Author's Note: Hurray! I'd like to give a shout-out to my readers and reviewers! Thank you so much for keeping up with the story!! It really means a lot that you all stuck it out so long. :3

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII belongs to to Square-Enix. I'm just here to make a story.

Maybe It Could Work
by Elcyion Pitye

XIII. Nothing Wrong With Me

A week and a half had gone by since Rinoa fainted. Unluckily, she was still comatose, but at least she remained in stable condition. She was healthy enough to stay at Garden and not have to go to an actual hospital.

"I heard you got your head chewed off by Kadowaki."

That was the first thing an amusedly smirking Seifer said to Squall as the former entered the viewing room of the interrogation room.

Squall kept a straight face. "We have enough money to fix the room," he replied humorlessly.

"MORON," Fujin remarked to her commander. Feeling like she was behind the other rookies despite her high performances at her constant missions, the silver-haired SeeD requested to shadow a high-level as well... and she happened to get Squall as her mentor. She had arrived with him, and this was her first time in this particular room. It was obvious from the way she fascinatedly stared through the viewing window at not only the ever-so-grumpy, slouchy Bethe Rhiannon, but at the prisoner's surroundings as well.

"Where's Quistis?" Squall asked Seifer, changing the subject.

The taller man shrugged. "Around somewhere." He noticed that his superior was casting a slight glare in his direction. "Cut it out, Commando. She'll be here on time. You know her."

True to his word, the door swung open, revealing a razzled Quistis. She gave the others an apologetic look as she sauntered into the room.

"Told you," he shot triumphantly at his rival. "I win."

(Since when was this a competition?) Squall thought to himself, rolling his eyes at him.

"LONG TIME NO SEE," Fujin greeted the instructor, bowing slightly.

"Ah! Fujin," she exclaimed in surprise. "About time I've seen you. I heard you've been very busy lately..."

"MISSIONS. SEED TESTS."

"So who have you been making out with, Quisty?" he asked impishly, noticing the blonde woman's unkempt appearance.

She blushed at his comment and angrily turned her face to the side. "Seifer, you're an idiot..."

"So... you really did?" he questioned. His smile wavered in his misunderstanding of her flushed cheeks.

"No!!" She adjusted the glasses on her face out of annoyance. "Anyway! Let's get on with this. Neither Nida nor Alethea D'Artemus will be able to join us today. They are both away on a mission. So the questioning will be up to me and Seifer."

Seifer scoffed. "So you're gonna actually talk to the bitch?"

The blue-eyed blonde smiled at him. "No, you are."

Squall stifled a snort.

"Oh, fuck no!" he yelled adamantly. His complaint was immediately met with a kick to the shin from Fujin. "OW!"

She glared at him. "STOP."

"Dammit, Fujin..." After he quieted down some more, he adjusted his trenchcoat and glowered at Bethe through the window. "Why me, anyway?"

"I feel that you're good enough of a SeeD to do this on your own," Quistis explained matter-of-factly. "I trust you to do a good job."

Seifer scowled. He looked from Quistis to the anarchist and back again. "Are you saying I'm gonna go in there by myself while you three sit out here and gawk at me?"

(Not like we want to...) Squall thought, sighing at Seifer's behavior, not too fond of the idea of watching at his rival and the redhead (again!) for a long period of time.

"Well, yes, obviously," Quistis answered him, blinking. "I mean, you already know exactly what is going on, so it shouldn't be hard, right?" She gestured toward Fujin. "Fujin is the one here who doesn't know as much, although I know Squall filled her in."

The eyepatched woman grinned at him mischievously, realizing something from the uncertain look in his eyes. "SCARED."

".............." was the only response she received. He shifted his eyes to look elsewhere. He didn't even know how to reply.

"Oh, Hyne..." Squall muttered, covering his mouth to hide the oncoming laughter. Seifer was no longer so big and bad anymore.

Quistis, however, had the audacity to giggle. She clamped her hand on Seifer's shoulder, patting it encouragingly. "Don't worry about it, Sei-Sei! Just be arrogant like you always are!"

"I didn't even say anything!" he insisted. No one seemed to believe him. He turned to Fujin and pointed at her crossly. "You! I hate you!"

She just shrugged, looking innocent. "FAULT. NOT MINE. ALL YOU."

"You might want Quistis to go in there and hold your hand," the commander suggested calmly, folding his arms across his chest coolly.

"Since when did everyone start making fun of me?!" Seifer raged, finding that all three of them were ganging up on him. "You know what? Fuck that. I'll show you..." He ended his sentence with a grumble as he shoved himself through the door to the interrogation room.

Squall smirked as he settled himself in a chair. Quistis took out a notepad and a pen and sat down across from him. Fujin chose to remain standing, planning on simply observing the interrogation.

Meanwhile, Seifer, who was careful in not letting his nerves show or get the best of him, put on a brave front as he stepped up to Bethe. The ex-REVOLUTION member didn't notice the blond come up to her, his shadow falling over her. She seemed to be dozing in her chair, her hair covering her face and her head tilted forward.

Seifer cleared his throat.

She looked up, raising an eyebrow at him. "Who are you?" she asked him. She smiled mockingly. "Are you one of the little newbies?” She looked up at him up and down, checking him out. “You look older than that other girl. Way hotter, too--”

Not liking the way she was looking at him, Seifer folded his arms across his chest. “Hey, now... we're not here to have small talk.”

"Hm, your voice shook. You scared?”

"No.”

"Sure sounds that way. Poor baby.” She snickered. “Get that fine-as-hell commander to hold your hand, why don't you?”

"Okay, now I'm angry,” he muttered through gritted teeth. Pointing a finger at her, he turned toward the people outside of the room. “Can I strangle her a little?!” he asked. “Just a little--?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fucking rookies.”

"What did you say?!”

(“He reminds me of a certain someone when he said that,” Quistis whispered to Squall. “A certain fighting blond guy.”

The commander nodded, immediately agreeing.)

“Wow, someone needs to work on his temper,” the redhead sighed exasperatedly.

"Stop pissing me off, then!” Seifer raged as he hit his fist against the wall.

"I barely did anything. But hey, at least you don't look scared or nervous now.”

Seifer scowled at her.

She smiled. “Wanna know a secret?”

"Not really,” Seifer responded vehemently, “but since we have to hear your ugly voice, I guess I have no choice.”

"Yeah, well....” she shrugged nonchalantly, as if her following words were no big deal. “I actually... used to be SeeD for Galbadia.”

There was a pause.

“.... And?” Seifer prompted her.

"And that means I know the pressure of being a rookie, all the crap you get because you make all the mistakes--”

"Hey, stick to the fucking subject,” Seifer interrupted viciously.

"Well, what is the subject?” she asked innocently.

"....”

"Hah. Dumb rookie.”

Seifer looked like he was going to kill her, but he forced himself to remain his cool. Having a short temper in an interrogation room was no good. “One of ours is in a coma,” he explained tightly. “She had a DF. We don't know if she'll wake up or if she's just gonna--”

"Stay like that forever?” Bethe finished for him plainly. “So you think I'd know more about this shit? About DFs?”

"Yes,” he sighed loudly.

She shook her head. “Told you everything, Rookie.”

"Don't call me a fucking--!”

"But,” she cut in, smiling as she watched him silence himself immediately. “I know people who might know more. People who've used them more.”

"So there are more of you,” the ex-knight concluded.

"Of course there are.”

"Why didn't we know about this shit earlier?” he queried warily.

"Didn't feel the need.” She noticed Seifer's disbelieving look. “But hey, look at it this way. You know now. That's what's most important, right? I quit that fucking group. I'm going to rat them out. Okay, Rookie?”

"Tch.”

"Well, anywho,” Bethe continued, a smile slowly forming on her face. “The group of me, Ciel, Azul, and Jarek are just a small scouting group. We're high up in authority out of the whole of us, but we have our own faction, which consisted of those damned weaklings you fought on your exam day.”

Seifer, who was currently facing Bethe with his back to Squall, Quistis, and Fujin, glanced toward the window, hoping everyone else was paying attention.

“ Yeah, so we were given the crappy ones,” she went on, “the more expendable part of us. They were the ones who joined the cause for the hell of it. No to very little fighting experience.” She adjusted herself idly in her seat. “But you see... I have an older brother. His name's Rade.”

"Rade?” Seifer repeated. “Rade Rhiannon?”

"Yeah, same last name and everything,” she affirmed. “He's in charge of what we call the underground faction. He's the lone leader, but he's got all the tough ones. They're the main group of REVOLUTION. They're the ones with all the DF knowledge and power.”

"What makes them different from your faction?” he asked, starting to slowly pace around. The knowledge of another, stronger part of REVOLUTION was getting him on edge.

"They were handpicked by Rade,” she told him. “He's like a foster parent or a crazy cat lady, I swear.” She laughed a little. “Picking up strays and rejects. These guys were prison escapees, ex-SeeDs, ex-soldiers... people like that. If he could get his hands on a sorceress, he would.” She gave Seifer a scrutinizing stare. “You look like this guy I saw on the news a while back.”

He visibly tensed.

"Did shit with sorceresses, killed people,” she listed, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “Oh, he managed to fuck up Esthar. Fucked up the world, in fact. God, so glad we had our headquarters underground.”

He shifted his feet uncomfortably. “Your point?”

She shrugged. “Rade has people like that in his crew. Would've wanted more, too.” She chuckled and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You'd be good enough, though. Don't you think? You look like him.”

"Enough,” he rasped, shooting her a stony glare.

Bethe blinked. “Did I hit a sore spot?” she asked sweetly. “Don't tell me you're related to that guy...”

"....”

"Hm. Guess not. Oh, wait...” she leaned forward, taking a closer look at Seifer, who stepped back at her sudden invasion of his space. “You're that guy, aren't you?” she exclaimed with excitement. Her smile grew and her eyes lit up. “Wow! So this is where you've gone.”

Seifer could feel himself losing his temper again.

“ Small world, eh?”

"Goddammit, I don't want to--” he started angrily.

Man, I feel like I'm meeting a celeb--”

"Shut the FUCK UP!” Seifer roared, punching the wall with his fist. Surprisingly, it didn't make a dent. “GET THE HELL BACK ON TOPIC, YA HEAR?!”

"Touchy subject,” she mumbled to herself under breath. Turning back to him, she grinned again, more softly this time. “Okay, so the underground faction is still around. They start doing their shit when they know something happened to us... and by now, I'm pretty sure they do.”

There was a long pause, probably due to Seifer trying to calm himself down from his outburst. But after a while, he spoke up again. “What are you trying to say?”

"What do you think?” she answered brusquely. “We go there and talk to Rade. They can't kill you if I'm around. They still think I'm one of them. If anyone knows about DFs, it's him. You know why? 'Cause he knows where to draw them.”

"So he and those others have them junctioned?” He knitted his brows together, quickly mulling the information over. “... Is that why they're the stronger part of REVOLUTION, then?”

"Pretty much.”

The door suddenly swung itself open. Both Seifer and Bethe looked up in surprise as Quistis, Squall, and Fujin all entered. The instructor, who had been the one to open the door, held the knob and tilted her head in thought. “If what you say is true, Rhiannon,” she began softly, “then we better plan for our next trip quickly... and you get to be our navigator.”

"Hmph, not a problem there,” Bethe replied, smirking at her. “Fuckers won't know what's coming to them.”

"Any precautions for this mission?” Squall asked. “Will they fight upon seeing us, or are they relatively diplomatic?”

"If I'm there, and you let me do all the talking, and you guys do a bit of acting, then I'll pretty much have this under control,” she elaborated matter-of-factly.

"Commando, Quisty, can we even trust her?” Seifer questioned, feeling unsettled. “What if she lies to us? If she has been lying to us? The woman could turn on us!”

Squall snorted. “I'm not dumb, Seifer. If anything happens, you guys better fight. I'm entrusting this to SeeDs who I know will do a good job.”

Seifer looked like he realized something. “You guys....” the blond repeated. “Wait, you want me to be part of this shit?!”

"I wonder.”

"Hell...”

Squall raised an eyebrow at his rival. “What happened to the cocky, over-confident you?”

"DFS. I THINK,” Fujin guessed. She pointed at Seifer. “FOR HIM. DFS NOT SO EASY.”

Seifer didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he shrugged. No one could tell if the shuriken-user was right or not. “Guess I'm done here,” he muttered rigidly, his eyes falling to the floor. “Lemme know when you need me,” he called to them as he left the room.

"Weird kid,” Bethe noted when he was gone.

"I'll give him a talk later,” Quistis said, studying him for a moment. She looked worried. A second later, however, she shifted her gaze back to Bethe, the heels of her boots clicking as she walked briskly to her. “As for you, we'll need a day or two to sort out the mission before we actually take you out.”

"Goody. Hope your sorceress lasts that long.”

"We'll make sure she does,” Squall responded with a hard tone. “Right now, we have other things to do. Rest and think of what you're going to do for your part of the mission.”

"And don't mess it up,” Quistis chimed in. “We're counting on you. If you betray us in the slightest, you'll face consequences.”

The redhead chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

The blue-eyed woman seemed satisfied, at least for the time being. She managed to grin as she gave the ex-anarchist, the rookie SeeD, and the commander a quick nod of the head as she dismissed herself.

Squall, glancing at Fujin, gestured with his hand toward the door. “Go on and rest, too, Fujin,” he said quietly. “We might need you later.”

"OKAY.” Fujin saluted him and exited as well.

When both of the SeeD women were out of sight, the commander sighed and began to take his own leave. But before he did, he paused at the doorway, not looking at the captive. “We normally don't trust people like you this easily,” he stated, as if pronouncing the obvious. “I still don't. But with these current events... we're at the point of going through every single length to save the world and the people in it.”

"It's a SeeD thing. I know,” Bethe said, her voice not as humoring as earlier. “But in all seriousness, I'm not kidding around when I say I'll help.”

That didn't change his feeling of doubt toward her. She was still a criminal, after all. She was probably expecting something in return later. “... Whatever.”

"I know I changed my mind pretty quickly there, but trust me, I know how to think shit through fast and thoroughly.” She shook her head slowly. “Since I came to, I thought about everything, and I think this probably the best way to go... at least in my case.”

Squall didn't reply, nor did he give any indication of a reaction.

“My brother needs something like this to snap the fuck out of it,” she continued. “He got power hungry. Needs to get off his high horse, know what I mean?”

The brunet wasn't sure why she was telling him this, but he thought it was about time for him to leave; he had errands to run. He wondered something, though. “So... you're doing this because you care about your brother?”

She gawked at him as if he was stupid. “Hey, I know I've been bad, Mr. Commander, but that doesn't mean I don't give a shit about my family. He's a big part of the reason I joined his cause.”

"....” Squall suddenly thought of Laguna and his efforts to be there for him. Even though the commander continued to guard himself in front of the Estharian president, the father never lost patience to keep trying. It also helped that he had a generally optimistic attitude.

And boy, did that make Squall feel bad thinking about it.

(... Wow, I've changed...)

Maybe he should take a moment alone and think before running those errands.

Raijin tiptoed into the Infirmary, not wanting to catch Dr. Kadowaki's attention as he made his way to Rinoa. But being a bigger, more heavyset guy, it was hard not to see him. It was easy for the doctor to spot him. “Oh!” she exclaimed in honest surprise. “I haven't seen you in a long time, Mr. Ameno.” She stood up from her desk out of courtesy.

He waved at her dismissively, feeling a little awkward and nervous. “Uh, yeah, ya know. Just here to see Rinoa...”

Raijin had been awfully clumsy when he was younger, so he made frequent trips to the Infirmary. For some reason, Kadowaki had taken a liking to him.

She laughed. “So, no scrapes or gashes this time.” She gestured toward the back. “Go ahead and see Rinoa. I'll be at my desk if you need me.” To Raijin's relief, the doctor retreated back to her seat without anymore to say.

The quarterstaff user stepped into the back room. The blinds were closed, like they should be when it was evening. A small lamp in the corner dimly illuminated the room, darkly lighting up the sorceress' resting body.

Raijin thought she looked like a goddess, even in her comatose state. Was this how Squall felt over a year ago? The ex-Disciplinary Committee member always thought Rinoa was a gorgeous person, on the inside and outside. But what started out for him as a mere fascination of Rinoa quickly became something else. He felt like he was a fan of her; she left him very starstruck. He had a crush on her, but he wasn't in love with her, because in the end, he didn't know her too well, especially when things between him and the rest of the group were still strained.

He strode over quietly to her bedside and sat down at the chair next to her. After simply looking at her for a little bit, he begain to talk, as if she would listen.

“ It's a shame, ya know,” he began hoarsely, his voice cracking. He felt graceless and speaking-wise, uncoordinated, but there wasn't anything he could do about that.

"I'm not talking to Fujin or Seifer, but I miss having them around... ya know?” He let out a breath, sort of a half-snort. “What am I saying? It's not like you can solve my problems, ya know?”

He looked up slightly, noticing something in front of him. “The window's broken, ya know...” he commented dully. “I wonder what happened...”

Raijin realized that he must sound stupid to Kadowaki, who could probably hear him talking to her comatose patient. Taking that into account, he decided to shut up. Instead, he let his thoughts do the talking... maybe then he wouldn't feel as dumb.

(I don't even know why I came here, ya know?) he continued in his head, his eyes shifting back to Rinoa. (I look like a ... maybe a fanboy. We're not tight, ya know?) Raijin sighed. (I guess I don't really have anywhere else to go. There's the people from my squad, ya know, but... I don't know. I don't see myself getting close to them, ya know.)

(Then rely on me.)

Raijin blinked in surprise, snapping out of his thoughts. A different voice unexpectedly entered his mind. A female one. Rinoa? He narrowed his eyes down at the girl's form, warily looking for any change in her state, but she seemed to be the same as before.

(Maybe I'm crazy, too, ya know,) he thought, rationalizing. That random interjection in his head scared the crap out of him for those few seconds. He tilted his head down, rubbing his eyes with thumb and his index fingers. He contemplated the idea of sleeping more.

But from out of nowhere, he felt cold fingers clamp down on top of his other hand, which was resting on his lap. Raijin gasped and turned to stare at the owner of the hand.

She was awake.

But somehow... this girl in front of him wasn't the one he admired. It looked like Rinoa's face, but her eyes were a deep, scary black, the kind that sucked his soul in. Her smile was not friendly; it was calculating and mocking. Her icy grip on him only got stronger when he tried to pull away out of fear and confusion.

“No one's crazy,” she said in a hollow voice, her eyes locked on his.

A meeting was called later that day; in the evening. Squall had notified the Headmaster of what was going on, and in turn, Cid told him to do whatever he needed to do and that he would be there if he needed anything.

So basically, Squall was left on his own to solve this problem. That was how it usually went.

When the brunet had gotten to the meeting room, which turned out to be Quistis' homeroom classroom, Seifer and Fujin were already there. Seifer was sitting in the instructor's chair, slumping against the back of it boredly while the patch-eyed woman sat at a desk, browsing the internet on the desk monitor.

“You're early,” Squall noted blandly.

"NOTHING ELSE TO DO,” Fujin answered, not looking up from the screen.

"What she said,” was Seifer's reply as he gave a big yawn.

"You told Selphie, right?” Squall asked him. “About this meeting?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I did, but I can't guarantee that she'll show up.” With a scoff, he added, “I don't get why you couldn't do it, Puberty Boy. Don't you want to make up with her?”

"It's difficult,” said Squall, clearly not wanting to talk anymore about his current relationship with the Trabian girl.

"Sure,” the blond drawled knowingly. “You're just scared, huh? It hurts being the victim of cold treatment--”

"I get it,” Squall cut in, giving Seifer a sharp look. “I know.” He then turned to Fujin, sighing in annoyance. “I hope you don't have anything else to add.”

"NOT PAYING ATTENTION.”

"... Good.”

The conversation ended there. Squall, who decided to stay at his perch by the instructor's desk and face the back of the classroom, took this moment to start reflecting again, his thoughts on his estranged significant other. Absently, he began staring at the doorway.

(Please let the next one be Selphie.)

Five minutes later, he heard footsteps outside the classroom.

“ It's not her,” he suddenly heard Seifer say. The blond had noticed the commander staring distantly toward the door.

Squall glared daggers at him. “I didn't say anything,” he said curtly. “What makes you think...?”

Seifer stifled a laugh. “Oh, come on. It's pretty obvious that you're waiting for her ass to show up.” He shifted his gaze to whoever was behind Squall, giving the new arrival a nod of acknowledgement. “And I don't think Selph walks like a chickenwuss.”

Squall looked to his right, and sure enough, Zell had arrived, his hands sitting sullenly in his pocket to match his equally sullen expression. The shorter blond managed to give Seifer a pissed off look and reply snappishly with, “Not in the mood, Seifer.” He immediately sunk down into a chair, sitting a few seats away from Fujin.

"Tsk, when are you ever?” the ex-knight commented devilishly.

This warranted another angry expression from the martial artist.

“God,” Seifer murmured with a scowl, more to himself than the others, “Everyone has shit crawling up their asses today.” He rolled his eyes, but otherwise, shut his mouth. The meeting would not go well if he put everyone in a sour mood before it even started.

"I crashed into Quistis,” Zell spoke up plainly, his words directed at Squall. “Said she, Nida, and that rookie girl'll be a little late 'cause of more research or something.”

Squall nodded, suddenly reminded that he had approached Quistis and assigned her, Nida, and Alethea the task of researching what he had explained earlier about his visions, what Laguna had suggested (as odd as it may be), and whatever they could find from Esthar anything else, especially relating to Rinoa's case.

“Since there won't be many people, we can wait a little,” he said, glancing at the wall clock at the back of the classroom. It was five after the official meeting time, but it didn't matter since he expected them to be late. Squall skimmed the room, finding that two people were missing other than the previously mentioned SeeDs, and of course, Selphie.

(Make that one,) he noted, watching as a groggy Dev Feydor came in, hand over his mouth as he yawned. He sat in the second row, behind Fujin, who greeted him quickly before returning to the computer screen.

(Now where's Raijin? Friend or not, he has to be here for this...)

“Where's Selphie?” Zell questioned from out of the blue.

"What?” Squall replied cluelessly. “I don't know. Seifer told her--”

"No, I mean...” the tattooed teen gave the brunet a long look. He seemed puzzled. “... She didn't talk to you?”

(Hn. I wish,) was Squall's immediate thought, but Zell's comment made him puzzled as well. “No,” he muttered slowly. “.... Why?” Did Zell know something about her?

He only blinked in return, genuinely surprised. “.... Nothing. I just thought―no, never mind.” He shrugged.

Squall wasn't going to let him off easily. The commander, cross-armed, stepped up to his comrade, staring down at him with a stern, but curious face. “What is it?” he asked monotonously, although Zell could tell there was a sense of urgency underneath it. “Did you talk to her?”

He scratched the back of his head, his once somber expression now a guilty one. He slumped down slightly in his seat. “Yeah... she was supposed to... I don't know, make up with you,” he admitted.

This piqued Seifer's interest. “Whoa, what happened?” he asked nosily. “She was so... adamant about Commando, no offense to him.”

"Hyne, Seifer...” Squall groaned. “This is my business.”

"She watched the video, right?” Seifer guessed. “Right?”

Zell had no idea how he knew. Lucky guess? “Yeah...”

"I don't get it,” Squall said.

"VIDEO. GARDEN FESTIVAL,” Fujin chimed in without looking up, sticking her own nose into Squall's business as well. It didn't seem to matter to her whether she did or not; they were all friends, anyway. “RINOA FILMED.”

"Oh.” Squall wasn't particularly fond of that video. He hasn't seen it, but he was sure that it was very embarrassing.

"Well, yeah, we watched it,” Zell said nonchalantly. “I – well, it's not about me – but she saw when Rin caught you guys being lovey dovey.” He sighed. “I guess that's when everything clicked with her.”

(Everything clicked?) Squall repeated to himself, staring at the ground. (She... wants me again? Then why isn't she here now?)

Seifer's words echoed Squall's thoughts. “So she misses Squall again? Why isn't she here then?”

"Tch. Hell if I know,” was the answer. “I don't know what happened after she like, ran out in the middle of the tape if she didn't go to find Squall.”

Squall stared at him, not knowing how to respond.

Before the conversation could move on further, Quistis burst into the room, the calmness in her expression betraying the confusion in her voice.

“Hey, uh,” she said, almost uncertainly. "What if Laguna was right?"

Raijin had never been scared by sweet, caring Rinoa, but this time was different. His body rigid and still with shock, and maybe even fear, he let his jaw grow slack, unable to reply to the girl's words.

It was okay, though. Rinoa, or rather, Hecate, continued to speak. She sat up slowly, letting her grip fall from him. “You're lonely,” she commented softly. She seemed to be examining his eyes.

It made Raijin uncomfortable. The way she was looking at him was very unnerving. It was as if she could see everything. It was invasive and creepy. Those abysmal black eyes seemed to be sucking in his very being.

For a second, he wondered they were indeed doing that. Raijin stood up from his seat and took a step back, toward the door. He remembered the rumors going around about the DF Hecate. Rumors at Garden were true a lot of the time, surprisingly.

Rinoa stepped off the bed, her hands behind her back. She smiled mischievously and continued to gaze at him, stepping closer and closer to the frozen Raijin until she was directly in front of him.

“Rinoa?” he managed to ask, hoping a part of the girl he knew was still inside.

She shook her head, still smiling. Her eyes never left his. “No, but you're close enough.”

The mood of the atmosphere in the room quickly changed. There was a long, surprised pause before someone spoke up again.

Seifer looked confused. "What? Quisty? What do you mean?"

Squall's face seemed to mirror his rival's, silently asking the same thing.

By this time, Fujin had shut off the computer, her expression just as confused. Dev, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on.

"Laguna was right after all," Quistis answered. "Hecate not only affects Rinoa, but everyone around her. It's at a far lesser degree than her, of course, but it's still screwing with our minds, to say the least."

“Sorry,” Dev piped up, raising a hand to catch her attention. “But I don't know what's going on. I got called here, but--”

"What were you told about the PF situation?” the instructor asked him.

"PF?” echoed Dev dubiously.

"Parasitic Forces,” Quistis explained. “Odine was thinking of renaming this... phenomena to reflect the actions of these things more accurately. I personally want to start using it.”

"Huh,” Seifer muttered, mulling the information over. “You're right...”

"Just how they suck the life and energy out of its owner,” the rookie replied with a thoughtful look on his face. “And that they're stuck there for life. No unjunctioning.”

"Right,” Quistis muttered. “Well, you know that Rinoa, the sorceress, has one, right? I know how Garden likes to gossip.”

"Yeah... she's in a coma or something.”

"Not only that, but someone is having odd dreams that seem to come from the DF... er, PF... Rinoa has,” Quistis explained, looking pointedly at her commander, who narrowed his eyes at her in curiosity.

"Hold on," Squall spoke up. "Are you saying that my visions do have to do with this?"

“What visions?” Zell queried.

Quistis realized that she and Seifer were the only ones in the room (other than Squall himself, of course) who knew about the Lion's violent visions, so she briefly explained to Zell, Fujin, and Dev about his situation.

“ VISIONS. RELATE TO PF'S?” Fujin asked.

"I would like to think so,” Quistis replied. “The PFs exhude something to everyone around them, even though they're junctioned to only one person. These visions is one of these things. Who knows. We may not even be aware of Hecate's influence on us.”

For a moment, Squall accepted the idea. It made sense at first, but he changed his mind less than a moment later. "But I've been having them even when she's not around..." he explained, furrowing his brow. "Hell... even before Rinoa even obtained Hecate."

Quistis seemed to be at a loss for words. She lowered her head, thinking, and finally came up defeatedly with, "Then... I don't know what to say, Squall... It'd be back to the drawing board, then."

Squall sighed, shaking his head, but still took her words into consideration as he tried to think of a possible reason how he would get the visions.

He remembered Bethe talking about her four-man platoon, two of whom had PFs. Suddenly realizing something, Squall frowned deeply to himself. He never thought it would be a big deal, but he recalled a mission with Selphie and Firion months ago where they had to go undercover and find Ciel and Azul. He dismissed their brief encounter with the terrorists as nothing, but they did stick around long enough to threaten the SeeDs.

And if what Quistis said was correct and true for all PFs, then maybe whatever was exhuded may have affected him, Selphie, and even Firion already.

"That mission," Squall quietly piped up.

Everyone turned to him, wondering what he had to say.

"Months ago," he began, "Selphie, Firion, and I encountered Dawning and Maestoso briefly. None of us thought anything else of it at the time; we thought it was simply a bomb diffusion mission." He crossed his arms, formulating more plausible generalizations in his head. "I don't even remember the details of what happened, exactly. It was just a regular mission. The bomb threat was just a bluff, and the terrorists managed to escape."

“I think I remember that,” Quistis murmured thoughtfully.

"And if what you said was true, Quistis," Squall explained, "that Hecate, and possibly other PFs, within the people they junction release something that affects our minds, then a brief encounter was possibly all we needed."

Everyone in the room was silent. Seifer, Zell, and Fujin, who didn't participate in the conversation, only looked at each other in confusion.

Quistis took all of this into consideration. After a while, she spoke. "Squall. Go through your reports for that mission and show them to me and the research team, and make sure Firion is in on this. Get Selphie to do the same. We also need to question them."

Fujin chose to offer her two cents at this time this well. "IF YOU--" she stopped herself and cleared her throat. "If you think about it, all of us in this room may have encountered them."

Seifer knew what she was referring to. The time when Irvine, she, and he got into a skirmish with Bethe in Balamb. "Meaning, we're affected, too," he thought out loud. He turned to his fellow blond SeeDs. "Dincht? Quisty? How about you guys? How about Nida?"

"Well, I don't think ordinary ol' me has anything special."

Everyone turned toward the owner of the voice, who was none other than Nida, along with Alethea. He had entered the room, raising an eyebrow. Behind him and his shadow was Selphie, who had rarely made an appearance to the other SeeDs in recent days. Squall found himself staring at her, realizing that even though it has been a while since he had seen her in person, she hadn't looked less beautiful to him.

Nida and Alethea stepped in, the rookie girl taking a seat near the wall as Nida walked up next to Quistis and Squall.

Selphie caught her boyfriend's eyes, as if searching his for an answer.

(An answer?) he asked himself. (What is she even asking?)

He didn't speak. He stared at her just as questioningly, but she broke the gaze, staring down at the ground as she took a seat next to Zell.

“Do I have to paraphrase what we have just been talking about?” Quistis asked the newcomers.

Nida shook his head. “Thea and I are good. We know enough.” He pointed at Selphie with his thumb. “She might, though.”

At seeing everyone's eyes suddenly on her, Selphie reddened and ducked her head. “Hey, no need to look at me like that...” she muttered, chuckling nervously.

(Is she... back to normal?) Squall didn't know what to say or what else to think, but it was as if Hyne brought something of value back to him after it was lost for so long.

Quistis noted the oddness about Selphie's sudden normalcy, but was quick to go back to business. “Well,” she began, clearing her throat, “both Garden's lab and Odine's lab in Esthar agree that any contact with a PF could trigger an onslaught of mental disturbances.”

"Such big words...” Seifer remarked to no one in particular.

"But as I was saying,” the instructor went on, casting her former student a glare, “Squall and Selphie, along with Firion, need to go through their reports for that mission again... the undercover one. Any contact with a PF, even a person junctioned to one, could affect you.”

Selphie let her jaw go slack, as if she realized something. “Wait...” She thought about what Quistis had been saying earlier when the Trabian first walked in. “So... DFs--uh, PFs--mess up our memories, too, but in a different way from GFs, right?”

"Right. And the way we think. Our emotions and desires.”

"Can they... like...” she puffed out her cheeks in thought. “.... Make me see or feel other things? Like, crazy things?”

Zell raised an eyebrow. “What? Like what?”

"Hallucinate?” Nida offered. “Is that the word you're looking for?”

Her eyes lit up. “Yeah, that's it!”

Quistis gave her a long look, remembering something. She seemed to be examining Selphie like she was a test subject. “Selphie,” she started. “I contacted Laguna today after he left... right before this meeting, actually.”

At this, Selphie's expression fell. The blonde was probably referring to her and Laguna's strange conversation during that day. Maybe there was a chance there wasn't, because it wouldn't have been Laguna's business to tell Quistis that, but now that she knew more about the DF's capabilities...

“ From the way you're not looking at me, I think you know what I know,” Quistis continued. “We have to talk about it, though, Selphie. If I've talked about Squall's visions, then it's only fair to us to talk about... yours.”

"What?” Squall spoke up, confused and wary. He glanced from Quistis to the Trabian. His eyes remained on his girlfriend's, not expecting this kind of information. “You had--”

"It was slightly different,” Selphie interrupted. She could hear the bit of hurt in his voice, but pretended not to notice. She refused to look at him. She was afraid of her heart wrenching at the expression in his eyes. Instead, she stared at her clammy hands on the desk.

"How?”

".....”

"Don't hesitate, Selphie,” Quistis said, her voice encouraging. “I know it seems personal, but if Squall could admit his experience, so can you. This is for research... to hopefully get Rinoa back.”

Selphie sighed exasperatedly, and for a second, looked very serious and contemplative. However, she quickly bounced back as if nothing happened. A smile, albeit an uneasy one, spread across her face as she answered. “Like Quisty said, I've been having... weird things of my own.”

Squall caught the secret glance she was giving him, as if checking to see if he was prepared.

Prepared? He didn't like that. But was he overreacting?

“You know how... Irvy--” she stopped herself, unable to get the words after that out. “Well, um, because of that, I've been, I guess hallucinating about him. Like he was there. And I guess Sir Laguna noticed my change in behavior... that I was like, keeping to myself, isolating myself... that stuff.” She looked at everyone meekly.

"You did,” Seifer confirmed nonchalantly. He raised an eyebrow. “I still don't get why you'd isolate yourself, though.”

"I felt like he was all I needed,” she said softly.

Squall narrowed his eyes at her, taking the words in.

(What?)

“Who needs the world when I have him, right?” she continued, lost in her thoughts, unaware in the change in her mood, or the fact that her words were really affecting Squall. “I... I don't know how I felt about him.”

The commander recalled when she blamed him for Irvine's death and blaming the strain of the relationship on his visions. And here she was, having some of her own and acting like they didn't have anything to do with their relationship as well.

I loved him.

It hurt to remember, but it also angered him. He wondered if she was worth the trouble after all. “You mean to tell me that you've been warding me off because you keep hallucinating about Irvine?” Squall asked her, betrayal evident in his voice.

Selphie looked at him, perhaps stunned that he said anything at all to her. “... You make it sound so--”

"So what?” His voice was rising, but he didn't realize it. “What difference does it make even if he was? You still ignored me when you had your delusions--”

She stood up abruptly, shocked at his audacity. “I was still getting over him!” She was getting louder as well, her volume matching her boyfriend's.

"Like hell you were,” Squall shot at her through gritted teeth.

"What's that supposed to mean?!” Selphie asked him incredulously, getting fired up. She pointed at him accusingly. “You started this whole 'keeping-secrets-and-act-like-an-asshole' thing!”

"You act like I actually wanted to kill you!” Squall snapped. He slammed his hand on the instructor's desk behind him, livid. “What do you take me for, Selphie?! I would never lay a finger on you!”

"Whoa, lovebirds...” Seifer tried to butt in, hoping a violent lover's quarrel wouldn't form. He raised his hands to calm the two of them down. But obviously, wasn't working. The rest of the people at the meeting, with the exception of an irritated Quistis, watched with shocked fascination at the argument taking place.

"How would I know that?!” Selphie yelled. “You act so cold toward me! Your girlfriend! I had to wonder, you know!”

"Hey--!” Zell attempted weakly.

"I have my moody moments, fine!” Squall reasoned with a restrained voice. “But as if you knew what to do when you have these thoughts invading your mind!” He stepped toward her, his eyes square on hers. “... Killing someone you love.”

Selphie paused, looking at him as if he was stupid. “So you think I haven't felt the same?!” She gestured toward herself in the chest. “You think I haven't felt lost and confused about my own visions?!”

Squall gave her a long, disbelieving look. “Didn't you tell me you loved him? Didn't you say straight to my face that you loved Irvine? How is that lost and confused? You even said you didn't need me because he was there. I wanted to believe that you said that just because of Irvine's death,” Squall went on, his voice now at a normal tone and almost rueful. “But you pushed me awa--”

"Squall,” she cut in weakly, “it's not like that.” Her face actually softened a few degrees. Her eyes dropped to the floor in thought.

"Guys,” Quistis interjected forcefully. She stepped in between the couple so that neither could face each other. She glanced at each of them frustratedly. “Keep the personal parts out of this meeting.”

Squall turned his face away with a hard expression, indicating that he was finished with the conversation with Selphie.

The Trabian mumbled an apology and sat back down.

“And for the record,” the blonde added at a much quieter voice, “you both are at fault. If you love each other; fix it.”

The silence afterward was awkward.

Quistis took this opportunity to speak up again, squelching the discomfort of the room's atmosphere. “I guess we'll end the meeting here.” She gave her commander a hard look. “Since Commander Leonhart is not all here today...” She turned back toward Fujin, Seifer, Nida, Alethea, Zell, Selphie, and Dev. “... we will meet again tomorrow, as you are all chosen as part of Operation PF. I want to remind Selphie and/or Squall to retrieve their reports from their undercover mission. And for them to get a hold of Firion. He'll be part of this, too--”

Squall crossed his arms, watching Quistis talk. (I wonder if Headmaster should've made her commander instead of me...)

“--As for the rest of you... rest of us, to be more precise, I want written reports to the best of your memory, your contacts with DFs, er, PFs, and possible PFs. I want them tomorrow morning. We'll meet at 0800 hours.”

She eyed Squall, wondering if he had anything else to add. Squall sighed. Funny, he was supposed to be the one doing that.

“Well, then,” the instructor said. “Dismissed.”

Seifer and Zell were the first to shoot up from their seats. Fujin, who was probably on the computer throughout the whole meeting, logged out and followed the two boys out the door. Nida personally dismissed Alethea, and the two went about their own ways. Quistis was the last one left except for Selphie and Squall, who simply stood there, like they had been when they argued with each other. The instructor looked at the two of them knowingly, but didn't comment. “Squall,” she began instead, “Make sure you or Selphie will let Firion know that we need to talk to him. ASAP.” Without much of a goodbye, she walked out.

"She's still mad,” Selphie murmured meekly as she watched the blonde's figure go out of sight. She and Squall were alone now. “Her eye was twitching funny.”

"With that, she's not so tough,” Squall remarked quietly.

"You don't know how many times I had to keep myself from laughing,” the Trabian added with a smile.

"I know. I've seen you.”

The two shared a chuckle for the first time in a long one. When they quieted down, Squall realized that they had much more to say. While it felt good to have idle chatter with her again, their relationship troubles couldn't be ignored.

"Selphie...” he sighed, “you confuse me."

Those were the same words he used right before they got together. He wondered if they would be the words he would say right before they broke up. He didn't want it to come to that, but what if things couldn't be fixed?

When she didn't say anything, he hung his head, feeling emotionally drained. "What do you want?"

“Squall...”

"I'm no angel, either,” he told her in a low voice. “I'm not going to defend myself for my own behavior. But for all the times I've hurt you... I'm sorry.” His last words were barely audible, but he was sure Selphie could hear the sincerity in them.

The click of her boots echoed in the room as she slowly made her way toward him. He hesitantly shifted his gaze from the floor to her approaching face. She looked sad and questioning; the same look she held when she first entered the room. Her beautiful emerald orbs stared up at him. Like any other time before, Squall subsequently felt entranced, his feeling of longing stronger than ever. But although they were only inches apart, Squall still felt far away.

“I never meant to hurt you like that,” Selphie finally said, her voice small and wavering. “So much happened... I can't even begin to explain.”

There was a long silence on Squall's part. From what he remembered, Selphie had been preoccupying herself with her own visions, or whatever they were. (Irvine.) “Do you love me?” he blurted out, voicing his thoughts on accident.

Surprised at his directness, she blinked at him. “.... I should be asking you that,” she answered.

"Asking me that?” he repeated uncertainly. She looked reluctant. What did he do this time? “Selphie?”

"Rinoa...” she hinted in a mumble.

"...”

"I watched the Garden Festival tape,” she explained, picking at the hem of her yellow jumper. “Seeing you... and me... I guess, made me realize that even though Irvy was important to me, you were the most important because you're my boyfriend.” She stopped playing with her dress to look up at him. “I remembered thinking once, if Irvy was never in the picture, then Squally would be the one I'd love the most... but with him there, I still felt...” her voice drifted off unexpectedly. She was getting lost in thought, her expression pensive.

"I don't understand,” he replied, looking at her gently. “What are you...”

"Talking to Sir Laguna made me realize that you still are,” she continued, her eyes welling up. “Even with Irvy... you still are the most important person to me. But...” She began to look downcast. “When I ran to find you, and then saw you asleep with Rinoa in the infirmary... I thought, maybe the Knight and the Sorceress were still...”

He raised an eyebrow. (Knight and Sorceress?) “No,” Squall said sharply. “You're overthinking this. Yes, I've been spending a lot of time with Rinoa lately, but it's all because of the DF – excuse me, PF – thing. As commander, I had to accompany her to Esthar all those times.”

"But--”

"She's your friend, Selphie,” he reminded her, his voice softening again. “And mine.” He lifted his thumb up to wipe away a stray tear on her face. “Whatever it was you saw was completely innocent.” Despite his words, he hoped his interaction with the seductive side of Hecate wasn't what she was referring to.

She managed to smile at him through glassy eyes. She seemed relieved.

She looked so cute right then that he couldn't help himself. Hesitantly, and almost shyly, he lifted her chin with his forefinger and kissed her lightly on the lips, his own searching for the love the two had put on hold.

She moved her head away, sighing. “I don't deserve this--”

Squall only wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him in a fierce embrace. He buried his face into her light brown hair, noting the familiar scent of flowers and citrus. His heart yearned for her more. “No,” he breathed. “I would've said the same, but.... I belong with you, Selphie. Only you.”

She sniffled and pushed him off a little to look up at him mutely, her gaze holding his. She looked like she realized something for the first time. “You love me,” she whispered in fascination.

(Of course I do, you little idiot.)

“And all I did was...” her voice faded, her eyes suddenly drifting to a nearby desk. “Squally...”

"Hm?”

"I know you've probably said it a bunch'a times before,” she said contemplatively, “but whatever we both have, we should... fight it together.”

Suddenly, she smiled up at him.

He could feel his own lips spread into one as well, glad that for once, her smile was real, reflected radiantly in her eyes.

(Thank Hyne.)

“We've been blaming the wrong people,” she continued. “But for real, Squally.... we have to remember how much we love each other.” She blushed at the mushiness of her words.

"Of course,” he stated in agreement, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. He reached down for her hands, which entertwined naturally with his. “Selph,” he murmured, “you have no idea how mu--”

"Let's go to my room!” she exclaimed, giving his hands a squeeze. Before he could protest, Selphie started pulling her surprised boyfriend toward the door of the classroom. From the glint in her eyes, Squall knew why she would suggest such a thing.

(I wonder how... dominant...) Squall refused to finish the thought, his face already growing hot. But he's made out with her heatedly before, right? (Why am I so nervous?) “Se-Selphie,” he managed to choke out, “we--” Ding. An idea. “--need to talk to Firion first, remember?”

She pouted, looking crestfallen. “Oh... yeah, that's right...” However, she immediately bounced back. “But after, we'll.... hang out in my room, 'kay?” Seeing the uncertain look on his face, she glared at him. “Squally...!”

"What?” He patted her affectionately on the head. “Let's go find Firion.” He offered Selphie his arm.

The green-eyed girl took it gladly, finally feeling peaceful with their relationship. “Okay.”

“Instructor Trepe! Instructor Trepe!”

Quistis was on her way to the dorms when she heard someone yell her name from across the fountain.

Not recognizing the voice, she ignored it at first. For all she knew, it could be a creepy Trepie wanting to smother her with praise and starstruck eyes.

“Instructor! Instructor Trepe!”

Well, this person seemed persisent enough. Daring herself to stop and turn around, she found a rookie SeeD she didn't recognize (she could only tell by the uniform he was wearing) running up to her, looking slightly frazzled. “Instructor,” he panted, keeling over to catch his breath.

"Is something wrong?” she asked, slightly worried.

"It's the sorceress!” he cried, running a hand nervously through his naturally spiky black hair. “She's missing!”

"Impossible,” Quistis interjected, staring at him incredulously. “She's in a coma, remember?”

He shook his head, rising from his bent over position to look at her more properly as his superior. “I was in the infirmary, needing to be checked out after my mission, but found Dr. Kadowaki passed out on the ground--”

"What?!” the blonde yelled.

"--and that the room was empty otherwise.” He furrowed his brow in thought, his mind searching for more details. “There looked to be a scuffle―Instructor?!”

Quistis didn't let the rookie finish. She was already sprinting to the infirmary. When she burst through the door, she was met with a messy room and a doctor's unconscious, but mostly bloodless, body. The desk crooked from its position. She deduced that someone, possibly Kadowaki herself, grabbed the edge of it in desperation and pulled herself up with it in an attack.

She heard running footsteps come up behind her. “Instructor,” called the rookie's voice.

Without turning around, she addressed him. “Did you tell anyone else?”

"No... this just happened,” he explained.

"Approximately how long?” Quistis knew her tone was starting to sound suspicious, and she knew that he could tell.

"It was approximately five minutes after I initally entered when I called for you,” the SeeD stated. “You were the closest person to me.” He paused, seeing that her suspicion wasn't wavering. “Instructor, I can assure I have nothing to do with--”

"I know,” she interrupted quickly. “But with all that's been happening this year, anything could be the case.” She ventured toward the back room, not surprised by the empty bed and its rumpled, unoccupied sheets. The door was left wide open.

"Am I the only one you told?” she asked. She took out her cell phone and flipped it open. She needed to contact the headmaster.

"Yes, ma'am,” the rookie replied.

"Well, keep it that way,” Quistis told him in an orderly tone. “If a lot of people knew now, there would be a panic within Garden that will get out to the public. We can't afford to have a mess like last year.” She started to dial Cid's office. “Otherwise, thank you for informing me. Your name please?”

"Leonardo Steele, Level 10 SeeD.” He saluted.

She nodded hurriedly, anxious to get take care of business. “Thanks again, Steele. I'll take care of things from here.”

He saluted again and reluctantly left as if he wanted to offer help. Despite that, he didn't offer, perhaps thinking it was for a higher level SeeD's job to handle the situation.

When he was out of sight, Quistis pressed SEND on her phone. After a few rings, she heard the click of the other end being picked up.

“Headmaster?” she queried. “Yeah, bad news. Kadowaki was attacked in her office... and Rinoa's disappeared... and she could be anywhere.”

Squall took off his jacket and laid it on Selphie's couch. Gloves as well.

“ Tee-hee, you're already stripping for me.”

He glanced at his girlfriend, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, just doing part of the job for you,” he responded dryly.

Selphie lifted his hands, kissing the back of each of them. She held them for a while, awed that a simple touch like this would cause such strong chemistry to flow between them. Slowly, she led them to her breasts so that his hands cupped them gently. Squall, while nervous as hell, didn't do anything to remove them. Selphie gave the back of his hands an encouraging squeeze.

"Selphie..." he began, his voice pressing her to stop. He didn't realize that he was smiling.

She giggled, entertained by the expression on his face. "C'mon, we both know you like it..."

His face started to turn red as he averted his eyes. He dropped his hands from where they had been previously.

"Aww," Selphie cooed. She poked him gently on the nose. "You're so cuuuuute..."

He scowled at her.

"What?!" she asked, blinking up at him.

"Nothing.”

"Nothing, hm?" she repeated cheekily. She gave his plain white t-shirt a tug. "Take it off," she ordered cutely.

He stared at her, clearly surprised at her request.

"Hey, why are you all red, Squally?" she asked teasingly. But she left him no room to answer as she gave his shirt another tug. "Remove it. I just... wanna see something." She stuck her tongue out playfully and winked. There was something different about the look in her eyes. More lustful, Squall wanted to guess as he complied silently, dropping the cotton garment somewhere near his feet.

“That's better,” she said impishly.

He jumped, feeling her fingers caress his stomach. He watched carefully as she gazed at his body in fascination. Her slender fingers slid up slowly until they came to his chest. This was feeling too nice. Plus, he could see down her jumper. Seeing his bare chest in such close proximity to her cleavage is beginning to muddle his logical thoughts. (Does she even wear a bra with that thing?) "Sweetie," he whispered, somewhat breathless. He knew he had felt this kind of urge before... the urge coming from his carnal male desires, but it had never been so strong as now.

“You want to, don't you?” she challenged, her grin sultry. She leaned into him, tilting her head up for a kiss. “Let's go,” she murmured, her lips grazing his.

(Whoa, where did Seductress Selphie come from?)

But nevertheless, Squall led her to the bed, allowing her to lay herself down comfortably before he climbed on top of her.

Selphie was the one to initiate the kiss this time, the liplock hotly intense from the start. She draped her arms around his shoulders in the midst of it and spread her legs around him as they continued to make out.

When he went up for air, he took time to notice his “handiwork.” The Trabian SeeD was breathless, her lips slightly red from the hard kissing, her hair messed up and slightly tangled, and her jumper wrinkled and a little haphazard-looking. She was staring up at him in a seductive manner, waiting for him to further ravish her. He felt smug about it. It forced a smirk on his face. As his eyes traveled down her body, he noticed the way her legs were spread, lying around his own. He could barely make out what was underneath.

(Oh, Hyne...)

His eyes darkened with desire. Unable to contain himself any longer, the commander's lips crashed upon Selphie's feverishly.

“You're still scared.”

Raijin gulped and turned around from his seat at the edge of hotel bed, finding Evil Rinoa staring at him with those creepy, abysmal eyes. That's what he started calling her: Evil Rinoa. The Rinoa he has encountered times before was completely different. She never made him feel overly cautious or scared for his life. “Well, ya know,” he began nervously, “I-I don't understand w-what's going on, ya know... Was casting Firaga on Dr. K-Kadowaki necessary, ya kn--”

"I'm giving you friendship,” she cut in cryptically. He could hear her footsteps, slow and threatening, come toward him. “A complacent man like you doesn't deserve to be alone and shunned by his so-called friends.”

Raijin suddenly remembered his heated discussion with Fujin.

"Don't you think that maybe you're being delusional about this?"

"You mean by leaving me out? Pushing me away? Making me feel... alone, ya know?"

“We don't mean for that to happen... you should have spoken up if you were having problems with us. As, you know, friends, you should be able to talk to us.”

Hadn't he spoken up before? Hadn't he? He tried to reassure himself, but something was nagging at him. Was he starting to doubt?

“You brought this all upon yourself.”

He was definitely starting to doubt, and he was sure Evil Rinoa could see right through him.

“You want to go back,” she murmured in a calculating manner, narrowing her eyes. “We can't have that.”

Raijin stared at her, wide-eyed. (Wha...?)

Suddenly, her arm darted out. She clamped her hand down on the top of the SeeD's head. Her fingers were beginning to dig into his skin.

“ Ri... Rinoa?” he stammered.

"It's Hecate,” she hissed, a smile slowly forming on her face. A yellow glow suddenly blanketed her hand with a low hum. “I'll make sure you remember that.”

“Hey! Are you in there?! Selph?”

Selphie's eyes shot open at the sound of the fast knocking and the urgent voice of Seifer. She sat up quickly, finding that her room was dark. How long did she and Squall sleep after...

She colored shamelessly, unable to stop a dirty smile from forming on her face.

“Selphie?! You there?!”

"Coming!” she called apologetically. She glanced at the clock. It was ten until midnight. (What would Seifer want?) She bounced out of bed and noisily started searching for her jumper on the floor. The loss of weight in the bed made Squall stir. Tiredly, he turned over, watching her in the dark through squinty eyes.

"Selphie?” he asked groggily. He massaged his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “What time is it?”

"Dunno, but Seifer's at the door,” she answered with a muffled voice, in the midst of dressing.

"Don't let him in,” he ordered flatly. “In fact, don't even answer and--”

"It sounds important.” She adjusted her clothing and flung on the lights, much to the dismay of her boyfriend, as she rushed to her front door.

Selphie, whilst untangling her unkempt chestnut-colored tresses with her fingers, unlocked her door. It slid open promptly, revealing a serious-looking Seifer with an equally somber Zell behind him, his arms crossed. The shorter blond was leaning against the wall opposite of her.

“You're with Squall, I hope?” he guessed. “He wasn't anywhere else. Not even his room. No one answered their phones...”

(We didn't want to be interrupted,) she answered silently, trying not to smile. She nodded at him in response.

“We need to talk to both of you,” Seifer told her, “so get Commando out here --” the ex-knight cut himself off and looked down at the Trabian suspiciously. “Hey, wait a minute, if you say he is in fact with you, then--”

"Then what, Almasy?” a shirtless Squall asked threateningly, coming up behind Selphie.

Seifer returned Squall's glare. “Well, why are you naked?”

"I'm not naked, you idiot!”

"About time you children lost your virg--”

"Sei Sei!” Selphie interjected lightly, getting the rivals back on track. “Um... why are you and Zelly...?”

Zell snorted. “We have an emergency, which Seifer seemed to forget about for a moment there.”

Seifer shrugged. “C'mon, Chickenwuss. This is how I handle shit like this. You know me.”

"How many times did I tell you to stop calling m--”

"But anyway,” Seifer continued, ignoring Zell. He turned to Squall and Selphie. “Being serious now.”

Squall lessened his irritated expression, his face now indicating worry. “It's not Rinoa, is it?”

Seifer sighed. “She's missing. And we have a feeling that it's not Rinoa herself who's out there. These PF things...” He lowered his gaze. “Who knows what the hell they're capable of, especially with Rin's sorceress powers.”

Selphie's eyes widened. (Rinny...) “So... what are we going to do?”

"Change of plans from what Quisty said at the meeting,” the trenchcoated SeeD answered. “We're being assigned right now rather than tomorrow to missions, straight from the headmaster himself.”

"Meaning,” Zell added, “we have to be in his office in--” he glanced down at his watch, “--huh, two minutes ago.”

"So, get ready and we'll see you sick fucks there,” Seifer told them teasingly. He smirked at them and left with Zell. The door slid closed behind them, leaving the couple time and privacy to get dressed.

"Sweetie?”

"Hm?”

Squall reached out to hold Selphie's hand. “When we come into contact with her.... the really.... really hard part will begin.” The commander looked into her eyes with a slightly hard expression, making sure her attention was fully on him. “Hecate has that effect on me. I need you by my side, okay? Stay with me.”

She frowned at him anxiously. “Squally...”

"If I do anything to you,” he went on, “hurt you or whatever, I don't mean it.” He smiled at her. “I love you, all right?”

Sure, Selphie was a little scared of the future, for both of their sakes, but she did say that they would face it together, and she meant it straight from her heart. She exhaled slowly, readying herself for the missions and events to come.“I love you, too,” she replied confidently, giving his hand a squeeze.

Squall then hurried to get dressed (as Selphie already was) while the nunchaku specialist went off to gather her phone, her wallet, and the keycard to her room. They were late enough as it was for the urgent meeting.

Squall was already out the door, with Selphie right behind him, but at the last minute, she called out quickly to wait as she ran back into her bedroom. She spotted Irvine's hat sitting on top of a set of drawers in her open closet. She stared at it for a a second, contemplating.

I want ya to keep my legacy alive, 'kay?

She couldn't just leave it there collecting dust. She grabbed the black Stetson hat and put it on. (Hee, last-minute accessory.) This'll be how she'll do it. She wasn't going to cry over Irvine anymore, but she can miss him and she can remember him.

“ Selph?” she heard Squall call from her door. “Hurry up.”

"Sorry!” she exclaimed, running out of her room. “Coming!”

He didn't ask questions when he saw her with that hat on. He was a little surprised at first, but then immediately gave her a small, understanding smile. “I think we better run,” he suggested, peeking down at his watch.

"Race ya!” she challenged playfully. She was about to sprint away, but Squall spoke up again.

"One more thing,” he said, his voice turning tentative.

"Huh?” She looked back at him, stopping.

"Can I... call you Sefie again?” He looked hopeful, so used to the little nickname he took from Irvine and the Orpanage Gang's childhood. It had always been Irvine's nickname for her, and even Seifer's, but she knew that the commander had given it sort of a new meaning since they started dating. (Squall's is different... the way he calls me that is different from Irvy... but...)

Well, there were still some parts of her that weren't ready. She hesitated as well, but after giving it a thought, she gave him a slight nod, not turning around. “Yeah... but after this is all over.”

She heard him stride up to her. He put a hand on her shoulder. “You got it,” he murmured warmly. Selphie felt Squall peck her on the side of her head.

And afterward, ran off.

“Cheater!” she yelled, laughing as she raced after him.

Hope you enjoyed that. Our lovely couple happy again.

I can't believe how long I've been doing this thing, but no worries. Not going to abandon this or my readers. Love you guys. :D I know there was a definite change of writing style from the beginning up until now. If I feel like it, I might re-write the first few chapters. I won't change any of the plot, of course, nor most of the dialogue, but I'll clean the chapters up so that it's more in line with my current style.

I have a lot of time nowadays (for the moment, at least), so hopefully I'll use it to work on this story and my other one.