No Turning Back
Chapter 9 Home
He had forgotten how pushy Rinoa could be.
That was probably the reason why he broke up with her, or at least he told himself that. Know he knows that had another reason. He still loved her.
"Hurry up!" Rinoa said after dragging him from the hotel in Timber.
After Rinoa showed up in Timber's Hotel and told him Quistis needed him, he couldn't believe his ears. He thought that Quistis would be mad at him, that's what he had expected, not that she missed him and needed him. Rajin told him of their true reason to return to Garden, at first he was mad at them, after all he could take care of himself, but he was also touched by their friendship and companionship. Quistis was going to Cetra, and so was the whole orphanage gang, inclusive Rinoa.
"The boat is leaving in twenty minutes!" Rinoa shouted before walking away without them.
While he did agree with Squall, for a first, that he rather would have traveled just with the three of them, but it didn't make sense. They fastest way to get to Cetra was by boat (or airship. But Cid had taken the Ragnarok by himself. That egocentric man!). And with only one ship per day they didn't have much choice to board the same one. Nobody wanted to wait one more day to see their friend.
Luckily it was a big ship. He could avoid them easily.
But he found out that he didn't want that.
He wanted the same bond he had with them as children. He knew that would take a lot of time (even more so with Squall and Zell) but he would try his best.
So first he talked to Rinoa. As his ex-girlfriend she knew more about him then the others. And with their shared experience off being possessed by the Sorceress, Rinoa forgave him easily and she was now his biggest ally on this ship, beside Fujin and Rajin, of course.
Irvine was next. He was the only one that still remembered him from their childhood when he attacked them in Deling City. He told Irvine about the first time he saw their Matron, and what choice he did make that day. In return Irvine told his story, about how he choked while he was ordered to kill the Sorceress, to kill his Matron. The choice they made for the people they love, that are the reason that brought them together.
Selphie was a lot harder. For her he needed Rinoa's help. She was still angry about him for the attack on Trabia, even while she knows he didn't order them, as Rinoa pointed out. They talked a long time, and when Seifer promised he would come to Trabia with Selphie soon and he would help rebuild the Garden there, Selphie slowly warmed up to him.
While he expected Squall to be the hardest to say sorry to, it turned out to be Zell. Zell completely ignored him. Only with a bunch of hot-dogs and the others with him would Zell listen to what Seifer had to say. They have a long way to go, the hurt lies deep with Zell. But Selphie told him: "A man's love goes through his stomach. Bring him a hotdog every day and he will love you in no-time!"
After Seifer apologized and told Squall his side of the story, Squall only said one thing, "If you ever hurt her, I'll kill you."
x-x-x-x
Quistis hadn't felt this good in a long time. They had been back for days and all she did was sit on the beach and relax.
And it felt so good!
She did talk with Ellone and Edea about almost everything, except about how she had saved Seifer.
"I am Ultimecia. Time shall compress...All existence denied. Reflect on your... Childhood... Your sensation... Your words... Your emotions... Time... It will not wait... No matter...how hard you hold on. It escapes you... And..."
"Is it over? Let's go! Let's go back to our time!" Irvine said.
"Shut up! Just calm down and think where we have to go." Selphie half-whispered half-screamed.
"Careful guys! Don't pick the wrong time!" Zell warned.
"Whatever you do, don't fall into a time warp!"
But she did.
She was on a beach. With no way back (The 'Love friendship, and courage!' as Laguna told them, didn't bring her home or to the others).
Walking…walking…walking…until she saw a lighthouse.
"I'm home?"
It was the orphanage, but it wasn't broken down. It was as she remembered it, how it was when she lived there.
She walks towards the lighthouse when she sees him, Seifer.
He is laying face-down in the sand. For a moment Quistis thinks he is dead, and she doesn't dare move any closer to him. She doesn't want to see his body if he's dead.
Thankfully, Seifer grunts and she hurry's towards him. Reaching him she turns him on his back. But what she sees scares her. His sea-green eyes are almost pitch-black.
She scrambles away, but he is ontop of her in no time. Pinning her arms and legs she can't move. Even if she could, she doesn't have the strength for it anymore.
Putting his arm on his throat he slowly suffocates her. Quistis pleads with her eyes for him to stop, but he doesn't. He couldn't.
It is only when a small girl with blond hair walks past them, without seeing them thankfully, that make Seifer pull his arm away.
That little girl was talking to an older woman, Ultimecia!
"No!" Seifer screams. The little girl hears the scream and runs into the house. Ultimecia disappeared, to Hyne knows where.
Quistis, in the meantime, is trying to control her breathing. Her blue-eyes looking scared to Seifer, whose own eyes have returned to their own sea-green color.
"Quis, please. It wasn't my fault, I didn't know what happened. Please give me a chance to make it up to you, to all of you. Let us gain back that piece what we have lost".
Quistis can't say anything. The bruise already turning blue on her throat.
Sitting as far away as he can, while still being unnoticeable by the others. "What happened?" He asks her?
Quistis takes her time to look at Seifer. With the black-ness gone from his eyes she knows he is back in his own mind, but for how long? The Sorceress was dead, they had defeated her, but how could she still have such a strong hold on Seifer? While staying alert for anything she asks him. "What's the last you remember?"
Looking sadly he answers her, "Bringing Rinoa to Adel."
So she told him what had happened, using Laguna's own words about what he had said to them before they were swallowed by Time Compression. "Ultimecia lives far in the Future where none of us can technically exist. There's only one way to make yourself exist in a world like that! As friends, don't forget one another! As friends, believe in one another! Believe in your friends' existence! And they'll also believe in yours. To be friends, to like one another, and to love one another... You can't do these things alone. You need somebody. Right, guys? What place reminds you of your friends? Imagine being in that place with all your friends. Once time compression begins, think of that place and try to get there! That's all! That place will welcome you. You'll be able to get there no matter what period you're in! You need love and friendship for this mission! And the courage to believe it. It's all about love, friendship, and courage!"
Dear Laguna, such an optimistic person. How she hopes she will see him (and the others) again.
"So how did you get here?"
"I fell in a time warp. Don't know how to get back."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Laguna tell you that for the only way to live were to be with your friends and the people you love? Maybe that's why you fell in a time warp." He sounded so hopeful. He didn't have to say it out loud for her to hear what he didn't say. 'You fell because you still love me?' She knows that she still loves him, but is that love strong enough to get them home, their real home?
"…Maybe." She finally said. "Give me your hand."
Shocked that she asks for physical contact after what he had done (or rather the Sorceress via him) to her, he slowly puts his hand towards her. Leaving it hanging just centimeters from her own hand, so she could still choose to touch him or not.
She did.
In a flash they were back. Quistis could see Esthar in the distance.
Removing her hand from Seifer's grip she walks away without a glance back, she left him standing there, while she walked towards the Estharian Palace. Where hopefully her friends were waiting for her.
She did find them there; or rather they found her wandering the streets in Esthar. They told her they had all returned in Esthar, but not on the same day. Irvine and Selphie arrived together, with Zell only hours behind them. Two days later Squall and Rinoa were back. And one week later Quistis was finally home.
They took her to the palace and she slept for two days straight.
She didn't tell them about her encounter with Seifer.
x-x-x-x
Finally they had arrived at their childhood-home. Everyone took the time to admire the work Cid and Edea had done on the orphanage since last winter.
Rajin spotted Quistis sitting on the beach and he nudges Seifer and points in her direction.
Without wasting time, he runs at full speed towards the beach. The others see him go, but don't follow him. They know the two of them have to speak first, so they let them, while they greeted Edea, Ellone and Cid. (Who had just got here himself; there were some problems with the Ragnarok, somehow…)
Hearing running footsteps, Quistis turns her head around to see Seifer running towards her. Standing up she runs up to him at full speed, and when they meet their lips are locked and their hands are stuck in the other's hair.
Their reunion went on for minutes, before the need for air became too great and they had to pull apart.
"I'm so sorry." They both said at the same time.
"I shouldn't have left you in Esthar." Quistis said.
"I shouldn't have let you go when we were little." Seifer whispers in her hair.
"I should've been with you during your trials."
"I should've told you I knew you, when we first met in Garden again."
"I should have never let you go in Timber; I should have stopped you leaving with her."
"I shouldn't have made your life difficult when you became an Instructor, I should've been happy for you."
"You should just kiss her already!" Selphie shouted from the house. Ducking back inside when Edea looks at her sternly.
Quistis starts laughing, a laugh he hadn't heard in so long. A wonderful laugh he hopes he will hear for a long time.
"I guess she is right."
Quistis kisses Seifer, and the cries of joy could be heard from the house.
The End.