I'll start chapter 5 by saying thanks to all the niiiice people who've
given me reviews. ^_^ I kinda just started this as a side project for fun
in between my art assignments, but some of you have told me my writing
doesn't suck, so I think I'm gonna full out just do this to the end.
Thanks so much for the kind words, and feel free to continue to tell me
what you think!
Okie dokie, here we go again. Please keep your arms inside the coaster at all times and remember, Final Fantasy 8 is the property of Square and Sony. Thank you for riding.
Chapter Five: Hiding From the Eyes of a Hawk.
Getting up early, at first, had been Selphie's biggest nightmare. She hated mornings, especially when things had required her to be up with the crack of dawn. But over time, even the worst habits can be trained out of a soldier, and she grew sort of fond of that small window between dawn and daylight. Her favorite time of day was in the very early bluish light of morning, when everything looked as if it were drenched in liquid sapphire. It was the one time she knew would be completely quiet when she lived in Trabia. No one really cared to be up before five back in those days, and when Selphie wanted to indulge in one of her early morning jogs she would get up just at that time and run for a good hour as the sun came up and finally poured into the window above her. If she were lucky, sometimes she would have time to go step outside and watch that blue light dance on the snow outside her school. Watching that same light through the hundreds of windows at Balamb Garden that morning brought back a certain edge of nostalgia, and Selphie smiled as she began to run her average laps around the center of Garden. No one was ever up this ungodly early at this Garden with very few exceptions. She knew Squall was probably in the training hall, seeing as how he liked to practice in solitude. But it was something of a surprise when she rounded one slope of tile and saw Quistis standing there with a big grin on her face, already dressed for the day.
Selphie came to a slow halt and smiled back at her friend as Quistis moved forward to give her a big hug. "What are you doing up so early?" asked Quistis, pulling back with a small amused grin on her face. Selphie was glad for the dark lighting, else she probably would have faced a barrage of questions from her friend regarding the slight blush on her cheeks. "I was just jogging. You know how I hate to do this sort of thing in broad daylight." Qustis nodded, seemingly satisfied. Selphie inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was to try and explain that yes, she needed to exercise, but she was also half waiting for someone. Only half waiting though…
"So what's on your agenda for today." Asked the blond instructor, tucking a strand of her long hair behind one ear. "Well," said Selphie with a thoughtful look, "I'm supposed to attend a few classes this morning to get a better feel for the way classes are run nowadays." Quistis smiled. "Good," she said with a grin, "so he did manage to get an itinerary ready for you. I'm impressed." Selphie rolled her eyes and continued. "Then lunch is free, so I thought you and I could drive into Balamb for a bite. You up for it?" Quistis's grin grew three sizes. "Absolutely. I haven't been down there in almost six months. I'm lucky if I can get away for thirty minutes sometimes." Selphie blinked in surprise. "How come?" Quistis shrugged. "Ah Squall runs me ragged sometimes. I always wind up taking one two many things onto my plate to help him out. I just can't seem to say no," she said softly. Selphie swallowed. "Yeah," she said, "he can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be." Quistis laughed at that and changed the subject. "I'm really glad you're back, Selph. We've needed a good sense of humor around here." Selphie giggled aloud, not noticing the soft footsteps from fifteen feet behind her. But Quistis did. "Well I'll see what I can do to get Mr. Cranky to lighten your load a bit," said Selphie with a grin.
"Ahem." Selphie whirled around only to find herself two inches from a very sweaty Squall. He wasn't in his usual attire, but dressed in dark shorts and a white T-shirt with Lionheart slung easily over one shoulder, blade unsheathed. No doubt about it, he had been just where Selphie had expected. But the nearness of their two bodies both drenched in sweat combined with a slight tension from the night before seemed to ease his stern expression, and suddenly Squall could feel his heart pounding ever so slightly faster in his chest. He swallowed nervously, his grip on the hilt of his sword tightening a bit and Selphie saw Griever, his ring, flash for a moment is the now silvery light around them. Quistis watched with one brow raised in amusement. "…Morning, Selphie," he said, trying to sound as casual as always. Then he slipped back into his normal role as if it were the easiest thing in the world, and his voice was stern again, though his eyes still regarded her gently. "I'd appreciate if the two of you," he glared at Quistis for a moment, "wouldn't talk about me like we're still students." Quistis rolled her eyes and Selphie swallowed. He smelled so good it was intoxicating, and she scolded herself quietly for suddenly wanting to throw her arms around him like some silly school girl. "S-sorry about that Squall. We were just playin around," said Selphie with a genuinely apologetic face. Squall's eyes spoke volumes to her and he tried as carefully as possible to show how truly un-irritated he really was.
"Just try to be a little more professional okay? And Quistis," he said shooting her one of his infamous blank expressions, "don't turn her against me already. We need her here." Quistis grinned at him. "Squall," she said, "Lighten up." Squall rolled his eyes and turned back to Selphie, lowering his voice. "Where'll you be later this afternoon? I've got some…things to go over with you." Selphie caught on and tried to act as businesslike as possible. "Probably in the festival hall, cleaning up a bit. It's kind of a wreck in there." Squall nodded, placing one hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Okay. I'll see you later then." He walked past Quistis with a blank face, but his grin didn't manage to escape her field of vision, and after he was out of earshot, Quistis looked at Selphie, wide eyed.
Selphie, catching herself smiling, looked suddenly at Quistis and erased the grin. "What?" she asked innocently. Quistis folded her arms and glared at her friend. "I saw that," she said matter-of-factly. Selphie grabbed the towel around her neck and mopped at her forehead. "Saw what?" she asked plainly, heading back for her room. Quistis followed. "You two have something going on, don't you?" Selphie laughed aloud. "Hardly Quisty, hardly." "Then," said Quistis with a wry grin, "why was he grinning at you and getting all touchy feely?" Selphie gasped and laughed a bit, still moving for her room. "You read into things way too much." Quistis merely nodded a bit and smiled. "I know something's up, Selph, and I'll figure it out one way or another." Selphie sighed as they neared the dorms. "Go ahead and try, but there's nothing to figure out Quisty. Now," she said in a way meant to end the topic, "I'll meet you out front for lunch and we'll talk about my trip. But no more detective work on things that aren't there, okay?" Quistis frowned at her friend and nodded. "Fine. Noon then." Selphie hugged her friend tightly and jogged off for her room, leaving a puzzled Quistis in an empty hall as the first rays of true light hit the windows in the lobby.
She hated secrets.
* * *
The morning sped by. Selphie attended class after class and met countless students. It was going to be hard remembering them all. The class structure hadn't changed all that much, and it felt good to se the kids in a positive environment after the last few years. After that, lunch went by fairly uneventfully. Quistis was usually pretty good at leaving some things well alone when she had to, and to tell the truth she was far more interested in Selphie's brief stint as a secretary for Laguna.
"So," said Quistis with a giggle as she sipped her drink, "Tell me all about this office job." Selphie laughed. "Well let me start by saying Laguna, while he's an excellent president, has no organizational skills what so ever. His office was sheer hell just walking through." Quistis nodded with a grin. "How'd you wind up there anyway?" Selphie sighed. "After my run in with Seifer my leg was in pretty bad shape, so field duty was pretty much out of the question. I sent in for a request for a basic civilian job with someone willing to contract a SeeD and they sent me to Laguna." Selphie grinned devilishly. "It was pure heaven." Quistis laughed loudly.
"So did you guys…you know…" Selphie spit her drink mid swig and laughed. "NO WAY! What're you, nuts?!?" Quistis giggled. "He's ole enough to be my father," said Selphie with a grin. Quistis gazed longingly at the ceiling for a moment. "Never stopped me before." Selphie grinned. "That's so sick."
After lunch the two friends headed back to the school and went their separate ways. There was a ton of work to be done in the Festival Hall, and Quistis had class, so Selphie headed off to begin work in the massive room, her head full of thoughts.
Had it really been so long since Seifer had attacked her? And what was up with Rinoa? She hadn't thought much about it really, not in the last year, but after talking to Squall yesterday her curiosity had been rekindled. One year…time had flown. At least things here seemed to be going better. She flipped on the lights to the Hall and almost felt the blood rise in her head as she looked around.
Dust everywhere, empty boxes, storage units worth of stuff dumped there…she could feel her eye twitching and her voice shot out. "SQUALL I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Several students in the outside hall stopped at the sound and then hurried past. Selphie sighed and decided she'd kill him when he showed up. For now, there was work to be done.
Okie dokie, here we go again. Please keep your arms inside the coaster at all times and remember, Final Fantasy 8 is the property of Square and Sony. Thank you for riding.
Chapter Five: Hiding From the Eyes of a Hawk.
Getting up early, at first, had been Selphie's biggest nightmare. She hated mornings, especially when things had required her to be up with the crack of dawn. But over time, even the worst habits can be trained out of a soldier, and she grew sort of fond of that small window between dawn and daylight. Her favorite time of day was in the very early bluish light of morning, when everything looked as if it were drenched in liquid sapphire. It was the one time she knew would be completely quiet when she lived in Trabia. No one really cared to be up before five back in those days, and when Selphie wanted to indulge in one of her early morning jogs she would get up just at that time and run for a good hour as the sun came up and finally poured into the window above her. If she were lucky, sometimes she would have time to go step outside and watch that blue light dance on the snow outside her school. Watching that same light through the hundreds of windows at Balamb Garden that morning brought back a certain edge of nostalgia, and Selphie smiled as she began to run her average laps around the center of Garden. No one was ever up this ungodly early at this Garden with very few exceptions. She knew Squall was probably in the training hall, seeing as how he liked to practice in solitude. But it was something of a surprise when she rounded one slope of tile and saw Quistis standing there with a big grin on her face, already dressed for the day.
Selphie came to a slow halt and smiled back at her friend as Quistis moved forward to give her a big hug. "What are you doing up so early?" asked Quistis, pulling back with a small amused grin on her face. Selphie was glad for the dark lighting, else she probably would have faced a barrage of questions from her friend regarding the slight blush on her cheeks. "I was just jogging. You know how I hate to do this sort of thing in broad daylight." Qustis nodded, seemingly satisfied. Selphie inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was to try and explain that yes, she needed to exercise, but she was also half waiting for someone. Only half waiting though…
"So what's on your agenda for today." Asked the blond instructor, tucking a strand of her long hair behind one ear. "Well," said Selphie with a thoughtful look, "I'm supposed to attend a few classes this morning to get a better feel for the way classes are run nowadays." Quistis smiled. "Good," she said with a grin, "so he did manage to get an itinerary ready for you. I'm impressed." Selphie rolled her eyes and continued. "Then lunch is free, so I thought you and I could drive into Balamb for a bite. You up for it?" Quistis's grin grew three sizes. "Absolutely. I haven't been down there in almost six months. I'm lucky if I can get away for thirty minutes sometimes." Selphie blinked in surprise. "How come?" Quistis shrugged. "Ah Squall runs me ragged sometimes. I always wind up taking one two many things onto my plate to help him out. I just can't seem to say no," she said softly. Selphie swallowed. "Yeah," she said, "he can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be." Quistis laughed at that and changed the subject. "I'm really glad you're back, Selph. We've needed a good sense of humor around here." Selphie giggled aloud, not noticing the soft footsteps from fifteen feet behind her. But Quistis did. "Well I'll see what I can do to get Mr. Cranky to lighten your load a bit," said Selphie with a grin.
"Ahem." Selphie whirled around only to find herself two inches from a very sweaty Squall. He wasn't in his usual attire, but dressed in dark shorts and a white T-shirt with Lionheart slung easily over one shoulder, blade unsheathed. No doubt about it, he had been just where Selphie had expected. But the nearness of their two bodies both drenched in sweat combined with a slight tension from the night before seemed to ease his stern expression, and suddenly Squall could feel his heart pounding ever so slightly faster in his chest. He swallowed nervously, his grip on the hilt of his sword tightening a bit and Selphie saw Griever, his ring, flash for a moment is the now silvery light around them. Quistis watched with one brow raised in amusement. "…Morning, Selphie," he said, trying to sound as casual as always. Then he slipped back into his normal role as if it were the easiest thing in the world, and his voice was stern again, though his eyes still regarded her gently. "I'd appreciate if the two of you," he glared at Quistis for a moment, "wouldn't talk about me like we're still students." Quistis rolled her eyes and Selphie swallowed. He smelled so good it was intoxicating, and she scolded herself quietly for suddenly wanting to throw her arms around him like some silly school girl. "S-sorry about that Squall. We were just playin around," said Selphie with a genuinely apologetic face. Squall's eyes spoke volumes to her and he tried as carefully as possible to show how truly un-irritated he really was.
"Just try to be a little more professional okay? And Quistis," he said shooting her one of his infamous blank expressions, "don't turn her against me already. We need her here." Quistis grinned at him. "Squall," she said, "Lighten up." Squall rolled his eyes and turned back to Selphie, lowering his voice. "Where'll you be later this afternoon? I've got some…things to go over with you." Selphie caught on and tried to act as businesslike as possible. "Probably in the festival hall, cleaning up a bit. It's kind of a wreck in there." Squall nodded, placing one hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Okay. I'll see you later then." He walked past Quistis with a blank face, but his grin didn't manage to escape her field of vision, and after he was out of earshot, Quistis looked at Selphie, wide eyed.
Selphie, catching herself smiling, looked suddenly at Quistis and erased the grin. "What?" she asked innocently. Quistis folded her arms and glared at her friend. "I saw that," she said matter-of-factly. Selphie grabbed the towel around her neck and mopped at her forehead. "Saw what?" she asked plainly, heading back for her room. Quistis followed. "You two have something going on, don't you?" Selphie laughed aloud. "Hardly Quisty, hardly." "Then," said Quistis with a wry grin, "why was he grinning at you and getting all touchy feely?" Selphie gasped and laughed a bit, still moving for her room. "You read into things way too much." Quistis merely nodded a bit and smiled. "I know something's up, Selph, and I'll figure it out one way or another." Selphie sighed as they neared the dorms. "Go ahead and try, but there's nothing to figure out Quisty. Now," she said in a way meant to end the topic, "I'll meet you out front for lunch and we'll talk about my trip. But no more detective work on things that aren't there, okay?" Quistis frowned at her friend and nodded. "Fine. Noon then." Selphie hugged her friend tightly and jogged off for her room, leaving a puzzled Quistis in an empty hall as the first rays of true light hit the windows in the lobby.
She hated secrets.
* * *
The morning sped by. Selphie attended class after class and met countless students. It was going to be hard remembering them all. The class structure hadn't changed all that much, and it felt good to se the kids in a positive environment after the last few years. After that, lunch went by fairly uneventfully. Quistis was usually pretty good at leaving some things well alone when she had to, and to tell the truth she was far more interested in Selphie's brief stint as a secretary for Laguna.
"So," said Quistis with a giggle as she sipped her drink, "Tell me all about this office job." Selphie laughed. "Well let me start by saying Laguna, while he's an excellent president, has no organizational skills what so ever. His office was sheer hell just walking through." Quistis nodded with a grin. "How'd you wind up there anyway?" Selphie sighed. "After my run in with Seifer my leg was in pretty bad shape, so field duty was pretty much out of the question. I sent in for a request for a basic civilian job with someone willing to contract a SeeD and they sent me to Laguna." Selphie grinned devilishly. "It was pure heaven." Quistis laughed loudly.
"So did you guys…you know…" Selphie spit her drink mid swig and laughed. "NO WAY! What're you, nuts?!?" Quistis giggled. "He's ole enough to be my father," said Selphie with a grin. Quistis gazed longingly at the ceiling for a moment. "Never stopped me before." Selphie grinned. "That's so sick."
After lunch the two friends headed back to the school and went their separate ways. There was a ton of work to be done in the Festival Hall, and Quistis had class, so Selphie headed off to begin work in the massive room, her head full of thoughts.
Had it really been so long since Seifer had attacked her? And what was up with Rinoa? She hadn't thought much about it really, not in the last year, but after talking to Squall yesterday her curiosity had been rekindled. One year…time had flown. At least things here seemed to be going better. She flipped on the lights to the Hall and almost felt the blood rise in her head as she looked around.
Dust everywhere, empty boxes, storage units worth of stuff dumped there…she could feel her eye twitching and her voice shot out. "SQUALL I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Several students in the outside hall stopped at the sound and then hurried past. Selphie sighed and decided she'd kill him when he showed up. For now, there was work to be done.