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batsutousaiTitle: Zyxt
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
Chapter: 3 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: Raijin and Fujin's last names are taken from their Japanese voice actors in Kingdom Hearts II. Just FYI.
A/N: I thought I should mention this before someone bitches, but since we don't know the actual size of this world or how far the moon is from it, etc, I sort of shat out my arse about how long it took them to get Adel's Tomb out of range and then return to the planet. We've got stats for the Ragnarok, but that only helps so much.
I debated for a bit about whether or not I should use the whole 'males can become Sorceresses too' plot point. I've seen it fairly often in the fandom – maybe I just read the wrong fics? – and I didn't want to feel like I was copying anyone, but it sort of ended up writing itself, no matter what I tried to do different. So, I'm sorry in advance, if that irritates anyone. (Yeah, should have mentioned that in chapter one. But, you know what? I'm a bitch like that.)
-0-0-0-
Fly Over Me
-0-0-0-
Squall did, in fact, send a message out to Cid first thing in the morning. The car Kiros had borrowed had a connection to the world-wide message system installed, so he sent it from there while they were on their way to the Lunar Gate.
"May I?" Seifer requested once Squall was done.
Squall shrugged and handed it over. "Fujin and Raijin?"
Seifer nodded. "I'd like to let them know where I am. They never cared so much about SeeD, anyway, so they'll probably come join us." He paused and glanced up at where Kiros was driving. "Is that going to be a problem?"
Kiros shook his head. "It shouldn't be, no. I can send a message to security to let them know they're safe once we get to the Gate. As long as they're not likely to pass on the secret of the entrance to anyone else, we won't stop them."
"They won't," Seifer promised, going back to his message. He was writing it up in the code Fujin had designed a few years ago for secret messages, so it was taking him longer than Squall's quick note to Cid. "Hey, Squall?"
"Hm?"
"Did you leave anything at Garden that you wanted? Fuu can probably sneak into your room and get it, assuming they haven't bagged our things."
Squall blinked, then nodded. "Revolver's case."
"What's your room code?"
Squall rattled it off, then sat back while Seifer finished and sent his message. "Depending on how long it takes us to collect the ships and get rid of Adel's Tomb, we may be able to pick Fujin and Raijin up on Horizon Bridge," Squall commented.
Seifer grinned a bit madly. "I certainly hope so. That would be more awesome than them taking the scenic route."
They arrived at the Gate and stood by to listen while the tech explained the process to Seifer. Seifer looked a bit more nervous about the whole thing, but he got into the capsule he was directed to without any fuss and they were all put into cold sleep and launched into space.
Once they were safely on the Base and gravity had been generated in the arrivals section, Piet joined them with a grin. "Hey, Kiros. Fancy seeing you up here."
"Did Laguna contact you with our mission?" the dark-skinned man asked.
Piet nodded. "You three are going to try and get the ships, yeah. We've got a pod on stand-by in the bay and you know where the suits are. Now that we've got you three, we can turn the station so we can actually shoot you at the damn things."
"And the Tomb?" Squall asked as he and an unsteady Seifer joined the two men.
"The President mentioned something about you all intending to blow it sky-high, yeah. We don't have any explosives up here, though, and sending them up is asking for trouble."
Squall shrugged. "The ships have particle cannons and lasers; we can shoot her ourselves."
"I don't want to be anywhere near that Tomb when it goes," Kiros refused, shaking his head. "I don't care if only women can inherit, I'm not chancing it."
Squall and Seifer traded shrugs. "We'll do it," Seifer offered. "Once it's far enough out from the Base, you can head back and let us know when you're back here. We'll blow it then."
"If you're sure..." Kiros agreed uncertainly.
"We're guys." Seifer rolled his eyes. "Nothing will happen."
"Don't jinx yourselves," Piet suggested, turning towards the door out. "Let's get you three into suits, then, and into the pod. We've got a weak radio link set up with it and we can let you know when you're close enough to one of the ships to make it by suit. Once you're out there, though, you're on your own." He shot a faintly worried look over his shoulder at the three fighters as they made their way through the Base. "You're sure you want to go through with this? We lost three crews with those ships, you know."
"I'd like to think we're a bit more capable than they were," Seifer muttered.
"We're sure," Kiros said, ignoring Seifer.
They suited up in the prep room and hashed together some slings to hold their weapons. As Kiros had pointed out, they had no guarantee that all the ships still had a working atmosphere, and they'd be travelling back and forth between the ships, so having to remove and put back on their suits each time would be troublesome. All things considered, wearing their weapons outside their suits was the best for all of them.
"As long as you don't punch a nice-sized hole in the suit, you should be fine," Piet agreed once they were all suited up and on their way to the pods.
"We'll try to stick to distance attacks, then," Squall decided, glancing towards Kiros. "Do you have a way to manage para-magic?"
Kiros shrugged. "No. I can grab one of the machine guns in the control room."
Squall nodded at that, recalling that Kiros really didn't care for magic-users – his reaction to Rinoa had been all the evidence he needed – and didn't bother arguing it.
The launch and jump from the capsule to the nearest ship – the Armageddon – went off without a hitch. Defeating the Propagators while Squall and Seifer were only able to safely use lower-levelled magic to avoid blowing a hole in the hull was a bit more interesting, but the three of them managed well enough.
They'd had to break after clearing the second ship – the Ragnarok – for some much needed sleep, but had figured out a system of fighting by the time they got to the Qiyamah. Seifer had also spent time on both ships learning the controls, so he took over the Qiyamah while Kiros took the Armageddon and Squall the Ragnarok.
With the three ships under their control, they returned to Adel's Tomb. It took some assistance from Kiros over the ship-to-ship radios for Seifer and Squall to properly manage the arms of their ships, but they were eventually able to. They grabbed the Tomb and took off away from both the moon and planet. It took them a number of hours to reach a safe distance and Kiros immediately headed back while Squall and Seifer took the time to stretch.
"You know, I almost wish we'd brought a couple more pilots with us," Seifer commented over the ship-to-ship radio. "Getting stuck in that chair for so long sucked."
"At lea...ou get....eak," Kiros replied.
"Kiros, remain in contact with us," Squall ordered. "You're breaking up on our end and I want to know how long we'll be in contact."
"...oud and clea... here. I...ay in cont...ough."
"Fuck, that's annoying. Any way to boost the signal?" Seifer wondered, considering the controls.
"It's because of the Tomb," Squall offered. "Kiros, we're really having trouble receiving you. It took us about six hours to get out here, so we'll give you seven, then blow it."
"Cop...od luc..."
"I guess that means it's just you and me, Squall," Seifer commented, grinning to himself.
"Make that just yourself. I intend to get a nap in," Squall shot back.
"Oh? You have an alarm on you?"
"Use your watch."
"Er, right. Forgot about that."
"If you're really worried, sleep in the cockpit and I'll radio you. I know you have a hard time getting up for class."
"Oh, shut up." Seifer crossed his arms over his chest and glowered out the front display towards Ragnarok.
Squall snorted over the radio. "Good night, Seifer."
"Yeah, good night, Squall."
-0-
"I really hate you," Squall said tiredly over the radios after they'd blown the Tomb.
Seifer groaned and rubbed his arm, which had knocked rather painfully against the weapons console when he was knocked out. "I'm sorry, okay. Only females can inherit a Sorceress' magic. It shouldn't be possible for us."
"I really hate you."
"You mentioned that." Seifer sighed. "Let's just get back to the planet, okay? You can hate me in person, then."
"With pleasure. I might just freeze off your balls, too."
"Would you leave my poor balls out of this?!"
Squall was ominously silent.
Seifer grimaced and set his controls, then leaned back in his chair and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Damnit, Squall. I didn't mean to jinx us, okay. And I'm not happy about it, either."
There was a long silence, then, "Sorry. I know." He sighed. "Maybe this will make it easier to fight Ultimecia, maybe it'll make us options for possession. I don't know."
Seifer closed his eyes and admitted, "I'm scared." Getting possessed by some uber bitch from the future didn't sound like the least bit of fun. Never mind everything he'd heard about Odine... "We can't let Odine find out."
"I'm not letting anyone find out," Squall swore.
"Not even your dad?"
"...I don't know. Would you?"
Seifer considered that, then shrugged. "He doesn't seem like a bad guy, necessarily."
"He's not. Before, in my memories, Sis took a couple of us back to Laguna's life before I was born. He's a bit of an idiot, but he means well. And he... really loved my mom..."
"But?"
"We're orphans, Seifer. Raised to be mercenaries. What would you do if you suddenly found out you had a dad?"
Seifer sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. Ask him why he wasn't around, I suppose. Ask him why..." He paused, his thoughts catching up to him. "You... Squall, he's not going to abandon you." Because, in spite of all the time and missing memories, Seifer still knew what made Squall tick. He'd always known his rival's deepest fear, just like Squall probably knew his own of being helpless to protect what was important to him.
Squall was silent long enough that Seifer was beginning to think he wouldn't respond, then he commented, "Everyone leaves."
"I haven't left you!"
"You did, though. The other you. You abandoned me for Ultimecia."
"I'm not that person!" Seifer hissed. "Damnit, Squall! I came after you, okay? I gave up fucking everything for you. I'm not going to turn around and leave you like some fucking prick that had my face!"
Squall let out an odd sort of choked sound and it took Seifer a minute to realise that the other teen was laughing.
Seifer sighed and shook his head. "You're a piece of work."
"Likewise," Squall replied, amusement in his voice. "I don't know what I'll do about Laguna. Are you going to tell Fujin and Raijin?"
Seifer snorted. "If I don't, Fuu'll have it figured out by the end of the day, anyway."
"When we get back to the planet, we can radio to see if they're there yet," Squall suggested.
"You know, I really hope they're not listening in," Seifer commented.
Squall was silent for a long moment, then said, "About three hours out, we lost Lunar Base, remember? Unless they've got some seriously boosted equipment all of a sudden, they shouldn't be able to hear us for a couple more hours."
"And the Armageddon?"
"Unless Kiros is hanging out by the Base for some reason, he should be docked in Esthar. They'd have no reason to keep the radio on, then."
"And there's no guarantee the signal is that strong," Seifer agreed. "Okay. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."
"It's a valid concern," Squall returned. "We don't want them to know what happened, so we don't want to chance them listening in."
"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you, huh?"
"Basically. I suppose we'll know for sure once we reach the planet. If they try tricking us into the Sorceress Memorial, run for it."
Seifer snorted. "Yeah, okay. That's where they sealed Adel?"
"Mmhm. And almost Rinoa."
"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Rinoa as a Sorceress."
"She didn't act like one, really. I mean, if she was in trouble, she'd blast whatever with her magic, but otherwise she was just like always. I mean, she junctioned fine and didn't act any different."
"So there's no visible difference between a Sorceress and a normal person?" Seifer wondered, curious.
"Not so far as I saw. I mean, Matron's been a Sorceress since before we knew her, and we never noticed anything odd. Even in what few memories I have of her, I don't notice anything off."
"That's true. But you could tell Adel was a Sorceress."
"You know those stories about Sorceresses going mad? I think they must change a bit when their magic gets out of control, because while Matron was possessed she looked different, and Ultimecia looked a bit odd, too. She had claws." Squall paused. "Actually, now that I think about it, so did Matron."
"Did Adel?"
"No. But she was creepy looking enough without them."
Seifer laughed. "I'll take your word for it. Didn't get a particularly good look at her."
"Count your lucky stars. I have nightmares about her."
Seifer shook his head, then commented, "You talk a lot more, suddenly."
"...I never had much reason to talk, at Garden. What was there to say? And now I remember all my friends... They always wanted me to talk more, Rinoa especially. I guess I got used to it."
"She would. But... I'm kinda glad for it, really. A little bothered that it was Rinoa of all people who brought you out of your silence, but glad."
"What is it with you people and wanting me to talk, anyway?"
"We just have this need to hear your beautiful voi–"
"I wonder if I can freeze your balls from here."
Seifer laughed and shook his head. "Your fondness for ice spells is a little scary, Squall."
"It's why Shiva and I get on so well."
"I don't doubt that. Hey, I've been wondering... You mentioned the Chicken-wuss and Rinoa, but who were the other people you travelled with?"
"Oh, everyone from the orphanage. Zell, Quistis, Irvine and Selphie. And Rinoa."
"Irvine and Selphie?"
"Selphie's really loud and bouncy–"
Seifer frowned as he tried to remember those days. "With dark hair?"
"Yeah."
"I liked her. She was a lot of fun, and she wouldn't take my teasing like Chicken-wuss and the Little Miss would."
" 'Little Miss'?" Squall gave that strange, choked laugh again. "Auburn hair?"
"Yeah, that was him."
"That's Irvine. He's quite the lady's man, now."
Seifer snickered. "Is he still shorter than everyone?"
"He's taller than me. Taller than all of us, really. You might still have a few centimetres on him, though."
"Does that mean I shouldn't call him 'Little Miss' anymore?"
"Only if you want your balls shot off. He's a sniper."
"What is it with you and my balls?"
"They're the only part of you I can effectively threaten."
Seifer snorted and shook his head. "I think you have a thing for them, Squall. You know, if you really want to–" Seifer jumped at the cold feeling that permeated his seat. "Fuck that's cold! You goddamn bastard!"
"My aim must have been off."
"I'm gonna fucking flame your ass."
Squall actually laughed at that, a real, honest-to-goodness laugh, though it was a little strained.
Seifer sighed and sat back in his chair, ignoring the chill. "I really hate you," he commented, but there was no feeling in the comment.
"Yeah, I hate you too."
Seifer smiled to himself and pulled his gunblade polish out of his pocket to see to Hyperion.
-0-
Fujin and Raijin hadn't arrived in Esthar by the time they returned, so the two teens parked at the Airstation and Seifer transferred to the Ragnarok. "Alright, I'm onboard," he said over the intercom to the cockpit as he finished closing the main hanger. He and Squall had agreed that it was best if they took one ship so one of them could pilot while the other controlled the door.
"Are you coming up here, or do I have to look out for them myself?" Squall wondered drily as the ship took off.
"What, you can't multi-task?" Seifer chuckled. "Yeah, I'll be right there."
Up in the cockpit, Seifer slid into the co-pilot's chair as Squall flipped the switch that turned off the radio. "That was the Airstation," he offered at Seifer's curious look. "They wanted to know when we'd be back, so Laguna could meet us there. He's in a meeting right now, or he'd probably have hopped on board when we set down."
"I had wondered about that a bit," Seifer admitted. "He was saying he wanted to take a spin in one of these ships at breakfast the other morning."
"I think he wants out of Esthar for a little bit, too." Squall shrugged. "He used to travel a lot, before he met Raine, and even after, while he was looking for Sis. I can't imagine it would be fun to be stuck behind a desk all day, no matter how geometrically pleasing the view out the window is."
Seifer snorted. "Getting stuck in one place would suck. Oh, hey!" He jerked forward and pointed at a couple of specks on Horizon Bridge. "Is that them?"
Squall thumbed the controls. "Hold on."
They slid down, closer to the bridge, and Seifer could make out Fujin's shock of silver hair. "That's them."
Squall nodded. "I'll circle around, then. You want to get the hanger open?"
"Yup!" Seifer jumped from his chair and dashed to the lift. Once he was in the main hanger, he hit the control and grinned as the door slid open to show a wide-eyed Fujin and Raijin. "Afternoon!" he shouted over the wind and engines.
"SEIFER!" Fujin exclaimed, shock transforming into a smile.
Seifer motioned them aboard, since he could hardly hear himself think with all the noise, never mind have an actual conversation. Raijin had to help Fujin up, but once they were both aboard, Seifer slammed the door controls and turned on the intercom. "They're on board."
"Okay. Taking off," Squall replied and the ship lurched a bit.
Seifer grinned at his friends. "It is awesome to see you two again. Utterly awesome."
"Says the one who left in the first place, ya know," Raijin replied, but he slapped Seifer on the back all the same, looking pleased.
"WHY?" Fujin asked once she'd given Seifer a hug.
"Squall was acting weird. I followed him." Seifer shrugged.
"Oh, yeah, guess that was Leonhart just now, ya know," Raijin realised. "I suppose that means you haven't killed him on accident, ya know."
"I wouldn't kill him," Seifer swore. "His father would send the whole Esthar army out for my head."
"You met his dad, then?"
"Yeah, he's president of Esthar." Seifer grinned a bit madly at their surprised looks. "Yeah, I know. Pretty cool guy, though. Bit absentminded, but still cool. Nothing like Squall."
"WHERE?" Fujin asked, pointing at the floor of the Ragnarok.
"What? Oh, where'd we pick up the Ragnarok?" Fujin nodded. "The Estharians sort of lost it and two other ships like it to the monsters on the moon a few years ago. Squall, one of the presidential aides and I all went up there and got them back. Sounds like Laguna's giving this one to Squall as a belated birthday present."
The floor shuddered, startling the other two, but Seifer just grinned and waited for the engines to cut off before saying, "We've landed."
The lift whirred down the hall and Squall appeared after a moment, as stoic as ever. He offered his fellow cadets a nod. "Fujin, Raijin."
"Leonhart," Raijin said for both of them.
Seifer rolled his eyes and hit the button to open the hanger. "Is Laguna here?"
Squall shook his head. "Still in a meeting. Ward's here, though."
Seifer nodded and ushered the other two out ahead of them. When they stopped at the bottom of the ramp to stare at the city, he offered, "Welcome to Esthar."
"IMPRESSIVE," Fujin announced.
"Those are the other two ships you found, right?" Raijin asked, glancing at where two more ships like the Ragnarok were parked behind them.
"The Armageddon and the Qiyamah," Seifer agreed, grinning at the two ships.
"If your mouth gets stuck in that position, I'll laugh," Squall warned him as he hit the button to close the hanger.
"Wouldn't want to give anyone a heart attack," Seifer mused.
Squall shot him an unimpressed look.
"You're back!" a happy voice called as Ellone and Ward appeared around the entrance into the building.
Squall wrapped her in a hug when she reached him, eyes softening. "So we are. What did you do while we were gone?"
"I read through Uncle Laguna's library," Ellone proclaimed. "He has all sorts of books on Sorceresses and I thought you might be interested, since we're going to be taking on Ultimecia, right? Most of them were written by Odine, but they're not too bad..."
Seifer grinned at the startled looks on his friends' faces. "Elle," he called before she could steal Squall away.
Ellone turned and smiled. "Hi, Seifer! Sorry, I got so caught up talking to Squall..." She let go of Squall and gave Seifer a hug before turning to look at Raijin and Fujin. "You must be Seifer's friends! I'm Ellone, Squall's sister."
Seifer snorted at the helpless look on Squall's face at that proclamation.
"I... don't think I see the family resemblance, ya know," Raijin offered uncertainly.
"Elle was adopted by Squall's mom," Seifer offered. "Elle, Raijin Nakai and Fujin Natsuki. Rai, Fuu, Ellone Loire."
"PLEASURE," Fujin decided.
"Oh, yeah, it's nice to meet ya, ya know?"
"What's Laguna's meeting about?" Squall asked Ward as they started towards the building. Ellone slipped her arm through Squall's again and Seifer caught up to see Ward's response.
'You two,' Ward signed. 'What you'll be doing here, why we should keep you in the palace.'
"Isn't that for Laguna to decide, not the Council?" Seifer wondered. Kiros had explained a bit about the way Esthar was set up on their way out to dump Adel's Tomb. The Council of Ministers made most of the decisions, for all that Laguna had the title 'President'.
'You're a security risk,' Ward explained, looking pointedly at the gunblades both teens carried.
"I suppose openly worn weaponry would make them nervous," Squall agreed quietly. "Would the Council feel better if we agreed to leave our gunblades in our rooms unless we were planning to leave the city for training?"
Ward considered that, then shrugged. 'I can't say either way for certain, but that might make them feel better, sure. You're still both armed, though.'
"We're from Garden; we can't help our training," Seifer commented in the dry tone Squall usually used.
"Will Fuu and me being here be a problem?" Raijin wondered, looking worried.
"We can say you're from town," Seifer suggested. "It's not like either of you cared about becoming SeeD, and you don't carry obvious weapons like Squall and I."
Ward looked over at the two new teens and nodded. 'They shouldn't cause any concern. Give them Esthar-style robes and no one would look twice.'
"No offence, but those robes are creepy," Seifer informed their host.
Ward offered him a smile, silently agreeing.
Squall glanced at Seifer. "Do you want to see if we can interrupt their meeting?"
"I thought you'd turned over a new, diplomatic leaf," Seifer joked.
"I've been stuck piloting the Ragnarok for almost two days straight," Squall replied drily. "I blew up my diplomacy with the Tomb."
Seifer snickered while Raijin and Fujin shot the younger gunblader disbelieving looks.
"Did he just make a joke?" Raijin wondered quietly to Seifer and Fujin.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"He does that every now and then," Seifer offered. "It's not the end of the world, just a hiccough in the threads of time."
Ward had found them a car for transportation, so they all slipped in and returned to the palace. There, Ellone offered, "I'll show Raijin and Fujin to their rooms, if you want to try talking to the Council."
Squall and Seifer traded looks, then unbuckled their gunblades in sync and held them out to Ellone and Fujin. "No point walking in there obviously armed," Seifer offered to their amused looks.
"We'll see ya when you're done, ya know," Raijin offered as the two girls took the weapons.
"Have fun," Seifer replied while he and Squall fell in behind Ward, who had agreed to lead them to the Council Room.
The guard standing outside the door looked suddenly wary when he recognised the two gunbladers, but he relaxed a bit upon realising they didn't have their weapons.
"We're here to speak with the Council," Squall announced, eyes narrowed.
"They're, uhm... They're in a meeting... Sirs."
"Yeah, a meeting about us," Seifer snapped.
The guard looked hopefully at Ward, as if the man would have led them there if he wasn't going to let them in, and Ward just shook his head and motioned for the two teens to enter.
Squall pushed the door open with a lot less force than Seifer would have done, but almost with more presence than slamming the door would have managed. There was something impressive about the smaller gunblader when he was irritated, which was probably why so many people at Garden had been leery of crossing him, for all that most of them had been bigger than the lithe teen.
"We heard you were talking about us?" Seifer offered when Squall did nothing more than stand in the doorway and glare down each and every Council Member separately.
"Squall! Seifer!" Laguna rose from his chair, smiling with a touch of panic. "If you want, we can talk–"
"If you don't mind, Dad, I'd like to say something to the Council," Squall offered quietly.
He'd only used the fond term for his father to catch the Council's attention, but Laguna beamed at him for it and re-took his seat all the same. "Feel free."
Squall considered the Council, most of whom were looking between their president and the teen in the doorway in shock. "Seifer and I left Garden over a week ago. For the moment, we are simply here as guests of my father and sister. We have nothing against your nation and will gain nothing by making any actions against you. If it makes you feel more secure, we are willing to leave our gunblades in our rooms unless we're leaving the city."
The Council traded looks for a long moment before one of them asked, "And what do you two intend to do with yourselves? You don't sound like you intend to go back to your murderer's camp."
"What did you just call–!"
"Seifer," Squall warned and Seifer subsided, though he locked a glare on the Minister who'd spoken. "We are mercenaries," Squall said to the Council. "We're trained to kill and follow orders. If you insist we create a niche for ourselves in your city, you'll have to make one for us that you're comfortable with."
"Do you intend to return to your Garden?" another Minister asked, eyeing Seifer's hostile expression uncertainly.
Squall considered that for a moment, then replied, "We have no reason to return to Garden, no; we have no friends there to visit, and we left with no intention of returning to the SeeD program."
Another Minister called, "Very well. We will discuss your situation and call for you again once we have decided what to do with you for the long term. For the moment, you are guests and it is requested that you remain unarmed in the city unless you have intentions of leaving for training. You're dismissed."
Squall shot a glance at Laguna – who beamed at him – before turning and half-pushing Seifer back out of the room. "Thank you, Ward," he said once the door had closed behind them.
Ward nodded. 'It was my pleasure. It's always nice to see the Council brought down a peg or two. Shall I show you to the residential wing?'
"Please," Squall agreed. "I'm not yet familiar enough with this building to find it on my own." He chanced a glance towards the silently seething Seifer. "I doubt either of us are. Seifer, do we need to find somewhere to spar so you can get your temper under control?"
Seifer startled out of his anger at his name and looked down at the other teen, who raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe," he agreed sheepishly.
Squall looked up at Ward, who nodded. 'Do you wish to get your weapons first?'
The teens traded looks, then shook their heads.
'This way, then.'
They walked down the hall and took the lift to a lower level. There, Ward led them to a large, empty room with a high ceiling. 'Will this do?'
"Yeah. Thanks, Ward," Seifer agreed, pulling off his coat and checking the knives strapped against his arms. "Squall?"
"Hand-to-hand?" Squall suggested in response as he shrugged out of his own jacket. He, too, had knives strapped against his arms.
Seifer nodded and they both tossed their coats against the wall while Ward found a wall to lean against. The teens stepped out into the middle of the room and both got into guard positions, watching each other with cautious eyes. Like all SeeD cadets, they had been trained in a variety of weapons, such as hand-to-hand, knives, guns and swords, then specialised in a weapon of their choosing. While both teens were only masters with their gunblades, they could use other weapons easily enough. For example, Squall could pick up Quistis' whip and control it almost as well as she could, and Seifer had a great deal of skill with staffs, for all that he preferred his weapons bladed.
At some unknown signal, both dashed forwards, Squall going low while Seifer went high. Squall almost connected with Seifer's stomach, but the larger teen spun out of the way, bringing his foot around to kick Squall's back. Squall avoided the foot by falling to the ground and spinning his own legs around to throw Seifer off balance and give himself enough time to get back to his feet.
They spent a good fifteen minutes dancing around one another before, in a motion too fast for their audience – which had grown to include a few curious guards, Laguna, Kiros and a couple of particularly brave Ministers – to spot, both drew the knives from their arms and clashed, hilt to hilt. They both managed to catch the other a number of times with the blades as they danced around for another few minutes.
Finally, in silent agreement, they pulled apart and sent an absent Cure at each other before putting their knives away.
"That was an informative demonstration," one of the Ministers commented.
Two pairs of sharp eyes, one steel grey, the other forest green, turned to consider their audience. After a moment, they both raised their left eyebrows, oddly in sync.
"It wasn't intended as a demonstration," Seifer commented calmly, "although you're certainly welcome to view it as such, if you'd prefer."
"So the stories of SeeD training children to fight like brawlers on the street is true," the other Minister said derisively.
"Do you really want to insult them right now?" the first Minister enquired of her fellow.
"They dare not do anything to me," the man snapped, scowling at the woman.
Seifer and Squall traded looks before each drawing and throwing a knife in a blink. They landed with dull thuds in the wall behind the rude Minister, close enough to clip off some strands of hair, but not draw blood.
"We may not be interested in doing you harm, Minister, but don't think us weak for our compliance. Garden has been our home for as long as we remember, and we don't appreciate you speaking of it so crudely," Squall commented in a dark voice.
"Anyway, there's nothing that says we can't make you piss yourself a bit," Seifer added smugly, eyeing the wet patch on the front of the man's robe.
"I'll have you both thrown out for this!" the man roared before fleeing the room.
"I hate spineless politicians," Seifer complained as he and Squall approached the wary group of onlookers to grab their knives, which went back in the straps on their arms.
Squall turned to his father. "Have they reached a consensus on what to do with us yet, or is there another reason you decided to hunt us down?" He nodded his thanks when Seifer handed him his jacket.
"We decided to adjourn for dinner and have another meeting tomorrow," Laguna explained. "The guard outside the Council Room mentioned something about you needing to spar, so I decided to come find you. Madam Stavola–" he nodded to the Minister still in the room, "–and Minister Amick followed me on a whim."
"Hm. Well, I'm hungry," Seifer decided. Squall nodded a bit absently next to him.
"Then let's go eat!" Laguna declared before leading the way out of the room, Ward silently following.
Kiros joined Squall and Laguna as they fell in behind the overly excited President. "That was quite an impressive show."
"It was just a spar," Seifer replied with a yawn. "We do it all the time."
"Not often without our gunblades," Squall added quietly.
"Well, yeah, that part was unusual, but the spar itself wasn't. You're still damn-hard to pin down."
Squall's eyes lit with amusement. "And you're too strong for your own good. You almost snapped my arm."
"I knew you'd slip free."
Squall glanced at Kiros. "That one Minister, Stavola, wasn't too bad."
"She was a member of the Sorceress' Guard," Kiros explained. "She understands the need to dedicate her life to fighting and still goes outside the city every few days to take on some monsters."
"It's nice to know we've got an ally on the Council," Seifer decided. "Even if it is just the one. Squall?" he asked at his rival's troubled expression.
"I almost wish we could make Ultimecia's defeat more public, but we can't take that risk," Squall commented quietly.
"Nah. Earning their respect that way is like cheating. Fuu! Rai!" he called upon seeing his friends already at the table.
"We were waiting for you, ya know," Raijin said as the two gunbladers sat across from the other two teens and Ellone.
"We were sparring for a bit," Seifer admitted. "I got really pissed off at something one of the Council Members said and Squall made me cool down. Did you have fun, though, while we were beating each other up?"
The other three settled in to talk about their afternoon/evening spent watching a couple of Estharian films Ellone had found in the library. The adults smiled as they watched the younger generation relax with each other.
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
A/N: Huh. The sparring was unexpected, but there you go.
It's always bothered me a bit that, in the game, the others were useless in D-District because they didn't know how to fight without their personal weapons. It's not like you can look at a line of weapons on a rack and immediately know, 'Oh! That's the one for me!' You have to try a few out, learn a bit with them... Anyway, considering that they're a mercenary force, it would make sense for them to be trained in more than just their chosen weapon, especially when your chosen weapon is as unusual as a gunblade or giant nunchakus. Those aren't really things you can walk around town with and not turn a couple heads. That's like holding up a sign saying, 'I'm a SeeD!' Jeebus.
Whatever. I'm going to bed.
~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
..
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai/
batsutousaiBeta: Shara Lunison/
tsuki_no_suzu & Shivani/grazhirChapter: 3 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: Raijin and Fujin's last names are taken from their Japanese voice actors in Kingdom Hearts II. Just FYI.
A/N: I thought I should mention this before someone bitches, but since we don't know the actual size of this world or how far the moon is from it, etc, I sort of shat out my arse about how long it took them to get Adel's Tomb out of range and then return to the planet. We've got stats for the Ragnarok, but that only helps so much.
I debated for a bit about whether or not I should use the whole 'males can become Sorceresses too' plot point. I've seen it fairly often in the fandom – maybe I just read the wrong fics? – and I didn't want to feel like I was copying anyone, but it sort of ended up writing itself, no matter what I tried to do different. So, I'm sorry in advance, if that irritates anyone. (Yeah, should have mentioned that in chapter one. But, you know what? I'm a bitch like that.)
Fly Over Me
-0-0-0-
Squall did, in fact, send a message out to Cid first thing in the morning. The car Kiros had borrowed had a connection to the world-wide message system installed, so he sent it from there while they were on their way to the Lunar Gate.
"May I?" Seifer requested once Squall was done.
Squall shrugged and handed it over. "Fujin and Raijin?"
Seifer nodded. "I'd like to let them know where I am. They never cared so much about SeeD, anyway, so they'll probably come join us." He paused and glanced up at where Kiros was driving. "Is that going to be a problem?"
Kiros shook his head. "It shouldn't be, no. I can send a message to security to let them know they're safe once we get to the Gate. As long as they're not likely to pass on the secret of the entrance to anyone else, we won't stop them."
"They won't," Seifer promised, going back to his message. He was writing it up in the code Fujin had designed a few years ago for secret messages, so it was taking him longer than Squall's quick note to Cid. "Hey, Squall?"
"Hm?"
"Did you leave anything at Garden that you wanted? Fuu can probably sneak into your room and get it, assuming they haven't bagged our things."
Squall blinked, then nodded. "Revolver's case."
"What's your room code?"
Squall rattled it off, then sat back while Seifer finished and sent his message. "Depending on how long it takes us to collect the ships and get rid of Adel's Tomb, we may be able to pick Fujin and Raijin up on Horizon Bridge," Squall commented.
Seifer grinned a bit madly. "I certainly hope so. That would be more awesome than them taking the scenic route."
They arrived at the Gate and stood by to listen while the tech explained the process to Seifer. Seifer looked a bit more nervous about the whole thing, but he got into the capsule he was directed to without any fuss and they were all put into cold sleep and launched into space.
Once they were safely on the Base and gravity had been generated in the arrivals section, Piet joined them with a grin. "Hey, Kiros. Fancy seeing you up here."
"Did Laguna contact you with our mission?" the dark-skinned man asked.
Piet nodded. "You three are going to try and get the ships, yeah. We've got a pod on stand-by in the bay and you know where the suits are. Now that we've got you three, we can turn the station so we can actually shoot you at the damn things."
"And the Tomb?" Squall asked as he and an unsteady Seifer joined the two men.
"The President mentioned something about you all intending to blow it sky-high, yeah. We don't have any explosives up here, though, and sending them up is asking for trouble."
Squall shrugged. "The ships have particle cannons and lasers; we can shoot her ourselves."
"I don't want to be anywhere near that Tomb when it goes," Kiros refused, shaking his head. "I don't care if only women can inherit, I'm not chancing it."
Squall and Seifer traded shrugs. "We'll do it," Seifer offered. "Once it's far enough out from the Base, you can head back and let us know when you're back here. We'll blow it then."
"If you're sure..." Kiros agreed uncertainly.
"We're guys." Seifer rolled his eyes. "Nothing will happen."
"Don't jinx yourselves," Piet suggested, turning towards the door out. "Let's get you three into suits, then, and into the pod. We've got a weak radio link set up with it and we can let you know when you're close enough to one of the ships to make it by suit. Once you're out there, though, you're on your own." He shot a faintly worried look over his shoulder at the three fighters as they made their way through the Base. "You're sure you want to go through with this? We lost three crews with those ships, you know."
"I'd like to think we're a bit more capable than they were," Seifer muttered.
"We're sure," Kiros said, ignoring Seifer.
They suited up in the prep room and hashed together some slings to hold their weapons. As Kiros had pointed out, they had no guarantee that all the ships still had a working atmosphere, and they'd be travelling back and forth between the ships, so having to remove and put back on their suits each time would be troublesome. All things considered, wearing their weapons outside their suits was the best for all of them.
"As long as you don't punch a nice-sized hole in the suit, you should be fine," Piet agreed once they were all suited up and on their way to the pods.
"We'll try to stick to distance attacks, then," Squall decided, glancing towards Kiros. "Do you have a way to manage para-magic?"
Kiros shrugged. "No. I can grab one of the machine guns in the control room."
Squall nodded at that, recalling that Kiros really didn't care for magic-users – his reaction to Rinoa had been all the evidence he needed – and didn't bother arguing it.
The launch and jump from the capsule to the nearest ship – the Armageddon – went off without a hitch. Defeating the Propagators while Squall and Seifer were only able to safely use lower-levelled magic to avoid blowing a hole in the hull was a bit more interesting, but the three of them managed well enough.
They'd had to break after clearing the second ship – the Ragnarok – for some much needed sleep, but had figured out a system of fighting by the time they got to the Qiyamah. Seifer had also spent time on both ships learning the controls, so he took over the Qiyamah while Kiros took the Armageddon and Squall the Ragnarok.
With the three ships under their control, they returned to Adel's Tomb. It took some assistance from Kiros over the ship-to-ship radios for Seifer and Squall to properly manage the arms of their ships, but they were eventually able to. They grabbed the Tomb and took off away from both the moon and planet. It took them a number of hours to reach a safe distance and Kiros immediately headed back while Squall and Seifer took the time to stretch.
"You know, I almost wish we'd brought a couple more pilots with us," Seifer commented over the ship-to-ship radio. "Getting stuck in that chair for so long sucked."
"At lea...ou get....eak," Kiros replied.
"Kiros, remain in contact with us," Squall ordered. "You're breaking up on our end and I want to know how long we'll be in contact."
"...oud and clea... here. I...ay in cont...ough."
"Fuck, that's annoying. Any way to boost the signal?" Seifer wondered, considering the controls.
"It's because of the Tomb," Squall offered. "Kiros, we're really having trouble receiving you. It took us about six hours to get out here, so we'll give you seven, then blow it."
"Cop...od luc..."
"I guess that means it's just you and me, Squall," Seifer commented, grinning to himself.
"Make that just yourself. I intend to get a nap in," Squall shot back.
"Oh? You have an alarm on you?"
"Use your watch."
"Er, right. Forgot about that."
"If you're really worried, sleep in the cockpit and I'll radio you. I know you have a hard time getting up for class."
"Oh, shut up." Seifer crossed his arms over his chest and glowered out the front display towards Ragnarok.
Squall snorted over the radio. "Good night, Seifer."
"Yeah, good night, Squall."
"I really hate you," Squall said tiredly over the radios after they'd blown the Tomb.
Seifer groaned and rubbed his arm, which had knocked rather painfully against the weapons console when he was knocked out. "I'm sorry, okay. Only females can inherit a Sorceress' magic. It shouldn't be possible for us."
"I really hate you."
"You mentioned that." Seifer sighed. "Let's just get back to the planet, okay? You can hate me in person, then."
"With pleasure. I might just freeze off your balls, too."
"Would you leave my poor balls out of this?!"
Squall was ominously silent.
Seifer grimaced and set his controls, then leaned back in his chair and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Damnit, Squall. I didn't mean to jinx us, okay. And I'm not happy about it, either."
There was a long silence, then, "Sorry. I know." He sighed. "Maybe this will make it easier to fight Ultimecia, maybe it'll make us options for possession. I don't know."
Seifer closed his eyes and admitted, "I'm scared." Getting possessed by some uber bitch from the future didn't sound like the least bit of fun. Never mind everything he'd heard about Odine... "We can't let Odine find out."
"I'm not letting anyone find out," Squall swore.
"Not even your dad?"
"...I don't know. Would you?"
Seifer considered that, then shrugged. "He doesn't seem like a bad guy, necessarily."
"He's not. Before, in my memories, Sis took a couple of us back to Laguna's life before I was born. He's a bit of an idiot, but he means well. And he... really loved my mom..."
"But?"
"We're orphans, Seifer. Raised to be mercenaries. What would you do if you suddenly found out you had a dad?"
Seifer sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. Ask him why he wasn't around, I suppose. Ask him why..." He paused, his thoughts catching up to him. "You... Squall, he's not going to abandon you." Because, in spite of all the time and missing memories, Seifer still knew what made Squall tick. He'd always known his rival's deepest fear, just like Squall probably knew his own of being helpless to protect what was important to him.
Squall was silent long enough that Seifer was beginning to think he wouldn't respond, then he commented, "Everyone leaves."
"I haven't left you!"
"You did, though. The other you. You abandoned me for Ultimecia."
"I'm not that person!" Seifer hissed. "Damnit, Squall! I came after you, okay? I gave up fucking everything for you. I'm not going to turn around and leave you like some fucking prick that had my face!"
Squall let out an odd sort of choked sound and it took Seifer a minute to realise that the other teen was laughing.
Seifer sighed and shook his head. "You're a piece of work."
"Likewise," Squall replied, amusement in his voice. "I don't know what I'll do about Laguna. Are you going to tell Fujin and Raijin?"
Seifer snorted. "If I don't, Fuu'll have it figured out by the end of the day, anyway."
"When we get back to the planet, we can radio to see if they're there yet," Squall suggested.
"You know, I really hope they're not listening in," Seifer commented.
Squall was silent for a long moment, then said, "About three hours out, we lost Lunar Base, remember? Unless they've got some seriously boosted equipment all of a sudden, they shouldn't be able to hear us for a couple more hours."
"And the Armageddon?"
"Unless Kiros is hanging out by the Base for some reason, he should be docked in Esthar. They'd have no reason to keep the radio on, then."
"And there's no guarantee the signal is that strong," Seifer agreed. "Okay. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."
"It's a valid concern," Squall returned. "We don't want them to know what happened, so we don't want to chance them listening in."
"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you, huh?"
"Basically. I suppose we'll know for sure once we reach the planet. If they try tricking us into the Sorceress Memorial, run for it."
Seifer snorted. "Yeah, okay. That's where they sealed Adel?"
"Mmhm. And almost Rinoa."
"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Rinoa as a Sorceress."
"She didn't act like one, really. I mean, if she was in trouble, she'd blast whatever with her magic, but otherwise she was just like always. I mean, she junctioned fine and didn't act any different."
"So there's no visible difference between a Sorceress and a normal person?" Seifer wondered, curious.
"Not so far as I saw. I mean, Matron's been a Sorceress since before we knew her, and we never noticed anything odd. Even in what few memories I have of her, I don't notice anything off."
"That's true. But you could tell Adel was a Sorceress."
"You know those stories about Sorceresses going mad? I think they must change a bit when their magic gets out of control, because while Matron was possessed she looked different, and Ultimecia looked a bit odd, too. She had claws." Squall paused. "Actually, now that I think about it, so did Matron."
"Did Adel?"
"No. But she was creepy looking enough without them."
Seifer laughed. "I'll take your word for it. Didn't get a particularly good look at her."
"Count your lucky stars. I have nightmares about her."
Seifer shook his head, then commented, "You talk a lot more, suddenly."
"...I never had much reason to talk, at Garden. What was there to say? And now I remember all my friends... They always wanted me to talk more, Rinoa especially. I guess I got used to it."
"She would. But... I'm kinda glad for it, really. A little bothered that it was Rinoa of all people who brought you out of your silence, but glad."
"What is it with you people and wanting me to talk, anyway?"
"We just have this need to hear your beautiful voi–"
"I wonder if I can freeze your balls from here."
Seifer laughed and shook his head. "Your fondness for ice spells is a little scary, Squall."
"It's why Shiva and I get on so well."
"I don't doubt that. Hey, I've been wondering... You mentioned the Chicken-wuss and Rinoa, but who were the other people you travelled with?"
"Oh, everyone from the orphanage. Zell, Quistis, Irvine and Selphie. And Rinoa."
"Irvine and Selphie?"
"Selphie's really loud and bouncy–"
Seifer frowned as he tried to remember those days. "With dark hair?"
"Yeah."
"I liked her. She was a lot of fun, and she wouldn't take my teasing like Chicken-wuss and the Little Miss would."
" 'Little Miss'?" Squall gave that strange, choked laugh again. "Auburn hair?"
"Yeah, that was him."
"That's Irvine. He's quite the lady's man, now."
Seifer snickered. "Is he still shorter than everyone?"
"He's taller than me. Taller than all of us, really. You might still have a few centimetres on him, though."
"Does that mean I shouldn't call him 'Little Miss' anymore?"
"Only if you want your balls shot off. He's a sniper."
"What is it with you and my balls?"
"They're the only part of you I can effectively threaten."
Seifer snorted and shook his head. "I think you have a thing for them, Squall. You know, if you really want to–" Seifer jumped at the cold feeling that permeated his seat. "Fuck that's cold! You goddamn bastard!"
"My aim must have been off."
"I'm gonna fucking flame your ass."
Squall actually laughed at that, a real, honest-to-goodness laugh, though it was a little strained.
Seifer sighed and sat back in his chair, ignoring the chill. "I really hate you," he commented, but there was no feeling in the comment.
"Yeah, I hate you too."
Seifer smiled to himself and pulled his gunblade polish out of his pocket to see to Hyperion.
Fujin and Raijin hadn't arrived in Esthar by the time they returned, so the two teens parked at the Airstation and Seifer transferred to the Ragnarok. "Alright, I'm onboard," he said over the intercom to the cockpit as he finished closing the main hanger. He and Squall had agreed that it was best if they took one ship so one of them could pilot while the other controlled the door.
"Are you coming up here, or do I have to look out for them myself?" Squall wondered drily as the ship took off.
"What, you can't multi-task?" Seifer chuckled. "Yeah, I'll be right there."
Up in the cockpit, Seifer slid into the co-pilot's chair as Squall flipped the switch that turned off the radio. "That was the Airstation," he offered at Seifer's curious look. "They wanted to know when we'd be back, so Laguna could meet us there. He's in a meeting right now, or he'd probably have hopped on board when we set down."
"I had wondered about that a bit," Seifer admitted. "He was saying he wanted to take a spin in one of these ships at breakfast the other morning."
"I think he wants out of Esthar for a little bit, too." Squall shrugged. "He used to travel a lot, before he met Raine, and even after, while he was looking for Sis. I can't imagine it would be fun to be stuck behind a desk all day, no matter how geometrically pleasing the view out the window is."
Seifer snorted. "Getting stuck in one place would suck. Oh, hey!" He jerked forward and pointed at a couple of specks on Horizon Bridge. "Is that them?"
Squall thumbed the controls. "Hold on."
They slid down, closer to the bridge, and Seifer could make out Fujin's shock of silver hair. "That's them."
Squall nodded. "I'll circle around, then. You want to get the hanger open?"
"Yup!" Seifer jumped from his chair and dashed to the lift. Once he was in the main hanger, he hit the control and grinned as the door slid open to show a wide-eyed Fujin and Raijin. "Afternoon!" he shouted over the wind and engines.
"SEIFER!" Fujin exclaimed, shock transforming into a smile.
Seifer motioned them aboard, since he could hardly hear himself think with all the noise, never mind have an actual conversation. Raijin had to help Fujin up, but once they were both aboard, Seifer slammed the door controls and turned on the intercom. "They're on board."
"Okay. Taking off," Squall replied and the ship lurched a bit.
Seifer grinned at his friends. "It is awesome to see you two again. Utterly awesome."
"Says the one who left in the first place, ya know," Raijin replied, but he slapped Seifer on the back all the same, looking pleased.
"WHY?" Fujin asked once she'd given Seifer a hug.
"Squall was acting weird. I followed him." Seifer shrugged.
"Oh, yeah, guess that was Leonhart just now, ya know," Raijin realised. "I suppose that means you haven't killed him on accident, ya know."
"I wouldn't kill him," Seifer swore. "His father would send the whole Esthar army out for my head."
"You met his dad, then?"
"Yeah, he's president of Esthar." Seifer grinned a bit madly at their surprised looks. "Yeah, I know. Pretty cool guy, though. Bit absentminded, but still cool. Nothing like Squall."
"WHERE?" Fujin asked, pointing at the floor of the Ragnarok.
"What? Oh, where'd we pick up the Ragnarok?" Fujin nodded. "The Estharians sort of lost it and two other ships like it to the monsters on the moon a few years ago. Squall, one of the presidential aides and I all went up there and got them back. Sounds like Laguna's giving this one to Squall as a belated birthday present."
The floor shuddered, startling the other two, but Seifer just grinned and waited for the engines to cut off before saying, "We've landed."
The lift whirred down the hall and Squall appeared after a moment, as stoic as ever. He offered his fellow cadets a nod. "Fujin, Raijin."
"Leonhart," Raijin said for both of them.
Seifer rolled his eyes and hit the button to open the hanger. "Is Laguna here?"
Squall shook his head. "Still in a meeting. Ward's here, though."
Seifer nodded and ushered the other two out ahead of them. When they stopped at the bottom of the ramp to stare at the city, he offered, "Welcome to Esthar."
"IMPRESSIVE," Fujin announced.
"Those are the other two ships you found, right?" Raijin asked, glancing at where two more ships like the Ragnarok were parked behind them.
"The Armageddon and the Qiyamah," Seifer agreed, grinning at the two ships.
"If your mouth gets stuck in that position, I'll laugh," Squall warned him as he hit the button to close the hanger.
"Wouldn't want to give anyone a heart attack," Seifer mused.
Squall shot him an unimpressed look.
"You're back!" a happy voice called as Ellone and Ward appeared around the entrance into the building.
Squall wrapped her in a hug when she reached him, eyes softening. "So we are. What did you do while we were gone?"
"I read through Uncle Laguna's library," Ellone proclaimed. "He has all sorts of books on Sorceresses and I thought you might be interested, since we're going to be taking on Ultimecia, right? Most of them were written by Odine, but they're not too bad..."
Seifer grinned at the startled looks on his friends' faces. "Elle," he called before she could steal Squall away.
Ellone turned and smiled. "Hi, Seifer! Sorry, I got so caught up talking to Squall..." She let go of Squall and gave Seifer a hug before turning to look at Raijin and Fujin. "You must be Seifer's friends! I'm Ellone, Squall's sister."
Seifer snorted at the helpless look on Squall's face at that proclamation.
"I... don't think I see the family resemblance, ya know," Raijin offered uncertainly.
"Elle was adopted by Squall's mom," Seifer offered. "Elle, Raijin Nakai and Fujin Natsuki. Rai, Fuu, Ellone Loire."
"PLEASURE," Fujin decided.
"Oh, yeah, it's nice to meet ya, ya know?"
"What's Laguna's meeting about?" Squall asked Ward as they started towards the building. Ellone slipped her arm through Squall's again and Seifer caught up to see Ward's response.
'You two,' Ward signed. 'What you'll be doing here, why we should keep you in the palace.'
"Isn't that for Laguna to decide, not the Council?" Seifer wondered. Kiros had explained a bit about the way Esthar was set up on their way out to dump Adel's Tomb. The Council of Ministers made most of the decisions, for all that Laguna had the title 'President'.
'You're a security risk,' Ward explained, looking pointedly at the gunblades both teens carried.
"I suppose openly worn weaponry would make them nervous," Squall agreed quietly. "Would the Council feel better if we agreed to leave our gunblades in our rooms unless we were planning to leave the city for training?"
Ward considered that, then shrugged. 'I can't say either way for certain, but that might make them feel better, sure. You're still both armed, though.'
"We're from Garden; we can't help our training," Seifer commented in the dry tone Squall usually used.
"Will Fuu and me being here be a problem?" Raijin wondered, looking worried.
"We can say you're from town," Seifer suggested. "It's not like either of you cared about becoming SeeD, and you don't carry obvious weapons like Squall and I."
Ward looked over at the two new teens and nodded. 'They shouldn't cause any concern. Give them Esthar-style robes and no one would look twice.'
"No offence, but those robes are creepy," Seifer informed their host.
Ward offered him a smile, silently agreeing.
Squall glanced at Seifer. "Do you want to see if we can interrupt their meeting?"
"I thought you'd turned over a new, diplomatic leaf," Seifer joked.
"I've been stuck piloting the Ragnarok for almost two days straight," Squall replied drily. "I blew up my diplomacy with the Tomb."
Seifer snickered while Raijin and Fujin shot the younger gunblader disbelieving looks.
"Did he just make a joke?" Raijin wondered quietly to Seifer and Fujin.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"He does that every now and then," Seifer offered. "It's not the end of the world, just a hiccough in the threads of time."
Ward had found them a car for transportation, so they all slipped in and returned to the palace. There, Ellone offered, "I'll show Raijin and Fujin to their rooms, if you want to try talking to the Council."
Squall and Seifer traded looks, then unbuckled their gunblades in sync and held them out to Ellone and Fujin. "No point walking in there obviously armed," Seifer offered to their amused looks.
"We'll see ya when you're done, ya know," Raijin offered as the two girls took the weapons.
"Have fun," Seifer replied while he and Squall fell in behind Ward, who had agreed to lead them to the Council Room.
The guard standing outside the door looked suddenly wary when he recognised the two gunbladers, but he relaxed a bit upon realising they didn't have their weapons.
"We're here to speak with the Council," Squall announced, eyes narrowed.
"They're, uhm... They're in a meeting... Sirs."
"Yeah, a meeting about us," Seifer snapped.
The guard looked hopefully at Ward, as if the man would have led them there if he wasn't going to let them in, and Ward just shook his head and motioned for the two teens to enter.
Squall pushed the door open with a lot less force than Seifer would have done, but almost with more presence than slamming the door would have managed. There was something impressive about the smaller gunblader when he was irritated, which was probably why so many people at Garden had been leery of crossing him, for all that most of them had been bigger than the lithe teen.
"We heard you were talking about us?" Seifer offered when Squall did nothing more than stand in the doorway and glare down each and every Council Member separately.
"Squall! Seifer!" Laguna rose from his chair, smiling with a touch of panic. "If you want, we can talk–"
"If you don't mind, Dad, I'd like to say something to the Council," Squall offered quietly.
He'd only used the fond term for his father to catch the Council's attention, but Laguna beamed at him for it and re-took his seat all the same. "Feel free."
Squall considered the Council, most of whom were looking between their president and the teen in the doorway in shock. "Seifer and I left Garden over a week ago. For the moment, we are simply here as guests of my father and sister. We have nothing against your nation and will gain nothing by making any actions against you. If it makes you feel more secure, we are willing to leave our gunblades in our rooms unless we're leaving the city."
The Council traded looks for a long moment before one of them asked, "And what do you two intend to do with yourselves? You don't sound like you intend to go back to your murderer's camp."
"What did you just call–!"
"Seifer," Squall warned and Seifer subsided, though he locked a glare on the Minister who'd spoken. "We are mercenaries," Squall said to the Council. "We're trained to kill and follow orders. If you insist we create a niche for ourselves in your city, you'll have to make one for us that you're comfortable with."
"Do you intend to return to your Garden?" another Minister asked, eyeing Seifer's hostile expression uncertainly.
Squall considered that for a moment, then replied, "We have no reason to return to Garden, no; we have no friends there to visit, and we left with no intention of returning to the SeeD program."
Another Minister called, "Very well. We will discuss your situation and call for you again once we have decided what to do with you for the long term. For the moment, you are guests and it is requested that you remain unarmed in the city unless you have intentions of leaving for training. You're dismissed."
Squall shot a glance at Laguna – who beamed at him – before turning and half-pushing Seifer back out of the room. "Thank you, Ward," he said once the door had closed behind them.
Ward nodded. 'It was my pleasure. It's always nice to see the Council brought down a peg or two. Shall I show you to the residential wing?'
"Please," Squall agreed. "I'm not yet familiar enough with this building to find it on my own." He chanced a glance towards the silently seething Seifer. "I doubt either of us are. Seifer, do we need to find somewhere to spar so you can get your temper under control?"
Seifer startled out of his anger at his name and looked down at the other teen, who raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe," he agreed sheepishly.
Squall looked up at Ward, who nodded. 'Do you wish to get your weapons first?'
The teens traded looks, then shook their heads.
'This way, then.'
They walked down the hall and took the lift to a lower level. There, Ward led them to a large, empty room with a high ceiling. 'Will this do?'
"Yeah. Thanks, Ward," Seifer agreed, pulling off his coat and checking the knives strapped against his arms. "Squall?"
"Hand-to-hand?" Squall suggested in response as he shrugged out of his own jacket. He, too, had knives strapped against his arms.
Seifer nodded and they both tossed their coats against the wall while Ward found a wall to lean against. The teens stepped out into the middle of the room and both got into guard positions, watching each other with cautious eyes. Like all SeeD cadets, they had been trained in a variety of weapons, such as hand-to-hand, knives, guns and swords, then specialised in a weapon of their choosing. While both teens were only masters with their gunblades, they could use other weapons easily enough. For example, Squall could pick up Quistis' whip and control it almost as well as she could, and Seifer had a great deal of skill with staffs, for all that he preferred his weapons bladed.
At some unknown signal, both dashed forwards, Squall going low while Seifer went high. Squall almost connected with Seifer's stomach, but the larger teen spun out of the way, bringing his foot around to kick Squall's back. Squall avoided the foot by falling to the ground and spinning his own legs around to throw Seifer off balance and give himself enough time to get back to his feet.
They spent a good fifteen minutes dancing around one another before, in a motion too fast for their audience – which had grown to include a few curious guards, Laguna, Kiros and a couple of particularly brave Ministers – to spot, both drew the knives from their arms and clashed, hilt to hilt. They both managed to catch the other a number of times with the blades as they danced around for another few minutes.
Finally, in silent agreement, they pulled apart and sent an absent Cure at each other before putting their knives away.
"That was an informative demonstration," one of the Ministers commented.
Two pairs of sharp eyes, one steel grey, the other forest green, turned to consider their audience. After a moment, they both raised their left eyebrows, oddly in sync.
"It wasn't intended as a demonstration," Seifer commented calmly, "although you're certainly welcome to view it as such, if you'd prefer."
"So the stories of SeeD training children to fight like brawlers on the street is true," the other Minister said derisively.
"Do you really want to insult them right now?" the first Minister enquired of her fellow.
"They dare not do anything to me," the man snapped, scowling at the woman.
Seifer and Squall traded looks before each drawing and throwing a knife in a blink. They landed with dull thuds in the wall behind the rude Minister, close enough to clip off some strands of hair, but not draw blood.
"We may not be interested in doing you harm, Minister, but don't think us weak for our compliance. Garden has been our home for as long as we remember, and we don't appreciate you speaking of it so crudely," Squall commented in a dark voice.
"Anyway, there's nothing that says we can't make you piss yourself a bit," Seifer added smugly, eyeing the wet patch on the front of the man's robe.
"I'll have you both thrown out for this!" the man roared before fleeing the room.
"I hate spineless politicians," Seifer complained as he and Squall approached the wary group of onlookers to grab their knives, which went back in the straps on their arms.
Squall turned to his father. "Have they reached a consensus on what to do with us yet, or is there another reason you decided to hunt us down?" He nodded his thanks when Seifer handed him his jacket.
"We decided to adjourn for dinner and have another meeting tomorrow," Laguna explained. "The guard outside the Council Room mentioned something about you needing to spar, so I decided to come find you. Madam Stavola–" he nodded to the Minister still in the room, "–and Minister Amick followed me on a whim."
"Hm. Well, I'm hungry," Seifer decided. Squall nodded a bit absently next to him.
"Then let's go eat!" Laguna declared before leading the way out of the room, Ward silently following.
Kiros joined Squall and Laguna as they fell in behind the overly excited President. "That was quite an impressive show."
"It was just a spar," Seifer replied with a yawn. "We do it all the time."
"Not often without our gunblades," Squall added quietly.
"Well, yeah, that part was unusual, but the spar itself wasn't. You're still damn-hard to pin down."
Squall's eyes lit with amusement. "And you're too strong for your own good. You almost snapped my arm."
"I knew you'd slip free."
Squall glanced at Kiros. "That one Minister, Stavola, wasn't too bad."
"She was a member of the Sorceress' Guard," Kiros explained. "She understands the need to dedicate her life to fighting and still goes outside the city every few days to take on some monsters."
"It's nice to know we've got an ally on the Council," Seifer decided. "Even if it is just the one. Squall?" he asked at his rival's troubled expression.
"I almost wish we could make Ultimecia's defeat more public, but we can't take that risk," Squall commented quietly.
"Nah. Earning their respect that way is like cheating. Fuu! Rai!" he called upon seeing his friends already at the table.
"We were waiting for you, ya know," Raijin said as the two gunbladers sat across from the other two teens and Ellone.
"We were sparring for a bit," Seifer admitted. "I got really pissed off at something one of the Council Members said and Squall made me cool down. Did you have fun, though, while we were beating each other up?"
The other three settled in to talk about their afternoon/evening spent watching a couple of Estharian films Ellone had found in the library. The adults smiled as they watched the younger generation relax with each other.
-0-0-0-
A/N: Huh. The sparring was unexpected, but there you go.
It's always bothered me a bit that, in the game, the others were useless in D-District because they didn't know how to fight without their personal weapons. It's not like you can look at a line of weapons on a rack and immediately know, 'Oh! That's the one for me!' You have to try a few out, learn a bit with them... Anyway, considering that they're a mercenary force, it would make sense for them to be trained in more than just their chosen weapon, especially when your chosen weapon is as unusual as a gunblade or giant nunchakus. Those aren't really things you can walk around town with and not turn a couple heads. That's like holding up a sign saying, 'I'm a SeeD!' Jeebus.
Whatever. I'm going to bed.
~Bats ^.^x
1 - Won't Make It Alone ||| 2 - Give Up Everything
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
..
