Chapter 19
Tuesday, December the Nineteenth
Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by SquareSoft.
Xu, bursting into Cid's office, disturbed his breakfast of a Fruitrigrain bar and a pineapple smoothie. "Come quickly, Sir! We have a bit of a situation out front!" She breathed heavily, her full bosom heaving up and down.
Cid was momentarily distracted before the immediacy of Xu's words sunk into his head. "What's wrong, my dear? Is Rinoa Angel Winging again?"
"No, no!" cried Xu, "please, come with me."
Realizing something serious was happening the aging man followed Xu to the front of Garden. Once there he could not believe his eyes. It seemed every resident of Balamb was there with a sign, chanting and protesting. What they were protesting, however, Cid could not be sure until a representative of the town approached him.
The owner of the hotel walked up to Cid with an embarrassed expression. "Uh, hey, Cid," he greeted his old friend.
"Hello George," responded Cid. "Er... what's happening here?"
George scuffled his shoes in the dirt. "The whole town's in an uproar 'cause the holiday lights are so bright on this here buildin' no one can get any sleep."
"Ohhh..." Cid scratched his head. "I don't see how we're going to remedy the situation," said Cid, "many of my students are worked up over the holidays and it would sure disappoint them to have to undo the decorating..."
George chuckled. "Oh that's okay. You see, the townsfolk... they don't want to ruin your holiday, they just want..."
"Yes?"
"Well, you see, Cid...umm...the whole town's been saving for a Solstice jamboree, and we're about a hundred-thousand gil short." George rubbed his fingers together in the international hand signal for cash.
Catching his innuendo, Cid said, "Consider it paid for. I'll send a messenger to you in the morning." He knew he was being taken, but Cid didn't know what else to do.
"Oh great!" exclaimed George. " Hey, everyone!" he called to the crowd, "We got it!" The hotel owner gave the protesters the thumbs up sign and the crowd began to disperse.
"Sir," said Xu with a worried voice, "can Garden afford that?" The two walked back in through the main entrance.
"It'll have to, Xu," said Cid, "that's what the holidays are all about!"
Deciding to take Quistis' advice, Squall was on a mission to find his estranged girlfriend. He soon found her in the Quad reading to a large group of students from a very thick book. She was dressed in flowing ice blue robes, and even Squall had to admit she looked lovely.
Weaving his way through the crowd, the commander approached Rinoa. She looked up at him with a questioning expression. "Um, hi Squall," she said.
"Hey Rin... er... how've you been?"
"Fine thanks," she answered coolly. When Rinoa returned to her reading as if he wasn't even there, Squall became frustrated and gave up. He turned and started to leave, but Rinoa called him back. "Was there something you wanted, dear?"
"Actually," said Squall, "there was." He jammed his hands deep into his jacket pockets and shuffled his feet. "Could I talk to you in private?"
"Oh sure." The young sorceress stood up and addressed her flock. "I shall return, my children, please ponder what I have taught you today."
As the uncomfortable couple walked through the corridor on the way to Squall's office Rinoa remarked, "I've been needing to talk to you anyway."
"Have you now?" Squall guided his girlfriend into his office and the door slid closed behind them. "What about?"
Rinoa clutched her holy book tight against her chest. "Well, I understand that you don't love me anymore, but..."
"What?" Squall barked out in surprise.
Rinoa sighed and continued. "But I need to remind you of your divine duty as my knight."
Squall pressed his palm to his forehead. "Do you think we could discuss this at another time?"
She shook her head. "No, Squall, this is most important. Your very soul could be in jeopardy if you don't fulfill your obligation to me. That vow you made to me was sacred, I can't just go out and find myself a new protector!"
"Rinoa-" Squall tried to interject but she cut him off.
"Hyne says... um where was that quote?" The self-appointed guru quickly flipped through the pages of The Book of Hyne. "Ah yes, here it is. Hyne says, 'Activate yourself to duty by remembering your position, who you are, and what you have obliged yourself to be.'"
Squall crossed his arms tightly and glared at Rinoa in frustration. "What is with you lately?"
"Huh?"
Squall flopped wearily into his desk chair. "This just isn't like you Rinoa."
The ebony-haired beauty lifted her chin proudly. "I've learned the truth, Squall."
"The truth?" Squall suppressed a laugh. "Are you telling me you actually believe this junk?"
Rinoa opened her brown eyes wide. "Junk? Junk?" Her hands began to shake and her face contorted in anger.
"I know how you go through these phases and get all obsessive..." Squall was attempting to keep his voice even and calm.
Rinoa stomped her foot. "You may think Mystic Hyneism is just a phase to me, Squall, but I assure you I am serious about this." She leaned over Squall's desk. "So serious it hurts."
Squall was suddenly overcome by a feeling of déjà vu. His mind instantly returned to a similar argument he had with Rinoa during the war. He swallowed trying to clear the lump that had formed in his throat. "Now, don't get all upset, Rinoa."
Rinoa forced out a smile. "I am not upset, Squall," Rinoa lied, her voice rising several decibels. "But I am not going to speak to you until you can listen to me with an open mind!" The Mystic Hyneist whirled about and flounced from the office, leaving Squall alone.
Well, that went well, thought Squall sarcastically.
Rinoa quickly located Andrea and Selphie who were discussing some of the final plans for the Winterfest Ball in the cafeteria. When she saw them, Rinoa immediately burst into tears.
"Oh, Rinoa!" cried Andrea, rushing over to her dear friend. "What's wrong?" Nicole, who had been purchasing a snack, and Selphie also ran to Rinoa's side.
"I t-talked to Squall," she began to explain.
"Oh," said Selphie, "that was your first mistake right there."
Rinoa continued, "He's so stubborn, he just wouldn't listen to me... we'll never get back together at this rate." She began to sob all the louder.
An idea came to Selphie just then and she excused herself to make a phone call.
In the confines of her office Selphie pulled out her cell phone and pulled up a rarely used number. The line rang twice before it was answered by a sweet sounding voice.
"Oh Elle!" cried Selphie, "I'm so glad you're there!"
"Selphie?" asked Ellone, "What's wrong? You sound so upset!"
Selphie proceeded to blurt out all that had transpired between Rinoa and Squall, Nicole and Zell, and herself and Irvine. Selphie also tacked on how depressed Quistis had been lately.
"With everyone fighting our Solstice celebration is gonna suck!" screeched Selphie.
"Oh my!" said Ellone, obviously very disturbed by all Selphie had told her. "I'll try to come up with something," the older woman assured her orphanage comrade, "We'll speak more tomorrow when I get there."
"Okay," agreed Selphie, sniffling. "Is Sir Laguna still coming?"
"Well, he was last time I spoke with him. Of course that was a whole week ago."
"If he doesn't show it'll just ruin everything," cried the green-eyed sprite.
On the other end of the line, Ellone sighed. "You just relax, Sefie, I'm sure he'll come. He seemed quite excited about seeing Squall again after all this time. Now, I'll talk to you tomorrow, try to hang in there, okay?"
"Okay," Selphie agreed.
When she returned to the cafeteria she saw Nicole and Andrea had managed to calm Rinoa. Nicole was reading to Rinoa from The Book of Hyne. "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding," read Nicole, "Even as the stone of the fruit must break so that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain."
Wow, thought Selphie, There's something in that book for every occasion.
She was very surprised to observe a puppet theatre set up in the corner of the room. The young sorceress nudged Selphie and inquired, "What's that puppet theatre doing here?"
"I don't have the slightest idea." Selphie shook her head. "It's nothing I have planned or that's been scheduled through me."
A tall man suddenly stood up from behind the theatre. He was appareled in a traditional court jester's costume of many brightly colored diamond shaped patches. The floppy hat on his head had multiple arms like an octopus with a bell on each end. The man's face was completely covered by a mask.
"Come children!" he called out in a high-pitched voice.
The children broke ranks as one, quickly jumping to their feet and racing to the puppet theatre. "No running in the library," Nicole couldn't help but call out.
"Everyone please be seated," Selphie ordered.
The children clambered to obey, sensing something special and out of the ordinary was going to transpire. Once every child was seated, the mysterious puppeteer stepped to the young women who had remained standing in the background.
"It is good fortune you all are present, for I have need of an assistant. How about you, young lady?" the man asked and reached and wrapped Quistis' hand in his.
"Okay..." she gulped.
"Good show!" the puppeteer enthused and led her around the back of the theatre and helped her duck behind by guiding her until her knees rested on a large pillow.
"You don't fool me," Quistis softly accused. "I know who you are."
The man said nothing, but rather handed her a puppet she was to manipulate and held up the script between them. He then picked up a puppet of his own to perform with and the play commenced.
"Help! Save me! Save me!" cried out a beautiful strawberry-blonde haired puppet that was dressed in a pretty pink gown. She was running in terror from a huge ugly green dragon and a sword-toting brigand who shouted out, "You can't escape us now!"
"Save me!" Quistis called out again impersonating her puppet's voice. In her excitement to move her puppet she leaned heavily into the mystery man causing his voice to break slightly as he read the brigand's next line, "You come back here!"
It made the reading far more comical and the children roared with laughter. From her position near the back, Rinoa appeared thoughtful as she suddenly realized who that man really was and that Quistis had been correct all along. She decided to say nothing, however.
"My prince, where are you?" the beautiful puppet called out. As the blonde woman continued to lean heavily into the puppeteer he sat as if he were rooted to the very spot. "What's the holdup, prince?" Quistis hissed to him.
"My prince?" the female puppet cried out again. Suddenly the prince puppet appeared by popping up. "Sorry, I'm late," he explained.
"Where were you? I've been calling for you," Quistis shouted out actually feeling a little put out that he hadn't shown up before this.
"I promise I wasn't thinking anything weird," the prince puppet declared.
"What was that?" the young woman puppet asked excitedly. "What are you doing?" Quistis whispered. "That wasn't in the script."
"Just talking to myself," the male puppet explained. The children laughed uproariously even though to a rational human being the play was beginning to make no sense. As the young male puppeteer chose that moment to freeze completely, Quistis directed, "Say your line."
"Okay," he murmured, but remained silent.
"What's wrong? It's right here," the blonde woman pointed out on the script while completely leaning into the young man, pressing her firm left bosom into his chest. If his face hadn't been masked, it would have been noted that his forehead had broken out in a sheen of perspiration. "Go!" she demanded.
"I-I-I'm off to fight the monster," the prince stammered.
"Oh please don't go! That's a terrible fate. Stay here with me," Quistis had the young beauty intone in a seductive voice.
"Okay," the prince agreed. Quistis collapsed her puppet in surprise, as that was not the next line.
"What do you mean, okay?!" Quistis screamed through the puppet.
The male puppeteer suddenly remembered the script and murmured, "Oh, yeah." Again the children screamed in laughter at the confusion in the play.
Quistis' female puppet questioned, "Will you cast me aside and go off into battle?" She pushed even harder into the young man's chest. "Oh prince!" the female puppet cried out as Quistis pushed her puppet a little higher in the air so it could be seen easier by the children in the back her entire body now pressed against the mysterious young man.
"I love you!" Quistis called out. Of course, she said it as her puppet but there was so much emotion in her voice the statement seemed to ring and ring and ring in the sudden silence of the room.
"Oh Quistis!" the prince puppet moaned and he threw his arms around the female puppet before him.
"Look here, I am a princess, not a Quistis!" the blonde woman spoke, hoping to repair the male puppeteer's faux pas. "Farewell, my prince," the princess called out and sighed leaning forward to kiss the prince. Quistis' body once more pressed against the young man.
"Oh Quistis!" the prince moaned.
"Prince!" the female puppet screamed striking him over the head. "Farewell," she said once again and pushed him off the small puppet theatre stage while the prince called out in vain, "Quistis!"
The children were literally rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically. Rinoa stood engaging in her low throaty laugh understanding full well what had just transpired while Selphie, Nicole, and Andrea looked on confused but happy that the children enjoyed the confusing spectacle.
Behind the theatre still crouched on the floor, Quistis smiled and whispered, "See you later." She stood up while the mysterious young man disappeared into a panel in the wall. Let 'em wonder about that! he thought sardonically.
As Rinoa stepped to the front of the theatre to speak to the children, Quistis took her place in the back of the room. Selphie took the princess puppet from Quistis and inspected it closely.
"Look!" she whispered. "This puppet looks like you."
Quistis took it back and examined it more closely. It does look like me, she thought. With everything he does, Seifer continues to amaze me, The blonde woman surreptitiously tucked it away in the pocket of her skirt along with the prince puppet that looked suspiciously similar to a certain prankster she knew.
After a few moments the children had calmed enough for the young sorceress to proceed with her original plan. Rinoa took the seat that Nicole had provided for her.
"Good evening, children," said Rinoa, flashing a knowing glance at Quistis, who blushed as she realized her friend was in on the joke. "Tonight I am going to read you the story of the Winter Witch," she explained. "Have any of you heard this story before?"
When none of the children raised their hands, Rinoa smiled sadly. "I think you'll all enjoy this story," she told them, "my mom read this to me when I was a young girl." A dark cloud seemed to pass over the young sorceress' face, but then cleared away as she shared a piece of her childhood with these children, many of who were orphans.
"Long, long ago," she began, "the world was under the control of many sorceresses. Some were good, and some were evil and because of this they were always fighting with each other. Soon the people they ruled became very poor." Rinoa looked up and saw that many of the children were already enraptured with the tale and she went on. "There was one young sorceress who had no kingdom to rule and the poor people of the world made her very sad. She would travel around the world using her power to help the needy, giving them the things they needed to survive."
"Very soon this sorceress had many people following her around the world helping her to bring hope to the poor. This worried some of the other sorceresses, for they ruled by creating fear among the people. If the people no longer feared sorceresses, then the sorceresses would have no way to control anyone."
"So, a small group of sorceresses got together and used their power against the good sorceress. They banished her to the North Pole where she was trapped for many, many years."
"One day, a starving reindeer who had gotten lost from his herd wandered up to the door of the good sorceress' cabin. Being lonely, she took the reindeer in and they became good friends. She named her new friend Vixen. What the sorceress did not know, and was soon to discover, was that Vixen was a magical reindeer. Vixen could fly faster than time, but only on one night of the year. That night was the Solstice, the longest night of the year."
"When that night came the sorceress and Vixen were able to leave the North Pole and bring gifts to the world. Unfortunately because they had to be back home by daybreak, they could only deliver their presents to those who deserved them most. From then on she became known as the Winter Witch and people would leave snacks for her and Vixen in case they got hungry on their journey."
Rinoa saw that all of the children, and many of the adults listening in had been taken by her story. She smiled at them. "The End," she concluded.
Everyone burst out in applause. "Okay, children," said Nicole, "it's time for bed now." The librarian herded the young ones out of the library.
Suddenly a very cute little boy burst from the crowd and planted himself on Rinoa's lap. "Are yoo the Winter Witch?" he asked.
Rinoa laughed and hugged him close. "No," she said, "I'm not."
The sweet little boy kissed Rinoa on the cheek. "I think yoo are," he told her.
"Okay, Donald," said Nicole taking the child by the hand and leading him back to the others, "off to bed with you."
"Night night!" the little boy called out, waving. Those remaining in the library waved back.
"I thought that went wonderful, Rinoa," Irvine praised. "You were great," he said while slightly tipping his hat to her.
"Where did you come from?" she asked with surprise in her voice.
"I've been over there the entire time," the longhaired man explained pointing over to the far corner.
Before stepping away, wishing to not appear impolite, Rinoa asked, "Is there something I can do for you?"
"Well, yes," Irvine answered, "there is, now that you've asked. I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"Sure, if I can," the young sorceress replied helpfully. "What is it?"
Irvine responded by grasping Rinoa lightly on the arm and leading her out of the room. "I'll tell you out here. I want it to be a surprise and the walls have ears around here, you know." The dark-haired woman smiled and nodded knowingly as they left the library.
Selphie stood with her hands upon her hips staring after them with an unpleasant expression on her face.
Nicole asked, "Selphie, what do you think that was about?"
"I don't know," was her answer. "But I don't think I care for it much."
A/N: Rinoa's duty quote is from Thomas a Kempis; the passage about pain is from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. Apologies to the great Rumiko Takahashi for borrowing her puppet theatre scene from her manga and anime of Maison Ikkoku.