Chapter 6 – For Luna

Zelda til Rednaxelos

Terra's P.O.V.

Disclaimer: Hey, it's the Crown Princess Zelda til Rednaxelos here. (Hey, Vamp, from now on, I am referred to by my pen name, okay? Zelda til Rednaxelos, Zelda, Zel-chan, whatever. You get the point.) I don't own any of these characters either. If I did, I would reconstruct Rinoa into my likeness (blue-eyed brunette, a bit moodier). Hell, I'd do that with Yuna and Dagger, too. That way it looks like I get all the guys following me around (heh heh). So anyways, the only character I own is Terra. Now that I've been introduced and I've disclaimed and all that crap, please read the fic and tell us what you think! Oui'voir!

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Nothing could have prepared me for this. My friend Luna, bedridden and completely helpless?

I shuddered as I entered the infirmary the next day. I saw Luna there, lying on the bed, eyes shut.

"Is she doing alright, Doctor?" I asked Kadawaki.

"She's sleeping," she replied. "She's still doing pretty badly."

I looked through the window at Raven, who was watching from the hallway. Should I try to wake her up? I asked her telepathically.

No, she replied. Just try to enter her sub-consciousness or something. All you need to do is let her know you're here.

I nodded and sat in a chair beside Luna. Kadawaki told me, "I'll leave you alone with her. Take as long as you need."

As she left, I sent a message to Luna. Luna, can you hear me? It's Terra. I just wanted to see if you were okay. I just hope you can somehow hear my message . . . can you?

Luna's head moved back and forth a bit. She yawned as her eyes fluttered open. As soon as she could focus, she asked tiredly, " . . . Terra . . . Terra?"

I smiled and said, "Hi, Luna."

 "Hey."

"How are you? Are you alright?"

"Yeah . . . I guess so. Yeah, sure. I'm fine." She tried to sit up, but immediately fell back in pain. "Ow!"

"Be careful!" I said in concern. "Are you in pain?"

"Terra, I'm okay. Really. Just a little sore, that's all." She smiled up at me and asked, "So, what's been going on with you?"

"Oh, not much, only staying up all night long worried to death about you!" I scolded her. "You should know from past gaming experience that you don't go picking fights with T-Rexaurs unless you're fully prepared! Why didn't you look for something smaller, something less powerful?"

"Look, that thing sneaked up on me, okay? They do that all the time. I tried to run, but it was faster. It wasn't my fault, got it?"

I sighed in frustration and said, calmer, "Okay, sorry. I'm just really worried about you. Look at you – you can't even sit up!"

"Don't worry about it."

"But I am worried, Luna. That thing got you pretty bad. You're paralyzed now, and . . ." Tears were quickly welling in my eyes. I did everything I could to hold them back.

"Please, Terra, don't do that," Luna said soothingly. "I'm a lot stronger than I appear. I know that, and Raven knows that. I need you to remember it, too."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Good." She smiled and tried to change the subject. "On a lighter note . . . I heard on my way to the training center that there's this big dance coming up. It's supposed to be really fun. You gonna go?"

I squinted at her. Dancing? At a time like this?

 "How can I possibly think of fun when my best friend is lying in a hospital?!" I cried. "There's no way!"

 "Oh, come on, Terra, you love dances! You never miss the ones at school. Remember when you were elected the Dancing Queen at that one huge dance a couple of months ago? While you were still going out with Vincent the Dancing King?"

I rolled my eyes. "Please, Luna, that's one relationship I'd like to forget."

 "Your ex-boyfriend isn't the point. The point is, you love grand balls where you get to dress up in beautiful dresses and dance the night away. You always have a lot of fun, especially at those really formal things, and I'm not going to have you miss what will possibly be the most massive soiree you've ever been to because of one little problem with me."

 "It's not a little problem, Moon-girl. You're paralyzed!"

 "Even still. I want you to go. Get a gown, get a date, and start waltzing, for God's blessed sake!"

I sighed. It did sound like a lot of fun. I wanted to go, but . . .

                "I don't want to go if I can't be there with both you and Raven," I told her. "We're came here together, didn't we? I want us to stick together."

"Hey, it's not a big deal to me if I don't get to go. I've never really liked dresses much, anyway."

"But it's a big deal to me. If you don't go, I don't go."

"Please, Terra . . ." Luna begged, looking at me with sad eyes. "I really want you to go to the ball. You're the only one who's making such a big deal out of it. I swear to God that I'll be just fine. In fact, I'm going to be pretty upset if I find out you missed it all because of me." She took my hand and squeezed it lightly. "Do it for me . . . please, Terra?"

I sighed. If she really wanted me to . . .

 "Okay . . . I'll do it," I said.

Luna smiled. "Thank you."

"Though it'll be pretty hard to get Raven into a dress."

Luna laughed. "I'm sure you'll be able to talk her into it," she replied. "Tell her that if I weren't hurt so badly, I would team up with you and kick her into some sort of skirt, at least."

I nodded and got up. "Well, if I'm planning on going to the dance, I'm gonna have to get a date."

                "For you, it won't be a problem."

                "I'll see you later, Luna." I headed towards the door, but just as I got to it, I stopped and turned to face her once more. "Moon-girl . . . you sure you'll be okay?"

                "Of course I'm sure. I'm tougher than I look, remember? I can tie my own Adidas and everything."

                "Yeah, okay. Goodbye."

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     Later, as I was walking back to my dorm, a voice behind me called out, "Terra?"

     I turned to see Squall walking towards me. He looked a little bit uncomfortable as he came up beside me and asked, "So, uh . . . how's Luna?"

     I chuckled. "Finally you start paying attention to the people around you."

     ". . . Whatever –"

     "Whatever." I giggled slightly as Squall sighed.

     "You know, it gets really annoying when Quistis does that. Now you, too?"

     "Sorry. Anyway, Luna's doing okay. I just talked to her, in fact. She mentioned something about a big ball coming up."

     "You mean the one that's coming up this Friday?"

     "Yeah, that one."

     "Well, um . . . geez, are you some sort of mind reader? That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. See, it's coming up real fast, and . . . urm . . ."

     "And what?"

     "Well, see . . . I don't exactly have a date."

     I didn't even know he went to those things, I thought. I was about to say it out loud, but I could sense that he was about to ask me out, so I didn't want to ruin my chances.

     "Usually, you know, I'm just kind of a wallflower or whatever, but I think this time I need to show up with somebody, you know?"

     "Yeah. And?"

     "And I was wondering if maybe . . ."

     "Basically he was wondering if maybe you'd like to brighten up his side a little," a voice said. I looked behind Squall to see Seifer leaning against the wall, smirking at him.

     "What the hell are you doing here, Seifer?" Squall demanded.

     "Hey, you apparently don't have the guts to speak up, so I'm doing it for you," Seifer replied. "See, Puberty Boy here just recently got his hormones kicked into gear, and for the first time in his life, he's got a crush on a gorgeous babe. Something tells me, Terra, that he's really got the hots for you, know what I'm saying?"

     "Shut the fuck up, Seifer," Squall interjected angrily. "It's not like that. I just want to have a little fun, that's all –"

     "Fun? Fun?" Seifer roared with laughter. "Oh, shit, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my cursed life! You, the Commander, want to have fun? You're actually willing to loosen up a bit? God, that is damn funny –"

     "And you've got the nerve to call so-called 'Puberty Boy' immature, Seifer," I said.

     "Hey, sweetheart, I may be immature, but at least I have the courage to at least ask a girl out on a date," Seifer said, coming over to me and draping an arm around my shoulder. "If you want to go with a wuss and be mocked by the whole assembly, go right on ahead. But I think the smarter thing to do would be to go with somebody who's a bit more suave, somebody who can really show you a good time."

     "You mean Irvine?" I asked sarcastically.

     Seifer chuckled. "No, no, my canary . . . somebody like me." With that, he turned me around to face him and quickly inched closer to my face.

     Before he could get to me, however, Squall moved towards us and said, "Okay, that's enough –"

     I didn't need his help. I pushed Seifer away and said in disgust, "Not only are you an immature jackass, you're also fast and arrogant."

     "You won't see me that way after I take you to the ball."

     "You idiot, I'm not going with you. I'm taken already . . . by Squall."

     Squall jerked back in surprise. "You are?"

     "'You are?'" Seifer mocked with a laugh. "Okay, fine, hon. You do what you want. Let me know if you change your mind."

     I scoffed at him. "Sick bastard."

     He shrugged. "Well, in that case, guess I'd be better off going after the other canary. Where can I find Raven?"

     "Find her yourself."

     "Will do. See you at the ball, sweetcakes." With that, he walked off.

     After he'd left, Squall turned to me and asked, "So you're really going with me?"

     I smiled. "That's what I said, didn't I?"

Hi! Vamp Queen here. Please R&R!