Chapter Twenty: Recognitions
Squall burst into the Quad and immediately started to look around, scanning for trouble. What he found was… "What the…?"
"What's going on?" Selphie panted as she caught up with him. "Is everyone all right?"
"Hey, you two!" Zell called through a microphone as he stood on the platform at one side of the room; it had been set up along with a sound system for Sally's promotion ceremony as well as awards for Selphie and James for their contributions in the restoration of Trabia Garden. "We've been waiting for you!"
"Us?" Squall replied, fully aware that his hotheaded friend likely wouldn't hear him.
"Do you know what he's talking about?" Selphie asked him.
"Not a clue," Squall murmured as they exchanged puzzled looks.
"Are we ready for a proposal?!" Zell hollered, and the crowd roared their approval.
Cid, who was standing not too far away from the platform, turned to the other headmaster. "Jonas, do you know anything about this?"
"Hey, they're your staff," Headmaster Winn chuckled with his hands raised. "I'm just as much in the dark as you apparently are."
Meanwhile, Squall had started to work his way toward Zell to find out what was going on when he, along with Selphie, were stopped by a voice calling out, "Hey! Are the commander and Chief Tilmitt getting married?" His stomach slithered to his shoes as the crowd roared their approval yet again, and he turned to check on his friend to find her with her face covered, though what he could see of her face was scarlet. "Come on," he said, trying to make himself heard over the din as he reached out toward her. "Let's go."
In light of their recent conversation, he wasn't surprised in the least to see an embarrassed smile on her face as she partly uncovered her face to take his hand. "O-Okay…"
"Oh, so you think it's Squall and Selphie, huh? Heh heh heh…" Zell asked, imitating a cartoon villain's laugh as he regained everyone's attention. "Sorry, but not this time." He pulled a small box out of his uniform trouser pocket and held it up over his head. "Sal Gal? Get up here, wouldja?"
"She's in the bathroom," someone called out, causing a wave of laughter to rise from the crowd; even Cid and Jonas exchanged amused grins.
Zell dropped the arm holding the box to his side. "Seriously, guys? Y'all'd do me dirty like that?"
"ZELL!" a voice cried, nearly literally as Sally pushed her way through the crowd, though everyone did their best to get out of her way.
"Hey, make a hole there, make a hole," Zell ordered, causing students, SeeDs, and staff to quickly move out of the hysterical girl's path, granting her smooth passage to the platform and her boyfriend. "Thanks, homes."
"Z-Zell…?" Sally stammered, her voice barely discernible through the sound system. "Are you doing what I think you're doing?"
"Maybe," he quipped with a shrug of one shoulder. "Listen, doll-face; we've been together for a long time, right?"
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, yes…" she whimpered, her hands flying to her mouth as the tears started. "Ohmygosh…"
"Cool," he said with an affectionate smile, "but gimme a minute to tell everyone how awesome you are."
"Zell, don't…" she whimpered again as she took hold of his arm while casting embarrassed glances toward their audience.
"See, I first met Sally during the…the trouble with that NORG dude. Now I get that we may have met before then, but that's the first time I remember meeting her, ya dig?"
An appreciative chuckle rose from the audience along with a few 'We dig's.
"So she gave me a Mega Phoenix, and that's why I'll call her 'Meg' or 'Megalicious' or-"
"Zell!" Sally squeaked, quickly clapping a hand over his mouth. "P-Please!"
"Mmmm; Phorry," he grunted from behind her hand. After she removed it he continued. "Sorry about that; lost my head and got into too-personal territory. Sorry, babe. Point is; I give her nicks because of that. Anyway, where was I…? Oh! Yeah! And then later on she gave me a totally fresh copy of Combat King and said some really bonus things about me, and you know what? It kinda hit me, right? So after the hotdog eating contest she and I started talking and found out we had a lot in common." He reached out and gave his petite girlfriend's arm a gentle squeeze. "Can you believe this little thing does Duel?" He cocked his head with an exaggerated look of surprise, drawing another round of appreciative laughter from the crowd. "She kicks major butt, too."
"He sure is the showman, isn't he?" Selphie giggled as she and Squall leaned side-by-side against the far wall.
"He's always liked attention," Squall remarked with an amused grunt and a small smile. "Like Seifer, but without the arrogance."
"True," she replied with another giggle.
"Yeah, well, my arrogance is warranted." Squall winced at the familiar tone, and he and Selphie looked as one to find Seifer with his arms crossed and trademark smirk, leaning against the wall on Squall's other side; on his other side were Raijin and Fujin. "Don't forget, Squall; tonight."
"Maybe he has other plans, Seifer," Selphie nearly snarled. "You even think of that?"
"Are you ever going to let him speak for himself?" Seifer counter-snarled. "Shit, I know you're crazy about the guy, but he's still his own man, right?"
She stopped short of a response. "Y…You're right," she replied, hanging her head. "Sorry, Squall."
"Why do you want to fight me so badly?" Squall asked, trying to ignore the fact that his rival somehow knew about Selphie's feelings. "Haven't you had enough of that already?"
The blonde-haired youth scoffed as he pushed himself from the wall, his posse following suit. "Who the hell said I wanted to fight you?" And with a wave of his hand the former Disciplinary Committee headed toward the exit.
"Then what was that about crossing Gunblades…?" Selphie wondered aloud as they watched his retreating form.
A roar from the crowd drew Squall's attention again, and he looked up to the platform to see Zell holding the small box from earlier out toward Sally, whose hands had resumed covering her astonished expression. "Sally Regal; with everything I am, I totally dig you. Marry me?"
No one could hear her reply, but the excited nod and the sight of her throwing her arms around his neck gave everyone present a pretty good idea.
"That was fun!" Zell gushed as he reclined in his seat; next to him, Sally's face nearly looked like it was on fire, blushing from all the attention they'd been getting from all the well-wishers. "We should do that again sometime!"
"Z-Zell!" Sally squeaked, covering her face yet again. "Y-You can only propose once!"
"Says who?" Zell said as he started to get to his feet.
"Oh, no you don't!" she cried as she pulled her cackling fiancée back into his seat. "Once is plenty, you!"
"Leave her alone, Zell," Squall chuckled from across the table. "I think she's had enough attention for the year. Or lifetime."
"Yes, sir!" Zell replied with a jaunty salute. "Commencing operation 'Leave Her Alone'!"
From her seat next to Squall, Selphie giggled at the exchange, though her mirth faded as she glanced over at Squall. Even though her feelings for her friend seemed so new, they really weren't, and she found herself wishing that she knew of some way to…to…
"At this time, Commander Leonhart will medal those instrumental to the reconstruction of our beloved Garden," Headmaster Winn announced as he gestured toward Squall. "Commander, if you would…?"
Everyone applauded as Squall got up from his seat and gestured toward Selphie, who blinked up at him in surprise before getting to her feet as well to follow him up to the makeshift stage. Once he had clipped on the wireless microphone he tapped it a couple of times as though to test the volume before speaking. "James Barton; would you join us, please?"
Cheers erupted from the crowd as a single figure rose and started toward the stage, and James moved to where Squall pointed, next to Selphie. "Ch-Chief…" he greeted.
"Don't worry," she said, her voice trembling. "I'm nervous as well."
"Chief of Intelligence Selphie Tilmitt," Squall announced as a young man in SeeD uniform brought a small box up to him, "on behalf of the staff and faculty of Trabia and Balamb Gardens and for your contributions to the restoration of Trabia Garden, I have the honor of awarding you the Garden Medal of Heroism." He took out the first medal and moved to stand in front of Selphie.
She shuddered, her blood feeling cold as Squall's hands reached out with the cloth cord, from which hung the golden medallion; from her perspective it easily looked as though he was reaching out to take her in his arms. "Th-Thank you, commander," she stammered as she forced her legs to not buckle.
Squall smiled down at her as the award settled onto her neck and chest, and he took a step back to snap a salute. Still reeling from his touch, she somehow managed to respond in kind.
Squall dropped the salute and moved to stand next to the extremely nervous young man next to Selphie. "SeeD James Barton," Squall said as he took the other medal from the box and moved to stand before his trembling subordinate, "on behalf of the staff and faculty of Trabia and Balamb Gardens and for your contributions to the restoration of Trabia Garden, I have the honor of awarding you the Garden Medal of Heroism." As he extended his arms to medal the younger man he added, "In addition to this Medal of Heroism, you are to be promoted four SeeD ranks, effective from the date of Trabia Garden's restoration."
James' eyes widened and his mouth fell open in disbelief, but he recovered in time to return his commander's salute. "Th-Thank you, sir!" he exclaimed as the audience cheered.
"You've earned it, Mr. Barton," Headmaster Jonas replied form the side as he and Headmaster Cid applauded along with everyone else.
Squall allowed himself smile as he turned to address the crowd again. "Company; atten-tion"
All SeeDs and student immediately snapped to attention, the applause abruptly ending as though someone had flipped a switch.
"Sa-lute!"
As everyone saluted the heroes of Trabia Garden, Selphie started to openly cry, though she managed to hold her military bearing; next to her, James was repeatedly clearing his throat.
"At…ease!" Squall ordered. Once he saw that everyone had complied, he said, "Relax."
"Not just yet."
Squall snapped his gaze to find Cid with a sly grin. "Sir?"
"Don't think you're going to get out of this without some kind of recognition, Commander," Balamb Garden's headmaster said in an admonishing tone.
"Agreed," Trabia's headmaster seconded.
It had genuinely not occurred to Squall that, as the commander of the mission, he would qualify for a medal as well. "I appreciate that, gentlemen, but I only had the two made."
The two Garden headmasters exchanged an amused glance. "We figured that would be the case," Cid replied, "so we had one ordered up for you."
"And thanks to our Chief of Intelligence, we've invited the perfect representative to medal you," Jonas added, then gestured to the opposite end of the platform.
Squall turned with a furrowed brow to look behind him, and his eyes widened at the sight of…. "S-Sis?"
"Hello, Squall," Ellone greeted with a finger-wave as she elegantly glided over to him. "It's been a long time."
He had to swallow a lump in his throat before he could speak again. "H-How have you been?"
She smiled fondly at her younger brother. "We can talk about that later; right now, I'm here to give you a medal." As Squall watched, she turned to accept the medal from the same SeeD that had brought the others before turning back to him with a slightly awkward smile. "I may not get this exactly right, but I'll do my best."
Squall simply nodded, unable to contain his smile; next to him, Selphie's hand went to her chest in response to a pang of jealousy.
"Commander Squall Leonhart," she said as she raised her hands to loop the medal around his neck, "on behalf of the staff and faculty of Trabia and Balamb Gardens and for your contributions to the restoration of Trabia Garden, I have the honor of awarding you the Garden Medal of Heroism." As she lowered her hands to clasp them before her she added, her voice barely above a whisper, "Thank you, Squall…for everything." She took a step back and started to raise her hand, but then quickly dropped it. "I'm sorry; I don't know how to salute."
"That's okay," Squall replied, smile still plastered on his face as he snapped a salute of his own.
Ellone giggled behind her hand, then stepped forward again to hug her younger brother. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered in his ear.
He barely noticed the 'awwww's that rose from the assembled SeeDs and students as he lowered his arm to reciprocate her hug; everyone knew enough about Squall's history and that the girl in his arms was very important to him. Several of the females, however, looked to the Chief of Intelligence with worried expressions; the more perceptive girls recognized the forced smile and slight trembling of her limbs.
"There's one more surprise visitor," Ellone said as she pulled away from her brother. She then looked back to the end of the platform from which she had come. "Uncle Laguna?"
Squall's breath caught in his throat and fury suddenly reddened his vision as President Laguna Loire appeared, waving to the appreciative audience as they cheered. What the hell is he doing here?
