Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters. Square Enix does.

Warnings: Blood. Violence. Cursing. Horror (?). Shonenai.

konekomh’s ramblings: whoa! It’s already May / June already. How long has it been since the last update… XP Anyway, first of all big thanks to reviewers who bother to feed this hungry little kitten and fuel my typing. realdarkangel, SilverWhiteDragon, Juniperbreezie, maya, Florinoir, Cold Drake Queen, TAI and RA. If you’ve logged in when reviewing then I should probably have replied through the system.

And thanks Sway-Chan for spraying pesticides here and there. If you still find some cockroaches lurking in the dark corners then that must be Kitty’s fault.

Baby Squall would definitely need more pampering, ne? He’s just so cute (kitty hugs)… don’t want him to grow up anymore… (just joking, his adult form is toooooo irresistible to leave him chibi forever) and the protective Seifer… better tease him more (hehehe).

And Seifer’s in big trouble this chapter… haha…

Now on with the fic!! Hope you enjoy!

Rewind, if only I could… but…
by konekomh

Chapter 6

“SQUALL!!”

Bluish grey snapped open from the sudden scream. Little Squall fought the urge to cry when he noticed his predicament.

The ground that he was standing on had started to crack and descend like a broken lift. Seifer’s hand was already too far away for him to catch by the time the little boy ran with all his might and tried to jump towards his desperate savior. A nano-second too late, the small brunet squeezed his eyes shut tightly when he felt nothing but harsh winds slapping against his face.

It was way too high for a safe landing and Squall was starting to feel dizzy as his fall continued to accelerate.

‘Do it, Squall…’

‘Huh?’

‘Call upon your power… imagine you can fly…’

‘How?’

‘Quick! Think of yourself as a bird…’

‘Like this?’

Blazing heat suddenly went through his blood stream as the boy let out a loud scream when excruciating pain ripped across his back like a tsunami. Head still dizzy from the assault, the brunet didn’t notice that gigantic wings had virtually exploded from his back and painted the air bright crimson.

‘Much better… now you just need to flap them and you can go home safely.’

‘Hurts…’ The child was sniffling with pained tears falling in abundance as he tried to give his new found wings a little twitch.

‘Sh… it’s going to be ok…’

‘Hn?’

‘What’s up, Squall?’

Not acknowledging the question, the boy-- without regard to his pain, suddenly flexed his wings and dived.

‘Stop it! What’re you doing?’

The boy was dashing towards the unconscious man that had fallen with him. The man was only about 20 meters from solid ground and little Squall was still far from his target even with the added speed from his wings.

‘I said stop it! You’re going to crash at this speed!’

“SQUALL!!” Seifer was half hanging over the edge of the broken road as he tried to reach for the falling child. Only Zell’s strong hold on his foot prevented the ex-knight from following suit.

“Fuck!” Emerald green widened impossibly large when he heard the boy scream. The painful cry was cutting into his heart causing his eyes to water when there was nothing he could do to help his friend.

And then the air was filled with bright crimson exploding from the boy’s back, together with large bright wings that suddenly spread and filled everyone’s eyes with awe.

Seifer felt as like water suddenly released through a sieve when the boy’s fall paused with the appearance of his wings. The blond didn’t even notice as he was being pulled back to the safety of the landing with his eyes still glued to the angelic boy with chocolate brown hair.

It was then that there was a loud thud.

“Rinoa!” Irvine exclaimed as he turned around at the noise and found the sorceress unconscious on the ground. The sharpshooter quickly ran towards the fallen raven haired girl and lifted her in his arms. Her face was pale like a sheet and she looked as if she was completely drained. Only her mumbling lips signified that the girl was still among the living…

“Seifer.” The blond straightened and was already on the move after sharing a look of understanding with the sharpshooter. He’s gong to track down little Squall and bring him home safely.

‘What’re you doing! You’re going to…’

‘Shut up! I will save him!’

The icy tone virtually cut off all further arguments as little Squall closed in to his target. A small smile touched the corner of his lips when the boy managed to catch the limp form but that was quickly turned into a snarl when the little angel desperately flapped his wings like a chicobo learning to fly. So heavy…

‘This is crazy! Let him go!’

‘No! He’s going to die falling like this!’

‘You BOTH are going to die if you don’t let go!’

‘I’ll just go down there slowly…’

‘Stubborn fool! That man doesn’t even mean anything to you!’

‘What is he to you then, when you used your magic to turn him into a monster?’

‘He was… he said…’

‘Enough. I need to find a place to land.’

Determination shining in his steely eyes the brunet clenched his teeth tight as he tried to glide to somewhere that looked safe enough to drop.

“Take a look at you. Why did you have to do it?” Squall looked up warily and squinted when his eyes met with those of an angry sorceress. Raging fire was burning in her golden eyes; making the tired boy shiver involuntarily.

The small brunet flinched when the red-haired girl abruptly squatted beside him and forcefully yanked out a shard of glass from his arm. Fighting the urge to shed tears of pain, the boy bit into his lower lip as he watched the violent child removing pieces of glass from other parts of his body.

Half way through his landing the boy had out of exhaustion carelessly smashed against a glassy building before falling into an alleyway with his charge. Not able to catch a glimpse of what had caused the damage people immediately evacuated from the area fearing that it might be some sort of monster. That gave Gae the perfect opportunity to get close to her Prince Charming, who had sat slumped against a wall out of total fatigue. His large wings had already disappeared, leaving a wide path of blood on the ground and the wall evidencing their previous presence.

“This is stupid. You don’t even know this man. Tell me, why did you save him?” The man was lying at the boy’s feet, looking totally unharmed other than specks of fresh blood that covered his body. None of which was coming from the man himself.

Squall remained silent as he fought to stay conscious. He was hurting all over, and the blood loss wasn’t doing him any good either.

“Why didn’t you use my power? I freely offered it to you and you end up using hers!”

Squall yelped and arched from the pain when a large shard was brutally pulled out. He then breathed a sigh of relieve when soothing healing magic enveloped his body. His eyes were getting heavier and heavier before Gae gently pulled him into her arms to give him a warm shelter.

“I don’t understand. I really don’t understand. You’re mine, Squall. Mine!” The young sorceress nuzzled against the chocolate brown mop and whispered. “Let’s go somewhere safe and…”

‘Stay away from him, Sorceress.’

Gae jumped when a familiar voice entered her mind. It was Diablos. The demon god had shown up without even being summoned. The dark figure looked amused floating in the air with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the little girl inching away from him.

The hideous sneer of the “ugly” GF only gave the red-haired girl chills and induced her to scream. “No, I won’t let you take him away from me this time.” Pulling the drowsy boy closer the red-haired sorceress tried to shield him from the hideous monster and covered him with the body of her stuffed tabby cat.

“Squall!!” Golden eyes narrowed as the girl suddenly noticed Seifer dashing towards them like a mad bull. The blond was carrying with him a backpack which looked very much like the supplies that she saw at home.

Baring her teeth in a defensive snarl an attack spell was already gathered at her fingertips ready to be launched once the ex-knight stepped into her range.

But that was completely dispersed when the boy in her arms stirred. Gae was physically pinned to the ground when Squall placed his chilly hand on hers as he pushed himself to sit up and turn towards the worried voice.

Groggy bluish grey brightened considerably when they landed on the big man that had knelt in front of him. Emerald green filled with worry quickly scanned the boy for damage while the man’s hands were busy with opening up the first-aid kit.

“Seifer!” The blond felt his heart melting like goo when he was greeted with a large, sweet smile from the innocent four-year-old. The big man landed on his ass as the small child pounced on him like a little kitten. Although the brunet looked tired it seemed his injuries, if any, were already properly taken care of. “She helped.”

Seifer nodded with a gentle smile and ruffled Squall’s messy hair. Turning his eyes to meet golden ones, the blond was surprised to find a trace of fear as the girl tried to retrieve her hand from the ice that had encased her limb.

“Hey, Princess. You ok there?” Squall turned as Seifer shifted his attention to his saviour. The boy did a double take when he noticed the girl’s predicament.

Gae defiantly ignored Seifer as she tried to yank out her trapped hand. But the ice seemed to have life of its own, the more she struggled, the quicker it grew to still her movement.

“I think we can save you if you promise to be good.” Seifer offered as he gathered little Squall in his arm and towered over Gae where she was stuck.

“How could you…” The girl looked hurt as she directed her gaze at the small boy, who looked completely confused as he cocked his head to the side. Only Seifer’s angry glare stopped her from saying anything further yet she couldn’t help but let out a whimper when the biting cold reached her shoulder.

‘You’d better listen to him, Sorceress. The little one doesn’t even know what he’s capable of, let alone hurting you intentionally.’

‘What?’

‘He’s just a child, in body and in heart.’

Golden eyes quickly snapped towards innocent blue ones that were eyeing her anxiously. The boy’s little hands were busy pulling at Seifer’s lapel as he tried to ask the man what was happening to the girl.

Biting into her lower lip as the ice crept further towards her heart Gae finally decided as she nodded to herself and said, “Ok.”

“Remind me again why you let the sorceress go?”

“Let me say it again, Chicken. I didn’t let her go, she just disappeared with a poof when Squall released her!” The blond hissed back; fearing that his voice might wake the tired boy that had fallen asleep on him during their ride back to the palace. A tabby cat in his lap stared lazily at the bickering that had gone on forever since they boarded the vehicle.

“You knew she’s capable of that trick.”

“Zell, cut it out.” Quistis warned.

Emerald green narrowed dangerously, but Seifer refrained from saying anything when Squall shifted in his arms.

“And yet she just easily slipped away…”

“Zell, I said cut it out!” Quistis turned around to glare at the loudmouthed blond. Tension was high and everyone held their breath at Seifer’s murderous look. One more word and blood would definitely spill.

But that wouldn’t really stop Zell from going on, “Really makes one wonder if you’ve pledged…ow! What’s that for?” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Zell being taken as a scratch board by a kitten which managed to shut him up for good. The cat mewed innocently as the blond held it by the scuff of its neck at arm’s length.

It was little Squall’s doing. The boy had suddenly woken up and threw the young feline at the Chicken. Completely taken off guard, the kitten could only extend its claws to hold on to whatever it could. Seeing that Zell was being shut-up for good the small brunet nodded to himself in satisfaction and went back to sleep against his personal pillow.

Seifer couldn’t help but let a gentle smile touch his handsome features as he brushed back the stray bang from Squall’s face as he recalled the earlier episode in the back alley.

Gae was nursing her arm that was just released from the biting cold spell when she saw the gang arrive. Squall was swaying on shaking legs as he moved away from the red-haired girl, only Seifer’s large hands caught him from falling flat on his knees.

Weapons drawn, the gang was ready to attack when Squall suddenly stood between them, shielding the girl from coming to harm.

“Squall, stand back. She’s…” Quistis stepped up towards the little boy who stood his ground defiantly by stretching out his arms.

Everyone shielded their eyes when bright blinding lights suddenly exploded behind the boy. Yet as quickly as it had come, the lights just disappeared immediately as if being sucked off by a black hole and everything just went back to normal.

Except that the girl had gone missing!

“Where is she?” The gang frowned and quickly looked around but there was no trace of the sorceress.

“Fuck!” Seifer cursed recalling what the sorceress was capable of – opening a portal to escape. But the blond had to refrain from word abuse when a soft thud interrupted his raging thoughts.

Squall had fallen like a marionette being cut off from his strings when the urge to sleep overwhelmed him.

“Squall!”

Seifer breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the boy’s fall was being cushioned by an unfortunate kitten. At least he hadn’t hit his nose against solid ground. But apparently the “pillow” that broke his fall wasn’t very happy as it tried to wriggle its way out from the heavy weight on top of its body.

“Meow!” The cat complained as it twisted and turned under Squall’s sleeping head trying to free itself.

“Oh, it’s so cute!” Selphie squatted and ended up in a staring match with the trapped feline. “Now stay still while Seifer removes the brick-head off of you.” With an amiable smile the brunette placed her hands over the cat’s paws trying to prevent any damage as Seifer carefully removed Squall. With a nod the blond then retreated towards the palace’s vehicle.

“Great, seems nothing’s being damaged.” Selphie put down the cat after examining it for any injuries. “I’ll leave you to your peace. Thanks for the rescue, bye!”

“urm… Selphie?”

“Hm?” Irvine pointed at her feet.

The girl looked down and noticed the little cat.

“What’s up?”

“Meow.”

“There’s no way we can understand what it says…”

Selphie swore she saw the cat rolling its eyes before dashing into the vehicle and ran right towards where Squall had disappeared.

“Oh no!! It’s going to scratch Squally’s face for squashing her with his head!” The brown-haired fighter exclaimed as she immediately dashed towards the vehicle trying to catch the small cat before it was too late…

… only to find the feline to have already marked its territory by lying on top of Squall’s stomach and acting as his blanket…

… until it was being thrown like a missile to shut the Chicken up for good.

“Where…” Squall sat up and rubbed his eyes as the vehicle stopped. Despite being a dead-tired child it seemed the boy still slept like an experienced mercenary who was always on edge.

“Home. See? Your Daddy’s waiting for you out there.” Gathering the small boy in his arms Seifer took the lead and got off the vehicle. Both boys took a deep breath when fresh air hit them in the face, making them suddenly notice how bad they smelled of dried blood and sweat.

“Oh, you’re back!” Squall blinked when Laguna dashed towards them with opened arms. It seemed the man had been waiting for a while judging from the stiff way he moved as he bounced from an oddly out-of-place chair in the palace’s car park. Not even giving them a chance to respond the long-haired man already wrapped his arms around both boys in a suffocating hug. “Thank Hyne you’re ok!”

Twisting himself free a bit little Squall lifted an arm and patted the dark hair as if the President of Esthar was a child. “No need to worry. Seiffy’s really strong and he can beat the biggest monster!”

Laguna smiled. But suddenly he scrunched up his face as if he’d eaten something that had gone rotten for a whole week.

“You guys definitely need a shower.”

‘Hyne I need a cold shower.’ Seifer gulped as he entered the luxurious bathroom. Squall had already stripped and he was standing at the edge of the heated pool testing the water with his toe. The blond swore when he looked down. His junior simply refused to fall asleep at the sight of the naked boy merrily playing with water, even though the said boy was only a four-year-old. ‘Must be the adrenaline from earlier.’

“Seiffy!” Sensing the blond’s entrance the small brunet turned and padded towards his friend with a big smile. “Let’s go into the water! It’s really warm!” Ignoring the weird torn expression on the man’s face Squall quickly grabbed Seifer’s much larger hand and dragged him towards the water. “Look! Even Gae is enjoying the bath!”

“Gae?” The hair on the back of his neck rose at the mention of the name.

Squall nodded enthusiastically and pointed towards the warm pool, where a tabby cat was leisurely swimming.

“I didn’t notice cats can swim, let alone enjoy such a huge pool of water.” Seifer bit out as he stared hard at the nonchalant cat while helping Squall into the water. The blond’s heart was doing somersaults when innocent bluish grey suddenly blocked his vision. Squall had brought his face merely an inch from the blond’s with his large eyes fixed on emerald green. Time seemed to have stopped and Seifer couldn’t help but feel the world melt away leaving nothing but endless pit of blue-grey laced with something… something that he couldn’t put his fingers on…

‘Oh shit!’ Seifer quickly put the boy down on his feet and turned him around so that he could start washing his soft mane.

“Seiffy?” Squall shifted on his feet while he tried to find a comfortable spot to sit on. The boy closed his eyes as he let Seifer run his fingers gently through his hair.

“Yeah?” The blond calmed his voice as he lathered the boy’s chocolate brown hair, while fighting hard to maintain his focus solely on washing the child clean.

“Why is there something poking at my back?”

The gunblader felt like sinking into the water and drowning himself once and for all. ‘Holy fucking Hyne I’m in humongous trouble!!’

TBC

The usual ramblings: Hehe… poor Seifer!! How did you find it? Please please please let kitty know!! I live on your cookies and chocolate milk!

Thanks for reading! See ya!

Love,
konekomh
May 2008