The open-air facility of Balamb Garden's Quad allowed the students a place to meet and relax. The unknown architects of Garden designed the Quad with a vision of supreme beauty in mind. The multi-tiered park had several fountains and a large number of trees. Half of the Quad stood exposed to the elements, while the other half rested in the shadow of the second floor balcony.
Quistis sat against a tree reading, her book illuminated by the warm Balamb sun. Despite her predilection for the library, or for reading in her own quarters, the crisp air seemed too nice for her to resist. She'd packed a few items of food into a brown bag and made for the Quad, enjoying her time alone, temporarily removed from the Squall and Rinoa situation.
As Quistis took a bite out of her apple, a shadow fell across her book, obscuring the words from view. When she realized that the person casting the shadow had no intention of moving, and stood there to cause her discomfort, she looked up, squinting into the midday sun.
"Do you mind?" she asked, trying to sound more pleasant than she felt, "I'm trying to read." The sun coming from over the person's shoulder made it impossible to read their expression or, indeed, even determine their identity, but Quistis had the distinct impression of a wild grin.
"Look," she said, starting to get genuinely mad, "just leave me alone, okay? Go pick on someone else." The figure laughed, and suddenly Quistis reverted to early adolescence, bullied for her above-average intelligence. She started to stand up to confront the irritant when she recognized the laugh.
"Irvine Kinneas!" she yelled, "knock it off!"
"Sorry, Quistis. Is this better?" Without warning, Irvine stepped to one side, sending the sun directly into Quistis's eyes, blinding her for a moment. When the spots cleared, she turned to look at him, arms folded smugly over his chest, a broad grin on his features.
"Damn it, Irvine! Do you always have to be such a child?"
He laughed again, tilting his head back and causing his long brown ponytail to sway. When the laughter finally subsided, he wiped a tear away from one eye before speaking again.
"You see?" he said, touching the brim of his cowboy hat, "that's why I tell everyone they need to get one of these. Helps keep the sun out of your eyes."
"Yeah," she replied, "it also makes it easier for people to tell that you have no taste in clothes."
Without waiting for an invitation, Irvine stretched out on the ground, using his jacket as a pillow and covering his face with his hat.
"Harsh words," he said, "things with Squall must really be getting to you."
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" she spat. Then, aware that her protestations gave too much away, "Is there something you wanted, or are you just on break from hitting on the twelve-year old cadets?"
"Actually, no," he said, his voice suddenly devoid of humor or pretense. "Selphie's kind of worried about you, and so I thought I'd come and talk to you."
"What is this, the Love Doctor makes a house call?"
"No. I think I know what you're going through."
Now it was Quistis's turn to laugh. "You? But you're..." her voice trailed off, not wanting to use the word that first sprang to mind.
"A slut?" he asked.
"Well... yeah."
She could hear a muffled laugh underneath his hat, and Quistis couldn't help but think it sounded somewhat rueful.
"Not really," Irvine said. "I'm a flirt, but I'm no slut. I've never cheated on Selphie, and I never would. I've flirted with other women, but I've never slept with them. You can ask her."
"Fine," Quistis said, unsure of the conversation's point. "What does all this have to do with me?"
Irvine sighed and wiggled around, getting more comfortable on his makeshift pillow. He pulled his hat a little bit further down, and crossed his arms.
"When I was thirteen," he began, speaking with slow, measured words, "I fell in love for the first time.
"I was a cadet at Galbadia Garden then, training to be a sharpshooter. Until that point, I was cool, detached, focused only on that single point at the end of the barrel. When I aimed at something it became my whole world. Everything else fell away, and I lived only for that moment when I could tag my target. The moment it was over, I packed up the gun, and was able to pretend like I was a normal kid. That's why I never became like Squall -- because I didn't become that secret, solitary person until I had something in my sights. Even though I always felt like I was selling out, it seemed like the path of least resistance, and that's how I was able to justify my behavior.
"Anyway, that autumn, in one of my classes, I met Aya. She was a gorgeous redhead, and I fell for her immediately. She had a lot of good qualities: smart, fun to be with, everything you'd look for -- and, of course, she had lots of guys who were interested in her. Still, that couldn't stop me from loving her. I knew it was bad news to get mixed up with her, but I couldn't resist. I fought it with every ounce of strength I had, but it didn't do any good. I loved her, totally, irrevocably, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it." Irvine's voice sound far away as the memories swirled around him.
"So I did what I could to get close to her, not that it mattered, because she had a thing for this blockhead named Diarmid. Once he realized she was interested in him, he didn't waste any time, and before long, they were a couple. Suddenly, it's as if they're everywhere. Every time I turned around, I'd see them together. And although she seemed happy with him -- which, I can assure you, devastated me -- I knew he didn't adore her the way I did.
"So I found myself on a threshold, wanting to tell her how I felt, but living in abject terror of rejection. I knew that if I confessed to her, she would never speak to me again. On the other hand, I was afraid that if I never said something to her, I would miss the opportunity entirely."
Quistis nodded. Irvine, with his hat covering his face, couldn't see this gesture of agreement, but felt it, knowing from the blonde woman's silence that his words resonated with her.
"Ultimately, cowardice won out, and I never said anything to her. I tried to be her friend, and to move in the same social circles. With that peculiar ignorance so typical of teenage boys, I assumed no one ever suspected my feelings. Which is why I was caught totally off-guard when Diarmid and his friends started teasing me. It was harmless at first, purely verbal abuse, but eventually they got tired of that game and started doing things like posting fake love letters to Aya – 'signed' by me -- all over Galbadia Garden. One of the things I loved -- love -- about Aya is that she never mentioned any of this to me. She knew about it, she knew how I felt, and she just let it be rather than trying to talk to me about it, or taking pity on me, or, worse yet, giving me the 'just friends' speech.
"From what I later learned, Diarmid started picking on me because Aya began to realize what a creep he really was. So whenever they'd have a fight, he'd work out his macho anger by taunting me, which just escalated the tension between them, which started the whole cycle over again.
"Everything fell apart one night when I was going back to my room after spending a few hours in the library. I was crossing the concourse of our Garden, when I saw the two of them coming in from outside. Diarmid had been drinking and immediately tried to get me to fight him. Now, he was a big guy, and I knew he could probably snap me in half if he wanted to. And he wanted to."
Irvine paused and sat up, rummaging around, in Quistis's lunch bag. Eventually, he settled on an orange, and set to work peeling it, using a penknife from the pocket of his coat.
"So what did you do?" Quistis asked after a few moments. "You're still alive, so I presume you didn't actually fight him."
Irvine chuckled, popping a slice of the orange into his mouth. "No, I didn't fight him. I was trying to get around him when he took a swing at me. He was so drunk, though, that he missed me completely and wound up falling over, cracking his jaw on the floor. She needed help getting him to the infirmary so I wound up sitting with Aya while they patched him back up. Something about the whole experience changed us, and it was suddenly like we were meeting for the first time. Later on, Aya told me that the incident was what made her rethink her image of me. Once she did that, she decided that I would be a better boyfriend than Diarmid."
"Okay," Quistis began, "but what's the moral of the story? I mean, you two obviously broke up, since you're with Selphie now."
"The moral, dear Quistis, is this: I don't know if there's one true love for everyone in the world, but I do know that couples who aren't meant to be together almost always fall apart. So if you and Squall are meant to be, just continue to be his friend and eventually, inevitably, things will work themselves out. That's lesson number one."
"And lesson number two?"
"Lesson number two is this, which I didn't learn until after Aya and I had gone our separate ways, and I'd met Selphie: Even the wrong person can be the right person for a time. On occasion, being with the wrong person is necessary before you can recognize the right person."
"Wow, Irvine. I'm astounded," Quistis said. "I had no idea you could be so... deep."
"Yeah, well don't let it get around, okay?" he replied, grinning, as he stood up donning his coat. "I have a reputation to uphold."
The triple chime of the intercom interrupted their conversation.
"First Team, please report to the briefing room. Again, First Team to the briefing room."
"Well," Irvine said, "looks like our number just came up."
Irvine and Quistis reached the door to the briefing room just as Nida exited, running towards the docking bay of the Ragnarok. They entered to find the room a flurry of activity. Selphie and Xu worked at the computers, trying to get mission data uploaded. Seifer, his gray trenchcoat enveloping him, stood with Squall, as they poured over a holographic map of the mission area. Zell, fresh from training, stood in one corner of the room, bouncing on the balls of his feet and shadowboxing. The fact that he stood in one place indicated restraint on Zell's part.
At the sound of the door opening, Squall looked up at Quistis and Irvine.
"Good," he said, "you're here."
"We would have been here sooner," Irvine said, "but I had to wait for Quistis to get her clothes back on."
Selphie glared at Irvine, ready to yell at him. Realizing she had better things to do, she returned to her work.
"We have to be airborne in under 30 minutes," Squall interjected. "Briefing en route, but here's the short form.
"After the coup, the Galbadian Army imprisoned President Vinzer Deling II, his wife, and their two sons, pending trial. Trial's over. All four are scheduled for execution. We need to extract them. Get your gear and board the Ragnarok."