Alandra was laughing, but acting more mature as she delicately sipped her white russian; long legs crossed as they rested on the lawn chair she was sprawled on. Amica was carrying on with her performance and doing a wonderful edition of "It's Raining Men", when Alandra finally gave up and pushed her into the pool. Amica climbed out, sputtering, and complaining about how the cute little umbrella was now wet, not caring in the least that her hair was glistening with water droplets and her sopping wet clothes stuck to her body as if it were a second skin. The guys were gawking at her, much to the chagrin of the girls.
"You want us wet? Well, fine!" Rinoa teased as she leapt into the water. "Come on in, Seifer!" The blonde, however, just looked disdainfully at the water and shook his head. Rinoa pouted, but gave up and climbed out of the pool, not bothering to adjust her bikini top which was slipping at a much less-than-decent level. She grabbed Seifer's wrist, tugging him into the water.
Spitting out water and cursing her, he clambered out of the water. Poor Seifer had been wearing his trademark trenchcoat over a muscle shirt and pants, and they clung to him like a wet animal's fur. His eyes were glaring at her, filled with contempt. But she was staring at him, undaunted. Suddenly, their lips met in a passionate kiss filled with such lust everyone in the room felt several degrees warmer. Rinoa, still grasping his wrist, pulled him to a private location outside the mansion in a shaded grove near a tree. She pulled him to the ground, laying underneath him.
"Seifer… remember this…?" She was grinning like the Chesire cat.
Fuujin. He tried desperately to picture the pretty, spunky woman he had come here to compete against. After a particularly heated fight they'd had, they had both come here to make the other jealous somehow. He wasn't really sure what Fuujin was doing, but he definitely didn't want to betray her like this. Especially not with Rinoa.
"Yes, and frankly, I don't want to." He got off of her, wondering what the hell had possessed him to kiss that woman. He ran away, water spraying everywhere from his dripping clothes.
That asshole! Rinoa thought angrily, getting up and adjusting her bikini. He had gotten her so hot and left her hanging on the edge. Squall was not here… Seifer was unwilling… screw emotions, she was here to have fun and by golly, she would.
~
Fuujin sat at a separate patio table, away from all the coupled guys and single girls, all by herself. This was obviously a mistake, coming here. She wasn't social to begin with, not without Seifer and Raijin, but now she was here to seduce men she wasn't interested in just because she had a fight with Seifer?
"Damn, damn it all." Fuujin muttered under her breath.
"Why are you cursing, woman?" Wufei asked as he was walking past her table. "I thought all the women here wanted to be here?" he asked a second question, sitting down at Fuujin's table.
Fuujin looked up at him and simply shook her head. "Maybe them, but not me."
"And I thought you only spoke monosyllables?"
"No. I just choose to. Makes life easier."
"For you."
Fuujin grinned. "For me."
Wufei was about to stand up and leave, to find a quiet spot to meditate, when Fuujin posed a question: "Why are you here?"
"What, woman?"
Fuujin repeated herself. "Why are you here? Obviously, you don't want to be."
"Sally won a bet."
"A bet?"
"That's all I'll say, woman." Wufei snapped. He calmed a moment later. "Why are you here?"
Fuujin sighed and dropped her head. "Seifer and I had a huge fight. And to spite each other, we joined here as singles. But that was a mistake, because I can't seduce if my life depended on it. He got the better end of the deal. He's so desirable. He'll be able to seduce any of the girls. Meanwhile, I'll just be sitting here, by myself, looking like a rag doll compared to some other people." she explained, eying Tifa and her constant giggles as Irvine tickled her.
"Don't feel sorry for yourself, woman." Wufei scolded.
Fuujin looked up, surprised. "What?"
"It's weak to do."
"Then what do you propose?"
"Do what you want to do. If seducing isn't your thing, then do something that is."
"My 'thing' was hanging out with Seifer and Raijin, both of whom aren't on this side of the island."
Wufei didn't say a thing as he stood up, preparing to walk away again. "I'm off to meditate. You're welcome to join me if you know how."
Fuujin smiled and stood up. "I accept your invitation."
~
"A renegade, a pirate AND a prince?" Hilde giggled as she repeated what Bart just told her, "Impressive resume!"
"So, want to be a princess?" Bart joked, grinning.
Sally watched their exchange with amusement. Sephiroth noted this. "What's so funny?"
Sally turned around and chuckled slightly. "Well, from the introductions Hilde and her boyfriend had, I would've expected her to have shunned all these single guys."
"I'm sure she's just being friendly."
"One never knows." Sally commented, sipping her fruit cocktail. "In fact, one can never be certain about anything on this island." Sally said, noticing Seifer walking back from where he and Rinoa disappeared too. They were gone for too short of a time for anything to have happened. So, why was he back?
Sephiroth, following her gaze, noticed Seifer's return too. But what he hadn't noticed was Rinoa sneaking up behind him and slipping her arms around him.
"So, big boy, how about you and me?" Rinoa whispered into his ear.
Sally abruptly turned and stared at Rinoa in shock. Not 5 minutes ago, she was passionately kissing Seifer. Now she was hanging onto Sephiroth so tightly, it would've taken a Gundam to pry her arms apart.
"Uh…" was all Sephiroth managed to stutter out, partially due to Rinoa's oxygen restricting grip.
"He's flattered but spoken for." Sally explained to Rinoa.
Rinoa glared at Sally. "Don't you want to respect your boyfriend's wishes? He's blocked from you." Rinoa retorted bitterly, eyeing Sephiroth's bracelet.
"I could ask you the same thing." Sally calmly replied, not even bothering to mention Seifer's name.
Rinoa glared at Sally once more then backed off and left the pair.
Sephiroth sweatdropped. "I thank you."
Sally smiled and shrugged and sipped her fruit cocktail once more.
The nerve of that Sally. Rinoa thought angrily. She really needed a guy right now… Seifer always made her in such a lusty mood. Fortunately, she ran into a very tipsy Crono.
"Crono…. You're so strong…" Rinoa cooed, latching onto the spiky-haired man's arm. Normally Crono would have edged away, but he was too busy laughing at the funny shape of his feet to care. "Come with me, tiger…" She purred as she pulled him into her bedroom. He stumbled after her, falling several times. Latching him into a slobbery French kiss, they fell onto the bed.
Crono's eyes fluttered open. My head… Suddenly, he realized he wasn't wearing any clothes. Uh oh. Then he felt something soft. Looking, he saw silky black hair caressing his skin. Wait a minute… Marle has red hair…Oh shit.
When Rinoa emerged from the bedroom, her hair was tousled and she felt great. The sun had set by now, and she noticed the girls were all gathered around Amica who looked like she was explaining something. Rinoa quickly smoothed out her outfit and ran to where all the girls were standing.
"… this way, you can see what your boyfriend has been doing. But keep in mind, he'll see what you've been doing too." Amica explained. She smirked as she saw Rinoa join the group, "Good evening, Rinoa." Rinoa just waved. "We're talking about the bonfire tonight."
"Bonfire?"
Amica's shoulder's sagged, having just explained the entire procedure a moment ago. "It's simple, you sit around the bonfire and get to see videos of what your boyfriend has done so far. Of course, he gets to see what you've done too." Amica explained all in one breath.
Rinoa looked blank for a second. She then realized what this would mean. "Oh… oh… oh… crap."
"So, let's get going! I want to see what Duo's been up to!" chirped Hilde.
Amica smiled and nodded. "Let's go."
~
Alandra carefully stood up on the patio table to try and get everyone's attention.
"Table dancing, hot stuff?" Irvine asked, grinning lecherously, even though he still had Tifa on his lap.
Alandra merely sweatdropped. "Uh… no. Something better though! I have an announcement!" Eventually, everyone was gathered around the table. "Well, tonight shall be the first bonfire."
Confused murmurs passed throughout the group.
"Tonight, you get to see what your girlfriends have done so far. Of course, keep in mind, they get to see what you've done so far too."
The colour suddenly drained from Edgar and Irvine's faces.
"And as an added treat, all the singles get to see everything that's transpired."
Fuujin got a worried look on her face. Would Seifer mistake what had happened between her and Wufei as something more than mere acquaintanceship?
"Everyone ready?"
Squall stood up from where he and Quistis were sitting. "Ready."
Alandra smiled and nodded. "Let's go."
~
Amica sat on one side of the bonfire, while the girls sat on the other side. Everyone looked nervous, unsure what to expect of their boyfriends, but Rinoa was a wreck. She wasn't thinking about what Squall had been doing. She was more worried about what Squall would see her doing.
Amica smiled cheerfully and held up the remote. "Is everyone ready?"
Each girl nodded.
Amica pointed the remote at the TV/VCR, carefully balanced on a tree stump, and pressed play. Each girl watched in silence.
Noin's expression went sour as she saw Tifa make a move on Zechs. But that changed once she realized Zechs wasn't interested. In fact, she smiled. Then she frowned again when she saw Schala being friendly with him. Can't win 'em all…
Selphie screeched. "Why is that hussy on his lap?! And why is he grinning like that?!" Everyone just sweatdropped.
Terra fumed as she watched Edgar stare at every single girl. She kept reminding herself this was a test and this was only the first day, to try and calm herself down. But that failed miserably when she watched Edgar pull Relena onto his lap.
"They're getting along pretty well…" Celes icily remarked as she watched Locke and Rachel interact.
Rinoa was still worrying about what Squall would see, until she saw him and Quistis sitting together, happily chatting. Instantly, all traces of worry disappeared from her and were replaced with anger. I'm not going to be faithful? How would she know?! She shouldn't!
Hilde melted as she heard what Duo said on the TV. "I love you, Shinigami." she mouthed to the TV. Then she frowned as he and Marle started happily chatting.
Sally watched the TV calmly. Meditation? Okay, that's fine. I trust you, Dragon.
Amica turned the TV off and faced the girls. "Any final comments?"
No one said anything.
"We're going to be having numerous bonfires throughout this ordeal. No point in being shy."
Hilde spoke up: "I'm sorry to you all whose boyfriends have behaved less than ideally. But, remember, they're here to be tempted."
No one else spoke, some too upset to.
"Well, that concludes tonight's bonfire. Between now and our next bonfire, you'll be given an opportunity to send a video message to your boyfriend. So, think about what you want to say." Amica explained.
All the girls nodded.
~
Alandra sat on one side of the bonfire, while the guys sat on the other side. Irvine was gripping his cowboy hat tightly, praying to Hyne that Selphie would forgive him. Edgar was similarly praying to the Goddesses that Terra would show some mercy next time he saw her.
"Ready to begin?" Alandra asked.
Everyone nodded.
Alandra knew it would be rough, and pressed play on the remote.
"That IS pretty devious." Duo commented, repeating Hilde's response to the well planned out dinner.
Zechs merely nodded, really fearing nothing from Quatre. In fact, he had nothing to fear at all. He trusted Noin as much as she trusted him.
"Skittles? I could steal the entire rainbow for her!" Locke heroically declared.
Duo's expression dropped. He had blocked his Hilde from a renegade pirate prince? Wasn't he just asking for trouble? Stay true to me, my Goddess of Death…
Edgar felt like scum. Here he was, pulling girls onto his lap, while all Terra had done was eat dinner and spend the rest of the night talking with Treize and Selphie. Irvine had felt just as bad. He could imagine Selphie's reaction. In fact, didn't that high-pitched screech sound just like Selphie?
Woman, do you like him? You were protecting him. Damn. Wufei thought to himself.
Squall watched the TV in stunned silence. The initial dinner was enough to unnerve him. But then a massage, jumping into a pool, a passionate kiss, running off somewhere? And then returning, only to try and get someone else? Finally, as if to twist the knife in his heart, drag someone into her bedroom? Without saying anything, Squall stood up and left.
Alandra stopped the video once it was at the end and sweatdropped. "Any comments?"
"That's tough, Squall--- wait, where did he go?" Edgar asked.
"He left." Alandra answered.
"Man, that's got to be heartbreaking." Duo said, stating the obvious.
Alandra merely nodded. "Well, could someone kindly pass on this message to Squall? Between now and the next bonfire, you'll all be given a chance to send a video message to your girlfriends. So, think about what you want to say to them. Bonfire is adjourned."
~
Squall was sitting there, motionless. All of the guys and single girls (they had watched the videos, too) sat around him, unsure of what to say. He was silent for a long time, and then he spoke: "Is Quistis around?"
He felt his grief lift slightly as the pretty blonde stepped forward.
"I'm here, Squall." She put an arm around him in a somewhat-awkward gesture of sympathy. The other single girls nearby rolled their eyes at her pathetic attempt at 'seduction.' She glared at them, and continued to hold him.
Meanwhile, Marle was sobbing uncontrollably a distance away from Squall. "T…that…bastard!" She cried out, punching the closest object to her. Fortunately, it was Tifa, and no harm done there.
"Come on, Marle… it's ok…" Schala tried to comfort her. "You're a lot prettier than Rinoa."
"And a princess!" Aerith added.
"And we all know by now that Rinoa's just a slut!" Margie added, secretly glad that Bart hadn't done anything like that, but hiding it for Marle's sake.
"He's not worth crying over!" Everyone turned at the sight of a braided man.
"Hi Duo…" Marle mumbled. He sat next to her and draped an arm around her trembling shoulders.
"Come on, don't cry over that loser. He's just doing his job, and he WAS drunk."
Marle sniffled. "Just doing his job? I haven't done anyone yet, thank you!"
"And do you want to?"
Marle stared at him. "Is that an offer to LAY me? I thought you were different, Duo!"
"I didn't…" Duo started, but it was too late.
"Men! You're all the same! Faithless bastards who can't keep it in their pants!" Marle spat out the sentence as if it tasted vile. She got up, shrugging off Duo's embrace, and ran away.
~
"Amica, this isn't good. The singles are supposed to encourage affairs, not discourage them!" Alandra was saying from their spot on the beach, away for once from the cameras.
Amica rolled her eyes. "This is by the far the most interesting HOUND show ever. Leave it be, Alandra!"
"Tell me again why we took this job?"
"For money, and a chance to tan," Amica repeated, frowning.
"We want to keep it, don't we?"
"But we don't want to sacrifice our morals just for a little bit of money," Amica sighed.
Alandra couldn't remember ever having seen her so serious. "Are you drunk?"
Amica threw up her arms in defeat. "Whatever. Let's just see how this goes."
~
Meanwhile, the girls were having little cry-fests of their own.
"I… t…thought he'd changed!" Selphie wailed.
"I should have listened to Katarina! Never hook up with a guy with longer hair than me!" Terra sobbed.
"Offering her friendship… my ass!" Hilde grumbled.
"I knew it! I knew I couldn't dare to compete with Rachel!" Celes sighed.
"What was she doing, talking to him?" Sally was laughing. "Poor girl will never hear the end of it now!"
"Schala is awfully pretty…" Noin noted quietly, but she wasn't really jealous. She just couldn't help but notice.
"Come on, guys. It's our job to cheer them up." Zell was saying.
"Screw this." Seifer mumbled. The thought of Fuujin talking to that Chinese guy was still emblazoned into his brain.
Crono just sat there, even more silent than usual.
"I don't think we're all up to it…" Quatre noted. The others shot him grateful looks.
But Zell persisted, and finally the guys got up to go comfort the girls.
Terra was sobbing from the circle of Treize's arms. He winced slightly at the tears staining his expensive clothes, but shrugged it off.
Selphie was clutching onto Zell's muscular chest like it was a buoy in the ocean. "Zell… how could he?" Selphie cried.
Zell kissed the top of her head. "He's a fool, Sefie." Selphie only cried harder, at the use of the nickname Irvine would call her.
~
Squall and Quistis had walked off to a secluded area on the beach, away from people, lights and cameras. Together, they sat in a hammock, gently swinging.
"Are you okay, Squall?" Quistis softly asked.
Squall stared down at the sand and didn't reply.
Quistis smiled at him. "Remember, I can figure out what you're thinking."
Squall looked up at her and into her eyes. He tried to smile and blink away his forming tears, but Quistis had already seen them.
"Oh… Squall… I'm sorry." Quistis whispered, moving to wipe away the one tear that had escaped from his eyes.
Squall caught her hand before she could reach and softly kissed the fingertips. "Quisty…" he softly whispered her name, as he leaned in to kiss her.
~
Wufei screamed in rage as he kicked the same tree for the fifth time. "Spoken for? Spoken for? What's the suppose to mean, woman?!"
Fuujin tentatively approached him. "Wufei?"
Wufei instantly spun around and glared at her. "What do you want, woman?"
"Just to see how you are."
"You saw the video too. How do you think I am?"
"Angry. Upset. Pissed off."
"Something like that." Wufei muttered, turning around to kick the tree again. Finally satisfied, he turned to face Fuujin and sat down on the ground. "Your boyfriend did some shitty things too. How are you?"
"My boyfriend?" Fuujin repeated.
"Seifer?"
Fuujin sighed. "Ex. My ex-boyfriend."
"Regardless."
"Well, I hope that bleach in her hair sinks through to her head."
Wufei laughed.
~
Quistis' eyes flew open for a minute. Am I…are Squall and I…? OH MY GOD! The kiss seemed to last forever, but finally they broke apart.
"Quisty…" Well, at least he was talking now. He hesitated, as if afraid to say more, but finally cleared his throat and said: "I'm going to break up with her."
"What?"
"You heard me. I'm going to break up with her once with this is over."
"Are you sure?" Quistis fully supported this, but Squall wasn't very emotionally-strong in the romance field.
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life…" He leaned over, and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. She felt her face tingle with the intimate gesture, and wondered when she'd be waking up from this.
"Marle!" Duo was frantically racing around the hallway, looking for her.
"Go away." He stopped at a corner, where she was huddled like a child.
"Come on, princess…. You know I didn't mean that. You're just taking out your frustrations on Crono on me."
Marle couldn't respond to that, since she knew he was right. Finally, her eyes brimmed with tears. "I'm sorry…" She managed to get out as she fell into his arms.
"Marle… I'll hold you if that's what you want, but…"
He regretted that statement as she recoiled harshly. "But you love Hilde too much, huh? Well, Crono loved me just like you loved Hilde, and he found it within himself to FUCK SOMEONE ELSE!"
"He was drunk!"
"Don't defend him!" Marle was almost screaming now.
Duo ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "Get a hold of yourself!"
"Oh, I'll get a hold of myself!" Marle hoisted herself up and clumsily ran away, one of her high heeled shoes coming off in the process. Running along clumsily with only one shoe and the other not quite reaching the ground because of it, she reached for the nearest piña colada.
"He got drunk, you say? Well, if I get drunk I can go fuck someone else, too!" She downed the drink in one gulp. Duo merely stared.
She reached for another. "He can cheat on me because he wasn't in the right frame of mind, you say? Well, I'm going to get into the wrong frame of mind so I can cheat, too!"
"Don't sink to his level!" Duo pleaded, but it was too late. The contents of the glass disappeared inside her mouth, again in one gulp.
She picked up another and downed it again.
"Marle, you're going to get alcohol poisoning!" Duo cried. "Don't be stupid!"
"I'll be shupid if I wantsh!" She gulped down another.
"NO!" Duo could see she was already starting to sway, but she shoved another one down. What number was this… Duo counted 5, and sighed.
"Du…. Your eyesh are so… .big!" She laughed as if she'd just told a great joke, and then collapsed onto the floor. Duo glanced around, then picked her up and carried her into her bedroom. He'd stay with her until she reached consciousness.
~
Zell and Treize were still holding Selphie and Terra, murmuring kind words to them, and harsh words about their philandering boyfriends.
Crono was on his 5th bowl of ice cream. Normally a guy would be drinking alcohol in this situation, but he'd had enough trouble with the stuff as it was.
"Look at you, Crono…" Bart was shaking his head, his braid swaying with the motion.
"Pretty pathetic." Sephiroth laughed.
"Leave him alone." Seifer sighed.
"Yeah, leave him alone!" Quatre echoed, tears glistening in his eyes at the thought of Crono's grief.
"…." Cloud, as usual, didn't know what to say.
Sabin had a hand on Crono's shoulder, and was shaking his head.
Crono missed Marle like he'd miss a vital body organ. He had to see her… to make things right… but he couldn't.
*Authors' Notes: Jeokitty here. I get to do the notes this time. ^^; So, things are certainly heating up, huh?
For people who actually watch the show, the one major difference between the show and this fic comes out in this instalment; the coupled people can spend time alone with the single they were blocked from. It spiced things up. Aaaaand… frankly, it was for drama purposes, and for… well, our own personal tastes of who should be with who, despite the extremely weird pairs that'll be coming up soon. But, back to the blocks: they still can't 'date' though. And the date is coming up soon, on Day 4.
Also, for Rinoa fans… heh… sorry… some [read: a lot] of bashing here. Don't worry though… I do somewhat like Rinoa. She'll redeem herself… maybe. ;)
Anyways… r/r, please! We like reviews! We really do!