Balamb Garden's Yuletide Vacation
Chapter Thirteen
Wednesday, December the Thirteenth
Quistis ate with Matt at a table in the back of the cafeteria while Zell and Irvine sat quietly talking at another table. It was an hour after the last shift for lunch had been dismissed. Ordinarily most of them would already be back at work, but amazingly Selphie had somehow convinced Cid to give everyone a half a day off citing all the work that still needed to be done to prepare for Winterfest, which was presently only ten days away. The blonde woman realized instinctively that Squall didn't know about it or he would have vetoed the idea immediately.
"Quisty, why so quiet?" Selphie cried out over the din of the holiday music that Rinoa somehow was currently flooding the Garden with. The Garden Festival chairwoman was standing over an adjacent table working on the proposed program for Winterfest that was spread out in front of her. Selphie had managed to sell spots in the program to various businesses in Balamb to increase the already overblown budget, and add to the next festival's kitty. This was the first year that anyone had even attempted to make money this way much less actually accomplish it. Selphie was so persistent she even got Cid to buy a spot for Garden!
"Oh, just thinking," Quistis answered distractedly. She had been remembering the scene in her homeroom that took place three hours previously. Shana and Linnea had both been openly weeping when they passed the copies of their new emails to the instructor. The new material had been so blatantly obscene that it caused Quistis to flush uncomfortably even now just thinking about it.
Although this time someone might have made a mistake, she realized. Under email details, Quistis noticed it read that the email supposedly originated from a site called 'The Chicks of Balamb.' She wished she could be online right now using Goggle Search to run this latest clue down, but Selphie had insisted she remain with her to help out with the Festival Committee.
Suddenly the holiday music that had been blaring from the various speakers around the Garden ceased and was replaced with three obviously phony falsetto voices. "Ho! Ho! Ho! We're the Holiday Hos. If you would like to give a holiday treat to yourself or one of your loved ones, come visit us in Balamb. We usually hang out at 1375 Main Street in Balamb City. Drop by whenever you want to take pot luck or call ahead to make an appointment at 555-1777."
"What the hell!" Zell cried out, jumping up from his chair.
"Shhh!" Irvine cautioned. "I want to hear this."
As Selphie who had overheard her would-be-playboy boyfriend glared at him in anger, the message continued. "So remember...call the Holiday Hos to have some real fun at the holidays."
Quistis was struggling to no avail to hide her merriment at the message that she was sure originated with Seifer. Matt blustered, "I can't believe you find something so blatantly immoral to be funny, Quissy."
As she answered, her attention was divided between her boyfriend and the look of absolute horror on Zell's face. "Oh, come on, Matt. That was obviously a put-on by Seifer and quit calling me Quissy! I hate that name."
Oh Hyne, she thought. I didn't mean that to slip out like that. Looking at Matt, she observed that he appeared as if she had slapped him and she realized in actuality it would have been kinder if she had.
"Well, pardon me for breathing," he answered prissily.
"Oh no, Quistis! I absolutely refuse to listen to you talk about that Seifer crap again," Selphie protested. "Even if it is Seifer, it's his ghost doing it," she added quickly.
Irvine began to laugh loudly himself.
"And it's not funny either, Irvine," Selphie snapped at him.
Quistis grew concerned about Zell's continued shocked expression and asked, "Is everything okay, Zell. What's wrong?"
"That's my parents' address and phone number," he answered in a tortured voice. "I'm gonna kill that Seifer, even if he's already dead," he vowed and he ran through the room on his way out of the cafeteria.
"Zell! Don't go off half-cocked," Quistis warned.
"Now see what you've done, Quistis," Selphie accused. "You convinced Zell that your nonsense is true."
"Oh, be quiet, Selphie," Quistis retorted. "Just because you don't believe me doesn't make it nonsense."
"Don't talk to Selphie like that!" Irvine hoped to get back in Selphie's good graces by attempting to stand up for her.
"You shut up too, Irvine!" Selphie snapped. "I don't need your help with anything."
"Zell, where are you going?" Quistis called after him.
"I'm going up to the Cid's office to have him make an announcement saying that last announcement was absolutely not true," the excitable SeeD answered and he fled the cafeteria.
"Now see what comes of you thinking sin is funny," Matt retorted, "Quistis." He emphasized her name with irony.
Quistis stood up and threw her arms down by her sides in frustration as she declared, "I'm leaving and don't bother looking for me until you all are willing to have an open mind and at least pay me a little respect with this."
With that said, Quistis turned and stalked from the cafeteria in an attempt to follow Zell and help him calm down before he got himself in serious trouble somewhere along the way. She left Matt, Irvine, and Selphie squabbling loudly among themselves.
~*~
Selphie entered the Grand Ballroom slightly later in the afternoon and couldn't believe her own eyes. There were at least fifty people helping to decorate the giant tree and the surrounding environs with Rinoa in the middle of them directing operations. Rinoa, as usual, was holding a giant container of coffee and the trashcan held at least a half dozen empty ones. Selphie was beginning to come around to Quistis' point of view that something needed to be done to curb the young sorceress' budding caffeine addiction before it was too late.
The huge tree was completely decorated; in fact, it appeared overly decorated. There were so many objects on it a person would have difficulty seeing the actual tree. But none of the heretofore mentioned was the basis of Selphie's current amazement. Rinoa was wearing a totally new holiday outfit and even given Selphie's limited psychological training, she was beginning to worry about her friend's sanity.
Rinoa was wearing a holiday wreath that was so large it completely covered her from just under the chin to down near the navel. The only evidence that she was wearing anything else beneath were the thin straps halter top on her back. Her midriff was bare and starting at her waist Rinoa was appareled in a chocobo drawn sleigh sans the chocobo that was suspended from her shoulders by suspenders. It looked to be six feet in length and Rinoa appeared to be sitting in it, although of course she wasn't. The pseudo-sleigh was made of papier-mâché, had been very meticulously painted with authentic colors and was decorated with actual working twinkle lights. The outfit was finished with an elf cap on her head that jingled when she moved and knee-high black leather boots.
Hyne! Selphie thought. I hope she stays away from the fountains. The Winter Festival leader had a sudden vision of Irvine throwing a huge bucket of water on the papier-mâché sleigh just to see what might happen. Oh no! Not in this story he won't.
Rinoa turned and saw Selphie for the first time. A huge smile split her features as she called out, "Hi Selphie! What do you think?"
Before Selphie could formulate an appropriate response, because she was still so befuddled by her friend's latest outfit, Selphie spotted Angelo drinking out of the huge bucket the tree was planted in. Striding over to it, Selphie was angered to see it was almost completely out of water.
"Rinoa, please keep your dog from drinking the tree water. If she drinks all the water, the tree will turn brown way before the Ball," Selphie declared.
"How do you know Angelo drank much water from there?" Rinoa asked defensively.
"Because it's empty, that's why. I don't think there's been any people drinking out of there, if that's what you mean."
"Maybe someone is coming up here at night and doing something to it as a prank," Rinoa attempted again to excuse her pet's behavior.
"Rinoa," Selphie replied petulantly. "I just saw Anal drinking out of there, so keep her away from the water. That's all I'm asking you to do."
"That's Angelo," Rinoa snapped.
"Whatever."
Rinoa turned and offered her back as an answer while Selphie continued to glare at her friend. Quistis had just entered the ballroom with Zell and had unhappily witnessed the entire episode. She wondered once again what was going to happen to all of them if things kept up like this.
Feeling a tentative touch on her arm, Quistis turned to find Matt beside her holding a large wicker basket and a red plaid blanket.
"And what do you want?" the instructor snapped at her boyfriend.
Matt took a deep breath. "Ummm… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry and if you'll join me for dinner I'll never call you Quissy again," he blurted out.
Quistis sighed. She was very upset over the continued problems around Garden and just wasn't in the mood for a picnic. "Matt, I'm sorry," the blonde woman began to apologize, "I really just need to -."
"I remember when you couldn't wait to talk to me, Quistis, and it wasn't that long ago," the young man said forlornly, giving her his saddest puppy dog eyes.
Quistis smiled in spite of herself. Matt could be utterly cute when he wanted to be. Not one to stay angry, Quistis accepted. With a smile, Matt took her hand and led her from the ballroom to the quad where he laid out the blanket beneath a tree.
For a long time the young couple ate in silence. As the sun set over the distant Balamb Mountains, Quistis said, "It's beautiful isn't it?"
"Yes," Matt agreed. "What does it make you think about?"
"Mmmm… the future I suppose."
Matt turned to her, his dark brown eyes picking up the warm glow of the setting sun. "What kind of future?"
Quistis shrugged. "Oh I don't know, I really don't think about the future all that much."
"Why not?"
She thought for a moment, fiddling with a tendril of gold that had fallen from her tight chignon. "I guess it's because my past has been so screwed up, I'm afraid to hope for anything because I just feel that something will happen to dash my dreams."
"That's all water under the bridge now," said Matt, putting his arm around Quistis' shoulder. "Why don't you think about it now. What do you hope for?"
"I just want to be happy."
"And what would make you happy?"
Silence fell between them as Quistis mulled over the question. "I guess… no, never mind, it's just silly." She uttered a nervous giggle.
"Please tell me?"
Quistis turned her face away. "I guess what I really want is a family… I know it sounds so stupid…"
"Not at all!" Matt smiled. "You really want children?"
"Yeah. I guess that's why I became an instructor, I've always loved children."
Matt chuckled contentedly. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"
"One of each, I suppose… it doesn't really matter." She snuggled into Matt's embrace; this was the Matt she remembered.
"What about names?" he asked, "What would you name a girl if you had one?"
That was something Quistis didn't need to think about. "Adirah. Matron once told me that was my mother's name, that's all I have of her."
"Oh." Matt had no idea how to respond to that. "What about a boy?"
Quistis laughed. "I guess I would name a boy after his father."
"That's sweet," he said. With a finger on her chin, Matt turned Quistis's face up to his and kissed her gently. It was a pleasant kiss, but it filled Quistis with no passion, no longing. It was just a kiss.
When Matt withdrew his lips, Quistis rested her head on his shoulder. She realized that what she liked about Matt was that he listened to her when she spoke. Every other man she'd dated would use conversation as a way to try and get her into an intimate position. Quistis never had to worry about that with Matt, he was just too sweet.
And yet she found Matt's sweetness slightly insulting. Didn't he find her attractive? Where was the desire a man was supposed to have for his girlfriend? It seemed that Matt had about as much desire for her as she had for him. That was okay for the present, but would she be willing to settle for that in the long run?
Hyne, why do I think so much? Putting all thoughts aside for the moment, Quistis resolved to just enjoy moment. She would worry another day. For now she wanted to savor a moment that she had thought would never come again.
~*~
It was early evening and time for Selphie's weekly after dinner poker game. The regulars were there including Irvine and minus Squall. Even Matt and Nicole had joined in. Although it was just mostly a penny ante game, with the highest bet possible being a quarter gil, a person could literally lose his paycheck for the week if they hit a streak of bad luck. It could add up quickly.
The game was dealer's choice; in other words, the right to be dealer rotated clockwise around the table per hand and the dealer could choose the game, although it had to be poker. Most of the players usually chose five card draw, nothing wild, jacks or better to open, but Irvine would always insist on playing seven card stud, with the emphasis being on the word stud.
The players were all clustered around a card table that Selphie, being the head of the Garden Festival committee, was able to check out of the Garden supply room. Irvine had just returned to the table from the bathroom. Selphie dealt the next hand of five-card draw. The play fell to Irvine who was sitting to the left of her.
"Open," he said throwing a quarter gil into the pot. Everyone followed his example.
As the players laid out the cards they wanted to discard, Selphie heard Angelo, who was with Rinoa since she went almost everywhere with her, slurping noisily out of the toilet bowl in the bathroom. "Rinoa," Selphie complained, "I wish you could keep your dog from drinking out of the toilet."
"Angelo gets thirsty, Selphie," Rinoa explained defensively. "If you don't like her drinking out of the toilet, put a bowl of water down."
"Why does she have to come anyway?" Selphie continued to whine.
"Because Angelo is my guardian and I never know when I might be falsely attacked," Rinoa answered not even bothering to look up from her hand.
"I want three cards, Selphie," Irvine pointed out attempting to prompt her to get on with the game.
"Excuse me, don't you mean he?" Nicole asked. "Isn't Angelo a boy's name?"
"You look under that dog and if you see anything that resembles a male dog, you can call the dog he," remarked Irvine, smirking.
"You don't have to be crude about it, you know," Nicole groused.
"Oh yes, he does," Selphie declared. "He has to be crude about everything."
"Hey, hey!" the longhaired young man protested.
"So how long have you been a Mystic Hyneist?" Rinoa asked Nicole.
"Almost since birth," Nicole explained. "Most people are born into it. I was, because my parents were. Although each year a few thousand people are baptized into our religion." She glared at Zell and said, "It's the world's fastest growing religion, you know." Zell didn't even look up for fear of destroying the fragile truce between him and his beloved Nicole.
"That's very interesting," Irvine spoke in a voice that struck a false note with everyone there. His attempt at ingratiating himself with the ladies only served to annoy everyone present.
Selphie, noticing that Nicole had glanced sharply at him, advised, "Don't pay him any mind at all."
Everyone picked up the new cards to replace the ones they had discarded from their hands. "You know," Irvine said, "I don't know if I flushed the last time I used the commode."
Right then Angelo chose that second to come wandering out of the bathroom coughing, "Akkk, akkk, akkk!"
"Oh sweet Hyne!" Rinoa exclaimed, turning a sickly shade of green. "You're trying to kill my dog!"
"Calm down, Rinoa," Irvine pleaded.
"Okay for you, you cheater!" Selphie exclaimed, suddenly slamming her left hand down hard on Irvine's right hand as he was attempting to look at the cards she had discarded.
"Ow!" he complained. "Not so hard, Selphie."
"Cheaters never prosper," said Matt who had been strangely quiet throughout the game. Quistis slapped a hand to her forehead in frustration.
Why does he always have to recite those inane clichés? The blonde instructor thought.
"Irvine, you get out of here right now!" Selphie demanded.
"What if I don't want to?" Irvine asked.
"Then I'll make you!" Selphie threatened standing up.
"Oh, yeah?" Irvine also stood up towering over the brown-haired woman.
"No, I'll make you," Rinoa spoke quietly. She also stood and her eyes were blazing. "Want to try me?" she asked.
"Maybe another day," Irvine replied jamming his cowboy hat on his head. "See you folks around," he bantered while leaving the room quickly.
Nicole clapped her hands. "That was magnificent, Rinoa!" Selphie and Rinoa seated themselves at the table and continued their poker game. Quistis, who was trying not to laugh at the idiocy of the situation, bent her face down over her cards.
"Now what was this you were saying about people joining your religion?" Rinoa asked. As the group talked and the cards went around the table again and again, Selphie listened intently. I don't know if I believe any of this or not, but I'll do anything to insure that this is the best Winter Festival ever, she thought.