Disclaimer - FFVIII is not mine and I do not claim ownership of it. I do not make money off it either.
Baker's Dozen - A collection of thirteen stories exploring the hidden depths of thirteen FFVIII characters: Selphie, Squall, Seifer, Zell, Quistis, Irvine, Rinoa, Edea, Cid, Ellone, Fujin, Raijin, and Laguna. The stories won't necessarily be posted in that order, but eventually each character will get a story.
Pairings - Rinoa/Squall, pre-Seifer/Squall
Teaser - Selphie thinks about a few strange facts about her friends... the things they thought were hidden from curious eyes.
A Little Bit Strange
Everyone tended to underestimate Selphie's observational skills, which was just fine with her. She liked that people would unintentionally dismiss her as being the hyperactive crazy one who was obsessed with explosions. Not that there was anything wrong with a nice explosion every now and then.
But the others were so wrapped up in themselves that it was nice to be able to step back and see the things they overlooked.
There were a lot of little things that were odd about their group and it was those things that were a little bit strange that Selphie kept her eyes open for. Those were the things that interested her the most.
The most notable thing about their group was that everyone was in love with Squall. Quistis could say that she loved him like he were her little brother and Zell could say that Squall was his best friend and Irvine could pretend it was just him desperately wanting Squall's respect, but Selphie... Selphie knew that they were all in love with him. Even she was in love with him.
He was pretty, after all, in such a manner that if women weren't so busy crushing on him they'd hate that he was more beautiful than them. Squall also had those brooding qualities that seemed to inspire women to want to help make everything better by kissing away his problems. He was strong and capable, but with a rarely visible side that was completely, utterly vulnerable that, when it showed, resisting the urge to track him down and comfort him was nearly impossible.
It wasn't really fair that Rinoa got to have him, at least in Selphie's opinion. She wasn't deep enough, not that she was the shallow little girl Selphie had first met in Timber. Not anymore. But Rinoa didn't understand what it meant to be a soldier. She didn't understand why Squall's rare smiles were more precious than anything else in the world. She didn't understand that Squall felt everything so much more deeply than anyone else and that was why he buried himself beneath the facade of ice. She didn't understand why there was such a profound connection between Squall and Seifer despite everything that happened during the war.
Rinoa... just couldn't understand any of it. Selphie knew that everything Rinoa didn't comprehend about Squall would drive her away one day. The evidence was in the way Rinoa's smiles became less bright as the weeks passed and her eyes grew sadder as she watched Squall. Squall was simply too much for the Galbadian girl and it would break his heart when he finally realized it.
Selphie also knew that it would be Seifer who'd mend that broken heart of Squall's because Seifer... Seifer understood Squall better than he understood himself.
Another weird thing was how they reacted to Matron.
Edea Kramer had been their mother once. She'd loved them and raised them, promising them that they'd be a family forever. Then she'd abandoned them. Most were adopted and Edea let them slip through her fingers with regretful smiles and promises that they were going to better homes than she could provide.
Selphie knew for certain that she'd been a trophy child for a rich couple and that letting her attend Trabia Garden was the only thing they'd ever done for her that was really, truly for her. Irvine never talked about the family that adopted him. He'd change the subject, and not always subtly, in order to avoid having to say anything about them. The depth of his avoidance scared Selphie; she feared the things he might have been put through. Quistis spoke occassionally about the Trepe family. They were a kind, elderly couple who died in a car crash in Dollet. Zell's adoptive father had also been killed shortly after his adoption, but his mother was a kind woman who had taken all of his orphan siblings under her wing, Squall and Seifer in particular because they seemed to need a mother's love the most. After all, they were two who were simply abandoned at Garden without being given a family at all.
None of them resented Matron for her choices. However, Edea Kramer was no longer their mother. She could no longer guilt them into apologizing when they were wrong by looking at them in disappointment. Her hugs were no longer enough to make their sadness go away. Her smiles were not what they strove to earn for good deeds.
Matron did not seem to realize any of this and no one spoke of it to her. They all did still care for her and did not want to hurt her. They all felt they owed her that much, though if there was any sort of agreement regarding Matron, it was left unspoken.
Then there was the awkwardness with Laguna.
Selphie idolized Sir Laguna for living a life that he'd enjoyed so much.
Squall resented Laguna for never being there, though he was learning to forgive him.
Ellone still saw Laguna through a child's eyes - he could do no wrong where she was concerned - despite being the eldest of them all.
Irvine liked Laguna well enough, but distanced himself from the man on Squall's account.
Seifer enjoyed messing with Laguna, partly because Seifer messed with everyone and partly because Laguna was just too easy a target.
Zell considered Laguna to be a kindred spirit.
Quistis felt that Laguna was too childish in most things, but surprisingly mature in politics. She didn't seem to care much for him regardless.
Bringing up Laguna Loire amongst their group was always more than a little awkward, so his name drifted into the realm of borderline taboo subjects.
There was one thing, however, that Selphie was fairly certain only she had really noticed.
It had to be the strangest thing of them all.
Rinoa and Squall were dating, yet they'd almost been siblings. Laguna had once loved Rinoa's mother. In another life, he might have been Rinoa father instead of Caraway and Julia could have been Squall's mother instead of Raine. It hadn't worked out that way - they most definitely weren't even half-siblings - but it almost had.
Selphie got creeped out when she thought about it too hard. She was just glad that Rinoa wouldn't be sticking around too much longer.
A/N - While I am aware that, genetically, if Laguna and Julia had kids they would not physically be Squall and Rinoa. However, I'm having Selphie assume that the essence that makes up a person - let's call it a soul - will remain the same regardless. I'm sure most people recognized this on their own without me needing to lay it out for them but, having received criticism concerning my understanding of genetics (probably based on the fact that I'm not a Squinoa fan and didn't bother to give warning... which I've also fixed so as not to have to deal with people incapable of hitting the back button; all I can say is that at least this particular Squinoa fan was fairly polite), I wanted to clarify for anyone who might not have quite gotten the point of Selphie's final musing there.
