Downpour
Time: 7:57 a.m.
Location: Balamb Garden [Outside]
Date: December 7, 2000
We've been sitting outside for quite a while now, not doing much but talking. Ah, this is something that I've been deprived of for some time. I was never able to sit down, and actually talk to her, but here she is. Although the air is burning my skin, nothing could ruin my happiness. It seems that she has forgotten everything. She talks as if nothing could hold her back anymore. She ignores the fact that she's freezing, and the idea of being infected is foreign to her.
"Quistis…I love you."
She stopped in the middle of her sentence, and looked up at me. She didn't say anything, but she did smile back.
"You know Seifer. Dr. Kadowaki once told me that there are certain people who can survive with this, and there's some that'll collapse after a period of time. I honestly think I can survive with this. Only thing is, if I still live…I don't want to live here…"
I carefully listened to everything she was saying, glad that she wasn't speaking of dying anymore.
"…We belong someplace beautiful."
Noticing her unstable condition, I still dumbly asked her if we could leave now.
She coughed in her hands, and surprisingly arose from my lap.
"It's now or never."
Time: 8:13 a.m.
Location: Balamb
Date: December 7, 2000
She's able to walk, and I don't dare ask what brought this new sense of strength. The sky sang to us…songs we've never heard before, but we smiled and walked to the rhythm. She was the wind. Passing through life, faultlessly, effortlessly. Some unseen beauty, that only few have cared to recognize. She was the rain, falling from heaven, and cleansing me. She was Quistis; she was everything to me.
Further down the trail, the temperature picked up. We didn't have a destination in mind…but that didn't bother us. She hugged herself to stay warm, and looked up and smiled at me every now and then. We passed the frost that clung to shop windows, and from the corner of my eye, I admired the reflection of us. Pink lips curve upwards, as we laugh at the sound of snow crushing under our feet.
Time: 8:43 a.m.
Location: Exiting Balamb
Date: December 7, 2000
The faded green sign lays forgotten behind us. We don't miss it. Balamb never treated us right. No one would ever be able to understand children like us, but I don't care. We're unrestrained, we don't belong to anyone anymore.
A soft thump interrupts my thoughts, and I turn and look at Quistis who almost tripped, but caught herself in time.
"Are you all right?"
She laughs.
"I'm fine, just a little clumsy is all. Whew, I think we should sit down."
"Ok, there's some rocks over there, we could—"
Ignoring what I said, she quickly sits on the ground, the snow covering her ankles. She shakes her head quickly, and presses her palms to the ice to hold herself up. Sitting beside her, I dig through the snow, and touch the dead grass underneath. I glare at people exiting Balamb who stare at us as if we're savages.
Long deep breaths surround my ears, and I stare at Quistis who's concentrating intently on her breathing.
"I think we should get back to the town." I speak, concerned.
"No…" She gets up slowly, and continues walking. "…I can do it."
Watching her, she takes two steps, then tumbles to the ground. Scurrying to my feet, I rush to her, and examine her lifeless body drowning in God's snow.
Time: 8:56 a.m.
Location: Exiting Balamb
Date: December 7, 2000
Finding my head buried in her chest, I listened for a heartbeat. A crowd was beginning to form and when I no longer felt her breathing, I backed away slowly.
"She's needs to be taken to a hospital, is she all right?"
A young woman broke the crowd, and spoke to me. All I could do was look at them, and shake my head in disbelief, my mouth hanging open.
Two men telling me they were taking her to a hospital tried carrying her away. Standing up, I violently pushed them to the ground.
"NO! Don't touch her! Don't you FUCKING touch her!"
Everyone was gathering, like this was some sick show. The ice kept pounding incessantly on my head. I could hear gasps, and loud weeping. Searching the audience, I stopped when I noticed it was me who was crying.
"Is she dead?" The lady bent over, and touched her pale lifeless wrists.
"We were running away that's all. I only told her to sit down. I didn't do it, I swear to God I didn't do it!"
My voice was loud and shaky, and what I was saying made no sense. Quickly, I put my head on her chest.
"QUISTIS! Wake up! Come on! I won't make you take that medicine anymore! I'll take care of you this time. Tell everyone what you told me!"
Pulling her up to me, her head rolled back and her closed eyelids pointed towards the sky. Her chest was pressed so tightly against mine that it began to hurt. Our bodies were rocking back and forth together, and I stroked her velvet blonde hair. Yearning to be held back, I squeezed her tighter when I saw palms hidden in the blanket of white.
"We belong some place beautiful…" My pathetic sobs were growing louder and louder, and my voice sounded weak. "…I won't leave you alone anymore..."
Thinking back to the night when I left her behind while she cried, I figured she was trying to get back at me. Closing my eyes snugly, my voice was silent. "You win, just wake up. I won't hurt you anymore. I need you to understand me."