FIC: Zyxt ~ FFVIII ~ Seifer/Squall ~ Chapter Two

[batsutousai]

Title: Zyxt
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai/batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison/tsuki_no_suzu & Shivani/grazhir
Chapter: 2 of 10
Rating: T
Pairings: Squall/Seifer
Warnings: AU, minor canon-fuckery, slash/yaoi
Summary: Alone in Time Compression, Squall sets out to make them all a happier ending.

Disclaim Her: ♪♪ We're off to see the President, the wonderful President Loire. ♪♪
Is that mixing too many fandoms?

A/N: I was originally going to write this whole fic from Squall's view, but then I started writing Seifer during this chapter and I'm having a hard time getting back into Squall's head. I mean, he's an okay narrator, but I think I prefer Seifer.
So, there are a couple scenes from Squall's point of view, but it's looking like most of this fic is going to be in Seifer's. Or trade back and forth between them. Just a heads up.

This chapter's a bit longer than the norm that I had intended to set for this fic, I think, but that's because I wanted to get Squall's big reveal out of the way this chapter, no matter how off track everyone else got. So, erm, you're welcome?

-0-0-0-
Give Up Everything
-0-0-0-

Squall was the first one up the next morning. He dressed swiftly, then wandered downstairs to ask after the Hi-Potions he needed, as well as a good place to get some breakfast. He was directed to the café around the corner, so he wandered over and picked up some breakfast for all three of them – there was no point in scorning Seifer by making him get his own, especially when Squall wanted to get under way quickly – before returning to the inn.

He walked back into his room first and and kicked Seifer's bed. "Up. If you're coming, you're getting up," he ordered, setting the food on the small table.

Seifer groaned. "What time is it?"

"Seven." Squall grabbed a roll and took a bite. "Are you awake?"

"Yes." Seifer shot him a dirty look. "Is your girlfriend up, yet?"

"I don't have a girlfriend," Squall replied matter-of-factly before turning and leaving the room to wake Ellone. At her door, he knocked and called, "Sis? You up?"

There was a mumbled response.

"Don't make me come in there," Squall added.

"I'm up," Ellone said more distinctly.

Squall nodded. "I bought breakfast. Also, Seifer followed us. He intends to come with to Esthar." Then he turned and walked back into his own room.

Seifer was pulling on his blue vest as Squall walked back in. Curious, he asked, "You have a sister?"

"My mother adopted her during the Sorceress War," Squall allowed drily. "Her name's Ellone. You've met before."

Seifer blinked. "We have?"

Ellone chose that moment to enter, eyes lighting up upon seeing Seifer. "Seifer!"

Seifer turned to Squall, eyebrow raised.

Squall motioned to the container of rolls for Ellone, then offered, "Sis, you and I were all at the same orphanage."

Seifer blinked again, then asked, "With Matron?"

"Mm-hm."

Ellone smiled at him again and held out her hand. "Ellone Loire," she offered.

Seifer smiled a bit uncertainly. "Seifer Almasy," he replied, shaking the offered hand. As the young woman collected herself a roll and sat next to Squall on his bed, Seifer studied her, then asked, "You're Squall's... adopted sister?"

"Yes." Ellone smiled for a moment, then blinked and turned to Squall. "How did you know that, anyway?"

"I read minds in my free time," Squall deadpanned, making Ellone giggle. He held out the last two rolls to Seifer, who was staring at him like he'd grown a second head. "Are you going to eat?"

"You just made a joke," Seifer pointed out.

Squall raised an eyebrow. "I am perfectly capable of both making and enjoying jokes, Seifer. Are you going to eat these?"

Seifer took the container before Squall could take it back and eat it himself. "I've never heard you make a joke before," he admitted.

"I've never seen a reason to." Squall stood and stretched a bit. "I don't suppose you have food for the journey?"

"Erm, no." Seifer shrugged. "I was more concerned with catching up with you than getting supplies."

Squall held his hand out for Seifer's bag, which the blond handed over with only a slight hesitation. Squall shifted through his rival's meagre supplies and sighed. "I'll go see what I can find for food and a sleeping bag. The inn's owner sells Potions downstairs, so stock up." He paused for a moment, silently asking, 'Tonberry? Could you make me one of your cards for Seifer?'

Tonberry chirped agreeably and, with a flash of light, a small card appeared in Squall's hand, which he held out to a wide-eyed Seifer. "It's a discount card, of sorts," he explained. "Any shop will accept it if you show it to them right away."

"How did you...?" Seifer asked, taking the card to examine it.

"Tonberry," Squall replied before turning and leaving the room. He briefly poked his head back in the door to add, "Seifer, keep an eye on Ellone or I'll use Revolver to remove your balls," then vanished again.

Ellone giggled while Seifer sighed and stuffed the last of his second roll into his mouth. "Right," he said around the roll, standing, "Let me get my coat and Hyperion and we can go down."

Normally, Seifer hated being threatened, especially by Squall, but he still wasn't sure what to think of this new Squall; this boy who wore Squall's skin and wielded his gunblade, but had a subtle darkness to him that Seifer had only seen on some of the best SeeDs. Moreover, he'd heard more words from Squall in the past twelve hours than he had in the past five years, and he wasn't sure if that was because of whatever changed him, or because of Ellone.

Speaking of Ellone, the petite young woman smiled at him as they made their way downstairs. She looked far too dainty to be of any use in battle, which made Seifer wonder what possessed Squall to try travelling with her all the way to Esthar by himself. Sure, Seifer had watched the younger teen take down more than one T-Rexaur with that new GF he'd mysteriously gained, but one GF couldn't very well protect him and a civilian during a trip to the most inclusive nation in the world. Even Trabia, with their cities hidden in the mountains, was more welcoming to visitors than Esthar.

"What can I do for you, son?" the owner asked after greeting the smiling Ellone.

Seifer flipped the card in his hand thoughtfully, then held it out. "I was hoping for some Potions?"

The owner happily pulled out his offerings and explained the changed prices. Seifer, who had never seen the point in dropping five hundred gil for a Hi-Potion when a simple Potion or Cure was fine in Balamb, suddenly found himself more than willing to stock up on Hi-Potions, especially at only three hundred seventy-five gil a piece. When Ellone mentioned that Squall had said something about an Abadon, he paid for a handful of Remedies as well.

They found Squall after a few more minutes and started off down the train tracks together, Squall commenting, "There shouldn't be any monsters on the tracks, but keep your eyes opened anyway. No sense in getting half-way to Esthar and getting knocked off by an over-happy Mesmerize."

"About how long should it take us to get the Esthar?" Seifer wondered, checking to ensure he could draw Hyperion without it getting stuck.

Squall glanced at Ellone, who had hurried ahead a few steps and was watching some birds overhead. "Depending on Sis, somewhere between three and four days, I think. We could probably make it in two, but she's going to need breaks. We've got supplies for five days, so we should manage fine."

Seifer nodded. "How, exactly, were you planning to make this trip with just yourself and a civilian?" he wondered. Squall was in a surprisingly talkative mood, so he figured he might as well dig for a couple answers.

Squall shrugged. "I didn't think that far ahead."

"You didn't–" Seifer looked at him disbelievingly. "Squall 'Ice Queen' Leonhart, the person least likely to run head-first into something without pausing to think first–"

"Thank you, Seifer," Squall cut in drily. "I'm aware of how out of character this is for me, but I had my reasons."

"This should be good."

Squall shot him a cold look. "Not reasons I'm sharing with you."

"Oh, come on, Squall. I wasted an entire day following you. You could at least–"

"I never asked you to follow me, Almasy," Squall snapped before speeding up just enough to catch up with Ellone, who smiled up at him.

Seifer let out a surprised breath. For all the years they'd known each other – all the arguments, insults and duels – Squall had never referred to him by his last name. Since before Seifer could remember, they'd been on a first name basis. Fujin and Raijin had commented on it more than once, and it had gone around the grapevine fairly regularly that the two rivals were having a secret affair on the side and only fought to keep up appearances.

"Squall," Seifer whispered at the stiff back far ahead of him, "what happened to you?"

-0-

Ellone lasted four hours before requesting a break, much to Seifer's surprise. She must have read the surprise on his face, for she offered, "I may be a civilian, but I've lived with SeeD for most of my life. You learn to keep up or they pick you up and carry you." She turned to Squall. "I've no doubt you considered doing the same thing more than once."

"Picking you up and carrying you to Esthar?" Squall wondered, something gleaming in his eyes. "No, you'd probably break my back."

"Are you calling me heavy, Squall?!" Ellone demanded, but she was smiling.

"I would never say something so uncouth about my favourite sister," Squall assured her.

"Two jokes in one day?" Seifer wondered. "Is this the coming of the apocalypse?"

"Shut up, Seifer," Squall ordered, handing over a sandwich from his sack. Ellone had already been given one and a third was pulled out for Squall himself.

Seifer was unspeakably glad to hear his first name from Squall's lips and showed it by taking a bite of his sandwich instead of starting an argument.

After they'd finished their sandwiches and Squall had unburied a few bottles of water, the youngest teen stepped to the entrance of the abandoned car they'd slipped into and considered the inferior mirages along the tracks. "We're probably best off resting in here for an hour, so there's time for the tracks to cool a bit," he decided

Since Seifer had no interest in travelling during the heat of that day, he relaxed back against the shredded seat he'd claimed and wondered, "You mentioned a Tonberry earlier?"

Squall glanced back at him, blinking. "Hm? Oh, yeah, he's a GF. I don't know where he gets those discount cards from, but they're pretty useful."

Seifer nodded, then commented, "It's not a GF from Garden."

Squall's eyes gleamed knowingly. "I picked him up during the summer."

Seifer narrowed his eyes. "And that train you always use in the Training Centre?"

"Of course," Squall agreed, an almost-smile twisting the corners of his mouth.

Ellone watched their little game with worried eyes. She had no interest in watching them get into a fight, so she cut in with, "Squall? How did you hear about Laguna?"

Squall glanced at her, expression gentling. "I met him once, briefly. I doubt he remembers me, but I remember him."

"You met him?" Ellone wondered, leaning forward hopefully. "How was he doing?"

"He's President," Squall offered, "so quite well. The city adores him after his defeat of Adel. He's something of a local hero."

Ellone nodded, her expression falling. "Is he happy?"

Squall paused for a moment, thinking about that before very carefully saying, "I didn't see enough of him to be certain. You'll have to ask him yourself."

Ellone nodded again, then pulled out a magazine to read. Since Squall seemed content to keep watch, Seifer slouched in his seat and closed his eyes. He was tired and this was as good a place to nap as any other.

-0-

The next two and a half days were spent travelling along the tracks. Nights were spent in train cars, as were their afternoon breaks, while breakfast and supper were both eaten on foot – Ellone had proved resilient enough to manage that without complaint. Seifer would have liked some conversation, but Squall had no interest in talking and Ellone only wanted to play travelling games. (By the second afternoon, Seifer was plenty willing to play with her, if only to break the silence, no matter how childish it seemed.)

They reached the end of the tracks at about the time they would normally stop for lunch and Squall ushered them into the abandoned station office to eat and take their break. Once the food was gone, they took their usual positions: Squall near the exit, Ellone with a magazine open in front of her and Seifer taking a nap or, as was the case that afternoon, pulling out his gunblade to clean it.

"We should get into Esthar in time for dinner," Squall announced after a good ten minutes of silence.

Ellone glanced up from her magazine and out the nearest window toward the missing city. "Maybe I'm remembering wrong," she commented, "but I was pretty certain you could see the city from this side of the lake."

Squall cocked his head to one side. "It's there," he assured her, "it's just hidden behind the OCS."

"OCS?" Seifer asked, looking up from his gunblade curiously.

Squall nodded. "Optical Camouflage System. It's a series of panels built one on top of another and linked by a computer to show a specific image. They use it to hide their city."

Seifer blinked a few times. "The things you know..."

Squall raised an eyebrow at him. "I've been here before."

"Let me guess, over the summer?" Seifer suggested. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around that one, since he was pretty sure Squall had remained at Garden all of last summer. Never mind that if Squall had done all this six months ago, why the sudden change.

Squall's smirk was answer enough.

"Right." Seifer shook his head. "So, how do we get in if everything's camouflaged?"

"There's a ladder on the wall somewhere in the middle of the lake," Squall reported, glancing back out the door towards the Great Salt Lake. "It shouldn't be too hard to find."

Ellone jumped to her feet, something a bit wild in her eyes. "Okay! Let's go, then!"

Squall looked over at her with both eyebrows raised. "We have twenty-three minutes before our rest period is over." His expression softened a bit when Ellone dropped back into her chair, looking upset. "Sis, I know you want to see Laguna, but you'll have to be patient. He'll still be there, whether we leave right this minute or twenty minutes from now."

Ellone glanced back towards where she knew they city lay, then over at Squall. "There's..." She turned her attention to her hands while both SeeD cadets looked at her curiously. "You know Raine's your mom, right?"

"Yes," Squall agreed, tilting his head to the side.

"And you... Do you know who your dad is?"

Squall's eyes flickered towards the unseen city. "I have my suspicions."

Ellone looked down, eyes brimming with shame. "It's Laguna," she admitted quietly.

"Hm." Squall glanced back out the door, unsurprised.

Seifer sighed. "Elle, what's wrong?" he asked because he knew Squall wouldn't.

Ellone glanced up at him, then over at Squall's silent form. "I'm... sorry. For not telling you," she offered. "I knew he was alive, and I–"

"The past is past," Squall interrupted, turning to her with sharp eyes. "There's no point thinking about 'should have's." His eyes softened and he sighed at her wide-eyed look. "Sis, I love Garden. I wouldn't want to change my life there for anything. Not even a father." He turned back to the view of the Great Salt Lake. "Anyway, I've had my suspicions that he was my father for long enough, I could have looked into it more, but I didn't care."

Ellone sighed. "Still..."

Squall straightened. "Come on."

Ellone and Seifer put their things away and joined Squall outside.

At the edge of the tracks, the two gunbladers pulled out their weapons. Without having to speak, Squall took point while Seifer fell back to keep an eye out behind them, refusing to leave Ellone unprotected as they started down into the Great Salt Lake.

For the most part, the journey was easy-going. Squall was much stronger than Seifer remembered and he easily destroyed the Vysages and their partners, the Lefties and Righties. Seifer, himself, had little trouble with the blighters, so they were easily able to protect Ellone without having to worry about rushing to one another's aide and leaving their back open.

The only time Seifer was at all concerned about Squall was when they came across the Abadon. Seifer had been busy with a particularly resilient Vysage when the large undead rose up in front of Squall. Seifer was just about to leave the Vysage to assist Squall when the younger teen oh-so-calmly tossed a Phoenix Down at the monster, killing it instantly.

Ellone had smiled and turned to look towards Seifer, only for her eyes to widen in horror at the Vysage he'd forgotten about. "Seifer!"

Before Seifer could even turn around, Squall had snapped his hand out and a Holy spell obliterated the Vysage. "You idiot," Squall commented, something in his voice that Seifer couldn't decipher.

Seifer cleared his throat. "Thanks."

Squall gave a jerky nod in answer, then hurried over to the wall – which they could almost make out – and pressed a button which caused a door to open well above them. He moved quickly up the ladder , then reached down to help Ellone up. Once Seifer had joined them, Squall pressed another button and the door vanished.

They were all quiet as they stepped cautiously through the small facility, Ellone and Seifer because they were in awe of the technology, Squall because he was wrapped in his own memories of his first trip through the city's defences. The only sound for the entirety of the trip was Seifer's awed gasp as they soared through Esthar on the moving platform. Ellone shot him an amused smile, remembering her own awe on first seeing the city; Squall glanced back towards him for a moment, taking in the awed expression, then turned back to watch the city sweep by.

As they stepped off the platform into the collection area, Squall quietly said, "I'll handle the welcoming committee."

"You're willing to speak so much in one day? To people you don't even know?" Seifer asked with a mock gasp.

"Revolver, Seifer's balls," Squall replied drily, reaching for his gunblade. "Seifer's balls–"

"Truce!" Seifer called, holding one hand up in surrender while the other covered his crotch.

Squall removed his hand from the handle. "I promise I'll be gentle," he commented in that same dry tone.

Ellone giggled at them, shaking her head. Squall had taken to threatening Seifer whenever the older teen irritated him on their journey, and even though all of them knew Squall wouldn't actually take Revolver to Seifer's privates...

"I can't tell if you're joking with that tone," Seifer complained.

Any further teasing was put on hold as the hover car from the presidential palace pulled through the tunnel and came to a stop in front of them.

Squall stepped forward to meet the man who folded out of the car, offering, "I'm Squall Leonhart, and that's Seifer Almasy. We're here to escort Miss Ellone Loire to visit with her uncle, President Laguna Loire. I'm afraid we didn't warn him that we would be coming, and I apologise for the surprise."

The man looked them over, then nodded. "Of course. Please get in. I'll radio ahead to let President Loire know his niece is here on the way. He should meet us in the entrance hall."

"Thank you," Squall replied, motioning for Ellone to go ahead as the Estharian got back into the car.

Squall and Seifer followed them, Seifer murmuring, "I never knew you had it in you, Squall. Our diplomacy instructor would have cried for joy if he'd been here."

Squall snorted. He'd hated their diplomacy instructor, and everyone had known it. Mostly because the old bastard had insisted that everyone practise being diplomatic at least once during a class, which required Squall to talk. Squall didn't talk, especially not in front of a class. He also didn't do polite, preferring to solve things with his gunblade at that age. But age, a war and the responsibility to Balamb Garden had taught him the importance of diplomacy, especially when you needed allies more than enemies. He still didn't care for all the polite bowing and scraping necessary for a diplomat – it had a habit of bruising his fighter's pride – but he could do it when required. (Even better, he knew he could manage it better than Seifer, having come out above Seifer in their diplomacy class even with his hatred of speaking in front of an audience.)

Ellone sat across from them, twisting the worn edges of her dress. "Oh, I hope he doesn't mind the visit," she murmured.

Squall resisted the urge to snort again; Laguna, miss the chance to reunite with his darling Ellone? Not likely. Knowing Laguna, the man would drop everything to see Ellone, no matter how important it was.

Indeed, Laguna hadn't even bothered to wait in the entrance hall; he was right there at the entrance to the palace, guards shifting nervously on either side of him. When the door of the car opened and Ellone was half-shoved out the door by a quietly amused Squall, Laguna dashed forward to pull his 'niece' into a hug.

"Elle!" Laguna whispered into her hair before pulling back to get a look at here. "Look at you, all grown up! You're absolutely lovely!"

Ellone beamed at him. "It's good to see you too, Uncle Laguna."

Laguna beamed right back, then got distracted as a couple of guards came forward to keep Seifer and Squall from approaching, leery of their obvious weapons.

Seifer crossed his arms over his chest, unimpressed by the Esthar guards. "If we wanted your president dead, he'd already be dead."

"I don't think Esthar is big enough for your ego, Seifer," Squall offered drily before glancing over at Ellone and Laguna. "If you could, President Loire, our only intentions are to see to Ellone's safety. If it would make your guards feel better, we're willing to check our gunblades."

"We are no–" Seifer shut up when Squall shot him a murderous look.

Laguna laughed a bit nervously, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, and glanced down at Ellone. "Well?"

Ellone sighed. "They're not going to get violent unless someone else starts something."

Laguna nodded. "Let them keep their weapons." His eyes narrowed when he spotted what were probably a couple hidden knives on each boy's lower legs, and he didn't doubt they were both carrying more that he couldn't spot. "I trust Elle's judgement."

The teens relaxed marginally as the guards backed off. When Ellone smiled hopefully, Squall stepped forward, hand outstretched for his father to take. "I'm Squall Leonhart, and this is Seifer Almasy. We're both from Balamb Garden."

The guards all tensed again, obviously knowing what Garden was, but Laguna's mind had blanked at the teen's last name. "Leon...hart?" he wondered, looking the teen over a second time. He saw it that time: the brown hair and stormy eyes that were so much like Raine's.

Squall raised an eyebrow, silently amused. He hadn't been there to see the first time Laguna found out about him, since Ellone had told him while they were elsewhere, and he was glad he could watch it this time. Laguna's face was like an open book as he put the pieces together.

"Raine had a son?!" Laguna finally sputtered.

"Please tell me you're enjoying this as much as I am," Seifer murmured in Squall's ear as they watched Laguna freak out a little bit. Nearby, Ellone was watching everything with a helpless smile.

"Definitely," Squall murmured back to his fellow cadet.

Ellone finally took pity on her 'uncle', calling, "Uncle Laguna! Calm down!"

Laguna finally managed to calm down enough to remember that they were out in the middle of the street, confused guards all around them. Laguna cleared his throat, glancing up at the emotionless teen with Raine's eyes and said, "Let's, uhm... We should take this...inside..."

One of the guards stepped forward. "Sir, please, they said they're from Garden. We can't let them walk around with weap–"

"We're from Garden," Seifer informed the sweating guard, "which means we're armed, whether you take our gunblades or not. So, really, here." He unhooked Hyperion, sheath and all, and held it out with a feral smile.

"Seifer, stop taunting the guards," Squall ordered tiredly before giving the guard who had spoken a blank look. "We're under contract with Miss Loire, and unless she suddenly wants her uncle dead, we have no interest in starting a war with you people."

"Er..." The guard sort of shuffled backwards at that, eyes shooting towards a smiling Ellone, who was leading Laguna to the transport into the presidential palace. "Right. Go on, then."

Seifer strapped Hyperion back on while en route to the transport, then sat down with Squall, looking curious. When it slid smoothly up into the air, he grabbed at the seat in surprise, then glowered at the amused gleam in Squall's eyes. The younger cadet was seated quite calmly, as if he'd expected that. 'Of course,' Seifer thought, 'if he's really been here before, I suppose he wouldn't be surprised by moving seats. Ugh. Bastard.'

By the time the chair had settled inside, Laguna had calmed down enough to lead them down the hallway and into a seating room, which was empty except for two other men in the strange robes the Esthar people – except Laguna, who wasn't really from Esthar – wore.

Laguna ran right up to the men and proclaimed, "I have a son!" and then promptly slouched in on himself and started hyperventilating again.

The two men turned to Ellone and the slightly shorter one said, "Hello again, Ellone. How have you been?"

Ellone smiled, absently rubbing Laguna's back. "I've been okay." She glanced back at Squall and Seifer, who were watching the proceedings with a blank look and an amused smirk, respectively. "Squall, Seifer, this is Kiros Seagill and Ward Zabac, Uncle Laguna's best friends. Kiros, Ward, these are my, erm, protectors from Garden and foster brothers, Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy." She paused as Kiros zeroed in on Squall, who simply raised an eyebrow at him in response. "Well, Seifer's my foster brother; Squall is technically my adopted brother..."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Kiros offered smoothly.

"The pleasure is all ours," Squall replied in kind. Next to him, Seifer shook his head in disbelief, still trying to wrap his head around a diplomatic Squall.

"Please, have seats," Kiros offered before turning to Laguna, who was starting to calm down. "Laguna, sit before you fall over, please. Ward, perhaps some water?"

Ward nodded and lumbered from the room.

Seifer glanced curiously at Squall. "He's even quieter than you."

"He's mute," Squall replied drily.

Seifer nodded. "Right. You know, there was a rumour going around Garden at one point that you were actually mute."

Squall rubbed tiredly at the bridge of his nose. "Five years ago, yes." At Seifer's surprised look, Squall asked, "You think I don't pay attention to the rumours about me?"

Seifer frowned. "Well, yeah. You never seemed to, anyway."

"Hmm..."

Ward returned with drinks for all of them, which he passed around before taking an open chair.

Laguna calmed down enough after drinking some water that he turned uncertain eyes on his rather stoic son and asked, "So, uhm, you're a SeeD?"

Squall shrugged. "Cadet." Then he paused and faint frown lines appeared between his eyebrows, though his mouth stayed steady. "I was a cadet."

"Wait, what?" Ellone looked up in concern. "Uncle Cid didn't kick you out, did he?"

"We've been gone too long without warning," Seifer explained patiently, smiling faintly at Ellone's horrified look. "Stop that, Elle. We knew what we were getting into before we left FH."

"But, I thought becoming SeeD was important to you!" Ellone exclaimed. Seifer had failed the exam twice, but he was still trying, and Squall had always seemed to work hard for it, too, from what she remembered of him in the past.

"There are more important things than SeeD," Squall intoned solemnly. At their confused looks, he added, "Such as the Sorceress War that's brewing."

"What?" Seifer asked even as Ellone shook her head in disbelief.

Laguna and his friends had all paled. "There's another Sorceress causing trouble?" Laguna asked, expression serious.

"Not that I've heard," Seifer hissed, shooting Squall a sharp look.

"Not yet," Squall allowed. "But as soon as Ultimecia gets control of Matron in a little over a month, there will be."

"Matron's not a Sorceress," Seifer snapped.

"Matron doesn't have any thoughts of world domination, though," Ellone tried.

"Who is 'Matron'?" Laguna wondered.

Kiros glanced at Squall, who was watching the minor arguments sparking with a bland look. After another minute of debate – and Laguna's confused questions – Kiros let out a sharp whistle, catching everyone's attention. Once they had all turned to glare at him, most rubbing their ears, he turned to Squall and demanded, "Explain."

Squall raised an eyebrow at him, but settled back in his seat and offered, "Everything I'm about to say is going to sound completely insane, but I assure you that it's the complete truth. I ask that you hear me out for all of it."

The others traded looks, uncertain. Finally, Seifer offered, "I've never known you to make up stories for your own amusement. Except, maybe, that you did all that travelling last summer..."

Squall snorted. "I never said it was last summer," he pointed out.

"Then when?"

Squall looked at the others, ignoring his rival for the moment. "Will you hear me out?"

"Yes," Laguna decided.

Squall nodded and took a sip of water, organising his thoughts. Eventually, he set his glass on the table between their seats and said, "Two weeks ago, I was awoken in the middle of the night by someone entering my room. I moved to confront that person, only to find myself looking at a much more battered version of myself." His eyes flickered towards Seifer, who was frowning faintly. "I thought it was a prank – it wouldn't have been the first – but he seemed to know where my hidden knives were next to my bed, and he sounded like me.

"He asked me the date so I told him. Then he said that everything was going to go to hell in two months and he wanted to change that, to protect the people he loved. When I reached for my gunblade, he reached out to stop me and we both blacked out. When I woke the next morning, I had one hell of a headache and Dr Kadowaki prescribed bed rest. After some sleep, everything had settled in my head and I realised that I had gained three more GFs, some magic I'd never even heard of, and memories of a future I hadn't lived."

"Sorry," Laguna interrupted before turning to Ellone. "Is that possible? To send someone back to their younger self?"

"I... don't know..." Ellone admitted. "It's not within my powers, but there's a lot we don't know about time magic." She turned back to Squall, who had taken the break to sip at his water some more. "Squall, did I send you back?"

Squall shook his head. "No, although it was partially through your efforts that it was made possible." He considered the expressions of his audience; no one looked particularly disbelieving, but nor did they look entirely willing to believe him yet. Shaking his head again, he offered, "There's a Sorceress in the future, Ultimecia, who hates SeeD for some reason we never learned for certain. She used – will use – a machine that Dr Odine created based on Sis' powers to send herself back in time to Matron – Edea Kramer. Matron became a Sorceress when she was a child and gained more powers when we –" he motioned between himself and Seifer, "– were children.

"I'm not certain what, exactly, drew Ultimecia to Matron, though I have my suspicions, but she possessed her and used her body to create an agreement with President Deling of Galbadia. SeeD was contracted to kill her, but we were caught and thrown in D-District Prison. While we were there, she fired missiles on Trabia Garden and levelled it." He paused while Seifer and Ellone both hissed in surprise. Laguna and his friends were grim, but unsurprised. "We escaped D-District and managed to get Balamb Garden out of the way of the next missile strike. Barely."

"Wait, you moved Balamb?" Seifer wondered.

"All of the Gardens were built from the leftover mobile shelters people used to flee Centra during the Lunar Cry," Ellone offered. "Uncle Cid and Matron didn't see much point in making them mobile while they were used as schools, but they should all have the capability."

Squall nodded. "I figured it was something like that, since the controls were far beyond our understanding. We ended up floating to FH and they updated everything for us." He sighed. "Ultimecia ended up taking over Galbadia Garden and we clashed in Centra. A... lot of people died. On both sides." He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again to meet Laguna's understanding smile. "We defeated Ultimecia in Matron, only for her to jump into one of my friends." At their curious looks, he offered, "Rinoa Heartilly."

Seifer groaned. "Rinoa? How'd she get involved with SeeD?"

"I believe some ex-boyfriend of hers suggested she contact us for assistance," Squall replied drily, making Seifer groan again. He glanced at the others and explained, "Rinoa is part of one of the resistance factions in Timber, although she's actually from Deling City. Myself, Zell Dincht and Selphie Tilmitt were contracted out to assist her and when we were required to flee Timber and given the mission to kill the Sorceress in Deling City, she ended up coming with."

"Wait, wait! Chicken-wuss made SeeD?" Seifer complained.

Squall turned to him, dark humour in his eyes. "His first time. You failed again, by the way."

"Oh, fuck you."

Squall returned to his tale while Seifer fumed, "We didn't know, at the time, what was actually wrong with Rinoa, only that she was unconscious. Matron wanted to visit Dr Odine about sealing her powers and I wanted to see if Sis could help me figure out what had happened to Rinoa. Since both were in Esthar, that's where we headed. When we arrived, we were told that Sis was up in the Lunar Base with the President, who was doing his yearly check on Adel's Tomb."

Laguna cleared his throat and shot Kiros a significant look. Kiros sighed and shook his head. "I know."

"I thought Adel was dead and her body burned," Seifer wondered.

"That's what Esthar told everyone else before we closed our borders," Laguna offered. "We didn't want to start another war because we'd frozen her and sent her into space. And we don't tell outsiders, no matter what their relationship with us is." He glanced at Squall and offered him a tight smile. "For what it's worth, I believe you. Please, what happened?"

Squall nodded. "Once we got to the Base, Ultimecia possessed Rinoa and used her to unlock the seals on Adel's Tomb. While we were up there, Ultimecia's Knight had found the Lunatic Pandora and brought it to rest over Tear's Point. That started the Lunar Cry, and the monsters caught Adel's Tomb in the chaos."

"Well, shit," Laguna decided.

"We can tell the station to change their orbit," Kiros suggested.

"Why not just kick the tomb all together?" Seifer asked. "Lose her in space or something."

Laguna, Kiros and Ward exchanged looks before Kiros and Laguna deadpanned, "Odine."

"Fuck Odine," Squall hissed, eyes narrowed. "It's his fault we're in this mess to begin with. I like the idea of 'losing' Adel's Tomb. Or, better yet, lose it with a bomb attached so we don't have to put up with her ugly self again."

Laguna laughed at that and shook his head. "I'll look into it," he promised. "It would be nice to not have to worry about her anymore. What happened with the Lunar Cry? Other than Esthar becoming an absolute mess."

Squall shrugged. "The Base evacuated in time. I had to go out and get Rinoa, which left us both behind in space. We made it to the Ragnarok, cleared out the monsters, and flew it back to the surface." Laguna beamed at the mention of the old ship. "When the Esthar scientists took Rinoa to be sealed, we stopped them and, ah, commandeered the Ragnarok. We brought it back, though," he added, seeing the crestfallen expression on Laguna's face. "You called us back to hire SeeD to deal with Adel and Ultimecia.

"Ultimecia's plan the entire time was to use Sis' gift and create Time Compression, so she could destroy the world and rule alone." At their disbelieving looks, he offered, "We thought she was insane, too. But there was no way to defeat her in our time, since she could just keep jumping bodies, so we had Sis send her back to a young Adel and create the Time Compression. We all jumped in and managed to defeat her, barely. I got a bit lost on the way back, and ended up meeting with my younger self, two and a half weeks ago."

They all fell silent to think things over while Squall finished his water and debated whose water he should steal next. He really wasn't used to talking that much. The last time he'd done so had been his announcements before and during their fight with Galbadia Garden. He suppressed a smirk at the memory; he'd made a joke about the hot dogs just to help everyone calm down, and maybe get a couple of laughs, but Nida hadn't been amused. Neither had Xu, now that he thought about it. Pity he'd missed Zell's reaction.

"Squall?" Seifer asked as Squall reached forward to grab his glass. Squall glanced at him, casually taking a sip, and Seifer blinked. "...Why did you just take my glass?"

Squall's eyes lit with a smirk even as he drily commented, "You weren't drinking it."

Seifer shook his head and tried to remember what he'd originally meant to ask. "Wait, oh, right. You mentioned Ultimecia had a Knight. Who was it?"

Squall's eyes darkened and he lowered the glass. "Does it matter?" he wondered.

Seifer frowned. "No, I suppose not..."

"I would like to know so we can try to remove any possible allies now," Kiros cut in, eyes sharp.

Squall closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked back at Seifer. "You were."

Seifer's eyes widened and he let out a choked sound. 'Should have guessed as much,' he told himself. 'My dream has always been to become a Knight, and if she was using Matron's body...'

Squall had turned to Kiros while Seifer thought and commented, "If Seifer suddenly gets the urge to return to Ultimecia's services, I'll handle him."

Kiros considered the elder ex-cadet's shuttered expression and nodded. "I doubt it will become an issue," he decided before looking back at Squall. "You said you used Ellone to help Ultimecia initiate Time Compression. Do you know if it actually worked, killing her in the past?"

"I know Ultimecia passed her Sorceress powers on to Matron when I was four," Squall offered. "I watched her, it's how I got lost in Time Compression. So, yes, I'd say it worked out."

Kiros nodded. "Do you know when, exactly, Ultimecia possessed Edea Kramer?"

"I do not. I know the SeeD exam was to remove Galbadia soldiers from Dollet, which they had invaded to get their old radio tower up and running. Using that signal, they broadcast a live announcement from the Timber TV station about Sorceress Edea becoming Galbadia's new ambassador a few days later."

"So that's the first time we know her whereabouts for certain," Kiros mused.

Squall paused for a moment, then offered, "Before the parade where we tried to kill the sorceress, Ultimecia killed President Deling. I don't know if it did any good for Galbadia in the long run, but I have no compunctions about leaving her to do that again. Moreover, we won't have to worry about the security at the station."

"Or accidentally ending up on air," Laguna agreed, nodding. "I'd rather we didn't announce Ellone's abilities to the entire world, I think. Could you get into the presidential manor in time to catch her attention before the parade?"

"Easily," Squall assured him. "We might have to worry about Rinoa, assuming she gets dragged along on the mission again, but–"

"You said Rinoa talked to Cid because me?" Seifer interrupted, leaning forward.

Squall nodded. "That's what she told me. She spoke to him at the SeeD ball."

Seifer frowned thoughtfully. "If we can get a message to Cid, telling him not to take Rinoa on as a client..."

"That would keep her out of the way," Squall agreed quietly. And wasn't that why he was changing things? To protect his friends? "I can try messaging Cid, I suppose, warning him against agreeing to the Forest Owls' contract. I don't know how much sway I might have, seeing as how I've basically defected, but..." He shook his head. "I can try. Both he and Matron had an inordinate amount of trust in me, after I showed up in the past and told Matron she would found SeeD."

"My brain hurts," Laguna announced.

Kiros sighed and dropped a hand on Laguna's shoulder. "Try not to think about it so much." He looked over at Seifer and Squall. "This gives us a little over a month to figure out an attack plan, and I doubt we'll need that long. What do you intend to do in the meantime?"

"Train," Squall deadpanned. "Possibly hunt down a couple of the GFs I don't have. I'll need to get Ragnarok to find a couple of them, but that shouldn't be too much trouble." His eyes gleamed. "Unless you prefer to leave it rotting in space."

"How hard was it to get her up and running?" Laguna wondered. "I know they lost control of her near the moon when some monsters invaded and when we sent the other two ships of the same class up there, the same thing happened. We eventually just stopped trying. But if you think you can regain control of her..."

"It was infested with Propagators, but once you know how to get rid of them, it's not hard," Squall offered. "They come in coloured pairs, so you sort of have to kill them in those pairs. Not particularly easy, or fun, but it's certainly possible. You want to try getting the other two ships as well?"

Laguna nodded. "It would be nice to have them back again. Those three were commissioned to help settle Adel's Tomb in orbit, and the team that built them agreed that there wasn't much sense in creating more, not when we had a system in place to travel between the surface and the Lunar Base and we had already closed our borders. If we're planning to move the Tomb again, though, I'd like to have those ships." He smiled. "And you wanted one of them to get a couple of GFs, you said?"

"Bahamut and Eden, yes," Squall agreed. "And the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell are excellent places for any training, as well as finding high-level magic." He glanced at Seifer. "We could both use the training if we're going to take on Ultimecia."

Seifer startled. "You're letting me come with?"

Squall grimaced faintly. "I can't take her by myself," he admitted, "and there's no reason to leave you to cool your heels in Esthar when you're a perfectly capable fighter."

Seifer frowned. "And if I were to become her Knight again?"

Squall cocked his head to one side. "Do you want to?"

Seifer considered that for a moment. 'Becoming a Sorceress' Knight has always been my dream. But the things I would have to do... Send missiles towards Garden?' He shuddered. "No."

"Then you won't," Squall replied. "And if you suddenly change your mind, I'll make you a eunuch." His lips curled with that evil little half-smile that Seifer was almost used to, for all that it still scared the shit out of him.

There was a round of laughter at that, while Seifer grimaced. They were interrupted by Ward's stomach making a loud hungry sound, which he flushed at.

Laguna chuckled and shook his head. "How about dinner? I'll have someone set up rooms for you three while we're eating."

Ellone beamed. "I can't wait to sleep in a real bed again," she declared as they all stood to head for the dining room.

"Sorry, Sis," Squall offered.

Ellone shook her head and slipped her arm in his. "It was worth it," she assured him. "I'm back with Uncle Laguna and you and Seifer are here." Her smile fell a bit. "If only Raine was here."

"You can't change the past, Sis," Squall said gently.

Ellone frowned at him. "You're changing the past."

Squall paused, considering that. After a moment, he offered, "But it's not my past I'm changing, it's my future. It was the other Squall's past, but all I've got are his memories." He met her eyes, storm-grey eyes dark and serious. "I'm not him, Ellone. I never lived through that war, for all I remember it."

"It makes sense, when you put it that way," Laguna offered, resting a hand lightly on Ellone's shoulder and smiling at Squall. "Come on, let's get some food."

They retired to the dining room, where food was already being served for them. Laguna paused long enough to request that three rooms be set up near his for his guests, then joined them at the table to eat.

Over dessert, Kiros commented, "We can see about sending a team or two up to collect the Ragnarok, Armageddon and Qiyamah tomorrow."

"Squall already knows how to defeat those monsters, can we send him up?" Laguna wondered, flashing his son a smile. "And you know how to pilot it, right?"

"For the most part," Squall agreed. He'd never actually flown the Ragnarok himself, but he'd been there while the Esthar technicians taught Selphie and Zell.

Laguna nodded and looked back at Kiros. "See."

"We'll need at least three pilots to get all three ships," Kiros pointed out drily.

"Most pilots can't fight their way out of a paper bag."

Squall snorted, amused, a waved his fork towards Seifer. "I can give Seifer a crash course in piloting the Ragnarok, so that makes two of us. It shouldn't be too hard to find a third pilot with fighting capabilities."

Laguna grinned at Kiros, who sighed. "Very well. If neither of you have any complaints, we can set out in the morning."

Squall nodded while Seifer just shook his head in disbelief. "We're going into space?"

"We'll probably have to take a pod to the ships," Kiros commented, "since they're too far out of reach of the station to reach them on your average suit fuel pack, but that shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Once you've got the ships, you can send the Tomb off," Laguna added, looking thoughtful. "You'll have to ask Piet to attach a few explosives to it and have them do that while you're collecting the ships." He sighed. "I don't know how far we'll have to take her before her powers won't be able to be passed on."

"Odine might know," Kiros pointed out. "Or, at the very least, have a theory."

"He's not going to like this," Laguna pointed out, looking worried.

"Tell him if he doesn't cooperate, he'll never get to talk to Sis again. That should shut him up," Squall commented drily. "Alternately, promise him a life of solitary confinement."

Laguna snorted. "The Council would never let me lock him up."

"Tell them one of his inventions is going to create another super-bitch," Seifer suggested. "Squall did say Ultimecia was using one of his inventions to come back and possess Matron."

Kiros stood. "If we're intending to launch at first light, we should probably get some sleep. There's nothing fun about getting placed in cold sleep while you're exhausted, and waking up on the other side is even worse."

"He has a point," Laguna agreed, then looked over at where a young man was standing by the door. "Andrew, could you show Seifer and Squall to their rooms, please?"

"Of course, President Laguna," the young man agreed.

Just as Seifer and Squall reached the door, Laguna called, "Squall?"

Squall glanced back at him. "Yes?"

Laguna looked uncertain, but offered, "Once we've got the ships, maybe we could, uhm, catch up?" He tried a hopeful smile.

Squall blinked, then inclined his head. "Of course."

Laguna grinned.

"Call Odine," Kiros ordered as they started through the door and Laguna's expression fell.

Seifer laughed as the door closed behind them and they started down the hallway. "So, how hard is it to pilot one of these things?" he asked Squall.

Squall shrugged. "Not too hard. There's a trick to moving the arms, and landing is a minor pain. The controls remind me of the X-34," he added, referring to one of the more complicated boats that SeeD used for large scale missions.

Seifer groaned. "I hated the X-34s."

"No one likes the X-34s. You can pilot it, though."

"Yeah." Seifer sighed. "We'll manage."

Outside their rooms, the teens and Kiros traded good nights, then headed for bed.

Before he closed his eyes to sleep, Squall muttered, "Must remember to see about sending a transmission to Cid in the morning."

-0-0-0-

-0-0-0-

A/N: Not sure what the other two ships with the Ragnarok were called – they seem to be referred to as 'Ragnaroks', but unless they've got letter designations we don't know about, that would be monumentally mad. So I hunted down a couple of other terms meaning the end of the world and used those for the other two ships.
Also, tried to give a plausible explanation for why they no longer use them, as well as why no more were made. Bah. Plot holes.

'Til next time!
~Bats ^.^x

Chapters:
1 - Won't Make It Alone ||| 2 - Give Up Everything
3 - Fly Over Me ||| 4 - Stars Collide
5 - Stars Shedding Tears ||| 6 - Never Felt So Far From Home
7 - Voice From the Past ||| 8 - Hold Me Without Touch
9 - Diebus Fatalibus ~ Fated Day ||| 10 - Never Let You Go

..