Seifer had drank as little as he could while still giving the impression of being drunk. He needed his head to be clear if he was going to be devising any plans. Still, he got a little buzzed. The bar they were at in Balamb was surprisingly seedy, no pun intended. People he wouldn’t have even pegged as living there, drank themselves into a stupor under the darkened lights. Seifer wasn’t much of a drinker himself, he didn’t like the lack of control, but it wasn’t absurd for him to use it as a way to shrug off a bad day. He wasn’t sure if finding out that the tyranny of the sorceress was close at hand, and that he was the secret weapon to bring her down, a bad day or not.

            He checked the clock above the bar. It was 1800 hours, he could officially go back to Garden now. He had spent the obligatory 2 hours with his friends. He had been drinking as slow as he could. Unlike his friends, who were looking fairly trashed. He faced Fuujin on the stool next to him, his right hand man. “Stick to the road, okay?” It was a command that was softened only slightly by the request at the end. He always sounded commanding.

            She narrowed her one eye at him. “ALONE?”

            He nodded, “Yes, I need some time alone.” Even though he would be seeking out Zell as soon as he got back to Balamb. He hated lying to them, but the less people he told, the better. Raijin waved to him as he got up and Fuujin just sat and looked down at her drink. He would have to try to make better friend with them after this was all over.

            The walk back to Garden gave him a chance to think. Unfortunately he wasn’t making plans on how to stop the sorceress, he was thinking about Zell. He hadn’t fought back when Seifer had stayed on top of him. He had just looked at him, wide-eyed. He was such a good friend to be willing to allow that. Seifer was finding himself touched by everyone’s actions lately. Perhaps, it was his tremendously low self-esteem these days.

            When he got back to the Garden, he ran back to the dormitory. Even though he had never come for a visit, he knew where Zell’s room was. He knocked awkwardly, hoping no on passed him waiting like he was. After the second knock, he realized that Zell wasn’t in. ‘Where could that Chicken Wuss be?” They needed to make arrangements for beating the sorceress. How could Zell disappear now? How could they have made that irresponsible brat a Seed. Then it hit him, the Seed ball. As ridiculous as it seemed, the Seed celebration ball was held the same night as the test.

            He yawned. It had been a big day and the alcohol was making him sleepier than he would have been without it’s influence. He considered just letting Zell have his fun, but the threat of the mission in Timber the following day was just too great. He rushed to the ball, his black boots clicking on the ultra clean floors. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be relying on only Zell. If only Irvine was here and remembered their childhood. Of course, he could have hit himself. He had a sharpshooter and the exact location of the Sorceress. Not that it had worked out that good last time, but this time she wouldn’t be expecting any sort of uprising. Afterall, she hadn’t even announced her intentions. A plan was forming in his mind.

Seifer was lucky that he was a born leader. When he reached the doors to the ballroom, he was confronted by two tipsy doorguards. He put on his most commanding face as he swaggered towards them, he motioned downwards with his hand. “Move!” he ordered. The two doorguards, both young and insecure, let him pass by them watching him with big eyes. That was easy enough. He chuckled a little.

            He saw Squall in the corner watching all the happy Seeds dancing. His face was impassive as always. But Seifer had seen him enflamed with hate, so he preferred this disinterested Squall much more. As soon as he took notice of Seifer walking towards him, he looked nervous. Surely, Squall didn’t think that he would do something violent, did he?

            “Squall!” he said loudly, arms out happily. “You are not the man I’m looking for!” He laughed at his own joke. He had to because Squall was just scowling at him. He pulled up beside him so that he could watch the dance floor. He still didn’t see Zell.

            “What do you want Seifer?” growled Squall. He was always so angry. It was a big putoff to people that didn’t know why he was like that. But, Seifer did know.

            “Congratulations on becoming a Seed,” he said it sincerely because he meant it. But, Squall didn’t get it. He was hearing some malice that hadn’t been in the statement at all. He tightened his arms closer to his sides. The shell going up around him stronger than before. “No, really...”

            “Hey Squall....Seifer!” came a squeaky voice beside him. Selphie leaned forward, her head shaking. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

She was wearing her Seed uniform like everyone else, but she looked so compact in it. Her hair wider than her shoulders. Seifer smiled. “You look nice Selphie.” She just stared at him. Her reaction was as if he had just told her that there were little green men running around. In truth, they were blue as it were. “Have you seen Zell?”

She put her hands on her hips. “I think he’s avoiding me!” She changed the direction of her complaining towards Squall. “I just need some volunteers for the Garden committee. Is that too much to ask? Just to hang a few streamers for me?” The gloomy Squall looked very much like he was about to run off somewhere.

“Sorry, I’d help but I have a lot of plans coming up,” said Seifer apologetically. “I tell you what though. If I finish all the stuff I have to do early, I’ll help out.”

Both Squall and Selphie gawked at him. Sure, he didn’t want to help out, but was he such a hard-headed jerk that he wouldn’t have helped her out? He thought back. She hadn’t even asked him before. She just assumed he would say no. He probably would have. But now, he saw her as the little Selphie who had rambunctiously played with him as a child. If only he had bullied her less, maybe she wouldn’t see him as a jerk. He could only change one past at a time though.

“Well, I have to find Zell. Do you want to come and help me find him? You have good eyes.” She just nodded with her mouth open. And when he turned and left Squall wallowing in self-pity, she followed behind him giving his back strange looks. They didn’t have to go far. It looked as if Zell had been hiding from Selphie because they found him behind one of the many pillars.

“Zell Dincht!” she cried out when they reached him. “You were avoiding me!”

He had one foot back on the pillar and when she yelled it startled him so much he nearly fell over. His arms pinwheeled. Lucky for him though, he was pretty fast on his feet. “I wasn’t avoiding you Selphie!” he denied with a guilty conscience. Then he noticed Seifer. “I was avoiding him!”

Seifer laughed. Selphie who was only a little over five feet tall stared up at the tall blonde next to her. Since when did Seifer laugh at Zell's jokes? He leaned forward with his index finger up in a chiding way. “But not...very...well.”

Zell laughed and knocked down Seifer’s finger. Selphie was laughing too. She didn’t understand the good mood of the two, but she was thrilled to see them getting along. Besides, she wasn’t unused to be confused.

“I have a plan now Chicken Wuss,” said Seifer. Selphie was sure that wouldn’t go over well. She didn’t understand why he always had to pick on Zell, but it had been nice when he wasn’t. Instead of freaking out though, he smiled happily at Seifer. Selphie was sure that she was losing her mind.

Seifer could feel Zell’s enthusiasm just by look at his eyes. It was nice to know that he believed in him so much. He wanted to explain his idea, but Selphie was there and he was sure that he didn’t’ want any more people to know yet. Just him, Zell, and Irvine. He wondered if it was bad idea not to tell Squall. He backed up and looked over at the space that should have held Squall, but it was empty. Surprised, Seifer walked to the edge of the dancefloor. There was Squall, awkwardly attempting to dance with a hot girl.

This wasn’t just strange for Squall. This was downright Twilight Zone-esque. “Zell...” he whispered. He heard and felt Zell come up beside him. The girl wasn’t just any girl. It was Rinoa. The Rinoa that had once been his. The girl who had alerted him to the dangers of Deling’s evil president. A little terrorist in the body of a goddess. She was wearing the shortest dress possible without showing her underwear and it sparkled brightly under the well lit dance floor. Seifer felt his old love reemerge in his throat. She was just as breathtaking as when they had first met. The last time he had seen her, she was controlled by the Sorceress, the same way he had been. They had a connection that even she, the bitch, couldn’t deny.

There she was dancing with Squall just like she had danced with him. He had been in Deling City, her hometown. It was a political banquet put on by friends of her father. She had approached him, telling him that he was the best looking guy there. Seifer had liked her commanding presence immediately.

“Wow, Squall is dancing!” announced Zell. Selphie giggled. Seifer didn’t’ feel as happy as they did now. His mood completely dropped down. So this was when she came to the Garden. How she had managed to get into this ball, he could only imagine.

“That’s Rinoa.” He didn’t need to say anything more before Zell turned into a professional too.

“Do we include her in our plan?” he whispered, hopefully soft enough that Selphie couldn’t hear.

“No. She needs to act just the way that she did last time,” Seifer said. Yet, he knew he couldn’t resist talking to her. Had to hurt her somehow. She looked so beautiful as she taught Squall how to dance. He was catching on now. They looked so good together as he twirled her and brought her back. He wasn’t smiling. Even a moment so glorious as dancing with Rinoa in a gorgeous sparkling ballroom couldn’t make Squall smile. ‘What a jerk,’ he thought.

Zell wondered how this woman had managed to talk Squall into dancing with her. He looked at Seifer to see what he thought of it. Seifer looked like he was in pain. His lips were curled down at the corners and his fist was clenched tight in it’s glove. Zell felt angry for him. Seifer was trying so hard to be a nice guy and here was Squall dancing with a beautiful woman that he was obviously interested in.. ‘Does he love her?’ he wondered. She just didn’t match with Seifer. She looked like the dictionary example of female. She seemed delicate and weak. How could Seifer love a girl like that?

The lights went dim as fireworks roared overhead. They were nice fireworks, but Seifer wasn’t noticing them. He did observe the look on Squall’s face when Rinoa quickly walked away from their dance. He looked...lost. Seifer’s jealousy took over his actions. He walked towards the dance floor with Zell and Selphie on his heels.

“Seifer! You can’t do anything!” yelled Zell. Seifer ignored him as he followed Rinoa over to Headmaster Cid. At first his brain reminded him that he wasn’t supposed to be at the Seed ball, but if Rinoa could be there, he didn’t feel that he would have a problem. “Seifer,” yelped Zell as he yanked on Seifer’s arm. He was almost there though. He pulled hard away from Zell coming into the circle of Teachers moments after Rinoa and with more speed.

Headmaster Cid looked up as Zell and Selphie composed themselves behind a very determined looking Seifer. Quistis was there, as well as a few other staff. Rinoa was shocked to see him standing right next to her. She smiled at him slightly. He ignored the smile and kept his lips tight.

“Seifer! Well, it’s not nice to sneak into parties!” said Headmaster Cid happily. Seifer was glad that he didn’t seem that angered by it. He looked up at Quistis who was still watching Squall. So, Rinoa wasn’t the only with an eye out for the tall brunette.

“He didn’t do bad, did he Instructor Trepe?” He had barely remembered to address her with a title of respect. He had grown up with her afterall.

While everyone was distracted by looking at the flustered Quistis, he whispered “...fresh meat huh?” to Rinoa. Her cheeks went scarlet and he wasn’t sure whether it was from embarrassment or anger.

Quistis struggled. “It’s...good to see him... coming out of his shell.” Headmaster Cid nodded.

Seifer just laughed in an evil voice. “Oh that old adamantoise won’t be shedding that any time soon.”

Quistis frowned. “He’s not that bad...”

Headmaster Cid changed the subject. “Seifer Almasy, this is Rinoa Heartilly.” He looked at them expecting to shake hands and when they didn’t he continued. “She’s enlisting our help. It’s not every day such a charming girl comes to make requests of Balamb Garden.”

Seifer could think of lots of ways that he could turn that into an insult, but Quistis took the moment to excuse herself. She walked in a different direction of Squall, but he knew where she was going. “So Rinoa...” began Seifer. Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the feel of Zell’s foot crushing his. He winced. It hurt, the little blonde was amazingly strong for his size.

Zell who had taken the step forward for the sole purpose of injuring Seifer, introduced himself to Rinoa. “I’m Zell Dincht.” He gestured with his hands a lot so that hopefully no one would notice the stomp, not that he wasn’t always gesturing with them anyway. “Wow, you are hot! I mean...um, charming.”

Everyone shook their heads except for Seifer. He knew that Zell was saving his butt. And once the evil pressing foot was removed it was hard to be mad at him. He wondered if he could have insulted Rinoa enough that she wouldn’t have wanted Seed’s help. Probably not but it was good not to take chances. “Anyways, it was nice meeting you but me and Seifer had better get going,” he leaned closely to Rinoa. “He’s not even supposed to be here!”

“It was nice meeting you Zell...and Seifer.” She said his name so softly and sadly. He was glad that he had insulted her. She was so fickle, she deserved it. He turned and looped his arm around Selphie’s. She jumped a little at his touch. He only hoped that she didn’t kick his ass for doing it. But she didn’t. She was too shocked to react with anger.

The three walked away from the teachers. Each of them noticing Quistis coming inside from the balcony looking forlorn. “Hey Selphie, would you talk to Quistis? She looks upset and I’m not good at cheering people up.” He looked down at the cute girl on his arm. She nodded and he let his arm go limp. Selphie looked back at Seifer twice. Though, just as she was about to intersect the instructor, Quistis turned and left the ballroom. Selphie looked at them and shrugged.

“That’s okay,” said Seifer. “Thanks for trying.” Selphie thought that he must have been drunk or on some sort of drug.

 Zell and Seifer walked silently back to the dormitory. Seifer was so happy to just be walking next to Zell. He wouldn’t soon forget the way that he had been saved. Painful, yes, but the best thing that Zell could have done. “I now have a room to myself, so we should go there,” said Zell. That worked out for Seifer, but he wished that he had a room to himself. Especially, with all the covert mission things he would be having to do.

Zell let them in to his brand new room, his stuff already transferred and in neat stacks around the room. He was so organized! Seifer recognized the signs of another orderly person, himself being freakishly well coordinated. There were all sorts of little workout gadgets around the room. A small punching bag in the corner and a weight bench in front of the TV. There were assorted weights beside the small fridge that sat on a table that was in the kitchen. “It’s nice,” said Seifer approvingly mixed with a bit of envy.

“Yeah, isn’t it great?” he asked exuberantly. “Wait till I start getting paid better! I’m going to buy an awesome sound system that will go right here!” He demonstrated his plans throughout the room. It cheered Seifer up immensely.

He sat down on the large couch. He kept thinking about Rinoa, the bitch. He kept wishing that he had known that while he was figuring a way to fight for her cause, she had been putting the moves on his archnemesis. He closed his eyes, just letting Zell’s rambling become a nice white noise. He had always been the type that had fallen asleep in class, but he hadn’t ever thought it might have just been that the sound of voices he found relaxing. But, with Zell’s words numbing him, he felt the world drifting away.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

“Get the milk!” The loud voice woke Seifer up, his upper half automatically coming up. He looked around urgently as he felt weight on his arm. He looked down. It was Zell’s face. Zell was looking back at him with wide eyes.

“What fucking milk?” asked Seifer angrily.

“Milk?” asked Zell wiping at his eyes with his firsts.

“You just yelled for me to get the milk!” Now he was yelling. He looked around, remembering that he had fallen asleep on Zell’s couch. And apparently, Zell had fallen asleep on him from the look of things.

Zell blushed. “Sorry, I talk in my sleep.”

            Seifer rolled his eyes. “Don’t you ever shutup Chicken Wuss?” Zell looked away. Instantly, he regretted being so mean. Then he laughed. “I haven’t always called you chicken wuss you know.”

            Zell looked curious. “What?”

            Seifer smiled a reminiscent smile. “I used to call you a cry-baby. That’s all you did. I guess it’s why you turned out so aggressive.”

            “Because I cried all the time or cause you teased me about it?”

            This time Seifer’s hand went to Zell’s hair. The hair was bristly from the aftereffects of old hair gel. “You were so sensitive. You always knew if one of us was sad, I think that half the time you were crying for us and not yourself.”

            Zell closed his eyes, just letting the warmth mush up inside him. It was strange hearing about a past and future that you couldn’t remember. It was stranger to feel so close to someone that you had hated not 24 hours earlier. That made him aware of the time. He looked at the clock on the VCR. It was a little after midnight. They had only been asleep a few hours.

            “Zell...” Seifer’s voice sounded hesitant. It meant that he was about to say something personal.

            “Yeah?”

            “What made you, um, come lay down with me?” Zell heard the swallow in the middle of Seifer’s sentence. It was as if he was freaked out by it. But he also felt the fingertips massaging his head. Seifer was one giant riddle. Why had he laid down with Seifer? Because Seifer had looked so helpless and vulnerable and Zell wanted to make sure that he was safe. Because he knew how it was to feel scared and alone in the night and he didn’t want to be. Because being around Seifer didn’t mean danger anymore, it felt safe.

            Seifer waited as Zell quietly thought. It was such a hard question to ask that it made sense that it would be a hard to answer. Still, it made him feel that he was encouraging an answer by rubbing the cute little frays of hair beneath his fingers. He was grateful that he didn’t’ have to look Zell in the eyes.

            “Because...” said Zell. His voice halting. Seifer stopped touching his head. “I don’t know. It felt...right.”

            Seifer smiled. That was a good answer. It was how he had felt once he realized that Zell had done it. It felt right. He moved his hand down Zell’s tattooed cheek. His fingertips traced the design. He heard Zell take in a breath. Maybe he was pushing this friendship thing, but right now physical contact seemed so important to him. He closed his eyes again, letting his body be confronted with sleep again. He was so distracted by the sleepy feelings, that he didn’t notice that Zell was shaking.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            “Dammit Zell!” cursed Seifer. It woke him up. He looked up at Seifer’s beautiful green eyes. 

            “What the hell?” he asked. He felt Seifer worming his body out from under his. He was still uncomprehending as Seifer stood up, waving his arm.

            “You put my arm to sleep!” accused Seifer. His arm feeling like a million pinpricks. that Eight hours of having Zell’s heavy head cutting off the bloodflow to his arm. It would be amazing if it didn’t need to be amputated. “You’ve got a damn heavy head!”

            “What time is it?” asked Zell not quite awake yet. He didn’t have the pain to prod him into consciousness. “Damn! It’s almost nine! What time do I get called on to the mission?”

            Seifer thought back. He didn’t know. All he knew was that it had collided with the time that he had planned to kidnap the president. It had all happened before sundown the day after he had failed the test. The Seeds would have had to have been sent out that morning. “Probably about five minutes ago.”

            Zell cringed. “Good thing that I showered before the ball.” He passed by Seifer on his way to the door. “Um, I should get going. Can you meet me in Timber?”

            Seifer cursed again. “I still have to get Ellone and Irvine. This timing can’t work. I don’t even know where Ellone is and it takes hours to get to Galbadia!”

            Zell punched the wall. Seifer thought that sounded good, so he hit the wall nearest him. A picture fell off. Seifer smiled and picked it up. “Sorry.”

            “Okay, well, the sorceress can’t take you if you aren’t there,” said Zell practically. “At least you’ll be safe. Just go and try to round them up as fast as you can.”

            Seifer nodded, not really used to taking orders, which worked out since Zell wasn’t used to giving them. “Good luck Zell.”

            Zell wanted to stay. He wanted to make sure that Seifer wouldn’t be snatched up by the Sorceress. He knew how deeply the wounds she had given him cut. He would make sure that she never did that again. He couldn’t stop his body from jumping into Seifer, forcing his arms apart. He clutched Seifer’s waist, face pressed into his chest. He felt strong hands wrap around him. “I can do it Chicken Wuss. If I don’t show up, we’ll get her in Deling City.”

            When they broke away, Zell couldn’t look Seifer straight in the eye because of his embarrassment. He stood in the doorway, keeping it open for Seifer. When he had passed by, Zell waved goodbye to him. As he locked up, he forced himself not to worry. Then he ran to the directory, center of all attention in Balamb Garden.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            Since Seifer didn’t even know how to go about searching for Ellone, he decided to just go with his first instinct of Irvine. He “borrowed” one of the cars from the garage and drove off to Balamb. He loved heading into Balamb. Even with the pressure bearing down on him, he still let out a happy sigh to see the greenish blue ocean waves lapping at the cliffs by the city. The air grew cooler and friendlier. He smiled.

            When he got to the train station he found that he the Timber train would be leaving in seconds. He hauled ass onto the train, only stopping to show the man his ticket. He let his breathing calm as he lay back on the train seats. This was an exceptionally nice train. All the seats were odor free and the passengers were few and silent. He tipped his head back and let himself relax.

            He couldn’t believe that he had allowed himself to fall asleep instead of tracking down Ellone. He had just been so tired from all the time travel, drinking, and fighting. When he thought about all the things that he had been through in the past few days, it didn’t seem so bad that he had fallen asleep on the job. Still, it wasn’t like him to slack off like that.

            So, he was back on the train heading towards the Sorceress. It all sounded so familiar. He wished he had paid more attention to the time when he had jetted off previously. It would be interesting to know that he was on the same train as the last time. Just thinking about how similar this all was, bothered him. Of course, last time he was showered. He knew that he must smell bad. His hair never worked with him on that either, it got greasy as soon as it was exactly 24 hours after a shower.

            So, once he got Irvine, all of this would be better. He didn’t know if he could convince Irvine that what he was saying was true. In fact, he might not believe him at all. But he had to try. Surely Irvine would have to believe a man claiming that he knew something about his mysterious past. Afterall, it wasn’t like Irvine was probably going around telling people that he couldn’t remember his childhood. His reaction was all that Seifer had to put his money on.

            He wondered how Zell was doing. He wondered if he was even in Balamb yet. He would have to listen to a mission brief. Thanks to Seifer though, he already knew what he was expected to do in Timber. He had to try to anticipate the next step. His matron was somewhere inside that sorceress bitch and so it would need to be handled delicately.

            He turned over plan after plan in his mind as the train swiftly made it’s way to Timber. When it was there, Seifer felt more confident. He knew where to rent a car and so he headed there first. He passed happy townspeople who were totally oblivious to the precarious position they were in. It was hard for him now to look at children with parents. Now, that he could remember not having had parents.

            He drove like a demon escaping hell. It was already lunchtime. Lucky for him Galbadia Garden wasn’t that far away. He slowed the car down to avoid some annoying students that were walking along the road up to the Garden. He glared them down with evil emerald eyes. It did seem to hurry them up more. Perhaps he seemed like the type of guy that would just as soon run them over.

            He came to the front entrance of the Garden and he pulled out his gunblade menacingly. To the nearest group of female students, it would have been pointless to consult men, he asked “Irvine Kinneas?” It didn’t sound like a question, especially with his gunblade pointing at them.  One of the girls squealed. She raised her finger and pointed to one of the hallways. He took off down that direction.

            Now, he only had a certain amount of time before some word got around of a wacko threatening girls with a gunblade. The next girl he came up to, he again aggressively questioned. She actually told him though and he kept walking. He felt more than relief when he heard Irvine’s sugary western accent. He came upon Irvine who was telling the story of a sharpshooting incident. The girls who made up his audience were starry eyed more at his feminine good looks than the tall tale.

            The girls took no notice of Seifer, even with his gunblade in hand, but Irvine did. He smiled at Seifer. “You looking for me?” he asked. Then he lowered his voice a little and added “Seifer?”

            Seifer nearly burst with joy. He shouted out “Irvine! You remember!”

            Irvine stepped forward nodding. “Of course, you don’t forget your childhood buddy!” He threw an arm around Seifer in a manly slapping hug. The relief was great. He smiled at Irvine gratefully.

            Then, it was back to business. “Irvine, there is a crisis and I need you to help me save the world.”

            Leave it to Seifer to be upfront about these sorts of things. Irvine turned back to the girls. “It looks like I have to go for now ladies.” They all sighed with disappointment, which was gross from Seifer’s perspective. Many of them said their farewells as if it was the last time they would ever see him. It was like they were completely dependant upon him. Seifer turned back down the hall, liking the feeling of making Irvine catch up with him.

            “So, we are going right now?” asked Irvine. He was scoring big points with all the girls that he was now leaving behind. But, if Seifer was coming to get him, he knew it must be important.

            “We have to be in Timber before sunset.”

            “What happens then?” Irvine was following closely, his head tilted towards Seifer.

            “We take out the woman that raised us.”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Zell stepped into the town of Timber filled with trepidation. Was Seifer already here? Had he been able to find Ellone and Irvine? He wasn’t used to handling all these troubles. He kept most of his problems on his sleeve, that way they didn’t’ fester inside of him. But, he agreed with Seifer that the less people that knew the better. The more people that knew, the more random components. It needed to go as close to the first time as possible.

            The morning had been one disappointment after another. Rinoa was an airhead. She had no strategic planning abilities. Why she was leading the Forest Owls movement, Zell couldn’t understand. He could run things better than she did with his eyes closed! He sure hoped that Seifer had a better idea of defeating the Sorceress than Rinoa’s plan to kidnap the President. They had all been forced to come here to Timber where they were planning on taking a train back to the Garden. Zell knew better though, he knew that they would somehow become aware of the Sorceress and her plans in the next few minutes. The weird thing was trying not to make any decisions and worrying that maybe one of his decisions that had led them to the discovery. He just followed and placed all of his hopes in Seifer.

            He had never doubted a word of what Seifer had said. Seifer was acting too different. He knew that something had happened to him by the way he was treating people. It would have to be something drastic to make Seifer appreciate life. Before he had been too worried about himself to see anyone else’s problems. And, Zell knew it was something horrible, because Seifer was willing to risk his life to make sure that no one was hurt by her again.

            Still, seeing all of Seifer’s predictions coming true was amazing. Here was Rinoa, attempting to seduce Squall, who outwardly looked annoyed by it. Zell saw how his eyes softened slightly whenever she was around though. And she was around constantly! Zell hadn’t been able to shake her. Whenever they split into groups, she was always jumping in with reasons why she should be in Squall’s party. Of course, then Zell had to try and join the same group. He had to be in the middle of the action. Right now they were going to the train station, which worried him. What had detained them from taking the train away last time?

            The train was down. He punched the air in relief. This was great! That was why they had been forced to stay and find out about the Sorceress. Squall and Rinoa obviously mistook his exertions as anger. “Well, we can stay at the inn!” she suggested to Zell. He blew air out of his mouth. He wasn’t about to make any decisions, that was up to grumpy Squall.

            They went to the inn as Rinoa suggested only to be warned about soldiers by an informant friend of hers. So the inn was out and the soldiers at the gate wouldn’t let them leave. They were getting more and more stuck. Zell imagined how pissed off he must have been in Seifer’s past, it was annoying. Luckily he took each thwarting of their leaving as a good sign. Also, it allowed more time for Seifer to track down Ellone and Irvine. He didn’t hold much hope though. By the time that they had circled the city, Squall was visibly pissed off. They had forced a drunk to move out of the way to investigate a back alley in a vain endeavor to find an exit. Now here they were, in an inside spot of the city, tired and angry.

Zell was kicking at invisible monsters because he was beginning to think that he must have cause some change in the plan that had made them lost track of where they were supposed to learn about the President. That was when the giant screen that had looked like a wall only moments before flicked on.

Rinoa seemed pleased with herself. They were right in front of the television station that the President was planning on broadcasting from. She had a brilliant idea. She began discussing her brand new terrible plan. Zell was about to tell her off, when Squall beat him to it. He yelled at her until she actually ran off, revealing her true character. Zell couldn’t say that he felt bad about it, but he was hoping that it was what happened last time.

            Selphie came running over to them. It was amazing that she had found them. The President was on the screen. He was being broadcast through the airwaves that had been off for over ten years. He was talking about his new diplomat, which could only be the Sorceress. Zell smiled. He hadn’t missed it. But where was Seifer?

            Zell started to run up to the broadcast area. “Wait!” yelled Squall. “That isn’t our mission!”

            But, if they didn’t’ go up there, how was he supposed to help Seifer get rid of her? “Squall man, we have to!”

            “No, we stay right here.”

            What had made him change his mind last time? He waited for about 15 seconds, before he had an idea. The only thing that he knew would make Squall go up there. “I think that Rinoa has something in mind to do up there.” Squall swore under his breath, but Zell knew that he had attacked the right nerve. She was his weakness.

            “All right, we go!” he yelled heading upstairs as Selphie and a grinning, manipulative Zell ran after him. They had to fight a few guards around the building on the way up, but they were no problem from Zell who was going off of an unbelievable adrenaline rush. At the top of those stairs, would be Seifer and Ellone and Irvine, protecting the future from evil scum.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            “Where are they?” asked Irvine running past small kids playing on the street. It made him run faster thinking that these children were in danger.

            “At the television station! It’s this way!” Seifer had been visualizing this moment so many times in the past few hours that he had a perfect map in his mind. Zell would be wondering where he was. At least he had thought of a decent plan. It could possibly work. The only thing that he needed was Ellone Rinoa. It was pathetic that it still came down to Rinoa, in either timeline.

            As they went up the stairs, they saw the bodies of soldiers all over the place. Good, they were on time. He came to the top of the stairs and looked around for Zell’s group.

            “There!” said Irvine. His eyesight infinitely better than Seifer’s. He followed the path of Irvine’s finger and saw the group sneaking around behind the curtain. He blinked. It had been him on the other side of that curtain before. Why were they sneaking around behind the president? That was where the sorceress was!

            “Dammit!” he swore loudly. “They’re in the wrong spot!” They ran as fast as they could to chase after the group.

            Seifer heard the Sorceress’s voice. The eerily sensual voice that had lulled him. “Poor small boy...” He screamed. He didn’t know what to do. He felt trapped again. She was going to get him! His nightmare come true. His knees gave out. Irvine grabbed him and shook his shoulders.

            “It’s not you Seifer!” Irvine yelled as loud as he could. Seifer was breaking down, and he had to stop it. He shook harder until Seifer knocked his hand away.

            “Who?” he asked. Irvine helped him wobbly to his feet.

            “You are so scared...” said Sorceress Edea. The focus of her attention was to Squall.  Seifer’s shameful first thought was ‘Thank God it’s not Zell’. It shouldn’t have mattered to him, but it did. He forced his body to move beside the group. Zell, was watching Squall fighting his inner demons as the Sorceress beckoned. He didn’t notice Seifer until they were nearly touching.

Zell wanted to cry as he watched Squall’s body slowly betray him. His gunblade lowered slightly. “Dammit Squall, no!” he shouted to deaf ears.

            “I need Rinoa!” shouted Seifer. “It’s the only way to stop the bitch!”

            Zell turned his head to find Seifer beside him, an emotional mess, yelling things at him. “What?” he asked.

            “Rinoa. Where’s Rinoa?”

            Zell shook his head. “She left...”

            Seifer’s face showed severe shock. His neck craned back to Squall, who was now taking his first step towards the Sorceress. “No! You bitch! You can’t have him!” yelled Seifer, running forward only to collide with an invisible wall. His body was thrown backwards.

            “I will always be here Squall. I will never leave,” cooed the Sorceress. Squall reached out for her. Seifer, on his knees, pounded against the shield. Zell yelled louder than he ever had in his life. The sorceress and Squall slipped silently through a strange ripply patch of air. And Squall was gone.

            Seifer felt the pain flowing through his body. She would use Squall the way she had used him. He would never be the same again. The feeling of knowing that you’re doing the right thing, taken forever. He felt the tears on his cheeks and the bruises on his hands.

            Zell was powerless as he watched Seifer crawling on the ground. They had lost. Seifer hadn’t been taken, but Squall had. Now there was more soul that would suffer. He felt numb as he walked over to Seifer and sat beside him. They both just sat there, watching the place where their childhood friend had once stood.