Chapter 7: Time for Romance…and Discoveries
The day ended slowly for the worried ones. They were desperate they'd never found Zell and the others. They had supper all together except for Seifer. Coran was looking nervous, constantly looking at her watch (a gift from Squall). Squall was wondering what she could be so nervous about, but Rinoa, reading his mind as usual, reassured him with a smile. She read Coran's mind so she knew what she was thinking about. As she read her mind, she didn't have much more to learn from her, but she still tried to make some kind of conversation. They were becoming friends pretty fast and Squall was happy for that.
Except for Rinoa and Coran, they almost didn't talk, all worried. Squall the most of them. As the leader, he was feeling responsible for all those disappearances. He couldn't do anything about it and it was making him angry. Feeling helpless was one of the things he hated most.
Finally, it was time for curfew. Everybody went to the dorms, all feeling as helpless as Squall. They waved to each other before going to bed. Rinoa was about to leave herself, but Coran retained her.
"Hum, Rinoa? Can you stay here tonight? I know I won't be able to sleep and I would like to talk to someone for a while."
Looking at Squall for approbation, he nodded with a smile and disappeared in his room. Rinoa then turned to Coran.
"Sure!"
Coran smiled and invited Rinoa in her room. She offered Rinoa to sleep in her bed while she would sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. Coran was still feeling pretty nervous and Rinoa knew why.
"When are you gonna meet him?" Rinoa asked facing Coran in the bed.
Coran was resting on her back, looking at the ceiling while Rinoa had her head in her hand, her elbow on the bed. Coran turned to her.
"You know, huh? You read my mind, so you know I'm gonna meet somebody in the Secret Area."
Rinoa smiled but Coran couldn't see her face in the darkness of her room, only her figure.
"So?"
"At midnight," Coran answered.
"How exciting! Meeting a guy after curfew in a romantic place!"
"You must know who it is too, don't you?"
Rinoa kept silent for a while. Coran thought she suddenly fell asleep when she heard a sigh.
"Yes, I know. I'm not the one who'll tell you what to do. I can just wish he shares your feelings."
Coran turned on her side, facing the bed.
"You…know him don't you?"
Rinoa sighed again.
"Yes. I loved him before I loved Squall. We spent a great summer together. I would like to leave it in the past if you don't mind."
The noise coming from Coran taught Rinoa she was shaking her head.
"I know what he did to you, Rinoa. He threw you to Adel."
"You know everything?"
"Yeah. And with the details."
She switched on her back once more, her hands behind her head and sighed again.
"I can't believe my brother was so cold hearted and he changed because of you."
"What exactly do you know?"
"Everything. It was like a fairy tale with monsters, witches and knights… Except the witches are very dangerous and the knights are on their side…"
"I beg your pardon?" Rinoa exclaimed upset.
"Oh, it's true! You're a Sorceress and Squall is your Knight! I'm sorry."
She kept silent a minute then giggled.
"Anyway, like every story, there is a part I better like than the others."
"Which is?"
"Hum…Not sure. In the Ragnarok or the party, maybe. Or maybe when Squall freed you from the Sorceress' Memorial… or when he kissed you for the first time on the Garden balcony, or when you were in a coma, or…"
"Okay, okay! The romantic parts if you ask me!"
The girls laughed together.
They talked a little more before Rinoa finally fell asleep. Coran got up and went to turn on the lamp on her desk to see the time. Half an hour before midnight. She couldn't stand it anymore! She was already dressed up because she was in her sleeping bag dressed up. She carefully opened the door not to wake Rinoa up and left the room. She silently walked out of the dorms and headed for the Training Center. It was the only place in Garden that was opened all night. Some students liked training during night when they couldn't sleep. Coran wasn't expecting a fight and truly hoped she wouldn't encounter any monster, not even stupid Grats. They were quite easy to beat but she wasn't in the mood for fighting.
She hid herself from a couple of Grats before walking again to the Secret Area. She was feeling nervous, but not because of what was to come. She was afraid, that's what she was feeling. She was almost there when she heard a growling sound. Recognizing the sound of a T-Rexaur for what Squall had taught her when he showed her around, she knew it was already too late. Feeling her heart stop beating for a second, she ran to the place, not daring to look behind her. She was almost there when the monster jumped in front of her, growling furiously down her. She fell on her back and screamed. The monster was looking pretty mad and hungry, passing its tongue on its teeth. Coran swallowed hard and got up on her shaking legs. She knew there was nothing to do except fight.
'I'm not ready for that kind of monster,' she thought. 'I learned to take care of myself with my fists but I always avoided that kind of monster. What should I do?'
She jumped aside when the monster ran its head towards her. She frowned and punched it furiously with a scream for courage. The Rex didn't seem really disturbed by the blow, more annoyed from it than anything else. Coran jumped backward in fighting position, frowning to the Rex. It dashed to her and she jumped aside at the last second, sending the Rex bang on a tree. Taking advantage of the situation, she jumped on it and punched it again and again, furiously. This time it appeared to do some kind of damage but not enough. She stepped aside, watching it get up and growl with anger. She was breathing fast, too fast.
'I'm… I'm not gonna make it…'
The Rex dashed to her once again, teeth first.
'Seifer…'
The rest happened so fast the first thing Coran noticed was that she was sitting on the floor in the Secret Area. There was a couple in the corner, but except for her, nobody else. She scratched her head, frowning.
'What happened? The last thing I remember is the T-Rexaur dashing to me, but then…'
She widened her eyes in horror.
'No… Don't tell me it happened again?!'
She was so concentrated in her thoughts she didn't notice the feet in front of her.
"Hey," a voice called.
She shook her head to get out of her thoughts and looked in front of her. Her heartbeat fastened when she saw the dark boots. She slowly looked up and her eyes shone when they met Seifer's. He was dressed as usual except he didn't have his trench coat on. There was something on his face she never saw before. He wasn't frowning, something really unusual to him. She opened her mouth to say something but she had to try twice before something came out of it.
"Seifer, you came," she whispered. "I was afraid you wouldn't come."
He offered her his hand and she took it so he helped her up. Then she noticed something else: Seifer wasn't wearing his gloves. How soft his hand was in hers…
"Why?" he asked.
She turned her back to him.
"I… I don't know. I was afraid you would figure out who wrote the letter and not come."
He cleared his throat, nervous.
"Well in fact I actually figured it out…that's why I came. I wanted to be sure I wasn't dreaming."
She turned around to face him. She never heard him speak that way. His voice was so soft to her ears, so peaceful. He was taller than she was, but she didn't mind at all. She looked in his blue eyes to find if he was telling the truth. Seifer was feeling uneasy. He looked down and scratched the back of his head.
"You serious?" she asked hopefully.
He made a step closer to her. They were just a few inches away from each other.
"If I wasn't, do you think I would be here?"
She shook her head.
"Why do you wanted to meet me here?" he asked already knowing the answer.
Coran was growing more nervous by the minute.
"Don't you know?" she asked softly.
"I…think so, but I want to hear it from you."
She was really hot. She felt like she was burning from the inside of her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
'Go for it!' she scolded herself. 'He came here so go for it! Tell him!'
"I… I love you, Seifer."
There, she said it. Now she was retaining her breath, waiting for Seifer's reaction. She didn't dare looking at his face, afraid she would see reject on it. Instead, he took her chin and gently lifted it.
"I was afraid I was the only on feeling that way," he said with some kind of relief.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you know?" he asked with a smile using the same tone she had earlier.
"I think so, but I want to hear it from you," she said with a smile too.
"I… I love you, Coran."
It was hard to believe, Seifer Almasy, ex-Sorceress' knight was feeling nervous in front of a girl he met just a few days ago. All his self-assurance was gone.
Coran smiled, happier than ever.
"It was hard, but once it's done it feels so great," she said.
The both of them turned to the balcony, looking to the horizon.
"I knew you couldn't be like the others told me you were," she said after a few minutes of silence.
Seifer looked at her, his elbows on the balcony.
"The others told you about me?"
"Yes, I know everything you've done."
Seifer bit his lip, afraid this would ruin everything.
"But I don't care," she continued. "The day Squall introduced me to you, I had this feeling I thought would tear me apart."
"Yeah, me too."
They turned to face each other.
"Do you think you can love a guy like me? You know what I've done…"
"I told you I didn't care. And you? Do you think you can love your rival's twin sister?"
He went closer to her.
"I don't care," he whispered.
He put a hand behind her neck to take her even closer and he bent down. They closed their eyes when their lips locked. Coran put a hand on Seifer's chest, not thinking about anything else beside the present time.
Coran woke up in Seifer's arms. They were sat in the Secret Area.
'We spent the night here?' she asked herself.
Then she smiled when she looked up to see Seifer's sleeping face. She pinched herself to be sure it wasn't a dream. Feeling the pain from her pinching, she smiled even more and rested herself against Seifer. He had his arms around her like if he was afraid she would be gone once he woke up. She sighed, feeling better than ever.
"You slept well?"
She looked up and met Seifer's smiling face. She smiled back (lot of smiling in this fic, don't you think?).
"Better than ever," she answered.
They were about to kiss when a voice was heard.
"Booyaka!! If I knew I would live long enough to see that!"
Coran and Seifer jumped. Selphie was standing on the entrance, looking at them. She giggled.
"Hey, guys!" she called behind her. "Come quick! You have to see that!"
"What?" Irvine asked arriving.
Squall, Rinoa and Quistis were close behind. Irvine whistled.
"My, my! What a cute couple you too make!"
Coran and Seifer got up, blushing. Seifer frowned at them.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"It's my fault," Rinoa said with a sorry look. "When I woke and saw Coran wasn't there, I was afraid she could have disappeared like the other students."
Coran reassured her.
"No, not a chance. I was here all the time."
"With Seifer?" Squall asked.
Coran looked at her beloved.
"Yeah, with Seifer."
Seifer put an arm around Coran's shoulders possessively.
"Yeah, with me. I was there to protect her."
"That's what I was afraid of," Quistis said under her breath.
Seifer frowned even more.
"What did you say?"
"Forget it, Seifer," Squall commanded.
Irvine and Selphie were already out of the place.
"Yaaaahh!!!" Selphie screamed.
Everyone quickly went to them to see why she was screaming. She was pointing something in tight bushes, terrified.
"What is it?" Squall asked taking a look.
He jumped backward suddenly.
"God, what is that?"
There was a dead creature, carbonized and still smoking. Rinoa and the others bent to take a look. Rinoa pinched her nose in disgust.
"It stinks!!"
Seifer was the only one to get close to it. It was pretty big.
"T-Rexaur," he said.
"What?" everyone exclaimed.
"Impossible!" Selphie said. "Nothing can do that to a T-Rexaur, never!"
"Not a creature from this Center, at least," Quistis added, thoughtful.
"Not even magic can toast it like that!" Irvine said.
"And I don't know any Sorceress that could do that, either," Rinoa completed.
"You know just two Sorceresses, Rinoa," Seifer objected. "Edea and you."
They kept silence, wondering what could be powerful enough to turn a T-Rexaur into that burned mass of skin and bones.
"Maybe it has something to do with the disappearances," Coran suggested.
"I don't think so, but you never know," Squall said. "Quistis, inform the Headmaster right away to make an announcement about this so that every students should be more careful than before when they come to the Training Center."
"Yes!"
She left the place. Squall turned to Coran and Seifer, his old rival having an arm around Coran's shoulders protectively.
"It appears to have happened a while ago or so. You two didn't hear anything?"
They thought about it then shook their heads. Coran totally forgot about the encounter with a T-Rexaur she had the past night.
"Well from now on, you all be careful. And Coran, don't ever come back here by yourself, okay?"
He sounded so serious and concerned Coran nodded right away.
"Now let's get out of here."
The gang left the Training Center and the smoking sorry excuse for a T-Rexaur.
They heard Cid make the announcement the second they were out of the center. Then screams were heard and they wondered if it was due to the announcement or…something else. All ready to defend themselves if it was needed and Seifer standing in front of Coran, they ran to the source of the screams. Then it was identified as surprised screams, so they slowed down. There were people near the Directory and on the bottom of the stairs to the elevator. Squall pushed them aside to see what was going on. Quistis came back from Cid's office in the same time and joined him.
"What's going on?" she asked Squall.
"That's what I'm about to find out."
Then they saw four students wearing SeeD candidates' uniforms lying on the floor, apparently unconscious. Squall widened his eyes.
"Quistis, aren't they…?"
"It's…the missing students!!"
She asked somebody to go get the doctor while she was inquiring if those four were still alive. While she was doing that with the help of the others to calm the witnesses, Squall was scanning the floor in hope to find Zell along. He soon had to face the truth: he wasn't. Discouraged, he went back to Quistis.
"So?"
"The pulse is very slow, they are so weak it's like if they were drained from their energy, all of them."
"Will they survive?" Selphie asked.
"Oh, sure. They are very weak but not in danger."
She turned to Squall and saw his desperate face.
"I thought Zell would be there too," he explained.
"He's gotta be here if he was gone with them," Coran supposed.
"That is if he was gone with them," Irvine said.
The doctor arrived and the weak students were carried to the infirmary. Later, the gang was talking about it in the cafeteria.
"Too confusing!" Selphie exclaimed.
"Let's start from the beginning," Squall said.
Quistis nodded.
"First: five students including a SeeD disappeared in the same time for what we know," she said.
"Second: that T-Rexaur burned up in the Training Center and nobody heard anything," Irvine continued.
"And third: four of the missing students are found out of nowhere drained from their energy," Selphie concluded.
She leant backward on her chair, holding her head.
"Ugh! I don't understand!"
"Let's wait for the students to wake up, then we'll ask them," Seifer proposed to calm her down.
"Good idea," Squall commented.
"What I think," Coran started, "is that they never left the Garden."
She decided to explain further seeing their confused faces.
"They all disappeared without anyone to notice, right? Nothing was heard, no ransom demands, right? And they were found in the middle of Garden this morning, right? If somebody kidnapped them in the first place, somebody would have see or hear. And if they were brought back here, somebody would know something! There's no way you can kidnap five persons without anyone to notice, it's impossible! Even less get four back in the same time, no way! And for Zell? He looks pretty strong and noisy so we would have heard him if he was kidnapped. What I say is that it happened here. Considering bringing them all four back here in the same time all of a sudden is impossible…"
"I see what you mean," Rinoa cut in. "Magic, huh?"
"Exactly."
They all thought about what Coran said, trying to find another possibility, but they had to admit it was the only one possible.
"How do you know about that?" Quistis asked suspiciously.
"I don't know, I guessed!"
"Cut it out, Quistis," Seifer interrupted. "She was scanned like all the others and nothing was found, so leave her alone."
He gave her a threatening look, defying her to accuse Coran once again. Quistis shrugged.
"If magic is involved and if the students were really all together," Squall said, "we can expect to see him soon too, so I want you all to pay great attention to everything. You come find me the second you find Zell if you ever do so."
They all nodded, before getting up to get something to eat. When they sat back on their table, Kadowaki entered the Cafeteria and went to them.
"How are the students?" Quistis asked.
"They will be just fine after a little rest."
She looked concerned and thoughtful what made Squall frown.
"Something wrong, doctor?"
She looked at him.
"I can't figure out what could make them like that! The four of them had marks of ropes or something on their wrists."
"So they were kidnapped!" Irvine exclaimed.
"I guess so. They will soon wake up if you want to question them."
Squall got up, followed by the others but he signalled them to stay there.
"I'll go alone…no, on second thought, Rinoa, you come too."
While the others sat back, Rinoa understood the purpose he wanted for her.
"You want me to scan them?"
He nodded without a word and they followed Kadowaki out of the Cafeteria, heading for the infirmary. The others traced them. Seifer shrugged.
"What are they hoping for? Find Zell through those students?"
"Probably try to know who kidnapped them and where they were taken," Coran explained.
Seifer smiled to her. Selphie giggled.
"Coran, you're probably the sole person who can act smarter than Seifer and not being scolded by him."
Everyone laughed except Seifer who granted her a mad frown. Then he laughed along.