Uncertain Memory: With You
Part One - Spring 1996
DISCLAIMER: Okay I want to say this now and get it over with. I got the story structure for this story from a book called Magic’s Pawn by Mercedes Lackey. She is my goddess author and I love her to death. While I was reading it one night, I got the idea for a prequel to the game and decided to write it because I wanted to give props to my fav author. There were 4 specific scenes that I needed from the book to make this story work.
The scenes are:
1. Savil teaching Tylendel about shielding and their conversation before he leaves.
2. Vanyel overhearing about Tylendel (if you read it you know what I’m talking about).
3. Vanyel seeing Tylendel read a book through the window.
4. Tylendel comforting Vanyel after his nightmare.
I’m really REALLY nervous about posting this because I don’t want flames about me ‘stealing’ Misty’s work. It’s hers, not mine! NEVER MINE! I just own the books and read them over and over cause I love them so much. I’m only doing this because they gave me an idea. All of the aforementioned scenes are hers that I have changed to fit the FF8 world, the rest is my own crappy writing ^_^ I hope you enjoy it all the same because it’s a fic, and I don’t get paid for this anyway. ^_~
Uncertain Memory: With You
Part One - Spring 1996
He could hear it but ignored the insults thrown at him. The blonde only wanted his attention and even if he did something, the insults wouldn’t stop. They meant nothing to him, nor did the person who threw them so he just closed is gray eyes in concentration. He heard footsteps close in on him as Seifer’s teasing took a nasty turn.
“Are you going to shut him up or what?”
Squall opened an eye. “I wouldn’t want to waste my energy on him.” His voice had changed recently, though later than Seifer who had turned 15 already.
“Dude, he’s asking for it.” Zell’s voice came from his right. It was still high but starting to crack. Squall found it amusing being older than Dincht.
“So you fight him.” He shrugged nonchalantly.
“Leonhart! You need to fight your own fucking battles!” A deep voice sneered from across the Training Center.
The brunette’s eyes flicked up to glare daggers into the grinning blonde. “Shut up Almasy,” he stated evenly and darkly.
“Come on fag boy! I’m sick of Chicken-wuss defending you.” Seifer imitated Zell’s voice and rested his gunblade over his shoulder. “Show me you ain’t the sissy that everyone thinks you are.”
“Nobody thinks you’re a sissy,” Zell whispered to his friend. “And I’m not a Chicken-wuss!” he yelled back at the other boy.
“You’ve been fighting him?” Squall hissed. “This is my fight Dincht. I don’t need your help. You’re just prodding him along!” The brunette grabbed his gunblade and stalked away from his spiky blonde friend.
“Tch, make up your mind.” Zell crossed his arms and leaned on the wall and watched Seifer throw insults at Squall who ignored them and walked out of the Center. It was like talking to a wall.
Nov 1996
“Why do you have to make fun of him?” Quistis looked up from the table and at the young man next to her. The boy sat sprawled in his seat, light gray trench coat taking up most of the space they shared. His baggy t-shirt and jeans covered the lanky frame he’d been working on lately. His face was at a profile to her. Even painted with boredom, it was his best feature. Almost 16, he was the best-looking guy around but no; he wouldn’t stop acting like a bully. Ugh. Men.
“I mean, we all used to be friends, what happened?” She narrowed her eyes when he didn’t answer. “Seifer,” the blonde girl growled and he grinned at her.
“What?” Seifer smirked. “He’s an easy target.”
“That’s not funny,” Quistis muttered even if it was the truth. After a year she figured he’d grow out of it, but he didn’t. She shook her head and went back to her work. “When did I let you become a bully?”
“Why do you do your homework in the cafeteria?” The young man changed the subject. “I can’t believe you would willingly work on that crap when you don’t have to.”
“It’s so I can graduate before you and order you to stop harassing Squall,” she replied turning the subject back.
“You know, for how much people think we look like brother and sister, our personalities are a horrible match,” Seifer mumbled drolly. “Besides, he’s mine.” He smirked. “You can’t have him.”
Quistis rolled her eyes. Oh, for Hyne’s sake. “You really need a new hobby.”
“I plan on getting one.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?” His green eyes slid over to her, dancing with mischief. A sly grin appeared on his face and she frowned confused. “I don’t understand…” What the hell did that mean?
“I’ll let you know when I get it.” He winked and stood, walking to the door of the cafeteria where Fuujin and Raijin were standing.
She sat there watching his retreating back for a moment before blinking a few times in recognition. “Right, sure. Like he’s gonna have the guts for that.” She rolled her eyes and went back to the Calculus book in front of her.
Oct 1997: Just after Quistis and Seifer’s first SeeD exam.
Quistis grabbed taller boy’s arm. “Leave him alone Seifer!” she growled.
“Don’t touch me you ugly bitch!” Seifer snapped, escaping her grasp. Why did she always show up at the most inopportune moment? Simple, she knew Seifer and his teasing moods, especially after something bad happened.
She narrowed her eyes at him and he straightened himself. He’d grown in the years that they’d been friends. In the last year muscles had filled out his figure and at 6’2” he was the hottest thing the garden girls had seen in a long time. For 16 years old he wasn’t bad and 17 was close at hand. His short blonde hair was slicked back, now spiking a little and his green eyes glittered in anger at his friend. Quistis cursed herself for letting him become a worse bully than he had been a year ago.
“This is my fight Quistis,” Squall told her calmly, his eyes shining the same way. She’d heard him say that a lot, with the same look.
“That’s the point. I don’t want you to fight!” she pleaded. “And it’s my responsibility to stop you two.”
“We were training, not fighting,” the brunette told her, his cold face as blank as ever. He’d always been like that.
“Fine!” Quistis threw her hands up. She was never as good as the ‘Ice Prince’ (as Seifer sometimes called him) at hiding her feelings. “Get!” Her anger smoldered as her hand pointed to her right. “Go to the Training Center.”
Squall strode past her and Seifer crossed his arms.
“Gonna supervise us?” The blonde asked her.
“Like I’d leave you two morons alone?” she replied, disgusted as always at their rivalry. She was about to follow Squall when an announcement on the PA system called her up to the Headmaster’s office.
“Damnit.” Quistis stopped and sighed, taking a glance at her ever statuesque friend and his rival. “If you kill each other I’m going to use Phoenix Down and torture you for the rest of your lives,” she threatened. “Of course, this is with the notion that I’ll become a SeeD today and I’ll have authority.” She smirked mischievously.
“You know you already are,” Seifer replied, his eyes softening to show his sincerity. Squall blinked confused, obviously new to their niceties to each other. It wasn’t often that Seifer was publicly nice.
Quistis smiled. “Thanks.” She let the blonde give her a big bear hug before taking off for the stairs. “Wait for me!” She yelled before entering the elevator. Seifer waved happily, but Squall looked disappointed somehow. Before Quistis had the time to decipher it, the elevator took her up, and away from her friends.
Later that Afternoon:
“That’s my tigerlilly!” Seifer grabbed Quistis and spun her around the cafeteria as she laughed.
“Put me down you big oaf!” Quistis giggled as people found Seifer’s display of affection humorous. His face took on a pink tinge, but he ignored it.
“Yeah, ya know?” Raijin agreed with the blonde girl.
“DOWN. PUT.” Fuujin also gave her input.
“I get it, I get it! I don’t look tough and shit, but I’m so proud of you Quisty.” He smiled genuinely at her. “Wouldn’t want to ruin the DC’s reputation.” He was so happy for her that he didn’t even care notice the brunette that he usually tortured had walked by unharmed. She deserved his full attention for once.
“Thank you. Really, I’m glad you’ve thrown off your bad guy routine just for me.” She smiled.
“AFFIRMATIVE.” Fuujin nodded.
Seifer finally glanced at the brunette sitting with Zell on the edge of his vision. The bouncy kid was babbling on about something while Squall watched the congratulations with interest.
“Hey, Leonhart!” Seifer turned to them. “You wanna come celebrate with us?”
Squall froze. “What?”
“Yeah, you can hang wit us, ya know?” Raijin nodded at Seifer.
The two boys at the table looked at one another, then back at the group. “You’re not joking?” Zell asked.
“No really. Do you two want to hang with us?” Seifer asked. “I’m not gonna bring my gunblade. I promise.” He winked.
As Squall let the idea turn over in his head, Seifer almost envisioned a little hamster, dead on its wheel because of the thought that Seifer Almasy could be nice for a change. Heart attack—sad really. It’s not that he didn’t like Squall, he liked the kid a lot, and he just needed a break from his thoughts. He needed to get out and have some fun for a change.
“Uh, not right now. But maybe if you catch us later we’ll join you,” Squall finally replied as Zell nodded.
“Fine, stay with the Chicken-wuss.” The older boy waved a hand nonchalantly as Zell popped up, ready to fight. He laughed as Squall tried to get him to sit down again. “Come everyone, let’s go out!”
Seifer led them out of the Cafeteria and to the Dorms. He’d gotten a present for Quisty because he knew she’d pass and he owed her something. Seifer quickly punched in the code for his room and waltzed in, tossing his coat on the table near the door. Once in his room, he began to rifle around, looking for the present he’d hid from his graduated friend. As he was looking through a drawer, he glanced up to see himself in a mirror above the dresser.
He admired his own toned frame, the one he’d filled out with muscles in the last two years—the body that had been lanky and too tall. He was now considered the bad boy that girls swooned over. The thought made him grin as his eyes wandered over his own impressive body. Black leather pants covered his legs, too baggy to reveal certain things and he reminded himself to get a tighter pair now that he’d lost more weight. His blue vest was tight enough to make people stare, but loose enough to be comfortable.
“Perfect.”
“What?” Seifer’s sea green eyes flicked to Quistis’s reflection in the doorway. Her figure was silhouetted against the light of the other room before she flipped on the light in his semi-dark room. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around his bent over form.
“You, love, are perfect.” She smiled at his reflection.
“I know.” He smiled back, knowing she wasn’t joking. It was common knowledge that Seifer was the sex symbol of the school. But it wasn’t common for him to date, which made people talk. “Let’s hurry this up, I’m hungry.”
“You cadets and your stomachs.” Quistis let go of the taller boy as he turned around and poked him in the tummy. “What would you do in the middle of a battle?”
“Eat,” he replied impishly.
She laughed. “Hurry up, get on with the gift giving.” Seifer smiled at her and turned around to rifle through the drawer again. When he turned back with a large box in his hands, she sighed. “I’m sorry that you didn’t pass.”
“It happens.” He shrugged.
“You learn so fast though.” She let him put the box in her hands.
“It’s my tutor.” Seifer took one of her hands and kissed it. “How can I try to succeed in such attractive surroundings?”
Quistis snatched her hand back and turned around. “Come now, Seifer. You’re like my brother, and we both know I’m the wrong sex for you to find me attractive!”
“You know the real truth is that I lost my heart to my tutor, knew I had no hope and couldn’t accept a lesser woman than her.” He dodged her as she tried to smack him with the box.
“Liar!” Quistis grinned and sat on his bed as the other two entered to see what the commotion was about.
“What’s up?” Raijin asked.
“GIFT!” Fuujin pointed at Quistis.
“Oh, yeah. We got a gift for you too, ya know?” He handed her an envelope.
“You guys,” she smiled, “you didn’t need to!”
“We wanted to.” Seifer sat next to her and grinned. “Even if you are bossy.”
“I have full right to be now.” Quistis laughed and opened the envelope. She peeked inside, and then pulled out a frame covered by a sheet of paper. She sheet held a poem, typed neatly on white paper. They watched as she read it silently, then got up and gave Raijin a hug, thanking him for his eloquent words, ironically enough. Quistis then peeled the poem off of the glass of the frame and gasped. It was a portrait of Seifer in profile, blue sky behind him. He looked to be gazing over the seascape of Balamb due to the way his hair seemed to move, even when drawn.
“Hyne, Fuujin it’s beautiful.” Quistis stared in astonishment.
“GORGEOUS.”
“Dead sexy.” Seifer sniggered as Quistis giggled and began to open the box. He could tell she was happy.
“Oh my! And you, Seifer, will be tied to my bed soon!” She pulled a new whip from the box and ran her hands along it. “Oh yes, your ass will be the first it will touch.” If she couldn’t whip him emotionally, so literally would have to do and he didn’t mind.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Seifer smirked and she kissed his cheek.
“Thank you guys!” Quistis pulled Seifer up to stand and they had a group hug.
“Well, shall we stop by the city for lunch?” Seifer suggested.
“Only if you’re buying.” Quistis sidled up to Seifer and looked up at him.
He nuzzled noses with her, wishing he felt something for her. “Of course.”
“Then lets get going.” She suddenly grabbed his vest and dragged him out the door muttering things about her whip if he didn’t hurry.
“Is that a threat, or a promise?” he replied to the comments.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Quistis winked.
Suspend your belief for a moment:
I know Quistis graduated at 15 in the game but 16 in my story. Sorry, but I liked the way I wrote the story so just go along with it ^_~
There are two parts to this fic Uncertain Memory. This first is a prequel called With You. I will not do a fic throughout the game, but the second part of UM is called In The End and will take place after the game simply because everyone knows what happens while you play. This is just my own twisted version of events that could have happened ^_^