Author's note: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters. This is AU.

Discoveries

Quistis was not sure what to make of Seifer Almasy. He was rude, arrogant, stubborn, and opinionated, and yet he was oddly considerate and gentle to. Half the time she was only moments away from wanting to strangle him. The man presented two rather different personas to the world. On the one hand, there was what he said and how he acted, and then on the other hand, there were the things he actually did. Seifer had actually had the gall to complain about her presence here (and after he had pretty much kidnapped her as well as refused to let her leave), but it was his bed that she was sleeping in while he sleep on the floor in the main room if the cabin. Or the fact that it was Seifer who had gotten her several changes of clothes (she didn't where they had come from and she wasn't going to ask).

Seifer didn't tend to take credit for the nice things he did. With a little prodding, both Fuujin and Raijin were willing to tell her some stories about their adventures with Seifer. The man might act like a lout, but he was far kinder than he wanted people to know. Quistis rather liked him when he wasn't being completely unreasonable. However, she did want to know what his story was when it came to Adel. It was clear that he knew the woman and that he didn't like her. Other than that, Quistis was in the dark. From the way Fuujin and Raijin didn't talk about it, she would guess that there was some fairly significant history there. Quistis didn't want to pry exactly, but she would rather like to know just what she had gotten pulled into. It was bad enough Adel wanted her ranch. Being pulled into a personal vendetta would not help matters any.

But everyone was being rather closed mouth about the subject, and Quistis figured she would just have to be patient if she wanted answers. At least they were beginning to have a better idea of just what Adel was up to. Almost all of the plots of land she had bought so far bordered one another. It made a wide corridor across Centra. It would be perfect for a railroad. Not only would the railroad itself bring profit, but it would also increase the value of the land around it. Caledonia Canyon Ranch would fill in the only gap in Adel's properties. Quistis sighed. Adel wasn't going to give up. Not when she stood to make so much money off her scheme.

Glancing down at the map, Quistis rubbed her temples. They knew why Adel wanted her land. Quistis just wasn't sure what they could do about it other than deny Adel the ranch. They had no way to prove that Adel might have acquired the rest of the land illegally. Hell, Quistis didn't even know if it had been acquired illegally. She was also a little worried about how her staff was doing without her. Did they know she was still alive? It had occurred to Quistis was the easiest way for Adel to take control of Caledonia Canyon Ranch was to claim that Quistis was dead. Without her father or herself, there were no other legal heirs to the property.

She would need to take care of that as soon as possible. Quistis knew what she wanted to do anyway. The ranch would be split equally between Irvine, Squall, and Zell. That seemed fair. Even if all three of them got married, the land was enough to support several families. They would take good care of the ranch, and they would be happy there. That was what was most important to Quistis. She wanted her home to taken care of by people who cared about the place and the people there.

"Hey."

Quistis jumped at the sound of Seifer's voice. He had come up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Oh, it's you."

He leaned over her shoulder. "You've been busy. You have a good memory."

She glanced at the various lists and notes she had made with a sigh. "It's the least I can do. It's not like I can do anything else right now."

"I'm heading over to Deling to pick up some supplies. Do you want anything? Or you could come with me if you want. If you braid your hair and put a kerchief over it, I doubt anyone will recognize you unless you've spent a lot of time there."

Quistis smiled. "No, if we had to go somewhere else, Papa liked to shop in Dollet. Just give me five minutes."

She wasn't sure if it was a great idea to go out right now, but getting out of the cabin for awhile would do her a mood a world of good.