa decided it would be best if they left. Zell agreed, although reluctantly, and after sharing an awkward hug with Squall and giving Rinoa a kiss on the cheek he was left with Seifer.

He stared a moment at his bedroom door and after a moments deliberation made up his mind. He walked into his room and looked at the blond sitting on his bed. Seifer's eyes were slightly glazed but the haunted look in them gave away the fact that his thoughts weren't the most pleasant things in the world. The questions burned on Zell's tongue and he was dieing to ask them even if Seifer didn't want to talk about it. Hell he was Zell Dinct, Mr Rush-in-head-first-and-ask-questions-later.

"What was that?"

Seifer glanced up startled and looked at the other blond as if measuring him up. Sighing he glanced away, "Remember what Ralhn was talking about in the Garage?"

Zell nodded, "About your feeling for me?"

"Yeah." The Ex-Knight's eyes came back to meet with Zell's. "It all really stems from that. My Romantic Dream. My Knighthood. It's all because I'm a goddamn fool."

"I don't understand."

Seifer snorted, "Of course not. My Romantic Dream of glory and fame was only a part of it. It was also a dream of love. I was hopelessly in love with someone who hated me and it was my fault. I needed to move on and fall in love with someone else but it wasn't that easy. The Sorceress took me in and pretended to guide me to my dream but it was all a lie."

"Remember you all tried to kill her and I fought with Squall?" Zell nodded. "Well after you all came to his rescue I saw you and discovered I hadn't gotten over you but in fact made it worse." Seifer shook his head with disgust, "I sound like such a fucking loser."

Zell rested a hand on Seifer's shoulder and offered an encouraging smile. "It's okay go on."

Seifer sighed again and locked his gaze on the wall. "Well after the Sorceress discovered this she wanted me to go through all the prisoners and torture them. It was a mind game that she was trying to play but thankfully it didn't work."

"Later after you all escaped the mind games changed. She employed magic and tortured me in my mind. What you saw was the lasting effects of her magic. Sometimes the dreams happen while I'm awake. They become my reality for a while and there isn't much I can do but endure them."

"What were these dreams about?"

"Mostly the things I feared the most in the beginning. Killing children, faces of my victims, and other war horrors."

"But they changed didn't they?"

"Yes. Eventually they started to detail me killing you and her voice telling me what a weakness you were. After she was defeated they changed again. A kind of farewell present I guess. She was trying to get me to carry on the work and to get rid of you. I guess she didn't think her mind games good enough though. She was going to make me a puppet."

Zell looked down at his hands, "So she did quite a lot of things to you. Why did you stay?"

Seifer glanced down now his eyes hidden and whispered the next word. "Fear." He continued on more strongly, "Fear for me. Fear for you. Fear of my own weakness. I'm such a sad piece of shit."

"You're not that bad Seifer. It wasn't your fault that it happened."

Seifer let a bitter chuckle escape, "Oh but it was. I let her do it to me. I should have seen the signs and got out while I could but I screwed up. I let everything I held dear be put in jeopardy and I can never be forgiven for that."

Zell laid a comforting hand on Seifer's. "You're being too hard on yourself. There are lots of things that were out of your control. Sorceresses are powerful and you would have been out of your mind not to fear her."

"But it's not only that. I killed a lot of people. More people than you could ever imagine and I did it in the name of a cause I stopped believing in ages ago." Seifer shifted eyes still downcast and a scar that ran down his arm showed.

"What is this Seifer?" It came out a whisper, Zell both anxiously waiting for the answer and fearing it as well.

Seifer looked up, his face streaming silent tears, and summed up everything with one word. "Repentance."

Zell's hand moved without him telling it too and cupped the other blond's cheek, his thumb wiping away the tears. He moved forward and kissed away the salty trail of tears. Then he went stiff. Seifer stared at him in wide eyed astonishment as Zell realized what he was doing.

Zell suddenly bolted from the bed and into the bathroom locking the door behind him and sliding down it. Putting his head in his hands he groaned. "I am so stupid."

Well that's it for this chapter. I never thought this story would get such good feedback but I'm glad it did. A little after spring break I'll update again since I'm going to Panama City and need something to do on the 20 hour drive.

Read and Review and yell at me if necessary… Thanks for all the support.