Quistis took her time walking to her quarters, but once inside the door, she made a beeline for her desk. What was up with this urge for chocolate? Probably the heat from the desert had leeched some mineral found in chocolate out of her body. Or maybe she was really craving sex. Right. Hard to tell when you've never had it. She couldn't think of a single person in Garden she'd even consider having sex with though, so the question was moot. She stood on the rug in the middle of her floor and ate a chocolate bar blissfully. She felt like a little girl, and laughed.

She went to her mirror and peered at her teeth. No chocolate. Good. She swiped her mouth with the back of her hand, left her room, and started toward the Library.

Seifer had indeed claimed a conference room. The Librarian on duty pointed it out to her. She went inside, closed the door behind her, and sat down. She looked at Seifer, and waited.

"Well?" He scowled. "What do you want?" He obviously wanted to be anywhere but where he was. She didn't blame him. Sitting in a conference room with a former enemy who was determined to pick your brain didn't sound fun to her either.

"You mean, 'what do you want, Instructor.'" He needed to know that she required respect.

He smirked. "Fine, Instructor. What do you want, Instructor?"

She gritted her teeth and smiled at him. No use letting him know how much he annoyed her. Couldn't he take anything seriously? "I want to know two things. I want to know why you're back, and I want to know how committed you are to doing this." She sat back in her chair and clasped her hands.

He looked at her for several seconds, all impertinence gone. She could read him like a book. He was disgusted at being in this situation. He didn't want to tell her anything. He didn't know her well. He didn't trust her. But he had to tell her. He didn't have a choice, and he hated it. His gaze moved to the table in front of him. She shrugged mentally. Maybe he trusted the table. Finally, he gave in and spoke.

"I don't remember everything that happened. Those months...they're all hazy. Raijin will mention something we did during that time, and I'll think that it sounds familiar. But I can't remember clearly what happened. Not the way I remember yesterday or the day before." He shrugged. "What I remember are the dreams. The way I felt. Ultimecia...she sent them. The dreams. You can probably guess," he looked at her distastefully. "Power, glory. The world at my fingertips. Crowds screaming my name." He stopped. "I felt...frenzied.

"Edea says I was seduced. I don't know, though. I think she's trying to put the best face on it for herself. Practically her own son, of course it wasn't his fault." He smiled bitterly, like the thought bit. "Yes, I remember the orphanage. Quisty," he said with biting sarcasm. "But that doesn't matter."

"It wasn't the power and glory. Or it wasn't just that. Squall. I felt cheated. I was the better fighter, but everything seemed to come to him. SeeD rank. Later, Rinoa. And don't tell me he wasn't just as unpleasant as I was. We both know better.

"I didn't understand it. But I was angry. I knew that there wasn't any way people would look up to me the way they looked up to him. And I knew full well what Ultimecia's plan was. I wanted revenge, and after that I wanted oblivion. I wasn't just suckered into it. I wanted it, all of it. But the frenzied feeling. I don't know if you would call it a side effect of seduction, or a side effect of insanity. It's just too complicated.

"But after Time Compression...the three of us woke up in a field outside of Balamb. I have no idea how we got there. I was just lying there in this field and there were flowers everywhere. It's stupid but I just couldn't feel angry or insane or anything with those flowers everywhere. I just laid there and stared into space. I don't think I've ever felt so good. Lying there in that field, my two best friends still sleeping beside me. That was what did it. I couldn't believe that I had tried to snuff out the whole world. Raijin and Fujin." He looked at her, his eyes flashing, daring her to laugh or say anything. He hates me for making him tell me this. But this... he found the world, just like Squall. Except he didn't need Rinoa to help him. Seifer, you're a human being after all.

When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I came back to Garden because it's just about the only thing I've ever known, except for the orphanage. This is my home. And my skills are fighting skills. There's no use for that except in someone's army or in SeeD. And after being at Garden...I don't think I would do well as a normal soldier. They wouldn't take me anyway.

"As far as commitment goes, I don't think you have to worry. I need to do this. I think I've got what it takes, but I have to know. I need to prove it. Not to you or Squall or anyone else. Just me, Instructor." He looked at her defiantly, and suddenly she felt frightened. Stop that, Quistis. You're being silly.

She sat there for a moment. "Thank you, Seifer. I apologize for forcing you to tell me this. Please try to understand that I needed to know. I think that if you were in my position you'd do the same." He looked a little less angry. But he shook his head.

"No. This would have been the answer if our positions had been reversed." He touched Hyperion. She felt her expression softening, and smoothed it. Why did she feel like crying? She leaned forward, and spoke earnestly.

"Seifer, I want to make this as simple for you as possible. You have very high potential. You're a good fighter and you have a natural knack for leadership. You failed before because you couldn't accept leadership from anyone else. You consistently disobeyed orders. That's going to be the trial for you for the next eight weeks. I'm going to be testing your ability to follow orders mercilessly. SeeDs follow orders most of the time without knowing why. You'll have to do the same once you're a SeeD. But for now, you have the luxury of knowing exactly why I'm giving you the orders that I do. Purely for the sake of seeing whether you obey. Don't question, and don't balk. Just do. Immediately."

He looked at her steadily. "So you're my mentor." She nodded. He didn't look pleased at all.

"Just don't tell anyone that I was talking about flowers. I'll die of embarrassment, and then you'll never get to make me a SeeD." He looked at her shrewdly, and she couldn't stop the blush that rose up her neck. He laughed then, the same laugh she had heard the other day in the hallway. Too bad it was at her expense.

She waited until he was done and her cheeks felt cooler. "I won't tell anyone what you've said to me. It's your story, not mine," she said seriously. "Go eat lunch now, cadet. And then go find that field you woke up in and lay down in it for one hour." That annoying smirk dropped off his face so fast that she almost laughed out loud. She knew what he was thinking. It was raining today. "You look like you could use a little rain."

She watched him realize he was glaring at her and attempt to school his expression. This was even funnier, but she managed to keep a straight face.

"Yes, Instructor," he said with a voice that came as close to meekness as she had ever heard it. Good, he had been listening.

"You can check out a car, if you want," she conceded. "I'll be watching the front gate in two hours. I expect to see you soaking wet. Dismissed." He strode from the room.

She rested her head on her arms and giggled. After a while, the giggles died out, and she just sat there.