Covered in yards of pink frills and spangles, Selphie flounced through the Quad, adjusted her tiara and surveyed the scene. At this hour, there weren't any students taking in the morning air or hurrying to finish homework they put off until the last minute, nor were there any Garden Staff about to spoil her plans.
Her first stop after getting dressed was the preschool, of course. They had actual buckets of glitter in there, glitter she'd been told repeatedly she wasn't allowed to touch.
Well, the joke was on them now, wasn't it? She'd dumped gallons of the stuff into the air conditioning ducts and now it was raining, gold, silver and blue glitter everywhere. Just as it should be.
Her second stop was the phone on the wall just outside the Quad, to make her announcement and her demands.
The next was the small storage closet behind the stage, where she kept supplies for the Garden Festival with Squall and Xu's permission. She didn't have much space in her office,
She unlocked the closet with her personal key and sorted through the boxes of party decorations, each organized by theme and neatly labeled in her own handwriting for easy retrieval. That way, her future successor in all things party related would be able to take over the position without having to start from scratch or throw together a theme from stolen items from the preschool and cafeteria the way Selphie had. It was all here: all four seasons, starry nights, Liberation Day, Balamb Pride, Solstice. Hyne's Day and Memorial Day and the Equinoxes. Tropical themes and birthdays, graduation, back to school. She had it covered.
Near the back of the closet, though, was that one unlabeled box that contained no theme. Inside was a stash of leftover fireworks from the last festival. She'd been planning to save them for her birthday, but from now on, everyday would be her birthday.
She opened the box and lifted several small mortar rounds from it. They were more noise than anything, but they would get the job done. She meant business, after all. Nothing wrong with making sure everyone knew she was serious.
No use in letting them go to waste. It was time to party!
She checked to make sure the stones were still secured in her bra, then gathered the fireworks to her chest and carried them over to one of the trash bins and dumped them inside.
Now, to light them.
She didn't have matches or a lighter. There was a lighter in her dress, which she'd left back in the ladies restroom, but she didn't have time to retrieve it.
Fire spell it was, then.
The trash bin caught fire, and Selphie backed up a few paces, gleefully anticipating the blast, and rubbed her palms together.
Plastic melted and smoked as the fire consumed the material, but nothing exploded for several, torturous seconds. Then, there was a bright flash and an eardrum-splitting blast, and Selphie was knocked to the ground as the fireworks all detonated at the same time.
Sizzling plastic pelted her body and acrid smoke filled her lungs, but the aftermath was brief and left her without injury.
The same could not be said for her dress. The fabric was covered in dark soot and some of the beads had melted in the heat, the frills at the hem were singed and frayed at the edges.
Selphie pouted and dusted herself off, checked the sole of each of her boots, then turned her attention back to the still-burning trash bin. Flames shot up from inside the can and the plastic top had melted down the sides like wax. It looked like a candle! Neat!
She didn't have time to stand there and admire her work. There were still things to do. She needed to parlay with Squall and accept his unconditional surrender, then she needed to apprehend Seifer and take back what belonged to her.
Smelling of smoke and covered in soot, Selphie hurried out of the quad just as an alarm began to sound and strobes began to flash from various spots along the main corridor. It looked like a party, but that noise was killing her mood.
The stones didn't like it either. They made a weird wailing sound, like it hurt their ears.
If they had ears, that was. Selphie didn't know. She was sure they could hear, but how they heard was a mystery.
Time to head upstairs to her new office, where she would turn off that obnoxious alarm and play some fun pop music instead. The cadets would like that, wouldn't they? Something light that they could dance to?
She darted toward the elevator, where a glitter-coated Squall waited for her with his arms crossed over his chest. At the mouth of the entrance, several SeeDs, dressed tactically, amassed to lodge an assault on something outside.
"Get out of my way, Squall," Selphie said.
"Can't," Squall said. "I need the stones back."
"They're mine!" she roared. "You can't have them back!"
"Selphie, you're only hurting yourself."
"I'm in charge now!" she said. "You will submit to my demands or suffer the consequences!"
"I'm not giving you cotton candy."
"I don't care about cotton candy!" she yelled. "I want a bigger budget for festivals and for you guys to stop treating me like every idea I have is crazy!"
Squall's mouth twitched.
"You're not doing yourself any favors right now," Squall said. He casually dusted glitter from the sleeve of his jacket. "I would have preferred a conversation."
"It's too late for a conversation! Garden is mine!" she said. "The stones are mine! We're going to party until we drop and you can't do anything about it, either!"
"No?" Squall asked.
"NO!"
Selphie's foot shot out and the sole of her boot collided with his shin. He doubled over and she shoved him as hard as she could, then danced down the steps, out of Squall's reach and sprinted down the hall.
Squall chased her, but she was way faster than he was. She might be small, and she might be weak in comparison, but she'd always been able to out run him without breaking a sweat. Squall was an endurance guy, the kind that believed slow and steady won the race, but Selphie knew better.
She ran as fast as her short legs would carry her and hung a right into the cafeteria when she was sure she'd lost him.
The smells of breakfast reminded her that she hadn't eaten that delicious looking waffle. As awesome as using it as a weapon against Seifer had been, she would rather have it now because she was starving.
The cafeteria ladies were hard at work behind the counter, pushing eggs and bacon and sausage around on the griddle, and stocking silverware and plates, and filling coffee pots with grounds.
It all smelled so good!
She skirted around the counter and into the back, where a tray of bacon sat on a warming table next to a bin of eggs. She shoved two strips of bacon into her mouth and reached for a fistful for the road.
"No unauthorized personnel behind the counter!"
Selphie wrapped a one hand around the bacon and grabbed a knife from the block. She waved it in front of her as the cafeteria lady approached, and backed up. No one was going to take her bacon away from her. That, too, was hers now.
"What the devil is wrong with you, girl?" the woman asked. "You on something?"
"Stay back," Selphie said. "Let me have the bacon and no one gets hurt."
"If you want bacon, we start serving in twenty minutes," the woman said.
"I want bacon now, and I'll take what I want, thank you very much," Selphie said. She stuffed the handful down the front of her dress. "I'm leaving now."
"Yo! Didn't you get the message?!" a familiar voice shouted. "We're on lockdown, which means y'all need to get to safety!"
Zell bounded into view, his brow furrowed and his eyes a little wild. He hadn't done his hair this morning, so it lay in limp strands across his forehead, but stuck up in the back like he'd been summoned to duty while still asleep.
Which didn't make sense because he was supposed to be on a mission.
"Oh yeah, and make sure the hot dogs are secure first," Zell said. He stopped when he saw Selphie, blinked, and assumed a fighting stance. "Squall says I gotta apprehend you. What did you do, Sef?"
"Nothing," Selphie said innocently. "I just wanted bacon."
Zell dropped his fists a little, still on defense, but more relaxed than before. His pupils dilated, going from baby blue to black in half a second.
"Bacon sounds good."
"You want some?" Selphie asked. "There's a whole pan over here. Help yourself."
"Hell yeah," Zell said and hopped the counter instead of going around. "Think I could get some hot dogs, too?"
Selphie turned her knife on the lunch ladies.
"You heard him," she said. "Get the man some hot dogs. As many as he wants. Or else."
"Only the breakfast dogs are ready," the cafeteria lady said.
"That works," Zell said. "Gimmie like... eight."
Selphie grinned and stuck a strip of bacon from the pan into her mouth. No reason to deplete her stash when there was plenty right there for the taking.
"I thought you were out on a job," Selphie said. She thought about his exploded car. He must not know about it yet, or else he'd be way more pissed than he was now. "Squall said you'd be gone for a week or two. When did you get in?"
"Got halfway there and they canceled it," Zell helped himself to the pan of bacon. "Quistis picked us up at the docks like an hour ago. I was gonna go home to Ma's, but she said something was up and I needed to be here, so here I am."
Selphie almost stabbed his hand for taking what was hers, but there was plenty for the both of them. She was a benevolent leader. She could share with friends.
"So, uh, what's the deal?" Zell asked through a mouthful. "Squall's acting like you're the enemy."
"I guess to him, I am," she said. "I've taken over Garden."
Zell startled and turned his face slowly back to hers.
"Why?"
"Because nobody wants to do things my way, and now that I have a secret weapon, they have no choice," she declared. "Hey, you wanna be my second-in-charge? I'll allow T-boards on missions and you can have all the hot dogs you want, all day long."
Zell nodded slowly.
"That sounds good..." he said. "Yo. What's that buzzing sound?"
"Oh, that's just the stones," Selphie said. "They're special."
"Yeah?" he asked. "Like magic special?"
"Yep. And they're mine, so don't be getting any crazy ideas about taking them."
The cafeteria lady unceremoniously dropped a plate stacked high with breakfast dogs on the counter beside Zell.
"There, now get the hell out of my kitchen."
"Don't you threaten her!" Zell shouted and balled his hands into fists. "She's in charge now!"
Woah. Now that was something. She had an ally? Or maybe Zell was just putting on a show, pretending to be an ally so that he could steal the stones from her.
Then again, Zell wasn't very good at lying or pretending to be anything but what he was – an exiteable, kind, friendly ball of repressed rage.
"Zell, cool it, okay?" Selphie said. "We've got bigger problems."
"Yeah?" he demanded, as if it wasn't obvious. "What's that?"
"One, the whole of Garden's staff is after me," she said, "and two, Seifer's got the other two stones, and I need them to become the supreme being that I deserve to be."
"Woah, hold up – Almasy?" Zell said. "Do we gotta fight him?"
"Maybe," Selphie said. "He's not exactly cooperating."
"Count me in, Sef," Zell said and shoved a breakfast dog in his mouth. "I need to reacquaint him with my left hook."
"Then let's go find him."
The morning sunshine felt great on Seifer's bare skin. The breeze smelled of the ocean.
It reminded him of simpler times, easier times. Looking around at this place, he missed Raijin and Fujin something fierce, but they were busy with their own lives now, setting up a holistic living shop in FH, and had little time to visit unless he was the one to visit them.
He thought of the angry boy he'd once been. A boy who hated being called a boy, but in reality still remained a child in spite of his tall frame and strong body. That boy didn't know that he was still innocent, and if he'd been asked, he would claim his innocence had been lost years ago.
Seifer wanted that back, to rewind time and warn his younger self, but there was no going back and no changing the path he was on now. He was obligated to Esthar, to Laguna, until the things he broke were fixed. Maybe, the stones could help with that. Somehow.
A shout came from somewhere behind him, and he started to run. He wasn't sure where he was going, but back inside was the most logical plan, since Selphie was still inside with all of his belongings.
He turned around to make a break for the entrance, only to find there were eight SeeDs plus Xu, all with their weapons ready to take him out. He paused and surveyed his surroundings.
Grass. Fountains. The front gate.
Trees.
He could climb a tree.
Nope. Two of the SeeDs had long range weapons, and though Xu fought with blades, she was a well known marksman and carried at least one pistol at all times as a back up. They'd just shoot him out of the tree like an unfortunate squirrel on the other side of a child's BB gun.
"Put your hands up, Almasy," Xu said. "You're outnumbered."
Seifer scoffed, but she was right. He didn't have a weapon, only the stones, and there were nine of them. Five or six, he could handle on his own, weapon or not, but not nine.
What to do? Surrender was not an option. Even without the stones, Seifer Almasy would not go down without a fight.
Slowly, he raised his hands in the air, then darted to the left, through a flowerbed, toward the maintenance shed, where the groundskeeper's tools were kept. Probably a blade or something in there he could use to defend himself.
The door was unlocked, the groundskeeper inside servicing a weed eater on a worktable. She turned on him in surprise, but Seifer ignored her. His sights were set on the riding lawn mower.
It was a souped up version of a regular one, with a scoop on the front to move mulch and small debris like leaves and cut foliage.
He smiled at the groundskeeper, who could do nothing but stare at the strange, naked, but good looking man in her shed.
"Give me the key," he said.
Her green eyes turned to black holes and she nodded, reached for the peg board over the worktable and plucked a key off the rack.
Seifer snatched it, planted himself on the plush seat and started the mower. It roared to life, and he backed it out of the shed, imagining himself mowing Selphie down in the main corridor. The stones were about to be his. All four of them.
Outside, he stepped on the throttle and the thing shot forward. He aimed it toward the bewildered group of SeeDs, going fast enough, he could feel the wind in his hair. It felt like he was flying across the lawn, like the thing might take off into the sky like a bird of prey.
Xu was screeching something into her radio, but Seifer couldn't hear it over the motor. His attention was on the pair behind the SeeDs. Selphie, looking like she'd slid down a chimney, and Dincht, with his mouth full, a hot dog in each hand.
He aimed the lawn mower toward them, as Selphie broke from the steps and headed straight for him with murder in her eyes, a pink sparkly streak of pure rage. Seifer, still quite sure the mower went faster than she could run, steered out of her path and across the concrete promenade toward the gate.
He was startled when something hard collided with his back, and arms wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air supply.
"Give me my stones!" Selphie shrieked.
Seifer clawed at her arms as the lawnmower hung a left on its own. He couldn't breathe.
His foot was still on the gas, and he figured if he stepped on the brake abruptly, Selphie would go flying, right into his path.
So he did.
Selphie listed heavily into his back and bit down on his shoulder, but she didn't let go. He took his foot off the break and stepped on the gas again, and steered it to the right and held it there. The mower spun around and around and around, inducing a bit of motion sickness, but Seifer didn't let go until a hand wedged itself down between the seat and his back, and deftly unclipped the purple pouch around his waist.
Selphie lifted her arm into the air in triumph.
"Mine!" she shouted. "You are all my minions now!"
Seifer let go of the steering wheel and made a dive for the pouch, furious that she'd taken it so easily. She held it just out of arm's reach and then bashed him upside the head with it.
He saw stars and the world blurred. Between the spinning and the assault on his noggin, he was sure he was going to vomit.
All the while, Xu and the SeeDs stared in awe at the spectacle before them, unsure of how to proceed.
Selphie ranted about something while Seifer tried to get his bearings and come up with a plan to subdue her.
A second later, the lawnmower pitched forward at a low angle, there was a splash, and Seifer was drenched from head to toe.
He'd driven it right into the fountain.
Selphie, looking no less pissed off than a wet cat, popped up from the water behind him and lunged.
"You ruined my dress!"
Seifer didn't have time to protect himself. Selphie shoved him down, her eyes wild black pits of seething fury, and kissed him right on the mouth.
That was definitely not what he expected.
He didn't get to enjoy it, or drown her as he'd planned. Something stabbed into the back of his neck like a wasp sting. A split second later, a thin dart lodged into Selphie's arm.
She pulled back and stared at him with dull eyes as a flood of sedative poured into Seifer's veins. He cursed and slumped back on his elbows. Selphie slumped against him.
"They're gonna take my stones," Selphie complained. Her eyes were green again. "Don't let them!"
Seifer's bones had turned to noodly jelly. Sleep sounded like the best time he'd had in a while.
"Sorry, Tilmitt," he muttered. "Can't help you."
"Jerk."
Seifer had never pretended anything different.
"Psycho," he answered.
"I hate you."
"Good," he said. "Now get off me."
She didn't.
She fished something from the bodice of her dress and waved it in his face. She smiled sleepily and tapped it against his lips.
"I've got some bacon," she said. "Want some?"
Seifer accepted it and shoved the soggy, salty strip into his mouth and chewed it slowly. It was hard to keep his eyes open, but it was too delicious not to eat.
"Good, right?" she mumbled. "I ate, like, five pieces earlier."
She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. A second later, she was snoring softly.
It was kind of nice.
Too bad she hated him.
Oh well. His life was full of missed opportunities. What was one more?
Several hours later, after the drugs had worn off and they were both in their right minds again, Selphie and Seifer sat in Squall's office awaiting their punishment. Seifer was appropriately shame-faced, which was a surprise to Selphie. She couldn't even tell if he was just faking it for the sake of a lighter sentence or if it was for real.
Squall paced back and forth behind his desk, one arm crossed over his chest, the other grasping his chin. Every now and then, he stopped, looked at the both of them, opened his mouth to speak, then resumed his pacing.
The longer he drew it out, the worse Selphie felt.
"Get on with it already, Leonhart," Seifer said. "The suspense is killing me."
"Shut up," Squall said.
He paced his endless circuit twice more before he finally stopped behind his desk chair and let his hands rest against the top of the seat.
"There's a reason I told you not to open the box."
"Might have helped if you'd said something besides 'Don't open the box,'" Seifer said. "You know me well enough to know when you say not to do something, I'm gonna do it."
Squall cut his eyes at Seifer.
"My father trusted you," Squall said. "He cried when I told him."
Seifer shriveled in his chair. This was clearly the wrong thing to say to him, or maybe the right thing. He looked truly remorseful for the first time in probably his whole, entire life.
"Sit up," Squall said. "You're stupid, but you're not three feet tall, so stop pretending you are."
Seifer rearranged himself, but couldn't manage to look at anything but the edge of Squall's desk.
Selphie decided he must still be hungover from the tranquilizer if he was going to take the insult without comment. She was still feeling it too. All her natural bubbliness was suppressed by the remnants of the drugging. She couldn't even manage to make light of the situation.
"What are you going to do to us?" Selphie asked in a small voice.
Squall finally sat down. He templed his hands against his chin and looked at her for a long time.
"You stole a dinner cart from the hotel, stole a car and blew it up -"
"That was an accident!"
"You accidentally stole a car?"
"Well, not that part, but the blowing up was!"
"You started a fire, broke into the Wardrobe and stole some clothing, filled the air conditioning ducts with glitter, detonated a grenade -"
"It wasn't a grenade," Selphie said. She shifted to the edge of her chair. "They were just fireworks! I swear."
"Which might have been harmless, except you lit several at once, which caused considerable damage to the quad."
"I didn't mean to!"
"Then, you assaulted the cafeteria staff over bacon," Squall continued, "tried to strangle Almasy with your bare hands, and drove a lawnmower into the fountain. Did I miss anything?"
Selphie dropped her gaze to her lap and shook her head.
"She bit me too," Seifer said. "Twice, actually."
"Don't get me started on you," Squall said.
"She stole my clothes, too," Seifer said. "So, whatever you're about to say, blame her."
Squall pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair.
"Seifer, you're going back to Esthar," Squall said. "Laguna can deal with you."
"And me?" Selphie asked. "What about me?"
Squall said nothing. He just looked at her. His face revealed nothing.
The silence was killing her.
"It was the stones, Squall," she said. "They made me do it, okay? I don't know what they are, but they made me want to do crazy things, and it's not my fault that Seifer decided we needed to open the box!"
Squall cut her off with a motion of his hand. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and shook his head.
"I get it, alright?" he said. "Neither of you were in your right mind."
"You can't let the Shumi have them," Selphie said, now worried about crazed Shumi wandering the earth. "It's gonna make them try to take over the world."
Squall shifted his gaze to Seifer.
"You wanna tell her what they are?" Squall asked. "Or should I?"
Seifer grinned and shifted in his seat toward Selphie.
"The Shumi use 'em to get it on," Seifer said. "Or... clone each other, or somethin' like that."
"They use them for reproduction purposes," Squall said stiffly.
Selphie gaped at him. Reproduction?
"For real?" Selphie squeaked. "Oh, geez, Squall. Don't tell me I'm not gonna wind up pregnant with a Shumi-human hybrid! Or worse, a Seifer-human hybrid!"
Squall made a choking sound, coughed, and covered his mouth with his palm. Seifer snorted and leaned back in his chair.
"If you are, it's gonna be the best looking kid ever," Seifer said. "With my cheekbones? And your... I dunno, nose or whatever? Our kids will be smokin hot when they grow up."
"I don't want to have your kids!" Selphie shrieked. "Hot or otherwise!"
"We'll find out soon enough," Squall said.
"We didn't even do anything but kiss! For like, a second! That's all!" Selphie said. "Tell me it isn't possible!"
Squall stared at her impassively, but the corner of his mouth twitched and he dropped his head into his hands, laughing. It was a rare enough sound, Squall laughing, but it was even rarer that it was at Selphie's expense.
"As far as I know, no," Squall said as he struggled to hide his grin. "I don't think it works like that."
Selphie, inexplicably, burst into tears. They were tears of relief, but also anger and frustration. Squall was actually torturing her, and having fun with it, too.
"I never knew you were such a meanie," Selphie bawled. "That was really... mean."
"You deserve a lot worse for disobeying orders," Squall said.
Selphie wiped her eyes and sniffled. She wished he'd just get on with it and tell her whether or not she was in for a rough time going forward. He sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers against the desk. He seemed to be considering something.
"We're aware that the stones can cause some... unusual behavior in humans," Squall said. "While you're off the hook for trying stage a coup, you're still not exempt from deliberately going against your mission directives."
"So what's my punishment, boss?" she asked. "The brig?"
"No," he said. "You'll be demoted ten ranks -"
"Ten?!"
"I can make it twenty."
"No. Ten is fine," Selphie said quickly. "I deserve it."
"And, you're on suspension indefinitely, without pay, until every speck of glitter is gone," Squall said. "And I mean all of it."
Selphie's eyes widened. That would be next to impossible. She'd used several gallon jugs of the stuff. Who knew how far the air had blown it.
"That might take years!" she cried.
"So be it," Squall said with a satisfied look on his face. "You can get started this afternoon. Seifer, a car will take you to the train station in a couple hours."
"What about Zell's car?" Selphie asked. "Does he know?"
"That you stole it?" Squall asked. "No. As far as he knows, someone took it for a joyride and wrecked it. Insurance will cover the damage."
"Oh," Selphie said. "That's good. I guess."
"You might consider telling him the truth," Squall said. "He's pretty upset."
"You're not going to?"
"No," Squall said. "I'd rather not have to watch you two not speak to one another over the lunch table for the next six years."
If she didn't tell him, she would have to live with the guilt forever. If she did, she might lose his friendship. Which, she probably deserved.
"Maybe I'll buy him a moped or something," Selphie said. "He really liked that car..."
"Are we dismissed?" Seifer asked.
Squall nodded. "Dismissed."
Selphie stood up followed Seifer out of the office. At the door, she paused.
"So what happens to the stones now?" she wondered.
"Xu will handle it. You don't need to worry about it anymore."
Selphie hoped Xu didn't open the box. Selphie and Seifer might have failed their respective personal magic mating stone missions, but she doubted Xu would stop, at any cost. Then they'd all be in trouble.
"Hope you trust her, Squall," she said. "I know I joke around a lot, but those things are really powerful."
"I'm aware," Squall said. "Don't worry. We've got it under control."
Selphie had to trust that he did. If she was him, she'd want the stones destroyed, just in case, but that was up to him and Laguna and the Shumi, she supposed.
"Hey Squall?"
"What, Selphie?" Squall asked with exaggerated patience.
"For what it's worth... I'm sorry."
"I'll believe that when the glitter is gone," Squall said.
That sounded like a never to Selphie.
Dejected, she joined Seifer in the hall.
"Can I walk you out?" she asked.
Seifer looked her over and shrugged.
"What the hell. Why not?"
Selphie didn't say anything as they made their way down to the lobby. Everything was coated in a thick dusting of glitter, giving the place a weird, fairy-tale land appearance, like everything had been dipped in gold. It shimmered in the moat and on the backs of the water-barfing fish statues and on the leaves of the pants.
Seifer had never considered that glitter could be used as a weapon, but the evidence of otherwise was right before him. It was pure evil, too. He was going to have a hell of a time getting it out of the creases in his skin.
"Crazy, huh?" Selphie finally said as they stepped out into the afternoon sunlight. "I guess it could have been really bad."
"I guess," Seifer said.
He poked at a crack in the sidewalk with his boot. He didn't want to talk about it, he just wanted the last twelve or so hours behind him.
She clutched her elbow and then locked her hands behind her back as she shifted from one foot to the other.
"Hey Seifer?"
"Yeah?"
"I forgive you," she said. "For... Trabia. I think I get it now."
He never asked for forgiveness for anything, least of all things beyond his control. It was on the tip of his tongue to say something hateful in response, but those big green eyes were too sincere and too vulnerable. It must have cost her some of her pride to say it and mean it.
"Thanks," he said.
"So, you're going back to Esthar?" Selphie said. "Sir Laguna's gonna be pretty mad, huh?"
"Nah," Seifer said. "He calls me the son that actually likes him. He'll forgive me in a day or two."
It was Kiros Seifer worried about. There was a good chance Seifer would pay for this screw up in subtle ways over the next decade or so. And Ward. He could crush Seifer with one hand if he wanted to.
"You like working for Laguna?" Selphie asked.
"It's alright," Seifer said. "Got my own place, can come and go as I please, and I get to play by my rules, so it's got its perks."
"Sounds like it."
Selphie brushed some glitter from her bare arm and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye then," she said and nodded to the vehicle waiting beyond the gate. "Car's waiting."
"Yeah," Seifer said. He shoved his fists in the pockets of his peacoat and turned for the car, but stopped and turned back around. "Hey, Tilmitt? If you're ever in Esthar, look me up. We'll go out drinking or something."
Selphie couldn't have been more surprised if he'd saif he was turning into a moomba. She blinked at him, unsure of how to respond. Were they friends now?
"Are you... asking me on a date?"
"If that's what you wanna call it," Seifer said. He scratched his chin. "You know what? Forget it. We don't gotta make it a thing."
"Sure," she said. "It'll be fun. Maybe not stealing cars and streaking kind of fun, but... I mean, I probably won't try to drown you as long as there are no Shumi Whoopie Rocks floating around."
Seifer actually smiled. It was a genuine, actual smile that made him look like a normal, human guy and not the devil or a stupidly handsome male model. It was a cute smile. Boyish and charming without being arrogant.
The kind of smile Selphie Tilmitt fell hard for.
Oh, boy. Maybe she had. A little. Because of the stones. Not because he was good looking or anything.
"You know, you're actually alright, Tilmitt," he said. "I bet back in the day, if you'd grown up here, me and you woulda given 'em hell."
Selphie could picture the two of them, thick as thieves, plotting devious acts and starting fires, just like back at the orphanage. It would have been pure luck if Garden was left standing by the time they graduated.
"Probably for the best," Selphie said. "Hey, how did you know strawberry waffles were my favorite? And don't lie, you lying liar."
Seifer shrugged.
"They were your favorite, back at the orphanage."
"You remembered?"
"I remembered," he said, winked and flashed his cockiest smile. "See you 'round, Tilmitt."
"Take care," she said, actually sorry to see him go.
She waited on the sidewalk until the car pulled out of view.
Then, she reported for glitter cleaning duty.
She had to admit, as much as that sucked, it could have been a lot worse.
Xu sat aboard the train bound for Timber, the box containing the Shumi stones in her lap. She was quite positive they were speaking to her through the ornate wooden lid, whispering terrible and encouraging things, and singing soothing songs from her childhood to help her relax.
Unlike Almasy and Tilmitt, Xu was unaccompanied. Squall trusted her to do this job and to do it right. As much as she couldn't stand Leonhart, she was not the kind of SeeD to botch a mission out of spite. She would deliver the stones and return to Balamb without incident, as it should have been in the first place.
But...
It couldn't hurt to open the box and take a look.
Could it?
~end
Notes:
So, since life is incredibly busy right now, and I'm actually having to adult full time, even off the clock, this may be the last fic I complete. I hope not, but I'm trying to be realistic, so if it turns out to be the last thing I publish, I wanted to say THANK YOU to anyone who has ever left a review on any of my stories. It was those kind words that kept me writing for as long as I have, and I appreciate the support you guys have given me the last few years. Without that, I would have quit a long time ago, so from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for reading and for sticking with me.