"Quuuuistis!!! QUISTIS!!!"
BANGBANGBANG
Quistis yawned and stretched in a half-hearted attempt to waken, then promptly curled up into a ball and buried herself under the covers in feigned sleep.
"Too early...." she moaned almost inaudibly.
"C'mooooon!! Get up!! Quuuuiiiistyyyyy!!"
Squinting against the bright light she glanced at her digital clock that cheerfully blinked 10:30 back at her.
Yep...it was no man's hour. Way to early.
BANGBANGBANG
Selphie was unrelenting.
BANG BANG --BANG BANG BANG
It had to be the hair. It practically had "EVIL" written all over it.
"Quisty...please? I really...I mean...I actually....need to...talk with you..."
That got her attention. Selphie could have taken a blow-torch to her door and it wouldn't have phased her as much the hint of worry lacing her friend's voice. Silently reprimanding herself for her uncharitable thoughts, Quistis crawled out from her warm haven.
"Alright..." she groaned as she tried to untangle herself from the knot of sheets wrapped around her legs. Shivering and half-stumbling, she made it to the door, but it wasn't unlocked a Deling minute before Selphie was attatched to her mid-section, hugging her tightly.
"Geez, Selphie, what's wro--"
"He didn't ask me, Quisty!", she cried into her waist past the obvious lump in her throat.
Leading her to the bed, Selphie curled up half in her lap and hugged her tightly. Quistis was baffled. Never, once, even faced with certain death and dismemberment, had Selphie ever lost her composure like this.
"Who didn't ask you what...?" she asked while gently stroking her friend's hair.
"I-irv.....ball.....toni.......sorry.......", the small woman mumbled.
"It's ok, don't apologize hon, I'm just glad you came to me. What are best friends for?" she smiled gently as Selphie looked up at her. "But I didn't hear you. What happened?"
Sniffing, Selphie pulled away and sat cross-legged in the middle of the large down comforter. Sinking into it, she looked like she couldn't be more than 12 years old. Lounging next to her, Quistis noted the impression of a kind of innocent failure. Like she had picked her mom a flower but the petals all blew off before she got there.
"I-irvine....I thought he was gonna ask me to the graduation ball tonight. To...be....you know....his date. But...he hasn't asked me...and....I dunno if I should talk to him about it or if I did something and he doesn't like me anymore...I'm too nervous to bring it up....and well....I was wondering if....."she trailed off and looked up at Quistis with big, fat tears making her wide, childish eyes look even more vulnerable than usual.
Helping people with their romantic problems and playing match-maker was the LAST thing she wanted to do today.... She was somehow going through a nocturnal mental breakdown, had fallen for a guy who was hopelessly in love with someone else, and hadn't slept all of 7 hours in the last 7 days. But it was for Selphie....so who could say no?
"If I would talk to him? Of course I will. Don't worry, he's probably just figured it was already a set thing and forgot to ask you properly or something." she replied, not completely as sure of her assumption as she wanted Selphie to think. "I'll be sure to set things right." she added with a strained smile.
...Well, it had the desired affect anyway. Selphie's face brightened to it's usual degree of care-free radiance and it was like the sun came out again.
"Aw, Quisty, you're the best! I just KNOW you can figure out what's up with him! You're great at handling naughty children of ALL ages!", she laughingly surmised. Going from upset to downright giddy in 5 seconds flat seemed to be a special talent of hers.
Quistis smiled at her attentively while Selphie began to chatter about this and that, but her thoughts kept circling back to the night before. It all seemed so real. Everything about her nightmares was like some blurred memory that was stalking her. Something was definitely wrong .... As soon as she found Irvine, she'd see Dr. Kadowaki. Maybe she could get some sleeping pills or something. At this point Quistis was willing to try anything to get the nightmares to stop.
Just remembering the look in his eyes when....
"...and that's when Dr. Kadowaki stormed up and said: 'That's it! I'm going on vacation! Seifer can die from a stubbed toe for all I care! The way he makes me baby him is maddening! I'll be back in 2 weeks!' and then she just LEFT and Cid was like: Oh no, we should, like, close down the training center for awhile. So he sent my Irvy and Seifer in to round up the monsters and they haven't come back out yet, and we're all kinda worried, but REALLY, TOTALLY busy so....that was the OTHER reason I had to wake you up. I'm just SO glad you agreed to talk to him anyway! You're the best!" Selphie concluded in one breath and took a moment to refill her lungs.
She knew immediately that she had missed the entire lecture and was sorry for it. If a situation involved Seifer and/or Irvine it was always best to know what you were up against beforehand.
Groaning, Quistis fell back in bed and pulled the covers over her head.
"Quisty, you gotta get up!" she shouted playfully at the locke of blonde hair that was still visible.
Trying to crawl over to her was a vain attempt at best. Even sitting, what with barely being over 5 feet tall, she could hardly see over the down comforter which was at least 3 feet thick. Selphie gave the mattress a couple hard licks with her fist as it began to engulf her and leapt off the bed.
"An entire SPECIES of geese must have given their lives for that thing," she mumbled to herself with a hint of exasperation.
Quistis' giggle was muffled.
"C'mon Quisty you prooomised!" Selphie practically whined.
A baby blue eye appeared tentatively.
"Pleeeeease? I need to know! You're my only hope!"
Quistis emerged with a small smile of chagrin gently tracing her features.
"Ok, ok, enough melodrama, I'll go right now, but I need to get dressed. Go on, I'll meet you later in the cafeteria and let you know what's up, alright?"
Selphie bounded to the door and spun around with a huge grin on her face as she triumphantly punched the air.
"Booyaka!! Good luck Quisty! Thankies SOOO much! I'll see you later!!"
The door cheerfully slammed shut. Probably because Selphie slammed it.
Crawling out of bed the second time that morning was even more difficult than she thought. The day, which of course had its auspicious beginnings in another haunting nightmare, had somehow gotten worse. Quistis, slinging her legs over the side of the bed, could only begin to piece together her still disjointed thoughts. Looking down at her clasped hands stained by the morning sunlight, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
She shook her head with a touch of ire. She was being silly. Crossing to the vanity, Quistis rested her elbows on the dusted, wooden surface and peered at her reflection detachedly. Not only did she have her little tete-au-tete with Irvine to look forward to, but she also had to find some excuse to get out of the ball tonight. She didn't think she could handle it, feeling lost in a crowd of sparkling guests brimming with champagne and illuminated by starlight. A night that dreams are made of. Unless you're alone. Wincing, she remembered the last time she had been to a dance...when Squall had told her to talk to a wall. When Squall....had kissed her. But now he seemed to have forgotten about her completely since Rinoa came into the picture. And when he looked at her...she'd give ANYTHING to know if he still remembered that night. If he still WANTED to remember that night. If it had meant anything to him..... Because it meant the world to her.....
Squall was going to be smiling and dancing...and in love with someone else. And she'd be the one with her back to the wall wishing she wasn't there.
Quistis watched helplessly as her own eyes darkened and began to shimmer with tears. She turned away, disgusted at herself.
"Perhaps, this is the way my life was meant to be....." she mumbled to no one in particular.
"I helped save the world, I am respected, and have friends. Who on earth needs more than that?"
".....who would... want more than that....?"
Quistis suddenly realized that she WAS talking to a wall.
"I should have myself comitted," she commented dryly as she turned back to the mirror and tried to put on her usual calm and in-charge face....which failed miserably. The dangling tears on her eyelashes just wasn't conducive to the confident look she was going for.
With a sigh of defeat, Quistis turned to open the curtains and let the sunlight bathe her face. Everything was going to be alright. She didn't need anyone, but she also didn't need to be forced to witness something that was sure to break her heart a little more. Plus....there was a Twilight Zone Marathon tonight. Who could miss that?
Feeling just a little better at the promise of popcorn and Rod Serling, Quistis got dressed in her usual pink uniform and hooked Save the Queen to her hip. After throwing a regretful and longing glance to her bed, she left the dorm and made her way to the training area. It wasn't difficult avoiding everyone when they were avoiding you. It seems that she'd been a bit...uh....short-tempered lately to everyone. And anti-social.
Hyne, she was becoming Squall.
With that disturbing thought in mind, Quistis yanked the door marked Training Center open and entered into the dense jungle atmosphere. The familiar muted roars and hisses enveloped her as she unfurled her whip silently. The leaves crunched beneath her boots and the chains riding low on her hips tinkled softly as she moved stealthily into the overgrowth. Suddenly a gunshot rang through the air, startling birds, and causing someone to let loose a string of curses. Following the angry voice, she came upon Irvine bent over double, and laughing so hard his hat had fallen off. Not to mention, a few feet away in full-blown, typical male, chest-puffing stance was Seifer with a smoking hole in his trenchcoat and a glare that looked like it was gonna burn a hole of its own straight through the back of Irvine's head.
"Do you know how expensive this fucking coat is?!" Seifer hissed through gritted teeth, angrily holding up the offending tattered peice of his jacket.
"Sorry...man...I musta missed", Irvine chuckled and turned to grab his hat off the ground...which became a problem when Hyperion shunked straight through it.
"Sorry 'man'...but I never do." Seifer retorted with a sparkle of malace in his green eyes.
"Shit! That had sentimental value!"
"Sentimental my ass, you just fancy yourself a "cowboy" or some such bull. Give it up, it got real old a long time ago."
"You wanna step over here and say that?"
"What, too chicken to walk the three feet to back up those big words of yours?"
Quistis shook her head, classic chagrin playing on her features as she began to clap. They both turned towards her with identical looks of puffed up male indignation as if to say: 'YOU do something about him!'
"You guys DO know you're fighting over clothes, right?" she asked chuckling as she walked over towards them.
"Oh great, the ever-condescending Ms. Trepe is here to spank our bottoms and send us back to our rooms, am I right?" Seifer sneered while pulling his gunblade out of the ground.
Irvine made a grab for his hat and played with the tear with a crooked frown. With a sigh he stuffed it in his coat and slung the Exeter over his shoulder. "Yeah, but the question is which one of us is lucky enough to get "spanked" by the instructor first", he quipped turning towards her with his best melt-your-knickers smile.
Quistis rolled her eyes and ignored both remarks. She didn't have the time or the patience to play insult ping-pong with two mentally insufficient players.
"Sorry boys, but if anyone's gonna do the spanking it's Cid. He sent me in since everyone was beginning to wonder if the two of you were overwhelmed by a particularly vicious species of bunny rabbit or maybe just done us all a favor and killed eachother off."
Irvine stumbled back as if knifed in the heart and pulled out the imaginary shaft with a mock look of dispair.
"That hurts, Quistis. Deep. Real deep."
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Quite flirting, she's not your type anyway. Made of ice. Pulse is still a requirement for you isn't it?"
Irvine narrowed his eyes and took a step forward as Quistis leapt in-between.
"Whoa, cool down you too!"she shouted in exasperation and turned on the smirking blond.
"Seifer, I swear, not another word! You know your SeeDship is hanging by a thread! Go back to your dorm, I have some business with Kinneas."
"Yeah, she has 'business' so run along now", he drawled lazily.
Seifer whipped around opened his mouth to retort as Irvine raised his eyebrows in blatant challenge and motioned towards the glowering woman in front of him. Snapping his mouth shut he merely growled and stalked off.. Quistis smiled a bit.
Bless his cocky, black heart.
"Sooo...Quistis. What's this 'business' all about?" Irvine asked with a confident smile the second Seifer was out of sight. "Sure it's not more of a 'pleasure' sort of thing? We can mix the two ya know."
Quistis rolled her eyes. "Do you ever think some girl is going to be stupid enough that one of those lines isactually going to work? Doesn't take more than two braincells to see through them. Just enough for friction."
"Friction...hehehehe..."
Quistis leaned against a tree and sighed. This might take awhile.
Irvine plunked down on the ground next to her with a wide grin. "You know I'm kidding, right?"
"Sometimes I wonder, Kinneas", she replied wearily.
"So you really are thinking about me", Irvine beamed without missing a beat.
She glanced down at him, wondering just how serious he was. Her lips twitched into a smile and she laughed while shaking her head ruefully.
"Back to my question, how may I help you m'lady? All my services are at your disposal", he teased and tipped his hat.
"I do need something from you, but not any of the 'services' you're so willing to 'perform' ", she muttered under her breath with a side-long look.
He smiled at her charmingly. "I'm not that kind of man you know."
She turned more towards him and raised her eyes wide in mock astonishment.
"I know. Shocking." he replied with a crooked grin.
"I need to talk to you.....about Selphie", Quistis began as she watched his expression carefully.
Irvine's face darkened for a split second before he shot her a winningly innocent expression. Wrong tactic...
"What about her?" he replied as he nonchalantly stood and holstered the Exeter.
"Well...she was wondering why you hadn't asked her to the dance yet" she replied, her eyes narrowed slightly.
"That's an easy one", he drawled lazily as Quistis perked up. "I'm not gonna ask her at all."
'Ok...now what!?', she wondered frantically as Irvine turned to leave.
"Wait! Kinneas! Why? You know she really cares about you!" Quistis shouted at his retreating form.
He stopped, but didn't bother looking at her. "I have my reasons", he replied in his infuriatingly vague, 'mysterious cowboy' way before disapearing into the foliage.
Quistis smacked her forehead. Great. Fabulous. What on earth was she gonna tell Selphie? If he made her cry, Irvine was gonna lose the abilities to both eat solid foods and reproduce on TOP of--
Without warning the speakers crackled noisily to life and interrupted the beginnings of her mental tirade.
BingBongBing
This is Headmaster Cid. I need the following people to report immediately to my office: Quistis Trepe, Seifer Almasy, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, and Selphie Tilmitt. Mr. Leonhart and I are waiting. Thank you.
"Great..." she sighed already irritated by whatever Cid had in store as she trudged out of the training center feeling like a failure.
And of course who would she bump into outside but Selphie and Rinoa. She couldn't bear to let Selphie know what Irvine said so soon and Rinoa, though Quistis liked her well enough, was still someone she'd always be jealous of and thus, always a little uncomfortable around.
Soft brown eyes met her dispassionate blue ones, and then turned to Selphie's sparkling green. The three of them looked at each other questioningly.
"Why do you think he needs us?" Rinoa asked disinterestedly with a wave of her hand.
"Garden Committee?" Selphie grinned half-serious.
"The last time he called us 'in to his office immediately' we were being attacked by Galbadia Garden," Quistis added ruefully.
The three of them walked to the elevator while Selphie and Rinoa played a cute game of "what could Cid want?" Quistis plastered a smile on her face and dropped pace while they weren't paying attention. She had some thinking to do....damage control was needed. And short of throttling the answer out of Irvine, she needed some way to figure things out.
Rinoa and Selphie jumped onto the elevator giggling with each other as Quistis entered distracted by her own troubled thoughts.
"Hey Gu-uys! Wait up!" a running/stumbling Zell called out as the doors began to close.
Well, that's what it should have been, but with the half-eaten pack of hotdogs still in his mouth it came out more like: "Thwe Ghwuyth! Whvai Uthb!"
Rinoa pushed the 'door open' button and he slid in like a baseball player at home base. Even in her present mood, Quistis couldn't help laughing and helped him up.
"You alright?" she chuckled as he pulled on her hand into an upright position.
"Yeah! Thanks Quistis!", Zell replied after swallowing the whole mouthful in one gulp. All three of them half expected to see him cough up the plastic wrapper.
"D'ya know why Cid needs us?" he asked while picking the remnants of meat by- products out of his teeth.
Selphie grinned at him and shook her head. "Not a clue. Rinoa and I have a bet going. She thinks it'll be that he wants us to choose fish or chicken for her wedding, and I say he's making all of you join the Garden Committee!" They both giggled at their ideas.
Zell laughed with them. "What about you, Quistis?"
"Huh?" Quistis blinked a few times, lost in the conversation she wasn't paying any attention to.
"Please remember to pick me up something nice on your way back from that planet, Quisty," he said mock sternly, imitating her usual sleeping-in-classroom lecture.
"Oh, uh, sorry." she shrugged and tried to make light of her thoughts. "Probably just wants us to save the world again, why not? We need the practice."
That elicited a few chuckles and groans as they stepped off the elevator on the third floor and opened the door to Cid's new office next to the bridge.
Quistis suddenly noticed that she hadn't been up to this room since it had been remodeled. The dark mahogany desks with the maroon and forest green wallpaper gave the room a decidedly 'testosteronic' feel. If that's a word. She kept glancing about at the furnishings before finally admitting to herself that she would rather look at anything right now besides Squall.
Cid silently motioned for everyone to sit, and the look on his face told her he was about to drop a bomb. She noticed that they were the last ones coming in and that the headmaster had been waiting for them.
Cid had his arms placed on the dusted desktop and was resting his forehead in his palms. That didn't bode well. Quistis tried to discern if anyone else knew what was wrong, but they all just looked as confused and nervous as she was....even Squall.
Matron walked in quietly through a side door and nodded slowly at her husband, her face as impassive as stone. He looked like he was pale enough to faint. Hyne...what the hell was wrong!? The air was thick with our dread and anticipation. Slowly, Cid breathed in, and then looked up at all of them with glassy eyes.
"...It seems," he began in a strained voice, " that, Ellone is dying."
He paused to let that soak in. She couldn't breathe. She didn't believe it. Selphie burst into tears and ran into Quistis' arms which wrapped around her immediately, comforting them both. Quistis was still too shocked to cry. After graciously giving Selphie time to let her sobs subside, he continued.
"She requests your presence at her deathbed. There is something she wishes to tell each of you."
To Quistis' horrified surprise Cid looked directly at her, and when he did, so did everyone else.
"Ellone, needs to give you something, Quistis. I hope you can handle it." He turned to include everyone else. "We leave for Esthar today at noon. She...doesn't have much time le-"
"What HAPPENED?!" Zell shouted angrily. "What happened to her!? I-"
"Sit down, Chicken-Wuss... yelling won't bring her back", Seifer added emotionlessly.
Squall placed a hand on Cid's shoulder. Quistis could tell it was shaking. She tried peering into his eyes to further gauge his emotions, how he would take this tragic news, but to her, they were all but impenetrable. Only Rinoa seemed to be able to understand him now. She looked down at her blurred, clasped hands and felt very, very mortal.
"We deserve to know what is wrong with her," he said softly.
Cid just shook his head sadly.
"We don't know. No one does. Dr. Odine has his theories but no cure. Laguna...is beside himself for answers but can find none. All we do know is that she gets worse everyday, and, just a few minutes ago, Kiros called and said that they have lost hope, that she requests your presence, and no one will deny her anything. Apparently, even Laguna could not delude himself any longer. She has become so frail that...."
He closed his eyes, his voice too choked to continue.
Silently, everyone looked at each other and tried to deal with this startling news. Cid stood up and turned. He and Matron walked out the side door together. Selphie ran sobbing from the room. Squall went to Rinoa and held her tightly before leading her out. Zell and Seifer left silently, each trying not to show just how hurt they were. And Quistis...she remained alone, staring blankly at her hands, trying to block out all thought. Sometime later, maybe 5 minutes, maybe an hour, she stood and left in a haze.
Ellone....
BANGBANGBANG
Quistis yawned and stretched in a half-hearted attempt to waken, then promptly curled up into a ball and buried herself under the covers in feigned sleep.
"Too early...." she moaned almost inaudibly.
"C'mooooon!! Get up!! Quuuuiiiistyyyyy!!"
Squinting against the bright light she glanced at her digital clock that cheerfully blinked 10:30 back at her.
Yep...it was no man's hour. Way to early.
BANGBANGBANG
Selphie was unrelenting.
BANG BANG --BANG BANG BANG
It had to be the hair. It practically had "EVIL" written all over it.
"Quisty...please? I really...I mean...I actually....need to...talk with you..."
That got her attention. Selphie could have taken a blow-torch to her door and it wouldn't have phased her as much the hint of worry lacing her friend's voice. Silently reprimanding herself for her uncharitable thoughts, Quistis crawled out from her warm haven.
"Alright..." she groaned as she tried to untangle herself from the knot of sheets wrapped around her legs. Shivering and half-stumbling, she made it to the door, but it wasn't unlocked a Deling minute before Selphie was attatched to her mid-section, hugging her tightly.
"Geez, Selphie, what's wro--"
"He didn't ask me, Quisty!", she cried into her waist past the obvious lump in her throat.
Leading her to the bed, Selphie curled up half in her lap and hugged her tightly. Quistis was baffled. Never, once, even faced with certain death and dismemberment, had Selphie ever lost her composure like this.
"Who didn't ask you what...?" she asked while gently stroking her friend's hair.
"I-irv.....ball.....toni.......sorry.......", the small woman mumbled.
"It's ok, don't apologize hon, I'm just glad you came to me. What are best friends for?" she smiled gently as Selphie looked up at her. "But I didn't hear you. What happened?"
Sniffing, Selphie pulled away and sat cross-legged in the middle of the large down comforter. Sinking into it, she looked like she couldn't be more than 12 years old. Lounging next to her, Quistis noted the impression of a kind of innocent failure. Like she had picked her mom a flower but the petals all blew off before she got there.
"I-irvine....I thought he was gonna ask me to the graduation ball tonight. To...be....you know....his date. But...he hasn't asked me...and....I dunno if I should talk to him about it or if I did something and he doesn't like me anymore...I'm too nervous to bring it up....and well....I was wondering if....."she trailed off and looked up at Quistis with big, fat tears making her wide, childish eyes look even more vulnerable than usual.
Helping people with their romantic problems and playing match-maker was the LAST thing she wanted to do today.... She was somehow going through a nocturnal mental breakdown, had fallen for a guy who was hopelessly in love with someone else, and hadn't slept all of 7 hours in the last 7 days. But it was for Selphie....so who could say no?
"If I would talk to him? Of course I will. Don't worry, he's probably just figured it was already a set thing and forgot to ask you properly or something." she replied, not completely as sure of her assumption as she wanted Selphie to think. "I'll be sure to set things right." she added with a strained smile.
...Well, it had the desired affect anyway. Selphie's face brightened to it's usual degree of care-free radiance and it was like the sun came out again.
"Aw, Quisty, you're the best! I just KNOW you can figure out what's up with him! You're great at handling naughty children of ALL ages!", she laughingly surmised. Going from upset to downright giddy in 5 seconds flat seemed to be a special talent of hers.
Quistis smiled at her attentively while Selphie began to chatter about this and that, but her thoughts kept circling back to the night before. It all seemed so real. Everything about her nightmares was like some blurred memory that was stalking her. Something was definitely wrong .... As soon as she found Irvine, she'd see Dr. Kadowaki. Maybe she could get some sleeping pills or something. At this point Quistis was willing to try anything to get the nightmares to stop.
Just remembering the look in his eyes when....
"...and that's when Dr. Kadowaki stormed up and said: 'That's it! I'm going on vacation! Seifer can die from a stubbed toe for all I care! The way he makes me baby him is maddening! I'll be back in 2 weeks!' and then she just LEFT and Cid was like: Oh no, we should, like, close down the training center for awhile. So he sent my Irvy and Seifer in to round up the monsters and they haven't come back out yet, and we're all kinda worried, but REALLY, TOTALLY busy so....that was the OTHER reason I had to wake you up. I'm just SO glad you agreed to talk to him anyway! You're the best!" Selphie concluded in one breath and took a moment to refill her lungs.
She knew immediately that she had missed the entire lecture and was sorry for it. If a situation involved Seifer and/or Irvine it was always best to know what you were up against beforehand.
Groaning, Quistis fell back in bed and pulled the covers over her head.
"Quisty, you gotta get up!" she shouted playfully at the locke of blonde hair that was still visible.
Trying to crawl over to her was a vain attempt at best. Even sitting, what with barely being over 5 feet tall, she could hardly see over the down comforter which was at least 3 feet thick. Selphie gave the mattress a couple hard licks with her fist as it began to engulf her and leapt off the bed.
"An entire SPECIES of geese must have given their lives for that thing," she mumbled to herself with a hint of exasperation.
Quistis' giggle was muffled.
"C'mon Quisty you prooomised!" Selphie practically whined.
A baby blue eye appeared tentatively.
"Pleeeeease? I need to know! You're my only hope!"
Quistis emerged with a small smile of chagrin gently tracing her features.
"Ok, ok, enough melodrama, I'll go right now, but I need to get dressed. Go on, I'll meet you later in the cafeteria and let you know what's up, alright?"
Selphie bounded to the door and spun around with a huge grin on her face as she triumphantly punched the air.
"Booyaka!! Good luck Quisty! Thankies SOOO much! I'll see you later!!"
The door cheerfully slammed shut. Probably because Selphie slammed it.
Crawling out of bed the second time that morning was even more difficult than she thought. The day, which of course had its auspicious beginnings in another haunting nightmare, had somehow gotten worse. Quistis, slinging her legs over the side of the bed, could only begin to piece together her still disjointed thoughts. Looking down at her clasped hands stained by the morning sunlight, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
She shook her head with a touch of ire. She was being silly. Crossing to the vanity, Quistis rested her elbows on the dusted, wooden surface and peered at her reflection detachedly. Not only did she have her little tete-au-tete with Irvine to look forward to, but she also had to find some excuse to get out of the ball tonight. She didn't think she could handle it, feeling lost in a crowd of sparkling guests brimming with champagne and illuminated by starlight. A night that dreams are made of. Unless you're alone. Wincing, she remembered the last time she had been to a dance...when Squall had told her to talk to a wall. When Squall....had kissed her. But now he seemed to have forgotten about her completely since Rinoa came into the picture. And when he looked at her...she'd give ANYTHING to know if he still remembered that night. If he still WANTED to remember that night. If it had meant anything to him..... Because it meant the world to her.....
Squall was going to be smiling and dancing...and in love with someone else. And she'd be the one with her back to the wall wishing she wasn't there.
Quistis watched helplessly as her own eyes darkened and began to shimmer with tears. She turned away, disgusted at herself.
"Perhaps, this is the way my life was meant to be....." she mumbled to no one in particular.
"I helped save the world, I am respected, and have friends. Who on earth needs more than that?"
".....who would... want more than that....?"
Quistis suddenly realized that she WAS talking to a wall.
"I should have myself comitted," she commented dryly as she turned back to the mirror and tried to put on her usual calm and in-charge face....which failed miserably. The dangling tears on her eyelashes just wasn't conducive to the confident look she was going for.
With a sigh of defeat, Quistis turned to open the curtains and let the sunlight bathe her face. Everything was going to be alright. She didn't need anyone, but she also didn't need to be forced to witness something that was sure to break her heart a little more. Plus....there was a Twilight Zone Marathon tonight. Who could miss that?
Feeling just a little better at the promise of popcorn and Rod Serling, Quistis got dressed in her usual pink uniform and hooked Save the Queen to her hip. After throwing a regretful and longing glance to her bed, she left the dorm and made her way to the training area. It wasn't difficult avoiding everyone when they were avoiding you. It seems that she'd been a bit...uh....short-tempered lately to everyone. And anti-social.
Hyne, she was becoming Squall.
With that disturbing thought in mind, Quistis yanked the door marked Training Center open and entered into the dense jungle atmosphere. The familiar muted roars and hisses enveloped her as she unfurled her whip silently. The leaves crunched beneath her boots and the chains riding low on her hips tinkled softly as she moved stealthily into the overgrowth. Suddenly a gunshot rang through the air, startling birds, and causing someone to let loose a string of curses. Following the angry voice, she came upon Irvine bent over double, and laughing so hard his hat had fallen off. Not to mention, a few feet away in full-blown, typical male, chest-puffing stance was Seifer with a smoking hole in his trenchcoat and a glare that looked like it was gonna burn a hole of its own straight through the back of Irvine's head.
"Do you know how expensive this fucking coat is?!" Seifer hissed through gritted teeth, angrily holding up the offending tattered peice of his jacket.
"Sorry...man...I musta missed", Irvine chuckled and turned to grab his hat off the ground...which became a problem when Hyperion shunked straight through it.
"Sorry 'man'...but I never do." Seifer retorted with a sparkle of malace in his green eyes.
"Shit! That had sentimental value!"
"Sentimental my ass, you just fancy yourself a "cowboy" or some such bull. Give it up, it got real old a long time ago."
"You wanna step over here and say that?"
"What, too chicken to walk the three feet to back up those big words of yours?"
Quistis shook her head, classic chagrin playing on her features as she began to clap. They both turned towards her with identical looks of puffed up male indignation as if to say: 'YOU do something about him!'
"You guys DO know you're fighting over clothes, right?" she asked chuckling as she walked over towards them.
"Oh great, the ever-condescending Ms. Trepe is here to spank our bottoms and send us back to our rooms, am I right?" Seifer sneered while pulling his gunblade out of the ground.
Irvine made a grab for his hat and played with the tear with a crooked frown. With a sigh he stuffed it in his coat and slung the Exeter over his shoulder. "Yeah, but the question is which one of us is lucky enough to get "spanked" by the instructor first", he quipped turning towards her with his best melt-your-knickers smile.
Quistis rolled her eyes and ignored both remarks. She didn't have the time or the patience to play insult ping-pong with two mentally insufficient players.
"Sorry boys, but if anyone's gonna do the spanking it's Cid. He sent me in since everyone was beginning to wonder if the two of you were overwhelmed by a particularly vicious species of bunny rabbit or maybe just done us all a favor and killed eachother off."
Irvine stumbled back as if knifed in the heart and pulled out the imaginary shaft with a mock look of dispair.
"That hurts, Quistis. Deep. Real deep."
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Quite flirting, she's not your type anyway. Made of ice. Pulse is still a requirement for you isn't it?"
Irvine narrowed his eyes and took a step forward as Quistis leapt in-between.
"Whoa, cool down you too!"she shouted in exasperation and turned on the smirking blond.
"Seifer, I swear, not another word! You know your SeeDship is hanging by a thread! Go back to your dorm, I have some business with Kinneas."
"Yeah, she has 'business' so run along now", he drawled lazily.
Seifer whipped around opened his mouth to retort as Irvine raised his eyebrows in blatant challenge and motioned towards the glowering woman in front of him. Snapping his mouth shut he merely growled and stalked off.. Quistis smiled a bit.
Bless his cocky, black heart.
"Sooo...Quistis. What's this 'business' all about?" Irvine asked with a confident smile the second Seifer was out of sight. "Sure it's not more of a 'pleasure' sort of thing? We can mix the two ya know."
Quistis rolled her eyes. "Do you ever think some girl is going to be stupid enough that one of those lines isactually going to work? Doesn't take more than two braincells to see through them. Just enough for friction."
"Friction...hehehehe..."
Quistis leaned against a tree and sighed. This might take awhile.
Irvine plunked down on the ground next to her with a wide grin. "You know I'm kidding, right?"
"Sometimes I wonder, Kinneas", she replied wearily.
"So you really are thinking about me", Irvine beamed without missing a beat.
She glanced down at him, wondering just how serious he was. Her lips twitched into a smile and she laughed while shaking her head ruefully.
"Back to my question, how may I help you m'lady? All my services are at your disposal", he teased and tipped his hat.
"I do need something from you, but not any of the 'services' you're so willing to 'perform' ", she muttered under her breath with a side-long look.
He smiled at her charmingly. "I'm not that kind of man you know."
She turned more towards him and raised her eyes wide in mock astonishment.
"I know. Shocking." he replied with a crooked grin.
"I need to talk to you.....about Selphie", Quistis began as she watched his expression carefully.
Irvine's face darkened for a split second before he shot her a winningly innocent expression. Wrong tactic...
"What about her?" he replied as he nonchalantly stood and holstered the Exeter.
"Well...she was wondering why you hadn't asked her to the dance yet" she replied, her eyes narrowed slightly.
"That's an easy one", he drawled lazily as Quistis perked up. "I'm not gonna ask her at all."
'Ok...now what!?', she wondered frantically as Irvine turned to leave.
"Wait! Kinneas! Why? You know she really cares about you!" Quistis shouted at his retreating form.
He stopped, but didn't bother looking at her. "I have my reasons", he replied in his infuriatingly vague, 'mysterious cowboy' way before disapearing into the foliage.
Quistis smacked her forehead. Great. Fabulous. What on earth was she gonna tell Selphie? If he made her cry, Irvine was gonna lose the abilities to both eat solid foods and reproduce on TOP of--
Without warning the speakers crackled noisily to life and interrupted the beginnings of her mental tirade.
BingBongBing
This is Headmaster Cid. I need the following people to report immediately to my office: Quistis Trepe, Seifer Almasy, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, and Selphie Tilmitt. Mr. Leonhart and I are waiting. Thank you.
"Great..." she sighed already irritated by whatever Cid had in store as she trudged out of the training center feeling like a failure.
And of course who would she bump into outside but Selphie and Rinoa. She couldn't bear to let Selphie know what Irvine said so soon and Rinoa, though Quistis liked her well enough, was still someone she'd always be jealous of and thus, always a little uncomfortable around.
Soft brown eyes met her dispassionate blue ones, and then turned to Selphie's sparkling green. The three of them looked at each other questioningly.
"Why do you think he needs us?" Rinoa asked disinterestedly with a wave of her hand.
"Garden Committee?" Selphie grinned half-serious.
"The last time he called us 'in to his office immediately' we were being attacked by Galbadia Garden," Quistis added ruefully.
The three of them walked to the elevator while Selphie and Rinoa played a cute game of "what could Cid want?" Quistis plastered a smile on her face and dropped pace while they weren't paying attention. She had some thinking to do....damage control was needed. And short of throttling the answer out of Irvine, she needed some way to figure things out.
Rinoa and Selphie jumped onto the elevator giggling with each other as Quistis entered distracted by her own troubled thoughts.
"Hey Gu-uys! Wait up!" a running/stumbling Zell called out as the doors began to close.
Well, that's what it should have been, but with the half-eaten pack of hotdogs still in his mouth it came out more like: "Thwe Ghwuyth! Whvai Uthb!"
Rinoa pushed the 'door open' button and he slid in like a baseball player at home base. Even in her present mood, Quistis couldn't help laughing and helped him up.
"You alright?" she chuckled as he pulled on her hand into an upright position.
"Yeah! Thanks Quistis!", Zell replied after swallowing the whole mouthful in one gulp. All three of them half expected to see him cough up the plastic wrapper.
"D'ya know why Cid needs us?" he asked while picking the remnants of meat by- products out of his teeth.
Selphie grinned at him and shook her head. "Not a clue. Rinoa and I have a bet going. She thinks it'll be that he wants us to choose fish or chicken for her wedding, and I say he's making all of you join the Garden Committee!" They both giggled at their ideas.
Zell laughed with them. "What about you, Quistis?"
"Huh?" Quistis blinked a few times, lost in the conversation she wasn't paying any attention to.
"Please remember to pick me up something nice on your way back from that planet, Quisty," he said mock sternly, imitating her usual sleeping-in-classroom lecture.
"Oh, uh, sorry." she shrugged and tried to make light of her thoughts. "Probably just wants us to save the world again, why not? We need the practice."
That elicited a few chuckles and groans as they stepped off the elevator on the third floor and opened the door to Cid's new office next to the bridge.
Quistis suddenly noticed that she hadn't been up to this room since it had been remodeled. The dark mahogany desks with the maroon and forest green wallpaper gave the room a decidedly 'testosteronic' feel. If that's a word. She kept glancing about at the furnishings before finally admitting to herself that she would rather look at anything right now besides Squall.
Cid silently motioned for everyone to sit, and the look on his face told her he was about to drop a bomb. She noticed that they were the last ones coming in and that the headmaster had been waiting for them.
Cid had his arms placed on the dusted desktop and was resting his forehead in his palms. That didn't bode well. Quistis tried to discern if anyone else knew what was wrong, but they all just looked as confused and nervous as she was....even Squall.
Matron walked in quietly through a side door and nodded slowly at her husband, her face as impassive as stone. He looked like he was pale enough to faint. Hyne...what the hell was wrong!? The air was thick with our dread and anticipation. Slowly, Cid breathed in, and then looked up at all of them with glassy eyes.
"...It seems," he began in a strained voice, " that, Ellone is dying."
He paused to let that soak in. She couldn't breathe. She didn't believe it. Selphie burst into tears and ran into Quistis' arms which wrapped around her immediately, comforting them both. Quistis was still too shocked to cry. After graciously giving Selphie time to let her sobs subside, he continued.
"She requests your presence at her deathbed. There is something she wishes to tell each of you."
To Quistis' horrified surprise Cid looked directly at her, and when he did, so did everyone else.
"Ellone, needs to give you something, Quistis. I hope you can handle it." He turned to include everyone else. "We leave for Esthar today at noon. She...doesn't have much time le-"
"What HAPPENED?!" Zell shouted angrily. "What happened to her!? I-"
"Sit down, Chicken-Wuss... yelling won't bring her back", Seifer added emotionlessly.
Squall placed a hand on Cid's shoulder. Quistis could tell it was shaking. She tried peering into his eyes to further gauge his emotions, how he would take this tragic news, but to her, they were all but impenetrable. Only Rinoa seemed to be able to understand him now. She looked down at her blurred, clasped hands and felt very, very mortal.
"We deserve to know what is wrong with her," he said softly.
Cid just shook his head sadly.
"We don't know. No one does. Dr. Odine has his theories but no cure. Laguna...is beside himself for answers but can find none. All we do know is that she gets worse everyday, and, just a few minutes ago, Kiros called and said that they have lost hope, that she requests your presence, and no one will deny her anything. Apparently, even Laguna could not delude himself any longer. She has become so frail that...."
He closed his eyes, his voice too choked to continue.
Silently, everyone looked at each other and tried to deal with this startling news. Cid stood up and turned. He and Matron walked out the side door together. Selphie ran sobbing from the room. Squall went to Rinoa and held her tightly before leading her out. Zell and Seifer left silently, each trying not to show just how hurt they were. And Quistis...she remained alone, staring blankly at her hands, trying to block out all thought. Sometime later, maybe 5 minutes, maybe an hour, she stood and left in a haze.
Ellone....