Part One
Ani sat numbly as the car drove smoothly to Balamb. She would say nothing. She would shed no more tears, take no more taunts. She would sit silently as Instructor Trepe drove the car. That's all there was to do.
She looked out of the window at the familiar scenery. The drive was only ten minutes long, easily walked when one had the will. She had walked it often with Cal…
No, no thoughts like that. He was still alive. It didn't matter what condition he was in, or how much the doctors from Esthar worried; all that mattered was he was alive. Alive and he would stay that way.
She was in the car with others besides Instructor. Seifer Almasy was there, and so was some other guy. Squall was it? She couldn't remember.
She looked across at the other two. Squall sat staring at the ground, looking like she felt. Seifer on the other hand was leaning back proudly, looking at her in a mocking fashion. She felt a need to take that gunblade of his and shove it up his ass.
He read her look perfectly. "Hey now, what was that look for? Just because I didn't go and get that moron killed-"
Trepe immediately stopped the car and turned around. "Seifer Almasy! I'll have no nonsense of that sort! You have no reason to-"
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I hear ya. I'm just trying to cheer this girl up. Can't yell at a guy for cheering people up, can you Instructor?"
Trepe sighed heavily and shook her head. "Not another word. The written exam is in two weeks, and I would hate to pull my recommendation. Do you understand?"
Ani could see that he did. He immediately leaned back, his eyes suggesting murder.
Trepe smiled at Ani. "Much better." She turned around and continued the drive on.
They drove into Balamb a few moments later. The tranquil town always calmed Ani. There was no harshness to this place, no deceit. Only a calm acceptance.
The car came to a halt in the harbor. The four occupants stepped out onto the slippery ground. Ani looked around, not knowing what else to do. She vaguely realized that Instructor was talking.
"I want you three to remain right here." She looked at Seifer. "Is that understood?"
Seifer turned away from her and stretched. "Isn't it always?"
Trepe shook her head and walked to one of the sailors. Ani felt sorry for her. She was only a year older than most of her students, and although she plainly loved teaching, she hardly got the respect she deserved. Often she was fighting with scum like Almasy.
'Speak of the devil…' Seifer had walked to the edge of the harbor and was looking out across the water. His white coat swirled about him, causing a quite impressive profile. 'Too bad he's such an asshole.'
Squall was leaning against the car, once again looking down at his feet. She hadn't gathered up the will to thank him for rescuing her. She remembered the incident as she would a dream… A figure in T-rexaur's jaws, how could that possibly be Cal? She had screamed and screamed, unable to use her magic for fear of hurting her best friend. Suddenly a lightning bolt had struck the dinosaur in the tail, causing it to throw its meal down at its feet. Squall had jumped in, slashing it with his gunblade. He caused a deep gash across the beast's left leg, crippling it enough to make it into a card.
There had to be more, but she couldn't remember. All she remembered was Cal, as he bled into the turned up earth…
She cursed silently as a tear fell to her feet. Now wasn't the time for that.
Ani looked up and noticed that Seifer was looking at her. She wondered if he was planning his next wave of cruelty.
'Well, I'll soon find out.' The blond youth was walking over to her, a smirk on his face.
"What, are you bitter now? Just cause of a little thing I said? You know I didn't mean it."
She shrugged, not caring whether he meant it or not. He could go to hell for all she cared.
"Ani, look, that guy Cal getting hurt…it's not your fault. It's dumbass's fault for not getting there sooner." He looked over at Squall, his smirk growing. "Isn't that right, Leonheart?"
"Whatever."
Ani, deciding that this conversation was going no where, opened the door to the car and sat inside. If only Instructor Trepe would hurry…please hurry, please.
The other door opened and Seifer slid in.
"Listen, say something already! You and Mr. Depression out there are doing nothing but destroying the happy atmosphere! Look, you see them sailors?" He pointed out of the window at a bunch of sailors laughing and swapping jokes. "You're gonna make them sad! Is that what you want?"
Ani shrugged and broke her oath of silence. "I…I'm just not happy, ok? I just need to think."
Seifer leaned back and crossed his arms. "Think. You need to think, huh? Well, I'll tell you what. You tell me why you're so incredibly sad, and then I'll leave you alone."
Ani looked up cautiously. "Why do you, Seifer Almasy of all people, care?"
Seifer smiled a smile that would have melted her heart on any other occasion. "Well, you see, the problem is…" He leaned forward, his green eyes looking into hers. "The problem is, I think you're one of the most beautiful girls that I have ever seen. I hate seeing you so sad." He leaned back, leaving her in a state of shock. She watched as he nonchalantly looked out of the window. "Well, well. Here comes good old Quistis. I guess I better go receive my little punishment." He smiled at her again. "You owe me a story."
Ani pushed her back against the stiff leather of the seat as he got out of the car. Her? Beautiful? Nah. She was imagining things again. Post-traumatic stress and whatnot. Yeah. That. Nothing else. Really. Nothing else.
The door opened and Squall leaned in. "Instructor wants all of us out there." Ani nodded and got out of the car. The Instructor was having quite an argument with Seifer about the severity of his punishment. She turned to Squall and asked him what was happening. He merely shrugged.
Annoyed, Ani moved closer to hear what was happening. Upon further inspection, she found the whole conversation quite amusing.
"Wait one damn minute, lady. You mean that you want me to scrub some goddamn boat? Like I was a little janitor or something?"
"Seifer, the severity of your actions are what determined this punishment. Now, you need to understand that this punishment is a lot less than you deserve! Headmaster Cid has been more flexible with you than many Instructors feel appropriate!"
"Appropriate?" Seifer's green eyes were blazing with anger. "Appropriate, Instructor? You know what I think appropriate? Little mediocre instructors like you catching up on a few more years from the student's point of view. What are you, six-teen? Seven-teen? You gonna be a big girl one day, Quistis?"
Trepe stood up straight and folded her arms. "I hope you enjoy your walk home, Seifer Almasy. You are to work here for eight hours, no more, no less. If you leave ahead of time, I will be notified, and a much severer punishment will be issued." With that the rose-clad instructor turned and walked to her two other charges. Ani was the only one to notice as Seifer flicked her off.
Ani turned her attention back to Instructor Trepe, who was now standing before her. "Squall? Come over here please." The young man in leather obeyed the Instructor's command indifferently. Trepe nodded slowly and looked at the two. "Neither of you are in trouble, let me assure you. I understand the circumstances of the other day completely. Rarely do occurrences such as these ever happen, but when they do, they need strong people to work through them." She smiled warmly at Ani. "No one is to be blamed for what happened, despite what others, including yourselves, may think.
"I was asked to bring you here so that you could wander, buy things if you wish. Headmaster Cid thought that perhaps a little fresh air would help you. Feel free to roam about until around seven. Meet me by the entrance by then. You are dismissed."
Ani nodded in thanks and immediately turned towards the Dincht's, hoping that Zell was there. If there was anyone in the world who would cheer her up, it was Zell.
She reached the small adobe house and knocked on the door. She smiled when his mother opened the door.
"Ani? I didn't expect to see you around here at this time! Are classes all over with? You're not skipping them are you…"
Ani felt comforted by Mrs. Dincht's customary worries. "No worries, Mrs. Dincht. Instructor Trepe said that we could have the day off and roam."
Mrs. Dincht invited Ani inside and had her seated in the living room. "We, eh? And who is the other component?"
"Squall Leonheart. He's the one that…well…after the T-rexaur…"
The older lady patted her gently on the hand and smiled. "There, there. You don't need to go through it again. Zell told me when he came home earlier today. Now that I think about it, I fear that he's throwing his classes away these days. He's so unpredictable lately…"
Ani looked down at her feet. "I suppose we all are these days."
A long silence followed, during which Ani speculated over Zell's new behavior. He had missed a few classes lately, though she had failed to ask why. She had always assumed that it was due to problems at home, but everything was fine here…Ani shrugged the idea off.
"Well, now Ani, I suppose that you wish to see him. He's down at the weapon shop. Please talk some sense into that boy. I want him to do the best that he can, which won't amount to much if he continues his current habits."
"I'll do my best, Mrs. Dincht. Thank you very much."
Ani left and walked the short distance to the weapon shop, where she found both Squall and Zell, standing on opposite sides of the room. Squall appeared to be loitering, while Zell was looking eagerly into a glass case. She walked smoothly past Squall and over to her tattooed friend, who she tapped on the shoulder. He turned around and beamed when he saw her.
"Ani! Where the hell have ya been? I missed ya!"
Ani smiled and shrugged. "I got the day off. Seems like you did too."
Zell smiled bashfully. "Well, uh…there was this…you see, what happened was…"
"Oh be quiet. You're ditching class again, aren't you? Typical." Pretending to be annoyed she whirled around and walked out of the door. She sat on the bench outside and crossed her arms defiantly. Zell hurried after.
"Aww, Ani! Don't do that to me! You know that I'm bad at school anyway. I can't have all that pressure on me!"
Ani turned her head away. Zell wilted. "Tsk, fine. Hate me then. I know when I'm not wanted."
"Zell, you are wanted! They want you in the classrooms! I want you in the classrooms, so that you can qualify for the written test! Please Zell?"
Zell merely shrugged. "I don't know if I want to be a SeeD. It's all kinda freaky, stayin' far from home and not knowin' where ya gonna go next…I got Ma to take care of too…"
Ani rolled her eyes and stood. "Your mother can easily take care of herself. She's a strong woman. She raised you, didn't she?"
Zell smiled sheepishly. "Fine, if my Ani wants me in class, then in class I'll go. Tomorrow."
"Zell!"
"Well jeeze! Classes are half way through right now anyway! Gimme a break already!"
Ani smiled and shook her head. "Fine, you win." She looked down at the ground, a new habit, and speculated over what Seifer had said earlier. Now wasn't the time…
Hell, there would never be a time. She would make a time, and that time would be now.
"Zell, do you think I'm beautiful?"
The young man looked strikingly similar to a deer in the headlights.
"Uhh…well…what I mean is…uhh…what was the question?"
Smiling, Ani repeated her query.
"Are you beautiful? Tsk, hell yeah! Oops…What I mean is…yeah, you are. Aw man…" Zell wilted once more and turned for his house.
"Oh, Zell! Don't get all mushy on me. It was just a question, nothing more."
Zell shrugged. "You wanna head back to Garden? It's waaaay too boring here. We can go work out at the Training Center or somthin'!"
The words hit Ani in a way that she didn't want. Training Center. Such a simple place… Cal had just wanted to go train, but she just had to bring that damn camera… and leave her sai. She didn't care what Instructor Trepe said. It was all her fault.
Several tears fell to the ground, and she smudged them away with her foot. Zell, realizing what he had said, moved to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, Ani, I forgot. I didn't mean it…I'm sorry. It's ok…we can go get hot dogs or something. Please?"
Ani nodded and attempted a smile. "Don't be sorry, Zell. It's not your fault." She looked back at the weapon shop, where her leather-clad classmate was loitering. "Let me go tell Squall that I'm going, so he can tell Instructor Trepe."
"Awright."
Ani walked back into the dusty weapon shop and moved towards Squall.
"Hey, do you think that you can tell Instructor that I went back home? I don't have much to do here, and, well, I just need to go see if he's ok…"
Squall's look was far from cruel, yet far from caring. "I'll tell her."
"Thanks. And…Thanks for earlier too…He'd be dead if it weren't for you."
She watched as Squall regarded her for a moment and shrugged. "Whatever."
Ani left the weapon shop in a daze, wondering why Squall was so distant. As she followed Zell back to Garden, she silently hoped that she would never become that way.
She decided that she wouldn't… as long as Caleb was alive. As long as he was ok, she had no reason to worry.
She looked down at her moving feet, knowing that this was not true.