IX
"I'd rather be stuck in an elevator with a Malboro."
--Instructor Sierra, on attending a formal Garden function

Aya rolled out of her bed as she woke--literally, in fact. Landing on the carpet with a grunt, she shook her head roughly to clear it and sat up. Groaning, she noted that the predawn light was beginning to come in through the curtains--she was really going to have to shop for some opaque ones, one of these days.

The sound that had awaken her repeated itself, a rough knock against the door. Looking over at the clock, she groaned again. "It's five thirty!" she called. "Go away."

"Get up," Squall ordered roughly, and Aya once again rued the installation of family suites in Garden. "We're leaving in an hour."

"What? Leaving?" Aya wondered if the exchange might make more sense when she was more fully awake.

"You're coming with us to Galbadia Garden," Squall explained curtly. "The train leaves at seven."

"I'll skip out this time," Aya called back, leaning back against the side of the bed. "You people go on ahead."

"You're coming," Squall said, and it sounded as if it was final. Aya growled a little to herself, but finally gave in.

"Fine," she snarled. "But don't think you're getting a lecture in. I'm making up my sleep on the train."

There was a Hmph. from the other side of the door, and the sound of footsteps moving off.

Aya stood and stretched, feeling muscles pull against each other across her back. Flopping back onto the bed, she stared up at the ceiling wearily.

One could practically feel the tension in the suite vibrating like a low note on a bass. She hadn't seen her father at all since she had stormed out of his office, having snuck in and locked herself in her room before he had had a chance to return from the SeeD ball and his meeting with Fujin. She wasn't sure quite what to expect next, and she had the feeling that neither was he--in an instant, she had thrown their antagonism far beyond what it had been in the past, and this was quickly falling into the realm of terra incognita in terms of family relations.

Forcing herself up off the bed, she moved to her closet and shuffled through the various articles that hung there. Searching toward the back for her travel pack, her hand jerked away as it came into contact with the distinctive feel of fur. Pushing aside her shirts, she gave a baleful glare to the white-maned jacket that hung on the second rack, unused and largely forgotten. She had inherited it when she was much younger, when she still wanted to emulate her father. By the time she had grown enough to fit it, she wanted no part of it anymore.

Snorting, she pushed its hanger roughly out of the way. Grabbing the sturdy cloth of her pack, she pulled down a few sets of clothes and shoved them in unceremoniously. Tossing the pack onto the bed, she picked out an outfit for herself to wear. Her hand moved to her favorite old jacket, a dark, open-fronted thing with a snake motif embroidered across the sleeves and shoulders in silver thread, but her hand stopped as she considered that it might not be the best of all days to antagonize her father. Especially if she was going to spend several hours cooped up with him on a train.

When she finally emerged from her room, she was dressed in a pair of heavy black pants and boots, and light long-sleeved shirt in an absolutely neutral grey. Rinoa glanced up at her as she walked into the family room, setting down her tea. "Impersonating a raincloud again?" she asked lightly. "You're all dark and ominous."

Aya gave her a halfhearted glare.

"You'll be expected to turn in your GFs by the end of the week," Squall said darkly from behind her, prompting her to spin around.

"Good morning to you, too," she grumbled.

Squall shook his head. "You used to be such a nice child."

"I grew up," Aya retorted.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Rinoa interjected before an argument had the chance to start up. "Truce?"

Aya shrugged and headed for the door. "I'll be back before we have to leave," she reassured preemptively, and didn't give them time to object before the door shut behind her.

"Don't go after her," Rinoa warned. Squall looked over.

"Why not?"

"It wouldn't do anyone any good to have you two screaming at each other in the halls," Rinoa reasoned. Squall looked a bit put off.

"I wouldn't have screamed at her," he objected.

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't have intended to," Rinoa returned.

Squall's hand twitched as he tried to keep it from flying to his forehead. "The girl is insufferable sometimes," he growled.

Rinoa smiled, tilting her head ever-so-slightly to one side. "Hmm," she began. "Sounds a lot like someone I used to know."

Squall's face darkened. "I don't know what you're talking about," he retorted.

"Uncommunicative, headstrong, proud..."

Squall's glare had narrowed with each adjective, until it had reached the point where if his eyebrows moved any closer together Rinoa was afraid they would cross over to opposite sides of his forehead. "You have no idea what--"

"Of course I do," Rinoa interrupted. "I have to live with the both of you." Standing, she returned her tea to the counter. "Look, do me a favor, all right? I know things have taken a bad turn--"

There was an annoyed snort from Squall.

"--but can you two just try to get along for the next few days? We don't need you making a scene in Galbadia."

"It's nowhere near that simple," Squall said.

"Just try for me, all right?" Rinoa turned and gave him a look. "That's all I'm asking."

Squall considered for a moment. "Fine," he finally agreed. "But you'd better warn her, too."

"I will, I will," Rinoa reassured. "But I thought that I might start with the more sensible party."

That seemed to soothe his ego a bit. Without a word, he turned and returned to his room.

"Hey, Kam!"

Kam started, looking up at the person who had decided to seat themselves at the other end of the table--entirely without his notice. "Uh, hi," he offered awkwardly.

Aya glanced at his tray. "Are you eating that or dissecting it?" she asked, motioning to his egg, which looked as if it had gotten into a fight with a meat tenderizer. He glanced down, shoving the plate away.

"I'm never hungry in the morning," he lied.

"You're here eating breakfast at five thirty," she noted. "So, I'm guessing that they're dragging you up to Galbadia, too?"

Kam nodded. "Yeah. They said I should get a vacation to celebrrrrgh..."

Aya's gaze locked onto his uniform as he ended the word in a mumble. "...uh, I never got the chance to congratulate you," she said awkwardly.

"It's nothing, really," Kamalyn murmured, now experiencing a whole new spectrum of discomfort.

"Yeah. SeeD, nothing, they're practically synonyms."

That ended the conversation for a long moment.

Kamalyn fidgeted. "Look, Aya, I'm sorry that--"

"I don't want to talk about it," Aya said. "It's just a problem between Da and I. I can take care of it."

Kamalyn wasn't sure quite how to respond to that, so he pulled back his tray and began picking at his egg again.

"I wonder how long they're going to keep us cooped up in G-Garden," Aya said, reaching for a more comfortable topic.

"It'll be nice to see everyone again," Kamalyn mused.

"Cabe will probably get us into trouble again," Aya said.

Kamalyn looked up. "Aya," he started. "That whole Wendigo incident was your fault."

Aya shrugged. "Yeah, but Cabe's the one who came up with the idea. And got ahold of the uniform, might I add. And started the rumors."

"Yes, but you're the one who Sleeped it and--you know what, never mind. I fear for the stability of Galbadia while you two are in the same room."

Aya grinned and leaned forward. "You're going to help us again, aren't you?"

"Correction," Kamalyn said, motioning with his fork. "I'm going to make sure you two don't bring the entire infrastructure of Garden crashing down around your ears."

"Hey, Headmaster Aurelion thought it was funny," Aya said.

Kamalyn rolled his eyes and sent a beseeching look up into the heavens. "Please, Aya," he said. "I just want a boring visit for once. I want the most exciting thing to happen to be a few rounds of Triple Triad with Tam. Is that so much to ask?"

Aya frowned. "Boredom isn't good for you," she said. "You need some variety in your life."

"You should be sedated for this trip," Kamalyn grumbled. Aya shrugged, and glanced at a clock.

"I need to go pack something," she said, grabbing the breakfast roll she had taken and wrapping it up into a napkin. "I'll talk to you on the way over, okay?"

"Right," Kamalyn said. "I'll just be praying until then."

Aya flashed him a grin and darted out of the cafeteria. Kamalyn shook his head and returned his gaze to his breakfast. After a moment he gave it up as a lost cause, and quietly fed it to the nearest trash bin. Then he stood, and made his way back to his dorm.