Selphie had gone for her shower with her mind, unsurprisingly, still on Squall. She didn't talk much, staying silent in the huge shower room while dozens of her friends laughed, shrieked, and threw soap and tampons at each other. Generally behaving in a manner that would make outsiders think they were a troop of poorly disciplined monkeys and not a group of educated, sophisticated, and intelligent young ladies from one of the world's premier academies. Two of her best friends, Quistis Trepe and Keely McShane had noticed her silence, which wasn't like her, they had asked her about it while they were towelling off and brushing their hair.
"It's nothing." Selphie replied as she tried to do something different with her hair. It was no use, it never was, her hair had a life all its own and resisted all her futile efforts.
"Sure doesn't seem like nothing Self." Keely said as she platted her long, brown locks.
"That's right." Quistis agreed looking at her friend in some concern. "You've been acting kind of funny for weeks now."
"Don't you mean funnier." Keely added.
"That's not funny." Selphie snapped. Some of the other girls looked in their direction to see what was going on.
"Well excuse me." Keely said, hurt and a little taken aback. She hadn't meant any offense after all.
Quistis put a hand on each of her friend's shoulders, as a first lieutenant and their superior she could issue a command and make it sound like friendly advice.
"Let's be cool okay guys, we're all friends here remember." She said with just the mildest edge in her voice.
"I guess so." Selphie said looking at Keely. "Sorry Kee. I didn't mean to snap."
Keely beamed at her friend. "No offense taken Selphie."
Keely laughed. Quistis laughed. After a moment Selphie started laughing too, she just couldn't help it.
"It's just that I've got something on my mind."
"Wanna talk about it?" Quistis asked kindly.
Talk about it. I want to scream about it. Selphie raged behind impassive eyes. Don't you guys get it. I'm in love with Squall. Yeah, that's right, commander Leonhart. And do you know what. He's in love with me. We've been seeing each other since we went on that last mission to Esthar together. He stays in my room almost every single night and I love it. I love him. But it's tearing me apart. Because if you guys ever found out you would make him go away. You would say I'm not right for him. I'm no Rinoa Heartilly. I know that. But she left him and he found me. We found each other. I want to spend every single moment of every single day with him. Forever. But you would make him go away. And if he leaves me, it would kill me. It really would. I will die of a broken heart.
She clamped a hand over her mouth in horror, sure that she had spoken aloud but neither of her friends were running away from her or recoiling in shock. They were simply looking at her expectantly.
"No," She answered, taking her hand away. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Alright." Quistis answered. "But we're your friends Selphie. You can talk to us about anything, anything at all."
Quistis Trepe loved Selphie as much as if they were sisters and as she gazed into the emerald eyes of her friend with her own eyes as blue and as deep as a tropical ocean she knew Selphie was hurting and why. Selphie and Squall had fallen in love. It was obvious, to her at least, the way they looked at each other, the long walks, how they always trained together, and a thousand other little things only she'd so far noticed. But for some reason Selphie didn't want anyone to know and Squall was reluctantly going along with it. Because Selphie had ordered him too. Quistis thought with an inner smile. The ensign clearly had the commander wrapped round her little finger.
But why wouldn't she want anyone to know she thought, puzzled. The two of them were surely meant to be together. Squall had always been tender hearted with Selphie even when he'd been bored and irritated with everyone else. Rinoa included. That must be it Quistis thought. Selphie was afraid of stepping into Rinoa's shadow. That was stupid, compare the two women against each other and in every case Rinoa would be found wanting. Selphie was prettier, more intelligent, and much more self-sufficient. Rinoa was nothing more than a spoiled little rich girl who hadn't known a good thing when she found one and had fled back to Galbadia once she finally realized that Squall, like everyone else, had tired of her helpless little girl act. And good riddance, Quistis thought, she had always found the Galbadian to be utterly insufferable.
She sighed, wanting to help but not knowing how. If Selphie didn't want anyone to know, it wasn't her place to enlighten them. She could only hope Squall could think of something to help his girl get over her confidence issues.
That he intended to, in spectacular fashion hadn't occurred to her yet.
Selphie stared back into Quistis's eyes with the terrible truth poised on the tip of her tongue. Part of her desperately wanted to tell her friend everything, tell everybody, and shout it from the rooftops. But she was just too afraid to let it go.
"I know I can." She said finally. "But a girl is entitled to keep a few secrets isn't she?"
"Right." Keely agreed.
"As rain." Said Quistis thinking you poor, silly, sweet girl. Behind her smile.
"I don't wanna rush anyone, but if we don't get a move on we're gonna be late for divisional roll call." Keely said conversationally as she cinched the belt on her bathrobe up tight. "Who's taking it anyhow"?
"Me of course." Laughed Quistis. "So you two better be at the head of your sections in your very best uniforms because I will be checking."
"The bad lieutenant huh?" Selphie asked. "You've always been good at playing that part."
That's better Selphie. Thought Quistis, life isn't so bad after all huh. And I think you're going to find it's going to get better a lot quicker than you expect. She didn't know how right she was. A seriously out of breath commander Leonhart had arrived in Balamb town after a four mile run he'd done as a sprint and was banging on the door of the most expensive jeweller in town demanding he open and sell him two rings. Price no object. The jeweller of course had been thrilled. That had been the easy part.
But where in hell would he find a horse?
The cafeteria was packed solid, every seat taken round every table, save one, which isn't something that happens every day Selphie thought as she sipped on a mug of coffee, her eyes were glued to either the clock, or the big double entrance doors. The doors were shut, guarded by two serious looking seeds that were turning away late comers with as much patience as the endlessly repetitive job would allow. As for the clock. That was showing nine forty four am and had been for at least six minutes according to her calculations.
Where had Squall gotten? She wondered, trying hard not to make her frequent glances towards the doors too obvious.
"Excuse me ladies but is this seat taken?"
A startled Selphie looked round to see a young, unfamiliar face smiling down at her.
"Huh, excuse me?" She had to shout to make herself heard over the din of six hundred people all eating and talking at once, not because she was by nature impolite.
"I said is this seat taken."
She blinked hard, finally understanding the question the young man was shouting into her ear.
"Oh, yeah, umm, it's taken I'm afraid." She gave him a polite but please go away smile.
"By who?" The young seed demanded, making it quite clear by his scowl he wasn't about to take no for an answer. Not when this was the only free seat in the house and he'd have three beautiful women as company.
"By commander Leonhart that's who." Selphie shouted, feeling sure she was holding an ace over this jerks kings. "He'll be here in a minute. You can take it up with him personally if you want."
All the belligerence promptly left the young man. "Ah that's okay. I just realized I'm not hungry."
"What an ass." Quistis said as she watched him walk away with his tail firmly between his legs. "Guys like him are two to a penny round here."
She gave Selphie a curious look. Squall never took his meals in here. It wasn't the done thing. The commander had to maintain a certain reserve and ate his meals in the faculty lounge, an altogether better class of establishment. Selphie knew that, even if jerk features didn't.
Selphie blushed and turned away; unable to meet her friends stare. Was she some sort of mind reader?
"Well I thought he was cute." Keely said admiringly.
"You would." Quistis said. "Because you have absolutely no taste!"
"Honey, you're never disappointed when you set your sights in the gutter." Keely retorted with a grin suggesting she was from the gutter herself.
Selphie tuned her friends' conversation down to background noise and resumed herself appointed mission of clock and door watching. The clock now read nine fifty, so it was moving after all, albeit slowly. He was supposed to be here no later than ten, only a few more minutes to go. She would wait a little longer of course if he didn't show up on time. An hour, maybe two or even three, four was a distinct possibility, five would be pushing it but still achievable. But she couldn't wait all day. She had work to do. And Captain Akira would throw a fit if he found out she'd been moping about in the cafeteria instead of overseeing the replacement of engine number one on the Ragnarok.
"Hey Selphie is this seat taken?"
Oh not again she thought as she looked up to see who was bothering her now. Just Zell, good, she could handle him.
"Yeah. It belongs to Squall."
Zell shrugged and plonked himself down in the free seat. "Don't give me that crap Selphie. He never eats in here". He started attacking his plate of franks and beans with gusto."
"Leave her alone Zell." Quistis warned. "If Selphie wants to obsess over the commander she's perfectly free to do so." She tipped Selphie a friendly wink that could have meant anything.
"I do not obsess over Squall, umm, I mean the commander." Selphie replied defensively, lying through her teeth.
"You could have fooled me." Zell said round a mouthful of food, his eating habits had always been on a par with dogs.
"Anyway, haven't you heard?" He went on. "Squalls gone mad, it'll be in all the papers." He said it as if Squall going mad was a regular occurrence hardly worthy of a second thought.
"What!" Quistis and Selphie demanded at precisely the same time.
"It's true." Zell went on to explain his bizarre meeting with Squall earlier that morning and his equally bizarre behaviour.
"YOU LIAR!" Selphie exploded. Zell, Quistis, and Keely stared at her in shock. "SQUALL WOULD NEVER GO MAD! HE WOULDN'T!"
Quistis grabbed hold of Selphie's hand because she was a hundred percent sure she was about to punch Zell square on the nose with it. This was getting out of hand. "Squall hasn't gone mad". She assured Selphie, giving Zell a furious stare. "That's ridiculous, there's bound to be a perfectly logical explanation." She hoped her tone would calm Selphie down ; the little brunette had just about detonated.
"That's right." Zell agreed, nodding his head vigorously and staring at Selphie with wide, amazed eyes. "My mistake, he probably had something really important to do and didn't have the time to explain it properly."
"Exactly." Quistis soothed. "He's out doing something top secret for Garden." Though what sort of mission would involve rings, princesses, and horses was a complete mystery to her.
It was obvious it was a complete mystery to Selphie too. But she had calmed down a little. At least she looked like she wasn't about to hit Zell the next time he opened his mouth.
"Alrigh." Selphie said, calming down a little. "But don't ever say anything like that again Zell or I'll..."
Her voice died away in confusion along with most of the conversation in the cafeteria, dying like the sound of an old forty-five record with the plug suddenly pulled out. Something was going on just outside the cafeteria doors. Sounds of shock and surprise from the voices out there and, on top of it all something that sounded impossibly like the shoed hooves of a horse on a painted and polished concrete floor as its rider expertly kept the nervous animal, far out of its element under control.
A horse thought Quistis. Who in hell would ride around inside Garden on a horse?
It was all suddenly very clear to her and she felt her eyes fill with swift tears, she was still holding onto Selphie's hand and she squeezed it gently. She knew who was out there. And why.
"What...?" Selphie whispered, only to be silenced by a look from Quistis.
"Shush Selphie." Quistis said through her tears. "Squall's out there, and he's doing it all for you. Oh sweetheart you're gonna love this."
She still didn't understand, and the question was poised to leave her lips when it was blown away forever by the sight of Squall, sitting atop a white stallion of such magnificence it actually shone in the bright overhead lighting, entering the stunned and silent room. And although six hundred pairs of eyes gazed at him in rapt wonder, his own only had sight for one.
Hers.
