Chapter 8.

-

Irvine walked across a snow covered field grinning like an idiot. They were walking through the blizzard and Quistis had her arms wrapped around herself but Irvine didn't care about the cold. Squall followed glaring at the cowboy's back.

"I can't believe we didn't have to fight her." He grumbled.

Quistis smirked. "Squall would rather fight everything." She explained to Evan. "He's not happy unless there's lots of fighting."

The new Seed nodded in understanding.

"I do not!" Squall looked over his shoulder. "I just don't see why she-" He stopped and glared at the cowboy. "That he had to-" He sighed dramatically and stomped past Irvine, out walking all of them.

The cowboy shrugged. "He's just jealous because all women love me." He grinned.

"Squall!" Quistis called after him. "Don't go too far ahead." The visibility was terrible, if Squall's hadn't been wearing black they wouldn't have been able to see him.

Squall was upset because the elf girl had gone quietly without a fight but only for Irvine. Evan had said he was glad that they had brought the cowboy along, Irvine had grinned smugly and Squall had got more and more pissed off.

"Just admit that you're jealous." Irvine said, trying to hurry and keep up with Squall.

"I am not jealous!" He shrugged off the hand when the cowboy made a grab for him.

"Really?"

"Really I-" Squall craned his head to look past Irvine. "Where'd Quistis go?"

The cowboy turned. "It's just a really bad blizzard, she's there, she is." He walked back a few steps. "Quistis!"

Silence.

"Quistis! Evan!"

Silence.

The cowboy frowned and looked back at Squall who was glaring at him again with his arms folded. "Now look what you did." The brunette said.

"What I did?!" The cowboy turned and stomped back to him. "If you weren't so jealous then-?"

"I. Am. Not. Jealous!"

The cowboy sighed. "Fine you're not jealous whatever you say."

"We'll just make our own way back to the ship." Squall said. "I'm sure they know where they are going and we'll meet them there."

"If you say so, you know where you're gong right?"

Squall shot him a deadly look as if to say 'Of course I know where I'm going.'

The cowboy held his hands up in surrender under the glare and followed the brunette.

III

"What do you mean, they aren't here?" Quistis stared at Nida who shook his head not knowing what else to tell her.

"I haven't seen them since you all left earlier to find the guardian force."

Quistis started pacing. "We have to go and find them."

Evan stood beside her. "We think we should stay here at least until the blizzard has stopped."

"We can't leave them out there!"

"I didn't say that, but getting ourselves into trouble is not going to help Squall and Irvine.

The pilot glanced between them. "He has a point, Quist." He said.

She frowned at both of them. "Alright we'll wait a couple of hours and if it hasn't eased off by then I still want to go and look for them."

Nida nodded. "Squall knows what he doing, I bet they just took shelter for a while that's all."

Quistis managed half a smile. "Or they killed each other."

Evan smiled. "That's possible."

Nida gestured to the ship. "Let's go in, it's freezing out here."

Quistis hesitated, looking out over the snowy fields as if willing her friends to come into view.

Evan put hand on the small of her back, gently leading her into the ship.

III

Squall glared out into the blizzard, Irvine had found a ledge in the cliff face that provided a little shelter over their heads and at least now the wind wasn't coming straight at them. "Glaring at it won't made it go away you know?" Irvine said from behind him. The cowboy leant on the wall a step behind Squall, while the brunette stood right at the edge of their shelter.

"We shouldn't be just standing here like this." Squall said. "I'd prefer to keep moving."

"I know you would but it's hell walking into the wind like that, it'll ease off in a minute." Hopefully. He closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall, his hat tipped up slightly where the lip met the wall.

"Aren't you cold?"

Irvine opened his eyes. Squall had his arms wrapped around himself, rubbing to get some heat into himself.

"A little." Irvine said. "But I dressed in layers." He grinned and held out an arm. "Come here."

The brunette gave him a suspicious look. "I'm not falling for that one cowboy." He turned back to look out at the blizzard again.

Irvine just chuckled behind him. "God you're a distrusting bastard aren't you?"

Squall looked over his shoulder to direct the glare at his friend, his lips was a light shade of blue now. Irvine groaned and took his life into his own hands but reaching out and pulled the leather clad commander back a step and into his arms.

Squall stiffened up immediately as he expected still facing out into the blizzard with the cowboy holding him from behind.

Irvine undid his trench coat, opened it to wrap around Squall and managed to do a couple of buttons back up.

"You'll break your coat."

Squall felt Irvine shrug. "It's old anyway, I've got loads more at home."

The cowboy's hands were sitting on Squall's waist, the brunette put his own hands over them and Irvine flinched.

"God, your hands are like ice." He looked over Squall's shoulder. "What happened to your gloves?"

"I had to take them off because they froze to my skin they were so cold and I must have dropped one."

The cowboy put his hands over Squall and moved them under their joined arms.

"Let's hope Quistis made it back." Irvine said.

"And Evan." Squall said.

"….Yeah I guess."

Squall snorted a laugh. "You don't hate him that much."

"I suppose not."

"I don't even know why you still hold a grudge. He's with Quistis so your little fan club with be back with you before you know it."

"I suppose and he'll stop looking at your ass…. Hopefully."

Squall rolled his eyes. "I never saw him…." He jumped when a hand got a little too friendly with backside and he glared over his shoulder. "Don't do that again!" He warned. "Or I'll leave, blizzard or no blizzard I'll go." He warned.

"Oh come on, humour me if we die here this'll be my last chance." He smirked at Squall, who rolled his eyes.

"We are not going to die here don't be dramatic."

"You could offer me a last kiss."

"Don't be such a perv." He warned, catching the stray hand that started to wander south.

III

"Squall and Irvine are missing, did you hear the news?" Rinoa asked Zell and Seifer.

Quistis had been on the radio as soon as she was back on board the Ragnorok telling garden the news. Xu had offered to send reinforcements but Quistis declined and said they would go and find them when the storm eased off a bit.

Zell looked up. "No, I didn't hear anything, missing?"

Rinoa nodded. "Quistis has had people looking for them for hours now, no sign of them anywhere."

Seifer scoffed. "It's probably nothing, I bet that horny cowboy just wanted to play with the commander in the snow that's all."

Zell rolled his eyes. "Everything's about sex with you, isn't it?"

Seifer grinned. "Yep, though I haven't heard you complaining."

Zell frowned and turned back to face a worried looking Rinoa.

"Quistis said they had been separated in the storm and when she and Evan got back to the ship the other two weren't there."

"Maybe they took the long way round." Seifer suggested. "Maybe they stopped for shelter, maybe-" He grinned. "-They stopped for more interesting reasons."

"No they didn't." Zell said.

"Hey! You don't know they could have." Seifer argued. "Better than saying they're lying dead somewhere."

"Seifer!" Rinoa scolded.

"What?" He blinked innocently. "I was just saying-"

"Well don't just say anything!"

Selphie came into the cafeteria smiling, Rinoa looked up hopefully. "Have they found them?"

Selphie nodded. "The storm's stopped and one of cool little ships Esthar sent found them huddling against the side of the cliff."

"Alive?

She nodded. "A blue around the edges I heard but fine."

Seifer shrugged. "There you go see? I told you they would be fine."

Rinoa rounded on him. "No you didn't! I said something about they lying dead somewhere."

Seifer opened his mouth to protest but Selphie hit him round the head.

"Ow!"

"Seifer! How could you say that?!"

"I didn't! She didn't hear the beginning of the sentence!" He protested.

"Which wasn't much better." Zell added.

"When are they coming home?" Rinoa asked.

"Quistis said they were taken to Esthar hospital first because it's closer."

"Hospital?!"

Selphie waved a hand. "Just precaution." She said.

"Oh." Rinoa sighed in relief.

III

He had survived getting lost in Trabia, survived freezing to dead and this- this was too much. Squall struggled to breathe as he caught up in a bear hug by the silliest president in the world.

"C-Can't breathe…." He managed to say.

"What- OH!" Laguna released him quickly and stood back. "I'm sorry." He came forward again, seeing how he mussed squall's hair and tried to smooth it out again the brunette raised a hand to push him off.

"Just- don't." He said.

Both Kiros and Irvine were coughing to hide their laughter.

"I'm sorry, you're probably still weak from your hypothermia." Laguna said.

Squall sighed. "I do not have hypothermia."

"Oh, didn't the doctor's say-"

"Said suspected hypothermia when we were brought in."

"But you are going to stay for a while… right?" He looked all hopeful.

Squall opened his mouth to protest, looking over at Irvine. Hoping the cowboy would think of a good excuse to get them out of this.

"We could stay for a couple of days, couldn't we Squall?" Irvine said.

The brunette frowned. That was not what Irvine's was supposed to say at all.

"I mean we don't have anything urgent to get back for and I think we deserve for time off."

Squall stared at him. "Well- um-" He looked back at Laguna's increasingly hopefully expression and just sighed in defeat.

"A couple of days." He said. "We can stay for a couple of days."

"That's great!" Laguna went to hug him again but Squall's held up a hand.

"But no hugging." He said.

Laguna bit back a grin and stepped back. ""Right." He agreed. "That's fine, well I'll show you two to your room."

They both nodded and followed the older man.

Laguna chatted away as they walked, Squall tried to keep his grimacing to a minimum and the cowboy grinned broadly.

"Here we are." Laguna stopped out side a room and pulled the key from his pocket to open the door. They all walked into the doorway seeing the large double bed.

Laguna handed Squall the key. "It's a king size." He said, gesturing to the bed. "So it should be big enough for-" He looked between the two of them and blushed slightly before letting himself out. "You two can come and have dinner with us later right?"

"Err-" Squall was still in a confused shock.

"That'll be fine." Irvine answered for him.

Laguna grinned and shut the door behind himself.

III

TBC