Icicle knight, Fiery SeeD
Chapter 10
//\\
Seifer wasn't sure where he had ended up this time. One minute, he had been about to slit Ultimecia's throat, the next he knew, Time Compression had tossed his ass here, wherever here was. Or should he say, whenever, given that he could be truly anywhere in history at the moment.
Wait a moment. He knew this place. This was the Orphanage where he had first met Squall, Trepe, Chicken-wuss and the others. It was just how he remembered it.
Exactly how he remembered it. Right down to the little Squally running away for the umpteenth time in search of Sis. Well, he couldn't have that. Just as the little boy passed him, he stuck out a foot and tripped the little tyke, and for some reason found himself reflexively catching the boy before he hit the ground hurt himself. Setting the child back on his feet, Seifer was briefly stunned by how this younger Squall's eyes showed his every emotion, so totally unlike the frosty orbs of his rival that it was hard to imagine that both looks technically belonged to the same person. And right now Squally (to differentiate between his Squall and this little version of him), was looking up at him with a mixture of hope, fear, and curiosity, the latter of which Seifer recalled used to give Matron frothing fits given the kinds of places little Squally would squeeze himself into.
"Do you know where Sis is?" the question, in such an innocently hopeful tone of voice, made Seifer have to close his eyes so Squally wouldn't see the hatred in them. This was what Ellone had left behind, which was what anyone of the Orphanage Gang would have killed to have for their own. Family, and rock-solid unshakable trust. Squall had never blamed Ellone for her disappearance, even though Seifer had done so from the start, though who knew if Squall still felt that way after Ultimecia and Her mind tricks.
There was really only one answer to the question. The truth. "No, I don't." he truly didn't know where Ellone was during this time, though she'd had to have been with the White SeeDs in this time period, sailing somewhere across the oceans, only stopping briefly for supplies.
Squally's eyes filled with tears at the news. " Sorry to bother you then." He whispered, the first tears already beginning to slide down young cheeks again. Seifer couldn't let those tears stay where they were. Squall Leonhart was the strongest person Seifer knew, and he didn't know how to reconcile that strength with the tears and weakness he saw now, even if the Squall before him wasn't much older than 4 years old.
Awkwardly, and mentally praying to Hyne that no one was around to see the great Seifer Almasy get on his knees to comfort a crying child (he'd kill to keep the story from spreading, it didn't matter that he only existed in this time frame because of Time Compression and he'd be leaving soon) he wrapped his arms around this younger version of Squall. "Don't cry. What if Sis came back right now? Would you want her to see you crying?" Squally mutely shook his head no. "Then buck up. Show Sis that you can be strong, that you can stand up for yourself so that she can be proud of you when she does come back."
Seifer had to sternly discipline himself not to grow teary-eyed as well when Squally turned big and trusting eyes up at him. "You mean that?" Seifer nodded, than stood up straight releasing his armful. Hyne's balls, why was this kid getting to him like this? Abruptly, Squally turned around and ran off leaving Seifer to stare after them in confusion. Then he felt someone sneaking up on him from behind, and whirled to catch the kid with his thieving little hand just a hand's breadth away from Hyperion's perfect edge.
His captive squirmed for Freedom, but Seifer didn't give an inch as he looked his prey over. Then he did a double take, for the boy, all of 5 years old and already arrogant as all of Ifrit's hells, was himself. Blond hair already showing the destruction of Matron's careful morning grooming, dirt smudged on one cheek, a younger version of Seifer squirmed in his older counterpart's grasp, desperate to get away before Matron came and confined him to the house all by himself again, or some such other horrible punishment, for misbehaving.
Although he wanted to laugh at his own memories of far too many afternoons confined to the boring-ass orphanage with nothing to do, Seifer deliberately made himself as intimidating as he thought the boys could handle, no need to scar the kid with his battle mode, nor his interrogation mask. But a little bit of intimidation never hurt anyone, not when it came to this particular boy he had in his clutches.
That was why he felt quite safe in giving the kid a mocking smirk, similar to what he'd give the Chicken if he was being naughty. "No touchie, Kid. That's a real gunblade, you mess with that, and you die."
"What, you'll kill me?" his younger self spat; working frantically to try and reclaim his wrist. The kid's bold words were at odds with his white face and wide sea-green eyes.
Seifer just looked at his younger self, and allowed his smirk to widen, just a touch, and in clear approval of the kid's attitude, not that his young counterpart would be able to tell. "No, but I wouldn't need to. Little boys shouldn't play with live steel. One nick in the wrong place, and your dead, and it would have been all your own fault."
He wanted to say more, but a voice rang out behind him and froze his words in his throat. "Seifer!! Sweet Holy Hyne Child, but just what have you done now?"
Seifer dropped his counterpart's hand like hot coal, an instinctive response to Matron's legendary ire. He was so shocked, that his midget self actually managed to make an escape while he was still gaping at the figure of Edea Kramer that had appeared in his view, exactly as he had last seen her, but minus the cares and guilt that she carried for being the Bitch's vessel. Subjectively, Seifer realized with a start, that that had been less than 24 hours ago. From all that had happened in the interim, the fight to get to the Station, the Lunar Cry, reclaiming Fujin, Lunatic Pandora, Ultimecia, he would have thought it had been longer.
He'd barely managed to cover his shock and recognition behind a thin mask of arrogance when she reached him. "I'm terribly sorry, but Seifer is extremely curious, no matter how many times I tell him to think before acting. I hope he wasn't bothering you too much, was he?"
Seifer managed a thin smirk. "It was more for his own safety than any other reason. Somehow I don't think that you'd want one of your charges to end up with a severed hand or dead because he decided to get too curious about a SeeD's gunblade." He said the last bit just a bit louder than the previous sentence, directed over his shoulder at his chibi double.
"Is that what it's called?" said pipsqueak said, awe in his voice as he emerged from his hiding place in some handy shrubbery. And then was immediately pounced on by Matron's concerned (and smothering) arms for his trouble.
"That's right kid." To demonstrate, he drew Hyperion and held it where it was easily viewable, but far out of the kid's inquisitive reach. Then he sheathed it again, putting temptation out of sight.
It looked as it keeping the gunblade out of sight didn't do anything to mute the kid's admiration for the weapon. Truthfully, Seifer couldn't blame him. To his eyes as well, Hyperion was a masterwork of craftsmanship, possibly only just slightly exceeded by the blue beauty Squall had been carrying around recently. "Could I learn to use one?" the youngster asked Seifer, eyes shining with greed and a touch of lust at the thought of wielding Seifer's pride and joy as he wiggled out of Matron's embrace.
"The gunblade is one of the most difficult weapons to master in existence, kid. Only two people in the whole world that I know of have it mastered, and I'm one of them. Only the whip comes close to it in level of difficulty. I sincerely doubt a shrimp like you is up to the challenge."
Young sea-green eyes glared up at Seifer in an icy glare that he'd seen himself several times in the mirror, mostly when Squall had for one reason or another gotten the better of him in one of their endless challenges or thinly-disguised spars. He'd worn that exact same look whenever he'd vowed to himself and his posse that he'd come out on top the next time the two rivals had clashed. "I won't be small forever!" this miniature version of himself stormed. "Just wait and see! I'll be a knight, and I'll use a gunblade, and no one will be able to tell me I can't do anything again!" he stomped his foot for good measure.
Seifer had to laugh at his younger self's enthusiasm. "Kid, take my advice. Being a knight is much more overrated than it sounds. I knew someone who became a knight, once he came to his senses, he realized that it cost much more than he ever imagined it would, and that that cost, made the post not worth the effort." Regardless of the fact that he hadn't seen or been able to talk to Squall since their fight in Lunatic Pandora, a fact that began to worry Seifer now that he thought about it, he knew that his rival had been seriously questioning his time in the Evil Bitch's company, and that the answers that the brunet gunblader had been coming up with, hadn't eased his mind regarding his choices either.
Something abruptly tingled the hairs on the back of his neck, he craned his head behind him to see what it was that was triggering his alarms, and then abruptly turned to face the threat fully, Hyperion drawn and ready, charging a Firaga (the last one he had left) into his free hand. "Matron, kid, get back! I'll handle this!"
"No." Matron's voice was remarkably calm, considering that there was an insane time-traveling Evil Sorceress on her literal front doorstep, going so far as to lay a hand on Seifer's right forearm to halt his swing as she walked around him. "She isn't going to be any trouble."
Seifer sneered at the thought. "That Bitch nearly killed me, my posse, and my friends on multiple occasions, took my rival as Her knight, and nearly crushed the flow of Time itself. Why the fuck do you think She won't be any trouble?!"
"I'll thank you to mind your language while you're here, there are several impressionable young minds within hearing distance," Matron said with a hint of steel as she waved an absent-minded hand towards young Seifer, before softening her voice. "And I know She won't be any trouble, because She's here to die."
Something of Seifer's incredulity must have shown on his face, because Matron explained. "A sorceress cannot rest in peace unless there is someone nearby to take possession of her powers. She is here to die, to pass Her powers on and then fade away." She took a few more steps around Seifer and stood directly in front of Ultimecia, arms open in welcome. "I'll take them. You may rest now."
What happened next came so fast that Seifer thought he might have imagined it, but to him it looked like the hard lines of the Evil Bitch's face softened, just a bit, and then violet-red balls of energy soared from Her into Matron's body. When the lightshow finished, there were only the three of them there, Seifer, Matron, and his double.
She swayed, prompting Seifer to automatically reach out and help her to a sitting position on the front stoop. "Seifer," she asked faintly, "Could you run inside and fetch me a glass of water, child?"
Little Seifer looked briefly rebellious, but a raised eyebrow from Matron eroded his protests and sent him scurrying inside. Once he was gone, Matron turned that eyebrow on the grown up Seifer, making him shift a bit. Damn it, she still had that way that made him feel as if he was completely transparent to her gaze, or rather, he still was susceptible to that look, given that she was still in the same time period when she'd used it most frequently. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt that you're from this time." The words were said calmly, almost matter of fact.
It was useless to lie. "No," Seifer admitted. "I'm a SeeD, from Balamb Garden. Our charter compels us to stop sorceresses who threaten the stability of everyone, who collects and uses power for the main purpose of enslaving or destroying the world."
She nodded. "Then I think it's time that you went back to where you belong. There's only room for one Seifer here, you know."
She was right, as always. There was no reason for him to stay here, even someone as dense in the realm of social niceties as Squall would have figured it out. He didn't belong here, not with his little twerp of a double here already. It was time to return to where he did belong. Then he froze as something occurred to him. Matron looked at him, faintly scandalized as he suddenly began to laugh for apparently no reason. "Something funny?" she asked as he regained control of himself again.
He shook his head. She wouldn't get it. Yeah, it was time for him to go home, but first he had to make a detour to pick up one very stubborn Ice Princess who no doubt needed a reminder.
//\\
Squall found himself lost. He was lost, and alone in a desolate landscape that reflected the one inside. He was worthless. He'd given everything to his Lady, but it hadn't been enough. Now She was gone, She who had promised not to ever leave him, but had abandoned him when it suited Her interests anyway. His own choices blocked any hope of return to the life he's had before She had come into his life. There was nowhere for the infamous Sorceress Knight to go, every country that had suffered under his Lady's hand would now be baying for his blood, a hunt that wouldn't let up until he was dead, or worse. He was alone now, more isolated now then he'd ever been before, even when Sis left. He'd still had Matron and the other orphans then to keep him company, even if he hadn't realized that they were there for him at the time. Even Shiva had left him now, unwillingly Drawn away in the final moments of that last confrontation with Seifer before Time Compression. He felt himself shivering, the coldness of abandonment and aloneness drawing deep into his bones, freezing him in place.
He didn't know how long he sat there, locked in his misery. He was so wrapped up in self loathing and cold that he failed to realize he had company until a hand smacked him none-too-gently across the back of his head. "Hey, Puberty-Boy! Up and at 'em!"
He started in surprise, unsure what Seifer was doing there. No, Seifer couldn't be here, this was just a hallucination dreamed up by his subconscious to torment him the moment it evaporated. But, hallucinations didn't have substance, couldn't physically touch the ones they tormented, and the vision of Seifer had smacked him hard, he could still feel the sting on his scalp. Dumbfounded, he simply stared.
The vision of Seifer didn't go away, simply gave him an aggrieved look. He recognized that look; Seifer wore that look whenever the blond had come to bully him into eating, whenever he'd felt that it had been too long since the brunet visited the cafeteria in favor of the Library or the Training Center. He'd never been able to ignore Seifer in that mood, or any mood for that matter, and Squall found that he didn't know right then how to react in the face of it.
"Seifer?" he blurted out in sheer surprise. The arrogant blond merely smirked triumphantly in conformation of his identity. For once Squall didn't mind that Seifer had been able to make him react, his mind was far too busy trying to figure out how, or perhaps more importantly, why Seifer had found him.
"Speechless with awe, Ice Princess, that such awesomeness as myself is deigning to grace your lowly self with his almighty company? I mean, logically speaking, the time of one with such good looks and power should be greatly in demand. You should be grateful that I'm spending my valuable time rescuing your stupid ass."
Squall could only gape as Seifer rambled on, every arrogant syllable only confirming the blond's identity. Then he scowled up at the blond as Seifer's words sunk in. "I thought I told you to never call me that again."
Seifer only smirked knowingly. "You're brooding like a fucking angsty princess who's waiting for some stupid asshole to come save her helpless inbred ass, in a place that is so fucking freezing that it could give even Shiva frostbite, and remember Puberty-Boy; I'm not the one wearing leather and fur around here. With all that in mind, I think that I'm fucking entitled to call you whatever the fuck I want."
Not sure what to say in the face of that argument, Squall merely muttered, "Whatever," as he stood and looked away from Seifer's face. After a minute of staring at the ground, he spoke again without lifting his gaze, "Why are you here, Seifer."
"What, no protestations of unending joy at my appearance? And I already told you: I'm risking loosing several tender portions of my anatomy to frostbite with the noble intention of rescuing your ungrateful ass and dragging you back with me."
Squall had to laugh hollowly at that. "Bring me back to what, trial? I think I'd rather stay here, thanks."
He couldn't contain his wince when another of Seifer's hands smacked the backside of his head, again. "Did the Bitch take your brain with Her when She died? I'm taking you back to Garden, you asshole, just like I've meant to do since Timber."
Something in Squall froze at that statement. Seifer…couldn't have meant that the way he heard it. No. It was only wishful thinking that would only end with the pointy edge of Hyperion through his chest if he ever voiced it aloud. To avoid that matter, the way that he'd avoided other uncomfortable issues the blond had raised over the years, he focused on the other piece of information that Seifer had let slip. "So… She's dead?" as soon as the words left his mouth, he mentally cringed at them, and at the note of…what? in his voice.
Instead of reacting to his stupid question with scorn as he half-expected, Seifer merely looked at him, frank and uncompromising, in a way that still managed to allow a bit of...something else that made him a bit uncomfortable, to creep in. Then the blond nodded firmly, allowing no illusions to rest within Squall's mind. Surprisingly, he didn't feel the flood of anguish he was expecting to feel at the news, just a calm acceptance. "Did you do it?" he couldn't stop himself from asking, suddenly morbidly curious to know what had happened to his once Lady.
Seifer shook his head slowly. "No. I meant to, but She got away in Time Compression before I could land the final blow. But don't get your hopes up," he added with a cautionary glance toward Squall. "Just before I came here, I saw Her passing Her powers on to Matron so She could die, myself. She's dead."
"… …" Squall didn't reply, abruptly finding the cracked earth beneath his feet supremely interesting. Abruptly, he started shaking, and sat down hard to prevent himself from falling on his face right in front of Seifer's gloating gaze. He'd never hear the end of it otherwise. Briefly he chanced a look up at Seifer, caught a telltale smirk, and retaliated with a freezing glare that promised unspeakable horrors to the blond's unmentionables if Seifer dared to utter so much as a syllable. He knew better than to allow Seifer even a word in situations like this. Then he returned his gaze to the ground.
It was strange, but even though silence had returned to the empty landscape (truly a feat given that Seifer had almost no patience to speak of and preferred to fill empty spaces with noise and energy if at all possible), it lacked the oppressive feel that it had had before Seifer had arrived, just a few minutes ago. It felt almost, peaceful, if that word could be used to describe any area that SeeDs inhabited.
Oh, sweet Shiva, SeeD. Seifer had said something to the effect that he was planning on taking Squall back to Garden with him. How could the blond even think that was possible given what he'd done? For Hyne's sake, Trabia Garden had been destroyed on his orders, and had ordered Galbadia Garden's population to be massacred as well. Not to mention, he'd led not one but two attacks on Balamb Garden, and had come close to destroying it completely both times, the facility only having escaped that fate due to Seifer's brilliance as a commander. And that was only what he'd done to SeeD, who, being mercenaries, should understand the dictates of a client's orders, not that that explanation served as justification for what he'd done. That wasn't counting those thousands he'd ordered to killed in D-District and other similar prisons under Galbadian control and personally, people whose only crime had been, deliberately or not, being in the way of Ultimecia's path to power, and those who had died at the hand of the Galbadian army in its rampage across the land searching for Ellone, or those who had died due to the Lunar Cry he had directly triggered. There was no way back for him, not after what he'd done.
He huddled further into himself, as if to protect himself from the revelation he had just experienced. No sooner had he done that however, then a familiar arm dropped around his shoulders, well muscled from long hours of gunblade practice.
"Yeah Leonhart, you're coming back to Garden with me. I should be able to dispense with a full criminal trial and sentencing, given that I know that you were under mental influence the entire time you served with the Evil Bitch, though I don't think I'll be able to get around at least a brief suspension from duty and probation, at least until it's proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that your free of the Bitch's control." Seifer's voice was soft, but still as confidant and matter-of-fact as always. So much so, that it took Squall a few moments to get past the tone and take in that Seifer had actually said.
"What did you mean I was under mental influence while I served Her? My mind was perfectly clear." He paused, and then continued. "And just why would you haveany say in my sentence?"
Seifer's smirk was razor sharp. "As to the second question, you're looking at Balamb Garden's military Commander, who has direct control over all SeeDs and their deployments." Seifer paused to let that sink in before continuing. "As to the first, Her Evil Bitchiness tried to get into my mind as well, before She took you as Her knight. Once She decided against me as a potential knight, I could literally see Her take you over. There wasn't anything I could do at the time, and by the time that I ran into you in Deling City for the parade, you were already firmly under Her spell. Shit, half of my 'interrogation' was a glorification of Her. Well, not specifically. But you did take slights and jokes about Her as seriously as you would if someone called your gunblade a hunk of junk."
Eyes blazing silver at the indirect insult, Squall had Seifer on his back before he could blink, one deceptively thin hand choking the taller blond, hard. After a pointed minute to get his point across, he released Seifer, who merely sat up again and cast Cure on his bruises, grinning as if he'd just won the lottery. "Don't call Lionheart junk." was all he told the obnoxiously smiling maniac.
"I wasn't. That's a mighty fine piece of work you've got there, almost at the level of Hyperion here." Seifer patted his sheath for emphasis. "But that just proves my point."
"You have a point?"
"Here I've been directly insulting your Sorceress more or less constantly for the past few minutes or so, not that it's exactly easy to tell time here, and you haven't reacted once. But one indirect crack about your gunblade; and you put me on my back. If I'd tried that even when we met in Lunatic Pandora, you'd have at least attempted to kill me after the first joke."
Frowning, Squall thought back to his own memory of Seifer's interrogation. While he did remember relentlessly questioning Seifer about the true purpose of SeeD, there had been times he'd shocked the blond that had nothing to do with Seifer's inability to provide a satisfactory answer. Times when…
Shiva's fingers. Seifer had been right. Because it was more than just one interrogation, every time he remembered that She had given him an order he would normally have hesitated at, everytime he had had the smallest doubt about what he was doing, something about Her had erased his doubts and convinced him that he was doing the right thing. But that didn't erase his guilt. Not by a long shot. No matter that he'd been following orders, no matter that She might have held his mind the entire time he was Her knight, that wouldn't make any difference to the hordes of angry civilians who would be screaming for his blood. And Garden wouldn't be able to protect him forever, given that many of those would likely be Garden clients, people upon whom Garden depended to support its very existence…
As always, Seifer proved yet again that he could see right through him. With yet another whack upside the head, the third since this conversation began; the blond skillfully put his fears to rest. "Don't pretend to be the idiot I know you aren't, Leonhart. You passed the SeeD exam, right?" Puzzled, Squall nodded. "And I know you got top marks in our class on the SeeD charter. What's the immunity clause that's built into every contract?"
Wrinkling his brow after yet another quelling glare at the blond just on general principals, Squall reeled off the legalese, unsure where Seifer was going with this. "'While Garden will endeavor at all possible to keep Its presence in the field quiet, It and those employed there…'" he trailed off wonderingly, unsure that he was drawing the right conclusion.
Seifer finished the rest, the light of triumph bright in sea-green eyes. "'…are not legally responsible for any and all actions taken under contract...' You get where I'm going with this, Leonhart?"
Squall shot him an astonished (for him) look. "You wouldn't dare. There was no contract."
Seifer only smirked knowingly. "No legal one, true, but according to Matron, taking a knight is roughly equivalent to signing a SeeD contract. And she should know; she's the one who founded SeeD, in addition to being a Sorceress for years after all. Granted, it may take some finessed paperwork for the populace to accept that…" he trailed off with a smirk and a lazy shrug.
To his horror, Squall found his eyes growing misty, and hurriedly turned his head away before Seifer could see them and mocked him for it. Still he couldn't help but ask, "Why are you going to all this trouble for me? You'll just leave me alone again after this."
Squall abruptly found his head physically seized and forcibly dragged around to meet Seifer's furious expression. "I, leave you?" the blond exploded, incredulity loud and clear in his voice. "Puberty-Boy, you need to get your eyes checked. I never left you, not once; I was one of the ones, if not the only onewho didn't leave. I was there with you the whole damn time and you never noticed. If anyone, you're the one who left me."
He couldn't breathe properly. That had to be the reason why he felt so lightheaded all of a sudden. He was twisted at a bad angle and couldn't draw a full breath. That had to be it. Only Seifer's burning gaze told a different story, one that the blond needed, no, demanded that he accept. A story that Squall found himself reluctant to think about, because to do so would be to accept a truth he had shied away from for years, a truth that he had put aside and avoided thinking about, uncomfortable with what it meant for his worldview at the time.
Seifer swore again, this time in shock, as if the blond had just realized something devastating, the most creatively vicious phrases that Squall had ever heard spilling rapidly from hard lips. "Hyne's fucking balls, why the fuck did things turn out like this?! And don't try and answer that," the blond abruptly cautioned Squall, seeing the brunet about to open his mouth and try to respond to Seifer's rant. The blond continued to mumble, slightly less intelligibly than before, though Squall could still make out enough to make him raise a brow at the inventiveness of the cursing. Seifer was truly surpassing his usual creativity today. Already he'd heard no less than 7 variations of the simple concept of "Bitch", along with 5 takes on "Bastard", but that was just what he could hear without the hearing boost that Junctioning Shiva gave.
Abruptly, Seifer seemed to realize that he was still holding Squall's face in a bruising grip, and snatched his hands back so fast that one would have thought they'd been dipped in acid. A breath later, the coolness of Cure whispered over the minor hurts as he sat back on his heels. Something just wasn't adding up. He'd never seen Seifer this worked up before, and considering that Seifer had used his skills to fight out more than one temper tantrum in the past, that was saying allot. What was bothering Seifer like this? The way Seifer was reacting, Squall would have thought that something had happened to Seifer's precious posse. Though it was unlikely, for all Squall knew, Fujin and or Raijin might have been hurt or even dead, only he knew for a fact that Seifer wouldn't be hanging around him if that was true. He'd still be out there, slaughtering those responsible and even those who weren't, until someone managed to take him down. So, given that Seifer was here, wherever here was, and not avenging his posse by any and all means available, that indicated that Fujin and Raijin were safe, and the one provoking this storm of swearing was himself. Only Squall had no idea of what he'd done to ignite such a firestorm.
"Seifer…" he trailed off, unsure of just what he wanted to say. "Sorry" seemed woefully inadequate, even if he knew exactly what he was apologizing for. "Get away from me" was also considered, but was rejected almost before his mind thought of it, along with several other possibilities. Shiva's fingers, he'd never been the best with emotions, that was Seifer's specialty, and now, he wished he had the blond's skill with words. He wished that he could say something! "…I…"
He jumped as Seifer's arm wound about his shoulders again. "Got something you want to say, Squally-boy? You know just how much I'm an idiot. You'll have to be a bit more clear so I can understand you." The smirk was back in Seifer's voice, clearly audible even though his face was turned away from the brunet.
Squall didn't know if he were relieved, or irritated with the blond. Relieved, because that strange fit had passed, irritated because he knew that he was missing something important, and Seifer was playing innocent, hiding something big from him, that he could sense was important. And he wanted to know what it was. "You're hiding something."
"No shit. What a marvel of deductive logic that was from you, Ice Princess. With insights like that, you've almost got Chicken-wuss beat in the brains department."
Squall frowned to himself as he let the insult slide off. Seifer hadn't denied it. But what was he hiding? He'd come right out and told him that Ultimecia was dead, and had outlined his plan to protect Squall from the righteous fury and possible retribution of those who had suffered under Her rampaging search for Ellone. He'd been almost painfully honest about all that, so why was he hiding things now? What was there left to hide? And it wouldn't have been the first tantrum, of Seifer's Squall had experienced, so why was Seifer attempting to conceal the cause of this latest one, impressive as it might be? "Seifer, just tell me."
"And soil your shiny blue blade with my blood as you put it through my skull? Not to mention that your leathers are disgusting enough without my brains splattered all across them as well. No thanks."
"Why would I kill you?"
"Really pissing you off isn't a good reason? I actually tend to value my skin in one piece, hard as that might seem to comprehend, so I'm keeping my mouth firmly shut on this matter."
"You can keep your mouth shut?" Squall couldn't keep himself from muttering.
Seifer cast an offended look his way, one blond brow raised in good-humored offence. "That was Chicken-wuss who blew the mission and started the whole sob story, not me. I was the one who managed to actually accomplish your task in Timber, all on my lonesome and with Trepe on my ass no less, while you and your well-reinforced flunkies were cowering outside the broadcast station in fear of some pitiful Galbadian soldiers. That reminds me, Puberty-Boy, did you do anything to up the training routines for the Galbadian Army while you and the Bitch were in power there? Because frankly, the quality of those 'guards' I encountered there were pitiful. A roomful of those weren't enough for me to even work up a sweat. It's hard to believe that your dad used to be one of them."
"…my….Dad?"
"Yeah," And Seifer actually looked slightly contrite over his slip. "Apparently he's still alive. He's the President of Esthar at the moment. He didn't even know that you existed, at least not before I told him about you after he'd hired us for breaking into the Lunatic Pandora in search of Ellone. He'd left for Esthar in search of Ellone when she was kidnapped as a child before his girlfriend realized she was pregnant, and never came back to find out that she'd died in childbirth. At least, that's what Ellone told me."
"…" Squall didn't know how to react to the news that he still had family when he'd always considered himself an orphan. Finally he muttered "whatever", not knowing what else to say. Was he supposed to be happy that he had a father when that same parental figure had never bothered to try and find out he existed? Maybe overhearing Zell in the cafeteria all those times had given him the wrong idea of family, because if he went by Zell's definition of the word; Shiva could almost be considered his parent, much more than any President of Esthar could be, no matter that one half of his genetic code had been donated by the man, given that the GF had always been there for him and supported him through most everything in his life, at least that was the case after he got old enough to Junction. He didn't need a father; he was more than old enough to take care of things himself.
Seifer only chuckled slightly. "Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say."
The silence between them grew again. As the moment lengthened, Squall realized that Seifer had weaseled his way out of explaining his outburst yet again. And while it was tempting to just let the matter die, something told him that it was vitally important that Seifer explain himself. And when dealing with Seifer in this mood, brute force was the only way to get the blond talking, as in, condition for losing one of their spars, brute force. Anything less was a waste of time. And their fight in the Lunatic Pandora had been interrupted by the advent of Time Compression… an idea to make the blond talk began to take shape.
"We never finished our fight."
"Huh?" was Seifer's intelligent response. Not bothering to reply, Squall stood up and unsheathed Lionheart, giving Seifer a meaningful look as he did so. The blond caught on quickly. "You're serious, Puberty-Boy? Any conditions you want to add to keep things interesting?"
"No Junctions, no magic, no Limits and no potions. I win, you explain yourself. Fight ends at first blood or submission, whatever first."
Seifer stood, grinning arrogantly as he unsheathed Hyperion. "And if I win, you come back to Garden without a fuss, and you keep your pretty little nose out of my business."
Squall merely nodded, waiting for the minor light show that was signified Seifer was unJunctioning his various GFs, before attacking head on, Lionheart catching Hyperion with a clang of specially tempered steel.
As the fight went on Squall finally had the opportunity to evaluate and appreciate just how much Seifer's skills had improved over the long fight with Ultimecia. But the blond wasn't the only one who had improved and Squall could feel a hot, bloody joy well up within him as he matched his rival strike for strike. This, this was pure sparring, with nothing resting on the blades but bragging rights and their private wager. But just because the lives of thousands didn't rest on Hyperion and Lionheart as they clashed, separated, and clashed again, didn't mean that he could take the match lightly. Seifer would kill him without hesitation if he did that. He's do the same in Seifer's place. And Squall had just enough pride that he wouldn't let the blond win without a fight.
He shifted his grips, trying for an underhand thrust, but found himself having to duck an overhead slash from Hyperion instead. By the time he looked up, the opening he was going for was gone, fixed in the split-second he'd taken his eye off it. But while Seifer had closed that one hole, another had opened up. He went for it, nearly cursing aloud as Seifer blocked his strike at the last possible moment. They were in a perfect stalemate, something that hadn't happened since that fateful duel that had ended with both participants marked for life.
But no stalemate could go on forever. In real combat, the use of magic, GFs and limit breaks kept such dead periods from continuing indefinitely, if they developed at all. With all the fancy tricks outlawed by the conditions for the duel, it was a battle of stamina, the first to give under the punishing pace would lose, and Squall was determined that that would not be him. Of course, he knew that Seifer was equally determined, but that just made things fun.
There, another opening, Squall dodged, ducked, and thrust, Lionheart ending up a hairsbreadth away from Seifer's throat. Only he'd left himself open in that thrust, resulting in Hyperion's point gently pricking his ribs over his belly. The result was obvious to an idiot. Double kill, mutually assured destruction, tie, draw, all meaning the same thing. They had both lost.
The shock was naked on Seifer's face as they broke apart. Squall didn't need to look up from his immediate painstaking inspection of Lionheart's edge to see it, and knew that if his control were any less, then Seifer would have seen an expression of mirroring shock on his own face. This had never happened before, not in all their years of picking fights with each other. The usual method of operation between them would be that one or the other would propose the spar/fight, one or the other would win, and the winner would lord it over the other, until yet another spar/fight had been provoked and the other rival won. That was how it had always been, or at least how it had been until now.
Finally convinced that Lionheart had taken no irreparable damage in the spar, Squall looked up from his gunblade and speared Seifer with a "well" glare. It was time for Seifer to spill his guts as per their agreement. As expected, Seifer looked mulish, unwilling to speak up, though it likely just for appearances given that Seifer no longer had any choice wither to talk or not. Squall snorted to himself as Seifer opened and closed his mouth several times, apparently unable to decide just how to phrase his explanation. No matter. There was no way now for Seifer to get out of his side of the bargain.
It happened so fast, that Squall nearly missed it. Instead of speaking, Seifer had walked up to him, clasped Squall's face between his hands, and laid a surprisingly gentle kiss on surprised lips.
//\\
Ok, here's how it goes. My muse has made an executive decision (on which I wasn't consulted in the least given that there's a good bit more I wanted to write) that this story is over. However, if I get enough reviews asking for more, I might, might be able to drag out a little more closure to this story. I did manage to get Seifer and Squall together like I promised in the summery (at least I like to think so, I'll leave it up to your judgment withier or not I actually succeeded). I'll hold off adding the complete marker for at least a week for wither or not I get the reviews encouraging me to add more or not. If I do decide to add more, the complete marker will only be added when it's done. So if it stays up longer than a week, know that I'm working on adding the conclusion.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you my readers for sticking with me so long. It's been real fun working on this for you. Working on this has given me a real appreciation for what it takes to write a multi-chapter story, and a new sympathy for those writers who have stories that extend to double or triple the number of chapters that mine does, and I sincerely admire what it must have taken, or still takes, to keep it going so long.
Thanks for all of your advice and encouragement.