Disclaimer: All characters mentioned belong to Squaresoft, yes yes.
An Unlikely Meeting- Part I
Quistis closed the door to her dorm and leaned against it. She sighed. Such a strange night this has been. And so unexpected, but pleasant in a way. Seifer had acted so... nice? Quistis couldn't think of the right word to describe how he was today. It was just so uncharacteristic of him.
She yawned and looked at her wall clock. Two thirty in the morning. Good thing tomorrow's a Sunday, she thought. I can wake up as late as I want. She smiled at the appealing thought of sleeping till noon. Without changing into her night clothes, Quistis plopped down on her bed and immediately drifted off into sleep.
******
Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Where is all this heat coming from?, Quistis wondered. Then she saw it. The whole town was on fire. She looked to her left, then to her right. Everying, all the stores, houses, plants, were ablaze. She knew she was looking through the eyes of someone else who lived in the town. How did she know? She wasn't so sure herself. Quistis looked down at her hands. They belonged to someone who spent her time doing a lot of manual labor. It was rough and the hands were calloused. She was wearing a plain brown dress with a white apron covering her front.
Everywhere around her, she heard screams and cries for help. Quistis felt helpless. Please, she silently begged, please don't let anyone get hurt. They don't deserve this. What have they done wrong? She looked around once again. In one corner, she saw the silouhette of a woman near the side of one building. She seemed very suspicious to Quistis. Then she heard a high-pitched scream coming from behind. Instantly alarmed, she whipped around and saw a young girl of about six years old on the floor, crying. She reached out for Quistis.
"Mommy!," the girl cried. "Help me! I'm so scared!"
Quistis saw her arms reaching out for the girl, but the fire suddenly engulfed the girl, making it impossible for Quistis to save her.
The girl let out a horrible shriek of pain. "Mommy!!," she cried. "Mommy, it hurts! Mommy!!"
"No!!," Quistis cried out. But it wasn't her voice. It was more deeper, belonging to an older woman. "No!," she cried again, but this time, Quistis found herself in her bed, tangled up in her sheets, sweating and shivering. She sat up quickly from her bed, rested her back on the headrest of the bed, drew her knees up and rested her chin on her knees. Her arms encircled her legs. She tried to hold back her tears, but she was unsuccessful. She let the tears flow and she wept, scared and alone.
******
Quistis did not know how long she had been asleep or what time she had waken up, but what she did remember was the she stayed up for the rest of the night, too scared to go back to sleep. The dream was just too vivid. It disturbed her deeply.
At eight o'clock, she went to the cafeteria to get some breakfast. Almost no one was there. It was a Sunday and everyone was sleeping in late. After eating a simple breakfast of cereal, toast, and a banana, Quistis went back to her room to grade the test papers. She looked at the huge stack of papers and sighed. I'm only eighteen years old and already I'm working like some middle aged adult. I feel so old, she thought. She sat down and began grading. At noon, she became bored from grading so many identical papers. She decided to go outside of Garden and wander around.
She found herself at the mall. She looked around and observed her surroundings. This was the perfect place to lose herself and forget about all her troubles. She was walking through the crowd, looking for a store to go into, when she felt something strange. She looked around. Where was it coming from? She turned to her right, and when she finally saw where the feeling was coming from, Quistis stopped. Everything seemed to slow down around her. That woman. Who was she? Then she remembered. She was the woman in her dream. The one hidden in the shadows, watching the village burning to the ground.
The woman smiled slyly at her. She had jet black hair parted to one side with smoky gray eyes fringed with long dark lashes. Her full lips were a deep red. She wore a red spagetti strap tanktop and a black leather miniskirt with matching knee-high boots. Quistis stood, staring at her. As the shoppers passed between them, Quistis stared in amazement as one shopper passed in front of the woman, blocking Quistis's view of her. When the shopper walked away, the woman was gone- But not before Quistis was able to get her name- Celeste.
Celeste watched from behind the corner of one store as Quistis looked around, trying to search for her. She smiled to herself. She got my name, she thought, impressed. She's perfect.
As Quistis looked around, she wondered to herself, How did she do that? Who is she exactly? And how did I know her name?, she wondered as an afterthought. Things were getting weirder by the day. Quistis shook her head and sighed. As she stepped back, she bumped into something hard.
"Hey!," exclaimed a masculine voice. "Watch where you're... Quistis?" He asked, surprised.
"Seifer!," said Quistis. She didn't expect to see him again. Then she put her hands to her hips and gave him a dry smile. "Why don't you finish up that last sentence Seifer Almasy?"
"My dear Instructor, I wouldn't dare say such things to you." He was beginning to sound like the Seifer she had known.
"Oh?," she said with a raised eyebrow. "I think I recall a time when you had unmercifully called me a "mediocre instructor?"
"Temporary insanity," he concluded.
"Or all the times when you have totally ignored my orders?"
"Pure stupidity."
"Or that one time when you decided to put me on "the list" which resulted in the reinstatement of my instructor's license?," she recalled quite bitterly.
Seifer cringed. "Ouch. That one really hurt."
Quistis saw his facial expression and took it as an apology. Besides, she wouldn't be expecting any verbal apologies from him. "Look, I'm sorry I'm digging up the past like this. I'm just ruining the whole mood."
"What mood?," he asked slyly with a smile that matched his tone of voice.
Quistis let out a cry of frustration. "Seifer, you are just impossible!"
"Hey, hey. Chill out Quistis. You know I was only playing." A smile still played on his lips.
She grumbled.
"You know what? I'm feeling generous today. I'll buy you a little something as a show of goodwill." And with that, he dragged the reluctant Quistis into an ice cream parlor. He got himself a chocolate ice cream, and strawberry for Quistis. They sat across from each other at a booth next to the store window.
Quistis scooped up some of her ice cream with her spoon and savored the cold ice cream in her mouth with her eyes closed. She had to smile.
"Hah!," Seifer said rather arrogantly. "I knew you would feel better. Ice cream solves all problems," he said with a sweep of his arm.
Quistis had to admit, she really appreciated his attempt to apologize and cheer her up. But instead, she asked, "How did you know I like strawberry ice cream best?"
"Well," he said with his arms hanging on the back of his chair, "you always liked strawberry ice cream when we were at the orphanage, and I guessed that your taste hadn't changed much since then."
They both ate their ice creams in silence. After a few minutes, Seifer broke the silence. "You know, I was wondering..."
Quistis looked up at him.
"How come when we met last night at the beach, you didn't back away from me or anything? I mean, after all, I turned on everybody to become the sorceress's knight and all." His elbow was propped up on the table and his head rested in his hand. He looked at her with a curious look on his face.
She hesitated, caught off guard at his question. "Well...," she started. "I knew that your turning against us wasn't really your fault."
Seifer continued to look at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I knew that the sorceresses played with your head. They needed a knight, as do all sorceresses, who was stubborn, strong, passionate, and had connections with Balamb Garden so they can get some of the inside scoop," Quistis finished. She looked back at him, and noticed his eyes. They were a deep, dark green with rays of gold shooting out from the outer part of his pupils. He had such beautiful eyes...
"I thank you for your compassion," Seifer said, interrupting Quistis's thoughts. He seemed genuinely grateful. She gave him a warm smile, and then a thought came to her head.
"Seifer," she said.
"Hmm?"
"What do you do these days?," she asked. "How do you earn a living?"
"Oh, well," he said, "I started this little bar with Fujin and Raijin. We pooled together all the money we saved and worked out butts off for this project. Man, was it worth it," he said, smiling at their hard-earned success.
"Seems like you're doing pretty well from your expression," commented Quistis.
"Yeah. Better than we thought. We have a couple of loyal customers." He was very proud. "Hey! I'll take you there sometime! It's really a neat place. The ambience is great."
Quistis smiled. "Ambience? Is that your new vocabulary word?," she asked teasingly.
Seifer smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Some guy at the bar said that, and I had to look it up in the dictionary at home to find out what he meant."
Quistis laughed. She found it very cute when Seifer admitted something like that in his embarrassed manner. Seifer thought Quistis should laugh more often. He voiced his thought and Quistis stopped.
"You're always so somber. You lost your innocence so long ago. You grew up too fast Quistis," he said seriously.
She looked at him, surprised. What he said was too true. She had indeed grown up much too quickly. She missed out on all the good things of her teenage years. She had a sad, faraway look on her face.
"Hey," he said. "Don't get so down. If you need some excitement in your life, you can always turn to me," he said with a wink.
Quistis only smiled. "I think I better go now. Selphie and Rinoa are waiting for me. We have plans to make for the upcoming dance."
Seifer followed her out. "Quistis?," he said.
She turned to face him.
"Do you think we can meet some other time?," he asked a little shyly.
Quistis grinned. "I'll wait for you by the beach in front of Garden at nine."
Seifer smiled back. "I'll take you to our bar. You won't be disappointed." And with that, he turned around and left.
Quistis watched him leave. She let out a contented sigh. She was beginning to enjoy his company. She walked away from the ice cream parlor. She couldn't wait until nine o'clock.
An Unlikely Meeting- Part I
Quistis closed the door to her dorm and leaned against it. She sighed. Such a strange night this has been. And so unexpected, but pleasant in a way. Seifer had acted so... nice? Quistis couldn't think of the right word to describe how he was today. It was just so uncharacteristic of him.
She yawned and looked at her wall clock. Two thirty in the morning. Good thing tomorrow's a Sunday, she thought. I can wake up as late as I want. She smiled at the appealing thought of sleeping till noon. Without changing into her night clothes, Quistis plopped down on her bed and immediately drifted off into sleep.
******
Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Where is all this heat coming from?, Quistis wondered. Then she saw it. The whole town was on fire. She looked to her left, then to her right. Everying, all the stores, houses, plants, were ablaze. She knew she was looking through the eyes of someone else who lived in the town. How did she know? She wasn't so sure herself. Quistis looked down at her hands. They belonged to someone who spent her time doing a lot of manual labor. It was rough and the hands were calloused. She was wearing a plain brown dress with a white apron covering her front.
Everywhere around her, she heard screams and cries for help. Quistis felt helpless. Please, she silently begged, please don't let anyone get hurt. They don't deserve this. What have they done wrong? She looked around once again. In one corner, she saw the silouhette of a woman near the side of one building. She seemed very suspicious to Quistis. Then she heard a high-pitched scream coming from behind. Instantly alarmed, she whipped around and saw a young girl of about six years old on the floor, crying. She reached out for Quistis.
"Mommy!," the girl cried. "Help me! I'm so scared!"
Quistis saw her arms reaching out for the girl, but the fire suddenly engulfed the girl, making it impossible for Quistis to save her.
The girl let out a horrible shriek of pain. "Mommy!!," she cried. "Mommy, it hurts! Mommy!!"
"No!!," Quistis cried out. But it wasn't her voice. It was more deeper, belonging to an older woman. "No!," she cried again, but this time, Quistis found herself in her bed, tangled up in her sheets, sweating and shivering. She sat up quickly from her bed, rested her back on the headrest of the bed, drew her knees up and rested her chin on her knees. Her arms encircled her legs. She tried to hold back her tears, but she was unsuccessful. She let the tears flow and she wept, scared and alone.
******
Quistis did not know how long she had been asleep or what time she had waken up, but what she did remember was the she stayed up for the rest of the night, too scared to go back to sleep. The dream was just too vivid. It disturbed her deeply.
At eight o'clock, she went to the cafeteria to get some breakfast. Almost no one was there. It was a Sunday and everyone was sleeping in late. After eating a simple breakfast of cereal, toast, and a banana, Quistis went back to her room to grade the test papers. She looked at the huge stack of papers and sighed. I'm only eighteen years old and already I'm working like some middle aged adult. I feel so old, she thought. She sat down and began grading. At noon, she became bored from grading so many identical papers. She decided to go outside of Garden and wander around.
She found herself at the mall. She looked around and observed her surroundings. This was the perfect place to lose herself and forget about all her troubles. She was walking through the crowd, looking for a store to go into, when she felt something strange. She looked around. Where was it coming from? She turned to her right, and when she finally saw where the feeling was coming from, Quistis stopped. Everything seemed to slow down around her. That woman. Who was she? Then she remembered. She was the woman in her dream. The one hidden in the shadows, watching the village burning to the ground.
The woman smiled slyly at her. She had jet black hair parted to one side with smoky gray eyes fringed with long dark lashes. Her full lips were a deep red. She wore a red spagetti strap tanktop and a black leather miniskirt with matching knee-high boots. Quistis stood, staring at her. As the shoppers passed between them, Quistis stared in amazement as one shopper passed in front of the woman, blocking Quistis's view of her. When the shopper walked away, the woman was gone- But not before Quistis was able to get her name- Celeste.
Celeste watched from behind the corner of one store as Quistis looked around, trying to search for her. She smiled to herself. She got my name, she thought, impressed. She's perfect.
As Quistis looked around, she wondered to herself, How did she do that? Who is she exactly? And how did I know her name?, she wondered as an afterthought. Things were getting weirder by the day. Quistis shook her head and sighed. As she stepped back, she bumped into something hard.
"Hey!," exclaimed a masculine voice. "Watch where you're... Quistis?" He asked, surprised.
"Seifer!," said Quistis. She didn't expect to see him again. Then she put her hands to her hips and gave him a dry smile. "Why don't you finish up that last sentence Seifer Almasy?"
"My dear Instructor, I wouldn't dare say such things to you." He was beginning to sound like the Seifer she had known.
"Oh?," she said with a raised eyebrow. "I think I recall a time when you had unmercifully called me a "mediocre instructor?"
"Temporary insanity," he concluded.
"Or all the times when you have totally ignored my orders?"
"Pure stupidity."
"Or that one time when you decided to put me on "the list" which resulted in the reinstatement of my instructor's license?," she recalled quite bitterly.
Seifer cringed. "Ouch. That one really hurt."
Quistis saw his facial expression and took it as an apology. Besides, she wouldn't be expecting any verbal apologies from him. "Look, I'm sorry I'm digging up the past like this. I'm just ruining the whole mood."
"What mood?," he asked slyly with a smile that matched his tone of voice.
Quistis let out a cry of frustration. "Seifer, you are just impossible!"
"Hey, hey. Chill out Quistis. You know I was only playing." A smile still played on his lips.
She grumbled.
"You know what? I'm feeling generous today. I'll buy you a little something as a show of goodwill." And with that, he dragged the reluctant Quistis into an ice cream parlor. He got himself a chocolate ice cream, and strawberry for Quistis. They sat across from each other at a booth next to the store window.
Quistis scooped up some of her ice cream with her spoon and savored the cold ice cream in her mouth with her eyes closed. She had to smile.
"Hah!," Seifer said rather arrogantly. "I knew you would feel better. Ice cream solves all problems," he said with a sweep of his arm.
Quistis had to admit, she really appreciated his attempt to apologize and cheer her up. But instead, she asked, "How did you know I like strawberry ice cream best?"
"Well," he said with his arms hanging on the back of his chair, "you always liked strawberry ice cream when we were at the orphanage, and I guessed that your taste hadn't changed much since then."
They both ate their ice creams in silence. After a few minutes, Seifer broke the silence. "You know, I was wondering..."
Quistis looked up at him.
"How come when we met last night at the beach, you didn't back away from me or anything? I mean, after all, I turned on everybody to become the sorceress's knight and all." His elbow was propped up on the table and his head rested in his hand. He looked at her with a curious look on his face.
She hesitated, caught off guard at his question. "Well...," she started. "I knew that your turning against us wasn't really your fault."
Seifer continued to look at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I knew that the sorceresses played with your head. They needed a knight, as do all sorceresses, who was stubborn, strong, passionate, and had connections with Balamb Garden so they can get some of the inside scoop," Quistis finished. She looked back at him, and noticed his eyes. They were a deep, dark green with rays of gold shooting out from the outer part of his pupils. He had such beautiful eyes...
"I thank you for your compassion," Seifer said, interrupting Quistis's thoughts. He seemed genuinely grateful. She gave him a warm smile, and then a thought came to her head.
"Seifer," she said.
"Hmm?"
"What do you do these days?," she asked. "How do you earn a living?"
"Oh, well," he said, "I started this little bar with Fujin and Raijin. We pooled together all the money we saved and worked out butts off for this project. Man, was it worth it," he said, smiling at their hard-earned success.
"Seems like you're doing pretty well from your expression," commented Quistis.
"Yeah. Better than we thought. We have a couple of loyal customers." He was very proud. "Hey! I'll take you there sometime! It's really a neat place. The ambience is great."
Quistis smiled. "Ambience? Is that your new vocabulary word?," she asked teasingly.
Seifer smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Some guy at the bar said that, and I had to look it up in the dictionary at home to find out what he meant."
Quistis laughed. She found it very cute when Seifer admitted something like that in his embarrassed manner. Seifer thought Quistis should laugh more often. He voiced his thought and Quistis stopped.
"You're always so somber. You lost your innocence so long ago. You grew up too fast Quistis," he said seriously.
She looked at him, surprised. What he said was too true. She had indeed grown up much too quickly. She missed out on all the good things of her teenage years. She had a sad, faraway look on her face.
"Hey," he said. "Don't get so down. If you need some excitement in your life, you can always turn to me," he said with a wink.
Quistis only smiled. "I think I better go now. Selphie and Rinoa are waiting for me. We have plans to make for the upcoming dance."
Seifer followed her out. "Quistis?," he said.
She turned to face him.
"Do you think we can meet some other time?," he asked a little shyly.
Quistis grinned. "I'll wait for you by the beach in front of Garden at nine."
Seifer smiled back. "I'll take you to our bar. You won't be disappointed." And with that, he turned around and left.
Quistis watched him leave. She let out a contented sigh. She was beginning to enjoy his company. She walked away from the ice cream parlor. She couldn't wait until nine o'clock.