This is written out of a prompt from a question from Past Year English 1119 of Malaysian government exam, SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia). The prompt was taken from 2004 past year question which then turned to fic. So here it is.
WARNING. SPOILERS AHEAD. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
Nine and Ace (c) Square Enix
Final Fantasy Type-0 (c) Square Enix
The smell of spring indicates the oncoming peace. Of course, that was just an illusion to Peristylium Suzaku Magic Academy's students. Ever since Milites Empire invaded Dominion of Rubrum, war had been a common occurance and peace had almost became an illusion. Everyday, the Rubrum's citizens lived in fear, worrying that their nation would be similar to the Lorican Alliance, which was decimated by Milites's Ultima Bullet. There was no trace of the great nation left, other than a huge crater that signifies Milites's might.
But now, the short blonde male (other than the other short male who is a brunette) of Class Zero, Ace, was lying in the grasslands of the Chocobo ranch, napping. The chocobos were running around: some were grooming themselves while some were playing with the chicks. The sight itself somehow showed the peace that one would never imagine when war was raging outside. As the breeze blew by, Ace inhaled and smiled, until a shadow loomed over him.
"Hey, Ace! So this is where you are!" A gruff voice said as he smirked at the other. "I was looking for you! Damn, you really love to be here." The tall blonde rambled on while blocking the sun from the smaller blonde. Annoyed with having his quiet time interrupted, Ace opened his eyes and blinked a few times to get use to his sight. His eyes narrowed when the vision of his focused and Nine's face was above his. Glaring, he turned over in silence, deciding not to talk to the noisy idiot.
Unamused with the reaction he was given, Nine was about to rage, when a Chocobo ran up and pounced on him. A surprised yelp left from the older's mouth, and started to order the Chocobo to leave him when the yellow bird nuzzled to him. Of course, that failed terribly as more Chocobos came over and repeated that same action to him; even the chicks! Because of that, Nine could not help but started to laugh as the chocobos had somehow nuzzled at his ticklish spot.
The sounds of laughter caught Ace's attention and the younger sat up to watch the other struggled. Grinning, he rested his head on his hands and watched. When Nine noticed the younger watching him, he held out a hand to the other, asking for help. Ace ignored it and asked for a cadet nearby to release all chocobos. And with that immediate action, a flock gathered around Nine and a loud wail was heard.
After a few minutes, Ace shooed the Chocobos away, leaving a mass of unknown being covered with yellow feathers. Chuckling, he poked Nine to see if he was alive. The tall blonde flinched a little before turning to Ace and narrowrd his eyes.
"Why did you not save me, bastard?!" Nine asked with a low growl as he pushed his body up. Ace blinked and chuckled, earning an awkward look from the other.
"Sorry. It's just so rare to see how affectionate Chocobos are to someone else other than me."
"Ah? Then what made me so special?"
Ace gave it a thought and smirked.
"Maybe because of your hair? Since it looked like a Chocobo's head..."
The two stared in silence for a while, before Nine broke as he looked at a nearby Chocobo walking and compared his hair with the Chocobo's head.
"HAAAA?! JUST BECAUSE THE BACK OF MY HAIR IS SIMILAR TO THE FEATHER AT THE BACK OF THAT BIRD'S HEAD, DOESN'T MEAN I AM A BIRD! Wait...ARE YOU SAYING I AM A BIRD BRAIN?! ARE YOU SAYING I AM AN IDIOT?!"
Ace could not help but to laugh. He laughed so much that Nine could not help but to laugh as well. After all, who could resist the other's laughter? It had a nice ring to it and it is contagious, well to Nine. Once they calmed down, Ace lied next to Nine and stared up to the sky. Both of them talked and laughed on stupid little things.
As time passed by, a soothing breeze blew by, as though caressing both of them and inviting them to sleep. Nine had done so, leaving Ace to stare in disbelief. But it was a nice feeling, and Ace gently brushed the other's hair. Nine was one of the classmates that he rarely spoke with yet they can do it now because of the time they were in. He smiled, then lied down and closed his eyes.
'We had never laughed so much in our lives,' Ace thought. 'But to be able to do it with Nine, and others, it was all good...' Ace opened his eyes, and looked around. Lying next to his classmates in the ruins of his classroom, he could feel the pain coursing through his body. But he was fine with that. Because when he looked at his classmates, despite body tattered with blood plastered on their body, their expressions showed how peaceful and happy they were. Showing how happy they were to be together in their final moments.
Ace smiled and then closed his eyes, before his body went limp, and prayed.
'May we meet again in the future.'