This chapter was actually written right in the middle of FF.net's being down so I never uploaded it until now. Hopefully it'll work...

13

For the life of me, I couldn't see what Ellone was talking about.

We were all sitting in the cafeteria, eating and chatting like normal. Squall and Rinoa were seated together as usual, with Selphie and Irvine talking animatedly next to them. Zell sat next to me, his plate piled high with his normal staple: hotdogs. Lots and lots of hotdogs. He was scarfing them down at a record rate, barely pausing between bites to give his opinion about any topic currently being discussed. If this was what being depressed looked like, it didn't seem to be that bad of a state. He, Selphie, and Irvine were laughing about something, but I was involved with a conversation between Squall, Ellone, and myself and wasn't paying attention to whatever they were discussing.

"The number of requests for missions has dropped dramatically since we returned," Squall was saying. "At the rate we're going, we may not be able to take in any new recruits this year; we don't have enough revenue to support them, let alone the hundreds we already have stationed here."

"What about Trabia and Galbadia gardens?" I asked. "I know they're both still trying to get back on their feet, but have they noticed the same thing?"

Squall nodded. "Galbadia garden just opened up its acceptance for missions, but they too had noticed a remarkable drop in requests...before all this." He waved vaguely in the air, a faint grimace on his face. "Trabia's too new; they don't have their permanent facilities erected yet and they had too many casualties in the air raid to be fully operational for a long time."

"Selphie's been wanting to go back to help," Rinoa piped up. "It was her home garden, even though she loves Balamb. She's been thinking about it for a while now."

"What's keeping her here?" Ellone asked, looking genuinely curious.

Rinoa opened her mouth, then suddenly blushed and closed it again. "I'm, uh, not supposed to tell," she said softly, leaning away from Selphie. If the other girl heard what Rinoa said she gave no evidence of it, apparently deep in her own conversation with Irvine.

Ellone laughed lightly. "It's a boy, isn't it?" she murmured, smiling as Rinoa blushed deepened. "Don't worry, you didn't tell. It's just quite obvious."

Zell, I noticed, had gotten in on the conversation, listening intently and slowing down on his hotdog consumption.

"Well, I think you should talk to her about it if you want to know any more," Rinoa whispered. "I shouldn't have even told you this..."

"Told what?" Selphie piped up, turning around and beaming at the rest of us. "Sorry, what were you guys talking about?"

Rinoa was blushing furiously now, Squall seemed to have no idea what to say next, so I said, "We were thinking of talking with Matron about Galbadia Garden. Maybe she would have some tips on what to do."

Selphie nodded, the edges of her mouth drooping just a bit. "I sure wish I knew what was going on there," she stated, her normally upbeat voice slightly diminished. "It just happened so suddenly, with the whole Garden cutting all ties to the outside world. Why would they..." She trailed off, her gaze switching to Irvine. I watched her brow furrow and glanced at him as well. He had gone suspiciously blank, somber eyes staring at the ground and his hands gripping his knees tightly.

A bright smile suddenly flashed over Selphie's face and she leaped up from her chair. "Hey, I know what we can do Irvy," she exclaimed, bouncing onto his lap. "You're going to be staying here for a while, so why don't you let me decorate your room?" Grabbing his hat and jamming it on her head, she seized his hand and pulled him to his feet. "I promise it won't be like last time; I didn't know you weren't a fan of purple. Ivy really is coming back in style, what do you think? Yellow might look good with your coat, or a pale green to match the ivy..." She dragged him out of the cafeteria, still chattering away; Irvine for his part had a very bemused expression on his face, but his lips tipped up into a smile as he allowed himself to be led away.

Amused, we all watched them leave before turning back to our various conversations. I had a small smile on my face as I looked over at Zell, but it slowly faded as I noticed him still watching the door. A moment later he heaved a sigh and pushed his plate, which still held at least four hotdogs, away from him toward the center of the table. He caught my eye and, looking sheepish, remarked, "I think I took too many."

I nodded vaguely and turned to Ellone, who was staring at Zell with a peculiar look on her face. He didn't seem to notice the sudden attention as he leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling, rocking back and forth like he hadn't a care in the world.

Ellone glanced at me, and I quirked an eyebrow with a nod towards Zell. She nodded slightly, indicating she had caught on, then stood up and asked to be excused. I too started to stand but she gave her head a faint shake without looking at me, and I settled back into my seat.

"No need to ask around here Ellone," Rinoa said with a grin. "We're not as formal around here, at least not if the guys have anything to say about it."

"Hey," Squall protested, "we're outnumbered here, don't gang up on us men!"

"Boys, is more like it," Rinoa replied, but gave her boyfriend's arm a small punch to show it was a joke. "Oh Ellone, can I talk with you later, before you head back to Esthar? There's something I've been meaning to ask."

"I'm actually planning to stay a while longer," Ellone replied, giving Rinoa a warm smile. "I'll probably be in my room tonight, come on over if you need anything." She paused, then pursed her lips and murmured, "Oh dear."

"What's the problem?" Zell asked, setting all four legs of his chair to the ground.

"I'm going to need some help getting a few things up into my temporary room," she replied. "Zell, would you, um, mind please...?"

"Sure, I'm not doing anything right now." He jumped up out of the chair with a grin, saluting the rest of us. "Off to help a damsel in distress, see ya'll later!" He grabbed the remaining hotdogs on his plate, stuffed two into his pockets and started unwrapping the others as he and Ellone headed out of the cafeteria.

"I should be going now too." I figured it was as good a time as any to grade papers; Hyne knew I was behind because of my mission. And I still wanted my bath, complete now with a healthy dose of bubbles and light music. Contrary to popular opinion, there really are times when I enjoyed the frillier parts of girl-dom.

"Okay, see you around," Rinoa said as I stood up.

"You know Quistis," Squall remarked distractedly as I was about to leave, "your idea of talking with Edea, even if it was in jest, has merit. We should probably do that to see what ideas she might have."

I nodded and bid my farewells then walked out of the cafeteria to my classroom. I headed up the elevator and into the hall, passing a few of my students along the way. As I wanted to get it all done with so I could just rest I didn't chat with anyone but headed straight for my room.

I was just about to enter my class to work when a grunt sounded inside the classroom next to mine. I paused, then heard the faint and unmistakable slapping sound of flesh meeting flesh. Frowning, I headed over and tried to open the door, but it had been sealed from the inside. Cursing softly as I heard yet another blow and what sounded like a snicker, I punched in the authorization code on the panel and heard the door unlock with a faint *click*. The doors swished open and I entered just in time to see one redheaded student mutter, "Bastard," before letting loose with a roundhouse punch which caught his victim hard in the side of the head.

The other two people who were each holding an arm of their captive saw me first and stepped back, quickly letting go of the one they'd been beating. The white trenchcoat laying haphazardly on the floor and blond hair identified the victim, and I unfurled my whip as the redhead whirled around. His face blanked as he saw who had walked in on their little punchfest, but before he could get a word out I lashed out with the whip.

My choice in weapon has gone through some serious upgrades since I first became a SeeD, so even the lowest setting to this one packed quite a punch. The whip cracked over the boy's chest, flinging him backwards through the air to crash against one of the desks at the back of the class. One of the other students started towards the redhead but I lashed out again, this time aiming for his legs; the whip wrapped around his legs and he tripped, falling face-first on the ground.

"Don't even think about moving," I warned the other one, my voice cold enough to freeze Hell, and he took my threat seriously. "Now, someone tell me what is going on here."

"Nothing that concerns you, Instructor. You can just move along."

I blinked at Seifer, momentarily taking my focus off his assailants. He was working his jaw tenderly and had a large bruise forming beside his right eye; I knew he'd have quite a shiner a few hours from now. He wiped a hand over his face, smearing the blood coming from his nose but stared at me defiantly anyway. Behind him I saw the redhead get gingerly to his feet, his face a mask of anger and chagrin for being caught.

"Mr. Cahill," I snapped, and watched as Reggie Cahill's head jerked up. "Ken Simeon, Akito Salme. You are to go up to the Headmaster's office right this minute and tell Xu everything that happened here. She will decide what punishment will be dealt for attacking a fellow cadet. If I find out that any one of you took a detour on the way there, or didn't put the appropriate amount of speed in their step, I will haul you up to the Headmaster's office so fast it'll knock your socks off. Do you understand me?"

"But Instructor," Akito pleaded but I cut him off with the crack of the whip.

"Do you understand me?" I asked, my voice lower. All three boys nodded and shuffled past me at a fast walk; if they knew what was good for them they'd keep this fast pace until they got to Xu's office. I noticed Reggie give Seifer a scathing look as he passed, which Seifer ignored as he fingered a cut beside his eyebrow, and made a mental note to keep a further eye on Reggie in the future. I pulled my communicator out of my pocket and flipped it on, fingering Xu's code. "Xu, it's Quistis. I just sent up three students I caught assaulting another cadet. They will hopefully tell you the whole story, and I will be up there later to coroborate what they said." So much for rest and relaxation, I thought dismally.

"Understood," was Xu's reply and I pocketted the communicator again.

"You know, Instructor, you have the nasty habit of poking your nose into other peoples' business."

Incensed, I walked up to him until I was in his face. "Whenever it has to do with my students, Mr. Almasy, it is my business."

He gave a grunt and stalked past me...and my control snapped. Before I thought twice about it I again lashed out with my whip, this time my aim being Seifer. Even with his back turned I knew that if he hadn't been expecting this from prim, proper me it wouldn't have worked. But the tentacle which made up my weapon stretched past and before he could react wrapped itself around him, trapping his arms to his side and jerking his feet together. Anyone else would have done a face-plant right then, but Seifer somehow managed to keep his feet under him, even hopped around to face me. His face held equal amounts of incredulty and anger, and I began to realize that I had a ticking time bomb on my hands...and had no idea what to do next.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he shouted, struggling against the bonds. He only succeeded in nearly toppling himself, keeping his feet only through some fancy footwork, the only part of his body still mobile.

It's the only way I could get you to stop and talk, I wanted to shout but said instead, "Someone needs to save you from you. Hyne Seifer, would you look at yourself?"

"I won't stand here and be lectured by you," he shot back contemptuously.

"You'll stand there and be lectured like the child you are, Seifer," I answered, my lip curling in disgust. "Do you realize how immature you've been acting lately? The whole "I'm so bad and I deserve this" pile of bull is getting really old. I'm tired of having to save you from situations like this..."

"I can take care of myself," he bellowed.

"Then do it from now on! Dammit Seifer," I yelled back at him, stamping my foot for effect, "right now I don't care one jot why you think you should take this abuse! What you need to realize is, when you allow someone to do that to you you're teaching them that it's *okay* to bully another human being. Here I am, trying my BEST to teach these kids to act like a team, and you're baiting them into a fight!"

He was silent for a moment, both of us fuming. Then he sighed and glanced away, and when he looked back the anger was replaced by a look of frustration. "You just don't get it, do you?" he bit out, his eyes never leaving mine. "Because of what I did, I don't have the luxury of defending myself."

"Oh, come off the pity party," I shot back scathingly, but Seifer just shook his head in frustration.

"Everything I do now is, in some way or another, monitored," he continued angrily. "Where I go, what I eat, how many possibly dangerous pills I have in my medicine cabinet. Who I talk to is screened; if I form any relationships outside Garden these people will have background checks done on them."

"Now you're just being paranoid," I interrupted, but my voice wasn't as convinced as I thought I was.

Again he shook his head, his eyes leaving mine as his face sobered. "When Cid allowed me back into Garden, he was forced to make rules. You know Cid," and here a ghost of a smile flitted briefly across his mouth, "he would have just let me in, no questions asked. But others demanded I be watched, that my 'past' wouldn't come back to haunt me."

I stared at him, anger gone and puzzlement firmly in its place. "If that's the case, why didn't I know about it?"

"I don't know, maybe they thought you were too close to the situation," he answered, looking at me again. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to answer to this little incident though, in one way or another."

"It wasn't your fault," I said quickly, finding it ironic that mere moments before I'd been accusing him of starting it. Frankly, this all-new "introspective Seifer" was really beginning to wierd me out. There was no cocky edge to play off, no haughty demeanor to look down at. He was being absolutely serious outside a battle situation, and it was scaring the shit out of me.

He squirmed again, and I became aware my whip was still wrapped around him. Startled out of my thoughts I was just about to release him when the doors slid open again, and a grey-haired woman came in.

Fujin. Oh dear...

"SEIFER?" she called just before her eyes settled on us. Her one good eye widened, and I had a sinking suspicion what was going through her head right at that moment. Fujin's mouth worked soundlessly for an instant, then her already red eye blazed as her face contorted into a look of overwhelming fury. "RAGE!" she screamed at me and went into full attack mode.

"Fujin, no!" Seifer shouted but the woman wasn't having it; she kept coming at me, a berserk look in her face that made me just want to run. Thing was, I didn't want to fight her; she was trying to protect Seifer from yet another attacker, further underscoring the fact that this was definitely one of my lamer ideas. Too little, too late.

I jumped to the side as she threw herself at me, and managed to get the whip loose from around Seifer's body. I could do little else, however, as Fujin turned back and tried to attack me again and I did the only thing I could think about : I ran. Perhaps in another place, if the situation hadn't been so pathetic, it might have been funny but there was little to laugh about as I just barely missed being sliced by Fujin's own weapon.

Me running around the desks to keep away from Fujin, Seifer shouting at both of us to stop it, Fujin screaming at the top of her lungs single word expletives and threats which actually conveyed her message very well...

"'May I have you attention students.'"

Fujin came at me again and I dodged, trying to listen to the announcement and keep away from the sudden berserker and her rather powerful weapon.

"'I'd like to announce the following cadets have reached SeeD rank: Archimedes Himura, Irvine Kinneas...'"

My eyebrow rose at that but I was too focussed on diving away from an exploding desk panel to think about the political implications of that decision.

"'... Luna Silver, and Seifer Almasy.'"

All action froze in the classroom. As if wondering just what we were doing, Fujin and I each cast curious glances across the class towards Seifer. The blond, for his part, was blinking blankly at us, as if trying to digest this new information himself.

"'Will these students please report to my office as soon as possible. Thank you.'"

Nobody in the room seemed inclined to do anything. Seifer was looking from Fujin to me to the floor, then back again. A slow smile spread across his lips, free of the normal sneer that usually seemed to come through no matter what he did. It actually made him seem younger.

Fujin was the first to say anything. "FINALLY."

I coughed a little laugh at the very appropriate statement and started to congradulate him myself when I saw Fujin, less than two feet from me, shift. A small gloved fist came straight at my head - I saw it yet didn't react. I suppose, at the time, I thought deserved it. Heh, does that make me sound too much like Seifer?