Disclaimer: This is written entirely for fun, I don't own these characters.

Saltwater

Chapter II

Over the last week or so, the weather had changed drastically. Far from the usual balmy temperature with a mild, gentle breeze, Centra was now embroiled in a hideous storm that howled through the cracks in the doors and windows and sent frighteningly large waves roaring towards the shore.

As a result, Seifer was bored stiff.

In Centra's usual climate, he was inclined to wander around the cliffs, beaches and sparse forests, exercising himself with Hyperion, taking out any monsters that made the mistake of crossing his path. Occasionally he'd go fishing, or even swimming, both being habits that he'd picked up off Raijin during the year after the war ended.
He liked to remember those days in Balamb, ambling around the quiet town, enjoying the feeling of being ignored, and laughing at Raijin's dreadful attempts at catching fish. On the rare occasion when he did succeed at fishing, he'd inevitably catch some awful, feeble specimen that would make him sick. Seifer had tried it once, and spent the next night on the toilet, bellowing obscenities through the wall.

Being trapped inside filled Seifer with a nameless dread. Yesterday he'd attempted a walk around the coast, and had nearly been blown into the sea in the process. He'd decided afterwards that he'd rather be bored than drowned, even if it did involve being within several feet of Zell at any given time.
He lay on his bed, legs stretched out, one arm behind his head, glaring at the white-painted ceiling. His left foot tapped relentlessly against the foot of the bed. Rain lashed at his window. The noise of it was quite pleasant, really, but the fact that it prevented him from doing what he wanted infuriated him. Gritting his teeth together in annoyance, he made little flashes of flame dart between his fingers, and then heaved an enormous sigh.

Seifer cringed inside at the sound of high-pitched squeals coming from the hall outside his room. Even with the door firmly shut he couldn't quite drown out the sound of Rinoa and Selphie's shrieking. Being in such close quarters with Rinoa over the last week had made him question what he'd ever seen in her – she seemed to have picked up on Selphie's excitable behaviour, and being cooped up inside had only made it worse. He wondered vaguely how Squall was coping with it, knowing that he found loud, shrieking women almost as irritating as Seifer did.

He swung his long legs over the bed and sat up, debating with himself whether or not to go and irritate the girls, or better still, Zell. There was still something about aggravating somebody else that gave Seifer an intense feeling of satisfaction. He didn't do it as often anymore, preferring to stay in Matron's good books. Eventually, Seifer decided to go and see what all the commotion was, rather than deliberately antagonise whoever was there.

Seifer wandered into the hall, having to duck slightly as he left his room. After all, this was a building that was intended for children.
He spotted a considerable amount of white material spread on the floor between two opposite bedrooms, spattered with paint. Seifer raised and eyebrow and popped his head around the door.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Selphie and Rinoa spun around, looking startled. "We're re-painting the rooms," said Selphie. She tilted her head sideways slightly and smiled. "Wanna join us? It's fun!"
Rinoa didn't say anything. She'd been understandably nervous around Seifer since he'd thrown her to Adel several years ago. Seifer still felt awkward about that, and tried his best to be pleasant to her, even if she annoyed the hell out of him a lot of the time.

"Nah, not really," said Seifer. "Painting's more of a girl's thing. In case you haven't noticed, I don't have any ovaries."

"Oh, really?" said Rinoa. "You sure could've fooled me." She smirked.

Seifer raised an eyebrow at this unexpected source of venom. "What's your problem?"

"You," snapped Rinoa. "Selphie was just being nice. You didn't have to be all sarcastic with her."

Seifer gave a short laugh. "Grow a sense of humour, for Hyne's sake. I know you've lost your personality since being with Puberty Boy, but you could at least try to be civil."

Rinoa snorted, disgusted. "I can't believe you of all people are trying to lecture others about being civil, Seifer." Her voice was getting higher with every word, growing more upset. Seifer rolled his eyes. He couldn't deal with her spoilt-brat routine today.
"You know what, I'm sorry I fuckin' asked," hissed Seifer, turning away. Selphie was standing next to Rinoa, looking awkward. She didn't like swearing, and would always hit Zell whenever he swore. She wasn't stupid enough to try the same thing with Seifer though.

"Guys, come on, can't we all just get along?" Selphie's face was an image of torment at the sight of two people arguing.

Rinoa stepped forward, suddenly assertive. "You know, other people might have forgiven you for what you did, but I sure haven't. You strut around here like you're the boss of everyone, but you're not. You're only here because Edea feels sorry for you, and because if you were let loose you'd probably get lynched!"

Seifer blinked, completely taken aback. Sometimes he forgot that Rinoa was a sorceress, but it was moments like that it was blatant. He wasn't sure what had quite happened to incur her wrath so quickly. Her pupils had dilated, turning her usually doe-like eyes a fearsome black, and her hair seemed to crackle with electricity. Seifer's head hurt. It had been a long time since he'd felt his stomach contract like that, to witness the rage of a sorceress. He felt sick.

It's just Rinoa, it's just Rinoa. She's not her. It's just Rinoa.

And yet it was that fact that made her words so much worse.

Selphie looked horrified. "Rinoa..." she said. "Come on, stop it. The past's the past."

Suddenly, all the light and fire went out of Rinoa's face. She looked startled, and blinked like a fawn at Seifer's face, her expression baffled.
"Seifer, I didn't mean that. It just... came out."

His expression was thunderous. He hadn't deserved that shit. He didn't feel the need to be punished for something that he'd done when he'd been manipulated, still a kid and under the control of some vastly powerful other-dimensional being. He'd suffered enough for what he'd done.

"Really," said Rinoa, looking shamefaced. "Sometimes... those things just happen. I can't control it. It just comes out."

"Bull. Shit." Seifer's face was set in a hard line. "You're just saying what everyone else was thinking." Rinoa attempted to protest but was cut off. "No, don't fucking apologize to me. I don't wanna hear it." He turned to walk away from the room, down the corridor and out into the wind-swept courtyard. He paused, then said, "However, it's great to see that you've picked up Puberty Boy's talent for being an absolute social retard."

He briefly caught a glimpse of Selphie's distraught face as he stormed off, the blood pumping violently in his temples. He felt quite bad for Selphie, irritatingly chirpy as she was. If anyone had truly lost something in the war, it had been her. She'd lost friends, real people, the place where she'd grown up. What had Rinoa lost, he wondered? The ability to spend her father's money as and when she pleased because she might have a funny turn?

He couldn't pretend that tensions hadn't been simmering for some time. The day he'd arrived, about a year and a half after the war ended, a sense of discomfort had fallen over the orphanage. Whenever he'd enter a room, the rest of them would stare at him awkwardly, and a protracted silence would descend until someone (usually Zell) would break the silence with a silly comment or chit-chat. Seifer rarely attempted conversation with the others, apart from Matron. The majority of them had made it quite clear that he simply wasn't going to be accepted by them.

Occasionally they would leave, go back to Garden or their respective homes, but after several weeks they'd always return. There was something about this house that kept calling them back. It was strange – this perpetual return to childhood. Perhaps they all came back to attempt to salvage the memories they'd sacrificed in return for using the GF's. Seifer knew that his happiest memories were here, hidden away behind doors and sandcastles and Matron's apron.

Seifer stormed down the hallway, before flinging open the door that led down towards the beach. The wind and rain whipped his face, stinging and cold. His teeth were gritted together, and he deep down he was amazed that he'd allowed himself to be made so angry by such a short dispute. Maybe it was the fact that it come from Rinoa – he had a feeling that had it been the cowboy he wouldn't have cared – made it so much worse. Admittedly, his relationship with her had been naive, childish almost, but for a brief summer it had meant something.

Raw rage and humiliation curled up like a snake in his gut. He lashed out at a nearby wall, ignoring the searing pain in his knuckles, one of which may have been broken in the effort. He bit his lip, unconsciously gripping the hand that he'd just slammed into the wall with the other, comforting himself as if he were a child. The rain was so heavy that it sounded like pebbles being pelted at the ground. Seifer ran a hand over his hair, made flat by the rain, when it usually stuck up like a bristle brush. Against his better judgement, he stormed down the stone steps towards the beach, getting as close to the sea as he possibly could without getting swept away. He suppressed the urge to take off his clothes and dive in, just to see if he could fight the treacherous current and survive. He guessed not.

However, he did pull off his large, heavy leather boots and socks, and clambered onto a nearby rock. The waves were precariously close to dragging him into the sea, but Seifer was just out of harm's way. He slumped down on the rock, and carefully dipped his feet in the water. The sea was freezing, and a murky grey. Seifer found himself grimly enjoying the effect that the icy water was having on his toes. It hurt, but in a good way. The added fear of being swept off a rock by a rogue wave and drowned just added to the bizarre excitement of it all.

Seifer felt reckless. He felt young.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Seifer turned his head, only to see a slender, fair-haired woman looking at him as if he was insane. She probably had good reason for doing so, he thought. Her hair had been whipped out of its usual tidy bun and looked wild. She would've looked beautiful, had it not been for the grotesque raincoat she was wearing. It was an unpleasant shade of burgundy, and clearly belonged to someone else. Quistis never usually wore such unflattering clothes.

"Get off that rock! You'll be killed!"

Seifer smirked at her show of concern. There was something thrilling about seeing Quistis like this – her hair askew, her clothes like that of a little boy, her face dripping with rain water. She looked a sight, but one that made him glow inside in a way he didn't like to think about.

"Seifer!" Her voice was shrill now and angry – the voice of someone who was used to having people do as they were told. "Get off that rock! Now!"

Seifer smiled lazily at her, and deliberately made a show of wiggling his feet in the water, his past anger at Rinoa forgotten. He was enjoying aggravating Quistis too much to care now, relishing the look of sheer irritation that was blooming on her face.
"Sure you don't wanna join me, Instructor?" he said, his handsome face a wide grin. He swore he saw her eye twitch at the comment. She loathed that moniker.

"I think I'll pass," she said, her tone as icy as the grey water swirling angrily around his feet.

"You're missing out," he said.

"Somehow I doubt that." Quistis folded her arms and glared at Seifer. Selphie had come running to her only five minutes past, clearly rather upset at a dispute Rinoa and Seifer had had. Quistis had felt inwardly exhausted by it, but partly quite pleased that someone didn't feel the need to kiss up to the princess for a change.

Seifer was completely soaked by now, his coat sodden. He might as well have been thrown in the sea. It would've been funny if it hadn't been so dangerous. Typical Seifer, attention-seeking as usual. The smile on his face was almost naughty, as if the ghost of the mischievous boy that had set off fireworks on the beach so many years ago had returned for a brief moment. The memory of something so innocent felt like a stab.

"Look, Seifer, I'm not joking around. Those waves are huge. If you get swept away-"

"It'll be all your fault?" Seifer's tone was deadpan. "You're not a fucking teacher anymore, y' know. If I get drowned that's my own stupid problem, not yours. Quit acting like you're still fucking in charge."

That came out wrong. He cringed. The look on her face was one of a subdued hurt, but ever the Ice Queen, she hid it masterfully. It seemed that only few people were capable of noticing how well she hid her feelings.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, giving him the appearance of a very handsome fish. The corner of Quistis' mouth twitched, like she found him amusing.

"That came out wrong," said Seifer. He stood up, and made his way back to the steps where his boots were and where she was standing. "It came out wrong," he repeated. "I didn't mean to sound like such an asshole." Her mouth twitched again, like she was suppressing crying or laughing, he couldn't tell which. He scratched his head, trying in vain to ignore the weather and how god-awful he must have looked. "It's just been kind of a shitty day."

"So I heard."

Quistis peered at Seifer's large feet, which had turned a pale shade of blue from the freezing water. She shook her head, and a tiny smile finally appeared on her white face. "You know," she said. "You're going to get sick if you don't get your feet warm. One of the quickest ways to get flu is by having cold, wet feet."

Seifer felt bashful, and couldn't quite look her in the eye. His gaze rested on the lower part of her face. Her lips weren't their usual natural red, but a light, pinkish colour from the cold. A mixture of sea spray and rain had settled on them. She looked electric at that moment, like some fairy creature or a mermaid who was only allowed to be on land for one day. Seifer's stomach flipped uncomfortably.

"Go inside and get changed, or you'll drip all over the house." Quistis was subtly avoiding Seifer's eye too. Then she looked him straight in the face and smiled. "I got you off that damn rock without even trying." She gave a short, barking laugh then turned and walked away up the steps, not bothering to wait for him. Seifer felt enchanted and angry all at once. She had gotten him off the rock without trying. Part of him wanted to go straight back to it and dip his feet back into the raging sea, but it felt all of a sudden so juvenile to him.

Plus, he was shaking. Seifer sneezed, and then raised an eyebrow. Feeling all at once embarrassed and blown away, he trudged up the cold stone steps to the orphanage, relishing being inside, basking in the buttery light of the fire.

Shit, I hope I don't get sick.

The weather gave one last futile roar as Seifer entered the building. He sneezed again, and scowled.

Fucking weather.



Sorry if it was a bit short, rushed and disjointed. I've literally just finished my dissertation, so my brain's a bit fried at the moment. Thanks very much to the people who reviewed the first chapter, by the way. Much love to you all. x