A/N: Back again! I'm not as happy with the end of the chapter as I am with the beginning though the beginning should make up for any following lameness. -.- The story is rated M for a reason and all I ask is that you be gentle with me guys, I'm new at this.

Chapter 4: Catching Up

Zack continued to stare in disbelief at the scene before him but quickly shook off the paralysis; it was fairly obvious that there were injured amongst the Turks that needed tending. So, thrusting his curiosity aside, he stepped forward and cleared his throat. Six heads swiveled in his direction as one man with blonde hair and a huge sword strapped to his back stood; Seifer and the younger male contained within the protection of his arms remained still.

"I am…at a bit of a loss; it's fairly obvious, however, that you have injured so I'm perfectly willing to wait to figure out what just happened here in favor of taking care of everyone first."

The blonde with the sword nodded. "I agree." He looked back at his team and then over to his cousin and the man he was holding onto before stepping forward. "I'm Cloud" He motioned to the others behind him "That's Rikku, Reno, Cid, Vincent, Zexion and…"

"Hayner." Zack supplied. When Cloud raised an eyebrow at him, he grimaced and just shrugged. "I've heard about him too much not to know who he is."

Cloud gave the dark haired man a small smile and then looked back at the pair still on the floor. "That would be…Seifer, then?"

At the startled glance he received in response, Cloud's smile grew bigger and his eyes crinkled at the corners. "Then I can relate."

Zack just shook his head in puzzlement as the leader of the Turks helped Vincent hoist Zexion up off of the floor. "Zexion has the worst of the injuries so we should take care of him first."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Zack ordered his subordinates out of the way and back to work on their various tasks as the Turks helped their injured member down to the infirmary. Rikku paused in the doorway, looking back towards the pair they'd left behind but it was Cid who nudged her along and walked back.

He cleared his throat and waited while Seifer raised his head to look at the normally gruff mechanic. "The infirmary has plenty of room to take care of Hayner's injuries as well, but they don't look too severe and I know he usually keeps a first aid kit in his own rooms…" Seifer nodded in thanks and turned his attention back to the summoner while Cid turned and headed back towards the stairs. A small group of soldiers stood off to the side, watching as he walked past with apprehensive looks on their faces; two actually jumped when he spun back to face them.

"What the hell are you all just standing around for? There's work to be done so get moving and do it!" He continued walking as they scrambled to follow the man's orders. "And why the hell aren't any of my lights on?" The sounds of the mechanic and the apologizing soldiers faded as they moved farther into the base and Seifer figured it was time for them to at least move someplace out of the way.

Still not quite able to believe what had just happened, Seifer turned his gaze to the man in his arms and resisted the urge to tighten his grip; if he did they'd never take care of the still bleeding cut to the young summoner's head. Shifting his arms, Seifer brought his right hand up and began gently running his fingers through Hayner's hair.

"Hayner? Why don't we go take care of that cut on your forehead and then we'll…talk." He finished lamely. The younger male took a deep breath and then nodded into the elder blonde's shirt, shifting away after a moment more. Brown eyes flickered up to meet blue and just as quickly moved away as Hayner got unsteadily to his feet, the scarred soldier following suit with one hand outstretched to keep the younger male steady. The pair made their way in silence down the stairs and past the infirmary where Zexion was being taken care of to Hayner's rooms. Shutting the door behind them, Seifer followed Hayner into the bathroom, grabbing a lamp on the way, where the shorter male was already fishing out the first aid kit he kept in the linen closet.

"I have some newer bandages in my pack; I'm not sure how good anything in there will be after…"

"Five hundred years?" Hayner finished for him. "It's fine, everything should be like it was the day I put it away." At Seifer's look of skepticism, he smiled. "There's a reason everything here looks as good as it does; Cid could explain it better than me but it's a combination of magic and technology. In the case of this first aid kit, or anything else that we wanted to keep from going bad, the magic used is a stop spell."

The scarred man nodded, admiration lighting up his features as he cleaned and bandaged the cut on the younger male's forehead. "Fuu was always the most impressed with your technology but that's not even something she knows about."

A small smile crossed the summoner's face. "We don't exactly pass our secrets along to anyone who isn't a Turk."

"You just told me."

"Yeah, but that's because you're…" Hayner glanced up and his words trailed off as he made eye contact with the man next to him again. Confusion and uncertainty showed in the honey brown depths as Seifer closed the distance between them.

"I'm what, Hayner?"

"You're…"

"What?" Seifer murmured.

Hayner swallowed and his breath sped up as the elder male brought a hand up and cupped the back of his head. "Seifer…we shouldn't…" He protested weakly.

"I've waited twenty years, Hayner, I don't want to wait anymore." Bending down slightly, the scarred soldier pressed his lips to Hayner's, lightly at first, then with more pressure as the summoner didn't protest.

Hayner brought his hands up to fist in the front of the taller man's shirt as the kiss deepened and a small moan escaped him; it was the moan that was Seifer's undoing. Before he realized what he was doing, he had the smaller man pressed back up against the counter and was ravaging the soft lips beneath his own. Tongue darting in and out of the younger blonde's mouth, Seifer brought a hand up underneath Hayner's shirt and ran it over the smooth skin, enjoying the feel of the muscles that tightened and quivered as a result of his touch. Another moan from the lithe summoner momentarily brought the soldier to his senses and he pulled back, breathing hard; he hadn't meant to take it that far this soon.

"I'm sorry, Hayner, I didn't mean to…"

The shorter male growled in the back of his throat. "Shut up, Seifer." Snaking a hand up, Hayner grabbed a handful of blonde hair and yanked the older male back down into a hard kiss. Lust, hot and unexpected, shot into Seifer's gut and he pulled the summoner hard against his body, hands tangled in sandy blonde locks. Increasing his grip, Seifer pulled Hayner's head back as he moved to attack the softer skin of his neck. Gasping as teeth grazed and then sunk into a particularly sensitive spot, the shorter male hooked a leg around one of Seifer's and ground against the scarred man, eliciting a groan in response.

"Seifer, God." Untangling himself from the taller man, Hayner hooked a hand in the front of Seifer's pants and began pulling him farther into the bathroom. When the elder of the pair raised an eyebrow in question, Hayner grinned and pulled off his shirt, tossing it aside. "Shower."

Smirking in response, Seifer watched as Hayner quickly turned on and adjusted the water before stepping up and running his hands over the lightly defined abs of the summoner before him. Breath catching in his throat, the shorter male turned around and began working to remove Seifer's pants as the soldier pulled his own shirt off and tossed it to land with Hayner's. Impatient now, the rest of the clothing was quickly stripped from heated bodies and discarded as the two males stumbled back into the shower.

Taking a moment to admire the man in front of him, Hayner ran his hands over the well-defined chest and abs of the scarred soldier before sending them lower. Making eye contact, Hayner gave the taller man a wicked smile before grabbing the hardened erection he'd found with his questing. A groan tore itself from the taller blonde as he pushed the still grinning summoner against the water slicked tile. "God Hayner, you have no idea what you do to me."

Hayner's hand traveled down and back up the length of the member he held as he brought his mouth up for another heated kiss. Pulling back slightly, he grinned again as he made eye contact. "Then show me."

With a growl, Seifer grabbed and lifted the summoner, pausing only long enough for the lithe blonde to wrap his legs around his waist before sinking his teeth into the space between Hayner's neck and shoulder. Breathing ragged, Hayner let out a groan of his own as he dug his nails into Seifer's back and began grinding against the older male. Tearing his mouth away from tan flesh, the blue eyed man moved back for another kiss as he re-adjusted his grip in order to begin loosening up the younger male. Tongues warred for dominance as the two blondes continued to grind against each other until the elder hit a particularly sensitive spot with his fingers and Hayner threw his head back with a moan.

"Seifer, please…" He begged.

"I don't want to hurt you, Hayner." He replied, planting kisses down the length of the summoner's neck.

"You won't; Seifer please."

Shifting both his stance and his grip, the soldier pulled Hayner up slightly and pulled back before thrusting himself hard into the smaller male. A ragged groan tore from each man's throat before they began moving together, water running down their joined bodies. Recapturing the scarred man's mouth with his own, Hayner tightened his grip as the thrusts into him became harder and faster, his body shuddering from the force. Breath coming out in gasps, the summoner broke off the kiss and dropped his forehead to rest on Seifer's shoulder as their movements became almost frenzied.

"Seifer, I'm going to—ah…"

"Look at me, Hayner. I want to see you."

Raising his head, Hayner brought his eyes up to meet those of the scarred blonde as Seifer gave a few more hard thrusts and the younger blonde came, throwing his head back with a scream; a few moments more and Seifer joined him. The Turk summoner held on limply as he dropped his head back down on the older man's shoulder with a contented sigh. Breathing heavy, the soldier ran a hand up Hayner's back as he dropped a kiss down on his neck.

"You are really sexy when you finish, you know that?" He murmured.

A tired chuckle escaped from the man in his arms as he was carefully lowered to his feet. "So are you…but I'm still a little dazed so I may need another look later to make sure I saw correctly."

The scarred man smirked. "I'm sure that can be arranged. We should probably clean up first, though."

Seifer leaned down for another kiss before quickly washing himself and then turning his attentions to the shorter male. Ten minutes and a great deal of groping later, both blondes finally left the shower, dried off and got dressed. Hayner looked longingly over at the bed before turning resolutely towards the door leading out towards the sitting area.

"As much as I'd like nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep, I figure we should at least make a token effort at responsibility."

Seifer grinned. "A very small token, I'm sure."

Throwing a smile over his shoulder at the elder blonde, Hayner reached back and linked their hands before leaving his rooms and heading for the infirmary, dragging the soldier along in his wake. Entering the room that, considering the Turks' occupation, wasn't used a great deal, the youngest member of said group could see that Zexion was alone, the others having cleared out sometime earlier. The young summoner thought at first that the silver haired male was sleeping but as he came closer, blue eyes opened and one eyebrow went up.

"I wasn't aware it took thirty minutes to tend to a single cut…or were you tending to something else?" Blue eyes flickered past the younger male to the soldier standing behind him as Hayner's face flushed scarlet; Seifer, damn him, just smirked. Hayner stammered for a moment before settling for a fairly lame 'never mind' which had Zexion grinning in response. After a moment of silence in which Hayner attempted to pretend he wasn't embarrassed and Zexion pretended he was succeeding, the younger Turk turned back to his bedridden teammate.

"So, where is everyone else?"

"Cloud went off with the Commander in charge, Zack; I think they're discussing the current situation. Vincent went to locate a requested set of blueprints, Reno is cataloging supplies and everyone else is down working on the generators with Cid; that would include your friends and the other soldiers with you." Zexion finished with a nod at Seifer. "Cloud threatened hell if anyone bothered you but Cid could probably use your help, too."

Hayner nodded and then looked slightly guilty. "I'd heal you if I had any mana, Zex…"

The older Turk just shook his head. "I know you would so don't worry about it. I'll be fine for the next couple of days so you just do what needs to be done in the meantime."

The summoner sighed and gave his companion a small smile. "Alright, try and get some rest then."

Zexion nodded and blue eyes were already drifting closed as the soldier and his summoner left the room. Heading farther down the hall and towards the stairs that led down, Hayner admitted to himself, with no little amusement, that if Zexion hadn't told him where everyone was, the sounds of cursing coming from Cid's area would've given it away. The two males made their way down to the lower level to find the mechanic in question with his upper body inside one of the three main generators for the base while those assigned to help him stood off to the sides looking nervous and uncomfortable. With a small smile, Hayner walked over to the group.

"He won't bite, you know."

Several soldiers jumped as a loud band and a new string of cursed erupted from inside the generator and the one nearest Hayner grimaced. "He won't bite you maybe; I'm not sure about the rest of us."

With another grin the summoner just squeezed past the soldiers, which wasn't hard as they were more than happy to get farther away from Cid, and when he was within reaching distance of the generator, he made a fist and banged on the side of it.

"Hey! You might want to watch the language, Cid, there are ladies present."

Pulling himself out of the machine, the Turk mechanic wiped greasy hands on the front of his pants and glared at the shorter male. "What ladies? Rikku's never once acted ladylike and from what I've seen, that Fuu girl probably hasn't either. Hell, either one could probably out swear me any day." He leveled a glare at the summoner. "Try again."

Hayner sighed and crossed his arms, jutting one hip out slightly as he shifted. "Alright, fine; you're scaring the soldiers."

Glancing over at the group that was attempting to disappear into the shadows, Cid sneered. "Bunch of babies, all of them. I bet none of them can hold their liquor either." He turned. "Hey! You lot! Go help Fuu or something before I really give you a reason to hide."

Seifer watched with amusement as the soldiers fled and then joined the other two blondes. "Have you ever worked as a drill sergeant before?"

Cid turned to face him. "No, why?"

"I would pay to watch you scare some sense into the soldiers I was training."

The mechanic grinned. "Keep your money, I'd do that for free."

Hayner just snorted and turned his attention towards the generator. "So how bad is it?"

"Not as bad as it could've been; focusing crystals were shot so I replaced 'em. Everything else looked fairly good so all we need now is a good jolt to get it going."

"I'd love to help with that but I'm out of mana; I used all the materia I had, too."

Cid snorted. "No you didn't; Rikku has at least half a dozen materia full of mana in her workshop. Gimme a minute." Cid left and came back a minute later with the aforementioned materia dangling from several leather thongs in his hand. "Here."

Hayner took the materia before turning a confused look on the mechanic. "What was Rikku doing with these and when did she take them? I don't even remember filling these which means its been a while."

Cid shrugged. "Before the war as far as I know and why else would she want them? This is Rikku we're talking about; she's always looking for new ways to blow shit up."

Hayner just rolled his eyes and began draining the mana. "I guess I should be grateful she had them but remind me later to hide any filled materia I make in the future." Rolling his shoulders to loosen them, the summoner turned towards the now fixed machinery. As lightning began curling around his fingers he looked back and met ice blue eyes. "You might want to stand back a little."

Zack looked up as the lights flickered and then suddenly came back to life, a cheer coming from the floor below. A small smile graced his lips at the success before turning his attention back to the blonde that sat nearby, brooding. Jubilation at the return of the power was short lived and Zack's mood sobered as he brought his attention back to the matter at hand.

"So you've no idea where or when Sephiroth ended up?"

Cloud shook his head. "No but from what you've told me in regards to the current uprising, I can guess."

"You think this is all Sephiroth's doing?"

The Turk leader turned to face the dark haired soldier. "Yes, I do; think about it. His original goal was to go far enough back in time to set himself up as some kind of god. Hayner pretty thoroughly ruined that plan and he was forced to take another portal, not knowing where he would end up. So, assume for a minute that the portal Sephiroth went to carried him forward in time, like us. You said yourself that things have been fairly difficult for summoners since the end of the last war; they aren't trusted, most are hated, and life is just hard in general." Zack nodded. "So, Sephiroth finds himself in this kind of situation and, as no one knows what's happened to us, let alone him, he sees an opportunity to exploit. He may not have been able to set himself up as a king in the past but I bet you anything he's aiming to do it now."

Zack looked grim but couldn't refute the scenario laid out by Cloud; with everything he'd seen on top of what he'd just heard it just made too much sense. He stood. "We need to tell the generals what's going on; they need to know about all of this. If you and your team are willing we could use the help in stopping this mess and, from the events that led you here, I'm betting you wouldn't mind a little payback." Zack turned towards the door to leading out of Cloud's office. "I'll get in contact with the top brass and then…"

"No!" Cloud said sharply, surprising Zack into turning back around. "We've been down that path before and I'm not leading my team down it again."

"I thought you'd want to help!"

"I do but not at the expense of my team, not again." Cloud met angry blue eyes the shade of his own and sighed. "Look, we'll help you, we will, but not like that."

"Dammit Cloud, you have to trust…"

"The last general I trusted betrayed us all!"

The two men stood and glared at each other before moved to sit back down, rubbing one hand over his face. "Then what do we do, Cloud? We need your help too desperately for me to piss you off and have you walk away."

Cloud moved to sit beside him. "Tell me a little about the current set up of the military and we'll go from there."

Zack shrugged. "Such as?"

"Recruitment, drafts; anything that will provide for the allowance of temporary troops in time of crisis."

Blue eyes narrowed in thought and then widened slightly. "There is a provision under the articles of war stating that any Commander, or Lieutenant promoted on the field due to a casualty, can enlist replacements, or new recruits, under the direct command of that Commander for as long as the Commander in question requires them. More often than not, this deals with civilians and what the military would label as 'specialists', not soldiers already under someone else's command."

Cloud smiled and Zack's breath caught a moment as the expression caught him off guard. "I think," The blonde said, "that we can make this work. Here's what we do…"

A few more hours, some more swearing, and dozen or more lightning bolts later and all three of the main generators were back online with the backups getting a much deserved break and chance to recharge. With a sigh of satisfaction, Seifer stretched sore muscles and walked over to where Hayner was leaning against the wall, eyes closed.

"Tired?"

Brown eyes opened. "A little, everything will probably hit me later; I was fighting a war less than six hours ago, you know."

Seifer smiled and moved to put his arms around the younger male. "That's true; you'll have to let me know if there's something I can do to show my appreciation for all your hard work."

Hayner grinned and gently pulled the taller male's face closer to his own. "I'm fairly sure I can think of something."

Warm breath ghosted over skin as the summoner brought his lips up to meet those of the man holding him. The kiss deepened and Hayner moved his arms around his partner's neck as they stood, oblivious to everything else around them. Cid, on his way back from speaking to Cloud, stopped and scowled at the pair and then shook his head. "Kids."

A sigh from nearby had him turning to see his daughter, Rikku, watching the two blondes with a dreamy expression on her face. "Isn't it sweet?"

Cid's scowl deepened. "What are you, a fan girl? Get your ass upstairs, Cloud wants to see us." With a light smack to the side of her head as a sign to get moving, the mechanic then turned back to the other two. Clearing his throat loudly, Cid watched with amusement as the two men separated; Hayner looking guilty and Seifer, smug.

"Turk meeting upstairs." He eyed the taller blonde. "You too, lover boy."

Seifer smirked and, keeping a hand on Hayner's back, followed the gruff mechanic upstairs and into one of the smaller sitting rooms where the rest of the Turks, Zexion included, were already waiting; Fuu, Rai and Zack were also present and once everyone was seated, Cloud stood and cleared his throat.

"By now, most of you, if not all, should be aware of the current situation and the problems we'll be facing in regards to it. It's fairly obvious that our help will be needed if the current uprising of summoners is going to be stopped and, to do that, we're going to have to cooperate with the ruling military…"

"No! No way!" Reno interrupted. "We've been down that road and look where it got us; betrayed by the general we trusted."

Cid snorted. "I'm more pissed off at all the information he got from us; the tech and outpost locations…"

From there, the conversation grew more heated as the other Turk members put in their two cents on the betrayal they'd all just endured and what they'd have to do to end the current crisis. After a few minutes listening to the debate Cloud had had enough and sticking two fingers in his mouth, he whistled. Loudly. When the conversation ceased and all eyes were on him once more, the Turk leader continued.

"I understand how you're all feeling, I feel the same way, but the truth of the matter is that this war won't be won unless we cooperate with the military again. We don't have the man power to wage a war by ourselves and the military doesn't have the tech they need." As voices began rising again in protest, Cloud raised his and continued to talk over the noise. "We are not, however, going to be working under the command of the military."

Silence and then, "Okay, you lost me. How exactly does that work?" Reno asked, leaning back with his arms crossed.

"I believe" Vincent interjected "that's what he's trying to explain…if you'd shut up for a minute."

The red haired Turk leveled a glare at their gunman but, thankfully, remained silent and, after a moment, Cloud turned and nodded at Zack who then stood and took over.

"Alright, let me outline what we've come up with. Under the Articles of War it's possible to enlist the help of specialists outside of the normal military structure under the direct command of the recruiting officer; in this case, that would be me. Now, as I'm aware of what transpired with General Sephiroth, and I, in no way, want to step on anyone's toes, Cloud and I have come up with is a compromise of sorts. I'll officially list you all as specialists on the Turks and their technology brought in to help with the war; this will allow you to obtain the resources the military can provide while helping keep your anonymity."

Zexion narrowed his eyes as he studied the blue eyed Commander. "Why would we need to work anonymously? If we were still fighting in the same war I might understand, but-"

"Who said it wasn't?" Cloud asked quietly.

Nine pairs of eyes were suddenly riveted on the Turk leader's face but only one voice broke the silence: Hayner's.

"You think it's Sephiroth, that he's here and behind the current problems with the summoners."

Cloud nodded. "That's my guess and if you look at the situation it seems entirely too similar to what started the last war and, knowing what we know now, as well as how we came to be here, it isn't a farfetched conclusion."

It was a sobering thought and Zack was loathe to break the silence but time was of the essence and he really needed the Turks' help. "Cloud and I figured it would be best to approach this war as if it really is just a continuation of the one you all just came from and, keeping that in mind, it would be to our advantage if Sephiroth didn't know you were here. You won't be getting orders from the military; not even me. Your leader and I decided full cooperation would be best and I'm more than willing to follow your lead rather than the other way around. Just…think about it."

The atmosphere was grim and since attempting to force a response was never a good idea, Cloud dismissed everyone with the request that they at least think about everything said and the possibility of another Turk/military alliance. It was agreed that a day or two would be given for the Turks to discuss the situation they'd once more found themselves in and that another meeting would be held when they'd come to some sort of consensus. Seifer stood and offered Hayner a hand up as everyone began to file out of the room to go work on separate tasks but the pair were stopped by Cloud before exiting.

"Hayner, I'd like to speak with you a minute."

Seifer thought he saw the younger teen pale slightly but didn't protest when Hayner said he'd see him back at his room in a few minutes. Walking away he wondered if he should have.

Once the soldier was gone and the door closed behind him, Hayner turned to his cousin with a feeling of apprehension.

"You normally aren't a stupid individual, Hayner, but this comes close."

Hayner flinched. "Cloud, I-"

"Dammit, Hayner, you know how important this is! I gave you time earlier to talk it over, not sleep together…and don't tell me you didn't because I'm not stupid."

Hayner's face fell and he sagged into a nearby chair, dropping his face into his hands. "I know, Cloud, I know; but it's been six years and there hasn't been a time in the last three where I didn't wonder if I was just completely losing my mind. I was going to tell him, I was but I got carried away and…"

The elder Turk sighed and moved to crouch in front of the younger male. "I'm not doing this to be an ass, even if it seems like I am, but you have to understand where I'm coming from here. You know how this usually plays out and I'm not going to risk losing you because you're afraid of being hurt; I'll bind you to another if I have to." He stood. "If you haven't spoken to him by tomorrow, I will. And Hayner…" The summoner raised his eyes to look at the pale face of his cousin, his much loved and respected cousin. "…If I have to be the one to talk with him, and his answer isn't what's needed, I'll have to kill him."

It seemed like an eternity from when Seifer had walked away to let Hayner speak with his cousin and when the teen finally made it back to his rooms, and he hadn't liked the separation one bit. He liked it less when he noticed how pale the shorter male was upon his return. Frowning in concern, the scarred male stood and began walking towards his companion but a strangled "Don't" from Hayner made him stop.

"I need…we need…to talk."

A hand, partially raised, was lowered back to his side. "Alright." Seifer replied slowly. He waited a moment in silence and then took a step closer when he noticed the younger blonde was shaking. "Hayner…"

"Stop!"

Seifer froze.

Hayner took a shaky breath and then brought his arms up to hug himself. "I have to say this Seifer, I have to, and if you touch me I won't…I won't be able to." He swallowed and looked away. "What do you know about summoners? And I mean summoners in general, not just me."

Seifer frowned at the questions but took a moment to think. "Truthfully, not much; each summoner varies in strength and which summons they can call and control." He gave a small shrug. "I'm going to assume that isn't the answer you were looking for."

Hayner shook his head. "What about how summoners get the power in the first place?"

"I've never heard anything about it and, now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever actually thought about it."

Hayner looked as if that was what he'd expected and then he glanced away, eyes shifting around the room to look at anything other than Seifer's face. "Someone once came up with the theory that certain people become summoners because they've lost half of their soul and the ability to control summons was to make up for that fact. It's pretty ridiculous when you stop to think about it and in the beginning, most people, summoners included, scoffed at the idea. Hell, even I scoffed at it. After a while though, a large group of summoners all began having dreams about people they'd never met and that same theorist came back with the idea that a soul, once separated, will continue to search for its missing half. The dreams, supposedly, were meant to help in that search."

"Hayner-"

Hayner shook his head violently. "I have to say this or I never will, Seifer." He took a breath. "Whether all of that is true or not will probably never be known but what is known is that nearly every summoner, especially the higher level ones, will eventually start having dreams about someone they've never met and will find themselves drawn to that person. I'm sure it wasn't a big deal in the beginning but when the war started…the war changed everything." Brown eyes glanced up at blue and then away again. "People were afraid to be associated with summoners and there were a lot of incidents where, out of fear or hate, the person drawn to the side of a summoner would reject them or, in the really bad cases, the summoner was killed by their other half because they were afraid of what it would mean to be tied to someone like that. There were even those that stayed together in the beginning but as the war went on…"

Seifer had heard enough. "Hayner, stop."

Hayner shook his head again and continued. "I understand that there's a stigma attached to summoners and what they do and that people fear and hate us…"

"Hayner."

"…and I'll understand if you don't…don't want to stay…"

"Hayner."

The summoner finally stopped and looked up as Seifer, ignoring the earlier protest, walked over and cupped the younger male's face with his hands. "Hayner, I don't care. I don't know why I'm drawn to you and I don't care; you've damn near been my entire world since I was a kid and the opinions of people that should mind their own business isn't going to make me walk away. This war won't make me walk away." A single tear worked its way down Hayner's face and Seifer absently rubbed it away with a thumb. "I love you, you idiot, and nothing's going to change that."

A few more tears fell as Hayner closed his eyes and sagged into Seifer's embrace, bringing his arms around the taller male's waist. Running a hand soothingly up and down the teen's back, Seifer waited a few minutes before asking what brought all of this up. With a sigh, Hayner pulled back and wiped his face.

"Cloud said I had to tell you, to make you understand; summoners have been known to go crazy when their other halves either straight out rejected them or just later walked away. Some turned rogue and began attacking others indiscriminately but, more often than not, they committed suicide. He told me a long time ago that if I ever actually found you, I'd have to tell you everything straight out; with the war going on they couldn't afford to have me…unbalanced."

Seifer sighed. "I'm going to punch your cousin."

Hayner grimaced. "Please don't. I understand why he wanted me to do it; I don't have to like it but I understand." He was silent for a moment before looking back up to meet Seifer's eyes. "I love you too, you know."

The scarred soldier smirked. "I know."

Hayner punched him in the shoulder. "Ass."

"But you still love me, right?"

Silence.

"Hayner?"

"Hold on, I'm thinking about it."

Seifer snorted and pulled Hayner closer. "I know what will help you make up your mind."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"Another shower."

Hayner just laughed and let himself be led back into the bathroom.