Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Easier Said Than Done ❯ One Sweet Day ( Chapter 1 )

Easier Said Than Done

By: Moomba

Carbuncle25@hotmail.com

20/12/02

NB. I cannot believe something like this is stressing me out. Simply put I don't know what the hell I'm doing and if you can't make sense of the story or the whole thing is like f-up because the fic isn't organised in the right chronological order, then bravo! You've reached the same stage I'm at - suicidal. <Runs from the room screaming>

Ahem. Aaaaanyway, I've come to realise that I haven't provided some sort of insight as to how the fic came to be at the end of Final Fantasy VIII. I myself know in my mind. I'll get the prologue-thing sorted once I've got the whole blasted story fixed.

~ ~ ~

Part 1: One Sweet Day

Sunday morning, and the hallways of the dormitories at Balamb Garden would have been considerably peaceful had it not been for the angry roar of rage that reverberated against the walls that startled the calm birds outside in the courtyard. Yanking his door open, Seifer Almasy resident bad boy of Balamb wore a livid expression - his scar standing out more clearly as he whipped his head from side to side and looking up and down the hallways for any sign of life. Clearly incensed he made his way down the northern end of the dorms, ignoring the fact that he was topless and just wearing a pair of baggy pyjama bottoms. Far from being considerate, his bare size eleven feet slapped harshly against the cold glinting concrete floor. He was not in a good mood.

~ ~ ~

Quistis Trepe, child prodigy and SeeD at the age of fifteen shuffled her papers in a neat pile inside one of the second floor teaching rooms. Despite it being Sunday she did however wanted to keep on top of things and one of her first year classes were behind by one topic. In the end she had resolved that she would make up for the loss of time (due to her being called away on an urgent mission that required her assistance). She had faced opposition when it was announced the extra lesson be held on a Sunday yet she had won them over when she argued that no written homework would be given just reading provided that they made it on time to the scheduled 9am lecture. Glancing at her slim wristwatch, her blue eyes mentally counted down until the hour hand moved over to exactly 9am. At that precise moment the electronic doors to the lecture room whined open and in came the very first pupils of first year class AZ001 entered.

~ ~ ~

Halting to a stop on a door unmarked except for the ID number unique to each person at Balamb Garden, Seifer wasted no time with politeness, balling his hand into a fist and bashing it against the door. "Open up!!!" he yelled against the metallic door. "Did you hear me? Get out of bed now, Dincht!!"

Disorientated and slightly miffed, Zell Dincht shuffled over to where the loud pounding was coming from and jabbed absently at the button that released the lock on the door. "What the hell...?" he asked sleepily; not fully noticing the ice daggers Seifer was throwing down at him. In fact he didn't quite realise that it was Seifer to begin with.

His incessant pounding instantly stopped the moment slid open. Not many things in life surprised Seifer mainly because his life consisted of one surprise after the other, but this was something else... before him stood the five foot five martial artist, stocky in build but quick with his fists and feet. Young and brash was the image that Zell radiated but at this very moment Seifer didn't know what to think of him. Standing at the entrance of his dorm, Zell stood there before him - his hair in a floppy state compared to its usual peak and his nightclothes... were unbelievable. There was no other way to describe it. Who would have thought that behind closed doors, the hot-dog loving SeeD wore baby blue PJs dotted with baby fat Chocobos.

Seifer on his part could feel a snigger coming on but held himself back in place of more pressing matters. "Dincht," he barked.

"Huuuh? Whassamatter with you man...?" Zell complained sleepily and squinting against the brightness of the halogen lit hallway. He ducked into his dorm briefly and then remerge to complain with mild indignation. "It's 9am and today's Sunday! What's wrong with you? Aren't Sunday's sacred to you anymore?"

"Not if someone's been sneaking around my room and taking things." Seifer said and pointedly stared down at him for emphasis.

Despite his Zombie-like state Zell knew an accusing look when he saw one. "Meaning what exactly?"

"Give it back to be, Dincht and then we can all go back to bed." Seifer said impatiently.

"Give what back?"

"Dammit this is not funny! Give it back or I'll drag you into the Training Arena buck naked!"

Fully awake now, Zell narrowed his eyes and replied with the zest of his fiery spirit. "Ain't nobody gonna drag me no where buck naked and I say so. I haven't taken anything form your room moron. All dorms are protected by electronic password, or did that pass out of your thick-skull?" Zell argued.

Good point. Seifer conceded and then grew angry again. So where the hell did it disappear to? Muttering to himself he started to head off down the hallway.

Gaping at the door, Zell cursed at Seifer's bare retreating back for interrupting his sleep and the warm haven of his bed. Where was the apology? "Aren't you going to say anything?!" he demanded.

Seifer didn't drop his pace and neither did he turn around to reply. Instead he continued to walk. "Cute PJs."

~ ~ ~

"Now, if you all go to page 20 and 21 of the weapons primer on the electronic work panel in front of you, you will see an illustration of a weapon you might recognise." Quistis instructed. To her delight her class had been well behaved and attentive. Not that they normally weren't; it was just that she was worried that she was going to face a wave of rebellion - something she was quite used to - and for once she didn't need to deal with the anxiety. If only her past pupils were like the ones now who sat eagerly reading through the text of the electronic primer.

One student raised his arm to call for her attention. "Yes Marc?" she asked the young student.

"I recognise the weapon, Instructor Trepe," he said. "It's a simple model of the weapon called the gunblade. Commander Squall Leonhart has a modified weapon of this type."

Quistis smiled at this. Here was one student who was going to go far. "Correct, Marc. The weapon you see on your panels in Figure 1 is indeed called a gunblade. Currently only two people in the entire population of Balamb Garden possess the gunblade and have the refined skill of an expert gunblader. Needless to say, when I say "expert" it does not mean that they have honed their skills to a degree that they are perfect. Far from it."

A few stunned faces littered the body of students that listened to her in rapt attention. She knew what they were thinking. "Don't think in anyway that I'm insulting Commander Squall." she assured. "What I'm trying to say is, even masters are still learning. It doesn't matter how good you are, or how high a level you are there will always be something new to be learning. Which is why you are all here. To learn."

"Currently you're all studying the theory and getting to grips with the concepts of battle and the array of weapons used on the field so the acquisition of your own personal weapon remains to be seen until your second year." a flurry of disappointed groans reached her ears. "But," she said. "Since you've all been really great I've brought along a weapon along for you all to look at and have hands on experience on."

Returning to her desk, Quistis brought a metal-hinged black box with a dull leather finish. Opening it she withdrew the fine gunblade Hyperion and laid it onto her desk for them to see. Quistis had wanted them all to see the blade's finish with out the interference of the sheath so for safety reasons she had made sure that a protect guard along the blade's edge was fitted to avoid any accidents.

"Wow," someone breathed, stooping down to estimate the thickness of the blade.

"That's sooo cool!" another enthused.

The entire class surrounded the weapon on the desk in an arc like fashion, none daring to venture nearer to touch it. Silently Quistis was thankful. She didn't think Seifer would welcome numerous fingerprint marks and smudges on Hyperion's steely finish.

~ ~ ~

This was absurd. He had barged into Irvine's room to find his bed occupied with a sleeping brunette and had shouted outside Selphie's door for ten minutes before she finally answered the door with a cross look on her face.

"It's not here, ok!" she said, ready to close the door on his face. She was fast asleep when he arrived at her door and there was nothing she hated the most than being interrupted in mid-dream.

Seifer was quick and stuck out a hand to stop it from shutting on him. "So where is it?" he persisted.

"I told you jackass, it's not here!" she fumed. Selphie was short but she could hit back too and when people bugged her, she got annoyed.

"So where-- OW!"

Thoroughly pissed off Selphie had reached her limit and kicked Seifer in the shin before closing the door on him.

"Bitch," he muttered and rubbed at the spot of impact. "Argh, where in Hyne is it?!"

~ ~ ~

He was beginning to think that he would never experience this feeling again. Just laying here on this bed with no care in the world. Nothing else mattered except for here and now -this very moment. It was a wonder that he wasn't sprouting grey hairs what with the burden and responsibilities of a Commander. Yet for all his 19 years of life Squall Leonhart took everything with the grace and ease even Headmaster Cid doubted he could do. It must have had something to do with the tremendous support his friends and Garden had given him. Aside from Quistis reaching SeeD status at the age of 15, no one else except him had reached such a prestigious role in his young life. Sighing to himself he felt the warm body of Rinoa stir beside him. He seemed to have it all. A hero's title that would forever be carved into the history books, the respect and trust of many and to top it off he had the girl too. Maybe all this good fortune was prophetic of his downfall in the later future? Perhaps. Though right now Squall preferred not to think about the future. The future belonged to the future and until that turning point came, he was going to deal with what lay in front of him first.

It was his intention to huddle lower beneath the duvet coverings and stay in bed for a further hour or so but this was cut short when a sharp pound on his dormitory door alerted him. Muttering to himself Squall's left arm snaked from beneath the white covers to reach for his Lionheart - it's blue blade pulsating softly against the early morning backdrop of the room.

Cautiously he slid out of bed wearing a white vest and black jogging bottoms. The caution was unnecessary because the room was protected with a high level of security, plus the room and door was built with reinforced steel. Despite this his years of training and experience on the field had honed his stealth skills. Edging closer to the door with his weapon on hand, Squall pressed a yellow button on a console that controlled the minute cameras outside the door. A cursory glance at the screen told him everything - blond hair, a scar identical to his - only one person had those distinguishing features.

~ ~ ~

There were a few options Seifer had juggling around his head as to why Mr. Fearless Leader was taking bloody ages to answer the frigging door: Squall was ignoring him - clearly understandable - most people chose to do this. Or he was in real deep in the land of nod - a possibility. Seifer didn't think Squall slept much what with his Commander duties and blah blah blah. Or Squall was heavily in the land of nod because he and his chick had a good time last night. At this Seifer really had to snigger. Squall having a good time... too precious. His trail of thoughts stopped there because then the door opened.

"What do you want?" Squall asked curtly, his hand still clutching his weapon.

"Mornin' to you too." Seifer said sourly. "Why the hell do you have your weapon out?"

That was funny. The door hadn't opened fully enough to show his weapon. Must be one of those Seifer things that made him formidable in battle.

"Anyone in their right mind should arm themselves against you." Squall answered evenly and was about to comment on their scars when Seifer waved him into silence.

"Yeh whatever Leonhart. I don't need you to go into some shit about me and back then. It's too early for that. You want to get back to bed with her and I want it back- hey, listen to me!"

Squall was turning his back on him, his finger jabbed at the button that would close the door. For the second time in the morning Seifer intercepted the door and wedged his foot and then his whole self between the door and wall and managed to get a glimpse of Rinoa's sleeping form on an immaculate large white bed.

"Get outside!" Squall gritted, his palm pushing Seifer back outside the hallway.

"I just want it back!" Seifer snapped.

"How the hell am I suppose to know what you're after if you don't tell me!"

"Oh come off it. I've asked those lot if they've got it and that only leaves you!" Seifer argued irrationally.

"I'm going to give you another scar Almasy, so you better explain yourself better." Squall warned, bringing Lionheart into sight.

"Strike an unarmed man. Nice set of principles you got there. Other than Headmaster Cid you're the only one who has access to the security codes to people's room."

"So?"

"So," Seifer said impatiently. "I would like to have it back."

"What do you want back?!!"

"Hyperion!" Seifer almost shouted out of frustration. "I want Hyperion back."

~ ~ ~

Having set the reading homework Quistis began to tidy her things away. The board had been wiped clean of chalk writing and diagrams. Her papers had been stacked all in order and in a neat pile. Now all that remained was to put away that truly magnificent weapon back into its case and to its owner.

~ ~ ~

"Hyperion?" Squall repeated with a degree of bemusement.

"Hyne I know it's early but you're brain is really in slow mo." Seifer stormed.

"Why would I have it?" he asked the latter. "Lionheart has more fighting capability-"

"I'm warning you Leonhart!" Seifer snarled.

"Ok, whatever. But I still don't have it."

"I'm feeling the urge to strangle somebody," Seifer said to no one in particular whilst flexing his fingers.

"Oh yeh, now I remember." Squall said distracting Seifer from plotting all manners of revenge. "Quistis wanted to know your code number. Something about using Hyperion for demonstration purposes."

"WHAT?!" this time he really did shout, his voice carrying and echoing down the hallway in an eerie fashion. Inside his room, Rinoa shifted in her sleep.

"Hey, pipe down."

Seifer wasn't listening. "Why the hell does Trepe have it?!"

"I gave her permission to take it from your room."

At this Seifer could have murdered Squall on the spot.

"She knew that she wouldn't get your cooperation to borrow your weapon for one of her classes - and frankly I agree with her - so I gave her your code and allowed her to take your weapon without your permission." Squall explained.

"That's breach of Garden policy under appendix c of dormitory regulations." Seifer said, surprised at himself for remembering this seeing as he was a frequent rule breaker.

"I'm quite aware of that." Squall stated coolly. "However given the circumstances it was necessary to break this rule. And Headmaster Cid himself was informed and he too consented." he added when he saw that Seifer was going to make another comment.

"Boy is Trepe gonna get it," Seifer said aloud to himself and without further ceremony he left with breakneck speed towards the Directory and onwards to the elevator to the second floor.

~ ~ ~

Cleaners never came to clear up the lecture and classrooms on Sundays. Normally they were clean enough for the start of the week although a quick inspection of the desks and LCD panels showed that someone had stuck chewing gum on the polished wooden surface of a desk on the back row. Quistis wrinkled her nose in distaste and removed the offending item with a piece of tissue. Scanning her memory back she tried to remember what students were sitting around the back row and found that she couldn't. Oh well. She'd catch them next time. She was actually looking forward to spending the rest of the day doing some light training, maybe jog down to Balamb and back, and even come casual reading.

All those plans were put on hold when the door to the lecture room slid open and in ran Seifer breathing heavily, his chest totally exposed. For a few heartbeats all Quistis could do was stare at his half naked form by the door.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" he yelled, wasting no time and going with the offensive.

"Excuse me?" she said clearly lost in the moment.

"You took Hyperion without asking me!!" Seifer shouted.

"Hyperion! Yes. Well Seifer you would not have let me borrow it even if I had asked for your permission," she said reasonably.

"Damn right!" he said with more force than he intended. "It's not a damn plaything. There better not be any nicks or your paying for the damages."

Quistis rolled her eyes skywards. "Don't act like a child," she said. "I used it for display purposes only. The students were too much in awe of it to touch it."

"Hmph. Good. I would've wrung their little-"

"Instructor Trepe? Sorry, I just wanted to ask you about..."

The light voice of a girl student startled them out of their heated argument. The ginger headed girl retreated a few steps at the sight of Seifer. "I-I'm sorry for-"

"No it's ok Kayley. Mr. Almasy was just about to leave." Quistis said reassuringly.

Before Seifer could make a move to leave already half the class of AZ001 had reappeared at the class entrance to ogle at Seifer.

"What the hell are you all staring at? This here aint a zoo!" he snarled at the wide-eyed expressions they gave him.

"Seifer," Quistis chided.

"Look at them all! Hyne I'm getting out of here." he announced, moving over to the desk and slinging the leather case housing his weapon over a broad shoulder with ease. "I'll be taking this," he said with added rudeness.

"Is that yours mister?" a student with a ponytail said.

"No it belongs to a mean wielding Moogle!" Seifer replied with excess sarcasm. He then turned with disbelief at Quistis. "Geez, what do you teach these kids Trepe? They've got fluff for brains."

Another student spoke up, his eyes reflecting innocence. "Excuse me. If that's you're gunblade, does that mean your Commander Squall?"

It took all the willpower he had to clamp his mouth together and not hurl. Instead he left very swiftly making sure that the elevator door closed behind him before he let loose with a barrage of curses. The day had hardly started and already he off to a shitty start.

~ ~ ~

Personally she could not see what the fuss was all about. So Seifer was mad because Hyperion went for a little walk about without his saying so - I could hardly be blamed for that, Quistis thought wryly. The man is as stubborn as a mule with a skull impenetrable as Adamantoise's tough hide. He's blowing things out of proportion. By 9:45am she had finished answering the questions class AZ001 had to ask her after the run in with Seifer and at 10am sharp she was in the Cafeteria nestling a large cup of caffeine goodness alongside the day's newspaper spread over the white oval table. She had chosen a secluded part of the Cafeteria a little way off from the entrance with a nice tall plant perfectly obscuring her from view. Quistis needed this moment of solitude and peace for her well being mainly and also because she hadn't had the chance to catch up on current affairs happening around the continent.

Reading the large, bold front-page title with interest concerning the development of weapons not yet introduced into the market. The manufacturers behind the new weapon types known as NuMetal commented that the introduction of such new weapons incorporated various elements taken from the widely used upgrade system whereby in the initial stage of development useful items were forged to the original. By making the weapons - which are modified renditions of what were thought to be extinct shurikens and also boomerangs but to name a few - NuMetal hoped to widen and extend the choice and availability of weapons to mercenaries, armies and people alike.

Reaching the end of the front-page article Quistis pursed her lips thoughtfully. Interesting, she commented in her mind. She thought of her first year class and what their choice of weapon would be in the following year. Maybe she should have a word with the Headmaster about NuMetal and to find out whether they would be granting the choice to the students. Of course there would be a formal and thorough safety inspection of the weapons to insure that they met up to the standards of the International Weaponry Health & Safety Board. Personally Quistis was very much curious to see these new type weapons for herself. In all honestly she thought that the weapons used throughout Garden were effective and of much higher standard than any other she had ever seen and also there was no way she would ever trade in her Save the Queen. That model of whip was her baby and had served her dutifully throughout many battles and the every now and again sticky situation.

Taking a cautionary sip out of the Styrofoam cup, the blond woman held back a grimace at the bitterness of the coffee beans. She sighed and took another reluctant sip. That was cafeteria coffee for you.

"Enjoying yourself?" there was no hiding the mocking tone in that voice. Had she been expected the comment she would have returned the blow with her own. Seifer's voice caught her completely by surprise and was now sputtering and coughing out the coffee that had travelled down the wrong tube.

"What's wrong with you?!" she fumed angrily up at him. "Is being polite totally beyond your scope?" after a beat from which no reply came she added as an after thought. "I guess it is!!"

"Don't get your prudish panties in a bunch just 'cos you've been caught in a less, how shall I say it, graceful situation."

"If this is about me taking your gunblade-" she began but was cut off quickly.

"It's not just that!" Seifer blazed attracting some attention from people near by. "You actually went to great lengths, retrieved my access code and kissed Cid's ass!"

"Well it was all necessary," Quistis said hotly. "And I wasn't kissing the Headmaster's ass. I simply explained the situation to him to double check that what I intended to do was ok with him."

"All for a stupid, silly little show and tell!" Seifer included. "They're clueless little runts. Do you love teaching them that much-?"

"They're not clueless," Quistis defended savagely, thinking of Marcus. "And yes I do like teaching them. They're a bright class and I know one day they'll make fine SeeDs. They know that I won't fail them, and likewise they won't fail me... unlike some people."

"Yeh whatever," Seifer said dismissively even though that blatant hit at him hurt him ever so slightly. "So you've gotten a little bit better since then. Not much improvement by my reckoning."

"Don't you have something to do? Someone else to traumatise, somewhere else to stir trouble?" Quistis said irritably but affected by his words. "I was enjoying myself until you showed up."

"So I'm being banished from your presence am i? I'm dreadfully sorry for causing any grievance to you Instructor." performing a mock bow Seifer saluted to her and then left with a rustle of plant leaves.

She hadn't gone through half the day yet and already her day was Hellish.

~ ~ ~