A/N: Thankies for the reviews! Queifer fans don't panic and start having strokes out there, but I decided to throw Zell into the mix. I'd tell you it's going to be a Queifer anyway, but I'm not really sure (MUAHAHA! You thought you had no worries didn't you?). After all we want this to be interesting don't we? It was getting a little too easy for Seifer there for a bit. **rubs hands together gleefully** The plot thickens!
~Chapter (drum roll please) 5~
~*In FH...*~
Quince had absolutely NO problem getting a job at the dock. At first the boss was a little less than impressed by what he saw before him, a thin teenage girl who wanted to lift really heavy boxes around all day for 20 gil an hour. Sure the pay was good, he had told Quince, but surely a girl like her couldn't pick up something that heavy over and over without hurting her 'pretty little self' as he put it. So Quince had to convince him a bit. By picking up two of those boxes and carting them around for twenty minutes in his office without breaking a sweat. She was hired.
It felt really good walking down the street knowing that she had a job outside SeeD. A job in which she was no prodigy. She felt like an average Joe, and damn did it make her day. It was hard work, but Quince was used to hard work. The pay was good, and she started tomorrow. It was a perfect opportunity.
For the first time in what seemed to be decades, Quince grinned.
*~The following day, elsewhere in FH~*
"QUUUUIIIISSSSTTTIIISSSS??!!!?? OOOHHH QUUIISSSTTIIISSS!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Irvine clamped a hand over Selphie's mouth.
"Selphie for Hyne's sake shutup! She ran away remember? She's not just going to come racing back at the sound of your voice! If she hears you she's going to skip town!" Seifer glared hard at the loud girl, who was looking very mad from behind Irvine's hand. "I hope she's nowhere near here so she didn't hear you screaming!"
"Shutup Seifer! You're nearly as loud as Selphie!"
"Who asked you Chickenwuss?! Go back to Balamb and your little library girl!"
"I broke up with her! And I asked me you moron!" Zell raised his fist about an inch away from Seifer's chin. "You wanna go? Let's go!"
"I wouldn't waste my time on you Chickenwuss, everyone knows I'd beat you into the ground," Seifer growled.
"Guys..." started Rinoa.
"Oh yeah? I bet you're only saying that because you know you'd never win against without the help of your precious gunblade!" Zell countered.
"Guys!" Rinoa admonished.
"Ha! I could beat a little Chickenwuss like you in three seconds fla..."
"GUYS!" Rinoa screamed, drawing attention from passers by and causing Seifer and Zell to break apart and stare at her. "Don't you think we ought to be looking for Quistis? That IS what we're here for, in case you've forgotten!"
They nodded dumbly, and followed the rest of the SeeDs through the street, showing her picture around and asking the townspeople if they'd seen her.
(Four Hours Later)
Squall sighed, more than a little sick of looking for Quistis by now. He didn't see why they had to look for her in the first place. If she had left, that was her choice wasn't it? And if she didn't want to come back then what? Drag her by her hair? Sure she legally had to come back, she was not yet 21, but would they have the heart to force her? It made no sense whatsoever to him.
They were walking down by the docks now, not really looking very hard anymore, all too tired to focus their eyes properly anymore. All except Zell and Seifer, who were as alert as if they had drunk seven cups of coffee.
Every time Seifer saw blonde hair, his head snapped up and he peered at it's owner, only to find each and every time that it was someone too short, too tall, wrong eyes, wrong walk, they couldn't be Quistis Trepe.
~*On the dock not too far from the SeeDs...*~
Quince was having the time of her life. She loved the salty breeze brought in on the surf. She loved being in the sun. She, formerly ice cold Quistis, loved flirting with the dock boys. She even loved toting those boxes around.
"Hey did you know your initials spell Q.T?" This from a particularly cute brown-haired man.
"Yes, I did know. Don't you think I live up to them?" She responded jovially, even going so far as to wink at him.
"Hell, yeah!" Then of course, the boss yelled at him to quit flirting and start working, to which he shrugged and turned back to the load of crates needing to be moved.
Quince's skin was positively glowing after only a few hours in the sun. Her skin had always been fast to tan, but she wasn't even wearing suntan lotion today and so she was beginning to acquire a golden-brown hue. She was having so much fun she didn't even notice the five people in SeeD uniform showing her picture around the dock, or the man in a trench coat scrutinizing every blonde girl. She didn't notice them until they were almost upon her.
***
Zell was keeping an eye on the pretty blonde girl carrying boxes on the dock. Something drew him to her and no matter where he looked he found himself gazing longingly at her back as she joked with her coworkers. She half turned once, and he was so dazed he only caught a glimpse of her eyes. Purple. She was beautiful, but that was not the reason Zell couldn't tear himself away. There was something else there. Somehow he just needed desperately to go to her. And he needed to do it now. He glanced around the dock again briefly, and noticed Seifer looking at the same girl. His eyes met Zell's and the message couldn't have been clearer. Get lost.
Zell shrugged noncommittally and began a slow, ambling walk towards the blonde girl.
***
Seifer glared at Zell, whose eyes seemed to be following the same path as his own. Unlike Zell, he had a plain view of the woman on the dock. He knew exactly who she was. He jeered silently that she had the audacity to insult him by thinking he'd be fooled by colored contacts and a new hairstyle. But then she probably had figured he would never come to find her. If she thought he cared that little...well he had a long time ahead of him to prove her wrong. He nudged a man beside him and inquired as to her name.
"Oh, that's Quince Tayler you're looking at." he frowned slightly. "Hands off, buddy. I've had my eye on her for a while."
"Not as long as I have..." mumbled Seifer, and walked down to the pier where 'Quince' was helping unload a boat that had just docked.
***
Quince half-turned to pick up a box on her left, and what she glimpsed out of the corner of her eye was by far the most fear-inspiring thing she had seen since she fought the Sorceress War. They were here. Keeping up her cheery front, she continued to take boxes off the boat in front of her.
~Please, Hyne, please if I ask for anything in my lifetime just grant me this. Don't let them recognize me...~
She didn't notice Seifer until she turned to pick up another box and ran into something solid. Realizing it was a person she started to apologize.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I..." she trailed off with a look of abject horror as the knowledge of who she was looking at seeped in. Little lights of yellow played in the green sea of his eyes, he was obviously enjoying catching her like this. When he finally spoke his voice rolled like velvet thunder, soft and rumbling.
"Fancy meeting you here, Quince. Or should I say Quistis?"
Ooohhh aren't I mean? Will Zell find out who the mystery girl is? Or will Seifer whisk her away? What does he have planned? Is Quistis going to faint again? And most of all, will Selphie realize Cid is her half-brother? (haha jk) Stay Tuned Kiddies!
~Chapter (drum roll please) 5~
~*In FH...*~
Quince had absolutely NO problem getting a job at the dock. At first the boss was a little less than impressed by what he saw before him, a thin teenage girl who wanted to lift really heavy boxes around all day for 20 gil an hour. Sure the pay was good, he had told Quince, but surely a girl like her couldn't pick up something that heavy over and over without hurting her 'pretty little self' as he put it. So Quince had to convince him a bit. By picking up two of those boxes and carting them around for twenty minutes in his office without breaking a sweat. She was hired.
It felt really good walking down the street knowing that she had a job outside SeeD. A job in which she was no prodigy. She felt like an average Joe, and damn did it make her day. It was hard work, but Quince was used to hard work. The pay was good, and she started tomorrow. It was a perfect opportunity.
For the first time in what seemed to be decades, Quince grinned.
*~The following day, elsewhere in FH~*
"QUUUUIIIISSSSTTTIIISSSS??!!!?? OOOHHH QUUIISSSTTIIISSS!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Irvine clamped a hand over Selphie's mouth.
"Selphie for Hyne's sake shutup! She ran away remember? She's not just going to come racing back at the sound of your voice! If she hears you she's going to skip town!" Seifer glared hard at the loud girl, who was looking very mad from behind Irvine's hand. "I hope she's nowhere near here so she didn't hear you screaming!"
"Shutup Seifer! You're nearly as loud as Selphie!"
"Who asked you Chickenwuss?! Go back to Balamb and your little library girl!"
"I broke up with her! And I asked me you moron!" Zell raised his fist about an inch away from Seifer's chin. "You wanna go? Let's go!"
"I wouldn't waste my time on you Chickenwuss, everyone knows I'd beat you into the ground," Seifer growled.
"Guys..." started Rinoa.
"Oh yeah? I bet you're only saying that because you know you'd never win against without the help of your precious gunblade!" Zell countered.
"Guys!" Rinoa admonished.
"Ha! I could beat a little Chickenwuss like you in three seconds fla..."
"GUYS!" Rinoa screamed, drawing attention from passers by and causing Seifer and Zell to break apart and stare at her. "Don't you think we ought to be looking for Quistis? That IS what we're here for, in case you've forgotten!"
They nodded dumbly, and followed the rest of the SeeDs through the street, showing her picture around and asking the townspeople if they'd seen her.
(Four Hours Later)
Squall sighed, more than a little sick of looking for Quistis by now. He didn't see why they had to look for her in the first place. If she had left, that was her choice wasn't it? And if she didn't want to come back then what? Drag her by her hair? Sure she legally had to come back, she was not yet 21, but would they have the heart to force her? It made no sense whatsoever to him.
They were walking down by the docks now, not really looking very hard anymore, all too tired to focus their eyes properly anymore. All except Zell and Seifer, who were as alert as if they had drunk seven cups of coffee.
Every time Seifer saw blonde hair, his head snapped up and he peered at it's owner, only to find each and every time that it was someone too short, too tall, wrong eyes, wrong walk, they couldn't be Quistis Trepe.
~*On the dock not too far from the SeeDs...*~
Quince was having the time of her life. She loved the salty breeze brought in on the surf. She loved being in the sun. She, formerly ice cold Quistis, loved flirting with the dock boys. She even loved toting those boxes around.
"Hey did you know your initials spell Q.T?" This from a particularly cute brown-haired man.
"Yes, I did know. Don't you think I live up to them?" She responded jovially, even going so far as to wink at him.
"Hell, yeah!" Then of course, the boss yelled at him to quit flirting and start working, to which he shrugged and turned back to the load of crates needing to be moved.
Quince's skin was positively glowing after only a few hours in the sun. Her skin had always been fast to tan, but she wasn't even wearing suntan lotion today and so she was beginning to acquire a golden-brown hue. She was having so much fun she didn't even notice the five people in SeeD uniform showing her picture around the dock, or the man in a trench coat scrutinizing every blonde girl. She didn't notice them until they were almost upon her.
***
Zell was keeping an eye on the pretty blonde girl carrying boxes on the dock. Something drew him to her and no matter where he looked he found himself gazing longingly at her back as she joked with her coworkers. She half turned once, and he was so dazed he only caught a glimpse of her eyes. Purple. She was beautiful, but that was not the reason Zell couldn't tear himself away. There was something else there. Somehow he just needed desperately to go to her. And he needed to do it now. He glanced around the dock again briefly, and noticed Seifer looking at the same girl. His eyes met Zell's and the message couldn't have been clearer. Get lost.
Zell shrugged noncommittally and began a slow, ambling walk towards the blonde girl.
***
Seifer glared at Zell, whose eyes seemed to be following the same path as his own. Unlike Zell, he had a plain view of the woman on the dock. He knew exactly who she was. He jeered silently that she had the audacity to insult him by thinking he'd be fooled by colored contacts and a new hairstyle. But then she probably had figured he would never come to find her. If she thought he cared that little...well he had a long time ahead of him to prove her wrong. He nudged a man beside him and inquired as to her name.
"Oh, that's Quince Tayler you're looking at." he frowned slightly. "Hands off, buddy. I've had my eye on her for a while."
"Not as long as I have..." mumbled Seifer, and walked down to the pier where 'Quince' was helping unload a boat that had just docked.
***
Quince half-turned to pick up a box on her left, and what she glimpsed out of the corner of her eye was by far the most fear-inspiring thing she had seen since she fought the Sorceress War. They were here. Keeping up her cheery front, she continued to take boxes off the boat in front of her.
~Please, Hyne, please if I ask for anything in my lifetime just grant me this. Don't let them recognize me...~
She didn't notice Seifer until she turned to pick up another box and ran into something solid. Realizing it was a person she started to apologize.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I..." she trailed off with a look of abject horror as the knowledge of who she was looking at seeped in. Little lights of yellow played in the green sea of his eyes, he was obviously enjoying catching her like this. When he finally spoke his voice rolled like velvet thunder, soft and rumbling.
"Fancy meeting you here, Quince. Or should I say Quistis?"
Ooohhh aren't I mean? Will Zell find out who the mystery girl is? Or will Seifer whisk her away? What does he have planned? Is Quistis going to faint again? And most of all, will Selphie realize Cid is her half-brother? (haha jk) Stay Tuned Kiddies!
