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batsutousaiTitle: Noblesse Oblige
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison/tsuki_no_suzu & Shivani/grazhir
Chapters: 6 of 19
Rating: T
Pairings: Seifer/Squall, Irvine/Selphie, Zell/Xu, Quistis/OMC, Fujin/Raijin
Warnings: AU, major canon-buggery, OoC Squall
Summary: No one thought to warn Squall against touching his younger self, and he leaves a part of himself behind when he returns to Time Compression.
A/N: Since Shivani brought it up, I thought I'd preface this chapter by saying that Seifer is a Capricorn, so his animal is a goat. (Squall is a Leo, as mentioned in the first chapter, so a lion.)
Also, erm, most of my A/Ns – particularly the ones at the bottom – are left as they were when I first wrote the chapter, rather than being updated after the fic's completion. So they generally have more to do with my state of mind/thoughts at the writing of that chapter, as opposed to when I'm posting. So, you know, the whole guesses about what's going to happen next chapter? Has nothing to do with what actually happens next chapter. Unless I was lucky. (Unless you couldn't figure that out on your own. Erm....)
-0-0-0-
Melodies of Life
-0-0-0-
"Sweet, sweet Balamb soil," Seifer called, dropping down onto the ground just outside the Balamb Town limits and kissing it. "I've missed you so, my motherland! Sweet, sweet soil!"
Squall snorted in amusement and dropped his bag to join his friend on the ground, sans the kissing. They hadn't expected to be back for another month, at least, but the rioting had finally subsided – and Deling's paranoia with it – so they were free to return home. They'd planned to make it a surprise, so no one knew they were back on the island except the few people in town who'd seen and recognised them.
Seifer sat up and took a moment to breathe, grinning a bit madly. "Smell that beautiful sea air."
"I think Deling broke you," Squall commented drily. "I wonder if your warranty's expired."
Seifer snorted. "I am too happy to be home to care if you tease me. So there."
Squall glanced towards the ocean. "It is nice to be back. It would be even better if we were at Garden, though."
Seifer gave his bag a pained look. "I know, but Chris gave us all those clothes..."
Squall sighed helplessly at his own bag, which was bulging with new clothing, books and even a stuffed lion that Christal had forced him to take. (Seifer had been given a stuffed goat, which he'd attempted to 'forget' three different times before giving in and just putting the damn thing in his bag.) It was nice to have quasi-parents, which Christal and Gregory had both basically become to the two orphans, but still. The bags were heavy, and it was a long walk back to Garden.
A horn honked and the two boys looked up to find Ma Dincht smiling down at them from inside a car. "Hop in, boys," she offered. "I was bringing some food up to Zell anyway, and someone mentioned they'd seen you two stumbling down the road with bags heavier than my car."
"They're not quite that bad," Squall insisted as they both stood and obediently squeezed into the car.
"It's a near thing," Seifer muttered, shifting his bag more comfortably on his lap. "I think I've lost all feeling in my legs already."
"Thank you, Mrs Dincht," Squall said to their driver as she navigated the road up to Garden.
"Sure thing, sweetie. Zell said you boys were out on a long assignment. He didn't think you'd be home in time for his birthday."
"Is it Chicken-Head's birthday?" Seifer wondered, frowning a bit.
"Next week," Squall agreed. "We didn't think we'd be back in time either, but things wrapped up pretty quickly."
"It's a bit early for a birthday lunch," Seifer said, sniffing towards the covered tray on the front seat. He had a tendency to get sick on trains, so he hadn't had a proper meal since breakfast the morning before, unwilling to chance lunch just before they boarded.
Ma Dincht laughed. "Oh, this is just something for getting through exams. He's planning to come down to me for his birthday." She smiled at them in the rear-view mirror. "You two are invited, of course."
"If we're not back out on another assignment, we'll come," Squall promised, leaning forward to watch out the front window as Garden came into view over the rise. Next to him, Seifer was doing the same thing and they both smiled just a little bit as a knot loosened around their chests at the sight of home.
"Glad to be back?" Ma Dincht asked, already knowing the answer.
"You have no idea," Seifer breathed, sitting back in his seat again. "I swear to Hyne, if Cid gives us another long-term assignment like this last one, I'm going to shove it down his throat."
Squall snorted. "No you won't. You'll take it like a good little boy, then complain to me about it while you're packing your bag." His eyes gleamed with mischief. "You could even take your goat with you."
"I'm going to use that goat for beating people who aren't worth drawing my blade on," Seifer decided. "And I'm starting with you, Squally."
"Griever will decimate your goat."
"Grie– You named that thing?"
Squall frowned. "You expected me to continue calling it the 'Disgusting Ball of Fluff That Christal Refused to Take Back'? At least Griever sounds cool."
"We're here," Ma Dincht said between chuckles as she parked the car. "Zell usually meets me here with his friends, so you'll probably have help with your bags."
"Oh, thank Hyne," Seifer breathed as they all got out of the car.
Almost on cue, five kids came skidding to a stop at the entrance into Garden. There was a moment of silence as they stared at the two gunbladers – Squall and Seifer both set their bags to one side in preparation of the storm they were about to get hit with – then Zell shouted, "YOU'RE BACK!" and Squall and Seifer were buried under a pile of Zell, Quistis, Fujin, Raijin, and Xu.
There followed a garble of noise as the five cadets talked over one another to ask how they were and how the assignment went, and why they were back early and so forth and so on. The two SeeDs just let them talk, too pleased to be home to be bothered by the noise.
Eventually, sense returned and the cadets realised that they were sitting on the floor, practically on top of the two SeeDs, and Ma Dincht was leaning against her car, laughing her ass off at the lot of them.
"An entire year gone, and upon my return, I am mauled by the people I call friends. What is this, cruel, cruel world?" Seifer complained as the cadets stumbled to their feet.
"You're an idiot," Squall told him with a touch of fondness in his voice as he got to his feet. "Hi, we're back," he added to their friends.
"We thought you weren't getting back until next month," Quistis said as Zell pulled Seifer to his feet, ducking the older blond's attempt on his hair.
"Our client decided to stop being crazy ahead of schedule," Seifer offered with a grin. "Good of him, really."
"We got lucky," Squall added drily. "Mrs Dincht said something about food, and I think both Seifer and I could use some, so why don't we move this to a proper table?"
"You've been travelling for hours!" Quistis realised. "Let's get some food into you two!"
"Rai!" Seifer called. "Carry my bag!"
"Wimp," Squall muttered as he hefted his own bag with a grunt.
"I haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours. Look, my hand's shaking," Seifer complained, holding one hand out to prove his point.
"What have you got in here?" Raijin demanded as he settled the bag over his shoulder. "Rocks?"
"Anything Chris could pack in there," Seifer replied, smiling faintly at the thought of their hostess.
"Thanks, Ma," Zell said as he and Xu accepted the food from Ma Dincht.
"Make sure those two get some of that," the motherly woman ordered her son before waving the group off.
"So where have you people been gathering while we were gone?" Seifer asked as they started towards the dorms.
"Rai and Zell's room," Xu offered. "We tried using Quisty and my room, but Andrea threw a fit about the noise."
"Once a bitch always a bitch," Seifer said sagely. "Why are you still roommates again, Fuu?"
"ANNOYS YOU."
"Good a reason as any," Zell said, shooting the older blond a grin.
Seifer just rolled his eyes, too hungry to tackle the one holding the food and worry about it going everywhere.
"Don't you two need to report in to Uncle Cid?" Quistis asked, watching the students who took note of the returned SeeDs and ran off to start the rumour mill turning.
"We've been sending him regular updates," Seifer said, waving a hand at the concern. "He can wait to hear from us in person."
"If you're sure..." Quistis replied.
As soon as they got into Zell and Raijin's dorm, Raijin dropped Seifer's bag with a gasp. "I think...I broke my...shoulder, ya...know?"
"Squall's bag is heavier," Seifer said as he took a seat as the table and waited impatiently for Zell and Xu to uncover the trays. "Oh, come on! Starved man, here!"
"I dunno, this is funny to watch," Zell replied, very slowly peeling back the tinfoil.
"Chicken-Head, if you don't give me food right this minute, I won't be held accountable for what I eat instead."
"Zell, give him the food so he'll shut up," Squall ordered, setting his bag down with a grimace. "Not looking forward to taking that up the stairs to my room."
"Okay, you know what? No bag is that heavy," Quistis snapped, striding over and grabbing for the strap of Squall's bag. Squall quickly stepped back and watched in amusement as the older girl tried and failed to lift the bag. "What do you have in there?"
"Clothing, twelve books, Revolver, a handful of potions and remedies, seventeen knives, three pistols, one rifle and..." Squall frowned a bit in thought while the cadets just sort of stared at him and Seifer stuffed his face. "Oh! A collapsible sword. Which broke."
"Were you expecting an army?" Xu asked drily.
"Yes, actually," Seifer said around a chicken leg. "Possibly more than one."
Squall strode over to the table and picked out a cheese sandwich while the others moved towards the table themselves. "That's not all for you, Seifer," he told his friend as he took the seat next to him. "And don't even start with the whole 'haven't eaten in twenty-four hours'."
"But I haven't."
"Which is why I'm not removing the food from your reach. Slow down or you're going to make yourself sick."
Seifer muttered wordlessly, but slowed down, conceding that Squall had a point.
They were all silent for a long few minutes, munching on the food and just enjoying being together again.
"Oh!" Zell jumped up and dashed into his room. He came back out with a pile of class work that made all the others groan. It took him a moment to pick a specific notebook out of the pile, but once he had it and it was open to the right page, he tossed it in front of Squall. "Explain that," he ordered.
Squall sighed and finished the sandwich he was on before pulling over the notebook. "I thought Xu was helping you with Material Sciences?"
"I don't get it either," Xu offered. "Chemical reactions are one of those things that just don't make sense to me. Quisty sort of understands it, but she can't explain it in a way that makes sense to us non-geniuses." She shot her roommate a smile to take the sting out of the words. Quistis had been trying to help them, her mind just worked differently from her fellow cadets'.
Squall looked over the line of problems again, then flipped to a blank page in the back to scribble on. "Yeah, okay..."
-0-
"I hate small towns," Jordan Farrar complained as he parked their car next to the hotel in Winhill.
"You're worse than Seifer," Squall muttered, rolling his eyes. "Next time, I'm demanding a female partner."
"They whine more."
"They tend to shut up when you pull a knife on them," Squall replied matter-of-factly. "You just tell me where you want the scar." He shoved his door open and climbed out while Jordan laughed behind him.
Jordan was just reaching for his bag when they heard a scream echoing down the main street. "Straight to work, then," the older SeeD muttered as they both shoved their bags back into the car and slammed the doors.
Winhill had been facing a string of murders and vandalism that they were unable to solve. The mayor had finally looked for outside help after almost three months and been pointed towards SeeD. Because the request required some questioning of townspeople, Cid had decided to send Squall with an older SeeD. Cid had admitted to Squall that he was originally from Winhill, which made the orphan's eyes narrow in thought, but also gave them a good cover for a 'cadet' to be going along on a SeeD mission.
"That's the mayor," Jordan said as they came into sight of the crowd. "I'll introduce myself while you be a nosey kid."
"Hm." Squall closed his eyes for a moment and drew on the memories of his childhood before the Ghost. Wrapping that happy child around himself, he opened his eyes with a curious expression that was completely out of character for him.
"It's really disturbing when you do that," Jordan informed him before starting towards the mayor. Squall slipped into the crowd, listening to what the people were saying and taking in the blood splatters on the wall with a collected edge to comically wide eyes.
"Mayor Andrews?" Jordan asked as he approached the sweating man.
The mayor turned to give him a slightly suspicious look. Then he recognised the Garden symbol pinned discreetly to Jordan's collar and relaxed. "Oh, thank Hyne. Yes, I'm Argent Andrews." Andrews held out a hand, which Jordan politely shook.
"Jordan Farrar," the young man offered before turning to look towards the crowd. He thought he spotted Squall's bird's nest of a hair style, but it had vanished again before he could be certain. "My partner is around here, somewhere..."
"Right here," Squall announced quietly from behind the mayor, making the man jump. The boy offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Squall Leonhart." He offered his hand in greeting.
The mayor blinked at him a few times in disbelief. "Leon...hart...?" he repeated.
Squall put on a faintly uncertain air as he withdrew his hand. "Yes, sir."
The mayor reached out a careful hand and touched Squall's cheek. "Sweet Hyne. You're Raine's son."
Squall grasped for a moment at memories dulled by time and darker experiences, but then he found that child who just wanted a piece of where he was from and he allowed that uncertain hope to shine in his eyes. "You... you knew my mother?" he asked.
The mayor smiled and drew the boy into a hug, which Squall managed not to pull away from like he wanted to – a year with Christal had dulled his abhorrence for unwelcome physical contact. "Yes, dear boy, I knew your mother," the mayor said as he stepped back. "She was a wonderful woman."
Jordan cleared his throat. "Mayor, not to interrupt the joyous reunion, but Cadet Leonhart and I are here to work."
"Cadet?" Andrews asked, looking curiously at the young boy. "Isn't this a bit dangerous for a cadet? I mean... Squall, you can't be more than twelve."
"Normally, cadets aren't sent on missions," Jordan agreed with an easy smile, "but sending a bunch of new people into a small town like this is a little obvious, so the Headmaster asked Leonhart to come with. A semi-familiar face, you know? And it gives him a chance to reconnect with his roots."
"But the danger," Andrews insisted. "There's a murderer in town."
"Leonhart's going to stay close to me," Jordan insisted, shooting his partner a stern look.
Squall stole one of Seifer's favourite expressions and tried to look innocent while still conveying a sense of intending to disobey orders no matter what. Judging by Jordan's amused look and Andrews' worried frown, he'd say he pulled it off pretty well.
-0-
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Trabia Garden's Headmistress, Angelica Fields, said as the two SeeDs stepped out of the car they'd rented at the Trabia port town they'd arrived at.
"Good afternoon, Madam Fields," October replied with an easy smile. "I'm SeeD October Ricaforte, and that's SeeD Seifer Almasy; Cadet Seifer Ricaforte while we're here."
Seifer shot the Headmistress a winning smile as he tugged at the Balamb Garden cadet uniform he'd been ordered to wear for his cover. They were there to handle a nasty monster infestation in some nearby towns and their home base would be Trabia Garden. Since it was still something of a secret outside of Balamb Garden that they had two SeeDs under the age of fifteen, he was playing the part of a curious possible-transfer, in Trabia to see the sights. October was playing his older brother – they had a similar facial structure and colouring, though October's hair was much darker and his eyes were brown, as opposed to the bright green that Seifer sported – coming along to ensure Trabia was up to his own high standards.
Angelica's lips pursed at the sight of the twelve-year-old SeeD, but she'd already made her thoughts on the matter clear to Cid, and she wasn't about to take it out on a child. "Pleasure to meet you both. If you'll grab your bags, I can show you to the dorm you'll be sharing while you're here."
The two boys grabbed their bags and fell in behind the Headmistress, looking around with curious eyes as they moved though the new Garden. Trabia was the smallest Garden of the three, but also the most open and welcoming, with high ceilings and indoor gardens spotting the main hub. Its colouring was similar to Balamb Garden's, with more blue and purple and less shocks of yellow and orange.
"It's nice," October murmured.
"It needs more colour," Seifer muttered. "I don't like pastel purple."
"One of these days, I'm going to take you to Galbadia Garden so you can see some real colour."
"Ugh. No." Seifer shook his head. "We saw pictures of the place while it was being built. They need to learn to back off the red a bit; the place is an eyesore."
"Excellent target practise, though."
Seifer snorted in amusement. "There is that. I suppose if anyone ever decided to take out Garden, Galbadia would be the perfect target."
Headmistress Fields stopped in front of a door and typed in the default password for all unused Garden rooms. "I'll leave you two to decide on an alternate code, but this will be your room for the duration of your stay. I've been assured that you'll be able to find your way around without any assistance?"
"We're familiar with the layout of Trabia Garden," October agreed. "...Seifer?" he turned to look for his partner, only to see him a few steps back, frowning at something. "Hey!"
Seifer waved a hand at him, looking back down the hallway towards an open door where a familiar voice was coming from. 'That sounds like–'
"Seifer!" October snapped.
The voices in the room silenced, then a head poked out the door and stared at the blond in the hallway while he stared back at her, excitement bubbling in his stomach. "Seify-Poo!" the girl suddenly squealed before launching herself at the boy.
Seifer caught the girl and swung her around, grinning. "Hey there, Selph." He reached up and messed with her hair once they were stationary again, laughing when she jumped back and swatted at his hands. "Looking good."
"You too!" Selphie bounced a bit, eyes bright with excitement.
A heavy hand dropped onto Seifer's shoulder and October smiled at the girl from next to the younger SeeD. "Friend of yours, Seifer?"
Seifer's face blanked as he remembered that he and October were supposed to be posing as brothers, but Selphie knew he was an orphan. 'Aw, fuck it all.' He glanced up towards October with a note of apology in his eyes. "Yeah, this is Selphie. I told you about her, remember? We were at the orphanage together, before Mom and Dad adopted me."
Understanding flashed in October's eyes and he glanced towards the girl in front of them. "Selphie? Sure, I think I remember her..." He offered the girl his hand. "October Ricaforte."
"Selphie Tilmitt!" the girl exclaimed, shaking the hand with more exuberance than strictly necessary. She flashed a bright smile at Seifer. "I'm glad you found a family, too! I was really worried about you guys, you know. Did Irvy and Squally get adopted too? Do you know?"
"Slow down, Selph," Seifer said with a laugh. "Irvy got adopted by some stuck-up general down the row from us, and Squally's sort of been pseudo adopted by a friend of Dad's. Didn't see much of Irvy, really, but Squally was over pretty often. He's at Balamb with me, Zell, and Quis."
Selphie's eyes widened comically. "Zell and Quisty and Squally are all at Balamb?"
"Cadet Ricaforte, you had better not be trying to steal one of my best students," Headmistress Fields commented as she joined them.
"Not on purpose," Seifer insisted.
October chuckled. "You can catch up with Selphie later, Seifer. We should unpack our things."
"Ooh! Are you transferring here?" Selphie wondered, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Thinking about it," Seifer hedged, uncomfortable with lying to his pseudo-sister. "It's nice, but I think I miss the warmer colours of Balamb already." He managed a strained smile. "We're here for a few weeks to check it out, though. See a couple classes, meet the students, try the food... That sort of stuff."
"Are you thinking of transferring too, October?" Selphie wondered, clearly excited at the chance to have Seifer with her again.
October shook his head. "No, I'm already SeeD. Seifer asked if I'd come with to give him my opinion of the place; you know, a last brotherly outing before I start getting sent out on missions all the time."
"That's so awesome!" Selphie declared. "Okay, I'll let you get unpacked. But you're joining me and my friends for dinner!"
"Sure thing, Selph," Seifer agreed and they all parted ways. Once their door had fallen shut behind the two SeeDs, Seifer knocked his head against the wall. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."
October chuckled. "At least I know you won't be bored while I'm out killing things."
"Oh, fuck you, Pretty Boy." Seifer shot him a disgruntled look. "You are not leaving me behind on our mission. Part of my job is to keep an eye on you, anyway. So you're going to make friendly with Selphie and we'll take on this infestation during classes and after curfew if we have to."
October sighed. "Why couldn't I have been partnered with Squall? He'd have let me go off on my own."
Seifer snorted and grabbed his bag to take to his bedroom. "That's what you think."
-0-
"You're a big baby," Seifer teased from his seat on the medical bed across from October, who let out a pained moan. They'd finally taken on the last of the troublesome monsters in the area – a mother Blue Dragon and her offspring – and took plenty of damage before they'd managed to take the family out. Seifer had a number of cuts and a nasty burn along his left arm to show for it, but October had taken the worst of the damage, being a larger target, including some fractured ribs and a broken left arm along with his own burns and cuts.
"Oh, fuck you too, Almasy," October managed through clenched teeth.
"I told you to duck the tail," Seifer pointed out.
"If I'd ducked, we'd still be fighting it."
"Stop talking!" the Trabia Garden doctor, a severe man with a growing bald patch, shouted. "It's bad enough that you took your brother out there with you, stupid boys..." He moved off towards his desk again.
Seifer grinned and leaned back on his bed. "Taking a twelve-year-old out with you, October. What were you–"
"I am going to chance more damage to my ribs to shove a pillow down your throat in a minute," October warned. "Why don't you save me the pain and just shut up?"
Seifer chuckled and closed his eyes against the pale blue ceiling. He wondered how everyone was doing back home, and how Squall was doing in Winhill. 'Maybe he's already back. It's been almost two months. How long does a murder investigation take?'
The door to the infirmary slid opened and Selphie's voice asked, "I heard the Ricaforte brothers were in here. Are they okay?"
"They'll live," the doctor muttered. "You can visit for a little bit. But no bouncing, girl!"
Selphie appeared in the doorway of the little room, expression troubled as she took in the wounds on the two boys. "What happened?" she breathed.
"Training," Seifer said with a faint smile as he levered himself back up into a sitting position. "Balamb's got a Training Centre on the premises that you can fight real monsters in, but Trabia doesn't have anything like that. I talked October into going out with me and we ran into a Blue Dragon family." He frowned a bit, shooting his partner a troubled look. "He got hurt 'cause of me."
October grunted. "You heard the doc, I'll live."
Seifer sighed. "I know..." He glanced up at Selphie. "What brings you to view upon our suffering?"
"Oh! Tricia said she saw you two limping in here, so I thought I'd come see how you were. And what happened." Selphie nibbled on her lower lip. "I'm glad you're not really badly hurt, though. Even if you're probably gonna be in here for a couple days..."
October took a careful breath. "We'll probably be heading back once we're out," he offered. With the Blue Dragon family being the last of the monsters causing trouble for the nearby towns, their mission was done. They could take the extra time for healing, but they needed to get back to Garden in case they were needed. It was bad enough that it had taken a month and a half, with the distraction Selphie provided.
"You're leaving?" Selphie whispered. "Like, for real leaving? Not staying to transfer?"
Seifer shrugged, then grimaced a bit as his healing burn pulled. "Trabia is nice, but it's not really home, you know? And, well, I miss you and all, Selph, and catching up has been pretty awesome, but Squ– I've got lots of friends in Balamb that I don't wanna leave."
Selphie nodded. "I know. I think..." She sniffled a bit. "I think I knew you weren't gonna stay, back when you first said you were here to look. But... I'm glad we could catch up." She looked up at him, eyes bright with tears. "Maybe we can trade letters or something?"
"Sure thing," Seifer agreed. Depending on his assignments, it could take a while for him to get back to her, but it would be nice to stay in contact. Now, if only they knew where, exactly, Irvine had gone to. They knew who his adopted father was, sure, but not what had happened to him beyond that. Colonel Kinneas hadn't been high enough on the social ladder to appear as even a blip during their mission in Deling City, and they hadn't wanted to chance their cover just to hunt down a friend who might or might not have been able to even see them.
-0-
The rest of that year went about how they'd expected, with Seifer and Squall often out on assignment in remote places, taking care of monster infestations, murder investigations, or whatever else people called upon SeeD for. They had one other mission with each other, but it only lasted a week and they didn't see much of each other during their sporadic downtime, which Seifer was always complaining about to anyone who would listen. Seifer kept in contact with Selphie, as promised, and the Gustafsons occasionally wrote letters to Squall and Seifer, which the two boys would send separate and carefully-worded responses to, both secretly glad to have a couple adults in their lives who worried about them, even though Christal's constant fretting irritated them. (On the rare chance that either of them were in the area, they would always drop by and see their pseudo-adopted parents, which pleased the two adults to no end.)
They scored some unusual free time together during the spring holidays and enjoyed the time with their friends, trolling the halls and having mock duels in the Training Centre.
One such afternoon the weekend before the new year was to start, found the seven friends laying about on the lawn outside Garden, watching the cars with newly arriving cadets piling into the car park.
"Ugh, classes," Zell muttered as another car zoomed past. "I think I'd rather be out on a cool mission somewhere."
"Be my guest," Seifer replied drily, eyes closed against the glare of the sun. "You can have my next one while I enjoy a few weeks of listening to Aki talk out his ass."
"Poor Aki. He'd probably die of fright, havin' you in a class again, ya know?" Raijin teased.
"In that case, I should probably save you all some–"
"Stick a cork in it," Squall ordered, rolling his eyes behind closed lids. "Aki's not that bad."
"Aki liked you."
"He's not that bad," Quistis agreed. "Maybe he's a little strict, but..."
"You geniuses are such suck-ups," Zell said, grinning.
"Not a genius," Squall insisted, opening his eyes to give the younger boy an irritated look.
A car door slammed just off the road beneath them and a chipper and somewhat familiar voice said, "Thanks!"
"Did I just hear Selph?" Seifer asked, shoving himself into a sitting position so he could watch with the rest of them in disbelief as the bright-eyed cadet grabbed a heavy bag and started up the slight hill to them.
"HEEEEEY!" she shouted, waving her free hand madly and almost toppling over.
Seifer and Squall both hurried to their feet and down to meet the girl, relieving her of her burden while the others followed at a more sedate pace. "Selph, what are you doing here?" Seifer asked as he accepted a hug.
Selphie beamed at him. "Well, after all the good stuff Zell and Quisty were telling me about Balamb, I thought I'd transfer here!"
"Madam Fields is going to kill me," Seifer moaned while the overly-exuberant girl hugged everyone and was formally introduced to Fujin, Raijin, and Xu, whom she'd heard plenty about in the letters from the others.
Squall snorted. "Fields is the least of your worries; Selph thinks you have an adopted family." Squall had just about died laughing when he found out that Seifer had to tell their friend that. The chipper girl was not going to be happy to find that Squall and Seifer had not, in fact, been adopted. And then Seifer had lied about it.
"I have an adopted family, just not the one she thinks I have," Seifer muttered, meaning Christal and Gregory.
"Where's October?" Selphie asked, looking back at Seifer. "Oh, wait, is he on a mission?"
Seifer grimaced. "Selph, see, the thing is... October and I aren't...really... Erm..."
"The Ricafortes didn't adopt Seifer," Squall interrupted. "That was Seifer and October's cover while they were at Trabia Garden."
Selphie frowned. "Cover? Why would you need a cover to view a school?"
"I wasn't there to view Trabia," Seifer admitted. "I was there as a SeeD with October to clear out the monster infestation in the surrounding towns."
Selphie shot him a wounded look. "You lied to me!"
"Aw, Selph, come on..."
"He wasn't given a choice, ya know?" Raijin hurried to say.
"Yeah. No one outside Balamb Garden knows that Seifer and Squall are SeeDs," Zell agreed, hugging Selphie around her shoulders. "If he'd told you the truth, he'd have been going against direct orders."
Selphie looked back towards Seifer and took in the honest upset in his eyes. "I forgive you," she decided. "But does that mean you were never adopted? At all?"
"Not from the orphanage," Squall said, "but a couple in Deling City have sort of quasi-adopted us."
"They gave them both stuffed animals," Zell added, grinning at the two SeeDs. He'd never get over that one.
"Would you like to get personally acquainted with my goat, Chicken-Head?"
"Zell's just jealous," Squall said with an even tone. "Don't worry, Zell. We'll tell Mrs Dincht that you need a stuffed friend of your own."
"Spare me. Really."
Selphie laughed. "I think I'm going to be glad I transferred."
"If only Irvy was here," Quistis said with a sigh.
Squall rubbed at his chin. "Maybe I should send him a letter and suggest he transfer."
There was a moment of silence as the group turned to stare at Squall in disbelief.
"Squally," Seifer said in a carefully neutral voice, "have you been in contact with Irvy this entire time?"
Squall rolled his eyes. "No, but he's been at Galbadia Garden for the past three years; I saw his name on the student lists."
"You mean you hacked the student lists," Zell translated, shaking his head in amusement.
"It's not my fault their security system sucks," Squall retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"HEADMASTER," Fujin called, looking down towards the entrance of Garden.
Everyone turned to watch as Cid started towards them, huffing a bit. "Hello, children," he said fondly as he reached them.
"Uncle Cid!" Selphie realised.
Cid smiled. "It's good to see you again, Selphie. I was surprised to get your transfer request." He frowned a bit. "Not quite as surprised by it as I was by the threatening note Angelica attached to it, of course..."
The cadets all laughed a bit at that, but Seifer and Squall eyed the Headmaster with dark gazes. "I take it the holiday is over?" Seifer suggested as the laughter died down.
"I'm afraid so," Cid agreed with a helpless expression.
"What?!" Zell shook his head. "But Selph just got here! Can't you send someone else?"
"I'm afraid not," Cid replied. "I need Squall and Seifer."
"So we're both going?" Seifer clarified. "That doesn't happen very often. I'm liking this mission less and less."
Cid's expression turned grim. "It's a silent mission; once you're out of Garden, there will be no contact between us until you're done."
"That's why it's both of us," Seifer murmured as the cadets all started loudly sharing their opinions on the matter.
"Enough," Squall ordered, shooting the cadets a cold look over his shoulder. Mouths snapped shut and he nodded. "Why don't you all see Selph to her new room while Seifer and I have our briefing? We'll meet you in Rai and Zell's room when we're done."
"Excellent idea," Cid agreed, some of his usual cheer returning to his expression. "You could even order a lunch in, for when Squall and Seifer meet up with you."
Grudgingly agreeing, the group trooped inside, separating at the lift. Once in the Headmaster's office, the two SeeDs took their usual seats and Squall asked, "What are we doing?"
Cid sighed and pulled out a folder with papers. "You've heard about the science team studying the native monsters of Centra?"
"Yeah, sure," Seifer agreed. "They've been in the news a lot, right? Chris likes to gush about them in her letters."
"Their sponsors lost contact with them last week," Cid reported, holding out the folder for the two boys to read over, which Seifer took and held so Squall could see it as well. "They were last heard from near the crater, and their last message wasn't particularly clear, as if they were all drunk. The sponsors want us to send a couple SeeDs down there to see if we can find out what happened to them and collect any survivors."
"There's no good way to remain in contact while we're down there, hence this being a silent mission," Seifer said, eyes flicking over the official and much less concise orders.
"The old Centra Ruins aren't far from where they disappeared," Squall murmured, considering the attached map of Centra with sharp eyes. "It's possible they ran across the Tonberries or Odin."
"They could have run across anything," Cid replied. "We don't know enough about Centra to truly question what it could have been."
"It took us a little over a week to get from the orphanage to Balamb," Squall said. "That's about three weeks travel time both ways, plus however long we're stuck in Centra for. This is going to take a while."
"We're stocking a boat with enough provisions to last you about half a year. If this takes longer than that, the sponsors are going to write the team off as dead, so you can just head back," Cid explained. "I'd rather you finish this sooner than that, but you'll be prepared for the worst."
"Is it just us two?" Seifer wondered, flipping through the papers for any mention of other people. "No one to drive the boat?"
"You're both trained in driving the SeeD boats," Cid replied, shaking his head. "It was decided that sending fewer people was in everyone's best interest, especially if you have to ferry the scientists back in your own boat."
"When do we leave?" Squall asked as Seifer shut the folder.
"Twenty-two hundred. SeeD Pippin will be driving you into town, and your boat is at Pier Three."
"With any luck, we'll see you in a month, scientists in tow," Seifer said with a grin as the two SeeDs rose.
Cid smiled. "I hope so. Oh, I've got a half-finished letter to Greg, do you want me to let them know you'll be out of contact for a while?"
"Please do," Seifer agreed.
"I'll do that, then. Enjoy your lunch, boys."
The two shot off the SeeD salute, then walked together out of the office, nodding to the secretary when she smiled at them.
"I hate long-term missions," Seifer muttered as they stepped into the lift. "And just when Selph showed up, too."
"That's life."
Seifer sighed, hand clenching around the folder he still held. "I know."
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
A/N: Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with missions that span years with what we know about this world? Rawr. I'm pulling this stuff out my arse.
Also, figuring out the time it takes to travel anywhere in this world makes my brain hurt. I'm gonna go cry.
~Bats ^.^x
Chapters:
1 - Touch of Memory ||| 2 - No One Here to Save
3 - Burn Up the Tracks
4 - Orphans and Widows ||| 5 - Close the Last Window |||6 - Melodies of Life
7 - Lie Under the Night ||| 8 - Not Invincible ||| 9 - Don't Want the World
10 - Dance With the Enemy ||| 11 - Everything I Have in This World ||| 12 - Running Out of Days
13 - Wake Up and Fight ||| 14 - Crimson Sky ||| 15 - Heroes Waiting
16 - Light in My Eyes ||| 17 - Lying Next to a Ghost ||| 18 - Living For Today
19 - Some Things Are That Simple
..
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai/
batsutousaiBeta: Shara Lunison/
tsuki_no_suzu & Shivani/grazhirChapters: 6 of 19
Rating: T
Pairings: Seifer/Squall, Irvine/Selphie, Zell/Xu, Quistis/OMC, Fujin/Raijin
Warnings: AU, major canon-buggery, OoC Squall
Summary: No one thought to warn Squall against touching his younger self, and he leaves a part of himself behind when he returns to Time Compression.
A/N: Since Shivani brought it up, I thought I'd preface this chapter by saying that Seifer is a Capricorn, so his animal is a goat. (Squall is a Leo, as mentioned in the first chapter, so a lion.)
Also, erm, most of my A/Ns – particularly the ones at the bottom – are left as they were when I first wrote the chapter, rather than being updated after the fic's completion. So they generally have more to do with my state of mind/thoughts at the writing of that chapter, as opposed to when I'm posting. So, you know, the whole guesses about what's going to happen next chapter? Has nothing to do with what actually happens next chapter. Unless I was lucky. (Unless you couldn't figure that out on your own. Erm....)
Melodies of Life
-0-0-0-
"Sweet, sweet Balamb soil," Seifer called, dropping down onto the ground just outside the Balamb Town limits and kissing it. "I've missed you so, my motherland! Sweet, sweet soil!"
Squall snorted in amusement and dropped his bag to join his friend on the ground, sans the kissing. They hadn't expected to be back for another month, at least, but the rioting had finally subsided – and Deling's paranoia with it – so they were free to return home. They'd planned to make it a surprise, so no one knew they were back on the island except the few people in town who'd seen and recognised them.
Seifer sat up and took a moment to breathe, grinning a bit madly. "Smell that beautiful sea air."
"I think Deling broke you," Squall commented drily. "I wonder if your warranty's expired."
Seifer snorted. "I am too happy to be home to care if you tease me. So there."
Squall glanced towards the ocean. "It is nice to be back. It would be even better if we were at Garden, though."
Seifer gave his bag a pained look. "I know, but Chris gave us all those clothes..."
Squall sighed helplessly at his own bag, which was bulging with new clothing, books and even a stuffed lion that Christal had forced him to take. (Seifer had been given a stuffed goat, which he'd attempted to 'forget' three different times before giving in and just putting the damn thing in his bag.) It was nice to have quasi-parents, which Christal and Gregory had both basically become to the two orphans, but still. The bags were heavy, and it was a long walk back to Garden.
A horn honked and the two boys looked up to find Ma Dincht smiling down at them from inside a car. "Hop in, boys," she offered. "I was bringing some food up to Zell anyway, and someone mentioned they'd seen you two stumbling down the road with bags heavier than my car."
"They're not quite that bad," Squall insisted as they both stood and obediently squeezed into the car.
"It's a near thing," Seifer muttered, shifting his bag more comfortably on his lap. "I think I've lost all feeling in my legs already."
"Thank you, Mrs Dincht," Squall said to their driver as she navigated the road up to Garden.
"Sure thing, sweetie. Zell said you boys were out on a long assignment. He didn't think you'd be home in time for his birthday."
"Is it Chicken-Head's birthday?" Seifer wondered, frowning a bit.
"Next week," Squall agreed. "We didn't think we'd be back in time either, but things wrapped up pretty quickly."
"It's a bit early for a birthday lunch," Seifer said, sniffing towards the covered tray on the front seat. He had a tendency to get sick on trains, so he hadn't had a proper meal since breakfast the morning before, unwilling to chance lunch just before they boarded.
Ma Dincht laughed. "Oh, this is just something for getting through exams. He's planning to come down to me for his birthday." She smiled at them in the rear-view mirror. "You two are invited, of course."
"If we're not back out on another assignment, we'll come," Squall promised, leaning forward to watch out the front window as Garden came into view over the rise. Next to him, Seifer was doing the same thing and they both smiled just a little bit as a knot loosened around their chests at the sight of home.
"Glad to be back?" Ma Dincht asked, already knowing the answer.
"You have no idea," Seifer breathed, sitting back in his seat again. "I swear to Hyne, if Cid gives us another long-term assignment like this last one, I'm going to shove it down his throat."
Squall snorted. "No you won't. You'll take it like a good little boy, then complain to me about it while you're packing your bag." His eyes gleamed with mischief. "You could even take your goat with you."
"I'm going to use that goat for beating people who aren't worth drawing my blade on," Seifer decided. "And I'm starting with you, Squally."
"Griever will decimate your goat."
"Grie– You named that thing?"
Squall frowned. "You expected me to continue calling it the 'Disgusting Ball of Fluff That Christal Refused to Take Back'? At least Griever sounds cool."
"We're here," Ma Dincht said between chuckles as she parked the car. "Zell usually meets me here with his friends, so you'll probably have help with your bags."
"Oh, thank Hyne," Seifer breathed as they all got out of the car.
Almost on cue, five kids came skidding to a stop at the entrance into Garden. There was a moment of silence as they stared at the two gunbladers – Squall and Seifer both set their bags to one side in preparation of the storm they were about to get hit with – then Zell shouted, "YOU'RE BACK!" and Squall and Seifer were buried under a pile of Zell, Quistis, Fujin, Raijin, and Xu.
There followed a garble of noise as the five cadets talked over one another to ask how they were and how the assignment went, and why they were back early and so forth and so on. The two SeeDs just let them talk, too pleased to be home to be bothered by the noise.
Eventually, sense returned and the cadets realised that they were sitting on the floor, practically on top of the two SeeDs, and Ma Dincht was leaning against her car, laughing her ass off at the lot of them.
"An entire year gone, and upon my return, I am mauled by the people I call friends. What is this, cruel, cruel world?" Seifer complained as the cadets stumbled to their feet.
"You're an idiot," Squall told him with a touch of fondness in his voice as he got to his feet. "Hi, we're back," he added to their friends.
"We thought you weren't getting back until next month," Quistis said as Zell pulled Seifer to his feet, ducking the older blond's attempt on his hair.
"Our client decided to stop being crazy ahead of schedule," Seifer offered with a grin. "Good of him, really."
"We got lucky," Squall added drily. "Mrs Dincht said something about food, and I think both Seifer and I could use some, so why don't we move this to a proper table?"
"You've been travelling for hours!" Quistis realised. "Let's get some food into you two!"
"Rai!" Seifer called. "Carry my bag!"
"Wimp," Squall muttered as he hefted his own bag with a grunt.
"I haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours. Look, my hand's shaking," Seifer complained, holding one hand out to prove his point.
"What have you got in here?" Raijin demanded as he settled the bag over his shoulder. "Rocks?"
"Anything Chris could pack in there," Seifer replied, smiling faintly at the thought of their hostess.
"Thanks, Ma," Zell said as he and Xu accepted the food from Ma Dincht.
"Make sure those two get some of that," the motherly woman ordered her son before waving the group off.
"So where have you people been gathering while we were gone?" Seifer asked as they started towards the dorms.
"Rai and Zell's room," Xu offered. "We tried using Quisty and my room, but Andrea threw a fit about the noise."
"Once a bitch always a bitch," Seifer said sagely. "Why are you still roommates again, Fuu?"
"ANNOYS YOU."
"Good a reason as any," Zell said, shooting the older blond a grin.
Seifer just rolled his eyes, too hungry to tackle the one holding the food and worry about it going everywhere.
"Don't you two need to report in to Uncle Cid?" Quistis asked, watching the students who took note of the returned SeeDs and ran off to start the rumour mill turning.
"We've been sending him regular updates," Seifer said, waving a hand at the concern. "He can wait to hear from us in person."
"If you're sure..." Quistis replied.
As soon as they got into Zell and Raijin's dorm, Raijin dropped Seifer's bag with a gasp. "I think...I broke my...shoulder, ya...know?"
"Squall's bag is heavier," Seifer said as he took a seat as the table and waited impatiently for Zell and Xu to uncover the trays. "Oh, come on! Starved man, here!"
"I dunno, this is funny to watch," Zell replied, very slowly peeling back the tinfoil.
"Chicken-Head, if you don't give me food right this minute, I won't be held accountable for what I eat instead."
"Zell, give him the food so he'll shut up," Squall ordered, setting his bag down with a grimace. "Not looking forward to taking that up the stairs to my room."
"Okay, you know what? No bag is that heavy," Quistis snapped, striding over and grabbing for the strap of Squall's bag. Squall quickly stepped back and watched in amusement as the older girl tried and failed to lift the bag. "What do you have in there?"
"Clothing, twelve books, Revolver, a handful of potions and remedies, seventeen knives, three pistols, one rifle and..." Squall frowned a bit in thought while the cadets just sort of stared at him and Seifer stuffed his face. "Oh! A collapsible sword. Which broke."
"Were you expecting an army?" Xu asked drily.
"Yes, actually," Seifer said around a chicken leg. "Possibly more than one."
Squall strode over to the table and picked out a cheese sandwich while the others moved towards the table themselves. "That's not all for you, Seifer," he told his friend as he took the seat next to him. "And don't even start with the whole 'haven't eaten in twenty-four hours'."
"But I haven't."
"Which is why I'm not removing the food from your reach. Slow down or you're going to make yourself sick."
Seifer muttered wordlessly, but slowed down, conceding that Squall had a point.
They were all silent for a long few minutes, munching on the food and just enjoying being together again.
"Oh!" Zell jumped up and dashed into his room. He came back out with a pile of class work that made all the others groan. It took him a moment to pick a specific notebook out of the pile, but once he had it and it was open to the right page, he tossed it in front of Squall. "Explain that," he ordered.
Squall sighed and finished the sandwich he was on before pulling over the notebook. "I thought Xu was helping you with Material Sciences?"
"I don't get it either," Xu offered. "Chemical reactions are one of those things that just don't make sense to me. Quisty sort of understands it, but she can't explain it in a way that makes sense to us non-geniuses." She shot her roommate a smile to take the sting out of the words. Quistis had been trying to help them, her mind just worked differently from her fellow cadets'.
Squall looked over the line of problems again, then flipped to a blank page in the back to scribble on. "Yeah, okay..."
"I hate small towns," Jordan Farrar complained as he parked their car next to the hotel in Winhill.
"You're worse than Seifer," Squall muttered, rolling his eyes. "Next time, I'm demanding a female partner."
"They whine more."
"They tend to shut up when you pull a knife on them," Squall replied matter-of-factly. "You just tell me where you want the scar." He shoved his door open and climbed out while Jordan laughed behind him.
Jordan was just reaching for his bag when they heard a scream echoing down the main street. "Straight to work, then," the older SeeD muttered as they both shoved their bags back into the car and slammed the doors.
Winhill had been facing a string of murders and vandalism that they were unable to solve. The mayor had finally looked for outside help after almost three months and been pointed towards SeeD. Because the request required some questioning of townspeople, Cid had decided to send Squall with an older SeeD. Cid had admitted to Squall that he was originally from Winhill, which made the orphan's eyes narrow in thought, but also gave them a good cover for a 'cadet' to be going along on a SeeD mission.
"That's the mayor," Jordan said as they came into sight of the crowd. "I'll introduce myself while you be a nosey kid."
"Hm." Squall closed his eyes for a moment and drew on the memories of his childhood before the Ghost. Wrapping that happy child around himself, he opened his eyes with a curious expression that was completely out of character for him.
"It's really disturbing when you do that," Jordan informed him before starting towards the mayor. Squall slipped into the crowd, listening to what the people were saying and taking in the blood splatters on the wall with a collected edge to comically wide eyes.
"Mayor Andrews?" Jordan asked as he approached the sweating man.
The mayor turned to give him a slightly suspicious look. Then he recognised the Garden symbol pinned discreetly to Jordan's collar and relaxed. "Oh, thank Hyne. Yes, I'm Argent Andrews." Andrews held out a hand, which Jordan politely shook.
"Jordan Farrar," the young man offered before turning to look towards the crowd. He thought he spotted Squall's bird's nest of a hair style, but it had vanished again before he could be certain. "My partner is around here, somewhere..."
"Right here," Squall announced quietly from behind the mayor, making the man jump. The boy offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Squall Leonhart." He offered his hand in greeting.
The mayor blinked at him a few times in disbelief. "Leon...hart...?" he repeated.
Squall put on a faintly uncertain air as he withdrew his hand. "Yes, sir."
The mayor reached out a careful hand and touched Squall's cheek. "Sweet Hyne. You're Raine's son."
Squall grasped for a moment at memories dulled by time and darker experiences, but then he found that child who just wanted a piece of where he was from and he allowed that uncertain hope to shine in his eyes. "You... you knew my mother?" he asked.
The mayor smiled and drew the boy into a hug, which Squall managed not to pull away from like he wanted to – a year with Christal had dulled his abhorrence for unwelcome physical contact. "Yes, dear boy, I knew your mother," the mayor said as he stepped back. "She was a wonderful woman."
Jordan cleared his throat. "Mayor, not to interrupt the joyous reunion, but Cadet Leonhart and I are here to work."
"Cadet?" Andrews asked, looking curiously at the young boy. "Isn't this a bit dangerous for a cadet? I mean... Squall, you can't be more than twelve."
"Normally, cadets aren't sent on missions," Jordan agreed with an easy smile, "but sending a bunch of new people into a small town like this is a little obvious, so the Headmaster asked Leonhart to come with. A semi-familiar face, you know? And it gives him a chance to reconnect with his roots."
"But the danger," Andrews insisted. "There's a murderer in town."
"Leonhart's going to stay close to me," Jordan insisted, shooting his partner a stern look.
Squall stole one of Seifer's favourite expressions and tried to look innocent while still conveying a sense of intending to disobey orders no matter what. Judging by Jordan's amused look and Andrews' worried frown, he'd say he pulled it off pretty well.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Trabia Garden's Headmistress, Angelica Fields, said as the two SeeDs stepped out of the car they'd rented at the Trabia port town they'd arrived at.
"Good afternoon, Madam Fields," October replied with an easy smile. "I'm SeeD October Ricaforte, and that's SeeD Seifer Almasy; Cadet Seifer Ricaforte while we're here."
Seifer shot the Headmistress a winning smile as he tugged at the Balamb Garden cadet uniform he'd been ordered to wear for his cover. They were there to handle a nasty monster infestation in some nearby towns and their home base would be Trabia Garden. Since it was still something of a secret outside of Balamb Garden that they had two SeeDs under the age of fifteen, he was playing the part of a curious possible-transfer, in Trabia to see the sights. October was playing his older brother – they had a similar facial structure and colouring, though October's hair was much darker and his eyes were brown, as opposed to the bright green that Seifer sported – coming along to ensure Trabia was up to his own high standards.
Angelica's lips pursed at the sight of the twelve-year-old SeeD, but she'd already made her thoughts on the matter clear to Cid, and she wasn't about to take it out on a child. "Pleasure to meet you both. If you'll grab your bags, I can show you to the dorm you'll be sharing while you're here."
The two boys grabbed their bags and fell in behind the Headmistress, looking around with curious eyes as they moved though the new Garden. Trabia was the smallest Garden of the three, but also the most open and welcoming, with high ceilings and indoor gardens spotting the main hub. Its colouring was similar to Balamb Garden's, with more blue and purple and less shocks of yellow and orange.
"It's nice," October murmured.
"It needs more colour," Seifer muttered. "I don't like pastel purple."
"One of these days, I'm going to take you to Galbadia Garden so you can see some real colour."
"Ugh. No." Seifer shook his head. "We saw pictures of the place while it was being built. They need to learn to back off the red a bit; the place is an eyesore."
"Excellent target practise, though."
Seifer snorted in amusement. "There is that. I suppose if anyone ever decided to take out Garden, Galbadia would be the perfect target."
Headmistress Fields stopped in front of a door and typed in the default password for all unused Garden rooms. "I'll leave you two to decide on an alternate code, but this will be your room for the duration of your stay. I've been assured that you'll be able to find your way around without any assistance?"
"We're familiar with the layout of Trabia Garden," October agreed. "...Seifer?" he turned to look for his partner, only to see him a few steps back, frowning at something. "Hey!"
Seifer waved a hand at him, looking back down the hallway towards an open door where a familiar voice was coming from. 'That sounds like–'
"Seifer!" October snapped.
The voices in the room silenced, then a head poked out the door and stared at the blond in the hallway while he stared back at her, excitement bubbling in his stomach. "Seify-Poo!" the girl suddenly squealed before launching herself at the boy.
Seifer caught the girl and swung her around, grinning. "Hey there, Selph." He reached up and messed with her hair once they were stationary again, laughing when she jumped back and swatted at his hands. "Looking good."
"You too!" Selphie bounced a bit, eyes bright with excitement.
A heavy hand dropped onto Seifer's shoulder and October smiled at the girl from next to the younger SeeD. "Friend of yours, Seifer?"
Seifer's face blanked as he remembered that he and October were supposed to be posing as brothers, but Selphie knew he was an orphan. 'Aw, fuck it all.' He glanced up towards October with a note of apology in his eyes. "Yeah, this is Selphie. I told you about her, remember? We were at the orphanage together, before Mom and Dad adopted me."
Understanding flashed in October's eyes and he glanced towards the girl in front of them. "Selphie? Sure, I think I remember her..." He offered the girl his hand. "October Ricaforte."
"Selphie Tilmitt!" the girl exclaimed, shaking the hand with more exuberance than strictly necessary. She flashed a bright smile at Seifer. "I'm glad you found a family, too! I was really worried about you guys, you know. Did Irvy and Squally get adopted too? Do you know?"
"Slow down, Selph," Seifer said with a laugh. "Irvy got adopted by some stuck-up general down the row from us, and Squally's sort of been pseudo adopted by a friend of Dad's. Didn't see much of Irvy, really, but Squally was over pretty often. He's at Balamb with me, Zell, and Quis."
Selphie's eyes widened comically. "Zell and Quisty and Squally are all at Balamb?"
"Cadet Ricaforte, you had better not be trying to steal one of my best students," Headmistress Fields commented as she joined them.
"Not on purpose," Seifer insisted.
October chuckled. "You can catch up with Selphie later, Seifer. We should unpack our things."
"Ooh! Are you transferring here?" Selphie wondered, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Thinking about it," Seifer hedged, uncomfortable with lying to his pseudo-sister. "It's nice, but I think I miss the warmer colours of Balamb already." He managed a strained smile. "We're here for a few weeks to check it out, though. See a couple classes, meet the students, try the food... That sort of stuff."
"Are you thinking of transferring too, October?" Selphie wondered, clearly excited at the chance to have Seifer with her again.
October shook his head. "No, I'm already SeeD. Seifer asked if I'd come with to give him my opinion of the place; you know, a last brotherly outing before I start getting sent out on missions all the time."
"That's so awesome!" Selphie declared. "Okay, I'll let you get unpacked. But you're joining me and my friends for dinner!"
"Sure thing, Selph," Seifer agreed and they all parted ways. Once their door had fallen shut behind the two SeeDs, Seifer knocked his head against the wall. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."
October chuckled. "At least I know you won't be bored while I'm out killing things."
"Oh, fuck you, Pretty Boy." Seifer shot him a disgruntled look. "You are not leaving me behind on our mission. Part of my job is to keep an eye on you, anyway. So you're going to make friendly with Selphie and we'll take on this infestation during classes and after curfew if we have to."
October sighed. "Why couldn't I have been partnered with Squall? He'd have let me go off on my own."
Seifer snorted and grabbed his bag to take to his bedroom. "That's what you think."
"You're a big baby," Seifer teased from his seat on the medical bed across from October, who let out a pained moan. They'd finally taken on the last of the troublesome monsters in the area – a mother Blue Dragon and her offspring – and took plenty of damage before they'd managed to take the family out. Seifer had a number of cuts and a nasty burn along his left arm to show for it, but October had taken the worst of the damage, being a larger target, including some fractured ribs and a broken left arm along with his own burns and cuts.
"Oh, fuck you too, Almasy," October managed through clenched teeth.
"I told you to duck the tail," Seifer pointed out.
"If I'd ducked, we'd still be fighting it."
"Stop talking!" the Trabia Garden doctor, a severe man with a growing bald patch, shouted. "It's bad enough that you took your brother out there with you, stupid boys..." He moved off towards his desk again.
Seifer grinned and leaned back on his bed. "Taking a twelve-year-old out with you, October. What were you–"
"I am going to chance more damage to my ribs to shove a pillow down your throat in a minute," October warned. "Why don't you save me the pain and just shut up?"
Seifer chuckled and closed his eyes against the pale blue ceiling. He wondered how everyone was doing back home, and how Squall was doing in Winhill. 'Maybe he's already back. It's been almost two months. How long does a murder investigation take?'
The door to the infirmary slid opened and Selphie's voice asked, "I heard the Ricaforte brothers were in here. Are they okay?"
"They'll live," the doctor muttered. "You can visit for a little bit. But no bouncing, girl!"
Selphie appeared in the doorway of the little room, expression troubled as she took in the wounds on the two boys. "What happened?" she breathed.
"Training," Seifer said with a faint smile as he levered himself back up into a sitting position. "Balamb's got a Training Centre on the premises that you can fight real monsters in, but Trabia doesn't have anything like that. I talked October into going out with me and we ran into a Blue Dragon family." He frowned a bit, shooting his partner a troubled look. "He got hurt 'cause of me."
October grunted. "You heard the doc, I'll live."
Seifer sighed. "I know..." He glanced up at Selphie. "What brings you to view upon our suffering?"
"Oh! Tricia said she saw you two limping in here, so I thought I'd come see how you were. And what happened." Selphie nibbled on her lower lip. "I'm glad you're not really badly hurt, though. Even if you're probably gonna be in here for a couple days..."
October took a careful breath. "We'll probably be heading back once we're out," he offered. With the Blue Dragon family being the last of the monsters causing trouble for the nearby towns, their mission was done. They could take the extra time for healing, but they needed to get back to Garden in case they were needed. It was bad enough that it had taken a month and a half, with the distraction Selphie provided.
"You're leaving?" Selphie whispered. "Like, for real leaving? Not staying to transfer?"
Seifer shrugged, then grimaced a bit as his healing burn pulled. "Trabia is nice, but it's not really home, you know? And, well, I miss you and all, Selph, and catching up has been pretty awesome, but Squ– I've got lots of friends in Balamb that I don't wanna leave."
Selphie nodded. "I know. I think..." She sniffled a bit. "I think I knew you weren't gonna stay, back when you first said you were here to look. But... I'm glad we could catch up." She looked up at him, eyes bright with tears. "Maybe we can trade letters or something?"
"Sure thing," Seifer agreed. Depending on his assignments, it could take a while for him to get back to her, but it would be nice to stay in contact. Now, if only they knew where, exactly, Irvine had gone to. They knew who his adopted father was, sure, but not what had happened to him beyond that. Colonel Kinneas hadn't been high enough on the social ladder to appear as even a blip during their mission in Deling City, and they hadn't wanted to chance their cover just to hunt down a friend who might or might not have been able to even see them.
The rest of that year went about how they'd expected, with Seifer and Squall often out on assignment in remote places, taking care of monster infestations, murder investigations, or whatever else people called upon SeeD for. They had one other mission with each other, but it only lasted a week and they didn't see much of each other during their sporadic downtime, which Seifer was always complaining about to anyone who would listen. Seifer kept in contact with Selphie, as promised, and the Gustafsons occasionally wrote letters to Squall and Seifer, which the two boys would send separate and carefully-worded responses to, both secretly glad to have a couple adults in their lives who worried about them, even though Christal's constant fretting irritated them. (On the rare chance that either of them were in the area, they would always drop by and see their pseudo-adopted parents, which pleased the two adults to no end.)
They scored some unusual free time together during the spring holidays and enjoyed the time with their friends, trolling the halls and having mock duels in the Training Centre.
One such afternoon the weekend before the new year was to start, found the seven friends laying about on the lawn outside Garden, watching the cars with newly arriving cadets piling into the car park.
"Ugh, classes," Zell muttered as another car zoomed past. "I think I'd rather be out on a cool mission somewhere."
"Be my guest," Seifer replied drily, eyes closed against the glare of the sun. "You can have my next one while I enjoy a few weeks of listening to Aki talk out his ass."
"Poor Aki. He'd probably die of fright, havin' you in a class again, ya know?" Raijin teased.
"In that case, I should probably save you all some–"
"Stick a cork in it," Squall ordered, rolling his eyes behind closed lids. "Aki's not that bad."
"Aki liked you."
"He's not that bad," Quistis agreed. "Maybe he's a little strict, but..."
"You geniuses are such suck-ups," Zell said, grinning.
"Not a genius," Squall insisted, opening his eyes to give the younger boy an irritated look.
A car door slammed just off the road beneath them and a chipper and somewhat familiar voice said, "Thanks!"
"Did I just hear Selph?" Seifer asked, shoving himself into a sitting position so he could watch with the rest of them in disbelief as the bright-eyed cadet grabbed a heavy bag and started up the slight hill to them.
"HEEEEEY!" she shouted, waving her free hand madly and almost toppling over.
Seifer and Squall both hurried to their feet and down to meet the girl, relieving her of her burden while the others followed at a more sedate pace. "Selph, what are you doing here?" Seifer asked as he accepted a hug.
Selphie beamed at him. "Well, after all the good stuff Zell and Quisty were telling me about Balamb, I thought I'd transfer here!"
"Madam Fields is going to kill me," Seifer moaned while the overly-exuberant girl hugged everyone and was formally introduced to Fujin, Raijin, and Xu, whom she'd heard plenty about in the letters from the others.
Squall snorted. "Fields is the least of your worries; Selph thinks you have an adopted family." Squall had just about died laughing when he found out that Seifer had to tell their friend that. The chipper girl was not going to be happy to find that Squall and Seifer had not, in fact, been adopted. And then Seifer had lied about it.
"I have an adopted family, just not the one she thinks I have," Seifer muttered, meaning Christal and Gregory.
"Where's October?" Selphie asked, looking back at Seifer. "Oh, wait, is he on a mission?"
Seifer grimaced. "Selph, see, the thing is... October and I aren't...really... Erm..."
"The Ricafortes didn't adopt Seifer," Squall interrupted. "That was Seifer and October's cover while they were at Trabia Garden."
Selphie frowned. "Cover? Why would you need a cover to view a school?"
"I wasn't there to view Trabia," Seifer admitted. "I was there as a SeeD with October to clear out the monster infestation in the surrounding towns."
Selphie shot him a wounded look. "You lied to me!"
"Aw, Selph, come on..."
"He wasn't given a choice, ya know?" Raijin hurried to say.
"Yeah. No one outside Balamb Garden knows that Seifer and Squall are SeeDs," Zell agreed, hugging Selphie around her shoulders. "If he'd told you the truth, he'd have been going against direct orders."
Selphie looked back towards Seifer and took in the honest upset in his eyes. "I forgive you," she decided. "But does that mean you were never adopted? At all?"
"Not from the orphanage," Squall said, "but a couple in Deling City have sort of quasi-adopted us."
"They gave them both stuffed animals," Zell added, grinning at the two SeeDs. He'd never get over that one.
"Would you like to get personally acquainted with my goat, Chicken-Head?"
"Zell's just jealous," Squall said with an even tone. "Don't worry, Zell. We'll tell Mrs Dincht that you need a stuffed friend of your own."
"Spare me. Really."
Selphie laughed. "I think I'm going to be glad I transferred."
"If only Irvy was here," Quistis said with a sigh.
Squall rubbed at his chin. "Maybe I should send him a letter and suggest he transfer."
There was a moment of silence as the group turned to stare at Squall in disbelief.
"Squally," Seifer said in a carefully neutral voice, "have you been in contact with Irvy this entire time?"
Squall rolled his eyes. "No, but he's been at Galbadia Garden for the past three years; I saw his name on the student lists."
"You mean you hacked the student lists," Zell translated, shaking his head in amusement.
"It's not my fault their security system sucks," Squall retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"HEADMASTER," Fujin called, looking down towards the entrance of Garden.
Everyone turned to watch as Cid started towards them, huffing a bit. "Hello, children," he said fondly as he reached them.
"Uncle Cid!" Selphie realised.
Cid smiled. "It's good to see you again, Selphie. I was surprised to get your transfer request." He frowned a bit. "Not quite as surprised by it as I was by the threatening note Angelica attached to it, of course..."
The cadets all laughed a bit at that, but Seifer and Squall eyed the Headmaster with dark gazes. "I take it the holiday is over?" Seifer suggested as the laughter died down.
"I'm afraid so," Cid agreed with a helpless expression.
"What?!" Zell shook his head. "But Selph just got here! Can't you send someone else?"
"I'm afraid not," Cid replied. "I need Squall and Seifer."
"So we're both going?" Seifer clarified. "That doesn't happen very often. I'm liking this mission less and less."
Cid's expression turned grim. "It's a silent mission; once you're out of Garden, there will be no contact between us until you're done."
"That's why it's both of us," Seifer murmured as the cadets all started loudly sharing their opinions on the matter.
"Enough," Squall ordered, shooting the cadets a cold look over his shoulder. Mouths snapped shut and he nodded. "Why don't you all see Selph to her new room while Seifer and I have our briefing? We'll meet you in Rai and Zell's room when we're done."
"Excellent idea," Cid agreed, some of his usual cheer returning to his expression. "You could even order a lunch in, for when Squall and Seifer meet up with you."
Grudgingly agreeing, the group trooped inside, separating at the lift. Once in the Headmaster's office, the two SeeDs took their usual seats and Squall asked, "What are we doing?"
Cid sighed and pulled out a folder with papers. "You've heard about the science team studying the native monsters of Centra?"
"Yeah, sure," Seifer agreed. "They've been in the news a lot, right? Chris likes to gush about them in her letters."
"Their sponsors lost contact with them last week," Cid reported, holding out the folder for the two boys to read over, which Seifer took and held so Squall could see it as well. "They were last heard from near the crater, and their last message wasn't particularly clear, as if they were all drunk. The sponsors want us to send a couple SeeDs down there to see if we can find out what happened to them and collect any survivors."
"There's no good way to remain in contact while we're down there, hence this being a silent mission," Seifer said, eyes flicking over the official and much less concise orders.
"The old Centra Ruins aren't far from where they disappeared," Squall murmured, considering the attached map of Centra with sharp eyes. "It's possible they ran across the Tonberries or Odin."
"They could have run across anything," Cid replied. "We don't know enough about Centra to truly question what it could have been."
"It took us a little over a week to get from the orphanage to Balamb," Squall said. "That's about three weeks travel time both ways, plus however long we're stuck in Centra for. This is going to take a while."
"We're stocking a boat with enough provisions to last you about half a year. If this takes longer than that, the sponsors are going to write the team off as dead, so you can just head back," Cid explained. "I'd rather you finish this sooner than that, but you'll be prepared for the worst."
"Is it just us two?" Seifer wondered, flipping through the papers for any mention of other people. "No one to drive the boat?"
"You're both trained in driving the SeeD boats," Cid replied, shaking his head. "It was decided that sending fewer people was in everyone's best interest, especially if you have to ferry the scientists back in your own boat."
"When do we leave?" Squall asked as Seifer shut the folder.
"Twenty-two hundred. SeeD Pippin will be driving you into town, and your boat is at Pier Three."
"With any luck, we'll see you in a month, scientists in tow," Seifer said with a grin as the two SeeDs rose.
Cid smiled. "I hope so. Oh, I've got a half-finished letter to Greg, do you want me to let them know you'll be out of contact for a while?"
"Please do," Seifer agreed.
"I'll do that, then. Enjoy your lunch, boys."
The two shot off the SeeD salute, then walked together out of the office, nodding to the secretary when she smiled at them.
"I hate long-term missions," Seifer muttered as they stepped into the lift. "And just when Selph showed up, too."
"That's life."
Seifer sighed, hand clenching around the folder he still held. "I know."
-0-0-0-
A/N: Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with missions that span years with what we know about this world? Rawr. I'm pulling this stuff out my arse.
Also, figuring out the time it takes to travel anywhere in this world makes my brain hurt. I'm gonna go cry.
~Bats ^.^x
1 - Touch of Memory ||| 2 - No One Here to Save
3 - Burn Up the Tracks
4 - Orphans and Widows ||| 5 - Close the Last Window |||
7 - Lie Under the Night ||| 8 - Not Invincible ||| 9 - Don't Want the World
10 - Dance With the Enemy ||| 11 - Everything I Have in This World ||| 12 - Running Out of Days
13 - Wake Up and Fight ||| 14 - Crimson Sky ||| 15 - Heroes Waiting
16 - Light in My Eyes ||| 17 - Lying Next to a Ghost ||| 18 - Living For Today
19 - Some Things Are That Simple
..
