Squall stood in his dorm room, looking at himself in the mirror. He enjoyed occasions that let him wear his dress uniform. He spared a quick glance at the array of medals and insignias that now decorated his jacket. Straightening his uniform one last time, Squall turned off the lights in his room and stepped out into the hallway.
Selphie stood there, in uniform, waiting for him. On seeing Squall, she took him in from head to toe, whistling in half-joking appreciation.
"Hey, there, hot stuff" she said, "you look good. If I'd known that the direct approach worked on you, I would've hit on you before Rinoa ever had the chance."
"Thanks, Selphie," Squall replied. "Is there a particular reason, though, why you're lurking outside my door?"
"Well, technically, I'm lurking outside my door, but since our respective companions have decided to be leave us on our own, I thought I'd give you the honor of being my escort to the dance. Plus, I figured you were probably just going to sit around and mope all night, rather than actually going. Another five minutes and I was going to break down your door."
Selphie's instincts proved unshakeable. Every bone in Squall's body wanted to close the door to his room and lock it behind him, not speaking to anyone until Rinoa called. Selphie, though, had no such instinct. Instead of moping at Irvine's childish behavior, she resolved to have a better time without him. Because of her small size and cheerful nature, many people considered Selphie a child, and treated her like one. Beneath the shining eyes and welcoming smile, though, lived a woman of surprising strength of character.
Without waiting for him to offer, Selphie took his arm, and the two headed off towards the dance.
* *
The SeeD Ball took place in Balamb Garden's ballroom. Seifer had seen the room itself before, but never under operating conditions. The evening following a field exam, though, the massive crystal chandeliers had their dust covers removed, signifying the start of the elaborate preparations the ball required.
The chandeliers, candles lit, hung overhead as Seifer and Zell picked a table that looked out across the whole room. From there, they could take in all the dancing couples and, beyond them, the night sky, illuminated by a brilliant full moon.
Seifer crossed the room, reeling from the giddy excitement of the evening. The dance proved as spectacular an experience as he'd imagined it would be. For years, he had dreamt of this night, when he'd finally be able to attend the SeeD Ball, and now it had arrived. Best of all, he could share it with Zell.
The marble floor clicked under his feet as Seifer approached the table, champagne glasses in hand. Zell stood with his hands folded over the back of a chair, watching Seifer's approach and smiling.
"Is there something you find amusing, Zell?" Seifer asked as he set the glasses down.
Zell looked at the statuesque man, marveling at how striking he looked in the uniform of a SeeD member. It made him look even taller than he normally would and the gold trim appeared to match the color of his hair. Shaking his head, Zell replied, "I'm just watching you enjoying your night. I'm glad it's finally here. Zell moved in closer and began picking imaginary lint off Seifer's immaculate uniform. Seifer wrapped his arms around Zell and looked down at him.
"Is this just a cheap trick so you can put your hands on me?"
Zell tilted his head upward. "So you'd like me to stop putting my hands on you?"
"Did I ask you to stop?" Seifer began to move his face closer to Zell's.
"Okay, you two!" Selphie's voice cut through the crowd, breaking the moment. "You need to be at least six inches apart!" She bounded through the crowd, dragging Squall with her and threatening to dislocate his arm in the process. The candlelight of the chandeliers set off her jade eyes, making them twinkle as she smiled. "Boy, Seifer, you look great in that uniform!"
"Thanks, Selphie," he answered. "It took me long enough to earn the right to wear the damn thing."
"And you did earn it," Squall said. "The grading committee decided to inaugurate you before I even called to speak to them."
"You know what we need, Squall?" Selphie asked. "Drinks! I'll go get us some champagne and we can drink a toast to SeeD's brightest new member."
As she dashed off, Zell called after her, "Yeah, and then we'll drink a toast to Seifer!"
Seifer gave Zell a brisk shove to the chest, sending the shorter man back into his chair. Taking no more notice of Zell's comment than that, Seifer took his own seat at the table, asking Squall, "So where's the princess this evening?"
"She had to run off to Deling City all of a sudden." Squall lowered himself to his chair, trying his best to sound unconcerned with his girlfriend's sudden departure. Seifer, who dated Rinoa sometime before she met Squall, nodded.
"Another one of those delightful dramas with her father, I suppose?"
"Sounds like it," Squall answered. "She didn't really go into detail, but she did mention her father." Neither Seifer nor Zell looked surprised.
Just then, Selphie's laughter resounded throughout the ballroom. As one, Seifer, Zell, and Squall turned to see the source of Selphie's excitement. At the other end of the room, Selphie embraced Quistis. Selphie pointed to the table where the three men sat, watching, before continuing her quest for champagne.
Quistis crossed the room with even, measured strides, and smiled at her old friends. Like Seifer, the SeeD dress uniform complemented her nicely, the black standing in stark contrast to her fair complexion. As she approached the table, one hand reached up to brush a strand of her long honey-colored hair back and out of her face.
"Hello, my dears," she said, her voice melodic, "how are you this evening?"
The three rose to greet her. After warmly embracing Zell and Squall, Quistis paused, taking in Seifer's lean form. She reached up to hug him, and with a quiver of nostalgia in her voice, said, "I suppose it was just a matter of finding the right teacher."
Knowing Quistis's penchant for self-criticism, Seifer looked intently at her. Two sets of blue eyes met and, holding her by the shoulders, he said, "I had the right teacher. I just didn't realize it."
Her eyebrow arched, rising up from behind her wire-frame glasses. Slowly, she cracked a smile. "You can be so charming when you want to, Seifer." Stepping back from him, she looked at Zell over her glasses. "I pity the person who has to try and keep you in line."
"Excuse me, everyone?" Cid called out over the crowd. "May I have your attention please?"
The conversation came to a halt by stages and everyone turned to Cid, standing at the front of the room, his wife Edea at his side.
"First of all, I'd like to congratulate our newest SeeDs on a job well done. You did a splendid job today, and I expect to great things from all of you."
Polite applause filled the room for a few moments as the guests acknowledged the SeeDs. Cid waited before quieting the assemblage once more.
"Tonight is an especially important evening. As you know, since the unfortunate... incident with Garden Master NORG, we have been without a Garden Master. I'm especially grateful, as I know we all are, for the extra work Xu has put in to cover this gap."
Once again, Cid allowed the applause for a few moments before resuming his speech.
"However, all that comes to an end this evening. I'm very happy to introduce our new Garden Master, Yvaine Mallis."
Cid and Edea stepped aside, presenting the newcomer to the crowd. He stood behind them, hands clasped behind his back. He wore a dark uniform, the same shade as the SeeD uniform. He wore it without decoration, save for a red braid hanging from his right epaulet. A courteous smile crept across his face as the applause traveled the room.
"We'll have a formal introduction later in the week, but I thought I'd give General Mallis the chance to meet with some of you in a more social setting. Other than that, everyone, enjoy the party!"
"His speech was mercifully short, for once," Seifer said, still smiling in the Headmaster's direction. His lips never moved as he spoke.
Selphie, ever the human tornado, rushed up to the table, dragging Xu behind her. In her other hand, she carried a tray with several glasses of champagne on it. She put the tray down gently and released her grip on Xu.
"You, sir, are in very big trouble," she said, turning to face Squall, feigned anger in her voice.
Squall cocked his head at her. "What did I do wrong?"
"You broke the rule about sharing."
Squall didn't react, unsure of the appropriate response.
"Any new information must be shared with me, or there will be punishment."
Squall glanced around the table. Zell shrugged.
"Sorry, man. It's the rules."
"I was told to keep this a secret, and I did," Squall explained.
Selphie shook her head.
"Now, because I happened to know this particular tidbit, and because I'm in a good mood, we'll make this fast."
Her right arm lanced out, landing a fast punch on Squall's shoulder. Squall winced, surprised at the sting.
"Let that be a lesson to you. Henceforth, you play by the rules like everyone else." She winked and pushed a glass of champagne in his direction.
Xu smiled and turned to her long-time friend, asking, "So, Quistis, where has Cid been keeping you?"
"First he had me doing diplomatic work," she sighed, taking a glass of champagne when Xu passed the tray around. "You know, negotiating with Esthar to open its doors, helping settle the peace accord between Galbadia and Timber, that sort of thing." She swirled the champagne around in the glass, watching the bubbles, as she glossed over her exile. Cid hadn't even allowed her to keep in contact with her friends.
"That was you?" Seifer asked, incredulous. Seifer and Squall knew all about the Timber liberation movement, both through Rinoa and through the Sorceress affair.
"Yeah, that was me. Important work, but not terribly exciting. I was glad I got to be a part of it, but after that, I went on loan to Trabia Garden."
"You were at Trabia?" Selphie asked. "How is it doing? How is everyone there? What does it look like?"
Quistis grinned at Selphie's eagerness. "It's great. Everyone did a great job rebuilding it. In fact, a bunch of your friends gave me their contact information and orders to make sure that you call them."
Selphie sat back in her chair, pleased, before asking, "So what was it that you did there?"
Quistis leaned forward, enjoying the tale. "Well, after the attack on Trabia, they needed teachers, and since I'm qualified to teach here, I'm also qualified to teach at any of the other Gardens. So..." She waved her hand, letting the gesture complete the thought.
"Cid sent you over there to teach?" Zell blurted out before anyone could think to stop him. For his efforts, though, he received a number of harsh glares and a kick under the table from Seifer.
"Ah, but it gets better, my friend. After teaching a few classes there, Trabia's Garden Master was so impressed with my results that he said I could be headmistress of the Garden if I wanted to. Yet another person laboring under the delusion that I'm some kind of genius."
Quistis smiled at this. Even as a child, she'd never believed her own reputation. The fact that everyone called her "gifted" or a "prodigy" meant nothing -- Quistis saw nothing but mistakes, unacceptable mistakes, at that. She strove constantly to purge herself of her flaws and took herself to task when she failed. Losing her position as an Instructor hurt her, and she almost didn't recover from it. When pressed, Quistis could admit that she "might be kind of smart, but not exceptional."
"I thought about accepting his offer, and I almost did, until Cid, under duress, made me a better one, so here I am."
"Offer for what?" Xu asked.
"Offer to resume my duties as an Instructor. Plus, I made him throw in some concessions and return me to active duty. No desk work."
"What made him fold?" Zell asked.
"I don't know for sure, but my theory is that while I was on loan, I still technically belonged to SeeD. If I did anything to harm SeeD, Cid could oversee the punishment. If I accepted the full-time position at Trabia, Cid couldn't claim to own me anymore. And I know enough about SeeD to be problematic. Thus, he was willing to do whatever he had to in order to get me back. So I made him pay through the nose for the privilege."
Everyone reacted with considerable surprise. Quistis sat back in her chair, glee registering on her classic features. Selphie stood, "All right! Seifer's a SeeD and Quistis is an Instructor! I can drink to that!"
Everyone agreed on the toast, drinking, "To Seifer and Quistis."
"I hope I'm not interrupting," came a voice from the side. As one, the group turned and found the new Garden Master approaching their table. He stood just over two meters tall, and looked down at everyone through one piercing blue eye. In place of his left eye, an empty socket stared back; no flesh had grown to cover the missing eyeball. Everyone stood to salute him, and he smiled back at them.
"Please," he said, "there's no need to be so formal. Cid pointed you out to me, so I thought I'd come over and introduce myself."
Mallis shook hands with everyone, greeting them all warmly.
"Well, Commander Leonhart," he said, after the introductions, "I'm looking forward to working with you. Cid praises you quite highly."
"Thank you, General Mallis," Squall answered.
"General of what, exactly?" Zell asked.
"Well, I've been soldiering most of my life. I started out in Esthar's army, but left and started a little mercenary operation of my own. We were called Omega Dawn, but you've probably never heard of us. We certainly weren't on a par with SeeD, but Cid figured that I might as well hang on to the title here. I assure you, it's strictly honorary."
"You'll be assuming duties soon, General?" Xu asked.
"Yes," he replied, "so you'll be able to rest a little more easily. If you can spend a few hours bringing me up to speed on everything, Xu, I should be in full control by this time next week."
"Thank you," she sighed, looking as if a he'd removed a great weight from her shoulders.
"Actually," he said, looking at everyone, "I hope you'll all be able to help me. You folks know a lot more about Garden than I do, and I'd appreciate your input. I think it's important that we keep perspective: make sure the SeeDs run the show. If we keep on doing things simply because they've always been done, we're in trouble. So if you could, you know, stop by my office or leave me a message or something when you have an idea, I'd appreciate it."
Everyone nodded their assent. Mallis quickly leaned in and whispered low, a wry grin on his face. "Look sharp, everyone. The boss man is on his way over."
"General Mallis!" Cid exclaimed as the General stood back upright. "This is where you ran off to."
"Yes, Headmaster, I was just chatting with your star pupils."
Cid took his glasses off and began wiping them on his shirt, laughing. "They aren't my students any longer, I'm afraid. They're all full-fledged SeeDs now. Every one of them." Cid looked to Seifer and smiled. "I haven't congratulated you yet, Seifer. I can't tell you how thrilled Edea was to hear that you passed."
Seifer smiled widely, at this news. "Thank you, sir."
"Now, General Mallis, I have to borrow you for a second," Cid started leading Mallis away, "I have a few more people I need to introduce you to..."
"He seems nice enough," Selphie said. "What do you guys think?"
Zell's eyes followed Mallis across the room. "I don't like him."
"What?" Selphie shot out. "Why?"
"I don't know," Zell nodded, confirming his own judgment. "There's just something... I don't trust."
Everyone gave Zell another long, pitying look. "Okay! What did I say this time?"
"I think what they're implying, Zell," Seifer whispered, placing a hand on Zell's arm and leaning close to him, "is that you haven't always been the best judge of character regarding your enemies."
"Still," Zell said, watching Mallis from across the room. "I just don't trust him. "
* *
Quistis looked out to the terrace, where Squall stood by himself, drink in hand. He stared off into the distance, completely lost to the world around him.
"Hello? Quistis? Cards?" Xu said. With Seifer and Zell off dancing, Squall brooding, and Selphie trying to round up recruits for the Garden Festival Planning Committee, Quistis and Xu had nothing to do but indulge in a few hands of cards. On occasion, they received a few odd looks from other people at the ball, but everyone who knew them knew they both carried their cards everywhere with them.
"Cards? Oh. Sorry," Quistis replied. She set down the last card in her hand without even looking at it. She already knew the outcome of the game. Xu's skill carried her almost to the championship of the Garden, but she always lost to Quistis.
"You win. Again." Xu dropped her last card on the table.
"Are you surprised?" the blonde asked.
"No," Xu answered, "you always win. I mean, how many games have you lost since you moved to Garden?"
"Five."
"Exactly. And all five of those times, you lost to the same person."
"Yeah," Quistis sighed, looking out to the balcony again.
"Quistis?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you going to stare all night or are you actually going to go talk to him?"
Quistis turned, propping her chin on her hand, not bothering to brush a wayward strand of hair out of her face. "Does it show?"
"To someone who's watched you pine over him since you were ten, yes, it shows. Just go talk to him." Quistis opened her mouth to protest, but Xu cut her off. "I'll be fine. Go!"
Quistis slid her chair back and walked to the terrace. She paused at the door, trying to sound nonchalant, saying, "You must really like this terrace." Quistis heard her voice threatening to betray her and she strove to keep it in check.
"What do you mean?" Squall asked, without turning to look at her.
"Just that, it seems like, at every dance, I find you out here by yourself."
"I had to get out of there. Too crowded. I need to think."
"About?"
"Rinoa." Quistis found herself glad Squall hadn't turned to look at her, for she felt herself wince. "What about you," he asked, deflecting the inevitable question. "What brings you out here?"
"Well, you know I...I've never really fit in to the social scene here. I just felt out of place in there." Quistis almost smacked herself, mortified at her awkward confession. To her surprise, Squall turned around, nodding in contemplation.
"I suppose we've always been alike in that way. We've never totally fit in. You've always been too smart for your own good, and I..." His voice trailed off in mid-sentence.
The barrier almost dropped. He'd almost confided in her. For a second, she could see the person he'd worked so long to hide away. In that one instant, when his mask slipped, it seemed like she saw his face for the first time. Quistis wanted nothing more than to know what he almost said.
"Nice night," Squall said, steering the conversation away from him. Quistis felt her heart sink as Squall's shield went back up.
"Squall..." Quistis ventured. She paused, though, steeling her nerves, preparing herself to speak the words she'd left unsaid for so long, the words she'd buried underneath a thousand excuses and rationalizations.
"Squall...I...I...was wondering if you'd like to dance...?"
She swore inside her head, cursing herself for her cowardice.
Squall shook his head with determination. "No. I'm not going back in there. Not for a while, at least."
Internally, Quistis collapsed. If he wouldn't even dance with her, after all they'd been through together, what hope could she have for anything more than that? Still, years of practice as everyone's "best friend" or "sister" trained her well. Quistis swallowed her pain, forced it deep down inside where she could deal with it later. To her credit, the grief she felt didn't register as anything more than a twitch of her eyebrow. She lingered, not wanting to appear as if she were fleeing the scene. After a few moments, Squall looked up at her, and said, "Welcome back, Quisty."
With that, Squall hugged her close to him. He was warm, and it startled her, since, to Quistis, he always looked as though he would be cool to the touch. Moment by moment, she could feel her body moving closer to his as he tightened his arms around her. Soon enough, Quistis had her head resting on his shoulder, exactly as she'd imagined a thousand times. Quistis could imagine no more exquisite torture. She had never felt so close to Squall nor had the distance between them ever seemed greater.
She wished, that their embrace would never end, and she could hold Squall forever. That something would pass between them in this instant, something that would convince Squall that she could love him more than Rinoa ever could. Quistis imagined the feel of Squall's hand stroking her hair, visualized herself tilting her head upwards just enough to let him kiss her. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't look into Squall's eyes and know that he'd rather look at Rinoa.
She knew how little the hug mattered to Squall. It had lasted less than ten seconds. To him it was between two friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time. To her, though, it had all the emotion of an embrace between two lovers, even if one of them didn't know it yet. She wanted Squall to give her the same warm smile he used when he looked at Rinoa.
He started to pull away, and Quistis suppressed her instinct to cling to him. He looked down at her and smiled, the moonlight illuminating his pale features. "Welcome home."
It thrilled her that he'd used her old nickname. It brought back a host of memories of her childhood: growing up in the orphanage with her friends Selphie, Squall, Seifer, Irvine, and Zell; their beloved Matron -- Cid's wife Edea; summers spent by the sea... Squall hadn't called her "Quisty" since childhood, and to hear him speak with such familiarity delighted her. Before she could formulate a reply, though, Squall was gone, cutting his way through the ballroom.
She stood there, thinking the situation over. The moon hanging overhead mirrored her emotions: half-covered by clouds. She hated the fact that she could never confess her love to him. Quistis didn't know how Rinoa would handle competition, but she knew how Squall would handle such a declaration -- by avoiding the problem, i.e., avoiding Quistis. Trapped somewhere the bliss of his arms and the anguish of her unrequited affection, she turned and re-entered the ballroom, to take her own leave of the place.