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The Orphanage- Revisited.

Iiii

The sun reflected lightly on the softly breaking waves, very calm very still only to be broken by-

Irvine smiled as the short lively girl ran through the water awkwardly on bare feet, she winced as she feet hit something painful in the water. Her purser with his much longer legs quickly caught up with her and with long arms he reached out and grabbed her around the waist, throwing her into the sea.

She squealed as the tall blonde dumped her into cold water.

Seifer stood over his prey laughing until a certain cowboy snuck up on him and shoved him hard into the surf.

Selphie burst out laughing at the undignified look on the tall blonde's face as he lay sprawled in the shallow water.

Seifer glared daggers at the cowboy, quickly getting to his feet and lunging for him. Irvine jumped back easily able to dodge the clumsy tackle and he took off down the beach with the older man in pursuit.

One blue eye watched all the horseplay, his other eye closed against the sun.

Zell lay stretched out on his back on a white and blue striped sun lounger, he wore a pair of baggy knee length blue shorts and nothing else. His muscled skin gleamed in the midday sun having been slathered in sun lotion earlier that day. He had asked Selphie to apply the lotion to his back for him but she had giggled and volunteered Seifer for the task instead.

Irvine and Raijin had been found this extremely funny for some reason, the large dark man had made some sort of comment to Seifer that Zell didn't catch. Whatever it was had earned him a glare and punch in the arm.

Zell triple checked his arms for anything the older man might have done to make him look foolish. He had been very sceptical in allowing Seifer to put sun lotion on him but no one else seemed willing.

Selphie, Irvine and Raijin had sniggered amongst themselves and whispered things making Zell feel very suspicious and uncomfortable but then it was over and he had his sun lotion on and Seifer immediately disappeared off down the beach with the other three following him still laughing.

He turned his head to the other side seeing Squall standing there and staring into space as usual, Zell watching him turn his head slightly and noticed that he was actually watching their three friends down by the sea. He gazed at them almost mournfully with sad eyes.

"Why don't you go and join in?"

Squall frowned but didn't take his eyes off the trio by the sea.

"Are you going to stand there moping all day? Go and join in."

"I'm not moping." He mumbled.

"Oh because Squall Leonhart never mopes right?" The amused voice of Rinoa floated over from Zell's left.

The little blonde turned to look at her. "Hey, how'd it go?"

She nodded happily. "Great! I caught a fish!" She cheered all excited.

"Really?"

"Yeah! It was this big!" She held up her fingers only about three inches apart causing Zell to laugh.

"A whooper huh?" He asked. "So where's this fish then?"

"Well-" She looked sheepish. "I had to let it go."

"Ah." He teased. "I see you 'let it go'" He grinned.

"You don't believe me?!" She frowned. "I did catch a fish! Raijin was there!" She spun round to see Seifer's posse following her up the beach at a slower pace.

"Raijin tell Zell about the fish I caught!"

"Fish?" He smiled innocently and shared a look with Fujin. "I don't remember any fish, you know."

She sighed dramatically. "Oh that is so unfair. You believe me don't you Squall?"

The brunette blinked as if just noticing she was there at all. "Hmm?"

Zell rolled his eyes. "Go and join in."

Squall frowned.

"You can frown all you want but I know you feel left out." Zell got off the lounger and stretched. "Who's turn was it for the lounger?"

Squall moved to take his place, just perching on the end of it and continued to stare down the beach. He blinked at the now empty shore line.

They all turned to look around the beach.

"Where-?" Fujin started to say.

Irvine came running at full speed up the beach and stood behind Zell.

"Hide me!" He announced.

Zell tried to look behind him. "What the hell are you doing?"

The cowboy gripped onto him and stayed low. "Shush I'm hiding."

"Hiding from wha-?"

Seifer screeched to a halt in front of Zell and tried to reach around him to get at Irvine.

Selphie came in last, laughing all the way.

"Hey!" Zell leaned from side to side as the older blonde reached his arms over his head, beside his head, past his waist to try and grab the cowboy.

"Will you two stop-?"

He turned around but the cowboy had a grip on his shorts and turned around with him.

"Get off!" He slapped Irvine's hands away. "You two can leave me out of it!"

Irvine grinned. "But I think Seifer would much rather play with you then me!" He winked at the tall blonde who told behind Zell, gaping at him in shock and then frowned at him.

Zell scoffed. "Yeah right." He moved out of the way causing Irvine to step back to late and Seifer grabbed him.

"Ahh! Seifer! Don't you dare!"

Seifer hoisted him up over one shoulder, everyone watched the cowboy struggle desperately.

"Right." Seifer announced grinning. "Off to the water then." He marched off down the beach with his prize.

Selphie laughing hurrying after them and Rinoa went too.

Zell just shook his head, looking over at Squall who was staring into space again.

"Come on let's go watch Irvine get wet." He tugged squall off the lounger and onto his feet but then he dug his heels and refused to go any further.

"Oh come on Squall! It'll be fun! Better than standing here watching the world go by without you all the time."

The brunette reluctantly let himself be dragged down the beach.

By the time they got to the shore Seifer was standing knee deep in the sea trying to throw the cowboy in, his prisoner was suddenly holding on for dear life.

Seifer grunted under the extra weight.

"Stop struggling, damn cowboy!"

Zell snuck up on them and unhooked Irvine hands, pushing him off. His friend looked horrified right before he plunged into the sea.

Zell laughed with Selphie and Rinoa

Seifer stood over his victim looking smug.

"Zell cheated!" Irvine huffed.

Seifer spun round to turn on Zell.

"Does Chickie want to play too?" He grinned.

Zell took a step back. "No way asshole you can leave me out of it." He backed up as Seifer reached for him.

"Squall wants to play more!"

"Huh?" The brunette looked up hearing his name.

Seifer looked over at Squall giving Zell the chance to slip past and run up the beach.

The tall blonde frowned and took chase, he went by Squall on the way and gave him a hard shove into the sea. "Go play with Irvine!"

The brunette collided with the cowboy who had been starting to get up sending them both back into the sea with a splash.

Squall got straight back up again, shrugging off Irvine's hands and glared at him.

"Hey, hey don't blame me darlin' Seifer pushed you not me!"

The moody brunette spun on the heel and stormed off, a homicidal look in his eyes.

Rinoa and Selphie traded a look before Rinoa went after Squall.

Zell ran around the back of sun lounger, Seifer stood on the other side trying to get him.

~iiii~

Quistis stood on the cliff with Edea watching the chaos down below.

They had all been invited down to Centra to help rebuild the orphanage. The gang had only arrived yesterday so today was rest day, the work could wait until tomorrow. Matron had assured them that they would have loads of fun! Seifer had made a fuss at first about having to work on his holiday but everyone seemed up for it so he soon joined in. The old building only had three rooms fully intact, the rest of the place had the roof missing over the other rooms, that's what the gang were there to fix.

The main living room was also a dining room and kitchen rolled into one, Edea's room and a small and very basic bathroom. The gang slept in a large room that was missing a wall, Edea had put a large thick curtain over the side with no wall and the same curtain through the middle to separate the girls and the guys.

Cid wasn't there as he was back at garden covering for Squall.

Quistis had spent the morning looking through the pile of DVDs that matron had got in for the gang to watch.

She smiled at Bambi, remembering when they watched that as kids and Zell cried. She raised an eyebrow at the DVD with Laguna on the front cover in his knight armour.

And then she saw.... "The return of the raging Marlboros?!"

Edea saw her expression.

"Zell requested that film, I asked him if he could think of any movie that you all might like to see."

Quistis scoffed. "Zell's been trying for months to get someone to watch with him." She shook her head. "No one wants to be seen renting that from the shop." She chuckled. "The attack of the raging Marlboros was bad enough." She smiled. "At the end of the film Seifer complained that he had just wasted two and half years of his life that he'd never get back."

Quistis winced with a chuckle as Squall was shoved into the sea and then stormed off in a huff.

Edea shook his head watching Squall disappear from sight down below and a second later he appeared up the steps behind them.

"Oh dear what happened?" Quistis asked, not that she didn't already know.

The brunette just frowned at her and hurried into the house.

Rinoa appeared up the steps a second later, her hands resting on her thighs panting and out of breath. She glanced questioningly up at Quistis and Edea.

The blonde pointed the side door where Squall had gone through and she tiredly walked in that direction.

"So Squall's still-?"

Quistis nodded. "Yes but we think he's got a little better, a year ago he wouldn't have even come down to the beach with us he would have hid in his room."

She glanced down at the beach watching Seifer dive over the lounger and tackle Zell to the sand.

"I think Rinoa helps a bit, I imagine he talks to her or at least she says he does. Sometimes he mostly joins in with us but in a lurking sort of way."

Seifer had Zell by the ankles now and was trying to drag him down the beach towards the sea, the little blonde was reaching out desperately for anything that would slow him down or stop himself for being taken down the beach.

"And Seifer's okay?"

Quistis nodded. "Last year when he first got back to garden things were a little strange for a while, especially as Raijin and Fujin were already sort of part for our little group." She smiled. "And then Seifer and Irvine became partners in crime."

Edea raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Last Christmas they decided they would rent this cabin in the mountains of Trabia for everyone including Squall but he wouldn't go no matter how much prodding we gave him." She paused, chuckling at the scene below them.

Seifer had pulled Zell into the sea, the little blonde wriggling free and swam off, refusing to come back to the shore.

"So?" Edea prompted.

"So they kidnapped him."

Edea laughed. "Really?"

Quistis nodded. "One day they went up to his office and stole him, tied him up, wrapped him a sack, threw him over Seifer's shoulder and they just walked out of garden."

They both laughed.

"Of course he wasn't happy about it when we got to the cabin, he was determined to walk to the nearest village, almost gave himself pneumonia in the process."

Two blonde shapes swam around in circles, one moving ahead of the other one till his pursuer caught his leg and started to reel him in.

Zell struggled and struggled, kicking and screaming. And suddenly it looked like Seifer just let go... Zell was getting away.

Quistis frowned. "What's going on down there?"

The little blonde had stopped, standing up now in waist deep water and he went back in and helped pull the older man out of the sea.

The two women glanced at each other in confusion as the two walked up the beach together.

"So are Squall and Rinoa still together?"

"God no that didn't last long but they are still close, he gets on better with her than he does with the rest of us."

The beach was empty now except for the sun lounger.

"I said I was sorry!"

"Who's stupid idea was it to not bring any magic or Guardian forces?"

"It was a joint decision remember? We voted."

Voices drifted up the stone stairs before the figures appeared.

Seifer stood holding a hand over the left side of his face.

"Great, you better not have broken anything Chickie or I'll string you up."

"Well if you hadn't been chasing I wouldn't have been able to kick you in the face."

Seifer glared at him with the one eye that wasn't covered up by his hand.

"I said I was sorry." Zell repeated.

Edea sighed. "What happened?"

"Zell kicked me in the face!"

"It was an accident!" Seifer's being a child!"

"I'll get you some ice, come into the house."

"Thanks Matron."

~>