Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII.

A/N: I got the idea for this story after reading Flower Garden by Rawr it's Kizami, and playing Final Fantasy VIII all day. Thanks to both of them =) Well! I'm going to write this and see where it goes. If it gets reviews, woot! If not, I'll probz abandon it, but we'll see =) Hope you like!

Song used: Firework – Katy Perry

Firework

Chapter One

"Do you know that there's still a chance for you?

'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light

And let it shine

Just own the night

Like the Fourth of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"

As you shoot across the sky-y-y!"

-Seifer-

"Mr. Almasy!"

"Enh?" My head shot up from in between my folded arms on my desk, and I worked on blinking the sleep out of my eyes.

Instructor Xing crossed his arms and sent me one of those typical teacher glares. Please, I'd already seen it before. "I'm tired of this," he spoke. "See me after class, Seifer. This is the last time you sleep in my class."

I blew out my breath and rolled my eyes, sending him a lazy salute. I didn't bother to watch his reaction; I knew him too well to know that he was shaking his head and turning back to his board to continue his extremely unimportant lecture about who-gives-a-shit what.

It's not like any of this shit mattered, anyway. I was only there to retake a few classes before the next SeeD exam. Hah, the next SeeD exam. I would've laughed out loud at the thought had I not been so bitter. How many times would it be now? Shit, it didn't even matter. I wasn't gonna pass, and I knew it. They'd give me some dumb order and I'd come up with a better plan, and then they'd punish me for saving the day with my forward thinking. Riiiight. Jeez, sometimes this place just pissed me off. Keh, sometimes? Make that all the time.

But what else did I have? No more Sorceress – except Rinoa, of course, and I didn't want to get myself tangled up in that mess again. No more "romantic dream." No family, and only Fujin and Raijin for friends. Squall and his little gang pretended to be cool with me, but that was a blatant lie if there ever was one. They didn't trust me any more than… well, than they'd ever trusted me.

The little ding-ding-ding-ding of the bell pushed through my thoughts, and I waited until the other students left the room before walking over to the Instructor's desk. "So, what's it gonna be?" I asked, looking down at the guy now that he was sitting.

He swiveled his chair toward me and met my eyes. I didn't like what I saw there, like he thought he was better than me or something. Dick. "I don't know how else to deal with you, Seifer," he said. What a great way to start off. He turned back to his desk and grabbed a post-it, scribbling on it with a pen. "You'll be serving community service in the Quad on Thursdays –"

"What?" I interrupted, his words sinking in. "Community– Are you shitting me?"

Instructor Xing gripped his pen and shot a glare at me. "Watch your mouth, Almasy. I'm only giving you a month; I can make it longer."

Words boiled at the tip of my tongue, words that would make his whole family cringe, but I shut my mouth, clenching my teeth to hold them inside. "Fine."

With a final period from his pen, Instructor Xing handed me the post-it. "Give that to the President of the Garden Festival Committee. She'll tell you what to do."

I snatched it from his hands and started to read it, but his handwriting was too scrawly. "Sounds like a party," I sneered, turning to leave.

"And Seifer?" Damn it, couldn't he just shut up? "Today's Thursday."

Greeeaaat, I thought, frowning. And even better was who the President of the Garden Festival Committee was.

Selphie Tilmitt.

She was swinging her feet through the air, sitting on the stage that still had a few sizeable holes in it when I got there. She blinked when she saw me, then smiled and waved overenthusiastically. "Hey, Seifer!"

I winced at her voice. Too high, practically shrill. Engh. "Don't think I'm here for a visit," I said quickly, handing her the note.

"Hm? What's this?"

"My condemnation."

Her brow raised and she read it, her features scrunching as she deciphered the handwriting. "Um… what's this word?" she asked, pointing at it.

"How the hell should I know?" I yelled, throwing my arms up in frustration. "Listen, it just says that I have to do community service here for a month. So, put me to work, alright? I don't wanna sit around here doing nothing."

Selphie's expression was surprised to say the least, but then a huge smile broke out on her face. "So, you're helping out with the Festival?"

I rolled my eyes. Jeez, she was thick. "Yeah, looks like. But not 'cause I want to, got it?"

Still smiling, she pushed herself off of the stage to land in front of me. "Well, as long as you're helping, right?"

I crossed my arms and looked away. "Sure."

"Hm…" She tapped her foot as if in thought. "Well, I don't think I really have much for you to do today… I guess you could just clean the place up a bit. You know, throw trash away and such. That'd be great!"

Throw away trash? Damn, how could an afternoon get any better than that? I opened my mouth to say something smart, but I was too tired to even make the effort. "I'll be done in an hour," was all I said, and took off down the stairs.

OoOoOoOoO

-Selphie-

I couldn't help but frown as Seifer stalked away in his typical 'Seifer' walk of his. How to describe Seifer's walk? Shoulders back and squared, chest out like he was being tugged forward on a string, head tilted up so the world saw not his eyes, but his strong chin. But lately… His head was down, his shoulders curved in toward the rest of his body, and the string had moved to attach to his forehead, as if he was trying to follow his thoughts on some path that was painful to walk on. At least, that's the impression I always got from the look in his eyes: like his shoes were full of shards of glass and he just kept walking, for whatever reason.

I could remember a time when he would've chewed out his Instructor on this community service deal. When he would've called me a name and told me to shove my trash. But since Ultimecia had been killed, he'd been different. He was quiet and submissive, a far cry from the proud, arrogant, loud force of will he used to be.

What had happened to him? We'd all moved on from what had happened; even Rinoa was learning about her powers and figuring out how to control them while in the Sorceress state. But had Seifer?

OoOoOoOoO

-Seifer-

Some service that was. Who was I servicing anyway, besides Selphie? It's not like anyone ever went to those Festivals – no one worth it, that is. When I was done, I was thankful not to run into Queen Booyaka on the way back to the dorms. She'd try to talk to me, try to pry her way inside my head.

No one got inside my head. Not Fujin, not Raijin… not even me, most of the time. It wasn't too nice of a place to be. A little sunflower like her would get crushed in there.

I took the long way around from the Quad, circling around the central elevator. I was a little surprised by how late it was – I'd missed dinner, and most everyone was back in the dorms or in the library for a cram session. I could probably still grab a hot dog from the cafeteria, but I passed on the idea.

Past the Training Area, past the Parking Garage… And then I stopped. The dorms loomed before me, masked in shadows, like some ominous cave. If I went in there, I'd shower, change, and go to sleep, just to wake up and keep stepping into this rut of every day, making it deeper with every step. It'd been the same for years now: taking remedial classes to pass the SeeD exam, and never passing. Stuck here for years.

Not anymore.

"Heh," I laughed bitterly, leaning against the wall, next to the Parking Garage sign. "Brings back memories."

'Not anymore.' That's what I was thinking when I went with Ultimecia. 'Not anymore' to the SeeD exam, to those little rats in the Garden like Chicken-wuss and Puberty Boy. I was finally gonna quit surviving and start living – start living my dream.

But that dream was just a lie. Ultimecia used me and was ready to throw me away once she had what she wanted. I just wanted to prove myself, show my Sorceress that she could rely on me, that she could be proud to have me as her Knight.

Like a child trying to please its parents. Like a puppy trying to please its master. I guess I was the last one to grow up out of all of us orphans after all.

But this was different. I wasn't going out to please anyone now. It's not like anyone was worth it.

I knew why I was leaving, and it was for no other reason than myself. I wanted… to forget. Just blank my mind of all traces of the past, of all the wrong I'd done and the embarrassment of failure. Constant, constant failure.

And I knew just who to turn to.

OoOoOoOoO

-Seifer-

Hotwiring cars is easier than it sounds. Just cut a few wires and put them back together, and suddenly, vroom! You've got your wheels.

I didn't notice if anyone saw me leave in a stolen Garden vehicle and speed down the road into Balamb. Who cared? What would they do about it? They'd probably just think, There goes Seifer. Again.

So getting cars is easy. Boats, on the other hand, are a different matter entirely.

Here's what you do: you find somebody who owns a boat. If they're a girl, you charm them. If they're a guy, you shove them between the armored cars in the harbor, taking care not to kick the snoring journalist on your left, and hold them off the ground with a glare until they agree to hand over the keys. Easy, but more time-consuming.

It was a little Shrinky-Dink boat, but it had a motor and a roof and GPS, and that's all I needed. Better than a big one; they're too conspicuous.

Let's see… Can't really program a GPS to set a course for a place that doesn't really 'exist,' can you? Shit, I'd have to do this manually.

Heaving a sigh, I sat in the captain's chair and grabbed the controls, pressing buttons here and there and keeping my eye out for anyone who saw me. No one so far. Good.

I pulled out of the harbor, turned into the ocean, and was on my way. Only a day's drive to the Deep Sea Research Center.

OoOoOoOoO

-Seifer-

Sailing is boring when you've got the wind in your hair and a big mast overheard. It's excruciatingly boring when you're inside a hull with nothing to do but watch your position on your GPS slowly shift down, down, down. And no radio, either. Man, maybe I should've got a better boat after all…

Hours passed, and passed, and kept on going, a series of dings dinging at me whenever the clock struck an hour. Eight o'clock heralded eight dings, and finally I caught sight of land in front of me.

My eyes narrowed. This was it. No going back now.

Luckily, it had a dock, and I left my boat there. If all went well, I'd be returning for it without a clue where I was. If it didn't… well, that guy in Balamb will be missing his boat for a long, long time.

The boards of wood were bleached by sun and weathered by rain, cringing under my footsteps. A few broke underneath me, but I kept going. Nothing was stopping me this time.

After following the path, I was confronted with a doorway to a big domed structure. I looked around – there was nowhere else to go. This must be it.

I pushed through vines and entered, raising my hand at the blue light that blinded me. It dimmed in a few seconds, revealing its source: a cylinder in the center of the room overgrown with vegetation. It would glow blue, then dim, then glow again after maybe two seconds.

A voice rang in my head, low and gravely: "The blue light leads all to death. Turn back…"

I furrowed my brow. Weird. Holding my hand in front of my eyes to block the light, I stepped into the room.

And was immediately attacked by a fiend. I could hardly see what it looked like; the blue light distorted it and made it look like a demon. I slashed at it, dodging its claws but it got a few good hits in before I cut off its head – or, at least, I was pretty sure it was its head.

I took a moment to catch my breath. That was unexpected. What the hell kind of place was this?

What did you expect from the house of Bahamut? I chastised myself. He did warn you, after all. Yeah, that voice must've been Bahamut. Probably one of those crazy GFs that likes to test people. I mean, what else must they do for fun, trapped in the places they were. Like Odin, in the Centra Continent; he didn't even fight. He probably just wanted to get the hell out!

My eyes blinded by the stupid blue light again – what the hell was with that thing, anyway? – I took another step.

And another fiend jumped out at me, snarling like a maniac. I wasn't able to react quick enough before it bit me in the arm. The blue light was still flaring, and I could actually get a good look at this one: it had a skull for a head and some sort of pink fleshy body like a snake with arms. I grabbed it and tore it off of me, crying out as its teeth tore my muscle. I threw it to the ground and stabbed it through the head and it uttered a scream like a mushroom as it died.

That stopped me. Scream like a mushroom? I shook my head. I wasn't even hurt too bad and already I was thinking delusional.

Alright… what was with these fiends? Was I not allowed to move or something in this place? That's stupid, I thought. How would anyone get the GF if they couldn't move?

The light finally died down, and I breathed deep and took another step, brandishing my sword and waiting for the next attack.

But it didn't come.

I looked around. Nothing. What the hell?

Ugh, that stupid light again. I covered my eyes and shrugged. Maybe the fiends had quieted down? Heh, maybe I scared 'em off.

I took another step.

This time, there was a few screeches to let me know they were coming. I caught one of them before it could strike, another skull-mushroom. Another looked like some sort of mix between a dog and a dragon, and then another skull-mushroom. The dog-dragon hit me in the side with his thick tail, knocking the air out my lungs, and the skull-mushroom took advantage, snapping at my ankles like a tiny dog. I fell, kicking wildly at the fiend attacking my legs and slashing at the dog-dragon, trying to keep it at bay until I could deal with it.

"Gah! Get…. off!" I roared, slamming my heel into the skull-mushroom's face and sending it flying. Jumping up to my feet, though wincing at the pain in my ankle, I lunged for the dog-dragon and cut deep into its neck, the blood splattering into my face that smelled like sweaty gym socks. I wrinkled my nose and turned, bending backwards to avoid the chattering teeth coming for my face, and spun around to punch the skull-mushroom to the ground and stab it through. It screamed like the other one did, and you know, if mushrooms could scream, it would probably sound like that.

My breath was heavy, my chest heaving and my heart pounding. Body tense, I forced myself to relax, but made sure to keep my feet in the same place. The blade of Hyperion hit the ground with a clash, and I closed my eyes for a moment, leaning on my left leg to dull the pain in my ankle.

These fiends… I could handle them easily, but not knowing when they'd show up, and how ruthless they were… If I had to keep fighting them, this could get ugly fast.

The light, which has dimmed, turned back on. I glared at it; what was the purpose of that thing, anyway?

The blue light leads all to death… I remembered. Wait a sec… Watching the light closely, I waited, hardly moving until it dimmed again. Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward. No fiends. Another step, and still nothing.

That's it! I halted when the light turned on again, but allowed my lips to curl in a smile. I couldn't walk when the light was on, or the fiends would attack me. I could only get a few steps in when it was dark, but hey, better than more skull-mushrooms. After all, I wasn't leaving, not until I got Bahamut, or died. I couldn't live like this anymore.

Time went on, the light brightening and dimming in an almost rhythmic way, until finally I reached the cylindrical core. I felt a buzzing in my head that made me cringe, and then heard that same deep voice from before: "So you wish to challenge me…"

Challenge him? Well, the whole reason I came up here was to get him to wipe my memory, the way GFs did over time. But if I could get out of the fight… "I do not wish to fight," I grumbled, hoping he'd give me brownie points for being honest.

A roar behind me shot down those hopes. The blue light had dimmed to a more constant glow, giving illumination to the room while not blinding me in the process. Turning around revealed a Ruby Dragon, the kind the Knight fought in The Sorceress' Knight. A while ago, I might've been thrilled at the thought of fighting one, like my idol – heck, I'd even copied his fighting stance. But now, it was just a pain. I should've thought to bring some potions or something with me. Damn.

The dragon was tough, I can tell you that. I felt like some sort of ninja with all the dodging I was doing, all leaping and ducking and stepping off walls. It didn't attack physically too much, just Fira and Aero all over the place. I hated spells, always had, but at least these were easy to deal with. The only one that I could relate to was fire, and I knew how to handle it when it actually did hit me.

The fatigue was getting to me, the blood loss making my reactions slow. It didn't affect my head too much, but sometimes I felt like I was moving in slow motion. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the dragon stumbled and I got in a slice to its thick neck, and with a huge thump it slammed to the ground, dead.

I just barely stopped myself from dropping to my knees, hunching over and breathing hard. Damn… Fuck, what have I gotten myself into?

The deep voice chuckled, and I ground my teeth. Laughing at me, huh? "Begging me for mercy?" he asked, the condescension dripping from his words.

I growled a curse through my teeth and stood tall to face the cylinder, where he was surely hiding. "Not on your life!"

That didn't make him happy. He sent another Ruby Dragon after me, and although I disposed of it much like the first, it took longer, and it was much harder. He got more hits in than the other one now that I was slow, and by the time the fight began to draw to a close, blood was dripping into my left eye from a gash on my forehead, I could hardly stand on my right leg anymore because the ankle wound had started to fester from some sort of acid-like fiend saliva, my coat was hanging onto my body by the threads and my shirt was cut open completely, exposing my bleeding chest. I'd lost one of my shoes and the uneven floor was cutting into the sole of my foot, making it hard to stay standing at all.

The dragon collapsed, and so did I, my shoulder hitting the floor, followed by the rest of my tired body. I rolled onto my back, chest heaving with my raspy breath, blinking furiously to keep my vision. I knew he was standing over me, the Dragon King, Bahamut, watching me as I fought death. "Happy now?" I sneered, looking up at him through the haze. His image kept blurring, making it hard to get a good description on his looks. Enh, dragons all look the same, don't they? "You didn't want to toy with me, not like the others. You wanted to kill me, didn't you?"

Bahamut growled, a fearsome sound. "Humans bring nothing but destruction to me. You think other beings are your playthings to shift and change how you see fit. You deserve to die."

"Deserve to die, huh?" I breathed. "Look, I don't know what people have done to you, but… I didn't want to fight you. I meant that. I just… want you help."

If I could've seen more clearly, I would've said that Bahamut raised an eyebrow, or otherwise obtained some expression of curiosity. "You want my help?"

I swallowed the blood in my mouth, cringing from the tangy taste. "GFs make humans forget their past when they're junctioned. That's all I want from you. Just please… make me forget." I didn't bother to keep my eyes open anymore. He was probably just looking at me with pity, and I didn't want to see that. "I've done things that I'm not proud of… and I hate it." Unable to stand how pathetic I was any more, I leaned my head to the side, facing away from my judgment. "Kill me or help me; it's up to you now."

I could feel my head getting fuzzier, as if my brain was a foot that was falling asleep, all numb and tingly. I wasn't dying – not yet, at least. But I was falling… Falling down into someplace dark, and cold…

OoOoOoOoO

"Yoooo! C'mon! Stop it! Matwyn, help!"

Chicken-wuss…?

Yeah, that was him, all right, back when all of us were in that orphanage. Heh, I picked on him back then, too, didn't I?

The memory came to from a cloud of white, melding into colors and smoke. "CRY-BABY-ZE-ELL!" mini-me yelled at the tiny, crying Zell and his budding mohawk. "NAH-NA-NA-NA-NA-NAH!"

"Stop teasing me, Seifer!" mini-Zell yelled back, wiping at his tears as I laughed at him.

With a feeling that felt a lot like being flushed down a toilet, the memory faded away and sank into nothing, back to the white cloud.

More colors formed. It was Squall and I, fighting in the Training Area. Yeah, this was when we got our scars. I got him, and he got me back, just like it always was with us. Another flush, and that was gone, too.

Another one; Squall passed his SeeD exam on his first damn try, and I didn't. Again. Him and Chicken-wuss and Queen Booyaka and some other kid I didn't know walked into the hall. Squall's eyes were on me the second he walked in, like he knew what I was thinking.

But he didn't. I was… kinda glad for him. He did his thing and was being rewarded for it. Good for him. I was the first one to clap on his success. I'm still not sure if he noticed, or remembers. Well, I wouldn't, anyway. It flushed down out my mind with the others.

Attacking Vinzer Deling on the first worldwide broadcast in history – gone. Getting tricked into servitude by Ultimecia in Matron's body – gone. Watching the scene fly by on Matron's float in Deling, on the soaring Galbadia Garden, on Lunatic Pandora – gone, gone, gone. Ultimecia's voice in my head, always in my head – never again.

Fishing with Fujin and Raijin, my two true friends, and smiling as the Garden, the only home I'd ever really known, fly by FH and over my head…

Gone.

Who was I? Where was I? How had I gotten there? Why was there a dragon holding me, wrapping its wings around me like I was something to protect?

My name… My name… I couldn't remember…

I had all that I'd wanted. And that was nothing.