As the Days Go By
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You've got a way with words
You get me smilin' even when it hurts
There's no way to measure what your love is worth
I can't believe the way you get through me"
~Shania Twain
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Author's note; this is my cute little romance story about Quistis and Irvine growing up together. Yay! I don't own anything, in this story anyway. It's kinda fast but o well. O yeah, a few little tiny Saifuu and Zelphie hints, but this story focuses on Quisty and Irvy, sorry! They all start out being either 3 or 4. And this isn't the best I can do, I just wanted to write it, and I've been piecing it together for a long time now, so this idea was original when I first started it; other people finished their childhood-romance things before me. Anyway, enough babbling, this is pretty original either way, so....enjoy! (And no, I don't suck this bad at spelling. It's how they talked back then. M'Kay? M'Kay.)
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A soft summer breeze blew through the flower field, playing with a little blonde girl's hair. She sat there, cross-legged, while her friends ran around the small orphanage playing war. The little girl had made a small tiara of wildflowers and placed it over her golden locks, and continued picking flowers to make another one for her caretaker. She hummed a tune to herself that she had learned somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. Her beautiful, sparkling blue eyes were fixed contentedly on her hands, weaving flowers together, almost ready to present it in gratitude to the woman that took care of them all out of pure will.
"Yoo gotta preddy voice, Quisty." Said a small voice behind her. The 4-year-old Quistis turned her head to face a smirking Irvine.
She smiled widely and waved excitedly at her friend. "Hi Irvy! Help me pick flowers foor Matron."
"Ok!" The small boy agreed. He walked up to her and plopped down next to his little blonde friend.
"I thought yoo were playin' with Sefie."
"I wuz, but I got bored."
Quistis was about to respond when she looked up from what she was doing and saw Seifer and his mini-posse standing there with their hands on their hips. "Hey look guys! It's the brat and the dork!" Seifer taunted.
"Go away, Seifer." Quistis said, then went back to weaving flowers.
"Hey, don't talk about us like that, you bully!" Irvine argued to Seifer, ignoring that Quistis had said anything to them. No-one talked to him or his friends that way, especially not Seifer! Besides, he was only three, maybe this would impress Quisty...
"Shut up, twit!" Fujin remarked.
"Make me!" Irvine stood up, challenging the platinum-haired girl, his little hands clenched into fists.
"She said shut up, yoo know?!" Raijin piped up, and stood next to Fujin.
"Hey, yoo guys can't gang up on me! It in't fair!" Irvine yelled.
"Stop it yoo three!" Quistis screamed.
Not listening, Fujin and Raijin began pushing Irvine between them, like a ball.
"Stop!" Quistis tried again but to no avail.
"Really, stop it." Seifer said. Fujin and Raijin immediately stopped, but Fujin took the liberty of tripping Irvine first.
Quistis got up and went over to Irvine, who was now trying not to cry. She sat beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.
"No, leave him alone. Get Quisty over here." Seifer decided.
Fujin pulled Quistis' hair while Raijin pulled her up by the arm, not gently at all.
"OWIE!" Quistis cried, and tears began to spill from her eyes. Raijin threw her to the ground, and Fujin let go of her hair. Quistis lay there crying, and Irvine started to get up.
"What'cha got there, Quisty?" Seifer asked, pointing at the ring of flowers in her hand.
"It's for Matron." She pouted, beginning to stop crying.
"Lemme see."
"NO!"
"C'mon!" Seifer grabbed for it, but Quistis pulled it away.
"Leave me alone!"
"Not till you let me see it!"
"I said no, now go away!" Quistis stomped her foot as she said this.
Seifer grabbed for it again, and pulled it from her hands.
"Give it back!" Quistis demanded, trying to snatch it back.
"You wunnit back?" Seifer looked at the object in his hands, and ripped it apart, throwing it at her feet.
Quistis began to cry hysterically, and the posse walked away laughing. Irvine came up beside her, and put one small arm around her shoulders, and rubbed the top of her head with the other. "It's ok Quisty, he's just bein' a big jerk. Let's go tell Matron."
Quistis nodded, and with his arm around her, they began walking towards the orphanage.
"It's ok, Quisty, please don't cry." Irvine soothed.
"Why's Seifer so /mean/?" Quistis said more as a demand then a question.
"Cuuuuuuuuuuz he just thinks he's better than everyone else, I guess."
"Did you get that from Matron?" Quistis asked, sniffling.
"Yeah." Irvine laughed. Quistis giggled a little and smiled slightly.
"Yoo feel better?"
Quistis nodded and wiped her nose. "Yeah. Thanks Irvy."
"Anytime." He said, then they walked hand-in-hand into the orphanage to tell on Seifer.
**2 years later**
"EEK!" Selphie ducked behind the table as a flying toy soared through the air. Quistis, Ellone and Fujin squatted beside her. They were playing war again, girls against boys.
"They're winning, but we can do this." Selphie acted as a coach.
"Hmm..." Quistis looked around the messy room for anything that could be useful. She spotted a pair of padded nun-katchus, a frisbee, and a piece of a vine from the forest. "Sefie, take this," She handed her green-eyed friend the nun-katchus, then picked up the frisbee and handed it to Fujin and took the vine for herself. "Sis, you stay here and guard the treasure!"
"Ok! ...We have treasure?" Ellone asked.
"Um...do we?" Quistis wondered.
"Duh, of coorse we do! That's what the war is 'bout!" Selphie stated matter-of-factly.
"Ooooooooooh." Fujin, Ellone and Quistis all mused at the same time.
"So let's go!" Exclaimed Quistis, and with that, they charged forward from behind the table over to the boys' side of the room. The boys stood up to see what they were screaming about, then began screaming, themselves, when they saw the girls charging right at them. Selphie began whacking Raijin, Quistis whipping Seifer, and Fujin throwing the frisbee at Squall, Zell and Irvine who desperately tried to duck.
Matron heard all of the screaming in the other room, but figured it was just a new game of theirs, and thus ignored it. Then, suddenly, "MATROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The slim woman ran into the next room, and was welcomed by Raijin hugging her leg, Fujin next to a crying Seifer, Selphie beside a wailing Zell, Ellone holding Squall's hand, and Quistis comforting the fallen Irvine.
"Oh, no....."Matron muttered, covering her face in exasperation. Then she sighed, "Who called me?"
All the kids looked at each other, not wanting to be called a tattle-tale, and then suddenly everyone pointed to Zell, who began screaming even louder.
"You all have some explaining to do." Matron crossed her arms.
**5 hours later**
All of the children sat in a row across the floor, leaning against the wall. Matron had given them a lecture on safety, not beating each other up, and how they should all be more careful. Afterwards, she started reading them stories to make up for it. It was nearly 21:00 hours and they were all tired, except for a few. Quistis and Irvine had already fallen asleep, leaning against one another for support. Seifer, Fujin and Raijin, of course, were going to tease them to no end about this the next day. Zell was curled up, sleeping, next to little Selphie, who was wide awake and plenty hyper.
"Matron! Read one 'bout Sorceresses and knights!!" The small, lively girl suggested.
Matron smiled sweetly, and opened the next book to her request.
"Yeah, I'm gonna be a knight when I grow up!" Seifer announced, making sword-fighting motions with his arm.
"I wanna be a sorceress!" Fujin pointed out.
They both looked over expectantly at Raijin, but he was already asleep, sucking his thumb.
Seifer shrugged. "Ah, well. Hey Fuu, I can be your knight!"
"Okay!" She smiled happily.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeey, Matron, I wanna be a knight too! Can I be a knight?" Squall asked, pleading with puppy-dog eyes.
"No way, nerd! I'm gonna be a knight, you're just a copy-cat!"
"Of course you can, Squall." Said Matron, ignoring Seifer's comments.
"No you can't!" Fujin stuck her tongue out at the boy.
"Yes he can!" Ellone came to Squall's defense.
"No he can't!" Fujin and Seifer both yelled.
"Yeah huh!" Ellone and Squall argued.
"No!"
"Yeah!
"Uh-uuuuuh!"
"Yes hu-uh!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"STOPPIT YOU GUYS!!!" Selphie screeched, standing up in aggravation.
Then, all five of them stood up and began screaming at each-other, when finally, Matron stood and yelled at them, "WILL YOU ALL PLEASE QUIET DOWN!!"
They all immediately stopped talking, considering the fact that Matron rarely rose her voice at them, and when she did, she was dead serious.
"Sorry Matron." They all mumbled as one.
After much confusion and lots of whining, they all finally got in bed, except for Irvine and Quistis, who had somehow managed to stay sleeping through all the commotion.
Matron looked lovingly at the two, smiling a little to herself. She shook her head slowly in wonder. "I don't know /what/ I'm going to do with you two." She joked, "I guess love comes at an early age."
**1 year later**
"Hm......" A 7-year-old Seifer stood in the snow, tapping his foot and rubbed his chin as if in deep thought, which was really a funny sight, seeing as he was so small. "I piiiiick...Fuu!"
The little albino girl smiled and skipped over beside her friend.
Quistis stood with her hand on her hip, surveying the small group of kids. Ellone had been taken away that summer, and they all missed her, but it was a time like this where Quistis really wished she had Ellone and her pitching arm. After all, even the boys knew that she was the best at throwing snowballs. Remembering this, Quistis' eyes fogged up for a second, but then she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Well....I guess I'll take.....Irvy."
Irvine jumped for joy and ran next to the pretty blue-eyed girl. He had just recently noticed how much he appreciated girls, and it showed, too.
"Ok.....Raijin!" Seifer called.
"Sefie!" Quistis said.
"Aw, man....I guess....Squall!"
"ZELL!!!!" Selphie yelled.
"WHAT?!?!?!" Zell screamed back.
"YOU'RE ON OUR TEAM!"
"OH!" With that, Zell ran over to the trio.
"Ok, Seifer, you guys go over there," Quistis pointed to two trees standing next to eachother, "And we'll go over there." She pointed to a small hill, encircled by trees.
"No way! /We/ go over there!" Seifer protested.
"Nuh-uhhhh! We called it first!"
"Well I called it second, and second is best!"
"No it's not! I called first, and so we get it cuz that's what I said!"
"WE GET IT!"
"NO, WE DO!"
"WE DO, BRAT!"
"/WE/ DO, DIP-WAD!"
"STOP IT YOU GUYYYYY-YS!" Zell shrieked.
But, instead, everyone began making snowballs and chucking them at each-other, hard. After a series of "Ow"'s, "Stop it!"'s, screams, shouts and a big blur of white, everyone was running after eachother as if all hell broke loose and they're friends were evil demon people trying to kill them. Selphie and Zell were running away from Siefer and Fujin, who were pelting them with snowballs with all the strength in their tiny little bodies while Zell and Selphie screamed bloody murder with their arms flailing around freely in the air. At the same time, Squall and Raijin were stuffing snow in eachother's faces, and Quistis and Irvine had begun a wrestling match for no apparent reason.
Quistis and Irvine accidentally moved themselves to the top of a hill, and started rolling down. Tumbling, tangling, laughing all the way down, they landed with a thump right in front of a slender pair of legs. They both stopped laughing, (and they were laughing because they were playing, not trying to kill eachother,) and trailed the legs up with their eyes to see an almost amused Matron. She eyed them jokingly, and smiled.
"Quistis? Would you so kindly explain to me why Irvine is on top of you?" She asked, eyebrow quirked up.
"We were playin'!" She announced happily.
Matron giggled at Quistis's innocence and told Irvine to get off of her. He jumped up and offered a hand to Quistis, who took it and stood up. "Thanks, Irvy!" Her sweet voice rang out like a birdsong.
"Weclome!" He replied.
Matron laughed again. They were so cute! Irvine would probably grow to be a ladies' man of some sorts, and Quistis would most likely be quite popular with the boys. Maybe even with Irvine, from the way they played and talked. Irvine already had a small crush on Quistis, Matron could tell.
Interrupting Matron's thoughts, a small army of six came prancing and yelling down the small hill. Fujin was in the lead, followed closely by Seifer, Selphie and Zell right behind him, and Squall just on the tail, with Raijin in the back. Raijin, being slightly clumsy, slipped. He slid forward, knocking them down as a chain reaction. Quistis and Irvine were smart enough to get out of the way, and just as they did, their friends came zooming down and knocked down Matron. They were in a huge heap; Seifer was sprawled over Fujin, who had fallen on Matron's lap; Raijin was laying under Zell and Selphie, who were tangled up with Seifer. Squall had slid away from them, and sat on the snow next to Irvine and Quistis, all the while spraying them with snow. And then, they all burst out laughing, including Matron.
**1 hour later**
"S'c-cold, in't it, S-Sefie...?" Zell Stammered. Matron had put on a fire, and got them all to cuddle up. They changed out of their wet clothes first, of course. As a small "punishment" for getting out of hand, she put them in boy-girl order. Seifer, Fujin, Raijin, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, and since Ellone wasn't there anymore, she was forced to put Squall. She laughed at her odd game. Setting 6 and 7 year-olds up very subtly, yeah, that made a lot of sense. Well, at least she could joke about it later on with them, when they found different people and were married with children. Hm...well, even though she knew that none of them would ever work it out with eachother, it was still fun to pretend, but she didn't even know why she thought that way. Oh well. They were still cold, but that was to be expected after soaking themselves with the snow. So, she watched them all cuddle, and smiled.
**6 months later**
"C'mon, Quisty! Wake up!" Irvine stood next to Quistis' top bunk that was over Selphie's bed, shaking her shoulder slightly, with Selphie standing next to him. They whispered, very careful so as not to get caught. It was around midnight, Matron would get really mad.
"Okay, I'm comin'! Who's got the fireworks?" She whispered back.
"The booger-brain gang!" Selphie snickered.
"Shhhh, Sefie!" Irvine scolded his best friend, stifling a giggle, himself.
Quistis hopped out of her bed, clothes on, and they all ran to get Squall.
"Aren't we gettin' Zell?" Selphie asked, not wanting to leave anyone out. They had all planned to meet outside around lunchtime, because Selphie had accidentally found the stash of "sparkly things that go BOOM" Matron put in the sky for them every New Years Eve. So, they figured it would be fun to set them off by themselves. 'Sept, they didn't tell Zell...
"No, he'll tell on us!" Quistis hissed.
"Ah, well..."
They arrived at Squall's sleeping side. Selphie, being very exited, was impatient this time, and yanked him out of bed. The poor boy was too stunned to speak, and was dragged off to the outside. They met Fujin and Seifer, and asked where Raijin was; "Raijin was afraid we'd get'n'trouble, so he stayed in bed" was the explanation.
They hurried down the steps, and soon had a fire up by the beach.
"Hand me a green stick!" Quistis demanded, holding out her hand. Selphie quickly obeyed, but instead handed Quistis the whole box; her hands were sweaty and so she dropped it...straight into the fire. There was a smoky smell, a crackle, and then a huge barrage of glittering lights and loud sounds. The children all looked at the sky with utter astonishment and wonder. Quistis' blue eyes glittered and she smiled, her face lit up. Irvine looked down at her and then up again, a huge grin that looked in danger of splitting him apart on his face. Selphie hopped up and down with girly-glee, clapping her hands and smiling at their "creation". Seifer and Fujin just stared, the lights reflecting in their eyes, and Squall did the same. It was really a treat for them all; it was as if the stars were bursting and blowing away in the wind, sprinkling on the ground. But, all good things come to an end, and Zell came running down the steps.
"Oooooooo, you guys are gettin' in soooooo much trouble!" The small boy exclaimed, and ran back up to alert Matron.
The rest of them all groaned, knowing what was coming next.
"Everyone get ready to look sweet and innocent..." Seifer muttered.
** 2 years later **
"Bored, bored, boredboredboredbored!" Selphie sat up on her bed, had her hands in the air, and after making it clear she was bored, fell back onto the mattress.
She and all of her friends were in the girls' room, strung all about.
Quistis hung her head down off the side and under her top bunk to Selphie's bottom one, blinking at the green-eyed girl. "Well...we could go play in the flower-field...or would you tell on us about that, too, Zell?" Quistis said as she rolled over on her back, head still hanging over the edge with beautiful blonde hair a little past her shoulders swaying down.
"Hey!" Zell looked up from his place on the floor, glaring at Quistis.
"Leave 'im alone, Quisty, he'll just start cryin'." Seifer smirked from his spot on Fujin's bed.
"True." Fujin agreed, sitting on the spot right next to him.
Raijin, sitting on the floor between the two, started laughing, earning weird looks from a couple of the kids.
"That's not fair!" Zell argued.
Irvine, on the foot of his best friend Selphie's bed, opened his mouth to toss another insult at Zell, but was interrupted by Selphie.
"Leave 'im alone, you guys. He isn't that bad." She stated flatly.
"Yeah! Thanks, Sefie." Zell grinned.
Quitsis rolled her eyes. "Hmph. Well..."
"Kids! Breakfast!" Matron's sweet voice rang out and through the small house.
Everyone exchanged looks for a few seconds, and then they all at the same time got up and tried fitting out the same door. They yelled and pushed and tried wriggling out the door, and they finally all exploded out the doorframe in a heap. Taking barely any time at all, they were all up again and at the breakfast table in their usual seats.
As the kids all began to dig in, Matron cleared her throat, making them look up again. "Um.....I have something to say........and I hope you won't be too broken hearted....."
Everyone little pair of eyes trained themselves on her, suddenly getting worried.
"I am not happy to say this, but Quistis and Zell........are being adopted." Matron's eyes filled with tears as she choked it out. She knew this day would come, just like it had with Ellone, but......why did it have to?
Quitis immediately began crying, Irvine was shocked but comforted her. Zell started screaming and Selphie and Raijin tried calming him, while Squall just stared on with disbelief. Fujin and Seifer went back to eating their breakfast peacefully.
"I DUN' WANNA GOOOOOOOO!" Zell shouted, not surprisingly, very angry.
"I don't wanna go, I wanna stay here with everyone forever and ever and we'll never hafta leave and...and.....I don't wanna go!" Quistis choked out, not exactly pleased, herself.
"Why does Quisty gotta leave us, Matron?" Irvine whined.
"Wud'bout me, you'll miss me too, right?" Zell moaned.
"A'course! And why do they gotta go, Matron? Where? When? /Why/?" Selphie questioned, trying not to cry along with Quistis and Zell.
"Because two very nice couples decided to adopt them....and they're leaving in one week. Zell to a little town in Balamb, and Quistis....the family didn't say where they lived."
"So you shouldn't send her away somewhere where you don't know where she is!" Irvine argued. He didn't want to lose Quisty. He liked her.
"Irvine, I can't help it, they did all the paper work-"
"So?? Matron, you're mean, you're gonna send Quisty somewhere where she don't wanna go, and that's mean!!" Irvine yelled. All the kids watched him, surprised.
He hopped down from his chair, and Quistis followed. They stamped away, into the bedroom, and left the others in shock; Zell had even stopped crying. It wasn't like Irvine to yell at Matron, it wasn't like /anyone/ to do that....
** The girls' bedroom **
"Irvy, why do I gotta go?" Quistis sulked.
"You don't! It's not fair, and Matron says we should always be fair....so we can run away." Irvine said, simply.
Quistis blinked. Run away? That would be leaving, too..."Irvy, that's the same as bein' adopted just I'd have nobody there to be with me."
"No, I'll go too. We'll just go up into the lighthouse, so we'll always be close to here, and we can have Sefie and Squall come visit us sometimes, and you won't hafta go nowhere!"
"'Kay!"
"Let's pack!"
**1 hour later**
"You ready, Irvy?" Quistis asked the auburn-haired boy.
"Yep! Let's go!" He answered back.
The two children, each only nine or ten years old, ran outside and down the steps. Nobody knew they had left; they all thought that Quistis and Irvine were crying in the girls' bedroom or something and chose not to intrude and upset them even further. Quistis had only taken two pairs of clothing, a hairbrush, since her hair was past her shoulders and always tangled, and she had taken a small bag of chocolates she's been hiding for safe-keeping; they would need food, after all, she reasoned. She and Irvine could share.
Irvine, since he couldn't sneak to the boys' room without being seen, had simply taken a flashlight that had been lying on the dresser and the clothes he was wearing just then.
They started out through the back door, very careful as to not make a sound, and stepped outside. Irvine grinned and Quistis jumped a little in excitement; this was all making her very giddy. They rushed down the steps, making sure that they stepped lightly, and onto the beach.
"Irvine, if we go across here then it'll leave tracks!" Quistis observed.
"No it won't. Just stay away from the wet parts, the sand'll bury the rest." He replied.
"Kay." She looked up at the orphanage to make sure no-one could see them. They dashed across the beach, going as fast as they possibly could, and ended in a dead stop in front of the lighthouse. Except....they'd forgotten that it was surrounded by rocks, which posed a new problem.
"......It's okay, we'll be fine, Quistis." Irvine said, not so sure himself....
Quistis nodded. "I'll go first." She volunteered.
As they began to climb, Irvine began a conversation to lighten the situation. "Hey, Quisty? What's that song you always sing?"
Quistis stopped for a second, blinked, and then moved on. "I....I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you do! You always sing it when you're alone, or if you're sad or something, I've heard it lots of times. Remember when you were four, and you were picking flowers, and I came over and told you you have a pretty voice?"
(He still remembers that?) Quistis thought, then: "My mommy taught it to me..... What about it?"
"What's that one line, it's like 'forever building castles in the air' or something like that."
"That's right. Why?" She was getting impatient. She didn't like raising the subject of her mother. Quistis just wished he would say what he was getting at.
"Well, if we ever hafta go away and leave everyone here...I'll always be with ya, okay Quistis? Just like the song says. And we'll even build a castle in the air someday! And that can be our promise, so we can never forget eachother, and we'll be with eachother forever, and someday...we'll build the castle. And that's how everyone will know we're with eachother, even if we're apart."
Quistis thought for a moment and smiled. "Promise?"
"Promise!" Irvine smiled back up at her.
Quistis grinned, happy to have someone she cared about with her...this way she knew someone always would be. She didn't think so much of her mother, so why shouldn't she have a friend like Irvy, who actually seemed to care? She had her family, the kids at the orphanage, but still...
They continued climbing, but Quistis' foot slipped. And she fell. She fell for what seemed only a second and landed on a sharp rock that was jutting out, hurting her arm. She cried out.
"QUISTY!!!"
**2 hours later**
"Ow ow ow ow ow!!" Quistis exclaimed.
"Well Quistis, maybe you won't try and run away next time!" Seifer told her, obnoxiously.
"Shut up, Seifer, or I'll hurt you, so help me God..." Quistis said through her teeth, trying not to cry while Matron wrapped a cloth tightly around her arm.
"Heh, I can't believe you actually fell!" Seifer taunted her.
"I'd like to see *you* do better." Irvine said from his spot next to Quistis.
"You two are such-OOOOOOOOOOW!" Seifer screamed, falling on the floor after feeling a sharp pain between his legs.
"I told you to shut up...." She said softly, looking down at her arm.
"Matron, you haven't said anything, aren't you gonna yell at Quistis?" Seifer whined, still scrunched up on the floor.
"No, Seifer, you have to learn your own lessons. I must admit saw that coming....." She sighed and shook her head in pity.
"Can everyone else come in now?" Quistis asked.
"No, I'm sorry, you need to rest. I can only have a couple people in here at once. Done!" Matron gently put Quistis' arm at her side. "Well Seifer, you should probably leave...."
"Can I stay Matron?" Irvine asked, eyes glittering with hope.
"....I suppose. But Seifer, leave." Matron got up and opened the door, and Selphie ran in dragging Squall and Zell behind her. Fujin and Raijin tried not to laugh at their leader, who hobbled out of the room raging mad.
Selphie looked at the door just before it shut and stuck her tongue out at Seifer, then looked to Quistis again. "Quisty, are you okay? When we heard Irvy yell your name we were really worried and Matron thought you were gonna die and Seifer, Fujin and Raijin just sat there so Matron got mad but she ran outside to go and see you guys and-"
"We hope you feel better." Squall finished for her.
Quistis smiled. "Thanks, you guys."
"Weren't you scared?" Zell inquired, in awe that she was still alive.
"Actually....no. I knew I'd be safe." Quistis answered, glancing softly at Irvine in gratitude.
"Okay, Quistis needs to rest now........please leave us for a while." Matron said to Squall, Selphie and Zell.
"'Kay, bye Matron, bye Irvy, feel better, Quisty!!" Selphie said, and shoved the two boys with her out the door, closing it behind them.
"Now, for you two...." Matron put her hands on her hips and looked scornfully down at Quistis and Irvine.
"We're sorry." They both said, half-heartedly.
"But, I don't want Quisty to leave!" Irvine defended as an afterthought.
"Neither do I, Irvine, but.....she has to. All the paperwork is done. Now, Quistis, *rest*. And don't you two ever do something like this again, I was worried half to death!"
They both nodded, and Quistis lay down, closing her eyes.
Irvine climbed down below her into Selphie's bed, and closed his eyes as well. Matron began singing to them, and they both fell asleep........
**One week later**
"No! I'm not goin' anywhere!"
"Quistis, dear, please?"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Quisty, you need to come out of the closet. Please? I'm asking you nicely..."
Quistis shook her head vigorously, blonde hair snapping back and forth.
Matron sighed, exasperated. "Do you realize you've been in there for twenty minutes?"
"That's cuz they've been here for that long." She shot back stubbornly.
"I'll give you a piece of candy..." Matron tried for the fourth time.
Quistis crossed her arms. "Nope."
The sorceress turned at the sound of Irvine's voice looming closer to the door. "Do you have a dog? A cat? A pet? Do you promise to be nice to Quisty? Do you have any other kids? If you have other kids, why do ya gotta take Quisty?! Why can't you go somewhere else?"
She heard the latch of the door snap open, revealing Mr. and Mrs. Lokrin who stepped in impatiently, eyeing her carefully. She nodded as if to say "soon," and they stepped back out, hesitantly, to Irvine's long string of questions.
"Quistis Isole Trepe, this is the last time I'm asking; will you *please* get out of that closet?"
Oh, full name! *Now* she was in trouble. Quistis stood slowly and stepped out of the closet, glancing up at Matron sadly. Matron looked back down at the small girl, eyes wet, and gently took her hand. "Come on," she said, voice just above a whisper.
Matron opened the door and led Quistis outside. Quistis was pleased to see that Selphie, Raijin and Irvine were interrogating the young married couple, asking questions too fast to actually expect an answer. It was raining, but the three paid no heed; the Lokrins did, though, and were trying desperately to fit under their small umbrella. As soon as the children heard the door creak, though, they turned and slowly stepped onto the stone porch. Almost unconsciously, all the kids that had been watching from the porch made a sort of side-ways line with the three little interviewers. Quistis looked up at Matron, hoping for a last minute change of mind, but only received a teary glance.
She snatched her hand away from the tall woman in black she admired so much, and stepped over to Seifer and Fujin. Quistis tilted her head a little and held out her hand, allowing Seifer to grab it and give it a quick shake. She turned to Fujin who gave a small solute, and when she came to Raijin, he looked at her as if trying to be tough and not cry, just like everyone else who cared.
After a second, though, he gave in: "Aaaawwww, Quisty!" and she found herself in a tight embrace. "I don't want ya to go, ya know?!"
He let go, and Quistis heard the click! of her shoes dropping to the stone, then smiled a small, sad smile. "I won't ever forget you guys..." With that, she turned to Squall, eyes begging to get it all over with. Squall looked back at her with almost the same look on his face as when Sis left, just a bit harder and colder. Hyne knew he still hadn't gotten over his last loss. Slowly stepping forward, he lightly wrapped his arms around her, and hers around him. Quistis, after what seemed only a second to her, squeezed her eyes shut and backed away, sniffling. "Bye, bro," she said, smiling weakly.
"Bye," was all he was capable of voicing. Quistis started to approach Zell, but before she did, Squall had one more thing he had to say: "Quistis?"
Quistis turned and blinked. "Yeah?"
"Love you, sis."
She managed another smile, a thankful one this time. That really meant a lot from the cold young boy she tended to call a brother. "Yeah. You too." Then she looked to Zell, and he also hugged her. "Bye, crybaby."
Zell laughed lightly; this was no time to get mad at her. "Best snowball thrower I've ever seen."
She punched him softly on the arm as she passed, and Selphie immediately leaped up to Quistis, squeezing her as if it would keep her from leaving ever, ever, ever. The impact shoved Quistis back and she almost fell, but when she regained herself, she did the same as Selphie.
"Quisty, Quisty, Quisty! Ya gotta stay!" Quistis felt the tears sprinkle on her shirt, but she still refused to show her own.
"Bye, Sefie," she stepped away from the small girl, "I'll think of you every day."
"I'll go with you, instead! Then we can be friends forever!" Selphie spread her small arms out as wide as she could, demonstrating that length of time.
"We already are." Quistis looked at Selphie with an expression mixed with hope and hurt. "Always." Quistis had always been mature for her age, and it bothered her sometimes; now she was just glad she knew how to say what she wanted to her friends.
Selphie smiled a little, and stepped away when she saw Irvine looking at Quistis. She gave the blue-eyed girl one more hug, then let her go to Selphie's best friend.
Standing in front of Irvine, Quistis felt herself be slipped into a soft embrace. "Remember our promise," Irvine whispered, and he hugged her even tighter.
Her eyes fluttered up to his face, "Promise." She smiled, and he let her go.
Finally turning back to Matron, she hugged what passed for her mother so long as she could remember, kissed her cheek childishly, and went to greet her new parents. Selphie spun and ran inside crying, Zell and Squall held Matron's hands, and the rest only stood, looking on at Quistis in disbelief. Irvine let his first tear slide down his cheek as he watched the mean, so far as he was concerned, couple pat Quistis on the head and step into their car. Quistis, not even looking back, hopped in after them. As the door closed, the motor started, and they began to take her away from him, Irvine jumped down the steps and ran as fast as he could after them. He saw Quistis look back through the window, and saw a spark of hope in her eyes, but as it dulled, she mouthed something
(Bye, Irvy...)
he couldn't quite comprehend. He slipped on the slick mud and sprawled across it, and he could only bring himself to stare after them, even after they were out of sight.
Irvine felt a firm hand on his shoulder, and he was suddenly cold from the rain. Glancing up at the slim, crying woman, he took hold of Edea's hand and walked back with her to the orphanage, and he realized that he didn't have to act tough anymore. His cheeks were soon flooded with shining streaks as well, though he wished he were stronger. Because...they took Quisty. And he didn't want to disappoint her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
You've got a way with words
You get me smilin' even when it hurts
There's no way to measure what your love is worth
I can't believe the way you get through me"
~Shania Twain
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Author's note; this is my cute little romance story about Quistis and Irvine growing up together. Yay! I don't own anything, in this story anyway. It's kinda fast but o well. O yeah, a few little tiny Saifuu and Zelphie hints, but this story focuses on Quisty and Irvy, sorry! They all start out being either 3 or 4. And this isn't the best I can do, I just wanted to write it, and I've been piecing it together for a long time now, so this idea was original when I first started it; other people finished their childhood-romance things before me. Anyway, enough babbling, this is pretty original either way, so....enjoy! (And no, I don't suck this bad at spelling. It's how they talked back then. M'Kay? M'Kay.)
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A soft summer breeze blew through the flower field, playing with a little blonde girl's hair. She sat there, cross-legged, while her friends ran around the small orphanage playing war. The little girl had made a small tiara of wildflowers and placed it over her golden locks, and continued picking flowers to make another one for her caretaker. She hummed a tune to herself that she had learned somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. Her beautiful, sparkling blue eyes were fixed contentedly on her hands, weaving flowers together, almost ready to present it in gratitude to the woman that took care of them all out of pure will.
"Yoo gotta preddy voice, Quisty." Said a small voice behind her. The 4-year-old Quistis turned her head to face a smirking Irvine.
She smiled widely and waved excitedly at her friend. "Hi Irvy! Help me pick flowers foor Matron."
"Ok!" The small boy agreed. He walked up to her and plopped down next to his little blonde friend.
"I thought yoo were playin' with Sefie."
"I wuz, but I got bored."
Quistis was about to respond when she looked up from what she was doing and saw Seifer and his mini-posse standing there with their hands on their hips. "Hey look guys! It's the brat and the dork!" Seifer taunted.
"Go away, Seifer." Quistis said, then went back to weaving flowers.
"Hey, don't talk about us like that, you bully!" Irvine argued to Seifer, ignoring that Quistis had said anything to them. No-one talked to him or his friends that way, especially not Seifer! Besides, he was only three, maybe this would impress Quisty...
"Shut up, twit!" Fujin remarked.
"Make me!" Irvine stood up, challenging the platinum-haired girl, his little hands clenched into fists.
"She said shut up, yoo know?!" Raijin piped up, and stood next to Fujin.
"Hey, yoo guys can't gang up on me! It in't fair!" Irvine yelled.
"Stop it yoo three!" Quistis screamed.
Not listening, Fujin and Raijin began pushing Irvine between them, like a ball.
"Stop!" Quistis tried again but to no avail.
"Really, stop it." Seifer said. Fujin and Raijin immediately stopped, but Fujin took the liberty of tripping Irvine first.
Quistis got up and went over to Irvine, who was now trying not to cry. She sat beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.
"No, leave him alone. Get Quisty over here." Seifer decided.
Fujin pulled Quistis' hair while Raijin pulled her up by the arm, not gently at all.
"OWIE!" Quistis cried, and tears began to spill from her eyes. Raijin threw her to the ground, and Fujin let go of her hair. Quistis lay there crying, and Irvine started to get up.
"What'cha got there, Quisty?" Seifer asked, pointing at the ring of flowers in her hand.
"It's for Matron." She pouted, beginning to stop crying.
"Lemme see."
"NO!"
"C'mon!" Seifer grabbed for it, but Quistis pulled it away.
"Leave me alone!"
"Not till you let me see it!"
"I said no, now go away!" Quistis stomped her foot as she said this.
Seifer grabbed for it again, and pulled it from her hands.
"Give it back!" Quistis demanded, trying to snatch it back.
"You wunnit back?" Seifer looked at the object in his hands, and ripped it apart, throwing it at her feet.
Quistis began to cry hysterically, and the posse walked away laughing. Irvine came up beside her, and put one small arm around her shoulders, and rubbed the top of her head with the other. "It's ok Quisty, he's just bein' a big jerk. Let's go tell Matron."
Quistis nodded, and with his arm around her, they began walking towards the orphanage.
"It's ok, Quisty, please don't cry." Irvine soothed.
"Why's Seifer so /mean/?" Quistis said more as a demand then a question.
"Cuuuuuuuuuuz he just thinks he's better than everyone else, I guess."
"Did you get that from Matron?" Quistis asked, sniffling.
"Yeah." Irvine laughed. Quistis giggled a little and smiled slightly.
"Yoo feel better?"
Quistis nodded and wiped her nose. "Yeah. Thanks Irvy."
"Anytime." He said, then they walked hand-in-hand into the orphanage to tell on Seifer.
**2 years later**
"EEK!" Selphie ducked behind the table as a flying toy soared through the air. Quistis, Ellone and Fujin squatted beside her. They were playing war again, girls against boys.
"They're winning, but we can do this." Selphie acted as a coach.
"Hmm..." Quistis looked around the messy room for anything that could be useful. She spotted a pair of padded nun-katchus, a frisbee, and a piece of a vine from the forest. "Sefie, take this," She handed her green-eyed friend the nun-katchus, then picked up the frisbee and handed it to Fujin and took the vine for herself. "Sis, you stay here and guard the treasure!"
"Ok! ...We have treasure?" Ellone asked.
"Um...do we?" Quistis wondered.
"Duh, of coorse we do! That's what the war is 'bout!" Selphie stated matter-of-factly.
"Ooooooooooh." Fujin, Ellone and Quistis all mused at the same time.
"So let's go!" Exclaimed Quistis, and with that, they charged forward from behind the table over to the boys' side of the room. The boys stood up to see what they were screaming about, then began screaming, themselves, when they saw the girls charging right at them. Selphie began whacking Raijin, Quistis whipping Seifer, and Fujin throwing the frisbee at Squall, Zell and Irvine who desperately tried to duck.
Matron heard all of the screaming in the other room, but figured it was just a new game of theirs, and thus ignored it. Then, suddenly, "MATROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The slim woman ran into the next room, and was welcomed by Raijin hugging her leg, Fujin next to a crying Seifer, Selphie beside a wailing Zell, Ellone holding Squall's hand, and Quistis comforting the fallen Irvine.
"Oh, no....."Matron muttered, covering her face in exasperation. Then she sighed, "Who called me?"
All the kids looked at each other, not wanting to be called a tattle-tale, and then suddenly everyone pointed to Zell, who began screaming even louder.
"You all have some explaining to do." Matron crossed her arms.
**5 hours later**
All of the children sat in a row across the floor, leaning against the wall. Matron had given them a lecture on safety, not beating each other up, and how they should all be more careful. Afterwards, she started reading them stories to make up for it. It was nearly 21:00 hours and they were all tired, except for a few. Quistis and Irvine had already fallen asleep, leaning against one another for support. Seifer, Fujin and Raijin, of course, were going to tease them to no end about this the next day. Zell was curled up, sleeping, next to little Selphie, who was wide awake and plenty hyper.
"Matron! Read one 'bout Sorceresses and knights!!" The small, lively girl suggested.
Matron smiled sweetly, and opened the next book to her request.
"Yeah, I'm gonna be a knight when I grow up!" Seifer announced, making sword-fighting motions with his arm.
"I wanna be a sorceress!" Fujin pointed out.
They both looked over expectantly at Raijin, but he was already asleep, sucking his thumb.
Seifer shrugged. "Ah, well. Hey Fuu, I can be your knight!"
"Okay!" She smiled happily.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeey, Matron, I wanna be a knight too! Can I be a knight?" Squall asked, pleading with puppy-dog eyes.
"No way, nerd! I'm gonna be a knight, you're just a copy-cat!"
"Of course you can, Squall." Said Matron, ignoring Seifer's comments.
"No you can't!" Fujin stuck her tongue out at the boy.
"Yes he can!" Ellone came to Squall's defense.
"No he can't!" Fujin and Seifer both yelled.
"Yeah huh!" Ellone and Squall argued.
"No!"
"Yeah!
"Uh-uuuuuh!"
"Yes hu-uh!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"STOPPIT YOU GUYS!!!" Selphie screeched, standing up in aggravation.
Then, all five of them stood up and began screaming at each-other, when finally, Matron stood and yelled at them, "WILL YOU ALL PLEASE QUIET DOWN!!"
They all immediately stopped talking, considering the fact that Matron rarely rose her voice at them, and when she did, she was dead serious.
"Sorry Matron." They all mumbled as one.
After much confusion and lots of whining, they all finally got in bed, except for Irvine and Quistis, who had somehow managed to stay sleeping through all the commotion.
Matron looked lovingly at the two, smiling a little to herself. She shook her head slowly in wonder. "I don't know /what/ I'm going to do with you two." She joked, "I guess love comes at an early age."
**1 year later**
"Hm......" A 7-year-old Seifer stood in the snow, tapping his foot and rubbed his chin as if in deep thought, which was really a funny sight, seeing as he was so small. "I piiiiick...Fuu!"
The little albino girl smiled and skipped over beside her friend.
Quistis stood with her hand on her hip, surveying the small group of kids. Ellone had been taken away that summer, and they all missed her, but it was a time like this where Quistis really wished she had Ellone and her pitching arm. After all, even the boys knew that she was the best at throwing snowballs. Remembering this, Quistis' eyes fogged up for a second, but then she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Well....I guess I'll take.....Irvy."
Irvine jumped for joy and ran next to the pretty blue-eyed girl. He had just recently noticed how much he appreciated girls, and it showed, too.
"Ok.....Raijin!" Seifer called.
"Sefie!" Quistis said.
"Aw, man....I guess....Squall!"
"ZELL!!!!" Selphie yelled.
"WHAT?!?!?!" Zell screamed back.
"YOU'RE ON OUR TEAM!"
"OH!" With that, Zell ran over to the trio.
"Ok, Seifer, you guys go over there," Quistis pointed to two trees standing next to eachother, "And we'll go over there." She pointed to a small hill, encircled by trees.
"No way! /We/ go over there!" Seifer protested.
"Nuh-uhhhh! We called it first!"
"Well I called it second, and second is best!"
"No it's not! I called first, and so we get it cuz that's what I said!"
"WE GET IT!"
"NO, WE DO!"
"WE DO, BRAT!"
"/WE/ DO, DIP-WAD!"
"STOP IT YOU GUYYYYY-YS!" Zell shrieked.
But, instead, everyone began making snowballs and chucking them at each-other, hard. After a series of "Ow"'s, "Stop it!"'s, screams, shouts and a big blur of white, everyone was running after eachother as if all hell broke loose and they're friends were evil demon people trying to kill them. Selphie and Zell were running away from Siefer and Fujin, who were pelting them with snowballs with all the strength in their tiny little bodies while Zell and Selphie screamed bloody murder with their arms flailing around freely in the air. At the same time, Squall and Raijin were stuffing snow in eachother's faces, and Quistis and Irvine had begun a wrestling match for no apparent reason.
Quistis and Irvine accidentally moved themselves to the top of a hill, and started rolling down. Tumbling, tangling, laughing all the way down, they landed with a thump right in front of a slender pair of legs. They both stopped laughing, (and they were laughing because they were playing, not trying to kill eachother,) and trailed the legs up with their eyes to see an almost amused Matron. She eyed them jokingly, and smiled.
"Quistis? Would you so kindly explain to me why Irvine is on top of you?" She asked, eyebrow quirked up.
"We were playin'!" She announced happily.
Matron giggled at Quistis's innocence and told Irvine to get off of her. He jumped up and offered a hand to Quistis, who took it and stood up. "Thanks, Irvy!" Her sweet voice rang out like a birdsong.
"Weclome!" He replied.
Matron laughed again. They were so cute! Irvine would probably grow to be a ladies' man of some sorts, and Quistis would most likely be quite popular with the boys. Maybe even with Irvine, from the way they played and talked. Irvine already had a small crush on Quistis, Matron could tell.
Interrupting Matron's thoughts, a small army of six came prancing and yelling down the small hill. Fujin was in the lead, followed closely by Seifer, Selphie and Zell right behind him, and Squall just on the tail, with Raijin in the back. Raijin, being slightly clumsy, slipped. He slid forward, knocking them down as a chain reaction. Quistis and Irvine were smart enough to get out of the way, and just as they did, their friends came zooming down and knocked down Matron. They were in a huge heap; Seifer was sprawled over Fujin, who had fallen on Matron's lap; Raijin was laying under Zell and Selphie, who were tangled up with Seifer. Squall had slid away from them, and sat on the snow next to Irvine and Quistis, all the while spraying them with snow. And then, they all burst out laughing, including Matron.
**1 hour later**
"S'c-cold, in't it, S-Sefie...?" Zell Stammered. Matron had put on a fire, and got them all to cuddle up. They changed out of their wet clothes first, of course. As a small "punishment" for getting out of hand, she put them in boy-girl order. Seifer, Fujin, Raijin, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, and since Ellone wasn't there anymore, she was forced to put Squall. She laughed at her odd game. Setting 6 and 7 year-olds up very subtly, yeah, that made a lot of sense. Well, at least she could joke about it later on with them, when they found different people and were married with children. Hm...well, even though she knew that none of them would ever work it out with eachother, it was still fun to pretend, but she didn't even know why she thought that way. Oh well. They were still cold, but that was to be expected after soaking themselves with the snow. So, she watched them all cuddle, and smiled.
**6 months later**
"C'mon, Quisty! Wake up!" Irvine stood next to Quistis' top bunk that was over Selphie's bed, shaking her shoulder slightly, with Selphie standing next to him. They whispered, very careful so as not to get caught. It was around midnight, Matron would get really mad.
"Okay, I'm comin'! Who's got the fireworks?" She whispered back.
"The booger-brain gang!" Selphie snickered.
"Shhhh, Sefie!" Irvine scolded his best friend, stifling a giggle, himself.
Quistis hopped out of her bed, clothes on, and they all ran to get Squall.
"Aren't we gettin' Zell?" Selphie asked, not wanting to leave anyone out. They had all planned to meet outside around lunchtime, because Selphie had accidentally found the stash of "sparkly things that go BOOM" Matron put in the sky for them every New Years Eve. So, they figured it would be fun to set them off by themselves. 'Sept, they didn't tell Zell...
"No, he'll tell on us!" Quistis hissed.
"Ah, well..."
They arrived at Squall's sleeping side. Selphie, being very exited, was impatient this time, and yanked him out of bed. The poor boy was too stunned to speak, and was dragged off to the outside. They met Fujin and Seifer, and asked where Raijin was; "Raijin was afraid we'd get'n'trouble, so he stayed in bed" was the explanation.
They hurried down the steps, and soon had a fire up by the beach.
"Hand me a green stick!" Quistis demanded, holding out her hand. Selphie quickly obeyed, but instead handed Quistis the whole box; her hands were sweaty and so she dropped it...straight into the fire. There was a smoky smell, a crackle, and then a huge barrage of glittering lights and loud sounds. The children all looked at the sky with utter astonishment and wonder. Quistis' blue eyes glittered and she smiled, her face lit up. Irvine looked down at her and then up again, a huge grin that looked in danger of splitting him apart on his face. Selphie hopped up and down with girly-glee, clapping her hands and smiling at their "creation". Seifer and Fujin just stared, the lights reflecting in their eyes, and Squall did the same. It was really a treat for them all; it was as if the stars were bursting and blowing away in the wind, sprinkling on the ground. But, all good things come to an end, and Zell came running down the steps.
"Oooooooo, you guys are gettin' in soooooo much trouble!" The small boy exclaimed, and ran back up to alert Matron.
The rest of them all groaned, knowing what was coming next.
"Everyone get ready to look sweet and innocent..." Seifer muttered.
** 2 years later **
"Bored, bored, boredboredboredbored!" Selphie sat up on her bed, had her hands in the air, and after making it clear she was bored, fell back onto the mattress.
She and all of her friends were in the girls' room, strung all about.
Quistis hung her head down off the side and under her top bunk to Selphie's bottom one, blinking at the green-eyed girl. "Well...we could go play in the flower-field...or would you tell on us about that, too, Zell?" Quistis said as she rolled over on her back, head still hanging over the edge with beautiful blonde hair a little past her shoulders swaying down.
"Hey!" Zell looked up from his place on the floor, glaring at Quistis.
"Leave 'im alone, Quisty, he'll just start cryin'." Seifer smirked from his spot on Fujin's bed.
"True." Fujin agreed, sitting on the spot right next to him.
Raijin, sitting on the floor between the two, started laughing, earning weird looks from a couple of the kids.
"That's not fair!" Zell argued.
Irvine, on the foot of his best friend Selphie's bed, opened his mouth to toss another insult at Zell, but was interrupted by Selphie.
"Leave 'im alone, you guys. He isn't that bad." She stated flatly.
"Yeah! Thanks, Sefie." Zell grinned.
Quitsis rolled her eyes. "Hmph. Well..."
"Kids! Breakfast!" Matron's sweet voice rang out and through the small house.
Everyone exchanged looks for a few seconds, and then they all at the same time got up and tried fitting out the same door. They yelled and pushed and tried wriggling out the door, and they finally all exploded out the doorframe in a heap. Taking barely any time at all, they were all up again and at the breakfast table in their usual seats.
As the kids all began to dig in, Matron cleared her throat, making them look up again. "Um.....I have something to say........and I hope you won't be too broken hearted....."
Everyone little pair of eyes trained themselves on her, suddenly getting worried.
"I am not happy to say this, but Quistis and Zell........are being adopted." Matron's eyes filled with tears as she choked it out. She knew this day would come, just like it had with Ellone, but......why did it have to?
Quitis immediately began crying, Irvine was shocked but comforted her. Zell started screaming and Selphie and Raijin tried calming him, while Squall just stared on with disbelief. Fujin and Seifer went back to eating their breakfast peacefully.
"I DUN' WANNA GOOOOOOOO!" Zell shouted, not surprisingly, very angry.
"I don't wanna go, I wanna stay here with everyone forever and ever and we'll never hafta leave and...and.....I don't wanna go!" Quistis choked out, not exactly pleased, herself.
"Why does Quisty gotta leave us, Matron?" Irvine whined.
"Wud'bout me, you'll miss me too, right?" Zell moaned.
"A'course! And why do they gotta go, Matron? Where? When? /Why/?" Selphie questioned, trying not to cry along with Quistis and Zell.
"Because two very nice couples decided to adopt them....and they're leaving in one week. Zell to a little town in Balamb, and Quistis....the family didn't say where they lived."
"So you shouldn't send her away somewhere where you don't know where she is!" Irvine argued. He didn't want to lose Quisty. He liked her.
"Irvine, I can't help it, they did all the paper work-"
"So?? Matron, you're mean, you're gonna send Quisty somewhere where she don't wanna go, and that's mean!!" Irvine yelled. All the kids watched him, surprised.
He hopped down from his chair, and Quistis followed. They stamped away, into the bedroom, and left the others in shock; Zell had even stopped crying. It wasn't like Irvine to yell at Matron, it wasn't like /anyone/ to do that....
** The girls' bedroom **
"Irvy, why do I gotta go?" Quistis sulked.
"You don't! It's not fair, and Matron says we should always be fair....so we can run away." Irvine said, simply.
Quistis blinked. Run away? That would be leaving, too..."Irvy, that's the same as bein' adopted just I'd have nobody there to be with me."
"No, I'll go too. We'll just go up into the lighthouse, so we'll always be close to here, and we can have Sefie and Squall come visit us sometimes, and you won't hafta go nowhere!"
"'Kay!"
"Let's pack!"
**1 hour later**
"You ready, Irvy?" Quistis asked the auburn-haired boy.
"Yep! Let's go!" He answered back.
The two children, each only nine or ten years old, ran outside and down the steps. Nobody knew they had left; they all thought that Quistis and Irvine were crying in the girls' bedroom or something and chose not to intrude and upset them even further. Quistis had only taken two pairs of clothing, a hairbrush, since her hair was past her shoulders and always tangled, and she had taken a small bag of chocolates she's been hiding for safe-keeping; they would need food, after all, she reasoned. She and Irvine could share.
Irvine, since he couldn't sneak to the boys' room without being seen, had simply taken a flashlight that had been lying on the dresser and the clothes he was wearing just then.
They started out through the back door, very careful as to not make a sound, and stepped outside. Irvine grinned and Quistis jumped a little in excitement; this was all making her very giddy. They rushed down the steps, making sure that they stepped lightly, and onto the beach.
"Irvine, if we go across here then it'll leave tracks!" Quistis observed.
"No it won't. Just stay away from the wet parts, the sand'll bury the rest." He replied.
"Kay." She looked up at the orphanage to make sure no-one could see them. They dashed across the beach, going as fast as they possibly could, and ended in a dead stop in front of the lighthouse. Except....they'd forgotten that it was surrounded by rocks, which posed a new problem.
"......It's okay, we'll be fine, Quistis." Irvine said, not so sure himself....
Quistis nodded. "I'll go first." She volunteered.
As they began to climb, Irvine began a conversation to lighten the situation. "Hey, Quisty? What's that song you always sing?"
Quistis stopped for a second, blinked, and then moved on. "I....I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you do! You always sing it when you're alone, or if you're sad or something, I've heard it lots of times. Remember when you were four, and you were picking flowers, and I came over and told you you have a pretty voice?"
(He still remembers that?) Quistis thought, then: "My mommy taught it to me..... What about it?"
"What's that one line, it's like 'forever building castles in the air' or something like that."
"That's right. Why?" She was getting impatient. She didn't like raising the subject of her mother. Quistis just wished he would say what he was getting at.
"Well, if we ever hafta go away and leave everyone here...I'll always be with ya, okay Quistis? Just like the song says. And we'll even build a castle in the air someday! And that can be our promise, so we can never forget eachother, and we'll be with eachother forever, and someday...we'll build the castle. And that's how everyone will know we're with eachother, even if we're apart."
Quistis thought for a moment and smiled. "Promise?"
"Promise!" Irvine smiled back up at her.
Quistis grinned, happy to have someone she cared about with her...this way she knew someone always would be. She didn't think so much of her mother, so why shouldn't she have a friend like Irvy, who actually seemed to care? She had her family, the kids at the orphanage, but still...
They continued climbing, but Quistis' foot slipped. And she fell. She fell for what seemed only a second and landed on a sharp rock that was jutting out, hurting her arm. She cried out.
"QUISTY!!!"
**2 hours later**
"Ow ow ow ow ow!!" Quistis exclaimed.
"Well Quistis, maybe you won't try and run away next time!" Seifer told her, obnoxiously.
"Shut up, Seifer, or I'll hurt you, so help me God..." Quistis said through her teeth, trying not to cry while Matron wrapped a cloth tightly around her arm.
"Heh, I can't believe you actually fell!" Seifer taunted her.
"I'd like to see *you* do better." Irvine said from his spot next to Quistis.
"You two are such-OOOOOOOOOOW!" Seifer screamed, falling on the floor after feeling a sharp pain between his legs.
"I told you to shut up...." She said softly, looking down at her arm.
"Matron, you haven't said anything, aren't you gonna yell at Quistis?" Seifer whined, still scrunched up on the floor.
"No, Seifer, you have to learn your own lessons. I must admit saw that coming....." She sighed and shook her head in pity.
"Can everyone else come in now?" Quistis asked.
"No, I'm sorry, you need to rest. I can only have a couple people in here at once. Done!" Matron gently put Quistis' arm at her side. "Well Seifer, you should probably leave...."
"Can I stay Matron?" Irvine asked, eyes glittering with hope.
"....I suppose. But Seifer, leave." Matron got up and opened the door, and Selphie ran in dragging Squall and Zell behind her. Fujin and Raijin tried not to laugh at their leader, who hobbled out of the room raging mad.
Selphie looked at the door just before it shut and stuck her tongue out at Seifer, then looked to Quistis again. "Quisty, are you okay? When we heard Irvy yell your name we were really worried and Matron thought you were gonna die and Seifer, Fujin and Raijin just sat there so Matron got mad but she ran outside to go and see you guys and-"
"We hope you feel better." Squall finished for her.
Quistis smiled. "Thanks, you guys."
"Weren't you scared?" Zell inquired, in awe that she was still alive.
"Actually....no. I knew I'd be safe." Quistis answered, glancing softly at Irvine in gratitude.
"Okay, Quistis needs to rest now........please leave us for a while." Matron said to Squall, Selphie and Zell.
"'Kay, bye Matron, bye Irvy, feel better, Quisty!!" Selphie said, and shoved the two boys with her out the door, closing it behind them.
"Now, for you two...." Matron put her hands on her hips and looked scornfully down at Quistis and Irvine.
"We're sorry." They both said, half-heartedly.
"But, I don't want Quisty to leave!" Irvine defended as an afterthought.
"Neither do I, Irvine, but.....she has to. All the paperwork is done. Now, Quistis, *rest*. And don't you two ever do something like this again, I was worried half to death!"
They both nodded, and Quistis lay down, closing her eyes.
Irvine climbed down below her into Selphie's bed, and closed his eyes as well. Matron began singing to them, and they both fell asleep........
**One week later**
"No! I'm not goin' anywhere!"
"Quistis, dear, please?"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Quisty, you need to come out of the closet. Please? I'm asking you nicely..."
Quistis shook her head vigorously, blonde hair snapping back and forth.
Matron sighed, exasperated. "Do you realize you've been in there for twenty minutes?"
"That's cuz they've been here for that long." She shot back stubbornly.
"I'll give you a piece of candy..." Matron tried for the fourth time.
Quistis crossed her arms. "Nope."
The sorceress turned at the sound of Irvine's voice looming closer to the door. "Do you have a dog? A cat? A pet? Do you promise to be nice to Quisty? Do you have any other kids? If you have other kids, why do ya gotta take Quisty?! Why can't you go somewhere else?"
She heard the latch of the door snap open, revealing Mr. and Mrs. Lokrin who stepped in impatiently, eyeing her carefully. She nodded as if to say "soon," and they stepped back out, hesitantly, to Irvine's long string of questions.
"Quistis Isole Trepe, this is the last time I'm asking; will you *please* get out of that closet?"
Oh, full name! *Now* she was in trouble. Quistis stood slowly and stepped out of the closet, glancing up at Matron sadly. Matron looked back down at the small girl, eyes wet, and gently took her hand. "Come on," she said, voice just above a whisper.
Matron opened the door and led Quistis outside. Quistis was pleased to see that Selphie, Raijin and Irvine were interrogating the young married couple, asking questions too fast to actually expect an answer. It was raining, but the three paid no heed; the Lokrins did, though, and were trying desperately to fit under their small umbrella. As soon as the children heard the door creak, though, they turned and slowly stepped onto the stone porch. Almost unconsciously, all the kids that had been watching from the porch made a sort of side-ways line with the three little interviewers. Quistis looked up at Matron, hoping for a last minute change of mind, but only received a teary glance.
She snatched her hand away from the tall woman in black she admired so much, and stepped over to Seifer and Fujin. Quistis tilted her head a little and held out her hand, allowing Seifer to grab it and give it a quick shake. She turned to Fujin who gave a small solute, and when she came to Raijin, he looked at her as if trying to be tough and not cry, just like everyone else who cared.
After a second, though, he gave in: "Aaaawwww, Quisty!" and she found herself in a tight embrace. "I don't want ya to go, ya know?!"
He let go, and Quistis heard the click! of her shoes dropping to the stone, then smiled a small, sad smile. "I won't ever forget you guys..." With that, she turned to Squall, eyes begging to get it all over with. Squall looked back at her with almost the same look on his face as when Sis left, just a bit harder and colder. Hyne knew he still hadn't gotten over his last loss. Slowly stepping forward, he lightly wrapped his arms around her, and hers around him. Quistis, after what seemed only a second to her, squeezed her eyes shut and backed away, sniffling. "Bye, bro," she said, smiling weakly.
"Bye," was all he was capable of voicing. Quistis started to approach Zell, but before she did, Squall had one more thing he had to say: "Quistis?"
Quistis turned and blinked. "Yeah?"
"Love you, sis."
She managed another smile, a thankful one this time. That really meant a lot from the cold young boy she tended to call a brother. "Yeah. You too." Then she looked to Zell, and he also hugged her. "Bye, crybaby."
Zell laughed lightly; this was no time to get mad at her. "Best snowball thrower I've ever seen."
She punched him softly on the arm as she passed, and Selphie immediately leaped up to Quistis, squeezing her as if it would keep her from leaving ever, ever, ever. The impact shoved Quistis back and she almost fell, but when she regained herself, she did the same as Selphie.
"Quisty, Quisty, Quisty! Ya gotta stay!" Quistis felt the tears sprinkle on her shirt, but she still refused to show her own.
"Bye, Sefie," she stepped away from the small girl, "I'll think of you every day."
"I'll go with you, instead! Then we can be friends forever!" Selphie spread her small arms out as wide as she could, demonstrating that length of time.
"We already are." Quistis looked at Selphie with an expression mixed with hope and hurt. "Always." Quistis had always been mature for her age, and it bothered her sometimes; now she was just glad she knew how to say what she wanted to her friends.
Selphie smiled a little, and stepped away when she saw Irvine looking at Quistis. She gave the blue-eyed girl one more hug, then let her go to Selphie's best friend.
Standing in front of Irvine, Quistis felt herself be slipped into a soft embrace. "Remember our promise," Irvine whispered, and he hugged her even tighter.
Her eyes fluttered up to his face, "Promise." She smiled, and he let her go.
Finally turning back to Matron, she hugged what passed for her mother so long as she could remember, kissed her cheek childishly, and went to greet her new parents. Selphie spun and ran inside crying, Zell and Squall held Matron's hands, and the rest only stood, looking on at Quistis in disbelief. Irvine let his first tear slide down his cheek as he watched the mean, so far as he was concerned, couple pat Quistis on the head and step into their car. Quistis, not even looking back, hopped in after them. As the door closed, the motor started, and they began to take her away from him, Irvine jumped down the steps and ran as fast as he could after them. He saw Quistis look back through the window, and saw a spark of hope in her eyes, but as it dulled, she mouthed something
(Bye, Irvy...)
he couldn't quite comprehend. He slipped on the slick mud and sprawled across it, and he could only bring himself to stare after them, even after they were out of sight.
Irvine felt a firm hand on his shoulder, and he was suddenly cold from the rain. Glancing up at the slim, crying woman, he took hold of Edea's hand and walked back with her to the orphanage, and he realized that he didn't have to act tough anymore. His cheeks were soon flooded with shining streaks as well, though he wished he were stronger. Because...they took Quisty. And he didn't want to disappoint her.