Chapter 8
By Silver Dolphin
He was running. Through the bleak gray mist he searched, the sound his boots made with the granite beneath his feet seemed unnaturally loud in the uncanny silence. His heart pounded in his chest, so that he drew deep, gasping breaths, and his limbs were weary – so weary.
Still he continued to search through the gray haze, unsure of what he was looking for, but knowing that it was his ultimate goal, one that he would find or die trying. Then up ahead the fog cleared, and something lay splayed out on the cold hard ground. The shine of bright gold attracted him, and he made for the object, blurry images beginning to form in his mind, yet the entire picture eluded him completely.
Of course. Spread out in front of him was the form of the woman he loved, and she was deathly pale, although her pulse was strong in her throat. He supported her unconscious form in his arms, trying – and failing – to revive her in the swirling loneliness.
But they were not alone. The mist before him shifted, beginning to take the shape of another woman – a woman dressed all in pale blue, with hair the purest black streaked with golden brown down the front. The face was familiar, yet foreign somehow…
"You've forgotten me already?" Her voice was sad, echoing in the stillness of the fog around them.
"No." His voice was an uncertain croak.
"Yes, you have. I see your heart, and in my place is now the face of the one you hold in your arms."
"No!" He repeated more forcefully. "Never that. Gods, Rinny, I missed you so much."
"Then come with me." A glowing white nimbus embraced her figure, and she reached out to him. "Come. Leave her, leave this bleak earth. Come with me."
He felt a strange compulsion to obey, yet the warm weight of the blonde at his knees held him back.
"Hurry!" Her voice held an urgent note, and he noticed that she was beginning to blend into the gray surrounding them. "Don't leave me, Squall!"
"Rinoa!" He cried desperately. "Quisty –"
"You can't have us both. Choose. Quickly, Squall! Me, or her?"
"Rinny – "
"You would choose her?" Rinoa's disbelief was evident. "I thought I meant the world to you…"
WHAM!! Squall's eyes flew open at the solid blow the pillow landed on his stomach, and his breath exploded out of his body in a kind of strangled wheeze.
"Well, at least he's awake." Irvine observed, grinning at Seifer, who stood over him with the pillow raised menacingly over his head.
Squall sat up, wiping the layer of sweat off his forehead as he tried to regain his breath. "Don't you know you're not supposed to murder the bridegroom on his wedding day?" he demanded, glaring at the two of them.
"Touchy, touchy," Irvine remarked. "You wouldn't wake when we called you, so…" he left it hanging in the air.
"A nice, gentle tap on the shoulder will do." Squall's face bore a distinctly pained look.
"Speaking of weddings, you're going to be late for yours," Seifer informed him, shooting a quick glance at his watch.
"Tell me again why I'm doing this?" Squall moaned, catching the pillow his best friend hurled at him.
"Because you proposed to Quistis, remember? Whatever made you do that?" Seifer asked curiously.
"It was a spur of the moment thing. I was drunk. She tried to warn me, but I didn't listen."
"Having second thoughts?" Irvine asked dryly. "You had all month to change your mind."
"It's not being married to Quisty I'm having qualms about." He shot an accusatory glance at the pillow, as if blaming it for the poor night he'd had. "It's the whole wretched ceremony, you understand."
"Why?"
"Because…it's frivolous." Squall replied disgustedly.
"Ah." Seifer exchanged a knowing look with Irvine. "Nerves," the blond nodded sagely.
"Quit acting so superior. When your wedding day comes and our positions are reversed…"
"Never happen." Seifer declared with a smug little smirk.
Muttering under his breath, the SeeD commander stamped into the bathroom and slammed the door.
"How's our bridegroom doing?" Zell asked, as he threw open the door without so much as a knock.
Squall glared at him. "I get the feeling all three of you are enjoying this," he accused, reaching for the shaver he'd just plugged into the wall socket under his desk.
"It's not every day you see the SeeD commander so…. jittery," Irvine pointed out. "You sure you want to do this?"
"What?"
"Shave. Look at your hand." The Galbadian sharpshooter gestured towards his trembling hand.
"Quisty won't like it if you go to her with blood all over your clothes," Seifer agreed.
"I can't go unshaved either," Squall retorted.
"You want me to do it?" Zell offered, an unrestrained grin stretching his lips. "I'll be careful around your nose, I promise."
"Thanks. I'm kind of attached to it." Squall submitted the razor to his friend with a resigned sigh. This was proving to be a very long day…
"Well, now," Laguna commented, "You look just like me on my wedding day." He studied his son's face thoughtfully. "You did a better job shaving, though."
"Zell did it." The two fell silent after that, as they waited for the fanfare that was to summon them into the grand ballroom of Balamb Garden.
"I suppose you had a bad night?" Laguna asked, a small smile twisting the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah."
"So did I. My wedding night, I mean. I had the worst nightmare."
He paced the floor impatiently. "What's taking them so long?"
Squall raised his eyebrow. "You're even more excited that I am. You should have been the one doing this."
Laguna laughed easily. "No, son – I'm too old to go about getting married now. You're still young, though. You've got plenty of time."
"What's it like? Getting married?"
"Mine wasn't such a big affair as yours."
"I mean – "
The music sounded then, loud and clear, and Squall and Laguna walked through the door down the aisle to the dais at the other end of the room.
"Who the hell invited all these people?" Squall spluttered indignantly under his breath to his father.
"I dunno…Zell and Selphie were in charge of the guest list."
"Great. The whole Garden's here to watch their SeeD commander humiliate himself."
Laguna did not reply on reaching the dais, but he was grinning openly as he and Squall took their respective positions. Everybody, it seemed, was finding his predicament very amusing indeed.
After what seemed like an eternity, music resonated again – but this time it was the clear cascading of the harp. Automatically he turned around and caught sight of his bride for the first time.
In contrast the traditional white all brides usually wore, Quistis was gowned in an ankle-length dress of the darkest blue, which darkened her eyes to lavender and stood in stark contrast to her honey blonde hair. All her hair was caught up in what looked like a simple knot – no hair accessories – and reached halfway down her back. She wore no makeup to speak of, yet her face was beautifully radiant – a soft smile and sparkling eyes replaced her usual stern, reserved expression. She caught his eyes once, briefly, and for a second he felt a strange, shocking sensation. Her head was held high, and she looked regally composed as she approached him with Ellone at her side.
No regrets. But that didn't mean he was enjoying the whole blasted ceremony! Why couldn't they have had a nice, private service, instead of –
He was suddenly aware of his bride standing next to him, and the gentle fragrance about her quite caused his legs to weaken suddenly. Why the hell was the whole affair taking so long?
Quistis spoke her vows somewhat hesitantly, and he felt a slight flicker of reassurance. At least somebody else was nervous, too. The clear firm voice so familiar from class during his days as a Garden Cadet and later from sharing SeeD missions was now softer, less assertive.
Squall had thought he'd perfected the art of hiding his emotions. But his normally cool, expressionless alto wavered just the slightest bit as he uttered his vows, and he felt Quistis's hand brush lightly against his.
"…You may now kiss the bride." At that concluding sentence Squall jerked out of his moody trance. Had he heard the priest correctly?
He glanced at his wife, to find her staring expectantly at him. Now? In front of the whole Garden?
"What are you waiting for?" Quistis asked softly, finally despairing of him ever making the first move. She quite firmly wound her arms around his neck and touched her lips to his.
Fine. Just a brief, chaste kiss wasn't all that bad, really…but what soon became alarmingly apparent was that his wife was not going to let it go at that. The kiss went on for quite some time, until the blood roaring in his ears blocked out the soft murmurings of the watching Trepies, and until he caught sight of his father's mischievous grin.
Quistis's arms finally loosened from around his neck, and she stepped back, wearing an expression that faintly resembled his father's.
"Why the sullen face, my husband?" Quistis asked cheerfully. His wife, in contrast, seemed to be enjoying the whole business entirely.
Women! Hyne only knew how their brains worked. He had very little time to ponder the mystery, because she swept him off to the dance floor to perform their dance solo. His mind immediately switched to the more pressing issue in front of him – how to get through the dance without tripping over his feet and embarrassing himself.
The gentle strains of the melody were foreign to him, but judging from his wife's queer smile, it was one she had requested in advance. She subtly guided him through the slow, graceful measures of a dance unknown to all at Balamb Garden, himself included. The movements were regal, and controlled…the pair moved together with a kind of innate grace, so the silent audience had no idea that their SeeD commander was for once following his instincts and not applying his skills.
All eyes were on the bridal couple as they concluded their dance, and the applause was deafening.
"What was that all about?" Squall asked his wife.
"Hmm? Oh, it was something I picked up years ago…when I was a newly trained SeeD. On one of my missions I attended a ball in Esthar, and a very kind gentleman taught me one of their older dances."
"You might have warned me in advance."
"I will next time."
"Next time?" Squall choked in disbelief. Quistis laughed.
"I don't know honey…I had a great time. Did you?"
He chose not to answer that comment. Quistis's sly smile, however, indicated that she knew what his answer would be.
As the bridal couple was expected to dance with everyone, Quistis could hardly turn down Seifer's invitation to dance. "You've got awful timing, Seifer," she complained mildly, shooting a
mock - pining glance at Squall. "I really wanted to spend a few moments with my husband."
"There's plenty of time for that later," Seifer replied sardonically. "He'll have you all to himself after the celebration. This is the last chance I'll get to dance with you without having a jealous husband breathing down my neck."
"That's the way things are, Seifer. You're my best friend, but they are some things even friends don't share."
"Will you two stop that?" Quistis demanded, face aflame from all of their subtle implications.
"Don't wear yourself out," Squall told his wife with a perfectly straight face. "You still have a long night ahead of you."
"Why did I ever marry you?" she lamented, though a smile threatened to break through her morose expression. Then she laughed and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back soon, honey."
"No, actually you won't," Seifer told her as he led her to the dance floor. "I hear there's a long queue of Trepies waiting to dance with you."
"Oh, well." Quistis placed her hand on his shoulder. "He'll have legions of girls chasing after him, I suppose."
Seifer gave her a wicked smirk. "It's about time he learned to socialize, anyway."
Quistis laughed as she cast an almost sympathetic glance at her unsuspecting husband.
- End chapter 8 -