Chapter 24- Don't Cry
Celes hummed to herself softly as she struggled to boil the water on the wood-burning stove in a way that she wouldn't burn herself. She turned away from that disaster and hunted down the pack of dry noodles she found stored away in a cabinet, and dumped them in the pot, letting them cook on their own until she felt like taking them off. Noodles couldn't burn, could they?
Celes looked out the back window of the kitchen, and saw that the sun was slowly setting into the horizon, turning the sky shades of pink and purple. She also noticed that there was a small grass hill going downwards to the town's stream. This was Locke's backyard. As much as Celes wanted to go exploring back there, she knew that she couldn't leave her late lunch/early dinner alone on the stove, so she went back to that and started stirring the noodles. She eventually poured a bucket of damp soil into the flame belly of the stove to put out the fire, and found some seasoning to put on the noodles to give them more taste. As she was dishing the food out into two bowls, she heard the door to the house open. Celes perked her ears, and immediately recognized Locke's footsteps.
"Hey!" Locke said as he walked in the kitchen with his arms behind his head. "Didja burn anything?"
"No!" Celes said, and smiled as he plopped down in one of the two chairs at the small table in the kitchen. She pushed him the bowl and a spoon, and warned him to be careful, for it was hot. She didn't sit down until he had tried his.
"Hmm, this is really good!" Locke smiled, and gave Celes a victory sign. She smiled back and sat down to try some herself, forgetting her own warning that it was hot.
"YEOW!" Celes cried, and squealed as she spat out the food into her bowl. Locke laughed a little as she coughed and shook her head.
"You ok?" He asked. "Silly girl."
"Hmmm...I'll be ok in a minute." Celes said, and stood up to get a glass of water. As she hurriedly poured herself a glass, she spoke up.
"That didn't take long."
"Hmmm?" Locke asked, and blinked.
"You wern't out very long." Celes said, and sipped on her water. "Were any of your friends home?"
"Oh...that.....yeah, a lot of people were out on errends, according to their kids." Locke lied, and took another bite of food.
"Oh! That explains it." Celes smiled. "Oh well, you can always go out tonight."
"Nah..." Locke said, and smiled back. "I want to stay here tonight. Just me and you."
"Really?" Celes asked, and smiled more. She didn't think Locke would want to stay with her after he had just gotten back to his hometown. It was a pleasent surprise. She came back over to the table, and took caution this time while eating. But, this time, the new interruption was a knock on the door. Locke blinked, and stood up to get it. A few minutes later, Celes could hear eerie laughter floating from the living room and getting closer to her. She immediately tensed up, for this laugh was so similar to Kefka's. She drew a sharp breath and set down her spoon as Locke entered the room with a familiar old face.
"Uweee-heee-heee!" The person squealed, and Celes widened her eyes. It was the old man that had been minding Rachel's idle body in town ever since the Empire's attack on her. She forgot his name, but she knew she didn't like him very much. He was just too creepy. But then again, Locke had odd friends in this villiage.
"Patriarch, I'm sure you remember Celes." Locke said calmly, and Patriarch looked at Celes with his beady black eyes. His hair was still all hidden under his ridiculous red hat, and he still had a wild white mustache. He was also still donned in those tacky red robes he used while working with his herbs. Celes tried not to make a face as she nodded to him.
"Yeah, I remember her." Patriarch said, and laughed. "Remember when I first saw her, I thought I was facing death itself. Remembered the room suddenly freezing up, I did! Believe half of my herbs froze over that day when I was in the presence of General Celes!" He laughed wildly, and Celes just stared at him. She had often tried to push those days behind her, memories of when she was indeed nothing more but a bringer of death to the innocent. But this man was making it very hard for her right now.
"Excuse me....but I'm not General Celes anymore." Celes said cooly. "You can call me Celes..."
"Yeah, heard ya got booted from the army!" Patriarch exclaimed. "Heard ya were a traitor, I did! I saw ya crawling around with Locke and his returners!"
Celes didn't bother replying this time, but looked down at her food. Locke shook his head.
"That's enough." He said. "I thought you were here to visit?"
"I was, but I didn't expect her to be here!" Patriarch said. "The war ended a couple months ago! Didn't ya drop her off and come home alone?"
"It's not entirely like that." Locke said, and stuck his hands in his pockets nervously. He could never predict what would come out of this old coot's usually foul mouth.
"Funny the second time I saw you around." Patriarch said, looking over at Celes' hanging head. "You looked all sad, all disappointed Miss Rachel had not made it back! Saw ya were about to bawl like a baby, I did! Went around boasting for days how I had seen General Celes shedding some emotion...especially for somethin' her soldiers did! Were you the General that led the soldiers to Kohlingen?"
"That's enough!" Celes cried, and suddenly stood up, pushing her chair backwards so violently that it hit the floor with a crash. She looked up, and Locke could see her eyes were brimming with tears. She spun around and left the house through the back door, slamming it behind her.
"Look at what the hell you did!" Locke cried, finding his voice again. "Did you do that on purpose!?"
"No...didn't mean to make her cry...Uweee-hee-hee!" Patriarch squealed, and Locke shook his head, not knowing what to say.
"Was there something you wanted?" Locke asked patiently, trying to keep his seething anger to himself for now.
"I just saw that you were in town again...." Patriarch explained...
**********
Celes sniffled and burried her head in her hands, the tears burning her fingers.
It's all hitting me again....I thought I could forget it...She thought bitterly. The past won't leave me alone...Will it always haunt me like this? How am I supposed to think of the future with all this regret and guilt pinning me down?
The sky began to darken quickly, and when Celes looked up, she could see the stars appearing into the night. She sighed and rubbed her swollen eyes, and crawled over to the stream running at the bottom of the grass hill, and stared down at her reflection. Her cheeks were pink, her blue eyes wide, and the rest of her face as pale as ever. She sighed and splashed some cool water on her face, removing the dried tears and refreshing her whole self in general. Celes looked away from the river and stood up, when she felt a cold hand grab her shoulder.
Celes hummed to herself softly as she struggled to boil the water on the wood-burning stove in a way that she wouldn't burn herself. She turned away from that disaster and hunted down the pack of dry noodles she found stored away in a cabinet, and dumped them in the pot, letting them cook on their own until she felt like taking them off. Noodles couldn't burn, could they?
Celes looked out the back window of the kitchen, and saw that the sun was slowly setting into the horizon, turning the sky shades of pink and purple. She also noticed that there was a small grass hill going downwards to the town's stream. This was Locke's backyard. As much as Celes wanted to go exploring back there, she knew that she couldn't leave her late lunch/early dinner alone on the stove, so she went back to that and started stirring the noodles. She eventually poured a bucket of damp soil into the flame belly of the stove to put out the fire, and found some seasoning to put on the noodles to give them more taste. As she was dishing the food out into two bowls, she heard the door to the house open. Celes perked her ears, and immediately recognized Locke's footsteps.
"Hey!" Locke said as he walked in the kitchen with his arms behind his head. "Didja burn anything?"
"No!" Celes said, and smiled as he plopped down in one of the two chairs at the small table in the kitchen. She pushed him the bowl and a spoon, and warned him to be careful, for it was hot. She didn't sit down until he had tried his.
"Hmm, this is really good!" Locke smiled, and gave Celes a victory sign. She smiled back and sat down to try some herself, forgetting her own warning that it was hot.
"YEOW!" Celes cried, and squealed as she spat out the food into her bowl. Locke laughed a little as she coughed and shook her head.
"You ok?" He asked. "Silly girl."
"Hmmm...I'll be ok in a minute." Celes said, and stood up to get a glass of water. As she hurriedly poured herself a glass, she spoke up.
"That didn't take long."
"Hmmm?" Locke asked, and blinked.
"You wern't out very long." Celes said, and sipped on her water. "Were any of your friends home?"
"Oh...that.....yeah, a lot of people were out on errends, according to their kids." Locke lied, and took another bite of food.
"Oh! That explains it." Celes smiled. "Oh well, you can always go out tonight."
"Nah..." Locke said, and smiled back. "I want to stay here tonight. Just me and you."
"Really?" Celes asked, and smiled more. She didn't think Locke would want to stay with her after he had just gotten back to his hometown. It was a pleasent surprise. She came back over to the table, and took caution this time while eating. But, this time, the new interruption was a knock on the door. Locke blinked, and stood up to get it. A few minutes later, Celes could hear eerie laughter floating from the living room and getting closer to her. She immediately tensed up, for this laugh was so similar to Kefka's. She drew a sharp breath and set down her spoon as Locke entered the room with a familiar old face.
"Uweee-heee-heee!" The person squealed, and Celes widened her eyes. It was the old man that had been minding Rachel's idle body in town ever since the Empire's attack on her. She forgot his name, but she knew she didn't like him very much. He was just too creepy. But then again, Locke had odd friends in this villiage.
"Patriarch, I'm sure you remember Celes." Locke said calmly, and Patriarch looked at Celes with his beady black eyes. His hair was still all hidden under his ridiculous red hat, and he still had a wild white mustache. He was also still donned in those tacky red robes he used while working with his herbs. Celes tried not to make a face as she nodded to him.
"Yeah, I remember her." Patriarch said, and laughed. "Remember when I first saw her, I thought I was facing death itself. Remembered the room suddenly freezing up, I did! Believe half of my herbs froze over that day when I was in the presence of General Celes!" He laughed wildly, and Celes just stared at him. She had often tried to push those days behind her, memories of when she was indeed nothing more but a bringer of death to the innocent. But this man was making it very hard for her right now.
"Excuse me....but I'm not General Celes anymore." Celes said cooly. "You can call me Celes..."
"Yeah, heard ya got booted from the army!" Patriarch exclaimed. "Heard ya were a traitor, I did! I saw ya crawling around with Locke and his returners!"
Celes didn't bother replying this time, but looked down at her food. Locke shook his head.
"That's enough." He said. "I thought you were here to visit?"
"I was, but I didn't expect her to be here!" Patriarch said. "The war ended a couple months ago! Didn't ya drop her off and come home alone?"
"It's not entirely like that." Locke said, and stuck his hands in his pockets nervously. He could never predict what would come out of this old coot's usually foul mouth.
"Funny the second time I saw you around." Patriarch said, looking over at Celes' hanging head. "You looked all sad, all disappointed Miss Rachel had not made it back! Saw ya were about to bawl like a baby, I did! Went around boasting for days how I had seen General Celes shedding some emotion...especially for somethin' her soldiers did! Were you the General that led the soldiers to Kohlingen?"
"That's enough!" Celes cried, and suddenly stood up, pushing her chair backwards so violently that it hit the floor with a crash. She looked up, and Locke could see her eyes were brimming with tears. She spun around and left the house through the back door, slamming it behind her.
"Look at what the hell you did!" Locke cried, finding his voice again. "Did you do that on purpose!?"
"No...didn't mean to make her cry...Uweee-hee-hee!" Patriarch squealed, and Locke shook his head, not knowing what to say.
"Was there something you wanted?" Locke asked patiently, trying to keep his seething anger to himself for now.
"I just saw that you were in town again...." Patriarch explained...
**********
Celes sniffled and burried her head in her hands, the tears burning her fingers.
It's all hitting me again....I thought I could forget it...She thought bitterly. The past won't leave me alone...Will it always haunt me like this? How am I supposed to think of the future with all this regret and guilt pinning me down?
The sky began to darken quickly, and when Celes looked up, she could see the stars appearing into the night. She sighed and rubbed her swollen eyes, and crawled over to the stream running at the bottom of the grass hill, and stared down at her reflection. Her cheeks were pink, her blue eyes wide, and the rest of her face as pale as ever. She sighed and splashed some cool water on her face, removing the dried tears and refreshing her whole self in general. Celes looked away from the river and stood up, when she felt a cold hand grab her shoulder.