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Green Romance	By : suixcausa Category: Final Fantasy VIII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 803 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Part I
- 2-Part II
- 3-Part III
- 4-Part IV
- 5-Part V
- 4
- 5
Disclaimer: Still don't own them. o_o

Green Romance

Sui Causa

Part V
By the time that Squall had returned to the bedroom, he wasn�t surprised to find Seifer sprawled across the bed, snoring in his peaceful slumber. The blonde seemed to be untouched by guilt in his sleep, his arm loosely across his chest, features unhindered by snide smirks or sneers in his sleep. Squall leaned back against the door frame for a while, watching the blonde cautiously. It was frustrating how such a selfish person could lay there in such an innocent way, showing the world that just maybe there was something deep inside of him that wasn�t completely evil.
Sighing Squall stood up from the doorframe and walked quietly to the bed so as not to disturb the sleeping man. Of course such innocence would only ever be found in Seifer�s sleep, as any other wakeful time the blonde had no shred of goodness within his body, or at least that�s what Squall was convinced of.
Taking a last look around the room, Squall decided there was no hope of avoiding this any longer. After his �walk� which had taken a lot longer then he had originally planned, he had returned to the house and found that everyone had already went to bed.
After shedding his jackets and boots, Squall took a suspicious glance at the blonde on the bed before stripping into a more comfortable pair of pants. He then folded his clothing and set it on top of the dresser that most of his clothing had been put into.
With as little thought as possible, Squall pulled the blankets back from the edge of the bed and slipped under the covers, curling his body as far away from Seifer as he could without falling off the bed. Saying goodnight to the cruel world around him, Squall closed his eyes and eventually fell asleep.
---
Seifer awoke the next morning feeling more comfortable then he had for a long time. Slowly he opened his eyes to discover the new source of heat within his bed, Squall curled against him. One of them had moved against the other during the night in a search for warmth, and they had stayed curled together for the remainder of the night. One of Seifer�s arms was spread underneath Squall�s head, supporting the brunette as a pillow, with his other arm wrapped snuggly around Squall�s waist.
Squall�s traitorous arms were wrapped around Seifer�s shoulders as he unconsciously held the blonde close, an action that would have been condemned had the brunette been awake. Closing his eyes again and relaxing Seifer decided to relish the amount of contact while Squall was asleep. The blonde nuzzled his nose into Squall�s neck, inhaling the other�s tempting scent before forcing himself back to sleep before any more bad thoughts entered his mind.
---
The knocking on the door was the first thing that registered in Squall�s mind as wakefulness slowly overtook him. With a sigh he made a move to stretch out, and was surprised when he found himself unable to. Wrapped up in strong arms and pressed against a firm body Squall was trapped against Seifer. And oddly it felt comfortable enough that he couldn�t will himself to move.
He heard Seifer grumble as the knocking continued, finally lifting his head up from Squall�s shoulder. Without giving the brunette a second glance �proving he didn�t care if he had invaded Squall�s personal space� Seifer rubbed his hand through short blonde hair as he sat up. "Yeah come in." The blonde huffed before rubbing his eyes in a tired fashion.
As the door opened, Squall suddenly became very conscious that he was too close to the blonde for comfort. He was starting to untangle himself from the sheets when the door opened and Laguna walked in, Maggie hanging tightly onto his hand as she peeked into the room from behind the older man�s legs. "Sleepy heads!" She said with a giggle as she waggled her finger in an attempt to be scolding. "It�s almost ten and you�re still in bed!"
Laguna was watching them with an amused look in his eye. "They�re probably tired from all the holiday excitement." The man explained with a mischievous edge to his voice that made Squall even more self-conscious about the position he had woken up in. He was thankful that both he and Seifer were wearing clothes, so that false assumptions wouldn�t have a basis.
"Seifer your daughter was complaining about not being able to reach the counters to make breakfast. She claimed she wanted fruit loops and cookies, so I thought that her father would best deal with that." Laguna said, appearing proud that Maggie would want cookies for breakfast.
Squall didn�t say anything as Seifer grinned while he pushed the blankets off of himself and got to his feet. "I�ll be ready in a few minutes. Squall do you want to go down with Maggie and get her something to eat? You can have the shower after I�m done."
Squall frowned as he sat up in the bed and pushed hair out of his eyes, his nod the only thing that acknowledged what Seifer said. Standing up he smoothed out the wrinkles on his cotton pants, considering changing. Maggie seemed to think that Squall was taking too long, pouting she deserted Laguna long enough to grab onto Squall�s hand and start to pull him towards the door.
Smiling faintly Squall gave in, bending down he lifted her into his arms and let her rest against his chest happily as he tried to smooth his runaway hair back. When it fell back down into place, Squall shook his head and pressed his lips to Maggie�s forehead while she giggled. "Let�s see what we can do about those fruit loops."
---
It had been rather awkward for Squall to walk into the kitchen and try to find everything for Maggie�s breakfast while trying to look like he knew where everything was. Maggie was happy, smiling she sat across from Laguna on the small kitchen counter. Squall was only partly paying attention to their conversation, although when it started veering in the direction of whether or not Peter Pan really did live in Never land, Squall decided to totally tune out.
Fumbling through the cupboards and drawers Squall was finally able to present Maggie with a bowl of the cereal she wanted. As he did so, Laguna gave him an odd look that proved that he had noticed Squall�s failure to find everything quickly.
"Need some caffeine?" The man laughed while Squall sat down heavily on the stool next to Maggie, putting his head in his hands as he leaned his elbows on the countertop.
"I�m not a morning person." Squall mumbled while pushing hair out of his eyes. Laguna chuckled and nodded, before he leaned back in his chair.
"Seems your husband is though, never seen someone take charge so soon after getting out of bed." It took Squall a few long moments to realize what Laguna was talking about. Seifer had immediately assigned Squall to take care of Maggie while he showered, something that Squall hadn�t given second thought to. Of course because of their contract, it was obvious to him that Seifer would be giving orders.
"It�s in his nature." Squall sighed before he looked around, trying to locate a coffee maker amidst the well-arranged kitchen. Squall hadn�t been surprised to find that Seifer hired cooks to make food for the people of the house. However they didn�t come in until late in the morning, and so breakfast was a do-it-yourself thing. For Squall it meant that he would be unable to locate the things needed to make a simple cup of coffee.
Maggie happily ate her cereal as Squall brooded over how unfair life was, but he didn�t have much of a chance to get lost in his thoughts, as Laguna didn�t seem to be ready to stop talking.
"Ah, I suppose it is." Laguna said with a smile, "It�s nice though, to see such a happy family, especially when one is working in the business community. A lot of guys start out honest but the corruption around them starts to rub off. Things like family life are usually affected."
Squall sighed and nodded. "I suppose our relationship is just stronger than most." His tongue was heavy with the lie, but he could at least blame that on not having enough coffee in his system. Maggie, who had been eating rather quickly, pushed aside her half-finished bowl and slid down off her stool. Walking to Squall she tugged on his arm until he lifted her up into his arms, letting her rest her head against his shoulder as she sat in his lap contentedly.
Squall stroked her hair back and kissed her forehead and after a few minutes of silence, she slumped against him and fell into an easy sleep. Squall frowned, slightly envious of the ability a child had to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Instead of saying something about it, he pulled her half finished bowl of fruit loops to himself and idly picked up the spoon with his free hand, taking a hesitant bite of the colorful �food�.
Alternating between feeding himself with Maggie�s leftovers, and rocking Maggie back into restfulness whenever she showed signs of waking up, Squall was somewhat content with the situation, a feeling that he hadn�t experienced since he first came to this place. It was a few more minutes before Laguna said anything more; instead the man spent the silence studying Squall as one would a bug under a microscope. Something Squall didn�t necessarily appreciate.
"You�re so gentle, it almost seems odd." Laguna said, tilting his head to the side. After Squall only gave him a curious look, the man chuckled. "I heard some yelling last night, sounded like you and Seifer taking a piece out of each other." Squall gave a guilty look down at his cereal bowl before Laguna continued. "Though the way you were wrapped around each other, it seems you have gotten things straightened out."
Deciding to take a whack at explaining things, Squall remained silent for a while, considering what he should say. "It�s hard, when he�s away sometimes. He always has been able to piss me off though." He said, casting an idle look to Maggie to make sure she was asleep and hadn�t heard her father use a bad word.
Laguna laughed out loud, teetering back dangerously in his chair as he chuckled. "Yeah, that comes with marriage." Laguna said with a pleased smile before he looked at Maggie. "And at least the problems are solved quickly."
Squall nodded, though he was frowning inside. His problem with Seifer wouldn�t end until he left, and got as far away from all of this as he could. His dream from before still had him shaken as well, causing Squall to think more about what he had dragged Maggie into. For some reason, the entire situation didn�t bother Squall as much as it should have. He supposed he was just used to this, so callous to the way life worked that he could take everything that was thrown at him in stride. But Maggie was still so young, so innocent. She didn�t deserve to be exposed to anything that Squall was pushing her with right now, and he was determined that he would protect her from things, at least as much as he could until they would leave.
Squall was about to say something when Maggie shifted and yawned loudly, proving that she was awake again. With a faint smile directed at her Squall pushed dark brown curls from her face, allowing her to climb up into a sitting position in his lap. It was about that time when Seifer came into the room, an imposing aura that only Squall noticed shifting into the room after him.
"I�m done." Seifer said with a smirk as he walked across to where they were seated, leaning down before Squall could pull away, brushing his lips against the brunette�s and pulling back with a smug expression. "I�ll make some coffee for you when you�re done." The blonde said pleasantly as he looked down at Maggie. "Did you get some fruit loops to eat?"
When Maggie nodded and smiled happily, Squall sighed. He motioned to coax Maggie out of his lap, however Seifer responded to it instead, plucking Maggie out of Squall�s arms and spinning her around effortlessly, tucking her under his arm much to Maggie�s delight.
Now understanding what Laguna meant about Seifer�s ability to take control of a situation, Squall stood up, and after directing a subtle glare in the blonde�s direction he left the kitchen with Maggie�s gleeful squeals ringing tauntingly in his ears.
---
Squall supposed he took a little too much time in the bathroom, but he was feeling dirty, and the shower helped wash away some of the sickening feelings that had been building up inside of him. Clearing his head he took a rational view about what was happening. Nobody was going to find out, and nobody was going to end up knowing what was going on. After Laguna left, so would he, and Maggie with him, then they would recover from their current situation.
Squall would get a new job, perhaps use some of the money he would get from Seifer to find a new place to live, and put the rest in a savings account towards Maggie�s collage fund. Life would continue on as normal and perhaps a little better if their financial state got a boost.
Pleased with his plans, Squall worked his hair into lather while working out a short term plan as to how to survive the next few days. Spending as little time around Seifer as possible seemed like a good, yet impossible start. Laguna was right when commented that Seifer took control of situations, and while Squall wouldn�t peg the blonde as a control freak, he was rather close. And unlike what Laguna had said, there was nobody to balance the blonde out or control him. Seifer was used to being the boss, used to running things and definitely used to getting his own way. He supposed there was no point in sulking over it, however, as Seifer would continue with his life as much as he and Maggie would theirs.
By the time Squall had finished and had gotten dressed, there was nobody in the kitchen when he returned. Instead he found a white coffee mug next to a full pot of coffee on the counter, next to some sugar and creamer. Sighing lightly Squall bypassed both the additives and poured himself a cup of straight coffee. His slim fingers wound around the cup as he started the rough task of finding where his daughter and tormenters had gone off to.
He didn�t have to look very hard, as after stepping out into the foyer Squall heard Maggie�s giggles and Laguna�s chuckles coming from one of the rooms Squall had dubbed a �living room.�
When he had entered into the room, he was surprised by what he saw. Laguna was sprawled under a tree next to a bemused looking Kiros, panting for breath as he clutched his sides laughing. Laguna had a Santa hat perched precariously on his head; matching Ward�s who was leaning against the wall chuckling to himself.
Maggie and Seifer were apparently the source of amusement. Maggie balanced on Seifer�s shoulders, held firmly in place by Seifer�s strong arms as he attempted to support her as she reached up to put an awkward star on the top of the tree.
The young girl was covered in more tinsel then the oddly decorated tree, and Seifer was worse for wear, somehow getting a entire set of Christmas lights tangled around his torso and legs. Maggie was giggling hard enough that she couldn�t extend her arms long enough to put the star on top, leaving them in a hopeless situation that Squall was sure had gone on the entire time he had been away.
Seifer was laughing himself, and eventually turned to see Squall leaning against the door frame with a careful expression on his face, taking small drink of his coffee as he watched.
"Our daughter�s tree decorating skills have gotten worse since last year." Seifer commented with a grin, Maggie�s giggles growing as she barely managed to keep a grip on the star as she laughed. Squall spared a smile at his daughter�s performance, and eventually motioned for Seifer to let Maggie down before he dropped her in her giggle fit.
Seifer did so, though Maggie�s giggles didn�t let up as she tried to move away from him and failed. "Seiferrrrrrr." She wailed, having problems speaking over her giggles. "I�m tangled in your lightssss." Squall sighed and shook his head, as indeed Maggie was also ensnared in the lights that were tangled around Seifer, unable to move more than a foot away from the blonde. Setting down his coffee on one of chests, Squall walked towards them. Finding the end of the lights, he gave them a serious look that sobered Seifer up, however when the brunette merely plugged the end of the lights into the extension cord, lighting the two up in an array of mismatched colors, Seifer started to grin again.
"Excellent Squall, I think that they make a better tree then the one they tried to decorate." Laguna chuckled. He had managed to compose himself but was now leaning against Kiros with his cheeks flushed from laughter.
Squall shook his head again, unable to find words to express his feelings towards the hopeless pair. Walking to Maggie he offered no help to untangle her, instead he plucked the star from her hands and reached up, setting it on top of Seifer�s head and leaning back to examine his handy work. Seifer still had that stupid grin on his face, apparently enjoying all the attention as Maggie stifled her giggles enough to try and untangle herself. Reaching out, Seifer looped his arm around Squall�s middle and pulled the brunette against him easily. Squall gave up on trying to get away.
"Aren�t you proud?" Seifer asked, turning somewhat to look at the scene in front of them. Tinsel, baubles and Christmas lights were strewn haphazardly all across the room�s floor, Kiros and Laguna sitting underneath a mangled looking tree. Branches were tied together at odd angles with bits of streamer, and the baubles only reached the first few bottom branches, the top of the large tree was completely bare, the decorators unable to attempt to decorate it without ending up in a giggling mess.
Squall sighed something along the lines of "hopeless", shaking his head and watching in amusement as Maggie stumbled free from the lights. She strutted in front of Seifer, showing off her freedom as Seifer was still tangled and plugged into the wall.
"It was her fault." Seifer said with a childish pout, "Every time I tried to lift her up to put something up on the tree she�d get tangled in the tinsel on the branches. We managed to get a lot of tinsel up there, but now it�s all on her and there�s nothing on the tree!" The blonde explained with a grin. Squall pulled away from Seifer, lifting Maggie into his arms and pulling some of the tinsel out of her hair, wondering how on earth he was going to get it all out.
"Last year was a mess too." He said with a smile, kissing his daughter�s forehead and letting her climb down from his arms to run towards the tree to pick up some of the baubles. "I�ll fix it later." Squall said, raising an eyebrow that showed he didn�t trust Seifer�s ability to decorate a tree any more then he did Maggie�s.
The blonde tried to look hurt, and after failing gave up on it and grabbed Squall�s hand. "So, are you going to help untangle me, Muffin?"
Squall scowled and pushed away from Seifer. "Not if you call me that. I haven�t finished my coffee yet either." Squall said. When Seifer tried to pout Squall rolled his eyes. "And I�ve gained immunity to pouting from fatherhood, so give it up."
Seifer smirked before looking down at himself, starting to unravel the bright lights from around his body. "So, we were all going to go skating. You�re invited too, I guess." Seifer said, as if doubtful he should after Squall�s �betrayal� of not helping him.
Squall tilted his head to the side, taking a quick look at Laguna to find that he was more than distracted with Maggie right now, as the young girl attempted to hang a bauble off of his ear.
"We didn�t bring skates."
Seifer shook his head. "Yeah, you did. Maggie brought them." Squall blinked; surprised that he hadn�t noticed them. "Didn�t notice?"
Squall rolled his eyes before he snatched the star from Seifer�s head, deciding that Ward would be tall enough to reach the top of the tree, and hopefully mature enough to put the star there. "Whatever."
"Huh, the minute Maggie�s not involved you go frigid. I almost thought you were human there for a second, Princess."
Squall knew better then to respond, so he acted like he hadn�t heard the statement as he made his way to Maggie and the suffering Laguna.
---
"What�s taking Seifer so long?" Maggie asked, pouting while she skid to Squall and grabbed his hand.
Squall blinked and looked towards the side of the skating rink, where Rajin and Seifer were sitting apparently busy with something. Fujin had left before to take care of something, but had shortly told Rajin to stay, something about "SEIFER" and "HUMILIATING". Squall didn�t understand, and so after making quick work of lacing up Maggie�s skates and then his own, they were the first ones out on the ice. Laguna hadn�t packed skates, and so Kiros and Ward had gone shopping to get some. Until then Laguna was with Seifer, apparently amused about something.
Squall and Maggie frequented skating rinks, as it was something they could both do well, and was a relatively inexpensive way of recreation. Experience with skates and laces meant that Squall could have some alone time with his daughter, something that he felt was important right now.
"Maggie, you shouldn�t be worrying about Seifer." He said sternly, squatting down under the pretense of adjusting her hat as he watched her carefully. "Remember that he�s not a good man, you should try not to spend time around him."
Maggie frowned. "But, aren�t I supposed to be? �Guna would think it�s weird if I didn�t."
Squall paused after hearing the shortened name for Laguna, though he quickly shook it off. "Yeah, but don�t go around him unless I�m there okay?" Squall said fondly while he tucked some hair behind Maggie�s ear and straightened up, watching the slow approach of the others as they finally made it onto the ice, Laguna missing as Kiros and Ward had arrived with skates for him to put on. "I just don�t want you to get hurt."
Maggie smiled and nodded, taking Squall�s hand again as they easily skated towards Seifer and Rajin.
Squall couldn�t help but wonder at the way Seifer was hanging on to Rajin�s arm, scoffing when he realized the intense concentration Seifer was showing towards simply moving. "God damn skates." Seifer grumbled, looking up and seeing Squall standing there, effortlessly balancing.
Motivated to beat his ice princess, Seifer let go of Rajin�s arm and pushed himself away, shakily shuffling his way towards Squall.
Mid-shuffle Seifer lost his balance, falling backwards with a curse and landing flat on his back. Squall had to fight back a scoff as Seifer�s grumbling got louder.
"Seifer said a bad word!" Maggie announced in a sing song voice, letting go of Squall�s hand to happily skate towards the blonde, looking down at him. "Seifer can�t skate? It�s very easy."
Seifer groaned. "She�s FIVE and she can skate better then me." He said, sitting up but making no move to try and stand again, glaring at the skates innocently wrapped around his feet.
"Seif, a horse could skate better then you, ya know?" Rajin said, making no move to try and comfort Seifer. When the blonde growled Rajin grinned. "Valentines day, ya know? Remember the company outing, fell on your ass and pulled down half the food, ya know?"
"Shut up!" Seifer shouted, making a big deal of scrambling to his feet, managing to keep his balance long enough to glare at Rajin. "You better run fast, because if I catch up to you, you�re dead!"
Rajin looked afraid for a moment, before he grinned. "But I can skate, ya know?" He said, effortlessly pushing himself backwards, away from Seifer whose scowl was deep enough to rival one of Squall�s.
Maggie giggled and immediately darted off towards Laguna who had made it onto the ice. Apparently his skating skills weren�t all that great either, for Kiros followed behind him carefully, looking as if he was ready to catch the man at any moment. Laguna was doing far better then Seifer, though wobbly the man made it to Maggie and took her hand with a smile. Kiros moved effortlessly, his grace doubled on ice as he made his way back to Ward, who was scowling at the last pair of skates left for him.
Squall wasn�t able to think much on it though, because he immediately felt the harsh weight of the blonde as the man clung onto his arm. The shock was somewhat disorienting as Squall jerked to the side, the quick movement causing Seifer�s precarious balance to slip as he fell down again. He didn�t release his grip on the brunette�s arm as he fell, pulling Squall down with him.
Squall huffed as he landed hard, sprawled across Seifer who grunted on impact.
"God, you really suck don�t you." Squall mumbled as he pushed away, getting to his feet effortlessly and leaving Seifer alone on his ass, glaring at the brunette for his patronizing tone.
"Oh, rub it in why don�t you." Seifer sneered while he tried to pull himself up, and failed as his foot slipped out from under him before he could even bring himself into a squat.
"Hn, it�s nice to know I�m better than you at something." Squall said, while he skated a tight circle around Seifer. "Did you never go skating when you were a kid?"
Seifer rolled his eyes, holding up his hand expectantly, wanting help to his feet. Warily Squall grabbed it and helped pull the blonde up. Immediately hands were around his waist and Seifer hung onto Squall firmly for support. "Never bothered with it." Seifer said with a grumble, before he looked around, watching as Maggie skated circles around Laguna, and Kiros hang onto Ward�s arm as the big man attempted to �glide�.
"See! Ward�s having the same problem. You little guys are balanced, but we�re top heavy." Seifer sulked.
Squall rolled his eyes and attempted to skate forward, although Seifer pulled him back and continued to hang onto him. "Could we just, stay like this? I�m going to fall on my ass again if we don�t."
Squall gave Seifer a curious look. "And how is that my problem?" He asked, while he grabbed one of Seifer�s hands in his own, and reached out for the other one.
Standing in front of Seifer while facing the blonde, he watched as Seifer sneered. "If I go down you go down with me."
"Whatever." Squall grumbled before he slid backwards a pace, pulling on Seifer�s hands in an attempt to coax the blonde towards him. "Just glide."
Seifer glared. "Glide? I�m sorry, I don�t glide."
When the heard a large thump behind him, Squall sighed. "Apparently, neither does Ward." That earned a chuckle from Seifer.
Tentatively, the blonde tried to take a step, though when he started to wobble Squall returned close to him to allow the blonde to latch on and keep himself up. "You�re trying to walk. You can�t walk when you�re skating. You push yourself forward and glide."
Seifer snarled. "And I told you I don�t glide."
"Then you can spend the rest of the day on your ass, because unless you glide I�m not going to bother."
The blonde blinked at Squall�s words, the voice he had used totally emotionless, as if he really didn�t care if he helped or not.
"Fine." Seifer said, "How the fuck do you glide?"
Squall sighed, before he released his hold on the blonde. "Stand like you normally would." He said as the blonde wobbled, and Seifer glared, pulling himself up from his hunched state, his arms still spread outward to help keep his balance however.

"When you�re on ice, weight doesn�t matter." Squall said, in a moment he was behind Seifer, and gently pushed the blonde forward.
Seifer shouted something, immediately swerving and falling forward onto his knees; Squall sighed and put his hand to his face.
"That�s not gliding."
"No, it�s falling if you didn�t notice. I�ve already got that part down, Princess."
Squall sighed, about to say something though he was interrupted when Kiros slid up next to him, Ward shakily following, �skating� on his own.
"How do you do it?" Squall asked Kiros, looking helpless. "Mine can�t even stand."
Kiros chuckled, holding out his arm when Ward wobbled dangerously and letting the much larger man grab onto it. "I�ve been trying to teach Ward ever since we were kids, and he hasn�t progressed much." He said with a smirk, which faded slightly as Ward purposely strengthened his grip on the other�s arm in revenge.
Squall hid his amusement with an understanding nod. He was about to say something when Seifer�s hands latched onto his shoulders, and Squall jumped. "Ha! I�m standing!" Seifer growled in victory. "No thanks to you, princess."
Squall sighed, turning slowly to face Seifer without knocking the blonde off balance. He was surprised when he was pulled tight against the blonde, Seifer�s lips immediately crashing into his. With Kiros and Ward so close, Squall couldn�t fight back, letting the blonde have his way though refusing to open his mouth to Seifer�s tongue. Seifer pulled back to sulk about it, but Squall interrupted him by abruptly pushing him backwards.
Seifer cursed and his arms started to flap as he tried to keep his balance. About to fall he was surprised when he felt someone grab his arm on the right, turning to Laguna who was chuckling as he helped the blonde regain his balance. Maggie glided up next to him, taking his other hand with a grin. "It�s okay Seifer, practice makes perfect~! Someday you�ll be able to skate as good as Daddy!" She sang happily, while reaching out with her free hand for Squall�s.
Seifer snorted. "The ice princess would be, of course, a good skater. I doubt anyone could get as good as him."
Squall muttered a "whatever" while taking Maggie�s hand in his own, deciding to try and ignore the blonde.
Rajin who had gone back to the side of the skating rink to answer a ringing cell phone watched with slight interest as the odd line of people moved across the ice, wobbly Seifer clinging to Laguna to keep his balance as they all skated slowly in a line. The line stopped its progress towards the side several times, as Seifer fell and they would have to wait for him to scramble back to his feet before starting again.
"Seifer said that we could have hot chocolate." Maggie said with a pout up at Squall, "Do we get hot chocolate now?"
Squall frowned at the blonde on the other side of his daughter, who in return smirked. "Fujin will be coming back with some, and some snacks too." Seifer said proudly, and Squall remained silent.
Laguna, on the other side of Seifer perked up with childish excitement however.
"Hot chocolate?"
---
Fujin had come back by the time they had made it to the side with Seifer in tow. The blonde was more than happy to kick off his skates and trod into the small building of the skating rink in his sock feet, looking for the boots he had discarded earlier.
The skating rink was a small outdoor one, and Squall doubted it seen many people, as it was in a neighborhood where people were spending their time making the money needed to pay off mortgages, rather then do something as meaningless as go skating. There was a small building on one of the skating rinks side, next to the parking area. It was heated and carpeted, the lack of cuts in the carpets from skates proving its unused state. There were a few easy chairs and sofas scattered in the building, along with an old table to the side, which at one time may have supported a music center, but had been since deemed too unstable to carry expensive equipment.
Happily the group was sprawled out in the chairs, hanging onto mugs of hot chocolate and doughnuts that had been brought, though the normality of it all made Squall queasy.
After finishing his first mug of hot chocolate, Squall had deposited Maggie in Laguna�s waiting arms, and made his way out back onto the ice.
As much as Seifer would taunt him about it, he did feel at home on the ice. He was wearing a surprisingly warm leather bomber jacket and matching leather gloves that had been bought by Seifer, and hadn�t bothered with any form of snow pants, doubting that the moderate temperatures of New York would make him cold enough to bother. Leaning his head back, Squall stared up at the sky while he skidded out into the middle of the rink, watching the cloudy grey of the sky as it passed overtop of him.
Was Rinoa really there, somewhere, watching him? Was Maggie telling the truth, when she said that Rinoa watched over them, protected them to the best of her ability? Or was it just the ramblings of an overly imaginative five year old, like Seifer had said?
Closing his eyes, Squall stayed in that position as he mused, unable to come to a logical explanation for any answer he would come up with.
"Hey."
He was broken out of his thoughts when a surprisingly balanced Seifer slid across the ice to him. Looking down, Squall noticed that the other was still wearing his winter boots, not bothering with skates.
"I knew you could glide." Squall grumbled as he tilted his head to the side, watching the blonde suspiciously.
Seifer grinned and shrugged. "Yeah well, boots are a lot easier then skates."
"Weak ankles." Squall stated with a raised eyebrow, causing the blonde to sneer and push him a ways. Squall didn�t lose his balance, instead just slid back on the ice until the momentum gave out and he came to a stop. Seifer slid towards him again, reaching his arms out in front of him and grabbing onto Squall tightly when he came close.
"I still slip even in boots though." Seifer grunted, using it as an excuse to hold Squall close against him. The brunette didn�t fall for it, and muttered a �whatever.�
"At least you won�t be able to say that you didn�t enjoy any of this experience." Seifer said with a sneer as he leaned back to look at Squall more clearly. "Maggie�s having a blast."
Squall sighed and pushed himself away from Seifer. "She�s five."
"So?"
"So...stop acting like she can make the decision for herself. Stop getting so close to her. Stop making her like you."
Seifer raised his eyebrow, a little shocked that Squall would say something like that, but not going to interrupt him until he got an explanation for the outburst.
"Seifer." Squall started, unable to find the words to explain what he wanted to say easily. "She�s getting too happy with the idea of having two parents. I, I�m having to raise a daughter by myself, it�s hard enough, I don�t need to have her wishing that there was someone else somewhere down the line, just because you thought it would be great for your business. You can act like she�s your daughter, in front of Laguna...but, stop treating her like its real."
Seifer stared, speechless for probably the first time in his life.
"And here I was, unaware that I was causing so much damage by being nice to someone." He said after a long pause. "Fuck you, Leonhart. Don�t pull over-protective father on me. Every child deserves a second parent, and maybe it�s your responsibility to find a second parent, instead of trying to make her live without one. Have you even gone on a fucking date since your wife died? Maybe she�s created this angel of her mother to try and replace�"
"Shut up." Squall growled, pushing Seifer sharply away from him, hard enough to make the blonde lose his footing and fall heavily to the icy ground. Squall wasn�t there to help him up though, by that time he was already on the other side of the rink.
Groaning, Seifer gave up on standing, flopping back onto the cold ice and staring up at the sky. It was probably the first time in his life where he actually cared about someone other than himself. Was it his fault that he thought that Maggie deserved the best? She was a great kid, and Squall was a great father and all but...
He was trying to be a mother and a father to Maggie at the same time, and the girl didn�t need that. She needed a mother, and a father to grow up properly.
And with anti-social Squall trapped in the past, unable to get over a dead spouse, it wasn�t likely that anything was going to change any time soon.
Leave it to Squall to complicate the simplest things.
AN: I promise they�ll start not-hating each other eventually. @__@!
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Green Romance