There was an unrest amongst the students of Balamb Garden. A split second decision (in some of their opinions) by Headmaster Cid meant Seifer Almasy was getting a second chance. Xu almost wore Dios' afternoon coffee after the announcement was made.

"He's coming back?" Dios gazed up to the newly installed television in the Garden's cafeteria. Ever since the communication tower in Dollet was repaired, the previously silent news channels were brimming with life, almost every one showcasing Seifer's court proceedings.

"Ladies and gentlemen watching at home, the former Sorceress' Knight Seifer Almasy has been given one chance to prove his innocence by being realeased under the care of Balamb Garden to become a SeeD, the very people who defeated Sorceress Ultimecia just over a year ago! Will he succeed within the twelve month time frame he has been given? Only time will tell. I'm Aya Greaves and on behalf of the Galbadian News Network, Good-Day!"

Hushed whispers filled the cafeteria, all speculating on how long he will last, whose classes he would be in, but most of all; could he be trusted? The now eighteen year old gazed back over to Xu who was playing with her coffee cup, brow furrowed. She never really liked Seifer, Dios noted, always failing his SeeD exams whilst in her presence. The twenty year old finished playing with her coffee cup and looked back at Dios with her chocolate brown eyes,

"What are you going to do, Dios? Certainly you can't be thinking about still being friends with him regardless of what he's done?"

"Xu… You watched the whole trial with me. Squall, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, Rinoa, even Zell, the one who he pissed off the most testified to Seifer not being Seifer. We just watched a doctor who has dedicated his whole life to Sorceress studies compare what happened to him to a possession. What am I supposed to think?" She felt slightly annoyed at Xu, but truth be told, even Dios was unsure on what she would do when her best friend finally returned. The last time she saw him in person was when he was still Rinoa's boyfriend; assisting the Timber Owls in getting SeeD dispatched for their cause, the catalyst to the horror that was Sorceress Ultimecia and her path of relentless destruction.

"He will forever leave a bitter taste in my mouth Dios." Xu responded, "He is impatient, intolerant of orders and simply doesn't care for anyone but himself and his own personal glory!" Dios frowned, unimpressed with Xu's response. Growing up, Seifer was most definitely caring, especially to his Posse: Raijin and Fujin, and herself, of course. Xu never understood as she only ever saw him during exam time, more specifically, the SeeD exams. "Look, I already know you're disagreeing with me, I can see it written all over your face. But I just want you to be careful; you don't know what he's like now." And with that, Xu got up and left, not wanting to continue the conversation, leaving her cup half empty, her pink lipstick tinting the rims.

Dios sighed, lifting a hand to lightly caress the thick scar on the right side of her neck, the memory of a past failure. She usually has it covered by a high collared, long sleeved shirt, but she had a shift with Dr Kadowaki today and working in such a shirt with a doctor's coat on can sometimes get extremely hot, so she opted for a plain black t-shirt with her black denim shorts and ankle high boots. She let out another sigh, finished her coffee and left the cafeteria, making her way to the Infirmary.


Dr Kadowaki was waiting eagerly for Dios to arrive, the older woman waving her over to her desk as she entered.
"Sit, sit!" Dios did as she was told, sitting across from her. On days like today when the infirmary was deserted, it was a good excuse for the two to just chat the time away. She had already assumed what today's topic would be, beating the dark haired, larger woman to the punch,

"Seifer is coming back as you undoubtedly heard," She started. Dr Kadowaki replied by crossing her arms and nodding in agreement, "I can already see a lot of the students aren't too happy about it, especially Xu."

"What about you? How do you feel about it?" Dr Kadowaki raised her eyebrows, watching Dios put a finger to her chin to think.

"I-I don't know. On one hand I am happy to see him again, but on the other hand, I watched him do some terrible things. I just…" She paused for a moment. Dios was more than excited to see her best friend again, but negative thoughts also plagued her mind and she didn't realise she had started to ramble "What will I say when I see him? What if this whole experience has changed him so much that he doesn't even want to know me anymore? He looked so scared on the TV, what if he has already given up without trying? What if he's sick? What if he fails? What if-" Dr Kadowaki cut her off before she could say any more,

"I think, Dios. You have to think about what he is feeling right now. He could quite possibly have nothing but enemies as he returns to Garden. Does he really need his only friend here on that list?" Dios' mind was still racing, even though what Dr Kadowaki said made perfect sense, she couldn't help but have her doubts. Was he still the Seifer Almasy she grew up with, the Seifer Almasy who was a wiseass but got the job done regardless of the consequences? Dr Kadowaki could still see her concern, "Even if he has changed, he is going to need emotional support, you at least owe him that much." She motioned her hand over to Dios' scarred neck, causing her to cover it with her hand."

"I know." Dios mumbled, still grasping her neck, "If it weren't me hanging there…" She trailed off, remembering her failed mission and, as a consequence, another SeeD Exam Seifer had failed.


The mission was going well, the sixteen year old Dios thought. All the Galbadian official wanted was proof that her husband was cheating, or so she thought. The client had failed to mention that he was also a gang leader, dealing in narcotics and prostitution. Unbeknownst to Dios, whilst she was trailing her target, she was also being followed.

The next thing she knew she was bound by her hands, hanging from a dark warehouse ceiling, a light illuminating her, she was stripped down to her underwear. The boss was right in front of her face, staring at her with a cold glare.

"Now I wonder who sent a pretty little girl like you to spy on me?" His breath reeked of alcohol, other than that his personage was flawless; slicked back, greying brown hair, beady dark brown eyes, freshly shaven and a perfectly tailored suit accentuating the fact that he was slightly obese. He paced around Dios a little, allowing her to see a few of his henchmen in the background, three in total, all wearing similar tailored suits to their boss; beside them a table of numerous bludgeoning weapons and a kitchen knife. If she didn't give them the information they wanted, they were going to beat her until she spoke. The boss stopped in front of her face, greeting her with the smell of alcohol once again, "Now young lady, if you don't want my boys to have a little fun with you, you will tell me who hired you and who you work for." She shuddered as he put a hand to her cheek, caressing it softly. There was no way in hell she was going to compromise her mission.

"No." Her answer was met with a sharp punch to her diaphragm, completely winding her. As she tried to regain her breath she was punched again and it left her gasping.

"I won't ask again. Tell me now." She responded with a glare as she kept trying to suck in air, her vision going fuzzy. Dios knew the boss wasn't impressed in the slightest. "Boys. Beat her till she's black and blue, make the stubborn bitch talk." The men answered with laughter as the boss whisked past her, hearing the door behind her slam shut, then she heard the clinking of a heavy chain as it was lifted from the table, yet her determination would not falter, they were not going to get her to talk.

It must have been days, it felt like forever. The warehouse continuously flooded with her screams as they took turns beating her, either with their fists or one of the contraptions on the table. Occasionally they would stop to mutter amongst themselves in confusion, something about 'bruises' and 'fading too quickly' but she didn't understand. She had no Guardian Force equipped to cast any cure para-magic so there was no way they were talking about her. She heard the door behind her open as the three were preparing their next round of torture. There must have been a change of plan as one of them rushed for the knife on the table and brought it up to Dios' neck, piercing the skin. He twisted the blade, making the gash deeper and larger, then he just left her there, running with the other two past her and out the door she heard slam shut. She was bleeding out; there was nothing she could do but watch as the thick crimson blood flowed down the right side of her body, down her leg and eventually pooling underneath her bound feet.

This is the end. Dios thought, her vision getting darker as she began to lose consciousness. She thought she could hear gunfire and clashing of blades in the next room, and then her hearing went, replaced by a high pitched ringing. Dios barely noticed that the rope bounding her hands was cut and she was now being cradled in someone's arms. She glanced up, seeing a blurred vision of golden blonde hair, pale skin and grey trying to tell her something but she couldn't fight the darkness any longer, letting it overcome her.


"He completely lost it and killed them all. He was already ordered to leave the boss alive but he thought that scum was better off dead anyway." Dios smiled a little, "Turns out he was screwing the prostitutes, so at least the guy's wife wasn't wrong about him cheating." Her hands were fumbling in her lap, the anxiety raising as she remembered those moments she'd rather forget. She heard Dr Kadowaki sigh; they both hated talking about the incident as sometimes the anxiety would get so bad that she would completely refuse to leave the Garden, the safety of her own home, just to avoid the crippling attacks that would render her immobile.

"He failed the exam for losing his cool. He didn't care for his orders as they left his best friend to die. You know as well as I do that he refused to leave your side until you woke up. To this day I am still amazed that you pulled through with only that scar on your neck." It was mutually decided, Seifer needed that support system like she did, but Dios still didn't know what she was going to say when she finally sees him again.

There was not much else to do in the Infirmary, students would trickle in and out every so often to get some 'personal' advice from Dr Kadowaki and Dios put a kiss and a band-aid on a skinned knee of one of the younger children who slipped and fell whilst playing tag with their friends in the Quad. After Dios and Dr Kadowaki shared a light dinner it was time for her to retire to her dorm room.

When she opened the door she was welcomed with the residual scent of her strawberry perfume that she applied that morning. Turning on the light she glanced at the two photo frames sitting on top of her Timber Oak bedside table, one of the pictures was of her beaming parents holding an infant version of her, standing in front of a house she didn't recognize. The other was at her SeeD graduation, with her, Seifer, Raijin and Fujin, all looking considerably younger. But like now, she was the shortest of the four, so in that instance her torso was being held up by Seifer and her legs being held up by Raijin. Fujin was standing in the middle with her arms crossed with a silk silver dress on, the boys wore suits and Dios was in her brand new SeeD uniform, one hand holding onto Seifer's forearm for dear life and the other hand sporting a thumbs up, her face looking equally as positive.

It seemed like such a long time ago that she passed her SeeD exam, but in reality it had only been three years. Things seemed so much easier back then, watching the Disciplinary Committee do their job and occasionally assisting them in the incredibly sneaky jobs that required someone very tiny and very quiet to eavesdrop.

Dios sighed, shrugging off her coat as she made her way to her bed, the fluffy pillows looking all the more inviting the closer she got to them. She pulled out her bed clothes from the bedside table, changing into the white nightie and discarding her clothes on the floor beside her. Feeling lucky that she had another light switch handy next to her bed, she turned off the lights, crawling into bed. Still thinking about Seifer coming back, she drifted into a restless sleep.