The restaurant was large, fifteen stories
up and very impressive. The walls were all glass, and a huge, awe-inspiring
glass dome was directly above their heads, letting in the cool white moonlight.
However, several chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, imperceptibly hanging
from the ceiling by seemingly invisible chains, also illuminated the room.
There was faint music playing in the
background, but the general mood was busy.
Zell prayed that they would have a space free
for both of them. He didn't want to let Xu down by any means.
The maitre'd walked up to both of them,
and bowed slightly, although Zell was under the impression the man was
concentrating every single of his muscles to remaining stiff.
"Welcome to the Lake Restaurant" the man
said, with a thin smile "Do you have a reservation?"
"Uh…No, we were kind of hoping there'd be
a few spaces left" Xu said, a little awkwardly.
"Right" the maitre'd eyed them as if they
were trying to sell him a second-hand car that obviously wasn't worth a tenth
of its asking price.
"Could you check?" Zell asked.
The man nodded, and checked his
reservations book.
"Well, what do you know?" the man said,
smiling as thinly as he had before "There is one"
They breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where is it?"
"Table 16, by the window"
Zell smiled reassuringly at Xu, who smiled
back. They strode confidently past the maitre'd, and off across the restaurant
to the only visible table that was free.
The carpet was soft and red, although it was only like this up to
a point – There was a large marble tiled floor underneath the dome for dancing,
and it was occupied by a few romancing couples. A few of them were kissing,
Zell noted.
They sat down at the table. There was a
single candle in the middle, unlit.
Zell withdrew a hidden lighter from his
pocket, and lit the wick. It began to burn, and they both smiled in
satisfaction.
"Thanks" she whispered "That's really
nice"
They ordered, and talked. They still
talked when their food arrived, and talked for a long time afterwards.
It was nearly eleven, and the curfew said
they had to be back in Balamb garden by midnight or there'd be hell to pay.
"…So" Xu began another conversation,
leaning forwards "Have you had many girlfriends? Surely you must have had one
when you beat Ultimecia"
Zell shook his head, sadly.
"Nah – The focus was on Squall and Irvine
as the heroes. Not a single girl seemed interested in me"
"How can that be?" Xu asked "I think
you're amazing"
"Well, many people then didn't" he said,
putting his hand on the table, as if to grip the table cloth in frustration
"It's like every time I'm close, I get blown away"
Xu leaned over sympathetically.
"People didn't even know I existed for a
week or two" Zell said, bitterly "I wouldn't have been surprised if they forgot
about me totally – People just didn't care or want to know. I felt…so let down"
Xu felt ashamed that she hadn't done this
before, and quickly placed her hand on his.
"Zell, I would never do that to anybody –
Especially you"
He smiled, hopefully.
"Really?"
'He's so cute when he smiles like that!'
she thought, dreamily.
"Never"
"I just want you to know that…well…" Zell
seemed a little timid "…That I'd never let you down…ever…you're so special"
Xu felt her heart glow, touched by what
he'd said.
His hand gripped hers. She felt his skin,
soft to touch, and his gentle caress of her hands as they admired each other in
the candlelight.
Zell found himself staring at her,
directly in her crystal clear blue eyes. Not for the first time either.
'My god she is so beautiful' he
thought, happily 'and not only that – She's interested in me! She's actually
been listening to me! And I've been listening to a girl, properly for the first
time in ages!'
"Zell" she began "There's…something I
want to tell you…"
"What?" Zell listened intently.
"Uh…" she thought about it for a moment,
left it hanging in the air, and then just smiled "Nothing. I'll tell you later,
okay?"
"Sure!" he replied.
There was the sound of a band tuning up,
various discordant bass sounds as the drummer tried out his drums.
Zell turned to Xu.
"Um…do you want to dance?"
She smiled, face joyful.
"Oh, yes please!"
He stood up, smiled courteously – and
took her hand. She nodded, and took it, standing up also.
Then, Zell lead Xu to the dance floor. He
slipped his arm around her waist, and took her other hand, still smiling,
desperately trying to put her at ease.
She had been at ease for a while,
although she still felt a little tension – Did Zell really like her this much?
The band struck up, the first of the chords
from their guitarist flowing through the air like rain. They both knew the
song.
Eyes on Me.
Zell remembered that that Rinoa's mother,
Julia, had written it – and it was an excellent romance song.
Their lead female singer, dressed up to
the night in a flowing red dress began to sing a beautiful rendition of the
song.
Zell didn't know much in the way of
dance, but what he did know, he was concentrating on getting right tonight. Xu
and Zell's steps moved in perfect unison as the young lady sang…
'I never sang my song – On the stage,
on my own…'
They danced, not taking their eyes off
each other.
The song continued, and they danced
further, feet like feathers as they danced for the entire song. As it began to
reach its climax, they slowed a little, and Xu wrapped both of her arms around
his upper body, leaning against it with a contented smile on her face. Zell
gently stroked her hair, every natural instinct in his body was screaming at
him.
KISS HER! KISS HER!
Zell
resisted the temptation to do so – What if she didn't want to be kissed? What
if she…
'Oh screw it' he thought 'It's
now or never'
He gently tilted her face up towards his,
eyes glistening like stars.
Zell placed both his arms around her
waist, and moved in for the kiss, leaning slightly down towards her (she wasn't
that much smaller than him).
'Zell' he told himself as he
leaned in 'This is your only chance – Don't let her down'
Xu could see the move coming.
She'd been waiting for it, and now it was happening.
'Oh yes' she told herself 'Please
say he loves me…go for it Zell, please!'
She closed her eyes, and parted her lips
for the kiss.
Zell's lips met hers in the same instant
the music finished, Zell felt her soft, divine lips on his. Xu wanted it to be
a stronger kiss, so did he. She gently parted her teeth to grant him access to
her mouth, and he was more than slightly surprised to feel her press her own
tongue against his teeth, which he quickly opened to allow her tongue into his
own mouth.
For five minutes, they kissed - their
tongues electrically exploring each other's mouths; no crevice was left
untouched in their frantically passionate and electric kiss.
He felt her grip on him tighten, and he
squeezed her harder.
"Oh Zell…" she whispered "I've waited for
this moment all my life"
"Me too, baby" he replied, kissing her
forehead "Me too"
"I love you, Zell"
"I love you Xu"
They were back at the dorms, it had just
gone midnight and they were back in time.
Xu and Zell stood in each other's arms,
gazing lovingly at each other as they had one last talk before they went to
bed.
"…I feel complete" Zell whispered "Without
you, the world seems so…cold"
"I feel like I've got some sort of purpose
too" she replied "Oh god I do love you"
"I love you too, Xu"
They kissed, greedily.
"Um…Good…night?" Zell tried.
She nodded, letting go.
"Yeah, good night" she replied, and
turned to go, before he placed his hand on her arm. She turned to look at him.
"Uh…Xu, baby…"
"Yes, my love?"
"I just wondered…would you want to spend
the night with me…in my room…in my bed…"
"…In your bed?" she asked, nodding "I wouldn't
want it any other way"
Then she grinned impishly.
"Let's make love" she said, and Zell
grinned back in the same fashion, kissing her hard before wrenching open his
door, both of them tumbling inside.
Zell woke up, blinking as the sunlight
filtered through his blinds into his room.
He suddenly felt very disappointed. It
was…just a dream?
Then, he turned to his right – and
smiled. No, it wasn't a dream. The naked figure of Xu lay underneath his
bedsheets, her left arm draped across his chest and his own right arm draped
around her shoulders, her head resting against his body.
He stroked her face. Like an angel.
He gently prodded her arm.
Xu's eyelids flickered open, and bleary
eyed she looked up at Zell. She smiled.
"Good morning, Zelly"
"Good morning, my angel"
They kissed.
"Last night was wonderful" she said "You
were fantastic"
"Hey, you too babe!" he replied, tickling
her, and she giggled as they rolled around in the bedsheets, laughing and
kissing.
"So…are we boyfriend and girlfriend now?"
he asked her, hopefully.
"Of course we are – nobody else could
replace you in my affections, Zell"
"Same with you, Xu"
They smiled, and kissed once again.
There was a sudden and very loud knock at
the door.
Xu and Zell suddenly looked at each other,
eyes wide with panic.
"Who…?" Zell gaped
"Why…?" Xu replied.
Then, the door swung open, and Selphie,
dressed in her SeeD uniform bounced in.
"Wakey-wakey! Rise and shine Z-"
Selphie saw Xu. Her jaw dropped so far,
it could have broken when it hit the floor.
"That…girl…was…Xu…?" she asked,
practically gasping for breath.
"Correction: IS Xu" Zell said, proudly.
Selphie gawped, and then grinned.
"I'll give you an extra ten minutes" she
said, before bouncing out again, closing the door behind her.
Xu put her arms around her boyfriend.
"You heard her…ten minutes" Xu said,
sexily "We got ten minutes for…"
He grinned, and gently pushed her down
onto her back.
"Your wish is my command, my love"
They were all gathered in the central
garden, Squall, Rinoa, Selphie and Irvine were standing there together,
waiting.
Squall stood, looking at his watch.
"Where is Zell this morning?" he asked
"He's late sometimes, but never this late!"
Selphie looked at Irvine, and grinned.
"What do you know that I don't know?"
Irvine asked incredulously.
Quistis ran up.
"Hey…Have any of you seen Xu this
morning, she's not in her dorm so I thought…"
As if the devil had been spoken of, there
was the sound of running footsteps and Xu, looking slightly dishevelled but
very happy run up.
"Sorry I'm late" she gasped,
breathlessly "But I got up kind of late. I've been with my boyfriend you see…"
"Boyfriend?" Rinoa asked, grinning
"Great! Is he cute?"
Xu nodded, grinning back.
"Sure is"
"Who is he, by the way?" Squall asked.
There was the sound of feet again, and
they all turned to see Zell run up from the same direction.
The penny dropped.
"You're kidding…" Squall said in disbelief,
shaking his head.
Zell ran up and grinned.
"Sorry I'm late!" he announced
cheerfully, putting his arm around Xu and kissing her passionately on the lips
"Hey there, my love" he said softly, and she grinned, and kissed back.
The rest of them stood in absolute
astonishment.
Zell and Xu looked up.
"What?" they asked, in unison.
"Aren't they cute together?!" Selphie
giggled, gleefully clapping her hands.
There were nods, and various grins.
Zell and Xu looked at each other.
"So" Zell asked "Now what?"
END OF PART THREE
Authors Note: NO! It's not the end! The next episode expands their relationship yet further!