Author's Notes: Thanks to those who reviewed so far! If you don't like my fic and don't review it, that's all right with me. If you like it and review, I thank you a lot! I hope you enjoy!
PART 2 Someone in My Dreams
His cobalt blue eyes carefully scanned the area. Where was everyone? A party was being held in celebration of the defeat of the sorceress, and in honor of him and the other "heroes", as they were now widely known as. But even in the party held especially for them, he could find no trace of any of his friends in the room full of people.
"Good evening, Zell."
Zell turned around to see the smiling face of the pigtailed library girl. "H-Hey...uh..." What was her name again? 'Oh no! Don't tell me you forgot her name! Geez, you knew her name before...' To save himself an awkward moment, he kept his mouth shut and left it at that. "Hey."
"I heard you saved the world," she smiled. "You're so brave!"
"Thanks," he nodded.
"I think they're your favorite...so in honor of what you've done for everyone..." She left for a second and returned with a cart full of hotdogs.
'Oh my god...' It took a few moments for Zell to realize that he was literally drooling over the sight of the delicious hotdogs and the pigtailed library girl handed him a napkin to wipe the saliva down his chin. 'Well...I guess I can go look for them later. Who knows when I'll get an opportunity like this again???!!!'
~*~*~*~
"Hi-hi!!! Selphie here!" The perky brunette held her new camcorder, courtesy of her dear Sir Laguna, in front of her as she waved at it. It would have been great if she could actually show her and her friends beat Ultimecia, but the party for it wasn't half bad. It would be really nice to have it all on film so that she could put it on her site. "So, we beat the sorceress and now, there's this great party! It's been awesome so far!" She then began looking around the room and found her friend standing around, drinking champagne, and watching Irvine make a fool out of himself.
"C'mon, Quistis!" Irvine urged. "Dance! Yeah! Yeah!"
Quistis looked him over with that 'I-don't-know-this-person-who-obviously-seems-as-if-he-just-escaped-from-a-mental-institution-so-don't-even-bother-asking-me' look on her face and put down her glass, at the same time just noticing that Selphie was taping them. She turned her direction to the camera and waved.
"Hi, Quisty!" Selphie greeted, zooming in on the blonde. "How's the party going for ya?"
"Er..."
"Hey..." Irvine's head popped up and he then put his arm around Quistis' shoulders, pulling her closer. "Heya, Sefie!"
"Let go of me, Irvine!" Quistis demanded, squirming away from the cowboy. She finally pulled away from his grip and she walked over to the headmaster.
"Wha--?" Irvine tilted his head over to Quistis' direction with a bewildered look on his face.
"Ah...Quistis," Cid greeted.
"Good evening, Headmaster," Quistis nodded.
"How are you doing?"
"Fine, thank you. I feel just wonderful! This celebration seems to be going very well. It seems like ages since there's been any kind of festivities around here... It's good to see that a lot of people are putting the past behind them."
"Good, good! I was worried that--" He paused and Quistis noticed that he was staring at something behind her. He raised his champagne glass and she turned around to see Selphie with her camcorder once again. "Wait, let me see where Edea is." Selphie moved her focus to the left and saw the Matron walking over to join her husband. "Here she is!"
"Quistis," Edea smiled. "You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you!"
"Thank you very much," Quistis nodded.
"She finally took off all those ornaments," Cid said. "It's been such a long time since we've seen you like that, Edea, don't you think so, Quistis?"
"Yes," the blonde agreed. "But it doesn't look like you've changed at all."
"Matron." Irvine stepped up and removed his hat as he bowed to Edea.
"Hello, Irvine," Edea greeted. "My, you're so tall and handsome!"
Selphie couldn't help but giggle at the comment, and everyone faced her.
"Sefie..." Irvine grumbled. He approached her and reached for the camcorder.
"Hey!" Selphie whined. "That's mine!!!"
"C'mon, lemmie use it once in a while, Sefie!"
"Oh, fine!" Selphie grabbed his hat and went to stand by her friend, Quistis. "Irvy...you're holding it the wrong way."
"What?"
Selphie motioned with her hands. "Turn it the other way."
"Wha--Oh... Like this?"
"Yeah, that's right." Selphie took Quistis by the arm and waved to the camera. "Hiiiiii!!!"
It took Irvine a mere half a second to move his focus over to a group of giggling girls and he waved at them. "Hey, girls!!!!!"
"Irvine!" Selphie's annoyed face appeared in front of the camera lens and the cowboy continued to follow her with the camcorder. "Now c'mon, let's go look for the others." Selphie took Quistis by the arm and they walked around, in search of their friends. "Oh, hey, Quisty! There's Zell!"
"Oh! I almost didn't recognize him behind that mountain of hotdogs," Quistis laughed.
"It was really more of a pain in the ass, really, to get the stuff for my weapon upgrade to Ehrgeiz," Zell said, with a mouthful of food. "But you know what was hard to do? When we were getting stuff for Quistis' weapon upgrade... Man, that Marlboro was tough... Do you know her? Quistis Trepe? She's the blonde woman in our lil' group of "heroes". I mean, not like I'd like to call myself one, but her, she--ack! Gah!!!" The martial artist started choking and grabbed for his glass of water, but found it empty. "KAH!!!"
"Zell!" Selphie and Quistis rushed by his side and started beating on his back, trying to stop him from choking.
"KAH!!! KAH!!! ACKKK!!!!!!!!"
"Zell?" Selphie said. "You okay?"
The food was finally dislodged from the poor blond guy's throat, but instead of a heartfelt sign of gratitude, he growled like an angry beast, giving them both the evil eye and he scared the two girls away. He then looked around and saw that he scared the pigtailed library girl, too.
'Damn!' First, he gave his object of affections the impression that he had become a monster, and now, he lost the chance of getting things off his chest to what's-her-name, the library girl. He looked up. He had the strangest feeling that... IRVINE WAS VIDEOTAPING HIM!!! He held up the frankfurter in his hand and hurled it at the man with the camera.
"WHOA, man!!!" Irvine exclaimed, going off to find Selphie.
"Sheesh!" Selphie muttered. "What's up with him? We were only trying to save his life!" She turned to the balcony. "Oh! It's Rinoa!"
Irvine went to get a close-up of the raven-haired princess as she pointed to something in the sky, and the batteries went dead.
"Hey, Sefie..." Irvine said. "What happens when there's, like a broken battery on the screen and everything goes black?"
"Oh no! The batteries are dead!" Selphie cried as she took the camera from him. "C'mon, we gotta get some more!" And with that, the two left to get more batteries, not knowing that they were leaving one person behind...
~*~*~*~
The blonde watched as Rinoa held up her hand to point at the sky. She went a little bit closer and changed her point of view to see what was going on. She knew it wasn't good to be nosy, but she just had a sudden urge to find out what was happening...
"Look," she could hear Rinoa say.
'Now who is she talking to...?'
She saw Rinoa's companion take her hand and bring her close for a deep kiss...
'SQUALL???' Quistis eyes widened as she saw the two engage in a passionate lip-lock and she forced herself to look away after a few moments of self-torture, watching them in their embrace. 'So he really does love her...' She knew that when they were at Trabia, she had convinced herself that her sisterly feelings for Squall were mistaken for something more, but it didn't mean that she didn't feel any kind of pain whenever she realized that she was not the one who made him happy. She missed him in the worst way, when she fought side by side with him, but knew she could never have him. If love was supposed to hurt more than this, then she could wait.
'I have to let you go now.' A small smile formed on her lips, and she took one last look at her beloved.
"Hey, baby."
~*~*~*~
'Man, I'm such an ass...' Zell ran a gloved hand through his hair and continued to look for the blonde ex-instructor. 'What the hell was I thinking? Scaring her away like that... She must think that I'm a hooligan AND a grumpy old loser... Wha--Oh, there she is...' He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to keep his cool as he walked towards her. 'Be cool, Dincht... Yeah... I'm cool... I'm as cool as a cool, ocean breeze... I'm as cool as cool lemonade on a hot, summer day... I'm as cool as ice cold ice, baby... Ice, ice baby... Yeah... I'm cool... Cool as ice...' "Hey, baby," he purred, not even thinking about what he was saying.
"Oh my goodness!" Quistis gasped, as Zell sneaked up behind her. "Oh, Zell, it's only you. I'm sorry, you just kinda surprised me!"
"Urk...!" Zell's face flushed up and he suddenly forgot what he was going to say. 'What the hell's wrong with you?! COOL, MAN, BE COOL!!!' "U-Uh...cool..." 'ACK!'
"Um...okay?" Quistis cocked her head. "Are you all right? Is it really that hot in here?"
'You're supposed to be COOL! Dumbass!' "Y-You think I'm hot?"
"You're sweating... That should mean something, right?"
"I-I...I'm fine. I guess it is kinda warm here. You see, I did some of my moves 'cos people wanted to see 'em and I would hate to disappoint them."
"Of course not."
"S-So...you'd understand, right?"
"Sure."
"O-O-Okay... Cool."
She nodded with a sigh.
"Hmm...?" Zell stared into her unfocused eyes. "Quistis? Are you okay? You look kinda...sad."
"N-No!" she protested. "I'm just fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah," she nodded. Then, "Have you grown taller?"
"Wh-What???"
"I think... I was just somewhat taller than you and now...I can look straight into your eyes without looking down a little."
"W-Well...I'm not sure... There wasn't really any time to check my height what with that deal with the sorceress and all..."
"It doesn't come as a surprise to me, though. This should be about the time when you hit your growth spurt."
"E-Eh?!?!?!" A subject so personal such about matters concerning...his body...brought a blush to his cheeks.
"Pretty soon, I'll hurt my neck from having to look up at you all the time, huh? Then all the girls will be over you, and I'll feel so left out..."
"That's not true, Quistis."
"Oh, yes it is. You're not done growing up, Zell, and before you know it, you're gonna have to lock your doors because of those crazy fans of yours!"
"Now you know that ain't true."
"Speaking of girls, how are things with you and the pigtailed girl at the library? I saw you talking to her."
"Th-That really isn't anything..."
"You don't have to be so shy around me, Zell!"
'Wanna bet?'
"Come on, what do you think of her?"
"I...I dunno... She's nice."
"Um..."
"Quistis!" Selphie approached her friend then quickly hid behind her once she saw her companion. "Ack!"
"Wh-What's the matter with you?" Quistis asked.
"Zell!" Selphie then poked her head out and stuck her tongue out. "What's the big deal? We were only trying to save your life and then you go chasing us away!"
"I-I'm sorry," Zell said.
"Hmph," Selphie went up and poked him in the chest. "What's up with you? Was it because of that girl?"
"Wh-What?"
"You know...the pigtailed library girl."
"What about her?"
"I think you like her and you were angry at us 'cos you didn't want her to think you were a chicken-wuss because a couple of weak girls like me and Quisty saved your life!"
"N-No!" He glanced at the ex-instructor. "I don't think you're like that!"
"Well, that's how you made us feel like!" She turned to Quistis. "Right?"
"I-I'm sorry then!" Zell quickly apologized. "Okay?"
"Um.......okay then. We forgive you."
"Now, Selphie," Quistis began. "I never--"
"Off we go, then!" Selphie announced, grabbing Quistis' arm.
"A-All right!" Quistis briefly brushed her hand across Zell's arm, not knowing that the contact made him jump back a little. "Bye."
"Okay..." He weakly waved goodbye to her as she was drug into the crowd. "See ya."
~*~*~*~
"So you don't remember...that time...we..."
After a long night of partying, and getting a well-deserved, good night's sleep, Quistis lay on her bed as the sun's rays seeped through the window blinds. She didn't feel like getting up just yet. That day, she and the others were to be presented with medals of honor. It was nice and all, the good things that were being done for them, but she really didn't particularly like the idea of being a "hero". All she wanted was to be an instructor again. Hopefully, with NORG and his annoying Garden Faculty servants out of the picture, she would still have another chance at it. But, she had to admit, that being a SeeD again and being able to go out without worrying about grading test papers or making a lesson plan was good. It was fun getting to know her teammates...especially a certain blonde one... She never knew he was such a legend. But one thing she really wanted to know about him...what was it that happened between them on Edea's rooftop?
'That time...? What could he have been talking about?' She then jolted upright. 'Oh my goodness! Don't tell me we...we... But could it be possible? Could we have...done it on the roof?!'
~*~*~*~
"Hmm?" Watts watched curiously as Zell's knees bobbed up and down, up and down. "Do you need to use the bathroom, sir?"
"Wha--???" Zell didn't realize how much he was fidgeting until Watts pointed it out. He was just sitting there, waiting for the new president of Galbadia to make the announcement that would liberate Timber, and his legs started shaking because of his impatience. He couldn't wait to finally be released from his contract with the Forest Owls and get some real action. And perhaps there was a chance he would be assigned the same mission as...
"Thinking of your crush?" Selphie teased.
"Wh-What?!" He stared at the small brunette. 'How did she know?! Does she know it's--'
"Your beautiful pigtailed library girl," Selphie sighed. "Can't wait for your big date, huh?"
"WHAT?" The martial artist exclaimed, the shock causing him to fall off his chair. "What?!"
"Zell! Are you okay?" Rinoa asked.
"I HAVE A DATE?!?!?!"
"Yes!!!" Selphie replied. She held her hand to help Zell up.
"I don't have a date!" Zell said.
"Yeah, you do. With the library girl. Don't you remember?"
"N-No!"
"Everyone knows about it! Don't tell me you don't even know? All the girls in Garden have been talking about it!"
"I don't remember making any dates!"
"I even asked the library girl and she said you were going out tonight!"
"Tonight?!"
"Yeah! And unless you wanna break her heart, you'll go!"
"I... But, I... I don't wanna do that to her..."
"Then you have to go! She'll be waiting for you at the secret area tonight at eight."
He turned away and whispered, "...But...Quistis..."
"Hmm? Who? What?"
"Uh..." He shook his head. "...Nothing."
~*~*~*~
'I wonder...if I could ever be like that with Quistis...' Zell could see a couple embracing each other and holding hands from the corner of his eye. He shook his head furiously and turned to lean over the balcony. 'She's late... I've been here for about fifteen minutes already...' He sighed and propped his chin onto the palm of his hand. 'Does Quistis know what I'm doing? Selphie said everyone knew... What does she think of me now? I'm such a loser... That's probably what she thinks of me... I'm so insignificant... She doesn't even remember...that night...'
"Zell?"
He turned around and saw the pigtailed library girl. He wouldn't have recognized her if she hadn't put her hair in its regular pigtailed fashion. She looked so different without her uniform. She wore a short, maroon dress, that clung to her every curve. She was extremely attractive...sexy, yet...
"Ready to go?" she asked.
"Um...yeah," he nodded.
They took a taxicab to Balamb. Zell, of course, wouldn't have minded walking there for the exercise and to save some money, but more monsters tended to hang around at night. If he could defeat an evil sorceress set on the brink of world domination, then what would a couple of T-Rexaurs be to him? But seeing that there were reservations, they had to be at the restaurant on time.
Dinner was okay. The food was great, but Zell really didn't have much of an appetite. The pigtailed library girl, whose name was still unknown to the martial artist, suggested they stop by somewhere to get some hotdogs that she offered to pay for, but he declined. He just couldn't stop thinking about a certain blonde SeeD back at Garden... He continuously worried about her and was fretting over what she would think of him. What if she didn't think he liked her? He was out with someone else, of course she wouldn't think he liked her! And what if she liked him but then gave up because she saw she had no chance? He was so worried that he could hardly eat.
"Well...it was fun, Quisty," Zell said as they stopped at her door.
"Umm..." The pigtailed library girl seemed concerned. "Really? It didn't seem so much like it..."
"What? Why?"
"You seemed so...distant... It was as if you were in a whole other universe..."
"I...I'm sorry. I just kinda spaced out."
"Was someone else on your mind?"
"Uh..." He felt his face get warmer. "N-No!"
"Are you lying to me?"
"I...I... Why would I lie to you?"
"Well...for one thing...you called me 'Quisty'..."
"Wh-What???!!! Why would I do that, Qui--Uh...um... N-No!!!"
"Who's 'Quisty'?"
"It's...no one..."
"Are you sure? Is she someone you like?"
"She's just someone...in my dreams..."
"So then...you were thinking of someone else?"
"I...I, uh...yeah... I'm sorry."
"I see."
"I-I'm really sorry, though! I'm sorry...I wasn't thinking of you instead..."
"I'm...I'm all right. It's good that you're honest."
"Yeah...but still..."
"I'll be fine." She then opened her door. "Bye, Zell."
"Bye...uh...bye."
~*~*~*~
He woke up earlier than usual and went to the cafeteria.
"Just in luck, Zell!" the cafeteria lady smiled. "We've got a ton of hotdogs today! Here, help yourself," she said, dumping a mountain of hotdogs onto his tray.
'I just wanted one...' He smiled faintly. "Thanks." He went to his usual table, the one by the flowers. Quistis' usual seat was on the other side of the flowers, and he enjoyed knowing that she was right there, and it was like she was sitting just next to him. He was too shy to just go over to her and ask to sit with her so he did the best he could. Anyway, she would never want to really be seen with the likes of him...
He sat there, shoving food into his mouth, not even paying attention to his mindless eating. He was too busy wondering where she was... She was usually there, with her morning coffee and newspaper, at around seven-thirty. It was already eight-thirty, an hour after regular time, but there was no sign of her. Where could she possibly be? His thoughts were so preoccupied with her that he didn't see the girl coming up to his table...
"Zell!" Selphie greeted, taking a seat. "What's up?"
"Hmm?" He swallowed the food in his mouth and washed it down with some orange juice. "What do you want?"
"The date," she replied. "So...how did it go?"
"I dunno," he shrugged.
"What do you mean 'you dunno'??!!! How was it???!!!"
"It was okay."
"And...? Are you gonna go out with her again?"
"I...I dunno. She realized I was thinking of someone else."
"Thinking of someone else?! What do you mean?"
"I...I like someone else...that's all..."
"What? I always thought you like her! Who do you like then?"
"...Nobody..."
"C'mon, tell me!"
"It's...it's no one..."
"You...! I'm gonna find out anyway so you might as well spill the beans, Zell!"
"IT'S NOTHING, OKAY?!"
"..." She gulped and muttered, "I just wanted to know..."
He shook his head. Then, from behind the brunette, he could see...her. 'Quistis?' He pushed Selphie's head aside to get a better view. She wasn't at her usual table, instead she was at Squall's usual table. "What's Quistis doin' way over there?"
"Huh?" Selphie turned around. "Oh? Didn't ya know?"
"Know what?"
"Squall and Rinoa broke up."