PART 3 Like a Sister
"Well, last night when you were on your date, Squall and Rinoa had a big fight last night," Selphie said. "Cid assigned him to a new mission, so Squall had to cancel a lot of things this month, including the celebration of Timber's independence that Rinoa made him promise to come to. She thinks that Squall is gonna stop being with her because the contract is dissolved between SeeD and the Forest Owls. She thinks he only stayed with her because of his obligation as a SeeD."
"He's not like that, is he?" Zell asked.
"No, of course not!" She shook her head. "No way."
"So then...what in the world is he doing with Quistis?!"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean 'I don't know'?!"
She shrugged. "I just don't. Why? You jealous?"
He started to blush. "Me?! Jealous?! No way! I...I was just curious!"
"Are you... Are you..."
Zell stared at her. She seemed skeptical. Maybe she knew...? 'Oh no, Selphie KNOWS! She's gonna tell everyone now and I'll be the whole laughing stock of...of the WORLD!!!'
"Are you...gonna eat that hotdog? Thank you!" Selphie made a go for the remaining hotdog on his plate and quickly gobbled it down. "Hmm... Zell? Zell!" She bent down and began fanning the fainted blond.
~*~*~*~
'Could it be that...she's still hung up on him?' Zell lay on his bed, throwing a handball at the ceiling and when it fell to the floor, he didn't bother to pick it up. 'She only loves Squall as a sister, right? It couldn't be more than that... She loves everyone like a sister... So does that mean that she loves me only as a--'
"Yo, Zell!" a deep voice called out from the hall, followed by a series of loud knocks.
'RAIJIN?! He's HERE??' Zell jumped from his bed and sprinted towards his door to open it. There they were, as plain as day...Raijin and Fujin. "Where the HELL did you come from!?!"
"What?" Raijin raised an eyebrow. "We're goin' on a mission together, ya know?"
"But, I...I thought you left Garden!"
"Uh...no..."
"How 'bout that thing...that deal with Seifer and the Sorceress... How long have you been here?!"
"Ever since the Lunatic Pandora, ya know?"
"But I've never seen you!"
Raijin and Fujin shrugged. "We've seen you, ya know."
Zell's eye twitched. "And you're SeeDs??"
"AFFIRMATIVE," Fujin nodded.
"Anyway, we got a mission together, ya know?" Raijin said. "The headmaster told us to tell you, ya know?"
"MEET. FRONT GATE."
"Sure. Yeah... I'll see ya there."
The two nodded and left. Zell packed a suitcase and quickly left, making sure the door was locked behind him. He stopped at Quistis' dorm, which was just near the main hallway, for a brief moment and dashed away, shaking his head to rid him of his thoughts.
"Zell...?"
Zell stopped and turned around. 'Quistis...'
"Where's the fire?" she laughed.
"Erm..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I...I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to run in the halls, right?"
"Good to see you're following rules. What's with the suitcase? Are you leaving Garden already? Are your crazy fangirls scaring you away?"
"N-No, it's not like that!" he protested, suddenly feeling defensive. "I..."
"I was just kidding," she smiled. "But you've got quite the fanbase, I hear. I guess I was right."
"I..." He blushed. "I, uh... Cid, he... I'm going on a mission..."
"I see. Best of luck."
"Th-Thanks..."
"Well, we wouldn't want to keep everyone waiting, would we? Sorry if I made you late."
"N-No!" he said, just when she was about to turn away. "Th-That's okay! A-Are..." He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "A-Are...are you...are you going? Do you know?"
"Um, well... I'm not sure. I've been assigned a mission but details are yet to be given. I hope we could work together again, though."
"Me...me too..."
"Okay, well...you should be going on now."
"Yeah," he nodded weakly. He forced himself to look away and ran for the Front Gate without even realizing it. "See ya!" he called back breathlessly. 'Like a sister...that's all...'
~*~*~*~
"You're late, Zell," Cid said.
"Sorry, Sir!" Zell replied, making an effort to salute the headmaster, but his attempt turning bad. "I...I ran into someone..."
"Certainly not anyone more important than your duty as SeeD?"
'Way more important...more important than you...or she'll ever know...' "Of course not," he lied, lowering his head. "Sorry."
"All right then," Cid said. "Onto business."
"Yes, Sir..."
"Now. The new Galbadian president requests SeeD's assistance in the recent attacks on the nation. As you may have already heard, there have been some attacks on Galbadia. SeeD's job is to find out who is behind all of it and to bring the culprits under the custody of Galbadia. It's quite a serious matter and I expect you to work to the best of your abilities."
Raijin and Fujin nodded.
"But..." Zell began. "Just us three? If it's so serious then why're you just sending three of us?"
"Oh no," Cid replied. "You are just one of the first few squads I'll be sending. Many more are to come."
"Will..." The blond stopped himself and shook his head. "Forget it."
"All right. Any questions? You will take a train to Timber, and transfer to Deling City. Go to the Hotel, ask for the key to room 789 and you will stay there until you receive a phone call. No further instructions until then. Expect the call at about 2100 hours. Until then, from the time you arrive, you're free. Zell, I assign you as the leader. I trust you will be able to do a good job?"
"Uh...uh...uh... YEAH! YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, CID!"
"Very well...uh...and please do address me as your headmaster, all right?"
"Oops..."
"Good luck in all of your efforts."
They saluted the headmaster and went to the Parking Lot to get the Garden Car and drive to Balamb Town.
~*~*~*~
"What do ya wanna do now, ya know?" Raijin asked, plopping down on one of the two twin sized beds in their hotel room.
"DON'T KNOW," Fujin replied in that monotonous tone of hers.
"What do ya wanna do, Zell?"
"Uh...me?" Zell asked. "Well, we could go and see the city. Why don't we go eat? I'm pretty hungry."
"Yeah, me too, ya know? What about you, Fujin?"
"NO MATTER."
"Okay, ya know," Raijin announced, easing himself off the bed. "Let's go eat, ya know! I'm starvin'!"
~*~*~*~
Zell watched curiously as Raijin practically inhaled the meat buns they had ordered. It was quite a sight, to see someone who could eat just as much as him, if not more. They could have been the best of friends if Raijin had not met that jerk, Seifer, before him. What did they see in him as a friend anyway? There was not one good cell in that person's body. Seifer was a rotten egg, bad to the bone. He couldn't believe that Quistis actually put him in the same category as Squall! Although he now saw Squall as his rival for the blonde ex-instructor's affections, he still had a deep admiration for the guy and Seifer certainly did not deserve to be classified on the same level as him. No way. Seifer was always a jerk. How in the world could he have made such great friends such as Raijin and Fujin?
"ALL RIGHT?" Fujin asked with a hint of concern.
"Wha--?" Zell blinked at her. "Of course!"
"NOT HUNGRY?"
"I...uh...well..."
"NO APPETITE? FOOD NOT GOOD?"
"No way! I--" He stopped mid-sentence when a golden glimmer caught his eye.
Fujin looked around and gasped. "QUISTIS?"
"Is that...really her?"
The silver-haired woman took some time to contemplate this and turned around to her blond companion once again. "AFFIRMATIVE," she replied nonchalantly.
"ACK!!!" Raijin started coughing and searching for some water. "CHOKING...YA KNOW!!!"
Zell squinted his eyes then wiped them on his shirt and turned again to look at the blonde across the street. 'What's she doing here?'
"...Wa...ter..." Raijin wheezed.
Fujin quietly sipped her tea, not even noticing Raijin's cries for help. By that time, his face was starting to turn a lovely shade of blue...kind of like the sky on a nice, crisp spring day. When the skies are clear, and the birds are soaring through the air, and the wondrous scent of blossoming flowers are all around. Cherry blossoms flutter as little children prance around the never-ending fields of flowers. Raijin's shade of blue really matched his outfit, too.
'It's Squall,' Zell thought as he laid eyes on the one his beloved was dragging through the streets. 'Of course it's him.'
"Help...you guys...ya know..."
"MMM," Fujin took a deep breath. "TEA GOOD."
"I'm...cho...king..."
'Even...if she did just love him as a sister...she'll always love him more...'
"Can't...breathe... ACK! ACK!"
Fujin called upon a waiter to get another cup of tea.
"Fujin..."
'But no matter how hard I try...I can't stop thinking of her...'
"Zell..."
Fujin closed her eyes and savored the taste of the wonderful tea.
"He...lp..."
"I...I'm such a wuss!!!" Zell got up and ran out of the restaurant.
"ZELL!" Fujin put down her beverage and went after the martial artist.
"...Guys...ya...know..." Raijin lay his head on the table and blacked out.
~*~*~*~
"We swear, Sir, we dunno what happened to him!" Zell explained over the phone.
"Well, I just hope that Raijin is all right," Cid said. "You're a team and you all need each other."
"I know."
"When will he be able to rejoin your group?"
"They said he'll be fine within the next few days...maybe tomorrow."
"Very well then."
"I'm really sorry..."
"I know you are, Zell. But...I believe it would be best if I just have your team work with one of our other teams there. A group with more...experience per se. Then if I feel you can handle it on your own, I will reinstate you to your position as the leader of your group. But, for now, wait for the call and I will contact you sometime soon."
"...I...I... Yes...Sir..."
"Good. Now, please don't get anyone else in the hospital until then? Be careful."
"Yes, Sir..."
"Good day, Zell."
Zell hung up the phone and slumped down, face into the pillows, onto his bed.
"ALL RIGHT?" Fujin asked.
"I'm a sucky leader!" Zell said, his face buried in the soft, fluffy pillows.
"NOT TRUE."
"Yeah, I am! I almost got Raijin killed! I ran off from the restaurant, not knowing that Raijin was gonna get himself almost killed after that!"
"HIS FAULT."
"I shoulda been there! To help him! I SUCK!!! I was too busy...thinking about..."
"HMM...?"
"I...never mind..."
"THINKING? ABOUT...?"
"Nothing..."
"...INSTRUCTOR?"
Zell began to feel a heat spread all over him. From his face, and throughout his whole body. Thank goodness his face was covered, or else Fujin would have instantly known. Or maybe...she already did...? He kept quiet.
"...LOVE AFFAIR."
'...Hmm? What the hell is she talking about?'
"...SEIFER."
'WHAT?'
"INSTRUCTOR...AND SEIFER."
"WHAT?!" Zell lifted his face from the cushions and stared at her.
"SEIFER...and that Instructor used to be together," Fujin said. Zell's eyes widened up more at this. Fujin...was talking normally? It was probably something serious. The only other time he heard her speak like that was at the Lunatic Pandora, to tell her friend of the big mistake he was making.
"I think he was around sixteen," she continued. "Every summer, me, Raijin and him would go FH, where Raijin's grandpa lives. He's the Master Fisherman of FH, and we would go with him to fish. That summer, we went here, to Deling City. Seifer and Raijin had a race to see who could make it to the bus station first.
"Seifer won...but he tripped on his coat in the process and landed right in front of a bus that was coming up. He wasn't really that tall...just about five foot seven then, so his coat was kinda long for him, and he tripped on it. He would've died, too, if this blonde girl in a SeeD uniform didn't come by and get him out of the way in time. He acted angry and started yelling at Quistis about how she was ruinin' his vacation, but for the rest of the summer, we couldn't get him to shut up about this girl he liked. We only found out a little while later that it was her. Raijin 'accidentally' let the cat out of the bag, but that's also when we found out that she liked him, too.
"We made him ask her out and they had a little love affair. They had to be extra quiet about it when Quistis became an instructor and it didn't take too long when they decided to see other people. We realized it was officially over after that last summer in Timber."
"So...s-so you're sayin'...they were together!?" Zell exclaimed, not even realizing that he was still blushing.
"That's exactly what I was sayin'."
"Do you...do you think...she still likes him that way?"
"I dunno. I think the reason they wanted to see other people was because she was paying too much attention to Squall. He was always complainin' about that..."
"Squall...of course..."
"...?" Fujin yawned. "Anyway, I think I'll be goin' to sleep early. Wake me up when they call." She went under the covers and fell asleep.
'So...Quistis was with that jerk... What...what did she see in him!? What did Raijin...Fujin see in him!? Squall...Seifer... How could I ever compete with them? She'll never love me...not like them... Only...like a sister...'