Chapter Nine

"We aren't out of the woods yet." Irvine sighed. The group of seven had stolen two military vehicles and were now sitting at a cross road in the middle of the desert. Seifer was leaning up against the side of one of the vehicles next to Squall. Their arms were barely touching and it took all of Seifer's will power to listen to what was being said, he had a lot of things in his head to think about. "Rinoa and I over heard guards talking about the missiles that are being launched at Trabia and Balamb Gardens."

"WHAT?" Selphie jumped up from her place on the front bumper. "Missiles? NO! We have to stop them!"

"How are we gonna do–" Zell was interrupted by a loud noise.

In the far distance they could see a cluster of missiles shoot into the sky.

"They were aiming for Trabia first..." Irvine added quietly.

"No!" Selphie sobbed and fell to her knees.

"We have to warn Balamb." Quistis said firmly.

"This is all my fault." Zell moaned.

"They aren't bombing Galbadia Garden?" Squall asked curiously.

"I believe it's under new management now. The military took it over." Irvine shrugged. "I just hope they don't throw out my porn collection."

"Irvine." Squall looked disgust.

"What? I'm just sayin'." Irvine held up his hands in defense.

"We have to stop them." Selphie growled as she wiped tears from her eyes. She stood up looking determined. She then turned to Seifer. "You have to let me go to the missile base." She asked earnestly.

"And she won't be going alone." Irvine stood next to the petite brunette .

"But we have to warn Balamb!" Zell shook his head.

"So we'll form two teams, Selphie's will head to the missile base and Zell's will head back to Balamb." Squall spoke up.

"Good idea, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis and Rinoa will head to the missile base while Zell, Squall and I head to Balamb." Seifer ordered.

"What? No! Seifer, I want to stay with you." Rinoa pouted and stomped her foot. She wanted to keep an eye on Squall, she didn't like the way he and Seifer were acting around each other.

"Seifer, I'm not sure that I should be going to Garden." Squall told him quietly.

"Seifer, Rinoa has no real military training, you can't ask her to infiltrate a military base." Quistis gave the petite girl a look of disdain. Her little resistance group was the worst organized group she had ever heard of. Strategy meetings on the floor? Honestly.

Seifer sighed. "Fine, Rinoa will come with us." He then turned to Squall, "You'll be fine, I won't let them take you again." He murmured softly. Squall nodded uncertainly and Rinoa glared at their closeness.

"Let's go." Selphie ordered with a determined look on her face. She wanted revenge for her beloved Trabia Garden.

They split in to two groups and started to file into the two vehicles.

"Squall..." Selphie called over her shoulder. Squall turned around to face the small brunette. "I'm glad you're okay." She smiled happily at him.

Squall gave a small smile. "Thanks. Keep an eye on Irvine, he's a big perv." He responded. They both heard an indignant 'hey' from Irvine and Selphie giggled. "Good luck." Squall offered before climbing into the hummer. Selphie nodded and gave a slight wave before climbing into hers.

OoO

It was on the Ferry to Balamb when Seifer and Squall finally were alone together. Zell and Rinoa were hunting for food. All of them were tired after the train ride to Dollet, where Squall sold some items he picked up after fights to buy them tickets on the ferry, they didn't want to risk using the trains run by Galbadians.

Seifer and Squall were below the deck in a private sitting room that was usually used for overnight trips south to FH. Seifer had collapsed onto a small couch and pulled Squall into his lap and held him. Squall cuddled into Seifer and told him about Ultimecia's tantalizing offer.

"That's a pretty sweet deal." Seifer murmured against Squall's hair. He refused to stop touching his Sorcerer. His. He would follow Squall to the ends of the world, if Squall wanted to rule the world, then he'd be at Squall's side.

"I-I know. As wonderful as it sounds I know it's wrong. People will die, I don't want people to get hurt because of me and my abilities. I want to prove to the world that not everyone with these powers is evil. I won't be Adel, or Edea, or Ultimecia or any other sorceress of the past. I won't." Squall ended in a whisper. He felt safe here, in Seifer's arms, like the world wasn't threatening or malicious, especially to people like him.

Seifer was now nuzzling Squall's neck. "Then we wont. We'll march right up to the whore and tell her 'No'. And then we'll stop her from taking over the world." Seifer gently licked right under Squall's ear. "And then everyone will think you're a savior. It'll be great." He then began to nibble on Squall's jaw line.

Squall's breath hitched and he moaned slightly. He was enjoying this immensely, and his heart leaped every time Seifer said 'we'.

But Squall was curious about something. "How-how much do you remember?"

Seifer pulled away just enough to look into Squall's swirling silvery blue eyes. "I remember you... you were little and I was little and you were scared. I didn't want you to be frightened anymore, so I told you I'd protect you, as your knight, and then I felt this rush of feelings and I remember that I was your knight. I'm supposed to protect you. You are mine." Seifer ended with a deep kiss that left Squall whimpering for more, which Seifer was only too happy to oblige.

"I... I think our bond is awakening." Squall told him breathlessly when Seifer finally pulled away again.

"Bond?" He asked curiously.

"You know, the sorceress-knight bond. It's what keeps me sane and keeps my powers from consuming me." Squall explained while Seifer nibbled at his jaw line.

"And you weren't insane before?"

"No, I don't use my powers in heavy doses. Plus, we've always had one, but it became dormant after you left." Squall winced at the thought. "But now that we're together again it's becoming much stronger."

Seifer 'hmm'-ed in thought and studied his sorcerer. "I want you to have something."

"What?" Squall asked curiously.

Seifer leaned in and kissed Squall again, Squall's heart fluttered as a powerful-but comforting- force was pressed gently into him. "What?" He pulled away and blinked at the peculiar feeling of something settling in his mind.

"It's a GF, Shiva, so that you have the excuse to do magic... and to keep you safe. She reminds me of you, know that I think about it." He smirked.

"A GF?" Squall frowned as he started to feel lightheaded. "Are you..." Squall couldn't finish his sentence as he slipped unconscious and fell against Seifer's chest.

OoO

Infiltrating a high security top secret missile base for the Galbadian army should have been a lot harder, Irvine mused. But he wasn't about to push his luck. He, Selphie and Quistis just finished running a few mundane errands, shut off the power, and helped shove a missile around and still nobody noticed that they weren't real soldiers. These guys were definitely not the brightest crayons in the box. In fact, they were leaning into the gray colors. Sadly.

"Wait, you guys aren't real soldiers!" Finally, the commanding officer of the base realized everyone's mistake.

"We're real soldiers, just not yours." Quistis smirked coldly and snapped her whip in a threatening manner.

"Booya! And we're hear to destroy this base!" Selphie bounced and let loose her deadly nunchakus.

"You're better off surrenderin'." Irvine drawled as he cocked his gun. "I've got armor piercing rounds." He grinned ferally.

The last comment shook a few of the operator soldiers, but the commander held his ground. "We'll see. Die!" He cried before charging.

OoO

"You are the lion." A soft voice whispered.

"Lion?" Squall looked around in confusion. A second ago he was in Seifer's lap, and now he was surrounded by a foggy darkness.

"I am pleased that with this change I still get to be with you." The voiced whispered again.

"Change?" Squall repeated. What the Hell was happening to him?

The air around him began to tingle and suddenly it was lit up by thousands of ice crystals dancing around him. A figure appeared before him, a woman, except she was blue, the same ice blue as the crystals around her. Her long locks of hair fell to her waist from an ornate headdress and were a darker blue. She stood regally before him clad in only a sheer cloth and gold hoops on her wrists and ankles. She was gorgeous and powerful, Squall stood in awe as he looked at her.

"I am Shiva. I was once the Goddess of ice and snow, the same element in which you love."

"How am I here?" Squall asked curiously.

"You, my Lion, are unbelievably stronger than you were before. You are a sorcerer. The last sorcerer was Hyne himself. There was a prophecy in the ancient city of Centra, where my kin and I were worshiped, that the next sorcerer would be the heir of Hyne. Although I am curious to know if you would have become a sorcerer later on Before." she mused thoughtfully.

"Before? Before what?" Squall asked confused.

"Hush now, my child. My child of ice." She ran a cold finger down his chin line. "All will be revealed in due time. But for now, I am content to fight for you once again." She kissed his cheek softly, leaving a comforting cold feeling. Squall looked in awe as the Ice Guardian disappeared in a shower of crystals and the darkness began to fade.

"Squall! Hyne Squall, please wake up." Seifer's urgent voice cut through Squall's mind. He concentrated on trying to open up his eyes.

"Seifer?" Squall croaked out.

"Fuck Squall, you scared the shit out of me." Seifer sighed in relief and Squall blinked open his eyes.

"How long was I out?" Squall asked as he carefully sat up. He was surprised to find that he didn't have a headache. He was really getting tired of people turning up inside his head and giving him killer migraines.

"Fifteen minutes?" Seifer answered. He felt Squall's forehead. "And your temperature dropped and the room got cold." He frowned. "What happened?" He asked.

"...I talked to Shiva." Squall replied.

"What?" Seifer asked. "But... you can't talk to the Gfs. It's impossible." Seifer frowned again.

"Maybe because I'm a sorcerer. But she said she was glad to fight with me again. How is she fighting with me again when I've never used a GF before?"

"She did?" Seifer, under normal circumstances, would have thought Squall was crazy, but after the last few days, Seifer would believe anything Squall did or said.

"She also said I was the Heir of Hyne." Squall murmured.

"The Heir of Hyne?" Okay, maybe he couldn't believe everything Squall said.

"Yeah... what the Hell is going on?" Squall muttered.

Seifer didn't reply, and a moment later Zell and Rinoa burst through the door.

"Dude! They had hot dogs! And they were cheap!" He bounced. "I even brought one for each of you." He grinned and handed over the food.

Seifer rolled his eyes, but Squall smiled in thanks. He didn't mention the incident to either of them.

OoO

Of all the ways to die, this had to be one of the worst. Quistis mused sadly. They defeated the commander of the base, they set the error ratio of the missiles to an absurd amount, they even fought one of the newest war machines that Galbadia had, and won. But they couldn't escape from the base. Their victory was fruitless.

"This sucks." Irvine summed it up.

"No. We can't let this happen. We can't die like this!" Selphie cried. She leaped off the ground and turned to face her comrades. "We have to think of something! We have... forty seconds!" She sobbed.

Quistis sighed in defeat. "What can we do..." She asked listlessly as her eyes rested on the defeated tank like weapon. It wasn't really destroyed, just abandoned. It could probably withstand this impending explosion. Wait. "Wait!" Quistis shot up to her feet. "The tank...thing! We can hide in there!" She cried out urgently.

Irvine was on his feet in a split second. "Hyne, it's better than nothing." He shouted as they ran to the machine. Irvine wrenched open the hatch and threw himself in. Selphie and Quistis leaped in after him.

Just as the door shut the base self destructed.

OoO

To Be Continued!

I'm sorry it took me so long to update, buti was on a Harry Potter kick AND i really didn't know if i wanted the whole Heir of Hyne thing, and then i was like, what the hey, why not? so i threw it in. let me know what you all think of it!

Thanks to everyone who reads this story! especially: Shatteredjade, Cayenne, Red Rose, TheDonutMistress (really? woot! thanks!), eeza, Samantha Jo (best? really? flatter:D), gravitation gig, Yume Li, Stephan, Eruanne of the Woodland Realm, Saint Anger (-super mega GLOMP-), Spawn of Hell (thanks for the great review!), Asato-Chan, backlash (thanks so much for sticking up! It's a real pain when a third of the reviews are about rinoa treatment), backdrop001, Anit-Rinoa club Prez, fei-yen, FF Fanatic, Honey Nut Loop, Atrinoisa (thanks for the great review too!), animegirl171, OmegaScorpio, Angels-Obsession (THANKS! woot! and i don't know if i emailed you or not... did I? it would have been a long time ago...), Azurelle, Hikari Heijin, Summer Sniper, Caelestis, Grasshopper (il ove tortured-yet-tempted!squall too!), RavenMistress (you inspired a bit of this chapter! the shiva part), and Cheley!

Okay, my thoughts on Rinoa. Rinoa is alot like Jessica Simpson in my eyes, you wonder how she could POSSIBLY be that dumb(like rebeling against her father by joining a resistance that is more poorly organized than a spur of the moment ultimate game), yet you know at the same time she's faking and she's actually pretty smart (but rarely lets it show). I think she's manipulative. Why the Hell did she want Squall's ring? she'd known him a few days and they were too busy insulting each other to develop anything besides annoyance. I also think that she moved on to Squall because Seifer wasn't around anymore, and he's strong and a SeeD too. There. these are my thoughts on Rinoa, and i'm trying to make my story reflect that too. I'm sorry to those who disagree.

Review please!