Tourniquet
Chapter One
Vacation, anyone??
A/N: I know you're all going to kick me for starting another story and not updating an old one, but this is an idea I've had for a long time, and keep intending to write it. (dodges rotten tomatoes and other fruits) This is one of those cheesy scary movie fics…except this time not only are the FF8 gang going along, also I'm going to try not to make everyone die because they do stupid things!! A scary movie with smart people! Man… Characters © Squaresoft (they will not even let me borrow Squall! Just to break up him and Rinoa! Come on!!!) And, yes, this is a Quall.
"I don't get it." Quistis Trepe said simply, staring at the menu on the table in front of her.
"What is it you don't get?" her companion asked, looking up at her with his gray-blue eyes.
"It says, 'veggie bowl', but has a picture of a squash. Squash is considered fruit." She said, and he shook his head, a rare smile appearing on his sharp features.
"You think too much." Squall said, and she looked back at the menu, shrugging lightly. The booth where the two sat was one of the few occupied in the small restaurant. Quistis began to look around the restaurant, studying the decorations, from the hanging globes to the crush velvet seats when the server arrived.
"What can I get you two?" she asked politely, and Squall looked at her, indicating he wanted her to order first. He was so easy to read sometimes…at least for her.
"I'll have the veggie bowl, without the squash please." She said, and the server scribbled something down on a pad of paper.
"Drink?" she asked and Quistis flipped to the back of the menu, then looked back to the waitress, who was young, probably even younger than they were.
"I'll have a diet soda." She said, and the server nodded.
"I'll have the T-bone steak. With a regular soda." He said, and the server scribbled something, then spoke as she wrote.
"And how would you like that done?" she asked, and Squall thought for a moment, then answered rather quickly.
"Medium." He said, and the server nodded.
"I'll be right back with your drinks." She said, and walked away, apparently to the kitchen. Quistis looked over to Squall, then, and saw a faraway look in his eyes.
"Squall? Are you all right?" she asked, and he nodded, then covered her hand with his own.
"I'm fine. Just a little…worried." He said, and she tilted her head a little, which he thought was adorable.
"Why?" she asked, and he let go of her hand.
"It's the two year anniversary of when we defeated Ultimecia." He said, and she nodded.
"I think you said the same thing last year, too. Squall, Ultimecia is dead, I promise. We've ridded the world of the sorceresses…well most of them anyways." She said, and he chuckled.
"And the only other sorceress left that we know of is probably driving around in some beat-up-car across the country with Seifer Almasy and his posse." He said, and Quistis nodded.
"Everybody deserves a vacation, Squall." She said, and raised her elegant eyebrows at him, which caused him to shrug.
" I cannot abandon the Garden, Quisty. I am the commander, remember? Me taking a vacation is like Cid taking a vacation." He said, and Quistis raised her index finger.
"And he is taking a vacation."
"More reason for me to stay," Squall said, and she was preparing herself to argue with him, until at the last moment the waitress brought over the food, and set it down in front of them. Quistis smiled gratefully, and thanked the waitress as she walked away,
"No buts about it, Squall. I have already cleared it with the higher officials in the Garden. They said everything is clear for about a week. And I have called up everyone at the orphanage-everyone except Seifer-and they all agreed to go. We are all going on a vacation." She said, and Squall took a rather oversized bite of his steak.
"…Whatever." He said, and she smiled.
"It's good to see you agree. We're leaving tomorrow around nine in the morning." She said, and he nearly choked.
" Why are you doing this to me again?" he asked, putting down his fork and looking her right in the eye. She leaned over the table and kissed him, which caused his face to turn a deep crimson red.
"Because I love you, Squall Leonhart. And I am not going to let you work yourself to death, got me?" she asked, and he nodded.
"But…I do have work to do." He said, and she half shrugged.
"I told you, it's under control. Now eat your steak, it's getting cold." She said, and he rolled his eyes.
"You were an instructor for way too long." He said, but took another bite of his steak. She was smiling at him, no doubt thinking about how she always got her way with him. Then he realized she wasn't eating, and raised an eyebrow.
"I ordered it without the squash for a reason. I'm allergic." She said, and distastefully pulled a piece of the yellow fruit out of the wooden bowl. Squall raised his hand, and beckoned for the server to the table where they sat. She walked over, still smiling as always.
"Is there a problem, sir?" she asked, and he reached over, picking up the piece of squash. The server shook her head, and lifted up the bowl.
"I'm quite sorry, ma'am. I told them no squash." She said, and took the bowl back to the kitchen. Quistis gave him a look that said, "I could've done that!" and Squall started to chuckle again.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"Nothing." She said, then looked up at the television, where a local broadcast was reporting the weather. Luckily for the two of them, (well, maybe not lucky for Squall) the weather was supposed to be sunny and warm for the rest of the week, with about a fifteen percent chance of rain. She was about to say something, then, but what came on the news next made her throat run dry.
Seifer and Rinoa were sitting there, wrapped in his gray trenchcoat, and he was clearly pissed off. Fujin sat on the other side of the bench. But Raijin was gone. According to the reporter, he had gone up missing a few hours ago, and his worried friends had gone looking for him, only to find one thing left of the large, rather burly man. His right shoe.
Squall had picked up that whatever was going on up there was important, and craned his neck to see the small television. He was nearly as shocked as Quistis, but was less surprised when Seifer decked a reporter for asking Rinoa a question that made her sob, and got dragged off screen by a pair of cops. Rinoa and Fujin followed him, clearly not wanting any member of the posse to be alone. Squall called the server over again, this time for the bill, and told her that they were leaving early, something had come up. Quistis nodded, and the commander took the bill. He dug in his back pocket for his wallet, then pulled out enough money to pay for dinner and tip the server. Then they picked up their coats and headed into the cold night.