Balamb Garden's Yuletide Vacation

Chapter 22

Friday, December the Twenty-second

The Quickening

It was early morning on December Twenty-second – Solstice Eve Day. Squall was cursing his luck to be the one who was responsible for conducting a full inspection of the Garden. The duty rotated on an every third day basis between he, Cid, and Xu. And today was his day, the second worst day of the year. In Squall's opinion the worst day was Solstice Day, but at least that had the grace to be a holiday and he could remain in his room the entire day.

It all began at the 0700 inspection of all students. Contrary to customary behavior, many of them were giggly and appeared agog with the veritable winter wonderland that Rinoa had created within Garden. He particularly blamed her for the cadets' inappropriate behavior.

"Silence!" Squall barked. "Or be placed on report immediately."

The room fell quiet.

"Alright, roll call!"

After all the students had being accounted for, Squall commanded, "Dismissed, but remember – the holiday doesn't begin until 1800 hours. This is a regular day. Treat it as such – understand?"

There were a few half-hearted "Yes sirs," and one of the more bold upperclassmen wished the commander a "Happy Solstice!"

"Whatever," replied Squall with a scowl.

Everywhere that Squall traveled to inspect in the Garden on that morning someone wished him season's greetings. By the time lunchtime approached, the ill-tempered young man was literally brimming over with frustration and irritation.

It wasn't until Squall decided to stop at the cafeteria for a quick cup of coffee that the entire situation culminated in a nasty scene. Stepping up to the beverage counter, Squall espied his friends sitting with Ellone near the back of the cafeteria. Pointedly ignoring them as they were waving and calling out to him, he did not want to be bothered with making small talk with anyone right then.

I wish they'd snap it up with my coffee, he thought.

Ellone broke away from the group and approached the young commander.

"Squall," the young woman kindly entreated. "Come spend some time with us. We're celebrating with a traditional Solstice Eve breakfast of Shumisbury steak, salmon patties, and sauerkraut."

"Please, Elle," Squall answered in an attempt to be civil. "I'm far too busy with my duties for such socializing."

"Squall, this is me," Ellone said placing her hand lightly on his arm. "Surely you can spare a few minutes for your friends and family?"

Squall flipped her hand off his arm. "Family? What family? You think the little that you and Laguna have been involved in my life qualifies you as my family?"

Ellone stood stunned for several moments before tears began to form in her eyes and rolled down her face. Striving to hide his sudden pangs of guilt from both himself and Ellone, he became even more furious.

"Why are you here anyway? Why don't you go home to Esthar where you belong?"

With that parting shot, Squall turned on his heel, and stalked from the cafeteria silently cursing himself for having forgotten his coffee. All conversation in the cafeteria had fallen away as Squall's voice had risen so his entire interaction with Ellone was heard perfectly by everyone in the room.

Selphie and Quistis, who sought to comfort her, quickly surrounded Ellone.

"Don't cry, Sis." Selphie offered her a hug. "He didn't mean it."

"Yes, he did," Quistis contradicted. "He's acting like a bastard."

"No, Quisty," Ellone explained while wiping away her tears from her face. "He's frightened and feeling terribly alone. I have a plan and I'm going to help him. By the way, has anybody seen Rinoa? I need to talk to her."

"I think she said something about needing to see the doctor," Selphie answered.

"Hmmm…" Quistis appeared greatly worried.

~*~

It had been quite a few minutes since her last class had let out and Quistis still sat behind her desk lost in thought. Selphie was waiting for her in the Quad, which made the instructor even less desirous of moving.

What am I going to do? I wish I'd never won this damn Winter Queen thing. I know Matt expects me to pick him as King and it will really hurt him if I don't. But what about my feelings? Shouldn't that count for something too?

The young blonde woman decided to leave it to fate. If she went searching and discovered him, then Quistis would know for certain that she was doing the right thing.

Pulling open one of the drawers in her desk she extracted a small wrapped Solstice gift. Striding purposely from her classroom Quistis walked down to the far end of the corridor away from the elevators. Glancing and discovering herself to still be the only person in the hallway, Quistis pushed against the wall in the spot she remembered would lead her to the hidden passageway.

Quistis was in luck. She only had reached the second level down when she met Seifer advancing in her direction.

"Well, instructor," he greeted, "What are you doing? Slumming?" The expression on his face made it apparent he was still upset about their last encounter.

The young woman grimaced slightly. "Nice to see you again too, Seifer."

The former knight's face fell slightly and he flushed. "I'm sorry, that's wasn't very nice for a Solstice Eve I'll admit. How are you?" Seifer asked, seeking to remedy the awkward situation.

Sensing a slight opening in Seifer's usual cynical bitter attitude, Quistis blurted out, "I want you to come up to the afternoon festivities."

"Why?"

"Because I'm inviting you and it's a surprise," she said blushing slightly.

"I'm not sure what's going on this afternoon yet."

"Won't you please try and fit me into your busy schedule?" Quistis tried to smile coyly like Rinoa was able to do so well. Unfortunately, she managed to only feel awkward and tilted her face floor-ward so her long hair would hide her blush.

Seifer crossed his arms and leaned casually against the wall. "I'll think about it."

Sighing, Quistis said, "Fine." Then she thrust the present into Seifer's hands.

The ex knight stared at the package in his hand. "What's this?"

"It's a Solstice present, of course!"

"Oh," he could only think to say. He was greatly embarrassed because he had no present for Quistis. There was just no way Seifer would ever have imagined that Quistis would give him a Solstice gift.

"I've got to go," Seifer said. Without further explanation he rushed down the passageway. Confused and dissatisfied with the entire interaction, Quistis wondered whether her former student would show up as she requested or not.

Seifer wended his way along to the first floor and then went out of a hidden door to the outside of the Garden. He stood on the outside of the front gates blinking in the bright afternoon sunlight. Even though the sun felt wonderfully warm on Seifer's body, the temperature hadn't risen high enough to melt any of the snow that still lay in patches on the countryside. Still feeling completely embarrassed he berated himself for not having anything to offer Quistis in return for her offering, and for handling his initial embarrassment so badly and appearing to cut and run.

So I'm feeling embarrassed over being embarrassed? What the hell is going on with me? I'm acting like puberty boy! Casting his memory back to his short summer relationship with Rinoa, Seifer realized he had never one time felt such as this. He had always been in total control. And why wouldn't I be? he thought. That was easy, I didn't love-.

The former knight began walking quickly as if to escape his feelings. Something half buried in the mud glinted brightly from the afternoon sun and caught Seifer's attention. As he bent over to retrieve it, the young man was amazed to discover a beautiful crystal snowflake.

Observing the snowflake's loveliness while holding it cradled in his open palm, Seifer realized the God of Serendipity had just offered him a gift and he would be a complete fool to turn his back on it. Hurrying back to Garden he disappeared the same way he emerged.

His good fortune was continuing as not only was there wrapping paper still available, but Fujin volunteered to wrap the crystal snowflake for him. As she finished attaching the beautiful ribbon to the finished product, Seifer affixed the label bearing Quistis' name. Fujin never said a word, but she did arch her eyebrow at him. The former knight grinned slightly and finally ducked his head in embarrassment.

Seifer left right after that on his way to the student's Solstice Eve party being held in the Quad area. He had decided to wear no disguise other than some nondescript gray clothing and leave off his easily identifiable long military coat. As Fujin watched the best friend she had ever had leave the immediate area, she sincerely hoped it all worked out for him for once.

While Selphie called the gathering to some semblance of order, Seifer hid at the back of the crowd in the corner. Even the cynical Seifer had to admit Rinoa had done a tremendous job with the festive decorating of the Quad for the party. In fact, it was almost impossible to see what the area had originally been. The glare from all the holiday lights was practically blinding.

"Okay everybody!" Selphie called out. "I'm thrilled to announce that the winner of the Winter Festival Queen Contest is Quistis Trepe and she will now announce who she has chosen to be her King at the festivities this evening."

Selphie led the 'spontaneous' applause while Quistis arose to her feet. Glancing behind her briefly she offered a quick wave to Seifer. He winked in return.

As the young blonde woman turned to speak to the gathering, Matt suddenly leaped to his feet and exclaimed, "I claim the honor of being your majesty by right of this." He took out a small black jewelry box and dramatically brandished the ring he had purchased.

Sliding a huge cubic zirconium ring onto the astonished Quistis' finger, Matt declared, "Quistis and I are getting married!"

What? thought Seifer.

"What?" screeched Quistis, mirroring Seifer's thoughts. She looked wide-eyed and open mouthed at the sparkling ring on her finger.

What sort of cruel joke is she playing on me? Seifer thought as he mistook the expression on Quistis' face as one of utter joy. He slammed Quistis's gift to the floor at his feet just before he ran from the Quad.

"Oh Matt! How could you?" Quistis cried out in anguish watching as Seifer disappeared from view. She broke away and ran after him leaving Matt standing cliché-less for once in his life.

The crowd stood there silent and confused as both Matt and Selphie struggled to hold back tears. No one else had noticed Seifer's presence and so Quistis' behavior seemed irrational.

"Miss Selphie?" An eight-year-old female junior classman named Becky approached carrying something in her chubby fingers.

"Yes, dear?" Selphie questioned while casting worried eyes where Quistis had disappeared fleeing the Quad area.

"That man dropped this," the little girl explained and handed the young woman the holiday present.

"Thank you for turning it in," Selphie said glancing down at the gift. She did a double take when she read the label, To Quistis from Seifer.

No way, thought Selphie. The young SeeD almost tossed the gift in a nearby trashcan. She hated Seifer, and alive or dead he shouldn't be giving gifts to Quistis. But she also recognized it was really none of her business, and besides it might be something expensive.

Pocketing the gift, Selphie ran in the direction of the main hallway. Once there, she found Quistis hugging herself and staring listlessly at the wall. The blonde woman did not even seem to notice when she was approached by her friend.

"Quisty?"

No response.

Selphie touched her friend on the shoulder. "Quisty, this was found in the Quad."

"So?" Quistis glanced at the gift that Selphie was holding out to her. "If it's another one of Matt's surprises he can keep it."

"It's from Seifer."

With a puzzled expression, Quistis took the gift and carefully unwrapped it. When she flipped open the lid of the box, the blonde beauty emitted a soft gasp. Her eyes filled with tears as she held up the glimmering crystal snowflake. It captured the rays of the sun that had filtered through the high windows of the hallway and filled the corridor with fragments of color.

"Oh how beautiful!" exclaimed Selphie.

"Yes," agreed Quistis, clutching the exquisite gift to her heart.