Dream's End
The idea had been to get Rinoa to come. Ellone knew Squall liked her—a lot—but she also knew Squall liked his space. Even as a small child, he had been independent, and seemed to find other people exhausting. So the idea was to invite Rinoa to a girls' night out, allowing Squall some time to relax and rejuvenate by himself.
But Rinoa had said no. Actually, her exact words were something along the lines of "not without Squall." Obviously, dragging Squall along would completely defeat the purpose.
Ellone had not seen Squall and Rinoa more than a few feet apart since they'd returned. More often than not, Rinoa was touching Squall—holding his hand, or leaning against him. She hadn't seen Squall reach out toward Rinoa—at least not in public—but he seemed perfectly comfortable with Rinoa's near constant contact and that spoke volumes. Ellone's little brother was smitten.
Still, Ellone knew this was all very new to Squall and she didn't want him to get overwhelmed and say something he would regret. But as they were trying to coax Rinoa into joining them, Squall had caught her eye. In a brief look he'd told her that he knew what they were trying to do, but it was okay, he didn't want Rinoa to go. Ellone doubted he would have objected to Rinoa going, but he was content to have her stay. Ellone was indescribably pleased that despite their years apart, Ellone could still read Squall like a book.
Selphie, of course, had not gotten the message, and declared that it was a girls' night and Rinoa had to come and Squall could not. Zell had immediately resented the very idea, and declared his own boys' night, throwing one arm around Irvine and one around Squall.
Squall's slightly panicked look had told Ellone that though he may be content with a quiet evening with Rinoa, he was definitely not up for a raucous night out with Zell and Irvine. Momentarily helpless at the sudden backfiring of her plan, Ellone was saved by a call from Ma Dincht. Zell's Ma was apparently fixing Zell's favorite meal (Ellone wasn't sure what that meant, somehow she just couldn't picture Ma grilling up a dozen hotdogs) in hopes of enticing him to spend the evening with her. It worked, and Zell's enthusiastic agreement was tempered only by Irvine's requisite teasing that a full-fledged mercenary SeeD still went home for dinner with his mom. The teasing was, of course, borne out of thinly-veiled envy, and soon enough Irvine had invited himself over to Zell's house. Thankfully, that left Squall and Rinoa alone at Garden.
Currently, Selphie was chatting away, already planning the next Garden Festival, and Quistis was nodding politely as they walked along the main road in Balamb. Ellone had fallen a little behind as her mind wandered.
She heard a scuffling as she passed a narrow alley, and some strange familiarity tugged at her. She slowed, and when Selphie and Quistis turned toward her, she urged them on ahead.
At first, she smiled—her days at the orphanage were some of her happiest, and unexpected memories of childhood usually filled her with joy. However, her smile faded as the memory played in her mind.
She saw only the backside of grey pants and the hint of a bright blue shirttail. The pants—or rather, the boy wearing the pants—squirmed and kicked, momentarily disappearing further under the house. A soft voice could be heard, echoing in the dark recesses of the subfloor crawlspace.
"Here kitty, kitty."
The voice was sad. Hope of finding the cat was already lost, the search continuing on waning momentum.
Ellone knelt beside the young boy. "Sie."
"Kitty, kitty…" She swore she heard a sniffle so she waited a moment before patting the boy's side.
"It's past dinnertime, Seifer. Everyone else has already eaten."
"Kitty…"
"Maybe she'll come back in the morning. Sie, we have to go in now."
Slowly the boy slid out from under the house. There were tears in his eyes, though none had dared escape to run down his cheeks. He was Seifer, after all.
"She's gone, isn't she?"
Ellone could not recall how she had answered the question so many years ago, but she knew the true answer had proved to be affirmative—the cat was never seen again.
Now the pants were not grey, but black, and the legs much longer. There was less of a shirttail, and what was there was a darker shade of blue. The legs were not protruding from between the stone foundations of a house, but rather from beneath a large rubbish bin. Still, the parallel was striking. Ellone even heard murmuring from beneath the bin, though she couldn't make out the words.
The trench coat with elongated red crosses on the sleeves, draped over a nearby railing, confirmed to Ellone that her instinct was correct—she knew the man beneath the dumpster. Or rather, she had known him, many moons ago.
The Sorceress Knight in all his glory, she thought to herself at the wriggling backside before her. Former Sorceress Knight, she corrected.
There was a scrambling sound, then a thunk, like someone hitting their head on a low metal ceiling, followed by a loud curse. Seifer sprung backwards and out from under the dumpster. "Fine, just stay under there and starve to death! What do I care? Stupid cat!"
Seifer jumped to his feet and spun on his heel. He was reaching for his coat when he spotted Ellone.
"Maybe if you leave it be for a little while, it will come out," Ellone suggested. "Sometimes cats prefer to come to you."
Seifer narrowed his eyes and said nothing. He leaned against the brick wall beside the dumpster with his arms crossed.
There was a long minute of silence. Ellone wasn't sure if Seifer was being quiet so as not to disturb the cat, or if he was practicing some sort of active ignoring of her. She settled against the railing, determined to wait it out. Whether she was waiting on Seifer or the cat, she wasn't sure. The railing shifted under Ellone's weight, and Seifer's trench coat slipped to the ground. A small cylinder rolled out of a coat pocket and bumped against Ellone's shoe. She picked it up. It was a can of tuna. As she was examining the can, Seifer spoke. He mumbled and stared at the ground, but she heard him well enough.
"It's too damn small. Littermates are much bigger. Must be a lousy hunter."
Ellone nodded an acknowledgment. She did her best to suppress a smile at the unexpected compassion.
"Ellone! Where—?" Quistis turned the corner into the alley, stopping short when she saw Seifer. "What…?"
Quistis trialed off, apparently speechless. She looked at Ellone, appearing somewhere between baffled and scandalized.
"Quiet," Ellone whispered. "We're waiting for the cat."
"This is stupid," Seifer declared, pushing away from the wall.
"Quistis! Ellone!" Selphie burst down the alley "...Seifer?!"
Selphie glanced questioningly at Quistis, who shrugged. Then Selphie looked levelly at Seifer. "You're not here to kidnap Ellone, are you?"
Seifer's perpetual scowl deepened. "No."
"Good!" Selphie bounced in approval. "Then the more the merrier! Ellone, you can bring your friends, I'll go get a bigger table!" She bounded away.
"Friends?" To Ellone's surprise, Quistis emphasized the plural, and not the implication of friendship.
Ellone looked around, trying to find Selphie's second friend. She noticed Seifer was looking at the ground and she followed his gaze. There, curled up in his trench coat was a tiny white kitten.
"I guess you were right," he said flatly.
"Are we going, then?" Quistis asked.
Ellone nodded.
Seifer scooped up the kitten, coat and all. He exited the alley and began walking the opposite direction of the restaurant.
Quistis watched him take several steps. Then she took a deep breath and called, "Hey, I think they have fresh fish at the restaurant."
Seifer turned around. "Tuna?"
"Even better: Salmon."
Seifer shrugged. "I suppose if you're going to beg…" Adjusting the kitten in his arms, he started toward them.
Quistis rolled her eyes. "I'll see how Selphie's doing on that table." She trotted away.
Ellone slipped her arm through Seifer's and looked down at the sleeping kitten. "I've missed you."
Her words were quiet, and Seifer didn't acknowledge them. But somehow, she knew he'd heard her.