A Twisted Love Story
First, I'd like to thank all the truly lovely people who have spent their time reading and reviewing. Without you guys, this would never have continued.
I'd like to thank CrazyTurkey, another opinion, Sidalee, Kun'aii and Relyob. You guys have been reviewing at least since chapter 5 (I'll do this every 5 chapter!) You guys are amazing!!! Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!
I hope you keep reading and reviewing…there's still more to come:D
I'm also going to say a big sorry for the long wait! I know how annoying it is to wait for a chapter. I've been very busy, but, to make up for it, this chapter is super long! I think it's actually the longest chapter so far…so, enjoy!
And remember to review please! XD
Chapter 10
It was 9:25pm as Quistis was sat eating a late dinner in the cafeteria.
Quistis sighed heavily to herself. She never ate this late. She was normally so organised, but falling asleep with Irvine for the whole day had thrown her daily plan away.
Suddenly, she heard a voice shrieking her name
"Quistis! Quistis!"
Quistis spun around and saw Rinoa sprinting across the cafeteria, seemingly oblivious to the student's stares as they watched her run over to Quistis.
"I'm engaged!" Rinoa cried, her face beaming. Quistis couldn't help noticing that her eyes were slightly red, as though she'd been crying.
"Congratulations! That's great!" exclaimed Quistis, trying to act as though this was news to her "let's see the ring!"
Rinoa held out her hand and showed Quistis the diamond ring Squall had brought her.
"Wow!" said Quistis "it's beautiful!"
"Thanks!" said Rinoa, still beaming
"Where's Squall now?" asked Quistis, noticing his absence when he should really be with Rinoa
"Oh, he's off telling Zell and Irvine, I think. Or he may just have gone back to his room because I mentioned I was going to come and tell you and Selphie, and he looked so exhausted. I don't think he could face me jumping up and it's been a long day. Anyway, I've got a lot to prepare if the wedding is going to be in two weeks" Rinoa said brightly
Quistis nearly choked, which she managed to disguise well with a cough
"Two weeks?" Quistis asked faintly "why such a short time away?"
Rinoa shrugged
"Didn't see the point in over planning. Grab a nice dress for me, some bridesmaid dresses to match. The guys get tuxedos, order a cake, find a place…it's not going to take years, is it?" Rinoa giggled "No, two weeks will be fine for me and Squall. Just a small ceremony, just close friends…Oh, Selphie!"
Rinoa had just spotted Selphie entering the cafeteria, making her way towards their table. Rinoa managed to wait patiently until Selphie was sat down next to her before turning and showing her the ring
"Squall proposed!" Rinoa cried, and Selphie started to clap her hands together excitedly
"Congratulations!" Selphie cried, hugging Rinoa "does that mean there's a wedding to plan?" she asked eagerly, her eyes shining with excitement
"Yeah, I was just telling Quistis about it. I've got the basic idea of what I want…"
"Wait a moment" Selphie said suddenly. She leapt from her seat and jogged out of the cafeteria
"Where's she going?" Rinoa asked
Selphie returned two minutes later with a chunky writing pad and a pen.
"Fire away" she told Rinoa, sitting down next to her and turning to face her "tell me everything you want, and I can help organise it…unless Quisty wants to help…"
"Me? No, no, I'm fine, honestly" Quistis said quickly. Selphie was the one who was a fantastic party planner, and Quistis didn't envy Selphie if she only had two weeks to plan and entire wedding from scratch.
"Well…" Rinoa started "It's just going to be a small ceremony, not too many people…you know" Selphie nodded, her pen running over the pad as she scribbled all the details down.
"How many, roughly?" Selphie asked
"Well, me and Squall, obviously, then all our closest friends" Rinoa started counting on her fingers "you and Quistis, Irvine, Zell…that's six. Then I guess we invite parents…" Rinoa pulled a face "so I guess my lovely father will be coming, or perhaps not. Depends if he thinks Squall is suitable. Then we'll invite Laguna and Ellone…can't really think of anyone else"
Selphie nodded, scribbling the names of all the guests down as Rinoa said them
"What about Seifer?" Quistis said suddenly, before she could stop herself
Rinoa and Selphie both stared at her, and Quistis hastened to correct herself
"I mean…he was at the orphanage with Squall and all the rest of us, and…and" Quistis struggle to find more reasons "and you did date him…" she finished, quite lamely
Quistis expected Rinoa to say no to inviting Seifer straight away, but Rinoa looked quite thoughtful.
"Hmm, well, I guess we should, really. I mean, he did grow up with you guys, and it would be nice to have everyone with close personal connections there…" she trailed off, still looking thoughtful.
"Ok, I'll put him on the list. What about Fujin and Raijin?" Selphie asked
"No way!" Quistis and Rinoa cried together
"I agree, you said close friends…ok, they're out," Selphie said, crossing off the names "now, is there anyone else?"
"Headmaster Cid and Matron" Quistis suggested
"What about other SeeDs, Nida and Xu and that?" Selphie asked "or Kiros and Ward?"
"Yeah, and don't you want to invite your old owl members, Watts and Zone?" Quistis asked
Rinoa looked stunned.
"This is meant to be a small ceremony. Selphie, can you draw me up an entire possible guest list, and I'll tell you who to invite and who to cross out"
Selphie nodded, turned a page on her writing pad and started to write every possible guest down in a long list. Quistis sighed and finally got back to her meal, which was now cold.
"Finished," said Selphie happily, three minutes later "now I'll go down the list and we'll vote yes or no. If we can't reach a decision, we'll ask Squall, Irvine and Zell and so on until we reach a good decision" Rinoa and Quistis nodded
"Right…the first name is…Rinoa"
Quistis and Rinoa stared.
"So…I'm guessing yes then…What about Squall?"
"You're very precise, aren't you?" Quistis said
"Well, I want everything to be perfect," Selphie said "now, me, Quisty, Irvy, Zelly…I'm guessing we're all yes, too?"
Rinoa nodded
"Now, Seifer…"
"I'd say yes, if only for the sake of everyone who grew up with him. He may be arrogant, but he is sort of family, especially to you guys…" Rinoa said
"Yes" Quistis agreed
Selphie frowned slightly
"Well…ok" she said finally "but don't blame me if the wedding turns into a funeral because Squall and Seifer decide to murder each other"
The same thought seemed to have struck Rinoa.
"Well…let's put him as a maybe…ask the guys"
Selphie giggled
"Squall will say no. Zell will say no. Irvine probably won't be too keen to invite him"
"Why don't we invite him, but keep him away from Squall all day" Quistis suggested
"Wow, that sounds like fun" said Rinoa sarcastically, but they couldn't think of any other way to do it, so they all agreed on that
"He probably won't even turn up," said Selphie reassuringly to Rinoa, who was looking worried at the prospect of Seifer ruining the wedding "anyway, next one…Matron and Headmaster Cid"
Rinoa looked thoughtful
"Yes, I mean…the orphanage…" she trailed off, still thinking. Selphie and Quistis agreed that they should be invited and Selphie looked at the next names
"Kiros and Ward, close friends of Laguna's" Rinoa bit her lip. Did she really want so many strangers there?
Selphie saw Rinoa's face
"Why don't we see if Laguna can come first," Selphie suggested "what about other SeeDs?"
"No, I think if we invite a few, we'll have to invite everyone of them" Quistis said
"Yeah, I mean, I know you're friends with Xu and that, but I hardly know any SeeDs apart from you guys, and Squall is hardly mr popular with the other SeeDs"
Selphie nodded, crossing some names off
"Zone and Watts"
"Nah. They may have been in the timber owls, but we were never that close"
"Parents, I assume, are automatically invited. That means General Caraway and Laguna. Oh, and Ellone" Selphie said. Rinoa nodded.
"Right, I think we have the list" Selphie said, handing her pad to Rinoa. Rinoa looked down at the guest list. It read;
Bride and Groom-Rinoa Heartilly and Squall Leonhart
Guests-
Quistis Trepe
Zell Dincht
Selphie Tilmitt
Irvine Kinneas
Seifer Almasy
General Caraway
Laguna Loire
Ellone
Cid Kramer
Edea Kramer
"So, twelve people, if everyone turns up" Selphie said
"Yeah, I think that's a good number. I mean, it's only going to be a small number of people for a small wedding. Nothing too big"
"Right," said Selphie cheerfully "now when are you planning to do this? How much time to I have?"
"Well, I'm thinking about…two weeks"
Selphie fainted.
"Selph? Selph? Are you ok?"
Selphie opened her eyes and found that she had somehow fallen onto Rinoa's lap.
"What?" Selphie asked groggily, rising
"You fainted" said Quistis "when Rinoa told you how much time you had to plan her wedding"
"Oh…yes," said Selphie, looking around at the cafeteria, which was now almost completely empty around from a few students who were eating late "sorry"
"Do you think we can do it?" Rinoa asked hopefully "if we all work together"
Selphie looked hesitant for a moment, but then she saw Rinoa's pleading eyes
"Well…we could try. It would actually be a super fun challenge, I guess!"
Rinoa looked relieved.
"Why is it so important you get married so quickly?" Quistis asked
"Well…"Rinoa started. The real reason she wanted to get married so quickly was because she had a bad feeling that something was going to get in the way, and stop her and Squall from getting married. They had already overcome so much…she had to do this before something awful happened. Of course, Rinoa didn't want to tell Selphie and Quistis the real reason, that would require too much explanation and an account of everything which had happened before, including Zell's kiss and the fiasco of Squall's proposal. She couldn't face that right now. She'd tell them eventually…probably. But get the wedding over with. Let her and Squall be happy that nobody could get in the way then. Only death would part them.
"I…just want to make it soon. Don't want to make a big deal out of it…"
"I thought you wanted a big wedding?" Quistis asked. Rinoa shrugged.
"I used to, yes, but now I've meet Squall…it doesn't seem that important anymore. I just want a wedding where everyone is happy and I get to marry Squall, the love of my life…" Rinoa stopped, noticing that both Quistis and Selphie were staring at her "what?" she asked
"You and Squall have a love so pure!" Selphie cried, and then she burst into tears on Quistis' shoulder.
It took five minutes to calm her down.
"Ok," said Selphie once she had recovered from her crying fit "we better get going as soon as possible if we want this wedding to happen. I suggest we start looking for your wedding dress as soon as possible, Rinoa, and the bridesmaid dresses too"
Rinoa nodded.
"Yeah, when are you two free?"
"Anytime, really, since we don't have any missions to complete at the moment, so we're free whenever"
"Right, well how about…tomorrow. No point in waiting until the last moment"
Quistis and Selphie nodded.
"How about 9am, by the front gates. Then we'll go shopping all day" Quistis suggested
"9am!" Selphie cried "I'd say more around 10am. I'm not getting up too early"
"We'll meet at 10am" Rinoa said "is that ok?"
Selphie and Quistis both nodded
"Right, and I also have to decide who is going to be maid of honour"
Quistis and Selphie looked at each other. This was going to be a showdown between them.
"I've come up with a great plan, which means that everyone of us gets to be maid of honour. For example, if, say, Quistis is my maid of honour, then Selphie will be maid of honour at Quistis's wedding, and I'll be maid of honour at Selphie's…"
"Ohhh…who am I marrying?" asked Selphie
"I dunno…Irvine"
Selphie looked slightly disappointed.
"I thought you were going to give me a different groom"
"Ok, fine," said Rinoa impatiently "Seifer"
"Seifer!" cried Selphie, giggling "I don't really think he's my type"
"Does it really matter?" asked Quistis quickly "anyway, I thought we were choosing the maid of honour?"
"Oh, yeah, right," said Selphie, her face growing serious again "so who do you pick, Rin?"
Rinoa stared at both Quistis' and Selphie's expectant faces.
"I…er…" Rinoa had no idea. She didn't expect it to be this hard.
"Well…" said Quistis slowly "I have an idea…why don't we let Squall choose?"
"Squall!" cried Rinoa and Selphie together
"No, not directly" Quistis said quickly "let's wait until he chooses best man. It's going to be either Irvine or Zell, right?"
Rinoa and Selphie nodded.
"Well, why not match one of us up with each of them. For example, if Selphie is matched to Zell, and Squall picks Zell as his best man, then Selphie will become maid of honour, and if I'm matched to Irvine and Squall chooses Irvine, then I'm maid of honour….does that seem fair?"
"That's a great idea, Quisty" Selphie said excitedly, bouncing up and down on her seat.
"Yes, but how will we match you two up with the boys?" Rinoa said
Quistis and Selphie immediately fell silent, thinking of who had a better chance of becoming best man out of Irvine and Zell.
"Why don't we write their names down on two pieces of paper, and we pick one each? Then it'll be completely fair" Selphie suggested
"Yeah, good idea" and Rinoa ripped a page out Selphie's pad and ripped it in half. She then scribbled 'Irvine' on one piece and 'Zell' on the other. She folded both and held both of the pieces of paper behind her back, one in each hand.
"Pick one hand" she told Quistis. Quistis selected Rinoa's right hand. Rinoa handed Quistis the paper from her right hand, and gave Selphie the paper from her left hand.
"Now…open" Rinoa said. Quistis and Selphie opened their pieces and read, before turning to each other and finally to Rinoa
"I have Irvine" said Quistis
"I've got Zell" Selphie said
"Right, now Squall decides on his best man, and one of you is the lucky maid of honour" said Rinoa brightly
"Sounds great" said Selphie
"Yeah, "agreed Quistis "but I really think we should be leaving the cafeteria now"
"Why?" questioned Rinoa
"Well, it was 9:25pm when you arrived, and now it's gone 11pm. We should really go, especially if we're going to be shopping all day tomorrow"
Selphie nodded, leaping out of her seat and jumping up and down.
"This weddings going to be so fun!" she exclaimed, and she started to skip over to the cafeteria entrance. Luckily, hardly anyone was there to witness this, as the cafeteria was now almost completely empty. Quistis and Rinoa eventually caught her up, and they all started walking back to their rooms.
"Right, well, see you tomorrow, both of you, just outside Balamb Garden gates" Rinoa said as they reached her room
"Yeah, bye" Quistis and Selphie said as Rinoa found her door key and let herself in. They continued down the corridor. Selphie's room was next, Selphie waved and shut her door, and Quistis continued along the corridor to her room, alone.
So, Rinoa and Squall were getting married…for real. It hadn't really sunk in, even now. Even when Squall had said before, Quistis had never really thought about it, never really believed it would be happening so fast…
Thinking of love made Quistis think about Seifer. She wondered if he would come to the wedding. Wondered if he would bother…
He probably would, if only for the free food. Sighing to herself, Quistis pulled out her key and let herself into her room. She shut the door and crossed the room, collapsing on her bed. No sooner had she sat down, there was a knock on the door.
"Who'd be calling now?" Quistis asked herself. He glanced at her watch. It was 11pm.
Quistis stood up and crossed the room. She opened the door to find Seifer stood right outside. Quistis was so surprised, she couldn't speak.
"Hello, Trepe" Seifer said, his usual smirk plastered across his face as usual.
Quistis folded her arms and expected the worst. What was Seifer going to do now? Insult her? Dump her? Ok, so technically she couldn't be dumped because they weren't going out, but still…
"So, Trepe, do want to accompany me on another date or what?"
"What" Quistis asked, taken by surprise
Seifer rolled his eyes.
"You don't hear very well, do you?" he said, flicking a strand of hair from his face.
Quistis starred, speechless
"Oh, you heard me fine. A date. Next week. See you then"
And as quickly as he had arrived, Seifer was gone.
Irvine woke suddenly. His first thought on waking up was that Quistis was no longer there with him. He stirred and glanced at his clock. 11:14pm.
He sat up suddenly, remembering how Quistis had been sleeping beside him. He rubbed his eyes…he had to find her…
He jumped off his bed, crossed his room and made his way to Quistis' room. He hoped she won't mind him calling so late…but he had to see her…had to ask if she was ok…
Eventually, he reached the corridor with Quistis' room. He walked faster, but then stopped suddenly when he saw a familiar figure ahead…just outside Quistis' room!
Irvine stared…was that…Seifer? What was he doing?
Irvine starred for a few long seconds at Seifer's smirking face before he turned, unseen, on his heel and walked back to his room, his heart sinking with every step.
Once she was back in her own room, Selphie bounced over to her bed and jumped on it. She was feeling happy right now…Rinoa and Squall…married? Who would think…and Selphie was wedding planner! How super fun!
Selphie lay down, still smiling, when suddenly another thought came to her…Zell
How was Zell going to react to Rinoa, the girl he was in love with, getting married?
She had to go and see him, and talk to him about it…
He was going to be heartbroken, and she couldn't help him…Selphie felt extremely guilty now that she had agreed to help with the wedding…what would Zell say?
It was like Zell agreeing to help plan Irvine's wedding…to another girl besides Selphie!
A thought like that would have usually had a bad effect on Selphie. Her stomach would be stabbed multiple times if she thought that she wasn't going to be with Irvine forever….but now…all she felt was a slight stab…
Then she drifted off to sleep, but Selphie didn't sleep well.
Her dream was about her getting married to Irvine, but then Zell ran in and tried to stop the wedding, but before Selphie could ask why, Irvine suddenly transformed into Seifer, who transformed into Zell, who transformed into Squall and then Selphie got annoyed because she didn't really want to get married anyway…she'd only come here because she wanted to do a little fighting in the training centre…and she didn't even like the dress anyway…
Selphie woke up with a start, turned over, and when she woke up in the morning, she didn't remember the dream at all…
Ok, thanks everyone for reading. Sorry if it was a bit slow going at times, I kind of wanted this chapter to be a kind of 'break' from all the angst and twisted love triangles I'd written so far. Sorry if the cafeteria conversation went on a bit, I just wanted to have Selphie, Rinoa and Quistis have a gossip in the cafeteria, free from too much depressing subjects. I just wanted a little humour, lighten the mood a bit, and expand on their characters, which I haven't been able to do previously…
Ok, I'm rambling on, as usual…please review! Thanks!
Selphie Ivy xx