Chapter Five: Keeping Our Distance
You can look but you can't touch
I don't think I like you much
Heaven knows what a girl can do
Heaven knows what you've got to prove
I think I'm paranoid and complicated
I think I'm paranoid, manipulate it
"I Think I'm Paranoid"- Garbage
Ceres took a drag off her cigarette and started coughing. She looked at the cigarette, disgusted and put it out. Selphie smiled, and Quistis raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn't care.
They were all lounging around in Zell's dorm, Irvine and Ceres keeping as much distance between them as they could manage without being suspicious. It wasn't easy to do, however. They set the air on fire between them.
"Would the following SeeD's please report to the Headmaster's offce at once, repeat, would the following SeeD's please report to the Headmaster's office: Squall Leonhart, Quistis Trepes, Irvine Kinneas, Seifer Almasy, Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht, and Ceres Almasy." a voice called over the intercom.
They all looked at each other in confusion. "Since when did I become a SeeD again?" Ceres muttered, standing up with the others. "I wonder what Cid wants?" Quistis mused as they made their way to the elevator, "Who knows?" Squall replied, pressing the button that said, "Level 3".
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"And so you see," Cid stated, crossing his arms, "Esthar needs our help. President Laguna specifically asked for you 7, and I told him that you would meet him in Esthar in two days."
"But, wait," Ceres said, still not understanding, "I'm not longer a SeeD, I left the Garden, completely abandoning my duties and obligations." "That is no matter," Cid replied, sighing heavily, "You are still a Seed, until I or you say so. And since I have not dismissed you from SeeD, and you have not gave me a resignation, you are still an active member of SeeD. Do you understand?" Ceres nodded slowly.
"So, when do we leave?" Zell asked. "Tomorrow morning," Cid replied, "I know this is very short notice, but, this matter is of the uttermost importance." Selphie blinked, "But I thought we stayed neutral during wars, unless someone attacked us first." Cid nodded, "That is the usually the case, but this is a special situation. Galbadia is still upset with us for the whole Sorceress ordeal. If we don't attack now, then we might not be able to attack at all, Galbadia is a very strong country. We wouldn't stand a chance against them alone."
"Then why are we the only ones going?" Squall asked. "You're only going to get everything straightened out, then reinforcements will be sent along." Cid replied quickly. "Are we going to fight?" Quistis asked quietly. Cid looked at her as if she was crazy, "Of course you are! You seven are the best fighters in all of Balamb Garden! Put together you are almost indefeatable!!!"
Ceres rolled her eyes, "Well, thanks for the boost of self-confidence." she replied, standing up. "Now, I think I'm going to go for a walk or something.." She turned to leave. "Ceres," Cid called after her. She turned around and looked at him, "Look, I know this is not exactly the best time to drag you into all this, but, we have no choice." Ceres sighed and opened the door, "You're damn straight this isn't the best time," she muttered angrily over her shoulder as she left.
Selphie sent Zell a questioning look, but he just shrugged and narrowed his eyes in worry. 'What's going on with Ceres?' he wondered to himself, 'I hope she's alright.. If only she would let me in... Then, maybe I could help....' As if he could read Zell's thought, Irvine turned bright shade of red and looked away, hoping no one noticed his sudden discomfort. "I think I'm going to go get some fresh air too," Irvine said quickly, standing up and nearly running out of the room.
"I have a feeling that something is going on that those two don't want us to know about," Squall said quietly. Everyone nodded in agreement, but Zell shook his head and jumped up, "What exactly are you trying to say, Squall?! There's nothing going on between those two!! You're just paranoid!!!" he tried to blink back the tears, and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him. "I'll go talk to him," Selphie said after a moment, rising to follow the upset SeeD.
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Ceres sighed and sat down on a bench. She placed her head in her hands, and tried not to just break out bawling right there. 'What's come over me?' she thought numbly to herself, 'I'm not like this, when did I become so weak?' Her mind floated back to several days after she had first arrived at Balamb Garden, when she wasn't just a mere shadow of her former self.....
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(Flashback)
Ceres folded her arms and sat back further in her seat, 'I think I have seen nature shows more interesting than this,' she thought bitterly as Xu stood in front of the class, teaching everyone about junctioning a GF. 'I don't need any GF's,' Ceres thought smugly to herself, 'Me and my sword are damage enough.'
"Ceres?" came a voice, startling her out of her gloating. She lazily opened her eyes and glared coldly at Xu, "May I help you?" she asked in a condesending tone. "Well," Xu replied, trying not to lose her temper, "I was just asking the class a few questions, and I wanted to know if perhaps you might be able to give us the answer to one of them, that is, of course, if you even managed to do your homework."
Ceres smirked at Xu, "I don't need to do my homework, I know everything about junctioning a GF already, I learned it when I was about 5 or so." "Oh really?" Xu replied, 'This girl is really trying to test me,' she thought to herself, "Okay, then, can you tell us how you can raise your compatibility with your GF?"
Ceres sighed and rolled her eyes, "Don't take pity on me, that can't be the hardest question you have, because I know first graders who could tell you that," Xu shot her a hateful look that would make anyone else tremble, but Ceres only laughed. "Alright, I'll tell you, just in case you forget. You can increase your compatibility with your GF two ways, the first way being to use your GF extremely often when in battle," Xu nodded, "And the other way is to use items that is to the GF's liking." "Can you give us an example of a certain item?" Xu asked. "Sure thing, Miss Xu," Ceres replied, her voice dripping with sarcastic sugariness. "You can use a Chef's Knife and increase your compatibilty with the GF Tonberry King. Or, you can use an Artic Wind and increase your compatibility with the GF Shiva. Anything else?"
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Ceres smirked at Xu again, and stood up, bowing gracefully, "Thank you, you've all been such a wonderful audience. Come back and see the show next time. Same time, same place."
"Miss Almasy?" Xu called as Ceres turned to walk out of the classroom. She turned around and looked at Xu, raising an eyebrow, "For your little performance in class today, you may stay an hour after class and write, "I will not smart off to the teacher" one hundred times. Ceres blinked, "Is that all?" Xu smiled coldly, "Tell you what, make it one hundred thousand."
Zell stood in the doorway, listening to the conversation between Xu and Ceres. If you could really call it a conversation, it was more like a cat fight. "No," Ceres said, walking over to Xu until she was face to face with her, "I'll tell you what. Why don't you have your people, call my people, so my people can tell your people to fuck off, and they can relay the message to you." Zell's mouth dropped open in suprise, he had never heard anyone talk to Xu like that... And live anyway. But, Xu didn't say a word as Ceres walked briskly out of the classroom, "C'mon, eavesdropper," she said to Zell as she walked by him. He stared after her for a moment, then looked back at Xu, who looked like she was in complete shock, and then ran to catch up with Ceres. "Hey, wait up!" he called after her.
(End of Flashback)
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Ceres sighed and leaned back, intentionally banging her head against the wall. 'Nothing's been the same..' she thought wearily to herself, 'Not since Rinoa..'
~Okay, let's re-cap here. Irvy and Ceres are having trouble being in the same country together, let alone the same room. Cid has asked them all to travel to Esthar tomorrow and get the plans situated out for the attack, which will place Balamb Garden in the middle of the deadly Galbadia/Esthar war. Everyone is becoming suspicious of Irvy and Ceres' behaviour, everyone, that is, except for Zell Dincht, who thinks "De Nile" is just a river in Egypt. Ceres is wondering where the "I'm so tough and I can kick your ass because no one matters but me" attitude that used to be one of her trademarks ran off to. Who knows, who cares? ^.~ See what happens in the next thrilling (Or boring, take your pick) chapter of "The Reunion"- Chapter Six: Esthar City Holds Magick. Until then. Lollipops for all! Love ya, Zell~
You can look but you can't touch
I don't think I like you much
Heaven knows what a girl can do
Heaven knows what you've got to prove
I think I'm paranoid and complicated
I think I'm paranoid, manipulate it
"I Think I'm Paranoid"- Garbage
Ceres took a drag off her cigarette and started coughing. She looked at the cigarette, disgusted and put it out. Selphie smiled, and Quistis raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn't care.
They were all lounging around in Zell's dorm, Irvine and Ceres keeping as much distance between them as they could manage without being suspicious. It wasn't easy to do, however. They set the air on fire between them.
"Would the following SeeD's please report to the Headmaster's offce at once, repeat, would the following SeeD's please report to the Headmaster's office: Squall Leonhart, Quistis Trepes, Irvine Kinneas, Seifer Almasy, Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht, and Ceres Almasy." a voice called over the intercom.
They all looked at each other in confusion. "Since when did I become a SeeD again?" Ceres muttered, standing up with the others. "I wonder what Cid wants?" Quistis mused as they made their way to the elevator, "Who knows?" Squall replied, pressing the button that said, "Level 3".
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"And so you see," Cid stated, crossing his arms, "Esthar needs our help. President Laguna specifically asked for you 7, and I told him that you would meet him in Esthar in two days."
"But, wait," Ceres said, still not understanding, "I'm not longer a SeeD, I left the Garden, completely abandoning my duties and obligations." "That is no matter," Cid replied, sighing heavily, "You are still a Seed, until I or you say so. And since I have not dismissed you from SeeD, and you have not gave me a resignation, you are still an active member of SeeD. Do you understand?" Ceres nodded slowly.
"So, when do we leave?" Zell asked. "Tomorrow morning," Cid replied, "I know this is very short notice, but, this matter is of the uttermost importance." Selphie blinked, "But I thought we stayed neutral during wars, unless someone attacked us first." Cid nodded, "That is the usually the case, but this is a special situation. Galbadia is still upset with us for the whole Sorceress ordeal. If we don't attack now, then we might not be able to attack at all, Galbadia is a very strong country. We wouldn't stand a chance against them alone."
"Then why are we the only ones going?" Squall asked. "You're only going to get everything straightened out, then reinforcements will be sent along." Cid replied quickly. "Are we going to fight?" Quistis asked quietly. Cid looked at her as if she was crazy, "Of course you are! You seven are the best fighters in all of Balamb Garden! Put together you are almost indefeatable!!!"
Ceres rolled her eyes, "Well, thanks for the boost of self-confidence." she replied, standing up. "Now, I think I'm going to go for a walk or something.." She turned to leave. "Ceres," Cid called after her. She turned around and looked at him, "Look, I know this is not exactly the best time to drag you into all this, but, we have no choice." Ceres sighed and opened the door, "You're damn straight this isn't the best time," she muttered angrily over her shoulder as she left.
Selphie sent Zell a questioning look, but he just shrugged and narrowed his eyes in worry. 'What's going on with Ceres?' he wondered to himself, 'I hope she's alright.. If only she would let me in... Then, maybe I could help....' As if he could read Zell's thought, Irvine turned bright shade of red and looked away, hoping no one noticed his sudden discomfort. "I think I'm going to go get some fresh air too," Irvine said quickly, standing up and nearly running out of the room.
"I have a feeling that something is going on that those two don't want us to know about," Squall said quietly. Everyone nodded in agreement, but Zell shook his head and jumped up, "What exactly are you trying to say, Squall?! There's nothing going on between those two!! You're just paranoid!!!" he tried to blink back the tears, and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him. "I'll go talk to him," Selphie said after a moment, rising to follow the upset SeeD.
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Ceres sighed and sat down on a bench. She placed her head in her hands, and tried not to just break out bawling right there. 'What's come over me?' she thought numbly to herself, 'I'm not like this, when did I become so weak?' Her mind floated back to several days after she had first arrived at Balamb Garden, when she wasn't just a mere shadow of her former self.....
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(Flashback)
Ceres folded her arms and sat back further in her seat, 'I think I have seen nature shows more interesting than this,' she thought bitterly as Xu stood in front of the class, teaching everyone about junctioning a GF. 'I don't need any GF's,' Ceres thought smugly to herself, 'Me and my sword are damage enough.'
"Ceres?" came a voice, startling her out of her gloating. She lazily opened her eyes and glared coldly at Xu, "May I help you?" she asked in a condesending tone. "Well," Xu replied, trying not to lose her temper, "I was just asking the class a few questions, and I wanted to know if perhaps you might be able to give us the answer to one of them, that is, of course, if you even managed to do your homework."
Ceres smirked at Xu, "I don't need to do my homework, I know everything about junctioning a GF already, I learned it when I was about 5 or so." "Oh really?" Xu replied, 'This girl is really trying to test me,' she thought to herself, "Okay, then, can you tell us how you can raise your compatibility with your GF?"
Ceres sighed and rolled her eyes, "Don't take pity on me, that can't be the hardest question you have, because I know first graders who could tell you that," Xu shot her a hateful look that would make anyone else tremble, but Ceres only laughed. "Alright, I'll tell you, just in case you forget. You can increase your compatibility with your GF two ways, the first way being to use your GF extremely often when in battle," Xu nodded, "And the other way is to use items that is to the GF's liking." "Can you give us an example of a certain item?" Xu asked. "Sure thing, Miss Xu," Ceres replied, her voice dripping with sarcastic sugariness. "You can use a Chef's Knife and increase your compatibilty with the GF Tonberry King. Or, you can use an Artic Wind and increase your compatibility with the GF Shiva. Anything else?"
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Ceres smirked at Xu again, and stood up, bowing gracefully, "Thank you, you've all been such a wonderful audience. Come back and see the show next time. Same time, same place."
"Miss Almasy?" Xu called as Ceres turned to walk out of the classroom. She turned around and looked at Xu, raising an eyebrow, "For your little performance in class today, you may stay an hour after class and write, "I will not smart off to the teacher" one hundred times. Ceres blinked, "Is that all?" Xu smiled coldly, "Tell you what, make it one hundred thousand."
Zell stood in the doorway, listening to the conversation between Xu and Ceres. If you could really call it a conversation, it was more like a cat fight. "No," Ceres said, walking over to Xu until she was face to face with her, "I'll tell you what. Why don't you have your people, call my people, so my people can tell your people to fuck off, and they can relay the message to you." Zell's mouth dropped open in suprise, he had never heard anyone talk to Xu like that... And live anyway. But, Xu didn't say a word as Ceres walked briskly out of the classroom, "C'mon, eavesdropper," she said to Zell as she walked by him. He stared after her for a moment, then looked back at Xu, who looked like she was in complete shock, and then ran to catch up with Ceres. "Hey, wait up!" he called after her.
(End of Flashback)
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Ceres sighed and leaned back, intentionally banging her head against the wall. 'Nothing's been the same..' she thought wearily to herself, 'Not since Rinoa..'
~Okay, let's re-cap here. Irvy and Ceres are having trouble being in the same country together, let alone the same room. Cid has asked them all to travel to Esthar tomorrow and get the plans situated out for the attack, which will place Balamb Garden in the middle of the deadly Galbadia/Esthar war. Everyone is becoming suspicious of Irvy and Ceres' behaviour, everyone, that is, except for Zell Dincht, who thinks "De Nile" is just a river in Egypt. Ceres is wondering where the "I'm so tough and I can kick your ass because no one matters but me" attitude that used to be one of her trademarks ran off to. Who knows, who cares? ^.~ See what happens in the next thrilling (Or boring, take your pick) chapter of "The Reunion"- Chapter Six: Esthar City Holds Magick. Until then. Lollipops for all! Love ya, Zell~
