Another rec by the lovely caduceus03:

Title: Grasshopper
Author: Twig
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Pairing: Squall/Seifer, past Squall/Rinoa
Category: Angst, Action, Established Relationship, Future, Amnesia, Post-Series, First-time (in flashbacks)
Length: Epic
Warnings: n/a

Author on LJ: twigcollins
Website: Eukaryotic Cell Division - Divide and Conquer

Author's Summary: Twenty-five years after the game, Squall wakes up from an accident to find that many things have changed.

Review:
This story makes me so utterly happy because it takes a really neat plot device that was not used to its full potential in the game and does something really neat with it. Essentially, the magic system of the game has an important side effect: amnesia.

In the story, Squall wakes up after overdoing it with magic and discovers that his wife Rinoa is no longer in the picture and that for the past twenty-five years he's been with Seifer, former rival and enemy in the game (though he was sorta brainwashed, to be fair). Twig deftly manages Squall's confusion as he navigates this unfamiliar world and provides a plausible scenario for their first time. Good guy!Seifer is just right – he's not turned into some crusading hero doing the right things, but fights for more personal, what he may call selfish reasons, namely for the people he cares about. There's even plot! I don't want to say much about it because I love the way Twig unveils it chapter by chapter though.

Grasshopper