Author's note: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters. This is AU.
Aftermath
Quistis was not especially pleased to be pulled away from Seifer a few minutes later, but since the marshal wanted to talk with her, she didn't think she had a choice. She told Selphie, who as the one who had come to get her, not to left Seifer out of the bed until the doctor came. It did not take Quistis long to find the man in question. He was standing out on her front porch with Rinoa at his side talking with Squall.
"Marshal? You wanted to talk to me?"
He turned to greet her. "Miss Trepe. I'm Marshal Liore. Miss Heartily has filled me in on what was going on here, but I'll need a statement from you as well since this is your land."
Quistis nodded. "Has a doctor been sent for?"
Liore nodded. "Yes, ma'am. He should be here soon. My men are rounding up what's left of Adel's gang. A few of them escaped, but most were too injured to get very far."
She ended up spending the next hour or so talking with Marshal Liore. When he was finally done with her, Quistis found her time eaten up by making arrangements. They were all exhausted, and a number of her crew were injured, but there was still work to do. She sent Selphie and Rinoa to town in order to pick up more food. Quistis wasn't sure if they had enough left to feed everyone who was here now. Marshal Liore had brought about seven men with him, and Quistis had the feeling that she was putting them up for at least the night.
Fuujin was quickly put in charge of dispensing first aid for anyone who hadn't had their injuries dealt with yet, and when Dr. Kadowaki finally arrived, Quistis was more than relieved. Seifer was not the worst injured of their group; that was Raijin. But by the time that Selphie and Rinoa had returned, Quistis had the good news that all her of her people would be fine. Irvine, Seifer, and Raijin would all need a good deal of rest and time to recover, but they would be fine and make a full recovery.
There were other things that Quistis would need to deal with. There were repairs that would need to be made and livestock to be checked on. The boys had moved most of the animals to remote pastures in order to protect them, but now that meant that Quistis would need to check on them and make sure that they were all right at some point. Raijin, Seifer, and Irvine were out of commission for at least a few weeks which would leave her shorthanded. Even if Rinoa and Selphie did stick around to help. And there was no certainty in that. Quistis was rather expecting Mr. Caraway and the Tiltmits to show up and drag their daughters home. Quistis couldn't blame them exactly, but she needed all the help she could get right now.
It didn't help that she was completely exhausted. The adrenaline had run out, and Quistis was running out of steam. What she really wanted to do was collapse in bed and sleep for a week. This was complicated by the fact that there were still things that needed to be done before she could rest and the fact that Seifer was currently sleeping in her bed. It was Rinoa who finally sent her off to bed.
"I can take care of what's left to do, Quistis. You look like you're ready to fall over. Besides, you're still injured yourself. Go get some rest."
She managed to get to her room and pull off her boots before she decided that she was too tired to do anything else. Regardless of who else was in her bed, she was getting so sleep. Quistis slipped under the covers next to Seifer, snuggling into his warmth and closing her eyes. Everything else could wait until morning.