Pleeeease review! Not to be whiny or anything, but compared to how many chapters I've written, hardly anyone reviews my story. Luckily I'm continuing it out of the goodness of my heart! ;) Anyway, most of the characters in this chapter belong to Squaresoft. Remember that, please. Also, in case I don't make it clear, anything in italics is thought in someone's head, but not actually said aloud. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Ex-Balamb Garden Commander Squall Lionheart ran his fingers through his brown hair and took a deep breath, surveying the land. Centra bordered on a desert climate, with a few forests in the center of it's largest island, the rest of it consisted of hilly terrain made out of red, sandy rocks and clay. There were a few beaches as well, made from coarse red sand. The wind blew in his face, whipping his hair around and causing coarse grains of sand to fly into his face. He sheltered it with his hands.
"Squall!" a girl's voice shattered his panoramic view. Wiping the few beads of sweat off of his forehead, he turned around to see an eternally cheerful, sprightly girl running towards him. Waving ecstatically, she swiftly tripped as she neared him, somersaulting to the ground. Another figure quickly swept in, effortlessly picking the young woman off of the ground and carrying her towards Squall. Depositing her on her feet in front of the ex-Commander, the young man removed his cowboy hat and bowed to the woman.
"Thanks Irvy!!" the girl said enthusiastically and then turned to Squall. "Hey, Squall, what's going on?" Irvine, slightly put out that she hadn't acted more grateful, meaning that she hadn't swooned in his arms, replaced his hat with a firm tug on his head and pretended to pout. Squall rolled his eyes.
"What are you two doing here?"
"Wee-ell…I'm here because it's my next assignment, to help you get this place up and running, I'm in charge of recruiting new cadets, and testing them!" said Selphie, complete with a mock salute. Pausing, she continued, a slightly perplexed tone in her voice, "I'm not sure why Irvy came though."
'You didn't travel here together?' Squall thought to himself. There was a slightly pause, and Irvine, forgetting to keep up his mock pouting said,
"And I have orders to be the new Weapons teacher at Centra Garden. I'll be in charge of the training center and all of your weaponry classes," Irvine paused and put a broad smile on his face. Lapsing into his gentle, sexy drawl he continued, "And I'm here to protect my precious Sefie, at whatever the cost." He ended this with a flourish, removing his hat and bowing to her. Selphie rolled her eyes, and then decided to play along, giggling and curtseying in response. At this, Squall rolled his own eyes.
'They aren't married yet?' he thought to himself, 'Well maybe they are and they haven't said anything. After all, I haven't seen them in a while. I guess I'll just wait for them to say something about it. Oh well, it's good to see them anyway.'
"Earth to Squall!" Selphie's bright voice interrupted his train of thought. Irvine shook his head.
"And you thought marriage would change a guy…" commented Irvine. Squall shook his head.
"It's good…to see you. Both of you," he said rather awkwardly. Irvine laughed.
"Well I'll be," he said, "Maybe it does." Squall rolled his eyes,
'What more do you want from me?' he thought. Selphie stuck out her tongue at Irvine childishly and grabbed Squall's arm, wrapping it under hers, promenade style.
"He's changed," she told Irvine, "Unlike some other people," she teased with a glint in her eye. Irvine lapsed into 'charm' mode once more.
"Aww…but you wouldn't love me half as much if I was any different." Squall, watching Selphie, thought he saw a brief flicker of hurt cross Selphie's eyes, but the next moment they were sparkling like before.
'Maybe I imagined it,' he thought, 'After all, these two will never change.' Sticking out her tongue again, Selphie retorted,
"Who says I do love you anyways?" Irvine pretended to act shocked as Selphie grasped Squall's arm slightly more firmly. "C'mon Squall," she said haughtily, pointing her nose in the air, "Let's go," and with that, she began to drag Squall back to the Garden building, built on the outskirts of the one and only forest on Centra, a little ways from Edea's old orphanage. Squall cast Irvine a pitying look as he was dragged away. Irvine paused, and then followed the two of them.
Brushing her hair back, Rinoa set the table and then sat down next to Squall. Selphie noticed that Rinoa's hair was much longer now, but still kept up very well, so it shined in the lazy beams of sunlight that entered the room. Rinoa looked a little paler than Selphie remembered, but when she talked, she could hear the cheery elegance that Rinoa had always had, and her good mood quickly rubbed off on Selphie.
"How are you!?" Rinoa chattered excitedly to Selphie, "You sound great from all of your letters!" Selphie blushed excitedly and began telling Rinoa of her various missions as a SeeD from Trabia.
"…Not many BIG jobs like we had in the past, but little stuff, you know. Mainly, we're, me and Headmaster Faylinn that is, are trying to help out as much as we can with the Timber independence movement." Rinoa shook her head,
"You would have thought that Timber would have been liberated by now," she said sadly, remembering her girlish idealism from her teen years. "I wonder where Zone and Watts are now…?" Rinoa continued, distantly. Selphie smiled,
"Oh you shouldn't worry about them, I saw them on a mission a couple of months ago. They're regular white SeeDs now," she giggled, childishly. Rinoa laughed and shook her head,
"What's so funny?" she asked. Selphie dropped her voice down to a whisper. Irvine rolled his eyes and looked at Squall, who shrugged back at him.
"All Zone did was ask about Quistis. It's like he's been in love with her ever since he gave up that train ticket way back in Timber." Rinoa's mouth broke into a broad smile and she began giggling along. Squall and Irvine, of course had overheard.
"I wonder how Quisty is doing?" though Irvine aloud. Rinoa shrugged,
"From her letters, I'd say she's doing great. She was training this wonder student of hers, Ainsley something or other…"
"Oh great, another Quistis," joked Irvine, interrupting Rinoa.
"…And she even took a vacation to FH," Rinoa finished.
"Quistis on vacation?" Squall spoke inquisitively.
"Yeah," said Irvine, "It does seem kind of out of character…"
"Well, I think Zell kind of made her go. I guess they've become really good friends," said Selphie.
"Quistis and Zell!?" asked Irvine incredulously. Rinoa rolled her eyes.
"No silly!" said Selphie, punching Irvine in the arm, "They're just friends," she emphasized. Squall shook his head. Of course that would be what Irvine's mind would jump to.
"Well, I'd better get back to work," said Squall abruptly. "You guys can come see me when you're done." With this, he got up and walked away. Selphie shook her head as she watched his retreating back.
"Still the same old Squall," she commented. Rinoa shook her head,
"Actually he's come along way. And he is right. Getting this Garden up and running is a lot of work." She sighed. Selphie looked a little worried.
"Are you okay?" she asked Rinoa, "You look kind of pale." Rinoa shook her head.
"I just have a cold," she responded, "But maybe I should lie down…" Rinoa rose from her seat as Selphie nodded. "Make yourselves at home," Rinoa continued, "If you need anything just ask," and with that she gracefully exited the room and walked up the stairs. Irvine turned his undivided attention to Selphie.
"So how come you have time to write letters to all the girls, but you don't write any to me?" said Irvine with a hurt look on his face. Selphie smiled, figuring he was joking.
"Like you would have time to answer them," she said with a warm smile, "But we can catch up now." Irvine's hurt look lingered for a few moments before disappearing.
"Yeah, you're right," he drawled. "So, sweetheart," he began, turning on all of his charm and leaning towards her, "How have you been?" Selphie laughed and began to talk animatedly.