Dear Quistis,
Thank you for your package! When I opened our weekly mail parcel (it's more of a huge box, actually), it was a grey and rainy day, and I was feeling a little down in the dumps- but when I spotted your neat penmanship on the box among the bills, I smiled so big it was like the sun came out!
We all enjoyed the chocolates, especially Zack. We all sat around the kitchen table and worked our way through the whole box, trying to guess what was in each one. Zak loves the stuffed Ifrit, by the way- he carries it everywhere. Wherever did you get it?
Squall is home for the week, so he and Zack have been stuck together like superglue. I think they're outside trying to build a kite right now, taking advantage of the nice breezes we've been getting along the shoreline. If its anything like the last lopsided kite they made, they're going to need helmets to prevent someone from losing an eye. Oh well. Zack doesn't care if it flies, anyway, he just likes spending time with his father. Squall is home when he can be, and we just take him when we can get him! Squall says in the years ahead he wants to move onto more consult work, just as soon as he can find a suitable replacement. I said, Who could ever replace you, silly? Things have shifted in him since Zack was born, I think. Then again, we're all a little different now, aren't we?
How is the weather in Balamb? Spring has definitely arrived here at the cottage- the salt air has lost its bite and my flowers are finally beginning to sprout. I told you that Edea gave me free range of the gardens when Squall and I moved here, didn't I? Well, she did, and sometimes I wonder if she isn't beginning to regret her decision!
I planted tulips along the stone cobble way last week, and added some sprays of wildflowers to the front porch that I transplanted from the flower field. There's also the rose bushes I put up along the sides: white roses should be budding soon, which will look lovely with the sprays of lilacs I'm expecting along the corner rows. I even ordered some seeds and dug a little garden plot next to the house: pumpkins, green beans, wild onions, and some tomato plants. (Of course, I don't actually know how to -cook- any of these things, but they always look so nice in bowls in magazines.) Maybe I'll learn! I don't expect the pumpkins to grow any larger than my fist this first year, but its a start! I can't wait for you to see it!
The garden was a wonderful idea. At first, I was going stir crazy here, (as I'm sure you noticed by my letters), but I'm slowly thinking of different things to do. Its settling here, in a way that Timber and Balamb never were, and in the way that my fathers old house could never be after my mom died. Right now I'm sitting at the new scroll top desk by the front window, writing to you and enjoying the sunlight. I could have called you, I suppose, but there's something about writing a letter, isn't there? Something secret and personal that appeals to me, and besides, isn't it always wonderful to get a letter in the mail? To know someone's thinking of you, and wishing you well?
How is your medical license coming? Selphie and Squall say you have been putting a lot of hours in at the clinic, as well as in Kadowaki's lab. Squall said that your paper on "Draw Point vs. Mag-saline Solution Acquisition-Differentiation in [Acytlcholine]" was really interesting- I didn't even understand the title, but I'm sure that it was! Pretty soon we'll all be calling you Dr. Quisty! I hope you're also taking some time out for fun, too- you really do work too hard, you know. As your friend, I prescribe a bottle of wine and a nice, relaxing evening with a certain meanie. Or better yet, make him take you out!
Zack has been asking about you lately, in as much as an almost-two-year-old can inquire about anyone. He keeps saying, Aunty Kisty come now? I tell him soon, and hope that it will be true. We've been so spoiled lately, with you and Selphie using the Ragnarok to come and see us! Maybe we'll have to come and see you soon, too! Although, I'm pretty sure its not cost-effective to use a giant airship for a day-visit. Somewhere, Xu is hunched over a counting machine, grinding her teeth, haha.
I'm sending you along a picture Zack drew for you and Seifer- it kind of looks like the ocean but I can't say as I remember the ocean having red trees in it. I like to say that hes creative- Squall says that's just something parents say about their kids even when they scribble on the walls. (This from a guy who has about 127 pictures of 'scribbles' in his office!) At any rate, enjoy your scribble. You never know, it could be worth something someday! It's autographed by the artist himself, after all!
I miss all of you- I hope we can see each other really soon!
With love,
Rinoa
p.s. Tell the meanie we all say hello!