heed the rating change - it was done for a reason. if you aren't aware of the type of fic this is by now, you deserve what you get.

Regret

Chapter 24 - Regret, Reprise

<fin>

By YuriNigasa

Love was a precious thing. Unable to be bought or sold at any price, it couldn't clothe you, or feed you, or house you. Elusive. That one thing that wasn't necessary for life, yet made life worth living.

What was the point of living when what had finally made life worth living was gone?

Seifer refused to open his eyes. He had passed through the gate of the orphanage into a world of darkness. All around him were hushed whispers and quiet murmurs. Voices that mourned the dead. Seifer didn't want to live in that world beyond the darkness. Let the voices mourn him as well.

Light steps echoed around him. Like the children in his memory, but there was only the sound of one pair of feet now. A child alone. Abandoned. What would become of a child in a place like this?

"Unca Sifa? Mommy is him gonna get up?"

Uncle Seifer?

"Shh, Lia. He's still asleep. I promise if... when he wakes up you can talk to him okay?"

"Ohhh-kay." The tiny footsteps echoed again as they receded.

Footsteps again. This time heavier, the stride even and pronounced.

"How is he?"

"No change."

"This waiting is maddening. I feel so powerless. What if the only chance we had didn't work?"

Hey ladies don't you know - the 'what if' game is a bitch. Trust me on that one.

"How is..."

"He's reading a book to Lia. Or was. What he needs to be doing is sleeping."

"And he's ever listened to us when?"

"I was extremely lucky to be able to get him out when I did. A body can't survive without..."

Two sets of footsteps echoed in a counterpoint rhythm and faded in the darkness.

Who were these voices? They sounded so familiar. Did they live in his mind like the children?

Quiet again. Alone. So much of the precious time he had he had squandered. Now he was left alone with only his regrets.

Soft shuffle of feet now. A click. Feel of breath on his ear. Caress of a hand across his cheek, a finger on his lips.

That scent.

Pressure of lips on his.

Without thought Seifer nuzzled closer, mouth opening to graze across the silken skin of the lips against his. He raised a hand and felt the delicate strands of soft hair. Twining his fingers through the hair, he felt a hand on his chest trail upward to hook behind his neck. Seifer felt a weight on his chest and he pulled the weight into him.

"Seifer."

Flashback of a hot afternoon on the road to Iba. Beautiful, enigmatic, confused pale blue gaze. Jaw slack, brow furrowed, hair caressed by the breeze. That tone was the same. The voice was the same.

His hands began to roam across delicate arms, nails trailed across a smooth chest, fingertips caressing an etched profile, matching in every way the memory that had engraved itself in his mind forever.

A tongue darted across the sensitive flesh at the base of his neck while hands pushed upward under his shirt. Nails flicked across his nipples and he groaned deep in his throat. As if it had been the catalyst, as he groaned became aware of every sensation against his skin. Seifer felt his arousal pressing against the fabric of his pants, frustrating yet tantalizing. Feeling the friction of his calloused palms against taut chest muscles, he pushed the worn cotton fabric of the shirt off and dropped it to the floor. He felt the skin contract in the cool air as hands worked his own shirt off in reciprocation. Legs straddled his hips and he felt the solid heat of an erection against his own.

Seifer ran his hands down the sculpted sides of the torso, pulling down on the hips while raising his own to grind in a motion that was nothing short of primal. A mouth on his, rough and demanding, teeth biting down against his lower lip and pulling gently before beginning another assault, tongue pushing into his mouth as he responded in turn. It was a battle for dominance and a cry of submission all at once.

Thin fingers encircling his wrists, pulling them up above his head, making him a willing captive. Seifer bucked his hips, lifting the entire weight of the body above him. A startled gasp from the mouth on his took the very breath from him. The hands relinquished his wrists and traveled across the muscles of his arms and chest, trailing down in a random pattern to rest above the button of his pants. With a half-articulated moan he took the initiative and roughly moved the hands away, slipping the button open and pulling the zipper down as far as he could. A soft chuckle reached his ears and he felt the weight on his hips slide down, deliberately grinding on his erection.

Lithe fingers pulled the zipper down completely and he felt a finger tease along the outside of his pants and slip under the waistband of his boxers. Hands pulled down and he felt the last of his clothing being taken off. The weight that had been pressing down on him was gone. He heard the sounds of clothing being removed and a soft thump as it was tossed against the wall. Then, Seifer felt heat.

Every single cell in his body reacted to the feel of skin on skin. His hands reached out and grasped a handful of hair and pulled gently, demanding the contact of mouth to mouth. Stretched out, he felt the lines of his existence blur and merge with the heat above him. Hips gyrated in a synchronized rhythm as a shaft against his own created a friction so intense it made him whimper. Fingers explored his face and traced his lips as he took one finger in his mouth. Seifer ran his tongue around it and began to suck gently. He was rewarded with an intense moan and the body above his shifted as his erection was encircled by a slick hand.

Running his hands across the defined musculature of the back, he ran his hands further down to squeeze the firm flesh of the ass, one hand gently probing between the cheeks to find the tight opening hidden between them. Teasingly, he circled around the opening before slowly sliding in a finger. The hand around his cock pumped, sending shivers of anticipation through his body. Another finger slid in, then another. He withdrew only to find the hand removed from around him and a tightness unlike anything he had ever felt surrounded him. Pushing upward he felt the passage constrict around him as he felt an uncontrollable tremor shake his body.

Teeth grabbed at his lower lip, biting and pulling roughly as he arched up. Finding a pace, the two bodies rocked against one another as hands and lips continued to explore. Hot breath and heavy groans assaulted his ear as the pace became frantic and primal. Stifled moans against his neck gave way to breathless cries as he felt a sticky heat splatter across his chest and the dead weight of satiation bore down on him. Seifer began to pump viciously as he growled in frustration. Aftershocks rippled through the body above him and in one final thrust, Seifer spent himself, then collapsed backward.

In the silence that followed he felt the warmth of an embrace wrap itself around his body.

At last, Seifer opened his eyes. Gazing at him were the clear blue eyes of the man he loved and thought he had lost.

"Squall." Tears pricked at Seifer's eyes and he knew that he had somehow been given a second chance.

"Welcome home."

This time, there would be no regrets.

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