"BOTHERING?", The usually quiet woman found herself disturbed by the silence of her usually overly-excitable partner. On one level she found the fact that it fazed her troubling, but had brush off her discomfort as simple concerned for the mental state/alertness of the person covering her back.
"Huh?", The blonde youth jerks his head up, snapped out of his brooding by Fujin's sudden, mildly jarring query.
"NOT YOU,…. QUIET"
"I'm not the only one", Zell mumbles just loud enough to be heard
"HUMOROUS….NOT ANSWER"
"I'm fine, just thinking about what we can have for dinner, shame we couldn't pack some hot dogs.", He smiles brightly, trying hard not to think about the conversation he had had with Selphie outside the campsite as they gathered wood.
*"Selphie, what's going on with you, you're a little more off than normal, and you're always more than a little off."
"Cut the jokes Zell, this is serious, and you don't seem to get it."
'Get what, what are you talking about Selph?"
"I don't know what Squall was thinking sending those two out here to hook up with there leader, and you seem just as dense chumming around with two people who last than two years ago were public enemies number 4&5 respectively, now they're supposed to be good guys. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Fujin almost kill you last year."
"While yeah, but things were kinda crazy then. Look, you don't know them like I do, yeah they could be jerks when they were on the discipline committee, but they're not so bad, you know.", HE chuckles at his own impression.
"I'm glad you find this so funny, I hope you're still laughing when you find a chokram in your back."
"Actually, I was going to send you with Fujin."
"Oh no I'm not going anywhere with that semi-literate zombie."
"Selphie, I'm shocked.", for once the playful teen was dead serious.
"Be shocked, and while you're at it, be with her."*
"YOU SAY", Fujin shrugs casually, knowing otherwise, but not willing to push the issue.
"What, don't you want hotdogs for dinner, what's wrong with you?"
"NOTHING…YOU?"
"Really, Not.. Whoa Mama!!", Fujin leaps in the air, rolls and pivots just in time to avoid the tentacle slashing at her. Her chokram goes flying from hand and into the mass of tentacles, slicing two away, and revealing a gigantic mouth. Zell jumps to the offensive, swinging a powerful hook just below the monster's gaping maw, Fujin closes her eyes and stands dead still "Ugh, That sten…", His voice drops off as his body turns to stone.
* * *
"Squall, wake up!", Normally Squall Leonheart is a light sleeper, normally he'll leap awake at a whisper. The last ten hours have been anything but normal.
"Huh, wh wh what, I'm up, I'm up, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?, what's wrong is if we don't get to the ceremony in ten minutes, Quistis is going to rip you a new one and shove me in it.", Dammit, I had promised Quistis, I'd get him there on time. I had made that promise with every intent on following through, grateful for the advice she had given me. I started out playing a role, showing a confidence I didn't feel, but the more I played it out, the more real it became. It was almost as if something came over me, something strange, something a little overpowering. It scared me, I liked it. Clearly by the death like slumber Squall had slipped into afterwards, he must have enjoyed the experience as well.
"What time is it?, the confusion begins to fade from his face.
"Ten to nine, hurry up and get in the shower, I'll lay out your uniform. and medals.", He gets up without another word and walks into the bathroom. Watching him go, I'm tempted to follow, but images of Griever after he met Quistis whip come to mind, sending a chill down my spine. I go into the walk-in closet and search through Squall's side, an impressive collection of leather, denim and fur. Deep in the back, there is a vacuum-sealed case, my idea, ever since I had discovered his SeeD uniform buried beneath the bed in his old apartment, his medals tossed haphazardly in a drawer.
I undo the lock, breaking the seal. Carefully I remove the uniform from the chestnut box and carry it over to lay on the bed. I hear the shower is off, and the sink is running. A quick peek at the clock shows we have only six minutes left. I rush off to grab the polished box of ebony wood. I opened the box, inside, resting on the layer of sapphire blue crushed velvet, was what Squall called 'the most expensive paperweight collection in history.'
As I enter the bedroom once more, my asentimental love stands, wrapped in a towel, hair still dripping, bent over digging in a drawer. For a brief moment, I'm tempted to throw the towel aside, but then I remember the image of Griever as he/she met Quistis whip. " Squall, hurry up, and don't forget these, ut ut ut, no arguments, Quistis insist, she's killing herself to make this work, and more importantly, she'll kill me if it's your not on time and presentable.", Squall hangs his head in resignation.
"Whatever", he slides the uniform on with practiced precision, in less than two minutes, he has it on, medals and all. "Alright I'm ready, let's go."
"Uh, I'm still wearing a sheet, dear heart. I'll be there soon, don't worry, oh look who I'm talking to. Go, go." He turns to leave, I look at the clock, two minutes, thirty seconds, "Wait", I grab him by the shoulder, spin him around , place my hand on the back of his neck, and pull him into a deep, probing, soul-searching kiss. Sadly, we only have thirty seconds, I pull away. "Go"
He stands upright, attempting to stand with dignity and composure, he stoops awkwardly, a grimace of pain spreads across. I look down, and chuckle, "wow, um whoa, no, Quistis kill, you go now." Roughly, I push him out the door, shutting it quickly before I can reconsider. I turn to go back to the closet, but stop as I pass the comm. unit and remember a promise.
"Operator", the voice is bright, cheerful, and friendly.
"Yes, could you connect me to the Trabia Garden, please", after a moment of silence, a click and buzz, breathig can be heard on the other side of the line.
"Hello Miss Heartily, your call has been anticipated, you'll be connected in a moment", It was always like this, no question just knowledge, it was eerie, if you let yourself think about it, I never did.
"Hello, child, what troubles you?"
"Well, Ed…, Mis…, Ma'am, I don't exactly know how to explain it, but things are not going well. I need help, and I don't know where to go, Squall thought that you might know what to do."
"Rinoa, be still child, you need fear not, I shall help you as I can. Come as soon as you can, and we well talk in detail. For now, rest easily, and I shall see you in the morning.", Her voice is entrancing, I sit on the edge of the bed, darkness engulfs me before I feel the mattress beneath me.
* * *
"How are they?", she shuts off the screen at the question, and turns to view the, relatively short, bespeckled man.
"Not well my love, they believe it is all over.", The pale woman reaches out for the hand of the grandfatherly old man. With the runes that decorate her body, the white that decorates his head like snow on a tree, the appear like a study in contradiction. In the look they share, however, is a mutual acceptance and understanding inexplicably profound.
"Is it bad for them to believe that, it let's them have a little peace and happiness before everything blows up again."
"My dear, they may find happiness, but for our children, peace is not their lot."
"Well, at least we get to see Rinoa , and maybe the others, I miss them"
"And I."
* * *
"Headmistress, the caterer has just informed me that the salmon mousse may have been left out a little too long. He wants to know what to do.", Quistis finds herself dumbfounded, a state not familiar to the young woman, renowned as a genius, with test scores to back it up.
"You have to ask?"
"Right, I'll tell him to serve it anyway."
"What, no, throw it away."
"But ma'am, that dish alone cost five thousand gil to prepare, plus, we don't have anything to serve in its place." The tall blonde, rubs her head, trying to message away the forming headache.
"Headmistress, is everything alright, you seem a little stressed", Make that a migraine. The voice, sweet like saccharine (excessive and artificial), grates on her nerves like a file on wood. Quistis turns slowly to face her former mentor.
"Just a small problem, I can deal with it." She contemplates offering the sour whipped fish to the petite, older woman. She fights the urge, just barely succeeding.
"I trust you believe you can, by the way where's our keynote speaker."
A deep breath, followed by a heavy sigh, "Oh don't worry Instructor Xu, he should be here soon. In the mean time, maybe you can help me, see I ordered too much salmon mousse and need to g… "
"Evening ladies", Both women stop and turn to see the speaker, Quistis bites back a laugh, while Lei Ming walks away with a derisive snort., "Quist, is everything alright."
"Trash the mousse, do it now.", The young party-planner nods his head and walks away, calculating the waste, the final figure makes him wince in pain. "Sorry Irvine, so much to handle, I hate minutiae, but what can you do. By the by, have you seen Squall.", He stares, slightly confused but the brisk, crisp, almost curt manner she speaks in. He debates whether to note it
"Yeah he 's coming this way, and it looks like him and Rinoa made-up."
"How can you tell"
"Balamb's not big enough for him to be that out of breath"
"You are a pig."
"Hey, pigs are pretty darn smart, I'll let you handle this while I wrestle up a sit right in front, Quisty." The lanky cowboy feels the heat of the headmistress gaze as he steps to his seat, whistling casually.
"Quistis?", The garden's leader stands in a stance of patented nonchalance, the only breech of his demeanour being the flush in his normally pale cheeks.
"Squall, aren't you cutting it a little close?", The fair-skinned youth shrugs, unwilling to speak for fear of saying the wrong thing. "Whatever, Where's Rinoa?"
"She's coming later."
"Is she all right?", Quistis probes warily, worried that Squall's manner might signal continuing unrest.
"She's fine." After so many years of practice, Squall Leonheart had mastered the art of short answers. Unfortunately, he was still a novice in the art of answering the unspoken questions. Quistis decides not to push the issue, ill-at-ease in the realm her erstwhile beloved's love life, and unable to spread her attention any further than the business of the moment. Not that she begrudged he his happiness, or even because she still carried a torch for him, the fuel having long since burn out. On, the contrary, she was liked Rinoa, and the situation, while awkward at times, had become a staple of her environment, a consistent element in her currently tremulous existence. The sound of shattering glass however, reminds her that the turmoil requires her attention.
"Good, look, I have to go see about that, are you ready?'
"Whatever", The blush disappears from his cheeks, replace by a death-like pallor as he finds himself victim to his former teacher's icy gaze for the first time since he graduated. "I mean yes, yes ma'am"
"Excellent, take your seat, we start in ten minutes.", Squall walks over quietly, almost sullenly. Quistis turns to check on the early shatter.
* * *
"Ladies and gentlemen, attention!", Lei Ming Xu was not a physically imposing figure, but her reputation proceeded her, at the sound of her voice, utter silence fills the hallway. "Thank you, now you all have your seating order, I expect no problems in your compliance. Today is a day of celebration, you should all be proud of making it into Balamb Garden's SeeD training program, but remember, an important part of learning to be a SeeD is learning to be disciplined, and the sooner that is mastered the better. Congratulations once again, please proceed to your seats." With a perfect about face, Xu walks back into the newly refurbished and rename event pavilion, exactly three minutes early, cursing under her breath as she notes that everything is in place.
"Wonderful", the dusky beauty's voice is imbued with all the enthusiasm of a sloth on barbiturates. Her brunette companion, cuts her ice blue towards, the faintest echo of a smile on her lips, but her mind elsewhere. Ka-ri Pherina had known Desaraye Shelicut for most of her life, the two could not be called friends, exactly, but they worked well together. It was a relationship devoid of expectation, and thus there was never disappointment.
"Desraye, look!", it's a whispered shout, but several of the young candidates who are near stir uncomfortably, still shaken with the warning they had just received. Desraye was not one to be easily shaken. She casually follows Ka-ri's line of sight until she finds herself gazing upon the object of her sacrilege. As she takes her seat, she unconsciously licks her lips.
… To Be Continued