Chapter 7: Inauguration Ball

After taking a quick shower, Squall changed into his SeeD uniform, a different one, since the one he was wearing earlier got a bit dirty. He was pleased with the results of this year's SeeD exams, out of the 18 participants, 10 had passed. It was a change from the usual 30% passing rate, and add the fact that one of them was Seifer. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, but he was actually glad that he had finally made it to SeeD, he was a great asset to the force. And at least now, Balamb had two SeeDs specializing in the gun blade.

The annual inauguration party for the new SeeDs and instructors were about to start. He had to be there on time, it was customary for the SeeD commander and other high ranking SeeD officials to open the party with a dance. That was easier said than done, he wasn't really into dancing, the thought of dancing in front of other people made him shudder, but its not like he had a choice. Life can be so unfair sometimes. Luckily, Selphie had agreed to be his partner for the opening dance.

After making sure he looked presentable enough, and not a single hair was out of place, he grabbed his coat and left his room. Walking through the corridors of the Dormitories while making his way to the Ballroom, he spotted Irvine, dressed in his SeeD uniform, and appeared to be waiting for someone at the Dorm's entrance. Irvine noticed Squall approaching.

"Hey man! Looking good!" he told the young commander.

"Congratulations, Instructor Kinneas…" said Squall, as he extended his hand to Irvine. Irvine shook his hand.

"Thanks…" he said, slightly embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head.

"2nd Place in this year's exams. Not bad…"

"Nah… It was nothing. But I guess I owe it all to you guys, you were all very supportive!"

"We always knew you could do it." Squall said. Irvine may appear as quite the ladies' man, but he also had a serious side to him, and that's what probably lead to him becoming an Instructor just a year after becoming a SeeD.

"Aww geez Squall, you're embarrassing me!"

"Are you waiting for Selphie?" Squall asked.

"Yeah… She told me that you asked her to be your partner for the opening dance…" said Irvine.

"I hope you don't mind… I didn't have anyone else to ask." Squall managed to say. And truth be told, he really didn't have anyone else to ask. He only had four female friends, five maybe. If you add the pesky blonde addition to SeeD. Last month, when he thought of the Inauguration party, he had considered asking Quistis, but he had to ask someone else when Quistis was sent to Galbadia. Selphie was the next best option, since he couldn't possibly ask Zell's girlfriend Shizuka, she was too shy and quiet, and she and Squall weren't really that friendly. Squall only considered her a friend since she was Zell's girlfriend. And he would rather go alone and face Cid's wrath than ask Xu to be his partner, Xu had been a little rough to him these past couple of months, she was always trying to pick fights with him, and scolded him everyday, even when he wasn't really doing anything. Was she really just stressed or did Xu harbor hatred for him? He could ask Rikku… but Rikku was still Rikku, enough said.

"I don't mind.. But I kinda got the feeling that you were going to ask… Nevermind." said Irvine, grinning at him. Squall raised an eyebrow in question.

"What?" he asked. Irvine didn't answer him, and the cowboy looked away from him and started laughing. He was about to question further, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hi!" It was Selphie. She looked pretty, wearing a yellow tube dress that stopped just below her knees, and matching yellow stilettos. Her short hair was styled the same as usual, with the slight addition of hairpins.

"You look good, Selphie." He had learned, over time, that compliments were supposed to be given to friends from time to time, to show how much he appreciated them. And also, Selphie really did look good.

"Thanks Squall! You look good too, as always!" Selphie then moved towards Irvine. "Irvy!" She hastily jumped into Irvine's arms and held unto him, Irvine then wrapped his arms around his beaming girlfriend. After breaking the hug, Selphie took hold of the new instructor's hand.

"I'm so lucky! I have two good-looking guys as my date! Shall we?" Irvine and Squall both nodded at her. Selphie offered her other arm to Squall, which he willingly took and the three headed to the ballroom.

Selphie's Garden Festival Committee, who also happened to be in charge of the preparations for this year's inauguration ball, had outdone themselves once again. The ballroom was decorated exquisitely, everyone thought it was perfect. The Ballroom started to fill with SeeDs and Instructors alike, talking casually amongst themselves and just having a good time. Even Xu, who was usually uptight and stressed these days, was chatting and laughing along with her boyfriend, Nida. When Selphie, Irvine and Squall got to the ballroom, they were quickly pulled away by Elena, a female SeeD who was Selphie's assistant in the committee.

"Selphie! Thank goodness! We need your help!" said Elena.

"Why? What happened?"" Selphie asked.

"The SeeD who was supposed to be the Host for tonight can't make it, he has sore throat… We need you to take his place!" Elena pleaded.

"Of all the days to get a sore throat! Fine I'll do it!" said Selphie, Squall was about to open his mouth to speak, when Selphie beat him to it. "Sorry Squall, looks like I can't be your partner… Elena, Let's go!" Elena and Selphie, made a run for it and headed to the preparation room.

"Selphie wait!" called Squall, but Selphie was already across the room. "What the hell am I going to do about the dance...?" He looked at Irvine, who shrugged.

"We'll just have to find someone else." The two looked around the ballroom for potential dance partners for Squall. Squall spotted Shizuka, talking with Zell near the Ballroom's Balcony. The two, upon noticing that Squall and Irvine were looking at them from across the room, stopped talking and made their way towards them. Shizuka was dressed in a plain pale blue short dress, while Zell was in his SeeD uniform.

"Hey guys! Irvine! Congrats, man!" Zell patted the Taller man, as he turned his attention to Squall. "What's up?" Zell noticed Squall, staring at him.

"I was wondering If Shizuka could be my partner for the opening dance?" said Squall, Shizuka blushed at the commander's directness.

"Sorry man… I'm part of the opening dance too. I'm a Rank A SeeD too, remember?" Right, how easily he had forgotten about that.

"How about Xu?" Irvine suggested. Pointing at the spot where Xu was talking with Nida. Squall shook his head in protest.

"How about no… Xu's been annoyed and pissed at me lately, I don't want to be anywhere near her." He shuddered at the thought of dancing with Xu. Zell and Shizuka then excused themselves from the two, and walked across the ballroom to where the SeeDs part of the opening dance were supposed to wait.

"Jenna." said Irvine.

"No way in hell." Squall said, looking at Irvine as if he had just said something crazy.

"I mean, Jenna and her lackeys are coming." said Irvine. And true enough, when Squall turned around, Jenna Cameron was walking, with her posse behind her, towards him.

"Hi Squall." Jenna greeted Squall nodded, and turned away from Jenna, towards Irvine. "Help." he mumbled. Irvine contained himself from laughing. Irvine excused himself, and came up with an excuse.. Something about Selphie needing his help. Irvine winked at the Commander as he dashed out of sight. He'd have to remind himself to beat Irvine to a bloody pulp later.

Jenna Cameron freaked him out. He knew about her obsession towards him, how she keeps a picture of him and hides it under her pillow and doing hyne knows what to the said picture. How she was able to take a picture of him in the first place, he didn't know. Stalkers had their ways, that was a universally accepted and frightening truth.

"So Squall, I was wondering if…" Oh Hyne, was she really going to go through this again? Jenna had asked him out, numerous times, and he had flat-out refused her every time. Wasn't that hint enough that he didn't like her that way? She was too damn persistent, and crazy, and persistent, oh and crazy.

"…I got front row tickets you see, and I know you like listening to them…" Jenna continued. How in the world did she even know that he listened to that band? Did she have a tracking device on him, or something? He had asked his friends for advice on how to deal with the Stalker. Zell and Irvine insisted that Squall just go for it, she may be crazy but she was still hot. Selphie and Shizuka had then smacked their boyfriends on the head and suggested he should ask for help from his father and ask for his secret service agents to deal with the obsessed Stalker. He didn't want to go THAT far for something so annoyingly trivial. He had then asked Quistis, who was used to dealing with stalkers for she herself had a number of crazy devotees. Quistis told him he should just ignore her, like what she herself does with her stalkers. They're bound to back off, eventually. He had been doing that, ignoring the girl for as long as he can remember, but she couldn't seem to take the hint. Maybe he should just do what Seifer had suggested. Threaten the girl and instill fear in her. That would surely get her off him. That would be really nice… but he couldn't possibly do that, sometimes he wished he wasn't the commander.

"Look Jenna…" Squall interrupted her. "You and me, it's never going to happen." Squall told her, his voice emotionless and colder than usual. That should be enough to keep the girl away from him for the rest of the night. Squall left the stalker girl in shock, and quickly ran, away from her. While running, he constantly looked behind, to see if Jenna was following her, and true enough, she was running after him. He managed to squeeze himself and sneak around the ballroom, which was now almost full. He headed for the door, deciding to ditch the Ball altogether. He would just put up with Cid for not attending. Squall stopped on his tracks when he felt someone grabbed his arm.

"Commander! Where do you think you're going!" It was Cid, who had grabbed him.

"Bathroom" he lied. He really had terrible luck.

"You better hurry then, the dance is about to start. Where is your partner?" Cid asked.

Squall pointed to a random direction and muttered, "Over there"

Cid glanced at the direction he was pointing, and saw 2 girls, chatting. "Which one?" he inquired. Squall looked at the direction of the girls, one had short black hair, while the other had long wavy blonde hair that seemed familiar… Wait, wasn't that…?

"Rikku!" Squall called. Rikku turned at the mention of her name. Squall was suddenly in front of her. She was about to say 'what?' when unexpectedly, he took her left hand in his. Rikku's eyes widened in surprise, and utter shock. "S-squall? What the hell?!" Squall tugged at her hand and led her back to where the Headmaster was.

"She's my partner." said Squall. Rikku turned from utterly shocked, to downright confused.

Cid looked at Rikku for a moment, then turned to Squall and smiled at him. "I see. You better get going then!" The headmaster urged. Squall quickly dragged Rikku away from the headmaster. His hand still on hers. When they were out of the headmaster's sight, Squall let go of her hand.

Fuming, Rikku glared at Squall, and fixed her slightly disheveled hair. Squall had dragged her around so roughly. "Care to explain?"

"I need a partner for the opening dance, and there's no one else I can ask." Squall spoke in a hurried voice. Rikku cocked her head, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Is the almighty SeeD commander asking me for a favor?!" said Rikku, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"It's not a favor, It's an order."

" An order? Right…" Sarcasm in her voice.

"I am your superior…"

"I know that." she retorted.

"Then you should just obey." he told her in the most intimidating voice he could muster.

"What, is this my first mission as a SeeD?" she said. Not backing down from his intimidating voice. When Squall didn't snap back at her, she continued. "But I don't dance. Not the waltz, at least."

"I'll lead you."

"But I'm in my SeeD uniform."

"It doesn't matter."

"But…"

"Will you please just shut up and dance with me?" Squall finally said, his voice growing impatient, and the vein on his forehead twitching in displeasure.

"Fine…" she replied. "But only if you give me back my PSP." she quipped.

If that was all it took then… He didn't have to hesitate. "Deal." and they shook hands.

When the new host Selphie took the stage and welcomed everyone to the Ball, the opening dance begun. Rank A SeeDs along with their dance partners entered the Ballroom, one pair at a time and the crowd applauded. Both Rikku and Squall seemed uncomfortable, holding the other's hand and refusing to look at each other, as they too, entered the ballroom. Any girl in the Garden would have liked to trade places with her now, being asked to dance by the young, hot, brooding commander. But hell, she was the one who wanted to trade places. She wasn't really desperate to get her game back, but the look of desperation in Squall's face earlier tugged at something within her. Was it pity? No, maybe not, but she and Squall were supposed to be friends and friends do favors for each other, right?

The song then started to play, and Squall, not bothering to look straight at her, slid his arm around her waist, while the other kept their hold on her other hand, he lead her to the dance floor. He tried to avoid Rikku's gaze as much as possible, it was embarrassing enough, dancing with her like this. Rikku did the same, looking the other way around. This was the first time he had ever gotten this close to her… and it was only in this proximity that Squall realized, that Rikku was actually quite pretty. Her long and wavy blond hair, was let down, and flowed freely on her back. Rikku always had her hair up in regular days, but this was only the second time he saw her with her hair down. (the first time being when they crashed into each other at the cafeteria).

They started dancing, with Squall leading her, and boy, she wasn't kidding when she said she couldn't dance. She had her eyes on her feet and was dragging her feet to match Squall's pace and ended up stepping on his foot numerous times. Squall ignored it at first, but his feet started to hurt.

"Are my feet really that fun to step on?" Squall said, still not meeting her face.

"Don't complain. I told you I couldn't dance." she said.

"But you could at least try to avoid my feet." he said. Rikku stuck her tongue out at him.

As the song continued, Rikku was gradually beginning to pick up on the steps, and she eventually managed not to step on his foot. Squall had been internally debating with himself if he should say something, Rikku was unusually quiet, and seemed really nervous, and it wasn't because she was dancing with him.

"You look nervous." Squall was thinking of the question in his head, but he accidentally let it slip.

"N-no I'm not!" she defended herself, but it she only sounded guilty. Realizing this, she sighed and answered. "Yeah I am… How did you know?"

"Your palms are sweaty." said Squall. Rikku took her hand off his, and placed her hand on Squall's chest instead. Squall was stupefied for a moment when he realized what she was actually doing... she was wiping off the sweat on her palm in his uniform. Squall chose to ignore what she had just done. Cid was still watching, after all.

"That's what you get for being such a meanie…" Rikku smirked at him as. Squall ignored her again as he took her hand again and they continued dancing. When Squall saw Irvine's face in the audience, he was giving him the thumbs up. What did that mean anyway?

"So why are you nervous?" Squall asked her, trying to block out the image of Irvine giving him the thumbs up.

"Well… I can't tell you! It's too embarrassing!" she replied, and Squall didn't press on the issue further. Must be a girl thing.

At the last part of the song, they were fully in synch, and it amazed him how easily she could pick up the steps. Every turn, twirl and twist was perfect, like they had practiced the dance. When the song came into and end, the spectators applauded. With a few exceptions from the Squall devotees, who only glared at Rikku and muttered curses under their breath. Squall let his hands drop at his side, and turned to say thanks to Rikku, and it was the first time that night, that their eyes had met. His cerulean eyes, met with her emerald ones. And it was only then that Squall had noticed for the first time, the beauty of the color of her eyes. The green reminded him of an infinite field of grass, there was so much depth in her eyes. He was lost staring into her eyes, that he had forgotten what it was he was about to say. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, neither spoke a word or seemed to budged from where they were standing. Their moment was finally cut short by Seifer, who appeared behind Rikku.

"Do you mind if I cut in, commander?" Seifer told Squall, as the latter finally snapped out of his daze. Squall muttered a quick thanks to Rikku, as he walked away from them towards nowhere in particular, wondering what it was that he felt, when he looked straight into her eyes.

"You should know that I'm not a very good dancer…" Rikku repeated again, but this time, to Seifer.

"I was watching you dance with Squall earlier, and it wasn't that bad. I'd just have to look after my feet." said Seifer. The ex sorceress knight, held out his hand and bowed to her, in a very gentlemanly and classic manner. Rikku couldn't help but blush as she took his hand and Seifer lead her back to the dance floor. The song this time, was slower and more mellow than the song she had danced to with Squall.

"Oh that's right! I haven't congratulated you yet! Congratulations!" said Rikku, beaming at him.

"Thanks. It was all because of those study groups we did that I was able to pass. I owe you, Rikku." said Seifer.

"Nonsense! You passed because of your own ability! Hey isn't this great? A few days from now, we may be sent on our first mission!" she spoke more enthusiastic than usual, and it was to hide the fact that she was actually quite nervous. Tonight was THE night.

"I'm looking forward more to my first salary… Now I don't have to do that part-time job anymore." said Seifer. Seifer had asked permission from the Headmaster to allow him to get a part-time job, to support himself since there was a Garden rule that states that a student who has failed the SeeD exam for more than five times will no longer be supported by the Garden.

"Aw… I wanted to see you working!" said Rikku. It surprised her that she was still able to talk to him, Her mind was full of thoughts at this moment, thoughts of how to tell Seifer and thoughts of…

"I'll take you there sometime, when you're old enough." Seifer teased. Seifer had been working as a bartender in a Bar at Balamb.

"You know, I've never been to a Bar before… Better keep your promise, because I'm turning 18 in a few months!" she managed to say, but she was pretty much still in deep thought. Should he ask him to get fresh air at the Ballroom's Balcony? Or drag him to a quiet corner?

"Sure, sure." Seifer smiled. The two new SeeDs continued dancing, or rather, Seifer continued to drag Rikku around, she wasn't really paying attention to the steps. She was still thinking. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Finally, she stopped thinking and thought, "Oh what the hell I'll just tell him here."

"Seifer, I…" her words were cut short when the song had ended and Seifer had let go of her.

"Want to get something to drink?" Seifer asked her. And she could only nod along in response and follow behind him to the refreshments, disappointed by her failure. Seifer handed her champagne, and she took it, draining the contents of the glass in one gulp.

"Thirsty?' said Seifer.

"A little bit." Seifer took another glass of champagne and offered it to her. And this time, she drank slower.

"Seifer?'

"Yeah?" he asked, as he turned his eyes away from the dancing and looked at her. Rikku swallowed hard, before she spoke.

"Well uh…" she began shakily and continued. "You see I… need to tell you something!" was what she managed to say.

"Yeah, Go on." He urged.

"You see… I…"

"Rikku!" she was interrupted, this time by her best friend Hailey calling her.

"Hail? What's up?" Hailey shoved a cell phone into Rikku's hand.

"Your Dad had been calling you, but you forgot your phone, so he called me instead. He's on the line!" Rikku covered the mouthpiece with her hand as she turned to Seifer.

"I'll tell you later. Wait for me okay?" She told him. Seifer nodded and she quickly dashed out of the ballroom to answer the call.

After what seemed like ages on the phone, Her Dad finally hung up. Her father had been so against her transferring to Balamb, but when he had found out that Rikku passed the SeeD exam, he was ecstatic. He had beamed at her daughter on the phone, and the call lasted for an hour and a half… She felt exhausted. She glanced at her watch, It was already 10:00 in the evening. She still had two hours left to find Seifer and tell him once and for all. She made her way back to the Ballroom, and when she got there, the place was becoming louder and louder. A band had replaced the orchestra and was now playing more modern songs. She looked around at the ballroom in search of Seifer. He was no longer where she had left him. Probably got bored waiting. She continued to look around the Ballroom, occasionally running into some of her classmates and got into conversations with them. After a couple of minutes in search of the tall blonde SeeD, she finally managed to find him. He was leaning on the Balcony's railing alone, a drink on his hand as he stared at the view. Smiling, she started to walk towards the Balcony. Finally this was it, the moment she was waiting for. A few steps away from the Balcony, she saw Seifer stood straight, and looked away from the view. Someone had called his attention, and he turned to face that person. She couldn't see who it was who called Seifer. She continued walking towards the Balcony and hid behind the thick post, at the entrance of the Balcony, to eavesdrop. Eavesdropping was not in her nature, but this was Seifer and she was really curious, Besides, she had been spending too much time with him and she knew for a fact that Seifer didn't have other friends and that got her curious.

"Congratulations, Mr. Almasy" the voice who had called him spoke. The voice was unmistakably female.

"Why, Thank You, My dear Instructor…"Seifer left his drink on the railing and walked slowly towards the source of the other voice. Rikku moved closer to see who it was. The person was someone she had never seen before, because if she had, surely she would remember because she stood out. The woman was astonishingly beautiful, like a princess who had come from a fairytale. Her long, straight, flaxen hair flowed freely from her shoulders and was swaying with the gust of wind. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight. She was truly beautiful.

"Got my text?" the woman asked him. Seifer smiled, a true genuine, and unhindered smile, one that Rikku has never seen him do before.

"I did. It gave me strength in battle." said Seifer. He was now standing in front of the woman, a foot away from her.

"I'm glad… Finally…" The woman smiled back at him. Seifer closed the distance between them as he wrapped her arms around the woman, and kissed her passionately.

a/n: pretty sure you guys all know who the woman is... So sorry Rikku had to see that... Reviews anyone? Thanks! Next update will take a while. I'm going on vacation! Booyaka!