Disclaimer: Squaresoft owns ff8, need I say more?
DancE OF The StarS
Dance like no one is watching
Sing like no one is listening
Love like you'll never get hurt
Live like it's heaven on earth.
Tucking her knees close
to her chest, she stared up in awe at the vast, limitless expanse of stars that
gloriously spanned Balamb's night sky; a slight breeze permeating the
stillness, ruffling strands of silken golden hair and loosening tendrils from a
carefully arranged chignon. There was nary a noise to be heard, save for the
melodic strains of a waltz that was coming from the party, making her tap her
toe in time to the beat.
Sighing in wonderment, Quistis Trepe
embraced the feeling of contentment that washed over her as she sat there all
alone, despite the fact that she also felt insignificant in the face of such
splendor. That is, until her Seed instincts alerted her to the presence of
something, or someone, invading her solitude just a few feet from behind. She
let out a sigh, this time of annoyance. It figured that she couldn't have even
a few minutes to herself without one of her students trying to get her
attention.
"What do you want?" she asked
wearily.
"Ouch. I gather you're not glad I'm here,
Instructor?" mocked a rough, baritone voice.
Seifer
Almasy's. She'd recognize that voice anywhere, with that slightly inflected taunting
tone that seemed to have been there for as long as she could remember. Turning
around, ice blue eyes met amused, green ones.
"You could say
that," she agreed dryly.
"And who were you expecting?
Puberty Boy disentangling himself from Miss Sorceress long enough to come over
here and propose his undying love to you?" Seifer sneered. "Not highly
likely, my dear Instructor."
If Quistis had listened closely
enough, she would have been surprised to hear an unfamiliar note of bitterness
creep into his voice at that last comment. But she didn't, got quite annoyed, in
fact, that his comment had hit so close to home, so she just
mustered all her energy in hiding the resentment she was feeling at his barb.
"You're losing your touch, Seifer. You left out the part where Squall would
carry me off his white horse into the sunset and we'd live happily ever
after."
At that, Seifer only raised an immaculate
brow. He lay down next to
her, sprawling his long legs and using both arms as pillows. Leisure
personified, he was, and she had a feeling he wasn't leaving any time
soon.
"I would never have thought you a dreamer,
Instructor."
"I'm not," she lied, just
barely stifling a groan."Your comment just
lacked it's usual air of witticism to it, is all."
"Witticism? Now that's a nice word," he murmured
absently.
"My point exactly," she was only
too glad to retort. Score one for Quistis Trepe.
At the silence
that followed her remark, she looked down at Seifer and saw that he had his eyes
closed, as if he were sleeping. She studied him for a moment, taking in the
striking handsomeness of his countenance. A fallen angel would have looked like
this, she thought with a pang. She had the sudden urge to touch that marble skin
and feel the texture of it, somehow knowing that it would be as smooth as it
looked. But she resisted, common sense taking over folly at the last moment. His eyes fluttered, opened, and their eyes met for a split second before
she hastily turned away from him.
"I knew you couldn't take
your eyes off of me, but goggling is ridiculous, even for you," he said
laughingly.
"Yeah right, Seifer. I do not
goggle," Quistis scoffed,
but she could feel herself turning red nonetheless. Hastily, she added, "I was
merely wondering how
you could keep your eyes closed to so much beauty, all this splendor." Another lie, but better
than the truth.
"The beauty being you, Instructor?"
he asked softly, the
taunting tone strangely absent this time.
Just when she thought
she had it under control, she could feel her face flaming again. "No, of
course not," she answered emphatically. "I was talking about the sky,
for Hyne's sake, the stars, and how everything feels like this is supposed to be sacred," she
rambled on, thinking that he couldn't possibly understand what
she was talking about. Granted, Seifer was anything but stupid, but nature's
beauty and -- Seifer "I Am Worthier Than Thou" Almasy? Just didn't fit.
"I
agree."
SEIFER???
"Really, don't look so surprised,
Instructor. You're wounding me. I appreciate nature too, probably more than
you, or anyone, may think I do," he muttered, albeit a little defensively.
As if determined to prove his point, he squinted at the sky, and the next second
pointed out two bright stars with his fingers. "See?
There's Vega over there, and then there's Cygnus," he said smugly.He then turned to look at how she was taking all
this in, and scowled at the sight of the smile Quistis couldn't quite hide
behind her hand. "And it isn't funny, you know."
"Oh! Of course it
isn't, Siefer," she protested weakly, shaking her head while her smile
widened. "It's absolutely... enlightening." She coughed.
"Ah, there must be a
hidden meaning beneath that, but I won't deign to think about what it is," he replied
amiably, and then proceeded to thump her back while she coughed herself into
fits. "There, there, Instructor." Glancing at her pointedly, he smirked.
"At least I'm not a dreamer."
That sure got rid of her
coughing fit ... and her smile, he thought, suddenly oddly disappointed as
Quistis sought to right herself, and turned away from him in the process. He
hadn't realized that he actually liked to see her smiling, even though it was a
smile she thought he couldn't see. Then came a click, and he had an idea. Getting to his feet, he held out a hand to her and
grinned wickedly. "Would you care to dance, Quisty?"
Surprised at the sweet gesture and the use
of her childhood name, Quistis could only gape at him as her mind raced to
uncover what he was up to. Was he being serious? Or was
this just another one of his tricks?
"Aw, c'mon, Quisty, I
didn't sprout another head, did I?" he cajoled. "Dance with
me."
He looked so boyish then that she found, to
her utter disgust, that she didn't have the heart to turn him down. She sighed
inwardly, she'd just have to make sure that he wasn't planning anything dirty,
that's all. "Uh, okay, sure," she responded hesitantly, taking his hand
and allowing herself to be pulled upright. Lips twitching, she looked up at him.
"But I have to warn you, Seifer, I haven't danced in a long time," she
warmed him, almost forgetting her wariness at the exciting prospect before her.
It had been so long since she'd last danced...
"Then all the more
reason for dancing," he reasoned, as he encircled his arms on her waist and
pulled her close, breathing in the scent of wild roses that she wore. "Don't
worry, you've got yourself one of the best dancers of five continents
here,"
he tried to assure in that lazy voice, already feeling better after he'd seen her
smile.
"And certainly one of the humblest, too."
She wound her arms around his neck, and she let
herself be steered by his steps, moving along to the strains of the music.
"What are you doing out here, Seifer? And why aren't you at the
party?" she found herself asking.
"Too many questions, Quisty. Relax.
Just stop being an instructor long enough for one
dance."
"Okay," she agreed with a sheepish
smile, wanting to smack herself with a pot for almost letting her curiosity ruin
the moment.
Seifer was a great dancer, graceful and lithe in his
movements. Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same for herself; moments
later, she stepped on his foot. Hard.
"Arrggh," she
groaned in frustration.
He looked at her bemusedly and
actually chuckled. "Now shouldn't I be the one saying that?"
"Oh, er - yes, of course," she replied, blushing for the third time that evening.
She gazed at him helplessly. "I'm truly sorry, it's just that I get frustrated with my dancing skills
- or my
lack of them, rather" - she amended as he looked at her questioningly -
" that I - " She broke off at the sight of his grin.
"Hey, don't look so down, Quisty," he chided, chucking her chin up so he could once again drown in
those fathomless, azure depths of hers. "You didn't break anything," he reported
seriously.
"I should hope not," she said just as seriously,
then nodded her head as if she had just made a decision. "If I - if I don't get it
the first time, then I'll - "
- "Try out for second base,"
he
interrupted with a drawl, then ruined the effect by winking at her. She looked at him for a
second, then burst out laughing. Heaven.
It was magic dancing with him,
and she felt beautiful under his gaze. She even felt like a graceful dancer
under his ministrations, like they were two parts of a whole that had suddenly
become glued back again. He was different tonight, certainly different from the
Seifer she had known all her life. Maybe it was the enchantment of the setting, the
beauty of the place weaving a bond between Instructor and student, ice and
fire. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because they had freed themselves from the
clutches of expectations, and had finally allowed themselves a few moments of
escape from everyone and everything. For now, they were only two people having a
good time. Seifer Almasy and Quistis Trepe.
The minutes flew by in a blur, and before they knew it, the
waltz ended with a few lingering notes. The two of them stood still, two golden heads bent together, not really
dancing but just savoring each other's presence. Abruptly, it was Seifer who let go of
her and stood back, turning his face away. "Well, that was nice, Instructor.
You're not such a bad dancer after all," he commented with a sidewise smile,
tucking a wayward curl under her ear, but still not looking at
her.
At his words, Quistis felt her heart drop to her stomach as
realized the way he was addressing her, no longer with the warmth and camaraderie
they'd
shared moments ago. Clearly, whatever they had, if there had been something, was
already considered past. It was time to forget about it. She just had no idea
why she felt so awful. "Y-yes," she agreed shakily, then cleared her throat. When
she spoke again, her voice was clipped and emotionless. "It was, as you call
it, nice."
Silence.
"Don't you think you
should be going back inside, Seifer? It's your birthday they're celebrating,
after all," she reminded him, withdrawn once again.
He nodded,
then turned to walk away. With every step he took, she felt her heart constrict
and she almost asked him to stay. But she could not - would not do it; was a matter of
pride, of identity. Or was it? To admit her vulnerability would mean failure as an instructor.
No, she
repeated to herself.
She watched him go and felt her
heart leap a bit as he suddenly stopped and turned back to look at her, his hair glinting
silver in the moonlight, his eyes covered by
shadows. His voice, when he spoke to her next, was oddly gruff.
"Have you ever been kissed,
Instructor?"
She blinked at him, unsure whether to answer or not.
"No, never," she decided to answer.
He smiled a bitter smile
as he stared at her for a moment, relishing her beauty. A gilded
angel, she stared back at him, defiant in every way. She was cold as ice, and
so, so beautiful. Slowly, he made his way to
her, and leaned in close.
She could feel her heart beating fast,
and as he leaned in closer, she instinctively closed her eyes, anticipating -
she didn't know what. Soft, full lips brushed her temple and she immediately felt weak with longing. The moment
seemed to stretch to an eternity, then the lips left her skin. Swallowing down a
moan, she opened her eyes.
And then he was gone.
F/N: Tell
me your honest opinions, k? (Wasn't the word "instructor" overdone a bit?)
And not one of those comments that go something like: "Aw, not another
Seiftis!"; I ask for reviews and not complaints. Clear? Good. Oh, and tell me
if should let it stay like this (a one-shot), or if I should work on it more and
make it a mini-story or something. Thanks! :)