Things Change
Chapter 12
by Mariye
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Disclaimer: I don't own FF8.
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"I don't know if I can... I mean... Seifer always says... and it wouldn't be fair to him either... and you're supposed to be a Chicken-Wuss..." Sionna debated, looking away from Zell.
"Those are all reasons not to tell me one of your secrets. Do you have a reasons for telling me?" Zell asked.
"I promise I will try to be strong enough." Zell said.
The promise seemed to have little effect on Sionna.
"I've had enough promises to last me a lifetime." Sionna just shook her head. "Will you listen? And only listen? Do nothing else?"
"I don't know if I can do that." Zell said, offering her his hand.
~What is with her? She's so skittish, but when she talks to everyone she seems so bold.~
Sionna sighed.
"You want to go and eat with your friends. If I start to tell you this, you probably won't be able to make it in time to meet them. Their feelings will be hurt."
"They'll understand. I'm dying. I'm allowed to have mood swings and be unpredictable."
~Wow, sarcasm, humor, T-boarding skills, intelligence, strength, and good looks, I have it all. Why is she still stalling?~
"That isn't funny."
"I know. I'm willing to sit and listen."
Sionna moved down from the ledge and sat on the floor, leaning against the edge.
"Seifer is the only one I have that I can depend on. Or at least depend on as much as I can." She stopped and turned to Zell.
"This is your last chance to chicken out and make a break for it."
"What do I look like, a Chicken-Wuss?"
~At least that made her smile.~ Zell watched as she shook her head.
"As long as I can remember, I have known that he is my real brother. And so we always used to try and get adopted together. We were only put in the same home twice. Thats how we got our last name, Almasy. Unfortunately the kind people who took us in died in a car crash. So we were sent back to an orphanage." She shifted and started staring at her feet.
"We always kept a hard exterior. Our motto was, let no one in, because when you do, people hurt you. It was hard for us to get adopted again. Then, when he was 12 and I was 11, we were put in a new home together. It looked beautiful. It was this house in Deiling, and we had a pet dog, and a mother, and a father. And the mother was nice and cooked for us and made us clothes. And the father seemed so happy and kind, and he would whittle toys out of wood for us." She seemed almost enchanted when she talked. Her eyes were almost glazed over.
"But it was all an illusion. The mother really had a violent temper, and when Seifer or I came home late from school or didn't offer to help around the house, she would beat us. At first it was rare, but soon it was happening everyday. Seifer would always try to protect me, but he never could. We were both so young..." Sionna started to sniffle. Zell saw that she was ready to cry.
"We couldn't do anything. She would just pick Seifer and me up and toss us around like rag dolls. The father still seemed good though." She stopped suddenly. Zell moved down and sat next to her.
~How did she end up so normal? Hyne I'm an asshole. How could I have hurt her?~
"You don't have to say anymore if you don't want to." She put her hand on top of his.
"I can't stop once I've started. Its too hard." She kept her gaze on her feet.
"One day, he was 13 and I was 12, and she attacked him. She just threw Seifer against a staircase. I heard this awful crack. At the time I swear I didn't know it was just the sound of the railing breaking off. I saw this knife on the kitchen table and.... and I... I just couldn't stop myself. I hurled it at her chest. It only hit her in the shoulder though. But it was enough to stop her. That was when the father came in." Sionna's voice started to break.
~Why do I get the feeling he didn't save the day...~
"He saw Seifer collapsed against the stairs and his wife with a knife sticking out of her arm and me lying on a heap on the floor. He grabbed Seifer and me by the arms and threw us down into the basement. We spent four days down there... I'll never forget it... It was so cold. And for the first day I thought Seifer was dead... He didn't move, and his hands were so cold... And I was so hungry... All I could think the entire time I was there is that we were going to die and it was all my fault..."
"It wasn't" Zell said, clasping her hand.
"I know that now. But then. Then I didn't know. The father came down one day. With a whip. He took it and he just kept beating Seifer and me, and then... then he tried to rape me." Sionna said, pulling her hand away from Zell.
~So that explains why she doesn't like people touching her. I swear if that man is still alive I will actually join forces with the Lapdog and we'll hunt that false father down and kill him.~
"Seifer stopped him though. Somehow he had enough strength to trip him up after the father tied me up. It only made the father madder though. He beat us both to the point where we almost died. I remember screaming so much that my voice was gone for a month afterwards. Luckily a neighbor heard my screams. She called the police, and they came over immediately. After that, Seifer and I were sent here to Garden. We both were sent into counciling. He joined the Disciplinary Committee, so that he would be able to fight against evil people like the father and the mother. Once we got here he always said he wanted to be like the police that helped us." Sionna looked at Zell.
"Now for my secret. I'm studying Psychology so I can be like Dr. Kadowaki. She has a double major in medicine and psychology and I want to help people. I want to be there to help children who went through what Seifer and I did, and also I want to help others who need me." Sionna looked down at the ground.
"I am so sorry." Zell said.
"Why? You weren't the one who attacked Seifer and me."
"But I attacked you." Zell touched her hand. She pulled away. "I didn't mean to do that, its just a force of habit sometimes."
"I know. Listen, I accept your apology. Its okay. Listen, you should be going. You'll be late." Sionna looked at Zell.
"Actually, I need your help. It seems that Aeron and Lheia think I need a good psychologist on my medical team." Zell smiled. "Any chance you'd think of filling the position?"
"I need to think about it." Sionna looked away from him.
"Sionna. Things have changed. This isn't the orphanage. I'm not going to come into your life and then hurt you. You don't need to live by the old philosophy that if you let someone in, they'll hurt you."
"It is hard though. I've lived with that for so many years now."
"At least make a start." Zell stood up carefully. "Come with us to dinner." He offered her his hand. She gently took it and slowly rose to her feet. She looked through him.
"I wouldn't be welcome..."
"You know practically everyone there. If you want we can even go hunt down some of your posse to come too..."
"They're just companions and classmates with similar interests. They really don't know me or care. The one I'm probably closest to is Aeron..."
"You mean you don't let them get any closer than just being classmates or companions." Zell said, still holding her hand.
"Yeah. I guess that's true..." Sionna slowly tried to pull her hand away. "Besides, I almost always eat dinner with Seifer and his friends."
"Please. Its a request from a dying man."
"A dying man who is going to start treatment and most likely go into complete remission." Sionna pulled her hand from him. Zell grabbed for her hand again and pulled her close to him.
"Sionna..."
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WILL THEY KISS?
If they do, will it bring them closer together, or will it cause a rift to grow between a newborn friendship?
Will she join all of them for dinner?
A/N: Just to let you all know, 13 or 14 will probably be the last chapter.